Chapter 23

"Mrs. Ansong," Lennard finally said, his voice an octave lower than usual. It was clear that Lennard was using a great deal of control in order to keep his temper in check. "I understand your concerns, and I know that I should have asked your permission before connecting tails with your son."

“I wouldn’t have let you! Pervert!” Mrs. Ansong spat at Lennard.

Lennard wiped the saliva down his tunic and continued, "I assure you that the procedure was done strictly for diagnostic purposes. The presence of my apprentice was necessary because of his extraordinary psychic abilities. When we entered your son's subconscious, we found a weak connection to Mika Poldare. This suggests that a bond has begun to form between them. Do you know what happens to someone who has not had The Bonding performed correctly?"

“I’m not gonna let you make him your sex toy, pervert!” I’ll get Kyaro and have him make Maka a man before any of you perverts try to do anything else to my boy. Kija, go get your father!” With that, Jenba raised her arm in an awkward movement which Niko was unprepared for and all but threw her daughter through the gap it made between them.

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Kija stood frozen, her arm aching from her mother's grip. She looked around at the people in the room: the two large twin brothers holding her mother back, their sister Mika reaching for Maka, and the two doctor men standing in front of the bed where Maka lay. His tail was still dangling off the side.

Kija didn't understand all of the words the large man was saying, but she thought he was trying to help her brother. She didn't understand why her mother was so angry. She thought maybe it was because they had touched Maka's tail, but the man said that was how they had figured out what was going on. He said it was something Mika and Maka had done together that was making her brother sick.

Kija couldn't make sense of it all. Her mother looked at her desperately, anger mixed with something that looked to Kija like fear. She knew her mother needed her to leave and get her dad, so she turned and ran out of the room as fast as she could. She would tell her father what was happening, and he would know what to do.

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As Kija ran out of the clinic, the others fell silent. The little girl being all but thrown from the room by her mother pushed the conversation from a logical discussion to an emotional one. There was no more point in continuing to talk to this woman, she was lost in her own beliefs. Jenba shrugged off the twins' grip, which had loosened when Lennard spoke to her as a physician rather than a friend.

Lennard knew there would be no point in continuing the discussion with Maka's mother and shook his head in defeat before stepping away from the bed. Harlow was driven away by the woman's hateful glare. She looked at him as if he were the most repulsive person on the planet and she physically moved around him to get to her son. The twins were speechless and backed into the hallway, allowing the others to leave the room.

Mika was the only one left in the room with Jenba. She had slid down the wall in a corner and was quietly sobbing. She drew her knees in and lay her head in her palms. Tears silently hit the floor beneath her.

None of them could truly understand what Mika was feeling. This could be her losing her only chance at a normal life. It was possible that she would soon succumb to the obsession and addiction of having an incomplete bond, especially if Maka's family did not allow the Bonding to be completed properly.

If they didn't, Maka would be trapped inside his mind, suffering the same loss and needs forever without any way to extinguish them. However, his forever would most likely only last a short time. The cravings and need to fulfill the bond would surely kill him. Chasing the dragon is a dangerous and ultimately futile endeavor, and in Maka's weakened state, Lennard could only speculate at how quickly he would succumb and pass away.

There was simply nothing more they could do now, though, not without facing severe consequences and going behind Jenba’s back. They could already be in trouble for what they had done. This woman and her antiquated, unnecessary belief system could ruin and end her son's life as well as Mika's.

The twins would be forced to deal with their sister for the rest of her life as she chased the dragon. Sadly, her life would not be long either.

She would be driven to drinking and drugs. She would also become extremely promiscuous. All of this would be in a vain attempt to recapture the feelings of the bond she and Maka had started. If she was not locked up and left to die quickly behind bars, she would poison her body and ruin her short life.

This was the way things were. Canursids were granted great strength and abilities, but they were cursed by them if not managed properly. There was room for change and growth, as Harlow and Lennard had proved. However, those rules and the people who enforced them would never see any way other than the established routine.

