AnimeCon Harem 16: Epilogue pt BKES (Patreon)

“So—uhhh, yeah. That’s everything that happened,” Emily finished.

“Okay,” Brian could only give a slow nod as he tried to grapple with everything that had apparently gone down in his absence. “Uh. Kelly—how much of that really happened?”

“Hey!” Emily gave him a playful smack and her mightiest pout. “All of it happened. For real.”

“She left out most of the other timeline stuff, but yeah,” Kelly said. “That catches you up on what happened here with us.”

A whiteboard was propped up in front of the TV across the room from them now, covered in a dense sprawl of Emily’s illegible handwriting that no one but her could decipher. Towards the bottom, she had doodled giant-eyed chibi versions of each of the girls in their ‘harem,’ even having taken the time to switch between the different colors of dry erase markers to accurately represent their hair. As much time and thought as Emily had put into it, the super deformed depictions done up in Emily’s less-than-stellar drawing style had done nothing but lowered the credibility of the entire insane magic harem thing Brian was trying to come to terms with.

“Chriiist,” Brian blew out a long breath, running his hands through his hair. “I can’t even—just, fuck. What the hell.”

“I know, right?!” Emily tried to snuggle in closer to him on the sofa.

“Steph, are you still there?” Brian asked, turning his attention to the coffee table where Emily's phone sat.

“I’m here!” Stephanie’s voice came through the speaker, with a rustling noise as something on the other end shifted. “Sorry, I ah, I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“You should cut class,” Kelly suggested. “Just for a few days. Or maybe take, like, a week off. Spend time with us, for however long you want.”

“Rebecca, too,” Emily said. “Yeah.”

“But, okay wait—this… then what happened with the Rebecca thing?” Brian asked, wiping his eyes. “Did she wind up kissing me, while I was unconscious? Did that work? Or, uh, did that unlock her stuff again? I don’t really understand it.”

“No,” Emily made a face. “Stupid Rebecca. I tried and tried, I told her and told her, but she was just all ehhh and wussed out and got cold feet. When we got her right there standing over you. She was so freakin’ close. If she’d just—”

“Rebecca wanted to kiss you,” Kelly explained. “But, in the end she wasn’t comfortable doing it like that, in those circumstances. She wanted to be able to talk about all of it with you first.”

“Oh?” Brian arched an eyebrow at Kelly. “Okay.”

“What’s that look for?” Kelly narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in a glare... that Brian thought was much more cute than she had probably intended it to be.

“It’s—I dunno,” Brian gave the beautiful redhead a searching look. “You sound like you agree with Rebecca on that, and yeah, I do too. I appreciate she wants to put thought into this, talk things through with me first. Just, that seems contrary to… I don’t know. Contrary to what I’d normally expect you to go with. You’re always against all the uh, the hesitation, the stopping to work everything out. Talking about everything. I thought you’d be more in wanting her to just say fuck it, and she should just kiss me. To see what happens.”

“That’s what I say,” Emily purred. “S’not like she can go wrong with Brian—Brian’s the best. Obviously. Duh.”

“Emily wasn’t this annoying when you were in that deep sleep,” Kelly remarked with a scowl. “But. Yes. Yeah. You got me. I don’t know what else I can say. This all with you guys isn’t something I can afford to… approach as casually as I would have before. Because I went and caught feels. So—so now… I don’t know what you want me to say. Stephanie was right, all of it’s more than worth it. But, Rebecca joining the harem or whatever you want to call it is a big decision, and it will affect all of us, and—yeah. She was right wanting to wait for you to be able to have your say.”

“Kelly…” Stephanie’s voice from the phone sounded worried.

“Okay, sorry,” Brian sat forward. “Really. I don’t mean to be judgmental, I wasn’t going for some kind of… I told you so, or anything. Just, all of this seems super abrupt to me, because… I guess I was knocked out for all this time while you guys have been adjusting to this whole… thing. To me, it’s like a couple hours ago you were about ready to bail on us completely, and then I managed to get you distracted talking about garlic bread? And then we fucked, right in the middle of the vendor’s room.”

“Wait what,” Emily’s eyes shot open. “You what?!”

“Or, maybe we didn’t?” Brian frowned. “Hard to say how much of that was a dream. Especially if, from what you’ve said, Rebecca really does turn into talking trees? So, that part wasn’t a dream?”

“No, she—that’s just in the dreamscape that she’s trees,” Emily sat up. “The dreamscape isn’t real. Well, it’s real, but it’s not—it’s not real, real, it’s a mental thing. Like, Rebecca is trees, I’m a river. It’s super deep and symbolic, actually. If you think about it.”

“Is it?” Brian tried not to sound as skeptical as he felt. “Is it, though?”

“Because… Emily’s last name is Rivera?” Stephanie guessed.

