You nod, and settle down with your tail curled up around your legs. Once more you are reminded by how much you've grown, and how your life has changed.

“I suppose I should start by thanking you. When you were...” your eyes slid to Mercy and back to Amanda, “Defeated, you left behind loot. A potion-”

Amanda cuts you off, waving a hand in a 'get on with it' motion, “Some painting supplies and a claimant crystal, yeah. I take it you used the crystal?” You nod, and she continues.

“I figured as much, seeing as you're a 'micro-boss' now.”

Mercy speaks up for the first time. “Is that common?”

“A monster getting a crystal? Not as rare as you'd think. A lot of new players joined with all the hype the game's got lately, and players have claimed pretty much all the land around cities, along with a fair few prominent dungeons. Turns out anything pre-update is fair game. Everyone wants a cool base, so a team of players wipes out all the monsters in an area and claim it for their guild, you're bound to get cocky upstarts who try and fail, loosing a handful of crystals at a time. Then you get people like me, just unlucky, who lose them before they can even try and use them.”

You consider feeling sorry for her, but just can't work up the feeling.

“Yes,” you say, taking back control of the conversation. “I used the crystal, and was immediately greeted with an error message. I didn't have a name.” This time, it's Mercy who interrupts you.

“I did wonder, when we met, why you had one. No offence, but you're hardly a unique spawn, and you didn't look to be in any retinue.”

Getting the hang of how this conversation was going to go, you settled in for Mercy's exposition dump. She obliges, at your and Amanda's questioning looks.

“It's probably not common knowledge unless you are one, but the gods don't grant names to monsters unless they're special in some way. Quest givers, unique beings, or... near as I can tell, jokes amongst themselves. But players all get them. I think as spill over from that, if you have a name, you can name other beings. It's a blessing and a curse though. Having a name makes you much more likely to remember things across spawns and keep your personality a lot better, and even if a major change happens you're likely to still stay relevant – Red, you're probably always going to spawn in that cave now, or at least somewhere on the mountain, even if tomorrow it turned into a volcano in an update. You're recognisable. The goblins in the forest would likely spawn elsewhere, replaced with the Ashe Queen's minions.”

You follow all of that, you think, and nod for Mercy to continue as she takes a deep breath.

“The catch is, if a major enough update happens that the gods can't just explain away your presence, you'll... probably never re-spawn. You're no longer just a Drakeling who happens to be red, you're just not in that spawn pool any more. Sorry.”

That sends you reeling for a moment, but Mercy plunges on. “And the same is true for anyone else you name. Except they're tied to you, not to a place. If tomorrow your gobliness decided she hated you and struck out on her own, never to see you again, and you were deleted, she would be too.”

“How-” your voice cracks, and you clear your throat, but Amanda asks your question for you.

“How do you know all this?” her eyes are cold as she stares the half-demon down.

“I've seen it happen, once or twice. I've been around for,” Mercy pauses for a moment, casting her eyes upwards as if trying to calculate an answer, “a very long time. I think I was meant to be a quest giver. Gods above know I still have access to a quest giver's abilities, although they're a bit... off. But I've been around since the Beta World, whenever that was.”

You digest this new information slowly. In some ways, you suppose, it's not all that much of a change from your original plans, but knowing you've irrevocably tied Sapphire and Feather's lives to yours is still a lot to take. Finally, Mercy breaks the silence.

“So!” Her sudden exclamation makes both you and Amanda jump, and she grins at the two of you, before waggling her eyebrows in an over the top display. “Are you going to tell me the story of how you two *CENSORED* ?”

You blink, but managed to keep your surprise to yourself beyond that. Amanda, on the other hand, goes bright red, lets out a small 'eep', and goes to cover her face with her hands. It's the first glimpse you've seen of the timid woman you first met.

“Oh come on. I'm apparently hitching my wagon to this mad-cap, fucked up family, and Red already knows; Amanda, I'm half succubus. I can literally feel both of your arousals spike every time either of you avoids mentioning your first encounter, and even if I wasn't, I'm not dumb.”

Amanda doesn't look like she's going to speak any time soon, so you consider your words before replying.

“She gave me wood”

Mercy looks nonplussed for a second until Amanda lets out a tired groan and turns her face to you. It's still beet red. “That was bad and you should feel bad.”

You grin, unrepentant, and to your surprise it's Amanda who takes up the story.

“He convinced me he was a talking tree, and then told me that he'd been cursed, and then he made me-”

“I didn't make you do anything.”

“-*CENSORED* to lift the curse.”

Mercy lets out a hoot of laughter. “A magic *CENSORED* huh? I can't say I've heard that one before, and I'm pretty sure I know why. How on earth did you fall for that?”

“Hey, I'd only been an adventurer for a few hours, and my player just followed this big dude around.” Amanda sends a glare your way, but the blush still dusting her cheeks and the half smile that followed makes you doubt she's actually angry. “I wont fall for something like that next time.”

“Oh come on, there has to be more to it than that? You hired those adventurers to find Red here, but evidently it's not some burning desire for revenge.”

“I may have told her to find me if she was interested in a more permanent partnership.”

Mercy's grin turned almost predatory. “Oooooh. Oh I see. Well that explains the images I keep picking up from little miss 'leashes and collars' over here.” Amanda's blush was back in a flash.

“What do you mean?” you ask, curious as to Amanda's reaction.

“When I'm dipping into the succubus side, I can get flashes of how to seduce people, what they'd like and wouldn't. Seems this little bitch-” Amanda whimpered as if struck, “- wants a walk on the wild side, to be one of us. A monster.” The redhead sinks to her knees, her eyes shut and her face burning with shame. “More than that...”

Mercy walks up behind Amanda, and rests her hands on the kneeling woman's shoulders, punctuating each word with a squeeze that draws forth another whine.

“She wants to be,” Mercy seeks out your eyes and smiles lasciviously at you, holding your gaze while speaking her last with all the gravity of a prophet foretelling doom. “a pet.”

Amanda doesn't utter a sound. Non of you do. The only noise is her rapid breaths. *CENSORED* .

“Is that true?”

She doesn't respond, and you let your question hang in the air as you step closer. Mercy smiles at you and releases Amanda's shoulders, retreating to the entrance of the cave and peering up the passage. She gives you a brief thumbs up and turns her head again.

With the all-clear given, you finally reach Amanda, and sit back on your haunches to raise your head above hers. “I asked you a question.” you whisper.

Her head nods so fast it's almost a spasm.

“You came to find me?”

Again, a jerky nod.

“You want to belong to me?”

Her voice is barely a whisper. “You made me feel like nothing else has ever done.”

Her eyes are still closed. Mercy is alternating staring at the two of you and keeping watch.

You take a deep breath, *CENSORED*