“Persia, sweetheart, we have to get a move on. We came down here for a reason.”
“No! There were too many people starrring. I embarrassed ourrrr Husband! Eitherrr leave me herrre orrr send me home!”
I watched Rhia try to coax Persia from under Linda’s bed sheets. We had retreated back to the apartment after Persia’s accidental announcement on the street. With a snap of my fingers and a “there you have it” smile to the crowd, we disappeared before the shock had worn off. Upon our arrival, Persia realized what she’d done and immediately sought the nearest place to hide from sight, which was difficult considering the clear glass walls of the apartment. She ended up retreating to Linda’s bed and threw the comforter over herself, oblivious of everything below her waist sticking out for the rest of us to see. She was so out of sorts over this that she’d lapsed back into rolling her R’s again. Quite aggressively too.
“She really has nothing to be embarrassed about. Not like it’s the world’s business anyway,” I said, wondering how best to comfort her while admiring the ass and tail she had on display.
Linda looked up from her smartphone. “Actually, this is a bigger deal than you think it is.” She flipped on her TV with a phone app and tuned it to a major news network.
“Breaking news out of New York City today that Zekken, the self-proclaimed god that first appeared a few years ago, is apparently married. We have exclusive video of the accidental announcement, and you’ll see why this is attracting so much attention. Let’s watch.”
The “exclusive video” was the expected shaky cell phone footage from one of the dozen or so phones that had recorded the encounter on the street. The video started just as I’d reverted us back to our regular appearance, showed the man to man I’d had with the kid, and the aftermath of his apology. The image then zoomed in on Persia, then split screened to show her side by side next to one of the many pictures taken of me over the years.
“Social media has blown up over this newest revelation about the mysterious man, and many are wondering not only who this woman is, but what. Is she suffering from a skin condition? Is this an experiment of his? Is she even human? As we can see in the video, what skin we can see appears to be covered in fur, her face has slightly feline features, and she has a cat like tail. Is this a woman in elaborate makeup, as many believe, calling it a publicity stunt, or has Zekken, who’s demonstrated astonishing powers in the past, somehow created a hybrid human? We’ll update this story as we learn more details.
In other news from around the world, China has called a premature end to their historic moon landing, citing a hazardous meteor shower that was previously undetected that could risk the lives of the men…”
“These guys would really lose their minds if they found out she was alien,” I muttered. “Turn it off.” I made my way over to Linda’s room. Rhia saw me coming and met me at the door while Persia wailed in the background.
“Perhaps it was too soon to bring her down. Maybe if we sent her home until this blows over?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. Despite her fear, she still tried to face the kid head on and accept his apology. It wasn’t until she realized that she’d call me her husband that she started freaking out. This is just embarrassment, not her paranoia kicking in. Let me speak with her a minute.”
Rhia eyed me. “We don’t have long, you know. We have to find your silver person with enough time to figure out what they are. Do you still know where they are?”
Activating my life sight again, I quickly zeroed in on their location. They were walking down a heavily trafficked street, the red and black pair no longer by their side… oh, there they are, keeping pace about half a block back. Something still didn’t sit right with me about them. Shifting back into my date form, I glanced back at Persia, then faced Rhia.
“Shit. Something doesn’t feel right near silver. I’m going to go check things out quickly. Please, you and Linda keep her company? I’ll be right back.”
Rhia nodded, then reached up and gave me a quick kiss and smiled. “Don’t worry, dear. She’s my sister and wife. I’ll take good care of her.”
“As will I,” Linda said, walking up behind me. “Do I get a kiss too, fiancé?”
I obliged her, then vanished from the apartment.
-
I popped into an alleyway near my targets. Using just the aura portion of life sight, I tried to spot them as I exited onto the sidewalk. There, half a block in front of me, I saw the angry red auras of two men. Further up ahead I could make out a flash of silver through the crowd. The men were moving quickly, attempting to keep pace with silver. Glancing up ahead I saw silver make a sharp right turn down another street as they glanced behind them. Through the crowd I was only able to make out what seemed to be pink hair and sunglasses before the corner building blocked my view. I easily caught up to the red and black duo as they made it to the intersection and made to follow silver. While covering the half block to her turn, they’d lost sight of her and were no longer hiding the fact that they were following her.
