While Satsuki followed her guide toward Deidre's suite, she took some time to pte her plicated feelings about Mordecai.

  Satsuki knew she was, by any reasoandard, 'obsessed', and she khat it wasn't healthy. She was also well aware that this particur issue did not fall under any simple, physical aspects of her brain.

  There were advao traveliween worlds, especially when self-improvement is aernal goal. Satsuki knew herself very well after visiting pces with advanced analytical mental care and taking some time to work with a therapist.

  Mind, she retty certain that most experienced priests could do the job just as well for most people, but she was also certain that a freshly traiherapist would usually be better than a freshly trained priest for this sort of care. For especially difficult cases, a therapist bined with other mental health experts was going to be better than a priest, given equal levels of experience.

  It might be easier to deal with her emotiarding Mordecai if she could point out some key thing that was the focus of her attra and obsession. But no, nothing like that seemed to exist. For every aspect of him she could identify, she knew a man or woman who was better.

  Mordecai wasn't a dedicated hedonist, he could never be the best possible lover from a teique point of view; though she ainfully curious what ricks he might have in his current avatar.

  There were both men and women who had been more of a challeo seduce than Mordecai at his most stubborn and business-focused. Well, no one could be more stubborn than him about not cheating, but there were plenty of people who were his equal there.

  Which was to say she'd never seduced him when he was in a retionship, excepting the couple of times where she had seduced them both of course. But that wasn't cheating if everyone was involved and on board.

  He was a fieical artist and skilled dancer, but he was not great with more free-form artistic expression. Supposedly. As far as she was ed, that was a mental block given how creative he could be when it came to designing creatures and dungeon enviros. Still, Satsuki had been as much of a 'muse' to great artists as any Faerie Queen had ever been, and Mordecai certainly did not rate as one of this world's greatest artists, let alone among the worlds she had traveled during his sleep.

  Warrior, mage, priest; Satsuki had in with dozens of each who were better than Mordecai had ever been at any one of them or simir skill sets, though the trajectory of his current avatar might ge that eventually.

  Nor was he the only ohat she'd ever fallen in love with. The biggest difference was that she kept ing ba; with others she had either seeo their mortal end or had eventually broken up with them and not e back.

  The first few times Mordecai had broken up with Satsuki, she had thought it would be the end of it. Her biggest fw had been an inability to ray. As open-minded as Mordecai might be about specific arras, an 'opeionship with him had never been in the cards.

  That particur fw she'd gotteer about, and it helped that she'd been able to vince him (or occasionally her, depending on the avatar) to enjoy a third's pany for a night or week. In Satsuki's loerm retionships since Mordecai had been sealed, she'd mao be faithful in most of those without even that extra aid.

  Still, there had been other things to fight about, other buttons to push, ways to press him too hard to do something that she wanted. Satsuki found it very hard to not push him like that; whether he gave in or pushed back even harder she got areme thrill out of it.

  Thankfully, he could be willfully oblivious. Satsuki retty certain that Mordecai had not realized the full reality of her rea when he'd shoved her back. She felt a little guilty about that as it felt like it was close to making him cheat without him even being aware of it.

  The biggest question in her mind now was how she was going to deal with this perma ge in their retionship. For over two thousand years Satsuki had kept a spark of anticipation alive and had been so eager to see him again. Why, she'd even been sidering having a sed child with him.

  Oh, now there was one of the few things Satsuki had serious a pint about, even if she kept this gripe to herself. Mordecai was the father to her only child, but Mordecai had been signifitly less picky about whom he had children with.

  Especially when he was male, given how she'd never seen one of his female avatars pregnant. Oh, she was certain he'd do at least once; if Mordecai had one hedonistic weakness it was in the pursuit of new life experiences. But that particur aspect of him was a bitter taste. Just thinking about it made her angry.

  Unfortunately, being angry at Mordecai was one of the things that made her want to pin him to the ground and ravish him until she didn't feel angry anymore. et him angry enough to do the same thing to her. So she shelved those thoughts.

  Satsuki also felt a little cheated. She'd been beier in the way that might make things work out better between them, and here he was already bound to a pair. For all that he'd had long-term retionships before, Mordecai had never formally and officially married anyone. But here he'd effectively sold himself in an oath that Satsuki knew he would sider binding, especially given their es. Divorce wasn't really an option when your souls could feel each other.

  It was good that everything had worked out, and for his sake, she was genuinely happy that they were happy together. If Mordecai had been bound in an unhappy marriage, well, Satsuki wasn't sure what she'd have do robably best to not explore those thoughts either.

  But being happy for his sake didn't mean she couldn't be jealous too. Satsuki wao bee part of that retionship. Mostly because of Mordecai of course, but Kazue and Moriko were also both iing on their own.

