Chapter 21: The Oath Of Crystal Tears I

When Elaine entered the room she wasn't sure what she should have been expecting but the scene was at once everything she'd assumed and a complete shock.

As she'd expected, Rachel's room was a good bit larger than the ones her and the Shard Bearers had and on top of that she'd modified it extensively. The light was a dark pink bordering on purple instead of the stark white light in all other bedrooms, the bed was significantly bigger than Elaine's, and the desk held an unreasonable assortment of sex toys. Not in the desk drawers, mind, but sitting on top.

The giant bed was also surrounded by a magic circle. Not one drawn in chalk, though. Chalk was for hacks. Proper mages used conductive pens for their magic circles. Of course Elaine had never worked with ritual circles but she knew enough to recognize them on sight. And so she knew that ritual circles had three basic functions as well as a fourth one that didn't quite count.

The first was simply trapping the Winds of Magic inside them. Any circle drawn with intent could do that, chalk circles included. Except Elaine had never had a reason for needing to trap the Winds anywhere when they flocked so readily towards her emotions. But she understood that for particularly precise workings such circles were useful as they allowed a mage to avoid contaminating their working environment.

The second was to write down particularly complicated spells, ones with algorithms so long and difficult that no mortal mage could recite them from memory and ones where failing to recite them properly could have catastrophic results. These ones could be done in chalk but chalk could be smudged and when working with volatile spells that could be dangerous. Even Elaine's most complicated spells weren't anywhere near complicated or volatile enough to require that sort of preparation, though.

The third use was summoning magic. Certain types of magical creatures, such as angels, demons and Fae, could be summoned if one knew the correct ritual, which varied from individual to individual. The Lesser Key of Solomon included several authentic summoning circles as well as a whole lot of bogus ones. It made Elaine wonder, though. Professor Stollos was allegedly Lucifer's grandson and the Lesser Key of Solomon included a summoning circle for a demon named Stollos. Would that ritual actually compel him to appear? Would it annoy him? Or was he merely named after that demon and there was no actual relation? Either way, Elaine had never found herself in a position where she wanted to conjure up any being, fae or celestial or otherwise.

The fourth use was more of a personal thing. Magic worked off of intent and emotions, so if a mage truly believed their magic would work better if they drew a circle to work it from then it probably would. But Elaine was perfectly fine with using rhythms as her spell names instead of complicated circles.

Either way, this circle was likely a combination of the first and second use. As the Professor had explained it to her, the moment she left the circle, or if the circle was destroyed, the energy she'd drawn in would go haywire, so it likely suspended the Winds and included a complicated spell that would activate once the circle was breached.

Of course the reason Elaine had to examine the room and the circle in such detail was that looking at the bed for any length of time took her breath away. On it lay Jeanne and Rachel, both of them clad in nothing but transparent babydoll nighties.

Jeanne was a gorgeous blonde with proportions very similar to Elaine's own, that is to say tall, with muscular arms, legs and abs but rounded out by feminine curves, with shapely hips and generous breasts. Her hair was normally tied down in a braid but now she was letting it hang loose and it looked like a cascade of gold as it draped over her back, covering the snow-white nightie.

Rachel on the other hand was a quintessential succubus. She was slender, with modest curves and lightly tanned skin, her wavy wine-red hair circling a face of such heart-stopping beauty that the first time Elaine had met her she hadn't been able to think straight until Jordan had smacked the back of her head and called her a perv. And that had been when Rachel had been fully dressed. Now, clad in nothing but a lacy black babydoll, Elaine had grown rock hard the moment she'd laid eyes on her.

The sight would have been arousing enough if the two of them had just been sitting on the bed waiting for her but instead they were kissing. They weren't ravenously making out with each other, they merely gently and softly explored each other's mouths and even that was enough to make Jeanne moan and whimper.

With how they were seated on the bed Jeanne was facing away from Elaine but Rachel had clearly seen her walk in so when they broke the kiss the succubus said:

“Look who showed up.”

Jeanne startled a bit and turned around to see Elaine watching them.

“I got her all ready for you, stud," Rachel said, giving one of Jeanne's generous breasts a squeeze.

