Into the Fire
Eighteen
Eve appeared from nowhere and let Iain go. They were standing in a wooded area next to a paved road that disappeared in either direction. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I’ve always wondered if pokegirl teleportation creates a temporary hyperdimensional portal in local spacetime that the user falls through or if it redefines the spacetime coordinates for the user and then forces them to instantaneously inhabit that point by moving from their current position to the defined one without moving through any of the points in between. It could even use some process that I haven’t considered since I’m not a mage.”
Eve blinked. “What does that mean?”
Iain opened his mouth and then closed it. “I guess it’s an academic question. The fact is that teleportation works within its limitations.”
The Megami-sama gave him a slightly concerned glance before waving at the road. “That it does. You wanted to arrive somewhere outside the city itself. This is the closest approach without hitting the urban areas. London is about five kilometers to the south. We should hit the outlying farms in a kilometer or so. Are you sure you want to walk?”
He nodded as he stepped onto the road. “I lost a lot of endurance from my time with Aglaii and I need to take every chance to work on that. We may be doing a lot of marching in Africa.”
“You really need to call it the Dark Continent. Calling it Africa points out that you weren’t raised in a modern school system to anyone who knows what you’re talking about.” Eve moved up to walk next to him. “Actually, if you want to engage in operational security, you really need to stop mentioning it by name at all. How about we call it ‘our trip’?”
“Ok, we may be doing a lot of hiking on our trip and I need the exercise. That better?”
“Much.”
Iain set a punishing pace, at least for himself, and was soon sweating profusely as they crossed through the belt of farmlands that surrounded London. The city was laid out like a lot of communities its size, with an outer belt of farms that supplied the inhabitants with a large portion of their produce, meat, eggs and milk. Every generation or two, the city would grow into the farms, with developers slowly purchasing them as grandchildren and great-grandchildren got tired of farming or didn’t have heirs. Then a new belt would be established and the cycle would repeat.
Finally Eve pulled him to a halt. “You are not marching, Iain. You’re jogging, we’re almost through the fields and now you’re covered in sweat and you smell. That’s not going to go over well in London.”
He bent over, resting his hands on his thighs in an attempt to increase the flow of air to his starved lungs. “Are you saying that I should go home and bathe?”
“Well, when I say you smell, I mean you stink.”
“Bloody hell. Take me home and I’ll be quick. We’ve got time if you fly me where we’re going once we come back.”
A half hour later they landed outside a large multistory stone building. It was nicely decorated and radiated an aura of age that was only natural when one considered that the building had been centuries old when the Revenge War started.
Iain read the sign. “The Royal Library was moved into this building in 15 AS. Before that, this was a museum and a good part of it still is.” He looked up. “It’s not part of the regular library system since it’s one of the specialist libraries. The public libraries are the regular library system and that’s where people go to check out books. They’ve been operating since 1841, which would mean the library system in the Blue League has been in operation for well over four hundred years. Closer to half a millennia, actually.”
Eve nodded. “And there are also the academic libraries that are only open for researchers. I’m familiar with the library setup here, although I didn’t know it was so old. Why didn’t the technology backlash destroy it like it did in many other leagues?”
“Because some tamers and their pokegirls hid everything they could get their hands on. Since there were several psychic and magic pokegirls involved, they hid entire buildings in plain sight. The mobs just stormed past them in their search for the right places to destroy and loot. Besides, the technology backlash wasn’t nearly as extensive as everyone says it was. There’s no way it could have been and have people surviving long enough to tame sufficient pokegirls to protect themselves.”
“I’d always wondered about that, but your explanation makes sense. What happened to the tamers?”
“Some of them were found out and killed, but most of them did ok. They were organized, after all, and that can make a big difference. The mob didn’t have many people with pokegirls, so when they attacked tamers they tended to get badly hurt.”
“That’s true. Sad, but true.” Eve cocked her head. “She’s coming.”
The massive double doors swung open and Dominique came out, closely followed by a petite G-Poindexter wearing a yellow dress. The Archmage smiled. “Sir, this is Amanda. She’s an archivist here and she’ll be taking us around.”
Amanda dropped a curtsey and smiled at him when he bowed back. “Mr. Wolf, Dominique as asked me to show you the restricted section on magic. I can show you the McKinney section, but the Stanford section is off limits to you.”
Dominique’s eyes betrayed her irritation as she glanced at Amanda. “I tried to get you access, but to get in you’d have to be authorized by someone like Minister Harris. I also had to buy you a membership at three hundred thousand SLC just to see the McKinney section.”
Iain shrugged. “I knew what it would cost, Dominique. As for the Stanford section, if I can’t get in then I can’t get in. Amanda, this is Eve. Please show us what you can.”
“I will, sir. Please come with me, sir, ladies.” The G-Poindexter led them inside.
The interior of the library was dimly lit in respect for the older holdings that weren’t on acid free paper and were therefore affected by light. Iain knew that some of the oldest manuscripts dated back to the fifteen hundreds and were probably the only existing copies of their type in the world. While not necessarily of much real value in the modern world, as artifacts they were priceless.
They were also heavily guarded by pokegirls and humans who had been specially trained in taking down intruders without using wide area techniques or fire.
Books lined all the walls and filled shelves almost to the ceiling. Rolling ladders were tucked neatly into corners and were almost invisible against the dark paneling that covered the few inches of wall not housing books. Paintings costing more than a good pokegirl hunter or tamer made in an entire career were hung prominently throughout the library.
Amanda led them through the stacks and to a heavy looking wooden door. There she produced a key from inside her dress and unlocked the door before pushing it open. “This is the McKinney collection and houses magical and theoretical magical tomes. There are some gloves in a box and I request that you wear them whenever you handle anything in here.” She pointed to a door on the other side of the room. “That is the entrance to the Stanford collection, where rarer tomes are kept. Please do not try to open it. It is under constant surveillance and magically secured.”
“We won’t,” Iain said as he looked around. “Dominique, where the hell should I start?”
“To be honest, I’m not completely sure. Grab some gloves and sit while I bring you some books and we’ll see what we can find out.”
Amanda smiled at them. “I know Dominique won’t let you hurt any of the books here and, since I have other duties, I’ll take my leave of you, sir. Dominique, just let me know when you’re done and I’ll lock the room back up.”
Iain bobbed his head in her direction. “Thank you for this, Amanda.”
“It was my pleasure, sir.” The G-Poindexter carefully shut the door behind her as she left.
Iain put on a pair of the soft white cotton gloves and settled down at one of the tables. “I’m ready. Let’s see if we can find something that’ll help with my magical education.”
For the next three hours Dominique brought him books and the two of them skimmed through them while Eve put the ones they discarded back where they belonged.
Finally he stripped off his gloves and rubbed his temples. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this with that damned singing. Why won’t she shut the hell up?”
Dominique frowned as she put another book in front of him. “What singing?”
“Stop teasing me. It was going on when we came in and it seems like it’s slowly been getting louder ever since.”
Eve frowned. “I don’t hear anything either. Where is the singing coming from?”
