As she watched Kelah dealing with the tusker Zarena was made to chuckle. It brought back memories of whenever the sisters had their pets. “I wonder. Kelah those tuskers of yours seem suited for combat. Do you have any that are better trained to be companions and not so aggressive?”

For a moment Kelah went silent. She knew a few that weren't very aggressive unless the pack became aggressive. Yet they weren't trained to be that way. “We don't have any that are trained. But they are a few that only become aggressive whenever they're encouraged by the group. Typically these tuskers are used to train new tusker trainers who would provoke one that is more ill tempered.”

Zarena, “Like your Razoer there?”

Instead of responding right away Kelah gave Razor a viperous rub on the head bringing on several short happy grunts. “By the spirits yes! The only time Razor is tasked to help these days is if someone is being arrogant and they need taught a lesson. His first trainer and I am are the only two that have been able to earn Razor's respect.

Zarena, “You had to prove you were too powerful for him to defeat didn't you?”

Kelah, “Yes and it was hard. Every day for over a month Razor would challenge me for a leadership position and I had to take him down each time. However, I had to do so in a way that wouldn't permanently damage him. He apparently believed that he would either be the leader or die fighting. I had to prove to him that I was strong enough to keep him from taking the leadership position from me and avoid killing him. It was all worth it though.”

Zarena, “My you are a stubborn boy Razor. I've known some wyverns that took some teaching to convince them to behave but you sound even worse.”  As she finished speaking Zarena looked down at the tusker and gave him a grin. He was smart. He seemed to realize she was speaking in a friendly way to her and responded with a light snort of his own.

Kelah, “You're a natural Zarena. Given your size I thought there was no way Razor would truly become comfortable with you.”

Zarena, “Thanks. It's been so long I kind of want to pet him.”

This was becoming strange fast. As she looked up at Zarena's face Kelah remembered that she was setting in Zarena's hand. Yet Zarena gave of a presence of comfort that after talking to her made it hard not to relax. She had said it earlier. You don't pick a bitch to have this kind of power but did Zarena have a mean bone in her body? “Wow. I'm used to you beast girls only seeing animals as food and never as companions.”

Zarena, “That's more recent then historical. I'm happy to eat meat and love fresh meat but I also love well behaved companions.”

To this Kelah gave a nod and turned her attention away from Zarena for a moment and towards her shoulder. She could see Dinon looking around and wondered why he hadn't joined their conversation. Several of the orcs had began having their own little conversations but he was entirely focused in the distance. It made her look behind her and take note of some of the trees as they passed them by. One thing that became clear right away was they were moving fast. “Wow. So is this as fast as you normally walk?”

Zarena, “Well this is as fast as I normally walk to get where I'm going but not to leave a vast path of destruction behind me. I'm pretty heavy so anything I step on seems to be pretty darn flat. If I step down at full speed though it doesn't just destroy what's beneath my feet. The debris that I end up kicking up destroys things pretty far to the side of my foot steps as well. Plus well my feet sink even deeper if I don't step down carefully.”

Kelah, “Huh. Perhaps I could convince you to walk between the beach and my village a few times so that we have a nice clear path to follow.”

Zarena, “Well. I don't know about that one. I guess supplies are going to be moving between the two villages one way or another. It would make things easier for you and us in the long run given that I expect we'll be trading more freely soon. But is it better for the forest if there is one clear path that everyone uses or is it better to deal with the rough landscape?”

Kelah, “Well you don't intend on staying in your village all the time. Think about how much damage you're going to cause just on your return trip. If you use the same path each time you limit that damage to a small area and you provide a good path for others to use. On top of that. Even whenever we travel between the two sites we're going to have to make camp and hunt several times. The faster we can make the trip the fewer stops we need to make. It also means we can carry more goods between the two settlements and less supplies.”

For a moment Zarena was silent before giving a slight nod. She could understand what Kelah was saying and it made sense. Surely one well made solid path would be better then dozens of less defined and far slower paths. “Well I do plan to use the same path on my return trip at the very least. I'll consider smoothing out the path even more once I've had a chance to speak with the others about it. Then again after my second trip alone it'll probably be well defined. I'm hoping to be packing some supplies with me after all and well. Would you like to see what my barely loaded foot steps have done.”

Kelah, “Sure.” Kelah could feel it whenever Zarena began to slow down. She didn't just stop like a person that had just been walking. Instead Zarena took on a slower pace and then a slower one still bringing down the rate at which they slowed down. It seemed this was done to avoid throwing them all from her body as Kelah could still feel the influence in the change of speed. “Okay that feels very strange.”

Zarena, “Every sister learns the importance of slowing down slowly when packing someone else at a young age. At my size it becomes even more so. Now.” Standing at a full stop Zarena turned and looked down towards her foot prints. The path wasn't perfectly smooth as she wasn't walking hill to toe but rather there was a massive line of craters from where her feet had sunken into the ground crushing through dirt, stone, roots and anything else that had been caught under her feet.

Kelah, “So you've given up on any notion of stealth right?” 

Zarena, “Hey! I'd like to see you be as stealthy as I am at my size. I bet I could have three times your mass and still sneak up on you.” As she spoke Zarena couldn't help the grin on her face. She had indeed given up on being stealthy long ago. Yet she hadn't given up on the skills. The ability to step quietly and gently was very important whenever you stood over a hundred meters tall. It was nice having someone to chat with on her walk though.

Kelah, “It's a shame we can't test that or I would accept your challenge. I'm not quite sure what I'd do at your size though. So did you plan this path whenever you decided to go to the ocean?”

Zarena, “Yes. Well sort of. I'm not sure if you noticed but the path you were using is the same one that I made the last time I woke up. It is remarkable how good of a job the forest does of healing its scars but I could still see where the old path was from my perspective.”

Kelah, “Are you serious?”

Zarena, “Yes I am. I'm pretty sure other sleepers have used the same path as well. Depending on how long I stay awake I could end up using the path a lot more this time. I'll be sure to speak with my brothers and sisters upon my return and see what they think about making a long lasting path for everyone to use.”

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Dominic, “Carter, Mirin. What brings the two of you here?” Currently Dominic was setting in the apprentice dining hall of the citadel. It was actually nice to have a place to eat where he could have some company but not be overshadowed by his massive sisters. That feeling had faded whenever the two brothers had walked over to him looking rather serious. He hadn't been chosen to work on the corpse of the sister's and wasn't one of the people training to become a spirit hunter. So he was taking it easy until a task was found for him. Did  they feel like he was slacking and had come to scold him? It seemed likely from the way they were looking at him. This brought a mental sigh from him but not much concern.

Mirin, “Dominic you're going to come with us. We need to speak to you about Cita and Azala. We've learned that you were heavily involved with both of the sisters.”

Dominic, “Yes but there is nothing unusual about that. We're expected to make ourselves available for several sisters after all.”

Carter, “We're not having this discussion here. Come along now.” Carter and several of the others had pushed hard to finish up their work for the day. Thankfully Julia had been around to help several groups finish early so they weren't entirely exhausted. Now it was time to deal with Dominic and resolve what should be done about his manipulations.

Dominic, “Hey now. You're acting like you believe I had something to do with their deaths. I would have never hurt either of them or any of our sisters.”

Mirin, “Shut up and get moving before I drag you there.” As he spoke Mirin couldn't help the venom that came out in his voice. It was one thing to share yourself with several sisters. That was accepted. It was another thing to lie to them or manipulate their feelings. He had been rather stunned whenever Vera had told him what Julia had said and even more stunned when he spoke to Julia about it. Now they were going to give Dominic a chance to explain himself before they considered what they should do. He was already furious with him but would have to control such thoughts.

Now Dominic was standing. He had no miss understandings about the nature of this visit now. He was actually a little worried. He had known his relationship with Cita and Azala would have to end eventually but he had planned to end it on his terms. Whichever one obtained guardian status first he would devote himself to. The guardian would consider the others claims lies and they perhaps would have some kind of fight but he was certain that he could insure they blamed one another and not him. The fact that they had achieved guardian rank at the same time had complicated these plans. It had seemed like their deaths would solve his problem but apparently it hadn't. “Okay. Let's go speak to them then.”

***********************************************************************************

Currently a group of several brothers found themselves setting in a large meeting room. It was clear the room had been meant for discussion as both the table and walls had been designed to allow each person's voice to carry effectively throughout the room. No one set at the head of the table as there was none to speak of and the walls didn't leave any corners to mention either. Yet Dominic knew he was the center of attention.

Nathan, “Welcome Dominic. From the look on your face I take it that Mirin mentioned what this was about.”

Dominic, “Yes. Apparently Julia picked through Cita and Azala's memories and there has been some kind of confusion. I hope we can clear that up.”

Nathan, “So do I. As we all know it's not unusual for a brother to sleep with more then one sister. We also know that it's accepted for a sister to sleep with more then one brother. That isn't what we're calling into question here. We also know that private matters between brothers and sisters are just that. Yet there is a complication. We have always functioned as a society founded upon trust in which debts are repaid by favors and at times barter rather then currency. We  must maintain the trust of our sisters if we are to function and so I must ask. What do you have to add to these memories before we tell our sisters of Julia's findings? What could possibly justify such deception?”

It was clear the question had been attacks on him and already Dominic was rather alarmed. He knew the stories. Brothers had in the past been killed whenever they had sworn their love and their life to a sister only to be found to be manipulating her or losing interest. It had resulted in a few deaths as even three seconds with an enraged sister was enough to kill you. Even if they didn't kill him if the truth of what happened was revealed it could spell the end for him. “I don't believe it's their business to know my private dealings.”

Carter, “They've been wanting to know how those two sisters ended up dieing. We know that the reason they died was on top of fighting the enemy they were fighting with one another. However, the sisters will also want to know why they were fighting one another. I believe they have the right to know that the reason they were fighting was because you promised both of them that you would become their mate and just needed a little more time to insure that the other wasn't hurt. After all you had been seeing one another for a long time and wanted to let them down gently.”

