Every Japanese Boy's Dream

Personal Disclaimer: I had nothing to do with any of the characters and whatnot. Believe me, I could never create some of these guys, and that’s saying something. This story will contain some graphic sex, but I hope I can make it more about the plot than the sex. Regardless, there will be sex, so little kids shouldn’t be here. Shoo! Also, I’m going to try a little experiment. After all, who said that monster sex couldn’t be between a human male and monster female? Major spoilers ahoy…

Every Japanese Boy’s Dream
By The Playing Mantis

Ari was still trying to figure out how his life had taken such a strange turn. They had finally beaten the last evil king, the Vampire Evil King, and he thought that he would finally be free of Stan, the Shadow Evil King. But Beiloune, irascible as ever, decided to steal the evil king’s power right before he was defeated. Now, the group was resting in the Highland’s hotel, trying to get some rest before what could be the last day of their lives. Ari had turned out the lights and crawled into bed, without even bothering to change out of his traveling outfit, and proceeded to not fall asleep. Ari was still staring at the ceiling of his room when he heard the knock on his door. “Who is it?” he called.
“It’s me…” replied a cute voice that he recognized as being Linda, the Former Teen Idol Evil King. “Can I come in? I need to talk to someone.” She sounded a lot more quiet and timid than usual.
“Yeah,” said Ari, genuinely touched that she would think of him. “Hang on a sec… I’ll unlock the door.” Ari quickly hopped out of bed and walked to the door, opening it and looking at Linda. She didn’t look like her normal perky self. In fact, it looked like she’d been crying. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly as he looked her over. She was really cute, with a smile that would melt Ari’s heart if she ever bothered to smile at him. She had on a pair of sandals with a bright rainbow colored sock running up one leg and a see-through stocking on the other. She had on some silly-looking pink maid’s uniform and a brown choker. Her deep green eyes were beautiful and her face was framed with gorgeous blonde hair. The only thing that seemed out of place was the small pair of horns on the top of her head.
Linda looked around the room and asked, “Where’s coach? I need to talk to him.”
Ari stiffened a little, but kept his temper in check. “Stan can’t come out if I don’t turn the lights on,” he said.
“I was wondering why it was so dark in here,” said Linda. “Here, I’ll just flip the light switch.” Linda made a move for the switch, but Ari’s hand shot out and slapped her hand away.
“No!” he snapped. “Nighttime is the only chance I have to get any peace and quiet away from him! If you turn on the light, he’ll just end up boasting and gloating about everything and I’ll never hear the end of it!” Linda rubbed her hand and frowned at Ari. A hint of red showed on Ari’s face when he realized that he actually hurt her. “Sorry about that…” he mumbled as he looked away from her.
“All I want to do is talk to coach,” said Linda. “I’m not asking for much. Why are you being so selfish?”
Something in Ari’s mind snapped when he heard her say that. He grabbed Linda’s arm and held it tight, making her wince. “Selfish?!” he hissed. “Selfish?! I suppose you could say that, and so what? Ever since Stan came into my life, everything’s gone completely wrong for me! I lost my girlfriend, was forced to leave my house to help this guy even though he turned my sister’s shadow pink, and then I get caught up in this bid for the world with a bunch of people who don’t even seem to care about me! The only one of you who seems to like me at all is Rosalyn, but I still think she’s just trying to cozy up to me so she can kill Stan! Then, and here’s the kicker, the girl that I fell in love with, who seemed to like me too, was just a doll! I think I deserve to be a little selfish on occasion, so if you can’t handle that, just leave me alone!” Ari let go of Linda’s arm and veritably shoved her out of the room. She fell onto her butt and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Ari looked at the red mark on her arm, but didn’t even care anymore. “Goodnight!” he said angrily and slammed the door. He leaned heavily against his door and sighed, listening to Linda sobbing in the hallway. He didn’t move until he heard her get up and walk away. He felt bad about hurting her, but it had felt good to get all of that off his chest. Finally, one of them listened to him and not Stan. “And I scared the crap out of her…” he mumbled to himself. “Great…just great…” Suddenly feeling exhausted, he lurched over to his bed and flopped down, promptly falling asleep.
He woke up later that night to the sound of someone timidly knocking on his door. “A-Ari?” called Linda from the other side of the door. “C-c-could I come in?”
Ari slowly got up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and stumbled to the doorway. He opened the door and stared, bleary-eyed, at Linda. She was trembling, apparently afraid of another outburst, but she stood, firmly planted, in front of him. Ari ran his hand through his hair and said, “Yeah, come on in.” He walked back to his bed and sat down, noticing that she was still standing in his doorway, watching him uncertainly. “Are you coming in or not?” he asked.
“Uh…W-well I…” stammered Linda.
“I’m not angry anymore, just tired,” sighed Ari. “I’m not going to yell or hurt you again. And I’m really sorry about that anyway.” He motioned to a chair next to the bed, saying, “Come on, sit down already.” Linda quietly closed the door behind her before walking over to the chair and sitting down. Ari felt slightly uneasy when he noticed that she didn’t seem to want to look at him. “What’s the matter?” he asked, trying to sound non-threatening. “You seemed really upset when you came here earlier, so what did you want to talk about?”
“You know…” started Linda, “I was really upset at you and was going to tell Rosalyn to beat you up.”
“Well, I’m still alive, so you must not have,” chuckled Ari.
“I tried to…but she was already asleep,” said Linda. “And she tends to get really angry if you wake her up.”
Ari laughed a little. “So, let me guess,” he said with a smile. “You went to Big Bull next, right? As a fellow Former Evil King, I’m sure you thought he would be happy to help, right?”
“Yeah,” said Linda, a hint of a smile on her face too. “But he said you wouldn’t be a challenging enough opponent by yourself. Then he tried to get me to workout with him.”
“So, what did you do next?” asked Ari as he leaned back and watched Linda slowly get more comfortable.
“I almost knocked on Kisling’s door…but he really creeps me out, so I moved on,” said Linda.
“I don’t blame you,” said Ari seriously. “Anyone who’d fight monsters with a pair of encyclopedias has got to be crazy. Besides, he clips toenails for fun.” The two of them shuddered for a second before looking at each other and laughing. “The only person left is Epros. So, what did the Former Phantom Evil King have to say?”
Linda suddenly became really quiet again and had a hint of red on her face. “Uh…” she said, “I knocked on his door, hoping that he’d still be awake. He was and immediately let me in. I said that I needed some help and he decided to give me a Tarot reading.”
“Which wasn’t what you wanted at all,” said Ari, “but it sounds like something Epros would do. He never was up on the whole ‘listening to other people’ thing. So, what? Did the reading tell you to come back here and duke it out with me yourself?”
