Title: Dreaming of Love [Series: Pet Shop of Horrors]
Author: Drusilla Dax (drusilladax@free.fr)
Main Pairing & Rating: D/Leon (R18 [NC-17]; yaoi and hentai)
Rating: R18 [NC-17]
Summary: Leon and D made love, but D forced Leon to believe it was just a dream. Can one dream, and hopes, be enough for both men?
A/N: This is the sequel of "Dream?" I promised. I guess it's fairly AU.
Disclaimer: I'm just playing with someone else's toys. May I be forgiven in my next incarnation! Flamers will be adopted by my family (if you don't believe it's a threat... too bad for you!).
Readers: Mikee and Starkindler. The remaining mistakes are all mine, and I apologize for those.
Dreaming of Love
Devising Their Happiness or What Jill Did to Help (that's chapter1)
It had been an accident.
The tea going down the wrong pipe, Leon stomping on a snake which bit him, Leon falling on the table and the pastries...
It had been a fantasy come true when Leon found himself in D's bed.
It had been a bubble of love they had woven between their hearts and souls that night; a precious pearl of passion that both Leon and D kept in a corner of their minds.
D was conscious of everything that had occurred between them, but he had put a spell on Leon, and the young officer had been led to believe that their one and only night together had been nothing but a dream - or a fantasy.
Leon had felt lost for weeks after that night. His soul was calling for his mate; his heart was aching, and his body needed the comfort of his lover.
D's condition was not much better, but - since he knew what was happening to them - he found
ways to deal with his needs - namely, more work, more tea, more cakes and taking to
worshipping every few moments he could spend with Leon.
D knew that he and Leon were meant to be together, but he didn't know how long they would
have to wait. How long it would take before they could be happy in each other's arms.
Leon was but a man.
D might be... more than a man.
Yet... They were missing each other, and D's spell and their souls played a trick on them.
D and Leon started dreaming.
They started dreaming in synch.
They started meeting for real in their dreams...
... and this was when Jill came on stage.
One Friday night, Leon had invited her to his flat for some pizza and a beer. An actor had died and there was a rerun of that old series with him; they were both fans, so they decided to pay a tribute to him watching television together.
The channel had planned to show episodes all night long. Jill had had such a tiring week that she was high on adrenaline, and perfectly awake. It seemed that Leon was as energetic as she was, but when midnight struck, he fell asleep. Jill decided that she could let him sleep a bit; there was a commercial break, and she knew that he knew the episode that was on almost by heart. She could wake him up when the next episode was on.
She grabbed her drink and watched the screen.
When Leon whimpered, she thought he was having a nightmare - with the cases they'd had to deal with recently, it wouldn't have been surprising.
She gently put one hand on his shoulder, but it was as if he couldn't feel her hand.
She was slightly worried, but Leon opened his eyes briefly, and he started beaming at something or someone. With a small smile on his lips, Leon began thrusting his hips, and Jill blushed a deep shade of red before she noticed that her friend's dream seemed to be extremely colourful if his movements were any indication, and that he didn't react to her hand that was now resting on his neck - which was a bit hot, and his pulse a bit too fast. But what really bothered Jill was when Leon called the Count by his name and that he, apparently, spoke Mandarin. Jill was sure it was Mandarin, not because she knew the language, but she felt that her favourite macho had finally realized that he had feelings for another man.
She may tease Leon from time to time, but he was her friend, and she only wanted to see him happy. Now, she was really afraid that he might be blowing a fuse, his body wanting to share intimacy with D, but his conscious mind refusing that possibility.
It was the logical conclusion: he had fallen asleep, was slightly feverish and was having an erotic dream about another man.
The logical conclusion went down the drain when Leon stood up, his arms wrapped around... nothing, and he went to his bed. Concerned, Jill followed him, and she clearly saw the mattress sag under the nothing that Leon deposited onto the bed.
At that exact moment, the implausible became probable.
Jill reflected that Leon had fallen asleep at midnight sharp, and in many cultures it was a time for magic. She wondered if she had not been working with Leon for too long, but it seemed that somehow D was with Leon.
When Leon began undressing, she decided that some checking was called for. She turned the television set off, left a note for Leon, and drove to Chinatown.
The pet shop was still open. Well, to be exact, the door was not closed.
She walked in cautiously.
She decided that she should trust her guts. She took a deep breath; she could smell incense and tea and the unmistakable - to a girl - whiff of a chocolate cake just out of the oven.
She smiled.
Feeling slightly silly, she murmured, 'I'm here to help.'
There was a faint flickering, as if the shop was weighing her motivations.
From nowhere, a firefly came to Jill. The police officer held out her hand, and the insect accepted the invitation.
It flew again and went towards one of the doors; when Jill didn't follow it, the firefly flew back and forth till Jill asked, 'Are you my guide?'
The firefly made it clear that it was Jill's guide to the heart of the shop by glowing brighter.
The young woman followed the tiny light and reached D's bedroom.
She didn't need to open the door to know what was going on. D's sighs and moans didn't need translation.
Jill didn't really believe in magic, but she had faith in love, and she just knew that her friend and the person he loved - who, incidentally, was a man - were in trouble. She didn't know what was wrong, but she just felt it.
'Is there someone watching over the Count?' she asked her guide.
The firefly almost stopped glowing, and Jill didn't like the feeling that elicited in her.
'Is it because he could be in danger that you led me here?'
The firefly glowed again, and Jill hated the fear she felt coiling inside her heart.
'Will he be safe until I come back tomorrow morning?' she asked again.
The firefly and the other inhabitants of the shop were deeply touched by her concern for their master. The guide glowed brighter.
'Will you guide me back to the front door, please?'
Jill didn't analyse the fact that she was chatting with an insect about a strange man who was sending his astral projection or something to her colleague. She knew that she had to help them.
Before she went out of the shop, she told the firefly to find a way to tell the Count that she'd visit
for breakfast - with a treat...
In the world their love had created, Leon briefly stopped kissing his lover.
'I think I forgot to do something before I joined you,' Leon said.
'What, Airen(1)?'
'I can't remember. That's your fault, Airen,' Leon answered, pouting.
D nuzzled up against his soulmate and chuckling softly, he asked, 'What were you doing? Can you remember that?'
'I think there was something on TV... But I have the eerie feeling that I'm forgetting something. Well, never mind. My waking self will take care of it in the morning. Right now, I have some better plans for us.
'Better plans, Airen?' D practically purred in Leon's ear.
'Shall I demonstrate, then?' Leon offered, shivering with need.
Leon felt D's smile against his skin, that was all the encouragement he needed.
Skilfully, Leon undid the frogs on D's cheongsam. His lover had decided to be a tease today, because as soon as Leon had allowed the silk to slide of D's shoulders, the police officer had to undo the buttons of a sleeveless shirt.
D wore a saucy grin, but Leon grinned wickedly, and D found himself shirtless in no time.
Leon and D were floating in some cloudy dream, but there was always, in a corner of their dream-world, a place to harbour their lovemaking. Leon took D in his arms and carried him towards that cloudy-feathery bed.
Leon undressed as fast as he could, while D took off his slippers and pants.
Leon gasped. D, in his bed, in love with him, aroused and ready to make love was a sight that never ceased to amaze Leon.
As soon as he was naked, Leon joined D on the bed and he reacquainted himself with D's body by charting his lover's skin with his mouth, tongue and hands.
'Yao(2)...' panted D.
'Iaow?' Leon teased him, his lips an inch away from D's arousal. 'Am I hurting you, Darling?'
D panted again, and he fought to focus enough to say, 'You understand what I said, teaser!'
'I'm not a teaser, I always keep my word,' Leon answered.
Without further ado, he went down on D.
Over their last encounters, both lovers had gained plenty of practice, and now they were playing each other like experts. D had shared his theoretical knowledge with Leon and they had worked in unison to improve their mating.
Now Leon knew that he could drive D up the wall by just licking that vein that was coursing on D's shaft and tenderly massaging D's sac in synch with his licking. D's moans and high-pitched whimpers were a language that Leon knew by heart now.
D's eagerness sent fire in Leon's veins. Leon had just swallowed D's come, and D was already in the mood for more and spreading his legs in invitation.
What Leon particularly liked in their dreams was that D was always ready to take him.
Leon knelt on the bed, grabbed his lover's hips and invaded D's welcoming body slowly - Leon knew that he would not hurt D, but each time it was so overwhelming to penetrate D that Leon had to take it slowly.
D was arching off the bed, his hands clutching the cloudlike comforter.
Slowly, tenderly, lovingly, Leon rocked to and fro.
With one hand, Leon caressed D's hip, while his other hand caressed D's renewed erection and his nipples.
Leon caressed D's lips and the kami started sucking the two fingers that had touched his mouth. That set a new rhythm between the lovers, and too soon for his taste, Leon was spilling his seed deep within D.
Leon slipped out of D and spooned him.
Sleep would claim them soon, and that would herald the end of their time together for that night.
'Wo ai ni(3),' Leon said. It was almost a sob, because his soul knew that in the other world - the one where both were awake - he would not remember what they had shared, and yet, he would miss it.
D turned his head and kissed Leon. 'Wo ai ni,' D whispered against Leon's neck.
They fell asleep.
The next morning, Leon woke up when someone started pounding on his door.
He was naked in bed, and covered with dried spunk. Disgusted with himself, Leon wrapped himself in his sheet and answered the door.
Jill stormed in. She ordered him to take a shower and told him she'd make coffee.
Ten minutes later, they were in Jill's car, and Leon had been entrusted with a white box with a pastel pink ribbon.
Jill had made it clear that she wouldn't answer Leon's question, so he remained silent.
Jill stopped in front of the pet shop; she took the box from Leon and walked down the stairs.
'Good morning! I brought pastries, as promised,' the young woman said.
D was standing before his favourite sofa; a firefly was flying around him.
D was silent as he poured their tea.
Jill was silent as she placed their cakes on a plate.
'Since we're not celebrating a birthday, could one of you tell me what we're doing here on a Saturday morning?' Leon asked.
'How do you know it's not Count D's birthday?' Jill asked softly.
Leon looked at her and blinked repeatedly before he looked at D and said, 'I... I just know it... It's not your birthday, right, D?'
The Count shook his head.
'Gentlemen, I fear there is no gentle way to broach the topic. How much do you remember of your last dream?' Jill asked.
Leon blushed - not because he remembered, but because he had seen the proof of what his last dream had done to him... dried on him.
D gasped. He feared there was something very wrong.
Jill told them what she had seen and heard.
Leon felt lost. Of course he had feelings for D, but Jill was not supposed to see him doing it with the spirit of D or whatever it was that Jill told him she had seen.
D... D just knew that their souls needed each other and that no amount of magic seemed strong enough to keep them apart.
D was sitting next to Leon; he placed one hand on his soulmate's cheek and kissed him to free him of the initial spell he had put on him. In a split second, Leon remembered everything, from the one and only real night they'd spent in each other's arms down to their escapades in dreams.
Leon cried, and D knelt by his side.
'What... What if I'd died without remembering?' Leon sobbed on D's shoulder. 'How could you take that from me?'
'I apologize, Airen.'
Leon took D in his arms. Words meant nothing, if D was really sorry, Leon needed D's tongue dancing with his own to make sure that this was the truth.
By the time they stopped kissing, Jill was blushing and aroused. Yet, she knew she had to be their Giminy Cricket.
'Are you in danger because of your love?' she asked.
D looked at his soulmate, trailed a nail on Leon's jaw and whispered, 'Leon might be in danger because of me.'
'Do not worry, Count. I'll protect you,' Jill said, and the firefly landed on her left shoulder.
D gasped again. He knew what the firefly was, and he knew that its presence on Jill's shoulder could only mean one thing.
'I think there are some things I must share with you now,' D said.
Leon's mind registered that D was about to confess everything about his illegal activities, but
his soul and his body had taken over, and he was busy holding D against his heart...
Jill's Fate (that would be chapter 2)
Since D had freed his lover of the spell he'd
put on him after their one and only night together, From what D had just told Jill, maybe they
would have to fight for their love and to be together, but Leon was ready to
fight for D. Now that he was remembering what they had
shared in real life and what their souls had created between them, Leon felt as
if he had been in a relationship with D for weeks and the first person, animal or
whatever to come between the man he loved and himself would have his
ass kicked badly - whoever would dare to try and separate them. 'My Love,' whispered D against Leon's neck,
'you'll have to let me go for a moment. There is something I must fetch, and I
have to lock the door.' Leon very gently hugged D, as if he were afraid
to hurt him - while D could be stronger than Leon. The police officer stole
another soft kiss as he reluctantly let D go. D rose elegantly, tenderly pecked Leon on the
cheek, and he went to lock the door first. When he was sure that they would not
be interrupted, he went into one of the adjacent rooms to retrieve a special
incense burner. D noticed that Miss Jill's firefly had landed
next to her on the sofa - it knew what would inevitably come next. D took a deep breath. 'I know that you probably
expect me to admit that the pet shop harbours illegal activities, but this is
far from the truth. My love...' D paused briefly, looked at his lover and went
on. 'Our love made you step farther into my world, Leon, and we brought Miss
Jill into this quite by chance. I have already demonstrated with the spell I've
put on you, Airen, that I am not exactly what, or who, you think I am. I know
you will soon remember the secrets I revealed in our dreams, but I have to show
Miss Jill how this shop is working...' D's voice trailed off. He placed the ornate burner full of sand on the
table where the remains of their improvised breakfast lay. With a match neither
Leon nor Jill saw him take or crack he lit a small incense stone, and he
carefully placed it onto the sand. The blue-grey smoke rapidly wrapped itself
around them, and Jill squeaked with surprise. Next to her was sitting the most
amazing man she had ever seen in her entire life. He was absolutely gorgeous, with something
aristocratic in the way he held himself. He was slightly tanned, green-eyed and
dark-haired. His suit was impeccable - certainly Italian, Jill reflected. He
was turning towards her and looking at her with a kind smile. 'This is what happens when people are granted
the gift to see what is going on here. Adults need the incense, innocent people
such as children don't need it - I've also been told that blind people don't
need it either,' D said. 'Chris?' Leon said in a gulp, suddenly thinking
of his younger brother. D nodded and said, 'He knows what the
inhabitants of the shop look like for real. Their animalistic form is but a
sham.' 'Is this too much for you, my Love?' D asked in
a whisper that betrayed all his fears. His eyes still closed, Though Jill was curious to know who the
gorgeous man on her left was, she was mesmerized by the two other men on her
right. Some of the other inhabitants of the shop -
those of a dubious nature - dared to venture in the parlour, but they didn't
stay for long. They were a bit afraid of the consequences the new turn in their
Master's life would have on their lives. Jill was thinking that she might need aspirin
very soon - a lot of aspirin actually. 'Is this all this is about, Count? Are you
selling these... these creatures to people like Leon or me?' Jill asked. 'My dear,' the man who had looked like a
firefly just a moment ago said with the warmest voice Jill had ever heard,
'none of my companions have ever been sold by the Count. You will soon
discover - and understand, I promise - the true nature of the contracts that
are signed here.' Jill was surrounded by magic; she should not
have felt so comfortable, she should not believe the man - or whatever he was -
next to her, she should not believe that strange feeling that she could trust
him. While Jill was beginning to think that drowning
in the man-firefly's eyes might be a very pleasant thing, D took 'There's nothing you can do, Count,' the
man-firefly said. 'Detective Orcot will not let you take his memories from him
another time - and even if you could do so, what Dame Jill witnessed should be
proof enough that your love is stronger than the strongest charm you can cast.
You have to face the consequences and tread on this new path. Dame Jill, if I
am not mistaken, took a sacred vow to protect you and I agreed to be her
guide.' 'Wow! Hold on a sec'!' 'I'm sorry,' D said with a small voice. Jill surprised them all. She took D's hand and
said, 'Sorry for what? Falling madly in love with my best friend? Being a bit
strange? Who's not on this coast? Who's not in this world? I don't care if it's
the mafia or your mother whose asses I have to kick, I'll let no one come near
you and bother or - God forbid! - hurt you. And if this gentleman can help me,
I will accept his help.' Her voice trailed off and she turned toward the
stranger. 'Though... Dame Jill?' 'How unforgivable of me! Miss Jill, the
gentleman next to you is Terrence Magi. He's from 'Train me?' Jill said. 'If someone appeared in this room and
threatened to kill either Count D or Leon because they are in love,
and if they were unable to protect themselves, what would you do?' Magi asked. 'I would do my job, Mr Magi. I'm a police
officer. I would fight for them,' Jill declared. 'You are a very fascinating young woman, Dame
Jill. You have seen what is going on here, and you can easily imagine that most
of the things you would use in your job would be useless in this case. I felt
your power, Dame Jill, when we met yesterday. I've been your guide to Count D.
I offer to share with you the skills that will allow you to be the Protector of
your friends. Will you accept?' Magi asked. He gently took her hand and Jill felt a
shiver run up her spine. She looked at Leon and D. What she saw in them was
beyond the oath she had taken as a policewoman. She looked at Magi and declared, 'I accept.' Magi smiled. 'I knew it,' he said. 'Jill, you don't have to endanger yourse...' 'You are my friend, and I'll let no one bug
you. If I can't do this with a gun, I'll learn what I need to learn,' she said.
'Thanks, Jill,' In one day, he had regained the memory of his
love, and Jill wouldn't have to be kept out of that secret. 'Thank you, Dame Jill,' D said, bowing his
head. 'Why are you calling me that now?' she
wondered. 'Because you now are Magi's apprentice,' D
said. 'What will I have to do?' Jill asked Magi. 'I will teach you what you need to know after
your work. I think you shouldn't change your life, but for one thing. It would
be advisable that you come and live here. Detective Orcot should move in as
well,' Magi said. Jill reflected that she had accepted
that mission, if her teacher - her mentor? Her master? - needed her at the pet
shop, she would move in. She simply nodded. On the other side, Jill simply said, 'Is it going to be so dreadful
to move in with the man you love?' D smiled when he heard how easily his She simply smiled. 'May I try an experiment before we discuss our
future arrangements?' Magi asked. The others nodded. 'Dame Jill, I would like you to close your eyes
and concentrate on the energies around you,' the magician said. She obeyed. 'What do you feel?' Magi asked her. 'I... I can feel you next to me. I can feel the
Count. I can feel... I can feel the shop!' Jill exclaimed and she opened her
eyes. 'Go on,' Magi encouraged her. She closed her eyes again and concentrated. 'I can feel something else... I don't know what
it is... It feels like another part of Count D,' she said. She re-opened her eyes and looked at Magi. There
was so much pride in his eyes that she felt herself blush furiously. He took both her hands in his and said, 'I knew
you were extraordinary, Dame Jill. You felt what the Count hasn't been able to
spot.' Q-chan who was feeding off the remains of the
cakes Jill had brought considered this line to be his cue to transform. 'I thought it wise to inform you of my
presence, but this addition in your life is none of my concern. I will stay by
your side, my grandson, but I will fight neither for nor against you,' the eldest D
declared. 'There will come a time when you will have to
help them, for you know the path they'll have to take,' Magi cryptically said. 'Not before Dame Jill is trained. Not before
she accepts all the facets of her fate... Then, I will not refuse to
take my stand in this,' the eldest D answered. Magi nodded. Q-chan re-assumed his form and resumed his
breakfast. Jill turned towards Magi. He held out his hand to prevent her from saying
a word, but she spoke nonetheless. 'I guess that you will explain all the
facets when I am ready. If Count D trusts you, then so will I,' said she.
'There's only one thing that would really please me right now. Would
you please stop calling me Dame Jill?' Magi smiled brightly. 'Of course, Jill. Though I will explain the
reason for your new title when I start training you,' he said. 'Who is...?' 'My grandfather,' answered D. 'So... We have nothing to fear from him, but
have you other members in your family who might pay us some unexpected and
unwanted visits?' asked Jill. 'Some distant relatives might resent my linking
my life, my soul, my line and my fate with a human.' D paused. 'My father is
going to hate it most.' 'Are you all carbon copies, or what?' D hung his head down and whispered, 'I am a
faulty copy.' 'You are the best,' D's smile illuminated the whole room. Q-chan coughed, and Jill put her hand up to catch their attention. 'You said human. Your relationship
with a man doesn't seem to be an issue. What's going on here exactly?'
she wondered. Later in the morning, Jill had a remotely
clearer idea of the nature of D, of the shop and of what was going on in
general. 'With some help, you could move in here before
Monday morning,' Magi pointed. 'Some help?' 'No, Airen,' D said, still sitting on his
lover's lap, 'this is 'Oh! That's going to be fun when the guys are
told my new address,' 'Are you ashamed of me?' D asked, obviously
hurt that his lover might still sometimes behave like a stupid macho man. Before answering, 'No, Airen, the fun will be that they're going
to have a good laugh telling me that the only way I've found to prove your
illegal activities was to enter your bed. That's all,' D and Magi smiled, Jill chuckled. 'I know someone who will note our change of
address but will keep his mouth shut. It might be wise not to advertise the
change in our lives,' Jill said. Magi was positively
beaming. D called some people who were in debt to him,
and Jill offered to supervise everything with Magi's help. She had a very saucy smile when she answered,
'Interesting choice of word... If I do everything outside of here with Magi, it
means that you get to stay all alone with the man you love. Is this such an
ordeal?' 'Jill, you're the best!' he
cheered. Dame Jill left the shop with Magi and met
removal people waiting for them outside the shop. 'Shall we skip the snake-tea-cake scene and go
straight to your bedroom?' Leon offered. D grinned.
