None of the others accosted Tom for semen for the remainder of the day, which was a relief. As much as he'd enjoyed Erubetie, he'd expected more from Alice. With her snake anatomy he had hopes for all kinds of exotic sex play, but instead all he'd gotten was an awkward hand job and a lot of boasting about what were actually pretty midlevel skills. Not only that, but she'd hurt him a little. His penis needed a rest.

Tom took back his computer for a few hours to get some work done, but cut his work day short since he knew the monster girls would be eager to resume their search. When he finished work, Alma Elma took over internet duties. Tom took the thick sheaf of paper that Tamamo had printed back to his room. Alas, he could make neither heads nor tails of any of it either.

One printout caught his attention, however: Tamamo no mae. Tamamo had a legendary counterpart on Earth? Interesting. Some kind of Japanese fox goddess. Evil as hell, too. Then again, Tamamo had admitted to being a pretty bad person long ago. Tom idly wondered if Earth's Tamamo, assuming she was real, would have mellowed as the Tamamo he knew had mellowed.

The rest were simply conspiracy theory websites as well as some news reports that provided no evidence that there were actually non-humans among us. Or time travelers. He knew it was only the first full day using the internet to find answers, but he began to wonder if even Google could help with this particular problem.

"So…. What does it mean when you say you're the Monster Lord?" Tom asked as the group sat around the dinner table. His question was of course directed to Alice.

"It means I am the supreme monarch over all monsters," Alice declared proudly. "These four whom you have met are my Heavenly Knights. They are most highest ranking subordinates."

"So you're a queen?"

"Alipheese is no mere queen," Granberia scoffed. "Queens bend the knee to her."

"The Monster Lord is the supreme leader of all monsters," Tamamo explained. "That being said, she's not an absolute monarch. Some of the queens are of their particular tribes, but their cultures vary widely. That's why it's not practical for a Monster Lord to rule directly. Directives from the Monster Lord are few and far between and only on issues that affect all monsters around the world."

"Yes, it would be presumptuous of me to purport to control how the tribes govern themselves," Alice added. "The only monsters I order around directly are the monsters in my castle."

Tom glanced at Tamamo. "I don't mean to be presumptuous myself," Tom said uncertainly. "But it seems like Tamamo handles most of the decisions. Is she the hand of the Monster Lord or something like that?"

"You've already experienced the hand of the Monster Lord," Alice quipped. "But if you mean a person who runs things for me when I'm otherwise occupied…"

"Which is all the time…." Tamamo muttered.

"Doing important Monster Lord…. Stuff….." Alice continued, ignoring Tamamo's snide remark. "Anyway, I'm newly ascended. Tamamo has been the caretaker until recently. I have only given one direct order to all of monsterkind: attack humans only in self defense."

"Which we are doing…" Granberia noted. "Vigorously."

"And we really should be getting back to our self defense," Alma Elma added. "Who knows what Ilias is doing with us gone?"

"While I have my reservations about your actions lately," Alice said. "I concur. This has Ilias' fingerprints all over it. I'm sure my cute little subordinates are in grave danger!"

"Alma Elma, you were working on the internet last," Tamamo said, turning to the succubus, who as usual had only meat on her plate. "Did you find anything useful?"

"Tom likes vore," Alma Elma replied matter of factly.

"You looked at my bookmarks!?" Tom screamed, utterly mortified.

"You like vore, do you?" Alice asked, making a point of grabbing the largest roll she could find and stuffing the entire thing in her mouth easily.

"Interesting," Erubetie observed. "Do you wish to be eaten?"

"No!" Tom stammered. "it's not like that… I just like… oral stuff. That's all, honest!"

"Among other fetishes," Alma Elma chortled. "Feet, too."

"Boooo…." Alice replied. "I can't help you there."

"I like breasts too!" Tom yelled, digging himself even deeper.

"Do you, now?" Alma Elma giggled, puffing out and shaking her chest.

"Leave him alone," Granberia muttered in irritation. "You violated his privacy. Do not twist the knife by torturing him over what you found."

"He had a horse giving a man head in his browser history."

"WHAT?! No I didn't!" Tom protested.

"Actually… that was me," Tamamo said, embarrassed. Everyone stared at her. "What?! It's not like I was looking for that! It just came up on my screen!"

"And you watched it for ten minutes?" Alma Elma asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, didn't you?!"

"I watched the whole thing twice. That horse is talented,"Alma Elma admitted grudgingly. "I might have to incorporate a couple of those techniques. I'd better go watch it again to make sure I've got It down."

