Maxine enjoyed her day with Emily and baby Sarah. Although she hadn't enjoyed changing Sarah's dirty diaper one bit. The only upside was that Amanda had been feeding the little tike properly and it wasn't as a foul smelling experience as it could have. Still, it brightened her day when the baby giggled and smiled while she played with Maxine's hair. 

She smiled fondly at the day's activities before she remembered she needed to talk to Hellen and Guan. With a quick extention of her spiritual sense, she contacted Hellen, [Mom, can I ask you something?]

[Yes, of course, you can,] Hellen answered.

[Is it a good idea to have a baby while the Shadow Lords are watching me?] Maxine asked. I need to know what their responses might be and Hellen has far more expereince dealing with Shadow Lords than I do.

[I don't think it would matter if you had one or not while they are watching you or not,] Hellen answered, [You are the closest to the Shadow Queen to have ever been born and even if you do not become this Shadow Queen, they will undoubtedly believe that at least one of your children will be. Thus no matter what you do, they will always be watching both you and any children that you may have.]

[I wouldn't let them mess with my kids,] Maxine growled fiercely.

[You may not have a choice, but I would still love to see some grand children being born,] Hellen said, [And like you, I would rather die again than let those pieces of filth get even close to them. But unlike me, you have a powerful family member to help protect any children that you may have. However, all of this isn't a worry if the Shadow Lords don't know about it when you decide to get pregnant.]

[What do you mean? How can I get pregnant without them being aware of it?] Maxine asked, [Those jerks practically have me under surveillance every milisecond of the day.]

[There are places where they have no eyes or ears at all such as the room Orianna stays in or one of the worlds Guan has suggested that you flee to if things go badly. One of those places would be an ideal place for you to become pregnant and you could use another one to hide at to raise your children,] Hellen said and her tone became morose, [Although, anywhere you raise your children will be away from Emily and myself. It will be far safer for any children you may have that way.]

[That it would be, but I won't do that to Emily. She deserves to be there,] Maxine answered, [That's why I will take her with me when I flee. Afterall, they could very easily use her to get me to come out of hiding and I wouldn't put it past them to do that either.] That's assuming she even agrees to go into hiding with me. She has friends and family here on Earth. It's a lot ot ask of her to abandon everything like that. 

[Hmm, that is a very good point, but won't that complicate matters? Finding one person is quite hard when they are determined to stay hidden,] Hellen advised, [Two are another matter. It increases the chances of discovery by several fold and if I'm not mistaken, Emily doesn't have any talents at disguise.]

[You're right. She doesn't, but there are a few potions and herbs that can remedy that,] Maxine countered.

[Maxine, those only work against people that are not aware of them,] Guan interrupted, [It will only delay them by a few years at most.]

[A few years is all either of us will need and who would be willing to hire a mid-level alchemist to pick her out of a crowd? At least, not for as long as it would take them to search several planets,] Maxine retorted, [It would cost them too much.]

[You would be surprised at the length that they are willing to go to find their Shadow Queen. They even had the gall to threaten me to stay out of their business concerning you,] Guan said in an almost bored tone, [Although after what I did, I don't think they will be so foolish as to try something so foolish a second time. I killed the fool that dared to threaten me with his false power and I sent his corpse, or what was left of it, with my answer. I imagine they will recieve it any day now and they will understand why no one threatens me.] 

[What did you do?] Maxine and Hellen asked at the same time.

[Nothing too harsh. When they open the casket, a plague will be unleashed that will only effect immortal stage cultivators. It will heavily damage their cultivation to the point that it will require centuries and a few rare resources to repair that damage,] Guan answered callously, [I could have made it a lethal plague, but your mother asking me to stop killing so much.] Fuck... I'm glad I'm his daughter and not his enemy. Even when he's being merciful, he's vicious.

She felt more than heard Hellen sigh through their spiritual sense connection before she said. [Well, I suppose that's an improvement from your usual response.]

[And what exactly is his usual response?] Maxine asked tenatively. I think I already know the answer, but it's better to hear it straight from him. God I hope it isn't as bad as I think it is.

