Disclaimer:
This work is fiction. The work has no (intentional) relationship with any person existing at any time anywhere whether real or imaginary or copy written.
Feedback will be read, processed, and if it’s a flame it will be given the finger, then I will burst into hysterical laughter. Constructive feedback, be it criticism or praise, will be read, processed, given a smile, and filed away. To contact me, please send an email to socom.seal@(SPAM)yahoo.com. Remove (SPAM) for a valid email.
You should not read this if you are not of legal age where you reside. This work can contain rape, BDSM, cannibalism, and probably anything else my sick, twisted mind can come up with.
Note: All times are in a mix of military and standard times. For example, 1AM = 0100 hours = 1:00, while 1PM = 1300 hours = 13:00. I hope this will make it easier on readers to understand the timeline while leaving me in a format that I understand better. If it causes too much of a problem I will switch to standard.
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“<<Text>>” Means that it is being spoken in a language other than English.
“This is telepathic thought”
Chapter 18
<21:00, Shrewsbury>
Light filled the air as humans and pokegirls danced in the streets, the full moon hanging overhead. Andrew sat at a bench and watched. Grace had already taken off, presumably to find a bar, while Claire had taken Lyn somewhere. He had no idea what had happened with Aella, but presumed that the Naga was somewhere nearby. He smiled slightly. Finally, he had a moment to relax.
Lost in thought, he didn’t notice the crowd in front of him parting slightly to make way for two figures pushing through it. It wasn’t until they were standing over him that he realized something was wrong.
The two police officers appraised him. “Andrew Ranger?” He nodded slightly. “You’re under arrest.”
Andrew sighed. “You do remember what happened the last time your kind pulled a stunt like this, correct?” He smiled slightly as the man on his left glanced at his partner. “She’s not fooling me. And if you’d forgotten, the last time a Goth tried to arrest an Author, it left your organization in shambles.”
The human’s mouth set and he pulled out a pistol. “I said you’re under arrest. Will you come quietly?”
Andrew grinned and vanished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Shit!” He spat, looking around wildly. “Ma’am, where did he go?”
The other officer’s features shifted as the S-Goth disabled her spell. “It was a short range teleport. He’s in the alleyways.” She held out her hands and chanted softly. “20 meters west.”
The man nodded and holstered his gun, jogging towards an opening in between the buildings in front of them. “Direction?”
The Goth strode beside him. “He’s a block down, moving north. Stay on the ground – I’m taking to the air.” She replied and kicked off, accelerating swiftly to intercept her prey. The man continued to make his way in the direction indicated, slowing as the alley became shadowed. He withdrew a pokeball and released a Pumara. “Rachel, check the area.”
The girl’s ears twitched. “There’s movement ahead. One person. Other than that, nothing.” She blinked. “Never mind. One person and Mistress.”
The man chuckled. “Alright. Stay alert.”
They moved forwards slowly, wary of any ambush, when the Pumara stopped. “Sir, this alleyway ends after this turn.”
The man nodded and unholstered his gun. “Movement?”
“Ceased.” The girl pouted. “Mistress is hiding, too.”
“Alright. Check the corner.”
The Pumara crept forward and peeked her head around the corner. “There’s a door. It’s been disturbed recently.”
“Good. Check it, I’ll keep watch.” The man replied and turned to watch the alleyway behind him when he heard a scream. Turning back around he looked wildly for the Pumara. “Rachel? Rachel!” He cursed. “Alright fuckers, where are you?”
The shadows at his feet bubbled and an arm grabbed his ankle. “Right here.” The Vampire cackled as she pulled the man down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Goth hovered above the alleyways. Her quarry was slowing down. Her pet should be on his trail by now; His Pumara was quite adept at tracking. She laughed. The silly human thought he would escape them. He had no idea that the wonderful pokedex he carried was betraying his location to her. She smiled.
Glancing down she noted a dead end in the building layout. It was there that the signal had stopped, so either he was trapped or he was hiding there. Either way, she had him. None of the measly pokegirls he had enslaved were going to be able to stand up to her. She landed softly on a rooftop and peered into the alley. There was a door at the end, behind which the signal was emanating. Easy.
She jumped into the alley and strode up to the door, ready to take out whatever was waiting there. She briefly considered waiting for her pet, but dismissed it just as quickly. She didn’t need any backup for a measly human.
She pulled open the door to see the pokedex sitting on a table.
She cursed and stepped into the room. As she did, her foot brushed a light cord that had been strung across the doorway. The cord triggered a charge, lighting several flashbangs that had been hidden in the shadows. The extreme light and sound instantly concussed the Goth, who stumbled backwards, clawing at her face as her brain tried to process the damage to her eyes and ears and failed. Whirling around, she attempted to take off into the air before being tackled sideways into a wall. Screaming in rage she activated her Aura of Menace in an attempt to stay her attacker while her eyes cleared.
Unfortunately for her, the Vampire just shrugged the attack off and slapped a manacle onto the incapacitated Goth. “Nighty night.” She crooned, activating her Mega Drain and watching her prey fall into unconsciousness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(One Hour Earlier)
<20:00, Shrewsbury>
Andrew appraised the four people in front of him. “So. Why is Vale interested in me?”
The shop owner gave him a look of innocence. “Vale? What are you talking about?”
Andrew’s smile disappeared. “I am not stupid. I also am not the one who asked for this meeting. What. Does. Vale. Want. With. Me?”
The Vampire next to John sighed. “Sorry. You’re going to have to forgive John. Sometimes he gets ahead of himself.” She glared at him. “He’s just a student.”
Andrew looked at her. “You say that like you aren’t.”
She grinned. “That would be because I’m not.” She reached into her mouth and yanked out one of her teeth.
Andrew watched as her body reformed, turning male. “Interesting.”
He laughed. “I’m not allowed to give you my real name, but you can call me Draken.” He smiled. “You can guess why.”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “Should I call you Count as well?”
Draken snickered. “No, that won’t be necessary. Besides, The Organization doesn’t have ranks.” He pocketed the tooth. “Although there is one thing John is quite capable at, and that’s shape-changing magics. He did a damned good job on both of our clothing, wouldn’t you say?”
Andrew nodded. “You still haven’t given me an answer.”
Draken’s face set. “Very well. Have your Witch join us.”
Andrew’s face deadpanned. “Before I do, I need to know. Was she ever a spy?”
Draken shook his head. “No. That was never our intention with her. However, we did lock some of her talent. If you would allow us to, we can reverse that.”
“Ah, so that was why she was having so much trouble the other night.”
Draken smiled. “Exactly. She knows a lot of high-level magic that we had to lock away so it didn’t activate and drain her, or even kill her. Unfortunately it seems we went a bit overboard.”
Andrew nodded and released Lyn, who ducked behind him when she saw the people in front of her. “Lyn, it’s alright.” She didn’t move. “For crying out loud, they want to help you with your magic.”
She peeked out. “What do you mean?”
Victoria smiled. “That’s a very pretty necklace. It was really nice of your tamer to get it for you.”
Lyn turned. “You know about this?” She asked, fiddling with her pendant.
Victoria winked at Andrew. “I could sense it right away. Would you like to learn some new things?” Lyn thought for a few moments before nodding. “Great! Cmon.” Victoria said, leading Lyn over to a table where they sat, Annie hovering behind them.
Andrew turned back to Draken. “You’ve been watching me for a long time, haven’t you?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t say that. You’ve talked to a lot of our agents, though.”
