This work is fiction. The work has no relationship with any person existing at any time anywhere whether real or imaginary or copywritten. Everything in this work is mea culpa.
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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 16
(4/15/06 1700 Marco Island)
Jamie looked around at his pokegirls. “You all know the plan. Paige, you’re with me.” They stood inside a wooded area near a stream that emptied out near the island. The place had been carefully chosen to be out of sight of the road to Marco Island. This was a dry run to check the island’s security.
Captain Hernandez was in charge of the Marco Island militia and he’d been kept in the loop as to the status of the drill. He was interested in the results, as there was a chance that the Indigo leaguers might try to sneak onto the island if his new tamers could repulse their initial foray.
Ginevra watched the others fade into the woods before turning around to face the island and slowly waded out into the water. She tested the muck and her mouth thinned when she realized that the mud was too thick to walk on. It sucked at her feet and, when she stopped moving, she began to slowly sink into the muck.
In her youma form, she could hold her breath for several minutes but, as a rock type in that form, she was too heavy to float. If the bottom had been stable enough, she could have walked across it and onto Marco Island undetected. Instead, she would have to swim. Immediately she dove in and began stroking powerfully and silently down the stream.
Idly she wondered if she’d encounter a feral water type during the trek. She didn’t think that sneaking onto the island would be all that difficult and a feral would at least give her someone to beat up and capture. Evasion and observation was boring and she wanted a fight with someone.
***
Jamie blinked and grinned. Paige had a longer stride than he did and continually drifted in front of him when they walked together. Today she was wearing a green miniskirt with a matching top; her tail lifted the back of the skirt just enough that an observant man would notice that she didn’t bother with knickers.
He was an observant man and was aware that she knew he was. “Paige, slow down.”
She gave him a guileless look over her shoulder. “Sir?” Her ears flicked and she dropped back to walk with him. “Sorry.”
“Are you really?” He glanced at her tail pointedly.
A mischievous smile was her only response.
They were headed up the road towards the hidden sentry post, walking openly to lull the island’s security element while Ginevra and Madison tried to infiltrate. The plan was that the two of them would make contact and be typical belligerent leaguers and see how they were handled.
Jamie chuckled softly. “I’m suddenly glad Kerrik was insistent that we not bring any firearms for them.”
“Sir?”
“He was concerned that they’d want to become proficient with them immediately, and nothing sounds like small arms fire except small arms fire. I’m just glad they don’t have them to shoot at me with.”
“What kind of weapons were you considering giving them?” Her ears flicked. “I believe we have orders not to give them the SAP ammunition.”
“We do. Still, the basic 10mm ammo packs a hefty wallop. I’d actually wanted to give them something like the R-4s that I learned to use in boot camp. Nobody makes ammunition like that and they’ll have to listen to us to get more of it.”
“What happened to that idea?”
“Father nixed it. He said that simplicity is best and we’ll be sticking with the 10, 15 and 30mm ammo sizes for the time being. As he pointed out, nobody else making caseless ammunition right now, so we’ve still got a monopoly.” He smirked. “Not to mention the fact that the propellant has to be made in a microgravity environment, and we’ve got the only space going manufacturing facility in Bastion.”
They headed out onto the road and began picking their way through the rubble that covered the road. “Are they going to move the sentry post like you suggested, sir?”
Jamie shook his head. “They believe that it’s fine where it is, even though the Indigos already know about it.”
“What do you think?”
“I think it’s a deathtrap for whoever is in it when the leaguers come calling.”
Paige came to a halt and pointed ahead. “Sir?” A man and a woman with long hair were standing outside the sentry post.
That is a dark lady. Virtue reports that there appears to be some kind of shield spell that is covering the two of them from satellite surveillance. Vice is informing Kerrik.
The man yelled something indistinct and pointed at the post. The dark lady lifted off and headed that way as the M60 stuttered. A red spark shot from the ascending pokegirl into the sentry station and the machine gun fell silent.
Jamie cursed and broke into a run. “Come on, Paige!” Inform Ginevra and Madison that we have an intruder and to abort from the probe. Madison is to sweep the island looking for other intruders and her orders are to protect the civilians at all costs. Ginevra is to come to me.
***
The cure mermaid twisted and headed for the surface. Once her head broke into the air, Madison unwrapped her arms from around the construct’s neck and retched as she expelled the water from her lungs in order to begin breathing air again.
The shore was visible and Madison suppressed a feeling of irritation at how close she’d come to infiltrating successfully. Then she smirked at the thought of just how angry Ginevra would be over her own failure and what that meant for whoever she got to fight.
The cure mermaid swam around behind her and held her up as she pulled a card from her pocket and summoned dark magician. He appeared, hovering in midair. He gestured, and Madison floated up next to him. She chuckled as she dismissed the mermaid. “I really need to learn a flying spell.”
