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Loose Threads
Fifteen
“Why is she here?” Ygerna didn’t quite snarl the question, but the unhappiness was very evident in her voice and her body language fairly shouted her anger.
“I asked Kasumi here for at least the beginning of this discussion because she’s a Wolf and is as of yet still mostly neutral in the dispute you have with Shikarou. I hope she can act as a sounding board so we don’t go too far in formulating what you’re going to ask for in the way of redress for what they did with your books. I warned her in advance that you might not want to have her here and if you do you refuse her presence, I’ll ask her to leave.” Iain leaned back in his chair. They were back at the ranch and were sitting at a picnic table on the shore of the Toledo Bend Reservoir. Heather, Dianthus, Tara, Enid and Giselle were stationed as security while Eve, April and Lucifer were on the dock watching Olivia, Seraphina, Myrna and Saoirse playing in the water. Theodora’s drones, of course, hovered overhead, covering both land and water and all of her clan as well as their visitors.
Ygerna looked at Kasumi and the kami nodded. “He is correct and I have already agreed to withdraw if you wish, but I would like to stay if I can be of use as long as you both understand that I cannot commit the Kingdom of Haven to any course of action. That is entirely up to my husband.” She smiled. “But if you want me to leave, I will. If nothing else, I can use the extra time to read up on Iain’s stories or do some research into the British Empire before our trip to Glasgow this afternoon.”
“You realize my first wish would be your husband’s head on a pike, don’t you?”
“And I’d say that’s a bit excessive,” Iain said before Kasumi could speak.
“How about I get his organs on a pike? He should survive that, but I’d have the dick he fucked me with for all of these years.”
“Still just a tad excessive,” Iain replied. Kasumi looked totally shocked and he smiled. “In case you haven’t figured it out, Ygerna has some unresolved resentment towards both Shikarou and Faelan about the way she was led around by the nose with their hints of joining your family in addition to her fury over the way her library was stolen from her.”
“I was beginning to suspect something like that might be the case,” Kasumi said dryly. “But I would like to point out that her library wasn’t truly stolen since she has possession of it now.”
Ygerna started to say something but stopped. She took a deep breath and turned to Iain. “See if you can explain it since what I want to say might result in this conversation being held from now on through seconds.”
Iain chuckled. “If you two are going to fight, I’d rather it be over something important like me.” He grinned when Kasumi gave him a hard look. “Or not at all if you must. Kasumi, the problem is that Shikarou believed he had nicked her library and there was no way she could ever get it back because he’d given it to Caspa for safekeeping. At that point the best anyone could expect was that some of the books could be copied for Ygerna. Ygerna believed it too and so did Faelan. All of the principals involved believed her books were in Caspa’s possession forever. It took me, a third party with no real interest in the situation, to reveal that wasn’t true. That means as far as the dispute is concerned this is an unrecoverable theft issue.”
“I see. I don’t understand entirely, but I see.”
“OK, Ygerna, can I offer some advice?”
She raised an eyebrow. “If I say no, what will you do?”
“I’ll let you do this on your own, as you well know.”
“I am a master of negotiation, Iain. Why would I want your help?”
“Because you did so well negotiating your way into the Wolf family,” Iain pointed out, “that this discussion isn’t really taking place since you’re married to Faelan and have three point two children with somebody.”
Kasumi’s mouth dropped. “Do you have a death wish?”
Ygerna waved her down. “Iain is reminding me that he has already proven of some small utility to me.” She smirked at him. “If that had happened, when I finally met you and realized what you are, I’d have eventually regretted that decision to marry Faelan instead of you. Advise me, clan leader.”
“Actually, that is a perfect lead in for what I want to explain. The biggest problem I see is that you are looking at this issue from a Sidhe perspective, which, by the way is almost the same as a kami perspective, so Shikarou will see it the same way.” He paused but both women remained silent and attentive so he continued. “For both groups, redress is synonymous with revenge. In your mind, true or not, Shikarou and Faelan stole your legacy and led you on for years with falsehoods about your future with them. You’d like to repay that by chaining them both over razor wire covered rocks and fucking them up the ass with an unlubricated fifty eight centimeter strap on.”
Ygerna smiled amusedly. “I’d like Svetlana and Branwyn to be right next to them for me to hammer with it as well, but yes.”
Kasumi was staring in horror from Iain to Ygerna and back. Iain cocked his head curiously and smiled thinly. “Let me guess, it’s the specificity and graphicness of the image I just painted?”
“I am just not used to hearing such crudity from civilized persons,” Kasumi finally said.
Iain snorted. “I’m not kami and I’m a Westerner. Aren’t I automatically a barbarian?”
“You have been a very civilized barbarian up to this point, Iain. I would appreciate a little less crudity for this discussion, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“All right, I’ll see what I can do.” He looked at Ygerna. “What I think you should instead do is look at redress the way that I do, which is from a clan perspective at least as much as I can since I’m not really clan. Clans consider redress to be compensation for a wrong and try to avoid committing another wrong in seeking this compensation. The idea is that at the end of it you have made the other person unhappy but hopefully they don’t hate you any more than they did before you took this compensation from them.”
Ygerna gave him a skeptical look. “This is from the man who keeps discussing deploying nuclear weapons against the Capital league?”
“For the record, I have not destroyed Capital. I will admit to spending some few minutes imagining the firestorms resulting from megaton level air bursts over Capital’s cities, but I have not attacked the league or sought redress from them either.”
Ygerna shook her head. “That’s because your women won’t let you.”
“That’s actually not how it works. All I have to do is decide I can live with their response to it. The important thing is the following question. Theodora, what would you do if we were in orbit over the Earth in Four and I told you to nuke Capital?”
“I’d cheer while the missiles were racing for their targets,” Theodora appeared next to the table. “Those bastards kidnapped you and then hurt you. I’d cheerfully burn them all to their constituent atoms for that if you’d let me. Unfortunately you won’t.”
“Thank you. Now go back to pretending not to be here.”
She just smiled and vanished.
“Now this discussion isn’t about me and Capital. It’s about redress for an admitted wrong. The first thing I am going to advise is that you ask for a judge since Shikarou is never going to agree to anything you think is reasonable and we’ll eventually end up with one anyways. I’d recommend Magdalene.”
Kasumi and Ygerna stared at him. “That’s Shikarou’s mother,” Ygerna said slowly.
“I know, but my reasoning is sound.”
“I can’t see it. Tell us.”
