I knew I was just stalling at this point. Pacing back and forth in front of her door, not sure what it was that I wanted or needed to say to her. I’d really only known her for a couple of days. How are you supposed to comfort someone that’s pretty much a complete stranger? I know it sounds funny to be thinking that about someone I’m married to, but it really was the truth. She went from being a pair of glowing eyes in the shadows, to my accidental fiancée, to my wife within hours of our first interaction. It was way too fast. The other five women in my life have been with me for years, and we knew everything about each other. Persia, however, was still a mystery to me.

I was familiar with her backstory, being branded a heretic of some sort, smuggled off her planet, betrayed and abused over and over again, until she finally fled that cycle and found herself here under Inton’s mercy. From what I gathered, he left her alone, and few of the other girls paid her much mind. While I’m sure she found relief in hiding away from everything and everyone that could possibly hurt and betray her, it’d done nothing to actually heal her. Well, I’d never get anywhere just thinking about this. Healing can’t begin if there’s a door between us. I raised my hand knocked on her door.

“Persia? It’s John. Do you mind if I come in?”

I heard some shuffling from the other side of the door, then a soft “I don’t mind.” I went to turn the knob, then remembered Rhia had locked it. Instead of unlocking it, I decided to leave it to ensure privacy and willed myself in to her room. She jumped a little at my sudden appearance, clearly expecting me to use the door, but she recovered quickly. She was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed, still wearing her jeans and NYU sweater. Her black hair was mussed, the blonde lock hanging loose over her forehead. Her ears were flattened against her head, and her eyes were red and puffy, telling me that she’d been crying until just recently, and her tail thumped against the bed. I tried to make eye contact with her as I walked over to a chair that was next to her bed, but she kept looking away.

“Hey,” I said softly as I took a seat. “How ya doin’ hun?”

Still refusing to make eye contact, she sniffed. “I’m sorry, Husband. I thought I was getting better, but I’m just causing you more problems.”

“Hey now. We both knew this wasn’t going to be a quick fix. You have a lot of history, and it’s going to take more than a couple days to get through all of that,” I said, trying to sound as reassuring as I could. “I knew that when I made my promise to you. So did Rhia. Besides, what’s happening now isn’t your fault. It’s Kamiki’s, and you shouldn’t feel bad about that.”

“But because of me you’re here and not stopping the asteroid or finding the other Oracles! They’re more important than me!” she cried, sounding angry with herself.

“Damn the asteroid! And the Oracles can wait another day or two. You are my priority.”

Her eyes widened at my sudden outburst, her attempts to avoid eye contact forgotten. I leaned forward, took her hand in mine and softened my tone.

“Look, I want to help you get through this, but I need you to stop blaming yourself for everything. And I’m not just talking about the last couple days. From what you’ve told Rhia and me, every terrible thing that’s happened in your life is the result of someone else being an asshole. This new situation we find ourselves in is no different.”

She shook her head. “No, I wanted to hurt the Pink Oracle. I felt she was going to take you away from me, from us.”

My brow furrowed in confusion. “The Pink Oracle? Her name is Lily. You know that. Come to think of it, you never call any of us by our names. With me it’s ‘My Lord’ or ‘My Husband.’ Rhia is ‘Sister’ and everyone else is some variation of ‘Mistress.’ Why is that? I’ve told you to call me by my name before.”

She stared at me, mouth working like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. She adopted a thoughtful expression, then shook her head. “I… I’m not sure. Something inside me tells me that it’s disrespectful to call my superiors by their given names.”

“But I’m not your superior! I’m your husband! We’re on equal footing here, you know? Yes, we still have a lot to learn about each other, but I have never once thought of you as inferior or as a subordinate. I don’t think that of anyone up here. You all work way too hard for my sake for to think that. We’re all in this together. Persia, I’m John. Or Johnny. Or whatever you’d like to call me. You did it just the other morning at breakfast, remember? Just never think of yourself as below me in any way.”

