"God dammit, woman, let me rest for a few minutes!"

"Do you know how long I've been trying to get a monster from Lloyd?"

A long time, I'm sure. After getting things settled with Mauler—getting him a monster seal and some food—Khana dragged me off to give me a reward. Or to have fun, I wasn't really sure what her true motivation was.

Fun little thing I learned: monsters already born could get a monster seal. Well, I sort of assumed that already, but having the seal on them while still in an egg made them more personable and willing to follow their owner's instructions. Lloyd, being the Whip Hero and possibly liking a challenge, didn't put seals on any of his monsters. He was able to add ones he raised to his party without that. It was pretty impressive. Khana, of course, needed the seal, since she did not raise the red ursa. And she wasn't the Whip Hero. I wasn't quite sure on what exactly the requirement was, or if Lloyd was just that good.

That, however, wasn't the most relevant thing to my current situation.

Now, I was never one to shy away from sex. Sure, in high school, that wasn't the case. It would be more accurate to say I just wasn't interested in relationships at all, or even really people for that matter. Eddy and Gloria were the exception to the latter.

Regardless, after my first time, I decided I liked sex and would have it when it was available. That's how it was for over 10 years. Be it through a fuck buddy or prostitution, I enjoyed the carnal pleasures of life. That also led to drinking and smoking, but never in excess. And now, for the first time, I think I had enough.

"Just 10 minutes!" I cried out as my hand feebly pushed against the overwhelming force that was Khana.

"Fiiine." She relented, moved her leg over to stop straddling me, and laid next to me. "But I'm counting."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Turning to the side, I saw the pitcher of water on the nearby nightstand. I really was tired, more so than I first thought, since I couldn't get my arm to reach out for it properly. Luckily, there was someone else available to get me some.

"Here, Sir Dante." Martin scooted over on the bed and filled up a cup, bringing it to my mouth and tilting it.

With total clarity, I was able to properly analyze doing the act with him, Khana being present of course. Conclusion? Not bad. Not bad at all. Doing that with him wasn't as unpleasant as I thought it would be. It helped that he preferred to be on the receiving end of things.

And Khana…

On the one hand, the sex was absolutely amazing. I was starting to think that was the reason I couldn't remember last night so well, and not because I was drunk. Well, being drunk didn't help. On the other hand, I was pretty sure I was dying. I severely underestimated how badly Khana wanted a red ursa. Said bear was curled up and sleeping on the floor next to the bed, presumably getting used to being around Khana and her antics. I'm sure it was something like that, but I couldn't quite remember the reasoning at the moment, nor could I understand how he was able to sleep through all that.

"Thanks, Martin." I said after taking my drink. "What I could really use right now is, oh…"

The guy was really on the up-and-up. With my gear sitting next to the bed, it was easy for Martin to look through it and pick out what I wanted. He held open the case with my cigarettes, letting me pick out the one I wanted. Then, he pulled out the lighter and fiddled with it. I was about to take it, but he was able to figure it out. Pretty clever.

"Thanks." I muttered as he lit the cigarette in my mouth for me. Instead of moving back, Martin slid in next to me and wrapped an arm over my chest, placing himself so my arm would be on his back. Well, I did just say it wasn't bad.

"Is smoking after sex a thing?" Khana asked from beside me.

"You have no idea." I said after taking a drag.

Khana held out two fingers in front of me, the meaning clear. I was hesitant, but it wasn't like a single puff would do much harm. No more harm than risking her life fighting monsters, at least.

She took the cigarette for herself, took a deep breath in, and, predictably, entered a coughing fit.

"Damn—*cough*—How do—*cough*!"

I rescued the cigarette before it could fall onto the bed. "It takes a little getting used to. Lucky for me, my benefits package came with an unlimited supply."

Khana beat her chest a few times to clear out the smoke—the action likely doing nothing for her—before she responded. "But aren't cigarettes dangerous?"

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. She knew what I was getting at.

"You can't beat up lung cancer, little man." She responded.

