Disclaimer: See first chapter.
AN:
Locations, some characters, and some situations in this chapter is drawn from the Everquest II game. The dialog is not from the game, however. There is a bit of a lime scene in this chapter but nothing too explicit. If anyone feels the rating should be bumped up, please let me know.
Beta:
Me, Myself, and I still. There are bound to be mistakes, especially dropped final letters and suffixes. If you spot plot holes or other mistakes, feel free to let me know.
[New Halas, Erollis Isle]
New Halas was a small city, a village really, nestled in what appeared to be a crater on the eastern side of Erollis Isle and was dominated by the Cairn of the Huntress, the shrine to Erollisi Marr. The people were mostly barbarians and dwarves but with a surprising number of frogloks and a smattering of other races. The people seemed friendly and were busily going about the tasks of surviving in this harsh environment. The group turned their mount toward the shrine.
As the group approached the shrine, they noticed it was surrounded by a shallow moat with no bridge. A large statue of a beautiful woman filled the interior of the building, which was open to the elements, front and back. The horses waded through the water of the moat and managed to NOT splash Ranma and Shampoo. The group approached a young woman in the garb of a priestess.
"Hello.", Harry greeted the woman. "I'm Harry. My friends and I were directed to seek out this shrine by a paladin of Mithaniel Marr. We are to receive some information about a task we need to do."
"Blessings of Erollisi to you, Harry.", the woman replied. "I'm Sister Aslarya. Although it is my duty to provide information to travelers about our order, I have no information for you. You will need to speak to Priest Aaronolis Swornlove. He is just over there." She pointed to the man.
"Thank you, Sister Aslarya.", Harry said politely. "We will speak with him." The group dismounted and walked over to the indicated man, leading their horses.
"Priest Swornlove? Do you have a moment?", Harry inquired of the man.
"Yes, my friends.", Priest Swornlove said. "Blessings of Erollisi to you. How can I be of service?"
"I'm Harry Potter, this is Ranma Saotome." Harry introduced each of the girls. "A paladin of Mithaniel Marr by the name of Jessolt Lightwalker said we should seek information on our mission here.", Harry told the priest.
"Ah, Jessolt. A fine fellow if a bit uptight. But all paladins seem to be.", Priest Swornlove chuckled. "I do have the information for you or rather, I will. I am waiting on my sources to get back to me which should happen in the next week or so. Your group does look like it could use some rest and relaxation anyway. Plus you need to let your soul bonds grow some before setting out again. New Halas provides housing in Raven's Roost for a nominal maintenance fee. Just go up the second tunnel north of where you entered New Halas and check with Warden Bretta, the innkeeper for the Valor Homesteads. Check back with me in a couple of weeks."
"We will do that.", Harry agreed. "Thank you for your time."
"No, thank you for what you are doing for our world and yours!", Priest Swornlove. "It was nice to meet such a fine group of young people."
[Raven's Roost, New Halas, Erollis Isle]
The passage was where Priest Swornlove had indicated and they followed it into the cavern that housed Raven's Roost. There were a number of buildings inside the cavern, although not seemingly enough to house the city's population. There was an 'open air' tavern near the back of the cavern to the east that seemed to be doing a good business. Along the south wall, there were what appeared to be crafting workstations with a number of vendors among them. Roughly in the center of the area, there was a bank and a vendor. After looking around a bit, a city guard helped them locate Warden Bretta.
The group approached the barbarian woman and introduced themselves.
"We understand that you have a place that we could stay.", Harry said. "Although if space is a problem, we can stay in our tent in an out of the way corner."
"No space is not a problem.", Bretta smiled. "You must the people from another world that Swornlove mentioned were coming. You see, long ago, after the Great Cataclysm where much of the surface of Norrath was destroyed, the mages devised a way to overlay many dwellings in the same space. Something about giving them slightly different frequencies or something like that. For that reason, New Halas is able to offer basic housing for free with just a low weekly maintenance fee. Larger houses are available to purchase with a larger maintenance fee. You just touch the door and the magic will ask you if you want to buy it if you don't own a house at that location. If you do own a house there, then you will be asked if you want to enter. Now, unlike most people I assume you will want to share in order to stay together?"
"Yes, ma'am", Harry replied. "That would be best for now."
