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Dark Fracture

Part 2 - Fault Lines

I slowly started to wake up to a comfortable feeling of a fuzzy warmth around me. A rather decent improvement over the feeling of the cool air with nothing but the simple light sheet that I went to bed with the night before. To be honest, despite still being sleepy, it was the best night sleep that I had in a while and I really wanted to continue that feeling. I certainly didn't want to get up yet, but my body was arguing with me that it wanted to shift position and the only way to do that was to wake up enough so I could shift around till I was comfortable again. Giving in to my body's wants, I shuffled round so my back was wiggled against the mound of fur. It didn't register what I was feeling or what it could be until I felt movement on the mattress and the fur disappeared only for it to return with a foreign feeling against my back and what felt like a fur covered arm draped across my body. The motion put my mind and body on alert, making me realize that I was now no longer alone in the bed.

At this point, I would like to mention how in movies when someone is in a similar situation of finding themselves in bed with a stranger, there are typically two scenarios that play out. There's one where the surprised person keeps their composure and jumps out of the bed while managing to keep themselves covered, trying to find out what the heck was going on. The second is much less dignified where the surprised person is in such a shock that they flail so badly that they not only fall to the floor screaming like a little school girl in the commotion, but they also end up knocking the other person off the bed in the process.

I would like to say that I was able to do the former and get answers as to why there was a furry person now in the same bed as me… But… What happened in those next few moments I cannot say that I was proud of nor will I admit to anything incriminating during the incident.

“Master! Are you alright?" I heard a distinctly feminine voice say softly.

“I… Ahh... “ I looked up from the tangled mess that I was in to see two violet pools looking down at me, they belong to what I could only describe as a lovely but unique looking anthro girl. She was a vixen, a small, petite canine muzzle that was smaller than the Arruk siblings and two slightly larger triangle ears near the top of her head. I found her unique in the fact that instead of the rust or stereotypical orange fur color, her fur was different shades of green. Even her hair and spotted freckles that adorn her fur had a dark green tint to them. Right now though, she was more concerned with me than the fact that I was eyeing up her topless form.

I found my mind was in a blank state, part of it was because of the lack of sleep due to it being interrupted like it just was, but the other part was because of looking at a mostly naked woman that was leaning over me wearing nothing but what I could only describe as a sash-like loincloth. It took me a few moments to shake both the cobwebs and the sheer shock out of my head before I answered.

“Only my pride has been hurt." I say as I start to stand up while keeping the only piece of fabric around my lower body to keep what little decently I had left. “Now, who are you, what are you doing in my bed and why are you calling me master?"

She looked at me sheepishly as she reposition herself so that she was kneeling on the bed facing me.

“I am Hemri Skardi. I am one of your chamber slaves, master and when I came in here earlier in the morning I saw you shivering. I did the only thing I thought of to help you and joined you in bed so I could share my warmth." The corner of my mouth twitched in thought. It would explain why I was warmer when I woke up but even though she looked like a rather lovely girl, she was still a stranger to me. “Did I do something wrong, master?"

“Ahh… No." I said with a slight sigh. “I appreciate the gesture but for now I think that I would like a quilt or a blanket to sleep with for now on." Then all of what she said hit me. “Wait… Chamber slave?"

“Yes." She said, as she looked quizzically at me. “Do you not have slaves where you are from?"

I sighed as I thought about how to best answer her. “Yes, unfortunately…"

“Unfortunately?" She tilted her head as she continued to look at me.

“Yes. Where I am from, Slavery was made illegal, though that hasn't stopped some from continuing that trade and forcing others into servitude."

“I see." She said as she hung her head. “My status represents something that you do not like or want in your presence."

“No…" I sighed. “That's not what…" I was interrupted when the door opened and a rabbit's head poked in.

“Hemri, there you are." The rabbit's eyes locked straight on the vixen that was still sitting on my bed and didn't even seem to notice me. “The mistress has been looking for you for the past few hours."

Hemri's ears pulled tight to her head as she looked down at the floor again. “I will be right there." She quickly got off the bed and bowed to me. “I'm sorry to have offended you master." Her voice was low and I could almost feel my heart ache for her as sad as she sounded. She then quickly turned and left the bedroom. I stood there as I watched her go feeling like I had just somehow swallowed my foot up to my knee. In the end, I just ended up shaking my head and decided to stay up for a while since I was now quite alert.

