Divinity Rescue Corps
133- After Action Report

It was a short time into the celebrations when Regina sidled up to me. The townsfolk had been overjoyed to learn that their town was no longer being slowly demolished by a giant, tattooed god. After general rejoicing, which included me crowdsurfing over a wide variety of different creatures made of different materials and sizes, the people flooded back into their town to find most of it intact.

It had been several days after reconstituting the god when we finally cured it, and the damage was not minimal. Some of the Nakamamon had lost homes. Most were okay. For now, the town would begin the process of picking back up the pieces, and then constructing new homes for those who had lost. But first, it was time to party!

The Nakamamon of different species had their own songs to belt out at the top of their lungs or whatever passed for their lungs, dances to get down and boogie to, and other ways of celebrating. Fire Nakamamon set off sparks here and there like fireworks, capable of creating different colors; electric Nakamamon zapped lightning of various different colors up into the sky. Even the water Nakamamon sprayed out mist to create little rainbows glinting off the bright afternoon sunlight.

Regina sometimes dressed in her dyed green leather armor, but just as often she went around in casual clothes, like now. Today she had on a pleated skirt in brown with bright orange stripes peeking out when she moved, and a simple white t-shirt snug against her taut body. She noticed me looking and smiled easily.

“We’re almost ready to head back to HQ,” she said, and took my hand. “That means…”

“Yeah,” I agreed. That meant we would be enacting a dangerous plan that the Agency wouldn’t care for, not even a little bit. They’d try to stop us by any means. We’d skirted around the danger so far, keeping it mostly at bay. This was the first time we’d be inviting it.

She followed my eyes to where Shakindria was hovering above her workshop house, watching the proceedings. When her eyes met mine, I couldn’t hold her gaze. She had been about to smile, but I felt like such an asshole leaving her here, after all she’d done.

“You gave her some moments of enjoyment,” she said, and I heard the regret in her voice as well. She wasn’t wrong, but that wasn’t anywhere near enough for what Shakindria had done. She deserved her freedom.

“She gave this city its life back as much as me, or more,” I said. “None of the leaders gave her so much as a thank you.” Me they’d boosted onto their shoulders and paraded around down, where the divine vomit puddles had vanished. As for Shakindria, they’d started giving orders for replacement parts, to begin the work of repairing the town. They’d had her lifting some of the rubble out of streets before that. She had already filled out some of those orders.

“Hey,” Regina said gently, one hand on my upper arm. “Listen, you haven’t done that Meld ability, have you?”

I looked at her, confused for just a second. I’d chosen the Meld ability… the one from Cinzy. That wasn’t the one she was talking about though. The first one, from Regina, I’d skipped out on, and forgotten about. We had healed up literal thousands of people; it hadn’t seemed significant. I’d put it in the back of my mind, and then completely out of mind.

“I guess not,” I said.

“Give it a shot.” When I continued to give her a skeptical eye, she rolled her eyes. “Look, the system is intuitive, I think. When I hit level 25, I found what I wanted there. When I chose the Meld ability… it was what I wanted.”

She’d gotten the ability to gather beast Nakamamon to her side like a literal princess out of an animated movie.

“You mean I’m going to find a way to break Shakindria’s magical servitude contract,” I said, the flat disbelief too sarcastic and dark for me to feel okay using. Still, Shakindria’s predicament was finally, well and truly getting me down. I didn’t feel much of the party atmosphere.

“Yes, actually,” she said, and gave me a playful shove. “And don’t be like that.”

The earnest desire to help was clear on her face and in her tone, and I stopped myself from pouting. Brooding was the old Christopher.

I took a deep breath and considered the Meld ability once again.

Maybe Beast Talker could help work on the minds of the townsfolk and convince them to let her finish out her magical contract early. None of the others would do: Eagle Eyed, Stalwart, and Fierce didn’t feel like they applied. The one I’d already melded couldn’t be melded again.

The question was then what to pair it with. On the surface, none of my Healer abilities seemed to fit. I had Arcane Alchemy, Arcane Focus, Healer’s Resistance, Verdant Rejuvenation, and Mending Aura.

Now, when I used Affinity and the Mana Affinity skill to suss out which of my Pleasure Seeker abilities might work, I got two different hits. Eromancy definitely didn’t feel right, and neither did Man Enough, along with Post-Sharing Clarity.

The new ability Coming Together seemed a great thing to meld with Beast Talker, as did Drive In Deeper. The connections between Beast Talker and these two felt strange, and my Mana Affinity skill wouldn’t come right out and explain what was going to happen—

“Fletcher, I’m surprised at you,” Regina said.

