Chapter 5
Lucretia leaned against him as they watched the dock recede in the wake of the ferry. “Was there a presentation when you became a Coordinator?”
“Bella gave a short speech about what it meant to be one and then handed me my Coordinator’s pokedex. I think I’ll keep it as a souvenir.” Nicodemus shook his head slowly. “I’m surprised Emilio was allowed to advance. Our battle was not the way performances are supposed to go.”
“How so?”
“You start out with a certain number of points and as the battle progresses you loose points based on your actions as well as your opponent’s. If you give an attack with flair or style, then extra points are removed from your opponent’s score if it hits. If you miss with an attack or use the same attack more than once, you lose points. I suppose our battle had some grace, but it was more of a slugfest than anything else.”
“Why was that, sir?”
“I think it was because Enrique Spada wanted me out of the contest and Emilio was his hit man.”
The Ladyien’s head swiveled to look at him and she spoke in a carefully neutral tone. “Sir, will we be going back to address what they did to you?”
He chuckled. “No, I don’t think that’s necessary. What happened is over. Now, if I run across him outside of the Slot League and he’s that much of an ass, I may have to reevaluate how much he interests me.” His arm went around Lucretia’s waist and she snuggled closer. “However, that’s in the past. The Sunshine League is our destination and our future, at least in passing.”
“Where is Isabella?”
He smiled slightly. “She came down with a case of the mal de mer and is waiting for her motion sickness pill to kick in.”
She nodded. “Do you think we’ll have any trouble with Team Zenith in the Sunshine League?”
“The Night Watch has been pretty vigilant in keeping them out, so probably not. Whenever Team Zenith sends people to the Sunshine League, usually they get sent back in pieces. Zenith does the same thing to Night Watch people who try to enter the Slot or Silver River Leagues.”
“Is there a team in the Slot League?”
“No, officially there aren’t any teams there, but Team Zenith gets an unofficial pass since they help fight the Dark League from time to time.”
“Will we have problems with the Night Watch because of their history with Team Zenith?”
“We shouldn’t. I’m a Coordinator with no history of working for Team Zenith and Isabella isn’t known. Besides, I don’t think it’s possible for the Night Watch to keep records on everyone in Team Zenith. I figure most Zenith members act like they normally do and are pretty easy to identify.”
A voice spoke from behind them. “They don’t wear shirts with a big Z on them like Team Rocket does with that silly R, so they might be difficult for the Night Watch to identify.” It was Isabella. She still looked a little green, but nothing like before. “I needed to get some air.” Kay hovered behind her.
Nicodemus nodded to her. “No, they don’t wear uniforms, but there is an institutional arrogance that they don’t bother to try and hide. Face it; any time they were trying an incursion, Zenith would have sent their most dedicated and zealous members to the Sunshine League to begin paving the way for their entrance. They would have stood out like Hounds in a room full of Titmice.”
Isabella grabbed the rail firmly and tried not to look at the rolling sea. Finally she decided to watch a passing cloud. “You could be right.” She swallowed heavily. “It’s a three day trip to Shady Shores. You mentioned traveling to another city once we got there and then going from it to the Blue League. Do you have one in mind?”
“It’s about a hundred miles or so from Shady Shores to Pearl City. Even if we don’t push hard, we can be there in a couple of days. Once in Pearl City we can catch an airship to London. There’ll be some intermediate stops along the way for refueling and to change out passengers, but if we stay in the airports we shouldn’t have any problems. The trip is 5500 miles and will take seven days, including layovers.”
“Can we pay for tickets to London?” Isabella took a deep breath and most of the pallor in her complexion faded. “Oh, much better.”
Nicodemus shook his head. “Not quite. We’ll need to catch and sell some ferals on our trip to make up the shortfall.”
She gave him a speculative look. “There’s enough for one ticket, isn’t there?” Before he could answer, she continued in a quiet voice. “You were going to kill me that night.” It wasn’t a question.
He met her gaze squarely. “I didn’t.”
“Why not? You thought I was asleep.”
Nicodemus looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know. For some reason I changed my mind. Maybe it’s because you’re not the burden I thought you would be.”
She gave him a mysterious smile. “Maybe. I’m headed below. Dinner, such as it is, will be served in half an hour and you don’t want to be late. I’m sure the crew will provide something greasy.”