Nesting in the Shop (it looks like chapter 3, but it's just a
transition)
Jill and Magi would be gone for hours. He was alone with the man he'd come to love
more than his own life. It somehow felt as if D's name were embroidered
on It felt as if their souls were completing each
other, giving warmth and tenderness, but not changing their natures
drastically. D was sitting on the edge of the sofa. It looks
as if he's ready to fly into D felt his heart beat faster. 'Wo ai ni(1),' The young Kami
gasped. He prayed to whoever would listen Above that
he might be granted some happiness in this world. Falling in love with a male
human had never been on D's agenda, and yet the police officer had
slithered his way into D's life and heart. Now, the blond angel was accepting who he was
completely, and he was using D's first human language to declare his love. Even
if they were to fail and ended up being separated - which was always possible
until Jill had completed her training, fully accepted her fate, and fulfilled
her duty - D would die happy thanks to the sparks of tenderness that Leon was
giving him freely. Life had become extremely weird since he'd
first met D, but he sure made life worth living. Hell! Come to think of it, it
was the first time that Ever so gently, Holding D's hands, Next to them on the table, Q-chan was whiskers deep in the cream-filling of the cake
Jill had brought. 'I don't know how your magic works, but don't
make yourself sick,' D's grandfather looked at the human his
favourite grandchild had chosen for companion. When he first met Since his grandchild had fallen in love with The eldest D had seen few people change. Leon Orcot was
metamorphosing, and the eldest D was willing to give a chance to the human to
see if he'd become really worth of their family. If If The eldest D licked his whiskers, looked at 'Kyu!' Q-chan
exclaimed enthusiastically as he accepted the fruit. 'You're welcome,' When 'Enjoy your cake!' All the answer he got was Q-chan
chewing loudly. It was natural. It was where he belonged. D opened the door to their room, and 'Will you keep an eye on us?' He saw cats and dogs nod, and that was all the
encouragement The moment The next time he and D made love, it was in
some other dimension, or in a dream or something. This was no dream... This was no hallucination... This... This was the beginning of their "ever
after". 'Airen?' asked D. 'The two princes are back in their castle, but
the nasty magician is still hunting us. Ours is a weird fairy tale, Darling,' D shivered. 'Are you afraid of your father?' 'He's dangerous, and he hates your kind. To
him, you would be no more than one of those dogs people sell to research labs.
He is so conscious of our nature, that yours means nothing to him. I am afraid
of what he could try to do to you if he knew about us,' D confessed. 'A secret weapon?' 'Yes!' 'Our love?' 'No, Airen,
that's our obvious weapon. If that bastard tries to separate us, I'll kick his
ass out of the country. Our love is obvious. Your father doesn't know
that we have an ace up our sleeve,' 'What do you mean?' 'For a man who's been living with animals for
so long, you disappoint me, Baby,' said D giggled. 'Well, I guess you mean that Miss Jill would
protect us,' D said, caressing 'No, D, I mean that any moron stupid enough to
try anything against us is going to have his ass kicked to hell and back - and
that is what Jill might do before she becomes SuperJill.
When she's got her super powers, she'll be a lioness for us,' The corner of D's mouth rose. He knew that 'Say, how long do you think we have before the
furniture invasion?' 'Considering the people I contacted to have the
contents of your and Miss Jill's apartments brought here, I estimate that the
first load will arrive in approximately four hours.' 'They're damn efficient!' 'Stop talking,' D said. 'Aye, aye, sir!' As he was charting D's mouth, D had been expecting this, but not so soon. The animals outside of their room felt what was
going on, and a blue bird swiftly brought D a phial of smelling salts. 'Easy, my Love,' D whispered as he forced 'Even if Jill accepts - and she's such a good
heart that she just might - even if she accepts... D! I can't let you...' D
didn't let With two fingers resting on 'It's so weird, D,' 'It's a ritual, Airen,'
D murmured. 'It's still weird.' 'It's a sacred ritual.' 'It might not even work,' 'It will work,' D said. 'How can you be so sure?' 'Magi is there. Jill
is your friend, and I think she likes me a bit. My grandfather is going to be
on our side, and...' 'Airen?' 'My darling lover, our love is so strong that
it breached through my strongest magic.' He caressed D's cheeks. To ask D if this
was what he wanted would have been a waste of time. If he didn't want this, D
would not have sent They went on undressing each other, and D
settled in If all went well, they would have many
wonderful decades in each other's arms. This morning was just the beginning. They reached for each other in their dream, and
they woke up chuckling. They needed each other so much that they even dreamt of
love and making love. D was settled in Kissing D was as pleasant as a happy childhood
memory mixed with a promise of eternity enveloped in love. He stopped kissing D and asked, 'Are you all
right?' D squeaked and nodded. 'Airen?' D could not speak. He placed his hand on 'Oh, all right, Darling,' D closed his eyes and nuzzled up to The blond wasn't sure if his lover swooned, or
if the force of his climax made D boneless against him, but the Kami allowed his lover to clean him roughly with one of the
tissues kept in the box on their bedside table. D looked at him through heavy eyelids, and Much to Sometime around Neither woke up when Jill and Magi let
themselves in with the whole contents of On their way back to the pet shop, Jill and her
Master had stopped in an Oriental pastry, and Jill had bought a treat for Q-chan. She placed the open box before the eldest D. 'You seem to be feeding off sweets. I thought
you'd like that one,' she said. 'Kyu,' he answered. She smiled and turned towards Magi. 'What
should we do with 'We could ask our friends to place all the
boxes into one of the storage rooms. Leon and the Count can deal with those in
their own time,' Magi suggested. The instant she nodded, he gave instructions to
the Chinese men who worked efficiently and in silence. 'Do you think they'll be up when we come back
from my place?' she asked. 'My! You are saucy, my apprentice,' Magi
chuckled. 'I know And?' he asked. 'I'm a woman. I know those things.' 'And?' he insisted, enjoying that game between
them. 'You saw what they did in dreams... Now that
they can have the real thing, they'd be idiots if they were not doing what I
think they're doing,' she said. Magi chuckled, and Q-chan
squeaked in his cake. 'Sorry about the visual, my dear,' she
apologized to the eldest D. Q-chan flew to her
shoulder and smelled her. Magi was right. She was
powerful for a human, especially for one with so few incarnations, and almost
no memories of those past lives. Maybe the Prophesy would work for his
grandson... Q-chan stayed with
Jill and Magi. When they came back, Leon and D had taken care
of the newcomer's possessions that might be added to their common bedroom, and
they were preparing Jill's suite, which ajoined with
Magi's. Q-chan invited
himself into her room, and supervised her moving in. By dinner time, everything was in place in the
store, and they could sit down to share their first real meal together.
Planning the Future (Let's say it's chapter 4)
Saturday Evening - Dinner Time Finally, everything found its place in the
shop, and Jill was shown where things were in the shop. Thanks to the help of
Magi, and Q-chan, the only lady in the house could go from the front door to
her quarters and to the dinning room. Magi told her that she could venture into
the rest of the shop, but that she would most likely walk in circle. 'How?' Jill asked. 'The shop, my sweet apprentice... The shop
would bring you back to the point whence you started,' Magi said. 'Really?' Jill wondered. Magi was very happy with Jill. She was neither
afraid, nor was she questioning his sanity - in fact, Magi knew enough magic to
check Jill's state of mind thanks to what looked like the fluttering of his
fingers. Magi knew that she was just curious. She certainly was a very good police officer. She would be an astounding apprentice, and once
she had accepted her role in all this - and Magi had absolutely no doubt that
she would agree to help Leon and D - she would become a powerful magician. Q-chan was right. Through telepathy, the eldest
D, in the skin of the flying rabbit, had shared his thoughts about Dame Jill.
It was true that Jill had incarnated only a few times, and that she remembered
almost nothing about those past lives, but the span of those incarnations was
long. Magi had already been there the first time the one called
"Jill" today had been given a body to wrap around her soul. That was a fact unknown to D, both the eldest
and the youngest. Only Magi remembered, and very soon he would
work on triggering Jill's memories. Their success depended on Jill's ability to
mistress those memories and combine them with Magi's teaching. Magi smiled broadly, and Jill had the feeling
that his green eyes changed slightly, as if a fire were burning in his irises. She understood that the shop had a life of its
own, and that it would lead her exactly where it wanted her. She smiled at her master. 'When will you start my training?' she asked. Magi's smile broadened. 'Tonight, after dinner,' Magi announced. 'Could,' Jill paused. She took a deep breath
and said, 'Could the Count's father try something before we're ready to face
him?' 'We?' asked Magi. 'You try to make it sound as if I'm a key in
all this, but it's all about teamwork,' she stated. Magi took her hand and kissed her palm. 'You
are right,' Magi said with pride. 'He might try something, but I am sure that
you are strong enough to resist him.' 'What are they?' she asked. 'Long or short version?' he offered. 'Short before dinner. Long as soon as you can.'
'D is a deity.' Jill paled, blushed and squeaked. 'Holy fuck!' she said. 'I thought this was 'Kyu!' wailed Q-chan. Magi winked at they eldest D, who flew away to
the dinning room. 'Terrence!' Jill scolded him. They were both smiling when they entered the
room. 'What is so funny?' 'Nothing,' Jill said. They sat together around the table, and someone
brought them a drink. Jill almost jumped off her chair when she recognized the
person who was doing the service. It was the mysterious Mr Wong, the one who
had apparently killed himself in his cell after 'I suppose this is all right,' Jill said
pointing at Wong. 'Yes, he's a part of the family,' D said. 'Ok,' Jill answered. Wong went back to the kitchen to fetch the
first course. 'I guess that you'll explain eventually,' Jill
told Magi. He simply nodded. She looked at him, then at D and Leon. If they trusted him, she was willing to give
Wong a chance. 'There's one thing we haven't mentioned yet,
Count,' Jill said. 'What is it?' he asked. 'We haven't discussed my rent. I guess that 'The rent... Of course,' D's voice trailed off.
'Would a treat for the five of us every Friday be too much, Miss Jill?' 'Cakes? But! Count!' she exclaimed. He smiled warmly and declared, ' 'Accept that contract,' Jill laughed softly. 'On one condition,' she declared, 'just call me
Jill.' D bowed his head in agreement, and added, 'Then
I shall be only "D" from now on.' Jill was tempted to ask questions about D's
nature, his name, his history, his family, but she decided to wait and get
information from Magi first. Magi offered her and Leon to shorten his name
if they would like. 'So I'll bring a surprise once a week,' Jill
confirmed. D nodded, and smiled like a little boy in a
sweet shop. 'Boys, this is going to be fun!' Jill
practically giggled. 'I do hope you won't mind our diet. Magi will
tell you why I am a vegetarian,' D said. 'Vegetarian, or vegan?' asked Jill. 'Vegan,' growled 'I'm practically a vegetarian, but when I feel
the urge to eat some fish, or occasionally some meat, I'll do so at lunch, or
outside if such a craving takes me by surprise on a weekend. Whatever your
reasons, I won't bother you with my eating habits,' Jill said. 'Cravings?' Jill laughed heartily. 'Remember your biology classes, Orcot? Stuff
happens once a month,' she said. Wong brought the first course, and they shared
a quiet meal. Sometimes, Jill looked at the Tou Tetsu. She
wasn't sure if she could trust him. There was something in the way he looked at
D that was bothering her. After rose perfumed Turkish delights and pink
tea, they all went back to the front room of the shop. 'Wouldn't it be a good idea to begin my
training, Terry?' Jill asked as neutrally as she could. 'The sooner, the better, my apprentice,' he
answered. The Protector and the magician bid their
friends good night, and retired to Jill's suite. 'How long have you known Terry?' 'It's strange, Airen. I've always
known him, but he came to the shop only a fortnight after we met,' D said. 'Airen?' D whispered. 'It's strange, indeed. But what is even
stranger is that I remember something about the Prophesy, and it's beginning to
make sense with Terry and Jill in the frame,' It was D's time to nod. Suddenly, ' 'I... I just remembered what your name means,' Truth be told, D had not dared to dream that
the man who had stolen his heart would be so much in love with him that he
would so readily accept all the little oddities that were inherent to being a
Kami. What D could only hope that Magi was as good as he'd
always believed him to be. Without further ado, D invited his lover to
retire for the night. Saturday Night Meanwhile, Magi had accompanied Jill back to
her room. Magi sat down in a chair by her bed while she
sat on it. 'Why am I feeling so comfortable around you?'
Jill asked. She was a good officer, and she wasn't used to
trusting strangers so entirely and so fast. 'You know the answer, Precious,' he murmured. His green eyes were so full of pride and trust
and... and something that Jill had never seen aimed at her. Had she been more
attentive to personal matters, she would have identified that hunger that was
burning within the magician. She has never been given such a gentle pet name,
and she gulped under Magi's intense gaze. She let the magic permeate her cells, and she
understood. 'Have we met before?' she ventured. He nodded. 'The first time your soul was wrapped in a
body, I was already there. We did magic together,' he said. 'Oh,' was all Jill could manage to utter. It was neither the time nor place for Magi to
enlighten Jill on that aspect of her soul - it would be dealt with in the
night, for that karmic memory could best be accessed in dreams. He decided to
tell Jill about her mission, at least aspects of it. 'Long ago, some families of Kamis were given a
Prophesy. Some of D's relatives tried to fulfil it, but they had no luck. I do
believe that it was because they could not gather all the elements inherent to
the magic involved in the ritual that is needed. Besides, those who tried
didn't have a Protector as powerful as you are. You are powerful, my Precious
Jill,' she could hear the capital P, and that made her shiver with something
that was far from being unpleasant. Magi went on, 'not because you and I met
before, or because you trod in this world millennia ago. You are powerful
because you are ready to believe in the magic, because you believe in love,
because Leon is your friend, and because you are quite fond of D, because
you've seen a glimpse of D's soul, and you know that he belongs with Leon.' She nodded. 'I will teach you elementary magic, so you can
protect the lovers from D's wrathful relatives. When you are a bit more
familiar with magic, and with what D and I consider as ordinary, I will tell
you what the ritual that will save D and Leon's love entails,' he said. She opened her mouth to ask more questions, but
she didn't say a word. She trusted the magician, and she would wait
for him to reveal what she'd have to do. 'This has been a very long day,' he said. 'I
wish you pleasant dreams.' He stood up, and left the room. Jill found herself with Q-chan, a sparrow, a
black kitten and what Jill thought was a very weird breed of ram. She went into her bathroom to undress for the
night. When she came back, she told the shop to dim
the lights, and it obeyed. She told her unexpected room-mates to close
their eyes. The sparrow and the kitten obeyed. The eldest D and the Tou Tetsu kept looking at
her. 'As you wish,' she whispered with a smirk. She didn't know what the weird ram was, but if
he wanted to look at her naked, she'd give him satisfaction. She didn't mind
nudity. She didn't know where it came from, but as she grew up she never
experienced that phase when she became ashamed and conscious of her body. Maybe
it was connected to some of the things Magi had mentioned, she'd ask him in the
morning. She undid her dressing-gown and stood naked in
front of her bed. She looked at the eldest D, and she had the
feeling that the flying rabbit was blushing. The other creature was mesmerized. She lay down, and wished them all good night. The Tou Tetsu settled at the foot of her bed,
while Q-chan landed on her spare pillow. Even though everything was so alien, Jill fell
asleep very fast, and she had a weird dream. She was in She was in a temple where she had just been
brought by her parents. Yes, that was it... She had been given to the temple as
some kind of offering. She had been bathed and dressed, her long black hair
combed, braided and perfumed. For the first time, she had seen her reflection
in a copper mirror, and it was much better than the glimpse of herself she'd
had in the family well, but it was not her. She was the daughter of a
peasant, she wasn't meant to have her face painted, her body perfumed and
dressed in translucent linen. She spent weeks with the priestesses, and she
began to enjoy her new life. Unfortunately, news of battles soon disturbed
her quiet haven, and the priestesses doubled their offerings to their Goddess. 'Will She listen to you?' she remembered asking
the eldest of the order. The others had gasped. None of them would have
dared to ask the Wise One such a bold question. The old woman had smiled and declared with all
her faith, 'If you ask with all your heart, She listens. She always does.' The young girl that Jill had been in that first
incarnation had reflected that after fifty years, the Wise One must
know. Besides, there was something in her eyes that showed the young girl that
the faith of the Wise One was very strong. When all the others were scared by the sad
news, only the Wise One and the girl remained quiet. Jill remembered when two priests entered the
sacred inner temple. She had been called in the middle of the night,
and she wondered why the Wise One needed her. She had spent time with the Goddess, but she
had never seen any man in the inner temple. She even thought it was forbidden. Seeing the girl's frown, the old priestess told
her that she was not mistaken, and that men were not allowed here. However, those
persons were priests of the God who was their Goddess's husband. They were here
on Pharaoh's order to try and soothe the Gods with a significant offering. Before she was given to the temple, her eldest
brother had told her that she would be sacrificed. The only sacrifices she had ever seen had
invariably ended with the death of the sacrifice. The young girl knew what her duty was. If her
divine Pharaoh needed her blood in an offering to the Goddess to placate her,
so that the country would be safe, she had no choice but to accept. Her life meant nothing, and she knew that she
would be welcomed in the other Kingdom if she sacrificed for her country. She knelt before the Wise One and told her that
she was ready to give her life. The older priest snorted at her offer. The young girl saw the Wise One flinch, and she
wondered what she had said wrong. The younger priest dismissed his fellow in an
extremely cold tone. The man obeyed. The younger one knelt next to her, and took her
hands in his. He was so kind that she felt her heart beat
faster. 'I will need protection at each cardinal point,
I trust you to choose three of your strongest priestesses,' he told the Wise
One. She nodded, understanding that the younger
priest’s fellow had lost his privilege of witness and protector the
moment he had belittled the girl. She found herself alone with the strange
priest. He explained his mission, and her part in it. It was but a ritual, and she would not die -
though, he needed her blood and a sacrifice. She objected that she knew nothing about
religion, ritual, magic and sacrifices. He gently caressed her cheeks and enlightened
her. She might not be learned, but her parents had given to the temple a more
precious gift than they could ever imagine. She was kind and loving, and she
had a pure heart - had she not just agreed to die to save her country? She was a virgin as well - a rarity in this
region at her age. He told her as much as he could about the
ritual. He needed to say potent spells that would allow the God and the Goddess
to enjoy the intercourse through them. All she had to do was to agree to
participate in the ritual, and trust him. He swore not to hurt her. He saw her blush and understood it all. 'You are allowed to enjoy the moment if you
can,' he said. Her blush deepened, and she looked at the
ground. He took off the sign of his order, and he
kissed her. It was soft, sweet and tender. 'Will we save our country?' she whispered. 'Yes, Precious Astris, you will,' he
said. She believed him. The Wise One came back with three of their
sisters, and they began the ritual. Jill's soul remembered everything through the
dream. She felt the four priestesses ward a space at
the feet of the Goddess's statue. The priest divested himself of his clothes and
turned to her. The night air felt cold on her heated skin. She was afraid and impatient. She was eager to help, and scared to fail. She allowed him to undress her, and lay her
down. She heard the spells, but couldn't understand
them. She felt the magic around her and accepted everything. She became a
vessel for the Goddess, an offering to Her and Her husband. She believed in the ritual. She believed in the power of the order of the
priestesses. She trusted in the priest who was weaving magic
with her and through her. He kept his word, and managed not to hurt her. Entities tried to breach through the wards, but
the priestesses held their positions and protected the young girl and the
priest. At dawn, two birds of fire rose from the inner
temple. The God and his Consort had been satisfied with the sacrifice and
offering, and they would protect the country. The Wise One took care of Astris as if she were
her own daughter. Pharaoh, himself, sent a present to the young girl when she
gave birth to her son. Jill cried in her sleep when she remembered
that Astris never saw again the priest who had been so kind with her. She only
had glimpses of him in their son. When Jill began sobbing, Magi was tempted to go
and hold her, but he knew he had to let her remember everything. The Tou Tetsu jumped unto the bed and nuzzled
against Jill, who was grateful for the company. Jill kept dreaming. She saw bits of her other incarnations. Each
time, she had been involved in magic. Each time, she had been guided by
someone, by the same soul. The Tou Tetsu couldn't resist the sweet smell
of Jill, and he used his human form to lick her neck. Holding a male form against her, Jill
remembered that it was the soul of the man now called Terrence Magi who had
kept her company all those centuries, each time patiently waiting for her to
incarnate again. Each time they had taken care of a being who
held a spark of the child they had created when they performed the first ritual
together. This time, Jill had found one of those sparks
before Magi. She knew they could help They would find a way to shield his love and
his lover, because Whatever magic she would have to learn this
time, Jill was ready. The spell Magi had put on her pillow had begun
her training. Jill was the Protector.
Various Kinds of Supernatural Magic (that would be chapter 5)
Jill was smiling in her sleep.
She remembered the important moments she had lived in prior lives, and that was good for many
reasons.
She would be able to begin protecting both Leon and D.
She remembered to whom she owed the return of those memories, and she was delighted to
recall a soul that was so dear to her.
The first time they had met, they'd only had a few hours together, but they'd spent their entire
lives together the next time her soul was given a body with which to tread the earth. Terrence
was dear to her.
The fact that the man was extremely gorgeous was no hardship either.
The Tou Tetsu decided to push his luck. The woman was already naked, so he swiftly divested
himself of his samfu, and he leant back towards Jill. She was so open-minded, so kind, and she
could be so powerful that Wong understood why the magician was so fond of her.
But Wong despised the magician.
He despised him because he could do magic, and he could look like he was any of the other
inhabitants of the shop (the first time Magi had met Jill, she had believed she was being guided
by a firefly, and that almost made Wong snort). She was too innocent about their ways. One day,
she might be able to mistress threads of magic, but he thought that she would never have what
he or Magi had. She would never be enough to be allowed to live near the Count according to
him. Count D should belong to him, not to that insufferable blond Occidental!
Wong thought he knew what he had to do.
The months he had spent in the shop had taught him that D's kin could hear what was going on
in the pet shop if the thoughts were aimed at someone in particular. All he had to do was warn
D's father about what his son was planning to do, and the Kami would come and dispose of the
Count's lover.
For good measure, Wong would make sure that the woman could participate in no ritual. That
would not be such an ordeal because she tasted sweet, and maybe he would have a bite if she
resisted too much.
He looked at the woman, who was quietly sleeping.
Of course, the Count would be angry, but after a few weeks, or maybe months, the Tou Tetsu
would be forgiven, and the two humans forgotten.
Q-chan was asleep on the spare pillow, and the eldest D had said that he would do nothing for,
or against, his grandson until the actual ritual began.
Wong decided to dispose of the Protector, and then he would contact the Count's father.
He thought that all he had to do was to defile the female, and he was about to plunder her mouth
when the sparrow and the black kitten attacked him.
Q-chan was snoring on the spare pillow while the tiny grey-brown bird and the ball of fur
launched themselves onto their fellow.
The bird was pecking his skull and pulling hairs out with its small talons.
While Wong was trying to catch the flying creature, the kitten was drawing blood from his torso,
thanks to its claws with near-scalpel sharpness.
Wong was accustomed to physical pain, so he didn't scream when the kitten fastened its sharp
teeth onto his throat.
Deep in her magical sleep Jill felt that something weird was going on where her body lay. There
had been no movements to hint that Wong was about to attack - after all, he was an expert - but
she felt the efforts of the two tiny creatures as they worked to prevent something she could not
really identify from happening.
Slowly, but steadily, Jill's soul travelled back to the form where she now belonged.