Julia, “Aren't we forgetting something else? Just as our sisters must be able to trust us I believe we must be able to trust one another. Dominic having seen the memories of the fallen sisters I don't believe I can ever trust you again. The way you manipulated them for sexual pleasure was quite upsetting and I considered finding you myself before speaking to the others and casting agony on you.”

This wasn't going the way that Dominic had imagined it would. Not only did he have to worry about the sisters but he had to worry about the brothers as well. “Aren't you all just blaming me for their deaths? What would you have done if you had learned of my relationships but they were still alive? The only reason this is even necessary is because they died.”

Mirin, “Naturally. If they were still alive they would have most likely been the ones being questioned for killing you. Unfortunately they're not around for that to happen anymore. Even if they hadn't killed you they would have been the ones to speak the truth. At which point you would have remained quiet and let the truth be known or you would have tried to deny it and we would have had a similar inquiry. Dominic we can't have distrusted brothers holding a full hand and they most assuredly can't be allowed any of their claws.”

A distrusted brother? The thought hadn't occurred to Dominic that this is how they saw him. Did that mean they were going to start treating him like the sisters treated the distrusted? Mirin had even mentioned not allowing him a full hand or in other words not even allowing him to be considered a full brother. It was a rank that he had been born into their society with.”You can't be serious! I'm not some worthless distrusted that never contributes!”

Julia, “Even the distrusted contribute. They work just enough to be allowed to stay and keep to their own otherwise. I've been considering my own memories, the memories from the dead and the books and Dominic I have to say. Your contribution isn't really anything worth speaking of. I know claimed that are more productive then you and could easily replace you.”

Another attack on his person? This was becoming upsetting. As Dominic looked at Julia he wanted to call her necromancy into question but knew that wouldn't work. Her power was too well established for someone like him who had no real experience in necromancy to accuse her. He was confident that had the two of them lived or only one of them he could have convinced them to keep this quiet because he truly loved her. Without the trust they gave him it was proving more difficult. “What would you do if they were still alive? Even with their deaths I am only responsible for deceiving them. You can't hold me accountable for them failing to manage themselves.”

Nathan, “Indeed but none of us can trust you having learned of the deception. Trust is required for you to be one of us. If we actually were holding you entirely responsible for their deaths then the talk would be should we kill you or not. Now Dominic can you give us a reason to trust you or even to protect you from our sisters once we tell them the truth?”

Dominic, “They'll kill me. Some of them will hold me responsible for what happened and they'll kill me for it. Even if they don't kill me though how am I suppose to survive without the aid of the sisters?  They assist us in nearly everything. If they as a group become too disgusted with me to lend me that aid I won't even be able to survive.”

Nathan, “It will be an ordeal for a brother to survive without the love of our sisters. When you choose to destroy their trust though this is what happens.”

It was clear to Mirin that Dominic wasn't liking the way this meeting was going. He was rather glad to see that considering his actions. He doubted that he was considering his options though. “Dominic as far as I see your situation you have three real choices. The first choice you can make is an act of penance in which you will reject your old life and begin anew as one of the claimed as a person who lost his life. This would likely still be unpleasant with the hostile feelings the sisters will have towards you but I am sure there are a few keepers that would be willing to treat you as a new claimed. The second option you could try to live as a distrusted brother. Given that we rely on our sisters to hunt and even help transport us I don't know how long you'll survive as this. The third option is you could kill yourself to which I am willing to offer some assistance.” As he spoke Mirin produced a small white tablet from inside his pocket and set it on the table before him. “This is something I had Julia help me prepare before this meeting and should you take it will appease our sister's in this decision.”

Dominic, “What are you fucking talking about? If I was going to end my life I could just as well do it without your damn tablet.”

Julia, “I won't let you.”

Dominic, “What?”

Julia, “Whoops. I meant we won't let you. If we were to let you kill yourself without the use of this pill before you were made to confront the sisters then it wouldn't be enough to appease them. Mirin did however leave out one of your choices though it's very similar to the second one. You can leave the citadel and I can present the sisters with my findings. Then we'll just see what happens. However, even if that is your choice I believe we should strip you of your rank as a brother.”

Dominic, “And I believe you should shut the fuck up you useless cun.” A sharp gasp escaped Domonic as he felt something slam solidly into his chest. Reflexively he tightened up his muscles and tried to push back whatever had struck him. It responded by pushing harder into him and before he could think further he found himself no longer able to see anything before him. A searing pain radiated out from his chest and held his every muscle except his heart and lunges still.

Nathan took a moment to look at Julia. He had recognized the spell as the necromancer's version of the spell agony. It was a nasty spell that made the victim feel as if their every organ and muscle had suddenly decided to fail them. “Julia what was the meaning of your actions?”

Julia, “I apologize if my actions seemed rash. Due to his excitable behavior and skill as a mage I was afraid that he meant to go on the offensive. I felt the need to defend myself as well as everyone in this room.”

To this Nathan gave a nod. “In that case. Next time how about using a defensive spell to protect us rather then an offensive? It's that type of behavior that insures we have to have these meetings away from the other sisters except for a few.” For a moment Nathan held his tongue and noted a rather annoyed look on Julia's face. It truly felt like he was staring down an angry sister whenever she finally gave a slight not and seemed to sink back into her seat.  “I agree with Julia though. I could no longer trust Dominic as a brother and believe he should be stripped of his status. I believe that we should confirm this decision now before we continue.”

***********************************************************************************

Alaina, “Oh! What is taking them so long to make this decision official?” As she spoke Alaina looked to Lestel though she wasn't expecting an answer she was however expected a comment.

Lestel, “Well they are just senior apprentices and apprentices in there. If a ranking Luvarian was around I'm sure it would have been resolved already.” For a moment Lestel went silent. What would have happened if an apprentice had manipulated two of the constructs for sex? Immediately she resolved this depended on what type of construct they were dealing with. The sisters were high independence models by design as the Luvarians didn't want to have to instruct them how to handle every little issue. Sacrificing an apprentice wouldn't have been considered a big deal either.

Alaina, “I suppose. They did give him some decent choices as well. None of them mentioned the instability of the two Faelom that I consider a little strange. Don't you believe no wait. I was going to say that him revealing the instability of two Faelom would have been a good thing. However, Faelom are preconditioned to trust Luvarians even the apprentices. If they were to fault the instability of the Faelom they would also have to fault the preconditioned trust that was built into them.”

It was nice to see that Alaina was thinking like her old self for the most part. “That's true. On a more amusing subject what have you decided to do about Ridon? You know he's still looking for you. Well of course you know. You're interacting with the citadel to watch him now.”

A sigh escaped Alaina. “I feel for him. He lost someone very close to him due to violence and now he knows that I'm here. If it wasn't for me then he would have most likely succeeded in regaining her spiritual self so I feel partly at fault. He's determined which is nice and I believe he's cute as well. A little slow on the uptake and emotional but that's fine for someone of his age. I would present myself to him but I'm sure he would demand an answer from me.”

For a moment Lestel was silent. She could feel a buzzing in her head as the other protectors, the citadel itself and a few other beings emotions all bounced around at once. She could feel emotions both conflicting and agreeing hitting her. It was clear Alaina was feeling the same thing as the others responded to the conversation. “Ouch! This talk makes our heads hurt.” The thoughts of a protector were mostly a private matter but their emotions were a bit different. They tended to be too vocal to silence. Their conversations however had to be done in a certain way to be private and Lestel and Alaina had been speaking openly.

Alaina, “Well that's about how I've been feeling about him for a while now.”

Lestel, “Why don't you just take him off somewhere and speak to him then kill him if he seems like he's going to tell the others too much. That did not feel good.” Even as she was speaking Lestel could once again feel the others respond. The mixture of emotions she felt told her that their thoughts on this matter were far from absolute but how strongly any agreed or disagreed and with what parts she wasn't entirely certain of.

Alaina, “I don't want to put myself in a position where I may have to murder him.” Alaina's words brought a more peaceful feeling then Lestel's did. It was clear many agreed strongly with this thought and was happy with her decision. There was still some conflict though as many seemed to have an uncertain feeling about the entire situation.

Lestel, “Well that isn't the only choices. You could put an amulet of memory locking upon him then speak with him. That insures that if he couldn't be trusted with the knowledge you wouldn't have to kill him. You'd just need to remove the amulet and the problem would be taken care of.”

Alaina, “That is a good idea! Why didn't you do that with Azon?”

Lestel, “Because once he learned what the amulet did he would have fused the metal together to insure that I couldn't take it off of him. Well that was my theory at the time at least and now that I think about  it I'm pretty sure I was right.”

***********************************************************************************

It was nice to be ahead of schedule. As Kelah took in the salt air though she wasn't sure what to do about being this far ahead of schedule. Part of her had hoped that Kersara would be able to catch up to them before they arrived at the shore. Thanks to Zarena that wouldn't be happening and now she was forced to consider her options. Zarena had been kind enough to put her and the tuskers down first who were extremely eager to be back on the ground at first. Now they all just seemed angry. She was pretty sure it was because they didn't like the feeling of sand anymore then Razor. “Zarena I don't suppose you could help us with another problem.”

Currently Zarena was waiting for those on her left shoulder to move to her hand. It would have been easier to just pluck them from her shoulder but this felt more respectful. “What is it Kelah?”

Kelah, “I was hoping to be overtaken by Kersara or find her here upon our arrival. Thanks to you though I'm pretty sure we're far ahead of her so I wanted to ask. Is there any particular location your people had planned for us to build our village.”

By now those on her left shoulder had progressed to her hand and Zarena lowered it to the ground in order to wait for them to climb off. Their equipment was slowing them down a bit but she had no trouble maintaining her pose. “Well that would be silly. Our information about the water around here and what's suitable for a habitable village is extremely limited. Oh but that's silly to. I think we just assumed that you would know where to build.” As she spoke Zarena could see that Kelah was grinning. Apparently she liked this response.

Kelah, “Well. We don't know from our own experience but we can speak with the spirits and get an idea of where to build from them. We're going to need a location that's reasonably easy to protect from high waters but also allows easy access for launching ships. So you don't believe they'd mind if we went ahead and began working.”

