John's reasoning made sense but Julia wasn't certain. He did have friends at the hospital and even changing work locations didn't mean giving that up. If she pushed the issue would it just be more likely she'd hurt him? She would have to wait and see. “Okay. So how has working with Rina been?”

“She's been very cooperative whenever it comes to testing various theories about the harmonics. She can be a little overly excitable though. I'm pretty sure she hasn't learned the process yet either. I've explained to her that just having a lot of information doesn't mean I'm going to find something useful. I have to have time to.” For a moment John went silent and took in a few deep breaths while slowing down the rate he was climbing at. “This talking and climbing isn't easy you know.”

“Would you like to wait until later?”

“No. Just means I needed this more then I thought.” Before speaking again John once again began to climb. He just needed to reach Julia's waist and he'd be able to rest. Perhaps her next stance would even help him to do so. “Anyway. She doesn't seem to understand that I need time to analyze the data.”

“I'm going to lower my leg then go into the chair stance.” Rather then lower her leg right away Julia gave John a moment to process what she'd told him. She then made it a point to lower her leg back to the ground very slowly to avoid upsetting his position. Despite her efforts the thread was made to swing though far less then it had done before. “I can see where that would be a problem. What about your games though?”

As John held his position he watched as Julia's foot moved past him. As it did so he couldn't help but notice that some of her toes were larger then he was. For a moment it felt like that foot had been coming down upon him and there had been a slight bit of fear. The adrenaline was apparently good for him as he felt his fatigue diminish just a bit. “Have you noticed her referring to them as practice?”

“A few times. I take it you told her it was just a game.”

John felt himself moving closer to the floor though this was due to Julia binding at the knees. He was a bit disappointed whenever this did nothing to change the length of thread he still had to climb. He was too high for that. “I tried to. Then she said that baseball is a game but it still teaches you how to hit things really hard with a bat.”

“Well I guess that is true. I'm not sure if I like the idea of a sport being used to teach people how to hit others with a bat though.” As she spoke Julia looked over her shoulder at John. She was suppose to look directly ahead to insure she maintained her balance but she couldn't resist watching him as he continued to climb. Once she straitened up again he would be able to use her thigh to help stabilize himself while he was climbing.

“Actually. You know I think this exercise is much easier for you then it is for me. Anyway, I was thinking of taking what I know about your harmonics and turning them into a sort of battle game. That way we could theory test your spells in different situations. I really want a drink of water. How long have you been holding these poses anyway?”

“Ah well. Longer then what I normally would be honest. I would normally already be onto my resistance training.”

“Well come on then.” John had to go silent for a moment as he pulled himself hire despite his fatiguing body. “Don't let me hold you up. We're both going to get a good exercise out of this.” John continued to will his body to climb higher even as he burnt through his energy reserves. Even if he didn't make it to the top so long as he pushed himself to his limit it would be a good exercise as far as he was concerned. “I may not. May not conquer this mountain today but I'll do it eventually. So you just do what you do while I climb.”

Julia had a huge smile on her face as she looked down at John. “Alright! But I'm going to do the exercises that is climbing friendly first.”

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

After a moment Julia was made to chuckle as she listened to John. “I thought you had been exercising whenever I left you home with Rina. What about all that time I saw you in the pool?”

“Yeah that was more floating then swimming.”

***********************************************************************************

“Here you go.”

John was actually surprised by two things as a drink was held out to him. The first was that it was being offered by Rina and apparently made from glass. Apparently Julia wasn't joking whenever she said she could now alter earth. The second thing was that Rina was breathing hard and had a light layer of sweat on her. “Rina what have you been doing?”

“Watching television in the pool.”

“You've been swimming a lot then?”

“No.”

Before continuing John took the drink Rina had offered him and took a sip. His dry throat refused to work until it had something to wet it. “Then why does it look like you've been running a marathon?” Even as the question left him John couldn't help but think back to this first days with Rina. There had been other times whenever she'd come to him looking rather exhausted as if she'd been exercising.

“I'm not sure. My body just seems to be acting funny. It happens at times.”

For a moment John said nothing but glanced over at Julia. Inspiration seemed to hit. “Rina would you mind going and getting me my notebook? There is something I want to look at. Also thanks for the drink. What's in it?”

“Oh it's just some of my milk.”

Immediately John felt his body lock up and he moved the glass away from his mouth though he'd already taken a very large sup of it and swallowed. “What? You mean your milk from the fridge right?”

“Oh no from my breast.”

Immediately John froze up barely remembering not to drop the glass. His eyes shifted from Rina to Julia who had stopped her exercises and was looking rather stunned herself. His heart rate sped up but it felt like his blood was running cold. “Why would you give me this to drink?”

“Because it's good for you and you need nutrition. It's better for you then any food in your fridge.”

“What? How?” John truly didn't know if he cared about the answer. He was too busy trying to think of what he was suppose to do. He was quite certain Julia wouldn't find this acceptable and in truth he felt it was rather inappropriate as well. Women just didn't given grown men, especially grown men that weren't in a relationship with them, their breast milk to drink.

“The magic contained within will help strengthen your body by removing toxins, refining the cell structures in your muscles and bones and be absorbed more easily.”

There was no immediate response from John. Part of him was hoping that Julia was going to say something but she seemed to be as uncertain as him as to how he should handle the situation. Rather then speak more he took his time to breath. Several words came to his tongue but he forced them back down as he waited for rational thought to take over. Even as he began to believe he was thinking clearly he held off. Often when he felt he was thinking clearly he was still being very stupid. “Rina I appreciate your intentions and your desire to maintain my health but breasts milk is a very intimate thing. You shouldn't just share it with anyone.”

“I'm not! You're a good friend that I want to help. You're also helping Juila and I gain more power and your fun to spend time with and you're helping me beat video games and learn more about tactical use of harmonics. You also make funny sounds when you sleep that are just so cute!”

“While I appreciate that giving someone your breast milk is a very intimate action and I'm just not that intimate with you.”

“We could become that intimate?”

“No!” John actually found himself scooting a bit back from Rina in response to her suggestion. It didn't help that she'd moved even closer to him when she made it. “Sorry Rina but I'm only willing to be that intimate with one woman and that's Julia?”

“So It should have been Julia's breast milk? Okay.” Rina became a near blur as she moved to hover in front of Julia's face in less then a second. “Julia we need to milk you so John can enjoy some nourishing magically infused milk.”

None of this was what Julia had been expecting. The ease with which Rina suggested milking her was also quite shocking. In her stunned state Julia could only think of one response. “I'm not lactating!”

“That's no problem. You can just make the glands go active for a little while using magic and then after you've made enough milk for John you can stop. With boobies as big as yours it should be easy. Hey John you could milk one breasts and I'll get the other.”

There wasn't time for John to respond as Julia spoke up. “I don't need you to milk me!”

“Then how is he suppose to get your milk?”

At times the things Rina said would cause a disconnect in Julia's mind. Everything would just go blank and she couldn't think of anything to say. This was one of those moments as her mouth opened up no words came out. She had no doubt that Rina was simply trying to help but her methods were almost more then Julia could stand. After a few moments of silence rather then shock Julia found herself chuckling. “Rina I appreciate that you want to help John. This is a personal issue that's between me and him.”

“You're taking too long though!”

“Now Rina like John said. This is an intimate matter and we both have to be comfortable with it. So if you'd please just leave it alone for now John and I will talk about it later.” It was a relief to Julia whenever her suggestion didn't meet with immediate rejection from Rina. The little sprite could be very willful. As unusual of a house mate as Julia had found Rina to be before though she had become far worse since John had come to live with them.

“I'll give you a little time but you need to take good care of our witch's bane, coworker, house mate, employee and friend.”

“I will speak with him but that's all I can promise.”

John was rather surprised to hear the word friend at the end. It was strange to think that less then a month ago Rina had been telling Julia that she should kill him. He just hoped that a sprites opinion couldn't turn negative as quickly as they turned positive. Yet what would she do if she caught him trying to tell others about the witches? She had already mentioned several times that she had no choice in if she followed the rules or not.

***********************************************************************************

Mavon 25, 1558 HH

It was natural for a witch to use her harmonics to benefit her. She was taking quite a risk by joining the hunt after all. Julia just wished that more of them would find a way to benefit themselves while not hurting others. With some harmonics that should have been very easy. Thanks to her harmonic she had been able to help many people and cut down on her work load. Rather then fussing with someone trying to find the best way to heal them she could simply use her harmonics. This had helped to better her reputation around the hospital as well. As she looked over some of the patience she was beginning to think that there was another witch using her harmonics to harm others though.

“It's bad isn't it?”

There was no surprise whenever Julia turned around and noticed Tim standing behind her. “Yeah. Why are we getting patients from Brexington though?” As she spoke Julia placed the file back on the desk and took a few steps towards Tim.

