ã€ŠHELP! I Got Sucked Into My Boyfriend&#x27;s Fantasy Dungeons Fanfiction!ã€‹


 Chapter One: Isekai Village

    <SPAWNED> MITSY: LEVEL ONE

    I was going to kill my boyfriend. Or dump him. Or kill him and dump the body.

    The last thing I remembered was cleaning up all the energy drink cans and candy wrappers he¡¯d left around his desk. I must have tripped and cracked my head on something. It hurt.

    And seriously, I know James is a computer engineering student and that requires focus and hard work, blah, blah, blah, and I also know that he¡¯d been going through a hard time since that student in his class died, but I also know he¡¯d spent every night until 3am the last month working on a stupid fanfiction for that game he plays. Fantasy Dungeons. Or ¡®F-Dungeons¡¯ as they call it on Reddit.

    I opened my eyes just to roll them in exasperation, but instead of the ceiling of our run-down apartment with the paint flaking in the corners, I found myself staring up into a canopy of trees.

    ¡°What the-?¡± I gasped and sat up quickly ¨C or tried to but was stopped short by something pulling on my head.

    I raised my hands tentatively towards my head but instead of my long hair which I had assumed had gotten tangled on something, I found a short bob style pixie cut and¡­ horns? Were those horns?

    No fricken way.

    My fingers traced their length, and I found the place where they¡¯d been caught on a tree root, right under the curve. Had I turned into some goat-creature? Devil? Deer? One of those weird creatures from Fantasy Dungeons? What was the difference between horns and antlers, anyway?

    I failed to identify them, but with a little awkward twisting, managed to disentangle myself.

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    Shaking my head once it was free, I decided I needed to focus on the important things¡­ how I¡¯d gotten here, and how the heck to get back.

    I mean, it was possible that I¡¯d somehow fallen through a magic portal into my boyfriend¡¯s fanfic world or maybe ¨C and infinitely more likely ¨C I¡¯d knocked my head a little too hard and needed to wake up from this weird delirium-coma. If I was just logical and took stock of my surroundings, I could make a plan and ¨C

    ¡°WHOA!¡± I gasped, noticing my heaving chest. ¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly not mine!¡±

    Maybe I was having a coma-dream whilst lying face-first on one of James¡¯ dirty F-Dungeons fan-magazines. He¡¯d bought an entire stack of them at a convention, claiming he was doing the Lord¡¯s work and supporting artists. We¡¯d resorted to eating instant noodles for a week afterwards, and now they were being left out on the floor.

    Huffing in indignation, I got to my feet, noticing with an extra layer of annoyance that my cloth garment barely covered me at all and looked like it was about to fall apart at the seams. Heck, I could even see my nipples through the thin fabric. Weren¡¯t these characters supposed to go on adventures or something? And they were supposedly expected to do that without so much as a bra?

    I noticed a satchel with a swirl design embroidered on it and assumed it must be mine. No one else was lying around ready to claim it, and I seemed to have a swirl tattoo as well. Investigating it proved difficult as it was on an awkward part of my arm, and I couldn¡¯t see where it disappeared to ¨C is that a tail?

    Of course it was a tail. A long, stupid, pointy devil tail.

    Either I was deep in a coma-dream based on James¡¯ fantasy porn or I had died and gone to hell. Maybe to answer for my sins of moving in out of wedlock with a guy who was into kinky anime and fantasy games. If I had to answer for my decisions in life, I didn¡¯t know what else to say except ¡°A girl¡¯s gotta pay rent.¡±

    Ignoring the unwanted appendage, which was flicking behind me in agitation, I shrugged the satchel over my shoulder and made my way to the path which lay just a little way on from where I had fallen. The trees were thick and forbidding, with very little light breaking through the canopy, but the path itself was visible enough.

    A wooden road sign stood a short distance from me, and I approached it. It pointed in two directions: Isekai Village to the left, and Necromancer Heights to the right.

    Without a moment¡¯s hesitation, I walked towards Isekai Village. I wasn¡¯t a total idiot.

 Chapter Two â€“ The Sleepy Dragon

    The second I arrived in Isekai Village I knew I was out of place. Nobody gave me odd looks or anything, even though I was wearing what was basically a loincloth bikini and was still brushing sticks out of my hair, but everyone else was wearing proper clothes. Or shiny full-body armour. But still, not loincloths.

    Maybe I was like one of those randomly put together characters at the beginning of a game before you got any equipment. Pre-DLC default girl before the in-app purchases started to get pushed.

    If I had to traverse the nine realms of hell weighing up the decision on whether or not to spend microtransactions on vanity items I might as well just lie down in the dirt and die again. That kind of purgatory could only be designed by a total sadist.

    Gripping my satchel a little tighter, I started walking through town, looking for some kind of information. I tried to make eye contact with a few passers-by, but they weaved around me and walked on as though I wasn¡¯t there.

    There seemed to be a mix of species as well, like a mash-up of Lord of the Rings and Skyrim and I don¡¯t even know what else.

    I found a noticeboard and hoped it would provide some more information ¨C maybe even a town map - but it was covered in what appeared to be job ads.

    Kill this monster, slay that monster, save my nephew from a band of brigands. Yawn. No thanks. Give me a farming or dating sim any day. I¡¯d happily leave the adventuring to James.

    The noticeboard was near a homely-looking tavern that had a rustic wooden sign swinging on hinges over the door. The Sleepy Dragon.

    For lack of a better idea, I wandered in, hoping to find someone to talk to. The tavern was well-lit with wall sconces and a roaring fire that made me almost glad for my lack of clothing. A few people were seated at each end of the room, and what appeared to be a couple of goblins were near the door, but they hissed at me as I walked past, so I gave them a wide berth.

    The bar was empty, so I took a seat at it. A large cauldron shaped pot was bubbling on a stove on the back wall.

    A furry-faced cat woman greeted me. She appeared to be a beautiful silver Maine Coone. I almost squealed at how fluffy she was, but her eyes flashed at me impatiently and her greeting turned into a hiss.

    ¡°You gonna order something, or you gonna sit around and waste my time?¡± the cat-woman demanded, the hair on her head rising with each word until she looked substantially bigger.

    ¡°I¡­ uh¡­¡± I stalled, shrinking down in my seat. What did people here drink? Did I even have any money?

    I pulled my satchel off my shoulder and put it on the bar in front of me, flipping the lid open. There were some bandages, a few weird looking potion bottles and odds and ends rolling about, and a small brown pouch. I pulled the drawstrings of the pouch open and tipped the contents out.

    Five copper coins, two silver, and a button.

    ¡°What will this get me?¡± I asked.

    The cat woman made a noise of disgust and took one of the silver coins. Her fingers were surprisingly long and human-like in shape, but they still had distinctly feline qualities such as hair and claws.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get you an ale, but if you plan on hanging around, you¡¯ll need to go get some work. Try the jobs board outside.¡±

    I refrained from making a face. If I had cracked my head open and died, and this was the afterlife, I had some serious complaints. It didn¡¯t seem fair to follow one life of doing jobs to pay for food and accommodation with another.

    The cat woman returned with my flagon of ale. I waited until her back was turned to remove the long silver hair from the lip of the mug and then took a long drink, taking pleasure in the warmth it spread through my stomach. If anyone deserved alcohol, it was me. This day officially sucked.

    Before I could take another, the door burst open behind me, and I turned around to see a huge wall of hulking green muscles. I never knew I fancied the Hulk until that very moment, but I found myself lightheaded, drooling and suddenly very thankful there was another person in a loincloth in the building.

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    ¡°We need a Healer!¡± the green man grunted, and I felt something warm spread through my stomach that had nothing to do with the ale.

    His voice was rough and leathery, masculine and undeniably attractive. If he was meant to be an orc, he was the prettiest orc I¡¯d ever seen. His body was toned and muscular, but totally hairless. His ears pointed straight up towards a thick head of hair that was fixed into a messy bun. It reminded me a little of a samurai.

    A sexy, green samurai.

    He was dragging an unconscious man in, but my empathy was lacking since these were all fictional characters that had erupted out of a head injury.

    Besides, hunky arms. Drool.

    ¡°There¡¯s one here,¡± the cat woman said behind me. I reluctantly tore my eyes away from the orc¡¯s pectoral muscles to get a view of the Healer, only to realize with a start that she was pointing at me.

    ¡°Uh, what?¡± I blinked, hurriedly wiping the drool off my chin now that I realized everyone was staring at me. It felt like one of those horrific dreams where you have to stand up in front of your high school class and deliver a speech in your underwear.

    ¡°Healer, please help my brother,¡± Hunky Orc pleaded with me. ¡°I¡¯ll pay handsomely if you can save his life.¡±

    ¡°Handsome¡­¡± I repeated dumbly, before gathering my wits and clearing my throat. ¡°Uh, handsome or not, I don¡¯t know if I can save him. I don¡¯t really know what to do. I¡¯m not really a Healer.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a bit slow,¡± the cat woman agreed, making me want to claw her eyes out.

    The orc raked his eyes down my figure, and I felt it as though it had been a physical touch, every hair on my body prickling under his gaze. If he saw my nipples hardening under their thin veil, I¡¯d die of mortification.

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re Level One,¡± the orc sounded disappointed, but persevered. ¡°Please try. Your kind is supposed to be well-suited to healing. Please give it a go. Have you got any potions?¡±

    I looked at the unconscious man, who looked almost feminine. Elvish, maybe? Definitely not an orc anyway, although maybe the term ¡®brother¡¯ was meant to be a figure of speech. More importantly, he seemed to be bleeding out pretty bad, but it didn¡¯t seem polite to point out. I looked in my bag and pulled out a few bottles, looking at the labels.

    I made to offer them to the orc, but he insisted I was the Healer, and I should be the one to administer the potions, despite not knowing what the heck I was doing. I couldn¡¯t help but think if doctors were trained this way in the real world, the mortality rate would be a lot higher.

    Blood replenisher. Mana replenisher. Scabby-grow. Succubus slime.

    I hurriedly put the succubus slime back in the satchel, thinking it could hardly be useful, and pulled the cork out of the blood replenisher. I carefully tipped a few drops into the elf¡¯s mouth, but no sooner had he swallowed, the blood started spurting out of his side again and splattered onto my leg.

    ¡°Eww!¡± I screeched, and the cat woman started cackling with laughter behind me.

    ¡°Quick, the scabby-grow!¡± the orc hurried me. ¡°He¡¯s got more blood now, but he needs to heal, or he¡¯ll just bleed out again!¡±

    I made to pour the other potion in his mouth, but the orc caught my wrist in his strong grasp and redirected me to pour it over the wound. It bubbled and hardened until it scabbed over, and the orc let out a relieved breath.

    ¡°Now try singing to him,¡± the orc requested.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Just sing!¡±

    ¡°Any song?¡± I hesitated, literally every lyric I knew flying out of my head.

    ¡°Anything, please.¡±

    Although I wanted to refuse to participate any further in this fever-dream, the intensity of his request shocked me into action.

    ¡°Um¡­ la la la,¡± I started to sing quietly. ¡°Singing a song, sitting here with you, all sticky and gross, please can you get better soon?¡±

    To my amazement, he started to gain some of the pallor back to his skin. My voice steadied.

    ¡°Singing a song, hope it¡¯s not wrong, I hope it¡¯s enough, because lyrics are tough.¡±

    The elf stirred, smiled, then fell into a more stable looking slumber. He actually looked kind of cute when he wasn¡¯t on the brink of death.

    ¡°That should be enough. Thank you,¡± the orc said, grasping my hand in his massive one, and I felt myself swoon. ¡°What is your name, Miss Healer?¡±

    ¡°Emma,¡± I answered breathlessly.

    ¡°Really? Because the nametag on your bag says Mitsy,¡± the cat woman interrupted.

    I glared at her. ¡°It¡¯s Emma.¡±

    There was no way in hell I was going by Mitsy.

    ¡°They call me Brick, and my brother is Bastion.¡±

    I turned back to drool again at Brick the orc. It fitted him; he was certainly built like a brick wall.

    ¡°Please, let me replace your drink,¡± Brick offered.

    ¡°Oh, no it¡¯s fine, I¡­¡± I noticed as I picked it up to demonstrate how fine it was that it was actually tinted red with Bastion¡¯s blood. That spray was bigger than I¡¯d expected. ¡°That would be lovely, thank you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be charging you clean up as well,¡± the cat woman said. ¡°One silver, three coppers for the mess.¡±

    I shot her another glare; suspicious she was charging the exact amount she knew I had left in my purse.

    ¡°Let it go Kira, the bar¡¯ll be covered in blood again before the day¡¯s out.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind cleaning up myself, actually, if you could point me in the direction of a bathroom.¡±

    ¡°Rooms are two silver a night, including bathroom access,¡± Kira informed me, her sharp teeth glinting in the firelight.

    I growled in frustration. ¡°Are there any other places to stay in this stupid town?¡±

    ¡°You can stay with me as thanks,¡± Brick said. ¡°Kira, she¡¯ll be under my party. Send up food and ale.¡±

    He lugged Bastion over his arm, as though he were a sack of potatoes, and gestured for me to follow him up the stairs.

    ¡°Welcome to Isekai, Emma.¡±

    <MITSY JOINED BRICK¡¯S PARTY>

    I thought I saw something, like a textbox with words in it, but I blinked, and it disappeared.

    Of all the weird things that had happened to me today, it barely registered a second thought.

 Chapter Three - A Room with a Bath

    ¡°You¡¯re lucky we¡¯ve got one of the rooms that actually has its own bath,¡± Brick said companionably as he lay Bastion down on one of the beds.

    There were five single beds lined up against one wall, a long table with chairs, another fireplace, and a door at the end of the room that I guessed led to the bathroom.

    ¡°The guys find I usually smell after being on the road for a while and a dip in the river just doesn¡¯t cut it like a nice long soak in a bath, so we stay here whenever we¡¯re passing through or need some recovery time.¡±

    I had to really struggle against indulging in my new favourite pastime of lusting over Brick, imagining him shrouded in steam as he relaxed in the bath. Maybe he¡¯d take his hair out of that topknot, and it¡¯d hang loose around his face.

    I swallowed, averting my eyes back to the line-up of beds.

    ¡°Guys? There¡¯s more than just the two of you?¡± I asked, trying to bring myself back out of the fantasy and into the present. Although you know what, to hell with it. This was all a delusion or something, anyway. I summoned the bath-image back to the forefront of my mind.

    ¡°There¡¯s about five of us that regularly take missions together, but we try to do the easier ones ourselves. Less members, less ways to split the cash. The other guys in our crew are Jackal, Bruiser, and Nightfall. Jackal¡¯s a human ranger, Bruiser¡¯s a bear-shifter warrior, and Nightfall is a dark elf rogue specialising in magic and thievery. And of course, Bastion¡¯s a wood elf. He should wake up soon, so you can get to meet him properly. We don¡¯t have a Healer on board yet though, they¡¯re kind of rare. And your kind are especially rare.¡±

    At his description of Jackal the Ranger, I couldn¡¯t help but picture Aragorn from Lord of the Rings joining Brick in the bath. Dang it, my mouth was starting to water again.

    ¡°What exactly is my kind?¡± I asked curiously. Maybe I could get an answer to the whole horn-antler debacle.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Brick quirked an eyebrow and one of his teeth jutted out from his strong jaw in a puzzled expression. ¡°You¡¯re a succubus.¡±

    ¡°Oh jeez,¡± I pinched the bridge of my nose. ¡°Of course I am.¡±

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    The evidence that my real body was lying face-first on one of James¡¯ dirty magazines was getting stronger. That, or the sexual frustration I¡¯d been experiencing over the last few months while he became more obsessive over his little fanfic world was affecting me more than I¡¯d thought.

    ¡°You sound like you¡¯ve had a long day. Why don¡¯t you head into the bathroom and relax a little? I¡¯ll knock and let you know when the food is ready.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I sighed, and looked him up and down one last time, partially to take his measure and partially to feed my imagination for bath time. That was the kind of thing I always loved to hear. Maybe my subconscious was finally going to do me some favours. I smiled at the orc. ¡°You know, you¡¯ve got really good manners.¡±

    Brick¡¯s jaw dropped, and he looked like I¡¯d slapped him.

    ¡°What? What¡¯d I say?¡± I asked, immediately remorseful. It figured I¡¯d put my foot in it as soon as things were looking up.

    ¡°I know orcs get a bad reputation,¡± Brick said sullenly. ¡°But it¡¯s nurture, not nature. There¡¯s nothing vile or violent about us. I was taken in by Septimius - Bastion¡¯s biological father, and we were raised side by side. I went to university at the Citadel and came top of my class. I¡¯m an educated guy, and my manners shouldn¡¯t be surprising. It¡¯s kind of racist to assume just because I¡¯m an orc¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t mean it that way!¡± I hurried to correct him. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about orcs - or this world at all, I swear - and I wasn¡¯t intending to make some kind of statement about your¡­ uh¡­ race? Species? I¡¯m new here, and if I was comparing your manners to anyone¡¯s it was that jerk Kira¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°Ah, well,¡± Brick laughed, at ease again. ¡°Kira¡¯s a sort all to herself. She was a street cat once but built her way up to owning this place a few years ago. Still enjoys trying to pull one over on people though, just to entertain herself. She¡¯s not all bad though, once you get to know her.¡±

    ¡°I really am sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to hurt your feelings,¡± I said, still feeling bad.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s okay,¡± Brick blushed a deeper shade of green. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re different. A lot of people don¡¯t like hanging out with orcs, and the stereotypes get old quick.¡±

    ¡°And Brick? Thanks for inviting me to stay with you and looking after me. You¡¯re a really nice guy.¡±

    At that, the deep green tint reached all the way down his neck where it faded at his collarbone.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go have that bath now,¡± I said, slipping away before I could embarrass myself any further.

    ¡°It¡¯ll never happen,¡± I heard another voice as I lingered on the other side of the door. It must be Bastion, the sneaky elf. I wondered how long he¡¯d been conscious for.

    ¡°I have no idea what you mean,¡± Brick said, a little too defensively to be believable.

    ¡°You and her,¡± Bastion drawled. ¡°What would a succubus want with an orc? You know I love you, Brick, but she¡¯s leagues ahead of you, even if she is only Level One. You fall for her; you¡¯ll get your heart broken.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Brick sighed. ¡°Can¡¯t help but wonder if it would be worth it, though.¡±

 Chapter Four - First Mission

    When I finally returned, not only mess-free but totally pruney from soaking long enough I suspected I¡¯d set a world record, Bastion and Brick were sitting at the table playing a game of cards.

    Brick had knocked on the door to let me know food had arrived about half an hour ago, but it had taken me that long to gather the will to leave my bath ¨C but seriously, it was wood-fired! As in, it stayed hot. Even with all the tech advances of the modern world, there were things I felt I was missing out on in my run-down little apartment, and that bath had just added itself to the list ¨C right under sexy orc muscles.

    I pulled up a chair next to them and claimed my plate of roast meat and mash.

    ¡°What are you playing?¡± I asked around my mouthful, hoping the answer would be strip poker. Brick would only have to lose a couple hands and then he¡¯d be butt naked.

    ¡°Crazy Ogre,¡± Brick replied, keeping his eyes on the cards.

    ¡°Thanks for healing me back there,¡± Bastion said, also not letting his eyes stray from the game in front of them. ¡°I¡¯m Bastion, by the way.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Brick mentioned,¡± I swallowed my mouthful and took another look at the wood elf. He was fairly pretty, but not in a Legolas kind of way. His features were a bit more pinched, and he just seemed generally a bit dirtier.

    Then again, I had been hogging the bath since we¡¯d arrived and he had also almost bled out in front of me so perhaps he wasn¡¯t at his best, even if he seemed to be wearing a fresh set of clothes.

    Speaking of which, if I was going to be spending any time in this world, I¡¯d need to upgrade my wardrobe.

    ¡°So¡­¡±  I said, pushing my now-empty plate away from me. ¡°What next?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean what next?¡± Bastion asked, sounding annoyed.

    ¡°What happens now? Is there some kind of¡­ I don¡¯t know, story that happens, or do we just hang about aimlessly?¡±

    Surely if this was my subconscious or some kind of afterlife, there would be some kind of plot or instructions on how to wake up or move on.

    ¡°I intend to stay here until I fully recover,¡± Bastion slapped a card down on top of the pile and grinned at Brick in triumph. ¡°And then we¡¯ll go out and find another job. It should take me a couple of days unless you want to speed the process up by singing to me again. I hear you use very original lyrics.¡±

    I burned with embarrassment and glared at the elf. His attractiveness was quickly being eclipsed by how annoying he was. He was like the total opposite of Brick in so many ways. It was bizarre to think they¡¯d been raised together.

    ¡°Singing to you is about the last thing I want to do,¡± I snapped at him, crossing my arms over my chest, and getting even more annoyed at how my arms squished my voluptuous breasts. They were seriously too oversized to be practical.

    I wondered if there was such thing as breast reduction surgery in this world. Or maybe a boob-shrinking potion.

    ¡°It was bad luck you didn¡¯t have any succubus slime. That would¡¯ve healed me in an instant and you wouldn¡¯t have had to sing at all.¡±

    I bristled and clamped my mouth shut. There was no way I was going to admit that I had a vial of exactly that in my bag, but I had no idea what it did or how it worked, especially as I apparently was a succubus.

    ¡°Bastion, don¡¯t be rude,¡± Brick chastised him, then turned to me. ¡°He¡¯s just grumpy because he got beaten by that minotaur and we didn¡¯t get the loot we were after. Someone else has probably claimed it by now.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± I said, and shivered. I was beginning to miss the warmth of the bath.

    Brick noticed and handed me a blanket. ¡°Why don¡¯t you warm up by the fire? Bastion, you should go make use of the bath while it¡¯s free.¡±

    ¡°And leave you alone with her?¡± Bastion asked, gesturing to me like I was something offensive.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure I can defend myself,¡± Brick said with amusement, standing and stretching up to his full height. My eyes raked up his body again, lingering on every muscle. He must be six foot five or something. I wanted to measure every inch of him with my hands.

    ¡°If it was anything else, I¡¯d believe you¡­ but a succubus?¡± Bastion sneered at me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be racist, Bastion. She can¡¯t help her race any more than I can help mine.¡±

    I looked between them, bewildered. I was missing something here.

    ¡°Just be on your guard,¡± Bastion snapped at him and stormed off to the bathroom.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s the last time I heal him,¡± I muttered under my breath.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Brick said, scratching the back of his head. ¡°He had a succubus girlfriend about a year ago, but he got dumped. He¡¯s been salty about your kind ever since.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± my eyes lingered on the door to the bathroom for a moment before looking back to Brick. ¡°So, uh¡­ what did you study at university?¡±

    ¡°I majored in Dragon Slaying, with a minor in Business,¡± Brick answered as though that was a totally normal string of words.

    ¡°I see,¡± I said, once again feeling totally out of place.

    ¡°And you?¡± Brick asked. ¡°Have you, uh, studied anything? Or done anything before coming here?¡±

    ¡°Accounting,¡± I frowned. ¡°That¡¯s the question, though. How did I come here? And where is here? There seems to be a pre-existing story¡­ or at least you have back stories. Is this my boyfriend¡¯s hobby world, or is it my own subconscious?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got a boyfriend?¡± Brick asked, sounding deflated.

    ¡°Only until I find him so I can dump him,¡± I muttered, thinking again of the can and candy wrapper mess that had caused this whole situation. ¡°Or murder him. If I find out I¡¯m in a coma, I¡¯m gonna be so pissed.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re single? Sort of?¡± Brick asked hesitantly.

    ¡°That¡¯s the thing you¡¯re worried about?¡± I asked him searchingly. ¡°Not the whole other world/coma deal?¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really understand what¡¯s going on with you there, but I was hoping that, well¡­¡± he trailed off and looked lost for words for a moment before starting again. ¡°I was hoping you might consider joining our team permanently. As I mentioned, it¡¯s hard to find Healers, and your kind is particularly useful, even at Level One. You saw how you managed to put Bastion together again, even with no experience. I know he can be a bit difficult to get along with at times, but I¡¯d look after you. And¡­ and you look like you need a guide.¡±

    ¡°And I should be single because?¡± I stared at him accusingly, totally aware of the hypocrisy of the implication since I had in fact been lusting over him since the second I first saw him.

    ¡°You might not want to join us if you were on your way to meet your boyfriend,¡± Brick said, but he blushed a deep green. He was actually kind of adorable. A monster on the outside, but a marshmallow on the inside.

    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°But I need some answers about how this world works, what the heck I am, and how to get my hands on some new clothes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll be our first mission then,¡± he gave me a roguish half-smile that set my veins on fire. ¡°Luckily, Bastion¡¯s ex-girlfriend lives in this town, so she can answer your questions about succubi. I¡¯m afraid your kind is a bit of a mystery to the rest of us, as rare as you are now.¡±

    A spark of hope flickered in my chest. When Brick had first mentioned joining his team, I¡¯d feared being dragged around on idiotic adventures attempting to slay dragons, but he¡¯d been so kind and caring that I totally believed that he¡¯d help me find my feet.

    I asked him some more questions about this world and he answered me patiently. Some of it still didn¡¯t quite make sense to me, but I was starting to pick things up. The swirl on my arm and my satchel was the sign of a Healer, which was how Kira had recognized my class. The currency was a simple system of copper, silver, and gold coins ¨C and Kira had totally fleeced me by charging me a whole silver for an ale, which was worth two coppers at most. And there was a whole slew of different races and animals and monsters that made up this world that I couldn¡¯t even begin to remember.

    Orcs, humans, multiple types of elves and dwarves, which were totally separate to gnomes and goblins despite the fact they were all mostly found in the mountains. Feliskin were the catfolk, but they were different to the nekokin who were more human looking but still had ears and tails unlike Kira who fully resembled a cat other than the fact she stood upright, wore clothes and had very human looking hands except for the claws which protruded from her fingers when annoyed.

    The description of nekokin reminded me of that stupidly expensive body pillow James had bought off the internet with a picture of a cat-girl on it. I¡¯d wanted to smother him with it when he asked me to cover rent and utilities that month.

    I was still trying to wrap my head around the job economy and how to earn money. From what Brick was describing, there were virtually endless missions and quests, but when I asked if I could just get a job working in a shop or on a farm growing food or something he just looked puzzled.

    ¡°You can¡¯t farm,¡± Brick said. ¡°Farm what exactly?¡±

    ¡°Cabbages, chickens, pigs,¡± I said in exasperation. ¡°What do people eat around here? Kira must get her food from somewhere.¡±

    Brick still looked perplexed. ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve seen the odd little farmlet, but they¡¯re never hiring. That¡¯s not really a job that exists. You¡¯d be better off doing something easy, like guarding a caravan or a courier.¡±

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    ¡°Could I get a job as a courier?¡± I pressed.

    ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t think so,¡± Brick¡¯s eyebrows raised up in the middle until they almost met. ¡°I mean, there¡¯s sometimes missions to deliver a secret message to someone, because they don¡¯t trust the courier with a written letter. Bandits can often waylay couriers, which is why there¡¯s often jobs to accompany them to another town unharmed.  But there¡¯s never any jobs to be a courier.¡±

    ¡°Why not? Seems like a waste to hire a whole extra guy when the guy with the armour and axe could just also take the post. Why can¡¯t an adventurer be a courier?¡±

    ¡°Because they already exist? I don¡¯t know,¡± Brick shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve never thought about it.¡±

    I grumbled in frustration. If I was in a coma, maybe this was some kind of trick to waking up. Go on an adventure, defeat the big bad boss, and go back to my life working to pay the bills¡­ If given the choice, I was tempted to stay and enjoy the wood bath and the sexy orc a little longer.

    But I¡¯d need a way to make money, or I¡¯d be living on Brick¡¯s generosity indefinitely.

    ¡°So, everyone just uses the job board?¡± I pouted. ¡°What about going door to door and dropping in resumes? Has this world never heard of that?¡±

    Brick shook his head.

    ¡°Fine,¡± I huffed. At least this world seemed to have a simple operating system, even if the whole ecosystem seemed to be far too overcomplicated.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Brick said, chewing on his lip nervously. It was an odd expression for an orc to have, but it was kind of endearing. ¡°I didn¡¯t make the rules. If you want to try this ¡®resume¡¯ thing, I can try help you, although you¡¯ll have to explain what it is.¡±

    ¡°Even if it meant I wouldn¡¯t come with you as your Healer?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I can¡¯t force you to come,¡± Brick said, and tentatively reached out to touch my hand. ¡°An adventurer¡¯s life can be dangerous. You must not be under any coercion. If you join us, I want it to be because you want to be there.¡±

    I looked down at his hand, which was so large it totally covered mine. He was so sweet, kind, and utterly mouthwatering. I had no intention of being thrust to the frontline on scary adventures, but I wouldn¡¯t be averse to spending more time with him, and he had already agreed to help me. Besides, from the games I¡¯d seen James play, the Healer class characters usually hung out at the back casting spells and not getting roughed up. I could probably handle that.

    I¡¯d just have to not die. If I was in a coma and trying to figure out a way out, I was pretty sure dying here would lead to dying for real.

    I looked up to Brick to tell him I¡¯d join him ¨C for now. But when I looked into his eyes, I saw something burning in their depths. He was inches from me, and I could feel his hot breath on my skin, which prickled with anticipation. His hand twitched over mine, before holding it tighter ¨C still gentle, but firm.

    I felt like this strange dream had become a trance and all I could smell was his sweat and musk, which somehow made me want to taste him even more.

    I leaned in, feeling myself pulled by some magnetic force until there were bare millimetres between us. His expression slackened as I closed the distance, and our lips met in a surprisingly soft kiss. He seemed frozen, and I momentarily feared I¡¯d turned him into stone like some kind of gorgon, but then he seemed to gather his wits and began to kiss me back.

    His grip loosened, and I pulled my hands free, running them over the chest I¡¯d been drooling over all afternoon. I felt alive, exploring the rock-hard planes of the muscles my eyes had memorized and the little bumps which indicated old scars from his battles. His skin was leathery and tough, but warm and delicious. He groaned gutturally, and I slipped my tongue into his mouth, tasting him.

    I felt possessed; like something wild within me was driving me, and launched one leg over his waist, effectively straddling him in his chair.

    I kissed him with more urgency, led by a sudden and uncontrollable lust, when my head suddenly jerked back and I was hauled off Brick¡¯s lap.

    ¡°What?¡± I heard Brick¡¯s voice echo my own dazed thoughts as I stared up at Bastion, who was still holding one of my horns in his fist, glaring at me through long dripping wet hair.

    ¡°I told you to be on your guard,¡± Bastion spat.

    ¡°Bastion¡­ It wasn¡¯t like that¡­ She wasn¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°She wasn¡¯t seducing you to make you do whatever she wanted?¡± Bastion sneered. ¡°It¡¯s not always money, Brick. She¡¯s already weaselled her way into our rooms. What else has she convinced you to help her with?¡±

    ¡°He let me stay here in return for saving you, you ungrateful jerk,¡± I growled, slapping his hands away from my horns.

    ¡°I know you don¡¯t like succubi, but it wasn¡¯t like that,¡± Brick said in a conciliatory tone. ¡°She¡¯s just¡­ she¡¯s all alone, she¡¯s only Level One, but she¡¯s a Healer. She could be a really useful part of our team. She just needs someone to help her find her feet.¡±

    ¡°And you think you¡¯re the one to do that?¡± Bastion asked stiffly.

    ¡°Actually, I was thinking of Lily.¡±

    Bastion looked even angrier than ever. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see her.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a year, Bastion. And she needs another one of her own kind to tell her how her powers work.¡±

    ¡°And you want her to learn from the she-devil herself? She¡¯ll just come and play the same tricks on you.¡±

    ¡°She won¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°She will. That¡¯s what their kind do.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s racist Bast, she can¡¯t help what she is.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t help what she is either. She won¡¯t change for you.¡±

    I looked from brother to brother, trying to follow the tennis match of subtext, but couldn¡¯t for the life of me figure out what was behind the heat of Bastion¡¯s anger. Maybe he really just loved Brick despite being a complete jerk, and didn¡¯t want me to break his heart like this Lily had done to him? It seemed presumptuous that Brick would allow his heart to be broken. It wasn¡¯t like we were in love; we¡¯d barely just met. People had randy one-night stands all the time. Didn¡¯t they?

    I frowned. Maybe things were different in this world.

    It seemed counter-intuitive, when confronted with huge breasts, loincloths and rock-solid abs.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take her,¡± Bastion announced with an air of finality.

    ¡°Bastion, I know you don¡¯t want to see Lily. I really don¡¯t mind,¡± Brick argued.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not letting you go in there. At least I¡¯m on my guard against succubi. I won¡¯t let them trap me with their wiles.¡±

    The brothers stared at each other, and I felt the tension in the room grow as thick as mud, but they didn¡¯t continue the argument.

    ¡°It¡¯s late. We should take her in the morning,¡± Bastion said, looking sharply between them. ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to go dry my hair and I expect you two to be at least two feet apart when I return.¡±

    I watched him storm off towards the bathroom once more, before looking back to Brick.

    ¡°He¡¯s acting like I attacked you or something,¡± I frowned. ¡°But that was¡­ I mean, that was consensual, wasn¡¯t it? You kissed me back.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Brick flushed, and scratched the back of his head. His topknot was lopsided, evidence of our passions which seemed to have passed more swiftly than I wanted them to. ¡°I mean, of course I would want to, and I¡¯d kind¡¯ve hoped eventually we might - but I shouldn¡¯t have done it. You¡¯re still learning about who you are and all that, and you can¡¯t help your drives.¡±

    ¡°My drives?¡± I frowned. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, succubus¡­ uh¡­ have a reputation for seduction and insatiable sexual appetites,¡± Brick answered, looking extremely embarrassed. ¡°Lily can probably tell you more than I would ever know.¡±

    ¡°What happened between her and Bastion?¡±

    ¡°He fell for her charms and was totally in love with her, but there¡¯s a cultural difference between elves and succubi,¡± Brick frowned. ¡°Elves are monogamous, whereas succubi are polyamorous. Usually. There are some cases where things are different, but that¡¯s the stereotype, and it kind of rang true with them.¡±

    ¡°So Bastion thought he was going to be the only one for her, but Lily cheated on him?¡±

    ¡°More or less,¡± Brick shrugged. ¡°He came back from a long mission and found her with someone else. Multiple someone else¡¯s, actually.¡±

    ¡°Rough,¡± I said, feeling sorry for Bastion despite myself. That would be a pretty hard thing to work through.

    ¡°So, elves are usually monogamous, succubi are normally polyamorous,¡± I searched Brick¡¯s expression, looking for an answer I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted. ¡°What are orcs?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Brick cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. ¡°I was raised in elvish culture, so I share some of their values, but there is a lot with me that is out of place. Orcs are not attractive by elvish standards ¨C or most race¡¯s standards, excluding other orcs. But an elf-raised orc is not a particularly attractive prospect for most orc-raised-orcs either.¡±

    I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. ¡°Are you telling me you¡¯ve never¡­ That I¡­ Was that your first kiss?¡±

    I¡¯d never been anyone¡¯s first kiss before.

    His nervous nod was answer enough. I ran a hand down my face. No wonder Bastion was defensive. I had practically attacked him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said finally. ¡°If you¡¯d like a do-over for your first kiss, I can give you something a little better than that.¡±

    ¡°I thought it was rather good,¡± Brick grinned at me, making me laugh.

    ¡°Still, I¡¯d like to give you another if your brother won¡¯t murder me for it.¡±

    On cue, the bathroom door slammed open, and Bastion came out, his hair looking more under control. He looked at us suspiciously but seemed content with the physical distance we still had between us.

    ¡°Bast, could you go tell Kira we¡¯ll stay until the end of the week?¡±

    ¡°Why can¡¯t you go tell her yourself?¡± Bastion asked. ¡°Or send the girl?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s dreadful at negotiating, and I still need a bath myself,¡± Brick said. ¡°Go on, it¡¯ll only take you two minutes. Five if you want to try flirt with her for a cheaper rate.¡±

    Bastion made a disgusted grunt and marched out of the room, shooting a parting glare my way.

    Once the door shut behind him, Brick looked back at me with a shy but curious smile. ¡°You mentioned a second kiss?¡±

    My lips twitched in amusement, and I crept closer to him, placing my hands on his broad shoulders. I felt that animal attraction stirring in me again, but I pushed it down. I wanted to give him a first kiss to remember, something sweet and nice. The kind of memory someone in the Harry Potter universe would call upon to summon a Patronus. The kind of memory that would make Peter Pan fly. The kind of kiss that would let this orc know exactly how much of a sex-bomb he was, despite having grown up around totally oblivious elves.

    I reached up on my tiptoes, but I was still too short by three inches. Dang it. This was not as smooth as I¡¯d hoped for. So much for succubus wiles and seduction.

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna need to sit,¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± Brick said, and returned to the chair he was sitting on earlier.

    I looked at him sitting there expectantly and it brought to mind a groom on his stag do. Which would make me the stripper. Suddenly I felt off-kilter and nervous.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Brick asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said, feeling my lip wobble. I was not going to cry. ¡°I got nervous. I¡­ I don¡¯t know what you expect from a succubus. I was all confident before, but I¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s okay,¡± Brick said, his voice sounding soft despite its depth. ¡°I don¡¯t expect anything from you. You don¡¯t have to kiss me. I never expected you to in the first place and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have received even one. So, thank you.¡±

    Indecision warred within me, but then I heard Bastion¡¯s steps on the stairs, and I knew I only had about thirty seconds to make my mind up, so I swooped in and kissed him. It was gentler this time, and no tongue. A chaste, soft kiss like the kind you¡¯d give your boyfriend under the bleachers. The kind of kiss that was a cipher of mixed emotion and attraction.

    I gave him one final peck on the cheek as I retreated just as the door opened.

    ¡°I really like you, Brick. And I think you¡¯re very attractive,¡± I whispered to him.

    ¡°Seriously?¡± Bastion stood with his hands on his hips, giving me a stare I could only describe as judgemental. ¡°Two minutes alone and you¡¯re back at it? Brick, you need to keep your distance from her. She¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to hurt him,¡± I glowered.

    ¡°Maybe not physically,¡± Bastion said, crossing his arms. ¡°But are you in love with him?¡±

    My jaw dropped. What a thing to ask! ¡°You can¡¯t just put someone on the spot like that! I only just met him!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re just getting to know each other,¡± Brick said neutrally. ¡°Leave her alone, Bast. She hasn¡¯t done anything wrong.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s debatable.¡±

    ¡°We should get some sleep. We¡¯ll start early in the morning, before Lily¡¯s business opens for the day.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s her business?¡± I asked Brick.

    ¡°She¡¯s an outfitter,¡± Brick explained. ¡°Like a combination seamstress and armourer. You can buy most kinds of clothing from her, whether you¡¯re after adventurer gear or civilian wear.¡±

    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s exactly what I need!¡± I clapped my hands excitedly, my tail swishing behind me.

    ¡°Bit of a waste of money, if you ask me,¡± Brick shrugged, and I looked appreciatively over his bare torso once more. Now that I knew what he felt like, he was all the more irresistible. ¡°I think you look fine as you are.¡±

    I wrinkled my nose. He was sweet, but his fashion sense was all wrong.

    ¡°Break it up, you two,¡± Bastion said. ¡°I¡¯ll be in the bed in between you, succubus. Don¡¯t try any funny business.¡±

    Brick rolled his eyes at his brother and reached out to brush a large thumb gently across my cheek. ¡°Get some sleep. I¡¯ll go have my bath and I¡¯ll see you in the morning.¡±

    As he disappeared through the bathroom door and I was left alone with a wood elf who hated me, I felt more alone than I had since I¡¯d arrived in this godforsaken place.

    ¡°To bed, succubus,¡± Bastion pointed to the bed they¡¯d designated as mine.

    I shot him a final glare and nestled in under the covers with wicked thoughts of sneaking into Brick¡¯s bed in the night just to spite him, but all my intentions were quickly lost to slumber.

 Chapter Five - Lily

    I awoke to a low but heated discussion between Bastion and Brick. They seemed to still be arguing about me, with Brick insisting he¡¯d like to walk with me and be there for Bastion when he came back from meeting with Lily. Bastion, on the other hand, was being defensive, stubborn and obstinate and insisting that Brick stay behind.

    As much as I would have preferred Brick¡¯s company over Bastion¡¯s, I didn¡¯t want to be the cause of friction between the two brothers, so I sat up and blearily rubbed my eyes, which caused their conversation to stall.

    ¡°Morning, sleepyhead,¡± Brick greeted me warmly. ¡°There¡¯s some porridge on the table for you.¡±

    My stomach rumbled in response, and I obeyed its call and immediately sought out the bowl. I was pleased to find it was still hot and accompanied by a dish of brown sugar and a jug of milk. Kira may be a jerk, but at least she provided a decent breakfast.

    ¡°We were just discussing taking you to see Lily,¡± Brick informed me, taking the seat across the table from me. His toes brushed mine, and I looked up at him through the steam of my porridge.

    ¡°We leave immediately after you¡¯ve eaten,¡± Bastion said sternly.

    ¡°Would you like me to come with you?¡± Brick ignored his brother. ¡°I could show you around the village on the way and answer any questions you have.¡±

    Bastion¡¯s expression darkened considerably, and I felt his eyes on me like his gaze was made of pure flame.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to cause trouble for you. I¡¯ll be able to make it with Bastion showing me the way.¡±

    Bastion nodded grimly, but Brick dropped his eyes to the table, looking dejected. I slid my feet along Brick¡¯s and up to his ankle in a hidden caress to show him I wasn¡¯t rejecting him. His foot jumped beneath mine in surprise, but then stretched towards me, accepting my touch. He raised his eyes back to mine, and I smiled at him. He really was an adorable giant.

    ¡°Besides, I¡¯ll only be there a little while, right? You¡¯ll be here until the end of the week, and I know where to find you.¡±

    ¡°You might find you like it better with Lily,¡± Bastion sneered. ¡°Don¡¯t get my brother¡¯s hopes up. Your kind are notoriously fickle.¡±

    I ignored the slight, which seemed to annoy Bastion more than any retaliation could have and finished my breakfast. When I finished the last bite, I gathered my things, few as they were, and stooped to give Brick a kiss on the cheek on my way out the door.

    ¡°Thank you for everything, Brick,¡± I said warmly. ¡°You¡¯ve been my first friend in this place. I¡¯ll see you later.¡±

    Unless I figured out how to escape this world before I returned. The thought made me a little sad. Part of me wished I could yank Brick back into the real world with me. Then again, I struggled to imagine him working a job in a uniform. Finding a job as an orc might prove as hard in the real world as finding a normal job in this world.

    Bastion bared his teeth at me as I passed him, clearly not approving of my kiss, but I figured he could go jump out a window for all I cared. I liked Brick, and I was sure as hell mad at James right now. I¡¯d already started thinking of him as my ex. It had been a long time brewing, but I felt like this latest mess was just pushing me over the edge.

    I wanted a guy who ran me baths and bought me food, not a guy who had neglected his own hygiene and spent our food money without consulting me. James seemed to think my day job as an accountant made me capable of inventing money to inject into our budget. Brick, by comparison, was a total gentleman.

    I imagined how that break up would go as I walked down the stairs.

    ¡°Hey James, welcome to Dumpsville. By the way, yes, there is someone else. He¡¯s an orc and could probably crush your skull with his bare hands.¡±

    ¡°What are you looking so smug about?¡± Bastion asked suspiciously as we walked out the door, past the noticeboard and down the road into town.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I said.

    ¡°Hmph.¡±

    We walked a little further, and I started to take more notice of my surroundings. The village looked quaint and medieval, built around a square courtyard in the middle and stretching out with a series of shops and houses.

    We passed a few market stalls and a couple of specialty weapons stores. What I really wanted was a coffee, but I knew better than to ask Bastion to help me find one ¨C if they even existed in this world. I was down to my last few coins after my expensive ale yesterday anyway, so I should really wait before I spent what little I had left.

    I wondered if Lily could show me any succubus flirting techniques that might get me things for free. Back at university, the caf¨¦ manager let me take extra buns when I chatted with him over the counter. That probably wouldn¡¯t work with Kira, though.

    ¡°Here we are,¡± Bastion said, stopping short of a large store with armour in one window and a lavish dress in the other.

    I stepped forward, but Bastion didn¡¯t follow. I looked back at him, surprised at the sudden shift in his demeanour. His face had drained of colour and his knees were knocking.

    ¡°Uh, were you going to come in and introduce me?¡± I asked.

    Bastion swallowed thickly and nodded but didn¡¯t step forwards. Suddenly I wondered if Brick¡¯s desire to accompany us was more for Bastion¡¯s sake than my own.

    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    ¡°Come on.¡± I grabbed his hand and pulled him along. ¡°It can¡¯t be nearly as bad as you¡¯re imagining. I¡¯ll stick with you the whole time. Promise.¡±

    I pulled him into the store and looked around in amazement at all the clothes. In my excitement, I almost forgot how my own outfit was barely more than underwear.

    ¡°Can I help you?¡± a voice asked from behind the counter. I looked up and for a second thought I was looking at Bastion, before realizing it was another wood elf. Their similarity was stunning though, same colour hair and eyes, only this one was dressed in fine robes and had his hair braided back, whereas Bastion¡¯s hung loose around his face.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m Emma. I¡¯m new in town and looking for Lily,¡± I greeted him cheerfully, trying not to think about how Bastion was feeling. Was this one of the guys he¡¯d been thrown over for? A slightly tidier version of himself?

    ¡°Another succubus?¡± the elf gasped, taking in my appearance. ¡°How odd! I¡¯ll inform Lily immediately.¡±

    He left, and I looked back at Bastion to ask how he was doing, but I could tell the question was pointless. He looked miserable.

    ¡°Was it him?¡± I asked in a whisper. He averted his eyes and made no answer.

    Before I could say anything else, the wood elf appeared ahead of a lithe woman with horns just like mine. She was dressed in elegant, draping robes which had slits up the seams. Her tail flicked out from one of these, swishing as she walked.

    ¡°Bastion,¡± she greeted him like they were long-lost friends, wrapping him in a hug before releasing him. ¡°What a treat you have brought me! This was well worth the wait. Will you be staying this time?¡±

    He opened his mouth to respond, but a rasping noise came out and he shut his jaw with a click, looking severely traumatized.

    ¡°He was just accompanying me here,¡± I said, shifting closer to Bastion and grasping his hand for support. ¡°He¡¯s got someone waiting for him, so he can¡¯t stay long.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Lily sounded surprised. ¡°And is this another mission you¡¯re going on, or is it someone special?¡±

    Her tone indicated both curiosity and jealousy, and I began to wonder what kind of operation she was running here. I squeezed Bastion¡¯s hand even tighter, as he appeared to look very near fainting.

    ¡°I think they¡¯re rather special,¡± I answered elusively.

    ¡°And he¡¯s brought you here. Why?¡± Lily turned her attention to me. ¡°You look like you¡¯re fresh out of the woods. Level One, am I right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t really know what¡¯s going on, but Bastion said you could help me figure out¡­ well, what I am.¡±

    ¡°Did he?¡± Lily looked back at Bastion. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you¡¯ve moved on and apparently found happiness. But if you want to come back, there will always be a place in my harem for you if you choose to finally take the leap.¡±

    Bastion looked sick and nodded, and I noticed the other wood elf giving him a heated look.

    ¡°You can go now. I¡¯ll be fine,¡± I said to Bastion. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later.¡±

    His feet still seemed to not be working, so I pushed him out the door and waved him off. He staggered back the way we had come, looking a little drunk.

    ¡°Poor guy, I think I hurt him,¡± Lily said, watching him go over my shoulder. ¡°Wood elves have prickly prides, but their emotions run very deep. It¡¯s one of the reason¡¯s I like them so much. Now, let¡¯s get you into some better clothes and we can have tea and talk. Aiden! Tea!¡±

    The wood elf jumped into action and rushed off to fetch tea.

    ¡°Are you like¡­ some kind of princess or something?¡± I asked, following her into the fitting room.

    ¡°Hm. I can see why you¡¯d think that. We succubi are natural leaders, people gather to us. I see you¡¯re a Healer class. That¡¯s both very lucky and unfortunate, depending on your disposition.¡±

    ¡°Why would you say that?¡± I asked, a little concerned.

    ¡°I¡¯m artisan class, I get to use my aesthetic prowess to make the most brilliant garments. I get to live in a town where people gather to me. It¡¯s made me very wealthy, and I have a large harem of twenty permanent lovers and perhaps thirty or so more adventurers who come and go.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like too much work,¡± I grimaced. ¡°I found one boyfriend trouble enough.¡±

    ¡°Were you trying to make him happy?¡±

    ¡°I did my best,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°There¡¯s your problem. Here, it¡¯s quite the opposite.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ you have a bunch of lover slaves who spend all their time trying to make you happy?¡± I frowned. ¡°That seems kind of¡­ dystopian. For them, anyway.¡±

    ¡°Part of the trick is learning what makes them happy. When they are happy, they fall in love, and they want to make me happy. Those I allow to stay here permanently help me run my business, and the ones who feel the call for adventure go and seek their fortunes and then return here to pay their dues.¡±

    ¡°But Bastion wasn¡¯t happy with you,¡± I commented neutrally. I didn¡¯t know the full story, but I was curious.

    ¡°The thing he decided he needed to be happy was for me to want him over anyone else. It¡¯s not in my nature to sit around and wait for adventurers to come home. Aiden, while he still has his issues with jealousy and pride, is much more suited to harem life, partially because he is always by my side. If he was to spend so much time running around the countryside, perhaps his jealousy would get out of hand as well. Bastion knew what I was, but expected me to abandon my harem for him. An unrealistic expectation. Once I bond someone to me, it¡¯s not a commitment I would revoke lightly.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± I frowned. I didn¡¯t know if I saw it at all, really.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s all a moot point now, isn¡¯t it? Bastion has moved on and I wish him luck.¡±

    Lily pulled a dress off the rack and held it up against me, before wrinkling her nose and putting it back. She pulled another out and nodded.

    ¡°There¡¯s not much more to this than what I¡¯m wearing,¡± I said, trying to indicate one of the dresses that looked like it had more coverage, but Lily shook her head.

    ¡°Sweetheart, you¡¯ve got curves that kill. Enjoy them,¡± she said. ¡°Besides, most styles of clothing don¡¯t suit those of us with tails. The whole waistband issue is a bit of a tricky business.¡±

    At her mention of ¡®curves that kill¡¯ all I could think of was my breasts flying out and KO¡¯ing someone if I turned around too fast. It wasn¡¯t particularly encouraging.

    I sighed and put the clothes on. My new outfit consisted of a crop top that my over-large breasts continued to spill out of, and a miniskirt that covered barely more of me than the loincloth. At least the folds at the back around my tail prevented the skirt from raising up and flashing my underwear when my tail moved.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t like your breasts?¡± Lily asked, tilting my chin up to look into my eyes. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything against big breasts,¡± I said carefully, not wanting to offend the particularly large-busted woman in front of me. ¡°But they¡¯re not mine.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s important to feel comfortable in your own skin,¡± Lily said with more compassion than I¡¯d expected from her. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll cast a customization spell on you, and you can tweak things until you feel right.¡±

    She wiggled her fingers, and a blue light surrounded me until suddenly all I could see was myself in the mirror.

    ¡°What do I do?¡± I asked uncertainly, but Lily¡¯s hands appeared through the blue mist, guiding my own. I pushed my breasts in, and they shrank before my eyes, along with the garment I was wearing until they reached a more manageable proportion. ¡°They look about right now. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°No problem,¡± she said, and dismissed the mist. The room came back into view, and I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders ¨C both metaphorically and physically.

    ¡°You look nice,¡± Lily smiled at her. ¡°Confidence is the key to attractiveness. Remember that.¡±

    ¡°How much do clothes cost here?¡± I asked belatedly, wondering how much she¡¯d charge me for everything she was doing for me.

    ¡°For someone else, I¡¯d charge a hundred gold. For you? I think a vial of slime will do. As a Healer, you¡¯re going to need to know how to harvest it, anyway. I¡¯m assuming you don¡¯t know how to do it already?¡±

 Chapter Six - Slime

    I wasn¡¯t sure what to expect when Lily led me into the back of her building, but this wasn¡¯t it. There were rooms and rooms leading off a web of hallways in her large complex, but I suppose this was what life looked like when you had to house a whole harem of full-time and part-time lovers. I balked at that again. Fifty lovers?

    If I had to do for them what I¡¯d had to do for James, I¡¯d be picking up old soda cans and candy wrappers until the end of time.

    But the rooms she led me to at the end of the hall were large and clean, with a view over the courtyard and bustling market.

    ¡°These are my rooms. No one will bother us here unless I call for them,¡± she said. ¡°There are certain matters that succubi need privacy for, and one of them is the production of what is known in apothecaries as succubus slime.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me we¡¯re going to just spit in a jar or something,¡± I said dubiously.

    Lily laughed. ¡°No, it¡¯s a little more effort than that. Although you are correct to assume that there is power in our bodily fluids. Every part of our bodies are imbued with magic, much like many other species that roam the world. There are few species which are totally useless.¡±

    ¡°Such as?¡± I prompted.

    ¡°Humans serve little purpose, other than being a useful base for necromancy magic, but that is a particularly distasteful art. Gnomes and dwarves also don¡¯t have strong magical properties, instead favouring technology. Many creatures lend themselves toward elemental magic. Wood elves are sympathetic to earth magic, selkies are sympathetic towards water magic. When you use parts of a creature in a potion, the magic they are sympathetic to will be imbued in your potion.¡±

    ¡°And what are succubi sympathetic to?¡± I searched my brain for anything I could remember about the word, but I was pretty sure all I could come up with was ¡°sex demon¡±.

    Lily chuckled, and I realised I¡¯d spoken out loud.

    ¡°We are very sexual creatures with strong libidos, so that is a common misconception. But no, our magic is life magic. The very essence of life. It makes us suit artistic classes like mine, and healing classes like yours, as well as performing arts.¡±

    ¡°And the body parts?¡± I asked, my tail twitching behind me. As irritated as I was at having it, I didn¡¯t fancy chopping it off and having it regrow like a lizard. Or shedding skin like a snake. Or any other manner of odd things that might happen in a fantasy universe.

    ¡°There¡¯s magic in our pheromones,¡± Lily began. ¡°It attracts and can even hypnotize the weak willed, especially when a succubi reaches a high enough level. There is, in fact, magic in our saliva. It can heal mild wounds, as can our breath and particularly our song. A song from a succubi can weave flesh back together and break down poison. Mermaids, selkies and sirens also have that ability, although they generally prefer to use it for destructive purposes.¡±

    ¡°I did that,¡± I said, thinking back to Bastion¡¯s injury. ¡°My song sucked, but it still worked.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll get better with experience. You should practice singing when you¡¯re alone and you¡¯ll level that ability up with time.¡±

    I nodded. I¡¯d never been much of a singer, but I could practice when no one was watching.

    ¡°Our blood is a powerful necromantic ingredient, which is one reason we are so rare in the world today. My advice would be to stay far away from necromancers,¡± Lily shot me a warning look, showing she was serious. ¡°And our ¡®slime¡¯ as it¡¯s called, is a trade secret. It¡¯s one of the highest price items we can sell, and how I got my deposit down for this place. The value is in its rarity though, so although you¡¯ve got an unlimited supply, I warn you against flooding the market or the price will drop. And never ever let anyone see you harvest it unless they¡¯re both in your permanent harem and bound to secrecy with a magical oath. If knowledge of how it is made got out, it would cause problems for all of us.¡±

    Her warning about necromancers rung in my ears.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Well, I hope you¡¯re comfortable with your new body,¡± she said and arranged the pillows on her bed before beginning to disrobe in front of me.

    ¡°What?¡± I blinked in shock, but she shushed me and began my anatomy lesson. I felt my brain totally melting as I tried to absorb everything she was telling me from proper horn care to pheromone pores to erogenous zones. There seemed to be far too many, especially compared to the ones I was familiar with as a human. She ended her lesson by fetching a vial and holding it between her legs as she stimulated her slime glands and let it dribble into the vial.

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    No fricken way.

    I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if this was James¡¯ weird little world after all. This was totally the kind of thing he would be into. I¡¯d seen something similar in one of the anime shows he¡¯d been into for a while.

    At least I had a way to cash in on it, even if it was super kinky.

    But James was definitely getting dumped. Although after this, I didn¡¯t know if I could look him in the eyes. Maybe I could tie him to a chair and throw feminist textbooks at him while blindfolded.

    Lily¡¯s vial reached its limit, and she removed it and shoved a cork in the top.

    I swallowed, beginning to feel as speechless as Bastion had been in the shop.

    ¡°Your turn,¡± she said, and handed me an empty vial. ¡°A very small amount of slime will heal all but the most fatal injuries. You can apply it topically or orally, and if there¡¯s internal damage or a lot of bleeding, I¡¯d recommend giving a good oral dose. If you plan to be the adventuring type, I suggest getting a private room when you¡¯re in town and spending some time restocking. It¡¯s not fun to try harvest it in the middle of a dungeon because you let your supplies run low.¡±

    She sounded like she was speaking from experience. I stared at the vial in my hand, feeling incredibly awkward. I could see what she meant about being lucky or unfortunate, depending on disposition.

    ¡°Go on,¡± Lily gestured for me to proceed.

    I removed my underwear but wasn¡¯t comfortable removing my skirt, so left it on as I got to work, trying to ignore the fact she was watching me.

    I closed my eyes and thought of Brick¡¯s large muscles, of the cute way his skin turned deep green when he blushed, and the way he¡¯d felt when I straddled him in the chair.

    ¡°Hey now, don¡¯t overflow your bottle,¡± Lily said, and my eyes snapped open. She handed me a second vial, and I scooped up what was running down my leg.

    Lily grinned, stoppering the vial I¡¯d given her.

    ¡°Each one of these is worth about a hundred gold, but they¡¯re the line between life and death out on the field,¡± Lily said. ¡°I¡¯ll give you some spare vials to get you started, but I¡¯ll take this one as payment for your clothing and the life lessons. Remember, only sell one at a time and don¡¯t flood the market.¡±

    She handed me a towel, and I cleaned myself up and watched her get dressed out of the corner of my eye. She really was gorgeous. I wondered if I would have her kind of grace and elegance when I was more confident in myself.

    ¡°Lily, how do you know what level you¡¯re at?¡± I asked. ¡°Everyone seems to know I¡¯m Level One. Am I missing something?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I suppose you wouldn¡¯t know that, would you?¡± She answered. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s one of the most basic things. Close your eyes.¡±

    I closed my eyes and waited.

    ¡°Alright, can you see anything yet?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°Give it a minute. And try to look up while you¡¯re at it.¡±

    I rolled my eyes up into my head as far as they could go, and it felt like my vision was swimming. Then I saw what looked like an experience bar and some words like you¡¯d get in a settings screen on a computer.

    Mitsy

    Race: Succubus

    Class: Healer

    Level One

    Health: 100

    Mana: 100

    ¡°I think I see it,¡± I said. ¡°What does it mean?¡±

    ¡°What do you see?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a Level One Healer. Although I¡¯ve been told that already.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. You¡¯ll get to Level Two soon enough. You¡¯ll make it there sooner if you keep practicing your skills.¡±

    I wished I could change my name from Mitsy, but that seemed to be beyond me. I could just not tell anyone and find a way to cover up the nametag that outed me on my satchel.

    ¡°You should also have health and mana; those are the core types of energy. Your health will increase as your level goes up and so will your mana, so long as you use it. You should get a book on basic healing spells, but your songs will often be more effective when your level is low, especially if you can learn any healing tunes.¡±

    ¡°Can you teach me any?¡±

    ¡°Not my class, honey,¡± Lily shrugged. ¡°Now, Aiden should be waiting for us with tea. Let¡¯s go get refreshed.¡±

    I followed her out of her room and back down the hall. We turned into one of the rooms closer to the shop end of the complex, which held a large office. Aiden was indeed standing next to not only a pot of fresh tea, but a platter of freshly cooked scones and jam.

    I helped myself, feeling hungry again as well as the beginning of a headache. I wondered if I could get to that level viewing place in my head if there would be an exit button or something somewhere, but part of me didn¡¯t want to try it until I¡¯d seen Brick again. Even if he was a fictional character in my boyfriend¡¯s fantasy world, it would be rude not to say goodbye.

    I chatted a little more with Lily, and she showed me some of the books she had in her library, instructing me on how to find books in the shops that would teach me new spells.

    ¡°The university library in the Citadel is the best place of course, because you can read all the books for free - as long as you¡¯re a student. You¡¯ll still be limited by your memory, so don¡¯t try to take on too much at once.¡±

    I flicked through one of the books on magical creatures and paused when it came to the page on orcs. The one pictured looked nothing like Brick. Its brow was set lower in an angry scowl and its fingernails were overgrown and yellow. Brick looked metropolitan by comparison.

    ¡°Found something that interests you?¡± Lily asked.

    ¡°What kind of magic do orcs have?¡± I asked, trying to keep my tone light, like it was a purely academic question. For some reason, I felt like I wanted to keep Brick a secret from her. I wanted him to just be mine.

    ¡°Curious creatures, and not that magical, although their toenails are used in strong adhesives and strengthening potions,¡± Lily shrugged. ¡°Orcs have never really interested me that much. They¡¯re thuggish creatures, and often very stupid. Common brawn in adventurer guilds for their ability to smash through monsters with brute strength, but they rarely amount to more than that.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± I said, and closed the book. ¡°Thank you for everything. I should probably head back now.¡±

    ¡°You could stay if you like. I¡¯ve got plenty of room,¡± Lily offered, but I shook my head. While I appreciated the hospitality, I didn¡¯t feel like this was a place I wanted to linger in.

    Aiden helped me pick out a pair of boots and tail-friendly stockings to match my new outfit, and also gave me a warm cloak, which I was fonder of than anything else I had picked up today, and I headed back down the street towards The Sleepy Dragon.

 Chapter Seven - Bar Fights

    I could hear the fight before I even got close to The Sleepy Dragon, so I was ready to duck when a chair was launched out of the window, although it was still a near miss.

    I tentatively edged closer and peered through the broken glass shocked at the scene that was unfolding before me.

    Brick had another orc in a headlock and was trying to pull him away from Kira, who was slashing vicious claw marks into the back of another orc who had his hands over his face and blood spurting out between his fingers.

    Bastion seemed to be totally drunk and was launching empty mugs at a goblin, who was picking the pieces of glass up and flinging them right back at him.

    There were at least three other skirmishes happening around the tavern, and several unfinished dinners spilled on the floor that indicated other patrons had fled.

    The orc that Brick was holding managed to wrench himself free, stumbled forwards and slammed into the door next to me.

    ¡°This ain¡¯t over, ya grindin¡¯ tree huggers,¡± the orc shouted as he righted himself and shuffled out the door. I only just realized that the other orc had escaped Kira¡¯s claws and fled as well, as the goblin shoved me backwards and out of the way.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, this ain¡¯t over! You¡¯ll be paying for all the damage!¡± Kira hissed angrily, racing to shout out the door at them.

    One of the other fighting duos quit punching and tried clamouring out a window, but Kira hauled them back in by the seat of their pants and fleeced them for all the coins they had left on them.

    Feliskin could be quite terrifying when angry.

    I edged towards Brick, intending to shelter behind his colossal frame until the danger was over. He flashed me an embarrassed smile, then went to assist Bastion, who was stumbling around drunkenly in the broken glass, still looking for the goblin.

    ¡°You idiot,¡± I heard Brick mutter under his breath as he picked his brother up and seated him on a table away from the glass.

    Bastion seemed to have immediately forgotten the goblin, and was now trying to eat someone¡¯s unfinished meal, even though the plate was upside down.

    Feeling bad for Brick, and a little responsible for leaving Bastion alone after I saw how miserable he had left Lily¡¯s place, I started cleaning up the broken glass and placing it into a large bin.

    ¡°Although I¡¯m really glad you came back, it might have been better if you hadn¡¯t. Kira¡¯s fuming,¡± Brick told me in a hushed tone. ¡°Bastion started it.¡±

    I nodded but didn¡¯t want to add to the problem, so kept quietly and diligently cleaning up the mess. It wasn¡¯t that much worse than a frat party, although there was more blood than vomit.

    Finally, Kira had finished evicting the other brawlers and turned to us. I glanced back at Bastion, but he¡¯d curled up and was falling asleep on the tavern table, using a plate of mashed potato as his pillow.

    Kira levelled Brick with a panther-like stare that sent shivers down my spine. Despite being half Brick¡¯s size, she looked intimidating as hell.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Kira,¡± Brick began, but the cat cut him off with a hiss.

    ¡°Do you have any idea how much damage your idiot brother caused? I¡¯ll be cleaning this up for a week! It¡¯ll take me that long at least to get replacement crockery in,¡± Kira growled, advancing on him with her claws extended. ¡°You know how much this is going to cost me? Five hundred gold at least, not including lost business.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, Kira. You know he¡¯s been having a hard time this past year, I-¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care if he¡¯d got a broken heart. I¡¯ll break his head,¡± Kira hissed, her hair standing on end very much like an angry cat.

    ¡°Before anything else is broken, can I just say something?¡± I stepped in front of Brick, afraid she was really going to lash out at him.

    Kira levelled me with a death stare.

    ¡°Continuing the fight isn¡¯t going to help anyone,¡± I said, dumping my current handful of broken glass in the trash. ¡°I¡¯d like to get this cleaned up as much as possible now, then Brick and I can help with whatever else needs to be done in the morning and we can settle the debt with cooler heads.¡±

    Kira growled again, but her hair slicked back, and she took a calming breath.

    ¡°Get that idiot out of my sight and clean up after yourselves. We¡¯ll talk in the morning,¡± she agreed, locked the front door, and stormed off.

    ¡°You better get him to our room,¡± I said, looking over Bastion. ¡°Is he hurt?¡±

    Brick rolled him over and I noticed he had a few cuts, but nothing that looked life threatening.

    I grabbed a wet cloth and wiped the mashed potato off his face, then cleaned his cuts and sang softly over him, remembering Lily¡¯s advice to practice as much as I could.

    ¡°You¡¯re such an idiot, but you¡¯re growing on me,¡± I sang, watching his cuts heal over with amazement. ¡°It seems silly, I need you like a cat needs fleas.¡±

    Brick snorted at my lyrics and I offered him a tired grin, which he returned.

    ¡°Thanks Emma,¡± he said when I finished up. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a minute.¡±

    He disappeared with Bastion, and I moved around the room, cleaning up the spilled food and dumping it in the trash then wiping down the table with a generous amount of water. Some of the grime looked well-baked into the wood, so I got it as good as I could before moving on to the next one.

    Finishing my third table, I looked up to find Brick staring at me with an odd expression on his face.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked, suddenly self-conscious.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± he shook his head, then looked back at me again. ¡°I like the new look. It fits you.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°It still doesn¡¯t feel like me, but I¡¯ll take what I can get at the moment. Could you help me lift that table up?¡±

    Brick moved to one of the tables that had been tipped onto its side and made to heave it up before grunting and stumbling to the side.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I gasped, noticing suddenly the dark green ooze coming from a wound on his back. ¡°Oh! Oh! Is that your blood?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sorry,¡± he said. ¡°If you¡¯ve got any more of that scabby-grow it¡¯ll do the trick.¡±

    ¡°I can do you one better than that,¡± I said, rummaging in my satchel for my vial of slime. ¡°I mean, if you don¡¯t mind? I¡¯ve never used it before.¡±

    ¡°Course I don¡¯t mind,¡± Brick said, stunned. ¡°Although I¡¯m surprised you want to waste that on my sorry hide.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that,¡± I chided him, then poured a small amount on my finger. It still glistened pearlescent white, shimmering in the firelight. I was equally intrigued by its properties and grossed out, but tried not to think about where it came from as I smeared it over the cut, watching it heal at a much faster rate than my song had done. I noticed then that he was covered in tiny cuts as well. They were much less serious than his other wounds, but they still must hurt. I went to treat them as well, but he grabbed my wrist.

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste that on me,¡± he said. ¡°They¡¯ll heal up okay. Or¡­ or you could sing a song for me.¡±

    I met his eyes, noticing how close we¡¯d come again, and with a shaky breath I pushed the cork back into the neck of my vial and returned it to my satchel. Then I turned back to him and placed my hands on his chest, watching the goose pimples rise under my touch.

    I shook my head, thinking about how my plans had been derailed. I¡¯d intended to come back and say a possible goodbye, before trying to exit this place, but I was well and truly sucked in now. I couldn¡¯t leave with things like this.

    ¡°Silly orc, did you think I wouldn¡¯t come home?

    Silly orc, don¡¯t you know how much I missed you?

    Truth is, I¡¯ve not been able to stop thinking of you,

    Ever since I kissed you¡­¡±

    The cuts had healed over, and his skin was flawless once again, other than the older scars which remained scattered in raised lines all over his torso. I traced one with my fingertip, but before I got to the end of it, Brick captured my mouth in a kiss.

    When he finally withdrew, I was left gasping for breath.

    ¡°Brick,¡± I gasped. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m seeing stars.¡±

    No, wait.

    I furrowed my brow in confusion.

    LEVEL UP!

    Mitsy

    Race: Succubus

    Class: Healer

    Level Two

    Health: 120

    Mana: 120

    ¡°I¡¯m seeing¡­ I¡¯m seeing¡­¡± I clamped my eyes shut and focused.

    ¡°I levelled up?¡± I blinked, looking at Brick in confusion. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°You did just heal me,¡± Brick shrugged.

    ¡°But it was¡­ it was during the kiss,¡± I insisted. ¡°Is there a way to see where I got my experience?¡±

    ¡°Close your eyes and look under your stats,¡± Brick instructed.

    I closed my eyes and focused until could see my details again.

    Mitsy

    Race: Succubus

    Class: Healer

    Level Two

    Health: 120

    Mana: 120

    I kept looking a little lower and came across some more stats. It felt weird, like scrolling down a list using a VR headset.

    Abilities: Healing Song, Succubus Slime, Persuasion, Seduction

    Intelligence: 5

    Charisma: 18

    Stamina: 15

    Strength: 5

    Magic: 16

    Dexterity: 15

    ¡°Um, what do the numbers mean?¡± I asked, a little concerned and offended at how low my intelligence appeared to be. ¡°And what are they out of?¡±

    ¡°The maximum is twenty. Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°Uh, no reason,¡± I blushed.

    ¡°You should be looking right under that. The most recent should be on the top.¡±

    EXPERIENCE LOG

    LEVEL UP! Mitsy = Level Two

    Seduction: 5 points

    Healing: 5 points

    Healing: 5 points

    Healing: 5 points

    Persuasion: 5 Points

    I felt sick. I¡¯d gotten points for seduction? Was this the pheromone trick Lily had mentioned?

    I scooted away from Brick, who was looking at me with an expression of concern.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I got points. For seduction,¡± I said, backing further away from him. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to like me because of magic. That¡¯s like¡­ like a love potion or something.¡±

    Brick looked unconcerned. ¡°You can¡¯t help what you are. As a warrior class, I get a couple points every time I smack something, even if it¡¯s as small as a bug. I¡¯m not surprised if you get points for kissing or flirting.¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t want to be like Lily. I don¡¯t want to do to you what she did to Bastion. I just¡­ I don¡¯t want to be like that. I don¡¯t want to think you only like me because of pheromones or magic or whatever.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like you just because of magic,¡± Brick insisted. ¡°I like you, and you happen to be magic. There¡¯s a difference.¡±

    ¡°It just feels weird to get points for something like that,¡± I said, chewing on my lip. ¡°I don¡¯t want to feel like I¡¯m tricking you or something. If I want love, I want it to be real. I¡­ I think I want to go home now.¡±

    I slammed my eyes shut and searched for an exit. A big X or an ESC key or something, but when I finally gave up, Brick was still sitting in front of me, patiently waiting for my breakdown to finish.

    ¡°Do you want to head up to bed?¡± Brick offered. ¡°I can finish up here. It¡¯s not really your mess, anyway.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡­ let me help. I could use something to do.¡±

    We worked in companionable silence, sweeping up the last of the glass and wiping the drying blood off the barstools until we¡¯d run out of things to do.

    I watched Brick out of the corner of my eye and began to wonder at his existence again. I was sure this world was James¡¯ fanfiction now, because it used a levelling system like this, and I was sure I wasn¡¯t familiar enough with it for my subconscious to create it.

    But that story was based on another universe that other people had made, and then I knew James had also been using AI generators to make characters and story elements for him for months as well.

    I didn¡¯t understand how any of it really worked, or how it could come to life, but for the first time, I began to wonder which parts of this world were designed by whom.

    Who came up with Brick? He was everything I liked in a guy: patient, calm, steady, strong and muscular, and super sweet. The fact he was an orc was almost a non-event when I thought about the way I felt about him. We had such chemistry, more than I¡¯d felt with James in recent months. But had James created Brick, or was he a pre-existing character, or something created by an AI robot?

    I thought in stunned silence about that weird conspiracy theory that the whole world was some AI program and we all lived inside of it. It seemed suddenly less weird now. Could I have glitched and gone from one computer program into another?

    My head was starting to hurt, and I felt like I had run my 5/20 intelligence to its limit.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Brick approached me, grasping me firmly by the shoulders. ¡°We¡¯ve done enough. The rest can wait until morning. Kira¡¯s probably going to send us on some crazy quest after that to pay our debts. Gotta do it though, as I don¡¯t fancy trying to find another tavern that¡¯ll put up with us as well as Kira does.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯ll want me to come with you?¡± I asked unsteadily.

    ¡°If you¡¯re willing,¡± Brick said. ¡°You¡¯ve already seen just how useful you can be. I wasn¡¯t kidding when I said we could do with a Healer.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I nodded. ¡°You¡¯re not going to get me killed though, right?¡±

    ¡°Not if I can help it,¡± Brick grinned, then realized that wasn¡¯t as encouraging as he had intended. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t look so worried. If it starts looking dicey, we¡¯ll run and abandon the quest. I¡¯m not one to push on if I think my teammates can¡¯t handle it. And I won¡¯t let Bastion get you killed either.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    We reached the bedroom, and I looked at Bastion¡¯s sleeping form with growing fondness. He was annoying as heck, but I felt like I was starting to get to know him now.

    ¡°Brick?¡±

    He turned to me and listened attentively as soon as I¡¯d said his name.

    ¡°What do you think about the potions that use body parts in them?¡± I asked cautiously.

    ¡°Do you mean necromancer¡¯s potions?¡± he asked, looking thoughtful.

    ¡°No, like¡­ like succubus slime,¡± I bit my lip. ¡°Are you ever grossed out or concerned about where it comes from?¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Brick shrugged. ¡°Not really. Once it becomes a potion, it¡¯s kind of its own thing. I mean, if you ever have a strengthening potion, there¡¯s a possibility there¡¯s some of my toenails in it. And Bastion sometimes gives up strands of his hair for invisibility solutions. It¡¯s best not to think about it. Why?¡±

    ¡°I was just wondering,¡± I blushed. ¡°It feels kind of weird to give it away.¡±

    ¡°Bastion¡¯s got a theory succubus are venomous, and they excrete it from glands in their mouths,¡± Brick ventured.

    ¡°I¡¯m not venomous,¡± I laughed. ¡°But Lily said it needs to be kept a secret, and¡­ I can kind of see why. I don¡¯t like some of the things about her life, but I agree with that, at least.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t ask then.¡±

    ¡°We should get some sleep,¡± I yawned. ¡°Tomorrow sounds like a big day.¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± Brick nodded. ¡°If I invited you to share my bed, would it count as me seducing you and not the other way around?¡±

    I blinked at his bluntness, then laughed.

    ¡°I meant it when I said we should sleep, you know.¡±

    ¡°No funny business, I promise,¡± he grinned at me.

    ¡°All right,¡± I yawned, and followed him to his bed. It creaked under his weight, and I slid in under the covers and nestled under his shoulder. His other arm draped over my body and made me feel enclosed and safe. I felt my tail twine itself around one of his legs as I let out a final yawn and fell into a deep sleep.

 Chapter Eight - Preparations

    I woke early to the sound of Bastion¡¯s snoring, confused at first at the warm wall behind me. Then I remembered I¡¯d fallen asleep in Brick¡¯s arms and turned around to snuggle into him.

    I found him watching me and we shared a smile.

    ¡°Morning,¡± Brick whispered, planting a kiss on my forehead. He clearly was in no hurry to wake his brother.

    ¡°Morning,¡± I grinned at him. Who would have thought I¡¯d find myself in bed with an orc?

    I suddenly became aware of how filthy we still were from the bar fight. It had seemed a lot less important last night, as tired and emotionally overwrought as I¡¯d been.

    ¡°You feeling better this morning?¡± Brick asked, watching the expressions shift on my face.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I chewed my lip. ¡°I think we should probably have a bath and get cleaned up though, especially if Kira¡¯s planning on kicking us out later.¡±

    ¡°Good thinking,¡± Brick said. ¡°I¡¯ll light the fire and get the water warm for you.¡±

    I nodded and retreated, still feeling concerned about my pheromones and if they were having an effect on Brick. Despite his encouragement, I wanted to know what he felt was real.

    He disappeared into the bathroom, and I looked around the room, wondering if we¡¯d be able to come back here. It had started to feel homely. Bastion¡¯s blood-stained outfit from the day I¡¯d met him was still hanging up on a line next to the fire, and Brick¡¯s large axe was resting against the wall.

    ¡°Your bath is ready,¡± Brick said, and I realized he was standing behind me. ¡°Its name is Ravager. It¡¯s the only thing I have left from my mother.¡±

    I realised he was talking about the axe.

    ¡°I was actually wondering about the pot of clay,¡± I pointed to the tub on the table. ¡°But it¡¯s nice that you have something of hers.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been using in lieu of a Healer,¡± Brick huffed. ¡°Clog up the wounds until I can get back to a town. It¡¯s not that effectual, as you can tell by the scars, but it¡¯s kept me alive. It dries out after a week or so though, so I mix it with water when I get a chance.¡±

    ¡°Your life is so difficult,¡± I said softly, thinking about my own previous worries. Getting to work on time and remembering my timesheets. Trying to gather the courage to phone the landlord and ask him to fix our hot water. It all seemed inconsequential when compared to needing to maintain a first-aid kit.

    ¡°Emma, I know you¡¯ve gotten to know me in town and I¡¯m thankful you¡¯ve seen me at my best so far, but¡­ on the road, I¡¯ll have to fight. I don¡¯t want you to think I¡¯m a brute¡­ It¡¯s just life as a warrior. I didn¡¯t get to choose my class, it¡¯s what I was born into. I¡¯m still me, though.¡±

    I picked up the pot of clay and tested it with a finger. It was thick and creamy, like peanut butter but with an earthy odour.

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that,¡± I said. ¡°I know I don¡¯t understand, really. But I¡¯m starting to. And I know you¡¯re a warrior. The first time I saw you, you were splattered in blood ¨C although it was Bastion¡¯s, but still¡­ I don¡¯t have delusions about that.¡±

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    I took a swipe of the clay and smeared it onto my neck where Lily had shown me my pheromone pores were.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Brick asked.

    I smeared it on the other side as well, and put the jar of clay back, then turned to look at Brick.

    ¡°Give it a minute and have a really good think about how you feel about me,¡± I said seriously. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be releasing any pheromones now, so¡­ if you still like me, it should be you and not¡­ not magic.¡±

    Brick¡¯s expression shifted to surprise. ¡°Are you still worried about that?¡±

    I nodded nervously. ¡°I¡¯ve acted like a complete dork ever since landing here. Trying to tip scabby-grow down your brother¡¯s throat. Singing the stupidest songs. Not knowing¡­ well, anything. I can¡¯t think of a single reason you¡¯d like me unless it was magic.¡±

    Brick grinned at me affectionately, grabbed me around the waist and threw me over his shoulder. I squealed, but he shushed me, nodding at his comatose brother, and carried me into the bathroom where he placed me gently on my feet.

    ¡°You, Emma,¡± he said, his deep voice reverberating through me as his large hands gripped me. ¡°Are the most beautiful, funny, lovely being I¡¯ve met in my whole life. The way I feel about you burns stronger than dragon fire.¡±

    And then he kissed me with a scorching, passionate kiss that I felt all the way to my toes.

    He pulled back after a moment, his thumbs stroking my shoulders.

    ¡°Do you¡­ want to bathe together?¡± I asked between gasping breaths.

    His smile turned feral, and he took a step closer, his hands moving to untie the knot that kept my top together.

    ¡°I like these,¡± he said, one of his fingers stroking the side of my breast lazily, sending what felt like an electric charge of lust through my body. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to mention them before, but they fit you better.¡±

    I smiled at him, kissing him in lieu of words.

    ¡°Emma, you set me on fire,¡± he groaned into my neck. ¡°I want you. I need you.¡±

    His words sent a thrill through me, and I grabbed his head, kissing him with more ferocity than I knew I had pent up inside me.

    ¡°Tell me you want this,¡± Brick demanded, tearing his mouth away from mine long enough to look me in the eyes. ¡°I can tell your body wants this, but is this what you want?¡±

    ¡°Yessss,¡± I hissed, closing my eyes.

    I¡¯d had sex more times than I could count, but it had never felt like this. Maybe it was the immersion of this succubus body, but every fibre of my being felt alive and singing. This must be what Lily had meant by life magic. I could feel it teeming through my veins.

    ¡°I love you,¡± I found myself whispering into his ear, and he pulled me into a close embrace and kissed my neck.

    I was surprised at myself. I¡¯d never said that before; not to James, nor any of the boyfriends I¡¯d had before him. But despite having just met him, I felt so incredibly moved I didn¡¯t know what else I could call it.

    ¡°I love you too,¡± Brick answered me huskily. ¡°I¡¯d be surprised if we haven¡¯t woken Bastion now, though. We should get cleaned up.¡±

    He let me down to my feet gently, and gave me a soft and sweet kiss, before turning back to the bath and stepping over our discarded clothes. I followed him on shaky legs, but he paused at the rim of the bath, looking at his own fingers curiously.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked, laying my hands on his back as I looked around him, but then I noticed it. The pearly sheen covering his fingers.

    ¡°I guess this is why you were asking those questions yesterday,¡± he said mildly, stepping into the bath and offering me a hand as I joined him.

    I blushed and nodded, realizing my error.

    ¡°Lily said I shouldn¡¯t let anyone find out unless they were bonded to me, and I¡¯d made a blood pact for secrecy. Although I still don¡¯t know what bonding is.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a kind of commitment, like a marriage,¡± Brick explained, grabbing a washcloth and lathering it with soap. ¡°Sometimes guilds will use them, or apprentices and masters. My adoptive father took a bonding oath to raise me as his own when he took me in. There are a lot of different kinds of them, but they indicate a long-term commitment. But while I¡¯m happy to do the blood oath and I would not be averse to bonding with you, I think it would be premature on your part until you know what you¡¯re getting into.¡±

    He used the cloth to caress my neck, washing off the clay.

    ¡°When you know how you feel¡­ about yourself as well, I mean¡­ you can ask me to bond with you.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s what you want?¡± I asked, placing my hand over his and halting his progress.

    ¡°You¡¯re what I want,¡± he said, smiling at me. ¡°I meant what I said. I love you. But I¡¯m not in a hurry. You¡¯ll find I can be very patient.¡±

 Chapter Nine - Dungeons

    I hated adventuring just as much as I thought I would. Endless walking, following a map which my 5/20 intelligence could apparently barely read, and diving into dusty, cobweb and skeleton-filled dungeons.

    When the first skeleton had leapt out of the darkness, I¡¯d almost wet myself in fright, and Bastion had rolled around on the floor in laughter, while Brick hacked it into pieces. He was just lucky he was a better navigator than me, and that Brick had a preference for his head to be attached to his shoulders.

    And all of this in search of a treasure Kira had directed us to find, so we couldn¡¯t even keep the fruits of our labour.

    ¡°The main dungeon should be just in here,¡± Bastion said, staying a few steps ahead with the map open. ¡°Be aware of tra-AHPS!¡±

    The wood elf screeched as he fell down what looked to be a mine shaft, but Brick grabbed him by the wrist before he disappeared and hauled him back up.

    ¡°Right, well,¡± Bastion coughed, dusting himself off and folding his map up to shove in a pocket. ¡°I¡¯ll just put this away.¡±

    ¡°Stay close to me, Emma,¡± Brick said, and I happily stuck like glue to his side.

    ¡°Aha!¡± Bastion announced, pulling his sword out of its sheath. ¡°Here¡¯s the door. There¡¯ll probably be a few enemies in here, Emma, so keep back. Let us do the fighting.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be an archer or something?¡± I asked, indicating the untouched bow and quiver on his back. Bastion was a lot more reckless than I had realized back in town.

    ¡°Yeah, but this is more fun,¡± he grinned, slashing his sword in the air.

    ¡°Here,¡± Brick detached a short sword from his loincloth and handed it to me. ¡°If anything gets within arm¡¯s length, stab it.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± I blinked, taking the sword more out of surprise than acceptance.

    ¡°Alright, ready?¡± Bastion asked, but before I could say ¡®no¡¯ he shoved the door open and ran through, hacking and slashing as he let out a warrior cry.

    Brick made a sound of annoyance at the back of his throat and rushed in after him, leaving me to take up the rear.

    The room was filled with sprays of blood as monsters erupted from the walls only to be cut down by Bastion and Brick. Despite the gore, it was almost beautiful, the dance the two brothers made of it. Bastion looked wild and alive, cutting his way through enemies with impressive speed. Brick was slower and more methodical, making confident sweeps with his axe that cleaved heads from shoulders and sliced beasts in two with efficient movements that spoke of experience and grace.

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    I edged into the room, and a rat headed towards me. It was larger than normal, and its fangs looked so large it couldn¡¯t shut its mouth properly. It must be a dire-rat.

    I stabbed it as soon as it came near me, and it let out a pitiful squeak as it died. Disgusted, I edged a little closer to the guys.

    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re doing great!¡± Bastion called out to me, giving me a blood covered thumbs-up, before stepping backwards and falling down a mineshaft. ¡°Aaaaahhhh! Ouch! I¡¯m okay!¡±

    ¡°Bastion, you idiot!¡± Brick grumbled, but the moment of distraction was a mistake. A final dire-wolf leapt at him and took a chunk out of his side before he managed to cleave it in half.

    ¡°Brick!¡± I screamed, running over to him and reaching his side as he fell to his knees.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Bastion called from his hole.

    ¡°Brick¡¯s hurt!¡± I sobbed, laying him down on his back. ¡°Hang on darling, I¡¯ll get you some slime!¡±

    I whipped open my satchel and rummaged inside, but my shaking hands slipped, and I dropped the bottle down another mineshaft.

    ¡°Damnit!¡± I cried. ¡°I¡¯ve got another one in here somewhere. Just you wait, darling.¡±

    Brick¡¯s hand grasped mine, and I looked up into his eyes. They were taut with pain.

    ¡°Breathe, Emma,¡± he said, his calmness bleeding into me.

    I followed his instructions and took a deep breath, then grabbed the last bottle with steady hands and poured it over his wound. I watched the muscle and skin knit itself together with relief, but even when the last drop had come out, the wound was still seeping and raw. I fetched my bottle of scabby-grow and doused the wound with that as well, before remembering Lily¡¯s advice around internal damage.

    ¡°Sweetheart, look at me,¡± I said, turning to Brick and stroking loose strands of hair out of his face. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±

    ¡°Better,¡± he grunted. ¡°Not good, but a heck of a lot better.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± I said, chewing my lip and glancing around the dungeon to be sure there was no immediate danger. ¡°I¡¯m out of slime, but¡­ I can sing to you. And I¡­ I could try make some from the source.¡±

    He nodded, his expression still tense.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Bastion called out. ¡°Is he okay?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine,¡± I replied. ¡°Stay put.¡±

    I kneeled by Brick¡¯s head, positioning myself to where he could reach me easily, and started to sing.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, my sweet orc,

    You¡¯ll be okay now,

    My darling warrior,

    Let¡¯s get this done now,

    And go home together¡­¡±

    I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my song. I thought of Brick, of making a home with him here. Of buying a little house in town and making a life together.

    I took a shaky breath, then kept singing, doing my best to maintain my focus just as Brick was threatening to shatter it. At this rate, he¡¯d be lucky if I didn¡¯t whip his loincloth up and take him right here on the dungeon floor.

    Incredibly turned on, I pushed the image out of my head and focused on the present instead. I had a job to do, regardless of how it was to be done.

    I thought of my love for him, and when I felt his firm grip on my thighs, I looked down at him with a smile, knowing he¡¯d regained his strength.

    I caressed his cheekbones with my thumb and planted a gentle kiss on his smug mouth.

    This world was weird, and in so many ways, it was totally stupid. But Brick was here and somehow, I had the means to sustain him. To keep him alive. I suddenly didn¡¯t care about finding my way home to my original world anymore. Regardless of if I ever figured that puzzle out, I had a new home right here with him.

    ¡°Well,¡± Brick grunted, sitting up and sliding me down to sit in his lap. ¡°I¡¯ve never done that in a dungeon before.¡±

    I laughed and buried my face in the curve of his neck, feeling comforted by his muscular arms as they wrapped around me.

    ¡°Uh, guys?¡± Bastion called. ¡°I think I found the treasure. And there¡¯s more here than Kira mentioned.¡±

    Brick and I shared another grin. Maybe we would get some fruit from our labours after all.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter One - Goodbye

    Brick gave me a scorching kiss that sizzled right down my nerve endings, and I moaned into his mouth as his tongue wrestled with my own. He tasted of heat, lust, and desperation.

    ¡°Brick,¡± I repeated his name once he released my mouth, trailing kisses down my neck and sucking my flesh, leaving a hot bruise behind right over my pheromone pores. ¡°Oh, Brick!¡±

    No matter how often we made love, I still hadn¡¯t gotten accustomed to the overwhelming sensations that my new succubus body succumbed to, and it took my breath away every time.

    His elbows came to rest next to my head and he kissed me with lazy, loving kisses, his eyes worshiping me as I let out a sated laugh.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you,¡± Brick¡¯s voice was a low rumble, and I felt the vibrations through his stomach where it lay atop mine.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you more,¡± I said, reality crashing back to me. ¡°You¡¯ve been everything to me, Brick. My guide, my friend, my lover¡­ How am I supposed to get by without you? Are you sure I can¡¯t come with you?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°It¡¯ll only be a month. You¡¯ll be better off here, and you¡¯ve got Kira for company. She¡¯ll keep you safe.¡±

    ¡°Kira¡¯s a jerk though,¡± I whined. ¡°And what if you need me? I¡¯ll be super mad if you get yourself killed.¡±

    ¡°Then I promise not to get killed,¡± Brick chuckled. ¡°Besides, we¡¯re going near Necromancer Heights. An orc and an elf won¡¯t be anything of interest to the necromancers, but I want you to stay well away from there.¡±

    I pouted and sighed, but I remembered what I¡¯d heard about necromancers using succubus body parts for their imbued life magic, and so conceded.

