Harris Saga Chapter 15
“So the trip back took a week, but then we weren’t in any real hurry.” Devon shrugged. “And that brings us to now.”
Flo smiled. “It was nice of you to get some of her stuff from her home. She’s really excited about that.”
“Just glad everything ended relatively well. We’ve gotten the bounty for destroying the Wasps and I even got something extra for the Queen that we brought back.” He dug around in a pocket. “That reminds me. I wanted to give a donation to the orphanage. I think this is a wonderful idea and I want to help support your work. Where is your card reader at?”
“It’s over next to the computer. Thanks a lot. Every little bit helps.” Flo gave him an interested look. “So where is your Enchantress?”
“I realize that you and Lamya got off to a bad start, so I put everyone except Tess up for the day. She’s my guard.” He shrugged. “Lamya sometimes gets that way when she doesn’t think she’s getting enough attention.
“Are you sure it wasn’t so you could spend some time with me?” Flo gave him a curious look.
“Well I did talk to Letitia about you and she stressed just how lonely you are and asked me to give you a good Taming. So if you are still interested?” He gave her an odd look, his eyes glinting in the afternoon light. “Letitia told me a lot about you. I’ve never been with a girl with a bunch of piercings. How does one work around those?”
“How about I show you?” She took his hand. “This table is much sturdier than it looks.”
“Let’s go to the bedroom instead. I really don’t want to be rushed. You never know what I might catch on or pinch.”
She giggled and winked, her eyes bright. “Sometimes that’s part of the fun.” She led him out of the room.
***
Florence stared again at the display. “Are you sure you want to give that much?”
Devon shook his head. “With what you are wearing, I’m fortunate I didn’t accidentally give you my entire account.”
She giggled and looked down at her nude body. Her nipple rings gleamed in the overhead lights and tattoos laced her form. “Flattery sir, will get you anywhere you want, but weren’t you just there?” She smiled at him. “If you are sure you want to donate all that, I won’t turn it down.”
“If I didn’t think you would use it well, I wouldn’t have offered it to you. Letitia spoke very highly of your work and like I said earlier I think this is a great idea for pokegirls. Of course if you keep arguing, I’ll just take it back.”
Flo stabbed the send key quickly. “Too late. So when are you leaving?”
“We will be leaving in the morning.”
“So why aren’t we in bed?”
“I’m not sure. I thought that perhaps you were tired of me.”
“Maybe, but since you are still here I might as well check and make sure.” With that she grabbed him and dragged him off to her room yet again.
***
Devon’s phone played a song that none of the harem had heard before. Lamya looked over. “What song is that?”
Devon smiled. “It’s an old song called ‘Super Freak.’ It’s by an artist from before the fall whose name was Rick James.” He unclipped his phone. “Hello Florence.” He listened as Tess and Kathryn looked at each other in horror. They hadn’t counted on this.
“She did it again? This is insane.” He sighed and waved up at Hatsumi. She turned and raced down to land as Devon continued his conversation. “Yes we went due north. We’re probably a day from her house. If we turn around we should run into her if she went north again. Of course we’ll look for her again. Thank you. Bye.”
“Zelda ran away again. She made up her bed to look like she was in it, so no one is sure just how much of a head start she’s gotten this time, but it can’t be more than a day. So we’ll backtrack and see if we can find her.”
“My lord, would Flo be less upset if she were to discover that Zelda had chosen a Tamer and instead of running away had actually left to be with him?”
“Do you have any evidence that this is what is happening?” Devon looked thoughtfully at the sky. “She’s too young to be put into a pokeball, so if she has a Tamer, he can’t hide her. Technically she’s too young to be Tamed, so her Tamer is going to have to be willing to wait, or else the rest of his harem is going to either rip him to shreds or report him to the authorities, unless they are somehow in on the whole thing.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Dear followers of darkness. She’s coming here. She’s coming after us.”
“Did any of you know that she was going to do this?”
Kathryn grasped his hand firmly. “No, husband, we did not know that she was going to do this, but some of us suspected that she might.” She wrapped his arm around herself and leaned against him. “Unfortunately ye did all the right things. Ye saved her from the Wasps and then ye even avenged the death of her family. Afterwards ye gathered up her family’s valuables and gave them to her in a backpack. Ye might not have considered that is how yer harem wives carry their personal belongings. She never spoke of it to anyone in the harem, but some of the things she said to you made us wonder if she hadn’t decided that her place was here.”
“She’s not as young as you think she is. She’ll be old enough for a pokeball within a month or two. I think ye were deceived by the fact that she is still a Pia, and they always look very young, at least according to Hatsumi. Perhaps you should update the pokedex entry to reflect that.”
“And she’s feral born and country bred, like I was. If she’s anything like me, she’ll be sexually active younger than a similar aged domestic Peekabu would be.”