Zarena, “Kelah your people helped save the entire forest. If it hadn't been for the presence of the orcs both on the water front and at the Amalgam's domain we would have suffered far more losses. We agreed that you could have your village and a population increase. We don't have any grounds to start complaining about where you want to build your village so long as it's on the water front.”

As Dinon climbed into Zarena's hand from her right shoulder he was surprised when his legs felt a bit wobbly. It was no surprise the others were having trouble standing. They had been setting on Zarena's shoulders and her warmth had slowly been sinking into her legs. The light vibration they felt with each step actually became rather comforting once they became used to it. Now it was time to worry though. They had made good time but that meant Kelah would expect more work from them. What would she be planning now?

Kelah, “Dinon what is that look for?” While she had been speaking with Zarena Kelah had noticed the look Dinon was giving her. It was a look that told her he was worried about something. Given how it was focused on her it was probably something she was doing.

Dinon, “I was just wondering what punishment we might have to endure for arriving early.”

Zarena, “Huh?”

A sigh escaped Kelah though she did grin. “Dinon and it looks like several of the others are just being lazy. Being ahead of schedule doesn't mean you have time to rest it means if you continue to work at a healthy pace you have time for some accidents. Anyway, Zarena it sounded like you have some heavy lifting planned. Where should we move so that we won't be in your way?”

Zarena, “Oh don't worry about that. I'm a lot stronger then I look and I don't intend to pick up anything that's too awkwardly shaped without trimming it a bit. I do need to begin my own search of course. Hey as I'm going to be in the water what kind of situations would you prefer in the water for your new village?”

Kelah, “I honestly have no idea. I guess devoid of large stones or other debris that we might catch our nets on or scrape the bottom of our ships on if the water was to become too low. Yeah, A nice deep area sounds nice but one that's also close to shore.”

Zarena, “Okay. Deep but also close to shore. You know I bet I could make you a spot like that by doing some digging around. I might as well make use of this big body of mine for something. You just find a nice spot land wise and I'll help make it nice aquatic wise.”

For a moment Kelah said nothing but looked at Zarena. Given her massive scale it was clear that she could indeed dig quite a trench if she wanted to. She tended to create them just by walking. “There is a problem with that. A naturally occurring deep spot is maintained by the water and its flow. An unnatural one may be destroyed by that same flow or would have to be maintained by you.”

Zarena, “That is a good point. Okay. So what are you looking for as far as deep goes? Perhaps half way up to my knee or maybe all the way up to my knee?” As she spoke Zarena used  her right hand to mark a spot she considered about halfway up her leg between her knee and foot.

Kelah, “I would say any spot where the water is both close to shore and reaches halfway between your foot and knee should be fine.” Kelah tried to tell her body to relax as Zarena gave a nod and began to stand back up. She could still feel the power of Zarena's foot steps in her bones and had to fight the urge to brace herself. It was strange. She had been so comfortable being carried in Zarena's hand and spoken to. Apparently her fear instinct hadn't adapted to looking up to her full towering size yet despite that and feeling the forces she created whenever she walked only served to remind Kelah's body of how big Zarena was.

Dinon, “Well she seems like a kind person..”

Kelah, “Indeed. I guess you don't want to give an unkind person that kind of power.”

Dinon, “Indeed. It only reminds me how foolish we were to let you have those axes.”  A sharp smack hit Dinon on the back of his head and his ears as did a sharp pain. He knew immediately that Kelah had given him a little hit for what he said. “Why must we serve such a brutal woman!”

Even as Zarena was walking away she could hear the exchange between Dinon and Kelah. It was very hard not to begin openly laughing as she listened to the two of them.

***********************************************************************************

Julia actually found herself taking in a deep breath and was grateful for Nathan's hand coming to rest upon her shoulder. As upset as she had been whenever he had called her out for her behavior she was glad to have him there for this. Currently several keepers were setting in the room before her awaiting her news. It had been resolved these keepers would be the ones to tell the others what had happened to avoid any outburst. Part of Julia could still imagine one of them grabbing her by the shoulders and demanding she repeat herself most likely shattering her shoulder in the process. They were all considered level headed sisters but she was nervous.

Nathan, “Thank you all for coming this shouldn't take long but it will begin a process that may take a while to handle. Julia if you don't mind.”

As she stepped forward Flora could see that Julia was feeling nervous. It reminded her of when one of her daughter's came to tell her about something they'd done wrong. That or whenever a young sister came to her. “Relax Julia. I'm not sure what's going on but no one is going to harm you just for talking to us. If it'll make you feel better I'll put myself between you and everyone else.”

This made Julia grin. Flora's combat ability was respected but well known as middle of the road. Yet it was also known that she would fight to the death to protect those she considered worthy. She was also true to her word. It made Julia wonder how many secrets sister's had whispered to Flora over the years only to have them stay in her head. “I recently investigated the memories of the fallen sisters to find out why they had died. We learned that they had began fighting one another during the struggle at the water front before the full scope of the battle was known. We also learned that there was a brother involved and settled on a punishment we consider acceptable for his actions. I and the brothers hope it will be fitting to you as well.”

No one responded at first waiting for Julia to continue. She however was looking back at them clearly waiting on a response. It was Alora who chose to speak up. “Could we know the details? I would like to know how a brother was involved in the death of two sisters when he was so far away from the battle. The implications of what you've said so far are quite unpleasant and I'm hoping you'll put some of my fears to wrest but worried you'll just confirm them.”

Now Julia was remembering why these sister's had been chosen to be the first told. Keepers as a rule were meant to be more open minded and observant then other sisters to more fully consider situations. How Stella remained a keeper at times confused Julia. The ones gathered here though really were some of the most kind sisters around. “He had apparently been manipulating both of them. While initially he had been honest about his relationship with them and other sisters he began to talk to them about becoming mates. Eventually he agreed to become both of their mates but always spoke of needing a little more time to break it off with the other. He made claims of not wanting to hurt the other and when pressured to stop seeing he would make it out like they were trying to hurt the other. In the end that's what happened.”

So far Julia hadn't told them the name of the offending brother. Flora believed this was a good thing as she could feel a few of her veins positively pulsing. A light fog seemed to have settled around the room and she found herself needing to think about breathing and setting still more then normal. From listening to the others she could tell that they were rather upset as well. “Julia. I may be over reacting at this moment. Perhaps you could tell us what exactly he did? Your abridged version was very appreciated but more details would be nice.”

***********************************************************************************

This had been a strange day for Allen. Many brothers were busy examining and testing the bodies of the fallen sisters. This meant that certain tasks were left unfilled for the time being fortunately his education wasn't one of them. He had a bit of a disagreement with his instructor whenever he had been asked to activate a magic glyph. That had been resolved whenever Allen reminded him that it had been a protector that insisted on him using this method and Julia had approved. After a demonstration of what he could do the instructor had seemed quite shocked and even began adjusting his teachings for the day. Allen for his part hadn't told him how much time he had spent at home practicing.

This hadn't been the most pleasant day for Stella. Thanks to Zarena the market had been cleaned up far more quickly then planned and even some of the basic excavation had been finished. This meant their schedule had been pushed forward quite a bit and due to resources they had some free time. This meant it was time to begin preparing themselves which meant early sparring. Vera had even pulled herself away from whatever the brothers had them doing to help set up some matches. She had been put up against Alexa. How could such a gentle keeper hit so hard? Alexa was known for being very kind to her claimed and others.  She didn't seem the type to strike someone unless she had to yet her attacks had been devastating.

Upon hearing the door open Allen immediately hopped of his chair and quickly made his way into the main entry way. What he saw surprised him. “Mommy what happened to you? You look awful!” Concern filled Allen's voice as he looked at his bruised mother. One of her eyes was halfway shut at the moment.

Stella, “Don't worry Allen. Mommy just began practicing her sparring today and ended up on the wrong side of a few punches.” As she spoke Stella sniffed the air. Fruit that had been bit into or cut into gave off a different smell then one that hadn't which she could detected for a short time. “Did you get yourself a snack.”

Allen, “Yeah. I got an apple and some cheese.”

To this Stella gave a nod. “Hold on a moment and I'll slice up the wrest of your apple for you.” It shocked Stella whenever instead of just waiting Allen quickly turned and sprinted back into the kitchen. “Allen. Allen is something wrong?”

Allen, “It's okay mom I like them like this.” As he spoke Allen had already grabbed his apple. He didn't know what it was but he really didn't want his mother cutting the peel off his apple or slicing it up.

Now Stella was confused. Surely Allen would prefer the sweet fruit of the apple without the peel getting in the way. When she walked into the kitchen though and noted the look on his face it was clear he wasn't just going to give it up. It made Stella feel more then a little confused about what was going through her son's mind. From the sound of his heart he was in a state of excitement.  “Allen honey. Is something wrong?”

It had even surprised Allen how he had behaved. As he held the apple he had to admit to himself that he liked it better with the skin off. The skin added a bitter taste that he wasn't used to. “I just didn't want you piling my apple without me asking you to.” As he spoke Allen found himself looking down at his apple. Would his mother understand what he was saying? Allen hoped she would because even he wasn't entirely certain what he was saying.

Stella was confused at first but didn't take long to decide Allen must be trying to assert his boundaries. It was like his room. He wanted a little bit of space that would be his own and others didn't intrude into. Given the presence of the sisters in nearly every aspect of his life Stella had accepted this. It wasn't like there was anything in his room that could harm him or that would prevent her from coming to his aid after all. Now he was feeling a bit possessive of his food. A little apple peel wasn't going to harm him of course. After a moment Stella gave a nod. “Okay Allen. Mommy won't touch your food unless you ask her to so long as it's clean.”

This wasn't quite what Allen had expected. He actually expected his mother to insist on cutting up the apple and tell him the peel was too rough on him. It seemed strange but apparently even she wasn't that worried about his safety. It made him feel better. “Thanks.”

