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The pokegirl universe was first documented by Metroanime and to him all of us who reside or visit there owe a debt of thanks.
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Chapter 5
Three pints plunked down on the tabletop. “Enjoy the round, ladies.” Jamie blinked when Doyle grabbed one and Chambers grabbed the other two. “So that’s the way it’s going to be?”
Cherry grinned at him. “That’s right, Wolf. Get your own.”
He sighed and turned back to the bar. When he returned Chambers lifted both glasses in salute. “Rejoice, Wolf, for we have survived Corporal Hines’ tender care without any visible scars.”
Doyle nodded sagely. “Two week of freedom before we meet in London and start the process to become officers. What are your plans?”
Chambers shrugged. “I’ll be going home to see my family and help out on the farm.” She stretched slowly. “In two weeks I’ll be more than ready to return to the Force’s friendly embrace.” She grimaced. “Hell, it’ll take less than three days. My brother loves the farm, but he’s just proof that insanity can strike anywhere. What about you, Wolf?”
“I’m also going home.” He took a gulp of the beer. It was ok, but the brand his father imported from the Capitol League was much better. “If I didn’t, mother would send out retrieval teams until they found me.”
“Your father doesn’t care about you?”
“Dad thinks I should be allowed to live my own life as I want to. Mother has slightly different ideas. Fortunately dad is usually able to either bring her around to his way of thinking or confuse her long enough for me to escape.”
“What does she think of your career choice?”
“Mixed. She is proud of me, but she’d rather I did something a little safer, maybe along the lines of living in a closet my whole life.”
“And I thought my family life was screwed up. How many mothers do you have?”
“Sometimes I think I’ve got about a hundred of them, Dee-Dee.” He took another deep drink. “They love me to death and they mean well, but as far as they’re concerned, I’m still two and sticking my fingers into electrical outlets.”
Cherry snickered. “They always think that. My gran lives with us and she treats dad that way too. She’d run him ragged if mother didn’t get involved. Dee-Dee, what are you doing?”
“I’ll go home for a week and spend a week at my uncle’s ranch. It’s up near Loch Ness and the hiking is incredible.”
“Are you telling me that you are going to go marching?” Cherry sounded disgusted. “Didn’t you get enough of that in boot?”
“I’m going hiking and if you had three brain cells that talked to each other you’d understand that there is a difference between hiking and marching. Hiking is fun.”
The redhead waved one of the beers she clutched airily. She wasn’t a genius and freely admitted it. However, she wasn’t nearly as stupid as she sometimes pretended to be. “I don’t need ‘em to talk as long as I’ve got Wolf to tutor me.” She threw him a winsome smile. “Right, handsome?”
“That look is wasted on me since I know the only dick you like comes with straps and batteries.” Chambers snickered. It was true. “The only reason I tutor you is because I can’t stand the sound of a girl weeping into her pillow in the dark.”
“I can live with that.”
Doyle laughed quietly and then frowned when her watch chirped. “I gotta go if I want to catch my ride.” After draining her pint she came around and hugged both of them. “I’ll see you in two weeks.”
Chamber’s face was unreadable as she watched Doyle rush out the door. “What’s it like being rich, Jamie?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure what you mean. Money doesn’t make you rich. If you let it rule you, it’s like living in hell. Some rich people spend all of their time worried that someone will take their money away from them.” A sudden smile appeared. “Hey, why don’t spend some time with your family and then you can come to Caomh Sith for a visit. It’ll get you away from home.”
“And just how can I get there?” Cherry’s eyes lit up with interest. “You don’t know where my farm is.”
“I’ll call you in a couple of days and we’ll work something out.” Jamie finished his beer. “There are several teleporting pokegirls around and I can probably convince one of them to come get you.”
She frowned and stared into her beer. “I think I’d like that. I love my family, but I’ve never been to Scotland before.” She looked at him. “What will your family think?”
“They’ll be grateful I’m not bringing a girl home to meet them. The last child mother raised was sixteen when his first child was born.”
She blinked and a slow smile appeared. “I could pretend to be your fiancé.”
He flashed a grin. “I’d suggest you drop that idea unless you really want your ashes to be interred on the island. Right next to mine.”