Andrew sighed. “Fair enough. Now, then, enough distractions. She,” He pointed at Annie, “Said I was not safe. You are showing a LOT of interest in me. What’s going on?”
Draken pulled out a pokedex. “About 24 hours ago, Sanctuary Goths attacked a PLC Outpost. Their target was an Agent named Braxton, who managed to escape. I believe you know him.”
Andrew frowned. “Yes, I know him. And if they’ve attacked him, they’ll be coming for me soon, correct?”
Draken nodded and handed Andrew the ‘dex. “Take a look at this.”
Andrew took it and read the message on the screen. “Retrieval is still go. Capture Ranger at all costs.” He looked up. “When and whom?”
John spoke up. “I intercepted that message a few hours ago. It was sent to someone here, in the city. It’s our belief that they will make their move during the festival. So, we’re going to be ready for them.”
Andrew nodded. “What do you need me to do?”
Draken grinned and popped his tooth back in. “You’re going to be the bait.” The Vampire purred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew sat at the bench and watched the parade. “I have to ask, is it Jusenkyo?”
Draken spoke from her position in his shadow. “Nope. Magical experiment. They wanted to see if the effects of Vampire venom could be controlled.” She snickered. “I could. They couldn’t.”
Andrew blinked. “Were there fatalities?”
“Human lives were lost. Pokegirl lives were created.”
Andrew nodded slowly. “You went on a rampage, didn’t you.”
Draken emerged slightly and peered at him. “Do you really want me to answer that question?”
Andrew glanced down and shuddered at the look in the Vampire’s eyes. “No. No, I don’t.” He sighed when she melted back into the shadow. “However, I do want to know if you, well, require taming while you’re in that form.”
“No, I don’t. Not really. I’ll get horny sometimes; that was not a good time for me, figuring that out. But since I retained my male DNA, we were able to weave the spell so that it keeps the pokegirl DNA under control.” She chuckled. “I literally fuck myself.”
Andrew laughed. “I just let my Groaning do the work.” He stopped. “Two hostiles, 12 o’clock. One Goth.”
A part of the shadow darkened near Andrew’s foot. “Lift your right foot for teleport.”
Andrew nodded and waited for the human and Goth to get to him. “Here we go.”
The pair approached him. “Andrew Ranger?” He nodded. “You’re under arrest.”
Andrew sighed. “You do remember what happened the last time your kind pulled a stunt like this, correct?” He smiled slightly as the man on his left glanced at his partner. “She’s not fooling me. And if you’d forgotten, the last time a Goth tried to arrest an Author, it left your organization in shambles.”
The human’s mouth set and he pulled out a pistol. “I said you’re under arrest. Will you come quietly?”
Andrew grinned and lifted his right foot, Draken teleporting them both into the alleys, where John was waiting for them. “We’re all set. Pokedex, please.” He asked, and took it from Andrew. “Good. Draken, get him to safety. I’ve set the trap, so we just need to lure them.” The man grinned. “Annie and Victoria are waiting.”
“Good work.” Draken replied, and teleported Andrew back to the shop, where Lyn was still talking with Victoria. “Annie, you’re on deck. Victoria, if we need you, you’ll be notified.”
The Enchantress nodded. “Roger. Until then I’ll mask this place, just in case.” She nodded at Andrew. “Would you like to see the progress we’ve made?” She asked as Draken teleported away again.
Andrew beamed. “I would love to!” He replied, and stepped to them. “Lyn, what have you learned?”
She looked up at him, exhaustion clearly written across her face. “I… More than I could imagine.”
Victoria idly played with Lyn’s pendant. “We’ve pretty much doubled her power. In addition, I was bored, so I did some work on this.” She said, showing Andrew the gem. “I enchanted the Moon Stone so when it’s used, it won’t disintegrate. The stone itself will just de-power. That way, it can still be used as jewelry.” She turned it over. “I also added a focusing wand here. I understand what the everstone is for, so I made sure to leave that where it is, but I cut a channel for the wand.” She smiled. “It was designed beautifully.”
“Thanks for the compliment.” Andrew replied, blinking as a light started shining next to them. “Wha-?”
“Oh, not again.” Victoria grumbled and threw the pendant over Lyn’s head, immediately stopping the evolution glow. “She’s more than powerful enough to evolve into a Sorceress. That’s the fourth time in the last hour.”
Andrew shook his head. “That’s amazing. You did that in an hour?”
Victoria shrugged. “She already had the potential locked away, I just unlocked it for her. By the way, I need to speak to you. In private.” She glanced at Lyn. “Just keep practicing. When you can control at least two of the four elements simultaneously, let me know.” Victoria walked out of Lyns earshot and turned back to Andrew. “The reason Lyn has so much power is because she was also the subject of a magical experiment, not unlike Draken. In her case, Vale found a young girl with extremely high magical power. She came from a long line of Archmages, so it was highly probable that she would threshold. From what Draken has told me, she had two charged Mana Stones implanted in her. They weren’t fully charged, so they both augmented her power and continuously drained it. What I’ve done is disable those stones, so that her power can flow freely again. There will be a short-term loss, but in the long run she should be able to control the power those stones contain in order to be even more powerful.”
Andrew whistled softly. “How does she not remember that?” He frowned. “And how have the Mana Crystals not caused an evolution into an Elementalist?”
Victoria shrugged. “I’m guessing they did something to them so they would only act as batteries instead of evolution items. Speaking of which, if and when Lyn is able to control those stones and their power, they won’t qualify for the Archmage e-stone ritual. She will have to charge three new stones for that. As to how she doesn’t remember that, well.” She smiled sadly. “There are those who can erase memories more thoroughly than a Level 5 cycle.”
They both turned back to watch Lyn for a few moments. “Thank you for her.” Andrew whispered.
Victoria smiled. “Take care of her. She is very fragile.”
They jumped at Lyn’s excited yell. “I did it!” She cried, holding a ball of water and fire in each of her hands.
Victoria strode back and inspected them. “Yes, they seem stable. Good job! Now, how about this?” She asked, and dropped a dagger in front of Lyn. “What have I done to it?”
Lyn stroked the blade. “How am I supposed to find out?”
Victoria shrugged. “Trial and error could work. Or you could read the spells I put on it, if you can.”
Lyn frowned. “But, I don’t know how to do that…” She trailed off and glanced at the Enchantress. “This is a test, isn’t it?”
Victoria looked at her innocently. “A test? For what?”
Andrew chuckled as Lyn glared at her. “Now Victoria, that’s mean. I specifically told Lyn she could move at her own pace. There’s no need to coerce her into using that moonstone.”
Lyn opened her mouth but no words came out. “…Oh.”
Victoria glared at Andrew. “Come on, let me have my fun.”
Andrew shook his head. “You can have your fun as long as it isn’t irreversible.”
“But she told me this is what she wants.”
“And I told her she wouldn’t be pressured into it.”
“I’m helping her unlock her power.”
“And she’s still my pokegirl.”
They would have continued bickering if not for the voice beside them. “No rust, scratch resistant, self-sharpening blade.”
Victoria turned and smiled slightly. “Good job.”
Andrew turned to Lyn. “I thought you said you couldn’t do that? How did you…” He cut off and stared at her, mouth agape. “…uhhh.”
The first thing he noticed was the pendant; Lyn was holding the moonstone between her teeth, and she had definitely evolved into an Enchantress. “…How did I not see the evolution light?”