Before speaking Stella lowered herself into a squatted position bringing her face closer to Allens. She still did her best to lean forward to further reduce their height difference. As she did this Stella reached out and placed a hand behind Allen's back. “You're a growing boy and you want to start making more decisions for yourself. Just please don't try something reckless just to prove you're growing up. I can see that and you sure showed it with your practice with that glyph.”

Allen, “Well. What if I told you that I wanted to begin learning to fight or even forest survival from a brother?” Allen knew that this was going to be pushing it. It was a far leap from letting him pick how he ate his food to letting him  undergo combat training where he would be hurt. He immediately noticed his mother's body locking up and was certain she didn't like that idea one bit.

Food was one thing but Stella didn't like where Allen was taking the conversation in the least. “Our recent failures and Zarena's scolding really made it clear that you do need to know how to defend yourself.” Before continuing Stella found herself biting down on her lower lip. She had to think about how she was going to answer this question. Zarena had made a very strong argument for why a strong target was easier to defend them a weak target. “Well before you go into the forest I want you to learn to defend yourself. Okay? Perhaps you could near some more protection glyphs so that your mommy can relax a little bit?”

What exactly had Zarena said to his mother? Allen had expected to be told or to wait. “Thanks mommy.”

For a moment Stella felt like her entire body had become lighter. She had been so worried that Allen would try to push even further then what he already was. At least with this she could keep him safe for a little bit longer. It actually surprised Stella whenever she realized that she had picked Allen up and was currently hugging him against herself so that her right cheek pressed against his left.

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After years of walking in the forest. Of walking on roots, rocks, grass, moss and a host of other things Dinon was certain he hated walking on sand. The natural give of the sand seemed to soak up the energy of his steps and the easy deformation meant he was leaving a trail that made him paranoid. He imagined any creature might be hunting him using those tracks even if they were quickly erased. In short he agreed with Razor he had fallen into a routine of angry snorts as he was forced to walk along. The sound of massive amounts of water being rapidly displaced turned his head from time to time as he looked to see what Zarena was doing. She had already found one stone she seemed to consider suitable and was looking for another.

Hunting for a large enough rock was proving more difficult then Zarena believed it was going to be. She couldn't smell or use her eyes to find a rock. She had to walk along the ocean bottom feeling for enough resistance to indicate she had stepped on a large stone. Unfortunately she wasn't used to walking on the floor of the ocean and had trouble reading what the ground was telling her. This had left her walking back and forth across a vast strip of the ocean front looking for what she desired. As she looked at Dinon though she suddenly had an idea and began to walk towards him. “Dinon may I have a moment of your time?”

Now she as coming out onto the beach. At least the sand didn't seem to provide an obstacle to Zarena. Whenever her feet slammed down the sand was left compacted and carrying a deep impression. He imagined it would take the waves some time to remove those at first. Then he saw a particularly powerful wave take a big chunk out of one of the impression and wasn't certain. “What is it Zarena?”

Zarena, “I was thinking. How about you communicate with some earth spirits and find a nice big stone for me to dig up? This search is not going as well as I believed it would. That little rock I found won't even serve as the base for the new dining hall my sisters are going to be building and we need something to help support the walls.”

Clearly Zarena's size had warped her sense of reality. The stone she had uncovered was anything but little as far as Dinon was concerned but he wasn't going to argue that fact. “Well I could but that would be costly. You never ask an earth spirit were strong stone is if you plan on removing it. After all that reduces their influence over the environment. What you ask is a wind or water spirit and they are plenty of those here. Just give me a moment and I'll see what I can find for you.” As he spoke Dinon took out his staff and began to draw in the sand. A simple ritual marking to show respect to the spirits of the water and an offering of some of his own spiritual energies would be plenty for an easy transaction like this.

Zarena, “Do I need to give you anything or.”

Dinon, “No. Don't worry about it this is really too little of a favor for me to ask anything of it. I'm just asking the water spirits to point me towards a large strong stone. They might even be happy to be rid of it. Okay that should do. Careful not to disturb this area for just a moment. Even if the transaction is simple the spirits tend to get upset if you don't show respect during it.”

Nodding her head Zarena could see the change in Dinon's spiritual energies. They were weakened slightly after a moment and she saw the briefest of flicker of energy in the symbol. It always felt strange to watch someone use a magic form of communication. She could hear Dinon speaking but of course she couldn't hear the spirits of water responding. This did prompt her to look out over the ocean in hopes of picking out the spirit Dinon might be speaking to.

Dinon, “Well that didn't take long. Now let's see how should I go about describing this? Zarena I hope you don't mind me asking but how good are you at judging distances?”

Zarena, “Bad. If you tell me a kilometer I may overshoot it by three to five times that length. Sleepers don't get to stay awake very often normally so it's hard to really develop a sense of scale related to your size. At least it has been for me.”

Dinon, “Okay then. How about giving me a lift and I'll guide you to where the stone is? The spirits of water in this region were quite cooperative in this.” Even as the words left his mouth Dinon had to repress a chuckle. He had only met this massive being recently and he already trusted her enough to step into her hand. She was still terrifying in many ways but her friendly nature and demeanor seemed to do a good job of relaxing his fears.

Nodding her head Zarena took one more step towards Dinon to put her close enough to offer him her hand. As she was lowering her hand down to pick him up she couldn't help but wonder about the spirits in the region. “So is this going to have any influence on the natural balance here?”

Dinon, “The earth spirits of the region will lose some influence over the water spirits which should make them more docile. I just hope that the information was good. I was careful with my question but you still have to be careful. A big stone to the spirits can mean one that has a lot of influence over the behavior of the region but isn't truly large.” As he had been speaking Dinon had climbed into Zarena's hand. He didn't know what she had intended when she didn't lift him to her shoulder but he wasted no time pointing her in the right direction. “Let's go this way nice and slowly so I can follow the spirit's guidance.”

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Alora, “I see. Well Dominic is quite the manipulative vile toxin isn't he?” As she spoke Alora couldn't help her right arm shaking slightly. Part of her wanted to stand up and go find Dominic immediately. That a brother would abuse a sister's trust like that and manipulate them was proving rather infuriating. “Thank you for the information Julia.”

At first Julia said nothing but listened to Alora take in a deep breath. Flora was also silent and was now keeping her eyes closed while remaining silent and rubbing her forehead. Looking around the room it was clear the gathered keepers were all rather agitated. At least none of them were running out of the room. It seemed best to continue. “We gave Dominic two choices in the matter but he had a third. If you want I'll list those choices but for now I'll just tell you what he chose. Dominic has chosen to become one of the claimed and in return the brothers and I promised to do our best to insure that he was fairly treated as a claimed.”

Now Flora opened her eyes and looked strait at Nathan then Julia. They were making quite a big promise considering how some of the other sisters were going to feel. Even she wasn't happy with that decision. “Well I can't say I'm happy with what you promised him and will remind you that neither I or the sisters have made any such promise.”

Flora was angry. Julia was very aware of that as she could practically hear the aggression in Flora's voice. “We know but we will do our best just the same. I hope you'll give yourself time to calm down and think about what you truly want to do about this situation before making any decisions.”

Nathan, “So says the one who cast agony on Dominic the moment the first flimsy excuse showed up.”

Now Julia could feel all the sister's looking at her. It actually made her give a slight yelp but when she returned their look she noticed they all seemed to be smiling at least a little. “It seemed the appropriate action to take at the time. Now I will admit that it wasn't the best action that I could have taken.”

Listening to Julia Flora took in a deep breath but she still couldn't say that her head was clear. She would need some time to truly be thinking clearly again and she imagined the others would as well. “Well it makes me happy to know that he suffered a little already even if it wasn't entirely your intentions. Nathan I don't know of many keepers that would be willing to tend to Dominic after what he did or stand up for him if other sisters resolved to kill him. For a brother to treat two sisters who were willing to become a mate to him like that is very upsetting.”

Nathan, “I realize that. Then let's take a little while before we continue this discussion. I'll go retrieve some food for each of you and then after a little bit we can continue.” As he spoke Nathan felt certain he wanted to keep these sisters where he could see them or at least know where they are. He didn't want to risk any of them running across Dominic's scent and losing her head for a moment.

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 Ridon didn't know what was going on. He had been trying to catch up to Aphila whenever something had came up behind him and wrapped something around his throat. His instinct had been to try to resist but then whatever was behind him had released its hold. Now his free hand was wresting against some kind of choker and there was a protector standing in front of him. What made the situation more surprising was the amulet seemed to be drawing him towards her. He could feel his heart rate rapidly increasing as he waited to see what would happen next.

Alaina, “That is an amulet of memory locking you're wearing right now. It prevents what happens from being turned into long term memory after it's been put on unless removed correctly. The original Luvarians developed it for discussions that involved information they didn't want remembered after the event. Whether I remove it so that you retain or lose these memories depends on the choices you make.” As she spoke Alaina kept her eyes focused on Ridon's. She had been waiting for him to enter a section of the citadel that no other apprentice was in. This had been an easy task by having him follow her.

A protector was talking to him. This was almost enough to drop Ridon to the ground. The fact that the amulet was telling him that this was Aphila was even more shocking. Yet he was surprised by her stern tone. It wasn't the warm welcome he had been hoping for whenever he was searching for Aphila. “Are you Aphila?” It surprised Ridon whenever the protector smiled at him.

Aphila. “Now that is a question. Ridon Aphila is dead. Her body, the memories contained within that body the very energies that bind her spiritual self to her body are gone. I am the person that results from the spiritual being that once used Aphila's body entering into the body of this protector named Alaina. I have the memories contained within this body.” As she spoke Alaina softened her tone lightly. While she didn't have the memories Alaina had within her body the spiritual self remembered Ridon and it was still responding to him. She felt compassion for him but had to make him understand.

Aphila's words had been some heavy hits. He had been hoped to be told that she was indeed Aphila but that wasn't it. At the same time though Ridon could feel Aphila's presence and knew that some part of her was there even by the protectors own admission. “So are those missing memories the only difference between you and Aphila?”

Alaina, “Ridon you're a necromancer and a good apprentice. You know better then that.” As she spoke Alaina crossed her arms and took on a lighter tone as if she was scolding a child.