“Fuck,” left red said. “Where the fuck she go?”
“How the fuck should I know?” responded right red. “How the fuck you lose a woman with pink hair around here?”
Checking my life sight quick enough for people to think my glowing was just sunlight reflecting off a passing car, I found her closer than I’d expected. She was in the next alley, clearly hiding behind something. Curious to see what would happen, I decided to play along. I tapped on left red’s shoulder. A face too young to pull off the tough look he was attempting whipped around.
“The fuck you want, old man?”
Old? I thought. I’m only 41, you little shit. I heard a soft chuckle in the back of my mind, reminding me that Rhia was perpetually in my head. Sighing, I shook my head.
“I was just going to say I thought I saw a woman with pink hair go down that alley, but I may have been mistaken. I am old after all, and my eyes aren’t what they used to be.”
Both kids looked me up and down, taking in my gamer t-shirt, sneakers, and name brand jeans. I made a show of pulling the newest, most expensive phone on the market out of my back pocket to check something. That caught their interest. When they thought I wasn’t paying attention, the two “tough” kids gave each other a slight nod.
Right red tried to be more diplomatic. “I’m sorry for my friend’s rudeness. Would you, uh, mind showing us where you saw her, sir?”
I smiled. “Why certainly, young man. You’re, uh, not trying to do anything bad to her or anything, are you? Cause I’d hate to be a party to that.”
“That ain’t none of your fucking-” left red began before right red slapped a hand over his mouth.
“N-not at all, sir. Y’see, that’s our teacher, and we just wanted to discuss a grade she gave us in class yesterday.”
I made a show of stroking my beard and thinking. “That’s your teacher? My, they sure are pretty nowadays. Most of my teachers looked like old pit bulls that had been beat with waffle irons.” Which wasn’t true at all. Only some of them looked like that. I did still have fond memories of my first drama teacher in high school, though. Wonder what she’s up to these days?
John… a warning thought warned in my head. Right. Rhia. Oops.
“Uh, yeah,” said right red, hand still covering the muttering left’s mouth. “So anyway, if you could help out, sir, we’d greatly appreciate it.”
I nodded. “Alright, well if it’s nothing bad, then come on.” I led them around the corner of the building into the alley. I could see wisps of her aura peeking out around a nearby pile of boxes.
Left red caught up and passed me, with right red not too far behind.
“Yo! Miss Dusty! We know you’re back here!”
“Yeah, bitch! We gotta talk! It was rude of you to run from us in the park.”
I watched the punks trot down the alleyway calling out for her, passing by the completely obvious boxes Miss Dusty was hiding behind. Are these guys really that stupid? I thought.
Left whipped around and glared at me. “Hey! You fuckin’ said she went this way! Are you wastin’ our time?”
I shrugged. “I just said I’d show you which way she went. It’s not my fault y’all are too stupid to actually find her.”
Right red, being closer to me, decided he’d drop his nice guy act and pulled out a small knife.
“Alright, listen, old man. We ain’t got time to be playin’ around. You just cost us a chance at some prime ass, and you’re gonna make up for that.”
I arched an eyebrow. Rapists. Figures. If there’s something I can’t stand more than bigots, it’s racists. Them and pedophiles are definitely in my top five most hated groups of people. The other two being Nickelback fans and those whose social media responses begin with “As a veteran…” I’ll leave the actual order of said groups up to your imagination.
“Oh?” I replied. “I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. While I’m sure you two would be handsome men if you matured and took better care of yourselves, it’s not quite what I’m into.”
Left red turned, well, red, and started blustering while pulling out a snub nosed revolver. “We ain’t gay, you fuckin’ moron! You’re gonna repay us by handing over that fancy phone and any money you got on you. ‘Cause of you I can’t stick my dick in that fine ass of hers, and you owe me for that.”
I smiled, then shifted into my god form. Ok, I may have beefed up my muscles a bit, just to up the intimidation factor. Both of the reds’ eyes got huge.
“You’re certainly welcome to try, ladies.”
“I-is that fuckin’ All-Might?!” left exclaimed. Right was shaking his head next to him.
