—
Tower 23
Phoenix
—
On the war display, the tell-tale red diamond of the Hag took to the air and flew away. Too small and too fast to get a lock on with something as clumsy at the tower’s fire control, Phoenix could only watch. So frustrating!
“Hey! Up in the tower! Unlock the elevator!” A voice called up from the first floor, unmistakably Michael’s.
Isabel held up a cautioning hand, however. “Could be a trick. That Succubus is still around.”
Distant muttering reached their ears, and then Michael’s lanky figure coalesced into the top floor, first dim lines, then bright motes of light, shades of color, one after the other.
“Dammit!” Isabel brought her spear up to throw, but Phoenix moved to get in the way. “Wait! Zie is a friend!”
“I am! Isabel, wait, um… what was it, oh! Cats and dogs!” Michael called out.
Phoenix just looked confused at the nonsense, but Isabel lowered her spear and motioned for Hella to do the same with her crossbow. “Ok, so you know my identity-word. What the hell are you?”
“Child of Arachnae, at your service. I am sorry to report that the Succubus got away, and is no doubt waiting for a chance to strike. Fena, we have to go, right now.” Michael turned to Phoenix for those last words, looking grim.
“No, absolutely not, she is our only control for the tower…” Isabel started.
“Wait, Michael, there are still all those goblins and the Hags out there…” Phoenix said, at the same time.
Michael held up hir hand to halt the torrent of objections. “None of that matters. Isabel, the Succubus can penetrate the Tower wards at will. It will be an hour at most before it is back and Fena is dead. We have to break contact with it and get away, so only control or not, you are losing her. Fena, it is not ideal, but the enemy force is in tatters and has lost all organization. We have a small window to escape the town without them dogging our heels the entire way. With just a little luck, we can be across the river and on our way with them none the wiser, but we have to do it now. Get your things, and hurry.”
Phoenix took a half step towards the elevator, glancing at Isabel. The Sergeant looked stubborn, but didn’t object, so the entire group got on the elevator and went down one floor to where his things were stored.
“Sergeant, we really letting her leave? In the middle of all this?” Hella asked, looking concerned.
“I don’t like it, but the reasoning isn’t terrible. You saw what that thing did to us. Maybe Lady Celeste… but anyway, a Child of Arachnae technically out ranks me, so we salute and do as we are told, right soldier?” Isabel was watching Phoenix pack the entire time.
“R-right…” Hella was watching Phoenix too, but with a kind of desperation, her eyes begging him not to go.
As he finished, Isabel reached out to the collar around his neck. “Better remove this now, rather than later. I’ll get the key from… I'll get the key.” With that, she turned and went upstairs.
In truth, Phoenix didn’t really want to leave either. He had just started to feel comfortable in this place, make some friends, and fall into a routine. But now Yvonne was dead just a floor above him, a powerful shape changing demoness could be stalking him right now, and the entire town was at risk. Could they hold out against further attacks until reinforcements from the capital could arrive? Would reinforcements arrive?
He could guess the answers. Best case, he would be locked up in the men’s quarters for the duration, and if or when reinforcements showed up, handed off like a package to be hustled under intense guard back to the capital. And in the meantime, the Succubus would be killing more or less at will, possibly including Michael. Dozens would die, protecting him. Never mind if the Hags came back with another army. How long will it take to repair the gate? Would they risk letting him out to the tower to charge it and run it, knowing the Succubus could infiltrate it easily, through the hole in the wall if nothing else?
The other choice, leaving, was only marginally better. Safe bet that the Succubus would see him leave, and warn her mistress. But chasing after him would use precious resources that would not be directed at the town. At the very least it could buy time for them to prepare for the next assault, buy time for reinforcements to arrive, and not pay for that time with lives every day. The town might still be overrun, but it had a better chance without him keeping the Succubus there.
Such a careful balance to be struck… and this has the advantage of not forcing others to fight and die for me!
Box packed, Hella pushed some supplies on him from her own kit. Cooking utensils, a clever tin pot that could be used to cook, fishing line, fish hooks, wax paper wrapped food. He refused the tent, its weight too much for him to float on his Illusory Earth and besides, the Illusory Earth itself was a better shelter. He very gratefully accepted the compass, admiring its ruggedness and practical construction.
Isabel returned with the key to the collar, and did the ritual to remove it. If she noticed it had been deactivated, she didn’t say anything, instead quietly pocketing both key and collar.
