The One Behind the Curtain

John took no shame in feasting on the sight of the warg girls as they showered and changed into fresh clothes. Sadly, he only had a sweaty school uniform on hand for himself, but it would do for the time being.

“Well, it’s past dinner time but I’m feeling rather peckish,” Adelia opined as she straightened out a crease in her white blouse. “Will you be staying with us long, John?”

John checked the clock on his phone. It had just passed six o’clock, so that gave him three hours before he had to be at the party. Plenty of time to organise his outfit and have a bite to eat. “Yeah, I have time,” John replied and felt himself blush at Lia’s warm smile. He quickly turned his attention to Red, who was busy clipping her bra in place. “By the way, reason I came was that I’ve been invited to a horror-themed party tonight, want to come?”

“Sure, why not?” Red smiled. “Thinking I can go as the big bad wolf, hey?”

“Damn, how’d you know?” John laughed.

He waited another minute for her to change before they walked downstairs for some tea, Chey and Lia trailing a bit behind them.

“You and Ma seemed quite taken with each other,” Red commented.

“Is that jealousy I hear?” John teased back.

“No,” Red replied, her lupine tail bristling. “I’m happy that you’re getting along — don’t grin at me I’m being serious. I’ve had it up to here with family drama. That being said… you’re never petting me like that… I demand you start scratching me the way you did her!”

“So you are jealous,” he replied with a light laugh. “But I think I can manage that,” he added, wrapping his arm around Red and pulling her to him so that he could nibble playfully on her ear.

“Mmm…” she sighed contently, though she gently pushed him away a short while after. “Better stop or I won’t be sane by the time we reach the living room.”

“Alrighty then,” John replied, taking her hand as they began descending the main steps.

Halfway down, a small voice chimed out to them, “Well that was quite the show.”

John’s eyes followed the sound to a familiar girl barely larger than someone’s hand, who happily sat on the stairwell railing. “You should have joined in,” he replied with a teasing smile. “Only thing that could have made it better was a dash of your faery dust.”

Saccha’s small cheeks blushed at his words. “As great as my love juices are, I woulda been torn to bloody pieces in that room. I was content with watching… oh and that potted plant by the door doesn’t need watering any time soon.”

John laughed and looked over his fae friend affectionately. She was noticeably larger than when they’d first met a month ago but was otherwise just as cute with her caramel-coloured hair and an adorable sunflower dress that covered her twig-like figure. However, his expression darkened regretfully when his eyes fell on the four insect wings sprouting from her back. Two of them had been severed in half when Saccha had saved John’s life in the fight against Vulpis, and as he’d learned after, repairing them was nothing an Abyssal doctor could simply do. They required the assistance of a special kind of fae that could sew arcane energy into the injured wings. Such a procedure would put Saccha severely in the practitioner's debt, something which both she and John were keen to avoid. For the meantime, they held out hope that one day John’s influence on Saccha’s growth would similarly yield the ability to heal her.

“How about you carry me, you sodding twat,” the fae demanded, reaching both her arms out cutely towards him. Technically, she was perfectly capable of moving around on her own two feet, but she was clumsy on her toes and any endeavours to walk as such were always accompanied by very vocal complaint. She could also jump fairly high and control the speed at which she fell with what magic was left in her wings, but overall it was a poor substitute for the nimble wings she had been so proud of.

“Hmm… I dunno, you might be too fat,” John hummed in reply. Despite everything, the fae maintained high spirits and John could freely tease her; their relationship was founded on banter after all. “Maybe if you add a ‘please, Master’ I might find the strength to carry you.”

The fae gave him a sour look before her face twisted into a plastic smile. “Please would you kindly carry me, you sodding twat of a master?” Saccha asked in a sweet voice.

“Good enough,” John shrugged and gently scooped up the fae in the palm of his hand.

They soon settled comfortably on several sofas surrounding the fireplace in the living room, with Red snuggling happily against John and Saccharine claiming his lap. A maid soon came in carrying a tray of tea and coffee while a second served them biscuits before rushing off to prepare something with more meat on Chey’s demand.

‘You know what now’s a good time for? Spilling the beans on your corruption,’ the nagging voice in John’s head chimed in abruptly.

‘But it won’t do you any good. They’ll just try to purge it from you and you’ll have severed your one good lead on discovering whoever was behind Vulpis,’ he countered.

