The conspiracy Ruth had been in the middle of was finally over.
Just a few hours ago, she had been told that the part of the case involving her had been properly dealt with, and the news stations would receive the information at this time. As such, Ruth had made sure to be watching when the breaking news about the case was announced by the news anchors, right on schedule. It turned out Mr. Selby had been on the board of directors for a corporation which regularly produced ships for the Silver Island League’s military. Such a position certainly explained why his name had gotten such a reaction.
As for why a man in such a position would be involved with such a small-time criminal enterprise, that part of things had been answered by psychic probes. It turned out Mr. Selby had relied on bribery to get ahead in the business world. The problem was, he didn’t originally have the money for that bribery. To fix that problem, he had become increasingly involved with Team Black Mist back when it still operated.
When Team Black Mist had fallen apart after Markus Blagg’s execution less than a year ago, Mr. Selby had still been relying on these funds for bribery. He then ended up scrambling to hold on to what sources of criminal revenue he could, with the ivory farm being the only major source of profit he had been able to stay involved in. As such, he had taken a great interest in working to prevent that from being shut down as well. Given his desperation, however, he acted sloppily, letting his voice be heard on the phone by a species with excellent hearing and a perfect memory.
Once he had realized that, the targeting of Ruth began. But now, as the talking heads on television were indirectly saying, the part of the case involving her had finally been resolved. Of the individuals Ruth could possibly implicate, all of them had been successfully apprehended. Of course, the news commentators never once directly mentioned that Ruth- who they simply referred to as ‘the Elephuk’- was finally free of these troubles. They were instead far too interested in the political and corporate ramifications of these new discoveries that had been publicized. Still, Ruth was fully capable of reading between the lines here. Regardless of what new headaches various government officials were going to have to deal with, she was finally going to be able to live her life in peace.
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Ruth’s assessment of the situation had been correct. The military deemed her to no longer need protection, and she had been sent back to her owner. As she returned home, Emilia and Natalya welcomed her with excitement and sympathy. Bria welcomed her with typical shyness, mostly staying in the background. Though Ruth was careful to react the right way to her mistress and Alpha, she wished she could also shrink away.
As happy as she was to be living a civilian life again, Ruth couldn’t possibly forget what Bria had told her about Emilia and Natalya discussing giving her away.
Prior to everything that had happened surrounding the ivory farm, Ruth had never thought that much about Pokegirls’ position in society. She had always just figured that as long as she got an owner who wasn’t mean to her, that would be fine. If she got an owner like Emilia, who went out of her way to be nice to her Pokegirls, that would be perfect. If only that happened, then her position as being a possession that literally was the property of such a nice individual who pampered her wouldn’t matter.
If only she was able to still think like that.
Emilia was a perfectly nice woman, who had just been scared of losing the Alpha she had a Delta bond with. It wasn’t like she had considered giving Ruth away because she was fine with casual mistreatment of Pokegirls. But regardless of how nice Emilia was, it didn’t change what she had discussed with Natalya. Ruth’s position as a possession had mattered, and if the military hadn’t taken her in as soon as it had, it would have mattered a whole lot.
Fortunately, Ruth was able to make it through the celebratory taming session with a grin plastered on her face, before finally getting the chance to actually rest in her Pokeball.
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The week passed by in a similar manner. As Ruth spoke to her coworkers at the construction site, she agreed with them that she was glad she was no longer a target. It turned out that the owner of the Milliprisma had started dating Emilia in the time Ruth was gone, and he also had a Glamourpuss and a Keinaris in his theatrically-inclined harem. As Ruth met with them, she spoke of how glad she was the situation was over and things were back to normal.
Maybe this was going to be Ruth’s new normal. Constantly lying to her mistress and Alpha about how she felt, because she was scared of the consequences of telling them her true feelings.
And as she thought that, Ruth realized she really needed to get some sort of help processing everything.
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Emilia and Bria were away, leaving Ruth and Natalya at home alone. Ruth rather wished Natalya had been taken instead. After all, Bria was the only one who knew Ruth was aware of Emilia and Natalya’s earlier discussion. As such, the Peruva was the only one she could safely talk to about her feelings. Ruth was definitely waiting for the moment she could talk to her privately.
