Contractual Obligations

The Order women stood apart and around the heavy machine that cradled the Maze's core at the center of the circular lab. Galley thumbed the records of the filing cabinet, her eyebrows raising now and again as file names caught her eye. Moira, furious at John for leaving them trapped in the lab, was still catching her breath after she and Galley had tried to break through every conceivable exit; every door and vent had either proved too small or too fortified to let them escape by any means other than one of John's tunnels.

Moira's foremost complaints, however, were no longer about the exits. "... much less increase her... her...!"

"So you're saying he's a pervert."

"It's more than that! To think he would... modify Moon that way! It's horrible!"

Galley sniffed the air.

"If he tries to call it an accident, then I won't accept it! He'll reverse the... enlargement of her... or else!"

A base emotion emanated from the Warden... but it had little to do with the duties of the Order. Galley found jealousy to be a particularly pungent odor of the soul. "So he's your pervert."

"What?! Did you say- I- That's- of course not!" As if to drive it home, Moira swung her hammer back once more and, again, smashed it uselessly against the glass of the elevator doors.

"Conserve your strength... we're not out of this y- oh." Galley pulled one of the white folders out.

Moira glared at the back of Galley's head. "He's under the Order's commandments and represents us with his actions; this 'healing' he performed reflects poorly on the Order by its side-effects, and the sheer visibility of it! On the Moon clan's Slayer no less! That- That is my utmost concern!"

Moira reeked of it: insecurity, jealousy, and an arousal that reflected from her soul and into Galley's senses. Whatever their relationship, then, Galley would have to warn the old man... if she thought John was a threat. If he knows what's good for him, though, he'll prove harmless..."Fine, fine..."

A silence.

Moira marched up to the Hound and spoke with a conspiratorial hiss, "... but I know he's healed people before, and never with that... enhancement! So why this, now, and here?! Why her?!"

Nearby, Layla stood by the **** form of the Korean stranger, eyeing the "enhancement" that had Moira in knots. Moon's newfound chest was obvious even with the lab coat thrown over her for decency, and Layla eyed the mounds with a deep suspicion. With a self-conscious turn away from Moira and Galley, Layla cupped her own humble chest through her sweatshirt as she looked over her sleeping rival. Could the Warden be right? Maybe his healing expressed his desires... then, yes, maybe he really would prefer a girl with bigger... no! I won't lose to this! I'll... I'll start drinking more milk... lots of milk! Oh, and massages! I bet there are some techniques that could improve my growth! I’m only eighteen; I’m not done! She began to massage her humble B-cups through her bra, her face twisted in an awkward expression as the gentle rubbing, coupled with thoughts of John, began to work her into a frenzy. If I do this every day, switch to whole milk, and maybe look into a few transmutations myself, I could grow into the size he... ah, but how much bigger is she, really?

Looking over her shoulder, she saw that both Order women had vanished behind the machine in the center of the room to pore over a folder. With a quick glance around to ensure she had no witnesses, Layla reached over Kim's **** body and pulled down the lab coat, revealing the pale breasts and puffy nipples of the Slayer. Well... th-they probably just look lots bigger! Self-consciously releasing her own breasts, she quickly scooped Kim's breasts in her hands, giving them a gentle squeeze to get a feel for how much larger they were than hers. Layla handled the girl's assets as if they were fruit at the grocer, squeezing and manipulating them-

John suddenly re-appeared mere inches from Layla. The Gamer looked down in surprise. The recent acquaintance looked back up at him, equally stunned.

Her hands froze... her fingers still firmly pressed into Kim Moon's new breasts.

John nodded at her with an awkward smile.

Layla smiled back as she slowly released the **** woman's tits. Layla quietly reapplied the coat as John moved on to the other girls. Not wanting to interrupt them, Layla looked around for a hole to fall into.

John decided that the earlier scene simply had to wait; he had more pressing concerns, now. "I'm back," John greeted.

Moira spun to greet him with some mixture of accusations and demands... but his eyes were worn even as he gave her a weak smile, and something warmed in her chest to see he seemed well and untainted after whatever foray he had with the Cabalist. "I trust your time interrogating her has shown you what must be done," she managed as she turned away, her cheeks warming as she pretended to look at the papers Galley spread out on top of a crowded table.

Galley said nothing: she continued to flip through the pages, her expression tense.

John joined them at Moira’s side as he tried to figure out how to phrase the “bad news.” Maybe I really should just lie to them... His eyes caught glimpses of the two pages presently visible: floor plans of a two-story structure, complete with the street addresses flanking it along the page edges. In bold letters at the top, they read: ORDEN DER GOLDENEN ROSE FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM.

Map updated.

John blinked at the message, but nothing more came of it. Glancing again, he figured the street names, also German-sounding, placed this building well outside Springfield.

Realizing they had an audience, Galley quietly organized and closed the file anew. "Good, you’re back..." Galley sniffed the air. "... and so is the Cabalist. Where is she?"

"Nearby and getting ready to drop us off at the Academy... and then to never bother anyone on Earth again."

Moira nodded slowly... but she quickly joined Galley in glaring at the Gamer. "You say that... because you will surrender her to us, right?"

"I would do so," John began, and Moira held her breath while he added, "as long as I was there when she was... interviewed. She'd cooperate by my command, and all I'd ask is that she is safely returned to me."

Galley’s expression was a cold iron as she looked down on John. “Define ‘safely.’”

“My- the Order would never agree to release a Cabalist, John, even to you!” Especially to you...

