Chapter 12: Noon

Fiona and Kianna stood completely frozen as they stared at Anton. After a long moment of stillness they slowly looked at each other. Their eyes went wide in panicked realization as their ears pointed themselves straight upwards. Without a word they both exploded out of the tub on either side of Anton and began to stumble and fall as they tried to make a clumsy dash for the door.

Anton sighed as he snapped the fingers on his right hand.

The wave of bathwater that was about to land on him suddenly stopped moving forward and began to drift aimlessly through the air. The two dark elves both cried out in a panicked confusion as their feet slipped out from underneath them and they suddenly found themselves floating weightlessly above the tiled floor.

“W-what the Hell!?” cried Fiona as she flailed her limbs in an attempt to remain upright, despite her efforts she ended up floating upside down above Anton “Wha, what is this!?”

“This, is an ability I call “Quantum Break” it’s a spell that allows me to manipulate the gravity in the area around me ... It’s also more proof that you’ve never really stood a chance against me” said Anton as he grinned up at the clearly uncomfortable dark elf “Don’t worry, it’s not going to hurt you. Unless I decide to turn it off and you fall. That, of course, will probably hurt you”

Fiona’s eyes widened even further as she froze her movements and made a tiny fearful sound in the back of her throat.

“This is so cool!” marveled Kianna as she playfully waved her hands through the floating water “How are you doing this!?”

“Ah, well, it’s kind of embarrassing for me to admit, but I can’t really explain it that well because I don’t fully understand the mechanics behind it myself” admitted Anton as he watched the dark elf make balls of water with her cupped hands and then try to bite at them “I learned this skill when a Voidling, a flatwoods to be exact, sucked my consciousness into the Void and tried to absorb me. I was able to get the upper hand on him and somehow learned a few of his abilities during the exchange. This is one of them”

“ ... Are you serious!?” exclaimed Fiona as she curled herself into the fetal position and clutched her stomach “So you don’t even know how this shit even works!?”

“No, not really” said Anton as he folded his hands behind his head and gazed up at her “I know how to control it in the sense of turning it on and off and manipulating the intensities. But to say I understand how it works in anyway beyond that ... Nope, no idea!”

“That’s so crazy!” laughed Kianna as she twirled in a circle “Wait! Are we really gonna fall when you turn it off!?”

“No, I’m not gonna let you fall!” declared Anton as he smiled at her instant relief “I’ll turn it off slowly so you’ll just float down. Don’t worry, you’re perfectly safe”

“This is not safe!” cried Fiona as she clamped her eyes shut in an effort to fight back against her growing nausea “This is stupid! I hate this!”

“I love this! This is fun!” cried Kianna as she bobbed herself up near the height of the ten foot ceiling and looked down at Anton “ ... It is kinda weird though!”

“Oh, I don’t know about weird!” laughed Anton as he settled back and crossed his legs at the ankles as he lounged in his chair “Personally! I think there’s something sexy about the sight of two, naked, lady dark elves floating through space! I could watch this for hours!”

Kianna stopped short as her eyes went wide and her ears pointed themselves straight upwards.

“S-sexy?” she questioned as she absently pressed her shoulders and palms against the ceiling and stared down at Anton “ ... Really?”

“Well yeah!” grinned Anton “It’s hard to beat a sight like this! Lots of angles you don’t normally get to see! I’m having a hard time even blinking since I don’t want to miss anything!”

“ ... Oh!” said Kianna as a slight grin took shape on her face “ ... Really!”

Anton cocked an eyebrow as Kianna smirked at him and folded her ears back so their tips were pointed down and away from her head. Bending her legs upwards, she twisted her waist just enough to hide her sex behind her thigh and folded her arms over her breasts to shield them from sight. Turning slightly to the side she laid herself back against the ceiling and grinned demurely as she arched her back and posed herself for Anton’s attention.

“ ... Oh! Well now!” rumbled Anton as he tightened his eyes and smiled back up at her “Is my little dark elf feeling playful all of a sudden!?”

Kianna continued to twist herself to the side until she was essentially laying with her belly against the ceiling. Bending her legs back over her bottom and heavily arching her back and neck until she was bent into a crescent shape, she looked down at Anton and smiled at him while chewing on her lower lip.

