Patience is a Virtue

Allie, Isabella, and Sadie left the palace courtyard, all riding on the back of Bertha, who had increased in size to carry them all. They headed northwest from the capital for their first quest, as it was on the way to the trial they planned on doing today.

Allie asked, “So, Sadie, what’s the task?”

“Orcs. Apparently, they’ve joined Smug and are moving to cut off the supply chain from the west completely. They are moving soldiers freed up from the eastern front over here, but they want us to disrupt the orcs somewhat. There are apparently two small camps that have been located right on our path. So we are going to hit them hard and fast and move on.”

“You mentioned getting Isa her companion today?”

“Yes. It’s rather a waste for you not to have one, Isa.”

“It isn’t like I haven’t tried to look for one, I just wanted something that would actually be useful in combat.”

“Hmm… we could just get you a wolf.”

Isabella turned her head back to give Sadie a deadpan stare.

“Okay… not a wolf, then.”

Allie said, “Isa, I think you should consider a wolf.” Which got Allie the same stare that Sadie got, but Allie noticed the way Isabella’s ears adjusted, and tail moved ever so slightly. “That settles it, Sadie. We are getting Isa a wolf.”

“No, we are not.” Isabella protested weakly and then muttered, “I already have a wolf companion, I don’t need a second one.”

Allie perked up, hearing that, even if Isabella hadn’t meant for her to. “You’re wrong, Isa, we need to form a pack, obviously. Maybe we can find a girl wolf, and Cassandra would let you keep her. You could get Bruno a girlfriend.”

Isa pinched the bridge of her nose. Crap, she said that in the ‘I’ve decided things’ voice. My only hope now is that Cassandra won’t let that happen.

~POP~

The three of them heard a loud popping sound to their right just inside the tree line. Allie asked, “Did that sound like Cassandra teleporting in to anyone else?” Both Sadie and Isabella nodded.

Out of the woods bounded a massive wolf the size of Bertha’s currently enlarged form. Bertha immediately lowered her antlers in a defensive posture, while Allie and Isabella jumped off her back. The wolf stared at the four of them, head slightly tilting from side to side.

Sadie was the one to first notice it had a collar on, which matched Isabella’s collar. Sadie relaxed and said, “Well, Isa, I think Cassandra is giving you another present.”

The large wolf moved over to Isabella and lowered its head, and rubbed its face against her body. Isabella pursed her lips as she saw a note in the collar. She grabbed and read the note.

‘To my favorite grandchild,

In my haste to get you a present earlier, I have realized that it was incomplete. I should have gotten you a companion worthy of such a good girl like yourself. This is Sif, The Great. She is also a good girl. She should serve you well. I’ve already ensured she is paired with your tags. Take good care of her.

Love,
Your Doting Grandma Cassandra’

“GOD DAMNIT!”

Sadie and Allie couldn’t help but chuckle at her frustration. Allie said with a bit of mirth, “I really don’t see what the problem is. This beautiful girl will definitely be useful in combat. She’s bigger than Bertha is, and Bertha’s size is increased by her collar.

Bertha let out a snort of annoyance and worry. Sadie reached forward and patted Bertha on the neck comfortingly, “It’s okay, Bertha, she’s a friend.”

Sif licked Isabella, her tongue nearly as wide as Isabella’s body. Isabella quivered with rage. “Okay, Sif! Let’s make one thing ABUNDANTLY CLEAR! NO MORE LICKING ME!” Isabella was covered in slobber from just the one lick. Sif licked Isabella again just to show Isabella she wasn’t in charge, causing Allie and Sadie to both break out in uncontrolled laughter.

Isabella raged and stomped her foot, “THIS ISN’T FUNNY!” She was licked again. “STOP THAT NOW!”

Allie, through her laughter, said, “Just— HAHAHA— let Mark handle her—HAHAHA I hear—HAHAHA— That he’s really good at— HAHAHAHA—” Allie fell on the ground laughing, as the licking continued, “Training canines. After all— HAHAHAHA— Just look at— HAHAHAHA— look at Bruno— HAHA— and yourself. HAHAHA”

Sadie came to Isabella’s rescue. She walked over and pulled out an entire wheel of cheddar, which immediately caught Sif’s attention. “You want the cheese?” Sadie said while waving the wheel. “Then sit.” Sif sat immediately. Sadie walked over to the massive wolf and held out a hand, palm up. “Shake.” Sif tilted her head to one side, then put her massive paw gently in Sadie’s hand. “Good girl!” Sif’s tail started to thump vigorously against the ground. Sadie tossed the cheese wheel to Sif, who snatched it out of the air with ease. Sadie was about to be licked, but quickly said, “If you lick me no more cheese ever!”

