I sat in a small room, in a small chair, brooding. I'm ashamed to say I was feeling rather sorry for myself. I should have been euphoric over what Tamamo insisted was a pretty nice victory, taking down the seals. For a brief moment, I'd enjoyed that feeling, having accomplished exactly what we'd set out to do with my motley crew of adventurers. Our joy at our accomplishment had lasted precisely thirty seconds before all but myself and Promestein were injured. Monsters are a hardy bunch, and Yamatai had decent healers, so there was no reason to worry too much about Gabriella, Nanabi, and Cindy, but I still hated to see my friends hurt. In the face of the kind of power the Ancestors wielded, they had lasted no more than ten seconds on the battlefield. Gabriella and Nanabi had gone down in the opening seconds. Cindy had tried to charge in, but took a blow to the head from Kanon that put her out.
I stared at the apparition in front of me. I'd made myself a life sized hologram of Ilias for reasons I didn't quite understand. I'd often played at making little holograms of my favorite superheroes, or Darth Vader, just for laughs, but this was my first attempt at a life size, non-cartoonish figure. Ilias' features were seared into my memory, so I thought I'd done a really good job. This wasn't just screwing around time, Gabriella had instructed me to try to make ever more complex illusions, thinking that the discipline of illusion might be an area of study we'd explore someday. You know, back when we thought we had all the time in the world to teach me magic.
I probably should have been concerned at the reaction of someone walking in on me and seeing this, given that the sight of Ilias would probably alarm my friends, but Tamamo's entrance told me that I needn't have worried.
"You shouldn't waste it," the kitsune said.
"Oh, don't worry," I assured her. "I'm not even sure this is depleting me. I'm using so little to create this that it's regenerating as fast as I use it."
"Really?" Tamamo said. "That's good. That means it can grow stronger, like a muscle. I wish we'd had you working out with it more over the past year. Alice and I discussed it but we decided that you'd been through so much that we should let you enjoy your new life. After a year had passed, we decided it was time for you to start getting serious again."
I tried not to think about how I'd wasted the last year. How could any of us have known? Despite the predicament we were in now, I was grateful that I'd had the chance to experience such bliss. And really, the training hadn't been unpleasant. Alice seemed to have taken great care to not get me instructors that would be too hard on me. Although I suspected give her reputation that Salamander had indeed gone soft.
"Can you add auditory elements to it?" she asked.
"You mean like sounds?" I asked.
She nodded. I grabbed the tiniest bit of my power and concentrated. The figure of Ilias put her hands on her hips and glared at me. "Luka, can't you do anything right?!"
Tamamo laughed. It was a deeper, throaty laugh than the Tamamo I was used to. She was herself again, the form she had possessed for thousands of years.
"So why did you choose to do an illusion of Ilias?" Tamamo asked. "Is she in your nightmares a lot?"
"Actually, no," I replied. "I don't recall ever dreaming about her except when she was entering my dreams to say the same thing over and over and just leave."
"No nightmares about our old adversary, huh?" she mused. "Any nightmares about the terrifying angels you faced, or the chimeras?"
"Nope. All the nightmares are from early in our journey, when I didn't have the spirits."
"That could be it," Tamamo reasoned. "it was tougher on you when you only had your natural reflexes and garbage combat skills to rely on. Or, it could be that your nightmares aren't really about the beings that attacked you at all. They're about Alice."
I looked at Tamamo. I didn't like the implications of that at all, but I had to admit that she might be right. I decided to change the subject.
"So Ilias would just say hello, remind me I was supposed to kill the monster lord, maybe give me a quick pep talk, and then left," I said. "That Dark God, she's a talker."
"I don't think you'll see her again in your dreams," Tamamo told me. "It sounds like she's done negotiating with you. Have to say, I'm impressed. She was never the negotiating type."
"She says she respects my power, but she also insists I can't possibly win."
"Quantity and quality," Tamamo replied. "She's got more, and she's better at using it. But we beat Ilias with the help of your power. If we all work together like we did then, with your power supplementing us, we can beat the Dark God as well."
"That must be why she wanted to take me one on one," I mused. "She didn't even hesitate. No long villain speech, no taunting, just BOO! and blasted me. If I hadn't had Gnome up I'd be dead."
"That goes to show you the price of a mental lapse," Tamamo noted. "You remembered to summon up the spirits right at the start of the fight. I was worried about that since you hadn't used them in awhile. But yes, she lured you in so that she could eliminate you. With you no longer a factor, we'd have no chance."
