She's Not a Prostitute, Mom, She's a Slave!

by Throwaway1971

All credit goes to the OG author Andoriol on QQ

7. Chapter 6: Mother's Day

A.N. - Ia Ia Andoriol fhtagan! I rise from the depths of slumber!

---

-o Opala o-

Light.

Warm, though not as much as the body she was pressed against. Sebastillion was warmer than normal, pleasantly so, and the happy ache in her loins–

The soft grunt of awakening that came from the chest her face was pressed against coincided with memory slamming back into her.

Her wizard. Her master? Her beloved. Her husband?

The last thought sent a giddy little feeling through her chest as the warm chest beneath her cheek rose with a soft breath. She'd long resigned herself to having to marry for political reasons as opposed to love, and had been determined to find as much happiness as she could in others before having to lock herself into such a relationship. Of course, she'd always hoped to find love in such a relationship as her mother had, but… she'd tried to temper her expectations.

Then this dust devil of a man had swept into her life and had stolen her heart. And even if he had but a fraction of the connections and capabilities he'd claimed even so far… he was by far the best option she had encountered.

Speaking of claims.

Stretching out with a soft grunt of her own, Opala pushed herself up. A soft gasp from the man beneath her had her eyes cracking open to find the brilliant emerald orbs locked on her form. Her stretching had pressed her bust out towards his face, a pleasant accident, one she intended to replicate at some point.

Soon, but not now.

Crossing her arms atop his chest, Opala laid her head atop them, looking up at Jacob, "Good morning… mm…" she let her head fall to the side, smiling up at him, "Is it supposed to be master now?"

An aroused chuckle went through the large man and he let his head fall back to the pillow with a smile, "Technically yes, though Jacob will continue to work."

"Sure thing… master."

"You stop that." He laughed again.

Good. For all that calling him master sent a delightful little forbidden thrill through her, she was still a queen.

"Now…" tracing a finger across the bare skin of his chest, her voice hardened. "About those explanations."

"Mmn. Right… here? And now?"

-oOo-

The water was deliciously warm, tingling against her skin as she reclined, "The slavers guild you work for has you significantly in debt, and you only have a few months before it becomes unbearable?"

"Two, maybe." He admitted, running the comb through the fur of his tail.

"And we can't just use slaves of the crown?"

The two of them sat in a large tub, smaller than the royal baths but even more opulent. A magical fireplace beside it lit over a small, constantly flowing waterfall of fresh warm water leading right into the bath. Benches of varying heights lined the edges under the water and above, with various things that could pour forth water, scented lotions and soaps resting in recessed alcoves, mirrors that covered significant portions of the walls, magical handles could be summoned anywhere on the walls, as could spouts of water.

Jacob shook his head, ears drooping as his tail slipped back beneath the water, "No, there needs to be a measure of metaphysical importance or power to them."

"Such as the servant outside?" Opala questioned.

They'd come to his extradimensional home to discuss things without additional ears of her handmaidens as they cleaned themselves. Her mother had decided to explore the small space before joining them, having already accepted that she was a slave once more, speaking with the slave that Jacob had acquired.

"Surprisingly? Yes. More so than even I expected. And I get a guide on the individuals available." He indicated the small device I held in my hands.

Auburn eyes went back to the tiny, mystic tablet that he had shown her before when he'd spoken with his mother. Not only a communication device, it was… it dwarfed the royal archives and scholars as a whole. And upon its bright, colorful surface, she could see pictures of herself, her mother, and her sister, among many others, few which she knew.

Opala herself was apparently a Fourth Tier slave, worth eight Mana. He called them 'Credits' but the tablet kept calling them Mana. Much like the pale, brown-haired girl he was keeping as a servant to take care of his kittens. Her mother? A Fifth Tier slave, worth sixteen Mana.

Osira, her eyes now a vicious, serpentine yellow in her portrait, was a Sixth Tier. Worth 40 Mana upon capture.

And he was over 400 Mana in debt.

"This… Binding… it is the clothing?"

"Yes. It can become any clothing material you desire, and has significant strength, and durability, it's controlled by your thought and will as you've seen. It is how I bind and capture individuals for the Company."

"And how do you capture your slaves for them? So that they can do this… process? The duplication?"

"In addition to love confessions, as you yourself did. I can wrap people up and infuse them with my power and will and forcibly bind and capture them. It enforces loyalty and encourages affection."

"Like with me."

"Yes." He'd caught her tone, matching her gaze as the bubbles of the bath were moved by his tail swishing under the water, but his ears were upright. He was getting better at managing them, but they were still the best read on his emotional state and honesty. Another reason to have them out other than just how adorable they were. "The effect is both subtler and more pervasive with this binding than others."

Which meant that she was truly soulbound to him, but that he wasn't necessarily soulbound to her.

"And what are your intentions with Egypt?"

He looked away for a moment, downwards, shame? A little smile before his eyes rose back to hers, "I'd hoped to improve things for them. Initially I was open to either yourself or Osira in charge from what I'd seen."

"You considered supporting Osira's bid for the throne." She stated, just short of an accusation.

"Yes." He said without shame, holding my gaze, "Considered. I knew what I'd read in that and heard previously wasn't everything, wasn't going to match up with what I experienced… I kept my options open at the start, and, bluntly, unless your sister massively surprises me with a well formed tax plan? She won't overtake you."

Searching his face for just a moment, Opala felt a little smile cross her lips.

If nothing else, she at least trusted him to have Egypts best interests at heart.

"Can I use the Binding to contribute? Some of these may be near or in Egypt and I could acquire them."

"Unfortunately that's not a function of this Binding. I'm the only one that can capture individuals. It incentivizes me to go out and find particular powerful individuals rather than masses of weaker ones."

That had implications. "There are others?"

"Yes, but they aren't well suited to this situation or me in various ways." His smile became amused, if a bit bitter, one ear cocking off to the side, "And, well, if we were going for mass conscription, and you didn't mind being turned into a breeding slave there's ways to mass empower and conscript entire worlds. But I don't think that's something you'd be down for."

Opala lifted the small tablet in front of her face as a tiny little shiver went through her, from concern at the thought of being reduced to such, from fear at how he could casually refer to it even if he clearly didn't have that intention and was only conveying what his guild could do as a warning, and from just the slightest bit of thrill at the thought of not having any responsibilities but trying to return the pleasures to this man who actively worked to make her cum her brains out.

"No," she agreed, "I have too many responsibilities for that to be an option."

Any response he may have made was interrupted by the door opening and her mother stepping into the room.

The sheet still loosely wrapped around her, she was now carrying a box under an arm. For all that her hair was still a bit of a mess from their night together, she looked radiant, and Opala entirely understood why his glance to confirm it was her became an ogling stare as her mother discarded the sheet, the white cloth falling to the floor like a waterfall and leaving her heavy breasts, voluptuous figure, and mature body entirely on display.

Stepping into the recessed baths, Farah cooed eagerly, "Oooh, so nice… such a…" she licked her lips and pressed the box between her breasts as she eased down into the warm, suds filled waters, "Generous and decadent master, is he not?"

Her mother had eagerly taken to the new position, for all that she'd pushed Jacob to ravishing her to the best of his ability? She had made no protests at her new enslavement under him.

"He is, though he also has serious debts for such generosity." Opala noted, even if this astonishing and fantastical home was one of the cheapest of his purchases.

Settling right beside the Florida Wizard, on the same ledge in the water as him, her head only barely came up to his shoulders, breasts still above the water as her elbow bumped against his.

"I'd been concerned, you'd seemed like such a naif, and so… gentle about things." The former queen said, and the aforementioned man's own look was amused and curious as Farah stroked the top of the box. "So I went in search of any dirty little secrets he may have hidden in his closets, and I found some~"

"Mother!" While part of Opala recoiled at invading their host's privacy, the larger and more pragmatic part of her was happy her mother had investigated their new 'master'. Thankfully, he did not look angry, only… confused...?

The box was opened to show straps and balls and chains and whips and large phallic objects with… interesting textures.

"You have quite… interesting tastes, don't you?" Farah purred as she rolled one of the toys back and forth with a finger, a replica of a horse's pride with bumps and ridges. "You had an entire closet full of these… delights."

The pale skin of his cheeks turned a delightful rosy color, and Opala could see some form of realization flitter through his mind, "Ah-! Ahem, well, the toys were created by the guild based on the things you ladies favor. While I'm down to utilize them on you, they're not actually something I purchased."

Farah pouted even as Opala fought the urge to sigh, "Mother. Please. We are having a serious conversation."

"Oh-! I'm sorry, do continue."

Sinking lower into the warm waters, Opala held the mystic tablet above the suds so she could still view it, dragging a finger across its glass to view a different part of its information, trying to recenter herself and determine what most demanded her attention, eyes zeroing in on one of the largest costs. To try and feel out what could be done, what the values were, and much more. "What is this… 'Template Stacking'?"