“No, not just that—the water element for me and everything,” Emily argued with a fit of exasperation. “It’s super spot on. There’s colors and shit for everyone, too. It’s one hundred percent anime magic bullshit. Steph can fucking read minds, sorta. Mostly, anyways. Kell gets magic transmissions from her future self.”

“And then, you’re a river and Rebecca is… trees?” Brian gave her a lopsided smile. “How does that fit into the theme? Mind powers, future sight, river, trees?”

“No! No, I’m—okay, I’m not super set on my superpower yet, but like, Kelly is comets or stars, and her motif is red. See? Red hair, red stars and stuff. Steph’s pink, and then in the dreamscape her thing is fire. But, she’s actually an empath. When you—”

“I’m sorry, I know all of that seems fitting and symbolic,” Brian said. “But, isn’t it also sort of like astrology? To where you can look at whatever zodiac sign is supposed to match up with you and say, yeah, sure, these super vague traits apply to me. If I look for them in myself. When really, they’re made generic enough to apply to anyone and anything?”

“Here we go again with Brian being a typical Taurus,” Emily shook her head in apparent dismay. “Stubborn and intractable, as always. You know, if—”

“The problem right now is Chloe,” Kelly interrupted. “Guys. We have to do something about her. Soon. We can’t have Rebecca basically imprisoning her indefinitely.”

“Well, we can’t let her go,” Emily muttered under her breath. “I know it sounds shitty, but… if you think about it, there’s really only one option we even have. We can’t risk letting her live.”

“Emily, we’re not murdering Chloe,” Brian groaned, resting his forehead on his hand. “No.”

“S’not murder, it’s self defense!” Emily insisted. “If we let her go, she’ll go to the Masters to try to fuck us over. She said she would. Sorry, but that’s the final nail in the coffin, far as I’m concerned. I don’t even understand how we’re still discussing this. You let her free, she will immediately bend every fiber of her being towards fucking us over. To the greatest degree possible. You know she will.”

“That’s not our only option,” Kelly said.

“It is,” Emily’s voice rose. “I know it sounds shitty, but it is our only option. At every fucking turn crazy fucking Chloe just comes back even fucking crazier and tries to fuck us over. At what point do we still just—keep letting that happen? Sorry, I’m done turning the other cheek, and I’m all outta patience with her. What’s it going to take for you to realize putting the bitch out of her misery is what we need to do? Something happening to me? The Masters coming for Steph? If we—”

“Emily, shut the fuck up,” Kelly’s voice was calm, but her eyes were anything but. “I had to see that happen, in one of the sends. That is not a fucking joke.”

“I know it’s not a joke,” Emily threw out her hands. “That’s exactly what I’m fuckin’ saying! Tolerating more punishment from Chloe just needs to stop, and there’s only one way it’s fucking going to stop, and everyone knows it.”

“So, you’re saying we just—kill her?” Brian gave her an uneasy laugh. “Emily… are you serious?”

“Sorry,” Emily huffed and crossed her arms. “I’m just saying out loud what we’re all thinking. We can’t let her go free. She will fuck us over.”

“Not if we can help her!” Stephanie chimed in.

“Not if we get her back to being Christine,” Kelly argued. “She was fine as Christine. She protected Brian from the Masters as Christine.”

“Her issues as Chloe are like a mental imbalance,” Stephanie added. “She was a broken mirror before, and then when she was put on a magic path, the mirror was whole and intact, and she didn’t have all the hate and rage controlling her.”

“And… ‘Christine’ is this alter-ego of Chloe’s, supposedly,” Brian looked from Kelly to Emily and back again. “Who I’ve never met. Who also happens to be a vampire?”

“Not technically a vampire,” Kelly scowled. “She was just starting in that direction. Blood magic, instead of love magic. But; yes. Christine was like having Chloe, but without the crazy. She was… okay.”

“None of that redeems her from anything she’s done!” Emily insisted. “Even guarding Brian, back then—that’s like, self-interest on her part. Since he’s the source of her powers, and she won’t want cut off, if he can do that. Who knows if he can or can’t? She doesn’t know for sure. Also, if Brian did go with the Masters and learn The Laws or whatever they have, probably the first thing he’d do as Evil Brian would be to go after Chloe. Nip that issue in the bud. Permanently.

“That’s the same thing you’re suggesting we do now, though,” Brian pointed out, incredulous. “Thing is—I’m not Evil Brian. Okay? So, just. Fuck, can we just say killing her is off the table? We’re not killing her. That’s final.”

“Fine,” Emily glowered. “Fine.”

“Thank you,” Stephanie’s sigh of relief could be heard through the speaker.

“That isn’t even a serious conversation I ever thought we’d be having,” Brian leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Just—fuck me, you know? This all escalated really quickly. One minute it’s all flirting and fun and talking about garlic bread, the next it’s all Masters and mind control and planning actual murder?”

