I woke up when I heard a thump from overhead. I was disoriented for a second, thinking the upstairs neighbors had dropped something, before remembering I didn’t have any upstairs neighbors. That building was long gone, and I lived on the moon. There shouldn’t be any thumps on my roof. I nudged the sleeping body beside me.

“Did you hear that?”

There was soft cursing before a head of long blonde hair popped out from under the blanket.

“All I hear is you talking way too early in the morning,” Linda muttered.

“There was a thump.”

“A thump? An all powerful deity and you don’t know what that thump was? Has it occurred to you to go look?”

I grimaced. Having just been woken up out a deep sleep, the thought hadn’t occurred to me at all.

“It might be one of mine,” another voice rose up from the blanket, along with a hand. “They were scheduled to land any day now. I just didn’t think they’d land on our roof.”

“They made pretty good time, Shu. My estimates said another day, at least,” said Linda as she rolled over to face Shu. Shu pulled her in close, hands wandering under the blanket.

“There you go again, underestimating Chinese skills.”

“Oh, your skills are never in doubt, babe.”

I watched the exchange between the two, then decided to just lay back down. I had nothing to be worried about anyway. As far as those Chinese astronauts were concerned, they had just touched down near the Copernicus Crater. They had no idea my house was under their feet, and no amount of drilling or thumping around would reveal that fact. Just to be sure though, I strengthened the ceiling of our lunar abode, and threw in some divine soundproofing so we wouldn’t be disturbed. I was snuggling back under the blanket when I felt arms snake across me from my left. Rhia was sleeping soundly as she sought my warmth, Su spooned up behind her. I relaxed into the cuddle, attempting to get back to sleep, although the fidgeting and giggling to my right wasn’t helping with that.

Linda had joined us on the moon about three years ago. She had given Rhia some time to settle in as my live-in girlfriend, so to speak, before making her move again about a year later. She’d spent the next year setting up her company to be run remotely so that she could oversee things from my home. She’d also found out about my little body shaping trick that I’d used on Rhia the night of our date and demanded some “tuning up,” as she’d put it. Mostly she just wanted the body she’d had ten years prior, in her early thirties. Tightening up here, firming up there, adding a little perk to her tits. Normally I might have said no, because I thought she was fine the way she was, but she pulled the same stunt that women all over the world could: she withheld sex until I caved. She’d then informed Shu of that ability once that working relationship had progressed a bit more unprofessionally than I’d intended a couple years ago. Once her term of office had ended, she’d asked the next President to appoint her as an ambassador and then appointed herself to the moon. She didn’t care about being the first off world ambassador as much as she cared about having easy access to me and, later, Linda. Both women enjoyed the company of everyone else, but it was clear that those two had developed something special between them.

I was finally about to get back to sleep, nestled against Rhia, when the door creaked open.

“Um, My Lord? Are you awake?” Hannah poked her head in. I looked up from Rhia’s hair.

“What is it?” I asked, trying to hide my frustration at not being able to sleep again. She wouldn’t have disturbed me if it wasn’t important.

“It’s the American President, My Lord. He says it’s an emergency.”

That woke me up. No one ever contacted me for an emergency. Come to think of it, no one really contacted me at all. I nodded at her and said I’d be right out. Slowly, so as to not disturb the sleeping women to my left, or the playful women to my right, I extracted myself from the mess of limbs I found myself in and threw on a robe. Padding my way out of the bedroom, I made my way to the media room. I had taken a liking to the layout of the royalty suite of the hotel Rhia and I stayed at five years ago and had remodeled my area to match it when we got back, but still keeping the dark blue theme the room originally had when I first woke up here almost six year ago.

Once in the media room, I activated my screen, seeing a very business-like man’s face appear before me.

“Bob. What can I do for you?”

“I’m very sorry to disturb you, Mr. Zekken, but we may have a world ending event on our hands.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Oh?”

“We’ve detected a large asteroid heading our way.”

“Nothing unusual about that,” I said.

“Well, we’ve been watching this one for a while now, and… well, it’s decelerating, and its trajectory changed.”