"The Company can provide powers and magics and modifications of various kinds and in various ways for various costs. Others would take away my own skills or require entirely… well… basically transplanting my soul and mind into another body. Neither of which I wished to do."

"The costs were significant." She had to note.

He nodded easily, "And I consider them worth it."

"This…" Her finger settled on the first picture, a key ablaze with flames, lightning bolts crossed behind it and with feathered wings. "Obrimos?"

"Wonder Workers, they possess a basic sensation and access to magic unlike anything you have seen. It is one of the most powerful forms of access to sorcery that I know, bordering on the divine given enough time." Leaning back, he interlaced his fingers over his chest, and the vertical scar there as he finished it with a blasphemous thought, "Potentially even surpass it."

Heretical of a thought it may be, many a mage made similar claims. Even if his could carry more weight. But speaking of blasphemies, "Infernals?"

"An… exaltation from primordial gods." he paused as Farah pulled his tail from the suds, the comb in hand, "I already brushed-" Her mother gave him a look and he sighed, "Alright. Anyways. Imagine a being that compares to Ra the way he compares to the lowest bug. Now imagine that he has blessed a specific individual the way Ra has blessed the entire line of Pharoahs. That is what an Exalted is. There is… significantly more context, but the power granted is enormous and specifically compliments the other two I had chosen."

"Speaking of which, this… Kryptonian?" The picture accompanying it was a man and a woman, both beautiful, the man even larger and more muscular than her wizard. Their outfits were nearly painted on, royal blues, vibrant reds, and so well sculpted…

"Arguably the single strongest of the powers I gained. The rays of the sun grant me strength and power that, in time, will approach a scale that I struggle to properly convey to you. To–!" his breathing hitched and he shot a little glare at Farah beside him, who only looked smug as she clearly continued to work at his tail beneath the water. Jacob sighed, turning back to Opala, "To say that in time I will be able to move the world itself with just my physical strength via it is… not hyperbole, but at the same time can only sound like such."

"... truly?"

"I've barely had a week with the power and I'm already capable of picking up and throwing a horse in one hand." Eyes like emerald suns met hers, and in them she saw worlds vaster than all the sands of the desert as he softly asked, "Please, believe me when I say that the power I purchased with that was immense, and well worth the cost."

It had cost him more than all of the captures she had seen, and she found herself believing him when he said it had been worth it. "I see. I will trust your expertise on the matter. Though…"

The last thing she had been concerned about, more expensive than even his entire suite of powers, was a woman. One she had never even seen.

"This… Koyanskaya?"

She had known it was unlikely that she would have only a single consort, or for her husband to not have other women. The line of pharaohs must continue. And Opala would need to know who else would be have a line towards the throne.

"Ah-! Well, she's…" he hesitated. He tended to talk fast when it was something he knew, but he would speak slower when he was working his way through a problem, and often make wordless filler noises when he needed to consider his wording, but it was rare that he went silent without active gesticulating or an obviously deliberate pause. "She's… in me. She was part of my contract, and was folded into my soul as part of the Infernal boon. She's actually the source of my ears and tail, so you should thank her for such."

Opala's eyes narrowed, parsing what he said. "She is still with you?"

There was little question her people would accept any child from an official union. Even her famously fertile mother had only produced two official heirs. But for all that Opala technically had many an aunt, her father had sired not a single other child, except with a slave girl. The concerns and assertions were veiled, but the priesthood and elders had made it clear to her, any heir was better than none, and two generations of only a single legitimate heir left the people in power concerned.

"Yes, in a literal sense, not a metaphorical one. She often provides input and suggestions, she is also skilled in many ways complimentary to my own-" another pause, smaller, his eyes flicking to the side, the realization struck her, he was speaking with this Koyanskaya in the times he had similar hesitations before, "While we have a lot of alignment when it comes to logistics, she's… surprisingly insistent that our prior conversation was mostly me?"

"... mostly?" If she considered this woman and her situation as if she was a distant connection of his, and Jacob himself was merely the go between… what was this Koyanskaya trying to tell her? She was trying to help Opala, but stay out of her way…? This woman was not her mother, not one she could meet, speak with, and learn about, one who had intimate access to her wizard.

She could not trust her.

"She 'only prompted me a number of times, and suggested concepts, but it was almost entirely me', to be specific in what she said."

Opala looked down to the picture of the woman, gorgeous, with a figure that rivaled her own, pale and perfect skin, ears and tail that matched Jacob's own, and hair a vibrant pink that matched the tips of both of his. "And she is now… part of you?"

"Yes, as much as my tail and ears are." An ear pointedly flicked up and down at that.

"And she can… act?" Opala was… uncertain how to question this, how to determine who this woman, the largest chunk of his debt, what influence she would have on him and what her intentions were. "Or be separated from you?"

"About as much as my arm can, in both cases. She's a part of me now, and while she could theoretically be ripped out of my soul, it would be just as catastrophic a wound to me, and very likely lead to her death."

So there was at least no meaningful threat her interests would get her… host? No chance he would be the target of her ire. But that did not mean their goals aligned, that this Koyanskaya would not favor another, that her goals would not threaten this tenuous, beautiful thing she had found. "It's saying here that she is a Beast, that she is a 'Sin of Humanity'," which did not bode well, her finger slid across the smooth tablet as she read through, images of Anubis and Ammut and the scales flashing in her mind, "I know that 'sins' can be very different depending on the culture, such as the Asyrians or the Greeks, and I do not recognize hers…"

The silence from Jacob dragged longer than Opala expected, and she found herself glancing back up at him from the tablet to find a rich red on his pale cheeks, his eyes trying to focus back on hers even as his ears drooped much the way Sebastillion's would when she 'scratched his itch'.

The realization struck her just an instant before the purple crown of his pride peaked out over the waterline.

Her mother was stroking his cock, feeling him up and trying to get him off.

Right in front of her.

While they were trying to have a serious conversation.

"Mother!" She decried, "We could be enslaved, truly enslaved in just two months! Turned into mindless holes to be raped, degraded and defiled, marked and mutilated by individuals far less affectionate than he is!"

Farah, leaning into the taller man and deliberately pressing her significant bust against him as her hand clearly kept pumping up and down under the water, met her gaze firmly as she questioned, "And how is that any different from how it has always been? Had the gods or a sufficiently motivated army made the effort?"

The thought– no, realization, brought Opala up short.

Her entire life, the threat of assassination, of kidnapping, of being raped and being used to undermine her people, were always a potential risk. It was something she'd made her peace with, even with the looming threat of Osira's attentions.

"Farah." Jacob chided, ears swept back in disapproval.

But even this, being made a slave who could be repossessed if her master couldn't pay his debts? Even that risk hanging over her, for all the concern that caused?

"No, she's right."

What had actually changed?

She stood from the warm waters into the cooler room, enjoying how his eyes snapped to her form as she approached. Jacob dragged his eyes up to her own, "Opala?"

"I'm stressing about something that has changed little." Opala placed the tablet on the lip of the bath behind him, deliberately pressing her bared, lightly bubble-covered breasts towards his face. Straightening out, she searched his eyes for a long moment, "I've been worrying about your Guild conquering my people and myself being raped into subservience."

She was stressing out, losing sight of what was important, and losing the trust she'd started to build in this beautiful man. But as cautious as he was, for all that he have made mistakes that put her and her nation at risk… she trusted that he did have Egypt's best interests in mind. Decisions had already been made, and all she could do was accept them and act appropriately.

Easing down, she sat beside her beloved, sidling up against his side and under his arm which automatically wrapped around her shoulders. Her mother mimicked her tactic, subtly getting his arm around her shoulders and moving his hand such that it grasped one of her breasts, fingers sinking into the titflesh as they both pressed against his sides.

Opala laid a hand on his stomach, her other hand moving to the base of his spine to run through the soft fur above his tail as she held his gaze, pinning him in place with her eyes, "But… those were already risks… and there's a more…" the queen leaned harder against him, dragging her erect nipples against his skin and squishing her breasts against him, "... pressing risk of such."

In this case, the most… appropriate response was to further enamor the powerful wizard to her and her people, and to de-stress herself as well.

Jacob swallowed hard, "O-Oh…?"

"Mmm… yes." Hand trailing down the soft swells of abs, getting delightful twitches from his muscles beneath, Opala's hand joined her mothers, laid atop his throbbing pride, hot and juicy and pulsing in her palm. Fingertips dancing around the ridge of the crown such that the man shivered, a shuddering breath escaping him as his eyes closed and his head fell back. "Osira's efforts to take the throne and capture me are just the latest and most pressing attempts… and you."

Her tongue dragged across the so recently cleaned skin of his throat, feeling his pulse race beneath her tongue as it tore the most adorable sound of pleasure from him. Opala whispered softly, breathily, into his ear as she gave in to her own arousal, "You've already claimed us, haven't you? To rape as you wish."

