Taking stock now that I knew we were in the world of FEAR, there were some decisions that needed to be made. I could probably assume we were before the first game if there wasn’t a massive panic with accompanying sirens or a mushroom cloud over the city.

  Specifically, it was late afternoon so it was probably a few hours before the events of the game kicked off. Or at least that was what I would guess based on how I seemed to be the embodiment of the saying “living in the interesting times”.

  I certainly didn’t want to wait for everything to happen the way it did in canon, but while it was a good idea to move fast, we also couldn’t afford to move out only half-cocked. That meant getting on our full battle armor, weapons, setting up a plan… and probably eating as it had been a bit since we had had breakfast and this could certainly end up talking a while.

  I also wanted us sporting the best protections we had, since this was one world where I wasn’t sure how we stacked up power-wise. The game had characters almost able to out run bullets. They had mini mechas. They had stealth ninjas. They had a vengeful ghost that could rip you into pieces.

  FEAR was kinda insane like that and I didn’t know how much was real here.

  That meant heading back to our pocket dimension and getting properly prepared.

  Taking a deep breath to bring me back to the present, I looked around at my girls all standing around in this mall parking lot and just shook my head. “I will explain in a bit. We have preparations we need to do, first.”

  Turning around, I jogged back around the corner into the alley we had come from and opened a portal back to our pocket home.

  After a short trip back to the onsen’s dining room I looked around the group. No one seemed to know exactly what was going on, but I think that at least Amy might have vaguely recognized something about the setting when we saw ATC SWAT vans driving by.

  Sighing, I gestured towards the kitchen. “Could someone get something to eat prepared? We are going to be busy very soon.”

  Turning I walked into the sitting room located next to the entrance, the one with a few sofas for guests to sit while they waited to be checked in. It had served as a good place to let Ahri rest.

  Kneeling down, I gently shook Ahri’s shoulder. “Ahri, Love, I am sorry to wake you but we are probably going to need your help.”

  Ahri groaned for a moment and her tails and ears twitched in agitation. Reaching out I ran my hand through her hair and I felt her relax as she dragged herself awake.

  Helping her to sit up off the edge of the bed, I pulled over the empty bottles I had brought for her to store Tom’s memories.

  Seeing her a little more coherent, I asked, “How are you feeling, Ahri?”

  Ahri rolled her neck for a moment before she sighed and stretched her spine by leaning back. I couldn’t help but enjoy the view for a moment until she slumped back down, still obviously tired but now fully awake. Now focusing on me, she tilted her head. “What has been going on? Did we already jump? The magic here feels a little different.”

  I nodded. “Yeah we jumped, but I didn’t want to wake you up. In fact, I was hoping that I could give you another day or two to rest but, ignoring a quick jump to a silly vampire world, this first jump has us up against something that might actually threaten us. Specifically psychically controlled super soldiers.”

  That got her to look over at me, confused. “Is there a reason we should get involved at all, then?”

  Behind me I could see Amy standing in the doorway and saw her nod her head in obvious agreement, voice firm. “Maybe we should just leave. We promised to put the Family first.”

  Twisting to sit in the sofa next to Ahri I took a deep breath and considered that. It also made sense that Amy would be the one to preach caution. Despite her work as Panacea, she felt it was an obligation, an obligation that nearly saw her family killed both in canon and even in this fixed version of Earth Bet.

  And I mean, it was true, we could just walk away… there was nothing forcing us to stay here. Hell, I couldn’t even argue that we had to save innocents. The vast majority of people who died absolutely had it coming for them.

  However, as I stared at the ceiling I couldn’t help but review what had happened to Alma. And that train of thought, just like what had been done to Alice, made my blood boil.

  It was disgusting, it was capital E Evil, and… and now I had a chance to stop it.

  Looking down I noticed the rest of the girls listening in through the open door. Inwardly snorting, I gestured for them to join us. “I should have expected that everyone would want to know what we were up against before thinking about food.”

  Holly, Hermione, and Fleur looked a bit sheepish, but the majority of the girls just shrugged shamelessly and walked in to sit on the several sofas or to stand around the edge of the room.

  Seeing everyone getting comfortable, I sighed and slumped back against the edge of the sofa. “We could certainly just leave. Hell, if it comes down to protecting you all or some strangers, I am going to pick you every single time. However…” I took a deep breath. “Even if there is a little risk, I think we have the power to change things here and I would like to help if we can.”

  I saw Amy bite her lip, but as she looked into my eyes, I saw her nod slowly and I knew that I had her support. Ahri seemed to study me, but after a short pause, she also nodded her head. Those two, along with Sabah and Hinata, were the more pragmatic of my girls. The ones that always put the Family first and I couldn’t blame them.

  Hell, I wasn’t joking, I would personally burn this world down myself before I let one of my girl’s souls be taken from me. However this world shouldn’t be capable of that. Not with my new protections.

  Pausing, I considered where to start explaining the mess that was the FEAR games for a moment. However, there was too much so I changed track, deciding to give an overview before I started explaining the details.

  “This appears to be the story of FEAR. It was a first person shooter video game that came out in the early 2000s. You play as special forces operatives assaulting a facility that somehow made super soldier clones that are controlled by a psychic commander. However, almost immediately you find out the entire facility appears to be haunted by a young girl and learn the messed up horrific things that happened there. The most basic summary of said horror, being: Alma, a girl with insanely powerful psychic powers, and the daughter of one of the head researchers was experimented on, basically tortured, before they used her like a broodmare, put her in a coma, and then eventually tried to dispose of her.”

  I could already see the darkening looks of my girls.

