Season 3 Arc 12 Finale – Scratching at the Itch

John would have loved to leave all of that behind without another thought.

The fighting had been easy enough. It was just another showcase that he and his harem had long since outgrown even the status of effective demigods and ventured into the realm where they were untouchable by all but the most powerful people in the world. However, the safety of his and his own did not appease other interest groups in the Federation.

The political class had been galvanized by the event. Those that stated he owed them protection had predictably gotten from their state of calming down to being more passionate in their position than ever before. This had then created the backlash of people re-doubling their voices that John was the true sovereign of Fusion. Whether they called him king or not hardly mattered at that point. The spiritual dividing line was drawn and now… now John didn’t know if it even mattered what he thought.

In his young naivety, he had wanted to take the best of both systems and in conclusion had only built something that had to shake out one way or another.

With the elite so galvanized, it had only taken a couple of press conferences of members of parliament for the conversation to spill over into other strata of society. The debate whether he should be king or not, previously happening only among intellectuals and in his own head, was now in every pub, in every living room, and in every store. The talk was had in the barracks and the headquarters, the CEO offices and the bureaucratic offices, it was everywhere. It was inescapable.

Yet, he was still pushing against it.

‘If Washington was able to do it, then so can I, right?’ he found himself thinking frequently.

He didn’t know if that was the case. What did he truly have in common with the Founding Father? Probably not that much. How would he even find out? Time between them was too vast.

The drawn-out political aftermath surfaced over the two weeks after the event itself, although John had predicted it the moment Hypercrush had attacked the Guild Hall.

More immediate events had obviously transpired. Courtesy of Lee’s excellent work, the Nympholympics had resumed without any problem. John had stayed there in his main body to make sure the integration continued. He had two bodies at home to try and smooth things over, difficult as that was. He did not participate, however. His mind was too busy to enjoy it all and even he could not fully divest himself from being in a funeral in one body and at an orgy in the other.

The Nympholympics wrapped up on schedule. John returned home. He dealt with politicians day in and day out. Allies and enemies of his were aligning themselves in all sorts of ways for and against him and everyone was waiting for him to make a definitive ruling on something he could not make a definitive ruling on.

He knew better than to push it off.

He did it anyway.

John sat in the gaming room in his home. A place that usually was filled with the laughter and annoyed shouts of haremettes competing with each other was currently quiet, only occupied by the buzz of a single computer and the oiled whisper of a chair swivelling. Pushing and pulling with the front of his foot, he stared at the Youtube frontpage. A half-empty plate of food sat by the keyboard. He was hungry, but he did not feel like eating it. He was looking for something to watch, but he did not want to click on any of these.

‘Everything is a limbo,’ he thought.

“Tiger?” Rave’s soft voice peeled him out of voiceless misery. “We’re all here, wanna join us?”

“I do,” John sighed half-heartedly. He did want to join them, but he did not know if he would have much to say. He knew the feeling on his shoulders when he walked after her. He was depressed. He should have been better than that, he felt, but he was not. “I’m sorry for moping like this.”

He said that as much to her as he did to the room.

His haremettes were naked as ever. A fact that aroused, yet failed to get him in the mood. That had been the case for much of the last two weeks. There wasn’t a total lack of sex around, it would have been more worrisome if there was, but his sex drive had certainly been diminished recently.

“This is a matter of time,” Lydia spoke in his support.

All of his harem had made it out there. Schedules had been difficult to align, especially between Lydia and Lulu, but they had managed in the end. Now they were all on the Couch. John pulled his shoulders back and headed for his usual spot in the middle of the curve of the elongated U-shape. He gave everyone a smile. It was a sincere one, short-lived, yes, but sincere all the same.

“I hope so,” he answered the queen. The truth of power was that, when one had it, doing nothing was actually a perfectly valid option most of the time. In the end, the organ of state was just one way humanity sorted out its problems. “I won’t lie though, I think I have arrived at the end of the rope when it comes to the question of what I am… If you want to gloat about it, Metra, now would be the chance?”

The blonde scratched her ears. She let out a sound between frustrated groan and resigned sigh. “The problem is that I love you to bits and you’re clearly hurting.”

