Shiloh drifted through the bck dreamscape again. Evehingness here was a blessed relief, and he quietly sobbed his emotions into the ether. He looked around, but he couldn't see the pinprick of light that had been Aphrodite's domain this time. Maybe that was because Ashleigh had finally killed his physical body and he was no longer Aphrodite's avatar. Maybe she didn't want to face him after leaving him in that situation.

  "I'm so sorry, Loverboy." Aphrodite's voice whispered into his ear, but she was o be seen. Shiloh did hear the pure grief in the goddess's tone, however. She was truly regretful about what had happened. Shiloh wao harden his heart, to turn from the fort she was no doubt about to offer, and to let her wallow in her own despair, but the soft and vulnerable voice she spoke in wasn't something he could ignore.

  "Why did you leave me there?" Shiloh whispered back.

  "We are not allowed to directly interfere in the mortal worlds without permission from the cil of Twelve."

  "Of course you aren't." Shiloh scoffed bitterly.

  "I am sorry, Shiloh. What is happening to you shouldn't ever happen to anyone."

  "You mean... she's still..." Shiloh's stomach turned, and he felt he might be sick.

  "The road beyond this is going to be equally difficult in its ht." Aphrodite said softly.

  "What could be as bad as that?!" Shiloh excimed, terrripping him again.

  "Not as bad, but as difficult." Aphrodite gently corrected him. His heart slowed, but his curiosity iqued. "Recovery from this kind of abuse, physically, mentally, and spiritually, is going to require much of you. I suspect that the st thing yoing to want to do for a long, long time, possibly for the rest of your life if you don't fight for it, is be with someone again. I implore you to not let your intimate side die like that.

  "Your partners are very kind people, you know this. They deserve love and kindness, and their biology demands intimacy. It's not a fair situation for anyone, but it is the way this world works. If you never offer them that intimacy again, you will not only create problems for those you care about, but you will also stunt your own growth and make your party more vulnerable to the forces that wish to crush you all."

  Shiloh sidered all that Aphrodite had said for quite a long time. The goddess didn't interrupt him or try to hurry him along; being immortal gave one an enormous amount of patience. He khat the future events she hi weren't something she could give him details about. She was absolutely correct that the st thing he wanted right now was to be intimate with anyone, but he also craved the affe of his friends. Her words bred a defian him against the portion of his psyche that just wao crawl into a hole and never do anything again.

  "Thank you, Aphrodite." Shiloh finally responded. "You're right. I don't know how long it will take me to get there, but I promise you I won't allow this to defeat me."

  Shiloh felt a warmth blossom across his chest, as if someone's hand was there and pumpi into him. He briefly sahrodite's face shimmer in the air in front of him, and her lips formed words of fort. "I am a powerful being, Shiloh, and the aspect of sex is not my only domain. As long as you fight for me, I will bless you in every way I without offending the rest of the gods. You are my champion, and I do love you."

  Aphrodite leaned in even closer until Shiloh could smell the st of honey and wildflowers ing from her. She looked deeply into his eyes, and her face fully formed briefly. She closed her eyes and tilted her head. She didn't kiss him, didn't cross that line for him, but she offered it, if he wa.

  Shiloh hesitated momentarily, then closed the distand pressed his lips to the goddess's. Like the st time, the kiss was electric. It seemed to light every one of his nerve endings on fire, passion burning through him. His tongue brushed against her lips and, to his surprise, they parted and allowed him to deepen the kiss. She tasted of clover and honey, aongue masterfully wound about his own, caressing it, dominating and submitting in equal measure.

  The fiery passion c through him reached into his mind, and he felt himself being ed by it. The side of him currently abh intimacy seemed to grow weaker, though it did not disappear. Aphrodite finally broke the kiss, pulling back from him and panting, the same uifiable emotion in her eyes that he had seen in his lovers. Suddenly, a fsh of inspiratioook him, ahought he knew what that emotion was.

  "Do they-" Shiloh began, but Aphrodite pressed a fio his lips.

  "That's something for you and them to talk about." She whispered, a twinkle in her eye.

  "Did you do that just to let me know?" He asked instead.

  Aphrodite gave him a geous smile. "Go on, now. They're waiting for you."

