Mal woke to the sound of Alex shouting yes outside. Elise had opened the window at some point, and there was a nice warm breeze coming in. Hexia was still curled up on her side on the twin bed. Mal wondered when she moved and how she didn’t notice it. Oh well. New world, perhaps her sleeping patterns. Or maybe they changed during her time in the asylum and she just didn’t notice it. That was entirely possible, when she zoned out, she tended to lost touch with reality.

Awake now, and grateful nothing appeared to be wrong, she figured Alex discovered something important. With a stretch and a yawn, Mal crawled out of bed. She made quick use of the bathroom and walked downstairs when she was done.

Alex looked at Elise grimly. “I think it’s time we wake up the others. At the very least Mal. She should see this.”

“No need.” Everyone looked up to see Mal at the foot of the stairs, yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “What’s up?”

Alex sighed, visibly relieved. “I figured out how to open the map, took me a while and quite a lot of browsing, but it’s open now, and we’re even more confused than we were before.”

Mal walked up to the table, more awake and alert than a moment before, and studied the map. Kenneth explained to her what he told the group, and like Alex, now that she was caught up, looked to her for an answer.

“I think you have the right of it Kenneth.” She said after a long moment. “The red line stops just outside the hamlet we find ourselves in. I suspect we’ll see more the more we travel. Perhaps the more we explore the more the map will show. I also agree with Elise, there’s more we’re meant to do here.”

“Like what?” Drew asked.

She took a breath as she sat down. “Well for one, clothes. Astra was right, we’re going to need cloaks. We’re going to need armed. Elements said I wouldn’t need any as the elements are my weapons and defense, still would be nice to have a dagger or two.”

Drew shuddered. “Yeah, you are handy with those.”

“Anything else earth shattering I should know about?” Mal asked looking at Alex.

“Well,” he said slowly, closing the map and opening a different window, “there is this.”

“What is it?”

“A conversation, with Crow.”

Mal looked at Alex shocked then quickly read through it. She blew out a long breath when she finished. Well, that just happened. Their missing member claimed he was her soul mate, and wanted to learn more about her, which Alex obliged a little. Telling only what he knew in that moment. She wondered if this where she should start to worry or have some kind of reaction to the whole soul mate thing. As it was, she didn’t think anything of it.

She had a soul mate in this world, and he needed help. Her heart shuddered in its glass cage. Still suspended in animation, but if she allowed herself, she would feel the aching, the longing to help this stranger she’d never met.

Now was not the time. Easier with the curse on her heart, she pushed it aside for now. Deciding to think about it and react to it all later, when she had emotions, she looked up at her fellow Champions, minus Anna and Hexia.

“Okay, first of all, I don’t think you should treat me like a leader, we should all make decisions as a group. Since I have a hard time feeling emotions right now, that’s the best thing we can do. Right now I may seem normal, but I have a feeling once we start walking that red line, certain aspects of the curse will become stronger. So if I cannot make the right call, it’s on you guys to make me see reason.

“Second, I don’t think we should tell Anna about any of this.” She closed the screen and looked up at Alex. “Though I suspect you guys already came to that conclusion.”

“It wasn't mentioned, but I’m sure we were all thinking it. Especially since he named you specifically his soul mate.”

“That definitely needs to stay between us.”

“Agreed.” The rest said at once.

She nodded, “Good.”

“Morning everyone, what did I miss?” Hexia said softly when she appeared on the stairs.

“Well, only one is still asleep then.” Mal said standing. “Alex, why don’t you fill Hexia in on what’s been happening, I need to speak with Astra for a moment.”

While Mal was in the kitchen, Hexia sat beside Alex, and he quickly filled her in about the conversation with Crow and the map. She didn’t have anything to add to it, saying she’d back whatever Mal decided on.Wholeheartedly agreeing Anna should not know about Crow and what he said. When Mal came back into the room she was wearing a simple brown dress, her former cream one draped over an arm.

“Alright, I’m going to wake up Anna.”

“I’ll offer back up.” Elise said stepping forward. “I have a feeling this is going to be hilarious.”

“I’ll do the same, so you girls don’t get carried away or Anna gets too violent.” Xavier said stepped beside Elise.

“I will too.” Hexia said standing up so she was beside Mal. “If nothing else so she’ll see I’m not an alley or a toy she can use.”

Mal nodded. “I appreciate the help.” She looked over the three remaining guys. “Any more volunteers, or is this it?”

Drew paled drastically at the thought of going anywhere near Anna, and it was noticed by all in the room.

“Come on Drew, let’s go spar some more and leave them to do their thing.” Kenneth said clapping him on the shoulder. “I still can’t get over that I can breath normally and not be in any pain when it comes to physical movement.”

“Sounds good.” Drew said sounding as if he was being chocked.

“Maybe you should make sure they don’t poke an eye out.” Mal said softly to Alex.

“Oh, they’ve already ascertained their swords won’t harm them while they’re sparring, but yes, I will go watch them.” Alex said walking after them. “Mostly because I don’t want to be an audience to Anna’s tantrum when she wakes up.”

* * *

Outside, Drew and Kenneth were once again drawing their swords and just getting used to the weight in their hands, and working on maneuvering so they wouldn’t lose their grip in battle. Drew still hadn’t figured out how to duplicate his sword yet, but he figured as he ascended, it would eventually come to him.

“So, do you know if your asthma caused your pain?” Drew asked him. “From what you said before, it seemed like any time you moved your body too much, or for too long, you were in pain. I got the impression you were in pain nearly all of the time. From what I understood from my research, there can be pain yes, particularly in the lungs and stuff, but from you made it sound like, the whole body? I’ve never heard of that.”

Kenneth shuffled his feet, “It was across here,” he said as ran his hand over his stomach. “Up and down my spine, into my legs, from my shoulders down to my fingertips. I’ve done research too, and no, asthma shouldn’t have been able to cause that. I always figured it was because my body was so frail from having asthma and not being to do anything too strenuous.”

“I guess that would make sense.” Drew said softly.

“Why do you ask?” Kenneth regarded him curiously. “Also, how do you know so much on the subject, you and Mal seem perfectly healthy to me? Were you not always?”

Drew smiled looking heartbroken. “My son Charlie was born prematurely.”

