Truth

by Prax Venter

  Jezebel cleared her throat. “Before we start getting into teaching Abby about her pleasure holes, what can she do in combat?”

  Mark smiled, knowing she had some head-popping magic spells, but the tentacle on his arm stopped its corkscrew motion and fell off, hanging down to her knees. Her eyes turned inward and pulsed out a swirl of emotions.

  “You’ve made me a Player,” the abyssal horror said, distant, as she accessed her Enthralled stat sheet for the first time. “I’ve lost much, but I have much more to gain…” She turned her bright yellow eyes into his and said, “I’m upgradeable.”

  “What are your choices?” Mark asked. “We could use more ranged damage.”

  “Abby,” Sasha said, catching Mark’s eye. The short, tentacled woman turned around, and Mark got his first good look at her tight, chiseled ass. Her long black hair hung straight down to just above her sharply defined globes of green flesh.

  Sasha locked her blue eyes on Abby and continued.

  “You’ve never been an Enthralled. There are a few rules you need to know. The skills you choose are permanent, and this first choice is very important.”

  “I acknowledge your cautions and appreciate your guidance, Sasha. I will serve my new collective as best as I can. Allow me to transfer a summation of my growth chart. There are several branches that all originate at three prime nodes. Skin Flayer, Mind Melter, Sword Breaker.”

  Jezebel rubbed her chin. “That’s a lot of diversity.”

  As Abby filled in some more detail from her information screen, Mark was beset with another bout of jealousy. He had yet to understand the benefit of not choosing his abilities, and not being able to see his own interface made him feel like he was missing out.

  “Skin Flayer involves dual-wielding daggers, Sword Breaker will alter my surface material to mitigate physical attacks, but Mind Melter has various damage over time, and powerful direct damage spells- plus multiple utility curses. I believe this fits the required configuration.”

  “What do you think, Jez?” Sasha asked, raising her eyebrow and exposing one of her fangs with a lopsided grin. His succubus was already sold.

  Having Abby as his third Enthralled was making more and more sense. The fact that she knew the truth of the situation they were all in made it almost a no-brainer. The three of them would have needed to keep a private secret from any person picked from inside this world. An alternate future where they never really had a full party and constantly switched out that third member might appeal to one of his heads, but that one team member would always be starting at level one.

  She was also a smoking hot monster-woman who wanted him to teach her about pleasure…

  Jezebel looked over to Mark for his reaction. He gave her a few slow nods, a smile growing on his lips. There was no question in his mind that Abby would be with him for a while.

  The satyr shrugged her tan shoulders, and his eyes were pulled down to her saucer-like, brown nipples. Mark took a moment to relish in the fact that he was surrounded by smoking hot monster-women.

  “What can a Mind Melter do?” Jezebel asked.

  “Imaginary Lacerations, Agonizing Thoughts, Eye Rot.”

  “Mmm, that all sounds good,” Sasha said, stretching her blue top over her heavy pink breasts.

  “Yeah, I don’t know about Eye Rot.” Mark reached up, tracing the jagged flesh across the left side of his face.

  Abby turned her eyes on his scar, and it was then that he noticed the stumpy black hair-tentacle on her right side. That must be the one they burned off. Mark felt a welling of hatred for the earth elementals that did this.

  “I was trying to harm her,” the abyssal horror said, pointing a tentacle at Sasha, “but you decided to assault me. I didn’t understand why… at the time. Regardless, your current features are deeply pleasurable to perceive.”

  “Thanks?” Mark said. “Apology accepted. Anyway, what does Imaginary Lacerations do?”

  “I can will an enemy’s flesh to split apart, of course.”

  “Abby and I will get along just fine,” Sasha said, her tail swaying hypnotically behind her.

  “Does it only work on flesh?” Jezebel asked as she slipped back into her new leather armor. “I ask because so far, we’ve fought a glass lion, wooden boats, and fleshless skeletons… just to name a few.”

  “Enemy configurations noted. However, my magic will rend the surface of any entity capable of being a threat.”

  “That sounds damn good, but let me know if you want to pick Agonizing Thoughts instead.” Mark asked. “You know your own skills and seem to be competent when it comes to combat.”