“Shikarou will trust her and accept her decision. He’ll also hope, just like you fear, that she’ll be automatically inclined towards favoring his side in the issue. I know you’re both wrong in that assumption. She will be neutral, which is exactly what we want since with a neutral judge Shikarou doesn’t have a leg to stand on. He’s already admitted culpability so that means we’re just meeting for the redress portion of the issue and all we have to do is convince her that what you want is acceptable redress under clan law. That’s the important thing to remember. Magdalene is not Nipponese. She is clan, which means that revenge is off of the table but redress is very, very possible. And since no matter what Kasumi tells him about this meeting, Shikarou will think you’re coming for revenge, angling for compensation will make him more inclined to agree to what you want.”
“But I want his head on a pike and you said I can’t get that. So what is it that you’re going to suggest I request instead?”
Iain smiled. “One of the other aspects of clan compensation is that clans usually seek compensation in kind. Steal cows from a clan and the clan wants its cows back plus some of the attackers’ cows. The judges came about to decide what was an equitable number of the attackers’ cows without it being so unreasonable that the attacker wants to attack back in reprisal. For example, if a clan is robbed of two hundred cows and the raiders add them to their herd of a thousand, the judge might say that the original two hundred cows and all of their calves should be returned plus another two hundred of the raider’s cattle as compensation. Revenge would be taking all of the raider’s cows and watching as the raider’s people starve to death as a result. In clan society, revenge usually only comes into play when the raider can’t give compensation. Say they stole two hundred cows and when you go after them all they have is fifty cows because they’ve eaten a hundred and fifty of them. Then the defending clan tends to start murdering people and taking slaves, at least in the time when cows were money and slavery was part of the clan mindset.”
“So you think I should ask for books,” Ygerna said thoughtfully. “And what would be a good compensation for my books?”
Iain frowned. “Do you want to finish this discussion in front of Kasumi?”
Kasumi looked concerned but remained silent as Ygerna nodded. “As you reminded me, she is not my enemy and, in truth, I should not consider Shikarou nor Faelan as such either. While she cannot commit her clan to the compensation I will ask for, she can help determine if Shikarou will consider it too excessive to even contemplate.”
“Very well, I don’t think you should ask for him to give you any of his books.” Ygerna blinked in surprise. “I think that instead you should ask for a physical copy of every single book in his library and the Moonblood library that can be copied. While that number is far greater than the number of tomes you got returned to you, the fact that you are asking for copies will mitigate the pain he will feel in giving them up while having to have them copied in the first place will cost him time and other resources he will be loath to give up. Finally I think you should demand the return of the last book that he has that was your property.”
Ygerna frowned but it was Kasumi who started with the realization of what Iain was saying. “The Grimoire of Danu,” the kami breathed almost silently. “You want us to return that too.”
Iain nodded. “I don’t think Shikarou realizes it, but in his possession it’s a hostage against Ygerna’s good behavior. Its return will remove the final hold that Shikarou has over Ygerna and free her from Haven forever.”
Kasumi shook her head. “He knows how valuable it is to her. That’s why he was so insistent I make sure Master Caspa didn’t give it to her with the rest of her books. He is not going to be happy to hear this.”
“Good. Compensation is supposed to hurt enough to remind him that perhaps treating Ygerna with honest respect will work out better in the future. And if he needs to access it, I’m sure Ygerna will be fair in her negotiations over the issue.”
“I will,” Ygerna said. “As Iain pointed out, we do not want Haven as an enemy. If he later desires access to the Grimoire I will bargain with him in good faith.” She looked down at her hands for a moment. “Kasumi, will he accept this?”
“I really don’t know,” the kami replied. “What do you think, Iain? Your predictions have been eerily accurate.”
“I think that eventually he would accept it, although not in a good humor. I hope that with Magdalene, who should believe this is adequate compensation and ruling that it is, he will accept it with more equanimity. The alternatives are rather unsettling to contemplate and would result in Haven and us becoming mortal enemies.”
Kasumi gave him a curious look. “And what would those be?”
“There were Sidhe on this world and their magic is still here. Ygerna could proclaim Shikarou, Faelan and anyone else she can blame to be oath breakers and either attempt to invoke the magic of the fey to punish them or go to Kerrik and demand vengeance. If done properly, Kerrik would have no choice but to give it to her. At that point the body count would start to tick upward since that particular magic is only about death. That’s why one makes an oath with a fey at one’s peril.”
Ygerna frowned. “Why would Kerrik side with me against his own family?”
“I’m not going to go into that right now. There are things about Kerrik that I won’t reveal unless I have no choice. If you had to go to him you’d understand afterwards.” He turned to Kasumi. “We need him to be reasonable.”
“I am not sure I have the influence you desire and especially not now,” Kasumi said quietly. “You knew I was unhappy when you invited me here. I had a terrible row with Shikarou the day before we came here for your stories. I doubt he is ready to listen to my advice in anything outside the bounds of the school and is unlikely to be for some time.”
“I don’t see it,” Iain said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I don’t see you and the words ‘terrible row’ going hand in hand. When I picture a terrible row I see a woman with her hands on her hips, her torso tilted forward and her face red as she screams in fury at her target or else the cold anger involving one hand on her hip and the other pointing at her opponent as she angrily but calmly explains why his person is an absolute idiot.”
Kasumi flushed and looked guiltily at the tabletop. “There might have been some of the cold anger you described in our argument.”
“Wow, I’m glad I didn’t get to see that angry Kasumi is angry.” She blinked and he smiled. “No insult intended.”
“I don’t think there was any insult in your words,” she said slowly.
“You keep thinking that and we’ll all be happier.” He rubbed his beard and grimaced. “All right, I think we have talked about this as much as we’re going to be able without moving forward. I can run the idea past Kerrik and see if he thinks it’s reasonable, but it doesn’t matter unless Magdalene does and I can’t bring it up with her until she’s actually judging this.”
“And if Shikarou doesn’t want Magdalene to judge this,” Ygerna asked.
“Then we get Tanika and trust me, Shikarou does not want Tanika sitting judgment on this one. It is within a judge’s prerogative to decide that the requested compensation is not enough and add more. It’s rare but it does happen and in her case it might happen here. And if not Tanika, I have a few more names I’d request and out of all of them Shikarou really wants his mother to do this.”
“Do you think it could go so badly for my husband,” Kasumi asked.