Lucretia watched the human leave with neutral eyes. “You like her. And she knows it.”
“That can’t be. I don’t like anyone.” He shrugged. “I don’t dislike anyone, either. Does that bother you?”
The Ladyien smiled. “You take care of us, me in particular, better than most. We’re tools to you, but you understand the value in taking good care of those tools. I could ask for no less. Because you value us, since it’s inefficient, you won’t mistreat us. Many Tamers don’t understand that.” She nodded in Isabella’s direction. “She doesn’t really understand that either. I know this because she’s conditioned Kay not to volunteer information and someday that could prove costly.”
Nicodemus gave her a thoughtful look. “Most Tamers do things like that. They don’t seem to realize it could put their lives in jeopardy. I’m trying not to do things that way, but I want your help in making sure I don’t make those kinds of mistakes.”
She cocked her head. “I will, sir. Since it’s a couple of days to Shady Shores, I presume you want to train to pass the time. What kind of training can we do on the ferry without getting into trouble?”
He turned to face her. “We’re going to get everyone out and work on our communication skills. Almost everyone needs some work on speaking properly and someday it will be vital.”
***
Isabella jumped when her earpiece crackled and Elena’s voice came from it. “I’m driving them to position alpha. The target is three Boobleaf.”
Lucretia’s voice was next. “What happened to the fourth?”
The Thundrix laughed into her mike. “I did. She’s in my pokeball and resting uncomfortably.”
“Your job isn’t to catch them,” the Ladyien replied crisply. “Just drive them.”
Compression robbed Elena’s voice of emotion, but she still managed to sound contrite. “Yes, my alpha. Driving them.” There was the loud crack of an electrical discharge off in the distance. “Situation update. I’ve picked up a fourth pokegirl at position alpha. I don’t know what kind she is, but I scared her out of some bushes. I am proceeding to the capture site.”
“Understood.” It was Nicodemus. “If she’ll be driven with the others, then bring her, just don’t lose the Boobleaf. Any others are extra, but those Boobleaf will fetch top prices.”
“Whoa!” Elena shouted. Her mike was set for voice activation. “That new one just hit me with a power bolt! Now she’s running with the others.”
Lucretia’s voice overrode the Thundrix’s. “Status report.”
“Relax, it was a power bolt, not a hyper beam. All it did was sting a bit. I’m fine. ETA to capture zone is two minutes.”
Isabella picked up her binoculars and swung around in her tree blind. She could see Nicodemus and Naomi, his Espea. They were crouched down in some bushes on the edge of the kill zone. On the other side of the zone waited Tabitha and Lucretia. Dorcas, his Ponytaur, and Ruth, his Eva, were still in storage and constituted his reserve.
Isabella had offered her pokegirls to help with the capture, but had been forced to agree with Nicodemus when he pointed out that they hadn’t trained in coordination between the two teams. Without that training, trying to work together would be too inefficient and might result in someone getting needlessly hurt. So instead, she was up in a tree, watching the area for surprises while he proceeded with the capture.
Training her binoculars on the area where the ferals were expected to appear, she waited. Right on schedule, she saw movement and traded the field glasses for her pokedex. The range was long, but she got a successful reading. “The lead pokegirl is a Thorne.”
“Thanks.” Nicodemus spoke to Naomi, who nodded and stepped into view. The Espea’s sudden appearance caused the Thorne to pull up short just as the first Boobleaf trotted out of the woods. Naomi’s eyes flashed violet as she used psychic on the Thorne. Her hapless opponent crumpled soundlessly under the attack.
The first Boobleaf was joined by two more and all three used razor leaf on Naomi, who teleported to safety before the attacks could hit. The leaves slashed the bushes behind where she’d been standing, narrowly missing Nicodemus. He went flat as the bushes shredded around him. “Lucretia, now!”
The Ladyien shot into the air and all three of the Boobleaf responded to her sudden appearance by using leaf armor. Tabitha stepped out while they were focused on Lucretia and hit them with a flamethrower attack. Flames washed over them and the weakest dropped immediately under the assault.
The other two screamed in pain and dropped their leaf shields just as Lucretia used vortex. All four feral pokegirls were sucked into the air and the Ladyien hit them with pokeballs as they fell. The two conscious Boobleaf fought their confinement briefly, but soon gave up.
