Monster Girl Sanctuary ch. 73

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18CkPKwUKG6eihz4A8aZKbkbD9omAtJeblcZ-euyT9bI/edit?usp=sharing

As much as I loved all my daughters, being a dad was proving to be a taxing task, draining both body and mind. First of all, keeping up with all the bunny names was a Herculean task in and of itself. Flopsy, Carrotina, Cottontail, and all those other cute girls with cute names—I was still very much getting to know each of them.

For example, Buckina—named for her prominent front teeth, actually, rather than after me—fantasized about fighting monsters. She would always make Sunflower and Cornflower pretend to be demons, though none of them had any idea what those are.

“Awoooo!” Sunflower howled, placing her thumbs on the sides of her head and fanning out her hands to make improvised antlers.

I cocked an eyebrow at Bonny at that. “I don’t have the heart to tell them that’s not what demon’s actually look or sound like,” she explained with a tired smirk. “They’re just so happy the way they are.”

“Awoooo!” added Cornflower.

“Stand back, foul beast of hell! It is I, Buckina Poofytail, and I have come slay you and take your treasure!”

“Do demons have treasure?” I asked.

May Belle, who was nursing Lily at the moment, smirked up at me and shrugged. “Some, I guess,” she offered.

“Shit, sounds like I’ve got to go slay some demons.”

Darkmaw wandered into Tater Town’s center to join us at precisely that moment. I sensed her coming, but the first thing I saw of her was her paw on my shoulder. “Wait until the healer arrives from Aurora City,” she said. “I believe we will get you all the way back up to fighting condition soon.”

I nodded, placing my hand on her wolfy paw. “Sounds good,” I said. May Belle scowled, letting out a little groan of jealousy as she stared down the sight of me caressing Darkmaw’s furry mitt.

“Wait a minute,” I said, perking up to something Buckina had mentioned a few moments before. “Your last name is Poofytail,” I grunted, looking at Bonny. “And the girls took your last name, right?”

“Yes,” Bonny said. “That’s usually how it’s done here. Is that alright?”

“Of course,” I said, waving my hands in front of me so as not to be misunderstood. My mind was focused on another aspect of the revelation. “But that means that Cottontail’s full name is—”

“Cottontail Poofytail,” May Belle giggled, stroking Lily’s chocolate brown hair. “We all told her it was a bit too much.”

“Monster girls rarely use their surnames anyway, Mr. Drake,” Bonny said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “It’s only so that when they grow up and get their first level that the gods can distinguish them from any other bunny girls who share the same first name.”

I whipped my head to May Belle, who seemed to sense my next question. “My last name is Goldengrass,” she said. “Daisy’s, too.”

I nodded. “So that’s Lily Goldengrass,” I said with a grin down at my little girl. She had finished nursing and was just looking up at me with huge doe-like eyes. I held my arms out for her, but she made a face.

“No!” she said. “I want mama!”

I pouted at her, and she hid her face in response. Lily was a mommy’s girl, through and through. She didn’t seem very interested in me at all unless Bonnibelle was around, and even then she only sought my attention to deprive her cousin. She was a manipulative little one, and it amused me greatly to see her personality emerging after such a short time. What had it been? A couple days?

“Awww come on, Lily,” May Belle said, “Give daddy some hugs!”

I laughed. “It’s okay, I don’t need her pity. I can wait until she’s in the right mood.”

“How are you feeling?” Darkmaw asked.

“I feel great,” I said, unable to hide my grin.

“Your daughters are precious creatures,” she said. “Buckina amuses me the most.”

At that moment, the playing bunny girls noticed the arrival of the wolf woman. “Aunt Darkmaw!” they shouted.

Darkmaw instantly cringed. “Oh no, I’ve been spotted.”

Buckina hopped—straight up, five feet off of the ground—and landed with her arms wrapped around Darkmaw’s face. The other two little bunny girls attached themselves to her legs. Darkmaw plucked Buckina off of her  face and held the rabbit child way out in front of her like the child stank. “Buckina,” she said with half a smirk, “how go the heroics today.”

“I killed a demon!”

“Is that so?” chuckled Darkmaw. “I have killed dozens myself.”

Buckina gasped. “For reals?!”

“Yes,” nodded Darkmaw, “I swear it by Oracle.”

I cocked my head. I hadn’t heard that expression before. “Who or what is Oracle?”

Bonny looked at me in surprise. “The third deity in Lusteria’s trinity. Oracle, the lady of Systems and Magic.”