"I'm a little surprised you know about that." I said, taking another drag.

"It was something my parents fought over. My first parents." She corrected before continuing. "You really want to make your life shorter with those?"

"Khana, I already died." I laughed a little. "Or not. I was summoned in front of an explosion, and I don't really know how it all works. Besides, I don't need to live a long time here. Just long enough to fight off the Waves. I'll be done long before these things kill me."

Any time I have left after my job will basically be a vacation. My goddess's original champion here will be up and ready by the time the Waves are over, at least for this world. If she needs me to clock in early, I could always jump into a dragon's mouth or something.

We sat in silence for a minute, just enjoying each other's warmth. Martin was drawing swirls on my chest as my arm held him close. In retrospect, being in the middle wasn't a great position for smoking, but it wasn't like the sheets on the bed were in perfect condition.

"Say…" Khana leaned on her side to face me. "You never mentioned why you were fighting the Waves."

"Yes, I did." I turned my head to her. "My goddess told me to." I didn't actually say it in so many words, but it was implied.

"Yeah, but why? Why are you working for a god? What do you get out of it?" She asked. "Is she threatening you, or does she want this world to kill another one? What does she get out of it?"

Part of my explanation earlier…yesterday? I wasn't sure what time it was. Anyway, I mentioned other worlds fusing and expanded on that a little. Sure, killing all the Holy Heroes on the other side would technically end the Waves here, at least for a time, but that wasn't something anyone in the group considered as an option.

"I don't know why she wants to keep the world alive, outside of having a renewable source of energy." That being, the XP and levels I gained, which she would get upon my death. "As for why me, we have a deal. I help her do this, and she brings my family back to life."

There wasn't any real need to hide that, at least not from Khana. Maybe it was the post-sex glow, or just being surrounded by the people that caused it, but talking about them didn't depress me. Regardless, that reward was more than enough for me to do just about anything.

"Damn." She muttered. "I hope you aren't offended when I say you don't strike me as someone who'd have a family."

"Not at all, but we aren't related by blood. Eddy and Gloria are like a brother and sister to me, and Mary calls me 'uncle'. They even asked me to be her godfather." It was on the day that Mary was born, and it was probably the happiest moment of my life.

Khana hummed as she reached over and swiped a bit of sweat-coated hair out of my face. "I'm jealous."

"Of what?" I asked.

She grinned. "Obviously, from all the perks your job has. I mean, you got a Seven Star Weapon and a pretty good reward. What did I get?"

"You have a second chance at life and you're built like a lighthouse." I responded.

"Are you calling me fat?" She accused.

"I promise, you are not fat." To emphasize that, I let the cigarette hang in my mouth as I ran a hand over her abs. "Shit, I think you might not have enough fat."

Khana's grin grew. "For all my hard work! Though, I guess I did technically get what I wanted from that guy."

"Pahadron?" I asked, with her giving a nod in response.

"I wanted to be big and strong."

I hummed in response. Pahadron certainly delivered on that, at least for her height. And, well…"There's certainly a lot of big things about you."

I had to say, Khana really lucked out with her desire. I didn't think Pahadron would give her anything, like how my goddess did. The reincarnated for chaos and destruction got blessings like that, or so I was told. Maybe it was a fluke. Regardless, she really made something of herself here. She was 10 years old when she died the first time, according to her 'true' age. Maybe Pahadron wanted to go for an ironic twist, or he screwed up the start. Whatever the case, Khana became a hero. This life, at least, would be good for her.

Her response to my comment was to flick the cigarette out of my hand. "Sounds like you're ready for more."

She was on top of me before I could argue, two of those previously mentioned big things threatening to suffocate me. "I'm not going to say no, but are we really going to keep going?"

"Since there's so few men I enjoy, I always make sure to keep hold of the ones I do that Martin wants. Gotta keep them coming back, you know?" She leaned back just far enough for me to see her waggle her eyebrows. "I sort of test the waters to see where someone stands before going further. Since you weren't disgusted by the idea, I went ahead." She then nodded to Martin. "So far, you're the only one we both want that'll take both of us."

