Chapter 302 – Re: Eling

Day 42 

"So we just sit here and wait?" Kichi asked.

"Pretty much. You can also move your rod around like this to make it look more enticing for the fish. If they are hungry, they will take the bait. You will feel a slight tugging on your rod, but don't jerk it right away. We want to wait until they take the hook into their mouth before we set it.  After that, we just pull them out of the water. If we had actual rods with reels, I would show you how to fish properly, but this is what we have to work with." John replied. The two of them were seated at the end of the dock, using the makeshift fishing poles as he taught Kichi how to fish. 

"If you say so, Rou. Though wouldn't it be easier to just use my hands? Or maybe a spear?"

"You can try it, but that is a whole other skill set to do properly. Most likely you will just end up scaring the fish away at first. Besides, if we really wanted to catch fish and be done with it, I would have Returner cast a lightning bolt on the lake, and we would have a bunch of shocked fish floating to the surface. Doing it this way is more for relaxing than anything else."

He could also hit the lake with a fireball if he wanted to. He was pretty sure the concussive force would stun the fish as well as an electrical charge would. When he was a kid, he and his buddies fished with M84 firecrackers and nets. At least until the game wardens showed up and chased them home. Those were good memories, but doing it that way kind of defeated the point of fishing.

Maybe I'll make a boat for the next time we come out. That sounds like a fun little project I can do whenever I take my next day off.  Heh, just how big of a boat will I need to make to hold Kichi and me? This must be quite a sight to everyone along the shore, two massive ogres holding little tiny poles and trying to catch fish. 

He took a glance at the shoreline and shook his head at all the women out sunbathing along the shore. Aqua had been busy last night, and now all the women who were in the goblin breeding pen had been healed physically. Healed and then some. They all seemed younger than their ages would suggest, the well's magic rejuvenating their bodies. Even his mother looked radiant, and she was nearly forty years old, a practical crone in this world. It was like all the decades of hard living had been removed from their bodies.  

Speaking of Aqua, she was using some of her party trick magic for the women, dancing around from group to group. She was happy to be the centre of attention again, able to spread joy to those around her. In a sense, this was another form of healing magic, bringing happiness and joy to the others around her. He loved seeing this side of her, and hoped it would continue as they travelled to other worlds. 

In some of these worlds, there doesn't seem to be enough simple joy. It would be good for those people to experience that again. I just hope she is up for it. The time is coming soon when we leave this place, and I don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon. Not unless I need a break to relax for a bit and let time pass us by.

"Uhh, Rou. My stick is twitching."

"Okay, just hold the rod steady and wait. Whatever you do, don't let it go." He replied, snapping his thoughts back to the matter at hand. The tip of Kichi's rod was indeed twitching a bit. "Wait for it. When it dips sharply, jerk the tip up a bit. That will set the hook."

"Uhh...okay."

The fish played with the bait for a few more long, agonizing moments before the line snapped taut.

"NOW KICHI!"

"ARGGGHHH!!!"

*SPLASH*

"Where did she go?" Kathleen asked, looking around at where they had teleported. It was a stereotypical throne room, marble floors, dressed stone walls and an ornate vaulted ceiling. It even had a red carpet with gold trim down the middle of the room leading up to a raised platform with a large white marble throne with red cushions. Other than that chair, the room was pretty much empty, and not a soul was in sight.  

"I have no idea. I had her a minute ago, but it's as if she disappeared." Constantine said, walking over to the throne and casting a few different divination spells. 

"Did she leave this universe then?" She asked. Until recently, she didn't have much experience with any of the space-time magic this dragon lady used, and was frankly out of her element for this chase. 

"No, at least if she did, it wasn't the way she normally does it. There were no tachyon spikes to indicate that she left this reality for another one." He answered, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and taking a drag. "But all traces of her have disappeared, like she was erased from existence."

"God, this is hopeless. We should just return to my brother. Maybe he can help me get home. Your limp dick doesn't seem to be able to do that for me."

"Hey now, you liked this dick well enough." He replied, plopping his skinny ass down on the throne. 

"No, it's those magic fingers I like. The dick was just a... small bonus. But now you have me trapped in a world that isn't my own, that even my own gods can't recover me from. Seriously, how far into the multiverse did you send us that even gods can't teleport me back?" 

It was true. She had a companion AI in her mind, and it was at a loss as much as she was. Utopia should have been able to bring her back, being part of this mainframe thing, but somehow she left that and was now running across the multiverse with a devilishly handsome wizard, who ticked all her boxes other than the damn smoking.

"I have no idea. I can bring you back to Earth Prime with me if you want, and we can try to get you back from there."

"Bah, the next thing you want will be for me to move in with you. Sorry, Jonny boy, but I don't do long-term relationships. This little adventure we have been on has been the longest one I've had since I died the first time."

Besides, I have my other life I want to get back to. This was meant to be a short fling, not something serious.

"Lucky for you, neither do I. It's just nice to wake up next to someone once in a while."

"Unhun? You sure it's not just because I can manhandle you anytime I want to, and there is nothing you can do about it?" She replied, raising her arms above her head and flexing. All Might was only slightly more muscular than her; Constantine, while well built, was a dwarf in comparison to her chiselled form. 

"Heh, it's fun to lose control now and again. Just because I can lock you down with magic anytime I want, doesn't mean I have to."

"You're hopeless."

"And you're horny."

"Guilty. Now, let's go find my brother."

"Not yet. Chronoshackle!" 