"I was worried that if someone came in they might be alarmed," I said. "Was my illusion so bad that it didn't fool you?"
"My nose knows," Tamamo explained. "Your illusion has no smell. Since you probably have no way of knowing how Ilias smelled except what you'd remember from your limited human olfactory senses, you'd probably never be able to create an illusion that could fool a monster. Even if you did, kitsunes know illusion."
"Ah, yes, I remember!" I said. "One of your cute little subordinates, a two tailed fox, tried to fool me with one. It was pretty basic, her copies of herself couldn't move, so when she blinked…"
"Yeah, two tailed kitsunes don't have too much power," she replied. "I, on the other hand, can make like Erubetie and create several copies of myself so real that they could actually hurt you. Or make you very, very happy. What I really want to learn how to do is create illusions of myself that can function without me present. That way I could leave a copy of myself here in Yamatai even when I'm away on other business."
"So are we going to try to take back the castle anytime soon? I heard there were artifacts of great power there, Aren't we worried about that?"
"A little," the kitsune conceded. "but here's the thing about 'great artifacts of power'. No artifact is ever more powerful than the one who created it. It's a basic law of magic. Since the Ancestors and the Dark God are the most powerful beings on the planet, none of those artifacts are particularly useful to them. I still worried enough to catalog in my head what was there, in case there was something with a specific, unusual use that could be dangerous to us. It's all just your standard crap, though. Wands that shoot lightning bolts, rings that allow teleportation, mind control helmets… But the Ancestors can all do those kinds of things without needing outside help."
"Staffs of great power?" I asked, smiling.
"Those too," she said. "Promestein couldn't resist telling me how she got you good with that one."
"She did," I said. "I read a lot of fantasy novels. I love those kinds of quests."
"I'm afraid there's nothing like that to find," Tamamo explained. "Everything dangerous in the world is either at the Monster Lord's castle, here in Yamatai under my care, or spread around the world like the orbs, if it's a case where you need to collect multiple items to be able to do something. Those kinds of artifacts, it's better to spread them out than keep them all in one place, even if that makes them individually less secure. Some random, wealthy human couple was walking around with the red orb for years, but that's okay, since it's useless without the other five. That's not to say their access to those artifacts isn't a worry. They can use them to equip their army. Those artifacts can upgrade a few hundred of the more powerful monsters to the point where any one of them could be a match for a Heavenly Knight. That's not something that will happen overnight, so I'm not worried yet. Besides, the really good stuff isn't in the castle. It's here. You're only the third person to know that. If you want a quest for a staff of power that bad, find my secret closet and try to get in there. In all seriousness, if I can think of something you can use that would help, I'll give it to you without hesitation. I trust you completely, Luka. By the way, nice job of maintaining that illusion while you're distracted by me."
I had actually forgotten about it, but Ilias was still there, with her hands on her hips, staring me down with disapproval.
Alice entered the room, also without knocking. She too barely glanced at the illusion. "Well hello to you two," Alice said. "Are we talking about his mental lapse during that battle?"
"Which one?" Tamamo asked, laughing. "Cut him some slack, he doesn't have our tactical vision."
"Maybe not," Alice conceded, "but 'let's chase the succubus into the dark cave' was next level idiocy. The lady beckons him to follow, so of course he follows. It would be hard to imagine someone being that stupid."
I knew by now that her berating of me while making fun of me was a defense mechanism to avoid talking about how scared she must have been. That desperate fear for my safety had been the only reason she got to me in time. She'd teleported into the cave and come looking for me the second she heard the rumbling.
A fourth person entered the room, Granberia. "Ilias!" she shouted, her sword coming out of its scabbard in a flash.
"I stand corrected," Alice snarked. "Granberia, use your nose."
"Do not make fun of me," Granberia said sheepishly. "I knew it before you said it. My combat reflexes are simply faster than my sense of smell, that's all."
"You look so much better," I said.
"I feel better," Granberia replied. "I could use some more rest, to be sure. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for the big battle. I did not see the effects of the breaking of the seals because I was indoors at the time."
"It was just a skirmish," Tamamo said. "Inconclusive. Hopefully it never comes to a huge battle. That little scrap did plenty of damage to the local environment."
"When do we march on the castle?" Granberia asked.
"No time soon," Alice replied. "We can't possibly take it back as long as they occupy it. I'm still so mad that we just all left like that and they just waltzed in."
