Yanderes in Cottage Country

They spent some more time in the workshop. Cody handed over his Droppies, and Gracie had enough to craft another gem. It was the same shape and size as the red one, but bright blue, similar to the Droppies. Giving her the special items also meant he reached his fifth and final Friendship Level with Gracie.

But soon enough, it was time to walk her home for lunch with her dad. Morgan slowed down just as they reached the end of the driveway of the Callahan cottage.

“We have a deal, right?” Morgan said to Gracie. “From now on, if you need something you ask me or Mr. Pinecone Man instead of running off to find it yourself?”

“Deal!” Gracie said, just as Doug stepped out of the cottage and waved to them.

They shared one last hug before Gracie went running off to her dad.

Morgan seemed lost in thought as they made their way back to Cody’s cottage, hand in hand.

“Are you okay?” Cody asked.

“It’s just a lot,” Morgan said. “And then even more gets piled onto the last bunch, and then more, and then more…And now this. If she's telling the truth, if Grandpa Sam left her with this task, I can’t help but wonder why. If she really is building a World Arch that can help Grandpa Sam return from…wherever, why did Grandpa Sam leave something this important in the hands of an eight-year-old child?”

Cody mulled it over, but then the answer came to him as clear as day. “I trust you more than anyone in the world, and I had trouble telling you the truth about Velasarin. It wasn’t until you saw a nekofae in the flesh that I felt ready to explain everything.”

“What does that have to do with Grandpa Sam and Gracie?”

“She said Grandpa Sam left in a hurry, right? And he needed someone to craft these gems and make the arch, and someone he could connect to the game system to get all of that done. Assuming, he’s the one who connected Gracie to the game in the first place. But who would you choose if you had to leave such an important task with someone? Someone like Doug, who would not believe a word you said, or someone like Gracie, who looked up to Grandpa Sam, who is a little kid with a huge imagination? If an adult she trusts tells her something, she’ll believe them and get to work. She’s old enough to make a solid attempt, but young enough to go along with everything, no questions asked.”

Morgan stopped walking. “That really does make sense. She is the perfect choice. I just can’t help but feel angry at Grandpa Sam for giving her such a big responsibility. What if she can’t do it, even with our help? She’ll be crushed.”

“Do you really believe Grandpa Sam is still alive?” Cody asked as they started walking again. “That he’s not dead, he just went somewhere? Like when I got isekai’d to Velasarin? Except, it sounds like Grandpa Sam had some control over it, and that he knew he was leaving. Plus, he’s actually gone. For me, not a second passed between leaving and returning, even though I was in Velasarin for an entire decade.”

Morgan sighed. “And there was a body. We both went to the funeral, Cody. I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“We don’t have the full picture, that’s for sure. But I say we keep focused on finishing the Cottage Country game. We help Gracie as much as possible, and see what happens if we actually build this World Arch thing.”

“And we have harem sex,” Morgan said playfully. “It sounds so fun in the books.”

Cody laughed. “We really need to have a serious group talk about that.”

“Let’s go home, eat lunch with the girls, and then we can have a big, serious talk.”

“I agree with this plan.” He was feeling nervous about the group thing, but he did really want to discuss their current situation, with everyone present.

Once home, Morgan went to tell Nyrah and Yana it was safe to come out of their room, and Cody got started on lunch. Using the oven, he whipped up some grilled cheese sandwiches and threw together a garden salad. It wasn’t exactly difficult to make grilled cheese, but it was way faster to throw a bunch of cheese slices, bread, and butter into the oven, and then have four perfectly crispy brown sandwiches ready in a matter of seconds.

Cody sat at the head of the table, Morgan across from him, Yana and Nyrah on each side in their natural forms. The four of them ate in silence, but it felt like a comfortable silence this time, so Cody decided to not attempt a forced conversation. That could wait until they finished their meal.

So, this could be his harem, Cody thought to himself. All he had to do was say yes, and every single one of these ladies would be in a relationship with him. When he dreamed about coming back to Earth, he was dreaming of Morgan, not Morgan plus an elven-orc woman and a nekofae. He thought all the pretty beastkin girls of Velasarin would be things of the past.

