Collide Gamer

“Wow.”

Esmeralda stared up at the Guild Hall with profound awe. The Latina had been quite demure on the way there, occupied with all of the expensive services that John gave her ready access to. For all of her feistiness, it was clear that she was intimidated by the luxury of high society – and that had been John’s observation while they were on the drive.

Now faced with, John was fully willing to brag, the most magical capital of any of the Divided Gates, the caramel woman was stunned. They were taking the scenic route, a small barge that went up the physically impossible stream that connected a lake in the Goblin Capital to the vast water that surrounded the Guild Hall. As they went up the slanted waterway, the Buildings came into view.

John forced himself to appreciate her sense of wonder purely as an auditory experience. He did not want to find himself studying the swing of her cheekbones or the shade of her lips. He had a problem, he had admitted to it, and now he was treating that with a bit of abstinence.

Ignoring new women was considerably easier than quitting alcohol. Unlike that vice, John not only could substitute, he was expected to. What kind of signal would it send if he stopped kissing his current women?

That was a question the Gamer did not need an answer to.

Nightingale was every bit as apt at making out as she was using her purple tongue for other purposes. Speaking, licking, caressing, wrestling, truly she was a talented woman when it came to her oral utilizations. No doubt she could have tied his tongue like a cherry stem if she wanted to. Instead, she was letting him take the lead.

‘God, I love lavender,’ he thought. The aroma was intense, suffused into her saliva. It mixed with a minty coolness to make every whirl of their tongues its own journey through a herbal landscape. Detaching himself from her lips was borderline impossible. Really, he could only do it because their guest cleared her throat.

“So… what am I expected to do during my stay?” Esmeralda asked.

John detached from Nightingale unwillingly. A gooey strand of her arousal connected them for much longer than regular saliva would have. Once it broke, he had to clean his chin. He just barely managed to keep the hand he had on the harpy’s thigh from exploring how wet she was.

“You are your own agent, what you learn is ultimately up to you,” the Gamer responded. “My plan is to let Nightingale and Momo handle you.”

“Have I met this Momo yet? I can’t remember all of your women as quickly as you present them.” The Latina poignantly looked at Undine. The gothic slime was quietly attached to John’s right side, awaiting her turn in the kissing patiently, humming all the while. “You’ve got a big harem.”

“With little room to expand,” John pointed out.

Esmeralda flipped her chin-length hair in a self-assured gesture. “Which means there is room to expand.”

Though she refused to outright say it, it was beyond clear that the feisty Dancer was angling for a spot by his side. The certainty and swiftness with which she had decided that was a bit… concerning. It seemed he had swept her off her feet in every sense of the word when he decided to dance with her.

Again, John felt like he only had himself to blame for that. He kept forgetting who he was now, something he could only attribute to an excess of desire rather than an absence of awareness. Yes, he was a bit plain-looking, but that also worked to his advantage. Physically, he was the image of a man that would be plastered on the cover of a Playgirl magazine. Add to that his power, prestige and wealth and women found it as easy to fall for him as he would have fallen for a pretty woman that was nice to him back in his shut-in days.

Really, he had never stood a chance against Rave’s forward nature. His heart was hers the moment they met.

He could not blame Esmeralda for falling the same way. He could only blame himself for being that forward.

“I’ll remember all of your names eventually,” Esmeralda said to Undine. “It’s odd. I’ve felt my… mind expand since these powers started to manifest. I remember things sharper, think faster, but it is a bit of a tumbling process.”

Undine nodded. “Your body is catching up to the power now in your soul.”

“It is strangely similar to my own ascent to godhood,” Nightingale remarked. “Though all of the Faith was mine to command, my capacity to do so was limited. My body evolved but power remained nascent, gradually seeping into my new shape.”

“You’re a goddess?” Maria asked, voice swinging with scepticism. “Sorry about the tone, but… there’s only one God as far as I am concerned.”

“We use the words god and goddess to denote a certain type of being,” John explained. “You must understand that this category is older than Christianity. Insistence on changing it will get you nowhere.”