She gave him a direct look. “I lost me maidenhead when I was thirteen to the man I thought would be me Tamer.”
“Why aren’t you with him?”
“It’s not important. What is important is the question of what ye are going to do when Zelda walks into camp. She strikes me as a very determined girl, and if ye return her to the orphanage, she most likely will leave again unless Flo is willing to lock her up. Ye can’t tell who she might fall in with if she doesn’t stay here.”
“I thought I was supposed to be in charge here?” Devon sounded more amused than angry. Tess visibly relaxed.
“Ye are, as much as ye can be. Ye set us up as yer wives, not as yer soldiers or yer slaves. I think it’ll make us all stronger in the long run, but it meant that ye gave up a level of control that less caring Tamers have over their pokegirls.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gently pulled him down for a kiss. “Speaking purely as a disinterested party, mind ye, I think ye made a wise choice in the way yer doing things.”
“The only people who might be upset are other Tamers, for when their harems see how happy we are they’re going to be getting thoughts of their own and that may not bode well for them.”
Tess gave a grim smile. “And woe betides any poor scut that is unlucky enough to actually defeat you and claim one of us.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I can just see Hatsumi killing the guy to get her sister back, and then what would you do with all of his pokegirls?” Tess gave him a wink. “We’ve got a good thing going here and I for one intend to be rather selective about who I let into our family.” There was a murmur of agreement.
Devon shook his head. “If that’s the way you feel, I guess we’ll just have to not loose any salvage battles. Unfortunately we all know that’s a pretty tall order.”
“You didn’t answer your alpha’s question, master Devon. Hatsumi wants to know what you are going to do with Zelda. You need an electric type in your harem.”
“I get the feeling I’m going to lose this one no matter what I say.” Chuckles sounded around him. “I’ve got an idea. If I don’t fight Zelda staying, can I grow a beard as a reward?”
Lamya spoke up. “Sorry, Devon, but some things are just not negotiable.”
“Darn. Ok, let’s backtrack and see if you are right about Zelda. When we find her I’ll straighten things out with Florence.”
“Hatsumi thinks that Florence will not be any trouble for master’s charm. Even if she proves resistant, there are other factors involved that should make her amenable.”
Devon looked puzzled. “What other factors are you talking about?”
“Florence is Letitia’s sister.”
“So what does that have to do with anything?”
“That means that Florence is a pokewoman too.”
Devon turned white. He stared at Hatsumi in shock. “You don’t mean that you think Florence is trying to get pregnant.”
“Hatsumi means that exactly. She knows that you are fertile and we know from Letitia’s vids to Kathryn and Lamya that she is very proud of what you have done and are doing. Florence was undoubtedly influenced by that and thus had no defense against your charm.”
“I don’t have some mysterious charm!!!”
“Hatsumi knows otherwise.”
Devon dropped his head into his hands. “Since I know there isn’t any way I can win any of this, fine. Ladies, let’s go find Zelda and discover if she is your missing sister or not.”
***
“Hello, Zelda.”
She slipped off her backpack and gave him an angry look. “You didn’t take me with you.”
“You didn’t stay at the orphanage.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I never said I would.”
“I never said I’d take you with me from the orphanage.”
“You said you’d be my best friend!”
“Aye, that I did. And you are going with us from now on.”
The Pia’s eyes widened. “You mean that?”
“Yes. You are officially a part of the harem now.” She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.
“Are you going to give me a new name like you did for everyone else?”
“Do you want one?”
She thought about it for a minute. “I like Zelda. Can I keep it?” She gave him a wide smile. “But you can still call me Precious. I like that too.”
“If that is what you like.” Devon reached for her pack, only to have her pull it away. “Wouldn’t you like me to take that for a while?”
She shook her head emphatically. “It’s mine!” The Pia resolutely shouldered it. “I can carry it. You’ll see how strong I am!”
“Somehow I don’t doubt that for a minute.” He waved Kathryn over.
“Aye, husband, what can I do for ye?” She gave him a carefully bland look.
“Don’t look so smug. Fine, you were right.” Kathryn smirked at him as he continued. “Zelda is joining the harem. Since she can’t go into a pokeball yet, I don’t think she’ll count against my maximum count and that means no one else needs to go into storage now that Hatsumi’s asleep.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that she’s one of us now, and I want her put into the regular training rotations along with everyone else.” Zelda beamed at his words. “Don’t cut her any slack either. According to the pokedex, Pia’s have lousy aim with their attacks and I want Zelda to be the exception that proves the rule.”
“Verra well.” She gave him a smile. “Anything else ye want me to do with her?”
“No, just fit her in with everyone else.”
“Aye I’ll make sure that she pulls her weight. Come along, Zelda.”
