“Before anything else, we need to get out of here.”

 

Mikael blinks at that, even as Avina hurries to defend her words.

 

“Zadicus shouldn’t know that I took you. It shouldn’t even cross his mind. I made sure to pin your body’s disappearance on the old drunk in charge of disposing of the arena’s corpses. As far as Zadicus is concerned, the old man accidentally had your body incinerated with the common criminals instead of held in reserve because of your status as a Summoned Hero. And because of his reputation as a drunk, no amount of pleading will convince Zadicus that he didn’t fuck up.”

 

Well now. That was… rather cutthroat. At the same time though, they were three people against an entire city. And if this old guy really was in charge of corpse removal, it made him complicit in the whole operation, didn’t it? After a moment of thought, Mikael finds he can’t really bring himself to feel guilty over it.

 

“Alright then. So why do we need to get out of here?”

 

Not that he was complaining, mind you. It felt like they’d spent a small eternity down in this basement. He was very much ready to leave. But why did Avina seem so desperate?

 

With a sigh, the Soul Mechanic gestures to the bodies on the ground and then Thayla herself.

 

“Because of them. And her. I assume that Zadicus sent you in my direction, right?”

 

That last question is directed at Thayla, who slowly nods before ducking her head in renewed shame.

 

“Indeed… after he tricked me into doing his bidding, he told me I would find the answers I sought here in this basement. I suppose he expected me to stumble upon you and take you for your average run of the mill Necromancer.”

 

“Right. And if I’m a Necromancer, I must also be guilty of abusing the Hero Summoning Ritual. I’m sure it would have all fit quite neatly in your world view.”

 

Avina’s dry tone causes Thayla to flush in response, but the knight’s silence speaks volumes.

 

“Zadicus will probably have guards watching the entrance to see who comes out. Which is why YOU’RE going to go back up there and announce to whoever you find that you found this place empty with three bodies in it. Meanwhile, Mikael and I will be exiting through the sewers and making our way over to a safehouse I prepared for this moment.”

 

There’s a moment of silence as he and Thayla just stare at Avina. She’s certainly taking charge, isn’t she? Not that there’s anything wrong with it. It was just that… Mikael honestly hadn’t expected her to be so prepared. Seeming to sense this, Avina scowls slightly.

 

“What? Did you think I was planning on successfully bringing someone back to life without any idea of what I was going to do next? Even if Zadicus doesn’t know I stole Mikael’s body, I wasn’t about to give that bastard the satisfaction of snaking my success out from under me. And Tak definitely would have done that in Zadicus’ name, if Mikael hadn’t dealt with him and his thugs.”

 

Stepping to the side, Avina slaps a hand on the wall without looking. To Mikael’s wide-eyed amazement, the wall suddenly spirals open, a soft glow showing off a bit of magic that apparently hid a secret door. Beyond, there’s the sound of a sewer through the hole in the wall.

 

“Once we’re through and I close the wall up again, make sure to destroy the control rune. It’ll just be an ordinary wall after that. After all is said and done and you’ve done your part to keep them from getting suspicious of you, you can meet us at this address.”

 

Avina rattles off the address, which admittedly goes right over Mikael’s head. But Thayla just furrows her brow in a clear effort to commit it to memory before slowly nodding. Then… she looks to Mikael for clarification. It’s obvious that she doesn’t want to necessarily follow Avina’s orders. Or rather, she doesn’t want to follow them without checking in with Mikael first. He doesn’t know which, but in this case it doesn’t matter. Avina has clearly figured this all out ahead of time and it would be foolish to waste her preparations.

 

“Do as she says. All of it. We’ll see you later.”

 

“… As you say, Sir Hero. I shall be as swift as possible, so that I am back at your side with all due haste.”

 

Right. Mikael just gives that a nod before grabbing the sword and dagger off of the table and following Avina through the hole. The last thing he sees is Thayla’s concerned face on the other side before Avina closes it up. Then, he hears the sound of a plated fist slamming into the wall, hard enough that some dust shakes loose on their side. That must have been Thayla destroying the control rune like Avina said to.

 

“This way.”

 

Hiking up her skirts, Avina quickly begins leading the way through the sewers of Alether. Mikael follows, his weapons in his hands just in case they run into any opposition down here. The sewers were normally the domain of all of the bad guys and criminals that made a city’s underbelly their home, at least in the stories he’d read.

 

… But what about when the bad guys were running the show? If thugs like Tak and his friends were outright working for the Lord of the City, then they didn’t exactly need a hideaway, did they? Indeed, he doesn’t really see any sign of life down in the sewers… save for the rats of course. Rats that Avina turns her nose up, groaning in disgust.