She didn’t have any stakes with her choice to form a Nakamamon menagerie. She didn’t have a hero to let down.

“I know,” I told her, sighing, though I was in no mood to be nagged. Vellenia entered the house, beaming.

Fork.

Coming Together might improve my relationship with the people of the town, enhancing my Nakamamon interaction bonuses. Drive In Deeper might improve my relationship with one of the townsfolk to a high degree. Or they might just not fix my problem at all.

This was ridiculous. I concentrated on my objective: helping Shakindria out of her situation. That was what I most desperately wanted. If Regina was right, the system would see my intent and build the ability around it. If she was wrong, I’d be forced to leave Shakindria behind. With that firmly in mind, I chose Coming Together, and pressed the Confirm button when it appeared.

Congratulations! The UI gushed. You have melded your first ability! Beast Talker has been replaced by Bondsealer.

“No,” I breathed, my heart sinking. It wasn’t going to work.

“Yes!” Vellenia chirped. “I’m here!” She practically threw off her clothes, to Regina’s ‘wow’ of appreciation and lust. I hoped that staring in bewilderment at the UI was seen as slack-jawed amazement.

Beast Talker was an amazing ability that I’d used to get out of a jam and certain death. Replacing it was not something I’d wanted, even a little bit, but it would be an acceptable price to pay if it got me to convince all the town leaders to give me Shakindria’s contract. I scrambled through the menu until I found the tab containing the shared abilities gained from Entwined Ecstasy.

“I am going to finally deep throat you, bond mate,” Vellenia said, grinning. “Regina has explained the process, and I feel confident!” She even clapped her hands together soundlessly, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet.

Bondsealer

(Special Ability, Rare, Passive)

You gain +3 in all attributes and skills when dealing with your bonded Nakamamon.

You gain +1 in all attributes and skills when dealing with unbonded Nakamamon of any type.

You may bond an additional number of Nakamamon equal to your ranking in this ability. The ability’s current rank is 1.

“Impossible,” I breathed.

“Very possible! Well, not possible before, but today is the day!” Vellenia opened her mouth and pointed. Inside, her many tiny tongues wriggled and undulated.

I stared at the ability write up, gaping at it. Bond additional Nakamamon? The ability had a similar bonus for interaction that Beast Talker had, but that last part… holy frack. That made my mind whirl.

Regina laughed at struck dumb Christopher.

***

Sometimes the clouds above you are the most glorious things you’ve ever seen. They seem like they’re about a thousand feet tall, and extend up into infinity. And when you see this in the early dawn light of day, the sun can paint all this the soft creamy orange and pink of sherbet.

I whistled while I walked. All the worrying I’d done was for nothing. I could bond a second Nakamamon! The freedom and wonder swept through me.

I liked Shakindria. I liked her work ethic, the amount of horny she was, and she had these big rabbit ears on her head that were very sensitive. She was knowledgeable, adventurous in and out of the bedroom, and was fun to talk to. She’d been a tireless worker, doing the thankless tasks no one forced her to do.

Shakindria must have seen my good mood and understood at least some of it from the roof of her home. She came floating down off her house and hovered just a few inches off the paved street, gazing at me in wonder.

You… will be staying a few more days? she asked. Her tone radiated a subdued hope.

No, I told her mentally, using her own power to attempt to reassure her. The Psyspeech conveyed my feeling as well as the words. However,I have good news.

When I took her hand, she didn’t resist, but she seemed to deflate a little.

What is it you wish, then?  

We passed many of the townsfolk still milling around and partying, though the partying slowed to a stop as we approached. staring at me with the yellow-skinned psychic Nakamamon. The uncomfortable stares from the people of the town seemed enough, and she tugged against my hand.

If you won’t be staying, I have work to do.

“I promise, it’s good news,” I told her, heading up toward the very edge of the town’s top, where several houses clung to the edge of the huge stone check mark.

As we got there, I told her about the ability Bondsealer, and what it meant. Whatever else it meant, it meant I could support two different bonds. Eventually, I would be able to bond yet another Nakamamon, but that wasn’t important… and wouldn’t be any time soon.

“Do you approve of this?” I asked her. “You can travel with me, empower yourself and me, and be free of the town… but you’ll have to share me.”

“You need to meet Vellenia,” I explained.

I’d made the mistake in the past of not extending truth to my companions, and inviting discussion to avoid misunderstandings and mistrust. This was going to be different.