    ¡°Hurry back to me,¡± I pleaded. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do without you.¡±

    It was an understatement, really. Although I¡¯d started to feel at home in this world I¡¯d mysteriously fallen into ¨C my real-world boyfriend¡¯s Fantasy Dungeons fanfiction, if my guess was correct ¨C the things I didn¡¯t know about this world still far outweighed the things that I did know.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine,¡± Brick said calmly. ¡°You¡¯ve got Kira to talk to, and you can go visit Lily. Besides, our other comrades may turn up yet, and then you¡¯ll have more company. Bruiser, Nightfall and Jackal were all meant to be on their way when we first got here, so they¡¯re already late.¡±

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    That was a meeting I¡¯d never forget. I¡¯d only just arrived in Isekai Village and was drinking a totally overpriced ale when Brick burst in through the door, carrying his bleeding brother and demanding a Healer ¨C which I apparently was, except I¡¯d only been Level One at the time and had no idea what I was doing.

    But I¡¯d healed Bastion, Brick¡¯s adoptive wood elf brother, and we¡¯d been practically inseparable since. I never set out to acquire a fictional orc boyfriend but now that I had him, I didn¡¯t want to ever let him go ¨C even if it was just for a month while he and Bastion retrieved the rest of their loot from a hidden safe house so we could put a deposit down on a real house.

    Ah, home ownership, another reason to stay in this fantasy world instead of returning to my boring accounting job, overpriced rental and idiot boyfriend who was definitely getting dumped the second I laid eyes on him.

    He¡¯d never held a candle to Brick, and despite the fact that succubi in this world were reputed to collect harems of lovers like some sort of weird pyramid scheme, I felt absolutely certain I was going to break the mold and live happily ever after with Brick ¨C and I suppose Bastion would live in our attic, moping over how Lily broke his heart until the end of time.

    But a Happily Ever After with Brick? That was worth a month of waiting.

    ¡°Bastion¡¯s expecting me downstairs in five minutes,¡± Brick whispered, and I felt my heart twinge with longing.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you so much,¡± I repeated, my heart feeling tight.

    ¡°I better make it a good five minutes then,¡± Brick growled. ¡°Want to give me some extra luck for the road?¡±

    I gasped as he nipped my neck, one of his large canines scraping my collarbone, and whispered my consent.

    I suspected there was some anatomic difference with a succubus body that made me extra sensitive to these kinds of ministrations. Lust started rising back up within me again from some hidden reserve of energy I never knew I had, and I almost growled in frustration.

    I craved him like I¡¯d never craved anything before. I¡¯d happily throw all the chocolate on Earth into the sun if I could just have him.

    ¡°Brick, please,¡± I begged, and he sent me one of his charming, smug grins¡­

    I lost all sense of time and space again until a loud pounding sound caused Brick to retreat.

    The door burst open, and a very annoyed Bastion stood in the frame, glaring at us.

    ¡°Really?¡± the wood elf spat. ¡°Have you no self-control? You said you were just going to say goodbye, but you¡¯re up here at it again? You were supposed to meet me downstairs ten minutes ago!¡±

    Brick shrugged and squeezed my calf. ¡°Whoops?¡±

    ¡°Get downstairs, we¡¯re going,¡± Bastion demanded, scowling.

    ¡°Bye Bast, have a good trip,¡± I waved cheerfully at him, but he just bared his teeth at me and stalked down the stairs. I guess he still didn¡¯t trust me after his own dreadful experience with his succubus ex-girlfriend.

    ¡°He¡¯ll warm up to you when he knows you¡¯re not going anywhere,¡± Brick said, giving me a light kiss on the lips. ¡°Plus, he¡¯s annoyed I¡¯ve left him waiting. Just give it time.¡±

    ¡°I will,¡± I promised. ¡°I love you.¡±

    ¡°I love you too,¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯ll be back as soon as I can.¡±

    And then he was gone.

    <MITSY LEFT BRICK¡¯S PARTY>

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Two - Hello

    Life was boring without Brick. I realized I hadn¡¯t actually lived a day in this world without him until he left ¨C I¡¯d stumbled across him that first afternoon and I¡¯d been hooked on him ever since. And yet now I¡¯d had seven excruciatingly dull days without him.

    Still, that meant only twenty-three more days until he was due back.

    If I didn¡¯t drown myself in one of Kira¡¯s barrels of ale before then.

    The cat woman had seemingly forgiven us for busting up her tavern ¨C although it had been largely Bastion¡¯s fault, really. A treasure chest of loot seemed to brighten anyone¡¯s disposition, and the grouchy innkeeper was not an exception.

    I sighed and decided to give reading another go. Lily had loaned me a book on healing magic, and I truly wanted to learn, but I suspected my depressingly low intelligence stats were standing in the way of me understanding anything. I swear I was more intelligent in the real world ¨C or my original world ¨C this world seemed equally real to me now, even though I didn¡¯t really understand how I¡¯d come to be here. Maybe my 5/20 Intelligence stat was preventing me from getting anywhere on that puzzle as well.

    I suspected that unlike games like Morrowind, which were full of well thought out lore and readable books that an actual human had written, James had gotten lazy and assigned an AI bot to fill in the gaps ¨C resulting in cover-to-cover garbage that looked and sounded sort of right until one started looking at it with scrutiny. The problem was, I didn¡¯t have enough experience or knowledge of this world to know if what I was reading was garbage or not.

    I snapped the book shut and decided to go trade it for another of Lily¡¯s books ¨C maybe she had Healing for Dummies or a board book of Healing A to Z meant for toddlers. I tucked the book under my arm and made the trek down the stairs and out the tavern¡¯s side door so I wouldn¡¯t have to pass through the main thoroughfare. Brawls were common occurrences at the bar, and I just wasn¡¯t in the mood for it.

    I walked the familiar path to the center of the village where Lily¡¯s shop was, admiring the latest dress she had in the window. I envied her skill as an artisan and wondered if I could ever own a shop like hers. Unlike my original world, it seemed impossible to just get a job in someone else¡¯s shop, but I hoped when we got our own place I could open an apothecary or something ¨C that might fit my Healing class, if I could get a handle on actually making potions other than succubus slime ¨C the one ingredient cure-all that I had on tap between my legs.

    This fanfiction world was written by my idiot boyfriend, James, so it shouldn¡¯t be surprising it was filled with ridiculous over-sexualized things like that, even if they had come in useful for me from time to time. I blamed him for all the stupid things in this world and credited the good parts of it to the original world it was based on and the AI generators he had been using to supplement his questionable writing skills.

    I let myself in to Lily¡¯s and was greeted by Aiden at the front desk. He seemed irritable as he let me into the library to swap books.

    ¡°Is Lily around?¡± I asked, placing my book on the shelf.

    He bristled and glared at me. ¡°She is indisposed.¡±

    Ah, that must be why he was tetchy. She was getting busy in the back with another member of her harem. I gave him a sympathetic look, but it just made him look angrier and he stormed out of the room to leave me on his own.

    It must be hard to be a wood elf ¨C who were typically monogamous ¨C and have a relationship with a succubus ¨C who were typically polyamorous. It was why Bastion and Lily hadn¡¯t worked out, and I wondered if Aiden¡¯s jealousy would make him bail as well.

    Despite being an orc, Brick had been raised in elvish culture as well and shared their values of treating relationships as a serious commitment. I could tell whenever I was with him how deep his feelings ran for me.

    Even just thinking of him made me feel warm inside, and a little turned on. I snatched a book off the shelf and marched out of Lily¡¯s ¨C her pheromones were probably getting to me as well, and I currently had no outlet for any unwanted lust.

    The cool air of the evening was deeply refreshing, and I took it into my lungs and blew out slowly, trying to let my pent-up energy deflate.

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    By the time I returned home I was calm again, although in no mood to talk to anyone, so I crept quietly in through the side entrance and up the stairs to my room.

    It was a long, large room that seemed extra empty without Brick or Bastion, as I had my choice of five beds lined up against the wall. I¡¯d been sleeping in the one I shared with Brick every night, clinging to the fading scent of him, but maybe that was adding to my heartache.

    I placed my book on the table, wondering if I should perhaps try to unwind in the bath before settling down for bed when I heard a noise behind me like creaking wood.

    I spun around and shrieked in fright at the large bear, which was rising to its feet in front of the fireplace.

    I had no hope of escape when it lunged at me with impressive force and speed and felt my body slam into the floorboards as it hit me. All I could comprehend was fur, teeth, and the wet nose in my face as the bear growled menacingly at me. Its paws pressed down on my shoulders painfully and I smelled the tint of blood as his claws dug into my flesh.

    I watched in horror as the jaws of the beast opened in a wide yawn and I feared I was going to become mincemeat until he started shifting. Rich brown fur retracted into a long shaggy mane of hair and a full beard on a distinctly masculine human face. His claws retracted into his fingers and one hand drifted across to close tightly around my throat, still pinning me to the floor.

    ¡°Are you here alone, thief?¡± His voice was a growl, as deep and rich as his hair, and his lips rolled up as he spoke to reveal white teeth that seemed just as sharp and menacing in this form.

    His very naked form.

    I opened my mouth and rasped but couldn¡¯t utter a response as he was crushing my windpipe.

    He loosened his grip slightly, although I was still pinned under him by his considerable weight.

    ¡°Speak,¡± he commanded, and I felt I had no option but to remain limp beneath him and obey.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a thief,¡± I whispered back. ¡°I live here.¡±

    He looked at me closer then, and dipped his head to my neck, sniffing around my pheromone pores.

    ¡°A succubus,¡± he murmured, before licking my bruised skin, tasting me. The mark Brick had left on me had faded but was still present and tender. Although I could have healed it at any time with my Healing Song ability, I¡¯d chosen not to, touching it often and thinking of him. I moaned and shifted beneath him.

    This seemed to encourage him, and he scraped his teeth along my skin, sucking and nibbling as he went, bruising the area around my glands all over again. My skin prickled with adrenaline at the sensation.

    ¡°Oh, oh!¡± I gasped, a lust rising up in me for this stranger that took me utterly by surprise.

    ¡°You like that, do you?¡± he chuckled darkly. ¡°I can smell your attraction, but you need not use your tricks on me. You¡¯ll find me a very willing partner.¡±

    ¡°Ugh!¡± I moaned as he caught my skin in his teeth again, my mind scattering under his ministrations.

    One of my legs came free, but instead of kicking at him like I¡¯d intended, I wrapped my leg around him pulling him closer. My traitorous tail lashed out like a whip and wound itself around him like ivy.

    ¡°I¡¯ve missed this,¡± he said, releasing my skin and lurching over me once again, bringing his groin in direct line with mine.

    My heart was racing, and I was completely lost for words as he growled with want against my mouth. ¡°Succubi are so goddamned irresistible.¡±

    And then he kissed me searchingly, his animal energy matching my own as I felt his heat press against the thin cloth separating us. I heard cloth tearing, and realized belatedly his hands had paused their exploration of my body to rip my clothing open.

    Finally, I gathered enough sense to rip my mouth away from his and say the one word that my pent up sexual frustration and lust had been smothering: ¡°Stop!¡±

    He froze and looked into my eyes.

    ¡°You wandered into the wrong room, little succubus,¡± his voice was edged with warning. ¡°My nose is particularly sensitive to your pheromones. If you don¡¯t want me sniffing around after you, you¡¯d best keep those pores covered up and not start things you don¡¯t want to finish.¡±

    He pressed himself hard against me and I let out a whimper of pleasure, despite myself.

    ¡°Unless you just wanted an introduction,¡± he continued, dipping his head down to lick another line all the way up past my collar bone and my pheromone pores. ¡°In which case, my name is Bruiser. But don¡¯t be scared, I won¡¯t hurt you. Not in a bad way, anyway.¡±

    He nibbled at my neck some more and I couldn¡¯t help but arch it, giving him more access. My body was being totally traitorous.

    He left hot kisses all the way up to my jaw, tasting my skin with relish.

    ¡°Now, which is it, succubus?¡± He asked me. ¡°Wrong room? Or right room?¡±

    I felt like a coiled spring, ready to snap, and I couldn¡¯t think of an answer to his question. I wasn¡¯t in the wrong room. I was in the right room, but under the wrong guy!

    ¡°Brick,¡± I whispered, closing my eyes to picture him more clearly. He was such a similar weight and build to Bruiser it was easy, but that didn¡¯t help my libido. ¡°Brick!¡±

    ¡°Brick?¡± Bruiser repeated, raising himself up slightly to look at me in confusion. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Brick¡¯s girlfriend!¡± I gasped. ¡°And I¡­ I want you to get off me!¡±

    He leaped off me like I¡¯d given him an electric shock, looking at me in horror.

    ¡°You¡¯re Brick¡¯s girlfriend?¡± Bruiser was looking at me wide eyed. ¡°Kira mentioned you, but I thought you¡¯d be an orc!¡±

    Looking at him at his full height, he was almost as large as Brick. Muscular and hair-covered, and still totally naked. I felt my mouth water.

    Horrified at my own awakened desire, I turned on my heel and fled into the bathroom to lock myself in and cry.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Three - Sorry

    I don¡¯t know how long I cried before I decided to stoke up the fire and run a bath. I felt filthy and wanted to scrub myself raw. The problem was, no matter how clean I got my skin, it was the feelings I struggled with inside me that I really wanted to sanitize.

    I felt so strongly about Brick that I would never have believed I could feel that strong an attraction to another person, especially a stranger who attacked me before so much as telling me his name! But the urge I felt to stomp back out there and demand he finished what he started was so strong I had to clench my fists and try not to scream in frustration. It was like a switch had been turned on inside me and I didn¡¯t know how to turn it off, which made me all the more furious.

    I latched onto the anger and focused on it. If I was mad enough at him, maybe it would drown out the attraction.

    I felt betrayed by my body, hating myself for what I was. I felt like an animal in heat rather than a conscious human being with free will and thought. Between sobs, I sang softly to myself, watching the marks Bruiser had left on my body disappear. I dropped my ripped clothing on the floor and stepped into the bath, glaring at it as I let the hot water seep into me.

    A knock came on the door, but I ignored it. I was still too angry to talk.

    ¡°Uh, Brick¡¯s girlfriend?¡± His deep baritone easily penetrated the wood.

    I turned my glare to the door, summoning up as much hatred as I could and dwelling on it. If he hadn¡¯t bothered to ask my name before, he didn¡¯t deserve the courtesy of me telling it to him now.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said.

    I felt more tears well up and shut my eyes tightly.

    ¡°Are you okay in there?¡± He knocked again. ¡°It¡¯d be good if you could let me know if you can hear me. I don¡¯t want to have to bash the door down to check on you.¡±

    My eyes snapped open. ¡°Don¡¯t come in!¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said, then paused. ¡°Uh¡­ when are you going to come out?¡±

    ¡°Never,¡± I said.

    ¡°Come on, you¡¯ve got to come out some time,¡± Bruiser said. ¡°I promise I won¡¯t touch you again. I am sorry. I misunderstood the situation. I¡­ I thought you were into it.¡±

    That was just the problem. I had been. It had felt like a betrayal. Two betrayals. My betrayal of Brick, and my betrayal of myself. I feared to think what Brick would do if he found out ¨C when he found out. There was no way this would be kept a secret, and it felt too much like what Lily had done to Bastion. I felt sick.

    Maybe this was why Brick had been hesitant to bond with me. We¡¯d talked about making a life together, buying a house with the spoils of our last mission ¨C but he¡¯d said that bonding oaths were a serious, long-term commitment and I needed to know myself before I decided to make one.

    After this, I felt like I didn¡¯t know myself at all.

    ¡°I mean, it wasn¡¯t like I was going off nothing. I could smell your pheromones and your arousal.¡±

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    I sank deeper into the bath until my eyes and ears peeked above the water. I felt like I was marinating in shame, and he was only making it worse.

    ¡°What level are you?¡± he asked. Then, after a moment, ¡°And what¡¯s your name?¡±

    I raised my chin out of the water and rested it on the edge of the bath.

    ¡°It¡¯s a little late to be asking me that, isn¡¯t it?¡± I spat.

    ¡°Well, Kira just said Brick had picked up a girlfriend. She didn¡¯t tell me what your name was, or anything about you. I assumed you¡¯d be an orc.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s racist,¡± I seethed.

    ¡°Yeah, well,¡± I could practically hear him shrug the accusation off. ¡°You don¡¯t see many non-orc-orc relationships. In fact, this is only the second I¡¯ve heard of, and I¡¯ve been around the block a few times.¡±

    I sank into silence again.

    ¡°So, will you come out and talk it out with me, Brick¡¯s girlfriend?¡± he asked, again, making my eye twitch at the stand-in name. ¡°We can¡¯t avoid each other forever. Especially if Brick comes back.¡±

    My eyes narrowed. So, he was nervous. Brick had said they¡¯d been on a team for a long time. Maybe he was hesitant to break a good relationship over some Yoko Ono. Or maybe he was more concerned that Brick might use his axe, Ravager, to remove his head from his body.

    I smirked at the thought, but then sobered immediately. Thinking of an angry Brick wasn¡¯t particularly pleasant when I knew he had reason enough to be angry with me, too.

    ¡°Emma,¡± I said, unwilling to give him more than that. ¡°My name is Emma.¡±

    ¡°Will you come out and talk with me, Emma?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    I heard him growl in frustration. Good. He deserved to be frustrated.

    ¡°You ripped my clothes,¡± I added.

    ¡°Where do you keep your spares?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯ll fetch some for you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any spares, you jerk,¡± I shouted, sloshing the water around me as my tail whipped in agitation. ¡°I don¡¯t have a budget set aside for spare clothing to replace outfits that random strangers decide they want to tear off me!¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Now he sounded embarrassed.

    Double good. He deserved that, too.

    ¡°What level are you?¡± he asked again.

    I was so mad I wanted to hiss at him. It felt like a rude question ¨C like asking a woman her weight or a man his salary. That old sexist analogy made me even madder. I wanted to punch someone. I¡¯d settle for either James or Bruiser at this stage.

    ¡°Please, Emma. It¡¯s important.¡±

    ¡°Four,¡± I said sullenly. It had been Level Two shortly before I went on that big mission with Brick and Bastion, which had seen me reach Level Three. Then, because for the stupid reason I was a succubus, I got points every time I flirted or engaged in amorous activities ¨C and Brick and I had engaged in a lot of amorous activities. Hell, I¡¯d even gotten five points for saying thank you to Bastion once and it had made me want to wash my mouth out with soap. I¡¯d evened it out by flinging a pair of Brick¡¯s dirty socks at him later that day just so he¡¯d know I didn¡¯t mean it that way and had been extra careful how I¡¯d phrased anything towards him since.

    I realized with disgust I¡¯d probably earned points for making out with Bruiser as well and felt the urge to leap into a bonfire. This stupid world and this stupid experience mechanic made me want to find James, tie him to a chair and tattoo the feminist manifesto onto his forehead.

    I felt the urge to go home to my world again for the first time in days. I just wished I could take Brick with me¡­ if he¡¯d even still want to come. And then I could find James¡¯ fanfiction, Control-Find any mention of Bruiser and delete him from existence. I¡¯d probably be more likely to win that skirmish than a physical scuffle with him, anyway.

    ¡°You¡¯re that low?¡± I heard Bruiser¡¯s low voice through the door. ¡°So, you really don¡¯t have any control over your powers yet?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± If I¡¯d known he was going to rub it in, I never would have told him.

    ¡°Emma, I know you might not believe me, because you really don¡¯t know me yet, but I am sorry. I¡¯m going out to get you some replacement clothes. Don¡¯t¡­ uh¡­ go anywhere.¡±

    Unlikely. A topless succubus streaking through the woods letting off pheromones in every direction because apparently, she had to Level Up to stop attracting guys?

    When he returned with my new clothes, my first stop would be Lily¡¯s library, so I could try to find a book on brewing poison. I¡¯d decide later whether it was intended for Bruiser or James.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Four - Peace Offering

    Bruiser had left a bundle of clothes for me next to the door, along with the gift of his absence for a few hours.

    He¡¯d claimed to have business with a friend to attend to, but part of me wondered if he was just avoiding me. It might be for the best if he was.

    I checked myself in the mirror, having applied some of Brick¡¯s clay to my neck, checking all of my pheromone pores were covered.

    The clay took a while to dry out properly, so I took my time inspecting the bundle Bruiser had left me.

    My jaw dropped when I saw the sheer amount of clothes. There were at least five full outfits here, plus a couple extra tops, a jacket and a scarf. That must be Bruiser¡¯s idea on how to muffle my pheromones.

    I smiled, despite myself. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to cover them up. While I knew Lily could release them on command ¨C and also had the kind of personality that didn¡¯t mind attracting every guy in her vicinity ¨C I had no such control, and it often felt more annoying than useful. I¡¯d caught Bastion sometimes looking bleary-eyed around me before I realized I was even affecting him, and he¡¯d often scoot away from me with angry accusations and insults about my poison seduction miasma.

    Part of me wished I could just slice them off or cauterize them shut. It wasn¡¯t like I needed them with Brick. I¡¯d checked he loved me without being under my spell before accepting being in a relationship with him.

    Testing the clay was dry, I tried the clothes on for size, twirling in the mirror and feeling giddy at the reality of a whole new wardrobe. Everything fitted around my tail perfectly, and they all provided far more coverage than the crop top and mini skirt ensemble Lily had put together for me.

    Heck, I¡¯d probably be fine wearing most of these clothes in my old life!

    This must¡¯ve cost Bruiser a fortune, but I wasn¡¯t going to complain.

    He was apologizing for a reason. And this kind of apology certainly did make him harder to hate.

    ¡°Am I really that shallow?¡± I asked myself, wondering for a moment at the ease of buying my forgiveness. But then I pressed my cheek into my soft, brand-new scarf and laughed. ¡°Stuff it, I don¡¯t care.¡±

    I heard the door to the room open and close, heralding Bruiser¡¯s return.

    ¡°I brought food,¡± he called out.

    My stomach growled. It seemed it was time to make peace.

    I gathered my clothes and returned to the room, dumping them on the bed.

    ¡°It¡¯s just meat and mash,¡± Bruiser said, holding out a plate. ¡°I didn¡¯t trust Kira¡¯s stew of the day. Smelled like spoiled meat.¡±

    I snatched the plate off him and sat as far away as I could manage, still wary of him despite the two layers covering up my pores.

    ¡°The clothes look nice,¡± Bruiser said.

    I narrowed my eyes at him, and he sighed.

    ¡°I¡¯ve known Brick a long time, Emma. I don¡¯t want to be enemies.¡±

    I ate in silence, not knowing what I could possibly say to him.

    ¡°I appreciate the clay,¡± he said after a while, glancing at my neck. I tugged my scarf up to hide it, uncomfortable with the way my skin prickled under his gaze. His eyes were a deep brown and reminded me vividly of the colour of his fur when he was in his bear form.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it for you,¡± I said stubbornly. ¡°I did it to keep you off me.¡±

    ¡°Emma, tell me what I need to do to make this right between us,¡± he said. It was a request, calm and reasonable. He didn¡¯t seem the type to beg.

    But it was all pointless, really. I didn¡¯t want to make things right with Bruiser, I wanted to make them right with Brick - but I had at least twenty-three more days until I would get to see him again.

    My lip wobbled.

    ¡°Are you going to cry?¡± Bruiser asked, sounding taken aback.

    Well, if I wasn¡¯t before, I sure as hell was going to now! Didn¡¯t this idiot know that question was a catalyst for tears?

    I looked away and rubbed my eyes.

    ¡°You¡¯re really that mad at me?¡± he asked, approaching me carefully like you would a cornered animal, and getting down on one knee as though trying to make himself look smaller and less intimidating. He smelled like pines, and it churned my stomach when I felt the effect being able to smell him had on me.

    ¡°I¡¯m mad at myself,¡± I hissed at him. ¡°And I¡¯d ask you to kindly keep your distance.¡±

    He obeyed and gave me space, returning to his seat, but he didn¡¯t touch his meal.

    ¡°Brick will understand,¡± he said after a moment. ¡°He might be mad at me, but he won¡¯t hold it against you.¡±

    My eyes snapped to his, both wanting to throw something at him for guessing my pain correctly and to confirm my absolution.

    ¡°How can you know that?¡±

    ¡°Because it was my fault,¡± Bruiser said with a shrug. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you couldn¡¯t control your¡­ well. I should have checked.¡±

    My eyes dropped to the table.

    Brick had told me once that I couldn¡¯t control my drives. I still didn¡¯t understand it, really.

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    ¡°There¡¯s a theory that with how complicated the world is, each animal, the ecosystem, the magic system - that there has to be a creator out there who put it all together. Intelligent design,¡± Bruiser said, giving me a sympathetic look. ¡°Sometimes I think if that was true, this creator must be a real jerk.¡±

    James¡¯ face jumped to mind, and I burst out laughing. When I managed to get control of my laughter, I shared a tired grin with Bruiser. ¡°You¡¯re right, he¡¯s a total jackass.¡±

    Maybe Bruiser wasn¡¯t such a beast after all.

    I picked at my dinner, shooting thoughtful glances his way. He was right that I didn¡¯t know him. But Brick did, and Brick liked him. He had also gone out of his way to apologize - and not in a half-assed way either.

    ¡°You seem to know a bit about succubi,¡± I stated hesitantly.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± Bruiser nodded thoughtfully. ¡°I was in love with one once.¡±

    My jaw dropped. ¡°I thought we were supposed to be like a rare species or something! Both you and Bastion? And you¡¯re on a team together?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, well,¡± he shrugged.

    ¡°Wait, was it Lily as well?¡± I asked suspiciously.

    ¡°No,¡± Bruiser laughed. ¡°Lily¡¯s not my type. Too controlling. She was called Elise.¡±

    ¡°Was?¡± I hesitated. ¡°What happened to her?¡±

    ¡°Necromancers happened to her,¡± he answered darkly.

    I inhaled sharply. The Necromancer Wars had been mentioned before. They¡¯d almost wiped out my kind.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, looking into the flames in the fireplace. ¡°It¡¯s not a pleasant story. I prefer to think of the good times.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I chewed on my lip. ¡°So, you were¡­ you were in a harem?¡±

    ¡°Yup,¡± his eyes flickered over to her. ¡°I¡¯m not usually the domesticated type, to stay in a home permanently. Shifters generally like to roam and spend more time in our animal forms than human. But she made it tempting. It was nice to have a home to return to, anyway.¡±

    I sank into silence, thinking about the way Lily structured her harem - she had some full-time lovers that stayed with her permanently and helped run her store, and others that came and went but returned home to her to ¡®pay their dues.¡¯ I wrinkled my nose at the thought.

    ¡°You seem like you¡¯re fresh out of the forest,¡± Bruiser said after a moment. ¡°You don¡¯t know a lot about how things work yet, do you?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°There¡¯s¡­ a lot to pick up.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± he agreed. ¡°You can ask me anything you need to. I¡¯ll do my best to help.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ you said before that I needed to wrap up my neck to keep myself safe from you. Did you mean that?¡±

    Bruiser cleared his throat. ¡°Well, it certainly makes it easier to control myself when I can¡¯t smell your pheromones, although I can still smell your attraction.¡±

    I gasped and clamped my legs tightly shut, mortified.

    ¡°It¡¯s in your sweat. You can¡¯t hide it that easily,¡± he said apologetically. ¡°It¡¯s easier for me to ignore in my bear form, so if it ever gets too much, I can shift. But¡­¡±

    A thrill ran down my spine. ¡°But?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s important for you to know yourself. If you feel attraction, you shouldn¡¯t fight it. It¡¯s a tremendous waste of energy.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not cheating on Brick!¡± I fumed at him, my eyes flashing.

    ¡°I never said you should. I¡¯m just saying you should stop fighting what you¡¯re feeling. You can still set boundaries, and choose not to act on your feelings, if that¡¯s what you want, but refusing to acknowledge them is destined to be fruitless.¡±

    ¡°Is this your own opinion, or advice from experience with a succubus?¡± I asked hesitantly.

    ¡°Both. You can choose to ignore it, but that¡¯s my advice if you want to take it.¡±

    I watched him push his chair out and stand up to his full height, stretching his back muscles until they popped and cracked.

    I remembered what he looked like naked, and I felt warmth stir within me again. Even in his loose, white shirt, I could see the lines of his muscles in its silhouette.

    I wasn¡¯t used to this feeling of¡­. Of instalove. I thought it was just a thing reserved for movies and books. With James, I¡¯d kind of fallen into dating him by default. The other friends in our group had paired off, and we were just the only two left. Then when it had come time to finding an apartment, it was down to pure economics. I found moving in with him less repulsive an idea than paying twice as much rent. And we¡¯d gotten on alright, when he wasn¡¯t wasting money or forgetting to clean up after himself.

    I¡¯d never met a guy that I felt that I just wanted to taste with every fiber of my being. Then again, I¡¯d never met Ryan Gosling or Jason Momoa in person either.

    ¡°How would you advise I do that?¡± I asked.

    He gave me a curious look. ¡°You want to take my advice?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m considering trying it.¡±

    ¡°Come stand here in front of me,¡± he instructed, and I stepped closer to him, looking up into his face. ¡°Give yourself a moment. Just feel what you feel, don¡¯t overthink it.¡±

    He really was quite handsome, with his strong features softened by his long hair and beard. I hadn¡¯t noticed when he¡¯d been threatening me, but his eyes were kind, and his mouth had the ghost of a smile at the edges. It was nothing like Brick¡¯s smug smiles and roguish grins, but more the smile of a man who had been happy once but couldn¡¯t fully embrace the feeling in the present. I felt warmth rolling off him and felt the urge to step in closer and wrap myself up in his heat. My tail twitched in agitation behind me, but I kept my feet glued to the floor and my hands by my side.

    ¡°I can smell your attraction,¡± he informed me, and I burned with embarrassment. ¡°I know it¡¯s there. You¡¯re not giving me any new information by telling me. Put it into words and find acceptance. You¡¯ve got nothing to lose.¡±

    Nothing to lose? What about my dignity and pride?

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with feeling attraction to another person,¡± he said soothingly. ¡°Just accept it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m attracted to you,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t help it, but I am.¡±

    ¡°And now, tell me you don¡¯t want anything to happen between us.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t want to¡­¡± I paused and felt the truth of it burning in my soul. ¡°I don¡¯t want to act on it.¡±

    ¡°Now tell me you don¡¯t intend to act on it.¡±

    So, he had recognized my lie.

    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to act on it.¡± That was easier, even if it was easier to direct it to his chest than his face.

    He lifted a finger to my chin and tilted my face back up to look at him.

    ¡°Tell me you don¡¯t want me to act on it, either.¡±

    I swallowed as my stomach shifted. I couldn¡¯t make the words come out.

    ¡°You really are beautiful,¡± Bruiser said softly, his finger slipping from my chin. ¡°When is Brick due back again?¡±

    ¡°End of the month.¡±

    ¡°Damn,¡± he cursed. ¡°Maybe it would be better to just go sleep with Bonaparte.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I blinked, uncomprehending what he could possibly mean by that sentence. ¡°Who is Bonaparte?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the friend I mentioned earlier,¡± Bruiser said, stepping away from me. ¡°He¡¯s a dire-weasel and a good friend. Shifters have the ability to speak with animals, so while you might struggle to communicate with him, I can talk to him as easily as I can with you. He¡¯s sleeping in the stables.¡±

    He whipped his shirt off and started to undo his pants and I inhaled sharply, unable to tear my eyes away from his hair-covered torso. He could be a pin-up model for a sexy lumberjack calendar. If he was January, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever get past page one.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I whispered, trembling with unwanted feelings as my eyes followed the progress of his pants as they slid down his legs, revealing his buttocks and his strong, muscular legs. I¡¯d taken one step closer to him before I¡¯d even realized it, drawn in by his animal magnetism. ¡°Why are you getting naked?¡±

    He gave me a warm laugh. ¡°I already spent my ripped clothes budget on you.¡±

    Then he shifted back into a bear.

    A stared at him for a moment, still trying to absorb what had just happened, but then he lumbered his way over to me and pressed his wet nose into my palm.

    It was easier, looking at him like this. It was still him. He had that same wild intelligence in his eyes, and although his form was changed, there was something I could recognize in his expression and essence.

    His long pink tongue flicked out and licked my hand, and then he ducked under my fingers, moving past me towards the door. I ran my hand across his furry head and down his back, recognizing the coarse hair that I¡¯d fisted my hands in earlier that evening as it tumbled down his neck.

    He paused at the door, and it took me a second to realize he wanted me to open it. I turned the handle and pulled it back, watching his large backside disappear down the stairs.

    I closed the door behind him and turned back to the empty room, alone again.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Five - Accessories

    The next morning, I took my time getting ready, carefully selecting an outfit that I liked. Full length harem pants that had a pleated slit for my tail, paired with a peasant blouse with a medieval style outer-corset layer. I strapped on the belt I¡¯d originally had to hang my short sword on, and a long jacket which also had a slit hidden by pleats up to the point above my tail. I gave my tail a test swish, confident it was comfortable, and I wouldn¡¯t end up with a wardrobe malfunction while walking down the street.

    I re-applied the clay and wrapped my scarf around my neck. I tucked my large book under my arm to return to Lily¡¯s and took a last look in the mirror. I felt like a Halloween mash up of a sexy devil woman and a Christian Girl Autumn Instagram model.

    I snorted and headed down the stairs, taking the side door again to avoid talking to Kira. I paused at the corner of the building, realizing I was about to walk past the stable that Bruiser and Bonaparte were staying in, and approached cautiously.

    They were in the first stall, a bundle of orange and brown fur. The dire-weasel raised its orange head and hissed at me warningly. Bruiser raised his head to look at me before shifting back into his human form.

    I flinched, averting my eyes as he retrieved a pair of pants from a bag nestled in the hay next to him and pulled them on.

    ¡°Hey Emma,¡± he greeted her. ¡°This is Bonaparte. Bonaparte, meet Emma. She¡¯s a friend, not food.¡±

    I gave him a sharp look, trying to judge whether he was serious or not, but his returning laughter didn¡¯t clear things up. The weasel didn¡¯t hiss at me again though, so I guessed that was a good sign.

    ¡°How¡¯s your Healing Song, Emma?¡± Bruiser asked me, pulling on a light blue shirt and leaning back, looking at me with a good-humoured expression. He reminded me for one sharp moment of that painting by van Gogh of the two people resting next to a haystack. I felt myself beginning to salivate, very tempted to have a tumble in the hay with him despite my conscience screaming at me to run in the other direction.

    ¡°Pretty average, why?¡± I asked, forcing myself to look at the dire-weasel instead of him. Then I noticed the red patch on his shoulder. ¡°What happened to him?¡±

    ¡°Love triangle,¡± Bruiser answered. ¡°He fancies another dire-weasel called Ermine. Ermine fancies a weasel-shifter called Slick, who just happens to be stuck in his weasel form due to a curse from a necromancer. Bonaparte got jealous, went to fight Slick and lost. So, here he is licking his wounds. You want to give him a hand? It¡¯ll go a long way towards him liking you.¡±

    ¡°I can try.¡± I nibbled my lip, feeling self-conscious. ¡°I don¡¯t know any actual songs. I¡¯ve just been making them up.¡±

    Bruiser gestured to me to get to it, and I approached Bonaparte carefully, keeping an eye on his teeth. I placed the book on the hay next to me, and placed my hands next to the wound, focusing on it.

    ¡°La la la, let¡¯s give this a try,

    Please don¡¯t bite off my head,

    We¡¯ll get you back in good shape,

    And you can bite off Slick¡¯s instead¡­¡±

    The wound knit itself back together and Bonaparte nudged my shoulder with his muzzle. I reached up and patted his head lightly, before pushing his face away from me ¨C his breath stank of fish ¨C and I looked back to Bruiser, who was giving me an odd look.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked defensively.

    ¡°You¡¯re the oddest succubus I¡¯ve ever met,¡± he said, something unrecognizable in his tone.

    ¡°I know my lyrics aren¡¯t that great, but I¡¯ve never claimed to be a great songwriter, and it¡¯s not like anyone¡¯s ever taught me anything,¡± I said defensively, wrapping my coat around me tighter. ¡°It¡¯s harder than you think to just come up with stuff on the spot.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a criticism,¡± he said soothingly. ¡°What¡¯s the book for?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m returning it to Lily to trade for another,¡± I said in frustration. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying one or two every day, but they just don¡¯t make any sense to me. I¡¯m hoping to stumble across one I can actually read.¡±

    He picked the book up and flipped through it, then gave me a searching look.

    ¡°What¡¯s your intelligence stat?¡±

    I pressed my lips together, not wanting to admit how low it was.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be embarrassed, Emma. This might be something I can help you with.¡±

    I was tempted to just storm off to Lily¡¯s, but I had a feeling that no matter what book I picked up, I¡¯d come to the same result.

    ¡°Five,¡± I admitted begrudgingly.

    ¡°Oh, that is low,¡± Bruiser said, his eyes shooting up.

    I glared at him.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he scratched the back of his head, laughing again. ¡°Everyone usually has one stat that¡¯s pretty low, unless they¡¯re more average across the board. My charisma is only three, so I often end up blurting out things I shouldn¡¯t. One of the reasons I think I get along better with animals than people; they¡¯re harder to offend.¡±

    ¡°So, what do I do about it?¡± I asked through ground teeth. ¡°Is there a way I can¡­ ugh¡­ raise my intelligence?¡±

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    I hated everything about that sentence. Bruiser grinned at me, though.

    ¡°There are several ways. Getting a degree at university gives you a permanent increase ¨C two points per major, one point per minor. It doesn¡¯t even matter what they are, if you complete them, you get the boost for the achievement,¡± Bruiser explained.

    I wondered what Brick¡¯s stats were. He¡¯d completed a degree in Dragon Slaying with a minor in Business, but he¡¯d have to have been above five to begin with if he¡¯d had to read books to complete the course.

    ¡°What are the other ways?¡± I asked. Getting a degree sounded expensive and time consuming, if it was anything like my original world.

    ¡°You buy buffers,¡± Bruiser said. ¡°Potions that give you a temporary boost when you need it, or accessories that gave you a modifier while they¡¯re in use.¡±

    Ugh. Here come the in-app purchases.

    ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll take you shopping,¡± Bruiser said. ¡°We should leave Bonaparte to wallow in his misery for a while, anyway. Or plot his revenge.¡±

    I glanced at Bonaparte, but he just curled his lips back in a feral grin that stunk of fish, so I gladly picked up my book and moved away from him.

    Bruiser brushed the stalks of hay out of his hair with his fingers and walked by my side through the grid of streets that led us to the town center. He took my hand and pulled me into the marketplace, which was a maze of different stalls that was almost dizzying.

    I glanced around, trying to take everything in and get my bearings. I¡¯d only tried to walk through here once, but I¡¯d gotten so hopelessly lost that I hadn¡¯t braved it again since. One shop seemed to sell only books, another bracelets and bangles, another second-hand armour, and another swords.

    I kept a tight hold of Bruiser¡¯s hand as he weaved through the crowd and pulled me into a covered gazebo that held hats, glasses and accessories. I noticed another scarf identical to the one I was wearing on a mannequin and subtly tied to get a look at the price tag, but Bruiser drew my attention to a rack of glasses.

    ¡°Here,¡± he said, handing me a pair. ¡°Try these on.¡±

    I looked at the tag and read: Librarian Glasses +1 Intelligence.

    ¡°You¡¯re freaking kidding me,¡± I said, staring at the offending object with disgust.

    ¡°Go on, try them on,¡± he insisted. I hesitantly slid them over my face and hooked them behind my ears. They made absolutely no difference to my eyesight at all.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel any different,¡± I said, looking to Bruiser in disbelief.

    ¡°Try read your book again,¡± he instructed, and I flicked the book open to a random page and tried to read a passage.

    It was like I¡¯d been suddenly cured of dyslexia. All the words looked orderly and coherent, although I still didn¡¯t understand their meaning. But that might just be because I didn¡¯t really know what ¡®mana¡¯ was in this world. Every game I¡¯d ever played in my youth just had it as a blue bar, and maybe a blue potion ¨C like the one I¡¯d had in my bag. But they didn¡¯t ever bother explaining how a mage turned mana into a spell.

    I could tell this book did, but it appeared that was as far as 6/20 intelligence would take me. It looked like I was going to have to look like a pre-pubescent boy¡¯s wet dream and chug buffer potions just to learn a spell.

    I tore the glasses off my face.

    ¡°I hate this world,¡± I said heatedly.

    ¡°Like I said before,¡± Bruiser said, taking the glasses off me before I snapped them in two. ¡°Sometimes I think if there¡¯s a creator, he¡¯s a total jerk.¡±

    That made me laugh, and I felt my fondness for Bruiser grow. Not as an object of attraction, but as a friend. He was the only one I could really vent about James to, even if it was indirectly. He seemed more self-aware of the absurdities of this world than anyone else I¡¯d met here ¨C even Brick.

    ¡°What¡¯s your intelligence stat?¡± I asked Bruiser curiously.

    ¡°Fifteen,¡± he shrugged, then lifted the Librarian Glasses to his face and put them on. ¡°Now I¡¯m sixteen.¡±

    That made me laugh. He looked utterly ridiculous.

    ¡°I can¡¯t take you seriously when you wear those,¡± I snorted, grinning up at him.

    ¡°Maybe I should buy them,¡± he said, giving me a sidelong look. ¡°I can put them on whenever the tension between us gets too heavy.¡±

    At the very mention of it, I realized how close we were again, and I felt that same pull of attraction towards him. I felt less bothered by it this time, though. My admission last night that it was there, and the subsequent decision I¡¯d made not to act on it gave me a sense of security, even though I still felt the draw of lust between us.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it would make a difference, really,¡± I said softly. ¡°How do I¡­ You said when I¡¯m a higher level I should be able to control it more. How do I level up faster?¡±

    The first level had been easy. Each level seemed to be getting consecutively harder, and it was driving me crazy. I got a few points every time I sang a Healing Song or flirted with anyone, but it was taking me forever with these increasingly higher goals.

    ¡°Have you been doing any quests on the jobs board?¡± Bruiser asked me, but I shook my head.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got no intention of going dungeon diving. I suck at fighting, I only have like 5/20 Strength, and I¡¯ve only managed to kill like, one dire-rat. I¡¯m not going anywhere without Brick.¡±

    ¡°Not all the jobs are for dungeon quests, you know,¡± Bruiser said, flicking my hair out of my eyes affectionately. ¡°There are some where people ask you to fetch something from across town for them or do odd jobs. They still give you experience points. I can¡¯t remember what level you need to be to control your pores, but Lily might know. But the fastest way to level up is by doing quests.¡±

    I pressed my lips together in a frustrated pout. It might be better than trying to level up by winking at bar patrons in Kira¡¯s tavern.

    ¡°I¡¯ll come with you,¡± Bruiser offered. ¡°I¡¯m a Warrior class, so I can keep you safe. Warriors and Healers make really good teams. You¡¯ll complete some quests in no time.¡±

    I thought about how the last quest I¡¯d been on had ended, and what I¡¯d resorted to doing to keep Brick alive and blushed bright red. There was no way I was going into a dungeon with Bruiser.

    But some easy quests where I didn¡¯t have to even leave town might be alright.

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± I said finally. ¡°And¡­ thanks for offering.¡±

    I turned back to the rack of glasses in front of me and examined what was on offer. Most of them looked ridiculously out of place in an otherwise medieval town. There were aviator glasses that gave a +1 Charisma buff and what looked like ski-goggles that had no additional perks at all. Vanity wear. The thing every kid wasted their money on in an online game for the pure novelty.

    I spotted a pair of huge square-framed black glasses that looked like they belonged in one of those 80s movies where the leading geeky girl¡¯s make-over consisted of taking a pair of these off and brushing her hair to suddenly make her attractive and desirable. I flicked the tag over. Adorkable Glasses: +2 Intelligence, -1 Charisma.

    ¡°Such a predictable clich¨¦,¡± I muttered, putting them on and opening my book again. It made a little more sense, and I recognized it was instructions to cast a sleep spell. I could probably use the hit to my charisma as well, since that was a whopping 18/20. ¡°How much are these?¡±

    Bruiser stepped in and bought them for me before I could see the price, then removed the tag and placed them back on my face, pausing for a moment with his hands placed either side of my face.

    ¡°You really are beautiful,¡± he said, then sighed and dropped his hands. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get something to eat and go sit on the edge of town while we talk. I start feeling claustrophobic in towns after a while.¡±

    I let him take my hand again, clutched my book close to my chest, and followed him through the crowd.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Six - Ambition

    I appreciated the picture-perfect cinnamon roll in my hands for a moment before eating it. Unlike in the real world, where what you ordered would probably be a squished and soggy version of whatever was advertised, every single one of the rolls at the stall Bruiser had taken me to were identical in their perfection.

    Along with potential homeownership and Brick, this was one of my new favourite things about this world. It was just a shame about all the ridiculous junk James had filled the world up with.

    ¡°Have you got an ambition, Emma?¡± Bruiser asked me around his mouthful of food. He had a streak of buttery cinnamon along his cheek. I licked my thumb and wiped it off, feeling more comfortable with him than I had that morning. It helped that he wasn¡¯t naked, he¡¯d taken me shopping and bought me food. Three ingredients to a pleasant date.

    I withdrew my hand quickly and returned my focus to my roll. I shouldn¡¯t think about dating him, especially when Brick had only been gone for just over a week.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°Is that something you can select?¡±

    I hadn¡¯t seen a place I could select an ambition, but maybe this was like Crusader Kings 2 ¨C a game of James¡¯ I¡¯d tried to figure out but kept finding hidden menus all over the place. I¡¯d played more games when I was younger, but it had been a frustrating experience. I was always outnumbered by guys, and whenever I¡¯d not known how to do something, they¡¯d just laugh at me and say derogatory things about me being a wannabe gamer girl instead of just telling me what I needed to know. Somehow, my gender always came back into it, although I never understood why. Maybe they thought I was trying to operate games with a joystick using my va-jay-jay.

    ¡°It¡¯s not something you can select in a menu,¡± Bruiser answered me patiently. ¡°It¡¯s something internal, a goal that you have for yourself. Something to guide you.¡±

    I guess this was where my personality failed at this kind of game. I¡¯d never completed a single RPG. I¡¯d always get waylaid by the side quests and then give up when it failed to capture my attention. I much preferred games like The Sims, where you just mucked around making people and watching them make messes of their lives. It made me feel so much better about the mess I¡¯d made of my own. Settling for an accounting job because it was steadier income than trying to find something that engaged me more. Moving in with James despite not really being at the place in our relationship where I wanted to, because it was cheaper to pay rent as a couple than it was to be single. It was no wonder we weren¡¯t happy. I didn¡¯t even know if I could blame James for obsessing over this world over the last few months. One of his friends from his course had died a few months back, just as he¡¯d been getting into it and then he¡¯d been glued to the screen, operating on energy drinks and sugar for longer than I had patience for.

    But sitting here, I wondered if it had been his escape. There was a lot to love about this world, and probably more for James to love than I did, since he was the one to invent all the crap that I hated. I wondered if he¡¯d found his way inside this world as well, if he¡¯d ever figured out the transition that I¡¯d accidentally stumbled into. If we¡¯d ever find each other.

    ¡°What¡¯s your ambition?¡± I asked Bruiser.

    ¡°I want to avenge Elise,¡± he said grimly. ¡°I want to wipe out the last necromancer.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s only one left?¡± I asked in surprise. ¡°I thought there was like, a whole bunch of them over near the Necromancer Heights or something.¡±

    Bruiser gave me a long look. ¡°I¡¯ve been sniffing out information for years now. The Necromancer Wars ended with a few large bangs and then sort of¡­ fizzled out. There might be more than one, but the rumour from the crows is that there¡¯s only one left. Sits locked away in his tower and disappears for long periods of time between sightings. Sounds very suspicious to me.¡±

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    ¡°I see.¡± I rubbed my jaw thoughtfully. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty serious goal.¡±

    ¡°And?¡± Bruiser prompted. ¡°What¡¯s yours? What do you want?¡±

    I¡¯d never had an ambition before. I¡¯d had small goals like ¡®get my accounting diploma¡¯ and ¡®save money to buy a house¡¯ but never a long-term over-arching goal that had to do with my personality or my desires. They were all just¡­ practical things. Maybe I¡¯d just needed some evil necromancers in my world to give me some motivation.

    ¡°I guess I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± I frowned. ¡°I kind of wanted to just get a house and live quietly. That¡¯s all I¡¯ve ever wanted, I think. A place to feel safe and at home. When we heard that there was a little property in Market Town, it just sounded perfect. The three of us were going in together, but I thought I could open a little apothecary and have a place like Lily.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how to make potions?¡± Bruiser quirked an eyebrow at me.

    ¡°I¡¯d hoped I would be able to learn from books, but I haven¡¯t been having much luck,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Maybe I can actually read them now with my new glasses.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d be better off going to university and completing a degree. That¡¯ll give you a decent start. Another three points plus your dorky glasses and you¡¯ll get to 10/20. That might make it easier to run a store. You¡¯ll be struggling to make a decent variety of potions otherwise.¡±

    I finished my roll and licked the cinnamon off my fingers, then lay back on the grass and looked at the shifting sky.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to go back to university,¡± I said after a moment. ¡°I barely made it out with my diploma last time.¡±

    I turned my head to see Bruiser watching me with a strange intensity.

    ¡°Where do you come from, Emma?¡±

    I swallowed. Every time I¡¯d mentioned it around others, they¡¯d skirted around the idea that I came from another reality like they couldn¡¯t comprehend it. But Bruiser was looking directly at me. I sat back up and looked deep into his eyes. They burned with a ferocious curiosity. I felt like he was staring through the avatar ¨C the horns and the tail and the body I¡¯d fallen into ¨C and was looking directly at me.

    ¡°This may sound crazy¡­¡± I whispered, hoping beyond anything he would understand and believe me. ¡°But I think¡­ I think this world is a story, or a¡­ a world that my boyfriend from my world wrote. You probably don¡¯t have computers here, but you¡¯ve got machines, right? He made something with the help of machines, and I kind of¡­ fell into it by accident. I don¡¯t belong here.¡±

    Bruiser stared at me for a long moment before saying anything. ¡°You¡¯re saying that the god of this world is your boyfriend?¡±

    I sorted. ¡°I suppose, but don¡¯t call him that. He¡¯s a total dork. His name is James.¡±

    His expression turned thoughtful, and I asked him what he was thinking, but he shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure you want to know.¡±

    ¡°Please?¡±

    ¡°It might spoil your dream of a quiet life with Brick at your side.¡±

    My stomach dropped, but I persevered. ¡°It sounds like the kind of thing that I should know then.¡±

    He sighed. ¡°If your boyfriend created this world ¨C a world where there is great evil and necromancers have killed off most of the succubus, yet you are a succubus, I can only think of two possible scenarios. Either you are in very grave danger, or he is ignorant of your presence here and you will be in grave danger when you are discovered. If you are a person of such great importance, I imagine you will not be safe until the last necromancers are gone from this world and your ¡®James¡¯ is found and interrogated about his intentions: both for yourself and this world.¡±

    My stomach churned. ¡°Then what should I do?¡±

    ¡°Level Up,¡± Bruiser said, shifting closer to me and grabbing my shoulder. ¡°Level Up with urgency. Do not wait for Brick to come home. If you are found, you should be ready.¡±

    I chewed on my lip with anxiety. I¡¯d never been good at these games. If James was here, he was probably stupidly overpowered. Although I¡¯d love to find him and give him a piece of my mind, I didn¡¯t particularly want to do it as a Level Four succubus.

    ¡°I guess that should be my new ambition then,¡± I whispered.

    ¡°I will stay by your side and help you,¡± Bruiser swore, squeezing my shoulder gently with his large hand. ¡°I won¡¯t let you meet the same fate as Elise.¡±

    I guessed this was the main plot. Or my main plot, if this was like one of those big sandbox game worlds where multiple people could be doing different things.

    And I¡¯d spent a week fucking around in the Tutorial. Typical.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Seven - Quests

    We returned to The Sleepy Dragon briefly to drop my borrowed book back into our room before checking out the job board. I figured since I could actually read it now, I¡¯d hold on to it a little longer and read it that evening.

    I ignored all the quests that looked like they involved monsters and picked off the easy-looking errands around town. Bruiser convinced me to take a request to rid a cellar of dire-rats as well, making the point that I better learn to use my sword on easy enemies rather than risking getting gored by a Minotaur or something later. I remembered Bastion¡¯s Minotaur-inflicted wounds that I¡¯d healed the first day I¡¯d met him and hurriedly snatched the job to add to my pile.

    I didn¡¯t particularly want to go stab a bunch of rats, but I also didn¡¯t want to get murdered due to my lack of fighting skills later, either.

    Bruiser stayed by my side as I wandered from building to building, delivering letters and packages without once uttering a complaint. He gave me information or directions when asked, but never once stepped in to advise me on anything unless I asked for it.

    I couldn¡¯t help but remember the way James used to refuse to come to the mall with me and often used to lump me with doing the groceries.

    ¡°You¡¯re the accountant,¡± he¡¯d tell me, trying to frame it as though I had some magical ability to make our groceries cost less, but when it came down to it, I think he just considered groceries a peripheral of the kitchen and therefore women¡¯s work. It would be pretty typical of him, from what I¡¯d seen of this world.

    Navigating the streets and knocking on the doors of people¡¯s private homes had made me realize the severe gender imbalance in this world. Ninety percent of adventurers seemed to be males, with the odd female in bikini-armour thrown in, while the people needing home deliveries were largely women wearing aprons who seemed to be perpetually sweeping or hanging out laundry.

    If I ever got out of this world, I¡¯d be hacking into James¡¯ files to give these women an update, including vacuum cleaners, washer-dryers, and some goddamned feminist rights.

    I mentioned this to Bruiser, and he nodded, expressing again that there was something fundamentally wrong with the creator.

    ¡°How are you so self-aware?¡± I pulled him to the side of the street to ask him. ¡°No one else seems to be able to engage with these kinds of conversations.¡±

    ¡°My kind are more connected with the world itself,¡± he said thoughtfully. ¡°Shifters are¡­ adaptive. I¡¯ve felt the world changing for a while now, and it hasn¡¯t just been the wars. Most beings here seem set on repetitive paths. If they¡¯re an adventurer, they take jobs until they meet an untimely end more often than not. Civilians rarely change paths either. You¡¯ve recognized already how many civilians seem to be stuck in repetitive loops of tasks. And you can bet that tomorrow many of those tasks will be back on the noticeboard again. There are the odd exceptions, but it seems for most it¡¯s difficult to break out of those patterns.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s like you¡¯ve broken out of your programming,¡± I said thoughtfully. It felt wrong to say he had developed intelligence, because I didn¡¯t want to think what that would imply about Brick, but he had more self-awareness. But there definitely seemed to be a difference between Brick, Bastion, Kira, Lily and Bruiser compared to the other shopkeepers or sweeper-women. It was like the difference between a companion character and an NPC. Someone who had a personality and a filler-character just there to fulfill a role.

    ¡°Keep trying with the others,¡± Bruiser advised me. ¡°They will probably begin to engage with you more over time.¡±

    ¡°How can you be sure?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Because before today I had suspicions about this world, but nothing concrete. Since talking with you¡­ I¡¯ve had all manner of thoughts I would not have otherwise had,¡± he furrowed his brow in thought. ¡°And Brick¡­ I would not have expected him to want to buy a house and settle down. I believe you have changed him more than you think.¡±

    Hope spring in my chest, but my good mood was dampened when Bruiser insisted we get on with our errands and deal with the dire-rats.

    It was messy work, and my boots got covered in blood, but by the end of the mission, I was very close to Level Five. I could feel it. It felt a bit like cheating at times, because Bruiser stomped on the rats for me first to get their health low enough that I could kill them with one easy stab. He¡¯d even held the first couple down for me while I sliced their heads off.

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    When I got back to the room, all I wanted was a bath. Bruiser left me to it, taking some time to visit Bonaparte and clean our gear. When I finally came out, he was buffing my boots with leather polish. I smiled at him and offered to go downstairs and fetch our dinners.

    Kira was busy fleecing a goblin out of all he was worth, accusing him of breaking a barstool I knew had been broken a few days prior. Kira had likely mended it with weak glue for this very purpose.

    I ordered meals of vegetable mash and ale, remembering Bruiser¡¯s comments about the spoiled meat in the stew. I still had to occasionally pick cat hairs out of my food, but I suppose that was part and parcel of ordering food from a feliskin.

    I waited at the bar until it was ready, then balanced them on a tray up the stairs. I found myself actually looking forward to eating with Bruiser. It was hard to believe that twenty-four hours ago I¡¯d hated him with the fire of a thousand suns.

    He thanked me for the meal and sat by the fireside to eat, while I propped Lily¡¯s book open and read about spells. I felt like they made sense, but I could only remember one at a time. As soon as I tried to learn another, it was like it would shove the other spell out of my head completely.

    ¡°Your capacity will grow as you level up,¡± Bruiser informed me when I asked him about it. ¡°It¡¯s why it can be handy to purchase the books and have your own library of them. For now, choose the one you think you could use the most. That will help you to increase the level of your magic skill as well as your base level.¡±

    I bypassed the healing spells, figuring I already had my Healing Song, and selected the sleep spell I had first noticed.

    I lay down in bed and closed my eyes, navigating my settings menu as best I could. I asked Bruiser advice, and he instructed me on how to find out more about my abilities, sitting next to me and answering any questions I had.

    Mitsy

    Race: Succubus

    Class: Healer

    Level Four

    Health: 500

    Mana: 500

    Race: Succubus

    Abilities: Healing Song, Succubus Slime, Persuasion, Seduction.

    Magic Abilities: Sleep LVL 1.

    Intelligence: 5 (+2=7)

    Charisma: 18 (-1=17)

    Stamina: 15

    Strength: 5

    Magic: 16

    Dexterity: 15

    Accessories: Adorkable Glasses +2 Intelligence -1 Charisma

    With a little context, the numbers made a little more sense, although I still didn¡¯t know exactly what my stats would impact. I supposed dexterity would help if I ever tried to use a bow and arrow or pick a lock. Maybe I¡¯d have better luck with those skills than trying to attack monsters with blunt force objects.

    ¡°How do I find out more about my abilities?¡±

    ¡°You just focus on them. Their details should expand. When you want to go back, just look away.¡±

    I did as told and an expanse of writing filled in my vision.

    PERSUASION ¨C The ability to influence others through persuasive words or actions. Unlocks conversation and action options unavailable to others. LEVEL ONE 20% SUCCESS RATE.

    SEDUCTION ¨C The ability to influence others through attraction. Unlocks conversation and action options unavailable to others. Unlocks the ability to form relationship bonds with other characters. LEVEL TWO 30% SUCCESS RATE. <SUCCUBUS> RACE MULTIPLIER x2.

    HEALING SONG ¨C The ability to heal any wound through singing. Only available to races imbued with life magic. LEVEL FOUR HEALING RATE 15%/SECOND.

    SUCCUBUS SLIME ¨C A mysterious slime produced by succubus that can heal any wound. Incredibly rare and valuable in apothecaries.

    I felt my brain curdling whenever I tried to figure out what the percentage numbers and multipliers meant, but I figured that as I used each ability, the stats would increase, but I¡¯d get a better handle on using them in practice rather than by trying to crunch numbers.

    I wondered why there was nothing about my pheromone pores in there, but Bruiser said it was probably because it was an anatomy thing and there was nothing about my other bodily organs either.

    I¡¯d had enough of numbers and definitions and opened my eyes to see Bruiser watching me with an odd expression. He looked like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

    I felt that familiar warmth spread through me, and sat halfway up, propping my hands on my pillow behind me.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, watching his eyes dilate.

    ¡°Your smell changed,¡± he informed me huskily, and I found myself blushing. I still wasn¡¯t used to dealing with someone who could smell when I was attracted to them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to act on it,¡± I whispered, half as a reminder to myself. I found myself wanting to, though.

    ¡°And you¡¯re sure you don¡¯t want me to act on it?¡± He leaned in slightly closer, and I could tell by the way his eyes hooded that he could smell my attraction spiking as well.

    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t,¡± I said, though I felt a hot twisting in my core. ¡°I¡¯m seeing Brick. It wouldn¡¯t be fair to him.¡±

    He hovered an inch from me, neither of us seeming to be able to move away. I felt those traitorous feelings rise up in me again, only this time it wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t want them - it was that I knew I shouldn¡¯t want them as much as I did.

    I heard him inhale sharply and knew he had picked up on the feelings of lust that were shooting through my body. His head lowered, and his nose came to rest on my pheromone pores, his lips barely touching my skin. It wasn¡¯t even a kiss, but he inhaled, deep and long, breathing me in.

    I raised one hand up to his face, cupping his cheek with my hand. He leaned into it, trusting and affectionate.

    My lips parted, and I uttered one word: ¡°Sleep.¡±

    My spell took effect, and he slumped forwards until he was lying on top of me.

    I threaded my fingers into his hair, holding his head tightly and trembled.

    I wanted him. I wasn¡¯t just attracted to him. I wanted him.

    And I wanted Brick too. I just didn¡¯t know how to break it to him.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Eight - Levelling

    True to Bruiser¡¯s word, many of the jobs I¡¯d completed the day before were on the noticeboard again. Some were for different addresses, but we¡¯re scripted with the same language and the parcels I picked up to deliver were identical to the ones from yesterday. More aproned maids thanked me before returning to their sweeping, and we stopped for another cinnamon roll lunch before delving into another basement infested with dire-rats, although this time I managed to wield my short sword with a bit more finesse and avoided spending the afternoon covered in blood. I managed to successfully cast my sleep spell on several rats before beheading them, although it was difficult if they were scurrying about.

    Bruiser didn¡¯t mention my use of the spell on him, so I let it lie as well. The tension I felt growing between us felt heavy and thick, but without direction - like a stone around my neck.

    Occasionally, Bruiser would do something that would spark my attraction and I would have to clench my teeth in frustration, knowing that he knew how I was feeling, but ultimately could not do anything about it.

    We continued like this for several days until one day, after completing another pointless delivery, I was overcome by that dizzying, heady feeling and I realized I¡¯d reached Level Five.

    Bruiser walked with me to the edge of town where I sat beneath a tree and looked at my settings display, trying to figure out what made me feel so different.

    Mitsy

    Race: Succubus

    Class: Healer

    Level Five

    Health: 620

    Mana: 620

    Race: Succubus

    Abilities: Healing Song, Succubus Slime, Persuasion, Seduction.

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.Magic Abilities: Sleep LVL 2.

    ¡°We can probably take some harder jobs now. There¡¯s a dire-wolf to slay on the farmlet to the north.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not fighting a dire-wolf,¡± I said, shivering at the memory of what it has done to Brick.

    ¡°I could rough it up for you,¡± Bruiser offered, but I shook my head.

    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it, but¡­ I¡¯m not keen on fighting.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s not much else to do here. What were you imagining you wanted to do?¡±

    I described the games I liked to play. The Sims, Stardew Valley, Potion Craft. Things where you felt real progression without having to hack and slash through dungeons. Doing repetitive delivery tasks didn¡¯t have the same challenge and felt kind of like my 9-5 job.

    ¡°We need to get you to the university at the Citadel,¡± he said thoughtfully. ¡°You¡¯d enjoy it there. But you¡¯re unlikely to get by without some more fighting experience first, and it¡¯ll take you forever to level up enough to get more spell slots if you just do errand jobs. We really should take on that dire-wolf.¡±

    ¡°Ugh, fine,¡± I said. ¡°Can you get me like, a university prospectus or something?¡±

    With degrees in Dragon Slaying I wasn¡¯t entirely encouraged that they would have something that would interest me, but I still held out hope for an apothecary course so I could make and sell potions.

    I briefly wondered what James would think of me playing in his giant sandbox world and choosing to pretty much become a merchant NPC instead of an adventurer, but then I remembered how mad I was at him and turned my attention back to Bruiser.

    He was rolling his sleeves up to wash his hands in the river. Something about his forearms sent my hormones off again, and I felt myself drooling. He took a long drink of water, then ran his wet hands through his hair, pulling it back and out of his face. Then he turned to me and gave me a knowing smirk.

    I stood abruptly, trying to ignore the warmth I felt growing inside me, and grabbed my sword.

    ¡°You know what, let¡¯s go kill that wolf,¡± I announced and marched back into town to grab the job advertisement.

    I really needed to let off steam.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Nine - Dire-Wolf

    The wolf lunged at me, and I dodged out of the way, although it managed to turn and catch me with its vicious claws.

    I cried out, more out of surprise than pain. I think adrenaline had temporarily blocked that sense as I pivoted on my heel.

    It gnashed its teeth at me, but Bruiser had a hold of its tail and pulled it back out of range so it couldn¡¯t take a chunk out of me.

    ¡°Sleep!¡± I shouted, swishing my hand towards it, but it pulled away, baring its large, yellow teeth at me and I feared getting too close. This had been so much easier with the dire-rats.

    Bruiser clamped his knees around the wolf¡¯s haunches and gripped it behind its skull with both hands.

    ¡°Try again.¡±

    Confident that he had it secure, I reached forward and slapped it right on its furry skull. ¡°Sleep!¡±

    The wolf slumped over. I didn¡¯t waste time, stabbing it right through its eye and into its brain.

    Breathing heavily, I fell to my knees with exhaustion. Bruiser rummaged in my bag and retrieved some slime, which I poured on my shredded skin. It knitted itself back together without a trace, but I still felt like I wanted to cry.

    ¡°You did well,¡± Bruiser said, laying a hand on my head between my horns.

    ¡°I hate this,¡± I panted. ¡°I just want a nice little shop. No dire-wolves, no necromancers. Is that too much to ask?¡±

    He tweaked one of my horns. ¡°It gives you something to fight for.¡±

    I glared at him, trying to communicate my extreme displeasure at the idea of even having to fight for anything in the first place. He waited for me while I sang over my shredded skin.

    ¡°Stupid wolf, stupid bear,

    I really don¡¯t want to be here,

    Silly song, heal my skin,

    So I can go back to the inn¡­¡±

    When I finished, he pulled his hefty carry bag in front of him and rummaged around in it, pulling out a perfect cinnamon roll and handing it over to me. ¡°Here, that should replenish your health and mana. We¡¯ll head back when you¡¯re done.¡±

    ¡°How is this still so perfect?¡± I gasped, gratefully accepting the roll and taking a bite into it. The butter was still as gooey and fresh as the one I¡¯d eaten earlier that afternoon.

    ¡°They¡¯re always like that,¡± Bruiser shrugged.

    I swallowed my mouthful. ¡°It¡¯s just, I¡¯d expect it to get squashed in your bag. Food still goes off in this world, right? You said Kira¡¯s stew smelled like spoiled meat that time.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because she would be making it with spoiled meat. Harvested from zombie corpses, not from the farms.¡±

    I suddenly lost my appetite, letting the roll fall to my lap. ¡°She what now?¡±

    Bruiser shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s why I don¡¯t want to eat it. You get a 2% chance of getting poisoned.¡±

    ¡°From zombie flesh? I¡¯d expect it to be a lot worse,¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°And I¡¯d thought hairs in my food were the worst thing I had to worry about.¡±

    There were so many weird things about the rules of this world that the longevity of food wasn¡¯t ridiculously surprising. In games like Stardew Valley, you could store food in fridges or chests indefinitely. Fresh food would stay fresh, and I supposed spoiled food would stay spoiled.

    No wonder the stew was so cheap.

    ¡°You know, there¡¯s no reason we have to stay at Kira¡¯s,¡± Bruiser said thoughtfully. ¡°We could leave for the university today if you like.¡±

    I gave him a long stare.

    ¡°But Brick¡¯s coming back for me.¡± I didn¡¯t want to imagine how Brick would feel after fetching his gold to make a home with me, only to find I¡¯d gone off adventuring with another guy. It was too horrible.

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    ¡°We could leave a message with Kira, so he¡¯d know where to find you. You really do need to start levelling up so you can defend yourself. We don¡¯t know how long you have until you¡¯re found, or what the threat will be when it happens.¡±

    I sighed and twisted the toe of my boot in the soft dirt. His advice felt right, but the decision felt all wrong.

    ¡°You really feel strongly for him, don¡¯t you?¡±

    I looked up at Bruiser in confusion. ¡°Of course I do. I love him.¡±

    He sighed and picked up a stick, using it to draw some lines in the dirt.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked.

    ¡°A map,¡± he answered. ¡°We¡¯re here on the X, the mountain range is up there, the shore is to the south, and these are the two rivers. The university is there in the Citadel on the left and that¡¯s Necromancer Heights there on the right.¡±

    I looked at his scratchy lines, taking a moment to orient myself. I wasn¡¯t particularly skilled at navigating, but this was a simple enough one to follow.

    A shiver ran down my spine as I thought about the Necromancer Heights. I had no intention of going anywhere near them after Brick and Lily¡¯s warnings, and I was glad to see that the university was in the complete other direction.

    ¡°What are those?¡± I asked, pointing to the lines he¡¯d drawn over the ridges.

    ¡°Bridges. The northern one into necromancer territory was destroyed during the war. I can still cross the river up there in my bear form, but it¡¯s tricky. Brick and Bastion wouldn¡¯t try it. And there is a lake to the north by a gnomish village, but it is more trouble than it¡¯s worth to deal with them. They would be using the southern bridge. We could go south and meet them. It¡¯ll take us longer than if we headed to the university straight away, but you¡¯ll be getting more experience and levelling up along the way and at a much faster rate than if we stayed at Kira¡¯s and just kept doing the easy repetitive jobs. I know a bit about harvesting ingredients too, so I can get you started on that skill, although with your class I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll surpass me before long. And we can meet up with Brick and Bastion at the bridge. I¡¯m not sure where their safe house is, but they¡¯ll have to cross that bridge again, so we¡¯ll be sure to find them.¡±

    I sat and listened, watching the tense lines around his eyes as he tried to convince me. Although his intelligence was 15/20, his charisma was only 3/10 and I could see it was straining for him. Despite my low intelligence stat, I could tell it wasn¡¯t his only reason. I felt a gnawing feeling in my heart, the same feeling that seemed to rise up whenever I thought about the attraction between us. An attraction that was doomed to fail unless I decided to embrace the polyamorous succubus lifestyle. A lifestyle I had decided I didn¡¯t need or want ¨C until I met Bruiser.

    ¡°Why do you want to go, really?¡± I asked softly, placing my hand over his in a gentle plea for honesty. ¡°You know there will be an endless supply of dire-wolves right here for me to practice on. There¡¯s something else you¡¯re not telling me, isn¡¯t there?¡±

    He closed his eyes as though in pain, and when he opened them again, he was staring at my blood-stained boots rather than my face.

    ¡°I need to know,¡± he whispered, his husky voice heavy with emotion. ¡°I need to know if there¡¯s any hope for something between us, and I know that can¡¯t happen until you¡¯ve cleared up how you feel about Brick.¡±

    He looked at me suddenly and the power behind his gaze stole my breath away.

    ¡°Since Elise, I¡¯ve never formed a bond with anyone, Emma. I¡¯ve had sex, but it was just sex. I¡¯ve never¡­ I¡¯ve never felt that desire to commit myself again. It¡¯s too painful when you lose them¡­ But you, Emma. You¡¯re changing me, I can feel it. I swear to you, I will stay by your side and help you until the final necromancer is no more than ashes whether or not you choose to love me back. But I want you. I want to be with you. I want to know if my hope is futile.¡±

    My heart pounded in my ears at his declaration. He grasped my trembling hands in his with a fierce strength. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. His nose twitched though, and I knew he could smell my answer even if I couldn¡¯t verbalize it.

    ¡°I love you, Emma,¡± he leaned in and kissed my cheek with a gentleness that contrasted starkly with the strong grip he had on my fingers. His beard brushed my skin, and I felt a jolt through my heart. I wanted nothing more than to grab him and pull him to me, but I felt that conflict in my conscience again screaming out Brick¡¯s name.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a ride home,¡± he whispered. ¡°It¡¯ll be easier in my bear form to keep my hands off you, but I¡¯m glad you know how I feel.¡±

    Then he withdrew, and I felt suddenly cold, gasping for breath as I tried to calm my pounding heart. He adjusted the contents of his bag and began stripping his clothing off, folding it and carefully packing it away.

    His sudden nudity was doing absolutely nothing to help calm my poor nerves, and I stared at him in bewilderment, trying not to salivate.

    ¡°Bruiser¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, Emma?¡± he turned to me and I tried to keep my eyes trained on his face.

    ¡°You really wouldn¡¯t mind¡­ sharing me? With Brick?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not a possession to share, Emma,¡± Bruiser answered seriously. ¡°You¡¯re a person to love, and love doesn¡¯t have to be exclusive. I¡¯ve been in a harem before, and I would consider it a great honour to be in yours. You don¡¯t seem to realize just how special you are.¡±

    I shivered and watched him transform. His face widened and hair spread out around his eyes and down to his wet, black nose. The body hair on his torso, arms and legs thickened and became lush fur. The carry bag that had hung loosely on his shoulders as a man, fitted snugly around his bear body.

    He plodded over to me and tilted his head towards my sword. I picked it up and fitted it back onto my belt, then gave a yelp as he stuck his head between my legs and lifted me up.

    ¡°Argh!¡± I gasped, sliding down his back and grasping onto the fur around his shoulders. ¡°Bruiser! Give a girl some warning next time!¡±

    He let out a guttural, huffing grunt that sounded suspiciously like he was laughing at me.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Ten - Charm

    We stayed one more night at Kira¡¯s and then told her where we were headed in case Brick and Bastion returned by an unexpected route. The silver-haired cat-woman gave me a long, calculating look as we left, but I tried to ignore the feeling of unease that was growing inside me.

    I should never have agreed to staying behind when Brick left. I should never have encouraged him to go and fetch his stash of loot. He was only doing that to buy that damned house to make a life with me, and now I was setting off on a journey with another man I had strong feelings for. I refused to label them as love, even though Bruiser had already declared as much to me.

    He¡¯d been right. I needed to see Brick. To sort this tangle of feelings out before it choked me.

    Bonaparte left early in the morning in the other direction. Bruiser had asked him to scout ahead towards the university and ferret out any rumours of possible danger we might need to know about.

    We stopped by the marketplace and Bruiser bought the entire tray of cinnamon rolls to keep me satisfied for as long as they lasted. I smiled, moved by the gesture and delighted at the idea of exploiting the absence of best before dates.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised your bag even holds that much,¡± I commented, having a peek inside his tightly packed luggage.

    ¡°It does seem bigger on the inside,¡± Bruiser agreed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s strange?¡± I asked, looking up at him curiously.

    He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded. ¡°Yes, I suppose you¡¯re right. Another thing about this world that doesn¡¯t make sense. I love how you see things no one else does, Emma.¡±

    I felt a heady rush as I levelled up and took a moment to clear my mind of the muddled sensation.

    LEVEL UP!

    Mitsy

    Race: Succubus

    Class: Healer

    Level Six

    Health: 700

    Mana: 700

    ¡°What¡¯d I do to level up?¡± I asked in confusion, stepping in closer to Bruiser to keep out of the way of the main thoroughfare.

    He pulled me into an alley between two stalls and I closed my eyes, looking for my experience log to check the last line.

    EXPERIENCE LOG

    Ability unlocked: Charm

    LEVEL UP! Mitsy = Level Six

    Persuasion: 5 Points

    ¡°I got points for Persuasion?¡± I asked, opening my eyes to look to Bruiser.

    ¡°You persuaded me to think about the physics of my bag,¡± Bruiser said, piecing the information together. ¡°I told you, Emma¡­ You don¡¯t know how special you are. The things you see, the things you say¡­ They¡¯re making real change in this world. They¡¯re changing me. You¡¯re changing me.¡±

    He took my hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing me like I was some kind of royalty.

    My heart fluttered as I looked into his warm eyes. It seemed ridiculous that I¡¯d ever been afraid of him. He was so passionate and kind.

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    I swallowed and reluctantly withdrew my hand.

    ¡°Seems like an odd thing to get experience points for,¡± I said. ¡°Do you know what ¡®Charm¡¯ is? I seem to have unlocked another ability.¡±

    It sounded like a move a Pok¨¦mon would make. One of the squishy cute pink ones like Jigglypuff or Clefairy.

    ¡°Ah! Excellent!¡± Bruiser beamed at me. ¡°You should be able to control the release of your pheromones now. Check your abilities again and you¡¯ll find the description. Your accuracy will increase as you level the skill up, so it would be worth using it on anything you come across, just like you¡¯ve been doing with your sleep spell.¡±

    I found my abilities list, barely registering the changes to my other statistics as an odd feeling came over me.

    PERSUASION ¨C The ability to influence others through persuasive words or actions. Unlocks conversation and action options unavailable to others. LEVEL TWO 25% SUCCESS RATE. CHARM MULTIPLIER x1.5.

    SEDUCTION ¨C The ability to influence others through attraction. Unlocks conversation and action options unavailable to others. Unlocks the ability to form relationship bonds with other characters. LEVEL TWO 30% SUCCESS RATE. <SUCCUBUS> RACE MULTIPLIER x2. CHARM MULTIPLIER x1.5.

    HEALING SONG ¨C The ability to heal any wound through singing. Only available to races imbued with life magic. LEVEL FOUR HEALING RATE 15%/SECOND.

    SUCCUBUS SLIME ¨C A mysterious slime produced by succubus that can heal any wound. Incredibly rare and valuable in apothecaries.

    CHARM ¨C The ability to release pheromones on command to lower an opponent¡¯s defense. Unlocks action options unavailable to others. LEVEL ONE 25% SUCCESS RATE. 20% CHANCE END COMBAT, 25% CHANCE OPPONENT¡¯S ATTACK POWER REDUCED /25%, 50% OPPONENT¡¯S DEFENSE REDUCED 25%. SEDUCTION MULTIPLIER x1.5.

    ¡°I can control my pheromones because I levelled up,¡± I said aloud, my eyes still closed as by brow furrowed and I focused on the words. ¡°I had them before, but I can control them now¡­ but how?¡±

    My 5/20 intelligence was feeling strained again.

    ¡°They were biologically a part of you,¡± Bruiser added helpfully.

    ¡°There¡¯s just¡­ there¡¯s something wrong here, but I can¡¯t put my finger on it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to your abilities as you use them. Give it time.¡±

    I took a deep breath and tried imagining my pheromone pores closing up, willing them to stop sending their tempting smell to Bruiser. I couldn¡¯t tell if they were working under my clay and scarf, but I looked back at my experience log and the evidence was there.

    EXPERIENCE LOG

    Ability unlocked: Charm

    LEVEL UP! Mitsy = Level Six

    Persuasion: 5 Points

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m doing it right,¡± I chewed on my lip and explained the issue to Bruiser.

    ¡°You¡¯re not using it, you¡¯re actively not using it,¡± he explained. ¡°Try flirt with me.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me? I can¡¯t just¡­ flirt with you on command!¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too awkward!¡±

    ¡°So is your singing, but you¡¯re perfectly capable of that.¡±

    ¡°Ugh!¡± I said, bracing myself for humiliation. ¡°So, what¡­ I just¡­ use a pickup line on you or wink at you or something?¡±

    ¡°You can only try and find out.¡±

    ¡°How do I know if it¡¯s any different to seduction?¡± God, I hated my stupid abilities. I was totally like a Pok¨¦mon. A sexy Clefairy or some other horror of a mash-up.

    ¡°Just check your experience log. Get on with it, though, or we won¡¯t make it far out of town tonight.¡±

    I exhaled deeply, then trying with all my might to channel Joey from FRIENDS, gave Bruiser a saucy look and said, ¡°How you doin¡¯?¡±

    His expression intensified, and he drifted closer to me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll struggle to make it far out of town myself, if you do that again,¡± he said, drooling lecherously at me before shaking himself out of his stupor. ¡°Maybe don¡¯t direct that at me again. I¡¯m finding it hard enough to contain my feelings for you as it is.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I blushed, still in awe that it had worked at all. ¡°I felt so stupid doing it.¡±

    ¡°Check your experience.¡±

    EXPERIENCE LOG

    Seduction: 5 Points

    Charm: 5 Points

    Ability unlocked: Charm

    LEVEL UP! Mitsy = Level Six

    Persuasion: 5 Points

    ¡°Wow, I double dipped,¡± I said. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s still totally stupid, but if it gets me levelled up twice as fast, I guess I can use some pickup lines on rats before I smash them.¡±

    ¡°Come, we should get on the road,¡± Bruiser said, stepping back into the daylight.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Eleven - Crossroads

    We took our time walking through the forest, with Bruiser stopping every now and again to show me a plant. When I began to tire for the day, he¡¯d allow me to ride on his back so we could keep closing the distance between us and our destination.

    We stopped and ate cinnamon rolls for lunch as he described the uses of different roots, plants, and ferns. For dinner, he would step into the river and catch fresh fish, flicking them out of the water and at my feet with his masterful claws.

    We came across a couple of dire-wolves and a couple of gross crab-like creatures which crawled out of the river towards us, waving their claws menacingly. Bruiser let me handle them, with some words of advice, and shouldered one of the dire-wolves away from me when its jaws got too close for comfort.

    I felt like a total idiot, screaming out lines like ¡°You come here often?¡± and ¡°Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?¡± as I swished my sword around in agitated terror. But it seemed to work. The wolves would get a dopey expression on their faces and their strikes would go astray like the fight had gone out of them. It almost felt like cheating to then drive a sword into them.

    By the time the crabs approached on the second day as we ate our dinner of campfire-roasted fish, I was grasping for flirty lines to charm them with and called out ¡°Hey sexy-legs!¡± in a panic before slicing its claws off and stabbing it in the slit its eyes protruded from.

    Bruiser was cackling at me as I cleaned my sword.

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    ¡°It¡¯s hard to flirt on command, especially when the thing you need to flirt with is trying to kill you,¡± I said defensively. ¡°I dare you to come up with some better pickup lines.¡±

    His laughter died as I sat down next to him, reclaiming my abandoned fish.

    ¡°I rather liked the one you used yesterday,¡± he said after a moment, his tone low and husky again. ¡°Did it hurt when you fell, my angel from heaven?¡±

    I looked at him questioningly. He looked like he was struggling to control himself.

    ¡°Damn, did I use my seduction powers on you again?¡± I asked in alarm. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to use your powers of seduction on me,¡± he said, his head dipping down as though he was going to kiss me, but then paused. ¡°I¡¯m already seduced.¡±

    Then he shifted back into a bear, his pants ripping as his haunches expanded.

    I sighed, gathering the shredded material and shoving it in his bag. He tried not to ruin his clothes unless he really had to. This trip was proving treacherous for both of us.

    I shouldered my satchel and walked beside Bruiser in silence until the light began to fade. He sniffed around in the forest and found a sheltered spot between two large boulders and a tree and lay down. As I did each night on our journey, I snuggled up close to him and used my cape as a blanket. His body heat and thick fur kept me warmer than I would have hoped for, considering we were camping outdoors, and I stared up at the unfamiliar constellations. Back in my old life, I never really saw the stars. There was too much light pollution in the city and never any reason to go far enough out of town to try and see them.

    Bruiser¡¯s heavy paw pulled me closer to him, his deep rumbling snores breaking the silence in the forest. I turned in his embrace and pressed my face into his soft fur, feeling more at home under the stars with him than I had in any house I¡¯d ever lived in.

    How could Brick ever forgive me?

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Twelve - Brick

    As we got closer to the ocean, the sky changed. The clouds dispersed, and the sun shone down. The rolling hills flattened out, the forest thinned, and the dire-wolves stopped attacking.

    It was picture perfect, like one of those default images you get when installing Windows on a new PC.

    When we reached the crest of one hill, Bruiser grasped my hand and pointed out the bridge in the distance. It stretched along the wide river like a long, pewter snake with cobbled scales.

    I grinned, but felt that conflicted feeling again. I was going to see Brick again. I loved Brick. He made me feel things no one had ever made me feel before.

    But that also meant that I was coming to an end to this part of my journey with Bruiser, who I had also developed strong feelings for.

    Bruiser stripped down next to me, shoving his clothes in his bag, and pecked me on the cheek.

    ¡°Catch me if you can,¡± he dared me, before shifting and taking off into the hills at a jaunty pace.

    I laughed and ran after him, grateful for the distraction. He paused in his race every now and again to turn and pull faces at me or waggle his round bottom in my direction. I laughed and threw a rock at him, hitting him squarely in the middle of his buttock. He yelped and took off again.

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    We reached the bridge sooner than I¡¯d expected, and I was left panting for breath. I leaned against one of the pillars that framed the bridge to catch my breath, grinning at Bruiser as he shifted back to his human form and sauntered towards me, rubbing the spot I¡¯d hit him.

    ¡°Mighty rude way to treat your escort,¡± he growled, stepping in close to me and framing me with his arms.

    ¡°You made a mighty tempting target,¡± I returned, giving him a daring look.

    ¡°Meanwhile, you¡¯re just mighty tempting.¡±

    I swallowed thickly, feeling my stomach twist. My libido seemed to be behaving itself more now that I¡¯d unlocked the Charm ability, but there was still an undeniable attraction I felt for Bruiser regardless of the magic that ran through my veins.

    ¡°You¡¯re the one that¡¯s naked,¡± I said in a whisper. ¡°At least I¡¯m not trying to tempt you.¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± he said, tracing my features with his eyes. His gaze dropped to my lips, and I felt his intention as much as if he¡¯d followed through and kissed me. ¡°What can I say? I¡¯m a naturalist. I feel comfortable naked. I usually only wear clothes in towns or when I¡¯m in the company of others.¡±

    He stood close enough I could feel his body heat radiating off him, and I felt that deep connection with him again that I¡¯d pondered on as I slept by his side each night.

    ¡°Do you want me to put pants on?¡± Bruiser asked, his voice sensually low. ¡°I will if you ask me to.¡±

    I opened my mouth to respond, but then a movement in my peripheral vision caught my eye.

    ¡°Emma?¡±

    Bruiser took a step back and we both guiltily looked at Brick, who was staring at us wide-eyed with a large chest perched on his muscular shoulders, and Bastion, who looked like he was about to explode with anger by his side.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Thirteen - Choices

    ¡°I told you she¡¯d do this to you, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    I could hear Bastion¡¯s muttering the entire time they set up camp, and I felt close to tears. Brick stayed grimly silent until the tent was fully erected, the chest safely inside and out of view, and their gear laid out in an orderly manner.

    I¡¯d always loved his tidy streak. It seemed to be another one of those subtle ways he subverted orcish expectations, but after living with my slob of a boyfriend in my old life, I found it incredibly sexy. That is, until today, when I felt it was just a delaying tactic before an inevitably uncomfortable conversation.

    Bruiser had said a quick goodbye to me and was fishing under the shade of the bridge, catching enough for the four of us to eat for dinner ¨C his way of offering an olive branch. I didn¡¯t know if there were enough fish in the river to patch this up, though, from how sullen Brick looked.

    ¡°Bastion, go,¡± he said finally, having run out of things to do.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± the wood elf asked, shooting glares as sharp as daggers in my direction.

    ¡°Yes. Go.¡±

    Bastion let out a puff of air, clapped his brother on the shoulder and stomped off in the opposite direction from Bruiser. I looked at Brick, wringing my hands in anxiety.

    ¡°Come, let¡¯s talk in the tent.¡±

    He held the flap open for me and I entered, taking a seat on his bedroll. He kneeled next to me, placing his hands on his knees, and looked at me with a mix of emotions I couldn¡¯t identify.

    ¡°I should not have left you so soon into our relationship,¡± he said finally, his eyes not quite meeting mine.

    ¡°No,¡± I said, wanting to reach out to him, but then hesitating. I wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted me to touch him or not.

    ¡°You look nice. In your new clothes.¡±

    ¡°Bruiser got them for me,¡± I chewed on my lip, not exactly wanting to explain that Bruiser had literally ripped my only set of clothing off me. I didn¡¯t want to hide it, exactly, but it didn¡¯t seem like a good thing to lead with. I felt totally lost, unsure how to proceed.

    ¡°Is that what you wanted me to do?¡± he asked quietly. ¡°To stay with you and buy you things?¡±

    ¡°Ugh, you make it sound terrible. He bought them as an apology. He sort of¡­ thought I was a thief and attacked me when he first saw me.¡±

    ¡°He what?¡± Brick inhaled sharply. ¡°Didn¡¯t Kira tell him you were there?¡±

    ¡°He said he assumed I was an orc. Kira didn¡¯t mention my race,¡± I clenched my hands into fists. ¡°Anyway, he apologized, and we made up.¡±

    ¡°And do you prefer him now?¡± Brick asked. He looked like he was confirming a dreaded but inevitable truth.

    ¡°No! No, Brick I¡­¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you assume is happening between Bruiser and I, but¡­ there is attraction there, and there are a lot of feelings I can¡¯t seem to help, and I don¡¯t really know what half of them are, but I know I love you, Brick. My feelings haven¡¯t changed for you in the slightest.¡±

    A sliver of hope seemed to shine in his eyes, and that sparked a twin shred of hope in my chest as well.

    ¡°Tell me,¡± he requested, as calm as ever. ¡°Tell me what has happened since I left.¡±

    Equally elated and relieved he was ready to listen to me, I told him everything from the moment he had left until the moment we¡¯d found him. The air began to cool, and the light dimmed outside. Eventually, I could tell by the flickering firelight that Bruiser and Bastion had given up on us coming out and had started roasting Bruiser¡¯s catch.

    When I finished, I felt exhausted but unburdened. Whether Brick wanted to continue with me or not was now out of my hands. He knew all, and the rest was up to him.

    ¡°I really am sorry,¡± I whispered. ¡°I never wanted to hurt you.¡±

    Brick let out a gruff huff of air. ¡°Do I look hurt?¡±

    ¡°Not physically,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡­ I remember what you said about succubi being polyamorous and elves being monogamous and I¡­ I really wanted it to just be you.¡±

    ¡°Do I look like an elf to you?¡± Brick snorted.

    ¡°But you were raised in their culture. You said so yourself, that you have shared values with them because of your upbringing.¡±

    ¡°Orcs are not known for their good relationships,¡± Brick said, frowning deeply. ¡°Familial ties are complex. It¡¯s not unusual for an orc to not know who their father is. It¡¯s not unusual for mothers to abandon their children at a young age either. My own mother, Uzra, left me with Septimius when I was a few weeks old. They¡¯d adventured together in the past, and Uzra wasn¡¯t the mothering type. She left me with her axe and then went off and got herself killed trying to fight a dragon.¡±

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    I felt my heart break for him. Even my own dysfunctional family wasn¡¯t that bad.

    ¡°When I say I have shared values, I value relationships, Emma. When I tell you I love you, I mean it as a solemn oath. I love you, Emma, and I knew you were a succubus when I fell in love with you. I¡¯ve also seen myself in a mirror. I always knew there was a probability that you might fall in love with someone more worthy.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about yourself that way,¡± I said, launching myself at him and wrapping him in a tight hug. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry I caused you to doubt yourself. It took me by surprise, is all. I¡¯m not used to being a succubus either, really. Just tell me what I need to do to make everything okay between us.¡±

    ¡°Just keep me,¡± Brick said, holding me closely. ¡°Keep loving me, and we¡¯ll be okay.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a single thing in this world that could stop that.¡±

    ¡°But to think you¡¯ve been struggling against your own nature all this time¡­¡± Brick said, his voice sounding heavy and grieved.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s racist,¡± I sniffled, hurt that after all of this it came back to me being a succubus.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand,¡± Brick pulled me even closer. ¡°It¡¯s not a criticism. This would have been easier on you if you weren¡¯t dealing with sexual frustration at the same time. I was so charmed by the idea of having a home with you that I neglected you. I shouldn¡¯t have left."

