'Note to self, sex on fire is really fucking cool and hot, but its also extremely taxing. Only do it for long periods of time when having a full stomach.'

Herah thought this to herself just as Max finished explaining everything that had happened since Owen had left the pair alone to her Alex.

Both Herah and Max now stood before an extremely tired Alex, who now wore his blue windbreaker, with Jeffery floating above him while spinning without a care. Max wore what Herah knew to be a genuine smile on her face while radiating lots of joy towards her brother and Herah and a scary amount of lust solely towards Herah. The youngling also felt a slightly weaker tide of constantly swapping emotions beneath these two. Herah herself was barely able to stand, with her last round with Max leaving her on the verge of collapse. Though this exhaustion didn't stop her from wondering why there was a hole right next to Alex that looked like Owen could fit in it.

Alex let out a tired sigh that caught Herah's attention before saying in barely restrained anger,

"So let me get this straight." Alex lazily pointed at Herah and Max with his left middle and pointer fingers, " You two met up, talked about some shit, Norwe appeared and said some shit about Abyss Walkers then peaced out, you talked some more, had sex, Herah's parents appeared, Orange froze his wife and daughter and threatened to kill Max, Max gave him a rundown of the situation, Orange unfroze Herah and Rouge, both of you talked to both parents by yourselves, you all got back together, the beginning of the courtship was finalized, Herah's parents left, you two talked some more, fucked each other again, and finally you came back here. Is that all correct?"

"Yep." Max said with a smile, completely unaffected by her brother's very apparent anger.

"Ye-Yeah." Herah said swaying from side to side.

GRRRRRRRR!

Herah saw and felt Alex's and Max's attention focus on her. Letting out an annoyed growl, Herah looked down at her stomach and shouted at it.

"Shut up! I'll feed you when I get food."

"I see Max was exercising her finely honed talents once again."

Herah looked back up at Alex who was now giving his sister a pointed stare. Feeling a small amount of suspicion through her link with her, Herah turned to Max who now wore a small frown on her face.

"What-" Max paused for a moment before giving Alex a small glare, "What was that bro?"

Alex gained a small smirk and mockingly asked,

"What was what?"

Max, instead of giving her brother a retort, just let out a sigh before allowing a pleased smile to come to her face.

"I'm just going to ignore that for now, because lava tits is clearly hungry and so am I." Max ran a hand through her disheveled hair, "I wonder if that food her mother made for her is ready yet?" Max walked behind Herah and placed both of her hands on the youngling's shoulders before giving her a gentle push forward, "Come on Herah, why don't you lay down against the tree while I get you one of the fruits from it?"

Max began pushing a wobbly Herah forward and around her brother, but both found their progress stopped by a curious looking Alex sticking out his arm and asking Max a question.

"Why do you call Herah lava tits?"

Max's head shot over Herah's shoulder, allowing for the youngling to see her partner's beaming smile as a reply quickly flew from her mouth.

"Herah can lactate lava!"

Herah turned back to Alex and found him giving her a blank stare.

"What?" Herah asked with a heavy breath and another rumble of her stomach.

Alex shook his head and mumbled something about weird taste before backing up a bit and holding out his right hand towards Herah. For a few seconds, Herah just stared at Alex's hand.

'What the fuck does that mean?'

Herah looked back up at Alex with a confused grimace, which solicited an angry sigh and rolling eyes from Alex.

"Don't give me that fucking look right now Alex," Herah said only sounding slightly grouchy.

"I'm tired, hungry, and suffering from a bruised pride. Right now, I can't understand anything that isn't straight and to the point."

Alex rolled his eyes again and shook his outstretched hand before issuing Herah an order.

"Give back my dope orb ashbrain."

With a small frown and drowsy nod of her head, Herah stuck out her left hand and held it above Alex's own outstretched one. Alex's gift floated down and out of Herah's hand and into Alex's own. Once his orb was back, Alex moved his hand up to his mouth as yawn left it and spoke once again.

"Quick question Herah, do you only lactate after having a child or is it all the time?"

Herah gave Alex a slightly confused look before telling him,

"All female Cendreux began lactating at the age of nine, but until we have a kid every time our breast reach half of their max capacity the magma will be added to our own body for personal use."

Alex looked away from Herah and began to tap his nose while mumbling to himself. Herah just shook her head before attempting to walk forward and towards the Donneur de Frêne once again. But before Herah could complete her step, Alex stuck out his arm once again to stop her progress.

"What Alex?" Herah asked, sounding and feeling only a tiny bit frustrated.

'Not being as angry as I usually would is weird and oddly discomforting.'

Herah gave Alex an annoyed stare which the human matched with another sigh and, surprisingly enough, a bow.

"I wanted to tell you that I am truly thankful for what you're doing for Max and that I'm pretty sure you did what you thought was best."

Herah just blinked in surprise at Alex before feeling Max's own surprise which was followed by the feeling increasing twofold.

"Really!?"

"Really!?"

Herah watched as Alex rose up from his bow, yawned, and rubbed his eyes before speaking to the pair.

"You both sound a lot more surprised then you should, I'm guessing it's because of the bond.

"Yep." Max said with a rapid nod of her head while Herah did a single slow nod.

"Hey sis, can you leave Herah and I alone for a bit? I want to do some one on one talking with her."

Suspicion immediately overtook the surprise that Herah felt through her link with Max, as the human walked around Herah and up to her brother with a scrying look upon her face.

"You're not going to do anything drastic, are you?" Max's words came out accusatory as if knowing that's exactly what her brother was about to do.

Alex, though very clearly tired, stared down his sister with a lighthearted smile and told her,

"I have no intention of killing Herah if that's what you're worried about sis."

This did little to lower Max's suspicions, however, since Herah felt the emotion increase twice as much at Alex's words. Staring her brother dead in the eye, Max's stare deepened as a small frown came to her face.

"Bro," Max crossed her arms while speaking with an air of seriousness, "Me and you both know that killing someone is far from the worst thing you can do to them."

"True enough," Alex told his sister with an understanding nod before saying, "How about this, I have no plan to harm Herah at this very moment."

Herah felt Max's suspicion wane for a brief moment before increasing once again which was followed up with Max and Alex beginning a back and forth of sorts that Herah found herself too tired to care about. So Herah tuned the pair out and looked up to Jeffery and sent them a mental question.

'Hey Jeffery, where is Owen right now?'

The pencil filled Herah's head with one of their memories, showing Owen using his hammer and chisel to blast a hole into the ground before jumping into it.

'Thanks Jeffery. Do you mind knocking a fruit over to me, I'm running low on fumes.'

Jeffery floated over to the Donneur de Frêne and knocked one of the knot-shaped fruits off of it and towards Herah. Herah caught the metallic treat with little issue before quickly taking a bite and allowing for herself to just enjoy the taste.

'Ahh silver, extremely unhealthy but so tasty.'

Herah sent a mental thanks and request for another fruit to Jeffery, as her flame and body felt a bit renewed. After eating three more of the Donneur de Frêne fruits, Herah felt back up to one hundred percent and redirected her attention to Max and Alex.

"Why is so hard for you to say that nothing bad is going to happen between the two of you if I leave you alone?"

"Because I can't tell the fucking future and for all I know Herah might get hostile."

"Why would Herah get hostile bro? What could you do that would piss her off?"

Alex gained a look of complete disbelief before turning to Herah and gesturing towards Max as if to say: Can you believe what she's saying. Herah rolled her eyes and tapped Max on the shoulder, causing the human to turn and face her partner.

"Yeah, lava tits?" Max said with no small amount of affection.

Herah pushed the subtle narrowing of Alex's eyes to the back of her head before speaking to Max.

