Chapter 203

Going Too Far

(Mallory)

Everything was stressful with running a guild. Everything from the paperwork, to making sure investors are happy, to making sure supplies are available, and that resources are available to every one of the eccentric yet highly capable members of the Guild was taxing.

Not to mention the fact that she had supply lines that were hundreds of miles northwest of all habitable lands, they were a veritable oasis surrounded by corroding deserts on all sides. There were ravenous packs of murder wolves that would randomly phase into and out of the territory carrying Blight filled creatures in their mouths so that Cass, or one of her Simulacrums would cleanse the creature, create an exact duplicate of the wild beast that would be level one, while allowing the older version to be killed by the now cultivating murder wolves.

Those were all valid problems, in addition to the fact that they now boasted the only College that was in the process of being accredited to teach both Qi and Magical career focuses, and that their teacher was clearly doing almost everything within her power to avoid being here, with her.

Worse, Mallory in a fit of blind loss felt herself fall for the attentions of someone else. Of course, the person that she had wanted was unobtainable, at least for a few years still. Even the thought of wanting to be near her caused problems, for while Mallory knew that the person she fell in love with was now eighty years old, her avatar was that of an underaged teenager.

This became problematic when working day in and day out with her savior, she found that she couldn’t stop thinking about her. Forcing her to stop climbing the Arcanarus Tower with her best friend and someone that she has since grown too attached to.

That’s when fate decided to rear up its ugly head, throwing in the complication of Gwen. The daughter of her friend and more, who exuded most of the same charm, the same power, and poise as the lovable minor version, but was slightly different. She was more tempered and reserved than her mother. Her love for magic wasn’t as pronounced, her understanding of Qi was non-existent, her self-deprecating humor was slightly lacking in comparison to that of her mother. In short, she was her own being, albeit one who was in a fully mature avatar that looked and felt almost like Cass would be, when she finally was able to grow up.

Added to the confusion was the fact that Mallory had to spend every day with the slightly off older version of Cass. That’s when she first found an attraction to the unique individual that so mirrored the true person in her heart that it was what she deemed to be close enough, at least for now.

Those six words are the same ones that are coming back to haunt her.

At the time Gwen was insistent in her advances, and if Mallory closed her eyes just enough, she felt she could see and imagine being with the person she truly wanted to be with. That and the fact that Gwen was far more attractive when she was on the hunt, the way she made Mallory felt needed.

Then one fateful night, Mallory succumbed to her wants. Which Mallory knew she could not go back on, for once she made up her mind to indulge, she could not stop.

For a time, Gwen was everything she needed and more.

But it was only temporary.

After a few months the differences between Gwen and her mother were apparent. Tiny details of the slight differences began to show. Gwen it turned out was highly specialized, and even took a specialty class for the sole purpose of being able to be by Mallory’s side. Gwen had chosen her class as an Ethereal Healer, just to be able to both Resurrect, and Cure Blight from anyone, but it was clear she chose this to get closer to Mallory.

Apparently, Gwen had grown up infatuated with Mallory. She was of course too young to understand how Mallory was the person who inadvertently killed her grandparents. She never had to forgive her the way Cass did seamlessly. Everything from Gwen was just given, without a limiter, and without regard for herself.

Cass likely gave just as much as Gwen did, but the difference was that Cass could always give more, as she always seemed to be filled with boundless energy. While Gwen gave just as much, but clearly had little else to give others.

The difference between the two was staggering.

Worse, it was clear, especially from Mallory’s recent requests that Gwen was now beginning to think of herself as a consolation prize. These were thoughts that Mallory wished to avoid at all costs, and while she had managed to reign in most of these forbidden desires that kept cropping up.

Additionally, she had to deal with undead warriors randomly roaming the lands. An impending wedding to Cass’s male avatar, and the fact that they are expected to consummate the marriage on that night. The way Gwen is already showing doubts about this carnal forced union. Then there was the ask.

That ask was the worst.

At first, Mallory just thought it was a type of spell, something that Gwen could likely mimic and copy easily. To find out that it was Qi based, and something that Gwen had no aptitude for only caused more problems.

To make things even worse, ever since then Gwen has been distant. Not that Mallory has had much time to spend with Gwen, with running a guild and trying to reign in randomly morphing Pomeranian elemental dragons and keeping them from running wild in the guild lands, while playing a game similar to tag. Yes, it was a modified version of tag, where one dragon would be it, running around at full size, stomping through fields and the like trying to catch the three other Pomeranians. Then once one of the Pomeranians were tagged, they would quickly switch places, the dragon going to Pomeranian form, while the other switched to dragon form and began chasing back.

Honestly, seeing the destruction caused by the Pomeranian Cardinal Protectors in this way, Mallory wondered if it wouldn’t have been easier to just let the dragons destroy the estimated four hundred acres that were part of the initial estimates.

Yet, despite the wear and tear, the dragons stayed away from living areas, and the lands that they did frequent rebounded quickly with some of the most robust fields imaginable, so it wasn’t a complete loss, in the long run.