“There hospitals down there handling all the cases they can. We were the next closest hospital so those that could be moved were brought here. We've had then trickling in for a few weeks now but when are they going to stop?”

Julia didn't respond right away but bit down on her lower lip. She had noticed these odd injuries before. It wasn't uncommon for them to take up another hospitals overflow. That was just how things went at times. This was only during disasters though or during an outbreak. This wasn't a sickness though but sure seemed to be an epidemic. 'It's like being a burn victim has suddenly become a contagious disease.”

“Yeah. I might expect this if it was an arsonist going around torching buildings but no property damage just the people.”

***********************************************************************************

“They're still coming in?” Currently John found himself setting in Julia's cleavage backwards so that he could look up at her face. She was looking down but not at him. Rather she was busy preparing their dinner. He couldn't see what it was from his position but the smell made him think chicken and rice. The spices he couldn't even begin to guess other then the pepper but he'd come to trust that anything Julia cooked would be wonderful long ago. Oddly since he'd began living with her the food seemed to improve. It made him wonder if she'd tinkered with his sense of taste and not told him.

“Yes. It's not as if they're life threatening and the majority will heal fine if treated which they are getting but still. Unless everyone in Brexington has decided to walk around with torches and swing them at random people I think it's a witch. I'm not sure what she's trying to do.”

“I don't know. The torch thing sounds possible for Brexington.” John was made to chuckle whenever Julia gave an annoyed snort. “Have you ever been there?”

“John I'm well aware what you think of the local resident of Brexington. Though I also think you're over reacting over a minor traffic incident.”

“Hey it was that bastards fault and yet the police report made it sound like I was at fault. Do you have any idea what that did to my insurance premium?”

A sigh escaped Julia as she listened to John. Over a year later and a major change in his life style and he still was pissed over what he considered an injustice. Whenever she listened to his side of the story she understood his feelings but there was a time when such things were best forgotten or at least put away. “Well surely you don't think they deserve to be turned into random burn victims.”

“I.” For a moment John went silent and rubbed his chin. “Fine. Maybe they don't deserve that. I'm sure they're a few innocents that were just unlucky enough to be born in a city of idiots or their parents moved them there. Those poor poor unfortunate people. So what are you thinking? Do you want to go down there and drive around and see if I sense anything?”

“Yeah. Really I want to do it now but there is no way I could get away with it. Even if I called in at work in advance after leaving without telling anyone I just. Well it could cost me my job.”

“I completely understand. We might not even find anything.”

“It just feels odd to say that when I think about it. I mean. What if someone is actually burned to death between today and the weekend? It just seems like the right thing to do would be to say forget work and rush down there right now with you. But then I think about losing my job and well.”

As he listened to Julia John could understand what she was talking about. She knew that something was wrong and people would be hurt. She had the ability to change the situation yet she had concerns of her own. “Well that's what you get for not being independently wealthy. Julia I get what you're saying but you know it isn't just the money. Think of all the people you help at the hospital each day. You talk about rushing down there to help the burn victims but what about the stab victim that's going to be brought in tomorrow?”

“John you don't know there is going to be a stab victim.”

“No but you don't know there is going to be a burn victim.”

Julia started to open her mouth to respond when the truth of what John said sank in. She was currently using the hospital as a means to locate other witches. If she lost that job she didn't just lose her income she loss a source of information. John's ability to detect witches did have limits it seemed. “I guess I can't be everywhere and help with everything.”

“Indeed and before you say. Well this could be more important. Remember that you have to take your own well being into consideration as well. Sure it'd be nice if you could come and go from the hospital as you wished but that's not going to happen. Even if you were to use your earth magic to create diamonds and secure a small fortune for yourself. I wouldn't recommend doing that by the way. You would still face other obligations.”

“Why not?”

“Suddenly finding diamonds like that seems like a great way to draw the attention of other witches. It may be unpleasant but the less you rely on magic the less likely you're going to be noticed. Unless you want to set some kind of trap then you could leave all sorts of clues.”

“Well I don't believe I have the power needed to get away with that.”

“Neither do I which brings up another issue with this witch. If she's acting out like this she's either stupid or powerful enough she thinks she can get away with it.”

“That is true. Did you think the chicken was too spicy the last time I made it?”

“No. It could have used a little more spice to be honest.”

“Do you really believe so? I don't want to overpower the chicken.”

“The chicken can stand up to a little more spice.” As John spoke he leaned back more and took on a more relaxed posture. The smell of the food was filling the kitchen and competing with the scent of Julia's perfume and skin as he lay in her cleavage. It made him wish that he had a cold drink. “I know if you're going to start dropping signs that read here I am you had better be good and ready. I know when it comes to strategy I never drop my stealth until I have absolutely no choice.”

“That's not what I saw whenever you were playing dragoon.”

“That's because I can save and reload if I realize I mess up. Plus Melissa is just a monster at this point. You seem to be having fun.”

“It's fun. Thanks John. For helping me keep things in perspective. I hope that there aren't many witches that have a helper like you or I could be in trouble.”

“If they are I recommend that instead of fighting them you make a truce. Nothing Rina said indicates there can't be two Resonance and you could use someone to watch your back. This whole single predator thing has me worried to be honest. Most of the really successful predators I know of hunt in packs. It's strange to think that none have been formed.”

“I'm sure they have. Perhaps time or treachery just broke them up. Okay I hope you're hungry. You haven't been snacking just because you had a fridge put in have you?”

“How can I? Every time I fix myself something to eat or even get something Rina wants to eat one to. Plus I'm constantly scared that the milk will turn out to be her breast milk again.”

A slight chuckle came from Julia as she placed the pan to the side and began to plate her and John's dinner. Fortunately she no longer needed to make use of wooden plates or forks as she gained the ability to manipulate earth harmonics. She made no move to immediately reduce John's plate though but rather began to neatly cut up his chicken and vegetables for him. “I have to remind myself that she means well at times.” Even as she spoke Julia also began to prepare a plate for Rina. She knew the sprite would be in the room to eat with them soon enough.

“Do you ever worry she might be sneaking into your cleavage at night?”

“Well now I'm going to!”

***********************************************************************************

“Hey Rina do you want to join me and Julia exercising?”

“You want me to join you?”

“Sure. Julia and I have been asking you to stay out of so many things lately that we figured we should include you in something. Plus I'm curious to see if a sprite even benefits from exercise. Now just so you know when exercising you need to rely on the muscles in your body at their natural state rather then tweaking them with magic.” Even as he spoke John couldn't help but think back to when he'd seen Rina's body behaving strangely as if she'd been exercising. She acted as if nothing was wrong but he had taken down the time and what he saw anyway. After speaking with Julia he had a theory as to what might be happening. Yet he didn't want to risk invalidating the results by giving too much information.

“Is it fun?”

“Well it's fun to do things together. Personally I hate exercising alone but with a partner it can be enjoyable.”

“Sure I'll exercise with you! Just give me a moment to save my progress.”

That was one thing John had never expected to hear from a sprite. Naturally he had never expected to meet a magical being or be shrunk down either. Given what else had happened to him it seemed silly he would find Rina's statement strange. This actually brought a chuckle from him. “You know if you'd stick to playing just one game you'd eventually pass me up.”

“But then I wouldn't have anyone to ask for help whenever I was stuck.”

***********************************************************************************

“Rina are you sure you're going to be alright?” Julia didn't really know what to think as she looked down at the sprite. Naturally Rina wanted to do something similar to what John was doing. That meant climbing her. Except there was a problem. To truly get a workout from climbing her Rina would need to carry some additional weight. This apparently would have been too much for Julia. Currently the sprite was standing on top of nearly two hundred kilograms worth the mass with a magically augmented wire serving as her connection to them. While John climbed her Rina would try to fly to the top of her head.

“Yeah! I'm a little worried this will be too easy.”

It wasn't just Julia who was having trouble taking this site in. Was Rina being serious whenever she said that she could fly with two hundred kilograms? He had seen how her wings worked and knew they didn't rely on natural forces to fly. Her wings flapping was simply for show though apparently her ability to fly did relate to the strength of her body. “Rina you're not just showing off are you?”

“Nope!”

Julia knew that Rina was powerful whenever it came to her magic. The notion that the little sprite was physically stronger then her though was almost impossible to imagine. Both of them would know if she was using magic though as they would hear and see the harmonics. “Well if that's the case. John are you ready to make it to my breasts this time?”

“I'm going to give it my best.”

Rina, “If you'd drank my milk you'd been climbing that high days ago.”

John couldn't help but blush and and took a moment to look at Julia's foot. “So what pose are you going to start with?”

“You just begin climbing and you'll see.”

“Okay are you ready Rina?”

“Yep!”

Nodding his head John took hold of the rope and placed his foot against Julia's. As he began to climb upwards he could here the sound of metal plates shifting against one another and had to remind himself to actually climb five seconds later. When he looked over he could see the weights Rina was tied to were slowly beginning to lift upwards. What made the site truly shocking was that he couldn't hear the sound of any harmonics.