“Uh uh. Nah man. That’s fuckin’ Zekken! Ain’t you seen the news?”
“That dude who thinks he’s a god? I thought that was just a joke!”
I smirked. “Do I look like a joke to you, little girl?” I glanced over to the pile of boxes. “Miss Dusty, was it? You can come out of there. You’ll be perfectly safe, I assure you.”
The boxes to my left shuffled a bit, before a shock of pink hair suddenly appeared around them. Following the hair was a pretty face half obscured with large sunglasses. On her cheeks were streaks where you could tell her makeup had run. She’d obviously been crying. She was thin. Waifish, in fact. Wearing a light tan leather jacket, skintight black jeans, and heels, she seemed to fit the rich heiress stereotype in looks alone, if you disregarded the crazy hair color.
She looked nervously at the two young men as they shifted between keeping a wary eye on me and devouring her with their eyes. I motioned for her to join me at my side, and she quickly made her way there, never taking her eyes off of them.
“Do you know these kids, ma’am?” I asked her. She gave a hesitant nod.
“I-I’m a student teacher at their school. They’ve been harassing me all morning. Every time I thought I got away, they found me.”
I chuckled a little. “To be fair, your hair does make you stand out a fair bit in a crowd.”
Absentmindedly she reached a hand up to play with her hair. With a nervous smile she said “Yeah, I guess it does.”
Red left was fuming at being ignored. He brandished his gun at us again.
“Hey! Who you callin’ a fuckin’ kid!? Don’t you see I got a gun here?”
“And? Am I supposed to be impressed?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.
A response he clearly wasn’t expecting. His mouth worked a couple times, no sounds coming as he contemplated what I meant. It was clear that, to him, having a gun meant being in control.
“Well?” I goaded. I motioned for Miss Dusty to remain where she was, then started taking slow and deliberate steps towards the two flabbergasted teens. “I asked you a question, child. You have a gun. Am I supposed to be impressed?”
Red right was obviously the more intelligent of the two, not that it was saying much. He started to pull on left’s sleeve.
“Hey man, we should probably go. I don’t like this. If he really is Zekken, we’re fucked.”
I moved my hand up, raising the two boys off their feet, leaving them dangling in the air. I do like my theatrics.
“Oh, I’m afraid it’s far too late for that. You’ve harassed this poor woman, followed her, told me you wanted to rape her, threatened me with a gun, and confused me for All-Might. I admit I do enjoy that show as much as the next god, but it’s not in my top five.”
I doubted they heard the last part of my speech, being too busy pissing themselves and all. Panicked, left pointed his gun at me and pulled the trigger six times. Well, he pulled it a lot, but only the first six mattered, as he ran out of bullets after that. I lazily caught each one, and then held them up in the palm of my hand.
“And now we can add attempted murder. I believe you two will be coming with me. Don’t bother trying to resist.” I turned around started walking towards the nervous woman, the boys floating behind me as I moved.
“Are you busy, ma’am? You’re actually why I came down here. There’s something I need to ask you. I’m willing to compensate your time if you want.”
-
Reappearing in the apartment, I saw that Persia was still in bed, but was no longer trying to hide her face from the world. Seeing me, she blushed and looked away. Rhia patted her hand and got up to come greet me. Linda took her place on the bed and pulled Persia in for a hug, who, after hesitating a second, accepted it.
“What the fuck just happened?” one of the boys floating behind me asked.
“Quiet,” I said. “We’ll deal with you two later. Ma’am, if you’ll have a seat please. Feel free to get comfortable.” I indicated the couch, and the dazed woman did so.
I smiled as Rhia approached me. “Honey, I’m home.”
“And you brought friends I see,” she said, smiling at the woman on the couch and frowning at the teens hanging in the air behind me.
“Ah, yeah. Had a little excitement. These two miscreants were harassing her. I couldn’t decide on what to do with them just yet, so I brought them along.”
“Oh? Must’ve been something serious for you to delay punishment.”
“Harassment with intent to rape. And they pulled a gun on me.”
She glowered at the boys, a dark energy starting to come off her with intense pressure. “Rape, you say?”
