"I'm sorry, who declared a what?"

Zaria ushered Cathy inside the apartment, closing the door with a resolute click. The agitated woman slid out of her loafers, one hand supporting the bottom of her baby bump as she gingerly walked over to sit at the counter. She grimaced as she slid her butt onto a stool.

"A notice was sent to my father from the Lykos speaker that his daughter Mina has declared Prokis on you!"

"That doesn't actually help me to understand what Prokis is. Cathy, are you alright? Can I get you some water or tea?"

"I'm not feeling well today," Cathy said with a grimace-like smile. "My back is hurting, and it is making me a little nauseous. And then all this happened this morning..."

A pointed look pulled Cathy back to the issue she came to talk about. "I'm sorry, she issued a challenge, and she is doing it the official way, so it will be hard for you to decline. You can, of course! My father won't let them force anything, and they are not more powerful politically than we are. But they are counting on you not wanting to put anyone through any uncomfortable situations. Underhanded and sneaky and-"

"Cathy! It's alright. So a Prokis is a challenge, and I am guessing that is a big thing, but take your time and remember that I have no idea what any of that means." Zaria filled a glass of water and set it in front of the graceful hands that were clenching each other on the top of the island counter.

"In the rare occasion that two people are aiming for the same mate, one can declare Prokis, or challenge the other to a duel. It is almost never done anymore since it could result in death and nobody but those awful Anis terrorists want the death of another. Usually, the two involved in the competition for affection will work something out like a baking battle, whichever cake the focus of attention likes better is the winner. It is just a silly way to make someone choose so that they can move on with life." She took a little sip of water and scrunched up her nose as she rubbed her stomach. "A proper Prokis is a physical battle where one shows they are stronger by incapacitating their competition, proving they would be a better able to take care of the one they are fighting over. It is rare, and I have never heard of it happening with an Anis and a Lykos because Lykos are magically enhanced physically over the Anis. The Anis would likely die, and they know this."

A second glass of water was filled, and Zaria took a contemplative sip. The urge to let loose a deep, soul baring sigh was strong. Drama drama drama, why was there always someone wanting to start drama?

"But if it is so rare, then why did her dad agree to declaring it?" She knew the answer, stupid magic, but she wanted to hear it said.

"Because Mr. Gu is not leaving his former mate. He is passing up all the advantages that will come from having a rare, universe chosen mate for a powerless Anis, and it is a slap to their faces."

"Of course it is. And challenging the one making the decision would be silly when they can blame the other person." She rolled her eyes. "How would the Prokis work? Do we choose weapons and meet at dawn?"

The joke was lost on the woman from another world. "There are no weapons, only yourself. That is why this is an unfair challenge. If Mina changes, then she will have her claws, her teeth, and be far bigger than you. You won't stand a chance."

"And what would she do if we decline the challenge? I doubt she would just go away..."

She did not think it was possible for the Sanguine woman to look more distraught, but as her hand moved from her swollen belly to rub her lower back, the expression on her face grew darker. "Normally, if someone declined, it would go back to being the target mate's choice. But if one is clearly a magically supported mate... I don't know. The law supports the magically supported mate. The universe says they should be together, so why would the law step in? Mina is so determined, I don't know if she would step down, and if she doesn't, there might not be anything we can do if she tries to force a confrontation."

"Well...that's stupid..." Of course, she thought to herself, even in happy shiny rainbow land I get the crappy end of the stick. "So my choices are, accept the challenge and see if my little secret wins, or decline it, and she could legally break into my apartment and kill me in my sleep. And then Gu Cheng would kill her. Not that it would do me any good at that point."

"That's..." Cathy seemed to be trying to argue but it wasn't false. "What secret? You can't sneak a weapon into Prokis."

"Cathy, I may not have outward magic, but I am not powerless. And Gu Cheng is not a Lykos."

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"How can that be? Even I can sense his magic is too strong to be Anis."

"We aren't from your universe. The rules are different in our worlds. If I can manage not to get eaten by her, then as a Lykos she would be in serious danger with me. Can you try to explain that to her father? Not the other universe stuff, but that I am not powerless? I know she is not really in full control of her emotions, but maybe he will be worried enough to try and convince her."

"You will not fight her." The cold voice swept over the two women, and both shivered. Zaria cursed herself for forgetting that Gu Cheng was somewhere in the apartment. The boys must have gone to their room while Zaria was speaking to Cathy, and she was so distracted that she did not think to look for Gu Cheng.