Iain pointed behind him. “There.”
Dominique blinked. He’d pointed at the door to the Stanford Collection. “We can’t go in there.”
“I know.” Iain shrugged. “It’s like it’s calling to me. I can’t make out any words, but I can hear it singing and somehow it resonates something inside me. It could be useful or it could be some kind of trap.”
“Maybe that’s why the collection is closed.” Eve smiled when Dominique stared at her in surprise. “There were books like that in the library at the Wolf Institute. They were dangerous and Master Caspa didn’t let any of the students near them.”
“I keep forgetting you went to that place.”
Eve’s eyes narrowed. “Trying for a rivalry between the Order and the Institute is silly, but if you really want one I’ll indulge you later.”
Dominique put up her hands protectively in front of her. “No, that’s not necessary. I’ve seen enough to know you have an unusual idea of what constitutes a fair fight. I still remember what you did to Scheherazade.”
“You’re as old as I am. Are you saying you don’t share some of my views on fair combat?”
“Not at all. I just don’t like opponents who think the same way I do.” They shared a smile. “Iain? What are you doing?”
He’d gotten up and was moving slowly towards the door to the Stanford Collection. “I just want to hear what she’s saying.” Eve reacted instantly, grabbing Iain around the waist and moving away from the door. He pulled at her arms. “Put me down.”
“No.” Eve glanced at Dominique. “Put the books up and then we’re leaving. Distance from whatever is in there should help him.” The Archmage nodded and began shelving books where they belonged.
Iain struggled briefly and then stopped. “You can let me go now.”
“No, I think I’ll wait until we’re out of the building first.”
“Bloody fucking hell.”
Once finished putting the books back, Dominique opened the door to the main part of the library. “You can’t teleport until you’re outside. I’ll go tell Amanda that we’re done while you get him out.”
Eve shifted her grip so she had one arm tightly around his waist. “Now, Iain, are you going to go with me quietly or am I going to have to put you to sleep and carry you out?”
“You wouldn’t.” He looked into her eyes and sighed. “Yeah, you would. I don’t see what the fuss is, but I won’t fight you.”
“Your behavior worried me, Iain. Once we’re away from here, we’ll talk about what’s going on. Ok?”
He nodded. “I know you’re concerned, even if it’s silly. Let’s go.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to know what she’s saying anymore?”
“I do, but it’s not so important that I want to do it if it bothers you for some reason.”
The Megami-sama tugged on his hand. “It’s good to hear that you’re still reasonable about this. However, just to be safe let’s get you away from here.”
***
Iain instantly came awake when the claw poked him gently in the cheek. His eyes flicked to his right at the shadowy figure looming next to the bed and his voice was a whisper. “What is it, Eirian?”
Her reply was also a whisper. “Come with me.”
Iain flinched when Scheherazade shifted slightly and pushed her wet nose deeper into his armpit. She tended to sleep with him this way, claiming that his scent made her sleep better. “Give me a second.” He began disengaging himself from the Dread Wolf.
On his other side, Dominique pushed herself up on one elbow and a dim light appeared next to her. Her eyes were hard and her mouth shaped an angry frown. “If you think you’re going off by yourself, you’re wrong. Shay!”
Scheherazade jerked upright, her ears flat as she quickly surveyed the room. “Where is the threat?”
“We’re going on a trip with Eirian and Iain.”
“I didn’t plan to leave you behind, Dominique,” Iain said quietly.
Scheherazade rolled off the bed. “If there’s not a fight to the death right now, I’ll be right back. Gotta pee.”
The Archmage smiled slightly, ignoring the Dread Wolf as she padded into the hallway. “I’m just making sure. Do I need to wake Eve?”
The Dragoness hissed slightly. “Be quick about it. I am not hauling everyone to our demesne. You and the wolf and he can go, but no more than that.”
Dominique blinked. “Is your demesne still part of the Order’s stronghold?”
“It is. We have followed our master’s wish and not sterilized the stronghold of organic life. Instead, we have secured the entrance to our portion of it and hidden it so the knights will never find it. Since it’s safe, we saw no reason to move it.” Tiny scales on the silver head gleamed in the dim glow of the light spell and made her skin glitter like she was covered with a powdering of diamond. “While we have Eoghan’s books and know the theory of how to manipulate hyper-dimensional realms, we have never done so and our home is not the place to begin experimenting.”
“That sounds eminently reasonable to me.” Iain began dressing. “Dominique, less arguing and more putting on clothes.”
“I’ll be right back. I need to brief Eve and I’ll get some clothes for me.” She vanished out the door to his room.
Eirian cocked her head. “You are alone for a brief time. This would be an excellent time for us to leave.”
He gave her a bland look. “How about you instead appreciate the fact that they trust you enough to leave me alone with you and not betray that trust.”
“I had not considered the situation that way.”
“Start.”
Scheherazade returned. “Eve, April and Irena are being briefed by Dominique. She’ll be back in a moment.”
Eve and Dominique came into the room. The Megami-sama looked at Eirian. “I realize we don’t like each other all that much and because of that I have a hard time trusting you to keep him safe. I am trying to, however, and if you want to just take him you can.”
Scheherazade’s ears went flat and she started to speak, only to stop when Iain shook his head slightly. Eirian regarded Eve for several seconds before speaking. “Trust comes hard to me as well. I respect your position as leader of our knight’s living harem. I can only carry three living with me and one of them must be him. Which two shall I take?”
Eve didn’t hesitate. “Dominique and Scheherazade will go.”
“Not you?”
“I’ll be here ready to come if needed. Dominique knows more about where you’re going than I do and Scheherazade will not hesitate to protect him.”
“I am not sure I could delegate his safety so easily.” The Dragoness injected a heavy note of disdain into her statement.
Eve smiled thinly. “It wasn’t easy at all, but they are the best choice for this.”
Eirian nodded slowly. “Perhaps it wasn’t as easy as I first thought. My apologies if I gave insult.” She turned to Iain. “Link hands with your guards that we may go.”
Iain gripped the hands of both his pokegirls firmly. “Ready.”
Eirian reached out with one hand and gently took him by the throat. “Then we go. Do not release your pokegirls.” The shadows in the corner of the room slid forward and engulfed them in darkness.
It was so cold that it burned Iain’s lungs when he breathed and the darkness streamed through him to illuminate his soul. He stood utterly alone in the universe. Although he knew that an instant ago Dominique had been holding his left hand and Scheherazade had been holding his right while Eirian grasped him by the throat, he couldn’t feel the pressure of their hands at all and he almost panicked before remembering the Dragoness’ warning. He blinked and although he knew he couldn’t see he was aware that an infinity of Iains blinked and looked back at him. Their eyes all widened and their mouths opened to scream and suddenly he was standing in the middle of Eoghan’s study and Eirian had released him to step backwards a pace.
Dominique’s hand tightened on his as Scheherazade slipped his arm around her and snuggled her body tightly against his. The Archmage’s eyes blazed. “What the hell was that?”