Wong noticed that Jill was stirring, and he didn't want to have to face the young woman while
he was being sliced and pierced by the two tiny furies.
He jumped off the bed, back-handed the sparrow that fell onto Q-chan's pillow, and he took the
kitten off his throat by pulling its neck away from him.
He threw the kitten next to Jill and fled from the room.
Jill fully came back to the here and now the instant the door closed.
She shook her head to get rid of the last traces of magic, and she immediately felt that something
was strange. She reached for her bedside table light, and she remembered that she no longer was
in her flat.
'Light,' she groaned. The shop obeyed and added some luminosity.
Jill looked around.
The kitten was a bit shaken, but it looked reasonably all right. The sparrow was not that lucky.
"Where's the weird ram?" Jill thought.
She spotted the samfu on the floor, and she remembered that she'd had the feeling that a man
had been holding her. She noticed the blood on the sheets. Her mind was still slightly fogged,
but she put together the pieces of that mystery.
She caressed the kitten and asked, 'Are you all right?'
It nodded.
Jill turned her attention to the sparrow.
'It looks like whatever the ram is it attacked your companion,' Jill said.
The kitten nodded again, and hissed.
'Why isn't Terry coming to help?' Jill growled.
'Maybe Magi Sensei believes that you have to deal with this alone?' a young girl said.
Jill blinked.
"All right," she thought, "Terry can look like a firefly, and the black kitten is a woman... of
course!"
The girl was obviously Asian. She looked rather young, wore a pastel-green furisode, and her
black hair was tied in an elaborate chignon. There was a nasty mark on her neck, and Jill was
certain that she could get fingerprints from it.
'Alone, my ass!' Jill growled. 'This was supposed to be teamwork. Whatever his reason, I'm
going to kick him somewhere painful when I see him!'
The young girl was stunned. No one had ever spoken of Magi like that before, at least, not in
front of her.
'Is this a sparrow, or one of your fellows?' Jill asked her.
'Not a sparrow,' the girl answered. 'He is Xiuren(4).'
Jill found that the breathing of the tiny male creature was not to her liking, and one of his wings
seemed to be standing at a strange angle. When he was all right, she'd have time to ask the
former kitten to teach her to pronounce his name.
'Why can I see you as a girl, and he's still a bird to me?' Jill asked.
'I do not know, Dame Jill. Maybe he is too weak, or maybe you're clinging to the idea of the
sparrow,' she answered.
Whatever the reason, Jill felt that she had to do something, and fast. Suddenly, she remembered
a little something from her dream.
She leant towards the flying rabbit who had opened his eyes and was observing her from the
spare pillow.
'Help me, please. I must see him. I can help a man, but I don't know how to help a sparrow,' she
said as calmly as she could.
'Kyu?'
'Please! He's in pain,' she begged.
She hated feeling so powerless. She drew her hand near the bird, but it was so small that she
didn't dare touch him.
The eldest D saw the tears in her eyes, and he stood up. He went nearer to the sparrow and took
one of Jill's fingers in his paws. He opened his mouth and made sure that Jill was conscious that
he was about to bite her.
'Whatever it takes,' she whispered.
The eldest D smiled, and licked her finger.
Jill found that strange, until she was wrapped in a blinding light that sent pleasant shivers up her
spine.
When she opened her eyes, a young man was lying on her bed.
He was Asian, too. He wore a peacock-blue samfu, and his long hair was braided. His shoulder was
obviously dislocated, his nose was bleeding, and he had a nasty mark on his cheek.
'Are you conscious enough to understand me?' Jill asked him.
'Yes, Dame Jill,' he answered bravely.
Jill easily assessed that his nose and cheek could be tended to later. She had to take care of his
shoulder.
'I am sorry, Sweetheart, this is going to be painful,' she announced.
He nodded his understanding.
He only gasped and moaned when she dealt with his shoulder.
Terry came into her room with D's emergency kit.
Without a word, she took it and took care of Xiuren.
She examined the girl as well, though she protested, saying that she was fine.
'Nothing would have happened,' Terry said.
Jill slapped him. It was not a powerful blow, but it surprised him.
He opened his mouth, but Jill menaced him with a finger and growled, 'I wish you a good night.'
Q-chan flew to his shoulder, and both left.
'Magi Sensei must have his reasons,' the girl said.
'And after millennia of incarnations, that idiot can't spot a traitor! I'll have a word with Wong
first thing tomorrow morning,' Jill growled.
'He can be dangerous, Dame Jill,' Xiuren said.
'Handcuffed, and with my gun pointing at his family jewels, I'm ready to bet that his highness
is going to listen to me!' Jill said.
The girl paled.
'Don't worry, Sweetie! He took me by surprise in some unnatural sleep - for which Terry is
going to have to account as well!' Jill snarled.
The girl covered her mouth with one small hand, and the young man hugged her with his good
arm.
Jill shook her head, grabbed the jacket of Wong's samfu, and put it on. It would be better to be
properly introduced to her two fellows.
'I would be delighted if you both only called me Jill. I may be the "Protector", but I don't know
yet what it means,' she said.
'I am Tetsuya(5),' the girl said.
Jill thought that her name would not give her a sore throat. The young man's, on the contrary...
It took her a bit too long for her taste to pronounce his name reasonably well.
He was rather happy of her efforts. For an Occidental who didn't know his native language, had
been exposed to high magic, attacked, and awoken in the middle of the night, "Chuijien" after
a twentieth try was pretty good.
'I understand that Q-chan must be curious about me. He's had time to get used to Leon, but I'm
a strange addition, and quite a sudden one. What was Wong doing in my room? Why did you
stay with me?' Jill asked.
'The motives of the Eldest are unknown to us,' Xiuren declared.
'You know nothing of what he or D think?'
The young man and woman shook their heads.
'The Count takes care of us. The Eldest talks to us only once; when we enter the shop, he forbids
us to share what he is with the Count,' Tetsuya said.
'If it is the Count who cares for you, why didn't you tell him that his grandfather was with him?
He might have been happy to know,' Jill wondered.
Tetsuya gasped.
'We are not meant to disobey an Elder,' Xiuren said.
Jill was beginning to see a pattern in this. 'Would D have to obey his father if he disapproved
of his relationship with Leon?' she asked.
Tetsuya looked at the floor, which was enough to make Jill's blood freeze in her veins.
'Do you think that his grandfather would stand for him before the ritual is started?' Jill went on.
She added in a thought, "Whatever that means."
Xiuren look at the floor in his turn.
All this was a world away for Jill. Even if D and his kin were deities, they had decided to be a
part of this world, and she failed to understand how D's broken heart could please his father.
She realized that if anything were to happen to Leon before he and D were fully protected, she
would lose a dear friend, but D would find himself condemned to an eternity of void. How could
a father wish that upon his child?
She ended up reflecting that being a deity might not be that different from what her own species
did. She had often dealt with cases where parents had kicked their barely legal children onto the
streets because they were involved with the wrong person - may it be a gender, colour, religion
or whatever issue. Why would it be different for D? It was just more dangerous, and Jill didn't
have all the cards to deal with that particular game. She hoped Wong wouldn't mess with things,
and she hoped the night would give him time to think about what his betrayal would do to D. She
wished to be enough to help.
'I guess I'll have to play along, then,' she said. 'I'm grateful for your protection, and I'm truly
sorry that you've been hurt because of me.'
'There is nothing we can do in the day, but we have been sent by our fellows to guard you while
you rest or train,' Tetsuya said.
'We are creatures of the night,' Xiuren explained when he noticed Jill's puzzled look.
Jill had many questions, but she yawned, and Xiuren said, 'We have plenty of nights to answer
all your questions. Now you must rest. The Tou Tetsu will not come back, but we're going to
stay with you nonetheless.'
'Tou Tetsu?'
'The one you call "Wong",' Tetsuya explained.
Jill nodded slowly.
The three got off the bed, and Jill saw that her sheets were now spotless.
'I hope D knows how lucky he is,' she whispered between yawns.
Tetsuya giggled.
Jill picked up the trousers and put the piece of clothing on a chair by the bed along with the
jacket. 'Always keep the evidence,' she said, more to herself than to her visitors.
She settled back under her covers, and Xiuren and Tetsuya lay next to her.
Jill thought that the bed looked bigger - and maybe it was.
She dreamt of a singing bird perched on her shoulder, while a kitten purred on her heart.
On the following morning, Jill awoke wrapped by her two guards.
She happily noted that both looked fully healed.
She got up, and Xiuren found his way into Tetsuya's welcoming arms. The cat and the bird were
getting along pretty well it seemed. That made Jill smile, she would have to ask them what they
were to each other.
However touching they were, Jill had some business to attend to.
She put on old boxer shorts and a white T-shirt. She searched her handbag and retrieved her gun
and handcuffs.
She put on Wong's samfu and rolled up the sleeves and trousers legs.
She hid her accessories in her belt under the jacket.
She had one last thing to do. She opened her arms, took a deep breath and asked, 'Will you help
me? I can't do this alone.'
The shop accepted her, and Jill found herself wrapped in warmth.
She smiled.
'Will you guide me to Wong?' she asked.
Her door opened, and she followed the whiffs of breakfast.
Wong was in the kitchen when she found him. He froze when he saw her entering the room,
wearing his clothes.
She surprised the hell out of him when she said with a pout, 'Why did you leave so suddenly?
Did you lose a fight to a kitten and a sparrow? I had to have Q-chan help me.'
Wong's heart leapt in his ribcage. He thought that this was even better than he might have
dreamt. She'd liked being held by him, and she couldn't see his fellows. He could still get his
plan going.
With a blinding smile, Jill walked to him.
The next thing he knew, his hands were cuffed in his back, the cloth that had been on his
shoulder was stuck in his mouth, he had been pushed onto the counter, and the unmistakable cold
canon of a gun was resting on his privates.
'Not too pleasant to be abused, is it? How far would you have gone if Xiuren and Tetsuya had
not protected me?'
He tried to move off, but the sound of the trigger being pulled back convinced him that the
counter was very comfortable.
'You are stupid,' Jill spat.
He looked at her as if she were a strange creature.
'Even if you had succeeded in taking me - as I was bathing in magic, or by rape - it would have
been useless. I am not a naïve virgin. It is the faith I'll put in the ritual that will count, not the
state of purity of my body,' she said.
From his genitals, she placed the gun unto his heart. He whimpered when he felt her small hand
wrapping around his cock, and he began reacting to the touch. She pushed his light trousers off
his hips. One of her lovers had taught her how to drive a man up the wall with a good hand-job,
and Jill was very gifted.
'Silly boy,' she purred into his ear, 'we might have had so much fun together.'
He was so caught up in the experience and the feel of the woman's hand that he didn't pay
attention to the verbs and tense she'd used. He would never have imagined that being bound and
gagged at the mercy of a lower creature might be that pleasurable, but Jill's power over him
excited him. Besides, now that he thought of it, his jealousy had prevented him from seeing that
she was right, and only the purity of her intentions would be taken into account when she entered
the ritual. He had been stupid, but she was there, wanking him and teasing his balls. If he played
this right, maybe he could convince her that he'd been clumsy, but that he had fallen in love with
her - humans believed him when he was charming. If only he could make her fall in love with
him for real, she could no longer be the Protector.
He let her have her way with his body.
The gun disappeared from his view, then she freed him of the improvised gag, and last she
opened the handcuffs.
He obeyed her, and didn't move from the counter.
Her hand was so soft that if he closed his eyes he might come to believe that it was somehow D
who was making him feel that good.
'Love is a strange thing, isn't it?' she purred, leaning against him.
He did close his eyes and nodded.
He focussed on the small hand and thought of D.
On purpose, Jill reminded him that she had nails, and it made him buck. She was sure that his
lips had formed a single letter which was not a vowel.
"Showtime!' thought Jill, and she made a mental note to send a message to the man who had
taught her so much about male orgasm. She knew for sure that Wong was too far gone to resist
climaxing, even with what she was about to do.
She wanked him towards completion as she said, 'So, this is how you thank D. He takes you in,
cares for you, and the only thing you do is repay him by trying to destroy his happiness. And you
dare call that love? It's pride. If you were in love with him, you'd sacrifice for him. You don't
know the meaning of love.'
With one last touch, Wong erupted all over his stomach, and he fell onto the floor.
When he opened his eyes, Jill was dropping his samfu next to him.
He began sobbing. The bitterness of his climax tore his heart.
'I didn't know what was disturbing me about you. Now I know. You pretend to love, while all
you want is to possess,' she said.
He looked at her through his tears, and shame overwhelmed him.
'The next time you see D with Leon, look at his eyes. Love - true, deep and unconditional love -
is what you'll see in his eyes. Right afterwards, take a good look in a mirror. If you are not a
pitiful idiot, even you will see the difference.'
He kept sobbing on the floor, tepid spunk dripping off of him.
'That little display was just to show you what I can do. Now clean that mess, and bring my
breakfast to my room,' she ordered.
She turned around, not waiting for an answer. If she didn't get her breakfast, she might decide
to try "Tou Tetsu-hunting on Sunday morning".
In the frame of the door, Terry was gaping. He had a blinking Q-chan on his shoulder.
She walked to him and said, 'I remembered my Italian incarnation. Any comment on my
technique?'
Terry shook his head.
'Good!' she said with a bright smile as she kicked his ankle.
He howled.
She took his face in her hands and kissed him.
Terry and Q-chan were now blinking in unison.
Jill looked at the eldest D and chuckled as she whispered, 'If I'm not careful, I'll end up petting
a deity.' She caressed Terry's cheek and added, 'Don't leave me alone again.'
'Sorry,' he said.
She gave him another kiss and said, 'We're fine, now.'
'Dame Jill?' Wong said from the floor.
'What?' she barked.
'Kyu?'
'That one hasn't earned the right to use my name!' she answered Q-chan, and she was sure that
the eldest was smiling.
'I've done something terrible, Dame,' Wong confessed.
'What have you done?' she growled.
'I've sent a message to the Count's father,' he said.
She had no time to ask what he'd said exactly, because the shop trembled. Jill felt that it was not
an earthquake, it was the magic of the shop that was being disrupted.
Jill ran to D and Leon's quarters and came in uninvited. She was followed by Terry and Q-chan
and she was not the first.
D was trying to fight his father's messenger off Leon.
Now that Jill could see the residents in their human forms, she wondered what the huge cliché
of a truck-driver looked like in his animalistic form. Neither Leon, nor D were a match for him.
Jill took her gun.
'Move aside, D!' she yelled as she aimed at the man.
D jumped off the man's back, and Jill shot him in the heart.
He collapsed on Leon, but D managed to gather his lover in his arms.
'I am but a first messenger,' the intruder declared as he rose to his feet.
Jill's mind thought that it should be impossible, but a particle of magic was sheltered in her
heart.
'There is no need for others. We got the message. Namely that some of D's kin are not happy
with his choice for a companion,' Jill said.
'He should only care for animals,' the messenger said, standing with a gaping wound.
'And what are we, birthday cakes?' snorted Jill. 'Maybe humans are too intricate for the mind
of someone pitiful enough to wish harm to a... kinsman.'
The messenger snorted in his turn and walked towards Jill. D's father had been informed of the
presence of the Protector. She had to be dealt with, as well.
Jill thought faster than light.
If her gun did nothing, then only magic would.
"Magic... Magic... There must be something that I can do..." she thought.
A quick look at Leon and at Terry, and she had the solution - she thought. She hoped she
wouldn't make a fool of herself.
She gave her gun to Terry, hopped out of her shorts, doffed her T-shirt, and knelt.
'Please, let me remember. Please!' she begged, and closed her eyes.
The messenger almost had his hands around her throat when a pink flame escaped from her
heart. It flew around the messenger and grew, and grew, until it formed a bird of fire.
The rose-tinted bird flew to Leon and searched his soul.
Leon smiled at the flame. He knew it was a good thing to have it here.
The bird pecked Leon's lips and launched itself at the messenger, who burnt down within
seconds. Its duty done, it flew back inside Jill, but the experience was slightly painful because
its size was different. Jill swooned.
Terry was frozen.
Leon crawled to Jill, and D followed suit.
The trio was naked, and Terry felt a pang of jealousy, then he reacted and helped D and Leon
carry her to the bed.
Jill had remembered the presence of the Egyptian Goddess in a corner of her soul, and the words
of the Wise One telling her that She always listened if you asked with all your heart. Jill had
countered magic with magic.
She was fine, but it had been just a bit overwhelming to be a doorway for the Goddess.
D and Leon each massaged one of her shoulders, and she quickly stirred.
'And I haven't had breakfast yet,' she murmured.
D smiled.
'You ok, Leon?' she asked.
'Yeah. You?'
She nodded minutely.
"Don't be jealous," the eldest D thought in Terry's mind.
"They're so gorgeous together."
"She will protect them, not fall in love with them. There is no place in the human or my
grandson's hearts for anyone else. She will be ours, Magi," the eldest declared.
"Ours?"
"I have made up my mind."
The trio on the bed didn't notice Terry's leaning onto the nearest piece of furniture.
He hadn't thought that this incarnation would be that pleasant.
An Intruder in Paradise (except if I made a mistake, it's chapter 6)
Jill was slowly recovering from the instinctive magic she had performed to protect Leon and D.
She was still between both males, and as she slightly turned to ask Terry for her clothes, she
brushed her hand against D's skin.
With rosy cheeks, she took his hand. D understood why she was doing that and he smiled
warmly.
She turned to Leon and asked, 'Do you know how lucky you are?'
Leon was looking deep down into his lover's eyes when he whispered dreamily, 'Yeah.'
Of course, Leon was lucky because a deity was madly in love with him, but what Jill had just
discovered - and Kami knows that it was a delicious bonus in lovemaking - how impossibly soft
D's skin was. It was softer than the silk on the bed.
Terry gave her T-shirt and boxers to Jill, but as soon as she'd taken them from his hands she
collapsed back onto the pillows. D, Leon and Terry helped her back into her clothes, and the two
who were naked jumped into robes or underwear - according to whom it concerned.
They were all more or less dressed when Wong came into the room with a tray, as Jill had
ordered.
'I was informed that you were still here, Dame Jill. Will you have your breakfast here?' he
asked.
She nodded and he brought her the tray.
Jill was still resting on D and Leon's bed, the lovers were in each other's arms at the foot of the
bed, Terry was sitting by Jill, and Wong knelt near her.
Terry gave her some tea. Q-chan moved a muffin towards her.
'Thank you!' she said warmly.
She was deeply touched by the attention from the eldest Kami. She touched him and realized that
his skin was as soft as his grandson's.
Q-chan wondered if he should tell Magi just how powerful she was. There were signs the Kami
could decipher, and he could see that she was more than the Protector. He would have to ask
Magi to tell him again about the incarnations he had spent with the soul of the one now called
Jill. There were signs, but they were so incredible that even the eldest D had troubles grasping
the consequences they would have on their lives.
'Is there anything I can do for you, Dame Jill?' Wong asked.
'I thought you didn't like the title that goes with the training and the status of Protector?' Leon
commented, feeling that something was odd.
'Anything?' Jill asked Wong.
He nodded and bowed his head.
'Tell them what you did,' Jill ordered.
Wong confessed his crimes.
Leon was torn between his desire to wring Wong's neck and the urge to kick Magi in the groin -
hard.
He decided to start with the mentor.
'You left her with that twisted psychopath before she could see the inhabitants of the shop and
you put a spell on her! Bloody good work, mate! That's how you care for her?!' Leon growled.
'Leon! I've had a word with the gentleman, and he's now grasping the concept of teamwork.
Besides, I had guards, a black kitten and a sparrow,' Jill announced.
'You slept with Xiuren and Tetsuya! I bet you didn't get cold!' Leon exclaimed.
'How come you can pronounce his name so well?' she asked with a hint of jealousy in her voice.
She looked at D in Leon's arms and added, 'Right, silly question!'
Leon was ready to dice Wong, but by now he knew that anything that D would say would be
more efficient than any of his actions.
From his lover's arms, D looked at the Tou Tetsu and said, 'I thought you were a friend.'
Wong looked at D, then at Jill and back at D. He understood how stupid he had been and he
cried on the floor.
Magi helped Wong up and led him back to the kitchen.
'He may be a powerful magician, but I believe that he sucks in strategy,' Jill said between bites.
'He is a magician, therefore he believes in redemption,' declared D.
'Personally, I'll have Wong on my probation list. He's jealous and possessive,' Leon said.
'And mean,' added Jill.
'Jill?' D wondered.
'That breakfast was delicious, but I'm not Chiujen. I wouldn't mind some more,' she said.
'Xiuren,' Leon said.
'Your first attempts at Chinese were not much better, Airen,' D defended his Protector.
Leon gathered D in his arms and gave him a thorough kiss that left the Kami speechless.
'I meant to help the lady,' Leon added, 'now that I've got the trick.'
'Thanks, Leon,' Jill said.
The blond caressed his lover's hair and went to Jill. He took her in his arms and carried her to
the kitchen for a second breakfast.
Wong had been soothed by Magi, and he was preparing the first meal for the members of the
household.
'Thanks, Leon,' Jill said as he deposited her on a chair. 'I do feel drained.'
Q-chan floated to her shoulder and she scratched one of his ears. His grandson hid his smile
behind his first cup of tea.
'Beside the unexpected visit, could one of you enlighten me?' Leon asked.
'About what?' Jill wondered.
'How you saved us,' Leon said.
'It's strange. You know how we react on the ground... Well, it was the same. Thanks to Terry,
I remembered things that I did or saw before,' she began.
'Before?' Leon wondered.
'Prior incarnations, Leon,' Terry said. 'You had some as well, but it is not in my power to let you
remember those.'
'Oh,' Leon said.
'And in my first memories, there was this old woman for whom I was like a daughter. She told
me that with faith, anything was possible, and that her Goddess - our Goddess - always listened
to prayers from the heart,' Jill explained as she spread jam on a slice of cake.
'It cannot be all,' D intervened.
'At one point in that life, I met Terry and we did magic together. I don't know if the husband of
the Goddess spoke to him,' Jill said, and Terry shook his head, 'but before she left my body, she
told me that she was pleased with me and that she would always answer me if my intentions
were pure. It looks like it worked. By the way, Terry, do you think that she might like an offering
of incense to thank her?'
Terry blinked incredulously. His apprentice was wonderfully receptive, caring, and thoughtful.
'Yes. Yes, that would be nice to honour her. I could teach you the words to thank her in her
language,' he said.
'I bet she'll hear my heart,' she answered.
Terry choked on his tea while Q-chan chuckled on Jill's shoulder.