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As Lennard sat and thought about the situation, he came to a conclusion. He knew that if Kyaro couldn't calm his mate down, she would most likely go straight to the Ailuropoda. Lennard and Harlow would be forced to face their judgment and face the consequences. He had rarely attended their church and didn't know what kinds of punishments they handed out. However, he was not about to be punished for simply loving someone.

If what they had done to Marney for a simple mistake of miscounting their change was any indication, what they would likely do to him and Harlow would be needlessly tortuous and probably end in public humiliation and execution.

The men sat in silence, the twins slumped against the wall on the floor, while Harlow and Lennard sat on the couch. The joyous laughter of the festival could be heard through the open window, but none of them felt like joining in the celebrations.

The people outside were free to celebrate and enjoy life without the knowledge of what was happening inside the clinic. The patients had all been dismissed except for Maka, so there was no one here but those involved. Lennard had only last week helped Kyaro with the pyre so that this celebration could go off without a hitch, but now he was here, unable to partake in the festivities, trapped and facing a future away from the town he had grown to love.

Lennard was about to get up and pack a bag when he heard footsteps coming up through the courtyard at a rapid pace. The door to the clinic swung open and Kyaro stepped inside.

He looked at the men in the waiting room and moved to stand in front of Lennard. "You connected with him?" There was anger and disbelief mixed in with Kyaro's voice.

Lennard nodded his head. "It was the only way to find out what was really going on in his head." Niko said calmly.

Kyaro glanced sideways at the twins but kept his eyes on Lennard. "What exactly did you find out, and how?"

Neko opened his mouth to answer, but Lennard lifted a finger to stall the man from answering. "Harlow here has an extremely strong psychic ability and can see into people's subconscious. We used that to look inside Maka's head and see if we could do anything to help him." Lennard said.

"While we were there, we saw a link between him and Mika. It was a link similar to those who've been bonded, but incomplete. It's because the Bonding was not done correctly that is why Maka can't wake up. It's literally driving him crazy, trapping him in his own subconscious."

"We need to allow them to do the bonding properly, or both of them will end up chasing the dragon and dying." Lennard finished with his brief explanation.

Kyaro's face was awash with mixed emotions. His daughter had relayed what she could, but was so upset by the way her mother had gotten mad that her explanation had been incomplete. She had obviously heard terms she wasn't supposed to know about for years yet and couldn't fathom their importance.

Kyaro turned and pointed at the twins. "Did you know any of this beforehand?"

The twins simultaneously shook their heads and Neko said, "We were as surprised as you. The thought had crossed our minds, but our original goal was to have Harlow here..."

Kyaro then turned to Harlow, cutting Neko's explanation short with a quick gesture. He had mentored Harlow for a time, but could see that the work he did bored the boy. He had let him go, but felt no ill will towards him.

"Your ability," Kyaro asked, trying to better understand. "How does it work?"

Harlow looked at Lennard, unsure of how to proceed. If he told Kyaro everything, he would probably want to see for himself, and Harlow wasn't sure he was ready to let him in right now.

He could give just the basics and hope it was enough for him to believe. But he had never been good at lying. He wondered if leaving things out would count as a lie. He wondered if that would make him look suspicious?

With a weak voice and an uncertain tone, Harlow tried to give the Mayor enough information to make him believe, but not enough for him to want to experience it himself. He hoped the others would understand why he was doing this.

"I can see into someone's mind," Harlow said. "Their minds manifest in different ways, and Maka's mind manifested in a strange, shifting way.” he paused to figure out what to say next, “I can also see the strings that attach people together. Lennard and I have one now that we're bonded, so I know what to look for. Maka has one too, and I followed it to Mika. When we asked her about it, she admitted what happened."

"Wait, Mika admits to it?" Kyaro asked sharply.

"Yes," Niko said. "She didn't know what she was doing. We think she overheard us talking about it and tried it with Maka."

The mayor closed his eyes and shook his head. "Where is she now?"

"She's still in the room," Niko said, pointing in the general direction.

Kyaro brought his other hand up to his head and massaged both his temples at once.

"If I performed The Bonding on him now, would it work?" he asked from behind closed eyes.

The question was one none of them had any real experience with. Lennard looked to the twins for advice on these types of subjects, and watched as their gazes went vacant. After a moment, which Harlow and Lennard now knew could have been hours from the twins' perspective, their eyes refocused and they began talking.