“Oh. Never mind then.”
***
Kasumi settled down next to her husband. “I’ve received notice as the headmistress of the school that I’m getting a visitor from the Ministry of Education next week.” She reached for the tea and topped off his before pouring herself a cup. “They’re sending out some kind of auditor to evaluate my teaching methods. I think it’s some kind of inspection but he didn’t say how long he’d be staying.”
Shikarou pulled his pokedex from his belt and keyed up a display before handing it to her. “That makes sense. Look at what Aggie found today. I was going to bring it to your attention during dinner.”
Branwyn folded up her computer and gave them a curious look. “What is it?”
Kasumi didn’t look up from her reading. “The Ministry of Education, under the direction of the Blue League Council, has created a new department. It’s called the Department of Magical Oversight and its purpose is to make sure that magical schools are teaching a well rounded curriculum. They’re going to station administrators at all of the magical schools for ongoing evaluations.” She glanced at the unicorn. “Apparently they’re at it again.”
Branwyn frowned. “We’re the only magical school in the Blue League, aren’t we?” When Shikarou nodded, her frown deepened. “First they make clinics have to have resident human medical personnel and now this. They’re crafty, I’ll give them that.”
Kasumi nodded, still reading. “They’re changing things that even as a private island we cannot fight successfully. Medicine, education. I wonder what’s next.”
“They’ll probably do something similar to the guard. We’ll have to have a league rep to prove that our people are trained to an acceptable standard or something like that.” Branwyn looked at both them in turn. “What does the new rule mean for the institute?”
Shikarou shook his head. “It means that just like Dr. Cavanaugh is a spy for the league at the clinic, Kasumi will be getting a live-in spy at the school. They’re slowly closing their grip on us.”
Branwyn nodded. “They threw a fit when you started sending pokegirls to school with everyone else. They threw another fit when you started allowing pokegirls to own property.”
Kasumi changed menus and pulled up another file. “It could be that the league is not the only force that is arrayed against us or perhaps they are dupes for another.” She handed the pokedex back to Shikarou. “I could be mistaken, but see what you think of this. It’s the records of the auditor I’m to expect.”
Shikarou looked at the display and cursed in Japanese. Branwyn leaned over and tugged the pokedex from his hands. She gave the display a hard look and frowned. “Crap. His alpha is the megami-sama that Dorothea almost killed all those years ago.” She looked more closely. “Or it’s her parthenogenic daughter. She hasn’t aged a day.”
“Neither have you,” Kasumi observed quietly. “She could have longevity. We’ve suspected that at least some celestials do since it’s the only way to explain how their policies have stayed so consistent since Sukebe.”
“Think she’ll hold a grudge?” Shikarou’s ears went flat at Branwyn’s hard stare. “I think so too.” He sighed. “I’ll talk to Poppet when she gets back and see if her sources know anything else.”
Kasumi cocked her head. “Where is she?”
“She and Helen are planning a welcome home party for Jamie.”
Shikarou grimaced. “He’s not four any more and he never said he wanted a party.”
“He never said he didn’t want one, either.”
***
“Are you another one of Jamie’s uncles?” It was a tall, attractive woman with curly red hair that fell below her shoulders. She was wearing a green dress that set off her trim figure nicely. “Or are you one of his brothers or something?”
“You must be Miss Chambers.” He bowed slightly at the waist. “I hope you’re enjoying the party.”
She glanced around guiltily and dropped her voice. “I am. It’s not anything like what I expected. Jamie’s family is rich but they seem so normal. I was expecting something more along the lines of what I’ve read happens in the tabloids.” She blinked and turned red. “No insult intended.”
“We’re kind of old fashioned. The family patriarch thinks money is a means, not an end. Jamie’s father, whom I believe you’ve met, thinks the same thing.” A smile flickered over his face. “I’m afraid we probably wouldn’t do well in the London social scene.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love this.” Cherry turned around and looked over the portion of the happy throng that had spilled outdoors. “I’m just kind of surprised that there are so many people here. I didn’t realize that Jamie’s family was so big.”
