After a near disastrous week, Glyn and the others return home to Jubert Island. Upon arrival, sadly, Glyn couldn’t rest as there was still the ongoing pirate situation to deal with. Not wanting any potential security leaks or unwatched pirates running about, he made a deal with the Captain. The pirates would be welcomed onto Jubert Island and Fenwick’s Island as well as any of the surrounding uninhabited islands. He began work clearing space and setting up a small area for the former pirates to live on the uninhabited islands dubbing three of them Hubert Island, Qubert Island, and Lobert Island. After then naming Fenwick’s Island Febert Island.

With the four islands under his thumb, he set up the teleport network to make traveling between them easier and convinced the former pirate Captain to take charge of running a patrol and supply shipments between the islands. So, the man formerly known as the Pirate Captain would now just be Captain, as no one bothered to remember the man’s name.

After another hard week of organizing and diplomacy, Glyn sighs as he sits at his desk. The contracts with the new island’s heads, the Captain, the residents of Febert and Jubert Islands, and their various craftsmen lay before him. Mila stands at his side, struggling to understand the mess of papers as she tries to help in organizing them.

“This is a lot.” She says.

Glyn nods. “It was a pain, I’ll tell you. Trying to get that elder to see logic was a pain in the ass! And now they get all self-righteous and self-sufficient after we helped them and set the groundwork.” He says in a huff.

“But it all ended well. We made everyone happy and life will get easier on the island.”

Glyn sighs. “Maybe we can finally convince someone to help us with fixing up this manor. I think Fiona made another hole in the walls while training.”

“Sorry. That was me. She was trying to clean up a burn mark I left behind.” Mila laughs nervously.

Glyn nods. “I figured. She normally has more control than that.”

As Mila works, Glyn stares at her, focusing on her white tail. Ever since their return, Glyn has looked into any knowledge about nine-tailed Beastkin. Reaching out to the mainland, he received a small supply of books. None of them describing Mila’s condition. After informing the group, it was decided to watch Mila closely to make sure nothing else happened to her.

“So, Glyn, now that everything’s calmed down, I….”

As Mila speaks, Tisha bursts through the doors, stomping in and then closing the door, before taking a seat at Glyn’s bed. “Damn it all!”

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“What’s wrong this time?”

“The damned Elders. I gave them my report finally, but they hardly care that another one of ours is dead.”

“What can you expect from those old fools? Best just ignore them and focus on what you’re doing now.”

Tisha rolls her eyes. “I just want to make sure any of my old friends are still alive. Is that so hard? Coming to these islands was a mistake.”

“I could’ve told you that.”

Glyn turns away from her and gets back to his papers. Mila smirks and gathers her pile.

Tisha smiles, watching him. “You know it’s not all bad coming here. The air is clean, the people can be nice, and I fell in love.”

Glyn and Mila stop. “What?” The pair ask in unison.

Tisha leaps up and moves to Glyn’s side, grabbing his hand. “What I mean to say is... Glyn Mattox, I love you!”

Glyn and Tisha’s faces go red as Mila stares at them in disbelief. “What brought this on?!”

“I don’t know. But you're smart, maybe even as smart as you think, you're kinder than you are, you listen to me… and well I… I just love you, okay!” Tisha lowers her head and takes a breath. “I know I said some stupid stuff and held some stupid beliefs about Half-Elves. I apologize for that, but I do honestly love you!”

“No…” Mila drops her papers and stands, rushing to Glyn’s side. “No!”

“Mila?”

“I love you, Glyn!” She yells at the top of her lungs. “I… I… you’re my first real friend and you…. I….” She struggles with the words as her tails flail wildly as her face goes red and fire burns around the tips of her ears and tails.

“Okay, Mila calm down. Take a. breath. Please relax,” Glyn says.

Tisha turns to Mila. “So, we’re both in love with the same person.”

Mila nods. “Right!”

“It’s kind of funny, isn’t it?”

“I guess.” Mila takes a breath. “I won’t lose. My love for Glyn isn’t any lesser than yours!”

“I never doubted it for a moment.”

Glyn stands up and moves towards the door. “Glyn!” The pair yell out in unison.

“What?”

“Well!?” They both yell.

“Well, what?”

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Tisha asks.

“Yeah, don’t you have anything to say?” Mila asks.

They both rush towards him and stare up at him, waiting for any kind of response. Glyn panics, eyeing the room as he grabs at the doorknob.

“Well!?”

“I have to… use the restroom.” He says with a smile on his face.

Glyn opens the door and runs out of the room, moving as fast as he can as the two stand in his room.

Tisha sighs. “I should’ve figured that would’ve happened.”

Mila laughs. “He had a cute look on his face back there.”

“So, I guess we’re officially romantic rivals.”

Mila nods. “I promise to take this seriously.”

“We’ll need the keep up the pressure. If we don’t, then we’ll never get an answer.”

“Yeah. He’ll try to run away no matter what. But we’ll chase him down in the end.”

The pair nod and laugh together as they come up with plans to corner Glyn.

Glyn runs across the manor and sits in a corner, putting his back to the wall and taking a deep breath. He leans forward and puts his hand to his head, shaking his head.

“Damn it. Now… what should I do now?” He asks, staring into the distance. “I expected Mila, but Tisha threw me for a loop. Julia, what would you say to me if you were here?”