In the front yard of the ranch style house, Dretphi paces near the steps leading up to the front door. She occasionally glances out towards the road and slides her expectant gaze along the routes down each direction. Staring out to the horizon, she searches the farthest point of her vision and waits. Moments later, she slowly walks around idly, investigating the opposite way. The wind picks up into a gentle breeze, blowing the grass, rustling the leaves, and swaying Dretphi's platinum blonde hair braids. The front door opens, and Sotalia leans her head out, peeking around the yard. Tracking Dretphi's repeating path in the walkway, she smirks with a reassuring sigh . "You know you can wait inside. It's not like there's that many other houses out here. I'm sure they'll find this place and knock on the door soon enough."

Dretphi perks up, pivoting in place, and smiles appreciatively with a tinge of embarrassment. "I know. Just can not wait. It has been... a while."

Sliding out from behind the door, Sotalia steps down the stairs and stands next to Dretphi, turning to face the breeze. "Oh, I totally understand. Back when I had a more permanent address, I'd always run around the place making sure everything was perfect for my little nieces and nephews when my sisters would visit."

She rolls her golden eyes at herself and grumbles playfully with a grin on her light tan, gray edged face. "NOW, there's more and they're older, too. So, it's harder to keep them all entertained anymore."

Dretphi nods in agreement and sighs with a twist at the corner of her mouth. "Similar to my brothers. Hard to keep their attention now."

Lifting an eyebrow, Sotalia glances over towards Dretphi with an inquisitive hint. "How old are they now?"

With a slight groan, Dretphi rolls her steely gray eyes and slowly shakes her head. "Twenty. Nineteen. STILL frustratingly immature."

Sotalia snorts in a chuckle and twists her mouth into a commiserating grimace. "Interesting. And, they're just NOW looking for schools to go to?"

Grumbling out her dissatisfaction, Dretphi crosses her faintly gray striped arms and tenses her shoulders against a wave of disapproval. "Decided to take... A BREAK... from schooling. Work part-time at menial jobs. Party the money away."

Cracking an evil grin, Sotalia puts her hands on her hips and laughs impishly. "AH. So, the fun times are over, because patience has run out?"

A satisfied smirk grows on Dretphi's tan face, and she straightens her posture. Chuckling to herself, she nods slowly. "YES. Tekennin is first. Arrenten is next."

She glances over to Sotalia, furrowing her brow. "Their options... Go to school funded... Work proper jobs to fund the house... Their choice."

Rolling her eyes with a sly smile, she curls her smirk sharper. "OH. I bet I know the answer to the question."

With a humored smile, Dretphi glances over and nods. "You do."

In the distance, a large passenger van drives down the two lane rural highway. Slowing down, it approaches the mailbox in front of the property and turns into the driveway. The vehicle rolls to a stop right behind the humvee, and the engine cuts off. Dretphi waves excitedly to the people inside the van. "That is the rental my mother negotiated."

Sotalia cocks her head of fiery orange, wavy hair to the side. "Damn."

Dretphi rushes over with a skip to her step, the van doors opening and sliding. Sotalia swiftly steps up the stairs, pushes the front door ajar, and calls out inside. "They're here!"

From the driver's seat doorway, a tall, fit grath man steps out of the van, brushes a leaf from a nearby tree off his graying, short brown hair and gazes towards Dretphi happily with steely gray eyes. Dretphi rushes over into his open, gray striped arms. Both hug, exchanging loving greetings in the same dialects of grath. From the sliding door, two other older grath men work their ways out, one similar height to Dretphi and heavier, and the other shorter and wiry. Following behind from the very back seats, two young grath men awkwardly crawl out, one wiry and the other larger. Both stand for a few moments, stretching out their tall frames, and mutter complaints to each other.

Dretphi hugs and greets the older men. Walking over with a hidden smirk, she approaches the two young men and concentrates a questioning gaze upon both. The heavier young grath notices the attention and pats the other young, thinner grath quickly, motioning towards Dretphi. Both swiftly straighten their postures and wait patiently. Silently, Dretphi adopts a stoic posture and stares at the two, visually scrutinizing them. The examination continues, and Dretphi's expression softens into a delighted smile. She pulls both of them close with smile. During the group embrace, Dretphi sneaks her hands to the top of their platinum blonde heads and musses up both their hair styles. The thinner man grumbles out annoyed, and he vainly tries to brush his hair back to his desires. The other young man laughs, mocking the vanity of the other, and a quips a joke in grath with Dretphi.

Walking calmly and confidently around the front of the van, an older grath woman with long braids of platinum fading to dirty blonde passes the older men, and stands behind Dretphi with a collected smile upon her tan face. "Dretphi."

Reflexively tensing a moment, Dretphi slowly pivots around and meets the woman's piercing blue eyes at the same level as her own steely gray eyes. She presents a stoic exterior against the strong presence in front of her. The two stare at each other. Seconds later, the older grath woman smiles warmly and embraces Dretphi. Holding each other tightly, both share a laugh. In a shared dialect of grath, the woman poses a question to Dretphi. With a roll of her steely gray eyes, Dretphi shrugs her shoulders and sighs out her response. Nodding in agreement, the older grath woman comments, sharing a similar sentiment.

Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Sebastian, and Sotalia stand in a loose grouping near the steps leading to the front door and wait curiously around the tall, large congregation of grath. Dretphi's situational awareness returns, and she wrestles down a spark of embarrassment, leading the grath group over. "I am sorry. Got carried away. This is my house. House Veranattin."

Straightening up her posture, Dretphi smiles proudly and motions towards the older grath woman. "This is my birth mother. Meranni Karrenna Prakkenten Veranattin."

Meranni gazes over the team before her, stands with pride, and bows slightly. "Please. Call me Meranni."

With a happy tone, Dretphi stands next to the older graying grath man with excitement sneaking out. "My birth father. Commander Ralthetanen Heri Reti Veranattin."

Sighing with a smirk, Ralthetanen chuckles to himself and bows respectfully to the group with ease and calm. "Ralth is enough. My parents gifted me syllables. I will not burden you with them."

Dretphi stands between the two older grath men, nodding to the larger of the two. "My house father. Doctor Kettan Arrentit Crettaken Veranattin."

Kettan grins jovially and chuckles, putting his hands in his pants pockets with a hint of shyness. "Kettan, please. Gods. Have not felt this official for a while."

Dretphi turns to introduce the other older, shorter, wiry grath man. "My house father. Matakinen Prezzanit Arvenerrin Veranattin."

Matakinen smirks nonchalantly and raises a hand, waving to the group. "Just Mata."

Dretphi glances over to the two young grath men behind the front lineup, both whispering between each other. The thin one gestures towards the ground at stray gravel rocks, hides a thumb flicking motion from others, and asks the heavy young man a question, eyeing Sebastian's transparent form. The other young man pauses in thought, deliberates the idea in his head, and shrugs with a curious glance over to Sebastian. With a plotting grin, the thin young man begins to kneel down. Both young men freeze in place, Dretphi's hands firmly gripping their shoulders from behind. Directing the two up to the front with everyone else, Dretphi smirks smugly. "These are my brothers."

Narrowing a suspicious stare to the heavier young man, she recites with a stern tone. "Tekennin Prakkenten Crettaken Veranattin."

Tekennin stands up straight, bows properly, and innocently replies. "Hello. Nice to meet all of you."

Dretphi's attention slides over and concentrates upon the mildly defiant expression of the thin, young man, and she plainly speaks. "Arrenten Prakkenten Arvenerrin Veranattin."

Grumbling quietly to himself, the young man musters up the posturing and briefly complies with a bow. "Hey."

The team exchanges greetings with House Veranattin in full, and sparks of small talk lead into the starts of larger discussions. Minutes later, Sebastian glances above to the overhead sun and addresses the group. "Hey, everyone. While the heat doesn't bother me as much in this form, we do have air conditioning inside."

The collective pauses, briefly ponders under the near noon sun, and organizes their escape, filtering through the front door. Dretphi waits with her mother, both discussing a topic in grath with importance stressing their tones. Her mother informing, Dretphi squints towards the van and notices two large, full, canvas sacks in the back. Pointing to the bags, she motions to herself, asking a question, and signals towards the house. Meranni grins, patting her daughter's shoulder, and shakes her head confidently. Narrowing a stare right at Tekennin and Arrenten climbing up the steps, she recites their names in a motherly, commanding cadence. Both brothers halt, pivot towards their mother, and wait for further instructions. Meranni glances over to the van, instructs them with a snap of her fingers, and walks to the front door. With a hint of a sly smile, Dretphi follows behind her mother. Tekennin and Arrenten maintain their silent compliance. Meranni and Dretphi go inside. Out of earshot, the two siblings commiserate in mocking tones, gathering the plentiful cooking supplies from the vehicle.

----

Within the living space of the ranch style house, a large gathering converses around the dining table. Sitting on a mix of regular dining chairs and extra seating provisioned from other places, Dretphi's house members and the team converse in an array of changing individual exchanges. Between the main kitchen and pantry, Meranni and Dretphi dutifully rotate through a variety of tasks. Demonstrating experience-earned expertise, mother and daughter talk and comment in grath seamlessly between topics, carrying out their chores instinctively. Occasionally, in between flurries of activity, both pause for a quick break and coordinate the next steps, listening in on the current discussions going on in the living room. Arrenten and Tekennin competitively play a fighting game on the old gaming console attached to the television, playfully antagonistic bouts of banter rising up between the matches.

Ralthetanen chuckles lightly, glancing over Sebastian, and slowly shakes his head. "Quite the story. THAT must have been an adjustment to make with that form."

Shrugging his shoulders, Sebastian hovers nearby and sighs ethereally, twisting an awkward smirk. "Tell me about it. It still is an ongoing adjustment. I wouldn't say it's great, but..."

He furrows his translucent brow and rocks his head side to side in deliberation. "It could be worse. So far, being kind of intangible has been useful. Though... Still don't think it's worth it in the long run."

Nodding in agreement, Ralthetanen smiles calmly towards Sebastian with a compassionate tone. "Sentiment I can understand. Never let unique benefits sway your judgment over undesirable situations. It is why I resigned from my position in the Radotahin military."

Lifting a curious eyebrow, Sebastian smirks intrigued, respectfully prying for more information. "So... If it's okay to ask... What's the story behind all the drama around that?"