Lyn grinned and slid her pendant back over her neck. “I didn’t let you.”
Andrew bit his lip and grunted. “On a side note, could you not sit like… that?” He asked nervously. The evolution had been kind to her, easily bringing her breasts to a generous C-cup, and she was no longer dressed in her characteristic hoody and sweatpants. Instead, she now had on an extremely tight t-shirt which hid absolutely nothing, especially not the fact she had foregone a bra.
It didn’t help that the skirt she was wearing made sure Andrew knew she wasn’t wearing panties either.
Lyn pouted slightly and took her legs off the table, settling back into her chair more normally. “Better?”
Andrew coughed. “Yea. Yea, better.” He rubbed his eyes. “I’m not going to get any sleep tonight, am I?”
Lyn smiled worriedly and got up. “Please don’t be mad. You were the first who made me feel good. Feel wanted. I stopped being scared, Andrew.” She hugged him. “I didn’t want to let that go.” She burrowed into his chest.
Andrew awkwardly patted her head. “Sexually, you just guaranteed that. Personally? There was never a doubt.” He tried pushing her away. “You’re, uh, kinda getting me- are you crying?”
Lyn sniffed and pulled her head away from his chest momentarily. “No, I… Yea. I am.” She gazed up at him tearfully. “As long as I was a Witch I always had that doubt.”
Andrew glanced at Victoria. “I still blame you you know.”
She shrugged. “I can handle that. I’m ok with being responsible for Lyn finding her own confidence.”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “When you put it that way…” He looked down where Lyn was pushing away. “You alright?”
She blushed and poked his groin. “I just realized what I was doing to you, and I’m stopping because I can’t lie and say it’s not doing the same to me.”
Victoria snickered. “Oh, I was the same way with John. There’s an extra room in the back, if you want.” She said with a wink. She continued when Andrew hesitated. “Seriously, go ahead. I’ll let the rest of your harem know where you are once they get back from the festival, and Draken won’t have any troubles. If he does, we’ll let you know.”
Andrew glanced back at Lyn and nodded at the look on her face. “You’re supposed to tame a newly evolved pokegirl anyways, right? No matter that she’s always going to be a horny little Nymph.”
Victoria burst into giggles as Lyn tried to both glare at him and simultaneously drag him away. “Have fun you two!” She called. There was no need to tell Andrew that Draken had already captured the Goth and her pet. Or that neither of them would be sane much longer.
No, it was better he kept as much innocence as he could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<08:00, Shrewsbury>
Andrew rolled over and gazed at Lyn’s slumbering form. The night before had been nothing like the other times he had tamed her. The new Enchantress’ confidence was well and truly there. There was no more fear from her - in fact, she had been almost dominant, which was both a welcome and strange change for him. He smiled softly and stroked Lyn’s hair. Fragile she may be, but it was about time she cracked open her shell. And if Victoria’s interference made her happy, well, he wasn’t going to complain. Much.
Lyn stirred at his continued ministrations, opening her eyes with a yawn. “Good morning.”
Andrew smiled and poked her gently. “Morning. By the way, do you remember how your mother became an Archmage? Because I don’t think this is normal.” He said, stroking her slightly pointed ears gently.
Lyn shivered in pleasure. “Yea, she evolved… from a Dark Elf… Oh god don’t stop.” She moaned, grinding her body against his. He groaned and pushed her away. “Already? Really?” He sighed. “Thank god Adria will be able to help out a bit with tamings around here, because I know I’ll be exhausted pretty quickly otherwise.”
Lyn grumbled and tried to squirm back up against him. “You started this, so you’d better finish it.”
Andrew hummed and idly played with her breasts, sending another shudder through Lyn’s body. “You know, I remember another girl telling me that. One psychotic Mini-Top, I believe it was.” He looked at her. “Don’t tell me you’re going to be as bad as Grace now.”
Lyn growled softly when he continued to tease her. “I’ll be worse if you don’t cut that out.”
Andrew chuckled and finally consented. “I wonder how the others are doing?” He mused in between thrusts. He grinned at her. “What, stopped complaining?”
Lyn didn’t respond.
It didn’t take long before Andrew drew her into a kiss as they both orgasmed again, repeating the night’s session. Sighing, he released her and flopped on his back, spent. “Ok, I need something to eat. I’m starved.” They both looked up as Claire’s head poked in.
“Oh, hey, you’re awake. You might want to get out here, Draken wants to talk to you.” She cocked her head when she saw Lyn. “You look different.”
Andrew glanced over and blinked. Lyn had summoned her characteristic hoodie to hide in, but it wasn’t hiding her larger cup size. “What’s this? I’ve got a bashful Enchantress and an exhibitionist Valkyrie? What is the world coming to?”
Claire laughed while Lyn retreated further into the blankets. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me. Although I wouldn’t say I’m an exhibitionist, I just… Like to be able to move.” She winked at him.
Andrew chuckled and slipped into a pair of shorts. “Tell Draken I’ll be out shortly. How was the festival?”
Claire shrugged. “Obviously not as exciting as whatever transpired here last night.” Her eyes lit up. “If Lyn took the step and evolved, does that mean she’ll be able to train with Grace and I now?”
Andrew smirked as Lyn frantically shook her head. “Oh, I think so. I ESPECIALLY want her to learn some fighting techniques. Everyone in this family will have to be well rounded.” He gave the grinning Valkyrie an angelic smile. “And I won’t let tits or ass count. That means everyone learns magic, too.”
Claire’s smile disappeared as quickly as it had come and she glanced apprehensively at the now grinning Enchantress. “Ehh, I think the combat training could be taken slow, don’t you think?”
Lyn snuggled against Andrew. “I don’t know, magic is pretty hard to take slowly. Missing one day could set you back a week.”
Claire winced. “For fucks sake.” She glared at the Enchantress. “I liked you better when you didn’t talk.”
Lyn’s gaze hardened. “I am going to take that as a joke. Andrew likes me better this way so you’d better get used to it.”
Andrew coughed and pushed away from Lyn. “I was perfectly alright with the two of you going at it as long as I was kept out of it. Lyn,” He said, reprimanding her, “I know you have the whole ‘obsessiveness’ thing going on now. That’s fine. But it doesn’t mean you can use me as your almighty bargaining chip. I will not show favoritism. It will just lead to dissent, and in a fight that can get someone killed. In addition, Claire is your Alpha. You would do well to remember that.” He turned to Claire. “And Claire, please don’t insult Lyn’s newfound confidence. She worked extremely hard for it.” He watched the two of them for a few seconds before his mouth twitched slightly into a smile. “Now, kiss and make up~”
Claire snorted and walked back out. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” She called back.
Andrew chuckled and glanced at Lyn. “Oh, come on, that was a joke!”
She closed her mouth. “You’re acting differently than usual.”
Andrew smiled and pulled on the rest of his clothes. “I’m not, you’re just in a place now where I can be myself around you.” He stood and made his way to the door. “You coming?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You want me to come to Vale? For what reason?” Andrew asked incredulously.
Draken shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious? You have extreme potential. Even if you didn’t join The Organization, you would still be a valued student. And it would be a good place for you and your pokegirls to grow, without fear of Sanctuary.”
Andrew shook his head. “I know all about Vale’s policies. The only one who would be welcome there would be me, and maybe Lyn. And even then that’s iffy, since she’s a pokegirl. And before you say anything about your own situation, I would be willing to bet that you’re a field agent not fully by choice.”