  Sighing, I shrugged. “The details of the story only make it worse. Because, obviously with that kind of treatment, Alma began to lash out during her tests. Killing some of the researchers. However, instead of pulling back and considering what they were actually doing, they decided that she was too dangerous to be left free and sedated her anytime she wasn’t being tested. Again, experiments that the Japanese’s 731st or the Nasi SS would be proud of. When that didn’t work, they impregnated her at 14 and then again at 15. Probably via an artificial method.”

  I paused as I considered that and then shook my head in disgust . “You know it’s bad when in retrospect I am not sure if inseminating her like livestock while she was in a coma or drugging her and having someone sexually assault her would have been less dehumanizing.”

  The confusion was gone now, and the fury that had seen us burning London’s human trafficking rings to the ground, sometimes with the pedophiles still inside, was back.

  Now feeling tired as I remembered that evil, I continued. “Then, because they hadn’t been evil enough, they took her two children without letting Alma even hold them once and then locked her away in a vault and threw away the key. She stayed there for 10 long years until she eventually managed to make contact with her second son when he was 10. Her son went insane and killed a lot of the scientists so they pulled the plug on her and she died in said vault over the course of six long days.”

  Some of the girls were now vibrating with their anger while Amy confirmed she knew at least some of the story. “Wait, I thought I remembered her appearing in the game.”

  I nodded, “Yeah, her body is dead, but she is basically a spirit that is haunting her own corpse. Her fury kept her soul here on earth. The thing was, things haven’t really gotten better since her death. Her kids were raised to be weapons and they are now experimenting on even more kids.”

  In the furious silence, I ran my hand down my face. “I don’t think it has happened yet, but very soon, one of her kids, I think his name was Paxton, goes insane and wants to break his mother out and will go on another rampage. Of course he is both a psychic commander of the super soldier clones and a cannibal. Since those are his two abilities, he is going to be killing and eating a lot of people to find her.”

  The winces from the girls showed that even if they felt sympathy for what happened to him, that was still a bit much.

  “The older brother is a psychic null, he doesn’t seem to have a name and just goes by the name ‘Point Man’. In the game you play as him, but he doesn't know anything yet and will be forced to try to kill both his brother and mother.”

  I paused and then continued. “There was then a sequel where you find the elementary school they are using to experiment on even more children. That is from the perspective of someone the ATC experimented on as a kid, then brought back and augmented again to get Alma’s attention.”

  Taylor was practically a statue with how much she was unloading her emotions into her bugs. “What’s the plan?”

  I nodded knowing that even if they weren’t thrilled about endangering the Family, my girls were good people and wouldn’t let others suffer if they could stop it…

  … that was something that I admired

  …and it was something that made me want to continue to try to be better myself.

  Taking a deep breath, I gestured to everyone. “From what I saw, the main events of the game haven’t kicked off quite yet, but knowing our luck it will happen any moment now since that is how these things seem to work.”

  A round of winces and slow nods showed that everyone agreed that seemed to be how things had gone so far.

  Gesturing to each girl, I continued. “We will be splitting into four groups. Group one will be Ahsoka with Ahri, Ginny, and Amy, in case you find wounded. You will be our heavy hitters and be assaulting the ATC headquarters. I want you to keep to the shadows while catching the ringleaders and any persons of interest. That means basically anyone that isn’t a cloned super soldier or ATC guard. Unfortunately I don’t remember all of their names, so you will have to try to find the important ones yourself.”

  I saw the four of them look at each other and then nod looking determined.

  “Team 2 will have two pairs. Lara will be supported by Chell and Hinata will have Hermione. You will be infiltrating the elementary school and the experimentation laboratories they built down there. Again, collect anyone you find and search for incriminating documents.”

  “Group 3 will be Holly and Taylor with me. We are going to assault the vault near the water treatment facility where they stored Alma’s corpse. Holly will have to be our magical muscle to push through if Alma gets angry while Taylor will be our scout. We want to save Alma if possible, but we will put her out of her misery if we have to.”

  I looked at each of them. “All of that said, I have to be honest that I don’t know how this will turn out. We might be able to get through to her but we also might not. It may have just been to save game memory, but in the main story the ATC only seemed to lose guards. The office workers didn’t seem to be targeted because there were very few civilian bodies that would have otherwise scattered across the ATC headquarters building.”

  I paused and then winced. “On the other hand, Alma didn’t stop her son from killing and eating her sister, Alice Wade, so she might just be fully insane as well…” Drumming my fingers across my knee I considered for a moment before I shrugged. “We will just have to try to get there soon as we can and hope we can talk her down.”

  Looking at my two partners for this trip, Holly narrowed her lips in determination while Taylor nodded. Knowing that we were headed down to face someone like that directly, I was happy to see their resolve.

  “Group 4 will start behind group 1 and move up once each area is cleared out, occasionally portaling across to one of the other groups if they find something worth recording. It will be Sabah leading with Thea, Tonks, and Fleur for support. Again, you will be focused on collecting the data we come across and spreading it across the internet so the ATC and the ones who set this up can’t hide their crimes.”

  Sabah and Thea made her drone nod and twirl trying to look determined, but Tonks actually looked annoyed, hair flashing red. Putting her hands on her hips, Tonks glared. “I am a Merlin-be-damned Auror. I can help with the assault.”

  I was momentarily tempted to remind her that she had joined us because we were well beyond her abilities at this point, but I stopped. This was probably another defense mechanism.

  Instead I nodded. “You could probably help, but you don’t have all the training, skills, or even defenses we have. Hell, we haven’t even given you some of our armor, bullet wards, or even the radios. We will get you those last three things at least, but the others will take time.”

  Tonks just looked more annoyed and determined, again probably not wanting to feel helpless, so I held up my hand. “Plus, an active fire fight is not the place to build team tactics. Especially against vat-grown super soldiers.” Then softening my voice, I said, “I am not just putting you in a corner. I am sending Sabah to help Thea because I suspect that they may detect and trace back what Thea is doing once she starts hacking, and then again once we start publishing their dirty laundry. At that point you and Fleur will need to defend her.”