“ ... I don’t know!” she teased as she mashed her still hidden breasts together with her folded arms and shifted her shoulders back and forth “ ... Maybe!”

“Are you shitting me!?” snarled Fiona as she glared up her sister “What the fuck are you doing up there Kianna!?”

Kianna’s playful expression shifted to one of irritation as she narrowed her eyes at her sister.

“Nothing!” she declared with a huff “I’m just playing around!”

“Oh! You’re just playing around!” mocked Fiona as she clumsily swam through the air towards an empty towel rack that was mounted to the wall “Just playing around, with an asshole! Who just said he wants to enslave you! Nothing wrong with that though! Right!?”

Kianna stared at her sister for a moment before looking off to the side and twisting herself away from both her and Anton.

“Ugh! I wanna get down now!” groaned Fiona as she grabbed hold of the towel rack and hugged herself to the wall before clamping her eyes shut “Please!”

Anton sighed as he stood up from his chair and walked over to Fiona.

“If I stick you back in the tub are you going to try to run away again?” he asked as he folded his arms over his chest “Or will you promise to be a good girl and stay where I put you!?”

Seething, Fiona pressed her forehead against the wall and growled in frustration.

“ ... I’ll be good!” she snarled through her teeth “I promise!”

“Hm, and what about you?” asked Anton as he looked up at Kianna.

The second dark elf was still floating up near the ceiling and was looking off to the side with an intensely thoughtful look on her face. After a moment she glanced down at Anton and nodded her head.

“Alright then” said Anton as he plucked a floating bathmat out of the air “Just give me a minute”

Using the bathmat as a combination of a shovel and a fan, Anton moved all the floating water back into the tub before turning back to the dark elves.

Fiona had curled herself back into the fetal position as she kept her death grip on the towel rack. While Kianna, despite the somber attitude she had only a few moments ago, had begun to happily practice free spinning somersaults as she continued to float around the room.

Anton chuckled as he smiled up at her and the gleeful dark elf quickly turned away from him as an embarrassed blush spread across her face.

With a smirk still on his own face, Anton walked up to Fiona and shook his head at her.

“Are we still ready to get down now?” he asked.

“Yes!” exclaimed the dark elf as she frantically nodded her head “Please!”

“Alright then, let go” mumbled Anton as he gave her a light smack across her butt cheek.

“Hey! You ass!” cried Fiona as she whorled around in a rage and tried to strike at him. Missing entirely she lost her hold on the towel rack and began to float out into the open air.

“Ah! No!” she cried as she twirled forward in the air and ended up floating upside down again.

The panicked dark elf flailed her limbs uselessly as she tried to right herself. She froze completely as Anton reached out and took hold of the top of her head. Holding her upside down in his palm, he grinned evilly and lifted her up to his eye level.

“You really don’t like this!” teased Anton as he bobbed her up and down “Do you!?”

“Stop!” cried Fiona as she clutched Anton’s wrist with both hands and curled her legs in against her belly “Put me down! Please!”

“Hm, but I kind of want to juggle you a little bit first” mumbled Anton as he gave her head a squeeze “And maybe see how well you can bounce”

“No! Stop! Please don’t!” whimpered Fiona as she clamped her eyes shut and laid her ears back submissively “Please! Please don’t juggle me!”

“Okay, okay! Don’t start crying!” chuckled Anton as he gave her a light spin to get her right side up again “Just remember that you promised to be a good girl now, Fiona!”

Fiona moaned miserably and wrapped her arms around her stomach as she was spun in a complete circle. Keeping her eyes shut, she did nothing as Anton took hold of her shoulders and guided her through the air before easing her back down into the tub.

With one dark elf now in place, Anton looked up and shifted his attention to the second one.

Kianna was still floating up near the ceiling. As her eyes met Anton’s she planted herself against the ceiling and made as if she were about to push off with her feet.

Smiling in understanding, Anton held his arms out and readied himself to catch her.

The dark elf had a excited smile on her face as she launched herself downwards and went sailing through the air. Curling herself into a cannon ball at the last moment she couldn’t help but to start giggling gleefully as she landed cradled in Anton’s arms.