A brief look at that full body suit still crumpled on the floor prompted me to make a quick exploration of the immediate area to find something else to wear. I soon found a closet full of things that I was rather unsure of what they were or what they might be used for but I was able to locate some house coats and put the biggest one on. Which was still small for my large frame, so I opted to wear a kilt like article so I didn't feel as exposed.

(I don't care what it actually was, I'm calling it a kilt and that's that!)

The door slid open for me as I entered the common room of my chamber suite and found several girls in there performing chores. I saw the rabbit from earlier, a blond haired girl with mostly cream colored fur mixed with splotches of light brown on her body. The look and glare from her green eyes told me that there was intelligence up stares and that I had better watch my step around her. In addition to her, I spotted a shy looking otter girl with a deep shade of violet hair, a gray feline with black hair who was also staring daggers at me every time she glanced my way, a mostly blonde colored mouse, and an exotic griffon-like alien with talons like feet and paws similar as the rest for hands. There were other features that made them all stand out on their own but my attention was shifted to the entrance where Hemri was standing looking rather fearfully as a red panda that had a lot more to her attire than the rest of them. The panda had on what I would call a loose version of a kimono with the top hanging off of her shoulders, showing off the red fur that was there.

The Red Panda was apparently having what I'd hazard a guess was a few choice words with the poor vixen. Though I couldn't hear what was being said with me being on the other side of the large room, I had the feeling that she was tearing into Hemri something fierce and was making the green vixen cower. I couldn't help but frown and I decided to intervene just as the panda brought her palm up that was quickly enveloped in a holographic glow that shaped itself into an interface that was similar to what I would later find out was an Omni-tool like device similar to one I've seen in a video game and then pressed a button. The vixen let out a yelp of pain as she grasped at the side of her neck and fell to her knees in pain. The others stopped momentarily and looked at the scene, then most of them turned back to what they were doing, they all now had a scared but sympathetic look while the gray feline and rabbit both instinctively grasped at the area of their necks where Hemri had grabbed before falling to the floor.

“Is there a problem?" I asked as I came up to the two of them. I will admit that aside from the nasty glares from the rabbit and feline earlier, I had pretty much been ignored by the group up to this point.

“Yes there is." The panda said not once taking her eyes off of Hemri. The poor vixen looked like she just wanted to crawl under a rock and hide for the rest of her life. “But I am taking care of it on my own. I don't need some lowly guard to interfere."

“Who said anything about me being a guard?" I said as I crossed my arms. “You're the one who's yelling at someone in the middle of the suite that I was given last night." The red panda turned to me to start letting whatever irritation she had with Hemri out on me, but as soon as she saw me she jumped back in surprise and bowed her head.

“My lord." she stated very apologetically. “I was unaware that you had been summoned."

“It kind of happened late last night." She nodded in response and I continued. “So, may I ask who you are and what are you doing to Hemri?"

She straightened up before announcing. “I am you Madam, I am in charge of the female slaves of the palace. If you need any special cleaning, preparation, or service for you or any guest that you might have during your tenure, then you see me or one of my girls and I will arrange it for you."

“I see." I nodded. “And Hemri and the girls?"

“They have been chosen by me to be your personal slaves. They are to serve you in any way as you see fit and do as you desire."

My eyebrow perked at that. While it would probably be the dream of a lot of men to have a potential harem at their beck and call and it was quite tempting to test my control to see how far I could go, there were still mental lines that I personally didn't want to cross. Plus the thoughts of the girls being slaves rubbed me the wrong way and even though I would like to change that fact, it would mean taking on the mantle and becoming the new Overlord of the Sydion Dominion. Something that I still wasn't sure that I wanted to do yet.

“Okay…" I said slowly. While I could wake up early and function, I was not much of an early riser and there was a lot of information that was being dumped on me at once. “And now you can answer the other half of the question that I asked. What did you do to Hemri?"

“Please my lord," She said dismissively. “It's nothing that one such as yourself should concern yourself with."

“It is if someone is in some kind of pain, now tell me what you did to her."