Draken grimaced. “No. I’m not.” He glanced back up hopefully. “In that case, would you be willing to at least meet with my boss? If nothing else you would benefit from allowing her to meet you.” He shrugged apologetically. “I won’t even lie and say it would be social. It would fully be her evaluating you as a threat.”
Andrew chuckled. “That I can appreciate. That is also something I can do. However, I refuse to go to Vale; A healthy dose of paranoia has kept me alive thus far, and I won’t be losing it anytime soon.”
Draken nodded in relief. “She’ll understand. Where would you like to meet?”
Andrew glanced at Lyn. “How about London, tomorrow? She can choose the place and time, and send them to me whenever she wants. I’ll even stick around here, in Shrewsbury, so she knows I’m not pulling anything of my own.” He smiled. “There’s always the chance that she’ll use this opportunity to set a trap, but you’ve got to give some trust to get some, right?”
Draken nodded. “Leaving Vale is pretty hard for her, considering there are quite a few people who wouldn’t be sad to hear of her death. I think the two of you will get along fine.” He grinned. “She accepts. What’s the number she can use to contact you?”
Andrew pulled out his backup pokedex. “Here you go. I don’t know how to pull up the number for this unit, since I’ve only used it once, and that was when I synced it with my other…” He trailed off when he saw the blinking light on the screen. “What the heck?”
Draken strained to see the screen. “What is it?”
Andrew quickly closed the notification. “Just a message. I only have two other numbers on here, and I wasn’t expecting a message is all.” He handed it over. “Anyways, sync that somehow.”
Draken pulled out a small com unit and keyed a few numbers. “Alright, that’s done.” He said, handing the ‘dex back. “How do you plan on getting to London in a day?”
Andrew grinned at Lyn. “I have a feeling a teleport session is in order today.”
Lyn smiled back. “I’ll do my best.”
Draken clapped his hands. “Great! Now that that’s all settled, I’ll let you get to it.” He gave Andrew a small salute. “I wish you luck, Andrew.”
Andrew nodded as Draken phased through the floor. “Does he ever use a door?”
John blinked. “Who?”
Andrew waved in the general direction Draken had left. “Draken.”
“Ohh, that Vampire? Daria? We see her a bit around here, and no, she never uses a door.” He laughed. “Oh, my. I have a splitting headache. It was a pleasure meeting you, Andrew.” He called, and retired to the back room. Andrew looked around skeptically and saw Victoria lounging in the corner. He raised his eyebrow.
Victoria sighed. “Human lives are worth more to Vale. You know that. Which means pokegirls can just have a spell placed on them that liquefies their mind if they are about to relinquish information. Humans have the relevant memories wiped preemptively.” She looked at him sadly. “John was brilliant while he was at the academy. He could have easily become a top agent. But instead, he wanted to pursue his dream. He effectively retired here with Annie and I.” She bit her lip. “So they suppressed anything to do with the recruitment process. It lost him almost a full year of schooling.” She shook her head. “As far as he knows, he never graduated. He leads two lives while here – a dropout Vale student turned shopkeeper, and an amazingly talented mage who helps out The Organization in his free time.” She smiled. “At least they granted him that much. He’s always happy, but whenever Draken drops by, he seems more… Satisfied.”
Andrew looked to the door John had disappeared through. “I’m suddenly quite worried about this meeting.”
She laughed. “There’s nothing to worry about. Just, whatever you do, don’t sign anything she tries to give you. There is such a thing as magical fine print.”
Andrew made his way to the door. “I’ll keep that in mind. And, Victoria,” He paused, “Thank you.”
The Enchantress smiled. “Good luck, Andrew Ranger. Try to stay alive, alright? I would hate to hear that the master of my star apprentice went off and died on her.”
Andrew nodded and left the store, Lyn trailing behind him, leaving Victoria gazing after him. She waited until he was gone before slipping into the room John had retired to. She was his Enchantress, after all.
Outside, Andrew stretched and blinked in the sunlight. “So, Lyn. Do you think you’re proficient enough to teleport?”
Lyn shrugged. “I feel more powerful, but it would take me a while to create a teleportation spell.”
Andrew shook his head. “That isn’t necessary. There ought to be a market around here that sells T2’s, and a teleport T2 is a very desirable item, so there shouldn’t be a problem finding one.” He scratched his chin. “And I need to pick up a few items too.”
Lyn nodded. “If you can find one, I have no doubt I could use it.”
Andrew grinned. “Great! Once we get that sorted out, I think we’ll have a free day.” His eyes twinkled. “And by free day, I mean a tamer-free day. Alpha’s choice.”
Lyn groaned. “You know that she’s going to beat me to a pulp, right?”
Andrew shrugged. “If you insist.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<15:00, Outside Shrewsbury>
“Alright. Aella, you’re with Lyn. I want you to try your hardest to ensnare her, and Lyn, you’re trying not to get caught. That simple. Best out of three gets a point, and keep going until I tell you to stop. Grace, you’re with me. Adria,” She glanced at Andrew’s slumbering form. “Oy! Get out here.”
The Groaning separated herself from his body. “Yes?”
Claire beckoned her over. “You’re with us. I mostly want you watching, since you can’t really participate unless you’re using Andrew’s body, and he needs uninterrupted rest right now. SOMEONE,” She glared at Lyn, “Wore him out last night.”
Lyn held out her hands. “Uh, evolution sickness?”
Grace snickered at the look on Claire’s face. “Oh, don’t worry, sweetheart. Claire doesn’t need an excuse, so you shouldn’t either.” She grinned at the red-faced Valkyrie. “You know what I’m talking about.” She goaded, flopping her big ears back and forth.
Claire’s face set. “Adria, can you suppress Andrew so he won’t wake up?” She waited for the Groaning’s nod. “Then join Aella and Lyn.” She glared at the smirking Mini-Top. “You’re never going to shut up, are you?”
Grace shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for an easy target.”
Claire smiled. “Words are all you have, and you know it. Now then, what will this make? Three to zero?”
Grace settled into a fighting stance. “The score is one to zero, you moron. And we’re tied in Gym takedowns, too.”
Aella leaned over to whisper in Lyn’s ear as the two combatants clashed. “Why does she allow Grace to insult her like that? Isn’t she the Alpha?”
Lyn shrugged and started to open her mouth when Adria spoke up from behind them. “They banter because if they couldn’t, one of them would be dead.” They turned to the Groaning. “Hauteclere was Andrew’s first pokegirl, but Grace is technically his strongest. There’s always going to be a rivalry, so he lets them work it out on their own. If he tried to stop it, it would just build up under the surface until someone ended up with a hole in their head.” She nodded at them. “He’s not asleep, in case you were wondering. Just meditating.”
Aella nodded thoughtfully. “That’s smart. Do they still work together?”
Adria shrugged. “They haven’t really had much time to, but he says they did pretty well against a Whoretortle near Plymouth, so I guess so. By the way, Lyn, I share Andrew’s memories. Which means I remember how you were when you first met. What changed your mind?”
The Enchantress sighed slightly and stared at her feet. “I don’t know. Maybe it was the bond; maybe it was Victoria’s urging. But yesterday I just felt… satisfied. For an instant, when I heard him defending me, I felt whole. I didn’t want to let that feeling go.” She smiled at Adria. “Evolving just felt like the right thing to do at that moment.”
The Groaning grinned back. “He’s shut off, by the way. He respects us too much to interfere in a free day.”