“The biggest problem for Shikarou is that he admitted he did it and accepted responsibility for redress. That means the hard part is already done and there is no way that Ygerna will walk away from this empty handed. It’s all up to Ygerna and the judge. Most clan law judges take a very dim view of theft. Granted it’s not one of the two automatic death sentence crimes, but still it’s very badly thought of.” He grimaced. “I know that when I learn a lot more clan law I’ll go ahead and become a judge. Whether I am or not I will be the arbitrator of a lot of conflict in the clan and I might as well make the job official.” He pushed to his feet. “Now I need to make sure our flight plan to Glasgow hasn’t changed. I know there are some deliveries on the way but I don’t know if Prometheus has added anything else to the shipment.” He frowned. “Do you think that Shikarou is making arrangements to go to Glasgow?”
“When we got back I asked Selene if he was and she isn’t aware of anything she can tell me,” Kasumi said.
“Nicely parsed,” Iain replied.
Kasumi smiled. “As I said before, I need to listen to what you say and tell you what I mean.” She looked at Ygerna. “Should I blame you for this?”
“No, he was that way when we met,” Ygerna poked Iain in the shoulder. “He’s relaxed a lot around me though, so there’s hope he will for you too. Just be warned, he cheats at games.”
“That hurts,” Iain sounded wounded. “That hurts a lot and I don’t mean just that cruel poke at my poor, poor shoulder.” He sighed. “She cheats too, Kasumi. She just thinks it’s all right because she’s fey.”
Kasumi regarded him shrewdly. “So you do cheat.”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“I have not heard you answer the question. Please do so.”
Iain grinned. “No.”
Kasumi nodded and then frowned. “No, you don’t cheat or no, you aren’t going to answer the question?”
Iain looked at his empty wrist. “Wow, is that the time? Gotta go, uh, plan things. Yeah, plan things.” He headed at a quick walk towards the dock.
Heather snickered as Kasumi and Ygerna gave chase.
***
Helen activated her pokedex. “Theodora?”
She jumped when the hologram appeared in front of her. “Good morning,” Theodora said. “We’ve never met but you must be Helen. I am Theodora.”
“I am.” She gestured to her right. “This is Candace and you already know Elizabeth.”
“Good morning, ladies,” Theodora said with a smile. “Now, may I inquire as to why you’ve contacted me?”
“We’d like to come and visit,” Elizabeth said.
Theodora sighed theatrically. “Nobody just wants to talk to me.” She smiled widely. “Let me go and ask Iain, but I don’t see why he’d say no.” She vanished and appeared near Iain, who was lying down and sucking air while his heart tried to burrow out of his chest. “Iain.”
“What?” He tried to sit up and failed, falling back to the ground with a sodden noise from all of the mud in his clothes. “If someone has come to kill me, send them on. If it’s any other emergency ask them to take a number and I’ll get back to them in a month when I can move. If it’s April or Sofia and I have to run the obstacle course again, tell her I’m already dead.”
“Helen, Candace and Elizabeth want to come and visit. They didn’t say why, but I presume they’re coming for Kasumi since she’s been here for five days and they probably feel it’s been long enough.”
Iain turned his head and looked at the huge pile of mud a few meters from him that was making intermittent rasping noises. “Did you hear that? Helen is coming for you.” The pile of mud just continued making gasping sounds. “I don’t think she cares right now. Sure. They’ve never been to the obstacle course so please escort them to me and let everyone else know we have visitors.”
“I’ll do that.” Theodora vanished. Since Helen had kept the circuit open the whole time, Theodora had shamelessly listened to the other end while talking to Iain.
Candace was frowning. “She’s very lifelike. Selene always seems a little off when I interact with her.”
“She’s very good too,” Helen said, her ears flicking as she checked something on her pokedex. “I’m not comfortable with Selene appearing and disappearing in front of me unless I want her to so the holographic drivers on my pokedex are turned off so she has to appear in the display. Theodora bypassed the security on that like it wasn’t there.” Her eyes widened slightly. “In fact, according to the lockout, they’re still turned off.”
She jumped again when Theodora appeared in front of them. “Iain says you’re more than welcome. Elizabeth, please bring the others to the house where you exited before. I’ll meet you there and guide you to where Iain is.” She vanished.
Elizabeth took their hands. “Pay attention. They don’t have marked teleport areas like we do, but Theodora seems wired everywhere so she is probably watching the whole place like a hawk.”
The scene changed and they were outside the Sabine house where a fist sized drone hovered a few meters off the ground while Theodora waited patiently beneath it. “Please follow me,” she said and headed down a trail. “We’re going to the obstacle course but fortunately Iain’s at the finish line so he’s only a couple of hundred meters this way. If he were at the beginning we’d have about a five kilometer walk unless you can all fly.”
Elizabeth blinked. “Your obstacle course is five kilometers long?”
“It is in a straight line. It has a lot of twists and turns though and if you were to run the course the total distance you’d cover is closer to eight point five kilometers. April and Sofia keep adding to it when they change it up every two months.”
They came to a muddy pool that ran ahead of them into the trees. Razor wire was strung across it and in places there were piles of wood that stuck up out of the mud. A small building was nearby and a pressure hose ran from it to where Chuck was using it with a nozzle attachment to spray down Iain with a powerful stream of water, who was still dark gray and covered with the clinging mud.
Chuck looked back and chuckled as she turned off the water and picked up a towel and offered it to him. “They’re here.” A few meters away Dianthus watched the situation with intent eyes.
“Thanks.” Iain took the towel and used it to wipe off his face, turning the towel to present a clean portion with each swipe. He looked exhausted. “Elizabeth it’s nice to see you again. I’ve only met Helen and Candace kind of in passing, so hi and welcome to Texas. Please excuse me if I don’t sit up. I am beat. Oh, and thanks, Chuck.”
The Doggirl smiled. “You’re welcome. But if you try to hug me before you’re actually clean I’ll toss you back out into the pit.”
“Evil woman. Are you sure you aren’t a Celestial?” Chuck ignored him and began hosing down the next pile of mud. Iain blinked several times. “So.”
“So how much of the obstacle course do they make you run,” Candace asked as she looked him over professionally. She blinked. “Is that blood on your shirt?”
“Yeah, that’s blood. I swear that razor wire gets lower every time I crawl under it.” He slowly levered himself up on his elbows. “And I do the entire obstacle course just like everyone else does even if my time sucks next to most of theirs. So what brings such wondrous ladies out to visit on this fine, fine day?”
Helen’s ears flicked. “Kasumi was supposed to have come home by now.”