Now that had felt like Aphila. It wasn't spoken about often but necromancy was one of the more risky magics to learn. It involved speaking with spiritual beings who weren't at times what they seemed. It also involved using your own life force and the life force of others to power a spell. There were horror stories about necromancers who had done a spell wrong and become some kind of abomination or been killed by their own creation. Ridon believed that these stories were over hyped in an attempt to frighten people away from such magic and its users. Yet it still took a certain type of sister to be at ease with their mate or mate to be learning such magics.

Aphila had been one of those sisters. Of course she still did what she could to protect him and at times that meant showing him some tough love or a lot of it. She would scold him whenever he was being foolish stating that foolishness would lead to recklessness. He also tended to pay a penalty whenever he didn't think things through carefully enough. She would have really been upset with him considering how he had acted whenever he first learned of her death and saw the body. Now Alaina had taken on both the stance and the tone that Aphila used whenever he had just did something wrong. “Even the changes to how your brain works could alter how you experience and respond to the world. Whenever I consider the memories that influence your judgments as well that's even more of a change. So did Alaina always stand like Aphila whenever she was scolding apprentices?”

Now Alaina felt herself grinning. “Yes I always have. Follow me.” As she spoke Alaina began to walk ahead of Ridon. She wanted to take him somewhere to insure they wouldn't be distracted. “The criteria for a spiritual being to make use of these bodies is actually very strict. I was only able to take it over because I met these criteria which means I was rather similar to the spiritual being that had used it fifteen years ago.” As she spoke Aliana glanced back at Ridon. He was following her closely and so far had been handling the situation well. She was glad that he hadn't become hysterical.

Ridon, “So why are you telling me all of this?”

Alaina, “I had little choice in the matter. It was either let you keep roaming the citadel looking for me or come out and speak with you. Avoiding you would have been little trouble given how restricted your movements are but I resolved that would be a cruel way to treat you. Even if eventually the other apprentices had told you need to work on other things in hopes of bringing down those barriers it would have been cruel. None of this will do any good if I remove the choker so that you lose your memories of this talk but I'm hoping that I won't have to.”

Nodding his head Ridon took in a deep breath. Walking the citadel for the last day and half had given him some time to think at least. Speaking with Julia about the state they might find Aphila in had also helped a lot. “Alaina I want Aphila back even if it's only a part of her. I'm sure you're aware of that. Which means I'd like to get to know you better.” It stung a bit whenever Ridon heard a slight chuckle from Aphila but when he looked at her she was smiling.

Alaina, “I'm glad you didn't ask me to die so that you could try to restore the being I once was. I don't know a great deal about my time as Aphila Ridon but I want you to know that I am not her anymore. You have done a lot to earn my respect though. You've kept your mind on what is important to you and not been distracted by information that you don't need at the moment.”

Ridon, “So do you want to speak with me as well?”

Alaina, “Aspects that are part of the spiritual self remain with that spiritual being even after the body dies. My love for you during my life as Aphila etched itself so deeply into that life that even the spirit remembers it. Even though your Aphila is dead my spiritual self still remembers the love she has for you. It remains with me to some extent even now making me feel a fondness for you I wouldn't otherwise feel.”

It was strange to feel himself grinning in this situation. With the medallion held in his hand though Ridon felt like he was walking with Aphila once again. “That's a very round about way of saying yes.”

A slight chuckle escaped Alaina as she led Ridon into one of the more secluded rooms. It was where the more unstable creations of apprentices had once been held waiting for evaluating. “Yes it was but this is very strange for me. Ridon I'll tell you now I don't love you the way that Aphila loved you but I would like to know you better and interact with you. For that to happen they are certain things you must know and you must abide by. I'm going to give you some information about my kind right now. We are fully sentient but share a connected mind. We are also fully capable of communication verbally and other ways but we chose to go silent. The decision to go silent was ours and you must not tell anyone that we can speak or let them know you're communicating with us until we give permission.”

For a moment Ridon was silent but then gave a slight nod. “May I know why you went silent? I know it doesn't relate directly to me but I would like to know what kind of person you are to.”

Alaina, “It happened shortly after Lord Liben died attempting to increase the yield of the citadel's primary energy system. The apprentices and the production grade  faelom were scared and honestly so were we. They began pushing us for information but it was information we didn't believe they could handle. At first we did what came naturally and we refused to tell them. They continued to push us though wanting desperately to recreate the energy systems as the faelom put a new strain on the forest and the apprentices. Eventually they became desperate enough to try something stupid and started to attempt to force us to tell them what they wanted to know. We considered several options on how to handle the situation.”

Ridon, “So you chose going silent?”

Alaina, “Yes. It was hoped that if we sternly refused to communicate with them we could destroy any hope of gaining the information from us. We would just wait it out. Unfortunately our ageless state and endurance meant we didn't take certain things into consideration. It didn't help that we were grieving ourselves. Here we were meant to be some of the best guardians the Luvarians had ever produced and yet our master died right in front of us. Personally I no longer agree with that past decision.”

Ridon, “What do you believe you should have done?”

Alaina, “Killed the instigators. If we would have just killed the ones who were encouraging the apprentices to try to force information from us we would have showed them how foolish that was. Naturally some of the faelom would have been outraged and we would have had to kill them as well in order to return order but it would have allowed us to guide you instead of this blasted silence.”

For a moment Ridon said nothing. The ease with which Alaina had made the suggestion to kill both brothers and sisters was shocking. “They must have tried something very desperate to force the information from the protectors of the time.”

Alaina, “Their goal was to restrain us and pull the information from our minds using both magic and torture. I was upset whenever they began talking about it but my sympathy for the instigators and those who would support them vanished whenever they made the attempt to restrain one of us. This choice was rejected due to the fact that many of us were still heavily influenced by the pain of losing our creator. We considered it our fault for not protecting him from his how ambition and so we didn't have it in us to kill the apprentices or other faelom at the time.”

Ridon, “Your body remembers everything that happened doesn't it?”

Alaina, “Yes. Age and several lives don't change our memories but through experience we can change our perspectives. There has been a change of perspective slowly happening one where we harmed you more then we helped you by not killing a few of the apprentices and the faelom that tried to avenge them. This is hindered by the notion that are not qualified to teach you. I agree with us not being qualified to teach you but we should at least be able to guide you.”

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Dinon, “What's the matter Zarena?”

Instead of responding right away Zarena continued to feel around under the water. She had found the stone the spirits had been speaking off and it was indeed a large one even by her standards. The problem was how she was going to carry it. She knew that her size caused a mistaken shift in perspective. As a keeper she had been able to pick up a good quality stone roughly the same size as her in a variety of ways and not have it break apart. As she grew larger she loss that ability as the stone became more vulnerable to its own weight at such sizes. “I'm trying to figure out the best way to get this back to my sisters. If I lifted it wrong it's going to split and if it's a poor split it'll be more difficult to process.”

Dinon, “That would be a problem. Well you know it'd be a lot easier to feel out the form of the stone if you'd dip your head under water. You can just leave me on the surface.”

Zarena, “Well. I'm a little worried that you might be washed away or pushed away by my movements. It would speed things up if I just took you back to shore most likely.”

To Zarena's words Dinon gave his hand a quick wave. “Don't worry about that. I'm a shaman on good terms with the local water spirits. Just set me in the water and I'll be fine.”

Was he being over confident? As Zarena looked at Dinon she could see that he had a good strong spirit and he was a trained shaman. He sounded reasonable but she wasn't certain if he understood the forces that her body could generate just by moving. It took her a moment to lift him from her shoulder resolving that he should be alright so long as she paid him some attention and worked carefully. “Okay but if it looks like you're in danger give a shout. It doesn't take long for someone to get killed around me if I'm not aware of them.”

This wasn't like before. Zarena had let them climb into her hand and off her hand rather then taking hold of them. As Dinon was held between her fingers he could feel that control had been taken from him and it caused a change in perspective. Her words seemed to carry more weight and she was the one that determined where he went in the water. Was this intentional to impress upon him the difference in their scale and how dangerous that could be? He wasn't certain but it made Dinon feel a little more aware. Such as whenever Kelah spoke with her weapons in hand as opposed to whenever she had them put away.

With Dinon off her shoulder Zarena found herself diving underneath the water. Her hands easily pushed the soft earth away from the stone as she felt out its dimensions. She was going to need to find it's thickest point if she was going to have any hope of carrying it back with her. She would also have to be careful to spread the lifting force across as much of the stone as she possibly could. It was actually making her rather nervous as she didn't imagine mountains had been meant to be carried. As she worked she glanced up towards Dinon from time to time. He seemed to be behaving himself and was even moving back towards the shore to give her more space.

What was going to happen whenever Zarena started to lift that stone? The question had came to Dinon shortly after she had went under the water and he had felt the influence of her massive body on the area. Suddenly he felt it was very important to swim back towards the shore and give her as much space as possible. There was another important factor of course. Would she be able to set the stone down or use one of her arms once she had lifted it? He doubted that she would want to risk doing so which meant he couldn't hope for a ride back to the shore. He didn't know that this had actually occurred to Zarena and she had intended to use her tail to guide him back.

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It had been a while and Alora had time to relax. Now she was taking in steady breaths again and considering Dominic's situation. Part of Alora wanted to do worse to him but she had to ask herself what he had truly done. He had manipulated the trust of two sisters and destroyed the ability of the community to trust him. This event could trigger mistrust for the brothers if not handled properly. After all if one could abuse their trust so could another. Yet the brothers had devoted so much time, energy and love towards helping them she wasn't worried about that. With the additional height and the way the brothers had fought alongside of them only the most irrational and closest to the distrusted sisters would actually hold this against the brothers as a group. “Okay my head has cleared a little bit.”

Flora, “I don't believe that it's appropriate to kill a brother because he tricked you. It has always seemed like an over reaction to me now that I'm thinking clearly. However, I also well I hope you understand.”

Nathan, “It's always been understood. There is a large difference between a sister's physical abilities and a brothers. We also are very well aware of how devoted you are and how much such manipulation must hurt. So we took it upon ourselves not to put you in a situation in which you would lose control like that. We have to take some responsibility for hitting that kill button after all.”