“I…" She paused for a moment, apparently surprised that I cared about the vixen's well being. “I was punishing her for her insubordination this morning."

“Insubordination? What Insubordination?" I exclaimed as my face twisted into a scowl. “There was no insubordination on Hemri's part that I was aware of. She had seen that I was cold this morning and tried to warm me up. If there was a problem, it was actually my fault and was simply a misunderstanding on my part." I seen Hermri's ears perk up and looked at me like i was crazy as the Madam when to say something but quickly closed it. “As for any more punishment, I don't want to hear that anyone else on staff was punished in a similar fashion. If I do, I'll make sure that you're punished just as equally." Everyone just looked at me like I had just grown a second head, even the other slave girls stopped what they were doing and were staring at me in near shock. “Do I make myself clear?"

“Yes, my lord." The Madam said as she bowed again.

“Then you are dismissed." The red panda quickly gathered herself back up and quickly made her exit from the suite. I turned to Hemri and held out my hand to her, which she did hesitantly and I helped her back to her feet. I then turned to address the rest of the girls. “There are no slaves in this room. You do something wrong, the punishment that we just witnessed will not be used, nor do I want to find out that it ever used again. You are welcome to stay or to leave, it is your choice. There will be no repercussions from me."

The six girls gave each other looks, possibly to see what the others would do. After a few moments of silent conversation between each girl, the blond mouse walked up to me and bowed her head to me.

“I… I think that I speak for everyone when I say, thank you, Master." I held my hand up.

“There is no master here… except for maybe the master bedroom and bath." I made a half-chuckle after my comment. “Sorry, bad joke."

Hemri and the mouse girl giggled. “To us, you are still our master, even if you don't want us to call you that." I sighed in mock defeat to which the two giggled again, with one or two of the others joining in.

“Is there anything we can do for you master?" Hemri asked from behind me. I looked at her and thought for a moment before answering.

“Is there any way I could ask one of you for a light breakfast?"

“Of course." The mouse said. “Mesira?"

The otter stopped what she was doing and came over to us. The mouse then leaned over and whispered into the otter's ear before they took off for what I'd assume was the suite's personal kitchen. At this point, I wasn't too sure what to do with myself while waiting for the two to cook what they might think was a light breakfast for me.

With a wait ahead of me, we sat at a low table where despite being on a chair, I had to sit cross legged in order to sit comfortably. Hemri and the griffoness joined me by sitting at the table on their knees while the rabbit and feline continued to do other tasks around the room. Wanting to know the company that I was with, I went and introduced myself to the other girls in an attempt to learn their names since I was essentially stuck here. I of course knew Hemri the vixen's name, so at least that was easy. I soon learned that she had quite the sociable personality, very open and as bubbly as she appeared.

The others, not quite as much.

I learned that the Griffon's name was Netyu, who was rather shy to start with but would later open up as we talked . She had mostly soft, black fur-like feathers with a white mask and white belly that stretched down to her avian like feet as well as decorated her impressive wings. I couldn't help but to compliment her on her almost neon blue hair like plume of feathers to which her large feline-like ears folded back in shy embarrassment. I managed to get out that she was rather young to my surprise, only a few years old by human standards. When she noticed my surprise she then informed me that her race, the Avilean, has a rather frail life span of only twenty-five to thirty years.

While Hemri and Netyu were warming up to me, the rabbit and the feline kept their distance from me. It took some doing but I finally did learn that their names were Dhen and Nizri respectively, but I couldn't get much more out of them. They both kept their distance from me and when I asked them questions, they would only give me a short, curt answer in the form of a nod or a simple yes or no. It was Hemri that told me that the two preparing my food were named Mesira and Palea. With Mesira being the otter while Palea was the mouse. The two soon came out pushing a cart stuffed from food, taking me aback with the amount that they had prepared.

“Here you are, Master." Palea said. “Take all that you want."

“This can't be all for me." I shook my head in disbelief as I looked over the spread that was there, I could see a variety of fruits that I had no idea what they were as well as some rather large looking nuts, what I assume was a bowl of scrambled eggs though I wasn't too sure of the green coloring, some different kinds of pastries and puddings, and a slab of meat that looked much like a pot roast. “This is too much for just me."