Kenneth saw the pain in his eyes when Drew looked at him. A kind of pain Kenneth had never encountered before.

“He was in the NICU for several weeks after he was born.” Drew went on. “He was born with a heart defect, had to have a couple surgeries. Because he was born so early, his lungs hadn’t fully developed, and he had asthma as he grew. His heart got better, but his lungs, he still had trouble breathing from time to time. We had to be ready for anything. I did as much research as I could to understand what was wrong with my son, how to help him. I worked so Mal could stay home and take care of him. So at least one of us was with him at all times.”

“What happened on that front?” Kenneth asked before he could stop himself. He immediately regretted the question as soon as it was out because the pain in Drew’s expression got a lot worse.

To his surprise, Drew answered. Alex, who was watching from the sidelines, also listened with keen interest. Also noticing the pain Drew didn’t bother to hide.

“It’s difficult for me to explain, so just bear with me here, okay?” Drew said as he began to pace, not seeing Kenneth or Alex nod. “I guess to begin I need to explain the type of environment I was raised in. Experts say the type of person a child becomes is 9 times out of 10 based on the environment they were raised in.”

Kenneth sat on the chair Alex occupied before, as Alex was leaning against the building this time. Both watched as Drew paced nervously. Alex was beginning to understand something, Drew never put his side into words before. He may have thought it, may have agonized over it, but never once put the thoughts into words.

“I was raised by a by a man who believed women were put on Earth to be fucked. Nothing more, nothing else. If humanity continued because of it, well that was the woman’s problem, not his.” Drew explained as he paced faster. “He only married my mother because she had me. Had I been born a girl I’m sure he would have walked away and denied the baby and my mother. But because I was a son, my father felt it was his duty to teach me to think and act exactly the way he did. I’d been taught from the time I could crawl, it didn’t matter who, didn’t matter when, marriage didn’t mean anything, if it had a pussy, and you needed release, you took it.

“I seriously think my father raped a few women in the past. Even while married to my mother, he still screwed other women. My mother knew, she didn’t stop him, she just let him do whatever the hell he wanted. Even when it came to raising me. I was ten when he started to drag me along for the ride and made me watch. I was thirteen when I lost my virginity. Some woman who was completely broken and helpless to do anything but what my father said. When he told her to lay back and let me fuck her, she did.”

“Jesus Christ.” Alex swore feeling he was going to be sick.

Kenneth didn’t say anything, but he was paler than he had been a few moment ago. Clearly just as sickened to the core as Alex was.

Drew sat on the ground, tears in his eyes, but a fond smile on his face. “I met Mal when I was fifteen. She had a body that wouldn’t quit, and I was drawn to her. It started out as just another conquest, but the more I got to know her, the more something in me changed.” He looked at Kenneth and Alex at last, and they saw the tears fall. “I’m sure you’re well aware by now it’s difficult to get to know Mal and not fall in love with her in some way.”

Alex nodded. “Only known her for one day, but I already think of her as a sister.”

Kenneth shrugged. “Haven’t spent as much time with her as you have Alex, but I can say, she’s pretty cool, and yeah, I care about her. Enough that I want that curse on her to be lifted as soon as possible.”

Drew nodded. “Imagine meeting her at time in your life when your hormones are out of control, all you can think about is sex, and you’re at a vulnerable state in your mental and emotional development. I’d been abused, neglected, and worse yet, I wasn’t even aware that I had been. I fell, and I fell hard. All I could think about night and day was her. My father began to notice, and he didn’t take kindly to the fact that I was focused on just one girl.” Drew took a shaky breath, looking away before he continued.

“When she invited me over for Thanksgiving dinner, I went. I thought, fuck yeah, I’m finally getting laid by this hottie. Then I can move on.” His smile dimmed and his lip began to quiver. “Then I met her father, and saw the life this man lived, the way he treated his children, his wife. I learned that day there was a whole other way for a man to live, a whole other life that I had been ignorant to.” He sniffed and smile a bit before. “So I rebelled, and my father did not take that well. To say he beat me would be putting it mildly, but I didn’t care.”

“I came clean to Mal, told her the truth about my past, about myself and my conquest of her. Instead of rejecting me like I expected her to do, she just held me. She told me the truth about her family, and how things came to be the way they were. It was then I realized I was in love with her, what I’d been feeling was love. Something I had never had in all of my fifteen years. I latched onto it with all of my might.

“A year later, I met her sister Anna, a month after that, she made her deceleration of love towards me. Though it was more like admitting she was stalking me, and wanted me to her love slave. I rejected her on the spot, trying to be polite about it, but she still didn’t take it well.

“Somehow, I never could figure it out back then, but somehow my father found out about the situation with Anna. He began to demand I take Anna to bed. He wanted to watch, and I suspected he just wanted me to bring Anna into the house so he could eventually fuck her.” Drew sighed. “Given recent events, I think she went to him, and he’d been sleeping with her from the get-go, and since Anna wanted me, as long as he got to fuck her, he agreed to do his damnedest to make sure she got me.”

“Didn’t work?” Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

Drew shook his head. “Not at first.”

“When did your son come along?” Kenneth asked softly. That was what he really wanted to know about.

“We were eighteen when we found out Mal was pregnant. I married her immediately, despite my father's protests, despite Anna’s tantrums and begging I run away with her instead. I think, Anna may have tried to force an abortion on Mal, because Mal came home one day very sick, and the next day there were bruises on her stomach, but she never said, and stupid me never asked.” Drew’s tears fell faster now as he talked. His voice heavy with emotion and shaky from his tears.

“She was about seven months along when we heard about the heart defect. They had to deliver the baby early so they could do immediate operation or else the baby would die before the due date. I don’t know how anyone else reacted I was too worried about my son and Mal to care.

“But our Charlie was strong, he survived, and things were okay.” Drew smiled in spite of the tears, “But with my working and her taking care of Charlie all day, our intimacy started to die. We were exhausted, and we just didn’t get the chance to be together anymore. I’d been having sex since I was thirteen, I stopped for all of one year while chasing Mal’s skirt. That was the longest I’d been without vaginal. Mal and I still fooled around, so it wasn’t like I was going without release. During that time, we couldn’t even masturbate we were so busy and then exhausted. If we were lucky, we had a quickie once a month.”

