Into the Fire
Thirty Three
Author’s note: This chapter presumes that you are familiar with Kelvin’s Choice’s story, Tamers and uses characters and situations from it with his permission. If you have not read it, you are very naughty and need to remedy the situation immediately. It is well worth the time.
April opened the door and paused at the sight of the woman sitting on the bench. “Good morning, Lucifer. Have you broken your fast yet?”
“I thank you for the hospitality, but I ate several hours ago. Is Eve or Iain available?”
“You must not have been here long. If you had, you’d have seen both of them when they went outside an hour ago.” She pointed at the silver dome glittering in the morning sun. “They’re probably down at the tree. If not, that’s the place to wait for them.”
Lucifer stared. “That’s a tree?”
“It’s a long story, but it belongs to Ninhursag.”
“It’s kind of,” the Megami-sama paused, “spectacular is probably the right word. Doesn’t it draw attention you don’t want?”
“We’re too far from the main road for anyone to see it even if they’re flying at a low altitude. It does draw flying pokegirls, but so far the only thing they’ve managed to do is give us good workouts catching them.” April glanced upwards. “Iain’s concerned about satellite surveillance; but he says that considering the Blue League’s spy satellite network there’s a better chance of an Apache war party stumbling across us, whatever that is.”
Lucifer smothered a laugh. “Apache, you say? Then he’s not very worried about it. I take it he has a plan if there’s trouble.”
“He always does.” The Duelist’s eyes unfocused for a second. “I’ve told Eve you’re here and she and Iain will meet you at the tree in a few minutes.”
“I take it they’re not having sex.”
April grinned. “Nope. Eve and Ninhursag are taking turns kicking his ass twice a day in the name of training.”
Lucifer laughed and headed for the silver leafed tree. As she got closer, she recognized Eve and a battered looking Iain looking closely at a low lying branch and eavesdropped shamelessly as she approached.
Iain touched some leaves. “See the buds? I think it’s getting ready to flower.”
Eve looked closely. “You’re right. It’s not really the time of year for that, though.”
“Who knows what’s right for it? I wonder what will happen when they open.”
“Probably not much since there isn’t another tree for it to pollinate with.” Eve nodded to Lucifer. “Hi.”
“This was born of pokegirl and man and might not need another tree. Or it could be like soybeans.” He turned as Lucifer gave up skulking and finished approaching them. “Good morning.”
Lucifer smiled. “Good morning. What about soybeans?”
“Soybean flowers are open for normal cross pollination by insects during the day, but if they’re not fertilized the flowers self pollinate as they close.”
“I didn’t know that.” She waved a hand at the tree. “What’s the story behind this?”
“Ninhursag and I had an oops and this is our first daughter.”
Eve shivered. “The tree liked hearing that.”
Iain eyed it uncertainly. “Just how aware is it?”
“It’s aware enough for it to know that you don’t have your staff.”
“I’m not to the point of learning the quarterstaff, but I’ll get it as soon as we get home, ok?” Lucifer was startled to realize that Iain was talking to the tree. “So, Lucifer, what brings you here that we may bask in your presence?”
She chuckled. “I would like to ask you to run an errand for me. A potential asset for the Sisterhood has recently become viable and I’d like Eve to evaluate it and make an offer of support to them if they’re worth it.”
“It wasn’t viable before?”
She shook her head. “No, it wasn’t. There’s a group of Megami and other celestials who own and operate an old United States cruiser as a pirate ship.
Iain blinked. “Did you say a celestial pirate ship?”
“That’s right. It’s an interesting concept and I hope it means their personality and that of the Sisterhood is compatible. Up until recently, the ship was a disaster looking for a place to sink. That’s changed. They’ve gotten their act together and, according to my sources, managed to turn the Daisy Mae into an actual warship. Officially the Daisy Mae is a privateer working for the Navy under a letter of marque and reprisal, and they have similar letters with Indigo, Jhoto, Silver River, the Ice Preserve and Joketsuzoku. Unofficially, considering the fact that the Navy is the only place they can get ammunition for their eight inch cannons, they do what the Navy tells them to. If it is true that they’ve become an effective fighting force the Navy is likely to try and tighten its control over the Daisy Mae’s supply chain so they can use the ship as an adjunct to their own forces.”
“You can supply them.” Iain wasn’t asking a question and they all knew it.
“I have sources of supply from every league. The eight inch cannons are rather impressive. In fact, they’re so impressive that Blue and Jhoto have quietly started manufacturing identical weapons and ammunition for expanding their navies. The SLIS is aware of this and it’s another reason they are considering formalizing their relationship with the Daisy Mae. I can provide the Daisy Mae with munitions and other supplies and they’d do better with the Sisterhood than with any league or even the Navy. That, of course, is if they want to work with other celestials.”
“Why us,” Eve asked bluntly.
“I feel that you and your family would give me the best chance to bring them to the Sisterhood.”
Iain looked at her curiously. “Is this an awareness feel?”
“That’s not how I would describe it. I have specialized abilities, Iain and they are much more accurate than the cosmic awareness or whatever you want to call it. The crew of the Daisy Mae also has some information that I want about a purge of some of the more radical elements in the Celestial Alliance’s leadership that has taken place recently. It involved a good many fatalities. My information suggests the Daisy Mae was the focal point for the purge and that her crew either conducted the purge or was the reason for it.” She shrugged. “Or it could be that they were both.”
Iain rubbed the dirt on his chin and began picking at it when it started to flake off. “Does the SLIS or ONI know about the Sisterhood?”
Lucifer smiled amusedly. “Yes and no. The Office of Naval Intelligence is quite efficient. In addition, Granny and the other sages often leak information to them and to the SLIS untraceably. The Sunshine League is aware that we have a small base in the Sunshine League and they think that’s all there is to the Sisterhood. They know that we work for good in ways that the Celestial Alliance does not, but they are not aware of our numbers.”
“How big is the Sisterhood?”
She waggled a finger at him. “The true size of the Sisterhood of the Thorn is a secret held even more closely than the location of the Redoubt. This is a discussion for another time, Iain, if ever.”
Eve looked at Iain. “We’ll need Ninhursag before we go any further.”
Lucifer frowned. “Why her?”
“We’re not going to do this for free and she’s a much better negotiator than I am.”
“I was afraid that was why you wanted her. You know, you and I could just work something out, Iain.”
He rewarded her with a guileless smile. “I think I’ll listen to Eve on this one.”
***
“I think you need to go as Kerrik.”
Eve’s statement brought his head up. “Why?”
