Judge Not - Chapter 8: Sparks (Mf Ff inc father/daughter oral voy exhib condom)

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Chapter 8: Sparks

"What do you mean, become a god?"

Tristan replied to me, "Just that. Is it so hard to see?"

"I don't understand," I protested.

"Power, Tera, real power," he explained, "is not just some detachable component. Sure, it can be taken from you by those able to do such things, but it is not always within a foreign shell. It can wax or wane in strength, you can improve or regress your control of it, but it is an inherent, fundamental property of reality. It is a gateway, a... shortcut... to manipulating reality, the same way your vocal chords manipulate molecules of air. You've used the essence like a tool, but you've also come to understand it is no different to describing yourself than implicitly accepting that you have fingers or toes. But the power resides in the essence itself, even if it is not wholly definable, currently, outside of its host."

He squatted back and took his hand from my knee. "But now... there is evidence that you have used power not controlled within the essence. It's sort of an, hmmm... intelligence. Picking up a good trick, of sorts. You've figured out how the essence is manipulating reality and you are able to mimic what it does. That's what a god does, Tera. An essence in a god is not really in a host. They are one and the same, except, as we know, the one time a god was able to leave behind his essence in order to experience reality as a mortal. The point is," he said, standing and looking at Theresa, "she's manifested abilities on her own. Has any mortal ever done that before?"

"Quinn, perhaps," Theresa replied, "if he does, in fact, still hold the ability to manipulate time, though that could be an artifact created by the essence in order to ensure Quinn was able to maintain his memory. The side effect might be that Quinn still has some ability remaining, though possibly as designed by the essence, not so much because he discovered its trick. Not consciously, at least."

"This is all hypothesis," Tristan rushed to say, "I can't tell you if I'm right. This has, as has been said often, never happened before."

I sat still, calm, looking at my hands. What would it mean to be a god, anyway? Would I no longer feel like Tera, from Earth? Would I forget my humanity? It seemed absurd to think I could reach a point, so powerful that I could bend reality to my will like the other gods, where I'd not remember what it was like to be a budding girl of fifteen. "I can't deal with this right now. I want to go home for a while..."

Dad nodded, "I was thinking the same."

"I'll keep searching for the one who left the Spirit-Binder. I've found some traces of its handler, or handlers, but nothing leading me anywhere definitive just yet. I promise I'll find out who did that," Tristan said while sliding spectacles back onto his nose, and then his voice became very gentle when he turned back to me, "Thank you, both of you... for sharing yourselves with me and Theresa earlier. That was... The two of you... well... it was very sweet..."

I offered a small smile, "Same to you both..."

My next blink took us home.

- - -

Weariness had swamped me as soon as we were out of the sanctuary. Dad and I both went to nap in his bedroom. I woke around four in the afternoon, still groggy, but aware that Dad was no longer in bed.

I peed and took a quick shower, then, wearing a long t-shirt and nothing else, I headed downstairs. Dad was on the couch, leaning back on several cushions, reading a book in his boxer briefs. "Hey, Sweetheart. Feeling okay?"

I shrugged, "Overwhelmed."

"Yeah... me too."

"Whatcha' reading?" I asked as I settled on the couch near his feet, letting one hand rest on his knee.

"Trying to learn something new about this Daedalus character."

I recognized the cover and remembered that Dad had checked the book out of the library when we'd last visited, along with a couple of others on Greek mythology. "Anything good?"

"Nothing terribly helpful, no. There is a lot of rehashing the details of the Minotaur and Labyrinth and such. Not a ton to say about Daedalus. I'll keep reading, though, I figu—"

The front door bell rang. Dad sat up and went quickly to peep through the hole. He crept back to me and whispered, "Its... Abby..."

I'd forgotten about Abby. And Uni. And my school. Everything about my life, really, other than Dad. I'd not returned any texts or calls. It had seemed rather unimportant while I discovered I had the soul of a god inside me, was hunted by immortals, and might even become one myself one day. Who has time for friends when the world is shaking you so hard you can't even maintain a relationship with yourself?

"Uhhh..." I wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, I knew I'd have to flat out lie to my best friend about what's been going on. On the other, I did miss Abby. The thought of talking to her again, even if dishonestly, felt warm and cozy in a way most everything other than Dad felt cold and uncertain, "I'll go talk to her..."

Dad watched me and said, "I'll... go wait in my room."

I wondered if this might be awkward for him. For us. Given that I knew he'd had sexual experiences with Abby in the time loop, and the way I'd been rather jealous when I'd first found out, he might have been right to want to avoid seeing her. But I stopped him and shook my head, "Nah... I think it will be okay." I said more quietly, a small smile on my face, "Besides, only you and I know that you fucked her really good."

Dad shook his head, chuckling, but sat back down on the couch after wrapping a robe around his body.

I pulled open the door and Abby practically leapt into my arms. "Oh, Tera! Oh, I've been sooooo worried!"

"Hey," I squeaked, barely able to breathe with the tall sixteen-year old's bear hug holding me fast, "I'm okay, really. Long story..."

Abby let go, "What is going on? I heard you quit school?!"

I nodded, looking out into our front yard and seeing two old men walking slowly down the street. Before the night Dad and I first made love, such a sight would have been a little creepy only because as a girl I always had to worry about such things. But after, in a way, taking the red pill and seeing reality for what it was, I now had even more reason to wonder if the passersby meant me harm. "Come in, please."

I ushered us into the house, "Dad," I called out, "Abby's here."

I heard him shuffling on the couch. I could see he was nervous as soon as he stepped into the entryway, Abby and I heading for the kitchen table. "Oh, hi there, Abby. N-nice to see you again."

I watched my best friend's expression very carefully, just to see if there were obvious signs of her attraction to my father. So tempted to know her thoughts, I almost pushed myself out to read her mind the way I read Dad's, but stopped just before doing so. If I was so worried about two random old dudes walking down the street, I damn better be worried about attracting the attention of who knows how many listening non-mundanes.

Abby's face softened when she saw my dad. She smiled, as she always did, tilted her head, braided golden hair swinging lightly as she stepped towards him. The caramel-colored leggings and t-shirt were both rather tight and fit Abby's body nicely. I didn't miss that my friend's hips swayed just a little more than necessary as she reached out her hand to shake my father's. There was definitely an attraction there, and I managed to push the thought back for further consideration before thinking too deeply about it.

Dad's face was a little more measured. He was nervous, and not just from what we'd learned about reality, and our roles in it, in recent days. He retained the memory of his times with Abby, his former romantic attraction to my friend. I wondered if Dad might enjoy an encounter with a doppleganger of Abby at some point in the sanctuary. Given that it wasn't just lust which drew Dad to my best friend, but also romance, it might be less enjoyable than the animalistic desire he, and I, had felt for little Jacey. Another thing to stash away for another time.

"What's been going on?!" Abby exploded, her face showing tense concern. "I've called you a ba-jillion times! Uni too! Is everything okay? Did someone die?"

I nodded, trying to formulate some sort of story. "Uh... Fine, yeah. No one died, don't worry! It's just been a... strange... few weeks..."

Abby glanced to my dad and she gave me a look I knew meant she wanted to talk about it privately with me, just the two of us without my father. Abby usually was rather sharp about reading people, but she'd misread my hesitant lack of explanation as meaning that I didn't want to talk about it in front of Dad. "Well..." she said, expertly changing the subject until we could be alone, "I'm soooo happy you're okay. You look great, actually. Whatever's going on... good on you, kid!"

