After sitting and listening to Mongo and Tiffany both explain all they knew about what had happened, Le’Nara nodded slightly and frowned to herself.  “Perhaps I was a bit hasty in making the other one leave,” she mused aloud.  “Neither of you were with them in the beginning and can’t tell me anything about that blade besides its name, Heartblade.”  A small worried twitch worked at the edges of her smile.

“Honestly, I don’t know why you shooed her off anyway,” Tiffany giggled as she snuggled up tightly in Mongo’s arms.  “Jess isn’t that bad a person.  I don’t think she’d ever hurt me.”

“I don’t think so either,” Le’Nara agreed.  “If she was that type of person, she wouldn’t have made it out of here in one piece.  We cherish Doves here,” she stated adamantly.

“So, pardon me for being a stupid warrior,” Mongo blushed, “but what the heck is a Dove anyway?”

Le’Nara stared at him for a moment and then broke down into a fit of wild giggles.  Blinking once, Tiffany looked startled for a moment and then she leaned forward and began giggling freely as well.  Looking up at Mongo’s puzzled face, she managed to squeeze out “I don’t know what’s funny, but it is!”  between fits of laughter.  Seeing the puzzled look on his face made her laugh and snuggle even harder.

“Poor idiot man,” Le’Nara smirked.  “Just like most of your kind, you seldom know the things you need to know and often know the most useless of things.  That little one in your arms,” she pointed over at Tiffany, who was still giggling slightly to herself, “is a Dove, and you’re truly married to her.”

“Oookaaay,” Mongo slowly agreed, not having a clue what she was talking about.

“Let me start with the simple explaination of what a Dove is,” Le’Nara offered.

“That’d be nice,” Mongo nodded.

“A Dove quite simply is a special and rare existence amongst the souls which walk our world,” Tiffany explained.  “Most souls run from shades of white to shades of black, with the majority of people having a soul which is a mixed shade of gray.  White souls are generally regarded as being good and black souls are regarded as being evil.  

“It’s why we often hear summoners being warned especially to be wary and always maintain control over a black soul,” she added, pausing for a moment so Mongo could digest her words.

“I see,” Mongo finally nodded.  “White good, Black bad.”

“More or less,” Le’Nara agreed, laughing lightly.  “Though only a man would try to make something so complex sound so simple.  There’s a limitless variation of shades of souls, with certain areas representing various traits and actions that a person might undertake in their lifetime.  Since the moment I learned the magic at my mother’s library, I’ve kept an enchantment upon myself allowing me to see the souls of the people around me.  It allows me a great deal of information about whom I’m doing business with and allows me to know who to shoo away from sensitive matters.

“The girl who was here with you earlier is one of those whose spirit is more black than white.  I see a lot of greed, pride, and desire for wealth and status in her soul.  I didn’t think she needed to sit in on the conversation we’ve been having.  Those with traits such as hers are best guarded away from any knowledge of the spirit realm.”

“I don’t think she’d do anything bad now,” Tiffany giggled.  “She’s with babe.”

“And I don’t like what I saw of that babe either,” Le’Nara said, frowning.  “She’ll need to be watched closely and so will the child.  I’ll have to notice Prince Pussy later so he can have her monitored.   If he simply doesn’t have her enslaved,” Le’Nara said, half to herself.

Mongo blinked and then suddenly blurted out, “Enslaved?!  For what?  Getting pregnant?”  

Tiffany giggled slightly and then hugged him tight.  “For getting pregnant with a zombie’s baby, silly!”  

“But…”  Blinking, Mongo just shook his head from side to side.  “But..  You helped her get collect the seed and get pregnant!  Did you know it was a zombie child?!”  Mongo sounded absolutely astonished and disbelieving.

“Uh Huh!”  Giggling, Tiffany just beamed a huge smile at him.  “I helped!  Why wouldn’t I help someone bring life into the world?  I certain it’ll be precious, even if it does grow up and eat people!”

Laughing, Le’Nara simply nodded.  “And that’s a Dove for you,” she smirked.  “Pure and innocent, with a soul that has never harmed another.  Focused on life, laughter, and spreading the Breath of Life across the globe.  Where most souls are shades of gray,” Le’Nara explained, “a Dove is the purest of white.  There is no malice, no anger, no jealousy or rage in a Dove.  Only love and life.

“And you are truly married to one,” Le’Nara said, suddenly staring at him.  “You’ve got quite a burden on you, my lord.”

“Burden?  What burden?” Mongo asked.

“First, is the Dove herself.  A spreader of Life, I imagine you’ll have your hands full with her alone.”  Laughing lightly, Le’Nara broke out in a large smile and smirked freely at Mongo.  “Congratulations, my lord.  You’re going to be a father.”

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“A father,” Mongo parroted, dumbfounded.

