A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

A delirious, yet seemingly sane Liv now blinked her eyes and looked at the sight of her daughter. There was no more hunger in her eyes. No more insanity. Just confusion.

"Mom?!" Astrid exclaimed, hope and excitement in her voice. She dropped the bag she was holding rushed over the the frozen Liv. She grabbed her mother's face and looked into her crimson eyes. Love and happiness overflowed. "Are you back with us?!"

But it didn't appear like Liv was listening. "M— My little angel…" she muttered, dazed. "I never believed… in a God, but… if we're both here… the afterlife can't be too bad…"

Then, her head lolled forward and she fainted.

"Mom?!" Astrid cried out again, looking a little panicked.

But then Erik came up behind her, grabbing her shoulder. "She's fine, Astrid. Just needs a little time to recover now," he smiled assuredly. "Remember, ghouls don't sleep. So when they recover, they have a little sleep to catch up on. It was no different for you."

Liv may be a third-ranker, but she'd been a ghoul for almost two months at this point. She would need at least a day to rest and recover.

"R— Right…" Astrid nodded, relief flooding her body. She took a step back, but didn't take her eyes of Liv's body. "Can you uhm— unfreeze her?"

Erik chuckled, "Yeah, of course." With Liv no longer an enslaved ghoul, she posed no threat to him or the others. And even if Liv decided to go on a killing spree when she woke up, for whatever reason, Elora would easily be able to suppress her using the sigils in this place.

Not to mention that Erik was essentially a god in this dimension, now that it was truly his.

So he snapped his fingers, and the ice melted. But rather than fall to ground, Erik used his control over the dimension to have her float in the air, before softly depositing Liv on the bed.

"I need to go handle things outside," he then said, turning towards Astrid. "I guess you'll stay with her?"

"Yeah," she nodded with a grateful smile. "Thank you…"

"There's no need for that," Erik leaned over and kissed her softly. "We may not be married yet, but you're family, Astrid."

Pulling back, he grinned mischievously. Sliding down his hands, he grabbed Astrid's tight butt. "That said, if you really want to thank me, I can think of a few things…"

Astrid rolled her eyes with smirk, "Like you don't just take whatever you want from me, anyway. You're a horny asshole who turns any no into a yes."

Erik's eyebrows twitched a little, "You're making me sound like rapist now…"

"I didn't mean that," she giggled playfully. "I just mean you're unfair. You're a very convincing bastard with a huge dong and delicious fluids."

"I'll take that," Erik grinned, mischievously. Then he blinked out of the dimension, leaving Astrid with her mother.

The young vampire sighed happily, and went to sit next to her sleeping mother with a smile.

Suddenly, she thought of something. Her cheeks heated up, and she spoke into the open air. "By the way, Elora…? Did you… block her memories from her time as a ghoul?"

As the one that took over control of this structure from Eira, Elora could see and hear anything inside, even when she was outside the dimension.

So her voice immediately echoed through the room, chuckling. "Are you asking for your mother's mental health, or because you don't want her to remember that groping session you did right in front of her eyes?"

Astrid's cheeks burned brighter, and she grumbled a little, "I'm pretty sure that's the same thing…" Stay connected through empire

"Hehehe," Elora chuckled. "Maybe… or maybe your mother might be interested in joining? Maybe she'll be Erik's second third-rank wife?"

Astrid narrowed her eyes and looked around, unsure where to direct her threatening gaze. "Don't forget you wouldn't stand a chance against me in a fight, Elora!"

Despite being third-ranked, Elora had no offensive presence unless she had the time to set up some sigils first.

"Fufufu," Elora chuckled again, but with a slightly dangerous edge. "We both know you wouldn't dare lay a finger on me…"

Astrid grumbled a little. She knew Elora was right. She wasn't ready to test her relationship with Erik against the one he had with Elora. "Alright, alright. Just answer the question, please?" she sighed, deciding to give in, however unwillingly.

"Hehehe, alright then," Elora laughed victoriously and smugly. "Yes I blocked her memories, but its different from when I did it with you. She's third-ranked like me, so I couldn't 'hide' the sigil, so to say."

"What do you mean, hide?" Astrid frowned, confused. "Why would we keep the sigil's existence from her?"

"Not hide like that," Elora explained, her voice sounding thoughtful. "I meant hide, in the sense that it doesn't become a constant irritant. You don't notice anything, because I managed to plant the seal deep enough. It won't be the same with your mother."

Seeing that Astrid still didn't really understand, the fairy continued. "Imagine a constant itch in your brain. A constant reminder that there's something you don't remember. How annoying would it be to keep yourself from scratching that itch? That's what it'll be like for your mother. She won't remember, but if she starts scratching that itch, the seal will break."

"Is there anything we can do?" Astrid asked, frowning with concern.

"Technically," Elora responded casually. "But she'd have to let me in willingly, at which point I could place any kind of fun little brainwashing sigils in there as well. She might be a little hesitant for such a thing after Sigurd's funny business."

"Right…" Astrid groaned, already seeing up to convincing her mother of such a thing. 'Perhaps she'll be fine if she simply chooses to remember… Mom is strong, she'll be fine.'

Suddenly, the young vampire thought of something. "Wait a second. So what happens to me when I reach the third-rank?" she asked, a little concerned.

"Nothing," Elora assured her. "The sigil is already placed deeply enough that you'll never notice it unless you go looking for it."

"That's good…" Astrid shuddered slightly. "I have no interesting in remembering those days."

After that, silence descended on Astrid's room. The concerned daughter simply held her mother's hand, waiting for Liv to wake up.