What needed to happen now was that Shakindria and Vellenia needed to meet.

 The Marshin leapt up as soon as she heard my voice. The white skin with the mint-green hair and the pink accents to her body, clad in the white dress. The cheerful expression layered with serenity.

“Hello!” she greeted Shakindria warmly.

Silence.

“Oh, well it’s great to meet you!” Vellenia said. “I have never met a Mindela. I am a Marshin.”

More silence. Shakindria was clearly using her own Psyspeech to communicate, and I wasn’t privy to that.

“I’m sure it will be fine. Why wouldn’t it? Fletcher has a number of human bond mates, and I think he’ll have our Frostling in his bed before long. He’s a Pleasure Seeker.”

I laughed awkwardly, looking around for Alan or Trent, who weren’t supposed to know that info. There would be no detecting Trent, that was for sure. I’d stopped worrying about what would happen when he found out. I couldn’t imagine the reaction from HQ when they learned I was having sex with essentially the entire team. When that side played against my record of healing Nakamamon and this world’s gods, the worst that could happen was they reassigned all the girls to different teams, and put me on a team of all guys.

While that would suck, I’d still have Vellenia… and hopefully Shakindria.

There was still the Mindela’s reaction to all this. She could still back out, though I was hoping her wanderlust and her promise to help outweighed any reluctance she might be feeling.

“What else do you need to know?” I asked her.

Nothing, she replied. Allow me to deliberate a moment.

That I could do.

Vellenia wrapped herself around my right arm and snuggled one cheek against my shoulder. She was short, about a head shorter than me, and the feel of her hair on my skin was no longer odd. I liked the sensation, honestly.

Is it true you have bedded the female humans attached to your expedition? the Mindela asked.

“It’s true,” I said. “And not in past tense. It’s an ongoing situation.”

More searching consideration followed, with Shakindria staring at me and then around me in thought.

This one adores you, Shakindria said, indicating Vellenia with a flick of mental imagery. In her mind’s eye, Vellenia’s eyes were hearts, and little explosions of glitter surrounded her any time she looked at me. She clasped her hands and swooned against them, sighing in contentment. I could tell it was meant to be an annoyed series of images and sounds, but I laughed.

“Look,” I told her, “You know me already. You know I’ve never had this in my past. I don’t know how it started exactly, I’m not sure why it’s been so successful so far, and while I love it and I’m flattered by it… I don’t really get it.”

I couldn’t say whether it was the Qualities that made me bigger and thicker than others, or if it was something else they needed that I was giving them. Possibly some of both. It could also be that they didn’t have better options. I had inadvertently chosen Drat, a loner recluse, and Alan, who was a bit of a newb like my sister said. Trent had a high Likability, but was utterly focused on his craft. He rarely joined in the fun and festivities. The situation with breaking Isabelle’s ankle and destroying our original supply of anti-magic pills hit him hard.

And while I considered what it might be that drew the girls to me and kept them coming back, Shakindria continued to regard me silently.

“You are welcome to meet them, if you like,” I said. “The girls.”

She would like, and she did, as it turned out. We met Regina and Tweedle Dee just returning from a potion delivery mission to Jacoby’s people, and Shakindria liked the red-haired and freckled Regina immediately. She liked Tweedle Dee just as much. Regina, for her part, kept looking a question at me that I refused to answer. But the longer I refused, the more certain she became that Regina might be getting some exotic psychic aspect Nakamamon booty in the near future.

What a perv.

Shakindria then joined Regina for a rousing game of fetch with Tweedle Dee, followed by a rousing game of tug of war with the flower fox, followed by telekinetically lifting both of them and laughing as they swam through the air toward one another.

Sometime during this play, Tara and Airaconda scouted them in the field below, and swooped down to join them. Here Shakindria got to meet them too, fly around with the other Ranger and her bond mate while Tara jabbered a mile a minute about life back on earth, her family, and answered any question Shakindria might have, along with plenty she didn’t.

She had time with Ivy and Isabelle, and enjoyed juggling them by throwing them up in the air, releasing the telekinesis, then catching them again. It was like a trampoline, but without any surface to bounce on. She even conferred with Larelle and Chrysta.

You are aware, Shakindria told me, that once we bond, my magic becomes more potent, and you will gain some of my psychic abilities.

I knew some of that already.

She lifted the awl and flung it toward the point where we had chosen.

This will become even easier once the bonding is complete.

Although Shakindria was ready to do the bonding, I wanted to hold off until the evening came. I liked the idea of performing this particular ritual under the stars.