“There are two ways to enter the stronghold. The first is to use the ley lines like the knights do. The second way is our way. The living can survive it if they are strong, but it is not recommended for most of them.”
Iain shuddered violently as his mind and body merged once more. “That was an understatement. I don’t suppose we could use the ley lines when we leave?”
Eirian became still. “The ley lines are under observation by the knights while they strive for supremacy. If you use them, the knights will detect and then follow you. I would recommend letting me and my harem sisters exterminate the knights first. It should take a day or two to hunt the last of them down. Of course, that time will be substantially longer if you want their pokegirls taken alive.”
“Of course it will,” Iain said slowly. “I think I don’t want the karma from that order on my soul. Would it be better for my living pokegirls if they were in their pokeballs for the trip?”
“It would affect them far less.”
“Iain,” Dominique began before breaking off as he held up a hand.
“This is my decision, Dominique. Trust me, if I could go into a pokeball to avoid experiencing that again I would seriously consider it for myself.”
“You could.”
Iain blinked at Sable’s words as the Dragoness entered the room. “I could?”
“We have a supply of Jusenkyo water here and could turn you into a Dragoness, a Sorceress, an Enchantress, a Witch, a Dire Wolf or an Archmage.”
“Absolutely not.” Scheherazade’s ears were plastered against her skull. “We need him to remain human.”
“My master expressed a desire and I offered him a solution that would make his desire a reality. Nothing more, wolf.”
“Sable, thank you very much for offering a solution, but in this instance I think I’ll pass.” Iain pulled Scheherazade with him to the fireplace and held his hands out to the flames, soaking up the warmth. “Now, why did you bring me here?”
Eirian strode to a door on the wall and opened it. “Come with me. We have something for you.”
Dominique frowned. “You couldn’t have brought this something to him instead of bringing him to it?”
“It was inadvisable in this case. It is too large and Skye pointed out that there are elements of deniability that could be established if he were brought here to it instead of it to him.”
Iain shook his head. “Ok, you’ve piqued my curiosity. You can stop now with the whole being mysterious bit.”
Eirian surprised him with a coy look of approval. “You are very perceptive.” She stepped into the next room with Iain and his ladies trailing behind her. It was a library and books, scrolls and sheets of bark filled shelves just wide enough for the Dragoness to slip between them without disturbing anything. She didn’t look behind her as she made her way across the chamber. “This was Eoghan’s and now it’s ours to share with you if you’d like.”
“Do you read Ogham?”
“Eoghan required us to learn it and we are all fluent in it. It is, as you are aware, just the written form of Old Irish and Brythonic, both of which we speak. We also speak and read Breton, Pictish, Cornish, Cumbric, Manx, Norse, Welsh, Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, French, Saxon, Norman, Yiddish, several dialects of Latin, Spanish and Sidhe.” Her tail flicked sideways. “And of course, we are fluent and literate in English, even if Ygerna didn’t want us literate in anything.”
Dominique frowned. “She wanted all of the knights and pages literate.”
Eirian halted next to another door. “We were neither. We were slaves to the queen, guardians meant to die so she could live if it became necessary. All of the magic we learned while alive was oral in nature and passed from dam to child. Later her rules changed, but still, literacy was regarded as an aberration in her guard to the day she was overthrown.” She looked behind them. “Now.” Aurum grabbed Dominique, pinning her arms while Beryl and Emerald immobilized Scheherazade. Quickly both were bound in glowing rune chains that covered them completely. “I promise you, my lord, that our restraining them is only temporary. As soon as you have received our gift, they will be released.”
Iain blinked in shock and his mouth set in an angry scowl. “A gift that requires imprisoning my guards? Explain yourself, Eirian.”
“They would only seek to stop you from gaining this gift when the decision is yours to make.” She opened the door. “Can you hear it now?”
Iain’s mouth dropped. “It’s the same singing I heard in London.” He drifted forward towards the next room. Then he stopped. “Release them and explain why the singing is here.”
“Yes, my lord.” Eirian made a motion and the rune chains dissolved into nothingness. She pointed a clawed finger at Dominique as the Archmage opened her mouth. “You were restrained because we have arranged for our lord to see if he wants the item that was calling to him in the library yesterday.”
Dominique blinked. “How did you know about that?”
Eirian nodded. “We failed in our charge to protect him once before. We will not do so again and so at least one of us is watching him at all times.”
Iain rubbed his forehead. “All times? Even when I’m using the toilet?”
“Even then.”
“Fuck.”
Beryl chuckled hollowly. “Then too.”
He looked at Scheherazade. “They did this on their own initiative. It is within my power to forbid them from doing surveillance on me. Should I?”
The Dread Wolf’s tail swung slowly as she looked thoughtful. “I’m not particularly happy with the idea, but I still recommend against it. Right now we’re all still recovering from your kidnapping and, while what they’re doing is kind of creepy, it would help to reassure me that they’re watching around the clock. It may also be reassuring to them, since they don’t seem to want you to die yet.”
Dominique glared at her harem sister. “Who cares what they want?”
Scheherazade pointed with her nose at Iain. “He does.”
“Crap.” The Archmage looked at the doorway. “So they got the item that was singing to you. I am curious as to how they knew which item it was and how they acquired it from the Stanford collection.”
“I was wondering about that myself. Eirian?”
The Dragoness motioned towards the door. “We did not know what item was interesting our lord, so we took the entire Stanford collection. In this room are all of the books. The next room has all of the furniture, decorations and wall fixtures. We took everything except the shelves and the carpet. To us, their security was very simple indeed and it was easy to penetrate without anyone being aware that we were there. They have not changed the building security since the last time Eoghan had one of us retrieve something from the library.”
“You took the whole thing?” Iain stared at her. “You are going to return the rest of it, right?”
“That would be inadvisable. By this time the humans are undoubtedly aware of the theft and security will certainly have been modified. While I do not doubt that we could return the items, we have not had time to scout the changes so we could penetrate unseen and therefore would probably be intercepted by their security elements. In the ensuring combat many of them would most likely die.” Her tail swiped sideways and stopped in mid-swing. “It has been our observation that you would prefer to limit the loss of life when possible.”
Dominique put a hand on his arm. “She’s right.”
“Is that greed talking or common sense?”
She gave him a bright smile. “Why can’t it be both? We don’t want to slaughter a bunch of innocent people and I’ve never had the opportunity to go through the Stanford collection.”
Scheherazade snorted softly. “You really need to have Irena give you lessons in looking innocent. You’re not that good at it.”
“Yeah, but I do an outstanding impression of naked greed.”
“That I won’t argue with.”
Iain shook his head and stepped into the next room. It looked like it had been some kind of antechamber, but recently all the tables and chairs had been pushed to one wall and neatly stacked. The rest of the room was filled with books organized in careful piles. Once inside, he stopped for a second and turned in place before weaving his way through the piles. Dominique and Scheherazade broke off their friendly argument and shadowed him as he moved unerringly towards the far side of the room and finally stopped in front of a stack of books that was a collection of differing shapes and sizes. “Gods, but that singing has gotten so loud it’s making my head hurt.” He knelt and reached for a book in the lower part of the pile.