She gave the eldest D a bit of her cake, and he said in Terry's head, "You cannot possibly
imagine what you've got yourself into! She's much more than what you saw."
The cat was out of the bag for the magician, but the eldest D wasn't sure that even someone as
powerful as Terrence Magi would see it. It had taken the eldest almost a day, and the incident
provoked by his son's messenger, to finally see it. What could a mere man possibly see?
'I could give you some of my own incense,' D offered.
'I'd rather have you tell me where I can find some. I... Damn! It's silly, but I feel that I have to
buy it myself,' she said.
'It is not silly. I would even say that you have a very sure instinct. If it is your offering, it is
logical that you find it yourself,' D said, bowing slightly.
'Do you think that the shop might like some flowers, or a plant maybe? Its magic helped me a
lot,' she added.
D didn't have to answer, the kitchen shivered with delight.
The rest of breakfast was quiet. Jill devoured more than Leon, but considering what she had been
through in the night and the early morning, it was perfectly understandable.
Once or twice she looked at Wong, who was observing D and Leon, and she knew that he'd no
longer be a problem. He would certainly not bring breakfast in bed to Leon anytime soon, but
he would no longer be a threat. He now saw that D was completely in love with the human.
Jill hoped that they'd be able to face the next messenger that D's father was bound to send.
Their first day together was spent chatting in a comfortable parlour.
Tetsuya had dragged Xiuren there, and their heads rested on Jill's lap as they slept.
'It's a good thing they didn't come to our room. They would have been no match for the thing
that attacked us,' Leon commented as he fondly looked at the two youths.
Jill caressed their heads and nodded.
'That pink bird that was or maybe is in Jill is a messenger of an Egyptian Goddess,' Leon said.
'No, it is a manifestation of the Goddess herself. She still has worshippers all around the world,'
Terry said. 'And she kissed you.'
'Why did she?' the blond wondered.
'At some level, you harbour a bit of her and her husband,' Terry said.
Leon blinked and declared, 'I don't want to get a headache, so I'll trust you on that one.'
'How does it feel to be kissed by a Goddess?' enquired Terry.
'Nice, but not as good as my favourite Kami,' Leon said very seriously.
Terry blushed and Jill giggled happily.
Her life had been turned upside down because she and Leon happened to be fans of the same
dead actor and she got to witness what was going on between D and Leon in "dream-land", but
she was delighted to see her best friend so joyfully wrapped in love, even if some sword of
Damocles was hanging above his head.
'Kyu!' protested Q-chan.
'I am in love with your grandson,' Leon told the eldest. 'Nothing compares with him.'
Jill felt like purring, but Tetsuya did for them both.
On Monday morning, Jill and Leon drove to work together, and Jill had their change of address
discreetly noted in the Department's computer thanks to a friend of hers.
Jill was a good strategist, and she feared that D's father would try something against Leon on the
streets. She was not always with him, so one day she told him what she'd do if she were an angry
Kami, and she asked her friend to be careful. She didn't want him to be afraid to do his job, but
she wanted him to be conscious that there might be some extra danger out, waiting to hurt him.
He promised to obey her and he kept his word.
Jill thanked the Goddess, brought a nice orchid in pot for the shop which shivered its thanks, she
took to bringing Q-chan little treats in secret every evening, and her "rent" made D very happy -
and a bit high on sugar, which was always good for Leon.
Terry trained her and left her at night with her two bodyguards - though the kitten and the
sparrow always found their way to each other's arms in the middle of the night.
Jill had believed that D's father would try to kill Leon in the days following the death of his first
messenger.
After a month of waiting, she knew that the Kami was playing with their nerves.
Leon was so in love with D that he wasn't too frightened, and in consequence D's mind was put
at rest thanks to Leon's quiet strength.
Jill was watching.
Terry was amazed by her instinct.
Q-chan was delighted with the human female - even if she now was petting him.
It happened one morning, weeks after Leon and Jill had moved in with D, Q-chan and Terry
Magi.
The two officers were right in the middle of a staff meeting when all colours drained from
Leon's face in an unnatural way.
'Are you all right, Orcot?' the chief asked.
'I must go home.'
'Why?'
'My Airen is in danger,' and with those cryptic words, he fled from the room.
'His "what"?' someone said.
'His spouse,' Jill said as she rushed to take her gun from her drawer.
'He spent so much time in Chinatown that he got himself a Shanghai Lily?' someone else said,
smirking.
Jill's look could have petrified anyone, and the idiot who had spoken gulped.
'How do you know where he's gone?' asked the chief.
'That's because we're sharing the same Kibbutz,' she said, just before leaving.
That morning she had kept the car keys, so she knew that she was bound to catch up with Leon
when he'd rush back to fetch the keys.
They ran into each other on the parking-lot, and she refused to give him the keys.
'You're not driving in that state, Leon,' she said. 'What do you feel? What happened?' she asked
as she exited the building at an illegal rate of speed.
Leon rubbed his hands on his face and yelled louder than the sirens, 'D's spell has kept us
connected even after he let me remember our first time together. Suddenly, he's...'
'Leon?'
'He's sort of gone, I can't feel him. It feels like someone is chewing my heart slowly,' he said,
and he cried.
Jill drove faster.
When they reached the shop, they both ran into it.
D was sitting on the chaise in the hall, with his back to the door.
Leon thought that he was completely stupid. His beloved D was there, safe and sound.
Leon sighed with relief.
He should have phoned home before making a fool of himself - once more. It must have been
some magical trick, maybe the spell that linked them just wore off.
Leon walked to D, and touched his shoulder.
The Kami turned around and looked at Leon. Two perfectly matching irises looked at the human
who finally saw that the person who was sitting there was holding someone else.
Leon saw the body of his lover, and he hoped it was just unconsciousness.
The tears in the eldest eyes made him howl with despair.
'No!' cried Jill.
'I didn't think my son would do such a horrible thing,' the eldest said. 'I am sorry, Leon.'
The eldest looked so much like D and sounded so much like him that it was painful.
'What happened?' asked Jill.
'Soon after you left, a boy brought pastries for my grandson. There was a note with those - a note
from you, Leon. My grandson didn't foresee such a treacherous attack, and he tasted the
poisoned cakes,' the eldest explained.
Leon took the note that was still on the table. It was a perfect imitation of his handwriting, and
D's father had dared use the pet-name that Leon gave to his lover.
'If D leaves me, I'll kill your son. Slowly. Painfully,' Leon vowed in a low and menacing voice.
'My son is a Kami, my child,' the eldest reminded Leon, while he kept stroking D's hair.
'So what? If he can kill my Darling lover, it means that you're not invulnerable, and if I lose
him, I'll sell my soul to avenge D. There is no life without him,' Leon said, as he knelt next to
D.
'There must be something we can do, some antidote to the poison,' Jill said.
'Yes, there is,' the eldest said.
'What is it?' Leon asked, taking the hand of the eldest in his.
'Leon must reach for D's soul and offer a gift of pure love. You must know that you might die,'
the eldest said.
'There is no life without him,' Leon repeated.
The eldest allowed Leon to carry D into their room where Terry had brought what they would
need.
Leon would be alone in this.
He had to light some special incense which would bring him back to the plane of the dreams
where D's soul had been sent by the poison.
Just before he slipped into this plane, he would have to be conscious enough to kiss D so that
he'd know where to look for his lover.
Before Leon was left to try and save D, Jill sat on their bed, took Leon's face in her hands and
declared, 'Baby, you have a tiny little part of the Goddess in you, she left it both as a reminder,
and as an offering. She kissed you before she rid us of the messenger. She is more powerful than
D's father and his magic. Believe in her and she will guide your love.'
'Really?' Leon choked, about to cry.
'Yes,' she said.
Leon could read no lie in her eyes. He looked at his beloved, who had been poisoned by his own
father, and he decided that he would bring D back.
From that moment on, Leon ignored the people around him and he began his task.
The eldest D guided Terry and Jill out of the room.
Jill surprised him when she turned around, touched the door and begged the shop to protect them
during Leon's rescue mission. The eldest felt that even he couldn't have entered the room if he
had wished so. It was a good thing, but the eldest feared that danger might lurk in the plane
where Leon would have to search for D.
The eldest took Jill in his arms and led her back to the hall.
'Why did he do that?' she murmured.
'My son has a clear-cut idea of our duties. I must have failed somewhere,' the eldest said.
'It's not your fault if he's a twisted fuck,' she growled.
Terry was shocked, but the eldest D found her outburst refreshing, and he held her tighter,
laughing softly.
'You look so much like D. It's a miracle Leon didn't have a stroke when he saw you,' she said.
'It's almost disturbing.'
'If I keep this form, I might as well change a few things,' he said.
Jill blinked once, and D's carbon-copy now was wearing a cream-coloured linen suit and ivory
shirt, tie, socks and shoes. His hair was shorter as well.
'This is amazing,' Jill said.
'Count D, do you think that Leon may succeed?' Terry asked.
'I cannot tell.'
The eldest had noticed that Jill flinched when Terry called him. He took her hand in his and said,
'You can call me Q-chan. It might be easier to introduce me.'
She nodded.
They waited in silence.
Leon had never been more determined in his entire life.
The world was hell without D.
On their bed, it looked as if D was only asleep, but Leon's soul couldn't feel the gentle presence
of his lover, and that was painful beyond words.
The detective lit the incense and he registered the blue fumes wrapping around him.
He took D's soulless form in his arms and found his lips.
Suddenly, he was wrapped in night and falling. He had his eyes wide open, and he couldn't see
a thing. It was scary.
He could feel the wind, and he thought that he would crash and die there.
A kiss on his lips.
Not from D.
Leon was being engendered by a priest and a young girl.
He was also a child of the Goddess and her divine husband.
He was but a spark of it all.
He was human.
Worthless.
His lover's father was mean, he knew it.
There was only one thing that Leon could do.
He trusted in Jill with all his power.
'Help me!' he shouted in the darkness.
No answer, and the on-going feeling of fall.
'Mother! Help me!'
Slender arms wrapped around him and caught him. Then he heard the voice of his human
mother.
'Your call has been heard,' she said, and it made him cry with relief.
He finally saw some light far away. Pink light, and it was growing. The bird of fire found him,
and his departed human mother kissed his brow and dissolved away.
Leon didn't know where he was, but he could feel the ground under his feet. He knelt in front
of that divinity which was more powerful than anything D's father could do to his son.
'Lady of light,' Leon said between sobs, 'He's been taken from our world by deceit. His father
fed him poison in my name. Help me, Lady. At the very least, allow me to tell him the truth.'
The Goddess assumed her human form and took his chin, forcing him to look at her.
Leon felt that she was a loving mother, and the golden light which was wrapped around her
suddenly gave him hope.
'Tell me, my child, what would you do if I could only grant you that last wish?' she asked, her
voice soft and caressing.
'I would die a happy man, Lady. The thought that he might believe that I caused him harm is
unbearable.'
'You would live to avenge him.'
Fat tears slithered onto the hand of the Goddess, and Leon said between gasps, 'I overestimated
my strength, Lady. I thought I might do something, but I'll collapse in my world without D by
my side.'
Leon had proclaimed true love on this plane.
The Goddess smiled.
'My beloved husband was taken from me,' she said.
'Is there anything that I could do for you, Lady?' he offered innocently.
She was simply taken aback by such a sincere and kind offer.
His shining eyes moved even a Goddess.
'You could let us bless you during the Ritual,' she said.
'You know about it?'
'We all know about it. You do not know yet how important you are, my child.'
Leon closed his eyes and whispered, 'It won't even start if...'
'What do you want?' she asked.
'I want to open my eyes and find my lover and companion safe and sound in my arms,' Leon
said.
He started falling again.
He opened his eyes wide. Purple and gold irises were looking at him. Pink lips were moving
under his.
D was kissing him back.
They were in their room, in the pet shop.
Leon thanked the Goddess with all his heart, and he was sure that he felt a pink flame in his heart
- the next second he felt stupid for even having such a thought.
Leon was tempted to ravish his lover right here and there, but they had friends and family who
were afraid for them both.
'Darling Leon, the instant I felt the poison, I knew it was a gift from my father.'
Leon pecked D's lips, stood up, and carried him.
'You brought me back,' D said, blushing.
Leon blushed a deeper shade of red.
D had heard Leon's conversation with the Goddess, but they would have time to discuss it.
Leon knew where the others would be, and Jill began crying the moment Leon walked in with
D in his arms.
'Amazing,' Q-chan commented.
Leon deposited his lover next to his parent, and he offered to bring some tea.
The light in D's eyes showed that it was a most welcome idea.
Leon thoroughly ignored Wong, who was sobbing on the floor, and he swiftly brought back a
tray and four cups.
'I think you forgot my transformation,' Q-chan said.
'No, Eldest, but I feel too shaken for tea,' Leon answered as he distributed the cups.
'Nonsense, Child!' Q-chan said, and he conjured another cup out of thin air.
D still looked pale, which said a lot.
Q-chan was about to comment on the fact when three thugs walked in. They were obviously
surprised to see the eldest.
'Pray, tell my son that I am back,' he simply said.
The intruders fled.
The eldest knew which poison had been used, and he knew that his son did not expect him to
take sides. He looked at the officers and declared, 'You must get used to our ways.'
He sliced a small vein on his left wrist with a sharp nail, and fed his grandson.
A few drops were enough to rid him of the last remains of the poison.
Q-chan's wrist closed itself and D settled in his grandfather's arms where he fell asleep.
Leon caressed D's hair and smiled at the eldest.
'Thank you,' he said softly. 'I'll go and phone that I'm staying here today.'
'I'm staying, too,' Jill said.
Leon nodded and left.
'I can't believe that he did it, and so fast,' Q-chan commented.
'I felt Her helping him,' Jill said.
'She isn't more powerful, you know,' Terry said.
'It was not a question of power, it was a question of faith. Leon's love would have brought D
back from the dead,' Jill stated.
'How do you know?'
'I'm a woman.'
Terry gaped inelegantly, and the eldest laughed softly.
Fun at Night (chapter 7... I think it's chapter 7)
When Leon came back to his family, his lover was still asleep in his grandfather's arms.
He was careful not to collapse on the sofa next to D, not to wake him up, and the eldest smiled.
He had to admit that the human's love for his grandson moved him.
Leon looked like he had been fighting with a pack of rabid tigers just before a whole horde of
elephants had mistaken him for a doormat, and yet, all that mattered was D - D, who was
breathing, who was alive, who was entirely back in this world.
Leon's Chief had surprised him rather nicely.
The moment Leon had contacted him on his direct line, his superior had barked, but he'd barked
to ask if Leon needed help.
The offer to help still stood even when Leon said that it was to D's rescue that he'd rushed.
Combined with the tension he'd just been through, his Chief's acceptance had made him cry.
The other man had heard the emotion in Leon's voice, but he hadn't teased him.
'I hope you and Jill will tell me what's going on tomorrow,' the Chief said.
'I'll let the lady do the talking,' Leon answered.
The Chief laughed and added, 'You sure that everything's ok? You don't need a patrol car at
your door?'
'No, thanks, the situation is under control. We'll see you tomorrow.'
'Go get some rest, Orcot, and take good care of your room-mates,' the Chief said before he hung
up.
Leon caressed D's hair, and the familiar gesture brought a smile to the youngest Kami's lips.
'He hasn't touched his tea,' Leon noticed. 'Do you think he might like a real treat from me when
he wakes up?'
'That would be nice,' whispered Q-chan. 'But I don't want you to venture out alone.'
'Do you think your son might try something?' Leon wondered.
'Not now that I informed his human messengers that I am back. He is the way he is, but he will
not know for sure what to do just yet. You look absolutely exhausted, and though I know that
we could all do with some additional sugar in our systems, I don't want you to faint on the street
while fetching pastries,' the eldest said.
'I'll go with you,' Terry said. 'I'm curious to see how people react to the news about Count D's
return.'
Leon flinched.
'My grandson now is the only one in our family who should be addressed by the title I took long
ago. From now on, I shall only be either the eldest or Q-chan,' he said.
Terry bowed.
'Is your diet still the same?' Leon asked.
'Yes, my child, why?'
'I know where I'll shop for our treat,' Leon said with a warm, but tired, smile.
He rose from the sofa, and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his lover's mouth, which widened
the small smile that had never left his lips.
'Take care of him till I get back, will you?' Leon whispered.
'I'd do anything for cakes, and you know it,' Q-chan teased the young human.
Terry stood up, and they were about to leave the shop when Jill told Leon to park their car. She'd
left it open with the key in the ignition. Leon simply nodded; he reflected that without Jill behind
the wheel, he'd never have been able to leave the department, or he'd have had an accident on
the way. She'd been afraid for D, and their car was but steel on wheels, so she hadn't thought
of it before. Besides, no one would be stupid enough to borrow any vehicle parked in front of
their door.
Terry drove it to the alley where deliveries were made, and he and Leon walked to buy the
promised pastries.
Since he'd first come to Chinatown to investigate that weird pet shop, Leon reflected that he'd
got used to walking a lot more than before meeting D. He shopped on foot in Chinatown, and
there were his strolls with D, who always insisted on walking to that park or even to the beach.
Leon had come to enjoy those walks with D; they were part of a ritual of some sort.
Once Leon had found the perfect cheesecake for them all, he turned to Terry and asked him if
he'd mind a stop in another shop.
The magician was too happy to see the awe on people's faces as they walked by to refuse a
prolonged outing. The magician was also curious to know what Leon had in mind. Terry could
almost hear the eldest teasing him for being too curious, adding that his other form should match
Tetsuya's, not that of a firefly, but he didn't mind.
As soon as both men were gone, Jill thought that it might be a good idea to summon her
nocturnal bodyguards.
'Tetsuya,' she whispered, knowing that the cat in her would hear the call. 'Chiujen.'
'Xiuren,' said Q-chan.
'I'll never get it, that's it?' she murmured, a bit sad.
Q-chan wrapped his free arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
He was surprised to see that she was not afraid.
He knew that she must feel his power, because her instinct was excellent, and yet she trusted him
not to hurt her. The eldest had been used to mortals being scared to death of him, sometimes
literally, but there she was, her grandson's Protector, the one who would bring the ancient
Prophesy to life... and the one who was the Chosen One. Jill was the one who would change
everything for his family.
He decided to test her faith.
'I can help you with this if you want,' he offered, as Xiuren and Tetsuya took D from his
embrace and settled on the sofa with their master between them.
'Like you helped me see Chiujen when he was injured?'
'Yes.'
'Yes, please. It's not fair that I mispronounce his name, and I don't know what to do. I repeat
his name over and over, but I don't get it right,' she said, looking from the young man to the
Kami.
'Then, I will help you,' the eldest said.
She offered him her hand. The flying rabbit had licked her finger, and she could see the
inhabitants of the shop in their human forms, so she guessed that he'd do something similar.
The Kami shook his head and said, 'For that magic to work, you will have to kiss me, little girl.'
Jill blushed furiously.
Q-chan still looked a lot like D, which was already disturbing, but he was also older - though she
realized that she ignored how old they both were. On top of it, she had never kissed a deity - at
least not in this incarnation, and never directly.
'May I?' she asked, her heart pounding.
He nodded.
The eldest had thought that she would simply peck his lips, which would have been enough, but
in Jill's mind, a kiss was more than a peck - much more.
She looked at him. His matching eyes were so different from D's. The two Kamis just looked
the same, their personalities were different, but she thought that she would become rather fond
of Q-chan in his new form.
She touched his cheek and found, under her curious fingertips, the silky softness that she'd
grown accustomed to when she caressed him in his animal form.
She had never done something so sensual and arousing, and she surprised herself by wondering
how it would feel to find herself under a fully naked Kami. Her blush came back, but she
brushed her lips against his and shivered. His smile allowed her to start plundering his mouth.
She licked his lips and was granted the gift to speak all the languages that were used in the pet
shop.
She charted his mouth and was rewarded with visions of places she had never heard of - and
among which some were not in this world.
When his tongue fought with hers, the eldest gave her the understanding of some of his magic.
She no longer knew who she was or where she was. She approached the elements that composed
the Ritual, and she felt that it was just a beginning. She thought that if she kept doing whatever
it was that she was doing she would understand it all.
When Leon and Terry entered the shop, D was sound asleep on the sofa in Tetsuya and Xiuren's
arms, but the young ones were breathing hard as they watched Jill, who was now straddling Q-chan, who had wrapped his arms around her as if he could make her melt in him.
The shop informed the eldest of the return of the two men, and he reluctantly brought an end to
the kiss, which made Jill whimper.
Jill licked her swollen lips and thanked the Kami.
'You're welcome,' he said, his voice deeper than usual.
She sat again next to him, and he kept an arm wrapped around her.
'Stop gaping, Xiuren, it's very unbecoming,' Jill commented.
He nodded, still gaping.
'Pah! I had to learn that!' Leon complained.
'At night!' she retorted.
'Easy, children!' Q-chan said. 'You don't want to wake D up.'
'A good thing he didn't see you, or he'd have the therapy bills sent to you!' Leon teased the
eldest.
The old Kami chuckled.
'Oh, I don't know,' Terry said, 'It most certainly was inspiring - even if the supply of cold water
might not be enough for the household today.'
Jill was still too high to retaliate.
Leon deposited their cake on the table just when Wong brought in a tray with tea. Tetsuya stood
up and whispered that she would bring back plates and cutlery.
Leon looked at her and asked, 'What happened to her long-sleeved robes?'
'I guess she came of age,' Terry said, reflecting that the normal sleeves could only mean that Jill
and Q-chan had inspired the young cat.
'The sparrow is already of age,' Leon said, pointing his thumb at Xiuren.
Q-chan nodded.
'Your bedroom is going to be a pretty mess,' Leon told Jill.
'I'll go crash in bed with Terry, if I need to sleep,' she said.
'My bed is yours anytime you need. Just bring your pillow along, and slither under the covers,'
Terry said.
Xiuren was blushing furiously.
Tetsuya came back, and then retreated to the heart of the shop with Wong and Xiuren.
Leon was cutting the cake and Terry pouring the tea when delivery boys came into the shop.
'Ah! Perfect timing!' Leon complimented them.
The boys walked in line, according to the order Leon had indicated.
The first brought a variety of European succulent for Terry.
'I never saw you order it!' Terry exclaimed as he discovered his gift.
'I do have a gift or two,' Leon chuckled
The second brought an orchid that matched the one Jill had brought to thank the shop.
Discreetly addressing the shop, Leon whispered that now it would have flowers all year through
thanks to the two plants.
The third was carrying a blue lotus in a pale blue vase for Jill, who squeaked with delight.
A fourth brought a big parcel and knelt in front of Q-chan.
