I should have killed that thing. I should have killed that thing. DAMN IT. I should have killed that thing!

What happens when you bring a new pet home and your landlord finds out about it? Probably something similar to this. The lamia artist saw a small girl tame a monster far beyond his tribe's ability to deal with. So now Celestine and her new pet have become centerpieces in a political game that basically boils down to a pissing contest.

While the lamia landlords were told of me four years ago, the false god, that's all they thought of me. A false god in a little girl, or a girl's wild imagination, and the silly humans believed her. No reason to be concerned. But when that very same girl just tamed a magical beast known for widespread disruption and its inability to easily die, well now they are paying attention to me.

Lamia have a very basic core ideal. The strongest lead the weak and it is by the strong's good graces that the weak are allowed to survive. Such is the ideal for many beast-men in this world. Humans are one of the beast-men species who don't fit into this mould. And yes, humans are considered beast-men. Any humanoid that has roots in animals in this world is a beast-men species. Elves and demons are the only two known humanoid races that don't evolve from animals. Elves being some sort of manifestation of magic and demons being immigrants from another plane or existence. I would like to hear that story someday, the book on species didn't go into detail on the demons' origin.

Celestine's magic training has been put on hold while Daemon deals with negotiations with the lamia head. From what we've been overhearing, negotiations aren't going well. Been hearing a lot of demands and little of compromise. And plenty of words Celestine doesn't understand. They seem to be more afraid of Celestine than they are of the armored tiger. It doesn't bode well on that front.

The last few days have been spent on training Null. Because I didn't close Celestine away when the meteor fell like I did when I experimented with solid oxygen, she got everything. She easily succeeded in Warran's challenge for spacial magic and has been using my knowledge of metal atomic manipulation to discipline Null when he misbehaves. Oh, also, she decided to name him Null because she liked the name in the Voice identification pop up. Let's hope his name doesn't need to be put into a database any time soon. Going to need to teach Voice to use 'N/A' instead of 'Null' from now on for absences of information in the identification box.

He's surprisingly intelligent. When he does something that deserves punishment, like growling at humans without provocation, one act of forcing him down with metal manipulation will set him right. I don't know if it really hurts him or if he just doesn't like it. It works regardless. Celestine, with my suggestions, has taught him how to sit, follow, stay, lay down, and roll over. She even uses him as a ride from time to time. His metal armor on his back is solid, so the ride isn't exactly comfortable. Can't stop Celestine from doing what she wants, though. I think she's getting conceited. She's still young, so her personality hasn't quite set in stone. I might need to disappear for a while so I don't influence her any more than I have. That being said, the meteor should have killed her, so perhaps I have a claim on her life now? And everyone in this city for that matter? And even of the local lamia tribes for ridding them of the threat inside the meteor. Who knows how things were meant to play out without me. No, I can't stay quiet during this pissing contest because it concerns my actions.

Tens days after the event, and the third time a group of lamia have arrived at the mansion to discuss the event with Daemon, I decided to make an appearance. There were three lamias that arrived at the mansion. All were wearing something akin to decorated burlap gowns. They look nothing like the regal armored lamia Celestine saw in her youth. He must have been unaffiliated with the tribe. The largest lamia had a snake tail at least 30 meters long. Their bodies filled the lounge on the first floor while their humanoid bodies sat like humans on a couch opposite of Daemon. Two of them had swords on their waists while the third had a book open and was writing quickly. I walked casually into the lounge and was instantly the center of attention.

"Sorry for interrupting, but since this concerned me I figured it would be best if I joined." I'm glad I left Null in the courtyard. They were on edge enough with me here. I spied the lamia with the book and looked into his black eyes. An identifier, then? I wonder if there's any ability to combat this.

"No no, it doesn't concern you, Tina. Just go upstairs and find Sullivan." Daemon spoke quickly.

I ignored him and just bowed lightly, "I am Novos. I was the one who slowed the meteor to protect the city and tamed the armored tiger. How does this discussion not concern me, Daemon?" Trying not to act conceited in lieu of just admitting to two impossible feats is hard. Hopefully my inexperience with these sort of discussions helps.

"Only one of her eyes is black? Feir, explain." The largest lamia spoke, motioning to the black-eyed lamia.

">Inconclusive.< I've never seen a being with an identification affinity and with only one black eye before. The results of the identification are... fuzzy, as well. It's as if I'm looking at three different individuals."

"You identify yourself as Novos, the self-proclaimed god. But you stand in the body of this human's daughter. Explain." The lead said. Their voices are very monotone. It's somewhat hard to completely understand them because of the requirements of the language.

"Not going to introduce yourselves first? Fine." I walked over to the couch Daemon sat on and sat beside him. He didn't say a word and just looked back and forth between the lamias and me. "Like I said, I was the one who stopped the meteor. I borrowed control of the body from Celestine and used a special magic skill I developed myself to stop it."

"That was not my question. How is a second being inside this body of a human?" His eyes tightened, I think he's getting annoyed.

"I, uh, dunno?" I shrugged. "When Celestine was three I was just kinda... here. The story about me being a god was a lie... I think. If I'm a god, I wasn't told about it."

"We already knew you weren't a god. We know the truth of this city's religion and if anything happens that coincided with their faith, it's either a lie or a coincidence. Novos, you interest me."

"Body's still underage. I'm afraid I cannot accept your..."

