Feros and the Underworld Prince

by A. L. Bridges

  “No, he was going to do it because he thought I was leaving him too when this was all a joke.” Natasha clarifies.

  “Okay, you two have some splainin’ to do.” Jason says, poorly impersonating Ricky Ricardo. 6

  “Last night I saw you guys freak out, through Cole’s connection, when you thought we might be having sex, so Reyna and I decided to play a practical joke on you. Reyna started massaging my shoulder and we just waited for you guys to show up. I heard Cole’s misunderstanding, thinking that he can’t please me sexually anymore with his new arm, when I was actually talking about his shoulder massage, which wasn’t that great to begin with. I was going to straighten things out with you, but by the time I got into the hall, you two were gone. Then we got a call from the club at about 1am.” Natasha explains.

  “Yeah, by the way Jason, what did I say about the drug Neapolitan?” Reyna asks.

  “You said ‘no drug Neapolitan.’” Jason answers.

  “And what did you do?” Reyna asks.

  “Drug Neapolitan.” Jason replies.

  “Okay, I just wanted you to acknowledge it.” Reyna says.

  “Really?” Jason asks.

  “Yep, everything is totally fine.” Reyna replies.

  (Haha! His ass is so screwed!)

  “Anyway, we got a call from the club at around 1am to come and pick you guys up. By the time we got there, you two were gone and the bartender said he overheard that you were headed for the strip club. Apparently Jason got slapped by some girl after telling her ‘if I put one hundred dollars on the ground and you pick it up and have sex with my friend in the bathroom, that’s not a crime; it’s a coincidence.’” Natasha recants.

  “Yeah, using a Eugene Mirman joke as a pick-up line does seem like something I’d do.” Jason comments

  “Then you two decided that you would try again at the strip club. So we head to the strip club to keep you guys from getting arrested and what do we find when we get there? Both of you wearing thongs while strippers stuffed bills in your panties and made it rain on you. We finally got you guys home and in bed at about 3am. Then at 3:30am, we found both of you trying to slide the length of the hallway, which you had covered in canola oil, dish soap, and lube. You both failed rather spectacularly, which is the reason that both of your asses hurt.” Natasha explains.

  “Well, at least that sounds better than anal sex with my bro… especially since we used up all the lube on the floor. I’d better apologize to Helga for the mess.” Jason says.

  Natasha’s phone starts ringing and she answers it.

  “Hello… yeah, we can be there soon. Just give us about thirty minutes… okay, bye.” Natasha says and hangs up.

  “Reyna, could you please go and grab Cole’s clothes? We just got called in. Come on Cole, let’s go take a shower. We need to try and get some of this craft-supply-herpes off of you.” Natasha says as she grabs my hand and pulls me out of bed.

  I nod somberly in response and follow her to the bathroom. I strip off my thong and toss it in the trash; not going to need that anymore. I step into the shower and turn it on as Natasha steps in beside me.

  “Hey… are you okay now? You know that I’m not going to throw you away, right?” Natasha asks as she presses up against my back.

  “Yeah… thanks Natasha…” I quietly reply.

  After washing the majority of the glitter off of me, I towel down and get dressed in my clothes that are waiting for me on the sink’s counter when I exit the shower.

  “So where are we going?” I inquire.

  “Minneapolis office.” Natasha replies as she grabs my hand.

  “See you guys later!” Jason announces from the other room.

  “Yep, see you bro.” I say before touching my Haglaz rune.

  “Carla, I can’t! I’m not cut out for field work!” Ryuji whines as Natasha and I port in.

  “Ryuji, we need a second faculty member and a tech specialist. You already know the campus and you are going.” Carla orders.

  “Hey guys, what’s going on?” I ask.

  “Ryuji was able to find the source of the Trojan and found that it originated from Fogquartz University. We need you to go in posing as a student while Natasha and Ryuji will go in posing as faculty. The quarter starts next week so your transfer in won’t be viewed as suspicious by the students or the faculty.” Carla explains.

  “Alright, I guess I can do that… I’ve already missed a load of classes at ASU anyway.” I unenthusiastically reply.

