Seven days later...
"You know Petra, your new look really suits you"
"Heh, th---- Ikarus. You al---- look as ------ful as ever t--"
"Sorry, what was that? Ah, these poxy gasmasks!"
Crunching through the never-ending snow with both of us wearing gasmasks, me and Petra wanted a little bit of time outside for a while, there's only so much being cooped up we can handle really. Witnessing the settlement covered by a layer of dark clouds and knee-deep snow, it's slightly creepy if you factor in the lack of any voices coming from anywhere around here. It's almost as if our town is completely dead.
The gasmasks are simply down to the volcanic clouds still smothering this area causing the quality of air to be terrible. You can breathe for a little while but it's like breathing in a mouthful of dust, it still is pretty bad right now so going out without a gasmask is really not a great idea. Apparently as an immortal phoenix, you still need to breathe oxygen. I know, I still can't bathe in the volcano unfortunately. I'm pretty sure the no damage ability would allow me to do it for five minutes though.
Due to the cold as well, Petra has changed her style a little and has added a black and red layer to her current outfit. I've also got a new outfit made, obviously still from the same enchanted base. The colours are a mixture of white, orange and black and I now kinda look more like a freaking German barmaid with this getup! Combine that with the attached stockings that somehow manage to trick the aura, I look pretty good to be fair. I'm used to feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable by now so wearing something like this even in the freezing cold is nothing!
Time hasn't been limited when all of us have been unable to stay on the surface for too long so upgrading my enchanted dress was something from boredom more than anything else. It's still revealing as hell but feathers in the hybrid form basically make the cold a non-issue anyways. Ah, I have some resistance to that sort of thing as well, forgot about that.
How we're actually fairing right now, the first days in particular were hell but we seem to be adapting well enough now. Starvation could be a real problem if the crops underground don't start to grow quickly enough but we still have a good enough stock to last for now. Most of the settlement are either locked up inside homes or underground so we can afford to ration things out a lot with most people not being able to work.
We have no idea how other places are currently faring right now. Obviously, we're going to get the worst of it since we're the closest settlement to the volcano excluding the dwarfs but news has been eerily quiet right now. Due to the cold, the ocean has mostly frozen over and it would kill any message birds to be sent as well. We should only focus on ourselves right now though, helping the entire world get through this crisis is an impossibility. And frankly, I don't care about them.
"You still go--- to do w--- you pla--ed, Ikarus?"
"Ah, fuck this, I can't hear you Petra! I'm taking this stupid thing off!"
"Aesa advises -Ikarus- leave mask on otherwise breathing will become much harder"
"It's already been a week Aesa; you'd think it would be safe to breathe by now"
"-Ikarus- should already know not everything in this world is easy to predict"
Ah, should probably mention clone Ikarus is with us out in the snow dressed in nothing but that pink dress Aesa now wears. She can always speak inside my head so communication with her is fine and clones don't need to breathe apparently. I don't make up the rules folks!
Anyways, Petra comes up to me and adjusts something on my mask almost immediately making things better. I'm such a freaking child at times.
"Heh, that better Ikarus? You were wearing it wrong again. You haven't forgotten what you came out here to do, right?
Ah right, nearly forgot the main reason we're out here for. It's time for a little R and R. By that, I mean becoming all powerful and defeating any foes that stand in my way! That doesn't really work for starvation or freezing to death but you'll get what I mean in a second.
"Aesa?"
"Aesa will now show -Ikarus- status screen"
[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 566]
[Health 120,000*/120,000*]
[Stamina 36,528*/40,000*]
[Magicka 70,000*/70,000*]
[You currently have 108000 unassigned points]
"Let's see then... let's start with maxing out my health first. With the doubled effect, that should bring me down to the eighty thousands, I believe"
"Confirmed, health is now at 166,666"
While I'm discussing what to do with Aesa, Petra approaches me from behind and goes in for a cuddle around my waist resting her head on my shoulder. If it wasn't for the World War One gasmasks we have on, I'd give her a quick kiss in return.
"Then... damn it Petra, leave my arse alone right now! Where was I..."
If I try to ignore the obnoxious devilish phoenix groping my backside, I'm pretty sure I need roughly forty thousand to unlock every ability since there's eight left. I could do that but I'd also like to give magic a good boost as well.
"...Screw it, let's max out magicka as wel-, Petra! N-Not right now, d-damn it!"