“Thank you for noticing,” John remarked with dry banter. There were a few insecure chuckles around the Couch. He wanted them to truly laugh, but he knew that his depressed mood was reflecting on the broader harem. For better and for worse, the fact that they were all so close to each other meant that when one of them was down, all of them were pulled along. This was especially true for him, he had to acknowledge.

“I know you value hearing it… so I guess I’ll just say it…” Metra took a deep breath and stared directly into his eyes. “I told you something like this doesn’t survive a genuine crisis.”

“I still think you’re wrong about republics broadly… but in our specific situation, you were absolutely right on that.” John had spent a lot of time recently imagining different scenarios. Ultimately, the problems he came to were twofold. One was that he was an objectively superior person, if only in the characteristics of his body. It was impossible to argue for the equality of mankind. Secondly was that he was governing people who only had a republican tradition by neighbourhood. Pockets of the American Abyss had semi-democratic institutions, but by and large everyone was used to the guy with the biggest stick being in charge.

There was no true hunger for his preferred way of governance among the people and he could not argue the spiritual angle either. Even a first grader in debate class could beat John in this situation. Everything he had left on his side was the utility of a republic as a feedback mechanism. Even that was on shaky ground.

“No one can **** you to make a decision,” Siena stated.

“That’s highlighting the issue, isn’t it?” John asked with a wry smile, then he waved off. “I am putting off that question… so let’s talk about the other thing first, before I pose the question that I called all of you here for.”

“We also have something we want to talk with you about,” Rave chimed in. “We’ll do that after.”

“Alright… so Tabbie had said something we might classify as highly suspicious throughout the fight. Which, to be fair, could all just have been her bullshitting.” John scratched the back of his head. “Still, we looked into it and found… nothing, which I find more suspicious than anything.”

“She may have been absurdly high, but I do not believe she was lying,” Claire weighed in. “Personally, I believe that this links back to the strange letters you have received.”

“Entirely possible,” John agreed. “The problem is that we cannot verify anything, so it goes onto the big pile of unanswered questions we have.”

“You really are gloomy.” Lulu got on her feet and swung her hips over. She sat down in his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him. “Kind of sexy, admittedly.”

John snorted and put a quick kiss on her lips. It was a rejuvenating intimacy. A thousand more like it and he would recover, he suspected. “This really is a matter of time,” he admitted, his smile staying around the corners of his lips this time. It was difficult to stay truly depressed when, ultimately, he had all of them. Even if all of Fusion burned to the ground, as long as they had each other, he knew he could face tomorrow.

Despite the smile, his face then grew serious.

“I need to sort this out,” he said. “I cannot push this off forever. If I do not solve this now, it will come back during the next crisis. I have to pick a side for good. No more half-games of whether Fusion is my project or my realm. It’s earlier than I would want it to be, but I can step out of politics if I wanted to. As long as it is known that Fusion has my backing, they can hold their territory. The Outer Mandate’s annexation is already on paper, it doesn’t have to be me. It doesn’t have to be me that overlooks the economy. I can… let go…” He looked at every woman in the room with him. “One last time, I want every last one of you to give me your straightforward opinion on what I should do. Tell me your opinion. Do not hide it behind what you think I need to hear.” He fixed on the woman leftmost. “Undine?”

“I believe that monarchy does not suit your goals,” Undine gave her answer clearly and directly. “You have been dominant in Fusion for long enough. You will be able to recede from public life for a time. Ultimately, I believe you can wait this out. The mood will calm again.”

“Gnome?” John addressed the woman next to her.

“I… just agree with Undine. This is a trial of patience, not of your principles.”

“Lydia?”

“It would be to my own advantage were you to declare yourself king. Further, it is my sincere belief that the enlightened monarch is the most optimal form of government in broad strokes. Someone must hold the sword and the pen, and as people that can survive many generations, we are suited for it. However, my opinion is not so strong that I consider your republic dysfunctional or even bad. It is clearly fit for purpose. Reform would be rash.”

“Nightingale?”

“The justice owed to the people is one you have enacted many times over. I agree with Lydia on every point.”

“Claire?”

“You are my sovereign. You are the wisest one that could be asked for. You are the promised ruler of theories and dreams. Whatever you call yourself, I believe in those pillars.”

“Delicia?”