And then they were marching in close formation down the road towards the docks. Michael had another of the soldiers packs on hir back, and hir head was on a swivel, scanning rooftops and alleyways and every shadow large enough to hold a person. Once at the docks, Isabel commandeered a row boat, and ordered Hella to take them across the river.
The boat ride was quiet, with Hella pulling with her magically enhanced strength on the oars to cross against the current, and Michael scanning both banks. Phoenix, for his part, watched the skies. With due haste, they finally arrived at the mix of light trees and brush that made up the terrain on the opposite side from the town, and disembarked.
Hella got out with them, and shyly grabbed Phoenix’s hand. She then stared at Michael, who cheekily refused to move any farther away. Finally, with a frustrated huff, Hella dragged Phoenix back a few feet.
“Listen, this might be the last time we see each other, I know. But if I somehow make it back to the capital, I would like to look you up, if that is ok? There is a bar there, called Chappies… uh well, it's no place for someone like you… what I mean is…” Hella fumbled quietly there for a moment, having derailed herself completely. “What I mean is, if you leave a message there, I’ll get it, ok? And we can hook up again.” She stopped again, realizing what she had said. “Not hook up hook up! I mean, meet! Oh goddess just go.”
Awkward as all of that was, Phoenix felt a well of sympathy for this earnest guardswoman. He was also reasonably sure he didn’t feel for her what she felt for him. But how much did that matter, right now? She could be dead tomorrow, she could be dead in an hour. He plastered a smile on his face, as sincere as he could make it, and squeezed her hands. “I’ll see you there. Ok? Don’t disappoint me!”
Hella lit up at that, returning the smile with interest. “Yeah, yeah, it’s a promise.”
With that, Phoenix turned and rejoined Michael, who was also sporting an evil looking grin and wagging hir eyebrows at him. He wasn’t precisely in the mood for hir antics right that moment though, so he stayed quiet and tried to plot out exactly how this sudden trip was going to work.
Before, he would have created a vehicle like emanation of his Illusory Earth and ridden it through the wilderness. It was four or five times faster than walking, but strictly limited in how much mass it could carry. Before, he could only just barely lift himself, his gear, and three days of food and water. His skills had increased somewhat under Yvonne’s tutelage, but… well nothing for it to but to try.
“Michael, one second. I want to try carrying us both with my power. This whole trip will go much faster if I can…” He trailed off as Michael vigorously shook hir head.
“No, bad idea. I am just guessing, but that is going to be right at the limits of your abilities, right? Probably exhaust your magic pool.” Michael said.
“Well, yes, but I can just recharge it as we… what!” He replied.
“No, I get that, but using that much energy is, well, detectable. Anyone with the Truth Glyph unlocked will be able to sense it for kilometers around. No big deal in a town or city, of course, with everyone using their power constantly- just gets lost in the noise. But there aren't many things that will be generating that much disturbance out here. We need to sneak out, quiet and careful as mice near a sleeping cat.” Michael paused, then added. “Also, don’t Draw. No, don’t give me that look. You did it during the fight with the Myiktek, and in terms of magical signature it is even worse. The signature you leave behind when you Draw is practically unique. It is like a giant smoke signal. Spy stuff 101, stay undetected.” Michael was walking during this diatribe, so Phoenix was forced to follow, a frown on his face.
Was that how Vuiloa was able to find him, back by the river? I thought it was just bad luck, but did I lead her right to me?
“On foot, how long do you think it will take us to get to the capital?” He asked.
Michael thought about that for a moment. “Not really sure, it isn’t really my field. Spend almost all my time in towns and cities. I mean, in training camp they made us march fifty kilometers in a day, which was no fun but doable, and I am stronger and tougher than I was back then. At that rate, we should make it to the Capital in like a couple weeks?”
It was Phoenix’s turn to wince. Fifty kilometers was far better than his best day on foot. Through slightly hilly, wooded terrain like this, he would have been lucky to make half that. Mounted on his Illusory Earth craft however, he could have tripled it, easily. They both had loaded up on food and water before leaving, but if they had to hike through rough terrain, they would burn through their supplies in three days, four on the outside. Then hunting, foraging, and finding water would steal time away from traveling. Assuming it was even possible to find enough food and water to continue!
“You say you spent most of your time in cities, did you do any hunting or wilderness survival?” Phoenix asked, nonchalantly.
“Um, well, you know, in training. Had a survival course we all had to pass…” Michael sounded evasive.