Farah joined her in pressing a kiss to his collarbone before deliberately breathing out against the skin of his throat, the sound of water moving intensifying as her hand moved faster, "To knock us up."

"You could just take us whenever you wanted…" Rubbing the purple tip and letting her fingers dance across the soft, searingly hot skin, "Walk into the throne room, drag me from it and rape the queen of egypt as you wish."

"What?" His voice was breathy and eager as his cheek pressed against her temple, hoarsely elaborating, "Slap my cock against your face and leave you splattered with my cum while you go about your day?"

"Nnf!" Opala grunted as her core clenched at the thought, dragging her teeth against his jawline even as her hand bumped against her mother's while jacking him off.

"Oh? You're not going to pump your virile loads into our fertile wombs?" Farah questioned, her hand trailing down to gently squeeze at the hefty balls, "You're going to be satisfied without making our bellies heavy with your children?"

Jacob's mouth was parted as he panted in shuddering breaths, his hips twitching and tail lashing about as his ears drooped, cheeks a brilliant red.

Cuuuuute! Cute cute cute! He had no right being this cute!

Her hand began to pump faster up and down the length throbbing against her palm, squeezing the hard erection as she eagerly kissed his throat and ground herself against his thigh. "You… are going to… rape me, right?"

His hips bucked and Opala could only purr to herself, 'Mmm, you truly like that thought, don't you? Me, eager for you to claim.'

Swinging her leg around, Opala straddled his thigh, grinding her aching pussy against the muscled limb. He'd already shown himself far strong enough that, had he wished, she could have been thrown off with just an aggressive motion of her hips, but her weight on his thigh pinned him as thoroughly as a falcon did a mouse.

"Opala–..." his tone was breathy and desperate, his arm tightening around her shoulders and hand finding its way to her breast to squeeze at it much like he was her mothers'. He swallowed, his throat bobbing as she nuzzled and kissed his skin, and his heart thundered, his pulse playing out a song of arousal against her lips and palm as her hand pumped faster, his breath hitching again even as he tried to speak, "You- do have work- ah- duties-mm!"

Her lips were on his before she'd even realized, parting with a soft 'mwuah!', heart feeling so very full, beaming up at the flustered man, "So sweet!" Peppering kisses against his face and lips between her words and his surprised laughter, "You're- so- sweet-!"

"Opala–!" He laughed, panting out, "As wonderful as this is, you do have duties beyond being my personal slut-"

Once again she cut him off with a kiss, grinning through it and as she parted, "Yes, but here, now…?" She squeezed the thick pride, "Let me be that slut, let me watch my beloved wizard cum."

"But you- and Farah-" He was struggling to form coherent sentences, but no matter his intent, no matter how delightfully sweet his desire to have her orgasm as well, she could tell his protests were half hearted. He wanted this.

"Will be more than satisfied seeing you cum." Her mother interjected before leaning in to latch onto his nipple, sucking on it as her hand not fondling their master reached up to scratched at his ear.

HIs gasp was music to Opala's ears, and she swallowed it down with a deep, eager kiss. The height difference meant she had to rise from his thigh to do so while keeping the space to move her hand furiously to coax his orgasm, dancing across the girthy dick and fingertips dancing across the cockhead, gliding rapidly with the lubrication of the bath.

She only had a moment's warning as the pride pulsed aggressively in her hand and Opala had just a moment to move her hand out of the way and break from the kiss in time to watch his hips buck.

The first thick, white shot landed on his chest, the next half splattered on her mother's face as she too watched, both of them crooning their appreciation as Jacob grunted and whimpered. Spurts of cum being pumped from his heavy balls, each shot larger than most men's entire ejaculation, thick and sticky white that Opala continued to stroke the source of, sending several of the high-flying shots onto her on chest to join the mess he'd made of her mother and his own chest.

Finally though, his hips slumped back into the water, and those wonderfully lidded eyes found hers again, emerald stars with pools of an entire night sky within them set in his flushed face.

"Mmm, there's nothing more satisfying than making a young man cum, is there?" Farah asked her daughter, cheek still resting on his chest as she snuggled up against the larger man.

Opala always enjoyed seeing a man orgasm, to feel seed on her skin or tongue and watch the wonderful expressions on their faces, the delightful little sounds they would make.

But there was something special about this sweet, brilliant wizard and the way he would look at her, and how her heart felt like it would burst from her chest. And this only crystalized the thoughts she had already been having before last night.

"In this case, certainly." Dragging a finger along his chest, Opala swept off some of the thick load onto it and stuck the finger in her mouth with a satisfied hum, enjoying the eager look that drew from her wizard. She pulled her finger from between her lips with a soft pop, confirming to herself that he truly enjoyed receiving oral just as much as she enjoyed giving it, "Mm, though I'm still horny… I expect you to take care of that tonight."

The grin on his face, yes, for as sweet as he was with her, Jacob would do those wonderfully terrible things to her at some point, he just kept the big picture in mind, "If Osira responds, I'll prioritize that because of our timeframe, but I almost hope she doesn't so I can."

-o Jacob o-

I said that, but the day from that point was quiet.

Much of my time was spent in the city proper after we'd gotten clean again, giving Valencio an opportunity to contact me, even swinging by the previous location he'd been in.

But no contact was made, after my bold words to the royalty this morning after their own shenanigans. Even with all we'd done last night, this morning had been something.

For the past few hours I had been in the palace alongside the various scribes and priests as they obligingly provided me with information as I continued to sketch out various ideas and plans. I couldn't definitively plan for what 'uplift' tech I would be able to acquire on what timeframes, especially given education and adaptation times, but I could at least sketch out things like likely starport locations, train stations, ports, and an utterly rough sketch of the leylines as I could see them from this to anticipate the mystic networks.

While most of the scribes were just doing their jobs, some were taking an interest and trying to guess what I was trying to gauge, and the priests in particular seemed rather fascinated by my admittedly very rudimentary leyline sketch.

But the murmuring nest of scholars and priests that I had gathered around me stopped and parted like water as a man in gold-burnished armor with a beard that rivaled the best I'd grown prior to my Exaltation. He had a western style sword by his side, and was tall by local standards. Not taller than all the guards I'd seen, let alone me, but tall.

"Ah, I'm guessing you're the new one." His voice was deep, features sharp, eyes sharper even as his smile was pleasantly polite, "You're- ah, it started with a 'Jay'?"

"Jacob, it's a pleasure," I returned warmly even as I turned in my chair, draping an arm over the back of it while smiling up at the man I was certain I knew, "While I've not memorized the rank notations, I can tell you're pretty far up there, and I recognize your face at least in passing. But I'm afraid I don't know your name or rank?"

"Yes, you're the one that discovered the plot to abduct the queen." His voice was soft before he nodded and his tone became far more formal. Oh, he was good at this, "The people of Egypt thank you for your efforts. I'm Supreme Commander Seth, I only follow the orders of Queen Opala directly. I've been in the service of the royal family for many years, I even served the late Pharaoh."

I bowed my head, "What brings you here, sir? I've been monopolizing a number of scholars, I'm aware, but I've been trying to limit that. If I've interfered with your efforts, please don't be afraid to say so."

"Ah, no, that's actually not why I'm here."

Actual surprise. But he's good at managing his expressions. Koya agreed with my gut.

A small gesture from me to indicate for him to continue, and the traitor nodded, "I heard you had defeated Sir Edward, is that true?"

"Yes, though… defeat may not be the best word." I admitted, "That… confrontation was unexpected and… unwanted."

"If anything, that's more impressive." Seth said with a small nod, "I had been hoping to have a moment of your time to speak with the royal guard, and possibly offer your input. The man who found such a plot and defeated a knight of Sir Edward's skill would be invaluable to protecting the queen."

Ears. Koya's warning had me catch the twitching appendage before it could cock to the side as I looked up at the man.

Instead, I smiled, "If you'll give me a moment to finish this immediate sketch? Bath, this one will go into the set for the queen's chamber, I'll skim over them with her tonight, at most a single runner would be required tonight."

-oOo-

"My knowledge of melee combat is primarily theoretical, and even then, not quite a one to one comparison to your own styles." I projected my voice confidently and easily, tone jovial. It was like band camp all over again. "However, I can offer a sparring partner of monster class durability and strength due to the way my magics work. Afterwards, I can give a much more thorough explanation of how to find, intercept, and otherwise frustrate less militant efforts."

Or, more accurately, Koyanskaya would explain counterintelligence work with me as her mouthpiece.

I'd already run over this with Seth on the way to the training grounds in the palace, both to manage expectations, as well as to 'give' the traitor information.

"No one's going to ask?" Came the mutter, easily picked up by my ears.

