Play Testers Wanted Pt. 23

"You!" Titania hissed just before her hand struck out, grabbed me by the collar, pulled me over the bar, and kissed me, not as a stranger, but that of an old and dear lover. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Care to fill me in?" Left asked aloud.

"Typical, you always did attract odd companions," Titania laughed. "I have just the thing to consecrate such a sacred moment."

She took a silver key from around her neck, unlocked a safe on the floor, and took out a liquor bottle. There was no label to mark the vintner or country of origin, but if her smile was any clue, it must be rare indeed. Titania poured from the opaque glass bottle into a silver cup.

"Try this and tell me what memories it invokes."

I sniffed the contents before tipping the cup and letting just a little settle onto my tongue. Instinctively, I swished the fermented liquor about before taking a quick breath and sampling its subtleties. There was a brief flash of a woman, tall, athletic, her skin covered with sweat, and her arms around my neck when I swallowed.

"Passion," I said. "Sensuality."

"Distilled sex," Titania purred. "Welcome back, Booker."

I feared she would say Nick or Shaw for a long moment. But she meant me, knew me, but from where and how? I would remember someone as unique and beautiful as Titania. Her kiss burned my lips like potent alcohol.

"Thanks."

I sipped the rest of my drink and barely took my eyes off Titania. Was she the woman in that passing image? As Left and I socialized, we learned how long the time trap had lasted and some of the more amusing times when we defeated the dark mage. When I asked about the Order of Ebony Flame, I learned snippets of its cultish nature and the powers they serve. The mages aided entities that came from beyond the seven pales. The pales, when I asked about them, were ever darker dimensions. The first pale was described as a perpetual twilight without wind or water, a dry husk of a realm that acted as a testing ground for neophytes. No one here could or would describe the seventh pale, but I assumed it must be the stuff of nightmares.

"You are the Booker," a near-human female cried out. "I miss your videos. Are you returning to the Marvel game soon?"

"Yes, when I get home, I plan on attacking the next stage of the princess storyline."

"Good, I can't wait to see who you seduce this time. When Snow White bit you, I came so hard I woke my father. My people often use their teeth when copulating, see." The female smiled, revealing vampire-like canines which extended while I watched. "Do you find my teeth attractive?"

"Booker is more of a tits and ass man, love," Left blurted out, his speech heavily slurred.

"Left, he is real, awesome," the female giggled. She tugged off her loose-fitting red silk top, revealing her breasts restrained by a flimsy black bra. "Take a look at these; they are a J cup."

"Yowsa," a male patron exclaimed as she freed her tits.

"Dang, they are impressive," I agreed. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to...."

"Hold on, watch this," the female cut me off. The vampire unzipped her skirt and let it fall. Her matching black butt floss bisected her ass cheeks. "So, am I fuckable?"

Left cupped one of her cheeks and gave it a healthy squeeze. The woman pushed back and moaned. Titania watched this and only smiled.

"Is he going to fuck her in the bar?" A man asked.

Titania pointed to one of the signs posted above the central bar. The plaque read this is a bar, not a brothel, no fucking allowed. There were other rules such as no means no, pay your tab before you go, and the oddly metaphysical Buddha was a bartender.

"Could you autograph my ass?"

"Here," Titania said, handing me a black sharpie. "Be careful. Nephalim bite and are addictive."

I scrawled my name across the Nephalim's left ass cheek. She spent the rest of the evening showing it off and taking selfies of her ass and a few with me. Other fans or curious onlookers came over for a photo opportunity or chatted about me or the game. The sheer diversity of near and non-human species surprised me. A few of them were strikingly familiar, and I discovered that they weren't cosplayers but members of races depicted in books and other works of fiction.

"The Maze and the dimensions that align with it can inspire dreamers upon the Earth," Left explained. "Take the Osirians, for example. They are straight out of the Egyptian mythos. Who doesn't find catgirls sexy as hell."

"I heard that," a keen-eared Osirian female purred. "Your hand has good taste; buy a girl a drink?"

"What are you drinking?" I asked as the catgirl snuggled.

"Brandy," she whispered. "But I'll have a beer."

"Nice to meet you, Brandy," I chuckled. "Beer us, please."

"Watch her hands," Titania warned Brandy. "I banned you once, girlie, and if I catch you stealing again, you are out for good."

"You cut me to the quick," Brandy pouted. "I am a reformed rogue."

"That'll be the day," Titania laughed. "Remember, Booker took on a member of the Ebony Flame and lived. Do you want to anger him or earn your tribe his disfavor?"

"I have nothing to do with them," Brandy said, glaring at Titania.

"Remember these words then, little cat, I warned you."