  "What?! It's over? They found me?" Shiloh's heart began rag as fast as his mind.

  Aphrodite ughed brightly and pecked him on the nose before her image began fading. "Go, Loverboy. Tell the four of them that they have my thanks for saving my avatar."

  With that, Shiloh felt himself fade into the bess surrounding him.

  ***

  "Gods damn, Twil. You nearly fug killed her." Ara's voice was the first thing Shiloh heard upourning to his body.

  "She'd deserve it." Elnor stated coldly. "Look at what she- Shiloh!"

  The other three tur her excmation to see Shil to sit up, looking around at all of them with tears of joy in his eyes. "Y-y-aahh!" His throat was still torn from... her... It still burned intensely wheried to speak. This pain then made him aware of the pain radiating through his guts, a his lower lip to keep from screaming.

  Immediately, Elnor was at his side and him a healing potion. He mao part his lips far enough to allow her to tip it into his mouth, without aggravating the sore muscles in his jaw. He could barely even taste the fvor of cherry medie he'd experie time. The potion washed down his throat and soothed the agony he felt, though it didn't e close to erasing it.

  Shiloh tentatively opened his status sheet, scared of what he'd see.

  Shiloh SuttonCss: Cleric of AphroditeHP: 4/50Level: 5MP: 100/100Lust:940 Strength: 8Ara: 0Finesse: 10Divine: 30Fortitude: 5Resistance: 5Endurance: 12Focus: 15 Four health... Shiloh was stunned by just how close to killing him Ashleigh had e. In the moments that he had the menu open, the four ged to a five, then to a six, then to a seven. He realized that he had likely been even lower when Elnave him the potion.

  "How's your health pool?" Beck asked nervously, croug on his other side, opposite Elnor.

  Shiloh held up seven fingers, then raised ohen another as his health kept climbing. Elnor let out a little sob, and Shiloh looked at her to see her eyes full of tears and a hand c her mouth. She reached out with her other hand and made to stroke his head softly. Shiloh jerked back from the tact as the memory of Ashleigh whipping him around by his hair shot through him.

  Elnor let out another hicg sob and withdrew her hand. "I'm sorry..." She whispered.

  Shiloh shook his head and pced a hand on hers. His throat was still too raw to speak, but he smiled up at her and shrugged his shoulders, hoping she would uand.

  "We o get him to a healer." Twil stated. She hadn't moved, and Shiloh could tell she was repressing her emotions to keep a cool head. "Elnor and Ara should probably hahat. Bed I take this piece of trash to the authorities." She motioned with her head off to the side.

  Shiloh didn't want to see Ashleigh ever again, but his morbid curiosity made him gn the dire Twil had he motionless form of his attacker was ying on the ground. He could see blood c her face, and a couple fihat were bent in the wrong dire. There were huge, purple bruises c her green skin, but Shiloh couldn't see any other obvious signs of injury.

  Gods damn, Twil. You nearly fug killed her. Ara's words echoed in his memory. The fact that Ashleigh, a Tank, had beeen unscious, showed Shiloh that there must be massive amounts of internal damage. Damage that had apparently been inflicted by his smallest, most reserved lover.

  Twil met his eye briefly, then looked away hurriedly. She walked over to Ashleigh's unmoving body, and Beck helped her lift the orc. Elnor and Ara covered Shiloh in a b before they did the same, wing and apologizing as he squirmed unfortably at the movement and the scratg of the b over his hyper-sensitive body. He bit back his cries of pain, knowing that they had to move him and the audible evidence of his agony would do nothing but upset them. The healing potion definitely helped him trol his tongue, but it hadn't healed him as much as he thought it would.

  Shiloh SuttonCss: Cleric of AphroditeHP: 16/50Level: 5MP: 100/100Lust:940 Strength: 8Ara: 0Finesse: 10Divine: 30Fortitude: 5Resistance: 5Endurance: 12Focus: 15 The healing had stalled out at sixteen, but he felt markedly better, even if markedly better than a step from death only felt like a few steps from death. Together, his four party members hauled him and Ashleigh out of the basement and into a decrepit house. It looked like a fire had burhrough the house at one point, and it hadn't been fixed yet.