“You are just having a blast with this!” exclaimed Anton as he squeezed the still balled up dark elf to his chest and teasingly tapped her on the nose “Aren’t you!”

“ ... Yes!” smiled Kianna as she playfully laid her ears back and covered her face with her hands “I am!”

“Aw! My little dark elf is so cute!” teased Anton as he stepped back up to the tub “Does she like it when I let her float through the air!?”

“ ... Yeah!” admitted Kianna as she squirmed playfully and kept her face hidden “I do! It’s really fun!”

Fiona growled angrily as she gripped the side of the tub and desperately tried to keep herself in place.

“Will you please hurry up!” she whined as she started to slip back out into the air “Please!”

“Okay, okay. Don’t panic” teased Anton as he eased Kianna down and placed her in the tub next to her sister “You need to learn to relax and have some fun Fiona!”

The dark elf growled in annoyance as Anton snapped the same fingers on his right hand and caused everything to slowly fall back into place.

Fiona breathed a sigh of relief and went limp as she let go of the tub.

“Well that was fun!” exclaimed Kianna as she settled herself in the tub and tossed her hair back and off of her shoulders.

“That was Hell!” cried Fiona as she pressed her forehead against the top of the tubs edge “ ... I feel like I’m still spinning!”

“It’s nice to know I have something I can threaten you with now” chuckled Anton as he ruffled Fiona’s hair “Maybe next time me and Kianna will use you as a Volleyball!”

Fiona went stiff and then groaned in dismay as her sister laughed softly.

Shivering in the now chilled water, Kianna wrapped her arms around herself and began to rub her shoulders as she laid her ears back and looked up at Anton with pleading eyes.

“Aw, is my poor little dark elf too cold!?” exclaimed Anton as he smirked at her “Well let’s fix that!”

Leaning over the edge of the tub, Anton ran his hand through the water before warming it back up with another tap of his finger.

“Thank you!” chirped Kianna as she looked down into the water and began to fidget with her hands “ ... Master!”

“You’re very welcome!” said Anton as he gave her a quick rub on her bowed head.

Fiona tilted her head to give her sister a sideways glare and ended up blinking in surprise when Kianna defiantly glared back and stuck her tongue out at her.

“So!” exclaimed Anton as he settled himself back into his seat “Now that we’ve got all the theatrics out of the way. I think it’s time for us to have another little talk”

The dark elves had both nervousness and apprehension in their eyes as they looked up at him and waited.

“First let me say its nice to see that you both seem to be recovering pretty well. I didn’t know that dark elves could “bounce” back so quickly” said Anton as he gave Fiona a condescending smirk “That’s always a nice trait to have in a slave!”

Fiona pointed her ears straight back and glared angrily as she moved away from the side of the tub and sunk down to her neck in the warm water.

“Honestly, you both had to have had an idea that this was coming” said Anton as he looked from one dark elf to the other “I haven’t exactly been all that subtle. I’ve even had you calling me “Master” for crying out loud!”

Fiona bared her clenched teeth while Kianna stayed silent and merely stared at nothing.

“You can’t just make us your slaves because you want to!” declared Fiona “That’s not how the laws work!”

“True. Justification is necessary. And even then there is still a process to actually make you into a legal slave. Unfortunately for you though” said Anton as he narrowed his eyes at her “I think I have more than enough justification to enslave a pair of kidnappers who also happen to be attempted rapists and murderers!”

Fiona’s glare began to falter as her eyes went wide.

“That’s, that isn’t!” she cried as her eyes darted from Anton to Kianna and back “We never actually tried to kill you though!”

“True. But that’s only because I never gave you the chance” said Anton as he rubbed his chin “Are you trying to say you wouldn’t have really done it? Because if so we can actually confirm that”

“ ... How?” asked Fiona as her ears pointed themselves straight upwards.

“With a Warden’s Orb, obviously” said Anton as he reached into his pocket “And as luck would have it I happened to have one sitting around and thought it might come into play at some point today”

Anton pulled an oddly shaped glob of silver colored metal out of his pocket and set it down with a tap on the edge of the tub between the two dark elves.

Their curiosity getting the better of them, Fiona and Kianna both leaned forward to get a better look at the strange object that appeared to be a chunk of molten metal that had hardened around a blue jewel.

