Chapter 247

A Slight Disturbance

(Mallory)

Mallory came back to her tent in a daze.

Her head was reeling with the notion that the entire encounter that she had just experienced was too easy.

Though for her part Mallory couldn’t quite place her finger on why it had been so easy. Oh sure, Cass put up a token defense, but then when Mallory pointed out that course content might be one thing. But she did not feel adequate enough to teach the Mid-term exams, which would happen today and tomorrow for the Royal Bloodline and Legendary Bloodline students respectively.

After hearing her argument, the little scamp clearly deflated and accepted the situation. Even going so far as to shoo Mallory away so she could come up with relevant materials for her impromptu mid-term exam.

Just seeing the look of utter defeat on the little scamp’s face made Mallory melt inside. Going so far as to say, “who knows, I might be able to teach more of the class materials, but I know for a fact I couldn’t come up with a valid test for the mid-term exams.”

Hearing that, Cassie’s face lit up brightly, and then excitedly called out.

“Deal!”

Poof.

And like that the scamp was gone.

Mallory herself felt lost at the end of the conversation, trying to understand exactly what had happened. Only to realize that somehow she had agreed to teach the little Pixie’s class, without any coercion from Cass. Then the moment she did, that is when Cass left, making their agreement all but binding.

Even now, Mallory could feel part of her chest tightening as there was clearly something off.

Heading back into her office, Mallory still couldn’t help but feel that she had somehow lost in that conversation. Despite getting everything she needed and wanted.

Upon entering the room, a very pregnant Gwendolyn just sat in her plush chair, resting as much as she could.

“How did it go?” Gwendolyn asked immediately.

“It went oddly well.” Mallory stated.

“So you have tonight off?” Gwen asked excitedly as she tried to lean forward, but then failed, having to fall back and try again just to sit up in a more upright position.

Seeing her struggle, Mallory went over and instantly began helping to move and massage Gwen’s stiff muscles as needed.

“I do, and tomorrow night off as well.” Mallory confirmed.

“She offered to take both mid-term exams?” Gwen asked, a note of confusion in her voice.

“Surprisingly, yes.” Mallory replied.

At that even Gwen’s face changed from one of excitement to one of confusion.

“She didn’t argue?” Gwen asked.

“No, she just accepted it, then…” At that Mallory trailed off not knowing how she made the mental slip at the end.

“Then?” Gwen asked.

“Well, she just looked so defeated that I said it was only temporary and that I would take over some of the classes once the next semester started, but I couldn’t do the mid-terms.” Mallory stated.

“Because of the baby?” Gwen asked.

At that Mallory paused, before answering.

“Well it’s not like Vanessa will born as an infant. I mean she will come out that way, but then will be fully grown within a day.” At that Mallory seemed to inflate slightly at noticing the argument for what it was.

“And Cassie was the one who pointed this out?” Gwen asked.

Mallory just deflated as she realized that Cass didn’t even seem to argue.

“No, but if you could have seen her. She just looked so deflated at the idea of more work that it all but seemed to crush her little heart.” Mallory said.

“She got you with the Pixie pout?” Gwen asked, crossing her arms and looking at Mallory.

“I, okay. Fine, she got me with the Pixie pout. But you have to admit her new puppy dog face is irresistible.” Mallory said, all but cooing at the sight of the Colossal Pixie.

“You’re hopeless, you know that.” Gwen said, letting out a huff, but clearly deflating. “But you mean it, you are off for tonight?”

“Tonight and tomorrow night as well, meaning that until our wedding, I am all yours.” Mallory stated.

Exhaling heavily, Gwen let out the tension she had been holding in until then.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah,” Gwen replied reassuringly.

With that the two just cuddled. Which mainly consisted of Mallory draping herself over the very pregnant Gwen, while using her exceptionally high strength to form a perfect mold to Gwen that while blanketing, did not in fact put any weight on the girl in question.

For a moment, everything was great.

Mallory’s main task for the day, convincing Cass to teach her class so Mallory could get some much needed private time with her girlfriend, before she gave birth. Also, before their subsequent wedding, one where one of them would be posing as the dignitary for a foreign and otherwise overtly hostile empire.

Still, that whole part.

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The idea of Gwen posing as the undead King of the Deolar empire. The idea that they would both have to consummate the marriage, likely while Gwen also gave birth to her and Cass’s granddaughter. The entire thing seemed so complex, with so many moving parts, that most would assume it was going to fail.

Except it wasn’t going to fail.

Mallory knew this intrinsically.

Why wouldn’t it fail? Simple, because Cass did not want it to fail, and somehow, someway it would all work out.

That was the great and terrifying thing about Cass. When she wanted something, it happened.

Which was why it was so odd that she caved in so easily at the idea of providing the midterm exams for the Bloodline Awakening courses, or whatever they were called. Honestly after teaching the courses for a few weeks, Mallory still had no idea what the official name for that class was.

“Everything okay?” Gwen asked.

With that, Mallory exhaled, realizing that Gwen could likely read her like a book. Which was great, as no one else could do so. Well Cass could, but she never called her out on her faults, not like Gwen does at least.