"Just go on, I'm pretty sure I know what your brother wants to talk about and its unlikely to end in violence."

This got Herah a feeling of surprise from Max and two looks of the same emotion from both Alex and Max. With pursed lips, Max gave Herah a stern face that made it visibly clear for everyone there that her feelings hadn't changed a bit. In response to this, Herah bent her knees until her eyes were level with Max's and asked her a question.

"Why don't you trust your brother on this one? Alex did say they have no plan on hurting me so I'll probably be fine if I just talk with him for a bit."

Max stern look grew even sterner, but Herah knew that it was an act from Max. This was because the youngling felt Max's suspicion become matched by a feeling of trust as her stare loosened and a sigh left her.

"Ok, I'll leave you two alone but," Max gave Alex and Herah a glare each, "I'll be back in fifteen minutes. By then you better be done, so we can make a plan."

Herah nodded in agreement to Max' words then looked over to Alex and found him nodding as well.

"Owen and I have the threads of a plan already, but we needed to know what the state of your gift was, how ashbrain's gift worked, and the exact physical capabilities of ashbrain first. Now all I need to know about is those last two things and that can happen when you get back so," Alex made a shooing gesture towards Max, "Shoo."

Herah didn't even need to look at Max to know that the human gave her brother a death glare before walking out of the clearing. As Max exited the clearing, Alex pointed up to Jeffery and asked Herah to get them to leave. Herah didn't even bother looking or telling Jeffery anything, the pencil just shot away on their own accord.

With the clearing now empty sans herself and Alex, Herah gained a somewhat interested look, put both of her hands behind her head, and began popping the bones in her back. While doing this, Herah watched Alex walk up to her and give her a quick sniff.

"What the ash was that?" Herah asked Alex, as the human backed away from her and nodded to himself. With a couple of feet now between the two, Alex looked up to Herah and gave her a small glare.

"I just wanted to know whether or not you smell like you just fucked my sister."

"Was that all you wanted to know?" One of Herah's brow rose in confusion, "You could've done that with her here."

"Of course that's not all I want to know dumbass," Alex scoffed at Herah as the youngling growled back at him, "I wanted to know a few things, cheifly how my sister was actually doing."

"Max already said everything was okay, you don't trust her word or something?" Herah asked Alex with a slightly confused stare while popping the bones in her neck.

"Herah, I've known Max for seventeen years now," Alex shoved both of his hands into the pockets of his jacket before looking towards Max had left, "She tends to lie when she doesn't want me to worry about something." Alex let out another sigh as his left hand emerged from its pocket and gestured towards Herah, "I'm quite sure you experienced it to a certain degree when originally talking about what happened last night."

Herah stuck her left arm and crossed her right over it while looking towards where Max had exited the clearing, silently agreeing with Alex's assessment of his sister. Turning back to face Alex, Herah couldn't help but think about how Max blamed him for what had happened.

'I kinda feel bad for you asshole, especially since I'm quite sure you don't know exactly everything Max has lied to you about.'

"So what," Alex turned to look back at Herah who gave him a "really" stare while also switching her arms into opposite positions, "Do you just not trust anything your sister says?"

This got Herah a roll of his eyes and shaking of Alex's head.

"I'm just a bit more scrutinizing of anything Max tells me if she's been through something that I think would leave me upset for some reason or another."

"How often is that?" Herah asked now with her hands back behind her head.

"A little too often to be honest." Alex shook his head, before once again gesturing towards Herah with his outstretched hand, "Anyway how is she doing right now?"

"Your sister is feeling very worried and horny right now." Herah told Alex after taking a second to observe the link between the two.

"Which of us is she worried about?"

"Not sure," Herah said with a shrug of her shoulders, "I can only guess who her emotions are directed at."

Alex nodded at Herah's answer before sticking his left hand back into its pocket and asking Herah another question.

"Did Max tell you not to tell me anything?"

"Yep."

"Should I be worried about it?"

Herah thought to herself for a moment before giving Alex her reply.

"Yep."

"Will you tell me why she didn't want me to learn about?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because that was one of the conditions of which Max would talk to me. I had to promise not reveal any information that wasn't confirmed by her to be okay."

"What if I ordered you to tell me?"

"I would die."

"I'm sorry." Herah watched as Alex seemingly short-circuited for a moment before taking a deep breath and letting it out, "Can you clarify?"

"If you ordered me to tell you what Max told me, I would die," Herah dryly said.

"Why?"

"Remember how I said that one of the most grievous insults I could ever levy on La Flamme was to go back on my word?"

"Yeah," Alex responded clearly not sure of where Herah was going with this.

"Well, there are repercussions I would suffer for such insults. For that one, in particular, my flame would instantly snuff itself out."

Herah watched as Alex let out another sigh before looking away from her and beginning to tap his nose. Seeing Alex's reaction, Herah looked away from him and towards the Oni's home finding the most peculiar of sites.

'Why the ash is there a storm brewing right there, and why is it stationary?'

Herah thought about for a bit longer but couldn't think of a reason, so the youngling redirected her attention to Alex. The human had just let out another sigh and pinched his neck, looking none too happy by whatever his thoughts had led him to conclude. Alex then looked back towards Herah and asked her another question, this one sounding a lot more serious than the previous ones to Herah.

"How do you feel about Max?"

Herah looked back towards the direction Max had exited the clearing through before giving Alex her answer.

"I have a crush on your sister."

Alex let out another sigh as a frown came to his face before asking Herah another question that seemed just as important as the one before.

"What do you plan on doing about this crush?"

"Nothing right now," Herah said, blinking back at Alex as if that was obvious, "My plans for Max at this very moment are helping her deal with the trauma of killing all of those Oni, getting to know her better, and screwing her."

"So you have no plans of attempting to be more than friends with benefits with my sister?" Alex asked sounding very hopeful.

"None right now, I might get one later."

Herah wasn't too surprised when Alex let out another sigh and his frown returned much deeper than before. Taking his right hand from its pocket, Alex covered his face while shaking his head in an exasperated fashion.

"Ok Herah," Alex began, clearly annoyed by Herah's answer, "I'm gonna need you to keep your current relationship status with my sister even if she meets your standards. I would actually prefer if you changed it to just friends by the way."

With those words, Herah lost her curious expression entirely and instead switched to a glare that lacked its usual strength.

"Why is that Alex?" Herah asked, tilting her head just a bit as a feeling of annoyance began to build up within her.

"Fatality amongst the participants is an almost certainty when in Recompense, after all no more than eight of the participants ever make it to the end alive. And that's usually when the pool is a lot larger than our current one."

"How do you even know this?" Herah asked believing the words coming out of Alex's mouth to be utter bullshit, "And what does that even have to do with me and your sister's relationship?"

"How I know does not matter, and the answer to your second question is quite simple. You have the highest chance of fatality in our group, and your death will be bad enough for her deal with as you guys are now. So let's not plant that fire hazard in a forest."

Herah began growling at Alex causing wisp of green fire to flow from her nose and for the same colored flames to began leaking from her mouth.

"So what if I have a higher chance of dying than everyone else in our group, by the sounds of it that chance is already high enough to begin with. Plus, you were the one earlier who said they couldn't determine the fucking future, did you suddenly gain that power all of a sudden?"

"Hmmm," Herah watched as Alex began tapping his nose slowly and methodically, before snapping his fingers and giving Herah a wide smile and using a forcefully cheery voice, "No I haven't gained seer sight at the very moment. However, allow me to key you in on something I know to be certain."

