Into the Fire
Twenty Three
Eve looked at the three of them and put her tea down before pulling out a chair. “You wanted to see me?”
Iain nodded. “I asked you, April and Dominique here because I need your help. I’d like you to get in touch with your contacts and find out everything you can about what Micah Hakubi has been doing.”
Dominique pressed the palms of her hands against the tabletop. She’d painted her fingernails a deep blood red to contrast the bright crimson of her eyes. “You’re thinking about contacting him. What about my question?”
Eve raised an eyebrow. “What question?”
“Dominique has come up with a compelling suggestion as to why Hakubi is turning Elf pokegirls into Sanctuary Goths.” Iain shrugged. “Having a pool of pokegirls who won’t ever go feral apparently isn’t good enough for her. Neither is the cover that would come from lots of new Sanctuary Goths throwing leagues into complete confusion just by their presence.”
Dominique tossed her head defiantly. “All of those are valid reasons, but even with all of that he could still be working for Sanctuary.”
Eve’s cup stopped in mid-motion. “Do what?”
April nodded. “That was my first response too. Listen to what we have to say before you decide she’s loony.”
Eve’s cup trembled for an instant as she put it down. “I honestly hadn’t considered that idea. Do you have any proof?”
The Archmage shot Iain a look. “No, but we can’t dismiss it until we know more.”
Iain’s voice was soothing. “And that’s why I want you two to see what you can find out. Personally I don’t think it’s possible, but you’re advising me and I need to listen to you.”
“What makes you think he isn’t?”
“I don’t have evidence to think anything about him, Eve. If we proceed with the supposition that he was brought here by the same people who brought me here, then he should have no intrinsic loyalty to Sanctuary. On the other hand, it’s possible that he was broken by them and is their puppet. That’s why I want to try to build a profile of what he’s been doing.” Iain picked up a biscuit and began crumbling it in his fingers. “We do have some ideas of what Sanctuary and the Goths are like and how they think. If Hakubi is in thrall to them then they’ll be keeping him on a short leash to ensure he doesn’t escape them. The fact that he’s not in Sanctuary now suggests they’re not. After all, it’s not hard to have agents come from Sanctuary to do the transformations that he contracts for. If he’s outside of Sanctuary proper, it’s that much easier for him to be lost or to escape if he’s being held against his will.” He looked thoughtful. “And if we can determine what the composition of his harem is, if he has one, it might help us to decide if he’s a puppet or not. On the other hand, the presence of Irena and Montsho in my harem makes it look like I’m loyal to Sanctuary, at least until I can explain what’s going on. This means his harem composition wouldn’t necessarily be definitive for him either.” He shook his head. “Darkness but this is some fucked up shit.”
“What do you think, April?”
The Duelist frowned. “I’m not sure, but I agree with Iain that we need to find out as much about what’s going on with Hakubi as possible. We don’t have so many friends that we can afford to ignore any potential aid,” she ignored the look Dominique gave her, “even if there are some pretty serious potential risks too. After all, what we’re doing is full of risk as it is.”
Dominique sneered. “That’s why I don’t think we need to add to it.”
Eve plucked the biscuit from Iain and put it back on the plate with the others. “Stop making a mess. And so what if Hakubi is operating freelance? What does contacting him give us?”
“Imagine that you get sucked through a portal to a world without pokegirls, and for the sake of argument let’s say that you don’t have to worry about going feral. You spend a fairly long time there and suddenly you hear about the presence of another celestial pokegirl. What would you do?”
“I’d want to contact her and see if joining forces would help either one of us.” Eve shook her head. “I understand why you might want to contact Hakubi. My question was how will it benefit us?”
“How can you know how meeting that celestial will benefit you before you do so?”
Eve stared at him. “Your logic is impeccable and annoying as hell.”
“I’ll second that.” Dominique tilted her head down and looked at Iain from underneath her eyebrows. “How long will you give us to find out what we can?”
“I’m going to send him a message sometime soon. What you find out will determine what kind of replies I send to anything he says back.” Iain shrugged. “Even if we don’t get together or even communicate much, he’ll at least know he’s not alone.”
“So will you be Kerrik, Iain or Austin?”
“If he’s really Micah Hakubi, he’ll recognize Kerrik Wolf and not Iain. As for Austin, he doesn’t have a pokedex.”
Dominique smiled slightly. “April will have one for him in a day or two. She’s going through to someone who provides black market pokedexes for criminals so it can’t be traced to Kerrik or Iain.”
Iain blinked. “Resourceful girl. I was very fortunate when she decided she liked me.”
“Thank you, Iain.” April looked smugly at the other two pokegirls.
Eve used her hands to sweep up the crumbs he’d made. “It’s rather remarkable that the harem you’ve acquired has no deadwood at all. Everyone is intelligent and good at what they do.”
“You’re not going to claim that the Awareness arranged things so he’d be prepared for what he has to accomplish?”
Eve snorted. “No, Dominique, I’m not. I still trust in the Awareness, but Iain is only touched by the Awareness in the lightest possible ways. He shapes his own destiny as he moves through the universe.”
Iain reached for another biscuit only to stop when Eve jerked the plate to her side of the table. He shot her a quick glare. “So apparently I wanted to be attacked by a Dildoqueen.”
“That’s not how it works and you know it.”
“No, actually I don’t know how it works. I’m not celestial. I don’t have the gift of prophetic sight, so I don’t have much to do with that part of the Awareness. I just deal with the technical side. Of course, I haven’t tried to access that part of the Awareness. That’s your job.” He grimaced. “Will you three see what you can find out?”
“Of course we will.” Eve was watching him with a worried expression.
April nodded. “I’ll call some friends of mine in Capital tomorrow. You never know what I might be able to find out. Pokegirl center technicians deal with foreign tamer databases all the time and a routine data request to the places Hakubi has been seen might dig something up if he used pokegirl centers at all or interacted with a gymnasium.” She grinned. “I’m sure Capital classified the theft of the Kite, so I have something juicy to bargain with.”
“Just keep it very low key. I don’t want anything leading back to us.”
Eve eyed Dominique for a minute before pushing her cup and the plate of biscuits at her. “Please clean this up for me. Iain, we’ll do what you ask. After all, it makes sense. I’ll see if Lucy knows anything. We might get lucky and find out that he’s got a member of the Sisterhood in his harem.”
Dominique began piling up plates. “I’ll start with my contacts in the military. Soldiers like to gossip and if anything interesting has happened someone there will know about it.”
“Thanks.” He got up. “I really appreciate this, ladies.”
Eve rose too. “Iain, can we take a walk outside? It’s a nice night.”
“Fine.” He pushed open the door and went outside, heading straight for the swing.
