'Just as pathetic as I assumed he'd be.'

The boy was tall (or taller than herself at least), had dark hair, gorgeous, mysterious eyes, an excellent figure...

'At least she knows how to pick them. Even if he is a Human.'

Petrina stared into the fool's eyes as he held his hand out firmly. At least he had the sense to own his mistakes and was even still attempting to shake her hand, not that she'd give him the satisfaction. He could have introduced himself as a prince and she'd have-

Her eyes darted to the left for a moment as a Human went streaking by her, tackling her daughter in a hug and canceling her internal rant. A female Human. If Alexa didn't seem to be enjoying the process, Petrina might have already reached her limit.

"I missed you so much! How is my daughter in law? Are you eating enough? How is Damien treating you? I heard you two were-"

She may very well still kill her.

"That's enough Em," her daughter said back in a nervous manner, covering the woman's mouth. "We'll talk later, let me go I have to..."

Their conversation continued as Petrina refocused her attention forward on the ingrate. He was still looking in her direction and seemed less than a few moments away from breaking. She didn't care how long it took, he'd put his damn hand down and walk away eventua-

"There you are."

And then, Petrina's vision was filled with white a moment after she heard her sister's voice. Her glare stiffened.

"I've missed you," her sister said, wrapping the young man up in a warm hug.

His face immediately went from concentrated and stern to relaxed. He seemed to genuinely enjoy the contact while being relieved at being saved from the situation he had put himself in. Then, to add insult to injury, he looked up into Petrina's eyes and grinned.

"You should write more. Is Alexa taking care of your needs? I did tell her I'd be more than happy to if she didn't-"

"Vanessa!" her daughter screamed out, tackling her from the side and putting a hand over her mouth this time. "Inappropriate! Sorry mom, they both... it-"

"Enough."

Petrina's voice rang out loud and silenced the nearby rambunctious reunion. Her daughter's apologetic smile, clearly having too much fun to even greet her own mother properly, the fool's mother touching HER daughter, her own sister intentionally saving the boy and then insinuating...

Those things she could tolerate, sure. Be happy about? No. But tolerate.

But that smile... the cheeky grin... that had set her over the edge. The look of relief. The enjoyment of her blood's physical touch. Touching her daughter. The grin.

Alexa's face immediately went downcast and worried in a moment while her sister turned around with irritation present on her face. The cretin's eyes widened slightly as his eyebrows raised.

"You will be coming home with us after this farce of a dance. While I wish we could leave now, not attending after announcing that we would is unacceptable. But allowing you to stay... Why are you looking at me like that? Are you even listening to me?!" Petrina yelled as her daughter tilted her head in a confused manner.

Glancing around, the only other one paying her any mind was Vanessa, and she too was staring in a confused manner. No one else even had acknowledged she had begun to speak.

"What kind of savages-"

"Garrett right?" her husband chimed in from the side, stepping in front of her toward the older appearing Human male while extending a hand. "I'm Alexa's other father, Oryen. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Other Father?!" she yelled.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well," the man said back, clasping Oryen's hand with a smile. "And please, you are her only father."

Things began to click in Petrina's mind as she began glaring at her husband. She reached to her left and grabbed his arm hard when he was done shaking hands.

"Oryen, I am going to hurt y-"

"You have as much right to hold the title. I must thank you for raising her so well in my stead," he spoke, interrupting Petrina which only served to further irritate her. "She's never been so bubbly and I don't think I've seen her smile like that in quite some time," he finished.

Her husband, always in control of information when there was a good reason to be. She just didn't understand what his reason was this time.

Petrina glanced back to her daughter, sister, the boy, and his mother. It was clear that whatever conversation they were having, she was no longer hearing. And the conversation between Oryen and Garrett was not being overheard by them as well.

Her daughter had lost her look of trepidation and appeared to be reprimanding Vanessa. Her sister portrayed a look of minor annoyance but was clearly grinning beneath the surface. The irritating man was still being held and kept away from her daughter by Vanessa, yet he had a hold of Alexa's hand. The mom was holding her daughter from behind and seemingly keeping her from jumping onto Vanessa to extricate him. All four of them seemed to be in an argument of some kind on the outside, yet the scene was one of warmth, not frustration.

Alexa seemed happy.

Petrina's expression softened as she sighed, sounds from their little tussle beginning to flood into her ears once more.