"Heh, Aesa really doesn't care Ikarus. We could do it right here in the middle of the snow and she really wouldn't care"
"B-But still, not right now, okay?"
If it isn't obvious yet, Petra hands have wondered somewhere higher where cold can make two things stand on edge and it's irritating me now. Not because I don't like it, just that I really can't multitask like this. Petra has seemed to be a little hornier ever since the volcano erupted oddly enough.
My best guess is like me, she doesn't really have much in the way of hobbies so it's basically just been us making sweet love nearly every day at this point when time allows it. While the entire settlement struggles to survive, we're humping like rabbits. Not like there's anything else to do but still.
"Aesa confirms magicka increase, status screen has adjusted accordingly"
[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 566]
[Health 166,666*/166,666*]
[Stamina 38,828*/40,000*]
[Magicka 166,666*/166,666*]
[You currently have 36334 unassigned points]
"Ah shit, I didn't want to buy all the abilities anyways. Let's just buy half of the remaining four and see how that goes... Aesa?"
"Does -Ikarus- wish to confir-... doing this pisses Aesa off now..."
'Aesa actually looks annoyed, that's like the first expression she's made!'
"...Forcibly skipping... processing... processing... four purchases of -sacrificial lamb- have been unlocked. -User- has unlocked -winged brethren-, -sun kiss-, -raining napalm- and -admin privileges-"
"So, what do they do th-, damn it Petra! Seriously!? The groping I can enjoy but if you're going to start pinching, I'm going to end up hitting you in a minute! Wait..."
What the hell has gotten into her? She's never been this bad, unless...
"...You haven't taken one of those aphrodisiac love potions, right??"
"Heh, guess you caught me Ikarus. Guess I just can't control myself right now"
'That's one hundred percent a lie, this is her just being extremely horny for some reason'
Despite Petra being this hands on, Aesa really couldn't give two shits and just waits for us to be finished. She does like Petra so it wouldn't surprise me if she's secretly enjoying my plight...
[<-User- is wasting limited brain power speculating on something absurd>]
'Yeah yeah, you big tsundere'
Anyways, moving back on to my future wife to be...
"Petra, just because you're bored doesn't mean you can use me as your plaything"
"Heh, what makes you think I'm bored Ikarus? If you really hated it that much, you'd have pushed me away by now. Just say no and I'll instantly stop"
Sighhh, of course it's not like I dislike it, I'm just trying to do something and she-... she's purposely being distracting right now! Of course it's that, this is just her finding some stupid way of teasing rather than horniness. What better way of distraction while I'm doing status management then groping!? It's that redness in my face she's addicted to, I know it!
"Can I at least please finish this first? Then you can do whatever the hell you want!"
"Heh, anything Ikarus? I'll keep that in mind"
I don't even care on the filth what could be going through her dirty mind right now, this bird cannot multitask like this! Huh, I guess I'm still like a guy with that multitask thing.
"So then Aesa, back onto what we were doing before I was RUDELY interrupted by that sexy piece of ass over there. What do those four new abilities do?"
Petra just stands there casually smiling and no longer keeping up her sexual harassment... I kinda want her to do it again now. I'm such a freaking idiot.
"All new abilities excluding -winged brethren- have 24-hour cooldown and are surprisingly unique. Aesa suggests -Ikarus- start with -winged brethren- first and think of a winged creature"
Oh, is this some sort of clone ability then? Can I make another phoenix or even a dragon perhaps? I wonder if Aesa will be able to pilot itt.
"Okay... a dragon then?"
"Activating..."
As soon as Aesa says that, I start to feel my body rapidly start getting bigger and morphing into something else. It's strangely comfortable expect the fact it's now forced me down onto my knees, or four legs. Wait, four legs!? The hell is going on!?
"Aesa, what the fuck is happening?"
...
I get no response except a surprised look from Petra doing this transformation. Thankfully, it's now over and I have a pretty good idea what I look like. What w weird bunch of abilites I have.
"Wow, never thought to get witness something like this. Heh, looks like we've found dragon number ten then"
"..."
A huge, terrifying dragon now stands tall above both Petra and Aesa with said dragon being me! Obviously, I'm going to be orange looking but my size shocks me a little, I'm fucking huge! For some reason, I can't seem to speak like this though.
<The fuck!? I thought dragons could speak but don't because it's too dangerous?>
"You picked up telekinesis that quickly Ikarus?"
