Origin ARS 6 (21 page)

Scott grinned at her. "Hey, I needed an image that I could focus on completely. You know, something I would never grow bored of thinking about..."

"Scott. Get my breasts out of the sky, please," asked Rhea in slow measured tones.

He tried not to laugh while he allowed the image to fade. Rhea sighed at him in exasperation, but the twinkle in her eyes spoke volumes about the truth of the situation. She was less angry than bemused. In fact, it was not long before she asked, "You came up with a paragraph length chant and mastered it well enough to cast it in one try... all to create that?"

"Actually, I have a short form version that I came up with first. Let me show you," he said cheerfully.

"What? No, that's al—" began Rhea. She was drowned out, however, as Scott began his new chant.

"Rhea's!" he cried, while moving his cupped hands swiftly to one side.

"Rhea's!" Just like the first time, his hands moved to the opposite side, a trail of sparkling light left in their wake.

"Rhea's boobs!" cried Scott, before thrusting his palms into the air.

"Ho!" he roared with all the breath in his body. The word echoed through the area as a brilliant cone of light erupted through the air to emblazon Rhea's epic breasts upon the clouds once more.

"Oh... You... Oh..." Rhea had no idea what to say to that. In the end, she placed her palm over her face and sighed deeply. Her fiancé had decided to make a summoning spell after all, one patterned off of a certain 1980s cartoon series.

Her face burning bright red, she stalked over to the ridiculous sorcerer and grabbed him by the ear. Scott's laughter was cut short as she started to pull him along. "Hey, that hurts, you know."

She muttered, "It's supposed to," and continued to pull him away from the area.

It was not until she mumbled, "You're gonna get it, buster," that Scott spoke again.

"Will I like it?" he asked curiously.

"Maybe," she said in a slightly lighter tone.

She continued to pull on his ear for a short time, before she stopped and sighed. "Scott, what possessed you to make a spell like that?"

He shrugged. "Nothing else worked. It came out as little flat silhouettes for the most part. Even when I tried to project Ero, I tended to get the proportions wrong.... sometimes ridiculously."

"So, is that all you see me as?" she asked him softly. "Is that why it worked so well for you?"

Scott laughed a little. "No. I can make a decent copy of your whole body. It's just easier to focus on one thing."

"Oh? Why is that?" she asked, uncertain of his motives.

The sorcerer smiled in response. "You're always on my mind, so it's easy to remember everything about you."

Rhea blinked. Her nostrils flared slightly as his hand moved over to her face.

He softly traced the curve of her cheek then caressed her lips with his thumb. "The curve of your face, the softness of your lips... That wonderful expression you make when you want to set me on fire... Everything about you is unforgettable for me."

Her face reddened again slightly. She looked at him with a loving expression. "Oh Scott..."

"Yes, Rhea...?" he asked her sweetly, his eyes locked to hers and a tender smile on his lips.

She reached up and lightly ran her fingers along his cheek as well. Softly, she tilted her head to the side, and then suddenly she snatched his ear and turned around to drag him off again.

He cried out in surprise, but she refused to let go. "What are you, my mother?" he asked in a cringing voice.

"You've been a naughty boy. Now come with me," she said seriously.

Scott could have easily gotten out of her grip. Truthfully, it did not even hurt that much due to his stats. Still, he did wonder what her game plan was at the moment. Concerned that it could lead to a fight, he made a reasonable suggestion. "Hey, you could always just show off my chest to the world or something. I mean, damn, my little spell didn't even show nipple."

Rhea stopped cold. She then stood perfectly upright and made a slight coughing noise.

"Rhea...?" asked Scott, surprised by her sudden change in demeanor.

The blue haired maiden turned toward him slowly. She sucked on her lower lip briefly while she looked upon him with an expression of concern. "Well... About that..."

Eyes locked together, they shared a silent moment before Rhea took a deep breath. What followed was an explanation that Scott had not even remotely suspected.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and sorrowful. "So, yeah... That's what happened."

"You... shared my naked ass with your family and the entire company?" asked Scott slowly.

"I– Yes," she said softly. Her eyes began to lower toward the ground, but her head snapped up when she heard Scott's loud obnoxious laughter. It was reminiscent of a braying jackass.

"That's awesome!" Scott's laughter grew louder and he shook his head. "Man, I can't even imagine."

"It's not funny, you jerk!" cried Rhea.

Scott drew her into his arms and held her tight. "That could only happen to you."

"S'not funny," she insisted petulantly.

"It's kinda funny," said Scott shamelessly.

"No. Not even a little," she said without giving him an inch.

He stroked her hair then tried to fight down the laugh that was building up within him once more. The idea of his naked ass being sent to the whole company as a direct line from their boss was just too good.

"It really upset me, you know..." she said softly.

"I bet." He leaned his chin down against her shoulder and gave her a warm hug. "Forgive me for laughing?"

"Sure..." she said with a soft smile. "Forgive me for sending my father a picture of you naked?"

"No problem," he said. Quickly he continued, "Everyone needs something to believe in."

Rhea blinked. A moment later she understood what he had said then pulled away from him. "Really?" she asked, laughter in her eyes.

"What better image can there be to bring hope to the world?" proclaimed Scott.

"Right, because the world needs to see my fiancé naked," muttered Rhea.

Scott kissed her sweetly on the lips then cupped her face in his hands. "Hey, don't worry about it. This will all blow over in a day or two. It's not like anyone outside the company saw it, right?"

"Yeah, that's true. Good thing I'm not going to work for a few days," said Rhea with more confidence than she had shown in the last few minutes.

