Richard Adams

Roughly an hour passed, as I stood there by the door frame. Mimi's hive seemed to be unaffected by the coffee, which was great to see. Though Mimi herself, was tossing and turning in her sleep now and then. Thankfully the bugs seemed to know what she was about to do before she did it. They cleaned off all of the leftovers that stuck to her, while I took the time to clean up the mess she made on the other floors. Even now she was still giggling.

Letting out a soft sigh, I went and grabbed a few tools for mixing, as well as a few ingredients. I needed to get the mixture right, so I could work on controlling my cells during my down time. Another hour passed while I worked on the mixture, slowly managing to separate them. Oswald himself was busy doing his own thing, which was a welcomed change from the past week of hellish training.

Then Mimi seemed to jolt awake, as she sat up looking around. I looked over at her with a small smile, "Well good morning sleepy head." She fidgeted a little, before bobbing her head. I blinked a little, as she muttered something. "What was that?" She waved to me, as if asking me to come closer. One hand keeping her propped up. She wasn't wobbling as much, so she was probably over the effects. I moved towards her slowly, just in case.

"You smell nice Richard." I blinked at her, still not quite catching what she said.

"You're muttering Mimi, are you okay? Do you need anything?" I inched a little closer.

She moved quickly towards me, grabbing my by my arms, and pulling me into another hug. I looked at the warped door, preparing for the worst. Which did not happen as she softly held me to her. She seemed to have a little more control over herself now, and I was happy for it. Her free arms started to gently rub my back. "I love you Richard. You smell nicer than others."

That had to be a lie, unless she liked the chemical smell that was on me from working with Oswald. I struggled a little, trying to get free. She would not have any of that however, as she gently ran her fingers through my hair. "Mimi, you're still out of it. Please let me go."

She wrapped her wings around us both, "Do you love me Richard? I know I look like a monster on the outside..." She looked into my eyes, her own half closed as if she were about to fall back asleep any moment.

I looked away from her, "You're beautiful Mimi, so don't say that you're a monster." I wracked my brain trying to think where this was coming from. If this was some kind of joke, but the look she was giving me said it wasn't. This was probably how she truly felt deep down.

She giggled a little, as it half sounded like chirping mixed with a small laugh. "Thank you Richard, do you think I'm beautiful enough to marry? To have children?"

I swallowed hard, "Definitely, but why are you asking?" She used one of her hands to make me look at her.

"Because I love you. Please kiss me." She smiled softly at me, her sweet scent making me blush.

I started to lean down to kiss her. I watched as she closed her eyes, as she fell back onto the floor with me still on top of her. She was giggling again, and I just hugged her. "Not like this Mimi, I don't want to do something we might regret." My heart ached, and I wasn't sure if it was because I was a coward, or if I really did want to kiss her just now.

Her grip on me loosened, as she passed out again, still giggling now and then. I managed to free myself from her hold, albeit a little reluctantly. I couldn't risk her waking up and taking it further. If we were to do such a thing, I wanted her to be aware, to understand what we were doing. I couldn't risk her waking up and not remembering anything we did. Thus I went back to my spot by the frame, and continued mixing ingrediants once more.

Mimi

I finally woke up, my head hurting slightly. All my connections were still safe, and it seemed that my mind transferred into the hive properly. Which meant I lost control over my body again. Thankfully, from the giddy feeling that seemed to linger, I did not cause any actual trouble. Still, I truly needed to avoid coffee going forward. I never would have guessed that such a thing might do something to me. I sat up, seeing the warped door laying against the wall. The window seemed fine, and I didn't squish any of my hive by accident. My body was cleaned while I was sleeping, which was good.

Looking out the window, I saw the sun was setting, which meant I was out of it for at least four hours. Then I saw Richard poke his head in through the messed up door frame. "Hey, good morning again. How are you feeling?"

I rubbed my face, before taking better stock of my body. "Rather thirsty, and upset that I wasted most of my day potentially doing nothing. I can't seem to recall what I did while I was like that, and I did not enjoy the feeling of not being in control of myself. What happened?" My body didn't remember a single thing, with everything being a blank space. Save for maybe kissing the door a few times, and potentially kissing Richard. Even though my hive was watching, and what was remembered suggested otherwise.

Richard seemed to relax, "Well you get really clingy when you're drunk. That's what we're going to call it. How much do you want to know? What do you remember?"