Sif’s tongue stopped inches from Sadie, but it didn’t retract. Sif tilted her head from side to side, in thought. Sif glanced at her paw and then at Sadie’s small frame.

“Sif, there is plenty more cheese for good girls. Bad girls get punished. You might be large, but Bertha isn’t a pushover and is currently lining up to charge you with her horns. Second, do you really want to fight one or more dragons later, AND not get cheese again? Isa here is pregnant with a dragon’s child. So… are you going to be a good girl and stop licking people who clearly don’t want to be licked?”

Sif pouted, then gave an affirmative woof.

“Good girl!” Sadie said, while tossing another cheese wheel to Sif.

“That doesn’t really resolve my problem,” Isabella complained. “I’m still drenched in slobber.”

“There’s a river nearby that you can wash off in,” Sadie replied while pressing her face into Sif’s fur, and running her fingers through it as well. “Her fur is so soft. If you don’t want her, Isa, I’ll take her. You can have Bertha, if you want.”

Bertha let out a huff of annoyance. While Sif turned her nose up, saying no way that would be happening, she did seem like she might breakdown for more cheese, and was eyeing Sadie’s pouch.

“I was joking, Bertha. Plus, if you want me to respect you more, maybe actually listen to me when I tell you things, instead of deciding all on your own.”

The group headed to the river that Sadie mentioned. Isabella stripped off the little clothing she had on and walked into the gently flowing river. Sadie mean while went ahead and washed the slobber off Isabella’s clothes and hung them out to dry. Allie decided to join Isabella skinny dipping. As did Sadie once, Isabella’s clothes were hung.

All three appreciated the cool water. While there were showers in the palace, they didn’t all have a chance to avail themselves of them over the last few days, because of events overtaking them. The three took a bit of time to just relax in peace and quiet. Time, which was quickly interrupted by two extremely large beasts throwing themselves into the river on either side of the trio, splashing them rather violently.

Isabella glared at Sif, while Sadie did the same to Bertha. Sadie turned to Isabella, “Isa, even if she is seeming to be a pain, you have to realize that Sif is a huge boon for us, right?”

“Yeah. I just wish Cassandra wouldn’t push this sort of thing on me.” Isabella was clearly annoyed but not angry. (Just because I like it doesn’t mean she has to push it.) “How did you know I was pregnant, by the way?”

“Good news travels fast, and my mice are everywhere. In this case, though I learned through Talia, who I assume learned through Laura. Congrats, by the way. You too, Allie.”

Allie beamed, “Thanks!” Allie’s tail was swishing back and forth, creating waves on the surface of the water. “I’m so happy. I thought it might take a bit longer to actually make it happen.”

Isabella involuntarily looked away from Allie and Sadie a little nervously. (Should I tell her now? Would she be as excited about triplets? Best keep it to myself for now.) Unfortunately for Isabella, her body was betraying her. Even if they couldn’t actually hear her body like Mark could, she was giving a bunch of signs that she was concealing something and appeared nervous and uncomfortable.

Allie and Sadie both noticed. Allie asked as she waded over to Isabella, “Isa… is something the matter? I thought you were okay with this.”

“I… yes?”

“Yes, something is the matter, or yes, you were okay with being pregnant?”

“Both?”

Sadie could practically hear the question mark and said, “Isa, tell us what’s wrong. We want to help you.” Allie and Isabella both looked at Sadie slightly curiously, as if surprised she was getting involved in this. Sadie rolled her eyes, “You two seriously don’t remember, do you? You are both on my team. I want to help you both be happy with Mark quite a lot right now. If you are struggling with the fact that you are pregnant with his kid, I’d like to help.”

“I actually had forgotten that,” Allie admitted hesitantly. “Sorry… but thank you.”

Isabella continued, “It isn’t exactly that I have a problem with it being Mark’s child. I… I just don’t know if I’m ready.”

“You aren’t,” Sadie said flatly. Which irked Allie and caused Isabella to look at Sadie, confused. “No one is, unless they have already had a child. Babysitting isn’t the same. Nannying comes close, but even in the case that you are a live-in nanny, it isn’t truly the same.”

“That… that isn’t the only reason I’m kind of nervous.”

Allie put a hand on Isabella’s shoulder, “Isa, I’m sorry for what I brought up yesterday. I shouldn’t have done that asked Mark to do that. As for what I asked you… You need not answer me anytime soon.”

Isabella slipped an arm around Allie’s waist and pulled her into a kiss, and the two slipped and fell beneath the water. A moment later, they both surfaced, and Isabella said, “Yes. My answer is yes, Allie. I love you.” Isabella didn’t have time to react before she was tackled beneath the surface again, and Allie was kissing her fiercely underwater. Eventually, the two surfaced for air.

Allie was bouncing with excitement. Then, she suddenly froze. “Wait… Isa, you didn’t seem nervous telling me that. Why are you nervous then?”