"Ok, let me apply an identity marker to have the houses treat your group as though you all were one person.", Bretta requested. "Ok, it's done now. Before you select your house, let me point out the banker, Catherine Bowne, and the broker, Vald Jemgard, just across the way. Vald sells things for people on consignment so his service is a good way to get rid of stuff you don't want or buy hard to find stuff you need. Crafters hang out down by the south wall so if you want to make anything, that is where you go."
"Excuse me, ma'am.", Kasumi said. "I was told to look up a Glin Hammerhelm to learn about crafting. Is he located there?"
"Yes, dear. He's a dwarf that usually hangs out at the east end of the counters.", Bretta told her. "Anything else? If not, have a pleasant stay in New Halas."
Harry led the way to the entrance of the Valor Homesteads and touched the door. After 'purchasing' the room for zero coin, he placed his hand on the door and elected to enter the 'house'. The remainder of the group quickly followed. They arrived in a short entryway which opened out into a large squarish room. The side of the room to the right of the entrance, had a raised area and a bay window pushed out from the square of the room. The window appeared to overlook the Frostfang Sea. The wall across from the entrance way had a stairway going up to a loft room that was above the wall on the left. Under the stairs was what looked to be a storage area. Climbing the stairs, they discovered that the loft had a fireplace in the corner opposite the stairway and bookshelves along the wall to right of the stairs. The wall on the side of the room with the stairs was a half wall that overlooked the room below.
"Kinda bare. Nice space though.", Ranma commented. "We going to bunk in here or set the tent up somewhere outside?"
"We can set the tent up in here.", Daphne informed them. "It will adapt the outside but the inside will still be as we know it."
"Ok, upstairs or down?", Harry asked. After some discussion, it was decided to put it in the corner under the loft closest to the entrance. After Harry positioned it and activated it, it set itself up as usual except that it looked like a ten by ten room with walls that matched the materials of the larger room.
[Tent Living Room]
"Now what?", Ukyo asked the group.
"Since we are going to be here a few weeks, we might as well take a little time to relax and enjoy ourselves.", Harry said. "However, that said, we still need to train, especially in group tactics. So far, we have been able to mostly overpower our foes but I don't expect that to last. We also need to get and stay physically fit. Ranma, if you could teach us martial arts, it would help us shape up and help when we lose a weapon or don't have time to cast a spell."
"That's a good idea!", Ranma answered. "You should never be helpless just because your weapon is knocked out of your hand or your opponent is too close to zap 'em."
"Ok,", Harry continued. "Let's take the rest of the day to look around New Halas and see what there is here. The town seems to be safe but stay sharp anyway. Tonight, we'll work out a schedule that allow us some free time and still moves our training forward. See everybody back here for dinner!" With that the group headed out to explore the town.
[Dinner, Tent Kitchen/Dinning Room]
"Did everybody enjoy exploring?" Harry asked. Receiving affirmatives, he continued, "So what did we discover? Kasumi, you seem excited. Why don't you fill us in on your day?"
"Winky and I went together.", Kasumi began. "We first wandered around the main part of the town and talked to a few merchants. Most of the people are very nice. We noticed a few training and guild halls but we didn't visit them. We then returned to Ravens' Roost where we spent most of our time with the crafting trainer, Mr. Hammerhelm. It turns out the local crafting guild, the Ravens of the North, offer training at no cost! Well, except for materials and recipe manuals. Winky and I have already trained to be basic crafters. She loves to cook so she is now a Provisioner which will allow her to create meals we can eat on the go that will boost our abilities. I'm going to be an Alchemist so I can create healing and treatment potions as well as poisons for Nabiki and Ukyo. There are nine different crafting trades and I think we should each pick one to complement our adventuring profession and to support each other. I wrote my suggestions down." She handed a list to Harry who looked at it, nodded, and passed it to Ranma. (1)
"Hmm, I wonder if you can make our kind of potions as well.", Harry mused. "Maybe you could get with Daphne or Hermione to find out. I think training in crafting is a great idea. It will provide us with some to do like a hobby would and make sure we have decent equipment. We may even be able to make some money at it. Anyway, Hermione, how was your afternoon?"