As Julia took on her first pose she could hardly believe what she was seeing with Rina. The lift wasn't quick by any stretch of the imagination. The sprite's wings rapidly beat the air though she knew they weren't generating enough lift to raise such heavy weights. There was something else going on. “So Rina. You're quite a bit stronger then your size implies.”

“Yeah! It's so we'll be safe.”

John, “I take it that a few sprites had some bad experiences in the past.” Despite his surprise John had his own concerns to think about and had began to climb. Unlike before though he found himself trying to keep up with the rate at which Rina was lifting the weights. She was bigger then him but for her to be lifting as much weight as two or three people was astounding given her size.

“I'm not sure. They are stories that at one time our bodies were weaker whenever we came to the human world. Apparently some humans decided to use their physical strength to force us to obey or they tried to. Then for about one hundred years we stopped making contracts with witches and when we returned we had much stronger bodies.”

Nodding his head John finally turned away from Rina and looked up towards Julia. Particularly at her crotch. He had a goal to reach. “Well that makes sense. Okay Rina I'm going to see if I can catch up with you.” With those words John began working his body more quickly. As his feet pressed into the skin of Julia's leg he could feel it heating up as he climbed. Apparently she liked his more rapid pace.

Rina, “Come on John you can do it! Let's see who can make it to her boobies first.”

“You're on!”

Julia could feel herself grinning even while she blushed as she listened to Rina and John. The temptation to reach down and lift John to chest level poked into the back of her mind but she pushed it away. She could tell that John wanted this to be a fair competition. At least as fair as it could be. They both knew she would be changing poses throughout their race as well. Except the changes in her pose would mostly help Rina. She didn't depend on her legs for stability after all. This meant if she wanted to help John she would need to hold the poses that benefited him the most as long as possible. A slight groan escaped Julia as she could feel her right leg protesting this plan already.

***********************************************************************************

Julia felt off. It wasn't that she felt bad. She felt rather good considering how much time she'd just spent exercising. Yet her muscles were twitching and flexing in odd ways. Her right arm shook for a moment and she feared she would have to hold it down. Yet when she examined her body she couldn't see anything wrong with it. She knew something was going on whenever she noticed John examining Rina. “Okay what's going on over there?”

Currently John was giving Rina a quick look over. He had also been looking up at Julia from time to time to see how her body was behaving. As he worked he'd been growing more certain of his theory. “A few weeks ago while talking to Rina I noticed she began to breath and sweat as if she'd been exercising. It was pretty strange considering that she was setting around with me whenever it happened working on magical theory. I made a note of this time and have been watching her for similar behavior ever sense. Now I'm pretty certain of my theory.”

“You believe we're influencing one another?” As she spoke Julia glanced over at Rina. She hadn't really thought to look at the sprite often while exercising. From what John was saying it did seem possible though.

“That is what I believe.”

Rina, “Really! What do you think that means?”

“Well I'm not entirely sure. I'm actually curious what would happen if you were to exercise while Julia relaxed. If you'd be interested in trying it.”

“I don't know. Exercising by myself isn't fun.”

“I can exercise with you. You'll need to do something that actually forces you to work your body though.”

“Okay! So should we begin now?”

“Hold on a moment. I'm still recovering from that climbing and Julia needs to cool down as well. I want to make sure it's your exercise that's influencing her and not something else.”

“Okay but when then?”

“I guess the sooner the better but Rina there is something else I wanted to talk to you about. I had an idea while I was watching you lift those weights. Now I know that you and I have to keep hidden or we risk revealing Julia but do you think you could take me flying? With your control of wind magic I was thinking that we could conceal what we are or perhaps there would be some other method.” It surprised John whenever Rina didn't respond right away but bit down on her lower lip. It was rare that the sprite was conflicted. “Is there a disagreement with the rules?”

“Well no but yes. It depends on what method we use.” Once again Rina went silent and lightly rubbed her head.

While Julia had been interested in what John had to say about her and Julia's exercise influencing one another she wasn't quite prepared for him to talk about going flying. It was rather clear from the way Rina had lifted her weights that she was capable of carrying John and battling against some strong winds. As long as Rina was with him Julia knew he wouldn't have to worry about birds either. “Now hold on a moment let's not get ahead of ourselves. John you really think that Rina and I have some kind of biofeedback system?”

“I believe so. It sure seems that way. At least it seems that your exercise routine influences her body. Though it's pretty clear that pain isn't shared. Or are you just really good at ignoring pain Rina?”

“Nope! I don't feel any pain whenever Julia is hurt. That would have been real bad whenever she fought that last witch. Part of me is in her though so maybe when she becomes healthier that part of me becomes healthier and then the rest of me does. Then does that mean if I make myself healthier that aspect of me inside of her will become healthier. But John I don't know if I can become healthier through exercise. I just wanted to join in.”

“That just means we need to try?” It felt odd whenever Rina gave him a smile and nodded her head quickly.

“Okay! If I can help Julia become more fit that means she'll be better suited to battling other witches. I considered what you asked about scouting to. I can follow the rules and take you scouting as long as I keep you close and make sure no one will think anything if we're seen or make it so we can't be seen. If you can think of a way to do that then we should be able to do it!”

Julia recoiled a bit when Rina brought up taking John flying again. Rather then simply reject the idea she found herself trying to think of a solution. Rina could turn both of them into birds and they could fly around together. Rina could also turn herself into a bird and carry John around. Julia wasn't fond of the idea of John being turned into an animal though especially as she feared someone simply decide to take a shot at him or some other bird attacking him. “Rina when you fly you clearly don't rely on the atmosphere to obtain lifted. Do you believe you could carry a large model airplane?”

“Sure!”

“Well how about this. We make a fake airplane so that it can glide. Oh wow that's a fun ideal.” Julia couldn't help but grin as she considered the options her ability to manipulate earth had opened up. “Okay we make a model air plane and then you and John can take it out scouting whenever you want. I can use my magic to make sure it's good at stable and it could even be made to glide in case your magic gives out.”

“My harmonics do not give out. Now it can't be anything that would help John escape.”

Julia actually felt a slight chill as Rina's tone seemed to change. Something about suggesting her harmonics might fail seemed to have hit a nerve with the sprite. Fortunately there were other things to talk about. “I know. Actually when I first thought about it I thought I could make it self powered. That way you could literally fly it around.” As she spoke Julia glanced over at John and gave him a grin. “Those blasted restrictions are annoying. Anyway. I can make it sturdy enough that I don't have to worry about some bird breaking it or even someone with a shotgun deciding to take a shot at it. Plus this way I can at least insure you're flying in style.”

Rina, “Huh? I thought we were going to be flying in an air plane.”

It was impossible for John to keep from chuckling. “Flying in style just means flying in comfort Rina. Well that and your vehicle is impressive.”

“Oh! When you're in Julia's cleavage are you traveling in style?”

“I sure think so.” As he spoke John gave Julia a look and she returned it right back to him. “I swear Julia you're going to have to come up with some way of increasing my pay at this rate. Not only am I head of your research department but now I'm working in information and sprite physical fitness. My job description is expanding a bit.”

Julia gave a slight chuckle. “Well. Look at this way. Each time I absorb the power from another witch your playground becomes all the more beautiful and you become safer. I consider that rather good compensation.”

Rina, “No! John is right! He deserves something nice. You should let me reward him to.”

Julia's mouth opened before her brain could respond but fortunately she remembered to shut it before words could be formed. She had to remember who Rina was. This thought resulted in a slight groan instead of words coming from Julia as she calmed herself down. “How exactly do you plan on rewarding him Rina? It can't be anything too intimate.”

“Well I don't really understand what you mean by intimate yet. I was thinking I could increase the amount of pleasure inducing chemicals inside of his body though.”

While John had been curious and even a bit worried about what Rina might have in mind now he knew he should be alarmed. “Thanks Rina but I would prefer not to be drugged. It's alright. I'm enjoying myself for the most part.”

“If you don't want chemically induced pleasure. I know! You could be allowed to contact your family. You'd have to tell Julia what you wanted to say and she could use the wind to recreate your voice. That way they don't have to worry about you.”

Now John's jaw nearly hit the ground. Of all the things he'd expected Rina to offer that wasn't one of them. “I could do that? I mean you'd do that for me?”

“Sure!”

“Thanks! But I'm not sure what I would tell them. They probably think I'm dead or something along those lines. I wouldn't want to make them worry more. I know they'll want to see me. I mean. What would I even begin to say?” John gave a sigh whenever Rina gave a shrug. This wasn't something he was willing to give up on though. “Can I have some time to think about this? I'll need to think of a really really good story to tell them. This isn't the type of thing people just brush off after all.”