"As I told you, Alice," Tamamo said. "it wasn't some grand plan on their part. I knew it was a possibility, which is why I encouraged you all to return constantly, but somehow they found out the castle had no Monster Lord or Knights within hours of Granberia leaving. They seized an opportunity, that's all. The castle's a hindrance as much as it is a help. Promestein's surveillance devices, which I'd note she never told us she was installing before she did it, keep me constantly apprised of who is in the castle. They need at least two Ancestors there at all times to hold it, which means they can't be out recruiting. If they do all leave, we'll teleport in ourselves and it's ours again without a fight. I'll telepathically contact you all if the opportunity arises. In the meantime, you should all return to your posts later on today. We'll meet back here every three days for updates. Assuming that's fine with you, Monster Lord."
Alice seemed to bridle at Tamamo taking charge, but recognized that Tamamo understood this situation far better than she did. "It is the wisest course," Alice agreed.
"How many are they keeping there?" Granberia asked. "Just the minimum, or are they devoting more resources to holding it?"
"The last report I received from Promestein were that four were there," Tamamo replied. "Hiroku is the only one not present, more about that in a moment. The Dark God, we don't know where she is."
Alma Elma and Erubetie crowded into the small room. "Hey, you guys aren't having a meeting without us, are you?" Alma Elma asked.
"Nah," Tamamo replied. "We were going to have it in the main hall, but since you're all here, we can do it now. I'll keep it short. I've received a report that the Northern Sea Queen is dead. Hiroku is now occupying the shrine."
"What?!" Alice cried. "There are powerful sea monsters in the Northern Seas! Have they pledged their loyalty to that usurper?"
"Unfortunately, we have no one there who can communicate with us telepathically, so I don't know," Tamamo reported. "The seas are a vast, chaotic place. It will take a long time to rein them all in if that's Hiroku's intention. Most of the monsters down there don't know you and they don't really know or care about her. She'll have to force them to submit and serve her. That will take time and she may take some lumps in the process. There are some BIG monsters down there that aren't used to taking orders from anyone."
"Plansect Forest has pledged loyalty to you, Monster Lord," Erubetie said. "I worry about individual traitors after my own experience with one of my most trusted children, but the masses support you."
"Thank you, Erubetie," Alice said. "Send my regards to the queens of Plansect. Their loyalty won't be forgotten."
"I'm a lot more concerned about my area," Alma Elma said. "None of the Ancestors have been there, but those carnivorous species in Lady's Village are only barely accepting of the new way of doing things. The succubi are quite a bit happier, but I know my people well enough to not trust them for a moment. I hate to say it, but their village is already what the Dark God wants for the most part."
"Grand Noah?" Tamamo asked, prompting Granberia.
"Oh, yes," Granberia seemed to snap out of it. She had let her attention wander. Probably the painkillers. "Nothing new to report. The monsters love the humans and have been grateful for their acceptance. It is unlikely that the Dark God will find many supporters there."
"Grangold seems solid as well," Alice said. "I mean, I think so, anyway. The Queen Ant is hard to read. She accepted making peace with the humans but I can tell she still resents them. Understandable, given what she and her children went through. I have no doubt that the Dark God will be eager to have a conversation with her at some point."
"I guess that gets us up to date then!" Tamamo said. "Unofficial meeting unofficially adjourned!"
"I see that I'm still being excluded," Promestein noted, walking in.
"This surprises you?" Granberia asked.
"Not at all," Promestein replied, grinning. "I'm only a little miffed because I'm an important piece of the puzzle here. Assuming, of course that you still want those sealing devices."
"How is that coming along?" Alice asked.
"It's not," Promestein said with exasperation. "You aren't eager to take back the castle but you seem to have forgotten that my lab is there. I saved what I could, but trying to do the work here is going to take forever."
"I've been thinking about that," Tamamo interjected. "I think I can get you a decent lab here in Yamatai. You'll get a great assistant out of the deal as well."
"I'm used to working alone, but I guess it couldn't hurt," Promestein replied. "When do I get to inspect this lab?"
"Now seems like a good time, " Tamamo replied. "Come on, you too, Luka! You'll want to meet this guy!"
Promestein and I followed Tamamo, Alice joining us. As we walked through Yamatai village, people constantly stopped us to give Tamamo and Alice food. It was good to see that despite what had transpired here a year ago, the humans still liked the monsters. I'd been told that the level of trust had been sharply diminished due to the monster population's betrayal, but since no one had been killed, the people had been mostly forgiving. Tamamo had cautioned me that the good relations were mainly on the surface. Only the kitsunes still truly held the people's trust, having refused to rape anyone during the Black Alice takeover. Offerings to the kitsune temple had tripled in the last year, while offerings to the lamia temple had declined by half. One type of offering that had actually increased at the lamia temple, however, were men offering themselves for the lamias' carnal enjoyment.