Drew stood and began pacing again. “Charlie was three when things took a turn for the worst. This young woman came into my life. Just randomly popped up. Every time I saw her, she was dressed and acted out the situations designed to seduce. Straight out of a porno or something. Each time I refused, but it was clear to both of us, with each time it was getting more difficult to tell her no.” He stopped pacing for a moment looking up at the windows of the Inn. “I never told Mal what was happening. Maybe if I had, things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did.”

He shook his head and went back to pacing. “It all came to a head one night when I was driving home in a storm and there she was. Soaking wet, and needed a ride. It was on the way so I said sure. One minute she was in the passenger seat, the next, her body was plastered to my side, hands down my pants. I tried to say no, tried to fight, but the minute her mouth was on my cock that was it. All protests died. I hadn’t had a blowjob since I hooked up with Mal. I never asked her to do that, I was afraid of how she would react if I did. Seeing as I was the first guy she'd ever been with, she was ignorant when it came to sexual play, and she never offered.”

He collapsed to the ground. “I don’t really remember what happened after that. One minute her mouth was on my cock, the next thing I was consciously aware of was my pants were at my ankles and she was laying in the backseat under me, completely naked, skin flushed, my cum leaking out of her cunt. I’m not even sure how many times I fucked her that night because I didn’t home till after midnight. Mal was waiting for me when I finally got there. That was the night she told me she was pregnant again.”

Drew jumped up and ran to the bushes in time before he threw up. Kenneth rushed over to him to make sure he was alright. After Drew finished spitting out the last of the bile, he collapsed to the ground again sobbing.

“Three months later, she was at my door. She was pregnant too and wanted an abortion. Mal broke down crying so I took Charlie to get some ice cream. There was a car accident and I blacked out, when I woke up, the paramedics told me my son was dead. His neck broke upon impact, and died instantly. At the hospital, Mal lost the baby she was carrying, she didn’t even notice at first, losing Charlie broke something in her.” Drew broke down more, “It’s my fault! All my fault! If I wasn’t such a weak man none of it would have happened!”

Kenneth, much to everyone’s surprised held Drew close. He couldn’t say it wasn’t Drew’s fault, because some of it was, but he wasn’t totally to blame for what happened.

Alex understood now, why Mal said to not hate Drew. Alex understood about Drew’s demons and issues now. He’d made mistakes, yes, but he was trying to do better, and even he could agree Drew deserved that chance. Mal realized a long time ago the circumstances weren’t entirely his fault, and she forgave him. While Drew was broken down, Alex softly told Kenneth everything Mal had told him from her perspective on the matter. How she even went to great lengths to not hurt Drew.

Kenneth smiled grimly. “He was right, it’s hard not to love Mal once you get to know her.”

Alex nodded. “I don’t know many women who be as understanding as her that’s for sure. Most would hate the man and blame them for everything no matter what.”

Kenneth sighed as Drew began to calm. “I’m starting to think we were all chosen because of our tragic lives.”

Alex shrugged. “Speak for yourself. I was an actor.”

Kenneth raised an eyebrow at him. “If your life was so glamorous why are you here?”

Alex chuckled. “You have a point there Sherlock.”

Kenneth rolled his eyes. “Please, I prefer Dragon Born.”

“Whatever you say Dovahkiin.” Drew muttered as he resurfaced wiping off his face.

Kenneth laughed while Alex smiled kindly at Drew. “Feel better?”

“A little.”

“Never got the chance to really talk about it before did you?”

Drew shook his head. “I confessed everything to Mal when I wrote her the letter explaining my escape plan. Other than that no. I never talked about it. Never really got the chance to cry either. Everyone in my old life just wanted me to move on and not think about it.”

“That’s bullshit.” Kenneth growled. “A loss like that a man has to grieve.”

Alex nodded. Then looked around suspiciously. “Either of you finds it weird we’re so comfortable explaining our backstories, talking about our emotions, and bonding like we’re bro-cons?”

Kenneth nodded. “Yeah, it’s completely weird.”

Drew nodded. “I concur.”

Alex sighed. “I need a drink or a distraction. This shit is getting too weird. Don’t get me wrong Drew, I’m glad you’re dealing with your demons and everything, and you trust us and shit, but god damn this is getting way too touchy-feely for me.”

They went inside where Alex poured them each a glass of wine and he drank deeply from his cup. Each of them chocked when a high pitch scream echoed down from upstairs.

* * *

Xavier decided to just offer moral support from the back as the three women tried to wake up the not so sleeping beauty on the big bed. Elise went over to the window, opened the drapes, and the window. Xavier’s eyes were glued on her rear the entire time. Sure Mal had a great body, but there was something about that tight little heart shaped ass that just caught his eyes. Mal moved somewhere from beside him, when he looked at her, he saw that she knew what he’d been looking at. He coughed, feeling the blush heat up his cheeks as he looked away.

“Alright, a blast of light and fresh air didn’t immediately rouse her.” Elise said hands on her hips.

“Now what?” Hexia cringed from her corner.

Mal leaned against the wall and nodded. “You two each get a few minutes, Xavier if he wants it, and if you fail, I step in.”

“Why do I get the feeling that’s a sinister threat.” Xavier said with a shake of his head.

“Because it is.” Hexia said taking a deep breath, gaining more confidence. “I’ll go first, Elise.”

Elise nodded, and stepped away from the window and bed, allowing Hexia to get closer. Hexia shook Anna, pulled the blanket, even pulled Anna’s hair. She was met with moans, groans, but when Anna gave an orgasmic moan at the pulling of her hair

Hexia raised her hands in defeat and back away, “Alright Elise, it’s all you.”

Elise did much the same as Hexia, only putting more force into her pulls and shakes, belaying she had a lot of experience with this type of things. The only thing she did differently from Hexia was she stayed away from the hair.

When Elise gave up with a breathless huff and backed away, all eyes went to Xavier who shook his head. “If pulling her hair made her react that way, I’m not getting myself, or my deep manly voice, anywhere near her.”

“Then I guess it’s my turn.” Mal said walking up to the bed and stared down at her sisters sleeping form.