Flora, “Thank you. When I consider what Dominic did I want to hurt him. I want to hurt him so badly that my head begins to swim. Yet at the same time I don't believe that's appropriate. I can support you in your decision to turn him into one of the claimed after all a brother has to also be someone you can trust no matter what his rank is.”

Alora, “This is going to be so hard to convince the others of. I don't believe we can safely do this on mass but it would take a very long time to tell all the sisters who want to know as individuals and we run the risk of a loud mouth. What we probably should do is gather up the sister's and have the matrons tell them rather then just us keepers.”

Flora, “We could just speak with Zarena and have her be the one to deliver the news then tell everyone to calm down. I doubt they're going to fight with a sleeper over this issue but they may complain.”

Alora, “What if Zarena wants to kill him?”

Flora, “That would be a problem. Nathan I take it you're not going to tell anyone where Dominic is until we've had a chance to speak with the sisters right?”

To this Nathan gave a quick nod. “It wouldn't be fair to him to simply toss him out after allowing him to make a choice on the matter. Now do you have any idea of what keeper would be willing to take care of him? I was.”

A sigh escaped Alora as she looked at Nathan. She already knew who he was going to suggest. She didn't get to finish though before Flora spoke up. “My daughter's are both grown and no longer need me to take care of them. I have no mate and let's be honest I can still tend to the claimed and perform my current tasks. So how about I take Dominic as my first claimed?”

It was comforting to hear Flora volunteer and Nathan gave a nod. “That would be appreciated. I haven't had a chance to check what do you have the claimed working on at the moment?”

Flora, “What can they work on? They can't safely go into the forest and with Zarena finishing up the clean up so quickly they can't even do that now. The majority of the claimed are pretty much just waiting around for new task. A few with the needed skills have been put to work. Alora the last I checked you had a few working on something but I'm not sure what it was.”

Alora, “Oh. I put them to work drawing up new plans for a dining hall and a town in general. Well I say them but it's mostly Hadron and Lewis.”

Nathan, “Why do you have them working on that?” It surprised Nathan whenever he noted a rather annoyed look from Alora.

Alora, “Because you and the rest of the brothers are taking too long to get the designs to us. Thanks to Zarena the area has been cleared. Several sections have been dug out and now she's going to gather supplies. Hadron heard me talking about the situation with some other sisters and volunteered to work on the designs since they couldn't do their regular jobs. Who knows? Perhaps he saw this as an opportunity to steal a job from the brothers.” As she spoke Alora gave Nathan a quick glance and grin.

Nathan, “Hey we're.” Nathan didn't get to finish explaining that they had been busy studying the fallen sister's as Alora spoke up once again.

Alora, “ Anyway, Flora would you mind speaking to Zarena about what happened? She seems to respect you even more so then the rest of us. You have that whole wise motherly appeal.”

Flora, “If she was going to be sleeping within the next two weeks I would say no. I'll say that even though I'm glad she's with us. I'm not entirely sure I want to see how she'll respond to such news. As things are she's going to learn about what Dominic did eventually so it might as well be resolved now as she can make explaining the situation to the other sisters far easier. Just don't tell anyone that I agreed to be Dominic's keeper until they've had time to calm down otherwise I'll be pressured to make his life a living hell and I don't need any encouragement in this situation. It's going to be difficult enough to be fair to him without everyone nagging for me to fillet him.”

Nathan, “I do agree that speaking to Zarena would be a good way to go. However, don't you believe I should be the one to speak to her?” It actually offended Nathan a bit that both Alora and Flora seemed to believe Flora would be a better choice to speak with Zarena. Given the time he had spent with her it was more then a little strange to him.

Alora, “No. Nathan I have no doubt that Zarena loves you, wouldn't harm you and values your opinion. However, as you would be a brother speaking about the punishment of another brother your words wouldn't carry the same weight as another sister. You brought us here in order to let us be the ones to bring them the information so let us handle it.”

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Ridon, “So you really do like painting and carving still?” For a moment Ridon waited for an answer but then noted the look Alaina was giving him. The realization of his mistake opened his mouth again. “Sorry. I mean you enjoy painting and carving.”

Alaina, “Yes. I'm guessing from your comment Aphila did as well. I haven't had much time to begin working again since I woke up from being dead but well I'm sure you realize how short of a time I've been alive. I took a little time to look over some of my old works and I know that I want to paint something but I'm not entirely sure what I want to paint at this moment.”

Ridon, “Would it be alright if I saw some of your work? Perhaps I could even bring some of Aphila's by and see what you think of hers.”

Alaina, “That would be nice! A few of the other original faelom like to show their artistic side but it's nice to see an outside source from time to time. We're actually hoping a few of you apprentices have some art in you and will add some new works to the citadel.” As she spoke Alaina had taken on a relaxed posture with Ridon. He still had the amulet on but they were done talking about the more serious things. Now they were just seeing if they could talk. He thought of her as Aphila at times but given his situation Alaina could understand why.

Ridon, “Really? What do you do with it?”

Alaina, “Well if we tried to keep every painting we made then the citadel would fill up very quickly. Typically every once in a while we take some time to look at the work that has been done and transcribe them into books. At which point we destroy the original. Later if we want to bring the painting back we just copy it from the text.”

Ridon, “Doesn't that mean you lose the original though?”

Alaina, “Yes in a sense but not to an appreciable amount. Our fine control of our muscles is well very refined and we always have the original artists. It is actually very easy for us to duplicate something once it has been created. The hard part is to produce art and not just copy whatever we see.”

Ridon, “Wait. If you can remember everything perfectly why do you copy them to a book?”  As the question left him Ridon noticed the smile on Alaina's face. It seemed to have grown since they began talking. He even noticed she was beginning to lean a bit towards him. It was an action that he remembered. The more interesting Aphila found a person or the subject they were talking about the more she leaned in as if to bring her closer to that subject. If he was talking to her about a subject she really liked then it wasn't uncommon for her to effectively end up on top of him.

Alaina, “I'm glad you noticed that little detail! It's a little hard to explain. Even with our memories whenever we want to look at a work of art we don't want to look at memories. We want to look at the actual work itself or a copy. It's hard to explain but when we remember a picture it becomes somewhat static you might say compared to the emotions that it can cause whenever we're looking at the actual thing. When we remember something we already know every detail. Whenever we look at something we can follow the flow of the brush strokes and find the little imperfections where the paint didn't blind quite perfectly or there was a little splatter. Tracking these stimulates a higher level of emotions and appeal.” As the word appeal left her mouth Alaina realized she needed to lean back. From how close she had drawn to Ridon it looked like she was about to pounce him.

Ridon, “Is that a loss to you then? After all even if you can copy the movements perfectly you can't copy the humidity in the air influencing the paint, the bristles on the brush, the tiny imperfections on the canvas and even the delicate differences in the mixture of the paint.”

Alaina, “That is very true! Which is one reason why some pieces of art must be kept. What you listed are remarkable variables that are too fine even for us to control! I don't even believe it could be controlled or if it could such a being would have a power far beyond even ours! When those variables bind together in just the right way you end up with a work of art that far exceeds even the skill of the artist!”

Ridon, “I know what you're saying. At times even errors can work out towards your favor. You're working on a painting or a carving and you make an error that you can't fix. So instead you incorporate that error into what you're working on and you end up with something far beyond what you had planned or hoped for. It's rare and takes a lot of skill to make such adjustments but it's wonderful whenever it does happen.” Once again Alaina was drawing close to him. Clearly she was a strong believer in the ability of imperfections to push something beyond what one might consider perfection.

Alaina, “Yeah! I remember this one drawing of a tree with some petal birds wresting within it. I had seen the birds early whenever I went out to gather supplies and resolved to paint the seen whenever I came back. Oh! I can't describe it in words properly. Next time you're here I'll be sure to show you the painting.”

Did that mean that Alaina was going to allow him to keep the memories of this meeting? At least they seemed to have something to talk about which would seem to be helping his odds. If they found they had nothing to share with one another their relationship would have been a short one. Despite his wonder Ridon decided not to ask about such things. He would just continue speaking with Alaina until he had to be off.

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Carrying her cargo was proving more difficult then Zarena had expected. She had to be careful with each step to allow her foot to sink into the earth until she felt certain it was secure. If she were to begin slipping she doubted that she would be able to catch herself due to the mass of her load and its awkward shape. She had no fear of being harmed by such a light burden but she didn't want the stone damaged until she knew how it needed to be carved up. She hadn't even been able to retrieve the other stone she'd found from the beach but she doubted that she would need it considering her current load. Zarena was confident they would be able to built the dining hall and then some from the wonderfully sturdy rock. It may need some alchemical or magical treatment but that was to be expected.

Now her only regret was how long it was taking her to return to the village. She had at first believed she could move faster then when she had the orcs but with her new burden she was having to move much more slowly. With her vision partly obscured as well she had to be careful to feel out where her foot was going and to listen. This had lent itself to a very slow pace and she was grateful whenever she could hear the sounds of her sisters. Apparently they had taken her advice quite seriously to begin training their combative abilities. This brought up thoughts of Maria as she remembered telling Maria that she would help her to develop a better technique.

Maria, “Well. You said you were going to get some resources but we didn't expect you to bring quite this much back.”

Zarena, “Maria! I was just thinking about you. Would you be a big help to me and guide me back to the village? It's very difficult to move with precision with my view blocked like this.” As she spoke Zarena was able to adjust her view so that she could see Maria a short distance away. Her first notion was to be somewhat alarmed Maria had chosen to get that close to her while her vision and response was impeded but then she remembered Maria's speed.

Maria, “Sure. After all. You've just completely negated the work I did yesterday and most of today.” As she spoke Maria did her best to sound annoyed but in truth she was delighted. Thanks to Zarena they wouldn't have to remove a vast section of stone from the forest and transport it back to the village. There was some damage of course as she noted Zarena's foot steps but that still seemed better then a bunch of sisters running through the forest gathering up the stone. Even if they were careful with the selection of the sites it would have upset the balance of the forest.