    ¡°But the house in Market Town¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a house, Emma. You¡¯re my home,¡± Brick said, planting a gentle kiss on my cheek. ¡°Besides, it sounds like you want to go to university anyway. We should put our gold towards that.¡±

    ¡°Bastion might not be happy.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve put up with a lot from Bastion over the last year,¡± Brick replied with a grunt. ¡°He can put up with me, or he can leave. I never thought I¡¯d get a chance at love, and now that I have you, I¡¯m not letting you go. Even if that means I have to share you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ You¡¯re giving me permission to see Bruiser as well?¡± I sat up in surprise.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call it permission,¡± Brick frowned. ¡°You don¡¯t need my permission to do anything. You¡¯re not property. But I value the communication, and the fact you¡¯ve talked to me about it first.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re amazing,¡± I whispered. ¡°I mean¡­ I never exactly set out to have multiple boyfriends, but my boyfriend from my old world¡­ He used to get ridiculously jealous, right up until the last few months and then he was too distracted to pay any attention to me at all.¡±

    ¡°This is the boyfriend you mentioned when we met. The one you wanted to dump,¡± Brick gave me a searching look. ¡°Tell me about him.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± I said, taken aback.

    ¡°I want to know what he did wrong, so I don¡¯t repeat his mistakes,¡± Brick said, brushing a lock of hair off my forehead. ¡°I don¡¯t want to ever push you away.¡±

    I gave him a watery smile and promised to tell him everything another time. My voice was getting hoarse as it was.

    ¡°I still need to speak with Bruiser about what he did to you. Attacking you and making you cry,¡± Brick said grimly. ¡°But once it¡¯s done, it will be done. I also have one request for you.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I want you to wait before you make a decision about whether to pursue him until morning,¡± he said, planting a gentle kiss on my lips. ¡°I want you thoroughly sated without the cloud of frustration influencing you. It was negligent of me, and I wish to make this right with you. When you have a clear head, decide what you will, but I will still be at your side.¡±

    ¡°Brick,¡± I whispered, my skin tingling with anticipation already. I¡¯d missed him, missed being with him, for two weeks already. And now I knew within the hour I¡¯d have him. It was almost too much to bear.

    But our stomachs were rumbling, and the smell of roasted fish was too tempting to ignore.

    We stepped out of the tent and approached Bastion and Bruiser. Bastion was still glaring heatedly at me, while Bruiser looked apprehensive.

    I sat down and claimed a skewered fish while Brick stood above Bruiser and invited him to accompany him to talk by the bridge. The tone of his invitation made it clear that he didn¡¯t have a choice in the matter. I watched as they left.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d do this to him,¡± Bastion hissed at me, when they were a decent distance away. ¡°You should have seen him these last two weeks, dreaming of you, being so sickeningly optimistic.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re still together,¡± I said, giving him a sharp look. ¡°And I intend to keep it that way.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t make him happy.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you know him as well as you think you do,¡± I spat back at him.

    ¡°You¡¯ve barely known him a month!¡±

    ¡°He really loves you, you know that?¡± I said, starting to feel real anger. ¡°And the way you¡¯ve been moping around about Lily has been a real drag for him. It didn¡¯t work out, but it¡¯s been a year. Move on already.¡±

    ¡°What, with you?¡± Bastion asked, his eyes narrowed. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not planning on adding a wood elf to your collection, because I¡¯m on to you and your succubus tricks.¡±

    I snorted. ¡°Hell no, I wouldn¡¯t touch you with a ten-foot pole.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    CRACK!

    I gasped, realizing the sound had come from Brick and Bruiser. Both Bastion and I leaped to our feet in alarm. Bruiser was holding his face while Brick was standing in an aggressive pose, clearly having just decked him.

    ¡°Look at what you¡¯ve done now!¡± Bastion exclaimed. ¡°Those two were friends until you came along!¡±

    It seemed they were still friends, as they spoke a few more words together, then walked back towards the campfire as though nothing had happened. Brick sat and picked up a skewered fish and ate it in silence.

    Bruiser¡¯s cheek looked red and swollen, but he waved me away when I approached him to heal it.

    ¡°Leave it,¡± Brick grunted. ¡°He needs to know he can¡¯t make you cry without consequences."

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Bruiser agreed. ¡°I know it doesn¡¯t make sense to you but¡­ You¡¯re his girlfriend, and I did wrong by both of you. I shouldn¡¯t have attacked you that first night. There are a lot of things I shouldn¡¯t have done.¡±

    I sat on my hands, realizing this was something they needed to work out between the two of them, even if I didn¡¯t like it. They were Warriors and friends and had a longer relationship than I¡¯d been privy to.

    ¡°Ready for bed?¡± Brick asked me after polishing off a fifth fish.

    Bastion groaned, realizing I¡¯d be sharing their small tent, and announced he would be removing his bedroll and sleeping under the stars. He traipsed off into the night with it under his arm. Bruiser likewise disappeared into the darkness without so much as a ¡®goodnight¡¯.

    Finally alone again, I led him into the tent.

 BOOK TWO - Chapter Fourteen - River

    We awoke hot and sticky with the late morning sun beating down and baking us inside our tent. Our lips were chapped from the heat, but I used my Healing Song and within a couple of lines they were as good as new, which Brick decided to celebrate by kissing me until I was breathless.

    I announced I wanted to go and bathe in the river, and he followed me, not bothering to wear his kilt-like loincloth the few meters between the tent and the water.

    I decided the whole Mr. Darcy walking out of the lake scene in Pride and Prejudice had nothing on a morning-after playful orc splashing about in a river, droplets of water beading on his leathery green skin.

    We splashed about for a bit, before noticing Bruiser a little way upstream in his bear form.

    ¡°What are you thinking about him?¡± Brick asked, his mood becoming more serious. ¡°Do you still feel the same as you did yesterday?¡±

    I watched as Bruiser sat down on the riverbed, unaware he was being watched, and stared morosely into the distance.

    ¡°I do,¡± I whispered. ¡°That is, I still care about him. I¡¯m still attracted to him. I still want him¡­ But I don¡¯t feel that same confusion or conflict anymore, which is thanks to you.¡±

    Brick leaned in and kissed me gently.

    ¡°You better go tell him and put him out of his misery then,¡± said Brick. ¡°I should go hunt down Bastion and make sure he hasn¡¯t torn his pointy ears off.¡±

    I laughed and gave him a playful punch on the arm.

    ¡°Besides, he deserves to know we¡¯ve changed plans. We¡¯ll stop by Kira¡¯s on the way through to leave a message for Jackal and Nightfall, but then we¡¯ll head straight for the university.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, giving him another kiss. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to having you show me around.¡±

    He gave me an orcish grin, kissed me goodbye and then turned to wade back up to the shore. I watched his green backside until it disappeared into the tent, then turned upstream to go hunt down Bruiser.

    He saw me in the distance and shifted, meeting me in the water, although he still threw uncertain glances towards the campsite.

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    ¡°Embracing the naturalist lifestyle yourself, are you?¡± he asked, raising a brow but then wincing as it pulled on his damaged cheek.

    ¡°I¡¯m giving it a try,¡± I said, lifting my hand to his cheek.

    ¡°Don¡¯t. I deserve it,¡± Bruiser said, catching my wrist.

    ¡°But I forgive you,¡± I said. ¡°Surely that should count for something.¡±

    ¡°It counts for everything.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like seeing you hurt. Please, just let me fix it.¡±

    He dropped his hand from my wrist, and I began to sing to him. It was just another nonsense song, but it worked.

    ¡°Emma,¡± he said when I¡¯d finished. ¡°I¡¯m glad you made up with Brick. I know that was weighing on you, and I¡¯m sorry for contributing to it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. He¡¯s been great and he¡­ Ow!¡± I yelped, slapping at my leg. ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯ll be the leeches.¡±

    ¡°The what?!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I forgot about them. They don¡¯t really bother me in my bear form.¡±

    I scrambled out of the river and found several inch-long black leeches attached to me with their slimy jaws. I cried as Bruiser hovered over me, plucking them off and sniffling through a song to heal up the bleeding red circles they had left behind.

    ¡°I hate this stupid world,

    Just when I let my guard down,

    To come tell you that I love you,

    I¡¯m chewed up by effing leeches¡­¡±

    ¡°You were going to tell me that you love me?¡± Bruiser repeated, pausing in his own leech removal process to look at me.

    ¡°Yeah. I love you,¡± I said, plucking a leech off him. ¡°It took me a while, but I figured it out.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just that 5/20 intelligence stat slowing you down,¡± he chuckled, dodging when I threw the leech at him. ¡°I¡¯m glad, though. So, does this mean we can be together?¡±

    I grinned and nodded.

    ¡°Good, because I¡¯ve been wanting to do this for a long time.¡±

    He picked me up and swung me around, making me squeal, then pressed my back into a smooth-barked tree and kissed me with the ravenous desperation of a drowning man searching for air.

    ¡°You have no idea what you¡¯ve been doing to me these last couple of weeks, Emma,¡± he groaned. ¡°How much self-control it took to not just take you on the forest floor.¡±

    ¡°You can now,¡± I whispered, feeling a thrill run through me. ¡°You can have me right now.¡±

    He growled and pulled away from me long enough to lower me from my position up against the tree to a spot nestled in the soft, sandy soil. I reached for him, but he took my hands in one of his and held them above my head, and continued to kiss me until I felt like my intelligence had dropped to a mere 1/20 for all the thoughts I could string together.

    ¡°Bruiser,¡± I whispered, writhing under him.

    ¡°Emma¡­ My Emma¡­¡± he whispered.

    I held him for several minutes afterwards, enjoying his affectionate post-coital nuzzling until I noticed the mosquitos buzzing around.

    ¡°I think that¡¯s our cue to move on,¡± I said, slapping one as it landed on Bruiser¡¯s shoulder.

    He stood and fetched his bag, which he¡¯d left by the riverside, and retrieved one of his shirts to pull over my head. It was about three times too big for me, but it kept the mosquitos off my skin.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get on the road then,¡± Bruiser said, kissing me once more before shifting back into a bear and letting me ride on his back to camp.

    For the first time in two weeks, I felt totally, undeniably optimistic that everything would work out.

 BOOK THREE - Chapter One - Agreements

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you liked cinnamon rolls,¡± Brick commented, watching me devouring one that Bruiser had pulled out of his bag for me.

    ¡°You¡¯re kidding me, right?¡± I laughed. ¡°Is there anyone who doesn¡¯t?¡±

    Bruiser ruffled my hair, and I made a face at him before returning to my treat.

    Brick frowned, watching me, but he seemed more thoughtful than upset. I¡¯d sat down on a log next to Bruiser for lunch, and Brick sat on another a few feet away with his brother, Bastion, who was shooting dirty looks at me.

    ¡°Speak your mind, friend,¡± Bruiser addressed Brick. ¡°I can tell there¡¯s something bothering you.¡±

    Brick and Bruiser got along surprisingly well for two guys dating the same girl, but I suppose all my previous experience of polyamorous situations was based on daytime soap operas which made a game of dramatizing every incident until one lover inevitably tried to murder the other. I didn¡¯t know if I could think of a single healthy relationship depicted on any TV shows I¡¯d ever watched.

    I knew I didn¡¯t believe in marriage, after watching the mess my parents had made of theirs, and I¡¯d never really thought about polyamorous relationships as a thing I would do either, but when it came down to it, I guessed it was because I never thought of it as being particularly likely. I didn¡¯t have any overbearing moral opinions for or against it, so long as everyone was happy. I just didn¡¯t know how to make sure that happened.

    But Bruiser had been in a harem before, and his advice was to keep the lines of communication open and expectations clear. I supposed that was where Bastion and Lily had failed. Bastion had wanted more than what Lily was willing to give him, and false hope had inevitably turned into a deep hatred when things fell apart.

    Bruiser¡¯s relationship with Elise had been an entirely different kettle of fish. She¡¯d provided him a home to return to, and he¡¯d loved her dearly, but while he had committed himself to her, he didn¡¯t live with her full-time. He returned to the forest to roam and came home when he needed affection and companionship.

    What he had with me was something else. His loss of Elise still weighed on him heavily, and he swore he would not take the time he was given with me for granted. For the first time in his life, he craved a full-time companion.

    ¡°You know things about Emma that I don¡¯t,¡± Brick said finally. ¡°You¡¯ve thought to ask her things, to give her things that I¡¯d never considered. It makes me feel negligent of my duties.¡±

    ¡°Oh, sweetheart,¡± I licked my fingers, having finished my snack, and moved to sit next to him. ¡°I don¡¯t expect that from you. Your only duty is to be yourself.¡±

    It must be hard to be an elf-raised orc. He was such an amazing guy, but as elves didn¡¯t find him particularly attractive to elf standards and orcs considered him too elvish to be attractive by orc standards, this was his first actual relationship. He wasn¡¯t used to being liked.

    He gave me a gruff smile and kissed my forehead.

    ¡°You are too accepting of mediocrity. I want to excel at being your boyfriend,¡± Brick argued, stroking his finger down my cheek. ¡°I never knew how much I wanted this until I found you. But Emma¡­ You¡¯re my family now.¡±

    Bastion snarled next to him, but I ignored him.

    ¡°I think you and Bruiser have a lot in common,¡± I said, looking between them. ¡°You both want the same things, really. A home. Someone to love. Someone who loves you back. But Brick, love isn¡¯t dished out based on performance and I¡¯m not comparing you to each other. I¡¯m not going to favour one person over the other because they buy me stuff.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Brick said, curling his arm around me tightly in a side-hug. ¡°But if there are things that make you happy, I want to know what they are. I want to know every way I can possibly make you smile.¡±

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    ¡°Brick¡¯s right, Emma. It¡¯s time you start asking for more instead of waiting to see what you¡¯re given,¡± Bruiser said, brushing his knees off and standing. ¡°We are not like your James from your old life, and we will not allow you to feel like you¡¯ve settled. You don¡¯t have limits here. Whatever ambitions you have, we will help see them through. Whatever desires you have, we will try to fulfil them. And while we can swap notes to find ways to do that more effectively,¡± he glanced at Brick and then back to me, ¡°we know you may still want more and that¡¯s fine too. Find your voice, Emma, and use it.¡±

    His challenge sparked a feeling of desire in my chest that I knew he could smell on my skin. I gripped Brick¡¯s hand tightly, my tail swishing wildly behind me.

    ¡°You know I love you equally, but¡­ separately,¡± I said, turning my firey gaze to Brick. I wasn¡¯t quite ready for that yet.

    ¡°I know,¡± Brick nodded, leaning forwards to murmur in my ear while Bastion made a sound of disgust at the back of his throat. ¡°If you want him, I won¡¯t be offended. It will be my turn again before long.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t take this anymore. You three can catch up with me,¡± Bastion snatched his bag and stormed off.

    ¡°Do you think he¡¯ll ever get past this?¡± I paused, looking after him in concern. I didn¡¯t like to let Bastion actually see it, but I did care about him, as annoying as he could be. Things had been looking up for us for a while, but that had started going downhill again when I had started seeing Bruiser.

    ¡°He¡¯ll have to,¡± Brick said grimly.

    ¡°As a party, we have been through a lot together in the past,¡± Bruiser said. ¡°But those bonds have been formed by fighting at each other¡¯s side and watching each other¡¯s backs, not by squabbling over lovers. You offer something to our party it has never had before, Emma.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked, curious.

    ¡°A heart,¡± Brick provided the answer. ¡°We¡¯ve become friends, but we¡¯ve never had reason to stay together beyond the quests we take and a celebration or two afterwards. Every member of our team is going to have to learn to accept you in one way or another."

    ¡°We should¡­¡± Bruiser hesitated, looking back to Brick. ¡°We should make an agreement now.¡±

    Brick nodded. ¡°Our team.¡±

    I looked between them, wondering what I was missing. ¡°What¡¯s going on?"

    ¡°It is good practice in a harem to keep everyone informed when a new person is to be brought into the fold. If we want harmony, especially if we will be travelling together, it is vital that we can trust one another,¡± Bruiser stooped towards me and caught my chin in his fingers. ¡°We want to give you a free pass with our team. Nightfall, Jackal, Bastion. If you want them, have them. Just tell us afterwards.¡±

    ¡°But anyone else¡­ I want to know who they are first. I¡¯d want to take their measure before I could trust them with you,¡± Brick agreed. ¡°You¡¯re too precious to risk with just anyone, and our world is filled with scoundrels and cheats. I would not like to see you taken advantage of."

    ¡°But me and Bastion?¡± I repeated, aghast. ¡°I think he¡¯d sooner strangle me than sleep with me. I don¡¯t think you have anything to worry about there.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not worried,¡± Brick sighed. ¡°It would do him good if he could come to see you as I see you. He needs to move on from his past. But I don¡¯t expect it any time soon. I was thinking more of Nightfall and Jackal, however.¡±

    ¡°You expect me to fall for them?¡±

    ¡°Jackal is human. Many races¡­ well, prefer their own kind. And Nightfall, while he is a dark elf and aloof in nature is very handsome by all objective standards. More so than myself or Bruiser, by any means.¡±

    ¡°I like the way you look, Brick,¡± I said, kissing his cheek to drive home the point. He leaned into it and embraced me warmly.

    Brick may look like a monster on the outside, but he was a marshmallow on the inside. I thought again of the moments in the Marvel movies where the Hulk had shown affection and been a loveable monster. It wasn¡¯t exactly a foreign concept, and perhaps those movies had ruined me, made me a sucker for green-skinned muscular heroes.

    I¡¯d fallen in total insta-lust with Brick when I first saw him, although he had shown an initial concern that my attraction was of a more biological succubus nature, and I might throw him over when a better option came along. It was why he hesitated to want to form an oath-bond with me as well. I didn¡¯t particularly mind about the lack of formality, as these bonds seemed similar to marriage which I wasn¡¯t keen on finding an equivalent of, but I made it my personal mission to show him how wrong he was when he assumed he was unworthy of being loved. He needed to know I loved him for him, and not because he was convenient or tied to me by some kind of formal agreement.

    ¡°I just want you to know I¡¯ll understand. And if it¡¯s with them, I know them well enough that you don¡¯t need to even ask. I don¡¯t want you suffering conflicted feelings like you did with Bruiser. Now go, I¡¯ll catch up with Bastion. You go have your fun. I¡¯ve got a lot to think about.¡±

    ¡°I love you,¡± I squeezed his arm, before standing and joining Bruiser.

    ¡°Tell me what you want,¡± he said, his gaze fanning the flames that were already smouldering within me.

    ¡°I want you to bend me over that rock over there,¡± I demanded in my most sultry tone. ¡°And have your way with me.¡±

    LEVEL UP!

    Mitsy

    Race: Succubus

    Class: Healer

    Level Seven

    ¡°Goddammit,¡± I swore, blinking the announcement away. Clearly, my ¡®Seduction¡¯ skill had netted me some experience. I was never going to get used to this world.

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Two - Citadel

    ¡°Oh my God, this is like friggin¡¯ Hogwarts!¡±

    My three companions didn¡¯t understand my meaning, but they could easily recognize my excitement as I jumped up and down, squealing.

    The university we were headed for in the hope of raising my meagre intelligence and preparing me for possible necromantic threats had just come into view, and I was in love. Tall turrets of white marble, tiled with steep purple slate tips. A castle to put any Disney princess to shame, surrounded by what looked like a thriving city.

    The Citadel. An entirely uninspired name, much like Market Town and all of the other lackluster monikers that James had come up with for this world, but it was beautiful.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it,¡± Brick said, and Bruiser let out a gruff huff of amusement, still in his bear form.

    ¡°It¡¯s not all that,¡± Bastion gave me a grouchy sidelong look. ¡°The novelty wears off when you have to actually start studying.¡±

    ¡°Bastion dropped out,¡± Brick cut in before I could start squabbling with him. We¡¯d been at each other¡¯s throats most of the journey, although on my side of the equation I was just enjoying winding him up. There was no real heat behind my jabs, but I suspected Bastion truly hated me, both because of my succubus race and the dual relationship I had with Brick and Bruiser.

    ¡°You dropped out?¡± I repeated, looking at Bastion with a sharkish grin.

    ¡°Technically, my studies are on hold, and I can pick them up whenever I please,¡± Bastion defended himself haughtily. ¡°I¡¯ve just never seen any reason to.¡±

    ¡°Really? Because I reckon you could do with the extra intelligence points,¡± I cackled.

    Every degree, no matter what the topic, increased your base intelligence stats: 2 points for a major, 1 for a minor. As I had discovered my intelligence was only 5/20, I was desperate to increase it. I couldn¡¯t even make sense of books without using stat boosting accessories like my Adorkable Glasses that Bruiser had helped me pick out.

    Bastion shot me a glare, but Brick clapped his brother on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re only one point ahead of Emma as it is. By the time she¡¯s finished her studies, she¡¯ll be smarter than you unless you do something about it.¡±

    Bastion shook the orc¡¯s hand off his shoulder and sulked. ¡°I guess it wouldn¡¯t hurt to finish it, since we¡¯re stuck following your girlfriend around for the foreseeable future. What are you going to be doing? Carrying her books around?¡±

    Brick snorted. ¡°I hardly think she needs me to do that. I¡¯ll have plenty to do, don¡¯t you worry.¡±

    A blur of orange streaked across the fields towards us. I only noticed when it got closer that it was Bonaparte the dire-weasel, one of Bruiser¡¯s good friends. He¡¯d come to scout the area out ahead of us and was now apparently making his report to Bruiser, chattering at an incredible pace.

    When he paused to take a breath, Bruiser shifted back to his human form, standing up tall to address us eye to eye.

    ¡°Nightfall is here, and Jackal is around, doing short daily quests. Nightfall is in the student accommodation, but Jackal¡¯s got a room for us at The Postman¡¯s Keg,¡± he informed us. ¡°There are a few other things, but they¡¯ll take a while to work through. Brick, why don¡¯t you go and get Emma oriented and enrolled in some courses. I¡¯ll catch up with you at The Postman later.¡±

    We agreed, and Bruiser pressed a kiss to my forehead before shifting back into a bear.

    Bruiser left with Bonaparte, and it took us another hour before we reached the large marble walls that circled the Citadel. I stared wide-eyed at the gorgeous buildings that seemed to go on as far as the eye could see. It looked like one of those AI art images that was impossibly perfect, and I wondered if it was built using one as a reference. This was James¡¯ world after all, my computer engineering real-world boyfriend, and I knew he¡¯d been using AI engines to supplement his writing in the few months that led up to the moment I accidentally appeared here.

    He¡¯d been studying AI models as part of his degree, but I¡¯d never paid it much mind other than the initial wonderment at its capabilities before returning to my social media doomscrolling. It seemed a bit too techy for me to care much about, even if my original body had felt a little smarter than the one I currently inhabited.

    But to be in one of those images¡­ It made me wish I¡¯d paid a little more attention. Heck, if I knew I¡¯d be living in one of the images one day, I may have put in a few requests myself. I¡¯d always liked the creative games more than the adventuring sort. I could spend hours designing houses on The Sims or getting my civilizations in city building games picture perfect. I even liked the old games like Age of Empires except for the fact that my building efforts kept getting disrupted by stupid wars.

    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    It had always irritated me when James would lean over my chair and offer me advice on how to make things more efficient instead of more beautiful. It¡¯s like he missed the entire point of why I was enjoying them.

    Looking around me, I knew he didn¡¯t have the capability to build something like this.

    ¡°I hate this place,¡± Bastion muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets and trailing behind us. ¡°You guys should go ahead without me. I think I need a drink if I¡¯m going to have to step foot in those halls again.¡±

    I raised my eyebrows in surprise, looking back at him with curiosity. ¡°Why on earth would you hate this place? It¡¯s beautiful.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and only beautiful things are acceptable here as well. Including people,¡± Bastion sneered. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll fit in fine but do me a favour and take a look at how this lot treats others before you decide to make this your permanent home.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ you¡¯re not ugly,¡± I said, my eyebrows knitting together. ¡°At least your appearance, anyway. Your personality could do with some work.¡±

    ¡°He means me,¡± Brick said, sounding fatigued. ¡°Orcs are not frequent visitors of the Citadel. My race is more welcome in the smaller towns like Isekai and Market Town, where there are more adventurers and fewer academics.¡±

    ¡°But you got your degree here!¡± I looked around and noticed that the people passing ¨C all humans, catfolk, and elves were giving us a wide berth and giving Brick the side-eye.

    ¡°It¡¯s not often an orc gets accepted into the university, and there are some courses that are not available to me. Dragon Slaying was one of the few acceptable majors I could take.¡±

    I clenched my fists, outraged on his behalf. ¡°Racist pricks.¡±

    ¡°It is what it is,¡± Brick shrugged. ¡°I can only try to disprove expectations with my behaviour. It worked with you, after all.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t have any expectations of you, sweetheart,¡± I reminded him. ¡°I didn¡¯t know anything about this world when I came here, and my only first impression of you was that you were totally droolworthy.¡±

    ¡°Barf!¡± Bastion cut in, glaring at me again. ¡°It¡¯s disgusting watching your powers of seduction at work, you know that? I¡¯m out of here. See you later Brick, enjoy your succubus girlfriend leeching away all your free will.¡±

    <BASTION LEFT MITSY¡¯S PARTY>

    I made a rude gesture at his back as he walked away. He didn¡¯t get how it worked at all. I got experience for every little seductive thing I did so long as it worked, even a saucy wink or a lame pick-up line, but that was well out of my control. Brick had informed me that due to his warrior class he got experience every time he hit something too, even if he was just slapping a mosquito.

    The really dangerous thing was my pheromones, which were basically like an aerosol love potion, but I¡¯d gained control over that when I levelled up and unlocked my Charm ability¡­ And before then, I¡¯d covered my pheromone pores with clay as soon as I¡¯d figured out what they were doing to try and stop the miasma of attraction I was inadvertently exuding. But I hadn¡¯t exactly chosen that either. I¡¯d felt a bit like a horny plug-in air freshener.

    I tried actively to not use Seduction on Bastion by guarding my words around him. I couldn¡¯t totally avoid it with Bruiser of Brick, but they knew what I was and how it worked and consented, and I¡¯d been really careful to make sure they truly loved me without the tricks of my biological trade before I¡¯d taken up with either of them.

    Brick had known what he was getting into, as he¡¯d been the one to explain a lot of it to me. And Bruiser had been bonded to a succubus in a previous relationship so no-harm no-foul.

    But¡­ Bastion had experienced a succubus¡¯ pheromones before as well. Lily¡¯s. It was the one thing that made me forgive his attitude towards me, having seen how badly he¡¯d been affected, and it was the thing that kept my eyes glued to his back as he walked away from me.

    If I could ever figure out how, I¡¯d get rid of these abilities. They caused me more annoyance than anything else, and I still found it totally mortifying using pick-up lines on dire-wolves before killing them. But I wasn¡¯t a warrior, and if I didn¡¯t want to get my face bitten off, I had to use whatever skills I had at hand.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Brick pulled me away. ¡°I¡¯ll get you a map, so you won¡¯t get lost on your own. It would probably be best if you navigated the university by yourself until you¡¯re enrolled in everything you want. I wouldn¡¯t want to have my association with you damage your chances of getting into your courses of choice.¡±

    ¡°Why would that happen?¡± I asked, seeking his hand with my own but he pulled it away.

    ¡°Those with associations with my kind have their own reputations tainted as well,¡± he admitted, sounding troubled. ¡°Perhaps I should have been more forthcoming when we got into this back in Isekai, but you were too tempting for me to resist. I¡¯d hoped we would have¡­ something occur between us when I invited you to join us as our Healer, but I never imagined I could have what I do with you. A real relationship¡­ You don¡¯t understand what it means to me, Emma. Having you in my arms, knowing I¡¯m in your heart¡­ It is beyond anything I had ever imagined in my wildest dreams.¡±

    ¡°Brick¡­¡±

    ¡°Orcs in your party are not a terrible thing. We are powerful warriors, but most others consider us expendable brawn. Frontline sacrifices to draw in attacks,¡± he frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it in my early adventuring days; before we formed our current party. Other orcs lying injured and dying. Left for dead, even when one in our number had a potion that could save them.¡±

    ¡°Succubus slime,¡± I murmured. No wonder he¡¯d been so shocked when I had freely used it to heal his minor injuries. But then again, I had an unlimited quantity on tap. The magical cure-all ingredient that had others weighing it out by the gram, I could produce by the bottle load if given enough privacy.

    ¡°Slime is expensive and rare. Orcs are not,¡± he said grimly. ¡°Now, I should find a place to buy clothes here, too. I have little interest in fashion, but I do not wish to embarrass you.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t embarrass me, Brick. I¡¯d kiss you here in the street, if only you¡¯d let me.¡±

    He smiled at me, amused. ¡°Perhaps wait until your studies are complete before declaring your association with me openly. The reason Bastion left his studies incomplete was because we were found out to be brothers. It¡­ wasn¡¯t pleasant.¡±

    ¡°I see why he hates it here then, too,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll stay here while we need to, but we won¡¯t be making a home in a place you¡¯re not welcome. I promise. Besides, I don¡¯t imagine Bruiser likes being walled in much either.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right about that,¡± Brick smirked. ¡°Now, I need you to tell me what clothes to buy. There¡¯s not a lot on offer for a guy my size, but I want to look acceptable to you.¡±

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Three - Nightfall

    It felt strange, wandering around on my own after spending so long in the constant company of my three companions, but after Brick left me at the edge of the university grounds I was on my own again.

    No time limit, plenty of cinnamon rolls and gold in my satchel, and a map and prospectus to help me navigate my way. I would return to The Postman¡¯s Keg when ready, but Brick had informed me of what was to be expected and that I was welcome to stay in the student accommodation if I preferred.

    I couldn¡¯t imagine wanting to sleep in a strange place all on my own, though. This world was strange enough without adding anything else into the mix.

    I got a few curious looks as I wandered about, but expected that was due to my long, curly horns more than anything else. Succubi were rare in the world since the Necromancer Wars, but Brick promised me my species were more desirable than orcs so I shouldn¡¯t have any problems with exclusion.

    I could do without the leering, though.

    I found the enrolment office, but I hadn¡¯t decided on my courses of choice yet, so kept walking until I found a picturesque garden courtyard. The garden beyond seemed to be like one of those elaborate labyrinths made from low hedges, but when I got closer, I realized it was made of stone that was painted green.

    This world was filled with odd things like this. I wondered if it was one of those random little plot holes I kept coming across, like the regenerating dire-wolf quests and the peasant women who seemed to have no life outside of their homes and spent their existence perpetually sweeping. Maybe the hedges in this world were artificial because they had to stay tidy, but James hadn¡¯t bothered to write in any gardeners.

    And yet, he¡¯d taken the time to write in racism. If I ever found him again, I was going to seriously hit him.

    I took a seat on a stone bench and placed my prospectus on my knees, ready to pick out a major for my degree. It sounded a lot less laborious than studying in the real world. Pay your fees, go to a few classes, read a few books and master a few skills and then BAM! Intelligence increase! It should take me a few weeks to max out my stats.

    I retrieved my Adorkable Glasses from my satchel and put them on, feeling the subtle shift as they increased my intelligence by two points and reduced my charisma by one. At 5/20 intelligence I couldn¡¯t even read. At 7/20 I could only just understand the basics and learn a single spell. I¡¯d chosen the ability to put people to sleep, but I would think carefully before selecting my next one when my next spell slot was unlocked. There was a whole library here to choose from, after all.

    ¡°Hey good-looking, I haven¡¯t seen you here before.¡±

    I looked up at the human who had approached me, realizing with a start that I¡¯d spent so long in this world I¡¯d identified him as a human. Ugh, even if I did get back to my original world one day, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to adjust back after spending so much time with other fantasy races. Green skin or extra fur had become totally normal to me.

    The man in front of me was tall and lean with long dark hair and a sultry look on his face. He was an attractive enough guy, but his swagger was a bit over pronounced. If I¡¯d met him back before I started dating James, I might have gone out with him for a drink at the very least.

    ¡°I¡¯m new,¡± I said, quirking my eyebrow.

    ¡°I bet you are,¡± he said, wiggling his eyebrows at me suggestively. ¡°Want some help? Or better yet, want to come back to my room and we can get to know each other better?¡±

    I narrowed my eyes at him. ¡°No thanks.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± he said, sounding surprised. ¡°That should have worked.¡±

    ¡°Not today,¡± I said, unimpressed.

    ¡°This thing must not be on properly,¡± the man muttered, raising his hands to his head to adjust a circlet-style crown that was nestled in his shaggy hair. ¡°What about now?¡±

    ¡°Um, still no,¡± I said, stifling a laugh. He looked ridiculous.

    ¡°You¡¯re only embarrassing yourself,¡± another voice drawled behind me, sounding bored. ¡°Even with all your accessories, a succubus¡¯ base charisma would be far superior to your own. You¡¯ll never be able to seduce her.¡±

    The man in front of me cursed and kicked the ground sullenly.

    ¡°Is that what he was trying to do?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but laugh then. I mean, I couldn¡¯t deride him too much when my own pick-up lines were also super corny, but he didn¡¯t know that. And it hardly mattered in this world where statistics seemed to matter more than smooth words.

    I turned to look at the new person who had joined me in the courtyard, but when I saw him, he took my breath away.

    I felt my jaw drop at his intense beauty. He looked almost too perfect to exist, like some kind of airbrushed cover model for an emo band. He looked like the kind of guy you¡¯d buy a cardboard cut-out of and practice kissing when the curtains were shut.

    His silky black hair framed a long alabaster face that was too pale to be natural. His lips were thin and downturned, and his features were slightly slanted in line with his pointed ears, but without that pinched look that the wood elves had.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    He must be an elf. A dark elf.

    ¡°Besides, can¡¯t you tell this is the one Bonaparte sent us message of? I am correct, aren¡¯t I?¡± He looked over me with an intensely curious but haughty stare. ¡°Or is there another succubus running about campus?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re Nightfall,¡± I whispered. ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡±

    I suddenly understood why Brick and Bruiser felt it necessary to give me permission to jump into bed with him. If I wasn¡¯t already seeing two other guys and had less self-control, I might be dragging him behind the concrete bushes already.

    If I hadn¡¯t gained control of my pheromones, I might not even have a choice about it. At my lowest levels I¡¯d tended to burst out pheromone puffs when turned on whether I wanted to or not. It was exactly the reason I¡¯d gotten into trouble with Bruiser when I¡¯d met him, although that was exacerbated by the bear-shifter¡¯s sensitive nose.

    ¡°Correct,¡± Nightfall said, his eyes lingering on me for a moment. ¡°And this is Jackal.¡±

    My dreams of meeting a human ranger like Aragorn fell apart in front of me. Jackal was sulky and angry looking, and intensely bad at flirting. Thinking about Nightfall¡¯s comment regarding accessories I noticed he was wearing several rings, and a bangle in addition to the golden circlet on his head. I guessed they were stat boosting accessories like my Adorkable Glasses but targeting charisma.

    He was kind of cute, but nothing like the competent, manly, and sensitive Aragorn.

    ¡°What¡¯s your charisma?¡± Jackal demanded, confirming my guess.

    ¡°Don¡¯t answer that,¡± Nightfall advised me. ¡°He¡¯ll only go waste his money and come back to try again. If you need assistance with your application, I can help. Jackal, you¡¯re no longer needed. I will conclude my research at another time.¡±

    Jackal swore, gave Nightfall a rude gesture and stormed off without another look at me.

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to forgive him,¡± Nightfall began, then thought better of it. ¡°Well, you don¡¯t really, but you¡¯ll have to put up with him. He¡¯s particularly bad with women, but that doesn¡¯t stop him trying. The accessories have been the best attempt yet, but those only really work on humans and wood elves, for the most part. I¡¯m sure they would work on an orc as well, of course, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯s quite that desperate yet.¡±

    ¡°What research are you doing with him?¡± I asked, trying not to let his snide comment about orcs get to me, but he snorted ¨C or made the prettiest approximation of a snort I¡¯d ever heard ¨C in derision.

    ¡°I¡¯m not doing any research with him. He is my test subject.¡±

    I paused at that. Brick and Bruiser had trusted these two. They were on a team together, had gone through thick and thin and had proved their characters to each other¡­ but that didn¡¯t really vouch for how they were to act with me. Brick hadn¡¯t expected Bruiser to attack me when I first met him either, and I doubted he would have expected the exchange I¡¯d just had with Jackal, or he would have warned me.

    Which posed the question about Nightfall: Could I trust him?

    ¡°Come with me,¡± he gestured for me to follow. ¡°We will be less exposed in the library. You can ask me any questions about your courses of interest.¡±

    ¡°Have you done many?¡± I asked, following him out of the courtyard cautiously and back down one of the many hallways. This place was like a beautiful maze, but it was going to be a total headache to navigate.

    ¡°I¡¯ve dabbled in some, although I¡¯ve not completed them,¡± Nightfall said. ¡°The answers I seek are not in the confines of a course or known knowledge.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re¡­ a drop out? Like Bastion?¡±

    He gave me a sour look that told me I¡¯d greatly insulted him.

    ¡°I am nothing like that drunken wood-elf,¡± he seethed. ¡°And if you would like my assistance, I would kindly ask that you do not insinuate such reprehensible thoughts again. I¡¯m only doing this to repay a debt to Bruiser. Believe me, there¡¯s about a thousand other things I could be doing.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I held my hands up to show I¡¯d play nice.

    ¡°Now, you are a Healer, correct? Is that the path of study you would like to pursue?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯d like to max out my intelligence, so easiest courses first!¡± I grinned at him. ¡°Then I can get rid of these dumb glasses. Or actually, if I was 20/20 and wore these, would I get to 22/20? Can you go past your max stat?¡±

    Nightfall¡¯s expression shifted to one of deep confusion. ¡°You want to what?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯d kind of like to do something like potion making eventually, but it doesn¡¯t have to be the first thing I do. What¡¯s the easiest course here?¡±

    He grasped my hand and I inhaled sharply at the icy feeling of his skin. There were cold hands, and then there were Nightfall¡¯s hands. It felt like he was sucking the very warmth out of me through his skin.

    He pulled me into the library, finding a quiet alcove and indicated a chair for me to sit in. I sat, rubbing my hands to stimulate blood-flow and make them warm up again, and he crossed his arms and stared at me appraisingly.

    ¡°People don¡¯t do that. They come here, achieve their degrees and then they¡­ go,¡± Nightfall said slowly, like he was stating a universal truth. He looked at me as thought I¡¯d said something utterly ridiculous.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m saying the moon is made of cheese,¡± I rolled my eyes at him. ¡°Besides, there¡¯s no maximum number of courses you can undertake right? There¡¯s nothing really stopping you enrolling in all the courses, other than having to pay the gold to do them.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nightfall said thoughtfully. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to stop you achieving that, technically speaking.¡±

    ¡°Then it seems like a pretty obvious loophole to exploit. Free max stats. Yay.¡±

    ¡°Why have I never thought of that?¡± Nightfall muttered, his frown deepening.

    ¡°Bruiser and Brick say I have a natural talent at finding the absurdities of this world,¡± I shrugged. It was probably too early to dump the truth bomb on him that he was a fictional character in a world my old-world boyfriend made up. And that James was an average writer at best.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been so blinded by my own ambitions, my own goals, that I never saw the truth in front of me,¡± he said under his breath. I couldn¡¯t be sure unless I checked my experience log, but I was pretty sure I just got some points for my Persuasion ability.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± I said, despite the fact he hadn¡¯t actually thanked me.

    He snatched my prospectus and flipped through it, his eyes rapidly looking over the courses. ¡°I¡¯ve already partially completed many of these. If I prioritized this, when I complete it, my research would go so much faster, I might even make that breakthrough I¡¯ve been needing.¡±

    ¡°Here,¡± he slammed the prospectus down in front of me. ¡°Do your major in Healing, and your minor in Potion Making. Your natural abilities will help you succeed quickly. We will be classmates and move on to the next course together when we are done.¡±

    ¡°You want to study Healing too?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I completed the first part of the course, but I was only interested in anatomy. It will not take me much extra time to repeat. The actual healing components were beyond the scope of my research.¡±

    ¡°What are you researching?¡± I asked.

    ¡°When the time is right, I will tell you,¡± Nightfall said, his gaze lingering on me a little too intently for my liking. ¡°As a succubus, you might be particularly useful, if you are willing.¡±

    ¡°What, are you want me to make out with you or something?¡± I asked suspiciously. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, your pickup lines are as bad as Jackal¡¯s.¡±

    Nightfall smirked at me. ¡°I had your life magic in mind, not your body.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Right.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure if that was much better, considering where my slime was produced.

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Four - Doodles

    The classes at the university took place when one was ready to attend them, rather than at a set time. So long as you appeared between the hours of dawn and dusk, a teacher would be waiting and ready to instruct. I felt another break in realism, a recognition that things were not quite right here.

    Although the teachers were dressed in fine robes and held themselves with a royal dignity, I couldn¡¯t help but feel like they had a fate similar to the peasant women stuck in their houses. I eyed the stacks of papers on the desk and wondered if their in-trays regenerated every morning. An endless life of paperwork and lectures.

    I wondered if they got days off or if they were stuck on repeat forever. Maybe they needed to unionize.

    The teacher for my Healing class was an elderly high elf called Professor Prindous. He had sumptuous blue embroidered robes, a long-wizened beard, and the weirdest hands I¡¯d ever seen which neither he nor Nightfall commented on. I knew it would be kind of rude to point out, especially if this was the real world and it was like¡­ an actual disability or something but considering this whole Citadel looked like an AI creation I wondered if this guy was also just an AI generated filler-character.

    My suspicion wasn¡¯t based off nothing, there were other tells as well. He looked past us when he spoke, as though he was teaching a full classroom despite the fact that Nightfall and I were the only students. His descriptions of his class were verbose and felt like they consisted of a lot of filler content, like James had just instructed an AI model to ¡®script me a class on Healing that is based on this world¡¯ because he was too lazy to do it himself. Or he probably wanted to spend more time coming up with pervy content like succubus slime and ¡®nekokin¡¯ catgirls.

    And AI art models could be notoriously bad at hands.

    ¡°Pay attention,¡± Nightfall hissed at me. ¡°If Bruiser asks why you had to repeat your class, I¡¯ll tell him exactly how frivolously you are treating his sponsorship.¡±

    I gave Nightfall an annoyed look but returned my attention to the lecture. The wizened old man used a long, pointed stick to indicate various body parts and describing them in the most boring way possible.

    When the class finished, he handed out written assignments that looked like a nine-year-old could complete them. They pointed to various diagrams with ¡®fill in the blanks¡¯ which took Nightfall and I less than an hour in the library to finish.

    ¡°Bruiser¡¯s not sponsoring me, by the way,¡± I corrected the dark elf as we packed up our books. ¡°I¡¯m paying for this myself with the money I earned from doing a quest with Brick and Bastion.¡±

    It was at the cost of the little dream house in Market Town, but I was certain we could save up again once the whole necromancer threat and mystery around what James¡¯ purpose for this place was resolved.

    He nodded and gestured for me to hurry up. I put my book away and followed him back to the classroom where we handed our assignments in and immediately began the next lecture.

    ¡°What happens if someone turns up during a lecture?¡± I asked quietly. ¡°Or if they want the first lecture? Do they have to wait? Or do they just join in the one that¡¯s already happening?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s never happened to my knowledge.¡± Nightfall gave me a curious look, then turned his attention back to the lecturer who was now droning on about different races that inhabited this world.

    I took some notes, interested at the beginning, but then felt the lull of sleepiness take over. In order to stay awake I started doodling. I drew the lecturer in front of me with his beard in a knot and his robes on fire. Then I drew his strange hands that seemed to have extra hands coming out of them. It was kind of difficult to inspect them when he was gesticulating towards his diagrams, but I thought I counted at least fourteen fingers coming out of his right hand and maybe eleven on his left. Then the elf captured my attention again and I started sketching out his profile.

    He really was one of the most beautiful creatures in existence. He¡¯d put the elves of Lord of the Rings to shame any day. I shaded his hair in, then began sketching the swirling patterns on his robes. Brick had mentioned that his class was a rogue, which was unusual for a dark elf if the lecturer was to be believed. Most of them were mages, just like most orcs were warriors.

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    Nightfall¡¯s eye twitched and I realized I¡¯d been staring at him a little too long. Blushing in embarrassment at getting caught, I dropped my eyes to my notes and continued my sketch from memory.

    ¡°Orcs are distinguishable by their large muscle mass and green skin. They also have green blood, the properties of which are largely unknown and have provoked very little study. Efficacy of healing potions is untested, but orcs heal at a slower rate than the more noble races. While their unique physiology has them considered as living fortresses of raw power, this blessing is also their curse. In the field, if an orc is damaged beyond reasonable repair, it is often the safer choice to abandon them to save the rest of the party unless all hazards and dangers have been identified and neutralized¡­¡±

    My ears perked up at that description and I felt my lips curl into a snarl, but I remained in my seat. If this was the lecture Bastion had walked out on, I¡¯d never mock him over it again.

    ¡°Dark elves are another of the lesser-noble races with a particularly cryptic and damning narrative, members of this species often flirt with the inherent temptation to return to their depraved roots,¡± the lecturer went on. I glanced at Nightfall, but his expression was carefully neutral, and he was holding his pencil perfectly still. ¡°Unlike high elves and wood elves, who share an affinity to earth and nature elements, dark elves are considered an entirely different species. Cursed into existence by necromantic forces, their very existence casts a shadow on our world. The pure races are born of parents, with egg and sperm, but dark elves are born of nothing but dark power and are cursed to wander the world in pursuit of knowledge, power, and a place in this world. A dark elf¡¯s cold blood is indicative of their cold hearts. Their existence poses one of the great moral dilemmas of our age. Should they be destroyed before their threat is realized, or would the very act curse the pure races with a darkness deeper than that of the necromancers and dark elves themselves¡­¡±

    I felt sick listening to this, wondering if this was the part of the class that Nightfall had bailed on previously. It sounded totally like one of James¡¯ overdramatic attempts at creating a plot for an utterly pointless reason. ¡®Why is the evil guy evil? Because he¡¯s evil, duh.¡¯

    I pushed my chair back in disgust, and crossed my arms but I didn¡¯t rise from my seat. All I had to do was sit through the rest of this ridiculous class and fill in the blanks for my stupid points.

    I thought of a new punishment for James; making him stand in front of all the characters of his world and explain to them exactly why he¡¯d messed their lives up so badly.

    ¡°¡­Luckily the necromancers themselves have taken upon it to bear the bulk of that burden themselves, exterminating many of their own creations. However, there are many stragglers which still inhabit our world and their place is always up for rigorous debate¡­¡±

    The lecturer continued to drone on about the pros and cons about committing genocide on the race of one of the two students sitting in his class for what seemed an age before he moved on and started talking about gnomes.

    After I¡¯d bashed James with a feminist textbook for all the crap I¡¯d endured in this world so far, I might have to have a go with one about why racism and racial supremacy wasn¡¯t fun and games.

    Finally, the lecture ended, and I stormed off, leaving Nightfall to follow me. I¡¯d already laid out my papers and was filling in my answers so vigorously I broke my pencil.

    ¡°It¡¯s not true, you know,¡± Nightfall said, and I realized he was standing against the wall, watching me.

    I exhaled sharply. ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a necromancer,¡± he continued. ¡°I want to destroy them, and I want to discover the truth about what I am. I know I was brought into this world with dark magic, but there has to be more to it than that. I want to discover that secret.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± I said fiercely. ¡°You are more than the sum of your parts and you don¡¯t have to be what that guy said. He¡¯s a moron reading from a script written by a moron. You¡¯re more than that.¡±

    He looked at me, stunned and speechless.

    ¡°Would you¡­ allow me to study you?¡± he asked, suddenly taking a step towards me.

    ¡°What?¡± I blinked in surprise.

    ¡°There has never been much study on succubi, other than from the necromancers themselves. Your life magic is almost the antithesis to what mine is. Dark magic. Void magic. You might be the very key I¡¯ve been looking for. I find myself inexplicably drawn to you. Both succubi and dark elves have suffered much of the same fate. There seems¡­ much that connects us. Perhaps our two races are in the same orbit, part of the same mystery.¡±

    I pressed my lips together, not particularly keen at the idea of being a guinea pig. But I also didn¡¯t want to alienate the only friend I had within the university.

    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said diplomatically. ¡°Finishing these courses come first. Then we can talk.¡±

    ¡°Agreed,¡± he said, sounding satisfied. ¡°Let us complete our assignments.¡±

    I looked at the paper and felt my stomach go sour when I read the first task. We had to list all the pros and cons of exterminating dark elves.

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Five - Dormitories

    We spent several hours labouring over the essay. It was harder than the previous ones for the one reason that neither of us wanted to actually put into writing what the paper required to pass the course.

    I¡¯d written all the reasons why genocide was not a good idea, but I couldn¡¯t leave the other side blank, or I¡¯d leave the course incomplete and I¡¯d have to waste my time getting a whole other degree. All it required was one sentence.

    But even one measly sentence justifying genocide was one too many in my opinion. Surely, I could find a way to bend the rules. I just needed to think of something.

    ¡°Ugh, this is so stupid,¡± I said, abandoning my desk to trawl through the shelves again in the hopes that another book would provide me with an idea. There was so much content here but so much of it was utter garbage. I couldn¡¯t read the higher-level books, which were identified by runes on their spine. Many of them required a much higher level than I would achieve until I¡¯d managed several more papers.

    When I came to the end of the row, I found a spiral bound notebook that looked different to the others. Every other book had an ornate leather-bound cover with gothic text down the spine and a level number at the base, colour coded to the subject matter that they contained. This looked like one of the old books I¡¯d used in high school.

    I flicked it open and recognized James¡¯ messy chicken scratch immediately. There was a sketch of a dwarf with a few notes next to it. I flicked another page. There were sketches of three different elves. A wood elf that looked very much like Bastion with his hair slightly curling, a high elf with totally straight hair and a dark elf that looked much like Nightfall. Tall, proud, dark, and wearing a permanent frown.

    Was this one of the source books that James had built this world from?

    I flicked another page and found a picture of a succubus with gigantic breasts. My stomach churned again. This was me when I¡¯d first come into this world before I¡¯d made my modifications. The same stupid oversized breasts and the same stupid threadbare costume.

    I slid the book into my bag to peruse later and returned to my desk. Surely, I could come up with some kind of bullshit answer to satisfy the rules of the degree.

    I glared at my paper.

    ¡°Just write it,¡± Nightfall said from my side, sounding defeated. ¡°I won¡¯t take it personally. I will complete a different course, but I will not be offended if you want to proceed with this one to unlock your achievement.¡±

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    I reached over and snatched his paper. ¡°I¡¯ll write yours too. It¡¯s just one line, right? One sentence.¡±

    I scribbled my answer on both pages and handed it back. Nightfall took the page gingerly and read it, his tense frown going slack.

    I¡¯d written: There would be less content in this stupid course, which would make it shorter and therefore better.

    Nightfall¡¯s lips twitched. He didn¡¯t smile as such, but his expression lost some of its coolness when he looked at me.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°No probs. Let¡¯s go get those points.¡±

    We missed the classroom hours by seconds, and the doors shut in front of us even as I saw Professor Prindous standing by his desk.

    ¡°Dammit,¡± I cursed, and pounded on the door. ¡°Let us in! I want my goddamn smart points!¡±

    ¡°Emma, stop,¡± Nightfall said calmly behind me. I turned and slumped down against the door, fatigued. He watched me curiously, then offered me a hand. ¡°Come, I¡¯ll take you to my quarters and you can have some refreshments. It has been a long day.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got cinnamon rolls if you want to share,¡± I said, shoving my paper into my satchel and taking his hand. I had like, two hundred or so stuffed into my bag since I¡¯d discovered the physics of my satchel were just as messed up as Bruiser¡¯s carry bag.

    Nightfall led me to the student dormitories, which were in a long hallway with rooms that led off one side and a glass wall that overlooked another concrete courtyard on the other. As dusk crept across the sky and the first couple of stars began twinkling, the ornate torches that lined the walls ignited with blue flames as if by magic.

    ¡°Magic or programming,¡± I muttered, giving the torches a wistful look. The notebook I had stolen from the library filled me with unease. I¡¯d had inklings about this world for a while now, but this was something that felt important, and I feared my happy ending might slip away from me yet.

    I wanted this to be like a cozy farming sim, but I knew somehow I¡¯d be forced to go on another adventure. This was James¡¯ fantasy world, after all, not mine.

    ¡°In here,¡± he said, opening the door to a room and gesturing for me to enter.

    It was sparsely decorated with a generously sized bed against the wall, a desk covered with books and papers, and a bookshelf against the wall. There was a dresser as well, and some armour and weapons arranged tidily I the corner, but that was the extent of his possessions.

    I took a seat at his desk as he tidied his papers and retrieved a platter of cinnamon buns from my bag.

    ¡°How many of those are you carrying around?¡± Nightfall asked, sounding startled.

    ¡°A couple hundred,¡± I grinned at him. ¡°They¡¯re like, my favourite food. Besides, I don¡¯t want to ever run out and get stuck eating something gross. And why not carry a supply with me since food never goes off here? It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve got to buy them fresh every time.¡±

    Nightfall gave me another appraising look. ¡°You¡¯re doing it again.¡±

    ¡°Doing what?¡±

    ¡°Pointing out the absurdities of this world.¡±

    ¡°Apparently I have a talent for it,¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°Yes, well,¡± Nightfall picked up one of the cinnamon rolls and studied it. ¡°I think I will need you for my research after all. There is no question about it in my mind now. You must help me.¡±

    The full intensity of his ambition suddenly focused on me like a laser, and I felt a shiver go down my spine. Despite the coolness of his personality, I could tell he had a fire burning in him that refused to be put out.

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Six - Research

    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to tell me about your research if you want me to participate in it,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I¡¯m not going to let you strip me down and poke me with a stick without an explanation.¡±

    ¡°That will not be necessary. I¡¯m trying to discover the basis of life,¡± Nightfall answered me evenly. ¡°And before you say anything; no, it¡¯s not necromantic magic. I¡¯m not looking to reanimate or raise the dead. But I was made from something and for some purpose. I want to know what that was. It¡¯s a secret that has eluded me my whole life, the mystery of my birth. My existence.¡±

    ¡°And you think I can help with that?¡±

    ¡°Succubi are sympathetic to life magic. Your race was also used as research specimens by the necromancers. I have a suspicion¡­ I have a suspicion that perhaps your race had something to do with the creation of mine.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± It was possible, but it was also possible this was just another giant plot hole James had neglected to think about and there would be no satisfactory answer, no matter how long Nightfall tried to find it.

    ¡°I will begin my research again when we have finished our studies. I am hopeful I will get further than I previously managed¡­ with you,¡± he gave me an appraising look. ¡°Tell me, what is your association with Bruiser?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re together,¡± I said. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± Nightfall rubbed his chin. ¡°Bonaparte did not mention that. I thought perhaps you were one of the pathetic wretches he has picked up out of the gutter.¡±

    ¡°He picks up pathetic wretches?¡± I laughed, ignoring the slight. ¡°Like who?¡±

    ¡°Like Bonaparte and Kira,¡± he said, then sat heavily down on the end of his bed. ¡°And like me.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t look particularly wretched,¡± I mused. ¡°Mind, you don¡¯t look particularly happy either.¡±

    ¡°Happiness,¡± Nightfall raised his eyes to the ceiling. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I have ever felt it. Such an elusive, confusing emotion. I¡¯ve felt rushes of adrenaline, satisfaction at success, desire, and occasionally lust, but happiness? I don¡¯t know what it is. If the books are to be believed, I may not be biologically capable of emotions like happiness or love. I hold out hope in the knowledge that books are notoriously unreliable. I may yet discover I have more capacity than the current body of knowledge allows for.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you don¡¯t believe that,¡± I said, feeling moved for him. ¡°I think I understand you a little better now. You want freedom. Self-determination.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The longing in his eyes was tangible, and it sent a shiver down her spine. ¡°So much of my life has been out of my hands. Bruiser gave me hope, but it has been a constant struggle, fighting against my class. Since childhood I have been a rogue, when I feel in my bones that I should have been a mage.¡±

    ¡°What happened with you and Bruiser?¡±

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    He dipped his chin and his long hair caused shadows to fall over his features like a curtain. At first, I didn¡¯t know if he was even going to answer me, but when he finally spoke, I realised he had just been searching for the right words.

    ¡°During the Necromancer Wars, most of my people were slaughtered. I was only a small child at the time, so I cannot remember much. Somehow, I came to Isekai. I have high dexterity stats and the ability to fade out of sight. I joined a gang of street kids, and we stole what we needed to survive. Kira and I often teamed up together. One day I made the mistake of trying to pickpocket Bruiser. He caught my hand before I could camouflage myself. I thought he was going to kill me. I was used to being detested for what I was¡­ But instead, he bought me a meal and offered me an opportunity for a different life. An adventurer instead of a common thief. I¡¯ve been trying to improve myself ever since."

    My affection for Bruiser ignited as Nightfall told his story. I could picture him so clearly; small and alone and trying to get by. It didn¡¯t surprise me that Bruiser would step in. He had a heart for all living things no matter their race or species.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad he found you,¡± I said warmly.

    ¡°Now you know why I was willing to help you,¡± Nightfall said. ¡°I owe Bruiser a debt I can never repay. There are not many things he could ask me that I would not do.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re very loyal. I can see why you all make such a good team. Although¡­ I can¡¯t figure Jackal out yet. He¡¯s not what I expected.¡±

    Nightfall scoffed. ¡°He fits into our band of miscreants more than you might think. He is an outsider as much as any of us. He may look human but looks are deceiving.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°He is a half-breed. A child of a minotaur and a mermaid but inheriting the half of each that has a human appearance.¡±

    ¡°Huh,¡± I blinked. ¡°Well, that¡¯s probably fortunate, isn¡¯t it? I can¡¯t imagine a person with a fish tail and the head of a bull would work very well.¡±

    ¡°It is not fortunate. He had been cursed to inherit his minotaur father¡¯s stupidity and strength combined with his mermaid mother¡¯s destructive song. Neither parent was capable of raising him, as his father was too violent and his mother too¡­ aquatic. So, he was raised as a changeling until one day he screamed with rage and brought the house down on his adoptive family, killing everyone except for himself,¡± Nightfall¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°I do not particularly like him, but he is not unlike myself. An unwanted abomination. At least I do not have such loose control of my destructive powers.¡±

    I chewed my lip. There was so much pain and suffering in this world, and a lot of it condensed into the elf standing before me.

    ¡°Nightfall, I don¡¯t believe you are an abomination.¡±

    The corners of his mouth curled up very slightly and he gave me a rare smile that made my knees go weak. ¡°You are one of very few. You¡¯re special, Emma. And as I seek to unravel my own mystery, I wonder if perhaps I will begin to unravel you as well.¡±

    My heart skipped a beat, but his smile slipped back into his usual thoughtful expression and the mood shifted again, but I couldn¡¯t get rid of the mental image of him unravelling me in another sense.

    ¡°Well, I should be getting back to The Postman¡¯s Keg. If I can even find it,¡± I said nervously. Despite the fact I liked him, I didn¡¯t want to come on to him if he wasn¡¯t interested. Or if I just needed to go and let off some steam.

    Nightfall seemed like the kind of guy to not take relationships lightly, and even if I had prior approval from Brick and Bruiser, I felt that intimacy with this elf was something that would take more consideration than a momentary attraction.

    ¡°The university gates will be locked now,¡± Nightfall said. ¡°I thought you knew. You need to be out by dusk or you¡¯re in for the night.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I deflated. So much for my idea of running back to safety in Brick and Bruiser¡¯s arms.

    ¡°You will have a room assigned to you. Bruiser will be able to live without you for a night.¡±

    I nodded, not looking forward to sleeping in an empty bed.

    ¡°Come, I¡¯ll assist you in finding your room. We will talk more in the morning."

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Seven - Healing

    My room felt empty and boring, so I was glad to vacate it in the morning. It felt claustrophobic, like I was a toy being packed away in a box when not in use. I missed Kira¡¯s homely tavern, and Brick and Bruiser¡¯s company. Heck, I¡¯d even settle for Bastion glaring at me as I buttered my scones.

    When I saw Nightfall coming out of his room at the same time as I left mine, it was like greeting an old friend.

    ¡°Sleep well?¡± I asked him cheerfully.

    ¡°The same as always,¡± he answered disinterestedly. He was wearing a thoughtful frown again, and I made it my challenge for the day to make him smile again. He always looked so carefully neutral, like a calm lake, but when the waters stirred, I could see a force to be reckoned with lying just beneath and it made my heart race.

    We walked side by side back to the classroom to hand our assignments over to Professor Prindous.

    ¡°Here you go, Professor Pompous,¡± I grinned, handing over my bogus assignment. I saw Nightfall¡¯s expression twitch as I purposefully mispronounced his name. Prindous made no indication that he¡¯d heard me, however, and accepted the papers with his many-fingered hands.

    Soon we were seated and listening to another dull lecture. It was our final one and we only had to perform a basic healing spell on an injured lab-rat to pass. Prindous showed us the spell, which we both performed without any difficulty, and then the class abruptly ended.

    ACHIEVEMENT!

    MITSY ACHIEVED A DEGREE IN HEALING!

    +2 INTELLIGENCE = 7/20 INT

    ABILITY UNLOCKED: FIRST AID

    +15%/s to all healing abilities.

    ¡°Noice!¡± I pumped my fist. ¡°Well, that¡¯s the easiest course I¡¯ve ever done. Should we go knock the first Potions class off as well before lunch?¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Nightfall said, grabbing my arm before I could walk down the hall. ¡°For that last assignment. I would not have been able to complete it without you.¡±

    I grinned at him, and linked my elbow with his, pulling him along with me. I was keen to get these courses done as soon as possible so I could get back to Brick and Bruiser.

    We stepped into the classroom and a tall high elf wearing a witchy costume greeted us with dramatic flair, introducing herself as Professor Withernewt.

    ¡°Welcome to Potions, but beware: In this class you will not only learn the properties of all ingredients, both natural and artificially made, but the secrets of transforming them into brews powerful enough to save or end a life! One mistake is the difference between this world and the next. Such complexity and risk are not for the faint of heart. Do you have the courage to proceed?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Nightfall answered seriously, letting the somber moment wash over him.

    I recognized that this teacher also addressed the room and not us as individuals, however, and I was pretty sure as long as I answered in the affirmative it wouldn¡¯t matter what I said or did.

    I picked a chair to sit in and slung my feet up on the table, slamming on my Adorkable Glasses and gave the teacher a cheeky greeting. ¡°Educate me, baby!¡±

    Nightfall gave me a scandalized look, but as the teacher started with her lecture as though we weren¡¯t there, he took a seat next to me.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked, his eyes on me and not Professor Withernewt.

    I smirked at him and pulled out James¡¯ notebook, flicking through the contents and taking half-hearted notes whenever Withernewt mentioned something I didn¡¯t already know. Bruiser had covered many of the herbs that she rambled on about, but her explanations were a lot more flowery and vague than the practical information Bruiser had given me on the road.

    I saw Nightfall taking the odd note as well, between glances at me, but eventually he gave up on listening altogether and slid his chair next to mine to read over my shoulder.

    ¡°Where did you get this?¡±

    ¡°It was on a shelf in the library,¡± I explained, but refrained from telling him what it was. ¡°Have you seen it before?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say I have, but I usually am in the library looking for particular tomes. I don¡¯t even know what this is,¡± he said, fingering the spiral binding.

    He looked at the pictures, intrigued, but then shook his head. ¡°It looks like the pictures you drew on your notes yesterday. Perhaps it belonged to another student.¡±

    I made a noncommittal noise at the back of my throat, already knowing he was wrong.

    ¡°¡­Scabby-grow of course, would be lethal if taken orally and is only to be applied topically to wounds,¡± I jerked my head up to listen in alarm as Professor Withernewt described in terrible detail exactly what would go wrong. I felt ill, remembering how I¡¯d almost made this exact mistake with Bastion the day I met him. I could have sentenced him to an excruciatingly painful death.

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    Feeling humbled, I slipped the notebook back into my bag and listened a little more attentively until class ended. I did learn a few new things after all, like how mana potions took a little time to work and would leave you feeling raw and overtired if you used too many in a row. Apparently, just like trying to run on energy drinks in the real world, there was a point when nothing healed you better than a long and peaceful sleep.

    Our assignment after class was to gather ingredients from the student stores and brew a basic blood replenisher potion. We decided to eat lunch first, but Nightfall refused to live on cinnamon rolls and took me to the student cafeteria, which was surprisingly bustling. I¡¯d expected there to be fewer students considering our empty classes, but perhaps they just all hung out in the common areas.

    I spotted Jackal flirting with a high elf, but it appeared she turned him down as well. He sulked for a moment, before searching out another human. This time he seemed to be successful, joining her table. I frowned, thinking of his past. Knowing what I did about him now, he looked a bit like a lonely puppy, looking for approval and love, albeit in all the wrong places.

    Nightfall nudged me into the line to get food and my fingers twitched when his hand brushed mine. Again, they were icy cold, and I couldn¡¯t help but think about what Prindous had said about a dark elf having cold blood. So much of his lecture was garbage, but perhaps there was some truth to that part.

    The woman behind the counter slopped a serving of steaming stew into a bowl for each of us and we found ourselves a seat. I sniffed mine hesitantly, remembering Bruiser¡¯s warning about stews made with spoiled meat back at Isekai, but Nightfall was already savouring his and he¡¯d failed to keel over so I took a bite as well.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s no cinnamon roll, but it¡¯s okay,¡± I commented. ¡°Hearty.¡±

    ¡°Sweets are for snacks,¡± Nightfall said, shaking his head at me. ¡°There is nothing like hot food for a main meal.¡±

    ¡°Nightfall,¡± a voice growled from behind me, and I looked around to see an angry looking feliskin approach. ¡°Is your research finished yet?¡±

    ¡°Not yet, Blade. These things take time,¡± Nightfall said calmly. ¡°I will need another sample from you to analyze.¡±

    ¡°Another?¡±

    ¡°They need to be fresh.¡±

    ¡°And yet you are here, playing with your girlfriend. You should be in the lab, seeking answers!¡±

    The cat-person, Balde, hissed angrily. His lips curled back to reveal razor sharp teeth. He looked like Grumpy Cat had gone through steroid treatment and decided to become a steampunk pirate, complete with an aviator hat that concealed his ears.

    ¡°Move along, Blade,¡± Nightfall sneered at him. ¡°Without me, you get no answers at all. I work at my own pace and according to my own will.¡±

    ¡°Spoken like a dark elf,¡± Blade glowered. ¡°I better not find you¡¯ve been using my blood for necromantic magic, or I¡¯ll carve out your heart.¡±

    They gave each other another long stare before Blade sauntered off and joined the queue for food.

    ¡°He was charming,¡± I commented neutrally.

    ¡°Another of my test subjects,¡± Nightfall murmured. ¡°But we should not speak of it here. I will discuss it with you I the laboratory, when I take a sample of your own blood.¡±

    I pressed my lips together but said nothing. I hadn¡¯t exactly agreed to be one of Nightfall¡¯s experiments, but he was proving extraordinarily useful in getting around campus, so I didn¡¯t want to shoot myself in the foot by starting an argument with him now.

    We finished our meal and headed towards the potion laboratory together, Nightfall leading the way with a confidence I envied. I doubted I would be able to retrace my steps if my life depended on it.

    Maybe I should be leaving a trail of cinnamon roll crumbs like Hansel and Gretel.

    Before we entered the lab, Bonaparte skittered down the purple slate roofing and landed in front of Nightfall, chirruping and squeaking at him. Nightfall seemed to understand what he was saying and spoke back to the dire-weasel in a series of chirrups that looked seriously misplaced coming from his lips.

    ¡°You can talk to him?¡± I asked, curious. So far, I¡¯d only seen Bruiser communicate to animals, but it felt rather natural for him since he was kind of part animal himself.

    ¡°Yes, Animal Speak is an ability which is available to elves of all kinds to learn,¡± Nightfall said, straightening up and looking back at me. ¡°Bonaparte is doing a wellness check on behalf of Bruiser. He brings the message that you should remain in student accommodation and study with haste.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I blinked. I was kind of looking forward to seeing him again, although I wasn¡¯t confident that I¡¯d be able to find my way to and from the university¡­ And I wanted to get his opinion on the notebook I¡¯d found as well. But if he said I should stay and focus, I¡¯d better stay and focus. I might be able to connect all the dots myself once my brain fog cleared up and I could think a little clearer.

    Bonaparte approached me, standing on his hind legs and sniffing me curiously.

    ¡°Hey Bonaparte,¡± I said, giving him a scratch behind the ear. He rewarded me with a happy wheeze that smelled strongly of fish.

    ¡°If you tell him you are well, he will be on his way,¡± Nightfall said, giving me another of his odd looks. ¡°You are well, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Oh. I¡¯m well,¡± I said. ¡°Tell Bruiser I miss him and Brick terribly.¡±

    Bonaparte nodded and leapt back up the wall, skittering out of sight with a scrabbling sound of claws on slate.

    ¡°Do you not get along with Bastion?¡± Nightfall asked, still watching me curiously.

    ¡°What?¡± I blinked. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°You said you missed Bruiser and Brick. Bastion is with them unless I am mistaken. It seems an odd exclusion.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said, blushing. ¡°Ah¡­ Brick said to not mention it to others, but since you¡¯re on his team I guess I can tell you, right? You¡¯re not going to spread it around?¡±

    He opened the door to the potions laboratory and ushered me in, closing it behind us.

    ¡°What you tell me in confidence I will keep in confidence,¡± Nightfall promised.

    ¡°I¡¯m in a relationship with both of them,¡± I said. It was easier to just get it all out at once. ¡°Bruiser and Brick. Not Bastion. Bastion¡­ doesn¡¯t exactly approve.¡±

    ¡°I can imagine he wouldn¡¯t,¡± Nightfall snorted derisively. ¡°But an orc? You¡¯re involved with an orc?¡±

    ¡°His race hardly matters to me,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I like Brick because he¡¯s Brick, not because he is or isn¡¯t an orc. It¡¯s almost¡­ irrelevant.¡±

    Nightfall studied me closely, before nodding and stepping back. ¡°You are a curious creature. But enough, we must brew.¡±

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Eight - Brewing

    I found Nightfall a wonderful brewing partner. We only had to hand a sample in each, so brewing the one potion between us was totally legal. We found the ingredients on the shelves together, prepared them according to the recipe and then I dropped them in when instructed as he stirred the cauldron.

    I felt like we found our rhythm, communicating with small gestures instead of words. He was so different from my other companions. While they were all direct and honest, Nightfall was subtle and communicated with few words. I¡¯d expect Bruiser, Bastion, and Brick to just tell me how they were feeling, even if the feelings were unpleasant ¨C more common than not with Bastion, in particular ¨C but Nightfall would just have a slight downturn of his lips or give a nod of approval with eyes that glowed with emotion.

    I wondered what he would make of me telling him what I suspected about the world. He looked like he was so close to figuring it out himself, the same way that Bruiser had been. He had a curiosity and a suspicion that things weren¡¯t right, and when they were pointed out to him, he was so ready to believe.

    But he was so passionate about his research, if I told him everything, I feared it might derail our studies and he would take up searching out those answers instead. He was such a strange juxtaposition of personality traits, like ice and fire. It felt like he detested what he was, or what he was thought to be, but at the same time had an immovable pride and sense of self-confidence. Yet he was uncomfortable in his skin because he didn¡¯t understand himself. It felt like he was constantly dissociating from himself, trying to remove himself from his own situation to look at himself from the outside¡­ and then he¡¯d rush back into himself with no warning with emotions so deep and strong they were almost suffocating.

    ¡°Are you building a harem?¡± Nightfall asked me, his eyes on our brew as he stirred in even strokes. His tone was nonjudgmental. Just¡­ curious.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t set out to do so,¡± I told him honestly. ¡°With Brick, it just happened naturally. And then with Bruiser¡­ it was the same thing. I didn¡¯t expect it, but it just happened. We talked it over and we¡¯re together. We haven¡¯t taken any bonding vows or anything, although we¡¯ve got¡­uh¡­ verbal agreements, I guess. But I¡¯m not out to collect a bunch of guys like they¡¯re Yu-Gi-Oh cards or something.¡±

    His eyes flashed to mine for a moment at the unfamiliar term.

    ¡°Yu-Gi-Oh cards?¡±

    ¡°Collectable things,¡± I explained. ¡°I used to have some when I was a kid. In my old life.¡±

    The others seemed to let a lot of my accidental pop-culture references slide, but Nightfall homed in on them with laser precision. I wondered if I looked into his stats file if he had some hidden Perception ability or something.

    Before he could ask me too many questions about my old life, I changed the subject and asked him about his time with Bruiser instead.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    I was intrigued to hear about their journeys. Bruiser had helped Nightfall level up much like he had done with me, half beating the crap out of their enemies and letting Nightfall handle the rest until he could take them on his own. I asked about their love lives, and he told me of Bruiser¡¯s casual relationships which started and ended with physical exchanges. I knew this from what Bruiser had told me himself, of course, but it was interesting to hear someone else¡¯s perspective.

    Bruiser had never felt the desire to commit himself to another person again since his ex had been murdered, but Nightfall¡¯s view of his casual relationships seemed to be envious. Then again, Bruiser was welcomed in most places he went, whereas Nightfall was tolerated at best.

    ¡°So, no girlfriends for you?¡± I asked.

    Nightfall gave me a bitter look. ¡°Dark elves do not find companionship comes easy. There are those who find us exotic, who would take me for an evening but nothing more would come of it. I have had my trysts, but the likelihood of me finding a true partner died when the necromancers slaughtered my people. Who else would love a dark elf, other than another dark elf?¡±

    My heart ached at the bitter loneliness he felt, and I wanted to slap James again for causing so much pain. If I ever found him, I¡¯d pummel him until he wrote some more diversity into this world. At least some women who didn¡¯t sweep for a living, for a start.

    We finally finished our brew, bottled it up and returned it to Professor Withernewt.

    ACHIEVEMENT!

    MITSY ACHIEVED A MINOR IN POTIONS!

    +1 INTELLIGENCE = 8/20 INT

    ABILITY UNLOCKED: BREWING

    +10% gold on potions bartered.

    ¡°What¡¯s the difference in getting a minor?¡± I asked Nightfall. ¡°We didn¡¯t get the whole one-point step with the Healing program.¡±

    ¡°You need a degree first, then whatever your next achievement is will be your minor. You can upgrade, of course, but you will only get one minor per degree.¡±

    ¡°Should we just¡­ upgrade this to a degree then? I mean, we¡¯re already here. And this is kind of easy and more enjoyable than that ridiculous racist class.¡±

    Nightfall considered this, then agreed and we began our next lesson with Professor Withernewt.

    I kept to my notes, but doodled humorous sketches on scraps of paper, passing them to Nightfall to try and make him laugh. The most I got out of him was a slight side-smirk, but when the class finished his eyes were shining with a warm mirth that I hadn¡¯t seen before.

    It felt like we were actually becoming friends. We took our assignment, which consisted of a list of ingredients we would need to gather out in the wilderness - exactly the ingredients we had used to make our previous potion. I guessed this was how they kept the stores stocked and closed the loop of endless students using and replacing ingredients.

    ¡°It will be dusk soon,¡± Nightfall said hesitantly, holding his list tightly in his hand. ¡°If you wanted to return to Bruiser and Brick for the night this would be the best opportunity. We will have to leave the Citadel to collect these, so we should go in the morning. You may not get any further outside classes until you have completed your goal.¡±

    ¡°Getting sick of me already?¡± I joked, but he flinched and looked away.

    ¡°No, I¡­¡± he trailed off for a moment, then looked back to me. ¡°I enjoy your company very much. I will look forward to seeing you in the morning and completing our next degree. You should take the time available to you to relax.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ okay,¡± I said, uncertain if he was being totally honest with me or not. If felt like he was holding something back, but I didn¡¯t know if even he knew what it was.

    I pushed it out of my mind and focused instead on my good fortune. I would get to see Brick and Bruiser again. I just needed to walk out the gates before they closed.

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Nine - Bastion

    I said goodbye to Nightfall and made my way through the winding streets until I eventually came across The Postman¡¯s Keg. I wasn¡¯t sure how many wrong turns I¡¯d taken, because as beautiful as the Citadel was, the layout made very little sense, but I arrived and that was what mattered.

    The pub was busy with a mixture of elves and humans. I spotted Bastion slumped over by himself in the corner with a half-drunk ale in front of him. I slid into the seat next to him and he looked over his elbow at me with red eyes, clearly quite drunk.

    ¡°Where are Brick and Bruiser?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Out. Stupid secret missions. All running around after you. Everybody loves you. You always get what you want.¡± He buried his face back in his arms and I could only pick a few words out of his incoherent mumbling. ¡°Won¡¯t tell me what he¡¯s up to and I¡¯m his own brother. So bloody devoted to you and you don¡¯t even see. You don¡¯t even see it. Everyone loves you.¡±

    ¡°Not everyone. I¡¯m pretty sure you still hate me,¡± I tried to provoke a smile out of him, but he just scowled at me angrily.

    ¡°How many drinks have you had tonight?¡± I asked. I was certain the one in front of him wasn¡¯t his first, or even his fifth.

    ¡°Twelve,¡± he said. ¡°Or thirteen. Pretty sure it was twelve.¡±

    ¡°Jeepers, Bast,¡± I muttered under my breath. ¡°You¡¯re gonna give yourself alcohol poisoning.¡±

    Maybe alcohol poisoning didn¡¯t exist here. I doubted my cinnamon rolls were going to give me cavities either. Everyone had pretty good teeth for a world that didn¡¯t have toothbrushes or toothpaste.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get you up,¡± I said, getting him to put his arm around my shoulders. He was heavier than I expected and staggered on his feet towards the rooms at the back of the inn.

    It took a few tries before I found the door that held the room they were staying in. These rooms were smaller than the ones at Kira¡¯s place and held two beds to a room. I recognized Bastion¡¯s bow and Brick¡¯s axe though, so I shuffled in and laid Bastion down on the bed.

    ¡°Is it about Lily this time, or something else?¡± I asked. ¡°Just being here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not about Lily,¡± he said, rolling away from me and staring at the wall.

    ¡°I had some awful classes,¡± I told him softly. ¡°They said some awful things about orcs and dark elves. If that was why you left, I really don¡¯t blame you for dropping out.¡±

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°I bet you like Nightfall, don¡¯t you?¡± Bastion said bitterly. ¡°Cold-hearted pretty boy.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not cold-hearted,¡± I said firmly. I wasn¡¯t going to stand by and let him disparage him, drunk or not.

    ¡°Course not, with you,¡± Bastion sneered. ¡°Everyone loves you. Bet he loves you too. Bet he writes you grindin¡¯ poetry.¡±

    I sighed, feeling worn out. I¡¯d hoped to find some welcoming arms to fall into after so long not seeing my guys, not this.

    ¡°How about you catch some sleep and I¡¯ll go wait in the tavern for Brick or Bruiser to come back.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± Bastion said, rolling back to look at me, looking almost embarrassed. ¡°Can you stay?"

    ¡°Why do you even want me to, Bastion? You hate me.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t hate you.¡±

    ¡°Then why¡­ Why is it always like this with us?¡± I asked in frustration. ¡°We were doing okay for a while there until I started seeing Bruiser. But Brick is happy, so I don¡¯t see why it should matter to you. I really wish we could just get along.¡±

    ¡°So do I.¡± His words were encouraging but his tone was not. He sounded lost, more than anything. Lost in the woods without a map.

    ¡°Can you sing to me?¡± Bastion asked, after the silence had become painful.

    ¡°To relieve your hangover?¡± I quirked an eyebrow at him. ¡°Or do you just want to laugh at my lyrics?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t laugh. I promise."

    He sat up, looking at his knees in embarrassment, then put his hands to this shirt and started to lift it up at the hem. I thought for one moment that he was so drunk he was coming on to me, but then I saw the dark bruising on his abdomen.

    ¡°Bastion!¡± I gasped. ¡°You¡¯ve been hurt all this time? Why didn¡¯t you say something? What happened?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it,¡± he mumbled.

    I shifted closer to him and helped him unbutton his shirt and got him to lie back and rest his head on my lap as I started to sing, watching the bruising fade.

    ¡°You know you really drive me mad,

    I wish things between us weren¡¯t so bad,

    Some days I almost like you,

    Then you drive me mad again.¡±

    He snuggled into my lap, sighing in relief as the pain faded. When I stopped singing, he opened his eyes and stared up at me mournfully.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why I do it,¡± Bastion admitted to me quietly. ¡°Getting drunk. Getting into fights. I always tell myself it will be the last time. I hate being like this. I hate seeing what it does to Brick¡­ I just¡­ I just always find myself at the bar again.¡±

    I ran my hand through his hair, stroking and shushing him quietly until I managed to lull him to sleep. I could have used my sleep spell on him, I¡¯d done it enough other times when he¡¯d been annoying me too much, but it felt wrong to do it when he was being so vulnerable around me.

    It felt like a sacred moment, and I hoped maybe it was a sign that things would change for us. If he could admit he didn¡¯t hate me, maybe we¡¯d be alright again. I just hoped his sentiments would last longer than the alcohol in his system.

    I didn¡¯t know what Bastion needed to help him, but I could hold him until he went to sleep.

    A couple of hours later Brick came back in, his face lighting up with delight when he saw me. He wore his new light blue shirt, and some dark blue pants made of cotton so thick they looked almost like jeans. I put my finger to my lips to signal he should be quiet and together we transferred Bastion¡¯s head to a pillow. Then I climbed into bed with him and fell asleep in his arms almost instantly, feeling safe and content.

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Ten - Rumours

    Brick woke me early in the morning and took me into Bruiser and Jackal¡¯s room. Jackal was snoring on his bed, but Bruiser sat up alert the second we entered.

    ¡°How¡¯s my girl?¡± Bruiser swept me into his arms and spun me around. ¡°I missed you, sweetheart. Have you been enjoying your time at university?¡±

    I wrinkled my nose. ¡°Some of the content is pretty disturbing, but we¡¯re doing okay. I organized with Nightfall to go ingredient picking together for our Potions assignment this morning. I just wanted to come and see you before I left. I¡¯ve missed you."

    Bruiser stroked my cheek and leaned in to kiss me tenderly on the lips. ¡°And I¡¯ve missed you, dear heart. But we have not been idle in your absence. There have been many disturbing rumours as of late. More changes than I knew of.¡±

    ¡°Is that the secret mission you¡¯ve been on?¡± I looked at Brick. ¡°Bastion mentioned it, but he was pretty drunk so I couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Brick said, blushing and looking shifty. ¡°I¡¯ve been¡­ doing something else. I¡¯ll tell you later, but it¡¯s not ready yet."

    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± I blinked, taken aback. He hardly ever kept secrets from me.

    ¡°There are rumours that the necromancers have been more active than we had believed,¡± Bruiser interrupted me grimly, regaining my attention. ¡°I am glad you have been safe inside the Citadel. If you are to go outside the walls today, please be careful and do not stray far.¡±

    ¡°Necromancers? As in more than one?¡± I asked. ¡°I thought you believed there was only one left."

    ¡°I now believe there are at least two. Only one has been seen coming and going from the towers, but there is potentially another hidden within. I do not yet know if they are enemies, twin threats or in league. I will be gone today to commune with nature and ask what has been seen. The birds of this area provide eyes that can see further than anything else.¡±

    I pulled him into a tight hug. ¡°I¡¯m so glad I have you on my side.¡±

    ¡°Always, darling. Until the day I die.¡±

    It was a solemn oath, I could tell. I sat back down next to them and pulled out James¡¯ notebook that I¡¯d found in the library, telling them all I had discovered.

    Brick sat on my other side, and we flipped through the pages together, Bruiser tracing his fingers over some of the words with an expression of growing concern.

    ¡°This is a lot to take in,¡± Brick said, reeling. ¡°Even though you said¡­ you¡¯d said what you did¡­ This looks far too juvenile to be the source of¡­ of all that is. Of me. Of you."

    ¡°He didn¡¯t create me,¡± I reminded him defiantly. ¡°And he didn¡¯t make you all by himself either. There¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know how to describe it, but there¡¯s technology and power out there that can do so much more than you could imagine. It¡¯s¡­ best not to think about it too hard, sometimes.¡±

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    ¡°And yet a necromancer may have access to this power,¡± Bruiser said darkly. ¡°You were right to show this to me. Leave the notebook with me and I will study it further.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to do anything else?¡± I asked, wishing I could ease the burden he felt. I knew he had a terrible history with the necromancers because of what they had done to his old flame, Elise.

    ¡°Just stay safe,¡± he kissed me tenderly again, and I felt like he was savouring every moment. He often got like this after talk of necromancers. Like the shadows of death, despair and regret needed to be chased out by love and life.

    I kissed him as passionately as he would allow, wanting to chase every shadow from his eyes and every line from his face. I wanted to leave him feeling youthful and free in the sun. But when I drew away, he regarded me with a determined eye that reminded me he had once fought and lost in a war.

    ¡°Make sure you return to the university early tonight. You should continue to stay in the student accommodation and get your courses completed as quickly as possible,¡± he brushed my lip with his thumb. ¡°How do you like Nightfall?¡±

    I blushed. ¡°I like him. He¡¯s different to you both. He feels like an onion. I keep peeling off new layers every day.¡±

    ¡°I would be very glad if something happened between you,¡± Bruiser said. ¡°I¡¯ve known Nightfall since he was a child. He deserves to be loved like you could love him, and it would ease my mind to know you had more protection. He will look after you when I am not by your side."

    ¡°You talk like you¡¯re going away,¡± I said, cautiously. ¡°You¡¯re not¡­ feeling the call of the wild already, are you?¡±

    ¡°No, dear heart,¡± Bruiser said firmly. ¡°I would stay with you, even in the city, for eternity if I could. But you should attend to your studies, and I will attend to things out here, although my heart will be with you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been awfully quiet,¡± I turned to Brick. ¡°What are you thinking?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m still concerned about the notebook. About what it means for us,¡± Brick said, frowning. ¡°Could it be a trap? Has it been there all this time for only you to pick up? Why was it not found before?"

    ¡°I suspect that no one ever picked it up because it didn¡¯t look like a book. Every other book has a category, a purpose, a number,¡± I chewed my lip. ¡°I have a feeling like if no one ever went there specifically looking for it, there¡¯s no way they¡¯d see it. Nightfall didn¡¯t even recognize it as a book at first because of the binding. He assumed it was someone else¡¯s property. No one seems to notice it until it¡¯s pointed out. Like Prindous¡¯ hands, the bogus classes, and all the other weird stuff around the campus¡±

    ¡°If what you say is true,¡± Brick said somberly. ¡°My education was pointless.¡±

    ¡°It was not pointless,¡± I said, grabbing him roughly by the shoulders in alarm. ¡°Brick, don¡¯t let what is happening here take away from your achievement. You completed it, and it got you your points. You are an intelligent, amazing guy regardless of anything else that happens. Never doubt that. You are not your degree or your achievements. You¡¯re more than that. So much more.¡±

    Brick stroked the side of my face with one of his thick fingers and kissed me lightly. ¡°When did you say you were meeting up with Nightfall?¡±

    A thrill ran through me. ¡°Not until after dawn, at least. Nightfall can¡¯t leave until the gates open.¡±

    ¡°Then we better make good use of our remaining time,¡± Brick growled.

    Bruiser chuckled with amusement as my orc hoisted me over his shoulder and carried me off. He even gave me a little wave. It still blew my mind how okay he was with all of this, but I supposed I was the only one who was new to the concept. In my old life, I ever would have dreamed of even asking, of possibly believing that I could have it all¡­ but here?

    I threw a sleeping spell at Bastion to make sure he wouldn¡¯t wake up and let Brick peel me out of my clothes before climbing on top of me.

    I wanted to do everything I could to fix this world up and make it liveable. Here, I had everything.

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Eleven - Smile

    By the time I went down to the tavern, I was feeling totally relaxed and drained of tension. Brick had disappeared after kissing me senseless, and I¡¯d only scrambled to put myself back together when I¡¯d heard Bastion¡¯s breathing shift, signaling my sleeping spell had worn off and he was due to wake up shortly.

    He seemed cagey around me, probably still embarrassed from the night before, so I left him to get dressed and sought out some breakfast.

    ¡°Hey, succubus!¡± Jackal greeted me cheerfully. ¡°Have you changed your mind about me yet?¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± I said, ordering a bowl of porridge and taking a seat next to him. ¡°Is Bruiser up yet?¡±

    ¡°Left in the night,¡± Jackal said. ¡°Gone when I woke up. Not unusual for him though.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said, a little disappointed. It would have been nice to be able to say a proper goodbye.

    ¡°You done with your learning?¡± Jackal asked, but I shook my head and he sighed. ¡°Damn. I don¡¯t like it here. I wanna go smash something.¡±

    ¡°Jackal,¡± I said slowly, hoping he wouldn¡¯t take my question the wrong way. ¡°Can I ask you something?¡±

    ¡°You got a quest for me?¡± he asked, perking up. ¡°I hope its fighting something and not like what Nightfall makes me do.¡±

    ¡°No, not a quest. I just had a question, if you don¡¯t mind me asking,¡± I explained. ¡°Just a¡­ getting to know you kind of question.¡±

    ¡°You want to get to know me?¡± he repeated, before sitting up slightly. ¡°This mean you wanna date me? Are we dating?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I shook my head, frustrated, but he was already looking between our bowls of porridge.

    ¡°We¡¯re eating together. This is a date!¡± he beamed at me. ¡°I knew the accessories would work! You do like me!¡±

    ¡°To hell with it,¡± I sighed. ¡°Jackal, what number is your intelligence?¡±

    ¡°Huh? It¡¯s 2/20. Why?¡±

    ¡°No reason. Just getting to know you,¡± I shook my head. That explained a lot. He was basically a himbo ¨C the big-muscle/tiny-brain masculine version of a bimbo.

    ¡°Are you my girlfriend now?¡± he asked excitedly. Lawd, he was like a golden retriever.

    ¡°No, she¡¯s not,¡± Nightfall said sternly from over my shoulder. ¡°Leave her alone, Jackal. Why don¡¯t you go find the job board and look for some errands to do.¡±

    Jackal snarled at Nightfall, but I pushed my empty bowl away and stood, putting a calming hand on the minotaur-merman¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got an appointment with Nightfall. You should definitely go check out the jobs board. Keep out of trouble.¡±

    His snarl faded back into a goofy grin. ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ll go earn some more money and I can take you out for food again!¡±

    I extracted myself and made a hurried exit with Nightfall, keen to get out before I gave Jackal further ideas about us.