'I've been told that it's older than I, but it probably doesn't mean much for you. It's just a small
gift to thank you. For everything,' Leon told the eldest.
Q-chan let go of Jill and took the plant from the young man's hands. He shivered when the Kami
touched his hands, and blushed.
The Kami artfully shredded the wrapping and discovered an adorable bonsai cherry-tree. He
looked at Leon as if the human had just given him the keys to a chocolate shop. Leon was so
delighted that his gift pleased the eldest, that his warm smile made the old Kami understand
what his grandson saw in this man.
Leon showed the boys to the door and generously tipped them. From the hands of the fifth, he
took a long white box that was closed with ribbons that nearly matched the colours of D's eyes.
Leon closed the door behind the boys, and then the shop shivered its thanks.
He turned around and walked straight to his lover.
'Do you think I can wake him up?' Leon asked the eldest.
'There is tea and cake. You have a gift for him. Waking him up with a kiss might be nice,
besides, you do have some gift doing so,' Q-chan said.
D opened his eyes and was enveloped in warmth and love.
He was eager.
Eager to have tea and a piece of that sweet smelling cake.
Eager to see what was in the box that Leon had placed on his lap.
Eager to feed on his lover.
Leon decided for him and suggested that he opened the box.
In it, he found red roses.
'It's extravagant, Airen,' D said, caressing the soft petals.
'It's not if it makes you smile,' Leon said, his voice thick with desire.
Some of the inhabitants of the shop, who were assigned to the well being of the Kamis and their
guests, came to take care of the flowers and plants.
After his first cup of tea, D thanked his grandfather for helping him.
'I could not let you down, D. You are the pride of our family,' the eldest said.
D's cheeks took a rosy tint.
'Give him a kiss for me, will you, Leon? I cannot move,' Q-chan said, tightening his grip on
Jill's waist.
Leon obeyed, chastely kissing D's brow.
The youngest Kami looked at Jill in his elder's arms, and he saw why she would stay with them
after completing the Ritual. Instead of embarrassing him, that made him so happy that he felt
faint.
That tea served as lunch, and Leon carried D to their room. Both needed a nap.
Jill announced that she felt drained, and that a nap sounded like a brilliant idea.
Q-chan turned to Terrence Magi and said, 'We need to talk, Magician.'
Jill found Leon's gift in her room when she entered it.
It was unusual for her to take a nap in the afternoon, but the morning had been stressful, and then
there had been Q-chan.
When she remembered his lips on hers, she shivered.
She felt so tired that she hoped that a short nap would do her some good.
She was all alone when she settled in her bed.
Thanks to Q-chan's gift, Jill entered the plane where D and Leon had met while they were under
the spell of the youngest Kami.
Since she was linked with the eldest, she found herself in an old forest.
It was full of shadows. The moss was soft, and the trees leant to greet the visitors.
There was a carpet of white and blue flowers, butterflies were flying around her, and birds were
singing above Jill.
She kept on walking and encountered a small stream that could be crossed thanks to a stone
footbridge.
She took off her shoes, and sat down, her feet in the cool water.
She first heard the silence that shrouded the Kami, all creatures becoming silent in his presence.
Against the sun, she saw him walking towards her.
'Where is this place? Does it still exist?' she asked him, turning to look at the fish in the water.
He was behind her now, but he hadn't uttered a word.
'Q-chan?' she said, slightly turning towards him.
He chuckled and said, 'I don't remember this place.'
He sat behind her, and took her in his arms. The Kami was absolutely delighted when she melted
against him.
'It's beautiful and so peaceful,' she commented.
He massaged her shoulders until he assessed that she was completely relaxed. Only then did he
try to kiss her.
It was not the fact that his hair length was wrong, or even that his smell was different, or the
traditional outfit that he wore that really bothered Jill. As he slowly leant towards her, his eyes
were closed.
"Why would he keep his eyes closed?" she kept thinking.
'D?' she said.
Surprised, D's father opened his eyes, and Jill saw that it was not the eldest, neither was it the
youngest.
The younger Kami had been wandering on that plane, he had encountered the Protector. When
he understood that she thought he was his father, he had decided to try and trap her there.
That D had only met women who had been brought up to fear him.
He could not imagine that in no time the Protector would be up on the footbridge, dragging him
to his feet by his collar and slapping him as if he were an annoying child.
He put his hand on his cheek and opened his mouth to curse her, but she beat him there.
'You are a disgraceful fucker!' she began barking. 'How could you do that to D? Pitiful bastard!
How dare you? Don't you have a brain? If you believe that we're going to let you hurt them, you
can go fuck yourself!'
'My son is mine. I'll do as I please with him,' the younger D said.
It proved to be a huge mistake.
Jill felt the power from her previous incarnations coming back to her, the bits of magic patiently
taught day after day by Terrence clicked into place and last, but not least, she felt the eldest's
presence in her heart.
'Never,' she growled, making the earth quake.
She kicked the Kami in the groin, and he fell into the stream.
She woke up at that moment.
Q-chan had felt that something was wrong, and he rushed to her side when she opened her eyes.
'I insulted him, I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself,' she whispered against the eldest's neck as he
took her in his arms.
'I felt what you did. You are D's Protector, and you fulfilled your duty beautifully,' he said.
She offered him a small smile.
He lay down beside her and said, 'I'll guard your sleep. Rest some more.'
She closed her eyes and surrendered again to sleep with a sigh. She felt safe in his arms.
When she woke up, Terry had joined them, and she enjoyed the warmth that both males were
giving her.
When Leon had brought D back to their room, they didn't see that Xiuren and Tetsuya were
sleeping in each other's arms behind a screen.
Both couples first slept quietly.
When D stirred, feeling that the poison had finished taking its toll, Leon was instantly awake,
and he insisted on giving a massage to his companion.
Of course, the innocent moment of relaxation ended with two naked bodies intertwined, covered
with sweat, deliciously sated, and... with two hidden witnesses who got more tips in lovemaking
than they ever could have expected.
This was how the night guards discovered sex.
Of course, the mechanics were slightly different, but the youths got ideas of what they could do.
They wanted to sigh and pant and purr as their master and his companion.
To massage D, Leon undressed him tenderly, and he brought some aloe vera lotion from their
bathroom.
The massage reminded them of that first day they'd made love, and they started kissing.
Without letting go of D's lips, Leon's hand found his companion's manhood, and smoothly
stroked him to completion, thanks to the lotion. D had barely recovered from a second orgasm,
when Leon surrendered to his own need in his turn.
By then, Xiuren's mouth was drier than your average desert, and Tetsuya felt too hot in her silk
robes.
For dinner, Wong prepared a feast that they all enjoyed, and the five of them went out for a walk.
Some of Leon and Jill's colleagues patrolled by them and asked if everything was all right.
Leon kept his lover's hand in his and thanked the guys in blue.
He was so radiant and serene that they didn't comment on whose hand he had in his. Jill was not
that lucky, and they teased her for being a glutton since she was sandwiched between Terry and
Q-chan. She retorted that she was a gourmet, not a gourmand, which was a bit lost on the two
men.
Everybody in Chinatown was in awe.
The entire community felt that something important was about to happen. They prayed that the
son of the eldest would respect his decision and wouldn't start a war in which they'd be caught.
They enjoyed their walk and went back home.
They shared one more tea and went to bed.
D wanted to reciprocate and use some of the lotion on Leon, so they were the first to go.
Jill followed suit and bade good night to Terry and Q-chan.
When she entered her room, Xiuren and Tetsuya were experimenting on her bed with what
they'd seen in the afternoon.
Xiuren's shirt was open; he had his trousers down, and he was charting Tetsuya. The young cat's
robes were pushed out of their way, and she was on her hands and knees.
They stopped and attempted to cover themselves when they heard Jill.
'Rule number one. As long as you're doing what you want with someone who wants the same,
there is nothing wrong or to be ashamed of,' Jill said, closing the door and beginning to undress
for the night. 'Rule number two. Undress! It feels good to be skin to skin. I'll have to thank Q-chan, because I'm happy not to see you feathers to fur!'
The youths began undressing, but blushed.
'I won't ask you where you got ideas, your position was enough of a clue. It's not a bad position,
but it might be more comfortable if Tetsuya were on her back the first time,' Jill added.
'Where's my book?' she asked the shop.
A butterfly flew to it, and she gave it to her guards.
'Take your time, and read bits of it, it will give you ideas that are suitable for you,' she said,
handing them a copy of a modern kama sutra. 'Have fun! I'll go sleep with Terry.'
She grabbed her pillow, and naked, left them alone to make love.
She knocked on Terry's door and came in when she heard a vague sound of welcome.
She froze on the threshold.
Her Master was very much under the eldest Kami of the household, and the sound she heard
must have been a moan of pleasure, not a mumbled "Come in!".
Terry was sitting on the edge of his bed. There was an impressive collection of pillows at his
back, and he was guiding Q-chan's mouth up and down his length.
'Fuck!' gasped Jill.
His cheeks matching the colour of ripe cherries, Terry explained that he was not used to such
a treatment, but the balance of the eldest had been altered when he shared his essence with D,
and that made him extremely horny. Terry had agreed to help.
'It looks like I'm the only one not getting any tonight. Can I stay?' she asked.
'You do not mind?' Q-chan asked between one movement up, and one movement down.
She laughed softly and neared the bed where she added her pillow to the collection.
'Do you have any idea how hot you are? This is much better than gay porn,' she purred.
She saw that both males were clueless about the reference she'd just made.
With a sigh, she added, 'Terry, as a man, I bet that like most of your fellows, you're turned on
by the idea of two girls doing each other.'
He kept blushing, but nodded.
'It's not different for us women. Well, the mechanism behind all this is different, but the result
is the same, and it's so hot to see you together. It's so hot that it's almost disturbing,' she said.
'You are disturbing,' Q-chan said, turning towards her. 'The women I had met, before you,
would have run away screaming. We kissed only a few hours ago, and now you find me on my
knees and eager to taste another man.'
She sighed again and decided to be honest.
'It's been months since I last did anything that was not solitary, so if I can watch, I'm happy, if
I can join, all the better,' she said.
'Really?' Terry said in a very low voice.
'We can if we want, right?' Jill added.
Q-chan thought an order, and a dog brought in a box where condoms were stored.
The eldest stood up, aroused and unsatisfied yet, and he opened his arms to Jill.
She found herself straddling the eldest again, but nakedness made the experience much more
pleasant. Terry prepared himself and Q-chan so that they would not impregnate their bed
companion.
The magician took her hips and positioned her on the Kami, and she didn't have the opportunity
to get used to the sensation because Terry joined him in her.
She didn't remember how many times they made her see stars, and she couldn't remember if she
fell asleep or if she fainted, but that night between her two lovers was the best in her entire life.
There was a bonus to sleeping between a deity and a powerful magician: things became clearer.
When she woke up, the first thing she said was, 'Now explain about the Ritual.'
'It will take time. We'll explain it tonight,' both males said in unison.
'Uhuh! Making me howl with pleasure is not the only thing you can do in synch!' she teased
them.
From that moment, they decided to sleep together. The shop had known it because the bed had
already grown bigger while they slept.
L.A.P.D. is full of surprises (Legally: chapter 8)
'So,' Jill said, 'you're going to tell me what I have to do to help Leon and D.'
'Only tonight, my child,' Q-chan answered. 'We're going to need some time to tell you the story
of the Ritual, and what you'll have to do.'
'Q-chan?' she purred.
'Yes?'
'If you give me a pet-name, could it be something other than "my child"? I know that you're
older than I, but you look younger, which is disturbing enough. People are going to think that
you've blown a fuse when you keep calling me that,' she said.
'How do you know what I have in mind for you?' Q-chan asked, feeling that Jill was preparing
the ground for the future.
She looked at him.
'I think that you told me, though I don't know when. I know that you're keeping me with you,'
she said.
'Forever,' Q-chan said.
'We are keeping you with us,' Terry added, kissing Jill's naked shoulder.
'I know,' she answered.
'You don't know yet all the implications,' Terry said.
'I have seen what D's father can do. I have seen how you work. Leon is my friend. I'm not
moving anywhere, my dears,' she said.
'It had to be you, Precious,' Q-chan whispered. 'You must be the one for whom the Ritual was
created.'
Jill pecked Q-chan's lips.
She was on her side with Terry at her back.
The magician started to fully awake, and he nibbled her earlobe while Q-chan deepened his kiss
with Jill and cupped her breast.
Jill could clearly feel how much both males enjoyed being near her.
'Gentlemen, it may be early in the morning, but I'm supposed to be back at work today. I fear
we don't have time to...' she began to say.
Terry stopped her with a kiss and Q-chan pushed her onto her back.
When both males kissed her nipples, she arched off the bed, but they pushed her back onto the
mattress. She massaged their scalps and urged them on. Both sucked her nipples hard.
Jill was surprised to see how those two were communicating without words.
They were still happily stimulating her nipples when they checked, palm to palm, who had the
longest fingers, and Terry won on that head.
In perfect synch, they gently spread Jill's legs.
The magician fingered her smoothly while the Kami rolled her clit between his fingers, and
before a minute, she was climaxing through shivers and a strangled gasp.
Q-chan moved above a very limp Jill to position himself on Terry. He settled between the other
male's legs and they rubbed themselves to completion.
'Even if you kill me, I know that I'll die happy,' Jill purred, about to fall asleep again.
Someone knocked on the door, and a sleepy Xiuren came into the bedroom.
'Ninhao(6), Xiuren!' Jill greeted him
'Ninhao, jiejie(7)!' he answered. 'I have been sent to tell you that breakfast will be ready in a
quarter of an hour.'
'Thanks! If I can stand up, I know that food will be welcome,' Jill answered. 'Sleep well,
Xiuren.'
'Thank you, and have a nice day at work,' he answered on his way out.
Jill kissed her lovers and slowly slithered out of bed to invade Terry's bathroom.
The magician was still very much under the eldest, and he could feel the other male's renewed
interest.
Terry caressed the Kami's back and asked, 'Is your essence still ill-balanced? Do you need me?'
That aroused the eldest even more.
'Between you and Jill, the nights are certainly about to become quite entertaining,' Q-chan said,
pinning the other male down effortlessly. 'Don't you mind my attentions?'
'This is not the first time that you've used my body,' Terry said, tightening his grip.
The eldest chuckled and said, 'That occurred during one of the few incarnations when you had
a woman's body!'
'Well, I do not mind. Your touch is addictive,' Terry said, spreading his legs wider.
The eldest almost growled.
He kissed Terry to share some of his magic with him, and not bruise him. The eldest grabbed the
human's hips, and in one swift movement that instantly inflamed the other man, he buried his
shaft in him.
Terry still was under the assault of the Kami when Jill came out of the shower. She reminded
them about breakfast, and murmured something about risking being horny 24/7 before going to
her room to get dressed.
She headed for the kitchen alone, and she met Leon in the corridor.
She was so radiant that there was no mistaking what had happened during the night. It was
particularly obvious to someone who also had a Kami in his bed.
'You look well f...' Leon began to say, and he blushed.
'Look who's talking,' she purred, placing one finger on an unmistakable love bite.
Leon instantly remembered how he'd got it, when his eager Kami woke him up in the middle
of the night.
D had been particularly inventive, and resilient.
Since they had found each other again, there had been some mornings when Leon had awakened
to find that the hot and moist feeling around his prick was due to D's mouth feasting on him.
Last night, he had registered a different kind of sheath when he began to wake up. When D
sensed that his lover was nearly leaving the land of the dreams, he lovingly squeezed Leon's
organ with his muscles and rode him slowly.
Leon opened his eyes to drown in pure love in the mismatched eyes of his own Kami.
There was so much passion, tenderness, and trust in D's eyes that Leon had been torn between
a sob and an instantaneous climax.
Leon had firmly planted his feet on the bed, bending his knees and providing them with a better
position. He'd met each of D's movements.
Leon clearly remembered unclawing his fingers from the sheets and extending his hands towards
D's.
They'd clasped hands, and D anchored on Leon.
Without even touching his companion, Leon made D come when he whispered simple words of
love in Chinese.
'Ai ni, wo de airen.'
Simple, but true, and D had trembled above Leon, coming on Leon's belly, meowing with
delight and clenching around Leon's shaft.
Eyes closed in bliss, fingers intertwined with Leon's, D had ridden his climax as he kept on
impaling himself on his lover.
D offered him a most delicious sight.
The youngest Kami looked so blissfully happy that Leon came, hard.
Leon drew D onto his chest, and he wrapped his arms around D.
Oblivious of the mess between them and where they were still joined, Leon's prick softening
more slowly than usual, the blond had whispered in earnest, 'Don't move. Oh, please! Don't
move.'
D had smiled, and started sucking Leon's neck.
When Leon had opened his eyes, he was glued on D, and it was absolutely perfect. They'd been
forced to bathe together, and D was still soaking in the tub, humming happily, and surrounded
by real birds that were singing for him.
'Yeah, well... Did you get any sleep?' Leon asked.
'A couple of hours. You?'
He nodded as they came into the kitchen where Wong was already serving breakfast to the other
three male inhabitants of the pet shop.
'How...?' Jill began, then she waved her hand in dismissal and sat between her Kami and her
Master.
Breakfast was otherwise uneventful.
When Jill and Leon left the shop, they were immediately confronted with a nasty bout of heat
wave. It was not nine o'clock, and yet the day promised to be a trip in the close suburb of hell -
after all, no one had ever clearly stated that the angels guarding the city could not change sides
from time to time.
Leon drove to the Department.
Both officers hoped that the Chief would have enough work to catch up on in the PD for them
to stay in the shade and not run around town in a car with no air-conditioning.
When they reached their floor, they feared that the temperatures would finally not be so
annoying. It seemed that the news of their good fortune had spread throughout the whole
department, and some of their fellows were pointedly looking at them.
"Here we go!" thought Leon, when one of the men asked him how his delicate girlfriend was
feeling today.
Leon didn't know if he should answer the idiot, and if so, what he should say. The range was
vast, from "My boyfriend might well give you a pet with a tailored contract" or "He could kick
your ass up to the moon and back" to a simple "I left him sated, thank you".
He was saved from this by one of his elders, who cuffed the back of the head of the one who'd
asked and said, 'Don't bug him because your wife left and you're too much of a moron to get
any.'
The offender turned crimson and left the floor entirely.
'Don't you people have lives of your own?' Leon's rescuer asked the others.
They started to work again, forgetting about Leon's new relationship. They had too much on
their plates that early in the morning.
Leon turned to his colleague and with a warm smile said, 'Thanks, Sykes!'
'Don't mention it! I remember how they reacted when I married an alien,' the other officer said.
He paused and added, 'Everything's fine at home?'
'Yes, thanks. It was just an in-law trying to make a mess,' Leon answered.
'Orcot...' Sykes's voice trailed off.
'What?'
'How did you know that something was wrong?'
'The same way you know which treat to bring to Katarina,' Leon answered.
Sykes grinned. There was no logical explanation to love.
'When is she due?' inquired Jill.
'Next month,' the proud father-to-be answered.
They were about to chat some more, but the Chief called Jill and Leon in his office.
He told them to close the door and have a seat.
Jill opened her mouth to explain what happened the day before, but the Chief held out his hand
and declared that he didn't want to hear the short version of the story.
'Oh,' Jill said.
She looked at Leon, and the blond told her with an impudent grin that he'd said that she'd do the
talking.
Leon should have known that his grin would be soon replaced with a deep blush.
Jill said that Leon and his companion, who conveniently remained unnamed, though the Chief
knew who was the person in question, had fallen head over heels for each other, but that those
two idiots were too stupid to do anything.
She had pushed them a bit in the right direction, and to give all this an air of respectability, she
had moved in with them.
Incidentally, yes, she'd found someone there as well, and yes, before you ask, there are two.
An old friend of D's, and one of his relatives.
The Chief couldn't help himself picturing the young woman in bed with the two.
'Are they...?'
'It's between us, Chief. You can ask me, I won't sue you... You know that,' she said.
'Are they... small, you know, or what?'
'There's not only one position, and anyway, my love is vast.'
The Chief blushed an interesting colour.
When he had their word that nothing illegal was going on where they now lived, and with the
promise that he'd never get to know too much about their private lives, he gave them his blessing
and sent them back to work.
Except that work took a very unexpected turn that day.
Since they had missed the staff meeting the day before, they had been given a very special
mission. They had to make sure that everything would be ready and perfectly organized for the
annual L.A.P.D. ball.
Once outside of their Chief's office, Leon growled that he had completely forgotten about that.
Everything had been planned, and their job would be mainly to check that the organization was
going on nicely. They were given a very quiet assignment for the whole week, and Jill was
wondering why Leon looked so angry, or frustrated.
'It's quite simple,' he said, 'before we got that assignment, which practically forces us to go and
check that we did our job correctly, I had planned to take D to the beach. Next Friday is an
anniversary of some sort for us. Now I'm stuck with that ball, and I can get in, but I have no
reservation for D.'
'An anniversary?'
'A silly little thing, but I know that D will remember.'
'Leon... That's very thoughtful,' she said, her voice thick with emotion.
'He taught me to pay attention.'
'You know what, Leon? You call home and ask our boys if they want to come. If they like the
idea, I'll go and bat my lashes at the one who can help us,' she said.
It turned out that D had been ecstatic about the idea, and Jill was going to be accompanied by
her own Kami - Terry had declined, pretending that someone powerful had to watch over the
shop.
Jill knew that there was more, and that it was linked to the Ritual, but the moment the ball was
mentioned, all explanations about the Ritual were postponed until they were back from it.
Jill had so much to do at the department, and the heat wave was so sudden and so unpleasant,
and her nights were so entertaining, that she decided that she could wait for the weekend to
discover what kind of magic the Ritual entailed.
D decided to go with Leon's favourite cheongsam, the white one with the intricate blue pattern.
One evening after work, Jill had sought refuge from the heat in a small shop near her new home,
and she'd bought a golden dress that made her look divine.
Only Leon and Q-chan had issues finding a decent enough outfit, and both males went shopping
together.
On Friday night, two cars came to fetch them, but at the last minute Leon travelled with Q-chan
and Jill with D, otherwise the four were certain that they'd never make it to the ball.
They were amongst the first to arrive.
Leon and D were just walking side by side. Jill guessed that it was not because they didn't want
to advertise their relationship, but because they didn't trust themselves not to show how much
they were in love. Therefore, not touching the other was the only way not to be tempted to kiss
him.
Jill already regretted the new shoes she'd put on to match her dress.
'Lean on me, Precious,' the eldest whispered in her ear as he gently placed her hand on his arm.