The dark magician headed for shore, his magic pulling the duelist behind him. As they flew, Madison began summoning her scouting constructs and releasing them to search the island for anyone who didn’t belong. She bonded each of them to her eyes and, with what of her attention remained, began searching the shore for a suitable place to hide while her creatures performed their reconnaissance. The dark magician would remain to protect her while she worked.
***
The sentry almost screamed when Ginevra rose from the bushes in front him. Frantically, he snatched for his pistol. She sneered and pulsed her fear aura. The weapon dropped from suddenly slack fingers and thudded to the turf. “Use your radio to inform command that the drill is over and that the Marco Road sentry post is under attack by unknown forces.” Her head cocked. “I repeat that this is not a drill.”
He fumbled for his radio as she vanished.
***
(4/15/06 1700 Texas League – Disputed)
“Why are we walking up this mountain?”
Alice glanced back at him. “She’s not big on guests dropping in and I don’t want to be killed and eaten.”
“I thought you said she was one of your best friends.”
“She is and she’d be very sad after she realized that she’d killed me instead of an intruder.” Alice glanced over her shoulder at him. “She’s a bit tense, considering she has no tamer and has to commit murder on a daily basis to feed. I’d be jumpy myself.”
His ears went flat. “I said I would meet her. Stop trying to lay guilt on me because it won’t work. I didn’t make her the way she is and I take no responsibility for her.”
“Yet.”
The kami’s ears flattened even more. “Why hasn’t Tattypoo killed you already? She doesn’t seem the type to tolerate being manipulated by anyone the way you’re trying to do me. On a personal note, I’m not really that fond of it either.”
“I’m subtle with her.” Alice gave him a smile. “You’d see through that immediately, so I don’t bother.”
“I should point out that I can see through flattery as well.”
“Aren’t you ever any fun?”
“Not with a woman who has willingly given herself to someone else and only that someone. Winston is a lucky man.”
She blinked. “Am I that obvious?”
“Only to me. I’ve been around long enough to see your kind of personality before.” He glanced around and picked up a small rock. “I don’t predate this, but sometimes it seems like a very close thing.”
Her hand twitched in his direction and stopped. “Why do you have so much trouble with me touching you and knowing what you’re talking about?”
“You’re not my pokegirl and my secrets aren’t safe with you.”
Her hand twitched again. “I hate that word.”
“I might point out that you have your own. Does Winston know about Cowslip or what Tattypoo and Glinda really are?”
“Ok, I hate it when others have secrets from me. You’re especially annoying, since you seem to be able to control what parts of your mind I have access to.” She looked at him pointedly.
“I guess it sucks to be you, Alice.”
Alice glared at him and punished him by being silent for the rest of the trip. Since that’s what he wanted in the first place, he put on an air of injured befuddlement that seemed to please her.
His pokedex beeped softly and he paused to pull it from his belt. He scrolled Virtue’s message quickly. You are currently climbing to the summit of Mt. Livermore in what is presumed to be the Indigo League. The land is in the area of the former state of Texas and the inhabitants are protesting the Indigo League’s attempted takeover with tamers and pokegirl forces of their own. Email and message traffic indicates that they are intent on forming their own league, which they are calling the Texas League. Currently, some of their tamers are consolidating areas in the former states of Louisiana, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Arizona. Some Texas tamer activity is also rumored to be in Mexico, but we are still penetrating the local message traffic, so details are unavailable. Further information will be provided as it becomes available.
Kerrik put his 'dex away and resumed following the snugglebunny. If the Texas League could be brought to the side of the kingdom, it could help to stymie Indigo or Sunshine League attempts to aid the Tropic League. Assistance could be provided in the way of equipment to help give them a viable shot at existence. He made a mental note to talk to Shikarou about this.
As they neared the top of the mountain, he saw someone sitting on a rock up ahead. She was wearing a scruffy looking t-shirt and faded jeans. Her shoulder length hair looked like it was made of crystal and in the sunlight it glittered the purple of cut amethyst. She looked to be about one and a half meters tall but it was hard to tell since she was sitting.
She was looking out over the panorama that spread out from the mountain and he couldn’t see her face. “Hello, Alice.”
The snugglebunny came to a halt. “How did you know it was me?”
“Nobody else visits me. They’re all afraid I’ll kill them.” She kept looking at the view. “I do, so perhaps they have a reason to be afraid.”
“Why do you do that?”
She whipped around at Kerrik’s question. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and her lips were full and generous, even when drawn back in a snarl that revealed long canines. “Who are you?”
“This is,” Alice broke off at Kerrik’s wave.
“My name is Kerrik and Alice asked me to meet you. She thinks you need a tamer, to use the current euphemism. She painted a pretty sad picture of you, and I agreed to see what you are like and if I can help you.”