“From what I can tell, everything is great.” Mallory began.

“But…?”

“But, I can’t help but shake the feeling that something is somehow off.” Mallory continued.

“You mean with mother?” Gwen asked.

“Yes, but she seems fine.” Mallory continued.

“Did she pick up a new quest that has drawn her attention?”

“No, I checked, and everything is the exact same as it was almost an hour ago.” Mallory noted.

“Okay, and so far as you know she hasn’t found a way to fool your quest logs?” Gwen asked.

“I don’t see how she could know. She barely knows about it, and even then, if she could influence my interface, then there are bigger issues at hand.” Mallory noted.

With that Gwen could only nod in agreement.

“Okay, so there is nothing you can do right? If she found a way to bypass your quest alerts then we can’t do anything. And who knows maybe she just found something to interest her at the moment. It wouldn’t be the first time she got distracted by shiny objects,” Gwen stated.

“You’re right.” Mallory agreed, and then let her mind wander a bit as she finally tried to relax enough to go to rest for a moment.

Buzzing.

At that exact moment, Mallory could once again hear the crying of children.

This was the same sound that caused her to wake up from her deep slumber, and caused her to have a restless morning so far.

“What is it?”

“Is there a term for pre-filled nest syndrome? I mean, I know there is one for empty nest syndrome, but is there one where you start hallucinating because you are preparing for a child to come?” Mallory asked.

Gwen just turned her head to face Mallory and even went about stroking her fingers through Mallory’s long hair to help relax her.

“Sadly yes, it is more common that you’d think.” Gwen began.

Mallory visibly exhaled, hearing the answer from Gwen.

“Though, most of the time it is the one bearing the child who has the hallucinations.” Gwen added.

And like that, Mallory visibly tensed up once more.

“Care to talk about it?” Gwen asked.

“Yes, I might as well,” Mallory began. Then she tried to put into words the cause of her restless slumber. “I just keep getting these visions of children suffering.”

“I see them, when I close my eyes and attempt to sleep. They are there, calling out. A lot of them are chained in place, forced to starve unless they call out for help. It is just terrible.” Mallory began.

Hearing this, Gwen visibly tensed up and held Mallory tight.

Warm tears.

Being this close, and finally having a chance to release some of her stress, Mallory cries tears.

“I don’t know what to do. Or what the dreams mean. All I know is that the kids are real. Somehow deep down inside, I know that those kids are real.” Mallory began.

“Is there anything else? Some other clues you can gain from your dreams?” Gwen asked, trying to see if these dreams were of a prophetic nature.

Mallory for her part felt hesitant, “I don’t know.”

“Try to relax and reach into the dream space. Tell me what you see.” Gwen said.

For a moment Mallory wanted to protest, but then looking into the deep orange eyes of Gwen, Mallory realized that there was likely some logic to these course of actions.

“You really are your mother’s daughter.” Mallory began.

Gwen looked like she was about to protest, but then seemed to settle down, taking her words for the compliment that they were meant to be.

“Yes, as infuriating as it might be sometimes. I am her daughter.” Gwen admitted.

Then Gwen held up her arm and gestured for Mallory to place her head in the crook of her armpit. Seeing the gesture for what it was, Mallory instantly placed her head down and closed her eyes in comfort.

“You aren’t sleeping enough.” Gwen stated.

“No, I can’t.” Mallory began.

“Shush, you can and you need to.” Gwen responded.

Mallory wanted to fight back to say that she needed to be as productive as any of her guild members. Before this used to be an easy feat, that was of course until she met Cass. The girl was an unstoppable engine of change, fixing things, and bulldozing parts of the world that didn’t meet her wants or expectations.

Finally, Mallory let her mind relax, as she began shifting back to sleep.

There was a brief moment of calm, before her mind was pushed forward to the same scene of children. This time her mind was just awake enough to be able to describe what she was viewing.

“I see them, the children. They are wearing rags and forced to be in mines.” Mallory began.

Hearing her, “okay, tell me what is happening.”

“Save us,” the kids cry out. Now that Mallory is forced to look at and watch what is happening, she sees the atrocities. These children all have wounds, bloodstains, and cuts on their bodies. Just seeing them is enough to make Mallory begin to cry.

“They are being starved.”

“But that’s okay, children cannot die due to lack of food or water.” Gwen stated, recalling words spoken by her mother, while she was a child.

“They can if they are wounded and unable to replenish the wounds that they have suffered.” Mallory replies.

Hearing that, Gwen just covered her mouth for a second in shock. But then directed her elsewhere.

“Look around you, see what you can tell. Try to see if there are any noticeable features of the area.” Gwen stated.

With that Mallory, forced her mind to look away from the chained up children and began looking around. Instantly her vision rose hundreds of feet in the air, revealing a large mining complex. One that seemed to span several miles in all directions.

Glancing around, Mallory tried to see any defining features of the land, before seeing a set of two large mechanoid suits. At first their coloring and dust covered body made it so they blended in with the surroundings. It wasn’t until they moved slightly that Mallory saw them for more than just statues.