  “What’s wrong with Cole?” Carla whispers to Natasha.

  “Don’t worry about it; he just had a rough night is all.” Natasha replies. Carla pulls her off to the side.

  “Natasha, don’t break him! If he’s like this after a night with you, it means you’re riding him too hard!” Carla whispers.

  “Hey Feros, I was able to get some information on the guys that attacked you.” Ryuji says over Carla’s whispering.

  “Great, who were they?” I ask.

  “It appears that they were Freemasons.” Ryuji answers.

  “What? Freemasons? Why would an international fraternity be after me?” I inquire.

  “Well, I guess it’s more accurate to say that it’s a sect of the Freemasons that have started calling themselves Templars. As you probably know, the Knights Templar were used as protection for Christian pilgrims during the crusades. What most people don’t know is that the Templars main role was hunting supernaturals. This pissed off the larger organizations of supernaturals in Europe until they’d eventually had enough. The supernaturals coerced Pope Clement V and King Philip IV into charging and dismantling the Templars. Then they assassinated both of them and made it look like God’s divine punishment based on the dying words of a burning knight, which seems unlikely that you could say anything while being burned alive besides ‘AHHHH!’ followed by coughing because your lungs would be filled with smoke.

  Anyway, this sect of freemasons has taken up hunting supernaturals and they somehow know about you. They seem to be well funded and well equipped, but I don’t know where they are getting their backing from. I also don’t know why or how supernatural hunters are getting access to supernatural powers.” Ryuji explains.

  “Alright, can you keep searching for information? I don’t like the feeling of this…” I tell him.

  “Of course, Feros. I’ll keep looking into this while we are at FU.” Ryuji replies.

  “Alright Cole, so I have you registered for a writing class that will be taught by Natasha, a computer science class that Ryuji will be a teaching assistant for, second quarter organic chemistry, and a kickboxing class. The point of the kickboxing class is to get noticed by the boxing team to get a lead on the enhancement drug. After all, who would value an undetectable substance that would make them faster and stronger more than athletes?” Carla informs me.

  “You will have to go in unarmed at first, but we will be able to sneak in a small cache of arms during the second week. Any weapons that you need are going to have to be here when you come on Thursday. Welcome Weekend starts on Friday and you should plan to stay for the whole ten weeks of the quarter, just in case. Finish anything you need to get done before Thursday because you won’t be able to port once you arrive at school; there is a detection system that notifies of all porting so you will immediately blow your cover if you do.” Carla explains.

  “Okay, then I guess we will see you guys on Thursday.” I reply.

  I grab Natasha’s hand and port us to my house.

  “Look who’s home Adelaide.” Sara says.

  “DADDY!” the little werewolf girl yells as she runs toward me, her tail swishing through the hole in her skirt. She hugs my leg and I just stare at her in confusion.

  “Hey Adelaide…” I say, sounding really unsure as I pat her head, in between her ears. She looks up at me and smiles; I’m pretty sure I just felt my brain melt.

  “Where were you, daddy?” Adelaide asks.

  “I was working sweetie.” I reply whi
le still trying to get a handle on the situation.

  “But you’re home now, right?” Adelaide asks, not pronouncing her r’s very well, which only adds to the overall cuteness factor of this tiny creature.

  “Yeah, I am!” …for now. I can’t tell her that I’m leaving for a ten week mission in a few days. Adelaide hides behind my leg when she notices Natasha.

  “Addie, this is daddy’s friend, Natasha.” I introduce her and Adelaide pokes her head out to look at her.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Adelaide!” Natasha says with a smile while kneeling down. Addie nods at Natasha and then hides behind my leg again.

  “Don’t be rude Addie, say hello.” I softly say. Addie peeks around my leg again.

  “Hello…” Addie quietly says before retreating behind my leg. The ‘Aww!’ look on Natasha’s face tells me that she thinks Addie is adorable.

  “I need to go talk with Natasha and Auntie Tia in the basement so I need you to watch TV with Auntie Sara for a while, okay?” I announce.

  Addie pouts in response and I almost feel my heart stop. She trundles over to the couch and climbs onto it. Natasha follows me into the basement and Tia meets us down there a few moments later.