"Luna and I went together into the main part of New Halas where we saw the same things Kasumi described.", Hermione replied. "We found that the guild halls sell training scrolls to teach new or improved skills and spells. We also found a combined library and bookstore which kind of took up the rest of our afternoon." Harry smirked and Hermione stuck out her tongue. "I found a lot of language training manuals of which I bought copies for each of us. Just read it to learn the language. It will disappear afterward due to that copyright spell but it works. I found that if you know the language already, you will not be able to open it. Luna also bought a bunch of books but hers were bestiaries. They don't vanish when you read them so she put them in the library. The book merchant did suggest that we check the bookshops in Qeynos as they may have larger selections."
"Qeynos?", Ranma asked.
"It is the capitol of the 'good' empire and the largest city we will likely be able to visit. Freeport is about the same size but we would not be welcome there. It is the capitol of the 'evil' empire.", Hermione answered. "Not that there is not evil to be found in Qeynos or good to be found in Freeport. We also obtained maps of Norrath and all of its major areas. They are charmed to always show our current location, even if we are separated. That's all I have for now."
"Nabiki, I noticed you and Daphne were wandering around together. What did you discover?", Harry inquired.
"Since Daphne and I are keepers of the groups finances, we decided to check out the broker we were told about. It turns out selling some of the stuff through him will net a much larger return than if we just sold it to a regular vendor. We left the stuff we don't need that is not just junk with him. The junk we unloaded to a merchant outside the town's warehouse. Some of that only netted a few coppers but, hey, every copper helps. We checked out a couple of places to eat and decided the best place is probably in Ravens' Roost, except for our kitchen, of course. Everything else we saw someone else has already mentioned.", Nabiki reported.
"Ukyo, how about you?"
"Shampoo and I spent most of our time watching the training in the guild halls. They did let us participate if we wanted. The training is pretty good so it would be worthwhile. Everything else we looked at, somebody else has already talked about.", Ukyo informed them.
"The training you mentioned ties into what Ranma and I did.", Harry said. "Ranma, you want to fill them in on what we did?"
"Sure!", Ranma replied. "After a quick look around, we came back here and discussed training and a schedule. Here is what we came up with."
"0630 to 0800 is Martial Arts training except on weekends."(2)
"0800 to 0930 we do our morning personal stuff, do chores, and have breakfast,"
"0930 to 1200 we do personal training. This can be learning crafts, working with a guild, studying, or working in our training room."
"1200 to 1300 we do chores and have lunch."
"1300 to 1500 we have personal time. Do what you want!"
"1500 to 1830 we do training as a group in our training room."
"1830 to 2000 we cleanup, do chores, and have dinner."
"2000 to 2300 we have social time for the group."
"2300 to 0630 we sleep."
"Usually on the weekend, there will be no training although we would like to have you do some light exercise such as walking or running. Chores will still need to be done and we would like to keep the meal times the same. Of course, this all goes out the window if we are on a mission. Then we will adjust to the situation but keep as much of the training and personal time as we can. Any questions or comments?", Ranma concluded.
"I would have thought you would want to be training constantly.", Nabiki said.
"Harry convinced me that all work and no play made Harry a dull boy.", Ranma replied and ducked under a head slap from Harry. "Seriously, we need the downtime so our body and minds can adjust."
"So anytime we are not actively on a mission or traveling, we follow this schedule?", Daphne asked.
"Yes. We will try to keep up the morning training and the evening social time even then but obviously that may not happen. Night missions, recovery from injuries, needing to split up, and the like may require adjustments.", Ranma replied. "Training starts tomorrow at oh-six-thirty. Wear pants and a loose top for the first week. After that we will train in your usual combat outfits. Since nobody opted to wear one of those long robe thingies, we won't have to change out your combat gear. Now who is up for a game of Go or exploding snaps?"
[Tent Training Room, Next morning]
Ranma faced the group of slightly sleepy students as he addressed them.
"Ok, spread out a bit. I had the Training Room provided mats to cover the floor instead of using cushioning charms because we will eventually need to work on bare ground. The mats start getting you used to that. The first thing we are going to learn is how to fall but before that we are going to stretch out. Most injuries from exercise can be avoided if you stretch properly before you begin. Doing your stretches every day helps you when you don't have a chance before hand like in a surprise attack. Ok, everybody stand with your feet spread out just about shoulder width apart and your arms straight out to your sides. Now, keeping your arms straight, touch your left toes with your right hand. ...Good!... Now do the other side..."