Cideeda narrows an inquisitive emerald gaze at Ralthetanen and crosses her arms. "Yeah... I'm curious about that, too. I've read so many different accounts and waded through SO many aethernet arguments. I wouldn't mind hearing it from the source for once."

Rolling his steely gray eyes at himself, Ralthetanen sighs, hints of embarrassment slipping out, and shrugs his shoulders. "Never understood the drama. Thought they wanted me gone before that point. Seems strange they had an issue with it publicly."

He chuckles lightly and furrows his brow incredulously. "Believe I granted them a generous favor. I left. They did not have to do anything. No bad press... I thought..."

Twisting her frown along with her internal deliberation, Aristespha tilts her head of silvery blue hair curiously. "Indeed. From what I have read, your company had the lowest attrition and never permanently lost any territory they were defending during the Red Gear Uprising. I believe that should be an admirable achievement."

A snort spurts out from Matakinen, shaking his wiry frame. Chuckling, he dons a sly grin and sarcastically dips his tone. "OH. He was admirable... NOT VICTORIOUS. Did not lead the troops to great GLORY."

Narrowing his green eyes, he slides his stare off to the side. "Whatever THAT may be."

Ralthetanen shakes his head and groans, tinges of past annoyance slipping out. "TRUE. I valued defense over offense. Trickery over... GLORIOUS battles. I believe it worked best overall."

Kettan laughs loudly and nudges Ralthetanen with his elbow, grinning out to the rest of the gathering around. "Never will forget high command's faces when we delivered the Red Gear general. ALIVE."

Donning a satisfied smirk, Ralthetanen shrugs his shoulders humbly and chuckles lightly, holding down a corner grin. "THAT was our redemption. High command could NOT ignore THAT. They kept our many, small accomplishments out of public view. Hard to hide an enemy general delivered during a conference."

He lifts up an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Think THAT is why command let us all leave without official protest."

Smiling smugly, Matakinen crosses his olive toned arms and sits up in his seat proudly, tossing back his longer auburn hair. "They did not want our influence to spread."

He pauses for a moment, relaxes back against his chair, and grimaces. "Requesting honorable discharges worked out for us. Red Gear leadership destroyed. No interest in chasing stragglers."

Slowly shaking his head, he sighs with hints of disappointment. "Those Red Gears crumbled quick. Would have died of boredom wandering the wastes."

Bach scratches his chin, glancing over to Ralthetanen, Kettan, and Matakinen, and ponders out loud. "Huh. Okay. So, you all served together. I'm kind of curious. I mean, what exact positions? And, how did that lead to what you do now?"

Ralthetanen nods thoughtfully and calmly comments. "Served as a Commander for the Radotahin Defense Force. Truth be told..."

He wrestles down an awkward grimace and briefly grits his teeth. "Promotions via attrition. Assumed command when circumstances demanded it."

Smiling happily, Kettan stretches his heavier frame in his chair and scratches the back of his head of shorter, wild dark gray hair. "Field medical mage. Worked up to field surgeon. Significant experience helped fast track me into medical doctor later."

Aristespha perks her brow in genuine interest, cocking her head to the side, and studies Kettan eagerly. "Really? That is fascinating. I have to ask, how was the transition from military to civilian medicine?"

Kettan ponders, searching his memories between flicks of his hazel eyes. Seconds later, Kettan draws in a deep breath, weighing out his judgment, and taps his finger tips together with a humored smirk on his light toned face. "Pleasant. Only got shot at once during my tenure as an emergency room doctor."

The team around the table pauses in surprise. Noticing the attention, Kettan snorts and grins amused. "His aim was awful. Coming down from an alchemical psychoactive. My punch hit the mark."

He smirks slyly and chuckles to himself. "Think he dodged the wrong me of three he saw."

Blinking her wide violet eyes a few times, Aristespha stares blankly in stunned admiration. Matakinen furrows his olive toned brow amused, resettling into his chair, and relaxes his posture with a swift brush of his longer auburn hair. "Scout. Infiltration specialist. Sabotaged equipment. Wandered in the woods. Explored mountain ranges. Captured enemies."

Cideeda's furry ear perks up, her tail wags with interest, and she toothily grins to Matakinen. "Did you blow up anything?"

Drawing out a wide sly smile, Matakinen nods slowly with a greatly humored, thoroughly satisfied cadence. "Gods... YES. COUNTLESS times."

Old memories of the past blatantly amuse Matakinen, and he nods in the moments of reminiscence. Gazing over to Meranni, Ralthetanen waits patiently until she pauses from preparing food and addresses her with a pleasant tone. "Meranni was known as the Crimson Sword Maiden. Terror of the Red Gears. The Bloody Nightmare."

Meranni glances over, lifts an intrigued eyebrow, and grins proudly, pride empowering her voice. "Was? I AM."

She gazes over to the distracted and busy Dretphi, smiling hopefully, and mouths a simple grath phrase to herself. Ralthetanen turns his attention back to the gathering at the dining table and resumes the topic at hand. "We left the military. We adventured for years. Settled. Formed a house."

Curling a humored smirk, he furrows his brow. "Now... I am a consultant for the Radotahin Defense Force. Baffles me. Significant pay. I cannot complain."