I watched for a few seconds. It looked like she was wrestling with something within herself. I could see her trying to say my name, but she’d get as far as making the start of a ‘J’ sound and then would stop. It almost looked like something was physically restraining her. My brow furrowed even more. This wasn’t just an inferiority complex she had. Might this be a part of whatever compulsion that was built into her?

“Okay, slow down. You look like you’re about to hurt yourself there.”

She stopped, sobbing softly. “I’m sorry, Husband. I can’t do it.”

“I see that. You certainly tried hard enough.” A thought occurred to me. She hadn’t actually called me ‘John’ at breakfast the other day. “Hey, say ‘My John.’”

Giving me a confused look through her tears, she tried again. “My J-John. My John.” Her eyes lit up. “I said it!”

I smiled, but inwardly I was still worried. It still seemed wrong. It still sounded submissive in her tone of voice. Like she was still saying ‘My Lord,’ but using my name as the title. Whatever had a hold on her was getting stronger. I’d seen her be playful a couple times the other day, but the more she tries to act like a wife, at least as an equal among my women, the more she backs off in the end. She was fairly aggressive towards me in Linda’s bedroom until Rhia announced her presence, and aside from a brief hiss at being startled, she immediately sought to hide. I remember thinking it was out of embarrassment, and that was certainly at play, but Rhia is also considered the first among the rest. If Persia hadn’t been distracted by Lily, would she have cowered?

Thinking of Lily, it also reminded me that Persia was initially awestruck by her. She was meeting an Oracle for the first time. It wasn’t until Lily became a little flirty that she started getting more aggressive and protective of me. I shook my head. This line of thinking wasn’t getting me anywhere. I just didn’t know enough. All I could piece together is that she’s submissive to me and the girls, and aggressive to what she views as an outside threat. A mentality like that might be fine in a hierarchal body like the military, but it’s not what I want or need in my family. I even thought of Ryo as my friend and not a pet.

“My John? You still look worried.” Persia’s words brought me out of my reverie. She had scooted to edge of her bed, her legs now hanging off the edge in between mine and her face was close to mine, a worried expression on her face. I must have been deeper in thought than I was aware of for her to get that close without me noticing. I pressed my forehead against hers and rubbed her nose with mine. Her eyes closed and she rubbed back.

“I am, sweetheart. I don’t know what I can do to help you. Whatever is happening to you, I sense it’s probably something deep within your soul.” Okay, so I stole my theory from the girls, but I sensed they may be right. “I think it’s a combination of what Kamiki has done to your people, and what you’ve experienced after escaping your world.” She said nothing, still rubbing her face into mine. I took a breath, then said, “I think there’s still a part of you deep down that doesn’t trust me, and I think that’s conflicting with Kamiki’s compulsion.”

Her face jerked back, eyes wide. “My Lord!”

I cut her off before she could object. “Hold on, I’m not done.” She closed her mouth and sat with her hands gripping each other tightly. “I didn’t say that as a criticism. Just hear me out. You’ve never gone into detail about it with me, and I’ll never ask about it if you don’t want to tell me, but you’ve been hurt and betrayed before, right? Many, many times. Something like that has only happened to me once, as I’m sure you heard. It took me a decade to finally come to terms with it and want to marry all you wonderful women who see something in this fool of a man before you. And that was just the result of one woman betraying me. You went through so much more than that. You lived half your life expecting to be betrayed at every turn and was rarely disappointed. That’s going to leave some deep, deep scars. Some that you’re not even aware of.” She nodded hesitantly, indicating that she understood what I was saying. I drove on.

“After all of that, I came along and treated you kindly. I never took advantage of you, even though you fully expected it, because I’m sure it happened countless times. No, no need to confirm or deny that. I know you’re not ready to confront it, or if you ever really will be. That’s for you to decide. The concerning part is this: my kindness got your hopes up. That hope led you to place your faith in me. That faith triggered the compulsion she built in to your race to worship her and those who serve her. That translates into you essentially worshipping me and being subservient to those you view as your superiors, namely Rhia, Su, Hannah, Linda, Shu, and the Oracles.” Again, she nodded to show she understood. Now to get to what we believed to be the crux of the issue.

