Back at the explosion site, everyone had climbed out of the crater, watching it in silence. Using my authority over the fief, I set out to repair the area. The territory wasn't yet developed enough to tolerate such a visible scar without it being a nuisance.
It was simple: a small repair cost, a bit of magic, and the land leveled itself; grass grew back as if nothing had ever happened. Now the place looked just like before… as if a massive explosion had never occurred.
With that done, I turned to look at the girls. But we all felt it at the same time—the tension in the air growing thicker. Tonks, Andromeda, and I exchanged silent glances. Especially Tonks and I… Andromeda, on the other hand, just smiled.
Lily and Petunia looked at us, confused. They didn't quite understand what was happening between us, but they could feel it. It was like when their parents fought: uncomfortable, heavy, inevitable. So, very wisely, they excused themselves saying they'd go tell Gemma everything was fine, and left us alone.
Now it was just the three of us. And no one spoke. As if we knew that whoever broke the silence would be the one to lose this invisible war.
"I'm glad everything's okay," said Andromeda finally, cutting through the air like a sharp blade. She looked between the two of us as if she felt obligated to end this staring contest. "Red, Nymphadora has something to tell you."
Tonks looked at her mother with a mix of frustration and resentment. Like a little girl being forced to do her homework. Before the big explosion, they'd talked a lot… good things, bad things, and then the inevitable: the future. What they would do. What was said. And maybe even what they agreed on. But there were details Tonks still couldn't deal with. She hadn't expected her mother to bring it up now. She thought she'd have at least a little more time to process it.
"But first," Andromeda continued firmly, "I think you two need to clear a few things up… so it's time to give the good and the bad news, face to face."
Then she looked straight at her.
"Nymphadora?" (Andromeda)
All eyes turned to her. She lowered her head. Started trembling slightly, holding herself back, forcing herself to say the words she'd rehearsed in her mind more than once.
"You fucked my mother…" Tonks murmured, full of rage. "Even if she's happy with it… even if she really is… which I can accept, because I want her to be happy… she's still MY MOTHER. And you fucked her."
She raised her gaze with eyes full of fury, clenching her fists so tightly her knuckles turned pale.
Andromeda also looked at me then. And I couldn't help but shiver. Being watched by her, after those words, made me feel a guilt that hit me all at once… and that faded just as quickly. But the fear, that childish fear like the one you have for a strict mother, that one didn't disappear so easily.
"S-sorry…" was all I managed to say. I had no speech prepared. No brilliant excuse. And if I did, none came to mind now, when I needed them most.
"IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?!" —Tonks yelled.
"Nymphadora," her mother stopped her, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Yes…" Tonks nodded, breathing heavily, trying to regain control. "What you did was really wrong. And even if you have your reasons… they won't be enough to make up for it."
She was speaking with effort, holding herself back. But in the end, the emotions won and the words spilled out unfiltered.
"So I hope your healing skills are good, because one day I'm going to kick you in the balls so hard they'll burst. And I still hope to have kids someday." She said it letting out the air she'd been holding, as if finally freeing herself from unbearable pressure.
"Well… close enough," Andromeda commented, rolling her eyes. Clearly not the way they'd rehearsed it… but considering her daughter, it wasn't completely unacceptable either.
"It'll be when you least expect it," Tonks added, with a murderous glare directed at me… and at my parts. Which made me shiver even more.
"Alright…" I said, with no real options. That's what her gaze was screaming at me. I guess I should practice casting Spongify on my balls… "If that helps fix things…" I sighed, completely defeated.
"That doesn't fix things," Tonks cut me off, arms crossed, looking down at me. "That's the bare minimum. You'll have to do way more to even think about easing what you did… and so much more to actually fix it."
"Alright… I guess I'll try to start now." (Red)
I pulled out from my inventory the item one of my clones had gone to get from the merchant. Upon seeing it, Tonks' eyes widened, and without thinking twice, she jumped on me like an excited child on her birthday.
"It's not a full arm anymore," I said as she examined it. "It's more like a gauntlet. Thinner, less durable, but it keeps many of the old functions. It retracts and deploys from a bracelet."
Tonks was drooling. Literally. She slipped her arm in like it was Cinderella's glass slipper and she was the princess. The gauntlet fit perfectly, and soon she was moving it with ease, her eyes shining with excitement. Then she pressed a small rune and the mechanism contracted, forming an elegant bracelet on her forearm.
"If you practice enough, you won't even need to touch the rune. You'll be able to activate it just with your magic," I added.
"…Alright. I admit, that was a good start," she said, with a mischievous smile. But she immediately returned to her angry stance. "But you've still got a long way to go."
She was trying to keep up her eternal fury facade, but the smile slipping out betrayed her completely. It was like watching a kid trying not to laugh with a new toy in hand. And just when she started to let her guard down… Andromeda came in saying we had to continue.
"Mom, please… not this part." Tonks's expression changed in an instant, from vengeful pride to pure horror.
"I said there would be good and bad news. He's already received his," Andromeda said, looking with maternal severity.
"But... I can't tell him that." Her tone was a strange mix of embarrassment, revulsion, and silent pleading.
