Two days before the fall of Windsor Fortress…
"W-Will?" Ashe stuttered as she looked at the cute teddy bear in front of her
(A/N: This may take you guys a bit of getting used to, but I will shift to calling Ian as Ashe when she's in her mermaid form, or when she's alone with Will.)
"Yes. it's me," Will nodded. "There's an impo-- hey! Don't pick me up!"
Ashe ignored Will's protest and twirled around holding the teddy bear in her hands. She then pressed "William" to her chest and squashed him to oblivion.
"So cute!" Ashe exclaimed.
William sighed internally and allowed Ashe to have her way with him.
It was then when a chuckle was heard around them and Issei appeared with his twin lovers by his sides.
"Sorry to disturb your happy moment, but we're in a bit of a rush," Issei said with a smile. "Young Lady, I'm Will's Big Brother. You may call me Issei."
Ashe immediately summoned her Spirit Sword and put up her guard. She could feel a very strong Divine Power coming out from Issei's body, and she understood that the person in front of her was a very strong existence.
"Good." Issei nodded his head in approval. "Your reaction was on point. As expected from my brother's partner."
William, who was currently being held in Ashe's firm embrace, patted her chest in order to calm her down.
"Don't worry, he's not an enemy," William explained. "He is my Big Brother and he takes good care of me."
Ashe lowered the weapon in her hand, but kept her guard up. She wasn't a little girl that would trust strangers as soon as she met them.
Seeing that Ashe had calmed down, Issei crossed his arms over his chest and grinned.
"Like I said earlier, we are in a bit of a rush," Issei stated. "Young Lady, I pulled your spirit from your body and brought you here to my domain. However, your spirit cannot leave your body for a long time, so I prepared something that will help you remain here for an extended period of time.
"But before that, allow me to tell you why you're here. You see, William is currently undergoing training about how to use the powers he gained from your union. Naturally, he won't be able to utilize them properly unless you are here. Because of that, I decided to 'forcefully' bring you here to ensure that his training will be a success. Are you following me so far?"
Ashe frowned, but she still nodded her head. She would listen first before she decided on how to interact with her "partner's" Big Brother.
Issei cleared his throat and continued his explanation.
"Your soul can only stay for half of a day each day and for no longer than a week.
Due to not wanting to harm your soul, half a day in your world will be three days inside my domain.
"Of course, I will not force you if you don't want to help William by participating in his training. Everyone is entitled to a choice, so I'll give you two minutes to decide."
"There's no need to wait," Ashe replied. "I will help Will with his training."
"Excellent choice!" Issei clapped his hands and looked at the teddy bear in the young lady's hold. "I got to hand it to you, Little Brother, your girls love you very much."
The teddy bear raised its chin in an arrogant manner in acknowledgment of Issei's words.
"This is what you call charisma, Big Brother," William replied. "Just one smile from me and all the girls in the academy will line up to give me a kiss."
Ashe grabbed the teddy bear's leg and dangled it upside down in irritation. Issei chuckled as he watched at the two's shenanigans before waving his hand to bring William and Ashe inside his special domain.
After a brief flash of light, William and Ashe found themselves in a familiar place. The two of them stood in William's "destroyed" Sea of Consciousness.
"I temporarily linked William's Sea of Consciousness with my domain in order to keep the Young Lady's soul from weakening," Issei said as he appeared along with the twin ladies by his sides.
"Right now, William doesn't have any sort of power. Also, fighting for an extended period of time will hasten the destruction of his Sea of Consciousness. In order to prevent that from happening, he has to use an outside source of power. That is where you come in, Young Lady."
Issei pointed at Ashe with a serious expression on his face.
"Since the two of you are linked through your Spirit Core, the Synchronization Rate of both of your body and soul has reached the minimum requirements for the Familia Oversoul."
Instead of explaining, Issei kissed the lips of the twins by his sides and uttered two words.
"Familia Oversoul."
The bodies of the two girls became ethereal and merged with Issei's body. Soon, the silhouette of two girls wielding swords and shields, each, hovered behind Issei's body.
"It's similar to Aura Intent," William muttered as he narrowed his eyes to observe the two "Spirits" that were floating behind the Harem God. "But, it feels more like magic power…"
"Spirit power," Ashe corrected. "That's Spirit Power and not Magic Power. Although they feel the same, the method behind the two is different."
Issei nodded his head, "Correct. This power can only be used if the bond between me and my lovers reaches a certain threshold. The stronger the bond, the stronger the powers that will manifest after a successful fusion are.
"This is the thing that the two of you need to master within one month. Whether you succeed in mastering this ability or not, both of you will be evicted from this domain when the one month is over."
William and Ashe exchanged a glance and nodded their heads. The Teddy Bear then looked at his Big Brother and asked the question that he had been meaning to ask.
"Big Brother, how can we strengthen our bond?" William inquired.
The grin on Issei's face widened as he looked at William and the young lady that was holding his "temporary" vessel.
"The fastest way is for the two of you to embrace each other's body." Issei chuckled. "But since both of you are underaged, and I don't want the F.B.I. God to arrest my Little Brother, the two of you can just settle for hugs and kisses for the time being.
"Naturally, you need to practice merging as well. The only advantage is that, since my domain is linked to William's Spirit World, he will be able to manifest a bit of his Spirit Powers to keep your connection stable. I'll return after the two of you manage to perform the Familia Oversoul. At the very least, a 50% Synchronization Rate is needed to make it happen."
Issei waved his goodbye and disappeared in the blink of an eye. He wanted to give the two "newlyweds" some privacy, so they wouldn't have to worry about someone eavesdropping on their "intimate" interactions.
After Issei left, the Teddy Bear's body glowed and increased its size. Soon, it transformed into William's true form, which surprised both of them.
'Don't worry, Will,' Issei said via telepathy. 'I'm going to give you a freebie because I know that it is hard to be 'touchy' with your lover, while you're in that teddy bear's body. No need to thank me. Just make sure to do your best and score First Base! As for the Second Base, that is a Gray Area. I'll leave it to your discretion. Have fun!'
William's face reddened when he heard Issei's words. His feelings for Ashe were still in the initial stages, but he knew that since the 'deed' had already been done, he needed to take responsibility and care for her for the rest of his life.
"Ashe," William said softly as he held her hand. "I will do my best. So, please, have more faith in me. I promise you that I will cherish you for the rest of my life."
Ashe smiled as she rested her head on William's chest. "Ever since that battle with the Terrorhand, I knew that you were someone that I could depend on with my life. Perhaps, that was also when I fell in love with you. Will, I'm scared. This is the first time I've felt this way. I don't know what to do."
"It's fine," William patted her back and kissed her forehead. "Let's start slow, okay?"
"Okay," Ashe replied as she buried her head in William's chest.
Both of them understood that they couldn't rush their relationship, but that didn't mean that they couldn't take that first step, to remove the anxiety that they felt in their hearts.
Ashe looked up and closed her eyes. Her heart beat wildly inside her chest as she waited for her lover to remove the fears and doubts inside her. William lowered his head and kissed her lips.
The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, but it was more than enough for Ashe to understand the feelings behind it. The insecurities that she had been bottling up slowly melted away as she took the initiative to kiss him back.
Ashe wouldn't admit it, but ever since William had made Wendy his lover, she felt extremely envious and jealous of her. Now, she didn't have to worry about that anymore. William's actions assured her that he was taking their relationship seriously.
With this, the haze in her heart and mind finally disappeared as she surrendered herself to her lover's passionate kisses, that made her fall in love with him all over again.