“That faith in us, in me, combined with your deep seated trust issues has developed into a form of zealotry. Linda pointed out something I’d forgotten. When someone doesn’t trust their partner, they can view anyone outside their influence as a threat. Let me ask you this: when did you start to worry about Lily taking me away?”

Persia looked thoughtful for a second. “I think it was when that boy asked if she was going to marry you.”

I nodded my head. “That would make sense. And then later you said you could smell that she was ‘in heat,’ as you put it, but didn’t seem to care that there were five other women that I’ve been sleeping with. Lily was the outside threat you focused on, even though I hadn’t shown any indication that I wanted her. Your mind created that scenario because you expect to be betrayed and pushed down the ladder, further away from me, who you see not as your husband, equal in all things, but as someone to worship. That sound plausible?”

She looked down, wringing her hands together, then nodded. I saw tears roll down her cheeks, and as her shoulders started to shudder I moved from the chair to sit next to her on her bed. I placed my arm over her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug, not sure what more I could do to comfort her. I pressed my cheek against the top of her head between her ears. I really was at a loss. All I could think to do was whisper the usual platitudes one does when they want to show support but have no idea how.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. We’re going to get through this.” I kissed the top of her head and she snuggled in closer to me, grabbing a handful of my shirt like she feared I’d run away. “I’m not going anywhere, babe. I won’t rest until you’re happy.”

I felt her nod under my chin, then she whispered something.

“What was that?”

“Can I see you?”

“I’m right here,” I said, slightly confused.

“I… I mean, the real you. The one Rhia found?” I couldn’t gauge her expression, since her face was buried in my chest. I did, however, remember the girls telling me that she’d need original me, not John 2.0 or Zekken, so I made the changes, reverting back to gamer geek and pizza delivery guy John. She looked up and gave me a small smile, tugging at my beard. “I don’t remember you having this, My John.”

I sighed. I really liked my beard, but she was right, and just for her it was once again the cheesy little goatee I’d sported. Her smile grew a little wider as she reached up and stroked my now smooth cheek, the soft fur on her hands feeling absolutely divine. “How is it possible to fall in love so fast?” she asked softly.

“You’ve been watching me for years. Was it really that fast?”

She frowned slightly, her hand pausing on my face. “I wish I’d been braver. Come to you sooner. I’ve missed out on so much time with you.”

“Hey,” I said softly as my own hand stroked her cheek. “We’re going to have more time together than we know what to do with. A couple years missed because you were working through your issues isn’t going to be a big deal.”

“Ah. That’s how it was possible. You’re so kind. You’ve never treated me with anything but respect. How could anyone not fall in love with you?” Her hand on my cheek reached around to the back of my head and pulled my face to hers. Hesitantly she kissed me. At first it was just a light brushing of her lips against mine, but soon she got bolder, straddling my lap as she had at Linda’s apartment, both hands gripping the side of my face as she worked herself up. Mostly I just hung on for the ride, my hands resting on her hips as she tried to melt into my body.

“I love you,” she said when she came back up for air. “I’ve wanted to feel that for someone for so long.” I didn’t get a chance to respond before she pushed her tongue back into my mouth. I thought I felt a spark shoot through to my heart when she said that. The flood of emotion coming from her was overwhelming.

“I love you.” Spark. My grip tightened on her hips, pulling her tighter against me.

“I love you so much.” Spark. Her chest pushed into mine, her hips grinding against mine, tail standing straight up behind.

“My life is nothing without you.” Jolt. My arms wrapped around her back. She paused in her assault on my mouth, breathing heavily, forehead pressed against mine, finally giving me a chance to respond.

“I love you too, Persia.”