Tamamo led us to a small house and knocked on the door. The door was answered by a young, handsome man with Asian features, not unusual in Yamatai Village, where more than half of the villagers, as well as half of the monsters, were of Japanese descent. His hair was a bit on the long side, and he wore a Metallica T-shirt. Where had he gotten that?
Walking in, it looked like a teenage gamer's room. Posters were everywhere, along with a good amount of computer equipment. Comic book memorabilia was everywhere. A Batman cowl on the wall, a model Millenium Falcon, a vintage He-man action figure on a shelf facing off against a Skeletor. He even had a DVD collection, mostly science fiction and superhero movies, with a Hannah Montana: the Movie DVD sticking out like a sore thumb. I had to know where all this came from. As far as I knew, no human from here had ever been to my world.
Tamamo answered the question before I could ask it. "Didn't you ever wonder why I liked to shop so much when I joined you two? I was buying souvenirs for my buddy!"
"I'm Hiro, by the way," the young man said, holding out his hand to me. I shook it, grateful to be able to actually shake hands with someone on this world.
"Hiro?" Alice said, raising an eyebrow. "You're actual name is Hiro?"
"Yeah," he said, laughing. "But don't read too much into it. There were almost no Ilias worshippers here in Yamatai. I never thought about getting baptized. My parents just called me that to call me that. It's not an uncommon name in Yamatai."
"So you're into stuff from my world?" I asked.
"Oh!" Hiro said, just realizing it. "You're that guy! Luka! I know you've been here before, but I never got a chance to meet you! This is such an honor! Yeah, man, I love your world, it's so cool! Tamamo wired me for high speed internet and brings me stuff whenever she gets a chance to visit your world."
"In exchange, he's become my little local tech guy," Tamamo explained. "He's even better than most of the kitsunes. He's a real prodigy! I only needed to set him up! He can fix anything!"
"This place is… not bad," Promestein mused, looking around. "Not like my lab at the castle, but I can probably get things done here."
"Hiro will be a useful assistant for you," Tamamo said. "Don't mistreat him."
I looked around more and saw a collection of katanas. "You're also into swords?" I asked. "I know someone who loves swords."
"If you're talking about using them, no," Hiro said ruefully. "I just love martial arts movies, and swords are something I can actually buy here. I also design them, and other things too. My ambition is to be like that guy who designs stuff for Batman, or James Bond. Here, check this one out. Genuine dragonsteel. I think maybe three humans in the entire world own a dragonsteel sword."
I couldn't tell dragonsteel from aluminum, personally, but I held the sword and took a small practice swing. I had never actually swung Granberia's sword, it was a little heavy for my tastes. A lot heavy if I'm being honest. But I could tell that the sword was extremely well made.
"This is a quality sword, at least the balance," I said. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about metallurgy."
"Aw, bro, I've really been getting into that! Dragonsteel is the shit, man."
"I think I'm going to go get some food," Alice said. "I'm getting a headache. I can't deal with two people speaking idiot it in the same room."
Hiro stared, abashed, as Alice left. "I didn't piss her off, did I?"
"No," I assured him. "she annoys easily, she doesn't have a problem with you. But you do sound almost like you're a native of my world."
"Gee, thanks, man," he said, laughing. "I really love the hip way they talk there. The way people talk in Yamatai is so lame. So's the music."
"Metal fan?" I asked, noting his shirt.
"Rock on!" he said, making a horns symbol. I was loving this guy. It reminded me that except on my brief visits to my world or my adopted hometown, I almost never interacted with men anymore.
"If you two are sufficiently acquainted," Promestein said. "It's time to get to work."
"Oh, I can't right now, I've got a date," Hiro said. "We can start tomorrow!"
"You can start tomorrow," Promestein said. "I'll be working all night."
"I can cancel if it's really important," Hiro said.
"It's extremely important," Promestein said. "The fate of the world is at stake."
"No bullshit?" Hiro said. "It's like that? And you want me to help?"
"It would be nice," Promestein said. "But go on your date and get rested. I like to work alone, anyway. We'll see how smart you are and how helpful you are tomorrow."
"I really appreciate it… um?"
"Promestein," she said.
"She's an angel," Tamamo explained.
"An angel?" Hiro said skeptically, before just accepting it as just another cool thing. "Awesome. You've got wings?"