Isabella keyed her radio after sweeping the area. Other than the crackle of slowly smoldering undergrowth, everything was quiet. “It looks clear from up here. We probably need to get moving, all this activity may draw predators.”
Lucretia’s chuckle came across the speaker. “She’s absolutely right. That’s why I recommend we stay and catch anything that shows up looking for a free meal.”
Isabella watched Nicodemus pick up the pokeballs. “That sounds good to me. Isabella, you and Elena are our eyes while we wait. Lucretia, you and Tabitha put out that fire.” He paused. “Elena, come on in so we can swap your pokeball out for an empty.” He glanced up at the blind as the Thundrix shifted from her overhead spiral where she’d been waiting to pursue any pokegirls who escaped the capture teams and headed in for a landing. “That was a good job, Isabella. Keep it up.”
***
Isabella smiled at Nicodemus as he dropped heavily into a chair across the table from her. “How did it go?”
“We got a good value for our captures.” He motioned the waitress over. “Tea and another sandwich like hers.” The Ingénue nodded and wrote down his order before slouching away. “In fact, we got more than I thought we would.”
“Enough to cover the tickets or do we need to catch more ferals?”
“We’ve got enough to cover the tickets. I’d like more, but we can always hunt once we get to our destination. Thanks.” The last was to the waitress as she put his tea on the table. He dropped his voice as she wandered away again. “Any problems while I was selling them?”
She replied in an undertone. “Some Tamer came through and challenged a couple of guys, but your idea worked fine and he never troubled me about fighting. Since I’m not dressed like a Tamer, nobody thinks I am one.” Isabella was wearing a high necked smoke gray knit dress with open-toed flats. “Other than this horrible purse you’ve gotten me,” she gestured at the large blue satchel that held her pokeballs and pokedex, “I’m doing quite well.” She chuckled. “I had a tense moment when he came up to me, but he wanted my com number. I gave him the one for the bagel shop in Shady Shores that we liked.”
He nodded. “Hey, you wanted to keep your Tamer equipment with you and it’s a good way to do that. I hope we’ll be long gone before he calls you. It could prove to be awkward.”
She smiled smugly. “You could always claim to be my husband. That should put him off.” Her smile became a grin at his shocked look. “It would,” she teased. “When do we leave?”
He still looked stunned but recovered quickly. “The flight leaves in four days. Why, did you have something planned?”
Isabella looked thoughtful. “No. We could spend another two days sweeping the countryside for ferals. That way we still have two days to return and catch the airship to the Blue League.”
“That sounds like a good idea. We can swing by the hotel for our gear right after lunch.”
“Hey, you!” It was a young man with a pokedex. He stopped in front of their table and glared at Nicodemus. “You are sitting with my woman.”
Nicodemus gave Isabella a curious look. “Are you his woman?”
“Of course I’m not. I like men, not boys.” Her tone could have frozen seawater. “I don’t know who he is and I don’t care.”
The Tamer flushed. “I’ll show both of you! I challenge you to a salvage battle.”
Nicodemus frowned. “Who do you think he’s asking?” he asked Isabella. “You’re not a Tamer and I’m a Coordinator.”
The Tamer snorted. “So you’re one of those pussies? We don’t recognize them here. You’re just a pansy Tamer so get up and fight or cough up a pokegirl.”
“Is this your boyfriend to be?”
Isabella shook her head. “No, he’s not the one from earlier. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t have much choice if they don’t recognize Coordinators. I’ve got to fight.”
“That’s right, you pussy,” snapped the Tamer. “I, Eduardo Rodriquez, the Gunman, am going to kick your silly Slot League ass.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Gunman? Is that because you like to shoot off your mouth?”
Rodriquez purpled as Nicodemus’ words caused a wave of laughter to sweep the room. He spun and glared. The laughter choked off and he turned back to Nicodemus with a satisfied smile. “I’m the Gunman because my GunValkyrie is unbeatable, as you are about to discover.”
“Is that so? I think you’re just a tiny fish in a small pond and you and your GunValkyrie wouldn’t make a pimple on the ass of a real Tamer. That’s why you pick on Coordinators.” There was a collective gasp from the other people in the room as his words sank in.
Eduardo slapped him. Nicodemus smiled and licked blood from his split lip. “Your challenge is accepted and I’ll meet you outside.”
