Prelude of Clinging Shadows

John looked up from what was clutched in his hand as Beth let out a drawn out sigh and paced across the floor.

"Still going to voicemail?" Senka asked from her place next to John, her soft curves pressed into his side as they shared a pleasantly cramped seat. With no need to conserve mana, John had summoned her while Beth had tried to contact her sister. That had been her fifth attempt.

"Yeah," the lithe girl answered, still pacing. "I mean, it's not like I usually call her when she's out, so she doesn't have to keep her phone close."

"Doesn't stop you from worrying," John said.

"It's just, ugh," Beth eloquently grunted. "You'd think with how she treats me, I wouldn't get worked up with her not being in contact. Sometimes I don't hear from her for days."

"Yeah, but you've never needed her before," Senka pointed out. "Plus, coming from the unpleasant experience we just went through, it's not hard to think the worst is happening."

"Thanks for putting that idea in my head, Sen," Beth groaned.

As Beth walked in front of John, he reached out and grabbed her wrist gently. With a light pull she could have easily fought, John pulled her down onto his lap, his other arm wrapping around her waist.

"Heh, smooth." She chuckled as she sank into his embrace. "Where'd you learn that move?"

"Probably from a movie," John answered with a soothing grin. "I think that you need to take your mind off your sister for a bit. You've left messages and we don't know where she is, so we can't go running off anyway. And from what you've told us about her, she doesn't seem the sort to get in over her head."

"Yeah, she isn't," Beth said, a slightly sad smile on her face. "When we'd go out as a family, she'd always make sure we had everything we needed."

She shook her head, clearing away bittersweet memories, and asked, "Where'd everyone go, anyway?"

"Brenda decided to lay down and Teri and her kin had to get back to their place,” Senka explained. "She didn't want to risk gaining the ire of their elders by taking too long once the danger had passed."

"The more I hear of these dick elders, the more I want to kick them to the curb," Beth remarked.

"I think you'd be disinclined to liking them even if they weren't assholes," John said.

"Damn straight," Beth said with a toothy grin. "No fun in life if you just do what someone tells you. Anyway, where'd Vi and Lia get too?"

"Vivian said something about setting up some kind of defense around the house," John answered.

"More like an alert system like the beacons," Senka added. "Something to let us know if any unexpected magic happens around here. Since our enemies have proven that they'll risk pulling the mundane into things, it seemed prudent to get something in place."

"At least your mom seems pretty chill with everything," Beth remarked.

"Her biggest concern was if it would affect the property value," John said with a grin that faded quickly.

"Ya don't seem too thrilled about that," Beth noted.

"I guess it's just that I was trying to not get her involved," he confessed. "Like, I've got powers and can grow stronger, but…"

"She can’t," Beth finished for him, then smiled. "Guess that means you'll need help to keep her safe.”

John returned her smile. “Hope it’s not too much trouble.”

“If you all are willing to stand up to my sister, I think I can help keep your mom safe,” Beth said.

“That acid thing wasn’t just a joke, was it?” Senka asked, pulling Beth’s remark from John’s memory.

“It might not be,” Beth answered in an uncertain tone. “She’s not like some berserker or anything, but you know how she is about keeping me safe.”

“I wonder if Vivian can write up an array to negate alchemical effects?” Senka pondered.

“I’d settle for just a shield,” John said with a chuckle. “But let’s not think the worst of your sister. And maybe you should stand in front of us.”

Beth let out a playful scoff. “Some boyfriend, letting one of his girlfriends stand in the line of fire.”

“What, you don’t want to be a badass and prove her wrong?” John asked.

Beth lightly jabbed her elbow into John’s gut in response then noticed something was grasped in John’s hand. “What’s that?”

John opened his hand to reveal a small, circular amulet. It was cast in silver and looked like a round shield, with celtic knots running around the edge and across the piece, forming a cross that divided the amulet into quarters. A number of symbols ran along the flowing lines of the knot.

“It’s one of the rewards I got from the fight,” John explained. “Hadn’t really looked at them yet. Got this and a book.”

“Glad you started with this then,” Beth cheekily said. “Don’t think I could sit through that.”

John laughed then hit the piece of loot with Observe.

Purified Silver: This material confers increased protection from illness and toxins.

Ward of the Wise: Protects the wearer from mind altering magics.

Anchor Point: This item can serve as the binding point for spells, increasing their duration.

Guardian’s Field: Hostile entities that get within Wis/2 meters are **** into a daze. Cost: 50 Mana, 25 Durability. Duration: Int/3 Minutes

“Yeah, that makes sense for an item I got for defending Mom,” John mused as he rattled off all the info before dismissing the displays.

“Gonna give it to her?” Beth asked.

“I think that was the point of getting it,” John answered. “Gaia’s way of making things as square as it could be, I guess. Kind of sucks that the Evocation isn’t something I can, like, pre-load for her.”

“Perhaps you can develop an upgrade for that,” Senka postulated. “Either that or maybe a way to cast Evocations at range.”

“Stuff to work on later,” John said. “Guess I should get to looking at that book too.”