Scheherazade grabbed his wrist. “Let me move the books on top of it so the pile doesn’t collapse onto you.”
“Ok. It’s this one here.” He pointed to it before leaning back on his heels as she picked up half of the stack and stepped away with it. When she took another part of the stack, Iain moved the couple of books remaining on top of the one he wanted and glanced at Dominique. “Am I being stupid?”
“I don’t know. You can feel when something is a threat. Is this?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so, but magic is so damned unpredictable.” He wrapped his fingers around the spine of the tome and lifted it free. The book looked fairly modern, but there was no writing on the spine or cover as he turned it.
Suddenly the air filled with a triumphant song that everyone could hear. It quickly grew in volume until Scheherazade and Dominique had to cover their ears before the song abruptly ended, leaving a ringing silence in its wake.
Dominique cautiously put her hands down. “Was it that loud before?”
“You can hear it now?” Iain smiled slightly. “And the answer is yes. Now you know why I couldn’t concentrate at the library. I thought I was going to go deaf.” He turned the book and looked at the cover. “Still, I’m not dead, so it may not be a trap of some kind.” He took a deep breath and opened the book roughly halfway. As he looked at the page his face took on an expression of extreme horror and he screamed piercingly before collapsing.
Scheherazade caught him before he hit the ground. He grinned up at her. “Just kidding, just kidding.”
The Dread Wolf stared into his eyes for a second before her muzzle wrinkled and she dropped him. “Bastard. That’s not the slightest bit funny.”
He hit hard, winced and rolled to his feet. “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again. Once in a while my sense of humor dies and I do something impulsive and stupid.”
Dominique pulled her belt off and offered it to Scheherazade. “Hold this for a moment.” She smiled at her male. “Don’t ever do that again.” Then she slapped Iain hard enough to leave a handprint on his cheek.
She blinked in shock when he moved quickly enough to catch her backhand stroke. His eyes were hard and gleamed with anger. Four drops of blood glittered on his cheek where her nails had hit on the first strike. “I admit I made a mistake. The first hit was free, but if you think I’m going to let you beat me senseless without resistance, you are very wrong.”
Dominique tugged her hand free. “I understand you scared me half to death. I reacted without thinking.”
“That’s a lie.” The Archmage stared at him as his eyes narrowed. “You took the time to remove your strength belt so you wouldn’t kill me, which means your response was not impulsive. It was premeditated. That’s fine, until you lie about it.”
She frowned slightly and then nodded. “You’re right. It wasn’t an impulse.”
He reached out and touched her cheek. “I did something really dumb. You had every right to be pissed at me over it. While I wasn’t at the time, I’m sorry for scaring both of you.” He looked past her. “Do I need to apologize to you, Eirian?”
“We watch your emotions. You were in no danger and felt no fear. I knew nothing was truly wrong. What is in the book you found?”
Iain hadn’t let go of the book since he’d picked it up and now he opened it again, this time to the beginning. “It seems to be a guide for people who use magic like I do.” He began skimming through the pages. “I’ll need to read it in detail, but it’s essentially a primer for me to learn how to harness my magic instead of fumbling around shooting off half assed attempts at spells in random directions.”
Scheherazade leaned over his shoulder. “Iain, it’s blank.”
He blinked up at her before looking back down. “Ok, I was a dick earlier, but you’re not being funny either.”
“Who is trying to be amusing? There’s nothing written there.”
Dominique finished putting her belt back on and stepped around to look. “She’s right. I can’t see anything. Perhaps it’s some kind of protective magic. Tell me what its saying.”
Iain shrugged. “This section is talking about some exercises to teach the mind to focus.” He made a small moue of surprise. “So that’s what I’ve been doing wrong with my light ball.” He closed the book. “This has the potential to be invaluable. Thank you Eirian.”
“What should we do with the rest of the books?”
Dominique met his gaze and he smiled softly at the hungry look in them. “We can’t put them at the house. If I were the library security team and this collection was as valuable as we were led to believe, there would be ways of tracking it. If we keep it, it’ll have to stay here and you’ll have to travel by Dragoness.”
The Archmage looked at Eirian. “Can I get someone to bring me here when I have free time?”
“We don’t stand around waiting to be summoned anymore, but I think that we should be able to accommodate your travel wishes most of the time. If we can’t, we’ll immediately send word to you.”
“I appreciate that.” Dominique turned to him. “Thank you for this.”
“What, aiding and abetting the theft of a priceless collection of magical texts? Why you’re just so cute I couldn’t resist. That and I hope it lowers my TTR for the next Sadie Pokens.”
Scheherazade chuckled. “You didn’t know? Eve has already made plans for us to spend the next Sadie Pokens on a raft somewhere in the Atlantic. We’re going to spend our time keeping water ferals away from you while you are in a magical sleep that will last all day. She thinks that has a better than average chance of keeping you from getting more pokegirls.”
Iain shook his head. “Whatever. Now, ladies, let’s go home. The only question is what I am going to do with this book for the trip.” He yelped as the book glowed for a second and then it flowed like liquid up his hand to his forearm and into his arm where it vanished. “Can’t I get a fucking warning before that sort of shit happens? I almost peed myself.”
Dominique grabbed his hand and turned it over. On the inside of his forearm was the tiny tattoo of an open book. “That’s a neat way to store things.”
“That it is.” He reached for his belt. “Ladies, I’d like you two to go back into your pokeballs for the trip home. Eirian says it’ll be easier on you.”
“What about you?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes life isn’t fair. I can’t be put in a pokeball and stuffed into storage for years at a time without my permission, so I guess this is the tradeoff.”
“You sound so blasé about it.”
“It’s actually resignation over the fact that sometimes things cannot be avoided.” He returned both of his pokegirls to their balls and turned to Eirian. “I don’t suppose their absence will make the trip any easier for me.”
She shook her head. “It will not. Why don’t you let us kill the Pendragons? They don’t serve any purpose for you and then you could use the ley lines for travel and use the demesne as your base.”
“I don’t want their blood on my hands. I’ll kill them if I have to, but otherwise the answer is still no. And don’t try to arrange things so I have to order you to kill them.”
“As you command, my lord.”
“Eirian, what do you know about travel between dimensions? I just realized that coming here is like going to another dimension.”
“No, my lord, it is not. This is a hyperdimensional realm that was created from the stuff of the dimension that it is attached to and linked to that stuff by ley lines. From what I understand, it is nothing like going to another discrete dimension. Sadly, we know nothing about interdimensional travel.”
“I suppose it was too much to ask that you be experts about something that Eoghan never had a use for.”
The Dragoness regarded him with curiosity. “I thought you’d given up on returning to the dimension of your birth.”
“I have. However, there are other authors and they might want to go home. Even if they don’t, I could set up a tidy business importing things from my home universe and selling them here.”
“Isn’t that what Sukebe originally planned to do before his genetic experiments were exposed to the world?”
Iain stared at her. “I hadn’t considered it that way.”
