1-124 Girlfriends
The inn was bustling with activity as dozens of people sat in the common room enjoying drinks, company, or the flirtations of harem girls. Jaina didn't feel much like playing as she lay on cushions at Roric and Rajeen's feet. Gisley and Evalynn were sitting beside her, talking merrily about returning to Rosemary's garden to see how her flowers turned out.
She let out a sigh and listened to the chatter of the inn as people went about their lives. She noted that the inn was becoming a popular hub for players who identified it as a base of power in the city. The Prince and Princess often put in appearances with their harem, and so did a local duke. New Eden was a magical place full of delights and fun, and Jaina enjoyed being here. But somehow, she had fallen in love with a woman who belonged to another harem and then managed to hurt her.
She played with the tassel of a cushion as she thought back to her hurtful words as she told Heather that Hezzrigozza thought she was a monster. She didn’t mean it as an attack on the vulnerable woman. She was only trying to help explain the frightening situation they had found themselves in. Heather shut down and turned her back on Jaina while demanding to be sent home. Jaina pleaded with Heather not to be angry with her, but Heather only repeated that she wanted to go. Gisley sent them out of the dream as Jaina felt abandoned. She had moped about it all day until Roric decided that going to the inn might be good for them. So now she was here, where everyone else was having fun, but all Jaina could think of was Heather turning her back and demanding to go.
A soft hand ran up her side as a woman fell in behind her, clutching at her tightly as she turned over. Soft petals greeted Jaina's lips as Heather pressed down in an intimate embrace.
“Hannah?” Jaina gasped when the kiss was over. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to reassure you that I am not mad at you,” Heather replied nervously as she clung tighter.
“Why are you so clingy?” Jaina asked as she noticed she could feel the softness of Heather’s breasts. “Umm, not that I mind, but you have no top on.”
“I know,” Heather groaned. “Why do you think I am clinging to you so tightly?” She paused and shook her head before explaining that Quinny had made the mistake of insisting Frank do something to challenge them. His solution was to take them all to the inn topless, and she had just crossed a crowded room with her breasts out.
“Oh, this is not the meeting I was expecting,” Jaina said with a relieved smile. “I was so worried you were angry at me.”
“I wasn't angry at you at all,” Heather replied, throwing a leg over Jaina. “I just needed time to think. Too much had happened too quickly, and I started to overload. Then you told me about what your voice said, and I couldn't take anymore.”
“I am so sorry,” Jaina replied. “I should have kept that to myself until later when you had a clearer mind.”
“No, you did the right thing,” Heather replied as the two lay side by side, looking into each other's eyes. “I was a wreck for a long while, but Frank and the others held me, and then Frank arranged a fun dream to help us relax. I have had some time to think about it and realized you had to be hurt by how I left. I ran into Chandice on the way in, and she said, “You were worried we broke up.”
“I was sure of it,” Jaina said, nearly choking up. “You were so hurt by what I said.”
“No, I was overwhelmed,” Heather reassured and took a deep breath. “I should explain something about my current point of view. For the longest time, I have wanted nothing but to escape New Eden. Now I want to stay and enjoy my life with my family, but I have a past I can't remember, and everything I learn about it tells me one thing.”
“What’s that?” Jaina asked.
“That everybody I love is in danger by being near me,” Heather replied. “And your comment about destroying a whole world just pushed the wrong buttons.”
“I am so sorry,” Jaina replied. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“I know,” Heather said as the two lay facing one another. “I just worry I might hurt you and everyone else someday.”
“I don't believe you would ever hurt any of us willingly,” Jaina countered. “If half of Quinny's stories are to be believed, you bend over backward to help people. I have seen it firsthand myself now. You even used your seductions to charm rogues rather than let Breanne slaughter them.”
“Well, I was trying to end a tense situation,” Heather agreed. “I was hoping to fix it before Frank got involved.”
“Oh, right,” Jaina said with a smile. “So, did he punish you?”
“Yes, thank you so much for suggesting how,” Heather said sarcastically.
“Ha, did he really spank you?” Jaina laughed.
“He gave me a choice,” Heather grumbled. “Grounded for a week or a good firm spanking. I chose the latter.”
“And, did you enjoy it?” Jaina teased as Heather blushed. “Oh, you are enjoying this new role.”
“Anyway,” Heather interjected. “I was hoping to see you here so I could reassure you and because I wanted to ask you some questions about this voice you hear.”
“What about it?” Jaina asked.