A familiar face stepped forward from the line of bronze-armored warriors. He'd been Farah's bodyguard yesterday, Ali if I remembered right? I nodded in acknowledgement to him, and the man drew himself up, "I saw your fight yesterday, and heard you speaking with Lady Farah. You are clearly a skilled sorcerer, why would you not work with your magics?"

"My normal combat magics are not well suited to training." I held out a hand, gathering and generating threads of potential, of steel, of will, holding the tangled ball for just a moment before grasping the chains with a thought and slamming my fist back behind me as if striking a wall. And with that imaginary impact the sickle and barb tipped chains exploded from my clenched fist to the dismay of the gathered royal guard and other observers. The dandelion of blackened steel chains hung there, tipped with thorns and blades before I pulled at its center, still in my fist, and the chains dissolved like cotton candy.

To their credit, the royal guard hadn't broken ranks, though more than a few had their hands on their weapons. "While very effective, even just as an intimidation tactic, my magics are too lethal to be helpful in a sparring match. They're also rare in their specific expression, as they are from distant lands, so learning to deal with my specific brand of bullshit would not be particularly helpful to you."

My tone was jovial, and thankfully I got a few half hearted chuckles from the ranks at the tactical usage of cuss words.

"However, experiencing how to fight something absurdly strong, fast, and tough but lacking in skill? In a safe environment? Always useful. So that's where we'll start."

-oOo-

This shit? Was fun.

High left.

The impact of a blade against my armguard was something I felt through the Shroud, but not my skin itself as I deflected the thrust and my other hand followed like it had been tethered to the first, swinging with a palm strike to the guardsman's chest, the shove sending him tumbling back with a very audible woosh of displaced air from his lungs.

And the other three were already on me.

We'd been working in 'squads', the actual word translated a bit closer to 'team' but my brain kept thinking 'squad'. A whole group of them working to fight me. Live steel, with me limited to just my hands and feet.

It was glorious.

Even if I utterly outmatched them in speed and strength and, to a far lesser extent, size, this was beautiful. It had the same energy of playing with my little sister and her friends, roughhousing and tossing them around in a good natured way, but on a higher level of thought and skill.

I'd have much preferred people that I could actually feel the blows from, to get that delicious impact you got when sparring with gloves and headgear.

Sure, if they were remotely in my physical range of power they'd have been trashing me. Weapons and not insignificant drilling meant that if this fight were remotely fair any one of them would've kicked my ass with these constraints. I might win a fistfight, but sword to fist? Heck, sword to sword or sword to spear as I preferred? They'd probably still be able to run roughshod over me.

Right blindspot, low.

But this wasn't a fair fight, even as limited as I was, it was still five on two.

This squad actually had Ali in it, and there was a reason he was allowed to be Farah's only bodyguard in the city. His entire squad were the best so far, they'd landed multiple blows on me by exploiting that I only had two hands and a tail, at most I could get four limbs out and about to intercept things and even blocking two things simultaneously was my limit currently–

Rolling forward, I arrested my momentum and launched over the heads of the set that had been behind me, enjoying the soft little curse that earned as they skidded to a halt and tried to adjust.

Standing in the middle of them, while fun, was a quick way to have them scoring points on me constantly. Instead, I had to pivot and limit the avenues of attack. And they had every reason to surround me, and worked hard to keep me surrounded.

Three of the remaining six had pivoted and immediately tried to engage me even before I'd properly gotten my feet back under me, while the other three sprinted, blades raised as they tried to cordon me off.

It was impressive as hell.

Yeah, sure, sometimes their swings or stabs were going higher than they should, or they'd shout or make motions to make themselves seem bigger than they were, or any number of other little things because they'd practiced with large monsters in mind rather than something human sized and this durable. Which was why we practice and train.

If anything, that I was this unskilled was probably throwing them off.

Oh, is the leveling system native? Koya asked as I lunged forward to meet the leftmost assailant, grabbing his wrist even as my other arm swept defensively as the other two pressed in. And back up.

"Shi-!

No. I thought even as I pulled the royal guardsman from his feet with a laugh and began to spin. Careful to not spin too hard, I was still able to pull away from the group via threat of 'beat a motherfucker with another motherfucker' before letting go and sent the man flying away. Nothing in the games indicated 'leveling' was a thing, and I'm nearly positive that it was just a game affectation for greater skill.

And the others were already back upon me.

It was frenetic, physical, hectic-

An opening!

Shoving forward, I deflected swords with my arms as I wedged myself between two that had gotten within arms reach of each other. I'd gotten much better at modulating my strength and how fast I moved when trying to not hurt people and the sounds they made were pained losses of breath and future bruises, not that of breaking bones–

Pain.

"Nng-?!"

Metal crumpled with a wicked screech as my fingers buried into steel, the taste of copper on my tongue–.

I froze.

Ali had put his entire weight behind a stab into my bare armpit, and the impact had hurt. The too-close soldiers had been a feint, obviously preplanned, to make me lunge and open myself to an attack from behind. I'd fallen for it. Shock. Surprise. Fear. All on his face in that moment that hung in a heartbeat. And he'd stabbed me, and it'd hurt, and now–

I felt his heartbeat against my fingertips–

My hand had snapped back, to grab, to push, to react before my brain had even caught up, and in doing so I hadn't- I'd nearly-

"Hold!" My voice broke out, other hand raised in a warding motion before I even realized, "Hold."

The elite guardsman's chest heaved as he panted from exertion, and I could feel flesh parting around my fingertips, little muscle, I'd barely done more than broken skin, but pre-penicillin? "A healer! Please."

Turning towards him fully, he'd already lowered his sword, feet shifting to a more comfortable standing position than the mid-lunge I'd caught him in. Ali's dark hand grabbed my far paler wrist, his face pinched in pain, his breathing slowing quickly into something pained.

He was well within my tactile field, and tracing the sensation of his ribs I could feel a number of hairline cracks. Nothing was broken, but breathing had to suck at the moment.

"I'll get them out, you'll be fine."

"It- is it gonna hurt?"

"Not much." I said, Laying my other hand on his shoulder for leverage and to brace him, "Probably sting some, but you'll be okay. Just shallow breaths till we get you a healer."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. I can-" He swallowed, brown eyes staring down at my wrist, "I can do this. I am a royal guardsman."

I pulled my fingers free from his skin, and then from the metal of his breastplate. The latter making a soft screech of twisting metal that had Ali wincing in pain, but silent.

Blood on my fingertips, under my fingernails, and slowly leaking from the holes now.

The crowd parted as a priest hurried over, and I stepped back out of the way to let him work, instead trying to get a gauge of the reception of the other guardsmen. It was… mixed, mostly concern for Ali, but a measure of wariness about me.

His injuries, while unusual, were actually minor. They'd have only been risky without healing magic. Hairline fractures in his ribcage, four small puncture wounds as my thumb hadn't broken skin, and his armor had five holes in it now, breastplate scrunched up by my grip… I myself had a tiny puncture wound in my armpit, which was starting to become a bit sore, the swordpoint, with the entire weight and strength of Ali behind it, had managed to pierce the thinner skin of my joint, and a quick touch confirmed that I was bleeding, if slowly.

"This is my loss."

Even though it was softer, I'd pitched my voice to carry. And it did, the royal guard and onlookers that had arrived murmuring among themselves at the announcement, even as Ali's hand gingerly touched upon the blindingly obvious damage I'd done to his armor. The priest's hand softly glowing gold as healing magics worked on his wounds.

But I clasped my hands together and bowed first to Ali, then to his squad, "I apologize, my reaction was bad. Even without me breaking the rules I'd set for myself, such a strike is as much a killing blow as could be imagined, even against stronger beings. Only powerful healing magics or skin of steel like my own could survive it." Holding the bow, I reiterated, with feeling, "This is my loss." I raised my head to look to the priest, "He will be okay?"

The priest, staff in hand, paused in his murmuring of prayers over to nod, "Yes. His wounds are not severe, but it shall take some time to ensure that evil spirits do not take advantage of their positioning and that they were taken in the middle of a fight."

I nodded, feeling tension leave my shoulders. Infection. Even if they framed it differently, they knew what they were doing.

Drawing myself back up, I nodded, "I must ask that we break, if just to ensure Ali doesn't suffer from my lapse in control."

"Agreed." Seth's voice broke in, making a number of the guardsmen snap to attention. "Ehkon. Grab some rations and fetch some water."

"Sir!"

-oOo-

"Sir?"

"Thank you." I accepted the water and bread with a smile, watching Ali get lavished with attention by his fellows for 'first blood' had been entertaining. Though not as much as seeing him get commandeered by a gaggle of kids for their games.

"You still intend to give the lesson about stopping infiltration?"

This time when I looked up from the bread I found Seth standing over me. "Yes. As much as I appreciated the opportunity to practice, I had no intention of harming the guardsmen." I tumbled the bread in my hand for a moment, "My loss of control… I am… unhappy with it." The thick crust of the bread crackled softly as my hand tensed, "That man came very close to death there."