After a brief exchange, I was caught up and felt properly embarrassed. The worst part was that I told him I loved him, in an attempt to mate with him. I understood it fully after remembering how Edna felt towards the Raven. I wanted something less perverse, but my body just wanted a mate. Richard did smell better than the others I knew, but in terms of potential candidates he was the only one I could consider. Everyone else was either too old, a girl, or outright related to my body.

"I'm so sorry Richard, I put you in an unfair position." I bowed my head slightly, truly apologizing.

He waved his hands a little, while smiling. "It's okay, don't worry about it. Honestly, I'm glad you like me, really. I just don't feel like we're ready for that kind of stuff yet."

I nodded, not missing the fact he wasn't exactly against it. I got up, before we could continue with such a subject. "The sun has almost set, and I have some tests to do. I'm good now, so no need to worry about me. I'll just head off."

Richard gave me a warm smile, "Stay safe Mimi, I'll have some dinner ready by the time you get back. I'll ask Oswald to show me where you're supposed to stay now, and help you get moved."

I just nodded, and left. It was nice that all hives were settling in rather well. I checked on the reports they sent through the day, and gave some guidance where needed. The spider hive was struggling, as it seemed other spiders were starting to encroach on their territory. Though I did not have to worry too much as the spiders they helped were helping them as well. The church hive was quite cozy and already repairing some of the damage termites already did to it's wooden beams. The sewer hive was doing much better than expected, but slowly making progress. I trusted Gray enough to know what he was doing. Even if it revolved around his hive acting as one unit, versus many. The information about how to separate my own hive for potentially doing magic was invaluable.

I stuck to climbing to one of the roofs of the buildings nearby and discreetly moving between them. I didn't truly need the book anymore, since I already read it. Though it could function as a disguise, I'm fairly confident that I probably needed a drink to really sell it. It was also much faster just jumping and gliding from roof to roof silently. Allowing me to listen to the people below, and keep tabs on those trying to follow me. I was able to lose them rather quickly, and judging by the magic they used. They were probably people sent by the guards to keep tabs on me. It was clear that when they did lose me, they made their way towards the headquarters where the interview took place. Likely to report that I had been lost.

With a small sigh, I decided to race them. A little fun wouldn't hurt, given that I was supposed to be tested. Plus, if I got there early, I might be able to get some water. I was a bit thirsty since the coffee seemed to dehydrate me a little. I managed to beat the guards following me by a wide margin, feeling that they were still ten minutes away. I cheerfully walked towards the front gates, where a couple of guards were stationed. They looked me over, before looking at each other. They slowly reached for their spears, as I raised my hands, with the other two hidden under my wings. "I'm here for physical testing."

This seemed to calm them down, as they both nodded and stood at attention. I was more relieved that they probably were told I might come without someone guiding me. I walked past them, and towards a rather fat looking man. He was leaning against the window on the outside, letting out a small yawn. "Welcome dear. My name is Brian, and I am here to tell you that you're at the wrong place."

I looked him over, seeing the gloss of grease on his hands. How that same grease stained his clothes. "Where am I supposed to go?"

The man stretched a little, "To the Barracks." He pointed in a direction towards the walls. "Just a heads up, this also isn't our main office. We're located behind the innermost walls, and that's where Vivian usually is." He pointed in another direction. "This place is called a jail, and also functions as other things when we need it to. "Now get going before you're late." He grinned at me.

I nodded, "Sure, that's not a problem. Why are you stretching though?" I could see him channeling magic in his legs and arms.

"Well, that's more because I'm going to see if I can keep up with you. Vivian told me I needed to exercise more, so why not prove I'm still fit by racing you?" He walked towards me, as I kept watching how the magic seemed to condense in his body. I had no idea what type of magic he was about to use, but by guessing I felt it probably enhanced his body or something.

"You want to race? That's fine, but you don't seem very fit..." He was a large round man, but I could see that most of it wasn't fat. That under a thin layer that made him look fat, he was probably pure muscle.

He smiled and laughed at that, clutching his chest and staining his shirt. "You wound me!" He said shaking his head in an over the top manner. Then leaned forward while laughing and slapping his knee. "Should be easy enough for you to win then. How about we make it interesting? If you win, I'll buy you something nice to eat."

I waited for a moment before asking, "If I lose?"

He shrugged, "Nothing, this is more for me to get motivated."