The boys turned white as sheets as the supernatural energy hit them. I placed a hand on her arm.
“Not now, babe. We don’t want to mess up Linda’s lovely floor when they soil themselves.”
Rhia gave me a sidelong glare, but she calmed herself down.
“Great. We can deal with them later. Right now, we have a guest.” I indicated the now absolutely terrified woman sitting on the couch. Rhia’s little display wasn’t directional. It just radiated from her in all directions, so unfortunately our guest got caught in the blast as well. Rhia realized this and immediately rushed to her side to apologize. I took the opportunity to take our floating budding bad guys and deposited them in Linda’s little kitchenette.
“You guys can hang out here, if you like.” Despite being terrified, right red still managed to roll his eyes at my word play. Leaving them floating there, I went to check on my other two ladies. Upon entering the bedroom area, Linda got up and gave me a peck on the cheek.
“I’ll go play host for our guest. Spend a couple minutes with her, will you?”
“Gotcha babe. Uh, there are a couple hooligans hanging out in your kitchenette. Just move them if they’re in the way.”
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She gave a lazy wave over her shoulder as she made her way to the living area. I moved closer to the bed and took a seat next to Persia, who was in the process of trying to hide under the blanket again. I debated just making it disappear but forcing the issue wouldn’t help in this case.
“Feeling a little better?”
“Embarrassed. I’ve never been so embarrassed,” came the muffled reply from under the blanket. Well, at least her speech has settled down.
“You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about you know. I’m not embarrassed at all.”
“People were staring at me. They made fun of me. I told everyone we were married.”
“People were staring because they’ve never seen one of your kind before. Not in real life anyway. That one guy apologized, too. I was happy when you didn’t hide behind Rhia to accept it. And who cares if the world knows we’re married? It’s not like I was keeping it a secret you know. It’s only been a day.”
Slowly her slightly flattened ears appeared above the blanket, then her eyes. The bottom half of her face remained firmly locked behind the cotton wall though.
“You’re not embarrassed? Not ashamed of me?”
I lowered my face until we were eye to eye. Her blue and green irises were breathtaking. Like staring into a shallow coral reef. Slowly I cupped the side of her head with my hand, softly stroking her cheek with my thumb. While there wasn’t as much as there was before her bonding with Rhia, the fur under my hand felt divine. The misogynistic part of my very male brain tended to prefer my women with as little hair as possible on their body, but it was definitely making an exception for this beauty. Pulling on her face gently, I brought her head closer to mine. I leaned up and kissed her forehead, then touched mine to hers, staring into her eyes from an inch away.
“My dear, I would never feel ashamed or embarrassed of or because of you. I know this morning was rough, but it was my fault, not yours. And I don’t think you have to worry about the world. They’re fascinated by you. In the news clip I saw, all they talked about was you. I was standing right next to you. So was Rhia. The earth shatteringly beautiful Rhia wasn’t mentioned once. It was all about you. How could I feel ashamed of that? I couldn’t be prouder of my wife.”
I could see tears forming in her eyes, and feel her cheeks heating up, but she never looked away from my own eyes.
“You’re really not embarrassed?” she asked softly.
“Not even a little.”
“I shouldn’t feel ashamed that I said you were my husband to everyone?”
I smirked a little. “I think I’d feel insulted if you did. Aren’t you proud to be my wife? I’m proud to be your husband. You’ve made so much progress in a day.”
She nodded, forehead rocking against mine. “I never thought I’d have a husband. I didn’t trust men. I still don’t trust men. I trust you though. I’m proud to be your wife. I want to bring you happiness and joy for the rest of my life.”
“And I want to do the same for you. So please, stop feeling embarrassed and ashamed. You’re worth so much more to me than the opinions of strangers. Okay?”
Another head nod.
“Great. Would you like to meet our guest? She’s the silver one I told you about. The whole reason we came down here.”
She hesitated, seeming to think about, as she pulled the blanket back up to her face. I leaned pack and patted the leg shaped lump under the blanket.