"We couldn't find many situations like this," Niko began.

"There were only two documented cases we could find," Neko continued.

"In both cases, The Bonding was performed by the proper family member after the initial incomplete ritual, but the child was still lost to the addiction," Niko said next.

"Almost always when The Bonding goes wrong, it ends up that way. These two are kind of the exception," Neko finished, pointing at Harlow and Lennard.

Kyaro had stopped his massage while the twins explained. His shoulders sank lower as they related the worsening news. He had hoped to correct the situation now and have everything go back to normal, but if the twins were correct, which they almost always were, his idea of performing the Bonding ritual now would not help his son.

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Kyaro began to pace, his hands tightening and releasing. He mumbled under his breath and stole glances at the recovery room where Maka and Jenba waited. Then he abruptly stopped in front of the men and looked at them with a hardened expression.

“Okay,” he said. “There is only one way out of this that I can see. Jenba is too stubborn, to a fault. She will never allow Mika and Maka to bond, even though both children will end up suffering as you say. So we’ll have to make things happen without her around.”

The four men all looked at Kyaro, not knowing exactly where he was going with his speech. Kyaro was often sidetracked, but when he put his mind to a task, he was good at following it through.

The mayor looked directly at the four men and asked, “I take it one of you knows how to complete the ritual, right?”

All of them but Harlow nodded. "We have been studying this for a long time, actually, trying to figure out what to do with Mika," Niko added.

"Good, then you will get her to complete the bonding, and Harlow, you'll have to check to make sure it's complete," Kyaro said.

He continued, "I can't stop Jenba from alerting the Ailuropoda. It might not be today, but it will be soon. They will want to investigate and find out the details. You know you and Harlow will be scrutinized as well, right?" Kyaro said and looked at Lennard.

Lennard nodded. "I already plan on heading out. I am not going to let them punish us for being in love." He took Harlow’s hand in his and squeezed.

The twins gasped and Kyaro sighed. "That's probably the best idea, honestly," he said. "I hate to see you go. This town will be without a physician again. You've been here a long time and people trust you. But with this scandal out in the open, that trust will quickly deteriorate, I'm afraid."

"Wait, what?" Niko said.

"You've got to be kidding, right?" Neko added.

Lennard and Kyaro both shook their heads. This wasn't a joke. Harlow looked between Kyaro and Lennard, secretly hoping they were kidding as well. Then he looked at the twins. He watched their faces change from astonishment to resentment and finally land on acceptance.

Harlow couldn't believe what was going on here. He had just found his home, his partner, and his friends. Now he was going to be forced out?

"What about Mika and Maka?" Lennard asked sullenly.

The mayor took a deep breath before answering. "I'm not sure. They may have to leave as well.” He turned to the twins, “Do you have any distant family or someone who might be able to help them?"

"We'll figure something out," Neko said. "But are you going to just let Maka go?"

"I don't see that I have much choice," the mayor said. "He and Mika have created this situation and are forcing the outcome, but I'm not going to let them suffer and die because of a dumb childhood mistake."

The twins looked at each other, then back at the mayor. "We have a place where they can go, but it’s only temporary," Neko said.

"That’ll have to do for now." Kyaro replied.

Harlow didn't have any family other than his father, and he had always looked forward to leaving him. So, it was difficult for him to empathize with Kyaro and his possible loss.

On the other hand, he knew that the twins loved their sister very much, but most girls married and moved in with their mates anyway. So, he hoped that part wouldn't be a big deal for them. He knew they were both very smart and resourceful, and he knew they would never lose complete contact with their sister.

Mostly, though, he felt sorry for himself and Lennard. Lennard had lived in this town for a long time, and his house and a clinic were here. He would have to leave all of that behind. This made Harlow feel less sorry for himself and much more sorry for his lover.

This entire situation was just wrong. Harlow couldn't understand why these people continued to believe in such ancient and mean traditions. In his opinion, all the church did was cause trouble and make the world a worse place.