  That got Tonks to calm down a little while Fleur momentarily looked overwhelmed. However, showing more backbone than I had expected from someone who had apparently never fought before, Fleur collected herself quickly, looking determined and then nodded.

  Smiling at the hard looks in everyone’s eyes, I smiled while trying to relax the mood. “All of that said, I was being serious, I have no idea how long this will take but I suspect multiple hours. We need food and to be fully prepared.”

  I considered leaving before I saw Ahri sway momentarily and I winced. Turning, I called out, “Sabah and Hermione, while everyone else is prepping the food, could you help Ahri with the memory extraction then obliviation. I doubt Ahri wants to remember Tom’s memories any longer than necessary.”

  I noticed Ahri glance up, before she smiled, looking a little relieved. Looking at everyone else, I smiled. “Once you are done eating, please check your gear, relax, and maybe meditate to center yourselves.We need to be on our A game… even if I am sure you can all handle it.”

  The tension wasn’t gone, but the room seemed to relax a little.

  I took a deep breath while firming my determination, “That and I have a surprise for all of you that will help.”

  I saw some curious looks and I ran a hand through my hair. “It was something I should have done a long time ago, but I only now have the skills to make them.” I chuckled a little awkwardly, “I still kind of want to wait and make this a bigger deal, but it will keep you safer and I could never forgive myself if one of you got seriously hurt while I waited.”

  Everyone was a bit confused, except for Ginny who was looking around amused, but I didn’t wait for questions.

  Turning, I walked towards the door while I called Dobby. “Dobby. Please get my clearing ready, I need to use it now.”

  Dobby came bounding around the corner like he had been waiting for me to say that… which he probably had.

  We had keyed him into the wards and he could pop around inside the walls if he wanted to with his house elf magic the same way he did at Hogwarts. However, even with those permissions, he had said it was a lot harder to do here, and so he actually walked short distances to save magic.

  To my surprise, Dobby looked up at me a little conflicted. “Master Maxes says it is time? Whats about the…”

  I cut him off before he could say anything more. “Yes, my girls need them now. We will just have to do what we can.”

  Dobby bobbed his head. “Of courses, of courses. Keepings the Mistresses safe is importants. Dobby will make sures things are ready.”

  “Thank you Dobby.”

  The girls looked even more curious now, but I just shook my head and walked away.

  Again, I really wish I could have done more so this would have been a more special occasion. Maybe I could have tried to get everything done last week, but I had procrastinated. I had rationalized it by trying to get another enchantment incorporated… which I had with the flame freezing charm.

  Another part of me wanted to wait. Push it back for another perfect time. Maybe even wait until Luna and Dinah returned.

  However, that was probably just the fear of rejection speaking.

  I knew that was stupid as they had agreed to bind their very souls to mind, but a small part of me couldn’t help it. Some part of me was terrified that they would leave.

  It didn’t make sense, but it was a human reaction.

  But I would not, could not, risk my girls for something like my fear. Now that they were in danger they needed as many protections as I could give them.

  So instead, I just needed to hurry.

  Dashing through the vanishing cabinet into the secret vault behind my bedroom that held our linked soul necklace, I started to collect the items while activating the last set of enchantments I had engraved into them.

  These had to be perfect, as I won’t be able to get a second chance.

  About 45 minutes later, I returned to the Onsen and found the girls eating a Japanese style curry, including Ahri who had bounced back now that the memories had been removed and was actually smiling.

  Taking a deep breath, I smiled before Sabah swung by and handed me a plate while pointing at my usual chair at the head of the table. Chuckling, I sat and ate quickly even as I couldn’t help but note that we had all gotten pretty good at cooking.

  As the meal wound down, I stood with a small nervous smile on my face. “If you would all follow me, I have some things to ask and then give to you.”

  Ginny once again giggled at me, looking excited since she had helped me make them, but the rest of my girls looked a little confused.

  Yet as I reached the door, I realized that I wanted to make this more special.

  Turning, I smiled and stood in the doorway and reached out to help them down the two small stairs in front of the entrance so I could kiss each of their hands.

  Taylor, who had reached me first, looked surprised and then pleased. Ahri, who had followed behind her, smiled fondly at me while Sabah, Amy, and Hinata who had been on the other side giggled a little. Hermione huffed, but I could tell she was happy. I even gave Thea a little kiss on her drone’s arm as it didn’t have a hand.

  I hesitated for a moment, but then continued for those who had said they would probably join me. Holly blushed a cute rosy red, looking happy, followed by Ahsoka who was bemused. Kissing the hand might not have crossed the cultural divide of her universe. Regardless I was pleased to see she still blushed a slight purple.

  This continued until we reached those that hadn’t decided to join me at all. I was about to stop when Ginny walked up smiling and held out her hand in an obvious invitation. Smiling back, I leaned down and kissed her hand as well.

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  Looking up, I noticed that that seemed to have been the invitation that Lara and Chell needed, as they glanced at each other and then stepped forward, hands out. I was pleased to see that both blushed and smiled as my lips made contact.

  That left Tonks and Fleur who had held back. Standing up, I explained. “This is something special I am doing for my wives and those considering joining fully. I will have something for you as well, but I understand if you aren’t comfortable watching all of this so you may wait here…”

  I was interrupted as Fleur seemed to study our entire group for a moment before she smirked. “I would be honored to witness this… event.” Judging from her voice, I wondered if she had realized what was about to happen.

  Regardless, I leaned down and put a soft kiss on Fleur’s hand as she stepped forward. Yet as I stood up, I was surprised by Tonk’s hand.

  She was being driven by her competitive nature again, as shown by the orange flash in her hair. Being the only one who had held back had probably pricked her pride… I was going to have to work with her on that as it wasn’t a healthy response to be goaded into everything.

  I didn’t let that show on my face as I gave her hand a kiss before I stepped to the front of the group and led my girls towards the decoy manor.

  Inside, I guided my girls through the vanishing cabinet to the inner manor grounds. We did have to take Tonks and Fleur’s hands and pull them inside as their eyes just slid past the closet where we had stored the vanishing cabinets since they didn’t know the secret of our fidelious charm yet.

  They looked shocked and then impressed at the much more realistic pseudo sky of the inner pocket manor along with the gentle rolling hills, small lake, and elegant manorhouse.

  Yet I didn’t stop there and led each of them towards a corner of the property. A corner I had hidden for several weeks with some notice-me-nots.

  Dropping said wards saw each of the girls let out a little gasp as a gazebo with benches to one side appeared. Dobby had done a great job, as it had been decorated with white and silver banners and fresh red and pink roses in vases on the alcoves and rails. He had even scattered rose petals across the floor with small candles floating around the interior and a gentle piano was playing from somewhere I couldn’t see.

  Not heading inside yet, I turned to the benches around the edge. Now guiding each of the girls to sit on the bench in order of when they joined me, I waited until everyone was seated before I stepped up to the small table I had left in front of them.

  Turning, I picked up the set of rings.

  Walking around to face everyone, I held up the objects that had been my sole crafting focus for the last few weeks. Noting the blushes that were starting to show, I felt my own cheeks warm as I looked around with a sheepish smile.

  Said smile was rewarded as each of the girls giggled, seemingly excited, while Ginny once again quietly snorted at us.

  Feeling my frantic heart start to slow at their smiles, I took a deep breath and tried to fight down the rest of my nerves. Reminding myself that they had already agreed to bond their very souls to mine only seemed to help a little.

  This felt more real, somehow. Like everything up until now had been a dream and I was now actually facing it.

  Taking another deep breath to calm myself, I cleared my throat to ensure my voice wouldn’t crack, or I really might die of embarrassment.

  “I have been calling you my wives for years now, but I realized that I never actually proposed.”

  I was rewarded with a chorus of small gasps.

  Swallowing, I showed everyone the imbued mythril ring with a beautiful dark hazel colored diamond set in the center. Turning, I beckoned for Amy to step up to me. “Amy, as my first wife, could you join me for a moment?”

  Amy looked momentarily surprised before a small shy smile graced her face and she stood up.

  Smiling wider, I held up two other imbued silver rings so they joined with the first. “However, before I propose, you should probably understand what these rings mean since they are a set of three. All of which are heavily enchanted.”

  The confused blinks from everyone, including Ginny were fun. She had been the primary metal worker, but even she hadn’t been privy to the runes and enchantments I had placed on them.

  Still, I didn’t make them wait long.

  Once again holding up the diamond ring, I started explaining. “The main ring with the colored diamond is the closest thing I could make to a storage ring or ‘bag of holding’ from fiction. You should be able to store tens of thousands of items in there. It also has the strongest protection charms I could layer along the band. They will protect your hands against cold, heat, toxins, corruption, and even warn against poison. Finally they will also become undetectable if you don’t want them to be seen, even to the one wearing them, so it feels like you aren’t wearing anything.”

  Their impressed mutterings made my smile grow and the part of me that worried about their reactions relaxed a little.

  Gesturing towards Ginny I continued. “The trick is that I actually had Ginny forge them 10 times bigger than this, but also hollow. Then I further spatially expanded the inside while I shrunk down the outside. Thus each ring is 100 hundred times bigger on the inside. That allowed me to place roughly five thousand Fuinjutsu storage seals along the interior.”

  Waving my hand, I made my own ring appear and then touched the white banner hanging over the edge of the gazebo. In a tiny poof of smoke it was gone. I waited for the small impressed gasps and then touched the spot again and, with a poof of smoke, a moment later it reappeared.

  I was pleased by the louder gasps as I continued. “It takes a bit of concentration and the amount of smoke seems to be from my inexperience, but with a minor scrying spell to see inside the ring, a switching spell to swap locations via a trickle of magic, and chakra to activate the seal, it will let you store and return just about anything you can touch up to about 10 meters cubed for each seal.”

  I was pleased by their impressed murmurs, but then I got serious. “As fun as that is, that isn’t the most important part. As I said, each band should offer massive protection against anything you may need to touch as a final line of defense under your gloves. However, the most important protection is on the diamond. Each was made by magic and, in addition to the color changing charms to match your eyes, I engraved the runes on the bottom for a permanent portkey.”

  Seeing their slowly widening eyes, I continued, now starting to feel a little smug. “The portkey is set to teleport you to safety if you ever say the words ‘Port’ followed by the word ‘back’, as one word, along with anyone you touch with the gem. Remember, no one will notice the ring if you don’t want them to. However it will also activate if the enchantments sense you have been forcibly knocked unconscious, your heart stops, or if you are being left behind.”

  I saw some confused faces, but a sudden realization by those who had been on Earth Bet indicated that they understood. Nodding, I confirmed their thoughts. “Yes, it has been something I have been worried about since we learned we could be essentially blasted away from a world with the right ability or power.”

  Then I smiled. “Regardless of the reason, the portkey will pop you inside a medical bay that I inserted in the second floor of the gate house, just barely outside the wards. It is a place that is both secure and where Amy or I can get to you quickly. I have already started stocking it with potions, biomass, and every piece of hospital equipment we have along with any more we find in the multiverse."

  Amy, who was still standing next to me, looked impressed, her eyes flitting to the two other plain rings in my other hand. I smiled and held them up next. “The two silver rings are obviously a bit smaller and are meant for each of your pinky fingers. They are special because through some tricky expansion charms, the inner space is actually touching your skin. This has been allowing me to use my wand even when it is stored away. Detail work still requires me to pull the wand out, but this way I can basically wave my hand like I do for wandless spells, but get the power of using my wand. It takes a lot of practice, but it is completely worth it in my opinion.”

