"Wake up, Magmae..."
"Oh, is it... is it the start of the day?" Magmae asked with a yawn. "I can never tell... when the skies are always this dark."
"I can feel it. You can take my word for it." Ashlynn smiled faintly as she gently carressed Magmae's cheek, feeling the softness of the fire-resistant mattress that she and Magmae were lying on, their bodies soothed by the silk-esque material of the bed. "Everything good? You've been at my place for three days already... feeling well?"
"I never thought I'd be anywhere else but the scrapyard... let alone at the place of such a magnificent woman like you. Thank you so much..." Magmae smiled in relief as she looked Ashlynn in the eyes while lying on her side, occasionally drifting off to admire the woman's immense muscles and bulbous breasts. "I never felt anywhere more at ease, more safe, more loved... than with you."
"Come here..." Ashlynn said as the two Pyrhenes gave each other a morning hug, their arms wrapped around each other's backs. "Ever since my dearest Brock passed away, I felt that I would never feel any love in this bed ever again. But you have proven me wrong, Magmae..."
"It's been my pleasure..." Magmae said as she continued to smile, contently carressing Ashlynn's black ponytail. "Ashlynn..."
"You may be wondering whether I truly moved on from Brock's passing. I have, but... some desires can not be extinguished forever. It can only be laid to rest until it is re-ignited from another soul's presence. And that one is you, Magmae." Ashlynn explained. "I always felt something peculiar since I first met you... it was only recently that it was more than just your skill that filled me with awe. It was your courage. Your strength. Your willingness to endure hardship to keep doing what your heart desires. Your kindness. Your beauty, inside and outside. You were the soul that I needed."
"You're welcome..." Magmae chuckled a bit, crying a single tear of joy. With a nod of mutual understanding, they shared a kiss, after which their physical embrace ended. "I love you..."
"Let's get us some breakfast, love..." Ashlynn stood up. She dressed herself in her signature swimsuit, the fabric made of hardened volcanic ash seamlessly clinging onto her. Magmae followed suit.
"Morning!" Calidia called from the living room as her mother and her teammate emerged from the bedroom. They sat down at the tungsten table, after which Calidia handed them marble plates stacked with pancakes and syrup from a chocolate-like crystal.
"Thank you, Calidia." Ashlynn said, immediately digging in as she began to consume the large stack of pancakes to satiate her demanding body.
"Any news?" Magmae asked shyly as she took some bites from her breakfast.
"It came to my attention that the election results are in. Over a million Tephra have voted. Now, the Council has been put together again in the wake of Altezar's well-deserved defeat." Calidia said with a smile as she ate some pancakes of her own, satisfied as she looked at Magmae and Ashlynn eating their pancakes. "I also hear that Incinera Clastflow is being escorted to the guillotine."
"But... the seven days, they haven't passed yet..." Magmae raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"One can request their execution before the deadline, provided that the convict is entirely sure of their decision while making it abundantly clear that they have no interest in appealing the sentence." Calidia explained. "Learned that in school recently. It's been over a thousand years since a Tephra requested an earlier execution."
"What even is the point?" Magmae asked.
"Guess she wants to send a message. Or maybe it's some twisted expression of her loyalty to Altezar while trying to be a martyr. Trying, since no one will sympathize with her. Ever. In either case, good riddance to her. That pathetic little woman." Ashlynn grunted as she finished her stack, followed by a knock on the gate. "Coming."
"Hey!" Ignisabeth greeted Ashlynn after the door was opened.
"You're earlier than I expected." Ashlynn gave Ignisabeth an approving nod.
"According to plan. Better too early than too late." Ignisabeth crossed her arms in response.
"Magmae is still eating her pancakes. Hope you can wait for a minute..." Ashlynn said.
"Oh, I can. I actually left the house a while ago... I just took a bit of a detour to witness Incinera's execution. Was hard to see with such an enormous crowd, but I did manage to see the end result." Ignisabeth smiled.
"She had any last words?" The Amazonian woman asked curiously.
"Hail Altezar." Ignisabeth chuckled. "That's all she said. Just the pathetic little Incinera that we know. Think she took this way out because she wanted to die on her terms, not to mention that child murderers like her aren't really respected in prison... unwilling to face the consequences. What a coward."
"Hey, Ignisabeth..." Magmae said as she made her way to the gate.
"Alright. Guess our first training session of today can commence.' Ashlynn said sternly after which she turned back towards the entrance for a brief moment. "Calidia! We're having our training session outside now. Take care, my dear!"
"Yes, mom!" Calidia called back. "Good luck on your training session!"
"What's the exercise?" Ignisabeth asked excitedly as she looked around. At the familiar dark skies and the many hills with veins of lava, standing like sentinels as rivers of bubbling lava flowed inbetween them, large sparks of flame flying up and hovering around like fireflies.
"Very straightforward. Instead of taking another ride with a Kettenkrad or going for a walk with breaks, the assignment is to run from this point to the newly repaired Eruption arena without taking a single break inbetween. No hesitation. Ninety minute time limit." Ashlynn said. "It does not matter who is the fastest. No price if you outrun me, which has never happened so far either ways. What matters is sticking to the time limit and showing no hesitation. Copy that?"
"Yes, chief." Ignisabeth saluted.
"Clear." Magmae said with a faint smile.
"Alright. On your marks... ready... set..." Ashlynn said as she, Ignisabeth and Magmae entered their starting positions by placing their hands against the hot volcanic ground. "GO!" And the Alphas were on their merry way, running to the Eruption stadium with all their strength. All part of another lovely and peaceful day in the mystically searing world called Magma Heaven.
THE END