Eve took him by the arm. “Not here. At the very least we can still be heard by Scheherazade.”
“What do you have to hide?”
The Megami-sama’s eyes narrowed. “I’m concerned about things you might not want to reveal to everyone.”
“You’re concerned about what I might want to say? What might I want to reveal to you that I don’t want to reveal to the others in my harem?”
“You haven’t talked to me or April about what happened to you.”
Iain’s face smoothed. “There’s nothing to discuss.” His voice was carefully neutral.
“You need to talk about what happened.”
“No, I don’t. It’s like being tortured on the Bitch. It’s over and I’m functional. I don’t need to talk about anything involving it. In fact, since I don’t want meds and talking about it will just stir up all the shit I locked away and I don’t have years to fucking deal with that, talking about it is the worst possible thing I could do right now.” He folded his arms. “It would cripple me and right now I, no we can’t afford that.”
“I know you’re hurting.”
He stepped forward until they were nose to nose. “Shut the fuck up,” he snarled. “I don’t have time for hurt. I don’t have time to fall apart. I don’t have time for your ‘Iain you need to wallow in your feelings’ crap. So stop trying to drag my ass down into the morass that is my mind!” His eyes blazed and a spark of energy leapt from the tip of his nose to hers with a pop. A dot of blood appeared on her nose. Instantly he pulled back, his face turning ashen. “Shit. I’m sorry, Eve.”
She cupped her hands over her nose. “It’s ok.”
“No, it’s not. I can’t lose control of my emotions right now. Let me see.” He carefully pried her fingers apart. “You’ve already healed it.” He leaned forward and licked the blood from her nose.
She blinked and smiled at him. “Now you’re being silly.”
“It’s better than being mad at you.” He ran his fingers down her cheek and smiled as she leaned into his touch. “Look, I know you are worried about my mental state, but the truth is that people have been attacked throughout the history of humanity long before there were psychiatrists and psychologists and nosy celestial pokegirls.” He smiled to take any sting from his words. “They coped and went on with their life. Someday I’ll be able to do incredible things with magic, but right now I can’t afford the luxury of letting my anger and rage out. That’s doubly true around anyone that I care for.” He rubbed his face. “And you just saw why.”
“How does your other Kerrik deal with his emotions?”
“He, like every other mage like us, keeps a really tight grip on them. It’s the price we pay for the potential that we possess. It doesn’t mean we can’t have emotions, it means we have to keep control of them. It’s the very first series of lessons in the book I’ve got. We can not lose control. The instant our feelings take control of us, things can go very bad. That’s why I can’t let you explore my feelings for what happened. I have no idea what could happen if you try and I will not take that chance with your safety.”
“I’ll be fine,” she began.
Iain put his hand over her mouth. “When I said I don’t know what will happen, I’m being totally honest. If my magic runs wild it could kill me just as easily as anything else.”
She blinked at him over his hand until he pulled it away. “That’s not a fair thing to say. You know your protection is the paramount thing in my mind.”
“Did you feel me lie?” When she didn’t say anything, he nodded. “Right. So this discussion is over.”
“For now.”
“Once we’re on Pokegirl One we can reevaluate, but as far as I’m concerned building a new life there will take precedence over my seeing if I have enough control to survive your therapy.”
***
“Let’s go to the Dark Continent.”
Eve’s eyebrows went up. “We’re not ready yet.”
“I am.” Iain shouldered his pack. “I want to record a message for Micah and I don’t want to activate Wolf’s pokedex in the Blue League right now for any longer than absolutely necessary.”
“So this isn’t a whole harem thing?”
“Nope. Just you, me and whoever is fast enough to figure out what we’re doing before we get back.”
She poked him in the chest. “I need to tell April we’ll be gone and that she’ll be in charge. She’s probably in the kitchen.”
When they got to the kitchen, every member of his harem was waiting for him with their packs. Iain could see Vanessa was standing next to Scheherazade. He leaned towards Eve and whispered loudly. “I think they found out.”
The Dread Wolf’s ears flicked. “I can hear any conversation anywhere in the house. I also specifically listen for your voice. Of course I heard you.”
Eve was giving Vanessa a hard look. “What about you?”
The Legendary smiled serenely at her. “I saw everyone else getting ready and asked what was going on. I haven’t been to your evacuation point yet and this is a perfect time to correct that oversight.”
Eve’s put her hands on her hips and leaned forward belligerently. “Are you trying to join the harem?”
“Of course not.” Eve started to relax. “Harems don’t apply to me.” Eve and April both bristled at her words.
“Ladies?” All three looked at Iain. He pointed at the clock on the wall. “No bitchiness before teatime.”
Vanessa shrugged. “I wasn’t being bitchy.”
“No cattiness either.”
“Do you think I’m being catty?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Maybe you could treat me with the respect due a legendary.”
Iain took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “You’re living in my home as my guest. One of my ladies is functioning as your personal physician. Additionally, you clawed up my back and bit me hard enough to draw blood when we had sex. Repeatedly. It’s kind of hard to treat you like the epitome of the pristine celestial goddess after that.”
Vanessa flushed and looked away. “I said I was sorry,” she muttered.
Iain looked at the ceiling for a heartbeat as he fought to get his temper under control. “And I said there was nothing to apologize for. We were both having fun when it happened and I don’t regret it. I hope you don’t either. And just for the record, legendary pokegirls get the same level of respect that anyone else here does. If they want more then the basic package, they have to earn it just like everyone else. Scheherazade, you carry Vanessa. Eve, let’s get this done.”
A short time later Iain sat on his rock and watched Vanessa gathering firewood with Dominique and Montsho. Scheherazade was flying sentry duty overhead while Eve and Irena were investigating the surroundings for ferals. April was starting the campfire they’d laid out and left on their last visit in preparation for their return.
He touched Aurum’s tattoo on his arm where it had replaced Emerald’s before reaching for his pack and releasing the pokedex he used while Kerrik Wolf. He activated it and watched it run through its initiation cycle. The charge was getting a bit low and he made a mental note to either plug it into a charger or leave it out in the sunlight while he was in the Dark Continent.
He brought up the message screen and rotated the camera on the unit around to point at him. The screen showed the image the camera saw, presumably so he could pretty himself up if he wanted to before beginning recording. As usual, he focused on his nose first. He’d had a crooked nose for so long that the sight of a straight one in his face was still startling.
At least the rest of his face was still pretty much as he remembered, although a few scars had vanished. His eyes were still blue and green and his hair was still dirty blond with red highlights that turned redder the longer he was in the sunlight and the blond bleached out. It was a good thing he was blond or he’d have perpetual five o’clock shadow. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was about time Eve started in on him to get another haircut.