With an effort, the pokegirl returned to looking over the edge of the mountain. “Please leave. I have not fed and I don’t want to be responsible for your death.”
Alice sighed. “Look, I asked him to.”
She broke off again when Kerrik interrupted. “I am not used to others speaking for me. Why don’t you go away and let us talk.” As Alice glared at him, he noticed a smile appear on the unknown pokegirl’s face. “I’ll be fine, and she’ll find out that she can’t drink me to death. If nothing else, she’ll get a meal out of my visit.”
The snugglebunny began to protest only to stop when Kerrik drew his pistol and aimed between her suddenly wide eyes. “I’m not going to get used to arguing with you, and you are unlikely to survive a bullet from this weapon no matter where I put it. Go. You can apologize later if she and I get along.”
Alice almost hissed as she vanished.
Kerrik settled down on the rock next to the pokegirl. Her hands curled into fists as she drove her nails into her palms. “Why do you believe I can feed from you and not kill you?” Her voice was a strained whisper as she forced herself to keep looking away from him. “I am the harbinger of death for anyone I feed from.”
He looked in the same direction she was and spoke in a quiet voice. “Alice thinks I can regenerate lost blood fast enough to keep you from killing me. The truth is I can replace my lost blood faster than you can drink it. I was once held captive by a group of vampires and they tried their best to drain me dry for three days, even to the point of slashing my jugular veins as well as my carotid and femoral arteries and keeping them open the whole time.”
She turned to stare at him. “They gave up after three days?”
He met her gaze evenly. “I killed them.”
“Will you kill me?”
“Do you wish to die?”
She nodded. “Sometimes I do. We are created to crave the touch of others. Sometimes I grow tired of the fact that, to satisfy that craving, I must kill. I have tried, but I cannot kill myself.”
“If you become my pokegirl and you decide that you wish to die, I will kill you.”
Her eyes widened and made her look very young. “Promise?”
Kerrik didn’t hesitate. “I promise.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Then feed. Do you have a favorite position?”
“It’s easier for me to feed from behind. It’s hard to control my prey from the front. They scream and I usually snap their bones by accident. It gets messy.”
Kerrik twisted around to present his back to her and pulled his hair to the side. The weight that pressed against his back suggested a much lusher figure than he’d originally estimated. She pulled his head to the left, baring his neck. Her breath was warm against his skin as she sniffed him, and he shivered involuntarily when she tasted him with her tongue.
He blinked when she drove her fangs viciously into him and began sucking the blood from his body. His voice was conversational, if a bit strained. “Since you’ve had to kill your victims, I guess you’ve never learned how to make that less painful. I’ll teach you later.” As she drank, periodically she drove her teeth back into his throat to reopen the wounds as they knitted closed.
Slowly, her drinking slowed and her arms crept around him as she fed. She pressed herself more firmly against him as she slid her hands under his shirt to rub her palms against his skin. He chuckled softly. “I take it that it’s time to feed a different hunger?”
She made an affirmative noise against his neck and began teasing his nipples with her fingers.
Vice spoke from the speaker in the collar of his shirt and she jumped against him without releasing from his throat. “There is an unidentified tamer attacking the sentry post on Marco Island. Jamie is engaging and information suggests that a spell is in use to block orbital surveillance. Jamie is under this spell and I cannot observe him any more.”
Kerrik shot to his feet and swung the pokegirl around him, tearing her from his throat in a brief spray of blood which ended as the wound knitted almost instantly. He held her. “I have to go. Someone important to me is in danger.”
She wrapped her arms around him as a delicate tongue licked the blood from her lips. “You didn’t die. I am yours and I go where you go. Later, we will feed that other hunger, yes?”
He flashed a grin. “That, we will. Do you have a name?”
“No.”
“I’d like to call you Raven and you will be my harbinger of death.”
“That’s a nice name, Kerrik.”
They vanished.
***
(4/15/06 1830 Marco Island)
Paige lengthened her stride and moved in front of Jamie as they ran towards the sentry post. He stumbled over a rock and fell, cursing. One of her ears rotated to track him as she kept running towards the fighting. The human controlling the dark lady spun and he grinned. “Abby, get them!”
The dark lady flew out of the sentry post and turned towards them as Jamie scrambled to his feet. She raised her hand and pointed at Jamie. “My master wishes you gone, vermin!” A glowing ball of red energy began to form in front of her hand.
Paige opened her mouth and spat a bolt of fire at Abby. It hit her in the midsection and she hissed in pain. The force bolt she’d created leaped at Paige, who dodged. It blew a rock into fragments when it hit.