Devon watched them go as he pulled out his phone. As the phone connected with Florence’s, he considered if Zelda’s presence would change anything and decided that while it might slow them down a little, otherwise they could stick to the current plan, which was to travel north from Belfast to a small community called Larne. From there the plan was to follow the coast to Ballycastle, which was located not to far from Rathlin Island.
He’d wanted to cross over to Kintyre and travel up to Carradale to challenge the gym there, however Lamya had pointed out that there was an Irish gym at Buncrana, which wasn’t that far away. If he got a badge there, he’d have three after getting one at Carradale. And having the Buncrana badge would make it easier after getting the Glasgow badge. He could hit the gyms at Dumfries and Aberdeen and not have to consider traveling to Blackhill on the Isle of Sky, where the last Scottish gym was located.
On the other hand, the Blackhill gym was remote enough that they might go easier on him out of the sheer joy of seeing a visitor. It was a doubtful proposition, since there were more than enough Scottish Tamers who tried to ignore that anyone else’s gyms existed, at least until time began to run short, but he have a better chance of running across some rare pokegirls on the trip as well as fine tune his harem’s training.
This would take some serious consideration before he made a decision.
He was pulled away from this thought when Florence appeared on his phone. She was bouncing a young Squirtitty on her knee.
“Hi, Devon, do you have any word on Zelda?” She sounded anxious.
“We found her. She’s ok.”
“That’s excellent. When can I expect you back?” The Squirtitty was making high pitched excited noises as she bounced.
Devon decided to be direct. “Zelda came looking for me. It turns out that she’s decided that we are her new family and if I bring her back she’ll only take off again.”
Florence frowned slightly. “Are you sure keeping her is a good idea?” She looked thoughtful for a moment, while still bouncing the young pokegirl. “From what I know of you and what Letitia has told me, I know she’ll be fine with you. I’m just concerned about how much trouble she might cause you with anyone you run across. Legally you have no right to keep her with you.”
“Actually, her being with me would only be illegal if I were Taming her. There’s no reason why she couldn’t travel with me.”
“It’s still unusual, Devon, and most people you meet will assume you are Taming her, and that could cause you a whole lot of trouble. Is she going to join your harem when she comes of age?”
“Yes she is, unless she decides she wants something else. And as for other people’s assumptions, who cares. They won’t find any proof that I’m doing anything wrong.” He grimaced. “And we both know that even if I was Taming her, most people wouldn’t care anyway. She’s just a pokegirl.”
“I like that as little as you do, but I have to agree with you on that.” She sighed. “Your keeping her is probably for the best. Someday she’ll evolve to Peekabu and no one will care a bit then.”
“I must admit I’m more than slightly disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing you again, Devon. When do you think you’ll be coming out this way?”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He sighed. “I need to ask this. Are you trying to get pregnant by me?”
She gave him a shy smile. “I would like to. I may be already, but I won’t know for a couple of days. You came by at the height of my fertile period and were very vigorous, so I’m hopeful. Are you upset?”
“I think I am surprised more than anything else. Considering my genetic problems, I think I would be one of the last choices for anyone to want to breed with.”
“Well Tamer’s disease isn’t very common so I don’t expect there to be any problems in that regard, and otherwise you are a good physical specimen. You’re also kind and considerate, and believe it or not that is important to pokegirls too. Human women value that sort of thing as well, or so my conversations with Karen Cooper would lead me to believe.” She gave him a wicked grin.
“I think Karen is looking forward to seeing what kind of baby we produce. You might want to be careful around her in the future.”
Devon scoffed. “I don’t see any human woman wanting to reproduce with an oddity like me.”
“Devon, what happened to you to give you such a negative self image?”
“That’s not negative, that’s realistic.”
Florence sighed. “I need to talk to Letitia about this. She knows a lot more about psychology than I do.” She refocused on Devon. “Anyway, I’m excited about having your baby. Under the law you have no responsibilities to me or the child and I don’t expect you to be around much for it, but I know you’ll try to in spite of what I want. As soon as I know whether or not I’m pregnant I’ll let you know.” She smiled. “In any case feel free to drop by any time. If I am pregnant, you can help with the horniness, and if I’m not pregnant, then you can help to correct the situation.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Devon shook his head. “I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Ok. Bye.” The connection broke.
Devon stared at the blank screen for a long time. First Letitia and now Florence are pregnant. I’m fifteen and these women are having my kids. I don’t know if I’m ready for this. He was struck by a thought. Both of them are NurseJoys. Maybe I should avoid getting intimate with any other NurseJoys. There seems to be a design flaw somewhere.
***
Vivien looked down on the tiny community nestled in the forest clearing. “What do you know about Larne, Devon?”