Sparks of excitement flash in Kettan's eyes, and he explains with expressive pantomimes. "Went to finish my residency. Spent time in the capital at a big research hospital. Great experience. DEMANDING. Still..."

He sighs and nods with his recount. "Quite fun overall. After I received my specialization in regenerative medicine, rejoined the house in Verdan. Found my niche with sports medicine. Always interesting... Very rewarding work."

The attention shifts, Matakinen pauses for a moment with the expectant gazes. Glancing around at the gathering, he sighs with a roll of his green eyes and grumbles. "Surveying. I wander around the mountains to settle arguments about who owns what. Map the area. Place markers. Report the results. They pay me. Repeat when they argue again."

He eyes over towards Arrenten and Tekennin, snorts with a shake of his head, and smirks to the gathering at the table. "Between assignments... I try to keep those two out of trouble. It has been difficult without Dretphi."

Taking a moment of rest from her culinary tasks, Dretphi stares at the dining table crowd and places her hands on her hips with a humored smile. "How much trouble could they have gotten in?"

Arrenten and Tekennin wander their attention away from the screen and begin to play the game sloppily, their focus drifting over to the conversation nearby. Matakinen leans his wiry frame back against his chair, eyes the thin Arrenten, and cracks an ill-humored smirk. "Arrenten. How is your back feeling today?"

Tekennin stifles his snorts and averts his light toned face away. Trying to maintain his composure, a red undertone fills Arrenten's dark tan face, and he struggles with the embarrassment. "F-fine. Feels normal."

Glancing over to Matakinen, Kettan elbows him lightly with a tight smile and leans close, whispering in grath. Matakinen shrugs his shoulders and slowly lets his chair's front legs lower back on the floor. Dretphi furrows her brow curiously at her mother. Meranni whispers a few sentences of grath in Dretphi's ear. Widening her eyes, Dretphi glances at her mother, stares at her brother, and returns to her mother.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Sensing the lull in conversation, Sotalia slinks away from the table and walks over near the bar area, examining the lineup of food near Dretphi and Meranni. "So... You two need any help back here?"

Meranni narrows a subtly defensive glare at Sotalia. Dretphi blinks back to awareness, studies Sotalia for a moment, and checks around the kitchen areas. "No. We are done with prep. Meat needs to marinade more."

She thinks moment and perks up with an idea. "Oh! You can get the grill ready. It is in the garage. I think you can light it the fastest."

A confident grin parts Sotalia's mouth, and she rests a hand on her hip and gestures a simple incantation into a small flit of fire with her other hand. "Well... Of course."

Sotalia walks through the kitchen, examining the prepared food hungrily, and opens the door leading to the garage, stepping out. Dretphi cleans her hands, lifts her apron off, and turns to her mother. Biting her lower lip, she draws in a long breath and carefully poses an inquiry to her mother, pointing to the back sliding glass door. Meranni removes her apron, furrows her brow briefly, and nods, puzzling. She walks past the dining table gathering, exits outside through the glass door, and turns to walk to the side of the house.

Quickly moving around the living room, Dretphi zips right through the hallway archway, her focus elsewhere. Conversations at the table slow, curiosity drifting between the open sliding glass door and the hallway archway. Mutters of intrigue bounce between the group. A minute later, Dretphi walks out with stoic determination upon her face and a firm grip upon her mother's flow blade. Matakinen, Kettan, and Ralthetanen immediately silence themselves, and watch Dretphi crossing across the front of the television. Arrenten and Tekennin halt playing the game and witness Dretphi exit out the back sliding glass window, both dumbstruck. The two brothers stand up partially and crane their heads around, angling for a better view of the outside through the glass door.

Ralthetanen slowly returns his gaze to the team of Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, and Sebastian. Scanning their expressions thoughtfully, he calmly inquires, fighting confusion. "I must ask. Has she been practicing with that blade?"

Bach glances around, scratching the back of his head, and nonchalantly explains. "Well... I mean, I've been helping her learn how to flow her magical energies better. She's been doing a lot of the practice exercises I've showed her."

Kettan and Matakinen turn their heads towards Bach, and Bach smiles happily. "And, yesterday, she got the sword charged up all the way. Still, it took a bit out of her, but she's figured out the basics and..."

Ralthetanen, Kettan, and Matakinen focus expectantly upon Bach. Arrenten and Tekennin both snap their heads around and face Bach in pure astonishment. Growing very nervous at the attention upon him, Bach shrinks a little in his chair and awkwardly smiles. Ralthetanen weaves his fingers together, presents a delighted smile, and nods slowly. "Interesting... VERY... Interesting."

Shaking his heavier frame, Kettan laughs loudly, nodding his head. "OH. She is NOT going to expect THAT."

Matakinen slides out from the table, rolls his shoulders in a few stretches, and slinks away towards the back door, beginning the gestures of a spell. "This I MUST see."