I felt the temperature drop, and I shivered, had it been Titania's words or something else? The chill deepened, and another woman sat opposite Brandy on my other side. Titania set two beers in front of Brandy and me and visibly cringed when she saw the other woman.

"When did you crawl your way out of hell?" Titania asked the newcomer.

"It is good to see you too, Titi," the woman replied. "Oh, look who's back, hello stranger. My soul sight is never wrong. I missed you."

"Do I know you?" I asked, turning to get a better look at her.

The woman couldn't be any older than twenty but carried herself with a maturity way beyond her apparent years. She was wholly unremarkable save for a sense of power and an eerie red light in her eyes. Her iris didn't glow per se, but it reflected any light with a crimson hue.

"The last time we both wore flesh simultaneously must have been, ooh, let me think, France 1775 or was it 1776? It has been a while. We should celebrate. What name are you using this time around?"

"He goes by Booker, you blue-skinned thunder cunt," Titania laughed. "Here, have one on the house because of... history."

Was the woman talking about reincarnation? Could I be an old soul and Booker just my latest incarnation? It would explain the visions I had during the purging ritual. It would also explain why I instinctively called Titania, Titi. The once dark bracer now thrummed with power, and I felt the runes gliding across its surface against my skin. It had absorbed enough energy from the mage to awaken it completely. Just as Changeling had taken power from Left, the vambrace collected mana from the wizard and my other encounters.

"Booker, this is Bambi, a cerulean succubus from the second circle of hell, also known as Belial's Brothel. What could be so important you'd risk the wrath of the nine-cocked demon lord himself?" Titania asked while she poured a shot of distilled sex for Bambi's consumption. A subtle blush from the demoness was all Titania needed as an answer. "Why, you little blue minx. You clawed your way up here to see him."

"Yes, you loud mouth... what's the point? Booker doesn't remember me." Bambi cursed. "Oh, well, now, he doesn't remember us."

"Give me a moment," I said and took Bambi's hand in mine. I raised it to my face and took in her aroma. "Sweat. Sex. Leather. With just a hint of stygian silk, Paris by moonlight."

"Do me," Titania begged.

"Can I still call you Titi?" I asked as I accepted her hand. Her scent was almost painful to endure. A host of memories, my memories, flooded my mind. "London during the Blitz, a home in the Black Forest, and on the road during the Inquisition. I remember Rome at her height and so much more; I am an old soul, and by luck or fate, now I am Booker."

"He just expunged the last of Nick Shaw from his head," Left added.

"Shaw," Bambi spat on the floor. "Good fucking riddance. A thief and a liar, he'll fit in fine where he is, the ninth circle set aside for betrayers."

"What do you think, Brandy? Brandy? Where did she go? Damn it. I warned her," Titania said. "Check your pockets."

I rummaged through my pockets and found the diamond necklace missing. Brandy must have stolen it.

"It is gone; Brandy stole the diamond necklace."

"They have her. The Ebony Flame must have believed you handled it. Poor thing, I almost feel sorry for her. I warned her."

"You mean they used it as a teleportation lock?"

"Exactly. I will have to inform the Osirian embassy. Even though they disowned Brandy, she was still one of theirs."

"I might be able to get her back relatively intact for a price," Bambi offered. "You spend a week in bed with me, and I'll send a minion or two to rescue the Osirian."

"Do I have to bid for your time?" Titania asked. "I didn't think so. She stole from you, but that doesn't matter. I can see it in those adorable violet eyes of yours. You spend a week with the two of us, and I will aid in this endeavor."

"Sharing is caring," Bambi chuckled.

"You are going to say yes, right?" Left begged. "Aw, come on, a daughter of the Tuatha De Danaan and a high-born succubus... you are killing me here. Booker?"

"Yes, Booker," Titania purred. "What will it be?"

"Fine," I said nonchalantly, but my cock was already rock hard. "I need to contact Akira, so she doesn't worry. She is hanging out in Iram."

"Fear not; if she comes looking, you may find you have three women to satisfy," Titania promised. "Paula, go to Rick's and reserve a suite for our enjoyment."

"Rick's?" I asked, and Titania smiled. "Not like from Casablanca."

"Rick is a huge Humphrey Bogart fan. When Bogart died, he transformed his brothel into a casino slash hotel for his most celebrated guests. Rick usually has a room set aside for me."

"Let's get going. We have a whole lot of fucking to do," I said.

"Crudely put, but not inaccurate," Titania growled playfully. "Cherry, get that lovely Asian ass over here and take over for me. I have some personal time I am taking. Inform Puck that she's in charge until I return."

"Yes, boss," Cherry said.