“Poppet and Helen intended this to be a small get together, which of course means that everyone on the island who could get away did so.” There was a quiet chuckle. “Many of them are Gwyneth’s elves, but Jamie is well liked.” His face stilled. “I’m just sorry that Graeme couldn’t make it.” Silver ears flicked slowly. “I need to have a word with him about some choices he’s made recently.” His smile returned. “That and he’ll be kicking himself for missing such a lovely young lady.”
“Um, I’m afraid I don’t really care for men.”
He nodded and gave her a direct look. “You don’t need to sound apologetic to me, Monica. Sexual preference is a personal choice. It is your life and you appear to be happy and well adjusted.” The smile appeared again. “It also doesn’t mean that young men won’t enjoy watching you. You are an attractive woman and it is what millions of years of evolution have programmed them to do.”
A dark haired woman appeared out of thin air. It was Elizabeth. “There you are, Monica.” The vampire smiled and took her arm. “It’s time for you to tell embarrassing stories about Jamie in boot camp.” She glanced at Chamber’s companion and blinked. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“I just arrived.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I’ll let Shikarou know about you. It’s good to see you again.” She kissed him on the cheek and led Cherry back towards the house.
Chambers realized that the vampire was giving her a curious look out of the corner of her eye and finally had enough. “Why are you staring at me?”
“What were you two talking about?”
“Nothing really. We talked about the party and he tried to make me feel comfortable.” She frowned. “Which of Jamie’s uncles is he?”
“That’s Kerrik and he’s not an uncle. He’s Jamie’s grandfather.” Elizabeth forced humor into her voice. “Now let’s get you on the stage and you can make my son feel bad about bringing you.”
Chambers snickered. “Oh, yeah, that I can do.”
After getting Chambers on stage, Elizabeth went looking for Shikarou. She found him with Poppet and Pythia. “Kerrik is here. I ran across him talking with Jamie’s friend outside.”
Poppet shot a look at her husband. “He’s only been gone for a year, you’d think he’d come inside and give his greetings.”
Shikarou patted her arm. “Be nice. Maybe he knows what happened to Graeme.”
Poppet blinked and her eyes lit up. “Maybe that’s why he’s here.” She swept past them and was gone.
Pythia frowned at Shikarou. “Should I warn him?”
“Let’s just go say hello. Elizabeth, please let Helen know we’ve got another guest and who it is.” He looped his arm through the dire wolf’s elbow and they vanished.
When they appeared, Poppet was already there, kissing her father-in-law on the cheek. “You should have let us known you’d be coming,” she chided him gently. “Helen would have prepared something special for you.”
“I’m not worth the trouble.” Kerrik hugged his son and Pythia. “Honestly, I’d just arrived when Miss Chambers showed up. I was going to come in, but after Elizabeth gave me the eye I figured it’d be easiest for everyone if I just stayed where I’d be easy to find.”
Poppet wasted no time in getting to the point. “Do you know where Graeme is or why he’s not here?”
Kerrik sighed. “No and yes. Graeme is overseas somewhere and he’s made some personal decisions with which have resulted in him becoming a wanted criminal in most leagues. He’s not coming.”
“What kind of decisions?” Poppet looked both worried and angry. “Tell me.” She took a deep breath. “Please?”
“Graeme has decided to become someone’s pet.”
Poppet blinked. “Pet? He’s gotten involved with Sanctuary?”
“No, he’s gotten involved with a goth from there. Not all of them are involved with the ruling hierarchy. This one isn’t.” Kerrik took Poppet’s hand. “I’ve checked and he’s made this decision freely. He doesn’t think you’ll understand and he’s not coming home again.”
“How did you check?” Poppet’s voice was carefully neutral. “Did you see him?”
Almost without being noticed, Elizabeth appeared next to Shikarou. One of Kerrik’s ears swiveled in her direction and then returned to focusing on Poppet. “No, I haven’t. He doesn’t want to see anyone from the family right now. I’ve been monitoring his activities.” His eyes met hers squarely. “Yes, that means I have an idea of where he is and no, I’m not going to tell you. He’s not in any danger and I think that in a decade or so he’ll call you. If you attempt to interfere, it’s very likely that he’ll be gone forever.”