It wasn't just John who was surprised. Julia had been shocked by Rina's offer as well. By having John tell her what he wanted to say Julia could insure that he didn't reveal anything about witch's. That would satisfy Rina. He would also remain in their care. John did however have a good point. If they couldn't come up with a good cover story there could be trouble. “How about you tell them you got a job that you can't talk about and had to act on very quickly? You tell them you're working on a research project but you can't tell them about it. After all. You had me collect all your favorite things from your apartment as well as your savings. I used your information so it looks like you did it.”

For a moment John said nothing but bit down on his lower lip. “Don't you think that sounds like some kind of paranoid conspiracy theory?”

“John a few months ago I learned witches and sprites are real. I've spent more then a little time wondering what else might be real. Besides haven't you heard that the more fantastic the claim the more likely people are to believe it? Naturally I'm going to have to make sure the call can't be traced. That's just going to make it easier for them to believe though.” Despite the situation Julia was actually feeling rather excited. She quite liked the idea that at least they could put John's parents at ease with his disappearance. She imagined that they would then handle his friends and other family members.

“Okay you make a very good point. Still. Give me a little time to think about this then when I have a story I believe will work I'll run it by you. Thanks Rina.”

“You're welcome!”

It wouldn't be a direct conversation but the notion that John could put the minds of his parents at ease was rather comforting to him. It seemed even more comforting then he had thought as he considered the situation. “I guess in some ways it's true. I'm currently working on a secret research project with extremely tight security. It just happens to be a bit smaller then it sounds. Plus my work has the potential to influence a lot of lives especially if you keep on healing people.”

“That's true and I intend to do so. We're also working to remove dangerous witches from the game so we're helping to protect people as well.”

“You'll influence even more lives if you help me to become the Resonance!”

For a moment John went silent and looked at Rina. What she said was true if it was possible given what she said would happen to Julia. Yet John had the feeling that goal was a long way off. How long could they keep this up? How long until Julia came upon a witch that she couldn't defeat or escape and what would happen to him after that? What would happen to her? From what Rina had said and he'd seen things could be very dangerous for the witches as well. There was after all nothing keeping the winning witch from killing the loser. “We can sure give it our best.”

***********************************************************************************

Mavon 30, 1558 HH

“ Are you sure you want to help these people?”

Julia couldn't help but roll her eyes. She'd just avoided being side swiped by another car while driving around Brexington. She knew that John detested the city and to an extent she agreed with him. The road and more importantly the people who drove on them seemed to have a serious issue. She wasn't ready to condemn the entire city though. “Now John. Perhaps they really needed to get to wherever they were going. Besides that was only one pushy.” Julia froze for a moment as she could have sworn she felt something nudge her bumper. It wasn't sufficient to call it an impact but as she looked in her mirror she did notice another vehicle driving quite close to her bumper. “Driver.”

“What's going on? One of them is on your tail aren't they? Blast it they did that to me the entire time I was here. Watch this if you let the bastard pass you he's just going to slow down to ten miles below the speed limit. Think you could make his engine blow up?”

A sigh escaped Julia though she continued to drive the speed limit. This wasn't the first pushy driver she'd found behind herself and she wasn't going to let them rush her. “John that's not a proper use for the harmonics.”

Rina, “Sure it is. It's not likely you'd get caught or anything. A lot of witches have used their harmonics to take revenge on people or get rid of the annoying ones. My mommy's witch liked to make people get sick whenever they upset her. She even made a few men lose their penises and turned some women fat! She said it was to match their mouths and make them think more clearly.”

For a moment Julia was silent as she imagined the patients she'd been dealing with lately. In truth they were a few she wanted to hurt as well. “Well that isn't the type of behavior you're going to find me contributing to. If I'm going to use my harmonics to injure someone they're either going to have to done something to deserve it or I'm going to have little choice in the matter. But. John I'm getting a little hungry with all this driving around. Do you know any good restaurants here? What about an Eddy's?” Julia felt her mind freeze up for a moment as she remembered speaking to John after he had visited Brexington. She found herself regretting the question before he even responded.

“No. This place is the city of cheap knock offs. That Eddy's is just a rip off of Denny's and I don't even like Denny's but that place is just. I swear I think the food shows why the drivers and cops are all idiots around here. It taste like it's been medicated and.” John didn't get to finish as Julia suddenly spoke up.

“Oh look it's a Brig's. You like Brig's right?” Julia had felt her heart positively flutter whenever she saw the restaurant. She didn't truly need to ask. John had praised Brig's several times in the past and lamented there wasn't one within easy driving distance of the hospital. He'd posted comments on their website that they needed one close by. The fact that he didn't start spouting hate immediately told her that she was right.

“I want a fish platter, a bag of hush-puppies and thick fries.” John actually chuckled a bit whenever he heard Julia give a sigh of relief. He knew that he'd been hating Brexington rather intensely. His dislike for the city was true but complaining about it wasn't going to help Julia. He would restrain the complaining for the rest of the trip. At least he wasn't the one driving. Though he had a feeling if he was setting in the passenger seat and capable of seeing what was going on he would be complaining even more.

“Good and what would you like Rina?”

“I'll have what both of you are having! I want to try it all.”

Julia was immediately thankful that Rina hadn't decided to try the entire menu. She got the feeling that John was thinking the same thing as she drove over to the drive through and rolled down her window. She could practically feel John wanting to say something as they waited at the speaker. “Pardon me. Pardon me! I'd like to make an order.”

“Hold on one minute!.”

Even at his size the sound of the voice over the speaker struck John as winy. He actually had to cover his mouth to keep from saying something. An act that didn't go unnoticed by Rina who was currently looking strait at him and grinning. After a moment John removed his hand from his mouth.

“What do you want?”

When John covered his mouth again Rina burst into open laughter as she looked at him. “Julia you should see John! I think he really wanted to say something.”

“He's not the only one. Yes. I'll have two fish platters, two thick fries, two bags of hush-puppies, two hardy chicken salads, two melon limes and two waters.”

“Get over to the front.”

Julia actually clinched her hands. It wasn't just the drivers. John's complaining had exhausted some of her patience as she'd driven around. The way the cashier was speaking with her wasn't helping matters as she began to pull around to the service window. “So the culture here is a little different then our home. That is. Natural. I'm sure they don't mean to offend.”

Rina, “I believe John disagrees! He's grinning and chuckling.”

John was about to open his mouth whenever he felt something to his northwest as if a light was gently shining on him. The feeling was becoming increasingly familiar the more often he experienced it and easier to call upon. “I believe that I located a witch.”

“Well that's good.” Julia was a bit surprised whenever she glanced to her side and noticed the window open and noticed the young lady looking back at her. The expression on her face was not what Julia considered respectful.

“OH did we take too long getting your food ready? Next time I'll tell the kitchen to rush for you.”

Julia couldn't help but bite down on her lower lip. She could make this girl sick. It wouldn't have to be permanent. Just change the PH balance of her blood a little. It wouldn't have to be enough to hurt her and after drinking some water she'd be fine. Julia contented herself with a deep breath as she took hold of the food and placed it in the passenger seat. As she began to count out the money she was assaulted by another unwelcome remark.

“Are you going to be eating that all by yourself? Bit of a hog don't you think.”

“Do I look like I eat this much?” As she spoke Julia set up in her seat and pushed out her chest to better show off her figure. “From the way you're looking you should probably eat something yourself.”

It was impossible for John not to grin upon hearing Julia's response. He couldn't actually see the cashier but he suspected that her chest didn't even begin to compare to Julia's. The fact that Julia had a well conditioned athletic build to go along with her chest only made it more amusing. The fact that another word wasn't said until Julia pulled away from the window made it all the more amusing. “Now that was a nice one.”

“Give me a moment and I'll get your food to the both of you. Rina could you create some tables for you and John to eat at?”

“Eat now? But we need to find the other witch while John can feel her! Plus it's bad to do something physically demanding on a full stomach.”

After a moment of silence Julia gave a nod. “You have a good point. Okay this can be our victory dinner. Let's go get ourselves a witch.”

***********************************************************************************

“If this keeps up I'm going to end up being killed.” Even as she lay on her bed Julia wasn't comfortable. She had learned from her previous injuries and instead of altering her own body she'd modified a few plants to create a pain killer. She wished she'd made something stronger as she settled into the motel room bed. Before laying back completely she picked up a cup of water and took several large swallows as she glanced down at her bandages. “I hope that no one comes in before I can fix this. I don't want to explain why I had to use towels to bandage my body.”

“I doubt they would even recognize them as towels. They're more likely to wonder what happened.” John had been right when he told Julia he felt another witch. This one had surprised them though. Instead of retreating or even getting out of her vehicle she had forced Julia to pursue her. As they had drove through Brexington she had used harmonics that would be invisible to other people to attack Julia without stopping their vehicles. This had included trying to overheat her body without the creation of fire. Julia had thought to counter this directly whenever he had recommended cooling the inside of the car and letting that cool her to save energy. Fortunately Rina was there to keep him warm which she still seemed to be trying to do. “Rina you can set me down now.”