“…I’ll accept that, I suppose. Then what are you the goddess of?”

“Guess,” Nightingale invited her.

“…Goths?” Esmeralda suggested, to the harpy’s amusement. As per usual, she hid her black-lipped smile behind the bend of her wings. “Birds. Shackles.” The Latine threw out a variety of words, mixing joking suggestions with serious ones. “Flight. Darkness. Hot Topic. Depression.” She stopped and then smirked. “The night.”

“Correct,” the harpy trilled.

“Knew it!” Esmeralda tilted back in the boat. “Bit on the nose to put it in your name.”

“Nightingale was a title given to me when I was a regular harpy. It references my career as a songstress at the European, primarily the Austrian, courts.”

“So, Nightingale isn’t your real name?” Esmeralda asked.

“It is my real name.” The harpy was firm on that.

“But you were born with another one,” the Latina kept needling.

“Yes. No, you will not learn it, not at this point.”

John watched Esmeralda’s reaction quietly. The woman’s smirk dropped a bit and she nodded. That was all. Though she liked to poke the proverbial bear, she knew when to back off. She was one of those women who could be annoying in a good way. “Would you sing for me?” the Dancer asked instead.

“Mhm…” Nightingale tapped a talon on the floor of their barge. “Why not. Undine, Siena, could you aid me?”

“Of course.” Undine put her hand over the edge of the boat, dark slime dripping into the waterway and forming into copies of herself that swam along the barge.

“With pleasure.” Siena manifested in the middle of the boat and reached into the air. As an elemental, she could not hold a pocket space nor had he unlocked an inventory for them yet. She could, however, access the Guild Hall Bank from here. Out came a violin made from deep purple wood, stringed with silver.

John smiled and thought back. He had made her learn the violin as a punishment for messing with Undine. That it had worked out to them making music together was always a pleasant reminder of good choices made.

Siena sat down and began to test her strings. Nightingale rose up, warming up her voice with a couple repetitions of the tone ladder. Like many singers, she did not make music with her lips alone. Her entire body was swaying, gestures supporting her mind. That alone had Esmeralda in mesmerized awe. The voice of the harpy held such power, absent of magic. It reached far, making those that shared the stream with them turn their heads.

Out of nowhere, summoned by the beginnings of a song, elementals and fairies gathered up around them, carrying little instruments to support the trio. Once she was ready, Nightingale began. The chorus of Undines in the water around mimicked her pitch and voice perfectly, supporting her with background vocals wherever appropriate.

[Song made in AI (Lyrics written by me): https://suno.com/s/c2443JDV6RS2bJTF ]

“”Behold the capital of the empire that is Fusion

We broke through and ended the American seclusion

Our continent will be all it can be

For all that can seize it, we vow prosperity!

Bringing justice to the world we know

This is what Fusion shall show

Forged by Gamer's ambition

Brought to an early fruition

Though messy at times

An empire does rise

And you will not want to miss its splendour””

“Watch,” John whispered to Esmeralda in the middle of the song. “Behind you.”

The Dancer turned around, once more facing the Guild Hall just as they reached the top of the stream. Sylph manifested with a giggle, lifting their barge over a dozen metres into the air. Nightingale took to the skies, continuing the song all the same while Esmeralda beheld slack-jawed the expanse of the Guild Hall.

““On Earth, foundations stand

In Fire, ambition understand

On Wind, we hear the voices

In Water, our purity rejoices

On Shadow, we rely

In Light, our might we apply

All that is good, is worth fighting for

Even if this empire is forged in war

Understand, that we live for peace

Understand, that we love for peace

The empire of Fusion stands for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.””

The ferry returned to the water, placed gently on the smooth lake that surrounded the expansive islands. “You… made all of this?” Esmeralda asked, her voice a whisper.

John did not answer immediately. He was too busy getting beset on all sides. Undine had never moved. Siena put her violin away, taking the spot Nightingale had held a moment before. After landing back in the barge, the harpy plopped down in his lap.

The only drawback of having a harem was that he did not have enough mouths to kiss them all.