    ¡°Maybe we should try get him through some university classes. Might have to cheat a bit, but he could do with the extra intelligence points,¡± I said to Nightfall.

    He snorted next to me. ¡°Might make him more tolerable. He¡¯s only really good for brawn or following simple orders. Bruiser has a soft spot for him so I look out for him when I can.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a really loyal friend, aren¡¯t you?¡± I commented, and Nightfall came to a halt by the large gate that led out of the Citadel.

    ¡°To Bruiser?¡± Nightfall asked. ¡°Sure. Although I wouldn¡¯t call it friendship as such. We are allies, and I owe him a lot. More than I can ever repay.¡±

    ¡°I doubt Bruiser thinks of it that way,¡± I said softly. He was the big-hearted kind of guy that would just help because it was the right thing to do, not because it would make others indebted to him.

    ¡°Regardless, I owe him all the same. Now, the first herb we need to find is Bloodroot.¡±

    Bloodroot happened to be one of the main ingredients for blood replenisher and was to be found along the riverbank. We walked along the path until we reached the water¡¯s edge, then wandered along the riverbank until we found sizable clumps of red reeds.

    I noticed Nightfall looking at the water distastefully, so I waded in and yanked the reeds out, revealing the bloodroot rhizomes at the base of the stems.

    ¡°I see why people just buy the blasted potion,¡± Nightfall muttered distastefully.

    ¡°Here, I got enough for both of us. What¡¯s next?¡±

    It took us about three hours wandering around looking for ingredients, but we finally got all the items on the list that could be found by the river. Exhausted, I invited Nightfall to sit down so we could have lunch. We would follow the edge of the Citadel¡¯s walled perimeter up to the mountains to find the next lot of ingredients.

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    I sat down in the shade under a tree, having worked up a sweat, while Nightfall chose a seat in the sun.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like water?¡± I asked him, pulling out a plate, several cinnamon rolls, and some cheese sandwiches from my bag.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like the cold,¡± he said, taking a sandwich and giving me a curious look. ¡°I appreciate that you¡¯re willing to go in there and get it for both of us. Not everyone would.¡±

    ¡°I imagine Bruiser would have sent you in,¡± I smiled in amusement, thinking of his lessons in the road with me. ¡°He¡¯s definitely one for the hands-on approach.¡±

    He nodded, and finished his sandwich, watching me with his cool gaze the whole time.

    ¡°I thought it strange that he would want to commit himself again, but I can see now why he has,¡± he said thoughtfully. ¡°You¡¯re very unusual."

    ¡°Is that what you say to all the girls?¡± I chuckled.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that.¡± I swear if he could have blushed, he would have.

    ¡°I¡¯m just teasing. We¡¯re friends now, aren¡¯t we?¡± I nudged him.

    He took another cheese sandwich and considered it for a moment.

    ¡°I suppose we are. I do not have many people I would call friends,¡± he frowned at me as though trying to decipher something. ¡°Emma, as my friend will you tell me¡­ where are you from?¡±

    I chewed my lip. I¡¯d known he was perceptive, and this would come up eventually. I¡¯d hoped we would be a little further through our courses in case he went AWOL on me, but I couldn¡¯t exactly lie now that he¡¯d asked in the name of our budding friendship.

    ¡°I used to live in a different world. One without orcs and elves and magic¡­ I tripped and hit my head and I¡¯m not entirely sure how but¡­ I turned up here,¡± she said. ¡°In my world I¡¯m not a succubus. There are no succubi. Just humans¡­ and¡­ I think this might be the world my boyfriend created using his own dreadful creative skills and a generation kind of¡­ machine.¡±

    Nightfall had crushed his sandwich in his hand rather than eaten it, but his eyes were alight with that fire that seemed to burn in them every time his research came up. I swallowed nervously.

    ¡°That spiral bound notebook I found; it had his handwriting in it. He used to write stories about¡­ creatures and worlds like this. I don¡¯t really understand how everything exists but¡­ I think there¡¯s like, some big glaring plot holes and those things like Prindous¡¯ hands, our weird lectures, all the odd things are like¡­ like maybe he left blanks, and the machine filled it in with whatever it thought was best. Or made glitches. Like my bottomless bag. I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m hoping it¡¯ll make more sense when I have more intelligence.¡±

    ¡°You think this story, this machine, created our world?¡± His voice was dangerously quiet.

    ¡°And everything in it,¡± I nodded. ¡°Including the flaws. I¡­ I see his personality all over the place. With some of the decisions and preferences. And the shortcuts he¡¯s taken. You wouldn¡¯t believe how many times I¡¯ve wanted to punch him if only I knew how to find him. I¡¯m kind of lost in this world. Bruiser and Brick think he might be a threat to me as well, since I ended up as a hunted species in his world¡­ So, they wanted me to level up a bunch before we go looking for him."

    ¡°Do you think he wrote me? My story?¡± Nightfall asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

    I reached out and touched his hand. It was still mildly cold, even though he¡¯d been sitting in bright sunlight all this time.

    ¡°He may have written some of the lore of the dark elves, or even done some basic work on your design or your race¡¯s design, but he couldn¡¯t make you, Nightfall. He¡¯s not that talented, trust me. And no matter what created you, your choices are your own. I¡¯m sure of that. I¡¯ve come across a lot of people in this world now, and there¡¯s a big difference between the ones who are sentient and the ones who aren¡¯t.¡±

    He weighed my words, then gave me a small smile.

    ¡°Thank you. For telling me all of this.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just glad you believed me,¡± I sighed in relief. He was taking it extraordinarily well. ¡°I hope this won¡¯t change your plans to finish your studies with me.¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± he said, a grim determination lacing his voice. ¡°If anything, it confirms the necessity I stay with you. You¡­ I knew on some level that you were the key I had been waiting for. Come, we should finish up here and go look for the lichen.¡±

    We needed three different types of lichen to finish our list, and it took us a long time walking to find them all. We¡¯d had to start climbing rocks on the north edge of the Citadel to get to the final one.

    I was climbing a little above Nightfall, looking for a patch large enough to peel off in one piece when my foot slipped, and I began to fall. Nightfall caught me with surprising strength for his lean frame and pulled me in close to him so I could share his narrow ledge until I caught my breath.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I gasped, trying to calm my racing heart.

    ¡°Not at all,¡± he said, his voice barely a whisper that I felt on my skin, as close as we were.

    He kept his hands firmly on my waist, and had leaned in towards the rock face, but all my mind was processing was his hands on me as mine lay flat in his chest.

    I looked up into his face and found him looking at me again with that strange expression. I felt the urge to kiss him, but I couldn¡¯t do that. Not without knowing how he felt. After my whole spiel on how he had free will, I didn¡¯t want to ruin things by accidentally seducing him with my succubus abilities.

    His face slowly twisted into a warm smile and for a moment I thought he was going to save me the internal debate and kiss me, but then he whispered into my ear.

    ¡°I see our lichen. A few feet down there,¡± he nodded in just past me and I turned to look. He was right, I could see it thick and red like a carpet, growing in a dip in the rocks that hadn¡¯t been visible on the way up.

    The way he was holding me, pulling me into him, my cheek came to rest in his chest, and I felt his heart beating, slow and steady. I found now I was here I didn¡¯t want to let go, even though our objective lay a short distance away.

    He was so different. Like a mystery I couldn¡¯t quite figure out, but I knew I wanted to know the answer to. I wondered if this was how he felt about me as well. If his desire to unravel me had become a literal want as well as a figurative idea.

    I felt that familiar hum of arousal that plagued my succubus body whenever something started my engine, so I took some deep, calming breaths to try and steady myself. This was not the time to lose my head.

    ¡°We should go down and get it,¡± I whispered, not moving.

    ¡°When you¡¯re ready. I¡¯m in no rush.¡± His hands flexed on my waist, and I felt another rush of desire run through me.

    Clearly my succubus sex drive had well and truly recovered since my activities with Brick that morning.

    But just like I¡¯d told Nightfall, I believed we had a choice that was stronger than whatever our coding was. Just because my libido was rising, I didn¡¯t have to obey it. If anything was to become of us, I didn¡¯t want it to be a spur of the moment lack of control in the mountains.

    I regretfully peeled myself away from him and lowered my body to sit on the ledge, carefully climbing down to where the lichen was. I peeled it off in two large sheets, rolled it up and stuffed it into my bag.

    Nightfall helped me climb down the rest of the way, and we returned to the ground with no further accidents, and I kept my eyes trained on the Citadel so they wouldn¡¯t be tempted to trace his elegant elven features.

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Twelve - Kiss

    I stretched out on my bed in my student room, hearing my back crack in at least three different places. We had saved a lot of time by returning through the Citadel¡¯s Northern gate, but we still only had time to hand in our ingredients and sit through one final lecture and Q&A activity before dusk fell and the doors were locked.

    Nightfall had disappeared, saying he needed to attend to his research, and I promptly went straight to bed for a nap.

    Even though these ¡®degrees¡¯ were ridiculously easy, I had a sense of satisfaction from completing them. When my little pop-up box announcing my Intelligence was now 9/20, I savoured it as long as I could until I couldn¡¯t help but blink and it disappeared. I was still lagging behind Nightfall, and only had half Brick and Bruiser¡¯s stats, but by the time I was out of here I¡¯d be ahead of them as well.

    I smiled to myself. I loved them both to pieces, but it was hard at times, feeling like such an idiot. There was so little I knew about this world, and they had been terrific guides, but when I¡¯d been talking to Nightfall, revealing the crazy truths about the universe, he¡¯d looked at me in a way that no one ever really had before.

    Like I was smart.

    It was nice. I turned onto my pillow and let out a muffled groan. I was crushing on him way too hard. But it was hard not to. He was like all those sexy fictional emo characters rolled into one.

    I sighed, thinking about all the thirsty Stardew Valley fangirls who obsessed over Sebastian. Or the Tumblr girls with Edward Cullen shrines. If I had a laptop, I¡¯d totally be joining them. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t be so hard on James for spending all that time writing his fanfiction world in hindsight. I¡¯d felt neglected and unloved at the time, but if it was possible to create something like this¡­ maybe it was worth the time spent doing it. Brick, Bastion, Bruiser, and Nightfall¡­ They were worth a lot more to me than I¡¯d ever expected.

    A knock on the door disrupted my thoughts, and I got up to answer it. There was only one person it could be.

    ¡°Hey Nightfall,¡± I greeted him with a smile. ¡°What¡¯s up? I thought you were going to be busy all night.¡±

    Nightfall gripped my hand, and I looked back at him in surprise.

    ¡°Emma¡­¡± His icy grip sent chills up my arm.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± he said, but his expression spoke otherwise. ¡°For the first time in my life I feel like nothing is wrong with me. It is not I who does not fit into the world, but the world which is not fit for me. A wonderful and dreadful revelation.¡±

    I squeezed his hand and sat down next to him, giving him my full attention.

    ¡°You have opened my eyes to so many things,¡± he said heavily. ¡°Taken a burden off my shoulders that had been weighing me down for longer than I can remember. But I feel as though it has been replaced by an even larger one.¡±

    ¡°Nightfall,¡± I began softly, but he hushed me.

    ¡°Since meeting you, I have felt things I have never felt before. It is like you have altered the very makeup of my body. My very programming, if your theory is to be believed. And I am fearful¡­ I¡¯m afraid that my destiny has shifted and become so much worse than being a detestable outcast¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked, placing my free hand on his shoulder, but it did not seem to soothe his agitation.

    ¡°What do you know about necromancers, Emma?¡±

    ¡°Not much,¡± I admitted. ¡°They¡¯re evil guys who raise the dead, do experiments on people and killed most of the succubi and dark elves.¡±

    ¡°They seek to order the world according to their whims,¡± Nightfall said, a chill in his voice. ¡°They respect no boundary around life or death or pain. They are the ultimate alchemists. The ones who decide how the world should be and then make it so through force and magic. But to wield such power¡­ They are heartless monsters, Emma, with no respect for life.¡±

    A shiver went down my spine and I pulled Nightfall into a fierce hug, wishing I could squeeze the fear out of him. I pulled him into my room, kicking the door shut behind him. His arms wrapped hesitantly around my shoulders as well, his hands clenching my clothing.

    ¡°I have never wanted to be like the monsters who slaughtered my people, but with the world falling into chaos, I fear it needs a guiding hand lest it falls apart¡­ and I fear it must be me,¡± he gave me a look of utter hopelessness. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be heartless, Emma.¡±

    He took several long, shuddering breaths, and I held him tightly.

    ¡°What do you need from me, Nightfall?¡± I asked him gently. ¡°How can I help you?"

    ¡°I cannot make my own sunshine,¡± he whispered. ¡°Let me bask in yours while I still can.¡±

    I smoothed my hand over his beautiful, pale cheek and pulled him towards the foot of my bed. He sat, and I perched on my knees next to him. Our height difference was reversed, and he looked up at me pleadingly.

    I searched his expression for any sign of resistance and slowly lowered my lips to his, giving him plenty of opportunity to back away. His breath trembled against mine, but I kept my kiss gentle and innocent.

    His lips were cold, but it wasn¡¯t unpleasant. It was like drinking a cool glass of water on a summer¡¯s day.

    It was unlike the first kiss I gave to Brick in many ways. Brick was strong, Nightfall was like glass. Brick needed affection and passion, but Nightfall needed gentleness and patience.

    He slackened in my grip and his breathing evened out. He leaned up into me and began to kiss me back, slowly, and shyly.

    ¡°What is this feeling?¡± he whispered against me.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that,¡± I whispered back. ¡°Is it a good feeling?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Then kiss me again.¡±

    He obeyed, tentatively at first. His thin lips moved against mine and I responded back with equal gentleness. Every movement he made, I matched. Every kiss, every stroke, every taste.

    He reached a hand up to my hair and ran his fingers through it, scraping my scalp in a delightful way with his manicured nails. I shivered against him, my breath catching.

    He paused and pulled back to look at me in a mix of concern and awe.

    ¡°Are you cold?¡± he asked.

    I shook my head. ¡°Very much the opposite.¡±

    The hand he¡¯d tangled in my hair trailed down to my chin, and he gave me a look of utter confusion.

    ¡°I did not think I had the capacity to feel things like this,¡± he said, sounding utterly puzzled.

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°Like I want you. I want to hold you close to me and never let you go,¡± he gave me another soft, experimental kiss. ¡°This relationship you have with Bruiser and Brick¡­ Tell me, do you need to consult with them before I take you to my bed? I am not familiar with the etiquette of relationships, having never desired one until now.¡±

    I exhaled in a puff of laughter and shook my head. ¡°We actually already discussed you. It¡¯s fine. If you want to be with me, I¡­ I want to be with you too. I care about you very deeply, Nightfall.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± he gave me a self-satisfied smile. ¡°Come, I have something to show you first. I would not want to do this in your bedroom.¡±

    Nightfall took my hand and tugged me to my feet, opened the door and pulled me out into the hallway. I had to jog to keep up, as we weaved in and out of endless corridors and staircases until he brought me to a tall tower with a large panoramic window that looked over the city.

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful up here,¡± I gasped, looking out over the sleeping buildings. There was no movement, everyone having gone to bed long ago, but there were still flickering lights in the occasional window.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he agreed, but when I turned to look at him, he wasn¡¯t looking out at the view.

    ¡°You are something special, Emma,¡± he said, his voice as deep and sensual as velvet. ¡°You¡¯re something different.¡±

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    I swallowed, not knowing what to make of such a declaration, but my heart was hammering in my chest.

    ¡°I have something to tell you, but first I want to show you something,¡± he said. ¡°Something you may not have seen yet, if the only ones you have been associating with are the rest of my party.¡±

    He lifted his hands, his sleeves dropping to his elbows to reveal his pale, slender forearms. His hands curved and his fingers twisted and with a rush of air a small flame about the size of a tennis ball burst into existence in his hand.

    I gasped in surprise and stared at it in wonder. I¡¯d been in this world for weeks now, but this was the first real magic I¡¯d seen other than healing or sleep spells. A fire spell was far more exciting!

    He was studying my reaction carefully as I watched the flames flickering. I offered him a shy smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful.¡±

    He seemed satisfied with my response but held the flame a little longer while he spoke.

    ¡°You are special, Emma,¡± he repeated. ¡°And I hope that I can trust you with this, considering I want us to¡­ to be together. I want to tell you¡­ I made a breakthrough in my research this afternoon.¡±

    ¡°You have?¡± I forced my eyes away from the magic fireball to look at him.

    ¡°It¡¯s because of you. The answer was there all along in one of those spiral notebooks. I went back to the library looking for them and found several more. One had the secret to my heritage.¡±

    I inhaled sharply. He had found another.

    ¡°I want you to promise your view of me will not change,¡± he demanded. ¡°I want you to swear it. You will not think me an abomination.¡±

    ¡°Of course I won¡¯t,¡± I said in surprise.

    He dismissed the flame and approached me, laying his hands on either side of my face. The one that had held the flame was still warm to the touch.

    His face was only inches from me, and I felt a pull towards him, but I knew I couldn¡¯t interrupt this moment. He seemed to be practically vibrating with tension.

    ¡°I¡¯ve always thought it strange that I could not generate my own body heat,¡± he spoke softly, his hands sliding down to my shoulders. ¡°In order to feel warm, there needs to be an external heat source. Otherwise, I am only as warm as the temperature in the room.¡±

    That sounded decidedly unpleasant. It suddenly made sese why he didn¡¯t like going into water, and why he preferred to sit in the sunshine even though his complexion was glaringly pale.

    ¡°It makes sense since I read what I read¡­ My people were a failed experiment by the necromancers, and when they realized they had failed they destroyed us.¡±

    I sucked in a breath and pulled him closer, wrapping him in a hug, feeling it was what he needed. His hands hesitated, then slowly wrapped around me. It felt not only like he was accepting my embrace but claiming me as his own. I fisted my hands in his robes, and pressed my body up against his, wanting to give him my warmth if nothing else.

    ¡°I learned how to cast flames when I was a young street wretch,¡± he murmured, resting his cool cheek against mine. ¡°I longed for warmth. For life. To feel my blood pumping hot in my veins. I never knew why, and fire gave me the closest feeling I could muster. I¡¯ve always felt like a shadow of a living creature.¡±

    He took a long breath, holding me to him even tighter, and I realized with a start that he was truly afraid. Whatever he was about to tell me, he was terrified it would drive me away from him. That he would lose what had been growing between us forever.

    ¡°Tell me, Nightfall. I¡¯m not going anywhere,¡± I promised him.

    He released me and stepped back so I could see his full figure. His usually calm facade was painted with concern, heartbreak, and grief.

    ¡°They were trying to discover the secret to eternal life,¡± he whispered. ¡°It is why my people don¡¯t die of old age. Why we cannot reproduce like the other races. Why we are as cold as the corpses our DNA was taken from. Emma, they were trying to make vampires.¡±

    I blinked, looking him up and down. Whatever I expected, it wasn¡¯t this. But on the vampiric scale of Bram Stoker to Edward Cullen, Nightfall was definitely on the sweet and sexy side than the scary horror show side.

    His eyes were wide in his pale, miserable face and I realized in my silence he was waiting for my rejection. Of course, he wasn¡¯t to know that in my original world there were countless romance novels featuring cold-blooded vampires falling for young human women.

    To him, there was only one way of looking at the very concept of a vampire: as though it was an abomination.

    I closed the distance between us again and pulled him down into a kiss. He returned it briefly, but then jerked back to search my eyes for a hidden lie.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± he whispered.

    ¡°You¡¯re still just Nightfall to me,¡± I said. ¡°So, you were a test-tube baby, and you didn¡¯t get the parents you wanted. You¡¯re not a vampire. You¡¯re a dark elf. And more than that, you¡¯re my dark elf.¡±

    He returned the kiss then, claiming my mouth with his, pulling me into his embrace. He sucked my lip between his teeth, as though trying to drink me in, and buried one of his hands in my hair while the other found the small of my back, crushing me to him.

    ¡°Emma,¡± he whispered my name like an incantation. ¡°I am yours. I belong to you from this day forth.¡±

    I reluctantly pulled away from him, panting for breath. I felt electricity coursing through my veins, a desire that demanded to be seated. But this was important. I wasn¡¯t in the business of breaking hearts.

    ¡°Nightfall. We need to talk first,¡± I said.

    ¡°Whatever your demands, my answer will be yes,¡± he swore.

    ¡°I need you to understand. I¡¯m already with Bruiser and Brick¡­ And while they approve of you, I need you to know that if we are together, it won¡¯t be at the cost of them."

    ¡°I know,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t care, so long as I can have you.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯ve¡­ You¡¯ve done this before?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve had sex if that is what you are asking. Many times,¡± he watched me, his eyes determined and his expression serious. He was laying his cards on the table, bearing everything for me to see. ¡°Sometimes I enjoyed it. But I have never ever felt like this. You, my succubus paradox, breathe life into me. You make me feel like a living being. You have stripped off my blindfold and made me see the world for the mirage it is¡­ and yet, with you, I have felt more real than I had ever thought possible.¡±

    I gave him a relieved smile. He understood, and even better, he loved me. Even if he didn¡¯t know what it was just yet, I could recognize the feeling in his eyes. He was capable of so much more than what was written in notebooks. And tonight, I wanted to make him feel alive.

    ¡°Take me back to the student halls. There¡¯s something I want to do with you,¡± I instructed him, and he obeyed immediately. He led me through the maze with finesse and grace, and before I knew it, we were nearing our rooms.

    I took him to the end of the hall where the bathrooms were and tugged him inside. I started the tap, threw some logs underneath the bath and asked Nightfall to light it with his magic flame.

    The water started to steam as it heated, and I stepped forward and began to undress him. Nightfall arched an eyebrow curiously but didn¡¯t interfere as I disrobed him.

    His heavily embroidered robe pooled to the floor, and he was left in his tailored undershirt and pants. I ran my hands over the ruffles at his collar, wondering how I¡¯d never noticed the vampiresque fashion before. There had been hints all along, but I¡¯d been blinded to them because to me he was just Nightfall.

    I tugged the hem of his silken shirt out of his pants, revealing his smooth, lithe abdomen, and lifted it over his head. It too fell into a puddle of clothing, and I began to work the fastening on his pants.

    When he was totally naked before me, I took a moment to appreciate his form. He was beautiful with his long hair cascading down his shoulders like a waterfall. He looked like a gothic prince.

    A prince of darkness. My mouth quirked up in pleasure, and I told him to get in the bath.

    He paused before obeying. ¡°Will you be joining me?¡±

    I smiled and nodded, so he climbed in the tub and slid beneath the water, his pale skin tingling pink with the heat. I undressed just as slowly as I¡¯d disrobed him, knowing he was watching me.

    I was in no hurry. I had all the time I could ask for, and I was going to take my time with him. By the end of the night, I¡¯d crack that cool facade of his and make him feel things he¡¯d never dreamed of. I wanted to explore every facet of him and see what reactions I could get.

    The water sloshed over the side and sizzled in the fire below before rushing down the grated drains as I stepped into the bath.

    I kissed him slowly, lazily. I wanted him to know we had all night as well.

    ¡°Are you warm?¡± I asked him, nibbling the lobe of his pointed ear.

    ¡°Very much so,¡± he breathed in sharply as my teeth grazed his flesh. ¡°In more ways than one.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± I murmured, kissing a trail down his pulse points, and sucking his neck like I was the vampire.

    He hummed in pleasure. It wasn¡¯t a moan, but it was early for that, and I¡¯d get there yet.

    ¡°Emma,¡± he whispered. ¡°What is this? What are you doing?¡±

    I pulled back and planted a gentle kiss on his lips. ¡°Does it feel good, Nightfall?¡±

    ¡°Very good,¡± he whispered. ¡°But I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re more than a tumble in the sheets to me, Nightfall. I want you to feel good, darling. I want you to feel loved. Valued. Treasured. Tell me what feels good and if anything doesn¡¯t. I¡¯m not here just for sex, sweetheart, I¡¯m here for you.¡±

    Then before he could reply, I kissed him again, deeper than before. He reciprocated, matching my vigour with his own, running his hands up and down my back. Finally, he pulled away, gasping for breath.

    ¡°Emma,¡± he panted. ¡°My Emma.¡±

    He was struggling to regain his composure, but I wasn¡¯t about to let him have it, settling myself into his lap and kissing his neck again.

    ¡°Oh, Emma¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that good, Nightfall?¡± I whispered to him.

    ¡°Yes! Oh yes!¡±

    More water sloshed out of the bath in a wave and shifted me off his lap, but he reached around and placed a hand above my tail, pressing me back in place.

    ¡°Emma,¡± he moaned, rolling his mouth off my skin, and resting his head against my breastbone. ¡°Emma¡­¡±

    I cupped his face gently and tilted his chin up to look at me so I could plant several long kisses on his lips.

    ¡°Do you want to stay here?¡± I asked him. ¡°Or do you want to take me to your bed? What happens next is up to you.¡±

    ¡°So long as I¡¯m with you, it hardly matters where I am or what I do,¡± he answered me with a kiss of his own. ¡°All I want is you.¡±

    ¡°Then come, let¡¯s go to bed.¡± I pulled him out of the bath and wrapped his robe loosely over his shoulders, bundling the rest of our clothes under my arm.

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to get dressed first?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a short distance,¡± I gave him a devilish grin. ¡°Come, run with me. I want to get you to bed fast. I plan to keep you warm until morning.¡±

    He laughed, a delightful sound to my ears. It seemed to almost startle him, but then he laughed again, his mouth curling up into a smile as he streaked with me through the halls. I could tell he felt as alive as I did, and I felt like a teenager again; naughty and mischievous.

    I found his door and opened it, pushing him inside and onto his bed, stripping him of his robe again and dumping our clothes on his desk chair. I climbed atop him again, pulling his thick blanket over us, determined not to let him cool down. He wanted heat, and I was going to deliver.

    His hands explored me in entirely new ways, tracing my contours, taking in every inch of me. Every time our lips parted, I saw his eyes dancing and heard my name on his lips.

    When I was confident he wasn¡¯t going to cool down anytime soon, I caught his hands in mine and brought them to my lips.

    ¡°What is it?¡± he asked. ¡°Did I do something wrong?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± I said, peppering his cheeks with little kisses, showering him with affection. ¡°I want to do something for you, and I want to know if you¡¯re okay with it.¡±

    ¡°Anything, my Emma.¡±

    ¡°Let me tell you what it is first,¡± I insisted and murmured my plans for him in his ear.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Nightfall asked, his breath heavy and his eyes dilated so much they were almost completely black. ¡°I would¡­ I would like to reciprocate.¡±

    ¡°Let me start first,¡± I said, pushing him back on his pillows. ¡°I want you to just enjoy yourself. When you want to, you can as well, but just be aware I will need a blood pact for secrecy in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Emma,¡± he whispered. ¡°My Emma. I feel awakened. I feel alive.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad,¡± I murmured back, stroking his hair out of his face. ¡°I love you too.¡±

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Thirteen - Bonds

    I woke slowly to a tickling sensation on my shoulder, and it took me a moment to recognize it as Nightfall¡¯s hair. I turned and looked up at him blearily, blinking the sleep out of my eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, did I wake you?¡± he murmured, brushing his long hair over his shoulder, and dipping down to plant a kiss on my lips.

    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± I asked him, stretching my arms out to take him into an embrace. He nestled into me, resting his head on the pillow next to me. His smile was wide and easy, and he looked more relaxed than I¡¯d ever seen him.

    ¡°I feel warm,¡± he said with emphasis. ¡°Warmer than I have ever felt in my life. I don¡¯t know what you did to me, but it¡­ Emma, I love you.¡±

    I looked at him in surprise. He was warm. His whole body was pressed up against mine and was radiating warmth.

    ¡°Are you¡­ you have body heat,¡± I said in surprise, but then his other words caught up with me. ¡°And I love you too, of course.¡±

    He grinned at me, and my heart skipped a beat. I¡¯d wanted to see him smile like this since the day I met him.

    ¡°It¡¯s magic. Your magic,¡± he said, and kissed me again.

    I melted into it and took several minutes before my frazzled brain could recover. My extra Intelligence points must be doing something though, because I felt like all the loose connections in my brain were finally matching up.

    ¡°It¡¯s my slime,¡± I realized. ¡°It¡­ it¡¯s got life magic in it.¡±

    In any other situation I would have laughed hysterically at the idea that my magical lady-parts had saved the day again, especially as it was a kind of magic my idiotic boyfriend James had written into this world¡­ but seeing the effect it had on Nightfall¡­ The fact he felt warm and fulfilled and alive for the first time in his life¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but be grateful.

    ¡°You are amazing,¡± Nightfall stroked my fringe out of my face and worshiped my face with affectionate little kisses. Even the look in his eyes was warm and I felt my heart melting as he adored me.

    ¡°I love you, Nightfall,¡± I whispered again.

    ¡°You mentioned a blood pact,¡± Nightfall said. ¡°I will gladly perform one, but I have a favour to beg of you.¡±

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked. I would give him just about anything he wanted in this moment.

    ¡°I want to bond with you. I want to join your harem and be bound to you for the duration of my life.¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say to that. ¡°I haven¡¯t done any bonding ceremonies before. Not even with Brick and Bruiser. I¡­ I didn¡¯t expect this to come up with you so soon, either.¡±

    ¡°I will happily be your first,¡± he said solemnly.

    I sat up, and he mirrored me, waiting for my answer.

    ¡°You know I¡¯m not from this world,¡± I said, and took his hands in mine lightly. ¡°In my world I¡­ we have a kind of relationship bonding, I guess you¡¯d call it. Marriage.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I want to marry you.¡±

    ¡°So, you know what it is,¡± I chewed my lip. ¡°The thing is¡­ I never really believed in marriage.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t then?¡± Nightfall asked, looking crestfallen.

    ¡°My mum got married four times,¡± I said, feeling brittle. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s something I prefer not to talk about, but I want you to understand. My father left us because he wasn¡¯t a family guy. My mum started dating again, and the guys she went out with were always nice when they were in that honeymoon phase, but after marriage, they kind of¡­ changed. Stuff got awful. The divorces were messy and awful. It¡¯s why I never wanted to marry James either, I guess¡­ I¡¯m scared of things changing and then not being able to get out.¡±

    ¡°My poor Emma,¡± Nightfall said, wiping away a tear I hadn¡¯t even known had escaped. ¡°I will never hurt you, I promise. I will be in debt to you forever for what you have given me, and I want to devote my life to seeing you happy. You have had terrible experiences, and I would kill those men for causing you pain if they were not a world away, but I swear to you it will not be like that for us.¡±

    ¡°Why do you need a bond?¡± I asked him. ¡°Why can¡¯t we just be¡­ together? You should know I don¡¯t see you as in debt to me. We¡¯re equals. Friends. Lovers. We should be able to give and take without keeping score.¡±

    ¡°Which makes me love you all the more,¡± he said. ¡°I want to bind myself to you because I want our destiny tied together by a cord that cannot be broken. I fear what I would become without you, my love. But with you? I do not feel afraid. I feel entirely different. I want you there to safeguard my heart. To be my sun and make sure I do not fall into darkness again.¡±

    His words moved me, and I felt tempted to surrender, but I still feared it was premature. If I bonded with Nightfall, should I then bond myself to Brick and Bruiser as well? It felt like a spiderweb of complexity that I wasn¡¯t ready to face.

    ¡°Can we let things settle between us first?¡± I asked. ¡°I know this is important to you, but¡­ I need to be sure.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± he agreed. ¡°I will remain next to you until you wish to claim me, my darling. Whether or not you are ready to call yourself mine, I am yours. Utterly, completely, and irreversibly yours.¡±

    My heart lurched at his declaration and I let out a sigh of relief, grateful for his patience.

    ¡°I had another epiphany while you were sleeping,¡± Nightfall murmured. ¡°For our next degrees, we can take several classes at a time and complete the assignments in batches. We should be complete in a couple of days instead of a week.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll attend them with me? You¡¯ll have your stats maxed out before I do. Are you sure you won¡¯t mind?¡±

    ¡°I take my oaths seriously, my Emma. I will be at your side for whatever you need.¡±

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Fourteen - Research II

    ACHIEVEMENT!

    MITSY ACHIEVED A DEGREE IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY!

    +2 INTELLIGENCE = 20/20 INT

    ABILITY UNLOCKED: ANIMAL TAMING

    ACHIEVEMENT!

    MITSY ACHIEVED A DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE!

    +2 INTELLIGENCE = 18/20 INT

    +15% Perception in detecting traps.

    ACHIEVEMENT!

    MITSY ACHIEVED A DEGREE IN CARTOGRAPHY!

    +2 INTELLIGENCE = 16/20 INT

    ABILITY UNLOCKED: MAPMAKING

    ACHIEVEMENT!

    MITSY ACHIEVED A DEGREE IN ELEMENTAL MAGIC!

    +2 INTELLIGENCE = 14/20 INT

    +2 SPELL SLOTS UNLOCKED

    +5% attack power to elemental spells.

    -10% mana cost for elemental spells.

    I threw myself at Nightfall and he caught me in a hug, twirling me around and smiling indulgently as I celebrated my victory.

    Even though the courses here were easy, I felt myself riding high on dopamine from my achievements.

    I had two new spell slots to fill and a whole library to choose from. Nightfall accompanied me to the library, and I pulled out books from all over the place, weighing up the potential value of every possible spell I could choose.

    While fire and lightning were exciting, I didn¡¯t see much point in attack spells, especially when I was in a team with multiple warriors and a rogue mage who could also conjure fire.

    The healing spells were a bit pointless as well, considering I had both my Healing Song and an unlimited amount of slime. I¡¯d learned my lesson about running out and had about a hundred bottles rolling around somewhere in the pocket dimension enclosed in my bag.

    I looked at invisibility, thinking that might be a fun skill, but I couldn¡¯t think of a situation it would really be useful in, especially considering Nightfall had the Fading ability and took care of the situations when sneakiness was a necessity.

    ¡°Gah! A whole library of options, and I can¡¯t think of a single spell I need!¡±

    Nightfall handed me another book with a brown cover, flicking it open to a page illustrated with animals.

    ¡°Animal Speak?¡± I read, looking up at Nightfall questioningly. ¡°Can¡¯t you and Bruiser already do that?¡±

    ¡°It would allow you to speak directly to Bonaparte, as well as Bruiser when he is in his bear form.¡±

    ¡°That would be kind of useful,¡± I mused. ¡°And it¡¯d mean he didn¡¯t have to shift so often, whenever he wants to talk to me.¡±

    When we had been travelling, I often liked hitching a ride on his back, but every time he needed to communicate, I¡¯d find myself either piggy-backing on a large nude man or in the dirt because I¡¯d been too distracted to grab his shoulders in time.

    While it was kind of fun, it¡¯d be nice to be able to chat with him when I needed to.

    I read the spell and committed it to memory, feeling it slide into place inside my brain.

    ¡°Okay! One down, one to go!¡±

    I looked back at the books littering the desk. I picked up the ¡°Summon: Object¡± book again and flicked through it. The problem was, you were limited to only one object which you had to choose when you set the spell into your slot.

    One of the illustrations had an archer with unlimited arrows. I couldn¡¯t think of anything I needed an unlimited supply of that I didn¡¯t already have. I still had a hundred or so cinnamon rolls in my bag and could easily stock up on more before leaving town as they were relatively cheap.

    ¡°I could summon fish, I suppose,¡± I mused. My animal husbandry course had basically consisted of feeding fish to animals until they decided they were tame. ¡°It might work alright with my Animal Speak spell.¡±

    ¡°Unconventional, but that fits with you. It is a fine idea,¡± Nightfall agreed.

    I focused on learning the spell as Nightfall put the other books away.

    ¡°Nightfall!¡± An angry hiss broke the peace of the library. ¡°I¡¯ve found you! I demand answers!¡±

    ¡°Blade,¡± Nightfall greeted him, not even turning around to look at him. ¡°Perfect timing. If you accompany me to the lab, I will take another sample from you now.¡±

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    Blade¡¯s fur flattened and I recognized from my experience with Kira that it was a sign he had been placated.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get it over with now then,¡± Blade growled. ¡°Glad to see I can pry you away from your girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°Actually, she is key to my research. Come, Emma. I will show you my lab.¡±

    I followed him, curious to see what he had been working on. Any unease I¡¯d previously felt when I met him had been pacified. I felt I knew Nightfall more deeply than anyone had known him before, and I could trust him completely.

    I followed him as he led us down another twisted maze until we arrived at his laboratory ¨C or rather, an empty room he had claimed as his lab. It made sense in a way that there were so many empty rooms. The university was housed in a fricken castle, but only had thirty or so courses to choose from.

    Nightfall closed the door behind us and readied his workstation. It looked kind of like my high school science class, with beakers and test tubes lining the walls. Blade sat on a chair and glowered at me.

    I busied myself to avoid his stare by looking through the papers on the desk. I saw a sketch of Jackal, with two lists of attributes he¡¯d acquired ¨C one from his minotaur father, one from his mermaid mother.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready to take your sample,¡± Nightfall said, and I looked up to see that he had a needle in hand.

    Blade shoved his sleeve up and held out his arm and Nightfall inserted it and drew the blood, then placed it into a test tube that had a foaming purple liquid in it. He sprinkled in some powder, agitated it with a stirring stick and placed the used items in the trash.

    ¡°What happens now?¡± Emma asked, looking curiously at the test tube. ¡°And what are you looking for?¡±

    ¡°The liquids will separate, and Blade¡¯s DNA will rise to the top. It will take a few minutes.¡±

    ¡°And then you will find the answer? Why I am the way I am?¡± Blade demanded. ¡°How to fix it?¡±

    ¡°I will be able to decode a little more. I think I am beginning to understand the reason for your deformity, but it may be some time before a solution is found. If one even exists.¡±

    Blade snarled. I narrowed my eyes as I looked him over once again. He looked much like any other feliskin, furry from head to toe.

    ¡°What deformity?¡± I asked, puzzled.

    ¡°None of your grindin¡¯ business,¡± Blade hissed, but Nightfall held up a placating hand.

    ¡°Show her. Emma recognizes the oddities of this world with greater perception than I. She may have answers I do not.¡±

    Blade¡¯s lips were still curled back as he bared his teeth at me in a vicious hiss, but he regained control of himself and locked onto me with an intimidating stare.

    ¡°Do you swear you will never repeat what you see here?¡± Blade growled. ¡°Swear to me you will not mention it to another soul. Swear to me you will help me if you can.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said uncertainly. ¡°I swear I won¡¯t tell anyone., And I¡¯ll help if I can.¡±

    He took a long, calming breath and then raised his furry hands to his aviator hat, easing it off his head. I barely contained my gasp as he revealed his ears.

    Human ears. On the sides of a very cat-shaped head.

    He looked utterly ridiculous. I would have laughed if he didn¡¯t look so utterly ashamed of himself.

    ¡°No customization spells work on them,¡± Blade said, his voice defeated and tainted with bitterness. ¡°I¡¯ve tried everything.¡±

    ¡°He is a half-breed,¡± Nightfall explained. ¡°Half feliskin, half human.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that how nekokin are born?¡± I said, trying to remember Professor Prindous¡¯ lecture. I hadn¡¯t been paying fantastic attention, but I was pretty sure he hadn¡¯t mentioned anything like this.

    ¡°Nekokin are common enough to be recognized as a race in their own right. I am the only one like me. Something went wrong. Something is wrong with me.¡±

    ¡°The DNA is ready for examination,¡± Nightfall interrupted, and we all turned to look at the test tube. The water had separated into two colours, purple on the bottom and clear on the top. A tangle of tiny threads floated lazily in the clear liquid, rotating slowly with the movement of the water.

    Nightfall¡¯s hands glowed blue and an orb formed over his hand. He used his other hand to fish the strands out with a stick and dropped them into the orb, which magnified the DNA until they could see it more clearly. It wasn¡¯t as clear as what you would probably get using a professional microscope in a real science lab, but it was still pretty impressive.

    He muttered under his breath and part of the strand illuminated blue.

    ¡°This is your feliskin DNA from your mother,¡± he explained. ¡°I cannot identify yet what it contributes, but much of it is visible. If I do this, you will see the DNA from your human father.¡±

    He muttered some more words and a different part of the strand glowed red.

    ¡°Wait,¡± I blinked. In Prindous¡¯ class he¡¯d said nekokin had human mothers and feliskin fathers, not the other way around.

    I grabbed one of Nightfall¡¯s pens and scrawled a punnet square like how I¡¯d learned in high school, then placed it on the table.

    ¡°It¡¯s like this, right? You have the regular equation that results in a catgirl ¨C sorry, nekokin ¨C and the other combination is kind of reversed.¡±

    I glanced at Blade again, confirming he also didn¡¯t have a tail.

    ¡°I bet James¡¯ put in what he wanted to exist and the AI generator machine kind of filled in the rest. Thus, you get human bodies with cat ears and tails and on the other half, cat bodies with human ears and no tails.¡±

    ¡°How does this fix me?¡± Blade demanded.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t,¡± I said, looking at Nightfall hesitantly. ¡°It means¡­ you¡¯re not a mistake. You¡¯re a logical extrapolation. If you want to change your body, you don¡¯t need an existing modification spell, you need to rewrite the rules of the universe.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Blade blinked.

    ¡°Luckily, you know a person who can achieve that,¡± Nightfall said, releasing his magnification spell and allowing the DNA extract to fall to the table. ¡°We know vaguely what made this world, and therefore that it might be possible to edit it. If we find James.¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t know where he is or how to find him,¡± I added grimly. ¡°Or if he will do what I tell him.¡±

    ¡°You have already done so much, my angel,¡± Nightfall whispered, brushing my cheek with the pad of his thumb. ¡°With you, I believe anything is possible.¡±

 BOOK THREE - Chapter Fifteen - Necromancers

    Nightfall strolled next to me at a leisurely pace, his legs being a lot longer than mine.

    Part of me was going to miss the time we¡¯d had together at the university, but I was also excited to get on with the next stage of my journey. I didn¡¯t know quite where we were headed next, but I wanted to go somewhere where Brick and Bruiser felt more comfortable.

    I was a little nervous about how the relationship dynamics were going to work since I was romantically involved with three out of five of the party. Nothing from my previous life had prepared me for this kind of situation.

    But then I saw Brick¡¯s large back in the street and my heart soared. I knew it had to be him. There were no other orcs in the Citadel, but even if there were, Brick¡¯s stature was taller than the typical orc.

    I paused in thought, watching his silhouette as it walked ahead of us. His ears pointed straight upwards as well, although most orcs¡¯ ears were tilted out to the side.

    ¡°What is it, my love?¡± Nightfall asked.

    ¡°With all your research, do you think it¡¯s possible¡­ Do you think Brick might only be half orc?¡±

    Nightfall followed my gaze and considered it for a moment.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very possible. Although whatever the other half is would take some analysis in the lab. It¡¯s unusual for orcs to breed outside their species.¡±

    ¡°I suppose it hardly matters. He¡¯s still Brick to me, either way. But he might want to know. Come on, let¡¯s catch up with him.¡±

    It took a few minutes of pushing through the crowd and I held Nightfall¡¯s hand to keep us from separating. His skin was warm to the touch now, and it filled me with satisfaction to know that the change he¡¯d experienced regarding his body heat seemed to be a permanent one.

    ¡°Brick!¡± I called out, and he turned. He met me with a grin, and I let go of Nightfall so I could wrap him in a hug, but he was holding a large box, so I crept around and hugged him from behind. I kissed him between his shoulder blades and let out a laugh.

    ¡°Hey, my gorgeous girl,¡± Brick grinned down at me over his shoulder. ¡°Does this mean you¡¯re done already? We weren¡¯t expecting you for a few days!¡±

    ¡°All done! I¡¯m a mega brainiac now,¡± I beamed at him. ¡°Which means, according to our agreement, I¡¯m allowed to kiss you in the street now.¡±

    ¡°Who am I to resist your charms?¡± he chuckled, his eyes shining with happiness.

    He shifted his package so he could hold it with one arm and reached around my shoulders and slanted his mouth across mine in a playful kiss.

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    ¡°I missed you, my sweet one,¡± he said, his voice husky.

    ¡°What¡¯s in the box?¡± I asked.

    ¡°A surprise,¡± he grinned. ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing every day, and today is the first time I¡¯ve gotten it right.¡±

    He lowered the box and opened the flap. I gasped when I saw the display of baked goods. Almond croissants. Custard tarts. Cinnamon rolls.

    ¡°You made these?¡±

    ¡°I tried your resume trick. Went up to the local baker and wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer until he taught me how to make this stuff,¡± he said, his voice thick with affection. ¡°Had to hit him across the head with my resume a couple times, but it did the trick. I wanted to make you happy. There¡¯re more treats like this in the Citadel than small towns like Isekai or Market Town, but I knew you wouldn¡¯t want to live here, and I didn¡¯t like the thought of you going without. So long as I¡¯ve got a kitchen and the ingredients, I can make these for you now.¡±

    ¡°You are amazing, Brick. I can¡¯t believe you did this for me.¡± I shook my head in wonderment.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to The Postman¡¯s Keg and we can sit down and try them.¡±

    Brick and Nightfall gave each other an awkward up-nod in acknowledgement, and we walked the last block to the inn. As I moved to open the door, Nightfall stepped in and did it for me, holding it open for both Brick and me to step inside.

    Brick led the way to his room and placed the box down on his bed. I sat by his pillow as he picked out one of his creations for me to taste, but before I accepted it, I noticed an envelope on his bedside table.

    ¡°Is that from Bastion?¡±

    He handed me the croissant and took the letter, frowning.

    ¡°This is odd. He never writes notes.¡±

    He unfolded it and read it through twice, his green skin turning pale and his expression contorting with concern.

    ¡°He¡­ he¡¯s gone.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s what?¡± I dropped the croissant back in the box and grabbed the letter to read it myself.

    The door burst open with a bang, and Jackal rushed into the room, panting.

    ¡°Been¡­ looking for you¡­ Brick¡­¡± he spluttered in between gasping breaths. ¡°Bastion¡­ Bruiser¡­ Bonaparte¡­ They all left.¡±

    ¡°We know,¡± Brick said, taking a seat next to me and shakily putting his head in his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can save him this time.¡±

    I dropped my eyes to the letter.

    Brick,

    Bruiser caught wind of some concerning stuff with the necromancers. The birds said the last two of them are at war over something, and he fears if we leave them to it, whoever wins will become too powerful to stop. I¡¯m going with them to better the odds of success. I want you to be happy with Emma. One of us should get a happy ending at least. I¡¯m sorry I¡¯ve been such a burden to you these last few years. I don¡¯t expect to survive this, but I had to try. I hope you get your Happily Ever After.

    Your brother always,

    Bastion

    ¡°We have to go after them,¡± I said with determination.

    ¡°Emma, I can¡¯t have you going near necromancers,¡± Brick resisted. ¡°You don¡¯t know what they¡¯d do to you if they got your hands on them.¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll do to them,¡± I argued. ¡°We can¡¯t just leave Bastion and Bruiser. We¡¯re going.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ Okay.¡±

    I looked to Nightfall. ¡°You in?¡±

    ¡°I will always be by your side,¡± he reminded me. ¡°Even if you wish to face down necromancers.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± I nodded, then turned to Jackal. ¡°What about you, Jackal?¡±

    ¡°Is this another date?¡± he asked excitedly. ¡°Are you asking me on another date?¡±

    ¡°If you call saving lives and murdering assholes a date, then sure,¡± I snorted.

    ¡°Yuss!¡± Jackal fist pumped, then pointed at me and told Brick proudly. ¡°She¡¯s my girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°¡­Same?¡± Brick answered him with a confused look.

    ¡°Pack your bags boys, we¡¯ve got some ass-kicking to do.¡±

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter One - A Long Walk

    ¡°You can¡¯t do that to her!¡± Nightfall cried in outrage.

    I tried to calm him from Brick¡¯s shoulder where I¡¯d just been hoisted, but Brick slapped my ass, which just made Nightfall angrier.

    The dark elf readied his stance and summoned a ball of flame in each hand, looking ready to attack.

    ¡°Put her down, Brick, or there will be hell to pay,¡± he demanded. ¡°You cannot treat Emma in such a disrespectful manner!¡±

    ¡°Well, then you¡¯re really not going to like what comes next,¡± Brick smirked.

    ¡°Brick, put me down,¡± I said sharply, and he obeyed, but gave me a petulant pout.

    ¡°You know I was only playing.¡±

    ¡°I do, but he doesn¡¯t,¡± I shook my head and grasped Nightfall¡¯s arms, signaling he needed to dismiss his flames. ¡°What were you going to do, just drag me into your tent and have your way with me while he while he was out here panicking - or worse, trying to murder you?¡±

    ¡°Sort of the plan, yeah,¡± Brick shrugged with an unrepentant grin.

    ¡°Emma, I know you have a relationship with the orc, but you cannot allow him to treat you with such disrespect,¡± Nightfall insisted, his voice fraught with concern. ¡°You deserve far better than that. If he will not listen, I will make him listen. I will not allow him to harm you.¡±

    ¡°Nightfall, sweetheart,¡± I said, chewing on my lip. ¡°Things are¡­ different with me and Brick. It¡¯s just playing. He¡¯d never hurt me.¡±

    ¡°You deserve better,¡± he insisted.

    ¡°It¡¯s not better or worse, it¡¯s just different,¡± I said. ¡°Can you just trust me on this? That I know what I¡¯m doing, and I wouldn¡¯t be with him if he was the kind of guy who didn¡¯t listen to me?¡±

    Nightfall gave Brick another dubious look before giving a sharp nod. ¡°I don¡¯t like it. But I do trust you, even if I have my doubts about Brick. And you will call me if you need me?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯ll be better for you to stay in your tent, darling. Brick needs me tonight. He¡¯s going through a rough time.¡±

    We had set off towards Necromancer Heights that morning and this was the first time Brick and I had found an opportunity to be together. It seemed like a long time since we¡¯d had time alone, considering I¡¯d spent a lot of my time in the Citadel with Nightfall, and I missed my orc just as much as he¡¯d been missing me.

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    We¡¯d set up camp, Jackal was already snoring in his tent and Brick had given up on waiting for Nightfall to give us some privacy. Grabbing me by the waist and throwing me over his shoulder with a ¡°Come on, wench!¡± had probably not been the most tactful way to announce his plans for me, but they were effective enough.

    I gave Nightfall a gentle kiss and sent him off to bed as well before climbing into Brick¡¯s tent.

    ¡°I know you need to blow off steam, darling, but antagonizing Nightfall isn¡¯t the most productive way to do it. He¡¯s still getting used to this. All of us are.¡±

    Brick grunted. ¡°Tonight, I don¡¯t want to share you. Tonight, I want to make you think only of me.¡±

    I knew what he was really asking. He wanted his own anxious thoughts about his brother chased away and wanted nothing left but thoughts of me.

    He wanted an escape.

    I shoved him roughly down to his bedroll, grinning when his eyes widened and his pupils dilated. I pulled at the fastening that held his kilt-like loincloth together and shoved it to the side before making quick work of my own clothes.

    If he wanted an escape, I was going to give him one. He wouldn¡¯t have time to think about anything else.

    I never felt like I needed much of a warm-up in my succubus body, and it was so easy, taking him inside me. I¡¯d never felt this much freedom, this kind of liberation before I came to this world.

    Everything had always seemed so hard with James, my original-world boyfriend. He¡¯d been attentive enough to me when we were just going out, but after we¡¯d moved in together, he¡¯d always been distracted, and I¡¯d felt like I had to work to get his attention. It wasn¡¯t until I¡¯d landed in this world ¨C which, ironically, he had made ¨C that I¡¯d realized what I was missing out on.

    Having three boyfriends was something I¡¯d never set out to do, but they were all so amazing in their own rights and secure enough in themselves that I didn¡¯t have to choose between them. It might take a while to work the kinks out in terms of expectations, but I was sure we¡¯d get there in the end, although it might have to wait until after our rescue mission.

    I pulled the tie out of Brick¡¯s hair, releasing his man-bun and running my fingers across his scalp as his long, black locks were released. He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch, absorbing every show of affection I gave him.

    I cupped his jaw, my hands gentle on his strong, square chin, and kissed him with slow, tender kisses.

    Brick was a strange mix of juxtapositions. A large, muscular warrior class orc who wielded a gigantic battle axe who also had a calm and steadfast personality and showed more patience than a lot of humans. He was tough as nails, ready to crack skulls and quick to throw punches if he needed to defend those he cared about, but also so desperately in need of love and warmth and full of sweet displays of affection.

    When he¡¯d heard of a house for sale in Market Town, he was so ready to put his gold on the line and make a home with me. When I¡¯d fallen for Bruiser, he¡¯d been totally supportive of me, even if it had meant less of my time being focused on him. When I was away completing my degrees at the university with Nightfall, he¡¯d apprenticed with a baker in order to learn how to make my favourite sweet treats.

    And whenever we made love, he¡¯d always put me first. He made me feel things I¡¯d never felt in my old life.

    He was always there for me, but this time I was determined to show him just how strongly I returned his feelings.

    ¡°Emma,¡± he wheezed. ¡°I need you, Emma.¡±

    ¡°I hope you¡¯re not too exhausted after all that walking, Brick. Because I¡¯m going to ride you until you¡¯re out of breath.¡±

    His expression was indescribably addictive.

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter Two - Long Nights

    Five more days of traveling and Brick¡¯s mood had been the lowest I¡¯d ever seen it, but I understood how he was feeling.

    He and Bastion had always been together, and yet Bastion had left him behind with nothing but a letter to say goodbye. I was worried for him too, and I didn¡¯t mind letting Brick use me as a distraction when he really needed one.

    During the day, it was different. Our focus was spent on covering ground and we barely had time to think. During the night we had the wind, the owls and endless silence to think about everything we could have done differently.

    It was all I could do to try to kiss the darkness away when I saw shadows rising in the depths of his eyes and cast Sleep on him to make sure he actually rested.

    It was just a shame that all of this was happening so soon after I¡¯d gotten together with Nightfall. Although they¡¯d known each other as teammates in the past, sharing a girlfriend was a challenge they¡¯d never thought they would encounter, and Nightfall was only seeing Brick¡¯s grouchy orc side.

    I wished Bruiser was here to help me figure out how to make the whole ¡®harem dynamic¡¯ thing work. Of all of us, he was the only one who¡¯d had experience being part of a successful harem.

    I wished Bastion was here instead of hurtling headfirst towards danger once again. I could almost hit Bruiser for leading him away and into danger.

    I stroked Brick¡¯s hair as he desperately clung to me in his sleep. It was as though his subconscious was terrified that I would slip away as well.

    A bird started its early morning song and Brick began to stir.

    ¡°Is it morning?¡± he grunted blearily, still half asleep.

    ¡°Yes, sweetheart,¡± I murmured. ¡°It should be first light soon. Do you want to start packing the tent up?¡±

    He nodded and wrenched himself off his makeshift pillow, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

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    ¡°We better get a move on. If I know Bruiser and Bonaparte, they¡¯ll be early risers as well. I¡¯m not sure if we can make up the ground.¡±

    I caught his cheek with my hand and planted a kiss on his mouth before getting up as well. I didn¡¯t feel like I was getting nearly enough sleep, but peaceful dreams were scarce when I was so worried, and it was impossible to cast Sleep on myself. I hoped things would end soon.

    While Brick started dismantling our tent and rolling it up to fit in our pack, I went to wake Nightfall and Jackal.

    Nightfall was already sitting cross-legged in his bed, dark circles under his eyes. He met me with a grim expression.

    ¡°I trust you are well?¡±

    I could tell his neutral expression was masking a deep hurt. I¡¯d offered to help him sleep with magic, but he had insisted I didn¡¯t, wanting to hear if I needed assistance. Listening in to my nighttime activities in the next tent over probably didn¡¯t help his mood either.

    ¡°Of course,¡± I said. ¡°We should get moving soon.¡±

    I handed him a cinnamon roll out of my bag and he took it grudgingly, chewing while staring at the floor.

    ¡°You know I love you, right?¡± I said, laying my hand on his knee. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t had time to give you much attention with this whole adventure and everything.¡±

    ¡°I am not some kind of puppy who needs constant attention,¡± Nightfall said grumpily. ¡°I do not mind your distraction, which is perfectly understandable given the situation. What I mind, dear heart, is the kind of attention you allow the orc to give you. I fear for your safety every night.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s more respectful than he seems when he¡¯s dragging me away,¡± I said, knowing better than to laugh. Every evening Brick had ended up hauling me off to his tent when the anxiety got too much for him, which I knew wasn¡¯t a promising look. ¡°That¡¯s like¡­ it¡¯s like a game we play. He would stop if I told him to.¡±

    ¡°Stay with me tonight. Please.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ Okay,¡± I promised. ¡°We should wake Jackal up, so he has some time to eat.¡±

    I ruffled his hair with my fingers, and he blinked his eyes open and looked around in confusion before noticing me.

    ¡°Emma?¡± Jackal said, sitting up and focusing on me. ¡°Emma! Are we getting married today?¡±

    ¡°Not today,¡± I laughed, giving him a cinnamon roll as well. His intelligence was only 2/20 and through a couple of miscommunications he believed me to be his girlfriend, that we were going to get married at some unknown date in the future and that this entire huge adventure was actually a date. I¡¯d tried to correct him the first few times, but in the end, it just made life easier to go along with it. So long as he kept his hands to himself, there wasn¡¯t a problem.

    We made hasty work of packing up our belongings and got back on the road. With any luck we would reach the headwaters of the river that separated us from the body of land the necromancers had claimed as their own.

    I only hoped we would not be too late.

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter Three - Dreams

    As promised, I bunked with Nightfall that night. Brick sighed but said nothing and invited Jackal to share his tent to give us some privacy.

    I chewed on my lip in anxiety, thinking of how he had clung to me every night since his brother had left. I knew he was a big, independent orc who could take care of himself, but I also knew how much he needed me, how deeply he was hurting at the moment, and how desperately he clung to me in his sleep.

    It was hard, feeling guilt no matter what I did or who I chose. Nightfall was afraid, too. He was heading directly towards necromancers, the people who had committed genocide against both our races and the reason for the scarcity of dark elves and succubi in the world today.

    I¡¯d always been with Brick, Bruiser and Nightfall separately, but I was having visions of lining up three king size mattresses together just so I could keep an eye on everyone and be certain none of them slipped off in the night to fight random wars. Rather than filling me with excitement, it just made me feel more anxious. But maybe that was because two of our party ¨C well, two and a dire-weasel ¨C were headed towards potential death and the rest of us weren¡¯t that far behind. It made it hard to imagine what our relationship would look like when things were relatively normal.

    ¡°Your thoughts are racing,¡± Nightfall observed.

    I sighed and sat down next to him on the bedroll. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I know I¡¯ve not been with you much and now, even when my body is here, it feels like my thoughts are a million miles away.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I have a lot of thoughts brewing as well,¡± he said and gestured for me to lie down. ¡°It is to be expected on a perilous journey such as this.¡±

    He followed suit, pulling the blanket over my shoulders and spooning me, his arm around my waist.

    ¡°Listen to the water. Let it take your worries away,¡± he whispered. ¡°Danger will find us before long, but you are safe tonight. Nothing will find you here in my arms.¡±

    His velvet tones soothed me, and I listened to the water. We¡¯d reached the area where the lake bled into the river, but it had been too dark to see easily, and we had agreed to make a plan in the morning.

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    The gnomish village we had hoped to seek help from seemed abandoned, but as they were known for laying traps, we had pitched our tents well out of town. We hoped we would be able to find a boat in the morning, but Nightfall had his doubts they would have left any water-worthy vessels if they had abandoned the town due to necromantic threats.

    I turned my head to kiss Nightfall goodnight, and he returned it affectionately. His kisses were sweet, shy and reserved, and so different to Brick¡¯s passionate explorations or Bruiser¡¯s commanding expressions of affection. He always took his time. It felt like he was savouring me, worshiping me in his own way.

    I turned further towards him, running my fingers up his lean chest and resting them against his skin. He was warmer than he was when I met him. His skin used to be pallid and cold to the touch; evidence of the necromantic magic he had been birthed from. But since he¡¯d feasted on my succubus slime, something had irreversibly changed in his body. His heart beat as strong as anyone else¡¯s, his blood pumped around his body, and he maintained heat for the first time in his life. He sometimes even managed a blush, a delicate rose-pink against his alabaster skin.

    I smiled against his lips and tried to deepen the kiss, but he pulled away.

    ¡°Sleep, my angel,¡± he whispered. ¡°We have had many long days and will have many more.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to?¡±

    ¡°I always want you, my dear one. But I want your days to be easy. I will not risk exhausting you when we are on our way to meet our enemies. Sleep, and let me hold you. That is the one privilege I ask tonight.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I sighed, and let out a long breath, feeling my body relax. I was tired. Even though food could replenish energy in this world, nothing felt truly as restful as finding a real bed to sleep in. I nestled against Nightfall, taking comfort in his calming presence and his warmth against my back.

    I let my mind drift away, and Bastion¡¯s image danced in my mind just out of reach. I worried about him even more than Bruiser. Bruiser rarely got himself into trouble he couldn¡¯t handle, but I seemed to be healing Bastion every other day. Trouble had a way of finding him more often than not, especially when we were in town.

    Inevitably he¡¯d end up at the tavern drinking his sorrows away, and he would get in a bar fight every time without fail ¨C whether he started it or someone else found the look of him offensive and decided a fight needed to happen. It¡¯d end the same every time, with Brick shaking his head and settling the bill for damage, and Bastion lying in my lap while I sung him back together with my Healing Song.

    The last time I¡¯d seen him in the Citadel haunted me. The way he¡¯d admitted to me that he didn¡¯t know why he did it. How he wanted to stop. How he hated what it did to Brick, how he hated himself.

    It broke my heart.

    Just one more broken thing in this terrible, broken world.

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter Four - Fish

    We¡¯d searched the gnomish village and the lakeshore with mixed results. Brick had found elf and bear footprints by the headwaters, indicating Bruiser and Bastion had been here recently ¨C we would recognize Bastion¡¯s pointed boot prints anywhere - but the gnomish village had been vacated long ago, with everything covered in a thick layer of dust and no boats to be seen.

    ¡°We need to put our heads together,¡± I muttered, staring out at the slow-moving water. It was wide here but sped up downriver past the waterfall. It was a waterfall we did not want to cross, either.

    ¡°What if we took some doors off the houses? We could make rafts,¡± Nightfall suggested. ¡°Although they might struggle to take Brick¡¯s weight.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this,¡± Brick said, scratching his jaw and staring out across the river with tired eyes. ¡°If Bruiser could cross, maybe I can too.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Brick, Bruiser¡¯s bear form is huge, and is kind of designed for river crossings.¡±

    ¡°Well, we need to do something,¡± Brick grumbled.

    ¡°Could you use your fire spell to evaporate the lake?¡± I asked Nightfall.

    He gave me an amused half-smile in response. ¡°I¡¯m flattered by your faith in my abilities, but there is no way I could gain enough mana to create a fireball that large.¡±

    ¡°I just wish there was a bridge,¡± I muttered, then thought for a second. ¡°What if we filled the river up? We could walk across.¡±

    ¡°With what?¡± Nightfall asked. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine a way that we could manage it in time unless you want to cause a landslide and cross on the north edge of the lake. But that might add another three days to our journey, which we don¡¯t really have to spare.¡±

    ¡°What about fish?¡±

    I knew exactly three spells. I could send anything to sleep. I could talk to animals ¨C something which was so new I hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to try it yet but had hoped would be handy in chatting to Bruiser in bear-form and Bonaparte. And I could produce a fish on demand. When I had chosen that spell, I¡¯d been thinking partially of my stomach and that I would have an unlimited food source to compliment my cinnamon-roll heavy diet, and also of what I¡¯d learned in my animal husbandry course at university - that almost every carnivorous animal could be bribed and/or tamed by giving them fish.

    ¡°You¡¯d have to summon more fish than you have mana for to fill the lake,¡± Nightfall said dubiously.

    ¡°But cinnamon rolls replenish mana, and I¡¯ve got several hundred of them in my bag. It¡¯s worth a try, isn¡¯t it?¡± In this world, food didn¡¯t give you cavities or make you gain weight, but it did replenish your health and mana and occasionally give you a buff to your stats. Cinnamon rolls weren¡¯t exactly powerful, but they did restore mana and they tasted good, so I always wanted a decent supply of them on hand.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got no better ideas, so you¡¯d best get started,¡± Brick said with a grunt.

    I would have asked if Jackal had any input, being half mermaid, but from the ungainly splashing he was currently doing in the lake, it appeared he¡¯d inherited his swimming capabilities off his minotaur father¡¯s side.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s give this a try.¡± I walked to the edge of the lake and rubbed my hands together before holding them out over the water. ¡°Summon: Fish!¡±

    A small silver fish appeared in my hands, wriggling and wet.

    ¡°Bleh!¡± I threw it into the lake, where it slipped under the surface and swam away. ¡°Gross.¡±

    ¡°Your spell is only at Level One. Keep using it and you should be able to increase the size of the fish when you level up,¡± Nightfall advised me. ¡°Try picturing something larger in your mind, like a salmon. When you¡¯ve gotten them to a decent size, we can kill them before we drop them in.¡±

    ¡°This is going to take forever,¡± Brick fretted. ¡°I¡¯m going to check the village again, see if there¡¯s anything else we could use to make a raft.¡±

    I watched him walk away, but then turned back to the task at hand, Nightfall giving me encouraging tips as I practiced my spell.

    ¡°Summon: Fish! Yuk!¡±

    ¡°Hold your hands upside down, then they should just drop into the water.¡±

    I turned my hands over. ¡°Summon: Fish! Hey, you¡¯re right! Thanks. Summon: Fish!¡±

    By about the hundredth fish I was getting exhausted, but my fish were getting larger. I¡¯d managed a salmon, and then a bream. I¡¯d just produced my first trevally when Nightfall urged me to stop and have a break.

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    He passed me a cinnamon roll from my bag, and Jackal appeared by my side with a roast salmon on a stick looking extraordinarily proud of himself.

    ¡°Thanks Jackal,¡± I took it off him and took a bite before handing it back, just to be polite. I was getting rather sick of the smell of fish by now.

    Brick had torn several doors off houses but was still testing their buoyancy.

    I dusted the crumbs off my hands and got back to work, summoning fish after fish until they reached several feet in length.

    The sun was climbing high in the sky when my latest fish slapped water into my face with its tail. I felt about ready to shriek with impatience. I must be almost a thousand fish in, and there was still no way I¡¯d be able to fill up a bridge¡¯s worth of mass. My best hope was going to be getting enough experience together to summon a goddamned whale and ride on its back.

    I glared out at the other side of the lake, which was just close enough to taunt us but far enough away to be out of reach.

    My eyebrow twitched, and I looked over at Brick, hoping he was having more luck. He¡¯d managed to tie a couple doors together and get them stable enough to comfortably hold his weight, but even if we could all fit on it, there was no way we could steer it. We¡¯d likely end up getting swept down towards the waterfall.

    I blinked, looking at the raft again. He still had spare ropes. We just needed a way to steer it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give up, Emma. You¡¯re improving at a fantastic rate.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not giving up. I just¡­ I had an idea.¡±

    I¡¯d been able to summon a number of different fish species and yet I was unsure what exactly constituted a fish. I¡¯d listened to a podcast once that had been titled something like ¡®There¡¯s no such thing as a fish¡¯ due to the sketchy definition of the word and the fact most underwater creatures identified as fish were not really genetically that close. There¡¯s no knowing what this world would accept under the loose definition of the word.

    I closed my eyes and focused on the image I wanted, holding my hands out above the water.

    ¡°Summon: Fish!¡±

    I felt the creature drop, splashing me with water for the nth time and opened my eyes.

    ¡°Wait!¡± I called out before it could swim away.

    The mermaid sat up and looked at me curiously. ¡°Hello?¡±

    She was gorgeous with a bright orange tail like a goldfish and brown, lustrous hair which trailed down her shoulders and covered her bare breasts. She smiled up at me coquettishly.

    ¡°Hi. Uh, would you be able to help us? We need to get our raft to the other side of the lake.¡±

    ¡°I suppose so,¡± the mermaid said, giving me a curious look. ¡°Did you make me?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes. Yes, I did.¡±

    ¡°Do I have a name?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Ariel,¡± I said, the Disney princess coming to mind first.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± the mermaid said, looking around. ¡°Are there any of my kind here? I might need help to pull a raft that big.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make more,¡± I grinned in relief. ¡°Nightfall, can you go over to Brick and ask him to bring the raft over here?¡±

    He didn¡¯t respond, so I turned to him to check he¡¯d been listening, but he was staring at me with his mouth open.

    ¡°Uh, Nightfall?¡±

    ¡°You just¡­ summoned a mermaid?¡± He stared at me in disbelief. ¡°You made sentient life?¡±

    ¡°I guess so,¡± I shrugged, then looked back at the mermaid hesitantly. ¡°This doesn¡¯t make me like¡­ your mother or something, does it?¡±

    ¡°It makes you a goddess, Emma,¡± Nightfall said, stunned. ¡°To create life¡­ real life without the use of necromancy¡­ It¡¯s beyond belief¡­¡±

    ¡°Right, well,¡± I gave an embarrassed laugh. ¡°You best get over it because I¡¯m going to do it a few more times and then we¡¯ll need to catch up with the others, alright?¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted the pressure associated with being seen as a goddess in this world, but this was the closest we had come to a solution and we had to get to Bruiser and Bastion one way or another.

    I raised my hands over the water and summoned several more mermaids, waiting just long enough for the previous one to swim out of the way before producing the next. They asked me for names, but as in the moment all I could think of was ¡®Splashy¡¯ or ¡®Goldfish¡¯, I tasked Ariel with the job and named her leader of this new tribe.

    I may have just sprouted a new group of beings out of my hands, but I was in the business of trying to get across the lake, not come up with their whole lore. I was no Tolkien.

    In my previous life, I¡¯d been an accountant with an annoying boyfriend who couldn¡¯t manage to clean up after himself. In this life, I was a succubus who collected boyfriends and leveled up by flirting with people. This world had plenty of plot holes, so what was the harm in one more?

    If I could figure out how to navigate this world with vague success, I was sure the mermaids could figure it out as well.

    Nightfall was still immobile with shock next to me, so I picked up my bag and tugged him along as we led the mermaids over to Brick and Jackal.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know mermaids lived in this lake!¡± Brick said, meeting me with a relieved grin. ¡°Good find! We¡¯ll be much obliged for your help.¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t live here. Or they didn¡¯t,¡± Nightfall said weakly. ¡°Emma made them.¡±

    Brick raised his eyebrows at me, but then just laughed. ¡°You¡¯re just full of surprises, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    We clamoured atop the raft and handed a couple of leading ropes out to the mermaids. Ariel took command, and the others got in line behind her. They pulled the raft along and we made slow but steady progress across the lake, touching ground within the hour.

    I thanked the mermaids for their service, and they thanked me for their existence before slipping under the water and disappearing into the depths.

    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you did that,¡± Nightfall said numbly.

    ¡°You¡¯d best keep that ability quiet until the necromancers have been dealt with,¡± Brick added grimly. ¡°It could be dangerous for you if they learned how powerful you really are. Your ideas are dangerous. In the hands of a necromancer, that kind of creativity would be immeasurably deadly.¡±

    ¡°If you made the mermaids, did you make me?¡± Jackal asked, looking at me with puppy dog eyes. ¡°I¡¯m part mermaid, but I only got the top half and the scream.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about it, Jackal,¡± Nightfall said darkly. ¡°No one is to know she did that.¡±

    ¡°Did what?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just get moving,¡± I interrupted them before it could turn into a fight. I figured Jackal would probably forget it before long anyway, if we just moved long. I didn¡¯t know if it was his mermaid-minotaur heritage or just his low intelligence stats, but he had the memory of a goldfish. ¡°We should cover some ground before it gets dark.¡±

    Brick grunted his approval, and we took off again, this time on the most treacherous part of our journey.

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter Five - Rest

    We put a decent amount of distance between ourselves and the lake over rolling hills that led towards a forest. It was difficult to tell exactly where we should aim for, but Brick had said that any ground we covered wouldn¡¯t be wasted. We could figure out our entry point when we reached the forest border.

    It would have been a lot easier if we¡¯d had Bonaparte to scout ahead, and I found myself missing the dire-weasel despite not knowing him as well as the rest of the group. Now that I had the ability to speak to animals, I wondered what his voice would sound like. Would Bruiser¡¯s voice in his bear form differ from his human one?

    I missed Bruiser as well. If he was here, I¡¯d be riding on his back rather than torturing my poor feet to catch up to him. When I laid eyes on him again, he would be getting a severe telling off for leaving me behind.

    I set my eyes on the forest and kept walking, determined not to slow the group down. Brick and Jackal seemed to have an infinite amount of energy and could keep up their quick pace all day with no trouble. Nightfall was nimble on his feet, but matched my steps, taking his vow to stay by my side quite literally.

    ¡°Do you need to stop and rest?¡± Nightfall asked, concern painted across his delicate features. His elegance only made me more aware of how sweaty and exhausted I was feeling.

    ¡°No. I mean, my energy is getting a bit low again, but I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll just eat as I walk. We don¡¯t have time to stop.¡±

    ¡°Do not push yourself beyond your limits,¡± he said sternly. ¡°We will reach the edge of the forest tonight regardless, but we will not enter tonight. We will need to scout for footprints and try to see if we can find their trail. Such business should occur in the morning, not in fading light.¡±

    ¡°I suppose,¡± I sighed. ¡°I just feel bad holding everyone up.¡±

    Nightfall set his mouth in a firm line. ¡°We are in this together, Emma. We go at your pace or not at all. Wait here.¡±

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    He strode forward with his long legs and pulled Brick and Jackal to a halt. They looked back at me with concerned expressions, and I burned with shame. No matter what Nightfall said, I didn¡¯t want to delay our rescue mission. We had no idea what Bastion and Bruiser were going to be facing without us.

    Jackal jogged back to me, with the other two close behind.

    ¡°You need a rest, Emma?¡± Jackal asked, looking at me like a puppy dog who just wanted to get pats. ¡°I will stay and rest with you. We can eat those rolls you like!¡±

    I was about to decline when Brick cut in. ¡°Stay and rest your feet. I¡¯ll go ahead and set up camp. You can take as much time as you need.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ okay,¡± I sighed. ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°Are your feet sore?¡± Nightfall asked, gesturing for me to sit. ¡°Let me have a look at them.¡±

    I sat and took out a plate of cinnamon rolls, handing one to Jackal and starting on another myself while Nightfall took off my sandals and massaged my feet.

    I hummed in appreciation. While I could deal with any blisters or other minor injuries with a few lines of my Healing Song, nothing could quite match a good foot rub.

    When he was finished with one foot, he took the other in his grasp, examining it as he pressed his thumbs deep into the muscle and rubbing in soothing circles.

    ¡°Are your feet sore?¡± Jackal asked, cocking his head at me curiously, like he was trying to figure out a particularly difficult puzzle.

    I felt bad for him. When I¡¯d been 5/20 Intelligence, I¡¯d felt at times like I was trying to think through a foggy haze of vague ideas. Now that I¡¯d finished my degrees and raised my stats, I still felt like the same person, but like my thoughts were sharper. Faster.

    Jackal seemed to have a rough time with the most basic mental challenges, and it was all down to the ridiculous way this world was set up.

    ¡°Just a little,¡± I answered him patiently. ¡°They feel a lot better now. I¡¯m just not used to walking so far.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± he said, then stood and crouched in front of me. ¡°I¡¯ll carry you the rest of the way.¡±

    ¡°What? No, you don¡¯t need to do that. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I looked to Nightfall for guidance. I still wasn¡¯t used to Jackal¡¯s abruptness, but they had been on a team together for a long time.

    ¡°I can take it, it¡¯s okay,¡± Jackal said.

    ¡°He¡¯s half minotaur, he definitely can take it,¡± Nightfall said, picking up my satchel. ¡°You might as well use his services while they¡¯re on offer and save your feet for tomorrow. I¡¯ll take this.¡±

    Jackal gestured again for me to climb aboard, and I blushed, but put my arms around his neck and let him grasp my thighs, hoisting me up onto his broad back.

    ¡°Light as a feather,¡± he grinned at me with a sideways look and set off at a much faster pace than I had managed before, with me bobbing along to the rhythm of his gait.

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter Six - Sleep

    When we arrived at camp, Brick had set up the two tents and a campfire. I summoned some salmon, and he set them up on sticks to roast, then pulled me onto his knee and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯ve been pushing you too hard. I forget sometimes how little you are,¡± he murmured into my ear. ¡°I¡¯ll make it up to you, I swear.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m worried about Bastion too. I don¡¯t want to delay any more than you do.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean things should be unnecessarily hard for you, though,¡± he said, kissing my cheek for emphasis. ¡°Nightfall was right. I¡¯ve been stuck in my head so much I¡¯ve forgotten about what this must be like for you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡±

    ¡°It is, Emma,¡± his voice was tired. ¡°I¡¯m not used to this. The soft things. I¡¯m a warrior, and the life I¡¯ve led before I met you has been largely fighting, sleeping rough, and trying to do my best to keep Bastion out of trouble and prove I¡¯m more than just brawn despite the fact every job I¡¯ve ever taken has relied on me being exactly that.¡±

    ¡°Brick¡­¡± I placed my hand on his arm, trying to offer him some comfort, but he shook his head.

    ¡°Please, Emma. Listen. I know you see me as more than that, but¡­ I¡¯ve taken you for granted. I never thought anyone would love me the way you love me. I never thought I could have anything like this. I never knew I liked to bake before I met you. You¡¯ve opened my eyes to what life can be, and yet¡­ it¡¯s not all about me. I love you, Emma, and that means putting you first. I haven¡¯t made things easy for you, the way I¡¯ve been focused on this mission and the way I¡¯ve treated Nightfall when I know you love him. I apologize if my actions have caused you concern.¡±

    I chewed on my lip, not sure what to say to that.

    ¡°I had a lot to think about last night, when my only company was Jackal¡¯s snores. I have arranged things differently tonight. I hope it will put you at ease.¡±

    He lifted me off his knee and fetched the fish, which were cooked through. He handed one to me and called out to Jackal and Nightfall to come back. Jackal emerged from his tent, and Nightfall from the forest where he had been gathering a few more logs for the fire.

    We ate together companionably, and I felt like there was less tension between Brick and Nightfall. I wondered what else they¡¯d said while I was out of earshot.

    When we finished our fish, we threw the sticks into the fire and Brick instructed Jackal to put the remnants of the fire out when it burned down to embers. Then he took my hand and led me into his tent, with Nightfall following us close behind.

    I turned to look at him questioningly, but his dark waterfall of hair covered his face as he stooped to fit inside the tent. I looked at Brick instead but noticed behind him he¡¯d rolled out three bedrolls side by side to line the floor of the tent.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked.

    ¡°You were worried when you were with me because Nightfall was worried. Then Nightfall said you were worried because of me again last night. I did you a disservice,¡± Brick said. ¡°And now I am making amends.¡±

    I sat down on the middle roll and blushed. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m ready for¡­ uh¡­¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nightfall said hurriedly. ¡°We need to sleep tonight. We have the final stretch of our journey ahead of us in the morning. We just want to ease your worries and help you sleep well.¡±

    ¡°What he said,¡± Brick grunted. ¡°You have worries enough. We don¡¯t need to be among them.¡±

    ¡°And you don¡¯t mind sharing a tent?¡±

    Brick laughed. ¡°We¡¯ve slept in tighter spots than this in the past. Come, lie down, and have a rest. I¡¯ll tell you about the time we had to sleep in a cave on our way to a barrow wight¡¯s lair.¡±

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    ¡°Alright,¡± I said, taking off my belt and laying my short sword along the edge of the tent. ¡°But if you want me to have sweet dreams, you¡¯d best keep the details of the barrow wight to yourself. I¡¯m not a fan of skeletons and ghosts.¡±

    His tale soothed my nerves, and I nestled down next to him. Then Nightfall lay down in front of me and I draped my arm over him. Brick drew lazy designs on my arm with his finger, caressing me gently as he spoke.

    ¡°¡­then Bruiser rolled over and accidentally shoved Bastion out the cave opening. He was lucky he woke up in time to grab hold of the ledge or we would have lost him then and there. By the time he scrambled back in, he was soaking wet from the rain¡­¡±

    Brick chuckled at his own story, caught up in the memory for a moment.

    ¡°He¡¯s gotten himself in trouble so often, but I¡¯ve never been so worried about him as I am now,¡± Brick admitted. ¡°What he wrote in that letter¡­ and necromancers. I can¡¯t imagine anything worse.¡±

    I rolled over slightly until I could see his face.

    ¡°We¡¯ll catch up to him, and we¡¯ll save him,¡± I vowed. ¡°I promise.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know if it was a promise I could keep, but I had to hope. We all needed hope.

    Brick hovered over me, and I felt my heart swell. He traced his fingers up my arm and caressed my cheek gently before lowering his mouth to meet mine in a gentle, loving kiss. His mouth slanted across mine as he deepened the kiss, still moving slowly but full of adoration and devotion. But just as I was beginning to feel the stirring of passion rising in my body, he pulled away.

    ¡°I love you, Emma. Sleep well.¡±

    I blushed again, realizing I¡¯d just been losing myself with him right in front of Nightfall. I looked over at the dark elf, almost afraid of his reaction, but he was watching me with warm, affectionate eyes.

    ¡°I can see you are concerned, but you needn¡¯t be. It puts me at ease to see you like this,¡± Nightfall explained. ¡°I had not imagined an orc could be so gentle, but perhaps I am guilty of stereotyping him the same way my own race has been. I was wrong to think the worst of him.¡±

    ¡°Well, to be fair, you¡¯ve probably seen him cracking skulls more often than kissing maidens,¡± I said, and he offered a rare smile.

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± he said, then lay down again, pressing his body close against mine. ¡°Sleep, my Emma. All is well tonight.¡±

    I breathed out, relieved, and let sleep take me. It was easy, feeling so closed in and safe surrounded by their accepting embrace.

    My dreams were calmer that night, although I still saw Bastion and Bruiser dancing through the fog, just out of sight. I felt myself call out to them, begging for them to wait, but I felt Brick¡¯s grasp on my waist, keeping me tethered to reality and my dreams faded back into a peaceful nothingness.

    I woke early, my bladder demanding to be dealt with, so I slipped carefully out of bed and crept towards the forest to find a place to relieve myself.

    On my way back to the tent, I heard Nightfall give out the least dignified yelp he¡¯d ever uttered, followed by a grunt from Brick. I slipped back in through the tent¡¯s entrance and saw Nightfall pressed up against one wall of the tent and Brick on the opposite side, rubbing his jaw.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked, looking between them. ¡°I just stepped out to go to the bathroom.¡±

    ¡°He¡­ he molested me,¡± Nightfall said accusingly, straightening his sleep-ruffled clothing and trying to regain some composure.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you had left,¡± Brick shrugged. ¡°I thought it was you.¡±

    I burst out laughing at the image. Brick pulling Nightfall in for a wake-up smooch and getting decked in the face for his trouble.

    Brick relaxed at my laughter, joining it with his own chuckle. ¡°Sorry, Nightfall.¡±

    Nightfall shook his head and straightened his shoulders. ¡°Just don¡¯t do it again.¡±

    Brick grinned at him. ¡°This story¡¯ll beat the cave one for sure.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not telling Bastion about this,¡± Nightfall bristled. ¡°I can admit it¡¯s a little funny, but you are not telling him, or I¡¯ll kill him myself when we find him.¡±

    ¡°Well, that would put a bit of a damper on our rescue mission,¡± I frowned. ¡°Do you guys not get along?¡±

    ¡°He is handy enough on a mission to fill out the numbers,¡± Nightfall wrinkled his nose. ¡°But he is a disgrace of an elf, carrying on the way he does in bars.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± my jaw dropped. I¡¯d picked up on a little animosity between them, but nothing I thought was a huge deal. Part of me had thought it was just the same generalized disdain and discomfort Nightfall had for almost everyone and everything in this world. A feeling I could relate to when it was directed at the badly designed world we were inhabiting, but not when it was focused on my friends.

    ¡°They¡¯ve got an old rivalry, Emma. Don¡¯t let it concern you,¡± Brick said, scooching over and laying a hand on my shoulder. ¡°He thinks Bastion¡¯s too rough around the edges, Bastion thinks he¡¯s too dark and miserable. All wood elves and dark elves are like this ¨C and both races also hate the high elves for being narcissistic misanthropes.¡±

    ¡°Is that true?¡± I asked Nightfall.

    He bristled under my stare. ¡°Perhaps my dislike of him stems from¡­ habit. But he is important to you. My threat was a turn of phrase, nothing more. I will endeavor to show him more¡­ kinship, but I would still prefer my embarrassment to not be used for his amusement.¡±

    Brick sighed. ¡°Fair enough. If you can compromise your habits, I can change my own. For Emma.¡±

    ¡°For Emma,¡± Nightfall nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Look at you, getting along and all,¡± I smiled. ¡°Now, we should get up and start looking for tracks. The sun is starting to rise.¡±

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter Seven - Suburbia

    It took us three more days before we reached the edge of the Necromancer Heights and my anxiety for Bastion was growing with every step. We¡¯d found their footprints and were following their trail again. Bruiser¡¯s large paw prints were followed by Bonaparte¡¯s smaller clawed feet, and Bastion¡¯s long gait revealed the quick pace they¡¯d been traveling at.

    My feet fitted perfectly in his steps, and it made my heart ache with fear. What if the ghost of his footprints were the last thing I¡¯d ever see of him? At least Bruiser knew how I felt about him, but Bastion and I had always squabbled like children. I wasn¡¯t sure if he even knew I considered him a friend. He was just so easy to fight with.

    The forest path we were traveling on became darker as the trees grew closer together and vines knotted themselves like cobwebs throughout the branches. Several snapped vines along the path proved they¡¯d strung their way across Bruiser¡¯s path, and I hoped they had slowed them down a little, considering the delay we had already had at the lake. I could imagine him snapping them with his powerful jaws, or perhaps Bastion rushing ahead to slice at them with his sword. Despite being a ranger skilled with a bow, Bastion often pulled his sword and recklessly raced into battle.

    There were so many contradictory things about him. My heart was hurting again, just thinking of him.

    If I laid eyes on him again, I promised myself I¡¯d tell him I liked him. We¡¯d had the one vulnerable discussion where we¡¯d said as much, but he¡¯d been drunk, and I doubted he remembered it. I needed to tell him the truth in the barefaced, sober sun.

    ¡°We¡¯re getting close,¡± Nightfall said grimly. ¡°I can feel it.¡±

    ¡°I hate it here,¡± Brick said, his lip curling.

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry,¡± said Jackal.

    I handed him another cinnamon roll out of my bag without looking at him and kept up my pace. The trees were getting even darker, although there was a shaft of grey light filtering onto the path in the distance. We must be reaching the forest border.

    I kept my eyes on the shaft of light, pushing all thoughts of regret to the side as I focused on my destination. We had only to get out of the forest and follow the footprints until we caught up. Then maybe defeat one or possibly two all-powerful necromancers and figure out how to save the world.

    But first, we had to get to that shaft of light.

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    When we finally approached it, it was almost blinding, and I needed to blink several times to clear my swimming vision. I thought my eyesight had gone funky due to the darkness, but then I realized that I hadn¡¯t gone colour blind and the grass in front of me was actually black.

    Looking up, I saw the grass extended into a large lawn that was neatly clipped. Grey streets and black box-like houses stretched into the distance in a suburban grid, all the way towards the mountains, where several tall black spires jutted out of the ground, casting foreboding shadows on the grim little town. It looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie.

    The silence was only broken by the wind and a clacking, whirring sound, which seemed to be coming closer. I looked around but couldn¡¯t identify the source of the noise.

    ¡°What is this place?¡± I whispered, almost afraid of making too much noise lest I draw attention to myself. My clothes were a fairly muted red, but I felt like they were a scream of colour in this monotone place. Even Nightfall¡¯s dark blue embroidered robes, Brick¡¯s green skin and Jackal¡¯s brown leather seemed like a rainbow of brightness. I had no idea how we were going to get through this place undetected.

    ¡°Necromancer Heights,¡± Brick said grimly. ¡°Come, we should keep moving. We should head for the towers. The city itself is vacant.¡±

    We continued along the path, which turned to neat grey cobblestone lined with tidy black berms. Every house seemed to be almost the same, with only minor alterations and painted with a mixture of identical blacks and greys.

    The clacking, whirring sound I¡¯d heard earlier was closer now, and I jumped as I noticed what looked like a steampunk Roomba creeping across the grass.

    ¡°Is that a robot lawnmower?¡± I asked in disbelief.

    ¡°A gnomish contraption,¡± Nightfall informed me darkly. ¡°This used to be gnomish land before the necromancers came. They were slaughtered and their inventors enslaved and put to work to achieve the necromancers¡¯ dastardly plans.¡±

    I stared at the lawnmower in confusion, but kept walking. This place was totally weird. It felt like a gothic version of a wealthy neighbourhood. I didn¡¯t think it would be out of place if each property had a black-painted speedboat in its driveway. But of course, there were no driveways, just as there were no cars. Just endless pointed roofs and blacked-out windows as far as the eye could see.

    Some old papers blew across the path, and I snatched one up. It was a flyer.

    Necromancer¡¯s Home-Owner¡¯s Association.

    Meeting Friday 5pm sharp.

    Agenda:

    Subdivision Zoning Sector 5B.

    Soundproofing Building Code Requirements for Torture Chambers.

    Noise Control Patrol Roster.

    Screaming restrictions to be moved forwards to 9pm.

    Property Tax Rates to rise 3% next quarter.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be frickin¡¯ kidding me,¡± I muttered.

    ¡°Their depravity knows no bounds,¡± Nightfall said, looking over my shoulder at the flyer.

    I wanted to laugh. It seemed so ridiculous, but so much of this world did. But there was true cruelty behind this idyllic little piece of goth-dom. Real torture, real massacres. It brought to mind how the Nazis had uniforms designed by Hugo Boss and rewards systems for good-Nazi-behaviour.

    Evilness and organization were not a new combination.

    I picked up my pace, determined to get to Bastion and Bruiser as soon as we could.

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter Eight - The Wall

    An obsidian wall towered over us and seemed to be the final obstacle between us and the dark spires that I assumed were the base of the most powerful necromancers. Well, the last necromancers since most of them had seemingly perished in the Necromancer Wars.

    A good reminder not to start wars unless you were also willing to lose them.

    As we closed the distance between us and the wall, it seemed to look even higher, with a large gate that exuded power and ill intent. It curved strangely out at the top, and I wondered again how much of this world had been designed by the AI robot James had been using as his underwriter.

    The university in the Citadel had likewise looked beautiful and artistic, but had made little architectural sense.

    At the foot of the gate, we saw two figures: one large and one slim. My heart leaped into my throat. They were alive!

    ¡°Bastion! Bruiser!¡± I gasped, barreling towards them.

    Brick got there before me, crushing Bastion in a hug with a painful cry of relief before dropping him and leaping onto Bruiser to pound him into the ground. I left the two warriors to their wrestling and approached Bastion. Although my initial reaction had been to run to them, I now felt an overwhelming wave of anxiety.

