“You can’t be serious!” Percy protested.

“Well, I suppose if you have a better offer in terms of meat?” Wendy shrugged.

“That is blackmail,” Percy noted.

“No, just supply and demand.” Wendy grinned. “I have the supply and the demand.”

“Do you know Bert and Bell never asked for a thing?” He said lightly.

“Mum and Dad aren’t great at business.” She said equally lightly.

“Mum and Dad? They adopted another one?” Percy chuckled.

“Oh, I’m not adopted,” Wendy said with a grin. “Accidental, that’s me.”

“You're the child of both of them?” Percy asked.

“That’s me,” Wendy said.

“I don’t have a chance of changing your mind, do I?” Percy sighed.

“None,” Wendy said happily.

“I won’t force anyone,” Percy said sternly.

“I don’t want anyone,” Wendy said. “I just want the bits… no anima or anything.”

“Oh!” Percy said.

“Yeah, I don’t need the spirit, just the blueprints and materials. For the core in the Express.”

“Well, that is a different matter.” Percy smiled. “That I can definitely do.”

“Great!” Wendy leaned forward. “Now, here is the design I have in mind….”

The discussion continued for almost an hour, with runners sent back and forth to the Flesh Shaper’s market as they refined the ideas. Once her orders were complete, they finished the deal, with her unloading the carcasses from the Express and the Flesh Shapers taking their samples from her arm muscle.

She then loaded a set of large trunks into a storage compartment in the Cab and waved her goodbyes.

This was her first deal ever… but it was going to be a hard one to top.

She could feel the Trunks being absorbed into the Express as she drove back to the square closest to Nadines.

All except one.

That one was special.

She arrived back in the square, finding Scruff waiting for her with a pair of undead. One was a huge hulking figure with Tim sitting on his shoulders. The other was a short girl… and she was see-through.

“Hi!” Wendy waved as she popped open her door.

“Wendy, this is Bouncer,” Scruff waved at the giant, who waved shyly. “And this is August.” She pointed at the ghost. The ghostly girl googled at the Express.

“Wow! That is some carriage!” She exclaimed.

“Thanks!” Wendy said.

“Go on, show her then!” Scruff pushed Bouncer forward.

“Excuse me, miss!” He stammered. “I wonder if I might show you this?” He pulled a strange pale orb out of his pocket and held it out to her reverentially.

“Where did you find this?” Wendy said coldly. She looked down at the little orb as if it might explode.

“I, um, I grew it from my new plant.” Bouncer shivered under Wendy’s gaze.

“If you lie, I’ll find out.” Wendy snarled.

Scruff and the others took a step back.

“I don’t lie!” Bouncer said immediately.

“Promise?” Wendy asked.

“Yes, Miss!” Bouncer said. “Have I done something wrong?” He looked at the little orb suspiciously.

“Would you destroy it if I asked you?” Wendy said in that same cold tone.

“NEVER!” Bouncer snatched his hand back, standing to his full height. “You’ll have to destroy me first!”

“Good!” Wendy smiled at last.

“What?”

“That is a nascent plant Fae,” Wendy said. “They are extremely rare and often exploited.” She watched his face carefully.

“I-I’m a Daddy?” A huge smile split the Undead’s face.

“Yeah, I guess so!” Wendy said. “Now, just remember… they are Fae and will act like it. Hurt them in any way, and the entire Fae race will hunt you until the end of time.”

“What the fuck?” Scruff said.

“If you ever need anything, let us know. That little orb there is family to all Fae.” Wendy said. “If you ever need advice, just ask the wind.” She laughed. “Literally. The wind Fae will hear and answer.”

“Are they really rare?” Bouncer asked doubtfully.

“About one born in a thousand years or more,” Wendy shrugged, “Why?”

“Umm, I don’t know if I should say,” Bouncer rubbed the back of his head nervously.

“Just say it!” Scruff said with a sigh.

“What?” Wendy asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Umm, I… well, I have a few more that grew,” Bouncer mumbled the next bit.

“How many?” Wendy asked.

“Around a thousand or so!” Bouncer squeaked.

“Whelp!” Wendy laughed as the skies darkened and a storm formed in the formerly clear skies. “Here come the Fae!”

Lightning struck the Express and the open area across the square from them.

Fae now stood in both places. A woman was staring down from the top of the Express while a man strode over from across the square.

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

“Hey, Cousin!” Crissy waved to Wendy before jumping down from the Express.

“Niece,” Karl nodded to Wendy as he strode over and looked Bouncer up and down. “Over a thousand, you say?”