Alex shoved his hand back into its pocket and crossed the few feet that separated him from Herah, maintaining his false demeanor right up and until reaching the youngling. As soon as Alex reached Herah, the human took his right hand from his pocket and rested it on Herah's shoulder. Alex's smile then turned into a condescending grin and his voice took on a more malicious tone.

"Myself and Max will make it out of this alive, you're... debatable at best."

Herah almost immediately shot back a retort, but a thought mid-shout caused her to pause. After a few seconds of mulling it over, green flames began to leak from Herah's eyes, and the fire in her mouth and leaving her nose flared. Flicking Alex's hand off of her shoulder, Herah glared accusingly at the human.

"This isn't at all abou-" Herah shook her head, "No, this is partly about how my death could affect Max. But keeping me disposable is a larger priority in your eyes, isn't it? After all, that's why you asked me to make that deal with you earlier. You thought of me as a tool to use and throw away if needed, but I bet I fucked that all the way up when I started fucking your sister!"

"We're alone."

SNIKT!

Herah popped all ten of her claws and glared down at Alex now a bit on edge, with Alex looking back up at her with a cold expression. After a few seconds of the two just staring each down, Alex began speaking to Herah in an uncaring tone of voice.

"You are exactly fucking right." Alex held up a hand, stopping Herah before a word could leave her, "In my eyes, you're a weapon to be used and discarded at my leisure."

"Then what the hell was that about respect earlier, a fucking sham!?"

"Of course not, you just seem to have forgotten what I said. You have earned a bit of my respect, just a tiny bit. Which is why I now see you as a weapon instead of a defective tool."

"Fuck you!"

"Sorry I'd prefer not to have my sister's sloppy seconds."

The fire leaking from Herah's mouth, nose, and eyes flared once again as the youngling snarled at Alex. Herah's next words came through gritted teeth.

"They only reason I'm not attacking you right now is because Max clearly doesn't want us to fight."

"Hmmm. Nice to see my sister has a leash on you."

"GRRRR."

"Down girl." Alex responded with a condescending tone and an equally condescending grin that didn't leave his face even when Herah shot her left hand out to allow for her claws to hover over Alex's throat.

"That leash you mention isn't too secure."

"Then maybe I should tighten the one I have."

"What!? Are you going to order me to not get close to your sister, to not challenge you or some shit like that?"

"No, neither would really solve the problem."

"I can agree with you on that. Neither would remove that stick from your ass. Something like that would take an actual fucking miracle."

Alex backed away from Herah and pointed at her mouth.

"That right there is the problem."

"What, my mouth? How so?"

"You don't talk to me with respect. Which means my problem is you haven't submitted to me yet. As long as you believe you have the chance of taking me on, you won't be as useful as you could be and that's problematic."

"Well good fucking luck with that, because I'm sure as ash never going to willingly submit to you."

Alex nodded at Herah words looking none to bothered by them.

"I know, that's why I'm going to do what I'm about to do."

"And what would that be-"

"The magma in your breast should be melting them right now."

Almost immediately Herah knew something was wrong with her chest. It started with the feeling of several drops of hot, gooey liquid (that Herah definitely knew wasn't just magma) slowly rolling down the sides of her breast and towards her abs. Then the smell of burning skin filled her nose, and Herah began to feel steam filling her bra and shirt. This was followed up with Herah allowing her claws to retract and for all of the green flames coming from her head to stop flowing and dissipate in confusion. Herah then raised a hand to one of her breasts and felt what was for sure liquified skin and magma seep into and through her bra and shirt.

"You can feel the pain."

A few seconds later the pain registered in her brain.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

The sound of a high pitched, distinctly feminine voice crying out filled the clearing. It took Herah a second to realize that it was her voice that filled the clearing as tears began to flow from her eyes. The crying was soon followed by her collapsing down to the ground and writhing in agony as white began to dot her vision. Then the feeling of her breast liquifying reached Herah and filled her with such pain and terror that the youngling dragged her shirt and bra off. With her head and hair now smeared with a mixture of gooey skin and magma, Herah tried to grab both of her breast only to feel them began to soften and meld into each other and her hands. A few more seconds passed before Herah felt one of her breast actually detach from her body and flop into the other one. This caused Herah's other breast to detach as well and for magma to began spilling onto the ground and around her.

Herah had no idea where Alex was but found herself unable to care about it. Instead, Herah was more focused on the pain that was still felt from where her breast had previously been. Pushing through the agony, Herah forced herself onto her back and reached up and into the now exposed inner area of her body. Herah soon felt one of her fingers brush against a beating organ, the name of which took her a few seconds to come up with.

'My heart, this is my heart. So if I move a bit to the right, there is my flame.'

Herah's hand dipped into her flame and a certain sense of warmth began to feel her entire body as the red fire in her chest began to amplify and encase her in a shroud of itself. Herah's mind cleared up even more as her vision began to clear and the pain from before began to dull.

"The fire is in your chest and you're awake."

Herah suffered a mental whiplash as all the pain from before struck her without mercy and became so overbearing that her mind went blank for a second and her vision completely blacked out. Yet consciousness didn't escape her, Herah was sure of this since soon the sound of yet another agonized scream in her own voice greeted her ears. This time, however, the scream was for a different reason.

'Mo- Mo- Motherfucker! I can't feel- I can't feel my flame! I can't feel my flame!'

Herah cried out within the confines of her mind as more tears began pouring from her eyes. The disconnect from her fire had filled Herah with two feelings that the youngling absolutely hated.

Shame and powerlessness.

Both emotions overtook Herah as the youngling laid on her back unable to do anything but cry, writhe in pain, and scream until her voice was hoarse and afterward weakly whimper.

'Da-Da-Dammit! This wasn't even a fight.'

"You can hear."

Herah (still quite scattered brain and terrified) showed barely any reaction to Alex's words, but was able to figure out that the human now stood to her right with his mouth to her ear. Alex soon began to whisper harshly to Herah

"This is the power I hold over you. At any place, at any time, I can do this to you. I can leave you completely and utterly powerless. And you can't do a single thing to stop it. Nod your head if you understand me."

Herah let out a small whimper before shamefully nodding her head.

"Good, because this will happen to you, every time you challenge me. This will happen to you every time I get tired of your shit. And this will most definitely happen to you if you try to become anything more than my sister's close fuck buddy. Nod if you understand."

The tears running down Herah's cheeks began to flow much quicker as the youngling once again shamefully nodded her head.

"Good," Herah felt Alex raise his head away from hers and rise back up to his full height, "As long as we have this understanding we shouldn't have an-"

WHAM!

CRUNCH!

"GAAHH! Dammit! What broke my fucking arm!?" Alex let out a gasp, "Je- Jeffery how the hell did you get here!? My eight minutes weren't up yet!"

All Herah could do was lay on the ground barely able to form a thought and completely unable to see, while a feeling of confusion began to join her shame and helplessness. Her confusion was only multiplied when the sound of someone running into the clearing greeted her ears.

"Finally I made it here!" Max's voice blessed Herah's ears as the youngling began to cry harder with an even greater sense of shame building up, "What the fuck was that shouting abo- Herah! What the fuck happened to yo-" Max paused as if noticing something before speaking in a sickly tone, "Are those your breast? Mmmph! BLEEEHHH!"

Herah could only let out another whimper as the sound of Max emptying her stomach somewhere on the ground entered her ears. This was soon followed up by the sound of Max dry heaving reaching Herah which also made the youngling feel even more ashamed. Herah's shame pretty much tripled when her ears picked up on the sound of someone burrowing up from the ground a few feet away from her. A second later, the sound of burrowing became the sound of the ground breaking open which was immediately followed up by the sound of a soft, childlike voice.

