Jennifer hung her head despondently, staring vacantly at the steam rising from the warm underground pool she was sitting in. The world was screwed, and she was certain of it now. Even simple dreams, such as the one she used to have about saving herself for her true love, were gone and destroyed with the changes to the world. Looking over, Matthew and Rebecca were cuddled together in the pool, a little way off to her side, seemingly oblivious to the pain she was feeling in her heart.

Anger seethed up in her, then slowly faded. Upset over what had happened to her, she didn’t know who to blame. Herself? She had allowed Matthew to push her back in the pool and have his way with her body. Rebecca? She was the one who demanded that Matthew be allowed to do such thing, and she sat and soaked in the spring watching as the tears rolled down her face and Matthew ravished her. Perhaps it was Matthew himself that she was upset with? Bastard boy already had a woman in Rebeca which he could indulge his sexual urges upon. He didn’t need to force her to give in to him as well!

Or perhaps, Jennifer thought, it was the gods themselves that she should be upset with. They were the bastards who decided to turn reality into a game. They were responsible for the death of her friends and the destruction of her lifelong dream!

Anger swelling back up in her again, Jennifer formed a long glass blade with her magics and gripped it tightly in her fist. Her mother had saved herself until her wedding night, and had always told Jennifer how special her first time had been with her father. The two of them had a love that was unshakable, and it was cemented with that special moment between the two of them, and sealed in the blood and passion of their wedding night.

And now, thanks to her own weakness, she was never going to get to experience that moment. She was soiled, sullied, and ruined. Matthew had defiled her in ways that she wasn’t even certain she’d let her husband, and Rebecca had allowed it to happen…

A sharp sting of pain in her hands brought her back out of her anger once again, as blood slowly dripped from the broken glass she’d crushed unthinking.

Staring stupidly as the blood slowly drained down into the pool of water, Jennifer quickly tossed the broken shards to the side, away from where Matthew and Rebecca might notice. How the hell could she be so stupid? So careless?! Disgusted with her own incompetence, Jennifer slid even lower into the pool, completely submerging herself up to her nose in the bubbling tea-green water.

Matthew could heal her; she’d seen his magic in action before with Rebecca; but she didn’t want him too. She was too upset. Too angry. Bleeding to death at the moment was more preferable to her than asking either one of the others for help!

Glancing back over to make certain they hadn’t noticed – they hadn’t; they were still too lost in their own little snuggle-fest of stupidity – Jennifer slowly pulled her hand up where she could examine it. Tingling, the wound wasn’t as bad as she’d feared, having already stopped bleeding. Thankfully, she mused to herself, she wouldn’t have to let either of them know what she’d did to herself.

She didn’t want them to know the anger that was bubbling inside her, seething viciously, just waiting to escape. She wasn’t entirely certain yet that she wasn’t going to unleash it on them later sometime; sometime when she could make them hurt and suffer like she was feeling inside. Part of her mind tried to calm her, to tell her it wasn’t all their fault. She’d allowed it. The gods had started it…

And yet…

There was a part of her mind which kept mulling over how it’d feel to shove eighteen inches of jagged glass up some very personal and private places on the both of them.

“Softie!” Laughing, Rebecca snuggled up to Matthew’s chest, leaning back against him. “You were barely even with her long enough to sweat on her,” she joked, looking back as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

“I didn’t want to push her,” Matthew admitted. “I figured being gentle with her the first time, and not being very demanding, would make it easier for her to accept. She only agreed to share herself because she’s too scared to be alone at night. As she masters her magic and grows stronger, she’ll conquer her fear. If she looks back in regret, there might be issues in the future.”

“So you treat her like a fragile little crystal ornament?” Half snorting, Rebecca reached down and pinched a chunk of loose skin on Matthew’s leg.

“YWOUCH!” Grabbing her wrists, Matthew yanked them together and gripped them tightly in his fists. “Quit that!”, he demanded.

“Fine.” Glancing back, Rebecca pouted her lower lip out at him. “You’ve never treated me like crystal though,” she complained.

“That’s because you’re not crystal,” Matthew assured her. “You knew what you were getting into from the beginning, and made your choice without ant regrets. I don’t have to be gentle with you,” he reminded her, “I just have to be a true partner and help you grow.”

“Fine,” Rebecca repeated, letting out a deep breath and relaxing her head back against his chest again. “I guess I understand. Doesn’t mean I like it, but I understand it.”

“Don’t worry,” Matthew leaned forward, whispering softly into her ear. “You’re still my first. Remember? I won’t be with her again, unless you approve it first,” he promised softly, kissing lightly on her earlobe.

Sighing, Rebecca nodded slightly. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to stop you from enjoying her goodies. At least,” she stressed, “not as long as you come back to me afterwards. Keep her the second, and we’ll never have any problems,” she reminded Matthew quietly.

“You first. Always.” Matthew promised, releasing her hands so he could rub up and down her body freely. “I’m just happy Jennifer’s going to share herself freely with us now – she can become a true equal in our party, and not someone who we have to worry about embarrassing or being embarrassed around. She’s truly one with us now, without some silly restriction blocking how close she can become with us.”

“I think everything worked out for the best,” Matthew laughed. “All that’s left is for us to grow closer together one step at a time now.”

“Uh-huh,” Rebecca agreed, starting to squirm and wiggle as his hands probed and tugged on all her secret places.

Lost in their own steamy emotions in the pool, neither Matthew nor Rebecca noticed the cold, murderous glare coming from where Jennifer hid submerged, not too far away.