"She makes us just as happy as we make her," Garrett said. "And you must be Petrina, I'm guessing?" the Human continued, turning to her and placing his arms and palms face up toward her. "Alexa informed me you prefer to be greeted in this manner. Why she didn't tell Damien, I have no clue, but it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

Petrina stared at the man for a moment before releasing her hold on her husband's arm and reciprocating the gesture, placing her own palms and arms at waist level while holding them face up. He nodded to her and smiled before turning to go break up the other four.

'Was that so hard?'

Oryen's voice floated into her mind as if placed there directly, like her own thoughts. It was always baffling to her how he could do that without a spell or a need to even open his mouth in any way, shape, or form, but he could. She glanced over to him and watched as he slowly healed the marks she'd left on his arm.

"Thank you for stopping me from lashing out, this time. I can't guarantee I'll be as appreciative next time though."

Her husband smiled and nodded, wrapping his arm back around her and guiding her toward the animated scene before them.

"There you are."

'Oh, thank god.'

"I've missed you," Vanessa exclaimed as she wrapped him in a hug.

Damien felt all his tension melt away as she hugged him. The embrace was warm and welcoming, just like he'd remembered. He'd been sheltered the eleven years he had been on this planet and never really gone longer than a month without a hug from his second favorite Celestial in existence.

'It's nice to have family.'

"You owe me," she whispered into his ear.

Damien grinned. Vanessa knew he'd gotten himself into a bit of a situation and come to save him.

'It's really, really nice to have family.'

When he refocused on his surroundings, he realized he was grinning like a fool while still looking at Alexa's mother. He immediately stopped the smile, but the damage was done. She seemed even angrier than before, and Vanessa's poking and prodding at Alexa 'taking care of his needs' was definitely exacerbating the situation.

"Vanessa! Inappropriate! Sorry mom, they both... it-"

"Enough."

Damien felt his heart drop in his chest as the woman finally spoke, voice as cold as a winter morning in the mountains. This was going to go very wrong from here on out.

Suddenly, the surrounding sounds seemed to distort slightly as a voice planted itself directly into his mind, not coming from any one direction, but everywhere at once.

"Look away from her for now."

Damien nodded slightly and looked away from Petrina, searching instead for the origin of the voice.

"You will be coming home with us after this farce of a dance. While I wish we could leave now, not attending after announcing that we would is unacceptable. But allowing you to stay... Why are you looking at me like that? Are you even listening to me?" Alexa's mom began to yell.

"Keeeep looking away for now," it reminded the moment Damien's head began to turn back toward Petrina.

Damien obliged with all his might as he looked elsewhere. After another couple of seconds of gazing around, it clicked.

"What kind of savages-"

"Garrett right?"

Damien pictured the man he'd seen by Petrina's side. Sound magic his forte and clearly very, very comfortable using it whenever the situation called for it. If not, he wouldn't be so open about manipulating casual conversations between all of them.

"Oryen, I am going to hurt y-"

"You have as much right to hold the title. I must thank you for raising her so well in my stead," he spoke, interrupting Petrina, which only seemed to further irritate her. "She's never been so bubbly and I don't think I've seen her smile like that in quite some time."

He listened in to the rest of their conversation until eventually, he heard Petrina sigh, and the voice gave him clearance to look back in their direction.

"She makes us just as happy as we make her," his dad replied. "And you must be Petrina, I'm guessing? Alexa informed me you prefer to be greeted in this manner. Why she didn't tell Damien, I have no clue."

'I would like to know as well,' Damien complained internally, glancing at his lover.

He watched as Petrina removed her hand from Oryen's arm. Blood trickled down from where she had been holding and the wounds rapidly closed themselves, the blood disappearing without a trace within seconds. Healing Damien had always done at a pace much quicker and more thoroughly than others, but making the blood disappear so it appeared there was no injury...

"I'll teach you that later, I'm sure it will come in handy at some point in your life, being with my daughter," Oryen said to him and apparently him alone.

Damien nodded slightly and watched the handsome Celestial grin.

"Was that so hard?" he heard the man ask.

Damien was about to respond when Petrina spoke.

"Thank you for stopping me from lashing out, this time. I can't guarantee I'll be as appreciative next time though."

Oryen laughed as Damien's father wrapped him in a hug.