  Self-refle also meant that Satsuki was aware that she was being sneaky and maniputive and probably just deying the process of ing to terms with everything. She had slipped the thought of her joining them for at least a little while into each of their minds and was quite willing to see if it came to fruitioually. It wouldn't be what she inally had in mind, and that soul-bond of theirs made everything trickier.

  Mordecai may have hacked into well-established forms of bonds, but the resoween them had shifted and adapted to match the use it was being put to.

  There was no way for Satsuki to accurately duplicate it, at least, not from the outside. Oh, she could make a w duplicate, probably. It just wouldn't be patible with theirs.

  This meant that Mordecai, Moriko, and Kazue would have to be able to do all the work themselves. If they wao. Which they were her capable of nor ied in right now.

  It was almost certainly foolishness on Satsuki's part, it wasn't going to help her issues.

  Well, she certainly didn't want to fall into the role of the gy former lover. So it was time for her to all of her thoughts and feelings on the subjed tuck them away. Satsuki made a promise to herself to not dwell on any of that for the duration of her stay. She might o recall some details during versation, but she was going to keep the memories at a distance.

  The bunkin guiding Satsuki had guided her through a rather rge feast hall, and Satsuki couldn't keep from gng up. Their core there, they were not yet strong enough to hide its presence from her, and that knowledge was aemptation to keep tucked away with everything else.

  Her guide took her down a corridor hidden by a hanging tapestry. It was rather a ouch, keeping the private areas a little more private by the simplicity of hanging a tapestry in front of the hallway. The dungeoainly didn't he tapestries for their insution properties, but they were still pretty and had a nice sedary use here.

  When the bunkin knocked on a door, a blond woman wearing a white robe opehe door and gnced between them.

  "Hello Deidre," the bunkin said, "this is Satsuki, anuest of Azeria. Satsuki, this is Deidre."

  Satsuki ined her head iing with a small boleasure to meet you, Deidre. I uand that you are expeg me?"

  Deidre returhe gesture before replying, "Yes, somewhat. I was informed that there was someone whom I might be ied iing to know, but not aails. So I do not know what this is about. But I suppose you should e inside so that we talk about it." She turo Satsuki's guide and said, "Thank you fing her here."

  "My pleasure. Did the food and drink arrive already? Excellent. Someone will be avaible if you need anything else."

  Satsuki followed Deidre into her room, or rather, her suite. It was not a terribly rge space, but there was a small kit set up and a couple of doors leading to what Satsuki presumed was a bedroom and a bathroom.

  There was also a faint smell of smoke and char.

  Her goward the kit and slight wrinkling of her nose had been noticed.

  "I have been attempting to learn how to cook, to try to uand people better," Deidre said. "I'm afraid it's not something I've had to do before, so I am not very good at it yet, but it seems important to a lot of people."

  "Don't worry about it!" a high-pitched voice piped up, "I 't cook either!"

  The dubious encement came from a pixie that swooped into view to nd on Deidre's shoulder. Satsuki was amused by the creature's fashion sehose clothes did not belong to this world and were clearly the result of Li's influence upon the dungeon's small fey creatures.

  "You must be Payne," Satsuki said, "it's a pleasure to meet you as well. As for the cooking, I help with that ter if you wish. For now, I do believe my purpose is to be a wicked little gossip."

  "A, gossip?" Deidre asked.

  "Oh yes. You see, I am one of his former lovers and the mother of his daughter Norumi, the kitsune founder of Kuic and Azeria." Satsuki rather ehe looks of surprise on the pair. "Now, why don't we settle in with some food and drink, and I tell you Mordecai's dirty secrets."

  "I don't uand," Deidre replied even as she moved to where the food and drink were id out on a ter. "Why would Mordecai want you to tell me his secrets?"

  "It's simple, though many people don't uand it. To knoerson, to truly trust them, you o know their fws. I am going to help give you a more rounded perspective on Mordecai. Though it's not my only purpose here." As she spoke, Satsuki followed Deidre to the refreshments, where Deidre served a pte for her before making one for herself.

  "What is your other purpose?"

  Satsuki smiled gently at Deidre. "Well, I have some experiehat are rather the opposite of some that you've had. Within your limits, I am avaible for you to talk about any unpleasant experiences you've had. Or if you prefer, I simply tell you about some of my amorous adveo give you a different perspective."

  Deidre took a short, sharp breath. "I see," she said as she took a seat. "This is supposed to help me?" Deidre did not look at Satsuki when she asked that. Payne nded on Deidre's shoulder and stroked her hair soothingly.

  "Yes, it is dear," Satsuki replied. "You have suffered in a particurly awful way, and for a proloime. Even if you intellectually know better, there will be an association built up between the way things are supposed to happen and what has happeo you. I am, hopefully, to be your antidote."

  Satsuki settled into her seat before tinuing, "But, that requires trust and bonding first, so let me begin by earning that trust and telling you a bit about my dear Mordecai.

  Zagaroth