No Need for a Core?

Oh.

Kazue felt like she wanted to faint as she looked between them rapidly. “Er, um, You’re, ah, married? And this would make me married to both of you?!” Kazue didn’t need a mirror to know her face was as red as her hair. Maybe that was why Moriko was glaring at him. It didn't look like the half-elf was on board with this idea. Wait, what about herself, did she want this? “Hey, that’s a lot to drop on a girl you just met.” This felt unreal.

Mordecai seemed a bit embarrassed at this and looked between the two women. “Yeah, I know, and Moriko chewed my ear off a bit earlier. But similarly to that situation, this is a limited-time offer. I can only alter the bonds while I have the overflow of raw energy to do it with. We can't store the energy forever, so before too long, we'll need to release our hold on it which will give it to your dungeon. And you won’t be able to give the energy back once we release it, so once Moriko and I drop below the level I need, it just will not be possible. If that happens, we can maybe stay a day or two but we'll need to move on and get Moriko home. But, unlike what happened between Moriko and I, this is not life or death. It’s an option, possibly an opportunity, but not so critically important.”

Kazue’s thoughts shifted suddenly, focusing on his situation. Mordecai didn’t actually have a body of his own, and maybe couldn’t even do anything unless Moriko helped. If she.. ah, did this, he’d at least have a body, and he was used to being a dungeon, and she was kind of lonely here, even with her bunny friends.

“So, um, if we g-got married,” Oh this was so embarrassing; she wasn’t a child! “It’s like an arranged marriage, right? What, ah, exactly would be required.” Oh gods, her face felt even hotter. This is part of why she’d never managed to get a date! But it’s not like she could run away; they were in her dungeon, and she was stuck inside of it with them. And this, this had to be decided on now.

Mordecai looked amused briefly, then winced slightly as Moriko’s voice cut in. “Yes Mordecai, what would be required of this girl?”

“Hey, it’s not like that, wait,” He frowned thoughtfully at Moriko. “I don’t think she’s as young as you think she is.” He looked back to Kazue. “Just to be sure, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty.” And this time Kazue couldn’t help but scowl at Moriko a bit. At least she knew why Moriko had been glaring earlier. Kazue's height had always been a sore spot for her, and Moriko had a fair bit of height on her too. That was another reason she’d always had trouble finding a date, too many people treated her like a kid.

Moriko blushed slightly. "Sorry," she muttered. "I should know better than to judge age by appearance."

Kazue agreed, though she wasn't going to rub the half-elf's face in it. She didn't know how old Moriko was, but Kazue suspected the woman was older than her apparent twenty-something age.

“Okay, then we've resolved that issue? Good.” Mordecai continued. “So, as you said, it would sort of be like an arranged marriage. This means to make it a proper marriage it would eventually need to be consummated. Not immediately; but the bond will grow weaker if it’s not. But that’s another thing.” He looked between them. “The ritual doesn’t distinguish genders or roles. So you’d have to both be willing to take each other as wife.”

Kazue looked at Moriko as she thought about some of the whispers she’d heard from the other shrine keepers, about how sometimes kissing another girl was even nicer than kissing a boy. “Well, um, I haven’t really thought about that.”

Moriko smirked at her with a hint of predatory intent. At least it wasn’t the angry look she’d been giving Mordecai. “Don’t worry, if it comes to it I can make sure you’ll enjoy yourself.” Then the half-elf looked between Kazue and Mordecai before rolling her eyes. “Okay, fine, I’m in, as long as it doesn’t mean I have to stay here all the time. I have a life out there you know, and I’m already going to be late getting home for my vacation. I mean, I’m already married to a dungeon guy living in my head. Being married to two dungeons that at least have bodies would be easier to explain.”

The little kitsune wasn’t sure how to feel about the way the other woman had phrased her concession, but it sounded like a yes if a reluctant one. So, that means it was now just Kazue’s decision. She took a moment to think, trying to really consider all the consequences, but her brain kept looping back to how lonely she'd been. After a little while she gave up on trying to chase deep thoughts, and just looked at each of them, considering what it would be like to kiss each one. To be held and to hold like she’d seen other people do at weddings…

Okay, so that didn’t seem too bad. She kind of liked it, at least, as a concept. But what if she was wrong? She didn’t really know either of them. But if she didn’t, they were going to have to travel to find Mordecai a different way to have a body. Even if they visited, she’d still be alone a lot, and if other people came, would they be as nice as these two had been? If she accepted, then this would be their home too. Or at least, a home for Moriko, Kazue thought, reflecting on Moriko's assent ruefully. Kazue wasn’t sure how that was going to work. Well, there were lots of arranged marriages that wound up with happy couples. And sometimes people who thought they were in love fell out of love and had unhappy marriages.