Harlow felt a wave of depression wash over him. He knew it was inevitable that they would have to leave now. The weight of the situation settled on his heart like a heavy blanket. He felt tears forming at the corners of his eyes and quickly brushed them away. He knew there would be time for crying later, and feeling sorry for himself didn't help right now.

Right now he needs to be strong and support Lennard. He needed to make sure these two stupid kids were properly bonded, then he needed to pack. Again.

The idea of packing his things brought back the memory of him leaving his family home not even a week ago. That trip had not gone well, and he feared this upcoming one would fare no better.

Lennard squeezed his hand as if reading his thoughts. Harlow looked at his lover and smiled faintly. Lennard looked back, a similar small smile on his face. Harlow could see the start of tears in the corners of his eyes as well.

He thought to himself and hoped Lennard could actually hear his thoughts this tim,. “I love you, and I'm glad that even though I have to move again, I will at least have you with me.”

Harlow and Lennard sat holding hands and sharing their sadness.

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After hashing out the details of the plan, Kyaro spoke to them with a bit of finality in his voice. “You all know your jobs now, so I will go do mine,” he said as he walked to the recovery room. “It’s been nice knowing you.”

Niko followed behind, but stopped before entering the doorway. He could see Mika in the corner of the room and waved her over to him. She shook her head at first, but he waved harder and showed fang. She reluctantly got up and moved out of the room.

She stepped over to where the men were sitting and they began to explain what was going to happen. They all heard as Kyaro quickly became the target of Jenba’s wrath. Kija ran from the room and out the door, tears streaming down her face. There was a brief pause while Kyaro and Jenba debated who would go after her, but neither moved. Jenba only started in on her husband again.

Niko and Neko took this time to explain to Mika what was going to happen. “Once Kyaro gets Jenba out of the clinic, you will go in and finish The Bonding ritual,” Niko said.

Mika gasped and her eyes went huge. “There is a verse you will need to say, and while you say it you will need to put all your energy into the words,” Niko explained. “This isn’t much more complicated than a simple cleaning cantrip, but it will take a lot more energy.”

Out of the men here, Lennard was the only one who had actually performed the ritual. He knew the cleaning cantrip that Neko had mentioned, and he wasn’t too sure about the comparison.

Everyone learned how to use the cleaning cantrip "O'kravena Lem'nana" when they were young. The simple spell could clean a variety of things, but was generally used for clothing and other laundry. It didn't do much to more solid objects, and nothing to a living person.

Lennard had felt a great deal of energy drain as he performed The Bonding ritual on Harlow, but the energy returned to him quickly. Most spells not only used less energy, but took longer to recover. He hoped the girl had enough in reserve to complete the spell.

“I have modified the wording for your situation, but the key parts are the same,” Neko continued. “You’ll need to place your hand right up where his tail attaches, keep your fingers wrapped around the bottom, okay? You’ll use your nail very gently to cut open the hairs.”

Mika nodded and Niko continued. “You’ll need to say this: "I give of myself the bond of love. Let this pup, young of heart, have his soul known. So he may share his love for me and a pup of his own." He paused for a moment before saying the words to the spell, making sure not to say them in the correct order and cause some magic to actually start. “Optummir Kronika Duulamen.”

This was the first time Harlow had heard the words to the spell. He had been able to make out the verse Lennard had said beforehand, but the actual words of the spell always seemed to elude his memory for some reason.

Neko wrote down the magic words for Mika and helped her sound out each word. They never said the words in order, because that could start the spell too soon, but within a few moments she had the words memorized.

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The conflict in the recovery room came to a crescendo with a loud slap, and Mrs. Ansong stormed out of the front door. Her face was dry, there were no tears shed. Only a look of disgust and hatred could be seen by those gathered in the waiting room.

"You had better hurry," Kyaro called out from down the hall.

Not knowing the extent of what had happened between the two, but seeing the woman's face as she left, gave them all a good idea of what Kyaro had just sacrificed for this to happen. When he said they needed to hurry, he must mean it.

They all stood up and made their way down the hall to the recovery room. Kyaro stood near Maka's bed, his face swollen and red, one eye already swollen shut. He nodded to Mika. “Ready?” he asked her.