“Um…no…” said Linda in such a quiet voice that Ari barely heard her.
“Are you okay?” asked Ari. “You’re face is really red. Are you coming down with something?” He walked over to her and placed his hand on her forehead. “No, you don’t seem to have a fever or anything. So what’s the matter?”
“Uh…well, I…” said Linda quietly. Her hands clenched and unclenched a few times before she looked into Ari’s eyes and asked, “Do you love me?” Ari, completely unprepared for this question, quickly sat down. Seeing as how there was no chair anywhere nearby, however, he fell and promptly hit his head on the dresser. “Oh my god!” cried Linda, “Are you okay?!”
“Everything’s great, but why are there five of you?” asked Ari woozily.
“Come on!” said Linda as she pulled Ari up, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and helped him walk to the bed.
“Oh…my head,” moaned Ari as he sat down on the bed and laid down, taking Linda with him.
“Whoa! Hey!” cried Linda as Ari, still a little out of it, wrapped his arms around her and started nodding off. “Hey! Don’t fall asleep! You might have a concussion!”
“Nice pillow…”mumbled Ari as he laid his head on Linda’s chest.
Linda’s face turned bright red before she screamed, “You Pervert!!!” and slapped poor Ari in the face.
“What?!” yelped Ari as he shot up, causing Linda to fall off the bed. “What’d I do?!” He looked down when he heard a groan and saw Linda kneeling on the floor, rubbing her backside. “What happened to you?” he asked.
Linda looked up at him and bit back her snarled comment when she saw that he seemed to be genuinely concerned about her. “Nothing,” she said. “Nothing happened at all. Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard back there.”
Ari rubbed his head and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “You really caught me off guard with that question.” He helped Linda to her feet before asking, “Why did you ask me that, anyway?”
Linda looked at Ari’s hand that was holding hers and licked her lips before sitting down on the bed next to him. “It’s something that Epros said,” she said. “And it has to do with the reason I came here in the first place.”
“You said that you needed to talk to someone,” said Ari, “That someone being Stan. You had been crying.”
“I guess,” said Linda. “I wasn’t awake when it happened.”
Ari looked at her strangely for a second before understanding what she meant. “You had a bad dream and wanted to talk about it?” he asked. Linda nodded her head silently. He smiled kindly and said, “Well, I’m here and I’m listening. What was it about?”
“Well, it started out fun enough,” said Linda. “I was on stage, performing for a big crowd of people. Everyone was cheering for me, but after a while it didn’t feel right anymore. The cheering all sounded like it was melding together into one monotone voice.” Linda shivered, holding herself. Ari put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but she only stared at it.
“What’s the matter?” asked Ari. “What happened next?”
Linda started, as if she had snapped out of a dream, saying, “Oh right. Uh…it wasn’t long before I realized that I had become the Teen Idol Evil King again and had forced all of the people in the world to love me, but it wasn’t what I wanted. Not anymore. I ran and pushed through the crowd, running past all the people that we had run into during our quest. The Former Sewer Evil King, the Former Bubble Evil King and the Former Ex-Chairman Evil King were all there cheering me on in that horrible voice. Your entire family and James were there too. It was horrible so I kept trying to get away! But then, I tripped and fell to the ground. I was helped up by Big Bull and Epros. That made me feel better until I saw that they were cheering for me too. Behind them were Kisling, Rosalyn, Marlene and even Beiloune! I turned and was going to run, but I ran right into you and Coach...but only Coach was cheering me on. You looked at me with such pity that it broke my heart. I fell to my knees, sobbing and tried to grab your arm, but you just turned and walked away. I screamed for help…and that’s when I woke up.”
Ari was silent for a while before he looked at Linda and said, “I can see why you needed to talk to someone. That was a pretty nasty dream.” He got up and paced the room a little before snapping his fingers and saying, “Hang on, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“What? Hey!” called Linda, but Ari was out the door already. She sighed heavily as she looked about his room, suddenly realizing that she really knew nothing about him. Until now, she had merely thought of him as the boy who was with Stan who hardly said anything. But he was proving himself to be a good person who actually cared about her. It was a nice feeling, especially when surrounded by the other screwballs. She checked through his things, feeling like a peeping tom, but needing to know more. She found a picture of his family and a picture of a pretty, blonde girl. On the back of the picture of the girl was the inscription, “Julia, My Girlfriend?” The word Girlfriend had been crossed out and Friend had been written in underneath it. She smiled to herself as she put the picture back down. “He cares about her, even now,” she said. “No hard feelings, that’s good.” She continued rifling through his stuff, finding the Voice Recorder that he had made from all the pieces of junk that the evil kings had given him, a few Sci-Fi novels, a book of crossword puzzles and a diary. Controlling the urge to read his diary, she found one more object in his stuff. She picked it up and immediately wished she hadn’t. It was the music box that he had given to Marlene, and it started playing as soon as she touched it.
She was still trying to figure out how to stop it when Ari walked back into the room. “Sorry it took so long,” he said, “but I had to make Stan a cup too and then he had to drink it there…and…what are you doing?”
“Uh…it started playing all of a sudden and I tried to stop it?” said Linda uncertainly.
Ari sighed and looked mildly irritated as he put the two mugs he was holding down on the writing desk and grabbed the music box from Linda. As soon as it was out of her hands it stopped playing. He stopped and looked between the music box and Linda for a second before frowning. “I’d appreciate it if you asked before you went through my stuff next time,” he said as he put his things away.
“At least I didn’t read your diary…” muttered Linda as she got up and sat on the bed.
Ari stopped and slowly turned his face towards her. He was about to snap at her, but the sheepish grin on her face made him laugh instead. “Okay, fine!” he said as he grabbed one of the steaming mugs and handed it to her. “Drink that. It’ll make you feel better.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“Hot chocolate,” said Ari. “Mom always made it for me and Annie if we had bad dreams.”
“Thank you,” said Linda with a smile and a hint of a blush on her face.
“So, is this what Epros told you would happen?” asked Ari. “That I would listen to you and give you hot chocolate?”
Linda’s face turned a deeper shade of red before she said, “Uh…no.”
“Well, what did he say then?” asked Ari. “You keep blushing whenever I ask you about this, but you never tell me. What’s going on?”
“He said that you are the one person who can reaffirm that people still love me for who I am, not because I’m forcing them too,” said Linda after a short pause.
“I’m not sure I understand that,” said Ari as he leaned against the dresser and sipped his hot chocolate.
“Well, he said something like this,” she said before standing up and clearing her throat. “Go back to the boy who made you blue. If you want to know about love, that’s what you must do. Though he may seem quiet and harmless as a dove, he can be your champion in your search of love.” Linda sighed and sat down, unable to look at Ari. She felt tears coming to her eyes, because she knew that Ari was just going to get mad and tell her to leave. But, she was surprised to hear him chuckling.
