One More For The Hoard

Mark awoke the next day rather confused. What the hell happened that got me to do that with Flora? I mean, it wasn’t bad, but seriously, I didn’t think I was anywhere near letting that happen. Also, Merida and Flora have some sort of issue? Mark sighed, “Hey, Mary! I have some questions.”

“Yes, Mark?” Mary replied via thought. “Just realize I literally can’t tell you much.”

“I know. While I am immensely curious about how we got to the point that we were comfortable letting Flora do that to us, that isn’t what I want to know about. Can you tell me the nature of the issue with Flora and Merida?”

“No, I actually can’t. Have you checked the VP scores?”

Mark, feeling like that was a clue, checked the VP totals. “Ah… that isn’t good. Anything you want some clarity on?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Think you could ask… Apparently, I can’t ask you that. Never mind then, enjoy cuddles with Flora.”

Mark looked down at both women who were holding on tight to one of his hands, making it so her couldn’t unwrap his arms from around them without waking them. Mark looked down at Ethel. I bet Cassandra is planning on adding her at the end of the round. Seriously, I don’t need more women. I mean, why introduce her? I’m probably adding Freya, and maybe one of the other Lundevalls. Do I really need some random woman? Mark looked up from Ethel and let out a startled “AAHHH!” while failing. Bertha had her head hovering just over the end of the bed.

This woke the other two up, and Sadie looked around in confusion and then saw Bertha. “Bertha, did you really have to ruin a nice, restful morning?” Bertha made a guttural humph. “Ethel, is it legal to hunt and eat moose?”

“Umm…” Ethel glanced between Bertha and Sadie. “Technically… but umm… I wouldn’t. You see, most moose are quite terrifyingly fast and strong. They don’t really have many predators for a reason. Plus, the moose keep most monsters away from the capital, so while it is technically legal, it is rather frowned upon. Plus, Bertha is right, we should get an earlier start. There is only a little less than two weeks before The Demonic Dragon Empress plunges the world into a millennium of lust, if we don’t stop her.” Ethel hopped out of bed, grabbed clothes to get changed, and went into a side room to get dressed.

Mark looked at Sadie, “I hope you’re a morning person since she seems awfully chipper considering that it isn’t even dawn yet. You have to sleep with her every night after all.”

Sadie let out a quiet groan. “I am not a morning person.” Sadie dragged herself out of bed and, instead of changing out of her pajamas, went to get coffee ready.

Mark looked at Sadie as she put a kettle in the fireplace and then started to prepare the grounds. She looked like, if someone asked her to do something right now, she might **** them. Sadie got out a massive bowl and filled it with leaves for Bertha, and then placed it on the far end of the dining table for her to eat from.

Mark got up and put on his equipment. I really wish I had a shirt. Mark noticed that Sadie had started just floating around, “You know, I’m surprised you can fly around while also looking that miserable.”

Sadie side-eyed Mark and ran her eyes up and down his body, lingering on his exposed abs. She then gave a playful smirk. “Well, I have great eye candy.” Mark noticed she seemed far happier than a moment ago. Sadie grabbed the kettle off the fire and, using a French press, made coffee for the three of them. Soon after, there was a knock at the door, and an ASTRID in a maid uniform came in to serve them breakfast.

Ethel returned, and they had a relatively quiet breakfast. It wasn’t until they were almost done that Ethel asked, “So what’s the plan for the day? I would understand if you would like to push everyone to level three this morning before questing, but it might simply be more prudent to take something from the task board.”

“We definitely aren’t doing another day of training. Ethel, does the empire have any information on where this ritual might be taking place, or heard anything about the servants of the Dragon Empress?”

Ethel shook her head. “Alas, no. It is the top priority, though. There is just too much else we can’t divert resources from to keep functioning, even with the impending disaster. That’s why I was hoping you would say you aren’t training again today.”