  Abby coiled her tentacles around her slender stomach, her bright yellow eyes turning to the flames. After a moment of contemplation, she spoke.

  “Had I known the freedoms and direct inputs I would have acquired…” She turned her green, supple body towards Mark. “Had I known how casually you’d query my desires, I would never have caused any of you harm. To atone, all upgrades will be determined by the collective.”

  Jezebel took in a deep breath and let it out in a puff.

  “Me too,” she said. “It’s the best way to work as a cohesive team. I won’t assign another point on myself until we all agree.”

  Sasha clomped up nodding. “I’ve been practically doing that already.”

  Mark crossed his arms. “Well shit, guys. It sure would be nice to let you know what skills I have to pick. For example, while I was losing my mind over where the two of you were, I apparently unlocked an ability that lets me see your uh… image through walls. Don’t know if there is a range but it felt like I’d be able to see your location from anywhere.”

  “Mark,” Jezebel said, putting her hand on his arm. “Trust me. By not knowing, you have learned far more abilities than should be possible and are using them in ways the system never intended. I’m actually regretting leaving my own skill trees active. Had I known I would be locked out of all system commands…”

  “Jez is right, Mark.” He looked over and saw the succubus running her hand down her abdomen toward her own pleasure hole with a lopsided grin on her face. “With just a basic heal, you wouldn’t have had the freedom to root around inside my core matrix and fix me. Just go with it, Lover.”

  “Alright, point taken,” he said, looking forward to rooting around in his loyal succubus again soon. “Then I vote for Abby to take the flesh-splitting skill. Anyone disagree?”

  All three of his Enthralled kept their eyes on his and said nothing.

  “Then it’s decided. Abby, unlock your first skill. May you be the one who does all the slaying from now on.” At that the green-and-black, tentacled woman flashed him another shark-tooth smile. “Now,” he continued, “let’s get this show on the road. I have this magic shield, and I want to get back to those living rocks and fuck them right up.”

  “Mark,” Jezebel said softly. “We used the one Recall Charm we had. We don’t have a way to get past the Vulpath gate again.”

  “And they have six shards, now,” Sasha added, her dark eyebrows coming down and her tail snapped like a whip.

  Mark smeared his hands over his face in frustration. That left only one option for known shard locations, the Wrongside portal. If they could get in there and find all four… His eyes moved to Abby staring up at him. Maybe this was for the best. They’d get her powered up and probably some new tricks for his satyr and succubus as well.

  “Okay, new plan,” he said. “We’re going back to Thomellia and stocking up on Recall Charms. Then we’re going to get the shards we heard about on the Wrongside.”

  “We do already have three Thomellia Charms from Audra in the bag,” Jezebel said. “But I agree we should each have one of our own.”

  “Yes,” Mark said, giving her a big nod. “Good thinking. And we aren’t keeping them with the other charms either.”

  “It’s unfortunate that we may never find this place again,” the tan satyr said as she studied the mysterious, hue-shifting runes.
They all turned to look at the massive, black box silently waiting in the darkness. Now that things had settled down a bit, Mark devoted his full attention to considering its purpose. None of the intricate symbols in the three-by-three grid were anything he’d seen before, but now that he was looking closely, he noticed that the runes were carved into slightly raised squares.

  “Does this look like a combination lock to anyone else?” he asked.

  “It does, actually,” Jezebel said, crossing her arms. “Like a puzzle.”

  “Can any of you read what they say?”

  Jezebel shook her head. “These patterns must be from inside the game as none of them match anything in any database.”

  “I concur,” Abby said, facing the armored satyr. Mark realized they needed to get their new member some clothes when they were in town.

  “Should we just try pressing these buttons?” Sasha asked, clomping up to what Mark thought of as a magical combination lock. They seemed to be indoors, or underground, but even though the sultry succubus’ black hooves clacked against the smooth stone surface of the pedestal, no echoes bounced back.

