POV: Runa
It was some minutes into the seventh night hour. Day 7 of Kai Drake’s schedule. That would make it… she did the math in her head. About 2am on December 17th. Both Kai Drake and Facilitator Mio would be better off if they submitted to her manipulation. Free will was wasted on other people.
Her body was healing. She left the laces on the side of her dress a little loose. If they were too tight and she was still healing from burning off a chunk of her body. A dress made a few odd indentations obvious. She had to add more to her body, it was slow without the proper ingredients, and she didn't trust the Chthonic Elves' food.
There was only so much one could do in a day before the body and brain couldn’t keep up. Hormones or glands maybe. Her ignorance was shameful and in Tenka, expected.
Tenka didn’t know a lot of biology or chemistry. The most scientifically advanced minds in Tenka would be weak blue beads compared to Earth college sophomores.
They were coming up on the most contrived destination on the Hero’s prophecized list. Other prophecy requirements were progressing nicely. Runa congratulated herself on forceful negotiations with the Chthonic Elf slavers. The new air sled would count as a “gift from the elves”, as prophecy required. The real gift was supposed to be a sword and it was supposed to have been from the Queendom where elves were like Sayaka. True Elves. Drake wanted a straighter route though and they had still fallen behind schedule from it. Nothing takes more time than an unknown shortcut.
Other prophecy items were getting taken care of. Drake had ‘proven himself a champion’ in the arena. She had proven herself ‘a mighty wizard’ with her laser. That still left trials for Sayaka and Baggage.
Sayaka would be fine, ‘deadly warrior’ was all she did with her life. Baggage was tricky. She was actually doing very well, considering the context. She was supposed to help the hero talk to people like the elves and the scattered human villages. The prophecy called it as them ‘following her word’. Instead, she was thrust into situations no one dreamed she would ever be in and nobody would be listening to anything she said.
Admittedly, the control the woman had over her qi was remarkable. She should be leaking emotion and magic. If anything, it was almost like she was pulling more in.
Ohhhhh no. She might actually be doing that!
It would explain why Kai was behaving like a gentleman in front of three lovelies. It probably also explained why that elf slaver hadn’t done anything awful. Baggage had been skimming off their more primal urges and containing them within herself.
Runa did some more math in her head. Yeah. About a day or two more of this and there would have to be an intervention or something bad would happen. Details were untested because eromancers weren’t known for this kind of behavior. They were a libertine bunch, the Facilitator candidates were exceptions.
Runa stood up and walked out of the spacious and elegant coach she shared with Baggage. Chthonic Elves traveled in style. As expected, the sound of the latch woke Sayaka up and she had her daggers ready.
“Sayaka”, Runa whispered.
The assassin put her daggers away and crossed her arms. That must mean, “you woke me up so make it good or I’ll get stabby.”
“Its about Baggage.”
Sayaka didn't move.
“She’s still holding in her qi.”
Sayaka did not seem to feel that speaking was required.
“She’s holding too much in. Something bad will happen.”
“Runa, if you’re about to tell me she’ll burst with sex energy, I’m quitting. The demons can win. The world won’t deserve to live.”
“No one knows what will happen. It won’t be lewd. It’ll be a bad thing. She’ll probably explode.”
“What do you want me to do about it?”
“Can you convince Drake-san to let her release with moderation?”
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Sayaka rolled her eyes.
Runa said, “Then if you see the bad thing start to happen, kill Baggage.”
Sayaka grunted, “What will the bad thing look like?”
“I don’t know. It's one of the oldest magics known and there aren't any signs of it happening before. People give in to these urges or meditate. I thought she’d be releasing it accidentally in small doses days ago. Nobody’s done this before.”
“That makes sense,” Sayaka said. “You humans are perverts.”
Well, she wasn’t completely wrong, was she?
- - -
POV: Drake
It was the early afternoon of Day 7. One week left. The tower they were approaching was supposed to be a halfway point, the new air sled was faster and they had driven past a goblin patrol with no issue. All they had to do was keep their heads covered.
When they arrived at the tower, it was uninteresting. It looked like an old stone tower on top of a hill. No trees. There was some snow on the ground, it was colder here. Maybe a few inches.
“OK, we made it. What’s next?” Drake asked Sayaka.
“There’s a path up ahead,
We go down it take a right, that’ll point us north west.”