“Well, I don’t exactly see what options your Order has.” Moira’s teeth clenched as John lectured them in a tone that smacked of snide confidence. “I could keep her in my Temple, never let her step foot on Earth, and the Order can’t actually touch her.”

“They can touch you,” Galley offered in a chillingly neutral voice.

The three stood there in a tense silence. There was no sane rebuttal to that.

“We’ll kill anyone who tries.” The trio turned to see Layla as she appeared behind John, her expression firmly upset. “You’ve seen what he can do... and what I will do for him." Moira's face soured as the rogue mage spoke, though John didn't seem to acknowledge the offered solution. "So is it really worth the lives you will lose to chase him?”

“John wouldn’t fight the Order,” Moira spat.

John opened his mouth but paused as he realized this was going south. Fight the Order? I barely know more about it now than I did before... no, wait, this is ridiculous! There's no need for this!

“Threaten him again, and I’ll fight you for him-“

Bones cracked. Layla’s words cut off as she heard the familiar noise from Galley’s fists clenching. “Hey now... don’t we already know how that ends?”

“No one’s fighting anyone!” John yelled. “Moira, just tell me this: what happened to Rurik Talon?”

The Warden’s eyes slowly widened, and her face blanched slightly as she contemplated John’s meaning. D-Does he know? “W-Who? Why does that matter?”

John eyed his wife with an irritated suspicion. “The smuggler I gave you... the one you knew I didn’t want killed.”

“John... why are you asking this?”

The others stood by, more confused than curious.

“Because the Cabal has spies in the Order... in your home... spies that I can reveal in exchange for Juniluny’s life.”

Moira’s face paled, and she took a step back as she contemplated John’s accusation.

Galley, however, seemed unimpressed. “You were listed as being under an Auxiliary Mage Contract. That’s still true, right?” John’s expression answered her question. “You... you didn’t really read it, did you. Geez...”

John thought back to the contract, and how Lord Brighton, in all his noble magnanimity, walked John through the contract’s terms...

“... which means, of course, that you will not endanger the Order by your actions...”

But here, I’d just refuse to act... t-that’s not an action, right? But John’s reminiscing, coupled with his potent mental stats, recalled a more critical tidbit:

“... and shall not provide safe harbor to criminal or enemy mages, as recognized by the Order. I can’t imagine you’d want to get involved in such affairs, but it must be said.”

Lord Brighton had it right, in the halcyon days of just last week: John really didn't think it mattered. Harbor criminals? He didn't want anything to do with that before it involved soul-sucking mages, so what relevance did it have then? He didn't even have his Temple when he contemplated the possibility. What was the penalty for a breach of an Order contract? Lord Brighton had said nothing of the topic... which left John assuming the worst.

Moira was only a few steps behind, and John’s suddenly concerned expression told her he remembered. She had been there, too; she had heard many such recitals of duties in her training. “So do you now remember, John? This... this monster isn’t worth breaking your promise to me, is it?” Moira’s slip left John dazed; she didn’t correct it.

Galley shrugged. “I’ve never been good with contracts myself... but far as I’ve ever heard, no one really gets the upper-hand in dealing with us. Besides, I can’t see the Order letting one of its mages keep an enemy this dangerous alive.”

Layla, struck by the fact of John’s contract, remained silent.

John looked between the girls with increasing worry. What path remained? It seemed simple, in his mind: the Order’s gratitude, the power he wielded, and the assistance he could give later... all for one enslaved halfling, one of many such creatures he possessed, diffused and safe. “Is my... continuing service not enough to make an exception, Moira?” She narrowed her eyes at John. “I saved you all, I caught the enemy, I can lend her so you can get information out of her, and I’ll continue helping, so... just this once?”

“‘Order without law is Chaos with title.’” Moira sighed the old wisdom from the sacred texts before continuing, “I can’t make that choice, John... and I don’t think anyone could convince my father to accept it as one of the leaders of the Order.”

“But she’s not even-” Moira placed a bare finger over John’s lips.

Layla’s expression darkened, and she nearly summoned a pillar of flame upon the Warden then and there.

“But perhaps... you can speak to him, convince him where I could not... and offer something that would negate the breaking of laws.” Her words lacked conviction; she didn’t believe them, even as they left her lips, but John had to believe it could be so.

Periodic check-ins? Manual labor? Leaving Juniluny in some Order cell, imprisoned but alive? There was still the worry that they'd learn of Tara, that way... but John knew he was already pushing his luck. Whatever the result, however, he wouldn't accept execution; as harmless as Juniluny now was under John’s control, it felt like injustice, like barbarism, to suggest she still had to die. “I’ll speak with him,” John finally declared, “and work something out... and I bet if you support me, he’ll listen.”

Moira’s face twisted in disgust. “M-Me?! Argue to protect a Cabalist?! I would- I could never!”

“For me?”

Moira opened her mouth to deny it... but her pause confirmed what Galley could already smell between them. Oh yeah... the old man definitely needs to hear about this... cripes...

“I will... support your character and candor, but I will not champion an enemy of the Lady.”

John nodded. It would be enough, he decided. “Thank you, Moira. With that... I mean, what risk is there that’s left? Your father is a man of honor, as well,” he continued, stabbing Moira’s heart with guilt as she recalled her father’s instructions, “so I think... no, I know he’ll listen.”

He was the only one in the room who believed it.

“The Order is a bunch of murderous zealots,” Layla whispered loud enough for all to hear.

“The Order is justice,” Moira countered.

“The Order won’t like this,” Galley sighed, casually throwing her open hands up.

John nodded at Moira, his confident smile returning. “The Order will listen to me... or at least to us.”

Moira offered a weak smile back.