Why does it have to fucking itch so bad?! Maxine was struggling not to scratch at her mostly healed wounds. Even after applying fresh salve to them, they itched to an almost intolerable degree. She had to constantly distract her mind in order to tolerate it. At least, I can walk without my burns hurting like hell.

"I wish I could do something else for the itching," Emily said apologetically, "I know that it can get rather annoying."

"You have no idea," Maxine said as she unconsciously scratched at her eyepatch and forcibly put her hand down as soon as she realized what she was doing, "It's driving me insane."

"I've heard similar complaints from others that had some nasty burns, but scratching at it won't help it heal," Emily admonished Maxine.

"I know. It's just been getting harder to ignore it these past couple weeks," Maxine complained.

"What do you expect?" Emily asked, "The only way to minimize the itching is with painkillers or topical creams, but they barely have a chance to work before your body metabolizes them. So, you just have to tough out the remaining week until your wounds heal."

"Fine," Maxine said through grit teeth and tried to distract herself, "How's Vellus?"

"His limbs have finally regenerated and is relearning how to walk," Emily said after hesitating for a moment, "It will probably be another month before he can walk smoothly. His recovery would probably go faster if he wasn't so worried about his family. The Alchemist Association hasn't contacted him even once since you found out about him spying on you."

"He won't have to worry much longer. I've found his family and aside from a few minor bruises, they're unharmed," Maxine said calmly, "It's only by some small miracle that I managed to sneak some of my constructs into their main headquarters and found them a few hours ago. And considering where they are being held, I don't think they know what to do with his kin just yet."

"You're going to rescue them, right?" Emily asked.

"I intend to, but first, I'll try to get the Alchemist Association to willingly release them," Maxine said firmly, "If not, I'll just abscond with them and leave those pricks a little surprise."

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" Emily asked while giving Maxine a suspicious glare, "You're not going to kill anyone, are you?"

"I'm not going to kill anyone," Maxine said honestly, "I'm just going to give them a bit of a scare with colored smoke and knockout gas. It's entirely harmless, but it leaves a clear warning."

"Which is?" Emily asked.

"To leave me alone or I will stop being nice," Maxine said.

"Sending them one of their people screaming their lungs out was nice?" Emily asked incredulously.

"As far as they're concerned, that was a playful prank in comparison to the vicious attacks that daddy has done before," Maxine replied honestly.

"Seriously?" Emily asked in surprise, "I've read up on Guan's past and found nothing as cruel as leaving someone screaming in agony for a month. In fact, most people that were effected by his poisons simply drop dead where they stood."

"They don't care too much about a weaker, untalented individual's pain or death," Maxine answered simply, "The elders are much more concerned about their people as a whole and their own hides. Once they realize that I'm capable of striking at them directly, they'll most likely back off."

"Doesn't that have a chance to backfire?" Emily asked.

"It does, but they're alchemists," Maxine replied, "The vast majority of them are cowardly due to the fact that they rarely have to fight, and are far more likely to back off once they realize how vulnerable they are."

"I can't really fault you for that logic," Emily said reluctantly, "But you need to keep in mind that they could escalate things further."

"I know and I'm prepared for that," Maxine said, "I just pray that they don't."

"So, when are you going to confront them?" Emily asked.

"Actually, I'm waiting for them to contact me to gloat that they found my ravens," Maxine admitted, "Thus far, they've found eight, make that nine, of the ten ravens that I sent to infiltrate their main headquarters. Honestly, I'm surprised their security is so lax. I never imagined that it would take them this long to find my ravens."

"Wait, if you sent them knowing they would be found, what was the point?" Emily asked.

"My ravens were only meant as a distraction, so they wouldn't find my other, much smaller, constructs," Maxine explained and she felt her dimensional ring vibrate, "Oh, speak of the devil." She retrieved her communication disk and saw a bearded man with a dark blue Alchemist Association badge on the right side of his chest.