Iain reached into his shirt and pulled out a large glob of mud which he dropped beside him. “Did anyone try to call her?”
“She’s not letting us,” Candace said.
“Or I have her someplace where she can’t, naked and tied to a bed, right?”
The pile of mud Chuck was now hosing down chuckled and coughed as she sucked water. She turned sideways and spat it out as she sat up. “I’d probably be happier there if I was.” She picked at her shirt. “I’d certainly be cleaner.”
Elizabeth was staring. “Kasumi? What on earth happened to you?”
Kasumi wiped at her face and grimaced. “Chuck, my face please.” Water hit her in the face as she squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath until she waved a hand and the water shut off. “Thank you.”
Chuck handed her a towel. “Turn it as you wipe so you don’t grind mud into your eyes and nose.”
“Thank you.” She slowly sat up. “I have discovered this day that Bellona is not nearly as cruel and sadistic as we thought. In comparison with April and Sofia she was loving and caring and gentle to all of us back when we were training under her guidance.”
Candace eyed her curiously. “You did their obstacle course?”
“I was challenged to and I could not let Iain have bragging rights over a kami, so yes I did. And I was victorious!”
“Thirty two point six seconds,” Iain said loudly. “You beat a human by thirty two point six seconds.”
“I was victorious,” Kasumi repeated. “Now, I believe you have something to say to me.”
“Kasumi is better than I am,” Iain said distinctly, “at the obstacle course. You have defeated me and I hope that you will be magnanimous in your victory.”
“What is it that Ygerna called you?”
Iain sighed. “Cabana boy. You really want me to be your cabana boy?”
“Yes. I have never had one before.”
“Fine. I will bring you and Ygerna drinks and snacks while you two hobnob with the other winners in the hot tub.” He rolled over and made a retching noise before getting to his feet. “I need water.” Chuck tossed him a water bottle and he grabbed it out of the air. “Thanks.”
She smiled. “You’re my cabana boy too, Iain. I want you to stay hydrated.”
“Shit.” He took a drink, swirled it around in his mouth and spat mud before turning to Helen and the others. “Ladies, as you can see, Kasumi isn’t tied to a post somewhere and she isn’t where she can’t use her twee to call for rescue.”
“We see,” Helen said politely. “Kasumi, we have been trying to get in touch with you for days. Why haven’t you answered?”
Kasumi’s face blanked. “I am here because I wanted some time away from my family. Why would I want to talk to any of them during that?”
Helen’s ears flattened. “You wanted a couple of days and you got them. If you wanted to stay longer you should have said something and now Shikarou is worried about you.”
Kasumi deliberately looked all around herself, even behind. “I don’t see him.”
Helen blanched and then went red as she glanced at Iain. “He sent us, Kasumi.”
Kasumi sighed. “I should have sent word that I am not ready to return.” She scratched at some mud on her arm as she looked at Helen. “Tell Shikarou I’m sorry that I didn’t send him a message but I will be staying a while longer.”
Helen shook her head. “We were sent to bring you home, Kasumi.”
“I’m not a child, Helen.” Kasumi tried to stand and failed. Iain offered her a hand and she took it with a smile. “Thank you.”
He pulled her to her feet and stepped between her and Helen. “Do you understand the laws of hospitality, Helen?”
She blinked and shook her head. “I don’t.”
“It means that while Kasumi is my guest you can’t come fetch her unless she wants to go. If you try, we will stop you as peacefully as possible, but you don’t get to kidnap one of my guests.”
Helen held up her hands in shock. “We don’t want a fight, Iain.”
“Neither do I, Helen. As long as you want to talk to Kasumi and she wants to talk to you, that’s fine. But you can’t lay a hand on her and if she asks you to leave you probably should.”
“Shit.” It was Elizabeth. “Kerrik just confirmed what hospitality means to the clans and he says Iain is in the right here.”
“I’m glad you checked with him,” Iain said. “I really don’t want to fight anybody. I’m beat and besides any one of you could turn me into pudding in short order.” He shrugged. “That’s why several of my ladies are behind you right now.”
Candace slowly turned to see Canaan, Pandora, Heather, Raquel and Allison watching them. Nobody was doing anything threatening, but their gazes were unfriendly. “He’s telling the truth.”
Iain didn’t look away from Helen. “Kasumi, do you want to talk to them?”
“I will go with them,” she said quietly. “You can stand down.”
“You’ll clean up first before I’ll allow that,” Iain’s voice was firm. “You look like you just crawled through kilometers of muck and I won’t have my guests leaving without being presentable.”
He could hear the amusement in her voice and with his perception he could see her eyes twinkle suddenly. “Yes Iain.”
He looked from Helen to Elizabeth and back. “Is that acceptable? I’ll arrange for you to have drinks and snacks while she’s cleaning up.”
Helen nodded. “Yes and thank you.”
“Allison, please show these ladies to one of the break rooms and please stick around to make sure they don’t want for anything.”
The Umbrea nodded. “Yes sir. This way, please.”
As soon as she’d led them away, Iain nodded to Canaan and the others. “Thanks. Heather, stick around and assist Barb. Everyone else, stay sharp. I don’t expect any trouble, but you never know.”
“Don’t worry, Iain. I’d love a chance to kick all of their asses,” Canaan grinned and vanished. The rest left except for Heather, who moved to join Dianthus.
Iain turned to Kasumi and she smiled. “Yes, I am sure. This way when I want to come back there will be less of a fuss.”
“It’s your choice. Do you want me to send your things after you or do you want to keep them here so you can visit without having to pack much?”
She frowned. “Honestly, I’d like both. There some things I’d like to take with me and others I’d like to keep here.”
“Don’t take anything, but send me a list of what you want me to have sent to you. I’ll have Theodora duplicate it and so you’ll have these items in both places.”
Kasumi laughed softly. “She does spoil us, doesn’t she?”
“As much as we’ll let her,” Iain admitted. “Now I want you to understand something, Kasumi. Don’t be a stranger. You are welcome here at any time for any reason.”
Kasumi looked surprised. “That is a great honor, Iain, and I am very grateful to hear that from you.”
“We’re friends, Kasumi.” He winked. “Barb, please take Kasumi to the baths. I’ve already let Giselle know to meet her there with clean clothes and other sundries.”
Dianthus shouldered her bow and grabbed a clean towel. She wrapped it around her hand and grabbed Kasumi by the arm with that hand. “I’ll be back in a minute, master.” Then they were gone.