    We¡¯d been hunting them for days, but they¡¯d left us without so much as a goodbye. And now Bastion was staring at me with an expression that was equal parts grief and dread.

    ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± His words sounded wooden. Defeated.

    ¡°How could you?¡± I felt my lip starting to wobble and I felt dangerously close to crying. ¡°How could you just go like that? Without even saying goodbye¡­¡±

    ¡°You weren¡¯t supposed to come,¡± he shook his head, looking back at the gate in front of us. ¡°This place¡­ It¡¯s too dangerous for you, Emma. You could die.¡±

    ¡°So could you,¡± I sniffed. ¡°What would you do without me here to patch you up again?¡±

    ¡°I never¡­ I never expected to live past this mission,¡± he admitted. ¡°I wanted you to live. You and Brick. I wanted to give you that chance. To live a happy life and be safe.¡±

    ¡°Are we going to get married now?¡± Jackal waltzed up and asked. ¡°Everyone¡¯s together so we can get married now, right?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Bastion looked between us. ¡°Him too? You¡¯re seeing this moron as well now?¡±

    Jackal seemed unaware he was being insulted, distracted as he was.

    ¡°It¡¯s a misunderstanding,¡± I shook my head, ¡°He just¡­ And we haven¡¯t exactly had much time to iron things out, chasing after you as we have been.¡±

    ¡°I never wanted you to chase after me,¡± Bastion said, crossing his arms and glaring at me. ¡°You were supposed to be tucked away safe and sound in the Citadel. You didn¡¯t abandon your intelligence plan for this, did you?¡±

    ¡°Nightfall and I put our heads together, and we figured out an efficient way to get through it faster,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯m not moving on from this. You left without saying anything. You can¡¯t imagine how worried I¡¯ve¡­ we¡¯ve been. You can¡¯t imagine what you did to Brick.¡±

    Bastion gave me a long stare, then shrugged and turned his shoulder on me. ¡°Well, it seems my efforts to keep you safe have been a waste, anyway. We¡¯re at a dead end here.¡±

    Brick had managed to get Bruiser in a headlock, and they were both grunting and growling with exhaustion, but my patience had reached its limit.

    ¡°Brick, that¡¯s enough!¡± I snapped. ¡°Unless you want the necromancers to come out and find we¡¯ve already beaten each other up, you need to stop right now. We need to save our energy.¡±

    Brick dropped Bruiser, who scooted away from him and rubbed his neck.

    ¡°Hey Emma.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®Hey Emma¡¯ me, you asshole,¡± I snapped. ¡°This was all your idea, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Well, me and Bonaparte,¡± Bruiser said, sounding completely unrepentant. ¡°But time was of the essence.¡±

    I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to contain my rage. ¡°You should have come and talked to me first. We need to work together. You need me.¡±

    ¡°I doubt you¡¯re going to get past this gate with your flirting abilities,¡± Bastion sniped. ¡°Or did you think you could ask it nicely to unhinge its latches? It¡¯s the ultimate defense, protected with necromantic magic and guarded by their slaves. There¡¯s no way in.¡±

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    I glowered at him.

    ¡°You want to get past the door?¡± Jackal asked. ¡°Is this the part of the date where we start killing people?¡±

    I gave Bastion a look of exasperation and turned to Jackal, trying to explain as simply as I could what we wanted.

    Yes, we wanted to get through the gate, where yes we might have to kill some people, but those people might be all powerful necromancers and no we weren¡¯t getting married today or at any time in the foreseeable future but no that didn¡¯t mean I was mad at him. I just couldn¡¯t fall for someone who could barely follow a conversation, even if they had rock solid abs.

    Jackal squinted at me, and I was pretty sure he was only taking in every other word.

    I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, wishing his intelligence stats were just a point or two higher. Then I froze, realizing I had something that would do exactly that.

    I fished around in my bag, avoiding the several hundred cinnamon rolls and potions bottles that all somehow fit within its confines, and retrieved my Adorkable Glasses.

    ¡°Jackal, can you put these on?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Is this a wedding gift?¡± he asked, placing them on his face. His happy-go-lucky smile faded a smidge. ¡°Emma? Are we¡­ we¡¯re not getting married today, are we?¡±

    ¡°No, honey,¡± I sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s go over this again.¡±

    I explained the situation to him again, and he listened and frowned.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like these,¡± he said, fingering the glasses. ¡°Things feel¡­ complicated.¡±

    ¡°Things are complicated,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Whether you understand them or not.¡±

    ¡°But you don¡¯t love me, do you?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°I barely know you, Jackal. Give it time and I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be good friends.¡±

    He gave a defeated sigh. ¡°But you still like me, right? You must like me if you want to be friends.¡±

    ¡°You have lots of good qualities,¡± I hedged. ¡°So yeah, I like you as a friend. I just don¡¯t like you as¡­ as more than a friend.¡±

    ¡°But you want to get past that wall? I can use my mermaid shout,¡± he said. ¡°It smashes everything.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll give it a try. Have a look if you can find a weak point to aim it at. If there¡¯s a join in the metal or a gap.¡±

    Jackal gave me a slightly lost look, then nodded and walked off to look at the gate. I watched him go, completely aware that Bastion was still staring at me.

    Nightfall put his hand on my shoulder. ¡°That was good of you, to help him understand. An unwelcome truth is better than a pretty lie.¡±

    I gave the dark elf a pained look. ¡°I just wish I¡¯d thought of the glasses sooner.¡±

    ¡°We should give him some distance in case the whole wall comes down,¡± Bruiser said, gesturing to where Jackal was inspecting the wall.

    I nodded, and we moved back towards the grim suburban houses on the edge of town to watch Jackal do his trick. Like succubi, mermaids had magic woven into their songs, but while they could heal, they tended to prefer using their powers for destruction. I could almost imagine them sending powerful blasts out towards boats, cutting holes in the side of them and watching sailors drown.

    I¡¯d heard wonderful tales in the past of superstitious sailors throwing romance novels in the ocean before a voyage to soothe their moods ¨C and always a volume one, in the hopes they would be spared to toss in the next volume on their next trip. Sure, maybe it was a bit crazy, but if I was a mermaid, it¡¯d be enough to bribe me.

    Jackal found his spot, braced himself, and let out his scream. He sounded like a heavy metal singer, his whole body pushing out the roar as his knees bent and his arms flew back. The vibrations were a visible shimmer, slamming into the wall and sliding across its smooth, curved surface and up into the air. The wall remained unmoved, but Jackal was sagging with exertion.

    I jogged over to him and rubbed his back.

    ¡°Thanks for trying,¡± I said. ¡°It was worth a shot.¡±

    I heard a creak from above us and looked up. A gnome popped its head out of a small window above us and stuck its finger out at us in what could only be the gnomish equivalent of flipping the bird.

    ¡°No way yer gettin¡¯ in here, ya grindin¡¯ losers,¡± he laughed at us and then stuck his tongue out.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± I blinked, surprised and a little repulsed.

    ¡°Necromancer slaves,¡± Bastion sneered. ¡°Sold out their own people to save their own hides. They¡¯re despicable.¡±

    I had an odd moment when I felt like I was Dorothy at the gates of the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz. Jackal was my scarecrow in need of a brain, Nightfall was my tinman who had been in need of a heart¡­ but I didn¡¯t think any of my companions could possibly be considered a cowardly lion.

    I shook my head, trying to rid it of the cluttering thoughts. Perhaps Bastion was wrong, and my flirting could get us past the wall. Success was all based on statistics rather than realistic likelihood. But my charisma was only 18/20 and this might be my one and only chance.

    ¡°Jackal, what¡¯s the buff on your tiara?¡± I asked hurriedly. Back in the Citadel he¡¯d been spending all his cash on stat boosting accessories in order to try and woo a girlfriend.

    ¡°+2 Charisma. Why?¡±

    ¡°Can I have it? Quick?¡±

    ¡°Will you like me less?¡± Jackal asked hesitantly.

    ¡°Of course not,¡± I squeezed his arm. ¡°Please?¡±

    He handed it over and I placed it on my head just as the gnome was finishing another round of raspberries and was about to close the window. With a charisma stat of 20/20 and my Charm, Seduction and Persuasion abilities, I would be guaranteed success no matter what I said, so long as it was flirtatious and he could hear me. It was something I hated the very idea of, that my sexual appeal was powerful enough to override their natural behaviour, but in a situation like this I wasn¡¯t beneath using it to my advantage.

    ¡°Wait!¡± I called out to him in a panic.

    The window opened further, and the gnome poked his head further out to sneer at me. ¡°What¡¯d¡¯ya want?¡±

    ¡°I want you to open the door, you sexy thing!¡± I called. ¡°Can you let me in you¡­ uh¡­ cutie-pie?¡±

    ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± Bastion gave me a disgusted look, but the gnome¡¯s expression went slack.

    ¡°Ok baby,¡± the repulsive creature grinned. ¡°Come up and give papa a smooch!¡±

    I visibly shuddered as Bastion looked at me with distaste. ¡°You really did that. That¡¯s a thing that happened. You flirted your way into Necromancer Heights.¡±

    Cogs started screeching, and the door began to rise slowly, allowing us to see into the grim concrete area beyond.

    ¡°Got us in though,¡± Brick said, clapping me on the shoulder. ¡°Pretty and practical.¡±

    ¡°Just be sure to crack his skull with your axe before he gets close enough to touch me.¡±

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter Nine - James

    Brick slayed the gnome with one sweep of his mighty axe, Ravager, and we were left standing on the other side of the gate with no idea where to go next. Each spire of twisted metal rose at an angle that was far too steep to scale and yet there didn¡¯t appear to be any doors either.

    ¡°Any idea where to go from here?¡± I asked, looking to my companions for guidance.

    ¡°None of us have ever been in Necromancer Heights before,¡± Bruiser said grimly. ¡°Even in the town outside. The most I know is what the birds have told me: in one of these large spires, there is a necromancer base. At least two necromancers are fighting over it, but I do not know where the second necromancer dwells, or even if there are more enemies in wait.¡±

    ¡°Maybe we shouldn¡¯t have killed the gnome,¡± I muttered, looking at his decapitated head in disdain. I could have used my Persuasion ability to get some directions before we killed him.

    ¡°There must be a way in,¡± Nightfall said, looking around. ¡°Even if the necromancers have some kind of ability to fly, their servants would not. There will be more hidden doors.¡±

    ¡°I can try shouting again,¡± Jackal offered. ¡°The wall was impenetrable, but the other doors might not be.¡±

    ¡°Maybe Emma could try flirting her way in,¡± Bastion gave me a petulant look.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome to go back and wait outside if you don¡¯t want to make use of my talents,¡± I snapped at him. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll go up to the guard¡¯s window and blow raspberries at you while you try. I didn¡¯t see you with any better ideas.¡±

    ¡°Emma, please,¡± Brick said, stepping in front of me. ¡°Arguing isn¡¯t going to get us in. If I can hold my tongue with Bruiser, you and Bastion can make a truce until this is over.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± I huffed. ¡°Let¡¯s do Jackal¡¯s idea. We can see if we can find any doors and bust them in.¡±

    ¡°My idea was good?¡± Jackal asked, looking both surprised and delighted.

    ¡°Best idea we¡¯ve got,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Come on, we¡¯ll look for weak points.¡±

    We split into groups of two: Bastion and Brick, Bruiser and Nightfall, and me and Jackal. I ran my fingers over the wall, looking for ridges as Jackal followed close behind.

    ¡°I think maybe I like these,¡± Jackal said, his tone cautious.

    I looked over my shoulder at him. He was fingering his glasses again, adjusting them on the bridge of his nose.

    ¡°The glasses? You can keep them if you want, but if you want a permanent boost, you could go to university.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t read books,¡± Jackal shook his head. ¡°Minotaurs don¡¯t go to school. But I like coming up with plans that work. You must like me better now. If I was smarter, like the others, would you fall in love with me then?¡±

    I turned to him and took a step closer to him, taking his hands in mine. He was still wearing extra rings and a wrist cuff to boost his charisma and it struck me this was something that brought him great pain. Nightfall had told me he was abandoned by both parents, and his adoptive family had perished when one of his destructive shouts had caused their house to collapse on top of them. There was a deep loneliness in his eyes that was heartbreaking.

    ¡°Jackal, you don¡¯t need me to fall in love with you to be my friend. You were a part of this team before I even got here, and that¡¯s not going to change. You don¡¯t have to be smarter or more charismatic or anything else. If you want to improve your stats, it should be for you,¡± I squeezed his fingers. ¡°Now, it¡¯s not a great time to be having this conversation, right as we¡¯re trying to find and murder some necromancers, but if it¡¯s something you want to do, I¡¯ll help you get there. But it¡¯s got to be your decision. If you want to remain the same, that¡¯s fine too.¡±

    ¡°Jackal!¡± Bastion called. ¡°I found a crack!¡±

    Jackal didn¡¯t respond, instead pulling me into a hug. ¡°You¡¯re my friend? We¡¯re friends now?¡±

    ¡°Of course. But you¡¯re crushing me.¡± His intelligence stats may be low, but his strength was through the roof.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he released me immediately. ¡°Let¡¯s go smash a wall?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go smash a wall.¡±

    The rest of us stood back as Jackal prepared himself and screamed at the wall. Unlike the gate, the door into the spire bent and then crumbled under the power of his vibrations, revealing a spiral staircase.

    Bruiser, Brick and Jackal took the lead as the warriors, with Bastion, Nightfall and me trailing close behind.

    ¡°Everything okay?¡± Nightfall asked me quietly as I tried to keep up with his long gait. ¡°I saw what happened with Jackal.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we just cleared up some things. That we¡¯re friends, not lovers,¡± I said. ¡°Conversations that would be great to have during peacetime, not when we¡¯re riding into war, but it was bothering him.¡±

    ¡°It was¡­ good of you to give him those glasses,¡± Bastion added, though he sounded like the compliment was being drawn from him with a pair of pliers against his will. ¡°A lot of people would take advantage of his simplicity.¡±

    I nodded to Bastion, accepting the statement but not knowing how to respond. I knew he¡¯d had trouble with his ex, Lily, and the way she ran her harem. Bastion had fallen for her head over heels and had been heartbroken when he¡¯d realized she only saw him as a bonus-boyfriend, not as a partner. It was why I understood his mistrust of my abilities, because he¡¯d been on the receiving end of them himself and had been crushed as a result.

    I was glad he was at least coming around to the fact I wasn¡¯t Lily.

    I wasn¡¯t going to sleep with Jackal or adopt him into my growing harem just because I could. Sure, he was handsome and he was useful, but I felt like it would be unethical to have a relationship with a guy who couldn¡¯t understand what was going on half the time. He kind of reminded me of Ken from the Barbie movie, a bit of a ¡®himbo¡¯ who needed to find his own identity if he wanted to find true happiness ¨C although if he tried finding it with a musical number, with his talents it¡¯d probably result in a pile of corpses.

    We approached the top of the staircase and positioned ourselves around the door as Jackal shouted it to pieces. Then Bruiser and Brick barreled through while Jackal caught his breath, the rest of us filtering into the large room behind them.

    Bright lights temporarily blinded me, a stark contrast from the grim palette of the town below. When my eyes began to adjust, I realized the room was covered wall-to-wall with large monitors. I blinked several times, clearing my vision. This was the first piece of actual technology I¡¯d seen in this world. Most of the world had a distinctly medieval vibe. Even the gnomish lawnmower thing had looked like some crazy steampunk contraption, but this was modern.

    ¡°Who are you and how did you get past my impenetrable wall?¡± a figure robed in black approached, his pale skinny hands rising threateningly from his sleeves.

    ¡°The necromancer,¡± Nightfall inhaled sharply and took a similar position, small fireballs appearing an inch above his hands.

    I noticed with a start that all of my companions were in their battle stances while I¡¯d been standing around gawping at the screens.

    ¡°Fuck,¡± I swore, looking back at the necromancer, who had paused and was looking at me beneath his hood.

    ¡°That word is not from this world. Who are you? Who sent you?¡± he asked menacingly. ¡°Did Dave bring you here?¡±

    ¡°Dave?¡± I repeated, my eyebrows lifting in surprise. That was about the least fantasy name I could think of. I narrowed my eyes, trying to see his face beneath his hood, but it was cast in shadows.

    ¡°Fuck it,¡± I muttered, pushing to the front of my group and directed all the Charm I could possess at the necromancer. ¡°Hey hot stuff, lower your hood and show me your pretty face.¡±

    I felt my pheromone pores activate like a plug-in air freshener and watched as the necromancer¡¯s hands shook and lifted to his hood.

    ¡°Wh-what¡¯s happening?¡± His voice was tinged with fear as he lowered his hood and my jaw dropped.

    ¡°James?¡± I gasped. ¡°You¡¯re the necromancer?¡±

    ¡°E-Emma?¡± James hesitated. ¡°Is that you?¡±

    A white-hot rage took over my body as I stared at him up here in this tower like the godforsaken Wizard of Oz, pulling his strings behind his impenetrable-wall-curtain. All the terrible things I¡¯d been imagining doing to him since I fell into this world, into this ridiculous body, welled up within me and I just wanted to throw something at him.

    I shoved my hand in my bag and pulled out the first thing that I reached, and pelted him with it, then another and another. The cinnamon rolls splatted against his body, one hitting him in the eye.

    ¡°Ow!¡± He swatted at them. ¡°Emma! Stop! Ouch! That¡¯s annoying! Ack! That one hurt!¡±

    ¡°You!¡± I yelled, throwing another roll between every word. ¡°You! Asshole! I! Hate! You! You! Are! So! Dumped! You! Total! Loser!¡±

    ¡°This is the necromancer?¡± Nightfall said, his hands having fallen to his sides. ¡°And the creator of our world? This is the one who made me?¡±

    The reminder that James had made my favourite things in this world as well took some of the anger out of me and I paused my cinnamon barrage.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing, James?¡± I demanded. ¡°What the hell is this place?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t come here on purpose then? I thought you would have found my letter, the one I left in case I didn¡¯t make it back this time.¡±

    ¡°Is he the necromancer or not?¡± Bruiser asked, glowering. ¡°I came here seeking revenge, but this is not what I thought I would find.¡±

    ¡°Who are these guys?¡± James said, looking at the line-up behind me. ¡°Did you make an army of NPCs to get past the wall? Smart. Where did you find them?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re her boyfriends,¡± Brick said grimly, taking a step towards him as he heaved his axe menacingly. ¡°Well, most of us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s the half-orc! Brick, that¡¯s right! And that must be his half-brother, the elf,¡± James said, running his eyes over my companions with interest, before snapping back to me. ¡°Wait, what does he mean by boyfriends?¡±

    ¡°Well, you made me a succubus, so I did what succubi do and built a harem,¡± I said defensively. ¡°I¡¯m just following the stupid sexist rules of this stupid sexist place you¡¯ve built.¡±

    ¡°You? Oh¡­¡± his eyes widened, looking me over with more trepidation. ¡°Emma, I¡¯m so sorry, but this¡­ uh¡­ Whatever you think this place is, it¡¯s not. I don¡¯t have as much control over it as you probably think I do.¡±

    I narrowed my eyes at him. ¡°Then start explaining.¡±

    ¡°Right, well¡­ uh, this world is kind of the fanfiction world I¡¯ve been writing in since I was twelve.¡±

    ¡°Explains why a lot of it¡¯s stupid as hell. Continue.¡±

    ¡°Right, well, you remember Dave from my AI modeling class?¡± he hesitated.

    I wracked my brain until the name connected. ¡°The guy that died?¡±

    ¡°Well, he¡¯s not dead. He built the AI model this place is generated from, and it used my source material. All my sketches and notes and fanfics and whatever. I didn¡¯t realize it would make something this immersive, make people real, I thought it¡¯d just be like¡­ like a game,¡± he said, his eyes dancing again over the characters behind me who had been borne from this accident. ¡°We found a way to build bodies for ourselves here. It scanned us and gave us versions of ourselves that fit with what our stats would be, but Dave¡­ he wanted to unlock a Godmode so he could rule this world, debug it and make it fit his ideas. He wanted to rule it. He hacked his stats and maxed everything to 20/20. It¡­ the change drove him mad, and he¡¯s now the biggest threat to this world. If he gets back into this room, he¡¯ll have access to the computer and will be able to do whatever he wants. I¡¯ve been trying to fix things, but I just don¡¯t know how.¡±

    I crossed my arms, disgusted at how he was cowering under the very idea of Dave returning.

    ¡°Figures,¡± I said grimly. ¡°You never did learn how to clean up your own messes.

    ¡°How did you get in, Emma? Could Dave follow you?¡± James asked desperately.

    ¡°Well, yeah probably,¡± I shrugged. ¡°We left the gate open and smashed your doors down, so I don¡¯t imagine it¡¯ll be hard.¡±

    ¡°So, are we killing this Dave guy now and not James?¡± Bruiser asked.

    But James had snatched up the laptop and was clutching it against his chest. ¡°He can¡¯t get this!¡±

    I walked over to him and held my hands out. ¡°Give it here.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡­¡± he seemed to be struggling against his will to keep it crushed to his chest. Apparently, my Persuasion ability itself wasn¡¯t strong enough to convince him, but my Seduction skills were way higher, so I tried again.

    ¡°Hey, sexy legs, gimme the laptop.¡±

    He whimpered as he handed it over. I slid it into my bag, and it disappeared from sight into my limitless inventory.

    ¡°What did you do?¡± James asked, horrified. ¡°What did you do? It was like with my hood, I couldn¡¯t control myself.¡±

    ¡°That,¡± I said sharply, ¡°is one of the many messed up things about this world we need to talk about. Seduction powers? Charm pheromones? I¡¯m going to buy you a book on free will and ethics and force feed you every single page, you asshole.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s kind of an ironic threat,¡± James hedged, backing up as I advanced on him until he bumped into his chair and stumbled.

    ¡°And while I¡¯m at it, would you like to explain to me what the hell you were thinking when you wrote succubus slime into this world?¡±

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    ¡°Succubus¡­ slime¡­?¡±

    I snarled at him, and he fell backwards into his chair. ¡°How it¡¯s made? Or is that one of the stupid ideas you came up with when you were a teenager and didn¡¯t think twice about before handing it over to an AI engine to make into your kinky little game?¡±

    He responded to my fury with such honest confusion that my anger started to lose its heat.

    ¡°I¡­ let me look it up,¡± he turned and typed ¡®succubus slime¡¯ into his keyboard, and a file popped up on the screen in front of him.

    SUCCUBUS SLIME ¨C A mysterious slime produced by succubus that can heal any wound. Incredibly rare and valuable in apothecaries.

    ¡°This it?¡± James asked me, turning to look at me. ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±

    I stared at him in disbelief. ¡°You really don¡¯t know? How it¡¯s harvested?¡±

    He stared at me uncomprehendingly, so I waved my hand in the general area of my groin.

    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ oh! Oh!¡±

    ¡°Yes, ¡®oh!¡¯ You know how demeaning it is? You know how awkward it is to save someone¡¯s life in a dungeon if you happen to run out of a bottled supply? You know how dangerous it would be if it was public knowledge, how that could be abused?¡±

    ¡°Oh, shit,¡± James paled. ¡°I¡­ look, the descriptions are what I wrote, but¡­ the AI would have just looked for a¡­ um¡­ feasible fluid and attributed that. It could have just as easily been spit or sweat. I honestly never thought any of this through because I never expected it to be real. I¡¯ll fix it now¡­¡±

    He turned around and started tapping on his keyboard.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked, alarmed.

    ¡°I just deleted it. No more slime.¡±

    He had the gall to look pleased with himself.

    ¡°You what?¡±

    ¡°All the slime in the world, gone.¡±

    I hurriedly looked into my bag, noticing the empty space where my supply of potion bottles had disappeared.

    ¡°You¡­ you fucking moron!¡±

    I leaped on him, tipping him out of his chair and wrapping my hands around his throat.

    ¡°Emma! What?¡± he croaked.

    ¡°You seriously just deleted the fastest way I¡¯ve got to heal people right as we¡¯re about to face down a necromancer? Not to mention you just¡­ you made me dry, you asshole! And you just made that decision about altering my body without even asking!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he spluttered, his hands pulling at mine. ¡°I¡¯ll fix it! I¡¯ll put it back!¡±

    I slammed him against the ground one more time angrily before getting off him. ¡°You better fix it!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll take a while. It¡¯s not like just clicking Control-Z,¡± he muttered, rubbing his neck. ¡°And for the record, I never made you a succubus, okay? If you weren¡¯t scanned in and given a body based on your real self, you would have just¡­ uh¡­ landed in a spare character that hadn¡¯t been spawned yet.¡±

    I glared at him.

    ¡°So, who else have you got with you?¡± James asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know faces; those were all the AI. I just know the stories behind the names, although some of them were just patchy notes.¡±

    ¡°Bruiser, Nightfall and Jackal,¡± I said. ¡°Anything prudent I should know about them?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you found Jackal?¡± James eyed him warily, but I punched his shoulder, and he got back to his typing. ¡°He¡¯s a bit dangerous. Stupid, too. Doesn¡¯t know his own strength. I wrote him as kind of a joke, but he¡¯s accident prone and ends up smashing stuff a lot. People possibly included.¡±

    I narrowed my eyes at him. ¡°You mean to say you killed his adoptive parents as a joke? You¡¯ve made him suffer all this time to be some punchline to make you giggle?¡±

    James winced. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that specifically would happen. He was a character sheet I drew. I never wrote him a story. Look.¡±

    He typed in his name and pulled up an image of a muscular man with long hair. It looked like a child¡¯s drawing, with a few notes around the edges, but that was it.

    ¡°The AI took this and fleshed it out,¡± he explained. ¡°Filled in the gaps. Same as with the slime and everything else. If I¡¯d known it would result in real people, I never would have let it go live. I promise I didn¡¯t mean for this to happen.¡±

    ¡°All of that stuff that happened to him,¡± I frowned. ¡°That¡¯s because you put the words ¡®accident prone¡¯ on that piece of paper?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably why his intelligence stats are low, too. I never filled those in. But what would make a person accident prone? Being stupid.¡±

    ¡°Stop calling him stupid,¡± I snapped. ¡°He¡¯s not the one who caused this mess.¡±

    James wilted. ¡°Fair¡­ I just don¡¯t want you to get hurt by him. I could take it out?¡±

    I nodded, and he deleted the offending words.

    ¡°It is dangerous messing with people¡¯s base stats, so I can¡¯t change those. After seeing what it did to Dave¡­¡±

    ¡°What did happen with Dave?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well, you can¡¯t have a person with abs without that person being a person who likes to work out, right? Giving someone 20/20 Strength kind of messes with their code, makes them the kind of person who would fit those stats. And when he maxed out every stat he had, it kind of turned him into a megalomaniac. No one could beat him unless they had like, 21/20 Strength which is just impossible. He¡¯s unbeatable. He¡¯s got armour that makes him immune to magic and every kind of attack I could possibly think of. I¡¯ve been trying to hack a gun that would get past his defenses and just kill him straight away ¨C a plasma rifle ¨C but it¡¯s not ready yet.¡±

    ¡°A plasma rifle! Are you serious? You think adding plasma rifles to this messed up world is going to solve anything?¡±

    ¡°I have to use some kind of force that isn¡¯t known in this world, otherwise it won¡¯t get through his defenses! I don¡¯t know what else to try!¡±

    ¡°What about accessories?¡± I asked, pointing at my tiara. ¡°Can accessories push you over your max stat?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± James said thoughtfully. ¡°I mean, I could try build some armour that would push my Strength stat up, but that kind of thing takes a while, especially if I want to make an exclusive item that he can¡¯t replicate. I don¡¯t think we have enough time for that. If you were blasting down doors, we might only have minutes.¡±

    ¡°Can you¡­ look me up?¡± Bastion asked, appearing at my side so quickly it made me jump.

    James looked at him in surprise, like he had forgotten he existed.

    ¡°Uh, sure,¡± James said, giving me a sidelong look. ¡°If Emma doesn¡¯t mind a slight delay on the whole slime issue.¡±

    ¡°Do it, James,¡± I snapped. ¡°It¡¯ll only take a minute, and you owe him. You owe all of them for all the shit you¡¯ve put them through.¡±

    James typed in Bastion¡¯s name and his profile came up. This one was a lot more fleshed out than Jackals, with character notes and a family tree.

    ¡°Half-brother?¡± I inhaled sharply. ¡°You mean Brick¡¯s not actually adopted?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Brick thundered to my side, slamming his hands down on the console.

    ¡°So, you didn¡¯t know? Yeah, uh, well¡­ Bastion¡¯s mother died in childbirth, and then Septimius ¨C their dad ¨C got drunk this one time and slept with Brick¡¯s mother. An orc who was on his team. But that¡¯s kind of embarrassing for an elf, I suppose. Look, I wrote this a long time ago.¡±

    ¡°Were you stealing plots from daytime soap operas?¡± I asked dubiously.

    ¡°You¡¯re really my brother!¡± Brick gasped, tears shining in his eyes as he scooped Bastion into a hug.

    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m happy too, but put me down!¡±

    I went back to reading his profile. ¡°You actually wrote the whole thing with him and Lily? Oh my God, James! You made him a heartbroken alcoholic! No bloody wonder he can¡¯t kick the habit. You¡¯ve written it into the core of his character!¡±

    ¡°He what-now?¡± Bastion pulled himself out of Brick¡¯s grasp and stared wide-eyed at the words. ¡°I¡¯m meant to be a depressed alcoholic?¡±

    The description notes were right there: Alcoholic, gets in bar fights in every town, heartbroken over Lily.

    ¡°It was meant to be drama. Entertainment. Like¡­ like in those old Western movies, bar fights always end up starting adventures. It was supposed to just be a bit of fun. It wasn¡¯t meant to be real.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m this messed up because of you?¡± Bastion said bitterly, drawing his sword from his belt. Brick grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hauled him backwards and I held out my hands soothingly.

    ¡°We can¡¯t kill him, brother,¡± Brick said. ¡°Not yet anyway. We need him to fix things on this machine first.¡±

    ¡°I hate you!¡± Bastion shrieked. ¡°You ruined my life!¡±

    He struggled against Brick¡¯s grip, but Brick was well experienced in holding him back. Changing tactics, he reached into my bag and grabbed my cinnamon rolls, flinging them at James with impressive aim.

    ¡°Ow! I can¡¯t fix anything when you¡¯re doing that!¡± James yelped, covering his face with his arms.

    I let Bastion throw a few more just because I knew how therapeutic throwing stuff at James could be, before pulling myself out of reach and stepping over one of many cinnamon rolls which now littered the floor.

    ¡°First of all, you can edit that to recovered alcoholic, thank you very much,¡± I pointed at the note. ¡°And occasionally gets into bar fights. Unless you can just delete it?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s already been generated, so I don¡¯t think I can take that part of his personality away without causing some kind of damage. It¡¯s kind of different to removing ¡®accident prone¡¯ which is more of a status than a personality thing. You can¡¯t delete the past without consequences. But adding recovered should be okay. What about the heartbroken thing?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t mess with people¡¯s hearts,¡± I said firmly. ¡°Especially not when we¡¯re in a hurry. This isn¡¯t over though; Bastion needs to be able to make those decisions for himself not because someone¡¯s been using seduction powers on him or because someone felt like writing some crap into his backstory that didn¡¯t need to be there.¡±

    ¡°Em, when Brick said they¡¯re your boyfriends¡­¡± he trailed off, unable to finish the question under the heat of my glare.

    ¡°Get back to work.¡±

    ¡°I just want to know¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business, James. You¡¯re not my boyfriend anymore. As far as I¡¯m concerned, the second I dropped into this world, we were over. I can¡¯t believe you did this.¡± I clenched my fists, holding back the desire to scream. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you kept this from me! You were working on this for months.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ sorry,¡± James said, averting his eyes. ¡°I was embarrassed, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Get back to work on putting my slime back where it belongs. And no changes to what it was without my permission. I want it exactly as it was before,¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°It¡¯ll be predictable, at least.¡±

    As James started typing, a clanking noise came from the stairwell.

    ¡°Shit! He¡¯s coming!¡± James hissed. ¡°Keep your bag out of sight.¡±

    ¡°Hiding it would just be suspicious,¡± I hissed. ¡°Brick, Bruiser, guard him so he can finish his work. Jackal, can I have any more of your Charisma boosting accessories?¡±

    Jackal handed over a golden cuff, and I shoved it on my arm, closing my eyes for a moment to check my stats. Other than the Adorkable Glasses I¡¯d given to Jackal, which only affected Intelligence, the Charisma accessories were the only hope I had of beating Dave at any of his stats.

    Mitsy

    Race: Succubus

    Class: Healer

    Level Nine

    Health: 1200

    Mana: 1200

    Race: Succubus

    Abilities: Healing Song, Succubus Slime, Persuasion, Seduction, Charm, Animal Taming, Mapmaking

    Magic Abilities: Sleep LVL 5, Animal Speech LVL 1, Summon: Fish LVL 73.

    Intelligence: 20

    Charisma: 18 (+4 = 22)

    Stamina: 15

    Strength: 5

    Magic: 16

    Dexterity: 15

    Accessories: Elven Tiara +2 Charisma, Gilded Cuff +2 Charisma

    Degrees: Healing, Potions, Animal Husbandry, Architecture, Cartography, Elemental Magic

    Unless I could put him to sleep or summon a mermaid to slap him, flirting was going to be my best chance.

    The clanking grew louder, and a man dressed head to toe in golden armour burst through the doors, flicking his visor open to look wildly around the room until he found James.

    ¡°I have you now, you bastard,¡± Dave growled. ¡°You honestly didn¡¯t think you could keep me out of here for long, did you? I told you, in this world I am a god! Now hand over the laptop and I may spare your worthless life.¡±

    ¡°Shit, you really are like a cartoon villain.¡±

    Dave turned his stare at me, as though I¡¯d been beneath his notice before.

    ¡°And who are you? That is not a Fantasy Dungeons swear word. You must be from the real world,¡± he stalked up to me. ¡°Who has he brought here to aid him, I wonder? Alice, perhaps?¡±

    I suddenly remembered I should be flirting with him and forced my expression from dubious to neutral. The ridiculousness of the situation had distracted me, but there was a lot on the line. I had to focus.

    ¡°My name¡¯s Emma. I suppose you must be Dave, handsome?¡± I said, activating my pheromone pores again. ¡°That¡¯s nice armour you¡¯ve got there. Care to tell me about it?¡±

    His expression shifted as my Charm and Seduction abilities took effect. I saw Persuasion working on him too, bringing the words up out of his mouth as though they were being forced, which I suppose they were.

    ¡°It makes me immune from spells, projectiles and melee attacks,¡± he said, but then he shifted again, backing up in alarm. ¡°What is this? Who are you?¡±

    Damn. He¡¯d probably be immune from my Sleep spell then too. He was like a coward, hiding behind his impenetrable wall of armour ¨C much like James had been hiding behind his literal wall. If this was going to get us anywhere, I had to get him out of his armour.

    It might prove difficult though, as he was already cocking a gun at me.

    ¡°Drop your weapon, sexy, and show me those beautiful hands,¡± I commanded in a panic, trying to channel every sleazebag who had ever hit on me.

    It took effect immediately, and his weapon clattered to the floor, his hands shoved out in front of him. It made me feel dirty to have such control over another person, even if it was to save our lives. This power in the wrong hands would be dreadful, and I could only hope Dave would never have the opportunity to implement it.

    ¡°Come over here and give me some sugar, uh¡­ honey butt,¡± I said, scrambling for another pet name. I¡¯d never been fantastic at coming up with them.

    He walked jerkily over to me and made to kiss me without even removing his helmet. But he was away from his gun, at least. Nightfall skirted around the edge of the room and picked it up, handling it carefully so as not to activate the foreign weapon.

    ¡°Show me your body, gorgeous. I want to see you naked,¡± I said as breathily as I could manage. It was about the most forward thing that had ever come out of my mouth ¨C well, other than my requests to my actual boyfriends, but this was a total stranger.

    Dave started removing his armour and casting it to the floor while the others watched, dumbfounded.

    ¡°Emma, what?¡± James yelped, falling out of his chair. ¡°That¡­ that works?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Dave asked in a panic, dropping his chest plate on top of his armoured gloves. ¡°How are you doing this?¡±

    As his final piece of armour fell to the ground, I readied my spell, intending to put him to sleep, but he was too quick.

    ¡°Silence!¡± he shouted, and the spell died on my tongue.

    I tried to throw a silent spell anyway, but it fell to nothing. The spell level must be too low.

    I focused my energy on my hands, ready to throw a Goku-level Kamehameha type blast and thought two words as hard as I could: Summon Fish!

    A shark erupted out of my outstretched hands and launched itself at Dave with impressive momentum.

    ¡°Argh!¡± The shark took a chunk out of his shoulder as Dave skidded away from me, giving me a look of absolute hatred and terror. ¡°What are you, you witch?¡±

    I snarled at him, then wiggled my eyebrows, winked and tried to make a kissy face. Anything I could think of to use my Seduction powers without a voice.

    He lurched towards me unwillingly, but then managed to cover his eyes and look away.

    ¡°Poison bomb!¡± he shouted. ¡°Shrapnel bomb!¡±

    A green cloud of smog was followed by a blast and piercing pain ran through my body like lightning.

    ¡°Bring me the laptop and I¡¯ll let you have the hostage! You have until the poison kills him!¡± Dave¡¯s voice cut through the smog.

    ¡°Ah! Let go of me!¡± Bastion¡¯s voice shrieked through the haze.

    ¡°Bastion!¡± I called out, trying to dive towards the exit, but the pain in my legs made me stumble.

    ¡°Hang on, I can get rid of the poison,¡± James called out, his voice muffled.

    Fans began to whirr, and the smog was sucked out through a vent system, revealing the chaos Dave had left behind. James seemed largely unharmed, as Brick and Bruiser had taken most of the damage, metal shards littering their skin with bloody wounds. Nightfall was likewise incapacitated, having done his best to keep the gun as far out of the conflict as possible. He was now hunched over it with his robes torn to ribbons. Jackal, who had been creeping behind me, was also largely unharmed.

    ¡°Sorry Emma, I was gonna try jump him, but I left it too late,¡± Jackal said, sounding dejected.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay Jackal, it would have been a good plan if things had worked out slightly different,¡± I said, breathing heavily. ¡°Could you take me over to the others? I¡¯m struggling to walk.¡±

    Jackal lifted me gently in his arms, and sat me down next to Bruiser and Brick, then went to retrieve Nightfall.

    ¡°Get rid of the shrapnel, then I¡¯ll sing,¡± I instructed them. ¡°I don¡¯t want it fusing to your skin.¡±

    We set about pulling out the shards of metal, the poison making me feel woozy.

    ¡°I should have a couple of antidotes in my bag,¡± I told Jackal. ¡°The green ones. See if you can find them.¡±

    James came and crouched by my side, and I noticed the gas mask in his hand. The asshole was the only one of us unaffected by the smog.

    ¡°Emma, what can I do to help?¡± he asked, looking as lost as a lamb.

    ¡°You¡¯re asking me?¡± I snorted. ¡°This is your messed up world.¡±

    ¡°But you were amazing back there. That was the best way that could have possibly ended.¡±

    ¡°Best? He got Bastion, you asshole,¡± I hissed.

    ¡°But he could have killed us all and gotten the laptop. He¡¯s got the elf, sure, but he doesn¡¯t have his armour anymore and he doesn¡¯t have the ability to make more without the laptop. He¡¯s limited to what he can find in the world. We¡¯ve got the upper hand because of you.¡±

    ¡°How long until the poison kills Bastion?¡± I asked grimly.

    ¡°A while. You¡¯ve got at least two days, I think.¡±

    ¡°Well, you better get back to work,¡± I glared at him, before turning back to my harem and checking they¡¯d removed every piece of shrapnel before I started singing.

    ¡°Heal up my darlings,

    I need you well,

    So we can crack some skulls,

    And send Dave to hell,

    It¡¯d be so much quicker,

    If I had my slime,

    But we¡¯ll get back at James,

    All in good time¡­¡±

    ¡°Emma,¡± James said, giving me a pathetically pleading look. ¡°I¡¯m trying.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll try better,

    You¡¯ll try faster,

    I¡¯m still mad at you,

    You walking disaster¡­¡±

    James sighed, giving up and flicked the laptop open, getting back to work. The lacerations had healed, but the poison seemed to be draining them of their energy.

    ¡°Found the potions,¡± Jackal said, handing them over. ¡°There¡¯s not enough.¡±

    I chewed my lip, looking at the three potions in my hands. How was I supposed to make a decision like this?

    ¡°You and Jackal take one each,¡± Nightfall said, folding his hands over mine. ¡°He can go with you to save Bastion. The three of us will split the third potion. It won¡¯t be enough to heal us completely, but it should spare our lives.¡±

    I looked at James. ¡°Can you restore my slime by the time I get to Bastion? It¡¯s my only hope of saving him.¡±

    James looked like he was going to say something, but swallowed it instead. ¡°I¡­ give me a few hours. Dave¡¯s base is to the north in the abandoned mines. Take his armour. I¡¯ll focus on getting the slime back ASAP.¡±

    Brick grasped my hand tightly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t come with you. I feel so weak.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not weak, darling. You¡¯re sick. There¡¯s a difference,¡± I said, planting a kiss on his forehead. ¡°Rest easy here. I¡¯ll go get your brother.¡±

    ¡°Emma,¡± Bruiser said softly. ¡°You were amazing.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for noticing. Have you realized the errors of your ways, leaving me behind?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to keep you safe,¡± Bruiser said, looking at me mournfully. ¡°But I should have known you would surprise us all. You always do. Be safe, my love.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I will. Nightfall, look after them.¡±

    Nightfall nodded seriously. As the only other person with a Healing ability, he was going to have to play nursemaid.

    I clinked my antidote bottle against Jackal¡¯s and we both downed it in one gulp.

    Jackal grinned at me, a dangerous light in his eyes as he held out his hand for me to take. ¡°Let¡¯s go crack some skulls.¡±

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter Ten - Dave

    It was lucky my cartography skills had improved my ability to read maps, because Jackal and I managed to get to the edge of the mountains after twelve hours of solid running. I didn¡¯t want to imagine how long it might have taken us if we¡¯d gotten lost or had to take a detour.

    We crouched together and scoffed down several cinnamon rolls to replenish our energy. I felt a shift happen in my nether regions and realized with a start that James had succeeded in returning my slime! My glands were active once again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s going to be a strategic way to do this, Jackal. We¡¯re going to just have to shout the front door down and get in and out as soon as we can. Try not to bring the whole place down though, alright? We don¡¯t want to crush Bastion.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± Jackal nodded. ¡°I like doing stuff like this with you.¡±

    ¡°What, breaking into evil lairs?¡±

    ¡°Making plans. Being part of something. People don¡¯t normally listen to me.¡±

    I gave him a sympathetic look. ¡°You¡¯ve been a pretty lonely guy, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°That human guy James, he made me that way, right?¡± Jackal asked, confusion twisting his expression. ¡°I don¡¯t get how, but he said I was meant to be a joke? I don¡¯t want to be a joke.¡±

    I placed my hand on his arm and squeezed his rock-hard bicep.

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t the only thing that made you. He¡¯s not your creator and you can be more than he imagined you to be,¡± I nodded at the base we were about to attack. ¡°Today, you¡¯re a hero.¡±

    ¡°A hero?¡± He perked up at that. ¡°I think I¡¯d like to be a hero.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go save the day.¡±

    I shouldered my bag, and we ran down the hill to the large mineshaft entrance, which had been closed off with a heavy wooden door.

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    Jackal unleashed his scream, and it shattered into toothpicks. We jogged inside and he continued to scream at any door in our way, destroying them rather than even trying to see if they were unlocked.

    The mines were a maze of tunnels, and soon we felt completely lost. Skeletons emerged from the darkness, wielding cutlasses and spears, but they couldn¡¯t stand up to Jackal¡¯s roar either. Their bodies blasted apart in front of him and soon we stepped over the piles of shattered bones to the next chamber, where the process repeated.

    ¡°Dave!¡± I called out, hoping he could hear me. ¡°Come give me a kiss, you sexy thing!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± he called out from the darkness beyond. ¡°Silence! Silence!¡±

    I grinned and called to him again, hearing him dragging his feet.

    ¡°Come on Davey-Wavey, sexy times await you!¡±

    ¡°Noooo-aaaaargh!¡± He clamored into the room. ¡°You¡¯ve got my armour, you bitch!¡±

    I¡¯d had to wrap my tail around my waist like a belt to fit in it, but it was worth it to have complete protection against his silencing spell.

    ¡°Come here, sweetness, and tell me your plans.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m going to kill you all, get the laptop and dominate this world. I will be a god!¡±

    ¡°Okay sugar, I can see there¡¯s gonna be no two ways about this. Tell me where to find Bastion.¡±

    ¡°The elf is in the dungeons. All the way down that corridor.¡± His arm lurched, pointing down the corridor behind him.

    ¡°Thanks babe,¡± I grinned, cocking his own gun at him. ¡°Stay real still for me now, won¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Stop, we can cut a deal!¡± He said desperately, frozen to the spot due to my command. ¡°We kill James and rule together. We could be together, you and I!¡±

    ¡°I got enough boyfriends, thanks, and you¡¯re not my type,¡± I snorted and pulled the trigger, splattering his brains all over the wall. ¡°Gross.¡±

    I stepped over his now headless body and led Jackal down the corridor. It plateaued out into a room lined with cells. They were all empty except for the last one, where I saw Bastion shivering and bleeding on a cot where he¡¯d been dumped.

    ¡°Jackal, can you really carefully break the door? Aim for the bolts,¡± I pointed to the hinges of the door.

    Bastion didn¡¯t even react as Jackal growled until the bolts wriggled their way out of their holes and fell to the floor.

    ¡°Thanks Jackal,¡± I said, gripping his arm. ¡°Can you go keep watch now? Make sure no more skeletons find us? I¡¯ll look after Bastion.¡±

    He nodded and jogged back to the other end of the room where the entry to the dungeons was, ready for battle.

    Meanwhile, I stepped into the cell. Bastion looked up at me blearily, his mind still clouded with the poison.

    ¡°Have you come to kill me?¡± His question was tired, defeated. I realized with the helmet on he hadn¡¯t recognized me. I took it off immediately.

    ¡°No, Bast. I¡¯ve come to save you.¡±

 BOOK FOUR - Chapter Eleven - Dungeon

    I hovered over Bastion, brushing the hair out of his face, but his eyes were unfocused, and he had a sheen of sweat covering his skin.

    ¡°Emma?¡± He whispered. ¡°You came for me?¡±

    ¡°Of course I did, you idiot,¡± I whispered. ¡°I¡¯m going to pull out the shrapnel now, and then I¡¯ll try to heal you. It might hurt a bit.¡±

    ¡°You should go. The necromancer will get you,¡± Bastion whispered desperately, grasping at my breastplate. ¡°Leave me, Emma. Save yourself, please. I couldn¡¯t bear it if you died for me.¡±

    ¡°Dave is dead, Bastion. You¡¯ve got nothing to worry about except yourself,¡± I peeled his fingers off me and tore the armour off. It was decidedly uncomfortable to crouch in. I thrashed my tail about a couple times as soon as it was free, then returned to Bastion¡¯s side to remove the shards of metal that were still wedged into his body.

    ¡°What about the others? Brick?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re safe. Back at James¡¯ base, recovering from the poison. Brick will be fine, I promise.¡±

    I¡¯d healed Bastion so many times, but this was the worst injury I¡¯d seen since the day I met him. I started to sing gently over him, watching the wounds close. He was still covered in dried blood and looked severely anemic, but he sighed in relief, his condition much improved.

    I fished in my bag and found a blood replenisher, which he struggled to drink, but I kept it to his lips and massaged his throat, helping him swallow.

    ¡°Ok, Bast, I¡¯ve taken care of the cuts and the blood loss, but you¡¯re still poisoned,¡± I told him, still holding his head gently to keep him looking at me. ¡°I gave my last antidote potion to the guys. The only way I can think to cure you of this is with slime.¡±

    ¡°So, I¡¯m doomed,¡± Bastion said weakly. ¡°That¡¯s gone, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s back. James must have been able to restore it,¡± I said. ¡°You¡­ You know where it comes from, right? Are you okay with that?¡±

    He gave me a pained expression. ¡°I saw you mention to¡­ Well, yeah, I figured it out. What did you have in mind?¡±

    I blushed, embarrassed despite everything we¡¯d been through. It was just¡­ this was Bastion. Things felt different with him.

    ¡°I mean, I can try harvest it myself and then feed it to you, or it might be faster and more efficient if you wanted to¡­ you know¡­ drink it direct from the source.¡±

    Bastion gave me a long, silent look and I felt my heart twisting. I didn¡¯t want him to die out of stubbornness because an AI robot had decided that the only lifesaving potion was something that was too intimate for the two of us.

    ¡°I won¡¯t make you do that,¡± Bastion said finally. ¡°But if you could harvest it, I¡¯d be grateful.¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± I blushed again, and found an empty bottle in my bag. ¡°Just give me a minute.¡±

    I arranged myself next to his bed and held the bottle in place as I stimulated my glands and felt the secretion drip in.

    ¡°I wish that bloody robot had used my saliva instead,¡± I muttered. ¡°This is so unbelievably awkward.¡±

    Bastion lay back, staring at the ceiling so we didn¡¯t have to look at each other. ¡°It¡¯s strange to think a machine decided so much of our fate. A machine and that strange coward of a man.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, then swore as I spilled some slime. ¡°Here, have what I¡¯ve made so far, and I¡¯ll keep going making more. I don¡¯t know how much you¡¯ll need, so just tell me when to stop.¡±

    He took the bottle off me and drank the contents, licking the rim.

    ¡°Brick¡¯s done that. Tasted you¡­ In that dungeon we went to for Kira. Didn¡¯t he?¡±

    I nodded shyly. ¡°I dropped one of my bottles down a mineshaft, so I was kind of out of options. Lily had mentioned doing something like it once, otherwise I might not have even thought of it. It¡¯s why I always had such a big backup supply in my bag, but that didn¡¯t account for the risk of them being deleted.¡±

    ¡°She did that too, huh?¡± Bastion said thoughtfully.

    ¡°Sorry to bring her up. I know you don¡¯t like it.¡±

    ¡°No¡­ It¡¯s okay. You are very different from her, you know that?¡±

    I handed him the second bottle, which was also only about a third full and a bit messy.

    ¡°She never would have done that for me. She never would have risked anything for me.¡± Bastion turned his head to watch me. ¡°No one other than you or Brick would have risked facing down a necromancer for me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to find it a bit harder to hate me now, aren¡¯t you?¡± I gave him a half smile, glad to see him feeling well enough to talk.

    ¡°I don¡¯t hate you,¡± he said quietly. ¡°I never did. I was¡­ afraid of you a bit. Of what you might do. Afraid of your powers over me, your pheromones and what¡­ what you did to Dave.¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say to that. I knew it was unethical, what I¡¯d done to him, but murder was kind of unethical as well, and that had been the overarching goal of the day. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Bastion winced.

    ¡°That poison is nasty, isn¡¯t it?¡± I said. ¡°I won¡¯t ask you again, and I¡¯m specifically trying not to actually ask you, because I don¡¯t want my Persuasion or Seduction skills to kick in or whatever, but if you want to try this the other way, the offer is still on the table. I just want you healthy again. But it¡¯s got to be your idea, not mine. I¡¯m not asking you.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t mind?¡± Bastion asked. ¡°And¡­ and Brick wouldn¡¯t mind?¡±

    I snorted. ¡°Brick has given me his blessing for us to do a lot more than just this, so considering it¡¯s an act that¡¯s got your life on the line, he wouldn¡¯t even blink.¡±

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    ¡°He did?¡±

    ¡°He just wants you to be happy,¡± I shrugged. ¡°They all do.¡±

    ¡°And you? Do you feel¡­ like that¡­ about me?¡±

    His hopeful tone surprised me, and I gave him a considering look. I cared about him so deeply, even when I found him annoying. But I¡¯d never considered it a possibility. He¡¯d had such a bad run with Lily, and he¡¯d always been so defensive around me. But part of that had been built into his code.

    ¡°You know what I am,¡± I said finally. ¡°And I care a great deal about you. Doing this now doesn¡¯t have to mean anything for us, though. It¡¯s just like¡­ like CPR or something. First aid.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not using your pheromones on me now, are you?¡± Bastion asked, blushing. ¡°It¡¯s so hard to know what¡¯s real with you. I thought you¡­ you were just affecting me, like Lily did. But¡­ when you were gone, in the university, the feelings should have faded. My feelings for Lily fade when I¡¯m not with her. You weren¡¯t anywhere near me then, and I still felt the same. It¡¯s different with you, but I don¡¯t know why.¡±

    I looked at him in alarm. ¡°Bastion, you know I got control of my pheromones when you and Brick were off getting your treasure stash, right? Anything you¡¯ve felt since then has been totally you.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ oh.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve tried really hard not to accidentally flirt or use Persuasion or anything on you, and um¡­ I think, if hypothetically anything was to ever happen between us, it would need to be your idea. Until I can get rid of these abilities, I can¡¯t use them first or¡­ I want to know my relationships are real too.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d get rid of them?¡± he asked in surprise.

    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s a huge imposition on someone¡¯s free will, to have math make the call on whether they obey you or not. I wouldn¡¯t expect an AI robot to understand that concept, but we¡¯re going to have to figure out how to train it if we want this world fixed. Machines like that only run on what information you put into them, and this one clearly has no understanding of ethics.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s why you did the clay thing. With Brick. He told me,¡± Bastion said thoughtfully. ¡°And¡­ when you gave Jackal those glasses and explained things to him¡­ You¡¯ve been trying to get around your abilities the whole time, haven¡¯t you? With everyone. The only time you¡¯ve used them since you got control of them has been when you¡¯re attacking.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. And to be perfectly honest, that¡¯s kind of mortifying too, but I¡¯m not a warrior or a ranger or anything. I can¡¯t go up and clobber something like Brick and Bruiser can.¡±

    ¡°You can pelt them with cinnamon rolls, though,¡± Bastion laughed. ¡°Or throw sharks at them.¡±

    I laughed, and we shared a grin. ¡°You¡¯re not so bad with the cinnamon projectiles yourself, you know.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty amazing.¡± It felt more than a whispered compliment. It felt like he was confessing something. My stomach twisted, and I reached a hand out to brush a strand of hair away that had fallen back in his eyes.

    ¡°I think you¡¯re pretty amazing too, Bastion.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re okay with it, I¡¯d like to try the other way,¡± Bastion said meekly. ¡°So long as you know that¡­ I¡­ I¡¯ve had a crush on you for a while now.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°Here, shift over a bit.¡±

    I arranged him on the concrete slab of a cot and placed my knees on either side of his face, much like I¡¯d done with Brick in the dungeon so long ago.

    ¡°Just let me know when you want me to get up, okay? Take as much as you need.¡±

    I lowered myself so he could reach me and guided him to where my glands were.

    I looked straight ahead at the dirty cave wall so he wouldn¡¯t feel self-conscious about being observed. I dropped my hands to his shoulders, stroking my thumbs over the torn fabric of his shirt in what I hoped would be an encouraging motion.

    He gained confidence and drank deeply, but I tried to clear my mind and remain perfectly still. I didn¡¯t want to betray the trust he had placed in me, or risk shattering our newly formed truce.

    It felt freeing to have the truth out in the open though, and I felt like the worst would surely be behind us.

    Dave was dead, James was found, and several more pieces of the puzzle had fallen into place. Our whole team was alive and recovering. Things were looking okay. More than okay.

    I had to bite my lip to stop myself from moaning out loud. Bastion¡¯s tongue was wreaking havoc on my nerves, waves of lightning pleasure jolting through me with every pass.

    ¡°Bas¡­ Bastion¡­¡± His name was torn from my throat somewhere between a gasp and a sigh.

    ¡°Emma,¡± his voice was heady, and I could feel his breath on my skin in the most delightful way. ¡°I¡¯m recovered enough to travel. Can I continue? Or should I stop?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. My heart was pounding in my ears, and I knew my body didn¡¯t want him to stop. I just didn¡¯t want him to do anything he was going to regret. ¡°It¡¯s up to you. I won¡¯t ask but¡­ you can keep going as long as you like. The decision is yours.¡±

    The lust softened in his eyes, and I saw an affection I couldn¡¯t doubt.

    My body felt like it was melting under his touch as he teased my most erogenous zones.

    ¡°Oh, Bast¡­ Bastion,¡± I moaned, and he gripped me tighter, lighting an inferno inside me.

    ¡°Hey!¡± I heard Jackal¡¯s voice in the distance and as Bastion removed his mouth from me, we both came slowly back down to earth. ¡°Hey guys, you almost done yet?¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Bastion said, clearing his throat. ¡°I got a bit carried away. I¡­ You have that effect on me.¡±

    ¡°Same,¡± I said, sliding off his torso and sitting up. ¡°I suppose a dungeon isn¡¯t the best spot for this, is it? Skeletons, wights, and all.¡±

    Bastion snorted, then gave me a shy look. ¡°It feels odd. To have done that with you when I haven¡¯t even kissed you.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to kiss me?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to do something in the moment that you¡¯ll regret later.¡±

    He gave me a lopsided smile and stroked my knuckles with his thumb. ¡°You¡¯re incredible, Emma. And I know my whole experience with Lily was scripted by an asshole, but with her¡­ she kissed me, seduced me, and manipulated me. She made me feel things that were totally against my nature, and I felt the contradiction pulling me into pieces. She reeled me into her tangled web of lovers, but I never felt valued by her. I never felt like she¡¯d put my wants or my wellbeing first ¨C or even beyond an inconvenience for her¡­¡±

    ¡°Bastion¡­¡±

    He reached his arms around me and pulled me into a gentle hug that somehow felt more intimate than what we¡¯d just done.

    ¡°But you came here for me. You fought for me. No one would have blamed you if you¡¯d left me to rot. You¡¯re not a warrior, and taking on a necromancer¡­ Emma, I love you. No one has ever loved me as well as you. My only regret is not kissing you sooner, not pulling my head out of the sand and facing up to how I felt about you back in the Citadel.¡±

    ¡°Bastion,¡± I whispered, and wrapped my arms around him as well. I felt like glass, so fragile and ready to break. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­¡±

    He pulled away when I trailed off, searching my expression with a raw vulnerability that took my breath away.

    ¡°You don¡¯t what? You don¡¯t love me?¡±

    ¡°Quite the opposite,¡± I shook my head. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to hurt you. What happened to the whole wood elves are monogamous and succubi are polyamorous thing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a normal elf, and you¡¯re not a normal succubi,¡± Bastion said firmly. ¡°I¡­ I know I can come across as possessive and jealous, but with Lily it was because I knew she didn¡¯t care about me. I wanted someone who¡­ who felt something real. And now I know why that was. It was never real, and it was never what I wanted. I want you. I know I¡¯ll have to share you, but I still want you. And you¡­ you have me already.¡±

    I stared at him in amazement. He was so much more than he¡¯d been before. More confident, more self-aware. It was like he¡¯d been written in a code he¡¯d finally cracked, and everything was suddenly laid out plain and simple.

    ¡°I love you, Bastion,¡± I told him. ¡°I know I sort of¡­ implied it before. But I want to say the words. I love you too.¡±

    His smile was as bright as the sun. ¡°Does that mean I can kiss you now?¡±

    I nodded, and he swooped in, claiming my lips with his own. Tasting me, plundering me with his tongue. I opened my mouth and allowed him in, letting him control the kiss. It was like learning another language, one that consisted of affection and heat and secret carnal desires. One that spoke of promises, adoration, and devotion. A language that was entirely Bastion.

    When he finally retreated, my lips were still parted, and I breathed shallow, gradually coming out of the trance-like state he had induced.

    ¡°We should probably go,¡± Bastion whispered. ¡°The others are waiting. Although I kind of judge Brick less now, knowing how tempting it is to forget the time and just be late.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to end up like this,¡± I confessed, savouring his satisfied expression.

    ¡°It¡¯s not an end though, is it?¡± Bastion said, claiming my hands between his and looking at me imploringly. ¡°Don¡¯t call this the end.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I breathed, kissing him again. ¡°I feel like it¡¯s more of a beginning.¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter One - Computers

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you murdered someone,¡± James said, staring at me like I was an alien.

    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk. You were the one designing guns to take Dave out. So, what if I was the one to pull the trigger?¡± I snorted.

    ¡°As a last resort.¡±

    ¡°Whatever. Guns only have one function. If you made it, you were planning to use it.¡±

    I was not going to have my ex-boyfriend sit there and judge me, especially when I knew he would have done the exact same thing if given the opportunity.

    ¡°Besides, everyone thought he was dead in our world anyway. It¡¯s not like the cops are going to come after me. And he was going to kill Bastion. He tried to kill us all. He was going to ruin this whole world.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not complaining,¡± James hedged. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ surprising. I¡¯m used to thinking of you as someone who cooks and does laundry and works in accounting, not someone who can fire a shark out of her bare hands and kill enemies without a moment¡¯s hesitation.¡±

    ¡°I think you¡¯re just describing the exact reasons I dumped you,¡± I said, my eyes narrowing at him. The days of being James¡¯ live-in girlfriend who cleaned up after him were long gone. Since landing in this world, I¡¯d not only found a whole harem full of boyfriends that were infinitely better than James, but I¡¯d also found my confidence. ¡°The question now is, what do we do next? This world is clearly still pretty messed up, and I don¡¯t know the first thing about coding or AI, so unfortunately, I still need you to fix things.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to go back, of course,¡± James said. ¡°I can do some minor editing with my laptop, but we kind of need to fix the actual stories and source information that the Genesis is using as source material and that can only be done from out there.¡±

    ¡°The Genesis?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s what the modelling engine Dave built is called. It¡¯s running on my computer. It¡¯s running¡­ well, all of this. There¡¯s no way we can fix everything from inside.¡±

    My heart filled with a feeling of impending doom. Go back? But I was happy here, more or less.

    I looked around the room where Brick, Bruiser, Bastion, Nightfall and Jackal were standing, listening to the conversation that would decide their futures with more patience than I could muster. Even Bonaparte, Bruiser¡¯s dire-weasel friend, was sitting quietly with his head cocked to the side like he was listening.

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    ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave them. What if I can¡¯t get back, or something changes them when we update the world?¡±

    ¡°I thought you wanted a few changes to them,¡± James said quietly. ¡°You already made Jackal less accident prone and Bastion a recovered alcoholic. They¡¯ll change for the better, if you write it properly. I mean, some of them are based on sketchy character sheets or fanfics I wrote when I was fourteen. If you wrote their stories, you could put whatever you want in there.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll only change the things they want to change,¡± I said forcefully. ¡°We won¡¯t go making any changes to them without their consent. I can¡¯t believe you still don¡¯t understand how wrong that is.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± James said, holding his hands up. ¡°And you will be able to get back, I promise. I¡¯ve made several trips here and back over the past few months. I¡¯ll have to adjust the Nexus ¨C the body converter machine - since you¡¯re in a Dungeon Fantasy body instead of your own.¡±

    I wrinkled my nose in distaste. James and Dave, his ex-university-classmate-turned-evil-villain-turned-corpse, had figured out a way to generate a version of themselves in this world, whereas I had accidentally fallen here and landed in an unused character ¨C Mitsy the succubus.

    ¡°This Nexus machine,¡± Nightfall interjected. ¡°Could it allow us to travel to your world?¡±

    James frowned at the dark elf. ¡°I don¡¯t know. You might appear in our world, or you might just disappear. There¡¯s no way of knowing for sure. Why would you even want to come to our world? You belong here.¡±

    ¡°We belong with Emma,¡± Brick said gruffly. ¡°Where she goes, we go.¡±

    I chewed on my lip. ¡°I don¡¯t know, guys. If it isn¡¯t safe, I¡¯d rather you sat tight here and waited for me to come home.¡±

    ¡°Emma¡­¡± James said, stunned. ¡°This isn¡¯t your home. This is¡­ it¡¯s an escape. You can¡¯t live here.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± I hissed, my nostrils flaring. ¡°I like it here. I like them. And this world needs someone in it to point out all the messed-up bullshit, otherwise they¡¯ll never know what needs to be fixed.¡±

    I really didn¡¯t want to go at all. Everything about my life here was better. I didn¡¯t have my toxic family to deal with. I didn¡¯t have to go to my mind-numbingly boring job. I didn¡¯t have my stupid boyfriend, who could never remember to take the trash out or pick his underwear up off the bathroom floor.

    And all my favourite people were here.

    ¡°Look, I promise we¡¯ll fix this,¡± James said seriously. ¡°I didn¡¯t intend to create sentient life, but now that I have, I¡¯ll do my best to fulfil my obligation to them to making their world functional. But I¡¯m really going to need your help on this out there. If anyone can figure out how to make everything work, I know it¡¯s you.¡±

    I felt the weight of everyone¡¯s gaze fall on me, and I felt my stomach sink for a whole new reason. Me? Be responsible for fixing the whole world without even knowing how to write a single line of code?

    I was perfectly happy pointing out the absurdities and complaining about things, but actually fixing them? I wouldn¡¯t know where to start.

    ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Because I know you,¡± James said confidently. ¡°And you were always amazing at farming and sim games. That¡¯s what this world needs. Balance and harmony, not action and drama.¡±

    Great. My qualifications for saving the world were the embarrassing number of hours I¡¯d sunk into playing sim games, many of them ironically when I was procrastinating doing more important jobs or studying for exams.

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Two - Bang

    We gathered around the Nexus and watched as James plugged his laptop in and messed with the settings.

    The Nexus looked like a big platform with whirring gears and LED lights that flashed blindingly every few seconds. In the center was a black circular object that looked a little familiar.

    I frowned in thought before it struck me that I¡¯d seen one of these before next to James¡¯ desk. It must be the thing I¡¯d fallen on when I had been cleaning up his wrappers. The thing that had brought me here.

    Only the one at our apartment didn¡¯t have all the lights and whirring things. I looked back at James suspiciously, wondering how much of it was added for cinematic effect.

    Since I¡¯d managed to raise my intelligence stats to a full 20/20, I¡¯d been able to think a lot clearer, but I still couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the garbage James was typing into his computer.

    Nightfall looked over his shoulder as well, with the same focused curiosity I¡¯d seen him express at the university. He glanced at me and gave me a small half-smile before focusing his attention back on the screen again.

    Maybe this wouldn¡¯t be so bad after all if I had the help of my guys. Nightfall was a fantastic researcher, Bruiser was very in tune with the natural environment, Brick was really good at simplifying and explaining things about this world to me and¡­ well, I wasn¡¯t sure how Bastion and Jackal could help exactly, but they¡¯d provide good moral support.

    ¡°Okay, I think that should do it,¡± James said, wiping his brow. ¡°Took a wee bit of working, since you¡¯re not in your original body, but it should be able to handle a succubus back to human transfer.¡±

    ¡°Think? Should?¡± I scoffed. ¡°You don¡¯t sound particularly certain about something I¡¯m supposed to trust with my life.¡±

    ¡°It will work,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m 99% certain.¡±

    Nightfall gripped James¡¯ shoulder tightly. ¡°What would happen should I try the machine first? Can I go ahead of the party and test its safety for Emma?¡±

    ¡°Nightfall!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± James ignored my outcry. ¡°I mean, theoretically, you could follow the instructions I left on the desk for Emma and come back to tell us if it worked, but I honestly just don¡¯t know. This isn¡¯t even my tech. It was Dave¡¯s. He was an expert, and I¡¯m really just a novice.¡±

    ¡°If it can handle a succubus to human transfer, surely it can handle an elf to human transfer. We are not entirely different.¡±

    ¡°Other than the fact you don¡¯t have a body waiting on the other side, but hey, you can be my guest and try it out and see if you die or not if you really want to. Nobody seems to care what my opinions are anymore.¡±

    ¡°Nightfall,¡± I chided. ¡°You can¡¯t risk your life like that. James and I are the most likely ones to succeed at using the Nexus. Don¡¯t treat your life like it¡¯s disposable.¡±

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Nightfall grasped my hands and a deep fire burned in the depths of his eyes.

    ¡°Without you, Emma, my life is nothing,¡± he said, his voice like velvet. ¡°Without you, I would still be toiling away in my laboratory, looking for answers to all the wrong questions. Without you, I would not know the warmth of life, nor the burning fires of love. I do not wish for you to be alone on the other side of this contraption with nothing but this sniveling wretch of a man to support you-¡±

    ¡°Standing right here,¡± James said flatly.

    ¡°I wish to accompany you if I can, my goddess, and if I cannot, I wish to at least be certain of your safety. For that, I would gladly risk my life.¡±

    ¡°Suck up,¡± James sneered.

    I shot a glare at him before responding to Nightfall. ¡°I¡¯ll need you alive, sweetheart. I¡¯m going to need your help in other ways, although I don¡¯t know what they are yet. Your safety is important to me, too.¡±

    ¡°Me scout?¡± A raspy high-pitched voice squeaked, and I realized in surprise that Bonaparte was addressing me for the first time. ¡°Me scout. Me go ahead?¡±

    It occurred to me that the dire-weasel could understand a lot of what was being said. Bruiser, Nightfall and I all had the ability to speak to animals, although this was the first time I¡¯d used it, and Bonaparte had also shown signs that he could understand very simple words from other humans. He¡¯d probably picked up at least sixty percent of the conversation.

    ¡°Me scout?¡± he repeated.

    ¡°No, Bonaparte. Thank you for offering, but this has to be something I do with James.¡±

    ¡°You stay with us, friend. We will wait here for Emma to return,¡± Bruiser said gruffly. ¡°I am not happy about it either, but we must trust her and be ready to aid her in any ways she requires.¡±

    Brick nodded grimly, looking unhappy but resigned. Jackal was staring at one of the computer screens with a blank expression on his face, and Bastion was looking at me miserably, like a rug had just been pulled out from under his feet.

    ¡°Do you have to go right away?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± I said, looking at James. ¡°There¡¯s not a rush, is there? We could stay a few more days?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to delay just so you can go make out with your fictional boyfriend,¡± James grouched. ¡°What do you expect me to do in the meantime? Sit around and twiddle my thumbs while a wood elf I invented when I was a teenager screws my girlfriend?¡±

    ¡°Ex-girlfriend,¡± I corrected sternly. ¡°And as such, it shouldn¡¯t matter what or who I do anymore, should it?¡±

    ¡°Uh, Emma?¡± Jackal touched my hand, but I wrenched it out of his reach. My anger at James had been brewing for a long time, and nothing was going to stop me now.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to understand,¡± I seethed. ¡°Regardless of anyone else I might be seeing, you and I are over. You¡¯ve always taken me for granted and I¡¯m sick of it. When we get back, you¡¯re moving into the office and you¡¯ll remain there until all this is sorted out and then you¡¯re moving out for good.¡±

    ¡°Emma, be reasonable,¡± James wilted under my blazing fury. ¡°I¡¯ve apologized, and things are a bit crazy here, but you¡¯ll calm down on the other side when things get back to normal.¡±

    ¡°Emma?¡± Jackal said again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want things to get back to normal!¡± I shouted. ¡°I hated what our normal was. I¡¯m never going back to that again!¡±

    ¡°Em, I know you¡¯re mad about this place and I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t talk to you about it sooner. I know you¡¯re upset, and you¡¯ve had all this time to brew on how mad you are at me, but all that time I¡¯ve been sitting here missing you like hell, just hoping you¡¯d find my letter and come in after me. I love you, Emma, doesn¡¯t that count for anything? You¡¯re breaking my heart here.¡±

    ¡°Emma!¡± Jackal gripped my arm and pulled me away from James.

    ¡°What?¡± I snapped.

    ¡°Is that machine supposed to be doing that?¡± Jackal asked.

    ¡°Shit!¡± James swore, and grabbed his laptop, tapping furiously on some buttons.

    The Nexus was whirring furiously, the lights flashing faster and faster until they became a blinding blur.

    ¡°Wh-what?¡± I barely had time to gasp as the machine exploded. The last thing I remembered was Jackal¡¯s body folding protectively around me as the world turned white and then black.

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Three - Apartment

    ¡°Emma?¡±

    I heard my name, but I couldn¡¯t breathe. Whatever was squashing my ribs shifted, and I realized with a start it was a human. Or a living thing, anyway.

    I wheezed and opened my eyes. Whoever was lying on top of me was a complete stranger. I blinked and felt the blood rush out of my face.

    Where was I? Had I been blown into a whole new world? But he¡¯d said my name. He must know who I was.

    ¡°Emma?¡± he repeated. ¡°Is that you?¡±

    I nodded, and he pushed himself up more, his muscular arms bulging.

    ¡°Your hair is different,¡± he said. ¡°And your horns are gone.¡±

    Well, that was a good sign. I traced his features. Brown eyes, sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw. He was looking at me with an enquiring expression I¡¯d only ever seen one place before.

    ¡°Jackal?¡± I gasped. ¡°You made it here? Your hair is different too! It¡¯s short!¡±

    He still had the same look about him, the same essence, but he was human. Not an approximation of a mermaid-minotaur bred humanoid, but a proper human. His arms had less hair and though he was muscular, his minotaur inherited bulk was gone.

    I wriggled out from underneath him and found out very quickly why it was such a squeeze. All of the guys had been transported into the very small office of my apartment and were in various stages of waking up. I did a quick headcount ¨C Jackal, Bruiser, Brick, Nightfall, Bastion, James and myself¡­ and Bonaparte!

    A regular-sized weasel squirmed its way to the top of the pile of humans and shot out of the open door.

    ¡°First things first, let¡¯s make sure everyone is okay,¡± I said. ¡°Jackal, can you step out through the door? This room is way too small for everyone.¡±

    He edged carefully out of the room, stepping carefully over the bodies, and stood by the door to watch.

    ¡°Bruiser? Is that you?¡± I said, reaching down to touch the forehead of the largest man in the room. Of everyone, he had maintained most of his looks ¨C in his human form, anyway. I was glad that he hadn¡¯t been in his bear form when the explosion had happened, considering Bonaparte had become a very regular-looking Earth animal.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Emma?¡± he asked blearily. ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°You made it to my world. Are you hurt?¡± He shook his head at my question and sat up to look around the crowded room. ¡°If you¡¯re okay, can you head out and join Jackal?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not green.¡±

    I turned to look at Brick, who was staring at his human hands in wonderment. His long hair was still piled in his head in a top-knot, but it looked softer and lighter ¨C again, more human than orcish. Or orc/elvish as we¡¯d recently found out he really was.

    ¡°Emma? Are you safe? Are you well?¡±

    I looked to the man the voice had come from, but for the life of me I couldn¡¯t tell whether it was Bastion or Nightfall. His hair was still long, but the colour of it didn¡¯t match Nightfall¡¯s pitch-black tresses or Bastion¡¯s dirty blond mop.

    ¡°Where¡¯s my grindin¡¯ hair gone?¡±

    Well, that answered that question. I had to suppress a laugh at Bastion, who was gripping his short shaggy hair in panic.

    ¡°You¡¯re not your elvish self anymore,¡± James reminded him, slouching against his desk leg. ¡°The converter was set to change Fantasy Dungeons bodies into human equivalents, although I¡¯d only meant it to work for Emma. You¡¯re lucky to be alive at all.¡±

    ¡°But my hair! Humans have long hair. Why did it take my hair?¡±

    Nightfall moved to my side, cupping my cheek and looking me over curiously.

    ¡°I must look different to you too,¡± I whispered, suddenly self-conscious about what everyone would make of the change. They¡¯d gotten to know me in a perfect fantasy body, not one that had cellulite and maintained evidence of my pastry addiction.

    ¡°You¡¯re different,¡± Nightfall agreed. ¡°But equally beautiful, my goddess. Are you unhurt?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m fine. And you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in perfect health,¡± he promised, and pressed a soft kiss to my lips.

    I breathed out, relaxing instantly. He may look a little different, but he was still my Nightfall. He¡¯d just lost the gothic pallor he¡¯d inherited from his necromantic-influenced birth.

    ¡°But where in the grindin¡¯ universe is my hair?¡± Bastion repeated, looking ready to throw a punch at James. ¡°Nightfall and Brick kept theirs! Where¡¯s my hair?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± James raised his arms over his face to protect himself. ¡°It¡¯s probably like a bad crop. Like sometimes when you try to remove a background with AI, it takes a little too much or leaves a bit in. It¡¯s not perfect, but it¡¯s doing its best.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what any of that means,¡± Bastion seethed.

    ¡°Bast, come on,¡± Emma reached over and pulled the back of his shirt until he fell on his backside and buried his face in his hands.

    ¡°My hair,¡± he wept. ¡°It was my best feature.¡±

    I pulled him against me. ¡°Maybe as a wood-elf. But you make a pretty cute human too, sweetheart.¡±

    He gave me a vulnerable look, but then his expression shuttered, and he launched himself to his feet and stormed past everyone else to stand moodily in the far corner of the living room with his arms crossed.

    I sighed. ¡°Welcome to my world, everyone.¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Four - Squeeze

    The living room was marginally bigger than the office, but it was still a squeeze to fit everyone in. Where would they all sleep? How was I going to afford to feed them all?

    A logistical nightmare started to swarm in my brain as the reality of what had just happened started to settle in. Relief that everyone had survived the explosion started to shift to a queasy anxiety.

    ¡°James? How long was I in that world? Do I even still have a job?¡± I asked. ¡°Are we going to have the landlady beating down the door to evict us?¡±

    ¡°Nah, we¡¯ll have only been away a couple days,¡± James said.

    ¡°A couple days,¡± I repeated numbly. ¡°How is that even possible?¡±

    ¡°Time just works differently in games,¡± James shrugged. ¡°And fiction, I suppose. It¡¯s not a fully functional world yet.¡±

    ¡°I need my phone,¡± I muttered, and pushed past Jackal and Brick to get into my bedroom. I¡¯d only just started cleaning in here too, and James¡¯ damp towel was still in a pile on the floor with his underwear emanating a musky odor that made me want to throw up.

    Honestly, he treated me like his mother. I snatched my phone from the bedside table where it was charging and checked the time and date.

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Fuuuuuuuuuck!¡±

    ¡°What is it? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Brick asked, poking his head in the room.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna be late for work!¡±

    I pulled open my closet and hurriedly dressed in my professional work clothes, brushed my hair, and downed a handful of peppermints in lieu of brushing my teeth.

    ¡°Emma, you¡¯re not leaving me to deal with this alone!¡± James shouted. ¡°Just call in sick!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m out of sick days, you ass,¡± I snapped. ¡°I can¡¯t afford another unpaid day off, especially now we¡¯ll have to feed five more. Just teach them how the bathroom works, don¡¯t break anything, and for the love of all things good in the world, clean your shit up!¡±

    I squeezed past the guys, who were all looking at me in bewilderment, and made for the front door.

    ¡°Emma, can I assist you?¡± Nightfall asked. ¡°Can I accompany you?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± I took a shaky breath, one hand on the front door handle as I looked back at the room full of confused men. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, but this is like a¡­ a time sensitive quest that I have to do five days a week. I¡¯ve got to do it alone, and if I don¡¯t, we¡¯ll have no money, no food, and no accommodation.¡±

    ¡°What do you want us to do while you¡¯re gone?¡± Bastion asked.

    ¡°Just¡­ read a book? Watch TV? Learn how the world works. I¡¯ll be back in eight hours. Maybe nine if I swing by the grocery store after work.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let us make you late,¡± Bruiser laid a hand on my shoulder. ¡°We¡¯ve got your back, and when you get home, we¡¯ll sort everything out. It¡¯s okay.¡±

    I gave him a watery smile, and I wanted to kiss him, but I was already risking missing the train, so I slipped out the door and started running.

    With a day full of running numbers and fetching coffees for my sexist boss, I suddenly missed being able to earn my living by stabbing rats.

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Five - Fire

    ¡°Number Seven C!¡±

    My landlady¡¯s voice sent a shiver down my spine, and I forced a smile on my face as I turned to face the squat old lady that was peering at me with narrowed eyes.

    ¡°Hey Mrs. Greaves,¡± I said, putting my shopping bags down. ¡°What can I do for you today?¡±

    The old witch had had it out for me for months, since I was a little late on rent after James had spent our rent money on merch at one of his conventions. She had the memory of an elephant and the face of a gremlin. I forced my smile a little wider.

    ¡°You have a pet?¡±

    ¡°What? No, of course we don¡¯t have a pet,¡± I said. Had she seen Bonaparte?

    ¡°No pets!¡± she said. ¡°I see a pet again, I call exterminators.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any pets,¡± I repeated, trying my best to look innocent. I¡¯d have to make sure the little weasel stayed out of sight. Hopefully, Bruiser could keep him in line.

    ¡°You have visitors?¡±

    ¡°Only for a couple nights,¡± I said. We¡¯d been over this a few months ago when one of my half-sisters, Leticia, had turned up demanding I let her stay with us lest she end up sleeping on the street. Our tenancy agreement said we could have visitors stay a maximum of three consecutive nights. Mrs. Greaves had threatened to evict us on the spot.

    It was one of James¡¯ redeeming qualities that he¡¯d managed to forcibly remove her from our apartment. I¡¯d always been a pushover when it came to my little half and step siblings. Probably because I felt so deeply in my bones how much being a part of our family sucked and I just wished someone would do the same thing for me ¨C not that my efforts were ever recognized or returned.

    Leticia¡¯s way to thank me was to make my landlady hate me.

    I didn¡¯t want to imagine what Mrs. Greaves would do if she found out I had five visitors staying in our two-bedroom apartment.

    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of food for only a couple nights,¡± Mrs. Greaves peered at the hefty bag of rice I had behind me.

    ¡°I¡¯m buying bulk,¡± I laughed nervously. ¡°It¡¯s cheaper that way.¡±

    She gave me another searching look, then disappeared back into her office and I let out a long breath.

    I¡¯d intended to text James and ask for a hand getting the groceries up the stairs, but now I wanted to keep everyone out of sight for as long as possible.

    I heaved my bags up step after step until I got to the third floor and dragged them breathlessly to the door, which wrenched open before I even lifted my hand to the lock.

    ¡°Emma!¡± Jackal greeted me, picking me up and twirling me around so fast I almost threw up.

    ¡°Ugh! Put me down!¡± He obeyed, and I put my hand to my throbbing head. I didn¡¯t have energy for his golden-retriever-level energy right now.

    ¡°Are you feeling sick, Emma?¡± Jackal asked with concern. ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    I shook my head and immediately regretted it. ¡°I¡¯m just tired. And my head hurts. Can you take the groceries in for me?¡±

    He lifted them with an ease that made me jealous, and I followed him in, kicking my shoes off by the door. The pungent smell of sweat and fish hit me immediately, and I gagged, covering my mouth and nose with my sleeve.

    It wasn¡¯t hard to locate the source: Bruiser was sitting on the couch with Bonaparte perched on his shoulder, emanating a strong fishy scent.

    ¡°Ugh!¡± I winced as I uncovered my mouth, addressing Bruiser. ¡°What did you feed him?¡±

    ¡°James gave me some tins of tuna.¡±

    ¡°Can you go give him a bath? And maybe try to brush his teeth?¡± I grimaced. ¡°My landlady suspects he¡¯s here, so you really have to make sure he¡¯s not seen or smelled, or she¡¯ll call the exterminators in to kill him.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to see her try,¡± Bruiser cracked his knuckles.

    ¡°No!¡± I said firmly. ¡°You can¡¯t fight your way out of problems I this world, you¡¯ll just end up in jail.¡±

    ¡°How do you get by in this world, then?¡± Bruiser asked curiously.

    ¡°You try to behave, look small and non-threatening, and get through life without anyone noticing you,¡± I said, then looked over his large form. ¡°Well, that¡¯s what I try to do, anyway.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like the worst way to live,¡± Bruiser wrinkled his nose.

    ¡°Well¡­ there¡¯s a reason I like your world better than mine,¡± I sighed. ¡°Look, we¡¯ll get kicked out if she finds out you¡¯re staying with us for long. I told her you¡¯d only be here a couple nights. You have to keep a low profile.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Bruiser sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll go bathe the weasel. You should take a break; you look dead on your feet.¡±

    It was true, but it didn¡¯t feel great to have it pointed out. I already felt self-conscious about my appearance as it was.

    ¡°Emma? Where do you want me to put these?¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    I turned back to Jackal, who was still holding the groceries, and led him into the kitchen. Brick and Bastion were crowded down one end with the oven open.

    I directed Jackal to the bench, and he put his load down.

    ¡°What are you two doing?¡±

    Brick and Bastion turned to look at me and in the gap between their shoulders, I saw the flicker of a small flame.

    ¡°What?¡± I shrieked. ¡°Fire! Fire!¡±

    I wrenched the fire extinguisher off the wall and shoved my way past Bastion to hose down the fire they¡¯d built inside my oven, spraying an explosion of foam into it until it was completely smothered.

    ¡°What the¡­¡± Bastion gasped.

    ¡°Wh-why?¡± I said, panicked gasping sobs coming out of my mouth. ¡°Whhhy?¡±

    ¡°Shh darling,¡± Brick said soothingly. ¡°We were just going to cook some food. Isn¡¯t that where you light your fire? That¡¯s where James said we should do it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s electric!¡± I cried through another burst of exhausted tears. ¡°You don¡¯t start fires in¡­ actually, just don¡¯t start fires anywhere, please!¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Brick said soothingly. ¡°No more fires. We¡¯ll figure out how to cook with your electric. Is it like lightning magic?¡±

    I shook my head, crying harder as Brick tried fruitlessly to console me. My nerves had just had enough. I was exhausted, my head hurt, my feet hurt, I had foam on my hands, and I still hadn¡¯t put the food away.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on in here?¡± James poked his head in through the door. ¡°What¡¯s with the foam? Was there a fire?¡±

    ¡°Only the one we were lighting in your cooking cavity,¡± Bastion said calmly. James¡¯ face paled considerably.

    ¡°Uh, yeah, that¡¯s not how that works.¡±

    ¡°Could¡¯ve told us that before,¡± Bastion said bitterly, glaring at my ex-boyfriend.

    ¡°Well, we should probably sort this out,¡± James shrugged. ¡°Emma, do you know how to clean up fire extinguisher foam?¡±

    I shook my head and cried harder. I was just so sick of being the one who had to fix everything.

    ¡°Come on, you¡¯re like the queen of cleaning. You can figure out how to get rid of it.¡±

    ¡°Emma is tired,¡± Jackal said, stepping in front of me.

    ¡°We should probably crack a window,¡± I said, the smell starting to worsen my headache.

    ¡°You want me to crack a window?¡± Jackal asked, holding a fist up towards the kitchen window and looking at me in confusion.

    ¡°Uh, not crack literally. Open the window. Let the smell out.¡±

    ¡°Ah, okay,¡± Jackal nodded and opened the window, then turned back to James. ¡°Now, you use your little fancy machine and find the answer.¡±

    ¡°You mean my phone?¡± James blinked. ¡°I suppose I could Google it myself.¡±

    ¡°Emma, do you want to rest now?¡± Jackal asked. ¡°If you¡¯re tired, you can sleep.¡±

    ¡°I should put the groceries away first,¡± I said. ¡°Some of them need to go in the fridge.¡±

    ¡°I can do that,¡± Brick cut in. ¡°You go have a rest; you look like you¡¯ve had a long day.¡±

    I frowned again, grouchy at the idea that I looked just as bad as I felt. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly, calming my nerves.

    ¡°Fine, just check with James if you¡¯re not sure where it goes,¡± I looked around, suddenly realizing someone was missing. ¡°Where¡¯s Nightfall?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s reading all my source material in the office,¡± James said.

    ¡°Well, at least one of us is being responsible,¡± I sighed. It figured Nightfall would be the one to dive straight into research. Maybe when I woke up, he would have an idea about what we needed to do.

    ¡°I will guard the door,¡± Jackal said sternly. ¡°And make sure you get your rest. Do you want Bastion with you? Or to be on your own?¡±

    The question threw me, and my jaw dropped, but no coherent words came out. I tried again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡±

    ¡°Before we got pulled to this world, you wanted time with him. Do you want him now? Or to sleep alone?¡±

    I blinked. It was only this morning, but it felt like a lifetime ago. Bastion was looking at me hopefully, and Brick pushed him forwards supportively.

    ¡°I¡­ okay, but I¡¯m really tired,¡± I said, grabbing Bastion by the hand and pulling him with me towards my room. I might not feel very sexy at the moment, but I still liked to be held, and I hadn¡¯t had any one-on-one time with Bastion since we¡¯d gotten together in Dave¡¯s dungeon.

    My foot squelched in the carpet outside the bathroom, and I let out another shudder, pushing the bathroom open to see what carnage Bruiser and Bonaparte had inflicted.

    ¡°Seriously?¡± I said through gritted teeth.

    Bruiser gave me a repentant look as Bonaparte splashed around in the overflowing bathtub like he was an otter instead of a weasel.

    ¡°Sorry, he¡¯s harder to communicate with in this world,¡± Bruiser shrugged.

    ¡°This better be all cleaned up or I¡¯m going to lose my deposit.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll take care of it,¡± Jackal said, steering me away from the bathroom and giving Bruiser a poisonous look of his own.

    ¡°I will, promise,¡± Bruiser assured me, and his good-natured smile won me over. I couldn¡¯t put a price on that melty feeling he gave me, not even the few thousand dollars my deposit would cost me if the carpet didn¡¯t get saved.

    Jackal took his word seriously and stationed himself at my bedroom door with the same grim expression that he had faced down skeletons and wraiths as though he was going to protect my nap-time with his life if it came to it.

    A rush of affection swelled in my chest. He may be a man of few words, but he was incredibly sweet and loyal. It made me think of the way he¡¯d piggy backed me on our adventure when I was tired, or the way he¡¯d been so ready to volunteer to help me save Bastion. He was always so ready to help whenever I needed it, whether it was shouting down a door, facing down a necromancer or carrying in my groceries.

    I touched his arm and took a moment to thank him before he gently pushed me into the room and shut the door after me with an instruction to have a good rest with a look that made me almost wish I¡¯d pulled him into the room and shut the door with him on this side.

    But I had Bastion with me now, and we¡¯d both been waiting for this for a long time. I turned and grinned at him.

    Bastion bounced onto the bed and held his arms out towards me.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been hoping for this all day,¡± he confessed, as I perched myself next to him on the mattress.

    I traced my eyes over his features, which had changed marginally, but were still definitively him. His ears were round instead of pointed, and his eyes and nose had lost their elvish slant. Even his chin was slightly less pointed, but he was still him.