“How long ago was that?” Phoenix pressed.
“Ah, you know, who is counting the years?” Michael mumbled.
Phoenix groaned. “I barely made it to town last time without starving. And that was with following the river so I always had water! This is going to be a rough trip unless we can either go faster or find places to resupply along the way. Preferably both.”
“Well, I don’t know about going faster, but there are little communities of barbarians who pay tribute to the Hags scattered about. With just a little work, we could steal from them for supplies as we go.” Zie looked Phoenix up and down, evaluating. “You aren’t very fit, and you don’t have any physical enhancements I am guessing.” Zie said it as a statement of fact.
“Well, nothing that will let me march faster. I don’t need to sleep much and I can see in the dark, so I could travel longer per day, if you were up for it.” Phoenix chose to answer it as a question anyway. He felt like it was bragging a little, but it was also relevant, and he kind of wanted to impress Michael.
Michael nodded along with that. “Well if this is as fast as you can go, then that is the plan. As long as your abilities don’t push you to use more than about a dozen magic pool points. That is roughly the threshold beyond which I could sense you from beyond the horizon, so it is a reasonably safe usage threshold.”
“You can sense better than the Hags?” Phoenix was curious.
“Truth Glyph and me? We are like this.” Michael crossed hir fingers, to allude to the closeness of the bond. “Hags are, like, the complete opposite of that. They are part of and formed from The Lie. Which isn’t to say some of their servants won’t be attuned. Maybe I am being paranoid, but with all the ruckus from the battle, now is our best chance to disappear without a trace. I would hate to give that up just to spare our feet a few blisters.”
Phoenix nodded along with that, and the pair fell into a steady marching pace. Michael was definitely pushing Phoenix as hard as he could go, and he could feel the ache begin in his calves, thighs, and back. Tomorrow was going to be very painful indeed.
After a very long day's march that extended well past dark, they camped in a small grove of trees. Phoenix carefully constructed a dome of Illusory Earth that they could use as a tent and to hide the light of a small fire. Michael didn’t say anything, but Phoenix could tell zie was impressed and pleased to not be sleeping in just a cloak on the cold ground. As well as being able to boil some water to make tea with their supplies, a welcome bit of happiness after the vague sense of anxiety and stress of the day.
As Phoenix settled back to begin his meditation, Michael began laying hir wool blanket right next to him. He raised both his eyebrows at hir, in silent question.
“Oh, well, thought you might appreciate the warmth? Gets chilly at night.” Michael explained.
“You know I don’t actually sleep right? Just a deep meditation.” Phoenix replied.
“Ah. So, no cuddling through the night, two desperate fugitives seeking comfort in each other's arms against the cruel, scary world?” Michael was making their eyes large and even managed the faint glisten of moisture, to add to the effect.
Phoenix frowned. “I can never tell if you are joking with those jibes.”
Michael laughed, a musical giggle quite at odds with the careful affect that zie donned at the bar. They moved the blanket to the opposite side of the fire, still grinning to themselves.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Phoenix sighed and closed his eyes. It took a little longer than usual to wrestle his emotions back into the calm focused sense of floating that he needed to really meditate. This was going to be a very long trip.
Day 40, Month 4, Day 12
—
Name: Phoenix
Journey Tier
Attributes: 0 points
Strength: 7.2, Constitution: 14.3, Coordination: 13, Mentality: 23, Will: 17.5, Charisma: 18, Luck: 13
Boons Available: 1
Heroic Soul Power Stored 1 (1 used)
Skills: Fists and Feet 24%->25%, Small Unit Tactics 25%->27%
Magical Skills: Intensity 65%->67%, Magical Targeting 75%->79%, Synchronicity 0%->3%
—
The first thing he realized as he returned from his inner peace was the new point of Heroic Power. The joy of seeing that was almost enough to compensate for the aches in his legs from the brutal pace set yesterday by Michael. He set those aside for the time being, instead bringing up his full sheet to peruse.
—
Name: Phoenix
Journey Tier
Attributes: 0 points
Strength: 7.2, Constitution: 14.3, Coordination: 13, Mentality: 23, Will: 17.5, Charisma: 18, Luck: 13
Boons Available: 1
Boons: Arcane Adept, Perfect Memory, Prodigal Learning, Enhanced Decision Loop, Hero Soul, Enchanted Heart.
Flaws: Poor Grip Strength, Chemical Susceptibility.