“Sofia would like a moment of your time,” Heather announced from behind him.
“Crap.” Iain turned around to see the Ria glaring at him. He put on a pleasant smile. “Yes, what is it my dear?”
“What happened today? Your average time for this version of the course is eight to ten minutes better than today’s fiasco.”
“Kasumi needed a victory over somebody, so I gave her one. All you have to do in order to correct my deficiency is wipe today’s score and we’ll just go on.”
“I’ve already talked with April,” Sofia said with a smile that put him on his guard. “And she agrees with me. No. But your dismal score this morning means you get to run the course again this afternoon with Ninhursag’s Elves and the two times will get averaged. Do better this time.”
Iain barely noticed Dianthus’ return. “I’ll be lucky if they get the bottom of their feet muddy as they sprint by me.”
“We’ve made arrangements to deal with their mobility and they’re going to get as filthy as you will,” Sofia flashed a grin. “But you still have to do a repeat. Theodora agrees just this once to let us take your study time.”
“Damn it,” he muttered. “What else could go sideways today?”
“At least you don’t have to be Kasumi’s cabana boy,” Chuck said. “That leaves you more time to focus on the other women who won today.” Iain gritted his teeth and she smiled, her ears canted sideways. “Don’t you want to serve us, Iain,” she asked in a seductive voice.
“I’d better go clean up and then make sure we’ve got those little fucking plastic swords Daphne and Silver like in their drinks and there are enough olives for everyone.” He looked at Sofia. “What time is my torture?”
“It’ll be sixteen hundred hours.”
“All right, see you then.” He turned and headed away with Heather and Dianthus following behind.
***
“I have to warn you that for a while in the future, I may be unavailable for training for a week at a time,” Iain said.
Kerrik frowned. “Oh, why is this?”
“We had a contest that was family wide. The prize was a week with me, alone, with no complaints from me about whatever the woman wants to do and with only a few restrictions, most of which are commonsense.”
Raven blinked. “You offer yourself up as a prize for contests?”
“I get better participation in them when it’s me as the prize and I don’t do it all that often, just for important things.”
“What was so important this time,” the Archmage asked.
“We were going into a place infested with thousands of Zombabes.” She gave him a blank look and he smiled. “Ask your twee.”
Her eyes went wide. “Shit.”
“Yeah. Considering my family, I figured there were pools about the most kills, the closest danger and the rest of the usual crap pokegirls wager on. I swear they’re worse about betting than the Chinese are reputed to be. My contest was that the person with the fewest Zombabe injuries would get the prize with me. The idea was to head off the people who would take unacceptable risks with the Zombabes to win the other pools because a week with me alone is better than anything another pokegirl could offer.”
“Why don’t you try that,” Raven asked Kerrik.
“Would it work?”
“I think it would definitely change things.” She looked back at Iain. “What about a tie?”
“Everyone who ties gets a week with me by herself. That’s the rule.”
“Sweet,” Raven purred. She gave Kerrik a broad smile. “A whole week with you and no Misery. I’d do almost anything for that.”
“What kind of restrictions,” Kerrik asked.
“Well, for example, the winner can’t make the rest of the family move out for a week so we can be alone. We have to go somewhere else or make other arrangements.”
“So how many people won,” Raven interrupted.
“Well, I managed to do most of the work we went there for with my dead harem and so nobody in my living family got injured. They all tied, which is why I will most likely be unavailable for periods.”
“How many weeks was it that you gave up?”
Iain sighed. “I’ll be coughing up nearly a year for the winners.” He smiled. “On the other hand, nobody got infected and so I will pay most of it cheerfully.”
Raven frowned. “Most of it?”
“Ygerna and Kasumi were along and they each won too. I figure Kasumi will give me a pass, but Ygerna also won six more weeks from her guards, who traded their weeks with me to her. And four of my daughters were old enough to realize what was going on and announce they were playing before I could quash that idea. I’m not worried about what my daughters will want but seven weeks with Ygerna has the potential to be odd, to say the least. On top of that, I think she intends to take them all at once if she can.”
“Will you let her?”
“I’ll let her talk to my command staff first. I said I wouldn’t complain. I’ll let them complain for me.”
“Crafty,” Kerrik admitted. “How was this Glasgow?”
“Theodora is going to sell all of the information we gathered to Cassiopeia at a nominal price so you’ll have everything. There weren’t any new pokegirl breeds but a few of the ones I know of were missing. And the social setup was very different, but then I already knew that.” He leaned back in his chair. “So what’s on the agenda for tonight?”
“Did you finish incorporating those changes to your body yet?”
Iain nodded. “I did, but they’re still making themselves felt so I’m not at the peak I will be at in a few weeks. Why?”
“We’ll run you through some tests to see what’s coming online first,” Kerrik said. “When they’re all at full efficiency we’ll consider the next step.”
“There’s a next step? You are having way too much fun with me as your Rhesus monkey, you know that?”
“You should be having fun too. You’re getting stronger, faster, tougher and overall a lot harder to kill.”
Iain closed his eyes for a moment. “Can I talk to you alone for a few minutes?”
Kerrik and Raven exchanged a look and he nodded. She blew him a kiss and left the room. “All right.”
“Privacy.”
A glow sprang up around them. “You’ve got privacy,” Kerrik said. “What is it?”
“Look, Kerrik, I know what you’re doing and I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t gloat quite so much while doing it.”
Kerrik frowned, his ears flicking. “What are you talking about?”
“Can you say ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’?”
“I’m not going to,” Kerrik replied.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so. I know you’re setting me up for Nightraven. Since it helps me too I’m not fighting it, but let’s not pretend I don’t know just how badly you’re hoping this will come back to fuck me and in doing so miss you.”
All humor disappeared from Kerrik’s face. “True. So you’re not pissed about what I’m doing?”
“I can’t stop you except by moving to another universe, Kerrik, and as I said you’re helping me to get tougher and more powerful. I just want you to stop treating me like I’m an idiot and don’t know what’s going on.”
“It would help if I knew what Nightraven wants,” Kerrik pointed out.
“That would actually hurt your plans,” Iain said with a smile. “Since after I told you she’d kill me and I’d no longer be eligible to be selected instead of you. And while I know what she wants, I don’t have a firm grasp on what her selection criteria are.”
Kerrik cocked his head. “Why not?”