Beth made a gagging sound but didn’t comment as John swapped the amulet for the book. The tome didn’t look too different from the staff carving book he bought the other day, slightly disappointing him as he’d hoped to see a more thematic looking volume.

“Looks pretty thin,” Beth commented. “Maybe it won’t be so bad to read.”

“Figured it be a bit more,” John said. “Like, it looks like it’ll give me something like the crafting recipe for staves. But that could have been covered by a skill reward or something.”

“Suppose there’s only one way to find out just what it does,” Senka remarked.

Nodding, John flipped open the book and skimmed over the first few pages.

“Looks like this is an introductory sort of manual to attuning one's mana to an element,” John summarized. “Still don’t get why I got this over a skill or mod for one.”

He tossed an Observe at it, expecting it to trigger the usual ‘learn skill from book’ popup, and was pleasantly surprised when a new sort of display popped up.

Skill Unlocked: Elemental Resonance
Refer to Skill for additional information

“Well, that’s something new,” John said, sitting up slightly and summoning his character sheet.

Elemental Resonance
Passive
As you gain experience in using the types of elemental mana, you can use them more efficiently, reducing the cost of elemental requirements. Each rank provided a 5% reduction in cost.

Currently Elemental Proficiency
Fire(0): 60/100
Water(0): 0/100
Earth(0): 0/100
Wind(0): 0/100
Dark(0): 75/100
Light(0): 0/100

“Nice perk,” John remarked. “Would have thought I’d be at rank one with how much I use dark and fire.”

“Oh no, you don’t get an immediate boost,” Beth mocked. “How will we ever survive?”

John poked Beth in her toned side, making her squirm on his lap, causing his cock to stir slightly. Beth’s face bloomed into scarlett and Senka let out an amused peal of laughter.

“I was wondering when your position would trigger something,” the spirit said, her hand pointlessly blocking her grin. “Perhaps we should do a little ‘something’ to take the edge off. It has been quite the day. And I seem to recall that you owe me a little something.”

Beth squirmed some more, now from embarrassment over anything John was doing.

Despite his cock's enthusiastic pulse as the notion of things grew more lustful, John said to Beth, "You don't need to do anything you're not comfortable with."

Beth made an angry grunting sound and twisted herself around to face John, a fire in her eyes to match the blush crossing her cheeks.

"I think," she said in a slightly hesitant voice, "I'd like to give things a whirl. Especially if my sister decides to lock me away or something. Would hate to miss the chance."

"All that'd do is give us a quest to go and rescue you," John remarked with a grin. "Think she knows any dragons she could put in our way?"

"Would she go the full nine yards and dress you up as a princess?" Senka added, shifting her positioning so she could press up against Beth's back, her mouth coming up to rest near her ear.

“I’m the furthest thing from some princess,” Beth retorted, her face growing redder, though John couldn’t tell if it was due to increasing embarrassment, mounting arousal or sudden indignation.

“I’m not quite sure about that,” John teased. “You’ve got a family member who tries to keep you locked away from the wider world, you sneak out and do your own thing.”

“You then run into a roguish man and the women he keeps as company,” Senka added, working a hand under Beth’s borrowed and oversized shirt to run her fingers over the shorter girl’s toned midriff.

“Roguish?” John questioned in an amused voice.

“Well, you certainly aren’t some stiff shirted rule follower,” Senka explained. “Running around, fighting monsters, seducing women.”

She punctuated her remark with a kiss to Beth’s jawbone. “Though I don’t think you’re living up to that last part.”

“Maybe I should work on that,” John whispered, cupping Beth’s chin and directing her lips towards his. “That is, if her highness is willing.”

“Just kiss me, you dork,” Beth breathed out and the distance between their lips was reduced to zero. John was dimly aware that Senka had begun to pepper kisses along Beth’s neck, but his focus was fully on Beth as their lips pressed together. Beth let out a needy whimper as John’s tongue probed her lips for passage, a request she granted.

The throuple, lost in each other, didn’t realize they had company until Aeolia let out a whistle, causing Beth to flinch away from John.

“Oh, were we interrupting something?” the winged woman teased as a red faced Beth glared at her and Vivian.

“That was for yesterday, wasn’t it?” she huffed.

“I’d say that’s about half of what’s owed,” Aeolia smugly said. “And I think we can settle the rest of the account shortly.”

“Not the most romantic way to invite someone to bed,” Senka noted as she pulled away from Beth. “Though I am inclined to agree with you.”

“But only if she’s ok with it,” Vivian spoke up as the voice of reason, even as her flushed face betrayed her desire.

“What do you say, princess?” John asked, unable to hold back a smirk at Beth’s attempt at an angry glare.

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Would hate to leave you hanging.”

“Thankfully, we had our release before you came in, so that wasn’t an issue you need to remedy,” Senka noted. “Though I don’t think any of us would deny some extra service.”

“You guys are never going to let me live that down, are you?” Beth groaned, hiding her face in the crook of John’s neck.

“We might, after a bit,” John soothed her, imploring Senka with a thought to give him space, which the spirit obliged. “But I think the princess thing is going to stick.