The situation was awkward, especially for the males who had gone through this and knew how intimate it generally was. Niko asked, "Do you want us to wait outside?"

"Doesn't matter," Kyaro said. "This has to be done now before she returns with a black and white squad. There was absolutely no reasoning with her. Lennard, I'm trusting you to take care of my boy until he gets better. Can you do that for me?"

Lennard nodded but had to ask, "She'll be back with a squad, you think? We've come to terms with leaving, but you're talking about us needing to leave tonight, aren't you?"

Kyaro sighed and dropped his head. "I am going to stay and take the blame, but you, Harlow, Mika, and Maka will have to be gone."

"Niko, Neko," he continued. "I can try to keep you two out of the story. You did nothing wrong, and even Jenba can't prove that you were involved. You will need to get to your house and make sure there is nothing incriminating for them to find. You'll be able to stay, though. You are too important to this community for them to do anything extraordinary towards you."

The twins nodded. They knew they may be accomplices, but they felt they could remain inconspicuous enough to stay out of trouble. They touched each other's tails for comfort, knowing they were about to go through a very large and trying ordeal.

"Harlow, how long will it take you to make sure the bond is completed?" Kyaro asked him next.

"Only a few seconds, sir," Harlow stammered.

"Good. Lennard, you are of course welcome to stay, but you might want to take this time to get some things together. Your choice." Kyaro finished and nodded towards Mika. "Do it."

Lennard didn't leave. This was something that very few people got to witness outside the privacy of their family. In both instances, receiving and giving, the memories became fuzzy. It was a part of the spell and was generally just accepted as how it worked. Lennard wondered though if witnessing it as a third party would be different.

Mika hesitantly moved to the bedside and pulled off the coverings, exposing Maka's tail. She grabbed hold and looked at her brothers who both nodded. "I give of myself the bond of love. Let this pup, young of heart, have his soul known. So he may share his love for me and a pup of his own," Mika said as she cupped Maka's tail. She slowly moved her hand down and began the spell. "Kronika Optummir Duulamen."

As Mika completed the spell, the men witnessed a strange phenomenon. All the light drained from the room, and Mika began to glow with a radiant violet light. The light condensed in her chest, then moved down her arm and out of her fingers. It entered Maka's tail, and from there it moved up and condensed in his chest.

Each of the men present felt a strange connection to the light. Their very souls seemed to call out for it. The light's presence was both comforting and stimulating at the same time. A primal urge overcame them, and they lifted their heads to the skies and howled.

The harmony of their howls echoed around the room, increasing in volume and strength until it reached a crescendo. The cacophony was so strong that it shook the very foundation of the building.

Finally, the violet light slowly faded, and the pale white light from the windows brightened once again. All five males had spontaneously ejaculated during the howl, and they were now panting from exhaustion. The energy released was unlike anything any of them had encountered before, more even than Kinet's healing spell. And they all felt completely drained of energy.

Harlow was astonished and frozen in place. He definitely didn't remember anything like that happening when Lennard had performed the bonding ritual on him. From the looks of everyone else in the room, he doubted any of them remembered the ritual happening like this either.

He was the closest to Mika, and he saw her sway. He reached out and half caught her, lowering her gently to the floor.

The twins raced up and knelt down beside her, with Lennard only a step behind. "Is she breathing?" they asked. They checked her out, and she was fine, just asleep with exhaustion. Lennard placed his ear to her chest to make sure her heart was still beating properly. As he did so, he noticed that the hairs on her tail had also been released.

He had assumed that Maka would have to perform the ritual on her once he was able to, but it seemed as though the energy released from performing The Bonding in this way was enough to open her tail's soft fur as well.

"Harlow, check Maka please," Kyaro said through his panting.

Harlow had all but forgotten his part in things, but he raised his tail to Maka's. It was still dangling from the bed, but there was a twitch to it now. Harlow missed at first, but he took a second shot and was able to attach to it. He immediately felt the connection as his tail touched Maka's, and he pulled them both into the mindscape.

Harlow wasn't sure if he would be able to manifest the entire mindscape without Lennard being present, but he attempted it anyway and was surprised when The Soft Underside materialized around him.