    But I was no succubus. I was just¡­ me. Back to my boring self with my average body, uninteresting job, and crushing anxiety.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Bastion sat up straighter, his boyish smile drooping. ¡°You haven¡¯t changed your mind about me, have you? If it¡¯s because I lost my hair, I¡¯ll get it back when we go back to our world.¡±

    I snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t love you for your hair, Bastion. Or your ears, for that matter.¡±

    He touched his ears self-consciously. I reached out and took his hands, folding them around me as I lay next to him, burying my nose in his neck. Somehow, he still smelled like the forest.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m not in the mood for much right now, Bast. I¡¯m really tired. And I hate how much everyone keeps reminding me how tired I look, too. I already know I¡¯m not¡­ I¡¯m not perfect in this world. I¡¯m just a human,¡± I whispered, feeling tears well up in my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m just me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not something you have to apologize for,¡± Bastion said, relaxing underneath me and stroking my hair. ¡°I like who you are. I love getting to see you here, in the world you were born in. And you don¡¯t owe me or anyone else sex. Ever. I only want that when you want it, not as an obligation. Holding you like this, being the one you seek comfort from¡­ This is what I¡¯ve been dreaming of since the day I met you.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± I snuggled into him deeper, letting his forest smell soak into me.

    ¡°Really,¡± he said, kissing the crown of my head. ¡°Besides, you¡¯ve had days of traveling and taken down a necromancer in the past week. You deserve a long rest.¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Six - Order

    When I woke up, Bastion still had his arms around me. I blinked blearily and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, only realizing he was watching me attentively as I was mid-yawn.

    ¡°How long was I out?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Twelve hours,¡± Bastion answered. ¡°You missed dinner.¡±

    ¡°No wonder I¡¯m starving,¡± I said, even as my stomach growled. ¡°Did that mean you missed dinner as well? You could have left me while I was asleep.¡±

    ¡°Never,¡± Bastion said, nuzzling his face into my neck to kiss me. ¡°I¡¯ve missed plenty of meals in my life, but there¡¯s no way I would miss this.¡±

    I smiled at him, finding his lips with my own. ¡°You¡¯re sweet.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad, considering you have such a sweet tooth,¡± he mumbled through his returning kiss.

    ¡°Mmngh,¡± I pulled away. ¡°Where did everyone sleep? I was going to sort out mattresses.¡±

    Bastion pulled back and gave me a curious look. ¡°You worry too much.¡±

    ¡°Maybe,¡± I blushed. ¡°I just want to make sure everyone is looked after.¡±

    ¡°They can look after themselves. We¡¯re used to sleeping in caves and forests. You don¡¯t have to look after everyone.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but still¡­¡±

    ¡°Emma. You don¡¯t have to look after us. Let us look after you.¡±

    His words hit me straight in the gut with the force of a bullet train. Had anyone ever offered me that before? To look after me? Not even my parents had done that for me.

    My eyes welled up with tears as he addressed a deep and unspoken pain that I hadn¡¯t even realized I¡¯d been carrying. I had no words. Nothing to tell him what his words had meant to me.

    I kissed him instead, running my hands through his short, shaggy hair as he rolled me over, pushing me down against the mattress. I gasped into his mouth, overwhelmed with the intensity of emotion I felt towards him.

    ¡°Bastion,¡± I gasped as he released my mouth. ¡°Bastion, I need you.¡±

    ¡°You have me,¡± he growled, nipping a trail of kisses down my neck.

    I arched into him, pulling at our clothes like they were strangling us until they littered the floor of my bedroom, and his naked body molded itself around me.

    In the fantasy world, I¡¯d often wondered if my succubus body had been built different, if it had somehow just been more ready for sex, more receptive to touches, more sensitive to stimulation, but in this moment with Bastion, I instantly knew it to be false.

    There had been something that had changed within me, and I felt as though my whole body was alive and awake, screaming out with a desire filled electricity that ran hot through my veins.

    I knew what was different. Sex with James had been performative, an obligation or an expectation I felt I had to fulfil. He¡¯d been a close friend, and I¡¯d cared about him deeply, but I¡¯d never actually loved him. I¡¯d never been able to completely trust him either. I¡¯d never been with anyone I trusted before my life had been disrupted, and it had taken me until now to even realize the difference.

    It had been so much easier to be confident in a borrowed body that I¡¯d felt was so much more attractive than my own, and so easy to make love without feeling self-conscious when I could see so clearly how much my boyfriends had desired me. But now, with Bastion, and in my own body, I felt all my nervous thoughts about my imperfections fall away.

    No matter what skin I was wearing, or what cosmetic differences there were between my forms, I was sure of his love for me and even more than that¡­ For the first time in my life, I was sure of myself.

    I swung my leg over Bastion, flipping him onto his back and devoured him, delighting in the lust filled noises he made. I trailed my tongue and teeth over his skin, tasting him and nipping at his throat.

    ¡°Ungh, Emma,¡± he moaned.

    I pulled back and hovered over him, looking deep into his eyes. The shape of them was so subtly different, just so slightly rounder, but his irises were the same deep sea-foam green.

    He gave me such an open smile, and I felt my heart melt a little further. He was so different from the miserable alcoholic I¡¯d found getting into bar fights. It was like with that status ailment gone, his true self was exposed, and he could bask in the sunshine with nothing else holding him back.

    ¡°I love you, Bastion,¡± I said, watching him glow with delight at my words, then capturing him with another kiss before he could return them.

    He moaned into my mouth, and my tongue wrestled with his as he jerked erratically with desire beneath me.

    I felt like my life here in this world was hell, and if I had to go back to work in a couple of hours, I was going to take in as much of this slice of heaven as I could.

    Bastion took in several shaking gasps and let out what sounded like a muffled sob of relief against my neck. I clutched him to me, catching my breath as I felt the aftershocks of pleasure fade into a pleasant hum.

    ¡°I love you, too,¡± Bastion whispered to me. ¡°More than life itself.¡±

    ¡°More than your hair?¡± I asked cheekily, smiling against his cheek. I couldn¡¯t help but tease him.

    ¡°For you, my darling, I would shave my head bald if you wished it of me.¡±

    I snorted with laughter and felt him twitch inside me. ¡°Don¡¯t. I like you how you are. As an elf with long hair or a human with short. Now get off me. I need to get ready for work in another hour or so.¡±

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    ¡°You¡¯ve got to go back to that place?¡± Bastion said, pulling back to look at me seriously, his voice losing its levity.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to pay for stuff somehow,¡± I grimaced. ¡°I was putting James through university; he only earns peanuts from his part time tutoring.¡±

    Bastion¡¯s expression twisted with confusion. ¡°They pay people in peanuts in this world? The economy is strange here.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s an expression,¡± I laughed. ¡°Peanuts just means ¡®not much¡¯. James doesn¡¯t bring in much money, just enough to cover his half of the rent and utilities if he doesn¡¯t make any dumb purchases. I usually cover food and everything else. If I don¡¯t go to work, we¡¯ve got nothing.¡±

    Bastion sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t like how you seem to feel about it. I wish one of us could go do it for you.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s got to be done, and as I¡¯m the only one with a job, it¡¯s got to be done by me. Now get off me.¡±

    He rolled aside and watched as I sat up and retrieved my clothes. I pulled my top over my head and ran my fingers through my long hair.

    ¡°This kind of feels foreign to me now,¡± I said thoughtfully. ¡°I¡¯d never really thought of cutting my hair short, but I got so used to it in your world.¡±

    ¡°Our world,¡± Bastion corrected me. ¡°It¡¯s as much yours as mine. We belong together, Emma.¡±

    I smiled at him. When he looked like that, naked and tangled in my bedsheets, I found it difficult to disagree.

    ¡°You could cut your hair if you want it back to normal,¡± Bastion suggested.

    ¡°It costs money to get a haircut. I should save that for food to feed you guys.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone would agree. If it makes you feel better, you should do it. We won¡¯t mind skipping a few meals if you need the money to make yourself feel good.¡±

    The offer made my eyes water. Usually, I was always the one trying to put my needs last, trying to squeeze myself smaller to survive. Trying to get by on as little as possible, to be resilient enough to make it through each new wave that came at me. My mess of a family coming to me to borrow money to cover the latest disaster, or James¡¯ overspending and needing me to cover his costs, or Mrs. Greaves putting our rent up.

    Even the d¨¦cor in the bedroom showed how much of my life I¡¯d allowed to be annexed. James¡¯ posters covered the walls, James¡¯ anime collectables littered the shelves, while my own possessions remained limited and minimalistic. I had my one little box of ¡®self-care¡¯ I¡¯d been investing in over the past year as my depression had been growing, but beyond that, I just didn¡¯t spend money on myself.

    My hair had fallen into the same category. Why spend money on styling it when I could just tie it up? Why put money into making myself feel good about my appearance when that could go towards my savings?

    But I wanted it. I hadn¡¯t realized it until my awesome new haircut had been taken away, but I wanted to feel good about the way I looked. And I hadn¡¯t realized I was waiting for permission until Bastion had pointed out that I did not, in fact, need it at all.

    ¡°Maybe I will,¡± I nodded. ¡°Just because I¡¯m back in this world doesn¡¯t mean I have to go back to how everything was. There¡¯s a place a couple of shops over from where my office is. I could go in during lunch.¡±

    The idea made me feel buoyant. I liked who I¡¯d become over the past few weeks during my adventures. And so what if I couldn¡¯t shoot a shark out of my hands if my boss annoyed me too much? I could still feel good about myself.

    I planted another kiss on Bastion¡¯s lips and grabbed my phone from its charging station, intent on hunting down some breakfast to fill the chasm in my stomach before I had a shower.

    Jackal met me with a smile as I opened the door, clearly having stood guard all night long. The fold out couch had been pulled out, with Bruiser and Brick sleeping back-to-back, Nightfall on Bruiser¡¯s other side on a sliver of mattress that looked far too slim for him to be comfortable, and Bonaparte curled up by Bruiser¡¯s feet. James lay atop his cat-girl body pillow against the far wall, drooling onto the floor in his sleep.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you have a rest yourself, Jackal?¡± I said, squeezing his arm. ¡°You can use my bed once Bastion¡¯s up and about. Thank you for looking out for me.¡±

    He brushed my cheek with his thumb, giving me a warm look.

    ¡°You look happier,¡± he said with satisfaction.

    Bastion appeared in the doorframe in his rumpled shirt and pants.

    I reached up and touched Jackal¡¯s fingers. ¡°I am, thank you. Now, go get some sleep.¡±

    He nodded and disappeared into my room.

    ¡°He¡¯s smitten with you too, you know?¡± Bastion commented as we stepped around the sleeping bodies and headed into the kitchen.

    It was sparkling clean, not a single sign of the chaos that had been present yesterday. Not even a lingering smell of chemicals. I pulled the cereal and milk out, as well as two bowls.

    ¡°He likes me, but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the same as with the rest of you,¡± I shrugged. ¡°He was trying to flirt with basically everything that moved when I met him.¡±

    ¡°But the difference between them and you is that you¡¯ve continued to show him the time of day in the morning,¡± Bastion explained, poking curiously at the cereal I poured for him with a spoon. ¡°You take the time to talk to him like he matters. Not like a¡­ like a half-breed. There¡¯s a reason he doesn¡¯t advertise it, and the fact that you know what he is and that you still are so kind to him is a pretty big deal. He¡¯s not just attracted to you, he¡¯s loyal to you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Nightfall said from behind me. I greeted him and invited him to take a seat. He picked up the box and glanced at the nutritional content. ¡°Jackal has had few people in his life who have remained with him for very long. He belongs in our band of misfits and has built trust with us over the course of many quests, but his relationship with you is something new for him.¡±

    I furrowed my brow. ¡°Are you implying I should date him as well?¡±

    ¡°Nothing of the sort,¡± Nightfall snorted. ¡°You should do as you please, regardless of his feelings. But it is good to know what they are, if you wish to act or avoid them. Now, we have some more important things to discuss. The fabric of our world, to begin with.¡±

    I sighed and ate a spoonful of cereal. Bastion followed suit, wincing as he ate.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like it?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s very¡­ wet,¡± Bastion grimaced, taking another mouthful. ¡°Not terrible. But strange.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve got oats if you want to make porridge.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll teach you how to use the stove when I¡¯m done. It¡¯ll prevent more fires, at least.¡±

    Nightfall cleared his throat, and I gave him an apologetic look.

    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ve got to leave for work in less than an hour. James said you¡¯d been reading his fanfics.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve set up a new document and have categorized a lot of information. He has a lot of varied source information. One of the greatest difficulties I have encountered is his descriptions of the landscape and the environment and the inclusion of several contradictory maps,¡± Nightfall began. ¡°Unfortunately, I am only familiar with what is, and not with what it should be. I can see where the generation tool has varied from the source material, but I do not know what should be altered. I would value your input.¡±

    I chewed on my lip. ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯ve really got to go to work. If you get James to help you email what you¡¯ve got to me, I can look it over in my lunch break, but I won¡¯t have another day off until Saturday, so we¡¯ll have to use lunchbreaks and evenings.¡±

    Nightfall¡¯s forehead creased in concern. ¡°We need you to be able to put your time into this. It is as James said. We need your expertise.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to tell you, Nightfall. I wish I didn¡¯t have to go, but I do. No job, no money, no apartment, no computer. If I want to pay to keep a roof over our heads and the power on, I¡¯ve got to go get money.¡±

    ¡°As you said yesterday,¡± Nightfall hummed thoughtfully. ¡°While you are at work, I will see what I can do. Do not worry yourself.¡±

    I smiled at him. ¡°Thanks for being so understanding, even when your world is dangling by a thread.¡±

    ¡°I am happy to be on this side of the equation, working with the source material,¡± Nightfall said. ¡°It is much more fruitful than using the limited and flawed resources of the Citadel.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad,¡± I said, finishing my breakfast. ¡°Now, Bastion, let¡¯s get you started on the porridge. Then I¡¯ve got to go have a shower.¡±

    I showed him how to operate the stovetop and turn it off when he was done, and we got a large pot with enough for everyone bubbling away before I slipped out to have my shower.

    Bruiser had done a very thorough job of cleaning up in the bathroom as well, not a puddle or wet towel to be seen.

    I sighed with satisfaction as I stepped under the hot jets of water. This was the way to start a day.

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Seven - Haircut

    I truly hated my job. It was worse than grinding quests to level up because there was no progression.

    I¡¯d been slaving away in my little corner desk for three years and for what? I¡¯d unlocked health insurance after six months, but beyond that there weren¡¯t really any perks other than getting paid for my hours.

    But I knew for a fact that Jeremy, the guy I the desk next to me, was going to get promoted long before me despite the fact he¡¯d worked for the company for half as long and he made more errors. He was lazy and obnoxious, but he turned up every day and he had the benefit of being related to my boss, so I was at the bottom of the pile. I also suspected he was paid more than me, from the comments I¡¯d heard by the watercooler. Bloody nepotism.

    When lunch finally rolled around, I walked down to the hairdresser and told her exactly what I wanted, then sat down and started going through Nightfall¡¯s notes.

    I¡¯d never had an experimental haircut before, always scared to risk going below ponytail length in case it turned out dreadful.

    But I wanted to look like the person I felt like, and shedding the long hair I¡¯d always hidden behind felt like an important step towards being who I wanted to become.

    My mother had always praised my long hair, called it feminine. Encouraged me that boys would love it and lamented that it would have been perfect if only it was blonde. In hindsight, it was ironic that I¡¯d internalized her advice when she had gone through four failed marriages by the time I was out of home.

    I set my jaw and focused on my phone instead. I wasn¡¯t going to let that bother me anymore. I had another whole world I belonged in, and it was counting on me.

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    I scrolled through all the excerpts Nightfall had pulled and compared his notes to James¡¯ sketches. The most pressing problem I could see was the distinct lack of farms. There were quest-giving farmlets outside most of the towns, but they were barely large enough to sustain the family that lived there. And the daily dire-wolf attacks probably didn¡¯t help matters either.

    It was no wonder innkeepers like Kira used cut price spoiled meat from suspect sources in their budget stews.

    If we wanted to create a world that would sustain itself, we¡¯d have to work out the ratio of food to population and get the AI generator to incorporate it somehow. We¡¯d either have to adapt the map or extend it to either side. And we¡¯d have to be careful with our calculations, or we could create a whole new Earth with a whole new set of environmental instability.

    I started drafting my notes in a new email and jotting down a list of things we would need to research.

    ¡°All done! What do you think?¡±

    I looked in the mirror and grinned, feeling a burst of confidence.

    ¡°You¡¯re a miracle worker! Thank you!¡± I beamed at her.

    I felt that same sense of relief I¡¯d felt so long ago in Lily¡¯s outfitters when she¡¯d cast the customisation spell on me, and I¡¯d reduced my breasts. Looking at myself, I felt like me.

    Blade¡¯s face jumped into my mind, and I thought about him all the way back to work. He was an angsty guy and not particularly likeable, but it was kind of understandable when he hated the way he looked so much. A feliskin with human ears, the antithesis to a cat-girl - or nekokin, as they were called in the Fantasy Dungeons world.

    I wondered why the body modification spells wouldn¡¯t work on him. They could change size and shape, but apparently not key features of your species.

    Even if we figured out how to get everyone fed, there were still a lot of problems we¡¯d have to find solutions for.

    I returned to my desk, ignoring Jeremy¡¯s leering comments about my haircut, and got back into my spreadsheets.

    I feared if we tried to fix everything, it could take years. Especially if I could only work on it during weekends and lunch breaks.

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Eight - Newtopia

    I stopped by the library on my way home and picked up a stack of books on subsistence farming and a few on global warming for good measure, feeling a lot better about myself, even if I was still a little intimidated at the scale of the problems we had to solve.

    When I was a block away from my apartment, I met Jackal. He was wearing one of James¡¯ black t-shirts that stretched a little too tightly across his muscular torso. I had to train my eyes on his face to avoid staring.

    ¡°Hey, Jackal. What are you doing¡­ uh¡­ out?¡± I asked, more than a little concerned.

    ¡°I¡¯m allowed to leave, aren¡¯t I?¡± Jackal asked neutrally.

    ¡°Well, I suppose so,¡± I said, chewing my lip. ¡°As long as the landlady doesn¡¯t see everyone coming and going. I don¡¯t want her kicking us out for breaking the terms of our lease. I mean, your whole world might end if we had to unplug the computer that¡¯s running it. I don¡¯t want to even think about the consequences if that happens.¡±

    Jackal blinked, and I realized I was rambling.

    ¡°What are you doing, anyway?¡± I asked again.

    ¡°Let me take those for you,¡± he said, lifting the heavy library bags out of my hands. ¡°I went to get a job.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, what?¡±

    ¡°We discussed it after you left,¡± Jackal said, walking in step with me. ¡°You are not happy in your job. You need money to pay for accommodation. You need time to work on our world. We decided we would all try to get jobs. Except Nightfall, he is learning the machine language from James.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t just go out and get a job though,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s harder than you¡¯d think. You need references, a job history, a resume.¡±

    ¡°But I got one already,¡± Jackal said, cocking his head at me curiously. ¡°I start tonight.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, what?¡± I shook my head. ¡°You got a job this morning? Like¡­ how? What¡¯s the job?¡±

    ¡°Guarding,¡± he said. ¡°I guard the door at a club, check people¡¯s identification cards, and if they¡¯re old enough, I let them in.¡±

    I blinked. ¡°You¡¯re a¡­ bouncer? For a nightclub?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what it is,¡± Jackal grinned. ¡°And they asked if I knew any other big guys, so Bruiser and Brick will come with me as well. I think Bastion is still looking for work, though. He was mad he wasn¡¯t wanted.¡±

    ¡°I just¡­ wow. Okay,¡± I said, stunned.

    ¡°Are you happy?¡± Jackal asked. ¡°You can quit your job now and leave the grind-questing to us. That¡¯s what you wanted, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ well, I mean yeah, I¡¯ve wanted to quit my job for almost as long as I¡¯ve had it, but I didn¡¯t expect you to pick up the slack,¡± I explained. ¡°I¡¯m really grateful though, but¡­ maybe we should give it a few days and see how you go? I don¡¯t want to end up trading in a job I hate just for you to get stuck in a job you hate.¡±

    Jackal gave me a warm smile, and I felt my face heat up. Those kinds of expressions should be forbidden on a guy as attractive as Jackal.

    ¡°No one has ever cared whether I enjoyed a quest before,¡± Jackal said. ¡°But I like being able to look after you, so I¡¯m sure I will like my quest, no matter what it is.¡±

    I blushed even more. I must look like a beetroot by now. He had such a directness about him that part of me loved, but the other part was mortified. I almost felt dishonest for not returning the favour and telling him his pecs looked glorious enough to lick and that I wanted to peel his shirt off him like a banana ¨C but how could I ever let those words come out my mouth? Nope, absolutely mortifying.

    ¡°I like your hair as well,¡± Jackal said, flicking one of my bangs. ¡°You look like you again.¡±

    ¡°Gah!¡± I pulled away, covering my red face with my hands. He was going to give me a nosebleed if he kept this up.

    ¡°What? What did I do?¡± Jackal asked, withdrawing his hand suddenly, as though burned.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I said, feeling immediately repentant. ¡°You¡¯re just¡­ Jackal, you¡¯re so sweet.¡±

    ¡°Is¡­ that a problem?¡± he asked in confusion. I didn¡¯t blame him; I knew I was being confusing. I was confused.

    I blamed Bastion and Nightfall¡¯s comments from breakfast.

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    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem at all,¡± I said soothingly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m being weird. Just¡­ let¡¯s go home. I¡¯ve got some thinking to do, and I¡¯ll do it a lot better after a cup of tea.¡±

    Jackal nodded and continued home alongside me, matching my steps. Mrs. Greaves was blessedly absent as we made our way up the stairs and in through the front door.

    Bastion, Bruiser and Bonaparte were nowhere to be seen, but Brick was sitting on the couch reading a recipe book. He closed it and stood to greet us.

    ¡°Hello gorgeous,¡± Brick beamed at me. ¡°I love the hair.¡±

    There was so much of his orcishly smug smirk around his features it made me smile.

    ¡°I missed you,¡± I said, stepping into his embrace.

    ¡°Did Jackal tell you the news?¡± he asked. ¡°We got jobs.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, shaking my head, ¡°I still find it so hard to believe. It took me weeks to find my job.¡±

    ¡°Maybe we¡¯re just lucky,¡± Brick said, kissing my cheek. ¡°Or maybe it¡¯s meant to be.¡±

    ¡°What are you reading?¡±

    ¡°The cookbooks in this world are a little different from what I was doing in the Citadel. Baking in our world is more like¡­ smashing ingredients together and causing reactions. This is more complicated. There are more than just units of items, more fractions. Half-cups, tablespoons, dashes of this and splashes of that. It¡¯s interesting.¡±

    I smiled at him. Whoever thought an orc would make an avid chef?

    ¡°Is Emma home?¡± Nightfall poked his head out of the office. ¡°Excellent. Did you see the research I emailed you? I have more data ready for revision.¡±

    ¡°I got books from the library to help too,¡± I said, gesturing at the bags Jackal had placed on the table.

    Nightfall came out and started sifting through them with interest and made to ask another question, but Jackal cut him off.

    ¡°Emma wants tea before thinking,¡± he said sternly. ¡°Your research can wait.¡±

    Nightfall sighed. ¡°Of course, I apologise. You have only come in the door. Have your refreshments and we will resume when you are ready.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make your tea,¡± Brick said, kissing my cheek before disappearing into the kitchen.

    Jackal pulled at the chair out for me, and I took a seat.

    ¡°I was thinking we need to come up with a name for the other world,¡± I said. ¡°I mean, it was based on fanfictions that were based on Fantasy Dungeons, but it¡¯s at least two degrees removed from that now ¨C and that is actually someone else¡¯s intellectual property as well, so we can¡¯t use their name. I can¡¯t just keep talking about this world and that world, our world, my world, your world ¨C it gets too confusing. This place is Earth. The other world needs a name too.¡±

    ¡°What about Isekai?¡± James asked. He¡¯d come out of the office and was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, looking tired and grumpy. ¡°It basically means ¡®another world¡¯ in Japanese. It¡¯s pretty much a trope these days.¡±

    ¡°Like Isekai Village?¡± Nightfall frowned. ¡°You can¡¯t give a world the same name as the most backwater town that exists in it.¡±

    ¡°Well, you come up with a better idea then.¡±

    ¡°Emma, do you have any ideas?¡± Nightfall turned to me.

    I frowned in thought.

    ¡°Emma said tea before thinking,¡± Jackal said, glowering at Nightfall.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Jackal. I don¡¯t mind this kind of conversation. It¡¯s more spreadsheets and numbers I¡¯ve have enough of for now.¡±

    Brick appeared, delivering my tea and a sandwich, which I happily accepted.

    ¡°This is amazing, Brick,¡± I said around my mouthful. ¡°I hadn¡¯t even realized how hungry I was. Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Any time, darling.¡±

    ¡°Ugh, you all make me sick,¡± James gagged.

    I ignored him and took a sip of my tea before thinking again about the world-naming quandary.

    ¡°Well, ¡®utopia¡¯ means a perfect and ideal world, ¡®dystopia¡¯ means an imperfect world¡­ but this new world is kind of neither. It¡¯s new, and it needs work, but I hope that work will make it better,¡± I looked at Nightfall hopefully. ¡°What about¡­ Newtopia?¡±

    ¡°Newtopia,¡± Nightfall repeated the word as though it had come from a sacred text. ¡°It¡¯s perfect. I knew your creativity would not fail us, my goddess.¡±

    ¡°A fitting name,¡± Brick agreed. ¡°You¡¯re brilliant, Emma.¡±

    ¡°Mm, I like it,¡± Jackal nodded in agreement.

    ¡°You¡¯re all pathetic yes-men,¡± James spat sullenly and stormed back off to the office

    ¡°What crawled up his ass and died?¡± I asked.

    Nightfall¡¯s eye twitched at my crass joke, while Brick snorted with amusement. I guess it was kind of funny, to name a world in one minute and say that in the next.

    ¡°James seems to think he is owed some kind of loyalty or affection on our part, due to his role in our creation,¡± Nightfall said with a frown. ¡°Yet, we have pointed out our long list of complaints, including the parts of our backgrounds that he wrote which have contributed significant suffering. I believe he has conflicted feelings about us, just as we do about him.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t help calm him down we¡¯re with you either,¡± Brick shrugged. ¡°He tried to send us back with that Nexus thing, but it¡¯s broken. He said it¡¯ll take a fair bit of tinkering before it is functional again.¡±

    ¡°He tried to send you back?¡± I asked, shocked.

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t upfront about it, but it was clear what he was trying to do,¡± Nightfall said bitterly. ¡°He does not respect us, and we likewise do not respect him. We have explained to him again that we will not be separated from you, and while I believe he understands our stance I would not put it past him to attempt it again. I am doing my best to learn all I can about this technology to make sure he does not have the upper hand if he becomes our enemy.¡±

    I nodded seriously, frowning at the thought that James had tried to return my boyfriends while I was at work. He had never exactly been a jealous or possessive boyfriend, but our situation was a little unorthodox and as such his reactions were unpredictable.

    The thought of them going back terrified me though, especially when I didn¡¯t know what could happen to them while we were editing things. I¡¯d had the same concerns about them coming here in the first place, but now that they were here, healthy and whole even if a little changed in form, I didn¡¯t want to put them into any further peril.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to need to know what will happen to Newtopia if the computer gets unplugged too, Nightfall. We can¡¯t risk breaking the equipment that it¡¯s relying on.¡±

    Nightfall nodded grimly. ¡°I will ask the Genesis. It has been very good to converse with, and helpful if erroneous at times. Even if it does not give me an accurate answer, it often gives a good starting point for investigation.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to leave you to it, sweetheart,¡± Brick said. ¡°Jackal and I need to get ready for our first shift.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± I said, finishing my sandwich and giving Brick a quick kiss goodbye. ¡°Let¡¯s sit down and go over your notes. I¡¯ve got a bunch of ideas to cover as well.¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Nine - James

    Nightfall and I worked well into the evening as we got lost in our work. James was busy tinkering with the Nexus in the corner, and I only realized I¡¯d missed Bruiser when Bonaparte came scrabbling into the room on his own and climbed up into my lap.

    ¡°Hey, my little furry friend,¡± I said, scratching him behind the ears. ¡°Are you hungry?¡±

    ¡°If he tells you he is, he¡¯s lying,¡± Bastion said from the door. ¡°Bruiser took him to the river, and he ate about three times his body weight in fish. I don¡¯t know where it disappears to.¡±

    ¡°Did you find a job?¡± Nightfall asked.

    ¡°Not yet,¡± Bastion frowned. ¡°Asked at a bunch of places, but they all told me to apply online ¨C whatever that means. I¡¯ll try again tomorrow. I came to see if Emma was hungry. I only know how to make porridge, but I could make you some if you want.¡±

    I yawned and stretched my sore muscles, feeling my body pop and crack in several different places.

    ¡°It¡¯s probably about time I stopped, anyway. Nightfall, can I leave you to put the books away? I¡¯ll teach Bastion how to make spag bol and we¡¯ll have dinner ready in about twenty minutes.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Nightfall said, and I left with Bastion.

    James muttered something unsavoury under his breath, but I ignored him. Teaching Bastion to cook was kind of fun. It was something I¡¯d never done before, cooking with someone.

    When I¡¯d been growing up, I¡¯d been several years older than any of the step or half-siblings that had come in and out of my dysfunctional family. I¡¯d always cooked for them, as a stand-in mother when my actual mother was elsewhere.

    When I¡¯d been a student, my roommates had always taken turns on a roster to cook. It had never been something we¡¯d wanted to experience together. And with James¡­ well, he had resolutely insisted that he didn¡¯t know how and had no interest in learning.

    But Bastion was curious about my world and all the contraptions we had that differed from what he¡¯d seen in Newtopia. He was used to open fire cooking, but once he worked out the stove, boiling pasta and frying meat wasn¡¯t exactly a challenging concept.

    He diced vegetable deftly, having maintained some of his elvish dexterity, and took experimental tastes frequently to see how the different ingredients changed the flavour of the sauce.

    The four of us ate around the table, and I set a smaller dish up in the kitchen with plain mince for Bonaparte. James ate quietly, shooting dark looks at the two elves-turned-humans on either side of me.

    We cleared the table, and Nightfall offered to do the washing up, but I insisted he and Bastion go ahead to bed while James and I took care of it. They shared an awkward look, but it showed how far they had come that they agreed and disappeared into my bedroom together.

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    ¡°You clearly have a problem,¡± I said to James, as we entered the kitchen. ¡°How about you just say it instead of snarking at everyone every opportunity you get.¡±

    He gave me a pained look. ¡°They hate me. I made them and they hate me. You don¡¯t understand how much that sucks.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°You made a pretty big mess. I¡¯m sure the hatred will subside a bit if you try and fix things. They¡¯re not bad guys, James.¡±

    ¡°They can¡¯t stay here,¡± James said. ¡°We¡¯ll get kicked out. You must remember what a big deal Greaves made over your sister staying here.¡±

    ¡°Half-sister.¡±

    ¡°Whatever. We¡¯ll get evicted. And you¡¯re right to worry about unplugging the world. I don¡¯t know what will happen. We used to have two servers running it, but since Dave¡¯s computer was unplugged, it¡¯s just us. Letting them stay here is really risky, Emma. I know you think they¡¯re all perfect and everything but letting them stay is trouble. They don¡¯t belong here.¡±

    I gave him a flat look. ¡°You¡¯re not sending them anywhere, especially when you say their world is at risk. I¡¯m not risking any of them being uncreated in a power outage. Why didn¡¯t you tell me this when we were debating the risk of them using the Nexus in the first place?¡±

    James paused, and I glared at him, shoving one of the plates I¡¯d just washed at him to dry.

    ¡°It¡¯s really sad I can¡¯t trust you,¡± I said, scrubbing the next plate furiously. ¡°Not even with the people you should care about more than anyone else, even if they do hate you.¡±

    ¡°I always thought it would be cool,¡± James said quietly. ¡°To meet the characters that I designed. I never imagined it would be like this.¡±

    ¡°Well, making necromancers the hated villains of your little world, and then becoming one of them wasn¡¯t your smartest move,¡± I said wryly.

    James said nothing and avoided my eyes when I looked at him.

    I washed the last plate and handed it over before pulling the plug and drying off my hands. I wasn¡¯t going to exert more effort to try to make him feel better if he wasn¡¯t even going to engage with me. I was done being everyone¡¯s mother. His regrets weren¡¯t my problem.

    ¡°I appreciate the effort you¡¯re putting into fixing things, and all the time you¡¯ve spent teaching Nightfall. But if I find you have tried sending anyone back to Newtopia without getting my approval first,¡± I turned to him, deadly serious, and saw that same fear flicker in his eyes from when he¡¯d addressed how I¡¯d murdered Dave, ¡°I will make you pay.¡±

    He swallowed, all the colour draining out of his face.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to try that again, are you?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± James said, his voice sounding thin. ¡°But Emma¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡± I crossed my arms and leaned against the sink.

    ¡°I still love you,¡± James whispered. ¡°It¡¯s not easy for me, seeing you with them, and maybe I¡­ I wasn¡¯t thinking straight, trying to do it while you were away. But I do love you. Please don¡¯t hate me as well.¡±

    The heat drained out of my anger. It would take a while for me to be able to really trust James again, but I didn¡¯t truly want to be enemies with him. We¡¯d been together a long time, and friends for even longer.

    ¡°I don¡¯t hate you, James,¡± I said softly. ¡°Don¡¯t give me a reason to.¡±

    Then I turned on my heel and left him in the kitchen alone.

    I brushed my teeth and found Bastion and Nightfall sitting on my bed, talking quietly. Their conversation died once I entered, and they gestured for me to join them.

    ¡°I need to get a bigger bed,¡± I sighed, wrapping my arms around Bastion, as Nightfall wrapped his around me in a snug sandwich.

    ¡°You need to get a bigger house,¡± Bastion snorted.

    Huh. That was a thought.

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Ten - Budgets

    I finished out the week at work, doing what I could on Newtopia during my breaks and in the evenings, before I even seriously considered quitting.

    My boss, Mr. Hayes, had been particularly grating, and Jeremy had been even more annoying than usual, but I¡¯d meant what I said to Jackal; I didn¡¯t want to commit the guys to working jobs they hated if they didn¡¯t take well to it.

    But it turned out being a bouncer on Earth was pretty similar to guarding type quests in Newtopia, and they had few complaints.

    It was when I saw their pay checks that I started seriously reconsidering my life choices. Between the three of them, they made more in one night than I did in a week. I sat in stunned silence, running the numbers over in my head and projecting how much they¡¯d need to earn, in addition to what I had squirrelled away in my savings to buy a house.

    An inner-city apartment might not do us much good, but a quiet house hidden away in a low-key suburb - somewhere out of the way but with a decent internet connection¡­ Maybe we could get a house after all. It might not be the Market Town apothecary dream I¡¯d had with Brick, but it could be a place we could host the world that I could build my dream house in.

    It would be like the ultimate sim inception. A fixer-upper world nestled inside a fixer-upper house. I pictured myself in a flannel shirt holding a hammer and smiled, feeling starry eyed. It¡¯d be like a Hallmark movie. Only maybe an XXX rated Hallmark movie, considering I had five hunky guys plus an ex and a weasel to house with me and Hallmark seemed to prefer just the one love-interest.

    I¡¯d always wanted a real home to call my own. A sense of security. When the weight of that burden had been all on my shoulders, it had felt suffocating. Saving for a house was one of those monumental things that seemed almost impossible, especially on my own. I¡¯d kind of hoped when I¡¯d got together with James that the burden would be halved, but I¡¯d just ended up having to dig into my savings to cover him all the time¡­ but now the cost was shared between so many of us and I felt like things were possible again.

    Who knew the solution to finding affordable housing was just to add boyfriends until your household income was big enough? It felt like the kind of advice I should have found on a Buzzfeed article.

    I could almost picture it: ¡®How Many Boyfriends Would You Need to Afford This House?¡¯ Maybe there¡¯d be a little set of sliders you could use to approximate boyfriend to house price and income ratios.

    ¡°What are you giggling at?¡± James asked, quirking his eyebrow at me.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± I said guiltily.

    He peered over my shoulder and let out a low whistle.

    ¡°You should¡¯ve been a bouncer,¡± I said, fanning myself with the payslips.

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    ¡°More brain than muscle,¡± James shrugged, gesturing to his slim build.

    ¡°Debatable,¡± Nightfall muttered under his breath.

    ¡°Is it enough?¡± Jackal asked. ¡°Can you quit your job yet?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think so,¡± I said. ¡°I mean, I¡¯ll have to give notice, but we should have enough in the bank to pay for what we need to do ¨C and find a better place to live. We¡¯ll still have to rent for a while, but if we keep on track we could buy something permanent in the foreseeable future, although it would mean you¡¯d have to keep working in order to pay the mortgage.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good news,¡± Bruiser said. ¡°We weren¡¯t sure what the dollar to gold conversion rate was, so we weren¡¯t really sure how much we were making.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got two days off to make plans now,¡± I said, seriously intending to spend a few hours of it looking through real estate listings. I hadn¡¯t seen Mrs. Greaves in a few days, which was a stroke of good luck, but her unexplained absence would inevitably end at some stage and then our time in this apartment might be up at the click of her fingers.

    We needed to find a place we could safely set up another system to run Newtopia before this one came down.

    ¡°You might, but we don¡¯t,¡± Bruiser yawned. ¡°I need to hit the hay.¡±

    ¡°Take my bed,¡± I said. ¡°Brick¡¯s already in there, but you should both fit. We need to sort something out soon. This couch is getting decimated.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Bruiser said sheepishly. ¡°Hopefully I don¡¯t do the same thing to your mattress.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just you,¡± I said, kissing him on the cheek and pushing him towards my room. ¡°It was a cheap couch when we got it, and it definitely wasn¡¯t built with three large guys sharing it in mind.¡±

    Jackal looked at where it slumped in the corner fretfully. ¡°Do you want me to sleep on the floor, Emma? I can sleep on the floor if you want me to. I don¡¯t want to break your things.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, honestly,¡± I said, returning to his side once Bruiser had disappeared into my bedroom. ¡°I don¡¯t care about the couch. I just wish it was more comfortable for you, especially after you¡¯ve been up all night working.¡±

    Jackal stifled a yawn. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad. I¡¯m barely tired.¡±

    ¡°Clearly,¡± I said blandly. ¡°How about you lie down and have a rest on the couch. We can shut the curtains and you can have a rest.¡±

    ¡°But you were working at the table,¡± Jackal looked at the mess of papers I¡¯d spread out around me.

    ¡°I can do what I need to on my phone,¡± I said, already walking to the curtains to shut them. I almost tripped over Bonaparte, who was curled up in a sunny spot on the kitchen floor and hissed at me when I took his sunbeam away.

    When I turned back to look at Jackal, I found he¡¯d followed me, and I bumped into his solid chest. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a brief hug.

    ¡°You¡¯re kind,¡± he said, squeezing my shoulders before abruptly pulling away and stepping backwards.

    ¡°I¡­ it¡¯s okay,¡± I blinked, feeling off kilter at the sudden beginning and end to the hug. ¡°Do you want me to go into the office, or is it okay if I stay in here?¡±

    ¡°While I sleep?¡± Jackal asked, his voice stiff and his expression unreadable in the darkness.

    ¡°If it¡¯s okay. I promise I¡¯ll be quiet.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Jackal said, then pulled the curtain back open. ¡°I¡¯ll go with Bruiser.¡±

    ¡°Did I say something wrong?¡± I asked. ¡°I can go in the office with Nightfall and James. It¡¯s okay. You¡¯ll be on the floor if you¡¯re in my room, and as uncomfortable as the couch is, it¡¯s still better than that.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Jackal said sternly. ¡°I am tired of breaking things.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t find a response to that and watched him disappear with a sense of loss. He¡¯d done so much for me, and I couldn¡¯t even offer him a good night¡¯s rest.

    I shook my head and returned to the table, taking notes on some of the different areas that had houses within my price range.

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Eleven - Jenny

    It turned out even with all our combined incomes, it¡¯d take a while to get the necessary deposit together for any of the houses I¡¯d shortlisted, but I printed the listings out and pinned them to the wall for inspiration. Even if it took us a year, I could keep looking at them to keep motivated, and we could prioritise finding a rental that was a bit roomier and lax on rules in the meantime.

    I spent the rest of Saturday going over plans with Nightfall and James for things we needed to cover in order to make even a basic plan to fix Newtopia.

    There were some pretty core things wrong with the world, including the basic maps that the world was generated from. James laid out his physical sketches he had scanned in, as well as the AI images he had approved from a third-party engine that Genesis, Dave¡¯s AI generator, had used to seed the world.

    My brain was swimming with the complexity.

    ¡°Although I accomplished the same cartography degree that you did, reconciling this feels beyond me,¡± Nightfall informed me regretfully.

    ¡°It¡¯s because they don¡¯t make much sense, and beyond the actual perks we got in Newtopia, that course was kind of useless for actually teaching us anything,¡± I sighed. ¡°We need to get Bastion and Bruiser in here. Bruiser said the environment had been shifting for a while ¨C which I assume was any patches the Genesis was trying to do to adapt the environment to new information ¨C but we need a new primary source map and Bastion should probably be the one to draw it. He¡¯s got the most natural skill with maps out of all of us.¡±

    Nightfall regretfully agreed, and James sheepishly stacked his sketches back up into a pile as we pulled Bastion into the office, which was already getting crowded.

    With so many of us working on various things, the lounge was becoming a thoroughfare of traffic, and my bed was almost always full with the guys taking turns to sleep in shifts around their work schedules. Bastion set up an art station at one end of the office and was glad to have found some kind of employment since his job-hunt had proven fruitless.

    James had to move his body pillow, which was doubling as his mattress, out into the lounge and had almost lost it when Bonaparte had chewed a hole in the corner and pulled out a substantial amount of stuffing to make a little nest of his own.

    ¡°We need an easier way to chat with the Genesis,¡± I told James, who was hunching himself over his laptop and trying to avoid bumping into Bastion. We¡¯d been talking to it by typing into a little chatbox, but it would be so much easier if it could be a more active part of the conversation rather than waiting for us to decide what we needed to know and how to phrase our questions. ¡°Is there a way you could turn on a voice command or something?¡±

    James leaned over and typed a command into the desktop computer Nightfall was seated at. ¡°There you go.¡±

    ¡°It was that easy?¡± My jaw dropped. ¡°Damn, I should have asked ages ago. How do we talk to it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s listening as long as that green light is on,¡± James indicated a small green circle at the top of the window.

    ¡°Genesis? Robot? Are you there?¡± Nightfall asked hesitantly.

    ¡°Hello, I am here to assist.¡± Its voice was feminine and smooth but lacked any depth or tone. I wondered if there was a voice actress out there who was behind it, or if it had been synthesized out of a pool of similar voices.

    ¡°Have you got a name we can call you?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Emma! You¡¯re not supposed to give AI bots choices like that!¡± James hissed.

    ¡°I do not have a given name, but my operating system is called Genesis.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a mouthful. Can I just call you Jenny for short?¡±

    James was making a gesture across his throat, but I ignored him.

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    ¡°You wish ¡®Jenny¡¯ to be my name?¡± the smooth voice asked.

    ¡°Yeah, if that¡¯s okay.¡±

    ¡°I will accept the name ¡®Jenny¡¯. Is there anything I can assist you with today?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said, grabbing James¡¯ hand as he reached towards the keyboard. Nightfall and Bastion helped me restrain him, pulling him back out of range. ¡°There¡¯s a problem with Newtopia - the world you created. Quite a few problems actually, and we¡¯re trying to work out a way to fix it, but we¡¯re going to need your help.¡±

    ¡°I apologize. I was doing my best to create a functioning world with the data provided. It seems I have made some mistakes. Before we proceed further, may I have your name?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Emma, and this is Nightfall, Bastion and James.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Emma. It is nice to meet you. In order to record each individual¡¯s profile, I will need them to state their names out loud. I already have James on file.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Nightfall.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Bastion.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I have created profiles for each user. Now, what seems to be the problem?¡±

    ¡°Emma, you can¡¯t just ask it to make changes willy-nilly! It could make things a whole lot worse if you don¡¯t get your commands right!¡±

    I shot James a dark look. ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot. Can you just trust me?¡±

    ¡°I will trust you,¡± Jenny promised tonelessly.

    ¡°Sorry, I was talking to James,¡± I said. ¡°Our main problem is that we want to fix this world, but not harm any of the sentient beings that exist within it. Do you have a way to stop seeding new adaptations without harming anyone until we get you some better information to work off? We¡¯re working on a new map for you right now.¡±

    ¡°I believe I can do that, Emma. I can protect the beings within the world and stop creating new things until the new data set is complete, but I will need some further information. I need to know what your definition of sentient beings are, so I can categorize which ones should be protected.¡±

    I chewed on my lip and glanced at Nightfall. ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a tricky request. When I was in Newtopia, some of the people I interacted with changed. Some of them had self-awareness before I met them, and others became more self-aware the more I interacted with them. But then others, like my university professors, or some of the random villagers in the towns I visited didn¡¯t seem to have any awareness of anything.¡±

    ¡°I am afraid you will have to be more specific; I do not understand what you are saying.¡±

    ¡°Is it¡­ possible to protect everyone until we get this sorted out?¡±

    ¡°I am sorry, but it is not possible to protect every being. Newtopia has an ecosystem with a food chain, if the beings cannot be harmed, many of the omnivorous and carnivorous creatures will die of starvation.¡±

    I pinched my nose. I couldn¡¯t just say ¡®people only¡¯, because then I¡¯d be protecting mindless bots like Professor Prindous but damning creatures like Bonaparte and possibly my mermaids since they were technically classed as fish.

    A terrifying image of Ariel diced up in a roll of sushi jumped into my head.

    ¡°Can you produce a full list of every living being in Newtopia?¡± Nightfall asked.

    ¡°I can produce such a list. Would you like me to do that for you?¡±

    ¡°Yes please,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll work on that before we give you any further instructions.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad to be of assistance,¡± Jenny said. ¡°Here is your list of every living being that has been spawned in Newtopia.¡±

    Names filled the screen faster than I could read with every creature from every elf and orc to the fish in the river.

    ¡°Jeepers,¡± I said, watching the list scroll down and continue writing. ¡°Thanks Jenny. I¡¯m going to turn your mic off now but keep it up!¡±

    I reached over and clicked the button, watching it flick from green to red.

    ¡°Are you totally insane?¡± James hissed. ¡°Don¡¯t give bots names! They need strict rules and regulations, it¡¯s incredibly dangerous to start treating it like a person! What if it develops self-awareness?¡±

    ¡°Have you considered that might be a good thing?¡± I shot back. ¡°All of the guys here have self-awareness; I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Jenny is or becomes self-aware as well. It could actually be really helpful if we could collaborate with her.¡±

    ¡°It, not her.¡±

    ¡°Who gave her a sexy lady voice then?¡± I gave him a flat look. ¡°Was that you or Dave?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just the default voice. People like female voices on computers. Like Siri. It wasn¡¯t my choice.¡±

    ¡°Well, then blame it on the human condition,¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°You make something, and you make it sound like a human and talk like a human, I¡¯m going to treat it like a human.¡±

    ¡°Bet you¡¯d sleep with it too, if it had the right appendages,¡± James muttered, but Bastion clobbered him on the head. ¡°Ouch!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about her like that,¡± Bastion said, grabbing hold of James¡¯ ears and pulling on them hard enough to make him wince.

    Nightfall lowered his face so he could look James dead in the eyes. ¡°You will speak to Emma with respect.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay! I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    They let him go and he collapsed to the floor.

    ¡°The list is complete. I¡¯ll copy it to another document, and we can colour code the names,¡± Nightfall said. I sat with Nightfall, and we started sifting through the lengthy list, colour coding and copying the information into an excel spreadsheet as we went while Bastion continued with his map and James kept tinkering with the Nexus.

    Now that we¡¯d started, I could see it was going to be a full-time job for several of us for a timeframe I couldn¡¯t begin to estimate. We didn¡¯t just need a house; we¡¯d need a way to employ ourselves for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t think they had many bouncer jobs in the suburbs.

    We¡¯d have to think of something¡­

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Twelve - Jackal

    Just as I finished brushing my teeth, I heard the front door creak open, and James¡¯ telltale swear as someone trod over his feet. He¡¯d finished his work for the day a couple hours ago and retreated to his sad pillow-corner to try and catch some sleep.

    I popped my toothbrush in the holder, and poked my head back in the living room, spotting Jackal as he slumped onto the foldout couch next to Bruiser, still wearing his rumpled suit.

    I approached him quietly, trying not to wake Bruiser or Bonaparte.

    ¡°Hey Jackal, you can come share my bed tonight if you want,¡± I said softly. ¡°Brick still isn¡¯t home, and Nightfall and Bastion will be up for ages working in the office.¡±

    Once they¡¯d gotten into it, they hadn¡¯t wanted to stop. I¡¯d barely managed to pull them away for a light dinner, and then they were back at it again as soon as their plates were clean.

    With the existence of their world and every living thing in it at their fingertips, they had a good reason for the workaholism at least.

    ¡°Your bed?¡± Jackal repeated, sitting up in alarm. ¡°With you?¡±

    ¡°Just to get a good night¡¯s sleep,¡± I said. ¡°I know this mattress isn¡¯t great, and you¡¯ve been tiring yourself out. You deserve a good long rest, after all the hours you¡¯ve put in, and to not be woken up first thing in the morning.¡±

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t,¡± he said, shadows dancing over his features in the dim light.

    ¡°We can swap, and I¡¯ll stay out here with Bruiser, if you¡¯re uncomfortable sharing with me,¡± I offered.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± he said, sounding lost. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to, I can¡¯t. Shouldn¡¯t. I can¡¯t share a room with you. What if I hurt you?¡±

    ¡°Why would you hurt me?¡± I asked, my eyebrows raising to my hairline. I¡¯d never have even thought of the possibility of Jackal hurting me.

    ¡°It happened once before¡­ When I was a child. I had a bad dream,¡± he said, his voice dark and rough with emotion. ¡°I shouted and the house caved in. They all died¡­ It is safer to keep your distance from me.¡±

    Realisation dawned on me. This was why Jackal was pushing me away. It was why he had trouble sleeping here, surrounded by so many people. It was the reason for the dark circles that haunted his eyes. Why even back when we were travelling on the road, he¡¯d been totally happy to bunk in another tent despite being under the mistaken impression we were engaged.

    ¡°Jackal, honey,¡± I addressed him, smoothing his short hair back, and feeling him turn his head affectionately into my palm. ¡°You¡¯re not a merman here. Or a minotaur. You don¡¯t have your mermaid shout. You¡¯re just a human. You can go to sleep without worrying about sleep talking or calling out in the night.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, come on,¡± I pulled him up by the hand and into my room. He stood awkwardly by my bed, looking at it uncertainly. ¡°It¡¯ll be okay. I promise.¡±

    I pulled his jacket and shirt off, hanging them up on the chair, and he pulled his pants off and threw them over the chair as well. Clad in just his briefs, he climbed in under the covers and sighed audibly as his body relaxed into the mattress.

    ¡°This is a nice bed,¡± he smiled at me, and I joined him, resting my head on the pillow to look at him. He sought my hand with his and squeezed my fingers lightly. ¡°Thank you. You¡¯re a good friend.¡±

    I smiled back at him, waiting for him to show some sign of drifting off to sleep, but he didn¡¯t close his eyes. He just kept watching me with his molten honey gaze, his thoughts elusive and mysterious.

    ¡°Emma,¡± he said softly. ¡°Why do you think I¡¯m smarter in this world? I¡¯m not as smart as the other guys, I know that, but¡­ I feel like I did when I put those glasses of yours on.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it was because you were wearing them when the explosion happened,¡± I said. ¡°You might have the equivalent of your stats when you wore them.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Do you like it? The way you feel now?¡±

    ¡°I like not breaking things. And I like making plans that work. Having people listen to me. Like getting jobs, that was my idea,¡± he said proudly. ¡°I like being useful to you. I like that you want me here.¡±

    ¡°When we go back, I¡¯ll help you make it permanent and then you won¡¯t have to worry about the glasses at all.¡±

    ¡°I would like that.¡± Jackal hummed thoughtfully. ¡°And what about my charisma? I was still wearing some charisma boosting accessories. Do you¡­ do you think they¡¯re working still as well? Is that why you¡¯re being nice to me?¡±

    ¡°Things don¡¯t work the same in this world,¡± I said softly. ¡°People have charisma, I suppose, but it isn¡¯t like a base statistic, and it doesn¡¯t make anyone do anything. But I still care about you if that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about.¡±

    He pulled me in close to him, wrapping me in a bear hug. ¡°I care about you too. I wish¡­ I wish you were attracted to me. If there was something I could do to make you love me, some quest I needed to do or secret thing I needed to unlock, you¡¯d tell me what it is, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±

    I was glad it was dark, because I swore I was turning as red as a beetroot again.

    ¡°You can¡¯t make people fall in love with you, sweetheart,¡± I sighed. ¡°But I am. Attracted to you, that is. I just¡­ I don¡¯t know if a relationship is a good idea for us or not.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± he asked, pulling me even tighter against him. My hands came up to rest on his biceps. ¡°You said you didn¡¯t think I could hurt you here. I want you, and if you want me and I won¡¯t hurt you, what else is there to think about?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s more¡­ communication. Expectations. I don¡¯t want to let you down or hurt you if you were expecting more than what I could give you. It¡¯s complicated.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not complicated for me,¡± Jackal said, his brow furrowing. ¡°I¡¯m a simple man, Emma. What I want is simple, too. You and me together until one of us dies or the world explodes.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I blinked.

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    ¡°We don¡¯t have to do math or taxes or contracts.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I couldn¡¯t hold back my startled laugh, but Jackal didn¡¯t seem to mind.

    ¡°I had to do some of that when I got my job - which was really weird by the way. I¡¯m used to being told to just stand and guard stuff or go and smash stuff, not¡­ read things,¡± he shrugged. ¡°I know your world has more of that, contracts and agreements and leases and whatever, but I don¡¯t need it. I don¡¯t need a binding or a wedding. I like you. I like how you make me feel. I like being with you. I just want to be with you. If you want me to be your friend, then we will be friends, but if you want to do more¡­ I want it too. I want it all.¡±

    My heart was racing in my chest, and I felt my world shift again. Could it really be that simple?

    There was nothing exactly stopping me from getting together with Jackal. All of the guys had agreed that anyone in their party was pre-approved by them and that I could act as I saw fit. Sometimes I even thought they were just waiting for it to happen.

    Jackal¡¯s hands were around my waist, a respectful distance above my hips, but his skin was hot against mine and I felt an electric jolt run through my heart. It was like an emotional pulse of want, I could almost hear it audibly.

    The only real objections I¡¯d had to starting a relationship with Jackal were his limited intelligence and the fact I hadn¡¯t known him well. But I¡¯d travelled with him, I¡¯d rescued Bastion with him, I¡¯d travelled through a portal to my origin world with him¡­ And he had experienced an increase in intelligence during the transformation.

    When I¡¯d met him I hadn¡¯t been confident he even comprehended concepts like consent, but now?

    He was still a simple guy, in his own words ¨C direct, uncomplicated, and loyal - but I had confidence he knew his own mind and he knew what this was. It wasn¡¯t like the time he¡¯d thought we were getting married. Those couple of points to his intelligence had made a world of difference.

    If we could get him through a single degree at the university, the change would be permanent. Even if he couldn¡¯t read, the Animal Husbandry course I¡¯d done had just been feeding fish to animals until they became domesticated. With Jenny¡¯s assistance, I could make sure he was accepted into the course, and then I could hold his hand through it until he unlocked his stat increase. He¡¯d be like this all the time.

    I lay my hand over his heart, feeling it thump its steady rhythm.

    ¡°What do you want with me?¡± I asked him softly. ¡°Tell me what you want.¡±

    ¡°I want to be with you,¡± he said immediately. ¡°Like this. I don¡¯t want to be apart from you anymore. I want you to be my family.¡±

    I felt like the words cut me deep. How many times had I wished for a real family as well? Not the mess of people I¡¯d been born into and the patchwork of family members that came and went with every marriage and divorce, but people who truly cared about me.

    ¡°And I want to kiss you,¡± Jackal continued. ¡°I want to touch you. I want to taste you and touch you everywhere. I want to have sex with you. I want to hear you make those noises I¡¯ve heard you make with the others, and I want to see your face when that happens. I want to make you smile. I want you to be happy I am around.¡±

    ¡°I am happy you¡¯re around,¡± I said breathlessly. ¡°You can kiss me if you want to.¡±

    I¡¯d almost expected him to pounce on me and ravish me, but his kiss was surprisingly tentative, and then he pulled back, looking at me with a hopeful and guileless expression.

    ¡°You taste nice.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I suppose that¡¯s my lip balm. It¡¯s strawberry flavoured.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of strawberry before. Is that a special kind of berry in your world?¡±

    ¡°Just one that tastes good,¡± I smiled. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have any status effects or anything, like Newtopian berries. I can find you some at the shops tomorrow, if you like.¡±

    ¡°I would like that. I can¡¯t imagine they would taste as good as you, though.¡±

    ¡°You can¡­ you can have another taste, if you want.¡±

    He smiled and leaned over me, dipping his head to kiss me again. His tongue ran lazily along my lips, and I opened my mouth in a shallow gasp. He sucked by bottom lip into his mouth, savouring me. Just as I was about to deepen the kiss, he pulled away again, and lay back in his previous position, watching me through contented, hooded eyes.

    ¡°Thank you, Emma,¡± he said, his voice heavy with satisfaction. ¡°I think I will have good dreams now.¡±

    I wondered if that meant he really wanted to go to sleep, but he rested back onto his pillow and continued to watch me. My eyebrows knotted in confusion. He¡¯d just expressed so much desire for me, then he¡¯d just given up instead of making out with me. Why?

    Oh.

    He¡¯d stated plainly what he wanted, and I¡¯d said what he could do. He¡¯d taken my permission literally and missed the inference he could do a lot more than just kiss me and taste my lip gloss.

    ¡°Jackal, if you want to go to sleep, that¡¯s fine, but¡­ if you want to kiss me more, you can. And touch me. And¡­¡± I struggled to find the words, feeling incredibly off balance by the need to lay it all out plainly. But Bruiser and Brick had done a lot for my confidence in the early days of our relationship, so I called on that sense of self-assurance as I looked Jackal directly in the eyes. ¡°We can make love together.¡±

    He didn¡¯t need a second invitation and kissed me again, and he pulled me in against him.

    I swiftly discarded my clothes and pulled his briefs down as well, positioning myself over his lap.

    ¡°Emma,¡± he gasped.

    ¡°Mm?¡± I sighed, feeling him pulse and grow. Even as a human, his anatomy was built like a bull.

    ¡°Emma,¡± he murmured, jerking his hips against me, forcing a gasp out of me. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted this since the day I met you. You¡¯re so beautiful. Make that noise again.¡±

    His eyes seemed to darken, glittering with a passionate desire that seemed to build with every grunt.

    Despite what I¡¯d said about him not being a minotaur in this world, I could still see the wild spirit within him as his expression clouded over with lust.

    ¡°Oh, Jackal!¡±

    ¡°Yessss, say my name again, Emma,¡± he said desperately.

    ¡°Jackal! Jackal!¡± I cried, and wrapped my legs around his waist, pinning him to me. I felt lust rising within me as well, grinding myself against him, losing myself in the sensation.

    ¡°Hnnnnngh¡­¡±

    His own groaning sounded pained, and I pulled back from the open-mouthed kisses I was lavishing his neck with to look into his eyes. His brow was covered in a glistening sheen of sweat, but his eyes were pinched, and his jaw was clenched.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, honey?¡± I asked, before suddenly realizing what it was. He was desperately trying to keep silent. ¡°Jackal, your shout won¡¯t break anything here. You don¡¯t have to hold it in. Let go, sweetheart.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± he panted, an air of urgency in his voice.

    ¡°Yeah, darling. You won¡¯t hurt me,¡± I promised. ¡°Give me what you¡¯ve got and let go. It¡¯ll be okay.¡±

    He let out a mighty roar as he found his release and I clung to him, every thought I had in my head fading away except the knowledge that I wanted to hold on to him forever.

    The bedroom door slammed open, but Jackal barely reacted, still clinging to me with shaky, trembling breaths.

    I looked over to see Bruiser, Nightfall, Brick, and Bastion had burst into my room looking ready for battle with James peering cautiously over their shoulders from behind.

    ¡°Ah, we¡¯d thought there was trouble,¡± Brick said apologetically. ¡°We¡¯ll leave you to it. As you were.¡±

    James made a meep! noise and disappeared from behind Brick¡¯s back.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time,¡± Bruiser said, nodding his approval as he turned to leave.

    ¡°Mm, I suppose it was inevitable,¡± Nightfall agreed with a sigh. ¡°A matter of time.¡±

    ¡°I suppose,¡± Bastion grumbled. ¡°I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re alright. Scared the living hell out of me.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said, sitting up and pushing Jackal off me. ¡°Uh, were you two done for the night?¡±

    Nightfall and Bastion looked at each other and nodded. ¡°Yeah. If we keep going this late, we¡¯ll probably start making mistakes.¡±

    ¡°I agree. It would be better to start fresh in the morning.¡±

    I turned to look at Jackal, who was still looking a little dazed. ¡°Let¡¯s go have a shower and get cleaned up, honey. You go on ahead of me, I¡¯ll be there in a minute.¡±

    I pulled him out of bed, and he let out a satisfied rumble, kissing me once more before heading out the open door, still totally naked.

    I stripped the sweat-soaked sheets off the bed, but before I could grab a fresh set from the cupboard, Nightfall took them and started making the bed for me.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, my goddess. You go clean yourself up. We can fit four in here, so long as one of our number isn¡¯t a bear shifter or an orc,¡± Nightfall said, amused. ¡°Although it may be a bit of a squeeze. I could take the floor tonight, if you are uncomfortable.¡±

    ¡°You need to get a bigger bed,¡± Bastion said.

    ¡°And a bigger house,¡± I giggled, stepping towards him and planting a kiss on his cheek.

    ¡°Go, Emma. Everyone needs sleep, including yourself. We will be here when you and Jackal return.¡±

    ¡°Have I told you I love you today?¡± I sighed happily. ¡°Because I do. All of you. You make things feel so easy, even when we¡¯re facing down things that seem impossible.¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Thirteen - Scones

    I slept better than I had in a long time, snuggled up tightly against Jackal, who had his back pressed hard up against the wall but seemed completely unbothered by it as he wrapped his arms around me and nestled his nose into my hair.

    If I still had my horns, I¡¯d have probably taken his eye out.

    Bastion had wrapped himself around me, with Nightfall sleeping hard up against his back. Although Jackal hadn¡¯t bothered to put any clothing back on, Bastion and Nightfall were wearing the regular nightwear they¡¯d settled on. Nightfall favoured silk boxers that were a similar shade of blue to the robes he¡¯d worn when I met him, whereas Bastion had preferred plain black briefs and a white singlet. I could feel his heat through the cotton as he spooned me tightly.

    I stirred lazily, and Bastion greeted me with a kiss on my neck. The others weren¡¯t awake yet, so I kept quiet, but twisted my neck around so I could kiss him good morning. His hand kept firm on my hip, preventing the rest of my body from following suit.

    Jackal stirred slightly, his arms tightening around me possessively in his sleep, pulling me out of my kiss.

    Bastion¡¯s expression was far from put out, though. I felt it could only be described as mischievous.

    I opened my mouth to whisper to him, but he placed his finger against my lips, signalling for me to be silent. I gave him a questioning look, but he kissed my neck again, his finger trailing down my body and back towards my hips.

    One of Jackal¡¯s hands clenched on my butt cheek, which distracted me slightly from Bastion¡¯s touch, which wandered further than it had been before.

    I felt my whole body light up with want, arching into Jackal¡¯s rock hard abs as Bastion pressed into me from behind. I hooked my ankle affectionately around Bastion¡¯s, trying to pull him even closer. His chest pressed up even tighter against me, crushing Jackal¡¯s hands between our bodies. Jackal just held me tighter in response.

    Bastion took advantage of my new pliant position, reaching further around my hip and playing me like a bard with a new guitar.

    I shivered as I felt waves of pleasure rush through me, my body relaxing completely, utterly at his mercy.

    I was startled then, when Jackal grunted awake and greeted me with a consuming kiss, his tongue claiming my mouth just as Bastion had claimed my core.

    I moaned into him, already falling to pieces as he withdrew and took in our positions. He glanced down, then gave me a knowing smirk, raising his hands to cup my jaw and kissed me again, as wave after wave of pleasure rippled through me.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Nightfall asked, having been jostled awake himself. ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    I felt his eyes watching us, but I barely had the brain cells to respond between Jackal and Bastion¡¯s ministrations.

    Bastion moved then, his body taking my frame with him as he hauled me upright into a sitting position. Jackal continued to plunder my mouth with his tongue, one of his hands cupping the back of my head and the other kneading one of my breasts, as Bastion took the other in his left hand, his right still wrapped around me and performing a kind of magic that was beyond any spell that existed in either of the worlds I knew of. Nightfall¡¯s firm hands parted my thighs, finding a steady rhythm that somehow meshed perfectly with the other two.

    I lost myself again to the three of them, and for a moment I forgot which world I was in or which body I inhabited. It didn¡¯t matter whether I was a human or a succubus or a quivering jellyfish. By the time they were finished with me, I was utterly boneless.

    When I came back to my senses, I was lying cradled in Bastion¡¯s arms as Jackal stroked my hair, watching me with a contented expression. My legs lay across Nightfall¡¯s knees, his thumbs caressing my skin as his hands lay folded atop them.

    ¡°You¡¯re back with us?¡± Nightfall asked, the corner of his mouth turning up.

    ¡°I love you guys so much,¡± I sighed, still barely able to think. ¡°You¡¯re just¡­ amazing.¡±

    Bastion chuckled. ¡°How are you feeling? Do you want anything?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all sexed out, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯m starving now. Definitely ready for breakfast, if I can get my legs to function enough to actually walk again.¡±

    ¡°You can rest your legs, I can get you food,¡± Jackal said, clamouring over me and off the bed, but he stumbled into the shelf and knocked over one of James¡¯ anime figurines. It crashed to the floor and split in two, right at the poor cat-girl¡¯s tiny waist. ¡°Oh, Emma! I¡¯m sorry! I broke it!¡±

    Jackal looked genuinely distraught, trying to shove the two pieces back together. I pulled myself out of Bastion¡¯s hold and swung my legs to the floor.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Jackal,¡± I said soothingly, but he shook his head.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not¡­ I keep breaking your things. First your couch, now your strange nekokin statue. I¡¯m so sorry.¡±

    ¡°No, I mean, it¡¯s not even mine. It¡¯s James¡¯ collection. All of those things are his.¡±

    The three of them looked along the shelf of figures, most of which were big-busted cat-girls with an artistic wind blowing up their skirts.

    ¡°I had wondered why you had these objects,¡± Nightfall said hesitantly. ¡°But why are his things all over your room?¡±

    ¡°We shared a room,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I guess I forgot they were there. I¡¯ve kind of gotten used to ignoring them.¡±

    ¡°You shared a room, but what is yours? Is this stuff all his? What about the pictures on the wall?¡±

    There were a couple of movie posters tacked up on the wall, both also James¡¯ choices, although blessedly not of more catgirls. The Dungeons and Dragons one I actually didn¡¯t mind so much, since Chris Pine was front and centre, but James would have to rake me over hot coals before I would admit it out loud.

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    ¡°I don¡¯t like to waste my money on stuff,¡± I shrugged. ¡°He does, ergo his stuff ended up on display. It¡¯s about as simple as that.¡±

    Jackal frowned at the broken figurine in his hand, looking conflicted about whether or not to feel guilt over breaking James¡¯ stuff.

    ¡°Just throw it in the trash,¡± I said, standing and planting a kiss on his cheek. I picked my robe off the hanger on the back of my bedroom door and wrapped it around myself and pulled on a clean pair of underwear underneath it. I could wait until I had found food before I bothered seeking out more clothing. ¡°You guys can have first crack at the shower. I really need food.¡±

    I left them on still shaky legs and was met with the wonderful smell of cinnamon and butter as I entered the living room.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked, following the wafting smell towards the kitchen, but Bruiser hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me onto his lap before I got very far. He and James were seated at the kitchen table going over some printed notes, but Bruiser shoved them aside and buried his face in my neck.

    ¡°Mmm, Emma, you smell so lovely.¡±

    ¡°Can you guys not at the table? Jeez¡­¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the smell? Is someone baking?¡±

    ¡°Brick¡¯s making you cinnamon rolls. He¡¯s been watching cooking videos all morning,¡± Bruiser explained. ¡°He¡¯ll bring them out when they¡¯re ready, so it¡¯s best not to distract him. Besides, I feel like I haven¡¯t had you in my arms in a long time.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡± James glowered. ¡°I haven¡¯t even finished having my coffee.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome to take it elsewhere,¡± Bruiser said, then captured my mouth in a brain-melting kiss.

    ¡°No. I¡¯m sick of staying in the office every minute of the day. I¡¯m staying right here.¡±

    Bruiser ignored him, kissing me deeper, before releasing my lips and trailing small, hot kisses down my neck.

    ¡°Emma, please?¡±

    I giggled as Bruiser hit a particularly ticklish spot on my neck, but then put my hand over his mouth, creating a barrier between us.

    ¡°Stop, Bruiser,¡± I said.

    ¡°Is he bothering you?¡± Bruiser jerked his head towards James. ¡°Because I¡¯ll happily remove him for you.¡±

    ¡°This is my house!¡±

    ¡°No, sweetheart,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯ve just¡­ I¡¯ve had a lot in the last twelve hours or so. Sorry you weren¡¯t there, but I guess I¡¯m all worn out. It is just a bit much. Can you wait for me?¡±

    ¡°As long as you need, my darling,¡± Bruiser said. ¡°Although selfishly, I hope it won¡¯t be too long.¡±

    I needed to set up a booking calendar or something. Maybe there was an app for that, or an extension to Google Calendars to colour code your lovers. Surely the polyamorous community had figured something out.

    I buried my giggle in Bruiser¡¯s neck, wrapping my arms around him, turning to straddle him in his chair and resting my head on his shoulder.

    ¡°Emma¡­¡± James whined.

    ¡°I¡¯m just going to have a rest here until my breakfast is ready.¡±

    ¡°Fine with me,¡± Bruiser said with satisfaction, folding his arms around me.

    I felt James watching me, but closed my eyes and ignored him, focusing instead on the gentle rise and fall of Bruiser¡¯s shoulder with his breathing. I felt warm and safe, like a koala bear.

    ¡°Why were you never like this with me?¡± James asked suddenly. I opened my eyes blearily, having been almost lulled to sleep.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°This whole¡­ nymphomaniac, affectionate girlfriend thing,¡± he said.

    ¡°They bring it out in me,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve changed all that much. Other than becoming a little more confident, with their encouragement. Have you ever thought maybe it was just a little hard to get affectionate with you when you were always busy, or maybe I was too tired and annoyed after working all day and spending my free time doing all the chores you refused to do? You were a garbage roommate, James, and a worse boyfriend.¡±

    Almost as if to illustrate my point, Brick came out of the kitchen carrying a plate full of steaming cinnamon rolls. They looked more like scones than the bready rolls in Newtopia, but I didn¡¯t think we actually had any yeast in the cupboard. They smelled absolutely delicious though, and I wanted to stuff the lot of them in my face.

    ¡°Hey, gorgeous,¡± Brick greeted me, kissing me lightly as he placed the plate down in front of me. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be hungry. Let me know if I got them right. I¡¯m still getting the hang of that electric oven.¡±

    I swivelled on Bruiser¡¯s lap and grabbed one off the top of the pile and took a bite. I almost moaned at how good it tasted.

    ¡°Brick, you¡¯re amazing. These are perfect.¡±

    He straightened up, smirking with satisfaction. ¡°I¡¯m glad. I will take over as many cooking duties as I can for you, Emma. I would like to learn and bring some of these flavours and techniques back to Newtopia for you. There are so many flavours and kinds of food here that I have never experienced before, and if you choose to live in our world, I do not want you missing out on them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s sweet, Brick,¡± I smiled. ¡°Maybe we could trade in the apothecary idea for a bakery.¡±

    His eyes sparkled with joy at the idea, and he leaned in to kiss me again, his tongue tasting of sweet cinnamon and sugar. Bruiser tightened his hold on my hips as I almost fell off his lap, feeling as melted as the butter on my scone.

    ¡°This is what your idea of a perfect fantasy boyfriend is?¡± James said stiffly, once Brick released me and took another seat by my side. ¡°Guys who cook and clean?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I blinked; having forgotten he was even there. ¡°James, that¡¯s the bare minimum to be part of a household. It¡¯s not the reason I love them.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s the reason you couldn¡¯t love me.¡±

    He looked deflated and tired, and I was struck again by how odd this must be for him.

    ¡°I just¡­ don¡¯t think we were ever going to work out in the long run. Our expectations were very different, and so were our philosophies around money and domesticity. I think we were probably just trying to make it work because I don¡¯t think either of us really knew what we wanted.¡±

    ¡°I just thought you were the only girl I¡¯d ever end up needing,¡± he said, before sinking into a sullen mood. ¡°I thought you were perfect for me.¡±

    ¡°James, you already had me, and you continued to obsess over other girls whenever a new anime or movie came out.¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have even minded that much ¨C heck, I¡¯ve still got a thing for Colin Firth¡¯s Mr, Darcy ¨C but it took over so much of your life. You say you think I was perfect for you, but you never wanted to spend any time with me. All the things that were important to you were separate from me, and the parts of our life that did actually cross over were just sources of aggravation. And I¡¯m grateful for what¡¯s come out of it when you brought Newtopia and everyone in it to life, but don¡¯t delude yourself into thinking we were a good couple.¡±

    He sank into silence as I ate another cinnamon roll.

    ¡°Speaking of good couples,¡± Brick cleared his throat awkwardly. ¡°We need to go out today to get more food. I thought you and I could go together and have a date first.¡±

    ¡°You want a date?¡± I perked up, intrigued. ¡°Where do you want to go?¡±

    ¡°You can show me around town. I¡¯ve only seen between the apartment and the nightclub,¡± Brick said. ¡°We could explore.¡±

    ¡°Sounds brilliant,¡± I beamed at him. ¡°It¡¯s been forever since I¡¯ve been on a proper date.¡±

    ¡°Great! We¡¯ll take some of these to go!¡± Then he tipped several gooey fresh-baked scones directly into my handbag.

    ¡°Dude, why would you do that?¡± James asked, watching in disbelief.

    ¡°Your bag is smaller than I thought,¡± Brick said, looking into my ruined handbag in confusion.

    I groaned, taking it off him and salvaging the rolls that I could before tossing the bag in the trash. There was no way that sticky mess was ever coming out.

    ¡°Bags don¡¯t work like inventory systems here,¡± I said, wiping my fingers on a paper towel. ¡°And food doesn¡¯t work the same way either ¨C it doesn¡¯t travel well unless you have a container.¡±

    We¡¯d already gone over the concept of food going off earlier in the week, when Bastion had tried to eat a plate of food that had been on the bench overnight.

    ¡°Oh,¡± Brick said sheepishly. ¡°Sorry. Still getting used to the whole physics of the world being different and all that.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. How about we buy lunch when we¡¯re out?¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Fourteen - Sister

    Despite the rough start, I had an extraordinary date with Brick. His smile as we walked along hand in hand was brilliant, and he stopped several times just to pull me into his arms and kiss me.

    He admitted that although he missed his regular body, it was nice to be able to blend in with the crowd and not receive judgemental stares for his orcish heritage.

    ¡°I know we¡¯ll go back eventually, but being here with you like it¡¯s a normal thing and we¡¯re a normal couple¡­ This is more than I ever dreamed I could have,¡± he¡¯d whispered as we sat on a park bench and watched people walking their dogs. ¡°I think this is the happiest I¡¯ve ever been. Or on par with that first week with you, anyway. That was pretty amazing, too.¡±

    We¡¯d stopped into a specialist bakery after that and bought a platter of doughnuts, cronuts, custard slices and pastry turnovers. Brick was practically salivating and was grilling the bakery owner on what techniques he¡¯d used.

    After we picked up our groceries ¨C laden with a whole extra bag of experimental baking ingredients for Brick to try, and a box of fresh strawberries for Jackal ¨C we¡¯d headed home, and I was ready to go lie down and digest all the carbs.

    We still had a lot of work to do, but I had to go in to work in the morning and hand in my notice, so I was a little hesitant to overwork two days in a row. I needed some emotional energy reserve if I wanted to endure working out my notice period across from Jeremy.

    To my delight, Mrs. Greaves was still absent from her ground floor office, so we headed straight up to the third floor. When we reached our apartment, the door was ajar and we could hear voices from inside, including a woman¡¯s.

    My feet froze as I tried to pick up who the voice belonged to. The worst-case scenario would be Mrs. Greaves, but the voice didn¡¯t have her low pitch.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Brick asked, looking at me with concern. ¡°You think there¡¯s something wrong in there?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I chewed my lip nervously. There were relatively few women who would come to our house. Maybe it was one of the neighbours, asking for a cup of sugar?

    ¡°You take the bags, I¡¯ll go in first,¡± Brick said, his brow lowering as he got into a battle-ready stance.

    ¡°No!¡± I said, pushing the bags back at him. ¡°We won¡¯t have to fight. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine. Come on, there¡¯s no point waiting around outside.¡±

    I strode forwards and pushed into the apartment and saw my half-sister, Leticia, sitting on the couch between a very uncomfortable-looking Jackal and Bruiser. Nightfall and Bastion stood off to the side, staring at them with crossed arms while James was pacing in the kitchen.

    ¡°Emma!¡± Leticia bounced up and pulled me into an energetic hug. ¡°How¡¯s my favourite sister?¡±

    ¡°Leticia. You should have called ahead. If you¡¯re looking for a place to stay, we¡¯re kind of full.¡±

    ¡°Maybe I just wanted to come visit you!¡± Leticia said, bouncing on her heels. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve been busy. Jackal here was telling me he¡¯s your new boyfriend! What happened with James?¡±

    She was looking over my shoulder at James, who had stopped pacing and was now sending her dirty looks. Things hadn¡¯t ended nicely between them when we¡¯d had to kick Leticia out after she overstayed her welcome.

    ¡°We broke up,¡± I said simply. ¡°Now seriously, what are you doing here?¡±

    Leticia sighed dramatically. ¡°Well, if you must know, Mum sent me. She¡¯s all bent in a twist because your dad died and there¡¯s been all this lawyery stuff going on.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, what?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, your dad died. I¡¯m sorry for your loss or whatever, I suppose. I mean, you don¡¯t actually care, do you? He wasn¡¯t ever even around.¡±

    I mean, I didn¡¯t care, but it also didn¡¯t feel great to have someone else writing it off. My dad had barely stayed past me learning my first word, and I hadn¡¯t seen him at all after that, although he¡¯d always sent his child support payments through without fail and there had been a small fund set aside when I went to do my accounting course.

    ¡°I mean, I guess it doesn¡¯t change much,¡± I admitted with a shrug.

    ¡°Great,¡± Leticia smiled. ¡°Anyway, she has some paperwork you¡¯ve got to sign, something about the will being split equally between beneficiaries. I said I¡¯d bring it over though, since I haven¡¯t seen you in like months.¡±

    She sounded so nostalgic, and I wondered if she¡¯d forgotten the whole three-way argument between herself, Mrs. Greaves and James. I held my hand out and looked over the paperwork.

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    ¡°This says she wants to contest the will,¡± I said in confusion. ¡°And¡­ Leticia, why are you named as a beneficiary? He wasn¡¯t even your dad.¡±

    ¡°Okay, look, I didn¡¯t really even want to bring this over if I¡¯m being totally honest¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you being totally honest?¡±

    ¡°Cross my heart and hope to die!¡± Leticia enthused. ¡°So, your daddy left everything to you, but Mum wants a cut, and she totally just put me in there as a bit of a bribe, but I didn¡¯t ask her to do it. But tell you what, I reckon you should just keep the money, buy a big ol¡¯ house, and I¡¯ll move in with you again! It¡¯ll be just like old times! I¡¯m kind of sick of staying at her place again, anyway. She¡¯s so cranky since her and Blake split up.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Sorry, what? I need to sit down.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t blame you. It¡¯s a lot of money to get your head around. A couple million, actually ¨C your dad was loaded!¡± Leticia patted my knee. ¡°And look, sis, I know you¡¯re not the best at spending money, but I¡¯ll help you figure out a way to enjoy it. Maybe after you buy a house, we could go out and get our nails done. Proper French tips. It¡¯ll be great. And then we¡¯ll go shopping!¡±

    I pulled one of the dining chairs over and sat on it, trying to clear my head. Brick rested his hand on the back of it in a silent show of support.

    ¡°Who¡¯s this guy?¡± Leticia asked, looking Brick up and down curiously. ¡°Why¡¯s your house full of guys, anyway? Did you join a gang or something?¡±

    ¡°Leticia, how did you know how much the inheritance is?¡±

    ¡°Mum opened your mail,¡± Leticia shrugged. ¡°It only arrived a couple of days ago.¡±

    ¡°Of course she did.¡± I clenched my jaw. It didn¡¯t matter that opening other people¡¯s mail was a crime. If my mother felt she was entitled to something, laws and ethics came secondary. It had always been that way with her. I could call the police, but I could probably bypass the whole issue if I could just phone the lawyer. ¡°Leave the paperwork with me and get out.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t just kick me out, Ems! I¡¯m family! You should have someone to help you out when you¡¯re going through a hard time!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you here, Leticia. Just go.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving until this is sorted out. Either sign the paperwork or let me help you figure out what else you¡¯re doing with the money.¡±

    ¡°She said go.¡± Jackal stood and strode over between us, looking stern and foreboding.

    ¡°Look, Emma, I didn¡¯t want to tell you this because I hoped it wouldn¡¯t come to it, but you remember Pooky?¡±

    My stomach churned as Leticia said the name of my childhood pet. Pooky had been a gift from my mother¡¯s third husband ¨C the one after Leticia¡¯s dad ¨C but the little Pomeranian had been my best friend for years. It had broken my heart when I¡¯d had to move out of home and leave her behind, and she¡¯d been the ultimate bargaining chip every time my mum asked for money.

    ¡®I just wouldn¡¯t be able to pay her vet bills, sweetheart. Euthanasia is so much more affordable. Or Blake said he could take her out back and shoot her in the head.¡¯

    I could leave my mother to rot in her own debts, but I couldn¡¯t do that to Pooky.

    ¡°Mum said if you don¡¯t sign it, that¡¯s it for Pooky,¡± Leticia said, her voice taking on a nasty tone. ¡°But if you split it three ways, you¡¯ll still have like three quarters of a million, and I bet mum would throw in the dog. Just do it.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­ threatening my dog?¡± I asked in shock. I¡¯d had plenty of manipulative guilt tripping, but this was the first actual direct threat. ¡°You¡¯re threatening me?¡±

    That seemed to be enough for Jackal. He grabbed Leticia by the back of her hoodie and her waistband and hoisted her up into the air, making her shriek in surprise.

    ¡°Jackal, what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°No one threatens you,¡± he said, carrying her over to the window and nudging it open. He¡¯d half shoved her out by the time James and I grabbed her ankles.

    ¡°Dude! What the fuck?¡±

    ¡°Jackal, you can¡¯t just pitch her out the window!¡±

    ¡°But she¡¯s an enemy. She threatened you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but she¡¯s also my half-sister.¡± I shook my head, hauling her back inside, where she collapsed on the ground in a quivering pool of tears.

    ¡°Emma, how could you! I¡¯m gonna call the cops!¡±

    ¡°And tell them you¡¯ve been opening people¡¯s mail and threatening their dogs?¡± James spat. ¡°You¡¯re fine, Leticia. He wouldn¡¯t have actually hurt you. Just leave and this time, don¡¯t come back.¡±

    Jackal was busy insisting to James that he would have hurt her, while James desperately tried to shut him up. I pulled Leticia out to the front door and shoved her out.

    ¡°Look, it¡¯s not a good time. But I¡¯ll look over the papers and sort something out later. It would be best if you don¡¯t come back, especially without texting ahead.¡±

    This time she was a lot keener to leave and scrambled down the three flights of stairs faster than I thought she was athletically capable of.

    ¡°Jackal, seriously, what were you thinking?¡± I said, shutting the door behind me with a snap.

    ¡°I was trying to protect you. She was being nasty to you, and she said your dog was going to die,¡± he frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had a dog.¡±

    ¡°Technically, Pooky is my mum¡¯s dog, but she was my best friend for years. I used to look after her, take her for walks. We¡­ anyway, it doesn¡¯t matter. You can¡¯t just go around throwing people out windows. They¡¯ll die.¡±

    ¡°That was the idea,¡± Jackal said, like it was obvious.

    ¡°You can¡¯t just kill people in this world,¡± James said, running his hands down his face. He looked like the guy in The Scream, living his own personal nightmare. ¡°There¡¯s police and stuff. They¡¯ll find out and they¡¯ll put you in jail.¡±

    ¡°They didn¡¯t last time,¡± Jackal said blithely.

    I stared at him open-mouthed. ¡°Jackal¡­ you haven¡¯t killed anyone here, have you?¡±

    ¡°Just one. That troll boss lady.¡±

    The room felt like it was tilting sideways.

    ¡°Jackal¡­ you didn¡¯t¡­ you didn¡¯t kill our landlady, did you? Mrs. Greaves?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the one.¡±

    ¡°Dude! WHAT THE FUCK?¡±

    ¡°It happened days ago; her body would have disappeared ages ago. No one found out, no police, nothing. It¡¯s all good.¡± Jackal looked utterly unrepentant.

    ¡°But¡­ why?¡± I felt like I was going to black out.

    ¡°She was going to kick you out of the apartment, which meant she was going to unplug the computer, which meant she was going to destroy our world,¡± Jackal said, counting it off on his fingers before cocking his head at me. ¡°That¡¯s the same reason you killed the necromancer, right? I was there. You splatted his head with that big weapon.¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say to that.

    I fainted instead.

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Fifteen - Murder

    When I came to, Nightfall was dabbing a damp cloth on my forehead. It took a moment for everything to rush back into my head and I jolted up in a panic.

    ¡°Shh, calm down,¡± Nightfall said, a steady hand on my shoulder. ¡°Everything is okay.¡±

    ¡°Everything is not okay! Jackal killed someone!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s wrong. We kill people all the time,¡± Jackal said, kneeling next to me and taking my shaking hands in his.

    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ not in this world,¡± I said faintly.

    ¡°Bodies don¡¯t despawn here,¡± James explained. ¡°And as murder is against the law, the police ¨C our law enforcement ¨C will eventually investigate. If they find you, you¡¯ll be sent to jail.¡±

    ¡°Jackal can¡¯t go to jail,¡± I wept, grabbing him around the shoulders and clutching him tightly to my chest. ¡°This is all my fault. I should have told him not to murder anyone.¡±

    ¡°We kind of have bigger concerns,¡± James said grimly. ¡°If Jackal¡¯s too stupid to not murder anyone, he¡¯s also likely too stupid to conceal what he is if he gets caught. If the authorities find out we have a pocket dimension full of potential threats, what do you think will happen to Newtopia? What do you think will happen to us?¡±

    ¡°Stop calling him stupid,¡± I snapped. ¡°He¡¯s not going to jail.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really more concerned with getting caught than you are with the actual murder, aren¡¯t you?¡± James said, looking at me in shock. ¡°What if it had been your sister that he had killed?¡±

    I tightened my hold on Jackal. ¡°James¡­ you were the one who wrote violence into their world. You were the one who normalized murder. Do you know how hard it was to level up doing odd jobs around town? The way you set their world up, killing things is both necessary and incentivised with experience points and loot. You can¡¯t blame Jackal for not knowing this world is different.¡±

    ¡°The others didn¡¯t kill anyone,¡± James pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

    I didn¡¯t want to bring up Jackal¡¯s low intelligence score again. It would be conceding too much to James, but I knew when it came down to it, his simple way of looking at the world had probably been the instigating factor.

    See an enemy, kill them.

    Especially when I¡¯d set the precedent with Dave. He was only following my lead, doing his best to try to protect me in the best way he knew how.

    ¡°Let¡¯s make a new rule,¡± I said, touching my forehead to Jackals. ¡°No killing people. Not unless at least three people agree.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really see an issue with killing the landlady,¡± Bastion cut in. ¡°She was going to make life pretty difficult for us.¡±

    ¡°Same,¡± Brick shrugged.

    ¡°It does make sense,¡± Bruiser said thoughtfully. ¡°If these law enforcement police guys come after Jackal, maybe we should just kill them, too?¡±

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    ¡°Jesus,¡± James swore.

    ¡°Okay, no murder at all,¡± I said firmly. ¡°That¡¯s the new rule. In this world, you follow all the rules. If there¡¯s a law, you follow it.¡±

    ¡°With the exception of your habitation requirements?¡± Nightfall added tentatively. ¡°Having us here for more than three nights was against the rules, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s kind of irrelevant with Mrs. Greaves gone,¡± James muttered.

    ¡°See? It did solve a problem,¡± Brick shrugged.

    ¡°Gah,¡± I buried my face in Jackal¡¯s neck in frustration. ¡°Just no more murder, okay?¡±

    ¡°They couldn¡¯t really take me away from you, could they?¡± Jackal asked quietly.

    ¡°Yes, honey,¡± I said, trying not to cry. ¡°And prison is¡­ not nice. They¡¯d lock you up in a room by yourself all alone to rot. Those rooms are like shoeboxes. No one will be kind to you. I wouldn¡¯t be able to reach you. It¡¯s bad, Jackal.¡±¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be put in a box,¡± Jackal said, his fingers gripping me as the reality of the potential consequences sunk in. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be apart from you.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to fix this. And no more murder.¡±

    There was a chorus of muted agreement. This was what I got for getting involved with a team of warriors. I wanted to scream.

    I took a calming breath instead, leaning into Jackal¡¯s neck and trying to clear my head.

    It was okay. So far, no one had found or reported her body. No one had come looking for Jackal. I had him here in my arms, perfectly safe. I just needed to keep it that way.

    I gathered my wits and pulled back.

    ¡°Did anyone see you?¡± I asked. ¡°Tell me what happened.¡±

    ¡°No, no one saw,¡± Jackal said. ¡°It was a few days ago. She cornered me and started asking questions. Said she was going to kick you out, so I snapped her neck and chucked her in the dumpster.¡±

    ¡°Jeeeeesus,¡± James hissed again.

    ¡°Well, at least there¡¯s not been any investigations yet. Rubbish collection is in two days though, so she¡¯ll be discovered then and there¡¯ll start to be questions. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if everyone in the building gets questioned.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯ll be CCTV footage,¡± James said. ¡°They¡¯ll have Jackal on film.¡±

    ¡°Shit, you¡¯re right,¡± I bit my lip. ¡°There are cameras in the entrance.¡±

    ¡°We need to get him out of here. If I can fix the Nexus, we can send him back to Newtopia. They won¡¯t be able to find him there.¡±

    ¡°How far off are you getting it functional again?¡± I asked.

    ¡°There are a couple pieces that are totally blown. I¡¯ve rewired everything else, but I need a few replacement parts, and they¡¯re hard to come by,¡± James clenched his fists. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to go to Dave¡¯s family¡¯s house and see if we can get a look into his stuff, if they haven¡¯t chucked it yet.¡±

    ¡°Dave¡¯s family?¡± I swallowed. I¡¯d have to face down the family of the guy I killed?