"Then I'll have to do it myself." Andromeda scoffed and stared at me. "After what you've done, you're going to have to take responsibility for me too. You created needs in me that I didn't have before, and now you'll have to satisfy them. ALL of them."
I swallowed saliva.
"You must be clear that you will have to please me sexually frequently. As your mother-in-law, I deserve respect, so I expect at least the same attention you give my daughter. It will be an unusual relationship, but that's how things are. You'll have to continue sleeping with my daughter, but also with me regularly. Perhaps we could even start here and now. That's what Nymphadora wanted to tell you."
"I DIDN'T WANT TO TELL HIM ANY OF THAT!!!" Tonks shouted, covering her face with her hands, red as a tomato.
The previous conversation with her mother had been a trap. An agreement forced by a very creative and manipulative Andromeda, who made her promise things that Tonks clearly didn't want to have to fulfill.
"Don't play dumb now, Nymphadora," Andromeda replied, now with a mischievous little smile. "You were clearly very agreeable before. You even begged me. Don't be a coward."
"I didn't do this... I wish the earth would swallow me up!" Tonks fell to her knees, covering her face in despair.
"Okay, ignore her," Andromeda told me with a calm smile, though her eyes sparkled mischievously. "I just wanted to tell you to put me on the menu. I'm not asking for much, just that you come to me with the same regularity that you go to my daughter. In fact... I'm quite sure that very soon you'll be visiting me more than her."
She moved a little closer, whispering loud enough for her daughter to hear, with a knowing smile.
"I know Nymphadora is very open, but there are things that you only learn with age. And I assure you that, in comparison, she's still quite behind. I only ask that you don't neglect her if things between us go too well." She winked at me boldly. "She still has a lot to learn, but I can comfort you while you wait. It's a little slow, but give her time... she'll improve."
Tonks, upon hearing that, looked at her with a mixture of hatred, humiliation, jealousy, and rage. She was biting the neck of her robe so hard that it looked like she was going to tear it off. She wanted to scream, she wanted to contradict every word that came out of her mother, but she didn't dare. Not now. She could only swallow it all... and the worst part was that she seemed hurt that I didn't defend her, that I just stood there, listening as if her mother's words made sense when they didn't.
"I'm leaving! Fuck like rabbits if you want!" Tonks shouted before turning and storming off.
Andromeda smiled at me sideways, approached, and whispered in my ear in a low, seductive, and dangerously amused voice:
"I'll help you get her back... but you'll compensate me in bed." (Andromeda)
Then she ran after her daughter, changing her tone immediately:
"Nymphadora! Your feeling insecure about your abilities is no excuse to behave like a child. Face it like an adult!" (Andromeda)
I stood there, processing everything. It all felt surreal... although, to be honest, better than I had imagined. Andromeda... she wasn't how I remembered her. There was something strange about her. She was still herself, but there was also a disturbing mix. Part of Tonks. Part of me. And not in the best aspects.
I was going to have to watch her closely.
For now, I didn't see anything that alarmed me too much. At least not in the short term. I could take this patiently. But since we had reached this point... I think it was time to move forward with my plan for Andromeda.
I sent her a mental message, clear and direct:
[When you're done, meet me. I want to discuss a few things.]
With that said, I dismissed this clone. Although I can't help but think how tempting it would be to have Andromeda in my arms again... only this time, without the influence of [Lust].
...
In the archmage's tower, I was reviewing some results while preparing for the next experiment. This time, however, I would no longer be working with Elise. That was no longer possible.
Awakening the god gene in her had completely altered the nature of the experiments. Now, trying to introduce a new lineage into her body was like dropping a single ink blot into the ocean: insignificant. We ran a small test and nothing happened. Her data didn't change, she felt no alteration… and there was no trace of what we had tried.
We conducted some additional tests. We noticed that equine lineages produced no changes. And non-equine lineages simply harmed Elise without integrating into her genetic structure. I figured that maybe, if I could find a strong enough equine lineage, I might achieve something… but that was something to save for another time, a low-priority project.
Elise had already fulfilled her objective: to grow stronger. She had even awakened the god gene. The only thing left for her now was to continue improving the old-fashioned way: through training and practice. Especially now that she knew she could use magic like a mage, channeling it mainly through her horn. If I managed to teach her properly, her power could become truly fearsome.
As for the experiment I am conducting—well, it's about Andra, my second experimental subject. And the essences used… well, let's say that with the upgraded chair came a new purification capability, which gave me more freedom to extract fragments of particular lineages I was interested in.
Regarding the current experiment… that one was underway. And the subject was Andra, my second formal experiment.
The upgrade in the experimental chair had brought a new purification ability, and that gave me the freedom to extract very specific fragments of particular lineages I was interested in. I watched as the essences of kelpies and imps were slowly filtered into their containers. Adding those essences directly would be suicide, but in their lineages there were traces of valuable components—things I wanted… and that Andra could accept without catastrophic consequences.
I also had two other purified essences that I planned to add later, after seeing how successful the procedure with Elise had been when we maximally purified her components: [Human] and [Witch].
I looked at the data the chair showed me about Andra. I was ready to observe how they would change after the new integrations.
[---Andra---]
[Lineages]
[Human: 46.4%][Witch: 82.6%][Demon: 12.0%]