[He would have sent a lethal poison that would kill everyone within several hundred miles by causing their very flesh to dissolve starting with their skin.  By the end of it, everyong effected by that poison would turn into a bloody puddle of goo and that can take weeks. I've heard it's one of the worst ways to die,] Hellen answered.  I was wrong. It was way worse.

[Jesus,] was the only thing Maxine could say in response.

[Indeed, but I think his most recent form of retaliation will be more effective. I can't think of anyone that wants to loose centuries of their cultivation when it could have been avoided,] Hellen continued, [But enough of that. How has your visit on Earth been?]

[Great, I got to hold Amanda's baby, Sarah, with Emily at Amanda and Chris academy. We couldn't eat out like we wanted, but the cafeteria served a really good turkey burger,] Maxine recounted, [It got very interesting when Chris got back from teaching his new recruits. He was quite surprise to see me and Emily tending to his baby girl. It was so funny to watch him fuss over her. I just hope he doesn't spoil her too much when she's older.]

[I wished I could have seen that,] Hellen said with amusement and asked as an afterthought, [Have you visited Silky and Claudia yet?]

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[Not yet, but when they discharge me tomorrow, I intend to go straight home. I plan on making them something to eat for dinner. I just hope my cooking skills havn't gotten rusty,] Maxine said happily.

[I might join you for dinner then. Your father isn't exactly a good cook. He can at most cook meat over a fire and steam vegetables. It would do me good to spend time with you too,] Hellen said.

[Are you serious?] Maxine asked incredulously, [I thought you would need months of rehab.]

[Hardly, remember a cultivator's mind works thousands of times faster than a normal humans when they reach my level. A few days is all I need to relearn how to walk, but I may need another week before I'm coordinated enough to fight,] Hellen explained.

Maxine laughed joyously before she said, [Great, I will be sure to make extra for you. Do you have any requests?]

[Surprise me,] Hellen said.

[Alright, I will think of something especially good,] Maxine replied as she got comfortable in her medical pod and remembered something, [Oh! Daddy are you still listening?]

[I am now,] Guan answered, [What is it?]

[Do you know how Karos Two and Zanatel Four keep track of their population?] Maxine asked. Every last bit of information she could get her hands on before she got to either Karos two or Zanatel four.

[Hmm, Karos Two's humans are very thorough. Fingerprint, DNA and retinal scans are encoded onto their identifications. It's rather advanced considering their technological level, but they feel that they have to do this. There is a sizeable population of other humaniods on that planet and not all of them are friendly. They refer those other species as Orcs, Elves and Demihumans. Orcs are an extremely aggressive species of green skinned humaniods, but they have a strict honor code that keeps their aggression in check. Elves, on the other hand, don't like humans much and only grudgingly interact with them when they need something. Otherwise they stick to their own kind and attack anyone fiercely that trespasses into their territory with bows and hurled energy attacks. Demihumans, or as you know them beastkin, are the most peaceful and only fight when attacked. Although that doesn't stop humans from calling them violent and vicious creatures,] Guan explained, [As for Zanetel Four, they don't have anything fancy. You could walk into any city and get identification papers within a day assuming that you have the coin for it. But there was a bit of interesting activity when I was there last. However, there was one large nation actively conquering the others. I believe it's the one that was most progressive in the hunt for cultivators.]

[I'm confused. Why are cultivators on Karos Two called heros if the population is so closely monitored? Wouldn't it make keeping their identities secret an impossibility?] Maxine asked.

[That's because they don't conceal their identities at all. They are called heros simply because they are the first to charge into battle to fend off anything foolish enough to attack one of their fortified cities. More often than not, they use their very bodies as shields for the non-combatants. That is why they are called 'heros',] Guan explained, [Did you honestly expect them to dress themselves in colorful costumes to conceal their identities so that they could fight against petty criminals?]

[Umm, sort of,] Maxine answered and heard Guan's uproarous laughter in the next moment. She was so stunned to hear his laugh that she didn't know how to react to it. Ever since she first talked to him, he didn't seem like the sort of man to laugh, ever.

[It's not that funny,] Maxine complained after a couple seconds.

[It's not that,] Guan said while stifling his laughter, [Your mother just sent me a mental image of you in a 'Squirrel Girl' costume. It was quite hilarious.]