“Now I want garlic bread,” Stephanie said in a small voice. “Shoot.”

“Not to mention the future timelines,” Kelly nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, not to mention those,” Brian chuckled. “Just… fuck. We’re not just gonna kill her. I guess for now… we need to drive out there and see what we can do.”

“There’s no guarantee kissing her will fix her,” Emily grumbled. “We’ve already established that she was charm-zapped before, and still okay with going completely psycho on us.”

“She was Focus activated, but not initiated,” Kelly gave Emily a superior smirk.

“You don’t get to say that!” Emily protested, jabbing an accusing finger across the room. “I gather up all the rules and terms we know, I write them on the whiteboard, and you, you just turn your nose up at all of that, because it’s oh, it’s stupid silly Emily stuff! You don’t get to diss on my whiteboard and then also borrow the terms whenever you think you can use them against me. Okay? Fuck off.”

“Emily! Kelly!” Stephanie warned them both. “Be nice to each other. Please?”

“Sorry,” Kelly actually managed to look chastised. “I just—most of the time I don’t have patience for the magic bullshit. Except for the great kisses and mindblowing amazing sex, all of it just seems stupid and unnecessary to me. I do… appreciate that Emily is willing to deal with it, so that I don’t have to.”

“Thank you,” Emily thrust a middle finger of exasperation at Kelly, but didn’t seem upset anymore. “Just don’t come crawling back to me when I unlock teleportation, or flight, or something super badass like magic spells. Normie.”

“Emily—you take that back!” Stephanie scolded from the phone on the coffee table. “Don’t call her a normie!”

“I can’t even tell which one of you is making fun of me anymore?” Kelly remarked. “I am a normie; I am completely normal.”

“Okay, okay, so ‘Focus active’—that means Chloe touched the charm, right?” Brian gently took Emily’s raised arm and middle finger and lowered it back down. “Primed into magic, or something. Initiated means, what? That we had to have kissed?”

“Maybe,” Emily grunted, crossing her arms again. “Rebecca proved that the Focus activation thing is temporary. From there, kissing seems to initiate one onto the charm magic path, blood obviously puts you instead on the road to being a vampire. But, thing is—we don’t know if it’s just kissing, because it might be a lot more than that. My hypothesis is that it requires a certain degree of compatibility, or uh, or interest. You know, attraction. Something. This is all like, feels magic, I think the feelings for one another play a huge part and that it’s not just the actual act of kissing.”

“Okay,” Brian considered that. “So… you’re saying it’s probable that Chloe was only ever going to be compatible with the blood magic path in the first place. Because of the whole uh, deeply and intensely hating my guts thing.”

“Exactly,” Emily looked up into his eyes. “So, I think just kissing her and hoping the crazy stops is, well, dumb. It doesn’t guarantee—well, anything. We don’t know what could happen. She could just randomly go full vampire again, because that’s a path that’s already a part of her now. She could pretend to be cured of the crazy for just long enough for us to relax our guard, and then—bam, she runs off the Masters with our names and addresses and all the details to use against us. We can’t fucking risk it. Sorry.”

“She has made it pretty damned hard to trust her,” Brian admitted, blowing out a slow breath of vexation. “Fucking hell.”

“What do you think we should do?” Stephanie asked.

“I think… we’d better at least drive out there and try to talk to her,” Brian sighed. “We have the directions, right? It’s a ways out there, though, so… I guess I can get into storage and find wherever the hell my sleeping bag went.”

“Rebecca has loads of spares,” Emily mentioned. “She has at least one at her grandparent’s place, in their garage. I think there’s a second one at Aunt Mattie’s place, Mike and them were borrowing it. Oh shit, you should probably go see them real quick. So they know you’re still alive.”

“I’m coming with you,” Kelly said. “I can sleep in the car, or whatever. Don’t have another shift until Wednesday.”

“Stephanie?” Brian asked. “Can you make it?”

“Umm,” Stephanie paused for a long moment. “I… can. I do want to be there for, um, for whatever happens. If it’s okay, I can ask Megan to drive me over and drop me off at your apartment? Tonight, after her last class ends. Then, we can all go out together tomorrow.”

“Yesss,” Kelly hissed in excitement, leaning forward. “You can be here tonight?!”

“It’ll be late, but yes, I think so,” Stephanie confirmed. “Maybe… ten or eleven o’clock?”

“Sounds like a plan, then,” Brian said. “It’ll be—honestly, it’ll be great just to see you again. I know I was completely out of it for however long, but… Steph, I really, really miss you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Stephanie admitted, and her bright smile was so loud they could almost hear it. “I love you!”

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/// Catch up / lampshade / setup post so that we don't just suddenly jumpcut all the way towards Brian and them being way out in the woods with Rebecca and Chloe. Taking tomorrow off from writing! Out to see another place to live, have an appointment with the realtor. Wish me luck, guys.