“Because you’re all fucking imaginary, that’s why,” Iain snapped. “None of this shit was supposed to ever be real, I was never supposed to have to deal with it and Nightraven’s thing was supposed to stay some vague threat. So I didn’t have to worry about exactly what she wanted and never tried to figure out what she needed in someone to make them the person she’d choose.”
“That must be frustrating,” Kerrik said quietly. “You could have had the answers.”
“Trust me when I say that frustrating doesn’t even begin to describe what I call it.”
“And now that you’re here?”
Iain took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “My life went from mundane to scary as fuck in zero point one seconds, Kerrik. I’ve been running trying to catch up ever since.”
“Do you miss it?”
“No. My life before this was dismal in comparison. Now sometimes I worry I’ll wake up and it’ll be a dream. Now I’m loved by a whole bunch of women I don’t deserve, your wife is trying to fix me up with someone from her adoptive father’s family, I’m hanging out with the rich, famous and powerful and it’s all kind of terrifying when I think too much about it.”
“What about the people you lost on this journey?”
“Kerrik, I can’t change the fact that they’re dead. If I could have at the time, I would have, but by the time I am powerful enough to do exactly that, I won’t do it because it would fuck with my timeline and that would be a horrible mistake.”
“I’m glad you understand that.” Kerrik nodded. “Now that I know I’m not pulling something over on you, I won’t feel a desire to gloat about it so much.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Kasumi stayed with you during the time period you were supposed to be going to what you call Universe Two. Did she go with you?”
“I said she was in the contest so you know she did. She was really pissed at Shikarou and the rest of her family and I offered her a chance to spend some time away from them. It was pretty cool. We weren’t friends when she left with us and now she is my friend. She was in a better mood until Helen and friends showed up and announced she’d been away from home too long and forced her to go with them.”
“You let them do this?”
“I can stop them from taking her at gunpoint. I can’t stop her from deciding to leave with them when there are no overt threats.” Iain frowned. “Why? Did her visit cause her too much trouble?”
“I have no idea,” Kerrik admitted. “They’re not talking to me much right now. I was just curious after Elizabeth contacted me about clan hospitality. Why was she so mad at them?”
“She didn’t tell me. I could tell she was really upset about something, but she never said what it was.”
“Could you take a guess?”
“Of course I can take a guess but I’m not going to speculate to you.”
Kerrik nodded. “Theodora told me that she found the Shewa data.”
“She did and she’s glad you didn’t charge her for one.”
“This way she can build what she wants.” Kerrik leaned back in his chair. “What are your plans next?”
“It’s business as usual for the moment, although I’m starting to download the information on the Tsukkiken school. Why didn’t your sons teach their families your style? When Kasumi found out I was learning it she was kind of unhappy about it. For a second I thought she was going to punch or claw me.”
“In Shikarou’s case, it’s because it’s not Nipponese,” Kerrik said. “There are plenty of good martial arts styles that are and that Amaterasu approves of for him to teach. In Faelan’s case he’s not a master and he probably followed his older brother’s lead. Don’t forget he’s not that old. Are you going to teach it?”
“As soon as I can,” Iain said. “Siobhan will soak it up like a sponge and incorporate it into what she already teaches.”
“Is she completely yours now?”
Iain shrugged. “We’re working on it. Letting her see Wallace helped in the long run but she’s not through the seven stages of grief yet so I’m not pushing it since we’re already alpha bonded. She resilient and we’ll get through it.” He stared at the ceiling for a minute. “So, what are we going to be doing to determine how much the modifications have already begun to change me?”
The privacy field vanished as Kerrik got up. “Most of the changes you’re undergoing will be physical since I haven’t shown you any mental upgrades yet. So we’ll go do physical things and compare them to the baseline I did for you a month ago.” Raven entered the room from his mental summons. “And Raven will get to chase you for a while.”
Raven grinned. “Do I get to hurt him if I catch him?”
Iain sighed. “Don’t you mean when you catch me?”
Her grin widened. “I want you to have hope, Iain, because hope means you’ll struggle more. I like my prey when it struggles.”
“Fuck.”
“Not me,” Raven laughed. “You’ll have to go to your own girls for that.”
***
Kasumi stepped into the dining room and stopped when she realized only two places were set and Shikarou sat at one of them. “Good evening.”
He waved toward the other setting, which was next to him. “Please join me.” He looked past her at Giselle, Ayame and Nishiko where they followed their mistress “Go find Helen. She’ll have dinner for you three.”
“Yes, your majesty,” Giselle said. She shot Kasumi a worried look but obediently led her harem back out of the room and closed the door behind them.
“Where is everyone else,” Kasumi asked as she sat down.
“I wanted to have a private dinner with you,” he said with a smile. “It’s been too long since we have had one together.”
“That is true,” Kasumi murmured. The table was filled with her favorite foods and her lips twitched in amusement at the smell of green tea. “I thank you. Is that green tea I smell?”
He nodded. “I had Kozakura send us some. She did a bunch of shopping for us and shipped it all back on one of Iain’s transports yesterday. Surprisingly he is doing a lot of business in Nippon. I thought Father had that all locked up.”
“Iain is selling information to them,” Kasumi said as she poured herself some tea. “He’s intercepting Shanghai military transmissions and giving the intercepts to Nippon along with satellite surveillance footage of troop movements in and around the league. The transport was probably there because he’s taking the payment in supplies he can’t get in Texas, like quality silk, clothing and such. What he doesn't keep for himself he's selling.”
Shikarou looked surprised. “How did you find this out?”
“I asked and he told me.” Kasumi smiled at her husband. “Iain isn’t trying to keep the majority of his activities secret from us, Shikarou. I intend to brief Bellona on what he told me but I haven’t seen her much since I returned.”
“I’ll tell her to come find you.” He began filling his plate. “She should have done that already.”
“It’s likely that she hasn’t yet because she doubts I have anything useful to tell her,” Kasumi observed. “She doesn't have a high opinion of my espionage skills and she doesn't think Iain's people are much of a threat or worth paying any attention to.”
Shikarou’s ears flicked. “That is possible. How was your trip to Glasgow?”
“It was informative,” Kasumi said. “I got to meet the crown princess. Her Royal Highness Princess Zara is very nice and smarter than Bellona estimated. Right now Iain is very well regarded by the British, far more than Poppet Harris is, but then she hasn’t been getting supplies from us in the volume that Iain is shipping them to Great Britain.”
“I understand Iain isn’t giving the equipment away. How are the British paying him?”