“It’s ok. You can come out when you’re ready, or not at all. It’s your choice.” I started to get up from the bed when she suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Wait,” she said softly, looking up at me. She dropped the blanket from her face and reached for my face. Grabbing me much like I had her a couple minutes ago, she pulled my head towards hers. She paused briefly, then, with a look of conviction, kissed me. I was completely caught off guard, but quickly responded. There was much more ferocity in that one kiss than I ever expected out of the timid woman. Like a dam had burst inside of her and all that energy needed to go somewhere. Her tongue sought out mine as she breathed heavily through her nose. Not breaking the kiss, she climbed out of the blanket and swung a leg over my lap, straddling me. Her hands were roaming my body, and I belatedly remembered I was still in my buffed-up form that I’d used to intimidate the two hooligans. She started pulling at my shirt, but a cleared throat stopped her.
Eyebrows drawn together in anger at having been interrupted, she turned and hissed at the throat in question, only to stop once she saw Rhia leaning up against glass wall. Rhia for her part, didn’t say anything, but hooked a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the living area. The same living area that we could see quite clearly through the glass wall and had a very clear view of where we were. Linda and our guest were both sitting sideways on the couch facing each other. Linda had her face in her palm, slowly shaking her head, while our guest stared, open mouthed, at Persia. I gave everyone a little wave and a smile. Persia was about to dive back under the blanket again, but froze, staring at the new woman on the couch. Then, before Rhia and I could react, Persia was out of the room like a bullet, crashing through the glass wall like it wasn’t even there, coming to a stop crouching behind the couch and staring the poor woman in the eyes.
Rhia and I exchanged confused looks, then made to follow her. Fixing the glass wall with a thought after I’d passed through it, I approached the couch and Persia.
“Persia? Something the matter?” I asked cautiously.
“Silver eyes,” she whispered in awe. “She has the silver eyes of an Oracle.”
I glanced at the woman on the couch, who was still wearing her sunglasses. Slowly she pulled them off and looked around to each of us.
“I’ve seen all of you before, you know,” she said softly. “My name is Liliana Dusty, and I’ve seen this moment in my dreams.”
“Uh…” was all I could manage.
She stood up and walked around the couch until she was standing in front of me. She held out her hand.
“Please, call me Lily, Mr. Badger. I have a feeling we’re going to get to know each other very well if we survive the next week. And you can let those two in the kitchen go. One way or another, they won’t be bothering anyone like they did me today.”
Keeping my eyes on the silver ones of hers, I summoned the floating pair to my side. I turned to face them, bringing them up to my eye level. They were staring at each of the women in the room. Without fear or malice, but in awe. I snapped my fingers to get their attention.
“Gentlemen, I assume you understand that you’re getting off easy today?”
Both nodded their heads quickly.
“And I also assume you realize what may happen if I ever catch wind of you two acting like this again?”
More head nods.
Lily gave a small wave to get their attention.
“Billy.” Red left looked at her.
“Carlos.” Red right looked at her.
“It’s time to focus. I’ve seen your work in school. When you apply yourselves, you’re beyond exceptional. Don’t let others bully you into being something you’re not. Billy, you’re an excellent writer. Please focus on that. Tell the story of Zekken. Do your research. Don’t fall for the hype. Trust me, okay?”
Billy nodded.
“Carlos, get your spot back on the baseball team. I think you’ll do amazing things on the field in your life, and the Mets have needed a good centerfielder ever since they traded Conforto away.”
“Right?! What a bonehead move that was,” I interjected as Carlos nodded. Rhia and Persia both smacked the back of my head, then shared a giggle. I was beyond happy that Persia was coming out of her shell, but if those two were going to team up on me, it may lead to a troublesome life for me.
Lily nodded at me, indicating it was alright to release them. I lowered them to the ground and released my hold on them. As a courtesy, I also cleaned them up with a thought, remembering that they’d messed themselves in the alley.
“Alright guys, you heard Miss Dusty. I expect remarkable things from you. If she hadn’t asked for this as the victim, I can assure you that I would not have been so kind. In line with respecting her wishes for the best for you, I’ll have those weapons of yours now.” I held out my hand, and they placed the revolver and the knife there. An idea turned in my head.
“Lily, did you say this one here was a writer?”
She nodded. “A good one too, when he’s not trying to show off for the local hoodlums.”
