John hadn't intended to fall asleep, but with Helene's soft warm body cuddled up against him, he soon found himself drifting off into a soothing slumber. Instead of the blackness of unconsciousness, he found himself gazing up at glorious blue skies, the sight that greeted him every night since Alyssa had created her personal subplane. Lying down in the field of verdant grass outside Athena's picturesque house, he sat upright, expecting to find the young woman kneeling beside him. When she wasn't waiting to welcome him into her domain as she usually did, he looked around with a worried frown.
*Athena?* he called out to the house, rising to his feet.
*The battlements, John,* Athena replied, her voice uncharacteristically pensive as it drifted through his mind. *Please join me.*
Exiting the heart of the pocket plane just required concentration, so John closed his eyes and willed himself to leave. Feeling a dizzying rush as he departed, he was surprised to find himself inside a high-ceilinged room constructed of pale stone, rather than the vast open courtyard that had surrounded the portal before. The pastel pink sphere that led to the house in the meadow looked the same as before, but it seemed that Athena and Alyssa had been busy since his initial tour.
Striding out of the room, he walked into an airy corridor lined by a row of tall windows, all constructed from the same light-coloured stone as the battlements that protected the perimeter of the pocket plane. The medieval style architecture gave him the impression that he was inside some kind of fantasy castle and he half-expected to see knights in armour stride past. Walking over to the windows, he was amazed by the spectacular panoramic view, which overlooked the tall reinforced walls below.
A glowing figure stood atop the battlements of the barbican, which housed the enormous fortress gates. Athena turned and waved, beckoning him to join her. *Over here!*
John glanced both ways trying to find an exit. There were doors and passages leading off from the corridor, but it really needed some signs pointing to the way out. *Where are the stairs in this place?*
*Turn right, second passage,* Athena advised him, her worried tone temporarily replaced by amusement. *You'll find a stairwell there.*
Activating his psychic speed, John followed her instructions, dashing down the corridor then darting down the steps, taking them three at a time. He descended through a dozen levels before reaching the ground floor and he exited the staircase into a broad corridor, unsure where to go next.
*Right again, then through the big arch at the end of that corridor. You'll be in the keep's courtyard, so just turn left there, you can't miss the entry hall.*
Jogging down the spotlessly-clean stone passageway, John saw the grand entrance to the keep on his left. A splash of colour from a plush room to the right drew his attention and he hesitated for only a second before heading that way, curious to see what was inside. His jaw dropped when he looked through the broad doorway, discovering a plush throne room with lifelike portraits lining the walls. On a wide dais at the back of the room was a large ornate throne, embossed with golden lions that made it look suitably regal. To the right was a smaller throne with an unassuming elegant design, positioned within touching distance of its more imposing companion.
Covering the right wall were portraits of his crew aboard the Invictus, each girl looking back at him with dazzling smiles. Helene and the Nymphs were included too, as were Jehanna, Niskera, and Lynette. The left wall was likewise adorned with portraits, but these depicted the azure-skinned beauties that formed Edraele's inner circle. Four of the Young Matriarchs gazed back at him with adorable doe-eyed expressions, a soft light illuminating each of their portraits. John had a pretty good idea what that signified, having seen those very same looks from Tsarra, Leena, Nyrelle, and Valani after their passionate rendezvous at the Maliri border.
Taking pride of place on the central wall behind the thrones was a portrait of himself, surrounded by a cluster of girls. He saw Alyssa of course, accompanied by several members of the Invictus crew, their portraits merged with his. Staring at it in fascination, he realised that this was a reproduction of the images that his blonde Matriarch had described to him over the last several months. Calara, Sakura, and the twins were all there, with Jade appearing as a new addition, the Nymph gazing at him reverently.
*What is this place?* he asked Athena, studying the intricate portraits and sensing there were additional meanings behind them all.
*Just a place to while away eternity...* Athena replied, being deliberately vague. *A hobby room if you will.*
*You're going to be difficult today, aren't you?* John groaned, as he strode back to the courtyard.