“Crap. I’m kibitzing. I didn’t realize I was this nervous.” Iain took a deep breath and pressed the record button. He composed himself and then smiled slightly. “Since I don’t know who answers his mail, I’ll start by stating that this message is for Micah Hakubi, but not necessarily for him exclusively if he has people around him that he trusts. At the bottom of this message you’ll find my public encryption key. It won’t stop any of the leagues since they have upgraded Videogirls, but it’ll make anyone else have to work to eavesdrop.”
He took a centering breath. “I am Kerrik Wolf and I am not from this world, which is not Prime. I am the author Kerrik Wolf and not the kami.” Amusement danced in his eyes for a second. “I enjoyed Halfway Down the Sky and it was fun to beta you on it. It’s a shame you never had the chance to finish that story.”
The amusement faded. “I have seen an intercept of a communication between you and another party or parties, so I must first warn you that your activities, although not the reasons behind them, are known by some individuals and quite possibly by the leagues since they have backdoors into the com systems of most of the preserves. They did have a hand in the design and production of them, after all, if not the actual installation. My personal advisors are concerned as to your reasons for what you appear to be doing, but as for me I am sure there is a logical basis behind your actions and I hope to someday understand it.”
“I must also say that after seeing you, you’ve probably changed a bit from who you were in the universe you came from. I, too, have changed, but in my case the changes are mostly internal.”
He paused to marshal his thoughts. “I am no friend to the tattooed ones living in the land that once belonged to the Ethiopians. I am not an enemy to all tattooed ones or their servants, but just the ones among them who pursue without relent. I was once their prisoner but escaped with the aid of one of the breed that Shikarou found on the asteroid base that belonged to the creator.” He bared his teeth in what was not a smile. “Now I hunt those who hunt me. When that hunt is over, if I survive I shall go to the land of Misery where they Whisper of Raven and build a new home there in the shadow of the ever youthful Autumn. After all, I shall never see the world of my birth again.” He paused again before making his decision. “I understand there is plenty of room there for everyone, if they are so inclined.”
“You may or may not trust this message and you may or may not reply. Choice is always up to the individual. In any case, I wish you and yours well. I remain ever squishy. I remain Kerrik Wolf.” He reached forward and stopped the recording. After replaying the message and verifying that Micah’s address was correct, Iain shut down the pokedex and put it back into his pokepack. Then he got up, brushed off the seat of his pants and went off to see if he could help April with the campfire.
***
Eve let go of his arm and looked around the area as he dug out the Kerrik Wolf pokedex and activated it. “Do you think we’re safe here?” They were a few kilometers outside the belt of farms around Glasgow.
Iain shrugged. “We’re as safe as we’d be anywhere else if the league is hunting us.” He watched the startup cycle finish and watched the display as the unit synched up with the local network and sent the message to Micah Hakubi. The screen flashed to report he had a message waiting for him. “Either that was inhumanly quick or something else is going on.”
The Megami-sama twisted a lock of her blue and white hair around a finger. “He looked inhuman enough.”
“I’m sure his stay here has probably been almost as entertaining as mine. That tends to leave its mark on people.” Iain read the header. “It’s from Ms. Harris.” He smirked. “And no, I don’t mean from Katherine or anyone else in Devon’s little group. It’s the minister.” The message was text and he read it quickly. “She wants to chat. I’m supposed to call her when I get this.”
“When are you going to call her?” Eve waved a hand around them. “Summon Dominique and Scheherazade and you can call her here and now.”
“Ok.” Iain reached out through the delta bonds and touched April and Scheherazade. Ladies, please come here. I have to contact Minister Harris and I want to make sure I can run if it’s a trap.
April managed to sound embarrassed. I’ll be just a second. I’m using the toilet.
There’s no rush and I’ll wait for you. The Dread Wolf appeared and he jerked a thumb at Eve. “I’m going to be contacting the Dread Minister Lindsey Harris and we’re preparing to run or fight so do what she wants.” He glanced at Eve. “April will be along in just a bit.”
Her eyes turned cool. “I said Dominique.”
“I know she’s busy in her lab and decided not to bother her. And we’ve already had the talk about April and combat. Do we need to rehash that one?”
“You do realize that this isn’t for fun and she could die if we get attacked.”
Iain nodded. “I do. I also realize that any of us could die and that April desperately wants to be a combat specialist. I won’t keep her from one of her dreams.”
Eve met his gaze squarely. “I take it I shouldn’t keep her from it either?”
“Would you want to be coddled like that?”
She gave him a rueful smile. “You’re a bad influence. My first response was fuck no.”
“As long as it’s what you mean to say.”
“I’m not sure I agree with that. However, you’re right. She’s not an Ingénue anymore and if April wants to fight, I’ll let her fight. Now why isn’t she here?”
Iain hesitated. “She’s using the little pokegirl’s room.”
Eve blinked and her mouth quivered as she fought a smile. “The little pokegirl’s room? Well we can wait, then.”
A few minutes later April teleported in. She started to speak when Eve cut her off. “Your constructs are watching the outer perimeter while Scheherazade will be overhead. Keep everything close so we don’t draw attention from Glasgow. Move.” The Duelist gave her a grateful look and began pulling cards from a pouch on her belt as she moved towards an open area that gave her as much of an unobstructed view as possible.
Iain found himself a shady spot under a tree and settled himself someplace that looked comfortable. Eve smoothed her skirt and sat down facing him, scooting forward enough that their knees touched. It kept her close while still keeping her out of the camera’s field of view. He rotated the lens around to face him and pulled up the minister’s address. The word “connecting” appeared on his screen before it cleared and after a few seconds the young man he’d seen the last time he called appeared. “This is Minister Harris’ office. How may I help you?”
“This is Kerrik Wolf.” The name felt odd on his tongue, but Iain ignored it. “Minister Harris wanted to speak to me.”
The man gave him a strange look and nodded. “I’ll see if she’s available, Mr. Wolf.” The screen went into a hold pattern and began playing soft music.
Iain looked at Eve. “Start the timer. I want to know how long we have to wait.”
Five minutes had elapsed on the timer when the hold pattern stopped to reveal Minister Harris. She regarded him for several seconds. “I wasn’t sure you would ever call.”
“I wasn’t sure I would either, but here I am.”
“May I inquire as to why it took so long to get in touch with me? It has been several weeks since I asked you to call.”
Iain gave her a whimsical smile. “Are you aware that between the seas teeming with fish, the rabbits and other rodents, kattle and berries a man can live quite well without ever coming into town, and that even if he hasn’t made friends with a few Elf pokegirls and set up a farm.” Her face set and he shook his head. “I’ve been out of radio range for a while. You may not know this but my pokedex isn’t fitted for satellite communications.”