Lyn breathed a sigh of relief. “I was hoping that was the case, but I would have been ok if he heard that.”
Adria nodded. “I can share the memory with him, if you’d like.”
“I’d like that.”
“OI! I don’t see panicky people trying to escape a snake!” Claire yelled at them from her vantage point in the air.
“Come down or I will get out my rifle.” Grace threatened, tapping her foot impatiently.
Lyn winced as Claire dove back into Grace. “Damn. I am not looking forward to training with them.”
Aella blinked. “Andrew wants you to train with them? Like, in combat?”
Lyn nodded. “He wants us all to. He also wants everyone to learn magic.”
Aella grumbled. “I’m nowhere near strong enough for that.”
Adria snorted. “He’ll make sure you are.” She stretched and got into a fighting stance. “Now then, Aella, I believe you’re supposed to be trying to catch us?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew stretched and groaned as the day’s bruises made themselves known. Claire had soon gotten bored with Grace, the two deciding to end the day in a draw (They had only used hand to hand techniques so as to not fatally wound each other), and had moved on to personally supervising the other ‘girls. This had turned the workout into a panicky chase.
Afterwards Andrew had taken Lyn aside while the other ‘girls continued and practiced her teleport. They had been able to get her teleporting precisely after about an hour, with only a couple of mishaps along the way. Luckily, none had resulted in injury.
He stared at the roof of the tent. Things were moving so fast. Suddenly there were more people who wanted him. Sanctuary, the PLC, and now Vale. He could only hope that his meeting tomorrow wouldn’t end too badly.
He rolled over when Grace pushed her way in. “You were nominated for tonight?”
She plopped down next to him. “It’s been almost a week.”
Andrew thought for a second. “Holy shit. I was in a coma for a few days.”
Grace chuckled. “You were. Threw off the rotation.” She rubbed her legs together. “None of your harem accepted any of the taming offers while we were in Africa. Even when it looked like you might not wake up in time for Claire or Lyn, they both refused.” Her hands twitched. “Now it’s my turn.”
Andrew sat up. “You would rather go feral than have someone else tame you?”
Grace nodded. “After Hino… Never again. I would kill myself before I allowed someone else to bond with me.” She gazed at him with tears in her eyes. “What is it about you?”
Andrew glanced at her. “Hm?”
She gestured helplessly. “You. I’m a Mini-Top. Nothing will change that. But the instant I see you, all the rage and hate- it stops. It doesn’t go away, and I make sure Claire knows that.” She muttered, “But it stops. You’re like an antidote. When you’re around, I’m me again. I’m the Bunnygirl who concussed herself in the doorway of the ranch. I’m the Dust Bunny who accidentally blinded her Tamer for a few days while she was working out her power. I’m… Normal.” Her hands dropped. “I don’t want to ever let that change again.”
Andrew rested his hand on her knee. “I can’t promise that, Grace.” He whispered. “Very powerful people are after me. There’s only one way that I know of to stop that, and one of the people who can help me no longer exists in this dimension.” He shook his head. “In fact, I don’t think he’s ever coming back.”
She looked at him. “But I know you. I’ve learned about who you are. You wouldn’t be keeping it a possibility if there wasn’t some way.”
Andrew nodded. “Yes. There are at least three ways I can think of off the top of my head, with two of them having high mortality rates.” He gave her a wry smile. “And the third isn’t much better.”
She snuggled under his arm. “I can wait. What are the dangerous ways?”
He leaned back. “One, I try to break into an abandoned facility that may help me get to the dimension he ran off to. One that may or may not be protected by DNA-encoded killer robots more technologically advanced than anything Sukebe could dream of. Not to mention the fact that there could be a murderous AI still there, controlling the place.”
Grace nodded. “That does not seem like a good idea. Next?”
“I call his conceptual aunt.”
Grace cocked her head. “And that’s one of the bad ideas?”
“She’s more or less a God and I highly doubt she would even be the correct one dimension wise. Not to mention that I barely know enough about her to even call for her; as the adage goes, ‘I know just enough to get myself killed.’ From what I do know about her, it’s insanely dangerous to even be around her. One wrong thought and you’re vaporized.” He chuckled. “Unless you’re family, in which case it would just get you banished to some graveyard world.”
Grace winced. “Not pleasant. On any front. The last option?”
“I piss off his Elfqueen, causing her to drag him back to this dimension to see who would dare tamper with her tree, which is also fully capable of protecting itself from attack. I then attempt to get him to restrain one of the most powerful Elves this dimension ever created, all while doing my damndest to keep HIM from seeing me as a threat. And if I fail at any point, his harem would be more than willing to make all of us disappear.” He shuddered. “Even if he wouldn’t.”
Grace thought for a few moments. “That does seem the safest option.” She chuckled. “Even if it’s still highly probable to injure us.”
Andrew sighed. “Yea. Not foolproof by any means. But at the very least, he needs to know that there are still those in Sanctuary continuing the Author project. From what I know, the main body has been highly reformed, but as long as there’s someone yanking people over, he’s at risk.” He shook his head. “Sanctuary’s playing with fire and already got burned. If everything works out, I’ll cauterize them and skip away to a happier ending. If it doesn’t? You all die and I’m tortured for the rest of my life. Either way, I’ll need someone’s help. It just so happens that I know about Iain Grey, and know he can help. I just have to pray he’s in the mood.” He tweaked Grace’s tail, causing her to jump slightly. “And speaking of being in the mood, I believe you came in here for a reason, and it wasn’t to hear me talk.”
She rolled on top of him. “You’re right.” She replied in a husky tone. “But my god did that last part not turn me on.”
Andrew chuckled and bit her ear gently. “We’ve got all night.”
Grace nearly tore his underwear off. “Fuck that. You’ve got a minute.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<07:00, Outside Shrewsbury>
Andrew blinked the sleep out of his eyes and glanced around. Grace was sleeping peacefully, the sun was barely up, and there weren’t any loud noises. So what had woken him up?
His attention was drawn to his discarded pokedex, which was emitting a dull flashing light. Sighing, he picked it up and flicked through the notifications. “Two new messages. Great. Wonder who it could be.” He muttered sarcastically. “Two unknown numbers. Perfect.”
Humming softly he tapped the first one, jumping when Braxton’s head appeared in the screen. “Well, shit.”
Claire silently poked her head into his tent. “You rang?”
He turned the screen so she could see the sender. “Wake the rest of the girls. I don’t care if they’re naked, I don’t give two shits if they would rather not be, wake them and get them the fuck in here.” He tried to control his breathing while Claire roused the other tent. “Braxton. Why are you breaking radio silence, you moron?”
Claire reappeared, shuttling the rest of the harem. “What’s the situation?’
Andrew chuckled. “I forgot Braxton had this number privately. Also, That’s not very fair, you know.”
Claire looked at him quizzically before following his gaze and snickering softly. She and Lyn were both fully clothed, leaving Aella and Grace the only two naked with their tamer. “I’m not desummoning these to make it fair. Continue.”
Andrew nodded and set the pokedex to holo display. “I needed everyone in here for this, just in case he says something that I would have to repeat. As it stands, Braxton was attacked a few days ago. This message may or may not contain information crucial to our own survival.” He pressed play and settled back.