Abby sometimes called me 'kid' given that I was almost a year younger than her. We'd been best friends for many years, confidants. Abby and I rarely got into any trouble, but if one of us did, chances were good the other was along for the ride. We talked boys and sex often, though I never confided in her anything remotely close to admitting my incestuous attraction to my father. I had once told her that there was this really cute older guy I thought was hot and who I dreamed about undressing, but that was as much truth as I ever offered her on that taboo subject.

When she was fifteen, over a year earlier, Abby had lost her virginity to her boyfriend. They'd broken up a month or so before Dad's time loop. I tried to remember how many days had passed since our amazing first time, and I couldn't keep things straight. Abby had told me about sex, what it felt like, how much she liked doing certain things, especially giving blow jobs. I suppose I'd always had some deep attraction to Abby, but it was mostly platonic even if emotional and a little physical.

Awkward silence had been hanging several moments when Dad told us, "I suppose I should put some clothes on..." and then stood and went upstairs. Abby's eyes watched him part of the way, then she leaned close when he was gone, whispering, "Are you okay?"

I nodded.

"You sure? I'm really worried about you, Tera! Is... Is you dad, like, doing something to you? Like hitting you... or something worse?"

I shook my head vigorously, "No, no. Just the opposite. Dad's been my lov... uh..." I was sleepy enough to miss the first syllable of the word 'lover.' Thankfully, my wits arrived just in time to cut off the second one. "My loving Dad... just my loving Dad, I promise."

Abby wasn't convinced and I could see it in her face. "Then tell me!"

I swallowed, struggling to make something up which didn't make me sound like I was terminally ill or facing jail time, so what came out of me was, "I got pregnant and had an abortion..."

I cringed as the lie swept forth and made Abby's jaw drop, her eyes bulging. "You WHAT?!"

I shrugged, "Just what I said..."

"Tera, you got pregnant? With who?"

"This... guy... no one you know..."

Abby lowered her brows, pursing her lips, "Who?"

"This guy!" I exclaimed, hating that I was lying to my best friend. "We did it. I got pregnant. I told my dad, and I decided to abort it."

"Why didn't you use condoms, Tera? We've talked about this!"

I shrugged once more, "I know, just, you know... kinda spontaneous and... he was just inside me so fast I didn't think about it..."

Abby stared long and hard at my face. I did my best to appear some semblance of genuinely sanguine. Finally, she sat back a little and exhaled, shaking her head. "So... was it good?"

"The abortion? Fabulous."

Abby cracked a smile finally, "Stop it! You know what I mean..."

A real smile spread onto my face when I thought about my first time. Dad had been such a gentle, kind lover, bringing me to orgasm and showing me how lovely intimacy could be, incestuous or not. We'd made love slowly that night, more rapidly the next, but that first time would always be magical to me until the end. I responded after drifting on that lovely memory a while, "It was great. Just great, Abby! He was... such a great lover... like, really, really amazing. I never felt so good. We made love all night long."

She beamed, "So happy for you! Well, you know, not the getting pregnant and abortion and all, but... that you had your cherry popped by a guy who knows how to treat a girl."

"Oh, yes," I purred, still smiling, "I couldn't have asked for a better first time. Dad was so, so gentle when he first entered me, no pain at all."

"Tera..." Abby had that shocked look which told me something I'd said had been unexpected. "You called the guy Dad..."

"Uhh..." Shit!

Her eyes widened, glancing down to how I was only wearing a long shirt. I saw her head spin and look towards the stairs. She shot her eyes back to me and mouthed something a few times before whispering, "Your dad got you pregnant?!"

"Uhh..." Shit! Shit! "No, uh... What I meant..."

Stop lying to her, Tera.

It was Tristan's voice. His own and not his mimicry of Theresa's.

I can't let her know!

She already knows. I trust this one. Ask me why later. Tell her the truth. Everything. And then bring her here in one hour.

I thought he must be joking. What? Tell her everything about me and Dad and reality and the essence and bring her to the sanctuary?

Tristan's chuckle was implied in his tone, No. Tell her everything about you and Quinn, reality and the essence, and then bring her to my workshop.

"Tera?! Did you hear what I said?!" Abby's voice made me jerk away from the conversation in my head.

To buy time, I just nodded and looked away. How? Wouldn't that endanger me? Traveling in the mundane alone?

Not to here. Only here, mind you. I'll explain later. Tell her everything. Trust me, Tera.

I felt the connection leave as soon as he said my name. I turned and looked at my friend. The tall blonde looked on the verge of both screaming and crying. I reached out my hand and took one of hers. I heard her start to sob as if I was going to confirm her fears.

"My father didn't get me pregnant. I was never pregnant. I never had an abortion." I slowly tightened my grip on Abby's fingers, deep confusion in her expression. "I need to tell you everything. Some of it... won't be easy to hear, but it's nothing like what you think."

- - -

Despite Tristan's instructions to tell her everything, I left some things out intentionally, including that Dad had fucked Abby several times in his time loop, as well as Jacey and all the other details of his sexual experiences. She was already sure I was lying or crazy by that point, there was no need to make her certain which one it was. I told her about my real first time with my father, though, and that I wasn't lying when I'd said it was magical. "Literally, it was magical because," I told her, "Dad passed to me something called an essence... it's a sort of soul of a god..."

By the time I'd told Abby everything, minus the bits which she didn't need to know, my throat already felt thick and sore from all the talking. She'd stopped me just a couple of times to verify that she'd indeed hear things correctly. "Time loop?" or "Your own father!?" or "How can a guy have two cocks!?" Abby mostly just looked both stunned and very skeptical of my story. I suppose, in her place, I would have been even less willing to hear me out.

"And now I've begun to manifest powers of my own. Separate from the essence," I finished, "and Tristan thinks I could become an actual god if this continues. Now... I've just talked to him... a while ago... in my head, like I said I could... He's the one who said to tell you everything. So...?"

I watched my friend's weary, scattered emotions and saw that she was probably flipping a coin, heads she would call an ambulance, tails she'd say, "Whatever," and just pretend like the previous hour hadn't happened.

"I... I don't know what to say, Tera! I can't be hearing all this from you. I'm dreaming, right? Yeah, must be. I've heard you say a few crazy things, but this is bizarre for you, Tera. Beyond bizarre. I'm starting to think your dad is drugging you." She whispered and leaned in again, "Is he drugging you? Is that why you let him fuck you?"

"No! No," I shook my head, "Dad's been the best. Just the best, Abby. Promise you. And... I can prove everything. Well, at least I can prove that I have powers, and you can meet Tristan. He wants us to come to his workshop right now."

"Workshop... What, so he can tie us up and rape us? I'm not driving you to some crazy wacko with a thing for little girls..."

"He's a pervert, for sure, but he's not wholly a wacko. And he's a gentle lover, from what I've seen, not a rapist. And... you won't be driving anywhere. I'll travel us there."

"Like you said you did to this sanctuary place. Does this magic-land even have a name? Is it just called The Sanctuary like some hip bar downtown?"

I shrugged, "Never thought to ask, honestly. Let's ask Tristan. Trust me, Abby. Please... trust me."

I saw the struggle on her face, but then she pursed her lips and a reluctant smile spread over her face. "Even if this is all in your head, Tera, it's a helluva story... You really did let your dad fuck you? Really?"

I nodded, "Really. Several times, and once he even had two cocks..."

Abby chuckled in disbelief, "I kinda hope you're not pulling my leg... I kinda want to see that..."

