An Odd Coincidence

Johan gazed from side to side at the row of women awkwardly. He felt like he was objectifying them and choosing a girl in this fashion seemed inhumane and unfair to them. Yet, the majority seemed eager to be chosen. It boggled him and went against everything he had grown up believing. Furthermore, picking one girl over another in front of them, filled him with a sense of guilt, even if this was how the Mongols chose mates during this era.

A familiar face amongst the line of women, caught Johan's attention from the corner of his eye.

"A-Ah-ATHYNE!?," gasped Johan pointing a finger at the her shocked. "WHY ARE YOU DRESSED AS A WOMAN!?"

The women's cheeks turned red, as she hugged her shoulders, and fluttered her eyes.

"ME!?," said the women pointing to her chest excitedly in deep masculine voice, "MY NAME ISN'T ATHYNE SILLY! IT IS VIVIANE! AND I THINK YOU ARE A HANDSOME HANDSOME MAN! I WILL BE YOUR FAITHFUL AND EVER SO CARING WIFE! BE GENTLE ... AT THE AGE OF 14, I AM PURE AS SPRING WATER! I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I HAVE ALREADY BEEN CHOSEN TO BE A WIFE! LUCKY ME!"

Viviane started giggling happily.

Johan was shocked. This women Viviane was the spitting image of Athyne. Tall and masculine, wearing a fur dress and makeup. Yet, as similar as they looked, this women clearly wasn't Athyne. Athyne's voice was higher pitch and squeaky, while Viviane had a deep masculine voice ... and she was a fourteen year old girl with the features of a middle aged man.

"Fourteen!?," gasped Johan in disbelief, "You are 14!? The resemblance is uncanny!"

"BOY!," boomed Genghis, "YOUR FIRST CHOICE HAS BEEN MADE! A INTELLIGENT CHOICE INDEED! PERHAPS SHE WILL BE THE UGLY DUCKLING THAT BLOSSOMS! THIS ONE WILL GIVE BIRTH TO MASCULINE WARRIOR MONGOLIANS! I PREFER THE PRETTIES THESE DAYS, BUT ONCE I THOUGHT MUCH LIKE YOU! NOW, CHOOSE YOUR NEXT WIFE FROM THE CAPTIVES!"

"EH!?," said Johan glancing from Genghis to Athyne.

Johan shrugged. Who he chose wasn't important, after all, after he left here, he planned on staying faithful to Luisa. Picking women at this moment was a necessary evil to get information from Genghis later, without causing unnecessary problems.

People from the crowd began whispering to each other.

Johan glanced back at Viviane, still rattled by how much she looked like Athyne.

"She must be his ancestor or something," muttered Johan to himself.

Johan then looked at the captured women. Seeing how some were bruised, battered, and depressed made his heart ache. They had probably recently had their loved ones slaughtered. He wanted to save them, but in a warrior society, slaughter and loss accepted part of reality.

Out of the crowd, he saw a beautiful petite women who looked Mexican. She was crying, sitting on the floor having given up.

"This one," said Johan pointing at the women.

His gut told him that she needed help the most. At least he could save one woman.

"YING AND YANG!," boomed Genghis Khan, "ONE FOR THE CHILDREN, THE OTHER FOR SATISFYING DEEP MANLY URGES! BOY YOU SAVING MY LIFE WAS NO COINCIDENCE!"

One of Genghis's men whispered in his ear.

"HER NAME IS SELINA!," boomed Genghis, "VIVIANE! TAKE SELINA AND JOHAN TO YOUR YURT! WHEN WE ARE READY FOR THE PRE-WEDDING CELEBRATIONS, I WILL CALL YOU ALL! YOU WILL SOON BE A MAN BOY!"

Viviane wobbled up to Selina, untying her and taking her hand.

"Don't you give me any trouble," whispered Viviane, "you will be killed without a second thought. You know of the great Genghis Khan's reputation."

Selina looked at the floor as her brows furrowed in frustration. They then walked up to Johan and Viviane said, "Follow me, I will prepare tea and a rest area for the two of you."

Selina gazed at Johan and hissed at him, "I will get you kicked out of this tribe and do everything in my power to destroy you dirty Mongolian bastard. My fiance was murdered by your people!"

"I am not your enemy," muttered Johan.

"That's right," said Viviane, "he is our future boy toy! Behave Selina, we will be spending a lot of time together. What should we call you husband?"

"Johan"

The crowd parted letting the trio through. Viviane navigated them past the various Yurts. The crowd remained and the remaining men made their choice of wives. The camp sight outside of the main event was predominantly empty with a few guards who patrolled halfheartedly.

"Athyne! How did you find Johan?," whispered a familiar female voice from behind a Yurt. "I missed you! How did you get here of all places?"

Viviane, Selina and Johan stopped to look at the source of the voice and saw Rey and Miss Obama step out from behind a tents. Rey had returned to normal form, clearly they had gathered all the spirit stones.

"Who may you two be?," asked Viviane startled. "I haven't seen you around here before."

"You aren't Athyne," said Rey as her mouth dropped surprised. "Yet you look just like him ..."

"That's right," said Viviane, "Me and Selina are Johan's proud future wives."

Rey looked from Johan to Viviane to Selina again and again.

"Oh my," said Miss Obama putting her hand over her mouth.

A light seemed to go off in Reys head, as mischievous stars popped out of her eyes. A laugh slowly emanated from deep in her throat and slowly grew louder.

"Fu! fu! fu! fu!," giggled Rey, "Luisa is gonna get so mad, when I tell her about you and Femathyne. You were secretly gay for him!"

"Don't be ridiculous. It was a coincidence that I picked her. Luisa is the only one for me. This is just temporary," said Johan quickly, "I need to talk to Genghis in order to figure a way out of here. In order to do that, I had to go through their ceremonies and pass their trials. When did you guys get here?"