Outside, she saw the well. She pulled the coldest water from its depths up to her. Using her air, as well as her own strength, she ripped the blanket off and it was tossed into the hall as Xavier jumped into the room so not to get hit with it. With the frigid water hanging above their heads, the trio immediately rushed outside into the hall. Mal looked to them, they watched shocked as she grinned rather viciously at them before dropping the water onto her sisters bare and naked body.

Anna woke in a fit of shrilly screams and the four rushed down the stairs in a fit of hysterical laughter.

Drew, Kenneth, and Alex all looked at them as if they were crazy.

“What the hell has gotten into you?” Kenneth demanded.

“Mal,” Xavier chocked out between bursts of laughter. “Splashed ice water down on Anna to get her up.”

Alex grinned nervously at Mal. “You did what!?”

She smiled and fell over laughing.

::BING::

ANNOUNCEMENTCAGED HEART curse afflicting Champion of Elements Mal has decreased by 5%

Alex looked at Mal with genuine relief, “Well, it’s not the cure, but it’s a start. At least we know we can weaken it some.”

“My ladyship, wha-!?” Astra demanded hearing Anna’s shrilly screaming from upstairs.

Mal handed her the hot pink fabric that had been Anna’s outfit from the day before. “As promised, that heinous dress for fire fuel.”

Astra grinned as she grabbed it and immediately tossed it into the great fire. The Champions watched as the flimsy thing burst into flames rather quickly. It was when the dress had burned beyond recognition that Anna came flying down the stairs completely nude, and still sopping wet. Her whole body shivering, her lips purple, and her nipple hard and erect for all to see.

“Did you not hear me screaming up there!?” She demanded.

“We heard,” Xavier glared at her, not at all affected by her naked body, “We were simply ignoring you.”

“YOU!” Anna screeched at Mal. “YOU DID THIS TO ME! You turned them against me like this! Now they laugh at my expense!” She rushed toward Drew, “Drew my love! Help me! Save me from this vicious whore!”

Everyone watched in mild horror and amusement as the moment Anna touched Drew, he threw up for the second time. Anna just narrowly managing to jump back in time before it splashed all over her chest and stomach. At the very least her body wasn’t covered by the wine and bile that was now puddled on the floor, but her ankles and feet were standing dead center of it.

Alex, who had the menu screen open still from having seen the memo about Mal’s curse, figured out how to record videos earlier while searching for the map. He was recording one now and doing his damnedest not to laugh so as not to draw attention to himself. If he laughed, Anna would notice him, and she’d come after him, then she’d see the video recording.

Anna stared down at the bile in absolute horror. Before she could scream or get sick herself, Astra appeared and dumped another bucket of cold water over Anna’s head.

“Oops! Sorry, there miss! I coulda sworn he’d gotten ya naughty pillows as well.” Astra made a face, that was semi-apologetic, semi-amused. “Well, no harm no foul, at least ya’d be clean now. Just needin’ dryin’ off is all. No worries master Drew sir, I’ll get this cleaned up right fast I will.”

“Sorry, Astra.” Drew muttered.

“Nonsense, tis normal to get an upset stomach around foul things.” Astra said patting his shoulder.

“Come on Drew.” Kenneth said pulled on him. “Let’s go back outside and get some fresh air. If you’re up for it we can actually get to that second round of sparring we attempted at last time.”

“Sounds good.” Drew said rushing out with him.

Anna was left staring dumbfounded. “What the hell is happening!?” She mumbled to herself. “What the hell is happening!?” She repeated getting louder. “What the hell is happening!?”

She rounded on the rest of the group. “I used to be beloved! I used to be special! I used to be desired! Irresistible!”

“Somehow I highly doubt that.” Alex said with a shake of his head.

“I was!” Anna insisted.

“No Anna,” Mal said stepping forward, “You were merely a manipulative and controlling bitch. Here, you don’t have the pull or power you once did. It’s a new world, new people. You’re still trying to do things like you did on Earth, and it’s not going to work the way it once did. Added to that is your powers are not what Love meant to them to be because Love was not supposed to choose you.”

“How do you know that!?” Anna hissed. “What lies has Elements been feeding you!?”

“Actually it wasn’t Elements,” Alex said lifting a finger. “I have access to everyone’s stats and information. Yours,” He said pointing a finger at her, “come with that very interesting warning.”

“Lies!” Anna shrieked in tears. “It’s all lies! They are abusing Love! They’ve belittled her! Hurt her!”

“Well if she is, I can understand why.” Xavier said drinking some of the wine that was left. “Given what her champions have done in the past.”

“You don’t know anything!” Anna screamed at him.

“That’s enough!” Elise said forcefully stepping forward. “You need to go upstairs, get cleaned off and get dressed! You’re walking around naked for goodness sake! And now there’s puke on your feet! Aren’t you bothered by that!?”

“I will not!” Anna shouted, either ignoring or just didn’t hear Elise’s comment about the bile on her feet. “It’s a natural state! And I am a thing of beauty!”

“Get dressed!” Hexia, Mal, and Elise all shouted at her.

“NO!” Anna screamed with all of her might.

Kenneth came barging in and glared at Anna. “Will you quit with the theatrics and banshee cries! That man who gave us a ride yesterday has newborns at home and they haven’t stopped crying since you woke up. He just came here to see what all the fuss was about and make sure his brother and sister in law were alright and not being murdered!”

“It was Mal’s fault!” Anna shouted pointed. “Now they’re trying to boss me around!”

“I don’t care if you’re screaming because the Devil himself fed you to a slime monster who proceeded to shoot you out of his ass and you’re now covered in the slimes fecal matter you freaking bitch! Shut the fuck up!” Kenneth snarled at her. “Get your ass upstairs, get dressed, so we can get some shopping done and get the hell out of here! We’ve got bigger and more important things to do!”

“Well said, Kenneth.” Alex said with a grin. “Though your scenario worries me a bit.”

“I back the kid completely, and I for one would pay money to see that.” Xavier laughed. "Even if I throw up at the end of it."

“True that.” Elise chuckled. Earning a fist bump from Xavier as he gave one to Alex under the table where Anna couldn’t see.

Astra appeared and threw the blanket Mal ripped off Anna’s body earlier over it once more. “Do as they suggest miss. I’ll not be shelterin' ya another night without somethin' to make it damn worth me while.”