I smiled back at him, "Fine, but let me drink some water first. I'm rather parched."

"Works for me, I'll see you at the top of the building when you're ready." I nodded, before watching him plod to the building in question. I turned away to get some water, only to sense him release the magic he condensed all at once. It was impressive that he was able to handle the strain that came from launching himself to the top of the building.

After I finished drinking, I met him at our little starting line. We started once he finished condensing all of the Aether his body could hold. It was impressive watching him move as we jumped from roof to roof. He used the Aether to launch himself, as well as used to to stop the force of hitting the ground from hurting him. He clearly had a lot of practice with it, since he hit his stride very quickly. He'd roll onto a roof, before launching himself mid roll without stopping. Which meant I had to jump higher off the buildings to keep a small lead by gliding above him without having to stop myself.

It was a hard race, but once I moved onto a taller I managed to half dive towards the barracks letting my weight carry me faster than he could launch himself. It seemed that his abiltiy to absorb the impacts from falls did have a limit. Which became more clear as he ran up to me covered in small bruises on his shoulders and back. He was wheezing, but still smiling. "Well done! You're the second person to ever beat me in a race." He coughed a little, before bending over to catch his breath. Sweat rolled off him, as he used his forearms to wipe it off his brow.

I looked around at the small stone wall around the barracks. There were some guards watching, while I could hear others training in the courtyard, or running laps around the track. One of them wrote something down on paper, as I realized that they recorded our little race. I did arrive at the right place initially, they just wanted to test my mobility. I walked through the gate, as a couple guards cheered. They were younger, and looked like recruits. The older ones seemed to groan a little, as I saw coins changing a few hands. It was highly likely that a wager took place on this race.

Brian coughed a little more, before walking behind me, "Hey, you won fair and square. What would you like me to get you to eat later?" He smiled at me.

I thought for a moment, using Edna's memories to think of what I might possibly get to make this all worth it. Then I smiled, "Whatever you buy me, I want it alive and healthy, I like preparing my meals fresh. Especially since you made me think this race was just for fun and not a test." I crossed my arms, as the guards listened in. "I want to eat a whole Bew." There were a few reasons for this, one was that they had a winter coat, another was that their bones were likely stronger than my own, and finally I really did want horns.

Brian laughed a little, "Nice try, but I said a meal. Not enough to feed everyone here."

I smiled back at him, "Want to make another bet then? I can eat an entire Bew in one sitting. If I can't, then I have to pay for it and what's left is free for everyone else to eat." I had an idea for how expensive one might be, but that wasn't important. A winter coat for my wings was higher on my list of things I might need soon. Especially if there were any plans for these people to send me outside in the cold. I coulld already hear the guards around us starting to talk.

Brian took a deep breath, then shrugged, "Sure, I'll take that bet. Though if you lose, you'll have to not only pay for this first Bew, you'll have to have to buy a second one for a proper BBQ." He grinned at me.

I smiled back, "Sounds fair to me, but when I win, I want you to buy two more so I can properly enjoy myself."

Brian nodded, "Deal. I'll have it ready in about a month."

I frowned a bit, "Can we not do it sooner?"

Brain shook his head, "Nope, the farmers need their Bew to work the fields. I also don't have the money to just go out and buy one."

"Fine, but if I get the money for it I'll buy one and you can pay me back later." I reluctantly turned away.

Brian chuckled a little, "Sure, sure, if you can get that kind of money."

Leaving Brian behind, I walked out to the courtyard where the recruits were running along a track. Others sparring, and some even practicing on dummies. The man that wrote down our race time on a paper. He wore leather armor, and seemed a bit too old to actually participate. Though he was likely an instructor if I understood how this worked. "Greetings, my name is Charles. I was named after our king." He watched me with wide eyes, as he was a dark human without any hair on his head. The wrinkles on his face, made me wonder if he was Grim's father or something.

I bowed slightly, "A pleasure to meet you sir. What other kinds of testing do we have to do exactly?"

He kept the same face, without showing an once of emotion. "We're going to see how much you can comfortably carry, how much you can lift, how fast you can actually run, and so on. I fully expect this to take all night, but that should not be a problem for something like you, correct?"

I politely smiled, "Yes sir, I'm glad you are willing to let me train with everyone else." I could already hear the whispers, as people wondered just what I was. How they didn't feel safe without my tamer nearby, and so on. It was going to be a long night, but after this was done I shouldn't have to worry about coming back here unless I wanted to. It would probably be better to just go into the underground arena if I wanted to get stronger faster. I did need to at least pretend I was willing to help the Guard after all. Especially if I needed Wyatt's help at some point later.