"Ms. Levings -," Maxine cut him off before he could speak any further, "Why are you so insistent on referring to me by that man's family name? Are you trying to convince yourself that I'm not Poison Emperor Guan's daughter? Or are you intentionally trying to anger me?" When engaging any kind of negotiations, putting the other side on the defensive is a must. Thus forcing them to fight an uphill battle on a psychological level and I sort of felt like being mean to him.

"As you wish, Ms. Cinderson," the bearded alchemist said, "I'm Elder Macklen of the Alchemist Association. I was wondering why you felt the need to send your ravens to infiltrate our main headquarters."

"You know why," Maxine said, "Or are you going to deny that you kidnapped Vellus Callaran's kin?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elder Macklen said calmly.

"Warehouse fifty-four in the city of Telvas, second floor, fifth room on the left from the southwest stairs. Does that ring any bells?" Maxine asked.

"I don't know who you got that information from, but it's inaccurate," Elder Macklen said firmly.

"I got that information from the raven construct that you failed to find," Maxine declared, "So, are you going to release his family or not?" Elder Macklen's poker face finally broke, if only for an instant.

"The man betrayed you. Why are you going to such lengths to free his kin?" Elder Macklen asked in return.

"That is my business," Maxine answered coldly, "Now, answer my question."

"I'm afraid that's -" Maxine cut off the connection before another word could be said. She didn't need to hear the rest of it to know that he would refuse her request.

Emily patted Maxine's shoulder gently, but Maxine simple closed her eyes in focus. She saw Vellus' kin through her raven. There were twelve of them. They're still alright. I'm still pissed that they had the gall to kidnap these people. More than half of their numbers are children for fucks sake. Two of which are under six years old. I best get them out of there before the Alchemist Association erects an anti-teleportation field.

With a thought, she formed a shell around them. Simultaneously, she created a similar shell infront of Vellus Callaran's hotel and transferred them to Earth. For a moment, she had expected to be blocked and was honestly surprised that she wasn't. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. I moved faster than they expected.

But she didn't drop the shell around his kin. She checked each of them for anything that could turn into a pandemic and thankfully, found nothing. Still, she hesitated before using a motion of her energies to transport a series of vials with a note written in alliance common to their sole elder. It told him to have the children drink the potions to boost their immune systems. I can't have the little ones dying from the flu because they lack the immunities to fight it off.

Stolen story; please report.

Once that was out of the way, she dropped the shell around them and focused back to the Alchemist Association's main headquarters. She saw that her other constructs were in position and she ordered each of them to release the compressed knockout gas and colored smoke stored within them out of their mouths. Yeah, if anyone saw this, they would probably freak out. It's not every day that a bunch of large spiders start spewing out what looks like a deadly miasma.

As soon as people started dropping, chaos ensued as the alchemists and their servants scattered. Within moments, elders swooped in and contained the colored smoke and knockout gas within a bubble and sent it all skyward to harmlessly dissipate in the upper atmosphere.

"Emily, could you go take care of Vellus' family infront of his hotel?" Maxine said, "They're rather confused and frightened. It's not helping that no one understands what they're saying."

"Sure, just make one of your arches for me," Emily said and Maxine did just that. Emily swiftly walked through it.

Roughly five minutes after Emily left, Maxine's communication disk received another call. It was Elder Macklen and he looked as if he could barely contain his anger. "I wasn't expecting you to contact me so soon, Elder Macklen," Maxine replied as if nothing had happened.

"Don't play coy with me," Elder Macklen said hostilely, "We both know what you did. Now, give us the antidote!"

"There is NO antidote for my poisons. I believe I've mentioned that several times already to the association," Maxine replied calmly, "There is, however, a solution which weakens my poisons, but there isn't anything that completely neutralizes them."

"Then, give us that!" Elder Macklen roared.

"Why?" Maxine asked simply as she glared at him, "You're people have done everything in their power to antagonize me. So, why should I give you anything, besides my contempt?"