Poppet gave him a searching look and finally nodded. “You’re right.” She sighed and leaned against her husband. “He was distant when he was here last. I should have seen the signs. Thank you for telling me.”
Pythia frowned. “Why are you here?”
Kerrik smiled. “I received an invitation to a family get-together and was free.”
Everyone stared at him. Finally Elizabeth pursed her lips. “I don’t remember you being on the list for invitations.”
“Wait a minute.” It was Poppet. “You’ll come for parties?”
“I don’t see what the big deal is. I like parties.” Kerrik shrugged. “Usually I’m busy, but if I’ve got an invitation to a scheduled party, then my secretary will remind me about it. Otherwise I lose track of time.” His smile returned. “I sometimes get wrapped up in my work and can lose track of months.”
“I’ll make sure you get those invitations.” Poppet frowned. “Hang on, how do we get in touch with you?”
“When I came by to get the sword from Gwyneth, she expressed an interest in corresponding with me about elves and their heritage. I gave her some magical scrolls and we’ve been writing each other ever since.” He gave her an amused look. “She sent me a note requesting my presence here.”
Poppet’s eyes went wide. “I forgot all about that.” She cocked her head. “Can I get some of those too, or is this something special just for Gwyneth?”
“I’ll give you some in the morning, if you’d like.”
“Thanks.” She paused for a heartbeat. “Graeme is well?”
“Rest assured Poppet, if he wasn’t well and happy I’d give up his location to you in an instant. He is my grandson after all and I keep a close eye on my family.”
“Father, how long will you be staying? Do we need to set up a room for you at the inn?”
Kerrik regarded his son for a moment. “I wanted to see if you’d let me build a cottage somewhere on the island. I’m thinking of staying for a year or two.”
Shikarou nodded. “We’ve got an empty place on the edge of town you can move into if you’d like.”
“I’d rather build one somewhere north of here, if that’s not too much trouble.”
Poppet folded her arms and gave him a mulish look. “We need to talk about whether or not you’ll finally be taming any of the unattached pokegirls.”
There was a long sigh. “I thought we might. Can this wait until morning?”
The unicorn shook her head. “I don’t think so. You’re pretty slippery when you want to be and I want to pin you down before you’re living here.” She smiled at her husband. “I can handle this alone, if you’d like to get to the party.”
Shikarou exchanged a look with his father and took Elizabeth’s hand. “Just remember that there is to be no hitting from either of you.”
“We won’t.” Poppet replied firmly as she wrapped her fingers around Kerrik’s arm. “Let’s go for a walk.”
She led him away from the party and into the growing darkness. Finally she stopped in a grove of trees. A muttered spell and a light flared into existence.
As she opened her mouth, Kerrik beat her to the punch. “In my previous visits, how long did I stay?”
She frowned. “Usually you were here for a few days. Once you stayed a month.”
“Is it fair to bond a pokegirl to me and then leave after a week or so?” He looked at her evenly. “And no, I was not going to take one of them to my home where I’d forget about her while doing research. I am not going to be that cruel to someone who’s done nothing to me.”
“And now?”
“Now I’ll be here for a couple of years. I’ll consider it.”
“You could just tame a different elf each time, and then she’ll be unlikely to bond with you. It would still help a lot.”
His ears went completely flat. “No elves. I will not, not with elves.” His tone brooked no argument.
Poppet ignored it. “Why not?”
“Once I lived among some elves and I loved there too. I married and had children there.” He leaned against a tree, dipping his face into shadow. “Then, one day, I was no longer welcome there. Not even by she who had been my wife. My first wife and my first love. I’ve avoided relationships with elves ever since and I’m not ready to change that.”
The unicorn half reached out to touch him and stopped. “What happened to your children?”
“I never saw them again. I tried to correspond with them, but they had been turned against me like the others and they rebuffed my attempts.”
“I’m so sorry, Kerrik.”
He leaned forward. “Why? You were not involved and you bear no fault for what happened. According to the elves it was my fault and mine alone.”
“For what?”
“For not dying.”
***
“So, was it worth the hike?”