"Alma!" Tamamo growled. "Did… you… find… anything… that can GET US HOME!?"

"Oh…. No, not really."

Tamamo bashed her head against the table repeatedly.

"And what was with the cat videos?" Alma Elma asked Tamamo. "You spent a full hour watching those."

"CATS ARE CUTE AND FUNNY, OKAY!?"

Tom awakened after another poor night's sleep. This time he wasn't so out of it that he failed to remember that his pool was sentient. Such things are not easily forgotten. So instead of going for a swim, Tom walked through his gym and exited through another door that led him to the indoor racquetball court. Some good cardio before breakfast was just what he thought he needed.

Granberia was on the court, wielding her sword, practicing. She looked different. Instead of armor, she was wearing one of the T-shirts he kept in the guest room she currently occupied. A pair of shorts complemented the shirt. Tom had to admit she looked good in his clothes.

"Up awfully early, aren't you?" Tom asked genially.

"Oh, hello, Tom," Granberia said, briefly halting her practice to greet him before resuming it again, swinging mightily at an invisible opponent.

"Do you get into a lot of swordfights in your world?" Tom asked.

"All the time," Granberia replied, this time not stopping her workout.

"So…. You've killed people, huh?"

Granberia stopped again and glared at him. "If you must know, yes," she confirmed. "I am a warrior. Death is the warrior's way. That being said, I only kill the strong. And only in honorable battle. I do not attack the weak, and if the weak attack me, I use only as much force as necessary to end the threat they pose. Of course, I must humiliate them afterwards. It is our way."

"Our way?" Tom asked. "Never mind. So you're a soldier? You've only killed when it's your duty?"

"I do not wish to speak of it any further," she huffed, resuming her training once again. "You are not a warrior. I only talk about battle with those who have experienced it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry," Tom replied. "It's just…. When I hear that I've got people who have killed in my house, I need to know that they won't decide to kill me on a whim."

"No one here is going to kill you unless you betray us," Granberia said.

"You mean, like turn you into the authorities?"

"Are we somehow against your laws?" Granberia asked, stopping again. "Are we illegal beings, to be imprisoned or slaughtered simply for existing? If so, you humans of this world are no different than the humans of ours. The only difference is that you are strong enough to accomplish it."

"And that's why you've been forced to trust me," Tom concluded. "I get it, I really do. I know you don't like me."

"I never said that!"

"You're not very friendly like the others," he pointed out.

"I can be very friendly!" Granberia protested.

"Well, you did defend me when Alma Elma humiliated me, so I appreciate that," he said sincerely.

"Alma Elma sometimes lacks good taste or honor," she replied, smirkinig. "It cannot be helped. She cannot be anything but what she is. None of us can."

That sounded like an invitation to a philosophical debate, but it didn't seem like Granberia was in the mood, and if Tom was being honest, neither was he.

"So…. Since you're here," Tom said. "Want to play against me?"

"Play? I do not play. Children play."

"Compete, then? In a contest?"

"What kind of contest?" Granberia asked suspiciously.

"Well….." Tom said, walking over to the entrance to the court and grabbing two rackets hanging from a nail on the wall. "We call this racquetball. These are rackets…." He said, then reached into his pocket to pull out a blue ball. "And this is the ball."

"Sounds simple enough," Granberia said. "So you are challenging me to a duel?"

"A duel?" Tom asked, now a little nervous. "No, it's actually a ga- a competition. Here, why don't you put down that incredibly dangerous looking sword and take this racket?"

Granberia reluctantly put the sword down in a corner of the court and accepted the small racket.

"This is the worst weapon I've ever seen," she pronounced. "Not even fit for a child."

"It's a weapon in the sense that you use it to hit this ball," Tom explained, holding up the ball and lightly serving it against the wall.

Granberia watched as the ball bounced past her.

"I don't get it," she said. "The ball isn't any more dangerous than the racket."

"It's not supposed to be! The idea is to hit the ball! Here," Tom said, retrieving the blue sphere. "I'm going to serve again. This time, when it bounces off the wall, you hit it, okay?"

"I understand."

"All right, then," Tom said, serving the ball to the wall lightly a second time.

This time Granberia was ready, striking the ball so hard that it ricocheted at incredible speed off the wall and whizzed past his left ear before he could even react. That would have stung if it had hit him!

"Damn it!" Granberia cursed. "I missed!"

"No, no, that was excellent, you hit the wall!"

"It is literally impossible to miss the wall," she pointed out. "The wall was not my true target."

"Wait, you were trying to- No, no, no, Granberia, that's not how the…. Competition is… contested."