“Thanks," Elaine said with a chuckle, “but I'd rather take things slow with both of you, okay?”

“Uh-huh," Jeanne said, the quiet dignity she'd always exuded completely gone. Elaine also noted that her lips were swollen and puffy from everything Rachel and her had been doing thus far.

Rachel didn't answer with words but instead she slunk off the bed and walked up to Elaine, wrapped her arms around the back of her neck and pulled her down into a kiss.

Good Lord, Elaine thought. Kissing Rachel was even better than she'd expected. She tasted sweet, like fruit and spice, and her lips were the softest Elaine had ever kissed. She couldn't help but wrap her arms around Rachel, tracing the lines of her shoulder blades and feeling her impossibly soft skin. The demon felt almost feverishly warm and Elaine wondered if it was because she'd been making out with Jeanne of if this was normal for Rachel.

As they kissed Elaine felt Rachel's hand opening the buttons of her top. This wasn't some hapless fumbling, though. Rachel clearly knew exactly how to undress a partner and she did it with a slowness that bordered on excruciating.

“Did I get all dressed up for nothing?" Elaine asked as she broke the kiss.

“I'm more interested in what's underneath the wrapping," Rachel murmured, her voice low and husky and seductive, then she turned backwards and asked: “You'd rather she were naked too, right?”

Only then did Elaine notice that Jeanne had been watching them kiss intently. The angel wasn't zoned out, as Elaine had first assumed. She was laser-focused on the two of them, her breathing ragged and her face flushed, but Elaine saw the same intelligence in her eyes that she always had.

“Yes," Jeanne said, locking eyes with Elaine.

It was at that moment that Elaine realized she'd never told Jeanne her dirty little secret. Would it scare her off? What then?

She shook it off and instead focused on the here and now. As Rachel opened the last button and pushed the top off Elaine's shoulders she took the opportunity to grab hold of Rachel's breasts and gave them a soft squeeze. They were perfect and firm and her nipples were already rock hard. Elaine couldn't wait to play with them some more.

“Come to bed, Elaine," Rachel purred. “Let's have some fun.”

“Um," Elaine said, looking at Jeanne. “Before we start, there's something I need to tell you.”

But Jeanne was shaking her head. “It's alright Elaine. I already know.”

“Y-you do?”

“I have access to everyone's medical records," the angel said and Elaine flinched. “I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner.”

“And she agreed to help despite that," Rachel said. “Relax, Elaine. Nobody has a problem with your little secret, least of all us.”

Elaine took a deep breath and then looked back up. “Okay.”

And then Rachel bent down and pulled Elaine's pants off in one swift motion.

Elaine yelped and only then did she notice that Rachel had at least left her boxer shorts on. She couldn't wear panties anymore but at least these boxers were pretty nice as these things went, pure cotton and nicely tailored instead of the tight boxer briefs she usually wore, which were comfortable and kept everything in place but weren't exactly fashionable.

“Wow, you really have a great body," Rachel said as she took a good look at Elaine in her underwear.

“I'm in great company then," Elaine said as Rachel led her to the bed.

Once there Rachel stepped behind her and shoved her onto the bed, right at Jeanne.

Elaine only just managed to stop herself from crashing into Jeanne and ended up on top of the angel with her hands on either side of Jeanne's face.

The angel blushed as she looked up at her.

“You seem a little different than normal," Elaine told her.

“Rachel convinced me that I should relax and enjoy myself every once in a while," Jeanne said. “I was long overdue for some relaxation but I thought I couldn't afford to with the way things are. But right now, helping you is the best way for me to use my time so there is no reason not to enjoy myself while I do.”

“Did you fuck with her mind?" Elaine asked, glancing over to Rachel.

“If I tried she'd have killed me," Rachel said. “No, she's just feeling a little fuzzy. We've had a lot of fun last night and before you came here.”

“So I guess you aren't a virgin anymore," Elaine said to Jeanne.

“I haven't been a virgin for centuries," Jeanne said. “Rachel didn't take my first time. Just my first time in way too long.” And then she wrapped her arms around the back of Elaine's neck and pulled her down into a kiss.