"Please, my great grandson was amongst those effected by your recent attack. Let me help him," Elder Macklen pleaded. This sudden change in his attitude shocked Maxine.

"He'll wake up in a few hours with a splitting headache, but otherwise, he should be fine," Maxine said with a gentle expression, "Just know that this is the the last time that I will respond with such restraint. Next time, I will not and your elders will weep bloody tears of regret for not leaving me and those close to me alone."

"I understand, but the other elders may not heed your warnings," Elder Macklen said.

"I pray that they do heed my warning. Many people will suffer if they don't," Maxine replied coldly and ended the call. It's better to leave it to their imagination on what my retaliation might be. What they think of will be far worse than anything that I could. God, all of this scheming is making my head hurt. What I wouldn't give for it to be a simple fight. It would make thing so much easier. Enough complaining. I better head to Vellus' hotel and help sort things out over there. I'm in good enough condition to flee if I have to and I doubt Turan will leave me unattended for more than a handful of minutes. I still haven't figured out how he finds me so fast.

With a thought, Maxine opened up another arch and walked through it to a chaotic mess. Emily and Vellus Callaran's family were being yelled at by an officer.

"I will ask one more time. Where is their documentation?" the police officer asked forcefully. She sigh before walking up to them and winced when one of her bandages pulled at her wounds.

"They don't have any," Maxine said from behind him, "But they are the family members of Vellus Callaran. He is inside the hotel and I can call him down here if you like to confirm this." Shit, I should've picked a different spot to send them to, but I guess this is what I get for wanting to show Vellus that his family was safe as quickly as possible.

The police officer turned around and scowled as soon as he saw her. Thankfully, his tone remained professional as he answered, "Fine, but I will have to take them to the immigration office regardless to register their presence here AND for them to get a full medical check up." Thankfully, his demands were not outside of what she was planning on doing anyways and to her relief, she saw Vellus hobbling towards them rather quickly out of the corner of her eye.

"Thank you, officer, for your understanding and patience," Maxine said with a slight bow of her head, "And I know how hard and important a job like yours is. Is there any way I can show my gratitude to you and your fellow officers for your service?"

"You could get your fellow 'cultivators' to behave," the police officer complained, "My job's dangerous enough without having to deal with super-powered freaks."

"I would appreciate it if you don't refer to cultivators as 'super powered freaks,'" Maxine said politely, "And as far as I know, cultivators have been policing our own as best we can. I would be happy to listen to any suggestions that you might have to improve our response time so that I can pass it on."

"I don't know. You could actively scan everyone for their intent," the police officer offered.

"I'm sorry, but that would violate their right to privacy that's protected by the Constitution," Maxine answered honestly.

"Your people could still do better," the police officer complained as he walked away and yelled over his shoulder before he got out of earshot, "And make sure to get those people registered!" Maxine turned her head and saw Vellus Callaran weeping as he kept hugging his family members one after the other. He really is a devoted family man. It's a shame that I can't ever fully trust him.

"Should we go?" Emily asked.

"Sadly, we can't," Maxine said remorsefully, "We need to get those folks registered at the immigration office and one of us has to act as a translator. And I know you have other things that you need to do today, so I'll take care of them."

"Are you sure that you will be okay with that?" Emily asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Maxine said firmly.

"Alright, then," Emily said before she gave Maxine a quick kiss, "I'll head out. Just let me know if you change your mind."

"I will," Maxine said and watched Emily take flight.

She turned to face Vellus and his family to see they were still hugging each other while crying with joy. She really didn't want to interrupt them, but she needed to get them all registered as visitors. It's an inconvenience for situations like this, but I understand the need for it. And the non-cultivators in their group will have to be given a thorough check up. Hopefully, they will take my word for it that they are not carrying any nasty illnesses. If not, they'll probably call in a doctor that's at least iron stage to look them over.

Maxine waited a few more minutes and approaching them. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to get your family registered as visitors at the spaceport," Maxine said.

