Villain Retirement

"But my son, my baby boy… I'm afraid that if I blink again, he'll just be… gone."

An hour.

Aerith and Riley have been talking to each other for more than an hour now, while Osk and the other members of the sisterhood hid away in their huts and shelters. Osk ordered the rest to completely avoid and ignore Aerith until she leaves… but how long until then?

She did tell Aerith that she could stay, but she was just obviously trying to make her leave with her attitude that was colder than the solid winter around them. But alas, Aerith did not seem to realize that as she was still outside, and having a very deep conversation at that.

Osk did not mean to eavesdrop, but it is also not her fault that her hut was just a few meters away from where they were talking.

"...You can't touch them, you can't talk to them—the only thing you can really do is watch them live in your memory."

"..." Osk could not really help but just take in a deep breath as Aerith's words continued to whisper into her ears. It has been almost 500 years since they last saw each other, and some changes were inevitable, but why did the Aerith now seem like a completely different person than when she last saw her?

That should be impossible for a themarian.

Aerith was talking about how if she would blink, the mortals around her would be strangers—but wasn't she the same?

Osk knew that she was just being petty for ignoring Aerith, but she really thought that she would just leave; at least, the Aerith of the past would have. Osk was trying her best to only focus on Aerith's words, but for some reason, she was also being drawn by Riley.

She was also just truly being lustful when she interacted with Riley earlier. How could she not, when Riley was able to break her back as soon as their fight started? But now, hearing him talk about committing war crimes and the genocide of the older generation, Osk could not help but feel something warm trickling down between her thighs.

She knew she wasn't making a mistake in making Riley spread his seed amongst everyone in the sisterhood. It doesn't even matter even if he didn't have a single drop of themarian blood in him, at least he has the savagery and brutality that a real themarian should have.

With his blood mixed with theirs, the offspring they will bring forth would be… legendary.

"Let's go. I don't think we can find any help here."

"Wait! Aerith!"

And as soon as she heard Aerith and Riley leaving, Osk just instinctively rushed out of her hut; almost making it collapse from the sheer force of her haste.

"I will hear you out," Osk then said, her breaths, enough to blow away the fractals of snow that dared to fall in front of her face, "Don't leave."

"...Okay?" Aerith, whose feet have already left the snowy ground, could not help but let out a slightly confused hum. Osk said she would hear her out… but why were her eyes looking at Riley?

"I have already heard your plan," Osk then subtly cleared her throat as she strayed her eyes away from Riley, 

"Just tell me what you need from us."

"..." Aerith did not really speak immediately; her eyes, just looking at the members of the sisterhood that were stepping out of their huts one by one. Their eyes, also staring back. Aerith waited until all of them were gathered before she once again opened her mouth,

"I need you to start the war."

"Of course," Osk took in a deep breath as she closed her eyes, "Who better start the war for freedom than the Rebel Princess' old group? But I think you are forgetting something here, Aerith…

…our group's main objective is for themarians to return to who we were from the past, is that not what you're trying to prevent?"

"..."

"We could care less about freedom, what we want is the thrill of battle—that in every moment, we are in threat of Eternal Death."

"But what I am offering you is not freedom, Osk. It's a chance to start anew. There is no doing that here," Aerith reasoned before looking at Riley, "But I have seen the Unknown, there are things there—creatures that can not be seen in the Known Universe."

"..."

"Instead of just fighting in a single confined arena, you have an infinitely growing universe as your battlefield. You can fly and fight through a million light years without even worrying that you might accidentally end an entire civilization."

"That… I really don't like the sound of accidentally annihilating a weaker species," Osk squinted as she placed her hand on her chin; her large bosoms, almost popping out from her loose garment.

"There's also—"

"Stop, I am in," Osk raised her palm. And as she did so, the rest of the sisterhood also raised their palms in the air, "The fact that we get to start a real war was enough reason to actually join the cause."

"That's… well, that's good," Aerith could really only blink as she watched as everyone nodded their heads in excitement,

"You don't have to worry about the numbers, people will join us. As soon as they see another Theran floating above their skies, they will know that they have a future other than being stuck here."

"And what about the older generation that joins our side?" Osk furrowed her eyebrows, "You said that only the newer generations can migrate to the new planet, what about them?"

"They… will understand," Aerith's voice slightly lowered.

"..." Osk and the rest of the sisterhood also turned their heads down, but after a few more hesitating breaths, Osk clapped her hands,

"A problem to be solved at another time. For now, we celebrate the return of one of our founding sisters!"

"That… I have other things to do," Aerith stuttered as most of the sisterhood started approaching her with smiles on their faces and drinks in their hands, "I… I only have a limited time until the castle realizes I'm freely roaming around the world without supervision."

"Nonsense, stay!" Osk placed her arms around Aerith's shoulders, causing the snow around them to melt as she prevented Aerith from flying away, "I'll ask some of the girls to dive into the Subtheran and get us something to eat!"

"There's really no need to—"

"Or we could just completely forget about everything that we talked about today."

And all of a sudden, the growing festivities that were crawling in the air completely dissipated; all the women of the sisterhood, just staring at Aerith with their eyebrows deeply furrowed.

"That's—Fine, just one glass," Aerith could really only drop her arms as she surrendered; her sighs, drowned by the cheers that once again filled the air.

"Good, good. Give our princess the best wine we have!" And with that, Osk stepped away as the others practically bombarded Aerith with introductions, pleasantries, and reunion.

As for Riley, he just casually stepped away—looking at the animals that were shooting out of the hole from Subtheran.

"I wonder if I can cook any of—"

And before Riley could find anything to do, Osk suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the festivities, and straight into her hut.

"...Madam Osk?" Riley could really only blink as he found himself being thrown straight onto a soft bed.

"Well then…

…shall we continue where we left off?"