I nodded and focused on the revolver, exercising a touch of divine will. The revolver floated up in the air, slowly revolving as it liquified, lengthened and became cylindrical. Billy’s eyes widened at the display. The form finally resolved itself into a pen of a straightforward design. I stuck with the blue and black marbling common to our abode on the moon. Along the side I engraved one of my favorite Ben Franklin sayings, with a stylized Z on the other side. I handed the pen to Billy, who examined it.
“It’s heavy,” he said, testing the weight.
“Must be all those words inside waiting to be used,” I said, feeling proud of myself for being so quotable. “And it’s made out of a gun. Guns were created to take lives. That pen was created to make worlds. Don’t disappoint me, Billy.”
He looked up at me in awe. “You’re really a god, aren’t you? Zekken really is a god.”
“Guilty as charged. Now,” I held up the knife. “What should I do with this, Mr. Carlos?”
He thought for a second, then pulled a necklace out from under his shirt. It was a cross. He pulled the chain over his head and held it out to me.
“Can you make something like this, but with a Z or something?”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah. You can use this too if you want to.”
I held up my hand. “No need for that. One promise I made with an old friend was that I wouldn’t desecrate anything belonging to the current religions. I keep my word. Give me a second here.”
I repeated the same trick with the knife that I had with the gun, liquifying and reshaping it, until I had another stylish Z and a thin but unbreakable chain, once again in the blue and black marbling with a hint of gold thrown in to accent the Z. I handed it to him. Stuffing his cross into his pocket, he immediately placed his new necklace around his neck. Inwardly I winced. Sorry, Hans, old friend. That wasn’t my intention.
“There you go. Whenever you feel the need to act like you did today, feel the weight of that chain, and remember how you felt when I treated you like a helpless victim. That’s not a feeling you ever want to revisit, is it?”
Carlos shook his head.
“Then do your best to ensure no one else feels it as well.” I clapped both boys on the shoulder. “Now, you boys have a story to tell, don’t you? You met the mighty Zekken, his wives, and an oracle. No one will believe you, I’m sure, but you know what happened, and that’s all that matters.”
“Wives?” asked Billy. “As in more than one?”
Smiling, I introduced the ladies around me. Rhia looked regal as she greeted them, still not entirely pleased with their life choices up to this point. Persia gave a cautious smile. Linda needed no introduction for them, as her HorizonTech products were freely supplied to high schools all over the country, including theirs. She made no effort to correct anyone who thought she was already wed to me, though, as opposed to just engaged.
“You ain’t married to him too, are you Miss Dusty?” Carlos asked.
She gave them an odd look. “I met him the same time you did, numbskull.” She then gave me an appraising look. “Not to say it isn’t a possibility in the future though, maybe?”
One can always spot the moment a young man’s hopes and dreams are dashed to nothing. Poor Carlos just about deflated on the spot. Frankly, I was impressed he actually thought he might have stood a chance in the future, considering his earlier intentions, but I guess that’s the optimism of virginity. Ever hopeful you’ll get the hot chick, no matter how much of an ass you act. Pretending not to notice the appraisal and not reacting to her addendum, I started shuffling the boys out of the apartment.
“Alright boys, we’ve got work to do, so go on home. Get out there and live by the quote on the pen I gave you. ‘Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing!’”
“W-w-w-wait!” Billy said. “We’re on the other side of town! We ain’t got no money for a cab or nuthin’!”
“Walk,” I said. “It’s healthy for you. And pull your damn pants up. Belts go around your waist, not your thighs.” I closed the door on their backs then turned to the girls, rubbing my hands together. “Right! Who’s hungry? Let’s go somewhere nice and talk this out, shall we?”
-
“Somewhere nice” turned out to be a burger joint that Lily suggested. The five of us were sitting in a corner booth, with me in the middle. To my right, Persia was pressed up against me, back in her coed look. This time we managed to convince to her to at least pretend her tail was a belt and wrap it around her waist. This didn’t help her balance at all, so I offered her my arm to lean on when we walked in. I had finally remembered to shrink back down to my “date persona” and had switched Rhia back as well, who was currently sitting on the other side of Persia. Lily was directly to my left and Linda complimented Rhia’s bookending of our party. I did draw a few jealous stares as I entered the joint with four attractive women, but no one paid it any mind accept for Persia, who was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, if you’ll pardon the expression.