“Like many other places, Larne was destroyed during the fall and rebuilt. It’s a tiny little community that survives today by some light agriculture and lots of fishing. It’s too small to have a pokegirl center and the only police support they have are from rangers that swing through infrequently.”
Vivien summed it up. “It’s a dump.”
Devon shook his head. “No, it’s small and quaint.”
“That’s what I said.”
He couldn’t help but laugh.
Zelda just frowned. “I think it’s pretty.”
Vivien shook her head. “What do you expect to find here?”
“A hot bath and room would be nice.”
She gave him a thoughtful look and then smiled. “Sounds like a good idea to me.” She gave him a sidelong glance. “If they have a private room, it isn’t likely to be very large.”
Devon gave her a dry look. “I’ll check with Kathryn and see whose turn it is supposed to be.”
Zelda grinned. “Not hers,” she offered cheerfully. Vivien gave her an irritated look.
“Who asked you,” she grumbled. “I want more attention from you. Devon, I don’t think my libido is acting the way it is supposed to for an Umbrea.”
“I’ve got a long list of the ways in which you are not typical. Most of them seem to be the result of the peculiarities of your evolution.” He sighed, “I’d like to update the pokedex entry on the Umbrea with this new information, but I haven’t figured out a way to do it without telling all of the specifics.”
“Is that a problem?” Vivien scratched an ear idly.
“I suppose it is only a problem if I don’t want to confess to having committed kidnapping or murder.”
“Oh, that.”
Devon just rubbed his forehead. “Yeah, that. Let’s go see if we can get a room.” The three of them proceeded down to Larne.
It was a quiet little community, and Devon saw little signs of life. He was pleased to find that there was a small motel, and that they had a room. He dropped off his gear and the three of them went looking for a restaurant. The only place to get a bite appeared to be the White Stag, the local pub.
“I guess beggars can’t be choosers,” Devon muttered. Pub food was not his first choice. However it looked like he could eat here or choke down some delicious rations from his pokepack back at the motel.
Pubs often ran the spectrum. He’d been in a couple that were almost antiseptically clean and one where they actually threw rushes on the floor to sop up the mud just like they did in the Middle Ages. This one was clearly on the clean side, which made Devon perfectly happy.
The place was nearly empty, with only one table currently occupied. Devon frowned. It was early evening and usually there would be a couple of farmers in a place like this already, getting a head start on the liquid portion of their evening meal.
A Bunnygirl in a blue dress came from behind the bar and approached the three of them. “Good afternoon and welcome to the White Stag. I’m sorry but the kitchen is having a spot of trouble so I’m sure you’d rather eat somewhere else. The kitchen should be fine in a couple of hours.” She seemed slightly nervous.
Zelda looked at her strangely. “There is no other place to eat. What do you expect us to do, starve?”
The Bunnygirl gave a weak smile. “I’m terribly sorry, but it would be best if you just left.”
“What is going on here?” Devon kept his voice low.
“She’s concerned that I’m not going to wait until you get outside before I thrash you for disturbing my meal.” That came from the occupied table. “No one eats while I am enjoying my meal, isn’t that right Marge?”
The Bunnygirl simpered. “That’s right, Mr. Ogilve. So if you just leave you can come back in a couple of hours.” She looked slightly queasy.
Devon decided that whatever was going on, it wasn’t his problem. “Come on, we can just eat in the room.”
Mr. Ogilve pushed his chair back and got up. “Wait just a minute. You’re new in town aren’t you?” The Bunnygirl winced and backed away.
Devon kept his voice pleasant. “That’s right. I’m sorry we disturbed your meal. We’ll just leave you in peace to tuck in.”
“You haven’t been dismissed yet.” Ogilve came forward. He was in his early to mid twenties and still had an athletic spring to his step. “You’ll have to pay the entrance tax. You can either give me one of your pokegirls or leave me both of them for the night.”
Devon’s hand touched his belt before he remembered his sword was in his room.
“With all due respect, I don’t really think that would work out. We’ll just collect our things and be on our way.”
“No, you won’t.” He gave Devon a sneer. “You will pay the tax or I’ll have Paulette kick your arse and you’ll pay the tax anyway. The first way saves you a beating.” He smirked and pulled a pokeball from his belt. “Here, I’ll let you meet Paulette and that will help you to decide if you want that whipping.”
He released a rather ordinary looking girl. She was muscular with a trim build and long bright green hair. “Say hello, Paulette.”
She glanced back at him and then turned her attention on Devon. “You’d better give him what he wants or I’m going to break you in half. Your pokegirls don’t stand a chance against me.”
Devon unclipped his pokedex and aimed it at Paulette. “Neo Iczel, the super pokegirl. Neo Iczel is a very powerful magic type and extreme caution is advised.”
“You heard the pokedex. So give Mr. Ogilve what he wants and I won’t have to hurt you.” Paulette sounded bored.