Isabella grabbed his arm as Rodriquez stormed outside. “Why are you insulting him?” she hissed.
“He’s going to fight me regardless and I’m choosing which pokegirl he uses.” He licked blood again. “I’ll need to have Lucretia look at that after the match.”
She gave him a confused look. “I don’t understand.”
“That’s ok, you don’t have to.” He rose and went outside. Isabella waited a moment before following him out.
Rodriquez was waiting for Nicodemus. “So, the coward appears.”
Nicodemus wasn’t big into small talk, but since he had a plan, he had to respond. “Do you actually think you have any chance of defeating me with a GunValkyrie?” He sneered. “You’re a moron.”
Rodriquez whipped a pokeball from his belt. “We’ll just see about that! Go, Esmeralda!” The GunValkyrie materialized and looked around slowly. “Release your pokegirl, hijo de puta.”
Nicodemus released Tabitha, calling out quietly as she appeared, already in her quadrupedal form. “Combat mode delta.” This meant that his Rapitaur was to concentrate on close combat to the exclusion of almost everything else. It wasn’t much of a code, but they hadn’t worked together long enough for anything elaborate.
“Yes, sir,” she muttered just loudly enough for him to hear. “Delta it is.”
“BEGIN!” Eduardo shrieked. “HOVER AND GATLING!”
The GunValkyrie lifted off the ground and her Gatling guns began cycling from storage as Nicodemus spoke. “Hyper quick ignite.”
Tabitha blurred forward as flames raced over her body. Esmeralda’s toes were still touching the ground when the Rapitaur slammed into her. The two pokegirls tumbled across the ground from the impact as plasma bolts sprayed in all directions from the GunValkyrie’s Gatlings. The crowd scattered in all directions, screams sounding as the energy bolts flashed around them. Miraculously, no one was injured but several windows exploded and divots were blasted from walls around the ad hoc battlefield.
“HOVER, DAMNIT!” Esmeralda lifted off the ground without trying to stand and climbed as she began to pivot to face Tabitha.
The Rapitaur rolled quickly to her feet as Nicodemus called out. “Flamethrower.” Tabitha glowed as she used power drive before running to get beneath the hovering GunValkyrie. Once there, she used flamethrower straight up at the pokegirl hovering just out of reach. Esmeralda screamed in agony as the attack engulfed her.
Tabitha used flamethrower again before the GunValkyrie could recover. Esmeralda fell on top of the Rapitaur, who spun, slinging her opponent into the side of a nearby building. She slid, smoldering, to the ground.
Rodriguez glared at the fallen GunValkyrie before turning that glare onto Nicodemus as he recovered his pokegirl. He stripped his pokedex from his belt. “I’ll need your dex for the transfer of funds.” He held out his free hand and snapped his fingers. “Now!”
Nicodemus glanced at Isabella. “This was a salvage battle. I’ll take the GunValkyrie.”
“You’ll take money and be glad for it.” Eduardo sneered. “Don’t worry, pussy, it’ll be more than enough for you.”
Nicodemus blinked and his face set. “I said I’ll take the GunValkyrie.” Tabitha moved to stand next to her Tamer.
“You obviously have no idea of who I am.” Rodriguez assumed a haughty pose. “Tying to take Esmeralda would be a very serious mistake on your part.”
“I know you’re an honorless, lying sack of shit.” Nicodemus smiled grimly as Eduardo went pale with rage. “I also know you shouldn’t have a Tamer’s license because of it.”
The Tamer hurled Esmeralda’s pokeball at Nicodemus, who plucked it from the air. “I’ll be seeing you, senor,” he snarled. Turning, he stomped away.
Isabella touched his arm and gave him a worried look. “He sounded like he meant that threat.”
“He probably did. Still, I doubt he’ll be much of an issue for us.””
“Senor, you have insulted a very powerful man.” It was another Tamer. “Eduardo Rodriquez is a powerful Tamer in Pearl City. His father is the mayor and his uncle is the chief of police. They are not going to be happy with what you have done today.”
Nicodemus sighed and returned Tabitha to her pokeball as the Tamer left. “I wonder if this means that I’m going to have to spend the next four days in the jungle and then make a run for the airport.”
“Do you think things will be that bad?” Isabella slipped her arm through his.
“How do you think our luck is going to run in this particular case?”