“Counting Lucifer, only a small portion of the Sisterhood knows you by the name of Iain. All of the official documents refer to you as Kerrik Wolf and the people at the wedding and the construction crews were instructed to forget they ever heard the name of Iain Grey. If the crew of this ship joins the Sisterhood of the Thorn, they will still keep the friends they have elsewhere and might let Iain’s name slip. If the Sunshine League was to find out that Iain and Kerrik are different names belonging to the same person, they might pass that information on to Blue.”
“That sounds like valid reasoning to me. What’s the downside?”
“That will depend on how much they might know about Kerrik Wolf. I don’t see where they would have any information on you, but we are talking about a shipload of celestial pokegirls and anything is possible. If they realize that you’re an author and what that means, I’d be less worried than if they realize you’re a pureblood human male.”
“Considering everything that’s happened I may not be one anymore.”
Eve settled down in his lap and rested her forehead against his. “I’ve thought about that and seriously considered having your genetic map redrawn. I quickly realized that going to the league is not an option and the Sisterhood doesn’t have that kind of equipment.”
“Whether or not I’m still a pure strain human doesn’t really matter right now.” He rubbed his forehead against hers. “And unless it really bothers someone, I’m not sure it’ll ever be all that important. How are we going to get out to the ship?”
“I was thinking that I could just ask if we could come and visit so we could speak with the command staff. If that doesn’t work, Dominique might hitch a ride with one of their supply shipments. Lastly we’ll have to track them down and fly out there.”
“Let’s hope that asking works. If it doesn’t, though, I can pull out a trick I haven’t used yet for long distance speed flying.”
“Oh?”
He pulled his pokedex off his belt and pulled up the calculator function. “Ok, you understand what the horizon is, right?”
“Of course I do. It’s the apparent line the separates the sky and the earth. The distance to the horizon is based on how high you are above sea level.”
“That’s pretty good. It’s also based on the diameter of the planet you happen to be on, and for the Earth, that’s twelve thousand seven hundred and fifty six kilometers.” He pushed some buttons. “At a thousand meters, the horizon is a hundred and thirteen kilometers away, if we pretend that there isn’t going to be anything in the way, like a mountain. Still, at a thousand meters the horizon is roughly a hundred kilometers away.” He smiled. “Teleportation is limited in two ways. You can teleport to someplace you’ve been to before or you can teleport to someplace you can see. That last bit is important for this discussion.”
“Why?”
“It’s important because a teleporting pokegirl can teleport to the horizon. If she does, she can see a new horizon, one which she can continue on and teleport to. At a thousand meters, if she teleported from horizon to horizon once every ten seconds, her apparent speed to an observer would be over thirty six thousand kilometers an hour and she could circumnavigate the globe in sixty six minutes and only have to perform right around four hundred teleport jumps.”
Eve shook her head. “She’d die. Nobody can do that many teleports in such short time.”
“True. However, a short series of twenty jumps would still cover two thousand kilometers. Eighty four jumps with a ten second reorientation between each would take you from Dublin to Sanctuary City in fifteen minutes.”
“How long would it take to get to Golden Poppy in the Sunshine League?” When he frowned, she smiled. “It’s a major port.”
He went back to his pokedex. “That’s roughly eight thousand kilometers from Tralee and would take eighty jumps and just under fourteen minutes. But we wouldn’t have to go that far. We went to Wellham based on the fact that I’d written about it, and I’ve also written about Blowjob and Windy Shores in the Sunshine League. We can go straight to one of those places and continue on from there.” He ran the numbers and looked up. “It’s seven hundred and thirty kilometers from Windy Shores to Golden Poppy. We can call that eight jumps and less than two minutes.”
“What did you write about in Windy Shores?”
He blinked. “You know, I’m not sure you really want to hear about what Shikarou did there.”
She folded her arms. “Try me.”
“There was this abusive family that claimed to be purebloods. When their daughter underwent threshold and became a Shadowcat, they sold her under the table to the Hina House Ranch, where she was abused and sold to a member of the Night Watch syndicate.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Yeah. Anyway, long story short, Shikarou ended up getting revenge on her family for what they’d done.”
“He didn’t kill them, did he?”
“No, considering their standing in the Windy Shores community, killing them would have been a mercy. He had a Vampire named Elizabeth. She and Shikarou infiltrated the family home and turned the mother, the father and their son into Vampires. It wiped out the family.”
She stared at him for several seconds and then gently bonked her forehead against his. “You’re not a very nice man, doing that to them.”
“I don’t think I ever said I was. You’re not upset?”
“Of course I am. When did this happen?”
“Shikarou’s story took place right around 300 AS or so.”
“Then there’s no reason to try to find a way to make your life miserable for what you did to them, Iain. It was over twenty years ago and you didn’t know this place was being created as you wrote.”
“So you think that’s what I do?”
She pointed at the omega tree, visible in the distance. “That is proof your power is real, Iain.” She tapped herself between her breasts. “I am proof your power is real. The fact that I am a Megami-sama and delta bonded to you is proof that your power is real. You did not see me becoming what I am now, you made me.” She lifted his face in her hands and kissed him gently. “And with a very different kind of magic, you made me fall in love with you.”
“One of my best tricks,” he murmured softly.
“I agree. I do wonder what would happen if you were to write a story about someplace in this world. Would that also come to be?”
“No it wouldn’t. I already tried that and the Dark Continent is still there.”
“And did you happen to think what might happen to the rest of the world if you blew up a continent?”
“I wasn’t going to blow it up. I tried to make everyone there evolve into a Titmouse.”
She blinked and forced back a smile. “That’s still mean.”
“Yeah. I’m not sure I put all of my effort into it since I was worried I’d end up delta bonded to all of them.” He slid her out of his lap and stood, offering her his hand. “Let’s go inside and you can use Kerrik’s pokedex to see if the ship has a website. If it does, send them a message and let’s get the ball rolling on this.”
She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. “What if the league tries to find us with it?”
“Then they’ll find out I’m much more dangerous than they remember and one of these days Minister Harris will get a visit from a dead Dragoness and would likely decide to leave us alone forever if she survives the encounter.” He shrugged when her eyebrows went up. “Since he left his self appointed job of helping out the Blue League for no pay, Kerrik has not caused any trouble for the league except for his incessant whining about not being given an ebony stone. They’re not looking for me. We’ve checked and nobody has been near the places Kerrik lived. I’m not important to them and right now that’s perfectly fine with me. I’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
They went inside and Eve retrieved the Kerrik Wolf pokedex while he got them some tea. “Did you drink tea where you came from or did you learn this from us?”
“I drank a lot of tea back home, but I used mugs and it was usually iced.”
“Iced? That’s a heresy, Iain.”
“Americans like most of their drinks iced. It’s a cultural phenomenon that nobody, especially not them, understands. It’s pretty good, too.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Eve frowned. “I’m not finding anything.”
“What are your search parameters?”
“I looked for Megami and ship.”