Julia hadn't realized what was going on whenever Rina said she would protect John. She had simply been grateful that the sprite had been there. Now she didn't have the energy to really scold Rina as she continued to hold John against herself while smiling happily. “This is going to be so unpleasant whenever the magic stops sustaining my body. Can you think of anything else that I should do?”

“I wish that I could.” In truth John was a bit nervous. Julia had always managed to make it home before whenever she confronted another witch. “I'm still wondering how that witch seemed to know what was happening.”

Rina, “I'm pretty sure she knew the harmonics to influence minds! Sense Julia is a witch and you're a bane and I'm a sprite she probably had some warning. Though a witch's mind is harder to read then a humans and a bane's mind is harder still. I believe she tried to attack your mind a few times.”

Even while she was speaking Rina had continued to hold onto him. John was beginning to wonder if he should let her given how she'd protected him. “Why do you say that? I didn't feel anything.”

“I saw the harmonics trying to touch your mind. A bane isn't likely to notice such harmonics attacking them. Witch's with such harmonics are actually some of the most dangerous to banes as banes stand out a bit to them. Of course. A witch that only knows such harmonics is likely going to die if she confronts a bane directly.”

Julia, “That witch knew more then how to influence the mind.”

“Yeah! Isn't it wonderful! I wonder how many harmonics you're going to gain over the next day or so. Well depending on how long it takes your body to heal. This is so wonderful!”

As Rina spoke Juila could swear she felt the sprite's wings flapping. It was true this looked to be another very beneficial victory but as she was slowly reducing the magic she was influencing her body with she could feel the pain creeping in. She could feel her skin opening up, burns from frost and fire forming and a pain in the back of her throat. Her right eye was hurting as well. “So says the one that isn't in pain. Rina would you handle feeding John? And I mean reduce his food to the proper size not breast feed him. I just don't have the energy in me right now.”

“Sure.”

It didn't surprise John whenever Rina chose to fly while carrying him. As they were moving towards the table though he looked back at Julia. “Hey Rina why can't you boost Julia's body so that it heals more quickly?”

“We sprites are limited in how much we can do to help our witch. We're not allowed to fight with them just like they're not allowed to attack us. I wasn't helping Julia I was protecting you earlier.”

“Then what about when that other witch tried to influence my mind?”

“That wasn't me helping her that was you helping her and even then it was indirectly. All I did was keep you from freezing to death or being burned alive. Nothing I did for you would have saved Julia.”

John didn't have to think long to realize there was a mistake in Rina's beliefs. He didn't know the danger of questioning them though or the danger of not questioning them though. If he was going to help Julia to the best of his abilities he needed to know as much about the harmonics, sprites and the rules that governed the contest as he could. “Rina I hope this doesn't get me killed but if you wouldn't have protected me I could have been killed which would have made it easier for the other witch to target Julia.”

“Oh that's not a problem! That's like saying if I hadn't been flying there the other witch wouldn't have glanced at me and given the victor an opening. Everyone has to have some level of responsibility.”

“I see. So if I had some method of harming the other witch directly.”

“I couldn't protect you in that case as you're involving yourself too much. When you resist an attack you're involved in the conflict when you attack you're involving yourself. Hey do you think Julia would mind if I ate some of her salad?”

“Rina I believe Julia is going to need all the food she can get in her whenever she feels up for eating. Please just leave her food alone.” There was a bit of disappointment for John. He had hoped for a moment that he had found a way to more effectively help Julia. With that hope proven false he would have to rely on what he had managed so far and hope inspiration hit later.

“Okay. You know John if you can think of any medicine that you'd want made. Even if it was too large for you to use. I wouldn't mind making it.”

John nearly let his jaw fall open as he looked up at Rina who had finally set him down. He wasn't used to trying to bind the rules but he didn't expect Rina to do so. It had been her suggestion that allowed him to speak with his parents though even if it was indirectly. As she flew into the back he turned his attention back to Julia and began to wonder what medicine might help her heal. There wasn't a great deal coming to mind but he could think of a few salves that would at least help with the external healing. “Rina do you believe you could smear some things on Julia's body for me?”

“Sure but I think she'd prefer if you did it.”

“Perhaps but I want the job done properly and at this size that's not going to happen or it'd take too long.” As he spoke John found himself looking around the room trying to find something that they could use to make a salve from.

***********************************************************************************

“Rina do you want to help Julia? I mean. Not just to gain more power.” Currently John was setting on the dining table along with a growing Rina. The fact that her height had been increased by nearly twenty five percent had given him an idea of how powerful of a witch Julia had defeated. Given her condition he wished that he had a means of detecting how powerful a witch actually was.

“I'm sad because Julia is in pain.”

It wasn't quite the answer John had asked for but it was one he was willing to take. He knew that Rina enjoyed it whenever she gained new harmonics. She was quite open about that. If she cared about Julia's pain or not was another question he had and now had answered. “I'm glad to hear that to be honest. I shouldn't have needed to ask. You're dedicated to our studies after all. You've even began exercising to see if it influences Julia or not.”

“It's alright! She's important to you in many ways so it's natural you'd worry considering that she and I are partners in this. I worry about you to. I believe my initial believe that you should be killed was very wrong.”

A slight chuckle escaped John as he remembered his first impression of Rina. “Well I'm glad to hear that. What about you though? How are you doing? How does it feel when you and another sprite merge? I haven't actually seen it happening.”

“Oh it's happening right now. When our witch is defeated our connection to this world is lost and we returned to our world. Then we're drawn into the victorious witch through the part of our being she took when she defeated the other. After that we merge into the sprite of the winning witch. You really can't see the harmonics?”

“No.” It was actually a bit of a surprise when John considered it. He had become used to being able to see it when Julia was using magic.

“I guess the natural harmonics of our world exceed even the perception of a bane.”

“So you're really okay? It doesn't hurt?”

“No. Don't worry! How should I explain it. When we sprites merge our memories merge together and it becomes our memories or my memories as we're no longer two. I'm not really the same Rina that you first met after merging with so many other sprites. Our intelligence improves and the better aspects of our personality are further augmented. It's just our melody is the dominant one.”

Was that the reason for Rina's increasingly insightful behavior? She was becoming wiser? “Okay so. It's like an orchestra. The flute is the dominant instrument in this recital and even while other instruments join the flute you remain the star of the show and the one best heard.”

“That's a good way of looking at it! But we have a lot more instruments then one of your orchestras. We're each a unique instrument to some extent. We'll we believe we are. I mean there could be another me but we've never met so we don't know of one another. They're a lot of us.”

“How many?”

“None of us know. We've never been able to count all of us.”

As John considered what Rina had told him he took a bite of his food. Part of him wanted to complain about Brexington's diners being inferior to their counterparts but given Julia's condition he imagined she'd find it more annoying then funny. “So did any of those witches know anything about other witches in the area?”

“They had some thoughts about them and methods of looking for them. Would you like to hear about them?”

John took a moment to glance back at Julia. She was in no condition to fight and wouldn't likely be in any condition to fight for some time. Fortunately he couldn't feel any other witches at the moment. If he could he didn't know what he would do. Likely he would have encouraged Julia to do what she could to escape to a safer location. “Is there anything to indicate they pose a threat to Julia right now?”

“No.”

“Okay let's talk about it whenever I have something to write with. I'll want to take notes. In the mean time. What else have you learned from the sprites you merged with?”

“Well mostly things about their mothers and the witches they were partnered with. Some of them learned different things from their witches. Some of it disagrees with what I've learned from you and Julia.”

Given how the other witches had been using their harmonics to remove unwanted humans from their lives John couldn't help but worry. How would this knowledge influence Rina? “Well you know that in several of those cases it was using their harmonics to harm people that lead Julia to them.”

“I know. That kind of makes it funny!” For a moment Rina went silent and gave a slight laugh. “They thought they were being cunning because there was no way such a crime could be linked to them. It didn't seem to occur to them that one of the witches might be a police officer. Not that Julia is a police officer but she's in a situation to notice the strange injuries.”

“That is true. So is it rare for a witch to work as a nurse?”

“Well a lot of witches try to think of ways to use their harmonics to benefit them. The last two witches Julia took power from actually managed to obtain a lot of money using their harmonics. If they survived their injuries they should be quite well off. Actually. It seems a lot of witches have a similar goal. They attempt to gather enough belongings so that even when they lose their power and some aspect of their being it'll still be worth it.”

“That is actually pretty good planning.”

“Other witches tend to seek revenge first. The first two witches Julia defeated actually sought to be rid of people they saw as in their way. I don't know why the second witch considered the other dancers in her way. If anything they were covering up for her shortcomings and helping her to get better.”

“Is that what you learned from the sprite you merged with?”

“Yes! I didn't think she was using her harmonics very wisely. She managed to find another witch and take her power but that was more luck. She heard the other witch's harmonics and then ambushed her later. Julia is careful when she uses her harmonics though I was worried whenever she healed the lunges of the dancer. If the other witch knew how badly damaged they were she would realize that something strange was going on. She didn't realize how much damage she'd done though the first or the second time.”

“Rina please correct me if I'm wrong but I get the feeling that most of the witches Julia has taken down if not all of them have been very unpleasant people.”

“Well they didn't seem to be before. Most of them were nice people in the beginning. They seemed to become less nice when they obtained their harmonics.”

John felt a comment coming on but chose to keep it down and considered what Rina had said. He didn't want to blame it on the magic. Likely these people just needed the ability to do as they wished without being caught. That was his hope at least. “Rina as Julia learns new harmonics are they going to influence her mind?”

“Well she might obtain intelligence or insight from a defeated witch. That would influence her mind.”

“That's not quite what I meant. Do the harmonics have a will of their own?”

“Oh! You want to know if the harmonics will try to control the witch or force a nature upon her.”

“Yes.” John actually found himself feeling rather nervous about this question. He didn't know what he would do if the answer was yes. He could hope that Julia would become an even better person as she gained new harmonics but given the witches they'd encountered so far he didn't know if that was likely. The fact that Rina was taking her time to answer only made him even more nervous.

“Well she has an aspect of myself in her but I have no power over her mind. The harmonics brings with them knowledge and new abilities and that can influence how a person thinks. I don't believe humans would normally consider shrinking another human and taking care of him a serious option. I don't believe the harmonics should influence her personality though anymore then obtaining knew knowledge and power normally would.”

“Well that's better then what I feared. I guess I don't have much of a choice in the matter.”

“You shouldn't worry! Julia wants to do all sorts of things with you but none of them are meant to be mean. She gets so much joy from taking care of you. It's a shame you can't feel how happy she is while cooking or cutting up your food for you.”

It seemed a good thing Julia was sleeping now as John looked at her. He did smile. He wasn't ready to tell Rina or Julia that he would prefer to cut up his own food yet especially now that he knew it made Julia happy. Part of him was glad she wasn't awake to cut up his sandwich for him. “Well I'm glad that it makes her happy. So did any of those sprites pick up on any good cooking techniques?”

“Yep! I also know some really nice dances now. Would you like to see some of them?”

John was actually a bit alarmed whenever Rina was already standing up. “Wait! Don't you want to finish eating your food first?”

“If I wait though Julia might complain if she wakes up. Now I can show you the dance and she won't be upset. Don't worry it's not an intimate dance. She did this in front of a lot of people.”

John's more cautious side was telling him to decline. He knew that one of the people Julia had defeated was a ballet dancer but Rina had merged with sprites that had themselves merged with other sprites. There was plenty of room for other dancer types to be mixed in with those he knew about. Rina had been very helpful though. “Do you want to show me this dance?”

“Yep!”

“I might have to ask you to stop but if you really want to show me knowing that it's fine.”

“Yay! Don't worry. The witch I learned this from said no one ever wanted her to stop once she got going.”

Rina hadn't even began to move yet and John was already regretting his decision. Instinctively he glanced back at Julia to make sure she was still asleep. There was a temptation to ask Rina to take them into another room where they were less likely to be seen. However, that would imply he was trying to hide what was happening from Julia or trying to get away with something. That wasn't his goal. As Rina began to manipulate the air to produce the desired beat he was questioning that decision more and more.

***********************************************************************************

Anon 3, 1558 HH

“I don't believe I fully appreciated the amount of damage that witch did to you.” The first time Julia had been banged up after fighting a witch it had taken a bit over a day for her new traits to really start showing. John had actually began to think Julia had obtained more mental or traits that wouldn't be physically shown on her body after her most recent win. Now he knew that wasn't the case. Not only had Julia increased in height but her bust had once again expanded. Currently Julia was standing in the mirror examining herself.

“Neither did I. Wow.” As she spoke Julia pressed up on her breasts feeling their weight. Each one had grown to roughly five fourths the size of her head. The fact that they had remained firm despite their increase in mass made Julia appreciate that she was taking traits from these other witches and not just body parts. They were larger but they were as firm as her much smaller breasts had been. “Bras are going to be expensive.”

John gave a slight chuckle as Julia turned to face him. Currently she was wearing one of the largest bras that she had purchased in advance and even it seemed to be struggling to contain her. “I don't doubt that.” As Julia walked closer to him John tried to keep his eyes on her face. This was less a matter of respect and more a game due to her increase in chest size. He was beginning to have trouble looking over the slope of her chest whenever he felt her right hand take hold of him and lift him in the air. As he was lifted he gave her thumb a kiss and ran his hands over it. “Actually shouldn't you be able to alter the bras you have now that you can manipulate inorganic materials and organic?”

It felt like Julia had been smacked upside the head. She could feel herself blushing as she smiled down at John. Using her left hand she parted her breasts slightly and settled him down within her cleavage. Her fingers had become fairly skilled at detecting just the right level of pressure to hold him securely but insure his comfort as well. As she settled John between her breasts she looked towards the mirror once again. “Sure. I'm the witch but you're the one that knows how to use the harmonics. It would make sense. Everyone believes that I've always been this tall and well endowed. Well except you, Rina and myself.”

“Does that influence other witches as well?” As he spoke John shifted about within Julia's cleavage. Fortunately he was able to raise himself up slightly to gain a better look at his surroundings. The smooth curves of her cleavage still raised high above his current position but he could look forward and see himself in the mirror. It made him look smaller but oddly he didn't feel any less important despite that.

“Yes it does. That's why we can't just look around and try to find women we don't remember looking that way. A bane the victorious witch and the sprite of that witch are the only ones that aren't influenced. Well to my knowledge. I'm beginning to wonder if you have more of that then I do. So do you like your new ride?”

Before responding John leaned back and closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath and waited a moment to appreciate Julia's sent and the warmth of her skin. “It's wonderful if a bit restricting.”

“Well perhaps you'd rather set up here.” As she spoke Julia gently rubbed the top of her right breasts. It wouldn't offer the same security but as long as they were careful she was confident John would be fine on top of her breasts. Given how much they'd increased in size he would have plenty of room. “We're going to have to find a new comfort zone for you tonight.”

“Actually Julia I've been thinking about that for a while now and there is another spot I've been considering.”

“Oh?” Part of Julia was a little nervous. She knew that John might want to return to the bed in his home every once in a while. She just hoped that he enjoyed spending time with her enough to return to her bed. Given that a fitful night for her could be extremely unpleasant for him she understood why John might want to return to a bed sized for him.

“Yeah I was thinking about trying to sleep some place a little lower.”

“Lower? You mean like in my belly button? The last time you were there you did fit quite nicely.” As she spoke Julia reached down and ran her finger around the edge of her belly button. It wasn't her cleavage but the idea was exciting.

“A little lower then that actually. Underneath some cloth.” John could see it in Julia's face whenever she realized what he was talking about. Her smile formed into a small grin when she looked down at him and he could feel her body shifting. He had a good idea that she'd reached further down.

“You don't believe it'd be too warm for you? It can get very hot in there.”

“I can't be certain but it seems like it'd be worth trying.” As he spoke John began to rub the massive breasts to either side of him while leaning backwards and looking at the underside of Julia's chin. He was worried the heat and Julia's scent might be overpowering but part of him found the thought extremely stimulating and exciting. At the very least it seemed worth trying.

“Mm it does sound nice. My lips could kiss you the entire night if they didn't end up swallowing you. I wonder what I could do to help make sure you're comfortable. Well let's see. Sleeping without the covers seems like a good start. Would you like to help me pick out the panties I'm going to be wearing?”

“That sounds like fun. I wouldn't mind later.”

“Later?” Julia gave a grin as she squeezed her breasts inward on John though not enough to engulf him. “What do you mean later?”

“Julia I've been worrying myself about your well being for a few days now. Now that I'm sure you're healthy I'd like to relax a bit.” John was a bit relieved whenever Julia relaxed her hold on her breasts and glanced down at him.

“You make a very good point. So anything in particular on your mind?”

“How about finding something good on television and watching it?”

***********************************************************************************

Julia took in a deep breath as she felt John moving around inside of her panties. They had talked about what to do if she became cold due to the lack of covers but in truth she wasn't worried about that. With the improvements to her body she'd gained from the other witches and her improved physical condition thanks to Rina's exercise routine and her own as well as a good heating system she felt fine. Now she was just trying to let John settle in while keeping her excitement in check. “Oh this is so neat. Hey John if this works out do you think you'd mind coming to work with me down there or perhaps going out? Just thinking about having you hidden in my panties around all those people is getting me excited.”