She blinked. “To the hotel it is. We should get out of the city before any real trouble can start.”
“We?” He frowned at her. “You’re not in any danger so you can stay at the hotel until the airship gets here.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I am not waiting here alone for days while my knight, who by the way has no armor at all, much less some that’s shining, is out gallivanting in the jungle.” Her voice dropped and her tone was angry. “I am not going to be drooled over and pawed by,” she waved an arm in a rough circle, “all the horny men who want to tame me just because they think my pussy is somehow different from the one on a pokegirl.” She smiled and her anger vanished like it had never existed. “Now that’s settled, we’ll get our equipment from the hotel and be on our way.”
Nicodemus watched her for a moment, his face expressionless. “While I suspect that staying here wouldn’t be quite the trial and tribulation you’re making it out to be, it is your choice to make.”
“I’ve made it,” she replied firmly. “I’m going with you.”
***
Isabella fed another stick into the flames and glanced up at the sky. Clouds scudded by in the wan moonlight and she could smell rain on the wind. Sighing, she stared into the flames blankly.
Nicodemus had wanted a cold camp, but she’d overruled him and made a fire while he set up the tent. He was right that it sometimes attracted bothersome feral pokegirls, but most of them knew to avoid fire. The ones it would attract they could always capture.
He was down at a stream along with his harem, ostensibly washing up. She supposed she was grateful for him doing his taming away from her. She’d realized that he was avoiding sleeping with her because he was worried it would change their relationship. She knew that most of the changes in his life had been for the negative, but still, some change was good. This might be what both of them needed, and she was going to have to sit him down and ask some very pointed questions in the near future, questions about them.
She glanced at Kay’s pokeball. She’d been discussing everything with her Ka-D-Bra when the impertinent wench had pointed out that now Isabella was upset because Nicodemus didn’t think she was special, when earlier she’d been upset because guys tended to hound her because they thought she was. In a fit of pique she’d put her harem member back into her pokeball.
While a handy way to win an argument, Kay was right. Besides, Nicodemus wanted her to always have someone available for protection. Isabella sighed again and reached for the pokeball so she could release her alpha.
A heavy blow struck her in the back of the head and her world spun away.
***
Isabella groaned as her skull pulsed with pain. She tried to sit up and realized that her hands were bound behind her back. She opened her eyes slowly, fighting back waves of pain induced nausea.
Someone squatted down next to her and peeled one of her eyelids up. “The whore’s awake,” Eduardo announced as he peered into her eyes. “Are you ready for another round, chica?”
Isabella’s eyes snapped open as she realized that her pants were gone and her shirt was bunched up around her shoulders. A dull throbbing pain in her groin told her what had happened while she was unconscious.
She fought successfully to keep her voice even. “Release me.”
Eduardo laughed. “So you can tell the police what happened? I don’t think so. When we’re done with you, I’m going to sell you to the Night Watch.” His eyes narrowed. “Where’s your bastard boyfriend?”
Isabella fought to focus. Her life was on the line. “He left yesterday, right after we fled Pearl City.”
Eduardo slapped her hard. Her head exploded in pain and she tasted copper. “You’re a lying bitch. I know he’s around here somewhere. Tell me where he is.”
“I-I don’t know.” She let panic creep into her voice. “He left, that’s all I know. I don’t think he’s coming back or he would have done so while you were raping me.”
She winced when he prodded her split lip with a finger. “For your sake, I hope you’re right.” He snorted. “I never realized that human women were so weak. A pokegirl would have stood up to me at least a little.”
Another Tamer appeared on the edge of her vision. “So is this prick coming back or not? I wanna fuck her again.”
Eduardo sneered. “You’ll wait your turn, Sam. And you’ll wait until I say it’s ok to stop watching for him to come back. Go check on Vicente.” He leaned back over Isabella. “What is his name, this bastard?”
“H-his name is Nicodemus.”
“Is that so? I think his name is dead.” He squeezed one of Isabella’s breasts and laughed when she flinched. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.” He rose and frowned when a branch broke off to the right. “What the? Vicente, what are you doing?” There was another crack and Eduardo took a step back before collapsing to the ground.
Isabella gasped when Lucretia appeared from the woods and knelt by her.
“I’ll have you free in a moment,” the Ladyien said quietly as she lifted Isabella. Silver flashed and the human’s hands were free.