Isabella looked away and down at the water. (Well, shit.) “Allie… I looked into the mirror with Mark.”

“Ooookay…”

“I didn’t have any issue with what I felt looking into the mirror. Mark… he saw something in his vision…”

“Isa, don’t hold out on me now. My fiancée shouldn’t be keeping big secrets from me.”

Isabella blushed at the term Allie used for her. “Well… you know how Mark sees a hallway for each of us?” Allie nodded. “On the way to meeting up with the rest of you, he gave me some details. In front of our hallway, there were two wolf statues. Both with collars, identifying one as you and one as me.” Allie rolled her hand, indicating she should come to the point. “Mark said there were wolf pups as part of our statues.”

“Okay. Sure, we’re pregnant. Makes sense that we would each have a pup with us.”

“Sooo… I had one pup apparently… but… well, you didn’t.”

Allie frowned and furrowed her brow. Then tilted her head to one side. What does she mean, I didn’t have a pup? “Isa, Cassandra very clearly said I was pregnant. Why would your statue have a pup, and mine wouldn’t?”

Isabella was biting her lips nervously.

Sadie then asked the question that was evading Allie, “How many kids is Allie pregnant with?”

Allie looked at Sadie, and then understanding dawned on Allie. Wait… HOLY CRAP! Allie was practically vibrating with happiness.

Isabella replied, “Three.”

Allie squealed with joy that transformed into a howl. “OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD! AAAAAAAARRROOOOO! WHY DID YOU WAIT SO LONG TO TELL ME!?”

Isabella’s tail was tucked between her legs in embarrassment. “I… I was nervous and sort of terrified about accepting your proposal, because of it.”

“What? Why?”

That earned Allie a slight slap upside the head from Isabella. “Why?! Because Allie, if we are getting married, then those three babies will also be MY KIDS! Biologically or not. Sort of a lot to sign up for. Especially considering what that might mean for the future, too.”

Allie rubbed the back of her head. “What do you mean, ‘for the future too’?”

“Allie, you are literally having a litter of pups. You also have a TF that makes you more fertile. Mark told me he was concerned that our reproductive systems might have been modified in ways that might not have been made apparent to us. Like our pregnancies lasting only two months, or multiples being the norm. Since we gained various wolf traits. What if having triplets is the standard for you? What if next time you have five or six instead? Same with me? Do you realize we are going to go from zero kids to four in the span of a few weeks? What about if we both get pregnant again at the same time, and go from four to sixteen?”

Allie’s face drained of color as Isabella kept talking.

Isabella sighed, seeing she had gotten her point across, “I’m not saying I’m unhappy about what has happened. I’m just worried about what might happen.” Isabella got out of the river and shook her head and tail vigorously to dry them off slightly, then got towels from her pack. Sadie and Allie followed suit, and the three headed on their way to the temple.

The three of them, not counting companions made quick work of the two orc camps on the way to the temple, with the help of the new member of the wolf pack. Arriving at the temple several hours later, Allie had to ask, “Mind explaining why we were the ones to come to this temple? When it would have been a lot faster for Sam to just fly here.”

Sadie replied, “Because the other temple was on the opposite side of the cow-girl outbreak. Do you want to be a cow-girl again?”

“Uh, no.” The three walked into the massive temple to find that it was set up identically to the first.

Sadie thought it was odd that there were no differences that she could see, and became suspicious. She went to where she found the information on the trials and the map of the other temples, and they were exactly where they were in the other temples.

Allie answered her unasked question, “I’m willing to bet Cassandra just reused assets. That’s why it’s the same. At least we don’t have to figure out where the entrance to the trial is.”

The three went to the same location in the temple where the trial of humility was in the previous temple, and found something odd.

A series of red velvet ropes connected to poles formed a long queue. At the front of the queue was a white line and a sign saying ‘Please wait to enter the Trial of Patience’. There was a massive circular door opposite the queue with two numbers displayed on it.

They were greeted by an ASTRID in a secretary's uniform, behind a stone desk to the side of the queue, “~GREETINGS~ it has been soooooo long since we have had any visitors to the trial of patience. Please take a number and patiently wait in the queue to enter the trial. If you leave the queue, your spot is forfeited for the day, and you’ll have to come back tomorrow. Please also only enter when the top number reads zero, and the bottom number on the door is positive. If you intend to attempt the trial as a group and can’t all enter at once, please make sure your group members know to wait patiently inside the trial for you to enter before beginning. If they begin without you, you will have to attempt the trial separately.”

Unlike many of the NPCs, this ASTRID clearly looked like it was meant to be a construct and not a person.

Allie asked, “How long does it normally take to enter the trial?”