As soon as they finished eating their lunch, Morgan stood and graciously cleared the table, depositing the dishes in the dishwasher. Nyrah watched her every move, as if trying to puzzle her out, while Yana sat perfectly still and looked anywhere but at Morgan or Cody.

“We need to have that big talk now,” Morgan said. “All of us. Together.”

She sat back down at the table and motioned to Cody, as if she expected him to have a prepared speech. He did not have a prepared speech.

“I um…so…” he mumbled.

“Cody said yes to the harem,” Morgan said helpfully.

Nyrah inhaled sharply and looked over at him, wide-eyed. “Really truly?”

“Really…truly…” Cody said slowly.

A notification popped up:

“And you just finished leveling up and unlocked Romance,” Cody told her, feeling equally uneasy and excited about taking that next step with Nyrah.

“I…I…” Nyrah burst into tears. “Can I hug you, Cody Hampshire?”

“Sure,” Cody said, and let the full name thing slide.

They both stood and Nyrah rushed over and hugged him. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, mindful of her wings. She felt so small and fragile in his arms, it was hard to believe she had viciously attacked Morgan. Her chest heaved as she continued to sob, pressing her face into him, as well as the softness of her generous boobs. In no time she had thoroughly soaked his T-shirt with her tears of happiness.

He heard a chair slide out. Morgan was making her way over and then she joined in, hugging both Cody and Nyrah from the side. A moment later, Yana was carefully joining their first ever harem group hug.

“What happens now?” Nyrah mumbled into Cody’s chest. “Do we have sex now?”

Cody gently pulled away, untangling himself from the trio of women. “First we talk.”

He headed over to the living room and sat in his grandfather’s recliner, facing the girls as they assembled on the couch. Morgan was on one side, Nyrah on the other, with a crimson-cheeked Yana squished in between them. Cody met Yana’s eye and gave her an encouraging smile, since she was clearly the most nervous out of the bunch. She smiled back but then immediately broke eye contact.

“So, we’re all in agreement that we want to go in this…direction,” Cody began. All three women nodded. “And, if I want to one-hundred percent this game, which will hopefully get rid of Temica, I need to finish all of your Romance Levels. Morgan is already done—”

Nyrah turned to Morgan. “You’re done all of your Romance Levels?”

“Yep,” Morgan said, sounding a little smug and she winked at Cody. “We’re also engaged.”

“You’re engaged?” Nyrah cried. “To be married?”

“Yes, in this instance, that’s what I mean by engaged,” Morgan said to Nyrah. “Let’s get one thing straight: I was here first. If you actually want this to happen, I’m Cody’s Best Girl Forever and you fall the fuck in line? Do you understand?”

Nyrah’s fingernails began to elongate into claws, but she took a deep breath and they retracted. “But we’re sharing Cody, right?”

“We’re sharing, yes,” Morgan said. “But only because I am giving permission.”

Cody cleared his throat, feeling like it was time to interrupt. “And me. I have a say in this, too.”

Morgan turned to him. “Of course you do, babe. And you said you wanted this.”

“What I want is for everyone to get along,” Cody said.

“And make love?” Yana asked quietly.

As soon as Cody looked at her, her cheeks got even more red. “Yes. And eventually, we'll uh…we’ll make love.”

Nyrah squirmed on the couch, rubbing her thighs together. “Yes, please!”

“And this is a relationship,” Cody said. “We all want that, right?”

“Oh, yes!” Nyrah said.

Yana nodded, and then slowly raised her hand.

“Yes, Yana?” Cody asked.

“If Morgan is already fully Romanced, does that mean you know how to level us up? Do you think it’ll be the same for all three of us?”

“Yes, I know what leveled up Morgan,” Cody said. “I think it’s safe to assume it’ll work the same for the two of you.”

“Oh, um…your Knife says he urgently needs to talk to you.” Nyrah popped Knife out of her Inventory and into her hand.

“Now?” Cody got up and took Knife from Nyrah and then sat back in the armchair. What? he asked Knife.