The dark lady drifted upwards as flashes of what looked like black lightning began to appear around her. They expanded quickly to form a flickering shell that seemed to eat at reality and made Paige’s eyes hurt as she looked into it for her opponent. The foxymaiden unleashed a fire blast attack that hit the shell and ate into it without penetrating. There was a cackle of maniacal laughter and a force bolt shot from it to take Paige in the chest, knocking her sprawling.
She rose, shaking off a growing feeling of lethargy that sucked at the fiber of her being and hammered the shell with another fire blast. The shell began to dissipate, arcing black bolts of energy into the area around the dark lady. Wherever they hit, rock slumped.
Jamie fired at the tamer, his bullet shattering a chunk of rock behind the man, who went white. “Abby, stop playing and protect me!”
“Yes, master.” An energy blade formed in Abby’s hand and Jamie’s mouth dropped when she spun in place and hurled it at Paige. A tiny portion of his mind noted that technology might not have been the only thing lost during these years since what he’d just seen was considered impossible. Or maybe it was something new to this world.
Ginevra appeared next to her tamer just as the spinning blade of force intersected the foxymaiden and she went down. The demoness teleported in front of the dark lady and her hands glowed before she struck the ground in front of her. A line of dust exploded towards the flying infernal. Before the shock spike knocked her spinning, Abby created another energy blade and hurled it at Jamie as he shot at her tamer again.
It cut him in half at the waist.
***
(4/15/06 1840 Marco Island)
Kerrik appeared and let Raven go as he took in the scene in a glance. Jamie and Paige were down, while Ginevra was stretched spread-eagled in glowing fetters made of what looked like blocks of cuneiform. Similar bindings covered her mouth. The sentry post looked half melted and the blast shield had been torn away to reveal gobbets of what had been the sentry were now scattered over the entire area. A man stood between Ginevra’s legs and was opening his pants while a long haired pokegirl floated overhead. She saw them. “Master, new opponents have taken the field!”
He blinked and began frantically stuffing himself back into his pants. “Kill them, Abby!”
“Raven, can you take her?”
The purple haired pokegirl stuck her hand in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out an ornate ivory staff, which instantly grew to full size. “I am the bringer of death and all are mine to take.” She rose gracefully into the air as the dark lady summoned another red force bolt and shot it at her.
Kerrik ran for Jamie.
Raven lifted her staff and it glowed with a purple nimbus. The force bolt changed color to match and curved around her to shoot back at the dark lady. It split into three parts and slammed into Abby’s hastily raised absorption field to vanish as the dark lady cackled with glee. “You are no match for me.”
Raven raised her hand and made a slashing motion.
Abby screamed in agony as a line opened down her body and blood began to drip on the rocks beneath her. She gestured and the wound began to close as she poured healing energy into it.
Kerrik’s boots squelched through offal as he grabbed Jamie’s lower half and slammed it against the young man’s torso. He placed his bloody hand on his grandson’s head and mentally sighed with relief when he detected brain activity. After starting the body regenerating, he turned and raced towards Paige.
Abby hurled another energy blade at her opponent, which Raven idly blocked with her staff. A glowing purple sphere appeared on the end of her staff and she spun and shot the ball at the dark lady.
The pokegirl laughed as she ducked beneath the ball. Abby’s laugh broke into a ragged scream as the sphere imploded just behind her in a rush of air, sucking her hair into the implosion and ripping off most of her scalp.
Raven made a slightly disappointed noise and launched another purple sphere at her.
Kerrik dropped to his knees next to Paige, looked her over and rose. The top third of her skull had been sliced cleanly away by the energy blade and brains littered the area. He wiped his hands on his pants and ran for Ginevra and the human, drawing his pistol as he did so.
The ten millimeter pistol Jamie used roughly corresponded to a .40 caliber round and was engineered to put enough energy into a normal pokegirl to make her uninterested in further combat, if not mortally injure her. Kerrik carried a fifteen millimeter pistol. Its bore translated to a .59 caliber round and it carried a substantially more powerful warhead that delivered a lot more energy into the target. Unlike the 10mm, the fifteen still had substantial recoil, but Kerrik was more than strong enough to handle it and he’d practiced extensively with the weapon he wore. His ears flattened protectively as he fired.
The round took the human in the bridge of the nose and his head exploded all over Ginevra and the surrounding area.
Abby screamed louder as psychic backlash roared through her from her tamer’s death. The second sphere caught her in the thighs and detonated in a bright flash that shredded the dark lady’s lower torso and sent her pinwheeling away.
Raven summoned an energy blade of her own and threw it at Abby’s falling body, sectioning it before it hit the ground. She landed next to Kerrik and Ginevra. “She was right. I was not her match.”
Kerrik gestured at the furious looking demoness. “Can you release her?”
“They will pass on their own in time but, yes, I can.” She touched Ginevra with her staff and the rune chains disintegrated.