But it was still one more headache to deal with, along with trying to figure out how to make things right with Gwen.

For while their relationship had started off as a mental replacement for something Mallory could never have, she could not deny now that she truly felt a connection with Gwen. It wasn’t the same as she felt with Cass, none could, especially not when the person is question is your undisputed best friend and the person you would trust most in any life-or-death situation to not only save you, but make you laugh while doing so.

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Her relationship with Gwen was different.

Gwen was more fragile, more delicate.

Part of this was of course accentuated by the pregnancy with her granddaughter, as the hormones being released were very real for Gwen. But there was also the fact that Gwen was a little more serious than Cass, which meant she wasn’t able to shrug off adversity as well.

You could cover both Gwen and Cass in a pile of mud, and Cass would figure out how to make it a cleansing mud bath that was good for the pores. While Gwen would likely get offended, leave the place quickly and avoid whoever put the mud on her.

Mallory couldn’t help but think that she would agree with Gwen and would likely react the same way. Which was why it was so confusing for her as to why she still found her thoughts going to Cass in these situations. Maybe it was Mallory’s respect for anyone capable of finding the bright side of any problem, a fact that Mallory knew was one of her weak points. This was again something that she and Gwen shared, but only now after Gwen had begun to grow distant in their relationship did Mallory even notice the similarities.

All of these inner thoughts and self-reflections were to say that Mallory only now truly realized how much she had grown to both need and depend on Gwen. Little things that seemed insignificant now all seemed to add up. The way Gwen was always there, to caress and comb her hair, the way she constantly caressed her. At the time they were often seen as unwanted or distracting, but now that they were gone, she felt a lingering coldness in those places.

Stirring in bed, Mallory realized that Gwen’s side was empty.

Placing her hand out, she felt a coldness that indicated that Gwen had left long ago.

Frustrated, Mallory sat up, and just wondered if there was something she could do to show Gwen how much she cared.

Knock, knock.

Unfortunately, fate chose that exact moment to intervene in her plans for reconciliation.

There was always something with running a guild. Taking a quick glance around to make sure Gwen was decent Mallory looked, only to remember that she still wasn’t here. Likely out on one of her walks that she had been doing recently. She claimed it was for exercise, but Mallory knew that Gwen had her own doubts about this relationship.

Something that only a cold night could make Mallory realize what she was close to losing.

“Come in,” Mallory huffed out, pulling her silken bed wear tighter.

Then her heart stopped slightly as she saw trouble in the form of King Galuminous De’Arcaneri walk into her chambers.

Seeing the avatar of her future husband being worn by her best friend in her room only caused more unwanted frustration to build up inside of her.

“What is it, Cass?” Mallory asked with a bit more frustration than she normally let show to her friend. Though to her credit it was after midnight, and most of the time Cass either didn’t know what time it was, or as was most often the cases in these situations, Cass was about to lay out a whole pile of mud that Mallory would have to pretend was therapeutic in a minute.

Swagger.

Without saying a word, King De’Arcaneri strode forward, his body moving in what was apparently supposed to be a seductive act, but there was something off about this. Like it was meant to be just seductive enough to tease Mallory, but not fully seduce her. At least that is what Mallory thought from seeing the way her friend moved, it was clear that she wasn’t being as graceful or fluid with her movements as she was capable of. With that, Mallory started to get annoyed, realizing that this was either a test from Gwen to Cass, or was some poorly executed joke on Cass’s part that Mallory was too tired to even try to figure out at this time.

Rising to her feet, Mallory just held out a hand, “stop, just stop.”

With that King De’Arcaneri stood there, eyes wide with shock as he stared at Mallory.

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” King De’Arcaneri asked.

“No, well yes I did want it, but I realize now how much of a mistake it all was.” Mallory said.

Hearing that King De’Arcaneri took a step forward, again something was slightly off. His moves were smooth, but not as smooth as Cass normally was, it was clear that whatever she was doing, she was holding back for whatever reason. That again set up more alarms about this being a test, as Cass never held back from her acts. Once she was in character, there was no breaking her from that character until the scene ended or she shifted back. The fact that she was purposefully underselling this performance showed how much trouble Mallory would be in, if she fell for this. And Mallory was not going to fall for this, not now, not when everything was so close to unraveling.

“Then what do you want?” King De’Arcaneri asked, his face right next to Mallory’s. Their faces were so close that if King De’Arcaneri but leaned forward they would be within kissing distance.

Being this close, Mallory could smell the ancient smells that this elf naturally created. Scents of sandalwood, vanilla, and long forgotten herbs. They all blended together to form a thick strong scent that was clearly undeniable.

“I want Gwen. Look, I know I asked for this earlier, but I was wrong. I had been looking for ways to improve my relationship with Gwen, when I realized it didn’t require anything from the outside. It didn’t require your magic, your avatar, or your scent. Instead, it just required me to stop holding back and realize what about Gwen was truly unique.” Mallory said.