“What is it? Heather said. “How did you come to start hearing it, and who is it?”
Jaina smiled as she could see Heather was struggling to understand the nature of her connection. She decided to explain the whole thing, starting with how she met the dragon and what she did to earn its trust. She then explained the magical tattoo and allowed it to show so Heather could examine it.
“It’s beautiful,” Heather said while tracing the pattern with a finger. “I kind of wish I had one.”
“Ha, don’t tempt him,” Jaina remarked. “I am pretty sure he could build a harem if he wanted.”
“How does he contact you?” Heather asked as she dared to trace the lines across Jaina's breast.
“He’s usually listening to everything,” Jaina replied. “He can hear what I hear, see through my eyes, even feel what I am feeling. He is probably listening to us talk about him right now. But he chooses when he wants to talk to me.”
“So, let me get this straight. Roric is your master, Rajeen is also your master, you have a boyfriend I haven't met and two blond girlfriends, plus you are the chosen mate of an ancient dragon?”
“It sounds crazy when you say it like that,” Jaina laughed.
“It is crazy,” Heather laughed with her. “But that’s part of what I like about you.
“Oh, I am so relieved to hear you laughing,” Jaina said before cupping Heather's face to kiss her. “I was so worried you were shattered by that ordeal.”
“I was,” Heather replied. “But I have the best husband in the world, and he held me tight until I could think straight. Then he met with Roric and arranged for Gisley to put us in a happy dream instead of a nightmare.”
“Frank is a great guy,” Jaina agreed. “You are so very lucky. If Roric ever wanted to sell me, I would beg him to sell me to Frank.”
“I hope your marshmallow throwing arm is good,” Heather mumbled, causing Jaina to wonder what that meant. She was interrupted in her thought when Quinny settled in behind Heather to join the snuggle. Breanne and Evalynn settled in right behind Jaina, snuggling into her back as they began to share soft kisses. Gisley and Umtha settled in at their legs, giggling and making sweet eyes at one another.
“Well, this is lovely,” Jaina remarked as they formed one big snuggle pile. “I like our harems being one.”
“We do, too,” Quinny said as she rested her chin on Heather's shoulder.
“I hate to be the one who brings up bad feelings, but did you all talk about what happened?” Jaina asked.
“We did,” Breanne replied. “And we agreed to accept that this was a dead end. None of us know what that place was supposed to be or mean, but we are hopeful future events will shed light on it.”
“Frank is still being funny about it, though,” Heather said. “I swear he saw something he doesn't want to talk about.”
“I don't blame him. Do any of you want to talk about what we saw?” Jaina asked. “I keep trying to forget it.”
“That's partly why I wanted to talk to you about the dragon,” Heather said.
“What dragon?” Breanne asked.
Jaina laughed and explained her relationship to Hezzrigozza for the second time so everyone was up to speed. Only then did they notice her blue tattoo, and for a moment, Jaina was the center of attention as Heather and crew examined every inch of it.
“How does this dragon know so much about Hannah?” Breanne asked, careful to use her fake name.
“He said he was here long before most other races,” Jaina replied. “Long enough to see the world change many times as the visitors evolved it. He also claims that this isn't the original world and that players have destroyed several.”
“So the visitors can’t stop players from obliterating a world?” Heather asked as she lay on her back. Quinny took her opportunity to cup one of Heather’s breasts and snuggled up to it to use as a pillow.
“These are so soft,” Quinny sighed as she settled in.
“They are,” Jaina laughed. “She should go topless more often. The world deserves to see her majesty.”
“My majesty only exists because my husband got hold of the slave panel and boosted them,” Heather complained. “And then he increased them again later. I think he has a thing for big chests.”
“Everybody loves big chests,” Quinny sighed.
“I swear I read that someplace,” Jaina remarked as she tapped her lip. “It escapes me where.”
“Can we please stop talking about my chest and get back on topic,” Heather interjected. “If the visitors are making iterations of the world, then that means the system is fluid, easily changed, yet they can’t seem to undo some changes.”
“Like what?” Jaina asked.
“Like me breaking the sun,” Heather said. “That's been going on far too long. They should have fixed it by now, but they haven't. There are also dead player bodies lying about that aren't vanishing after a respawn. That means that players have the ability to affect permanent change so that the visitors have no choice but to start over with a new world. Probably with tighter rules.”
“Does everybody reset when they start over?” Quinny asked.