“ ... What is this thing!?” questioned Fiona as she glared at the unimposing little glob.

“It’s, it’s a Warden’s Orb” said Anton as he cocked an eyebrow at her “It’s the same thing they use in criminal cases to determine if a person is guilty”

“ ... How does it work?” questioned Fiona as she raised her eyes up to meet Anton’s “What does it do!?”

“Well, normally it’ll just measure your karmic balance, which is why these are also used in a few forms of divination. But if you activate it and consent to a screen then it’ll do a deeper read and be able to tell exactly what you’re guilty of” explained Anton “It is semi-sapient as well, and will record your crimes. So useless you’re fully confident that you’re innocent I wouldn’t recommend using it”

“ ... We actually are innocent though!” exclaimed Fiona as she gave Anton a smug grin “You let us kidnap you and we never even came close to doing anything else! So we really are actually innocent!”

Kianna’s eyes went wide as she looked from her sister to Anton.

“Then by all means” said Anton as he held out his hand and indicated the orb “Prove it”

“ ... And what are you going to do if it says we’re innocent!?” demanded Fiona “How do we know you won’t still try to enslave us!?”

“There’s no point in enslaving you if I can’t even show you off!” chuckled Anton as he shook his head “No, if it turns out that you’re innocent then I’ll be happy with everything I’ve already taken from you. And I’ll just leave it at that”

“ ... You’ll actually leave!?” questioned Kianna as her eyes widened even further.

“You promise!?” exclaimed Fiona “If it says we’re innocent you’ll really leave!? You swear!?”

“Yes, I’ll leave and you’ll never see me again” answered Anton “You have my word”

“Worth it!?” exclaimed Fiona as she turned to her sister with unabashed excitement on her face “What do you think!?”

“ ... I, I don’t know!” mumbled Kianna as a hint of nervousness took shape in her eyes “I, I don’t ... I!”

Seeing the turmoil in the dark elf’s eyes, Anton gave her a soft smile.

“Just give it a shot Kianna” he encouraged as he nodded to the orb “And we’ll see what happens”

“We’ll see your ass out the door is what we’ll do!” exclaimed Fiona as she sidled up to the orb “How do we do this!?”

“It’s simple, first I’ll add a bit of mana to get things going” said Anton as he reached out and ran his fingertip across the blue jewel in the center of the orb “Then the rest is up to you”

Both of the dark elves stared transfixed as the blue jewel immediately lit up and began to pulsate.

“Now, all you two have to do is touch the jewel and ask “Warden am I innocent?” and it will do the rest” explained Anton as he settled back into his seat to watch “It doesn’t matter if you both touch it at the same time, it can read you both”

“That’s it?” questioned Fiona “It’s really that simple!?”

“Yes, this is what this thing was made to do” explained Anton “It’s designed to be simple”

“So just touch it?” asked Kianna as she reached forward and pressed her fingertip on the jewel “Like this?”

“Mm hm” hummed Anton as he nodded his head.

Fiona followed her sister’s lead and pressed her finger down just next to hers. The dark elves then looked at each other before taking deep breaths through their noses.

“Warden am I innocent!?” they both cried out in unison.

The jewel at the center of the orb began to glow at a brighter intensity before the metal surrounding it suddenly ignited into a flurry of sparks. The dark elves both pulled their hands back as the orb rose up and floated in the air in front of them. As they watched, the metal around the jewel continued to ignite itself until it became a glowing orb of white plasma with a bluish center.

“No. You are not” said the wardens orb as it zipped forward and came to rest in the air directly in front of Fiona. The dark elf cringed back as three holographic-like square shaped screens shone out from the center of the orb and pointed themselves at each person before they began to run a list of crimes down their lengths.

“I wouldn’t worry about this just yet” mused Anton as he watched the list run it’s course “Technically everybody is guilty of something. So long as the words don’t start turning red then you should be fine ... Oh, nevermind, there they are...”

Fiona’s spirit sank as the orb listed each time she stole from her sister before coming to a stop at the bottom of the list.

“Well there you go!” said Anton as he nodded slowly “Clear as day “Kidnapping with the intent to murder” that’s far from innocent Fiona!”

Fiona sat dumbfounded as the orb turned to Kianna and began to run through a second much shorter list.