  Then I smiled. “It also allows me to easily hot swap between weapons since the rings are on both pinkies. Each one also has the space for a dozen outfits.”

  Without even a gesture, I swapped between my Hogwarts clothes, my full battle armor, and then back to the nice but still casual clothes I was previously wearing, before calling my desert eagles to each of my hands, my rifle, followed by my wand and short sword.

  I looked around. “Never again will we be without our armor, weapons, or a way out.”

  Hermione couldn’t wait any longer and actually raised her hand. “How did your portkey enchantments deal with the dimensional shift of the pocket dimension? Wigglestrontan’s treatise on portkeys said that…”

  I smiled and held up a hand with a smirk already on my lips. “I know, I know, I read the same book, remember? The truth is, I cheated…”

  I was momentarily amused by Hermione’s outraged look before she caught a hold of herself.

  “Setting up the portkey so it coordinates with another dimension is exceptionally hard and prone to fail any time either plane moves relative to each other. So instead, I piggybacked on the tiny soul portals we have with our joint necklace. That way the portkeys always have a direct dimensional connection to our pocket home. Even then, I didn’t lower the protections so the portkeys won’t allow us to teleport past all the wards. Just to the interior of the gatehouse. However, this also means that these portkeys can in no way be blocked by any method, regardless of how much power they use. Not even if Tom and Dumbledore together cast an anti-portkey ward could you be stopped since there is always that little door that is already open via your soul portal.”

  I was pleased to see that nearly everyone was now staring at the rings, impressed. Understandably, Fleur and Tonks just looked confused. I would have to talk to them later about all of this. Tonks already had her soul connected to a gem when she nearly died, but I would need to do the same for Fleur, just in case. The multiverse was a dangerous place.

  Taking a deep breath, I looked at Amy before I gently pulled her into the center of the gazebo surrounded by the gently fluttering banners and rose petals before holding up the ring. “The final thing you need to know is that I put the strongest curse of binding I could on them. Nothing will ever be able to remove them. Even cutting off the hand will just make them reappear on the other hand or a toe. Even when I swapped into my backup body, it appeared on my finger a second later.”

  Amy’s smile didn’t drop, but her eyes narrowed. “Is that why I had to reattach your hand last week? You said it was an accident with a wandless cutting charm.”

  I winced but nodded. “Yeah, sorry, I had to test it… and I wasn’t exactly lying. It really was an attempt at a wandless cutting charm.”

  Amy, frown deepened before she twisted with a right jab to my shoulder, enough that it rocked me back slightly and gave off a crack from the impact. “Stop hurting yourself” then more softly, “...idiot.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle awkwardly as I rubbed my arm and the forming bruise before Amy sighed and grabbed my hand and healed it.

  Turning I ducked my head in an apology, “Sorry, love.”

  Then I got serious and swallowed, “that said, and most importantly, I would like for you to consider this final part carefully. This is mythril that has been fully imbued with a sliver of my soul to ensure they will only grow stronger when damaged. The curse of binding is as strong as I could make it, and will mean that you won’t be able to ever leave the Family. Even if you wanted space, you would forever have to travel with us.” A possessive part of me growled at the thought of losing any of them.

  “... I just couldn’t stand the thought of losing any of you…”

  I wasn’t sure if she saw my hesitation, but Amy just smacked my shoulder fondly, “Idiot, just get on with it.”

  Shaking my head, I kneeled down and gently took her hand. “Amy, first to fully join me, healer of our Family, I love you. I should have done this long ago, but now I can make the rings you deserve. Amy, as I am already yours, will you be mine…forever?”

  She smiled and I actually saw tears for a moment. “...Yes.”

  I slid on the three rings, a small bead of blood welling up under each of the rings as they bonded permanently to her. Standing up, I took her in my arms and kissed her deeply for several long seconds.

  After a long pause where there were only some soft catcalls from the audience, I stepped back and helped her down so she could sit in her former seat, her cheeks bright red.

  Next to her, I saw Taylor squirming slightly and I held up my hand for her to take. She took a shaky breath before she looked up at me and smiled as she stood up.

  Leading her up, I once again knelt and presented her rings. “Taylor, guard of the Family, our organizer and leader, I love you. I should have done this long ago, but now I can make you the rings you deserve. Taylor, as I am already yours, will you be mine…forever?”

  Taylor’s smile looked wistful and yet content. “... Yes.”

  The kiss this time was a little more tender as she practically melted into me with the same soft cheers.

  The exchange for the next saw me taking Sabah’s hand next and she stood up dazed, like she couldn’t believe this was happening. Leading her to the center, I got down on a knee. “Sabah, support and caretaker of the Family, I know this wasn’t originally what you wanted, but I have come to love you. I should have done this long ago, but now I can make you the rings you deserve. Sabah, as I am already yours, will you be mine…forever?”

  Sabah only hesitated for a moment, not even glancing at the other girls, before she smiled softly. “... Yes.”

  Scooping her up, I kissed her and was happy to feel her snuggle closer and kiss back.

  The next I brought up was Ahri, who looked calm, but I could see the tiny twitches in her tail indicating she was still a bit nervous.

  Kneeling, I took her hand. “Ahri, wisdom and guide of the Family, I love you. I should have done this long ago, but now I can make you the rings you deserve. Ahri, as I am already yours, will you be mine…forever?”

  Ahri's face softened as she stared into my eyes. Even her feline pupils seemed relaxed and happy. “Yes”

  Ahri’s smile widened as I slid the rings home. I stood up and we kissed while her tails slowly waved behind her.

  Taking a deep breath I looked at Thea, who I pulled up next. “Thea, I have to admit a bit of a failure. I can not bind these rings to you yet, as your chassis doesn’t have fingers or blood. You also don’t have magic or chakra to fully use them. However, you deserve your own rings so I made you a pair anyway.”

  Thea’s robot body bobbed for a moment as she made her avatar smile. “It's OK, I appreciate it Max.”

  Clearing my throat I continued. “Thea, framework of the Family, I love you. I should have done this long ago, but now I can make you the rings you deserve. Thea, as I am already yours, will you be mine…forever?”

  Thea’s voice was excited as she made her drone do another bob and twirl in a display of enthusiasm. “...Yes.”

  Placing the rings inside the small compartment she used for her tools, I kissed the top of her drone and led her back down the steps.

  Next I held my hand out for Hermione, who was practically vibrating with nervousness. “Hermione, brains and loyalty of the Family, I have come to love you. I can now make you the rings you deserve. Hermione, as I am already yours, will you be mine… forever?”

  Hermione hesitated for a moment, digging the toe of her shoe into the carpet before she looked up at me and took a deep breath. “... Yes.”

  The kiss was soft and gentle because even after a few months of life with us, she hadn’t completely cracked her reserved shell.

  Next up was Hinata. She was completely red, tapping her fingers together like I hadn’t seen in months. Yet as I offered my hand to be led up to the gazebo, she practically jumped to grab it.

  Kneeling, I smiled. “Hinata, quiet strength and help of the Family, I love you. I can now make you the rings you deserve. Hinata, as I am already yours, will you be mine…forever?”

  Hinata opened her mouth and it almost looked like she was going to squeak, but she swallowed and, still completely red, she said, “... Yes.”

  The kiss was hesitant at first, before she suddenly deepened it, past even what Amy had done. It took several seconds before she released me and hesitantly let me lead her back down to the bench.

  Now I stood in front of the three that had expressed some interest in joining, but had not made a decision. I could tell that Lara and Chell in particular still looked unsure while I couldn’t read Ahsoka’s expression even as she stared intently into my eyes.

  “I do not want to pressure anyone, however I care deeply for each of you and I have made rings for all three of you in case you ever decide to join. They are not yet imbued. They are still mythril and have all the same enchantments including the portkey and storage seals, but without the bindings for…”

  I was cut off by Ahsoka who stood suddenly. She didn’t say anything, just stepped forward and put her hand into mine. Then she her features softened as she smiled at me.

  I was surprised as she had mentioned joining but, to my knowledge, she hadn’t actually made a decision one or another.

  Getting a hold of myself, I pulled her into the gazebo. Once again down on my knees, I asked. “Ahsoka, general and quiet power of the Family, I have come to care for you deeply. I think I have fallen in love with you. I will bind my very soul into these to make rings you deserve to ensure they will only grow stronger when damaged. Ahsoka, as I am already yours, will you be mine…forever?”

  With a quiet “... Yes,” she smiled as I put the rings on her fingers.

  This was actually our first kiss and as I leaned in, I was surprised when I tasted an almost cinnamon taste or maybe some sort of earthy spice. Ahsoka was clearly inexperienced, but after a moment she leaned forward and deepened the kiss.

  This time, the cat calls were a little louder from the other girls which continued until Ahsoka pulled back. Probably as a celebration for their new sister wife. In fact, I had to admit that I was touched to see the girls so warmly welcome Ahsoka into the Family.

  Smirking, she used her somewhat pointy teeth to bite her own lip and raise an eyebrow at me. “I am still going to demand that you perform the rites of the hunt for adulthood and slay a beast alone without help, before you may bed me.”

  Then she chuckled. “That said, I think you will manage… and I admit, based on the stories the girls tell of your marital skill, I will be looking forward to it.”

  I chuckled and nodded. I hadn’t forgotten, but it was a good reminder that the Togruda were a predator species that developed in a ‘kill or be killed’ world. So I would need to decide what animal l I would try to hunt to prove myself, even if she had already committed.

  As Ahsoka was sitting down, Lara stood up and studied me for several long seconds. Not saying anything, she just looked at me so I waited as she seemed to debate something for nearly a minute.

  Finally, she ran a hand through her hair as she started to explain. “Max, you have done a lot for me and I really appreciate it. But I have been holding back because I wanted the romance my father had with my mother. They fought sometimes, but it was just the two of them together and I wanted that…” Sighing, she smirked even if it seemed like it was more to herself than directed at me. “Then again, when has the Croft legacy ever led to something expected.”

  Bitting her lip, she seemed to debate for a moment and then sighed. “Ask me again when we get back… I think I will be ready by then. Until then, I would prefer the one without bindings.”

  I nodded, trying to smile reassuringly while I slipped the rings on her fingers, leaving the main ring on her right hand ring finger instead of her left.

  Turning, I glanced at the rest of the girls. “As I was saying before those very pleasant interruptions…” My girls were kind enough to chuckle at my slight joke there.

  Looking at the remaining three, namely Holly, Ginny, and Chell, I took a deep breath. “Again, I don’t want to pressure anyone to do anything, even if you might have felt it the way this was going…”

  I was interrupted this time by Holly. “Just stop it, Max. I have already agreed to wait until I am 17 since the girls said that was the rule. Ginny still has plans on playing quidditch, but isn’t opposed to the option in general. And everyone knows that Chell is just being shy…”

  Chell quickly piped up. “I… think that I would also like to join… just give me a bit more time.”

  I smiled at the three of them. “I am glad. That said, I want the three of you to be safe, so I still would like you to wear the rings while we are dealing with this world. However without the binding, they theoretically could be taken from you. They also won’t be able to resist damage like properly imbued mythril, so please be careful.”

  Slipping the rings on each of their fingers was done with minimal awkwardness before I smiled as I looked at each of them.