“I have no idea,” Heather replied. “But every little fact helps reveal the system behind them. The visitors seem to be setting the worlds into motion but not directly controlling them afterward. When a world becomes too corrupted, they simply create a new one.”
“But then we would all arrive in the world together at one time,” Evalynn suggested. “There would be thousands of people in every spawn.”
“Hmm,” Heather said as she pondered it. “Or they could stagger the spawns to match how you originally spawned in so everyone would feel like they had just arrived.”
“But, if that were the case,” Gisley said as she looked alarmed. “Then, who's to say this is the first world we spawned into? This could be the third one for me and the fourth for Quinny, and we could have gotten here hundreds of years ago.”
“Assuming our memories are wiped each time,” Quinny agreed. “They obviously have the power to wipe memories, or Hannah would still have hers.”
“This is becoming disturbing,” Jaina said as she grew fearful. “I don’t like the idea of the whole world resetting.”
“But why is it your dragon still remembers the past worlds?” Heather asked.
Jaina paused to consider that question and hoped Hezzrigozza would answer it himself. He was strangely silent despite how they were talking about him, so Jaina answered it as best she could. She explained how he had told her that dragons could see and manipulate the world's magic flows, making changes or outright breaking rules. They survived over world resets and kept their memories in the next world.
Heather looked fascinated by that idea and brought up the story Umtha had told them about the dragon knights. Jaina was surprised to learn that Hathlisora had a connection to dragons and had fought against the dragon knights for stealing dragon eggs. She had stolen them back to return them and even rescued imprisoned dragons. Umtha relayed the story of how Heather had once fought the dragon knights in an aerial battle where she was badly wounded. Heather finished her story with a fantastic account of a dragon knight battle where she defeated the knight and faced off against the dragon.
“He said, so it begins,” Heather explained. “And then he said not to trust the woman in the crown because she had betrayed me once before.”
“He said all that?” Jaina was shocked. “And you're wearing it now?”
“I have made this point a hundred times,” Breanne remarked. “So has Frank.”
“It's safe,” Heather insisted and held up her hand. “This ring is actually Hathlisora's panel, and it protects me from the woman's influence. She used to be able to take over when I was weakened, but with the ring on, all she could do was shout advice.”
“We can't be sure about any of that,” Breanne remarked. “And it was that same woman who told you the ring would protect you. You have no actual proof that it does other than the one time she didn't take over when she had the chance.”
“I have to assume she can’t,” Heather said.
“Does she talk to you?” Jaina asked, wondering if it worked like her dragon. Heather said she only ever spoke when Heather was under duress or outright unconscious. Then she would show Heather flashes of her past or maybe future events while delivering instructions or advice.
“Why is she helping you?” Gisley asked, echoing Jaina's sentiment. Heather said the woman was trapped in a prison world, and only Heather could open the door to get her out. This was the mythical Abbadon, a plane of hell rumored to be an inescapable prison. Jaina wasn't sure what to make of that story, but she remembered some hotly debated arguments on the forums. People had asked what the visitors would do with destructive or abusive players. Many suggested they would be sent to a prison world, but nobody could prove Abbadon existed. The strange interfaces that allowed scenes and data from New Eden to stream to the real world only showed a tiny fraction of what was going on. Rumor had it that even that was filtered and censored by the governments, allowing people to see only what they allowed.
They discussed what Hezzrigozza had said for a bit more but gained nothing useful as Jaina didn't have much to say. The topic eventually returned to her dragon tattoo and the decorative ones on her back. Umtha was enthralled by the growing collection of tattoos that marked her escapades in the Love Wood.
“I like the tattoos on your back,” Umtha said and ran a hand over the ornate pattern.
“You get those from playing in the forest,” Jaina remarked. “Some of them offer small magical buffs while you are inside the trees.”
“Do I dare ask how you earn them?” Heather said.
“I am sure you can figure it out,” Jaina replied with a smile.
“That’s how I thought,” Heather replied. “I hope Frank doesn't like tattoos, or he might make us start earning them.” The others laughed and snuggled together as hands wandered, and little kisses were shared.
Jaina couldn’t believe how relieved she felt and how wonderful it was they were all together playing as a group. It was clear they shared a desire to be together and explore a wider relationship but were waiting for Frank to give the ok. They spent the time discussing some of the details of Heather's missing past, with Umtha insisting Heather would never harm them. Then they lightened the mood with Gisley telling her story about Rosemary and how she helped the woman make magical flowers.