John let out a small sigh. He’d played the argument out several times over in his mind in the past few weeks and every time he’d come away convinced he had to say something. But faced with the prospect now, he found himself short of the breath to speak up and more doubtful than ever.

“John?” Red voiced, noticing something was on his mind.

The room was filled with a pregnant silence as the three warg girls and the dessert faery regarded him with expectant expressions. Looking at their faces now John realised they were well aware he’d been keeping something from them. He wouldn’t be escaping this even if he wanted to.

“So, uh…” John began stiffly. “As much as I hate dragging down the mood after that amazing sex… you all deserve to hear this,” he paused again, taking a deep breath as he tried to find the words to frame the situation in a pleasant light. He found none. “I-I think — well, I know that I’ve been corrupted by the same person that turned Vulpis into the monster he was.”

John was unsure how exactly the girls would react. He expected shock, maybe feelings of betrayal and some much deserved anger that he’d kept it from them for so long… what he did not expect was Cheyenne to leap from her reclined position on a nearby couch to seize him by the neck.

He let out a choked gasp of surprise as the wind was squeezed from his throat by Chey’s hand, while sharp claws extended from her fingers and punctured his flesh, drawing blood. She had stubbornly refused to show him her scar all night, but she showed him her full face in all its grisly glory now. A browless blue eye glared up at him, the only source of life among a crispy palette of red and black flesh.

“That was a shit joke, John,” she said quietly. “Because if you were telling the truth I’d cut you down now rather than see you turn into the same monster my brother became.”

“Let him go, Chey!” Red snarled, reaching out to pry her fingers from John’s throat. Chey slapped her arm away easily with her free hand.

“Sister, please!” Lia likewise rushed forward to intervene. “Do not be rash. I know you don’t want to do this! Let him go! It may not be too late and we can find a cure!”

The grim determination in Chey’s eyes wavered but she didn’t let go as she considered her sister’s words.

“Aunty!” Red pleaded. “Please, don’t do this… we have to at least try to help him!”

John felt Chey’s claws twitch momentarily around his neck before she relented with a frustrated growl, dropping him back on the couch and turning away, unable to look at him while Red and Lia checked if he was okay. John gratefully heaved in lungfuls of air, massaging his neck all the while. Thankfully the damage she’d caused was easily repaired by Gamer’s Body. The room was filled with a tense silence while they all waited for John to recover.

“I-I’m sorry,” he finally managed. “I should have told you all sooner.”

“How long exactly have you known?” Red asked, the hurt in her voice cutting through John like a knife.

John wasn’t able to meet her worried gaze. “Since during the fight with Vulpis.”

“Explain,” the raven haired warg demanded.

“It’s a bit of a blur, but I’ll do my best,” John sighed. “All I remember of meeting her was this room of white fog… it was a dream I guess, and we talked for a bit, though I can’t remember what about. She showed me something though: flashing images, sounds… I think they were her memories?”

“Did you at least get a look at her?” Red asked.

“I’m not sure…” John sighed. “I remember she took the forms of different animals at first and then a naked girl later… the last thing I recall before waking up was that she looked me in the eye, saying something about how well-suited I was to what she needed to do, then we kissed.”

“You kissed?” Red asked stiffly.

“Uh… yeah,” John shifted sheepishly under the weight of her stare.

“In any case, do you recall what memories she showed you?” Lia asked. “They could be a clue to determining identity.”

“I’m not sure, they’re all a haze,” John grimaced, beginning to feel quite unhelpful. “What I do remember is the feeling of pain, like every memory caused her an intense anguish.”

“That doesn’t exactly narrow things down,” Red sighed. “Are you sure there isn’t anything else?”

John nodded. “Based off what information Gaia’s given me she’s some sort of goddess.”

“A goddess?” Lia frowned. “I can understand why one would seek influence over you, John, but what use would Vulpis have been?”

“Well… I’d say there’s a good chance Vulpis was simply a means of getting to John,” Saccha piped up.

“What do you mean?” Red frowned.

“Well, it’s just as Lia said; John’s valuable, being the unlucky cunt chosen by Gaia and all, whereas Vulpis was just a sickly pup. I’m only speculating here but the only value I can imagine in corrupting Vulpis in the long run was his connection to John.”

“But John had no connection to Pa until he got involved with us which was long after he’d been corrupted,” Red countered.

“True,” Saccha agreed. “But you’re not thinking big enough. Going off what John said before about her needing him, one would assume that’s ‘cause he’s Gaia’s little bitch — but there hasn’t been one in thousands of years and there’s no way of predicting when one might pop-up so what do you do?”