“Wait, what?”

“That’s what my eggheads told me. When I asked if it was affected by Mars, they informed me that Mars is on the other side of the system right now. Sir, whatever changed its trajectory isn’t natural.”

“Alright,” I said, nodding. “I get the picture. I’ll look into it.”

A look of relief passed over his face. “Thank you.”

“Don’t sweat it. It’s part of my job. Good luck in the campaign.”

I ended the call and lounged back on my couch, bringing the asteroid in question up on the screen. Yep. It looked like a floating rock in space. Except for the light blue glow coming from one end, obviously a propulsion system of some sort. Looks like there was still a week until it actually became a danger though. I had time.

“Hannah,” I said, knowing she wouldn’t be too far away. Her head instantly popped in to the room.

“Yes, My Lord?”

“Come here,” I said, patting my lap. “There’s no reason to waste waking up this early, and I haven’t had my Dalayin fix in a couple days.”

Her face lit up with a radiant smile as she fairly jumped from the door to my lap. She yanked my robe open as she slid her tongue into my mouth, and I made her uniform disappear with a snap.

“No underwear?” I asked when we came up for air.

“Just gets in the way, My Lord. I like to be ready at all times.”

Looks like today might be a good day after all.

*

“In the media room? Really?” Linda shook her head over her breakfast.

“You’re a fine one to complain about where the magic happens. Who was it again that requested a romp on the Apollo 17 lunar rover?”

“Which you denied! Something about historical artifacts or some such nonsense,” she grumped. “But that doesn’t change the point! Other people use that room as well. You knew Shu and I had a call this morning, but you went ahead and did it anyway! Can you imagine what we felt walking in on that? I didn’t even know she was that flexible.”

“It’s my hips, Mistress Linda. They’re double-jointed,” Hannah offered as she was clearing away my plates. Su leaned in and topped off my coffee.

“Anyway,” I said, “you’ve been living here for over three years now. You should’ve learned to expect these things by now. Hell, you’ve jumped me in just about every room here.”

Rhia cleared her throat finally, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“John, what did the President want? I remember Hannah saying it was an emergency, but you seem pretty relaxed.”

“You were awake, eh? Well, apparently there’s an asteroid headed towards Earth.”

Shu perked up. “Oh? Are you going to pop this one like the last one? Could you wait till it’s closer this time? I’d like to get some samples to my country’s scientists for study this time.”

“Should’ve said something last time, Madam Ambassador. I could’ve held back a little. Sadly, I don’t think that’ll be an option this time.” I made a model of the asteroid appear above the table. “When Bob called, he informed me that it’s decelerating and adjusting its course to that of Earth’s. I give it about a week until they meet.”

Rhia was studying the blue glow closely. She motioned Hannah over as she did so.

“Hannah, does that look familiar to you?”

The maid leaned in and took a much closer to look, then gasped.

“M-Mistress Rhia, y-you don’t think…” she stammered.

Rhia nodded slowly. “I’m afraid it may be exactly what you’re thinking.” She glanced at me, then spoke to Hannah. “Can you go get her, Hannah? We no longer have the time to wait for her to come around.”

“I’ll need the armor. You know how much she hates being rushed.”

“Six years is long enough. Get the armor, and then get her ass over here. We’ll meet her in the living room.”

Hannah bowed briefly, then left the residence. I raised an eyebrow at Rhia, but she continued to ignore me. She turned to the others seated at the table.

“Linda, Shu, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to spend the next day or two back on Earth. We’re about to enter a dangerous situation, and John here is going to be too occupied to help if something were to happen to you.”

Linda and Shu traded looks and nodded.

“Considering you’ve never asked us to do anything like this before, it must be important. Wouldn’t mind a quick vacation anyway,” Shu said.

“Mind if we borrow the penthouse in Riyadh? It’ll give me a chance to check on my company’s growth in person, and the city has become so much lovelier since all the restrictions have been lifted.”

Rhia nodded. “Go ahead. Do you need to pack anything? Hannah will be back soon, and you need to be gone before she gets back.”