Her eyes glowed as a look of pure ecstasy came across her face. “John,” she breathed, and as soon as her lips touched mine again the room was enveloped in a golden glow. The intensity was overwhelming. All at once I felt like I couldn’t see anything, and yet was perfectly aware of everything.

I could no longer feel cloth beneath my fingers as she pressed herself against me, our clothes vanishing in the initial blast of light. Just soft fur and muscles working beneath. I felt every beat of her heart through my chest. I tasted the saltiness as she shed tears of joy at our confessions of love. Heat bloomed from my lap as she lifted herself up and slid herself on to me. My mind rocketed everywhere and nowhere as I entered her. The universe felt vast, yet insignificant. Our souls came together, then parted over and over again. They danced, wove around each other, pierced each other and retreated. My golden energy mixed with her black energy until I couldn’t tell where one started and the other ended.

A sky blue bubble surrounded us, keeping us from drifting apart. We reached for it, pulling it in to our dance. It melded with us, intertwining our three energies as we all began pulsing. The black aura started to shift, slowly at first, but rapidly lightening. It reached for my golden energy and the blue energy, which also began pulsing faster, soon matching the rhythm and color of her energy. Faster and with more excitement than before, blue and black pressed against me. Pulsing with the beat of an excited heart, everything soon exploded in a flash that left me breathless. Before blacking out, I saw two golden auras floating before me, radiating warmth, acceptance, and love.

*

I woke some time later, unable to move. Looking down I saw cat ears and black hair resting on my left shoulder. On my right shoulder rested a pile of blonde hair. Between them their hands were clasped together on my stomach, and from what I could see, there wasn’t a stitch of clothing anywhere in sight.

So that wasn’t a dream, I thought.

The cat ears twitched a little, and Persia snuggled against me some more before looking up at me. Her eyes shined a bright golden, her face more human looking than I was ever able to make it when I reshaped her for our trip to New York. I looked from her eyes to her cute button nose down to her full, luscious lips. She gave me a sleepy, yet radiant smile.

“Good morning, John.”

“Good morning. You said my name,” I said, stating the obvious.

She blushed. “I… I think you fixed me. I don’t even get angry if I think of Lily flirting with you.”

“Fixed makes it sound like you were broken, dear sister,” the mess of blonde hair said. Rhia leaned over me and gave Persia a long kiss. She broke off and lay her head on my chest. “He just smoothed out some rough patches.” I tried to remember when Rhia had joined us, but all I could really remember was a kaleidoscope of colors and transcendent bliss.

“I could definitely get used to waking up to both of you like this, but I have to confess, I don’t remember a whole lot after Persia climbed up on my lap. Everything after that is a heavenly blur.”

Persia nodded. “Same here. I remember wanting to show you just how much I loved you, and then it felt like the universe was mine to hold. I couldn’t tell where John ended and I began.”

Rhia chuckled. “I’m not surprised. I felt the waves of emotion pouring out from the two of you and came to check on how you were doing. Then you both pulled me into bed with you and I came and came and came again.” She blushed. “I have never connected with anyone like I did with you two last night. John, I think what happened between us was similar to my people’s Life Mate Bond, but since you’re a god, the power you poured into it was beyond anything I’ve ever seen. You did more than just link our energies, like I did with both of you. I think you’ve fundamentally changed who we are on a spiritual level.”

Persia nodded. “I feel so much more at peace than I ever have in my life. I also feel so much more powerful. Like an overcharged battery.”

Curious, I used my life sight on the two beauties laying beside me. Instead of the blue and black auras I’d gotten used to seeing from them, I instead saw two gloriously golden forms staring back at me. They were a lighter shade of gold than mine, but gold nonetheless. Rhia had a blue shimmer about her, and Persia… Persia had a pink shimmer. Not black, but pink. Whatever had darkened her spirit before, it was apparently gone. However, it was the gold that held my attention, and the wisps of energy that connected us were as thick around as a baseball bat, not the little tendrils like before.

