A while after Lystall and Kuzunoha had finished teasing Lynefra and modifying her clothes Lystall heard Syble's voice, Lystall, take the girl and hide her.  I can't stop Veorful. His voice was distant and strained. 

What? Veorful is on her way? Lystall asked incredulously.

N-no, she's already arrived.  Syble's voice quivered in extreme pain.  Hurry!

Shit. I thought we'd have more time before she was discovered. Lystall replied before cutting her connection with Syble and reaching out to mentally to someone else, Kuzunoha, we need to hide Lynefra away immediately! Lystall paused and her eyes slightly dimmed down as she reached out again, Michael, she's come for him.  Lystall's expression paled.  Trying to reach someone an extreme distance away without any mediums was extremely taxing on anyone, even a goddess. 

That bitch! I was just about to visit Seimei. Kuzunoha sounded wronged.

On my way, A male voice also replied to Lystall's call for help.

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

"How are my clothes too conservative?  It's the academy's dress code!" Lynefra vented to herself.  She was a shade of red that would put a tomato to shame.  Since escaping the prying hands and eyes of Kuzunoha and Lystall, she had secluded herself in one of the academy's auditorium training rooms (Yep, that one from a few chapters ago - she never left).  Her outfit was no longer the standard academy training uniform people would wear when training in hand-to-hand combat, instead it had been ruthless incinerated by Kuzunoha and replaced by what could only be described as lingere in Lynefra's mind. 

In reality, it wasn't that revealing at all, it was a highly modified traditional Keikogi - complete with the modified hakama.  The top was mostly lavender while the sleeves were white.  The sides and the back of the shirt were conspicuously missing, courtesy of Kuzunoha.  The Hakama were worn much lower than traditional hakama were worn at according to Kuzunoha.  The pants didn't start at the actual waist. The sides of the hakama only started below Lynefra's hips, showcasing her ample curves, the Hakama were secured by two ties that wrapped around her midsection just below her belly button.  "This is ridiculously provacative," Lynefra mumbled to herself, thankful there wasn't anyone there to see her. 

After an extended period of time and multiple failed attempts to calm herself, Lynefra finally began to study and practice the sword forms given to her by Kuzunoha.  She quickly adapted her use of inner-force and Qi into the forms and modified the movements to better suit the smaller and more agile female gender.  Thankfully the Odaichi wasn't a weapon meant to be used with brute force, it suited Lynefra perfectly.  It should have too, Kamikira was a weapon made specifically for her by the best blacksmith in the universe. Time passed by quickly and before she knew it, eight entire hours had passed.  She was still engrossed in her practice when she heard an "ahem."

Altresca had wandered into the practice Auditorium an hour prior to her announcing herself.  First she noticed her sister's odd clothing.  It Mystified her.  Altresca knew her sister well, and she knew Lynefra hated wearing anything that revealed any skin whatsoever, so the keikogi was certainly a shock for her, but it suited Lynefra well.  It revealed just enough skin to make her already breathtaking looks grow to even more extreme levels.  I bet if she told any of the boys here at the academy to jump off a cliff for a hug, they would, Altresca thought to herself.  She sat down and started to watch her sister's unique swordplay. 

Altresca was always jealous of Lynefra's good looks, it had been obvious since early on that Lynefra was favored by many of the gods, and no one could miss Aphrodite's influence on the girl.  She was also jealous of how Freyd babied her and of Lynefra's excessive natural talents.  She was so jealous it had lead to quite a few arguments with Freyd and Lynefra's indifference to Altresca's hostilities had almost caused Altresca to outright attack her sister on more than one occasion.  Actually witnessing Lynefra practice something so dilligently made Altresca feel guilty towards her little sister and it didn't take long for Lynefra's dance-like sword forms to cause Altresca to fall into a state of awe.  Her opinion of her sister just did a complete 180 degree flip. After a while Altresca spoke up, "Ahem."

Lynefra immediately stopped her practice and turned red again, she quickly sheathed her sword and frantically tried to cover herself with her hands.  The action amused Altresca and she smiled at her little sister for the first time she could remember.

This girl...Altresca thought.  "I heard you had a run-in with the Dean?"

When Lynefra recognized her sister and her sister's voice she stiffened.  Her sister wasn't very fond of her, "Yes.." she replied through her magic voice projection, avoiding her sister's gaze.