Linda shook her head negative. “In addition to my personal holdings, we’ve both got our Black Cards that Johnny gave us. Anything we need, we’ll just buy.”

As this exchange was happening, I motioned Su over. She leaned her head near mine and I asked her what was going on.

“I’ll leave it to Mistress Rhia to answer, My Lord, as I’m not entirely certain myself. While considerably older and more experienced than you, I’m just as much a native of Earth as you are. This is clearly an extra-terrestrial matter. I will warn you, however, that the actions she’s taking right now are not ones she’s taking lightly. Summoning Bridgette before she’s ready has led to serious injuries in the past.”

I’m sure my eyebrows disappeared into my hairline. “Bridgette?” I asked. “The same Bridgette that’s so far managed to avoid meeting me in six years?”

“Yes, My Lord. You may have seen her once or twice from a distance, but only because she wanted to see you. And because she’s taken a liking to Ryo.”

“Ryo?! Ryo’s met her, and I haven’t?” I glanced down at my faithful companion, feeling betrayed. “Traitor.” Ryo simply kept wagging her tail at me with that big doggy grin that she gets whenever she hears her name.

“You may understand when you meet her,” Su replied. I was about to ask what she meant by that, but Rhia interrupted us at the same time a racket was kicked up outside the door.

“John, you should probably send them down now, and since you were just talking about her, send Ryo as well.”

I nodded and stood up. “If you say so. Ladies, you know the drill. Ryo, go on.”

Ryo trotted over as Linda and Shu stood and held hands, their fingers intertwining tightly as they leaned into each other. Standing guaranteed they wouldn’t fall on their asses when they appeared wherever they needed to go. Holding hands was just them being them. Linda and Shu had taken an instant liking to each other when Shu joined us on the moon a year ago, and that connection had grown much stronger than I had hoped. It certainly made the relationship side of things easier on me, that’s for sure. When everyone enjoys playing together, the fun is magnified exponentially, and the women are less likely to get jealous if they think someone is getting more attention than they are.

“Ready? Good. Don’t get too bored down there.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll keep ourselves occupied,” Shu said, glancing sidelong at Linda.

“We’ll certainly miss your contribution, though,” tossed in Linda, her gaze dropping below my waist.

“Now, John,” declared Rhia, tired of the banter.

I nodded at the women and sent them off with a snap. We then moved over to the living room area to wait for Hannah and her charge. I could hear Hannah yelling that she didn’t have a choice, followed by screaming as if someone was being tortured, ending in a sob.

“N-not rrrready! T-too soooOOOON!”

The voice coming from the other side of the door wasn’t one I was familiar with. I shifted uncomfortably at the pain I heard in it, but Rhia remained rooted where she stood to my left as Su made her way to the door, standing off to the side. There were two louds knocks, and Su opened the door quickly, moving to the side just as a body came flying directly at me. I caught it before noticing it was Hannah, her face bleeding, body covered in dented and scratched armor that reminded me of stormtrooper armor, only gray instead of white. Healing her wounds with a thought, I set her on her feet and then looked at the doorway.

I could see two more similarly armored woman dragging a third forcefully through it, each equally battered and bleeding as Hannah. The woman in question was attractive in a way I’ve never seen with my own eyes. I’d seen it in plenty of anime and manga though. She was a catgirl. At least, a variation of the humanized version often portrayed in media. She had the ears and reflective eyes of a feline. Although she had a full head of hair, from what I could see her skin was covered in a fine fur reminiscent of a gray tabby. No cute anime face on her though. It was more cat-like than human. As she fought to get away, I could see her fur covered legs unveiled as her dress flew about. Was that a tail under there?

I went to take a step forward, but Rhia held a hand out to stop me. She approached the flailing woman, Hannah right beside her. The woman, Bridgette, I assumed, looked at Rhia, her face showing surprise and betrayal.

“You prrromised me! You said I could take all the time I needed. It’s too soon. I can’t face that man yet!”