"...Now touch your right toes with your right hand. Same to the left. Back to the right..."
"...Sit down with your legs stretched out in front of you at 45 degree angle like this. Reach your hands over your toes. Both hands, Luna. Now pull back on your toes for a count of ten. One, two...ten. Relax. Now again..."
"...Ok, tuck your right foot into your left leg like this. Now put your hands behind your head and touch your forehead to your right knee. Sit back up. Again. Sit up..."
"...Ok, now that we have done a bit of exercise to get warmed up, sit down and rest a bit. We are going to start learning how to fall. Anybody who thinks that they will never get knocked down or lose their footing is a fool and on this world, probably dead sooner rather than later. It is always best to fall so that the impact is on your back just below your shoulders, NOT on your neck. I will teach you how to fall backwards from an upright stance and not get hurt or have the wind knocked out of you. I will teach you how to roll out of a forward fall and spin to face your opponent. I will teach you how to recover from a fall while protecting yourself and even attacking. Now the first thing we are going to do is how to recover from a fall. Watch me while I demonstrate. Sitting on your right knee with your left foot straight out in front of you. Your right knee should be parallel to the width of your torso. Keeping your chin tucked into your chest, roll back on your right leg and kick your legs into the air while slapping both palms down to your sides. Switch legs while they are in the air and roll up onto your LEFT leg with your right foot forward. Watch me a few time and then we will all do it..."
"...Now to fall from a standing position, you need to tuck your chin to your chest, bend your knees keeping your feet flat on the ground, slap the ground with both palms and exhaling as you hit on your shoulders. If you make a 'Aiyah!' sound as you exhale it helps. This is called a Kiai in Japanese. Watch closely while I demonstrate..."(3)
"...For the last part of this session, I'll show you a few block and we will practice them. We'll start with the block for an overhead blow. Harry, if you would take a club and swing it slowly the first time..."
"...Now we need to do some simple stretches and walk around a bit to cool down some. We will go over this again in future sessions but we will mix it up a bit so it doesn't get too boring. The next session, which will be tomorrow, I'd like to have Shampoo and Ukyo assist me as a lot of this is old hat to them plus we will work some with weapons. Now, let's get get cleaned up, do our chores, and get some breakfast! Oh darn, my day to cook breakfast."
[Team's 'House' Window Seat, Personal Time]
Hermione sat on a cushion leaning her shoulder against the window with her legs curled up in under her the way that females do. She was holding a book in her lap but was looking out over the Frostfang Sea with a contemplative look on her face. Harry walked up and sat down behind her and began rubbing her back. She smiled briefly at his reflection in the window.
"Missing home?", he asked.
"Some.", she replied. "I miss my parents. I realize one day won't make a difference to them but it will be months or even years for me. Still, I'm used to being away from them at Hogwarts so I'm used to it now. I miss some of our other friends like Neville, Susan, and Hannah but I have some good friends here and have made some new ones. Plus there is lots to learn and explore."
"What! Not missing Ron?, he kidded her.
"Strangely, no.", she said seriously. "When the soul bond began to form, it seemed to wash away any thoughts of me loving Ron. I talked to Daphne about it and she thinks my feelings for Ron were potion induced because the soul bond cannot form if you have real romantic love for someone not in the bond. The bond purges any potions or compulsions that may be in effect."
"You mean Ron has been giving you love portions!", he said angrily.
"Not necessarily Ron.", she said leaning into him to calm him down. "It could have been Molly since she is always trying to pair us up and you with Ginny. It could have been someone else entirely. How you you feel about Ginny, by the way?"
"More like a little sister unless she is a potion princess. Then I'm going to be angry."
"Wait until we get back and can investigate. Until then try not to think about it.", she admonished him. "Harry, do you understand what the soul bond means, I mean fully?"
"Other than mind talking and knowing where you all are? You mentioned romantic love so I'm guessing that is part of it."
"It does. All of the girls on your team are in love with you. The 'I want to be with you forever and have your kids' kind of love. I finally realized I have been in love with you since you saved me from the troll in first year. Luna fell in love with you for being her friend. Daphne began to fall for you because of how you treated people. Winky's love changed when she became a wood elf but she has loved you since she bonded with you as a house elf."
"Wait, she was bonded to me!?", he exclaimed.