[MOM!] Maxine shouted indignantly and finally sensed that Hellen was laughing too. Maxine almost began protesting again, but let it go. It was a rare moment to hear both of her biological parents laugh, even if it was through her male clone. 

[Don't tease others if you can't take it yourself,] Hellen teased Maxine.

[I can take being teased, but I'm just not used to you doing it. It felt weird and caught me off guard. That's all,] Maxine admitted.

[It's all in good fun,] Hellen said and for some reason, she changed the subject, [Is there anything else you need to ask us?]

[Yes, there is. Daddy, are there any large snakes on Karos two or Zanatel four?] Maxine asked. I could always try to dominate the mind of a large serpent-type beast to be my bodyguard if I'm pregnant when I flee. Most cultivators don't want to mess with snakes at all for no more reason than even their blood is sometimes contains contact poison. It's a nasty way to die. Even guys a full stage above the snakes don't like messing with them for that simple reason.

[There should be some on both worlds. Although Karos Two has a much larger variety of them. They have at least twenty thousand varieties of snakes and three of those are hydras,] Guan said, [Are you planning on hiding out with a community of snakes? It shouldn't be a problem if that's the case. They rarely attack anyone with a snake bloodline.] 

[I didn't know that,] Maxine answered, [But why did a lamia show hostility to me before?] Her intention was along those lines, but her plan was to create a construct around herself to make it appear that she was a type of large snake. Fortunately, Guan had just told her otherwise. It would have been a strain on her mental and physical energies to maintain it. This way she could hide out with a community of snakes instead of with humans if she had to.

[Lamia's lack the special scent receptors on their tongues that are able to distinguish bloodlines. Gorgons on the other hand have them, but only on the serpent-like hair growing out of their heads,] Guan said, [On a side note, I am curious as to why you havn't tested out your full hydra form yet. From what Hellen has told me, you seem rather keen on knowing the full capabilities of your transformations.]

[I don't have a full hydra form,] Maxine answered. If I do have that transformation, I don't know how to access it. Although, if I'm going to be honest with myself, I don't think I would ever use even if I could. I never liked the idea of having multiple heads. 

[Yes, you do. I know this because I do,] Guan said knowingly, [Although, I don't use it much. The strength it provides can be... intoxicating and I perfer to have my mind clear when I fight.]

[I'm the same way,] Maxine agreed, [Did you have to have some sort of trigger to transform?]

[Nothing that I can recall. I could just do it after I completely absorbed the Twelve-Headed Hydra King bloodline,] Guan replied, [Although it took me a couple weeks to do able to do it at will.]

[I might not be able to do it at all because of my lower cultivation,] Maxine offered.

[Hmmm, that might be the case,] Guan agreed, [Regardless, it's a problem for another time.]

[Thanks for talking with me, daddy,] Maxine said happily, [You've helped me lessen a few of my worries.]

[It's the least I could do for not being there while you grew up,] Guan answered, [The Maker knows I wish I could do more to make it up to you.]

[I know, daddy,] Maxine answered understandingly, [I need to get some sleep now. Take care of mom.]

[I will Maxine. Go get some rest then. Good night,] Guan said in a loving tone before he severed the spiritual sense connection.

She leaned back to try to sleep, but she couldn't sleep. She was too excited about tomorrow to sleep. She was going to see Hellen in the flesh. She tried to calm herself down by telling herself that she has talked to Hellen numberous times in the past, but it didn't get very far. It was incomparable to talk with someone through spiritual sense compared to talking face to face.

But most of all, she kept wondering how Claudia and Silky would react to seeing Hellen. Although Maxine had explained about Hellen's existence to Claudia, she didn't think that her birth mother understood her entirely. It was difficult to explain how Hellen's soul was still in the land of the living at all. That didn't even cover the nightmare that was explaining Hellen's ressurection. She didn't even know where to start.

Silky, on the other hand, would most likely hug tackle Hellen, hopefully not in her arachne form. It would be her normal reaction due to her very affectionate nature. The mental image of that scene alone brought a smile to Maxine's face. Regardless, she kept trying to think of ways to explain things to both of them, but she ended up tiring herself out very quickly. Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep.