The Journal of a Connecticut Yankee Ch. 06

Authors Note: Few things to go over before continuing on- please note that this chapter does contain violence, fight scenes and drama. Also sexual themes too, just in case you forgot you were on Literotica. (Gotta cover all my bases here.) If any of these things are offensive to you then please do not continue on- you have been duly warned. Also, this story takes place in the MGE universe- there is a Wiki for it if you do not know what that is and if you are a new reader please refer to the first 5 chapters before reading onward.

I would also like to credit this story to Moongrim that co-wrote this with me. With his invaluable input, I feel that one of my favorite characters, Arawn was properly represented in this fantastic cross over.

*****

March 13th (cont...)

What the hell?

"And Arawn, allow me to introduce to you, Donnie. He's the husband to one of my granddaughters and interestingly enough also a dimensional Traveler such as yourself. He's from a place called Earth, have you heard of it before in your travels?" The Maou asked.

With a blank, neutral expression on his face, Arawn raised an eyebrow and looked from her over to me curiously and said,

"Indeed Great Maou, I have encountered the Shadow known as: 'Earth' in its many variations during my extensive perambulations through the Multiverse. I look forward to discovering how he managed to find his way to this world."

A 'boys night out' with this guy? Seriously, what was the Maou smoking and could I possibly get some of it, because that had to be some good shit.

I didn't know him. But what they both just said did make me incredibly curious. Homeboy over there wasn't from around these parts either. The scientific side of me was very eager to chat it up with him for some info. Exactly how many planets and dimensions were out there that could support life? What the shit was the Multiverse? Was it possible to travel to other worlds? As tired as I was in dealing with other dimensions bullshit, it was always my childhood dream to be a space explorer. In fact it was the whole reason I got into engineering

"A gesture of good will." Said the Maou, interrupting my thoughts, as she opened a drawer of her desk and withdrew a familiar belt and holster. Tossing it to me, she added mysteriously,

"Just in case."

Buckling the belt around my waist, I was instantly comforted by Winona's weight on my hip. Still, all in all this was a little strange...

"Not exactly best practices to arm your prisoners." I said suspiciously as I pulled out Winona and checked the chamber to see if she was empty. Oddly enough, she was full up with Silver rounds. I reholstered her as the Maou looked on with amusement and Arawn with interest.

"Everything in order?" She asked pleasantly.

I nodded with a frown, not quite trusting Maou ma's generosity.

"And to answer your remark, you were never a prisoner, Donnie."

"Really?" Raising an eyebrow of my own, I sarcastically said, "Well, you could have fooled the hell out of me. You know with the jail and the bars and all."

"You could have left anytime you wanted to. At no time did I ever say you were a permanent captive, did I?" She said with a hint of a laugh.

"But I... But you said... With the keeping locked up..."

The Maou stared at me as I struggled to form a complete sentence. Finally I blurted out,

"...So I didn't have to sleep in the dungeon all night on that hard ass cot, while your Ogre guard was rubbing like twenty out, peeping on me as my wife decided to have her way?"

"I did think it was rather strange you did, but I didn't want to say anything for fear of insulting you." She replied with a shit-eating grin, "By the way, Amaya does send her thanks to both of you. She said it was the best shift she ever had down there."

Oh. My. Fucking. Lord.

I kept in my screams of frustration, choosing to go the adult route and take many deep, calming breaths. Finally, with as much maturity as I could muster, I said,

"You know what... I deserved that."

The Maou simply smiled and tossed both Arawn and myself each a small, heavy sack. Looking inside I saw it was filled with gold coins, more than enough to hit the town up and get shitfaced. It seemed Tenchi also had around the same idea as he stared at the coin sack longer then I did. Maybe the guy was a real party animal?

"What about Romie? I need to let her know where I'm going."

I didn't want her to worry, or worse yet, her switching to Red Romie to do a search and rescue. Pretty sure this place didn't have a Demon Realm FEMA to handle the aftermath.

"While you're having your night out, my granddaughter and I will have our night in. Both of us have much to catch up on and I've been craving a little girl talk as of late. Now you two boys have fun and don't get into too much trouble. Remember Donnie, you now count as royalty here so do behave,"

The Maou warned, then turning her attention to Arawn, "And you, Yokai Arawn, you are still bound by our original agreement as well."

Arawn nodded and said, "Of course Great Maou, I was fully aware of what it entailed when I offered you my sword after you freed me from my Covenant. I do not now, nor do I ever take oath-breaking lightly."

He glanced at me for a second before turning his attention back over to the Maou,

"So, do you have any recommendations upon what city sights I should avoid so as to preserve what is left of his virtue?" Arawn asked the Great Maou cheekily, with just a hint of a smile upon his face.

The Maou gave Arawn a cold stare for a moment and blew out a breath of exasperation.

"Since his wife, Romie, will not be with him," she answered dryly. "I suggest you both avoid the Royal Art Museum, at the very least."

What the hell was in the Art Museum? Just art, right?

"I will comply." Arawn replied. "What condition do you require him to be in upon his return?"

"Drunk is fine if it comes to it, but remember that he's capable of getting a hangover. So no Satyros Wine for either of you!"

I rolled my eyes at them both. Jesus it's like they were negotiating the fucking Geneva convention.

"Yeah, yeah, fine. Be good, don't set your Demon Realm on fire, wipe our feet before we come back in, whatever. Let's go."

••••••••••

"Don't suppose this place has a Dave and Busters?" I asked as we walked outside.

He looked sideways to me, questioningly.

"I assume that is the name of an establishment? If so, I am not familiar with it."

"Yeah, I guess that was too much to hope for. So what's fun to do around here other than avoiding horny Mamono?"

"To answer you in the reverse order, I assume that what the Great Maou has undoubtedly bequeathed us with is..." Arawn began as he opened up the bag containing his share of the 'Night-out' fund. When he did he saw something that made him smile.

"Ah! Just as I surmised." He stated as he reached inside and pulled out an odd-looking object, and then held it up for me to see. "This is a Periapt of Concealment. It will generally mask you and your Spirit Energy emanations from any hungry or 'horny' Mamono. You probably have one within your bag as well."

Frowning, I checked my own bag, digging through the coins to see it had the same thing inside. Holding it up, I turned it from side to side.

"So this thing acts as kinda cloaking device keeping the ladies out there from getting too frisky? Nice."

"You assume correctly Donnie, I would not be the least surprised if they were not also 'tracking-devices'." Arawn said as he examined his own.

Well nothin like being LoJacked by Maou ma to give a guy that warm, fuzzy feeling.

"As far as general entertainment goes. You will find that Royal Makai is similar to any other city in that it sports Theaters, Museums of every variety, sporting events that include Martial Arts competitions and the like. Though ever since my first experience as Ship's Captain and my crew's needs, I would imagine that those venues are probably not what you are desirous of." He described as we made our way through the streets of the city. The buildings around us were well made with brick or wood and the road below our feet was upkept without potholes. If I pretended hard enough I could almost imagine myself back home.

Various Mamono passed by but where normally two guys like us would be getting stares and catcalls like a couple hot blondes walking by some construction workers, we were largely ignored. I guess the... parapa whatever doohickey was working.

Museums didn't exactly sound like a fun time, don't get me wrong, I do like a bit of culture every now and then but not for a boys night out. Theaters might be something but maybe as a Plan B. I doubted they had the newest Hollywood hit playing but hey, who knows. Martial Arts sounded kinda cool, something like UFC maybe?"

"Martial Arts? They got MMA here?"

"The sporting events such as the Martial Arts institute- also have active participation. Though as a male, I would caution against doing so. As the winners reserve the right to claim the losers for the night."

...Then again being in a room full of horny, buff, muscled Mamono that weren't too concerned about trivial things like consent might not be such a good idea after all.

"Ehhh... What else?" I asked as we passed by a couple little shops showcasing clothes that would make a stripper bashful and gawdy jewelry meant to be placed on particularly naughty parts of the body.

"There are also bordellos and taverns on practically every corner. Or, we could just simply walk around and choose our way at random."

"The second option sounds good, it's my first time here and with the parpawhatever keeping us on the DL, it'll be fun to explore around." Arawn raised an eyebrow at my slaughtering of the little devices name but he nodded in agreement and said,

"There is one thing I am desirous of locating is an 'Adventurer Supply Shop'. The reason being; is undoubtedly we could find useful items located within. Magical book shops also include a number of artifacts."