I’m blocking Nyrah, so this is just us, Knife said quickly. First of all: congrats. You’re about to get so much premium pussy. But second of all, I had made a very specific arrangement with this Nyrah chick, which she even told you about! You know I was going to coach her to win you over, and in return she was going to take me out to see my puffball princess. Everything working out for you has completely mush-blocked me. I am equal parts proud of you and super pissed off.

I’m sorry? Cody said.

Sorry? That’s it? You know exactly how to fix this.

Cody sighed. I promise to take you out into the woods so you can fuck giant mushrooms more often. Now, do you mind? I need to get back to my harem now. And you need to let Nyrah block you when we…you know.

When you fuck that pussy cat’s pussy? Yeah. Fine. It’d be weird to be in the girl's head during that anyway, Knife said. She already thinks about your cock way too often for my liking. And by the way, she has no fucking clue what your cock even looks like. She doesn’t know shit about sex besides the fact that that’s how babies are made. Oh, and she’s done some experimental masturbation stuff while sucking on your toothbrush.

She what now? Cody asked.

For the record, I wasn’t there for it, I just caught a glimpse of her memory of it. I have instructed her to stop brushing her teeth with your toothbrush.

Well, thanks for that weird info, Cody said. Mind if I—

Before Cody could finish his sentence, Temica appeared in the room in her usual pink cloud of sparkles, with Henry perched on her shoulder.

“A little birdy told me you have done some major level ups,” Temica said to Cody. “Marriage unlocked with Morgan, and Romance unlocked with both Nyrah and Yana. Impressive.”

“Thanks?” Cody said. “But you weren’t invited to this chat. So: leave now.”

“I’ll leave when I’m ready.” Temica turned to survey the three women seated on the couch. Her jaw tensed, as if she was clenching her teeth. “You’re all getting along.” It was not a question, it was a statement. She turned back to Cody. “This was not part of my plan. This is the exact opposite of my plan.”

Cody couldn’t help but smile. “We know.”

“We’re a harem now!” Nyrah announced, grinning.

Henry squawked loudly and Systemica spun around to face Nyrah. “You little brat! I brought you here. I brought all of you here to create chaos! And instead…instead…”

“We’re in love!” Nyrah got to her feet, facing down Temica. Except she was a whole head shorter and had to look up at the witch-goddess.

Temica shook her head, her eyes darting around the room. “No. No, this isn’t happening.” She looked at Cody and Henry squawked again. “This needs to end! You have one week to complete the Cottage Country game.”

“And if I win, you leave?” Cody asked, wanting confirmation that they were right about their theory: finishing the game meant getting rid of Temica.

“Yes, I’ll leave,” Temica said. “But if you fail, you and everyone connected to the game dies. Your Friends and all your Romance options. Gone.” She snapped her fingers for extra emphasis.

“What? No!” Morgan jumped to her feet next to Nyrah. Yana stood, too. All three of them looked like they wanted to bitch-slap Temica. Several times.

Everyone? Cody thought. That meant Morgan, Nyrah, Yana…all the Friends he’d made in Cornerstone. And Gracie. She was in her own game, but she was also connected to his. She was just an eight-year-old kid. She didn’t deserve to die. None of themdeserved to die.

Cody stood up. “I don’t accept those terms.”

Temica laughed in his face. “You say that as if you have a choice. You don’t. I get one little week of complete chaos as you scramble to finish the game, and then you fail and you all die, and I move on to something new to entertain me.”

Fucking bitch, Knife grumbled. Cody fully agreed with that statement.

There was a low growling noise. At first, Cody wasn’t sure where it was coming from, but then Nyrah launched herself at Temica in a burst of red light with her claws out. Temica poofed into a cloud of pink sparkles just in time, only to reappear on the other side of the living room. Nyrah growled and rushed at Temica again, wings pushing her forward through the air with another flash of red light. This time Temica moved out of the way and Henry went flying off her shoulder to land on the top of the bookshelf.

“I want to rip your stupid eyes out and shove them up your ass!” Nyrah screamed.