  Then I paused as I looked at Tonks and Fleur before I ran a hand through my hair. “I wasn’t expecting you two, so I didn't make additional copies of the mythril rings. The best I have is the reinforced and enchanted oak that I practiced on. I don’t think you can use the main storage ring without chakra, but the portkey should work and the two weapon rings should be usable once you learn the trick since it just requires a switching spell with the interior. Still, I request you wear them. This world will be dangerous enough that I won't feel comfortable if you don’t have an emergency escape, just in case Alma or the Point Man decides to target you directly.”

  Slipping the rings on their fingers got a few amused looks from Fleur and a blush from Tonks, but I seemed to be all out of embarrassment now that my girls had accepted their rings.

  Or at least that was what I thought, before I heard Amy behind me speak up, obviously trying to tease me a bit. “This is wonderful, but I wouldn’t have minded mine as a choker. That way everyone can see who I belong to.”

  I nearly choked as I spun around to see her mischievous face, but one that I knew meant she was being serious.

  Clearing my throat, even as part of me liked that idea, I answered the implied question. “Maybe as the next piece. For now, everyone give their rings a try.”

  At their nods, I pulled Ahsoka aside and spent a few minutes finishing the imbuement process of putting my soul and the growth potential into her rings, followed by the binding enchantments so she would never again be able to remove them.

  The girls were now slowly getting the hang of making the rings disappear, putting items in and taking them back out, and Hermione had even conjured some ice to test out the protections.

  I momentarily smiled before I firmed my voice as I brought us back up to the topic at hand. “I am glad everyone has gotten started. Please spend the next hour or so practicing with your rings, swapping weapons, storing information, maybe even swapping outfits. Thea and I will be triangulating the ATC buildings and getting any blueprints and floorplans we can.”

  I smiled as Amy tried to swap outfits and just ended up shirtless and without shoes.

  Next to her, Sabah managed to store her wand only to be unable to return it back to her hand when she flicked her wrist.

  Walking away, I headed towards the gatehouse to be able to use my portals freely.

  Thea spoke up as we made it through the second vanishing cabinet and arrived right outside the gatehouse. “Would you be interested in intimacy with my unit once I have a chassis that is capable of the act?”

  I paused, surprised as I had been focused on the mission but then I noticed the tone in her voice. A tone that seemed to imply this was starting to worry her. Looking up, I had to consider her for a moment. She wasn’t currently humanoid. That didn’t really bother me per se, but I had to wonder why she would ask something like this as I didn’t think she could feel physical attraction.

  Looking at her and tilting my head, I asked her seriously. “Thea, I want you to be happy. If you are interested, we can try it, but if you have no desire, then we don’t worry about it. However, that said, I have to ask. What brought this on?”

  Thea hummed for a moment before she bobbed her Eve drone. “Understood… Thank you Max. As for the reason, I… I am curious, I guess. It seems like it is a primary motivator of humans, and I don’t really understand why.”

  I nodded. “I see, well… we will see what our options are at that point.”

  The silence returned, but I was pleased to note that it didn’t seem as strained now that Thea had gotten her answer.

  Thus as I stood with Thea at the edge of our island and moved a portal around looking for a place we could use to connect to the internet with. Only about three minutes later we found a McBurger King, and I wondered if the two fast food giants had combined in this universe.

  Regardless, as I moved a portal closer, Thea confirmed an unprotected wifi that should allow for basic connectivity to start our inquiries. Except it didn’t work… at all.

  That seemed to seriously annoy Thea.

  Nearly 3 minutes later, Thea spoke up. “These people shifted their 2.4 GHz channel bands up by 120 Hz and swapped the position of their packet Header and Preamble, but narrowed their QPSK bandpass filters.”

  I blinked and had to say. “I have no idea what any of that meant, but you sound almost offended.”

  Thea made her drone bob. “Sorry, Max. This is the first time we have been on a world with a similar technology level to Earth Bet and I was surprised by the slight differences. I spent nearly a full day making an interpreter in Star Wars to connect with their technology, but I wasn’t expecting to have to do it with what should have been standard wifi.”

  I blinked and then considered her. “You know, I wonder if I can do something about that. Like make your interfaces work with everything, the same way that I made everyone else omnilingual.”

  Thea turned and stared at me through her cameras for several seconds. “I would be very interested in that, Max.”

  I smiled, a little surprised at how serious she was and made a note to try enchanting her data ports with connectivity runes while also considering how to modify her machine soul when we weren’t so pressed for time.

  As I mulled over options, Thea worked and it only took a minute or two of Googling, and yes they had Google in this world, before we found the ATC warehouse a few miles to the south of where we had arrived.

  The facility where they hid Alma’s body was canonically hidden and had stayed that way for nearly 20 years. It had driven the surrounding people to flee the area, but it was only when the water treatment facility had started breaking down did people start investigating.

  So searching that out we found the water treatment facilities mapped out for the entire town. There were three, but only one had seen the surrounding area practically abandoned for no apparent reason. It was named the Auburn District, which triggered a memory of the game and confirmed we had Alma’s general location.

  Finally, we also found an elementary school named WADE Elementary School… I hadn’t remembered the name in the game and had been prepared to have to search through all of the elementary schools in town, but having the school named after Alma’s father pretty much answered that question of which one the ATC had influence over.

  Thus I moved a portal over all three locations as I started looking for infiltration points in blind and defensible corners. Meanwhile, I sent another portal directly into the front office and under the table before I had Thea connect directly to their intraweb and start cracking the encryption on their internal network.

  We had approximately 12 seconds of silent hacking before all hell broke loose with an explosion on the other side of the building.

  Apparently we were out of time.

  Interlude Ahri:

  Ahri smiled as she looked down at her ring.

  She didn’t have the childhood of wanting a husband, just the desire for a mate that would pair off with her.