She nodded. “I’ll have your tradesman account’s status changed so that the next time you go to a pokegirl center you’ll get an upgraded unit. Why didn’t you use the priority code this time?”
Iain wasn’t sure he wanted whatever pokedex model she thought he should have. Something that couldn’t be completely turned off could prove troublesome. “I figured you’d rescinded it after the way our last conversation went.”
“No, I haven’t. You can still use it.”
“Minister, why did you want to talk to me?”
“Are you alone?”
Iain didn’t look at Eve sitting on the other side of the pokedex. He could feel the heat of her knees against his and it comforted him. “Yes, as much as I can be in the wilderness. My harem is off bathing and I promised to stay where they could see me.”
“That was very wise. Mr. Wolf, I need your help. We finished up our purge, but we’re sure we didn’t get everyone. I need your help rooting out the last remnants of the Goth network.”
Iain pursed his lips. “Minister, doing that may prove difficult. If they have more than one network, which would be prudent, they’re probably completely independent of each other and there will be no way to tie the various cells together outside of getting the records from Sanctuary. Even if I could help you, there is the matter of the previous agreement we had. I’m still due payment for services rendered.”
Her mouth twisted. “You talk about money when the safety of the Blue League is at stake?”
“I believe you do draw a fairly generous salary from the league, minister, so you don’t have to talk about payments you can’t meet. I am not, and I can’t feed my harem off of good will.” He smiled slightly. “And please don’t forget that I didn’t ask for money. We agreed on an ebony stone.”
“And I explained to you that I couldn’t give you that. I am authorized to offer you suitable compensation, however. Just say the word and I’ll have a hundred million credits transferred to any account you’d like.”
Iain started to remind her that she’d only changed the agreement after most of the work had been done when he felt Eve’s hope he’d be smart about this. He gave the minister a sad smile. “Thank you, minister, but no.”
Surprise sparked through her eyes, but the pleasant smile stayed on her face. “And I will deposit another two hundred million when we start hunting down the remainder of the spies.”
“That’s a lot of money, minister.”
“Yes, it is, but you’re worth it, Mr. Wolf.”
“It’s really hard to turn down that much money.”
“When can we expect you?”
His smile matched hers. “I’m afraid you misunderstand me, minister. The fact that it’s hard to turn down that much money doesn’t mean I can’t. I haven’t been sitting around waiting to be called since our previous agreement ended, minister, and I don’t think I will be available to help your search.”
Harris’ smile vanished. “Is that damned stone so important to you?”
“Minister, the ebony stone isn’t the subject of our current discussion. You want to hire me to do more work for you and I can understand why. If I were available I would seriously consider your offer. Unfortunately, I’m in the middle of something and I’m not sure when I’ll be done.”
“What is more important than helping keep the Blue League safe, Mr. Wolf?”
Iain shrugged. “Sanctuary is trying to kill me and my harem. I’m working to keep them from succeeding and frankly that’s a bit more important to me. Once I’m done, maybe I can help you if you still need it.”
“We can protect you, Mr. Wolf. Come to us.”
Iain’s smile evaporated. “Minister, I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just lie to me. We both know your security has been penetrated by Sanctuary and that’s why you need me. It’s also why you can’t keep any promise to protect me. But you do have other resources you can use tracking down the Goths and I’m sure they’ll prove more than sufficient. You’ll make do.”
“I’d have preferred to have your assistance, but I’m sure we will, Mr. Wolf. I have someone here who insists on talking to you.”
Iain blinked. “Other than the president of the league, who can give you orders?”
“There was a Megami-sama at the meeting where you met me who insists that she has to talk to you. Her name is Sif.”
Iain fought not to look up so he could see Eve’s expression, but the sudden spurt of anger he got from her across their link told him a lot. “I remember her. She was the one with the bright red hair. Tell her to get her ass in gear and call me herself. If I like what she has to say I’ll see if we can meet somewhere. However, my response to her about more work will be the same one I gave you, Minister. I have other obligations that I have to meet.”
Harris nodded. “I’ll do that, Mr. Wolf. Personally, I wish you would come back and work for us. I really do. Your help was invaluable.” Her eyes flicked to the right and she appeared to be listening. “Please call me when your situation stabilizes, Mr. Wolf. Good day.” She killed the connection before he could respond.
Iain carefully shut down the pokedex and put it back into storage in his pokepack before looking at Eve. “That’s as secure as it gets. What do you think is going on with Sif?”
She smiled slowly. “I thought I stopped my irritation from carrying through.”
“Irritation? That wasn’t irritation. That was fury. Is Sif a member of the Sisterhood? I thought she was, but I’ve been wrong before.”
“She’s part of the outer circle. The inner circle is only composed of members with longevity.”
“So do you two have a history?”
“No we don’t and I’d like to keep it that way. Lucy said you were hands off for the rest of the Sisterhood, but Sif has never been a stickler for rules.”
“Was there a reason for this proclamation about leaving me alone?”
Eve gave him a speculative look. “I don’t want to give you a swelled head, but there are several members of the outer circle, all pokewomen, who would like to bear children by you. The inner circle is still all pokegirls, so they’re just watching you curiously.”
“That won’t make me proud. That just makes me nervous. Why on earth would they want kids from a man they don’t know?”
“Iain, you’re an author and the rumors are that you’re showing powers never before seen in humans or pokegirls. They’re hoping your children have your gifts. Even if the rumors about your magic were proven false, your blood has no pokegirl genes at all. It’s very likely your seed could work to prevent threshold in human daughters. Many celestial pokegirls such as Angels can have base forms that they hope none of their children threshold into.” She rubbed his knee with her fingertips. “Imagine the heartbreak of an Angel who gives birth to a girl who thresholds into a Bimbo.”
Iain shook his head. “I am so not interested in anything like that. I don’t want children with women I’ve never met and don’t have any feelings for. If I wanted that, I’d have been screwing the drunken girls in college to try and get them pregnant. If that’s what Sif wants from me, she’s going to be disappointed. Why don’t you meet with her and see if you can explain it to her. Be firm and take anyone you need to help you be completely convincing.” He gave her a flat look. “If anyone I do not know shows up in my bed unexpectedly I will do my best to kill her, be she celestial, Megami-sama, or your best fucking girlfriend.”
Eve cocked her head. “And if I brought someone to your bed?”
“Then I’d be very pissed at you for the surprise, but I’d let her live until I determined that she didn’t have control of you so I could kill her.”
“If that’s going to be your attitude towards strange pokegirls, all I can say is good.” Eve slipped to her feet and reached a hand down for him. “And now that you’ve given me permission, I’ll deal with Sif.”
***
Eve watched Iain sitting on the couch for a moment before turning to Dominique. “I don’t like this.”