The picture was pretty jumpy, but the figures of Braxton and Ashlon were pretty easy to make out. “Andrew. Sanctuary has made a move. They attempted to assassinate me and pin it on the PLC. Thanks to Ashlon I’m fine and am moving to a personal safehouse. If you are who you say you are, you’ll know where to find me. Otherwise, stay low. I doubt they would make a move on me and ignore you.” He froze. “Shit! Ashlon, take care of them. I’ll send him a priority ping. It should get through any blocks they’ve set up.” He turned back to the camera. “We’re still dodging pursuers. I’ll hold off on sending this message until we’re clear, but you should hopefully get the warning I just sent. Stay safe.” He ended the message as a fireball blossomed behind him, shaking the camera and overlaying the audio with panicked screams.
Andrew sat in silence for a few seconds. “Well, that’s unfortunate.” He glanced around at the stunned faces. “The fact that we’ve received his message indicates that he’s fine, for now. Unfortunately there’s only one way I know to verify his location.” He thought for a few moments. “He could either be referring to a mansion I once wrote about, or an entire city. I doubt it’s the city, but if it’s the mansion, we’re kind of out of luck.” He chuckled. “It’s in Capital.”
Aella was the first to speak up. “I didn’t believe you when you said you were dangerous to be around. Now I do.”
Andrew grimaced. “You can still back out, if you want.” He glanced at Lyn. “That includes you, too. I’m pretty sure I never gave you that choice while outlining the danger.”
Lyn shook her head firmly. “Sabisude wa, watashi wa ikite iru. In service I live. You are the only one who I will follow.”
Aella chuckled. “I don’t know any funny languages, but I’m in. I don’t want to go back home, anyways.”
Andrew glanced at Lyn’s resolute face. “<<You and I need to have a talk about who you really are. Soon.>>” He turned away as her eyes widened in realization of what she had said. “Alright. I’ll send the message to confirm if he’s at the mansion or not. If he’s not, and he gives me a different clue, I’ll go from there.” He thought for a few seconds before a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Here we go. ‘Artemis Fowl is coming home.’”
Grace looked at him quizzically. “What does that have to do with a mansion?”
Andrew finished typing it out and hit send. “It doesn’t. It refers to a popular book series that came out pre-sukebe. The reference I gave is subtle enough that only Braxton or Ashlon would be able to figure it out. As long as he draws the parallel, he’ll know I know where he is. If he doesn’t, he’ll send clarification.” He shrugged. “Either way, our enemies won’t be able to make any sense of it. They’ll probably look for someone alive today name Artemis Fowl.” Andrew snorted. “Knowing the people who wrote in the early days, it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a fairy tamer by that name.”
Claire glanced around. “Alright, so we need to be on our guard. We already know a strike force got neutralized last night. So that’s nothing new. Was there anything else?”
Andrew nodded. “There’s another message, but I would be willing to bet it is our Vale contact. Which means we need to get packed up. In addition,” he said, stalling their exit, “I need to relay something to you all.”
He sighed. “Last night Grace got me into a mood to ramble. I rambled about my strategy on escaping this whole situation. I plan on getting the attention of one of the Authors who was here and had the original conflict with Sanctuary. If I’m lucky, we’ll all be out of here unscathed.” He took a deep breath. “More or less it involves pissing off quite a few beings that you should never piss off, praying that I’m not vaporized before I can get a word in, and then hoping that he’s in the mood to allow a bunch of strays shelter in another dimension.”
His harem exchanged looks. “And, how exactly are you going to do this?” Lyn finally spoke up.
Andrew grimaced. “Oh, just by damaging one of this world’s most powerful Elfqueens’ special tree, which she sang her bow and her tamer’s weapon out of.”
There was silence. Finally Claire stood. “Alright. You obviously know the risks of something like that, so lets get moving. Aella, clear the area. Lyn and I are taking down the tent. Grace,” she paused. “Guard duty, and you’re responsible for taking down the Tamer Tent. Let’s move!”
Andrew watched them file out. “I’m making a terrible mistake, aren’t I?”
Grace shrugged into her clothes. “Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, you still have a message to watch.”
He nodded and jabbed the second icon, sitting back as it blossomed into a view of a well decorated office. “Play.”
The camera panned until it was focused on a woman behind a desk. “Ranger. I hope this message finds you well; I suspect that the life of a tamer does not usually allow for early morning starts.” She gave a slight smile. “Eight o’clock in the main square. I’ll find you.” She nodded. “Good day.”
Andrew killed the message and glanced at the clock. “7:30. If we hurry we’ll still make it on time.” He started pulling on clothing. “Let’s go!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<07:55, London>
Andrew jogged through the streets, constantly glancing at the map on his dex. Thankfully Lyn remembered a good teleport spot and had deposited him only about a mile from where the map claimed the main square was located. Panting, he burst into the open square and made his way to a bench.
As he sat down he was startled by a voice at his shoulder. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
He turned to see an elderly man watching him. “I, uh, no, I haven’t.”
The man grinned. “I hear they are serving good food at the Wraith Café. Too bad it’s reservation only.” There was a quick glint in his eyes. “Why don’t you check it out?”
Andrew nodded. “Thank you. I’ll do that.” He stood and made his way across the square, glancing back after a few seconds.
The man was nowhere to be seen.
Continuing on, he made his way down a busy side street to the restaurant, stopping outside at the podium.
The man standing there looked at him expectantly. “Do you have a reservation?”
Andrew shook his head. “I might. Where am I, exactly?”
The waiter smiled. “This is the Vampire café. Do you have a reservation?”
Andrew frowned. “This isn’t the Wraith café?”
The waiter shook his head. “My apologies, we are the Wraith café. I don’t know why I said something different.”
Andrew was going to inquire when he remembered the name John had given Draken the day before. “Do you have a reservation for Daria, by any chance?”
The waiter smiled. “Right this way, sir.”
Andrew followed him past the outdoor seating and back into the main dining area where he was seated at a booth in the back of the restaurant. “Thank you.”
The waiter smiled and gave him a slight bow before returning to his post. Andrew glanced around apprehensively before he spotted the same man from the square making his way towards him.
Andrew nodded as he took the seat opposite. “Clever. Making sure I wasn’t followed and such. And a nice disguise, too. Though I suppose magic makes everything easier.”
The man smiled. “Magic makes everything harder, I’m afraid. Luckily you were you.” The disguised Roth winked at him. “Give my people a few moments and I’ll get rid of this silly thing.”
Andrew waited as waiters buzzed past, seemingly harmlessly until he noticed each one had a different symbol printed on their uniforms. “Mm. A basic barrier?”
Roth took a deep breath as a faint wall separated them from the rest of the restaurant. “A glamour, actually. Nobody can see or hear us as we are.” She waved a hand over her face, dispelling her own glamour. “I am Roth. Now then, I believe Draken outlined the situation to you?”
Andrew shrugged. “If you mean he mentioned how it was in my best interest to meet you, and why, then yes. If he was supposed to tell me about something else, then no.”
Roth nodded. “I am not dense, Mr. Ranger. I know that that is not your real name, nor that you are an ordinary human. What I do not know, however, is how I should treat you.” She steepled her fingers. “You represent a very, very dangerous entity. I have worked tirelessly for the last few years to identify and isolate the results of… that project. Then, lo and behold, SOMETHING happens to our friends. We’re still trying to figure out what the hell it was, but it effectively shut down the Author program. You shouldn’t be here today.”
Andrew chuckled. “I’m so glad to hear that.”