"It's not?"

"No, you see, the idea is to make me miss," Tom explained. "it's a game of power, speed and accuracy."

"So is swordsmanship."

"Exactly! When you hit the ball, it has to be over that line on the wall. Then it comes back to me, and I also have to hit it above that line. If it gets past me and reaches the wall in back of us, you get a point."

"So the object is to miss you, not hit you?"

"That's right!" Tom replied.

"That sounds dumb, but I accept the terms of your challenge," Granberia said, in a tone as serious as if she was playing for the Wimbledon championship. "I will defeat you."

"You can try," Tom laughed. "But I've been playing this game for years. This is your first time. I'll serve first. I'm going to play at full speed this time, so get ready!"

"I am prepared," Granberia said, adopting a fighting stance.

Tom served the ball as hard as he could. Granberia returned it twice as hard. But this time Tom was ready and was able to return it while taking only two steps to his left. Granberia swung mightily at the ball, but it bounced off the side of her racket.

"Shit! Shit Shit Shit Shit!" she roared.

"Granberia, don't take it so hard. It's just a…. um… a competition."

"I want a rematch!"

"That was just the first point!" Tom laughed. "We'll play to ten, how about that?"

"Then you shall lose 10-1!" Granberia promised.

"Okay, you serve," Tom said, flipping the ball to her. Granberia glared as she caught it.

Tossing the ball in the air, Granberia slammed her racket down so hard Tom feared she might cause the ball to explode. The ball didn't explode, but it hit the wall just below the line.

"ARRGGHHH!"

Granberia threw the racket down in disgust, then composed herself and picked it up again.

"I will NOT lose to a human!" she snapped. "Who's serve is it?"

"It's still yours," Tom informed her. "That's a fault. You get two chances. It's still only 1-0."

Granberia grunted and tossed the ball in the air again. Tom, foolishly putting his bodily integrity at risk, jumped up and intercepted the ball before Granberia could hit it. The look she gave him probably would have killed on her world.

"Is this part of the contest?!" she demanded to know.

"No, no, I just didn't want you to fault again! Your technique is all wrong!"

"My technique?"

"Yes, it's not like trying to decapitate an opponent," Tom explained. "You're trying to murder the ball, not guide it."

"Teach me," she ordered.

"Okay," Tom said. "Here's how you serve."

Tom's form was perfect as he served the ball to the wall. He served it so that it came directly back to him. He caught the ball effortlessly.

"Okay, you try," he said, tossing her the ball.

Granberia attempted to mimic him and did a credible job, although she was still a bit awkward. Still, the result wasn't terrible. The ball hit above the line with good velocity. Tom quickly ran to his left to catch it.

"Okay, that was pretty good," he said.

"Your praise is unwarranted," she grumbled. "My form wasn't nearly as smooth as yours. Show me again!"

"How about I guide you this time?" he asked. "Here, take a stance. Feet a little wider apart."

Tom kicked one of her feet gently to prompt her to widen her stance, which she did readily.

"Okay, now we're not going to toss the ball, we're just going to imagine we did," Tom continued. "You're going to reach up with the racket as high as is comfortable. You don't want to have to stretch for it…"

Tom placed his arms around Granberia to guide her motion and help her maintain her stance. She was shockingly hot.

"Do you have a fever or something?" he asked.

"No," she answered. "My blood simply runs hot, especially when I am working out or fighting. Now, continue the lesson."

Tom had her reach her arm back while he held her in place. "Keep your knees bent," he instructed. "Keep your body loose. Don't be tense. Your power comes from your whole body, but especially your hips."

He placed his hands on her hips. She turned to around and sniffed him.

"Your smell is distracting," she said abruptly.

"My smell?" Tom stammered. "I know I haven't showered yet. I usually work out first. I'm sorry if I smell of sweat."

"I adore that smell!" Granberia exclaimed, inhaling into his shoulder deeply. Her demeanor had changed seemingly in an instant. "Ah, the smell of a man! Delicious!"

"Um… are you hungry or something?"

"Starving!" Granberia replied. "But I cannot simply take you here and now. I must earn it! I only take defeated enemies! Serve! I will take you once I've defeated you!"

"What happens if I defeat you?"

"Then… I continue to be hungry," she said matter of factly. "Were this true combat and not merely a competition, you would have the right to do anything to me. Anything!"

"Anything?"

"Anything!" she replied, her face inches from his.

"How come you get to take me if I lose, but I don't get to take you if you win?" Tom asked, thinking this contest was becoming very unequitable.