“Ladies,” I said. “Do you remember how I described how you looked through my life sight?”

Rhia nodded. “Yes. I was a sky blue color in your eyes, and Persia’s was black, and there were tendrils of energy connecting us. Has that changed?”

“And how,” I said. I explained what I was seeing and gave them my theory on what I think happened.

“You mean…” Rhia began.

“We’re goddesses?” Persia finished.

Both girls sat up suddenly, the sheets from Persia’s bed falling away revealing two sets of the most magnificent tits I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t help but gawk at Persia. Her fur had changed from the gray and black of a tabby to a soft golden hue. It also covered much less of her body than before, coating only her arms, legs up to mid thigh, tail and ears. Her torso and face was completely bare. Her hair was still black but seemed much more lustrous than before. What surprised us the most, however, were the golden wings on her back.

“Sister…” Rhia started to say before Persia cut her off.

“Your wings! Sister Rhia! They’re beautiful! So golden, like your hair!”

Rhia’s eyes shot wide and she folded a wing around her shoulder to examine it. As Persia had said, her wings had also turned a soft golden color. Rhia stared at it for a second before looking back at Persia.

“It would appear we have a matching set, my love.”

Confusion written all over her face, Persia slowly reached a hand over her shoulder until she touched her new feathered appendages. Shocked, she squeaked at the discovery and attempted to turn around and see it, succeeding only in losing her balance and falling off the edge of the bed. As she fell I was once again able to determine that indeed the only places she had fur were her limbs. That registered in the second it took for me to vault out of bed and land at her side to help her up.

“Are you alright?” I asked as she stood up next to me. Was she always able to look me eye to eye like that? I thought. I seem to remember having a few inches in height on her before, but now she was virtually the same height. Rhia climbed off the bed and also proved to be much closer to looking me in the eye than before.

“I’m fine,” she said, blushing. “Just embarrassed. How did this happen?” She had pulled a wing around and was softly stroking it, looking intently at her golden feathers. They were beautiful wings, the same size and shape of Rhia’s, with what looked like an eight foot span joining her body at her shoulder blades. She released her hold on the wing and tried spreading them. The tips nearly touched the opposite walls of her small room, and she gave them a practice flap. After accidently hitting me with one of them, she giggled and folded them back behind her.

“Rhia? Is all this a part of that sharing of traits that Life Mate Bond thing does?” I asked. She didn’t answer right away. She seemed to be distracted by something behind her, as both of her hands were working behind her back and she had a stunned expression on her face. One hand suddenly went to the top of her head, but after sliding through her hair a few times, she got a relieved look on her face. “You alright, babe?”

I guess I startled her, because she jumped a little at my voice and looked between Persia and me with an embarrassed expression on her face. “Um, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, not at all giving the impression that she was fine. She continued on though. “Yes, I believe this is part of the Bonding and sharing of traits. Since your power is so much more overwhelming than ours, it doesn’t look like you inherited any physical traits like we did, but there may be something more spiritual that you haven’t discovered yet.”

“Is something the matter? You seem awfully distracted over there.”

She shifted nervously. “Well, it appears that Persia and I both inherited traits and power from you. Persia also inherited wings from me.” She sighed. “And I inherited something from Persia as well.” She slowly turned around, and as I admired her fantastic ass, the reason for her surprise became evident as a golden fur covered tail slowly whipped back and forth. My jaw dropped. Persia squealed and did a little happy dance that did wonderful things to her breasts before she bolted over and wrapped Rhia up in a bear hug that caught her completely off guard and lifted her off the ground. It was easy to forget that this timid woman was the second strongest person on the moon.

“Now we’re even more like sisters!” she said excitedly. Rhia recovered from her shock as Persia set her back down, then smiled lovingly at the catgirl.

“I guess we are,” she said, stroking Persia’s cheek. She looked up at me, then smiled wider. “Looks like you did gain something of mine, John.”