Monica stepped hesitantly onto the beach. On either side, as far as she could see, there rolled the ocean in its eternal battle against the land. The air beat against her as the waves crashed and boomed against the rocks. She wiped sweat from her eyes and turned around to grin at Jamie. “It’s fabulous!”
Cammie, her ladyien and alpha, gave her a wry look. “And here I thought you hated marching, mistress.”
Cherry ignored her. “I’ve never felt anyplace like this. It’s fantastic.”
“You’ll only find it on the western side of the Blue League, and only where nothing is between the ocean and the shore.” He pointed at the gray waves. “That’s the true power on earth.”
Chambers stared at the ocean in awe. “Is it safe to swim in?”
“See where there are those two stone pillars? Most of the beach has a pretty mean rip current, but not between them. Graeme and I would bring the family here on our birthday every year and father scouted out a safe place for us to swim.”
“I do not understand why you deliberately want to immerse yourself in that.” Ginevra gave them both disgusted looks and blurred toward one of the pillars. She swarmed up it and perched on the top before becoming perfectly still. Her gold hair glittered in the sunlight.
“I see we have our lifeguard. Cammie, keep an eye on the area.” Chambers started running down to the beach, dropping clothing as she went. Her voice floated back to him. “Last one in has to buy the beer!”
Her ladyien spread her wings and lifted off gracefully to begin patrolling.
Jamie glanced at Madison. “Going to join us?”
The duelist shook her head. “I’ll be fine, sir. I’m not comfortable with the way that she looks at me and I don’t want to cause trouble between the two of you. If it’s all the same to you, I’ll remain clothed and help Cammie with the security.” She produced a card from her belt with a happy grin. “Thanks to your grandfather, it’s a lot easier now.”
Jaime gave her a curious look. “What did he do?”
She flipped the card around to show him the Luster Dragon. “He healed it, sir.” She was right, the card was now whole and the dragon’s missing wing had returned. She summoned it with a flourish.
She and the dragon looked at each other for a moment before it crouched and hurled itself into the sky. Air swept over them as its wings bit the air and it climbed, twisting sinuously to begin a wide circle over the area. There was a cry of alarm from the beach as its shadow swept over Cherry, which was immediately followed by cursing when the nude human realized what had happened. “Wolf, you bastard! Warn me next time before you do that!” She shook a fist in his direction.
Madison gave him a worried look that relaxed when he started chuckling. “I’ll remember to warn her next time, sir.”
“You didn’t deliberately scare her and she’s not my boss. You do what I tell you to and let me worry about consequences. That is part of the tamer’s job.”
The duelist threw him a salute. “Yessir.” A faintly worried look crossed her face. “Sir, does she want you to tame her?”
Jamie shook his head. “No, it’s just that I’ve been living with her for the last six months and she’s treating me like one of the girls.” He smiled when she gave him a sidelong glance. “No, I’m not really interested in taming her, either.” Reaching out, he cupped her cheek and pulled her forward gently until their faces almost touched. “Fortunately I’ve got two beautiful ladies to help make sure I don’t do anything stupid.”
She flushed slowly and rested her face against his hand. “Thank you.” She hesitantly leaned forward and kissed him softly. “I like belonging to you,” she whispered.
“That’s good, since I have absolutely no intention of letting you leave.” He kissed her firmly and let her go when she started to press herself against him. He smiled when she gave him an unhappy look. “No free shows for Cherry.” She blinked and nodded with a tiny smile. “Later,” he promised as he let her go.
Ginevra didn’t move when he stopped next to her pillar and started undressing, however her low voice drifted down to him. “If she distresses you, I could kill her here and no one would be the wiser. Madison’s dragon would make short work of Cammie.” Her head tilted slightly. “Or I would.”
“Cherry isn’t doing anything more annoying than normal.”
“Do you think she wants your sperm? I know that she doesn’t want you to tame her.”
He blinked and looked up at the daimon. “What on earth for?”
“Eventually she’ll want someone to provide genetic material for offspring. She told Doyle that she could do much worse than you. You are wealthy and she has a fixation on being rich. She knows you would support a child monetarily. She also believes you are not sexually interested in humans and therefore she does not see you as a threat, unlike most other males.”