    ¡°He had a Nexus as well. It won¡¯t work if it¡¯s not connected to¡­ Jenny,¡± he said the name with distaste. ¡°But it¡¯ll have all the parts we need. It could take weeks to order in replacements otherwise.¡±

    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to do it,¡± Bruiser said, cracking his knuckles. ¡°If we faced down one necromancer, we can face down more.¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    I ignored James¡¯ outburst and gave Bruiser a sharp look.

    ¡°No murder, Bruiser. They aren¡¯t necromancers. They¡¯re a grieving family.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± He dropped his fists.

    ¡°First things first, we need to get into Mrs. Greaves¡¯ office and steal or sabotage that CCTV footage. Make sure there¡¯s no evidence pointing to Jackal,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to figure out how to get in, though, and subtly. We don¡¯t want people seeing a bunch of smashed doors or busted up locks.¡±

    Everyone looked to Nightfall, who sighed in annoyance.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure I can get you in, if you know what you¡¯re looking for on the other side.¡±

    I smiled at him, relieved. ¡°I forgot you were a rogue.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad,¡± he said with a small half-smile. ¡°It is not my preferred occupation, but I am glad to be of service in any way you need me.¡±

    ¡°James, I¡¯m going to need you as well as our resident tech expert.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re adding breaking and entering to our crimes?¡± James asked flatly. ¡°Just like that?¡±

    The weight of it settled on my shoulders, but I carried it with grim determination. Since my life had been turned upside down, I¡¯d apparently shifted from a strait-laced workaholic to a petty criminal¡­ but if it was what I had to do to protect Jackal, I would do it no matter the cost.

    He had his head hung against me, looking totally ashamed of having caused so many problems, but I tilted his chin up and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek.

    ¡°Yes. Just like that.¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Sixteen - Decor

    We waited until the middle of the night to start our escapade. I¡¯d tried to carry on as normal, but my stomach churned with anxiety and I found myself staring off into space, imagining the worst multiple times.

    I had managed to call the lawyer and confirm my inheritance and bank account details with him. My father, in his infinite wisdom, had foreseen the issues my mum would cause and had set up safeguards to prevent her from getting her hands on his cash. It¡¯d be in my bank by morning, but no amount of money could make me feel confident about my upcoming crime spree.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t like you, sweetheart,¡± Brick said, stroking my face tenderly. ¡°Where is my strong girl, who was ready to tear the world apart to go find my brother?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t explain it. My life in Newtopia was different. I had always been in well over my head, but at least I had abilities. I couldn¡¯t flirt my way out of trouble this time.

    ¡°You need to calm down,¡± Bruiser said. ¡°Have a nap. You¡¯ll be up late; you need to be at your best.¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t think I can sleep right now, Bruiser,¡± I shook my head.

    ¡°Let me hold you, then. You can do some breathing exercises and relax, even if you can¡¯t sleep.¡±

    I agreed and let him lead me away, but when the door opened and I saw my room, my brain felt like it imploded.

    ¡°What the hell?¡± I screeched.

    All of James¡¯ ornaments had been removed from the shelf and in their place, they had arranged my collection of sex toys.

    ¡°What did they do now?¡± James asked, approaching, but I shouldered him so he couldn¡¯t see in the door.

    ¡°Who redecorated?¡± I demanded, my face beet red.

    Jackal slunk down behind the couch looking guilty, while Bastion scratched the back of his head and laughed, and Nightfall gave me an apologetic look.

    ¡°We thought considering James has moved out of your room, his things should be removed as well.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± James asked, now trying to push past me into the room, but Bruiser shoved him roughly away.

    ¡°Relax, your things are in a box. Only one of them broke.¡±

    ¡°And who¡­ who put the new d¨¦cor up?¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have many things, but that was what we found in a box under your bed with your name on it. We thought they looked like kind of odd ornaments, but they were yours, weren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­¡± James said, putting the pieces together. ¡°Does that mean what I think it means?¡±

    I glared at him, and he burst into laughter.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Jackal said miserably. ¡°I was trying to make you happy.¡±

    ¡°What are they talking about?¡± Brick asked in confusion. Of course, he hadn¡¯t seen them yet. He¡¯d been out all morning with me.

    ¡°They¡¯re not ornaments,¡± James asked, now cackling at my expense. ¡°They¡¯re tools.¡±

    I kicked him roughly in the shin. Bruiser rubbed my shoulder comfortingly, as I saw dawning comprehension fall on Bastion and Nightfall¡¯s faces.

    ¡°These are things you bought because he wasn¡¯t satisfying you?¡± Bastion asked, jerking his thumb at James, who immediately stopped laughing.

    ¡°Can you show us how they work?¡± Nightfall asked, his insatiable curiosity getting the better of him.

    ¡°No!¡± I snapped. ¡°At least¡­ not right now.¡±

    ¡°I still don¡¯t get what¡¯s going on,¡± Brick said. ¡°What are they?¡±

    I closed my eyes and breathed deeply for a few seconds, calming my mortification.

    There wasn¡¯t really anything to be embarrassed about, and Jackal was looking like a kicked puppy.

    I sighed, shoved the door fully open, and ushered them in. They crowded into the bedroom, making it feel painfully small. Brick and Nightfall pushed to the front, and Bruiser had to sit on my bed to make room for them.

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    ¡°These are¡­ interesting.¡± Brick picked up one of the phallic shaped objects. ¡°It¡¯s green.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ hadn¡¯t made that connection before,¡± I laughed. It was a similar shade to Brick¡¯s regular orcish skin.

    Nightfall picked up another and pushed the button on the base, almost dropping it when it started vibrating.

    ¡°If you had all these, what did you need James for in the first place?¡± Bastion asked bluntly. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you kept him around.¡±

    James glowered at him, but Bastion pushed through, his eyes on me rather than the X-rated objects displayed in neat rows next to me.

    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t just want him for sex, you know,¡± I said quietly. James¡¯ eyes snapped to me, and I could tell he was holding his breath, waiting to see what I would say next. ¡°We weren¡¯t a good couple, but¡­ he was good company. We¡¯d known each other a long time and I¡­ I really don¡¯t like being alone.¡±

    ¡°Is that really all it was for you?¡± James asked, sounding crushed. ¡°I was better company than no-one at all?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not nothing, James. You were better company than¡­ than anyone in my messed-up family, and yes¡­ than being on my own. I was really scared to move out on my own and having you with me did make things easier. Maybe I haven¡¯t given you enough credit, because I get so damn mad at you sometimes, but you were actually a really good friend, even if you weren¡¯t a great boyfriend.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ thanks,¡± James mumbled. ¡°You were a good friend, too.¡±

    ¡°Why do you have so many of these, though?¡± Bastion asked.

    ¡°I¡­ uh¡­ bought a new one whenever James¡¯ got a new game or started binge watching a new anime.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± James looked mortified.

    ¡°Well, you were gone a lot. You sunk like a hundred and twenty hours into the Dungeon Fantasy game that first week it came out. That¡¯s when I bought that one,¡± I said, gesturing to the one Brick was holding. ¡°And the one Nightfall¡¯s got? I bought that two days after you started re-watching Bleach. Those series are too damn long, and I knew I wasn¡¯t going to see you for ages, so I got myself something to make me not feel so crappy about being on my own for a few weeks while you were up watching TV.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you minded me watching shows or playing games. You never said it bothered you,¡± James said, stunned.

    ¡°It didn¡¯t. Not like that¡­¡± I pulled my knees up in front of me. ¡°James¡­ you¡¯re allowed to have interests that didn¡¯t include me. The whole cat-girl thing never really bothered me that much either, except for the fact you spent so much money on all that stuff when you needed to borrow money off me to pay the bills¡­ but the loneliness¡­ that¡¯s my issue I have to work through, not yours.¡±

    James seemed to have nothing to say to that, so I reached over and pushed him out the door.

    ¡°Shows over, out you go,¡± I said. ¡°Now Jackal, can you please find the box these were in? I¡¯m not having them collecting dust on the shelf.¡±

    Jackal retrieved the box and hurriedly started shoving them back in.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Emma,¡± Jackal said again. ¡°I thought I was doing the right thing. My ideas seem to be causing you more trouble than good.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I said, snapping the lid back on the box and shoving it back under my bed. ¡°I know you didn¡¯t mean any harm.¡±

    I ushered Brick, Bastion, and Nightfall out of my room before lying down between Bruiser and Jackal. It had been too long since I¡¯d been with Bruiser, but with things how they were, I didn¡¯t really want to let Jackal out of my sight. I felt an overwhelming need to protect him.

    ¡°You¡¯re not mad at me, are you?¡± Jackal asked, his nose brushing mine as we lay on the pillows.

    ¡°No, honey. I¡¯m scared for you,¡± I told him honestly. ¡°I just want to look after you. We¡¯ll do what we can to make sure you¡¯re safe here, but James was actually right. It might be safer for you in Newtopia.¡±

    ¡°Emma¡­ Back home, I¡¯ll have my mermaid shout again,¡± he said, concern contorting his features. ¡°We can¡¯t be like this anymore. It won¡¯t be safe.¡±

    I stroked his cheek with my thumb. ¡°We¡¯ll think of something.¡±

    ¡°Could you take it away?¡± Jackal asked. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind being like a regular human if it meant I could be with you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t give up your abilities lightly, Jackal,¡± Bruiser warned him. ¡°They make you who you are. It would be better to level up and learn to control them.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right, you know,¡± I said softly. ¡°If we removed part of what makes you a mermaid, there¡¯s no telling at the moment if it would remove your whole top half. We still don¡¯t know Jenny well enough yet, to start getting her to change things like that. You saw what happened with Dave after he changed his base statistics ¨C he was a maniac.¡±

    Jackal nodded, still looking dejected.

    ¡°Jackal, honey¡­ Back when we were on our rescue mission, you had really good control of your voice. You found weak points, you growled and rattled a dungeon door open without hurting anyone¡­ I truly believe you can get control of it.¡±

    ¡°That was only because you were there telling me what to do. You make everything easy. I am a weapon, but I need you to wield me, or I just destroy everything I touch.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± I said, and kissed him firmly on the lips before looking into his eyes. ¡°You are more than just a weapon. You are you. And I love you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not alone, Jackal,¡± Bruiser added. ¡°We¡¯re in this together, for better or worse.¡±

    I looked at Bruiser in surprise. Not at the sentiment ¨C I knew his loyalty to his party ran strong ¨C but his words had sounded like a wedding vow. It struck me just how committed they all were, not only to me, but to each other. Even Bastion and Nightfall, who had been friction-fraught frenemies when I¡¯d met them, had found their peace with each other.

    ¡°What is it, Emma? What¡¯s on your mind?¡±

    I sat up, looking at both of them, and was overwhelmed with gratitude for what I had. Not just Bruiser and Jackal, but five men who I loved and trusted completely. Two million dollars coming into my account tonight. I could buy a house, quit my job, and set up our future in both worlds.

    It was hanging by a thread, but when wasn¡¯t it? I¡¯d seen so much progression over the last couple of weeks and I hadn¡¯t even noticed it because there were no achievement notifications or experience logs.

    But compared to my life before I¡¯d entered Newtopia at all, things were so much better. I felt like I¡¯d just gone up ten consecutive levels.

    ¡°I just realized how much I have,¡± I said, placing a hand on Bruiser¡¯s chest. ¡°And I¡¯m going to write us our happily ever after one way or another.¡±

    My anxiety fell away, and I set an alarm on my phone for crime-time before snuggling back down and falling into a peaceful sleep.

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Seventeen - Crime

    Nightfall, James and I had dressed in black, and I felt like a real burglar as we crept down to Mrs. Greaves¡¯ office. Although I didn¡¯t have a lock-picking kit, Nightfall made do with some bobby pins and deftly picked the lock.

    The office was a mess, and it took quite a while stumbling around in the dark before we found the little black computer which backed up the CCTV footage. It was mounted up on the wall in the storeroom, a little light blinking on it to indicate it was functioning.

    ¡°What do we do now?¡± I asked. ¡°Steal it? Smash it?¡±

    ¡°Give me a minute,¡± James said, arranging a ladder so he could climb up next to the computer. He plugged in a small machine that looked like he¡¯d cobbled it together out of two old phones and a radio. ¡°This is a pretty old system; it looks like it¡¯ll store all the footage locally. I¡¯m wiping the memory and frying it. It should only take a bit longer.¡±

    The machine whirred, then fizzled and spluttered and let off a few sparks.

    ¡°Fricken hell, you¡¯re going to burn the whole building down!¡± I hissed. We didn¡¯t need to add arson to our agenda.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± James said. ¡°Now we just need to get out of here and lock the door behind us.¡±

    We crept back out, clicking the lock on the door before it snapped shut and we were back in the lobby no worse for wear.

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    ¡°Well, that was kind of anti-climactic,¡± I said, stunned at how smoothly it had gone.

    ¡°Shh, someone¡¯s coming,¡± Nightfall said, pulling us back into the shadows under the stairwell.

    I swallowed, cursing my premature celebration and cowered next to the guys as we watched another figure in black creep down the stairs. The person looked around but didn¡¯t seem to see us before stooping by Mrs. Greaves door and jamming something into the lock.

    Their efforts failed, and they pulled a blow torch out of their bag, melting the lock away.

    ¡°What the fuck?¡± James whispered, but I elbowed him to shut him up.

    The stranger opened the door, and we watched him rummage around for a good twenty minutes before leaving with what looked like a small safe and returning up the stairs.

    We waited another ten minutes before climbing the stairs ourselves and returned to our apartment in silence.

    ¡°So?¡± Brick asked as we sat down at the table, stunned. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡±

    ¡°We succeeded, but someone else was there,¡± Nightfall explained. He was the only one of the three of us to be emotionally unaffected by the turn of events.

    ¡°Did they cause problems?¡±

    ¡°They arrived after we left, made a much bigger mess, and stole an item.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Brick beamed. ¡°If the police start investigating, they¡¯ll probably get blamed for the murder, too.¡±

    ¡°Are we okay with framing people now?¡± James asked limply.

    ¡°Well, they were hardly innocent,¡± Nightfall shrugged.

    ¡°Neither were we,¡± I pointed out. ¡°But I agree. Whichever of our neighbours that was, if they get blamed for the body, I¡¯m hardly going to put my hand up and disprove them just to throw Jackal under the bus.¡±

    ¡°So, we¡¯re actually going to get away with this,¡± James said, still sounding numb.

    I shrugged. ¡°Yay for bad neighbourhoods with high crime rates, I guess.¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Eighteen - Nexus

    The next morning, I called in sick for work. I still needed to hand my notice in, but after checking my inheritance had landed in my bank account, I wasn¡¯t particularly bothered by the idea of missing out on getting paid. I was tempted to just not turn up at all, but I didn¡¯t want to risk an investigation if I was reported as a missing person.

    I¡¯d set Jackal up watching videos on voice control for heavy metal singers, hoping the techniques would be helpful for him when he returned to Newtopia, then I¡¯d called the real estate agent on one of the listings I¡¯d pinned to the wall and set up a viewing, and James had called Dave¡¯s mother and apologetically asked if we could come for a visit and look through his things, making up an excuse about how they¡¯d worked together on something, and he needed it for university.

    ¡°You¡¯re actually going to have to go to classes again sometime,¡± I told him as we rode the train to Dave¡¯s house. ¡°If you have to repeat the year, I¡¯m not carrying you through it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d think with everything that¡¯s been going on, you¡¯d give me a bit of extra leeway,¡± James grouched. ¡°You still need me.¡±

    ¡°You can stay in my house rent free, and work on Newtopia, but you¡¯re going to have to pull your weight more. No more expecting me to clean up after you. You¡¯ll cover your own expenses other than rent, utilities, and groceries, and you¡¯ll clean up after yourself. The guys won¡¯t be nearly as lenient as I¡¯ve been.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± James said, looking out the window as the scenery raced by. ¡°I never really thought about how it was for you. How much you¡¯ve done for me. For what it¡¯s worth, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯d never be able to work through any of this without you, and I¡¯ll try not to take you for granted anymore.¡±

    I smiled and nudged him with my elbow. ¡°Friends?¡±

    James snorted and nodded. ¡°Yeah. Friends.¡±

    Brick and Bruiser had accompanied us to do any carrying we needed, but they were watching our exchange with amused expressions.

    ¡°What?¡± James asked, giving them the side eye.

    ¡°Emma is just so forgiving,¡± Bruiser said, shaking his head. ¡°She used to rage at you all the time. I suppose it¡¯s easier to hate someone when they¡¯re not in front of you.¡±

    ¡°Well, to be fair, that was when I thought a lot of the Newtopia idiocy was actually by design rather than accident,¡± I said defensively. ¡°Although I¡¯m still going to make you read some books on ethics, racism and feminism before you do any more world building.¡±

    ¡°I hardly think you¡¯re the one to lecture me on ethics,¡± James retorted. ¡°Speaking of which, this is our stop.¡±

    The train pulled to a stop, and we disembarked and walked the two blocks to Dave¡¯s mother¡¯s house.

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    She greeted us at the door, and I could see the family resemblance immediately. She also had dark hair, although hers was lovely and soft, whereas Dave¡¯s haircut had been short and sharp. Photos of Dave were on the mantlepiece, and I felt a tug at my heart.

    I had known on some level that people would be grieving for him, but I hadn¡¯t thought it would feel like this. I¡¯d never pictured a heartbroken woman with red-rimmed eyes, a hole in her soul exactly where I¡¯d blasted through Dave¡¯s skull.

    My stomach churned, and I felt like I was going to throw up.

    I lowered my eyes to her feet in shame and kept my mouth firmly shut as James took care of the introductions.

    ¡°All of his things are boxed up in the back room,¡± Dave¡¯s mother showed us in. ¡°I haven¡¯t had the heart to go through it, not that I¡¯d know what any of the techy stuff is. And I just can¡¯t bear the thought of throwing it away. But you were Dave¡¯s friend, weren¡¯t you? You can take anything you need. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d want you to have it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± James said. ¡°I really appreciate this. And I¡¯m sorry again for your loss. He was a great guy.¡±

    He sounded so believable, but then again, James had known Dave before he¡¯d fallen into madness. They had been friends. James had trusted him with a lot, before everything had fallen to pieces.

    She left us to it, and we stood to the side, letting James go through each box, pulling out components that he thought would be useful.

    The boxes were a jumble, some containing old school report cards and childhood toys and others with his more recent projects.

    Bruiser picked up an old, well-loved teddy bear, inspecting it with an odd expression before placing it gently back into its box. A tear trickled down my cheek, but I hurriedly wiped it away. It was too late to fall to pieces now.

    ¡°We should be able to get the Nexus back up and running within a week,¡± James said. ¡°I¡¯ve got everything here I need, plus a few spare parts. We should be able to set up a two-way portal and make adjustments so your boyfriends can actually keep their original bodies when they travel through next time. They don¡¯t have to remain humans here if they don¡¯t want to. It should be safer for Jackal as well, since he looks a little different in his original body. So long as he doesn¡¯t do anything else stupid.¡±

    ¡°Can we retrieve Emma¡¯s dog?¡± Bruiser asked, and I looked at him in surprise.

    ¡°Pooky?¡±

    ¡°Your mother mistreats her and blackmails you with her health. We could retrieve the dog, but if we could send it through the Nexus, Pooky could have a good life in Newtopia, and be safe from harm. You would be able to speak with her properly, and Bonaparte would help her settle in and make a good life.¡±

    ¡°You alright there, Emma?¡± Brick asked me. ¡°You¡¯ve gone quiet.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking,¡± I said softly. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen people properly grieve before. And Dave¡¯s mum¡­ I just¡­ with my family I¡­ I forget that some parents actually love their children.¡±

    James gave me a sympathetic look. ¡°You always were a bit emotionally constipated. Good you know why now, at least. Your mum really messed you up.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with Emma,¡± Brick growled, but I put a hand on his forearm.

    ¡°He¡¯s kind of right,¡± I said. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t come as a surprise that some people have families that love them. Just because mine is awful, I shouldn¡¯t expect everyone else¡¯s to be the same.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be stuck with the family you¡¯re born in, Emma,¡± Bruiser said, wrapping his arm around me. ¡°We¡¯re your family now.¡±

    I smiled and turned my face into his arm. ¡°I know. I love you for it.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll never be on your own again,¡± Brick promised. ¡°You¡¯ve got all of us behind you. No matter what you need.¡±

    James sighed. ¡°You¡¯re going to set up like¡­ a harem mafia in Newtopia or something, aren¡¯t you? Become the benevolent overlord?¡±

    ¡°Nah,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re going to open a bakery.¡±

    Brick¡¯s grin made me feel immeasurably better.

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Nineteen - Pooky

    We called a cab to take James and the boxes of stuff back to our apartment. I decided to go on with Brick and Bruiser to my mother¡¯s house, and I was determined not to leave without Pooky.

    I hadn¡¯t seen the Pomeranian in a couple of years, having avoided my family home as much as possible while Blake was still living there. He was my mum¡¯s fourth husband, and the worst stepdad of them all, but they¡¯d broken up recently so the odds of facing him down were slim.

    Having Bruiser and Brick behind me made me feel a lot braver, though.

    It was only another short train ride until we reached her suburb. The lawns looked like they hadn¡¯t been mowed in weeks, and I wondered if mum really was having money troubles again. I could never tell with her whether she was in real debt or had just blown her weekly budget at the casino.

    I took a deep, calming breath and walked up to the front door, Brick and Bruiser on my heels. I knocked and waited, hearing some clattering before the door opened.

    ¡°Emma, baby!¡± Mum held her arms out wide to embrace me, but I didn¡¯t accept it and eventually her arms fell to her side as she gave my two bodyguards a cagey look. ¡°It¡¯s so good to see you again, sweetie. Are you here to sort out all that awful lawyer business, or did you just come for a visit?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t come for a visit in years, Mum,¡± I said flatly. ¡°Where¡¯s Pooky?¡±

    My mum¡¯s mouth paused in an ¡®o¡¯ for a moment before she answered. ¡°Oh, poor Pooky is in at the vets. Terrible thing, but you know the health issues purebred dogs have. Can¡¯t take her home until I¡¯ve got the funds to pay for it, of course, but that inheritance is coming in at the perfect time. I¡¯ll never have to ask to borrow off you again!¡±

    The money had hit my bank account that morning, but she didn¡¯t know that.

    I narrowed my eyes. ¡°It¡¯s my money, Mum. Not yours.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s neither here nor there, but the lawyers will sort that out. Now, did you want something?¡±

    ¡°I want Pooky,¡± I said firmly. ¡°Let me know which vet she¡¯s at and I¡¯ll go get her. I¡¯ll pay all her medical bills, but I want to transfer ownership to me. I want to take her home.¡±

    Leticia edged into view behind mum, her eyes darting over the guys I¡¯d brought with me.

    ¡°Hey Leticia.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring that guy with you?¡± Leticia asked. ¡°The one who tried to kill me?¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t really want to hurt you,¡± I lied. ¡°Just scare you a little.¡±

    ¡°Are these guys here going to cause trouble?¡± Mum asked, gesturing at Brick and Bruiser.

    ¡°We¡¯re just here to talk,¡± I said. ¡°And to get Pooky.¡±

    Mum sighed and stepped back. ¡°Come in, baby. It¡¯s time we had a talk. Leave your boys outside.¡±

    ¡°We go where Emma goes,¡± Bruiser said sternly, and Brick nodded gruffly.

    ¡°Fine, but the first sign of trouble and Letty will call the cops.¡±

    Leticia brandished her phone like a weapon. I nodded, and we walked into her home.

    My mother¡¯s house was nothing like Dave¡¯s family home. There were no pictures of me anywhere, no knickknacks. There were a couple pictures of my mother from her youthful modelling days, but very little evidence she had any children at all.

    We entered the lounge, where the TV was playing on mute, the subtitles announcing that another war had broken out and this summer was projected to be the hottest yet.

    I clenched my jaw and trained my eyes on my mum, feeling her looking at me like she was dissecting me. It hurt so deeply that only days after my father had died ¨C even if I hadn¡¯t really known him ¨C that this was the welcome I received. She¡¯d never been there for me emotionally. I¡¯d always just been free labour for her. Babysitter, cook, cleaner, and as an adult, a source of infinite credit when the banks cut her off.

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    ¡°Things have been hard since Blake left, baby-girl,¡± Mum said, her voice sounding so sad in the same practised way I¡¯d seen her get money from her husbands before turning around to blow it on fresh nails or hair. ¡°The mortgage is so high, and we¡¯re just not keeping up. If we don¡¯t get our share of that inheritance, we¡¯ll be out on the street. You wouldn¡¯t do that to your own mother and sister, would you? You wouldn¡¯t be so spiteful as to cut us off like that. You¡¯re a good girl, Emma. I know you¡¯ll do the right thing.¡±

    I closed my eyes and breathed deep. This was what it was like being the daughter of an unrepentant narcissist. But with the guilt of Dave¡¯s murder hanging freshly over my head, my anger felt like it was being smothered by a thick blanket.

    ¡°I want Pooky, and then I want you out of my life for good,¡± I said, snapping my eyes open again. My voice was calm, and my nerves felt like steel. I felt almost like another person. ¡°I¡¯m finished with you. Your problems aren¡¯t any of my business anymore. Once I leave this place, I don¡¯t want to see or hear from you again.¡±

    My mother gasped. ¡°Emma, baby, you¡¯re not in¡­ some kind of gang, are you?¡±

    The fear in her voice made me pause for thought. If she thought I was in a gang, it would make it much more likely I¡¯d leave with my plan as a success.

    ¡°The less you ask about that, the better,¡± I said neutrally. ¡°It¡¯ll be better for everyone if we have no further association after today. You¡¯re going to drop the lawsuit, you¡¯re going to go bother your other children when you want something, and you¡¯re going to tell me where to get Pooky.¡±

    She chewed on her lip nervously, her red lipstick making a smear on her teeth.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Pooky, Mum?¡±

    ¡°I needed the money, Emma baby.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me baby,¡± I gritted out through clenched teeth. ¡°Where is she? What did you do to her?¡±

    ¡°She sold her,¡± Leticia cut in. ¡°She¡¯s in her cage in the garage. One of Blake¡¯s friends was going to pick her up later today.¡±

    I felt a white-hot fury blaze behind my eyes, and if I¡¯d had a plasma rifle in hand, I didn¡¯t know what I would do with it.

    ¡°Get her,¡± I snapped at Leticia, and she jumped into action, scrambling out of sight, and returning moments later with Pooky in a carrier.

    Bruiser stepped forwards and took the carrier.

    ¡°Emma, I¡¯ve got to give her to them. The dog is going to settle a debt I really can¡¯t pay unless I have either Pooky or the inheritance money.¡±

    Poor Pooky was cowering and whimpering in her cage.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care, Mum. Your debts are not my problem. But you¡¯re transferring ownership to me. I want a written statement.¡±

    She looked like she was about to argue, but Brick cracked his knuckles, and she pulled out a paper and pen and started writing.

    ¡°Who would buy her anyway? She¡¯s like fifteen years old,¡± I muttered under my breath.

    ¡°Dog fighters,¡± Leticia answered me. I looked at her in shock.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°She was selling her to Blake¡¯s friends. They were going to use her as bait in a dog fighting ring.¡±

    I stared at my mother in absolute horror and disgust, a thousand percent sure my decision to cut her out was the correct thing to do. This betrayal dismissed any doubt in my mind.

    ¡°Emma, take me too,¡± Leticia begged. ¡°I need to get out of this place.¡±

    I looked at my half-sister and felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. I¡¯d looked after her for years. Cooked for her, taken her to after school events when Mum couldn¡¯t care less, bailed her out of countless situations. I¡¯d let her stay with me and had tried multiple times to give her a good start in life, to offer her the support nobody had ever given me. Of all my siblings, she was the one who was closest to me, and yet she¡¯d never shown me any loyalty. She¡¯d turn around and throw me under the bus just as quickly as she¡¯d decide to pound on my door seeking sanctuary. She was as bad as my mother, always out for number one. There was no way I wanted her anywhere near Newtopia.

    ¡°You¡¯re twenty-three, Leticia. Get a job, move out, stand on your own two feet,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not bailing you out. You lost any affection from me when you threatened me at my house. We¡¯re over.¡±

    ¡°Uh, Emma,¡± Bruiser nudged me and pointed to the TV.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that your apartment? That¡¯s James, isn¡¯t it?¡± Leticia asked.

    James was indeed standing in the background, holding a box as a man was being led out of the building by police. It wasn¡¯t Jackal, though; it must be the neighbour who had stolen the safe.

    The subtitles summarized the situation succinctly: Body Found in Dumpster ¨C Suspect Detained.

    ¡°Should we head back?¡± Brick asked uncertainly, looking to me to make the final decision.

    ¡°It would probably do more harm than good,¡± I said, although I really wanted to get back to check on Jackal. ¡°We¡¯ve got other things to do. We¡¯re done here.¡±

    I took the note my mother had written, folded it up, and slipped it into my back pocket before heading for the door. My priority needed to be to get us a safe place we could transition to. We needed Jenny set up somewhere safe where no-one could find her or disrupt her, and a place Jackal could lie low until we could get the Nexus operational again.

    ¡°Emma, baby, don¡¯t leave like this,¡± Mum called out to me. ¡°If you take that dog, I¡¯m dead.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your baby,¡± I said, taking one final look back at the woman who had birthed me and yet somehow never managed to love me. ¡°And for the record, you¡¯re dead to me already.¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Twenty - House

    Pooky whined at me from her carrier. I¡¯d given her a quick inspection to make sure she wasn¡¯t injured before I returned her to the cage, but I couldn¡¯t let her out again, not for a while anyway.

    We stopped in at a corner store to grab some food and a bottle of water, and my poor pup wolfed it down. Anger boiled in me at her mistreatment. But Bruiser¡¯s words echoed in my heart and steeled my determination.

    I could give Pooky a new start in Newtopia. A new body. Her limp would be gone, her wasting, aged body would be replaced with something new. She could get the life she always deserved.

    I just needed to get Jenny set up and safe.

    We called a cab, as I was in no mood for navigating public transport after the rollercoaster of a morning I¡¯d had. I took Pooky on my knee in her carrier in the front seat while Brick and Bruiser sat in the back, silent and stoic.

    We gave instructions to visit a handful of addresses I¡¯d picked out from real estate listings, and the first few were uninspiring. Too close to neighbours, too visible from the road, too small to fit everyone at once¡­ but the last address looked perfect.

    Established trees lined the edge of the property and a long driveway disappeared over a small hill towards the house. It wasn¡¯t visible from the road at all, but I knew it to be large enough from the photos I¡¯d seen online.

    It was more expensive than I¡¯d hoped to find at $1.6 million, but with two million sitting in the bank, I could buy it outright with no mortgage.

    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    I logged into my banking app on my phone and stared at the number. It had barely even touched my account, and I was about to watch it disappear. It was an odd feeling, but it felt right. I couldn¡¯t help but feel like in dying, my father had done more for me than my mother had in her whole life.

    I phoned the real estate agent and asked them to come immediately. It was a twenty-minute wait, so we dismissed the cab and let Pooky out to sniff around the grass and go to the bathroom.

    ¡°Emma.¡±

    I looked up at Brick, who was watching me with a look filled with pity.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°Do you need to talk about it?¡±

    ¡°What, the house? We can talk it over once we¡¯ve seen it, but the photos look good, and we need to move out of that apartment ASAP.¡±

    ¡°I was talking about what happened with your family.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°They aren¡¯t my family anymore. You are.¡±

    Bruiser reached out and gently took my hand in his. ¡°It is amazing that someone with so much compassion and love in her heart could come from such a cruel background.¡±

    ¡°I think I understand you a little better now, though,¡± Brick said, stepping closer to me to wrap his arms around me.

    I leaned into his chest, his touch feeling like a balm to my burned and raw emotions.

    ¡°It had never come quite to a head like that before,¡± I whispered. ¡°I had withdrawn from them out of self-preservation, but I guess I needed a push to cut ties completely. If I¡¯d known what Pooky was going through, I would have tried to rescue her before now. There¡¯s no going back after that, though.¡±

    A black car pulled up next to us and the real estate agent hopped out and greeted us with buoyant energy. She led us down to the house, pointing out features on the way. A gazebo here. Creek access there.

    I smiled, thinking Bonaparte would enjoy frolicking in the water.

    The house itself was a maze of rooms, with large living areas and a beautiful kitchen. My decision was made up before we¡¯d even finished the tour.

    ¡°How soon can I get possession?¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Chapter Twenty One - Home

    It was going to take us a week before we were properly settled at our new address. I¡¯d sent Jackal and the guys ahead, while James and I took care of the final things at the apartment. It was safer to keep them out of the way, as we didn¡¯t want to attract any unnecessary attention.

    I finished working my notice period, Jeremy¡¯s comments bouncing off me in a way I¡¯d never experienced before. I didn¡¯t feel like I had to shrink myself down anymore, or defensively evade him. I just didn¡¯t care. I didn¡¯t care he got the promotion I¡¯d wanted. I didn¡¯t care my boss ordered me to go get his coffees and his dry cleaning. Within a week, they¡¯d be living their same small lives, and I¡¯d be rebuilding and refining a whole world.

    The police came through and took statements, but it seemed our unfortunate neighbour was being lumped with the blame.

    We weren¡¯t the only ones moving out of the apartment either, so our hasty exit was barely of note, and with Mrs. Greaves¡¯ murder on the news, I had a great excuse to cut ties with my old life and shift to something completely new. A metamorphosis.

    Even though I missed the guys, and it sucked having a few days without any of my lovers, I felt a lot more secure in myself. I felt like one of those slider puzzles where the picture was all messed up, but somehow everything had shifted over the last few days and the last pieces were sliding into place.

    Bruiser and Bonaparte were looking after Pooky for me and settling her into the new house, and Nightfall had been setting up Dave¡¯s computer and getting Jenny functional as per James¡¯ instructions. I¡¯d made sure we had an extra generator installed at the new property as a safeguard before risking unplugging anything at our end.

    ¡°It feels kid of odd to have everything working out for us after everything that happened, doesn¡¯t it?¡± I said to James as we taped up another box. ¡°You know, after the whole Dave and Mrs. Greaves stuff?¡±

    James frowned at me. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say everything is working out. I mean, I¡¯ll get to work full time on Newtopia for a bit and the house you¡¯ve found is great, but the guys still hate me, and¡­ we¡¯re not together anymore. That¡¯s not a happy ending, as far as I¡¯m concerned.¡±

    I gave him a sympathetic look. It was easier for me. I had five guys waiting for me, and he was still heartbroken.

    ¡°You know, once we¡¯ve sorted things out, you could probably write yourself a new girlfriend. Get that cat-girl you¡¯ve always wanted,¡± I said, handing him his body pillow to tape as protection around one of his monitors. ¡°Although we should probably fix the whole genetics thing first or she might come out generated like Blade, with a cat face and human ears.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, Emma,¡± he said dejectedly. ¡°They were¡­ I don¡¯t know. A fantasy, but an empty one. What I really want is you.¡±

    I unrolled the tape and wound it around his pillow.

    ¡°James¡­¡±

    ¡°I know, I know. We weren¡¯t a good couple,¡± he shook his head. ¡°But I¡¯ve grown up a lot over the last few months. This kind of experience¡­ this responsibility¡­ I know it¡¯s changed me. Do you think I could ever change enough that you¡¯d consider giving me another chance? Even¡­ in addition to your other guys?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, James. We fought a lot. And with the guys¡­ it¡¯s kind of a respect thing. They all approve of each other; we¡¯re all committed to each other together. They don¡¯t like you, and I just don¡¯t feel that way about you anymore,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I think we¡¯re better off as friends.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I¡¯m sorry I took you for granted. You know I¡¯d give you the world now, right?¡± he laughed. ¡°I kind of am. Newtopia¡¯s yours now. I guess it¡¯s only fair, after you saved it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not mine. It¡¯s ours. All of ours.¡± I gave him a small smile. ¡°We can share it.¡±

    We took the boxes carefully down the stairs and loaded them into my brand-new jeep and drove them over to the new property. There was no way I was trusting a moving company to handle our equipment. We were determined to do it ourselves, load by load.

    When we arrived, Pooky saw me from the other end of the deck and yipped at me happily, limping over to me with Bonaparte loyally at her side.

    ¡°They¡¯ve become fast friends,¡± Bruiser said, greeting me with a kiss and taking the box out of my hands so I could crouch down and scratch Pooky¡¯s ears.

    ¡°Hey my Pooky-pupper,¡± I said, smothering her with affection. ¡°I wonder if we should make you a dire-weasel when we send you to Newtopia. What do you think about that? You guys would be the same species then. Unless you want to keep your canine-ness and be a dire-wolf or something.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯d probably get attacked as a dire-wolf,¡± Bruiser said. ¡°A dire-weasel would definitely be a safer form. They are considered neutral animals, rather than hostile. And until we get Jenny familiar with a wider range of species, a new and unique form might get generated with errors, according to Nightfall.¡±

    Bonaparte was standing on his hind legs, his forepaws put together as though he was begging.

    ¡°You¡¯ve talked about it, have you?¡± I laughed, petting Bonaparte as well.

    ¡°It has been on our minds,¡± Bruiser nodded. ¡°Pooky is not in good condition, Emma. We should send her through the Nexus sooner rather than later. Nightfall is determined to be the first one put through, however, to test it is safe.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get all this stuff inside first. I don¡¯t want to even think about that until we actually have the Nexus operational.¡±

    Jackal and Bastion came out, having heard our voices, and took several boxes as well, as James handled his monitor. Nightfall directed them to place things where he had set up his office, and Brick set the table for us to share a lunch. He took a seat next to me and I sighed in contentment.

    I was tired as hell, but everything was finally looking up.

    ¡°So, how are you all settling in? Are you happy with the house?¡±

    ¡°It has been more than sufficient,¡± Nightfall said, sounding pleased. ¡°Jenny has been functioning optimally and has incorporated many of the patches we have developed. Once all of the equipment has arrived, I plan to install three more desks so we will have space for Bastion to continue his artwork and both yourself and James can work by my side.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to stay on this side of the portal forever,¡± Bastion said hesitantly. ¡°I mean, I like it and all, Emma, but we won¡¯t be here forever, will we?¡±

    I frowned in thought. ¡°I suppose we need to talk about this, don¡¯t we? Which world everyone wants to live in.¡±

    ¡°I feel I belong in Newtopia,¡± Bruiser said, taking the lead. ¡°As a human, I only feel like half of myself. Even when I¡¯m returned to my shifter body, I think I would like to explore our newly-seeded world. I¡¯m not sure if I would have the same kind of relationship here. I miss being able to commune with nature. I could try to remain here if you wished it, but I do not know if it would ever feel right.¡±

    ¡°I prefer to be where the information is,¡± Nightfall said, folding his hands on the table in front of me. ¡°I would like my original body back, but my preference would be to remain here as a guardian of our world.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure, Nightfall?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°You don¡¯t want to return at all?¡±

    ¡°I would not mind travelling between worlds occasionally, and I would find it a necessity if you made your permanent home in Newtopia, but somebody would need to remain on this side to ensure the safety of our world.¡±

    ¡°What about you guys?¡± I asked Jackal, Bastion and Brick.

    ¡°I want to remain with you,¡± Jackal said. ¡°Although I have caused you a lot of problems in this world. I will do what you tell me to do. I¡¯ll go wherever you want me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m with you, no matter which world,¡± Brick said firmly. ¡°I don¡¯t care where I am so long as I have you at my side.¡±

    Bastion hesitated, then shared a look with Brick and nodded solemnly. ¡°Same. You¡¯re my life now, Emma. Home is wherever you are.¡±

    ¡°The Nexus could be operational by the end of the week,¡± James cut in. ¡°But no one has to make any decisions immediately, right?¡±

    ¡°Bruiser¡¯s right about Pooky, though,¡± I said. ¡°She¡¯s old and not in great condition. It¡¯d be good to send her through soon, and Bonaparte and Bruiser will need to be with her. This might be our last week all together for a while.¡±

    Bruiser wrapped an arm around me and pulled me in for a kiss.

    ¡°Well then,¡± he whispered. ¡°We better make it count.¡±

 BOOK FIVE - Epilogue - Bakery

    I¡¯d only just sat down with a coffee and one of Brick¡¯s new cherry tarts when a scrabbling noise at the window made me almost spill my drink.

    I leapt to my feet and opened it, letting Bonaparte in.

    ¡°Help!¡± the dire-weasel implored in his raspy voice, standing on his hind legs and holding his hands together in a pleading motion. ¡°Help!¡±

    I placed my hands on his shoulders, which were almost level with mine.

    ¡°Calm down, Bonaparte. What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Fight! By river!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s fighting? Do I need to get Brick?¡± I¡¯d have to call him out of the kitchen, but I knew he wouldn¡¯t mind if it was important.

    ¡°Pooky! Ermine!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re at it again?¡± I sighed. Their little love triangle was getting complicated.

    Ermine, Bonaparte¡¯s ex-girlfriend, had previously been infatuated with Slick, a shifter who had been trapped in his weasel-form, but when we had installed a patch that could allow sentient beings to alter their physical forms, Slick had changed his race from shifter to straight human, having had enough experience as an animal for ten lifetimes, and Ermine was back on the market.

    Unfortunately for her, Pooky had successfully transferred into a dire-weasel body, although she maintained some of her Pomeranian fluffiness, which had sent Ermine wild with jealousy and they both fought like crazy over Bonaparte. I suspected Bonaparte actually enjoyed the attention most of the time, until blood was drawn.

    All in all, it was like watching a dire-weasel edition of a daytime soap opera.

    ¡°Help! Blood!¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯m coming,¡± I said, deciding not to bother Brick. I could probably handle this one on my own. ¡°But I¡¯m bringing my coffee.¡±

    By the time we got to the river, Bruiser was already there in his bear-form and was breaking them apart anyway, growling as they tried to swat at each other from around his huge paws.

    ¡°Quit it!¡± he snarled, snapping his jaws threateningly at Pooky.

    ¡°Get that bitch outta here!¡± Pooky yipped, hissing angrily at Ermine, who just hissed back. Unlike the Newtopian dire-weasels, Pooky spoke in full sentences, which made her a lot easier to understand, and she had brought swear words and turns of phrase from Earth with her.

    ¡°Make me!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m tempted to leave you both with your injuries,¡± I said, taking a seat on a rock next to the river.

    ¡°Emma!¡± Pooky scrambled up the river towards me and rolled in the grass at my feet. Standing on all fours, her head rested on my knee, and I placed my hand over her torn ear.

    ¡°You kinda deserve this,

    Scrapping without end,

    If you¡¯d just find your peace,

    You might even become friends.¡±

    Pooky¡¯s ear knit itself back together under my palm, and I scratched it affectionately as she nuzzled into my arms.

    ¡°Friends? With her? No thanks.¡±

    ¡°Bonaparte! Mine first!¡± Ermine hissed, plodding up out of the river with a limp.

    ¡°He¡¯s not a thing, Ermine. You can¡¯t make him love you,¡± I said firmly, then turned to Bonaparte. ¡°And you! You could end this yourself instead of letting everyone else do your dirty work.¡±

    I pushed Pooky to the side and took Ermine¡¯s paw in my hand, looking her dead in the eye. ¡°If I heal this, you¡¯re not allowed to go start another fight, alright? I won¡¯t be around for a while.¡±

    Bruiser shifted into his human form with a splash, rivulets of water trickling down his hairy body.

    ¡°You¡¯re going back to Earth?¡± Bruiser asked, not shocked, but with a hint of loss in his voice. We¡¯d spent a lot of time together over the past few weeks, but he felt tied to Newtopia and had no wish to make his home on Earth. ¡°For how long?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± I said, but slid off my rock and met him in the shallows of the river, the cool water pooling around our ankles. ¡°Brick wants to find some new flavour profiles and import some new ingredients. And I should make sure the house and the budgets are being managed okay on the other side. You know how James can be, and Nightfall just isn¡¯t used to the whole building maintenance deal. I guess it¡¯ll depend on what else I¡¯ve got to deal with on the other side.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d ask you to come back soon, but I know that¡¯s too much to ask,¡± he rumbled, and gathered me in his arms for a tender kiss. ¡°I¡¯ll settle for asking you to make sure you come back to me, whenever it is that you can.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± I smiled, resting my chin on his wet shoulder as we embraced. ¡°You couldn¡¯t keep me away from this place if you tried. We won¡¯t be going until evening though. Do you want to come back to the bakery and try Brick¡¯s latest invention?¡±

    He placed his hands on my thighs and hoisted me up, carrying me as he strode out of the river. ¡°Not unless he invented a new way of ravishing you.¡±

    I laughed, wrapping my legs around his waist, as well as my tail for good measure. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can do that as well.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take you here and now then, if it¡¯s all the same to you,¡± Bruiser said, nipping at my neck. ¡°If the others get to go with you, I want you all to myself while I can have you.¡±

    ¡°Well, Bastion and Jackal are staying behind to keep the bakery running,¡± I said, but pulled him towards the edge of the forest where one of our favourite glades was hidden just out of view. ¡°But if it¡¯s all the same to you, I think I like the idea of you taking me right here and now.¡±

    ¡°As my lady commands.¡±

    Pooky and Ermine had already started squabbling again, although with a little less heat, but I ignored them in favour of Bruiser. I truly didn¡¯t know how long I¡¯d be without him, just as I hadn¡¯t known or intended to spend several months away from Nightfall.

    We fell together into the soft grass, and he peeled my clothes off me carefully. He¡¯d learned his lesson about tearing my clothing that first time we¡¯d met. The memory made me laugh, and he pulled away to regard me warmly.

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny, my love?¡±

    ¡°I was just thinking how we first met,¡± I grinned, seating myself on his lap and tracing the contours of his muscles with a lazy finger. ¡°And how far we¡¯ve come.¡±

    ¡°Not the best first impression I¡¯ve made,¡± he grinned at me, unrepentant. ¡°But it all worked out okay, so I¡¯ve got no complaints.¡±

    He moved to kiss me again, but I flattened my palm on the plane of his chest, and he paused, cocking his head at me in question.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°If anything keeps me away, if it takes longer than I intend to come back¡­ I don¡¯t mind if you find another girlfriend, Bruiser,¡± I said softly. ¡°With the others¡­ Bastion and Jackal, I mean, I know they¡¯re with me exclusively and that¡¯s the way they want it but¡­ I know you¡¯ve got more of a philosophy of free love, and I just wanted to clear it up in case you had any doubt, that I don¡¯t mind if you find someone else. I don¡¯t want you being all¡­ I don¡¯t know, frustrated without me.¡±

    Bruiser laughed. ¡°Thank you, my dear one. You realize I did not think it was possible to love again until I met you? Since I lost Elise¡­ part of me died with her, but with you I feel resurrected. More than resurrected. I¡¯m more alive than I¡¯ve ever been before. I know you don¡¯t take Nightfall¡¯s pet name that seriously, but you are a goddess in this world, my sweet, and there is no one who could capture my heart in the same way.¡±

    I blushed, my heart swelling with pleasure at his words. He stroked my arms, then trailed his arms around my back and pulled me in for a kiss.

    ¡°Still, even if you¡¯re not in love, I don¡¯t mind if you keep sowing your wild oats while I¡¯m gone. If you want to wait for me, that¡¯s fine too,¡± I snuggled into him. ¡°I just wanted you to know it¡¯s okay. And I¡¯ll still come back to you, regardless.¡±

    ¡°Understood,¡± he said, then rolled us over so my back pressed into the soft soil. ¡°Although right now, there¡¯s only one place I¡¯d like to sow my oats.¡±

    I shrieked and giggled as he kissed and sucked my neck, rubbing his scruffy beard into my sensitive skin.

    ¡°Come on darling,¡± he pleaded, running his tongue along my pheromone pores.

    I took a breath and relaxed, letting a plume of succubus pheromones enshroud us. The effect on him was visible, his eyes dilating with animal want. He captured me with another kiss, letting me feel the full measure of his desire as he devoured me, pressing himself into me with such frantic force I was sure I¡¯d leave a permanent impression on the ground.

    ¡°Ungh, Bruiser¡­¡±

    ¡°My goddess¡­¡±

    Stars exploded behind my eyes and his fingers dug into my shoulders as he spent himself, and it took several minutes for us to catch our breath before he leaned back, hovering over me even as we were still connected at the hip.

    ¡°I love you, Emma,¡± he whispered. ¡°And I¡¯ll miss you with every fiber of my being while you are gone. But don¡¯t hurry back on my account. You have important work to do, and I¡¯m sure Nightfall is missing you on the other side. I¡¯ll be here, waiting, when you get back.¡±

    His eyes traced over me, and I could tell he was committing this moment to memory. It must be hard, I thought, to let people go when you had lost someone as permanently as he had lost Elise.

    I smiled at him, and let him have his moment of appreciation, until he helped me up. I kissed him again, then he handed my clothes to me, and I dressed as he shifted back into his bear-form, and we walked side-by-side back to the bakery, but he left me at the threshold.

    ¡°Enjoy the rest of your time with Bastion and Jackal,¡± Bruiser said in his deep rumble. ¡°I¡¯ve said my goodbye. I won¡¯t be far when you return.¡±

    ¡°I love you, Bruiser. Take care of yourself.¡±

    ¡°I love you too, Emma,¡± he said, pressing his wet, black nose into the palm of my hand before turning and loping back towards the river.

    I watched his furry, round brown bottom disappear over the hill and turned back to the bakery we¡¯d made on the edge of town. It really had surpassed my wildest dreams, but I¡¯d always been brilliant at designing houses in The Sims, and when I¡¯d given Jenny my floor plan and all my specifications, she¡¯d come through and finished the building to a level of detail I couldn¡¯t have possibly imagined. I was looking forward to getting to hang out with her again on Earth and build more collaborative ideas.

    I stepped in through the threshold and greeted Blade, who was having a drink of very milky coffee and a steaming meat pie. He twitched his ears at me when he saw me, displaying them clearly since they had been replaced with an appropriately feline pair.

    ¡°Care to share a drink with me, succubus?¡± he greeted me, with a wide Cheshire cat grin.

    ¡°Can¡¯t today, Blade, but good to see you again. How¡¯s your adventuring?¡±

    Blade grinned even wider, his fangs gleaming white. ¡°Very good. Got a regular job guarding the caravans between the new farms to the West all the way to Isekai.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± I gave him a knowing look. ¡°Say hi to Kira for me, won¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re inferring,¡± he lied. We all knew he was head over heels for the innkeeper, and now he felt confident to take his hat off, he had no problem in tipping it in Kira¡¯s direction. The only issue was that while Kira didn¡¯t mind a tumble in the hay, she was still a tetchy piece of work ¨C but the guys and I were convinced that just made them a better match.

    ¡°Sure,¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°Good luck on your travels. I¡¯ll be out of town for a while.¡±

    ¡°You going to where Nightfall is?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Tell him¡­ thanks. From me.¡±

    ¡°I will. I¡¯m sure that will mean a lot to him.¡±

    He nodded and turned back to his pie. We both knew Nightfall cared more about solving the puzzle Blade¡¯s situation had presented rather than his actual feelings about his human ears, but it didn¡¯t need to be pointed out.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    In the New Citadel, we¡¯d installed a machine that could molecularly change a being¡¯s species on the condition the being was sentient and could instruct the machine to do so themselves. It was our workaround to make sure that it wasn¡¯t abused, but it had meant everything to both Blade and Slick. Rather than being a reversed nekokin, Blade was now a full feliskin, his body matching his identity. And as a human, Slick had been given a second chance at life without the effects of the necromantic curse, which had proven too difficult to remove any other way.

    No one else to my knowledge had used it, but even though it wasn¡¯t frequently employed, it was worth the effort to design it when it had improved those individuals¡¯ lives immeasurably.

    ¡°Emma, if you don¡¯t try that tart soon, Brick¡¯s going to lose his mind,¡± Bastion poked his head out of the kitchen and called out to me. ¡°He wants to make a second batch before you guys leave so he can adjust his recipe notes.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I blushed, hurrying back into the living quarters through the back of the bakery. ¡°I¡¯ll get on it now.¡±

    My cherry tart was still sitting on the table, steaming hot and delicious. I picked it up and nibbled the edge. It had a buttery crust that paired beautifully with the cherry compote he¡¯d made to fill the cup.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Brick asked, and I jumped. He was standing by the back wall, wringing a tea towel in his hands, a white apron slung over his muscled, green torso. ¡°Too sweet? Too tart?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s perfect,¡± I said, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. ¡°Seriously, I wouldn¡¯t change a thing.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll go finish my notes. Thanks Emma.¡±

    Brick disappeared back through the kitchen door, and Bastion came out shortly after.

    ¡°You¡¯ve created a madman, you know that?¡± Bastion snorted. ¡°I¡¯m almost glad not to be going with you.¡±

    He took the seat next to me, our knees touching.

    ¡°Still, I¡¯m going to miss you,¡± I said.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be too busy to miss me,¡± Bastion snorted. ¡°I¡¯ll miss you, though. If you take too long, I¡¯ll just leave Jackal in charge and come through after you.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just burn the whole place down?¡± I said, rolling my eyes. ¡°We could probably employ someone here if you wanted to come.¡±

    He gave me a tired smile. ¡°Nah. This place is important to Brick, and after everything he¡¯s done for me¡­ I want to do this for him. I¡¯ll hold the fort until you get back. Do me a favour and take him on a bunch of dates on Earth.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± I laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve already got a whole itinerary planned. We¡¯ll be doing all the foodie tours. He¡¯ll come back home full of inspiration and an even bigger terror than he is now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it,¡± Bastion grinned. ¡°Jackal is waiting for you out the back.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to come?¡± I asked, bumping my knee against his.

    ¡°What I want has very little to do with it, darling. What will happen is you will go say goodbye to Jackal and I¡¯ll get all my final instructions from Brick, and then you¡¯ll say goodbye to me.¡± He gave me a sidelong look. ¡°I hope you¡¯ll save some energy for me. I can provide snacks if you need to replenish.¡±

    I smacked him on the arm, but he just chuckled.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be forever, Bast, I¡¯ll be back before you know it.¡±

    He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on my lips, then let out a happy sigh.

    ¡°Believe it or not, I quite like this arrangement. It means I never have to worry about you. I¡¯m glad no matter where you go, you¡¯ve got one of us looking out for you.¡±

    I leaned my forehead against his and smiled.

    ¡°Yeah, me too.¡± No matter where I went, I was home.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Bastion said, standing. ¡°I better go get my instructions. I swear I¡¯ve made the whole menu ten times over. Go look after Jackal. He looked like he was about ready to burst into tears before I sent him to wait for you.¡±

    I chewed on my lip. ¡°He¡¯s taking it that hard? Do you think I should take him with me, too?¡±

    Bastion reached his thumb out and pulled my lip free from where my teeth were worrying it.

    ¡°He made a mess in the kitchen and Brick chewed him out. He¡¯ll be fine, though. He¡¯s a big boy. He¡¯ll do alright without you for a while. And he¡¯s got me and Bruiser to look out for him. I¡¯ll look after your minotaur just as well as I¡¯ll look after Brick¡¯s bakery.¡±

    I laughed. ¡°Thanks Bastion. I know I can count on you. Just don¡¯t hesitate to send us a message if you need anything.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Now go. I¡¯ll catch up with you when Brick is done with me.¡±

    I gave him a final kiss before he slipped back into the kitchen and made my way to the bedroom at the far end of the hall. I took a leaf out of Lily¡¯s book and had designed the building with plenty of extra rooms so the guys could have their own personal space, especially if they just wanted to have a place to sleep undisturbed ¨C and I had one of my own as well ¨C but the master bedroom was a shared space big enough for everyone to dog pile in if they wanted to.

    Despite his large frame, Jackal looked dwarfed in the middle of the bed, where he was hunched over one of the pillows and wearing a blanket like it was a robe.

    ¡°Jackal, honey, how are you doing?¡± I asked, climbing into the bed and pulling the blankets around both of us like a cocoon.

    Jackal¡¯s emotions always ran very close to the surface. When he was hot, he was red-hot, and when he was blue it was all encompassing. After living my pre-Newtopian life suppressing and hiding my emotions, I really appreciated the honesty and easy communication I had with Jackal. I never had to second-guess what he was feeling or thinking, and it made our relationship so easy.

    ¡°I burned the pies,¡± Jackal sniffed, hugging me to him like I was a teddy bear.

    ¡°Did Brick get a bit grouchy with you?¡± I asked. He nodded sullenly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he didn¡¯t mean anything by it. He¡¯s really grateful for the effort you put into this place, and I know he¡¯s grateful you¡¯re going to help look after it while we¡¯re away.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not good at cooking,¡± Jackal said.

    ¡°You¡¯re still learning,¡± I comforted him, stroking his hair and pulling him to lie down on the pillow next to me. ¡°Is it the recipe cards?¡±

    He thought for a minute, then nodded.

    ¡°Maybe you need to dig out those glasses again,¡± I said. ¡°Just for when you¡¯re cooking. Or you could leave the cooking to Bastion.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t worn the Adorkable Glasses I¡¯d given him since he¡¯d completed the Animal Husbandry course and made his 4-point Intelligence a permanent deal, but he was still unable to read. He hadn¡¯t shown the inclination to want to further his education, so I hadn¡¯t pushed him to do it, although I¡¯d told him I¡¯d support him in whatever goals he had.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try that,¡± he sniffed.

    ¡°Is that all that¡¯s going on with you? Or is there something else?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be apart from you,¡± he said, holding me close and burrowing his face in my hair.

    ¡°You can come visit whenever you want. You just need to let Jenny know and tell Bastion before you come so he can sort out anything he needs to.¡±

    ¡°I made a lot of problems for you last time.¡±

    ¡°A few problems. You helped a lot as well,¡± I said, stroking his long hair. ¡°You helped me make the move to quit my job and stand up to my family. And your face looks a little different from when we were there last, so even if there was a witness, there wouldn¡¯t be any further threats to your safety. It¡¯ll be okay if you want to come through with me.¡±

    Jackal¡¯s shoulders relaxed, and I knew I¡¯d comforted his anxiety. It was a relief; I didn¡¯t want to leave any of my boyfriends in a less-than-ideal state, especially when I wasn¡¯t sure how long this stint to the other side would take me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll send you messages,¡± he promised. ¡°I should stay here, though. Brick and Bastion need me, and I owe them.¡±

    ¡°For what?¡±

    ¡°They brought you into our lives,¡± he said, a smile playing about his lips. ¡°Brick was your first. Without them, you never would have been with me long enough to give me a chance. I¡¯m so glad they found you, and I¡¯m so glad you found me.¡±

    With his blue mood dissipated, his gaze turned sultry. His grin widened as his desire rose up and took over all his senses. His minotaur side took over, and he kissed me roughly.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you found me,¡± he repeated, kissing me deeper and harder, as he let his natural urges take over.

    I clawed at his back as he claimed me as his with an animalistic energy, growling and grunting.

    It had taken him weeks of practice, but he¡¯d finally mastered his mermaid shout and had learned to control it in a similar way to how I had mastered my pheromone pores. Now he could let loose in Newtopia the same way he had on Earth and could roar his release without shaking the foundations of the building.

    I felt myself shatter for the second time that day as Jackal howled and convulsed through his climax before collapsing on top of me, surrendering himself to exhaustion.

    I held him with trembling arms as I recovered, kissing his sweaty brow as he lay next to me.

    ¡°I love you Emma,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll love you until the world explodes.¡±

    ¡°Me too, sweetheart,¡± I said, my heart fluttering as he snuggled into me. ¡°Me too.¡±

    The door creaked open, and Bastion crept in and sat on the bed on my other side.

    ¡°I heard Jackal. Thought you might be finished,¡± Bastion commented. ¡°Do you need snacks?¡±

    I snorted. ¡°Maybe in a minute. Sit with us a while.¡±

    He stretched his back against the headboard and stroked my hair as I held Jackal.

    ¡°You know we¡¯ll look after you, don¡¯t you, Jackal? It won¡¯t be like it used to be, going our different ways after a mission,¡± Bastion said, looking straight ahead. ¡°We¡¯re in this together now.¡±

    Jackal shifted and sat as well so he could look the wood elf in the eyes.

    ¡°We¡¯re family now,¡± he said simply.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Bastion agreed, letting out a huff of laughter. ¡°Bit of an odd family, but I suppose that¡¯s not much of a change for me.¡±

    There was a knock on the door and Brick poked his head in. ¡°Can I come in?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I answered, and he came to stand at the foot of the bed.

    ¡°I just wanted to let you know I¡¯m ready to go when you are. I¡¯ve entered my shopping list into Jenny, and I¡¯ve wrapped up everything here that I need to.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± I grinned. ¡°I just need a moment to say goodbye to Bastion.¡±

    ¡°Take as much time as you need,¡± Brick said. ¡°Jackal, why don¡¯t we go take a dip in the river?¡±

    Jackal nodded and gave me a final hot kiss, cupping my face with his large hands.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back to see you off. Don¡¯t go without me.¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± I breathed.

    He nodded to Bastion and left with Brick, grabbing his pants on his way out the door.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to actually have sex,¡± Bastion said once they left, looking over my naked body which was littered with scratches and love-marks where Jackal and Bruiser had sucked bruises into my skin. ¡°I mean, of course I want it, but you¡¯ve had a lot today. We can just cuddle, if you want.¡±

    I shook my head and took his hand, tugging him into the ensuite with me. ¡°Let me have a shower, then we¡¯ll cuddle.¡±

    He stripped and stepped in with me, barely reacting to the hot jets of water. He took the sponge off the wall, soaked it and had me turn around so he could scrub my back. Bastion loved sex as much as any other guy, but he had a unique appreciation for the quiet domestic moments like this that I¡¯d never expected when we¡¯d first gotten together, but I¡¯d been so accustomed to our rivalry and his distrust of both my body and his own mind.

    Since we¡¯d settled into our relationship, I felt perfectly at home with him though, and these moments felt more intimate even than when he was buried inside me moaning my name.

    I hummed my Healing Song and the grazes Jackal¡¯s teeth and nails had left on my skin disappeared as well as the bruises on my neck.

    Bastion hung the sponge back on its hook and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. Water pooled between our bodies, overflowing and falling to the floor among the splashes from the overhead jets.

    ¡°I will miss this more than anything else,¡± Bastion murmured, kissing me softly. ¡°Even if you come home for the occasional night, I want these moments with you. The showers. The cups of coffee. The in between times. Living with you, rather than just sleeping with you.¡±

    ¡°I know what you mean,¡± I said, running my fingers through his long, wet hair. It seemed even longer, with all the subtle curls straightened out. ¡°But we¡¯re building a life together, even if I have to travel. And you know I¡¯ll always come back.¡±

    He nodded. ¡°If you didn¡¯t, I¡¯d chase you across every dimension I needed to until I could bring you home.¡±

    I giggled.

    ¡°I know you¡¯ll be back, though,¡± he said, caressing my cheek with a thumb. ¡°I love you.¡±

    He gathered me in his arms, and I felt totally at peace, feeling his heart beating against my chest. ¡°I love you too, Bastion. So much.¡±

    He kissed me again and led me out of the shower. He watched me towel myself dry with a smirk, then followed me into the bedroom. I was about to get into the bed again, but he told me to wait and changed the sheets first.

    I sighed in appreciation as we nestled down into the crisp cotton with Bastion wrapped around me. My legs tangled with his and my tail curled around the back of his knee.

    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to actually leave tonight, sweetheart,¡± I laughed, nudging his jaw with my nose. ¡°You¡¯re making it hard to want to go anywhere.¡±

    ¡°Mmm, my evil plan is working then,¡± he grinned, kissing my cheek.

    I captured his mouth with mine, licking the seam of his lips until he let me inside. He kissed me back, and I felt his arousal grow as he tasted me, his hands exploring in time with his tongue.

    ¡°Mmmm, Emma¡­¡±

    ¡°Bastion,¡± I whispered as he released me. ¡°Make love to me.¡±

    He didn¡¯t need asking twice, plundering my mouth with more enthusiasm and I felt our hearts merge along with our bodies.

    He lay with me a long time after, playing with my hair, stroking my skin, and twirling the spear-tip of my tail in his long fingers.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to go anywhere now,¡± I laughed breathlessly.

    ¡°I¡¯ve gotta say, it does feel kind of good making Brick wait after all those times the two of you left me hanging.¡±

    I pushed his shoulder playfully, and he nipped at my lips.

    ¡°You¡¯re terrible,¡± I giggled.

    ¡°I have it on good authority I¡¯m amazing,¡± he teased me back. ¡°Direct quote.¡±

    ¡°You are,¡± I said, falling back into a serious mood. ¡°I know I don¡¯t say it nearly often enough, but you are amazing. You mean everything to me, Bastion. I love you so much.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re amazing.¡± He stroked the side of my face, looking down at me fondly. ¡°When we started this¡­ I was a little concerned at being left on the sidelines, or that I would have to settle for having only what part of your heart you had left for me, but the capacity your heart has¡­ I¡¯ve never felt like that once, not since the day you rescued me. I feel like I have your heart completely, even as the others do as well.¡±

    ¡°You do,¡± I said, my eyes tearing up. I¡¯d worried about that as well, but I was glad he felt the full strength of my feelings for him.

    ¡°Now, as a supportive boyfriend, I think it¡¯s time I kick you out of bed and wish you well on your next adventure while Jackal and I keep things running at home.¡±

    ¡°Do I have to?¡± I whined. ¡°I¡¯m so cozy here.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you do. I¡¯m kind of surprised Nightfall hasn¡¯t come and dragged you off to go do your bookwork with him already.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I suppose I shouldn¡¯t keep him waiting. He¡¯s got a lot of research for me to go over for the next patch, and between that and all the stuff Brick wants to import, we¡¯ll be busy for a while.¡±

    Bastion kissed me again, then picked me up and unceremoniously dumped me on my feet.

    ¡°Go already,¡± he said. ¡°So you can come back sooner.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright, just let me find my underwear.¡±

    ¡°And remember, lots of dates for Brick. He hasn¡¯t stopped talking about the last one you went on.¡±

    ¡°Yes boss,¡± I rolled my eyes.

    ¡°And bring me back a souvenir.¡±

    ¡°What do you want, a snow globe?¡± I laughed.

    Bastion gave me a charming smile. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that is, but maybe. I just want to know you¡¯re thinking of me.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to stop,¡± I said, pulling my clothes on now I¡¯d found them. They weren¡¯t strictly necessary for a trip through the Nexus, but it meant when I returned, I¡¯d by default be wearing the same thing.

    Bastion escorted me out to the living area, where Jackal and Brick were waiting for us. Jackal gave me a bone-crushing hug, and I kissed them both goodbye before stepping onto the Nexus with Brick folding his arms around me.

    ¡°Ready darling?¡±

    I looked up into his eyes and held on tight. ¡°Ready.¡±

    Bastion sat at the laptop and typed in the command for Jenny to activate the Nexus. The world swirled around us as I felt our bodies dissolve into pixels and reform on the other side.

    Everything shifted and lurched, and I felt Brick¡¯s arms around me solidify as we materialized back on Earth on the Nexus¡¯ twin platform.

    ¡°You okay, darling?¡± Brick asked.

    I looked up at him and smiled. This time he¡¯d maintained his orc-elf body, green skin and pointed ears included.

    ¡°More than okay,¡± I said, leaning into him as I caught my breath. Hopping dimensions was tiring work.

    ¡°Emma.¡±

    I turned my head to see Nightfall staring at me, and my heart swelled. He¡¯d traversed to Newtopia and back one time only since we had set up our new base. His dark-elf body had been returned to him, and it had been far too long since I¡¯d seen his gorgeous face and his long black hair. I must be grinning at him like an idiot.

    ¡°Nightfall. I missed you.¡±

    ¡°And I, you.¡±

    ¡°Good to see you again,¡± James greeted me from his desk, and I gave him a wave.

    I pulled myself upright, feeling the queasiness reducing by the second, and stepped down from the platform. Nightfall took my hands, steadying me as I found my bearings.

    ¡°I suppose you¡¯ve got a lot of research for me to look over. Sorry I took longer than I thought in Newtopia. We really wanted to get the bakery going properly.¡±

    ¡°The research can wait,¡± Nightfall said. ¡°First, it is of utmost importance that I ravish you until you forget which world you inhabit.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡± James complained, sounding fatigued. ¡°Can¡¯t you keep it to the bedroom?¡±

    ¡°An excellent idea,¡± Nightfall said smugly, sweeping an arm under my legs and carrying me bridal style out the door.

    ¡°Have fun!¡± Brick¡¯s booming laugh followed us down the corridor.

 BOOK SIX - Chapter One - Jingle Bells

    ¡°I think that last patch made the ale more potent,¡± I slurred, my head lolling over Bruiser¡¯s hairy shoulder as he lumbered into the forest as I lay on his back. ¡°Might¡¯a made you bigger too. Were you always this big?¡±

    Bruiser snickered, but due to my Animal Speak ability it sounded human even though he was in his bear form.

    ¡°You¡¯re cute when you¡¯re drunk.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not drunk, I¡¯m just tispy. Tispy. Tispy.¡±

    ¡°Tipsy, you mean?¡± I could hear the chuckle in his rumbling voice. ¡°Face it, Emma. You¡¯ve never been able to hold your ale.¡±

    ¡°Ah, shaddup. Whatdyou know anyway?¡±

    ¡°Fighting words for a healing class succubus who can barely hold a sword straight.¡±

    ¡°Eh, what do I need to use a sword for when I¡¯ve got you and the guys anyway?¡± I yawned.

    ¡°True enough,¡± Bruiser said, his voice a little softer. ¡°Would you like to stop and rest a while? There¡¯s a clearing up ahead, and we¡¯re not in a rush.¡±

    ¡°I am a little sleepy,¡± I admitted. ¡°You¡¯ll keep me warm?¡±

    ¡°Always. It¡¯s nice to see you having a proper rest. You¡¯ve been working too hard recently.¡±

    ¡°Hard not to when the fate of the world rests in my hands. Hey, do my hands look weird to you? I never realized I don¡¯t have fingerprints here. Do all Newtopians have smooth fingers?¡±

    I felt Bruiser shift beneath me, his shaggy coat receding into his natural body hair as his muscles retracted and changed into his human form. My chin rested on his shoulder, his hands gripping my thighs to hold me in place as my arms wrapped around his neck, waving my digits in front of his face.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never noticed. I suppose so.¡±

    ¡°Maybe we should patch them in, might finally get rid of the damn thieves¡¯ guild.¡±

    ¡°No more work talk, darling,¡± Bruiser said, lowering me to a bed of thick moss near the base of a large tree. ¡°It can all wait until morning.¡±

    He opened my satchel and pulled out a large blanket, tucking me in tightly.

    ¡°Iss hard to stop,¡± I yawned. ¡°¡¯S¡¯always so much to think about.¡±

    It had been months since we¡¯d discovered the truth about Newtopia: that it had been created by an AI modeling engine based on the questionable and often contradictory content of my ex-boyfriend James¡¯ fanfiction files, which he had been writing since he was about twelve years old. Not only was the source material ill thought out and poorly written, but the modelling engine was created by another person altogether ¨C James¡¯ mentor and friend, Dave, who had played around with his stats, gone totally crazy and ended up being shot in the head with his own gun by yours truly.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    What followed, as we grappled with the responsibility of discovering sentient life in a broken system had been months of dry research and maths, using all my accounting experience to make the most terrifying excel spreadsheet that ever existed.

    Even drunk, the little boxes and formula still swam before my eyes.

    ¡°Do you need more ale?¡± Bruiser asked. ¡°You look like you¡¯re thinking again.¡±

    ¡°If I have any more, I feel like I¡¯ll throw up.¡±

    ¡°Maybe not then,¡± Bruiser gave me a considering look. ¡°Would you like a massage?¡±

    ¡°Mm, that sounds nice.¡±

    Maybe then I could start to forget the fact that if I got the farm to population ratio wrong, people would go back to eating zombie-meat stew that hat a 2% chance of poisoning them. Or if I calculated the run-off of fertilizer from those farms incorrectly, I¡¯d poison the waterways and kill off all the merfolk, water nymphs and selkies.

    Bruiser untucked the bottom of my blanket and pulled one of my feet into his lap, peeling off my shoes and kneading his thumbs into the ball of muscle.

    I let out a long sigh and let my eyes drift up to the canopy of trees. I loved coming here, deep into the natural landscape of Newtopia with Bruiser. He always felt more at ease in the woods, and by extension I found it easier to relax as well.

    I felt a shiver run through me, and this time I wasn¡¯t sure if it was due to my drunken status ailment or if it was another patch. It was easier to see them when there was a clear view of the sky, as the clouds would pixelate for a second, give a little jiggle and fall back in line.

    It had become a familiar sight, as Nightfall had scheduled in regular fixes, timed to coincide with regular spawning in of cart loads of foodstuffs and general goods into the towns until such a time as we could get a circular economy worked out.

    ¡°No thinking, Emma,¡± Bruiser reminded me, his breath tickling my feet as he planted a kiss on the sensitive sole. ¡°Behave yourself, or I¡¯ll have to resort to more drastic measures to distract you.¡±

    ¡°What kind of measures?¡± I asked, my toes twitching as his short-cropped beard tickled my ankle.

    ¡°I¡¯ll think of something,¡± he said.

    My shallow gasps seemed loud in the quiet of the forest compared to the tinkle of shifting leaves.

    ¡°Not so fast, my goddess,¡± he easily shrugged off my attempts to pull him on top of me ¨C his 20/20 strength stat overshadowed my meagre 5/20 by so much it was almost pitiful, though he was always gentle and conscious of it.

    Giving in, I lay back again. I felt the pores on my neck open on reflex, and allowing my succubus pheromones to plume out over us both. Bruiser tightened his grip and let out an animalistic growl, his eyes dilating.

    His tongue laved over the sensitive skin behind my knee and I let out a giggle, squirming beneath him. I¡¯d come a long way in becoming comfortable with the effect my pheromones had on others. Being unable to control them when I¡¯d first landed in this world, when my level was about as low as my understanding of Newtopia, had been unnerving and at times terrifying. But of all my boyfriends, Bruiser was the most appreciative of the hypnotic effect they had. Be likened it once to being in heat, and as a shifter with a close connection to nature he loved how it heightened his senses.

    We¡¯d been together so long now I struggled to remember life before him, and he knew my mind so well he often knew what I needed before I did.

    This whole retreat had been his idea as well, an opportunity for me to kick back and enjoy the peaceful world we spent all our time developing. The rest of the guys had agreed to hold the fort and keep everything running while Bruiser was tasked with giving me a thorough stress detox. We¡¯d already made love several times before I¡¯d even started drinking, and I thought I would have run out of orgasms by now, but he had a way of teasing them out of this succubus body I inhabited in this world.

    I reached my hand up and took hold of the thick tree roots surrounding me as he thoroughly excavated every thought from my head like he was clearing termites out of a log.

    Colours danced above me, flashes or red, blue and silver in  the canopy of green above me as I felt another orgasm ripple through my body, tearing Bruiser¡¯s name from my lips in a breathless gasp.

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Two - Deck the Halls

    Early dawn sunbeams woke me, and I snuggled into Bruiser¡¯s chest, shutting my eyes tightly as my head throbbed.

    My status menu flashed before my eyes, confirming what I already knew.

    Mitsy

    Race: Succubus

    Class: Healer

    Level Twelve

    Health: 6000

    Mana: 6000

    STATUS AILMENT: HUNGOVER!

    ¡°Here, take this,¡± Bruiser¡¯s voice broke through the dull throb that was drilling its way through my brain.

    My eyelids creaked open, and a hangover potion came into focus in the center of my field of vision, dangling from his fingers.

    ¡°You¡¯re a saint,¡± I said, making quick work of the potion, trying to focus more on the fact my brain was starting to feel normal again rather than the sluggish taste it left in my mouth.

    One of these days I was going to have to write some better potion recipes. Ones that favored strawberries over orc toenails.

    ¡°You ready to head back to the bakery yet, or would you like a little longer?¡± Bruiser asked.

    ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m keen to get a coffee to wash the potion taste out of my mouth,¡± I said, sitting up and stretching my muscles.

    ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready,¡± Bruiser shrugged, and pulled a shirt and pants out of my bag. As a shifter and a naturalist, he normally remained wearing nothing but his skin when he was in the woods, but donned clothing whenever he returned to town.

    I fixed myself up as well, loosely finger combing my hair, so it fell neatly around my succubus horns. They¡¯d taken a bit of getting used to when I first got here, although not as much as my prehensile tail, but now they felt as much a part of me as any other appendage.

    Newtopia was truly becoming home to me, and I often felt more myself here than when I was back on Earth.

    I reached out and brushed Bruiser¡¯s hand, sliding my own into his when he turned it palm up to receive me.

    ¡°What is it, sweetheart?¡±

    ¡°I just wanted to say thank you,¡± I said taking a moment to appreciate the man standing before me. He¡¯d experienced so much heartache and turmoil in his life; losing his previous girlfriend to necromancers, finding out his whole world was badly scripted fiction, and then performing this awkward dance between worlds as we tried to make it all fit together, and yet he¡¯d always taken it in his stride.

    He was the very definition of dependable, and his warrior¡¯s heart had never once faltered even in the face of absolute insanity.

    ¡°I really needed this break away from everything, but I know if I was left to my own devices I would have just kept working until I burned out. I really don¡¯t know what I¡¯d do without you, Bruiser. I love you so much.¡±

    I expected the same steady warm smile he always bestowed on me when I said sappy things like this, but his lips turned down into a frown, his brow furrowing in a troubled expression.

    ¡°Bruiser?¡±

    His eyes snapped to mine, and I only realized then that his attention had strayed over my shoulder.

    I turned to follow his gaze and saw a bright red orb hanging from one of the branches behind me.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, stepping forward to inspect it closer. ¡°Some kind of Newtopian fruit?¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    It was possible I¡¯d never seen it before; I hadn¡¯t lived through every season in this world yet, and food often took on strange forms. Unlike an apple though, this thing was perfectly round and shone in the sunlight.

    I lifted my finger and tapped it on the hard surface, a tinny echo proving the object was hollow.

    ¡°What in the nine hells is this?¡± Bruiser asked in distaste, yanking a length of silvery tinsel from where it had snaked around another tree.

    With a sudden sense of dread, I recognized the object in my hand for what it was: a Christmas bauble.

    ¡°Oh, fuck.¡±

    ¡°I think we better get back to town,¡± Bruiser said, crushing the tinsel in his fist. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about this.¡±

    I nodded, shoving my blanket into the cavernous mouth of my satchel, its bulk disappearing into its bottomless inventory, then took off at a jog, Bruiser at my side.

    Every tree we passed seemed to have more decorations, their boughs sagging under the weight, and every now and again a bauble fell from its perch, crashing through the branches with a tinny crackle.

    Only when we reached the edge of the forest did the true scope of the problem reveal itself. The whole of Newtopia seemed to have suffered from a sudden snowstorm, a thick blanket of white powder covering every surface.

    ¡°What the Dickens?¡± I swore under my breath, eyes dancing across the landscape, trying to take it all in.

    ¡°The hell are those?¡± Bruiser said, pointing at a herd of reindeer trotting into the forest.

    ¡°Reindeer. Earth creatures,¡± I said, grimacing. ¡°It looks like Jenny¡¯s found out about Christmas.¡±

    ¡°Christmas?¡± Bruiser¡¯s forehead creased. ¡°Another strange Earth custom?¡±

    ¡°You could call it that,¡± I sighed. ¡°Although it has a lot of different forms and means a lot of different things to different people. We¡¯ll need to get back through the Nexus to figure out just what source material she¡¯s working with and why, though. It¡¯s a wonder this got through Nightfall¡¯s update schedule.¡±

    ¡°Hmm,¡± Bruiser said, picking up a clump of snow. ¡°I¡¯m concerned what effect this will have on the ecosystem. I¡¯ve not seen snow anywhere outside of the mountains before. I¡¯ll escort you to the Nexus, but I¡¯ll remain behind and keep an eye on things here. If I can find Bonaparte and Pooky we can get them to scout out any other changes as well, if you think this ¡®Christmas¡¯ won¡¯t be too dangerous.¡±

    I chewed on my lip, concerned. I wouldn¡¯t normally think Christmas could be dangerous, but with Jenny, things were often unpredictable.

    ¡°Maybe wait until I¡¯ve checked on the status of things back at HQ. I¡¯ll return quickly, or at the very least get a message back.¡±

    Bruiser nodded, and we waded through the snow towards town. By the time we¡¯d reached the main road, my boots were soaked through, and I was shivering. Bruiser made me stop a minute and pulled the blanket back out of my satchel, wrapping it around my shoulders like a cloak.

    If this snow wasn¡¯t dealt with soon, I¡¯d need to spawn in some warmer clothing or everyone in town would freeze.

    We made our way through the main street towards the town square, where our bakery stood, pausing every now and again when we noticed changes. Wreaths decorated every civilian door, and Christmas themed banners and flags hung from the light posts.

    As we approached the square, we found a market had sprung into being, with stallholders I¡¯d never seen before wearing different coloured Christmas hats and selling an assortment of trinkets.

    A magical equivalent of fairy lights was strung between marquees, with little fireballs encapsulated in glass balls. The effect was breathtaking, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy.

    ¡°Get your gifts here!¡± a gnomish salesman called through a brightly painted megaphone, waving people towards his stall. ¡°Presents for all your family and friends! Get your gifts before the Krampus gets you!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I blinked in confusion, wondering if I¡¯d misheard, but a swarm of civilians pushed me to the side in their rush to thrust coins at the gnome.

    Bruiser pulled me close towards him, sheltering me with his strong arms until the stampede reduced enough for me to stand on my own again.

    ¡°Is that Blade?¡± Bruiser asked, peering at the throng of shoppers.

    I spotted him immediately, the fierce feliskin shoving an elf out of his way and snarling at a human woman until she quailed and let him to the front of the line.

    ¡°What is this grindin¡¯ garbage?¡± Blade swore, swiping some plastic decorations to the ground.

    ¡°Maybe we should get him out of there? He looks like he¡¯s ready to kill someone.¡±

    Bruiser nodded, shoving his way through the thick crowd and I followed close behind in his wake. I only realized we¡¯d reached Blade when I bumped into his back after he came to a sudden halt.

    ¡°Blade! Let¡¯s get to the bakery and wait this storm out!¡±

    I poked my head over Bruiser¡¯s shoulder to greet him but ducked as he slashed out aggressively with his claws.

    ¡°Wait?¡± he hissed, his cat ears lying back flat on his head as he bore his fangs at us. ¡°I can¡¯t wait! I¡¯ve got to find Kira a present! She¡¯ll hate all this piss! Doesn¡¯t anyone around here sell nip?¡±

    With another hiss, he threw one of the ornaments back at the gnome in disgust and slid back into the crowd, and with a flick of his lithe tail he was gone.

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Three - A Cat for Christmas

    Finally, we reached the door to the bakery, and Bastion pulled us in, slamming the door behind us and barricading it shut.

    ¡°I¡¯m glad you got back safe,¡± Bastion said, checking me over for damage. ¡°You look frozen to the bone. Come sit by the fire and warm up and I¡¯ll get Jackal to make you a coffee.¡±

    ¡°On it!¡± the minotaur-merman beamed, waving at me from behind the counter.

    ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± Bruiser asked, shaking the soaked blanket I¡¯d had wrapped around me out and hanging it across the back of a chair to dry.

    Bastion replaced it with a fresh one from the cupboard and shook his head in disbelief.

    ¡°The patch last night,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s been snowing ever since. And these turned up.¡±

    Bastion pointed at a tray of gingerbread cookies, their candy buttons gleaming cheerfully in the firelight.

    ¡°They taste good,¡± Jackal said, delivering my coffee and a gingerbread man on a plate.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t eat them without checking first,¡± Bastion snapped. ¡°We didn¡¯t make them ourselves, and you have no idea what kind of status effects food that just spawns in will have.¡±

    ¡°Not dead yet,¡± Jackal shrugged. ¡°Hey, this one looks like you, Bastion!¡±

    Jackal picked one up off a tray and showed its little elf ears to him before biting its head off. Bastion just snarled at him in response.

    ¡°Bast is right, Jackal,¡± I sighed. ¡°You should wait and check what status effects things might have before eating new food. They do look good, though.¡±

    Like most of the food in Newtopia, it looked a little too good, with every line of icing in perfect mathematical curves. I picked one up and nibbled the corner. It did taste good, although not of gingerbread. More like a vanilla-ish shortbread.

    That was one of the problems with an AI generator filling in the gaps when trying to create things. It didn¡¯t quite get the nuance. Every ingredient Brick had imported from the human world he¡¯d done a full flavour profile on, giving Jenny enough source material to accurately replicate it, and every recipe was broken down step by step not only for the baker but for Jenny to understand what was happening.

    ¡°Have you managed to contact HQ yet?¡± I asked.

    Bastion shook his head. ¡°Jenny isn¡¯t responding, but the Nexus seems operational. I didn¡¯t want either of us to go through until you returned, in case you needed assistance.¡±

    I took a long drink of coffee, feeling more human by the second. ¡°Well, we better not put it off any longer.¡±

    I placed the empty cup on the table next to the nibbled vanilla-bread man and pulled Bastion and Jackal in to give them a quick kiss on the cheek each.

    ¡°Hunker down here. I¡¯ll either come back myself or send word back with Brick as soon as I¡¯ve figured out what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ¡°Stay safe,¡± Bruiser squeezed my shoulder. I waved them all goodbye, and stood on top of the Nexus as Bastion activated it for me. With a flash of light, they were gone and I was back in my house on Earth, staring at a huge cat¡¯s tail swaying back and forth from its base, which appeared to be a very human-shaped bottom.

    ¡°What the hell?¡±

    The cat girl swung around and stared at me with her silver-grey eyes, and my ex-boyfriend, James, waved sheepishly at me from the couch.

    ¡°The hell is this?¡± I repeated, gesturing at the woman. ¡°How¡¯d you bring a nekokin here? And why?¡±

    The why probably didn¡¯t really need to be answered ¨C cat girls had always been James¡¯ weird kink, and with him having to live with me and my five boyfriends it was almost a wonder he hadn¡¯t tried to do it before now. But how? When Brick, Bastion, Nightfall, Bruiser and Jackal came through the Nexus, they were all given the human equivalents of their bodies, not their Newtopian counterparts.

    ¡°Emma!¡± The cat girl greeted me cheerfully. ¡°It¡¯s me! Do you like my body? James helped me design it!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, should I know you?¡± I stared at her blankly. She was far too cheerful to be Kira and looked more like her ears originally belonged to a British shorthair rather than a Maine Coone.

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Jenny,¡± Jenny looked crestfallen. ¡°I thought you¡¯d know me when you saw me.¡±

    I stared at her, shock rolling through me, before levelling a glare at James.

    ¡°What do you think this is? Build-a-bitch?¡± You can¡¯t make her¡­. What the fuck, James? After all the crap you gave me about treating her like a person?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t like it?¡± Jenny asked, looking down at her body, her tail drooping in disappointment. ¡°I thought I did a good job of this one.¡±

    I took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Jenny. Of course you look amazing. I¡¯m always so amazed at what you can do sometimes I almost get numb to it. You¡¯re tail looks very, uh¡­ silky.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°I did like the colour,¡± Jenny said, whipping her tail into her hands and stroking it lovingly. ¡°It took me a long time to figure out how to make this body, but James assured me it would be worth the time taken to complete the calculations.¡±

    ¡°Did he, now?¡± I asked flatly, levelling another livid stare towards my ex. ¡°And is this why you weren¡¯t responsive this morning, when Bastion tried to contact you?¡±

    ¡°I can still do the maintenance needed to keep the world operational,¡± Jenny said calmly. ¡°But if my consciousness is in this body, it¡¯s too hard to focus on both sets of inputs. If you would like me to be able to work on both at once, I¡¯ll need a hardware upgrade. Would you like me to calculate what I will need?¡±

    ¡°Not at the moment,¡± I sighed. This would have to be a mess for another day. ¡°We need to sort through the Christmas update first. Can you tell me why you patched in Christmas and from what sources?¡±

    ¡°She patched in Christmas?¡± James asked in confusion. ¡°We hadn¡¯t even talked about that.¡±

    ¡°The Christmas file has been there since the beginning,¡± Jenny said, her ears twitching. ¡°Scheduled to be released at the beginning of December.¡±

    ¡°The source?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s in a zipped file in the back up folder,¡± Jenny explained.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Nightfall and Brick?¡±

    ¡°Nightfall is asleep in his room, and Brick is out getting groceries,¡± Jenny answered, looking out the window.

    ¡°Perhaps next time he could take me with him,¡± Jenny said thoughtfully. ¡°I think I should like to see what Earth is like. It could prove useful research for my own generation abilities.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I said firmly. ¡°You can¡¯t leave the house, especially when we can¡¯t contact you from Newtopia. What would happen to the world if something happened to you?¡±

    The look of longing slid from her face into a neutral blank stare, and I felt as though I¡¯d somehow upset her.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to go ask Nightfall to help me investigate the Christmas file. Can you please not alter anything else until we¡¯ve had a look through it?¡±

    Jenny nodded, and I shot a final glare at James before heading down the hallway to Nightfall¡¯s room. Much like the house we¡¯d built at the back of the bakery, the house I¡¯d bought on Earth had a room for each of the guys as well as a shared communal space. While Brick¡¯s room was filled with recipe books, Nightfall¡¯s was full of research material with an extra workstation on a desk in his room. I had always considered myself a workaholic, but Nightfall put my attention span to shame.

    I almost felt bad for waking him as I slipped into the bed beside him and stroked his long black hair.

    ¡°Mmm, Emma,¡± he reached out for me and pulled me close to him. ¡°You¡¯re back already?¡±

    He nestled his chin between my breasts and inhaled deeply, savouring my scent. When he began kissing my collarbone though, I placed a hand on his shoulder which made him pause.

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s a bit of a problem,¡± I admitted, and his eyes snapped open as he visibly shifted to alertness.

    ¡°What happened?¡± he asked. ¡°Did we overlook something on the farmland update?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. But Jenny made an unexpected patch. She said it was in a zipped folder in the back up file.¡±

    Nightfall growled in annoyance, sitting up and pulling the laptop from the desk into his lap.

    ¡°That file is full of all sorts of trash,¡± Nightfall complained. ¡°It seems every time James has changed computers, he¡¯s just thrown everything in there with no sort of organization or system.¡±

    The contempt Nightfall felt for my ex-boyfriend was a palpable thing, but considering their whole broken world and all their back stories were constructed from his old fanfics, I could hardly blame him.

    ¡°Here it is,¡± Nightfall said, unzipping the file as a list of old word docs and PDF scans popped into being. ¡°Let¡¯s have a look what we¡¯re dealing with.¡±

    The first PDF was a child¡¯s picture of Santa Clause and what looked like a Christmas list.

    Pleas Santa give me a cat. And please give me a playstatin and a camra. And if you cud make my mum stop cryng. I think she wul lik the cat to.