Cody tried to grab Nyrah, to hold her back from another dangerous attack, but she was too strong. She slipped from his grasp and flung herself into the fight. This time the witch-goddess side-stepped, but Yana was right there, ready. Yana’s hands crackled with silver spark magic as she jumped onto Temica’s back and braced her arms around her neck, sparks flying. Temica grimaced and flung herself back, smashing into the floor on top of Yana and knocking the wind out of the girl. Yana’s arms loosened and the silver sparks dissipated as she coughed, gasping for air, and Temica broke free.

Let’s do this! Knife said. Cut that bitch!

Cody gritted his teeth and gripped Knife, trying to lunge at Temica in her moment of distraction as she got back to her feet. But everything felt so slow compared to how he used to feel, back in Velasarin. Temica shoved him away with one hand, as if he was made of paper, and he slammed into the opposite wall.

Well, that sucked, Knife said.

Cody coughed. No kidding.

His chest hurt where Temica’s palm had struck him, there was a flare of pain in his back where he had met the wall, and his entire body ached. Fighting on Earth really sucked, especially when matched up against a witch-goddess.

But Nyrah was rushing at Temica again. This time, she managed to slash her claws across the witch-goddess’s face. A bloody gash opened on Temica’s cheek, only to seal back up in a puff of pink sparkles, her beautiful face completely unscathed. Temica smirked and backhanded Nyrah. The nekofae tumbled across the floor towards Morgan.

“Shit!” Cody ran over to Nyrah to make sure she was okay. As soon as he got to her, she was already growling and jumping back to her feet.

“I’m fine, Cody Hampshire! I am stronger than I look!”

Morgan gave a curt nod to Cody. “She is.”

Yana was back on her feet, too. Her hands sparked with silver magic. She narrowed her eyes at the witch-goddess, while Temica pretended to be bored and yawned.

“Is that all?” Temica asked. “Can we be done with this now?”

“No!” Yana shouted. She was running at Temica when Henry swooped down. Yana moved out of the way, but not quite fast enough. Henry’s talons scraped across Yana’s forehead. Thick beads of blood formed instantly and started ripping down her face. She tried brushing the blood away before it got in her eyes, smearing it across her forehead, but more rivulets of blood dripped down.

“Stupid chicken!” Yana shouted and shot a blast of silver sparks at the bird. Henry swerved, and the sparks exploded against the living room wall, leaving a blackened scorch mark. Henry attacked Yana’s head again. He missed, but she unleashed another powerful burst of sparks. She missed, too, the sparks exploding against the wall.

“Careful, Yana!” Cody said. “Please don’t burn the cottage down!”

Meanwhile, Morgan and Nyrah had both grabbed hardcover books from the shelf next to them and hurled the books at Temica. Morgan’s book managed to hit the witch-goddess squarely on the head. Not that it mattered.

Temica laughed. “Really? Books? You think you can defeat a fucking goddess by hitting me with a book?”

C’mon, Cody, Knife said. Do something!

“Stop!” Cody shouted, brandishing Knife. “All of you! Fucking stop!”

Yana and Morgan were both arming themselves with books.

Nyrah was crouched, claws out, ready to launch another attack. “Why? She threatened your life. All of our lives!”

“This bitch needs to die!” Morgan said, her hands gripping another hardcover.

“And the chicken, too!” Yana shouted.

Cody took a deep breath and then looked Temica in the eyes. “I…accept. If I complete the game by the end of this week, I win. You leave. No one gets hurt, no one dies, and I never see you again for the rest of my life. And if I don’t finish the game…”

Morgan turned to Cody, her eyes welling with tears. “Cody, you can’t agree to that! Gracie is part of the game!”

“I know,” Cody said. “But this—” he motioned to the cat-fight “—this is not how we win.”

“I agree.” Temica straightened out her pink gown and ran her hand through her hair. “As delicious as that little tussle was, you will never defeat me through physical combat.”

“I don’t know, bitch,” Morgan said. “Another couple of books to the head and we’d have you. Seems to me like you were losing.”

“I was not,” Temica said. “Henry. To me.”

The parrot flapped over to land on her shoulder, and the witch-goddess swept out of the cottage, slamming the door behind her.