Jamie stopped while unbuttoning his shorts. “She thinks I’ve got a phobia against human women?”
“It’s easy to think something like that. They are rather pathetic when compared to pokegirls, especially someone like me.”
He grinned. “Humble, aren’t you?”
“I do not announce that I am superior, I merely am.” There was a distinct note of amusement in her voice. “I can see why someone like her would think you were not interested, since you have me to attend to your needs.” She sniffed loudly. “Even Madison is superior to a human.”
“You are so lucky that pride is no longer a deadly sin.” Jamie finished undressing. “Do you think she wants this sperm anytime in the near future?”
“No. She was quite specific that she has no intention of having children until after she retires from active taming or becomes a captain or higher in rank. She believes that a child is an impediment to promotion.”
“She could be right. She’d be moved to the reserves and they don’t see much advancement.” He folded his clothing carefully. “I’m glad she’s not interested right now. Can you see mother’s response to that?”
“I would not have to kill her then. Poppet would do the job for me.”
***
Dr. J. E. Williams looked around Kasumi’s office and managed not to sniff with disdain. Her office was a mix of Eastern and Western influences that merged together into a whole that worked rather well. “Interesting place you have here.” He settled into a comfortable looking chair and waved Charlene into another. The megami-sama sat gracefully, watching Kasumi intently.
Kasumi nodded to Dr. Williams as Nishiko poured them tea. “Welcome to the Wolf Institute of Practical and Applied Magic, doctor. I trust your trip was without incident.”
“It was fine.” He took the proffered cup without a word but blinked when Nishiko offered a second one to his pokegirl. Charlene accepted it silently. “Tell me about your school.”
“The Institute is a private school that teaches students with an aptitude for magic how to harness that ability as well as how to continue growing in proficiency after they leave. We accept humans and pokegirls alike if they show a sufficient aptitude.”
“How do you determine that aptitude?”
“We use a simple spell that measures magical potential. It’s harmless to the applicant or anyone else around.”
Dr. William’s eyebrows rose. “You make an untried student attempt a spell?” He didn’t sound happy at the news.
Kasumi smiled smoothly. “Of course not, doctor. The interviewer casts the spell and the applicant reports what he or she observes. There’s nothing more to the spell. The level of detail in the observation determines the potential magical skill of the applicant.”
“You keep saying potential. You can’t tell how strong they’ll become?”
“The actual ability that a student will reach is determined by his aptitude as well as his determination to reach that potential. Many students will never reach their true level of power because they lack the drive.” She sipped at her tea. “All we can do is ensure that they are provided with the tools necessary to develop their powers. What they do with them after that we cannot control.”
“So you claim no responsibility for the students of yours who’ve become wanted criminals?”
“No more than any other school can be held responsible for their students who do the same.” Kasumi put her cup down. “We actually do vet our applicants for psychological issues, and we’ve prevented many applicants with antisocial personalities from becoming students here. The number of bad apples is significantly lower than the average for a regular school. However, perfection is unattainable and we make no claims to something that we are not.”
“So you are responsible for the criminals who come from your school. You missed them.”
Charlene stirred. “We’re being recorded.”
Dr. William’s bristled. “You will stop recording us this instant.”
“I’m sorry, doctor, but that is impossible.” Kasumi gave him a disarming smile. “While I know that you are here in order to evaluate my school and its fitness with a completely impartial frame of mind, I’m also very aware that mistakes can be made by anyone. Therefore your entire stay here will be recorded for evaluation so that when you discover things that need corrected, we can keep from making the same mistakes again.”
His eyes narrowed. “You appear to be operating under a misunderstanding, Miss Wolf. This is not a short visit. I’ve been stationed here to provide ongoing feedback for how this school is operating and I’ll probably be here for some years. This is a permanent post.”
The headmistress nodded. “I understand that quite well, doctor. That, however, does not change the fact that anytime you are out of your private quarters you will be recorded.” Her smile cooled. “It also means that you will not be interviewing staff members or students in your quarters unless you wish us to begin recording you there as well.”
“I have a right to privacy,” Dr. Williams began hotly, only to be cut off by Kasumi.
