[Spirit of Lust] Chapter 223: Is she or isn't she? (Patreon)

The resemblance could’ve easily just been a coincidence, but it was one Ishtar couldn’t simply ignore. A gathering of people connected to the supernatural, a woman who looked exactly like someone Ishtar knew from the aether world, working in an area that required martial prowess… It could truly be her.

Johana the Amazon, the woman Ishtar spent some time with right before shit hit the fan in her mother’s kingdom. Her memories stopped just as Queen Inanna was leaving Johana in charge of bringing Ishtar to the material world. After that, Ishtar lost herself to her instincts for a time, roaming the world from host to host until she met Will. The amazon woman had practically left her thoughts. Until now.

‘So how are you going to approach her? You need to be careful in case you’re wrong about this.’

‘I’ll just wing it.’

‘Wing it!?’

Before Will could protest further, Ishtar approached the woman. Tall, fit body, sexy. Her back was straight, her shoulders strong, her general posture relaxed yet ready. A warrior’s stance not unlike Aoi’s, if giving a less refined vibe. She was licking her fingers with gusto after devouring some chicken wings.

Ishtar stood next to the woman, and without looking her way, grabbed a plate and began to serve herself some meat skewers. Then, without turning her eyes away from the food, she asked, “Have you been taking care of the Queen’s sword or did you lose it already?”

The woman’s body stopped. Slowly, her head turned to look down at her.

Will had done some growing over the last few months. He was still only 19 after all. and with Ishtar’s powers influencing the development of his body, he was now standing at 1.76 meters tall. Even so, the woman beside them was a head and a half taller, at least 1.95 meters tall if not the full 2 meters.

“What did you just say, boy?”

“Ah. I’m sorry. I think I made a mistake. I thought you were someone else. You look just like a woman I slept with after having a few drinks. Great fun until things got really tragic. Wild story, that one.”

‘You know, I was going to say you’re making me look bad, but that sounds like something I’d do.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed, not in suspicion, but in curiosity. “Prin… Um… Ishtar?” she whispered.

Ishtar grinned. Hit the nail in the head.

“So it really is you, Johana. I never expected to see you again.”

Johana looked around them. No one was within earshot, so they’d be fine if they talked at an appropriately low volume. “Princess, you… You took over a man’s body, then.”

Ishtar, in Will’s body, shook her head. “This here is William, my partner in every way but sexually, sadly. The limitations of sharing a body, you understand. One day, though. Well, suffice to say we work together, though he’s the one usually using the body. I saw you and had to come check if you really were Johana. I mean… You look just like you did back then. How? You couldn’t have kept your body, right?”

In the aether world, living things are made of, well, aether. The material world doesn’t support aether as well as the other side, so when living  beings cross over, they lose their bodies and become spirits. In order to interact with the world, they must possess another living being, usually a person. If Johana crossed over, she would’ve had to do that. But the body she was in was practically the same as the one she had before.

“Yes, I… I had to possess someone when I came to this world. It’s… complicated and I don’t fully understand it myself. This woman already looked similar to me, being only a few centimeters shorter than I really am, but when I took control, her body… changed. It morphed to something closer to my original shape. My muscles, my strength, my abilities… I’m only slightly weaker than I was back in our world, but my body is mostly like my old one.”

Ishtar tilted her head, curious. “And the girl? The owner of that body?”

“...” Johana grimaced. “I… don’t know. She gave her body to me. I feel her there, but she’s asleep. I don’t hear her, and she doesn’t answer my call. She doesn’t want to wake up.”

“Hmm… I see.” Ishtar sighed. “Spirits need to take advantage of a weak psyche to possess a body. Who knows? Perhaps this girl was tired of living and decided that giving you her life was better than carrying on.”

Johana grimaced further. “That’s cold, Princess. And grim.”

“It is. Will here is not my first host. I’ve had others before. None of them were in a good place.” In pursuit of her instincts, Ishtar did many things that would be considered cruel and cold. She even tried to control Will to do what she wanted, like she did others. The only reason they were in this situation right now was because Will resisted her whispers. Thinking about it, it might be a big reason for why she fell for him. Emotionally beaten and battered, constantly near the breaking point, Will still put one foot in front of the other. Her man was tough. She liked that about him. “So why are you here, Johana? Ah, should I call you by that girl’s name instead?”

“That’s another thing. Her name is also Johana,” the amazon said. “As if the coincidences weren’t enough.”

At this point, Ishtar was willing to believe it wasn’t a coincidence at all, but now wasn’t the time to speculate. “Alright. Then, what are you doing here, Johana? In this party and in this world, for that matter.”

With a wry smile, Johana looked at the buffet table. “I’m at this party because I was invited. Ended up earning myself a reputation with my work. I was promised good food and drink, so here I am.” Fair enough. “As for why I’m in this world… Well, there’s nothing left back in ours. The entire land ravaged by the War of the Kings, and the few people still alive kill each other for scraps. Anyone with any semblance of leadership and the desire to make things better ends up dead. That world is ruined, and I got tired of trying to make it better.”

“...” Ishtar had seen it with her own eyes. Unending wasteland, tribes fighting over resources and land. The incubi and succubi survived thanks to her and Will’s efforts, as well as the fortress they had taken.

“But well, I'm here now,” Johana continued. “And my skills seem to be of use. Taking care of stray spirits causing trouble and going hunting isn’t much different from how I used to live, so I’d like to continue.”

“Oh? And you’re a freelancer, aren’t you? Not working for anyone in particular?”

“Yeah. Why? Do you have a job for me?”

Ishtar smirked. “You know… I just might.”