  “Probably not,” Mark said, his magic eye sending signs of unfathomable danger into the back of his mind. He wondered where else the bag of strange Recall Charms could take them. “No, let’s just-”

  “Wait a minute,” Jezebel said, excitement running through her like electricity. “You said you got a new skill, Mark? You can sense our location through walls?”

  “Yeah… but how does that help with this?” He pointed at the dark cube behind him.

  “No- Okay, what do you think of this new plan?” the satyr said, smiling. “You, Sasha, and Abby Recall out using one of our three Charms. I’ll wait here for sixty seconds for you to at least get a direction for this obviously interesting location. Then I snap a second one and join you there.”

  “I really don’t want to be separated from you again,” Mark said.

  Abby took a tentative step toward Jezebel.

  “Your resourcefulness is commendable.”

  “Thanks,” the doe-legged satyr said with a grin. “I thought so too.”

  Sasha was quiet, and when he turned his eye on her, he saw a mirror of the same concerns he had over leaving Jez behind.

  “Fine,” Mark said at last. “But, it’s thirty seconds.”

  “Agreed,” Jezebel said, turning her green eyes back to the mysterious keypad. “This is our adventure, and we aren’t leaving any treasures behind.”

  Mark gave Abby his leather coat before they left. It was way too big, and her tentacles coiled far out of the sleeves, but she looked damn cute wearing it. She used her long appendages to lift her silky black hair up and out from being trapped under the collar, and he was shocked at how human-like and stunning she had become so quickly.

  Jezebel handed Mark one of the Thomellia Charms, and he felt a fresh jolt of terror wash down his back at the thought of losing her.

  “Make it fifteen seconds?”

  “Thirty,” she replied. “Just make sure you find me, okay?”

  “I’ll not rest until we’re reunited.”

  He felt Abby’s fleshy appendage wrap around his waist and looked to see her doing the same to Sasha’s firm, pink stomach. They were connected and ready.

  “See you soon,” Jezebel said with a smile and turned back to study the runes once more. His eye showed him a deeper layer where the analytical researcher in her simply could not leave a puzzle like this behind.

  “See you,” he whispered and snapped the Charm.

  An instant later they were out in the open of the Earth Level. Streetlamps kept the twilight of early evening at bay, and a quick check told him that Sasha and Abby were both still with him.

  “Thirty seconds,” Mark whispered, scanning in a circle. He looked everywhere in a three-sixty radius and didn’t see anything. He was about eight seconds in with nothing showing up anywhere. Then he remembered that they were probably underground somewhere and turned his attention downward, searching for his beautiful satyr.

  He still wasn’t finding her, and with only seconds to spare, Mark noticed the thin string of red leading away from his chest, tethering them together. Following its curve, he started looking upward.

  And there she was, a tiny red silhouette on the distant silver moon hanging against the blackness of the glittering night sky.

  “No fucking way,” he said as her red cutout vanished, and he knew all his Enthralled were by his side.

  “Well?” Jezebel said, clomping a few yards up to the group. “Could you see me?”

  “Yes, and we’re probably not going to be back there for quite a while.”

  “Why? Does your ability tell you how far away I was?” she asked.

  Mark pointed up to the silver disk in the sky. “How far would you say that was from here?”

  “The moon? You’re joking...”

  “Nope.”

  “How’d they get to the moon?” she said as all four of them turned to stare at its pure white surface.

  “Magic,” Abby answered.

  Mark looked down at her and smiled. “Good answer, and something to look forward to. For now, let’s head back to the jerky store and see how far we can spread this one gold coin we have.”

  Everyone agreed to leave the moon alone for the time being, and they headed up to the Fire Level where Nalo’s store was located. Mark hoped they’d run into Loa while they were there.

  “Walking freely among the people of this world is far preferable to hiding from them,” Abby said, pressing her bare green feet into the sculpture’s faces on the Statue Steps.

  When they reached the store, Loa wasn’t there, but Mark grinned when he saw her three stuffed animals sitting on his desk behind the counter. He told the bigger Vulpath their needs and was told five silver would cover everything.

  “I need nothing,” Abby insisted loudly from the back store.