"Sure, I'm always up for finding new gear and toys, lead the way." I said with some pep. I had to admit it was kinda fun, being able to walk around like this without being bothered. As much as I hated to admit as well... I guess it was nice having some male company around. For most of my time on this rock, I would travel alone or most recently with Romie. A little testosterone was a refreshing change.

Arawn abruptly paused as if thinking something, his eyes rapidly shifting slightly from side to side.

"Heya... You okay?" I asked, concerned. Shit, I didn't need this guy passing out or dying on me. I had it bad enough dealing with the Maou on the issue with Big Boy, I really didn't want to explain how her BFF here dropped dead on me.

Suddenly turning to me he said, "My apologies. I have a request to make; there is someone I care to visit. She is sorely injured and is recuperating at the Makai Medical Institute."

"Yeah, no problem, not like we had any kind of solid plan for tonight or anything. Do you wanna go grab some flowers or somethin on our way there?" I said with a shrug.

"That won't be necessary, as it should be brief." He said with a bit of apprehension, walking ahead of me. Frowning, I followed. Well this evenings not exactly going the way I thought it would go but at least no ones trying to kill me, so that's always a plus in my book.

"If I may direct your attention to yon rickshaw being pulled by a Minotauros, it will hasten our journey."

I'd seen rickshaws on some old NatGeo videos that the substitute would put on when my High School History teacher went on maternity leave. I told myself that I wouldn't be caught dead on one of those things, now look me. Ah, the joys of youthful ignorance, I thought as I boarded the cart pulled by a chestnut colored bull girl.

"Where to?" She grunted like an old New York cabbie as we sat down.

"The Maki Medical Institute, please." Requested Arawn. Immediately the cart shot off, throwing both our heads back. We zoomed in and out of traffic at a disturbing speed and at one point, the damn cart careened on one wheel as she took a breakneck turn. I glanced to Arawn out of the corner of my eye and got slightly... no let me say vastly worried as he did the same to me.

"Madam, do you not think our acceleration is too excessive?" He called to the Minotaur.

"I don't tell you how to walk, you don't tell me how to drive." She responded back gruffly. I saw him blink in surprise at that one.

Heh, exactly what a cabbie would say.

Somehow I didn't think this thing was equipped with airbags, let alone the lack of seatbelts. I hoped my boy Tenchi's life insurance was paid up because with the way things were going, our death was gonna be on the 5 o'clock news real quick.

That would be right after Tammy the weather Ryu's weekly forecast...

Another sharp turn and Arawn slammed into my side, interrupting my Maki News fantasy. Without warning, the cart screeched to a halt, throwing us forward, as we found ourselves in front of a large white, phallic looking building. We fell out of the Rickshaw of Death on each side, Arawn breathing heavily and me kissing the pavement multiple times.

Oh sweet sweet, heavenly ground, how I've missed you! Don't worry, daddy won't ever leave you again!

"That'll be 4 silver." She said to us.

While still on my knees, I dug a gold coin out of my bag and tossed it to her groaning, "Leave, NOW!"

At seeing the gross overpayment, the Minotaur smiled and winked at me before taking off.

"We are NOT doing that again!" I yelled, pointing a finger over to Arawn as I forced myself to stand.

"Agreed," He panted as he stood as well.

"Although I should say that is not a typical experience with such a method of transportation."

"And I should say I nearly pissed myself on that last turn, but I'm not. Is this the place?"

"Indeed," He said tensely.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are we going to go see?" I said quietly.

"My beloved. Her name is Takana. She is a Shoggoth."

Shoggoth... The name was familiar, damn familiar but I just couldn't match the name to a face in my head. The weird thing was, I remember hearing that name back on Earth, but from where?

I guess my confusion showed on my face as Arawn said,

"A Shoggoth is a sort of homogenization between a Kikkimora and a Slime Girl."

"Lovecraft." I interrupted aloud, suddenly remembering. He was an author that wrote about them. Something about monsters from another world or something like that.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Sorry, go on." I said, embarrassed.

"This one is in the care of the medical institute due to the injuries that I unintentionally inflicted upon her."

"I see," I replied, I was a little curious to ask for details on what happened but it seemed rude so instead I remarked, "So, uh yeah, kinda an interesting choice for a girlfriend?"