"I disagree," said Scott in a stern voice.

"Wha... Scott?" she asked, confused by his sudden change of demeanor.

He scooped her up in his arms then spoke in a lower octave than normal. "I'll be putting you to work ma'am."

"Scott?" she asked again, a bemused expression on her face.

"The night is still young," he said before offering her a silly grin. "Time to work off your debt to me."

Rhea crossed her arms over her chest. "What debt do I owe you, mister?"

"I have yet to be compensated for your trafficking of my naked masculine backside," he said, before starting off toward the park exit.

"Hey, you showed my boobs to the world! That makes us even," she said in a feigned huff.

"I don't recall doing anything like that," said Scott seriously.

Rhea snorted at him. "You made an entire summoning spell designed to call me to you, and based it on my boobs! Ring a bell, now?"

"Nope. You are obviously suffering a delusional episode brought on by a lack of hot sex," explained Scott, before coming to a stop near the entrance.

"No, I'm sure that really happened," she said.

"I see. The symptoms are worsening." Scott held her tighter and started to run down the street once more. "I must administer the cure immediately."

"What cure might that be?" she asked with a wry smile. As goofy as Scott was, she did enjoy it when he became excited about things in general.

"It comes in the form of an injection that must be administered through the anus," said Scott.

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't," said Rhea, her tone flat and dismissive.

"The delusions are becoming worse," said Scott. He looked into Rhea's eyes then feigned panic. "Don't worry! I'll get that anal injection in there, no matter what it takes!"

"No! I really don't think it works that way," she said, her face turning bright red, and her voice becoming high pitched in the process.

Her words fell on deaf ears as her ridiculous fiancé raced off toward their hotel room. She held on for dear life as he moved with determined efficiency. He had a life to save tonight.

Chapter 8

The sound of people laughing at the little things in life can cause many thoughts to cross the mind of one who listens to their sweet moment. Those who have love in their life might feel a sense of warmth, or perhaps nostalgia, for one they long to be with again. Those who have lost their love, or never had it at all might become bitter, even hateful.

It was sweet laughter, and the joyous union of three people having fun, that caused what happened next. The chainsaw armed beach chair bounded forward, its fold out leg flapping ridiculously while it tried to cut apart the good humor that its opponents felt.

"Ha! Too slow, chainsaw bro," cried Scott excitedly. The chainsaw whipped through the space where he stood only a brief instant before. The artful dodge left the bizarre construct open to a sudden and decisive strike from Rhea's saber. Lightning danced along the blade and invaded the spiritual circuitry of the homicidal outdoor furnishing.

"Arargh!" shrieked the chainsaw wielding lawn chair before it fell to the ground, defeated.

Scott bounced from one foot to the other and wiggled his booty a little. "Hell yeah, this is a lot easier with three of us."

Rhea laughed at him a little before she started to kneel down. The creature needed to be salvaged for loot. However, she did not make it. Scott hopped over and took her by the arm. "Dance with me!" he cried before dancing around like a fool.

"What! No. We're working you goof." Rhea laughed at him again, but soon she gave in and began to dance with him. She too jumped and wiggled like a fool, just like the creature she intended to marry.

Herbert chittered warmly at them then joined in. He was never one to give up on the chance at an impromptu dance party.

Scott shook his hips from side-to-side, and then lifted his hands to his chest. He started pumping them back and forth with his elbows out. "Goosh, goosh, goosh."

"What are you saying?" asked Rhea, just before she copied him.

"Dance music. You know you can feel the beat!" Scott gooshed and gooshed some more while his friends danced around like happy morons.

The source of his joy was the fact that they managed to make it to a decent area for training. With the help of Rhea, Scott was able to tank the monsters based on his agility. Relieved of openly having to both tank and strike, he could focus on being an irritating bastard to keep the enemy focused on him. So far they had defeated more opponents in one day than Scott and Herbert took down in several days.

Scott lunged forward and gripped Rhea tight. "Yeah, yeah!" he said while wiggling his shoulders around.

Rhea pushed at him, but soon laughed as he spun her around and started dancing with her from behind. Rhea started saying, "Goosh, goosh, goosh," in her sweet voice and Scott nearly lost it. His laughter echoed throughout the area.

Herbert clapped his paws together then held his hands out palm up while he started to spin in a circle. He was feeling the music.

"Go Herbert! Go Herbert!" said Scott while he kept dancing behind Rhea.

The dance party slowly came to an end after a few minutes, but the three dancing fools were full of energy now. They looted the chair then tossed it into the large cart that they rented for the occasion. Rhea had been right. Working together they could haul in much more than normal. A wheel barrow would just not cut it for the sort of loot they were earning.

Scott gripped the handholds of the cart and started toward the next battlefield. He hummed merrily while he pulled the heavy cart along like it was nothing. As it turned out, he learned something extraordinary. He had earned one entire point in strength after hauling the cart around that day.

The cart was at his proper working limit, and as such extensive use of it could actually increase his strength! His long dry spell in regards to stat upgrades was nearing an end. Soon, he would be able to train them normally again. Of course, that also meant that he would be facing opponents with stats similar to his more often as well.

Unfortunately, there was no way to know whether the single day of cart pulling had generated the stat point increase, or if it was the culminations of several weeks of work. Otherwise, he would have considered spending a lengthy period of time just pulling a heavy cart around every day. It was something to consider for the future, however.

"Hey, I think we got one," said Rhea quietly. She pointed to a crawling figure in the distance.