Viviane hugged Johan's arm tightly.

"Don't be silly hunny, marriage is forever," said Viviane, "it is cold out here, friends of Johan, come back to my Yurt, I will prepare you some tea and a snacks. I would like to learn more about my soon to be husband from his friends."

"We would love that," said Miss Obama with a smile.

Rey stared at Johan and Viviane as jealousy slowly crept into her eyes.

"Humph," said Rey pointing her nose to the sky, "the real Athyne would only show affection to me! Clearly you had to settle for less!"

Johan's stomach rumbled. He had forgotten how long it had been since he had eaten. It sounded like a good idea.

Viviane then led them back to her tent.

-- Ø --

They were sitting around a small fire in the center of the tent. It was a nice change from the cold weather outside. The Yurt had dark brown walls and floors made of animal skin. There was a single cloth beds and very little furniture. In the center of the Yurt was a hole in the carpet where a small iron stove had been placed. Smoke arose from it and it left the tent through a small hole at the top of the tent that could be closed if they wished.

"Where is Athyne anyways?," asked Rey.

"He didn't enter the array," said Johan. "I tested it rather than putting both of us in peril, he is waiting behind for my go ahead when I get out."

"Oh," said Rey.

Rey stared at Viviane intently as she heated up a pot of tea. The similarity between this woman and Athyne had even Rey confused. Selina sat alone in a corner moping. Being chosen clearly hadn't cheered her up.

"Where were you guys?," asked Johan, "I was in the desert alone for days. I almost died."

"I knew you would survive," said Miss Obama. "If you didn't, you weren't man enough to be Rey's protector."

"Reassuring," said Johan, "but I am not pleased with what you put me through."

Viviane took out some dried meat from a small box she had on the side of the tent and handed them to out. Miss Obama and Rey politely declined. Johan hungrily gobbled the meat up.

"Delicious!," said Johan happily, "hunger is the best spice!"

"Regardless," said Miss Obama, "did you speak to Genghis about how to leave the array?"

"No," said Johan snarling reflecting on his struggles the past few days, "I just got here. I was lost in the desert alone, without food or water because of your inconsiderate actions. I thought I was going to die. It was a dick move, by a dick person. I would think the future wife of the first black president would have common sense and wouldn't risk people's lives unnecessarily on a whim ..."

"Gasp!"

Rey gasped hearing Johan's rude comment to Miss Obama and glanced worriedly from Johan to Miss Obama.

"No one speaks to the almighty Voodoo Queen like that," whispered Rey.

The more he got to know Miss Obama, the less he liked her.

Miss Obama's expression darkened as Johan suddenly felt an immense suffocating pressure emit from her. A demonic shadow seemed to emit from Miss Obama darkening the tent and blotting out the sunlight that entered it. The small fire that heated the pot blazed into an unnaturally large green flame engulfing it.

Viviane fell back on her bottom loosing her balance and Selina let out a fearful whale of terror.

"Boy," growled Miss Obama, "How dare you speak like that to me! Humble and tolerant as I am, I am still the great Voodoo Queen! I can cripple your cultivation with a thought! I could kill you without moving a finger! Yet you dare speak with such insolence!"

Johan felt his head heat up. Regardless of who it was, he refused to let something like this go. She was playing off a decision that could have killed him, as if it was nothing.

"Are you using your strength to make me simply accept the nonsense you put me through?," sneared Johan. "I am not going to pretend it never happened just because you are strong! What you did was beyond wrong!"

Miss Obama's shadow crept out and surrounded Johan and the pressure around him increased, he lost the ability to move and breath. Blood started to drip from his nose and the corner of his mouth. Dark eyes seemed to peer out from the shadows.

Selena and Viviane fainted.

Rey sat silently as her face went pale.

[I am going to die,] thought Johan as his surroundings started to blur.

"Seems like we have some interesting new comers," boomed a voice from outside the tent. "To be able to use skills like that in this realm means you aren't just a regular bumpkin."

Genghis Khan entered through the Yurt's entrance and the roaring flame and darkness seemed to be pushed back by a blood red pressure. The pressure around Johan suddenly disappeared and he felt as if an invisible force was strengthening him. Genghis stared at Miss Obama and she stared back hard at him.

"Boy," said Genghis looking at Johan and then back to Miss Obama, "is this woman giving you trouble? She looks like a fucking feminist. They've been causing me a ton of trouble lately. More issues than the arrogant Arab royalty. "

Rey stared from Genghis Khan to Miss Obama palely.

"Uh oh," whispered Rey.

Miss Obama's expression darkened even more, as a shadow appeared around her. Black flames seemed to emit from her skin.

"Insolence," sneared Miss Obama, "I will level your camp and wipe out your sexist society's legacy. But before that, I will take you and this low life boy's life. How dare you speak like this to the mighty Voodoo Queen!? Even in this weakened state, no creature in this realm can hold a feather to me!"

"Insolence!?," laughed Genghis, "It seems the upper realms have forgotten who I am if a mere unwed tramp has the gall to threaten me! Perhaps, they need a reminder. Maybe, I can start by breaking you in!"

Thunder boomed outside the Yurt as storm clouds gathered and the wind started to howl.

The hairs on Johan's hand stood up, as every part of his body screamed danger.

"Get behind me boy," said Genghis as his expression turned grim. "This dog of a woman has malicious intent. Furthermore, her words and threats cannot go unpunished. I will make her bow to me or die."

A blood red myst began to emit from Genghis Khan's body and the black flames around Miss Obama glowed green as a explosion of air was caused by their rising energies. The animal hide walls of the Yurt to flew up due to the change in air pressure, and Rey, Johan, Selina and Viviane were pushed back.