“I believe wholeheartedly that you should step back and let the people elect you. You’ll win anyway, and on the day you do not, you can reflect.”

“Momo?”

“What Delicia said. You know yourself to be the best ruler the people could have and I believe the people are smart enough to see that. Waive the dictatorial powers and make the position of president one of choice. If you ever lose and become a private citizen, you are just as little obligated to do military service as everyone else. You’ll be one of the people and thus sovereign, like all of the publica are.”

“Aclysia?”

The maid was the first who did not have her answer ready immediately. She hesitated for long enough that everyone was looking at her slightly confused. Her answer did not help there. “I have nothing to say, Master.”

“Nothing is a valid response,” he assured her. “Eliana?”

“I… really don’t know one way or the other. I’d like to rip the spines out of the backs of all the people that are giving you this much grief, they wouldn’t be missing them anyway… but that’s not really a valid course of action.”

“Lee?”

“I’m slightly against you putting a crown on your head, but by and large I have no strong feelings about it? I’ve read plenty of history about both the tyranny of strongmen and the corruption of devolved power… I don’t have a good answer.”

“Lu Zhi?”

“To give the expected answer, I fully and entirely believe you should let your delusion that an Abyssal republic can work on this scale disappear over the horizon.”

“Sylph?”

“Nope, head empty, got nothing…”

“Siena?”

“You know better than the others. It is only natural that they should acknowledge you as their sovereign. You are the creator of this state, you are the one that led it to prosperity, and you should be the one that is understood to govern over that prosperity.”

“Nia?”

“There is no proper way to wield power, only the most effective way at a time. You are better than me at evaluating what is more effective at this time. If you insist on my opinion… you cannot withdraw from politics yet.”

“Beatrice?”

“Estimation: a withdrawal of you, and by proxy us, would cause Fusion’s incredible growth to halve within a year. The overall direction would continue towards greater wealth. If making Fusion the foremost power is the ambition, the work must continue. If not, then you may rest in the knowledge that the state will continue.”

“Lorelei?”

“As Lydia put it eloquently, one must wield the sword and the pen and I see none more suitable than you, saint.”

“Scarlett?”

“I believe republics are better for business, but the absolute worst thing for business is uncertainty, of which there is plenty right now. Rule from the shadows and only when necessary, that’s my recommendation.”

“Hailey?”

“Said it before, will say it again, what matters ain’t the system but the heart and yours ain’t in it right now… and I think ya don’t wanna bow out yet.”

“Salamander?”

“I’m with Siena. Nothing more to say on that.”

“Jane?”

“I’m stupid when it comes to politics… I think I’m closest to Nia.”

“Metra?”

“You know already. You are my king and you will be king yet. I yearn for the day you accept it, for the crown of Akkad will be yours when you do.”

“Nathalia?”

“It is natural for hierarchy to form. I understand caution towards monarchy, because people like me could get that crown by heritage… but you are not me and I believe you will not let your, our, children be like who I was either.”

“Ehtra?”

“I have served many kings, lords, and other kinds of power holders in my life. None I thought were more deserving of a crown than you.”

“Nahoa?”

“I think you will sacrifice yourself for others and that is the noblest trait a sovereign could have.”

John took a deep breath and took all of their opinions into account. He was diving into his own soul, trying to dredge up the final answer to this. Before he could, Rave cleared her throat. “We want to take you on a vacation before you make the final call.”

John frowned. “Jane, if I go on a vacation now, the people in Parliament will not let me hear the end of it.”

“If they stop you from taking a vacation now, I’ll make sure they never hear anything again,” Rave hissed. “Fuck them. With the shaft of a sledgehammer. Fuck – them.” She took his face between her hands. “Whatever you decide in the end, you do not live for them. You live for me, for us! I took your heart all those years back and I’m not giving it back no matter how selfish that makes me!” She put her forehead against his. “Whatever you make out of Fusion, I want you to make that decision when you’re yourself. Two weeks in Hawaii. We’ll be back on the 15th. You can announce your decision to the world then or wait another 2 weeks for the dramatic New Year’s reveal…”

She was grasping at straws for the justification, when she really did not need to. John could never deny his women when they really wanted something.

“Okay,” he agreed.

End of Season 3 Arc 12.