Isabella clutched at the blanket that dropped over her shoulders and craned her head to see Tabitha standing nearby. “Thank you. Where’s Nicodemus?”
Another branch broke with a sharp crack. “Cleaning up,” Lucretia replied.
Isabella stiffened when a black form seemed to ooze from the undergrowth behind the Ladyien. “There is a feral behind you!”
Lucretia glanced over her shoulder. “Oh. That’s Ruth.”
Isabella blinked. “Are you mad? Ruth is an Eva.”
“No, she’s Um.” Tabitha broke off and grimaced. “What is name?”
“Umbrea.” Lucretia smiled slightly. “Mistress, when Ruth killed the first human, she evolved. That’s what took so long, we had to get her calmed down.” She sighed. “They’d already tamed you by then. Elena was coming back to camp when she saw them and came back to get Nicodemus.”
“Um. Br. Ea.” Tabitha slowly sounded out the word. “Umbrea!” Ruth grinned at her.
Isabella spat blood. “When that happens to a human, it’s called rape.”
“Yes, mistress.” The Ladyien blinked in surprise. “As you wish.” She pushed Isabella gently towards the tent. “You may wish to dress. I think that’s what Nicodemus is waiting for.”
“I want to bathe first.” Isabella glared and wrapped the blanket around her waist. “Tell him to get in here.”
“Yes mistress.” Lucretia raised her voice slightly. “Ruth, tell him we’re ready.”
“Yes, alpha.” The Umbrea disappeared into the night.
Isabella shivered and released Kay. “Get me my washing bag and some clothes.”
Kay’s antennae unfurled and she turned white, or in her case, pale red. “Yes mistress.” She ducked into the tent.
Nicodemus appeared, followed by Elena, who crashed through the undergrowth as she tried to move quietly and failed. He slipped a new magazine into his pistol. “What happened?”
“I got knocked out and when I woke up, Eduardo and his friends were here.”
“What happened to your pokegirls?”
She flushed. “I had put them up.”
He blinked slowly, as if he had trouble wrapping his mind around her short sentence. “Why?” he finally blurted.
“I, um, don’t want to discuss it. I want to go clean up.” She shuddered again. “I don’t remember anything, but I know I was raped.”
He nodded. “Tabitha, Elena, go with her.”
Isabella glared at him through narrowed eyes. “I’ve got Kay. I also have Lily and Ana if I need them.”
“Yes, you do. However, I don’t have to worry about them accidentally ending up back in their pokeballs, now will I?” He glanced around as Isabella gave him a surprised look. “I’ll get rid of the bodies.”
“What happened to them?”
“Ruth killed one and I shot the others.” He glanced down and looked surprised when he saw he was still holding the gun. “Should they just vanish or should we take their stuff before cremating them?” He slipped the pistol into his pocket and pulled out a tiny vial. “Here.”
Isabella took it slowly. “What is it?”
“Honey from Lucretia. It’ll fix up your lip and help with any other injuries.”
She smiled slowly. “Thank you.” She glanced at Kay as the pokegirl emerged from the tent. “Let’s go.” She turned back to Nicodemus. “I think we should take what we can, but I’ll bow to your judgment. We can sell whatever we get somewhere along the way. Maybe you’ll find a noncombatant in their harems.”
He nodded. “That is a very good idea. We’ll do that. Tabitha, find me when you get back. I should be ready to cremate the corpses by then.”
The Rapitaur nodded. “Yessir.”
Lucretia moved next to him as they left. “Sir?”
“What is it, Lucretia?”
“What is rape?”
He glanced at her and then knelt to stoke the campfire. “It’s when someone is forced into sexual activity against their will.”
She watched him intently. “Can pokegirls be raped?”
“According to the law, in most leagues, no. Some people believe that the law is mistaken.”
“What do you think, sir?”
He looked up at her. “I don’t think my opinion matters, but I do believe that pokegirls can be raped.”
“You hold my life in your hands, sir. Your opinion matters to me.”
He nodded slowly. “Yes, I can see where it would. Lucretia, I’m arguably less human than you are, but I do not rape.”
“What about ferals?”
His eyes meet hers steadily. “I don’t think ferals are human until they are awakened, but if you think they are, then I guess I’m a rapist.” A smile appeared. “Hmm, that means yet another crime I’ve committed.”