Sadie nodded, “Yeah, I’m hoping we will be able to complete multiple tasks today, actually. Ethel, would you mind going to collect our companions and have everyone meet by the task board in say forty-five minutes?”

“Absolutely.” Ethel curtsied as she began to leave.

Sadie quickly said, “OH, and take Bertha, introduce her to everyone.” Bertha looked up and was clearly not pleased by this. When Ethel stomped her foot and pointed at the door, however, Bertha grudgingly complied. Once it was just Mark and Sadie in the room, Sadie turned to Mark and asked, “Mark, I need to know, can I count on you this round?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m the party leader. I know you are ‘The Master,’” Sadie rolled her eyes while saying the title. “But I need to know that I can count on you to be a team player and put everything forward towards helping us.”

“I intend to.”

“Even if it means utterly screwing over the other team? I mean, actively messing with them so they lose? Would you take advantage of the other teams’ TFs for our advantage?”

“That… that depends.” Sadie rolled her hand in a circle for Mark to continue. “I won’t take sexual advantage of the other team for our benefit.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to either. The two biggest things I am aware of involve Flora and Ellen. For Ellen, will you try to give her orders using her TF? Even if it just messes with her during combat, that’s helpful. With Flora, will you trance her? That is actually far more important to me. I consider Flora to likely be the most dangerous person on the other team, even if Cassandra said that any game-breaking caused by the TFs will be remedied. Cassandra still said that she wanted the TFs to matter, so Flora is still going to be scary as hell. Can I count on you? Can the team?”

Mark furrowed his brow, and one corner of his lips turned down. “Sadie… I don’t know. I really think it just depends on a case-by-case basis. To answer one of your questions definitively, though, no, I will not use Flora’s hypnosis against her.”

Sadie was the one to furrow her brow this time, but in annoyance, not contemplation. “Why not! I’m willing to bet they are using it to their advantage.”

“First of all, the hypnosis isn’t a TF. Second, it is a matter of trust. Third, if I had been willing to use it like that, then it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Because Mary would know that I would be willing to do that, because so would she. In her position, the first thing I would change is making it so that Flora’s triggers only work with her permission during a challenge. I already had Merida covered with that. I probably should actually include myself in the future anyway.”

“Fine, but what about the rest of them?”

“Sadie, I already told you I think it will depend on the situation.”

Sadie was clearly not pleased by that answer was getting rather angry. “Mark,—”

“Sadie, stop! You’re new, so this might not have been relayed to you. I’m not tolerating being badgered into doing something I don’t want to. I gave you my answer. If you keep pushing, I will give you a blanket answer, and that answer will be no. Which might not be Mary’s answer since the other team would likely respect Mary’s original answer of it depends.”

“You know that makes it very hard to make plans, right?” Sadie said bitterly.

“You can always ask me about something, but you need to respect when I tell you no. Frankly, you should be glad that is my answer. Because I think our team is more susceptible to that sort of ****.”

“Fine.” Sadie stood up, clearly not pleased. Then her shoulder slumped, and her expression turned worried. “Mark, I’m worried. I’m worried our team is going to lose, which is going to cause me to lose a lot of VP. I doubt that anyone else would be willing to be party leader unless I start being a bitch. Which I can’t afford to do either. I fear I’m also going to place low in the challenge overall, losing even more VP.”

As Sadie spoke, she gripped the back of her chair. Mark noticed her arms were trembling ever so slightly. “Why do you think we will lose, or that you will place low?”

Sadie looked up at Mark, “Because I don’t know what I’m doing. Because right now I want to make sure that out of our team, Allie and Isabella place the highest possible. Because I find myself more willing to do things that would help Chloe and Hilde get out of the bottom three. You said before that if you had been able to pick which TF I gave to Chloe, you would have given Cheering for the Underdogs. Frankly, Chloe should be glad you weren’t able to then, because it is insidious, as far as I’m concerned. I can already tell you I would be willing to put myself out to help them. I’m sure Chloe will make use of that fact too. I’m worried that I could easily be in single-digit VP after this round unless I do a lot with you. I’m worried I’m going to remain at the bottom in terms of VP permanently, too. So, I’m not sorry, I’m trying to do my best here. Even if that means playing rough.” Sadie didn’t wait for Mark to reply, but walked out of the room to go meet the others.