"You owe me. Don't make this a waste of my time now," Oryen sent.

"I won't," Damien responded.

"You won't? Did your mother already tell you?" Garrett asked, pulling away and looking at him as reality came crashing back.

Damien looked at his dad confused but nodded slowly.

'Yes is always safer than no, maybe?' he wondered.

His answer seemed to agitate his dad and he immediately regretted his coin flip.

"Em, what the hell," Garrett remarked, turning toward Emily. "You said we'd tell them about the pregnancy together. You already told him??"

Damien's eyes and eyebrows lifted as his mouth opened wide.

"What? No I didn't!" Emily yelled. "In fact, you just told them all," she countered with an accusing finger pointed back at Garrett.

Damien slowly began inching towards the coach they were allowed to use as the conversation continued.

"You're pregnant?" Alexa asked for confirmation.

"Another member of the family..." Kastra whispered out, becoming visible as she sat on Alexa's shoulder.

Plum appeared as well, laid across Kastra's lap with a content smile on as the Fae stroked her hair.

"But Damien said-" Garrett started, turning back to where Damien had been standing.

"We should talk in the coach! We'll need time to get ready for tonight," Damien interrupted, opening the door while waving everyone over.

The group looked in his direction skeptically.

The carriage was not overly accessorized, a dark wood exterior with bright silver lining. It came off not as wealthy but purposeful. The door was the only thing on the unit that had any flair to it as it showcased Alexa's rank with a single circle of diamond adorning the center of it, about one foot in diameter.

Seeing no one moving toward him and willfully ignoring their stares and glares, Damien entered on his own and sat in the far back corner, opening his window and staring outside with a wide grin.

'I'm a brother.'

Taking a deep breath to cool the excitement in his heart, Damien looked around the interior of the carriage. Decorated similarly to outside, it was bland but the seats were cushioned and extremely comfortable. There were four bench seats inside, one lining the back wall, two in the center that were against and facing away from one another, and a final one on the front wall; more than enough spacing for their families.

Footsteps approached the carriage prompting him to turn and see who would be getting on first. Hopefully, they would forgive him fast for ruining the surprise; he wanted to know if it was a sister or brother. He already regretted not hugging his mom right away.

To Damien's surprise, Oryen and his wife entered.

"From all of that out there and what I have heard from Alexa, you must be Damien," Oryen declared with a smile. "I'm glad we finally get the chance to sit and chat. If you don't mind me sitting here, that is?" he asked, gesturing toward the seat adjacent to Damien.

"No no no, not at all, please sit. Alexa has told you about me?"

"Oh yes, we've been in contact quite a few times in fact. Ever since your letter reached us, her and I have had conversations monthly to catch up," he responded with a smile as he and Petrina sat, his wife content to just stare out the other side window towards Alexa and her second family.

"She never mentioned that," Damien said quietly as voices from outside the carriage conversed in what sounded like an agitated and excited manner.

He tried to look out the door to his family and see what they were talking about.

'Maybe I should just go apologize. I'm being left out.'

"I imagine she wanted to normalize us to the idea of you," Oryen responded with a shrug, breaking Damien's line of thought. "She also mentioned there might be a surprise you were in the midst of creating?"

"She told you about that?" Damien asked, refocusing on the man.

Oryen chuckled as he responded.

"Yes, she may have let it slip."

Damien sighed and rolled his eyes.

"And she wondered why I wouldn't tell her exactly what it was..."

"Keep in mind, she also said I probably shouldn't mention that to you. Well, she said I shouldn't, but I don't see why I should keep secrets from you when we have just met. We have to build trust!" Oryen asserted with certainty. "And what better way to build that than secrets," he continued with a wink. "I trust you won't tell her I spilled that sliver of information?"

Damien laughed and nodded.

"You have my word. As for the surprise, I'll only tell you it has to do with sound magic."

Petrina scoffed from where she sat on the other side of her husband.

"Interesting... I take it Alexa filled you in on my competency. I hope you don't disappoint with some lackluster presentation," Oryen said with some level of scrutiny.

"I think you'll like it," Damien shrugged. "It took me a while to perfect, but it will be something you've never heard before in your life. I can guarantee that."

The older man looked down on Damien curiously before turning and smiling as the rest of the family piled into the coach, Alexa sitting across from them and squinting at Damien while Kastra, now full-sized, moved with the rest to the front of the carriage.