 

“Ugh. Do you think you can do something about those, Mikael?”

 

He lifts an eyebrow at that, glancing at the creatures as they scurry back and forth and give him and Avina a wide distance. He looks at his blades and then at the rats. Honestly, they didn’t look big enough for him to properly fight them…

 

“I’m not talking about stabbing them or anything like that. I’m talking about your Soul Engine. Did you notice back there? How you didn’t have to wait for the rat to be dead, but you did have to wait for Tak and his men to be dead?”

 

Mikael blinks, having not even considered that until now. But then to be fair, he’d had a lot of other things on his mind. Still did.

 

“This is because the souls attached to rodents are much smaller than your own… and that makes them easier to scoop up. You’re not going to be able to just suck a living person’s soul up, but a rodent? That’s another story.”

 

Well now… it sounded like she wanted him to at least try. And if he was going to avoid killing more people, Mikael would need the extra juice from somewhere, wouldn’t he? Concentrating on that same feeling he had before, Mikael reaches out all around them. He blinks as at least a dozen rats squeal and shriek, their bodies spasming and then shriveling up and their soul energy flowing through the air into his chest.

 

It’s a drop in the bucket compared to the feeling he got from consuming three human souls back to back to back. But it’s still rather nice. He doesn’t even realize he’s smiling until he looks up and sees Avina smiling at him too. She has a nice smile, he finds himself absently noting.

 

“Good. Let’s keep going.”

 

From there, it’s actually pretty easy to make their way through the sewers. Sometimes the concentration of rats gets to be a bit much, but Mikael just does his thing and sucks them all dry. Finally though, they reach a wall which Avina places her hand against and much like the basement, the wall shimmers briefly and then pulls open, revealing… another basement.

 

He must have let his dismay leak onto his face, because Avina just giggles at him.

 

“Don’t worry. There’s an actual home above this one. With actual beds at that. And even a bathtub. Come on.”

 

Mikael’s eyes widen at the thought of a bathtub, and for the first time he realizes just how absurdly filthy he is. Though, his eyes do dart down to the Soul Engine even as his nose wrinkles in disgust at the smell he’s giving off.

 

“Err… is this thing waterproof?”

 

It’s a fair question, he feels. Especially since the edges of his flesh around the outer casing of the device are still an angry red. Avina just looks at him strangely though.

 

“Of course it is. Don’t be ridiculous. Now come. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

 

That’s how Mikael finds himself in a bathtub about thirty minutes later. Stripped out of the pants he’d still been in since the arena, wearing absolutely nothing but his birthday suit, he luxuriates in water provided by another bit of magic, or so Avina had said.

 

This is actually his second bath in the last thirty minutes. With access to unlimited water, he’d decided that he could justify draining the tub of the admittedly disgusting first bath, and then refill it again for a more relaxing soak-off rinse. After a good scrubbing, Mikael had to admit he was feeling a lot better. Better than he would have expected, actually.

 

He’s almost starting to nod off when there’s a sudden knock at the door, causing his eyes to snap open. Before he can speak up, the door opens and Avina slips inside… wearing nothing but a slip instead of her all-encompassing black garb from before. Mikael tries not to stare, even as he makes sure all of his important bits are hidden from her current angle.

 

“Err… just give me a second and I’ll get out of your way. Sorry if I took too much time or something…”

 

“No. There’s no need to apologize, and you don’t have to go either. In fact, I thought that this would be the perfect time for your first check-up.”

 

Mikael blinks, opens his mouth… and then closes it. He’s not sure how to respond. Avina though, seems to have thought this through.

 

“I’m your Soul Mechanic after all. You’ll need constant sessions with me, especially over the next few days, to make sure that you aren’t… degrading. I’ve never had a success quite like yours before, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any deterioration down the line. It just means we’re in unprecedented territory.”

 

That all sounded very reasonable and very fair. Mikael is about to open his mouth and say as much when Avina suddenly lets the slip… slip. The last garment she’d had on flutters to the floor and all Mikael can do is stare as she walks over to the tub… and slips right on in.

 

-x-X-x-

 

To her credit, she doesn’t displace so much water that the tub spills over once she’s in. That said, Mikael still finds himself staring at her in disbelief. He’d already registered just how beautiful she was. And that was back when she was wearing all black as well as a blood-covered apron and a pair of blood-covered gloves. Now, she’s lost all of that and it’s just her… and he has to admit, ‘beautiful’ didn’t begin to truly do her justice.

 

She’s gorgeous, his self-appointed Soul Mechanic. Pale skin, freckles across her face and chest… and a body that just didn’t quit. As she kneels there between his legs, Mikael finds himself trying and failing not to stare for too long at her breasts resting on the surface of the bath, each of them capped with a hardening nipple.

