John was having a progressively worse time just sitting there. Patience was a virtue he generally possessed, but there were several ways to corrupt that willingness to wait. One of the most effective ones was seeing a person he loved, especially a haremette, hurt. Rave was far from fragile and none of the wounds was threatening, but her visibly injured state still bothered her boyfriend. It bothered him a lot.

‘Concentrate on her breathing,’ the Gamer told himself. Despite the bloody and bruised state of her body, Rave was showing no signs of overt pain. Her steady in- and exhales were a calming insurance that she was fine. He would still have preferred it if she rose from her meditation already. Undine crawling through all of the tunnels would take a while, assuming she even found the entrance. The labyrinth was weird like that.

Disturbing her wasn’t an option either. For all John knew, there was still some adjustment of Copernicus’ body going on at a magical level. The last thing he wanted to do was mess with a process so close to its completion. Especially one so vital to her combat development.

Impatiently, John waited. He kept his fingers still, his lungs from pressing out a sigh and his foot from tapping on the crystal ground. Occasionally he averted his gaze, tried to distract himself with the fantastical scenery. Its beauty was difficult to appreciate, given the blemished state of the gorgeous woman sitting at the centre of it.

In order to keep his mind from circling around Rave’s wellbeing, he extended his thoughts to the rest of the harem. Aclysia was currently inside her wing of the Palace, picking out the ingredients for dinner. Beatrice was still in the Fusion Administration Building, currently busy checking on their tax settings. The Guild mechanics allowed John to automatically pull a percentage of a person’s earnings into the Guild Bank, with the limitation being that they had to be part of Collide, a vassal of Collide, or a member of the Federation led by Collide.

This made tax evasion effectively impossible and anonymised the entire process. The only thing that was displayed on the receiving side was the guild the taxed person was a part of. Generally, this was an advantage. It kept the necessary bureaucracy small and John could still keep a pulse on where the majority of economical action was happening. If he ever jacked the taxes up, however, people wouldn’t just try to dodge them, they would have to leave the Federation entirely. That could cause some issues.

The majority of the elementals were busy wrapping up their affairs for the day. Only Undine and Siena were exceptions. Undine because John had called her, and Siena because she apparently was in a minor feud with a messenger from her mother. Not an unusual thing, really. Metra had some more interesting stuff going on, but John had no need to go into her mind to find out more about it. He could just look down as Jack to find the First of Wrath’s head bob in his lap.

The eagerness of his willing sex slave to satisfy him distracted John properly, while he waited.

Even if he was in somewhat of a blowjob trance, the Gamer did not miss when Rave finally started to move. A little stirring behind her closed eyelids preceded her raising her arms and stretching. The sound started satisfied, like waking up from a good nap, but soon transformed into a displeased grunt. Copernicus only had to deal with the first part, his manifestation was unharmed.

“Everything huuuurtsssss,” Rave complained and opened her eyes. “Oh, hi John?”

“Why do you sound that doubtful?” the Gamer wanted to know, finally standing up and approaching his girlfriend. He inspected her wounds a bit closer.

“Dunno, some final test?” Rave asked, finalizing her stretch when her spine made a cracking sound. Whether that was satisfying or worrying, John wasn’t quite sure.

“For what? You already succeeded,” Copernicus commented, causing his summoner to turn her head.

“By Gaia, ya got big,” Rave blurted out, eyes and hands travelling all over the light spirit. To show off, Copernicus made his fur glow. With the hollow shape of the larger, black spots on his middle-section, it almost seemed like he was covered in reverse eclipses. “How am I supposed to carry ya if you’re almost as long as I’m tall?”

Copernicus sighed and let the light ebb away. “I’m quite certain I am longer than you are tall.”

“Tails don’t count.”

“You always seemed rather insistent on being precise on tail length.”

“I didn’t start as a size queen, I just got a handsome boyfriend whose dick grew,” Rave retorted. “Hmm, your fur got less fuzzy and more smooth. Dunno if I like that.” She put both hands around his ears and started scratching more intensely. “Awww, but ya got way chubbier, that’s cute.”

“I’m not chubby, I just got bigger and have more skin,” Copernicus growled. It occurred to John that the cat’s masculine voice now sat in a body that definitely fit it better. The growl had a more threatening ring to it, despite being the exact same as before on a pure audio level. That threat level was diminished quite a bit by Rave rolling his checks, however.

“Whatever ya say,” she grinned.

John, as little as he wanted to ruin their moment, could no longer just keep watching. “How badly hurt are you? Can you walk?”

“Don’t ya worry about me, tiger,” Rave turned to him while hugging her considerably upsized elemental. As revenge for the non-serious treatment, Copernicus started to gnaw on her neck. “Just had to defeat five strong elementals in sequence and then go through an inquisition by Light Daddy.”

“…Did you call him that to his face?” John wanted to know.

“She did,” Copernicus answered, between playful mauling attempts.

“And he still helped you with the Tier-up?”

“He didn’t mind,” Rave told him. “Not everyone is as weird about that word as you are, ya know?”

“That’s just a straight-up falsehood. They are either normal and accept it’s weird or they aren’t and think it’s neutral or okay, even.”

“Don’t ya remember the 11th commandment, tiger?”

“…I mean, Moses dropped them, so I can’t remember what isn’t written down.”

“It goes ‘Thou shalt not shame the kink of others’.”

“Given what God did to Sodom, I highly doubt that was part of his manifesto.”