Ginevra teleported to Jamie as Joshua and Carver ran into view with their pokegirls. Raven turned to face them, raising her staff. “They’re not our foes,” Kerrik muttered, “and they don’t know you.”
She nodded and inserted the end of her staff into her pocket before pushing the whole thing inside it. “I will try to be nice to them.”
***
(4/15/06 1900 Marco Island)
Night was falling on the island and frogs were warming up for their serenades. Jamie perched on a rock, staring sightlessly out into the sea. Madison stood nearby, watching him with an anxious expression while Ginevra stood watch.
“I am sorry I wasn’t there, sir.”
He stirred. “Madison, I ordered you to do something and you did it. Protecting the civilians was more important than,” his voice caught, “than our lives. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I don’t feel that way, sir. I might have been able to save Paige.”
“The old one comes.”
Jamie sighed and turned to face Madison. “Come here.” He pulled her gently into his lap, wincing slightly. “Sorry, I’m still tender where I was hurt.” His arms tightened when she tried to ease away. “Don’t. I need this, too.” She nodded and became still.
Kerrik made his way carefully through the growing darkness and nodded to Ginevra. She nodded back as he settled down near Jamie. Raven had followed him and stood watchfully nearby. “There aren’t any real words of comfort that will make the pain less.”
“I know. We lost today.”
“It happens. I regret the price it cost, but you can’t always win. Not even me.”
Jamie’s voice was thick. “I killed her.”
Kerrik shook his head. “No, you did not. You ordered her to protect others and she died doing it. That’s very different from you killing her.”
“You were right.” Jamie smiled grimly when Kerrik gave him a curious look. “You told me once that there are no good or bad deaths, only dead and not dead. Well, Paige is dead and, while she died doing a good thing, it brings me no comfort.” He blinked back tears and his hands tightened on Madison’s arms. “She’s not coming back.”
“While reincarnation is a possibility, you are essentially correct. She won’t be coming back to you.”
Jamie nodded to Raven. “Thank you for stopping her.”
Her mouth dropped. “You thank me? No one thanks me.” She recovered quickly and turned to Kerrik. “What do I say to him?”
“You’re welcome is customary.”
She turned back to Jamie. “You are welcome, Jamie Wolf.”
“What are you?” Madison was eying her from the safety of Jamie’s arms.
“I am Raven and I am Kerrik’s. Before today I had no name, only purpose.”
“I meant what kind of pokegirl are you?”
“Sukebe never told me what I was, only what to kill.”
Jamie twitched. “You knew Sukebe?”
She shook her head. “One does not know Sukebe. One obeys Sukebe. He is not close with anyone.”
“Was.”
Raven arched a purple eyebrow. “No body was ever found and he planned with the knowledge that his labs would be attacked eventually. He spent many years outwitting humans and accurately predicting their actions. He is not dead.”
“Then why isn’t he still fighting mankind?”
“I do not know. I do not care.”
Jamie was staring at her. “If he returns, will you obey him?”
“I am no longer Sukebe’s to command. I am Kerrik’s.” Her eyes lingered on the kami. “Or at least, I will be his, soon.”
“Kerrik, do you know what she is?”
“Other than cute, not a clue. She’s obviously magically adept, but that doesn’t really narrow the field, does it?”
Jamie pulled his pokedex from his belt. He held it up where Raven could see it. “This is a pokedex and has an electronic scanner which will allow me to identify you. I’d like to scan you with it, but I don’t want you to take it as an attack of some kind.”
She nodded. “You were wise to warn me. Kerrik is the first non-pokegirl not to attack me and I am unused to being not treated as a threat. I would have responded with violence to a perceived attack. Proceed.”
Jamie activated the pokedex and looked at his grandfather. “Could we make a pokedex that automatically scans all of the pokegirls we come near? There may be species we’ve never seen before running around and if they’re near or very near human, we may never know it.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Your twee can do that, if you ask it to.”
He blinked. “That’s right.” Well?
She is an archmage but there are discrepancies in her readings. Perhaps they are due to her being created on this world and having a slightly different genetic matrix.
Jamie gave her a curious look. “It says you are an archmage, but you aren’t like Nishiko.” He shrugged. “I guess it’s not important right now.”
His eyes darkened. “I know I didn’t have her for very long, but I want Paige put into the garden and her name added to the wall.”
Kerrik’s ears flicked. “Whatever made you think she might not be? She died in your service and in your harem. She’s family; no one in the family would think to try and deny that.”
“That’s good to hear.” He sighed. “I have to get over this, don’t I?”
Ginevra moved slightly but remained silent.
“Jamie, you almost died today as well, so I’m sure you’ll be cut some slack for a bit. What you really need to do is ask yourself one question. Now that you’ve had someone under your command die while carrying out your orders, can you order someone else into a similar situation? If you can’t, it’s not a slight against you, but it means that you’ll need to go to a training post instead of a combat position.”