“Try looking for celestial pirate ship Daisy Mae Des Moines,” he suggested as he poured her a cup of tea.
“Des Moines?”
“The Des Moines was the original name of a WWII gun cruiser who had the nickname Daisy Mae. Unfortunately I don’t remember the hull number.”
Eve smiled at the display. “CA-134. I found a historical website. And here’s the pirate’s site. How did you know they’d have one?”
“It’s a good way to recruit and automatically filters for literate pokegirls. Additionally, people who have the only one of something in the world often like to brag about it and using a website to do so is pretty cheap advertising.” Iain leaned over her shoulder and looked the site over as it loaded. “Their flag is a Hello Kitty wearing an eyepatch on a red field? Blood and cuteness combined is not what I’d expect from Megami, but it is funny.”
Eve looked up at him. “That’s funny?”
“We’re cute and we kill you is damned funny.”
“Will I ever understand your sense of humor?”
He chuckled. “I think the answer to that is hopefully not.” He went back to his chair. “So, should I leave the room while you compose your super secret message that only another Megami will understand?” His smile widened at her annoyed look. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“You’re not funny.”
“I am if you’re sitting in this chair.”
“I’d have to get in your lap to find out if you’re correct and right now I’m not sure I’ll ever go there again.”
He grinned. “Ouch.”
“Ok, I found the contact link.” She touched the screen. “I can send a recording or a text message. Which would be better?”
“A recording would reveal the fact that you’re a Megami-sama. Would that help?”
“I think a text would be best.” She began using the touch screen to type her message. “I’m telling them that I’m a Megami-sama and that I would like to visit with my tamer, that being you, and the rest of your harem on a mission of some significance to the crew of the Daisy Mae. I’ll mention that I might be able to get them a new supply of ammunition for their weapons.”
“You might want to note that if necessary, you can go by yourself,” he said quietly.
“I don’t want to do that, Iain.”
“And I don’t want you to, but we agreed to try to do this for Lucifer. We’re not going to fail her just because the crew of the Daisy Mae wants some privacy.”
She gave him a flat look. “I am not going to volunteer to go there alone. If that’s something that they’ll require of me, then they’ll tell me.”
He held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Fine.” He frowned slightly. “If I remember correctly, there are three languages spoken in the Sunshine League. Of them, I speak English and some Spanish. I know only a couple of words of Chinese and they’re definitely not for mixed company.”
Eve was still typing. “If you count the local patois, there are four languages. Ninhursag has worked in Sunshine before and is fluent in all four of them. We’ll use dreamtime so everyone else can learn them.”
“Sounds good to me.” Iain settled back and watched Eve finish her message and send it off. “Now we wait?”
She laughed and turned the pokedex off. “Now we train.”
“Crap.”
***
Inside the tiny room, the teenage Megami pored over the computer display as she pulled up the day’s message traffic. There really wasn’t much, since the Daisy Mae didn’t have a fleet or fleet command to communicate with. However, rules and tradition required that the radio room be manned at all times and the daily message traffic be printed and given to the commanding officer.
These days the message traffic was composed of mainly emails and the Radio Officer’s primary job was filtering out the spam before printing them. She finished and pressed the print key before leaning back in her chair as the daisy wheel printer began to clatter.
When the traffic was done printing, she put it on a clipboard and left the radio room, exiting into the operations center.
The Captain was standing near her command chair, engaged in a quiet conversation with a tiny human adult male. She looked up when the Radio Officer came to attention in front of her. “Yes?”
“The day’s message traffic, ma’am.” She held out the clipboard. “It’s all routine.”
The Captain took it with a smile. “Thank you.” She looked at the dwarf next to her as the Radio Officer returned to her tiny kingdom. “This will take just a minute, Dr. Carmen. Procedure, you know. I’m hoping to hear about replenishment of our munitions. As you know, we’re pretty low on everything after the fighting.”
“I understand,” Dr. Carmen replied gently. “We lost a lot more than ammunition, but that can’t be replaced.” He stood quietly as the Megami read through the dispatches, only looking up when she made a surprised noise. “Is something the matter?”
“Perhaps. There’s a request in here from a Megami-sama who wants to meet with me and the command team to discuss a potential new source of supplies, including ammunition. She says she wants to come to the Daisy Mae with her tamer and his harem to talk to us about it. The name of her tamer is familiar, but I can’t place it.”
“Maybe I’ve heard of him. What is it?”
“Kerrik Wolf.”
Carmen turned ashen and swayed enough that the Francinestein standing behind him grasped the dwarf by the shoulder with a surprising gentleness for her bulk. She held him up until he was steady again. “Master all right?”
“No, Voltaire, I am not. Kerrik Wolf wants to come here. He’s out for revenge for Janus’ death. He may kill us all!”
The Captain gave the dwarf an incredulous look. “Surely you exaggerate, Dr. Carmen.”
“If anything, I understate the threat he presents. Kerrik is an author of the same level of power as Janus and you know what he accomplished. Kerrik is darker than Janus ever was and he is coming here!” He twisted free of Voltaire’s grip. “I must leave you, captain. I will be assembling a conference to disseminate this news. You will, of course be there.” He rushed for the hatchway out of the operations center.
“Dr. Carmen!” When he slowed, the Captain gave him a desperate look. “What should I reply?”
“My dear lady, when the Angel of Death asks to come and take tea with you, there is only one answer.” With that he was gone.
An hour later, Dr. Miguelito Carmen looked around the assemblage with satisfaction. Janus’s harem was present, along with Eko and Kay and the command staff of the Daisy Mae. Many of the other tamers had already left to their responsibilities, but Brian and his harem remained, along with Angie and her three powerhouses.
And all eyes were on him. He smiled and opened his mouth to speak.
“Master say we all die.” Voltaire grinned toothily at the shock that spread through the crowd.
Miguelito took a deep breath and fought not to explode at his pokegirl. “I did not say that, Voltaire. I said we may all die.”
Kay folded her arms over her chest. “We stopped the Megami and the Sanctuary Goth’s little project, Miguelito. Do we have another threat?”
“We do. It seems that another author has gotten word of Janus’ death and is coming here to investigate.” He watched eyes widen and savored the moment before the great revelation.
“It’s Kerrik Wolf!” The Captain blinked as she realized she’d blurted out the name and clapped her hands over her mouth.
“I AM SPEAKING,” Carmen bellowed, “thank you very much.”
Cheryl stepped forward. “Is this true, Miguelito?”
The dwarf was scowling at the Captain and didn’t look at the other Megami. “It is true, Cheryl. Kerrik Wolf is coming here to investigate Janus’ death.” He waved a hand at the Captain. “Oh, one of his pokegirls is asking to come here to talk to us about something entirely different, but I can see right through his plans. He has only one reason to come here at this time and we all know what it is.”