“I can tell.” John was actually feeling rather excited himself as he moved around within the darkness of Julia's panties. The panties they'd chosen for her to wear were relatively thin and more important soft. This made it easier for John to breath and move around while inside of them. Despite the relatively good air circulation though his every breath was thick with Julia's scent and he could feel her heat flowing into his skin. If she increased her tactile sense he knew she would feel his excitement as he crawled around inside of her panties moving towards her lower lips. “We might be able to do something about work but I'm going to require a method of escape in the event things get too hot.”

“Yeah. I wouldn't want you suffering down there. We would need a method of getting you home safely and quietly if things became uncomfortable.”

“Can you imagine if I began to over heat during surgery?”

“Eww! I don't believe I'd be bringing you into surgery. Just you know. Whenever I was talking with the patients and other nurses.” A slight gasp escaped Julia as she felt John's hand brushing against the top of her labia. “Now make sure you're comfortable.”

John felt a rush as he began to move against the sticky flesh of Julia's labia. As he moved over the moist skin he desperately wanted to press his body against it. He wasn't certain if he could sleep in such a location but at the moment he wanted to be there. He didn't know how he would feel when he woke up soaked in Julia's fluids but he could find out later. As he settled against her flesh John pressed his left arm down between her lower lips. There was a thrill when he considered the fact that Julia's labia was taller then he was. As his left hand pressed down into her flesh with his full weight he settled down atop one of her lips and pressed his lips against it. Julia's moan rolled throughout his body.

“If you're going to do that we're going to have to take care of something before bed.” Julia didn't bother looking at the clock. She wasn't certain what time it was but she was certain that she had time to enjoy some private time with John. She felt it whenever his tongue began to move against her flesh and had to resist the urge to squeeze her thighs together.

“Are you sure you could handle this all day at work?” While he spoke John lightly rubbed his penis against Julia's pussy lips. His left leg pushed against her flesh and made it further in then his arm did. As he began to pull the limb out he was caught off guard by how sticking her fluids felt at his reduced size. When her lips squeezed in on the limb he thought he would have to fight for it. The muscles relaxed before he could really begin to struggle and he settled down against Julia's lips not yet certain if he wanted to taunt her pussy further.

Julia gave a slight gasp whenever she felt John's legs slip free of her labia. The temptation to push his entire body within herself moved her hand but she regained control of it before it could. “It sure seems like it'd be fun trying.”

“I don't know. I wouldn't want you making any mistakes with a patient.”

“Oh! True. True.” Julia gave a slight sigh and managed to relax a little even while she felt John lightly petting her lower lips. Reaching down she gently ran her fingers over the outside of her panties and against John's back. “I suppose that we'll have to reserve this for bed time if things work out and maybe while we're out on the town. Such a shame.” Julia gave a shiver as she felt John crawling once again though this time he was moving over her lips instead of just towards them. Her hips shifted slightly as she pressed up on the underside of her breasts upon feeling John taking hold of her clitoris and lightly licking it.

“I know we're suppose to be sleeping but how about a little fun first? To help us both relax.”

“I like that. What do you have in mind?”

“Well as much as I enjoy taking care of those breasts of yours how about you handle the girls tonight and I take care of things down here.” As he spoke John once again shoved his left leg into Julia's labia. The force with which her lips gripped his leg surprised him such that he reflexively tightened his grip on her clitoris. He heard a sharp gasp from Julia and felt his world roll slightly as she shifted in her bed.

“That sounds good. That sounds really good! Fair warning though. Don't blame me if you get swallowed up.”

John's first instinct was to tell Julia that he could handle her flower but as he felt her petals gripping his leg he wasn't certain of that. He would never admit to such feelings naturally and instead silenced any protest in his mind by pressing himself more firmly against Julia's clitoris.

***********************************************************************************

Anon 5, 1558 HH

John felt a little strange. He'd been going over the knowledge Rina had gained from the sprites she'd merge with and he believed he'd managed to find some other witches by combining the information. Rina had been a lot of help in that. Yet he wasn't certain about the witch he'd found. It wasn't that he doubted the information rather he wasn't certain that he wanted to go after her. “As far as I can tell she hasn't used her magic to harm anyone. She's found some gold and precious stones but that seems to be it.”

Julia looked down at John but she didn't try to read his notes. Rather she took a moment to admire how he looked and felt setting on top of her right breasts. Currently they were setting in the living room relaxing a little while he reported his most recent findings to her. From what he had said Julia was concerned as well. “It's strange though. Rina are you sure her sprite contacted you?”

“Yep! One of the sprites that are now part of me at least. It happens from time to time. A witch gains her harmonics but she hides herself away and uses the magic for something else. Eventually the sprite will try to bring down her own witch but apparently the other witch was too scared to act on the information. I'm not sure why. Can I please set on your left breasts.”

John. “It's fine with me.”

“John!” Julia glanced down at her lover and professional witch investigator. She just rolled her eyes whenever he grinned up at her. “You may set on my shoulder if you wish Rina.” It surprised Julia just how quickly Rina settled atop her right shoulder. She was even more surprised by the weight of the sprite. “What about you John? Any idea why this other witch avoided her?”

“Perhaps she feared it was a trap?”

“That is possible. I wonder what we should do. If she isn't harming anyone I would hate to take away her harmonics but if I don't then another witch will try eventually. If she isn't actively seeking to increase her power she's going to end up in trouble eventually.” Julia didn't want to say it but she was actually hoping that John would make the call on this one. The idea of taking the harmonics from a witch that hadn't harmed anyone wasn't pleasant.

“Well why don't we try getting in touch with her? There is nothing wrong with two witches talking after all. If what Rina was told is true you should be far more powerful then her given she only has a single harmonic so the threat shouldn't be that great. Perhaps you could find out what she intends to use her harmonics for or why she hasn't been hunting other witches. I would actually prefer to leave her alone if her sprite wasn't trying to sell her out.” The entire time John had been working with Julia and Rina it had never occurred to him that a sprite might turn on her witch. “Now Rina you're not planning on betraying Julia are you?”

“Nope! She's done a really good job of hunting other witches and has you to help her as well. Plus you're both really fun to be around! I like you two.”

Both John and Julia grinned at Rina's response though Julia worried Rina might like John in ways she didn't approve of. She chose to keep this quiet though. “That's wonderful to know. Now John do you have any ideas on how we should get in touch with this witch?”

“Well first we need to find her. The information Rina was able to give me gave me a good idea of where she is but things might have changed sense then. Once we know where her is. Well Rina could you go speak to her? If I recall you wouldn't be in any danger plus it's not like you'd have found her. If anything speaking to her would be you warning her so no one should be able to claim that you helped Julia too much.”

“Oh! That is true but you always said being able to surprise someone is a good thing.”

“It is. However, depending on her answer we can just leave and surprise her later.”

“That's good! Can I set on your left breast now? It looks softer then your shoulder.”

Now Julia glanced out of the corner of her eye at the sprite. “Are you sure that's the only reason you want to set on my boob?”

“Yeah! For now. John seems to like setting on it so much that I want to find out what it's like. I don't see why you won't let me sleep in your cleavage now that John's sleeping in your panties.”

Julia, “He doesn't sleep there every night and you don't sleep.”

“That doesn't mean I can't lay there a long time like he does! Besides I want to play your naked games to.”

John couldn't help but chuckle whenever he heard Julia groan. He'd been listening to Rina for so long that he was becoming indifferent to the sprite's comments. The fact that she could still get through Julia's skin had started to become funny several weeks ago. Now he had to resist openly laughing for fear it would make Julia mad at him. It was fairly clear that Julia needed some help though. “Rina some things for us humans are just private. Is there anything that you'd like to keep to yourself?”

“Nope! Some of the elders are like that but I believe that's because they can't merge with other sprites anymore sense they can't find themselves a witch.”

After a moment of consideration John gave his head a nod. It was true. Rina was constantly merging with other sprites who in many cases had merged with different sprites as well. She was constantly changing who she was and knowing all her personal memories would be granted to the new being that formed from their merger. “Are you sure about that? It's one things to share memories with beings who are going to become part of you. Is there something you wouldn't want to share with separate beings?”

“Nope!”

“Then what about your bed?” John couldn't help but laugh whenever Rina gave an alarmed yelp and quickly glanced towards the cage. He also noted how Julia's face seemed to light up.

“That's right Rina. I only want to share my body with John just like you only want to share your bed and other belongings with yourself.” Julia was actually a bit surprised by how Rina had responded to the idea of sharing her bed. With all the changes that had happened in Rina as she merged with other sprites she had expected that to change.”

“Well. I wouldn't mind sharing it with John.”

John could swear that he saw fire in Julia's eyes. Given her harmonics he wouldn't be surprise if he actually did. “Sorry Rina but Julia's the only person that I want to share a bed with.” It was actually a relief for John as he noted Julia calming down quickly. In the back of his mind though he couldn't help but wonder what Rina might say next. “Now Julia I've been thinking about something. You mentioned that the magic changes peoples memories whenever your body is changed but it doesn't influence past decisions. How is that working out?”