Rhia approached carefully, speaking softly. “I know, dear, and I’m so terribly sorry, but it’s an emergency.”

The woman tried to break out of the death grips the maids had on her but failed. “I don’t trrrust him yet! You know how men arrre arrround me. They despise me. They hate me. They abuse me for looking different.”

Rhia nodded. “I know, Bridgette. I know how hard it’s been for you. But you’ve been here a long time. Has anyone tried to hurt you in that time?”

“Inton was the only man herrrre. He was easier to trrrust. He never touched any of the women herrre.”

Su stepped up at this point. “You’ve been watching My Lord for six years now. Have you ever seen him do anything to anyone who didn’t want it?”

“Like anyone would say no to the master,” Bridgette snapped out.

Before anyone had even registered any movement, Su slapped Bridgette.

“Enough of this. Do you trust me?”

Shocked, Bridgette slowly nodded.

“Do you trust Mistress Rhia?” Another nod.

“And Hannah? What about Ryo? You spend quite a lot of time with her, don’t you?”

Again, Bridgette nodded.

“We have all pledged our lives to this man, Our Lord. We have given him our hearts. Those of us that have given him our bodies did so quite willingly. He has never done anything to hurt us, emotionally or physically, and the only time he has denied us anything was because he knew it would hurt us. If there is one man in this entire system you can trust, it’s him.”

Bridgette was still tense, looking from Su to Rhia to me and back again. For my part, I did my best to look as harmless as possible. I realized as I watched her that it wasn’t anger that she was projecting, but fear. This woman was terrified. Her actions until now were those of someone who had an uncontrollable phobia. I wasn’t sure what had happened to her before she came here, but it must have been awful. I immediately hated whoever had harmed her enough to trigger this reaction towards men. It seemed that even after hundreds of years, her fear of new people, and men in particular, hadn’t waned at all. Linda and Shu had never seen her, and I remember Rhia telling me it had taken a few years before she started interacting with her. Who knows how long it would have taken her to come around to me if Rhia hadn’t summoned her here today.

“Rhia,” I said softly, noting how Bridgette flinched at my voice. Rhia saw it too, and slowly backed up towards me. Bridgette once again tried to wrench herself free, but the three maids had managed to keep her secured. “Should we really be doing this? This may do irreparable damage.”

Rhia leaned in close to answer.

“Actually, it’s going better than I expected.”

I looked at her in surprise.

“No, I’m serious. You know how strong Hannah is, right?” I nodded. “Bridgette’s strength makes Hannah’s look like that of a newborn. If she really wanted to get out of that hold, she could do it quite easily. The struggle you’re seeing here isn’t between those girls and her, but within herself. If I had to guess, I’d say that she really does want to meet you, but her fears are stronger than her will, and that’s what’s preventing her from committing.”

“Well, I don’t want to force her to do anything she isn’t ready to. Is there a way to do whatever it is you’re planning without forcing her to endure this?”

Rhia shook her head. “If it were as simple as just getting information, then I wouldn’t have bothered. With what you’re about to face, however, you’re going to need her with you. It’ll greatly increase your chances of survival.”

“Survival? I thought I couldn’t die?”

“There’s nothing on Earth that could kill you, and no one on the moon would ever dream of it. What’s coming this way is another story altogether. If you want to gauge just how dire the situation is, go ahead and show her that asteroid.” She turned to the armored maids and warned them to brace themselves.

After seeing them secure their grips and footing, I popped an image of the asteroid up in the middle of the living room. The effect was immediate. Her eyes got wide and her ears flattened back against her head. Her lips peeled back to display her wicked looking canines as she let out a hiss. The back of her dress rose up before sliding down a ramrod straight bristled out tail. If she was anything like cats back on Earth, then she was definitely pissed. Pissed enough to forget that she was terrified of me. She flung the three maids off of her like they were never there, then jumped across the room at me, grabbing me by my shirt and pulling me in close, but doing nothing more. I held out a hand to stop anyone from interfering, wanting to see where this would go, and trusting that she couldn’t hurt me even if she wanted to.