“This is a private institution on a private island. We have always recorded activities in public places in order to improve our efficiency as well as to monitor student behavior. Your presence will not change that one iota. Everything is transparent here, doctor, and that includes what transpires in my office. That also includes your office and if you begin conducting business in your private quarters they then become part of your offices and are therefore subject to monitoring.”
She leaned back in her chair and her demeanor became brisk. “Now for the quick lecture every prospective instructor or student receives, no matter how professional they appear to be. The students and staff here are protected. You may not tame a student. We have professional tamers who take care of any unattached student’s needs. You will not bond a student. I will eject you from the grounds if you try and the league will have to send a replacement for you. If you attempt to bond a staff member, you’re probably going to get hurt. At that point the person who is that pokegirl’s tamer will become involved and you will definitely get hurt.”
A quick sip of her tea and she continued. “Do not attempt to remove a book from the library without checking it out first. The library is haunted by a rather possessive ghost and Master Caspa will kill thieves without any qualms. If you wish to speak with Master Caspa, his office is the entire library and he can be found there unless he’s teaching. However, he can sense each and every book and will leave his class to kill a thief before returning to finish the lesson. A release of liability from prosecution if you are killed by Master Caspa while he’s protecting the library is part of the paperwork you filled out and returned to me.”
William’s gave her a startled look. “I’ll need to see that.”
“I’ll have a copy sent to your office.”
Charlene leaned forward. “Do your children go to the Institute?”
“My daughter, Kozakura, is a graduate, as are all of our children except Jamie and Graeme. Unfortunately, neither of them has any magical abilities.”
The megami-sama frowned. “What do they do, function as groundskeepers?
Kasumi blinked in shock at the implied insult, but replied with good grace. “Graeme is a tamer and is currently out of the league. Jamie is here on leave before reporting to OCS in London in a few days.”
“Are you telling me that he’s in the BLSF?” Charlene sounded surprised. “I wasn’t aware of that.”
“Jamie is our first child to choose a military career and we’re very proud of him.” Kasumi smiled gently. “According to the reports I’ve seen, he graduated at the top of his class.”
Charlene cocked her head. “Considering his nature, that’s hardly surprising.”
The temperature in the room seemed to suddenly drop. “What do you mean by that,” inquired Kasumi pleasantly. Her eyes, however, glittered suddenly.
“He comes from a very violent family and the military is all about violence. It’s his natural element.”
Nishiko stared at the megami-sama. “Are you trying to start a fight? You have obviously never had anything to do with Jamie. He’s a very good person and you are way out of line.” The archmage started when Kasumi touched her hand. “I’m sorry, mistress.”
“Nishiko is correct when she says that Jamie is a sweet young man. I might also point out that the military protects us from the ferals and other problems that individual tamers can’t deal with. They act to prevent as much violence as possible.”
Charlene colored at the gentle rebuke. “I still remember what happened nineteen years ago.”
Kasumi nodded. “As well you should. I wasn’t there, but from what I understand about the situation, you were very rude. Dorothea was perhaps a bit abrupt, but she was understandably upset about what you were trying to do.”
“I almost died!” Dr. Williams stared when his pokegirl stood, shouting. Her teacup shot across the room and came to a hover before curving around to land on the tea trolley.
“Yes, you did. Shikarou was also very apologetic about the incident and did everything he could to make your injury whole.” Kasumi put down her cup. “The only thing he refused to do was allow you into his harem and to send Dorothea away.”
Charlene’s mouth set. “I guess you are right. You weren’t there.”
Dr. Williams jumped to his feet. “Charlene, you are out of line.”
The megami-sama glared at Kasumi. “Yes sir.”
He put his cup down. “I think we need to be going to our room, Ms. Wolf.”
“One moment, doctor, before you leave. It is Mrs. Wolf.” Kasumi rose to see him to the door. “It was actually Mrs. Urufu, but we changed our name to Wolf to show that the Blue League is our home now.”
He blinked. “I didn’t realize that you were married.”
“I am. My husband is Shikarou and he’s the man whose harem your pokegirl tried to join nineteen years ago. I just want you to know that in order to avoid unfortunate misunderstandings.”