With strength and balance he was sure he didn’t have a week ago, John lifted himself and Beth out of his seat, shifting her into a princess carry without any issue.

“See,” he grinned down at her, “perfect fit.”

Beth pouted but didn’t fight the title anymore, instead shifting slightly to make herself more comfortable.

“So, what’s with the ‘princess’ thing, anyway?” Aeolia asked.

“John and I noted how much Beth’s story matches the ‘locked away princess’ archetype,” Senka answered, still grinning as she rose to her feet.

Aeolia tilted her head as she mulled over the notion then let out a chuckle. “You know, that’s not too far off.”

Beth glared at her from around John, which only made Aeolia grin harder.

“Really not going to let that go, are you?” Beth asked.

“Not at all, princess,” Aeolia replied.

Beth let out a sigh then her face lit up. “Maybe you’ll forget it if you get screwed enough.”

That got a hearty laugh out of Aeolia, and when she had calmed herself, she shrank down and flew to John’s shoulder. Her talons gripped him tight and she leaned down to Beth.

“If anyone’s going to lose their mind in the next few hours, it’s gonna be you, princess,” she whispered, more for the effect than to hide her words.

Beth squirmed a bit from Aeolia’s declaration, some of the wind taken out of her sails.

“Let’s not overwhelm her,” Vivian said as she stood up from where she had bent over Kiera. An array lightly glowed above the still sleeping girl.

“What’s that?” John asked.

“Just an alert if she starts to move,” the redhead answered. “She might wake up and freak out. I’d rather find out asap instead of having to hear her break something or run out of the house.”

“Yeah, that’d be bad,” John said as he began to carry Beth up to his room. They made it there with no issue, Senka slipping past John to open the door. As John placed Beth on his bed, Vivian drew up an array he recognised as the noise canceller.

‘Yeah, probably a good idea,’ he thought. The rustling of clothes caught his attention and John turned to see Aeolia dropping her dress to the floor. Her eyes weren’t on his, looking past him to Beth.

“You going to get ready, or do we need to strip you ourselves?” she taunted, cocking one hip to the side, an act that caused her breasts to jiggle. “I know I’m good to look at, but there’s more fun things we can get to.”

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Beth began to fumble out of John’s shirt while the Gamer himself simply unequipped his clothing, rendering him nude in a second. That brought an abrupt end to Beth’s undressing as she stared agape at his nude form. Feeling more than a little confident from her reaction, John winked at her.

That spurred her back to work and she flew through the rest of the buttons, revealing her small and perky breasts. They rose with her breath and John found his eyes drawn to them.

“N-now who’s just staring?” Beth remarked, her voice a little shaky as she worked off her pants. She looked at the still dressed Vivian and Senka and joked, “What, waiting for an invitation?”

“Oh, no,” Senka said, willing herself naked, her plump breasts quivering as they were set free. “Just thought if we were to all strip at once, you might completely freeze up like a deer in headlights, like you did when you saw John and Aeolia. So I was waiting for you to get used to the nudity.”

“S-shut up,” Beth stuttered out, her face red with heat. “Vivian’s still dressed. Prod her.”

“I am a bit overdressed, aren’t I?” the redhead said, her cheeks dusted pink. She reached for the hem of her shirt then paused for a second. Before anyone could ask her about the delay, she began to lift up her shirt, in a slow and methodical manner, teasingly revealing her pale skin.

She began to sway her hips as she pulled the shirt off completely, leaving her upper body clad only in her bra. While her cheeks were now beet red, she maintained her act and threw her shirt away before bringing her hands to rest atop her breasts.

Her eyes tracked to each of her lovers, all of their eyes locked on her. She took a breath and, while maintaining her swaying, unfastened her bra. She held the cups to her tits for a moment, eyes sweeping over the rapt audience before she threw the undergarment to Beth, which landed on her head.

Upper half exposed and uncontained, Vivian’s chest began to jiggle alongside her swaying hips as she traced her hands down her sides hooking her hands into the waistband of her pants. With exaggerated swings of her hips, she shimmied both her pants and underwear down her legs, exposing her glistening pussy to the ravenous eyes of her lovers.

She bent at the waist as she slipped her legs out of her final bit of clothing. She threw them towards her shirt then finished her show by clasping her hands behind her back, displaying herself fully to her entranced audience.

“Well, that certainly was a show,” Senka broke the silence. “And not complaining, but what brought it on?”

Still red in the face and through slightly labored breaths, Vivian answered, “It just sort of came to me. I thought something special was called for. Um, was it?”

John stepped to her, his fully erect cock bobbing with each step, giving the assembled women something else to stare at.

“One of the hottest things I’ve ever seen,” he said sincerely as he brought Vivian into a kiss. When John broke it, something Vivian didn’t like given the slight whine she let out, he said, “And I think I speak for everyone when I say it got us worked up. So, how about we get to the main event?”

Thanks again for reading this little story. If you liked the chapter, please hit that thumbs up, and if you want to support my writing, check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ScrapCrow. Get access to my chapters before they’re published here and join my private Discord.