Looking around, seeing she had no allies, she looked up to the heavens, her lip quivering. Wishing, hoping, begging for Love to come to her aid. But there was nothing. No answer. Not any indication that Love or any of the Gods even heard her. Coming back down to the world around her, pouted, stomped her foot and went back upstairs.

* * *

Going up the stairs, Anna kept trying to open a connection with Love, each time she got the same error, unable to connect, message. Giving it up as a lost cause, she looked room by room for the bathroom. She hoped she would find some nice naked piece of ass in one of the rooms. But as her and the other champions were the only ones staying here, and the rest were all downstairs laughing her expense, she realized with a sourness in her stomach it was only a fantasy, and it wasn’t going to happen.

They were the only ones in this dump and not a one of them was up for some shower fun with her. Drew even threw up on her! What was all that about!? What did he eat to make him so sick? Did he get drunk after she went upstairs with Hexia? Sure that demon bitch was fun and all, but she did nothing to ease the ache between Anna's legs.

How drunk had Drew been? He was a rather horny drunk depending on how much he had, and what he had. She missed out on her chance to be with Drew again because she jumped the gun too quickly and grabbed the first willing body upstairs. Well, she wouldn’t be making that mistake again, that’s for sure.

Once his tummy ache settled, he would come around and see the error of his ways. Then once again he would bury that behemoth of a cock into her hot and welcoming cunt that ached for that piece of meaty man. Deciding to table all of that for now, she stepped into the bathroom and stared horrified.

No! This couldn’t be right! It wasn’t a bathroom at all! The only thing she recognized in here was the toilet, and it clearly didn’t have plumbing as she knew it.

“I know, really makes you miss Earth doesn’t it.”

Anna turned and saw Mal in the doorway. For the first time, she noticed Mal was wearing a different dress than yesterday. She really must have been upset to not notice this fashion change. The dress was as simple brown, in simple design. She wanted so much to say the dress was hideous, and Mal with it. However, it would have been a lie. Despite the dress being simple, Mal’s beauty made the simple dress stunning. Mal could always see through her lies, and understand the meaning behind them. Lying to Mal in that moment would just show Mal how truly weak and jealous she was of her.

It wasn’t fair! Mal was supposed to be uglier than her! No! Mal wasn’t even supposed to be here! It was just supposed to be Anna, surrounded by a bunch of hot and beefy men who would have sex with her day and night and listen to her every command!

“Ah, I see you noticed my new dress.” Mal said looking down with a gentle smile. “I suppose I shouldn’t get used to it, it’s just a loaner, Astra was kind enough to let me borrow it for the time being.”

Mal stepped forward and laid the dress Elements had given her on the handle on the wall. “You may wear this one. You may keep it if you like. If not, I’m sure we’ll find something far more suited to you and your tastes at the shops just up the way. Astra said one of them was a tailor. We’re all eager to see what they have, we’re just waiting on you.”

Mal took a step back taking a deep breath as she did. “There’s a bath downstairs, it heats from the fireplace underneath it. Astra said if we must burden her another night, we may make use of it. Over there is a basin, you may use it to wash over yourself in the meantime.” Once more Mal brought water up from the well, heating it this time in the basin before turning back to Anna. “I do believe that’s everything. The waters warm but I’d use it quickly. The air is a bit chilly.

“The toilet is pretty self-explanatory.” She said gesturing to the throne. “Pull the lever and water comes up from the well to wash it out and bring the contents down to the pig pen. Apparently, instead of manure or such things, they use the waste they create to keep the pigs cool or warm. Rather ingenious if you ask me. Oh!” Mal laughed. “That reminds me, be grateful we got to stay here for free last night. Otherwise, we would have had to work off the debt by doing chores around the place. Astra said something about the pig pen needing cleaning out this morning.”

“I already have a dress.”

Mal looked at Anna in surprise. “She speaks, but I’m sorry to say, I miss what she said.”

“I. Already. Have. A. Dress.” Anna scoffed at her. “I don’t need your pathetic hand-me-downs anymore! I have a most perfect dress, given to me by the Goddess of Love herself. I shall wear that.”

“Yeah,” Mal said slowly drawing out the word. “About that, Astra needed fuel for the fire this morning, and your dress was in the hall, and well, it’s gone now.”

“Gone!?” Anna gasped. “What do you mean gone!?”

“First of all, that dress would hardly have been appropriate back on Earth, and it certainly wasn’t appropriate here. So I threw it into the fire and torched it. Worked too, we’ve got a nice toasty fire going downstairs.”

Anna grabbed the first thing her hand enclosed around and threw it straight for Mal. Mal saw it in time to flinch against the impact. However, instead of the painful impact she was expecting, she dissolved into air, and the object passed right through where she had been standing. Smashing into the wall behind Mal as she rematerialized and stared at the shattered pieces on the floor.

“Well that’s nifty I guess.” Mal sighed before looking back at Anna. “You’ve got an hour, or we leave without you, and you’re stuck with whatever I choose to buy for you.”

With that, Mal turned on her heal, and closed the door behind her, leaving Anna to her devices.

* * *

It was exactly an hour later when Anna came down the stairs grinding her teeth as she did so. Wearing the simple dress and the simple shoes Mal left for her. To her surprise, it was now that everyone stared at her.

“What!?” She snapped.

“Oh me stars miss Anna, ya look lovely!” Astra beamed.

“You really do Anna.” Elise smiled kindly. “That dress suits you a lot better than that hot pink ensemble did.”

“You mean the dominatrix outfit that would make true dominatrix's weep?” Alex asked giving Elise a sideways glance.

“What’s that?” Elise asked him confused.

“What’s what?” He asked her in return.

“What’s a dominatrix thingy you said?”

Xavier put a hand on her shoulder and steered Elise outside. “Nothing you need ever know about.” He glared at Alex. “Ever!”

“You really do look nice now Anna.” Alex smiled. “I think you should take Mal up on the offer to keep it.” He looked back at Mal. “No offense.”

“None taken.” She smiled back at him. “Shall we be off then? Before Xavier and Elise beat us there?”

“Sounds good.” Alex said standing up and following Mal to the door.

Anna was helpless but to follow. She didn’t know what to make of it. Any of their reactions. An hour ago they were all viciously cruel to her, abusively so, and no one said anything in her defense. Now, they were all kind, saying she was beautiful, and how this outfit looked far better than the precious one Love had given her.