"I know," Vellus Callaran replied, "I was about to take them there myself, but it's a bit of a walk. And could it be something that doesn't involve warping? You scared them when you brought them here."

"Of course, I have other means of transport," Maxine said as she formed a share-shaped platform beneath her feet and proceeded to provide railing around her with a small gate on the side, "Although, I'll admit that this'll be the first time I've actually tried something like this before, but I should be able to handle this much."

Vellus was the first one to get onto the platform. His family swiftly joined in, but bunched up around him. It would be easier if they spread out some more to balance out the weight, but after what they've been through, it would seem almost cruel to ask them to.

"Alright, everyone, hold on tight," Maxine announced as she slowly levitated the platform before picking up some speed towards the spaceport. Still, she had to go a lot slower than she normally would. Huh? This isn't draining my strength as fast as I thought it would. Perhaps, it's due to the fact that I'm traveling on it rather than directing it from a distance.

Even flying at a slower speed, it didn't take very long to reach the spaceport and Maxine gently brought her flying platform to the ground to allow her passengers to disembark before dismissing it.

They immediately went inside and moved towards the registration room. Unfortunately, it was obvious that a cargo ship had recently docked due to the large crowd inside.

"Go sign in so we can be put into the que," Maxine said to Vellus. Rather than answer, he hobbled over to a sign in station and did the rest.

Meanwhile, his family sat down in some chairs and when Vellus returned, he reported, "It seems the we're going to be waiting here for roughly thirty minutes."

"That's not too long considering the crowd we have in here," Maxine remarked.

"I wouldn't know since I don't have much to compare it to," Vellus Callaran replied uncomfortably while avoiding eye contact with Maxine.

"You might as well get comfortable while we wait," Maxine said as she took a seat near Vellus' family. She had no doubt that they were fearful of anyone outside of their kin at this point. Surprisingly, Vellus sat right beside her.

Neither said anything for nearly fifteen minutes. Vellus was the one to break the silence. "I'm sorry. I should've told you earlier what was going on," Vellus said.

"Yes, you should have," Maxine replied, "But I understand why you didn't. You were worried that there were other people being coerced to spy on me and if it became known that you revealed what you were doing, they may have harmed your family in retaliation. Regardless, I felt betrayed when I found out about what you had been doing."

"I know," Vellus Callaran said as he lowered his head in shame, "If you want, I will take my family and leave as soon as tomorrow."

"It would be better for them if you didn't," Maxine said, "Do you think that the Alchemist Association have any intentions of letting you walk away and sully their reputation by telling everyone what they forced you to do? You'll be lucky to last a week after leaving Earth. At least here, they will have to think real hard if they want to make a move. Because if you get hurt for any reason while you're on Earth, they know that I will retaliate believing it was them that did it. And they know that I'm quite capable of doing just that. Afterall, I snuck your family right out of their main headquarters before they could stop me."

Vellus turned to look at her in surprise and disbelief. "Were they really holding my family at their main headquarters?" Vellus Callaran asked.

"Yes, they were and I left them warning on top of that," Maxine said with a small smirk, "So, are you going to remain here on Earth? Or will you leave?"

"I'll stay," Vellus Callaran said calmly, "But what am I going to tell my family about you?"

"Just tell them I'm your friend and nothing more," Maxine said firmly. Vellus Callaran simply nodded and began speaking to his family in alliance common to relay everything that had happened so far as well as who she was to him. She looked at his back regretfully for a moment before leaning back into the provided seating and let Vellus Callaran reassure his kin that everything would be alright.

Maxine smiled at that scene, but her expression twisted into extreme annoyance in the next. She no longer had a mental distraction from the abhorrent itching of her wounds. So, she forced herself to think about the upcoming Alliance assembly. The Hive was going to make an appearance, albeit through a proxy, and she hoped that everything would work out for the best. However, in the same moment, she was planning for the worst.