She smiled her thanks.
Heels were an invention of the devil, and she'd felt unsure until the Kami had wrapped her in
his magic.
The evening was deeply surprising.
There had been the usual amount of people orbiting around D, wishing to come near his aura and
brush against it.
It was crystal-clear that D and Leon were more than involved, and yet, there was no one - now
that they were seeing them together - to make a nasty comment about Leon's choice.
Everybody was in awe.
Leon had pestered the caterer to make sure that there would be fruit cocktails and vegan
delicacies - and that they would be very fresh. Leon had heard of parties in Hollywood where
people had driven back to their homes only to be taken to the hospital for severe food poisoning.
Of course, that could not happen to D, but Leon wanted their evening to be pleasant for D. After
all, there was that piffling little thing they wanted to celebrate.
Leon brought a plate with cherry-tomatoes and their cucumber sauce, avocado canapés on
carrots sticks and tiny pieces of cauliflower to be dipped in tsatsiki. He also had two glasses; one
of juice, the other industrial lemonade.
'Won't you eat, Airen?'
'I thought that we might share the plate. When you want your sugar-fix, I've had one of the
waiters save some ice-creams in dark chocolate cups for us all,' Leon said.
'Flirting to bring us back a treat?' Q-chan teased him.
'Do not be silly. George has been in a relationship for the past fifteen years. He just helps me
save something from the hordes near the buffet,' Leon said with a smile.
Q-chan instantly spotted the one called George and read in his soul. The waiter was involved
with another man, they had the quietest life possible, and Leon reminded him of himself when
he began taking care of his companion. Q-chan decided that he would go and shake hands with
the human, thus ensuring to restore some of the man's youth and stamina. The eldest Kami was
sure that George's companion would appreciate their second honeymoon.
Leon and D didn't dance. Not because they didn't want to push their luck, but because they were
content with sitting in a quiet corner together.
Q-chan convinced Jill to dance with him.
The eldest's quiet power radiated from him, and Jill glowed with happiness.
The Chief and his wife had joined Leon and D in their peaceful refuge, and Leon heard her say
that Jill was a gorgeous woman, but that tonight, she looked like a queen, almost a goddess.
Leon found D's hand, and he reflected that the magic around his best friend was making her look
absolutely astounding.
D had that small cryptic smile that Leon had come to translate into "there is something important
going on and it is for the best".
The officer looked again at Jill waltzing in the arms of the eldest, and practically floating above
the dance floor. He looked at his lover and finally put two and two together however farfetched
this all was.
Leon was delighted with the turn that this was taking.
He intertwined his fingers with D's and watched Jill make absolutely everybody fall for her.
She was like a star radiating warmth and love.
When the Chief told D that his cousin looked a lot like him, Leon had to bite the inside of his
cheek to not laugh out. It was even worse when D answered that it was one of the funny things
about his family, they all tended to look alike, and he had undertaken to explain why people
thought that he looked a lot like his grandfather, and that some elder people sometimes mistook
him for his eldest relative.
The Chief had admitted that he'd heard people in Chinatown mistaking him for the old man who
was travelling abroad and found that amazing.
'Isn't it?' D purred.
Leon had to squeeze D's hand to make him stop before he lost control.
The whole event was a success, and good pictures were taken for the L.A.P.D., and the two
couples living in the pet shop were eager to have some of those.
They headed back home in the same car as the sun rose.
D was on Leon's lap, and Jill on Q-chan's, not by lack of space, but because this was where they
wanted to be.
Jill's feet hurt so much that she'd taken her shoes off, and when Terry opened the car door, he
took her in his arms and carried her to their bedroom.
Once they were inside the walls of the shop, Leon plundered D's mouth and waltzed him back
to their room where they ended their private celebration in a very intimate and loving way.
Jill found herself in bed between her two lovers after three of the girls now attached to her
service had undressed her, removed her make-up, and had freshened her up.
When she fell asleep in her lovers' arms, she knew that she was loved, and that it would never
end. She knew it would only grow and deepen and she met them both in her dream.
It was on that plane that they explained the Ritual.
Jill declared that this magic was not something that frightened her.
'Now that I know what to expect - and that I agree to do it - what are we waiting for?' Jill
wondered.
'Leon has to say D's full name aloud,' Terry said.
'Considering that he's chatting with me in Chinese without noticing it, I'd say that it won't be
too long,' Jill pointed out.
Q-chan was eager for it to happen.
Divine Wrath, or Do Not Bother The Females of The Species - Whichever Species
(Chapter 9 - 9 is a good number to have the Ladies taking over)
There was nothing that the eldest, Terry and Jill could do.
They must wait for Leon to say D's full name aloud.
So wait they did.
As Jill had stated in that other dimension where she'd been told what the Ritual entailed, it was
true that Leon was sometimes saying bits of sentences in Chinese, which was rather charming,
and never failed to make Jill absolutely melt.
She knew that both Terry and Q-chan loved her, but she wasn't sure that they loved her as much
as Leon loved D.
She knew that when the elder D had tried to poison his son, Leon would have dropped anything
to go and rescue his lover. Jill knew that Leon would have abandoned innocent people to a
certain death to try and save D. She did not strictly approve, because the meaning of "Duty" had
been imprinted in her blood, and yet she was somehow jealous of their love.
Leon had proven that he was ready to do anything - from mere disciplinary sanctions to death
- while he rescued D.
Now Jill knew that D would be risking everything he was the moment he entered the Ritual.
She knew that their love was the kind of love that gave birth to legends.
It was so powerful, pure, and beautiful that people would sing D and Leon's love in centuries
to come.
Sometimes, Jill wondered what people would say about her lovers. Would they say that the
human male would keep reincarnating to come back to Jill and the eldest? Would they point out
that the eldest was consenting to keeping a human female as his consort for all eternity?
She knew that her lovers loved her, but sometimes, at night, while they slept and she observed
them, she did wonder how much they loved her.
She was delighted, because she had never been in a more fulfilling relationship - in this
incarnation, at least. Yet, she became the Protector a bit more each day.
In the beginning, she just spent more time with Leon at work, having long and serious chats with
him during their lunch hour, and she brought extra treats to D, because she just loved to see his
eyes lit with excitement and joy. When she handed him whatever it was she had found, he looked
like a happy child for seconds, and Jill was delighted to give him that.
Now that she knew what was expected from her - and she knew that both D and Leon knew
what would happen during the Ritual - Jill really felt like she was the one who had to protect
the two lovers. She was indispensable so that the magic would work and the Prophesy would
come true, but she was not risking her life and her soul, while D and Leon would.
She'd talked with Leon about what he would have to do, and one day, D joined them for lunch.
The youngest Kami had brought a huge basket with too much food. They decided to go to the
roof, and Leon managed to tame the sun umbrella that D had brought.
'You look pensive, Jill,' D said gently.
'Sorry, D,' she whispered.
'What's up, Jill?' Leon asked.
She shrugged.
'Jill, what's up, baby?' Leon insisted.
D took her hand. She gently pressed D's hand.
'I'm thinking too much these days, that's all. Don't worry about me,' Jill said.
'Is it because of us?' Leon wondered.
'No, Sweetie. In case you're wondering, I'm not afraid, or embarrassed, or anything. It's just a
form of magic, and since Terry helped me remember my very first incarnation, I know what it
feels like to be involved in a Ritual with deities. In fact, I'm the one who's got some experience.
I couldn't tell you why, but I feel that we're going to succeed. I'm going to help you fulfil the
Prophesy through the Ritual,' she said.
Leon pecked her cheek, and D massaged her palm.
'If it is not the Ritual, or any of its possible consequences that are bothering you, why are you
brooding, Jill?' asked D.
'I'm not brooding!' she exclaimed not too convincingly.
'You are,' Leon stated quietly.
She looked at her two friends and finally hissed, 'Fuck!'
It was so unlike Jill that Leon shivered and D gasped.
'What's wrong?' inquired Leon.
'There's nothing wrong. I'm just thinking too much about Q-chan and Terry,' she said.
'What about them?' Leon insisted.
She knew that now that she had opened her mouth, neither would let her go before she'd told
them everything.
'I bet you're going to complain that this is just girl stuff before I'm through. It's just that
sometimes I do wonder what I feel for Terry and Q-chan, and what they feel for me. Somehow,
I know that I do love them. I wouldn't have them both in my life, or my bed, if I had no feelings
for them. Well, it's true that they might have been nothing but a twisted one night stand, but
we're still together, and even the shop knows what's going on. Come to think of it, I bet the shop
knows better than I do,' she said.
'You love them, but are you in love, Jill?' Leon asked.
'My God, Leon, why did you have to become so perceptive? You've always been a very good
cop, but you amaze me more and more. It feels as if you're blossoming before my very eyes,'
she said.
'Compliments will lead you nowhere, Jillie Girl,' Leon persisted.
'The problem... My problem is that I am in love with them. The both of them. Terry is kind,
caring, warm, and he was always there each time I incarnated. Q-chan is simply fascinating.
But sometimes I do feel like I am but a mere mortal to one, and just an apprentice to the other.
Someone as simple as Leon to you, D, I guess,' she confessed.
'Jill, I discovered the true gratification there can be in our differences,' D purred.
Jill turned towards her blond friend and said, 'Leon, you're a lucky bastard, and I do hope you
know it!'
Leon grinned, nodded fervently, and leant to kiss D.
They heard the door to the roof close, and they turned to see who had joined them. It was
Detective Sykes; he had a small brown bag in his hand, and he was smiling broadly.
'Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your lunch,' Sykes said.
Communication passed between Leon and D without words, and Leon turned to the newcomer
on the roof.
'Join us! We could feed an army, and you haven't been properly introduced to my darling
companion yet,' Leon said.
Sykes joined them.
'You're grinning, Matt!' Leon growled.
'That's because you're beaming, Leon. Your happiness warms the heart,' Sykes said.
Leon blushed, but he introduced his colleague Matt to his lover, who both agreed to call each
other by names.
D gave Matt a plate filled with various treats.
'You're really open-minded, Matt,' D stated.
'Well, when I met my wife, it was the day I arrested her. She came as a tourist, and she meant
to stay here. She has no family left, and she hoped she'd have a better life here. She was sent
back to Greece, but I couldn't breathe without her by my side. I took time off and flew to her.
When I brought her back as my wife, you wouldn't believe the things some of the boys
downstairs told me! Five years later, we're still together, still in love, and we'll be parents soon.
If I learnt one thing in my life, it's that love is too precious,' Sykes paused, sipped his tea, and
added, 'and you are adorable together.'
Jill giggled.
Leon hugged her and asked, 'Feeling a bit better?'
She nodded.
Sykes asked what was wrong, and he was given a summary of Jill's fears, minus the magical and
divine aspects.
'You've been together for a few weeks only,' Sykes said.
Jill nodded.
'Then what you feel is perfectly normal. This is a brand new life and you need to adapt, so of
course, you're going to freak from time to time. I remember a night one month and twelve days
after our wedding, I sat down on the floor in our kitchen. I was in the dark, looking at my
wedding ring gleaming in the moonlight, and I wondered if I wasn't completely mad. I knew
nothing about Kathy when I proposed to her. I told her about it since, and she told me she'd been
through the same,' Sykes admitted.
Jill reflected that he had to be right.
She looked at D and Leon, and Sykes noticed her look.
'Leon and D haven't experienced that yet,' Sykes said.
'No, and I'm ready to bet that these two will never go through something like that. It took them
so long to acknowledge their feelings that now they just know that they're made for each other,'
Jill answered.
The elder officer was forced to concede that there was something special in the way the two
lovers interacted.
Before the detectives had to go back to work, Sykes invited them to lunch after the birth of their
baby - D was surprised that the Sykeses had decided to wait for the birth of their child to
discover the gender of their first born - and the family was invited to the shop as soon as Mrs
Sykes recovered from the delivery.
Jill pecked Sykes on the cheek. She felt better after their chat, and she felt silly for not seeing
that she was tense because she had changed her life drastically overnight.
When Leon and Jill came back home, she suggested that they go out for a walk together after
dinner. The shop had enough guards, and it had enough magic in itself so that they might go out
and not fear for the security of their home.
After the splendid daily treat cooked by Wong, they all ventured out for a stroll.
At one point, they came across a fishmonger's shop where a huge tank was filled to the brim
with live salmons. D was dragged away by a concerned Leon, but Q-chan was outraged. He stood
before the tank looking at the fish that could not even move.
Even before either Jill or Terry could say a word, Q-chan made all the fish disappear.
'Very discreet,' growled Jill.
'I could not let those poor creatures suffer thus, but do not worry, Precious, the owner of the
shop will be given enough money to compensate for the loss,' Q-chan said.
'Fantastic,' she coldly commented. 'What have you done with the fish?'
'I brought them to a nice river,' he answered.
Q-chan was happy that she'd wanted to know where the fish now were, but Terry spotted
something in Jill's expression that made him see that she was about to explode.
'It never occurred to you that those working in the shop might have a shock when they see all
the fish gone. What about the customers who were expecting those fish and who will never come
back to that shop? What about the poor beasts who were born and raised in captivity? They
might be as good as dead and before you ask me how I know that, I took the time to read the
label on the tank. I didn't overreact. To conclude, the next time you want to do something really
good, double the size of the tank, it should give you time to think of something really useful to
do,' she said.
She left Terry and Q-chan's side, and ended her evening stroll walking hand in hand with Leon.
The men in the patrol car who met them wondered what was going on, but one look from Jill
prevented them from asking, and they agreed not to even mention it back at headquarters.
Jill worked a lot, and took her role of Protector even more seriously.
She was spending a lot of her free time with Leon and D, making sure that their love would be
flawless and strong enough to see them through the Ritual.
At work, they had been given a very delicate and nasty case, and the young woman was spending
a lot of time with a girl who had been assaulted and raped.
She was dating the only son of a judge, and the young man had a cousin, who was the devil
incarnate. The cousin also was the son of a judge, which made the case all the more difficult to
disentangle. The cousin had invited the young couple to a party, and now there was a young man
beaten and in a coma, and a young woman completely traumatized. While Leon and Matt were
working on finding witnesses other than the poor girl, because the father of the leader of her
attackers had made it clear that her testimony would not be accepted since she was not from
their world, Jill helped the victim.
Jill had been spending some evenings with the girl, working on convincing her that nothing was
her fault, that she had been invited to a party thrown by the cousin of her fiancé and that she
could not guess what would happen.
One night, Jill sat with the file in the kitchen, and she tried to find elements that might help them
all. The father of the injured boy had been extraordinary, taking care of the girl as if she'd
already been his daughter-in-law. Judge Wood had taken the side of his son and his girlfriend
against his own brother and nephew.
Wong looked at the file, and even he winced when he saw the pictures that had been taken of
the girl immediately after the assault.
'It's amazing what you, humans, can do to one another,' he commented, serving Jill green tea.
'You know, Wong, the last time I checked, we, humans, were just mammals. Some badly
twisted, but animals nonetheless,' she said.
'Are you coming to bed?' Q-chan asked from the door.
'In a minute, I'm trying to find something to help us in this case,' she said.
She was looking at the pictures, reflecting that it was strange that one never got used to that kind
of horror.
'No wonder she was attacked,' Q-chan commented.
'What do you mean?' a very tired Jill wondered.
If her lover had some explanation, she was interested; maybe it would help.
'Have you seen how she was dressed?' Q-chan said.
Jill was instantly fully awake, and positively furious. She was so furious that even Wong fled
from the kitchen.
She stood up, took one of the pictures and compared the girl's outfit with hers.
'T-shirt, short skirt, sandals,' and naming each one, she pointed at the picture and herself. 'Does
it mean that any moron passing by would be right to do with me as he pleases? Is that it? She was
going to a private party, goddammit! With her boyfriend! How could she guess that it was a trap,
and that the cousin had planned to have fun with her?'
Q-chan didn't know what to say, therefore he said something dreadfully stupid, 'But even if it
was a private party, she should have been less provocative.'
Jill exploded.
'I bet you think that it's perfectly normal for men to wear nothing but tiny shorts when it's too
hot, but women should go through the dog days wearing long skirts, parka and earmuffs, why
not? You are a selfish idiot. You are unfair, and if you are jealous of a poor girl who's crying her
soul out day in, day out because she doesn't know if she's pregnant, if she caught some disease,
if the boy she loves is going to wake up because he tried to protect her, and if she'll ever find the
courage to step out of her room someday, then you just won the Oscar for Best Egocentric
Bastard of the millennium!'
With those words, she took her files and left a gaping Q-chan.
Jill went back to sleep with Tetsuya and Xiuren, who welcomed her and cuddled her tenderly
all night long. They watched her sleep, but while they were doing their initial duty, the other
inhabitants of the shop dropped by Jill's first room and were told what had been going on.
In the morning, Tetsuya no longer spoke to Q-chan, along with most of the females in the shop.
Terry went to her room, but since the sole purpose of his visit was to convince her that Q-chan
had to be right, Jill ordered Tetsuya to kick Terry out of the room, which was done instantly.
It went on for three days, until Leon and D summoned Terry and Q-chan to the kitchen.
D didn't know how to broach the topic with his grandfather, but Leon knew exactly what he
wanted to say to both males.
Wong practically flew out before Leon exploded.
'You are two idiots!' barked Leon.
'Leon!' exclaimed Terry, looking from the blond to the eldest.
'See! That's exactly your problem! You are much too conscious of Q-chan's nature. You are so
respectful that you're treating Jill like she's a child. She's a wonderful woman, and I'm
beginning to wonder if you deserve her love!' Leon said.
'How dare you!' Terry shouted.
'Why are you barking, Terry? Because you love her so much that I'm wrong, or because I dare
to accuse a Kami of not being worthy of a mere mortal's love?' Leon asked too quietly.
D could feel his companion's anger, and he knew that Leon was the one who had to make the
other two males see how silly they were in their behaviour with Jill.
Terry was gaping. Leon had hit a nerve.
'You see, Terry, that's the difference between you and me. I respect Q-chan, but if he were just
to say something to my darling D, I would kick his ass so hard that he'd land in Mexico. The
only time you went to see your lover, after her row with your other lover, it was only to tell her
to submit and be respectful. For God's sake, man! Buy a calendar! You can't tell her that she's
got to be at home instead of taking care of Jane at the hospital. Jill doesn't belong to you, and
she has sympathy for that girl. Dammit, guys! She goes to a family party and she ends up in
hospital. You may have power, but you should get a brain!' Leon said, his voice rising.
Terry looked at the floor. He remembered millennia of incarnations, and it was a young soul who
was showing him the way to behave with Jill, the gentlest human soul he had ever met. Terry
felt like an idiot.
He had power, but Jill was pure love.
Leon was not done.
He turned to the eldest Kami and said, 'I don't know how D manages to be so kind with a father
like his and the education you gave him. When we met, to him, I was but a strange pet, lost and
in the dark. That's because he considered that I was another of his precious pets that he
discovered me. The real me. But to you, Eldest, Jill and I are not even worth the smallest of your
pets. We are nothing to you. You gave Jill the power to help Xiuren, but when she takes time to
help a girl, almost a baby, who has been violently assaulted, the only thing you tell her is that she
must be with you because Jane deserved what happened to her. If this is what you really think,
then you don't deserve Jill and her love. Jill is a woman, don't you think that she empathizes
with Jane? She's strong, but when we work, we never forget that we might get killed or beaten,
or...'
Q-chan was rendered speechless.
For the first time in his life, the eldest D was given a lesson by a mortal.
It looked like if Q-chan wanted to share eternity with Jill, he would have to treat her as an equal.
He used Leon to understand what Jill might feel; after reading in Leon's soul how he felt about
the case on which he was working, Q-chan decided to go to the L.A.P.D. to apologize.
Terry was kept in the shop, because Leon had decided to keep on chatting - human male to
human male - with his best friend's lover.
Q-chan used one of his powers to reach the Department's building. When he reached Jill's floor,
he felt her pain and practically flew to her. She was crying in Sykes's arms.
'What's wrong, Precious?' asked Q-chan.
She sniffed loudly and growled, 'Nothing that is interesting according to your values.'
'Do you want him to leave, Jill?' Sykes asked her.
'This is none of your business,' Q-chan told Sykes.
'Of course, you are so superior that being kind to my friends is too much for you,' Jill managed
to say between sobs.
Q-chan was taken aback, but he was forced to admit that his lover was right.
He felt that her feelings for him were wavering, and that if he didn't want to lose her love, he
had to change radically.
'I apologize,' Q-chan said.
Jill looked at him and saw that he was addressing Sykes.
Q-chan knelt and took Jill's hand in his. She wondered what he meant to do, while Sykes thought
that he was about to propose. Like he'd done when he still was a flying rabbit, Q-chan licked one
of Jill's fingers. The first time, he had given her the ability to see the inhabitants of the shop in
their human form, then he gave her his love.
'Idiot,' she murmured, caressing his cheek.
'Apparently,' he conceded. 'Why were you crying, Precious?'
'Tom, Jane's fiancé, woke up,' she began.
'That's good, isn't it? How's the boy?' Q-chan interrupted her.
'He's fine, which is a near miracle,' Sykes said, tightening his grip on Jill, 'but Jane was
pregnant. Her father was enough of a moron to threaten to disown her if she didn't keep it.'
'She was?' Q-chan asked.
'Her breakdown was deeper than we thought,' Sykes said.
Q-chan was about to apologize again to his lover when the Chief ran out of his office and joined
their group.
'Sykes! I am awfully sorry, but we just got a call. Katarina has been attacked and she's taken to
the hospital,' the Chief said.
'Where?' Sykes asked, paler than a shroud.
'Mercy. I have a car waiting to drive you there,' the Chief said.
Sykes left without a word, the Chief was right behind him.
Jill looked at Q-chan.
It was a decisive moment, a true turning-point in their relationship.
'She's just another woman like me,' Jill said. 'It's not because I can use a computer and chat
with you that I'm any different from a sparrow or a kitten.'
Q-chan knew that Jill had felt the extent of his powers.
He read in her eyes that if he let the pregnant woman die while he had the power to save her,
he'd lose Jill forever.
Finally, Q-chan truly understood love.
He kissed her lips and declared, 'I must be near her to operate.'
In the wink of an eye, he was gone.
Jill ran to her car and chased after Sykes and the Chief.
When Jill reached the hospital, she knew that her divine lover had done a tremendous job. She
met astounded doctors who did not understand how Katarina Sykes had survived the thugs who
had beaten her for her purse. Truth be told, no one had recollection of her condition prior to the
moment she delivered a healthy son, Damian, and his twin sister, Daria. No one had ever spotted
that she was expecting twins.