Now, however, her eyes were sparkling as she devoured her salmon burger. Lily had suggested she try it and had ordered one for herself as well. I wasn’t sure if she was just trying to see if the catgirl would eat the fish burger, if her oracle abilities had told her, or if she genuinely loved the burger and wanted to share her joy with someone. Could be a combination of all three for all I know. Either way, Persia was happy, and that left me grateful for the pink haired beauty.
Taking a sip of my soda, something I hadn’t realized I’d missed while on the moon, I looked over at Lily.
“So… I’m your dream guy?”
Lily choked on her food, then gave me a dirty look. I heard an odd scratching sound from my right and discovered Persia’s nails were dug into the table as she stared intently at Lily, obviously waiting for an answer. This reaction even caught Rhia off guard, whose wide eyes looked from the table to my equally wide ones. Linda continued eating, seemingly oblivious to what just happened. Rhia slowly placed a hand on Persia’s shoulder.
“Persia? Are you alright?”
“I just want to know her intentions towards Our Husband, Sister. More wives means less time for us, right?”
Rhia and Linda traded looks, before Linda joined in.
“You do know that there are four more women engaged to him, right?”
“I’m well aware of that. This girl is new though. She just met him. She can’t be a wife yet.”
Yet? I thought to Rhia, blocking the thought from Persia. Should we remind her that she was engaged and married to me within hours of speaking to me for the first time?
Probably shouldn’t, Rhia thought back. I’m going to speak to her and see if she’ll let me probe her mind a bit later. Her attachment to you has grown surprisingly strong in a day and a half. Almost too much so. I want to make sure she doesn’t become obsessed just because you’re the first guy to treat her kindly.
Yeah. Yandere isn’t my preferred waifu setting. Let me try to calm her down.
I leaned over and spoke softly to her as I gently laid my hand over hers. “I was only joking, sweetheart. We just met. I doubt she’s interested in me like that.”
“Yes she is,” Persia stated confidently. “I can smell it. She wants to mate.”
All eyes turned to Lily, who was turning bright red while trying to hide behind her burger.
“Um,” I began, not sure where to go from there. “Uh, you can smell it?”
“Yes. She has the same smell as Su and Hannah. They always smell like that around you. And Sister Rhia. And each other. They always smell like that when they’re in heat, and they’re always in heat.”
Those two are the biggest nymphos on the moon, I allowed.
“W-well, I… I wouldn’t say no if he offered, but I sense it’s not time to yet,” Lily said.
“What do you mean ‘not time to yet?’” I asked.
“I mentioned my dreams before, right? I get glimpses of possible futures in my sleep. It started a few years ago. At first, I thought it was a nightmare, but I had the same dream almost every night for a week, and then it came true. Since then I’ve figured out that the more intense a future may be, the more I dream about it. Lately it’s been a flying mountain. It’s weird though.”
“How so?” I asked.
“I see the mountain in my dreams, but then it’s just cats. Everywhere are cats, and the world is overrun with them.”
“Junaians,” Persia said softly.
“Ju-what now?” Lily asked.
“They’re not cats. They’re Junaians. They’re from my homeworld, and they’re here to capture Earth.”
“Homeworld? Well, that’s troubling, but it makes more sense than my dream. So that asteroid that NASA says is going to pass close by the planet…”
“Is actually aiming for it,” I finished. “It’s got about a hundred Junaians aboard, including one who gives off the same energy you do.”
“Energy?” Lily asked.
“I’ll explain that later. Anyway, that’s why we’re down here, looking for you. I was curious what someone with that energy was, and if they could help us at all.” I paused as I took another sip of my soda. “Incidentally, what was that first dream you were telling us about? You said it came true?”
Her attention focused on her plate, hands in her lap, she spoke softly.
“I was standing on a highway. Next to me was a sign that said ‘Welcome to Texas.’” She looked up at me. “And for as far as the eye could see, everything behind it was on fire.”
