Three Square Meals Ch. 141

He looked at her curiously as they sank like a stone to the bottom of the pool. *What are you up to, Jade?*

*Why are you fighting against the water, Master? There's no need for you to thrash around like a frantic kitten,* she replied, her feline eyes watching him intently. *The water is your ally now and there to assist you.*

Surprised by her insight, John really thought about what Jade was telling him. He concentrated again, taking a moment to gauge the weight and mass of the water surrounding his body. The relevant runes flared in his mind and he focused his will outward, using a combination of Telekinesis and Hydro runes to lift him from the floor. Shifting the direction of propulsion, they surged forward, bubbles streaming behind the intertwined pair as they shot across the pool. John rocketed past Jade's sisters, the mottled dolphins squeaking in astonishment as he effortlessly beat them to the other side.

He amplified the natural inertia of the water to slow himself to a halt, then looked down at Jade in amazement. *How did you know I could do that?*

*You can do anything, Master,* she gushed, a gleam of pride in her emerald gaze.

John smiled at her affectionately. *I appreciate your unwavering faith in me, but you know what I mean.*

*I've learned to adapt to my environment, changing my body to make the best use of my surroundings,* she replied, waving a finned forearm at him as an example. *You can't alter yourself the way I can, but your talents far exceed my own. You can make the environment change to accommodate you instead.*

*Like flying,* John said in sudden understanding. *I've been doing that instinctively, but I'm actually using a combination of Telekinesis and Aero runes to manipulate the air.*

*And now you're able to do the same thing with water,* she agreed, nodding exuberantly.

As they surfaced, he gave her a grateful hug. "That was really useful advice, Jade. Thank you."

She nuzzled into him affectionately. "I'm glad I was able to help."

Alyssa had been watching them play together and gracefully rose from her sun lounger. "We should start getting ready for the party, handsome."

Jade gave him a parting kiss, then slipped out of his arms. "I'll see you later, Master!"

"You're not getting dressed with us?"

The Nymph shook her head and gave him a mischievous smile. "Nope!"

He returned her wave goodbye, then watched Jade dive underwater to cavort with her sisters. Turning, he waded through the shallows and up the submerged steps to rejoin the girls.

Rachel wolf-whistled as he emerged from the pool, admiring his glistening muscles. "Damn... I could watch you do that all day."

The nods of agreement all round showed that this was a universally held opinion.

Calara sauntered over to John and gave him a sultry kiss. "If you hadn't guessed, we've really been missing you."

"Yeah, I'm getting that," he replied, slipping an arm around her and squeezing one of her deliciously pert asscheeks. "Having regrets about turning down that orgy now?"

She bit her lip and nodded, giving him a hungry look.

John playfully spanked her bottom, making her yelp in surprise. "I've got no sympathy, naughty thrall. You should listen to your Progenitor next time."

The rest of the girls laughed at his joke, recognising his self-deprecating humour for what it was.

"I'm sorry," Calara apologised, snuggling into him. "Forgive me?"

"Of course," he agreed, giving her an affectionate kiss.

Holding out his other arm for Alyssa, he slipped it around her as they walked away from the pool. "So are you going to tell me what Jade's up to, or is it a secret?"

"She wanted to make her own entrance at the party," Alyssa replied, falling into step beside him.

"How grand an entrance are we talking about?" John asked warily.

"Nothing too dramatic," the blonde reassured him, her cerulean eyes sparkling with amusement. "Don't worry, she's not planning to terrify the matriarchs."

They made their way up a sweeping staircase to the next storey of the palace, with the girls chattering excitedly together about the party. There was an infectious excitement in the air and John found himself getting caught up with it. He realised that they'd all be expecting him to act as host, so he started thinking about the best way to handle introductions. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realise they'd reached the bedroom until Alyssa bumped hips with him.

"What do you think?" she asked, turning to watch his reaction.

John blinked in surprise as he surveyed the enormous suite, his attention drawn to the hexagonal mattresses interlocked together in the centre. "Wow... this place is huge."

"I think mother was doing a spot of future proofing," Irillith noted with a wry smile, studying the copious amounts of space. "We only slept on two of the beds and there was still plenty of room."

Tashana nodded her agreement and hugged him from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder. "You could fit a lot of Maliri in here, Baen'thelas..."

He turned to kiss her cheek. "I think I've got more than enough already. You noblewomen are quite the handful."

Dana bounded across the bed and pointed to the doors on the opposite side of the room. "We've got an armoury tucked away here, a ton of wardrobe space over there, and a gigantic bathroom that's big enough for everyone."

"It sounds like our Maliri Queen thought of everything," John said, nodding his approval. Turning to telepathy, he added, *Thanks for all this, Edraele.*

*You're very welcome,* she replied. *The matriarchs and I will depart from Genthalas in the next few minutes. Luna and Sarinia will be travelling separately and will arrive shortly afterwards.*

*Great, see you soon.* He stripped off his swimming shorts and strolled over to the bathroom. "Time for a shower, ladies. Edraele is on her way."

The shower facilities were big enough to easily accommodate everyone, with Helene, the Terran girls, and the twins joining him under the steaming water. Jehanna arrived with Ailita as everyone was getting soaped up and they were enthusiastically welcomed by the rest of the Lionesses.

"Hello," John said, greeting her with a smile. "Feeling okay?"

"I feel wonderful!" she replied, eagerly stepping into his open arms. "I spent the afternoon being pampered by Ailita."

"Thanks for looking after her," John said to the pink-haired catgirl, pulling her into the embrace.

"This one loves how virile you are Master," Ailita gushed, gazing up at him adoringly. "Jehanna looks even more beautiful with a full tummy."

Alyssa hugged them from behind, encircling Jehanna's trim waist to stroke the slight bulge in her stomach. "Your body's adapting to being fed by John. Another half an hour and this bump will be gone."

"I love being stuffed full; it feels so decadent," Jehanna said with a wistful sigh, resting her hand on top of Alyssa's. She glanced at John and continued, "But not knowing what abilities I'm going to get is driving me crazy. Can you give me any clues?"

John smiled at their newest recruit. "You should be able to figure it out. I gave you something entirely new; it's not a duplicate of anyone else's runic abilities."

"Help me out girls," Jehanna requested plaintively. "What other runic powers are there?"

"Between us, we've covered most of them," Tashana mused, picturing the gaps in the Kyth'faren runic alphabet. "I'm fire and Sakura's ice, but no one's using water or earth elements."

"Water would suck," Dana declared, her nose wrinkling in disapproval. "And Earth isn't much better. They'd both be totally useless in a space battle."

Irillith eyed the dusky-hued reporter with a critical eye. "Neither of them fit Jehanna either. All of us possess abilities that we have a natural affinity for."

"What about those new runes you unlocked from your guide?" Tashana suggested, turning her head to gauge John's reaction.

Dana's frown deepened. "Leech and Shadow? Nah... they're bad guy powers."

"Not necessarily..." John said, arching an eyebrow. "It all depends on how they're used."

"Draining the life out of someone isn't intrinsically evil?" Sakura asked, giving him a sceptical look.

"Alright, using it that way obviously isn't good," he conceded. "But most of us have tapped ourselves to the limit trying to protect each other. Helene's a good example; she drew on her own life force to ease your pain when I severed our network connection."

Rachel gave the aquatic girl a grateful hug, but her attention was still focused intently on John. "If you didn't gain full access to that rune until you defeated your guide, how were all of us able to use it beforehand?"

"Because it's incorporated into the Progenitor connection," John explained. "If either Alyssa or I draw psychic energy from any of you, we're using runic phrases that include the Leech rune. Thralls aren't normally capable of accessing those runes, but all of you have psychic abilities, so you're able to burn yourself out by pushing your limits too hard."

Jehanna gave him a pained look. "My special psychic ability is leeching people's life force?"

"No..." Sakura murmured, her eyes widening in surprise. "He's given you Shadow!"

"What?!" Dana exclaimed, looking at John in bewilderment. "Why the hell would you give her that? Is Jehanna going to start attacking people with tentacles now?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, that's just how his guide used it. Think about Jehanna's performance in the live fire exercise. She struck from the shadows repeatedly to keep the thralls disorientated and maintained the element of surprise. It does fit."

"I can manipulate shadows?" Jehanna asked, glancing at her hands with an ambivalent expression.

John clasped her hands and raised them to his lips for a kiss. "I've given you the ability to manipulate light. The Kyth'faren split its applications into two distinct runes: Lumen and Shadow. One deals with focusing light as intensely as possible, the other is much more subtle and allows you to bend light into shapes that you can control."

"Focusing light... you mean like a laser?" Dana murmured, her eyes suddenly widening as she turned to stare at Alyssa. "Or a Nova Lance blast!"

He nodded in confirmation. "I only really understood the nature of those runes after I defeated my guide. He preferred shadow... so I gave Lumen to Athena to counter him."

"So whenever I've been in trouble..." Alyssa's eyes began to glow with a bright inner radiance. "Then I was able to intervene."

"That's right. Hello, Athena," John said with a warm smile.

"It appears you're giving away all my secrets, John," she said, arching an eyebrow.

"No... that would take weeks," he replied playfully.

Athena laughed, then turn her attention to Jehanna. "The ability to manipulate shadows is not inherently evil. You can also use it to confuse and disorient your enemies with illusions. Larn'kelnar used it in such a fashion to create illusionary monsters, but he also combined the ability with telekinesis so that those constructs had a physical presence."

"That could be really useful," Jehanna said, perking up considerably. She turned to John and continued, "It wasn't me using hit and run tactics that made you decide to give me Shadow was it? It was putting on a big show: working with the Collective to create the illusion of a thrall battle."

"You've definitely got a talent for the theatrical... which makes sense considering your previous career."

"So how do I use my new psychic abilities?" she asked enthusiastically.

"We haven't really got time to get into in now," John replied. "We'll get together tomorrow morning and start your training."

"Aww, c'mon, just something quick," she pleaded, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "Pretty please?"

John chuckled and relented. "Alright, but we do need to be quick; Edraele will be here soon and we all need to get ready for the party."

"Okay... so what do I do?" she asked, listening attentively.

"First of all, close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing... keep it slow and steady," he replied, watching as she followed his instructions. "Now visualise someone or something in your mind... then just push outward with your will, and make that image appear."

"You make it sound so easy," Jehanna said with a wry smile.

Despite her comment, when she closed her eyes, Jehanna found it relatively simple to shut out all the distractions. The girls, the shower, even John... she ignored them all to focus on a picture in her mind. She was about to ask how to project that image, but it suddenly seemed obvious, as natural to her as exhaling. Jehanna simply took that image and pushed, causing the illusion to coalesce into existence at her side.

"Wow!" Calara exclaimed in surprise. "Who is that?"

"Damn... she's hot!" Dana exclaimed, before adding playfully, "But we've already got our quota of redheads."

"Well done," John remarked, sounding impressed.

Jehanna opened her eyes again and marvelled at the projection she had just created by sheer force of will. The incredibly exotic female had the statuesque body of a red-skinned thrall, but it was obvious she was no ordinary woman. A long tail sprouted from just above her rounded rump, the coat of scarlet scales matching the leathery red wings that were attached to her shoulders. Amidst her tumbling flame-hued hair, a set of crimson horns swept outwards from her forehead, each ending in a sharp point. Smouldering amber eyes watched them from under long lashes, a hint of prideful arrogance in her sultry gaze.

"That's Tamolith, isn't it?" Rachel murmured, studying the draconic woman in fascination. "Or at least, what she might look like after going through the Change."

"What do you think?" Jehanna asked, turning to gauge everyone's reaction.

Her question was met with many enthusiastic nods of approval, the main exception a playful pout from Dana.

Alyssa stayed quiet for a long moment as she swept her gaze over Jehanna's projection. "There's too much red," she finally declared, shaking her head. "All her unique features get swallowed up by being the same colour."

Jehanna turned back to look at her creation with a critical eye. "Yeah, I see what you mean. I was trying to create a humanoid version of Tamolith that was as similar to her as possible."

"Can I make some suggestions?" the blonde enquired, her cerulean eyes twinkling.

"Sure, go ahead," Jehanna replied, gesturing towards the projection. "Tell me what alterations you'd like to make and I'll try to change it."

"Alright then..." Alyssa began, focusing on the draconic woman. "First of all, the scales covering her body have got to go. You can leave them on the tail and wings, but make her look like a Terran everywhere else... with the same skin-tone as Rachel.

