Burning Love

The blizzardvern Winters made his signature screech as he soared through the air at high speeds. His two passengers, Aether Cade, captain of the Rune Knights squad Dragon's Tooth, and Jayla Lucis, the ambassador to Fiore of Minstrel. Despite the lack of air resistance due to the protective field of ice placed around them by Winters, the Calco still couldn't resist placing her arms around her Dragon Slayer lover.

"How much longer will it take us to get there?" asked Jayla.

"I'd say about five more minutes," answered Aether. "Now why do you want to go visit Hargeon?"

"Well, the last time I was here, I didn't exactly get to see the sights. It was just all your missions and the palace in Crocus. I would've loved to see the Grand Magic Games."

"Yeah, I understand that, but Hargeon? It's just a port town, nothing ever really happens there."

"Untrue, I once heard about a guild who slated a demon there. In a matter of fact, I believe the entire city is festering with demons."

Aether began laughing. "That's Galuna Island."

Jayla blinked twice. "Oh... Is it too late to change our destination?"

"Unfortunately we can't," responded Aether, "I told General Odin we'd be spending a few days in Hargeon, and I just know that something bad will happen that will need us to get reinforcements. It'll be much easier if they already know where we are."

"Fine," said Jayla, angrily. "There better be something worth visiting in this god forsaken town then"

It wasn't much longer before Winters finally landed in the port town. The couple and their pet spent a fair amount of time searching for a hotel, but they were all booked up.

"I told you we should've booked in advance," said Jayla.

"We left yesterday," said Aether.

That's when they saw it: a hotel, sitting on the top of a hill outside the main borders of the town.

"Perhaps that could be our temporary residence."

Quickly mounting Winters again, the couple flew off to the hill, reaching it in less than a minute. They dismounted again, and walked through the entrance, Aether sending back Winters through his summon seal, as he wouldn't fit through the door. "Well, let's see if we can get a room."

Before they could enter the hotel, the door openned, as Amon, dressed in a black and white pajama resembling zebra stripes, exited, picking up the newspaper and closing the door, being too sleepy to notice the two people right at the entrance. Going back inside, he put the newspaper on the table before washing his face at the sink, what should be lobby was transformed into both the living room and kitchen, each being seperate by a space between them. He put on an apron, the sentence "The Cook Is Busy" engraved on the chest area, inside a red heart. "Right, gotta cook a meal for..." Amon sighed, looking over the amount of people he has to feed "Alright, let's square it down to 20 people, huh...?".

"Wasn't there someone at the door?" Gram asked Amon, being much more awake.

"I think I saw a chick and a dude, but don't quote me on that." Lucadra replied "Mmmm~ But Amon is cooking today. Too bad I can't taste it myself.".

"Aren't you a vampire?".

"Yes, but, that doesn't matter." Lucadra replied, giving a barely sufficient reply.

"Can you two atleast be quiet this morning? I don't want to burn anything." Amon said, as the both quieted down in compliance.

Aether walked through the threshold, Jayla walking in behind him.

"Well I guess there is something of some interest here," said Jayla.

"Hello sir," said Aether to the cook. "Is this a hotel, or a restaurant? In all honesty I'm very confused right now."

"Huh...?" Amon stared at the two, rubbing his eyes as if he wasn't sure if what he was seeing was real. But considering his track record, it wouldn't be a surprise he was just hallucinating. "Wh-...".

"Whew! You're cooking already?" Everyone's attention was diverted to a feminine voice, Cana, who had walked down the stairs from the upper floor bedrooms, wearing nothing but loose pajama pants "Is there still any booze lef-...? Hm?" Cana stopped when she noticed Aether and Jayla who entered the hotel "Yo." She casually said "Are you friends?".

"Oh, they really are there?" Amon replied "I guess we attracted some attention..." Amon said "Cana, mind keeping an eye on the stove for me?".

"Sure." Cana said, taking the apron from Amon and putting it on, watching over the food so it wouldn't burn as Amon teleported infront of the two.

"So...who're you two?".

"If they're Gaea's Witness, tell 'im to fuck off!" Lamia shouted from the second floor railings, who coincidentally also allowed her naughty bits to be exposed by only wearing her lab coat over her naked body "I don't want to hear about some ancient wrath of some ancient God of ancientness!".