Mark sat in thought for a while longer, while sipping his coffee. Eventually, though, he got up to go join the others by the task board.

At the first stirring of consciousness, Sam had only one thought: This is the fourth… no, third most comfortable pillow I’ve ever used. Into the hoard it goes. Sam smiled, with her eyes still closed, as she thought of her growing hoard. Then she frowned for a second as she remembered the completely unjustified and blatant theft of part of her hoard. As Sam repositioned slightly to get more comfortable on her pillow, she thought, I don’t want to be angry at Mark. It isn’t fair to him that I try to control how Mary looks. Sam let thoughts about the injustice Mary had perpetrated slip from her mind as she sighed with contentment. She was wrapped in the embrace of two soft but muscular arms and a pair of the absolute softest and warmest feathered wings. Sam felt someone brushing her hair out of her face. Wait a second… Wings… Sam opened her eyes and saw she was on top of Laura, who was looking at Sam with a warm smile.

Upon Sam opening her eyes, Laura said, “Morning, Sam. You have a great smile when you are content. Did you know that?”

Sam’s reaction to waking up on top of Laura was a bit different. As soon as Laura finished speaking and Sam’s brain caught up with the situation, she said, “Oh, Shit.”

Laura frowned, “That is not an expression I appreciate hearing in the morning after fooling around with someone and holding them all night. Don’t tell me you regret it.”

“What? No, that’s not the issue, Laura.”

“Then what is? Because you had this super contented expression on your face, and I complimented you, and then you swore like something bad just happened. So Explain.”

“Well… I…” Sam didn’t meet Laura’s gaze as she rapidly finished her statement, “may have decided that my pillow last night was so comfortable that I had to have it for my hoard.” Sam was blushing profusely.

Laura blinked a few times. Then, when she realized what Sam meant by that, she burst out laughing. Laura placed one hand on her own abdomen and covered her mouth with the other as she was laughing so hard.

“Laura, this isn’t funny. What happens when something happens that affects you, and I get pissed off that someone fucked with my hoard. You will be getting TFs, but something else could happen, too. What happens when you inevitably humor Talia’s requests to indulge her transformation fetish, and I end up furious with her?”

Laura wiped away tears from her eyes. As she got her laughter under control, Laura tested something and shrank her breasts back to her D-cups. Laura then asked, “So, are you mad at me for altering your hoard?”

Sam had a confused look on her face. “No… This is so confusing. I can visibly see that your breasts are smaller, but I’m not upset.” Laura then kept shrinking them to her size from before the show. “Okay… what are you trying to prove here?”

Laura then let her breasts expand back to their current enhanced normal. “My change there was never going to be permanent, and I think with your understanding of all our TFs, you knew that. Maybe you could also sense I was using mana since you’re a dragon, I’m not sure. In either case, you knew that I didn’t really alter your hoard. I’m willing to bet that you won’t be upset when Ellen’s boon wears off either, because those were always temporary changes. What Mary did to her own breasts is permanent unless she chooses to alter herself. I also don’t think you will get upset if someone increases your hoard, so I doubt you have to worry about getting angry with the audience or Cassandra, because if I had to guess if my breasts were to change size because of a TF, they are getting bigger, not smaller.”

“Well, I guess that is okay… But still, I’ve essentially claimed you as my possession. That isn’t right.”

“And yet you aren’t going to remove my wonderful pillowy softness from your hoard, are you?”

Sam pouted. Then she frowned as if she had to swallow back bile. “No… I’m not.” Sam reached out and touched Laura’s chest and abs. “It isn’t just your breasts, by the way.”