“I want to see them,” Quinny said as she leaned over Heather. “You should go sing to them to make them grow better.”
“I suppose I could,” Heather agreed.
“Oh, she would love that!” Gisley squealed. “She came here because she heard about Princess Hannah, the flower singer, and wanted to meet her.”
“She wants to meet me?” Heather asked as Gisley nodded rapidly.
“Maybe you will get to make seeds with her, too,” Quinny teased.
“I think I will pass,” Heather replied. “But I wouldn’t mind seeing the flowers.”
“We should plan a picnic to see her garden,” Breanne suggested, rubbing Evalynn. “Maybe we could spend some time together.”
“Oh, somebody has a girlfriend,” Jain laughed.
“Honestly, aren’t we all girlfriends?” Quinny asked.
Jaina looked around at the women to see not one of them protested and smiled as they silently agreed it was true. She hugged Heather tightly, then turned to hug Quinny and the others. They then sat and talked about the future and Heather’s plans for her city. Heather ordered herself a blue glitter bomb and insisted Gisley share it with her as the fairy woman laughed. It was a fun few hours, but something about it was off. Jaina noticed that Frank seemed unsettled, even irritated, but it seemed to help when he watched the girls. She didn't want to ask Heather about it, so she put it out of her mind for now. Finally, Frank said they needed to go and do city things, so she bid the girls farewell with a hug and settled into Evalynn's lap as she sat against Roric's legs. Rajeen excused herself to check on some things and left the girls to talk among themselves.
“I hope you are feeling better,” Evalynn said as she wrapped Jaina up.
“I do feel better,” Jaina sighed and laid her hand on Evalynn's shoulder. She smiled when Roric reached down and used his claws to comb through her hair, gently messaging her scalp.
“I sense a but in that statement,” Evalynn pressed. “And this hug indicates you are tense about something.”
“It's Frank,” Jaina said. “He seemed distant, maybe even a little upset. At first, I thought it was seeing us all together, but then I noticed that when he watched us, he seemed to soften. No, I think something else is bothering him, and he is trying to keep it bottled up inside.”
“Something is bothering him,” Roric cut in. “He is more troubled by what he saw in that dream than Hannah.”
“But why would he be upset?” Jaina asked and looked up to see Roric take a deep breath as he closed his eyes.
“What I am about to tell you doesn’t leave our group,” he said and looked down. “You don’t even discuss it with Hannah or her sisters.”
“Is it that bad?” Jaina asked as Roric nodded. Gisley tucked in to hear the explanation as Roric looked around to ensure no one else was nearby.
“Frank believes he has been to that nightmare place before,” Roric explained. “He is so certain of it that he insisted the dream was his and not Hannah's.”
“But I took the dream from Hannah’s mind,” Gisley insisted. “It has to be hers.”
“I know,” Roric said as he stroked Gisley’s head. “But Frank knows things about it that you could only know from long experience. He told me that one of the home messages was cut into the rock with his claws. He is certain that one of the other messages is probably Hannahs, and he worries that some of the others are yours.”
“Ours?” Evalynn gasped. “Why would we do such a thing?”
“That part is only speculation,” Roric cautioned. “But the fact remains that he recognizes the place and the pyramid. He says that structure is important to him.”
“This is giving me chills,” Jaina said as she huddled closer. “What happened to those two that they have this shattered past nobody can remember?”
“And when did it happen?” Evalynn asked. “Nobody seems to have any recollection of anything beyond this Hathlisora persona, and those people are few and far between.”
“Umtha knows Hathlisora well, and so does Viylah,” Gisley offered.
“They think Viylah knows Hathlisora, but they do not want her to know Heather might be Hathlisora,” Roric cautioned. “So be very careful about using that name where she might hear.”
“I haven’t really spoken to her, but I think she’s creepy,” Evalynn said. “What kind of player wants to sit in one place and wait for years doing nothing?”
“How does she do it?” Gisley asked. “I would go crazy being that idle.”
“Oh, our poor fairy girl needs lovers to keep her energy up,” Jaina teased.
“You taught me to be like this,” Gisley accused with a smirk. “And you are just as bad.”
“I can’t deny that,” Jaina laughed. “But as a player who is about to become a mimic like her, I can honestly say I have no idea how she does it either. I know she walks the perimeter of the building she pretends to be, talking to people in the graveyard now. Chandice has had a couple of small conversations with her while out collecting ingredients.”