“You need to rrrrun, My Lorrrd!” she wailed.

“Run?”

“As farrr as you can. If she is herrre, then you don’t stand a chance. Earrth is lost. We’rrre all lost.”

“Bridgette, do you know what’s going on with that asteroid?” I asked, calmly removing her hands from my shirt. I tried to let go of her hands, but she gripped them tightly instead.

“That isn’t an asterrroid, My Lorrrd. That’s a ship made from one. My Creatorrr is on that ship, and when she sets herrr sights on a worrld, she eitherr capturres it or destroys it so no one else can have it.”

“Your creator?” I asked, glancing at Rhia over Bridgette’s shoulder.

Bridgette nodded, burying her face in my chest. “Yes. She laid the seeds of creation on my planet. She guided the Junaian to the starrrs, as yourr Gaia was supposed to. She is ourr god. She is Kamiki.”

“What the hell was with that sudden shift in behavior?” I asked the women gathered in the living room. Su and Hannah shook their heads, equally confused. Bridgette was currently resting in the second bedroom behind the dining room. It was generally only used by the girls when they wanted time alone with personal favorites without interruption, which means Su and Hannah or Linda and Shu, mostly. With Su and Hannah all business right now and Linda and Shu enjoying a mini vacation in Riyadh, Bridgette was guaranteed a chance to rest quietly.

“I’m not sure,” Rhia finally answered, “but if I had to guess, I’d say Kamiki terrifies her even more than you do.”

“But to tell me to run and save myself? That doesn’t seem like something she would have said to me, considering her lack of trust in me and how hard she fought to not meet me.”

Rhia shook her head. “I already told you, remember? If she truly didn’t want to meet you, nothing would have dragged her here. You saw how easily she tossed everyone off of her, right? She’s torn between her desire to get to know you and her instinct to not trust anyone, especially men.”

“And the arrival of her goddess finally triggered something within her to defeat her base instincts?”

“Not her base instincts, no,” offered Su. “Her distrust of men is conditioned. She went through some horrific stuff in her youth. It took me decades to get the story out of her in detail. I won’t betray her privacy by telling it to you, but I will say her actions are completely understandable. You actually earned quite a few brownie points by never pressing the issue about her.”

Probably shouldn’t bring up the fact that it just never occurred to me to ask, I thought. Rhia smirked.

“Her fear of Kamiki, however, is a base instinct,” Su continued. “It’s hardwired into her species. You remember the Old Testament God, right?”

“Do as I say, or I’ll turn you into a pillar of salt? Wipe out entire towns, kill all the first born, flood the planet because it’s easier to do than actually put in the effort to save everyone? Yeah, I’ve heard of the guy.”

Su nodded. “More or less. Imagine that, combined with the pettiness and anger of the Greek and Roman pantheons, and you’ve got Kamiki, if I remember Bridgette’s stories correctly. Ruled her first world with an iron fist. Any deviation from her commandments were met with severe punishments. By the time Junai had joined the spacefaring community, they weren’t enlightened, as Gaia hoped humanity to be. They were submissive. Followed Kamiki’s desires without any second thoughts, and Kamiki’s desires seem to revolve around conquest. One by one, worlds fell to the Junaian armies and space fleets.”

Rhia nodded as she listened as well. “I remember being told when I was in training that the south eastern regions of the galaxy were dangerous territory and should be avoided if possible.”

“You mean the region near Barnard’s Loop? Where Hannah is from?” I asked, trying to get a clear mental image in my head.

Rhia looked at me in confusion, then realized what I meant. “Oh, no. I forgot that Earth views itself on the southern end of the galaxy for some reason. Most other races view the galaxy with their home planets in the north, and Agneles is no different. From our perspective, Earth would be resting on the eastern line of a compass rose placed over the galaxy, ironically where you imagine my home system to be, I’d guess.”

“The Dalayin’s are the same. We’re above the galactic core when viewing the galaxy from above. It’s really only you Earthlings who view yourselves as beneath everyone,” Hannah chimed in. “Also, this Barnard’s Loop you refer to, we call that Father’s Eye. It watches over us, as Father did before he parted ways with us upon settling our first colony.”