"Yes, so was Dobby. They need a bond to survive and chose you. I found out when Winky explained about house elves. They were a bit sneaky about it but Dobby talked Winky into it.", she giggled.
"So what does that mean to the soul bond?"
"Winky's bond was converted into the forming soul bond so she is just like Daphne, Luna, and me."
"You said forming soul bond!", he exclaimed. "What does that mean?"
"There is one step left to complete the soul bond. Until it is complete, the bond can be broken but it is painful and extremely depressing to the ones cast out. No, you can't just cast yourself out as you are central to all the bonds in our group. Once it is complete, magic will see us as married and we should gain some new abilities such as being able to shift to each other."
"So completing all the bonds will give me four wives. How is that possible?"
"Daphne says you would be able to have multiple wives even without the bond as you are the sole surviving heir to the House of Potter and you are probably the heir to the House of Black. There could be other titles you inherit as well. We need to check with the goblins when we get back. Daphne and Luna could also be Line Continuation marriages where they keep their name and their children are heirs to House Greengrass and House Lovegood. The bond will keep us from getting jealous of each other no matter what titles we may or may not have. How do you feel about completing the bond with us?"
"I have grown to love you all. I have loved you for a long time, I just thought you fancied Ron. Luna is a little sweetheart. Daphne may be the Ice Queen but she is warm hearted to me. Winky is so devoted I can't help but love her. What is the next step?"
"We girls have just been waiting on you. I'll let you know soon.", Hermione said with a smile.
"How does this affect Ranma and his girls?"
"They have the same kind of bond we do, just not with us. Magic will still recognize them as married even if the Japanese government does not. I suspect the government will, though. Kasumi and Nabiki say Ranma's mother will be trilled with how manly her son is."
"Does Ranma know all this?"
"Kasumi is going to explain it to him.", Hermione said and pulled him into a kiss.
[Tent Training Room, 1500 hours]
The group was arranged facing Harry and Ranma. Behind them were twenty training golems outfitted as for various professions. Harry started the session off.
"We have done pretty well so far but we have also been lucky. What we are going to work on today is situational awareness. Most of us have spells or attacks that have an area effect. Some of these will only target active hostiles in range. A lot of them will hit any potential opponent in range thus change non-hostile passersby into actively hostile enemies. We also need to be aware of where our teammates are and what their status is. We definitely don't need any 'friendly-fire' incidents. Our Norrath spells won't affect us but our Earth magic will so don't hit anyone and don't get hit."
"Behind us are twenty training golems. They are golems because the will move and fight almost like real opponents. When we start, ten of them will become immediately hostile and begin fighting us. The other ten are grouped in two groups of five and will just wander around and ignore the fight unless hit. The neutral group that is hit will attack the group that hit it which will be us."
"The golem attacks will not be fatal but will stun you if the blow would have been fatal or would knock you out of the fight. Debilitating blows will disable the body part. Our healers will be able to revive you if they are not stunned themselves. Note that the golems have healers as well." Harry turned to Ranma and indicated he should proceed.
"We are going to use what will probably be our standard formation against an enemy attacking from one direction. We have others for two, three, and four sided battles which hopefully will not occur. We will probably have others for different situations."
"For the single direction formation, Shampoo and I will be in front with Shampoo on my left. Ukyo will be slightly behind me to my right. Harry will be slightly behind Shampoo to the left. The rest of the mages will be behind them several paces back. Kasumi and Luna will be in the back with Nabiki to protect them and provide ranged support. When Harry starts the session, move quickly to your position, aligning on me. The training session will end when all hostile golems are down, we are all down, or either Harry or I stop it. In a real fight we wouldn't have the luxury of asking but does everybody understand and are you ready?"
At the general affirmative, Harry shouted, "Session COMENCE!"
Immediately, a ranger golem fired an arrow at Kasumi which Shampoo parried as the group moved into place. Hermione cast a restricted Mesmerize spell to take at least some of the attackers out of the picture for a while although a couple of them resisted it. Daphne gained control of one attacking golem and sent it back to attack the others. Winky sent Stoney to aid the fighters while Jane stayed with the mages to protect them while still casting her own spells.(4)
The golem fighters and scouts not frozen by Hermione quickly moved to melee range and engaged the four on the front line. Luna cast a shield to protect the mages from some enemy spell fire while Kasumi cast battle aids and healed some disable body parts. Nabiki targeted the opposing healers and mages.