ASTRID responded, “Please wait… Please wait… Please wait… Time to answer query: one day, seven hours, nineteen minutes, eleven seconds.”

“You can’t be serious!?”

“Please wait… please wait… please wait… Time to answer query: zero days, zero hours, zero minutes, thirty seconds.” Exactly thirty seconds from finishing her statement, ASTRID said, “I can and am extremely serious.”

“Why can’t you answer my question now?”

“Please wait… Please wait… Please wait… Time to answer query: six days, nine hours, six minutes, nine seconds.”

Allie was about to yell at ASTRID, but Sadie put a hand on her shoulder to calm her. “Allie, this is likely intentional to test our patience. Don’t let her get to you. Now let’s take a number and get in line. All three took a number. Allie was first, then Sadie, then Isabella. When Allie reached the front of the line, the top number changed to 593, and the bottom changed to -5. The top number slowly started to tick down, with an audible tick, tick, tick. Soon after, the sound of a quill scrawling on parchment could be heard from ASTRID’s desk. Then a dripping sound of water joined in. Allie started tapping her feet impatiently, but stopped when Sadie placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Allie, the trial is about patience. We are likely going to be doing a lot of waiting. Just remain calm.”

Allie nodded as she saw the top number finally dip down to double digits. When it hit zero, it remained there flashing for thirty seconds before it changed to 612, and the number on the bottom now read -1.

Allie groaned, “Seriously!” Allie took a few deep breaths in and out to calm herself. Around ten minutes later, the top number ended up reaching 0 again and flashed for thirty seconds again, before changing to 30, and the bottom number changed to -9. This process was repeated for nearly an hour before the number on the bottom finally read 2, though none of them were happy to see 5937 on the top. “I’m going to **** Cassandra. Are we just supposed to wait here for an hour and a half? This is such shitty game design.”

Isabella said, “It could be worse.”

“How?” Allie said, exasperated.

“We could be being teased the entire time.”

Sadie winced, “Isa, please don’t jinx us like that. Let’s focus on something else to help pass the time.”

“Like what?” Allie complained.

“Like maybe your wedding with Isa?” Sadie replied and had folded her legs beneath her as she began floating in place. Or maybe you could help me figure out how to get along with your husband more.“

“That’s rather simple. Mark, isn’t difficult to get along with or please. Why do you think essentially everyone else is doing fairly well here? Honestly, the only people who were having serious issues with Mark besides you are Aubrey and Chloe. Chloe was because she associated Mark with you, and Aubrey was less about Mark and more about her transformations being a bit too much to deal with.”

Sadie looked to Isabella for support. Isabella hesitantly said, “Allie… I told you before, the way Mark was acting the other day really scared me. I think you should help Sadie by using your Walkthrough. I think this is a bigger issue than you realize, and I don’t think Sadie is the problem as you do.”

Allie crossed her arms, clearly disagreeing that Sadie wasn’t the issue. “Isa, I’ll do it for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Sadie, for my boon to work properly, you have to ask for help about overcoming an issue with Mark. It can’t be too generic a problem, like ‘how do I get him to like me?’, but if it is too specific, that could cause issues too. Since the advice is for the hurdle you ask about.”

Sadie took a moment to think about exactly what her problem was with how Mark was acting. “Look, Allie, I’d like to get along with Mark. I don’t want either of us to be miserable because of circumstances outside of our control. My issue is that so far, Mark has decided that when he has an issue with the way I’m acting, he lashes out and gets physical with me. That isn’t okay. There is also the issue between Chloe and me, which I think is causing strain on my relationship with Mark.”

Allie seemed to be going over the issue in her head for a few minutes, then responded. “Well, I have solutions for both issues. You are probably not going to like the solution to the first one, but it will work. The solution for Chloe is much simpler, while also a lot harder to achieve.”

“What’s the solution for Chloe?”

“First and foremost, you need to not antagonize her. If she does something that ticks you off, you need to simply let it go and not react. After that… well, I guess we have a while to kill, so listen well, I’d rather not have to repeat myself.”

Allie finished her explanation to Sadie while Isabella kept watch on the timer. It had finally ticked down to 100 as Allie had finished going over everything with Sadie. Allie was right. Sadie wasn’t pleased about the solution to her first problem. The solution to her problem with Chloe straining her relationship with Mark was more surprising, though.

Isabella said, “Don’t forget to wait for me inside. I could be a while.”

Allie and Sadie nodded. Then Allie realized something, “Shit! Sam’s going to be so pissed tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“It’s already mid-afternoon, do you think we are going to get back to the palace at the rate things are going here?”

“Well, shit,” Sadie said.

“Worry about that later,” Isabella pointed to the door, “Ten seconds before you two enter.”