Other: Contractual Commitment (Hero Soul)
Heroic Soul Power Stored 1 (1 used)
Magic: FIRE GLYPH. DEATH GLYPH, Air, Earth, Magic, Spirit, The Lie.
Techniques: Conjure, Dismiss, Draw, Manipulation, Meld
Spells: Conjure Breath, Conjure Fire, Death’s Panoply, Dismiss Spirit Magic, Draw Breath, Draw Earth, Draw Fire, Fire of Mentality, Illusory Earth, Spark Bolt (Delayed), Spirit Ward, Sun Lance, The Lying Fire, Ward versus The Lie
Skills: Ritual (Worship Arachnae) 43%. Acting 29%, Carousing 12%, Disguise 29%, Etiquette 26%, Fists and Feet 25%, Meditate 55%, Persuasion 27%, Read and Write Empyrean 65%, Read and Write Language Tul’Lian 75%, Singing 22%, Small Unit Tactics 27%, Speak Language Empyrean 13%, Speak Language Tul’Lian 75%, Stealth 8%, Survival 30%
Arcane Skills: Magical Theory 67%, Intensity 67%, Duration 61%, Range 50%, Area 47%, Passivity 64%, Magical Artistry 37% Magical Shape 41%, Magical Targeting 79%, Spiritual Combat 29%, Synchronicity 3%
Luck Uses: 1
Hit Points: 15
Magic Pool 42
Bound Spirits: 1 of 4
Bound Crystals: 0 of 1
Inscriptions: Death’s Panoply, Illusory Earth, Spirit Ward, Spark Bolt
Height: 178 cm. Weight: 68.4 Kg
—
With a start, he remembered his Bound Spirit, the little plant spirit that he had gathered with Tianna as part of his Journey Tier advancement. There it was, nestled at the end of one of his threads, to all appearances asleep. He remembered clearly that these plant spirits could preserve food, in addition to giving some protection from Spirit Combat, and he resolved to bring it out to let it run around some. Did it get bored? Well, whatever, he would be better about that.
Now onto the exciting part. What boons could he spend that Hero Soul Power on?
—
Elphyne– enchanted by your stay, the wilds will comfort you as they would a fae.
Ravenous Heart– Drawing souls will never cause soul burn. Excess power will gradually fade.
Death Touch– Your unarmed attacks cause wounds that are difficult to heal with magic.
—
He stared for a few seconds, processing. Elphyne was from before, from his time with the Fae. The two new boons, however, sounded… demonic.
No consequences to Draw-ing in demon souls? Well, clearly something has changed.
After all the worries yesterday about how they would survive this trip back out into the wilderness, Elphyne was starting to sound really good. But an unfortunately large part of him was intrigued by Ravenous Heart.
Oh, that feels like a slippery damn slope. Make it even easier and more profitable to use Draw to steal souls?
The temptation, and his reaction to it, dampened his enthusiasm. He recalled, further, that the Heroic Power could be used for attributes, once you hit your limit. Maybe he would just hold on to it, at the very least until he talked to Arachnae again.
Phoenix nodded to himself, putting aside difficult choices. He then spent a few minutes stretching his protesting muscles out, hoping against hope to reduce their complaints throughout the day. Afterwards, he gently shook Michael awake.
“Oh my goddess, this is going to suck. Feels like hell week all over again.” Michael groused, throwing an arm over hir eyes.
“Wait until we have to start hunting or foraging for food.” Phoenix said, forcing a cheerful tone.
Michael just responded with a deep sigh. “Can you be a love and make some tea for me? I just need five more minutes.”
Phoenix, who had been in the process of starting tea already, almost took the pot off the fire in protest. Then he decided that would be childish.
“Not a morning person, are you?” Phoenix commented.
Michael just groaned and rolled more tightly into hir blanket.
As promised, Michael did get up after five minutes and assisted with making breakfast, a porridge / oatmeal like mash that was almost completely tasteless. Phoenix, who had to subsist on his own terrible cooking and far too recently was chewing on pine needles to calm a hungry stomach, had no complaints. Michael, on the other hand, grew even more disconsolate and sour with the bland meal, the weak tea, and the chill damp of the morning air.
Michael’s mood lasted for about an hour after they started marching again, but it didn’t stop them from pushing the same harsh pace as yesterday. Phoenix, for his part, tried for inner calm while struggling with the physical demands placed on his body. He didn’t know what attributes Michael had, but Phoenix was missing those points in strength dearly. He had even felt that his constitution was above average, but ‘average’ for Michael seemed to be quite high indeed. The gentle hills, in particular, stressed his calves and hamstrings well past uncomfortable. All in all, he was intensely grateful when they stopped for lunch.
