Kalli and I sat together on the couch while Kiki paced in the living room. Crypian had settled down at a table near the kitchen and the smells of food that I didn’t recognize wafted into the room.

Outside, the sun had begun to set, which was causing Kiki to fidget. “She’s taking too long. I just know she was captured. Melvin, we need to go look for her.”

Kalli and I exchanged a look. “It’s only been a few hours, Ki. Alariel knows what she’s doing. Besides, we can see her moving on the map since she’s in our group.”

“Oh,” Kiki replied, her eyes glazing over as she inspected her menu.

Smiling once she found what she wanted, she spoke in group chat. Alariel? Is everything going okay?

Alariel seemed frustrated when she replied. Yes. It’s fine. I know where Wendy is. The attendants are being awfully short with me. I think they know I’m up to something.

Kiki sat hard on a wooden chair, asking, Are you in danger? Is there any risk of them catching you? I knew this was a bad idea.

The void knight didn’t answer right away. When she did answer, it started with an exaggerated sigh. These people are so exhausting. I don’t think they are ever going to leave me alone. You don’t have to worry about me getting captured. However, I might not be able to meet you guys there at the safe house. I am going to send someone to give you disguises and help you sneak in here. That way I can distract the attendants while you get Wendy. Just give me some more time to confirm something. Spend the night there and let’s talk again in the morning.

To my surprise, Joe was the one who replied. Please save her. I am going as fast as I can but it looks like I’m going to be useless.

We will. Kiki began, trying to sound as friendly as she could. I know you still don’t trust me but we are going to rescue her.

Crypian marched to the stairs as we talked and said, “Well, it looks like there isn’t much we can do for the night, so I’m going to turn in. By the way, I’m sorry for doing this without asking but the two of you shouldn’t have sex. I wrote a prophecy about your relationship, thinking that it would be fun. Well, the first time you do it, she will get pregnant.”

“Wait!” We both screamed in outrage as the prophet ascended the stairs without another word.

Kiki giggled furiously before following Crypian up the stairs. “Sucks to be you two. Good night guys.”

Kalli’s face matched her emotions when she blushed nearly as red as her hair. She glowed as bits of her mana escaped, causing her to have a thin sheen of flame over her skin. Okay, now we definitely are never having sex!

A grin spread across my face as her words hit me.

So, you were considering it.

She pushed my face away. No, I was not, and if you tell anyone I was, I’ll deny it.

I pulled her close to me, enjoying the warmth and vibrant life I felt within her.

Still, that creepy prophet just announced that we’re going to have a kid together.

Kalli struggled in my arms for a moment before settling down. He said if, and that’s a very big if, we ever have sex. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

She couldn’t kill my mood if she tried.

That’s okay. I can wait.

Sticking her tongue out, Kalli informed me, It’s going to be a very long wait.

Deciding to let her have the victory, I yawned.

So, where do you want to sleep? Upstairs, or down here?

Kalli wiggled out of my grip and stretched. I don’t know but I do know that I have to pee. Let’s see what kind of a privy this place has.

She ran upstairs without waiting for me before squeaking excitedly in mate chat. Melvin, come quick. You have to see this!

I took the stairs two at a time, not sure if Kalli had found something interesting or worrisome. She stood in a restroom with a curious little chair with a hole in it. It looked like some kind of commode but it was affixed to the floor with no obvious way of cleaning out the water.

What is it?

Kalli giggled at me and explained. This is a magic privy. I don’t know how it works but if you tinkle in there or do other stuff, the magic eats it.

Sounds like one hungry toilet.

She groaned at me, lifting her dress to sit down. I didn’t mean like that!

Secretly satisfied with how comfortable my girlfriend was around me, I waited patiently for the tinkle sounds to finish. When she was done, Kalli used her flame to clean herself and stood up, revealing water that looked just as fresh as it had before.

No fair! I didn’t get to see how it worked.

Kalli glared at me. Well, I’m certainly not going to show you. If you want to see it first hand, step right up. And if you are thinking about doing a number two, then I am leaving!

I looked over my shoulder at Kalli as I positioned myself in front of the magical commode.

Why would you leave? You wouldn’t let me leave when you did it the other day?

She stepped around me to watch as I peed into the water. As she had explained, the magical liquid dissipated my waste the instant it hit the surface, preserving the clear color in the bowl. Once she was satisfied, she answered my question. That was different. The toilet was in our room and it wasn’t like I was going to force you to go out in the cave by yourself. We’re in a house this time. I can just go find a bedroom while you do what you need to.