“Why didn’t he come help us fight?” Jen’s eyes were slits. “Why now? Where was he when we needed him? Where was he when he could have kept Janus alive?” The Hyperdoll clenched her hands together until they trembled from the effort. “I’m going to find out when he gets here and he’d better have a good answer!”
Blossom nodded firmly, the motion mirrored by Rainbow. “We want to know too.”
Warden turned to the Captain. “When is he going to arrive?”
“The message didn’t have a date in it and my response told them just to give me ten hours warning. Eve’s message said that they’d need transport from one of the port cities.”
The G-Splice’s wings shifted. “Eve?”
“She claims to be a Megami-sama in his harem. There wasn’t any video, though, it was just text.”
“If it’s true, that could be a good sign for us.”
“We cannot take that chance,” Miguelito interrupted. “Kerrik Wolf is coming and he is going to want to know what happened to Janus.”
A Bunnygirl standing with Brian’s harem pulled her ears down over her chest and wailed. “I DON’T WANNA DIE!”
Warden gave Miguelito a cool appraisal. “Then we will have to tell him, Dr. Carmen. We’ve all heard Ms. Mixmaster’s report before she disappeared. Janus was killed by Evangelion for stopping the Celestial Alliance’s plan before they could remake the world.”
***
Dreamtime ended and Iain leaned forward, rubbing his temples. “I think all I’m getting from this is a fucking headache.”
Ninhursag grinned at him. “Are you sure that’s all you’ve gotten?”
“Yeah. I don’t think I’m absorbing any of this.”
“Say that again and think about it,” she said teasingly as April blinked and her mouth stretched into an amused smile.
Iain started to repeat himself and paused in mid word. He’d spoken in Putonghua. “Fuck me.”
The Elfqueen gave him an arch look. “Now? What will Eve say?”
The Megami-sama in question smacked Ninhursag on the back and got up. “That’s enough of that.”
Ninhursag smirked. “You’re probably right. She would say something silly like that instead of letting her husband get laid when he requested it.”
Zareen shifted to her centaur form and rose smoothly. She shook and halted in mid-motion. Then she tapped Iain on the top of the head and pointed towards the omega tree when he looked up at her. “Pink.”
He frowned and picked up his staff before joining her. “What the hell?” Wide portions of the tree’s leaves were indeed a rosy pink. “Now what’s going on with that thing?”
Ninhursag shrugged. “Considering what it did two days ago, it could be anything.” Two days beforehand, a group of Herakunts had gotten into the tree and damaged some of the lower branches in a search for the sap they loved. They hadn’t done a lot of damage since the tree’s wood had proven almost impossible for them to penetrate, but in the areas where they’d been, twenty centimeter long needle tipped thorns had grown from the primary branches overnight.
“Let’s see what’s going on.” Iain started forward, only to stop when Eve grabbed his arm. “What?”
“Until we know its safe, you’re staying here with me. Ninhursag, reconnoiter the tree. Dominique, April, cover her. Zareen, sweep a wide arc behind the tree and clear the area.”
“This isn’t a battle.” Iain sighed when she gave him a hard look. “No, we don’t know what it is yet, but I don’t think the tree is a threat to me.”
“And in a few minutes we’ll know for sure. Have you taken a close look at those thorns?” She continued without waiting for an answer. “There are two different types. One is designed so the barbed tips will break off inside the victim and remain, probably causing infection. I snapped off one tip the day we found it and it regenerated overnight. The other type is much more robust, like the thorns on a rose.”
“It sounds like the tree is serious about not hosting pokegirls. Personally, I don’t have a problem with that.”
“You will if that tree gets you.”
“I don’t intend to stick my face into the tree and suck out sap.”
The both stiffened when Ninhursag spoke to them over the delta bond. It’s safe for everyone to come down. You’ll want to see this. The tree is blooming.
Iain exchanged a look with Eve and draped his staff over his shoulder as he trotted for the tree. Eve slapped him hard in the ass and he shifted to a run, throwing a glare over his shoulder that she ignored.
I’m going back to my lab. He felt Dominique teleport to the house and head inside.
April?
Iain, if you need me I’ll be helping Vanessa with the herb garden. Did you have that talk with Zareen? The Nightmare had finally learned that things in other people’s rooms weren’t hers to play with, but she still had several holdovers from being feral most of her life. For example, she really didn’t like her bedroom and slept outside. She was pretty adamant about it and so when it was her turn in his bed, Iain slept outside too.
Outside, she still thought that if she found it, it was hers. That wouldn’t really be much of a problem except she ate when she found food and she’d grazed her way through the herb garden, leaving nothing but scraps of pulled up plants behind.
Vanessa had not been pleased.
I talked to her and she isn’t supposed to eat things from the garden plots unless someone gives them to her.
Thank you.
Ninhursag grinned as he pulled up. “Run, run, run, little tamer. Run now so you’ll be able to run later.”
“A nursery rhyme?”
“It’s used in Crimson to remind the youths that physical conditioning is a must for every prospective tamer.” She nodded and pointed at a spray of crimson flowers. “It’s true. Now look and see what your blood did.”
Each blood colored flower was about the size of a fist and bell shaped. They grew in sprays of over a dozen flowers that draped down from the branches and dangled in the air. As he looked around, he realized that the pink came from the red being reflected in the silver leaves. The air was scented with a spicy sweet aroma that he’d never experienced before and he inhaled deeply as he listened to the hum of the bees moving around the flowers.
Eve was examining a flower closely. “Ninhursag, don’t you think it odd that this tree is blooming? It’s rather late in the season and most trees are setting fruit or seeds right now.”
“Of course I think it’s strange. However, if you’ll trot out your detailed entry on the reproductive habits of the omega tree, you can tell me that it’s doing something that it’s not supposed to be doing. Until then, I just observe and take note of everything it does. Face it, Eve, we’re the discoverers and we get to tell everyone else about it.”
Iain looked in their direction. “You need to download a database on plant taxonomy and see what the omega tree is similar to so you can give it a Latin name. After all, if we don’t name it someone else will.”
Ninhursag put her hands on her hips belligerently. “It’s the omega tree and it doesn’t need a fucking Latin name. Pokegirl breeds don’t need Latin names and neither does our tree.”
Iain put up his hands in a placating gesture. “If that makes you happy, then so be it.”
“Good.”
He tried not to roll his eyes as he turned to Eve. “Let’s head back for the house. We can check and see if the Daisy Mae got back to us yet.”
“It’s only been two days, Iain. I’m sure they’re busy and they probably haven’t gotten to my message yet.”