“Alright- Emilia hasn’t noticed, but I have. As Alpha, I’m going to have to ask you to talk to me honestly right now.” Ruth froze as Natalya approached, saying what the Elephuk felt to be the worst words possible.
“What?” Ruth responded, otherwise dumbstruck.
“I know what’s going on. After noticing your mood since you got back, I talked to Bria about it, and I think I have a pretty good picture of things.”
Bria had told Natalya what she said?
“I don’t blame you for the conversation. Don’t worry, I’m not angry, I’m more depressed, and please don’t tell Emilia about my immaturity.” Ruth spoke quickly and desperately, not wanting this particular drama to reach the ears of her owner.
“…What?” Now it was Natalya’s turn to be otherwise dumbstruck. Briefly gaping at Ruth, she then cleared her thoughts enough to speak further. “I was just thinking you were depressed over all the traumatic events you’d been through, and trying to put on a happy front. What conversation are you talking about?”
…Oh. Bria hadn’t told. Instead, Ruth had been stupid enough to let it slip just then.
“Ruth, as your Alpha, I am insisting you start talking to me about this issue. I’m here to help you, not to get you in trouble. Will you please talk to me?”
“..I…” Ruth trailed off. Well, there was no taking it back now. “I know about the conversation you and Emilia had about potentially giving me away. I know it happened right after you almost died from the attack that targeted me. I know I’m being immature and selfish to feel insecure over it. I’m sorry, and I really just need to get over myself.”
Natalya looked at her harem sister in surprise, before speaking slowly. “I… see. Ruth… I…” The Gorgon briefly trailed off, before collecting herself. “You’re not being immature. It would be completely normal for any typical Pokegirl to feel insecure over almost being given away by what they thought was a permanent owner. The fact you recognize the extenuating circumstances and blame yourself tells me you’re not being selfish. Instead…” The Gorgon paused again, before saying, “instead, you’re trying to process various traumatic events while your main source of stability has been compromised. I’m glad that you finally told me what you’re feeling, so that Emilia and I can begin helping you through this. You-”
“You’re going to tell Emilia?!” Ruth interrupted. While the Elephuk was certainly glad her Alpha was being so understanding, she still wasn’t sure about telling her owner.
Yet again, Natalya paused. “…While I think processing this with Emilia would be best, if you’re scared of telling her now, we can wait. However, I do think that helping you through this properly is a feat that’s beyond me. I do think that, on our next trip to the Church of the Thousand Gods, we should go to the Psyche working there. We can both talk to her, without Emilia or Bria, as she can begin the process of helping us heal this rift.”
That… Actually sounded reasonable. Nervously, Ruth nodded. “I… guess that would be okay.”
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A few days later, Emilia and her harem went on their weekly trip to the nearest Church of the Thousand Gods. Once there, it didn’t take long for Natalya to discreetly ask for a session with the Psyche owned by the church. Normally, there was a waiting list for a free session with this Psyche. However, in this case, a protocol for ‘urgent cases’ was invoked, and Ruth and Natalya found themselves alone with the Psyche shortly.
The Celestials at the church were, after all, fully aware of the basics of what Ruth had been dealing with.
The beginning of the session was certainly awkward. Despite having agreed to it, Ruth was still hesitant when answering the Psyche’s questions. Eventually, however, the basics of the situation had been explained, with the Psyche saying she had an understanding of it. And finally, it was time for the Celestial counselor to give advice.
“This isn’t the sort of thing which is going to be solved quickly. The optimal situation would be if group therapy sessions were established for you, Emilia and Bria. The only issue with that is that Ruth expresses a not unreasonable fear that her new owner, who she has known only a short time, might react negatively to hearing her feelings. This is not to invalidate Natalya’s belief that Emilia would be better than that, given that the reasonableness of Ruth’s opinion is based on how little she knows about Emilia in comparison to Natalya. Before I offer my suggestion on how to proceed, do I have any disagreements over my assessment?”