Her arms twisted and bent behind her back as magical shackles clamped onto her. "What are you, New Or- MMRPH!" Some sort of magic filled her mouth, preventing her from speaking.

Damn it! He got me.

"Nope. No making orders for you. We are in some random king's throne room, and no one is around. I always wanted a blow job while sitting on a throne. Now come, service your king, then we will be off." He said, spreading his legs wide to make room for her to kneel between them. "Tap your foot three times if you don't want to play; otherwise get your muscly ass over here."

She looked at him a moment, the cocky bastard taking another drag off that cigarette, then knelt down in front of him, completely aware she lost this engagement. He unzipped his fly and pulled out his dick, stroking it in front of her a few times before grabbing her head and feeding her his cock.

Hah, this is so hot. I can't wait to get him back. Maybe I'll edge him while he is tied to a tree, forced to watch some goblins mud wrestle naked as I stroke him. Actually, he might be into that... fuck it. I'll come up with something. Mmm... yeah, I like to tease him, but this thing is a good size. Maybe going back to Earth Prime with him might not be such a bad idea.

"Why are you two drenched?" Sui asked as Rou and Kichi waded out of the lake with giant smiles on their faces. She had been watching as Kichi was wrestling with his fishing rod, being encouraged by Rou, when suddenly Kichi slipped into the lake with a splash, quickly followed by Rou. She had started to rush after them, but then she heard laughter and a lot more splashing, so she assumed they were okay.

"We umm... caught a fish," Rou said, holding up a tiny fish, no longer than one of her fingers. He had a deadpan expression on his face, but his good eye was twinkling merrily. 

"All that racket for... that?" She said, as the murmurs from the growing audience behind her rose. Most of the village had looked on in concern for a few moments as well until she had calmed them down.

"It... pulled real hard," Kichi said with a big stupid grin on his face. 

She stared at him, then back at Rou. "I'm not buying it. The bait you were using was larger than that fish."

"No, really... it was quick... and strong." 

"Very strong. Like bear."

She just blinked at the pair of them, perplexed at how two ogres had trouble with what was essentially a minnow. "Is it a... magic fish or something, because I'm not seeing it?"

"Yep... It's magical, alright."

"All the magic. It was like magic, and a bear had a baby, and made this fish."

"It's... just a fish," Returner said, landing on her shoulder. The Carbuncle looked just as confused as she felt. "There is barely any magic in it." 

"Bah... I think the jokes up Kichi; they figured it out." Rou said, tossing the little fish back in the lake. "Bring it out."

"Okay. That was fun." Kichi replied, smiling like a little kid, then reached into the water and pulled a giant monster up out of the water. 

"ACK! WHAT IS THAT THING!" She screamed, jumping back from the edge of the lake. It was a massive fish, easily five metres long, with a mouth that a normal person could be swallowed whole by. Its silvery scales almost looked like armour plates, though the ones around its head had been bashed in by the two ogres. 

OH ME! That looks like a giant sturgeon. If this lake has monsters that big in it, it's probably best we didn't go swimming. 

"Dinner, and the biggest catch of the day. He did good, didn't he? Too bad we don't have a camera to take a picture of this." Rou replied, patting Kichi on the shoulder. He looked proud of the other ogre for bringing in the fish.

It's almost like... a father and son.

Before she could expand further on that line of reasoning, Kia and Aya rushed past her, giving Kichi a kiss before grabbing hold of the massive fish. Between the four of them, they easily muscled it out of the water and up on the docks. Rou pulled out a large knife from somewhere in that long jacket of his and started to gut and scale the monster right there, showing the other three how it was done. They watched intently as he demonstrated how to slit the belly open and descale it. 

He is always teaching people how to do things, even when he is supposed to be sitting back and relaxing. He spent half the night making fishing poles for us, just so he could teach people how to fish today.

She thought back to last night when she found him tossing and turning on that pad in the garage. He looked haunted, and didn't wake up when she shook him. She had laid down beside him, brushing his hair off his face while she studied how he looked now. He was an ogre; there was no doubt about that, but his face still had the same lines as his human form. A strong jawline, masculine, with his large incisors hidden behind his lips. He was ruggedly handsome even like this.

She had wrapped her arms around him and activated the Healing Hands magic he had taught her, rubbing his back. He settled down a few moments later, then wrapped his arms around her, trapping her in his embrace. She fell asleep shortly afterwards, waking up a few hours later to the smell of coffee, bacon, and eggs. He was nowhere to be seen, but there was a steaming hot breakfast beside her. It was one of the sweetest things that anyone had ever done for her, and she hadn't even had a chance to thank him for it yet.

I... I need to do something for him, to help him stop and relax. Maybe tonight I-

Before she could finish that thought, John jumped back from the fish, landing in a fighting stance with a golden glow surrounding him. A moment later, the angry expression fell off his face, replaced with confusion. "Pande? What in the hell are you doing inside of a fish?!?" 

"Shhh! I'm obscuring from Smokey and Duck Lips!" A woman's voice said. A moment later, a black-haired woman rolled out from inside the fish and stood in front of Rou.

So this is that Pande character. Even covered in fish guts, she is kind of cute.

The woman snapped her fingers, and suddenly she was clean as if she just stepped out of the shower. She stepped close to Rou and wrapped her arms around him, looking up towards him with pouty lips. "You will protect your concubina from them, will you not?"

A shiver went down Sui's spine. Suddenly, she didn't find this woman so cute.