 

Avina doesn’t say or do anything for a moment, just waiting for him to recover. It gives him time enough to collect his thoughts and finally focus his attention back on the naked woman’s face.

 

“… I understand needing to give me regular check ups to make sure I’m not going to fall apart and die again anytime soon, but I’m not sure why you need to be naked for this as well, Avina.”

 

Smiling softly, Avina leans forward, making it MUCH harder for Mikael not to stare at her breasts as they’re pushed together and placed more firmly in front of his face.

 

“It only seems fair. If I’m seeing all of you, then you should see all of me. I want us to have a good relationship, Mikael. A strong relationship.”

 

Her hand reaches out then, only for Avina to hesitate and pause.

 

“… May I?”

 

Wordlessly, Mikael nods. Only, Avina doesn’t reach for his Soul Engine like he’s expecting her to. Instead, she takes his consent and runs with it, dropping her hand beneath the water and grabbing hold of his cock. Mikael’s eyes widen as she begins to stroke his shaft up and down, a reluctant groan bubbling its way up through his lips. He blames the relaxation, honestly. He’s finally stopped operating on adrenaline. He’s finally had a chance to calm down. That’s why he doesn’t immediately stop her or speak up when she begins giving him a handjob. Yep. That’s it. Nothing else.

 

“… I know you think we need that Knight of the Rose, but I hope you also know you can’t trust her. Maybe my… examples weren’t the best back there, but you need to be ready for her oaths to her Order to one day supersede her pledge to you, Mikael. As far as the Citadel is concerned, you’re an abomination and I am a criminal for daring to bring you back to life.”

 

Given Avina’s current actions, it takes Mikael a second to even process what she’s saying. When he does however, his brow furrows in consternation. Was this… jealousy? Avina had already made her opinion of Thayla’s loyalties clear back in the basement. But now here she was doubling down the moment she got him alone. He wasn’t sure what to think about that.

 

In the end though, he can’t help but sigh.

 

“Of course I don’t fully trust her, Avina. I’m not even sure I should trust you just yet.”

 

Maybe it’s a bad idea to be confessing his distrust of a woman who currently has his member in the palm of her hand. But Mikael can’t quite bring himself to deceive her. Even if it’s what a very suspect part of his brain, is telling him to do. A very recently added part of him that Mikael had been doing a great job of ignoring up until this point is all but urging him to deceive and cajole Avina into going further with him, no matter what.

 

Mikael isn’t that kind of guy. He’s not about to trick a woman into sex, or any of the even worse ‘tactics’ that the dead men in his head were ‘recommending’. No, he would stay true to himself, no matter what.

 

“… Do you fear that I would try to keep you here, rather than let you go home?”

 

That gets another blink from Mikael. Well now, it seemed neither he nor Avina were inclined to beat around the bush. She’d just come out and said it, just like that hadn’t she?

 

Suddenly, Avina’s hands are both above the water, cupping his face. And the naked young woman herself is climbing into his lap. Mikael’s eyes widen as he feels the tip of his member press against her folds.

 

“You don’t have to worry about that, Mikael. If you decide to go home, I’ll just have to come with you. It might be the only way you even survive back on your old world, after all. You’ll need your Soul Mechanic, no matter where you end up.”

 

She teases him with her entrance, wiggling a bit as she bites her lower lip and looks into his eyes. Mikael’s hands slide under the water and take hold of her hips as he tries to resist the urge to slam her down onto him right then and there. Instead, he does his best to focus on what she’s saying, rather than what she’s doing. His voice still comes out in a gasp though, breathless as his manhood throbs.

 

“Is that even possible? Can a Summoned Hero bring someone back with them?”

 

Avina flushes for a moment and looks off to the side, as though just realizing she’s given something away. When she finally looks back at him, she hesitantly nods.

 

“The Citadel isn’t the only place you can find stories pertaining to the Summoned Heroes of our world’s ancient past, Mikael. Yes, it’s possible. It’s said that when a Summoned Hero returns to their world, they don’t just take themselves, but also their immediate surroundings. So… bringing someone with you should be entirely possible.”

 

For a long moment, Mikael wonders just who Avina really is. She’s a beautiful, brilliant woman who apparently knows enough about souls and artificing to make a device that could bring him back to life. But he’s just starting to realize how little that truly scratches the surface. Where does she come from? Who is she running from, really? The obvious answer seems to be Zadicus Quinn, but is that really it? Does she really just want to escape her debts to the Lord of the City? Or is there more to it than that?