“Frank says Umtha doesn't trust her,” Roric added. “She is very suspicious of the woman's motives.”
“Umtha was Hannah’s lover in her past life,” Evalynn said. “But she never knew about Viylah, who also claims to have been Hannah's lover. That is suspicion enough to warrant a harder look.”
“We are getting off-topic,” Jaina insisted. “So Frank believes this dream is more his than Hannah's, and they have been to this place.”
“He is certain of it,” Roric said.
“Hmm,” Jaina mused as she thought back to the dream. “Now I wish I had paid more attention to the messages on the wall. If I had written one, I would probably have used my absorption to eat the message into the rock. It would have been very distinct and easy to recognize.”
“I could have used a fairy mark,” Gisley said. “It’s a magical mark you can only see by moonlight.”
“What moonlight?” Jaina asked. “That place had no sun, moon, or stars.”
“Would it be worth going back long enough to check?” Evalynn asked.
“No!” Jaina and Gisley said in unison, ending the debate.
“What we need is a return to normal,” Jaina suggested as they settled down. “Serving our master as we are meant to be. It’s been too long since he put us to good use.”
“We have sex every day,” Roric insisted.
“Yeah, but we haven’t done anything interesting recently,” Jaina insisted.
“You want interesting, do you?” Roric asked as she stroked her head.
“Well, something more active, like when we used to level by fighting. When was the last time you used one of us to buff up?” Jaina asked.
“Hmm, I can’t say that I remember,” Roric answered.
“See, we are being neglected,” Jaina teased as he looked up. “Besides, we need to put your new class to use and play with our skills.”
“Yes, the skills,” Roric said as he looked at his three girls. “Jaina, I want you to copy Hannah's succubus form but with darker blue skin and straight horns.”
Oh, are you looking for a little devilish fun?” Jaina teased as her form went gray and became fluid. The mass shifted around until it snapped back into place. It looked like Jaina but with dark blue skin and slits for pupils. She had darker stripes on her arms and legs and a long tail ending in a fork. On her head was a pair of six-inch horns that curled up slightly. Her lips were black as midnight, but her pointed tongue was red and enticing. “How is this, master?” she cooed as Roric stroked her chin.
“Perfect,” Roric said and turned to the others. “Now, you two borrow her shape-changing power and copy her, but Evalynn, I want you to use greens and Gisley to stay your pink hues.”
“Oh, this should be interesting,” Evalynn said as she focused. Jaina pulsed with yellow light for a moment, then Evalynn and Gisley pulsed with it. Evalynn tried first, her form going gray and flowing before taking on an exact copy of Jaina.
“This is actually hard to do,” Evalynn said. “You have to see the form in your mind.” She tried again, and her skin finally took on a dark green with small black spots appearance. Her hair went a softer green but became more curly.
“Oh, I like curly hair on you,” Jaina said, running her fingers through it.
“I wasn’t trying for curly,” Evalynn sighed. “How do you and Hannah make this look so easy?”
“I dunno,” Jaina said with a shrug. “It just works.”
“Let me try,” Gisley said as her form went gray and began shifting wildly. It popped into place a moment later, but Jaina had to cover her mouth to hide her smile.
“Oh, goodness,” Evalynn laughed. “You need more practice than I do.”
“What happened?” Gisley asked as she looked up with big eyes. Her skin was neon pink, with dark purple hair down one side of her head and a bald head on the other. She had red diamonds over her eyes and scrolling lines like vines across her skin. Her tail shifted from pink to blue at the tip and had a bumpy texture. She had two little nubs for horns, barely two inches long, unevenly placed on her forehead.
“What do I look like?” Gisley asked as she turned around to see if she could find a reflective surface.
“Like a punk rocker met a devil girl,” Evalynn laughed.
“Don't make fun of me,” Gisley said as she turned away angrily. “I don't know how to do this.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Jaina sighed and pulled her into a hug. “I will teach you how. Just close your eyes and try to imagine your long lavender hair flowing down your back in those gentle curls.” Gisley did as she was told, and her form blurred again, this time restoring her hair to how it should be. Jaina walked her through each cosmetic change until she had a cute pair of curly horns and a narrower, more devilish face complete with fangs and slits for pupils.
“Now I have a harem of succubi,” Roric said with a pleased nod.
“And what will you do with all your horny devil girls?” Jaina asked with a wicked smile.
“I have a plan,” Roric replied as he crawled into his lap. “And it will definitely be a sin.”