Ruth paused. Beside her, she saw her Gorgon Alpha shake her head, showing her lack of dissent over the Psyche’s summarization of the situation. “…If Emilia could be involved without any risk, then that would probably be best. It’s just unfortunate that it’s not exactly possible. Right?” As Ruth responded, she awaited the Psyche’s answer with more nervousness than was probably warranted.
“I understand that telling Emilia would be a very delicate matter. As such, I have a solution as to how the situation could be approached. However, in order to maintain your trust going forward, I will need permission from both of you in order to implement it. When talking to Emilia, if she responds appropriately, then I will tell the truth. However-” the Psyche spoke quickly, just before Ruth had been about to interrupt. “If she responds in a way that would be unhelpful for Ruth’s feelings of security within the harem, then I will, when explaining why Ruth knows about the full situation, blame Natalya.”
Both the Elephuk and the Gorgon stared at the Psyche in shock. “Blame me? I mean, I don’t expect that scenario to be necessary. But what do you even mean by that suggestion?”
“I mean that I would claim you were the one who told Ruth about your conversation with Emilia. While doing that, I would subtly direct the conversation in a way that would shift the negative feelings Emilia might have over the situation away from Ruth and towards you. Given that you have a Delta bond with Emilia, any relationship damage that might occur from such a thing would be transient. Of course, if the situation is as you expect and Emilia is able to behave in a way that would be helpful for Ruth’s healing, such a lie will not happen.”
Natalya briefly hesitated, before nodding. “Your suggestion seems fair. While I doubt that such a remedy will be necessary, if it is, your solution is the one that will result in no long-lasting harm to any member of the harem. I accept.”
Well, if Natalya was willing to accept something so potentially risky to her, Ruth wasn’t going to reject it. After all, the Psyche was an experienced Celestial who had handled socially delicate negotiations many times over. If anybody could be trusted to navigate this situation, it was her.
“I also accept your suggestion.”
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It turned out the Psyche’s solution of potential dishonesty really hadn’t been something she ended up feeling to be necessary. However she had handled her private conversation with Emilia, she had told the human woman the honest truth. After briefly talking to the tradeswoman and her harem together, the Psyche had worked with Emilia to schedule regular appointments for continuing therapy.
At first, there had been some minor awkwardness between Ruth and Emilia, just as the Elephuk had wondered might happen. However, the Elephuk’s fears that her owner might be angry or upset with her in any way proved unfounded. Instead, Emilia’s negative feelings seemed to be mostly directed at herself. Oddly enough, Ruth could sympathize with that, having felt similar self-blame many times throughout this scenario.
As the months passed on, they continued their therapy sessions with the Psyche, as had been planned. And eventually, things really did get better, as the Celestial helped them all process their emotions. The awkwardness between Ruth and Emilia disappeared, aided both by the passage of time and the Psyche’s help. Ruth’s depression, with the help of both the Celestial’s therapy and a temporary prescription of antidepressants, faded. The plan was to eventually wean Ruth off of the medication at the Psyche’s discretion.
Beyond helping Ruth, the others were also assisted in processing various reactions to the events they had been through. Though she kept her newfound hobby of training for combat, Natalya lost her tension over needing to be better prepared for another attack. Bria was walked through her guilt over her inaction in the midst of the second attack. Emilia was helped through her own guilt over almost having given away a loyal Pokegirl over something that wasn’t her fault.
And beyond that, life moved on. Emilia’s rescue romance with the owner of the Milliprisma strengthened, with both sharing a similar love of art. Apparently he was actually a distant cousin of the Despot Chancellor, which explained why he had such an expensive harem at such a young age, after pursuing such a career as theater. The three members of his own thespian harem were pleasant enough, with the two harems meshing rather well. Really, the only worry that members of Emilia’s harem had over the situation was that her boyfriend might act on his desire to travel to Slot to try his luck as a Coordinator.
And, as all of this happened, Ruth’s negative experiences with the ivory farm were, though far from forgotten, finally removed from the forefront of her mind.
Author's Note: And so, my first Pokegirls story is finished. Looking back on it, I can see where I made some amateurish mistakes, but hopefully the story was still enjoyable. And anyone who has gotten this far, thank you so much for reading the story!