Vayal Academy

Mae’s bedroom seems less cheerful today. The simulated weather is dreary and overcast, with misty wisps of fog licking at the window.

“I don’t know why you two aren’t taking this more seriously.”

Alyx, stretching her naked body in the middle of the room — and making it really hard to focus — shrugs her shoulders. “I’m taking it plenty serious. Warming up. Not taking anything for granted. The way you carry on you’d think you’re the one dueling.”

“I can fix her up.” Mae’s right next to me, leaning her head on my shoulder, also making it near impossible to focus. “But Vila’s the one who’ll need my help, I think.”

“That’s right. Have a little faith!”

If only. “I told you — something else is going on. Nym-”

“Oh, yeah, Nym’s big plan. What a scary woman she is. So intimidating.” Alyx climbs into the bed and puts her hands either side of my head. “Listen, Hat — it’s fine. It’s not even that serious. You know? Like a sex thing.”

“A sex thing?”

“Yeah. The stakes are this: winner gets to make the loser wear whatever they want. I’ve picked out the perfect collar… and nothing else. Maybe I’ll parade her for you.”

Mae crosses her legs and giggles. I can’t even judge her for not being worried — Alyx’s easy confidence almost has me convinced; I just can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong here.

“Will you at least tell me how it happened?” I say, staring deep into her wonderful eyes.

Alyx leans forward and kisses my forehead. “I did as you asked-”

“She’s so eager to do as she’s told,” Mae cuts in, which earns a quick look from Alyx before I can pull her attention back to me.

“It was going really well. Reminded her she’s my kitty, made out a bit, almost had her calmed all the way down. And then I fucked up big time.”

“How?”

“I asked her to let you go. She freaked the hell out.” Alyx lays her head in my lap and looks up at me, bringing a joint to her lips as she does. I pluck it away — she needs to be focused. “Told me I never cared about her, was only using her. She just doesn’t understand my heart’s so big! I’ve got love to spread around! Anyway, she said she’d ‘avenge the humiliation’ in a duel and I said, well, only if you’ll let Hattie go. She said no. And she offered the ‘wear something’ ante instead, which is fine by me — once the collar’s on she’ll listen. Believe me. I’m gonna get you outta there, baby.”

“By dueling a Second Year? A Second Year Evoker?”

“Eh. She’ll be off her game. Now are you gonna stop worrying? I’ve been waiting weeks to fuck you both.”

Honestly, I’ve got more worries to talk about — plenty. But Mae quiets my brain with a hand under my chin. She turns my head to her and I stare a moment. Then her lips meet mine and every other thought rushes from my brain. There’s nothing but Mae; nothing but Alyx. The two women I’ve waited and waited for.

“Don’t hog her,” Alyx says, pulling me out of the kiss with a hand in my hair. She wrenches me to her lips and hogs me.

Mae doesn’t seem to mind. “Bet you’re sore from all that work, baby,” she whispers from behind as her hands, glowing with warm golden light, work miracles on my aching shoulders. All I can do is lean back and moan into Alyx’s kiss. It’s impossible to stop all the stress from melting away.

Alyx wraps her hand firmly around my throat and Mae kisses along my jaw, still working magic with her hands; Alyx interrupts our kiss to shove a plump grape into my mouth, and it becomes a tiny explosion of sweetness as her lips collide into me again.

“Bet they’ve been feeding you, like, gruel and nutrient paste in there,” says Alyx, pulling back. “Poor baby.” The food in Diligence is actually pretty good, all home-cooked and harvested within the compound — most of the Devotees share a love for cheese, which suits me just fine.

“Gruel and nutrient paste,” I agree, staring up at her perfect face as I accept another grape; I feel more pampered than I have in my entire life. “Thank you.”

“Let’s get this constricting uniform off,” she says, rolling my stockings down. Mae’s hands reach around from behind and work down the buttons of my blouse. The (many) sets Indel’s gifted me were impractical for long days of work, so I’m in the same roughspun garments I came to the Academy in — but still Alyx reacts like I’m wearing the finest lingerie, bites her lip and trails her eyes up and down. Moments later I’m naked, and Mae guides my head back into her lap as Alyx positions herself between my thighs.

She enters me and I shudder. How I’ve missed that. Mae strokes my hair and coos, “feel’s good, doesn’t it? That’s our girlfriend inside of you.”

I feel bad, taking all this attention for myself — I know they’ve been at it, what, hundreds of times? while I’ve been locked up in Diligence. But, still… Mae’s a goddess, and I want to serve her. I want her to feel good, too. With my hands around her hips I shift her up, lift her into the air and lower her onto my lips. “Oh, Hattie, you don’t need to-” she begins, but it’s quickly replaced by a moan, and she locks her knees against the mattress and says, “fuck; nevermind; you need to.”

Gods, she smells so good.