Eventually, she realized that she just didn’t really know enough to make a well informed decision. Saying yes would be a gamble, but the last few weeks had also shown her what saying no might be like. And she didn’t care for being alone so much. Maybe she was just being a fool again, but this kitsune was going to gamble on a hope for happiness.

“Okay, I’m in.” Oh gods she was probably blushing down to her toes right now. She must look like one giant tomato. A giant, furry tomato she amended, after realizing that she'd started chewing on the tip of her tail again. “So.. what do we do?” She figured this wasn’t really going to be like a normal wedding. After all, how often did dungeons get married, let alone to each other? And this was going to involve a third person as well.

Mordecai smiled with something like relief. “I promise that I will do my best to make sure you are happy and don’t regret this.”

“Pervert dungeon lech.” Moriko muttered, but it didn’t seem like there was a lot of heat in it to Kazue. Mordecai gave his ‘first wife’ an amused look.

“You’re just jealous that I didn’t take more time with you. I am sorry about that, but my mind was filled with more stuff at the time. This union will be easier, though a touch riskier since I can't take the time to calculate first and will be tweaking on the fly.” He turned back to Kazue. “First, can you de-spawn the cage protecting your core? I can show you some better tricks for protecting it later. Right now it will interfere. Thank you. Now, if you will take my hand, and Moriko’s hand, then I can get us started. Um, it may hurt, I am not sure, but I will do my best.”

Kazue followed the instructions, dismissing the cage and taking each of their hands. Mordecai then placed his free hand on her core, beginning the spell. “Okay, think about forming a contract with each of us.” Her little book flipped open, showing her a page that said she could only form one contract right now. But that didn’t seem correct, as she felt her mana shift to create an offer for them both. Wait, but neither of them had accepted yet, could that make a difference? “Alright, now hold it, and neither of you accept anything yet.” And she felt an offer come from him, to make her his contractor. Could a dungeon be a contractor to another dungeon?

“Alright, we're almost there. So, we’re going to finish this with words.” Kazue could almost see the shape of the ritual spell he was casting. “Here stand we three, swearing to hold all our bonds true to each other, and take care of each other, and support each other, until death and beyond. Do you affirm these oaths?” She could feel the slightest nudge from his mind, showing her the wording and timing.

“I so swear and affirm,” Kazue replied as she mentally accepted the other potential bonds, hearing and feeling Moriko and Mordecai do the same. She could feel a new flow of energy moving through them; moving through her. In the next moment, she realized that it was Mordecai’s soul that was traveling through both her core and avatar, mana circulating as ties of soul-deep magic started attaching themselves to her and to them.

It was terrifying, but it felt good too. His very essence was being filtered into a new home through her soul in a way she couldn’t really describe, and she got lost in that flow. Then she gasped as a searing, burning sensation started in her core, but she also felt their hands holding hers, their minds in touch with her to give her comfort, and she managed to not fight this intrusive feeling.

It was almost like an itching pain, building to an almost intolerable level. Then the sensation snapped with a wave of relief, mana swirling outward in a wash as the three of them collapsed to their knees, Mordecai's and Moriko's hands slipping from the core. The immediate nearness of their minds and souls retreated, but Kazue could still feel them both. Her husband and her wife. Oh goddess, she had really done it. What had she done? ... And what was that?

Kazue's eyes rose to her core on its pedestal; it had expanded, but not only that - its once pure golden color now had an area of purple crystal on one side, taking up about the amount of volume that her core had grown. No, that their core had grown. After all, he was a dungeon too; of course this was how it was going to work.

Kazue sat in a daze for a moment before Mordecai moved, bowing from his kneeling position to the both of them. “Thank you, truly. You have both given of yourselves, one first to save me, the other to then help give me more freedom in this world. You’ve trusted me, and I really will do my best to make both of you happy. I,” his words cut off as a sensation rippled through the dungeon, making the kitsune shiver. Where had she felt it before? “Oh shit,” slipped from her new husband’s mouth, and Kazue felt a moment of sinking dread.