"Telekinesis, or telepathy as -Ikarus- calls it must obviously come to dragons naturally if it's been picked up this easily"
Using telepathy is just as easy and communication with Aesa through using thoughts, this isn't a big deal at all. Being a gigantic orange dragon is!
<Don't get me wrong, this is cool and all but how the hell do I switch back?>
I must be roughly the same size as father in this form! Becoming a dragon is pretty damn dope except for the huge overwhelming fact... I really don't like being big and this makes me feel fat. I'm obviously not but still, the phoenix bird form as bad enough and I could probably eat myself in two bites like this!
"Heh, do you not like being big and scary Ikarus?"
<You're actually right Petra... I bet my arse looks massive right now>
"Heh, you're still the adorable, chubby bird I fell in love with even when you look like the cutest world ender out of them all"
Of course, Petra likes me in this form as well, is that really surprising? She can see past appearances, I'm still stuck with that third leg phobia I apparently have. I'd still love Petra if she changed, just we'd probably have to do everything blindfolded and make sure it never touches me... why am I thinking so heavily on this?
<Thanks Petra but seriously Aesa, can I switch back already?>
"Aesa will deactivate -winged brethren- then"
In reverse, the same type of body morph switch happens and I end back into the cute hybrid form everyone knows and loves. That form is definitely going to be fun to try out when I get a sec. Oh, need my gasmask back on as well quickly, almost didn't realize breathing was fine as a dragon.
I'll figure out what I can do with that form another time but I'm guessing it'll be pretty easy to adapt to if I just use my magic and stuff. I'm betting it'll be great for flying across large distances as most dragons fly fast as fuck.
"Onto the next ones then Aesa please"
"For the next two, Aesa suggests -Ikarus- don't activate these right now. -Sun kiss- and -raining napalm- are both attack based abilities which could cause significant damage to the surroundings..."
'Ah, more devastation type things then'
"...Specific description for -raining napalm- would be comparable to raining fire that sticks and burns to anything below. For -sun kiss-, beams of light from the sun shoot and pierce enemies below as well"
It's pretty funny how I look forward to the non-attacking ones rather than the killing abilities now. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for all of these but being able to kill something twenty different ways seems a little much. I guess it's technically not that many but still.
So anyways, the napalm attack might be like an airstrike that the Americans do I'm presuming and sun kiss would be like... deadly God rays? You know those beams of light that appear behind and coming out of clouds? I'm assuming both would technically still come under fire so I should be able to use them with the phoenix fam. Heh, I guess we are kinda like a family, me and Petra are the parents while the other two are like kids who have grown up. Is Zeki really grown up though?
I guess it makes sense why I keep getting sky-based abilities if you just base this off how the myth around the original Icarus works. He did fall from the sky and combine that with my fire, it kinda makes sense why this sort of stuff keeps being unlocked. I'm not going to complain about not testing it out though, I kinda expect this now.
"Oh well, let's move on to the last then. Aesa?"
"Aesa knows -Ikarus- will love -admin privileges- ability and this could be one of more useful abilities. Aesa really is a huge fan of this"
The way Aesa's bigging this up, she's actually showing the tiny amount of excitement to go along with it. We've really got to make sure she's in this form more often since it hopefully it will give her something to do rather than just assisting me all the time.
"Tell me what it does then"
"Target -Petra- and -Ikarus-, hold hands with Aesa before we activate ability. It'll be better shown rather than explained"
'Aesa wants all three of us to hold hands? What sort of weird ability is this?'
We all do what she asks anyways and join hands, then Aesa continues to speak once again.
"Now, -Ikarus- must think of any location close by on these islands, it could be anywhere but just stick with these islands for now. Once done, Aesa will activate ability"
"Okay Aesa... what about the Magi towe-..."
...
__________
"...What the fuck?"
"Heh, i-it's fucking f-freezing up h-here Ikarus"
"Seriously -user-? Couldn't you have thought of any place other than the peak of the tower!?"
We've somehow managed to end up right at the top of the new Magi tower right where the spire is. Believe me, if you think being down there is cold, then standing at the top of a literal skyscraper when it's still snowing is bone shivering even for me. I dread to think how cold Petra is right now.
I'm getting both these two on my back right now, then lighting up a fire up on my back on the way down.
"Don't you be moaning at me! If you had told me it's a teleportation ability, then I would've chosen somewhere more suitable. It's called the Spire, of course I'm going to think of the spire on top of it!