  This arrangement was certainly a little different than her vulpine instincts suggested. The vast majority of foxes were mostly monogamous.

  Regardless, as she felt the enchantments and protections layered on the ring, she could feel just a little bit of Max's very soul and magic inside and she couldn’t help but smile.

  Her smile wasn’t nearly as big or as wide as Taylor’s, who had forgotten her bugs and was practically star struck at the sight of the band on her finger. The girl’s face was alternating between disbelief and a school girl’s giggles.

  Amy and Sabah looked pleasantly pleased, even if the two of them were leaning against each other.

  Hinata was slowly running her fingers along the ring like she was worried it would disappear.

  Ahsoka was looking at everyone else in amusement, probably due to her Jedi upbringing.

  Hermione and Holly looked happy. Holly had even moved it from her right hand and onto her left. Probably to see how it looked there.

  Ginny was also looking around amused, but Ahri did notice she occasionally glanced down at her own rings.

  Lara and Chell looked like they were deep in thought.

  Then there was Fleur and Tonks. Both of which seemed to her to be in a bit of shock that they were trying to hide. However if this scared them away, better to do so now.

  She loved Max after all, but their path wasn’t exactly a normal, safe, or comfortable one and she would push away anyone that was half-hearted about the Family.

  Interlude Fleur:

  Fleur had to admit that this was more wild than anything she might have imagined when Amy had written to her and invited her to go on an adventure with them. She had promised an experience that she would never be able to forget, and they were delivering.

  It had been a crazy invitation… Yet, she had come.

  She had come and it had already been incredible.

  She hadn’t seen any curses to break, but she was already learning more about magic itself and the other disciplines than she had thought were possible.

  Amy, who was obviously trying to impress her, had shown her Hela Hufflepuff’s cup.

  That right there might have made all of this worth it by itself.

  No one knew exactly what Hela Hufflepuff’s cup did, but the chance to study it was a chance she could have hardly dreamed of.

  “Merde!”

  Based on Amy’s and Holly’s amused faces when she had first seen the cup, they had more items they were still holding back.

  It had almost made her want to join right then and there.

  The only big hiccup was being stuck in a somewhat unconventional relationship.

  At least the proposal had answered her questions on what exactly it was between all of them. Specifically, if all of the girls knew that he was sleeping with roughly half of them.

  Her instincts had told her that they all cared for him, but it had been too confusing to make sure at the arena when they first met.

  On a side note, she also got to be amused at how well controlled each of them were.

  Oh, she could tell that Amy, Sabah, and even Hinata were practically holding themselves back every time they looked at her.

  In fact, it was clear that Amy and Sabah were clearly more attracted to her than they were to Max. Yet their emotions had shown they cared about Max’s opinion more.

  That was another thing that would have confused her before today, as that generally only happened to old married couples.

  Now that she better understood the ‘Family’, as they preferred being called, she could see how they would all cleave together, especially if they routinely faced danger like this.

  However even then, there was something more going on.

  In fact, despite how insane the idea that any man keeping more than a dozen wives happy and content with him and each other was, he seemed to be doing it without even a hit of mind or emotional control magic.

  She would have smelled those out in an instant.

  Oh that wasn’t to say she wouldn’t have understood it a little. Her own allure fell into that category after all.

  The arrangement itself didn’t bother her either. The Veela conclaves had various different agreements with the relatively few men that were able to actually push back on their allure. Specifically, since they were rare, those resistant men were sometimes passed around. Although often with significant breaks in between to give them time to recover.

  Still, their heritage practically demanded partners. As a result, most Veela preferred to play with multiple… weaker men. Or occasionally with each other.

  Really, Fleur wasn’t ashamed about her part creature heritage. Several of the early histories implied that all of wizard-kind got their powers from their connection to what they would have called creatures. Whether that be the Fae, Devils, Easter Spirits, or Jinn.

  It just became a little annoying when people in England were unable to see anything except her Veela side. Doubly so because some of their own myths recorded Merlin as half incubus and he was practically worshiped in England.

  That said, the bigotry did seem to be getting better. It helped that very few people had had any contact with a succubus in the last few hundred years. Or at least any contact that hadn’t ended in the idiot that summoned them’s death.

  Regardless, there was clearly something else going on… something that helped the Family care for each other. Something that bonded them together.

  It just became a question of if she wanted to push deeper.

  … she could admit that she might be a bit interested.

  AN:

  1) I am sorry for the delay. I got sick again, then again, then a third time over the last two months. Then I got a bit burnt out doing research into FEAR and the world after this one. So I took a break and played the Factorio expansion for a while.

  However, meanwhile I got quite a few comments, subscribers, favorites, and kudos. The positive feedback made me smile and want to push forward, so thanks. I have already written 20k+ words splitting up FEAR into 3 chapters.

  I just wish I had managed to get these chapters out for Halloween.

  Instead I will wish everyone a happy turkey day from ‘MERICA land.

  2) Recommendations:

  I went on a bit of a Warhammer binge when I found Colm R. McGuinness on Youtube. His original songs based on the 40k universe are amazing, please go listen to them. I liked Rot, Imperium’s Dream, and The Hammer most.

  Tech Heresy (Warhammer 40k | Inspired Inventor) by mesmerisedpenguin *Shows the gritty underbelly. Although it is one of the stories that ignore machine spirits as nothing but ignorance. Personally I think machines might really develop pseudo spirits after enough time in 40k considering what the warp is.

  Lost and Found (Warhammer 40k SI) by Latscry *A much less grimderp take at the 40k universe. Still incredibly violent, but less ‘everything is doomed’ stance. It also actually has moved the plot along a lot further.

  Syrine - Into the Grim Darkness of the Far Future by Wong40k. My first intro to 40k fanfic from years ago, and it has started book 3.