The Archmage gave her a disgusted look. “You think I do? It’s like he’s in a pokeball right now. Before the war this was used as torture. But you can feel as well as I can that he’s calmed down after the initial panic. Besides, he insisted. He’s trying something and it requires complete sensory deprivation. Right now he’s locked entirely inside his own mind with no external input from anything, not even his own body.”
“Since he can’t hear us, how is your project to verify what he’s saying going?”
“I’ve made no progress whatsoever. Whatever magic is used in the creation of that book, I can’t figure out a way to make the writing, if there is any, visible to me.”
Eve frowned. “If there is any? You don’t think there’s writing in the book?”
“Honestly I haven’t the foggiest. Eve, I’ve never seen anything like this book. All I can qualitatively say is that it’s magical. I don’t know how magical or what the magical focus is. I’d say it was just making him delusional except he’s learning new things from somewhere and it’s not me.” Crimson lips twisted unhappily. “That happens to be a fact which pisses the hell out of me. I should be teaching him, not some book that I can’t vet to see if he’s learning something just enough to blast himself to smithereens.”
“He’s learning combat spells?”
Dominique shook her head. “Not right now. His entire focus is on ways to improve himself defensively but there are a lot of defensive techniques that can be used offensively. He drained Barbie to death, remember.”
“He also said that he couldn’t do that to a living person.”
“He said that then. And what about the fact that he devolved a Sanctuary Goth back to her previous evolution? That’s pretty offensive if used right.” The Archmage had braided her red hair and she tugged on the end thoughtfully. “He’s mentioned a way to practice that if we let him.”
“If we let him? Devolving pokegirls isn’t right. Of course I’d fight the idea of him going around doing it to random pokegirls.”
“Eve, he suggested that he practice the ability on Penance pokegirls. Are you going to fight that?”
The Megami-sama’s mouth dropped. “Penance?” Her eyes turned speculative for a second before she shook her head. “That has possibilities, but eventually he’d be mobbed by people hoping he could turn thresholds back into humans. Or thresholded pokegirls would mob him.”
“It’s better than his first idea, which was Panthress. I pointed out that he couldn’t try this on dead pokegirls and the only way we’d let him get within a kilometer of a Panthress was if she was dead.” She glanced at Iain out of the corner of her eye. “You realize that he’s ruined us for normal tamers. I use to put up with the bullshit from them so I could get laid once in a while, but I don’t think I can do that anymore. We can’t let him die.”
Eve nodded absently, still watching Iain. “I love him.”
“You say that like you expect me to be surprised.” Dominique gave her a wry smile. “I know you love him and he loves you. We all know it, Eve.”
“He loves you too, Dee.”
“I know. I’m just waiting for him to tell me. He loves you, me and Scheherazade. He’s fond of Irena and he likes Montsho.”
“You didn’t mention April.”
“I’m not sure what he and April have. They just mesh together so well that it’s sometimes hard to see where one ends and the other begins. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they’d recognized each other.” Dominique shrugged. “If they had, what he felt for us wouldn’t matter anymore and that’s not true.”
Eve nodded. “Sometimes I wonder about their relationship too. Maybe it’s something entirely new. That would be just like him. Do you love him?”
The Archmage gave her a bland look. “That’s between me and him.” Her head came around when a soft beeping filled the room. She picked up a timer, pushed a button on it and the beeps stopped. “He’ll be coming out in a minute.”
A little while later Iain took a deep breath and opened his eyes. “Damn, but that’s intense. It’s like I’ve never smell, seen or heard anything before.”
“Did it work?” Dominique sat down next to him.
“I need to work on it more, but I know it can be done.” He ran his fingers over the fabric of the couch. “What Ginevra and her sisters can do is capable of being taught. Each of you already can do some of it when you look outside your pokeball. I can learn to see life energy. I will learn it.”
***
Iain took the potions and headed for the shop’s counter while Dominique kept browsing through the used pokeball bin. He used the Kerrik Wolf pokedex to make the purchase and put the items away as Dominique joined him with a double handful of pokeballs. After buying those, they headed down the street, stopping at a public house where they got some sandwiches and beer for lunch.
Dominique gave him a lazy smile. “It’s nice to be alone with you for a change.”
“I like spending time with you, too. And hopefully this time I should get to finish my lunch with you.”
“Huh?”
“Remember the last time we ate alone was after you had me detained? I had to leave before I was finished and go explain my score on my tradesman exam.”
She laughed. “That was the last time we ate alone, wasn’t it? This is much nicer.” She reached out and took his free hand, still mindful of the people around them. “Isn’t it, Master Kerrik?”
Iain kissed her fingers and winked. “That it is.”
After they’d eaten they wandered around London for a while, purchasing the odd thing here and there. “This is odd, you know. Even though I know what we’re doing, this is still strange.”
Iain shrugged. “It’ll be odder tomorrow when I come back and follow today’s path as Austin while pretending to be hunting myself. But it needs to be done.” He grinned and slipped his arm around Dominique’s waist. “I am enjoying spending time with you, you know. We don’t get to do this often enough.”
She looked around before sighing and leaning against him. “Right now we’re just too busy to do this much. Can we do this more often after things settle down and we’re done fighting?” She flashed a quick smile. “Presuming we live, of course.”
“We will and then we’ll be in a place where you don’t have to look around for others before showing me affection in public.”
“That’s going to be hard to get used to. My whole life has been hiding in public. You know that. All of our lives have been that way, except Montsho’s. It’s why we’re so protective of you. If you die, we go back to that or we follow you into death.” She pulled away when a group of young men came around the corner, giving him a serious look. “I’ve already made my decision, so if you want me to live you’ll need to live as well.”
He winced. “I’m doing the best I can, Dominique.”
“Are you ok?”
“It’s a lot of pressure, being responsible for your life and the lives of everyone else. Before I came here I wasn’t anyone important to anyone. I was just me making my way through a fairly mundane existence. The writing let me pretend I was something else, to pretend I was someone important, but having it become reality is sometimes overwhelming.” He blinked and shook his head. “Sorry, I was having a Shinji moment.”
“Shinji?”
“Ikari Shinji is a character in an anime that’s popular with lots of other people. He’s got so much angst that if emo were a superpower he’d have ruled the anime universes. He wasn’t alone in that, but he was the undisputed champion of whining self loathing. I call my odd moments of self pity having a Shinji moment. It sounds better than calling it being a crybaby.”
Dominique reached up a hand and stroked his cheek gently. “Iain, you’re not a crybaby. I’m not prone to cut people slack, both by personal inclination and the training I underwent for the jobs I’ve held for the over the last century. You are bearing a burden that would crush just about anyone else I’ve ever known. You’ve experienced things since coming here that should have driven you insane or at least given you so many emotional scars that you should be barely functional. I’m not sure if the fact that you’re not is a testament to how special you are or if you’re just too stubborn to let it show.”
