Valerie spent roughly the next 10 minutes trying to get herself under control while she continued to cry in my arms. The fact that a girl this sweet had been put through such awful shit had me wanting to go to the place where she was held and destroy everything there within a 5 mile radius. She was nothing like people thought... hell, she wasn't even what I expected when taking into consideration that she was a half vampire. After another moment, Valerie sniffled, but she seemed to have better control over her emotions, because she spoke.
"Thank you, Lor... uh... Eli. This means... everything to me." She said, and that made me smile. We would get there in time, but she was already starting to get better. It would take a while... but...
"Now, you're free, and you can do whatever you wish. Go wherever you wish, and whatever you choose to do, I'll support you. You're not alone anymore, Valerie." I said, with the other two girls echoing my words.
Valerie's eyes watered again, before she looked up at me, and her face looked worried as she spoke.
"E... Eli... I... don't want to go. I owe you so much now." She said, but I shook my head.
"You owe me nothing Valerie. You being free, and being safe, that's all I require." I said, and now the tears were falling again.
"I want to stay!" She said quickly, the force of her words surprising me, "I don't want to go anywhere. I like being around all of you! I like having friends! I feel like people care about me! Please... don't make me leave."
I quickly gathered her in another hug, which made her stiffen again, but she soon melted like puddy as she pressed her face into my chest.
"I told you, Valerie... you can make your own decisions now... and if you really want to stay with us," I said, looking over at the other two who nodded with smiles on their faces, "Then you can stay. Well take care of you."
This caused her to let out a small sob as she clutched at my shirt. I was responsible for her, and I'd taken her on knowing that this might be a possibility. I just couldn't bare to see such a pure hearted person in such a situation. Not only that, but now that she was around us, and she began showing us the kind of person she truly was... I was growing fond of her being around. Her life had been horrible, and exceptionally tragic, and I felt a strong instinctual need to keep her safe... so yeah, her answer was the one I was hoping to hear.
"You'll never be alone again." Cici said softly as she placed her hand on Valerie's back, and began softly rubbing it.
"We'll all look out for each other." Clarissa said, and that made me smile.
As I thought about the situation I found myself in, it once again hit how surreal it was. A weak and dying man like me had turned into a literal walking tank, who was happily married to a woman that I loved with all of my heart, and that wonderful woman wanted to bring more women into our family. Not only was I becoming closer to Clarissa, but I had two other women who were interested in me. Now though, as I looked down at the beautiful woman in my arms, I couldn't deny that the number might have jumped up to 3.
"Fucking crazy." I thought to myself, and Cici giggled into my mind from my comment, no doubt privy on everything I had just thought about. Although, all I continued to feel from her was just happiness, and a warm acceptance. No man deserves to be this lucky, and yet...
*Knock*
We all turned our heads towards the door of our room where the knock had originated from. Cici stood immediately, and walked over to the door. I removed my arms from around Valerie, and she wiped at her eyes, and straightened out her outfit. Without even thinking about it for long, she opened it, where she was greeted to the lovely sight of a beautiful wolf girl, a stunning fox girl, and then just Benji. I liked him, don't get me wrong, but a beautiful woman he was not.
"Hey you three." Cici said with a smile in her tone.
"Hey, Cici. I hope we aren't coming at a bad time, but we were wondering if we could talk to Elias about something?" Serena said, and smile just smiled as she stepped aside and gestured for them to come inside.
"Not a bad time at all. Come on in." She said, and when the trio looked over at me next, I just smiled and nodded.
The three entered the room, Cici closing the door behind them as Sheila made her way in last.
"Sorry if we are intruding.." Benji said, and I just shook my head and smirked.
"You're good. Come in, sit down and relax." I said, watching as they all entered the living area.
"Hey, are you okay Valerie?" Serena asked, noticing Valerie's red eyes as she walked closer, stepping around the couch to get closer to her.
I think all of us were pretty surprised when Valerie stood to her feet quite quickly, and wrapped her arms around Serena. No one looked as surprised as Serena herself, but she looked so moved by the gesture that she didn't hesitate before returning the embrace.