“While this is all fascinating to me, I feel we’ve veered away from the topic at hand,” I said. “What I’ve managed to gather from what you’ve told me is that Kamiki created an army of Junaian soldiers that are obedient to a fault. The very concept of questioning orders doesn’t exist within them, correct? So Kamiki says ‘take that planet or destroy it,’ and that’s what they do, no questions asked?”

Su nodded. “If what I heard from Bridgette is correct, then yes, that about sums it up.”

“And do you have any reason to doubt what she says? She seemed pretty willful for one born to obedience above all.”

“Everything she told you is correct, My Lorrrd,” a voice said from the other side of the partition dividing the dining room from the living room. Bridgette slowly peeked her head around the partition, cautiously meeting my eyes. “Obedience is a genetic trait now among my people. Asking certain questions afterrr a certain age has become taboo and is treated like a mental illness. Those who can’t conforrrm are put to death. My motherrr arranged to get me off planet when I was young to save me. I have not been home since.”

“May I ask how long ago that was?” She flinched at the sound of my voice, but it was noticeably less pronounced than it was before.

“About two thousand of your years ago, My Lord.”

My jaw dropped. I looked at all the beautiful women surrounding me. “Ok, I have to ask. It’s been bugging me for years. How are you all so long lived? Almost 820 over here, 205 over there, and she’s over 2000 years old! Su, I know Gaia fiddled with your bits, but everyone else? Are humans just that short lived a species? Are we the mayflies of the galaxy?”

Bridgette cocked her head to the side. She looked absolutely adorable like that, just like a confused cat meme I once saw, minus the long black hair that Bridgette sported in a ponytail. “What’s a mayfly, My Lord?”

“It’s an insect that lives for 24 hours on Earth,” I explained.

“It’s not what you think. Most races started out living equivalent lifespans. One of the stepping stones to joining the galactic community is increasing the longevity of life. Even with faster than light travel, it still takes time to travel long distances. It took me over fifty years to travel the forty thousand light years from my home to yours. You’ll notice that most of us are also exponentially stronger than your average human. Space travel isn’t for the weak or short lived. Earth will also have to jump these hurdles in the future.”

“One of these days we’re just going to have to sit down and talk about life in the galaxy at length, just me and you girls, along with any of the other maids you think may contribute. I don’t want Linda or Shu to overhear any of this, or they’ll try to push their research too far ahead of what humanity is ready for. We’re also going to discuss why I’m the only man living here. I’m not complaining, mind you, but I do find it curious.”

“I can’t believe it’s taken you six years to even bring it up. And are you saying I’m not a regular human?” Su asked, a playful pout on her face.

“My dear, you’ve always been an exceptional human, but anyone whose age reaches into the 7th digit and has blue skin can’t be considered ‘regular,’ no.” I turned to Bridgette, abruptly changing the subject. “Is there any particular reason why you think Kamiki is on that asteroid? Could it be a scouting party or something like that?”

Caught off guard by the sudden attention, Bridgette retreated a couple steps before catching herself. “In truth, My Lorrrd, I’m not entirely certain of eitherrr. I panicked when I saw the ship.”

“Ship?” I asked. “You mean that’s an actual ship, and not just a repurposed asteroid?”

“It is both, My Lorrrd. Kamiki commanded the Junai to use the rocks from our planet’s rrrings to spread out and conquer. Our people hollow out the asteroids, then use them as ships.”

“Is it typically just the one ship sent to take over a planet?”

Bridgette shook her head. “I do not know, My Lorrrd. I was a child when I left my world. What I know is passed down as legend to all children and what I overheard my captors…” She trailed off as she spoke, not wanting to continue along whatever history she was about to disclose.

“It’s alright,” I said, waving down look of anguish that crossed her face. “You don’t need to say anymore if you don’t want to. We do need to talk more, however, and I’d like to do it now, if you’re okay with being left alone with me. Su and Hannah are about to be very busy, and Rhia needs to run an errand for me.”