  As they brought him out of the remnants of the building, he saw more burnt-out buildings surrounding them. Evereets they walked were covered in ash and carbon. The long journey bato Chattery proper tested Shiloh's limits of pain to the extreme. He only mao keep his cries at bay by distrag his mind.

  First, he forced his focus onto their surroundings. When that ran out of i for him, he sidered the look Aphrodite had given him, and what she had said.

  You are my champion, and I do love you.

  Love. Was that what he had seen fshing in Elnor, Ara, and Twil's eyes? Could they love him after only knowing him for a week? Was it some byproduct of being Aphrodite's avatar, or were these hypothetical emotions truly applying to who he was? He suddenly didn't want ao his questions. The idea that his hopes might be proven wrong wre his heart.

  Instead, he opened his menus again and flicked through them without really seeing them, just trying to distract himself, now from the physical pain as well as the emotional distress he'd inflicted upon himself. Suddenly, he realized he had several notifications waiting for him.

  You have been blessed with a Boon of Aphrodite!You have been blessed with a Boon of Akeso!You have been blessed with a Boon of Nemesis!Shiloh's eyes wide these procmations and, after he accepted the notifications, he quickly shifted to his skills menu.

  Emp Pool

  Store a pool of lustful energy whenever engagingin sexual acts. Disperse this energy ter to givean ally a buff to a stat of their choice equal to halfyour Diviribute. Duration scales with amountof energy stored.

  Aphrodite's Advocate

  So long as you are the one speakiiations with your party aremore likely to end in your favor.

  Healing Unions

  You heal an ally for an amount ofHP equal to your Divinity per asmyou give them.

  Aphrodite's Guidance

  You gain a ritual by whiay speakwith your patron. You may ask three questionsand she may answer in any manner she sees fit.

  Feat of Persistence

  You have proven yourself capable of going the distance.You no longer incur exhaustion by missing sleep.Gain +5 Endurand +5 Focus.

  Boon of Aphrodite's Beloved

  Your dedication to the ways and means of Aphrodite hasmarked you with her love. You have been blessed withthe uanding of the desires of anyone you eh in sexual acts, while engaged in those acts.

  Boon of Akeso's Mercy

  Your brush with death at the hands of another hasdrawn Akeso's empathy to you. You have beenblessed with the amplification of all healingmagics, both cast by you and cast on you.

  Boon of Nemesis's Retribution

  Nemesis has seen the injustice which has beeninflicted on you by Ashleigh Coldwater. She hastaken all but one of each of Coldwater's stat pointsand giveo you.

  Shiloh could barely prehend the immensity of the boons he'd just been given. Akeso's boon erhaps, the easiest to grasp, but it still offered questions. Would it work on healing potions? What about skills that didn't use mana, like his Healing Unions skill? How much would it amplify the healing by?

  Aphrodite's boon was a bit more esoteric. What qualified as a desire? Their sexual desires? Emotional or spiritual desires? What about their personal desires for their own life? How would he uand them? Would he be able to read their minds, or would he just intrinsically know what they wanted?

  Nemesis was the most straightforward with her boon, but it terrified him. He couldn't imagine what he would do if he had all of his stat points taken from him. How could he keep himself from attrag the goddess's ire? Would Nemesis expect his worship to maintain this boon? Would he forfeit the points if he took his own revenge on Ashleigh?

  No. An unfamiliar, feminine voice spoke to him. The retribution I took on Ashleigh Coldwater was mine alone, and it was taken for her breaking of the rules of band order. Likewise, the punishment inflicted on her by Twil Reignover was hers alone, which Ashleigh earned for vioting her lover. You are free to choose whether you wish to take your own revenge from her.

  Shiloh froze as he listeo Nemesis expin. When she'd stopped speaking, he prayed silently to her. Thank you, Lady Nemesis, for answerihank you for your boon. Is there anything you desire of me?

  The goddess was silent for several minutes, during which Shiloh was uo distract himself of the pain of being carried through the streets of Chattery. He noticed that there were many people who stopped and stared in shod disgust as their group passed.

  My boon was simply an attempt to help correething that ever truly be pensated for. We three who blessed you had tue at length with the cil of Twelve to justify giving you three separate boons but, in the end, they agreed it was the proper course of a. As far as your question goes, you have o fear me if you deal honorably and fairly with everyone you meet.