----

In the side yard next to the ranch style house, Dretphi stands, firmly gripping the old flow blade in her hands. Determination tenses her whole body, she affixes her full concentration upon the sword. Off to the side, Meranni watches nearby with a cool, stoic stare. Grimacing, Dretphi flexes her tan, faintly gray striped arms, muscular definition forming with the strain. Magical flows of energy radiate out from her, swirling down to her hands, and condense into the handle of the flow blade. A radiant red glow pulsates along the energy channels embossed into the metal of the sword. The crimson light slowly flows up, flooding the worn passages. Seconds later, the very tip of the weapon flickers with dull red, the edges sparking. Meranni's piercing blue eyes widen, and she observes the progress in stunned silence, waiting expectantly for her daughter's next move. Releasing a long exhale, Dretphi summons all her focus and grits her teeth, a faint gray illumination in her eyes. With a sudden surge of flow, the blade bursts out a plume of magical miasma and promptly ignites a brilliant crimson, ethereal flame around itself. Meranni gawks in sheer, absolute astonishment, covering her mouth with both hands. Blinking in silence, joyful tears well up in her eyes. From around the corner of the house's brickwork, a figure of warped light disappears around the corner, making an excited escape.

Maintains a resolute exterior, Dretphi exudes the stoic grath composure and swings the sword, demonstrating her handling mastery. With a long pause, she finishes, holding the blade out, and watches her mother approach. Burning a bright crimson, the flow blade challenges the natural light of the afternoon sun and casts a reddish hue upon the surrounding grass in the shade of a large tree. Meranni gazes on with pride swelling out upon her tan face and towards her daughter. Meeting Dretphi's stare, she nods approvingly. Seconds later, the flow blade edges flicker out, the glow retreats back to the handle, and the energies vent off into a passing breeze. Dretphi lowers the blade to the ground, steadying her brief loss of balance, and quickly reasserts her resolute stance. Biting her lip slightly, she lowers her head in slight disappointment and sighs. Meranni swiftly embraces her daughter in a strong, loving hug with a stream of excited, uplifting grath praises. Dretphi's stern exterior melts away into a joyful smile, and she wraps her arms around her mother tightly.

Pulling away slightly, Meranni gazes proudly into her daughter's steely gray eyes with a simple smile upon her tan face. Dretphi briefly shies away from the attention. A moment later, she returns a similar smile on her similar tan face. Quiet thoughts later, her mouth twists into a strained grimace. Drawing in a long breath, she lifts up the blade in both her hands and levels an inquisitive, pleading stare at her mother. With a gentle lead up, Dretphi cautiously asks a firm question to her mother in eloquent grath, nodding her head down at the flow blade. Meranni blinks thoughtfully a few times and sighs sadly, gazing down upon the old, familiar sword in her daughter's hands. Taking a hold of it, she steps off to the side. With a calm explanation, she works through a series of practice moves with the blade, grinning in bright remembrance. She masterfully performs maneuvers and points her free hand points at herself and towards her motions, gazing at her daughter confidently. A frown creeps upon her face and weighs upon her. Brushing back her long, platinum blonde braids, she lowers her head at the flow of red rising in the blades. She directs Dretphi's attention to the magical energies building up, taps the side of her head with her free hand, and grips her daughter's shoulder firmly. Slowly shaking her head, she exhales into a quiet moment of pondering. With a sad tone, absent of previous confidence, and apologizes regretfully to Dretphi, painfully piecing together her words.

In a mix of emotion, Dretphi contorts her face and furrows her brow, studying her mother's genuine expression. Calming to an understanding gaze, she inquires further, glancing at her mother's energy flowing into the blade, and witnesses Meranni's demeanor grow uncomfortable and vulnerable. Meranni sighs deeply and fails to start a sentence a number of times, slowly shaking her head. With a hard swallow, she grimaces uncomfortably at her lack of knowledge, staring distantly into an old divide. Mustering up a smile, Dretphi steps beside her mother and wraps her arm around her, leaning her head of platinum blonde against Meranni's similar longer ones. In the silent moment, Dretphi whispers comforting, beautiful grath in a forgiving cadence to her mother. Meranni closes her piercing blue eyes, shedding a few tears, and pats her daughter's face with her free hand.

Seconds later, Dretphi sniffs her nose clear, clears her throat, and exhales lightly. Nodding in thought, she inquires further with an expectant smirk, demonstrating her flexing her arm and flowing magical energy down. Meranni grits her teeth briefly, frowns pained, and shakes her head, calmly answering. Dretphi blinks dumbfounded and stares in sudden confusion. Moments later, her mood sharply drops and worry and doubt flood forth through her body. Averting her steely gray eyes away from her mother, fear and shame overwhelms her voice, and meekly questions herself out loud to her mother. Meranni's eyes spring wide open, and she snaps her shock upon her daughter. Planting the sword into the ground, she grips onto Dretphi by both forearms and stares directly into her eyes. Meranni smiles lovingly, proudly, and confidently at her daughter. Extolling every virtue of Dretphi with her motherly and assuring voice, she avidly dashes away the fears and doubts. With trickles of relief washing over, Dretphi puzzles and presses for more information. Meranni smirks knowingly and explains with a protective tone. A spark of defiance ignites a bit of rebellion within Dretphi, and she emphatically retorts with prying a question in an incredulous tone, motioning to her mother's impressive physique. Meranni grins in thorough amusement, reflecting upon herself, and rolls her eyes at herself, shaking her head free of the illusions of grandeur.