Jehanna concentrated and made the requested changes. She found it quite tricky to maintain the image while making significant alterations. "Is that okay?"

"Perfect," her teenage matriarch replied, nodding her approval. "Now we have to do something about her hair... it needs to be a different colour to the horns to make them really stand out. What about white? That would make her match the Maliri and reflect Tamolith going through the Change."

"Yeah, definitely change her hair!" Dana enthusiastically agreed.

Nodding thoughtfully, Jehanna bleached all the red from her flowing mane, much to Dana's vocal appreciation. "Anything else?"

"The horns..." Alyssa mused, studying them with a critical eye. "They look very similar to Tamolith's at the moment, but having them jut forward that way wouldn't be practical; we don't want John getting stabbed in the stomach."

She paused as the girls laughed and gave him knowing looks.

"Maybe reposition the horns a little higher and have them sweep backwards instead?" Alyssa suggested, walking around the projection to view it from different angles.

A wave of Jehanna's hand brought about the alteration the blonde had requested. "How's that?"

"Very nice..." Alyssa agreed, her lip curling into a smile as she darted a furtive glance at John. "What do you think, handsome?"

"She looks gorgeous," he was forced to admit. "But there's a big problem."

"What's that?" Jehanna asked, with a worried frown.

"She's standing in a shower," he explained, pointing to the humanoid version of Tamolith. "If you want to make your illusion believable, it needs to be affected by the local environment. Her hair would be soaking wet and water should be streaming off her body."

Jehanna bit her lip with concentration and darted a furtive glance at Irillith's damp white hair. After memorising her wet-look, she watched the way rivulets of water snaked down Rachel's body and began to adjust the model accordingly. As she made those changes, the image began to ripple, bulging outwards in places and rapidly shifting colours. Jehanna fought hard to hold the projection together, but it shattered in a burst of light, then dissipated into glowing motes.

"Dammit!" she cursed in frustration, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Hey, don't get upset," John said giving her a comforting hug. "That was only your first attempt and you've already made huge progress."

The tension eased from her shoulders and she smiled at his praise. "I love my new abilities, thank you!"

"You're welcome. We can do some more practice tomorrow... but for now we need to get ready for the party."

She nodded eagerly, then they all hurried to finish their shower, so they could dry off and get changed. Alyssa directed John to the appropriate suit, which was another finely tailored garment in the Maliri style. As he studied his new clothing, the walk-in-wardrobe descended into mayhem, with the girls rushing around to get ready for the evening. Deciding to keep out of their way, John dressed quickly, then left them to their frantic preparations.

He made his way downstairs, taking a moment to appreciate the spectacular new home that Edraele had provided for them. The palace was a far cry from the claustrophobic cabin aboard the Fool's Gold and John smiled at the surge of nostalgia as he walked down the gilded staircase. Life had been so much simpler back then, but he now realised that it had also been an empty existence, devoid of purpose.

Walking through to the water gardens outside, he paused to admire the sunset, the sky ablaze with oranges and reds as the golden star dipped towards the horizon. Valaden certainly was a beautiful planet, the natural paradise a rival to any of the Eden worlds in the Terran Federation. Unlike his own long-suffering homeworld, Valaden seemed to have avoided the scars Terra had endured as humanity had clawed its way towards the stars.

*Edraele, has Valaden ever had any problems with pollution or overcrowding?*

*No John, not as far as I know,* she replied, sounding quietly introspective. *Our history stretches back for many millennia, but the Maliri have always had access to fusion power for as long as records persist, so we avoided the pollution associated with using fossil fuels. As for overcrowding; in the last thousand years, the planetary population has slowly dwindled, leading to most of the southern cities being abandoned to nature.*

*Do you think the Maliri originated here, or were your people brought to Valaden by Mael'nerak?*

There was a long pause until she replied, *I had always assumed that this world was the birthplace of my species, but the true origins of the Maliri are lost to antiquity. With all that we now know of the Progenitors, it seems highly likely that we were seeded on Valaden as a thrall race, ready to be claimed by Mael'nerak.*

*The Progenitors have been warring for millions of years,* John said, recalling what he knew of Xar'aziuth's history. *Thinking about it now, I doubt Mael'nerak was the first Progenitor to claim the Maliri.*