Bert Hudson tapped his fingers on the table in a rapid tattoo of irritation. The cause of that irritation was, well, everything around him. Most significantly, the woman from Earth sat across the table from him and glared at him with undisguised hatred.

She was from Earth, like him, and had been brought to this world by someone a lot more powerful, also like him. That should have been enough to give them at least some common ground to start from.

That was, in fact, not the case.

Over the last fractious hour, it had been made explicitly clear to him that she blamed him for the veritable apocalypse that had befallen Earth due to the return of the Fae to that world. Fiona, that was her name, was aware that he had not done it on purpose and was merely trying to survive at the time. She was also willing to admit that there was no way he, or anyone else, could have known what would happen in advance.

She was also willing to accept that he had no control over the Fae Courts at large, for all that he had been given a Court of his own.

Her hour-long tirade had meandered back and forth a bit and demonstrated a broad vocabulary of swear words in at least three languages, including English, French, and German.

All of this, ALL OF THIS, as a result of Bert asking, ‘Can I help you?’ when she placed herself in front of his table as he was watching Demons having a late breakfast.

Fiona had just wound down, and it seemed to be over this time, rather than the last time when it had turned out she was just out of breath.

“Fuck off,” Bert said tiredly. “Just fuck off.”

Her mouth opened in shock.

“Way Way, throw this person out, please,” Bert said and smiled as she was ejected through the nearby wall, which rolled aside for her to pass. “Thanks.”

Five minutes later, one of the robed forms came and held up a small black slate on which the words ‘She’s back, shall I let her in?’ were scrawled.

He nodded and watched with weary amusement as she stormed into the room with a face like thunder.

“Hello again,” Bert said. “Want to tell me what you want this time?”

“I’ll fuckin–” She started to cast a spell only to yelp as she was ejected again, this time with considerable force.

Bert just shook his head as he watched her roll to a stop outside the Waystation. Thanks to the recent upgrades to Way Way, he could both see and sense everything for a good few meters on either side.

No one needed improved senses to hear the scream of rage that came from just outside. Bert could see several of the demons were now showing a serious interest in the proceedings. If he was right, at least three different groups were betting on her return.

He tracked her progress down the length of the train and back up the other side until she came to the entrance to the Bear’s Fall once more. She stood there, glaring for over five minutes before she calmed down enough to enter.

With slow, even steps, she returned to the dining hall and entered after a slight hesitation.

“Nice to see you again,” Bert said with a small smile.

She didn’t respond, merely taking her time as she walked with a proud tilt of her head across the floor to once again stand next to his table.

“Can I offer you a seat?” He asked, and the one beside her slid smoothly back to allow her to sit. “Have you had breakfast, or can I get you anything?”

“I. Have. Eaten.” She forced the words out like a person lifting weights off her chest.

“Look,” Bert said with as much politeness as he had left, “You obviously don’t want to be here, so it must be important. Why not tell me so you can leave?”

She stared at him, simmering so intently he half expected smoke to be coming out of her ears before deigning to speak again.

“You now hold a sufficient amount of land in this area to qualify for a noble title according to the ancient laws of this land,” She said through clenched teeth. “As a result of which, the King has granted you the title of Baron.” She forced herself to go on. “As such–”

“No, thank you,” Bert said seriously. “No titles, no way.”

“It is not voluntary!” Fiona snarled and then pushed her spectacles back up her nose, “You agreed to the terms when you accepted the deeds to the land.”

“Piss off, it was wrapping paper,” Bert laughed. “No way you are getting that one past me.”

“Just so, and I have already verified that the fact they were wrapping another reward does NOT affect your responsibilities.” She smiled now, sudden and vicious, “I had the King use the deeds for that very purpose.”

“I see,” Bert said levelly, “What responsibilities are these then?”

“I DEMAND that you raise a force of no less than a hundred men for the city to call on for defense.” She grinned, “In addition, you must provide a garrison and food for the men, raise defenses on your land, and further allow trade to move freely. If this is not done by the deadline, your LIFE is forfeited.” She was practically foaming at the mouth as she finished. “I fucking have you!”

There was a moment of silence in the hall as everyone froze. They had been listening, of course.

Then, Bert burst out laughing.

“I am VERY serious!” She snapped. “You have two days to comply or face execution.”