Releasing her daughter's arms, she points towards Dretphi's hand and to her shoulder. Dretphi awkwardly places her hand on her mother's shoulder with Meranni's guidance, her confusion blatant. Meranni moves her arm through a series of sword handling exercises, the maneuvers visibly smooth and expertly performed. At far extensions of her range of motion, Meranni subtly winces and grumbles with painful annoyance. Dretphi's eyes widen in shock, and she gawks in disbelief, blinking at her hand upon her mother's shoulder. Shaking her arm out, Meranni guides Dretphi's hand around her elbow joint and the tendons. She slowly flexes with faint tremors radiating through her limb. Dretphi pales, feeling the motions of her mother's arm. With a long, frustrated sigh, Meranni nonchalantly explains, pointing out a few other joints and places on her body to Dretphi. Laying out her weaknesses before her daughter, she musters a tough smile and chuckles softly. She regains her confidence into a grin, mentioning Kettan in her discussion, and gazes to her daughter with a hopeful smile, finishing the explanation.

Dretphi stares blankly at her mother. Revelation ushers forth a torrent of fear, sadness, and reflection in her. Thoughts never entertained prior rise up prominently in her mind, and she blinks against the welling dread. She reaches out, wraps her arms around her mother, and rests her head close to hers on her shoulder, hugging tightly. Meranni flutters her eyes in surprise. Hearing the sounds of soft sobbing from Dretphi, she smiles, embracing her daughter. Patting Dretphi's back, Meranni whispers softly, comfortingly to Dretphi with motherly assurances and quips of wisdom. In between gentle surges of emotion, Dretphi acknowledges her understanding. In the calming minutes later, Meranni grins with small jokes, prompting Dretphi's light chuckles. Dretphi releases her hold, stands back up straight, and recomposes herself apologetically. Her mother shakes her head and reassures against any guilt or shame. Placing her hand on her chest, Meranni recounts past feelings, nodding understandingly. Dretphi smiles appreciatively and rolls her eyes at herself with a comment.

Glancing over to the flow blade stuck in the ground, Meranni curiously furrows her brow at Dretphi and lifts up an eyebrow with a prying query. Dretphi starts into an explanation and smirks guiltily, mentioning Bach. Narrowing her examining stare, Meranni observes meticulously. Recounting the many and various magical flow exercises, Dretphi pantomimes holding a staff during one explanation and excitedly talks about the number of practice sessions. Meranni ponders quietly to herself, watching her daughter ramble on, and notices Dretphi's warming smile. Summoning a sly, evil grin, she giggles to herself, lifting a thoughtful eyebrow, and gazes at her daughter amused. She pats Dretphi on the shoulder with a quick comment to her ear and waits expectantly. Rambling a few moments more, Dretphi processes her mother's words, halting mid sentence. Her tan face blushes bright red, her steely gray eyes widen in surprise, and she stumbles upon the rest of her sentence. Dretphi covers her face with her hands and searches for her mother. Meranni walks off towards the corner of the ranch style house laughing, and Dretphi awkwardly tries to debate, unconvincingly.

----

The large congregation of the team and grath family converse outside around the plank wood picnic table, snacking on plates of food in the middle of the large tabletop. Dretphi arranges the serving line on a fold out table and readies the main course, shooing off those who wander too close with hungry gazes. Meranni surveys the progress of large cuts of meat on the grill, grinning with satisfaction at the progress. Stepping up, Sotalia watches the flares of sizzling fire rise up from the coals and smiles politely to Meranni. "Oh, that reminds me. Could I get my steak well done?"

Dretphi pauses briefly from her task, stifling a snort, and resumes her chore, biting her lower lip greatly humored. Meranni slowly lifts her head up, angles it down towards Sotalia, and concentrates an examining glare upon her. Silently staring through a puzzled, defiant Sotalia, she ponders briefly. She grabs hold of the tongs nearby, digs into the open bag of charcoal briquettes with the tool, and plucks out a single piece of black, dusty fuel. With a swift motion, Meranni plucks up a transparent green plate, drops the charcoal on top of it, and presents it to Sotalia with a stoic glare. "Here. Same taste. No meat wasted."

Sotalia lowers her stare at the solitary chunk of grill fodder upon the surface of the plate. Furrowing her brow, she contorts her cool composure and narrows her golden eyes at Meranni irritably. "Okay... Fine... Medium Well?"

Cracking an amicable smirk, Meranni nods slightly in agreement and waits. Moments of silence later, Sotalia walks away, body language spelling out the mild defeat. Meranni rolls her piercing blue eyes and directs a dismissive, annoyed quip back towards Dretphi. Halting in place, Sotalia snaps her head back and glares at Meranni, crossing her arms visibly perturbed. Dretphi sighs, rolls her eyes, and shakes her head. "Mother. She understands most grath dialects."

With a greatly amused grin towards Sotalia, Meranni chuckles. "Oh. There is hope for you."

Around the picnic table, conversations shift around the pockets of debate in the midst of the large gathering. Sebastian gazes curiously at Ralthetanen, Kettan, and Matakinen, puzzling. "I'm actually surprised you all are looking for a school all the way out here. Any particular reason why?"

With a calm smirk, Ralthetanen nods and glances around. "To get experience elsewhere. They have not lived outside their home town. Tekennin. Arrenten. Both need to see some other part of the world. See what it is like."

Chuckling in agreement, Kettan snorts with a smile and shrugs his broad shoulders. "I just want them to get an education. ANY education will do. Prefer it come from somewhere they are NOT familiar with. That way they can learn about life. Otherwise, they will just keep on relying on coming home when anything happens."