It sounds like they’re kissing — hard to tell, when there’s nothing but Mae. Alyx digs her nails into my hips, thrusts down to the base, and I moan into Mae, earning a giggle. “Oh, Hattie,” Mae sighs, “you’re such a good girl. So selfless. So generous. Unf~ You belong to us.”

I do. I do! I’m yours, now and forever. All my life has been leading to this. I can’t say these words out loud, so I express them with my tongue, and Mae rewards me by putting more weight on me — grinding her hips. Please, baby, cum on my face; I need it; please, baby, cum inside me; I need it.

I feel Mae’s soft finger against my clit. “Make her feel good,” Alyx says. She does. She makes me feel unbelievable. Combined with the length inside me, it’s only moments before my legs are spasming and the orgasm rockets through my body.

“Gosh,” Mae says, in her sweet, sweet voice, “guess I did too- oh, oh, fuck-” and finally, I get what I want, iron grip on her thighs to keep her right against my face when it happens.

“You two are- are just fucking adorable.” Alyx crests forward and lands her head on my chest, between my tits, and cums.

I’d like to stay with them forever, after that, to just lie in their arms and forget all the stress, all the pain — but even sandwiched between them, both gently stroking my hair, the vision keeps coming back to me.

Of course it does, girl. You’re missing something. Something huge. Something that’ll make it all click into place.

Or do you just want to think that, because this is, frankly, fucking scary? Because you love Alyx, and as much as everyone says the duel rings are completely safe you haven’t actually seen them in action, yet, and it’d be nice to have some reassurance the suppression fields work before you have to watch Alyx get buffeted by flame.

And so as much as I don’t want to leave, once Alyx has fallen asleep I disentangle myself from them both and whisper to Mae that I’ll be right back.

“Don’t be too long — we wanna walk down with you, baby.”

My worried steps take me straight to Indel’s room. The door’s answered by Castellan, his fur shiny white. He bows his equine face and stress fills my mind — Indel’s on some kind of crunch, by the feel of it. “I won’t take up much of her time,” I say, and Castellan just whinnies.

Indel’s voice comes from somewhere deep in the room. “Oh, is that my sweet Hattie? Do bring her in.” I enter, and find her hunched over her enormous desk, sketching rune after rune on scratchy paper. I squint my eyes and try to make sense of them; they’re all Alteration runes, though, and high-level ones at that, well beyond my comprehension.

“Working on an enchantment?” I ask.

The frazzled Indel, feathers all about, glances at me with her beautiful, hopeful eyes, but returns to the papers after just a moment, which only makes me all the more certain that something is deeply wrong. “I might’ve gotten a bit in over my head, my dear,” she says, tracing a delicate line with her quill. “Professor Doldrum offered us extra credit; she neglected to impress upon us just how difficult her little task would be.”

The name snaps me out of my buzzy anxiety. “Her name is Professor Doldrum?”

“Yes, my love, it is a rather comical name, but I haven’t the time to laugh, unfortunately — though I always have time for my Hattie, if there’s something you need from me.”

“What’s going on with Nym?” Behind my back my fingers work the movements — I’ve had plenty of time in Diligence, surrounded by the older students, to practice my basic Mysticism. The Denuding Orb appears behind her, as far back as I can get it in hopes she doesn’t notice the light.

“Nym?” Her head tilts. “Nym… Oh, Nymeria? The elf?”

“Yeah. The wood elf. What’d she talk to you about?”

“I- my dear, I don’t know what you speak of. I have not seen her in some time. Not since we stood together for Cross Country.”

The orb, bizarrely, flashes blue. “So this really is just for your class?”

“Of course, my dear!”

Red.

What?

“I don’t understand. I had a vision…”

“Ah, well, my love, you are singularly powerful — but still, it is your first year. You are learning much. Your visions may not yet be as reliable as you think.” And the orb flashes purple.

“No. I don’t- I don’t think that’s it. I know they’re not flawless, and sometimes they don’t come to me when I need them to, but this- I don’t- Unless I’ve been tricked, I don’t-” The orb flashes blue.

It hits me then.

Whisper. The fucking CROW. Her Familiar, stashing away Illusion magic for her — her, a Mystic, like me, who understands all of this, and Godsdamnit surely… no. No. Surely she can’t disguise herself only for my visions. But then, she looked right at me over and over in the Temple Ceremony, and even if those powers were part of her trick my experience with telepathy carried over, at least somewhat. Could it have taught her how to counter a Seer?

“Fuck. It’s Syrene’s plan.”

A blue flash, but not one I need — Indel’s head snaps away from me so quick, so guiltily, that I know for sure.

“Gods, fuck, the duel…” It’s about to start! I have to get to her!

I thunder out of the room, as fast as my legs will carry me — but it’s been too long, and when I get back, they’ve already headed for the ring.