Maxine spent the next couple weeks training with Horatio Quay and spent her free time with the serpentfolk. She found out that the young marilith boy was in fact Ka'leth's son and that his name was called La'tren. However no matter how often she came by to teach songs to all of the other serpentfolk children, Ka'tren not once joined in. She didn't put much mind to it since he often complimented a few of the young lamia on their singing skill. But, before she realized it, it was the day that Orianna and Maxwell were going to arrive.

"We won't be training today," Horatio Quay said to her as soon as Maxine exited her cottage, "With your sister arriving today, I doubt you would be able to concentrate enough for it to be worth either of our time. So we should just go to the southern entrance since your sister and her husband will be arriving within the hour."

"How do you know when they will arrive?" Maxine asked while narrowing her eyes in suspicion. I just found out yesterday the exact time of their arrival by talking to Orianna. I wasn't sure she would be able contact me through our special link. In any case, I'm just happy I will get to see her again.

"I was informed," Horatio Quay replied, "I had told the faculty nearly a month ago that I was taking on a student as a favor for an old friend and asked them to inform me when they were going to arrive."

"And you didn't tell me this earlier, because?" Maxine asked in irratation.

"I didn't see a point to and I thought you would simply know once she was close enough," Horatio Quay answered, "If I'm not mistaken, that is how the special link between twins typically works."

"It isn't. I'm only aware of where she is when I concentrate," Maxine answered calmly, "But I will instantly know if she gets injured."

"Interesting," Horatio Quay said with a smile, "Well, we may as well go to the southern entrance and wait for them." He didn't wait for Maxine's reply before taking off. Maxine shrugged and quickly followed behind.

Maxine felt a powerful urge to race towards the southern entrance at top speed, but she resisted that urge since she knew that it would still be some time before they arrived. It would've been a waste of energy. Still she felt anxious about seeing Orianna again and barely noticed when Ismena and Reina flew up beside her.

"Maxine, are you okay?" Ismena asked.

"Yeah, I'm just a bit anxious," Maxine admitted.

"Is this about seeing your si... I mean, your master's daughter?" Reina asked.

"Yes, and just drop the pretense. Only idiots havn't figured out out who I am at this point," Maxine complained angrily. She had noticed in the past week that everyone, including the dragon clan, started treating her with far more care than they used to. Afterall, everyone in the Alliance knows just how cruel her father could be to those that would dare to harm his family. Well, there goes the idea of picking a fight if I get particularly pissed off and need to vent.

"I won't apologize," Horatio Quay commented, "I've been doing this for your benefit. Your father's enemies will eventually come for you and this way you know that they are coming. As for those that are too powerful for you to face, I will deal with them."

"Thank you so much for that," Maxine said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Horatio Quay replied with amusment. Asshole.

They had to land next to the southern entrance. To anyone that didn't know better, it may have seemed easier to simply fly over it, but that would've resulted in a very painful lesson. She discovered through Ismena and Reina that a special array had been placed within the academy walls that would violently force any being flying using energy to the ground before they could fly over it. She, like many others, had no desire to discover just how violently it performed it's task.

She saw a few other people waiting outside the southern entrance as she walked through it. Many of them were people that she saw when she first arrived. However this time, she knew why they were present. They were various representatives of groups within the academy to assess the newcomers. Hmm, now that I think about it, it seems odd that they didn't approach me. Perhaps it was because Piras Long was with me.

Maxine saw movement out of the corner of her eye and saw a pair of harpies walking forward. However, one of them had clawed hands along with pair wings spread out from her back. Some of them have arms along with wings?! I didn't know that. I guess it makes sense in a way. There have to be a wider variety of flying beastkin considering the snake-type beastkin have several variations. But unlike the gorgons, harpies have men amongst their kind. It's just that there are more females than males. They both looked at Maxine before nodding and facing foward.