“Dagon know you are here?” Bert asked. “Never mind, he obviously doesn’t because he has been clear he wants me alive. It would really throw a spanner in his plans if I were killed, so I doubt he would do it.” Bert chuckled and shook his head.

“What is so funny?” Fiona glowered. “If he won’t, there is always me!”

“Yeah?” Bert asked. “You and what army?” He waved at the demons. “I got mine; where’s yours?”

Fiona smiled like a tiger at a limping rabbit.

“Those were Fae contracts,” She said with visible glee.

“What?” Bert asked.

“I used Fae contracts,” Fiona snapped. “There are ways to find those things out, you know.”

“Bell?” Bert asked, knowing that Way Way would relay the request.

“What?” A Multi-Bell popped into existence next to him.

“The lands were given by Fae contracts. Are we bound to follow the rules on that?” Bert asked.

“Us?” Bell laughed. “We are Lord and Lady now. We aren’t bound by shit!” She grinned. “But, uh, the other Fae like us to honor them anyway.” She looked at Fiona, “Why? What does she want?”

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“A small village and a hundred armed men in two days, on pain of death,” Bert said.

“Really?” The Multi-Bell laughed. “She is threatening a Fae Court?”

“In the name of Dagon, no less,” It was Bert’s turn to grin like a tiger as Fiona looked shaken for the first time.

“Fuck it, do it,” The Multi-Bell laughed. “We needed something over him anyway.”

“What?” Fiona blanched. “It’s not possible!”

“Eh, it’s easy enough,” Bert grinned. “Good luck with telling Dagon about this, by the way.”

“A hundred armed, trained warriors in two days?” Fiona sniffed. “Not possible.”

“You never said they had to be human,” Bert noted, “I’ll have a force of Demons here by the end of the day.”

“And I suppose you’ll knock up a town as well?” Fiona glared.

“Complete with a fort,” Bert noted. “I’ll have Dee go over those contracts as well; I needed an excuse to get the little vamp muppet out of the distillery anyway.”

==============

Bert watched calmly from his table as Fiona stormed off. He was careful to remain relaxed and calm until she had left the Waystation entirely, then burst out of his chair and ran for the central passageway.

This was going to be a bitch to do in two days.

The first thing he did was head to the distillery where the wild-haired vampire Dee was sleeping on a table. He roused her and managed to avoid being disemboweled by the grumpy vamp, thanks to his new armor. It took a few minutes for him to get the facts across to her, but she nodded and agreed to look them over immediately.

He was just rushing out the door again when he stopped and asked how her project was going.

“It’s done!” She glowed. Not a turn of phrase, she glowed with an inner light the color of blood. “I’ll tell you about it after we are done with this, but thank you for asking.”

He congratulated her and ran off to see Scruff and Wendy. The two were, naturally, at opposite ends of the train for once. Scruff was in her fields, working on something horrendous with those succulent seeds when he got there.

She held up one hand while she did something incredibly complicated with her mana to a succulent seed and what looked like a bloodberry seed.

Looking directly at what she was doing was painful, like looking at an Escher-inspired knotwork that moved. He felt his eyes watering and looked away until she was done.

“What’s up?” She asked.

He explained again and then asked what he had come here to ask.

“Can you get some fields and stuff up and running in a couple of days, maybe less? Food fields, I mean.” He paused. “Ones that won’t eat the people tending them?”

She laughed and then paused. “Who will tend them?”

Bert blinked. He had not gotten that far in the planning stages yet.

“I’ll take care of it,” She waved him away. “I do plants; you do everything else.”

“Thanks,” He grinned and headed back up the train only to meet Wendy coming the other way with Lily and Rose trailing her.

“Yeah, yeah,” Wendy said. “Way Way already told me. I assume I need to go and ravage the nearby woods and stuff for materials?”

“Pretty much,” Bert grinned. “Thanks, but can I steal Rose? I have something else in mind for her.”

“Okay, but I get to use all my Pretties then!” Wendy grinned. “And Tim!”

“Deal,” Bert nodded. “As long as Bud says he can go.”

A complicated five minutes later, the Express rolled out of the Waystation headed for the nearest forest.

Watching Bell and Bud head into the city with Rose was a pleasant sight. Bert felt a lot of hope for Rose. She had fucked up in the worst way, but she was so different now.

The former thief's eyes had turned into saucers when Bell tossed her a third of the gold stash the Waystation had accrued along the way to go and buy as much old armor, weapons, and other metal items as she could get her hands on.