Zarena, “That isn't true. I'm sure you found more then stone work while you were looking at promising resource sites in the forest.” As she spoke Zarena had come to a stop. She could now feel herself settling even further into the earth as the ground continued to compress beneath her feet though more slowly.

Maria, “Let's see here. Okay Zarena I want you to walk toe to heel while I'm guiding you and I'll use your feet as the basic unit of distance alright?”

Zarena, “That sounds fine.”

As she nodded her head Maria took a moment to look at Zarena's massive feet. The fact that one of Zarena's foot was as wide or wider then some matrons wasn't lost on her and the length was even greater. This thought actually helped to drive home what would happen if Zaren took a misstep. “You know I'm kind of glad the village was already destroyed.”

Zarena, “I thought the same thing! Can you imagine how much of an ordeal this would be if they were buildings I had to worry about damaging?”

Maria, “No doubt. Okay I want you to take five steps strait ahead.” As she spoke Maria dashed ahead of Zarena and considered how she would guide the massive sleeper. Telling her walk forward was simple enough but what happened whenever she needed to take a turn? At least Zarena wasn't entirely blind as Maria observed she was still using her own senses to check where she was going. “We're going to have to make a slight turn whenever you're done with those steps. Hey I have an idea. Once you're done taking those steps I want you to lower your tail tip down just to in front of your foot.

Giving a slight nod that when she thought about it Maria probably couldn't see Zarena continued onward. “I swear this darn thing makes it so hard to keep my balance. Whenever I was first lifting it from the ocean I kept thinking that I was going to end up falling over at any moment. I actually had to use my tail to catch myself a few times and redirect force over my body.” As she spoke Zarena brought her tail forward to just in front of her toes. Before she could ask what was happening she felt a slight tug on her tail and immediately relaxed realizing that Maria had taken hold of it and was now guiding her tail to some new location. “So this is what you had in mind to guide me through corners.”

As she held onto a bit of hair growing at the tip of Zarena's tail Maria gave her head a quick nod. “I was considering doing something with your feet but this seemed like a better idea.” As she spoke Maria was a bit surprised by how quickly Zarena's tail moved. She was actually walking at a speed she would considered comfortable which far exceeded most sister's running speed. As she settled on a location she released her hold on Zarena's tail and began to dash away. “Okay you need to adjust your foot so that your heel is still touching your toes while your other toes is where your tail tip is now.”

Zarena, “Okay.” As she spoke Zarena was a bit surprised whenever she noticed how far Maria had already ran. She knew that Maria's body had adapted to give her speed far exceeding the other sisters. She had even seen Maria running around a bit. Yet it felt different whenever Zarena was able to compare her own movements to that of Maria's. She didn't even need to wait for Maria to clear the area before she began the suggested movement. Something Zarena was grateful for as she didn't know how long she could hold her tail tip perfectly still.

Even standing what she believed to be a safe distance away Maria was surprised by what she felt. Whenever Zarena lifted her foot from the ground all the weight shifted to the other. Maria could feel the ground shift as Zarena's foot sunk even more slightly into the earth being driven by her own weight and the stone she was packing. A steady current of wind hit her and Maria quickly realized that it was being generated by Zarena's foot slowly moving through the air. Then came the rumble from the earth as Zarena once again began to settle weight onto it. Maria was a bit surprised whenever ripples appeared to run throughout the ground and lifted her ever so slightly even as Zarena's foot was coming down. “You're making me nervous about building things underground.”

It was impossible for Zarena to keep from chuckling as she imagined what it must look like from Maria's perspective. “Well that just means you need to make sure you make everything strong. I'm actually glad that I was asked to flatten out where the village would be built in advance. Compressing the earth beforehand made digging a simpler task and should help with my future visits through the village. I wonder if I should walk around some with this extra load to really compress the ground once I get there.”

Maria, “That might collapse what you've already dug but it still sounds worth while to me.”

***********************************************************************************

As Zarena set in her room she could hardly believe how rough she'd made her day. Carrying that stone hadn't been physically difficult but maintaining her balance the entire time had. Maria's idea to lead her by the tail had been a good one and saved some trouble but she was still tired. Now she found that she had another problem. Removing the salt from her fur due to her trip into the ocean was proving difficult. Fortunately she remembered the method for a sleeper to clean herself. A sleeper wouldn't bath like a normal sister would. Rather the method they used was to wet a section of fur and then work the water into their fur using a comb sized for them. After the water was in they worked in the cleaning solvent and then finally added more water and worked the solvent and filth out of their fur. It worked quite well but took some time. Of course, when they were asleep the brothers did this for them using very large push brushes.

Flora, “So how long until you ask the brothers to design a faster way for you to get clean?”

There was no surprise on Zarena's face as she turned to face Flora. She had heard her approach long before she spoke up. “I suppose whenever I have other things I want to do. I wouldn't feel right putting more of a burden on our brothers and it's not like this method takes a very long time. I just really wanted to get the salt out of my fur.”

Flora, “I can understand that. Zarena there is something I need to tell you and it's going to make you mad. So once I'm done telling you it I want you to set there and take a while to calm down.” Now Flora apparently had Zarena's attention as the sleeper did more then just turn her head to look at her. The sound of Zarena's massive body shuffling over the flooring and the rumbling that shook the platform Flora herself was standing on didn't upset the keeper. She recognize the posture as one that said I'm ready to listen which she was glad to see.

Zarena, “Flora that isn't reassuring talk but you have my word that I'll at least give it two hours of thought before I do anything. Provided no life is in immediate danger.”

Flora, “Make that a day and a night.”

Now Zarena found herself biting down on her lower lip. This wasn't the type of talk she liked but she gave a nod. “Okay but Flora you're beginning to frighten me if you want that much time. I'm really going to hate what you're about to tell me aren't I?”

Flora, “I wanted to kill someone whenever I first learned of it. Julia discovered why the two sisters on the beach died. They had started fighting one another during the battle. The reason they started fighting one another is due to the actions of a brother. Before they had become protectors he had been intimately involved with both of them and made promises to becoming both of their mates. It was his intention apparently to become a mate to the one that first became a protector and to string them along until then. He did a very good job of playing them off one another so that each one believed they would be the one chosen while the other would be let down easy by him.”

Instead of trying to speak right away Zarena took a moment to consider what Flora had just told her. It was clear that she had just received the abridged version with none of the finer details. Yet that was enough to get her heart to pounding inside of her chest. “That is very unsettling Flora. So they smell one another on him but he manipulated them?”

Flora, “They were a lot of promises of the last time and questions as to whether or not they wanted to see a sister hurt like that. He did a very good job of making it sound like they were being selfish and cruel to the other whenever one would push for him to end the relationship. He even used fear of losing him from the information Julia gathered.”

There was something strange happening. Zarena knew that for certain. It only took her a moment of considering this to realize it. “Flora why are you telling me all of this?”

Flora, “Because we want you to be the one to give this information to the other sisters who are wondering about the death. You see. We fear what their response is going to be especially whenever they learn what has been done with the brother. Rather then being killed he was allowed to choose to become one of the claimed giving up his old life entirely as if he had been lost in the forest.”

An annoyed snort immediately escaped Zarena. “That's hardly appropriate. If a claimed had harmed two sisters like he did he would be dead.” Zarena actually felt a bit awkward as she noted the look Flora was giving her. It reminded Zarena of when her mother would scold her and made Zarena lower her head slightly though she still towered above Flora. “I guess his mother would be quite upset if he was to be killed.”

Flora, “Yes she would be. I should also inform you that I'm the one that will be taking the offending brother as a claimed. It was decided that it's time I began seeing to my other duties as a keeper.” As she looked at Zarena Flora wasn't entirely sure what she was thinking. Zarena had quickly regained her original posture despite her backing down moments earlier.

Zarena, “Was this a decision that the brothers made as a group?”

Flora, “Yes. They had a meeting in which he was given the chance to justify his actions. Afterwords he was presented with his choices in the matter and this is the one he chose.”  Flora felt it was a good thing she has asked Zarena to wait. She could hear the sleeper's heart pounding inside of her chest and the slight changing in her breathing. Zarena was doing a good job of hiding it but clearly she was angry. At this point Flora could even smell it in the air.

Zarena, “I'm not going to promise to help you with this Flora. I consider you a friend but I don't yet agree with what was decided. I'm not going to kill him naturally whenever I learn who he is but that doesn't mean I'll agree to protect him either. Would you please give me all the details in the event I do decide to help you though? They're going to be a lot of questions.”

Flora, “I'm certain you'll come around after you've had time to calm down. I'm worried that knowing the details will actually make that take even longer but you're right about you needing them if you decide to help us. Well at least Nathan should be free to help you relax once I'm done with this.”

A slight chuckle escaped Zarena despite the situation. “I see. So that's why you don't have him here with you. You don't want to risk me getting angry with Nathan. That way he has an easier time helping to turn me to your side once this is all done. Sneaky.”

Flora, “Someone is being paranoid. A couple that's spent so little time together but cares for one another so much shouldn't have to deal with such hostile issues so soon. Now let's begin with the details.”

***********************************************************************************


Maria, “Joseph what happened to you?” As she spoke Maria was quite surprised by how Joseph looked. His heart rate was fine and his scent was fine but he looked exhausted. It was a strange moment that her ears and nose seemed to be disagreeing with her eyes. Even mental exhaustion tended to trigger some kind of response in the person.

Joseph, “Today was an awful day. Plus I really hate only getting to see you in the mornings and in the evenings.” As he spoke Joseph managed to will himself into a seated position. He felt better whenever Maria settled down next to him.

Maria, “Tell me about it. It may make you feel better.” As she spoke Maria made certain to keep her eyes on Joseph. Part of her wanted to pick him up but she resolved to wait and see what his body language and words said. Right now it seemed to say he was thinking as he continued to look back at her rather then just giving her an answer.