“Sam, I really wouldn’t worry about it. I don’t care if you want to cuddle. Talia will find it hot as hell because it is part of your transformation, and you might remember, as mentioned last night, that she doesn’t mind us doing things together. Ellen won’t care either; in fact, I’m pretty sure she would get off on me paying more attention to someone else than her. Not that I would ignore her completely.”

“But what if—”

“Sam, you worry too much. If something happens, we’ll deal with it. I’m much more interested in something else. I’d like to know what your intentions are. I’ll preface that by saying I’m cool with whatever your response is.”

Sam sat next to Laura in silence, thinking about it for a while. “I don’t know. I can already tell you that I definitely want to cuddle more and lie down on top of you. I just don’t know if I want a third romantic partner or not.”

“What about a sexual one?”

“Laura, after Mark and Allie, I feel like you are probably one of the people I can be most **** to and be okay with. I know we’ve done stuff together before, but…”

“But, I was restrained when we did anything beyond kissing.” Sam just nodded at Laura’s words. Laura shrugged. “That’s fine with me. I told you before, being in control or not isn’t really that relevant to me. I care that everyone involved enjoys themselves. Ideally, everyone should climax at least once in most situations. So if you need to tie me up, that’s fine. I’m even okay if you want to continue doing things because you just want to get used to it and try to get over your trauma.”

There was a knock on their door. Through it, they could hear Ethel say, “Lady Irving, Goddess Laura, may I come in?”

Laura winced at hearing Ethel, but then relaxed her expression. Sam chuckled slightly and said, “Sure, it isn’t a problem, but neither of us is dressed. If that is an issue for you, then give us a few minutes.”

Ethel simply entered the room. “Good morning, Lady Irving and—”

“Sam. The name is Sam or Samantha. Not Lady Irving, Miss Irving, or Ms. Irving. In select circumstances, Lieutenant Irving is acceptable, but that should only be in cases where my military rank is actually relevant.”

Laura echoed the sentiment. “Same here. It’s just Laura. I’ve been a goddess for less than two weeks at this point and honestly haven’t really done anything divine and have a grand total of one worshiper, a number that frankly I would rather not increase, but I am certain that single worshiper will do her absolute best to defy my wishes and make it explode.”

Ethel looked really conflicted, “Okay… Sam, Laura, I was asked to let you know we are all meeting by the task board in around forty minutes.”

“By who?” Sam inquired.

“By Sadie.” Sam and Laura looked at each other skeptically, hearing Ethel’s response. Seeing their looks, Ethel said. “I think Sadie wanted to talk with Mark alone. I fear I might have imposed on Sadie’s time with Mark, and she wanted to discuss something private.”

Laura asked, “Why are you talking so differently?”

“Ah… I’m trying to control myself a bit more, as Sadie told me that some people would find my previous manner of speech rather annoying, especially—”

“Well, stop!” Laura said firmly. “Ethel, I won’t lie to you. I’m one of those people who found you rather annoying. That’s a ‘me problem’ though. The only thing you’ve done that you need to work on is cutting people off. That is actually rude. And yes, I do realize I just cut you off. There is a time and a place for it, but generally, you need to let others respond to you and listen to what they have to say, but this overly reservedness doesn’t fit you at all. I’m sorry if I made you feel like you needed to change the exuberance you show about things.”

Sam furrowed her brow, “When you say you imposed on Sadie’s time, are you saying you spent the night in Mark’s room with her?”

Ethel nodded, “That’s correct.”

Sam wanted to press Ethel for answers. “Ethel, why do you want to be with Mark?”

Ethel quickly rattled off with her previous exuberance, “Why wouldn’t I want to be with him? He is a chosen hero of my goddess, incredibly attractive, I’m of marrying age, and he seems well-liked by the women already around him. Can you give me a reason that I shouldn’t want to be with him?”

Sam retorted, “Maybe the plethora of other women he already has?”

“That doesn’t seem to be an issue for either of you.”