"And you're a jokester even given the situation. Very well. I am Diaos, chieftain of the lamia tribe Black Scale to the west and acting representative for the other two main lamia tribes, Gold Sands and Indentured Lamentation." The large lamia said, nodding his head a bit.

"That last one is an interesting name." I said.

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"It was a former prison colony to the south that gained independence a hundred years ago. The old fools there refuse to change the name. Something about needing to atone for the sins of their ancestors. Not like we care. My father already >absolved< them."

"Unwarranted self-flagellation, then. Are they a tribe of masochists?"

"Bahahaha!" Diaos erupted in laughter at that remark. His body sort of bounced a bit as his whole body, tail and all, convulsed until he calmed down. "I never thought of them that way before. Whew, now I have something to poke fun at them at the next meeting. Ahh, let's get back on subject."

"Yes, let's." The third lamia said, a bit annoyed.

"This is Leos, my first-hatched son and next chieftain, and this is Feir my scribe."

"The topic at hand, Father." He was getting grumpy. The son was about fifteen meters long and had the body of a teenager.

"Calm yourself, Leos. There's no need to rush things." The lamias weren't as stoic as they were before, which made me rather happy. They weren't some alien creatures, they were just people with their own ideals at heart and this Chieftain seemed quite lighthearted. "Anyway, Novos, are you aware of the situation?"

"Briefly. Apologies, Celestine eavesdropped a bit on the last couple meetings."

"We were aware of her." The scribe said.

"Basically the situation is this. In order for Arture to not be a threat of power in the other chieftains' eyes, Celestine and the armored tiger must be taken out of the picture. Arture exists, and continues to exist, under ourselves. We cannot allow a human city to gain power over us in our own territory. If Celestine remains and word of her power reaches the >$#^$#@< then it might be the spark for igniting our cold war with them."

">$#^$#@

"Wolf beastmen. Like how you humans are apes, we are snakes, further south in the dense forests live the >$#^$#@<." Feir explained. For lack of a better word for them, I guess I can just call them werewolves.

"Selling their kin to human settlements in Hope was rather lucrative for our early ancestors and they aren't too proud of what became of them after domestication. So they are quite... miffed." Diaos added.

"So I'm guessing that's where the dog beastmen came from. Sounds like their hatred is justified." I said.

"The past is the past and we cannot change that. They hate us and that hatred won't go away without our genocide. And, of course, if they invade and if they were to take our territory up to Arture..." Leos scoffed, then let his father continue after he glared at his son. "... then they would not be so willing to allow a human city to thrive in the territory. They hate your kind just as well as ours."

"It's still a bit far-fetched of a reason. In what way would they get information of my existence?"

"A child stopped a meteor from destroying a city and tamed an armored tiger. How could such a story not reach them? Not to mention the meteor falling could be seen easily from the sea. There are plenty of mercenaries and merchants that trade information just as easily as pelts and weapons. All we can do is hope to get that child out of the city as soon as possible so the coming spies can't confirm her existence. A human with such a >familiar< calls into question the balance of power in the region."

Feir spoke next, "At the very least they know a meteor impacted near. With enough earth and fire mages, a fake impact area can be created nearby to change the story. Houses can be repaired or destroyed to lend credibility, but Celestine being here is too much of a risk."

"So what are her options?" I asked.

"EXECUTION!" The young lamia sprung up, only to meet the fist of his father to his face, sending his whole huge body flying into the stairs and wall. Well that's a spectacle you don't see everyday. A lone sword stood stabbed into the table. When did he draw that? I swallowed dry spit at the attempted assassination.

"Uhm..." Was all I could say. Wow, he broke the banister. That must have hurt. I looked to Daemon and he was just putting something back into his jacket. What did you just try to pull? HEY!

"There's really no choice but to send her to Sirius to live with my parents." Daemon said, a bit sad at the realization. Did it take this long to come to this conclusion?

"I know how much you want to stay with your daughter, Daemon, but with the agreements of our families in place, there is nothing I can do." Diaos said, as a father to a father.

"The problem is convincing her mother."

"I can have Celestine handle that front. It's not like this is banishment, correct?" I asked.

"Of course. We have no intention of keeping you out of the region, but you just can't live here for prolonged periods of time."

"What of the church? Wouldn't this seem to them like you're banishing their or something?"

The black-eyed lamia raised his eye at the new word, but didn't say anything.

"The church will be reigned in if they cause trouble. They've been getting too conceited lately anyway." Daemon said, more to the lamias than to the fact he was answering my concern. Is this the same man?

"So we hop a ship and head to Sirius?"

"No. A girl and her pet natural disaster would cause too much of a stir at the populated docks in the region. We'll have you go by land to Hope at least and take a ship from there." The black-eyed lamia said, writing something down with a quickness. How do you write that fast?

"I'll have my second-hatched son, Jiaz, escort you to the border of our territory, then you will be with your own escort through the desert up north to the >^@%&#$< controlled territory. There you will take a ferry to Saddath and continue from there to Hope. I think you've met, or at least seen, Jiaz before, correct? He was at that art show during the day of the meteor impact with his silly bone carvings."

"Aww, come now, they looked pretty impressive."

"You sound like his sister. Oh well, at least you'll have something to talk with him about on the way then."

"I guess Warran is the escort?" I asked Daemon.

"He had business in Hope anyway, so this came at a good time. Something about the library there stiffing him on materials he ordered."

"So what was with the last two days of arguing?"

"Sylvianna." All three said in unison. The teenage lamia was still passed out on the stairs.

"Ahh..."