"Tell them yourself." Amon replied.

"Fuck off! And trip on the way out!" Lamia shouted, going back into her room, udisturbed.

Amon turned back to the two visitors, sighing "Sorry, she's grumpy in the morning unless she has some caffeine."

Aether was taken aback by all the nudity and uncouth language. He had spent too much time around those with clean mouths, and was completely unprepared for the mayhem he had just stepped into. He began stuttering as he began looking at all the scantily clad women around him, unable to continue speaking. Jayla set him straight with a punch to the arm. "We're not Gaea's Witnesses!" was the first thing he blurted out, somewhat loudly. All Jayla could do was put her hand in her face.

"You act like you've never seen a naked woman before!" exclaimed Jayla.

"Well I haven't seen a naked human woman before," responded Aether with the most pitiful defense.

"Guy's're fuckin' weird..." Amon muttered under his breathe "What do you wa-...?"

Suddenly, Amon was caught off by the presence of the house butler, Frank, appearing out of nowhere, as is typical for a silent individual such as him, looking intently at Amon and his guests.

"Ah, Frank." Amon said "Don't worry, I can handle it. How about you give Cana a hand at cooking? And maybe a top." He said, as Frank nodded, doing just as he was asked.

"And me, Master?" The robot maid, Hera, asked as well, having been behind Frank all this time.

"Oh uh...go check on the kids, since if they're up or not.".

"Yes, Master." She said, bowing her head and going to do as was told.

"Don't mind them, they're our butler and maid. Real nice people." Amon said "Anyway, hi, who are you?" He asked, getting back on track.

Aether finally managed to regain his composure. "I'm Aether Cade."

"I'm Jayla."

"She's not from around here, so we decided to take some time to see the sights of Fiore. We only have enough time to visit one town though, so we came here."

"Oh, well you're shit outta luck. Nothin' interested here." Amon said, and as if on cue, several more people came down from the second floor, majority of whom were women, all in varying degrees of clothing, followed by a single white, full grown wolf as well. "Oh, mornin' everyone." Amon said, waving to everyone, some waving back but others being too tired to reply.

"Morning, Ira, who're these?" Rhea asked, wearing proper pajamas, and with her arm over Juno.

"Tourists, I think, Mom." Amon replied to Rhea "You two sleep good?".

"We did, sweetheart, thanks for asking." Juno replied.

"Good to know, Mom." He said, turning back to the couple "An-...".

"Papaaa..." Amon was distracted once more, this time by his daughter, Lily, who tugged him by his sleeve "Carry me..." She said, and Amon complied, carrying her up and letting her sit on his shoulders, as she rested herself on top of his head, drifting off to sleep.

"Don't doze off now, sweetie." Amon said to Lily, who was already long gone "Anyone else wanna say something?".

"Take off your shirt, maybe." Nanaya casually suggested, which Amon only ignored "Hey, it's only fair if we're all here with pajamas or nothing.".

"Only three of you are in any degree of nudity, though..." Amon replied.

"Morning, Dad." Ricky said, greeting his father, before going to sit with his mother, Nanaya, at the dinner table.

"Mornin'.".

"Hey, Amon!" Erza shouted to Amon, the only thing covering her being a sheer amount of soap bubbles, showing she just exited the shower prematurely "Do you know where Kagura's favourite conditioner is?".

"Oh, are we out again?".

"Yeah, and Kagura doesn't like the others." Erza replied.

"Well..." Amon shrugged, having no proper reply "Just use something else for now, it's too early to go buy anything." He replied.

"That's fair. Also, who're the guests?" Erza asked, pointing at Jayla and Aether.

"Fuck if I know.".

"Language!" Erza said once more, getting back on track with her disciplinary treatment towards Amon.

"Right, right, sorry..." He apologized, as Erza turned around and returned into the bathroom. "Right! Back on track!" Amon said, getting back to topic again "There's nothing really that great to see in a port town like this.".

Lucadra used her illusions to reveal herself to only Amon as per usual, grinning in amusement "Oh man, you really are setting a great example for these people who have literally no context ain'tcha?" She said with a heavy emphasis in her mocking tone.