By the time he had administered the bare minimum of love for that display, Esmeralda was facing him again. The Latina’s expression remained entirely awed. If she was passionately interested before, she was thoroughly fascinated with the idea of becoming part of his world now. A tactical misstep, perhaps, but at least this one wasn’t his.

“It is my Guild Hall, though to say that I made it is a bit of an overstatement. My powers enabled me to shape this, but the ball of clay was provided, so to say."

Esmeralda slowly nodded the nod of someone who didn’t really understand but got the base meaning. For the rest of the ferry ride, she was glued to the view around them.

Down the shore, then up the channels, they drifted to the Palace. There, Momo waited for them, her hands on her wide hips. “My time is precious, you know that!” she complained. “Don’t summon me down here minutes early!”

“You’re literally with me in a different room right now,” John drawled.

“Yeah! All of my time is precious!” Momo only shut up because he gave her a swift greeting kiss. “Ew, stop loving me.”

“Impossible,” the Gamer purred and put a series of pecks on her forehead and cheeks.

Though letting out a series of frustrated grunts, she did not move an inch. Sour as she tried to sound, her blushing smile was sweet all the same. “Okay, okay, enough!” She pushed him aside. Smoothly, John turned around, stopping with his arm around her waist. “Hello, Esmeralda – is Esmeralda okay?”

“Yes – you are Momo?”

“Correct.”

The two women mustered each other critically. It was funny watching their gazes go up from the shoes and then meet. John could almost feel a spark.

“You kissed my Master without his permission,” the sassy maid pointed out. “I hope you show more self-control in the future.”

“I will, but maybe you should leave him with less of a kiss deficit, playing all coy like that.”

“Wha- I will play however coy I want!”

“So, it is a pretense. You’re really easily read.”

Momo stopped for a moment, then gathered herself. “As are you. One whirl and your mind tumbles along the path, does it? Well, Dancer, Nightingale and I will be in charge of your stay here. Let me be clear: we aren’t looking for more people in the harem.”

“So I’ve heard.” Esmeralda maintained that plausible deniability.

“Shrug and smirk all you like. It’s a cute performance. This isn’t a suggestion though, it’s a warning. You’re here to learn the basics of the Abyss, not to flirt with my John. Remember that.”

Esmeralda put a hand on her hips. “Pretty possessive for 1 of… 25?”

“You have no idea what this harem is.” Momo grabbed John by the collar. He let himself be shaken a bit, to help illustrate his maid’s point. “This is not his power trip, it’s our family and we guard that carefully.”

“Good!” Esmeralda sounded happier than ever. “You should guard that. Family is the most important thing in life.”

‘Ah, damn it, she has the right mindset,’ John heard Momo think.

At least his haremettes were starting to understand his plight.

“Whatever.” Outwardly, the fairy maid released John and waved off. “Follow me. I’ll show you where to stay, then give you a couple of books to read.”

Esmeralda snorted sassily. “Yeah, of course you are a bookworm.”

“What, you’re going to stereotype me? You’re a Latina in a red dress from a multi-generational dance school.”

“Nothing to be ashamed of there.”

“Nothing to be ashamed of in being a bookworm either.”

“Why’re you so defensive then?”

“Because you’re being smug and I hate it.”

John did not believe those last three words. However that bantering continued was swallowed up by the corner the duo walked around. While they had walked away, John had kept his eyes firmly on Momo. He was not sure if his heart could stand finding out whether or not Esmeralda had an ass to match her attitude.

A long sigh escaped him. “I never thought I would say this,” he said out loud, “but I suddenly understand why Zeus was sleeping with everything he could. The male brain is not built to reject such ready advances.”

“You’re doing decent,” Undine encouraged him.

“We’ll see if decent will cut it…” he muttered. He inhaled, about to start a conversation on what would happen if Esmeralda somehow wormed her way into everyone’s heart. He stopped himself right then and there. ‘Do not start to entertain the exception. Keep moving ahead with the assumption that she will not join the harem. Do not stray from that path.’

Easier thought than done.