  Thank you, Lady Nemesis. Shiloh repeated. I am grateful for your intercession on my behalf.

  You are wele, Shiloh Sutton. Go in peace.

  Shiloh sighed in relief and looked around. He thought he reized a few buildings, and realized they were taking him to the Adventurer's Guild. As he watched, he saw more and more people staring at his bruised and broken form being carried up to the building. As soon as they ehe foyer, an unknown voice yelled with urgency.

  "Healer! Get a healer down here right now!"

  There was a flurry of motion as everyone in the foyer backed away, giving Ara and Elnor room to move. There was the sound of running footsteps and heavy breathing, then Shiloh heard a man's voice from just behind his head, out of his line of sight.

  "Here, set him on this."

  Ara and Elnor slowly lowered him onto a bed unlike any he had ever id on. It was definitely a bed, but it didn't feel like he'd been put on anything at all. It was like he was floating in the middle of the room, and he couldn't feel anything pressing on his wounds. It was a relief just to not be touched anymore.

  "What happeo him?" The man's voice asked. Shiloh saw Elnor and Ara exge a gnce over his body, but they seemed unwilling to say anything in such a public pce, with so many people watg. "e on, what happeo him?" The man's voice was more urgent now. "I 't provide proper care if I don't know what I'm dealing with."

  Shiloh ched his fist in preparation for the pain, then whispered. "Raped. Orc futanari." Those three words caused his throat to erupt in agony again, and he went into a coughing fit, which seemed to split open the wounds that had started to heal from the potion Elnave him. He finally got his coughing under trol, and saw that he had sprayed blood all over himself.

  "Right. We o get him to a private room. Make a hole!" The man's voice echoed throughout the foyer, and Shiloh heard the footsteps of many people parting before them.

  ***

  Twil walked at a quick pace, trying to keep up with Beck's lorides, as she held Ashleigh's legs. They parted with Ara, Elnor, and Shiloh at the Adventurer's Guild whehree of them walked inside while Bed Twil took their charge onward towards the jail.

  Chattery's jail was staffed by city guards who were responsible for making sure that peace was maintained ihe city. Many of these hadn't seen real battle, though there were a feere adventurer's that either couldn't, or wouldn't, tinue adventuring. It was little more than a colle of cells and an antechamber where citizens could i with the guards.

  It was that antechamber which Twil and Beck carried Ashleigh into. There was a swear from one of the guards when he saw the state Ashleigh was in. A male elf approached them and demahem to expin.

  "She brutally beat and raped one of our party members. He had to be taken to emergency healers in the Adventurer's Guild to avoid perma injury or possibly death." Beformed him.

  "And who did this to her?" He asked, gng betweewo of them.

  "I did." Twil stated, materializing the iron-bound staff and holding it out for the guard to take. "Wheered the room, she was on the very edge of killing him through her abuse. I froze everyone in pce, removed him from dahen I beat her with this staff until she reached the state you see now."

  The elf's eyes grew wide as he listeo Twil's at. He sloted the staff from her, notig the blood staining the iron ed around the end of it. He nodded, and snapped his fingers. At his nonverbal and, twuards rushed forward and took Ashleigh's body from them. Then, anuard stepped forward and pced his hand on Twil's shoulder.

  "This lease." The man said, steering Twil down the hallway after Ashleigh.

  "What are you doing?" Beck said, ed. "She saved his life!"

  "And then she assaulted this woman with unwarranted violehe elf stated softly. "It's procedure. They both o be held until a hearing be arranged."

  "Unwarranted my furry tail!" Beck shouted. "I would have killed the bitch if I were her!"

  Another man stepped forward, a human with a deep scar over one eye. He spoke with a deep, bass rumble. "I am sure that most of us would have dohe same. heless, we are not executioners. We must allow the w to take its course. I am fident, and will testify if asked, that what your friend did was justified."

  Beck fumed. She couldn't fly off the ha the guards, though. They hadn't done anything wrong. She caught Twil's eye as the halfling was led away, and called out to her.

  "This won't stand. We'll get you out."

  Twil simply nodded, and followed the guard to her cell.