Soul Merger

There were a few monster attacks along the way, but most were handled before Alissa could even see the thing, much less fight it. All in all it was similar to when she'd moved to Seaport, except this time she was theoretically one of the cheap guards instead of one of the paying travelers.

And so the sight of the town ahead was a huge relief from the tedium of the journey. There's only so many trees you can look over before things get boring.

Still Alissa forced herself to sit up and take a good look around again. They weren't out of the woods yet. Literally in this case. And the edges of the farmland weren't magically safe grounds either.

Her paranoia was rewarded by absolutely nothing. Just getting to see the various farmers tending the fields. It'd be time for the wheat harvest soon if Alissa was remembering the timing right. She'd have to grab some flour bags when she got back home.

Rosalina stood up as the houses of the village came into view and shaded her eyes to get a good look down the road. "Ah! Akari's here already. Wonderful!" The dragon priestess waved vigorously, nearly losing her balance as the cart rattled down the road.

"Guess this is our stop then," Clara said. She turned to the driver. "Thanks for the trip." As the driver gave a grunt and a nod, she hopped off the back and offered her hand.

"Thanks," Alissa said, letting the tall woman help her off.

They walked alongside the road down as the caravan started the lengthy business of getting their goods to the right customers or setting up for the evening rest. As they got closer to the town Rosalina waved again, and this time Alissa could see someone wave back.

Akari was a shorter woman, with the distinctive ears and tail of a cat merge. She wore eastern fashion, a colorful kimono with fine embroidered cranes and reeds decorating the cloth. Still her skin was darker than most easterners, with a hint of bone white just below her throat. Probably part of her merge. Skin changes were some of the most common physical alterations.

When the two groups reached each other, Akari bowed. "I'm happy to see you Rosalina. And your friends."

"Been a while, Akari!" Rosalina said with a wave and a slap on the back. Of course the dragon woman wouldn't act prim and proper. "Let me introduce you to my new friends and teammates. The shy girl in the robe is Fili. The giant woman with the ballista is Clara. And the bombshell hiding in the cloak is Alissa."

Alissa rolled her eyes and gave a bow. "Hi." Her other friends gave waves and greetings of their own.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The woman bowed again. "I'd love for you to stay at my place tonight. Though I want to apologize in advance for how meager my offerings are. I'm currently doing part time work."

"Nah, we should apologize for barging in on you," Clara said, waving it off. "Your place can't be any worse than a city apartment."

"Or a riverside shack," Alissa added. One of the good things about living in the country was having space for a house. Even if you had to do all the upkeep yourself.

Akari took the lead of the group. "Well if you are okay with it, please follow me."

She took them down a few side roads through the outer fields to a small barn. Cats scattered as Akari opened it up to reveal a section had been partitioned off to make a sparse living room, consisting of a table, a small shelf, and a fire pit with a kettle on it.

The woman pulled out straw cushions and cups for everyone. "Is tea alright?"

"Sure," Alissa said as she took a seat and loosened her cloak. The other women agreed as well, so Akari started pouring for everyone.

A wet nose tapping her leg turned Alissa's attention to an orange tabby that had decided to join the group. In fact several of the other barn cats seemed to be sneaking back in to inspect the newcomers. "They seem friendlier than most feral cats," Alissa remarked as the cat tapped her a few times with its paw before deciding it was safe to steal her lap.

Akari smiled brightly. "My merge doesn't let me talk to cats, but they tend to follow my instincts. Since you're guests they accept you."

Alissa nodded and stroked the purring fluffball that had claimed her. "That's an interesting skill."

Several cats had attached themselves to Clara already. "Are you going to be okay leaving these behind?"

"They are still feral barn cats," Akari said. "They'll be fine on their own."

Alissa noticed that Fili hadn't been swarmed as heavily. But some of the cats were licking her hands. Apparently they approved of whatever her slime tasted like. Hopefully she'd appreciate that.

"So," Akari settled herself. "Rosalina said you were looking for someone willing to act as a frontliner in your delves. I have to admit, it sounds like a better job than wrangling feral cats. Did she explain my skills to you?"

"No," Fili answered. "She said you were a priestess but...."

Rosalina ran her hand along her horn crown. "I wanted you to be able to explain things yourself. It seemed wrong to chat behind your back. It's not the fun kinda gossip."