Bridgette nervously glanced around the room at the other women present, but they all had pleasant and reassuring smiles on their faces, silently telling her it’ll be alright. Her ears twitching nervously on top of her head, she slowly nodded. “Yes, My Lord. Whatever you need of me.”

It was the first time she’d spoken without rolling her R’s. I wonder if it’s just a nervous tick of hers, I thought. Shrugging it off mentally, I gave her a pleasant smile, then turned to the other women staring at me.

“Before I issue you your orders, I need to confirm something. Rhia, am I correct in assuming my powers will have no influence over whoever’s out there?”

“You’ll have some, because they’re within your sphere of influence, the solar system, but not a lot as they’re not subjects of yours. If it turns out to be Kamiki herself, you’ll have no influence at all, since she’s a deity with far more followers than you. Remember, I told you your influence grows as humanity does. Against her, even on your own turf, you’re at a considerable disadvantage. She could wipe you from existence if she chose to.”

“How is it that I’m able to exert control over you guys? With the exception of Shu, Linda, Su and myself, no one else on the moon is from this system, let alone my planet.”

Rhia smiled. “Because we’ve all accepted you into our hearts as ours. Where you lead, we follow.”

“I’d actually prefer you all at my side then following. Without you ladies, I’d be next to useless. You deserve to be on equal footing with me.”

Four pairs of eyes suddenly went wide. Rhia and Hannah blushed fiercely, Su had a huge grin on her face, and Bridgette stared at me, pupils wide, ears straight upright, jaw hanging open.

“What? What did I say?” I asked.

“Um,” Rhia began. “Are you including Linda and Shu in that too?”

“Yeah,” I answered, still not entirely sure why they were reacting this way. “Naturally. I mean, they haven’t been with us as long you three, but they’ve helped me out tremendously, and I’m sure Bridgette will contribute greatly this upcoming week. Like I said, I’d be lost without you all. You guys really have no idea just how much I respect and adore each and every one of you.”

Bridgette seemed to shrink back within herself a little. I could softly hear her muttering “If it is My Lord’s will, then I shall do the best I can.”

Su and Hannah were chattering back and forth suddenly.

“Oh, it’s been so long! What’s the custom these days? White? I look dazzling in white!”

“Should I do it Earth style as well? Dalayins don’t have anything like this. Does it have to be white? Can I wear something else?”

Rhia was up and pacing around the room, her wings flapping nervously on her back. “We’re going to have to determine the order. We’ve already got one, sort of, but it’ll be official afterwards. I’m the first, then Su, then Linda, right? Or should it be Hannah?”

I stared at them in confusion for a few seconds before pieces started falling in to place in my head. Equal footing. At my side. Custom. White. Earth style. Order. Rhia, then Su… Oh. Oh Shit. Oooooh. I suddenly realized what I did. Rhia’s head whipped around to face me as everything clicked into place. Her expressions leapt from shock, to anger, to dismay, to saddened. She realized I hadn’t intended to set them down this course, but as I watched her face fall, I realized I owed these girls this much, and what’s more, I liked the idea. I wanted to. It may have been on accident, but I’d told the girls something I’d been wanting to tell them for years. I’d inadvertently proposed to the four women in front of me, and indirectly to the two down on Earth, and I realized that I had no regrets about it. A decade after my divorce left me stilted and paranoid of actual commitment, I’d stumbled into proposing to six women. Granted, two weren’t yet aware of it, but I’d rectify that soon enough. As for the four in front of me…

I smiled at Rhia, and her face lit up. She literally flew across the room, wings spread wide, and wrapped her arms around my neck as she kissed me deeply. A golden glow began emanating from her, encasing the both of us as we lost ourselves in the moment.

I don’t know how long we were lost in our little world, but when we finally broke apart, the other three were staring at us, slack jawed. Actually, they weren’t staring at us. They were staring at Rhia, and then so was I.

“Uh, Rhia? What happened to your hair? And your wings? You look like Belldandy.”