Devon knew this was bad. He only had a few options, and none of them were pleasant. He decided to choose the one that would get the fewest people hurt. The only downside this little plan had was that the people who were involved would probably get seriously hurt. And the fact was that he would be one of them.
“Very well, I accept, with two stipulations.”
Paulette blinked in surprise. “You are going to go through with it? Neither your Umbrea or your Pia stand a chance.”
“Not them. You challenged me. So you’ll fight me.”
This time Paulette looked astounded. Then she shrugged. “What are your stipulations?”
“That we fight outside and that you fight me like a human would.”
“I forbid this!” Ogilve did not sound happy.
“See, he’s afraid you’ll lose to me.” Devon tried to sound confident. Even though he was wearing the armor Tess had made for him, this was going to hurt. But it was the only choice he had. And it all turned on the famed arrogance of the Neo Iczel. So he had to push.
Paulette started to look angry. “He’s my Tamer, not my boss. He doesn’t own me.”
Devon smiled. “Of course he’s not your master. He just orders you to fight however he wants and to fuck whenever he wants. I sincerely doubt he thinks of you as anything else.” He grinned evilly. “He just tells you what, where, and how long to do it.” He raised his voice to a soprano. “Paulette, bring me a towel. Paulette, pop the zit on my ass. Paulette, I need a blowjob.”
The Neo Iczel purpled. “No one does that to me,” she snarled. “Let’s go outside. I’ll teach you that even without my powers you still can’t hope to win.”
Ogilve glared. “Come back inside with my prizes once you’ve won.” He returned to his table.
She stomped out as Devon politely waved her on ahead. He dropped his voice as he followed. “Zelda, I want you to run to the motel room and let Hatsumi out of long term storage. Tell her that I need her right away and if she doesn’t hurry she’s going to get to dig my grave. Then let everyone else out of my belt and get back here.”
Zelda nodded her head, her face tight with worry. Vivien looked at Devon. “I’d last longer than you in a fight with her.”
Devon disagreed. “She’d be free to use her powers in a fight with you. She’d just stay up high where you couldn’t reach her and burn the town down to get you. Stay out of this unless you think I’m about to die.”
“And then?”
“Feel free to interfere. I shouldn’t be conscious at that point, so I won’t care.”
Zelda ran off as he turned to face Paulette. Vivien leaned against the wall of the pub, her body tense.
Without any warning, Paulette charged. She had one hand back as she quickly closed, her fist cocked. Her other hand was out, grasping for the front of his armor. Devon grasped her hand and pulled backwards, falling as he did so. He placed both feet in her stomach and rolled backwards, kicking out with all of his strength. Paulette flew to smash into the corner of the building behind him. She let out a screech as she fell to the ground.
She slowly picked herself up as Devon rolled to his feet. She rubbed her back. “You are stronger than a normal human.”
“I’ve three times the strength of a human and I’ve done weight training my whole life. I’m still not in your league, but at least it will make things challenging.”
“You still can’t win.” She closed, more carefully this time. When she was in close range, she lunged. Devon snap kicked her in the crotch.
Paulette went down and curled up, but not before hitting him in the chest. Devon flew across the street.
He picked himself up slowly. He sent Tess a silent thank you. The armor had kept his chest from caving in. It still felt like he had a couple of cracked ribs. He winced as he moved. He felt wetness on his face and wiped away blood.
Paulette slowly clambered to her feet. A slight bit of respect glinted in her eyes. “Good shot. I like sneaky people.”
“Thanks.” Devon sucked air and winced. He spat blood from where his teeth had cut the inside of his mouth when he landed.
Paulette was limping slightly as she closed. At this point, Devon counted that as a win.
She grabbed his right arm and twisted hard. Pain shot up his arm as she pulled him against her. “Yield and this will all be over.” Devon slammed his forehead into hers. She rocked back and grinned. “You do it like this.” Her head slammed into his.
Devon’s world went white. When it cleared, Paulette twisted his arm further. They both heard it crack. Devon jerked in agony. She gave him a concerned look. “You can’t win. Surrender and the pain will stop.”
Devon took her by the throat and squeezed with all of the strength in his left hand. She smiled. “Nice try, but you are not that strong. Give it up.” She rotated his arm another couple of degrees. Pain exploded up Devon’s shoulder as muscles tore.
You talk too much. Devon drove the claws on his left hand deep into her throat. She made a strangled noise and threw him across the street.
Devon slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position with his good arm. Paulette was on her knees, blood spilling from between her hands and down her front. She slowly toppled sideways.
Hatsumi flew quickly down the street and landed in front of Devon. She put her hands on him and healing energy poured through his body, pushing the pain away. “Master should be more careful when Hatsumi is not around.”