That one had been beautiful too. The only true difference one, Love’s dress had been more geared towards her purpose, and her ability. Climax Princess. She was brought here with the intention and purpose of creating a world that was a mass reverse harem. Every man was to be hers, and all of the other women were to be glorified mind broken sex dolls for her boy toys to play with when they didn’t have her in their arms. This was not the way things were supposed to go.

But, things were quiet now. No one was trying to belittle her, no one was laughing at her. No one was hurting her while the others stood back and watched as if it were some great sport. Right now, they were nice and even seemed to like her a bit. So she took the win where she could, sighing and doing the exact opposite of her nature and remained silent.

* * *

As the group explored the area, they saw the Inn, the vast farm connecting it to another building they surmised was the farmer's house. Home of the man who helped them the day before, Kenneth explained with a smile. Anna remarked they must have God level hearing to hear her little fit before.

Everyone decided it would be better if they didn’t point out to Anna that what she forced them to endure was hardly a “little fit.”

Hearing Kenneth’s remark, all Alex could think about was the Blindsighted spell cast over all of them. He wondered what all of the people actually looked like.

The three-building structure wasn’t far from the farmhouse, and they were shops just as they were told they would be. They did a quick look in each one just to see what each store catered too.

The first shop was an apothecary. Selling herbs, medicines, and potions to help the weary travelers. The second store was a blacksmith shop. Kenneth and Drew were particularly excited about that one and didn’t want to be dragged out. The third shop was a fabric shop. The tailor that ran the store told the group with his nose up in the air he could make them whatever they wanted, for a hefty price.

They sat at the ring of benches outside the shops as Alex looked through the bag of money they had.

“This is going to get complicated.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Well, obviously we have to focus on the clothes!” Anna interjected. “That’s the most important thing right now! Just pay the man whatever he wants!”

“We can’t.” He argued more to himself. “We only have this little amount of money and we’ve got a whole list of things we need to get.”

“Then give me the damn money.” Anna said stomping forward. “Obviously you can’t be trusted to make important decisions.”

A swirl of air appeared between Alex and Anna. Mal glared at her sister. “I would like to hear Alex’s argument before you go on a crusade.”

“We do need clothing Anna, you are right about that.” Alex gave a small smile to Mal for the support. “We all need clothes. What we’ve got right now isn’t going to do us much good as the weather gets colder, and there’s no guarantee that we’ll have an Inn or someplace warm to sleep each night. So we have to make sure we’ve got clothes durable for traveling and warm cloaks or coats so we don’t freeze to death.

“We’ll also need potions and medicines for while we travel. The Gods didn’t say we were invulnerable. We’re bound to get hurt along the way, and we need to be prepared for that.”

“Yeah, I back that.” Kenneth said losing the boyish excitement over the weapons he could potentially get. “Trust me, when you head out onto main quests, you want to be prepared for anything.”

“Falling into Hell where hoards of horny demons are coming at you with the intentions of a black widow while the damned souls try to use you as a meat shield to claw their way out?” Elise asked.

Xavier gave her look of disbelief. “You know about that, but you have no idea what a dominatrix is?”

She gave him a wicked grin. “Oh, that was explained already.”

He paled. “Who told you!?”

She just laughed and went back to Kenneth. “So that’s the kind of prepared we need to be?”

Kenneth grinned at her. “Well, not that level of prepared, but somewhere near those lines yes.”

“It would be good to have more weapons too.” Alex said smiling at Kenneth, earning that boyish excitement back. “Not everyone is going to need them, but it would be nice for each us to have something we feel comfortable with to defend ourselves. Drew and Kenneth seem to be our main warriors, it would be good if we could get them a few more so they have options and can respond to situations accordingly. Even with Drew being able to duplicate his sword eventually, he can’t right now, he should have the option to have another sword or something.”

Mal nodded. “Sounds like a reasonable plan.” She raised a hand and a finger with it. “I might be able to offer an alternative as far as the clothing goes. It may take a couple of days, but if we buy the materials I can make the clothes we’ll need. I used to make all of the clothes for my son, and I even made quilts to sell at my step-mothers boutique for a little extra side cash.”

Alex looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. “Actually, I don’t think it will even take that long!”

She looked at him curiously. “I think I know my own skill.”

“No Mal!” Alex said looking at her excited and gripping her hand with a wide grin. “You have a crafting ability!”

“I do?”

He nodded. “I saw it while looking for the map!”

::BING::

ANNOUNCEMENTMal has unlucked CRAFTING

Any piece of clothing can be created using this table. So long as it’s fabric related, Champion can create it.Note: Previous ability has been taken into accountMal's Crafting skill has ascended from 0% to 80% out of a 100%Note: This skill is an overall score. Once it reaches 100% it's the highest this skill can go.

It will not reset to set standards that grow with the champions such as Weapon Skills. To keep improving and progressing forward as the Champions do.

“Told you.” Drew said nudging Kenneth when he read about the weapons skill. “Our power caps off with each ascension level. Resetting and getting bigger when we reach the new one.”

“I think that may be so we don’t get too stupidly OP too quickly.” Elise said with a sigh.

“From what little I’ve seen so far, we’re already going to be OP.” Xavier comment.

“I’m more impressed by Mal’s ability!” Kenneth grinned at her. “Yours is a once it’s tapped off it’s tapped off skill, yet you still went from freaking 0% to 80!! Man, that’s awesome! You must have been really great at making what you did for it jump so freaking high!”

Mal blushed and looked away. All of them receiving the notice that her curse went down by another 5%. Drew prompted it along by telling them she made clothes for herself too. She loved the shows Charmed, and Once Upon A Time, so she would recreate some of the outfits her main favorite characters. Which had Hexia and Elise launching into a thousand and one questions. As the three of them bonded, Anna was sulking off to the side.

Deciding to get the clothes out of the way first and focusing on the more important things like the potions and weapons, they decided to grab the fabric first. Mal said they were of very poor quality, but she could make it work. Everything she wanted would only cost them 5 gold pieces for the fabric alone if the prices tags on the shelves were being honest, leaving them with plenty for everything else.

Alex was stoked about that. He went from not having to worry about money, to having a budget, and he was actually a surprised and little proud he was handling it so well.