  “Alright, what’s going on?” I ask Tia.

  “Well, it seems that Adelaide is convinced that the man that saved her is her dad. Sara and I just rolled with it; after all, you did say you were going to raise her.” Tia says with a mischievous smile.

  “Well shit… I don’t really have a problem with being her father, but I leave for a ten week mission on Thursday.” I inform her.

  “Ten week mission? Does it have anything to do with why Chezarei and Naia are transferring into Fogquartz University?” Tia asks.

  “They’re what!? Dammit Carla!” I shout port to the Minneapolis office.

  “CARLA WHAT THE HELL!” I yell in the office.

  “I figured it was only a matter of time before you found out. I wasn’t sure if you were going to say yes to the transfer so I arranged for some backup incentives. Naia will be taking classes as a normal student and hopefully this will help her memories return. Chezarei is also going to be taking classes as a normal student. They will be informants that will simply be reporting anything they overhear. They won’t be investigating so there is very little danger to them.” Carla explains.

  “Alright… I don’t like it, but you have a point and it’s their decision to make. I’ll see you later.” I concede before returning to the basement.

  “It looks like Naia and Cheza are going to be informants for the student body…” I tell Natasha.

  “So when do you guys leave?” Tia asks.

  “We move in on Thursday.” I reply.

  “Alright, well I have some work to get done. Later!” Tia announces and heads upstairs.

  “Okay, now we need to see if we can get you moving faster with my blood. Let’s see… with Cheza, all she had to do was envision herself moving faster so let’s try that… but she had already used her Drive at that point so maybe we should try sparring instead…” I tell Natasha.

  “Are there any melee weapons that you are proficient at using?” I ask.

  “Not really… I’m more of a gunslinger girl.” Natasha replies.

  (I’m going to save you a lot of time and tell you right now that it won’t work)

  “What? Why not?”

  (Natasha doesn’t have the compatibility with your blood that Cheza has. The most Natasha can do is utilize your silicon carbide, but she can’t control your blood like Cheza can)

  “Well shit… never mind Natasha. Airi just told me that it won’t work. By the way and sorry if this sounds rude, but you don’t seem like much of a fighter so why are you an operator?” I inquire.

  “You’re right Cole. With my shoulder, close range fighting is disadvantageous for me. That’s why I’m a sniper; my ability as an oracle is well suited for it.” Natasha answers.

  “What? I didn’t know you were a sniper.” I say.

  “Yeah, well carrying around a twenty pound rifle isn’t easy when you’re my size.” Natasha replies.

  “You know, I could make a rifle out of silicon carbide that would be considerably lighter. It would also have minimal recoil with my blood in you.” I offer.

  “That’s okay Cole. Even a rifle made of silicon carbide would still be too bulky to carry around all of the time.” Natasha responds.

  “Alright… let’s go watch TV, I guess.” I say.

  We head upstairs and relax on the couch. Addie crawls over and sits on my lap as we watch TV.

  “So where’s Cheza?” I inquire to Sara.

  “She’s giving Katie a ride back to ASU right now. I spent most of the afternoon showing her procedures and letting her know what we would be working on.” Sara replies.

  I sit back and relax, enjoying the luxury of downtime for about thirty minutes…

  Chapter 20: The Return of the God of Love

  “I’m home!” Cheza announces as she walks in the door.

  “YAY! MOMMY’S HOME!” Addie shouts as she runs over to Cheza.

  If I’m Addie’s father and Cheza’s her mother then… wow, and here I was thinking that our relationship couldn’t get any more awkward.

  “Hello Ada!” Cheza warmly greets.

  “Look Mommy! Daddy is home and he brought a pretty blonde lady with him!” Addie exclaims.

  “Why hello… dear.” Cheza says so maliciously that I feel my ass cheeks involuntarily clench. Okay, now our relationship can’t get any more awkward.

  “Hey Rei. Were you able to get everything sorted out at ASU?” Sara asks.

  “Yeah, it’s all taken care of.” Cheza replies.

  “Hey Cheza… I need to talk to you for a moment.” I tell her.