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"Hey Alex, I finished making the tunnels and- OH MY GODS! What happened to you Herah!?" Owen paused, Herah knowing where his focus most likely went, before continuing sounding much sicker. "Are those your- Mmmph! BLEEEHHH!"

Herah once again whimpered and began to cry harder as Owen retched onto the ground near her before joining Max in her dry heaving.

"Great. Just fucking great." Herah heard Alex say, clearly irritated, "Everyone is here now. Somehow."

Herah then felt herself become encased within Jeffery's Presence, a soothing feeling overcoming all of her physical pain which restored Herah's connection to her flame, allowed for the youngling to finally collect her thoughts, and for her vision to return to normal.

The first thing to greet Herah's sights was the cloudless sky and the red star that bore down on Bizzare in the dead center of it. Herah then forced herself up into a sitting position so as to look down at herself and see the damage.

Herah couldn't help but wince at the sight that greeted her.

The entire top outer layer of Herah's torso had melted away, leaving the inside organs exposed to the environment. Herah's three-chambered heart was beating seemingly without a care, and her flame was red and burning strongly while her lungs took in air without too much of an issue. Taking in a deep breath, Herah flared her flame and turned it violet before her entire body was engulfed in the same colored fire. A few seconds later, Herah's breast were restored and all pain that had been felt was completely gone.

Now done with the observation of her own body, Herah looked around herself. A sense of revulsion filled her as her eyes went to an area a few inches to her left. Her original breast were there and made for a grotesque sight. Both had merged into a single disgusting, gooey mess that was steadily losing its shape and still giving off steam. Not too far away from her breast were her shirt and bra, now stained with liquefied flesh and magma. Herah frowned at the pounds of fat, bemoaning their condition in her mind. Within about a foot radius around Herah was a small pool of magma that was burning away at the grass and ground it touched. Making a note to clean that up, Herah then directed her attention to the others in the clearing.

First, Herah's eyes landed on Owen. The blue tunic and hat wearing gnome was standing, as Herah had figured, a few feet to her left with a freshly dug up hole that had just recently had vomit deposited into it. Wrinkling her nose at the twin smells, Herah noted that Owen had finished dry heaving at this point and now gave her both an extremely worried and confused stare.

"What happened to you? And," Owen subtly pointed towards Max, "Is she okay now?"

Herah took a deep breath before letting out a sigh and allowing for a saddened look to come across her face. Looking down and away from Owen, Herah somberly answered his question.

"Max is better now, and... Alex happened, is all I will say."

Looking back up at Owen, Herah found the gnome frowning for a second before taking his hat off of his head and depositing a piece of platinum the size of his fist onto the ground. Grabbing the metal in both of his hands, Owen tossed the platinum to Herah and tossed his hat back on. Herah gave Owen a muted thanks before chewing on her new snack and turning to find Max. Herah found Max standing of a couple feet behind Owen, still dry heaving over her pool of vomit.

"Are you okay Max?"

Herah watched as Max suddenly stopped mid heave before turning towards her with a disbelieving look on her face. Max raised a finger to her chest, and begin to speak sounding absolutely aghast at Herah's question.

"Am I ok? Am I OK!? Herah I should be asking you that! I'm perfectly fucking fine, minus the even emptier stomach than earlier. Please don't ask how I feel, I'm not going to even verbalize it to you right now. You can check for yourself." Max turned to her brother with the same wide smile that was on his face earlier upon hers, "Somebody else, however, I feel needs to hear my words to get how I'm feeling."

Before Herah could say another word to Max, the human wiped her mouth and stomped over to her twin. Herah mentally called forward her emotional link to Max which had been pushed to the back of her mind.

'Oh shit! That's how you feel. What- What do I even call this?'

'Rage.'

'No, that's too weak.'

'Livid.'

'Nah, still lacks strength'

'Mmmhh? How to describe it, how to describe i- Wait a minute.'

Herah pondered the word for a second before coming to a conclusion.

'That'll do. That's the perfect word to use.'

With those finishing thoughts, Herah settled on how to describe Max's current feelings at the moment.

An overwhelming feeling of wrath was what Herah felt from Max, the emotion was so potent, in fact, that Herah was unable to pick up even the tiniest hint of any other feelings through their connection with each other.

"What. The. Fuck. Is wrong with you?" Herah heard Max say, sounding nowhere close to as angry as her feelings clearly showed her to be.

Herah's head whipped towards her right where Jeffery, Alex, and now Max were situated. Herah's eyes first landed on Jeffery, who was floating just in front of Max while rotating at such a high speed that their image appeared static in Herah's eyes. Herah quickly averted her attention away from Jeffery, however, as her shame increased ten fold and her pride took a devastating blow. Herah's eyes landed on Max, who had lost her smile and replaced it with a contempt riddled frown.

"Nothing much," Alex replied nonchalantly, his previous annoyance nowhere to be found, "Just a broken arm, a few broken ribs, and some bruises."

Herah looked towards Alex and felt the tiniest fractions of satisfaction at his condition. Alex now laid against a redwood tree that was marked by an almost human-sized crater, sitting just beneath it. Alex was cradling his right arm with his left, which was the sight that drew Herah's eyes first. Alex's right arm was now bent in the wrong direction and was wrangled to the point that much of its flesh was marred by the many shards of bone that jutted out of it every which way. Even with the bones disfiguring the skin so severely, Herah was able to see that much of it now looked blue and dark purple. Herah moved her eyes to his head and found the same colors around his left eye which had now swollen shut. A bit of blood trickled from the left corner of his mouth and down his chin. Yet even with all of this damage, Alex looked more annoyed, if anything else, by his current circumstance.

"That's is not what I meant," Max told Alex through gritted teeth, her frown having turned into a scowl.

"Then what do you mean, dear sister?"

"I mean why would you do that to Herah?"

"I wanted to get a point across." Alex laid his gaze upon Herah with a wide smile on his face, causing the youngling to unconsciously flinch which elicited a chuckle from Alex, "I think the message got through."

Max looked back at Herah, surely having felt her spike of fear, before turning back to her brother and kicking him in the throat.

"AACK! Dammit Max! I more hurt by the sight of your uncovered crotch than I am by your kick."

Max kicked Alex in the throat again.

"Oh god. That image will stay with me forever."

"What did you do to her!?"

"I used the magma in her tits to melt them and then gave her a few choice words."

"Why did I feel such a sudden spike of fear from Herah when you smiled at her?!"

"Because she now understands that going against me in any form or shape will end with her as she was not too long ago. Helpless and ashamed."

Max's wrath spike tremendously through her link with Herah before the human grabbed her brother by the scruff of his jacket and lifted him up into a standing position. Once there, Max brought her head back and slammed it into her brothers face.

CRACK!

Herah felt a tiny bit of delight as the sound of Alex's nose breaking filled the clearing.

"Max please stop, you sh-"

Max turned towards Owen with a fierce glare and snarl, immediately shutting the gnome up. Turning back to Alex, Max found her brother giving her a slightly annoyed glare. Alex reached up to poke his nose with his left hand and winced slightly before speaking in a slightly nasally voice.

"I don't think the damage to my nose is that bad."

Max headbutted her brother again.

"Nevermind, it's destroyed."

"Dammit Alex! Why the hell would you do something like this to Herah!?"

"I already answered that one sis, try again."

"Alex, me and you both know that you only do shit like this when you believe a problem to be too big to be left festering. Simply showing Herah her place wouldn't ever get this type of reaction from you."

Alex's annoyed glare changed into a more redrawn and serious expression as his gaze shifted away from his sister. When Alex spoke next, his words came out cold and harsh.

"What makes you think that putting someone as problematic as Herah in their place wouldn't solicit such a response from me?" Alex turned to look at Herah and glared straight through her, "I merely intended to make sure history didn't repeat itself."