“Thank you Mrs. Wolf. You can rest assured that I am only here to do my job and not to pursue any vendetta on behalf of my alpha.”
Charlene gave her a broad smile as she followed her tamer out the door.
***
Monica released Pythia’s hand and stepped away from her. “Thank you for the transport,” she said quietly. Jamie grinned as he let go the dire wolf’s other hand. “I’m glad you didn’t have any trouble handling both of us at once.”
Pythia chuckled. “It’s no problem, mistress. Two people are easy. It’s when I get to an even dozen I have to start juggling them and I’m not very good at that. I tend to let things drop and then the complaints start.”
Jamie hugged her. “We’re supposed to be able to make calls on a regular basis and I’ll be in touch as much as I can.”
Pythia nodded. “We expect to be invited to your graduation. All of us and not just your mother and father.”
He held up his hand. “I promise I’ll do my best to get enough tickets.” The pokegirl bowed once and teleported away.
Cherry looked at the main gate and squared her shoulders. “This is supposed to be physically easier than boot and mentally much more challenging.”
“You’ll do well. You’ve got the basics and I’m sure that if you need a tutor, you’ll get one. Remember, at this point, they are going to try to get you to pass.” He flashed a smile. “Officers lead from the front in the BLSF and because of that they always need new ones.”
“Isn’t that comforting?” She led him to the gate and presented her papers and pokedex to the sentry. “Recruit Coronet Monica Chambers reporting for Officer Candidate School.”
The sentry plugged her dex into his station. “Everything seems to be in order.” He looked at an ingénue who was standing nearby as he handed her back her pokedex. “Coronet Chambers goes in the Harshaw building.”
“Yes sir. This way, Ms. Chambers.”
Cherry grinned at Jamie. “I’ll see you later, Wolf.”
Jamie waved and handed the sentry his pokedex. “Recruit Coronet Jamie Wolf reporting.”
The sentry plugged it in and nodded towards a door. “Captain McGee needs to speak with you, Mr. Wolf. Please go his office. It’s the third door on the left and has his name on it.” He handed the pokedex back and shut down his station.
Jamie tensed. “Is there a problem?”
The sentry snorted. “Mr. Wolf, if there were a problem, you wouldn’t be here right now.”
That made sense to Jamie and he headed inside, double checking his uniform. He stopped in front of the door and knocked smartly.
A pleasant male voice sounded. “Yes?”
“Recruit Coronet Jamie Wolf reporting as instructed, sir.”
“Come in, Mr. Wolf.” Jamie opened the door and stepped inside. Captain McGee looked up. “Sit down, Mr. Wolf.” He held out his hand for Jamie’s pokedex, which he plugged into his terminal. “Ah, yes. There’s some paperwork you need to certify. All I’ll need is your thumbprint in a couple of places and you’ll be on your way.” He typed for a moment and turned a fingerprint scanner towards Jamie. “Ok, I need the print of your right thumb.”
Jamie dutifully pressed the scanner and the terminal beeped.
“Excellent.” The captain changed screens and looked up. “Left thumb this time, Mr. Wolf.” He picked up his com as Jamie pressed his other thumb to the scanner and the terminal recorded it. “Yes, I’ll need an escort for Mr. Wolf.” He leaned back, replacing the handset. “Do you and your daimon get along well?”
“Yes, sir, we do.”
“Well, I suppose we can’t have everything.” He looked at the door as a corporal opened the door. A Vixxen stood behind him. “Ah, there you are. Mr. Wolf is ready to go.”
Jamie rose. “Sir, where will I be staying?”
McGee smiled gently. “I’m sorry, son, but there was a supplemental intelligence report filed on you yesterday and it details you as a serious security risk. The paperwork you initialed was your discharge. You’re a civilian now and you’re going home.”
***
Name: Wolf, Jamie Harris
Age: 17
Residence: Caomh Sith, Blue Continent
Region: Scotland
Status: Active
Rank: 15
Security Clearance: Epsilon
Licenses
Tamer Y
Master Tamer Y
Researcher N
Watcher N
Breeder N
Active Harem
Species Name
Daimon Ginevra
Duelist Madison
Badges: None