Elaine had never expected to be kissing the scary, gorgeous angel in charge of the armory but here she was, kissing those swollen, puffy lips and playing with that hot, squirming tongue as she leaned down and pressed their large breasts together, enjoying the sensation of her breasts being cushioned by another pair.

Elaine lost herself in the kiss a little, forgetting that this woman was strong enough to destroy entire countries and just seeing her as a beautiful, needy girl who hadn't gotten any in way too long and was desperate to make up for lost time, until suddenly she felt a hand tangling in her hair before it yanked back, pulling her off of Jeanne's lips.

“No fair," Rachel whined and mashed her lips against Elaine's, invading her mouth with her tongue, before breaking the kiss and giving the exact same treatment to Jeanne.

“So," Elaine asked as the two were busy with each other, “how did the two of you do it? Rachel can change her body any way she likes, right?”

“Wouldn't you like to know?" Rachel teased as she broke the kiss.

Jeanne blushed and looked away.

“I would," Elaine said with a smirk.

“Let's just say that Jeanne isn't very picky," Rachel finally said and Jeanne smacked her ass for the comment, causing the succubus to let out an obscenely sexy little moan. “Mmmhhaa!”

“So, who do you want first?" Jeanne asked.

“Do I have to choose?" Elaine asked. “I thought we were just going to have fun together.”

“I agree that threesomes are best when they're like that," Rachel said, “but in this case, sadly yes. We can fool around together but you need to have a bit of alone time with each of us so that we can grant you slivers of our souls. Ideally with as much skin contact as possible.”

“So at least one round of good old-fashioned missionary for each of you?" Elaine asked with a smirk.

“Personally I prefer something more like mating press," Rachel said.

“Mating... press?" Jeanne asked.

“It's when your partner folds you in half and then fucks you into the bed as hard as they can, like they're trying to breed you," Rachel explained.

Jeanne blushed.

“Speaking of," Elaine said. “You two are on birth control, right?”

“Elaine, I like you a lot and I think you are a great piece of ass but there is no way I'm getting saddled with a baby, not even yours," Rachel said.

Elaine smiled.

“I'm on the pill," Jeanne admitted. “The same one Rachel hands out to all the girls at the compound.”

“Of course what Jeanne failed to mention is that she took it yesterday, right before---” Rachel was cut off when Jeanne clamped a hand over her mouth and said:

“That is not important right now. I am protected and that's what matters.”

Elaine was certain there was a story there but if Jeanne was embarrassed by whatever kinky sex play the two of them had indulged in then she wouldn't pry. Mostly because she was hoping one of them would spill it by accident later.

“Good," she said instead and then leaned down to kiss Jeanne again.

Soon she felt Rachel unclasping her bra and immediately Jeanne's arms sneaked around her to run all over her back. Elaine simply lost herself in the sensation of kissing the angel for a while until she felt Rachel's hands on her again, this time pulling down her boxers. She let it happen, too lost in the kiss to put up even a token amount of protest. With her boxers gone there was one less layer between her already rock-hard cock and Jeanne's scalding-hot pussy, only the soaked silk panties the angel wore still in the way.

As soon as she felt the hardness against her Jeanne let out a moan and reached down to grasp Elaine's cock, then her eyes flew wide and she broke the kiss. “Wormwood, are you sure this massive thing will fit?”

“Wormwood?" Elaine asked, her curiosity getting the better of her despite enjoying the attention. This hadn't been the first time she'd heard that word used as a curse, nor the fifth. Jeanne, Rachel and the Professor were all quite fond of it.

“An old word for vermouth," Rachel explained. “It's the name of the star that falls to Earth and poisons all the rivers during the Apocalypse. Allegedly.”

“Allegedly?" Elaine asked.

“Nobody really likes what Revelations has to say," Jeanne said, still stroking Elaine's cock. “Like the fact that it rather unsubtly implies that the Angel Lord of Justice will fall from grace when in truth Gabriel's faith and conviction are beyond reproach.”

“Beyond reproach?" Rachel asked. “That little snippet's got all of Heaven doubting the guy. I mean, don't get me wrong, Gabriel is a self-righteous ass, but he's a loyal self-righteous ass and yet half of you treat him like his fall is only a matter of time.”