"Was that Titania?" Aether thought to himself upon seeing the naked Erza. "Anyways, we know this is a poor tourist destination. Someone here just mixed up our destination," Jayla punched him again, "so we're stuck here for the next couple of days. So we're going to need someplace to stay."

"Well, that's tough. There should be a hotel somewhere." Amon said, about to close the door on the two, but was stopped by Lamia getting in the way, now properly dressed.

"Waiiiiiit." Lamia pause, eyeing Jayla as if inspecting her "She's cute. We'll let 'em stay, but they need to pay rent until they leave.".

"We are not letting them stay just because you think the girl is cute.".

"What, you don't?" Lamia said in a semi-teasing manner. Her deadpan expression and delivery not helping matters.

"I-...I mean, yes, she is, but that's not a viable reason to trust two strangers." Amon replied "No offense, if you're dating or anything." He said to the two.

"Amon, the food is starting to cook." Cana called out to Amon.

"Oh, shit!" Amon said, giving Lily over to Lamia as he rushed to the kitchen, Cana giving him back the apron and being left topless once more, but just as before, he focused on the cooking instead.

"Need any help?" Cana asked Amon.

"Ah, sure, get me some uh, sauces. Spicey, mainly.".

"Which one?" She inquired.

"Anyone, they're all the same really." Amon replied.

"Ignore 'em, he's too grumpy after recent events." Lamia said "Wanna join us? We're about to eat."

"Um sure," said Aether, still confused over the state of this house. "It's been a while since I've had a home-cooked meal. Will there be meat?"

"You Dragon Slayers always think with your stomach," said Jayla, following him to the table. "How much does it cost to stay here?"

"For you, horny madam, it'll be 30 Jewels a night." Lamia said, winking, but yet again, her deadpan expression failed to deliver any actual flirt "But for you, it's 100.".

"That's kinda sexist." Nanaya said.

"Fine...60." She said, lowering the rent.

"Cana, bring me tomato sauce!" Amon asked Cana, who finally put on a top, granted it was more akin to a bra, but it did its job to cover her.

"Nobody likes your tomato sauce in the pasta!" Cana retorted, giving an honest opinion.

"Wha-...? How rude!" Amon replied, sounding almost offended "I'll have you now, this pasta is my mother's recipe.".

"What?" Both Rhea and Juno said at once, none of them recalling having any interest in cooking.

"Put tomato sauce when it's your plate then..." Cana said, bringing him the sauce as he asked.

"Well, fine. That's fair, I guess." Amon said, stirring the soup.

"Where's the booze...?" Cana said, going to rummage in the fridge in search of alcoholic beverages.

"We only need one room," said Jayla as her and Aether sat down. She grumbled to herself, as she hated it when humans called her "horny". The couple looked at the colorful group of individuals spread out at the table, noticing that a majority of the people were women. "I'm not sure we should stay here," Jayla whispered to Aether.

"This wasn't exactly my first choice either," whispered Aether back, "but we're kind of low on options."

"I think the scarecrow wants to fuck me."

"Jayla!"

"What? You heard what she said. Besides, all these women seem like they have an unquenchable desire for sex."

"So, just don't let them in our room." Jayla was visually upset. Aether took her hand. "You know I'd never do anything to hurt you."

"I know." The two shared a brief kiss before turning back to the rest of the table.

Following that, the Oracion Seis came down from the upper floor too, all of them collectively yawning and joining everyone in the table "Heyyy...Amon, did you make sure to add extra rat poison to my plates?" Cobra asked Amon.

"Yes, yes. I'll put the rat poison next to your food." Amon replied.

"I found the booze!" Cana victoriously declared, removing the cap and binging down on the bottle "Aaaah~ I feel better now..." She said, embracing the bottle as if it were a lover, walking to the table to join the rest.

"Don't waste it, I'm gonna need some after this." Amon snarkily said, turning off the stove as he added the finishing touches to the food "Alright! Everyone sit down." Amon said, putting on oven mits, putting the food in plates and bowls, before teleporting them directly onto the table, as well as empty glasses, forks, spoons, knives and plates for each free seat. He prepared various meals, from cooked chicken, to pasta, as well as salad and rice, with the one rat poison bottle for Cobra. Amon himself teleported onto the table, sitting next to his two daughters, Lily and Circe "Alright, everyone, dig in." He said, allowing everyone to begin eating.