“I didn’t ask, but I understand they’re trading land for the supplies. My impression from something that one of the British officials said is that they have the opportunity to repurchase the land from him in the future somehow. I do know that he’s charging a pittance for what they’re getting from him. I also heard that the Blues both want to talk to him and have a bounty on his head at the same time.” When Shikarou’s ears canted curiously, she shrugged. “The military wants him dead and the diplomatic corps wants him to sell to them too. From what I overheard, the equipment he’s provided to the British, along with some arrangement he brokered with the Order of Pendragon is proving to be decisive against the Blues. That also helps to explain the large bounty the Persian League has on his head.”
“Why does Persia care about him hurting Blue?”
“Shikarou, he’s also supplying Israel and some rebel factions all over the Middle East. That’s why Persia wants him dead. He set up a corporation, the Prometheus Society, to handle all of his supply operations and they’re expanding as quickly as they safely can. Recently they started supplying some dissidents in Orange and a freedom fighting faction in Ruby somewhere.”
“That’s very nicely done on your part,” Shikarou told her. “You’ve managed to get a great deal of information I don’t think we had before.”
“Iain wasn’t keeping it secret; it’s just that no one has talked to him since he last visited.” She looked levelly at her husband. “You’ve been too upset at him over what happened last year and if you don’t care, Bellona doesn’t either other than keeping up routine surveillance and she has no spies among his people.”
Shikarou scowled. “He had no right to get involved like that in our personal business.”
Kasumi frowned. “Do you say that because if he hadn’t we’d still have her books in our library,” she asked quietly.
Shikarou’s ears went flat and then came back up. “We’d have given her copies of all that could be copied.”
“That’s not the same for her and you know it. If you want that knowledge, negotiate with Ygerna for copies of them for us.”
“We brought all of that over from her home world with us along with her and her people and we’ve been supporting them ever since until she abruptly left with Grey. She should owe us something for that,” he muttered irritably. “I know and when we have the time someone will contact her to see if she’s willing to negotiate with us for copies.”
Kasumi began eating and glanced up at him before speaking again. “I was asked to be present when Iain and Ygerna discussed what she was going to ask for in the way of redress.”
He froze for a second, his ears plastering themselves flat against his head. “Can’t that bastard just stay out of our affairs? You did attend the meeting, right?”
“I did. I was careful to explain that I couldn’t commit our family to anything. They wanted my input in an attempt to determine that what they were going to ask for was not too excessive. Not only did they discuss what she was to request, they discussed the strategy they would employ in their pursuit of her redress.”
“Certainly he knew you’d tell me about this, which means he wants me to know,” Shikarou said slowly. “Ygerna isn’t that subtle.”
“I don’t necessarily share your estimate of Ygerna, but I am certain he did want you to be aware of what they were planning. He is far too intelligent not to realize what I would do in that situation.”
“Very well, since he wanted me to know, go ahead and tell me.”
“While Ygerna is very angry with you and with Faelan, she was convinced by Iain that demanding your personal injury was out of the question.”
Shikarou blinked. “She’s that angry with us?”
“Did you not deceive her for decades?”
“Not really. I did hope in the beginning that she and Faelan would have children and she’d join us, but there was too much bad blood between her and Svetlana, among others. But if she’d stayed eventually she’d have gotten what she wanted somehow.”
Kasumi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Would you have sired her children if he wouldn’t?”
Shikarou was drinking his tea and nodded without looking up. “Branwyn, Poppet and I discussed it and since Ygerna wanted Sidhe blood to sire her children, if Faelan didn’t, I was the logical choice. Branwyn made it clear that I was only going to sire them and not be their father.” He frowned and put his cup down. “And that’s one of the reasons that what she’s doing makes no sense! Iain is human and he can’t give her what she’s been demanding the whole time we’ve known her. Why settle for him when what she really wants is here with us?”
“So you, Poppet and Branwyn decided this. I wasn’t aware of this decision.”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t that important and wouldn’t have affected your work with the academy. So what do they want from us?”
Kasumi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It was decided that, first of all, you would say that almost anything Ygerna was willing to accept was reasonable was going to be unreasonable for you and Iain then suggested that Magdalene be requested to sit as a judge during the negotiations.”
Shikarou grinned. “Really? He knows she’s my mother.”
“He believes she will be willing to look past her affection for you and render an impartial decision. If she isn’t acceptable to you, he has a list of other possible judges.”
“No, If Iain thinks Mother will be fine I won’t be the one to refuse him. It’ll just help us.” Shikarou leaned back with a smile. “What else?”
“They decided to ask for copies of every book we have, both ours and the ones in the Moonblood Library, to be copied at your expense.” Shikarou made a choking noise. “They are also going to ask for the Grimoire of Danu to be given to them.”
His mouth twisted. “That’s not going to happen.”
“She wrote that book,” Kasumi noted. “It should be her property.”
Shikarou shook his head. “I retrieved it from the asteroid facility and it’s mine.”
Kasumi smiled. “I’m not the person negotiating with you over this, Shikarou.”
“No, but you are agreeing with them.”
“Isn’t it true that as long as you hold it, Ygerna will never truly be free of our influence?”
“I certainly hope so,” Shikarou replied. “She has the potential to be almost as big a threat as Germanicus and Eoghan were. She managed to bewitch Faelan once. I don’t want her free from our influence and she will always remember we hold her dear book.”
“I know.” He looked surprised. “Since Poppet had purchased the stories from him, Iain was nice enough to give me a copy of them too. I’ve been reading them and, logically, started with the stories about my family.”
“How are they?” She raised an eyebrow and he flashed a grin. “I haven’t made the time to read any of them. The construction has been keeping everyone with enhanced strength very busy and my evenings are full with the harem.”
“I would suggest you make the time, Shikarou.”
“Of course you would, you’re the academic in the family. Personally I don’t think they’ll be as useful as Poppet hopes.”
Kasumi suddenly realized she’d lost her appetite and reached for her tea. “One can never know too much about someone that we might someday turn into an enemy, Shikarou.”
Shikarou eyed her for a moment. “Kasumi, you just told me that Iain isn’t stupid. If that’s true then he knows that we would make a formidable enemy. He doesn’t want to tangle with us because we’d crush him. Yes, I know what Evangelion did and I know she did it to protect Texas, not him. And he’s my father’s student, which means he knows my father is unlikely to allow him to make a preemptive strike on us, which would be ineffectual in any case. He’s got what, fifty pokegirls on his ranch?”
“Shield is the home base of the Sisterhood,” Kasumi pointed out. “And they’ve got at least ten thousand troops.”