Jeanne winced. “I can't refute that. John has always been a bit of a firebrand.”

“You knew him?" Elaine asked. It didn't make sense. John had been dead for over a millennium by the time Jeanne had been born.

“I know him," Jeanne corrected. “That's the worst part. He is still active in Heaven's affairs and he refuses to take back any of what he wrote.”

“You know, it kind of feels like you're trying to distract us," Rachel said.

“Hardly," Elaine said, thrusting her hips against Jeanne's hand still wrapped around her cock. “It's just fascinating. You two are real, incredibly beautiful people and yet you talk about historical figures and great angels like they're just people. Hell," she said, looking at Jeanne, “you are a famous historical figure. And right now you're jerking me off. It's surreal.”

Rachel leaned in close to murmur into her ear: “If you're half of what Stollos thinks you can become then you will go down in history as well, Elaine.”

Elaine swallowed at that. “I don't want that kind of responsibility. I just want to keep the people I love safe.”

“You should have thought of that before becoming such a force of nature," Jeanne said, still stroking Elaine's cock with one hand and squeezing one of her own breasts with the other.

“I'm still not sure if Stollos had the right of it or not when he created this ritual," Rachel said, “but right now I'm grateful to him. We have the opportunity to be the king-makers. And there's no one more deserving than you.”

“Why?" Elaine asked.

Jeanne grabbed Elaine's shoulders and flipped her over so the brunette was now lying on her back. The angel straddled her and pressed a finger against her chest, right between her breasts. “Because you, dear Elaine, don't want this power for yourself. You want it to protect those you care about.”

“I think you're giving me way too much credit," Elaine said.

“It's cute that you think that," Rachel said, crawling up behind Elaine and placing the brunette's head on her lap, then started stroking her hands over her cheeks. “But you managed to strike a blow against Stollos.”

“He was just testing me," Elaine said. “I could tell how much he was holding back.”

“He has defeated companies of angels while holding back more," Jeanne said. “And you didn't just manage to hit him, you managed to strike him non-lethally while avoiding his onslaught almost entirely.”

“Is he seriously that strong?”

“He's stronger," Rachel said. “I don't think you understand the depths of his power. He shares daddy's blood.”

“That doesn't really tell me much," Elaine said.

“You've gotten a glimpse at how strong Jeanne is, right?”

Elaine swallowed. It was hard to reconcile the unfathomable power she'd felt radiating off of Jeanne back in Albion with the gorgeous woman clad in lingerie currently straddling her.

Rachel continued: “Now imagine power an order of magnitude stronger than that and you have an idea of how strong the Lords are. And now consider that daddy is yet another order of magnitude stronger than them. And while Stollos isn't as powerful as daddy he's still easily at the level of one of the Lords. Hell, he used to be one.”

“Couldn't he just solve this mess on his own then?" Elaine asked.

“Like the Lords Stollos is so strong that he has trouble compressing his power enough to work on the mortal plane," Jeanne said. “Beings like Rachel and me are about the strongest who can operate on this plane for any length of time without overtaxing reality. If he ever truly flexed his power it would act as a beacon to any truly powerful beings that would mean us harm."

“So he's too strong to be useful to us?" Elaine asked.

“So long as he kept himself to roughly our level of power he could act just fine," Rachel said. “But right now his assistance would do little more than cost you guys EXP. If the base ever comes under attack expect him to retaliate with extreme prejudice, though. This project is his baby now.”

“That's fair," Elaine said, then reached out and grabbed Jeanne's hips.

“And here I thought you were trying to distract us again," the angel said.

“Not at all," Elaine said, her hands moving higher, along Jeanne's waist, slipping underneath the babydoll nightie. “So whose idea was the sexy lingerie?”

“Mine," Jeanne said, squirming under Elaine's touch and grinding her crotch into Elaine's a little.

“Really?" Elaine asked, slipping her hands even higher and squeezing Jeanne's breasts.

“Yeah," Rachel said. “My idea was to just go at it like bunnies so that we could wait for you all naked and flush and sweaty.”