Hold. Koya's voice was soft in my ear. And I caught myself from elaborating. Instead taking a bite of the bread, ignoring the bit of grit that came from the threshing and milling that was common to the time.

The silence held for a long moment before I felt Seth nod beside me, "Thank you for not killing one of my men." He nodded towards the guardsmen, "I'm going to do some parchmentwork for this, but when I return we'll start the counter-spy lesson."

Read: I'm going to write up my report to Osira about your combat abilities before we continue.

Koya hummed in agreement in my soul.

I sighed quietly as the man walked off, running a hand through my short hair before shoving most of the rest of the piece of bread I'd been given into my mouth.

Briefly, I considered whether there was a way to get more texture in breads without the silicates from old school threshing and grinding fucking up your teeth, but discarded the half-formed idea. I hadn't been accosted by people as much as Ali or some of the other guardsmen had, even if a child had come along to play with my tail for a bit. It'd been a nice opportunity to learn that it was casually easy to pick up a kid with the semi-prehensile appendage.

You only just realized it?

We've been trying to keep the ears and tail hidden, and I'm still adjusting.

"... you didn't want him dead, did you?"

"Mm?" I looked up at Ali, who had approached me after the kids had finally let him go. They'd placed a variety of flowers into the holes in his cuirass. Train of thought thrown off the rails, I wasn't sure who he meant-

Sir Edward the 3rd. Koya supplied.

"Ah! The knight?" I confirmed with Ali. Koya was certainly right but I needed to play with my confusion some for the flow of conversation, "Sir Eddington I think it was?"

"Sir Edward," a slight smile appeared on his face, and I was a bit surprised that he'd remembered the asshole's name. "The third, I believe. But yes, him." His face became more somber, "You didn't want him dead."

"Not particularly no. I was more surprised than anything else."

"But you could've."

"Yeah, pretty easily." If I'd remembered I had the Shroud.

"... why didn't you? They insulted you, insulted Lady Farah!"

"... heh. So, it may sound unsatisfying, but I simply had no desire to. The insult to me meant nothing, and while I did not appreciate the implied insult to Farah," and that was a stretch, he was careful to only talk about her being deceived, "It wasn't death worthy. Mockery certainly, but death? No."

Ali's brown eyes searched mine, and I could only blink up at him curiously. Koya?

Wait.

Finally, the smaller man muttered, "... I see why she picked you."

That made me blink before I laughed, knowing how that may have seemed, "That's- you think she- hehe! I…" I had to break into giggles before looking up to the man, lowering my voice, "Ali, there's more than enough Farah to go around."

His face went scarlet, "I-I-I- that's not-!"

I couldn't help it, I laughed harder, "Opala chose me, Farah's attention was just a bonus."

The man covered his face with both hands, making a small embarrassed noise, "I-I didn't mean to say-!"

"Ali. If you seriously hold affections for Farah, you're going to have to accept that her heart is quite large." I resisted the urge to say as large as her tits, it was crass even for me. "If she's a one-man kind of woman, only the late Pharaoh held that distinction."

"I–... but… you… you think I'd have a chance?" At my nod, the guardsman gestured at me, "But you're- ah, um." He suddenly started stammering worse, the flush returning with a vengeance.

That made me chuckle once more, "I am a very pretty man, yes. But I have little doubt Farah would consider your attentions fairly."

I did not say that so long as he expressed discretion, he had very good odds of getting a roll in the hay.

Oh? Giving up your wife so quickly?

I don't really feel jealousy~ I thought cheerily at Koya as Ali muttered to himself about the idea of actually making a pass at Farah, Also, he's more a sacrificial meal set before the wolf to make it easier to hunt later. Any tiring out of Farah we can do before the night is a good thing.

... point.

"You- you really think so?"

"Yes."

I felt the motion before he started, and had plenty of time to decide on my reaction.

Flowers and armor impacted the side of my head, I had to tilt my head to keep my ear from being uncomfortably squished as Ali hugged my head to his chest, "Thank you!"

I chuckled, patting his side a few times before resting my hand against it, "Don't thank me yet. At least wait until your armor's fixed."

Your tail is wagging. Koya noted.

Mm. It was swishing back and forth as I smiled, Acceptable.

Pulling back, Ali rubbed his nose, hints of happy tears in his eyes, "I, uh, actually think I'm going to have them keep the flower styling, the kids really seem to like them."

I poked him in the chest, "Be sure to get the armor fixed."

"Well, yeah–"

It was at that point the toddler that had been watching us broke into a forward leaning waddle-sprint to the mild yelp from her mother only moments before the child crashed face first into my tail, hugging the limb that was at least his size and babbling happily. Ali choked on air, and the mother behind me didn't do much better even as I lifted the tail and accompanying lil gremlin, letting it sway back and forth.

I barely noticed the weight, but the tail underneath the fur was comparatively thin given how floofy it was, so the kid-half sunk into the fluff, burbling happily. "Still, if you're up and about, we should probably get to the counter-intelligence lecture. And you need to get back to your mother."

He's drooling. While she kept the disgust out of her tone, I could still feel it, like bile rising at the back of my neck.

Understandable, even if it didn't bother me much, it was gross. I did what I could to nonverbally console my coadjutor while prying the toddler from my tail with soothing noises, passing him back to his flustered mother, tickling his nose with my tail when he protested, though he instead latched onto that until Ali stepped up to provide a spare flower he'd gotten to the grasping clutches of the little gremlin. You've got a lecture to give. And please do make it reasonable, they're going to be working for us long term.

Ohhh~ you thought I would do otherwise?

Just being safe and explicit~ I responded cheerily.

-oOo-

Unexpected perks tend to be some of the most satisfying.

Like Opala capturing herself meaning that I could take a picture of her without worrying about how transparent the fabric was.

The queen giggled just a bit as the smart device clicked, her arm wrapped around me in the shared selfie.

"Thank you, I'd meant to do so previously, but my home culture is significantly less… open." I admitted, nodding at her chest even as I took a step away and got another picture for her image in my contacts. A simple white evening dress that didn't have any cleavage to it, there was no way this could be misinterpreted.

Opala's smile was warm as she placed a hand atop her bust, and the elegant and conservative dress changed, slits going up both sides even as the fabric about her shoulders evaporated to reveal the tops of her breasts once more… and both went so far that I had no idea how the dress stayed on. The slits went up to just beneath her arms, and the now shoulderless neckline only barely hanging on to protect her modesty… and there was clearly nothing else beneath. If she walked too fast she'd be flashing people.

The realization I was staring had my eyes jump back up to Opala's, and the smile on her face told me it was entirely intentional.

How dare.

"I understand," she said warmly before moving towards the spread of food that had been laid out for the supper tonight, as I was once again 'joining the queen for her evening meal'. "I have spoken with dignitaries that have been quite uncomfortable."

Belatedly, I realized that I couldn't use the selfie pic, as even without the ears and tail, I looked significantly different from how my mother would recognize.

For all that I was going to have to explain this to her at some point, I didn't want it to be now. Though that also left me in an awkward spot when it came to explaining why my base form now wasn't something my mother would recognize given the tale I'd woven for the royals.

While I snapped another picture of her new outfit, I made sure to move only the 'decent' outfit picture without me in it to the text app, [Opala, as promised, took a bit to get a good one of her. She's radiant, but she's working a lot.]

And I hadn't wanted to send one of her on her throne or similarly… question raising scenarios.

"No word from Osira's assassin?"

"No." I shook my head as I sent the message and image to my mother, an olive branch for her stress. "Not yet."

I'd tell my parents, my sister and brother in law, my nephew, my close friends… I'd tell them all about this at some point, hopefully soon. Let them make their own decisions, let them choose the immortality involved or offer them jobs, that whole shebang.

But, at absolute least, I wanted to be done with Opala's world, to have the major issues resolved, and ideally be in a place where I could present my best foot forward. A world that I controlled, shaped, and had nurtured into extraordinary beauty, even if my contract meant I couldn't directly utilize things on my home reality, I could still offer them the chance to go to the (hopefully) utopian-adjacent society I'd have created.

Opala's delicate fingers extended out towards me, palm upward as she smiled warmly. I sighed, realizing I'd lost my focus again, placing my hand in hers, the queen raising my hand to press a soft kiss to my knuckles. As little as the motion was, as small as it was, made my heart swell. Auburn eyes met mine, "I'm sure it will happen soon. I have faith in you, my heroic wizard."

You hope~ Koya crooned.

-oOo-

Hope was pretty thin on the ground as I typed away at my computer in my apartment. Technically, this thing was a beast of a computer, something I'd built myself with a strong GPU, high end CPU for the time and an assload of RAM, with a custom hard liquid cooling loop and enough RGB to make it a one box rave, and now it had access to the Company's site like my phone did, and I could poach some server time to run simulations or such if I paid for it and it was relevant to my specific job.