  “Thanks, Nalo,” Mark said pocketing the 95 silver he got back as change. Another oddity of the virtual world caught his attention when the massive amount of coins in his pocket weighed practically nothing. He dismissed it with a shrug, just going with it. Everything went much smoother if he didn’t obsess about the insanity all around him.

  Their transaction complete, Mark and Nalo approached his three Enthralled all trying to help the abyssal horror pick out some clothes.

  “Finding everything okay?” the owner asked.

  Sasha nodded to the petite monster-woman. “Do you have anything smaller?”

  “I need no special dispensation,” Abby said. “Mark’s jacket serves my purposes and excites my new scent inputs.”

  “Well, then I’m going to need a new jacket. But seriously, we should find something that fits better before we head into battle.”

  Nalo hitched his furry thumb over his shoulder. “Hang on, I might have a box of smaller, human-sized clothes in the storeroom, we’ll find you something.”

  Jezebel watched the gray-striped wolf-man disappear into a doorway before speaking.

  “How are we going to get back into Reoc’s Hold anyway? We have to get into the city and then into the portal.”

  “Right,” Mark began. “Getting into the city shouldn’t be too big of a problem. They don’t really watch the front gates, and we have new clothes, but yeah that portal might be a problem.”

  “We could always just turn ourselves in,” Sasha offered, putting her hand on her hip. “Loa said we would end up on the Wrongside if we were criminals.”

  Jezebel crossed her arms over the leather plates that covered her stomach.

  “Nmm, there’s no guarantee they wouldn’t just lock us in a cell.”

  “I will never surrender,” Abby said, her anger flaring. “I will not be taken again.”

  “Sorry to butt in,” Nalo said behind them, holding a box overflowing with clothes. “But I couldn’t help overhearing- everything, actually.” He put the box down in front of the tentacled monster-woman and then co
ntinued. “As a Collector, you’ll have no problem walking your battle harem right through the portal. The Skeema Trees will gladly send you through. Might even get some quests out of it. Also, I’ve heard it’s sweltering on the other side. You won’t be needing your jacket. And shit, I can just give you a Reoc’s Hold Recall Charm. They’re just collect’n dust anyway.”

  Sasha swayed her tail back and forth hypnotically. “Oh Nalo, it’s easy to see why Loa wants to get lost in that fur so bad.”

  “I’ll have this,” Abby blurted out as she pulled out a yellow string bikini with one coiled appendage.

  Mark sighed, then smiled. “Abby, this is 100% your choice. Pick something that will make you happy and keep you protected.”

  “As my Class is restricted to cloth materials, this sparse garment will serve me well as we embark toward a hotter climate and will provide easy access to my pleasure holes and nubs.”

  “Sweetie,” Sasha said, “we gotta work on your vocabulary.”

  Abby slipped on her bikini bottoms and handed Mark his leather jacket back. Her tentacles were nimbler than expected as he watched her tie a knot behind her back. She then stepped her small green feet into some black leather combat boots and amazed him again by cinching the laces tight. The question of where this abyssal horror learned to tie a shoe slipped into the growing pile of things he didn’t know about these AI women when he realized that all their cold-weather gear wasn’t going to fit into Jezebel’s backpack. Mark once again wished they had a home base. Come to think of it, he was standing in a place that had a warehouse…

  “Hey, Nalo. Can we rent some space here in your shop? I don’t want to take all these clothes with us if we can help it. Nothing permanent, but I’m sure we’ll be swinging by here often as we quest across the land.”

  The muscular wolf-man rubbed the small hairs under his muzzle, considering the request.

  “Since you’re friends of Loa, I suppose I can clear out a corner in the back. One silver a month.”

  Mark reached into his pocket and slapped two silver coins into the Vulpath’s paw. Nalo nodded and began to gather up the things they weren’t taking. Jezebel kept the belt of Awysai vials, her leather armor, and the backpack. Watching his strawberry-blonde satyr hand over her pink t-shirt was a little sad, but they decided to keep her blue hooded cloak so they could cover Sasha as best as possible. If anyone in Reoc’s Hold was looking for them, her thick metal legs were a dead giveaway. Mark handed the shopkeeper his jacket, and Sasha handed over hers.