“Is that really all he said?” asked Ari. “He’s normally so much more long-winded.”
“I think he was going to say more,” said Linda quietly. “But then he ended a sentence with the word Orange and I think his brain snapped because he just froze in place.” She heard Ari laughing happily and couldn’t help but smile herself. She slowly raised her head to look at him and was surprised to see that he was looking directly at her with a warm smile on his face. “So, uh…what do you think?” she asked.
Ari regarded her thoughtfully for a second before he put his mug down and walked over to her. Linda’s heart beat faster with each step of his until he was standing right in front of her and she felt that her heart would burst. He knelt down in front of her and said, “I don’t know much about being your ‘champion of love’, but I’ll be here, as a friend, for you tonight at least.”
Linda sniffled and a solitary tear slid down her cheek as she asked, “Is that all?”
Ari gently wrapped his arms around her shoulders and rubbed her back as she started crying. “Linda, please don’t take this the wrong way,” he soothed. “But, I’m just an ordinary boy and, well, you’re not even human.”
Linda pulled away from him with a look of shock on her face. “You knew?!” she whispered.
“Uh…yeah,” said Ari with a very confused look on his face. “The horns were a dead giveaway.”
“You can see my horns?” whispered Linda, her bottom lip trembling. “But, that’s impossible! No one else has ever been able to see them!”
“What? Really?” asked Ari. “I saw them the first time we met you back in Madril after defeating the Sewer Evil King. You couldn’t sing very well back then, but you’ve improved quite a bit over the last year or so.”
“Has it really been that long since we first met?” asked Linda quietly.
“Well, we kept getting our tails handed to us by those damn monsters until Big Bull joined us,” said Ari unhappily. “All those nights in the hotels added up. Anyway, back to the subject; yes, I’ve seen your horns.”
“Yet you still came up and talked to me in the first place,” said Linda. “Why was that?”
“Because you were so cheerful and happy looking,” said Ari. “I knew that someone like you couldn’t be bad or anything.” He looked down at the floor and mumbled, “Besides, you’re very cute.”
Linda smiled and tilted Ari’s head up. He was blushing and looking away from her, but she didn’t care. She slowly leaned in and kissed him, softly, on the lips. Ari’s eyes widened as Linda closed hers and pulled away. “Thank you,” she said.
“Uh…well…yeah…you know…sure…and…um…stuff…” stammered Ari, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he had just had his first kiss. “Uh…you should probably go back to bed. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We fight Beiloune tomorrow, after all.”
“Right,” said Linda happily. “I just want you to know that I feel a lot better now. Thank you, Ari.” She gave him a small hug and kissed him on the cheek before whirling around and prancing out of the room, closing the door behind her. Ari slowly sat down on his bed, lightly brushing his fingers against his lips, completely unaware that Linda was leaning against his door, doing the exact same thing. “My first kiss and he can see my horns,” she said to herself with a smile as she pushed off the door and skipped back to her room.
The next day was brutal. The library was full of enemies that seemed like they were twenty levels above the group. They were almost immediately set upon by a Bad Poetry Golem and two Radiant Suns. The Golem knocked out Epros with one blow, but Big Bull and Ari were too busy dealing with the Radiant Suns to heal him. Rosalyn, Kisling and Linda all tried to help as best they could, but the Golem easily swatted them away. Ari caught Linda as she was about to slam into a wall, set her down and quickly set up his Overdrive. But, before he could use his Burst attack, Stan finally had enough and used his Burning Devil attack to get rid of the Golem, so the remaining party could get rid of the Suns with little difficulty. The party looked at each other and firmly decided that they had gotten their butts whooped, so they headed back to the Highlands hotel to rest and recuperate. Ari did as best he could, healing up everyone, but by the time he was done it was night time and everyone needed some sleep, especially Ari. Using magic always wore him out, but as he was going to bed he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything that day, so he headed down to the kitchen to fix a decent meal. He hadn’t even gotten to the door when he heard a knock on the other side. “Yes?” he asked wearily.
“It’s me,” said a voice that made his heart skip a beat. It was Linda. “Can I come in? Or are you too tired.”
“Actually, I was just heading down to the kitchen, so if you want to, you can come with me,” replied Ari as he opened the door and stared in surprise at what he saw.
“Well, I don’t really think you’ll need to go down there now,” said Linda with a warm smile on her face. She was holding a tray that had two plates full of food, two glasses and a bottle of root beer. “Sorry if you were planning on drinking, but I never did understand the point of alcohol.”
“Uh…no problem,” said Ari as he took the tray from her and invited her in. “No problem at all. We shouldn’t be drinking now anyway. Nothing destroys a person’s desire to beat up monsters like a hangover.” Linda snatched the root beer and the glasses off the tray before Ari placed it on the dresser and carefully poured some for each of them. Ari looked at the meals in front of him and was very impressed. “Did you make this yourself?” he asked.
“Well…no, I didn’t,” admitted Linda as she blushed. “I tried to, but I’ve never done anything like this before, so I asked Rosalyn for some help. I’m amazed that she was so good at this. It seems like she’s good at everything she does.”
“Well, she is an Elite Hero, regardless of what color her shadow is,” said Ari. He turned around and smiled. “But this is really nice. Thank you.”
“Well, I figured that you deserved some kind of thanks for healing us all up,” said Linda as she handed Ari his drink. “The others just gave you a cursory ‘thanks’ and left without saying anything else. And before you say anything, yes I realize that I would have done the same thing two days ago.” She bowed to Ari and said, “I’m really sorry for the way I’ve treated you, and I want to be able to make it up to you, but I don’t know how.”
Ari looked at Linda, not knowing what to say, but he felt bad when he noticed that she was crying again. “Hey, hey, hey,” he said as he placed his hands on Linda’s shoulders and lifted her up. “A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be crying over me. Besides, this meal looks delicious. Let’s eat already before it gets cold.” Linda agreed and the two sat on the bed together and chatted happily while eating. Ari told Linda about his life before Stan, which was kind of dull, but she listened intently anyway. She, in turn, told him all about her family and where she used to live before she moved to Madril.
“Even my parents could never see my horns, but they were never very worried about it,” she said. “My mom claimed that she had horns too, but I never saw them.” Linda blushed and took a sip of her drink. “She claimed that my dad was the only person who was able to see her horns, but I never really believed her. I always just thought she was trying to make me feel better about having these things. In all truth, the wings aren’t very comfortable either.”
“Wings?” asked Ari. “What wings?”
“Oh,” said Linda. “I’m not surprised you didn’t know about them. I tend to keep them covered. Hold on.” She put her plate down and handed her glass to Ari before she stood up and turned her back to him.