Roth frowned. “Somewhere, someone got a hold of the original project notes. They’re starting it back up, and I need to know where, and how.” She glared at him. “For every Author that escapes them, two more are pulled over. Eventually, they’ll subvert one. And once they do, can you really guarantee this world’s safety?”
Andrew shook his head. “First of all, there’s a limited number that they would want to pull over. The fact that they went for me is surprising, at best. If you were to compare our, supposed, hierarchy, I am the jester. The king and queen were already brought; the princes followed soon thereafter. I’m the nobody that manages to hang about in the throne room.”
Roth smiled. “But you still affected the kingdom.”
Andrew shrugged. “I suppose, yes.”
She nodded. “You may be the bottom of this proverbial totem pole, but you are still a part of it. You still supposedly hold this power that Sanctuary seeks.” She glanced at him. “Do you?”
Andrew bit his lip. “Do I. Did I create you, Chancellor Roth, or did I see you? Did I have a hand in creating my own fate? No, I did not. But did I create a fate? Yes, possibly. But it wasn’t this one.” He gestured around. “If I was truly the creator of this world, and I did it through my writing in my own dimension, then why do we continue to exist here? If the world only moves when We dictated, how does it move now? My answer is that Sanctuary failed one major point in their experiment.” He pointed at himself. “They grabbed the wrong Andrew Ranger.”
Roth watched him. “You’re saying you’re not Andrew Ranger, an Author?”
Andrew shook his head. “I’m saying I’m not the Andrew Ranger, Author, responsible for THIS dimension. Somewhere along the d axis a world lies frozen forever, its god having been yanked unceremoniously from his throne. Whereas this world continues to run, the pantheon untouched.” He shrugged. “My very presence prevents me from being the Author Sanctuary wanted.”
Roth frowned. “But you still have an extreme amount of magic. Skills that shouldn’t be normal for a regular human.”
Andrew nodded. “If everything is as I believe it is, the portal that brought me here gave me this. If you think about relative position in dimensions, it makes sense.” He started sketching a rough diagram in the air. “Say my original dimension was dimension Human 1. I wrote about Pokegirl 1. I created Pokegirl 1.” He glanced at Roth, who nodded. “Now imagine that someone on Pokegirl 2 drags me there. I am now only one step away from the world I created. There’s bound to be some leaks in the transportation process; dimensional travel is nothing perfect. So, some of Pokegirl 1 bleeds into the portal dragging me to Pokegirl 2. Not enough to give me power over Pokegirl 2, but enough that I end up on the other side with a great deal more supernatural power than I had on Human 1.” He dropped his hands. “And bam, you have what appears to be a nascent proto-godling running around in Pokegirl 2.”
“So you’re saying that you’re no more powerful than anyone in this world has the potential to be.”
“Pretty much.”
Roth looked him over. “I do admit, you like pretty normal.” She cracked a small smile. “So tell me. Why are you unwilling to come to Vale?”
Andrew frowned. “Draken should have told you why. I am in no way interested in being under anyone’s yoke. I experienced more than enough of that in a cell, thank you. If I go to Vale, all it takes is one word from you or anyone with power and I’m trapped forever. I will never willingly place myself in that kind of situation.” He smiled. “However, I am more than willing to stay in touch. Draken’s offer of joining ‘The Order’ even intrigued me. But if I accepted it would not be official. I will not give you any control over me.”
Roth’s eyes glinted dangerously. “And if I insist?”
Andrew tensed. “If you insisted, I would be forced to discover just how powerful I am.”
Roth watched him for a few seconds. “That was a threat.”
Andrew shook his head. “You threatened me. I stated the outcome. Now,” he took a deep breath, “is there a point to this meeting, or did I just earn myself a spot on your blacklist?”
A smile crept across Roth’s face. “On the contrary. You just earned my trust.” She stood. “I will be in touch, Andrew. If there is ever a situation that would be mutually beneficial to us I will notify you.” She grinned. “Draken lied when he said this wasn’t going to be a social meeting. A social meeting is the only way I could get a read on you, due to your interesting defenses.” She reformed her disguise and exited the booth.
Andrew watched her disappear into the back of the restaurant. “Well then.”
He glanced around and didn’t notice anyone else taking interest in him, so he made his own way outside, nodding to the waiter as he passed. As soon as he left the café Lyn was at his side. “Where.”
Andrew scanned the street. “Outside. By the ranch.” The scenery jumped as they teleported and Andrew released the rest of his harem. “It went well. Does anyone need anything from London before we leave?”
Grace raised her hand. “Bullets.”
Andrew shook his head. “You’ve got enough.”
The Mini-Top grinned. “Yea, but I want more.”
Andrew snorted. “Anyone actually REQUIRE anything from London?”
Lyn spoke up. “If you want me to make anything, I’ll need materials.”
Andrew nodded thoughtfully. “Alright. Claire, broadsword, please.” He took the summoned sword. “Lyn, enchant this with fire magic please.”
She didn’t move. “I can’t enchant summoned items. They aren’t durable enough to hold anything.”
Andrew sighed. “Ok. Here.” He handed her a water bottle. “Enchant the water so that it applies fire.”
Lyn cocked her head. “…What?”
He shrugged. “Enchant the liquid so that it applies a fire effect to whatever I use it on.”
Lyn glared at him. “I can’t do that!”
He glared back. “And why not??”
“I can’t use water! That’s despicable! I need actual materials.”
“We need flame to shape materials for you. If you can’t create it yourself, I suppose I could find a fire pokegirl.” He mused. “But, then I would have to tame her… And that would mean everyone else’s tamings would decrease… hmmmmm…”
Lyn’s jaw dropped. “Are you threatening me?”
He smirked. “Now why would you think that?” He glanced at the rest of the harem, who were all trying to hold back their laughter. “Would I do that?”
Grace cleared her throat and gave him a solemn look. “Oh, no, sir. You would never threaten a pokegirl in your harem.” She burst into giggles.
Claire nudged her. “At least, not outside of bed, no?”
Everyone started to laugh as Grace’s giggles turned into a choking cough when she tried respond. “Alright!” Andrew said, bringing attention back to him. “Obviously we need a few things. Lyn, I would love it if you could start making enchanted items. As luck would have it I know of a way that might work. However you’re going to have to overcome your prejudice against summoned materials if we go that route.”
Lyn shook her head firmly. “There is no way that anything summoned would hold up to enchantment. No way.”
Andrew shrugged and withdrew a gold ring from his pocket. “Then how about this?”
Lyn reached out to it before stopping. “You made that. I know you did.”
Andrew smirked. “Is it suitable?”
She took the ring and turned it over in her hands. “It’s suitable.” She said grudgingly. “But I still think you summoned it.”
Andrew shrugged out of his backpack. “You might be right.” He replied, unpacking the tent. “Now I’ve got a bigger task for you. I want you to enchant this tent with a subspace pocket.”
Lyn frowned. “I think I see what you’re going for. How do you want the spell woven?”
Andrew glanced around at the assembled pokegirls. “I don’t know. How do we want it woven?” He grinned. “What do you want in there?”
“Sunning rock.” “Give it an armory.” “I want a forge.” “I would like a place to practice my possession.” “Don’t forget a bathroom.” “We’ll need a kitchen, right?” “Ooh, a target range.” “Make that a battle arena and I’ll agree.” “Will all this fit?” Aella finished.
Andrew grinned. “Lyn, I’ll help you. We’ll leave the spell open ended so it can be modified when we want.” He cracked his knuckles. “And while we do that, the rest of you can draw up what you want.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, where am I anchoring this?”