“Et tu, Archmage?”
She smiled. “No, I’ll leave the nagging to Eve and April. I’m not asking you how you feel or to share with me what’s going on in that head where our delta bond can’t go. You and I are both private people and I respect that. I just wanted you to know that I’m amazed you’ve held up so well and I’m proud of you for everything you’ve done.”
“I’ve kind of stumbled from one calamity to the next. What’s there to be proud of?”
“Nobody has died, Iain. Considering everything that’s happened to us the fact that we’re all still alive is incredible. It took luck, but it really took a lot of skill and fast thinking on everyone’s part. You helped a lot.”
“You can’t say nobody died. We killed a lot of people.”
A crimson eyebrow went up. “So what? It’s all on the other side and neither one of us cares about them. Keeping us alive is what counts and that’s what you’ve managed to do. Any normal tamer would have been killed and decomposed by now or turned into a puppet for our enemies.” She poked him in the nose with a fingernail. “And never forget that they are our enemies, not just yours. We are fighting them together. Stop trying to make this a fight between you and them, because it’s not.”
He gave her a wry grin. “Anything I else I can do make you happy?”
“Actually, yes, there is. You can smack April the next time she starts mooning about babies.”
“Is she that annoying?”
“Yes she is. More importantly, and more disturbingly, April is starting to make me think about children of my own and it’s distracting. I don’t want to even consider anything like that until we’re safe.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
***
April twined her arm through his and kissed him on the cheek. “Are you ready to go play the game?”
Iain looked at his free arm. “I’m an odd color with odd colored hair. Sure, just remember to stay in character.”
“I will,” They appeared in an alley in London. April looked around carefully before letting him go. “Where are we off to first, Master Drummond?”
“Wolf used his pokedex to make some purchases in a shop not too far from here. We’ll start there and see if someone recognizes his description or picture.”
“Yes, sir. I believe it’s this way.” She led him in the direction of the shop he’d visited the day before.
Iain made an abrupt turn as they entered the shop and stopped in an aisle to peruse a collection of taming restraints. April gave him a puzzled look as she stationed herself beside him. What’s going on?
Iain jerked his head at the counter. Listen.
A man was in front of the counter showing the shopkeeper an image on an electronic display similar to a pokedex. “I know his pokedex was used here yesterday. Look at the picture and tell me if this is the man who was using the pokedex registered to Kerrik Wolf.”
The shopkeeper didn’t look at the display. “Well, detective, I’m not sure. This is one of the premier tamer supply shops in London and we do a lot of business.”
The detective scowled. “Lay off with the commercial, Mr. Turner. He would have been in here a little before lunchtime. If you were so popular, you’d have more of a problem with shoplifting and so you’d have a security system that I could review the recordings of. Look at the damned picture and tell me if that was him.”
Turner glared at the detective and took the display unit. “Let me see.” He looked closely. “The man’s hair was longer but he was here yesterday. He was with a redheaded Dark Elf.”
The detective took back the piece of electronics. “What did he purchase?”
Turner pulled up a display and pressed a button. The register printed a sheet of receipt tape that the shopkeeper tore off and looked over before handing it to the detective. “Here you go. I remember his pokegirl brought up some merchandise after he’d already paid for his stuff and he bought that too. It’s all on that list. Oh, and he didn’t pay cash for anything.”
The detective didn’t look convinced. “Not even your special items?”
April blinked. Special items?
I have no idea what they’re talking about. I’d be willing to bet that the shopkeeper won’t know what the cop is talking about either.
Turner looked appalled. “Detective Warrens, I have no idea what you are talking about. I run a completely honest shop.”
Warrens made a face. “Of course you do, Turner. You’d better keep it that way, too. If you see him, you need to contact me immediately.”
“What did he do, Warrens?”
“All you need to know is that he’s a very bad man, Turner, and that if he comes back and you don’t call me and I find out I will come back here and make your life a living hell.”
“Detective, I swear to you on my mother’s grave that I will call you if I think I see anyone like who you’re looking for.”
Warrens smiled. “You’d better do that, Turner, or rest assured I will find out about it. You have a nice day.” He put the unit in his coat pocket and walked out.
Turner watched him go with unfriendly eyes before turning back to watching the customers in his store.
Iain led April outside. “It looks like we’re not the only ones looking for Wolf,” he said quietly as he watched Warrens head down the street. “I’d love to know why the metropolitan police service is looking for Kerrik.”
April frowned. “Maybe they’re not looking for him. Maybe only that detective is. It would be the perfect job for a pet.”
“True. And it’s not like we can just go and ask him, can we?” Iain shrugged. “Let’s continue down the path that Wolf took and see what else we can find out. We’ll just be careful of the police while we’re doing it.”
***
Iain activated the Austin Drummond pokedex and turned on the recording function. He gave the date and time first and then began with his report. “After receiving some information that Kerrik Wolf was in London, I went there to investigate. Digital records indicated that he’d made some purchases in a shop and when I arrived to question the employees, I discovered that a detective from the Metropolitan Police Department was already there. I observed while he asked the shopkeeper about Kerrik Wolf and then departed. At this time I do not know why the metropolitan police would be interested in Kerrik Wolf or even if the detective, who appeared to be known by the shopkeeper, wasn’t acting on his own initiative or if he is the pet of another agent. His last name was Warrens.”
Iain looked thoughtful for a moment. “Then I retraced the steps of Wolf through several more shops where he made purchases. In any case, the detective was not seen again. It is interesting to note that Wolf has never made extensive purchases using his pokedex before. Considering the accessibility of credit chips along with his rumored wiliness, I must wonder if this is a lure of some kind. If so, the purpose and subject remain a mystery but I will certainly proceed carefully in any future investigations.”
He scratched his nose idly. “Additionally, my sources inside the Blue League government hint that Kerrik Wolf may no longer be working with the government’s forces in rounding up agents of Sanctuary. They’re not sure why, but rumors suggest that there may have been a falling out between Wolf and his handlers or that the league feels it no longer needs his assistance and has sacked him. I will seek further information that can confirm or deny these rumors.”
Irena settled down next to him. “Austin, don’t forget the odd report.”
“Mistress, I’m not sure that’s relevant. It’s nothing but hearsay.”
“I said to include it.”