He smiled weakly. “I try, honest I do.” She helped him to his feet. Zelda took one look at him, blanched, and ran into the White Stag, her face set. Vivien followed her inside.
Lamya landed and tucked his good arm over her. “Lean on me, master.” Kathryn and Tess landed nearby as Seraphina and Dima pounded down the street.
“Master?”
Lamya winked. “We’re in public.”
Tess looked at his arm. “Hatsumi, I want you to go get Letitia. You can’t completely heal this without permanent damage.”
“Hatsumi goes.”
Devon interrupted. “Wait. Heal Paulette before you do. I don’t want her to die.”
“Hatsumi must protest. One less Neo Iczel in the world is a good thing. Why does master Devon want to ruin such a nice event?” She gave him a hard look. “You cannot keep her in the harem. She would always be picking fights with Hatsumi who would then crush her. But Neo Iczel is too stupid to know when she is completely beat. Hatsumi would have to crush stupid Neo Iczel every day.”
“Stop arguing in the hopes she’ll bleed out while we’re talking and heal her now.”
Hatsumi opened her mouth to argue some more but Devon cut her off. “I won’t try to keep her in the harem. I value you too much. You are one of my wives.”
“But she could have killed me at any time and instead she kept trying to get me to yield. She’s the first honorable person I’ve fought other than Karen since I started this blasted journey and I won’t let her die, damn it!”
Hatsumi blinked and bowed. “Hai, master Devon.” She walked over and laid hands on Paulette. “Nasty Neo Iczel will live. May Hatsumi go get Letitia now?”
“Go with my blessing.” She vanished.
There was a crash from inside the White Stag along with the sound of yelling. Mr. Ogilve came stumbling out the front door, his clothes covered with food. Zelda stepped out the doorway behind him, set herself, and nailed him in the small of back with a heavy cast iron skillet. He flew into the street.
Zelda followed, once more aiming her skillet. Behind her the Bunnygirl appeared; a club in her hand, intent on the same quarry. Vivien appeared in the doorway, her hand over her mouth. Muffled laughter escaped. She walked across the street as Zelda and the Bunnygirl chased Ogilve up the street. “He’s not so popular now that he’s lost his pokegirl.”
Devon sighed. “Take him into custody. Let’s find out what is going on here.” All of his pokegirls looked at each other. Devon sighed. “Dima, Vivien, arrest that git and stop his beating.”
Kathryn looked at him as the two headed down to where Ogilve had been beaten to his knees by Zelda and the Bunnygirl in order to carry out his orders. “Do ye have the authority to do this, Devon?”
“Yeah, Theta level clearance, remember. That means I can make arrests in the name of the Blue League.”
Kathryn looked down at the group. Dima was arguing with the Bunnygirl and finally just picked her up and moved her out of the way. Vivien had a few words with Zelda, who shrugged and beaned Ogilve with the skillet before stepping back and handing it to the Bunnygirl. Dima spoke briefly with Vivien and then took the unconscious Ogilve by the leg and began dragging him back up the street towards Devon.
Devon fought down a laugh as he watched.
Hatsumi appeared with Letitia in her arms. The NurseJoy jumped out her arms and ran over to Devon. “The human arm isn’t supposed to point in that direction. What happened?” She began using her healing powers on him.
“I had a little disagreement with that Neo Iczel over there.” He gave her a warm smile. Her magic made him feel mellow. “Hi.” He slowly stood on his own.
“Don’t you hi me. You need to be more careful, or our child is going to grow up without a father.” She glared at him.
“Good to see you too. Could you heal the Neo Iczel when you get done with me, please?”
She sighed. “I can’t stay mad at you. Since you asked, I’ll take care of her too, even though she tried to kill you.”
Devon shook his head in disagreement. “If she’d been out to kill me I’d be dead now.”
“Whatever.” Letitia started healing Paulette. She gestured at the unconscious Ogilve. “What about him?”
“He’s the one that decided to set Paulette on me with no warning. Let him hurt.” He gave her a speculative look. “I’m feeling much better. Can you stay the night?”
She dimpled. “I’d love to, but I’m on duty tonight and tomorrow. We’re expecting six births.” She laughed. “I just love working there.” She patted Paulette on the head. “All done. She just needs some rest and she’ll be fine.”
“I wish I could stay.” She pressed her lips against his and murmured. “I miss you. Come see me soon?”
“Keep reminding me and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Ok. I know how busy you are.” She pulled away with a smirk. “See ya.” She turned to Hatsumi. “Home, please.” They vanished.
Devon searched Ogilve and relieved him of all of his stuff. “It looks like he only has the one pokegirl. I suppose that’s common enough when you’ve got a Neo Iczel.”
“Master, how may I serve you?” Devon turned. Paulette was on her knees in front of him.
Behind her he watched as Hatsumi appeared out of the air.