Mother, babies, and father were all fine.
Katarina didn't even remember being attacked. All she could recollect was some of the delivery
pains.
The Faculty was lost, and the Force delighted.
Jill found Q-chan near the coffee-machine, nursing a cup of pink tea that had to have been
brewed with magic.
She sat next to him.
'Show off,' she said.
'How?'
'Damian and Daria? A boy and a girl, and Katarina is unscathed?' she said.
'I...' his voice trailed off.
She took his hand to encourage him.
'There is nothing I can do for Jane, but I could give the Sykeses a small gift,' he said.
'You know, Airen, if you want to preserve some of your beloved pets, it might not be such a bad
idea to take care of the pets that can walk and talk,' she said.
"By the Above!" thought Q-chan, "She is right."
Then, he registered that it was the first time that she had called him "airen", and it was exactly
what he wanted to be: her companion and her lover. He wanted her to be his equal. Eternity
would at last be worth it with someone like her to share it with.
He gave her access to that thought in a tender kiss that sealed their reconciliation.
On their way back to the shop, he even offered her to take care of those who had attacked Jane.
Even though she was tempted, Jill said that she would nail them down her own way.
The instant Jill and Q-chan walked back into the shop, the magic of the place fully
acknowledged Jill as the Kami's companion, and the inhabitants of the shop came to
congratulate her. Some of the females who had given the cold shoulder to Q-chan consented to
being petted by him again.
Terry looked as if Leon had repeatedly driven over him.
Jill opened her arms to him and he ran to her.
'It's official, I'm in love with the two best idiots in town!' she teased her companions.
'I am so happy for you!' D exclaimed with sincerity.
'We should celebrate,' said a feminine voice behind D and Leon.
They all looked at the person who had spoken.
Q-chan perfectly impersonated a goldfish out of its tank, while Terry and D knelt.
The woman was a perfect copy of the eldest and the youngest D.
The mystery of her identity was revealed to Leon and Jill when Q-chan finally squeaked a
strangled, 'Mother!'
She gently invited Terry to stand up and she helped D up. She caressed the silk of her great-grandson's hair and smiled brightly.
She reminded Leon of D's younger sister, but with more warmth.
'Now that the Ritual is about to begin, I have come to help. Besides, now that you have
understood the errors of your youth, my son, I can forgive you,' she said.
Leon put his hand up.
'Yes, my child?' she almost purred.
'What shall we call you?' a blushing Leon asked.
She looked at her great-grandson and her son, and declared, 'I think that Lao D(8) will do.'
Right on cue, Wong brought tea for everybody.
Terry was too respectful to ask Lao D any questions, but Leon and Jill felt comfortable around
her, and they got curious.
'Is the Ritual really about to begin?' Leon asked.
'Yes, Leon, I can feel it in my essence,' she answered.
'What has Q-chan done in his youth, and why have you decided to forgive him today?' Jill asked.
Q-chan turned crimson. He knew his mother, and she would tell everything to the woman he had
chosen to be his companion.
'Ah!' Lao D began, 'It is linked with his birth. Aeons ago, I fell in love with a mortal man. His
beliefs prevented him from accepting the eternal life I was offering him, and I respected his
choice. When I gave birth to my son, his father had already been dead for years. It is not
impossible for us to mate with humans, but the process is longer. I never lied to my son about
his birth, but some people led him to believe that his heritage was something he should be
ashamed of. He turned entirely towards animals and when the time came for him to have a child,
instead of looking for a mate even amongst our kind, he decided to make use of the oldest
traditions and duplicated his own essence. We have all seen the result, and his son did the same.
How D is such a treasure is a wonder.'
D's cheeks turned pink, but Leon grinned. Lao D winked at him, which widened his grin.
'Tell me, D, do you still suffer from your father's incorrect duplication?' Lao D asked.
Jill finally understood why D felt dizzy sometimes, or why his eyes were mismatched, or some
of the things he said about himself. Right now, the youngest Kami was pointedly looking at his
hands on his lap.
Lao D practically glided to him and took his chin in her hand.
Then she planted one of her sharp nails in her left wrist and allowed three drops of her blood to
fall into D's cup, and she encouraged him to drain his cup.
'You're going to need all your strength soon,' she said kindly.
Leon felt the difference in D through their link. Lao D had set right what the selfishness of the
elder D had not given to his son.
'Thank you,' D whispered.
'You are going to be the pride of our family,' she told D as she wrapped her arms around him.
She turned to her son and added, 'Of course, now that you have acknowledged that you were
wrong, and that Jill is the best thing that could ever happen to you, I have some hope for you as
well.'
Someone applauded from the door.
They all turned around, and watched as D's father walked into the shop.
Jill immediately understood that the presence of Lao D and the elder couldn't be a coincidence,
and the Ritual was most certainly to begin very soon. She wished she knew what the elder was
planning to do.
She didn't have to wait for long.
'I have come to reclaim my essence,' the elder D declared.
Leon took D's Hand, Terry shielded the youngest Kami with potent spells, and Lao D stood
before her great-grandson.
Yet, that was not all, and the elder had to face his own father and his companion, the Protector.
Some of the females also dared to come to D's help.
Tetsuya was the first to face the elder. He mercilessly threw her across the room.
The elder stood gaping very inelegantly when he saw that the young cat had been caught by an
Egyptian Goddess before she hit the wall.
Before he knew what was going on, the elder D had been slapped by the other Goddess, and his
grandmother had cuffed the back of his head.
Xiuren was ready to defend Tetsuya, but the Goddess pointed out that he was a tiny sparrow. The
Goddess looked at Lao D, and they communicated without using words. Without even batting
one lash, Xiuren's outfit transformed to match Tetsuya's. Even though it was utterly farfetched,
Jill concluded that the sparrow now was a cat - suddenly she was very happy to be back in Terry
and Q-chan's bed.
When the pets felt the two deities protecting them, they all advanced on the elder, who was
forced to retreat.
Xiuren took his lover from the arms of the Goddess and tenderly caressed her.
Even Leon heard the young male cat purr.
Xiuren looked at the two deities, and didn't know how to thank them. Both scratched his ears
and he melted under their hands.
All those who had come settled in the parlour.
'Will you bring more tea for our guest, Tou Tetsu?' Lao D asked.
Wong bowed and obeyed silently.
'Tea?' the Goddess said.
'You'll like that,' Lao D declared, inviting the Goddess to sit down.
The celestial guest settled by Leon.
It felt like a strange family reunion, and D and Leon fell for Lao D. For a great-grandmother, and
a deity, she was absolutely adorable, and incredibly gorgeous.
'I know quite a lot about you, my children,' Lao D said, 'but I don't know how you met exactly.'
D let Leon answers, and the account of the detective's first visit to the shop was what triggered
Leon's use of D's name.
'You knew it was bound to happen that way,' the Egyptian Goddess quietly said.
'Indeed, and I wouldn't have missed it for all the tea in China - no pun intended,' Lao D said.
The Ritual had begun.
The Beginning of the Ritual
(Chapter 10 - or How to Add a Prophesy in the Balance for Good Measure)
There was something in the air.
There was nervousness, but there was love and friendship, as well.
It was not the first time that the Ritual had taken place, but it was the first time that it had the
opportunity to be combined with a prophesy.
The deities who had attempted it before had all failed, and they either disappeared for good or
found themselves trapped in their own versions of hell, or some other unpleasant place.
Today, the combination was unusual.
It was not about two deities trying to link their souls - for that was what the Ritual was about -
with the help of a priest or a priestess who had been appointed Protector.
This time, the Protector had been acknowledged by magic thanks to Terrence Magi, who had felt
that he knew Jill's soul even before she had uttered a word.
This time, there was only one deity who was risking his soul, but if the Ritual failed, D would
be separated from Leon, and the blond human would be deprived of his soul and turned into a
vegetable in a split second.
If it worked...
If it worked, the love of D and Leon would bind them forever.
That was the aim of the Ritual: unite two lovers till the end of time. It was something that had
been given to deities by the initial sparks of every life, but none of them knew how it worked,
because no one had ever succeeded in completing the Ritual.
Today, one male deity and his male human lover would trust their friend, a female human, their
Protector, who had just become the companion and lover of the young deity's grandfather. No
less.
The Egyptian Goddess rose from the sofa and held Leon.
'You are a sparkle of the child a priest and a young girl gave me and my husband centuries ago.
We were given one night of happiness, and it was a thoughtful gift. The love I can see in the both
of you is going to make you legendary lovers. When I go back to the place where I dwell, I'll
stop by to see your human mother and I'll share with her what happened to you,' the Goddess
said.
Leon looked at her as if she were a member of his family, and he buried his face in her neck.
Thanks to the time he'd spent with D, and thanks to their link, Leon knew that she had given him
a blessing. He knew that they'd need all the divine help they could get - God knows what D's
father might try to do now that the beginning of the Ritual had been heralded throughout space
and time now that Leon had called D by his full name.
The Goddess smelled like Leon's mother. It was impossible, but holding her, Leon remembered
the too few moments of happiness he'd known with his mother before her untimely death.
'Thank you for your kindness,' whispered Leon.
The blond felt overwhelmed, but the Goddess could feel that he was not afraid.
Truth be told, Leon Orcot felt like he was about to get married, and actually it was damn close,
and much more romantic and final as well.
Lao D took D in her arms and said, 'My dearest child, I am proud of you because you're going
to be the first to succeed in the completing of the Ritual. I am happy for you because you're
going to be the only one with your companion to know that eternal bliss.'
Being wrapped in Lao D's embrace was like being given the love of the mother D never had
because of the prejudice of his father and the pride of his grandfather.
Lao D pecked the lips of her great-grandchild, thus blessing him with a part of her strength.
Terry gave a thorough kiss to his female lover, making Jill smile into the kiss. There was no
magic in it, except love and trust.
Q-chan walked to his grandson and took him in his arms, which was something he'd seldom
done. D was delighted, because he now had a true family. He felt as if his heart was flying in his
chest; he had friends, parents, and soon his lover would be eternally with him, though he didn't
really know how.
Q-chan held out one hand to Leon, and the blond agreed to that unofficial welcoming into the
family.
'It might be unwise to delay,' Jill pointed out.
'You are such a gift,' Q-chan said in a soft voice between a murmur and a purr.
Jill blushed.
D and Leon were freed by the two female deities who were still embracing them.
Jill took their hands and they went to D and Leon's room.
Lao D, Q-chan, Terry and the Egyptian Goddess found themselves surrounded by various pets
that wondered if their beloved master would survive the Ritual.
'I am no longer needed here,' the Goddess said.
'A part of Leon belongs to you. You should stay with us until we are certain that our children
are bound together. There are some of our cats and birds who would be delighted to meet you,'
Lao D said.
The Goddess was moved. She had lost her husband, and the human child who had been
engendered the last night she had been given with the love of her life had had children. Though
Leon had but a drop of that first child's blood in his veins, the Goddess had feelings for Leon,
and she deeply wished that he was granted what she'd been denied: eternal love. Lao D was
inviting her to stay, and the Goddess wanted to be there to make sure that everything would be
all right. Besides, if the elder D meant to try something to disrupt the Ritual while it was being
performed, it might be a good idea for the Goddess to stay there.
The Goddess nodded, and Lao D guided her divine guest into the maze of the shop.
Terry wrapped his arms around Q-chan's waist.
'They're going to be fine,' Terry whispered.
He kissed the soft skin behind the Kami's ear, which made him shiver.
'Of course, they'll be fine. Their love is so amazing. It is as if my grandchild had managed to
understand how mortals love and applied all the strength of his nature to it. Meanwhile Leon
grasped the concept of our nature, which allowed his love to soar to new heights. They will
become one - whatever it's going to mean. They will succeed because our Jill is their Protector.
Do you remember the words of the Prophesy, Airen?' Q-chan said.
It was the first time ever that the eldest - male - D was calling him such a tender name, and
Terry's heart beat faster as he felt tears threatening to spill.
Q-chan manoeuvred and wrapped his arms around Terry's waist.
'It goes "When the youngest becomes the eldest, when the mortal changes, when the strong and
pure one becomes even more so, when the child becomes the parent, life is transformed and
history changed",' Terry quoted.
'This speaks of Jill,' the eldest said.
'How?'
'I'm not sure. I know that by acknowledging her as my companion, and not merely a nightly
occupation, I must have contributed to something in the Ritual,' Q-chan said.
'We'll have to wait for them to come back to us to get additional clues,' Terry said, nuzzling up
against his lover.
'Shall we wait more comfortably, Airen?' suggested Q-chan.
Terry knew Q-chan well enough to know which kind of treat the Kami was offering, and he felt
his knees go weak. Q-chan interpreted that as a "yes" and he carried Terry as if he were as light
as a feather pillow, and they retreated to their bedroom.
Before reaching their door, Terry hid his face in Q-chan's neck and whispered, 'I'm in love with
you. I fell in love with you long ago.' He paused and added with a trembling voice, 'Airen.'
The Kami could hear the insecurity in Terry's voice. He communicated his love for the man in
his arms in the kiss he gave him.
Terry felt like flying.
'Silly boy, how long have you been in love?' Q-chan asked.
Q-chan could feel Terry's blush spread onto his cheeks.
'That long?' Q-chan said.
Terry nodded slightly.
'I've been an idiot, and you've been silly, indeed.'
Q-chan brought Terry to their bed and they proceeded to spend time in a most pleasant way.
Jill felt relaxed when she entered D and Leon's bedroom.
She remembered what that kind of magic felt like, and if the first time when she was an Egyptian
girl had had consequences so completely astounding, she couldn't wait to see what this time
would bring out into this world.
Terry loved her.
Q-chan had proved that he loved her.
She was about to give the greatest gift to her two best friends, and she was so sure that she'd be
able to achieve the Ritual that her determination echoed throughout the worlds in all the various
divine planes.
The two lovers didn't analyze. They followed Jill's lead. She was their Protector, and she was
supposed to be guided in this to help them.
Jill knew Leon very well, and she was beginning to understand how D was reacting. She knew
that she had to begin everything before her two male friends remembered what they had to do
to be perpetually linked.
'Shall we divest Leon of this hideous T-shirt?' Jill suggested, pointing at Leon's attire.
D smiled that small smile that annoyed Leon to no end and made him melt at the very same time,
and he closed the space between them.
While D helped Leon doff his lousy T-shirt, teasing each inch of skin the Kami exposed with
fingertips and nails, Jill positioned herself at Leon's back.
Leon registered that she'd said something, but with D grazing his nipples, Leon was about to drill
a hole in his jeans.
'Shoes off,' Jill repeated, amusement clear in her voice.
Leon grunted, but obeyed. He even managed to get rid of his socks too.
Leon had let D take his T-shirt off before he began unbuttoning D's outfit.
Leon was caressing D's back, leaning towards his divine lover to kiss him, when he squeaked:
Jill was unbuttoning his jeans.
'Leon,' she said softly, 'I am the key to your link. Don't be afraid, or embarrassed.'
'The key?' a frozen Leon asked.
'Don't ask me, Sweetheart!' she happily exclaimed. 'I can't even tell you why I said that, and
I do have this weird feeling that it's not going to be the last time I'm going to be cryptic during
the Ritual. Enjoy the ride! This is going to be a celebration of your love.'
Leon was still a bit rigid, but he let Jill fully undress him.
Jill moved to D, and his light trousers fell onto the floor.
The Protector followed her instinct. Standing next to her friends, she caressed their shoulders,
as if to encourage them to share a kiss.
'It feels like being hurried through the wedding ceremony to be rushed into bed,' Leon
commented.
'Do you want to be linked to me till the end of time, Airen?' D asked.
'I can think of no better heaven, my Beloved. Do you want to be linked to me, Airen?' Leon
whispered against D's lips.
D answered with a thorough kiss.
Through Jill, the initial sparks of all life felt and weighed the love of the Kami and the mortal.
The Protector was given the instructions to proceed.
She led the lovers to their bed and left them to their preliminaries while she undressed quickly
and fetched some proper lubrication. She handed the phial to D.
'Jill,' D protested, 'if I were to make love to Leon, it would trigger something deep, something
linked to my nature, something that would make me possess my lover as if he belonged to me.'
D had always been careful not to do anything that might tempt him to take his lover, so as not
to take advantage of Leon's more fragile nature.
D wanted Leon to be his equal, not his belonging.
Jill chuckled.
'Sugar,' she answered, her voice teasing, 'you start having some fun with Leon, making him see
stars and everything, and I'll stop you so that you can be rid of that unwelcome part of your
divine nature.'
'Oh,' said the lovers in unison.
'While you're at it, prepare yourself to be taken as well, D. If you need encouragement as you
deal with me, I know that Leon will be only too happy to give you a hand, so to speak,' Jill said.
The two men blushed deeply, but obeyed.
Leon and D had experienced sometimes, stimulating Leon's prostate up to a point where the
blond almost climaxed. During their very first night together, D had resorted to breaking one of
his precious nails, but the Kami had not been disposed to renew the experience, even to see his
lover yelp and moan. Now D could play with Leon's hidden love button without sacrificing his
nails.
Jill was amazed to see D prepare Leon. She was used to Q-chan and Terry having some fun
together, but seeing her two friends together was entirely different.
D enjoyed Leon's reactions to his touch. When it promised to end even before they had seriously
started, they took a break, and Leon prepared his lover. They were forgetting that Jill was on
their bed, watching them - and incidentally almost drooling on a pillow.
Leon had gained quite a lot of experience, and D was ready soon, so the Kami resumed his
preparation of his lover. Leon was kneeling in front of D, offering his opening to his lover, and
D was so deeply in love with Leon, that something in his nature triggered the beginning of the
next step of the Ritual, and D began claiming his lover. It didn't matter that Leon was a male,
D was aiming at mixing his essence with Leon's.
D tried to become one with Leon. That was all that mattered to D, it was as if he meant to crawl
under Leon's skin. Leon was so excited that he welcomed the long awaited invasion; being under
D felt like floating in a sea of love.
Jill caused D to freeze when she placed her hands on his hips and forced him to ease out of Leon.
She made D roll on his back, and with a swift movement she impaled herself on him and
managed to manoeuvre until he was above her. Something in D urged him to go on moving to
and fro, but something told him that this was not exactly what he really wanted. Not to break the
magic, Jill caressed Leon's arm to bring him back from the happy cloud where D had brought
him - approximately six, or seven, judging from his stupid grin. Then, she encouraged Leon to
make love to D.
Soon D found himself lost in sensations. He closed his eyes and focussed on Leon at his back,
making him feel as if he were made of particles of pure love.
Neither D nor Leon saw the burst that made Jill glow when D released in her a part of his divine
nature. It was not exactly painful, but it triggered an orgasm so powerful that Jill wondered if
she'd swoon from it or not. Yet, some help came from those that had created the Ritual, and still
trembling, she encouraged D and Leon to trade places.
D had not exactly come, but he'd lost some of the sexual aggressiveness he'd shown but a
moment before, and he felt like making love to his beloved companion for the first time ever.
They briefly exchanged a kiss that made Jill feel extremely warm, as if she were a part of their
love - and she probably was.
D slid inside his lover, and when she saw that Leon could take it, she invited him to bury in her.
Jill was so hot and silky around Leon's shaft, and Leon was so tight and yet welcoming around
D's, that both men crashed into orgasm faster than a lost bit of star falls on earth. Listening to
his instinct, Leon made sure that Jill followed them by rubbing her clit.
Jill groaned and shouted.
Leon slid out of Jill and he rolled onto his side, D already spooning him next to their Protector.
Leon was fully awake when he noticed the faint traces of blood.
Jill quieted him before he could start freaking out.
'We're all clean, Leon, and it's a part of it. My blood mixed with D's essence and your semen,
that was one of the keys to it,' she said.
'Did it work?' D asked.
'Well, you haven't been sucked in another dimension, and Leon isn't a pretty vegetable,' Jill
stated.
The shop shivered.
'We are one,' Leon said, approximately ready for round two, in spite of the guest star in their
bed.
'There's a minor technicality, though,' Jill pointed out. 'I got to understand it only now.'
Leon did not like technicalities mentioned inside the pet shop, usually they meant trouble.
'What is it?' wondered D as he placed a quieting hand on Leon's shoulder.
'You've become mortal, D. I guess that your two souls will either remain together on some other
plane, or you'll keep reincarnating together for all eternity,' Jill said.
'D can't be a mortal,' Leon said stubbornly.
'He is still a deity, but he no longer is immortal as he was,' Jill explained.
'Whatever, Airen, we are one,' D said.
Leon practically purred.
Neither D not Leon did really feel any different, but if Jill said that it worked, that they had
survived the Ritual, then the lovers rejoiced.
It was only then that the high magic involved in what they'd just done made them fall asleep.
When she closed her eyes, Jill was nose to nose with Leon, and D was tightly spooning his
companion.
When the elder D appeared in the room out of thin air, Jill had turned around, and Leon had
wrapped an arm around her waist.
"How touching!" thought the elder D. "They thought that they could humiliate me. I will not
have it. The essence of my son belongs to me."
D's father walked silently to the bed.
The two lovers and their Protector were so tired that they didn't feel the presence of the other
Kami.
"Really, my son! Abandoning your immortality for an unworthy human! You are such a
disappointment!" the elder D thought.
In his left sleeve, the elder D took the horn of a unicorn.
He'd had to bribe one of the sacred creatures to obtain that weapon of choice, and now the
offenders were all in a perfect position: if he found the right angle he'd kill three birds with one
stone.
The elder D put all his strength in the blow he delivered.
D's death was instantaneous, but Leon woke up and felt the horn piercing his heart before he was
claimed onto another plane. Jill's heart was just barely touched, and she would slowly bleed to
death.
The shop alerted the other inhabitants, and all rushed to the bedroom. The elder D was already
back whence he came.
Lao D and the Egyptian Goddess were deeply surprised by that turn of event.
Terry collapsed on the floor when he felt the flame of Jill's life flickering.
Q-chan walked to the bed.
He felt numb.
His gentle grandson was dead, as was his lover, and his own companion was deeply injured
because of his own son - the creature he had duplicated from his essence.
If the elder D had sacrificed the younger because he considered that he belonged to him, then
the eldest would do the same to the elder - only more slowly. And definitely more painfully.
Q-chan howled, which caused Jill to react, and she slowly opened her dying eyes.
(Chapter 11 - or How to Trick a Deity and Live Happily Ever After)
Jill saw the pain in Q-chan's eyes, but she could not speak - it would have been too painful -
so she extended her hands toward her divine companion.