"I do," Promestein said. "But you'll never see them unless we're doing something your girlfriend wouldn't approve of."
"Gotcha," he said. There was a knock on the door.
"Oh, that might be my date!" he said excitedly and went to answer it.
Standing in the doorway was not one date, but three monster girls.the Akaname sisters!
"THOSE are your girlfriends?" I asked in wonder.
"What can I say, bro?" he replied. "I got game."
He walked out arm in arm with the three giggling monster girls. What monster race were those girls, anyway?
I checked on my companions who had been hurt in yesterday's battle. They were all in good spirits and happy to see that I was well. They asked me what we were going to be doing next. I had no idea, of course. As far as I knew, I had no job, which seemed to be the norm for me. Maybe Alice or Tamamo would give me a task later. I didn't enjoy spending all of my time tucked safely away doing the equivalent of throwing a ball against a wall while I brooded. I may not have been a big fan of dangerous adventures, but it was better than spending all my time letting my thoughts run wild.
The day passed as if nothing was going on in Yamatai Village. That's mostly how Yamatai had spent the last war. The takeover had been quick and sudden, but afterwards the humans had reconciled themselves to their new masters and had not resisted. The fear of far worse masters if they did may have had a lot to do with that. There had been absolutely no damage, no deaths, no rebuilding necessary. I imagined the scene here was the same in all of the human villages and cities. At least for the moment, human society was untouched. I hoped fervently that we could end this before the conflict drew in the humans and the heavens in what would be an even more destructive Second Great Monster Wars.
I gratefully went to bed with Alice that night in a small room in Tamamo's house. I had never considered the possibility that she had a house of her own. It was modest and quite nice. I hadn't slept in a bed, or with my wife, in a few days. It was a small piece of heaven after two nights sleeping outdoors.
"Is there anything you want me doing tomorrow?" I asked. Hoping for a job to do. Anything to contribute would have been nice.
"Nope," she said. "Didn't you get enough excitement facing the Dark God alone?"
"It's not about excitement," I said. "it's about being useful."
"There's only one thing you can do that no one else can, darling," Alice said. "Just help out Promestein and Hiro for now. Your time will come, believe me."
That wasn't much. I was a decent tech guy, but far from a scientist. I was sure even in computer skills, those two were far more knowledgeable than I was.
"Oh, Alice," I said, just remembering something. "There's something you should know that I forgot to tell you. The Dark God tried to change me into a kitten. It didn't work. She said Ilias must have given me protection from that."
"Protection from transmutation?" Alice asked. "Wow. It's probably still because of that mind block. Changing a human into something not human requires changing their mind as well. A human brain can't fit inside a kitten. It would be a funny looking kitten with an enormous head."
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Interesting."
"Glad to be with your wife tonight?" she asked sweetly.
"Very," I said. "I was afraid it would be a long time before we got to spend the night together again."
"This might be the last for awhile," Alice said. "and I'm hungry. I know I usually just do whatever to you when I'm hungry, but maybe you should pick."
"No, go ahead, Alice," I said. "Whatever you want. I'm fine. I don't want you to be afraid to touch me."
"You're sweet, but I know how you've been, lately," she said. "C'mon, anything. 'No', is not in my vocabulary tonight."
"How about my current favorite?"
"Ah, the best way to eat!" she said happily. "Is it okay if I get aggressive with it?"
"Sure."
Nevertheless, she started out teasing, with long, soft licks, occasionally wrapping her tongue part of the way around my shaft and squeezing. She sucked the head of my penis softly, almost as if she was kissing me. After a few minutes of that she got serious and wrapped her tongue all the way around, twisting it to cause a sensation of rotation all around my shaft. I gasped and moaned in pleasure.
"I can hear you two!" Tamamo called from another room.
Alice looked sheepish and unwrapped her tongue, going back to less intense techniques. She didn't seem to understand how to give a mediocre blowjob, however, because even that was causing me to make a lot of noise.
"I can still hear you!" Tamamo yelled again from the other room, laughing this time.
Alice smiled at me and put her finger to her lips. "Shhhhhh…." She said, and went back to work, slowly licking and lightly sucking. I stayed quiet through a few minutes of that until she went deep on me, albeit slowly and gently. I still made a loud moan.
"Get a room!" Tamamo yelled. "Oh wait…"
Alice stopped and looked at me. "Screw it," she said, and dove all the way down hard.
"AHHHHHHH!!!!!! YES! YES! YES!"
Tamamo's laughter from the next room was almost as loud as my sounds of ecstasy.