The remaining time until Orianna and Maxwell's arrival seemed to pass within the blink of an eye. It wasn't until she saw Horatio Quay look up towards the sky that she realized they had arrived. She followed his gaze and saw a small speck of silver that was gradually getting larger. It was a bullet shaped ship with small wings jutting out each of it's sides and it's landing gear was slowly being lowered.

Once it landed, a door on the side of it opened up as a ramp slowly extended out of the ship. She saw Maxwell exit first. She made a mental note that he had gained some muscle since she last saw him.

Unconsciously, Maxine glanced to the harpies and saw both of them straighten up and push out their chests. She glanced behind her to check on something and saw Ismena and Reina acting very shy. What's going on? Whatever it is, they better stop before Orianna sees this shit. I do not need to deal with calming down my yandere sister.

"You best push any thoughts of courting him out of your mind, ladies," Maxine announced, "His wife is VERY possessive."

"How would you know that?" the claw handed harpy asked.

"Because his wife is my twin sister," Maxine admitted. I don't see any harm in announcing it now. My asshole of a teacher might as well have shouted it from the rooftops with how loose his lips are. They looked disappointed, but it didn't stop them from looking at him longingly. I really need to figure out why they are all attracted to him. He didn't cause this kind of stir on Earth. So what changed?

When Maxwell was halfway down the ramp, Orianna made her appearance. Maxine was slightly surprised when she saw that Orianna's hair was shorter than her own. It reached jupst past her shoulders. She had thought Orianna would share her preference of keeping long hair, but she understood why she wouldn't. Long hair requires a lot of time and energy to keep groomed. Regardless, she was still very happy to see her sister.

"Revert your transformation," Horatio Quay said in reminder from behind Maxine, "You can't exactly give her a hug with those quills and claws out."

Maxine wasn't paying much attention to him as she walked through the crowd. Thankfully, the crowd parted for her so she wouldn't have to push her way through. At the moment that Orianna's eyes locked onto her, she began to revert her transformation. However she didn't stop at her shadow queen form. She continued until she returned to her base form. Now aside from Maxine having longer hair and it being a different color, the two of them looked identical.

"Sister!" Orianna shouted joyfully as she rushed down the ramp and embraced Maxine just as Maxine breached the crowd, "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too," Maxine said happily as she returned her sister's hug, but when she looked over Orianna's shoulder, she went rigid. She saw Meagan, and Alice walking down the ramp with a man wearing heavy armor. She didn't even need to think about it to know that the armored man was Patrick. What are they doing here? There were a couple dozen more men and women exiting the ship that wore an insignia on their shoulders. She saw the same insignia on Patrick's shield. Oh, so he's taken up the job of a mercenary. But why come here? Most of the jobs posted are taken up by the students.

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"Oh, you noticed them?" Orianna asked as she released Maxine from the hug and she immediately looked irratated, "They are looking for work as mercenaries and insisted that they come with us. I told them not to bother since the students here usually claim most, if not all, contracts here."

"You're not wrong," Maxine agreed.

"Do you have any need of them?" Orianna asked.

"Not at the moment," Maxine replied, "But in any case, you're here to take the entrance exam right?"

"Yeah, but for someone like me, they said they would send a teacher to evaluate me," Orianna said, "But Maxwell has to go through some kind of test to be taught here. Do you know what it is?"

"Yeah, I do," Maxine said and she turned to Maxwell, "Do you see that big circle over there with all the wierd symbols on it? That's an illusion array that's programmed with the martial entrance exam. Just a heads up, be prepared for a tough series of fights."

During their conversation, Patrick, Meagan and Alice were all looking at Maxine as if she were a ghost. Maxine couldn't blame them since from their persective she had been dead for more than five years. Meagan was the first of the trio to recover.

"What the hell is going on? Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Meagan asked.

"I was dead," Maxine replied, "If my father hadn't expended a mountain of precious resources, I would've remained that way. Even still I ended up suffering from temporary memory loss as a side-effect. So in other words, I didn't know who I was until a short time ago when my memories started to slowly return."