“I thought not. Would you also traffic in pokegirls to your homeworld?”
“No. That’s too much like slavery. I also wouldn’t traffic in humans kidnapped there and brought here.”
“Not everyone would have your scruples. Do you wish the scourge of pokegirl criminals released on your world?”
“You know, Eirian, for someone who considers herself an undead monster, you have an interesting way of challenging me.”
She shrugged. “Lord, we have sampled your dreams in an attempt to help you deal with what has happened to you when you were captured by our enemy. It was not useful in that regard, but we did learn a lot about you while trying to aid you. You are aware that once you start displaying items of unknown and possibly advanced technology, there will be those who will make it their business to find out where you are getting them from. You also know that in a world with magical scrying spells, psychic pokegirls and controlling governments with access to both that keeping a secret like that becomes almost completely impossible. I am merely stating baldly something that you have considered on an unconscious level but not acknowledged consciously.”
He grimaced. “You’re right. I could help a lot of people here, but I could also hurt them. And, more importantly, I could easily cause harm to come to a lot of people in my world.” His grimace faded. “You and the others will need to begin packing everything here that you want to keep.”
Eirian’s tail lashed. “We will. May I inquire as to why?”
“You and the others will be going with me to One.”
The tail stopped in mid-swing. “That is inadvisable. We can do you more good here and we would probably not be welcome anywhere, much less in your new home.”
“I am responsible for you, correct?”
“That is correct.”
“Then I am not abandoning you here. You go where I do.”
“My lord, I must once again respectfully point out that,” she broke off when he raised a hand.
“Eirian, this subject of discussion is closed. I am taking both of my harems with me if we survive. While you are dead, that does not mean that I am willing to just toss you aside like scrap.” He smiled slightly. “After all, if Eoghan had been bright enough to drag a couple of you along with him to his ceremony, he’d have won.”
“You really believe that.”
“I know that for a fact. The protective circle that had been set up would not have been effective against undead. It couldn’t have been or Eoghan couldn’t have been inside it to be raised from the dead. If Eoghan had brought you along and bound you to him once more as soon as he was awake, Shikarou would not have been able to find a way to have him killed without violating his oath. Since he would never do that, Eoghan would have become living, Sidhe and very probably have found a way to make Ygerna his. He failed himself by not planning for Shikarou to able to twist his promise, but if you had been there you would have saved him in spite of that.”
The Dragoness regarded him for several seconds before giving him a deep bow. “I taste the truth in your words. I am glad that he did not, for if he had you would not now be our master and we would still be automatons.”
“I’m glad for that too.” Iain reached out and took her hand, wrapping his fingers tightly around her cool ones. “Take me back to my home.”
“We go.” The shadows swallowed them up.
Iain found himself on a vast plain so flat that he could see that it extended in all directions without curving. Above him triple suns formed a triangle that threw his shadow in three directions. He wasn’t alone, there was a sparse collection of figures around him and they slowly began to turn in his direction as they became aware of his presence. He recognized the closest as she faced him squarely and began to approach him. It was Kelly, the Demoness he’d killed on the airship. Each time Kelly breathed, air whistled through the ragged holes he’d put in her chest. Behind her a translucent Barbie gave him a sad smile while Aglaii blinked, making the knife in her eye jiggle. He glanced at the others and realized that each of them was someone he’d killed. Even the ones from his homeworld were there. They all grinned toothily at him as they came closer. He tried to move, but his body refused to respond. Kelly raised her arms as she reached for him and the one of the shadows she cast swept over his feet. In an instant, he sank into it and was gone.
Irena sat on the bed and watched as the shadows slid into the center of the room and rose to form her man and the Dragoness. Eirian let him go and Iain sank to the floor, trembling like a leaf as he buried his face in his hands.
The chibi Sanctuary Goth dropped to her knees next to him and reached out, stopping just before she touched him. “Are you ok?”
He took a deep, shuddering breath and rubbed his eyes before reaching for his belt. “Let’s just say I’m as good as I’m going to get.” He released Scheherazade and Dominique. “Did we miss anything interesting?”
“Does a glowing pigeon floating in the living room count as something interesting? Eve says it isn’t a threat, but she and April are keeping an eye on it while I waited in here for you to return.”
Scheherazade’s ears went flat and she darted out of the room with a curse. Dominique reached for Iain and pulled him to his feet as he stared at the childlike pokegirl. “Yes, Irena, I think that does count.” He glanced out the window. Night still covered the land. “Damn, but it seems like we were there forever. How long were we gone?”
“Almost two hours.” Irena changed to her adult form and pressed a hand against his forehead. “I don’t like the way you look. You’re clammy and you are way too pale.”
Iain took her hand and squeezed it as he pulled it away. “I’m functional and that’s what matters.”
“What happened to your face?” Irena was peering at the scratches on his cheek.
“I was very stupid.” Dominique blinked but kept her mouth shut.
“Let me fix that. I won’t take a second.” She reached for him again.
He shook his head. “I’d like to keep it for a while to remind me not to be that dumb again. Let’s go downstairs and see what’s going on.”
When they got downstairs, true to Irena’s description there was a glowing pigeon floating in the middle of the living room. It slowly sculled the air with its wings, moving up and down slightly as it did so. Scheherazade was talking quietly to Eve while April, cards in hand, was alertly watching the apparition. She glanced in their direction and bobbed her head in a quick nod. Iain stopped next to her. “What’s going on?”
“It flew through the wall about half an hour ago and stopped right where it is now. Scheherazade seems to recognize it.”
“I noticed that.” He raised his voice. “Scheherazade, why don’t you explain to us all what’s going on?”
The Dread Wolf squared her shoulders. “I wasn’t sure how much I should openly explain since this has to do with my former benefactor.”
Iain blinked. “Evangelion?” His eyes flicked towards the pigeon as April and Irena gasped. “She’s got a dovecote?”
“Ha. Ha.” Scheherazade’s ears canted sideways. “It’s one of her messenger spells. It’s probably looking for me. This spell will track me down even though Evangelion doesn’t know where I am.”
“Will the spell tell her?”
The Dread Wolf shook her head. “No. Evangelion respects privacy more than that. She values her own too much, you see. I have to acknowledge it before it will react to my presence.” She gave him an even look. “Should I?”
“Will it leave if you don’t?”
“No.”
“I don’t really want it hanging here. It would frighten the hordes of guests we get every day. That and it creeps the fuck out of me.”
Scheherazade nodded and reached out to touch the pigeon. It spoke in a high, piping voice. “I wish to come and meet with Kerrik Wolf as soon as possible.”
Eve looked at him and then at Irena. “Is he in shock? I don’t think I want Evangelion seeing him looking like that.”
“I’m not sure. He says he’s fine, but he lies well. I don’t want to take chance though. I’ll start breakfast and bring him some tea.”
Scheherazade looked at him. “Is there a reply?”
“Crap. I’m willing to meet her, but I don’t want to do it anyplace that the league could be looking for me since we might be connected with the library. That means she gets to learn about Iain.”
Dominique blinked. “I didn’t think about that.”
Eve’s eyes narrowed as Irena stopped to listen. “What happened?”
“The Dragonesses decided to give me a gift. It was the book that had been singing to me from the Stanford collection. Unfortunately, they didn’t know which particular book it was, so they stole everything in the room without setting off any alarms or wards.”
The Megami-sama stared at him. “Everything? What are they going to do with rest of the collection?”
“They took everything down to the fixtures. They’re going to keep it. Returning the collection would be very likely to seriously shorten the lifespan of the members of the security team that would be waiting.”
Eve folded her arms. “They could just drop it off somewhere else and let the authorities know.”
“This isn’t up for debate, Eve. It stays.” Iain looked at Scheherazade. “Tell her I’ll meet with her here, but she needs to understand that I’m in hiding and I don’t want her to out my presence. If she does, we’ll move again and she’ll never know where we went.”
Eve frowned and took a step in his direction. “What happened to your face?”
“Like I told Irena, I did something stupid. I don’t want to heal it, either. It’ll help me to remember not to be that stupid again. I wasn’t seriously hurt, this time, and hopefully that’ll help keep me from doing it again soon.”
Scheherazade’s hand glowed yellow as she reached for the pigeon. When she touched it, the apparition turned the same color for a second before spreading its wings and flying through the wall to disappear. “I don’t know how long it will be before she comes here. The spell should reach her before three hours have elapsed.”
April cocked her head. “I was aware that Evangelion was involved somehow, but you just gave her an ultimatum of sorts. Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”
“I gave her a warning of what would happen if she outed us. It’s only fair. She still can and, if she does, I’ll follow through with my warning.” He frowned. “I think we’ll move to England or Scotland this time. Ireland is getting a bit too small for us.” He wobbled slightly and dropped heavily into a chair. “Sorry. The trip is catching up with me.”
Eve reached out and tapped Irena on the shoulder. “How’s breakfast coming?”
“Uh, it’ll be a couple of minutes.” She dashed into the kitchen.
April chuckled. “I’ll give her a hand.”
Eve leaned over and peered into Iain’s eyes. “Do I need to sit on you to get you stay still for a while?”
“When you do that I start thinking about things we could be doing together. It usually involves removing all our clothes.”
The Megami-sama smiled. “Flattery? You’re either doing better than I thought or faking really well. And since Scheherazade told me what the trip was like for her, I think you’re faking.”
He gave her a weak smile. “I’ll be fine.”
Eve settled down on the arm of the chair. “Yes, you will be.” She looked at Dominique. “Check around outside and make sure things are still quiet. Shay, keep a lookout for our guest.” She slid down into the chair and snuggled against him. “Until breakfast is ready we’re going to stay right here and nap.”
“I’m having those thoughts.”
“Well, don’t forget them. Just keep them for later.”
***
Iain ran the brush slowly through Scheherazade’s fur. The Dread Wolf responded by sighing and going flat on the couch. Eve looked over at them. “You want to join the game?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I play cards, but you four are way too competitive for my blood. Besides, I don’t know much about bridge, but I do know it’s for four or eight people, not five.” There was also the fact that pokegirl aggression carried over into games, at least if another pokegirl was involved. Playing against him, they could have a friendly game, but if another pokegirl joined them in any game, it became a cutthroat battle for dominance. There were variants of bridge that allowed for more than two couples, but Iain liked friendly games. That and he tended to get crushed in the battles between the pokegirls, suggesting that tamers weren’t just squishy in open combat. It wasn’t something they did deliberately, but was a side effect of competing against the other pokegirls whatever game they were playing. Since he didn’t particularly appreciate losing every time he played with two pokegirls, he’d started begging off whenever possible, at least as long as the girls didn’t figure out what he was doing. So far they hadn’t.
The teams were April and Irena versus Eve and Dominique. Eve had a couple of centuries on April, but the Duelist had been playing bridge most of her life and she was easily the best player in the harem. Because of this, she got partnered with the least experienced player, Irena, who was quickly learning under April’s tutelage.
Scheherazade had a tendency to grip her cards tightly enough to punch holes in them with her claws, so she didn’t play. However, when they played dominoes or chess, she was right there.
April’s head came up when someone knocked loudly on the door. “You don’t think that’s her, do you?”
Dominique put down her cards. “I distinctly remember someone saying it would take roughly three hours for her spell to get back to her, putting her arrival sometime after seven in the morning. It’s almost eight PM, so if it’s her she’s running a tad late.”
Scheherazade snorted. “I never said when she would arrive. I don’t have any way to know that.”
“She said as soon as possible. Thirteen hours later goes past as soon as possible and falls into my special time for crushing April and Irena again.” The Archmage headed for the door. “So it’s probably her.”
Iain moved down to Scheherazade’s tail and went back to brushing. “Legendaries probably have their own concept of urgency after three hundred years of not having to answer to anyone.”
Dominique led in the tall copper haired woman. Evangelion was dressed in a comfortable looking green and brown caftan. She had dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks looked sunken.
Iain bowed from where he sat. “Irena, please get our guest some tea. Lady Evangelion, please sit down and tell me why you wished to speak to me.”
Evangelion settled into the proffered chair. “What have you done to me, Kerrik Wolf, and how can it be undone?”
“You think I did something to you?”
“You must have. My problems didn’t start until after the happenstance at your camp.”
Iain frowned. “You said what happened there hadn’t affected you at all.”
“The issues I have didn’t start for a little while, but I am certain that they are your fault.”
“Could you explain what’s happening to you, Lady Evangelion? Whether or not what happened at the camp was responsible for whatever is ailing you, a description of the symptoms could prove helpful.”
She blinked when Irena offered her a cup of tea. “Thank you, child.”
“You’re welcome, Lady Evangelion.” The chibi Sanctuary Goth started to say something else but Iain moved a hand slightly and she instead went over and climbed into his lap to take the brush from him.
“Lady Evangelion,” Eve rose and bowed gracefully, “I would like to introduce you to April and Irena. They are new additions to the family.”
The legendary nodded to each of them before turning her attention back to the only male in the room. “Kerrik, I have been constantly tired but unable to sleep for more than a few hours before the pain in my chest starts again. I am easier to anger and find myself irritated at small things that should be beneath my attention. In the evening before bed I often find that my stomach is upset. On top of all of that, my eyes changed color. These things started after the incident at the campsite and have been slowly getting worse. Wolf, I do not get sick and I have not been attacked by anyone since then. Therefore this can only be the result of what you did.”
Irena had straightened up and was watching her with intent eyes. “I’d like to give you a complete exam if you don’t mind, Lady Evangelion.”
“And who are you to me, Irena?”
“I was born a Night Nurse and it was expected that I would end up with a doctor or paramedic to take care of. Because of this, my mother made sure I’d know everything that he might since her opinion of humans is rather low.” She smiled disarmingly when Evangelion looked astonished. “I’m a chibi and I’m seventeen years old.”
“Oh.” Evangelion looked at Iain. “I want your oath that I am safe here.”
“I swear that, for this visit, as long as your intentions are peaceful to us so will ours be peaceful to you.”
“That’s a very specific oath,” she noted with a slight smile.
“I am about to go on a very hazardous journey in the hopes of convincing you of something that you should already accept as fact. I’m not particularly happy that I have to put my family in that danger.” He sighed. “I just wish I had some decent maps of the Dark Continent.”
“What happened to the map I gave you? I think it should be accurate enough for your purposes.”
Iain stared at her for a long second before sighing deeply. “I am such an idiot. I forgot all about that map. I’ll get it while Irena is examining you.” He looked at the Sanctuary Goth. “You can take her to my room for the exam. If you need any help, tell Eve. Just remember you can’t send out anything for testing.”
Irena grinned and hugged him around the neck. “I know. We can’t do that with you anyways, so I bought the best portable analysis lab we could find. I got it just in case, of course.”
He shook his head. “I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.” He lifted Irena out of his lap and set her on her feet. “Please take Evangelion into my room and put my pokepack outside the door before you close it. I stuck my old pack in it and that’s where the map should be. Someone will be along to collect it in a few minutes.”
“Ok, Iain. Lady Evangelion, if you would come with me.” She led the legendary out of the room.
Eve glared after them. “I’m going to hurt her. She used your other name after I warned her earlier not to.”
Dominique sighed. “Maybe our guest missed it.”
“Care to bet his life on that?”
Iain raised a hand. “It’s done. If we have to, I can always change names again for a while, even if I like this one. Scheherazade, could you go get my pack and bring it into the kitchen?”
They had the leather map spread out over the table and were poring over it when Irena came into the room. She was in her adult form and didn’t look happy. “Iain, do you have a moment?”
He exchanged a glance with Eve. “Does this have to do with Evangelion?”
“It does.”
“Then everyone here needs to know whatever you’re going to say.”
Irena rubbed her forehead. “You’re the boss. I scanned Evangelion and got a result that, frankly, frightened me. So I ran a several tests to verify my scan of her. Iain, they all came out the same. Evangelion is pregnant.”
Everyone turned to look at Iain. He held up his hands defensively. “I hardly know the lass. Why is everyone looking at me?”
Dominique smirked. “You’ve got the dick.”
“I don’t have the only one on the fucking planet.”
Irena smiled slightly. “Relax, Iain. It’s a parthenogenic pregnancy. No dick was required. However, I always thought it was impossible for a legendary to get pregnant or else we’d be inundated with Macavities.”
Iain couldn’t help it. “Not if you brush regularly and floss once a day.”
Scheherazade blinked and snickered. “Ok, that was cute. However, what do you know about legendary pregnancy?”
Iain shrugged. “It doesn’t happen. Legendary pokegirls are sterile. It’s the only way to keep them under control since they’re supposed to be unkillable.”
“Does that include Jenova?”
“Yeah. I get your point, but she was dumb as a freaking post. She’d gotten complacent and killing her was easy.”
“Iain, don’t you think the other legendaries have also gotten complacent?”
His eyes suddenly became as big as saucers as the color drained from his skin. “Oh, shit.”
Scheherazade immediately became alert. “What?”
“The other legendaries. I am so fucked.” He turned to Eve. “Whether or not what happened at the camp caused Evangelion to become pregnant, the other legendaries are going to think that it did. They’re going to think I did this. I just became a potential target for every freaking legendary on the planet.”
Irena smiled broadly. “You just became a potential father for every legendary.”
Iain’s eyes narrowed. “You think that’s funny? Let me explain to you that the fastest way for a legendary to make sure I can’t be rescued is to murder everyone in my fucking harem before she drags me off. That includes smart assed chibi pokegirls.”
Irena’s smile vanished and she looked miserably at him. “I’m sorry, Iain. I didn’t think.”
He sighed and held his arms out. “Come here.”
Irena turned back into a chibi and climbed into his arms. “I am sorry.”
Eve sighed. “Do we run?”
Scheherazade put a hand on her maharani’s arm. “I think first we should talk to Evangelion and try to impress upon her how much trouble she could get Iain into as well as how much trouble she could get herself into if it gets out that she’s pregnant.”
Dominique frowned. “She can fight Typhonna to a draw. How much trouble can she get in?”
The Dread Wolf grinned humorlessly. “If the leagues find out, they’ll want to hunt her down and kill her or take the kits. So will every criminal who learns she has kits. It’s the chance of a lifetime, to raise a legendary to be loyal to you. If the legendaries find out, they’ll want Iain, but if they can’t get pregnant or even if they can, some of them will want to destroy her and possibly the kits out of malice or because they will decide she and her brood will be a threat to them. Others might want the kits for themselves because regular pokegirl kits are not immortal or legendaries. And she may be a legendary, but nobody is perfect and nobody can protect a litter of kits by themselves all the time.” Her tail flicked. “Imagine if Sexmet thought she could have a litter of Sexmet kits or if she and Bastit could have a real family.”
Iain sighed. “Irena, does Evangelion know?”
“She does. I thought it was my duty as a healer to tell her the good news.”
“Ok, then we need to talk to her.”
“She’s a little gun-shy about you right now, Iain.”
He frowned slightly. “What if Eve and Scheherazade talked to her, celestial to celestial?”
“I think she’d be ok with that. I wanted to make her something bland to eat. Part of her problem is that she’s having some pretty serious heartburn. It’s not uncommon in women having multiple births.”
April stirred from where she’s been listening “If we offered her a maternity ball, we could heal her with the PPHU and remove most of the issues that are keeping her awake. She’ll have to trust us though.”
Irena blinked. “True. It’s commonly used to remove things like bloating and back pain so pokewomen can sleep, but most people don’t care enough about pokegirls to use it regularly.” She rested her cheek against Iain’s. “I’d like to keep her here for a few days. She doesn’t know anything about pregnancy and I need to educate her in some basic prenatal stuff. For all intents and purposes, I’m her doctor. She can’t really go to a hospital and receive care.”
Eve folded her arms. “Where is she going to sleep?”
“She can stay in my bed.”
Eve’s eyebrows shot up. “Iain, you are aware that this is a three bedroom house. The other two beds are big enough for two people and we sleep double in our beds with the extra girl sleeping with you. Are you going to sleep with Evangelion?”
“No, I’m not. I guess I’ll bunk on the couch or I could make a pallet on the floor. If push comes to shove I could always pitch a tent in the back yard and sleep there.”
Dominique grinned. “Why not sleep with Evangelion? She might like the company and it couldn’t hurt to cultivate her as an ally.”
Iain made a show of pulling an imaginary notebook from his back pocket and licked his fingers before pretending to turn pages. “Let’s see, my dick is booked pretty solid for the foreseeable future. I think she’s out of luck.” He looked up and the expression on Eve’s face drew a scowl on his. “Don’t tell me you’re going to side with Dominique. She doesn’t go feral and she does not need tamed.”
“Perhaps not, but the political reality is that we might need her and she’s incredibly powerful. I’ll sleep with her if that’s what she wants, but if she wants you then I would suggest you rethink your decision to reject her.”
His voice was a hiss. “I haven’t asked any of you to take one for the team.”
She cocked her head. “That’s not exactly true. While it’s true that you didn’t ask, you did volunteer Scheherazade and me to keep Dominique tame when she wasn’t part of the harem.”
Iain’s eyes went wide. “I did.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Scheherazade, Eve, I am very sorry for that. I should have asked you if you would be willing to sleep with Dominique and found another solution if you weren’t. If I do that again, please stop me. And if it becomes necessary, I will sleep with Evangelion.”
The Archmage put her hand on his arm. “It’s a good thing I know you as well as I do or I might be offended by your apology to them.”
“Considering that I’m rather fond of you, I’m glad for that too.” He put Irena down. “So she’ll stay in my room and I’ll bunk somewhere else. And before Eve starts issuing orders, I am not going to displace one of you from your bed so you can sleep on the couch while I am in a bed.”
Scheherazade’s ears flicked. “What if we volunteer?”
“You can volunteer all you fucking want. What you can’t do, however, is force me to sleep in your bed in your place. In case you hadn’t noticed, my sleeping elsewhere still means we’re short a place for a pokegirl to sleep since there are five of you and four bed slots in your rooms.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Eve said softly. “I’ve decided that considering the presence of our guest, we will be posting a constant guard while she’s here. That’ll mean the beds will be more than sufficient for us.”
Dominique was eyeing Iain with a thoughtful look. “I can make room in my lab for a single or a prince sized bed. I’d ask if you’re with someone else, please keep them from touching anything down there, but I’ll let you sleep in my lab if you’d like.”
“I’m flattered that you trust me in there.”
She smiled. “You should be. I wouldn’t let anyone else do this. It’s also safer than sleeping up here since attackers will usually go up instead of down, at least at first.”
Iain rubbed his eyes. “We’ve already got an Eve and calling her Evangelion is just asking for someone to say that name at the wrong time, so when referring to our guest she’s going to need a name.”
Irena touched his arm. “She told me to call her Vanessa.”
“Ok, problem solved. Vanessa it is. Eve, as soon as possible would you please have a quiet talk with Vanessa about the fact that my name is now Iain Grey?”
“I’ll take her some tea and I’ll explain what’s going on.”
“Make sure it’s herbal.” Irena smiled when Eve gave her a curious look. “Caffeine crosses the placental wall and can affect the babies. It can also cause other problems and this is Vanessa’s first pregnancy. Even though moderate caffeine consumption isn’t bad, we have no idea how much she’s had today.”
***
The house had come with a porch swing on both the front and back porches. Iain liked them and was using the one on the back porch while he read his blank book of magic. When a shadow fell over him, he looked up to see Evangelion. She’d gotten plenty of rest in the last few days and looked a lot better. She nodded towards the side of the swing where his feet rested. “Can I sit with you?”
Iain shifted so he was sitting properly on the seat. “Of course you can, Vanessa.”
She smoothed down the skirt of the dress she was wearing and sat. “Why do you keep using my name when you talk to me?”
“I’m reinforcing the tendency to call you that all the time so I don’t accidentally use any other name at the wrong time.”
“That makes sense. I wanted to thank you for letting me stay here and for allowing Irena to be my physician.”
He smiled. “While not admitting fault, it is true that I may have somehow been involved in creating the situation you now find yourself in. Having the other legendaries find out about it would make my life much more interesting, and that’s in the Chinese curse definition of interesting, so there are several reasons that I’m cheerful about me and my family helping you out.” His smile vanished. “Several of the legendaries would think nothing about murdering my family and trying to compel me to somehow get them pregnant as well, so I really don’t want them finding out I might have been involved.”
She leaned back against the swing and idly kicked it into motion. “While not all of them might want kits, you’re right. Fortunately for you, I don’t have any friends among them.” A slightly bitter look filled her eyes. “I don’t really have any friends at all.”
“That can be a problem with being immortal, since the ones you make get old and die,” Iain said gently, “but it doesn’t mean you can’t make new friends.”
“You’ve been careful to keep me at arm’s length, and your harem has followed your lead.”
He carefully stretched out his arm behind her. “You’re closer than that now.”
Evangelion looked at his arm and then into his eyes before slowly leaning sideways until she rested in the crook of his arm. “You really don’t mind?”
“I think I can balance my book with one hand.”
“That’s not an answer to my question.”
“Vanessa, legendary pokegirls frighten anyone with two brain cells that talk to each other. As a rule, legendary pokegirls are far more trouble than they’re worth and they have this disturbing tendency to overreact to perceived slights or anything that they consider the mildest threat with extreme violence. I am aware, however, you are the least whimsical and capricious of the lot and I haven’t done much to irritate you. In time I may relax enough around you to trust that you won’t react in an unexpected way that results in the death of someone dear to me.” He turned and looked directly at her. “However, I am willing to see if that will happen and therefore, no, I don’t really mind you leaning against me. While we are not friends, the possibility is there that we may become so.” He smiled slightly. “And I don’t have that many friends either.”
“You wouldn’t trust other legendaries that way?”
“I would vacate the area and change my name again if any of them showed up looking for me.”
“That’s probably wise. Jenova’s death frightened several of them.”
“While that wasn’t my reason for killing her, if it keeps them away from me then I’ll cheerfully accept that.”
“Be honest, Kerrik. Do you want to have sex with me?”
He blinked. “First, my name is Iain. Second, do you really want me to answer that truthfully?”
“Eve was right. You don’t want to. Why?”
Iain scowled for a second. “Without intending any insult to you, Vanessa, I am living with five beautiful women and I don’t think that I’m giving each of them the attention that they really deserve. Adding to that would mean that I have less time to spend with them and I wouldn’t be able to give you the attention that you also deserve. While sex is fun, it’s only part of a relationship.”
She smiled. “Hearing a tamer talk about relationships with pokegirls instead of taming is rather refreshing. You remind me of some of the first tamers. Unlike other tamers from that time period they didn’t hate their pokegirls as mementos of the war and since the educational programs were still being established in the schools, they hadn’t been raised to think we’re subhuman. It meant they treated their harems like they treated all other women.”
He gave her a lofty look. “I think I treat my ladies a far sight better than I treat other women.”
“Perhaps you do. What if I wanted to have sex with you?”
“I would try to accommodate your wants, as long as you understand that my harem takes precedence over guests, even legendary ones.”
“I can accept that.”
He was silent for a minute. “Do you want to have sex with me?”
Evangelion shook her head against his arm. “No, I don’t. But Irena tells me that as my pregnancy progresses I may want sex more. So I don’t know what the future will bring.”
He chuckled softly. “Nobody does, Vanessa.”
***
Iain Grey - Tradesman
Eve - Megami-sama (maharani)
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
Scheherazade - Dread Wolf
Irena- Chibi Sanctuary Goth
April - Duelist
Dragonesses
Eirian - Silver
Skye - Blue
Emerald - Green
Sable - Black
Aurum - Gold
Beryl - Red