A slight chuckle escaped Julia after a moment of consideration. “Well I heard Brad comment that he didn't know how he went so long without really noticing my breasts. Before he seemed to think that I did a really good job of dressing down but I'm not sure if there is any dressing down these.” As she spoke Julia pushed up on the breasts John was setting on. “In truth it's stretching things a bit and I'm kind of scared of a few issues.”

“Such as?”

“Photos for one thing. The magic doesn't change them.”

For a moment John went silent and let what Julia said sink in. “Wait. You mean there is photographic evidence that you weren't always like this? Julia that could be a huge problem.”

“I know. But the hunt began long before photographs were invented. I've already altered all the old pictures I have of myself and those I know about.”

“What about pictures your parents or siblings might have? I mean it isn't just your chest. You're a lot taller and shapelier in other areas as well.” John was actually relieved to know that Julia was actually working on covering up her tracks. Yet the fact that the magic didn't influence photos and similar records seemed like a serious issue.

“I thought about those. Most of the pictures my parents have of me are older pictures so they're not a huge concern. I modified the others.”

“When?”

“Well remember when I came home late a few days after gaining my earth harmonic?”

“So that's what that was about. I just reasoned work had held you up.” John gave a slight chuckle as relief seemed to wash over him. He knew Julia wasn't a fool. It was natural that she'd handle such concerns without him reminding her to do so. “Well now that you've actually learned to influence the minds of others you should be able to handle it if any unexpected images pop up. Well unless they happen to be another bane.”

“Please don't say that! I'm so grateful that you're the one that happened to be immune to my magic. If it had been someone else I don't know what I would have done.”

***********************************************************************************

Anon 6, 1558 HH

It felt rather awkward not to have Rina or Julia around. John didn't know when was the last time he'd had a woman free five minutes. Julia had gone to work and Rina was gone to speak with the sprite they'd learned about. Without Rina around John couldn't continue his study of the harmonics though he had taken some time to prepare a detailed report of his findings if only to organize his thoughts. He also needed to continue speaking with Rina about the memories she'd gained from the other sprites that might help them locate another witch. Even as John tried to occupy his mind he gave a jump whenever he heard a light thump and looked out into the larger house.

Since he had been shrunk John had felt relatively safe if he didn't include the first three days. He had always had Julia or Rina in the home with him and he could sense other witches it seemed. Now that Rina was outside of the home though he had remembered that there were other threats to him. What would happen if some thieves broke into Julia's home while she was gone or a snake managed to find its way in? He managed to calm his heart by reminding himself that the cage had been altered with magic to protect him. So long as he stayed within the bars he should be safe from most threats. The fact that a little thump had caused such a fear response actually made him feel a little nervous.

“Hi! You must be John I'm Lina!”

John didn't have time to keep the concern from his face as the first being truly his size appeared before him. He immediately knew she was a sprite both from her glow and her wings but what surprised him was that she was even smaller then Rina was whenever he first met her. Currently she was flying just on the other sides of the bars of his home with a wide smile on her face. The fact that he didn't sense Lina's arrival only added to John's concern. He had been able to detect witches so easily that he hadn't considered that he wouldn't be able to sense a sprite. “Hello Lina. Are you the sprite Rina went to talk to?”

“Yes she is.”

The relieve John felt upon hearing and turning to see Rina actually astounded him. Part of him wanted to run over and hug her. The fact that his body moved to do so for a moment only made it more clear how much he disliked being in a vulnerable position. “I see. So then. Lina what brings you here?”

Rina, “She wanted to talk to you about her witch.”

Lina, “That's right! Sharon doesn't have any interest in the game you see. She used her harmonics a lot early on and I thought she'd be a great hunter because she was so practiced. Then she revealed to me that she had no interest in hunting. So I've been trying to find a witch that would defeat her that way I could merge with another sprite.”

John gave his head a nod though Rina had already told them as much. “I see. Now what does Sharon think about this? I admit I'm rather surprised to see you here. Rina did tell you that we're not certain if we want to confront your witch right?”

“Yeah but here is the thing. Sharon wants out of the hunt. She's used her harmonics to obtain what she wanted and now she's prepared to accept the loss that comes with losing them. She won't just submit to any witch though she has to know that afterwords you'll leave her alone. She's fearful that she'd end up giving her harmonics over to a cruel witch that would kill her or take her things away from her. Personally I think she deserves it. She made the contract with me but then decided she just wants to use my harmonics to help herself and not do a thing for me.”

It actually surprised John how hostile Lina sounded. “I see. Lina are you certain that Sharon wants to give up her harmonics?”

“Yep! She's got what she wants so now she's afraid that she'll encounter a very powerful witch that will not stop at taking her power. I spoke to Rina about Julia and she seems like she'd be wonderful. I admit that I had hoped to surrender myself to a more powerful sprite. Especially one who's witch would make Sharon pay for tricking me like that. I mean. She didn't even try to hunt one witch!”

For a moment John was silent but gave his head a slight nod. He wasn't certain what to think of this. From what Rina had said the sprites did have a contract with their witch. When he considered Julia's original fears though Lina's story made a lot more sense. “ If Rina isn't as powerful as you hoped why did you decide to come here and how has Sharon survived so long when you're looking for another witch to defeat her? ”

“She's scarey! As for why surrender myself to Rina. She told me about how many successful hunts Julia has had already. She's really developing quickly plus she has a bane on her side! I don't know of any other witches that have a bane on their side.”

Now John glanced over to Rina suddenly feeling far more concerned. Rina had mentioned that Lina had contacted another witch before but they hadn't been willing to make a move on Sharon. He didn't know how powerful this other witch was but it had concerned him then. “Just how is she frightening if she only uses one harmonic?”

“She's been using it to alter her body a lot.”

“But doesn't such alterations wear off?”

“Not the way she's doing it. She's been altering the minerals that she takes into her body and that make up her body but not like magically it's like. She's been taking them and moving them around and stimulating her body from the inside out with them. They're still natural minerals she's just adjusted their placement.”

While John wasn't entirely certain of the fine details the implications of what Lina was telling him were fairly clear. Despite his concerns though he found his mind turning to Julia. She had several harmonics so surely she could use similar methods to alter herself. If Julia didn't take Sharon's harmonics from her Rina would also gain Lina's memories which would make it easier to implement the same techniques. It would be something to look into. “She sounds clever especially if she knows how to manipulate her body on such a fine level. So does she know about this?”

“Yes she does. I told her a long time ago that if she wasn't going to hunt other witches then I would find witches to hunt her. She offered not to resist if I could find a witch that wouldn't harm her after she'd taken the harmonics.”

“But you've been wanting to find a witch that would harm her.”

“Yes but that just means she could have fought back!”

It was impossible for John to keep the concern off his face as he glanced over at Rina and then back to Lina. “I see. So please a yes or no answer. Does Sharon know what you're talking with another witch at this moment?”

“Yes.”

“Okay and we know that she doesn't want to be involved in the hunt anymore. If she truly doesn't want to be part of the hunt then I believe Julia would be fine with accepting her harmonics. Now I have a question for the two of you. Do witches have to fight one another in order to take the others harmonics?”

Rina, “One witch can surrender them to another. Often that's how a witch who has mind influencing powers gains her first harmonic. Then again I guess that's a form of fighting. It can be done willingly though.”

“And how close do they have to be to one another?”

Lina, “They have to be able to clearly see one another. Are you thinking of arranging a transfer?”

“Well yes. It seems that Sharon's only issue is fear for her safety which is understandable. From what I know humans can't see harmonics unless they're a bane. So if they're not going to be a fight over it there is no reason they couldn't meet in a public place where they would likely both feel much safer. They can have the transfer and both of them leave without any real fuss.” John didn't want to mention it but he was also thinking of Julia's safety. If this other witch could scare away potential threats she must have refined her body a great deal. “A quick question. What harmonic does Sharon have?”

“Earth.”

After a moment of silence John gave a nod. “And she was able to use that to stimulate her body's development. Lina it sounds like you made a contract with a very smart witch.”

“That's why I chose her! She just has no interest in hunting. I thinks he was tricking me from our very first meeting. She had a plan.”

“That does sound possible and honestly it scares me.”

***********************************************************************************

“Hello may I speak with Sharon Witman?”

“Speaking. May I know who is calling?”

“Hello My name is Julia Lanonze. Your associate Lina was speaking to my friend earlier today. I was hoping that we might be able to talk.”

“Oh! Hey I was hoping you'd call. So are you the one thinking of taking this burden off my hands?”

“That's what I was calling about. I understand that you have no more interest in hunting so I was thinking that I might be able to help you. Though I also want to be sure that you actually want to give up the hunt. If you have intentions to continue then I don't want to interfere. You seem to have been conducting yourselves well.”