“I will be your most loyal servant.” She looked up at him, her face imploring. “You used my own hubris to defeat me. No one has ever done that before. Before you, no one has defeated me without using their pokegirls. I limited myself, but only as a result of your masterful use of my own self against me. Please, keep me as your own pokegirl. I will be loyal and trustworthy. I will even be willing to share you with those who are less than I am.”
“I will swear to eagerly obey any of your orders. Please, don’t turn this loyal servant away, my lord.”
Devon sighed. “That is a very tempting offer, but I can’t keep you. I’ve got a pokegirl that you will absolutely not get along with.”
“I swear that I will.”
Devon sighed again and gestured to Hatsumi. “Will you explain it to her?”
Hatsumi stalked around to stand next to Devon. Paulette stared in surprise as Hatsumi glared at her. “Hatsumi knows all about silly little feud between Demon-Goddesses and Neo Iczel. Hatsumi was not there over Tokyo when whole silly feud began. Hatsumi not give shit about feud, except as opportunity to eat Neo Iczel.”
Devon looked at her in shock. He’d expected Hatsumi to grind in the fact that Paulette was not going to stay here as she so obviously wanted. Now he was left wondering what was going on.
“If Neo Iczel renounce stupid feud and swear blood oath to Hatsumi and her master, then Hatsumi will let you stay.”
Devon stared. What was she saying?
Paulette looked at her consideringly. “Why should I do such a thing?”
“Hatsumi know you not at Tokyo when feud start. You were not even borne yet. Hatsumi was alive at time and nowhere near Tokyo. If Hatsumi was there, there would be no silly feud. Hatsumi kill and eat both commanding generals and there be no problem today, except maybe Hatsumi’s stomach still hurt. Generals are notoriously bad for the digestion.”
“Hatsumi knows that you don’t even have teeny-tiny clue about feud. You only know you raised to hate Demon-Goddesses. So if you can rise above that and renounce silly feud then Hatsumi will not have to eat you. You not silly Scot or Irish. You noble pokegirl, so act like it.”
“Hatsumi repeat. If you swear blood oath then Hatsumi let you stay.” She glanced at Devon. “Master, he already looking for way to keep you. He wants to Tame you. Tame Tame Tame. That all he thinks about some times.”
Devon gave her an odd look. “Why is it that at certain times you speak in complete sentences and others you speak some weird pidgin?”
“Hatsumi talk level that listener understand. If listener seems intelligent, than Hatsumi speak intelligently. If listener seems stupid, then Hatsumi speak baby talk.”
She turned the glare on him. “Still is bad idea, to put Neo Iczel and Demon-Goddess in same harem. But if you determined to try, Hatsumi will find way.”
“So you are talking baby talk because you think I’m being stupid?”
“Hatsumi talk baby talk to master right now because is highest level Hatsumi can communicate in. If Hatsumi talk at master’s current level of intelligence would be waste. No can communicate with grunts and pointing.”
Laughter washed up around Devon. He noticed idly that Paulette had joined in. She rose to her feet. “If Hatsumi is willing to give this a try, in spite of how stupid she seems to think this is, then so am I. I will swear your oath.”
Hatsumi gave her the eye. “This is no ordinary oath. This is a blood oath and bound with magic. If you try to hurt Hatsumi after that, you will feel it more than Hatsumi will. If Hatsumi tries to hurt you, then Hatsumi will feel it more than you will.”
“You and Hatsumi will be bound for all time to master Devon. There is no going back from this except through death.”
“Are you afraid of this?” Paulette sounded skeptical.
“Hatsumi knows her master. He is worthy of this and will not let Hatsumi down.”
What about me? Devon watched as he was traded away. Don’t I get some say in this?
Apparently the answer to that was no as Paulette squared her shoulders. “Done.”
Hatsumi turned to Devon. “Do you want to do this, master Devon?”
“You think this is a good idea, right? Because I don’t know at all what is going on.”
“We will be with you forever. It will be like we are delta bonded.”
“What about the rest of the harem?”
“What about them? Hatsumi knows that you will never willingly give them up and wouldn’t want you to even if you might. They are good for you. Perhaps someday they will delta bond with you as well, for Hatsumi has seen signs of something like that from time to time.”
Devon looked around. “Does anyone have anything against this?”
Kathryn smiled. “Just a wee bit of jealousy that we are not involved, husband.” The Bunnygirl stared at her for a second. “But I think Hatsumi is right, Paulette would be valuable and this may be the only way to peacefully add her to the harem.”
Devon thought about the implications for a moment and then made his decision. “How is this done?”