Things were going fairly well with a few golems down and no major 'injuries' for the group until a golem dodged one of Nabiki's arrows and it hit a neutral golem behind it. "Oh, shit!" was Nabiki's comment.
Five new golems entered the fray and broke the mez on the original hostile golems as well as reviving the downed ones. The numerical odds were now in the golems favor and they took advantage of it. Luna got hit with a spell that took her and Snowball out of the fight and Kasumi was too hard pressed to revive her. Ukyo took a blow to the head which opened a gap allowing fighters to close with the mages. Stoney moved back to protect Winky. An arrow hit Daphne taking her down and releasing her pet back to the enemy.
Hermione, Winky, and Harry began casting their limited AE spells as fast as they could while defending themselves from the closing attackers. Nabiki added to the damage and finally managed to take out the enemy healers and started to concentrate on the hostile mages but a spell put her out of the battle. Fortunately, Shampoo and Ranma finished the last of the fighters and scouts allowing them to move among the opposing mages. Soon all the actively hostile golems were down and the session ended.
After the Training Room revived Luna, Ukyo, Daphne, and Nabiki, Harry had them gather in a circle on the floor.
"That was a bit intense! Shows you how fast things can go to Hades in a hand basket!", Harry commented. "Anyone have any comments on what we did wrong or could have done better?"
"I need to pay attention to my target's background!", Nabiki grumbled.
"We all do!", Ranma told her. "When we use a ranged weapon or a spell that can be dodged or ducked, we need to be aware of what we may hit if we miss our target. You were just the one that got bit that time. Also, if we swing a sword in a circle, we need to be aware of what it may hit. That situational awareness is what we are trying to train for in this session. Actually, it will probably what we constantly train for. Anything else?"
"We really need to do better in protecting our healers.", Hermione said. "When Luna got taken out, Kasumi was too busy to revive her. That lead to several others falling since Luna does most of our shields."
"Agreed!", Harry said. "What can we do to better protect them?"
"Harry, why don't we swap you and Nabiki in our formation?", Ukyo suggested. "Although you are very good with that sword, Nabiki is better armored to stand toe-to-toe. Plus you can cast shields with Earth magic to protect Kasumi and Luna while still doing the ranged work that Nabiki was doing."
"That is a good idea, Ukyo!", Ranma agreed. "His ranged spells might not have quite the range of Nabiki's bow but it would be enough. Besides, it gives him a tactical view that we don't have in the front line of the battle. Any other comments?" After looking around, he continued, "Let's set this up again swapping Harry and Nabiki and try it again!"
Later, after four more practice battles, three of which the team won handily, Ranma summed the practice up.
"We did fairly well but we can do better. It was bad luck that Kasumi got knocked into the two neutral golems behind us and they took it as an attack. Because of things like that, we need to smoothly shift from a single front battle to a two, three, or four front battle. Of course, in real battles we are going to do our darnedest to never be out numbered or surrounded even if we have to use the bug out option! If no one has anything else, let's get cleaned and get ready for dinner!"
[Tent, Harry's Room, 2315 hours]
Hermione slipped in the door and dropped her robe to the floor leaving her wearing only a very revealing nightie. She moved over the the bed and shook Harry's shoulder.
"Whaa!", Harry started awake. "Hermione, what are you doing here?", he said confused.
"It's time for the next step, Harry.", she said with a smile and kissed him. She pulled back the covers and straddled his crotch. She then reached up and pulled her nightie off leaving her totally nude.
"Like what you see, Harry?", she said in a sultry tone of voice.
"Uh, huh!", he sort of gurgled in the affirmative.
"Good!", she said. "Now let's get rid of those pesky shorts!"
Later, as they both climaxed, a golden glow surrounded them and branched off to the other occupied rooms on that side of the hall. The glow faded as they collapsed into each others arms.
"WOW! That was incredible!", Harry gasped. "Can we do that again!?"
"Anytime you want, Harry my love.", Hermione replied. "But remember the other girls need their turns as well. They are going to be very pleased with the size of your 'wand'!"
"I'll do my best for them, my dear, but I meant can we do it again NOW!"
"My, my, your 'wand' does seem to be ready for another go and I doubt I'll ever get enough so...", she said and kissed him as she lay back. He slid between her legs and soon the golden glow was back.