Hearing that a slight tear began to form in King De’Arcaneri’s eye.

“You mean that don’t you?” He asked.

“I do,” Mallory nodded then she added. “The only problem is that I think I waited too long to realize this, as I probably ruined the best thing that has happened to me in a while.”

Full tear.

By now a full tear began to fall down the face of King De’Arcaneri’s face. Seeing it, Mallory realized that even Cass was too much of a romantic to hold character through this confessional.

“You mean that, don’t you?”

“Yes, the only problem is that I messed it up. I said and did things that I didn’t mean. I pushed Gwen away, when I should have pulled her closer. I, I…” Mallory began, slightly pacing back and forth as she went over how to explain this to Gwen.

Then just when Mallory thought she was at her wit’s end, King De’Arcaneri said the most incongruous thing she could imagine.

“Kiss me.”

“What?” Mallory asked, shock on her face as she stared at her best friend. Well the avatar being run by her best friend, and could only look on with shock.

“I said kiss me.” King De’Arcaneri stated, a slight warmth coming to the elven king’s face.

“No, didn’t you hear me. I said I was already close to losing the best thing that ever happened to me, and you want me to ruin it with what a kiss? You know we can’t…” Mallory began, but her words were cut off as King De’Arcaneri lunged forward, pressing his lips to hers.

There was a brief moment, when Mallory thought about slapping her best friend so hard that she would fly across the room. But before she could, a moment of hesitation filled her, steadying her hand and causing her to just stand there dumbfounded by the odd series of events where her best friend all but forced herself, himself? Upon her.

Then she saw a message that caused her mind to go blank as she tried to make sense of the random message.

Daily quota met for providing bloodline lineage to your future grandchild. Current rating Valhalla Bloodline 50%, Spiritlight Bloodline 50%.

Blinking away the system message, Mallory pushed back King De’Arcaneri gently. Far more gently than she had intended to act a moment ago.

The two locked gazes for a moment, then finally Mallory found herself asking, “Gwen?”

Smiling brightly, King De’Arcaneri shook his head.

“But how? Why?” Mallory asked, momentarily lost for words at the sudden change in everything.

“It was mother, she purposefully chose a future class advancement that would allow her to transfer the avatars she had to others. This was supposed to be her wedding gift to us, so we, could consummate the marriage and unification of the Midnight Hunters and Deolarian empires.” Gwen, in her King De’Arcaneri avatar said. As she spoke, she made special emphasis on we, gesturing to both her and Mallory.

Hearing that, Mallory could only pause in awe at the thought. Cass took a future class evolution, one that would require a lot of achievements to earn, and seemingly wasted it on something so simple as making it so Mallory could spend the night with her daughter.

“She did this, for us?” Mallory asked.

“Yeah, she wanted to keep it mostly a secret, but then saw how much we were struggling and gave it to me tonight.” Gwen said, as she grabbed onto Mallory’s hand the way that only Gwen would. It was odd feeling the same familiar gesture now being performed by the long delicate hands of a male elf, but still enjoyable as she could feel Gwen’s warmth even through the touch.

“Is that really you?” Mallory found herself asking.

Gwen, well King De’Arcaneri, smiled in the way that only Gwen could. “I don’t know, you tell me.”

Then with that they kissed and true to form, it was a kiss as wild and passionate as Gwen was.

When they finally parted, Mallory took a half step back to stare at Gwen and finally asked, “what happened to the baby?”

“She’s still here, just compressed for now.” Gwen replied, a slight giggle on her lips as she touched right where the baby should be.

Reaching out, Mallory touched the spot that Gwen indicated and was shocked to see that she felt a slight heartbeat from the exact spot.

“Wow, your mother finds some of the weirdest powers.” Mallory said, shocked by feeling the second heartbeat and slowly feeling more signs of a second life living in a male elf’s stomach.

“I know, the way she finds them and then finds random ways to use them is truly impressive.” Gwen said.

At that Mallory could only nod, “yeah, once again she proved that she was playing three-dimensional chess, while the rest of us were just playing checkers.”

With that Mallory found herself rubbing her fingers against the washboard abs of the elven body that now hosted not only her partner, but her future grandchild as well.

“Well, since I have this body for the next twenty-four hours. Do we want to give it a test drive?”

“What, before our wedding, I am a lady of virtue after all?” Mallory replied with faux indignation.

“Well, maybe I will just have to find a way to seduce you.” Gwen said, wrapping her arms around Mallory’s neck.

“This will be a tough task, I am in a highly committed relationship that I just now realized means the world to me.” Mallory said.

“Hmm, well she seems to be very lucky.”

“No, I am the one who is lucky that she didn’t give up on me long ago.” Mallory said.

With that another tear came to Gwen’s eyes, but before Mallory could say anything else she said, “just kiss me.”

And that was how Gwen’s first night using a different avatar for recreational purposes occurred.