Joseph, “We were pushed very hard to wrap up our work for the evening and have things moving to the cooking stage you might say. Then there was a big meeting between us and the other brothers to decide how to resolve a situation you will be hearing of soon but I'd prefer not to talk about. During the entire meeting I couldn't bring myself to say a thing. Then after that I tried to take some of what we've been seeing and apply it to my own theory relating to your spell casting ability.”

Maria, “Oh that last one sounds interest but it doesn't explain the tired look you're getting. I take it that's because of the second thing that happened.” Maria knew she was right even before Joseph nodded his head. His heart told her that she was on the right path.

Joseph, “Their was a long discussion about what to do with a certain brother. Since when did I become a high enough rank to be involved in such decisions?”

Maria, “I don't know the details but I do know that's the price of respect in this community. The more influence you have the more responsibility. I take it that a brother did something that he shouldn't have.”

To this Joseph gave a nod. “Yeah. Honestly I wanted to see the bastard's dick and balls burned off for what he did. Then it hit me though. Back in the world outside of the forest his actions would have only been the subject of gossip. There would have never been a trial for it and the others involved would have just been considered silly. Yet here I was wanting to see him violently punished for his actions.”

A slight giggle escaped Maria as she gave a nod. “It sounds like you're part of our community now then. You're making me wonder what a brother might have done to deserve such a fate though.”

Maria's voice was far too playful and Joseph knew why. She didn't know what he was truly talking about. The thought brought a chuckle from him and Joseph found himself leaning towards Maria. Apparently this was the same as giving her permission to pick him up as he felt her hands taking hold of him and lifting him into her lap. “I bet you'd want to do worse if you knew what he had done. You'd probably event want to kill him.”

Maria, “Joseph are you being serious about that last part?”

The situation had just changed. Joseph could feel Maria's body tighten up beneath him. Her legs were made to swell and he felt himself lifted ever so slightly by the expanding muscles. Even if she didn't know the details of the situation it was clear she was taking him seriously now. “Yes.”

It was Maria's first instinct to ask for details but she quickly pushed that thought aside. Joseph was being intentionally careful with his wording to avoid telling her what had happened. A brother had done something foolish, they had a meeting to decide what to do about it and settled on a punishment. Yet it wasn't something they wanted to tell the sister's about right now. “We would probably make the situation worse if we knew about it wouldn't we?”

Taking in a deep breath Joseph leaned more firmly against Maria hoping she would relax again soon. “Zarena is suppose to tell you what happened before too long. I know that it's rude to let on about knowing something you don't but well none of this is really what I wanted to be involved in.”

Maria, “Don't worry about it Joseph. I don't need to know the actual issue to know that's something is troubling you and what it is. The ethics from the world outside this forest really aren't matching up with the ones from the world within the forest. I'm not sure how much I can help you without knowing the finer details but I can at least hold you.” As she spoke Maria placed both hands onto Joseph's chest effectively engulfing it as she smiled down at him from over the generous swell of her breast.

It actually made Joseph feel lighter when Maria settled her heavy hands atop him. “That actually helps more then I can really say. Maria have the sisters ever had a meeting in order to resolve how you're going to explain something to the brothers.”

Maria, “Naturally. We have to think of the best way to explain a situation to you all so that you know it's for your own good. None of us want any of you starving, hurting or worse yet killing yourselves ever again. So when we do something that's going to restrict your freedoms even for a while it's best we can convince you that it's for the best in the long run. I imagine they came up with quite an explanation whenever it was resolved that no more brothers would be trained as spirit hunters.”

Joseph, “Are they any recent examples?”

It was nice to see that Joseph was relaxing but Maria now had an idea of what was going on. “You're feeling bad for keeping a secret from us for our own good. So you're trying to learn of times that we've done the same so that you can feel better about yourself. Joseph you know that isn't right.” It made Maria happy whenever Joseph didn't argue but gave his head a nod in agreement. “Good. I can't think of anything serious since you came to live with us but a while back some of the ants native to the forest began to go a little crazy and we actually had to stop letting the brothers into the main village due to the toxic sting they were packing.”

Joseph, “How did you resolve that?”

Maria, “The brothers made some dealings with the local nature spirits, we planted some new plants around the village area and we replaced the old barrier stones with newer ones. I'm not sure which one of those did the trick but it stopped the problem.”

Joseph, “That makes sense. It's just. Trust is such a very different thing here then what it was out there. Where I came from if someone lost your trust then that's almost all that happened provided they hadn't stolen from you or harmed you. Well depending on what they stole from you. Let's say they were two laborers that are suppose to meet up and work on a wall. One of them gets drunk and doesn't show up. Eventually the first one stops trusting the other one and won't work with him anymore. That's where this would end in the world I come from with perhaps some negative things being said in town. Here it seems like the offender would be put on trial.”

Maria, “Well was the drunk one compensated for the work he was going to do on the wall or is he going to benefit somehow from the other persons work? If so he should be punished and made to pay a price as he's benefiting from the labor of another when he agreed to help with the labor. It may not be that we're too strict but the outside world doesn't hold a high enough level of personal responsibility.”

A slight chuckle escaped Joseph as he realized that he was actually agreeing with Maria. “We could never do that. Half the world would be put on trial.”

Maria, “Then it's a very sad thing that the outside world has allowed itself to reach such a point. Oh! Did a brother cut back on his responsibilities? Wait no. If that wasn't the case you'd be fine with telling me what had happened. I understand that the brothers responded far more harshly to a situation then you would have normally believed appropriate but you're feeling confused because you actually agree with their behavior despite what you would have thought outside the forest.”

Joseph, “I'm a little scared to continue. You're not going to hurt me later for what I would have thought at one time are you?” Joseph was a bit surprised whenever he found himself more firmly pressed against Maria's body. It took him a moment to realize she was hugging him from behind.

Maria, “No! Joseph that's a mean question to ask me.” As she spoke Maria couldn't help but push her index finger into Joseph's side a few times. She continued to grin even as he began to squirm slightly in an attempt to get away from her fingers.

Joseph, “Maria that stings.”

Maria, “Good so did your mean questions.” It was nice whenever Maria heard Joseph chuckle and she relented on her poking as he looked up at her.

Joseph, “It's just so strange to think of someone being punished for the intentional misuse of trust and for me to agree to it. Not just punished in the typical way but in a legal setting.”

Maria, “A brother abused his trust? No wonder the others were upset with him and had to settle on a punishment. Joseph I don't know what the typical way you're talking about is to be honest. After all for me this is the typical way of dealing with things. Are you sure you shouldn't be speaking with someone like Dan if you want to compare notes?”

At first Joseph said nothing but just continued to relax against Maria's massive body. A body that he would be helping to make even larger if his work paid off. “You have a point there but Dan wouldn't be any fun to cuddle with.” Joseph was glad whenever he heard Maria chuckle slightly.

Maria, “That's good to hear.”

Joseph, “Okay Maria. Two brothers are working on a project that requires a certain chemical. They each have their share of the chemical but one of them wonders off. During that time the other brother not only uses his own share but the others as well. What would happen in that situation?”

Maria, “Well without complicating the situation too much the one who had used both shares would be expected to prepare another batch for the other brother. I believe. Unless due to not having the chemical at the proper time the others experiment was ruined. In that case someone could expect to kiss their free time good bye as they worked to make up for the loss. Wait. Is this a regular happening?”

Joseph, “Let's say that something similar had happened a few times before.” Despite being part of the community Joseph still found some ideas strange. He wondered how far this could be pushed before there would be a serious problem.

Maria, “That changes things. If such behavior was expected from the brother then he had better produce very impressive results or he's going to end up being assigned a new task. One that isn't nearly as nice. He might even face aggressive discipline.”

Joseph, “What's that?”

Maria, “Joseph we sisters tend to have an instinctive desire to protect our brothers even when they've behaved poorly. This isn't absolute of course as they are certain things that would cause a sister to kill a brother and quite painfully at times. Still. They are some things that we aren't told about due to that instinct. Aggressive discipline is well our equivalent of being put in the stockades from your world and flailed. This is typically done by using magic to induce a severe amount of pain in a brother.”

Joseph, “Woe. I've never seen that happen. I've never even heard of it happening.”

Maria, “Yes. Well it doesn't happen often as most brothers never reach that point. Such a person would have to be a natural born brother who refuses to contribute and had chosen to miss use the resources that has been allotted to them. If they had been a claimed they would be killed for such actions and a sister may be punished by having a rank stripped. Another lighter punishment is for a lazy brother to be forced to work on task that would normally be reserved for claimed.”

Joseph, “Okay that sounds ugly. I have to imagine that such a situation is extremely hard on the father and mother of the offending brother. How do the sister's handle it when such harsh punishments are handed down? I mean. Have the sisters ever lost the will to protect someone?”

Maria, “I don't really want to think too much about what it must feel like for the mother and father of such a brother. I know that it can't be easy. My mom might be able to tell you something about it though. Such as when I was put into a coma for growing beyond what I was allowed.” Maria had to tighten her hold on Joseph to keep him from setting up. She doubted he had remembered that little fact and had no intention of letting him apologize. “No saying you're sorry or the like. I'm well past that point. Now as for if we will withdraw our protection. If a brother were to attempt to murder other brothers or sisters we would naturally withdraw our protection and kill him outright. If he was to turn against the community as well the same thing would happen.”

Joseph, “That makes sense. Okay how about you let me up and I'll get to cooking. I have an experiment I want to run.”

Maria, “An experiment?”

Joseph, “Yes. While conducting our studies we've ran across a few compounds in the sister's body that we believe help is respond to mystic energies both its own and outside sources. Now we really can't make these compounds directly but I have a theory as to what foods might help your body develop these compounds or cause them to respond more effectively.”

A sigh escaped Maria as she looked at Joseph. “Oh no. I've heard of these experiments. Before we start, be sure to read the findings of other brothers who have studied what influence eating certain foods have on our bodies. In the past it was discovered that while certain foods did provide more energy then others none of them effectively influenced the chemical make up of our bodies or the efficiency with which the body itself functioned. If you believe you've found a way to make this work after reading their studies I'll support you. Well up to the point that the very site of what you're feeding me makes me feel sick and then I might have to inflict some suffering on you in return.”