“Hm!” mumbled Anton as he playfully cocked an eyebrow at Kianna “Well now, what’s this! “Kidnapping with the intent to rape and murder” so you were the only one who was going to take it the extra mile then!? That’s a little surprising! And here I thought you were the good one Kianna!”

A bright, warm blush spread across Kianna’s face as she looked down into the bathwater and flattened her ears back submissively behind her head.

“ ... Nope!” she mumbled softly as she peeked up at Anton and gave him a tiny grin “ ... I’m not!”

“ ... This! This is!” started Fiona as she shook her head and stared at the still glowing orb “This is-”

She stopped short as the warden’s orb rose up into the air above them and then disappeared with a pop of sparks.

“And there it goes...” mumbled Anton as he looked back down at the clearly confused dark elves “It’s on it’s way”

“What!?” cried Fiona as she looked from where the orb had just been to him and then back “What happened!? Where did it go!?”

“It went to the closest “Center of Enforcement” office” said Anton as he rolled his head along his shoulders to crack his neck “Should be back in a few days ... At least I hope it is. Those things are expensive!”

“ ... It what!?” exclaimed Fiona as she looked back at him with panic in her eyes “Why!? Why is it going there!?”

“Because it knows you’re guilty. And it’s going to record your crimes” said Anton as he gave her a perplexed look “I told you it would do that”

“No you didn’t! You never said it was going to report us!” exclaimed Fiona “You, you tricked us!”

“I did no such thing!” declared Anton as he shook his head “I specifically told you that it would record your crimes and I warned you not to use it unless you were absolutely sure that you were innocent! And you said that you were!”

“So wait! What happens now!?” questioned Kianna “What does “Record your crimes” mean!?”

“It means exactly that” said Anton as he turned to her “It’ll record your crimes and then the COE will confirm your identities and issue warrants for your arrest. The whole process may take a few days but afterwords officers and bounty hunters will be alerted to your wanted status and they’ll be on the look out for you”

“You bastard!” screamed Fiona as she pointed her ears straight back behind her head “We’re going to be arrested because of you!”

“Excuse me!? Because of me!? None of this is because of me, Fiona!” declared Anton as he leaned over the edge of the tub and glared at her “The only thing I’m guilty of is sitting at a bar and minding my own business! You and your sister are responsible for everything that’s happened after that!”

“You!” seethed Fiona as she glared right back at him “You bastard! You planned this!”

“Well, that is somewhat true” said Anton as he eased himself back and resettled into his chair “I did think this particular opportunity might arise, and I did plan ahead so I could take advantage of it if it did”

“I knew it!” cried Fiona “ ... Wait, what are you talking about!?”

“I’m talking about using the Warden’s Orb” explained Anton “I thought the opportunity to use it at some point today might come up so I kept it with me just in case”

“ ... Why did you want to use it?” asked Kianna.

“Because it’ll make things a lot easier on my end” said Anton “It’ll streamline a big chunk of the paperwork I’ll have to deal with by having the information about your crimes processed by the COE itself. Now all I’ll have to worry about is filing with the registry and maintaining your health records. Which will be easy enough really. We’ll go ahead and get my personal files started and out of the way today, and I’ll try to setup an official doctors visit for sometime in the next week or so”

Fiona fell back as her eyes went wide.

“Wait! Wait!” she exclaimed as she shook her head frantically “You can’t be serious!”

“I’m very serious” said Anton as he folded his arms over his chest and looked her in the eyes “This is happening Fiona”

Fiona’s eyes darted to the door before zipping back to Anton.

“You can’t do this to us! We, we have to agree! You can’t just enslave us unless we agree!” she exclaimed as she scowled maniacally at him “And I won’t agree! I won’t!”

“I don’t need you to agree to anything Fiona” said Anton as he shook his head “I’m the reason you have that imbalance. You targeted me specifically, so you owe me personally. In this instance, I can choose to either press charges against you or keep you myself. We already know what decision I’m making. But either way, whether it’s a prison cell, or a collar, you’re losing your freedom regardless”

There was a moment of stillness as the three of them sat in silence.

“But you stole from us!” exclaimed Fiona as her eyes widened in excitement “You’re a thief! You’re not innocent either!”