Jamie nodded absently for a moment. Ginevra stirred again. “Paige died happy, as happy as you can get while dying. She was in combat, where she wanted to be, and you were at her side.”
“I was, wasn’t I?” He turned to Kerrik. “As long as I’m there too, yes, I can give that order. I’ll never be able to order anyone into that unless I share the threat, but I can if I’m there too.”
Kerrik nodded. “Then I’d suggest giving serious thought to becoming kami if you’re going to continue putting targets on your chest. If only a little while longer had passed, I wouldn’t have been able to use that technique to bring you back.”
“Would a kami survive what happened to Paige?”
“A strong one would.” Kerrik twisted an ear tuft idly. “I believe you would be a strong kami, as would your pokegirls, if they choose to become such.”
“I will.”
Kerrik gave her an amused look. “Somehow, I’m not surprised, Ginevra.”
Jamie looked at the sky for a moment. “I’ll need to think about that. Dying wasn’t so exciting that I want to do it again.” His voice deepened. “Will Paige be all right?”
“She’s fine. Her soul is destined for someplace nice and she’ll be happy there.”
“I’m glad you’re confident about that.”
Kerrik shrugged. “I’ve seen her type before and I know where she’s going. She was fairly good and very loyal.”
Jamie nodded and glanced at Raven. “You do realize that there is going to be a collective cry of shock when it’s discovered that you have a harem.”
“I’m sure they’ll recover quickly enough to start pestering me about when I’ll add more pokegirls. Your father has set a precedent I’m in no hurry to try and surpass.”
Jamie gave him a wan smile. “Shouldn’t you say ‘my son’?”
“Not when he’s behaving like that.”
Raven looked at them both curiously. “What are you talking about?”
“His father, who is also my son, has a harem of over a dozen pokegirls and is servicing many more on a regular basis.”
Her eyes narrowed. “He does not sound very particular about who he is with. You are.”
Jamie grinned while Kerrik looked surprised. “Please elaborate.”
She folded her arms. “You have not accepted a pokegirl into your life until you met me, and I understand that you accepted me to keep me from killing someone every day to feed.” Jamie looked shocked. “You are unlikely to change that policy and begin accepting any pokegirl into your harem. If and when you acquire more pokegirls, it is very likely that they will be like me and need you for one reason or another, in such a way that only you are capable of being her tamer.”
Kerrik looked very thoughtful. “As long as she’s not an elf, you might be right.”
Her head cocked. “You would deny a pokegirl who could have no other tamer solely on the basis of her race? I believe you are better than that.”
He stared into her eyes for a long time, before making an annoyed noise and looking around. “Crap. Vice, bring the lighter down here at full speed and maximum security. I left my pack on board and my damn pipe is in it.”
The speaker on his collar spoke. “Yes, commander. The lighter is underway and, as soon as possible, I’ll bring it to full speed. It will be here tomorrow.”
***
(4/15/06 2230 Marco Island)
“You do not sleep?” Raven sounded faintly angry. “How are we to cuddle if you do not sleep? I have heard of cuddling and wish to try this.” After talking with Jamie, they’d headed for the beach where they’d been doing some talking about each other while watching the clouds scudding across the face of the moon.
Kerrik took her in his arms and pulled her against him. “We can still cuddle, damn it.”
She pushed away from him and her eyes widened when he tightened his grip. “I am stronger than you.”
“I don’t think so,” he said amusedly.
She pushed harder and her mouth set. Suddenly, she was struggling wildly to get away, while he fought to hold onto her firmly. Fabric tore and he shifted his grip to bare skin as her shirt came apart. Finally, she was still and leaned against him, panting. He bent down and began licking the sweat from her face.
Her eyes closed and she raised her head to give him easier access. As he cleaned the salt from her skin, she almost purred against him. That purr became a giggle when he licked her ear. It became a moan when he sucked her earlobe into his mouth and bit down gently.
Her fingers tightened in his shirt and she jerked, tearing it up the middle. He shrugged out of the shirt and peeled the fragments of hers from her body. Her nipples were hard against his chest and she hissed quietly in pleasure as he kissed her throat.
He ran his hands down her back and over her full hips to open her jeans. She stepped away from him and kicked off her shoes before sliding the jeans off and stepping out of them.
His mouth went dry at the sight of her nude body. She was magnificent, with heavy full breasts that swayed slightly as she breathed. Her waist was narrow and then widened out into full strong hips that sent the blood rushing to his groin.
Raven smiled slightly. “This would be easier if both of us were naked.” He quickly stripped and she looked him up and down. Her smile widened and she stepped back into his arms.
They kissed, the heat rising from their bodies as each of them tried to devour the other. Raven’s hand slid down over his stomach and around his velvety hardness. She squeezed gently and his hips jerked.