"Well, it wasn't something I ever did before, let alone paid for." I said.

From his position next to me, and under Khana, Martin slid his hand up to caress my cheek. "I don't see why you'd ever have to pay for sex."

I raised my eyebrow at him. Martin simply moved up a little and pulled me into a kiss.

"Careful, Martin." Khana laughed. "Don't go giving little man too much of an ego."

"A little…late for…that." Between Martin trying to wrestle my tongue with his and Khana starting to grind her hips against mine, I knew our conversation was over.

~The Right Man~

"Just to make sure, you don't plan on trying to bed me, do you, Sir Dante?" Rato asked from behind me.

"I'd make a joke, but seeing how those criminals tried to force themselves on you, I'll just say no." I responded.

We were on our way to the capital to get my sort-of-plan started. First, we'd meet with Khana's friend, then go from there.

I rode on Hailey, with Martin in front of me, and Rato behind. While fit, Martin wasn't nearly at the same level—physically, not level-level—as the other members of Khana's party. Rato wasn't an adventurer and mostly did research, though she was in decent shape. That was why they were on Hailey. I, on the other hand, was exhausted. Frankly, I didn't know how Martin was doing so well, though he wasn't as active last night as we were. As for Khana…

"Hah! That's another one! Good work, Mauler!" The Hammer Hero was running around the dirt road with Mauler. The little bear let out a tiny victory roar at killing an usapil, blood and gore dripping from his jaws.

Sure, we could have spent a little more time hunting strong monsters, but the local population wouldn't have lasted long. Khana did too good of a job at killing them. So instead, she was running around with Mauler like she didn't just spend half the night riding me, or being ridden. I had no idea where she got all that energy from and, frankly, it almost annoyed me.

"One time, she went through an entire brothel and still had energy to spare." Garth casually said, picking up on my thoughts.

"I don't doubt it." I responded.

I was a physically fit 28-year-old man. I worked out and got in daily exercise. I once spent two days awake following a mark and still had the energy to kill him and dispose of the body. I was in great physical condition.

But Khana…that woman was a force to be reckoned with. I didn't know how she kept her energy so high. No, that wasn't true. Her breakfast was easily twice as large as mine, and mine was twice as large as everyone else's. I didn't know how long we were at it last night. Really, I had no idea. Half the night was just an estimate. We might have taken a few breaks, but it was morning when we ended our last bout.

That woman had endurance like nothing I'd ever seen before. And what she did…there was no doubt now my memory of the night in the capital was spotty solely because of her.

"It's probably for the best that you showed up." Trusi added. "Poor Martin was comatose for nearly a day after—"

"T-Trusi!" Martin yelled indignantly, his face heating up in an instant.

"Don't tease him too badly." I said, moving a hand to his shoulder. The effect was instant, causing Martin to lean back against me.

Trusi just laughed. "You're already protecting him? Damn. Khana hooked you good."

I wasn't going to dignify that with a response, largely because it was sort of true.

"And I didn't even have to regale him with tales of my amazing exploits!" Khana yelled as she crushed an impossibly outclassed balloon with her hammer.

"I've heard plenty of those already, remember?" I told her. She did exactly that the day we met, though Martin had finished a few of them in a drunken state.

"Nope!" Khana flashed me a smile.

"Don't listen to her." Omir joined the talk. "She pretends not to remember so she has an excuse to tell them again."

"Aw, you're no fun!" Her laugh told me she wasn't at all angry at being called out.

"What about you, Sir Dante?" Martin tilted his head back to look at me. "What have you done?"

I just shrugged. "Not much here, at least nothing you don't already know. What I did in my world was…well, not heroic in the least."

"Can you talk about it a little? Miss Khana doesn't talk too much about her first life." Since we were alone on the road, no one was too concerned about mentioning that openly, at least for now.

Before I could refuse, Khana urged me on. "Come on, little man, tell us a story! Journeys always go faster with a story!"