Ari yelped when he realized what she was doing. “Hold it!” he cried, but she was already pulling down the zipper on the back of her dress. Ari stopped when he saw a hint of white and merely stared as Linda pulled her dress down just far enough so that her wings were visible. They were small and covered with pure white feathers. (I’m soooo making this up!) “They’re beautiful,” said Ari. “Why do you cover them up?”
Linda quickly zipped up her dress and turned around. Her face was red. “Well, they aren’t exactly functional or anything,” she said. “And what’s the point of showing off something that most people can’t see? But, thank you for the complement.”
“Did your mom have wings too?” asked Ari as he handed back her plate and refilled her glass.
“No,” said Linda, “I got the wings from my dad’s side of the family.”
“Uh…does that mean that your mother was a devil and your father was an angel?” asked Ari.
“Half-Devil and Half-Angel, but that’s more or less right,” said Linda. “I’m a third of each and One-Third-Human.” (Ready to kill me yet, Linda fans?)
“Hmmm…” said Ari with a wry grin on his face. “So, would that make you a wicked little angel or a cute little devil?”
“Hey, are you teasing me?” asked Linda, pretending to pout.
“Only a little,” said Ari. “You’re just so cute when you pout like that.” Both of them laughed a little before they both realized exactly what Ari said. They both looked down and blushed. After a few seconds, Ari cleared his throat and said, “Well, uh…we should probably be getting to bed. Don’t worry about the dishes; I’ll take them down for you.”
“Okay,” said Linda quietly. She slowly got up and headed to the door, but stopped suddenly. “Ari,” she said without turning around, “I still haven’t thanked you for saving me earlier today.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” said Ari with a smile. “The meal was thanks enough.”
“No, it wasn’t,” said Linda. She slowly turned around and said, “Close your eyes.”
“What?” asked Ari.
“Close your eyes, and I’ll give you your reward,” said Linda.
“Uh…okay,” said Ari uncertainly. He closed his eyes and waited. He could hear Linda getting closer and he trembled when he felt her breath near his face. He could hear her swallow and licked his lips, which had suddenly become really dry. “Linda…” he whispered, “Are you sure we should…”
“Shhh…” he heard Linda say before her lips pressed against his. Ari’s eyes opened for a second before he slowly closed them and wrapped his arms around Linda. Linda, for her part, placed her hands on Ari’s shoulders and started kissing him in earnest. Ari felt her mouth open and, nervously, followed suit. Ari swallowed quickly before slowly letting his tongue flow into Linda’s mouth. Linda didn’t hesitate as she wrapped her tongue around Ari’s and allowed them to mesh and flow together. The two stood there, kissing each other happily for a minute before they both pulled away, a thin strand of saliva still connecting them. “Wow,” panted Linda, “That was more fun than I thought.”
“I don’t quite think we got it right,” said Ari with a grin. “Want to try again?”
Linda thought about it for a second before smiling and shaking her head. “First rule of show business: Always leave them wanting more,” she said. She quickly kissed Ari on the cheek before opening the door and exiting the room. Before she closed the door, however, she stopped again and asked, “Could you do me a small favor?”
“I suppose,” said Ari, nonchalantly.
“Could you put me in the front lines with you tomorrow?” asked Linda. “I think I could be a big help to you.”
“Well,” said Ari thoughtfully. “Your element is ice. You’ll be a big help against the fire enemies in there, and Big Bull can take out the Bad Poetry Golems with me. If there are any Ice enemies, you and I can take them out. I like it. Okay, you can join us tomorrow.”
“Thank you!” said Linda happily. “I won’t let you down!” She quickly ran in, gave Ari a big hug and skipped out, closing the door behind her.
“I don’t doubt it for a second, my cute little devil,” said Ari quietly as he placed the dishes and glasses on the tray and flopped down on his bed, quickly falling asleep and dreaming of Linda.
The next day went better than the first attempt. After getting lost eight times, the group managed to find four keys: Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire and Amethyst. “We’re ready to take Beiloune down this time!” said Big Bull happily as he cracked his knuckles. “According to those little librarian dudes, this last key will open the way to him!”
“I don’t know,” said Ari. “This place is still pretty rough. Are you sure we can handle him yet?”
“Don’t worry about it!” said Linda. “We’re the best there ever was! Let’s kick his big nosed ass!”
“Well, if you both think so, let’s do it,” said Ari. Ari slowly peeked around a corner and was immediately decked by a Bad Poetry Golem. Linda screamed as she saw Ari’s neck snap back before the golem brought it’s fists together and slammed them down on Ari’s skull, making a sickening crunching noise. Then, before anyone could react, the golem picked up Ari and hurled him away like a baseball.
“Ari!” screamed Linda as the boy went careening down the hallway and slamming into a bookcase which promptly fell on him. Linda ran up to him while Big Bull started attacking the golem. “Ari! Ari!” cried Linda as she dug him out from under the bookcase. “Oh God! Big Bull! He’s dying! We’ve got to get him out of here!”
“Little busy right now!” snarled Big Bull as he tussled with the golem.
Linda felt an immense anger building up inside of her that she’d never felt before as she looked down at Ari’s unconscious form. Rosalyn had just run up to see if she could help when she suddenly stopped, unable and unwilling to get anywhere near Linda. “Linda?” she asked quietly. “Are you okay?” Linda’s head snapped around, and Rosalyn took an involuntary step back when she saw that Linda’s eyes had become pitch black. Linda started muttering something that Rosalyn couldn’t make out but the mere sound of it made her teeth chatter and her skin crawl. “Linda! Calm down!” cried Rosalyn ineffectually as a blue aura surrounded Linda and she slowly got up and started walking towards the golem.
Rosalyn slowly sidled past Linda, trying to get to Ari, but in doing so, she heard what Linda was muttering and shivered. “Youwilldieyouwilldieyouwilldieyouwilldie,” muttered Linda as she sped up until she was running full tilt at the golem and screaming, “You Will Die!” Even Big Bull cringed at Linda’s bestial cry of rage, and the entire group stared in shock as Linda’s horns finally became visible to them and Linda’s Devil side came out in full. She still kept her human form, but her hair was now pale white and her skin was blood red. She quickly swung her microphone up, wrapping it around the golem’s head. Pulling it tight, the wire acted like garrote wire and cut it’s head off cleanly. As the head fell she leapt into the air and did a spin kick, kicking the head into the body. The head collided with the body with so much force that both the head and body shattered into powder. Linda stood in front of the pile of rubble, panting and growling, before slowly turning around and looking at Ari and the others. She saw Rosalyn trying to help Ari, but was so blinded by rage that she only saw something touching him and ran in for the kill. Rosalyn, terrified of Linda, quickly leapt away, barely avoiding Linda’s punch that left a dent in the stone floor.