"What do you mean history repeats itse-"

Herah watched Max pause mid-sentence as a feeling of realization flowed through their link together. This realization then morphed into a deluge of emotions as feelings of guilt, disbelief, disgust, and pain became all Herah could feel from Max.

That was until all these emotions were overtaken by a single new one, one Herah never expected could be directed at Alex from Max.

'Malice. Such strong and earnest malice. What the ash is Alex talking about? And why does it piss you off that much Max?'

Max didn't say another word, instead, Max allowed her brother to stand on his own before turning away from him and walking a fair distance away. Drawing her deck of cards from her pocket, Max tossed them high into the air.

"52 pickup."

All 52 cards became suspended in the air, before suddenly zooming towards Alex. Once the cards reached Alex, they began encircling his body at high speeds just far enough away to not cut him. Max turned back to face her brother with a cold and haughty look on her face that caused him to flinch much like Herah had earlier. In fact, pretty much everyone in the clearing had flinched when Max had turned back to face Alex.

"Alex," Max began, her malice poisoning the words that left her mouth, "Are you telling me that the reason that you did such a horrid, disgusting, downright sadistic thing to someone who is supposed to be our ally, someone who just finished doing us both a big favor, my friend, is because you didn't want to take any chance of Herah ending up like Artemis, Isis, or Hel?"

"Yes."

Max's eyes narrowed at Alex, who returned her stare with an apathetic one.

"You don't even sound like you regret what you did."

"Because I don't."

Herah watched in complete and total silence as Max nodded at her brother's words. Max then made all 52 cards rotating Alex freeze before closing her eyes.

"You arrogant."

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

Alex let out a pained grunt as his body was slammed and pinned to the damaged tree behind him by four cards through each of his pants legs and by the sides of his jacket.

"Self-centered"

SHUKK!

SHUKK!

SHUKK!

SHUKK!

SHUKK!

SHUKK!

"Dammit."

Alex closed an eye in pain as three cards struck either of his legs, soaking his jeans in blood.

"Narrowminded."

SHUKK!

SHUKK!

SHUKK!

SHUKK!

"Fuuuck!"

Alex coughed up a bit of blood as three cards burrowed into his right arm and a single one struck him in his liver.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

SHUKK!

"GAAHH!"

Herah actually winced again, when one more card shot through Alex's right eye while also making note of a thud made by Owen.

With the last hit, Max marched up to her now pinned brother and began shouting at him even more.

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR GODDAMN MIND!?"

"Probably."

"Will you stop with the smartassery and just give me a straight answer!?"

Alex gave his sister a one-eyed glare before scoffing and looking away, which caused Max to punch him in the stomach.

"ANSWER ME GODDAMMIT!

Herah suddenly felt a fur covered appear on her back and wrap its long legs and arms around her torso. Herah bristled at the feeling of the fur on her sensitive nerves and growled slightly at the feeling of the creature's breath touching her left cheek.

"It's Norwedammit, when will my creations call me th-"

Max turned away from her brother and towards Herah and Norwe the Sloth with a murderous look on her face.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP NORWE! I DON'T FEEL LIKE DEALING WITH YOUR BULLSHIT RIGHT NOW!"

"Fufufufufufufu," Norwe the Sloth moved one of his arms to tap at his mouth, "I just love it when my creations talk dirty to me."

"Norwe, get the fuck off of me," Herah told the Maker Sloth, wide eyed and feeling quite a bit disturbed.

"Ok, I'll leave you guys to it." And with those words, Norwe the Sloth disappeared from the clearing.

With that distraction now gone, Herah redirected her attention to Max and Alex. Max now had the rest of her cards floating behind her, looking like they were standby, while glaring at her brother with an expectant expression upon her face. Alex just stared back at Max with what a defiant glint to his eye. After a few seconds of the two just staring at each other, Max impaled Alex through his left hand with a card which got another groan of pain from him.

"What you did was completely unacceptable!"

"I disagree," Alex's sole eye narrowed, "We can't afford to have any dissonance within our group. And Herah has shown she doesn't exactly care for me being the leader."

"I wonder why she might feel that way!?" Max asked her brother in faux confusion, "I see no reason at all for Herah to not want you as our leader!"

"Sarcasm is unbefitting of you, sis."

"Leadership is unbefitting of you, bro!"

"I was merely quelling the ranks."

"In one of the most ineffective ways possible! Do you want a self-fulfilling prophecy on your hands!?"

"The hell are you talking about?" Alex asked Max, a bit of anger finally being shown, "I've thoroughly crushed any chance of Herah purposely making trouble for you or me."

SHUKK!

Another of Max's card burrowed into Alex, this time in one of his kidneys.

"FUCK!"

"Don't you fucking dare act like that you were doing this for me! And just because you knock someone down, that doesn't mean they won't get back up" Max rubbed her head while letting out a sigh of frustration, "Alex, I can understand why you're so hostile towards Herah, especially now. But that doesn't change the fact that right now, we need to be a team. And that doesn't just mean we have to grit our teeth and work together, we have to be able to treat each other with respect and some semblance of friendliness."

"Fat chance of that occurring between me and her. We've been here before sis, and I'd rather not take the chance of another knife in my back. So I decided to make her unwilling to even pick it up."

Herah watched as Max looked down and shoved both of her hands into her hair, making it an even bigger mess than before. Looking back up at her brother, Max let out another angry sigh before speaking.

"Fear is not the best method for preventing betrayal, especially with our current predicament! If you really want to avoid history repeating itself then why don't you try to do something you've never done before with the other three?"

"Kill her before she tries to kill me? I'm looking to not die sis, that's is very much counterproductive."

Max punched Alex in the throat.

"AACK!"

"No asshole! I meant why don't you try to befriend her."

"What?"

"What?"

Herah felt a flash of surprise and Déjà Vu, as both herself and Alex gave Max bewildered stares.

'Did- Did dad tell Max of my fears? Or did dad just mention something about becoming friends being the solution to both of our problems?' Herah's eyes looked to side as another thought came to her, 'Or did Max just think of this on her own?'

"Sis, I'm pretty sure that bridge was burnt very, very recently." Alex spoke while blinking at Max with a look of confusion still on his face.

"Why don't we ask Herah?" Max responded before turning to Herah and winking at her.

'That sadly confirms nothing.'

Alex turned to look at Herah as well and stared at her with an expression that just told Herah that the human thought there was no chance of her saying yes.

'Well, Alex is pretty right to assume that I want nothing to do with him right now.' Herah began to shake and felt rage come to her mind, before allowing it to fade and for a feeling of worry to appear, "But then again, Max did just hand me a golden opportunity to at least try to alleviate my now very much confirmed fears. But still,' Herah reached up to her bare chest, 'Am I just supposed to forgive and forget about what just happened?"

'Bien sûr que pas mon enfant.' A familiar harmonious, gentle voice rung throughout Herah's head, as Herah began to feel heat in her throat that wasn't from her fire.

Herah's eyes widened in shock before the youngling quickly bowed and responded to the foreign thoughts with glee and zealousness.

'Mistress you humble me with your contact, how may I help you?'

La Flamme, the mother of the Cendruex, Cendre, and Couver. The now mostly shunned goddess of the Cendruex. A direct descendant of Norwe. The being Herah considered her mistress.

They were now speaking to her.

'Ne vous inquiétez pas de la façon dont vous pourriez m'aider, je cherche à vous conseiller.'

'Well what should I do then?'

'Je ne vous dirai pas quoi faire, mais je vais vous dire ceci Alex, l'homme, a agi plus de peur que de haine envers vous.'