"Good for you! I hate that pig!" Altresca exclaimed, approaching Lynefra with a smile on her face.  Altresca had initially come to lecture Lynefra about being more responsible and giving people in authority the proper respect.  She honestly didn't like the Dean at all but she couldn't resist the opportunity to lay into her "perfect" sister.   When she saw Lyenfra dilligently practicing, she changed her mind about the lecture and giving her a peice of her mind.

"Eh?" Lynefra spoke out loud, a look of surprise on her face. 

"Eh?" Altresca went wide-eyed.  Her sister never spoke to her.  Their relationship had been so bad that Altresca had only heard Lynefra actually speak with her own voice four times that she could remember.  Altresca's smile widened as she arrive in front of Lynefra, then, without warning, she embraced her little sister in a heartfelt hug.  The sudden hug surprised Altresca, even as the giver of the hug.  She hadn't intended to give her sister a hug.

Altresca wasn't the only one surprised by the hug, Lynefra was shocked.  She started shivering uncontrollably.  She had a poor relationship with her elder sister and didn't know why.  She thought her sister hated her to the bone and she would often seek out Freyd in an attempt to understand why her sister hated her.  Lynefra felt tears run down her face and before she knew it she was crying uncontrollably. 

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"Hey! What? I didn't-" Altresca started to panic.  Lynefra's tears usually meant something bad was going to happen but she was cut off when she felt Lynefra's small arms wrap around her and squeeze her into an embrace of her own.  Altresca's hug had released years of anxiety, sorrow, and longing in Lynefra.  Before she knew it, Altresca had started crying as well.  The two of them stood there for a long time, just hugging eachother and crying before Altresca finally managed to calm herself and Lynefra down.

Both women felt like they had just been freed from some giant shackles. "I'm sorry for..everything," Altresca suddenly spoke, seeing her sister look so vulnerable moved her heart even more.  In an instant, fifteen years of regret and resentment had been fixed.  Neither sister knew that what really spurred the sudden turn of events was Lynefra's voice.  Even though it had only been one word, her voice carried the same compulsion "charm" that most goddesses of love have. 

The two women talked for a while in the practicing auditorium.  Eventually they sat down and ate together.  They avoided the tender topics of the previous years to avoid awkwardness.  It had mostly been Altresca's fault but Lynefra didn't feel like pointing that out.  Nothing ever goes well when you accuse your big sister/big brother of being at fault.  Lynefra, who had been meditating and practicing on the sword had used up a large amount of energy in the hours prior to Altresca's arrival.  Coupled with the emotional outburst and the hormones of puberty, it didn't take long for her to start feeling extremely drowsy. So what are you-" Lynefra paused to yawn and rub her eyes, "Studying?"

Altresca had noticed Lynefra had been struggling to remain conscious for quite a while.  "I can just tell you that tomorrow Lynefra.  How about we call it a night.  The story of my work is long and boring.  Surely it would put you to sleep."

"No." Lynefra pouted.  She rarely conversed with her elder sister and it was never a pleasant conversation.  Suffice it to say she didn't want this conversation to end.

"Why?" How could Altresca know what Lynefra was thinking. "Lynefra, you're tired.  I'll take you to your room and pick you up for breakfast in the morning.  The Student Council wanted to talk to you anyways, they've decided on what courses you would take after you demonstrate a bit of knowledge for them." When Altresca had been sent to find Lynefra, it was the first time she had ever felt proud to be related to her.  The Dean had a reputation of getting a little too close with students.  Most of the girls would feel his lecherous gaze even if they hadn't see him show up to observe their practice.  "Oh! There's been something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Hm?" Lynefra used all of her willpower to remain awake, if only to extend the conversation a few more minutes.

"I heard you made the Fat Elf in the head office piss himself," Altresca stated, "Is it true?"  Her eyes twinkled in appreciation.

"Fat Elf in the head office?"

"Yeah, the Dean."

"No one was in the room for that..how do you know?" Lynefra was dumbfounded.  Did the Dean rat himself out?