“I wouldn’t say that exactly.” Sam said, not completely believing it herself. “I think most of us involved with Mark wish there were fewer women involved with him. Maybe not to the point of exclusivity, but fewer.”

Ethel responded contemplatively, “So, you're not really questioning why I want to be with him but rather trying to protect your own claim, which does explain a lot. Thank you, Samantha. I really appreciate the clarity. Oh! I bet that’s why Mark wasn’t interested in me.” Ethel said as she pounded a fist into her open palm. “He was simply concerned that he wouldn’t have enough time to properly care for everyone. I see that my goddess truly chose a thoughtful and compassionate champion for me.”

Sam narrowed her eyes at Ethel, “Did Cassandra actually tell you that Mark was for you? I mean, I wouldn’t doubt you if you told me she did, but I am wondering.”

“Not explicitly… But my goddess works in mysterious ways. I am certain that he is meant to be my husband. Any idea how I might go about doing that?”

Laura just burst out laughing again. Sam glared at Laura, who wouldn’t stop laughing. “Sorry, Ethel, please ignore her. Laura has an odd sense of humor at times.” Sam sighed. “I’m going to regret saying this, I just know it, but if you are serious, the first thing to do is NOT to mention being with Mark around him, or Allie. That will just make both of them upset. The second, pray.”

Ethel turned her head to the side. “Pray?”

Laura said through laughter. “OH YEAH!... HA HA HA HA… That will do it… HA HA HA… If Cass… HA HA HA… says you are part of the group… HA HA HA HA… He’ll relent. HA HA HA HA.”

Sam glared at Laura some more, then sighed, “She isn’t wrong, Ethel. Out of all of us, the only ones who would be with Mark without Cassandra’s involvement are Allie and, eventually, maybe Isabella.”

Ethel beamed, “Thank you again, Samantha. You’re really kind. I’ll make sure to add that to my daily prayers to my goddess. Laura, do you think it would annoy her if I included it in all three of my daily prayers to her, or should I just limit it to one?”

“OH HA HA… Definitely do… HA HA HA… all three… HA HA HA… She’ll LOVE IT!”

“Samantha is Laura making fun of me or trying to get me to annoy my goddess? It seems like she might be.”

“No, I don’t think so. She just has a twisted sense of humor, apparently.”

“Well, thank you both. I need to go let the others know to meet at the task board, so I’ll take my leave so you two can get ready.” With that, Ethel left the room.

Sam turned to Laura, “I’m surprised that you were helping. You do realize we will have to listen to her a lot more if she actually gets added to the harem, right? I’m willing to bet that Cassandra would try and make her your roommate for the majority of a round, too, because that would be funny to her.” That shut Laura up immediately. “I helped Ethel because I feel like if Cassandra is going to add her, she’s already decided that she will, and so telling Ethel that just makes her happy for the rest of the round. Why were you helping her, though?”

Laura got serious for a moment. “Sam, you said you thought Ethel wasn’t like the other NPCs. I agree. Now tell me, what do you think will happen to her at the end of the round?”

“I… I don’t know. I guess it depends on whether she’s a person or not.”

“Sam, Mark was right, even if she’s artificially created doesn’t make her not a person. Unless she is actually just an ASTRID with much more detailed programming, which I doubt, she’s a person as far as I’m concerned. That doesn’t mean that Cassandra or her producer will feel the same way. If she is an artificial creation of magic, they might recycle her at the end of the round. Alternatively, she’s like Hilde and her sisters. She’ll be put back on a shelf until the hosts need to use her again. Constantly playing a part. In case you didn’t notice, Ethel did not recognize Maja as Talia’s trainer, being the same person as the Empress. Either way, being part of Mark’s harem is likely a preferable fate.”

As Sam finally got out of bed to get dressed, she said, “That’s true… damn it. Now you’ve got me wanting to help her too.”