Matakinen grumbles with a roll of his green eyes and settles into a nonchalant grin. "Taste of the real world. I have done what I can to get them ready. Now... Time for THEM to see what Nexus has in store."

Narrowing his stare off to the side, he sighs. "Even it requires significant force."

Bach chuckles to himself with a humored grin and glances over to Sebastian. "I mean, we could always suggest they go to High Alton. It's a decent enough school for most things."

Snorting ethereally, Sebastian twists his mouth and narrows his eyes at Bach mockingly dismissive. "Come on, bro. They don't need to be digging the bottom of that barrel so soon. Let's be honest, man..."

He crosses his arms and sighs. "We only went there because it was local AND cheap."

With a tight smile, Bach draws a breath through his gritting teeth and nods in begrudging agreement. "Yeah... I- Yeah. High Alton University isn't terrible. But, I mean, it's not exactly setting any great standards in comparison to other places."

Pausing with a thought, he glances over to Aristespha. "Hey, what about the Grand Library?"

Aristespha blinks to attention, thinking a moment, and slowly rocks her head contemplatively with an awkward smile. "Um... Well, it IS a great organization IF you can get in. Unfortunately, they are very particular about who they take in, but they do make offers to those who distinguish themselves in other schools."

Wrestling an awkward smirk, she grits her teeth briefly. "It is still quite costly to attend without a scholarship. Thankfully, they do have programs that forgive loans if you work for the Grand Library for so many years."

Ralthetanen quietly ponders upon the suggestions and thoughtfully hums with an appreciative tone. "Both worth considering in the future. Our main goal is to get them out of the nest..."

Glancing over to the group, Meranni sighs out her frustration and slowly shakes her head, turning grilling meat over on the fire. "Love them both. Would like those rooms back."

Noticing something missing, Matakinen quickly searches the vicinity of the backyard around the picnic table, scouting out the further perimeter of the forest edge, and grumbles a phrase in grath. Dretphi directs her voice to Matakinen, motioning towards the ranch style house. "They went inside... To play the game."

With a long sigh, Matakinen turns around on the bench seat on one side of the table, stretches his back out, and shakes his head. "I should fetch them."

A grin creeps out on Dretphi's tan face, and she waves off Matakinen's progress. "No. I will send them here. I need to go inside."

Bowing his head appreciatively to Dretphi, Matakinen smiles with a thankful phrase of grath, and Dretphi quickly departs. Pivoting back to the group, Matakinen picks up his place in the discussion of schools. Dretphi crosses the stretch of lawn to the back patio and opens the sliding glass door, entering. Moments later, her stern and commanding tone leaks out the open doorway with a loud snap of the fingers. Arrenten and Tekennin stumble out on the back patio, glancing back at the sliding glass door shutting. Both grumbling, they plod slowly towards the picnic tables, complaining quietly to each other in grath. They watch the gathering ahead. Arrenten sneaks a point over to Bach and smirks slyly, asking Tekennin a question. Tekennin blinks in thought, distantly studies Bach and shrugs his shoulders. Arrenten pantomimes out a belly from his thin frame and snickers. Tekennin snorts, lifts his hand up, and holds it centimeters short of his height with a chuckle. Scratching his chin in thought, Arrenten mulls the discussion over. Tekennin elbows his brother with a revelatory grin. Getting his brother's attention, he mockingly gestures out fake spell motions and mumbles out gibberish words. Arrenten cackles briefly, nodding in total agreement. Along their trek across the lawn, the two brothers continue their commentary.

Arrenten and Tekennin fail to notice Dretphi right behind them. Blushing with hints of anger, Dretphi slowly speaks their names in a maternal, disciplinary tone. Arrenten and Tekennin stop in place and wait. Dretphi firmly grips a shoulder on each, draws in a long breath through her nose, and sighs out her annoyance. Regaining her stern, commanding composure, she squeezes her grasp upon each brother's shoulder. With a calm, foreboding voice, she articulates an explanation in firm grath. Releasing her grip, she lightly grasps an ear each with her fingers and recites a warning, very familiar to them. With a long sigh, she pats them gently on the back and firmly pushes them onward to the picnic table. The siblings rejoin the main group and prepare to enjoy the meal all together and join in the conversations, in time.

----

Late afternoon sun shines down upon the green sea of forest canopy. Shadows from the clouds above project large, fluffy sections of shade and drift slowly along the leaves. A fast moving, four-winged dragon outline zips along the treetops. Lagi flaps his back pair of blue and black scaled wings, deftly adjusting his large front wingspan, and maintains a level cruise in the skies above. Shifting his attention to Kaleb upon his back, he weaves together a series of chirps, clicks, growls, and hisses, and sighs loudly. Kaleb glances to the side of the holographic display in front of the saddle and nods his fully helmeted head slowly, patting Lagi on his back. "Yeah. I know. I know. Just one more location, and then you can fly as fast as you want home. Okay?"

Lagi's green eyes widen happily, his tail wags slightly against the wind current, and he releases an excited rolling chirp. Chuckling to himself, Kaleb focuses his gaze towards the back of Lagi's head and taps the side of his helmet. "Well, it looks like you can still hear me okay with the new radio. Is it still comfortable on you?"