As soon as the time ticked down to zero, the two of them moved forward during the thirty-second window, and as they touched the door, they vanished before Isabella’s eyes. The bottom number also decreased by one as they each touched the door. Isabella crossed her fingers as she waited for the timer to reset. Her shoulders slumped as she saw the new numbers, 1902 and -38. Just great, I have to wait here all alone for at least half an hour. Hopefully, those two will be okay.

Inside the trial, Allie and Sadie found themselves in a waiting room with comfortable chairs. There was a sign that read, ‘Congratulations on passing the first part of the trial of patience, assuming your entire group has arrived. Proceed through the archway to continue to the next trial with your entire group. If your group has not all arrived yet, please wait patiently for them to do so. From this point onwards, impatience will be punished, in some form.’

Allie let out a sigh of relief, “Thank God. We’re done with the first part, now just to wait for Isa. What do you think the punishments will be?”

“We aren’t done with the first part yet,” Sadie said, getting Allie’s attention. “The sign is clear. Assuming our whole group is here, we would have passed the first part. Isa isn’t here, so we haven’t passed it yet. I’m guessing that there are two forms of punishment right now. Either we get impatient and go through without Isa, losing a group member, or something will happen to us here in this room.”

Allie let out a groan of annoyance, “Seriously?” I just want this to be over with.

Right after Allie’s groan, they both heard a hissing sound from the top of the room that lasted for just a moment. They looked up to see that a pink mist had been sprayed into the room. It seemed to fade rather quickly as it slowly dispersed into the air.

“Well, shit!” Allie let out, “Hopefully it won’t be that long for Isa to get in here.” A bit more hissing after Allie’s words.

Sadie took a deep breath and said, “Allie, take a seat and try to remain patient.” Sadie herself sat down, “Clearly, the more we want this to be over, the more of that mist will be injected into the room.”

Allie sat down across from Sadie and leaned back, trying to just relax. Sadie pulled her legs into a crossed position, rested her hands on her knees, and closed her eyes. She focused on happy thoughts about Mark to distract her from her boredom. Allie had a rougher time, growing increasingly impatient, occasionally tapping her feet or fingers, clearly wanting this to be over already. More and more of the mist filled the room each time either were even the slightest bit impatient. Sadie was the first to notice the effects of the mist; she realized her already high libido was spiking considerably, and she absentmindedly slipped a hand between her legs to pleasure herself.

Allie said, “Sadie, what are you doing?”

“Huh? Oh!” Sadie pulled her hand away from her crotch, “Sorry. I couldn’t help it. I think the mist is making me hornier.”

“Well, try to restrain yourself. As soon as you started touching yourself, more mist entered the room, and it stopped when you stopped.”

“That’s not good. I’ll try my best but… I’m rather horny right now. I’m not sure how long I can endure.”

The two tried to remain as calm and relaxed as possible, but it became harder with every lapse. After around fifty minutes of waiting for Isabella, more mist was being added every few seconds as they were becoming more and more impatient. The mist was thick enough that a slight pink haze was visible in the air. Finally, Isabella appeared in the room and was immediately hit with the effects of the mist as well.

“Whoa! What happened in here? Are you two okay?” Isabella asked, a bit breathily. Both Allie and Sadie jumped up and grabbed Isabella and hurried her through the archway. Doing so, though in such a rush, caused quite a bit more mist to rain down on them.

When they reached the next room, Isabella asked again, “What happened back there?”

“Horny mist.” Allie panted. “Whenever either of us was impatient, more of the mist would enter the room, which would cause us to grow more impatient. Also, don’t touch yourself, it apparently counts as impatience.”

ASTRID’s voice sounded out from the ceiling, “Congratulations, oh faithful. For your patience, you have been rewarded with an opportunity for earlier release.” Three chairs rose from the floor facing them. Each had cuffs on the arms and a dildo on the seat. “To proceed to the next room, all your group must do is have one person sit in one of these chairs. How long they must remain in the chair depends on how many of them are filled. The time will be halved for each chair filled. Be warned, though, impatience will still be punished in this room. After the time has run out. You all have permission to climax.”

“So, we’re all doing this right?” Allie asked. “That way, the time is only a quarter of the total.”

The three nodded and took their seats. Sadie and Allie had no issues inserting the dildo as they were both drenched, but Isabella wasn’t nearly as horny, having been exposed to the mist for only a short while. It took her a moment to situate herself. A timer appeared on the wall in front of them, showing eight hours, which reduced to four, then two when Isabella was in place.

“I’m guessing we have to put our wrists in the cuffs before the timer starts,” Sadie said.

Each positioned their wrists, and the cuffs snapped shut around them. The timer began to tick down as the dildos all started to vibrate. Allie asked, “What do you think the punishment for climaxing is going to be? Because I doubt that I’m going to be able to endure two HOURS! HOLY FUCK! Without… climaxing.” Allie was already panting heavily, as was Sadie.