"It would've been better if you stayed dead," Meagan said coldly.

"Meagan, that was uncalled for," Maxwell admonished Meagan.

"I don't care," Meagan snapped, "You were there with me at her funeral. You saw how much it hurt Patrick when she 'died.' Her coming back is just another emotional trial on him!"

"I can speak for myself," Patrick said interrupted in a calm voice, "And Meagan is right. It caused me a lot of pain when I heard that you died. It took me years to get over your death, and seeing you here, alive, is a bit of a shock. For everyone. So could you give us some time before we talk this out?"

"I'm fine with talking with the others, but not you," Maxine said coldly and when Patrick had a look of confusion on his face, she added, "Don't think I wasn't aware of how you publicly denounced me once you found out about who my real father was. I havn't forgotten about that. So stay away from me, Patrick." Maxine immediatley turned around and began to walk away.

"Maxine, wait!" Orianna shouted out as she chased after Maxine and Maxine stopped to hear what her sister had to say, "Can you forgive him? Please?"

"I don't think I can, but I will try," Maxine said, "Sorry for making a scene."

"It's okay," Orianna said comfortingly, "You've got every right to be angry with him. But if you really want to make it up to me and Max, you can take us to the best restraunt you know and pay for everything."

"Deal," Maxing said with a smile, "Alice can join us as well if the academy will allow her to come in."

"They will," Horatio Quay chimed in, "In fact, they only restrict visitors from attending lessons or using the formation arrays. Otherwise they are free to roam about. How do you think clans are able to recruit unaffiliated talent from this place?"

"That answers that question," Maxine said.

"Just point us to the mercenary guild so we can get out of your hair," Patrick said and Maxine sent him the location of the mercenary guild via her spiritual sense, "Thanks. We'll meet up later if you feel like talking." Without further interuptions, Meagan, Patrick and the rest of their mercenary band, excluding Alice, left for the mercenary guild.

"This is awkward," Alice announced after a short silence.

"How about we get out of here and find that restraunt?" Maxine offered and gestured towards the crowd that was entertaining themselves by watching the drama unfold, "I for one do not enjoy being stared at."

"I second that," Alice agreed, "Lead on."

"I believe you are forgetting that those two need to take their entrance exams," Horatio Quay said as he gestured towards Orianna and Maxwell, "Just walk into that formation array young man. As for you young lady, you're examiner has just arrived and I made sure it was a woman ahead of time." As Horatio Quay was speaking, Maxine spotted the examiner, whom was a lamia. She had black hair and was wearing something similar to a summer dress.

"Thank you," Orianna said with a sincere tone.

"I'm Vellina Lucund. I'm here to test a young lady by the name of Orianna," the lamia examiner asked.

"That's me," Orianna stated, "So what do I need to do?"

"Use your music to effect my mind and I will score you accordingly," Velina answered.

"Alright," Orianna answered as a flute appeared in her hands and began to play it. Maxine had a hard time keeping her focus her thoughts as she listened. Oh, nice. I didn't realize Orianna's music could effect me to this degree and I'm not even her target. She forced herself to check on Maxwell, whom just walked into the illusion array meant to test his martial skills. She saw his blurry form moving with increasing speed while enveloped by a grey aura. Oh? It seems he's pushing himself.

"His footwork is garbage, but his blade skills show some promise," Horatio Quay commented, "He seems to want to kill his enemies in one hit every time through pure force. Such idiocy. He could get the same result with a little finesse and use far less of his stamina. And if I'm not mistaken he uses a technique very similar to yours."

"He probably learned the same technique that I was taught," Maxine replied casually.

"Undoubtedly," Horatio Quay complained, "He's going to wear himself out at this rate."

"What do you expect? He's from a relatively peaceful world and he's probably never been in a fight that left him completely exhausted before," Maxine explained.