And I was using it to check emails, read up on forum notifications, and check up on my friends back home.

Voice Channels
v RATED E FOR EXPLICITLY EVERYBODY
# general
# many-small-bloodsucking-creatures
# recipes-n-foodies
# only-legally-star-wars
# mawhwedge
# at-least-one-piece
# enemy-stand-works
# ttrpg-discussion
FIC BRAINSTORMING
CHANNELS WITHOUT KO
CHANNELS WITHOUT INDY
NOT SAFE FOR LIFE
# general-not-safe-for-life
# dory-dreams-of-lesbians
DEAD OR SLEEPING

# general
[6:49 PM]Toby: .

[6:51 PM]Spencer: This literally scrolled by my dash like an hour ago.
[5:51 PM]Spencer: X D
[6:52 PM]Toby: issa button
[7:12 PM]Spencer: If this button existed it would just be an infinite money glitch for trans girls.
[7:14 PM]Spencer: plus a bunch of us are gamers.
[7:14 PM]Spencer: we have played the mario party
[7:14 PM]Spencer: we know the rapid button pushing strat.
[7:19 PM]Toby: It's a giant red button.

It aches to be pushed.
[7:37 PM]Spencer: this button specifically programmed to torment toby specifically
[7:37 PM]Spencer: but hey
[7:37 PM]Spencer: you should just push the buttons for as much money as you want.
[7:38 PM]Spencer: Worst case scenario, you end up as a girl and at the point there's no reason not to keep pushing it.
[7:38 PM]Spencer: Because at that point you can afford the best gender re-assignment surgery in the world.
[7:41 PM]Furiko: You might even get 'being a bishounen' out of it
[7:44 PM]Spencer: Creating a unique individual
[7:44 PM]Toby: Oi, my nose may be slightly crooked but I'm not ugly
[7:44 PM]Spencer: the first person to be cis and trans at the same time
[7:44 PM]Furiko: I didn't say you were!
[7:44 PM]Toby: I was joking
[7:47 PM]Andoriol: I ARRIVE IN THE DIGITAL SPACE ONCE MORE
[7:48 PM]Industriousrevolution: Who's this asshole? Never seen him before in my life.
[7:48 PM]Andoriol: Some bitch, I'unno.
[7:48 PM]Andoriol: What'd I miss during my sojourn?
[7:49 PM]Spencer: We watched a thing!
[7:49 PM]Toby: cough it was moar Lower Decks finally cough
[7:50 PM]Spencer: And the move is complete! Last box of my transformers finally arrived
[7:51 PM]Andoriol: Noice

A sneeze drew my attention up to my first 'actual' retinue member.

Gabrielle was getting along with Blue, but Ron was still cautious about the brunette. The fat ball of fluff was laying on my bed near my computer while the darker kitten was in the living area with her.

The woman was mostly living it up in the modern apartment, though I'd need to come up with other work for her other than keeping the cats fed and their litterbox cleaned.

Living it up in a bikini top and spats, with a little blanket thrown across bare thighs for the older cat to take up residence on her lap.

… admittedly, having eye candy is a bit of a bonus, but still, I need to find something else for her to do.

… maid outfit maybe. … slutty maid for visitors to enjoy…?

The bing of the chat drew my attention back to Discord.

[7:52 PM]Industriousrevolution: How's the jerb?
[7:53 PM]Andoriol: Bit of a holding pattern, no lie. Waiting for stuff to happen, and all I can do is schmooze
[7:53 PM]Andoriol: Iz frustrating with deadline
[7:53 PM]Andoriol: And stressful.
[7:55 PM]Furiko: And Indy's having a day
[7:55 PM]Industriousrevolution: mm
[7:55 PM]Andoriol: Wazzit?
[7:55 PM]Toby: Indy, is this about the co-author again?
[7:56 PM]Industriousrevolution: …
[7:56 PM]Industriousrevolution: …
[7:56 PM]Industriousrevolution: mebbe
[7:57 PM]Andoriol: What's it this time? More data shenanigans?
[7:57 PM ]Industriousrevolution: She wants to put in this entire section on securitization that just makes no sense in the wider context of the paper. We've been over this like three times already, but she's very insistent.
[8:00 PM]Toby: I can go ask the gf for advice? I know she's published a couple research papers before, I'm sure at least one of them has a co-author
[8:01 PM]Toby: … this assumes she actually left the lab, hol' up, let me check…
[8:03 PM]Industriousrevolution: wat
[8:03 PM]Andoriol: Hold up
[8:03 PM]Andoriol: Wait wait wait waaaaaaitafuckin minute
[8:03 PM]Industriousrevolution: WAT
[8:04 PM]Spencer: Sooo... were you waiting to tell us until you proposed orrr...?
[8:04 PM]Furiko: Woo!
[8:05 PM]Toby: …
[8:05 PM]Toby: Fuck. Uh.
[8:06 PM]Toby: …..
[8:07 PM]Toby: Hey look a distraction

I very nearly broke my keyboard as I furiously typed.

[8:08 PM]Andoriol: Don't you fuckin' dare
[8:09 PM]Andoriol: When did this happen?
[8:09 PM]Andoriol: (Also congrats)
[8:10 PM]Toby: Uh, not that long ago, I'd say?
[8:10 PM]Toby: (also ty)
[8:11 PM]Industriousrevolution: WAT

I laughed and clapped my hands once.

"Something happening?" Gabrielle asked, the voluptuous woman leaning against the door frame to my room, the dark ball of fuzz that was Blue happily warm and comfy sandwiched in her cleavage.

"Friend of mine finally got a date," I said as Ron scurried under my bed, "And a significant other it sounds like."

"Good for him?" She said asked awkwardly.

"I was worried about his odds of finding someone." I filled in.

"Oh! Okay."

I looked back to the screens of my computer as it binged at me once more.

[8:12 PM]Furiko: How 'not that long' is 'not that long'? Weeks? Months?
[8:12 PM]Toby: … um
[8:12 PM]Toby: uuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmm
[8:13 PM]Toby: wejustsetupdrawersateachothersplacestwoweeksago
[8:13 PM]Andoriol: Story time! Story time!
[8:13 PM]Toby: … do I have to?... sigh
[8:14 PM]Andoriol: I 'ave already said story time, story time is required, obviously
[8:14 PM]Toby: Fiiiine. Okay. So.
[8:14 PM]Toby: I told y'all I'm working as in-house counsel, but I got permission to elaborate just a little bit
[8:15 PM]Toby: I represent the company in arbitration matters, but I also serve as an arbitrator in disputes between employees, or if some of our independent contractors step on each others' toes
[8:15 PM]Toby: So this company has a big ol' fuckhuge 'cafeteria', and by cafeteria I mean there's a goddamn full time caterer plus buffet for employees. I'd had to come in at 3am to put out several fires that I should not have fucking had to handle, that dumbass could have handled it himself, so it was now 8am and I was ravenous.
[8:15 PM]Toby: I go down to the cafeteria, catering hall, whatever, and am feeling something spicy, so at the 'made to order' spot I order shakshuka. Extra spicy. The guy behind the stove looks up, hands me a number, I go grab one of the empty booths.
[8:16 PM]Toby: Five minutes later, someone comes up, asks if she can join me at the booth – apparently she also ordered shakshuka, extra spicy, and the cook suggested we just sit at the same damn table, it would be easier to just make one skillet and split it between us there
[8:16 PM]Toby: We get to talking – she works in R&D, I mentioned I worked in legal, we started chatting, food arrives and she can keep up with the spice as well as I can
[8:17 PM]Toby: Then the conversation kinda spiraled. I got deeper into what I was doing, she got deeper into what she was doing, started asking why we went for this company…
[8:18 PM]Toby: … and don't ask how, I don't remember, but it spiraled out from there into ethics.
[8:18 PM]Toby: She and I were screaming at each other in the catering hall for a good twenty to thirty minutes. Eventually both our phones went off at once (probably on purpose to get us to stop it), and I thought nothing further of it
[8:19 PM]Toby: … until she showed up at my front door the next morning, a Saturday morning, with coffee and pastries, eager to continue our discussion now that we'd had time to simmer down.
[8:19 PM]Toby: And, uh, yeah. Not how I expected it to happen, but… yeah

The synchronization with my own problems was both awkward and familiar, I often felt bad when my friends did, or had similar problems. It'd always felt like synchronization, empathy or precog or something like that, even if at the time I knew it was almost certainly otherwise.

Even if now… now it was real. I… may have to try and look back on those things with a bit more of a mystic eye at this stage…

That Toby's girlfriend was one who stayed up too late and he often had to help her to bed was an amusing inverse of how Farah would drag me that direction.

If nothing else, it was nice to get back in touch with my friends.

-oOo-

That warm feeling had faded midway through the next day as I moved through the city, keeping an eye and an intangible hand out for Valencio.

As wonderful as it'd been to tease my buddy about his new girlfriend, as was getting to spend a night with Opala once more? It didn't truly take away from the burn of stress from him failing to contact me for another day.

Touching one of the phials of colored liquid, I stared at it, eyes narrowed as I tried to peer beyond merely the physical. The health potions were actually blue, whereas the 'mana' (spirit) potions were red. I hadn't seen them in action yet, but to my eyes they seemed to glow, obviously the power within them, but the intricate little mandala of power that seemed to hang around it like a halo wasn't something I could parse, though I'm pretty sure that the symbol I was seeing floating in the liquid was the supernal 'rune' for Life.

Stuffing a honeyed treat into my mouth, I walked further down the shelves to look at some of the other potions and tonics on display, my tail and ears tucked away once more, if only to make it more certain that Valencio could see and recognize me.

I was increasingly frustrated by the lack of ways to communicate with the assassin, and struggling to weigh the few options I had available. Taking who knows how long to get good enough at some aspect of spellcasting to try and communicate? Going even further into debt in order to get Conjunction to just mentally ping the bastard? Even after getting back in contact, how would I maintain it? Heck, how would I maintain it with Opala while I was out and about? Debt increase 2 electric boogaloo to be able to open a gateway to him from my apartment and enabling all my retinue to do so? If they had phones and the ability to charge them? It still wouldn't work, 'cause even if my phone always had service? The phone I was calling still needed to have service, and cell service in ancient egypt was… minimal.

At the very least, I needed to set up a dedicated time to connect with him so I'd know when he was available.

The ruffle of cloth and edges of razor sharp daggers danced across my senses, like blades and cotton along my fingertips.

Koya? I double checked.

I'm quite certain that is him, yes.

Good. I set the bottle down and turned to the doorway. A farewell to the shopkeep before I left the shop, making a hard turn towards the source of the sensations.

I met his green eyes across the street, the shadows of his hood and the building he was hiding behind doing nothing to hide him from my intangible touch or my gaze.

Valencio flinched.

It seems the sweet little slaver has decided to whip his slave. My coadjutor 'mused'.

No. The response was reflexive even as I caught the guilt that caused by the throat and tossed it aside. But I do intend to express my displeasure.

The dark alley I finally cornered him was at least quiet and out of the way enough that we wouldn't be seen.

I loomed over him, "Speak."

"The Dark Empress requires that you search the lands of Egypt for four crystals, and destroy them utterly." I only scowled down at the assassin, waiting for him to elaborate, even if I knew what he was talking about. "They are the gatekeepers of the underworld. Large. They float and should not be hard to spot. If you do so, the Dark Empress shall treat with you."

"I do not appreciate being sent on an errand."

"It shall advance her plans." While his voice remained level, I could feel the way his muscles tensed under his skin, "You have given her reason to be cautious of you. She requires a clear show of where your loyalties lie."

I let a little sigh escape me as I stopped looming over him. I should've expected something like this.

Yes, you should have. Koya crooned.

At least it wasn't to kidnap Farah or Opala to be thrown to her army as sex slaves.

"Alright. But I expect you in the city at some point weekly."

Or a dead drop or a contact.

"At very least a deaddrop or contact." I parroted my Coadjutor, "I need some method of contacting you or her consistently. I gave you leeway this time, but until it's possible for Osira to openly operate, I cannot simply be left hanging and unable to inform her of developments."

Tersely, Valencio nodded.

-oOo-

Opala nodded resolutely, "It makes sense. And you intend to follow through?"

"When she realizes that I can provide other methods for immortality and infinite magical power, I doubt her plan will feel necessary."

"Young man," Farah chided from her place in my lap, having taken a ride 'for the road', a strand of her long black hair sticking to her sweat slicked skin, "That's not a no."

I rolled my eyes and smacked her fat ass, enjoying how that made her clench and jump just a bit before shooting a little glare at her, "No, I don't intend to resurrect the Pharoah's spirit just so she can absorb his power. It'd work, but there's better methods, like I said."

The queen chuckled, approaching and gently turning my face towards her with a hand before pressing her full, warm lips to mine in a brief kiss, "I believe in you. How long do you expect it to take?"

I smiled back up at her even as I pressed her recently creampied mother to my chest, "I don't know, a week or two at absolute minimum, but likely longer as I have a rough idea where to look, but only a rough one." Reaching up, I cupped the smaller woman's cheek and brought her back in for another soft kiss, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Farah purred as she rolled her hips, "We'll hold you to that, Master."

-oOo-

"So we're looking for a big crystal?" Dagon asked.

"A bit bigger than a person, floating, and looking like someone's inside it." I said as we walked through the desert, skimming through the content I'd saved of the let's play as well as the guides and my own backup saves to try and figure out where the crystals were. Sure, the world wasn't 1:1 with the games, but it should at least point us in the right direction.

"Heads up." Garth's voice broke into my efforts, and I followed his gaze to a pack of reasonably large, furry bipeds heading our way. They had bands on their forearms and shins, and each carried swords of varying quality.

I could actually hear the shuffling of their feet as they stalked towards us, even if they were a good distance away. My brain just hadn't processed it as people approaching.

"Werewuffies." Garth said, raising his crossbow.

I snorted, "Ah. That's what they're called?"

I think it's cute.

It's fuckin' adorable is what it is.

With a little shake of my head, I stepped forward, readying to try and scare them off, breathing in- and in- and in-?

I breathed out in a little 'woosh'. "Actually, lemme try something. I think one of my abilities is starting to come through."

The mercenary pair stepped aside as I breathed in, drawing on marching band and years of tuba to suck in a large volume of air, and then, watching my embouchure, flexed my diaphragm.

Silence.

And blood.

It wasn't ice breath.

It was a small hurricane, tight and tinted red, sands thrown up in its wake as it washed over the monsters, the impact not enough to even bowl them over directly… but at the same time, their flesh flayed from their skin, fur disintegrating, flesh lacerating and blood misting out of the wounds that appeared as their flesh dissolved as if they were made of ice in the desert sun.

And all in utter silence.

For an instant, my breathing hitched, and sound returned to the world, howls of pain, yelps, screams, the small pack falling over and clutching at their partially dissolved flesh, one gurgling and choking, its throat nearly gone.

Horror, icy and dour, gripped at my heart.

Sucking in a deep breath, I blew, and blew, and blew, until all that was left was the disturbed sands, bloody smears, and bone fragments.

I swallowed down the bile that had risen in my throat, unable to look away from what I had done.

Garth let out a low whistle, "Brutal. That's some hardcore magic."

"It… was supposed to be an ice wall. I-..." I swallowed again, still struggling to keep the bile down, "... I was trying to just scare them off."

A hand patted my shoulder before giving it a squeeze, "They were werewuffie's kid." Dargon moved past me heading northward as we'd been headed, following the rough path. "They'd have tried to kill us, and if the girlie were here, take her back to their den to have their way with."

"... I know. I know." I murmured.

Ohhh? Is my master not up for the rigors of combat?

"It's one thing to wring a chickens neck or put down an animal, it's another one entirely to dissolve them with my breath!" I couldn't help but snap.

The quiet of the desert hung as I collected myself, Koya suspiciously silent.

"You okay, boss?"

"... no." I admitted, finally tearing my eyes away from the bloody smear I'd made of sapient beings, finding the mercenaries looking at me in worry. "Not at the moment. I will be, just… not right now."

The old priest nodded, "We should set up camp then, call it for the day."

"Yes, you're right." I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Let's find a spot to set up."

-oOo-

It took the good part of a week to find the first Crystal even with the good idea of where it was. The cavern in which a teleport stone to Greece was hidden, and through which Osira had been funneling monsters to Egypt in an attempt to destabilize the country. And after touching the opalescent orb and arriving on the greek side of things? We found the giant crystal.

Brilliantly blue, it was actually about as tall as I was, floating a couple feet off the ground, semi-transparent with what looked to be the figure of a slender woman within.

"Yeah… yeah, you can't really miss that." Garth muttered, staring up at the thing.

It was mystically fascinating. It was like a pin holding a number of strings in place for a complex weave of rivers of power, but also a pillar? And a… hinge? No, hinge bolt I think? It was hard to perceive with how it overlaid reality, but I could taste the waters of the world on my tongue and smell the sea but also rot seeping out from under a trash can lid.

This was a fucking thing and a half, and I was irritated that I didn't really have the time to study it.

Thoughts, Koya?

It's a shame we can't take it with us. She said almost wistfully in my ear.

"Mm." One hand placed on the smooth crystalline surface, which felt like ice as I pulled my other hand back. I didn't think you had a thing for crystals or gems.

I don't. But it is an exquisite specimen.

Was.

My fist slammed into the thing, and it shattered to reveal an elemental woman, the 'gatekeeper of water'.

"I awaken from my eternal sleep." Came the melodic statement as eyes like the depths of the trench opened, locking onto me, "You there, are you looking for a challenge?"