Isabella said, “Probably the next room will be harder. After all, that was essentially the previous punishment.”

“I’m with Allie on this. No way we don’t climax early.”

“Then focus on my voice,” Isabella replied. “Sadie, you in particular should try to watch Allie and me. Think of this as practice so Mark can edge you later. If you do, you’ll get better over the next two hours. Sadie, don’t you want to show you’re the best of us?”

“Fuck! Yes, I do. I am.”

“Then prove it. No way you hold out longer than either Allie or me.”

The next thirty minutes passed with the dildo slowly increasing the intensity of vibrations over time. Sadie was the first to crack but held out longer than she had thought she would, thanks to Isabella’s goading. Isabella was actually the second to climax, as for the first time, at least that Isabella was aware of, her Experience Exploit triggered, causing her to feel everything Sadie had felt while she was edging. After those two climaxed, their chairs extended attachments to tease their breasts.

“Sadie, just keep focusing on how pleased Mark will be with you. Imagine his expression as you hold out for him.” Isabella said, trying to give her motivation. It worked too, as not only was Allie the next to climax, but she was the first to climax twice.

“Fuck…” Allie panted out as she leaned forward slightly. “I think… I’m going crazy. We have… another thirty minutes.”

It was then that something wrapped around her neck and pulled in against the back of the chair, and then a dildo was shoved into Allie’s mouth as a penalty for her second climax.

Isabella pleaded with Sadie, “You need to hold on, okay? Since I’ve been giving you advice, I experience it when you climax. I believe in you.”

All three were writhing in pleasure, and with fifteen minutes left, were on the verge of passing out. Allie did pass out for a minute after her third climax. When she came to, she felt both dildos now thrusting in and out.

Sadie and Isabella were doing better, but just before the time expired, Sadie climaxed, followed a moment later by Isabella.

The three were released from their restraints, and while Allie’s dildos stopped thrusting, none of the other effects stopped. The three were lost in pleasure for a time, such that they hardly recognized when ASTRID said, “You may now cum to your hearts' content.”

Isabella was the first to gain some clarity and get up off the chair, but she plopped down on the floor to recover for a few minutes before moving to the other two. She stood on wobbly legs and pulled Sadie off first, then, with a bit of difficulty, pulled off Allie. Allie collapsed on top of her, sending both to the floor. Allie simply began to kiss Isabella and touch her all over. It wasn’t until both of them came again that Allie finally rolled to the side, splayed out on her back.

“Can… can anyone else stand?” Allie asked.

Sadie and Isabella both shook their heads, with a faint, “No,” whispered into the air. Sadie slipped a hand into the bag of holding and pulled out several pillows and passed two to Isabella, who was closest to her. Isabella then passed one to Allie. The three of them crawled together and took a well-deserved nap, as Sadie threw a blanket over them.

Sadie awoke sometime later, with her face being smushed between two pairs of breasts and trapped tightly between two bodies. She squirmed for a little bit until Allie finally woke up and released her.

Sadie sat up and gasped for air as she was no longer being smothered. Isabella sat up, annoyed at her sleep being disturbed. Then Allie and Isabella both looked at Sadie, confused. Allie said, “How did you get between the two of us? You were most definitely on the other side of Isa before.”

“I don’t know. Why were the two of you treating me like some plushie?”

“Well, you are small and adorable like one,” Isabella replied sympathetically.

“Um… why are we naked too?” Sadie noticed that they were all completely naked, with their gear and clothes set to one side. “Did… did we do something together?”

Allie and Isabella looked at each other. Allie furrowed her brow in thought, “I… I don’t think so. Does anyone have a clue as to how long we’ve been out?” The others shook their heads. The three all started getting dressed. “Are you two good to go?”

“Surprisingly, I feel fantastic,” Sadie replied. “First time since getting my TFs that I’ve felt no horniness at all.”

“See, I told you, you just need to stop being so pent up, if you want to resolve things with Mark.”

Sadie grumbled and tried to remain annoyed, but was finding it difficult due to all the different ways that Mark could help relieve her frustrations popping into her mind. The three of them finished dressing and, after confirming everyone was good to go, proceeded through the next archway.

They came upon a room with familiar-looking statues of Isabella, Sadie, Allie, Mark, Hilde, and Sam. Though Mark and Sam both appeared in their dragon forms, instead of their humanoid forms. “I guess one statute for each time we climaxed?” Sadie said.

“Then shouldn’t there be one more?” Isabella replied. “I came twice, so did you, and Allie was three times right?”

Sadie shook her head. “I came within a few seconds of the timer, I bet you climaxed right after time ran out. I bet the statues attack the moment we enter the room. Allie, think you can buy me enough time to get Bertha and Sif out of my storage cage? I can’t bring them out in the hallway; they won’t fit, but there is more than enough room for them to fight once we exit the hallway.”