'I can see where you're coming from on that front. Alex talks like I remind him of those three Max mentioned.'

'Et tout en disant que oui ne soulagera pas ses soupçons, cela pourrait créer un sentiment de doute dans son esprit.'

'True enough, I know what I will do. Thank you mistress, and may your flame ever burn eternally.'

'Et que le vôtre.'

And with those words, Herah felt the presence of La Flamme leave her head and for her throat to cool down.

Herah then rose from her bow and turned a steely glare onto Alex, who now stared at her in confusion.

'Probably because I bowed out of nowhere and for seemingly no reason.'

Herah then took a deep breath and spoke.

"I am willing to try if you are Alex."

Herah felt a spike of happiness emitt from Max as a smile came to the human's face. Turning back to her still pinned brother, Max began speaking to him cheerfully.

"See, the offer is there for you to take. So why don't you just apologize for what you did and I'll get you down from there and healed in a jiff-"

"No."

Herah wasn't too surprised by Alex's response, though the surprise that came from Max indicated that a no wasn't expected by her. This surprise was then overtaken by malice once again as Max swiped a single card from behind her and put it to her brother's liver, right next to the card that had hit him in that organ earlier.

"What do you mean no?" Max asked Alex, clearly lacking the patience to deal with any more bullshit from her brother.

"I mean no." Alex words came out flat and untrusting, "I'm going to need time to think that over. Give me till the day after tomorrow, I should have your answer by then."

"Dammit Alex! I will not let thi-"

"Max."

Max turned to face Herah, who shook her head and mouthed for her to let it go for now. Nodding at Herah's "words", Max turned back to her brother and gave him one final glare.

"Ok then. After this conversation, I will not say a word to you until you apologize. And even after that I want something to be made clear," Max raised her right hand and turned the back of it to face Alex. Though Herah couldn't see it, the youngling knew upon the back of Max's right hand sat a tattoo of a pencil writing out her name.

"This is the tattoo that shows that me and Herah are courting each other. But for you, it will gain another meaning. This tattoo marks that Herah is not just a tool or weapon for you to use and discard. Herah is not disposable. And most importantly, we're now a package deal."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, sounding none too happy by Max's words.

"If you get Herah killed, expect me to follow soon afterward."

A moment of silence filled the clearing as Herah and Alex stared at Max in disbelief.

'Where the fuck did that come from?' Herah thought while also picking up on the feeling of determination that was now flowing through their link together. Herah sent Alex a sideways glance, but got no reaction from him since all of his attention seemed to be on his twin. Alex's disbelieving look soon became a neutral one that displayed no emotion as a question was asked.

"Why?"

"Because I know even this conversation won't change your mind, and until something like that happens this is my way of keeping you in line. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yeah."

Max said nothing else to her brother before turning away from him and calling all her cards back into her hand. Sliding the cards into her pocket, Max walked up to Jeffery (who had stopped spinning at this point) and pointed towards the magma surrounding Herah. The sentient pencil quickly floated over to their creator and began to erase the molten rock that surrounded her. Once done with that, Jeffery released Herah from their Presence and began to hover just above her head. Herah offered a thanks to Jeffery, who sent her images of a thumbs up and a worried looking Rouge. Sending the pencil a mental okay, Herah looked back at Max who bowed deeply to her and began to apologize in rapid fashion.

"I'm so sorry for what Alex did to you."

"Max no ne-"

"I knew I shouldn't have left you two alone together."

"Max please yo-"

"I tried to come the moment I felt your emotions go haywire, but bro had done something weird with his gift so every time I tried to enter I would end up on the opposite side of the clearing."

"Max you did nothing-"

"The only reason I even made it in here was because Jeffery did this weird thing with his, I guess Presence, which allowed for him to just enter with me following shortly afterward. And then we came across you and the sight was absolutely terrifying, and I didn't know what to do, then I saw red, and I felt so, so , ang-"

"MAX!"

The human in question paused and tilted her head up to look at Herah.

"Yeah?"

"Don't apologize to me for anything your brother does, those are his actions and his actions alone. You don't need to take the blame for him." Herah told her, before rising to her feet and gesturing for Max to do the same.

"Ok." Max said, just before standing up to her full height and looking at Herah with a small smile.

"Oh and something else as well."

"Yeah?" Max asked, with a curious tilt of her head.

"Thanks for that by the way. You know, kicking your brother's ass and all of that for me."

This only caused for Max's smile to deepen, before playfully punching Herah in the arm that still had scales and saying,

"Of course, can't just let my bro go around hurting my friend/ fuck buddy without repercussions." Max's eyes flashed to behind Herah, "And is Owen passed out?"

Herah turned back to the gnome and found him laying flat first on his face. Herah strained all of her senses to make sure that Owen was okay and figured that the gnome had most likely passed out in fear when seeing all of the blood that Alex bled from Max pinning him to the tree.

"Well if he, is wake him up. It's time to talk over our plan, which means I'm gonna need a bit more information on you Herah."

Herah turned back to Alex and found him standing casually with all of his wounds now healed, though his clothes were still ripped and had blood staining them. Alex wore an expression that showed both displeasure and confusion towards Herah. Alex stood before Herah with seemingly no issue as a single sentence of his rung throughout her brain.

'And there is nothing you can do stop me.'

Herah looked back at Alex and felt shame, rage, and, most importantly, fear.

'How the ash am I supposed to beat you, if all it takes is a word for you to beat me?'

Herah used a quick flame to burn away all of the liquids that coated her face and began to speak about her capabilities.

"I can lift nearly 500,000 tons, can run over 200 m/s, and react, see, and follow at speeds 58 times faster than the speed of sound. I can fly even faster than I run, going up to Mach 88 though I usually stay around 58 because afterward it gets harder to control."

"Interesting," Alex said while rubbing his chin before giving her another wide smile that made her flinch once again.

'Is it even possible?'

Alex seis méfitig

After that Herah had told Alex her physical capabilities and about her gift. Following that conversation, Alex and Owen came up with a plan with occasional insight from both Herah and Max, then everyone got to work doing what they needed to do. During this time no apology ever came from Alex, and the Max gave no replies to any of Alex's attempts to speak with her. On the other hand, Herah and Max spent the time getting to know each other better.

Herah now knew that Max's favorite color was red, she once lost a bet to a goddess by the name of Hathor and ended up drinking a bucket of cow sperm (Herah did not need to learn that one), that both her and her brother owned a flag making company, and other random things about Max's life.

The previous night, Herah got to experience a few memories of Max's, the youngling's personal favorite being one of Max and Alex fighting each other over a red velvet cookie as toddlers. The fight had ended with Max suffering through some type of drug trip and with Alex lying in a pool of his own vomit with a monstrous migraine.

That last part brought Herah a very special sense of happiness.

It was now the very early morning of the day of the Oni attack. A cool wind blew through the clearing that Herah, Jeffery, Alex, and Max currently resided in, but Herah was unbothered by this. In fact, Herah was spending this time attempting to meditate with the words her father had taught her for it many years previous.

'Clear your mind of anything not your own.'

Herah sat nude a few feet away from the Donneur de Frêne with Jeffery floating over her in their own dreamlike state, waiting for Herah to fall asleep and cuddle with them as usual. Herah took in a deep breath, and used the gathered air as fuel for the fire that had crawled up her throat and now stewed within her mouth gathering heat. As this happened, Herah deafened her hearing to the sounds of the twins breathing and Owen's smithing. Herah also forced the feeling of Max's own emotions down until they were unnoticeable so that only her thoughts and feelings were in her head.

'Focus on your emotions.'