Thinking momentarily, Lagi rolls his head side to side, feeling out the tiny device tucked away between white, bony armor plates. He clicks affirmatively and dedicates himself back to flying. Kaleb returns his attention to the holographic display, controlling the system through a series of handle mounted modules, and studies an interactive map. "Good. Now, hopefully, this will keep me from wrecking my voice trying to yell over the wind at you."

Kaleb manipulates the buttons and switches, and a high resolution photograph of a huge outer security doorway into a very old ruin appears. Nodding in his mind, he scrutinizes the image. Retrieving a camera with a large lens from a side bag, Kaleb readies the device and steadies himself upon the saddle. He points out a distant clearing, getting Lagi's attention. "Over there. To your left. That clearing. We should be able to get this one quick, and then we head home."

Lagi calls out eagerly, flaps his massive front wings, and pitches down into an approach vector. The dragon balances Kaleb upon his back, lines up his flight path, and holds it near perfectly stable. Hoisting the camera up, Kaleb takes aim, adjusting the zoom and focus. He presses down the shutter button. Holding down the trigger, the wind obscures the camera's mechanical noises, and Kaleb quickly handles it into different shots. The duo pass over the clearing with a large doorway into the hillside. Gradually gaining altitude, Lagi wags his tail in anticipation, glancing towards familiar heading with muscles tensing for a sharp turn. Kaleb laughs, holsters the camera into the saddle bag, and operates the holographic display's control system. "Hang in there, Lagi. I need to double-check to make sure I got good pictures and nothing has changed about that site. Don't need to make another trip out here."

Grumbling, Lagi waits and keeps eyeing a particular direction. Kaleb brings up the older file photo of the location and chooses a recent one to load from the camera. Carefully studying the images, he leans his head close to the bright ethereal projection and narrows his scrutinizing stare. Rocking his head to the side, he reaches back into the saddle bag for the camera and brings the back interface screen close to his visor, switching around to a preview of the same new picture. With an uncertain hum, he adjusts the zoom on both images up on the holographic display and analyzes one major difference about the opening. Gritting his teeth, Kaleb sighs, pats Lagi on the back, and signals back towards the site. "Damn. Something's not right. We gotta go back. Swing around low and wide, and bank me towards that opening. I need to get some better pictures of the entrance. Something's changed."

A frustrated whine bellows out from Lagi, and he adjusts his wings. In between the irritated hisses, clicks, and grumbles from Lagi, Kaleb nods understandingly, rubbing Lagi's back, and commiserates with him. "I know! Never fails that it ALWAYS is the last one of the day that has something off with it. Hopefully, it's just some strange magical interference messing with the camera's optics or its sensor."

Kaleb readies the camera in his arms, tweaking the complicated mechanisms of the lens, and fires off a few test shots, Lagi ferrying him closer to the target. The two close in on the site. Lagi air brakes down to a very slow speed, dives low just above the tree canopy, and banks hard in a wide semicircle along the side of the clearing opposing the ruined, man-made entrance. Balancing himself in sync with the centrifugal force, Kaleb steadies his camera above his shoulders and focuses the aim right at the metal security archway, far into the dark space beyond. Shutter clicks faintly echo into the area, and Lagi expertly navigates his run along the perimeter. With a smooth roll back to level, Lagi pitches upwards to a safer altitude and levels off. Kaleb swiftly operates the camera and holographic system and brings up imagery on the display. Shaking his head, Kaleb mumbles out his surprise, furrowing his brow. "Well, shit... It's showing up here the same as I saw it. Looks like whatever barrier, I guess, is long gone now. Must have gotten hit by something from one of those maelstroms."

Pausing to think a moment, Kaleb leans over to the side and glances towards Lagi's armored face. "Did you feel, smell, or see anything weird when we went by it?"

Lagi blinks, puzzling in his own mind for seconds, and grunts completely unsure. Sighing understandingly, Kaleb glances back at the clearing, growing smaller with the increasing distance. He returns his stare forward, smirks ambivalently, and places his camera securely in the saddle bag. Settling down low in the saddle, Kaleb tightens up his safety harness and firmly grips the handles. The hologram fades away, and Kaleb calls out to Lagi. "Ah, fuck it. It's getting dark. Let's go home! The GAA will get their pictures with my write ups. It's up to them to figure out how to handle that place."

A loud excited shriek bellows out in the vicinity, reverberating against the green sea of leaves below, and Lagi turns sharply to a familiar heading. His huge front wings power through the air, sweep back with the increasing velocity, and flicker with flows of magical energy. The waves of magical power synchronize into ripples of propulsion around the dragon, and Lagi tightens up his aerodynamic profile towards expediency and minimal drag. Both Kaleb and Lagi jet off towards the horizon, leaving a fading, faint trial of prismatic miasma adrift in the air behind.

From the silent clearing, obscuring overgrowth rustles against the breeze, and the wind sweeps layers of old dust from the concrete floor beyond the steel reinforced archway. Past the perimeter between daylight and dark shadow, a distant bright spark flits. A row of overhead, rotating red lights illuminate for a fraction of a second. They spin momentarily to a halt, quickly dimming back into the shadows. The dark corridor falls completely silent, blending back into the obscuring darkness, dusk sweeping over the area.