“Have you thought about how we are going to restock our food and water yet?” Phoenix asked. He had noted that they were running out of food a little faster than he had calculated, two more days would be the limit for certain.
“I figure, we push hard today and tomorrow. Then slow down the next day, and I’ll do some stealthy searching for one of those barbarian camps. Goddess willing, one should be nearby, I raid it for some food and water, and we carry on.” Michael replied, tone light.
Phoenix frowned. “Do we have to steal? Could we like, buy, or barter, or something?”
Michael stared at him for a moment. “You think that will go over, do you?” Zie asked.
“Have you ever tried?” Phoenix said.
“Well, as to that, can’t say I have no. But we are talking goblins, hobgoblins, orcs. All of whom pay tribute to the Hags. They would sell us out in a second, two humans just walking through the countryside. Assuming they didn’t just kill us out of hand.” Michael waved hir hand in dismissal.
“Ok, so rather than attract their attention by robbing them of resources, why don’t I hunt some? My Lance has an excellent range now, could bring down a deer or boar from two dozen meters in one shot.” Phoenix said.
“Can you get that close without them bolting?” Michael sounded interested, a good sign in Phoenix’s mind.
“I figure you could, easily enough, and then startle them towards where I am hiding. Or I could approach under an illusion, from downwind.” Phoenix traced out a crude diagram in the dirt.
“Ok, so, what? We spend a day hunting, dressing, and smoking a deer? I worry all that smoke and magic use might attract attention. Like wolves, even if you can keep yourself under my rather arbitrary magic pool threshold.”
“Well, ok, maybe we keep that as a backup plan for when we are farther away from the battle site and feeling more comfortable. If we go a little slower, I can maybe take some rabbits or those weird birds we see occasionally. A lot easier to carry and deal with, you know? And nowhere near as much magic pool to bring down.” Phoenix was adamant about this. Food was going to run out faster than they expected and he didn’t want to wait till the last minute and end up starving for a couple days.
Michael nodded along. “Well, I am half convinced. Tell you what, we push hard today, just to build some more distance, then tomorrow we walk at your normal pace. Give me time to wander about ahead, check for animals, berries, nuts, whatever might come to hand. After a solid day's walking, we stop well short of nightfall and do some serious scrounging. Keep to those low power shots against smaller targets, and should be safe enough, right? That sound fair?”
Fair or not, Phoenix felt like it was an adequate solution to his concerns, so he agreed.
The rest of the day was fairly boring for Phoenix. Because of the intense pace, he couldn’t distract his brain by reading or practicing his skills, instead struggling to keep up with Michael and not be a complete disaster when it came to crashing through the woods. For hir stated specialty in cities, Michael was still quiet as a ghost as zie moved, even through underbrush that had Phoenix struggling.
Everyone has their abilities. Mine are just more cerebrally focused. Too focused, maybe?
They walked until the moon rose late that evening, and even for an hour afterwards. Finally, Michael called a halt and Phoenix went about setting up the Illusory Earth fortress. After that, he spent a few minutes just laying down, legs on fire and feet swollen. He also noticed he was getting quite a bit whiffy, and hoped it wasn’t too overpowering an odor in the confines of their shared quarters. To distract from his pains and satisfy his desperately bored mind, he decided to ask about abilities.
“So, I take it you are primarily focused on physical abilities? Let me guess, Coordination primary, then an even mix of Constitution and Strength.” Phoenix dove in while they ate dinner.
Michael made a moderately exaggerated choking sound, then laughed. “Wow, you uh, not much filter there huh?” Zie said.
“Taboo? Too private to talk about, even in general terms? I figured, what we have been through together, a little prying wasn’t out of line.” Phoenix was undaunted.
“Ah, well, I guess I am honored? But you should think of talking about people's stat choices and such as, like I don't know, speculating on the shape and size of their genitals. Sure you go over it with your close girlfriends, maybe talk about it with a priestess or your parents if you have some concerns or want advice, but it's not exactly dinner time conversation.”
“Ok, fine, the foreigner is foreign. Sorry to offend. But I am kind of fishing for some advice, to be honest.” Phoenix persisted.