“I see,” Chey replied somberly. “Our enemy planted an agent where she speculated Gaia’s Champion might appear.”

“That’s right — and who better than the leader of the most powerful faction in Gaia’s barrier? I mean, hell, it’s like the place was designed with Johnny’s powers in mind,” Saccha nodded sagely, more wisdom in her demeanour now than her usual snarky attitude would suggest. “What?” she added indignantly in the face of John’s look of surprise. “I might be a brat but I’m not stupid! Remember I’m over one hundred years older than you, buddy,” the fae pouted, giving him her middle finger.

“This speculation is pointless,” Chey snapped. “Do it all you like but it will bring us no closer to solving the issue at hand: whether we can cure John’s corruption or not.”

“Right,” Red agreed, turning to John hopefully. “You must have a quest or something of the sort related to it, right?”

“I do,” John nodded in reply before outlining the quest to the group.

“Well… the quest seems to present it as a choice,” Lia opined once John had finished. “That’s promising.”

“Though it gives no clues as to what steps to take,” Chey growled in frustration as she paced the centre of the room.

“The Order may be able to help?” Lia suggested.

“Doubt it,” Saccha replied quickly. “An exorcism to them would start with a shovel and end with a grave. Besides, they can’t even lift the curse of John’s mom.”

“What about the Witch Doctor, then?” Red voiced. “The Order’s still searching for one, right? Maybe they can figure something out with you too.”

“Not searching,” John shook his head and allowed himself a smile despite the weighty discussion at hand. “One will be in Springfield by Monday.”

“John, that’s great news!” Red beamed happily, taking his hand and squeezing tightly.

“Good,” Chey nodded, the ghost of a smile appearing on her lips. “We may yet solve three problems in one: your mum, the corruption, and my face.”

“That would be quite fortuitous,” Lia agreed. “But I think it’s past time a happy ending came of this mess.”

“Fucking oath to that,” Saccharine added.

An air of hope settled around the group that this situation could genuinely be resolved. But John didn’t feel like their conversation was over quite yet. ‘Don’t say it,’ a quiet voice inside him warned, but he ignored it and opened his mouth to speak anyway. He had to put all the cards on the table; it was only fair to the girls he cared dearly about. “Look, in all honesty I’m not convinced we should cure the corruption.”

John winced as he could practically feel the mood crashing right back into the floor collectively with the sound of Chey’s teeth grating together, “What?”

“T-the benefits of keeping it aside, what she showed me… the pain she shared… look, I can’t put it into words, okay? I just have a gut feeling that she’s not really a bad person,” John tried his best to explain and failed dismally.

“Fuck you, John!” Chey screamed at him. Her body shook and for a fearful moment John thought she was going to lunge at him again. “We’ve all seen what this power does to people. ‘Not bad,’ my arse. She DESTROYED my brother, so don’t you DARE preach this horseshit of her somehow being good! We’re curing you the moment that Witch Doctor arrives or I swear by Fenrir I will cut you down as you breathe because I do NOT want to see you get destroyed too.”

John was stunned into silence as tears welled in Chey’s eyes. She quickly looked away with embarrassment and stormed out of the room, body shaking with outrage and having nothing else to say.

The remaining girls likewise seemed shocked by John’s words. “How can you even trust that you’re not being manipulated by the corruption?” Lia asked.

“I know I can’t,” John sighed. “It’s just…” he failed to find any adequate words as Lia’s argument rang true.

Red’s hand squeezed his own tightly as if trying to convey her support and affection. “Please, just trust in us, we’re all here for you. We all care.”

“I know,” John squeezed back. “I love you.”

“I love you too, darling,” Red replied earnestly, bringing her lips to his.

Feeling like everything to be said had been, Lia soon left them to seek out Chey. John and Red decided to cuddle on the couch with Saccha snuggling in between them. They had very little to say, simply taking comfort in each other’s warm arms and letting the time tick away. That was, until John suddenly remembered he had a place to be. “Heh, I guess now’s not the best time to be going to a party, hey?” he mused wryly, kicking any thoughts of attending it in the bin.

“Mmm,” Red pondered it for a few seconds. “Maybe it is. I think we both need to unwind after… that. Being me I’d just suggest sex buuut we did that already, so maybe a bit of dancing and booze will make for a decent alternative?”

John couldn’t help but laugh at her logic.