“True,” Shikarou conceded. “The Sisterhood is a Celestial organization and we aren’t causing the kind of trouble that Celestials would take any interest in. They’re not an issue. It would just be Iain and his family and they’re no real threat to us when it comes down to it.”
“What about Theodora and the ship she operates?”
Shikarou nodded. “Bellona told me about your earlier visit to his ship and her claim of being able to destroy us in short order. I watched my father deploy Duat and orbital bombardment is something to take seriously. But if you remember, Father had to go through the judgment protocols before Cassiopeia would release Duat to fire and we’re not a threat like that. I asked him if we would be found wanting in that situation and he said no. Even if Iain did find a way around the protocols and Theodora did try to attack us, Father wouldn’t let it happen. As much as it annoys me that we needed his help, he gave it and he saved us from being nuked by Blue. He won’t let this supposed Clan Grey kill us either.”
Kasumi started to point out that even with her apology over the whole misunderstanding about Poppet, Kerrik still wasn’t really all that happy with them right now but decided it wouldn’t do anything to convince her husband that things weren’t as he saw them. She’d wait and try with Bellona. “I hope you’re right.”
“I am.” Shikarou leaned back in his chair and smiled at her. “Look, I want to apologize for the other day. I lost my temper and I shouldn’t have. Can you forgive me?”
She nodded. “I can and I’m sorry I lost my temper at you, but I haven’t changed my mind about what I want.”
He sighed. “The time is all wrong, Kasumi. Helen just gave birth and Candace is pregnant, as is Stardust. I couldn’t give our child the attention he or she would deserve. As for you stepping down from the leadership of the Academy, right now you can’t. I don’t have anyone ready to take your place. Find someone and start training then and when they’re ready we’ll discuss this again.”
Kasumi put down her teacup. “Shikarou,” she began only to stop.
He raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“It won’t make any difference,” she said bitterly. “Your mind is made up.”
“It’s ok, Kasumi. Ten or fifteen years aren’t really that long a time.”
“It is to me.”
“That’s because you’re still not finished with the mental growth that immortals need to undergo before they understand how little time affects us.” He smiled. “You’re not alone in that, but you’ll get there. And when the time is right, we’ll have another child.”
Kasumi looked at him and the table and nodded. “All right.” She pushed her chair back and rose. “Shikarou, thank you for the meal, but I need some time to think about things.”
He nodded. “I was hoping we’d have the night together.”
“Normally I’d want that too, but I think I’m still too hurt from all of this.” She looked away. “I wish things could be different.”
“I do too, Kasumi,” he said gently.
“Goodnight,” she said and left, pausing outside to activate her twee. Giselle, are you finished with your meal?
I am if you need me, mistress.
No, I wanted you to know that I am going to my room.
Yes, mistress. We will meet you there when we’re done.
Kasumi got to her room and activated her pokedex. “Theodora?”
She appeared in front of Kasumi. “Good evening. What can I do for you?”
“Do you know what the Judgment Protocols are?”
Theodora nodded. “I do. They’re a protocol instituted by the majority of the Tirsuli clans to preclude someone acting rashly in ordering the deployment of weapons of mass destruction as you understand them. As shown with Duat in Africa, it includes restrictions on the release of weapons for orbital bombardment.”
“Do you have an interdiction vessel like Duat?”
“Not as you would define it,” Theodora explained, “I have several times the firepower of Duat available when I am not weapons free and orders of magnitude greater than Duat when I am. Cassiopeia is in charge of a space station with limited maneuverability and she has Duat for a limited amount of a very specific type of power projection elsewhere in a solar system. Since I can go anywhere in the system I don’t need one although I could build one easily enough.”
“Do you follow the Judgment Protocols?”
“No. Iain has never said anything about Clan Grey adopting that particular piece of Tirsuli philosophy. Not all of the clans follow it.”
“So what stops Iain from indiscriminately destroying things from orbit?”
“Nothing. If he gives me the option to argue with him about it and I think he’s wrong I will, but that’s it.”
“Thank you Theodora. I don’t have any more questions.”
“Well, I do.” Kasumi looked at her in surprise. “You haven’t sent that list of things you want shipped to you from us. Should I wait for one or do you want me to duplicate everything and send it?”
Kasumi smiled. “I’ll get it to you sometime tomorrow and thank you, Theodora.”
“What are friends for, Kasumi, if not to help friends?” She winked and vanished.
“That is true enough,” Kasumi said to herself.
Iain Grey
Inner Harem
Ninhursag Grey - Elfqueen & maharani
Eve Grey - Megami Sama
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique Grey - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - Fiendish Archangel
Canaan - G Splice (Hunter Amachamp & Alaka-Wham)
Zareen - Nightmare
Raquel - Fiendish Rapitaur
Sofia - Ria
Vanessa – Evangelion
Lucifer – Megami Sama
Outer Harem
Allison – Umbrea (Outer Harem Alpha)
Daphne - Whorizard
Lynn - Growlie
Chuck – Doggirl
Ryan – Unicorn
Winifred - Rack (German)
Rosemary - Mistoffeles (Uruguayan)
Silver - Pegaslut
Joyce – Milktit
Outer Clan
Melanie – Iron Chef
Siobhan - Nurse Joy (Glasgow)
Queendom / Outer Harem
12 Elves
Heather - Elf
Dionne - Elfqueen
Adrianna - Elfqueen
Dianthus Barbatus - Elfqueen
Heltu - Wet Queen
6 Wet Elves
Dead Harem
Eirian - Silver Dragoness
Aurum - Gold Dragoness
Skye - Blue Dragoness
Emerald - Green Dragoness
Beryl - Red Dragoness
Julia - human
Ling - Cheetit
Matilda - White Tigress
Liadan - Twau
Sorrel - Armsmistress
Natalie - Blazicunt
Maria – Slutton
Rhea Silvia - Chimera
Mother s & Children
Vanessa
Myrna
Saoirse
April
Dorothy: Duelist
Meara: Duelist
Regan: Duelist
Canaan
Hannah: Huntress
Rebecca: Huntress
Joyce
Lisa: Milktit
Sherrie: Milktit
Harriet: Milktit
Lucifer
Olivia: Megami-sama
Seraphina: Megami-sama
Zareen
Caltha: Nightmare
Kim: Nightmare
Xanthe: Nightmare
Epona: Nightmare
Philippa: Nightmare
Nott: Nightmare
Nyx: Nightmare