“Nah, I’m totally right. Now kiss me for my success!” she puckered her lips and he didn’t have any choice but to oblige, really. Even with a blue streak under her eye, she was still too beautiful to leave her lips unclaimed.

Tasting her blood in the process did reduce his enjoyment greatly. “Let’s get you out of here. Undine is waiting at the exit,” he told her.

“Ya don’t need to get me out of here,” Rave chuckled and tapped the tip of his nose with his index finger. “I ain’t a damsel – I just fought some kind of small tree dragon, a floating jellyfish, a magma blob with glass teeth, some kind of horror show, and a talkative curvy lady that tried to stab me.”

“Did you get the last two mixed up?” John asked. He knew that shadow had been the theme of the last chamber before this one. The second to last one had been wind.

“Nope, wind elemental was some kind of… fog made out of metallic gas? Really creepy thing. Kept poisoning the air and blaring out distorted sounds.”

“I suppose there have to be some non-chatty air spirits around,” John conceded while giving Rave the space she needed to get up. If she said she didn’t need his help, the Gamer believed her. She proved it quickly as well by jumping into the cave/portal that had led them there. No other way back was apparent. He and Copernicus were quick to follow. “So, what did you talk about with the Father of Light?”

“He was checking my vibes,” Rave told him. “Ya know, regarding how I like to seek out danger, how I’m handling the Moira stuff, and some such.”

“Any epiphanies there?” the Gamer asked. “When I talked to him, it was a pretty illuminating experience – no pun intended. Showed me in detail how much my pride had grown.”

“Dunno,” Rave responded.

“You don’t know if you had an epiphany?” John asked.

“Ja, no idea,” the Lightbearer responded. “I feel like I realized something about myself, but I’ve no idea what to do with that.”

“That is always how that goes,” Copernicus chimed in, as the three of them climbed up the vertical shaft. The pillars served as their footing, which meant that they had to move with the solar jaguar as the slowest member. Cats were extremely good sprinters and they could scale trees no problem, but they were not made for ladders. As to why he didn’t just follow in spirit-form, John guessed that Copernicus wanted to move his new body around. “If every personality flaw was fixed upon realizing it, the world would be a much different place.”

“There’s also the question of what is a flaw or not,” John echoed the sentiment. “Your daring nature has helped us out before. Most importantly, had you not been such a straightforward girl, we wouldn’t be together now. It’s a high risk, high reward lifestyle.”

“Speaking of high risk, high reward,” Rave said. “There’s one thing I did realize.”

“Which is?” John wanted to know.

“I have to beat Moira. At least once. I kinda… need it for my fulfilment, ya know?”

“I know,” John confirmed. It was like he had needed to punch Maximillian in the face or how he wanted to see every last Lorylim eradicated. Granted, the latter would be a benefit to the world as well as personally satisfying, but the emotional foundation existed beyond that. “There’ll be another time you can challenge her. Our paths will inevitably cross again.”

“Yeah… and if I do something stupid at that time?” Rave asked. “Like, really moronic? Just like I did at New Alexandria?”

“Then I’d let you,” John responded honestly. “Because you won’t lose a fourth time.”

Rave didn’t answer immediately. Their steps on the crystal ladder echoed in the cave. “You don’t know that,” she said slowly. “I lost three times and that last time cost us. Not dearly, you reason it might even be better for us that we lost, but the fact is that we were pushed back because of me. If we clash with the Order again, chances are the stakes are going to be even higher.”

“And I would still let you,” John told her.

“You trust me that much?”

“Jane, I’ll say this with every fibre of me that loves you,” John said, picking his words carefully. “I’d take any risk of a setback, sacrifice any scheme, lose any war, and offer any of my resources, if it meant that you got to pursue something that lies by your heart. You are the love of my life and there is nothing I would not give for you. All of that, however, does not matter to this case. You will not lose a fourth time. No matter the circumstance. Because you are Jane ‘Rave’ Hollmey and I love you. Those are the only two reasons why you will win.”

Something dripped down on John’s hand. He did not have to look to see that it was translucent. A second drop fell past him. Then he heard a sniff. “Thank you, tiger. I needed to hear that,” she whispered. Then she cleared her throat. “Alrighty, I’ll win then. Gonna be a challenge, but that’s the fun of it, right?”

“I’ll whip you into shape,” Copernicus purred.

“Heck ya mean, whip me into shape? Ya got all big, so I no longer need to feed ya to let ya participate in fights. WE are going to get into shape.”

“My contract was clear. I give you the power to fend for yourself and I get to lay in the real sun. That was the bargain.”

“How come ya keep helping me when I need it then, ya big tsun-cat?”

“If you get depressed, you might lose the drive to buy me tuna.”

“A, Aclysia buys the food, not me.” Rave let one leg dangle to show that she was counting. “Second…” She suddenly pulled herself up with enough intensity that she flew over the next three pillars and then landed on the part of the cave that was tilted just enough that she could stand there, while using one of the beams as support. She raised two fingers. “…since ya got so chubby, putting you on a diet might be a good idea.”

“That wouldn’t even work!” Copernicus roared and jumped right after her. He wasn’t tall enough to reach the pillars for support, but he also didn’t need them. With four sizable paws. He could balance that elevation level on his own.

‘She lived and she learned,’ John thought. They had invoked that saying directly after Rave lost to Moira. It hadn’t come true yet. His girlfriend was living the spirit of the saying, trying her best not to let past unpleasantries weigh down the rest of her life. That did not mean that they just had to forget everything that had happened. In order to truly move on, Rave had to sort things out her way.