“What a woman!” said Big Bull with a grin on his face.
“Someone do something!” cried Rosalyn.
“Stay away from him!” roared Linda, baring her fangs at the others.
“This is so educational!” babbled Kisling as he scribbled notes furiously in his books.
“None of us can stop her, that much is certain,” said Epros calmly, “but we must do something, that boy is hurtin’.”
Linda was about to attack when she heard a small groan behind her. She whirled around and looked at Ari, who was still lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. “Mommy…?” he whimpered quietly. “It hurts…” He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, but his eyes were unfocused. “Where is everyone? I can’t… What happened?”
“Oh God, no!” cried Linda as she slowly went back to normal. She looked at the others and cried, “Please tell me we still have some Nuts or Healing Crystals left!”
“We used all of them getting this far,” said Big Bull, “and we ran out of magic power already.”
“Ari is dying!” cried Linda, “Are you saying there’s nothing we can do about it?!”
“Calm down, Linda,” said Rosalyn. “We just have to get him back to town, and he’ll be fine!”
“We don’t have time for that!” said Linda. “I agreed with Big Bull! I’m partly responsible for this, so I’m damn well going to do something about it!” She knelt down in front of Ari and clasped his hand in hers. “Please,” she whispered, “I can’t lose him. I need him. I’ll do anything, just let me save him.” Linda suddenly felt a warm sensation building in her chest. Her back arched as the warmth grew uncomfortable before getting so hot that she tried to scream, but no sound came out. She heard the sound of tearing cloth before the pain became too unbearable and she blacked out.
Linda woke up in a bed at the Highland hotel and slowly looked around. Rosalyn was dozing in a chair next to her bed, but she couldn’t see Ari anywhere. “Ari?” she croaked as she tried to get up, simultaneously finding out that not only her throat hurt, but the rest of her body did too.
Rosalyn stirred at the noise and looked over at Linda with a smile. “Welcome back to the land of the living,” she said quietly. “You’ve been out for three days now.”
“What about…?” started Linda before it became too painful to talk.
“He’s going to be okay,” said Rosalyn. “But, he hasn’t regained consciousness yet.” Linda started to get up, but Rosalyn pushed her back down. “You just woke up,” she said gently. “And considering what you did, it’s amazing you’re still alive.”
“Huh?” asked Linda.
“You don’t remember what happened?” asked Rosalyn. Linda shook her head a little causing Rosalyn to frown. “Well, it happened like this…” Rosalyn stared at Linda as she prayed over Ari’s dying body and felt tears well up in her eyes. She heard Linda sobbing and could tell that the girl cared for him and was about to go over to her when Linda suddenly stopped crying and sat bolt upright, a silent scream on her face. A strange, pure aura emanated from Linda, followed by the sound of tearing fabric. Rosalyn’s eyes bulged out of her head as she saw Linda grow pure white wings, seemingly out of nowhere, that tore through her dress, leaving it in tatters on the floor. Linda, now only dressed in her underwear, flexed her wings gracefully and looked down at Ari, smiling kindly. She slowly raised his head, placing it in her lap, before lowering her own head and kissing him, softly, on the lips. When their lips met, there was a blinding flash of light that made the others cover their eyes. When they could see again, Linda’s wings were gone again and she was collapsed over Ari’s body. Rosalyn and the others ran over to them, and were shocked to see that Ari’s wounds had completely healed. “…so Big Bull grabbed Ari and I grabbed you and we got our asses out of there,” finished Rosalyn as she poured a glass of water for Linda. “Here,” she said, “it’ll help your throat a little.”
Linda accepted the water gratefully and gulped it down. She sighed and closed her eyes, asking, “So, why aren’t you scared of me?”
“What?” asked Rosalyn.
“I attacked you,” said Linda quietly.
“Yes, well,” started Rosalyn. “We had a nice long chat with Kisling about that. Having a monster expert in the party has finally turned out to be useful. He told us about Half-Devils and Half-Angels…both of which you appear to be.” She looked down at Linda and smiled. “I’m not scared of you, Linda. Your anger was justified, if not a little exaggerated. Ari is a lucky young man, having a beautiful girl like you who cares about him so much. You not only beat the crap out of that golem but, according to the professor, you gave Ari some of your own life force with that kiss.”
“Did I really?” asked Linda quietly. She smiled a little as she started to drift off to sleep again. “That’s not so bad…” She woke up later and looked for Rosalyn. “Hello?” she called, but received no answer. She slowly pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked around. The room was empty, but she could see light coming from under the door that lead to the room’s bathroom. “I’ve got to see Ari,” she said to herself as she slowly got out of bed and tip-toed out of the room, ignoring the pain in her joints. As soon as she left the room, she quietly closed the door and leaned against it, panting heavily. Holding onto the wall for support, she limped her way to Ari’s room and pushed his door open. She saw Rosalyn gently feeding him some soup, before she stumbled in, falling to her hands and knees.
Rosalyn quickly turned around and said, “Linda! What are you doing here?! You should still be in bed!” She put the soup down and rushed over to Linda. “What was Epros thinking, letting you come here?” she muttered to herself.
“Actually, I sneaked out,” said Linda. “I had to see him. Please don’t make me leave.”
Rosalyn looked concerned for Linda’s health, but merely sighed and helped her to her feet. “Come on, then,” she said, “I can, at least, get you situated in a comfortable chair or something.” She gently wrapped Linda’s arm over her shoulder and helped her walk over to the easy chair by the bed. “I’ll get you a blanket or something.”
She was about to leave when Epros burst in and said, “I’m sorry Rosalyn, the girl has vanished. If I don’t find her soon, I may be banished. I’ve got to find her, she must be near. If I could just…oh wait, she’s here.”
“How do you…?” started Rosalyn before shaking her head and saying, “Nevermind! Just go back to Linda’s room and get a blanket for her. I don’t think even Big Bull could get her to leave this room right now.” Epros nodded and left. She turned around and was about to continue feeding Ari when she saw the Linda had already started doing it for her. Linda’s hands were shaky, and it looked like it hurt her to move, but Rosalyn couldn’t bring herself to stop the girl. She stood there, watching Linda feeding Ari until Linda slowly fell asleep. Rosalyn took the bowl from Linda and placed it on the dresser before she quietly walked over to the light switch.
“Hold it,” said a voice that she recognized as Stan’s just before she flipped the switch. Stan emerged from Ari’s shadow, casting himself on the wall of the room. “I’ll watch them tonight,” he said. “You’ve been watching at least one of them the entire three days. Get some sleep.”
“But I…” started Rosalyn.
“Don’t argue with me,” snapped Stan. “This is my slave, and I’ll watch over him if I want to.”