“Ok, sure, why not, let's do this.” Michael laughed. “To answer your question, I would say I am actually pretty evenly balanced, physical and mental. My profession benefits from nearly every attribute, and while that isn’t possible to achieve, a decent spread is still desirable. But you are right, Coordination is my focus, followed by Willpower. Let me guess, Mentality for you?”
“Yeah, with Willpower and Charisma. And what I thought was a decent Constitution and Coordination, but so far that has proven weak compared to everyone around me.” Phoenix sighed.
“Ah, well, frontier towns like this aren’t a good comparison. This is a self selected lot of women, you see. And they skew physical on purpose. A lot of the tasks these tiny towns need done requires strong backs and weak minds, ya’ know?” Michael grinned. “If Panna was here, she would be worse off than you I bet. Those Acolytes don’t get out hiking much.”
Phoenix nodded thoughtfully. “Not Lady Celeste though.”
Michael barked out a laugh. “Comparing yourself to a Paladin of Lady Celeste’s stature is a sure way to develop critically low self esteem. She is already a living legend, sure bet she makes Hero. Just a matter of time. She has got it all. Raised by the church, trained alongside the men, and then thrown into every danger spot you can think of. So she is strong, tough, smart… pretty… nice thighs…” Michael trailed off.
“Trained alongside the men?” Phoenix tried to drag Michael away from whatever daydream zie had gotten into.
Michael gave hirself a visible shake. “Yeah, Paladins get the same resources as the men do.” Seeing Phoenix’s querying look, zie continued. “So the men. There are about eleven hundred of them right now, a new low I might add. To help them stay alive if there is an incursion, the church lavishes training and resources on them. Doesn’t matter if you are some anemic, clumsy dumbbell. Church of Lia will have tutors to whip you into shape, force learning into even the slowest brain, and find the right combination of each to get you into some kind of advanced class.”
Phoenix was struggling with that revelation. “One thousand one hundred men? In the entire Empire?”
“Yeah?” Michael was watching Phoenix’s reaction with some mixture of confusion and amusement.
“How many people in the Empire, overall?”
“Like I know that off the top of my head. The capital is huge, a million probably? Two or three cities, the older, closer ones along the major rivers and on the coast, about a tenth that? Then maybe two dozen of these tiny resource towns, one thousand women exploiting something that doesn’t grow near the capital or can’t be found there.” Michael said.
“How, I mean, not to be crude…” Phoenix waited for Michael to get over a sudden fit of giggles. “Not to be crude, but how do you keep your population growing?”
Michael sobered up a bit at that. “Who said we were growing? It's been one setback after another for the Empire, for two thousand years or more. As to your crude suggestion, well, the men volunteer for a lottery every week. Then every woman who is eligible, earned the right and hasn’t had a kid yet, gets a ticket. Your number comes up, the church does a ritual to make sure everything goes according to plan, wham bam thank you man.”
“No room for romance, I guess.” Phoenix said, thinking of how awkward his feelings for Tianna were.
“Oh, it happens. So many stories of a girl catching a guys eye, the whirlwind romance, the scandal, the disapproving church. Usually she has to rush out to save him from the clutches of a hag at the climax of the book, before making sweet sweet…” Michael made a kissy face at Phoenix, reaching out hir arms.
“Ok, yeah, I get it.” He batted hir hands away.
“It is a right mess, won’t lie. Feelings get hurt. One girl, monopolizing one of a thousand guys? But can she be ok with him in the lottery? One of my favorite books has her mortal enemy win the lottery for him. Can you imagine? Church, of course, publicly disapproves. Not good for social order and stability. But the Paladins look the other way, and every generation there are a few girls whose lottery ticket didn’t come up who still get their tickets punched.”
“What about the guys? They are all cool with this?” Phoenix asked.
“What do you think? Most are, some aren’t. Lottery is voluntary, in theory at least. But you can imagine the pressure.” Michael said.
Phoenix drifted into quiet introspection at that. He had questions for Arachnae, the next chance he got. Was he expected to join this lottery too? He was suddenly overcome by memories of his past life, a surge of powerful jealousy and grief over a cheating girlfriend, of the guilt he felt over even just having a crush without acting on it in a different relationship. Of the security of having someone there to come home to, the pain of losing that security.
It made him morose. He would have to think about this carefully. But his heart did not seem like it was in sync with the idea of being the center point of a harem of women. One was enough for him.
After an awkward and quiet evening, he turned in for the night. Michael, mercifully, didn’t tease him again, just rolling into hir blanket near the fire.