“First, you will have to take off your arm guards. Your forearms must be free for this.” Tess came over and started unlacing his armor. Devon gave her a smile of thanks at the tacit approval. Hatsumi continued. “We will open wounds on each of our forearms and then press them together to form a circle. Hatsumi will press one arm against one of Paulette’s arms and the other against Devon’s. Paulette will press one of her arms against Hatsumi’s and one against Devon’s.”
“When the circle is complete, Hatsumi will lead you in reciting the oath. When it is done, we will be bound together by the blood oath.”
“Is that it?”
“It would help if you Tamed both of us soon afterwards. You need to Tame Paulette soon anyway, but this can come first.”
Paulette’s eyes narrowed. “I’m willing to do this, but I won’t share a bed with her.”
“Then you will Tame Paulette first and then Hatsumi.” Paulette started to protest and then subsided with a smile.
“When he Tames you he will be exhausted and unable to perform,” she promised. She looked puzzled when everyone laughed.
Vivien grinned. “Not unless you are bringing several friends, and not even then. Your new master has the blood gifts of recovery and endurance. That’s why we’re letting you in. Some of them want the break.” There was more laughter.
“Enough. We are ready to begin.” Hatsumi tore the sleeves off her gown. Devon and Paulette already had short sleeves.
“We must open wounds on Devon’s arms. They do not have to be big.” Hatsumi drew her chakmak from her khukuri’s scabbard. Devon held out his arms. “They must bleed freely.” Hatsumi cut one of his arms just below the wrist and handed the knife to Paulette. She mirrored the cut on his other arm. Then Hatsumi held out one of her arms. “Now you must cut Hatsumi.” Paulette did so.
“Now, Hatsumi cuts your arm.” Paulette had already held the chakmak out. Then she held her other arm out to Devon. Devon made a motion for the knife.
“No, master, you do not need that.” Hatsumi licked the knife clean and put it away. She held up her wrist near his mouth. “Bite me.” Paulette looked surprised.
“Are you sure?”
“This is supposed to be a very intimate act, master. If we had fangs, we would have bitten you.”
“Ok. You realize that I’ll be biting both the upper and lower part of your wrist?” At Hatsumi’s nod, Devon gently took Hatsumi’s arm in his mouth and carefully sank his fangs into her wrist. Blood welled in his mouth and he swallowed convulsively.
Hatsumi’s eyes glittered. “Master Devon has been keeping secrets. This is extraordinarily intimate. We will have to do this later, in private.” Her voice was low and warm. “Now you do Paulette.” Her smile was evil.
Paulette dubiously raised her arm as Devon let Hatsumi’s go. She offered it to him. The other members of the harem gathered around. The Bunnygirl was shooed off by Tess before she came over to join the others.
Devon carefully took Paulette’s wrist in his mouth and bit down firmly. She hissed as he swallowed her blood. Her eyes widened and then slowly closed. “Oh, god that feels so good. Isn’t it supposed to hurt?”
Devon slowly let her wrist go.
Hatsumi snapped her fingers to get Paulette’s attention. “Now we press wounds together to mix our blood and Hatsumi will lead you in the oath.”
As they pressed their forearms together Hatsumi lead them in the recitation of the blood oath. When they finished a pulse of energy raced through them. For a heartbeat, Devon saw out of three pairs of eyes.
Then it passed and Devon shivered as Hatsumi and Paulette collapsed.
Devon looked at his arms. On the inside of his wrists the cuts were gone, replaced by a different red glyph on each wrist.
Devon kneeled and lifted Hatsumi and Paulette gently. Both of them slowly stirred.
Hatsumi’s head lolled back and she took a deep breath. “Master has been keeping secrets from Hatsumi and the rest of the harem. Now you will be biting everyone here.” She giggled. “Master’s bite makes Hatsumi blood boil like fighting.” She nuzzled him gently. “Master must put Hatsumi in her pokeball or she will fight Neo Iczel for you.”
Devon nodded and looked around. Tess handed him his belt. Quickly he put Hatsumi up. He replaced the pokeball in his belt just as Paulette covered his mouth with hers. She moaned as they kissed.
Tess leaned over and stage whispered to Lamya as Devon scooped Paulette up in his arms, “I don’t know what he gave her, but I want some too.” There was a murmur of agreement.
Devon ignored them as he carried Paulette up the street.
***
Name: Harris, Devon Jamie
Age: 15
Residence: Highland County, Blue Continent
Region: Scotland
Status: Active
Rank: 35
Security Clearance: Theta
Licenses
Tamer Y
Master Tamer Y
Researcher N
Watcher N
Breeder Y
Active Harem
Species Level Name
Demon-Goddess 85 Hatsumi
Armsmistress 40 Tess
Neo-Iczel 37 Paulette
Foxx 31 Seraphina
Ladyien 29 Kathryn
Enchantress 27 Lamya
Baleena 27 Dima
Umbrea 27 Vivien
Pia 19 Zelda