“Yes mistress.” He turned back to the pokedex. “There is a single unsubstantiated report from one of my sources that suggests the league may be using a new kind of pokegirl that they’re trying to keep hidden. This might be important because she was briefly seen working with a Blackguard team involved in the capture of a Sanctuary Goth. This pokegirl scanned as a Dragonqueen, but her physical description differed in several particulars including dark gray hair and full body scaling that was the same all over her body. Her eyes were black and since a Dragonqueen’s eyes match her hair, this is another discrepancy. She also had a white skull pattern in her scales on her head, something I’ve never seen or heard of in a Dragonqueen. The report also suggests that this pokegirl, whatever she is, is resistant to the special powers that Sanctuary Goths possess. And that ends my update. Austin Drummond out.” Iain stopped the recording and put the pokedex in his pack.
Irena turned back to her chibi form and crawled into his lap so she could curl up in his arms. “Your description was so detailed that this new pokegirl sounds real.”
‘That’s because she is real, even if she doesn’t belong to the leagues.” He wrapped the chibi Sanctuary Goth up like she wanted. “The breed is called the Terminatrix. Its existence is so classified that the entry has all the stupid warnings that the writers put in about how the reader will be mind wiped, turned into a pokegirl and then level fived until the machine breaks down before the new pokegirl is gang raped to death. Usually they invent a new security classification like Omega Super Galactic Top Secret Burn In Hell If You Even Read The Classification Level Much Less Read The Classified Data.” He grinned at her shocked look. “You might think that it is one of my pet peeves.”
She blinked and looked up at him to return the grin. “I do get a hint of some animosity on your part. What about the Termini-whatever?”
“Terminatrix. The breed is a dragon type that can masquerade as other dragon pokegirls and can even mask its presence from current generation pokedex scanners. Where it came from hadn’t been determined by the time of the last revision, so either we didn’t know or hadn’t created it yet, depending on what you think our powers as authors are. Their claim to fame is that they use shadow magic to remain unemotional and they’re completely immune to the auras of Sanctuary Goths, who they hate. Combat wise they’re not anything all that special and I’d take a Dragonqueen over one every time, even if the Dragonqueen doesn’t have phase.” He glanced at his forearms. “And a Dragonqueen can’t compare against my Dragonesses.”
Of course not. We are superior to any living pokegirl breed. He wasn’t sure if that came from Aurum or Sable.
Irena frowned. “They hate Sanctuary Goths? You’re not going to try to get a Terminatrix, are you? If they’re immune to my auras I’d be helpless.”
“Pretty girl, you are not alone. We’d cream a Terminatrix before she could say ‘boo’ at you. As for the fact that she’s immune to your auras, why do you think we’ve been working to teach you magic techniques and start you learning spellcasting? So you’re not helpless to pokegirls who can resist your awesome powers.”
Irena made a face and stuck out her tongue at him. He grabbed it and she gagged until he let her go. “You’re mean.”
“I’m not going to think of you as a kid. That stopped before we ever fucked.”
She giggled. “It was funny when you thought I was a child. I had fun at Sadie Pokens with you, eating your food and watching you chase off horny pokegirls.” She stretched up and kissed him gently before snuggling back into his arms. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For keeping me, Iain. I know you now and you could have easily refused to let me stay before letting me in your bubble. Thank you for taking a chance on me.”
His arms tightened around her and his voice dropped until it was almost a whisper. “I have no regrets about you, Irena. Thank you for choosing the madman at the fair.”
They sat silently for several minutes before Irena looked up at him again. “I want to learn all the techniques and magic I can. I want to be a fighter like the others and I don’t want to become a problem in a fight just because someone manages to resist my auras. Will you help me?”
“You want me to tell Eve to push you?”
“Yes, I do, but I really want you to train with me. You and April are the only people who have normal strength like I do now. April already knows a lot of hand to hand combat and if you’ll train with me I won’t feel so much like an utter failure when I get defeated all the time.”
“You want me to get my ass kicked by my lovers so you’ll feel better about losing to them? You do realize that my goal so far has been to keep my foes from getting to melee range since I can’t beat a pokegirl in a fair fight.” He kissed her on her forehead. “Without enhanced strength and reflexes I can’t beat one by cheating either.”
“I know, but this would mean a lot to me. Will you train with me?”
He looked into her black eyes and sighed. “You’d think with all the beauty in my harem I would build up a resistance to being manipulated by a pretty girl. This is really going to cut into the time I’ve been using for mastering my magic.”
“Thank you, Iain.”
“You’re welcome, Irena.”
***
Iain carefully came down the steps into the basement and stopped. “Dominique?”
She looked up from where she was clearing off one of her worktables and gave him a warm smile. “I was counting on you being early. Come give me a hand before the others get here.” She handed him some stuff to put away. “Irena came to me today and asked to start learning serious magic. Did you put her up to it?”
Iain carefully stored the items where they belonged, not seeing Dominique’s eyes glint with pleasure as he did so without making a mistake. “No, but we talked about Terminatrixes a couple of days ago and I think it scared her. She also asked me to take combat lessons with her.”
The Archmage grinned. “That’s going to be fun.” Her grin widened. “For me.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“Actually, it’s a good idea for you, Irena and April. While April did get some basic combat training, fear of becoming a Damsel kept her from pushing to learn everything she could. I went through basic with the Blackguards, so me and Eve will be your instructors. If Montsho is willing to train, I’d like to teach her too. For someone that strong to learn how to actually hit would be devastating to any opponent.”
“That’s true enough,” Iain mused before shrugging, “it’s up to her, but I’ll ask her to consider it.”
“She still obeys Irena more than you,” Dominique pointed out softly.
“I know. Hey, whatever works, right?”
Footsteps sounded coming down the stairs and Eve appeared with a tea tray. “I brought refreshments.”
Dominique leaned towards Iain. “Originally I was from the US, so I kind of absorbed their tendencies. Eve, obviously, is English. She’d probably curl up into a ball if there wasn’t any tea.”
“No, I’d just send you out for some.” Eve put the tray on the table. “That’s my plan when we get to One. ‘Dominique, fetch me tea and don’t return without it’. I figure that’ll give me more time with Iain for a month or two.”
Iain chuckled. “She’d just raid a store somewhere for old teabags.” The Megami-sama made a disgusted sound.
Dominique flashed a quick smile, all white teeth. “Iain, please don’t spoil my surprise for Eve.”
“Sorry.”
April came down the stairs with a bundle in her arms. “Hi. I’m not late, am I?”
“No.” Eve grabbed some chairs and moved them to the table. “Sit down and let’s get started.”
“I would appreciate it if I could also join you.” Everyone turned to see Vanessa standing on the bottom rung of the stairs. “I also have information to add to this discussion.”
Eve’s jaw muscles flexed before putting on a pleasant smile. “Dominique?”
The Archmage didn’t look happy. “This is my lab and you do not have permission to poke around. Don’t touch anything except your chair and what’s on the table.”
The legendary nodded. “Thank you.”
As she headed for the group, Iain focused on his maharani. Eve, I hope you are aware that I love you and not Vanessa. She cannot replace you in my life and even if she could I would not want her to. You’re stuck with me until we die.