Rosalyn smiled as she nodded and said, “It’s odd how we’ve come to care for him. Even Kisling, Big Bull and Epros are concerned, though none of them will admit it.”
Stan tried to bluster his way out of it, but in the end, Rosalyn’s smile broke through and he said, “Yeah, he’s a good guy. I wouldn’t mind adventuring with him after I get my body back.” Epros walked in and attempted to hand a blanket to Rosalyn, but Stan grabbed it and draped it over Linda. Rosalyn just smiled and shooed Epros out of the room before she quietly closed the door and went to get some sleep herself.
The next morning, Ari finally woke up. Stan gently shook Linda awake before slithering out of the room to wake Rosalyn. Linda stirred and looked up, bleary eyed at Ari. She saw him slowly try to sit up and was immediately wide awake. “Ari,” she said quietly as she held him down. “Don’t try to get up. You nearly died.”
Ari looked up at Linda and smiled. “My cute little devil,” he said, “I guess I screwed up, huh?”
“No,” said Linda, “I did. You were right to want to head back. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” said Ari as he looked around and saw that she had a blanket wrapped around her. “Have you been watching over me all this time?”
Linda was about to say no when Rosalyn and Stan entered the room, Stan with a big red mark on his cheek, and Rosalyn said, “She refused to leave your side until you woke up.”
“But…” said Linda, but a look from Rosalyn shut her up.
“Linda, even though she’s been hurt to, wouldn’t listen to me and stayed here,” said Rosalyn.
Ari was about to respond when he noticed Stan’s cheek. “What happened to you?” he asked.
“I woke her up,” grumbled Stan as he stifled a yawn and disappeared.
“I don’t think that groping a lady’s chest is a proper way of waking someone up!” snapped Rosalyn. She sighed and looked at Linda, saying, “Now that he’s awake, will you please go back to your room and get some rest in a bed?”
“No,” said Linda quietly. “I feel much better now.” She slowly stood up and, though she was still a little shaky from being unconscious for three days, she didn’t hurt anymore. She walked over and grabbed the soup bowl. “I’m going to go make some more,” she said. “Is there any particular kind of soup you like?” She looked over at Ari and saw that his eyes were wide and he was beet red. “What?” She looked down and suddenly realized that she was still in just her underwear. She let out a small squeak of embarrassment before she snatched the blanket and wrapped it around herself. Her head snapped around to Rosalyn, who was trying, futily, to hide her amusement. “Could you get one of my dresses, please?” asked Linda quietly. Rosalyn nodded, trying to stifle laughter, and left.
“You don’t have to hide from me,” said Ari. “This is a great opportunity to see your wings, after all.”
Linda smiled as she slowly stood up, letting the blanket fall to the floor. Her pure white underwear almost blended in with her pale white skin. She slowly walked up to Ari and gently stroked his hair. “I was really worried about you,” she said.
“I’m sorry I caused you pain,” said Ari. He frowned slightly as he looked at her. “Did you do something to your hair?” he asked. “You look different; more radiant than normal.”
“One-third angel, remember?” said Linda. “I showed my devil side when I got really angry; I guess my angel side shows up to show my love.” She leaned down and whispered in his ear, “I love you, Ari.” She pulled her head back and the two smiled at each other before they both closed their eyes and Linda leaned in and kissed Ari. Ari willed his stiff arms to move, and they slowly wrapped around Linda’s back and pulled her in tight. He was almost reaching for her bra clasp when the two heard someone clearing her throat at the doorway. Linda snapped up and looked at Rosalyn, who had her arms folded and was tapping her foot on the ground.
“How you two are able to do that and still make it look so damn innocent is beyond me,” she said as she tossed Linda’s dress to her. “They all looked the same, so I just grabbed one. Put it on and then go make that soup. I’ll stay here with him.” Linda grinned sheepishly as she quickly threw her dress on and left the room, blowing a kiss to Ari. Rosalyn sighed as she sat down and looked at Ari. “Its amazing how much you’ve changed since we first met,” she said.
“Well, that was about two years ago,” said Ari.
“But still,” said Rosalyn, “Who’d have thought that you, the little 16 year old from some pissant little village, wielding a stick, would end up here, trying to stop a mad man from destroying all we hold dear.”
“The classification system never really worked for me anyway,” said Ari. “I don’t have an element, I don’t have a classification. I’m an anomaly in Beiloune’s world.” He chuckled a little. “If I had never met Stan, he probably would never have noticed me, and the idiot would have continued to delude himself into thinking that that doll was his daughter.”
“I think, in a way, she was,” said Rosalyn quietly. “She really cared for you.”
“I know,” said Ari, “and I know where she is too.”
“What?!” asked Rosalyn.
“She’s in Tenel village,” said Ari, “the place that you all saw as an empty town. It’s full of people who don’t belong in this world, who are overshadowed, who let themselves slowly fade away by blending in and not trying to stand out. When I disappeared, that’s where I was, and that’s where Marlene is. Beiloune, in his desire to make a beautiful playground for her, never really paid much attention to her, so she ended up in the place that had been designated for people like that.”
“What can we do to save her?” asked Rosalyn.
“There’s nothing I can do for her anymore,” said Ari quietly. “She needs someone to love and care for her, and I can’t do that anymore. Not in the way that she needs, at any rate.” He closed his eyes and said, “The music box played when Linda held it.”
Rosalyn, understanding what that meant, smiled and said, “I’m sure you two will make a cute couple. I must admit to being a little jealous.”
“You’ll find someone,” said Ari, “And then you can stop worrying about your shadow.”
Rosalyn’s face darkened at the word ‘Shadow’, but she didn’t snap at Ari, regardless of how much she wanted too. “I don’t see what my shadow has to do with it,” she said.
“Knock it off, Rosalyn,” said Ari. “A pink shadow doesn’t mean anything. And it will mean even less when we defeat Beiloune. Then your shadow won’t stop you from being the Hero …no, the person that you’ve always been.”
Rosalyn was speechless. She hadn’t even thought that when the classification system was destroyed, she might be able to be what she wanted to be without having a normal shadow. She wouldn’t mind if some people still laughed at her, because it would only be some of them. She heard a knock on the door and went to open it. Linda had her hands full with a tray that had two bowls of soup and a pitcher of water with two glasses. “Here, let me help you with that,” said Rosalyn as she took the pitcher and put it on the dresser. She walked to the door and watched Linda place the tray down. “I’ll leave you two alone,” she said. “Thank you, Ari.” She left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
“What was that about?” asked Linda.
“Just giving some advice to a good friend,” said Ari as Linda helped him sit up. “She needs to get over the whole Pink Shadow thing or she’ll never be happy.”
“I think it’s cute, myself,” said Linda. Ari shrugged. Linda smiled as she handed him a bowl of soup. “I hope you like chicken noodle…it’s all I could find.”