“No!” Runa yelled from the coach. “Get out and walk to the tower.”
“What’s the point? We came here, now let’s leave.” Drake said.
He felt someone poke him, he jumped and almost lashed out, but he felt his mind clear.
“I fell for a trap, didn’t I?” Drake asked.
“It’s OK,” said Baggage. She was gripping one of her braids.
Sayaka held out her hand and Baggage touched it and Sayaka looked around quickly.
“How do you do that?” he asked.
“Eromancy. Body. Mind. Soul.” Baggage shrugged. She held onto her braid.
“Why are you covering up those beads? Are they the wrong shade of blue or something?” Drake caught himself. After all, she had just taken a brain curse off of him. “I mean, are you OK, Baggage?”
That was not smooth. He was bad at this.
She nodded her head. “Yes, they’re the wrong shape and the wrong shade. I know that sounds childish. You probably think I’m being stupid.”
“Yeah,” Drake admitted. Then he caught himself again. “I…”
He was at a loss for words. Baggage gave him time.
“I’m not used to owning my own things anymore,” he said. “I don’t get why you’re upset. You’ll get the beads replaced soon enough. But I understand it bothers you. Like having crumbs down your shirt.”
His voice dropped off. The were all staring at him. Taunting him. This kind of shit was why he wanted to stay away from everyone.
“They’re just beads!” he snapped and walked away. Then he stopped himself. He didn’t look at her. “Baggage… shit. Never mind.”
He walked away, faster this time.
Runa raced through the snow to catch up.
“How the hell did you manage to have two kids with an attitude like that?” Runa said.
“Hey, Runa? Get fucked.”
Runa said something under her breath, doubtless obscene.
“What are we doing here anyway?” Drake asked.
“You’re kidding,” Runa rubbed her eyes with one hand.
“No. What?” Drake said.
“I’ve explained it to you at least twice!” Runa sounded very tired.
“I doubt I was listening,” Drake said. “You throw a lot of information at me.”
“Very well.” she pointed a finger at the tower. “Tower! Tow! Er!”
“I get it Runa, you’re upset.”
Baggage and Sayaka caught up to them.
“What’s going on?” asked Sayaka.
“This part is complicated, he might have misremembered parts,” suggested Baggage.
“No!” said Runa loudly. “It is not. There is a shield in there. We four go in and get it. We walk out with it.”
“So what’s the big deal?” asked Drake.
“It’s not really in this universe and there’s only one,” explained Runa.
“Wait, really? Because there are a lot of universes. I’ve seen them.”
“Yep. Just this. We go in and get it. The longer the shield stays in our universe the more trouble it causes. Don’t worry, it takes months.”
“What happens eventually?”
“We’ve never been dumb enough to find out.” Runa shrugged.
“How do we know it’s even there?” asked Drake. What if evil universe duplicates of us take it?”
Baggage shuddered. Runa put an arm around her. “Not possible. Things have to get fairly dramatic to split off a different universe. A single choice won’t cut it. If you wear a different color shirt than intended, nothing happens. Even if a universe splits, the new one will get reabsorbed into the old one.”
“There are movies and TV shows that say otherwise.” Drake rebutted.
“Drake! No. We will not see duplicates of ourselves. Even if we do, they’ll be a quick copy of us. A brief cosmic wobble. They won’t have long-term memories. We wait a minute and they’ll evaporate. Just get the shield.”
“Fine. Let’s get it over with.”
They walked in. Sayaka was first. Drake and Runa were next, glowering at each other. Baggage quietly behind.
Drake said, “Hey, Runa? What happens if your universe is fine, but mine-”
“-?” said both Drakes together.
An ordinary plain shield was on a stone podium in the center of an otherwise empty round stone room, two stories tall. The other group was on the opposite side.
Their Sayaka and Runa were identical, at least on first glance. Their Drake had on a red and black plaid flannel shirt.
‘Her’ Drake wore blue and black plaid flannel shirt. Baggage was still wearing the blue Chthonic Elf dress with a white shirt covering her midriff, and she was gripping the place on her braid that had the wrong beads.
Their Baggage had on a red umber dress of a somewhat similar cut, though her midriff was bare, and one of her braids had a diamond bead.
Also, their Baggage was being held in a princess carry by their Drake, her arms wrapped around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.
“,” said both Runas.