I smiled, not voicing the thought that the way things were going, she might just get her chance if that's something Dad, and I, were okay with happening. "Well, if you trust me, then I'll just call Dad and we'll go."

Abby nodded twice and said, "Sure. Why not. I'll just wait a while to take you to the loony bin, maybe wait for the crazy pills to wear off first..."

Dad, I opened the connection.

Bedroom, he replied, letting me know his location.

I carefully passed a series of simple ideas which equated to Three. Travel. Tristan.

Three. I knew it was a question in the way the idea held less force on the trailing side.

Come.

Dad joined us quickly. His expression was muted, but I knew beneath the surface he was both nervous and, if he was being honest, aroused to be around Abby again. It was okay, I figured. Now that I'd experienced other partners, namely Theresa and the doppelganger Jacey, I understood a little bit about how such emotions, lust and attraction, didn't mean you felt anything less strongly for the ones you loved. I almost forgot the others, the withering man, the woman and girl, the pretty preteen on the grassy hillside, my penis buried inside her, filling the girl's young pussy with my cum. I shuddered a little to remember her, and I thought, at least a little bit, I understood why Dad's cock was pushing out his slacks.

"So... what's up."

"I've told Abby... the truth..."

"Which... truth?"

"The essence, what we're facing, my powers. I told Abby about how you were stuck in the time loop, you know... going crazy in the house day after day, never leaving to go anywhere..." I could see the relief on Dad's face when he realized I hadn't told Abby the whole truth about his days in the loop. "Tristan knows. He wants me to bring Abby to his workshop right now. Come with us."

I could see Abby and Dad searching each other a moment. Abby said, "So... this is all true? All this crazy shit? Err... sorry..."

"It's fine, I fucking cuss all the time," Dad grinned, "and yes. It's all true. I've been there, to the sanctuary. I've seen what Tera can do."

Abby shook her head, muttering, "Unbelievable..."

I took a breath, a little excited, a little scared. The last couple of times I'd been summoned by Tristan, some new concern was added to my overflowing bucket. "Ready?"

Dad nodded.

Abby looked really uncertain. "Sure. Why not..."

I blinked and blew Abby's mind, not for the last time.

- - -

The workshop was immense. I'd expected something the size of a shed or a two-car garage, maybe, but the metal ceiling overhead was easily two or three stories above and seemed to extend some distance back, more a warehouse than anything else.

We were in an area with rows of wooden workbenches, vices and other heavy tools attached at various points. There were table saws, racks of tools, heavy chests likely holding more, insulated tubing and wiring hanging from overhead, some coiled and springy, others twisted into braids, running off in various directions, end points unseen.

I could smell something burning and see thin tendrils of grayish-blue smoke rising up from somewhere deeper in, drawn up by industrial fans which vented it out through the roof. "Tristan?" I called.

"Back here," came the man's voice.

From behind me, I heard Dad exclaim, "Oh, easy. I've got you..."

I turned to see Abby half-collapsed against Dad's body. "Holy shit!" my friend burst out. "Holy holy shit!"

"Easy," Dad shushed her, "it takes a little getting used to. At least your first time didn't involve your... uh... chest... coming without you."

I almost chuckled, remembering how I'd accidentally travelled only Dad's penis to the sanctuary the first time I'd tried.

"You were telling the truth?" Abby stammered, incredulous, "All of it was the truth?"

I nodded. "All of it." A white lie, to be accurate. I'd told her Dad spent the whole loop inside our house. Maybe some other time the details of those days might make it to Abby's ears, but that part would have been an even bigger shock, perhaps.

Abby continued to mutter and shake her head, steadying herself against Dad. Her eyes were wide, as if in disbelief that she wasn't still in my house.

"I'm really not that far, you know!" Tristan yelled forward from somewhere further back. "I could have walked on my cocks back here by now. Hurry it up!"

"I'll go," I told Dad and Abby, "take your time."

"We're coming," Dad told me, "I think she's okay..."

"Yeah, sure, yeah," Abby muttered, appearing reluctant to let go of my father. I sure understood what that felt like.

I left them and wound around barrels full of dark, viscous fluid and others holding an endless assortment of metal parts. There were old wooden and metal crates, magazines and technical manuals, each item stacked as randomly as possible on the corner of a counter or hanging half-off a shelf. Old rags, some of which showed signs of having been on fire at some point, were piled regularly on the floor, stains old and new on the concrete under my feet.

The smell of metallic burning grew stronger as I stepped around what looked to be discarded remnants of leather fabrics, some ripped, others half-finished, none looking to have been tossed there terribly recently.

Tristan was bent over a counter, a small black cauldron over top a gas burner, flames dancing out the top and creating the grayish-blue smoke I'd seen earlier. The man wore an outfit which would have been familiar to the designer of his usual one, but it was made more for shop work, thicker coverings up around his neck, the sleeves hanging only down to his wrists, not beyond, brown leather pants and sturdy black boots below, a metal-worker's apron hung around his neck. His signature smoky-brown goggles were in place, though the top hat he wore was soft brown leather and styled like a coachman might wear, small metal tools and decorations held in a band around the base, leather straps cut short after winding through eyeholes down one side.

He didn't look up when I approached, peering into the cauldron from just a foot or two away, the flames making his skin look orange and red and yellow as the flickering continued strongly. He called back to me, "Don't get too close."

"Alright," I replied, stopping a couple of yards from him and his cauldron. "Abby came. Dad's here too."

"I know."

"Figured you did."

"Did she pass out yet?"

"Hmm?"

"She felt rather unwell when she arrived. Half expected her to empty her lunch or worse by now."

"Don't think so, they're coming," I told him.

Tristan grabbed a pair of heavy metal tongs and poked them inside the cauldron. The flames flared, the sound of steam hissing briefly. "Almost cleansed."

Before I had a chance to ask what he was doing, he turned and said, "Your bracelet. I think I know a way to figure out what it's doing."

I held my hand in front of me. The band swirled as it always did, no sign over the days I'd worn it of its purpose. "Couldn't you just cut it off of me?"

Tristan shook his head, "Not without risking you. Or me. Many such devices have... anti-tamper... protection. We have to be more clever about it. Ah," he said, looking past me.

Dad was walking ahead of Abby, holding the teen's hand, my best friend looking utterly overwhelmed. She spotted Tristan, exclaiming, "Holy shit!"

I wasn't sure the man was all that odd to see, but he did have a sort of old world – new world appearance which made him seem out of a fantasy rather than, possibly, just some guy working in his shop. "Greetings," he told her, "you're even more beautiful than I expected. Bucket's over there," he pointed.

Abby doubled over, grabbed the edge of what I hoped was a can for waste, and heaved several times, quite loudly while Dad held back her hair. Such a gentleman, my father.

"Ah, there it is," Tristan said, grinning. "Travel does that to some people the first time."

"So does," Abby groaned, "hearing your best friend tell you crazy stories which turn out to maybe be true..."

Tristan chuckled, "Indeed." Setting aside the tongs, letting the cauldron continue to burn behind him, Tristan reached out his hand and turned my wrist over, looking closely at the band tight around me. "What we need is a surrogate, of sorts."

"Surrogate?"

"Someone who can wear the bracelet, safely, temporarily, while I test it."

I narrowed my eyes, "You mean Abby? No way, Tristan. I'm not getting her any more deeply into this than she already is..."

"You may have no choice," he said evenly. "Bracelet aside, can you not feel something... different about her?"

"Like what?"

"Feel it, Tera..."

