Saki

  “What kind of favor?” Anna asked curiously. She tried to sound neutral, but the curiosity and excitement bled into her voice. Probably on purpose.

  My eyes sparkled as I explained the plan. As I did, I saw Anna get excited, the gi shimmering faster and faster.

  Fifteen minutes later, a young eight-year-old looking girl entered the tent and, looking confused, walked her way down the middle, looking at all the cages in worry. “Mommy?” she asked as she looked around.

  “Now, what is a sweet little thing like you doing here?” a sleazy voice called out. A short, fat goblin holding a cane made of gold stepped out of a back room and walked toward the little girl. “What is your name, sweetie?” he said with greed glinting in his eyes.

  “A… Anna,” she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

  “I see, and what brings you here, little girl?” he asked as he stepped up close to Anna. He reached into his coat pocket to grab something.

  Anna smiled widely and said, “To possess you!” She then jumped at the goblin before he could react, her body turning to water and entering him. He jerked twice, then went still. After a moment, he stood straight and smiled. “Just like that,” he said.

  “Hmm, name is Cane? What a stupid name!” Cane said as he casually walked over to the tent flaps and lifted them up. Tama entered, and after a moment, I followed and looked around. Definitely a slave trade. “Now, see, this is quite the establishment,” Cane said as he waved his cane around before giggling unnervingly.

  “I bet,” I said halfheartedly. I looked at Cane and walked over. Grabbing his hand, I pulled the rings off of his fingers. Cane made no move to stop me. After a moment, I frowned. “Ah, here,” he said as he lifted his shirt and grabbed a belly button ring and ripped it clean off.

  I looked at the belly button ring and all the others. Some of these were nasty. One of them deflected any incoming damage to the nearest slave. I could just imagine someone hitting this sleazy asshole and hurting one of these people.

  Another one created a ray of disintegration. I pocketed that one. Might come in handy later. “Cane, I would like to buy all the slaves in here for five gold!” I said, looking at him.

  Cane grinned and said, “Three gold, take it or leave it!”

  I acted like I was considering before sighing and saying, “You drive a hard bargain, but it is only fair and business, right?” I looked over at Tama, who pulled out three gold coins and handed them to Cane. He then walked through and, using his own key chain, freed every single slave, made an opening out of the side, and let them all go.

  “Thank you for doing business with us. Oh, and one more thing.” I turned and looked him in the eyes and whispered, “I know you are watching everything. Take this as a lesson. You messed with my best friend, and you got your just deserts. Come for us at your own peril.”

  Cane giggled in that awkward way Anna did. I smirked and turned to leave, Tama close behind me. I turned as we reached the tent flap. Anna jumped out of Cane’s body and rushed over to us, reattaching to Tama and becoming her gi.

  “Nothing personal, Canejust business!” I smiled and winked at him before we all left. I heard his screams of rage as we left the city, the guards stopping him. After all, he made the deal himself.

  Tama

  As expected, Saki was as smart as ever! She even brought a divine water spirit to help us! That is so Saki! Always planning ahead. I do not know why Anna was okay with slavery, but I taught her an important lesson.

  I was worried Saki might think I was trying to hit her, but she was smarter than that! She knew I was aiming for Anna, right? Maybe I should ask to double-check.

  “Hey, Saki, you know earlier Tama was aiming for Anna, not you, right?” I asked, my ears twitching.

  Saki looked over at me and smiled. “Of course, Tama. I mean, at first I was a little worried. But I did not think you would actually kill me on purpose.” She winked at me and brought her fox tail up, gently stroking it.

  That was good. S he did not think I would kill her. Wait a minute! “Nya! What do you mean on purpose! Tama is perfect with her form, she would never hit what she was not aiming for!”

  “I mean, you missed me three separate times!” Anna said.

  I looked down at her . “You be quiet, Tama is talking to Saki! Besides, Tama only missed because she was making sure not to hit Saki, and you were being a coward and hiding on her body!”

  “In all fairness to Anna, you did mention you never missed, Tama,” Saki said cheekily and giggled at me.