“Oh?" Elaine asked, rubbing Jeanne's nipples through the thin fabric, slowly coaxing them to stand at attention. “So this was the more modest option, then?”

“Yeah," Jeanne said. “Isn't unwrapping part of the fun?”

“I dunno," Elaine said. “Right now I just want to make you come without even taking those panties off.”

“Is that so?" Jeanne asked, still grinding against Elaine's erection as she looked from the brunette up to Rachel. “Is that really what she wants?”

“Shouldn't I know best?" Elaine asked.

Rachel reached down and squeezed her breasts before she said: “I can sense people's desires. No matter how much you want to keep it hidden, it's clear as day to me.”

“And what naughty thoughts is she hiding?" Jeanne asked.

“That's the problem," Rachel said. “There's a lot there that she wants to do but no deep, dark desires she feels ashamed of. Her deepest fantasy has already come true.”

Elaine could feel herself blush.

“And what would that be?" Jeanne asked.

“You're rubbing against it right now," Rachel said, her eyes flicking down to where Jeanne was grinding her pussy against Elaine's cock. “Now that she has it, there's nothing that stands out. She wants to drive you crazy with it and without it, she wants to bend both of us over, she wants to... ooo, that's fun.”

“What is?" Jeanne asked.

“She wants us to eat each other out while she takes turns fucking us," Rachel said with a grin.

Elaine's cheeks felt like they were on fire.

“Sounds fun," Jeanne agreed. “What else?”

“All simple stuff," Rachel said. “But she's really super curious about what we did last night...”

Jeanne hid her face in her hands. “Are you just saying that to tease me?”

“No, it's true," Rachel said, then leaned forward and gently pried Jeanne's hands away from her face. “Do you regret it?”

“No," Jeanne admitted after a long pause. “But it was mortifying.”

“But that's what made it fun, right?" Rachel said and then gently kissed the angel.

“Right," Jeanne whimpered when they broke the kiss.

Elaine was desperately curious but then she tried her damnedest not to think about how curious she was, given that Rachel could apparently sense her desires.

“Fuck, she's really desperate to find out about it," Rachel said. “Maybe we should give her a demonstration?”

“Absolutely not," Jeanne said. “That's just for the two of us.”

Rachel's expression twisted into a wolfish grin. “Does that mean you want to do it again?”

Jeanne hesitated for a long moment before she said: “... Yes.”

Elaine expected Rachel to make a lewd comment about that but instead the succubus said, in an incredibly seductive voice: “Then shall we find something that's just for the three of us?”

Jeanne licked her lips. “What did you have in mind?”

Rachel smirked and leaned in close. “How about you start by sucking her cock?" she asked and then gave Jeanne a slow, sexy, open-mouthed kiss.

When they finally broke the kiss Jeanne swallowed, then nodded and began to slide off of Elaine but the brunette caught her. The angel looked back at her, confused.

“Flip around," Elaine said. “I want to taste you.”

Jeanne nodded before turning around and pulling her panties off. When she was done Elaine guided her to straddle her face before she leaned down, her face hovering over Elaine's rock-hard cock.

“Now we're cooking with gas," Rachel said as she crawled out of the way to let them get into a proper 69 position.

But Elaine tuned her out. Just inches away from her face was Jeanne's pussy, clean shaven with only a single neatly groomed tuft of golden hair above it and already dripping with excitement, framed by her perfectly formed ass. She reached out and grabbed Jeanne's hips, then pulled her down until her lips made contact.

Jeanne tasted sweet and fresh and just musky enough to tell her that the angel was really into it, and Elaine lost herself as she explored her pussy with her mouth, licking and sucking and nibbling. Or she tried to lose herself but a moment after she started she felt a warm, tight, coiling wetness enveloping her cock.

Elaine knew intellectually that Jeanne wasn't a virgin but even so she hadn't expected Jeanne to be so good at giving head. She licked and sucked just right, working the tip in all the right ways, alternating between teasing the head and going deep down, taking her cock with surprising ease. Now that she had an idea of how difficult sucking cock was she was even more amazed that Jeanne was doing it so effortlessly. And just as she got into the groove of licking Jeanne's pussy as the angel kept sucking her she felt Rachel's hands pushing her legs up.