Rhia didn’t answer for a second. She was blushing furiously and nervously playing with her hair as she rested her forehead on my chest. I could see her ears turning red through her hair, which had taken on a golden blonde shade of color. Her wings, which had earned her the name Raven Angel down on Earth, were pure white. She was now the picture-perfect definition of an angel, or a bustier version of a goddess from one of my favorite anime.

“You see, on my world, when two people pledge their lives to each other, it’s not just words and promises. Our lives are tied together on the spiritual level. Our individual life forces are joined, and we take in aspects of our loved one. In my case, John’s divine energy flowed into me, changing my hair and wing color, among other things. In return, my Agneles energy flowed into him. Our lives are now bound together in the most fundamental of ways. We are entwined in each other’s energy, and when the stronger energy finally dies, so too will the other. It’s the Life Mate Bond.”

I stared I shock. “But… but I’m essentially immortal, aren’t I?”

She giggled, somehow looking more adorable as a blonde as she did it. “Then you better get used to having me around, Johnny-boy.”

Raising an eyebrow at her unusual show of familiarity and nickname usage, I asked her “so, what did I get in return?”

You tell me, I heard in my head. Not sure my eyebrows could climb any higher than they already were, I once again stared at Rhia, who was smirking playfully.

“Um, My Lord?” Bridgette asked shyly from her side of the room. “I’m still not sure how I feel about all of this, but, um, perhaps we should do something about the Junaian asteroid first?”

“Shit. You’re right. Sorry.” I said. Further sentimentalities would have to wait. “Yes, back to what I was going to say before all this, happened. Su, Hannah, I need you to prep the moon for battle. I’m not sure what’s going to happen in the next few days, but if we’ve got an equivalent of a yellow alert or red alert system, it’s time to use it. You understand how that works, right?”

They both nodded. Hannah said “yep! Yellow means get ready for some shit, red means we’re in it! Right, My Lord?”

“Pretty much. I need you to start on that now. I know you guys aren’t just pretty faces taking care of me, so go show me your battlemaid skills.”

Su and Hannah both bowed before leaving the room. I turned to Rhia.

“Alright, my dear, your assignment actually just got a little more complicated. I was going to have you zip on down to Shu and inform her of what’s going on with the asteroid, and then have her find an explanation that justifies getting the men on our roof back home in a big hurry. If something unfortunate goes down, we can’t have them in the line of fire, nor can we expose the world to the news of a possible invading alien species. It would be pandemonium down there, and since he died last year we don’t have Pope Hans around to help us calm the population anymore.”

“So how is it more complicated now than it was before?”

“Because when I came up with the plan, you didn’t look like an angel straight out of a Hallmark movie. One way or another, those women may be upset, either because I proposed to y’all up here without them, or because you seemed to get the jump on them by solidifying it before any plans had even been drawn up. Then there’s Bridgette to consider. I inadvertently included her in that too, in case you didn’t notice, and it actually seems like she’s open to the idea. I’m going to talk to her more about it, but after what she’s been through, and how distrusting she is of men, I fear any kind of retraction will break her permanently. Which means when the women down there ask for details, and you know damn well that they will, you’re going to have to factor her in as well.”

Rhia’s eyes steadily widened as she took all this in. She didn’t say anything, but instead just mouthed oh.

I caressed her shoulders while looking her in the eye. “Um, congratulations, Mrs. Zekken. This is probably the kind of thing you’re going to have to deal with from now on. After all, I do tend to put my foot in my mouth.”

She blushed briefly, then attempted to pull herself together. “Yes, I remember you telling me that when we met. Alright, Husband,” she smiled when she said that, “I’ll be sure to take care of it.”

I kissed her, then turned her towards the door and patted her ass. “Good luck. Now get a move on, there’s a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in.”

One of her wings swatted at the hand that had patted her ass, then she gave me a wink over her shoulder before disappearing in a golden shower of sparks. I stared at the spot she had just vacated, watching the sparks dissipate. Then I glanced at Bridgette.

“Well, that’s a new trick. Wonder what else she knows now.”

Bridgette just stared at me.