She smiled back. “Yes sir. Perhaps I should keep track of what crimes you haven’t gotten to yet.” Her head cocked. “Does that mean you think non-feral pokegirls are human?”
“Humans who undergo threshold become pokegirls. I don’t think they become any less human when they do.”
“Some members of the Church think that humans who undergo threshold are being punished for their sins, either in this life or in a past one.”
He blinked. “Were you a threshold case?”
“I was. Sir.”
“If someone said that to you, they were wrong. There are lots of males who need punished for things they’ve done. Since they don’t undergo threshold, I think whoever said that just hates pokegirls.” He rose. “We need to strip those bodies.”
Lucretia had one last question. “Are you going to keep Esmeralda?”
“I don’t know. I’ve got a full harem, and she’s not exactly a noncombatant. I’ll think about it and not make any sudden decision.”
“Yes sir. I’ll remind you in a couple of days.”
***
“I hate high heels.” Isabella leaned on his arm for support and raised a dainty foot. “Hold still, husband.” She adjusted the errant shoe and slipped her arm through his. “That’s much better.”
Around them the aeroport bustled with activity. Four airships were in and three more were expected in the morning; crews were everywhere, pre-positioning equipment or servicing the dirigibles already present. At windows, passengers stood around watching as their baggage was loaded before wandering off.
“Sir and madam?” A Chichi wearing a cute skirt in the colors of the aeroport personnel nodded respectfully to them. “I was asked to take you to the first class lounge where you can wait until your stateroom is ready.” Her ears pricked eagerly. “They’ve got free drinks!” A necklace glittered silver against her tan fur.
Nicodemus gave her a warm smile as he read the name on the necklace. “Thank you, Maggie.”
“I must say, you look rather nice as an emerald.” Isabella smiled at him as they followed the Chichi. “Why did you choose first class accommodations?”
Nicodemus now had green hair and eyes. The top of what looked like a nasty scar started at the line of his jaw and disappeared beneath his shirt. He wore the same suit he’d worn for his contest and carried a briefcase with his pokedex and harem inside. It also held Isabella’s pokedex.
Isabella was wearing a form fitting red sheathe dress with a plunging neckline and matching high heeled shoes. Her hair had been curled and now formed a cap of ringlets. Expensive looking jewelry graced her neck and ears. She carried a matching handbag with her pokeballs in it.
“Rich people are above most of the suspicions that plague the common folk.” He nodded at a security line where people stood to be checked before boarding. They’d been run through a much less stringent search in a private area after they checked in. “Once we get on board we can relax a bit. No one will suspect we were involved in that altercation with Eduardo.”
The Chichi stopped at a door that was sealed with a keypad lock. She typed in a number and opened it. “This way, sir and madam.”
The first class lounge was a glittering sea of brass and white marble. The Chichi led them to the bar. “Please have a seat and someone will take care of you. Have a nice day.” She bowed and bounced out of the room.
The bartender was a Taverngirl dressed in the same colors as the Chichi. She smiled as she pulled two glasses off the rack. “What would you like?”
Isabella smiled back. “Red wine, please, for the both of us.” Drinks in hand, they picked a table on the other side of the room from a Tamer who was in the process of seeing how far he could deplete the bar’s stocks before he was poured onto his airship.
She raised her glass and touched his with it. “To our success.” She sipped and made an appreciative noise. “Very nice. When we get to the Blue League, what’s the plan?”
“We’ll be landing in London. I don’t want to stay there; it’s too developed for my tastes. I’m not sure which way we’ll be headed just yet.” He shrugged. “I’ll do some research on the trip. We’ll know where we’re going before we arrive in London.”
They were watching the field through the plate window when a steward wearing the colors of the airship came up. “Mr. and Mrs. Azrael, your stateroom has been prepared and you may board at any time.”
Nicodemus sighed as Isabella laced her fingers through his and tugged. “Shall we go to our room, my husband?”
He winced.
Nicodemus Azrael
Ladyien – Lucretia, Thundrix – Elena, Umbrea – Ruth, Espea – Naomi, Ponytaur – Dorcas, Rapitaur – Tabitha
Isabella Maria Carmen de la Vega
Ka-D-Bra – Kay, Ponytaur – Lily, Amachamp – Ana