“They have war mechs.”

“War mechs?” Gwen asked.

“Yes, an advanced design if I dare say myself.” Mallory began, “if Cass was here, I’m sure she could tell what type they are.”

“What are they doing?” Gwen asked.

“I don’t know, one second, I think they are talking to each other.” Mallory replied.

Then like that she let her mind wander forward as she tried to see what the two mechanoid units were talking about.

“They are late again.” The one mech user said.

“That is the second time this month.” The second mech wielder stated.

“I’ll go check on them.” The first mech user said.

“Okay, I’ll stay here and guard until you get back.”

Then with that, the first mech driver turned and began to leave.

“They appear to be guarding the base, but I guess it is shift change.” Mallory replied, having heard the conversation and was only now trying to understand what was happening. “Though, there does appear to be a problem with the oncoming shift.”

“What sort of problem?”

“They appear to be late.”

“Hmm,” was all Gwen could say to that.

While Mallory could almost feel the thoughts of her girlfriend radiating off of her and towards this particular topic. Mallory herself couldn’t help but look around the base and see that at the four cardinal points, she noticed that four sets of two mechanoid units all stood. Though slowly one by one, a singular unit was breaking off from the pairing’s position and heading to a different location.

Seeing the action for what it was Mallory could only shake her head, realizing that this was bad form. The two units should wait until properly relieved. At least that is what she was taught, and what she stressed as a commander.

Realizing this, Mallory instant saw this as a flaw that could be exploited.

“They have poor training. A total of eight guards a present to guard the dozen or so miles of mining facilities that are in place,” Mallory began, spouting off more details of what she was seeing. If this was a real place, then she could find the place and likely free the children.

In fact, Mallory was almost certain that even if Cass didn’t know where this place was, just hearing about the possibility of hurt and tortured children would be enough for Cass to find the place immediately.

At that thought, Mallory could feel her own mind working, as she found herself trying to figure out how Cass would be able to find this base.

“Everything okay?” Gwen asked, apparently seeing her thoughts getting expressed on her face.

“Yes, I was just trying to figure out how Cass would be able to find this place.”

“I’m sure she can, the more you look around and find additional details, the more she will likely be able to do something.” Gwen stated, her confidence in her mother’s ability to do the impossible clearly evident.

“Oh, I wasn’t doubting that, I was just trying to figure out what she would do. Maybe something along the lines of creating a children’s suffering spell, that pointed her in the direction of suffering children.” Mallory began.

“Don’t give her any ideas.” Gwen stated.

“Oh I’m not. I am almost hesitant to inform her about this mining camp, particularly as it seems to be another Legrand run outpost.” Mallory concluded.

“You are going to tell her, right?” Gwen asked, concern evident in her voice.

For a moment, Mallory debated it, but then finally agreed.

“Yeah, I probably will have to. She would never forgive me if I knew and didn’t tell her.” Mallory answered truthfully.

“When are you going to tell her?” Gwen asked.

“After the Bloodline midterm exam?” Mallory winced out, realizing that if she told Cass too early, then Cass would likely use this as an excuse to avoid giving the Bloodline midterm in her place.

Hmph.

At that, Gwen just harumphed, not speaking her discontent, but clearly letting her feelings be known.

Sighing, Mallory wondered when would be a good time to tell the plucky instructor, knowing that she would have to give up her just gained evening if only to appease her pregnant girlfriend.

“Fine, I’ll tell her the next time I see her.” Mallory replied.

“Good.” Gwen replied, “this is likely a vision quest of some kind. By following these, you will gain a lot more power. In fact, I’m pretty sure these are how mother got so powerful in the first place.”

Hearing that, Mallory could only nod in agreement.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen that girl turn down a single random quest thrown her way. Honestly, I’m surprised she isn’t already on this quest.” Mallory began, but then just as she spoke, all hell broke loose.

Nearly simultaneously, Mallory watched as four sets of single mechanoid units arrived at very similar supply depots with larger than life storage doors so that anyone driving a mechanoid unit could stand up straight and walk right into the storage facility.

At the exact moment that the singular mech unit pushed the doors open, they were met with sudden violence.

Sprays of blue and golden balls of energy erupted out of the warehouses, striking at the singular mechanoid units who were all caught flat footed and unaware of any form of conflict.

Mallory watched as no less than six mechanoid units charged out from each warehouse, before overwhelming and disabling the singular mech that went to check on replacements.

“Holy shit. I think they are having a revolt.” Mallory stated, shock evident in her voice

“What?”

“The mechs, they are fighting back.” Mallory began, but then her voice caught as she saw a tiny glowing object zipping out of one of the warehouses.

“Is that an angry bee?” Mallory asked, seeing the flying object that began flying about wildly.

“A bee?” Gwen asked.

Then finally, Mallory saw an image that sent shivers down her spine. It wasn’t an angry bee, no, it was angry Cass.

Seeing the image, Mallory said the only thing that came to mind at that moment.

“I don’t think we need to ask Cass to find this location anymore.”