He could hear her laughter carrying from the battlements. *Why, John, whatever do you mean?*
Heading outside, he ran over to the barbican and jogged up the stairs at the rear of the fortifications, making his way up to the glowing figure waiting for him there. *Hello Athena,* he said with a smile as he finally reached the enigmatic guide.
*You certainly took your time,* she chastised him, raising an eyebrow in mock disapproval. *Why didn't you just fly down?*
He gaped at her and blurted out, *I can do that?! But you told me to take the stairs!*
She wagged a finger at him. *Actually, that's not entirely accurate. You asked where they were... so I told you.*
John sighed and sat down on a stone bench behind the battlement wall. Reaching for Athena, she came to him with a teasing smirk... until her expression turned to shock as he deftly put her over his knee. She squealed in outrage as he gave her a vigorous spanking, her firm cheeks rippling with each weighty smack. Athena soon stopped her struggling and it didn't take long for her indignant cries to turn into lustful moans.
*Now perhaps we can start again,* John said as he helped her upright, smiling as she pouted and rubbed her bottom with both hands. *If you're a good girl and give me some straight answers, I'll make it worth your while afterwards.*
*You're no fun,* she huffed, but the twinkle in her radiant eyes belied her indignant reply.
Rising to his feet, John glanced through the crenellations that lined the parapet. *There's a few things I want to discuss with you, but first and foremost, what's the problem here? You sounded anxious when I arrived.*
She stepped closer so that she was right beside him and pointed through the same gap in the stonework. *We're being hunted, John. Look...*
He followed the line from her slender finger towards the horizon and he froze when he saw the massive six-legged beast striding ponderously through billowing mists. *Damn! I hoped we'd seen the last of those bastards.*
Athena glanced up at him, her beautiful face reflecting her concern. *I'm afraid not. You destroyed the testing ground for neophyte Progenitors and vanquished the creature that ran it, but I'm sure it's already been rebuilt. The overlord of that domain is... powerful.*
*Is that what that place was?* he asked, looking down at her curiously. *A testing ground?*
*I believe so,* she replied, her expression grim. *A place of temptation, which turned to terrible nightmares when you rejected that ancient horror's offer. I've been thinking about all your encounters there and it's the only explanation that fits.*
*I remember the eyes in the sky...* John said quietly. *I could feel its outrage when I refused its visions of conquest... and its disgust when I changed the husks of drained thralls into an image of the girls sleeping peacefully.*
Athena gently stroked his face, a fond smile appearing on hers. *You've always drawn your strength from them... but not the way a Progenitor abuses his thralls. Clearly that monster finds the concept of love to be utterly abhorrent.*
He slipped an arm around her waist, holding her close. *Are you in danger here?*
Her brief hesitation spoke volumes. *Not at the moment. But there's legions of those creatures out there... they're searching for this place.*
John looked out through the battlements again at the colossal beast, watching it moving perpendicular to the wall rather than heading straight towards them. *Why isn't it heading this way? This fortress is vast... how can it not see us?*
*The Astral Plane doesn't work that way... it's not like a big field which you can roam around and see whatever there is to see,* she patiently explained. *You need to know the specific location of an ethereal construct before you can visit... it's why the Ashanath subplane has stayed safely inviolate for all these millennia.*
*But those mist creatures have started looking for us in earnest,* John said, turning his attention to the glowing girl beside him. *And you would have mentioned it last night if you'd seen them before.*
She nodded, brows furrowing. *They only started homing in on our location today.*
*Alyssa...* John said, his eyes widening as he connected the dots. *Her confrontation with the Kirrix Hive Mind!*
*She's grown incredibly strong, John. What she did took phenomenal amounts of power,* Athena said, with no small amount of pride. Her expression darkened as she continued, *But flaunting your psychic potency in such a fashion sends out echoes... deep into the Astral. We've seen it once before... and suffered the consequences.*
He gazed out into the distance, his mind wandering. *When I tried to bring back Catherine Voss... and that portal opened on New Eden.*