"Oh that, hah. Well..." Altresca belonged to a special union of female students who had come up with ways to defend themselves against the Dean's unwanted advances.  He had tried to sully Altresca on numorous occasions, often using her Uncle as a threat to have him removed from his position. The Nihili family wasn't officially recognized as part of the Royal Elven Imperial family due to Cirwyn marrying Traigar.  It was an insult to the High Elves, but it was also no secret that the Current and the Old Emperor doted on Cirwyn and held Traigar in high regard.  There would be no official punishment from the Emperor for treating the members of the Nihili family poorly, but that didn't mean the those offenders wouldn't randomly disappear never to be heard from again. Even so, the threat of her Uncle, the Emperor, wouldn't keep the extremely lustful fat elf at bay forever, especially now that Altresca was fully of age and expected to marry.  If the Dean really did have his way with Altresca, the nobles might pressure the Emperor into having Altresca marry the Dean. "Let's just say there was a certain instructor who had followed you into the room.  She specializes in transformation spells and was quite literally a fly on the wall."

 "Eh?" Lynefra was at speechless. "It seems my school life won't be peaceful if that rumor spreads.  I was the only other 'Person' in the room, so the Dean would naturally blame me for spreading the rumor." Lynefra sighed, she was too tired to completely care at the moment about the rumor but it still didn't bode well for her.

"Well, you've more or less confirmed what the instructor claimed," Altresca continued with a smirk, "Now it's time to get you to bed.  The Studen Council wants to see you first thing in the morning.  You can sleep in my room if you want, since my roomate returned to her country the extra bed has been empty."

The thought of ending the pleasant conversation with her sister jolted Lynefra awake. "No," she said firmly.

"Again, I must ask, why?" Altresca hadn't known her sister to be so willful, though she didn't know her sister very well at all.

"Because..." Lynefra reluctantly explained, "What if I go to bed and when I wake up you'll hate me again?"

Altresca's heart clenched, she hadn't realized she had put her sister through so much pain.  She never wanted to intentionally hurt Lynefra, she was just extremely jealous of her sister's talents and the treatment she received from Freyd and Traigar.  "It'll be fine little sister, let's go to bed." Altrescra grabbed Lynefra's hand and pulled her to her feet.  She had her own pride and wouldn't admit that she had truly wronged her own sister.

Lynefra allowed herself to be pulled to her feet as she scooped up her sword with her free hand.  "Okay.." Lynefra was still reluctant to go to bed.

Sensing her hesitation Altresca added, "I'll sleep with you?  It'll be like when you were a baby!"  One must know Altresca was a very hard shell to crack but underneat the she was an extremely clingy person.  Her clingyness was the main cause for her jealousy of Lynefra.

Lynefra didn't say anything, she just smiled in anticipation.  She never had a sleep-over before. Because of Lynefra's extreme powers and the side-effects of an upset Lynefra, Cirwyn had prevented her own daughter from having any real friendships with people. 

"I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now," Altresca added, "Nice outfit!" She gave her sister a thumbs up, once again, Lynefra turned as red as a tomato.

"Thanks," she replied shyly.

Hours later, with both girls fast asleep, a hazy figure slowly materialized in Altresca's room. "Hello Lynefra," the figure in a voice too soft to wake the sleeping girls. The figure watched the two girls for a long while before speaking again.  "Even though you're fast asleep with a different body and no memory of me, your sleeping face still makes me smile," the figure wistfully said to itself.

Lynefra stirred from sleep, as if the watching eyes of the stranger had alerted her somehow.  Her eyes flickered open and she peered around the room until her eyes settled on the stranger watching her and her sister sleep. The figure looked seemed familiar to her, the familiarity caused Lynefra's heart to tremble and slowly throb in a soft pain.  The two of them didn't say anything and just gazed into eachother's eyes.

"Who are you?" Lynefra finally asked with her voice-transmission.

The figure smiled and put her finger over her lips before speaking, "You may not know me in this lifetime but I've known you since the beginning of time.  Did you know you gave me my name in your previous life?" The figure's voice was soft, filled with complex emotions.  Anger and resentment were present but they were hidden beneath the heavy tones of mourning, love, and sorrow.  The figure sighed, "I'm sorry for what I did to you in the past but perhaps this can be a new beginning." The voice paused. Lynefra followed the stranger's instructions and hadn't said anything.

Eventually the stranger spoke again, "To answer your question, Hello Lynefra, I'm Veorful."