Q-chan knelt by the bed, and reverently approached Jill.
He could not believe that he was losing his lover and companion so soon after finding her.
Of course, she might come back - it would not be the first time that she reincarnated - but it
would mean to spend long years - decades maybe - without her gentle soul to keep him company.
Q-chan wanted to take Jill in his arms and do something to help her, maybe ease her pain, but
he was afraid to hurt her.
As soon as he was close enough, Jill grabbed his shoulders and leant toward him.
'Airen! You shouldn't have!' Q-chan said, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Now that the unicorn horn no longer was piercing her heart, her bleeding would intensify and
hurry her death.
Terry was still kneeling on the floor, crying the seven seas.
Lao D and the Egyptian Goddess understood what was going on first, and they clasped hands.
If Terry and Q-chan had not been so deeply moved, they might have understood as well.
If he had not feared to see Jill's eyes close in this life, Q-chan would have noticed that her
strength matched his as she drew herself toward him to be freed of the horn.
The essence D had deposited in her had changed her nature, and the magic she had performed
was still guiding her. Now that the Ritual had been completed, the initial sparks of every life
wanted to see how the Prophesy would work out, and Jill's wound was completely healed in a
matter of seconds.
Jill took a deep breath, and glowed, literally.
Q-chan fell backwards, and sat on the floor. He was blinking, and gaping.
The Egyptian Goddess helped Terry up, and she guided him to the bed and his female lover, who
was now kneeling on the bed.
'How?' was all that Terry could gasp between sobs.
He could not believe that Jill was really saved, and that he would not lose her momentarily.
The Goddess pointed one finger toward the ceiling, and smiled broadly. Terry had that strange
thought that when deities were as lost as mere mortals were, anything might well be possible.
'You have an utterly stupid, selfish, and incompetent son,' Jill told Q-chan.
'Huh?' he answered.
'You are gaping, Airen, and it is extremely unbecoming,' Jill said as she asked the shop in her
thoughts for one of her gowns.
'You sound like Mother,' Q-chan complained.
'Of course,' Jill simply answered.
Q-chan didn't know what his lover could possibly mean.
Tetsuya and Xiuren brought Jill the item of clothing she'd requested, and helped her don it.
Q-chan took to blinking.
Jill leant toward her divine lover, and pecked his lips.
'You... You're... like me,' stammered the Kami.
'What do you mean, my son?' Lao D asked.
He turned to his mother and explained, 'She's has our essence.'
Now that Q-chan said it aloud, Lao D and the Egyptian Goddess could feel Jill's transformation.
She was not born a Kami, but she now was of the same nature.
'The younger D has done his part in the Ritual by killing the lovers. Now I can bring back Leon
and D as one, and they're going to be together till the end of time and beyond,' Jill quietly
declared.
The Goddess helped Terry sit by the bed, and Jill took two steps to go and kiss him, too. She
didn't want him to feel left out of their relationship because she was now assured of spending
all eternity by Q-chan's side.
'What do you mean the "younger"?' wondered the male Kami.
'Remember the words of the Prophesy, my son. "When the youngest becomes the eldest, when
the mortal changes". Apparently, Jill has been transformed in such a way that her link with you
makes her your own son's elder, therefore, he no longer is the "elder" to her, but the "younger",'
Lao D said.
'Except that I have been given the origin of your whole line,' Jill said with a bright smile.
'The circumstances are extraordinary,' the Goddess commented.
'That teaches humility,' Lao D commented philosophically.
'I can't believe how much D's father can be stupid,' Jill said, shaking her head. 'Well, maybe
he was taken into account, and everything was meant to happen that way. One more tiny little
thing, and we're on toward our next adventures.'
'What?' Q-chan wondered.
'You are very eloquent all of a sudden,' Jill teased him.
The Goddess saw Lao D's small smile, and smiled in her turn. The Egyptian could almost feel
Lao D's affection for her son's companion.
Q-chan finally got a grip on himself, stood up, and went to sit by Terry, who he gathered in his
arms.
'Xiuren, Tetsuya, will you help me?' Jill asked.
Both cats nodded enthusiastically.
They both froze when Jill said, 'Will you slash my wrists, please?'
The young feline lovers turned to Lao D, and she nodded imperceptibly. The cats were not
certain that Jill was in her right mind, but if Lao D thought that they could obey the young
human, then they would.
Each with one swift movement caused Jill's blood to spill. She brought her wrists together, and
neared Leon and D on the bed. She had to admit that for those who had not the knowledge that
she'd been given, seeing the immobile forms of the lovers was heartwrenching - all the more
since their love had been acknowledged, and eternity granted. What the others could not know
was that the initial sparks of every life had carefully weighed D and Leon's love, and that instead
of waiting to unite both lovers after both D and Leon had died, and they had reincarnated, they
would be joined now. The jealousy and hatred of D's father had been fuelled so that he would
kill them both, and Jill could do the last part of her mission.
Jill focussed on the essence D had deposited in her, and she urged her blood to pour it over the
unicorn horn that was still piercing both lovers' hearts.
When enough essence had been shared with the lovers, Jill's wrist closed themselves, and she
went to sit on Terry's lap as she hugged Q-chan.
'When the magic in the horn works, they'll come back to us, as one, and eternal,' Jill declared.
'How could the Elder obtain a horn to kill? Surely the sacred unicorns must have known he
meant to kill with it,' Terry said, almost in a whisper.
Jill practically giggled.
'They knew!' exclaimed Q-chan.
Jill nodded.
'What?' asked Terry, completely lost.
'The unicorns must have known what my son was planning, and they must have known what the
Above was planning and yet, they made him believe that he had managed to trick, or maybe
bribe them,' Q-chan explained.
'He forgot that truly sacred creature will not go against their nature, and absolutely no unicorn
would participate in such a horrible murder,' Lao D added.
Jill simply nodded.
'The unicorn who tricked the elder is going to be in danger,' Terry said, suddenly grasping the
implications of what had been revealed to him.
'I seriously doubt that the younger will ever find it again!' Jill exclaimed joyously.
She never took her eyes off of the horn that was working its magic on the lovers.
'The Elder is going to be terribly angry,' Terry said.
'He's going to be extremely frustrated to have unwillingly been turned into one of the main
components of all that. He's been manipulated through a tremendous lie,' Jill said. 'Yet, there
is absolutely nothing he can do about that.'
The essence that Jill had deposited on the horn was running along its spiral shape, and when it
finally covered all of the horn, it truly began its magic.
D and Leon's hearts glowed a rich golden hue, and Jill's heart glowed a bit as well, which
slightly frightened her two lovers, who were finding themselves confronted with a kind of magic
they had never, ever, encountered before.
'They're being brought back together as one,' Jill announced.
'Why are you glowing, too?' squeaked Terry.
'I don't know yet, but it's something nice. I know,' she cryptically answered.
The horn that was the symbol of D and Leon's pure love dissolved within their hearts, and the
power it held combined with the Kami essence Jill had given back to the lovers did their work.
The men took a deep, and almost painful, breath and slowly opened their eyes.
They were being born again, and they would close their eyes only when the initial sparks of
every life decided to suspend this reality and universe.
'I am so much in love with you,' were D's first words, as he ignored his friends and family and
nuzzled against Leon.
'Wo de yao airen(9),' purred Leon.
The blond began to respond to D's caresses as if they were alone in the room.
Xiuren and Tetsuya were already retreating when Jill gasped for air, or so it seemed.
'What's wrong?' Terry asked.
To Lao D, it looked as if he was asking the question to either Jill or Q-chan.
'There's nothing wrong,' D said. 'It feels like a surge of magic.'
'I've never felt magic like that,' Terry argued.
'It's because it's the first time the Ritual has been fully completed,' Jill said, shivering and
glowing brighter and brighter. 'It's an additional gift from those who allowed the Ritual to be
performed.'
'A gift?' the Egyptian Goddess asked.
Jill nodded happily and said, 'It's a way to celebrate my new nature, and a way to bless Leon and
D for their last thought when the Younger killed them and tried to make them disappear from
this world, and from our lives.'
'Your new nature? Their last thoughts?' Terry mumbled.
'I couldn't explain it clearly,' Jill said. 'I am still the Jill who entered the Ritual, but I am also
of Q-chan's nature, and I am something else as well.'
'You do not make much sense, Beloved,' Q-chan chuckled, and he kissed Jill's hair.
'On the contrary, my son,' intervened Lao D, 'Jill still is the kind human who made your heart
beat anew, but she now shares our nature, which ensures that she is going to stay by your side
as long as we all live, and she's been given something that is bigger than our nature, something
different, something new.'
Q-chan looked at his female lover, and all he could see was the woman he loved. For that kind
thought, he was rewarded from the Above with a partial explanation to the situation.
He turned to his grandson and Leon, and gaped. He mentally kicked himself for that, which made
the initial sparks of every life merry.
'You,' Q-chan said pointing a finger at D and Leon, 'you both thought that it had been a great
gift to meet each other, and be given the opportunity to fall in love. You thought that it would
have been worth even if it had been only for one second.'
Both lovers nodded.
Terry was so amazed that he could not achieve coherent speech.
'Now that I know that I'm going to keep this nature, there are bits of magic that I must give back
to D and Leon. Will you help me join them on the bed?' Jill asked.
Terry obeyed mechanically.
D and Leon gathered their Protector in their arms. To Terry, it looked as if the three of them
were still high on magic or something - probably something.
Terry was no longer sure of anything. He'd been learning so many things over centuries, and
nothing made sense any longer. It felt as if new rules were about to be set.
'Take them back, they belong to you,' Jill said.
Hypnotized, D undid one of the buttons on Jill's dress, and began caressing her belly that was
now glowing brighter and brighter.
D gathered a tiny ball of energy in his hand, and he happily smiled at Jill. His smile bloomed into
a grin when he understood what was happening.
'Go on, there's more,' Jill said.
She was grinning, but she was about to cry as well, and all their witnesses were completely lost.
D deposited the first ball of energy on his stomach, and fished for another one.
Jill turned to look straight into Leon's eyes, and she told him to harvest some of the energy
himself.
Leon obeyed, and has D had done, he placed the first ball on his stomach to fish for a second.
When it was done, Jill sighed and purred at the same time, and she practically collapsed in her
friends' arms. Both men meant to check how she was at the same time, and since one of their
arms was trapped under Jill, they had to place the second balls next to the first ones.
'You must not let them sink too deep in you, or it's going to be painful to retrieve them,' Jill
whispered, completely exhausted.
D was the first to react, and he caught the first ball that was half in him, and solidifying. He
pulled out a golden sphere that he kept in his hand. From the look on his face, it had been
awfully painful even though the ball of energy was only half-way in him. The second had already
sunk two-thirds, and D knew he must retrieve it. The sooner, the better, whatever the pain. First,
he had one thing to do.
'Leon, take them from your body!' D ordered.
Leon could almost feel the sense of emergency in his companion's voice.
While D manoeuvred to free his other hand from under Jill, Leon worked on the first ball, and
he howled with pain.
The Egyptian Goddess was the first to understand what was going on. She knew that D could
deal with the situation, but his changed nature was completely new to Leon. She feared that he
wouldn't take the pain too well, or even understand the necessity of a quick retrieval. She glided
to Leon's side and helped him through the process.
Lao D helped Jill up, and made sure that her new daughter wouldn't collapse.
'Now we need to find volunteers to help D and Leon with those, and strong ones. I don't think
the Younger will try anything with us here, but better safe than sorry,' Jill said.
'We are giving shelter to geese from the Capitol,' Lao D said.
'And I saw that you have Egyptian ibises and crocodiles,' the other Goddess suggested.
'I'm willing to help,' a blushing Tetsuya offered from the door.
'It would be too much for you, but you can watch over them,' D said warmly.
'I'll help!' Xiuren said.
D grinned.
Q-chan had never seen his grandson so happy.
'Say, D,' Leon asked, 'I can feel that those spheres are a gift to us for being what we are and for
surviving the Ritual and accomplishing the Prophesy, but what are they?'
'Eggs,' D simply said, as if that explained it all.
'Huh?' said Leon.
'That was the Prophesy, Leon,' Jill said. 'Remember the words, "When the youngest becomes
the eldest, when the mortal changes, when the strong and pure one becomes even more so, when
the child becomes the parent, life is transformed and history changed". The three of us have
changed, and because of the love we made during the Ritual, and thanks to your feelings, you
are being given children.'
'Do...' Leon had to pause before he could voice his thoughts. 'Do you mean that those spheres
are going to transform into babies?'
It was all so farfetched that Leon felt like starting therapy, then again, with all he'd been through
since he'd met - and been involved - with D, why should he be surprised?
'Those spheres as you call them are eggs that need to be sat on, and when they hatch, then you're
going to be a daddy,' Jill said.
At that precise instant, four elegant women in togas entered the room. They walked straight to
the bed, and settled each one on one egg. Even though Leon and D's bed was huge, both men
were virtually kicked out of it.
Tetsuya and Xiuren helped them get dressed in dressing gowns of some sort while more shop
residents invaded the room. Male crocodiles took position all around the bed, and ibises perched
on each corner of it as more geese came in to take over when their fellows would need to rest
or feed, and stand guard as well.
'Eggs?' Terry finally squeaked nervously.
'Leon and D's essences got mixed, and I helped a little bit to allow this to come true,' Jill said.
'Eggs,' Q-chan said in his turn.
'Of course! How do you think you were born?' Lao D intervened.
Q-chan took to gaping again, and Terry decided to imitate his divine male lover.
The eggs and their guardians were left alone.
As an additional protection, the Egyptian Goddess left her phoenix to lend a hand.
Since Xiuren and Tetsuya were guarding the eggs, D and Leon decided to invade Jill's first
room, and Lao D and the Egyptian Goddess lulled them to sleep, and watched over them.
Q-chan wrapped his arms around Terry and Jill's waists, and piloted them back to their room.
'You should rest,' said Q-chan.
'Not just yet. We must protect Terry, otherwise the Younger is going to harm him, and I couldn't
stand that,' Jill said.
Q-chan instantly understood what Jill was suggesting they do.
'The three of us. Till the end of time?' Q-chan said.
Jill nodded.
Terry gulped.
There was a knock on the door.
'Come in,' said Q-chan.
It was Wong, who was bringing them some treat. He had been brewing something that would
strengthen the three lovers. It somehow smelt like hot cocoa, but there was a bitterer note to it.
Wong knelt before them, and offered them three steaming cups.
'I thought you might be needing some elixir to help you feel better,' he said.
'That's very kind of you,' Jill said.
Wong looked at her, and the tears in his eyes made her shiver.
He looked away, but Jill gently took his chin in her hand, and forced him to look at her.
'What's wrong?' Jill softly asked.
Tears rolled down Wong's cheeks and he said, 'I felt it when Count D was transformed, but I
thought that his father had killed him and that I would never see him again. It's my fault.'
'Don't be silly. The Younger would have been informed about the beginning of the Ritual even
if you hadn't contacted him to tell him that D was in love with a mere human,' Jill said.
'She's right, you know,' Terry said.
'You must have been a part in the Above's plan from the beginning,' Q-chan said. 'just like my
son.'
'The world without Count D would have been unbearable. If this elixir can help you protect Mr
Magi, I'll be truly happy,' Wong said. 'It might be a bit sour, but it will give you strength.'
Terrence, Q-chan and Jill each took one cup.
Q-chan helped Wong up, and kissed his brow.
'One day, you will find someone who will love you,' Terry said.
'Not in this life,' Wong said, 'but knowing that the Count is alive and safe will make me happy.'
Wong bowed, and left the three of them alone in their room.
'Do you think that he'll never find someone to love?' Terry asked.
'He never had the opportunity to bond with my grandson, so we might hope that after some years
his feelings for D will turn into something different from love, and he'll be ready to open his
heart again,' Q-chan answered.
'We'd better take his elixir before I fall asleep and wake up next week,' Jill suggested.
'Bottom's up!' Terry said joyfully.
'Thanks for the image!' Jill chuckled.
Terry blushed, and Q-chan shook his head.
They drank the elixir, and immediately felt its magic coursing through their veins.
Terry sat on the bed, and without looking at his two lovers, he said, 'You don't have to change
me, you know. It is in my nature to come back and reincarnate.'
Jill turned to Q-chan and said, 'Do you think we'd be patient enough to wait for him to come
back to us?'
'I'm not sure. Besides I rather like him in that wrapping,' Q-chan said, pretending to ignore
Terry.
'I'm rather fond of that tiny mole he's got on his...' Jill began.
'Jill!' shouted a blushing Terry.
Q-chan sat next to Terry, and wrapped an arm around Terry's shoulders.
'Don't you want to stay with us?' Q-chan asked.
Terry looked at his two lovers, and gulped.
'I love you,' he simply said.
Jill looked at Q-chan, and they instantly knew what they had to do.
Withing a minute, the three of them were naked.
The trick for Q-chan and Jill was to share their essence with Terry. Q-chan was a bit afraid that
they would just end up in a pretty messy bed, and that Terry might still end up being a target for
his son's wrath. All it took to convince the Kami that they could keep Terry by their sides forever
was one wink from Jill, and one of her pretty fingers pointing toward the ceiling.
Jill managed to awake something in Q-chan's nature thanks to her own new one, and soon the
Kami was at Terry's back, mating with him. At the very same time, Terry was drowning in Jill
in a steady movement. Terry was possessed by his two lovers.
When Q-chan sank his teeth in Terry's neck, never stopping from mating with him, Terry
howled, but it was more because he was surprised and the experience was the most
overwhelming he'd ever lived. Jill took that oportunity to sank her own fangs on the other side
of his neck.
Terry spasmed, and crashed in orgasm, bringing Q-chan to completion alongside with him.
His lovers were not yet done with Terry though.
They allowed his blood to mix with theirs, and Q-chan slashed Jill's and his wrists, and they fed
their nature to Terry who was half on Cloud Nine, half passed out from the magic they were
performing.
When Terry had received the proper dose, his lovers' wrists closed themselves naturally.
Q-chan looked at Jill, and chuckled.
'What?' she asked.
'I just thought that we've changed the nature of things, and that we're all going to be eternally
happy because Orcot cannot properly drink his tea!' giggled Q-chan.
It was true that if most of Leon's cup had not gone down the wrong pipe some months ago, he
and D would not have made love, D would not have bewitched Leon to protect him, and the
lovers would not have started meeting in dream-land, which brought Jill into the frame.
Jill was forced to laugh softly.
She and Q-chan settled in bed in Terry's arms, and they waited for his transformation to occur.
All the inhabitants of the shop slept quietly.
The next day in the morning, the Egyptian Goddess gave them all a blessing, and went back to
the place where she usually dwelled. She whispered in Leon's ear that she had not forgotten her
promise, and that his mortal mother would be informed of the latest developments in his life.
Then, she left.
They all met in the kitchen for breakfast.
Terry was wrapped in a new aura that matched Jill and Q-chan's. Lao D commended her son and
Jill's course of action.
Wong was trying to provide a feast for them, but Leon was sulking, and the chef's attentiveness
brought the others' attention on Leon.
'What's wrong?' Jill wondered.
D chuckled.
Leon growled.
'What?' Jill asked, chuckling with D.
'Leon wants to stay near the eggs,' D said.
'My dear,' Lao D said gently, 'your children are well guarded, and it will take time before they
are born.'
'While we were bathing, D told me that we can't know when we're going to become parents,'
Leon said.
'He's right. It might take only nine months, like for a normal human child, or it might take a
mortal lifetime. Time no longer has the same meaning for you now,' Terry said.
'I feel the same,' Leon growled.
'You'll soon get used to your new life, Airen,' D promised.
Leon took his companion's hand and kissed his fingertips. If D said that things would be all
right, then it was the truth.
'I don't feel like leaving the Police just yet,' Leon said barely above a whisper.
'We don't have to, silly!' Jill exclaimed. 'It's not because we have changed that our lives must
change as well. In fact, I think we'll do a much better job now that we don't have to fear bullets.
Of course, it would still hurt like hell to be shot, but knowing that we cannot die is going to
allow us to do a lot of good in this city.'
Leon slowly nodded. Jill really was a wise soul.
Suddenly a thought occurred to Leon, and he gasped.
'What's wrong?' Q-chan asked.
It was fast becoming a leitmotiv in the pet shop.
'Will our children be of our nature, or will we have to watch them grow up, grow old, and die?'
Leon asked.
'Do you really think children would be given to two male lovers if it were to make them mortal?'
Jill asked rhetorically.
Leon looked at his friends and at his new family, and he had to admit that Jill made sense.
'We'll have to shop for the babies. We need to find names. We need to find a good explanation
because I know people who are going to wonder how we got children. How we got as good as
married, they'll understand - or not - but babies. Four babies!' Leon squeaked.
The blond was beginning to realize that reasonably soon he would become a father. He and D
would be parents, and it was not about adoption, it was a miracle even bigger than what they had
already been given.
'We have time, Airen,' D said, cup of tea in one hand, the other patting Leon's hand.
Leon had just thanked whoever had given them eternal love and life together, and had blessed them
with a family when he shivered.
'Oh, yeah?' Leon smirked.
All the others were about to lecture Leon for being silly when Xiuren ran into the kitchen as if
he had seen D's father in the shop.
'What's wrong?' Lao D asked.
Xiuren frantically pointed toward D and Leon's bedroom and said, 'Babies!'
D was the first to run to the eggs. He was followed by Q-chan and Lao D; Jill and Terry were
right behind them.
Leon was grinning.
He stood up quietly and turned toward Wong.
'Could you find suitable milk for our babies, please?' Leon asked.
Wong dropped the tea-pot and asked, 'Are the babies being born?'
'Yup!' Leon answered joyfully.
Wong forgot the tea-pot, and he ran out to find milk.
Leon joined D in their room where ostriches were busy breaking the shells. He knew that
someone - or something - Above was impatient to see the inhabitants of the shop begin their
next adventure.
Leon wrapped his arms around D's waist, and they waited to meet their children - each one of
them one more proof of the strength of their love.
Suddenly even eternity did not sound long enough with the promise of so much love.
Of course, life would never be completely perfect, but D and Leon's shared dream had come
true...
The shells were broken at the same time, turning love into something very real.
Centuries later, it was said that even mortals had felt the birth of the four deities.
Finis
1. Airen: lover, companion, spouse.
2. Yao: to need.
3. Wo ai ni: I love you.
4. I combined "xiu" (protection) and "ren" (person).
5. It means "all night vigil" and sounded apt.
6. Hello (polite form).
7. Elder sister.
8. Lao D: the old D.
9. My adorable companion (I hope my Mandarin is correct).