Sighing hopelessly, I gave in. Sure, I probably could have kept refusing and let the topic drop or change, but we already had an understanding between us. We were in this world, not my old one. "Alright."

~The Right Man~

I had my side against the wall, my face barely an inch from the doorway. There was no noise inside, but that was partially my fault. I didn't notice the earpiece on the guy I killed before he was able to shout a warning into the small microphone. That meant the ones inside were ready for me.

Well, one of them wasn't any longer. Nor was he inside waiting for me, choosing a position at the top of the open apartment stairway. If he thought I was just going to rush in blindly, it was his fault he was laying on the floor dead a few feet in front of me near the top of the stairs.

There wasn't really time to plan anything out. This was just one group of people, but more would surely come. With that in mind, I bent over and took the rolled-up newspaper from the neighbor's door. I was thankful he left early in the day.

With the newspaper in one hand, I waved it in front of the doorway. No response. Then, I lobbed it into the apartment.

BANG BANG BANG!

That got a response. I ducked down and pointed my gun up, firing three quick rounds as well. Two were in his chest and one in his head, dropping him to the ground.

I crouch-walked into the apartment, keeping my eyes and ears peeled. Entryway was clear. Kitchen was clear. Living room was clear. Bathroom was clear. Things were strewn about hastily, but there weren't any people there.

Halfway down the hall, I peeked into one of the bedrooms. No one was there, either. I slid in carefully, not seeing anyone on either side of the open door, nor in the open closet. All that was left was the master bedroom at the end. From one side of the hall, I slowly looked into the room from my position close to the floor. No one there. Then, I shifted to the other side. Slowly, I moved my head in…

There he was, standing in front of the bathroom, gun up and pointing at the hallway I was in. There was a split second when our eyes met, and then—

BANG!

I was faster. I always was. Moving into the room a bit more, I saw no one in the master bathroom.

"Dante!"

The voice made me turn my gun to the closet for a second before I pointed it away. "Gloria!" Standing to my full height, I did a final quick sweep to make sure no one else was nearby before I opened the folding door of the closet.

And there they were. My sister in all but blood, and her daughter, both huddled together. Gloria, I noticed, had a pistol sitting on the ground next to her hip. She never had to fire that at someone before, and I was thankful she didn't have to today.

"Hah…" I let out a breath before I let a smile appear on my face. "Lots of loud noises, huh Mary?"

My 5-year-old niece looked up at me, the worry replaced with a bright smile. "Uncle Dante!"

After holstering my pistol, I bent over and picked her up, leaving one arm free to pull up Gloria as well. She immediately wrapped her arms around me and Mary buried her face in my chest. I simply rubbed her back, letting her calm herself.

"Where's daddy?" Mary asked me.

"He'll be here soon." I told her easily. "We're going to go on a trip. Did he tell you already?"

Mary nodded. "Mommy did. She said we had to pack up quickly."

"Well then, you two should finish. Then we can get going." Gloria let me go, allowing me to set Mary on the ground again. "Don't forget to grab Gumby."

She nodded quickly and scurried off to her room, though I kept her in sight until she went inside.

"Thank you." Gloria said softly.

"Always." I patted her shoulder before starting back down the hall. "I'll grab Eddy's bugout bag and keep watch."

It wasn't entirely accurate, since it only carried money and no survival equipment. Still, there was a lot of it. More than enough to start a new life, plus what I had. This was always a potential outcome, though it came much sooner than we thought. Or, rather, sooner than Eddy thought. I always thought he'd be able to outthink anyone who crossed his path and have a plan ready to go. He did this time, actually.

That plan was me.

~The Right Man~

For the two days of travel, we swapped many stories. Since Martin wasn't drunk and therefore couldn't tell them enthusiastically, it was mostly Khana and Garth that told theirs. Over the years, her party went on plenty of adventures. Killing dangerous monsters, rescuing abducted villagers, stopping crazy mages, thwarting evil overlords, and bringing peace to an entire country. The last two didn't actually happen, evident by both Khana's shift in storytelling and the looks on her party's faces. She did dream big, if nothing else.