Captain of the Guard, Lindell

The day was long, and difficult. I had to unload box after box from the caravans, even skipping breaks just to get done a little faster. After that was done, Vivian had me deliver some letters in different drop off locations. Finally it was all over after I had to go out and buy her some dinner, since she had to finish her paperwork still. It was pretty late at night when I finally made it to the Barracks. The guards around me stood at attention, but I had them at ease by the time I walked past them. The recruits watched me with wide eyes, as I told them to stay at ease.

Walking past everyone, I saw Brian and the instructor watching over Mimi as she sparred with some of the recruits. I could tell that she was holding back, just by the way she was lightly tossing them away from herself. Brian noticed me first, and grinned. "Hey Wyatt, she beat me in a race."

I laughed a little, "Well met Brian. Hope you didn't bet too much against her."

The instructor wrote down a few more things, before finally speaking. "Her stamina is rather impressive captain. I'm trying to find her limit, but she behaves like a golem. Perhaps you can shed some light on that?"

I shook my head, "Sorry, I can't help you there Charles." Mimi deflected one of the training swords with her wings. Casually knocking it out of the recruit's hand before tossing him towards it.

Charles scratched his chin, then Brian spoke up, "Hey Wyatt, I made a bet that she couldn't eat a whole Bew. Want to get in on this?"

I laughed a little, "Sure, I saw her eat a spider twice the size of a Bew in one night. I'll take that bet."

Brian laughed back, "Nice try Wyatt, you won't intimidate me."

We both looked at each other, and I smiled. "It's true, when she wants to make herself hungry she'll pull silk out of her mouth."

Brian frowned, "Really? Fuck, hey Wyatt I need a loan."

Charles shouted at the group, "Daniel! You're out! Xavier get your ass in there!"

I looked at the recruits again to see they were starting to have some fun themselves. I looked at Charles, "Hey, they aren't using magic?"

Charles nodded, "Since she's as strong as a fiend, we're trying to train them for fighting a fiend out in the field. I don't like the fact that she's a monster, but I can respect that she hasn't complained about the tests once."

Brian coughed a little, "Wyatt about that loan buddy."

I stepped forward, "Mimi! This is fiend training! Aren't you going to chase them around a little instead of just tossing them?"

The recruits groaned as Mimi started lunging at them a little more like a fiend would. The fact that the recruits accepted it, and understood how scary fiends could be, meant they might survive if they encountered one down the line. Then Mimi started to smile, with the recruits and that made everything worth it.

An Overview on Bew -by Oswald Manfred

The average Bew stands at about 183cm (6ft) with all four of it's lets. In most cases the horns are filed down, or left as is. The horns on these creatures grow wide and blunt, making them look similar to a bow of sorts. There are cases where the horns will spiral backwards, but such occasions are rare. All Bew have long woolly fur, that works well for making coats or pelts. This fur is similar to that of a sheep or yak in the ancient texts. All Bew are quite muscular even if the fur hides such, and when sheered the definition is quite apparent. The average Bew weighs roughly 850kg (1874lbs). With an additional 20kg from the fur itself.

While Bew are typically domestic beasts, they can be quite dangerous if not cared for properly. These creatures are also only found here in Eclipse due to our spatial magic around the city affording them ample space to graze. The Bew is raised for it's fur, it's milk, it's meat, as well as it's horns which can be processed for certain items. The bones of the Bew retain Aether, and it is quite common for their bones to be used in rituals where such is needed. Shards of these bones can be used as needles with ink infused with Bew blood to create tattoos that can be enchanted later.

Because of this, Bew are cared for and grown in herds led by farmers. They are helped by the prisoners and slaves when needed, but otherwise left alone. Bew are often rented out to pull ploughs through fields, when earth elementalists are unable to help or needed elsewhere. Most Bew typically do not mind doing the work, but a few will buck and kick if attached to anything.

Beyond their strength, and what they can be used for, there is not much else to talk about with these creatures. They used to live out in the wilds as herds, but they have not changed much since being domesticated. There are very rare rumors of some Bew being able to speak, but surely such things are due to overactive minds. If you do find a talking Bew, please bring it into the city for proper study.