“Yes- yes, sir!” Bouncer said, shaking.

“Kneel, lad,” Karl said, his voice ringing with command.

Bouncer kneeled before he had time to think.

“Let it be known that from this time until the end of time, this man and his city are given the title ‘Beloved of the Fae.’ So say I, as Lord of Court of the Autumn Winds.”

“Okay, Dad, you’ve done the official bit… can I go see the babies now?” Crissy asked, bouncing around like a kid in the candy store.

Karl nodded, and Crissy grabbed the stunned undead; she pulled him away before realizing she didn’t know the way. Bouncer pointed… and they were off again.

Karl and Wendy laughed.

“Can anyone tell me what just happened?” Scruff asked in irritation.

“I blessed that young man and this city.” Karl nodded to her. “He accomplished what no one else has ever done. And he did it out of love of craft, not greed.”

“What does the blessing do?” Scruff asked.

“Basically, if anyone fucks with the city… or Bouncer, they get a visit from the Fae.” Wendy grinned. “A short one.”

“WHAT DID YOU DO NOW!” Percy came flying around the corner. He froze, seeing Karl standing next to the Express. “A Lord of the Fae?”

“I hope my nieces have not been causing too much trouble,” Karl said, striding over to shake the Lich’s hand.

“Your nieces?” Percy seemed lost.

“Wendy and Scruff,” Karl clarified. “I know young ones can be so much trouble. And I’m sure you will have your hands full with over a thousand about to be born.”

“A THOUSAND!” Percy’s voice echoed around the square. His eyes darted back and forth from Scruff to Wendy. “How can they carry so many at once?”

Scruff blushed as Wendy cackled.

It took over an hour to explain everything to an increasingly worried Percy. By the time they finished, he was beside himself with worry.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“My Lord, the Disciples of the Sun attack the city regularly. It is only a matter of time until they come in force.” Percy said. “I am not certain I can guarantee the young’s safety.”

Karl laughed. “The disciples of the Sun will have other things to worry about if they dare attack this city.”

“Such as?” Percy asked.

Karl looked into the heavens. “I will personally gut their god and use his entrails as bunting. The entire pantheon will be considered at war with the Fae and OUR Gods.”

“I see,” Percy said, swallowing nervously. “If we are attacked, may we call for aid from the Fae?”

“If you are attacked, you will not need to call,” Karl said seriously. “We will know about it before you do, and we will be here in force before the first blow lands.”

“Really? How large a force?” Percy brightened.

“Let me put it this way… my daughter is currently playing with the nascent plant Fae not too far from here.” He nodded in the direction of Bouncer’s fields. “The strongest being in this world is level fifty-five.” He grinned. “My daughter is a bit of a slacker at leveling, but she is over level three hundred.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

The conversation pretty much ended there as the revelation that a creature that could destroy the entire world was playing in the fields nearby tends to unfocus even the sharpest minds.

Karl rode with them out of the City of the Dead. Crissy was staying ‘for a while’ to keep an eye on things.

“You know, I wonder how far out I will get this time before this world offers yet another reason to return,” Karl said as he prepared to depart.

“We try and keep things interesting,” Wendy grinned at him.

“You girls have fun!” Karl waved and then simply vanished.

“Let’s go home!” Wendy cheered.

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

They had been driving for a while, in silence, when Scruff finally spoke again.

“He said nieces,” Scruff said in a faraway tone.

“Yeah, and?” Wendy asked.

“As in more than one,” Scruff said.

“Good job on the counting.” Wendy teased.

“He meant both of us, didn’t he?” Scruff asked.

“Of course,” Wendy said. “You’re family to Bert and Bell. You know that.”

“Do I feel like family to you?” Scruff asked shyly.

“I don’t know,” Wendy said wistfully. “You haven’t let me feel you up yet.”

“Wendy!” Scruff blushed crimson.

“Well, I mean… if that was an invitation?” Wendy winked at her.

“I, uh…” Scruff stuttered.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to?” Wendy asked.

“No, I do; it’s just…” Scruff blushed again. “I’ve never really done anything.”

“Me neither,” Wendy grinned and leaned over, kissing Scruff gently on the lips. “My first kiss,” She grinned.

“Look out!” Scruff yelled as the ground beneath the Express gave way. They slammed into the ground, buried up to the cab windows in the earth.

“Good thing I was taking it easy!” Wendy groaned as she pulled herself off the dash. “Mental note, add seatbelts.”

They heard the Ballista on the roof fire as Tim began to yell.