"Ah." Akari nodded slowly. "Well first off I'm a cait sith merge." She opened her top slightly to show the white splotch on her body was actually a four pointed star sitting between her breasts. "You've seen how it affects cats. It also grants me necromantic powers and a number of other small tricks." She readjusted her kimono. "One of the reasons I started exchanging letters with Rosalina was to learn more about cait sith. My family had thought the youkai I had slain to be a bakeneko or perhaps a strange colored kassha."

"Eastern cat monsters," Rosalina explained.

"It's strange a cait sith got that far east," Fili muttered. "I wonder if it traveled the whole way or if it somehow generated in the dungeons there?"

Akari nodded. "An interesting question, but one that remains unsolved. As for my status and abilities, that's a little more complicated. Technically I am a demon binder." Alissa felt herself frowning. She wasn't a fan of keeping monsters around. And demon binders weren't the best frontliners.

"However," Akari continued, "my real training is as a divine channeler. I can allow gods and spirits to possess my body, granting me their power." She looked down at her tea. "Though now that I am no longer 'pure', I can't channel gods anymore."

Clara looked surprised. "Not pure? I thought that the east didn't have as much of that 'human purity' nonsense. Thought merges were almost sacred there."

Akari blushed. "Not that sort of purity. You see, the gods demand their vessels be... virgins."

"What?" Fili blinked. "That whole 'virginity is holy' thing is real? I thought that was something parents made up to keep kids from sleeping around as teens. Like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy."

Rosalina sniffed. "The eastern gods are just picky hypocrites. Hell it's their fault she lost her virginity to begin with."

"I could have resisted," Akari protested, before hesitantly admitting, "though the god in question could have shown some self control on their own."

"I'm a little confused," Clara said as she wrangled a kitten trying to climb her chest back down to ground level. "You're saying the god you let possess you went out and had a fling? That doesn't seem like something that should be happening in a fight."

Akari chewed her cheek. "Well you see, in order to call upon their power in battle I have to give them some time in my body after. In my last mission I rescued a rather stunning gentleman, the god possessing me was interested... and to be fair so was I."

"Still seems like it's the guy in charge's fault," Alissa said. "If you control people's brains, you're responsible for the outcome." She'd had to tiptoe around people every damn day. A god should be able to do better.

Fili looked up from the cats lightly gnawing on her. "Uh, so if you can't channel gods, what can you channel?"

"Oni." Akari sighed. "They're a little less refined, but they're quite strong. The problem is... well let me show you."

The woman closed her eyes. A moment later her shoulders slumped and her ears twitched. Her poise and elegance seemed to just bleed out into an indolent slouch. Akari's eyes flickered open and she looked across all of them with disdain. "Eh? You called me in for this?"

"Nice to meet you too," Alissa replied. "I take it you're an oni?"

"I'm THE oni. At least as far as you're concerned, since Miss Perfect here at least has some taste and sticks to calling me. Suppose you can call me Ibaraki while I'm here." The catgirl grabbed a gourd and took a long pull from it. "Anyway, hi. Bye. There's no drinking, no fighting, and the only one of you who looks like they're interested in a good time is the dragon gal. Booor-ing. Don't waste my time with this crap. Call me again when there's something worth my attention."

Akari shuddered again, then returned to her original pose. "Oh. Um, apologies for how rude they were. But that should be a good example."

It was a good demonstration. The oni had been rude, but not violent or even really insulting. Alissa considered the matter before looking at Fili and Clara. The two nodded, so she turned to Akari. "We'd be glad to have you join us."

Rosalina and Akari both brightened up. "Thank you," Akari said. "I'll do my best to be worthy of your trust."

"And we now have a full party!" Rosalina said with a smirk. "At last I can take hold of my rightful destiny!"

Alissa rolled her eyes and decided to sip the tea that had been offered, while Fili and Clara gave worried looks. Fili hesitantly asked "You aren't hiding some kind of prophecy from us right?"

Rosalina's grin widened. "Well you see-"

"She doesn't have any, and if she did her actions would have already shattered any prophecies she was connected to," Akari said, leaving Rosalina to pout. "She was very thorough when she renounced her position in the church."

"Tch, if you're gonna steal all my fun Akari I'm gonna have to find new entertainment." Rosalina lifted the black cat on her lap and plopped it on Akari's head. "Like telling them all about your little crushes when you were in priestess training."

"I have nothing to hide," Akari said as the cat hopped off her. "Unlike a certain dragon."

Alissa shook her head and chuckled. If nothing else their new member would make the party more interesting