His avatar materialized first, as usual, and then Maka came into existence within Harlow's psychic place. Maka's avatar was blurry, but it wasn't shifting as it had before. Harlow moved closer to Maka and focused on him.

He wasn't sure if he could somehow bring Maka's avatar into focus. He wasn't sure if it would have any actual benefit, but it felt like something he should try.

He visualized Maka, his fur and colorings matching what he remembered from the few interactions they had. It didn't seem to be doing much, though. He then remembered why he was here and examined the connection between Maka and Mika.

The bond between them was solid. The string was much thicker than it had been before. It also swirled with two colors, violet and brown.

Harlow touched the string, knowing it wouldn't be tangible, but to his astonishment, his fingers encountered resistance. He figured that since the bond was so new and they were still relatively close physically, the connection must be more solid than normal. This gave him an idea.

He followed the string and with little effort was able to pull Mika into the mindscape as well. Her avatar was full and solid, and she looked around the place with a slack jaw.

"Mika, this is my mindscape. I have never been able to bring someone here without joining tails before, so congratulations on being the first," Harlow said to her awkwardly.

"This is your, mind place?" she asked.

"I call it a mindscape, but close enough," Harlow corrected her. "I brought you here for a reason though, Mika. Do you see how fuzzy Maka's avatar is?"

Mika looked at the blurry man. "That's Maka?"

"Yeah," Harlow said. "I'm hoping we can get him to clear up a little."

"How do we do that?" Mika asked.

"Well, I've already tried, but didn't make much progress. But I think you know him much better than I do, so I hope you will be able to do better."

"Okay, what do I do?" she asked timidly.

Harlow took her hand and placed it in Maka's. He covered their joined hands and told her, "Think of him, how he looks, his smell, his words. Think of the times you've had, both happy and sad."

Mika closed her eyes and did as told. She thought of meeting Maka, of how he watched her at school. She remembered their first kiss and holding hands while walking down the street. She remembered how weird it felt to pretend they didn't know each other around their families.

She thought of his deep brown eyes and the light brown patch of fur on his left eye. She saw his smile, and the way he trotted on his paws when he was being silly. She tried to remember everything about him, down to the touch of his hand on hers and the electricity it sent into her.

Harlow could feel the memories flowing from Mika into Maka. He watched as the fuzzy lines sharpened and the colors slowly shifted into place. Maka's eyes cleared up and he looked around, seeing where he was for the first time.

He quickly found Mika standing before him, eyes closed and a large smile on her face. He could feel the memories coming from her, feel the joy they brought to her. He could feel the way she looked at him, the way she loved him.

His image finally coalesced into full focus and he pulled her in. They disregarded Harlow's hands over theirs and they kissed. The way a kiss worked in the mindscape was different than in a physical kiss.

Harlow had no time to explain this before the two of them were melding into each other. The soul or presence of a person is what inhabited this place, so when engaging with someone here in an intimate manner, it was more akin to joining in a spiritual way.

Their avatars merged and swirled together, the violet and brown staining each other's aura until finally separated. They now resembled the twins because their souls held patches of the other soul's color.

Harlow was happy for them. He was really excited to see if clearing up Maka's avatar in the mindscape would affect his physical well-being. “Could I have just invented the first form of psychic healing?” He pondered and decided he would have to consult with Lennard.

"I hate to break up the reunion, but we need to get moving," Harlow cut in.

They looked to him and back to each other, then nodded. Harlow took that as a sign that they were ready, and he pushed them back into their bodies and ended the mindscape.

Harlow came back to his body and looked at Kyaro. "It's done, and the bond is strong."

Kyaro nodded his head in thanks. "Good, you need to get..."

"Dad?" A small voice came from Maka, catching Kyaro’s attention.

Kyaro turned to see his son opening his eyes and focusing on him. "Maka?" he asked, and tears instantly began to run down his face. "Maka, you're okay?"

No more words were needed. Kyaro embraced his son and openly cried. Maka did the same, but still held on to Mika's hand. She had regained enough stamina to stand and be next to her new mate. Kyaro noticed her and pulled her into the hug as well.