Changing form and getting those two onto me, I start to rapidly make my way down to the warmer surface while Aesa gives me some more information. I can definitely feel Petra's shivering dying down now, fucking Aesa man! This is on her! I refuse to call myself stupid for this.
"Anyways -user-... -admin privileges- allows -Ikarus- to teleport to ANY previous location at any time with only with drawback being cooldown. Just from a combat survivability perspective, this might be Aesa's favourite"
Aesa' favourite ability is one that allows me to flee like a coward? Ah, I'm not even going to question her on this, this freaking ability is dope if you exclude what just happened! You understand how much time this will save getting around? It can take weeks, even months to get around at times even with me flying so being able to skip all of that in a second is brilliant!
Wait... could this work in realms as well like that quick visit we made to hell? If so, this becomes even doper! Aesa did say any previous location visited so that should work as well, right? Not sure why I'd want too but at least this allows me to start hopping around worlds at any moment if I so desire. Hang on, I've just thought of something else as well...
"Aesa... if it's to any place I've been before, doesn't that mean I could return to Earth?"
"Hypothetically speaking, yes. Aesa presumes -Ikarus- would be able to do so although, Aesa feels like it could be risky"
"Do you miss Earth a lot Ikarus?"
Petra's now sounds depressed. The shivering has completely stopped but why does this make her sound sad?
"Not particularly Petra, just it could be good for some interdimensional shopping, right? The chance to try some fast food or buy some fizzy drink sounds brilliant... why do you sound so depressed about it though?"
"So, if given the chance, you would definitely remain here?"
"Of course I'm staying here! My place is obviously with you. That still doesn't answer why you seem a little down about it. Wouldn't you want to go on a vacation back to Earth?"
"Heh, visiting would be perfectly fine Ikarus, it's just more the worry if we couldn't get back. I'd follow you anywhere irrelevant of the world, just I don't remember having any happy memories even back then. That's from the tiny amount I can even remember"
Oh, so she's just a little bit worried about repaying a visit to our home planet then, gotcha. Can't say I'm like that but had no ties back then so it's never been like I had bad memories; I'm just thinking more for my stomach really. I never knew my parents nor ever kept in touch with any of the few exes I had so bad memories are kinda lacking... I wonder what happened to my flat anyways? Ah, forget it, we're not going to Earth anytime soon so i matters little.
"Anyways, we're still not sure if it even works yet so best leave that for a time when time is better..."
I'm way too unsure about doing it so we'll leave that idea for now. Think about it though, who's to say time would be right? In my personal headspace which is technically considered a world, time flows slower and I even suspected something like that on that quick trip to hell, just in reverse. If returning to Earth did something like that, we could be gone for minutes and may even lose months inside here. It would be fine the other way around but the unknowns are too risky right now. Being unable to check time flow kinda does that.
"...When we get back, I need to get this chill out of my bones and I know the best course of action. You may want to disappear Aesa when things get heated if you catch my meaning"
"Heh... you actually present a good question there Ikarus. Would Aesa be interested in that sort of thing? I know she's not interested in much but there must be something she wants to do, even if it's more animalistic in nature"
'Petra's mind is in the gutter again, as if she'd be willing to share me even with an AI'
"Haw haw Petra, are you really suggesting a threesome with Aesa? What happened to the extremely jealous beauty I know and love?"
"Heh, I'm still the same exact scarred bird like always Ikarus. Just think about it though, would Aesa being involved even be something to get jealous over? It would be weird, sure but I don't think it would count since she is you after all"
Is this really what Petra thinks about in her free time? I swear my stupidity is starting to rub off on her now, can already tell Aesa's going to shut this down quick enough.
"To answer target Petra's question, no. Aesa would find the entire concept pointless when Aesa has already experienced those shared moment of passion loads of times before"
Oh right, Aesa has said before she feels everything I experience. That does actually present a really weird question that horny Petra has made me think about, would it even count as a threesome if my system were involved too? I mean, it's my cloned body and Aesa is technically part of me as well so she technically has already been part of it, I think Petra is right here. Not saying anything would ever happen, it's just a really weird and complicated thought.
If I were to think what might happen, I could see Aesa taking up the teasing role pretty effectively alongside Petra and I might be screwed having two of them in that situation... I need to stop now. Aesa can hear my thoughts after all... I'm hoping I forget about this in a few minutes now.
'No idea why I'm even thinking so heavily about this, Aesa has already said she ain't interested... oh shit! I was going to put the remining points into stamina. Eh, I'll do that another time...'