I flashed back to that scene so long ago when I’d received my powers and Blue in front of the other heroes. Paragon, Hierophant—I heard those names, but there was another voice there, a female voice. Was it her?

And then another flash of recognition hit me. “Sexy System Voice!” I shouted frantically, drawing looks from all the women around me. “Say something!”

“Something,” she replied.

“No,” I said, rolling my eyes, “uhhh, tell me a fact about my Workhorse Quality.”

“The Workhorse Quality is connected to feats of strength and endurance. By practicing with this quality—”

“Ah ha!” I shouted. “I knew it! You’re Oracle!”

“I represent an aspect of her divinity, yes,” the voice said.

“Nice. Do you have a body?” I asked.

May Belle furrowed her brow at me, and I heard Darkmaw let out a noise of complaint as well. “I swear, Hero, your libido is like an unquenchable storm.”

“What’s a luh-bee-do?” asked Sunflower, looking up at Darkmaw with adorable, fluttery eyes.

Bonny tossed the wolf woman a severe glare. “Don’t you dare,” she said.

“It’s nothing,” Darkmaw said nervously. “I—”

“Daddy?” a new little voice said. I looked down and saw a miniature Daisy staring up at me, golden ponytail and all. She was dressed in an oversized cowprint dress that touched the ground beneath her—likely because they grow so fast.

“Hey Bonnibelle,” I said, crouching down to get at eye level with her.”

“Are you going to let her get away with this?” May Belle whispered to Lily.

At that, Lily crawled out of her mother’s lap and stared up at me with her best impression of a genuine sweetheart, warm grin on her face, arms extended in an effort to coax me into picking her up.

I crouched down and scooped them both up in my arms. “I’ve got you,” I said. The throbbing pain in my chest had lessened so much in these last few days—especially in the short time since I visited Ambrosia. I spared a thought for her, wondering if I was ever going to run into her again—and if so, on what terms.

Bonnibelle closed her eyes and rubbed her soft face against my cheek. “Your beard tickles,” she said, but she just kept on doing it.

Lily watched her with a look of disgust. She reached out and patted me on the shoulder. “Daddy,” she said, “I’m your favorite daughter.” It was a declaration—and unlike her mother, I didn’t think she actually cared whether or not that was true. She just liked to getting a rise out of Bonnibelle.

Daisy’s daughter took the bait, opening her eyes just to narrow them at her cousin. “Like heck you are.”

Darkmaw chuckled. Bonny smirked. May Belle gasped. I fought the urge to laugh, just pulling them both even closer, rubbing my face against both of their foreheads. They giggled in unison, an almost musical sound of overwhelming cuteness.

“So prickly! Like a brush!” Lily said, finally favoring me with a real smile and hug.

“Again!” demanded Bonnibelle.

I set them back down on the ground, though. Suddenly, I had a bright idea. I activated my Mood Reader feat, and sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed. Not only could I currently see a heart above May Belle’s head, but I could see hearts above Bonnibelle and Lily, too—all more or less full. What surprised me, though, was I didn’t see any such hearts above Bonny’s kids. So that meant it only worked for Daisy and May Belle’s girls because Daisy and May Belle were marked.

Interesting, I thought.

Even more interesting than that, though, was a pink shape in the distance growing slightly bigger on the horizon. It made its way toward the hill at a breakneck pace, and I found myself squinting to see it better. Of course—it was Gumi, I soon realized, and with Mood Reader activated I could even see a heart above her head. That never really made sense to me. I’d spoken to Autumn on that subject before, and she could only shrug.

Gumi was charging, and not looking like she was about to slow down, but finally she did. Once she reached the top of the hill and was actually inside of Tater Town and its simple walls, she skidded to a halt with a sloshing sound. Her eyes—pink goo in the shape of eyes though they were—were frantic and fraught.

“Hey, Gumi,” I said, kind of feeling bad that I hadn’t made much time for her since waking up. “Is everything okay?”

Darkmaw watched the slime girl anxiously, waiting for Gumi to speak. Bonny and May Belle had gone back to playing with the kids, though.

“Bucky!” she said. “Gumi is worried!”

I cocked my head at her. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

She didn’t offer a real response. “Come with me!”

I looked at Darkmaw, who shrugged. “Should I attend as well?” she asked.

“No!” insisted Gumi, very suddenly, “just Bucky!”

I was getting a bit nervous now. “Well, okay,” I grunted, “let’s go. Is everything okay?”

“Soon will be!” Gumi said. “Come with Gumi, Bucky!”

I followed her trustingly—right into her sticky trap.