“More than likely you’re right, but I’m getting antsy about this. I’d really like to get it over and get back to planning.” He shrugged as they headed for the house. “So let’s check so I can feel agony about knowing they haven’t replied or delight that they said piss off and we can move to plan b.”
“You are odd.”
He smiled slightly. “You keep saying that.”
“You keep doing odd things that make me.” Once they got inside, she grabbed the Kerrik Wolf pokedex and held it away from Iain when he tried to get it. “It’s my message.”
“We need to get you your own pokedex.”
Eve smirked as she started it up. “It wouldn’t matter since we need Kerrik’s for this.” Once it was running she pulled up the mail function. “Iain, they replied.” She frowned. “In fact, they replied within three hours of my message.”
“Maybe things are boring there or someone is an email junkie and checks their mail every five minutes. What does the message say?”
The Megami-sama cleared her throat and read aloud. “Eve, I am, as always, interested in new sources of supply and I would be very interested in sitting down with you to hear what you have to say. Mr. Wolf and the other members of your harem are more than welcome to come with you. I will need a ten hour notice to arrange for your pickup and I think the best place would be at the port in Caesar’s Prank. Cordially yours, I am the Captain, Daisy Mae.”
“She didn’t leave her name?”
Eve shrugged. “It could very well be that Captain is her name. It subordinates the self to the position.”
“I’ve read stories like that in science fiction anthologies. How long until you think we’re ready to go there?”
“I really like your idea of knowing all the languages spoken in the Sunshine League.” She chewed on her lower lip as she thought. “Another four days should be enough. I’ll tell them that we’ll be in Caesar’s Prank in five days.”
***
April ran into the dining room. “Iain, something is wrong with Zareen. She doesn’t want to come inside for breakfast. She says she’s not hungry.”
Iain frowned. “She’s turning down food?” He put down his fork and got up. “Take me to her, please.” He was pleased to note that everyone else got up and followed them out.
The Nightmare was halfway down the hill that led to the omega tree. She was in her centaur form and was prone with her legs curled up beneath her. Her eyes were half closed and she gave a great belch as they came up. Eve put her hand on Zareen’s forehead. “She looks like she’s been poisoned.”
Iain snorted as he stepped to the side. “I don’t think that’s the problem.” He poked Zareen in the stomach of her equine body.
She groaned. “I’ll puke,” she said in a voice heavy with warning.
He nodded. “She looks like she hit an all-you-can-eat buffet. Look at this, her stomach is distended.”
Vanessa turned around and looked back in the direction of the house. “My gardens haven’t been touched.”
Zareen looked over her shoulder at Iain. “The tree has fruit. It’s good.”
He made a face. “I’d waste time being surprised, since it bloomed yesterday, but every time I turn around it’s doing something new.”
Ninhursag headed for the tree. “I’ll check it out.”
“Thanks. So, Zareen, how much fruit did you eat.”
The Nightmare frowned and then brightened. “Many many.”
Eve gave her a disgusted look. “What do we do with her, Iain?”
He moved around to stand in front of Zareen. “You gorged on food. Right now, you are too full to run or fight and a passing feral would be able to gorge on you. You are going to be moved into your bedroom and you are going to stay there until Eve or I say otherwise.” She gave him a petulant look and he folded his arms. “Or do you want to die out here?”
Her eyes narrowed. “No. Station a guard.”
“We didn’t fuck up, you did. You go in your room.”
“And when I have to shit?”
“You can go to the bathroom in the house to perform necessary bodily functions. Then you will immediately return to your room until released.”
The seconds ticked by as she stared into his eyes, apparently looked for some sign he was yielding. Finally she looked away. “I obey.”
“Eve, please take charge of Zareen.”
“April, do you think your constructs can move her without her vomiting?”
The Duelist shrugged indifferently. “Let’s find out.”
“Gently, April. If she throws up, we’ll end up cleaning too. Dominique, you’re with Iain.”
“I’d like to help you with Zareen.” Vanessa reached out but didn’t quite touch Eve’s arm. “I may be able to help prevent her from puking while being moved.”
“Then I’d appreciate the assistance.”
As the three women put their heads together to figure out the best way to proceed, Iain headed for the tree with Dominique close behind. Ninhursag was examining something in her hand when they came up. She offered it to Iain. “From what I can see, every flower bore fruit but Zareen got all of them she could reach without leaving the ground. Looks like she peeled them with her energy blade and wasn’t very neat about it.”
She’d handed him what liked like a slice of brownish green rind that had some kind of brown flesh on the inside. Iain sniffed it cautiously and blinked in surprise. He stuck out his tongue and gave it a tiny lick. “I’m sure this will be great when we get to Pokegirl One, but for here we are seriously screwed.”
“What is it?” Instead of answering, Iain handed the piece to Dominique. She tasted it and her eyes lit up. She scraped the flesh out with her teeth and chewed contemplatively. “It’s chocolate. It’s good chocolate. Now I understand why Zareen tried to commit suicide by rupturing her stomach.”
“Dominique, fetch me a spray of fruit please.” He watched her shoot into the air. “Chocolate is the result of processing cacao seeds and it does not grow naturally. At least it didn’t before now. If someone finds this tree and takes some of the fruit back to a town, we’ll be swamped with people. Considering the size of this tree, there’s probably a couple of tons of fruit.”
Dominique landed and handed him a string of ten fruit. They were ovoid in shape, with dull spikes on the skin that reminded him of breadfruit. Iain hefted one and estimated it at five hundred grams or so, which meant that together these fruit weighed five kilograms. Two hundred bunches like the one he held would weigh a ton. He looked up into the tree, trying to estimate how many bunches of fruit he could see.
The tree was loaded with them.
He looked back down when Ninhursag twisted one of the fruit from the bunch he held and tugged the knife from his belt. She carefully cut it open and pried it apart. Most of the fruit was taken up by flesh, with a single seed roughly the size of a peach stone in the center. She cleaned the knife on her shirt and carefully but it back into his sheath. “Do you want to know what I think?” She went on without waiting for a reply. “I think the tree bore fruit for two reasons. The first, of course, was to propagate. As for the second reason, I think it did this for us. I think it wanted to make sure we know it was useful to us for more than just the staff.”
Dominique took the bunch from Iain and twisted off a fruit. “Every time you talk about this tree, I think it’s more and more aware.”
Ninhursag took a bite of the fruit. “If you were to classify plant intelligence as a straight line running from single cell eukaryotes all the way to plant pokegirls like me, I think this tree is much closer to me than it is to the eukaryotes. It, however, is still a plant and I know this because it is still under my complete control when I exert my will on it. I cannot control plant pokegirls.” She grinned and took another bite. “It would be really neat if I could.”
“You can control other Elf breeds,” the Archmage pointed out quietly as she cut her fruit open.