Eve’s eyes met his. I resent the fact that she sometimes gives the attitude that we don’t matter. She has no right to do that.
No, she doesn’t, but the truth is that her attitude is immaterial. You come way before she does. If I had to put her on a priority list for rescue she’d be at the bottom and not only because there’s no real situation from which she cannot escape if she truly wants to.
Eve blinked. She’s pregnant. You’d have to rescue her first.
You might want me to, but no, I wouldn’t have to. Eve, Vanessa is here because she’s pregnant and she can’t find anyplace else to go that’s even marginally safe. She’s not here because she likes us or because we like her. The fact that we had sex means nothing and you should know that.
The Megami-sama smiled suddenly. You’re right. “Ok, Dominique, you start first.”
The Archmage nodded briskly. “Ok, my contacts report that Micah Hakubi is wanted in the Capital League for questioning in a fire that destroyed a building in Vancouver and killed a lot of people and pokegirls. I looked the event up and interestingly the details of what happened have been classified Omega - Eyes Only on orders from the highest levels of the government. And by highest levels I mean by the inner cadre, which we know is heavily infiltrated by Sanctuary. There isn’t any evidence of Sanctuary involvement in the fire, but then there wouldn’t be, would there? He’s also wanted for inciting a series of riots and one of the really major felony crimes in Capital, disrupting Sadie Pokens. Finally, he’s wanted for an assault on Vincent McMahon and the theft of the military airship Kite. The orders in every case are to take him alive and as unharmed as possible.” She shrugged. “It’s likely that the detainment orders are a smokescreen for capturing him for some reason only known to Capital. They don’t usually care about not injuring people wanted for questioning in attacks on the McMahon family.”
April blinked. “He’s been a busy boy.”
Eve pulled the plate of biscuits toward her as Iain’s fingers twitched. “That he certainly has. During the Sadie Pokens event he attended in Capital some infernal pokegirls got photographs of him and one of them got the bright idea of catering to the fiend she saw in the picture. He ended up rescuing a Megami who had been captured and set up as a sacrifice for him after running off the Demoness who had orchestrated the whole thing. The Megami, Yvonne, reported that Hakubi looked almost completely infernal, with horns, claws, fangs and some rather impressive leathery wings. She was the one who scanned him for entry into Sadie Pokens and said he scanned as a good tamer who cared about the women in his harem. After the rescue, he treated her well and remained to watch over her until he was whisked away by Linda McMahon via teleport. Yvonne said that Hakubi wasn’t hurt by McMahon’s people, but that it was obvious he didn’t have a choice in the matter as to going with McMahon. She later inquired about it and was told rather abruptly that it was not the business of the celestials and to drop the whole line of investigation.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Iain said quietly. “I hope he was ok.”
Dominique smirked. “Considering the arrest warrants, I think he came out best in whatever happened.”
April had a pokedex and a folder on the table in front of her. She reached for the pokedex and keyed the display live. “Hakubi’s scans and testing showed no discrepancies and if you’ll look you can see that his original picture as a tamer looks pretty normal. It wasn’t until Sadie Pokens that any discrepancies cropped up. That’s also the last time he registered at a pokegirl center, at least as far as I could find out. At that time his harem was listed as consisting of five pokegirls. Anya is a StarMystic, Cornelia the Demon-Goddess, Euphemia the undetermined G-Splice, Ludmilla the Dire Wolf and Nunnally the Armsmistress.” She changed the display to show the Hakubi they’d seen in the message to Bevin. “This isn’t his official tamer entry; instead it is a BOLO or be on the lookout for him from the leadership of Capital. It lists his harem and also states that he has a blood drinking pokekit or chibi pokegirl in addition.” She touched a button and a slightly blurry picture appeared. “This was captured from some security cameras and was included in the BOLO. Iain, can you identify the breed?”
He nodded. “That’s a Lucarda. I can’t tell if she’s a kit or not.”
April opened the folder and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Recently this was circulated in the Capital League. It shows a picture of the infernal Hakubi and challenges tamers to fight a demon lord as an official Capital League sponsored event. What’s unusual is that it sends tamers to some coordinates in the wilderness of the Ruby League to fight him. Capital events don’t cross league boundaries since the other leagues don’t usually recognize them.” She skimmed the paper at Iain and pulled out more copies. “Something that’s really weird is that the bottom of the flyer says the event is supported by Macavity.”
Vanessa stirred. “That makes sense considering what I know. Recently there was a meeting of Sexmet, Bastit and Hild at the request of Macavity, who tried to stir up trouble for Micah Hakubi by claiming that he had allied himself with Sanctuary. Her evidence was that she’d seen him with a bunch of Sanctuary Goths.”
Iain’s mouth dropped. “Wow. How do you know this?”
“One of the people who attended is a friend of mine and she let me know about it as a courtesy. Unknown to the other participants, Shiva and Sexebi knew about the meeting and had arrived ahead of Hild. After Macavity’s accusation Shiva interrupted to let them know that not only had Hakubi not allied with Sanctuary, he’d independently discovered a way to turn pokegirls into Sanctuary Goths and accused Macavity of trying to stir up trouble. For the record, I don’t know how he’s doing this. After that Sexebi announced that she was claiming Hakubi for reasons of her own and threatened the others if they tried to hurt him.” She smiled. “Apparently he impressed her somehow.”
Eve stared at Vanessa with wide eyes. “This is incredible. Who is your source?”
“Even amongst the legendaries there is politics and where there is politics there are cliques and outcasts. Sexebi and I are outcasts, I because I intimidate everyone else and Sexebi because they’re stupid and think she’s pathetic. We’ve been friends for centuries and she came by to tell me about her coup. It made her almost giddy with joy to finally smack them with some reality.”
Dominique frowned. “Why are you telling us this?”
“I think you need to know. I know I’m not part of Iain’s harem, but I like him and I think he likes me. Maybe someday it’ll be more than that, so I’m protecting my potential future by throwing my lot in with you. Besides, technically he’s the father of my babies.” She looked around the table as April went white. “Believe it or not, none of you have anything to fear from me. I have been shown nothing but kindness since I forced my way into your life and I’m sorry if I’ve been a bitch about it. I won’t fight if I can avoid it because of my pregnancy, but other than that I am more than willing to help however you’ll let me.”
***
Iain Grey - Tradesman
Eve - Megami-sama (maharani)
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
Scheherazade - Dread Wolf
Irena- Chibi Sanctuary Goth
April - Duelist
Montsho - Tyrannodame
Dragonesses
Eirian - Silver
Skye - Blue
Emerald - Green
Sable - Black
Aurum - Gold
Beryl - Red