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  I was at a loss for words. I fell to my knees and grabbed my heart. The betrayal!

  Saki fell over laughing, and Anna shimmered on me. I felt Anna’s giggling and glee flowing through me.

  I acted indignant. “Tama will never forgive, she is forever ruined!”

  Saki held up her hands. “Enough, I give, Tama. I am sorry I ever doubted your amazing skill!”

  I jumped to my feet and stood tall. “Nya! Of course, because Tama is the greatest ninja ever, and she will ride Jiggle into battle!”

  “Hey, Tama, why is Jiggle terrifying?” Anna suddenly asked.

  Saki froze, and her eyes went wide. “Anna! We talked about you going through memories!” she snapped angrily. I did not know why she was upset as a divine spirit, being attached to me gave her access to my memories. I did not really have anything to hide.

  “Nya! Jiggle is the bestest boar ever! You should see the memory of him attacking the chicken coop!” I said excitedly, happy to share my fun memories with someone.

  “Yes, there are a lot of those!” Anna said. “Oh, and what about this one you are a princess, Tama?!”

  I froze, and my eye twitched. “Tama is a princess, yes. But she does not want to talk about it,” I said. My tail curled around my leg, and I looked out into the distance, trying to think about anything else.

  “But why not? Being a princess must be awesome! I see here you did a cool royal decree that made everyone bow to you!” Anna continued. She sounded excited and overjoyed.

  “That is enough, Anna! She clearly does not want to talk about it! If you do not stop, I will make you,” Saki snapped at Anna angrily. “Just because she is okay with you going through her mind does not make it okay to push her on things she is not comfortable with!”

  I winced at Saki’s defense. I was grateful, but I felt bad. I should not need protection, it was just a title, right?

  Anna said nothing for a long time, and the camp we had set up was now silent aside from the crackling of the strange blue fire Anna had created. Normal fire did not seem to work here.

  The blue fire seemed to work the exact same as regular fire. Was it just blue? Anna had called it magic fire, and Saki had been impressed at it being used. The whole thing reminded me of Lyran and his magic book. I wondered how he was doing.

  “Oh, he totally had the hots for you. You could see it in his face!” Anna said suddenly, and my cheeks went red.

  “Anna, so help me, I will use my void to end you here and now!” Saki snapped. This time, she climbed to her feet and brought her hand up, pointing it at Anna. Anna was on my body, but I could easily eject her before she could stop me if I wanted to, and Saki knew that.

  Anna was silent for a long moment before saying, “I am sorry, okay! It is not like I am bringing up when she wet the bed or had fantasies of her and her sensei!”

  I immediately ejected Anna out of my body, grabbed her, and threw her as hard as I could toward the goblin village. She would most likely come back quickly, but it gave me time to calm down and meditate. I had to remind myself that water spirits, no matter how ancient, were a lot like children.

  “I am going to kill her!” Saki said, her voice full of rage.

  I sighed and looked up at her. “Do not do it . S he is like a child, she does not know any better.”

  “Void, she does not know any better! I have traveled with that little water witch for the last two days, and I can guarantee you she knows a lot more than she pretends!” Saki said, her tail lashing back and forth irritably and her ears flattened.

  “No, Saki, she is a water spirit. S he feeds on your thoughts and feelings,” I said quietly, my tail wrapping around my leg as I closed my eyes to meditate.

  “Mistress Tama, did you also wet the bed when you were younger?” the young girl said next to me. She had not left my side since we left the goblin village. I had been ignoring her, not sure what to do. I made sure she had food, as well as the other lady.

  The little girl’s name was Tristy, and the other woman, clearly in her mid-thirties, was Paige. The collars on their necks that I could not remove ate at me constantly.

  I slowly nodded and smiled at Tristy. “That is right, it happened when Tama was younger, but she has a better body now , s he is older, it does not happen anymore,” I said. I gently wrapped my tail around her and pulled her into a hug.

  She tensed as I did, but after a moment, she hugged me back, and I felt her push into me as tears streamed down her face. She tried to hide them, but on my bare skin, I could feel them.

  Rage filled me again. I would get these collars off if it killed me.