Bell was off to get clothes, while Bud was going to pay the property taxes that Fiona had somehow forgotten to mention.

Their resident vampire had found a couple of other clauses hidden as well.

Fiona had plans upon plans, it seemed. If he had been alone, she might have succeeded. But he wasn’t.

Bert was surrounded by the most amazing people he had ever met. It still amazed him to think that he was lucky enough to have all these people in his life.

Not that he used to be a loner, per se. He just lacked something when it came to making friends. It seemed that the problem was left behind somewhere along the way.

He had more than friends; he had family now.

“You also have shit to do,” Bert reminded himself and got back to work. Time was very much of the essence here, and it seemed the land they owned was bigger than he had thought.

Dee had been working with the orcs to map it all out, and it was deceptive. Even with the new expanded range, it would involve moving the Waystation several times before he could complete the building work.

It turned out that their land extended off one side of the road quite a ways but stopped short of any actual water source.

Fiona had carefully included every bit of uneven, barren, or otherwise unusable land she could in the collection. She must have been planning this for some time. At the very least, since they first arrived.

It was kind of nice to see the trap at last.

One of them at least.

Dagon was certain to have schemes of his own, and it would probably be significantly worse than what Fiona had come up with.

Bert started with the area closest to the road, flattening the land and preparing it for building. Then they moved on to the next area, waited for it to come under control, and again flattened and firmed the ground in preparation.

The breakthrough happened when they were on their third part. Way Way asked a question that had never occurred to him.

“Why don’t I just do all this while you get on with something else?”

Bert blinked a few times before he remembered that Way Way could see and move on their own now. Moreover, they had done this stage together enough times that Way Way could have done it from memory easily enough.

Still….

“Are you sure?” Bert asked. “I don’t want you to think I’m ignoring you.”

Way Way just laughed at him, and Bert felt something he had not felt before. While in the mana tides of the Waystation, he had never felt physical sensations. He had felt something akin to the memory of one.

This time, he felt a hug. It was physical, and as he had no body at the time, it was as if the Waystation had hugged his very soul.

It was the single most comforting sensation he had ever experienced.

When he emerged from the mana tides a few moments later, he felt different somehow.

A small amount of the anxiety he had always carried was just gone. Everybody had that little bit of anxiety that never went away. It was part of life and made up of the regrets, mistakes, and worries of being alive.

Now, a little of that was gone.

There was more than just the feeling of peace to it. The mana seemed to flow even easier than before; he had more energy and felt like he was thinking clearer as well.

Walking down the ramp from the Bear’s Fall to welcome back the Express and show them where to unload the first set of materials, Bert felt a huge grin on his face as the Waystation began to work on the land without his help.

==============

Dee did her best to walk slowly and calmly as she made her way to the city. She had asked Bert if he minded her going out to post the messages to other vampires, but he had told her it was fine.

The curious thing was he smelled different than he did just a few hours earlier.

She had noted it in passing, but it was sticking in her mind as she tried to keep calm.

It wasn’t the first time his smell had changed, but she didn’t know what to make of it. As time went by, the essential human smell of him faded as the smell of the Fae came through more and more.

Normally, it happened after a significant event has occurred. Like when he burned with the Fae fire in the dungeon beneath that frozen bit of nowhere. She had noticed it then, but it was to be expected when something like that was done.

Right?

Not much was known about the Fae, but there were rumors. Or, more accurately, there were rumors about there being rumors to hear.

The most obvious ones stated that the Fae simply always were there. They always had been and always would be. She dismissed that idea completely.

Races did not just exist; they came from something before them, and each race slowly moved to become something else.

The rarest and most secret rumors talked about the precursor races that might have led to the creation of the Fae species. Those talked about unusual individuals, not the most powerful themselves, who caused change in others.

Some even thought that those individuals led to the creation of multiple new species.

They called them the Progenitors, and the half-formed races, like vampires, all shared a fascination with them.

Of course, it was all a myth, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Real progress came from chance and people taking opportunities. Like she had, with the distillery and a half-formed theory, that had paid off in a big way.

At least, she thought it had.

Time would tell, as she was still changing. Still, it was the most significant change she had ever heard of, and she was telling the others, just in case.

Included in each message was a vial of her own creation, just in case others wanted to try.

Dee had rolled the dice hard this time, and while they were still settling, something told her that her concoction was coming up all twenties.