“I can give orders to them if they are sworn to me and they will feel a compulsion to obey my wishers. I could will this tree to death if I wanted to, and it would happily do so for me. Iain, I’d like to collect as much of the fruit as I can. I’d like to scatter it or at least the seeds around the Blue League so in the spring there’ll be more omega trees. That’ll take some of the potential pressure off of us if we’re still here then.”
Iain smiled. “That’ll also keep Zareen from falling out the sky and splattering all over the ground the next time she decides to go feasting here.”
Dominique poked the meat of her fruit. “It’s not really chocolate since it doesn’t melt from my body heat, but I wonder if I could run it through a blender to turn it into a drink.” She cast a calculating look up. “How are we going to get the fruit down?”
Ninhursag squeezed her fruit. “The skin is pretty tough and the flesh is dense enough to survive a fall from quite a height. I’ll just tell the tree to drop the fruit.” She turned around and faced the tree squarely, focusing her gaze on the trunk in front of her.
“Maybe we should,” Iain looked just as the first fruit began to fall from the sky, “wait,” his voice trailed away. The fruit slammed into the ground hard enough to sink into the soil. “RUN!” He sprinted away from the trunk, activating his armor as he ran.
That action saved his life when the first falling fruit struck him in the head. It hit with the energy of a 9mm pistol round and knocked him flat. The rest of that particular bunch rained down on him like a stick of bombs dropped from an airplane. His armor protected him from injury, but he cursed loudly as he kept getting hit.
Finally the fall of fruit ended and a chagrined Ninhursag appeared in his vision. She swept the fruit off of him and pulled him to his feet. “Sorry about that. I knew the tree would never dare to drop fruit on me and forgot that wouldn’t necessarily apply to you.”
Dominique had teleported out from under the tree as soon as she realized that Iain had a point, but hadn’t been able to see him and wasn’t willing to find out what would happen if she teleported into a falling fruit. She appeared next to Iain. “You think you’re sorry now, wait until Eve gets her hands on you. Has anyone told you what she once did to Scheherazade for hurting Iain?”
“No. What happened?”
“I think we need to talk before you go back to the house or get anywhere near our maharani. Iain, please go let Eve undress you and satisfy herself that you’re not hurt. We both know she’s aware something happened. We also know the only reason she’s not out here is because you don’t show any signs of pain over the delta bond and she isn’t sure if you can block them from her. We’ll get started collecting fruit.”
Iain sighed and stretched. “One sacrificial tamer coming right up. I’ll try to stress that I wasn’t hurt.”
“Ninhursag would appreciate that very much.”
“I would?”
“Yes, you would. Take everyone some fruit, too. Eve is a chocolate junkie just like the rest of us and maybe that’ll help.”
“It can’t hurt to try.” Iain took off his shirt and began filling it with fruit.
***
Eve handed him back his pokedex. “I sent the message. We’ll meet the escort at the entrance to berth seven in the East Complex ten hours from now. We’ll just have to stay out of trouble in Caesar’s Prank until then.”
April glanced at Iain and smirked. “She says that so easily, with no sign of the fear that should have just shot through her after suggesting that trouble would give him a day off after hearing we’d like a quiet time in Prank.”
Ninhursag was plaiting her silver hair. “It’ll be a lot easier to stay out of trouble there than in a couple of other places in Sunshine. The police take a dim view of lawbreaking in Prank but they’re normally not capricious.”
“And everyone knows that Iain never breaks any laws,” Dominique laughed.
Eve gave the Archmage a sharp look. “Call him Kerrik.”
“Whoops.”
“While this will probably get mocked too, I really don’t have plans to do anything stupid in Caesar’s Prank. It would delay our mission and since I already regret agreeing to it and just want to get the damned thing over, I see no reason to extend it any farther than necessary.”
Vanessa gave him a curious look. “Why the regret?”
Iain assumed a cheery smile and stuck out his hand to her. She blinked and took it gingerly. He shook the hand firmly. “Hello, Ms. Eve, and welcome to the Daisy Mae. Wait,” his eyes closed and he tilted his head upwards, “what is that I sense? Someone here is planning to murder a bunch of people for a reason we do not agree is worthy.” His voice went cold as his eyes opened. “We must kill this person immediately.”
April began laughing. “Someone is holding Eve’s hand when he or she says that? She’d be dead before she finished that last sentence.”
Eve gave her an odd look. “That is not true!” She smiled faintly. “I’d let her complete the sentence just to be sure she was going to say something that dumb.”
“Sometimes I wonder just how you Thornies manage to keep your reputations for working on the side of good.” Ninhursag shook her head.
The Megami-sama suddenly looked like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it is true that we have an excellent public relations division for those who we want to know of our existence.”
“And a track record of eliminating those you don’t want knowing,” Dominique muttered.
“If you’re too nice, people walk all over you.”
Iain slipped his hand over Ninhursag’s. “Let’s go. They’ll figure out we’re gone and follow.”
The scene flickered and the two of them were standing next to a road that twisted its way towards a security gate. “Kerrik, you do know that open banter like that is healthy, right?”
“I’m just not in the mood today. Something is bugging me and I can’t put my finger on it.” Eve appeared, followed by Zareen and the rest of the harem. “I told Ninhursag to come here,” he said flatly before anyone else could speak, “so feel free to address any issues with her behavior to me. I meant it when I said I’m serious about getting this shit done.” Without another word, he started walking down the road.
The harem shook out into formation around him and Eve glanced sidelong at him as she drew up next to him. “We’re going to be early.”
“It’s always possible they’re in port. If not, I’m hoping they’ll send someone early too. They probably won’t, but a man can hope. Otherwise, we wait.”
The security gate crossing the road was a holdover from one of local disputes that took place before the Imperials had joined the league but had been well maintained and replaced over the centuries, so it and the guard tower next to it were in excellent condition. The condition didn’t really matter, though, since the gate was wide open and the tower was unoccupied.
Groups of wagons running in either direction came by on an infrequent basis and Iain and the others took to the side of the road as they passed. They weren’t in any hurry and made poor time, but finally, nearly three hours after they’d arrived, Ninhursag stopped them next to berth seven.
It was empty.
Iain looked around and sighed when he didn’t see anyone standing nearby and obviously waiting for them. “Crap.”
“What now?”
“Now we’ve got a teleport point to here. We could go home and come back later,” April offered. “That way we’re not standing around for the next seven hours and making people curious about our loitering. Police type people in particular.”
Iain leaned over the edge of the berth and spat into the water, watching the oil dance in the ripple. “I was thinking about doing some fishing to pass the time, but that water looks pretty nasty and I’m not interested in trying to eat anything I catch in that. We’ll come back in six hours.”
***
Eve and Iain appeared on the road next to berth seven. As she stepped away from him, he looked around. “We have company. She doesn’t look like it, but she’s a Megami. Kind of.”