"Of a sorts."

"I see. I will show you no mercy."

-oOo-

"The victory belongs to you…" the elemental guardian stated, struggling to reform, "What may I give you?

"I'll take two things," I said, holding up two fingers, "Your powers, and you."

"Consider it–, wait, wha-?"

I pointed my hand and threads surged forward into and around the guardian, my will quite literally penetrating the guardian, and I squeezed.

It was like trying to push a bathtub full of water until it suddenly wasn't, and like the plug had been pulled, all the water, inertia, and resistance in the container just swirled away.

And when it was gone? My shroud collapsed onto nothing.

Blinking in confusion for a moment, I let the shroud extension dissolve with a little scowl, "... huh."

"Was that not supposed to happen?" Dargon asked.

Quickly, I pulled my smartphone out, trying to pull up the retinue tab, "I don't think so…"

There she was, the 'Guardian of Water', T5 and captured, but listed as dead?

That shouldn't be possible. Koya murmured, and I could practically feel her ears swept back in suspicion, Killing someone should prevent them from being captured…

Yeah. Maybe I captured her before her death…? But that leaves a question of whether I gained her powers.

-oOo-

It turned out that I had, though it took some effort to get used to them.

The next two crystals took some time in finding, but the fights with the Earth and Fire Guardians went much the same. Their magic stung something fierce, but didn't do meaningful damage through my Shroud or own durability, and when defeated and 'captured' they also seemed to die.

The boon of the guardian's power allowed me to generate their respective element by exerting some of my energies, but also to manipulate existing manifestations of the element. Basically I was collecting bending styles.

Interestingly, the flames I generated defaulted to the sickly green hatefire of Liger, the green sun of the Demon City Malfeas.

Mastering my abilities was going to take time, obviously, but even this early in my scaling I massively outpowered basically everything I could feasibly run into, so I wasn't concerned. The past few weeks had mostly been the search for the crystals as I tried to get a better handle on how supernal magic worked as well as how my own intrinsic exaltation operated.

Turns out? I favored Metagaos, the Trackless Quag. It meant my native magics trended towards consumption and greed and wasn't that fucking on the nose? The discovery alone meant I was almost perpetually a bit hungry now, but tapping into that feeling and where it led had my teeth becoming basically indestructible… as well as the ability to spontaneously generate mouths or other methods of consumption on or from my body… or my Shroud.

What had been weird was when I'd used a mouth generated via my Shroud to eat a rabbit as a test I'd actually been less hungry and had tasted it.

I was… understandably hesitant to try and test out whatever the hell my Kryptonian abilities were after that first usage.

Thankfully, for all that it'd taken several weeks of scouring the ancient greek countryside and making myself discover increasingly new things to eat while finding the first three crystals, the fourth was somewhere that couldn't be missed.

On top of Hades tower, a dangerous (and beautiful) spire that was difficult to miss.

Which doubled as Osira's home base.

I was sorely tempted to just rock up to Osira's throne by unraveling the ward on the door to the underground lair, but that'd be a terrible first introduction to a woman I hoped to make a life with. 'Hey, your privacy? Fuck that, I'm in charge.'

The final guardian crystal shattered beneath my fist before revealing the Gatekeeper of Wind.

"I awaken from my eternal sleep." Her voice was like the whisper of wind through a flute as eyes the color of clouds opened, "You there, are you looking for a challenge?"

-oOo-

I skimmed over the display of my company device as the 'horse' I was riding brought us towards Thebes. It'd taken some practice to get used to 'walking' via the shroud in the form of a horse. Sure, I could run faster, but my mercenaries couldn't. I mean, they could barely keep up with me at a brisk walk just due to my size and that I took forever to tire.

I'd found another mercenary to 'hire', and between her and the Gatekeepers and smattering of monsters I'd found to capture and sell, I was starting to make something like a dent in my debt.

The interest will still be significant, 35 credits unless you are able to capture Osira in the next few days.

And if I actually dump the 180 credits I've accumulated into the principal. I scowled at the debt on the display, Which I intend to, I can feel you bristling Koya.

The phantom sensation of arms squeezed around my waist, as if my Coadjutor was riding behind me, I would hope my host is better with finance than that.

Yes, but if it wouldn't make a meaningful dent, I might've just saved enough to buy a proper healer that could help my father. He was doing better, but in this case better was 'only' more stable and coherent more frequently. This also meant my mother was less stressed, and while she'd cooed quite a bit over the picture of Opala for understandable reasons, my father had cheered me on in the brief time I'd had to speak with him.

The sound of hooves in sands, previously distant, suddenly hitched, then intensified and started to close.

"Sir."

"I hear them." I said, already looking in the direction of the sound. Horsemen, mortals, one spellcaster among them, a squad of five in the armor of Thebes, now approaching at a canter.

"What are we looking at?" Tirah asked, the pink-haired mercenary's hand lingering near her halberd.

"Welcoming party from Egypt," I said as I swung my 'horse' towards them, the thing of cloth and steel moving at a decent walk as I moved to meet up with the group, "Might even escort us the rest of the way once they see it's us."

Leaning over and 'whispering' to the old priest, the mercenary I'd picked up in Greece asked, "You said he was with the royals…?"

"He is with the royals, lass. He's likely goin' straight to the throne room."

"Or the royal chambers." Gath'd snarked.

"Given we're probably getting to Thebes after sunset even if we push it, it'd be the latter." I said cheerily, eagerly looking forward to meeting back up with the royal family and 'forcing' them to the bed to claim them. "If, as we're likely to set up camp and get there tomorrow morning, it'll be the throne room."

I hadn't really 'enjoyed' myself with Gabrielle over the course of the month, so I was a bit backed up. Because I had focused more on developing my abilities and skills, because I just wasn't all that into the displaced woman, attractive as she was, and because I was admittedly saving up for Farah.

It'd still been fun to see how easily she accepted being put into the sluttiest of outfits as eyecandy with only a slightly awkward surprise.

"Hold-!" The lead guardsman called out as they approached 'hearing' distance, "The egyptian crown requires your ti–" His head jerked back, "Sir Jacob!"

"Guardsman." I greeted cheerily as we got closer to a comfortable speaking distance, We don't know this one's name right?

No, you do not.

Har har.

"What can I do for her highness?"

"Sir Jacob!" The man actually spurred his horse faster to close the distance, eyes frantic now, and with that my good mood quickly dissipated. It only took a few moments for him to finish the approach, within 'melee' range now as he brought his horse up beside mine. I was admittedly frustrated by how he paused, glancing down at the construct of cloth and steel created by my shroud, hesitating for a moment before finally looking back up to me, "Queen Opala requires your presence immediately!"

"What's going on?" I kept a tight hold of my growing paranoia and frustration, it wouldn't do to get snippy with him just because he was taking a bit–

"Lady Farah has been kidnapped!"

It took a moment for the realization to settle, and it did so as a frigid, weighty lump in my stomach, "... when?"

"Almost right after we lost contact with you." Nearly a month. "She'd been on a visit to the port town to see off dignitaries, s-she was under full guard but they were found slaughtered on the path back."

The man had leaned back, his horse shying away as its rider flinched from my gaze, and for a moment I didn't understand why, but then I noticed the reflection of emerald and violet light off of his armor.

For all that my face was mostly under control aside from the tensing of my jaw, my soul was incandescent, and my anima had flared to life as my ribcage fought to contain the coronal flux of my heart, which burned so hot it seemed ready to leap from my chest.

It was a comforting pain.

Sir, if you could keep focused, as your tenant I would appreciate it. Such undirected anger is… uncomfortable.

I looked away from the guardsman, staring in the direction of the cliffs that formed the natural barrier for Thebes in this world. A slow breath as I took in the good, and breathed out the bad, compressed, and focused, the flames licking my skin guttering into glowing petals as I built layers around my fury, leaving a single opening like a lantern to shine that hateful light on who had caused this.

"Osira."

The guardsmen had frozen like prey animals when a monster stalked by, even my own mercenaries who I'd cooked for and spent the past month with me had frozen. I guess in this moment I truly was the infernal monster, and the wizard whose affairs had been meddled with,

"Meet at the palace." I ordered as I dismounted, the horse construct dissolving.

"S- w- will do boss."

"If I'm not there, you are to protect Opala with your lives."

I heard the quiet affirmation, but only as a whisper on the wind, as I was already running, a crimson wind at my back, silver sands pushing me along, and my furnace heart thundering in my chest.

I was in Thebes within the hour.

---

A.N. - So that took forever and a day to get out. Those first few scenes fought me something fierce to make happen in a remotely interesting fashion, and ballooned on me real hard, it was meant to be 500 words or so and became -checks-, literally ten times that, sheesh.

Still, the plot finally starts to pick up!

As always, commentary, criticism, and speculation are appreciated.

And, as a treat, the build is finally public.