Kastra was leading Emily by the hand and smiling genuinely, surprising Damien. She'd been in a slump lately and save for the few times he'd accidentally done it, he'd rarely gotten her to smile so brightly of late. He was glad to see it his family could brighten her spirits.

His mom was grinning from ear to ear as was his father. He wanted nothing more than to go sit with them and talk, but didn't want to be even more rude to Alexa's parents than he'd already been, though he couldn't for the life of him think of how he'd been rude yet, just that he felt like he was in trouble.

"Well then! Let's get going to your and my Lexi's home, shall we?" Oryen said.

""What?"" Petrina and Damien asked, her turning away from the window to look at Alexa at the same time he did.

"You must be mistaken. We are getting dropped off in the Gold housing district, Alexa-"

"Now now, trust remember?" Oryen said back as Damien lifted his eyebrows and stared intensely at Alexa. "She let slip that you two were staying together since it was such a large house and it felt natural after you'd lived together for so long."

"I did not! I-"

"Well, she didn't say it like that," Oryen continued as his daughter's voice became so quiet it was only a whisper, though she seemed to be yelling. "But it was slipped that she loves your morning cooking and the rest was easy enough to pry. She trusts her dad, after all," the man finished with a bright smile.

Damien sighed as Alexa mouthed sorry to him. He shook his head and could hear Petrina's teeth gritting from across the coach.

"Then we will all be staying together I suppose," Damien admitted as the carriage continued to float down the bumpy road, handling it as if they were instead on a cloud.

Minerva slumped over her desk and sighed. Orders, notes, and letters were scattered everywhere, each and every one demanding her attention. She was never a fan of paperwork and this... this was just cruelty. Not to mention, it was almost time for her least favorite part of the week.

"Well, let's get this over with..."

"You don't have to go, you know?" Uhren stated from across the room, working on his own solutions to issues pertaining to keeping all of her troops fed.

"I need something this time," Minerva replied indifferently, standing up behind her desk.

Uhren lifted his eyebrows but said nothing as he stood up as well to follow her.

She moved away from all the logistics paperwork and walked out of her door into the hallway. Turning to her right, a new hallway was jutting down further into the cave, turning the T intersection into a cross.

"I still think it is ridiculous how fast a Mage can do that," she stated.

This hallway and everything beyond it had taken less than a day to create, all done by the Nivari Mages. Because of that, it was moist compared to the other ones in this system. Going forward would have helped her leave the mountain or taken her to the sex slaves. Going right...

"Just get it over with," she said to herself, beginning her descent into the darkness.

Each step she took was a careful one. Even with all her battle training, a slick surface like water on rock was still a slick surface. Being strong didn't mean she was immune to that, and she didn't want to soak her clothes; even if being cold wasn't a problem.

She continued down the damp and poorly lit hallway until it opened up into a large cavern. Not tall by any means, but deep. A large pool filled it and a small walkway arched in both directions around it. The pool was deep enough to accommodate the Nivari that had been sent as an auxiliary force to her through the treaty they'd signed.

"Which is why I need to play nice," she mumbled to herself.

"Beg your pardon?" Uhren asked.

"Nothing."

Most of the creatures were swimming in the pool or sleeping beneath the surface, though a large amount were very obviously missing. Only a third of the pool was full and she'd seen how it should look when occupied in its entirety.

She moved around the walkway to the other side of the cavern and moved aside a flap, entering yet another hallway. At the end of this one, barely a half minute walk, a door stood.

She knocked on it.

"Enter."

Going inside, Lendor Shressle sat behind a stone desk very similar to hers with a wide grin on his face. Nothing sat on the desk, it served no purpose, but two chains were in his hands and attached to two Humans by the neck who sat behind him. Both leaned against the wall, man and woman, and both held vacant expressions.

'Disgusting.'

Minerva sighed.

"If you do not like to sseeee them, remove the abomination from your quarterss and we can continue there," the creature spoke, smiling widely at her.

She sat in the chair across from him and crossed her arms, Uhren standing behind her.

"It's not that I don't like to see them, I just hate the walk. I have a request."

"Ohh?" it asked.

"I need one of your mages to destroy or damage the teleportation runes in Hathen, tonight. I know you have several near there."