The girls just looked at each other before turning back to me. “This… this is what we were told to make for you should you ask for breakfast."

“Oh boy…" I muttered to myself. “Look, this is all very nice, but it's a bit too much for me." I sighed but smiled. “I know you two made this all for me, but you girls are all more than welcome to help yourselves to the meal." I took a few pieces of fruit and put them on a plate that was placed in front of me earlier and tried to hand the bowl for the girls to take. “Please?"

The girls looked at each other again to look for any visual cues for what to do. Finally Hemri took the bowl from me and took a few pieces for herself before handing it over to Netyu before saying, “The cooks should wait till others are served before they get their serving, as is our custom." I nodded in understanding as I continued to take a few samples of the served dishes and pass them around. When I got to the brisket of meat, (as I don't know what kind it was) Nizri offered to carve it. I smiled and nodded again and shifted my attention to Mesira and Palea, ready to get to know them like I did with Hemri and Netyu when they were in the kitchen.

But before I could say more than a few words to them, I had a flash of insight that caused me to roll onto my side and miss the knife that was aimed for my neck!

“Nizri, What the HELL!" I exclaimed from where I laid on the floor, looking at the feline that stood over me.

“I am Officer Third class Nizri Sasritis of the Alliance Naval. It is my sworn duty to stop the rise of the overlord by any means necessary." Those golden eyes stared at me with predatory intent as she shifted the carving knife in her hand.

“Look, I'm not the overlord. I don't even want to be one." I tried to reason. “I'm certain that I can convince the others to release you and anyone else who might want to leave."

“Don't think that you can con me with those lies. No matter what happens, I am dead. Dead as a broken slave or executed for killing you. I would rather die as I am than to have a slow death as a slave."

As soon as she was done with her tirade, she lunged at me. I quickly brought my leg up and kneed her in the abdomen before bringing my other leg to firmly shove her away, sending her sprawling back on the floor with a yowl. Rolling onto my stomach, I quickly got up to my feet just in time to dodge another lunge attack. Nizri slashed the knife in a back hand attempt to stab me, only for her arm to get grabbed in mid swing by Hemri. Mesira came in from the side to help Hemri and also grabbed the hand that held the knife, trying to wrench it free from Nizri's grip.

Nizri hissed as she tried to wrestle herself free from the two girls who were doing their best to subdue her. The trained alliance officer was able to free her one arm and pushed Hemri into me, causing me to instinctively catch her before we both took a tumble onto the floor. Nizri then punched the otter in the side in an attempt to free her other arm that still had the carving knife. Mesira took the beating that Nizri was giving her, holding on to the arm with the knife. The otter opened her mouth and bit into the feline's arm, causing Nizri to scream in pain and dropped the knife. Nizri retaliated by striking her free palm into Mesira's face and raked her feline claws across the otter's muzzle, causing Mesire to wince back in pain and collapse onto the floor. Nizri came after me again, discarding the dropped knife and lunged with her claws out stretched. Hemri jumped in front of the smaller feline and grappled Nizri. The vixen struggled to stop the better trained feline in her assault while Nizri kept trying to knock the vixen off of her, but neither had a good angle on the other to get the upper hand. Or so I thought. In a fluid motion, Nizri hooked her leg behind Hemri's and forced the vixen back with a push. tripping Hemri up and forcing the green vixen to fall onto the table on her back hard.

Before Nizri returned her focus back to me, I took the initiative and tackled the feline to the floor once Hemri was out of the way. The two of us rolled around on the floor as we struggled against each other. Nizri was trying desperately to use either her natural claws or get the knife again while I was simply trying desperately to subdue her. I wasn't sure how long it took but I had finally pinned her down on the floor. Her face down on her stomach with me on top of her holding her arms and legs down with my own. She was still thrashing under my body, trying in vain to get free when the guards and the madam came in. As soon as the madam saw what was going on, she instantly brought up her arm interface and Nizri was soon letting out a yowl in agony. While I didn't approve of the method, I was able to get off of the feline to which the guards quickly grabbed her arms and started to drag her out of the room.