“It’s fine,” said Ari with a smile. For the rest of the day, the two chatted and ate together, both slowly getting their strength back.
The next day, Ari wanted to head into the library again to finish the whole mess, but Rosalyn wouldn’t hear of it. “I don’t think so, young man!” she said sternly. “Not until you can prove to me you have the stamina to fight in there again.”
“How do I do that?!” asked Ari.
“Well, how about we take a walk around town for the day,” said Linda helpfully.
“I can do that,” said Ari happily.
“Alright,” said Rosalyn, “but if you start to feel weak, come right back here.”
“Yes mommy,” said Ari making Linda giggle and making Rosalyn blush. Linda and Ari walked around the town of Highland for a few hours, looking in the shops and visiting some of the people that they had gotten to know over the past few weeks. It was close to evening when Ari sat down on a bench and said, “Whew…I’m pooped.”
“Do you want to go back to the hotel?” asked Linda.
“No,” said Ari. “I’m not feeling weak. Far from it. My legs are just tired from all the walking. Come on. Sit down. I was told that this was a great place to come to watch the sun set.”
Linda sat down next to Ari and leaned her head on his shoulder, being careful not to jab him with her horns. He draped his arm over her shoulder and carefully kissed the top of her head. She sighed happily as they sat and watched the sun slowly melt into the horizon. When the sun was gone and the stars were coming out, Linda suddenly noticed how cold it was and shivered slightly. “Let’s head inside, shall we?” she asked.
“Yeah,” said Ari, “good idea. I saw a nice restaurant down by the shop. My treat.”
“You’ll regret saying that,” laughed Linda.
“Maybe, but I’ll deal,” said Ari. The two walked, hand in hand, towards the restaurant and had a pleasant, if not a little expensive, meal together. “I can’t believe you ordered the lobster,” said Ari with a laugh as they left the restaurant. “I’m glad I only wanted a bacon cheeseburger or I’d be out of money!”
“Heh…sorry,” said Linda. She was blushing with a small smile on her face.
“No apologies necessary,” said Ari. “You did warn me, after all. Come on, let’s head back.” The two went back to the hotel and sat down in Ari’s room, continuing their conversation from dinner. They were both getting ready to turn in for the night when they heard a knock on the door. “Come in!” said Ari.
Rosalyn opened the door and walked in. “How’d the day go?” she asked.
“Fine,” said Linda. “He should be fine to fight tomorrow.”
“Excellent!” said Rosalyn. “Then I’ll see you both tomorrow and we can go give Beiloune the beating he deserves. Night you two.”
“Goodnight Rosalyn,” said Ari as Rosalyn closed the door. He turned to Linda and said, “We should probably go to bed too. We need to be well rested.”
“Yeah,” said Linda quietly as she slowly got up and walked to the door. She gripped the doorknob and hesitated. “Ari?” she said.
“Yes?” asked Ari.
“I was wondering…if I could…you know…” mumbled Linda.
“What?” asked Ari.
Linda turned around and looked Ari in the eyes and asked, “Could I stay with you tonight?”
Ari swallowed and said, “Are you sure that’s wise? We need to be rested tomorrow.”
“Either one of us could die tomorrow,” said Linda.
“Do you really think I would squander the gift that you gave me?” asked Ari. Linda looked up in surprise. “Epros told me what happened. He said, ‘After that golem smashed in your head, we all thought you were surely dead. But then Linda used a power that’s never been mastered. Her kiss gave you her life force, you lucky bastard.’” He laughed as he remembered the look on Epros’ face as he said that. “I’m only alive because of you, and I don’t plan on wasting the second chance you gave me.”
“Maybe,” said Linda, “but I still need to fulfill that tarot reading that Epros gave me.” She blushed as she said, “Spend the night with him and though you may be sore, you won’t be worried about love anymore.”
“Uh…you never mentioned that line before,” said Ari.
“I was too embarrassed,” said Linda quietly. “I didn’t want to scare you off or anything, and I felt that that would be coming on too strong. I admit that I don’t think I have to worry about love anymore, but I still…I want…please?”
Ari lowered his eyes and looked at the floor, trying to come to a decision. He slowly looked up and looked into Linda’s eyes. She was on the verge of tears and needed an answer. He bit his lip, and walked to the door. Linda let out a choked sob as he reached for the door knob, but it was only to lock the door. “I don’t think we want Rosalyn to burst in on us again,” he said with a smile. Linda let out a small laugh as she threw her arms around Ari and kissed him on the cheek. Tears of joy were streaming down her face and neither of them could tell if she was crying or laughing. “Shhh…” said Ari calmly as he stroked her hair and held her tightly as she buried her face in his shoulder. “Calm down, you’ll upset your stomach.”
“I’m sorry,” sobbed Linda, “but I’m just so happy. Just hold me.” Ari smiled and continued to comfort Linda until she stopped crying and looked up into his eyes. They both leaned in, and their lips met. Linda clutched Ari’s lapels as the two, still kissing, stumbled over to the bed. Ari sat down and Linda crawled on after him, their lips never parting. Ari quickly took off his gloves and jacket while Linda fumbled with his belt and kicked off her sandals. They finally pulled away from each other as Ari untied his shoes and pulled them and his socks off while Linda did the same with her stockings. Linda pulled Ari’s shirt off while he unzipped her dress. While she was pulling her dress off, he removed his pants.
Ari and Linda looked at each other in their underwear and blushed. “You’re so beautiful,” said Ari as they started kissing again. Ari placed his hands on Linda’s shoulders and slowly moved them downwards until he reached her bra clasp. He pulled away from her and said, “You can still change your mind.”
“Oh shut up and kiss me!” groaned Linda as she pulled Ari’s head back in. Ari smiled as he undid Linda’s bra and pulled it away from her. She had cute, little b-cup breasts that were nice and perky, with nipples that stood out in the cool air. They both pulled away from each other and shivered with anticipation and a little bit of nervousness. Ari placed his hands on Linda’s shoulders and gently laid her down on the bed, not exactly sure what to do, but having a general idea. He swallowed as he slowly reached out a trembling hand and started to stroke Linda’s crotch. Linda moaned softly at Ari’s touch and bit her lip when she felt his tongue gently run along her breasts. “That feels…wonderful, Ari,” she whimpered. “Please, keep it up.”
“At least I’m doing something right,” said Ari as he continued to lick Linda’s breasts, using his free hand to cup and massage the one he wasn’t licking at the time. Linda looked down, through pleasure-filled eyes, and saw a bulge growing in Ari’s briefs. She reached down and gently grabbed it, running her thumb up and down it a little before slowly rubbing it with her hand, making Ari groan. Linda, encouraged by his obvious pleasure, decided to step up her stroking but Ari stopped her. “Hang on,” he said as he pulled away from her and pulled his briefs off, tossing them to the floor. Linda’s eyes widened as she saw a cock, in person, for the first time. Ari’s was a normal size but with a thickness that contrasted his twig-like arms.