 

“I’ll prove it to you. One way or another, I’ll prove you can trust me.”

 

As it turns out, his introspection takes too long because quite suddenly, Avina is pushing herself down his length. For a second, he’s worried that he’s the one who initiated… but no, while his hands are still on her hips, he didn’t subconsciously pull her down. It’s all her.

 

“Avina… you don’t have to…”

 

“I want to.”

 

Leaning forward, she presses her forehead against his, even as she grabs hold of him by the shoulders. A light whimper leaves the raven-haired woman’s lips, making him wonder if she’s ever even done something like this before. But at least the bathwater provides a bit of extra lubrication, making the whole thing much slicker than it would otherwise be outside of the tub.

 

Wiggling her way down his length, his Soul Mechanic moans as Mikael groans. And then… she begins to ride him. At that point, he can’t hold back anymore. He meets her motions with movements of his own, thrusting up into her from below as she starts to bounce up and down on his length. Their joining goes from slow and steady to frantic and harsh in what feels like mere moments.

 

He’s not sure how much of that is him, truth be told. Holding back the darker impulses is bad enough, but Mikael himself is only a man. A man with the memories of a bunch of other men shoved into his head. As it turns out, they all have one thing in common. They’re all very interested in women, and they all agree that Avina is one of the more beautiful they’ve had the chance to bed.

 

“Ah!”

 

A cry leaves her lips, and her inner walls tighten up around his shaft as Avina tosses her head back. Her breasts, which he’d already noted were perfectly shaped, bounce up and down right in front of his face. She’s all but thrusting her chest out towards him as her back arches. Her nipples both jut out, rock hard and swollen with arousal. What else is a man to do in a situation like this, really? He leans forward and captures one of Avina’s teats in his mouth, sucking at it as they continue to fornicate right there in the tub, sending water splashing everywhere.

 

And maybe… maybe it helps. Maybe they both get the chance to loosen up a little as they partake in one another’s bodies for the next long while.

 

-x-X-x-

 

Their first time together in the tub comes to a close long before Thayla finally makes it to the safe house, thankfully. By the time the female knight arrives, they’ve both gotten dressed and moved things out into the kitchen area, where Mikael sits at a table with his shirt opened up as Avina looks over the Soul Engine with a variety of tools.

 

A knock at the door signals Thayla’s arrival, at which point she slips inside the moment Avina confirms its her. Looking pleased to see Mikael still safe and sound, Thayla immediately goes to him.

 

“Sir Hero. I have done as you asked.”

 

Avina scoffs a bit at that, which is fair given it was what SHE had asked and suggested, and Mikael had just backed her up on it. But Thayla ignores the other woman for the moment.

 

“The Guards were quick to usher me away from the scene in the basement, once I showed them what I had found. I told them I could not let this go, in order to keep my cover. That it seemed to have been the work of a Necromancer. They were quite gruff with me, but told me that Lord Zadicus had given orders that I was not to be impeded. It would seem I still have free run of the city for the time being.”

 

Mikael smiles, but before he can respond, Avina speaks up in a clipped tone.

 

“Good, because you’ll need that if you’re going to play a part in how we get to Zadicus.”

 

Finally, Thayla looks to Avina and frowns before glancing back at him questioningly.

 

“Oh? Have we already come up with a plan of action, Sir Hero?”

 

Avina bristles some more at Thayla’s continued disrespect, and Mikael resists the urge to rub his head.

 

“I have a plan, yes. A good one too.”

 

Then, just as quickly as she gets up in arms, the dark-haired woman flushes and glances his way, suddenly seeming less certain of herself.

 

“… N-Not that I’m expecting either of you to follow it blindly or anything like that. It’s just… I know how Zadicus thinks. And I know this city the best out of the three of us. So… please hear me out?”

 

Mikael glances at Thayla at that, noting how surprised the female knight looks by Avina’s sudden display of vulnerability. Given the tender moment he shared with Avina in the tub earlier however, Mikael isn’t quite so surprised. Avina has been alone for a long time, with her only company being failed experiments and men like Tak. It’s not that much of a stretch to say she’s looking for companions she can actually count on.

 

She’s desperate for approval, Mikael realizes. But at the same time, she’s right. She does have the most knowledge of Zadicus and this city. So…

 

“I’m all for hearing you out, Avina. Let’s see what you’ve got so far, and then we can put our heads together and make sure its airtight. We’re a team, after all.”

 

Thayla squirms at that, but then nods, clearly not willing to go against him. Later… later he would get started on convincing her to call him by his actual name instead of constantly referring to him as ‘Sir Hero’. Later.

 

For now, they had a City Lord to topple from his perch.