For my part, I told them about my far less benevolent actions with my old group. Murder, dealing drugs, smuggling, racketeering, jury tampering, and interfering with a mail carrier—apparently, one of our guys didn't know that was a felony. Most of what we did was more local, with the smuggling happening during our last active year. We'd seen so much growth it was crazy.

At the height of our power and influence, we could procure and smuggle enough weapons to arm the military of a small country. I knew this because we did exactly that. That was the biggest job we'd ever accomplished, and we wouldn't be able to repeat it. Aside from being a huge strain on our resources, it was soon after that job that we were forced to run away. That led to the final story I gave, about how I had to rescue my family.

To say her party was displeased with my past was an understatement, but all that really mattered was what I was doing now. Now, I was fighting to save the world, personal reward notwithstanding.

We were close to our destination, all of us but Rato on foot. She didn't spend the whole time riding Hailey, but full days of travel—with the occasional sidetrack to kill monsters—wasn't something she was used to. Even before, when it was just the three of us and that other filolial, Rato didn't spend much time moving on her own. Of course, she was also level 1 at first, and we had a lot of ground to cover, but it was still a large difference in activity.

"Damn, little man. You've really gone through a lot." Khana whistled at my story's end as we neared the walls of Shieldfreeden's capital.

"And I'd go through so much more, just for them. I have a good idea who had that bomb planted that killed us. A man I shouldn't have crossed, who I didn't think I had crossed." Since the people around at the time were in the know, I'd told her party about why I was fighting, and my eventual reward. "If I could return home for just a couple hours, I'd kill him and his whole family."

Khana let out a bit of squeamish grunt. "Isn't that a little too far?"

"They were all in the game. I'd be making the world a better place." I joked, though I was serious about my desire to murder. That would be something to ask about the next time I contacted my goddess.

"Wait, just a few hours?" Trusi spoke up. "Why not stay there longer?"

"I have a new career now." I answered simply.

"And they would be better off without him." Omir added.

I stopped in my tracks.

"Dude!" Garth spun around and shouted.

"Am I wrong?" The cat man asked me.

"…No." I said before continuing on.

Omir and Khana were probably the only ones who would have pieced it together. I didn't think I was being particularly forward about it, since bringing them back was my goal, but that was the truth of it. I got them killed. It was my fault. They deserved to have good lives without me in them.

"Sorry about that." Khana moved over and patted my shoulder.

"Don't be. He just said what I already knew." I shrugged.

Khana shook her head. "I'm sorry that's how it is, or how you think it is." She added. "You had a family you'd do anything for. You're literally out to save a completely different world, just for them. But from what you've told us, you kept killing people for money when you didn't need to."

I didn't respond. She was right on that, too. I didn't need to keep doing what I had been. We had plenty of money, more than enough for Eddy to start his restaurant and pay his employees for years, in addition to a house for his family and one for me. I helped in the restaurant early on, but I wasn't satisfied with that. I became a private detective and bounty hunter, but that still wasn't enough.

I liked killing. I was good at killing. And because of how people are, I'd always have a job.

My family's deaths were on me. It was my responsibility to make it right, to bring them back to life, and to never trouble them again.

The silence lasted until we entered the city. Khana looked to one of the larger buildings. "My friend should be in the senate building around this time."

It was early evening. I didn't know much about medieval senatorial practices, but I wasn't about to dispute her. So, her party and mine made our way over there. Admittedly, I was pretty curious what her friend was like. Aside from being a good politician, I didn't have any information. I hoped she was as good as Khana made her out to be. Eddy would know what to do with the queen, and exactly how smart or stupid my choice would be.

I wish he was here.

Author's Notes:

Anyone want to take a guess where that "mail carrier" line came from?

A little shorter than normal, but I felt like I ended it at a good spot.

In light of FF having yet another issue, this is a reminder I crosspost on AO3.