“Uh Huh!”  Tiffany giggled and kissed him soundly.  “Twice!”

“Twice?” He parroted again.

“Twins, my lord,” Le’Nara told him with a smirk.  Turning her attention to Tiffany, she asked, “How many children do you plan on having, anyway?”

Without hesitating at all, Tiffany bounced and exclaimed, “At least a hundred!”

“A hundred?”  Suddenly Mongo was swaying on the edge of the bed he was sitting, looking almost as if he was ready to pass out.

“At least!”  Tiffany agreed.  “Maybe more!  If we get lucky and have some triplets, we could have more than that in the next fifty years or so!”

“Oh…  My…  God…”  Getting up and pushing Tiffany slightly away, Mongo slowly staggered to the door, only to find it froze solid.

“Sorry, my lord,” Le’Nara laughed.  “You can’t get away that easily.  You’ve got a true marriage.  She’ll always be yours and you’ll always be hers.  For better or babies!”  Blinking, Mongo half turned back around and then fell face first onto the ground in a dead faint.

Blinking, Tiffany looked over and rubbed her nose slightly before giggling.  “He’ll be fine,” she exclaimed, excitedly.  “I think it’ll do him good to rest for a bit.  He’s been pushing himself too hard!  I hadn’t even told him he was going to be a papa yet.”  Pooching out her lower lip, she pouted slightly at Le’Nara.

“That’s okay,” Le’Nara comforted her, “I’m certain he’s thrilled with the news.  That’s probably what helped him finally put his worries behind him and get some much needed rest.”

“Uh huh! You’re probably right,” Tiffany agreed, skipping over and sitting down in the floor in front of Mongo’s limp form.  Gently, she lifted his head and then slid her legs under it so he could rest on her.  “So what’s a true marriage,” she finally asked, looking up curiously at Le’Nara.

“Hmm…”  Le’Nara stretched and then slowly stood up and walked over to the trays where the girls were eating earlier.  Looking down, she picked up a cup of applesauce and then a cup of vanilla pudding in each hand, before going over and picking up a ceramic bedpan and then going back over to sit on the bed.

“Let’s say this applesauce represents Mongo’s soul,” Le’Nara suggested.

“Applesoul,” Tiffany giggled!

“And let’s say this pudding represents your soul,” Le’Nara said, holding up the vanilla pudding.

“Creamy goodness,” Tiffany agreed.  “That’s me all right!”

Having to hold back a laugh at Tiffany’s endlessly bright outlook, Le’Nara continued on.  “Now, let’s use this pan,” Le’Nara suggested, holding up the bedpan, “to represent some sort of strange wedding ritual which Mik’Hail performed.”  Sitting the bedpan down on the bed, she slowly picked up the two small cups again.

“So, we take your soul,” she lifted up the cup of vanilla pudding and dumped it into the bedpan, “and use it in the ritual.  Then, we take Mongo’s soul and use it in the same ritual.”  This time she picked up the applesauce and dumped it into the bedpan.  “And, we let the ritual do its thing.”  Slowly, she stuck a finger down into the bedpan and swirled the two ingredients together.

‘Now, what do we have afterwards,” Le’Nara asked, holding up the pan with the two mixed thoroughly together.

Bouncing, Tiffany pointed and shouted, “Applecream Goodsoul!”

Le’Nara couldn’t help but laugh for a moment as she nodded her head in agreement.  “Yes, I suppose we can call it Applecream Goodsoul in this case.  In your case and the lord’s, I suppose you’d be a Miffany Tongo.  Two souls, swirled together and endlessly merged, into one single new soul.  It’s a truly unique and special formation between souls, and doubly so with a Dove involved.  It truly is an honor to meet the both of you,” she admitted, smiling broadly at Tiffany.

“And, once the ritual was over,” Le’Nara finished, dipping one cup down into the mixture in the bedpan, “The single intermingled soul was separated and put back into two bodies.  One spirit, two bodies – that’s what a true marriage is,” Le’Nara explained.

“And that’s what we are now!”  Giggling, Tiffany leaned down and kissed Mongo several times while he was still out cold.  “I’ll have to thank Michael later for what he did for us!”

“If you want to thank him,” Le’Nara warned, grimly, “don’t ever mention that he was the one who married the two of you.  What he did is considered to be the blackest of magics and the most forbidden of rituals.  The jackass broke several dozen laws, and even some of the edicts of the Gods themselves.”  Slowly, Le’Nara shook her head and sighed deeply.  “He should’ve known better.”

“He probably did,” Tiffany giggled, “but he did it anyway.  That’s why you have to love him!”

“I do.”  Sighing deeply, Le’Nara turned her head and stared for a long moment at Crystal lying there unconscious.  “I do,” she repeated again, almost too softly to be heard.   “Jackass.”