“Maybe a few seconds. Honestly, I think we got rather unlucky with the statues.”

“I don’t,” Sadie said. “Sure, we could have gotten Chloe, Merida, or Mary, but we are missing Laura, Talia, and Flora. Which, considering that Mark and Sam are both appearing as dragons, means the statues have access to some TFs of the individuals.”

“Are we actually going to be able to handle this?” Isabella asked. “I mean, it’s six vs. three.”

Sadie frowned. “I think it depends on what abilities they each have. There isn’t a Bertha, so it should be a five on six after a few seconds. They also don’t have all our equipment. I can see that the statue versions of both of you are missing the collars around your necks. What is the target priority here, though?”

“Your statue first,” Isabella replied. “It will give buffs out at a minimum, and should be the easiest to get rid of. After that, though, it’s tough to say. Mark is the healer, but unless the statue can shift forms is unlikely to be healing all that much. My statue is likely to be the next easiest to dispatch if we can actually land some blows. Otherwise, I think we just go after the opportunities as they present themselves.”

“Okay, give me a minute.” Sadie backed up into the hall a bit and started to let out her swarm of rodents. It actually took a while for the hundreds of rodents to flow out of her cage and into the hall. Sadie then pulled out eight cheese wheels, throwing them into the pile, and the three of them watched as the wheels nearly disintegrated as they came into contact with the swarm. “The swarm is going to help. They might not be able to take out one of the statues, but I think they should be able to at least keep one busy.”

“Umm…” Allie began hesitantly. “They might make my statue a pain to take out if it has a similar ability to me, where I recover HP when I down an opponent.”

“If that is the case, we just focus on yours last, then, and I can have the rodents retreat at that point. Now ready?” Allie and Isabella nodded as they both prepared to charge into the room.

The moment Allie crossed the threshold into the room, the statues responded. Though not fast enough to stop Allie’s lunge from reaching the Sadie statue, and tackling it to the ground beneath her. Allie kept wailing on the statue until its head was rubble. Isabella and the swarm moved to protect Allie. Isabella intercepted strikes from Mark and Sam just long enough for Allie to finish her job. The swarm, on the other hand were far more effective than Sadie had initially assumed in slowing down both the Isabella and Hilde statues.

The real issue was that the Allie statue did the exact same thing as the real Allie and lunged at Sadie. Sadie was pinned beneath the statue, but Bertha was able to get out of the cage and knock the statue away, freeing Sadie, but not before she had taken significant damage. Sadie was having trouble concentrating from the arousal she was feeling, but managed to get Sif out into the room with Bertha protecting her. Sif immediately saw the imposter Isabella and pounced, crushing it easily, and, as if insulted by its existence, made sure to pulverize it and scatter the rubble with a sweep of her tail.

With the numbers now on their side, ignoring the swarm, the fight became significantly easier. Though Sadie did notice that her swarm was starting to still as Hilde’s statue was striking each individual rodent once and incapacitating them with that strike. Sif and Bertha went after the small statue while Allie fought her mirror match.

Sadie barely dodged as Mark switched targets to her, and she flew up to the top of the room. That turned out to be a bad idea as Mark quickly turned and rocketed up after her.

Isabella saw the trouble Sadie was in and decided to activate her shadow clone ability and let out a howl. A howl that Sif echoed. The shadow wolves and she continued to fight Sam, but her clones, with the help of Sif, intercepted Mark mid-air long enough for Sadie to reach the animal companions.

Sadie shouted, “Allie, we need you to switch targets, remember your statue should be last!”

Allie had entered a fury and had forgotten that. Allie had also been right that each time the statue inadvertently struck a rodent, it repaired slightly. Bertha let Sif deal with Hilde for a moment and rammed the statue Allie from behind to let Allie switch targets. Allie joined Isabella to take out Sam. With overwhelming numbers against the statue, it went down quickly. The others quickly followed suit as Allie and Isabella simply continued to switch targets and increase their number advantage. Once it was down to just Allie’s statue, Sadie pulled her remaining rodents back into her storage cage, and without a source of healing, Allie’s statue was no match for the group.

Which was fortunate, as right as it was destroyed, Isabella tackled Allie in a hug. “Arf!” Isabella licked Allie’s cheek, her tail wagging furiously in the air. (Isa, is the best girl! Isa wants pets and kisses.)

Sadie chuckled as she heard Sif complaining about how come Isabella was allowed to lick people, but she wasn’t.

Allie vaguely understood what Isabella wanted and scritched behind her ears.

Sadie went about picking up each of her downed companions, which took a considerable amount of time. In all, over six-hundred of them were incapacitated. When she was done, she muttered into the cage, “I’ll give you all bonus cheese when you recover. You did a great job.” She also put two cheese wheels into the cage for those that weren’t incapacitated.