  I stand up, grab her lightly by the wrist, and walk down the hall. Cheza yanks her wrist away as I walk into my room. Cheza follows and closes the door behind her.

  “What?” Cheza pointedly ask.

  “Perhaps you should sit down.” I suggest.

  “Perhaps you should go fuck yourself.” Cheza replies.

  “Perhaps… I have some upsetting news for you, Cheza.” I tell her.

  “If it’s about how you got somebody pregnant, don’t worry; I’m not upset and I don’t care.” Cheza responds.

  “I killed Jarrett…” I quietly say and wait for the ensuing shitstorm.

  “So? I broke up with Jarrett.” Cheza replies.

  “You what!? When?” I ask astonished.

  “About ten minutes prior to walking in on you and Katie. Now if you have nothing else to say, I have things to do.” Cheza says as she starts for the door. So the reason that Cheza said she didn’t need to tell me was because she was planning on breaking up with Jarrett anyway…?

  “It was fake! The kiss between Katie and I was set up because we were both angry at how you were handling the Jarrett situation.” I blurt out as Cheza stops with her hand on the doorknob.

  “That doesn’t fix our relationship, Cole.” Cheza quietly replies and then she leaves.

  Damn… if I thought this was my fault before, now…

  (Save regret for the things that are permanent… like AIDS… and yes, I’m aware that I could stop at the good part)

  “You’re right Airi… on both counts. I can still fix this. It will take some time, but I don’t want to give up on Cheza.”

  …but right now I’m tired so bed seems best. I take off my pants and climb into bed.

  ****

  “It looks like there’s a new prospect to be the next to join us, Cole.” Bullet-hole Kita says with a crackling voice while floating over my prone form in my bedroom.

  “Or are you going to be the one to join us so the little one doesn’t have to?”

  ****

  [September 16th]

  “Daddy? Daddy are you okay? Daddy!?” Addie asks while kneeling on my chest.

  I open my eyes to see her wearing flannel pajamas with tears in her worried eyes.


  “Yeah, Daddy is fine, Addie. I just had a nightmare. Let’s go back to bed.” I tell her while sweating and shaking as an aftereffect from Kita’s words. Addie moves off of my chest.

  “Okay. Goodnight Daddy!” Addie says while snuggling into my left side. I wonder if she has been sleeping in my bed while I was gone…

  “Hey Airi, did you have anything to do with why Addie sees me as her father, Cheza as her mother, and seems so unscathed by the whole being held captive thing?”

  (…)

  “I’ll take that as a yes… well, thank you for helping her.”

  …

  “Daddy! Wake up, Daddy!” Addie exclaims.

  “Hmm? What do you need sweetie?” I sleepily ask.

  “I’m hungry!” Addie announces.

  “Okay… let’s go see what Auntie Sara is making for breakfast.” I say as I sluggishly get out of bed.

  Addie grabs my hand and we walk out into the kitchen. When we arrive in the kitchen, I’m shocked to find that Sara isn’t awake. Then I understand why: it’s 5am.

  “It’s still too early for breakfast Addie.” I explain.

  “But I’m hungry, Daddy…” Addie quietly pouts.

  If I don’t hurry up and get this girl some food, I’m going to end up having a heart attack from too much concentrated adorable.

  “Alright, what do you want for breakfast?” I ask.

  “Hamburgers!” Addie exclaims.

  “You can’t have hamburgers for breakfast!” I reply… or is that acceptable for a werewolf?

  “Cake!” Addie responds.

  “Only on the week following your birthday. How about blueberry pancakes?” I suggest.

  “Yeah!” Addie excitedly replies.

  I don’t think I have ever seen anyone so excited at 5am… probably because I’ve almost never seen 5am. I walk over and turn on the TV to Boomerang, which is the only network I can think of that will be playing cartoons at 5am and not infomercials. I return to the kitchen and make pancakes as quietly as possible while Addie is engrossed with The Powerpuff Girls. I consider changing it, concerned about the effect of the show’s violence on a three year old, until I remember what she is and the world she is growing up in. Ultimately, I decide that if she develops a distrust of monkeys with exposed brains, then she will probably be better off.