“Oh?” I said and conjured up a mirror to see what she was talking about. The reflection before me still sported the goatee Persia asked for the night before, but it was my golden eyes I was sure she was talking about. “Huh.”

“You can change back to 2.0, if you like. I prefer your hazel eyes, and the chin fur looks really bad compared to your beard,” Rhia said. Persia nodded alongside her, and I obliged. Soon I was standing before them in my quarterback body, rugged face, and hairy chest. Persia came up and rubbed her cheek over a pec.

“Furry,” she said, a content smile playing across her lips. I swear I think she was purring!

“Oh yeah,” I said, remembering whose idea that was. “You’re the one who suggested the hairy chest, weren’t you?” I looked up at Rhia. “That was years ago! Is this why you insisted on her being a part of your makeover squad?”

Rhia shrugged, then smiled. “I was hoping something like this would happen one day. We’ve been friends for a very long time, and I knew if there was anyone out there that could help her, it was you. This just sweetened the pot a little for her.”

I looked down at my winged catgirl and smiled. “Completely worth it,” I said. “Persia, are you ready to face Lily? It’s about time for Su to come get us for breakfast, and I’ve neglected our guests for too long.”

Persia reluctantly pulled herself away from me as Rhia came up to hold her hand. Persia gave it a squeeze, then smiled at me. “Yes, I’m sure I can face her now, and I have a lot to apologize for. Don’t worry, My Husband.” She winked at me.

*

The girls started by testing the limits of their newfound powers. Unsurprisingly, the first thing they did was my little trick of dressing with just a thought. Rhia did it without any flair, but Persia adopted my trick of snapping her fingers. Rhia once again wore her trademark business skirt combo but switched to a white color scheme instead of her usual black or charcoal. She had started to hide her wings as she usually did, along with her tail, but the look of disappointment in Persia’s eyes stopped her. She decided that hiding the gift she’d received from her sister wasn’t something she wanted to do. Persia perked back up and chose her own outfit. She twirled around, showing off her yellow sundress. Where Rhia had to create a tail hole for her tight pencil skirt, Persia let her loose dress cover hers, like she did with her maid uniform. The back of the dress was open to the small of her back, leaving plenty of room for her wings so she could show them off to everyone, and the vibrant color of the dress worked surprisingly well with the golden fur she sported on her arms and legs. I also noticed a new necklace around her neck, a gold chain that held a blue and black Z with gold highlights. She gave me a stunning smile when she saw me looking at it.

Su did indeed soon come knocking, asking if Persia was alright and if we were going to join everyone for breakfast. Persia answered by flinging the door open and throwing her arms around Su, squealing in laughter and planting a kiss on the stunned woman’s face. She was like a completely different person, but she was happy, and neither Rhia or I sensed any of her old issues within her. We made our way to the dining hall, Su admiring everything new about Persia, mostly her new outgoing personality. Entering the dining hall, Persia immediately sought out Lily and started apologizing profusely and begged her forgiveness. It took Lily a few seconds to figure out what Persia was talking about, and a couple seconds more to even recognize her.

As those two spoke, Rhia and I filled in everyone about what had happened last night, keeping the details vague enough for adults to imagine out of respect for the four year old Petra happily stuffing her face with a pile of pancakes almost as tall as she was. Remembering how the maids had all fawned (and still do) over Ryo, I could imagine their reactions to the adorable little blonde girl. Ryo, by the way, was happily stuffing her own face at the foot of Petra’s chair, catching everything the little girl dropped her way. Su watched over everyone with a maternal smile I rarely saw, and Hannah was pestering Rhia with questions and trying to get a better look at her tail. Shu was drinking tea and talking with Isabella while Linda was begging me for wings of her own. The heavy mood that was hanging over us yesterday had evaporated when Persia had danced into the room, and we were all having a great morning.

Which is why everyone knew something was wrong when Rhia, Persia, and I suddenly jumped to our feet and faced the direction of the asteroid ship at the same time.