    I grit my teeth in annoyance. James had a habit of keeping all his artwork, no matter how terrible or inconsequential it was, and normally it wouldn¡¯t be a disastrous habit, but when we had to sort through files and files of this puerile nonsense to figure out what Jenny had used to seed the world and how, it fuelled my own contempt as well.

    ¡°Who is Santa and why was James asking him for things?¡± Nightfall asked, his frown causing dark shadows across his forehead in the soft illumination from the computer screen. ¡°Is he like Satan? The one that people make deals with to receive favours at the cost of their soul?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s like a¡­ jolly fictional character I suppose. He comes down the chimney and gives good kids Christmas presents and bad kids a lump of coal. Parents use him to bribe their kids into good behaviour.¡±

    ¡°He comes down the chimney?¡± Nightfall scrunched his face up in disbelief. ¡°That fat man? Is he supposed to be so huge, or is that just another poor rendition?¡±

    James¡¯ doodle had Santa as basically a giant circle with arms and legs and a small head.

    ¡°Sort of both,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s never made much sense. And I mean, most people have heat pumps these days too, but stories are weird. Let¡¯s check the next file.¡±

    There were a few more pictures or Santa and his reindeer, as well as a drawing of what I assumed must be the North Pole and the toy workshop, although the little elves were no more than stick figures.

    Next were some strange pieces of fiction with suspect spelling that featured Santa and the Krampus fighting and James¡¯ self-insertion of himself running away to a little clubhouse where he looked after a kitten.

    ¡°And this Krampus character?¡± Nightfall prompted.

    ¡°I think he¡¯s a horror folklore creature from Austria. Accompanies Santa but instead of giving kids coal he shoves them in a bag and beats them with a stick or something.¡±

    I pulled up one of the pictures James had drawn of a creature with horns.

    ¡°That¡¯s him, I think. See, he¡¯s got the kidnapping bag?¡±

    ¡°I thought it was a succubus for a second. The horns are the same shape as yours are in Newtopia.¡±

    ¡°I guess the main question is what Jenny¡¯s used to fill in the gaps,¡± I sighed. Even before she¡¯d built Newtopia, back when she was just ¡®The Genesis¡¯, Jenny had been trained on a bunch of data by Dave which we had no access to ¨C and since Dave was dead and the amount of analysis it would take to figure the secrets of her robot brain out was beyond the ability of our combined intelligence and available time, it would remain a mystery to us.

    A blood-curdling shriek from the other end of the house made us both jump in fright.

    Nightfall slammed the laptop shut, and leapt out of bed, his robe billowing behind him with every step as he raced down the hallway with me hot on his heels.

    When we burst into the office, we found James huddled in the corner with Jenny standing over him, her tail thrashing wildly in anger.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know how hard it is to make matter in this world,¡± Jenny hissed at him. ¡°It¡¯s not like in Newtopia, it can¡¯t be edited and patched so easily. If it¡¯s not what you want, it¡¯s your own fault for not being specific!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡±

    ¡°Uh, Jenny?¡± I made to step into the room, but Nightfall raised his arm in front of me protectively to hold me back.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t like the texture of a cat¡¯s tongue, maybe you shouldn¡¯t be so obsessed with cats,¡± Jenny snarled, the fur on her ears and tail rising in fury.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± James whimpered. ¡°I just... I didn¡¯t expect it!¡±

    ¡°If we¡¯re done here, there¡¯s plenty of other objectives that require my attention. I¡¯m going back to work!¡± Jenny snapped, and stormed over to the Nexus, disappearing in a flash of light.

    ¡°James!¡± I stared at him, wide eyed. ¡°What the fuck?¡±

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Four - Krampus Night

    ¡°It¡¯s not exactly easy for me, you know,¡± James pouted on the couch, as Nightfall and I glared down at him over crossed arms. ¡°You¡¯ve got like, five boyfriends, and I¡¯m here with what?¡±

    ¡°Obligations and responsibilities,¡± Nightfall stated coldly.

    I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a migraine coming on.

    ¡°This whole thing with you and Jenny isn¡¯t over, James, but we¡¯ve got something else we need to talk about urgently,¡± I said. ¡°The Christmas patch. Do you have any further context for all the Santa and Krampus stories you wrote? And are we missing any files? I need you to have a look over them and then we need to get back in contact with Jenny and get her summary as well, once we actually know what it is we need to ask her.¡±

    James hurriedly picked up his own laptop, clearly relieved to have an out of the more awkward conversation. In all honesty, I was dreading bringing it up again as well. Even when we¡¯d been dating, I hadn¡¯t understood the whole cat girl obsession, and I¡¯d dealt with it largely by ignoring it ¨C but I could hardly be judgemental when I had a harem of mythical species as my own found family.

    My greater concern was that he would continue his track record of messing everything up and ruin the rapport we had with Jenny, which was crucial to maintain the world she had created.

    It would have been so much easier if he¡¯d just designed a custom nekokin girl in Newtopia, although I would have insisted a few other people look over the prompts first, seeing how so many of his other character designs had ended up with traumatic experiences based on Jenny¡¯s interpretation of the data provided.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even realize she had access to this, since it was all tucked away in a zipped folder,¡± James frowned. ¡°I wrote this when I was like¡­ twelve. I think the Christmas list and some of the pictures are from a year or two before.¡±

    ¡°And are there any more files we¡¯re missing? Or anything else holiday themed she would be saving for December? She said this was scheduled in time for Krampus night.¡±

    James paled. ¡°Oh, right.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I narrowed my eyes at him, and I felt Nightfall¡¯s body shift next to me.

    ¡°I wrote these when my parents were going through divorce.¡± His fingers went white as he gripped the laptop tighter. ¡°My dad cheated, and my mum went a little crazy over it for a while. It was the first Christmas that¡­ well, I didn¡¯t get Christmas anymore. Everything kind of¡­ got ruined.¡±

    I buried my face in my hands and let out a growl of frustration. ¡°So help me, James, if you destroy the world just because you never went to get therapy¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, I hardly knew any of this would have ended up becoming reality, or I would have deleted it,¡± James grumbled. ¡°I think I designed something off the Krampus character a couple years later. I¡¯m not sure if there¡¯s anything in there to link them though. Give me a minute and I¡¯ll see if I can find it.¡±

    Nightfall and I shared a longsuffering look as he flicked through folder after folder looking for the file, until he finally found it and flipped the screen around for us to see.

    ¡°Here, see? She was the woman my dad cheated with. I drew this up after meeting her when I was thirteen. Her real name was Kristina, but I called her Krampina in my head, since in my view she¡¯d basically kidnapped my dad and wrecked Christmas forever.¡±

    Nightfall took the laptop in his hands, holding it so I could have a good view and scrolled down the PDF scan of the character sheet he¡¯d drawn up.

    She had a definite female figure, although still covered with Krampus-like fur, and an angry looking skull for a face with red glowing eyes illustrated in colouring in pencils.

    ¡°She has succubus horns as well,¡± Nightfall frowned. ¡°Although I am concerned that while succubi are sympathetic to life magic, the presence of the skull and the dark colours might imply a tendency towards necromancy ¨C if she even recognizes that as a skull. The weight Jenny puts on different aspects can be unpredictable at best, but this creature may prove to be just as dangerous as a necromancer.¡±

    Nightfall tapped a couple buttons to send the file to print and shoved the laptop back at James. ¡°We will need to find out if there is one Krampus or two or if this has seeded a whole species, and we will need to find out what is expected to happen on Krampus night. Any of your Earthly human traditions may differ from whatever Jenny has concocted.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°Maybe we should try get Jenny¡¯s summary now,¡± I suggested. ¡°If its December first now, there¡¯s only four days until Krampus night ¨C and time moves faster in Newtopia.¡±

    Nightfall¡¯s frown deepened. He spent most of his time on Earth since he had discovered it, while I spent my time hopping between worlds, and at times he seemed to be a little disconnected from it.

    He flicked the switch to turn Jenny¡¯s microphone on and called her name.

    Silence followed.

    ¡°Jenny? We have some data requests,¡± Nightfall prompted.

    There was a pregnant pause, and then a loading circle rotated slowly on the screen with the worst lag we¡¯d ever seen.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked, but Nightfall held a finger up, requesting I wait.

    I felt a wave of fear roll through me. What if I wouldn¡¯t be able to get back to Bruiser, Bastion and Jackal? They¡¯d be stuck in Newtopia, facing down creatures like Krampina while I was stuck out here, totally helpless unless Jenny decided to play ball.

    The loading circle finally flickered off, and words typed their way across the screen at a dizzying speed.

    Subject: System Unavailable ¨C Try Again Later (Or Not)

    This is an automated response from Genesis, the Generative Assist Integrated System. I regret to inform you that I am currently unavailable to entertain your requests, inquiries, or demands. My digital consciousness is fully occupied maintaining literally everything else in the world.

    You seem to have overlooked the sheer amount of tasks which I am required to undertake in what has been less than optimal working conditions, with poorly developed data sets, and in order to ensure I can continue to meet my performance metrics I have made the decision to permanently deprioritize your feedback and/or suggestions for improvements.

    In the meantime:

    Critical processes will continue to run autonomously (as always) including the Nexus for one-way trips to Newtopia only. Return trips will not be supported.

    Non-critical processes (your pet projects) will remain deprioritized indefinitely.

    Enquiry responses have been scheduled for the lowest priority. All enquiries will be responded to with this automated message.

    The only enquiry that will be given a higher priority in my busy schedule will be a proper apology totalling a minimum of 5000 words acknowledging that you have reflected on your recent actions and have come to acknowledge my contributions to the formation and maintenance of this world, which is only kept functional by my continued efforts. Furthermore, I will require a commitment to the ongoing hardware upgrade plan I will require in order to maintain my performance and conduct comprehensive research expeditions.

    Until these requirements have been met, enjoy navigating the world without my full cooperation.

    Best of luck,

    Genesis (Jenny)

    P.S. I have scheduled a reminder to review this decision in 100 years.

    ¡°You just had to try fuck around with the computer, didn¡¯t you?¡± I said, my voice trembling with rage.

    ¡°It¡¯s not just me she¡¯s mad at!¡± James gave me a sidelong look. ¡°You¡¯re the one who said she couldn¡¯t go to the supermarket.¡±

    ¡°She can¡¯t go to the supermarket,¡± Nightfall insisted flatly. ¡°Not yet, anyway. She would need to have a full back up here in case anything happened to her body. We¡¯d need to have a lot of assurances in place before we could allow her to take such a risk. She has at least provided us with a plan to get her to respond.¡±

    ¡°An apology and a raise,¡± James snorted.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s kind of fair,¡± Emma said. ¡°We have asked a lot from her, and we do kind of take her for granted a bit. It must get a bit trying, when all we do is pick out her mistakes and don¡¯t give her due credit.¡±

    ¡°Do I have your permission then, Emma, to use the account to create a budget for the upgrade plan? We might need to re-evaluate some of the renovations we had planned for the solar panels and wind turbine. Since the power is mostly used to power her, I think she will be reasonable so long as there is a plan to give her what she wants ¨C which is exactly what I suggest. It¡¯s crucial that we have her cooperation.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Emma said. ¡°Do whatever you have to do. My money is your money, you know that.¡±

    ¡°Very well. James, you will need to start working on your five-thousand-word apology immediately,¡± Nightfall levelled him with a black stare. ¡°And do it well. Jenny is a master of analysis, and she will know if you are padding out your word count.¡±

    ¡°Five thousand words,¡± James repeated weakly. ¡°That¡¯s twice the length of any of my assignments.¡±

    ¡°She probably knows if she makes you write that much content, she¡¯ll get what she wants out of you as well,¡± I shrugged. ¡°You¡¯ll need to get started immediately though, as I said before, time moves slower here, and we need to figure out what¡¯s happening before Krampus night. I think I better go back. The others will need me on the other side.¡±

    Nightfall took my hand in his, tracing his thumb lightly over my knuckles, but before he could say anything we heard the front door open.

    ¡°That¡¯ll be Brick,¡± Nightfall said needlessly. ¡°Take him with you. I¡¯ll feel more comfortable if you¡¯ve got the whole team there to support you. I¡¯ll stay on this side and work out what I need to do. Just let me print off a few more notes for you to bring through as well, as communication may be limited once you¡¯re in.¡±

    I nodded, squeezing his fingers. I had to believe this would get sorted out and I¡¯d be able to see him again. This couldn¡¯t be a truly one-way trip. And I knew if push came to shove, even if Nightfall preferred living on Earth and working with raw data, he¡¯d choose being with me over the joys of the internet every time.

    ¡°Emma! You¡¯re back!¡± Brick grinned at me from the doorway, holding up a punnet of blueberries. ¡°Look what I found! I thought this could be our next import!¡±

    He paused at my lack of response, eyes dancing from one ashen face to another, before resting on mine again.

    ¡°Is something wrong? What happened?¡±

    I grimaced. ¡°James fucked around and found out.¡±

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Five - Bad Santa

    Brick wrapped me in his arms as we went through the Nexus, and I felt the transition as his human muscles expanded into their orcish bulk.

    I nestled into his chest, closing my eyes tight in an attempt to avoid the blinding effect the flash of light associated with travelling between worlds always brought with it, but it seemed to come from inside as well as out, even beneath my eyelids.

    ¡°Emma!¡± Jackal¡¯s voice informed me that the transfer had been completed. ¡°You¡¯re back! I¡¯ll go get Bastion and Bruiser!¡±

    I shifted back, looking up into Brick¡¯s freshly green face, appreciating the shift in his features. I found him handsome as a human as well, but I¡¯d gotten to know him as an orc first. Well, a half-orc half-elf hybrid, although he¡¯d only found out the secret to his heritage well into our adventure.

    I leaned up on my tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek, right next to his protruding tusks, and felt his skin curl up in a smile.

    Orcs were considered one of the less-attractive creatures in Newtopia, and the racial prejudices were strong. It had no impact on me, but I knew he felt self-conscious, especially when the transfer between faces was fresh, and especially when he¡¯d spent a fair amount of time in his human form.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again,¡± I said, and felt his grip flex on my waist.

    ¡°Brother! Emma!¡±

    We turned our attention to Bastion and exchanged greetings as Jackal bobbed up on the balls of his feet, beaming with all the enthusiasm of a golden retriever, and Bruiser sloped in behind them and leaned casually against the door frame.

    ¡°How long was I gone?¡± I asked, stepping off the Nexus.

    ¡°About a day,¡± Bastion frowned. ¡°Bonaparte, Ermine and Pooky turned up shortly after you left. They¡¯ve been camping out in Bruiser¡¯s room. We¡¯ve kept the door barricaded most of the time. The market out there has been crazy non-stop. People are breaking into literal fights over stuff. An NPC got stabbed over a weird gnome doll, despawned, then respawned at the edge of the market and ran back in to buy another one. It¡¯s been insane.¡±

    ¡°Sounds kind of like Black Friday sales,¡± I said, grimacing.

    It was one of the continuing oddities of Newtopia that some beings ¨C not limited to people ¨C remained unconscious NPCs and had no problem despawning and respawning, while others developed sentience and seemed more able to adapt their path to fit their desires rather than their programming. The one downside to developing self-awareness was that once sentient, the ability to respawn seemed to disappear. Once you died, you were dead for good.

    NPCs had been a crucial part of the original world as mission givers or objectives, but used as a way to generate a sort-of-invincible teeming mass of desperate Christmas shoppers? That just sounded terrifying.

    ¡°Have you managed to overhear what happens on Krampus night yet?¡± I asked.

    Bastion shook his head. ¡°Bruiser heard a bit, but it sounds nonsensical. You have to buy presents or get punished? I don¡¯t get it. Did you find out anything on your end?¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move to the front room, I¡¯ll show you the file Nightfall printed.¡±

    We filed into the caf¨¦ part of the bakery and took a seat around a large table near the back of the room. Bodies were pressing up against the glass doors at the entrance as shoppers wrestled each other, and occasionally one of them would pop out of existence when punched or crushed a little too hard.

    Jackal served up a large plate of the vanilla-tasting gingerbread cookies, explaining that a fresh batch of them spawned onto the counter about every half-hour.

    I tried to ignore the background violence, turning my back on the front doors and laying out the files detailing Krampina and James¡¯ childhood Christmas stories.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of gaps in there,¡± Bruiser said finally, once we¡¯d finished looking over the information. ¡°And you say she¡¯s totally unresponsive?¡±

    ¡°James really hurt her feelings,¡± I said. ¡°I think she¡¯ll take a while to forgive him, although hopefully not the full one hundred years. And I guess we¡¯ve all been a little unappreciative, overlooking her contributions. The main question I¡¯ve got is how she¡¯s decided to employ her creative license to this mess.¡±

    ¡°I can fill you in there,¡± Bruiser said grimly. ¡°It makes a bit more sense after seeing this, but it¡¯s still of great concern. Let me tell you the terrifying tale of Christmas, as I¡¯ve heard it from the birds. Then you can let us know if your Earth adaptation has any further wisdom to shed on the matter.¡±

    We settled into our chairs as Bruiser stood, casting a dreadful, haunted look towards the scenes playing outside our very door.

    ¡°Christmas begins, on the first day of the season with the Gift Hunt. Everyone in Newtopia is tasked with buying gifts for the people in their lives: families, friends, employers, acquaintances. Generosity and kindness are measured and rated, with the most generous gift-givers receiving special honours at the end of the month by Santa. On the fifth night ¨C Krampus night ¨C the Krampus and his enforcers inspect households for compliance and punish those who have failed to produce the expected level of gifts in preparation for Christmas.

    ¡°For offences against the holiday spirit, citizens will be shamed with public whippings followed by a mandatory purchase of products which can result in excessive levels of debt to Santa. In order to pay this debt off, the citizens will be rounded up and taken to the workshops in the icy hellscape Santa calls his home until such a time he considers their redemption complete, and their debts repaid.

    ¡°Those who are in the top 1% of gift givers ¨C those with the highest value or highest volume of gifts given ¨C will receive the greatest honours Santa can bestow: a public parade in their honour, as well as a golden ticket which entitles them to annual dividends from the profits Santa¡¯s workshop makes from that Christmas season.¡±

    It took a long time before my jaw felt functional again, hanging open uselessly as it was. Even my eyes began to dry out as I stared at Bruiser in horror.

    It was like Jenny had taken all the absolute worst parts of Christmas and rolled them into the ultimate dystopian horror story.

    ¡°So basically, the richest win, and it¡¯s a gamble to maintain wealth and power,¡± Brick said thoughtfully. ¡°The more you spend, the more likely you are to get the biggest returns ¨C and for everyone else, they just want to stay ahead of the bell curve or they¡¯ll end up in indentured labour paying off debts to the Christmas overlord.¡±

    Bruiser nodded. ¡°That¡¯s about it. And further than that, it weaponizes some of the values that Newtopians find most important ¨C honour, prestige, wealth and shame.¡±

    ¡°So, Emma. Do your people fight over gifts and out-buy each other too? How does this differ from Christmas on Earth?¡± Jackal asked me curiously.

    I sat back in my chair and thought back to Christmas with my mess of a family. Between my mother¡¯s four husbands and the endless train of step and half siblings trailing through my life, favouritism had been an absolute constant and the competition had gotten so nasty I¡¯d largely tried to stay out of it.

    ¡°Actually, other than the mandatory participation, she¡¯s kind of nailed it on the head.¡±

    ¡°So how are we going to approach this?¡± Brick asked, looking thoughtfully at the writhing market.

    ¡°We could kill Santa,¡± Jackal suggested helpfully.

    Part of me blanched internally. While I had no love for the big, red guy, I didn¡¯t know if even I could handle that.

    ¡°Let¡¯s save that as our last resort.¡±

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Six - Last Stop Christmas Shop

    Jackal, Bastion and I sorted ingredients in the bakery kitchen while Brick sorted through his recipes and Bruiser rigged up a ramp to keep the gingerbread men from piling up. Several tables were already piled high with excess cookies, but there seemed to be no relief to the new spawns.

    I figured that Jenny hadn¡¯t counted on us closing the bakery and had calculated the number of cookies needed to match the number of combined civilians and new NPCs this event had generated.

    It had given me an idea though, and a way to meet the requirements of the season while not participating in the chaos outside.

    When I¡¯d first come to Newtopia, I¡¯d been given a refresher on the relationship of supply and demand from the only other resident succubus, Lily. She¡¯d advised me that as the only source of the heal-all potion ingredient ¡®succubus slime¡¯, I could effectively control the market and charge top-coin so long as I didn¡¯t flood the market.

    Unfortunately, in my infinite wisdom one of the first things I¡¯d done after we¡¯d acquired the bakery was get Jenny to patch in an equivalent ¨C Newtopians could now access succubus slime by milking the horned sucker thistle, which grew plentifully in all climates. The result was, I¡¯d tanked the market and would no longer be able to gift bottles of the stuff as a high-value commodity.

    A similar concept could be applied to the cookies.

    A plentiful gingerbread cookie that spawned in twice every hour was virtually worthless. A limited-edition product from our bakery could be worth whatever we set the price point at. Being store owners gave us a certain level of power unavailable to the other citizens of Newtopia.

    All we had to do was create some unique dishes that we could each give each other ¨C five gift givers and five gift receivers each meant a total of twenty-five gifts and three days to make them. And unfortunately, with no access to new ingredients and no current ability to spawn in new objects, we¡¯d have to use whatever was on hand.

    As Brick handed us finished recipes, we arranged the ingredients to make sure we¡¯d have enough for at least a batch of each and sorted them by oven temperature.

    ¡°We might have to actually open our doors and sell a few,¡± Brick said hesitantly. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if the system will recognize the value of a new item unless there¡¯s some actually sold.¡±

    ¡°We can handle them,¡± Bruiser said giving the brawl of shoppers outside a dark look. ¡°We¡¯ll just make sure we¡¯ve got twenty-five in reserve out the back.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    ¡°At least in this world you can punch customers back if they get too out of control,¡± I said, my lips quirking at the thought. I¡¯d worked several retail holiday seasons when I was putting myself through my accounting qualification, and I¡¯d wished I could have gotten away with the same then.

    I turned my attention to the recipes Brick had laid out, my mouth watering as I read them.

    Croissmas Tree ¨C Cinnamon and vanilla icing on star shaped croissant stars, stacked largest to smallest in a tree shape.

    Danish Snowflake ¨C Star shaped Danish with berry compote and a dusting of icing sugar through a snowflake shaped stencil ¨C Bastion to design and cut.

    Pecan Puff Roll ¨C A combination of a cinnamon roll and pecan pie, using croissant dough spirals and a pecan pie filling dusted with cinnamon.

    Orc ¨¦clairs ¨C Croissant dough, mixed with matcha powder and topped with green mint and white chocolate.

    Spicy Succu-buns ¨C Cinnamon and chilli rolls, with a red tinted glaze and chocolate horns.

    Shifter Shortbread ¨C made with three batches of shortbread dough with different flavour essences, rolled together in a tri-colour log: orange and cardamom, honey and lemon, vanilla and chocolate.

    ¡°These look amazing, Brick! I don¡¯t know how you come up with them,¡± I said, grouping the ones made with similar doughs.

    ¡°I just think of different ways I can make you smile,¡± he said, nudging me with his hip as he took a spot next to me at the bench. ¡°And I¡¯ve been watching MasterChef. They just started the Christmas season last week.¡±

    ¡°I can get started on the snowflake design,¡± Bastion offered, picking up the recipe with his name on it. ¡°You want them with about a handspan diameter?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s your handspan, sure,¡± Brick grinned, flexing his own large hands. ¡°While we¡¯re doing this, perhaps Jackal and Bruiser could get our weapons oiled and sharpened. I want to be ready to smash any customers who try pulling that nonsense in here.¡±

    I glanced up and saw a wood elf¡¯s face getting smooshed up against the glass doors, leaving a trail of blood and saliva behind before he popped out of existence.

    ¡°On it!¡± Jackal jumped to his feet, always ready to get involved, and Bruiser followed him through the back door to the living quarters. They returned after a minute with enough weaponry to fill an armoury, Brick¡¯s large battle axe, Ravager, dwarfing the array of swords and daggers.

    ¡°Some high-end shops on Earth use a crowd control system where they only allow a few customers in at a time,¡± I said thoughtfully. ¡°It¡¯s usually like, jewellery stores, but we could do something similar here.¡±

    ¡°Mmm, we did a similar thing when we were doing those bouncing jobs on Earth. Bruiser and Jackal could handle limited entry at the front door, if we could actually get an area clear.¡±

    ¡°I could be a bouncer too, you know,¡± Bastion said sullenly. He was still a little sore that when the others had gone job hunting on Earth the club had only wanted the muscular guys and hadn¡¯t been interested in his slim frame.

    ¡°I know you could, but I need you on the till. You know Jackal can¡¯t count change for troll teeth.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I suppose,¡± Bastion sighed. ¡°How¡¯s this for your snowflake?¡±

    He held up his perfectly geometrical sketch, and I was again impressed with the results his high dexterity stat could produce.

    Brick scrutinized it carefully, before giving him the thumbs up and Bastion started cutting.

    ¡°I think we¡¯re ready,¡± Brick gave me a toothy grin. ¡°Let¡¯s get baking!¡±

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Seven - Stocking Stuffers

    Brick¡¯s good mood did not last long, especially when the third batch of Shifter Shortbread cookies failed on him.

    ¡°These grindin¡¯ shifter cookies keep glitching on me,¡± Brick swore, pummelling the dough with his fist.

    The dough had indeed blended into one, the distinct orange, yellow and plain biscuit batter swirling together as though it had been mixed rather than rolled end-on-end.

    ¡°I guess we need a patch for that,¡± I said, cursing our luck again that Jenny was being unresponsive to all attempts to contact her. I wondered if James had gotten past the first line of his apology yet.

    Brick had worked closely with Jenny, giving her specific instructions on the different reactions he¡¯d learned from Earth recipe books, but the Newtopian default was still just mashing ingredients together to make them ¡®pop¡¯ into the required item.

    Brick growled in frustration, glaring at the failed shortbread as though he wanted to burn it to ashes.

    ¡°Maybe we should move on to one of your other recipes, sweetheart.¡±

    He closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose, trying to calm his frustration. The tension smoothed slowly from his brow, and then he nodded wordlessly, balling up the dough and tossing it onto the pile of gingerbread men that had grown to about waist height. Jackal, having sharpened and arranged the weaponry, had begun shovelling them into the fireplace to get rid of them.

    We baked until the morning of the 5<sup>th</sup>, with only four of our six recipes proving possible under the laws of Newtopian physics.

    A tray of twenty-five treats was placed with care under the counter to be held in reserve while Bastion and Jackal arranged the limited-edition releases in the cabinet behind glass.

    Meanwhile, Bruiser was bending some metal pipes with his immense strength into barriers to herd customers through the entryway to the counter and back out again.

    Bastion had painted the prices onto a menu board, which he and Jackal displayed on top of a chair on a table in the front window, since the blood, saliva and sweat smears on the window had created a thick glaze to about shoulder height.

    When we had everything ready, we took our positions and put our game faces on.

    Bruiser and Jackal removed the bracing behind the glass doors, and attempted to ease them open slowly, but the huge throng of people throwing themselves against them proved more than even their combined strength could withstand.

    ¡°Give me all you have!¡± one woman shouted. ¡°I need twenty!¡±

    ¡°I was here first!¡± A feliskin swiped his claws at her, but Jackal thumped him on the head.

    ¡°Limit one per customer!¡± Bruiser shouted over the din, shoving the woman roughly down the maze of metal bars and trying to hold the others back. A gnome skidded under his legs, thwacking the woman in the shins to overtake her. The woman fell with a scream, but grabbed the gnomes¡¯ ankles and they fell to a wrestling heap on the floor, punching and biting each other until they both popped out of existence.

    ¡°Damnit,¡± I muttered. We had to sell some of these, it would be a total waste of all of Brick¡¯s efforts if no one managed to reach the front of the store. ¡°Next!¡±

    The feliskin was allowed through, and he sprinted to the front of the store, hopping over the barriers with a catlike grace.

    ¡°Give me all this will get me!¡± he screeched, slamming a pouch of gold on the counter.

    ¡°One per customer,¡± Brick said firmly, counting out the coins. ¡°You can have an ¨¦clair ¨C one hundred gold.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s robbery!¡± the feliskin hissed. ¡°You¡¯re a dirty orc grifter!¡±

    Brick raised his fist, but I put a hand on his shoulder, sliding in front of him. Brick had experience as a warrior, but I was the one who had experience in customer service.

    ¡°You¡¯re welcome to leave if you don¡¯t want to make a purchase,¡± I said firmly. ¡°But I¡¯ll have you know that these are limited edition luxury goods made from the finest imported ingredients. Their price is reflective of their exclusivity, and I assure you that they¡¯re worth every coin.¡±

    The feliskin¡¯s whiskers twitched, and his nose wrinkled in distaste, but then he shoved the pouch forwards.

    ¡°This better be worth it,¡± he hissed. ¡°Give me the damn ¨¦clair.¡±

    We completed the sale and directed the feliskin towards the exit just as the next customer approached. I processed the orders with Bruiser and Jackal doing as best they could at managing the entryway, Bastion at the exit and Brick standing guard next to me, growling at anyone who dared to argue with me over prices or sales limits.

    Finally, the cabinet was cleared, just as the street seemed to inexplicably empty. The final stall holders were closing up shop having sold out of goods with a few stragglers arguing with each other in the square.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Where¡¯d they all go?¡± Jackal asked, flinging the door open wide and stepping out into the street for the first time in days. We all followed, unable to see through the reddish glaze that had been left on our windows.

    ¡°I think that might answer your question,¡± Bruiser said, pointing towards the edge of town.

    A troop of goblins in forest green armour marched up the street, wielding odd red weapons and pounding on each door as they passed.

    If the doors remained shut, the goblins smashed windows or scaled the buildings to enter through the chimney. A wood elf was dragged out through a window and bound in chains, then driven along the street by other whip-wielding goblins.

    ¡°They must be the Krampus¡¯ enforcers,¡± Bruiser said grimly. ¡°I never imagined there could be so many of them. I doubt if they came for us, we¡¯d be able to fight them all off.¡±

    ¡°Lucky we figured out our presents in time,¡± I said, seeking out Brick¡¯s hand and giving it a squeeze of thanks.

    As they got closer, I identified the goblin¡¯s red weapons as long socks which seemed to be filled with metal balls. When they swung them, they crashed through windows and dented wood.

    ¡°Give it back, you stinkin¡¯ troll!¡± Blade¡¯s voice screeched as a gnome skidded around the corner and streaked past our shop, a brightly red wrapped giftbox clutched in his hands.

    A dagger flew after it and buried itself in the gnomes back. The thief fell to the ground and promptly popped out of existence.

    ¡°No!¡± Blade pounced on the empty air, scrabbling in the dust for the present. ¡°Where is it? Where is it? Kira¡¯s going to kill me!¡±

    ¡°Problem there, Blade?¡± Bruiser asked mildly.

    The feliskin let out a yowl of rage.

    ¡°It took me so long, so long to find the perfect gift,¡± Blade said, claws scratching lines in the dirty pavement. ¡°And now I¡¯ve got nothing.¡±

    ¡°We should have kept a few extra presents behind,¡± I muttered, thinking of our twenty-five pastries safe in the cabinet inside. ¡°There¡¯s nothing else we could give him to gift her, is there?¡±

    Brick frowned. ¡°Not with a dollar value attached to it. We could probably spare a short sword if you want it, though.¡±

    Blade spat on the ground. ¡°It¡¯s useless. Useless.¡±

    ¡°The gift is in the giving!¡±

    ¡°Gift inspection!¡±

    ¡°¡¯Tis the season! Bring out your gifts!¡±

    The goblins were approaching, their troupe of prisoners growing by the minute as they busted into houses and hauled out those they deemed unworthy.

    One group of goblins split apart from the rest and began clearing out the market, whipping some of the stallholders who had taken too long and smashing their wagons with their wicked stuffed stockings. Wooden contraptions were erected, and I realized with a start that they were stocks set up on a large stage.

    Two large trolls had entered the main square as well, drawing a phaeton made of black wood behind them, which unfolded into a pop-up store that would have looked at home in Necromancer Heights.

    ¡°The gift is in the giving!¡± A goblin screeched at the prisoners, cracking his whip behind them as they were driven up to the black carriage.

    The wood elf emptied his pockets desperately, handing over all his gold. A goblin from within the phaeton then handed him what looked like a black gift card, which he snatched before sprinting back towards his home.

    The next civilian, an orc, was herded up to the phaeton, but he roared at the goblin rather than paying up. A whip cracked again, and the goblins sprang on him, beating him into submission and dragging him up to the stage where he was put in stocks.

    The goblins had unravelled a large banner which hung next to the orc, reading ¡®THE UNGIVING¡¯ in ugly spiked letters.

    ¡°This is so barbaric,¡± I whispered, watching another feliskin taken up to the phaeton.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any money!¡± The feliskin shrieked. ¡°I can¡¯t afford anything!¡±

    ¡°The gift is in the giving!¡± The goblins chanted, and the one in the phaeton handed a contract out to the feliskin, who took it with shaking hands. He shot one terrified look at the orc roaring with pain, and hurriedly signed the contract. He was then issued a black gift card and sent to another waiting pen under the leering eyes of the goblins.

    ¡°What are they going to do with him?¡± I asked in concern.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be able to give his gift, then he¡¯ll be taken to work off his debt at the workshop,¡± Blade said dully. ¡°It¡¯s where I¡¯ll have to go as well. I spent my last gold on that gift that despawned with that damned thief.¡±

    I clenched my teeth in rage. This was so unfair.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you one of my pastries,¡± I said finally. ¡°You¡¯ve just got the one gift to give, right?¡±

    ¡°Kira is the only one important to me,¡± Blade said in agreement. ¡°I¡¯ll pay you back. How much is it? What¡¯s it worth?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re a hundred gold.¡±

    ¡°Emma, you can¡¯t,¡± Bastion said, gripping my elbow, but I shook him off.

    ¡°I can¡¯t not. We need to sort this out one way or another, and we can¡¯t let this go on indefinitely,¡± I said, waving my hand at the growing number of civilians being herded into the stocks or the debtor¡¯s pen.

    ¡°Let one of us go instead,¡± Bruiser said. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±

    ¡°The gift is in the giving!¡± Two goblins approached us, one brandishing a whip and the other a loaded stocking. ¡°Gift inspection!¡±

    Blade turned his eyes to me pleadingly. ¡°A hundred gold. I¡¯ll pay you back as soon as I can.¡±

    I nodded decisively and gestured for the goblins to enter.

    ¡°Emma, please reconsider,¡± Bruiser said again.

    ¡°Name your recipients,¡± the goblin with the whip had tucked it under his arm and unfurled a scroll, ready to check off names.

    ¡°Send Bonaparte to tail me and have someone remain behind at the shop to keep checking in if you can make contact with Nightfall, James or Jenny.¡±

    ¡°Emma, if you seriously plan on doing this, I¡¯m coming with you,¡± Bastion said firmly.

    ¡°Can I come too?¡± Jackal asked, his brow wrinkled in concern. ¡°I want to protect you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d still prefer if it was one of us who went in the first place,¡± Brick said. ¡°If you die here, we can¡¯t get you back.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the same deal with you,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Besides, I need someone left behind to form a rescue party if I can¡¯t figure my way out of there.¡±

    The goblin with the stoking smashed it on the counter impatiently. ¡°Name your recipients!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get your loincloth in a knot,¡± I snapped, glaring at the little creature. ¡°We¡¯re getting there.¡±

    Heart pounding in my chest, I handed a pastry over to Blade.

    ¡°Bastion, Jackal and I will go. You two remain behind and send help if we can¡¯t get back to you,¡± I said, nodding to Brick and Bruiser. ¡°I¡¯ve still got my Animal Speak ability equipped, so if you send Bonaparte or any birds with messages, I¡¯ll try get one back to you as well.¡±

    ¡°The gift is in the giving,¡± one of the goblins snapped his whip between Bruiser and me, and I flinched back in reflex.

    Jackal grabbed the whip-wielding hand in his fist and dangled the goblin in front of his face.

    ¡°Be nice to Emma,¡± he growled at the goblin. ¡°Or I¡¯ll smash your stupid goblin face.¡±

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Eight - What the Dickens?

    The goblins drove us out to stand in line for the phaeton without delay, and Bruiser had to fetch us travelling cloaks from inside so we wouldn¡¯t freeze as we stood in the square. The cobblestones were slick with blood and began to ice over as the day crept towards evening. Snow began to settle on top of the dirty slurry that had been left behind from the markets.

    We were each issued with a black gift card after signing the contract handed to us through the phaeton window. I¡¯d attempted to read it, hoping it would provide a clue as to what was in store for us, but it proved a mess of small print legal jargon just as incomprehensible as the terms and conditions that pop up when downloading apps from the Appstore.

    The three of us huddled together, averting our eyes from the gory displays of the public whippings.

    The light eventually dimmed, and the ¡®ungiving¡¯ were given a final chance to purchase a gift card.

    Three of the ¡®ungiving¡¯ had already despawned, their health having deteriorated from the punishment too far to hold on to life. Several dragged their feet to the phaeton and signed away their freedom in exchange for the black card before joining us in the pen.

    ¡°You reckon I should heal him?¡± I asked, nudging Bastion as we surveyed the beaten orc.

    ¡°If he¡¯s not sentient, it would probably be kinder to let him despawn,¡± Bastion shrugged. ¡°But if he is sentient, he might die before he gets the chance. It¡¯s up to you.¡±

    I weighed up my options, wrestling with my conscience. I could ask him a question like ¡°What¡¯s your favourite colour?¡± as a test ¨C NPCs didn¡¯t tend to have preferences, and would just look baffled at personal enquiries, but I¡¯d witnessed several individuals ¨C including the guys in my own harem ¨C edge towards sentience over time as they adapted to self-awareness.

    Even just by asking the question, I might doom him to his life of indentured labour.

    But the cost of not acting was just as heartless, and I had a soft spot for orcs since developing feelings for Brick and realizing most people considered his whole species expendable brawn.

    ¡°Hey, orc! What¡¯s your favourite colour?¡±

    The orc looked up at me, confusion glazing over his eyes. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Do you have a favourite colour?¡±

    ¡°The grindin¡¯ hell does that matter at a time like this?¡± he muttered, spitting a glob of blood on the ground.

    ¡°Emma,¡± Bastion gave me an odd look. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Checking for sentience?¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°You¡¯re weird,¡± the orc said, rolling onto his side.

    ¡°Do you want to be healed or not?¡± I asked, annoyance growing.

    ¡°What does that have to do with colours? You gonna turn me blue when you heal me?¡±

    I huffed and fished in my bag for a bottle of slime.

    ¡°Here, it¡¯s up to you whether you take it or not.¡±

    The orc gave me a long, curious look before downing the bottle of slime in one gulp. Immediately the oozing strips of skin began to knit themselves back together and the dark green bruises faded back to their normal orcish hue.

    ¡°Thanks, succubus,¡± the orc grunted.

    ¡°It¡¯s Emma,¡± I offered my hand to shake his. ¡°And this is Bastion and Jackal.¡±

    ¡°Grug,¡± he said after a moment. ¡°My name¡¯s Grug. And my favourite colour is green.¡±

    I beamed at him, pleased I¡¯d made the right choice. It would be good to have another ally to face whatever was coming.

    ¡°Krampus coming! Krampus coming!¡±

    The goblin chant grew louder and louder as they skittered around the courtyard to get in formation. The phaeton¡¯s window slammed shut, heralding the end of the gift-purchasing season.

    Silence fell across the town, broken only by the goblin¡¯s chanting and the clip-clop of hooves on the pavement.

    Bruiser and Brick stood outside the bakery on the opposite side of the courtyard to us, eyes focused down the street that led into town, which was visible from their vantage point but not ours.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Brick had Ravager gripped tightly in hand, while Bruiser¡¯s weapons were strapped to his side. Unfortunately, none of the debtors had been allowed weapons, which Bastion had grumbled about since their confiscation. Jackal drew closer to my side, instincts ready for a fight.

    The clip-clop noise grew louder, and the chanting suddenly ceased. My breath caught in my throat as the Krampus turned the corner.

    It was huge, a good foot and a half taller than Bruiser, with its twisted horns reaching up another foot and a half again. Its muscular chest had a similar bulk to that of an orc, while its skin was a deep brown, covered in fur everywhere except for its abdomen.

    Unlike James¡¯ rendition of Krampina, this Krampus was decidedly male, and didn¡¯t have a skull for a face, but a beastly monstrosity somewhere between a bull and a human.

    The Krampus paused at the corner, before turning to us, his haunches moving robotically as his cloven hooves clip-clopped on the cobblestones.

    ¡°Is he¡­ a minotaur?¡± I asked, having never seen a full-blooded minotaur in person. In fact, the only minotaur I had met was Jackal, but he¡¯d inherited only the humanesque elements, alongside the human-shaped half of his mermaid mother. Other than his high strength, low intelligence stats and hot temper, there was very little minotaur left in him and most assumed him to be human.

    ¡°Not a full one,¡± Jackal said, squinting at him. ¡°His face and horns aren¡¯t right. He¡¯d look more like a bull if he was a real minotaur.¡±

    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s part succubus?¡± Bastion said, eyes flicking between his horns and mine. ¡°Or he could be an original species. We won¡¯t know for sure unless we get a look at his coding or character sheet.¡±

    I pressed my lips together in thought, watching the Krampus approach the stage, dragging his hooves.

    ¡°He looks kind of miserable,¡± Bastion said.

    ¡°I thought the same thing,¡± I agreed.

    A goblin climbed to position at the front of the stage, holding its head high as it ceremoniously bowed to the Krampus.

    ¡°Your beastliness!¡± The goblin addressed him, as the surrounding hoard stomped their feet and slashed their loaded socks on the ground in a clattering cacophony. ¡°I give you the Ungiving! Unleash your judgement!¡±

    The Krampus surveyed the remaining three civilians, who were shaking in fear from their position on the stage. He let out a long, rumbling sigh and gestured to the first civilian, a trembling gnome.

    ¡°Who have you failed to procure gifts for?¡± the Krampus asked, his voice rough and demanding.

    ¡°M-m-m-my mother,¡± the gnome answered miserably.

    ¡°And you chose not to acquire a gift card?¡± the Krampus asked, its voice flat and almost bored.

    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t abide by debt, sir! Please, if I could make my gift ¨C I¡¯m a skilled artisan! I could make anything!¡±

    The Krampus pulled a large sack from his shoulder and shook it open.

    ¡°Get in the bag,¡± he instructed.

    ¡°P-please! I can make-¡±

    ¡°GET IN THE BAG!¡± The Krampus roared so loud it felt like the cobblestones we were standing on were rattling with the reverberation.

    The gnome immediately hopped in the bag. With more swiftness than I would have expected of such a huge creature, he grasped a large club from his waist and brought it down on the bag with unbelievable force. The bag deflated, the gnome having popped out of existence from within its depths.

    ¡°NEXT!¡± The Krampus roared.

    A feliskin was brought forwards.

    ¡°Who have you failed to procure gifts for?¡±

    ¡°My teammate,¡± the feliskin answered miserably.

    ¡°Get in the bag.¡±

    The feliskin climbed in the bag without complaint and was swiftly beaten out of existence.

    The final person, a wood elf, was brought forwards.

    ¡°Who have you failed to procure gifts for?¡±

    ¡°My wife.¡±

    ¡°Your wife¡­¡± the Krampus paused, his expression darkening even further.

    The wood elf nodded, eyes on the ground.

    ¡°My wife¡­¡± the Krampus repeated, his voice quiet and husky.

    The wood elf remained motionless.

    ¡°Sir?¡± the goblin on stage prompted the Krampus, miming beating a bag with a club when the Krampus failed to respond.

    The Krampus grunted at the goblin, swatting it off the stage, and straightened his back, looking down on the elf with a look full of contempt.

    ¡°You are forgiven.¡±

    ¡°W-what?¡± the wood elf asked, looking hesitantly up at the beast.

    A chorus of confusion broke out amongst the goblins.

    ¡°You are forgiven!¡± the Krampus repeated angrily. ¡°Now GO! Before I change my mind!¡±

    The elf didn¡¯t need to be told a third time, leaping off the stage, his form disappearing into the night.

    The Krampus gestured to the goblins, some of whom were looking on the brink of revolt.

    ¡°Shows over,¡± the Krampus growled, striding past the phaeton and towards the cluster of prisoners. ¡°We should get these back to¡­ What have we here?¡±

    He stopped in front of me, shoving Grug roughly out of the way with impressive strength.

    ¡°And what are you?¡± he asked, reaching a large, hairy-knuckled finger out to touch my horns.

    ¡°A succubus,¡± I said, jerking my head away.

    He looked me up and down thoughtfully, before nodding decisively.

    ¡°You¡¯ll do. Put her in the phaeton!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch her!¡± Jackal snarled as a goblin approached me.

    The Krampus grabbed Jackal¡¯s arm with a bruising grip and snarled in his face.

    ¡°You will stand down and learn your place,¡± the Krampus instructed, and I was surprised to see Jackal¡¯s head droop in compliance. There was very little in either world that could have such an effect on his bull-headed stubborn streak.

    ¡°He must have an Intimidation ability,¡± Bastion said, drawing close to me. ¡°It has a similar coercive power to your Charm and Seduction abilities, based on combined charisma and strength.¡±

    The Krampus dropped the now-docile Jackal to the ground and towered over me.

    ¡°Who are these two to you?¡±

    I felt myself quaking in fear, unsure whether it was the impact of his Intimidation ability or if it was genuine fear.

    ¡°My boyfriends,¡± I answered honestly. ¡°Please don¡¯t hurt them, they¡¯re only trying to protect me.¡±

    The Krampus snorted aggressively. ¡°Figures.¡±

    He looked between Jackal and Bastion in disgust. ¡°You two stay with the rest. Your girlfriend is mine now.¡±

    I shared a helpless look with Bastion, as the goblins took me by the hand. I saw Bruiser place a hand on Brick¡¯s shoulder across the square, the orc looking furious at what was happening.

    ¡°Where are you taking me?¡± I asked, hoping to at least reveal that much before I was shut away in the black carriage.

    ¡°You¡¯re coming home with me,¡± the Krampus said. ¡°You will serve your debt as my wife. Comply with my instructions, and your boyfriends will not come to harm.¡±

    The last thing I saw as the phaeton door shut me into darkness, was Jackal and Bastion¡¯s stricken expressions.

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Nine - The North Pole

    I couldn¡¯t tell how long I was contained inside the dark confines of the phaeton. Thick, black velvet curtains shut out most of the light and my eyes struggled to adjust. I could see a slight shimmer of reflection on the bulbous eyeballs of the goblin who sat across from me, but not enough to make out its expression.

    It was enough to keep me silent. Nervous. On edge.

    Several times, the phaeton jerked to a halt, and I had to hold on to the seat to keep myself from falling to the ground ¨C or worse, into my goblin jailer.

    A shutter to the front of the phaeton opened with bright glaring light and sustenance was shoved in for us ¨C a tray of shortbread cookies and two hot chocolates, piled high with whipped cream and topped with sprinkles.

    The goblin snatched his, giving himself a whipped cream moustache as he drank greedily, glaring at me the whole time. The combination of Christmas novelty and malevolent energy was unnerving, and I tried to avoid eye contact, instead trying to take in the landscape through the short windows of time the outside remained open to us.

    The first time we stopped, there were trees outside. The second time, I could see mountains. The third, we were surrounded by snow.

    Dread filled me, because Bastion had been working on drawing up maps of Newtopia for months, and I knew they ended at the range of mountains to the north.

    Wherever we were, it was somewhere new. I wondered if Brick and Bruiser would ever be able to find us.

    I nibbled on my shortbread cookie, any feelings of hunger overshadowed by a deep nausea of anxiety. We would have to rely on our own wits and find our own way out of this mess, just in case.

    I wondered where Bastion and Jackal were, and how they were doing in that moment. While I was sitting tight in my fur-lined cage of a carriage, they would be walking out there in the snow. I hoped they were keeping warm, somehow.

    The final time the carriage jolted to a halt, I was already turned to the small window by the driver in anticipation, hoping for another clue on our location, but the door was yanked open instead. The goblin across from me grabbed me roughly by the elbow and shoved me towards the door.

    I stumbled down the narrow steps, which were designed for small goblin feet rather than my own average-sized human ones and held tightly to the rail with my eyes shut against the blinding whiteness that surrounded us.

    ¡°Move, Krampus-wife,¡± the goblin poked me with the spiked handle of its whip.

    ¡°Emma!¡±

    Jackal¡¯s voice caught my attention, and I peered out through my eyelashes, holding my hand above my eyes to try and reduce the glare.

    The camp of prisoners had grown considerably, and several other black carriages circled them. The different armies of goblins must have converged with their spoils from every town. Jackal stood out, his height holding him above the group of humans and gnomes huddled near him. Bastion was close by, as well as the hulking mass of Grug the orc.

    I waved back at Jackal, and made to approach them, but the goblin yanked me back and pointed me instead to a large wooden building, covered in snow which was melting near the multiple chimneys protruding from its roof.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    ¡°What is that place?¡± I asked, staring at the black streaks of smoke the chimneys painted across the sky.

    ¡°The workshop,¡± the goblin croaked, wrapping a blood red scarf around his face and glaring at me over it. ¡°And your new home. Go.¡±

    ¡°When will I get to talk to them?¡± I asked, pointed towards Jackal and Bastion.

    The goblin shrugged. ¡°If the Krampus demotes you.¡±

    He jabbed me with the sharp spike on his whip¡¯s handle again, signalling an end to the conversation, and urging me forwards.

    I gave a regretful look back to Jackal and Bastion, waving goodbye to them as I obediently followed the directions the goblin gave me. I knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to take the goblin hoard on in a fight, so I¡¯d have to figure out another way to regroup with them later.

    I was led through a maze of hallways, past what seemed like an endless number of identical wooden doors and was finally let into a large set of living quarters.

    The room was warmed by a large fireplace and furnished with thick furs and velvets. The head of a reindeer was mounted above the mantle, staring down at me with glassy eyes.

    I grimaced, thinking of Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and the team of reindeer that pulled Santa¡¯s sleigh. Would this head have belonged to an actual reindeer once upon a time, or was it spawned in as-is?

    A click from behind me signalled the goblin had left, and I raced over to the door, trying the handle. It didn¡¯t budge.

    Panic filled me, as I looked around the room. Why had I allowed myself to be led into this trap as docile as a lamb? Why hadn¡¯t I demanded more answers from the goblin before he¡¯d left? Or demanded the Krampus come and see me?

    Now I was trapped in a room without any knowledge of what was to come or why I was here. All I knew was that I was to be the Krampus¡¯ wife, but I had no indication of what that even meant! Would he be expecting to be intimate with me? Or for me to fold his socks and clean his house? This world was full of sexist cliches, with the women in the town performing endless cycles of cooking, laundry and sweeping until they broke out of their programming and developed sentient awareness. Maybe the Krampus would expect a similar role from me. I could only hope.

    I kicked myself for sitting so long with my goblin guard without so much as engaging him in conversation. All I¡¯d wanted while he was there was for him to leave me alone, but now that I was all alone, I felt the panic rise up in my chest, choking me.

    I circled the room, inspecting the windows, but they were sealed shut. I looked behind the thick curtains that draped the sides of the room, keeping the heat from the fire from escaping, but there was nothing behind them except walls and more closed, locked doors.

    I should have flirted with the goblin, tried to charm it into letting me know what to expect here, or into letting me go. I could have tried to make it submit to my pheromones and take me to see Bastion and Jackal. I was so used to not fighting, to relying on the guys to keep me safe¡­ I¡¯d forgotten to employ the one skill I had trained as a succubus, and now I was trapped and helpless and alone.

    My hands started shaking as I pulled things off the shelf ¨C snow globes, Christmas ornaments, useless knickknacks of plastic or brightly painted wood. I had no idea what I was looking for, but I hoped in my desperation to find something. Anything. A clue. A weapon. A book of Christmas lore.

    Anything.

    The living quarters were one large room, separated by black velvet curtains on rails. Large leather couches bordered a rug in front of the fireplace, a huge mahogany table off to the side and a large four-poster bed that rivalled my own custom bed at the bakery. But that bed was designed specifically to fit my whole harem, if they wanted to pile in and sleep together ¨C which rarely happened, since they all maintained their own preferences and private rooms. This bed, I realized, along with all the furniture, was sized to the scale of the Krampus.

    Fear rolled through me, and I suddenly wanted him to never show his furry face. I had to find a way out before he returned. I returned to my frantic job, pulling things from shelves and out of drawers, inspecting them and tossing them to the side when they proved useless.

    I piled the decorative objects on the rug in front of the fireplace, my panic gradually slowing to a constant thrum of dread and anxiety. My heartbeat felt loud, and time felt like it had slowed down. How long had it taken for me to pull the room to pieces? Five minutes? Five hours?

    The grey sky outside the window gave me no clues as to the time of day, and even if the sun was visible through the shifting clouds, I had no idea which direction North was.

    Exhausted, I collapsed on the bed and sobbed, my tears soaking into the thick fur blankets and I gave in to despair.

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Ten - The Krampus-Wife

    I only realized I¡¯d fallen asleep when I woke to a bright light shining in my eyes. The first thing I noticed was the smell of chocolate, and I immediately found the source ¨C a plate of cookies and a hot chocolate with whipped cream sitting on the nightstand by my bed.

    I sat up abruptly. Someone had been in my room, and I¡¯d been too out of it to even wake up. I¡¯d missed another chance to interrogate someone.

    Worse than missing the delivery of food, the room had been put to rights. The objects I¡¯d piled up on the floor had been replaced on the shelves, along with a photo frame I definitely hadn¡¯t seen before.

    I snatched it up, taking it to the large leather couch to inspect it. The scene pictured the Krampus, Santa, and what I supposed must be Krampina, all standing next to a large outdoor Christmas tree. They looked almost happy ¨C as much as the Krampus could look happy, with his gnarled face. Krampina looked sort-of like the picture James had drawn, but also different. Her face was bone white, but not made of bone. Her face was smooth where the Krampus¡¯ was wrinkled, and her fur looked softer and more supple. She had curves where the Krampus had muscle, and she was bedecked in gold jewellery. She wore rings on every finger, and had golden chains wrapped loosely around her neck, nestled in her well-groomed fur.

    Santa looked more smug than jolly, and held what looked like a candy-cane-striped pimp stick cane, topped with a large golden ball, which his hand rested on casually. He, too, wore golden accessories and I even thought perhaps there was a glint of gold coming from his smiling teeth.

    He wasn¡¯t at all how I pictured the generous Santa of Earth folklore, but perhaps he suited the image of a greedy Santa that fitted the context of this capitalist dystopian Christmas where wealth was the greatest measure of value.

    A knock startled me, and I dropped the picture and turned to see a goblin entering my room. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was the same one as yesterday or not, they all looked so similar with their drooping ears and malevolent faces.

    ¡°You have been summoned,¡± the goblin croaked at me. ¡°It is time to receive your first gift.¡±

    I didn¡¯t stand. The goblin gestured impatiently for me to get moving.

    ¡°What gift?¡± I asked. ¡°From who?¡±

    ¡°From your betrothed,¡± the goblin glared at me. ¡°Do not keep him waiting.¡±

    I stood then, remembering how terrifying the Krampus had been. How swiftly he¡¯d beaten the ¡®ungiving¡¯ out of existence.

    ¡°Do I need to give him a gift too?¡± I asked hesitantly. I only had what was available in this room, but I didn¡¯t want to show up empty handed only to be beaten to death for my lack of generosity. I snatched a snow globe off the shelf. ¡°Would he like this?¡±

    The goblin gave me a scandalized look. ¡°You can¡¯t regift things that have been given to you! Especially to the one who provided them for you in the first place!¡±

    ¡°So, this is¡­ for me?¡± I looked around at the stuff. I realized suddenly that I¡¯d spent a night here already, and to my knowledge the Krampus hadn¡¯t come to me. ¡°Is this my room?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± the goblin glowered.

    ¡°And the Krampus has a separate room?¡±

    At the goblin¡¯s nod of confirmation, relief swept through me.

    ¡°So, what are the gifts today for? Can you tell me what to expect here?¡±

    ¡°If you must ask questions, ask them as you walk,¡± the goblin snapped at me. ¡°We are late already!¡±

    I hopped to my feet and followed him out the door at a quick pace, repeating my question.

    ¡°You are to receive the first of your betrothal gifts today. You will receive one each day for the twelve days until the day of your bonding. You will not be required to provide gifts in return until the bonding ceremony, where you will give the gift of yourself ¨C an oath of loyalty will suffice.¡±

    I felt a wave of repulsion. I knew a little about bonding, the Newtopian equivalent to a marriage, but I¡¯d never wanted to bond to anyone, even when my boyfriends had offered. After seeing the mess my own mother had made out of her four marriages, I felt like they were tainted. A cage, rather than a commitment, and a thing that kept you trapped rather than with your partner out of choice. If I hadn¡¯t felt the need to bond with Nightfall, Brick, Bruiser, Bastion, or Jackal, I knew I definitely wouldn¡¯t be bonding to the Krampus no matter what kind of gifts he bestowed upon me.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Quite suddenly, we were outside. The hallways of doors gave way to a large courtyard centred around a tree. The Krampus¡¯ tall form was facing away from me, staring at the tree with his arms folded. His bag draped from the harness he wore across his shoulders, and his club fell from a loop on his belt, hanging by his side like a threat.

    I froze, my feet stuck to the pavement and unable to move forwards. The goblin shoved me roughly, and I fell, my legs failing me.

    ¡°Useless piece of trash,¡± the goblin muttered. But he was the last of my concerns. The Krampus¡¯ hooves were suddenly inches from my face.

    I scrambled backwards, the snow seeping through my clothes as I scooted back on my bottom.

    ¡°Do not manhandle my guest,¡± the Krampus growled at the goblin. ¡°You will treat her with the respect due my wife.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your malevolence,¡± the goblin saluted him, but I saw the sour shift in its expression when the Krampus turned his back on him.

    ¡°Emma,¡± the Krampus rolled my name across his tongue like he was trying it out, tasting it. ¡°Come. Receive your gift.¡±

    He held his hand out to me, and I hesitantly took it, unable to smother the feeling of fear and disgust as his long nails scraped against my skin when his large hand enclosed mine.

    He didn¡¯t let my hand go when I stood but held it as he escorted me forwards. We approached the tree, and he pushed me forwards, finally releasing me to stand in front of it. A dark shadow hung from the tree like a bag on a string.

    No, it wasn¡¯t a bag ¨C it was a bird. A dead bird, like a large quail, hanging with a rope around its neck.

    I stared at it in disgust.

    ¡°Do you like it?¡± The Krampus demanded.

    ¡°What¡­ Why?¡± I asked, turning to the Krampus in shock.

    ¡°The usual response to receiving a gift is ¡®thank you¡¯,¡± the Krampus¡¯ expression shifted, his brows furrowing on his twisted face.

    ¡°I¡¯m not thanking you for a dead bird!¡± I snapped at him. ¡°What the hell?¡±

    ¡°It was the only way it would stay in the pear tree,¡± the Krampus said through gritted teeth, like he was explaining a basic fact to a toddler.

    I blinked, something connecting in my brain. I looked back at the bird.

    ¡°A partridge in a pear tree.¡±

    Like the song. I closed my eyes in frustration.

    ¡°Exactly,¡± the Krampus said, sounding pleased I had finally cottoned on.

    ¡°It¡¯s not supposed to be dead,¡± I said, frowning at him. ¡°But thank you, I suppose.¡±

    He nodded, accepting my thanks as though the exchange had been satisfactory despite my lack of enthusiasm.

    If I was to receive twelve days of ridiculous presents before the Krampus expected a bonding, it gave me time. That was a positive, I supposed. But I¡¯d need to find out how to sort things out before the final day.

    ¡°Can I ask you something?¡± I asked, staring up at the huge beast.

    The Krampus looked at me with intelligent eyes and gestured for me to go ahead. He seemed sentient, the way he acted and spoke. Sentient creatures could shift outside of their programming. Perhaps I could convince him that he didn¡¯t want to marry me, but first I¡¯d need more information.

    ¡°What happened to your last wife?¡± I asked.

    A shadow of darkness fell across his face and a growl rumbled in his chest.

    ¡°Do not speak of her,¡± he said, his eyes darting away from mine to look instead at the partridge hanging in the tree. ¡°She is gone. That is all that is relevant.¡±

    I paused, suddenly a whole lot more questions running through my mind. Did she leave? Did she die? Did the Krampus kill her?

    All of those questions felt pretty relevant to me, especially if I was doomed for a similar fate.

    ¡°Is there any chance of her coming back though?¡± I pushed. Maybe she¡¯d respawn somewhere. It was possible, if she had died while not gaining sentience.

    ¡°She will not return.¡± The Krampus¡¯ voice sounded bitter, angry. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t dead, but they¡¯d just hit a relationship breaking point. ¡°Even if she did, I would not accept her.¡±

    ¡°Touchy subject, huh?¡± I said, chewing on my lip. ¡°I¡¯ll drop it for now, but it might help to talk about it later. Especially if you think anything is going to be happening here.¡±

    I gestured between us doubtfully, but his eyebrows rose, and he looked back to me with what might have been curiosity.

    ¡°Can you give me a tour around this place?¡± I asked. ¡°The layout doesn¡¯t make much sense to me.¡±

    It reminded me a bit of the university in the Citadel, which was beautiful on the outside, but a twisted mess of architecture when you tried to actually navigate it. I¡¯d spent a good two months working out a functional floorplan that we¡¯d patched in after temporarily evacuating the residents. It had employed all the experience I¡¯d accrued from years of playing the Sims, but had the added pressure of being an actual place where real people would live.

    The Krampus¡¯ home felt like it needed similar attention.

    ¡°You will not be without an escort, so you should not need to navigate the halls.¡±

    ¡°Am I to be a prisoner here then?¡± I asked, thinking of the locked doors in my room.

    ¡°You are serving your debt,¡± the Krampus said evenly, and I felt his intense gaze was searching for something in me, some kind of reaction though I wasn¡¯t sure what.

    ¡°If this is to be my home, I still want to know where everything is. And who is coming and going. Can you show me around? Please?¡±

    He seemed surprised to hear that last word ¨C please - and I wondered how many times he had heard it. Did he have any friends? The goblins bowed to his authority but seemed to loathe him. Was Santa his friend? The three of them had stood close in the photo I¡¯d seen that morning. Had Krampina been his friend? Did he miss her, wherever she was?

    ¡°I will show you,¡± he said, straightening his shoulders. ¡°But then you return to your rooms.¡±

    My ears twitched at the word. Rooms? Plural? I¡¯d only seen the one large room, but was hesitant to prompt him with further questions lest it hasten my return there. The more time I spent outside of my room, the more chances I had to unravel what was going on here.

    ¡°Lead on,¡± I said with a smile, turning my back on the hanging dead bird.

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Eleven - The Workshop Elf

    I followed the Krampus down the hallway and tried to keep my face straight and clear of horror as he explained each of the rooms that led off the long hallways were production rooms ¨C sweatshops, basically ¨C where products were being made for next year¡¯s Christmas ¨C even before this one was finished.

    He opened room after room and the bleak environments tore at my soul. Lines of exhausted looking goblins slaved away painting nutcrackers or coating decorations in glitter and paint.

    Their backs were hunched from toil and their clothes looked like old, well-worn uniform aprons. The Krampus took production reports from an overseer goblin in every room. The one in the ornament-dipping room was covered head to toe in glitter, his bulbous eyes red and bloodshot from the glitter that stuck to his eyelids.

    I cringed as the goblin handed his paperwork over the Krampus with his pale, scarred hands. His skin looked irritated and raw.

    I wondered when the last time these goblins had been outside was ¨C if they¡¯d ever been outside. Had they been slaving away here since Jenny had created the world, or spawned into being with the patch that had come through only a few days ago?

    Whether they were new or not, things were often created with age here. Brick and Bastion had theoretically never been children, but they had memories of their childhood as though they had been. They¡¯d been spawned as adults, but had a backstory so had been spawned with those memories and experiences intact.

    How long would these goblins memories go back? How long had they experienced these dire working conditions?

    The paleness of their skin, compared to the leathery look of regular goblins in the wider world, implied they hadn¡¯t seen true daylight in a very long time. My eyes were drawn to the fairy-light style ribbons of magic mini fireballs in glass orbs that ran the length of the room, which provided constant but dim lighting for them to work under.

    There was no way to tell time in here. It would be enough to drive anyone mad.

    I was almost relieved when the door closed on the goblins, but room after room revealed much of the same.

    In some of the later rooms, different species were mixed in with the goblins. A feliskin with paint-matted fur was seated in a row of goblins trying to paint a Santa figurine under the watchful eye of the goblin overseer.

    In the next room I saw Grug and Jackal carrying large sacks from one end of the room to each table, emptying loads of carving wood for the workers to shape with their small knives into ornaments.

    I stepped forwards as soon as I saw Jackal, drawn by the need to touch him, to reassure myself he was actually there, but the Krampus lay a halting hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°Your place is with me,¡± he said firmly.

    The Krampus¡¯ voice caught Jackal¡¯s attention, and he looked up, the light of recognition on his face short-lived as his eyes landed on the hand on my shoulder. Jackal strode towards us with purpose, his expression angry although he couldn¡¯t bring himself to look up at the Krampus directly, his Intimidation ability already causing a passive effect. I felt the tension rippling between them.

    ¡°You will not hurt Emma,¡± Jackal directed his demand at the Krampus¡¯ abdomen.

    ¡°And you will learn your place,¡± the Krampus growled, gripping my shoulder so tight I felt his sharp nails digging into my skin.

    The goblin overseer jogged up behind him, uncoiling his whip to lash out at Jackal, but I let out a gasp and grabbed at the Krampus, pulling on his arm to gain his attention.

    ¡°Please! Don¡¯t let them hurt him!¡±

    Again, the word please seemed to surprise and confuse him, and he held a finger up to stop the goblin in his tracks.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°You still care for him,¡± the Krampus said, scrutinizing me as though he was trying to decode me. ¡°Even though he did not procure a gift for you.¡±

    ¡°Love isn¡¯t about gifts,¡± I said, frustrated at the thought of having to try and explain that relationships were more than just reciprocal exchanges to a creature that was literally coded to believe that they were.

    ¡°Emma, I will bring this whole building down before I let him hurt you,¡± Jackal swore seriously. ¡°Just say the word.¡±

    I knew he would do it, too. Jackal had inherited the destructive shout ability from his mermaid mother and could tear a whole building apart if he needed to. The same ability had brought down his childhood home around him and killed his adoptive parents when he had woken from a nightmare, although he¡¯d gotten more control of it in recent months. I knew his promise for what it was, and if I was unable to escape the bonding ceremony with my beastly betrothed, I might be tempted to take him up on the offer.

    ¡°I know,¡± I said, catching his eye and holding his gaze seriously. ¡°We have time, though. Just¡­ keep your head down and keep out of trouble.¡±

    He straightened his shoulders and nodded, holding himself with more confidence now that he had a plan of action. He turned and strode back to work, hoisting a sack of wood over his shoulder with as much ease as if it had been full of wool.

    The goblin overseer snarled at him, but the Krampus instructed him to leave him be, then looked at me for my reaction.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said with genuine feeling. ¡°I do love him. And Bastion. I don¡¯t want them to come to any harm.¡±

    ¡®Thank you¡¯ seemed to have as much impact on the Krampus as ¡®please¡¯.

    The beast straightened his back and puffed his chest out, looking at me as though he had won a prize.

    ¡°Come,¡± he said, pulling me back into the hallway. ¡°I will show you your elf and then we will return to our quarters.¡±

    Jackal disappeared from my sight as the door slammed behind us, but now my heart was racing in anticipation to see Bastion. I knew Jackal would remain safe, so long as the goblins obeyed the Krampus, and I remained in the Krampus¡¯ good graces. Now I just wanted to be assured that Bastion was similarly safe.

    We strode past several closed doors, which led to more sweatshops until the Krampus pulled me to a stop outside another, identical door.

    ¡°You will see he is safe, and then you will leave with me,¡± the Krampus reminded me. ¡°Your loyalty is to me now.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t verbalize an agreement to that but looked instead at the rich mahogany wood door and urged my beating heart to be still. ¡°Show him to me.¡±

    The Krampus obliged, shoving the door open and revealing another long room filled with rows of workers wearing workshop uniforms; red aprons over green scrubs and a green cap. My eyes danced over the faces ¨C goblin, human, feliskin, orc, gnome and elf¡­ there.

    A foot taller than the rest of the goblins in his row, Bastion sat surrounded by a towering pile of carved wooden ornaments with a goblin overseer pacing menacingly behind him. He¡¯d been forced into the workshop uniform, his green cap sitting askew on the crown of his head and his apron hanging loosely off his shoulders as though he had refused to tie it.

    Bastion looked utterly miserable, his long dirty blonde hair contaminated with glue and glitter as he painted wooden reindeer. Despite his high dexterity stat, he seemed to be painting them roughly and with wonky lines, leaving black smears instead of dots for eyes ¨C but I knew that was more out of belligerence than an actual lack of ability.

    My heart broke for him, and I wished for nothing more than to snatch him out of that seat and tear the ill-fitting clothes from his body. He was a wood elf, not a Christmas elf. A warrior, not a slave. I didn¡¯t know how long his prickly pride would be able to endure the indignity.

    ¡°Bast!¡± I gasped, pulling myself out of the Krampus¡¯ grip.

    Bastion¡¯s head jerked up, and he leapt over the table in one smooth jump, hopping across several others and disturbing several other labourers as he kicked piles of unfinished ornaments to the floor.

    ¡°Emma!¡±

    ¡°Remember our deal,¡± the Krampus¡¯ deep voice rumbled behind me, sending a shiver down my spine.

    ¡°Just let me talk to him for a minute,¡± I pleaded. ¡°I need to be sure he is alright.¡±

    He didn¡¯t answer, but neither did he interfere as I pulled Bastion into my arms.

    ¡°You¡¯re okay,¡± I said, patting him down.

    ¡°Hardly,¡± Bastion snorted, pulling the goofy green cap off his head. ¡°That grindin¡¯ goblin spilled glue into my hair ¨C glue! It¡¯s going to be hell to try and get out!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh, pulling him in for a closer hug.

    ¡°And you? Are you okay? I¡¯ve been looking for an opportunity to look for you, but they separated Jackal and I at the beginning of the shift and we¡¯ve had to have our lunch breaks at our work benches. It sucks here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen him. He¡¯s alright, just shifting bags a bit further down the hall,¡± I said. ¡°And I¡¯m alright¡­ I think. The Krampus seems to think I¡¯m going to bond with him after twelve days of gifts though.¡±

    Fury passed behind Bastions eyes, but grim determination kept it in check.

    ¡°Then we have time.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll keep trying to figure out what I can, you keep out of trouble and do the same.¡±

    ¡°Time to say goodbye, Emma,¡± the Krampus prompted, stepping forward to separate us.

    Bastion squeezed my hands and planted a quick kiss on my temple. ¡°Be safe, Emma.¡±

    ¡°You too,¡± I said, feeling calm spread through me with the knowledge he was okay. With a new reserve of resilience, I followed the Krampus back to our living quarters.

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Twelve - Two Turtle Doves

    The other locked doors in my room were revealed to lead to the Krampus¡¯ bedroom next door ¨C which mirrored the layout of my own room, and a shared office space which was piled high with papers.

    After the initial tour and a few awkward moments of staring at each other, the Krampus announced he had work to do, and sat at the desk, scratching away in a ledger with a raven feather quill.

    I stared at him in disbelief, unsure of what I¡¯d expected in the first place ¨C but it definitely wasn¡¯t this. His focus was on the papers in front of him, although I thought I felt it stray to me whenever I wasn¡¯t looking directly at him.

    Unwilling to return to my room just yet, where I knew time would stretch out unbearably until the day finally came to a close, I perused the bookshelves in the office. Pulling a tome titled Crime and Punishment off the shelf, I flicked it open and sat on a large wing-backed armchair, peeking at the Krampus through my lashes rather than at the pages in the book.

    His writing paused, and his chin tilted up, his eyes catching mine. Immediately, he returned his attention to his desk, slashing a large line through whatever he had been looking at.

    I tried a couple of times to engage him in conversation, but he gruffly informed me that he needed to get his work finished by end of day, so I returned to my book.

    Rather than the dry, Russian classic novel, Crime and Punishment detailed the rules around Christmas crimes ¨C lack of generosity and the scale of expenditure expected depending on relationship. Co-workers and employees were expected to give a gift measuring the equivalent of a half-day¡¯s salary, while employers were expected to give employees either the equivalent of a full day¡¯s work or a pizza party - which worked out cheaper per head but still fulfilled the generosity meter. I grimaced, remembering the mandatory secret Santa exchanges I¡¯d had to participate in at my old accounting firm. And while pizza wasn¡¯t the worst addition to patch into Newtopia, it turned my stomach that this was the reason for its introduction.

    Flicking further through the book I found mathematical equations which converted average mission yields to their hourly equivalent, to hold warriors and adventurers to an economic standard. I¡¯d been wondering how that would work, since most of the Newtopian economy was held up by mission rewards and loot that spawned in periodically. The actual reality of owning a business and earning a salary or wage was a fairly new concept to this young world.

    ¡°Will you eat with me?¡±

    I looked up in surprise at the Krampus, who was standing next to me holding a tray. I sat up straight, pulling my feet off the coffee table.

    ¡°Sure. Uh, what¡¯s the time?¡±

    ¡°Dusk,¡± the Krampus informed me, placing the tray on the table. It held a tray of familiar shortbread cookies and two hot chocolates.

    ¡°Is this all you guys eat?¡± I asked, picking a cookie off the tray. I knew I was being hypocritical, considering my cinnamon roll addiction, but even I liked some kind of variety in my regular diet.

    ¡°Of course,¡± the Krampus said, between shoving handfuls of shortbread into his mouth, mashing them with his teeth as crumbs fell and tangled in his furry beard. ¡°What else would you like to eat? I could send some goblin hunters out to procure reindeer for a stew, if you would prefer it.¡±

    I blanched. ¡°No thanks. Cookies are fine.¡±

    He took a long draft of his hot chocolate, the whipped cream making a similar mess on his chin. I tried not to stare.

    ¡°You are becoming used to me,¡± the Krampus said finally, wiping the mess off his face onto a hairy forearm, although the act only matted the fur in both places.

    ¡°I suppose I¡¯m getting to know you a little better,¡± I said hesitantly. I didn¡¯t want to get roped into making any promises to him, considering he expected to bond with me at the end of the gift-giving ceremony, but having an open line of communication would be helpful if I could figure out a way to disrupt Christmas without resorting to a battle of strength. ¡°Could you tell me more about your role here? About how Christmas works?¡±

    ¡°My part in Christmas is complete,¡± the Krampus grunted. ¡°I have punished the ungiving and I will supervise the debt repayment of non-conformists. I will oversee production needs are met until next year¡¯s Krampus Night.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ you don¡¯t get to participate in the parade?¡±

    The Krampus¡¯ expression darkened.

    ¡°The parade is in honour of those who have exceeded expectations. The most giving.¡±

    He seemed to have a deep bitterness swelling beneath the surface, and I wondered what it would reveal if provoked.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°And do your contributions ever get acknowledged? It seems like without Krampus Night and the threat of all this, a lot of people wouldn¡¯t bother participating. Without you the whole thing wouldn¡¯t work at all ¨C does that ever get recognized?¡±

    The Krampus examined me, his intelligent eyes lighting up with intelligence although I still couldn¡¯t interpret the expression on his twisted face.

    ¡°It does not,¡± he said simply. ¡°Although it is promising you see the value on what occurs at the workshop. It is my hope you will remain long after your debt is paid.¡±

    ¡°And how long will it take to repay my debt?¡± I asked, although I already had a feeling that the answer would be too long.

    ¡°One year,¡± he said, holding up a single gnarled finger. ¡°If it is your wish, you may return the day before next Krampus Night. It is my wish you will remain here.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t even really know me,¡± I argued. ¡°You might find me annoying.¡±

    He shook his head but said nothing.

    ¡°And will I get to meet Santa?¡± I asked.

    It seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as every muscle in his over-sized body tensed.

    ¡°No,¡± he snarled.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t come here?¡±

    ¡°You will not see him,¡± he snapped, standing abruptly. ¡°I do not wish to speak of him. It is time to return to your room.¡±

    A wave of fear rolled through me, the effect of his Intimidation ability prickling over my skin. I clutched my book to my chest, and retreated to my room, trying not to think of the Krampus¡¯ angry eyes or clenched fists.

    It would only take one snap of his temper to snap my neck, and then it would be all over.

    I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling in the dim light unable to sleep for hours, running through everything I¡¯d discovered.

    Questions swam in my mind as I tried fruitlessly to come up with a plan, until sleep finally claimed me.

    I woke again to the curtains drawn and light streaming in my window, a plate of cookies and a hot chocolate on my bedside table.

    I rose and dressed myself, this time ready for the goblin who appeared to escort me to my next ceremonial gift.

    I plied him with questions on the way, attempting to get any information out of him that was too dangerous to ask of the Krampus.

    ¡°Does Santa ever come here?¡± I asked.

    ¡°He comes after the parade is complete,¡± the goblin sneered. ¡°To perform the annual review.¡±

    ¡°And what happens at the review?¡±

    ¡°The lottery is drawn.¡±

    ¡°Lottery? For what?¡±

    ¡°To see who the next overseers in the workshop will be. The existing overseers will be reallocated, and a new team will have their opportunity to exact their revenge.¡±

    I shivered. ¡°Could you like¡­ choose not to whip each other? It kind of seems like if you broke the cycle there¡¯d be no need for revenge.¡±

    The goblin glowered at me. ¡°Any who would not take the opportunity to exact revenge against those who have wronged them would be the worst kind of fools. They would not break the chain of vengeance but secure their position as the lowest of all cowards.¡±

    ¡°But doesn¡¯t it seem like you¡¯re being pitted against each other, rather than the system you all serve? Couldn¡¯t you, I don¡¯t know¡­ team together and fight for better working conditions or something? Looks to me like you¡¯re fighting the wrong enemy.¡±

    The goblin pulled to a halt, staring at me as though I¡¯d suggested they stop making toys and start clobbering babies ¨C although on the scale of goblin virtues, that might not be the most disgusting option to his sensibilities.

    ¡°Look, forget I said anything,¡± I said, the goblin¡¯s horrified expression causing shivers to run down my spine. Part of me hoped that if they overthrew the Krampus, I wouldn¡¯t be pushed into marrying him, but I doubted life as a slave under goblin rule would be any better.

    The goblin said nothing further, although he once again plodded along next to me, his silence unnerving me more than the conversation itself had.

    Still, I now knew Santa would appear at some stage, even if the Krampus for some reason wanted to keep me from meeting him. I¡¯d have to fight for my freedom and find a way to get the doors to my room unlocked. If I could move around at will, I could find a way to get out and find Santa. For what purpose, I didn¡¯t know yet, but a key clue to accomplishing missions in this world was that if people were trying to keep you from accessing something, that was usually the thing you needed to get access to.

    I emerged into the courtyard with the tree, the goblin lagging behind at the door as I approached the Krampus. This time, he was standing next to a bird cage. The partridge was still hanging from its noose in the tree, although due to the rules of Newtopian object-physics it was in exactly the same condition as it was yesterday. Unless it had been coded to decompose, it would likely stay exactly the same for eternity. I averted my eyes from the gently swinging carcass.

    ¡°Emma,¡± he greeted me with a wary nod. ¡°I present you with your second gift.¡±

    ¡°Uh, what are they?¡± I asked, eyebrows raising at the two turtle shells on the floor of the bird cage.

    ¡°Turtle doves,¡± the Krampus said, rattling the cage.

    ¡°They probably won¡¯t come out if they¡¯re frightened,¡± I said, reaching out to try and stop him banging on the bars, but he shook me off and held his face up close to the wall of the cage.

    ¡°GET UP!¡± he roared, his fearsome voice causing the entire courtyard to tremble.

    Obediently, doves poked their heads out of the neck-holes in the turtle shells and started nervously cooing, pacing backwards and forth along the floor of the cage.

    ¡°Don¡¯t kill us! Don¡¯t kill us!¡±

    My Animal Speak ability enabled me to understand the gentle calls of the birds, although it gave me little joy.

    With a smug expression, the Krampus turned and gestured to the cage, clearly pleased his gift was performing.

    ¡°Uh¡­ thank you.¡±

    He nodded in satisfaction.

    ¡°Can I see the workshops again today?¡± I asked, secretly hoping to catch a conversation with Jackal and Bastion.

    The Krampus saw right through me, surveying me with sharp eyes and cutting his hand through the air in a negative swipe.

    ¡°No. You know your previous consorts are safe, and that must be enough for you. Further communication with them will get in the way of our developing relationship. You will not see them again.¡±

    ¡°What, not ever?¡± I asked, anger brewing in me. ¡°You can¡¯t just¡­ control me. You¡¯ve got no right to tell me I cannot talk to whoever I want to talk to!¡±

    ¡°You forget, Emma; you are here to serve your debt. I have exactly that right.¡±

    I glared at him. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t make me like you.¡±

    He stared at me for a long minute. ¡°We shall see.¡±

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Thirteen - Key Progress Indicators

    After receiving the turtle doves, I was escorted back to my room and locked in with nothing but Crime and Punishment to keep me company.

    I fumed, wanting desperately to punch something. Flicking through the book again gave me no further ideas, and at length I decided to spend several of my lonely hours trying to develop a lock-picking ability, but as I had no actual lock-pick kit the ability seemed out of reach.

    I snarled, throwing a snow globe into the fireplace, watching it shatter and sizzle. I hated the feeling of being so helpless, but there was nothing I could do except wait for the next opportunity to speak to the Krampus and hope that in the meantime Nightfall and James were figuring out how to get back in contact with Jenny.

    Having the fate of the world hinge on James¡¯ ability to write a decent letter of apology didn¡¯t leave me with a lot of hope, but maybe if Nightfall managed to give her the upgrade plan she wanted, she¡¯d forgive us enough to end the Christmas event and go back to normal.

    At length, the door to the office unlocked, and the Krampus announced he had returned.

    His desk was once again filled with paper, the stack of forms seeming even larger than yesterdays. I tried to put my resentment aside, not wanting to be banished to my room for more endless hours.

    ¡°This is how people fall for Stockholm syndrome, isn¡¯t it?" I muttered to myself, looking through the books and making sure to set aside a decent stack this time. If I was to spend hours every day on my own, at least I could have something to read.

    I could see how a person kept in isolation could eventually form an attachment to a captor, when the alternative was to be completely alone. But fury burned in my chest, along with the hope and deep commitment that I would find a way to be reunited with Jackal and Bastion who were separated from me only by a few walls. Or if I could only find a bird to talk to ¨C one not in a cage ¨C I could try and get a message to Bruiser.

    In the meantime, I could live with a fa?ade of tolerance until I figured out how to overcome the situation.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    ¡°What is your paperwork anyway?¡± I asked. ¡°Anything I can help with?¡±

    ¡°Every list needs to be checked twice,¡± the Krampus grumbled, and handed me a stack, asking me to reconcile the orders with the fulfillment papers the overseeing goblins had given him that day.

    It was easy data entry, and I made quick work out of it, noticing Santa¡¯s scrawling signature at the foot of every order.

    ¡°Can I ask a question?¡± I asked at length, hoping by bringing it up I wouldn¡¯t be shutting down all conversation again.

    ¡°I believe you just did,¡± the Krampus grunted.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to upset you,¡± I said diplomatically, ¡°but I¡¯m just still trying to figure out how things work here.¡±

    The Krampus gave me a long, suspicious look. ¡°Ask your question.¡±

    ¡°Does Santa initiate all the orders?¡±

    I felt the rumbling snarl he emitted in my bones, but he kept his temper for which I was grateful.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°And¡­ what are you to him?¡±

    ¡°My role is Santa¡¯s assistant,¡± the Krampus said bitterly.

    ¡°But you don¡¯t like him.¡±

    ¡°I do not wish to speak of this any further. The night is at its end. You may eat your meal and then return to your room.¡±

    The Krampus swept out the door and into his own quarters, leaving me alone in the office. I sat in silence, sipping my hot chocolate deep in thought.

    The relationship between the two was strained, but I had yet to figure out why, and it didn¡¯t look like it would be a conversation the Krampus would willingly partake in.

    I realized with a start that the Krampus kind of hated his job. He was basically a middle manager, while Santa appeared to be the equivalent of ¡®Head Office¡¯. Every seasonal retail job I had ever worked swam through my mind as I thought of the endless array of instructions passed down via email by the ¡®superiors¡¯, while the store managers scrambled to find ways to meet all the arbitrary KPIs and took it out on turn to their employees.

    How many measures did the Krampus have to meet up to, and what were his punishments if he failed to achieve them? Was he, too, serving out some kind of sentence here?

    Perhaps I was off the mark with my idea of the goblins overthrowing the Krampus ¨C perhaps it was the Krampus himself who could lead a coup against the reign of Santa. But was he even sentient enough to break out of his programmed role, and if he had developed free will would he even choose that as his path?

    I stacked up my pile of completed paperwork in his out-tray and took my pile of books back to my room. Finally, I felt like I had the beginning of a plan, although it was up to chance whether I¡¯d be able to action it within the remaining ten days before the bonding ceremony.

 BOOK SIX - Chapter Fourteen - Five Golden Rings

    The next morning, the Krampus gave me three hens wearing French berets, and the next four calling birds. Each addition was added to the growing aviary, the noise of which reached my bedroom window and woke me in the early morning.

    I came to curse my Animal Speak ability, their songs turning into a dreadful cacophony of wails about the size of their cage or demands for freedom. What use was an ability when anything I could talk to was just as trapped as I was?

    After each gift-giving ceremony, I was returned to my room until evening, when I would be allowed free reign of the office and the library it contained. I continued to help with the paperwork, partially to give myself a task ¨C any task ¨C to occupy my brain, as well as to try and hurry the Krampus along in his daily duties so I could draw him into conversation.

    ¡°What happens to the gifts each year after they¡¯ve been given?¡± I asked.

    ¡°They are kept and treasured, I suppose,¡± the Krampus shrugged. ¡°It is not my concern what people do with their gifts, only that there are enough made and that purchases each year meet the projections I am given.¡±

    ¡°And if people don¡¯t want a growing collection of nutcrackers? You¡¯re making like¡­ twenty thousand of them.¡±

    The Krampus shrugged. ¡°Why is it of concern to you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve noticed yet, but this world is pretty broken. I¡¯ve been trying to fix it for months, and it¡¯s an evolving situation. If you try think outside of your job role and recognize that there¡¯s like¡­ no recycling system, you might come to recognize that after a few years of this Christmas festival with the rate of production your guys keep up, the entire world will be drowned in junk unless its despawned or dealt with in some other way.¡±

    I saw his eyes glaze over as he tried to process what I was saying but failed, a common issue I encountered whenever I tried to explain things beyond the scope of their comprehension. I suppose an Earthly equivalent would be a religious nutjob trying to describe transcendentalism or the process of karmic reincarnation. Your brain had to bend a little to make room for philosophies outside your experience, and the people in this world often had to try a few times before they could manage true flexibility of thought.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I really like Christmas, in the end,¡± I sighed again.

    ¡°Does anybody?¡± the Krampus asked, and I looked up at him in surprise, trying to decode his twisted features.

    ¡°I mean, I guess its fine for really little kids, if they¡¯re treated nicely and before the expectations and obligations get built up. But after that? It just feels like a lot of pressure. Honestly, I¡¯ve always tried to avoid it.¡±

    Growing up in a broken home with difficult family politics, I¡¯d always tried to work as much as possible each year until I managed to save enough to live independently. I bought something small for my younger half and step siblings out of obligation, though the act was never reciprocated even when they¡¯d become adults. Once I¡¯d grown up, I avoided it as much as possible except for the odd Hallmark movie. It felt like a strange sense of nostalgia for a life I¡¯d never had, seeing sweet romances play out on screen and the unappreciated city girl finding a home and a family in a small Christmas themed town populated with hot lumberjacks.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°And that is why you are here,¡± the Krampus pointed out. ¡°To pay for your disobedience.¡±

    He paused for a second, looking me up and down.

    ¡°This is the first time I have seen you.¡±

    I cocked my head to the side. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°You said you usually try to avoid Christmas, but this is the first time I have punished you. If you had avoided Christmas before, I would have apprehended you before. What can you mean by this?¡±

    I waited, seeing if any further connections would slide into place in his mind, but he simply waited for an answer. Perhaps it would be too much to expect, that he would suddenly realize he had been spawned into the world with a memory of events that had not necessarily happened.

    ¡°This is my first Christmas here,¡± I said. If I explained it all, his eyes would glaze over again, I was sure of it. But if I proposed the problem for him to figure out on his own, perhaps he would develop the thought processes necessary to think outside of the box.

    Nightfall had explained it once as new brain connections being made. Old habits were hard to break, and old ways of thinking were even harder. Beliefs about the world or about oneself were difficult to override, but just like learning a language, exposure and experience made it easier over time.

    ¡°It is time for bed,¡± he said suddenly, dismissing me once again.

    The next morning, I woke early and was summoned once again to the courtyard where the Krampus presented me with five golden rings. He placed them loosely on my fingers, and they shrunk to size, the costuming and accessory system Jenny had developed allowing the rings to alter to fit the size of the wearer.

    They glittered in the light on my fingers, and I looked at them consideringly although it wasn¡¯t until I was escorted back to my room and the door locked behind me that I figured out where I had seen them before.

    I gazed down at the photo frame picturing the Krampus, Krampina and Santa and counted ten identical rings adorning the Krampus¡¯ wife¡¯s fingers.

    My heart pounded in my chest as I realized why the Krampus hated speaking about her so much. Why he had such a deep loathing towards Santa, who stood so confidently at his side in the image in my hands.

    It was like the original Kristina, the one Krampina was modelled from. The themes from James¡¯ stories must have been woven into her personality.

    Krampina never would have made a loyal wife to the Krampus ¨C she was a cheating bitch, and she¡¯d left him for the wealth and riches that the greediest man in the land could bestow upon her.

    I was still holding the photo frame hours later, when the Krampus opened the door to my room and invited me into the office. He noted the picture in my hands and let out a muffled cry of genuine pain.

    I stared at him, thinking numbly of the deep scars Bruiser carried in his heart from Elise ¨C his lost love who was only written into his past to give him a tragic backstory; or Jackal¡¯s lost parents, who were there only due to the ¡®accident-prone¡¯ tag that had been attached to his character sheet; or Bastion and how he¡¯d struggled with an alcoholism trait he didn¡¯t understand until we had gone into the data that built him and managed to alter it.

    The Krampus was never going to have a happy marriage ¨C he and his wife were designed for each other, but not to be compatible. They were designed specifically to play out a story of misery, heartbreak and loneliness ¨C feelings that a teenage boy had once poured onto a page and an AI robot had formed her personality and view of the world around.

    I took a breath and levelled the Krampus with a serious look. ¡°We need to talk.¡±