“Shit!” Scruff grabbed her backpack of plants and scrambled out the window.

They were surrounded. The half-human, half-other People surrounded the Express. A series of nightmare-like figures pulled themselves out of hidden pits as more emerged from the forest.

“You should have come to us willingly!” Martha taunted from the cliffs far above.

“Fuck off!” Wendy yelled out the window.

“We’ll teach you some manners, girl!” A woman with her entire bottom half made of interlocked bones snarled at Wendy.

“Good luck!” Scruff laughed. “Lack of manners is kind of a genetic thing in her family.”

“Kiss a girl once; suddenly, she’s a critic!” Wendy yelled. Scruff saw her rummaging in the compartments of the Express.

“Enough!” Martha yelled from above. “You are surrounded, outnumbered, and your monstrosity is trapped. Surrender!”

“Cheeky Bitch!” Wendy yelled. “I am NOT a monstrosity!”

“I meant that machine!” Martha yelled, losing her certainty a little.

“I am the machine, Ho-bag!” Wendy yelled.

“What?” Martha was completely off-kilter now.

“Told you she couldn’t join, idiot!” Scruff snarled as her vines slowly grew through her clothes, wrapping her in strong, pliant armor.

“She will join!” Another voice in the crowd, a man’s this time. “Her abilities will be of the People!”

“Of the People!” The crowd chanted, starting to move in.

“Back! Off!” Scruff growled. She had vines growing through the ground now; she just needed a few more seconds…

“Get them!” Martha yelled. She screamed as a Ballista bolt smashed one of her legs away.

“Fnargle!” Tim crowed. He racked the loading mechanism and leaned forward. “Goose!”

“Huh?” Scruff just managed to duck in time to avoid the stream of bolts Tim fired randomly into the crowd. “Fuck!” They really needed to stop teaching him the wrong words for fun.

Her vines were now dug deep into the earth, and they dragged her back as the crowd charged in.

“I’ve got you, don’t worry!” Scruff grinned to herself as the People closed in about her. Flowers opened on the vines on her wrists, spraying a violent poison onto everything as she punched out. Vines whipped back and forth from her back, stabbing and tearing at any flesh they encountered.

She moved around, tearing the ground apart as she moved, supported by the vines as more and more of them attacked. There was just not enough flesh on some of them.

Scruff growled as her vines stabbed into wood, stone, and metal. The poison was wasted, and the damage was minor from the thorns.

“Damnit!” She growled as the People began to attack her vines rather than her. She had always thought people would go for her. The more they cut away, the less she had to work with.

In less than ten minutes of fighting, she had killed at least a dozen of the half-human People, but there were more and more of them, and she was almost out of plants. Tim had apparently run out of Ballista bolts as well.

She rolled away from a man with a colossal war axe, feeling the axe cut through the last of the vines connecting her with the plants below ground. She backhanded him, feeling his face tear open as the poisonous thorns on her vines dug deep.

He wouldn’t be getting up again.

She pushed the last of her vines down her arms, forming a shield on one arm and a long whip with the other.

“Come on, fuckers!” She snarled. There were just so many of them.

Tim came rushing in from behind her, swords in each hand, and slashed and stabbed as best he could. Someone kicked him, and he flew back, blown apart in the impact. It would take him time to reform; she was on her own.

“Give it up, gutter born!” A man reached for her. “You will be happier as one of the People!”

An Air Horn sounded, and everyone stumbled back as the horn blasted again.

“LAST CHANCE!” Wendy’s voice came out hugely amplified. “LEAVE OR DIE!”

“I don’t think they are buying it!” Scruff yelled as the People charged forward again.

“VERY WELL!” The Airhorn blasted long and hard.

Scruff leaped back, fighting on top of the Express as a pair of four-legged people jumped at her; they stabbed at her with bone daggers, forcing her back.

A shudder passed over the Express as something rose out of the back.

“Presenting! The New, Improved, Wendy Mark II Battlesuit!”

Scruff didn’t have time to look as she was driven back again.

A Bone clad fist slammed into the person to Scruff’s left, sending it flying.

“Get away from her, you BITCH!” Wendy roared, kicking out at one of the People who had been coming up behind her.

Scruff spun, finally getting a look at Wendy.

Wendy grinned as she fought. Her body was covered in bones. It was more than just armor; the arms had joints, complete with flexing tendons. Scruff had never heard of an Exo-suit, so she had no reference for what she was looking at.

On the other hand, Wendy had a lot of knowledge inherited from her father. That included a lot of random information and a surprising amount of movie quotes.