"You two get on it too." Lamia said, gesturing to the Calco and Dragon Slayer "We got spare seats."

"Thank you," said Aether, him and Jayla sitting in two empty seats next to each other. "What exactly is this place?" He couldn't hold in the question any longer.

"Our house. It's an abandoned hotel I took personal ownership over." Lamia said, recalling the day she forced herself into the place and threatened everyone who tried using legal action to take it away "The early days were the best.".

"We have a good amount of rooms, too." Nanaya said, stirring the soup in her bowl "It's why all of us live here. Granted we pay rent, some of us anyway...".

"That's still bullshit!" Ken angrily said, gritting her teeth, and biting on a chicken leg, and through the bones as well and chewing "You're too damn biased!".

"I am, yeah." Lamia said, not even trying to hide it.

"What about you, loves?" Nanaya said, asking Aether and Jayla, her tone being almost flirtatious, resting her head on her hand.

"Well um..." Aether tried to think of a way to describe them that wouldn't seem pretentious.

"I'm Jayla Lucis. A diplomat from Minstrel. This is Aether Cade, captain of the Rune Knights squad Dragon's Tooth, my bodyguard while I'm in Fiore, and my lover."

"Yeah that sums it up pretty nicely."

"We have some big names today, don't we?" Nanaya said.

"That's nice." Amon said, sounding disinterested, as he wiped the food from Circe's mouth, dirtying herself as she drank her soup.

"If yer curious 'bout us, we're here a family, as you coulda probably guessed." Lamia said "Amon is my husband.".

"And mine~" Aph cheerfully chimed in, smiling as usual.

"You can say I am too." Nanaya said as well, winking over to Amon's direction, causing him to shiver in rejection.

"I haven't forgiven you yet!" Amon said to Nanaya, shaking his fist angrily at her.

"That's not what you said last night.".

"You're right, last night I said 'get off my bed', a set of words that made up a new sentence with a new meaning." Amon replied, deadpan on the level of Lamia. "I had to teleport you off because you pretended you were sleeping.".

"Aren't the kids here...?" Kagura asked with a concerned tone.

"Don't worry, auntie Kagura!" Lily replied, reassuring Kagura "I don't mind if Mama and Papa have some problems!" Her sheer sugary cute melted through Kagura's stern look, trying to keep her expression from melting into sheer 'aww'.

"Wait a second," said Aether, somewhat confused. "Are you a polygamist?"

"That is the technical term, yes." Amon said.

"We're not legally hitched. Not that we care anyway." Lamia explained "The more accurate description for it is we all say we're married, but on a legal basis, we ain't.".

"Isn't it great?" Erza commented "He can be with women he loves equally instead of choosing one and breaking the hearts of the others.".

"I don't like the influence this man has on you..." Kagura responded, concerned for Erza's well-being.

"I don't see a problem," said Jayla, playing with her Blackrock knife.

Aether looked at her with a somewhat worried expression. "So how long has this been going on?" He had suddenly taken an immense interest in these people's lives.

"Eh, two, maybe three years. We didn't count." Lamia said, shrugging off the question for the most part.

"Amon's a real casanova. Look at 'im, gathering all these women under one roof." Cana said in a teasing manner, chugging down on her bottle of alcohol "He's also an ass man, specifically for mine, my butt's protector.".

"Please don't listen to her." Amon said to Jayla and Aether "She can't let go of one slip up when I was drunk.".

"Man, that paints such an interesting image." Lucadra snidely said, turning herself into a child and sitting on Amon's head, and since only he was aware of her presence, only he was bothered by it.

"An ass man you say," said Jayla, he tail slowly wagging, ignoring Amon's comment. "How often do you have sex?"

"Jayla?!" exclaimed Aether.

"Oh, well, if you want accurate answer, uh..." Lamia held out for a moment, waiting for Amon to pick up both their daughters and teleport away for safety reasons, while coming back to take Richard with him. "Eh, it really depends...Amon, why won't you answer?".

"I don't think my sex life is that big a deal..." Amon glanced aside, purposefully avoiding the question.