"Yes, dear, we are working on that," Zaria said with an eyeroll. At her term of endearment, the room warmed considerably. "If we fight, then either I will be eaten or she will wish she had been. I don't see how her father can want it to go on... Wait..."

She turned her attention back to Cathy. "Your father needs to know about this right now. Can you call him?"

Cathy used her voice commands to call her father, her lips tightening to thin white lines before she could finish her greeting. Zaria reached out to touch the woman's hand lightly. "Cathy? What's wrong?"

The question was repeated from the voice coming out of the phone sitting on the counter. She tried to force a smile and answered them both. "It's nothing. Just a little pain today." There was the sound of two voices talking quickly away from the phone in the speakers car, and then Adrien was back.

"Rika is asking where the pain is?"

"My back has been aching all morning, but that is not weird. I feel like I have a car strapped to my front some days. But now my stomach is hurting a little as well..."

More whispered exchanges and then, "We are coming back for you now to take you to the hospital. You may be going into labor. Can you get down the stairs?"

Gu Cheng leaned toward the counter. "I will make sure she gets down safe, if she will let me help. We will be down in a few minutes."

The call was hung up, and Cathy was helped off of her stool and to the door. Zaria watched as the two slowly went down the stairs and out the front door to the car waiting at the curb. It wasn't until returned a few minutes later that Zaria remembered what they called Speaker Vlachos for in the first place.

"Well crud, we can't bother him with it right now! He has enough to worry about!"

Gu Cheng wrapped his arms around her and shuffled their bodies into the living room and closed the door behind them. "This is important. He needs to speak to her father. What if we speak to...the other speaker? Can he do anything?"

"I don't know how much you heard, but none of them can actually do anything to stop this except talk to her father and hope he listens. And if they do that, they will have to explain who we are. I don't really care that much, but I have a feeling that at least one of our people is staying here, and it could affect their future lives if everyone thinks of them as outsiders." She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest. His heartbeat was loud in her ear, and she smiled as she rubbed circles on his lower back. "I love that you are concerned for me."

"Why would I not be?" Gu Cheng let himself be guided to the couch and sat down, pulling her closer against him. He listened as Zaria explained the conversation from the meeting next door, minus the parts of how the Ones seemed to be trying to make her be more receptive to finding a new mate. "I don't like that my emotions are being controlled, even if it is not being done with forethought."

"Me neither." She agreed. There was a faint smell of something, perhaps clothing detergent, lingering in her nose. "It is not necessarily bad, everyone here is able to find happiness so easily, and that is wonderful. How often do you think people from other worlds who are already together come through the barrier and find their self with a magically destined mate that would get angry at the whole system?"

There was a rumbling in his chest as he grumbled under his breath. "True. It is obviously a problem, though. Do we need to leave? If we go somewhere far away, we might be able to leave before she can find us and push the issue."

"Mmm, maybe. But have you seen how happy Rika is now that she has found Speaker Vlachos? And Yamada, how can we pull them away from what might be their big chance at happiness? If we leave them here they could be held accountable for our actions since they are part of our group. Believe me, I don't want to do this, but if it is the one way to help them keep the happiness they have found, I don't know if I could run away."

"All I am worried about is you." Zaria smiled against his chest, and leaned farther into the embrace. It took a while at the beginning, but she knew now that his possessive statements and domineering attitude were mostly his awkward way of dealing with emotions that powerful men in his world were supposed to ignore. He was beginning to lighten up with his word choice, but sometimes something would slip, and she couldn't help but think it cute.

"You are not fighting her."

And then he says something controlling and cute is out the window. She sighed sat up, pulling out of his arms. "Being controlling again, Gu Cheng. Please remember that you can't just tell me what I can and can't do. It will make me upset even if you might not mean it the way you say it. But no, I don't plan on fighting her. I may not have a choice, though. I won't ruin anyone else's life to avoid it."

The argument that came would have happened in any of the worlds that Zaria had been in, so it was impossible to tell how much of the irritation was being caused by the Ones. Knowing they were being manipulated by the air they were breathing in helped them both to calm down quickly afterward, but it did not erase the angry words that were spoken in the heat of argument. That night, as they slept, not touching and on opposite sides of the bed, Zaria wondered if she would be able to convince Gu Cheng not to interfere should the situation get worse before they could leave. She knew he considered their companions to be friends, in a sense, would he be able to remember that their futures were important too?