"I'm more than okay." Valerie said softly, before adding, "I'm free," and there was a crack in her voice as she said that.
Serena quickly backed up, holding Valerie by the shoulders as she looked down at her neck. Her eyes opened wide at the smooth pale skin of Valerie's neck, now free of that detestable device. She looked up at Valerie's eyes, who had the onset of more tears in them.
"How..?" Serena asked in almost a whisper.
"Lo..." Valerie said, catching herself with a small pout on her face, which was incredibly cute, "Eli. He... shattered the crystal."
Serena, Benji, and Sheila's eyes snapped to me when she said that, looks of incredulous disbelief on their face.
"You... broke a slave crystal? Those... are supposed to be almost impossible to break." Serena said, her large green eyes becoming even bigger.
"I shouldn't but surprised, given what we've seen... but you just get more ridiculous, don't you?" Sheila said, a half smirk on her face as she gazed at me like I would look at a professionally prepared steak.
"I knew it! You are like one of those the hidden Masters in the stories I read growing up. You're kind and inconspicuous, but you're ultimately the strongest person around wherever you go." Benji said, which was a tad uncomfortable, but he wasn't technically wrong I guess. I was no Master by any means, I was just really damn powerful.
I looked between everyone for a moment, taking in their looks of awe and admiration. Serena had tears in her eyes as she looked back at Valerie, happy for her friend's freedom.
"I am very strong, yes, and I always strive to do the right thing." I said, meeting everyone's eyes, "I despise slavery, which is why I had decided to help Valerie. All of these people with all of this power, and they use oppress others, and satisfy their sick fantasies." I said, and my face set in a snarl, "Not while I'm around."
The pride my kitten sent me had my ego flying higher than the clouds it I'm being honest. It is not a bad thing to be proud of your good deeds, and I'd say freeing slaves and killing pieces of shit was something to hold in high regard. People on Earth would sometimes argue that killing someone else was wrong, regardless of their crimes, or that people don't have the right to decide someone else's fate. Well, fuck that. Some people were pure evil, terrible wastes of human life, and they all deserved the worst kind of fate imaginable. Here, in this world, I could do that, I could enact true justice, and then I could sleep like a baby and snuggle with my wife with a smile on my face afterwards.
"I wish more people were like you.." Clarissa said softly, a smile on her face as she looked at me with adoration, and god damn she was beautiful.
Valerie locked eyes with me then, her eyes wet with tears, and proceeded to give me the first true smile I'd seen from her. It made my heart skip a beat, it made my own eyes sting with the onset of tears, but most of all, it just made me happy to see the once sad and miserable looking woman have hope shining in her eyes for the first time since I met her.
"Master Elias..." Benji said, walking closer to me so he didn't have to raise his voice, "I'm not sure if this is the right time to ask this... but I don't know if I'll ever have the courage again..."
I turned my gaze away from the heartwarming scene, and brought my eyes to his, giving him a strained smile.
"Ask me anything, Benji... but please stop calling me Master. Are you feeling okay today, by the way?" I asked him, and he nodded slowly, but it was an unsure nod.
"I am... better. My sister was there to help me through it, and she's pretty stubborn..." He said, and Serena turned and grinned at him, which accentuated her pretty face, "And Valerie said you might be able to help us with something... and that all I had to do was ask."
My eyebrows rose as I looked at Valerie, who just gave me another smile.
"Sorry, Eli...I know I did so without your permission, but I figured there was no harm in them asking you, given what I know about you so far." She said, and I just gave her a small nod as I looked back at Benji.
I was really looking to just relax after everything that had happened recently. Maybe it's something that can wait at least a couple of days. I really wanted to spend some time exploring the city, spend some quality time with my wife, and of course... I was really looking forward to my date with Clarissa. That being said... I most likely wouldn't say no... and the look he and Serena gave me really touched me. There was pain in their eyes, so I knew that whether whatever this was... it was important to them. I gestured for him to sit, and he did so across from me, with Serena extracting herself to Valerie to join him a moment later.
"Don't ever be afraid to ask me anything." I said, meeting both of their eyes, "Go on. I'm all ears."