"Pfft..." Nanaya chuckled, holding back her laughter "Ah, that's the question isn't it...?".

"Very lively I'd say!" Erza chimed in, sounding not the least bit disturbed "He'll have quite the family tree one day.".

"Don't talk like you're awaiting grandkids, that's my job!" Rhea replied, pointing out, with Juno doing so as well at her side.

"This is too explicit for me, I'm shutting off." Gram said, going deeper into Amon's mind, getting away from all this fluff.

"Hehe." Lucadra chuckled, rubbing her hands together.

"Why are you smiling...?" Amon muttered under his breathe to Lucadra "Anyway, that isn't a pressing issue. I'm busy as it is on the daily. I need to go to work and teach a class for eight hours almost daily, and I return home tired.".

"Unless someone crawls into your bed while you're sleeping and bothers you." Nanaya noted, sipping on her tea she suddenly got out of inexplicably nowhere.

"He's not the only one with a love life though." Cobra said, chugging down on his rat poison and biting down on his meal "Ah~ That's good poison."

"Now this is going to sound like a strange question," said Aether, "but do you have any stables? I have a pet I would like to keep my eyes on."

"We have a free one." Lamia said "We have a horse after all. Ain't that right, Aph?".

"Mhm. My Callus. It's so relaxing to take a ride on a horse in nature." Aph said, sighing as if releasing tension.

"Excellent," said Aether, "although I'm not sure your stables could accommodate Winters."

Aether had taken off his gloves when he had begun eating, and as such, his magic seals on his hands had been revealed. Suddenly, in a flash of blue light, a white-scaled wyvern plopped right onto the table, screeching excitedly at the mention of his name.

"Oh, well fuck me, that's a dragon on our table. That's great." Amon said, his tone indicated no amount of surprise, just frustration layered under and inkling to sigh so hard his throat would explode.

"I can accomodate that first part." Nanaya said, winking towards Amon once more, causing to have a semi-disgusted look in his eyes.

"Actually, that's a wyvern, beca-...".

"Yeah, sure, wyvern, dragon, the only difference is size at this point." Amon said, interrupting Erza. "Right, there goes my morning cooking. I'm going to take a bath after I clean up.".

"Alright, we'll beat you there for now." Cana said, hugging her bottle of booze close as she got up, looking at the wyvern "It's kinda cute actually...".

"Well, I may as well get going too. You did promise you'll do my hair today." Nanaya said "Don't break your promise now, love.".

"I...I did promise that..." Amon reluctantly agreed, since it was only fair.

"Don't take too long now, Amon, you'll be left with only cold water." Nanaya said, going off to the bathroom in the second floor along with Cana, Aph, as well as Juno and Rhea, followed finally by the Oracion Seis, Midnight, Racer, Cobra, Angel and Kamma. The bathes were quite large in this hotel.

"Don't mind 'em. I can fix the table." Lamia said, as she walked around the now destroyed table, inspecting "That's a nice one. 'aven't seen a wyvern in ages." She said, sounding impressed.

"Actually he's a blizzardvern from Mt. Hakobe," said Aether. "Very rare. People keep trying to poach him." He didn't seem guilty about the table, or food. He created a large branch of lettuce-like leaves, which he began affectionately feeding to his friend. Winters then turned his attention to Lamia, waddling over to Lamia as he began sniffing her.

"Well, what a cutie." Lamia said, petting Winters "Poor thing, people wanna poach such a lovely looking, fella. How cruel.".

Noma stared at Winters, letting out a small growl "Ugh, why must the father of Lily bring more weird people. I can best hope he doesn't keep them as well..." He thought to himself, going back to sleep.

"Ah, that's so cruel..." Erza said, angrily shaking her fist "Poachers killing such beautiful creatures...! That's unforgivable!".

"Y-...You're blood is boiling too much this early in the morning..." Kagura said, trying to calm down Erza.

"It's fine," said Aether. "People know not to mess with him, or else they get burned." He clenched his fist, plasma temporarily forming around it.

"That reminds me of how we met," said Jayla. An apple formed from a branch off of Aether's back. She plucked it, and the branch receded. She took a bite out of it, closing her eyes from how sweet and tasty it was.