Kerrik gathered her hair in his hand and used it to pull her down to the sand with him. Still warm from the day’s sun, it molded to their bodies as if welcoming them to this trysting place.
His lips burned a line of fire down her throat and she responded by wrapping her legs around his waist and grinding her growing wetness against him. He dropped his head and let his warm breath wash over a nipple, which tightened in response. There was a brief moment of surprise when he realized that although lighter than her eyes, her nipples were also purple; then he closed his lips around it and sucked.
Raven gasped and arched her back, crushing her breast against his mouth as he suckled. The fire his mouth ignited in her body ran in line to her groin and she rubbed against him in a search for relief.
His hand traveled slowly over her slightly rounded belly and she jumped when he cupped her mound. Her hips rose to meet him as fingers slipped between her lips and caressed. Her low moan vibrated in the night air when he stroked a finger into her.
She was hot and tight around his fingers and her scent surrounded him as Kerrik shifted to her other nipple and nursed gently. Her breathing began to speed and grow shallow as pleasure ripped through her. Her hands twisted his long braid and she used it as a fulcrum to pull him up for a desperate kiss that made her blood sing.
Kerrik tugged his braid from her grasp and returned to her breasts. He slowly began licking them, exploring each breast with his tongue before kissing his way down the valley between them and over her stomach. He licked her belly with long, slow strokes and she squirmed beneath him, her hands clenching at the sand.
He kissed his way down her legs to her knees and shifted between them, before making his way back up; laving her thighs with his tongue and replacing her wetness with his own as he moved between her spread legs. Her body vibrated with need as he blew gently on her, making her jump. He closed his mouth over her and she cried out as his tongue sought out her innermost secrets before moving to circle her center over and over. He took her clit in his mouth and suckled it gently.
Raven wrapped her legs around his neck and pushed herself against his mouth as pleasure threatened to wash her away in a tide as powerful as the sea beside them. He slid his fingers back inside her; a scream ripped from her throat and echoed into the distance as her orgasm burned through her body and into her soul.
She grabbed his ears and pulled with a need not to be denied and Kerrik rose with them, the feel of his body sliding across hers making her hips lift hungrily until his hardness nestled against her heat.
Raven wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled, impaling herself on him in one smooth motion that wrenched a moan of pleasure from her.
Kerrik propped himself over her and pulled almost completely from her before thrusting back into her hard enough to make her body rock beneath his. She cried out as he continued thrusting, and her hands wrapped around his neck to pull him down so she could bite his shoulder as another orgasm blasted through her.
His moans joined hers as his own orgasm began to build. He increased his pace until his hips were almost a blur as their bodies slapped together. Her hips rose to meet his thrusts as she felt him swell inside her and finally explode in a wave of heat and pleasure that ripped through them both and left them limp and gasping on the warm, wet sand.
They lay still for several minutes while their heartbeats slowed and Kerrik finally raised his head slowly. She smiled lazily and kissed him thoroughly. She shifted slightly beneath him and her eyes widened. “You’re still hard?”
He nodded with a grin. “It’s one of the benefits of being me. I don’t get soft unless I want to.”
She returned the grin. “Really?” With a jerk, she rolled, putting herself on top of him. She rotated her hips in a slow circle. Her eyes closed slowly, and her face went slack, as she focused on the feelings that coursed through her body. “I want to prove this, no matter how long it takes” she whispered and, rising up, began to ride him.
***
(4/16/06 0600 Kingdom of Haven)
Poppet hugged Jamie fiercely. “I’m sorry about what happened to Paige, but I’m so glad you didn’t die.” They stood in the family garden and she watched as he poured the ashes into a container and began mixing an equal amount of moist soil with them. The soil would keep Paige’s ashes from blowing so much on the island’s constant breeze.
Ginevra stood guard just out of sight of the two of them. She’d been pretty much ever-present since Jamie almost died and, when she considered it impartially, Poppet heartily approved of her diligence.
He glanced at his mother as he mixed. “I almost did. Ginevra wants me to become a kami just as soon as I can, so as to avoid my coming any closer.”
Poppet sighed. “I don’t know what to say. It would make you a lot harder to kill, but I don’t know if I can support you in changing so much.” She grimaced. “I know I’m married to a kami and I love Shikarou with all my heart; but, I don’t know, Jamie.”
“Me either.” He finished and put the spoon down. “I’ll probably do it, though; if only to avoid what I felt when I almost died. More importantly, Gin and Madison can become kami, too; and it’ll be harder to lose them. Losing Paige hurt more than I want to ever hurt again, and I didn’t have her that long. I’ve got much stronger feelings for Ginevra and Maddy.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He snorted and began pouring the container’s contents into a cloth bag. “Do I want to talk about it? I don’t even want to remember it, but I see it every night in my dreams. Over and over, I watch her die and, just like when it happened, there’s nothing I can do to save her.” He looked at her and his eyes glittered with tears. “Kerrik’s right and I didn’t fail her; but I didn’t protect her either, and it eats at me.”