Laura got up and caused her clothes to simply appear on her. She walked behind Sam and kissed the top of her head. “That’s because you are a compassionate person.” Laura helped Sam don her armor, and they went to meet the others at that task board.

On the way, they ran into Mark. Mark smiled, “Morning, you two. Sam, you’re looking better.”

“Thanks. You, on the other hand, seem to be stressing about something.”

Laura nodded at Sam’s assessment as the three kept walking to the training grounds. “Yeah, did something happen between you and Sadie?”

“A bit. She left, not particularly pleased with my responses to some of her questions. I’m also concerned for and about her because she does have valid reasons to be concerned.”

Laura stopped walking, which caused the other two to stop a moment later. “Okay, spill. This sounds like the sort of thing we need to talk about. I don’t want the conversation to end because we get to the courtyard and don’t want to continue it in front of the others.”

“She wanted to know if she could count on me to do everything I can to help this team win.”

“And…” Laura seemed perplexed. “I mean, I sort of assumed each version of you would try their best.”

“I will certainly try, but Sadie specifically wanted to know if I would use the other team’s TFs against them.”

Sam replied, “I take it you told her no, or maybe depending upon which TF and how.”

“The latter. I then told her that if she kept pushing, it would be a flat no, which might put this team at a disadvantage because, unlike me, Mary wouldn’t have been pressured to make a blanket decision. She’s also worried that our team is going to lose.”

“Really already?” Laura asked, “Why?”

“Various reasons, but she does think that. This is making her worry she’s going to lose the 10 VP to Flora, and personally place low in the challenge overall. Putting her possibly in the single digits of VP after this round.”

“Oh, maybe I should tell her about my plan then, it might help ease her worries and let her focus more on winning,” Laura said.

“Your plan?” Mark asked.

“Oh yeah. If it is clear our team is losing, I planned on forcing Sadie to give up being party leader and take the VP hit myself.” Sam and Mark both looked at Laura in shock. “Oh, stop looking at me like I’m crazy. Mark, you might have noticed I haven’t gained much in terms of VP since our date night. That is intentional. I have a checklist of the various sexual activities we’ve done together. It isn’t even a quarter of the things I’ve done before that I also think will earn points. I’ve intentionally not crossed the 100VP threshold or tried to do too many new things so other people can claim some first-time bonuses. I was a little concerned that something might happen once someone crosses the 100VP threshold. Something like there will be only one more round to earn points, or that anyone who doesn’t earn some number of points each round while below a threshold could get eliminated. Essentially, something to accelerate the competition. I’m not even really interested in the wish because I don’t know what I would use it on. Probably something like the ability to grant immortality to people, but nothing really personal. So I’ve been trying not to earn more points via sexual acts. We all agreed when we got here that we would do our best to help everyone make it across that 100 VP threshold. I know you said that might not be the case for you with everyone, but I don’t care. I’m going to drag people across that line kicking and screaming if I have to. I read the host rulebook about exit transformations. They might not be as bad as eliminations, but they aren’t exactly kind either, at least to those below 100 VP. Honestly, Mark, the only person who could stop me from getting that wish if I really wanted it is you. I don’t think anyone else is willing to do a bunch of the things I would be willing to do, actually… maybe Hilde… Even then, I think with the first-time bonuses I already have, I’d have her beat.”

Sam seemed to think hard about Laura’s words, more so as she kept talking. When Laura finished, Sam said, “I’m glad you are willing to do that, Laura. I don’t think you should tell Sadie, though. I think knowing she has that safety net in place would be detrimental, at least this early. I think Cassandra wasn’t wrong to put her in charge to **** her to make bonds. But she might just give up if she knows you will take over for her.”

“Fine, I won’t tell her yet, but if she starts to crack, I’ll do it early.”

Sam nodded, and Mark put a hand on Laura’s shoulder and said, “Thank you. I’m so glad I have both of you to help me look out for everyone. Now we should probably not keep them waiting.” The three made their way to the courtyard to select their first quest.