“Alright,” The tailor said picking up a piece of charcoal and several pieces of paper, “What we were wanting today?”

“Just to buy the fabrics.” Mal said with a smile. “I’m going to make the clothes.”

The tailor looked a deep breath as the charcoal dropped from his fingers as his gaze traveled up to glare at Mal. “Are you sure?”

“Of course.” Mal said with a frown. “We are able to buy the just the fabrics aren’t we?”

“Well sure, but someone of your, shall we say, talents, isn't capable of doing the job.”

Mal looked at him confused. “I beg your pardon?”

“You may not be dressed as flashy as the others, but I know a Champion of Love when I see one.” He sneered at her. “You don’t have the skill required. There’s only one thing the Champions of Love are good at, and making clothes is certainly not it. However,” His sneer widened, and he looked her over. “if you’re worried about the payment for my services, I’m sure we can work out another kind of arrangement.”

“Why you!” Alex growled reaching over and grabbing the man by the throat.

“She’s not the Champion of Love! I am!” Anna shrieked stomping over to the tailor.

“I’m the Champion of Elements.” Mal said in a cool calm demeanor that made even Anna’s spine shiver at the danger. “And I can prove it.”

She walked outside, and the tailor was dragged out by Alex, who had yet to release this grip on the man’s throat. Outside, the apothecary and blacksmith were conversing outside, about what, no one was sure as the conversation stopped shortly after the group came outside with the tailor in tow.

“What did you do now Gnarby?” The apothecary groaned.

“I’d say he put his foot in his mouth and now he has to pay for it.” The blacksmith grinned, very amused by the spectacle.

“Should we help him?”

“No, I told him what my price would be and he said he’d rather die. I was rather hurt by that, so I’ve resolved to never help him.”

“I suppose that’s fair.” The apothecary said with a nod looking back at the scene.

Mal walked past the benches to the empty field of dirty. She looked back at the shopkeepers. “Who’s in charge of this area?”

“T’would be me, darling.” The blacksmith said stepping forward. “Why do you ask?”

“Would you mind if I mined out some of your metals from the surrounding area?”

He chuckled. “Not that a pretty thing like you could, but sure, why not. But stop when you reach a fourth of the natural supply, leave the rest for us.”

“Fair enough.” She nodded and looked back at the ground.

Her powers over the earth and metal bled deep into the ground. She could feel it all. All way the way down to the molten core at the center. She wondered if there was an actual world down there like in the book and the movie. She shook her head, now wasn’t the time to check on such things. Instead, separated her feet slightly and raised her hands.

She pulled her hands in, took one step forward, thrusting her hands out and up as she went. As she moved, a huge deep hole opened up in the ground several miles deep. Eyes closed, Mal could see using her magic deep into the hole from where she was standing. Up and down, up and down she brought her hands, twisting in circles as she went. Gold deposits dropping like clumps of dirt into a pile on the ground. Meshing into a huge ball and she ground them together with her powers. Over and over she did it, until she had one solid large lump of gold.

She sighed, once it was melted down, it wouldn’t be much. Sure it would be a lot more than what they had, but not nearly enough to get her point across. So she began to pull more. Pulling it from every direction, adding to the mound of gold underground, needing to make the hole above ground and the cavern bigger. Once she’d reached a fourth of the natural gold in the area, she stopped and brought the now huge boulder above ground. It was now twice the size of her in height, and it would have taken the 3 groups of the Champions to fully encircle the thing.

The thing was out for all to see, however, she wasn’t finished yet. She raised her hands and summoned her fire within her. She raised the boulder of gold and melted it in the air, creating hundreds of thousands of coins while in that state, before using the air to cool it all to the touch.

She then sectioned it out into fourths. At the tailor, she threw his coins. Smashing into his body and him into the side of the wall of his shop. “There. Our payment, and your silence for the remainder of our stay here.”

Her voice was cold and venomous. Seeing the raw power she possessed and still a beginner at this. The Champions could only stare her.

Far more kindly, she placed two of the piles in front of the apothecary and the blacksmith. One for each. “Would you two kindly give my companions whatever is they desire, require, or anything else. Help them if they need it, please. As we are new to this world, a little guiding hand would be appreciated.”

“Thank you so much, darling!” The blacksmith came forward and kissed her hand. “I apologize for what I said earlier. Elements has never chosen a champion before, and as I’m sure you’re aware Love’s champions are troublesome lot. With your exquisite beauty, I just assumed.”

Mal smiled kindly at him. “Not all, I understand. You people have suffered because of Love and her champions, I understand your reactions. However, your friend there insult my ability without ever seeing it, and then tried to make me sell my body to him so he could make us rags to wear. I’m assuming what he wears he makes himself and it is of terrible quality and craft. I simply refuse to let my champions wear such inferior garments. I’ve also never sold my body a day in my life, and I plan to hold to that for as long as I’m alive.”

“And right you should m’lady!” The apothecary said stepping forward. “I knew Gnarby was a git, but I never once thought him capable of such befoulment.”

“Well,” Mal looked over at his bruised body as he stood up from the pile of gold. “Perhaps he’s learned his lesson now.”

She walked up to him, arms crossed under her breasts glaring. “Elise, Hexia, please provide back up.”

When the tailor, Gnarby, as he was named, looked up at her, what he saw was Mal, with Elise and Hexia at her sides. All of them looking furious. Elise, glowing with the power of the sun, her fingers playing with its light as if it were a ribbon between her fingers. Hexia, snarling. Her being a demon, with horns and fangs, she was downright terrifying in that moment. Mal held her head high, her eyes livid as she looked at him.

“You will take me to where you to store the good fabrics. That lot you have in your shop wouldn’t last a week in the extreme elements which you know. You are a swindler, nothing more. I have also paid you three times what you would have made off of us if you had been able to get your usual score out of us. I want those fabrics, and I want them now. If you do not show me, I will simply go in with my friend here,” She said thumbing in Hexia’s direction, “and we will proceed to rob you of every last fabric you have in there, while my other friend,” she thumbed in Elise’s direction, “will stand guard over you while we do, and when we’re done cleaning you out, we’ll take back our gold, and she’ll burn your shop to the ground.” Mal put her hands on her hips as she lowered her body slightly as she looked Gnarby in the eye. “Is this in anyway unclear?”