As it turned out, I didn’t have to go, so we left the interesting device and looked for an empty bedroom. Of the four available bedrooms, two of the doors were closed. Assuming that Kiki and Crypian picked the best ones, we peered into the other two options. The first one had bunk beds. The two single mattresses looked comfortable enough but not for a couple. The second room wasn’t much better but at least it had a double. Kalli and I settled into the second room, closing the door behind us.

One benefit of sharing a small bed was that Kalli nestled up against me right away. I purred contentedly from behind her but then she chastised me. Easy lover boy. You heard the prophecy. You’re going to die a virgin.

I buried my face in her neck, kissing her softly.

This much is fine.

She shuddered, cooing back at me. I agree wholeheartedly.

Kalli rebuffed me when I went to kiss her in our dream. She then spoke the words most dreaded by lovers all over the world. “Not tonight.”

I grumbled at her. “Aw, come on. You were letting me kiss you when we were awake. What’s different about dreamland. I mean in here we can do stuff without worrying about stupid prophecies!”

She smiled which lifted my spirits and then said, “I want to practice dream magic. The other night got me thinking that we can train in here. Ever since I got to Gaia, I haven’t been leveling up. We spend all day helping people or trying to save Wendy and I’m not growing.”

When I thought about it, Kalli’s idea was great. Once we figured out that we could use mana in our dreams, the sky was the limit as to what we could do with it. I took a few steps back from her and asked, “What do you want to study?”

Kalli frowned, lost in thought. “Well, I originally thought we could practice illusions or that out-of-body experience thing, whatever you called it. Now I think I want to work on my pyromancy. I’m long overdue to pick up a new spell.”

“How do we do that?” I asked, not sure what spells were included in the class.

Creating a ball of fire at the tip of her finger, Kalli stood mesmerized by it. “I don’t know. Before I met you, I would have said that I needed to learn a new spell. Now though, I don’t know. I think I need to play with the fire and see how I can make it more useful.”

Drawing on our connection, I channeled flames through my mana and formed a similar fireball to the one Kalli made. She nodded her approval before she pushed the mana away from herself, making it orbit around her.

“What does that do?” I asked out of curiosity, still unsure of what to do with my own fireball.

She giggled, making another fireball and also setting it into motion. “I don’t know. I want to make something that will attack anyone who attacks me without having to control it.”

“Good idea,” I replied, extinguishing my fireball and moving to tackle Kalli.

She yelped as I collided with her. The flames went out and we both fell to the ground in a heap. Shaking herself off, Kalli yelled at me. “What did you do that for?”

Rubbing my head sheepishly, I explained, “You said you it would attack anyone who attacked you. I wanted to help you test it.”

Kalli growled at me. “Warn me next time. I’d never let my magic hurt you. You’re too precious.”

Overwhelmed with emotion, I lunged at her and kissed the girl. Kalli responded and we wound up losing an hour of training time. When we began to practice again, I pointed out, “You know, your hair can get messed up in a dream?”

Kalli felt her head with her free hand and laughed, “That’s only because I imagine it would be that way with you pawing at it as you do. Haven’t I told you repeatedly not to touch my hair?”

“Sorry.” I apologized sheepishly.

“It’s fine.” She relented. “Let’s focus now. I want to get the hang of this. Warn me before you attack me this time.”

While she worked on her fireballs, I sat down to think about what I wanted to do with fire magic. I liked the flame touch spell that Kalli often used on me. The amount of control she had over the spell was incredible.

“Hm, do you think I can spread the flame touch spell away from my body?” I wondered out loud.

Setting a fourth fireball floating around her, Kalli looked my way and asked, “What? What is flame touch?”

I laughed, realizing I made up a name for it. “You know, the Pvruzth spell.”

“Oh.” She said absentmindedly, trying to direct her floating fireballs with her mind.

Willing the mana into my hands, I imagined it to be an accelerant and sprayed it into the distance in front of me. With a flash, I ignited the mana, causing an explosion that blossomed out in front of me like a flame thrower.

Startled by my magic, Kalli flopped back on her backside, her eyes widening as she desperately struggled to maintain control of her magic which went flying off in every direction.

I allowed the flame to stretch out as far as I thought would be effective before clenching my fist, cutting off the source of the spell. The flame immediately winked out, leaving no traces behind.

Kalli stood up looking defeated and muttered, “Jerk. I almost had it that time.”

“Sorry.” I groaned again. “I didn’t mean to mess you up. I’ll just sit over here and watch.”

She shook her head, walking over to sit next to me. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. My spell is just so hard to control. Yours was neat though. What do you call it?”

Thinking up a good name on the spot, I replied, “Flame thrower!”

Kalli giggled and whispered, “Can I try it?”