Herah allowed for herself to disregard all thoughts that weren't focused on her feelings, and found that at the very moment tremendous amounts of rage, fear, and shame filled her. As Herah focused on these emotions, the youngling also willed the red flames in her mouth to seep from between her lips, through her nose, and out of her ears. This was followed by the red fire engulfing her body.

'Now grab these feelings and allow for them to overtake you.'

Herah didn't have to open her eyes to know that the flames around her were beginning to change color. First, the fire was red, then orange, then yellow, then green, then blue, then indigo, before finally settling on violet. As the flames changed color, they also grew in heat. Which meant by the time Herah's fire rested on the last color, the surrounding grass had already been turned to ash and had its ashes burnt away.

'Now stew in these emotions, ponder them and try to accept them. Only once done should your flame recede back into you.'

But before Herah could begin to do such a thing, her focus was broken by the feeling of a stick poking her in the head. Annoyed and knowing of who poked her, Herah retaliated towards the stick wielder.

WHAM!

CRACK!

"Dammit! That hurt."

With her right fist still out in front of her the air and her body still shrouded in violet fire, Herah popped open a single eye and found herself greeted by the site of Alex looking a bit ruffed up.

Alex was laying against the only other damaged redwood tree that bordered the clearing with the Donneur de Frêne, wearing nothing but a pair of green boxers, which allowed Herah to get a better look at his body. While clearly nowhere close to Herah's own fitness, Alex had a noticeable hint of muscles covering his body that did nothing to detract from his overall gender-neutral look. Alex (with his hair down once again) glared back at Herah as a bit of blood dripped from his mouth and a bruise began to form on his left cheek.

"The fuck do you want?" Herah asked Alex in a severely aggravated, yet slightly shaky tone while taking her newly reassembled braid (courtesy of Max) from in front in between her breast to behind her back.

Alex continued to glare back at Herah in silence for a few seconds before losing his glare and letting out a sigh.

"I've finished pondering on what I was going to do about your offer."

Alex's words caused Herah to flinch as the memory of what happened to her after returning to him with Max came to mind. Shaking these memories away, Herah lost her glare and instead gave Alex a serious stare while subconsciously feeling nervous of what his reply might be.

"And?"

Alex got up and walked up to Herah before sitting just out of the reach of her flame shroud. Alex let out another sigh before looking away from Herah and speaking under his breath.

"I'm sorry for what I did Herah, it was cruel and outta line and you really did little to deserve it. So, does your offer still stand?"

Herah blinked at Alex at a few times before saying the only words that could come to her head at the moment.

"Can, can you repeat that?"

"No. Fuck you."

"Fuck you too then!"

"Sorry, I don't screw animals."

"Apparently your sister does."

"I think it can be agreed upon that Max is a fucking weirdo."

"I know right, like your sister nonstop asks me the weirdest things about myself and my people."

"Like?"

"Do we poop and pee?"

"That is a weird thing to ask someone and should definitely be obvious."

"I know right? Like the Cendreux evolved outta creating excrement and urine a few generations before mine."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah," Herah said with a nod, "My generation now utilizes everything that goes into our bodies or pukes it out. Anything that makes it pass our stomach usually never makes it past the small intestines and if it does it's fully absorbed into our bodies before it makes it even a fourth of the way through our large intestines."

"You know ashbrain, you have a very interesting anatomy." Alex said with keen interest while tapping his nose, "I've always enjoyed learning about how the bodies of other's worked. I think it's weird all the shit that a body will do, and it's useful knowledge to have when my gift is concerned. I'd love to talk about yours more if you mind."

"Sure thing Alex and- Wait," Herah paused and blinked at Alex in confusion before pointing between the two of them, "What just happened?"

"What do you me-" Alex did the exact thing that Herah just did, before saying, "I- I think we just started a casual conversation."

"Yeah, I didn't figure we'd ever make small talk. It's weird."

"Yeah, weird." Alex began tapping his nose once again, allowing for the two to sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before snapping his fingers and saying, "Herah if we survive our battle with the Oni later today," Alex looked up to sky,"Judging by the placements of those definitely radiation filled clouds, I'll tell you about why I feel the way I do towards you." Alex shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe after that, we could try that friend thing out. Cool with that?"

"Hmph." Herah smirked at Alex, "Might as well tell me now then, because, as much as I hate to admit it, with that plan you and Owen created victory is certain for us."

"Ahahaha," A smile came to Alex's face, "It's an arrogant thing to presume you know the future."

"It's not arrogance. I'm just keying you in on something I know to be certain."

This got a hearty laugh from Alex, which the human then followed up with by getting up and walking over to one of the sleeping bags Herah had created for the group with her gift. Alex shimmed into his sleeping bag, and before closing his eyes told Herah,

"Do me a favor, go get Owen and tell him to go to sleep. And also don't forget to put that necklace he made for you on, it's vital to our plan."

"Sure thing." Herah replied before standing up and allowing for a smirk to come to her face, "Night asshole."

"Night ashbrain."

Herah walked out of the clearing and towards the forging noise that hadn't slowed in tempo since it started late yesterday night. After about a few minutes of walking, Herah emerged into another clearing created by Owen and Max, with the addition of herself helping this time.

The clearing was pretty similar to the one the Donneur de Frêne sat in, with one exception: there was no tree in the center. Instead, the clearing had a few of Owen's creations strewn about and laid everywhere haphazardly. Herah walked passed a pile of silver skulls that which was relieved of one of its many heads, jumped over a pile of bracelets that Owen had deemed imperfect, and skirted around several golden necklaces that Herah remembered Owen telling her were liable to explode if touched the wrong way. Once past all of this, Herah found Owen hammering away at something on his anvil, the forge that had previously sat in the center of the clearing missing.

"Gotta get this right Owen, can't mess this up."

CLANG!

"One of your new friends might die."

CLANG!

"It would be all of your fault."

CLANG!

"Don't think about all those who are going to die tomorrow."

CLANG!

"It's not your fault."

CLANG!

"It's you or them."

CLANG!

"Let their deaths be quick and merciful, please Norwe."

CLANG!

"Give them that mercy."

CLANG!

"I don't want to die."

CLANG!

"I don't want anyone to die."

CLANG!

"Mother Reese give me stre-"

"Owen," Herah called out to the gnome, interrupting him mid-word and strike.

"Oh, I didn't notice you there Herah. How can I help you?" Owen said, looking up from his anvil with a pair of welding goggles over his eyes and black gloves on his hands. The gnome also wore an apron, that smelled of coal, oil, and a variety of metals to Herah. The same could be said for Owen in general at the moment. Feeling her mouth water slightly, Herah shook her head and walked up to Owen. Smiling slightly Herah leaned down until her face was right before his and tapped him on one of his goggle lenses.

"Can you see me well with those on?"

"Nope, you're just the only person I know that can be on fire and as tall as you are. Let me take these off real quick." Owen reached up to his goggles and ripped them off of his head along with his hat allowing for Herah to see his hair in its now dirty and messy state. "Now with those off, what did yo- you- your- WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES?"

Owen looked away from Herah as quickly as possible with a blush dusting his cheeks, though the youngling noticed him give her a few quick glances. Herah smirked at this and began to taunt Owen.

"They're back in the clearing, why do you ask?" Herah said in faux innocence, rocking her body just enough to make her breast jiggle from side to side

"Well put them on! You shouldn't just walk around naked!" Owen proclaimed, giving Herah a few more side glances which caused him to blush even harder.

"Why not? Am I making you uncomfortable?" Herah asked, still playing up an innocent act while rocking even harder from side to side.

"Yes you are, now will you please put some clothes on?" Owen said sounding even more embarrassed, stealing a few more side glances from Herah and blushing even harder.