Harry's other three girls had some very interesting dreams that night. Several times.
[Tent, Ranma's Room, 2320 hours]
Kasumi slipped into Ranma room and found him still awake. He looked at her with a question in his eyes. She dropped her robe leaving her wearing only a pair of black lace panties.
"What's going on Kasumi?", Ranma asked. "Man, she's very beautiful!", he thought to himself.
"It's time for the next step in the bond, Ranma", she told him as she slowly slid her panties off.
"The next step?", he asked. "Kasumi, you are very beautiful!", he said repeating his thought out loud.
"Make love to me, Ranma.", she requested. "I love you so much!"
"What about Nabiki, Shampoo, and Ukyo?", he wanted to know.
"They will get their turns over the next few nights. Now please make love to me."
So he did as she requested and soon there was another golden glow branching out to the rooms on Ranma side of the hall.
[Two weeks later, Cairn of the Huntress]
After Hermione and Kasumi finalized their bonds, the other girls did as well in the days after. All were very pleased with the results. The girls kept their own rooms but enlarged Harry and Ranma's beds so the girls all slept with their mates. The guys quickly got very used to it and couldn't ever think of going back to sleeping alone.
They discovered one new ability so far which was to shift to the location of any other bond member. They figured that ability would be very useful. Hermione and Daphne felt there should be others but either they hadn't developed yet or they hadn't been discovered.
Harry and Ranma were a bit worried about pregnancies before completing the mission and having to leave one or more of the girls behind but Hermione and Daphne assured them that the bond would prevent any babies until the family was ready to take care of them.
The team was once again meeting with Priest Swornlove about their mission after he sent message to let them know his information had arrived.
"Ah, my friends!", Swornlove greeted them. "I see you have completed your bonds. Please accept my congratulations on your new status."
"Thank you, sir.", Harry replied.
"First some good news!", Swornlove began. "On your journey here you destroyed two dark crystals. These were being used to power the drain on your world and their destruction weakened your enemy though not enough. You will need to find more of his power taps and destroy them to weaken him enough to finally stop him. You do not need to find all of them, just enough to weak him so you can take him out."
"My informants tell me that the gnolls are up to something in the Thundering Steppes. Of course, the gnolls are always up to something but this seems to be different. They are kidnapping travelers, apparently to use in some ritual. Also the undead in the south of that land need to be investigated."
"Another area to look into is Nektulos Forest where some zombies and other undead are protecting something just to the west of Marr's Assent. When you go there be on your toes as Nektulos Forest is the definition of a hostile environment. Just the thought of the bats, spiders, snakes, and other nasties gives me the creeps."
"You should also check out Butcherblock Mountains to see what the Kragploom Aviaks are up to. You need a head for heights when you investigate them as they live high on the cliffs overlooking the bay below. Butcherblock also swarms with Kobolds, Bugbears, and other unfriendly wildlife."
"After you check out those areas, travel to Qeynos and talk to one of the priests in the Temple of Life. He or she should have more information for you by then."
"Harry, since you are a wizard, you could open a portal and travel directly to the wizard spire in the Thundering Steppes or Nektulos Forest but I recommend that you go down to the docks here and use the World Bell. It is a glowing globe that if you touch it will allow you to select a destination and, after you confirm it, transport you there. It will place you on the docks where you will need to be to ask questions of the locals. You could also take the griffin to Butcherblock and then a ship to one of the other areas but that is slooow."
"If you need to take on other jobs to support yourselves, you should do so. Just don't spend too much time on side issues."
"Thank you for your help, sir.", Harry said. "We will do our best to eliminate the threat to our worlds."
"Go with the blessings of the Marrs, my friends.", Swornlove said. "I expect to hear great things of you."
TBC
Author Notes:
(1) List is the same as previously noted.
(2) I'm using a 24 hour clock or as it is called in the US, military time. Strangely, Norrath has a 24 hour day.
(3) These are all things I learned in my martial arts classes. However, if you want do try these, find a reputable instructor and take lessons from them. I at one time held low level belts in jujutsu and karate. I doubt I could execute a roll or block these days with out breaking something vital.
(4) Remember Stoney, Jane, and Snowball are Winky, Hermione, and Luna's pets. Daphne can have a pet but it is never named as it is a charmed enemy.