Gnarby broke down sobbing as he shook his head. Mal raised herself back up and smiled. “Great!” She looked at Elise and Hexia. “Give me a few minutes, I’m going to bring the rest of the gold to Astra so we can stay another night.”

“What!?” Anna demanded. “Are you freaking kidding me!? All of that gold and you’re going to just give it all away!?”

Using her air, Mal took a small amount of gold from the three piles, slicing a piece of cloth from Gnarby’s outfit, Mal placed all of the gold onto the fabric. She pulled the scrunch that was holding part of her hair up out, and used it to wrap up the fabric so no gold could escape.

“Here you go.” Mal said handing it to her. “I suggest you store it in your inventory, you might lose it. You’re also not used to carrying such weight.”

“I think I can manag-AHHH!” Anna began to snarl, but once the gold was in her hands and no longer supported by Mal, she fell to the ground under the weight.

Mal had learned rather quickly while lifting the gold and melting it, it was a lot heavier than Earth’s gold. It felt as if lead had been melted into it as well, though Mal knew for a fact no lead was inside this gold. In fact, she didn’t think there was any lead on Taimin. At least she didn’t feel any in the surrounding area.

Mal looked over the rest. “As I said, I’m going to go pay Astra. If you remember, she said something about needing it to be worth her while if she was going to put up with Anna another night.” She smiled at Elise and Hexia. “Make sure Mr. Gnarby over there doesn’t move until I get back.”

“Can do.” Elise said with a grin.

Hexia smiled viciously at Gnarby. “We’ll make sure he doesn’t move an inch.”

Mal nodded at them, and looked to Alex. “Why don’t you go with Kenneth and start getting what you two think we need potion and medicine wise. I’ll pop in later to get what I think we’ll need for cooking.”

Alex nodded, and motioned to Kenneth to follow him.

Mal gathered up the gold, dissolved into air and shot for the Inn, once inside, she called for Astra, who came downstairs and stared wide-eyed at the amount of gold hovering in the air. “Looks like we need to stay at least another night. Where would you like me to set the payment?”

“Well - I - ya see, I have no idea where to even put that much gold!” Astra fumbled with her words before yelling.

“Oh!” Mal grinned at her. “I can make you a safe place!”

A few minutes later, in a secret room under the Inn, using a now secret door in her huge pantry to get down to it, sat a special chest. Formed out of silver, would open only for Astra’s touch, or that of her blood, was now filled with the gold. Mal waved goodbye once the task was done as she dissolved into the air and launched back toward the shops.

Astra grinned widely but still shook her head. “Sweet Goddess Elements, if she can do all of that now, what in the world will she be capable of later on?”

* * *

“Good question.” Day asked looking over at Elements. “If this is just the beginning, that is rather worrisome.”

Elements shrugged. “She’s my champion, there is no limit to what she can do. Just be grateful that chest didn’t come alive or she can’t feel the entire planet yet.”

Even King looked worried now. “She’ll be able to do all of that?”

Elements nodded. “As she gains more power yes. She could literally destroy Taimin with the blink if an eye if she so chose.”

“That’s really dangerous.” Wisdom cringed.

“You need to remove her right now!” Night yelled, “Or King you need to make your champion kill her as soon as he’s cured or she might cause some real trouble! She could destroy this ring before they’ve even begun if we don’t do something!”

A loud snap echoed throughout the heavens and Night held his abused cheek which was now as red as his hair. Elements, who had dissolved to air, shot across the room and smacked Night across the face glared at him now, eyes glowing with her fury. “How dare you!? How many times has a champion of yours been the downfall of the other champions!?”

To that, Night merely pouted.

“I never chose a champion for that exact reason! Because my power is so great! Chose the wrong one because of impatience instead of searching carefully for the right one has led to the many deaths you guys are responsible for! I took so long because I needed to find the perfect one! And I did! Mal is perfect for this role! She will not be like any of yours!” Elements screamed at him.

With that, she turned and stomped away.

“I’ll talk with her.” Demon said going after her.

“No.” King said firmly. “Let her be.”

“You want to leave alone when she’s like this?” Demon asked him with a raised eyebrow.

“She’ll be alright.” King said through gritted teeth.

“You thought so before, and look where that got us.”

“Stay away from her Demon.”

“Why!?” Demon demanded throwing his hands out, ready for a physical attack, then he saw.

Seeing his hands were different, Demon looked down at his form, realizing his monstrous self was no longer present. Meaning his sanity was back. He was once again tall, well muscled, young looking, with black hair that fell into his amber eyes as he looked back up at King.

“I get it now.” He said softly, turning back to the pool. “You don’t want me going after her because now I’m myself again, and you’re scared.”

King’s eyes glowed with fury of his own.

Demon shrugged. “Fine. I won’t go after.” He walked up the pool and stared down at the champions as Mal arrived back at the shops and went into the tailor’s shop with Elise and his own champion. “But you should, she’s far too emotional to be left alone right now.”

No one knew what surprised them more, Demon’s brazen talking to King, their leader, or King actually getting up and doing as Demon said.

“Hey, didn’t your champion choose the Endarkened ability?” Wisdom asked Demon, desperately needing a change of topic.

“Obviously.” Demon said looking up at him.

“Why hasn’t she gone all, you know?”

“Hungry demon on their asses?” Demon said with a grin.

Wisdom shrugged. “Well, that’s one way to put it.”

Demon smiled warmly down at the young demon. “She may have chosen the Endarkened ability, but in her heart, she’s human.”

“Isn’t that the point of the personality change?” Hero asked. “Mine still hasn’t noticed his. Could that be it?”

Demon shook his head. “I didn’t turn that part of her on.”

Wisdom gaped at him. “But that goes against what King approved for the choices years ago.”

Demon shrugged. “So go tattle on me.” None of them moved. “I’ll let her know she has the option to change her personality, but only when I think it’s time.”

“You mean, when she won’t want to change her personality.” War muttered from his spot.

Demon nodded. “Exactly. As Elements said, we’ve all had champion who brought the end of the Champions. Mine were some of them. My last one would have had I not removed my blessing in time. But my efforts were for not as we all know.” He touched the pool as if stroking Hexia’s hair. “But I couldn’t let that happen again. I couldn’t curse what is essentially my child.”