Given the abilities of the Flesh Shapers, it had taken no time at all to make.

It had taken time for her to bind to it, which is why she felt so late to enter the fight.

Spinning, she lashed out, planting a clawed, talon-like foot in the chest of the nearest enemy and feeling the rib cage crush beneath her feet. She laughed in joy as he coughed up blood before dying.

She was her mother’s daughter, and the blood lust had not diminished with the change. She flexed her hands, reveling in the feeling of the claws, three-inch sharpened and hardened bone, sliding into place.

She crouched, feeling the power in the suit muscles assist her leap and send her flying into the mass of bodies. She landed and started to flay everything around her. Metal hands closed on her arms as the People closed around her.

“Now, my Pretties!” More shudders came from the Express as six oblong projectiles were fired from the Ballista. They uncurled in the air; bone and steel creatures like mantises, each the size of a large dog, fell on the People.

“Retreat!” Martha called as two long-legged People hauled her away.

They tried to retreat, but Wendy was in her element and was not willing to leave survivors. She chased after them, leaping on their backs and tearing them apart. Her ‘Pretties’ skittered across the ground, corralling as many remaining People as possible.

Several still managed to get away, and Wendy howled in frustration.

Eyes bright, she turned back to the Express, reaching out a hand and beckoning it to her. The giant machine shuddered.

Wide-eyed and frozen since Wendy emerged, Scruff grabbed onto the roof as the vehicle lurched backward before driving forward and smashing its way free, climbing out of the trap and speeding towards the grinning Wendy.

Wendy ran at the vehicle, leaping onto the roof at the last second and spinning as she poured on the speed.

“Wendy!” Scruff yelled.

“Hmm?” Wendy asked; she looked almost drunk.

“We have to go back!” Scruff yelled. “You left TIM!”

“No, I didn’t, silly!” Wendy giggled and pointed down.

Scruff dragged herself over and peered into the cab. The ‘Pretties’ were carefully putting Tim back together while one of them gently stroked his skull and let out soothing keening noises.

“Well, that’s something I’ll never unsee.” Scruff shuddered.

“Look at them!” Wendy laughed as a thump impacted the front of the Express. “They actually think they are getting away!”

She looked out at the fleeing People, laughing as she ran them down with the Express.

“Wendy!” Scruff called again. “Please! Can we just go?”

“You want to go?” Wendy asked.

“Yes, please!” Scruff begged. She felt a little worried about Wendy. She had never seen that look in her eyes before. The way she giggled while ripping the intestines out of one of the attackers was… haunting.

“Oh, okay.” Wendy shrugged, and the Express lurched, turning towards the Scrubland and the way home. “I’m going to come back and kill you all one day!” She waved happily to the fleeing People.

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

By the time they got back into the Cab a few minutes later, Tim was back in one piece and laughing as he rode one of the ‘Pretties’ around the cab. The others were back to being oblong shapes in a storage compartment.

Wendy shrugged, the suit peeling open at the back as she stepped out of it and shook out her hair. The suit closed up, and went and sat in a chair.

“Is that alive?” Scruff asked.

“It’s part of me like the Express is.” Wendy grinned. The suit waved cheerfully to Scruff.

“Fuck, that’s weird.” Scruff shivered. “Are you okay?”

“Gods, yes!” Wendy laughed. “That was so much fun!”

“And the Pretties?” Scruff asked. She suddenly realized how other people must feel seeing her plants.

“Oh, they are kind of like dungeon mobs. The Flesh Shapers made the shapes for me, and I had the Core make them into actual mobs. They aren’t alive. More like drones? I think?” Wendy said as she leaned an arm on the window and smiled.

“And the suit?” Scruff asked.

“That is bound to me,” Wendy grinned. “It is just like the Express, BUT! It lets me move around outside of bound land because I am technically inside it!”

“Huh!” Scruff had to admit that was pretty smart.

“I got the Idea from what Dad did with the Waystation.”

“Nap?” Tim called.

“Nap!” Wendy confirmed, and the little skeleton hopped in his box.

The Pretty he had been riding came over and trilled at Scruff. She hesitatingly reached out a hand, and it rubbed against her.

“I guess they are sort of cute?” She said as it trilled happily, leaning its body against her as she patted it. “Do you think they could help me out with farming?”

“Oh, I think so,” Wendy said. “I even had the Flesh Shapers make them little implements to use!”

Suddenly, seeing them as useful for farming, Scruff felt quite fond of the little terrors.

“You get some shut-eye!” Wendy chirped. “We are clear now all the way back to the Waystation!”