“I am sorry my lord." The Madam said to me once Nizri was out of sight. “I thought that she was more docile. I shall ensure that this won't happen again." Before I could ask what she meant, she was gone. Leaving me with the remaining five girls.

“Are you alright master?" Hemri and Palea asked me. I shook my head.

“I'm the one that should be asking you that Hemri." I said looking at the green vixen. I could see that she was moving sluggish and stiffly from being thrown onto the table.

“Please." She said looking down to the floor, “My care is of no importance than yours master."

“It is to me." I sighed. “I don't want anyone to be hurt because of me."

“What happened here?" A familiar voice spoke up. I turned and found Lycia standing just inside the doorway looking over the mess that was caused by the impromptu assassination attempt.

“One of the girls was apparently a captured Alliance officer and attempted to carve me up like a roast." I said, I could see her ears pin back against her head at what I said. “Will this sort of thing be common?"

“Don't worry, my lord. We will boost security and our screenings to lessen the chance of such things happening again."

I gave the wolf a glare that she ignored by looking over the mess created from Nirtzi's attempted on me. The commander had both avoided the question and answered it at the same time with her response. It was easy for me to figure out that if I did become their Overlord, I will be facing more attempts on my life in the future. More than likely both in and out of battle.

Not something that excited me to say the least.

After the guards and other security detail left, the rest of the morning went as well as could be expected with the girls cleaning up the mess that used to be our breakfast. The remaining girls would shoo me away like a small kid while they worked when I tried to help. When that was over, we managed to gather some of the food that wasn't ruined and ate a light meal in silence. It was easy to tell that the mood was now more subdued due to what Nizri had attempted and it put us on alert. Though the only one that didn't seem phased was Dhen.

It remained quiet until late morning when the old griffon that I met last night came to the door with the intent to measure my size. I had honestly expected Hemri and Palea to give the bird the ninth degree like they had been since breakfast, but that was quickly squashed when Netyu came running up to him saying “Grandpa!" and launching at him to wrap him in a tight hug. To which he returned and I couldn't help but smile at the scene.

Aside from the touching display with his granddaughter, the old griffon was more professional than I would have thought with family nearby. He had a device that he ran over the length of my arms, legs, head, and eventually my whole body. He then produced something that was attached to the scanning device that looked like a large watch. He had me hold my left arm out and once he had it fitted to my wrist, he activated the glowing holographic interface and began to show me the device's functions. It was a device similar in function to an Omni-tool from a sci-fi game, though he called it a Multiple Integrated Technology Tool or M.I.T.T. for short. It not only functions as a personal computer but also like a mini replicator and as something described as a kind of “zero-point" storage device so that I can store outfits and other things in it until I want it.

“I am afraid that when I looked over the records of the other overlords, there was no one that matched your size and scale." The griffon explained to me as he worked. “So when the great divines summoned you to us, they gave you a generic size for your armor."

“Which was two sizes too small." I muttered; half mockingly, half in jest. Either the comment went over the griffon's head or he chose to ignore it. “Is there any way to create new outfits and store them on the MITT's system?" I asked with a small sigh. The griffon's beak clicked what I would guess as an affirmative and began to show me more of the MITT's functions, which included a design feature that I capitalized on and started creating a simple outfit for me to wear. With the elder's griffon's help and some input from a few of the girls, (some wanted, some not) I eventually found myself in a wrap-around tunic with a pair of slacks.

“Also," The elder started when I was done with the outfit. “I'm able to update your size profile with the scanning device." He continued as he did something on the device he had in his talons. He then reached over and activated my MITT and with a press of a button I was suddenly engulfed in blackness. It wasn't long before the semi familiar odd, red symbols started to appear before my eyes. I could feel my body encased in that full body suit and the weight of that armor around me.

I let out a groan in frustration as I realized what the griffon had done.

“Is something a matter my lord?"

“What part of 'I don't want to wear this stupid armor' that people doesn't understand!"" I growled as I saw the armor diagnostics show up and started to scan every part and display things that I didn't understand at that point. “How do I take this stupid thing off."

There was a hesitation with the griffon's response. “My lord… Th-there's nothing I can do until the diagnostics have run their course."

I growled as I had to resign myself to my fate as the armor's on board system went through its diagnostic routine.