I closed my eyes, pushing out my senses. I felt Tristan first. I'd know his signature anywhere. Whether I'd created the sense of leather and metal and perversion around his 'aura' or not, that's how he felt in my mind. Dad was close, too, a soft warmth that always brought me joy to see this way. And then there was Abby. She felt different than the others, not so unusual since I'd noticed any living beings tended to have unique signatures.

But I felt in Tristan a sense of his powers, that he was no longer a mortal, that his access to realms other than the mundane was fundamentally part of his connection to reality. Dad had something similar, if much less strongly projected. I suppose I'd noticed that before in him and it was why I still felt certain he could still use some sort of power despite the total failure to do so over the days since the loop ended.

The sense of non-mundanity in Abby was just a flicker, a tiny spark in the brightness of her mortal self. I could have easily missed it if not for Tristan's challenge. "What the hell?"

"Hmmm," Tristan replied, "Not sure yet, Tera. But she's got a connection to the rest of this. Before today, I have encountered only three mortals with such a weak but clear energy who were unaware and otherwise mundane. In each case, they had once, unknown to each, mated with a being of the higher realms. Lovers who appeared mortal but who left a trace of themselves behind. Each was intentionally left, gifts or trackers or some other minor sign of the lover's ego, yet... I wonder if this holds true in our dear Abby's case..."

"What is going on?" Abby muttered, wiping her lips with an old, but possibly clean, rag which Dad handed her. "Are you saying I've been fucked by some magician? I've only had one lover... I mean... Karch was alright and all, but... well, he wasn't exactly a magician where it counted..."

Tristian laughed, "Oh, I like this one. Do you think she'd like to see my ring some time?"

"Enough, Tristan," Dad barked, "what are we doing here? What is this connection you seem to believe Abby has? And what about the bracelet?"

Tristan waved his hand, "Of course. You three are here because I need to show you something I've been working on. Abby's here because I have a theory needing tested involving Tera's bracelet. It is, perhaps, a coincidence that she displays a fingerprint of power inside her. Can't tell what. I suspect, once Tera gets better at her projections, and learns the language of such things, she'll be able to figure it out. Right now, though, I need two pretty young women to lend me their hands."

"Are you putting Abby at risk?" I demanded. "I'm not okay with that, Tristan."

"She's already at risk, my dear," the man snarled lightly, "we all are. The surrogate needs to be someone you trust. Someone who you believe would always trust you no matter what. The fact that you pulled her here is proof of that."

"How? I have the power to bring anyone here, or to the sanctuary."

Tristan smiled cleverly, "Do you? Have you ever tried to bring someone unwilling to travel?"

I shrugged. "No... But she didn't really believe me, and she certainly didn't know what it meant to travel. How could she possibly have wanted to come here?"

"I suspect," Tristan said, scratching his face and getting black soot from the heavy gloves over his fingers onto his cheek and chin, "that what dear Abby really wanted was her friend to be okay, and, I believe, she wanted you to have told her the truth. She trusted you. She loves you, in the way only good friends do. So you were able to bring her here. You're not yet a god, Tera, and you've not yet mastered a pinpoint in the inkwell of all you can do with the essence. Traveling someone unwilling or wary is harder than you may think."

"Fine, so she trusted me. Why not just have Dad be the surrogate? He's already as deep as I am in this."

"Oh, he was rather deliciously deep in you, wasn't he, Tera?" Tristan chuckled, then got back to the point, "Quinn couldn't do it because he still has some power, locked and possibly unstable. I can't risk putting him to the tests I need to run through without risking a backlash, a reaction, of sorts. We don't know what might trigger the time loop power to surface, and I won't take a chance here by using him as a surrogate."

"But Abby has something, too... I can feel it, Tristan, as you said."

"It isn't power, not like that in your father, or stronger in you. It's a fingerprint, as I said. Residue, of a sort. I can't say what. I have theories but none of them worth pursuing this moment. But she trusts you and has the deep love of friendship for you. That's what I'll need in order to trick the bracelet long enough to tease out a few secrets. We've risked enough time leaving it on you unchallenged. Theresa may not think it worthy of attention, but I am not so trusting. Here, enough now. Are you two willing or is this all a waste of time?"

I looked uncertain, glancing to my tall blonde friend, "Crazy reality, eh?"

Abby shook her head, looking a little more determined and less pallid than before, "Soooo crazy. What do I have to do?"

Tristan said, "Just sit calmly for about ten minutes. Nothing more. Other than the bracelet taking its place on your wrist for a few minutes, I expect you'll really not notice much anything else..." His tone, as it often did, suggested that Tristan was not telling us everything.

"You don't have to do this, Abby," I told her, "I don't want you put at risk..."

"No, I'll do it. You know I love ya, Tera. Best friends, remember?"

I smiled and felt my stomach warm at her words. "Best friends. All right," I turned to Tristan, "what do we do?"

- - -

Tristan gathered the three of us in an office, of sorts, where Abby and I had sat down on a low, thinly-cushioned couch, side-by-side, Dad standing and pacing slowly around the room. Tristan sat on a short stool in front of us, holding our arms on his knees. He'd somehow managed to not make a sexual joke nor had he magically delivered two dicks into our hands while we waited. I'd half expected that to happen the whole time.

Instead, Tristan had wrapped a soft leather cord around our wrists, several times over each of us, then winding it over and under each finger on my hand before moving on to do the same to Abby's. "What is this?" I asked.

"Shhh... I'm concentrating..."

I sighed lightly from frustration, but I otherwise let the man get on with it. I cast a small smile to Abby and she did the same for me. I started to project myself to see if I could define any characteristics of the fingerprint in Abby, but Tristan cut me off, saying, "No projecting, Tera. Don't do anything right now... Don't use your abilities until this is through. Not even directed communication."

"Alright..."

Abby's leg was against mine and I thought it actually felt rather nice. It certainly wasn't the first time such things had happened. We'd been best friends many years. We frequently changed clothes without a thought in front of each other. We'd willingly been crammed into backseats or on bus benches many times. Her warm body next to mine was not even that unusual in my bed or hers, though not in several years, not since we'd hit puberty at roughly the same time despite her being almost a year older. This, though, was the first time since we were both non-virgins that we'd shared such body contact, innocent as it was, and I couldn't help that there were some confusing considerations rumbling around in my brain just then.

"Okay," Tristan said just above a whisper, "now the tricky bit."

The leather cord bound our wrists together, back-to-back, fingers curled into each other by the same cord. From one of the many pockets in his leather apron, Tristan drew out a small silver globe of some sort. It had several circular rings around an inner sphere, the sphere inside spinning slowly on its own, seemingly without an axle or any other connection to the outer rings. "This," he said quietly, "is a device I made a few years back to remove a marked pet's bond. It was an earring, that one, but that won't matter. The problem I had then, the reason I failed at first, was understanding the need for a surrogate. The bond won't simply be removed without triggering whatever alarms and defenses it might have hidden within, but it can be convinced it's in the wrong place, at least temporarily."

Tristan tucked the sphere into our fingers so that the pressure of the cord binding our hands held it in place between us. "This is where you come in, Tera. I'd needed a physical projector for my earlier subject, not one easily convinced, I tell you, but, thankfully, you are both subject and surgeon on this job. You will need to transform Abby into you."

"What?!" I started, accidentally jerking my hand and causing the self-spinning sphere to tumble from our fingers. "Sorry..."