His mother put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “Good. It’s supposed to hurt and the fact that it does means you are still the man that’s made me very proud of you, in spite of all the time you spent…,” she broke off suddenly.
“Kerrik hurts, too, mother. He liked Paige and he’s not happy about her death.” They moved into the garden proper and Jamie began slowly scattering the contents of the bag as they walked. “I saw it in his eyes when he was looking at her body and thought I wasn’t watching.”
“He’s older than time, Jamie, and one more death isn’t going to bother him.”
Jamie stopped and turned to face her. “I thought that, too, but I don’t think so anymore. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to protect me and my harem. I know he always makes the excuse that he doesn’t want to spend several years listening to you accuse him of letting me die; but your hectoring him has never had any effect before. Why should it start after my death?” He went back to walking and distributing Paige’s ashes and his mother fell in beside him.
Poppet looked thoughtful for a moment and then uncomfortable. “He’s been leading me on,” she said slowly. “That sneaky bastard has been leading me on and I never noticed it.”
Jamie assumed a wise look. “He’s older than time, mother, and tricking one more unicorn isn’t going to bother him.”
She suddenly giggled and then looked shocked. “Jamie, don’t do that. If someone saw me laughing, it would ruin my reputation.”
“Do you really have to continue being ‘Poppet the cold bitch’?”
She shrugged. “I have for so long, I’m not sure I can be anything else, at least not to most people. However, this is a new world and we can all redefine ourselves, as Circe would tell me. I promise to consider all of the ramifications and, if it doesn’t hurt, I’ll try to be warmer to non-family.”
Jamie finished scattering the contents of the bag and turned it inside out before shaking it. “We’ll come back for the family remembrance on midsummer’s day. There’s some family you can be nicer to as well, mother.”
“Ok, I’ll try with them, too.” She slipped her arm through his as he tucked the bag into his pocket. “So, do you have any interesting news from Marco Island, other than the attack?”
Her son regarded her for a long moment. “I suppose there’s Raven.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Who or what is Raven?”
“She’s a near human pokegirl, and is kind of short and very curvy, with an hourglass figure. She’s got purple hair and eyes.”
Poppet folded her arms and gave him an expectant look. “You haven’t given me such a long buildup since you dismantled my Napoleonic era writing desk.”
He grinned. “I thought it would be best to carefully explain my thought processes before you found out it had been taken apart. Then you’d be willing to understand and forgive me for it. I did find a secret compartment, I might add.”
She gave him a stern stare. “It was one that I already knew all about.”
“Oh. You never said that.”
“I didn’t want to crush your spirit entirely, just where it involved my keepsakes from Jamie. What kind of pokegirl is this Raven?” She shook her head. “Who gives a pokegirl a name like that? I presume from the buildup, and the fact that Ginevra didn’t look angry, that she’s not a new addition to your harem.”
“That would be correct.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “She’s an archmage.”
Poppet cocked her head. “That’s pretty rare. I thought Kasumi’s was the only one we’d brought.”
“She’s a local girl.”
His mother stared at him. “Sukebe didn’t discover the archmage evolution until right before the end. He didn’t make more than a hundred of them and most of those died when things fell apart.”
“I know. It doesn’t change the fact that she’s an archmage and she seems to be a pretty powerful one, too; although all of her magic is purple, even her light spell.”
Poppet snickered. “That would be odd.” Her eyes flicked in his direction. “You’re avoiding giving me the important information. I haven’t missed that.”
Jamie grinned. “She didn’t have a name when she joined us, and was named Raven by Kerrik.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Kerrik named her? Usually her…,” she broke off as her eyes went wide.
“Yea, usually her tamer names her. He did.”
Poppet looked around warily. “Who here knows?”
Jamie’s grin widened. “Only you.”
She grinned back. “That’s quite a gift, son. Thank you.”
“Kerrik suggested it. He said you’d know how to get the maximum mileage out of it.”
She began chuckling. “Tell him that I owe him a big kiss the next time I see him. He’s right and I’m going to drive everyone else mad with hints before they find out.” She glanced at Jamie. “I presume this means he’ll help?”
“He said he’ll be his usual frustrating source of information.”
She clapped her hands together. “Oh, goodie!”
***
Name: Wolf, Jamie Harris
Age: 17
Residence: Kingdom of Haven
Status: Active
Rank: NA
Security Clearance: Theta
Licenses
Tamer Y
Master Tamer Y
Researcher N
Watcher N
Breeder Y
Active Harem
Species Name
Demoness Ginevra
Duelist Madison
Alpha: Ginevra
Beta: None