For the next hour we filled Lily on what’s been happening over the last few years from our perspective, as well as my short and long term goals for the planet. She, in return, told us about the dreams she had, and more about herself. Comparing her dreams and our adventures, it was easy enough to determine that the two were linked.
“It is as I said,” confirmed Persia. “She is an Oracle. Linked to this planet’s god. The other four you saw are also Oracles.”
Lily’s eyebrows rose. “There are more out there like me?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I saw you here in New York, and the rest are in Japan, Russia, Australia, and the Antarctic.”
“Oh? Does that mean a world tour is about to happen? I’ve never left the States and would love to see more of the world. Especially if I’m going to be of help to you.”
“You want to join us? Don’t you want to be a teacher?”
“It’s not a bad idea,” said Rhia. I raised my eyebrows at her. “Look, you’re going to need her and the others eventually anyway. I didn’t bring it up earlier because I didn’t think you’d want to hear it, Mr. Ironically Atheist, but you’re going to need a church established in your name. It’s how your influence grows. As your influence grows, it’ll be easier to guide humanity to where you want it to go.”
“You want me to do the very thing I hate about religious organizations in the first place? Use doctrine to change national policy?”
“How else do you expect to cause any change in the world?” tossed in Linda. “You can’t chase everyone out of office you don’t like, you know. You got away with the president and the king because they were despicable men, however the Russian job kind of blew up in your face, and now the whole country isn’t overly fond of you. You’ve made things harder on yourself because of it.”
I held up my hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. I get it. We’ll look into it at a later date. First thing’s first though. There’s an asteroid ship that’s just days away. We need to solve that crisis before moving on to the next. Lily, I don’t suppose your dreams leave any clues on how I might end this peacefully?”
Lily shook her head. “Not that I could see. There was nothing about you in my dream. Just the flying mountain and cats everywhere. Maybe one of the others you’ve seen could help? They might’ve received another vision or something?”
“Couldn’t hurt to try, I guess. Shall we get going then?”
Linda stood up first. “Can you just send me to Shu? You guys did cut our little getaway short, after all. Two days became a few hours, and I’m still a little antsy.”
I gave her an apologetic smile. “Yeah, I think I can accommodate that. Feel free to use the big bed till we get back if you want.”
The rest of us got up as well and, after paying for our meal, walked outside. By now it was early evening, so it was easier for our group to slip down an alleyway and out of sight. Linda gave me a quick kiss.
“Feel free to join us when you get back, ok?”
“I believe I’ve reserved tonight, Linda. You’re tomorrow night, remember?” Rhia reminded her.
“Can’t blame a girl for trying,” Linda replied. She waved as I sent her home without the theatrics. Lily didn’t quite process that at first, waving her hand through where Linda was just standing. Then she looked at me.
“What?” I said. “That’s how we travelled earlier with the boys, remember? Alley one second, apartment the next?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t see it from this angle before. Is that how we’re going to be travelling from now on?”
“Yep.” I turned to Rhia and Persia. “I think from here on out it’ll be easier to convince them to join us if we drop the disguises and make it a divine visitation. Rhia, I’m sure you don’t care either way, but Persia, are you ready for it, or should I send you home until we’re done?”
Persia looked at me, then her eyes slid to Lily. She gave a noticeable sniff, narrowed her eyes, then looked back at me.
“I’ll be staying by your side, My Husband.”
“Alrighty then,” I said, shaking my head. With a snap of my fingers, I returned us to our normal looks, or rather in my case, my god look. Rarely did I ever return to my original self anymore, unless requested by the girls for bedroom reasons, so I’ve come to consider my god form my normal form. Before me stood the angelic Rhia and the furry Persia. Adding Lily into the mix with her silver eyes and pink hair, I was starting to feel like an anime protagonist. Well, at least I know what to do with a harem, unlike those dickless wonders, I thought. Rhia rolled her eyes while Persia blushed. I should really learn how to stop my thoughts leaking out like that.
Lily eyed them, then looked at me thoughtfully, but seemed to hold on to what she wanted to say, instead asking where to next.
“Well, it’s getting a little late to just drop in, so for tonight we’ll head back to Linda’s apartment. If you’d like to join us, meet us there in the morning. Dress warm, we’re heading to Moscow!”