"That's nice, anyway." Amon said "I'm going to take a bath now. Need to get my good morning bath going or else I'll be crankier than usual.".

"You two wanna join a bath? We have a big bath room. Literally pools. It's great." Lamia said, inviting the two "Consider it a welcome gift.".

"Um... Thank you but..," began Aether.

"Sure," answered Jayla. "I haven't showered in over twenty-four hours."

"What? But what about earlier."

"That was before I knew this guy was a polygamist. I know your chivalry would prevent you from doing anything too drastic, and besides. I'l just kill anyone that touches you." She turned back towards Lamia, "Would you mind if Winters took a bath with us as well? If your baths are as big as you say they are, I'd imagine you'd be able to compensate."

"...I can deepen it.".

"Good god!" Amon shouted from the upper floor upon hearing Lamia, knowing she said that on purpose.

In the actual bathes, which were indeed very much. Infact, very much larger than it actually seemed, which apparantly defied the laws of space and physics, but then again magic exists. Several bathes in a multitude of sizes were placed in rows. It was almost too fancy for a shabby looking hotel like this. Almost everyone was in a seperate tub, some sharing the same one together.

Amon himself shared on with Nanaya, both of them sitting down and submerged in the waters, as he was fiddling with her hair, washing it and taking care of it as promised "Don't move, I can't take care of this if you're squirming." Amon said, his multitude of scars on his body exposed as well, in varying sizes and shapes, with a clearer on going across his right palm to the back of his hand.

"Yes, yes, I know." Nanaya playfully said "Maybe the others would like your services too.".

"I didn't even know Amon was a good hairdresser." Cana said, lying in the bath next to them, chugging on her bottle still "All I know is he gave Erza braid, and I'm not into those, you see.".

"Yeah, you're more into magical nipple cover ups.".

"I don't know why you keep saying that, it's not like I ask them to do that. It's like they have a mind of their own." Cana replied to Amon.

"Ah, our little boy can actually do something useful." Rhea said, in a seperate tub with Juno "I'm so proud...".

"That's kinda mean..." Juno noted.

Aether got into the bath, somewhat covering himself until he got into the water. Jayla on the other hand seemed to flaunt her assets as she strutted over to the bath, her tail swaying behind her, and she hopped into the bath as well. Jayla moved incredibly close to Aether as they began lathering each other in soap. She leaned in close to him, kissing him on the lips for an extended period of time. All of this was a demonstration: "He's mine", her actions seemed to say. The water actually seemed to steam as fog seemed to come up from their bath. Although, unbeknownst to them, this was because of Aether's magic. Winters just sat in the bath on the opposite side, a dumb look on his face.

Everyone, sans Amon, stared at the two momentarily before going back to their buisness "So anyway, Amon, I was thinking I'd take you shopping today too." Cana said "I noticed your wardrobe is horrible even when it comes to your pajamas." She said, criticizing Amon's fashion taste once more.

"Did...did you sneak into my bedroom?".

"I was looking for booze." She said "I checked your closet while I was at it.".

"Don't get distracted now." Nanaya said, trying to get Amon's attention back. To which he merely squeezed a bottle of shampoo on her head and poured water directly onto her from a nearby bucket, rinsing her head until bubbles began rising "I didn't mean that.".

"Pfft, haha, that's great." Cobra said, being in the same tub with the rest of the Oracion Seis "Maybe I should give Amon stop fashion tips too, eh? He could use more stylish coats.".

"You copied Midnight though." Racer replied in a deadpan manner.

"Maybe I should give Amon advice instead then...?" Midnight said, stroking his chin.

"So, Jayla, Aether, was it?" Amon said, turning to the two as he continued rinsing Nanaya's hair "Since you two are pretty much it, you planning anything? Wedding? Kids?" He asked.

"Soap is getting in my eyes." Nanaya said.

"Close them."

The couple's immense engrossment in each other suddenly ceased upon the question.

"Wedding?" said Aether.

"Kids?" said Jayla.

"Well, as much as we love each other we can't actually get married."

"I can't stay away from Minstrel for too long..."

"And if I went I'd have to be her slave."

"And because of the spurn half Hybrids get in Minstrel, if we did decide to have children, Aether would be a single father."

Winters suddenly made a very and loud, and somewhat out of place, screech.