She turned around to see a centaur pokegirl watching them. She was blonde with brown eyes. She wore a white tunic over her human torso and a blue skirt long enough to drape to her equine knees hung from her human waist. The back of the skirt had been slit to slide over the equine portion’s shoulders. Her eyes seemed to glow slightly as they lingered on Iain before finally jerking to Eve. “Are you Eve?”
The Megami-sama nodded. “I am. This is Kerrik.”
The Megami bobbed her head in a slight bow. “I am Gwendoline and I am supposed to transport you to the Daisy Mae.” She stiffened as April, Dominique, Ninhursag and Zareen appeared around Iain. “Is something the matter?”
Iain slipped onto Zareen’s back and balanced his staff across it. “No, there isn’t. Hopefully you won’t take this personally, but I’ve had a rash of bad luck that’s convinced me to be cautious and I just don’t travel with someone I don’t know. Eve, please lead the way with Gwendoline.”
The Megami regarded him with a neutral look before reaching for Eve’s hand. “So he lets you go first,” she said quietly.
Surprise flicked across her face when Eve snorted. “I wish. Him not insisting on being with me required dozens of carefully crafted and thought out discussions. After those failed, I had to resort to begging and pleading with him. Kerrik is cautious about our safety a lot more than he is of his own. Fortunately he’s not stupid and the explanation that if he dies our lives are shattered tends to work with him, at least as long as I don’t use it first.”
“That sounds familiar,” Gwendoline muttered. “And it’s good to hear.” The scene changed as she teleported. They’d arrived on the Daisy Mae’s fantail, arriving on top of the hatch cover that opened so the crane aft of the hatch could ferry helicopters to and from her tiny hanger.
Eve looked around quickly. There was a group of people obviously waiting for them. It was larger than she would have thought necessary for her mission, but then maybe they didn’t get a lot of visitors. “Are you going to be my escort?”
The Megami pulled her hand free and shook her head. “No, I’m not. Once your tamer arrives we’ll sort all of that out.” Iain and the others appeared beside them and Gwendoline bobbed her head at him. “Excuse me. I have to speak to the Captain.”
She trotted towards the group as Iain slid of Zareen and leaned towards Eve. “What’s going on?”
“We apparently have a welcoming committee. I don’t know more than that.”
Iain stiffened slightly and switched to the delta bond for communication. Warning! I see two Tyrannodames standing in that group. I don’t see any Sanctuary Goths or other Sanctuary specific pokegirls.
There was a conversation going on amongst the greeting party, but they were too far away to hear what was being said. Suddenly a pokegirl with bubblegum pink hair and gold eyes pushed her way through the group and stiffly marched towards Iain and his group. They could hear several variations on “Jen, wait” being called after her, but she ignored them.
That’s a Hyperdoll. Crap, the Tyrannodames are moving to join her. Eve, do we spread out or is running our first option?
Eve stepped forward a pace as a brunette winged pokegirl left the group and trailed after the approaching trio. Ninhursag, Iain is your responsibility. If required, the rest of us will fight and follow after you escape with him.
The Hyperdoll started to go around Eve but paused then the Megami-sama shifted to block her. “Out of my way. I want to have a word with him.”
Eve didn’t move except to spread the fingers of her hands slightly in anticipation of summoning her sword and shield. “He can hear you.”
The Hyperdoll glared at her before transferring that angry stare behind her to Iain. “You Kerrik Wolf?”
Oh, shit. Iain didn’t look away from the anger boiling in her eyes. “I am.”
“Then, oh high and mighty Kerrik Wolf, where the fuck have you been? Why weren’t you here helping my Janus, you bastard? If you had, you’d already know how he died and they wouldn’t be standing over there shitting themselves at your being here!” Her fists clenched and a tear ran down one cheek. “YOU WERE HIDING WHILE HE WAS SAVING YOUR PATHETIC ASS AND I WANT TO KNOW WHY!”
Beside him Iain could feel Ninhursag almost quivering with the urgent need to grab him and flee before the violence erupted. He was almost ready to tell her to do so. But even as he formed the thought, anger boiled up at the insinuation of cowardice. For an instant intellect fought with emotion.
The violence hadn’t started yet and he wasn’t going to be the one to initiate it. So he took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as he could. “I’m very sorry that you’re upset, miss, but I am afraid that I do not know who Janus is or what this situation is that you want me to justify my absence from.”
The winged pokegirl had stopped next to the Hyperdoll while she was shouting and she spoke as the Hyperdoll sputtered angrily. “You would probably know him better as Kelvin or Kelvin’s Choice.”
Iain’s mouth dropped. “Kelvin is here? Those whores got him too?” He blinked. “Wait, she said I’d already know how Janus died.” The joy in his eyes faded and anger began to tremble in his voice. “What happened to him?”
The Hyperdoll was staring at him. “You really didn’t know he was here?”
“I really did not. If I had, I’d have contacted him just like,” he broke off.
“Just like what?”
“Sorry, it’s not my secret to tell.” He glanced past them. “But I will only tell you this once. If he had been in trouble and had let me know, I would have been here. That’s the unvarnished fucking truth.
The Hyperdoll looked into his eyes for several seconds. “I believe you would.”
“Thank you. So why is that group shitting themselves at our presence? Oh, and what are your names? You already know mine, but not those of my ladies, except for Eve. The Nightmare is Zareen, this is Dominique and the Elfqueen is Ninhursag.” He reached out and took the Duelist by the hand. “And this is April.”
She flushed at the possessive edge to his words.
The winged pokegirl smiled. There was an odd set to her face that made it look not entirely human, but Iain still couldn’t put his finger on what she was. “My name is Warden and this is Jen. They’re afraid you are here to destroy everyone here for Janus’ death.”
“Did someone here kill him?”
She shook her head. “No. I was part of his harem and he died because we failed to protect him.”
“That doesn’t make his death your fault. Please understand that we never met, but I know Kelvin despised incompetence. He’d go it alone before he’d surround himself with incompetent people. So I can almost guarantee he didn’t die due to negligence on your part. If he had, I’m sure this young lady here,” he nodded towards the Hyperdoll, “would have avenged him on the negligent person or died trying. And those Tyrannodames would have done the same thing, if I’m right that they were his. Their loyalty is almost absolute. I know because I had a Tyrannodame for a while.”
One of the Tyrannodames blinked. “What happened to her,” she asked suspiciously.
“She died saving my life and the lives of my surviving harem.”
The pokegirl blinked and her voice filled with pride. “Then she died well.”
Iain snorted. “Well or not, I’d much rather she hadn’t died at all.” He glanced over Warden’s shoulder and shook his head slightly. “We probably need to tell them that I do not intend to kill anyone before I give in to this urge to scream and gibber at them.”