"He still shouldn't waste so much of his energy," Horatio Quay complained, but a sadistic smile soon spread across his lips, "I will have to break him of all those bad habits. I wonder how long it will take." Poor Maxwell. He will find out how much of a hell it is to be under Horatio Quay's tutelage. I should give him a heads up.

"I have no idea, but he will learn to do better," Maxine said.

"Yes, he will," Orianna chimed in, "I passed by the way. I'm supposed to attend Ms. Lucund's classes tomorrow."

"That's great!" Maxine said happily, "Now all we have to do is wait on Max to finish up his test."

"What are you guys talking about?" Maxwell asked inbetween pants as sweat covered his face. He had just exited the illusion array.

"Oh, we were discussing your bad habits that showed up during your test and how our teacher intends to correct them," Maxine replied, "On a side note, I should warn you that his teaching methods are ... how do I put this? ... sadistically designed." Maxwell eyed Maxine with a disbelieving glare.

"It can't be that bad, can it?" Orianna asked.

"It's probably worse," Maxine said with a straight face. And Horatio Quay isn't even denying it.

"If you are done trying to scare the hell out of my brother, can we go get something to eat?" Alice asked in annoyance. I'm not trying to scare him. I'm trying to warn him, but if you don't want to believe me, that's fine. I did my part as his sister-in-law.

"Certainly, Ms. Adams," Turan said out of nowhere. Both Alice and Maxwell jumped back and readied their weapons. Both of them were staring daggers at Turan.

"What the shit!?" Alice and Maxwell yelled at the same time as they stared at Turan and Alice quickly added, "Where did he come from?"

"Beats me," Maxine answered, "He just appears whenever he feels like it." Alice, Maxwell and Orianna gave Maxine a wierd look.

"Whatever, but that prick is paying since he scared the hell out of us," Alice snapped as she put her bow away.

"Agreed," Maxwell said as he put his blades into his dimensional pouch.

"I don't mind. I was going to pay for the meal anyways," Turan said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Shall we?"

"Lead on, you pointy eared wierdo," Alice said harshly. Turan shrugged as he lead them to the restraunt that he took Maxine to before.

After everyone was seated at a table, Maxine took note of the food that Orianna had ordered foods that were both salty and sweet. She narrowed her eyes slightly in suspicion and very carefully compared their figures in closer detail. We should be nearly identical physically, but she seems a little pudgy. And why do her breasts look slightly swollen? If it was just those two alone, I would say she's just gained a little weight. But she isn't someone that eats foods this salty or sweet. When I was around her, she prefered things that had a subtle taste. Is it possible that she's pregnant? I mean they've been married for some time, but I better ask instead of assume.

[Sis, are you pregnant?] Maxine asked Orianna via spiritual sense.

[I don't think so. Why do you ask?] Orianna asked in return.

[You have some odd cravings and your breasts look a little swollen,] Maxine replied, [Can I scan you with my spiritual sense just in case?]

[Go ahead,] Orianna said with a hint of anticipation.

Maxine projected her spiritual sense towards Orianna's womb and discovered a month old fetus growing within her. A smile spread across Maxine's lips and looked straight at Maxwell as she said, "Congratualtions, you're going to be a daddy."

"What?" Maxwell asked reflexively as he gave her a look of pure surprise, but he swiftly looked to Orianna for confirmation. She simply nodded her head in affirmation and Maxwell showed a brilliant smile filled with joy before he hugged Orianna. Everyone else at the table immediately chimed in their own congratulations. Orianna and Maxwell were soaking it up.

Maxine couldn't have been happier for them and she wished she had more time to spend with them before Horatio Quay dragged her off for a mercenary contract. She just hoped that he didn't include Maxwell in it. I doubt Horatio Quay could drag Maxwell away from Orianna anyways. If I know him, he insist on staying near her at least until Orianna's baby is born. In any case, I have a week to spend with my sister and I intend to enjoy every minute of it. Still, I wonder what kind of mission my teacher will insist that we go on?