Tristan gathered the rolling device, shaking his head, then returned it to our fingers. "Only far enough for the bracelet to reattach itself. Essentially, your hand, past the wrist, and Abby's need to switch places. Not an illusion, that won't do it. In reality. Your hand must be hers and vice-versa. The sphere is there to cause the bracelet to not only detect that is no longer attached to the correct being, but to understand there is an easy way to reattach itself. It should be nearly instant as soon as the change has been made. You'll need to be quick, Tera. Don't half-ass it. See the changes you are going to make before you do it, then... do it."

I thought I had a grasp of what he was asking. I looked at Abby, "You sure you're up for this, bestie?"

She looked extremely nervous, but Abby was always a trooper. She nodded, "Ready."

I closed my eyes and began to sculpt an idea of what I wanted, ensuring that I let the physical design in each of us inform the detachment and reattachment. It was like I could map nerves and vessels and muscles, bones and sinew, fibers and skin and membranes of many layers. I didn't so much manage the process as simply prepare reality itself to do it for me.

"Okay, here goes..." I whispered.

The change was instantaneous, and wholly bizarre. Abby and I both jerked our hands, straining against the bonds. I didn't feel pain so much as an utterly foreign sensation at the end of my arm. Sure, nerves and muscles and bones had perfectly reattached, but they were Abby's nerves and muscles and bones, and my body's energy, the mundane version, was tuned slightly differently than Abby's. It made it feel like my arm ended just below the wrist and some warm, tingly, awkward extension had been glued on.

"Weirrrrrd," Abby said, trying to free her hand, struggling as I was, but Tristan's cord held us fast together.

"Okay, now hold that. Hold it!" Tristan demanded. "Don't switch back until I tell you. It worked perfectly so far. Now it's my turn..."

I looked down to see the foreign hand, Abby's skin and all, at the end of my arm, the deep, swirling tourquoise bracelet now around her wrist. Or, was that my wrist? Of course it was. But it was on Abby's arm. It felt rather confusing.

Abby's fingers were longer than mine, stronger. I could sense a firmness in them that mine didn't hold. I could see her experiencing similar thoughts as he tried to flex the more delicate, freckled fingers now at the end of her arm.

"Fuck," Tristan muttered.

"What?" I asked. I felt the answer before I'd even asked.

He replied anyway, confirming my suspicion, "It seems to have a rather sensitive burglar alarm. It just sent out a ping to someone or something, possibly its owner, perhaps Maggie, perhaps not."

"That can't be good."

"All the more reason for me to hurry up. Silence, please..."

I bit off several questions, not the least of which was whether a worse mark had just been left on reality. Hadn't I just used physical projection to make the switch? Wouldn't that mean those with the ability to detect such things could possibly notice? The worry grew to a slow burn in me and I really wanted to travel away as quickly as possible in case I'd just brought someone down on us. But I bit my tongue and kept my silence while Tristan hovered over the bracelet.

I could feel him probing. He'd said he could mentally project like me, though more limited. But this was something a little different, still a mental projection, but more, I suppose, the sort of thing a rogue might do with the ability. It kind of felt like Tristan was picking locks, only, instead of tumblers, it was energy vibrations, carefully resonating specific aspects of the bracelet. Failing, he changed the frequency or the amplitude, gently testing each, but never enough to break the pick off in the lock, if that analogy could hold on that long. I learned what Tristan was doing and even with just a few minutes observation, I felt I could do the same in the future, should there ever be a need.

I felt reality itself hesitate. A hickup. A subtle twitch. Then it was like a heavy padlock opened in my senses and some great beast roared out of its cage. I heard Abby gasp. Tristan tore the self-spinning sphere from our fingers with a grunt. I opened my eyes. The bracelet flashed in titanium sparks, burning hot, searing her flesh. My flesh, though she felt its pain. My wrist burned as well and together we jumped up from the couch, trying to extinguish it before the flames spread.

Tristan grabbed our free wrists and yanked us down. "No! Wait! Wait!" he yelled, sweat dripping from his brow. "Hold on! Don't use your abilities, Tera! Hold on!"

Abby was shrieking in pain, and I was on the verge of reaching out with a projection to douse the flames and sooth our scorched flesh. I counted to three, then four, five and six. How long must this go on!? Abby pleaded for help but I had to ignore her. Giving in to sympathy would have meant using my projections to heal her, and Tristan made it clear I should do no such thing.

Eight, Ten. Fifteen.

"Hold on! Hold on! So close!"

Twenty. Abby was openly bawling, crying, shrieking in terrible pain. I managed to numb my own sensations only because of practice with mentally projecting myself outward. I could do the same inwardly, as well, and it let me drift away from the painful sensations currently boiling the skin almost to my elbow.

Twenty. Twenty-five.

"It's over! It's done! Reverse it all, Tera. Now!"

In less than a heartbeat, I healed both Abby and myself and returned our hands back where they belonged. I nearly vomited from the overwhelming shift in sensation, going from painful burning to the most calm, cool relief on my skin, my own fingers back at the end of my arm.

Tristan rapidly unraveled us from the leather cord, the bracelet completely gone, my healing leaving not a single blemish on my skin or Abby's. But she was still distraught. As soon as our wrists were free, I wrapped my arms around her and felt her tighten her own around me. "Oh, Abby! I'm so sorry! It's over now..."

She sobbed quieter, more from shock and distress than lingering pain.

I heard Dad's growling voice, "You told them they would feel no pain. That sure as hell looked like a goddamned great deal of pain!"

Tristan sat back on his stool and let out a long breath, "Yeah. Didn't expect that. It sort of... self-destructed. I was afraid that if Tera stopped it from burning, it might do something even worse." His gentle voice returned. "Sorry, you two. Really sorry. Never expected that. Should have. Didn't. Sorry..."

Abby sobbed against my neck, but she muttered, "I'm okay... I'm okay... Just... scared... You okay, Tera?"

"Fine, just fine..." I tried to cheer her up, "Hey... remember that time we got the bright idea to throw my dad's aftershave in the fireplace at the cabin?"

I felt Abby chuckling instead of sobbing. It was a rather nice change. "Oh, yeah. That backfired, didn't it? Literally backfired."

"You did what?" Dad asked.

"Uh, you remember... we sort of... caught the place on fire?"

"The old Welsh cabin by the lake? Oh, jeez," he said, "I remember now. You two were nine or ten, if I recall. You did that... on purpose?"

Abby laughed, "Not exactly... We wanted to see if aftershave could burn. We tried spraying it, but we were afraid to get too close, you know, in case the bottle caught fire."

I finished the story, "So, I got the bright idea to throw it as hard as we could into the back of the fire. I missed, somewhat... the bottle hit the stone, broke, knocked burning branches back onto the rug, aftershave spilling all over and catching the rug on fire almost immediately. We, uh... we tried to put it out before it got too bad."

"I remember that smell quite well," Dad said, "you two never told me the truth on that before now..."

"Sorry," we said in unison, then giggled. I felt a lot better, and Abby's eyes had dried, her face still flushed, but her relief obvious.

I finally let go of my bestie and, for whatever reason, planted a closed-mouth kiss right on her lips. Just a peck. I suppose we'd done that when we were seven or eight at some point, but it felt really important for us to do it again. She smiled at me, hugged me again, and then I let her go, turning back to see Tristan with his head hung low, still sitting on the stool.

"You okay?" I asked. When he didn't respond, I called again, "Tristan?"

He mumbled softly, "Didn't mean you two to get hurt..."

I was surprised to see how hard he was taking things. He'd told us we'd not feel a thing, we'd instead been badly burned with Abby, especially, suffering terribly for almost a minute before it had gone out and I'd been able to heal it, and it was clear that Tristan was feeling responsible. "Hey, it's fine, okay? I get that we don't know everything we're dealing with," I told him, sliding my fingers under his chin and forcing his head up. I projected his googles to become spectacles so that I could see his eyes.

They were red and wet.

"People get hurt. I accept that. Abby does, too." My friend nodded her agreement. "We're fine. Nothing permanent. And, we've rid me of the bracelet. You didn't mean harm, and we don't blame you."

"I hate," he hissed softly, "hate... hate... hurting people..."

I was beginning to think that, for all of Tristan's cocky bravado, he was really just a softie all around. I gave him a hug. At first, he just accepted it, then he returned it gently. "Thanks," he told me.

I pulled back and asked, "Did you learn anything about who or what that bracelet came from? I followed along, but by the time you got to the point just before it went off, I could only trace your steps, not see things through your experience. What I saw," I said, "meant nothing to me."

"I learned a little. Maggie may have been the most recent owner, and I believe she was, but I don't think this was a pet's collar. She might not have known that, but this device was so heavily guarded that it must have had some other purpose. Right at the end, it seemed to recognize it was in the wrong place and, I think, it was programmed to literally destroy itself if it had no route back to the intended target."

I remembered that moment clearly. "That's why you knocked the sphere out. So that it couldn't feel the connection back."

Tristan nodded. "No idea what it might have done if it got back onto your body. Even with Abby's wrist being on your arm, it might have been able to see that it was still you. It seemed to know it wasn't your wrist right before it burned." He swallowed, changing his spectacles back to smoky goggles. "I have a theory."

"Tell us."

"There was a story I heard, not long after my immortal lover first showed me other realms, including the sanctuary, a story of a fairly powerful being who had lost something of value. It wasn't a god, but not all that far below is the way the story was told to me. This thing of value was said to be a Time Tester, something like a way to rewind time, to play out 'what-if' scenarios. The powerful being, the one who lost it, had created it as a toy. I don't think I need to explain that those with power and an eternity of little to do," Tristan said, waving palms towards himself then expanding them out to demonstrate the warehouse, "will find odd ways to amuse themselves."

"So a Time Tester... sounds an awful lot like Dad's time loop."

"It does," Tristan said quietly, "how I've forgotten that story until just now... Regardless, the reason I remembered it was that just before the bracelet destroyed itself, I felt something... tick. You did too, Tera, I'm sure."

I nodded. "Hard to describe, like everything just... paused... sort of like every detail of reality was rechecked in an instant before moving on."

"Precisely. Yes, that's exactly what I felt. This is exactly what I would expect a device trying to find the Time Tester to do. It had to compare its map of reality to reality itself as the last thing it did before it gave up rather dramatically. I think, Tera... someone knows what your father did, about the time loops."

"You said many immortals could sense such things," Dad broke in, "right?"

"Yes, but no true immortal would bother with a device such as this. I don't mean the former-mortals such as myself, the more... shall you say... traditional immortals. This would be beyond petty to try to monitor the changing of time in a mundane realm. No, I suspect this bracelet was an attempt to see if it could find the Time Tester, perhaps connecting the time loops you caused to Tera."

"Maybe I have this device," Dad mused, "maybe they got really close to it."

Tristan shook his head, "Doubtful. The Time Tester is an intentionally-activated piece of machinery, so the story goes. One has to turn its dials and twist its knobs, so to speak. You couldn't accidentally turn it on dozens of times, and certainly not in the precise way your loops started and stopped at the exact same points. No, your ability is almost certainly related to the essence."

"So," I pondered, "whoever sent this to Maggie knew she might encounter the person close to the being responsible for the time loops... does that mean they might also know that I am the host?"

"Seems unlikely, at least before the bracelet. Hard to know what it figured out on its own. Such things are usually very carefully engineered to do only specific things. They aren't multitools, Tera, they are knives or screwdrivers or wedges or burners... Balls! I forgot the tincture!"

Tristan blinked out of sight and I sent us right behind him.

- - -

By the time we got there, Tristan already had the heavy tongs in his hand, poking into the cauldron, the fire no longer burning inside, just a light steam now rising instead. He carefully pulled out a small, irregular golden nugget, then another. A third followed, and then Tristan sat aside the tongs before very carefully pouring a small amount of liquid into a metal tin, the water inside the tin sizzling and boiling away for several seconds until Tristan stopped pouring. Steam rose slowly thereafter until he even more carefully tipped the tin into a glass vial and placed a stopper tightly through the opening.

"What is it you're making?"

He turned and grinned, "Got to it in time. It's a tincture. It... scrambles the signal in a way, when you're in the higher realms. Bit like a hallucinogen, only much more fun."

"What's the point? You fancy yourself a drug dealer, Tristan?" Dad asked.

"Hardly. This is how we're going to keep testing dear Tera here. See, this pain thing, that's new in the sanctuary. I need to be able to see things from the inside. To see why the sanctuary is allowing her to violate the rules, or, perhaps, how Tera is able to ignore them. This little darling," he smiled, rocking the vial in his fingers, "gives me a special insight into things in the sanctuary. It's how I discovered the mechanisms which mask those who travel to and from it."

"Oh," I exclaimed, connecting the dots, "that's why it's safe for me to travel here, right? You figured out what the sanctuary is doing and replicated it here?"

"Essentially. It's a tinker's version, to be sure, but yes, that is the heart of it."

"And... the same is true for using my abilities... tapping the essence... you figured that out, too?"

"I did, quite proud of that one, really. Like I said, I don't like my things messed with, and I certainly don't appreciate snoopers on my travels."

"So my physical projection, switching our hands, and healing us, didn't draw attention?"

"Correct. It takes a lot to create this shield, of a sort, and some measure of maintenance to ensure it is not weakened from neglect, but it provides me, and now us, a sanctuary of our own here in the mundane."

"Not quite as pretty as the other," Dad commented, "and it really smells like burning shit right now."

"That would be dinner, I expect," Tristan laughed. Abby giggled and squeezed my hand. "No, seriously, shall we go somewhere a little more pleasant and see if dear Ms. Theresa might join us?"

I turned to my friend, "Abby? You're in deep, it seems. Want to go on one more ride? I promise this place is worth the puking if you need to hurl again..."

Abby looked a little green a moment, shrugged, and then replied, "I go where you go, Tera."

I blinked us away.

- - -

Abby hadn't become ill upon being traveled to the sanctuary, but it did seem to nauseate her a bit. She huddled between Dad and me as we sat together on a cushioned bench while we waited for Tristan, the man telling us he needed to take care of something before disappearing. I reached out to Theresa and the woman would be on her way before long.

"This place is very beautiful," Abby said quietly. The tall blonde had her head against Dad's shoulder, her hand still gripping mine, her other held tightly by Dad's and resting near his knee. It was actually quite sweet to see her against him. Abby had always been a little reserved with anyone but me, or maybe Uni, and especially so around my Dad. All the excitement, it seemed, had given her a need for support, and Dad seemed like the natural place for her to extend her trust. Maybe I scared her a little with my demonstrations of my ability. Maybe Abby really did like my Dad as much as I had suspected.

Instead of jealousy, what I actually felt was something akin to happiness, but more colored with affection and contentment. If Dad really did become drawn to Abby while in his loop, I knew such powerful emotions didn't so easily melt away just because he'd managed to move on to other partners and put some distance from those moments. I remembered a crush I had on a boy when I was twelve. He barely knew I existed, but I spent many hours dreaming about holding his hand, maybe even kissing him, and it was only many months, maybe years, later, when I started to feel attraction for my father, that I'd even been able to shake the sense of nervous joy I felt when thinking of that boy, and even then, it still warmed me to wonder what became of him after he moved away in my eighth-grade year.

And given what Dad had told me about Abby, I knew her interest in him was strong, though she'd never said so much to me at any point. Dad had told me how Abby had insistently asked him to dance with her and had, several times, shown her interest in him on those nights. This wasn't a new sensation born out of shock and fright and the experience of this new reality. No, Abby's attraction to my father went much further back in time, though I didn't really understand that until I saw her leaning against him right then, her hand is his, my Dad very softly stroking her fingers.

Tristan hadn't returned after some time despite his insistence that he would only be a moment. My stomach was growling, so I asked, "Anyone hungry?"

Dad nodded.

Abby shrugged against him, "Maybe something light... my stomach still feels a little queasy..."

I could have conjured up a meal, but instead, I reached out to an attendant and, rather than simply 'ordering' what I wanted, I tried to ask nicely, the equivalent of saying 'please' in my request. Just before doing so, I conjured a long, rectangle table into existence at our feet. The meal I'd asked for settled immediately on the surface. There was a good-sized crock of steaming chicken noodle soup, fresh baked bread and butter, a bottle of white wine for Dad, if he wanted it, and a pitcher of cold chocolate milk. I knew that last bit would be something Abby enjoyed, chocolate milk being her very favorite drink in the world.

- - -

Still no sign of Tristan after our meal, I reached out to him, but his response was simply, Busy. Theresa, too, was held up with whatever she was doing, so for the moment, we were alone. I traveled us to the soft, grassy mound which was so relaxing in past days. Relaxing, but also romantic. Perhaps I had something of the latter in mind though I don't recall specifically thinking about it.

Dad sent me a question, Okay?

Good. You?

Fine. Jealous? He asked me, making it clear that he knew he and Abby were continuing to cuddle together far beyond the time one might expect after the shocks from earlier that day.

None. Enjoying.

He smiled at me, then sent two ideas, Warm, and Girl, and then two more which translated to I love you, Tera.

I returned his expression and sent him the same sentiment. Dad was enjoying holding Abby, and I was feeling rather good about that, myself.

"Still can't believe it," Abby said quietly after a time. She and Dad were stretched out on the grass, her cradled in front of her, one of his arms over her body, not dancing too close to anything terribly private, but there was a clear intimacy which both seemed to desire.

"What?" Dad asked her, "the sanctuary? Tera's essence?"

"No," Abby replied, "that... that you two are lovers..."

"Oh..."

"I'm not judging," she said quickly, "in fact... I think it's kinda neat... Tera's really lucky to have someone like you, Mr. Kitchner... Really lucky..."

"You can call me Quinn," he said, "and I'm the lucky one. Tera's the most sweet young woman in the world. Any man, or woman, who gets to just see her is fortunate, and I've been lucky enough to share so much more with her."

"Guess that makes me the second sweetest?" Abby asked evenly.

"I didn't mean it like that, I..." Dad stammered.

Abby giggled, "I'm joking! I know what you mean. It's so sweet. I wish I had a man like you, Quinn... After all this... All this crazy stuff... I could use some company..."

I sent Dad several single ideas which gave him the sense that I wanted him and Abby to share intimacy.

He returned, Uncertain, then Young, and Vulnerable, and Temptation.

I passed back, Certain and Desire and Trust, then my idea of him, You.

Sure?

Sure.

Dad whispered to you, "I really like you, Abby... are you... suggesting what it seems?"

She looked a little nervous but said just loud enough that I could hear her, "Yes... I like you... too... but..." Abby turned her head back and looked at me silently.

I smiled at her, gently pushing the idea that I wanted my best friend to enjoy my father's company. She hesitated only a moment, most likely unaware of where the impression of my permission had come from, but I'd delivered it just strongly enough to make it clear that it was true. I didn't compel in any way, I just wanted her to know that what was about to happen had my blessing.

I debated leaving, to allow them some privacy, but I was a little worried about not being close by should someone arrive unexpectedly. I pushed out my senses and didn't detect any being of interest for some distance, and none of those I saw closest to our location seemed to be moving our direction.

But I did move myself to sit along one of the hedge walls so as to not be directly next to my father and Abby as he began to softly kiss my friend's neck. I felt Dad push through our open connection, Thanks.

Love and You I returned. Enjoy.

I enhanced my senses so that I could hear and see better from a distance. Dad had his back to me, Abby in front of him. He whispered to her, "Can I kiss your lips?"

"Yes..."

Abby turned her head back and I saw a look on her face that was simply divine. Soft and sensual, my blonde best friend was flushed and excited as Dad began to kiss her. I began to grow wet.

"May I touch your breasts?" Dad breathed. Abby nodded then kissed him again. My father caressed Abby's tits through her shirt, then drew the fabric from her body, the girl reaching behind herself to unsnap her bra, letting it fall away. I couldn't directly see her chest, but she moaned quietly as my father started to fondle her boobs.

Over the next few moments, both Abby and Dad slowly undressed each other, one item after another removed. I caught a glimpse of Abby's Mons, the fur there blonde and light, trimmed neatly, her pink labia visible just a few seconds before Dad slid down, pushed her onto her back, and started eating my best friend's cunt.

"Lovely," I heard him whisper to her. Abby was panting, writhing slowly, her hips rolling around my father's head.

"Lovely," I heard a soft, female voice next to me repeat very quietly.

I turned to see Theresa settled against the hedge, and I smiled at her, "Shhh," I said, "don't disturb them..."

She nodded, sliding her hand into mine, Jealous of her? she sent.

Not at all. This is amazing to see. The visions of them together, they were cloudy and impersonal. This... this is so sensual...

She's beautiful. I see why your father is attracted to her. She's not on your level, Tera, you are even more attractive...

I smiled and let my hand slide from her fingers and onto Theresa's thigh. Her hand settled just above my knee, slowly easing up the orange dress I wore until the woman had revealed the crotch of my panties. I saw Theresa sniffing the air, You are aroused...

I could smell her scent, as well. As are you...

Theresa's clothing fell away, and I let mine do the same. Don't worry, she sent me, I've masked us for now. They'll only see us sitting together, conversing quietly. We can let this be a somewhat private moment for them, otherwise...

We began to kiss as my fingers explored between Theresa's thighs, her wetness on my flesh as I parted her labia and fingered her a moment before drawing back my hand and sucking her juices between my lips.

Would you prefer I had a cock? she asked.

Not this time.

Theresa purred and we explored each other's pussies while Dad brought Abby to orgasm.

My friend's body was flushed all over, her pale beige flesh more a rosy brown. She was trembling, my father's tongue and lips delighting the private, delicious folds between Abby's legs. Her orgasm was a quiet one, as if the teen was afraid of being overheard.

He began to rise over her, Abby's legs spreading wider, her arms welcoming him against her body. They kissed. Dad sent me, Condom.

He was rightly concerned about such things. We might have thrown caution to the wind with me, risks I accepted without much thought, but a chance of impregnating Abby, no matter how thrilling it might be, was out of the question just then. I conjured a latex wrapper around Dad's cock and watched with rising arousal as he slipped it into Abby's tight young pussy.

You wish to fuck her, too, Theresa sent.

God, yes...

Theresa slid between my legs and thrust her tongue into my cunt. I moaned quietly, watching Dad mating with Abby, my friend's body wrapped around him, their lips pressed together as they gently moved together, no urgency at all. My own body felt the need to move with more insistence. I ground myself against Theresa's face and it didn't take long for my orgasm to crash in and float me away on waves of blissful pleasure.

I rolled Theresa away, then pushed her down, returning the favor. I looked up briefly to see that Dad had dropped one leg down lower, the other cocked slightly, one of Abby's legs out straight, the other hidden behind Dad's body. I could see his hard penis sliding in and out of the blonde's silky pussy. His condom-covered shaft was lightly coated with her creamy juices. I buried my face in Theresa's crotch and licked inside her vagina a moment before turning my tongue towards her erect clit. It didn't take much time to bring the woman to an orgasm of her own.

Dad was grunting into Abby's mouth. How he lasted so long when copulating, whether with Abby or with me, was a mystery. Dad had a stamina that went against all the stereotypical things I'd heard about guys over the years. Certainly, most any man finding himself inside his own daughter, or penetrating a beautiful, tight teen pussy like Abby's, would not have lasted a third so long. But Dad gently continued to thrust himself in and out of her, enough that she came again, then again moments later.

I could see the love and arousal in her half-drawn eyes, my friend's mouth open in a lovely, sensual expression. Dad made love with her so wonderfully. I knew her experiences with her ex-boyfriend had been nothing like this. Abby had told me enough to know that he'd been awkward, inexperienced to the end, and often, she didn't even orgasm. But Dad was just the opposite. Careful, sure of each movement of his hips and hands and lips. He drew out her breath and she held it between long strokes, living for the next lovely moment when Dad's cock would slide inside and stretch her open again.

I sure knew how that felt. Dad was such a patient, sensual lover with me. I wondered why I wasn't jealous right then. What I felt, instead, was that I was really lucky to get to share such an amazing man, an amazing lover, with my best friend in the whole world. The look on her face made me smile and almost cry I felt so good for her. Even when Dad finally let go and released his seed into his condom, buried deep inside Abby's vagina, he did so without making it all about him, kissing the blonde throughout his orgasm, moaning into her mouth as if she was the most special girl in the world. That was how he made me feel whether we were making love or not, and it felt deeply special to know Abby was experiencing that wonderful, filling love, too.

They are delightful together, just lovely, Theresa sent.

I know... That was so sweet.

Still not jealous?

The opposite. I'm so happy for Abby, that she got to do this with Dad... I'm almost tearing up!

I could sense Theresa's smile without looking at her. I felt the same when I shared my father with other lovers. He was as gentle as your dad. I just loved that he made other women feel the way I felt. It bonded us even closer, to share him with our lovers. And he told me he felt the same when I was with other men. He knew how special it was to be intimate with me. I... I do miss him so...

I didn't reply, feeling the downturn her thoughts took at the end. Instead, I watched as Dad and Abby kissed and rocked together, my father's condom-covered cock free from her wet, swollen pussy, the tip of the condom heavy with his seed. I conjured it away and I saw his penis twitch in response. A thin jet of his semen spurted out the tip, splashing against Abby's thigh. If either noticed, they didn't react.

I leaned back, just relaxing a moment, Theresa holding her arm around my shoulder, my head against her chest. I could hear her heartbeat. I could sense her mix of arousal and sorrow, joy for our shared intimacy and the loss of the one she loved most. I determined, really just in that moment, that I would do everything I could to help her bring back her father. I could imagine what it might feel like to lose Dad, and even though I only considered the idea, it felt so horrifyingly hollow that I wanted desperately to heal that wound inside Theresa. I knew I needed to stop idling so much, to stop wasting time. There was so much to do, though I really didn't know exactly what. I needed to learn. To practice. To tame the essence and bend it to my will. To learn its tricks and to take those into myself.

Just then Tristan appeared, looking ragged. Instead of a ribald commentary about the naked man and girl on the mound, or the equally naked Theresa and me, he spoke rapidly, telling us, "Someone's coming!"

I pushed out my senses but felt no beings close by. "I don't—"

A man seemed to step out of some other reality, the air shimmering around him for just a second before his footstep was complete. He was tall, well over eight-feet, muscular, wearing only a simple loincloth. His deep olive-skinned face was covered in blue tattoos, a row of stars under and to the sides of each eye, serpent-like designs on his cheeks and running down his neck. His strong chest held still others, the blue ink shimmering and appearing to dance on his flesh.

I almost blinked us away but I hesitated without reason. Something caught my attention beyond his appearance. I projected my senses and felt his power. He was no mortal, I was sure, and likely never had been. No, this man, if he was a man, was a being born in a realm beyond the mundane. It made me hesitate further, my body screaming for escape but my mind frozen in rising panic.

Dad and Abby were rolling to the side, trying to rise together. I blinked them away, back to the workshop, but I remained with Theresa and Tristan. I could sense fear in both of them.

The man's eyes were shimmering orbs of red and gold, reminding me of polished gemstones, sparkling and dark at the same time. He scanned my face and I felt his mental projection just in time to block it from doing more. He scraped a little at the edges of my defense but didn't assault me. Instead, I felt his projection pull back completely.

When he spoke, it was like the grinding of boulders in an avalanche. Not loud, exactly, but heavy and thick with the weight of stone. "We must talk," his voice boomed, both in my ears and inside my head. I felt him attempting to travel me but I was unwilling to be dragged along.

"What do you want?" I demanded, my voice less steady than I would have wished.

"Do not resist," he growled, "there is no time."

"Who are y—?" Tristan shouted. I watched in horror as Tristan's body appeared to freeze in mid-speech. I turned to see Theresa in a similar condition. I could sense that this being had just changed the flow of time for everyone but the two of us.

"I will not harm them, or you. But we cannot discuss things here. Come to Dantos with me now. Do not delay."

I didn't trust the man one bit. "No!"

"I will not harm you," he repeated, "not here, not in my home. But you must come now!"

"No!"

"Will this not convince you?" he growled.

Into my mind I felt his pressure. I let him slip just inside, not enough to jiggle things around, but deep enough to send his mental projection. I saw an image of myself as a girl. Perhaps eight or nine. I was playing in my backyard, alone. A man seemed to slam down to Earth from somewhere above. He carried a silver knife, the blade almost white and shimmering. I saw myself scream. I saw myself raise my hands. I watched as the man tore away my defenses and slammed the knife into my chest.

I screamed and pushed his projection away. "That never happened!"

"Not yet. But it will if you don't come with me right now. There is little time, host!"

I felt his pull, his attempt to travel. I didn't know what to do. What had it meant, the vision he'd showed me? Could it really happen in my past? If it had, I'd remember it. Or, I realized, I'd be dead. Was it a trick? Was he lying? Did he mean me harm?

"I don't trust you!"

I watched his chest heave twice, three times, then the man's voice became like a light feather drawn across silk. "Then sense me, host. You will know I speak truth."

I wasn't wholly certain what to do, but I trusted my projection enough to push it out. I felt the man's energy, his power. I could sense he held more of both than Tristan and Theresa combined, much more. I saw flashes of his mind then. Some of which I felt him struggle to hide away. A shameful moment from years before. A scene where he was crying endlessly for someone lost. The man slammed shut those doors but not before I saw enough. These were not lies, I knew instinctively. They were painful experiences the being would much rather not have revealed.

Knowing this might still be a trick, I also felt his urgency. Something was about to happen. Something horrible. And I was right at the center of it. Despite the risks, despite my reservations, I stopped fighting the being's attempt to travel me somewhere else and felt myself sent far beyond anywhere I'd been before.