Sadie sat down next to Allie and Isabella. Allie had managed to sit up and put Isabella’s head in her lap, while gently petting her hair and ears. Sadie said, “That was closer than I would have liked.”

“You have it rather rough,” Allie replied. “I took almost no damage from that fight. What little I did, my ring has already fixed. Actually…” Allie took off her ring of regeneration and tossed it to Sadie. “Here, put it on. It should help you recover while we wait for Isa here to regain her senses.”

“Thanks. I have thought about that, actually. That the combat classes seem to have an advantage. Mark being an exception, but that isn’t really to do with his class so much as his ability to copy overpowered TFs.”

“I don’t know that I would agree with you about having an advantage, at least because of our classes. Sam is out front for two reasons. One, she did a solo quest, and two, she’s a dragon, and that TF is particularly powerful in this. I’ve looked over the quest board, and I’ve noticed you haven’t been taking us on quests where you would be more suited. Is that because you want to help Isa and me get out of the bottom three?”

“Uh… a bit, yeah.”

“Well, we are solidly out of the bottom three now. So you can stop.”

“I really can’t. Allie, what happens if you and Isa place, say, 9th? You’ll lose a lot of VP. I could see a situation where you could end up in the bottom three if I don’t at least keep your score fairly neutral.”

“Don’t hamstring yourself on our account. The two of us are practically over the finish line as is.”

“I’m really trying not to. If I stop helping you two, I fear I’ll start helping Hilde and Chloe.”

“Ah, so it’s a lesser evil, situation.”

Sadie nodded. “Thank you… for earlier. With the Walkthrough. I don’t know if I’ll end up following through with it, but I appreciate that you were willing to help me.”

“Sadie, I know it seems like a lot, but I really think you should do it. I know it seems odd to willingly change yourself to such a degree, but is it really that crazy to acknowledge that you need to change to pull through such absurd circumstances? I know I made that same choice the first day we got here.”

“I know. That’s why I trust you more now, right?”

“Probably. Afterall, I’m helping you get over these problems because I do want you to marry him eventually. I can tell you want that too, even if you aren’t willing to.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You aren’t hard to read. It isn’t my TF telling me that. I can see the way you look at him, and you’re rather practical. You’ll marry him as long as you two can work things out.”

“It isn’t like I can help it with the combination of my TFs. Mark is extremely good-looking now. Don’t even get me started on Mary. We might seriously need to look into hiring professional security, for when we go out with Mary in public.”

“You really think so?” Allie asked.

“Allie, I practically threw myself at him on my first day here. Despite all my problems with him, I’ve considered on multiple occasions literally throwing myself at him and just having sex with him, regardless of whether others were watching. Mary is going to be catcalled all the time. Yes, I think we will need private security. Smug is literally in charge of Mark’s security, at least for now; that assumes she doesn’t wind up in the harem. Honestly, I’m grateful that Cassandra is actively working on making sure that after the show, we aren’t going to be screwed, because without her doing that, I think we would be.”

“Hmm… I guess I didn’t really think about how guys would react to seeing Mary, but you’re right, she’s going to get hit on a lot.” Allie couldn’t help but start to chuckle. “Oh my, it is going to be so much fun to watch as that happens.”

“Allie… is there no other way to resolve things with Mark and, to a lesser extent, Chloe?”

“You mean my Walkthrough? Yeah, probably. It will work, but it might not be the only way. Think of it like a video game walkthrough. Sometimes you have to do it in a certain order, other times you can attack the problem from a bunch of angles. I don’t even know if it is the easiest way to achieve what you want. I just know that it will work with 100% certainty if you follow through. I should also mention that it might not work if you wait too long or something happens that changes your relationship with Mark enough.”

“Hmm…” was all Sadie said in response.

A few minutes later, Isabella came back to her senses, and the group continued on.

The trio walked down a long hall and came to a door. When they opened the door, they found three floating orbs in the center of the room, like the one in the previous temple.

Allie immediately groaned upon seeing them and felt like she had been smacked on the ass as she did so, “OW! What the fuck?!”

“What’s wrong?” Sadie asked.

“I… I don’t know, it felt like my ass was smacked rather hard.”

Isabella said, “I bet it’s because you groaned in impatience. You saw the orbs and thought something like ‘This is going to take forever’, right?”

“Yes…” Allie grumbled. “Let’s get to it then sooner we start, the sooner we finish, OW! MOTHER FUCKER! That hurt!” Allie went to sit down next to the orbs but immediately stood up. “Oh, great, and the slaps make my ass sensitive as all get out.”

Allie started to fill the orbs like last time, but all three knew they were going to be here for quite a while.