Herah appeared to ponder this for a few moments before shaking her head and saying,

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because I came to tell you to go to sleep, it's early morning and you need your rest."

"Really, I never noticed."

"Yeah, about that," Herah rose to her full height and gestured for Owen to follow her, his tiny and soft footsteps signaling his compliance. "What were you working on?"

"Just a little something that might help you out with your side of the plan tomorrow."

Herah perked up at this.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it should- A-A-ACHOO!" Herah heard Owen rub his nose, "Stupid allergies. They make me nervous."

"Why?"

"Because it makes me think about the changing seasons back on my homeworld since whenever spring comes around another war tends to start."

"Between who?"

"The Fae and the Trolls. Both sides usually come to us gnomes to create weaponry. I've always hated how my people tend to supply those meaningless battles. It's why I rarely ever create weapons for either side, usually enchanted armor and gear to keep them alive."

"Like the stuff you made for us."

"Yeah, it makes me feel like instead profiting off the deaths of others I'm profiting off of the survival of those who buy from me."

"You do realize you're doing both either way, right?"

Herah heard Owen scoff at her words.

"Of course I do, I've been doing it for a few centuries now. I just tell myself that so as to not feel as bad as I know I should."

"Speaking of feeling bad, what was that about before I arrived?"

Owen, still looking away from Herah while stealing glances towards her, let out a sigh and asked Herah a question.

"Will you not look down on me if I answer your question?"

"Of course not."

"I'm afraid."

"That makes sense. Of what exactly?"

"Dying. You guys dying. The Oni dying. Death."

"All rational fears, but don't worry about them too much. Stress won't do you any good later today."

"I know, I know, but- It's just-" Owen threw his hands into the air in frustration, "I don't like the options I have."

"Do tell me," Herah said, turning her head back so as to look at Owen.

"We either let the Oni walk up and destroy the Donneur de Frêne, which is likely to end up with the four of us dead and our universes all the more likely to be destroyed. We could fight and lose, which would end with all four of us dead and our universes more likely to be destroyed. Or we could fight and win, which would end with the death of the Oni. None of these options have happy endings. Two leaves us closer to the annihilation of our homes, one ends up with us dead, and one leaves us as assistance in the genocide of a species. All of them make us selfish assholes." Owen turned his head towards Herah, making direct eye contact as his fingers twiddled together. "How are you so calm about this, do you not care?"

"Of course I care. It's just that I care a lot more about my family, my mistress, and all of those that La Flamme loves a lot more than I do the Oni. And in my eyes, I can make that trade without problem because though I'm damning an entire race, I'm also protecting what I love. And that's a lot more important in my eyes."

Herah faced her head back forward, and the pair walked in silence until they reached their home clearing. Once there, Herah turned back around to face Owen, who immediately averted his gaze once Herah did that.

"Owen I don't have anything to say that might make you not feel bad about what's going to happen tomorrow and even if I could I wouldn't tell them to you. Why? Because you should feel bad about what's going to occur, all those who die had things they wanted to do, dreams they hoped to achieve, and probably someone or something they loved. What you gotta do is be able to look past all that, however, and instead see that you no lesser of who you were before for it."

Owen nodded at Herah's words solemnly and began making his way towards his sleeping bag. But before Owen could pass Herah, the youngling set a hand on his shoulder. Bending her knees until at the same height as the gnome, Herah offered Owen a kind smile and said,

"But I can alleviate your fear of your own and the deaths of everyone else on our team. Why? Because I promise you that we will all make it past tomorrow."

"How do you know that? There is no possible way for you to know that."

"Because you and Alex made an airtight plan, and I trust in you enough to know that even if it goes wrong we'll still make it through."

"Really?"

"Really, now head off to bed. You need to be well and rested for tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah I do need some sleep." Owen said nodding to himself with a happy little smile on his face. Owen then walked to his sleeping bag and got in, and told Herah a quick thanks before quickly falling to sleep.

After a few moments, Herah returned to her spot in front of the Donneur de Frêne and let out a yawn.

"Did you tell the two of them that you trusted in their plan to alleviate any worries they might have or to alleviate your own?"

Herah turned to look at Max, who had been laying against the Donneur de Frêne the entire time.

"What do you mean?"

"While you believe what you say is true, you still have the tiniest bits of doubt in this plan they have devised, don't you?" Max told Herah with a smile, now wearing one of Herah's old shirts (That was too big for her) and an old pair of Herah's underwear, "Thanks for sleepwear by the way."

"No problem and you should already know the answer to your question, shouldn't you Max?"

"True enough," Max said with a quick nod, "But, I'd love to hear my thoughts confirmed."

"Then yes, I still somewhat doubt their plan." Herah smiled at Max before nonchalantly stating, "But I'm pretty sure it'll work so it won't bother me too much. Think you can do what you got to do tomorrow?"

Herah noticed no visible change in Max's demeanor, but with a quick scan of their link to each other Herah knew that Max was feeling conflicted. It was only after going through a torrent of emotions that Herah felt Max settle onto one.

Acceptance.

Nodding at Max's nonverbal answer, Herah asked her another question.

"Anything else you want to know before I head off to sleep? Meditation was sorta a bust."

"Why did you feel so ashamed when you saw Jeffery after Alex had attacked you?"

This caused Herah to flinch before looking down and thinking back to when Jeffery had appeared after Alex's attack. It took a few moments, but Herah lifted her head up and asked Max a question.

"I haven't told you about how Jeffery works yet, have I?"

"Nope."

Herah then walked up to Max and sat right in front of her. Letting out a sigh, Herah then began speaking in a somewhat uncaring tone.

"Jeffery will only ever interfere in a situation without my calling of them for two reasons, and for two reasons only." Herah brought up her left hand, "Because they think they might have a bit of fun." Herah raised her right hand, "Or they think that there is no possible outcome to a situation where I win." Herah's voice became bitter and angry, "Guess Jeffery's reasoning for last time."

Max didn't say a word, instead, the human reached over to Herah and patted her on the shoulder while smiling at her. Herah returned Max's smile somewhat, before letting out another sigh.

"Seeing Jeffery was like a slap in the face. It told me just how far above me Alex truly was."

"Why do you want to beat my brother so much? Is it because you don't like the fact that he has such control over you?"

Herah shook her head no.

"At first, it was because I thought Alex was an asshole and I wanted revenge for the stabbing. During the fight to determine the leader, it was because I couldn't stand the thought of following someone who lost all of their will to fight so easily. After that, I wanted to prove to him that I wasn't just fodder to be rid of or a useless part of our team. But now," Herah raise her right fist up and stared at it intently, "After that little show of his gift, I want to defeat your brother to prove to myself that I'm still strong, that I'm not weak, and that I'm not just something to be used then discarded. I want to prove to myself that I can stand on my own, and the only way to do that is to beat him. Whether Alex likes it or not, I now consider him my rival and will continue to do such until either I'm dead or I've beaten him."

"Well Herah, allow for me to alleviate one of your fears. You're not weak at all, in fact, you're pretty fucking powerful. Bro just has more advantages than you, and those aren't impossible to overcome. I know you can beat him and if I can, I'll be there when it happens, so I can laugh at his face alongside you. He's been in need of an attitude adjustment for a while now, it'd be even cooler if it was because of you."

Herah chuckled and smiled at Max once again.

"Thanks, any more questions."

"Just one more."

"Ok, what is it?"

"You down for some spooning, it's a bit chilly tonight and you're the hottest thing around."

Herah began to answer Max's question but paused once a realization hit her. Herah's shroud of fire had receded. Smiling once again, more to herself than anyone else Herah gave Max her answer.

"Nah, Jeffery might get jealous."