"Do you think I'm stupid?! I know this is a game. I was never fooled by your deception, trying to portray this as some kind of epic contest. But now that you've shown me, I want to win! You do not have to feed me if you don't want to. But if you do want to, I must earn the right to consume your semen! Nothing in life comes without effort!"

"Okay, if that's what you want…"

"And do not hold back!" she growled. "If I think you are holding back I will be very angry with you! I must defeat you legitimately!"

"All right, all right! Geez."

Granberia was as fast a learner when it came to the physical as Tamamo was when it came to the technical. Tom quickly went up 5-0. Granberia didn't even curse or complain. She simply practiced her motions in between points. In practically no time, her form was as graceful as his. The final score was 10-8, Granberia.

"Now that you are vanquished, honorable warrior, it is time to claim my prize!" she shouted, tackling him, ripping his shirt and shorts off, and mounting him.

"Oh, Granberry!" Alma Elma chirped cheerfully, her usual bright and bushy tailed self in the early morning.

Alma Elma opened the door to the racquetball court just in time to see Tom arch his back in ecstasy under Granberia.

"Granberry!" Alma Elma scolded. "What did we talk about yesterday?!"

Granberia's face flushed red, not from being caught, which didn't embarrass her in the slightest. Rather, she was mortified that she had forgotten the conversation they had had the previous afternoon.

"I'm sorry!" Granberia stammered. "I… forgot!"

"Forgot what?" Tom asked.

"We were supposed to let you rest a full day and let Alma Elma work you over," Granberia said bluntly. Alma Elma facepalmed.

"How many times, Granberia?" the succubus asked.

"Just… two," Granberia mumbled innocently, quickly putting her shorts back on.

"Two times! Now I have to wait until tomorrow!" Alma Elma cried. "Do you know how long it's been since I've eaten?! I'm suffering here!"

"I'm sure I've got more in me," Tom offered. "If you're hungry…."

"I'll see you tomorrow… Thomas!" Alma Elma snapped, before slamming the door behind her in a huff.

"What did I do?" Tom asked Granberia.

"You did nothing wrong," the warrior replied. "I simply forgot a commitment I made to her yesterday. No one was supposed to touch you until tonight. Now you know. Please avoid any sexual advances until sundown tomorrow. Alma Elma simply wanted your experience to be…. Special."

Well, that sounded nice, Tom thought. Granberia refused to look him in the eye. Tom couldn't blame her. Granberia took her honor very seriously. She'd failed to keep a commitment to her best friend. Granberia, of course, knew there was a lot more to it than that. She was uncomfortable with lying, even if it was necessary. Even though she hadn't technically said anything untrue.

Tom spent the rest of the day either working or hanging out with his guests. He didn't hang out with them so much because he liked to socialize with them, although they were certainly beautiful and interesting people. It was more that he was worried about what they'd do if he wasn't watching them. He'd caught Alice eating cold pop tarts, so he'd taught her how to use the toaster to prepare them properly. Alice proclaimed hot pop tarts to be at least one hundred times better than cold pop tarts.

At another point, Tamamo called him into the office to ask why the computer was complaining about something called "malicious software". Tom's virus protection was top notch, but it wouldn't protect his computer very well if Tamamo clicked on links designed to trick her into downloading malware.

Alma Elma's mood improved as the day went on. It didn't hurt that he'd given her some chewing gum, which seemed to help with the semen cravings. Tom had smoked when he was a teenager for a year or so, and had kicked the habit with the assistance of chewing gum. He also had to explain to Alma Elma not to swallow the gum once the flavor was gone.

"Good luck trying to get a succubus to spit," Tamamo guffawed.

Granberia spent almost the entire day in the gym, using his weights. When he'd walked in to check on her, she was doing squats with the maximum weight possible for his gym, over five hundred pounds! She'd had to use every weight in the gym to get it there, and it wasn't enough. She could be heard counting "forty-seven… forty-eight…forty-nine… fifty!" and kept going.

"This is weakness?" Tom asked, shocked. "How strong are you with your magic?!"

"I use the power of fire to enhance my power," she said. "As well as the power of earth to enhance my strength, which I have had some practice utilizing. I could easily lift this weight with one hand and balance it on one finger on my world."

"Okay, then," Tom answered, wondering just how powerful these beings could be.

No one tried to get him into bed for the rest of the day. Tom had to admit he was intrigued about Alma Elma. The small taste of her prowess he had experienced minutes after meeting her had been hard to get out of his mind. He looked forward to finding out what she considered a special experience.