The creature stared at her and chose not to respond. She played its game and didn't respond either.

Finally, after a minute had passed, it spoke.

"Your illusssion trinkets have been sseen through before?" it said.

"Send a man as a sacrifice in that case. Assume he will be caught and killed," she replied in a neutral tone.

The monster before her seemed to anger slightly before settling down and thinking over her proposal.

"Why?" it hissed out.

"Pet project of mine, years in the making. That isn't the point though; will you do it?"

Shressle cocked its head and stared in her direction for a few more moments as she sat there, growing increasingly more irritated. The fact that the monster always crudely examined her body each and every time she saw it only angered her that much more.

"My reward?" it asked with a grin.

"You may have the abomination in one months time," she responded with a shrug.

The monster sat forward eagerly, opening its mouth for a moment before shutting it again. For whatever reason, this particular Dresmyr seemed to get under its skin immensely. She would use that.

It settled back into its seat and resumed its glaring at her.

"Not enoughhh for one of my comradesss life. I want more..." it stated with a grin, meeting her eyes again finally. "I wanttt you."

A chill went through Minverva's body as Uhren stepped forward in an agitated manner.

"Know your-"

"You want it done fasst," it said, interrupting Uhren as it stood. "Time limit... need me. I wanttt you then. Tonightttt. Asss payment."

Minerva held up a hand and stopped Uhgren from shouting again. The monster hadn't been phased in the slightest by his threatening posture, so she assumed it would stay that way until they actually acted against it. Which, considering where they were in relation to each others respective forces, wasn't a good idea.

That wasn't Minerva's problem, though.

Within an instant, she was out of her chair and physically through the desk, pinning the creature by its throat to the wall behind it.

"You work for me," she growled out, face inches from its throat. "You will do what I ask."

"My termsss or no deal," it said with confidence radiating from it's smug expression.

She tightened her grip on its neck and pulled it back from the wall before slamming it into it once again.

"Last chance," she said, pulling her face back to glare at it.

"You would be wise to remember where you are," Shressle stated in reply, grinning down at her.

"I don't give a fuck," Minerva whispered back, opening her mouth to display her jagged teeth and moving forward in one quick motion, ripping out a large chunk of the Nivari's throat.

It tried to cry out in pain but couldn't, and one quick slam into the wall later the Nivari went limp. She turned around, dropping the creature to the floor in the process, and saw Uhren was standing by as he had been with hands behind his back, impassive as always.

"Don't ever try to solve my problems for me again," she demanded with a coldness to her voice.

"I just didn't want to have to find a new leader for them," he sighed out, lifting his arms in defeat. "The Mistress won't like the way you handled this either."

Minerva shrugged in response. That wasn't her problem either.

Some time passed where they stood by the ruined desk, looking down at the two terrified Humans that were now sitting on either side of a corpse.

"Your orders then?" Uhren eventually asked.

"Kill your way down their chain of command until one says yes. Take its disgusting body. Showcase it somehow. Make sure they have their troops all back in house in less than a month, letting them roam like this was a mistake. We may be cooperating, but they're little better than savages."

Uhren nodded, stepping forward through the remains of the broken desk and retrieving the body. He looked to his left and right then back to Minerva.

"And those?"

"Kill the man, put the woman in the pin," she said, turning around and walking through the closed door, destroying it in the process. "Tear down this false control room. They will meet me in my quarters, or they will die."

She didn't wait for a response and continued down the hallway, entering the cavern and grinning widely, showcasing a mouth covered in blood.

The Nivari in the pool swam to the surface to look at her, many showing confusion.

A loud crashing sound disrupted the calm waters as their leader's body was thrown over her head and into it, a milky red oozing its way out of the corpse and around the pool. The confusion seemed to mount for a moment as they swam to him and observed his injuries. She would remedy that.

Minerva spat the missing chunk of his throat still in her mouth into the pool, bloodying the water even further. She then walked around the outside of the cavern as they stared at her in shock.

Right before she left the area, she spoke up.

"Twenty of you. Fifty of mine outside. You would all be dead within moments."

With that, she moved out of the room and down the damp hallway, once again being careful where she stepped. Slipping and falling now might very well push her past her threshold of patience, sending her on a killing spree.

"Disgusting," she muttered, moving her tongue around her mouth before spitting green goop onto the wall to her right.