Andrew nodded at the tent doorway. “Anchor it there and protect it with a key.” He thought for a moment. “Make the key me. That way it should allow bonded pokegirls and people that I allow to enter.”
Lyn nodded. “Alright. Do we have a floorplan yet?”
Andrew glanced to the group of pokegirls hovered over a parchment. “Probably not. Let’s set up the basics first and go from there.”
Lyn nodded. “How many bedrooms?”
Andrew thought. “Do six, but leave spaces where we could put more. At least ten more.”
She glanced at him. “Already planning on pissing me off, huh?” She began weaving the spell before he could respond. “Six large bedrooms and one suite, with potential areas for hallways which would hold more.” She twitched her fingers. “I can feel your intentions. How are you doing that?”
Andrew kissed her cheek. “With a lot of concentration.” He hummed. “Kitchen and main bathroom on either side of the entryway.”
“Already done. Doorways for other rooms, bathrooms interspersed throughout the bedrooms.” She tilted her head. “I want a workshop.”
Andrew nodded. “We’ll get there. Is the spell stable?” He waited for her affirmation. “Great. Let’s get the others.”
They walked over to the others. “All set?” Andrew asked.
Adria glanced at him from her vantage point above the rest. “We can’t seem to decide on what we want.”
Andrew nodded. “In that case, I’ll be the judge. Run the ideas by me and I’ll let you know whether or not it will happen.”
“Kitchen.”
“Already done. As are bathrooms and bedrooms. Give me the luxury items.”
“Training room.”
“Training Arena, Forge, Enchantment Workshop and Firing Range are all givens. Any others?”
Claire scratched her chin. “I know you don’t want to hear this one, but there needs to be a Taming Room. With restraints.” She gazed at him. “You are much too forgiving. Some pokegirls require restraints.” She blushed. “Like the Armsmistress, for example.”
Andrew gave a nervous cough. “Alright. Taming room.”
Adria exchanged a glance with Aella. “A room for me to practice possession. And I think Aella wanted a sunning rock.”
Lyn spoke up. “Your bedrooms will be completely customizable to suit your needs. In addition, doors inside the bubble don’t necessarily have to make sense dimensionally. I can have a door that opens in one direction take you to a room behind you.” She shrugged. “Which means Claire’s bedroom could have a door leading to the forge, or mine would have a door leading to my workshop.”
Andrew nodded. “I want rooms to exist only if they help the entire family in some way. Bedrooms are the one exception and you can do to them whatever you want.”
Grace frowned. “Then why is the firing range a room? Wouldn’t that only benefit me?”
Andrew shook his head. “You can have target practice with more than just firearms. Depending on where Aella goes on her evolution path, she might be training her accuracy with ranged attacks pretty soon. Also, I told you all I want you to learn magic.” He grinned. “A mana bolt can be extremely hard to aim.” He glanced around. “Anything else?”
“Will we be able to get new rooms in the future?”
Andrew nodded. “Nothing is set in stone. The spell can always be changed.”
Lyn smiled. “Don’t worry everyone, I made sure Andrew has a Harem Master sized bed and bath.”
Andrew groaned as she pulled him towards the tent, the others following. “I thought you didn’t like to share??”
She gave him an angelic smile. “Some is better than nothing.”
He muttered his agreement and ducked into the doorway, freezing as he saw what was on the other side. “Oh, damn.”
The rest of the group squeezed in and stared in awe at the wide open room in front of them. “You wanted the bedrooms on a second floor, so I took some liberty in designing the entryway.” Lyn said, stepping to the side. “Is it too much?”
Andrew shook his head mutely. Doors dotted the walls to either side of a grand staircase that ended in front of a pair of double doors. “It’s great. I just forgot how big things could be in here.”
Lyn grinned. “Infinite space. I’m really glad you gave me the idea.” She nearly skipped forwards. “Would you like the tour?”
They tagged along behind her as she opened door after door. “Each door can be customized so we remember where it leads, but right now they’re all the same.” She said, showing them a fully furbished kitchen and dining area. “I used Andrew’s idea and our water comes from the air outside the tent; we have a giant storage tank in here so that we don’t dehydrate the area wherever we go.” She moved next to the staircase. “All the functional rooms will be on the ground floor, accessible via this room. The forge and such are to the left of the staircase, while the training areas and taming room are to the right.” She walked up the staircase. “I’ll show you the bedrooms.”
Andrew was expecting her to go through the double doors, but instead she took a turn and walked towards a door that was set on one side of the balcony. “I’m still debating the layout of bedrooms. We can either have it split, with half on one side and half the other, or we can all go on one side and any…. New additions can go on the other.” She glanced meaningfully at Andrew.
“Split. Alpha and Beta rooms head the hallway. Put in 6 additional bedrooms on either side.” He glanced around. “I think you can guess what I’m aiming for.”
Grace grinned. “You want an army.”
He winked at her. “Pretty much.”
They peeked through the door Lyn opened into a long hallway. “Again, bedrooms will be fully customizable. Just think about what you want, and I’ll make it happen.”
She waited a few moments before teleporting behind them. “And now for the Master’s Suite.” She said with a grin.
Andrew stopped in front of the double doors with slight trepidation. “What exactly did you do?”
Lyn smiled. “See for yourself.”
He took a deep breath and pushed the doors open, missing the wink that passed between Lyn and Claire. Stepping inside, he gaped at the bed that took up most of the wall in front of him. It was huge. “What the heck is that?”
He jumped at the feeling of Lyn’s naked body against his back. “That’s your bed, sir.” She purred. “Don’t you think we oughta test it out?”
Andrew turned and his jaw dropped. “Uhh…”
Everyone was naked. And except for Adria, who was looking a little ticked off, everyone was wearing the same grin.
Andrew raised his hand timidly. “Can I get a say in this?”
Aella chuckled and slid forward. “Nope.” She pushed him onto the bed. “Claire said we needed a reset of the taming rotation, so today – and tonight – are a free for all.”
He glanced at the frowning Groaning. “What’s wrong?”
She crossed her arms petulantly. “My body is going to be occupied.” She whined.
Aella looked back. “You do know you don’t have to stick with Andrew, right?” She smiled. “I’d be willing to help you out.”
Andrew laughed. “Uh, Aella, you do know that for that to work I would have to be wearing the dick, right?”
The Naga blushed. “I don’t think I’ll enjoy it as much as our usual arrangement, but…” She paused. “Well, however much I hate to admit it, I think that would be fine.”
Andrew snickered. “Well. I did say I wanted an Alpha bond, didn’t I?” He shimmied further onto the bed. “Everyone into the Tamer ball pit!”
He grunted as flying bodies of different shapes and sizes impacted him. “Ok,” He gasped, “Everyone off the Tamer ball pit!”
Laughter filled the air while the main culprits apologized profusely.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew Ranger
Age: 27
Licenses:
Tamer: Y
Master Tamer: N
Researcher: N
Watcher: N
Breeder: N
Badges:
England; Coventry, Shrewsbury
Wales;
Ireland;
Scotland;
Active Harem:
Hauteclere – Valkyrie, Level 32 (Alpha)
Grace – Mini-Top, Level 33
Lyn – Enchantress, Level 28
Aella – Naga, Level 19
Adria – Groaning, Level 27
An error has occurred. Tamer profile for “Bra---n” is not recoverable.
Please recreate at the earliest convenience.