Eve gave him a suddenly frightened look. “Please don’t.”
“We will tell them.” One of the Tyrannodames nudged the other and they turned and trotted for the group.
Jen watched them go. “I’m out of here. If I can’t pound you I’m going to go get a drink or twelve. See ya later, Kerrik.” She turned around and walked off.
“The question still remains as to how to prove a negative,” Dominique noted acidly. “The only way we can prove we’re not here to kill anyone is by not killing anyone but as long as we haven’t started killing them, we might still be preparing to do so and they’d never know.”
Iain was watching the group react to the Tyrannodames speaking. “You can’t and you know it. Eve, are you sure this is the group Lucy wants to make contact with? Not only are they acting like I’m Zeus and somebody spilled hot coffee on my balls, but it looks like a freaking dance recital over there.” He looked closer. “No, it looks like a Sailor Moon convention, except everybody over there dressed like Sailor Something is svelte and there aren’t any guys in drag.”
Warden folded her arms. “You are an author and your power is to be feared. We have read your stories and you are very prone to violence.”
“No, I’m not. I am prone to reply to violence with violence, but I don’t initiate the violence. My life would be a lot easier if I did. And for the record, there’s a big difference between that and being the fucking bully you people seem to think I am.”
Warden gave him an odd look. “We would consider you an executioner rather than a mere bully. None of us would deny you the right of blood price. Some might even welcome it.”
Iain looked shocked. “I would never assume to have such rights with anyone.”
“There’s a group that just broke off and is coming this way,” April pointed with her chin. “There’s a couple of Megami, a matched set of brunettes wearing different uniforms of some kind and a small human with a Francinestein. And the Tyrannodames are coming back with them”
Iain frowned as he focused on the group. “Huh. The dwarf looks like a master criminal from a television show I used to watch. Dr. Miguelito Quixote Lovelass.” He glanced to the side. “Warden, would you care to give us names for the important players?”
The winged pokegirl looked surprised at his request and then turned around to watch the oncoming group. “You do not already know who they are?”
“There’s a long list of things I happen to be, Warden, but omniscient is not anywhere on it.”
“I see, sir. The dwarf is Dr. Miguelito Carmen and the Francinestein is Voltaire, his cook and bodyguard. Of the Megami, only two are important. The one wearing all the fluff on her uniform is the Captain while the one not wearing a uniform like the others is Cheryl, a member of Janus’ harem. She’s thinking about signing on as a crewmember. The brunette wearing the police uniform is Eko, an Officerjenny while the one wearing the nurse’s outfit is Kay, her twin sister. She’s a Nursejoy.”
“And the T-dames?”
“They are Blossom and Rainbow. The taller one is Rainbow.”
Dominique poked Iain in the shoulder. “If you want to be diplomatic we can meet them halfway instead of making them come all the way to us. It’s not that far, but the psychological impact of us being willing to meet them halfway could help to prove we’re not inclined to slaughter.”
“Do it,” Iain replied instantly. The pokegirls fell into formation around him as they moved out. He gave Warden as curious look as she walked beside him. “Why are you here?”
“You need someone to tell you names,” she said mildly. “I’m a Bust Angel and you can trust me not to betray you.”
Iain looked her up and down. “I have no idea what that breed is. Did Janus come up with the idea for you?”
“He did. I am part Seraph and part Milktit. That is why I will not attack you. You’re not a threat.”
“That’s not what you thought an hour ago.” She gave him a shocked look and he smiled. “And I’m not sure you’ve changed your mind about that, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, even though I know full well that any pokegirl can lie. Who should I greet first?”
“Dr. Carmen, then the Captain and after that they’ll introduce to you anyone that they want you to meet. The Titmouse is Angie and she was Janus’ de facto alpha.”
“What about the Joy or the Jenny?”
Warden’s mouth tightened for a second. “Ignore those bitches. As long as someone who they think can give them orders doesn’t tell them to kill your pokegirls, they should be harmless.”
“You have history with them?”
“You can say that. Without evidence they tried to kill me because Washu told them I was vicious and they gave Janus no end of trouble.”
When the two groups met, Iain bowed deeply to the dwarf. “As you already know, I am Kerrik Wolf. Dr. Carmen, it is a pleasure to meet you. Captain, it’s also a pleasure to meet you.” Then he turned to Angie and bowed to her as well. “I’m sorry for your loss, Angie. Janus and I never physically met, but from what I know about him I think he was a good man and I know you and the others miss him. I wish I’d known about him before I came to the Daisy Mae. If I’d known he was in trouble, I would have hurried here and tried to help him stay alive.”
“Thank you,” the Titmouse murmured.
Carmen regarded him with unfriendly eyes. “If you are not here to seek answers for Janus’ death, then why are you here, Mr. Wolf?”
“Eve is my maharani and my wife. She is here because she was asked to speak to the Captain about a possible alliance with someone who can offer the Daisy Mae support. I’m here because that same someone suggested that it might prove advantageous if I come along with my wife. Due to events in our past, we also don’t really like being apart.”
The Officerjenny scowled. “You can’t be married to a pokegirl in Blue. It’s against the law there.”
The Nursejoy snickered. “He wrote the law, Eko.”
Iain ignored the exchange. “I do live in Blue and I am well aware of what the law states. I also don’t care.”
The Officerjenny’s scowl deepened. “You admit to breaking the law?”
“I admit here, where you have no jurisdiction to enforce Blue League law, exactly that.”
The Nursejoy smacked the Jenny on the shoulder. “He’s right, Eko. Cut it out.”
“Kay!”
Carmen regarded him curiously. “What events?”
“Every time I wander far away from my harem, I seem to pick up more scars, Dr. Carmen. There is considerable negative reinforcement involved with each event and eventually even I can learn.” Iain smiled. “Now it might be best to allow Eve and the Captain to have their little talk or I’m afraid our mission here will be a failure. In the meantime, sir, I will be at your disposal for any reasonable questions that anyone might have.”
“I’d think you’d want to know what happened to Janus, Mr. Wolf.”
Iain’s voice was soft and something in it sent a shiver up the spines of many of the pokegirls watching. “Oh, you would be completely correct in that, Dr. Carmen. I do indeed want very much to know what happened to Janus. After all, I may someday have to face whatever killed him.” He smiled wryly. “But I thought that I would first indulge everyone else’s curiosity before we looked at satisfying mine.”
***
Iain Grey - Tradesman
Eve - Megami-sama (maharani)
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
April - Duelist
Ninhursag - Elfqueen
Zareen - Nightmare
Dragonesses
Eirian - Silver
Skye - Blue
Emerald - Green
Aurum - Gold
Beryl - Red