"Why would I be in a relationship with a Shoggoth? Because she and I had previously encountered each other. We had met several million years ago."

Well, that certainly puts a new spin on the term 'old flame.'

"Million years ago? Exactly how old are you?" I asked suspiciously as we made our way to the front door. My bullshit alarm was starting to sound, Tenchi here didn't look a day over 30.

"I am uncertain of my precise age as the world of my birth was destroyed when it's parent star expanded into a red giant and evaporated it. That star is now in the white dwarf stage."

Glancing over at him, he had a straight face as he said it. I wanted to call him out on that but something stopped me. In the past few years I'd encountered some weird, off the wall shit that I would have said was impossible back on Earth. Magic, girls with animal parts, Demon Lords and the like. Was what this guy was saying really too much of a stretch from that?

"Ah... that sucks." I said diplomatically then throwing caution to the wind I asked, "Mind if I asked what happened with you and her?"

"What injuries? I was unaware of the damaging effect that I had upon her. We were lovers, intending to make the union permanent. Her condition was, that she suddenly lost all ability to maintain her elasticity. Essentially- she became a puddle upon the floor. It has been a couple of months since I've last seen or heard any news from her, or her status from her caretakers." He said sadly as he opened the door for us to go through.

"Mamono are pretty hard to "damage," guy. What kind of effect did you have to do that?"

"Are you aware of such things as energies?"

"Yeah, for the most part." I answered as we traveled down a hallway. The floors were smooth almost like polished concrete, and the walls themselves were also painted white. The place had a sterile smell to it, giving me the impression that this was as close to an actual hospital that I would ever see here.

"As a being of Chaos her energy was incompatible with my own as I was created as servitor of Law. Thus with the time we spent together, I had been unknowingly poisoning her."

I could see the pain, guilt and grief on his face. He really did care for her and knowing that he did that was killing him. But then my spidey sense started tingling hard...

"I dunno man, like I get the fact that your... Law and Order: SVU energy doesn't vibe well with hers but... something seems shady. Call it a hunch or intuition or whatever but I don't buy it."

"Donnie, these findings were confirmed by professionals in their field."

"Professionals can be wrong, Arawn. Mistakes can be made, tests misread, findings misinterpreted. All I'm saying is don't believe everything people tell you. Especially on this planet, people here have the annoying habit of getting idea's in their head and running with them before even considering if they are right." I retorted, thinking back to past events.

Arawn said nothing back as we continued to walk. Maybe he was thinking it over or maybe he just didn't believe me and was convinced that he was the problem. For some reason, deep down, it just felt wrong.

Getting directions from a Manticore nurse dressed in a revealing white outfit that exposed a ridiculous amount of cleavage, we found ourselves outside a lone door.

"If I may ask a boon?" He requested quietly.

I looked to him questioningly as he continued,

"I am... unsure if my presence would be appreciated or wanted. If you could relay a message from me?"

I nodded, internally unsure if I really wanted to get involved in this.

"Tell her... Tell her that I am sorry, that no matter what, I will always love her and that I hope she could one day forgive me." He said, his voice choking with emotion.

"Sure," I whispered.

Licking my lips, I knocked on the door before entering. God damn it, this was awkward as hell, but looking into his eyes, I saw real, honest pain. It was the same pain as mine whenever I thought of Victoria. I might be a bastard, a killer or whatever anyone wanted to say about me but, I couldn't say no to him. Not for this.

Walking in, I saw a lone bed but on it was a trough that ran its span. In it I saw purplish black ooze. A yellow eye appeared in it suddenly and trained itself on me. Was this Takana? I didn't know too terribly much about Shoggoths - just what Arawn described. I was never a big H.P Lovecraft fan, but I was pretty sure it was her.

"Uh, I'm really sorry to disturb you...Miss Takana? But I'm a...friend of someone you know. Arawn?"

The ooze slowly gathered and formed into a semi sold, dripping mass of a dark purple skinned woman. The whole process reminded me of the shapeshifter, Odo, from Deep Space 9. Guess the writers got that one right...

"You know Arawn?" She asked, her eyes shining brightly. Yellow with black pupils... Star Beasts wasn't that what they were called. Did she count as an alien? Could I honestly peg this as a First Contact? Well not one I could really claim with the circumstances. Oh well, next time...