Linda licked her lips and sat up before slowly removing her panties. She got onto her knees and started stroking Ari’s cock again. Ari rubbed his hands up and down Linda’s body, caressing her entire body, before slowly moving his hands down to rub her hips. His hands slowly moved to her inner thighs before they reached her pussy. One hand started stoking her pussy again, while the other slowly traveled up her body, stopping for a second to tickle her stomach, and started groping her breasts again. “Ari,” moaned Linda, “I love you so much. Please, make me a woman.”
Ari smiled and the two kissed each other lightly before Ari laid down on his back and held his arms open for Linda. Linda looked confused before Ari said, “I want you to do this at your own pace since it’s your first time. I’ve heard it will hurt for you, and I don’t want to make you more uncomfortable than necessary.” Linda smiled as she threw her arms around Ari and kissed him. Then she nervously pushed herself up onto her knees and carefully straddled his hips. Ari held himself in place as Linda slowly lowered herself. When the tip touched her entrance they both jerked. “Are you sure you want to do this?” asked Ari quietly, looking at the fear on Linda’s face.
“Yes,” said Linda nervously. “I just need a little time, that’s all.” Ari and Linda held their places for about a minute before Linda swallowed and asked, “If I decided to call this off, would you be mad?”
Ari looked hurt as he said, “No, I wouldn’t. I would be able to understand your misgivings. Just remember that I love you, Linda, and nothing will change that now.”
Linda smiled as she said, “That’s what I needed to hear. Thank you, Ari.” She screwed up her face as she continued lowering herself, slowly pushing Ari’s cock into her virgin channel. Linda let out small gasps and groans as she slowly pushed herself downward, impaling herself and stretching her tunnel for the first time in her life. It felt really weird. It was a combination of moderate pain and extreme pleasure that she was unused to. But, the pain came to a head when Ari’s cock came upon a barrier inside of her. “This is it,” she said tremulously. “The last chance to back out.”
“Do you want to?” asked Ari one last time. “I don’t want you to do anything that you would regret later.”
Linda slowly placed her hands on Ari’s hips, gripping them tightly, before pulling herself down the rest of the way, piercing her hymen. She let out a small cry of pain as she fell forward onto Ari’s chest. “The only thing I regret,” she panted as Ari gently stroked her back, “is that it took me so long after I met you to actually find you.” She sobbed softly as the pain slowly ebbed away, leaving only a dull throbbing inside of her. She started to move her hips, but Ari held her in place. “What’s the matter,” she asked.
“Sorry,” said Ari, “but I want to be sure you’re ready before you do anything. You look like you’re still in pain.”
Linda smiled as she ran her fingers through Ari’s hair and said, “I’ll be fine.” She reached back and gripped Ari’s hands before slowly sitting up and placing them on her breasts. Placing her hands on Ari’s chest for support, she slowly started bobbing up and down on him. She closed her eyes as the dull throb started to feel good, making her moan softly. She continued to bob and bounce on Ari’s cock for a short while, emitting small gasps and moans as her pace quickened. Ari, for his part, was groaning as well, and using all of his will power not to climax too soon. Linda felt her climax coming and cried out with joyous release as her back arched. Ari looked up just in time to see her wings grow and spread out behind her as she came, gripping his cock like a vise. Linda fell onto Ari’s chest, as amazed as he was that he hadn’t cum yet, and pleaded, “Ari…I can’t…keep it up…please…take over…”
Ari wrapped his arms around Linda, being careful about her wings, and rolled them over so that he was on top. “I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out,” panted Ari as he started to thrust into Linda.
“I don’t care,” gasped Linda. “Just keep going!” Her hands gripped him tightly and her wings folded around the two, giving Ari the feeling of being wrapped up in a big, downy comforter. Linda bit into Ari’s shoulder, the pleasure reaching a pitch that she’d never believed possible. “Ari!” she cried.
“I can’t…hold back…!” cried Ari through gritted teeth before he thrust deeply into Linda.
“Yes!” screamed Linda as she felt Ari’s warm seed flood her womb. She came again, milking Ari’s cock for all she was worth. Ari and Linda held each other tightly until the last of their spasms finally died down, and even then, they still continued to thrust their hips together. Ari finally pulled his flaccid cock from Linda’s sopping channel and slowly rolled off of her as her wings slowly shrank back to their normal size. The two lovers lay there, panting and giggling. They looked at each other and smiled as they reached over and held hands. It had been passionate and clumsy, loving and jerky, but above all else, for them it had been perfect. Ari slowly got up and picked up Linda, cradling her in his arms, before pulling the sheets down and tucking her into bed. He climbed in afterwards and the two merely held each other as they drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Rosalyn woke up and headed for Ari’s room to see if he was still up for taking on Beiloune. She knocked on the door and waited, but no one answered. She knocked again and called, “Ari? Are you okay?”
She was about to knock again when Stan emerged from the room and held up his hands. “Uh…I think we’re waiting till tomorrow to do anything,” he said.
“What?!” cried Rosalyn. “Is he okay?”
“Oh yeah…he’s fine…” said Stan as he scratched his head.
“Well, I want to make sure,” said Rosalyn. “Could you unlock the door?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good…” started Stan before Rosalyn pointed her rapier at him.
“Unlock the door,” she said firmly.
“Okay,” said Stan with a shrug as he disappeared. Rosalyn waited until she heard the door unlock before she quickly entered the room, expecting Ari to look pale as death.
“Uh…” said Rosalyn as her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when she saw that Ari and Linda were sleeping peacefully in each others arms. She could also tell by the amount of clothing on the ground that they were buck naked. She quickly closed the door and said, “Right. Tomorrow then.” She had a hint of a smile on her face as she tried to come up with an excuse to give the others for waiting another day.

The End

(Alright, I freely admit that I’m not really much for the whole ‘romance’ thing, but this was fun to write. I so love writing for Epros! Writing in rhyme is just so much fun! And for those of you who’ve never played the game, yes Bad Poetry Golems are really that bad. Anyway, this story was originally supposed to just take place during one night, but after I started writing it, making it take place over a week seemed to work better. Now, before anyone asks; no, Linda does not have wings. She does have horns though. I was originally gonna give her wings that matched her horns, but the angel wings worked better from a storyteller standpoint, and I hope that no one minds the slight deviation from the original character design. Then again, if you’re upset about that then you’ll be positively ravenous about Ari giving up on Marlene. *shrug* Ah well, I’ll keep writing, regardless of how anyone feels about my stuff. Ta!)