- “Here, let me pamper you.” - Valerie grabs a spoon and scoops some rice with sauce on it. She does a little motion before propping it against my mouth. - “Say aaaah, hehe~!”

I begrudgingly take a bite of the food she feeds me.

- “Spoon feeding? Really Valerie?” - I wipe my mouth and side eye her.

- “It’s just the two of us now! Nobody’s going to judge you!” - She scoops up another portion and pops it into my mouth.

- “This food’s delicious by the way. Damn.” - The taste is fantastic, not too salty, a little sweet but with a hint of sour to balance it out.

- “Only the best cooks love, I won’t settle for anything below that.” - She feeds me another spoon and hands me a mug of water. - “Drink.” - While I’m not exactly in my element… It’s kinda nice to be spoon fed like that.

- “Sit on my lap. I think that’ll do me some good!” - I set the plate onto the desk and clap my lap. - “And don’t worry, I’m not going to die, you’re not that heavy.”

- “O..Ok.” - Valerie blushes but complies with my request. - “Like this?” - She puts my lap between her legs and sits down facing me and wraps her arms around my neck.

- “Just like that…” - I give her a kiss. - “You’re a strange one, fine with shows of affection but the moment I get a bit more spicy with you, you don’t know how anything works.” - I pull her in by the waist and our bodies touch.

- “W-well… You know, I’ve never done anything like this before.” - Valerie buries her face in my chest. - “This is still a bit new.”

- “But you just spoon fed me, that’s romantic. Are you lying to me Valerie?” - I make a smug face, she can’t see it but we’ll see where this goes.

- “What?! No~! I’ve never been with a man… or woman… in any way like this.” - She looks up at me with those big emerald green eyes.

- “At all? Not even as a one time thing?” - I narrow my eyes, further exaggerating the smug look on my face.

- “No!” - Valerie puffs out her cheeks. - “You win! I’m a virgin ok?! Geez…”

- “The powerful Valerie? Who can bring two muscle brains to their knees?” - I slide my hands down from her waist onto her thighs and squeeze them gently. - “That cannot be~! What shall we do~?”

- “Aah~? Hey…!” - She grabs onto my shirt and squeezes tightly.

- “What?” - I push my hands up, under her skirt. - “You can tell me to stop at any point…” - I lean in and whisper into her ear, biting the lobe of it. She breathes in roughly and arches her back.

- “Stop teasing me~.” - She tilts her head back, giving me a full view of her neck and I start lightly kissing along its length.

I press my hands on her butt under the skirt tickling it lightly. After having a moment with it, kissing her neck I pull back my hands and lean back.

- “Wha~! Hey~! Don’t stop…” - She looks at me with a blush, her chest bumping from her heart, she’s breathing heavy as well.

- “One step at a time. It’s like the meal you had brought, you have to take it slow.” - I lean in and kiss her, she tries to pull me in but I’m able to wiggle out. - “Come on, let's get home.” - Some of my strength is back, my body’s no longer yelling at me to stay still as well so I’m able to push Valerie back off my lap and onto her own two legs. I stand up and she’s looking up at me, clenching her fists with puffed out cheeks.

- “You’re really going to make me wait for it?” - She bumps my stomach with her fist. - “My boyfriend’s a bully…”

I stretch out my legs and do a couple of squats. Not even close to full strength but it’ll do for now. We make our way out of the room and down the stairs. The lady at the desk stands up and bows immediately upon seeing Valerie and me come down.

- “You can have the door closed now, thank you for your work Lackra.” - Valerie grabs me under the arm and presses into me with a humm. The lady, Lackra, looks at us with a smile. - “It was good coming here for a little. I usually don’t have time to deal with this place.”

- “I was meaning to ask, why the door? If only the strong can enter, how the heck do people get inside?” - I tilt my head over to Valerie.

- “There’s other entrances, this one is however restricted to Guardians and me. There’s always someone by the front desk as well in cases like this.” - Valerie with a skip in her step explains.

- “But you said the door wasn’t open for decades.” - I’m confused.

- “It’s a chore to get it closed, so the Guardians stationed here just use the normal doors.” - Right, that makes sense now. Those two doors are big chunks of a rock, no need to drag 'em back and forth every day.”

We make our way through the plaza and into the same shortcut alleway we used to get her originally. Though a little longer, the trip is still relatively short and we get back to the house a few minutes later.

Valerie’s basically been glued to my arm the entire way, humming and giggling now and then without any prompt to do so. She’s really enjoying herself, huh. We open the door to our house and immediately we can hear two women yell at each other.

- “... is because YOU decided to go off on your own without telling anybody!”

- “Yep! It’s definitely not because our mother sent me off on a mission she knew I’d fail, right?!” - We come into the lobby and Xerra’s arguing with a familiar lady, wearing shiny full plate armor. They’re not just similar… they look exactly the same.

- “She just wanted you to prove yourself to everyone and get a nice place in the Royal Palace, be presentable and a good daughter!” - The armored Xerra lookalike waves her hands and nearly spits on the floor yelling.

- “Like you?! Chief of the Royal Guard, Thraxa Virroth! A daughter most people can only dream about!” - Xerra’s pacing back and forth, her eyes are glowing red with heat pulsing from her body.

- “Xerra, nobody said you’re not supposed to do your own thing! It’s too late to change what happened, but you could at least visit her and talk with her when you’re around!” - Thraxa slams her fist on her thigh, nearly hissing at Xerra.

- “My responsibility goes beyond my mothers and your need to control everything around you! Valerie gave me a purpose none of you could!” - Xerra steps in front of Thraxa and nearly slams her forehead into hers, they’re eyeing each other down like MMA fighters ready to go at any moment.

- “Calm down you two!” - Valerie finally makes her entrance and I follow her towards the twins. - “What the fuck is going on here?”

- “Beat some sense into this woman, she’s lost her origin in all this Spotting nonsense.” - Thraxa’s spitting venom, my eyebrow twitches. - “She should be a Chief of a General for the Royal Army and not out, wandering in some piss and shit place like Nova Vertex.” - Valerie frowns and tilts her mouth, Xerra is strangling her with her eyes.

- “The fuck did you call my town?” - I move in and bump my chest into her, looking down at her. - “Repeat that, I dare you.”

- “Know your place, peasant. I’ll rip your head off before you could blink.” - Thraxa places her hand on the hilt of her sword.

- “The bark of a puppy doesn’t scare me after fighting a demon a while ago.” - I lean over her, my pupils shrink and my eyes go wide. Veins pulse on my temples.

- “Wanna go for a little bit? See how long you last?” - Thraxa starts pulling out her sword…

- “ENOUGH~!” - The entire building shakes as Valerie’s voice reverberates around the room, the three of us are immediately taken off balance. It was instantaneous, she ramped up the gravity so much nobody could hold their weight.

I catch myself on the sofa, Xerra on the other hand is just slightly slumped over. Thraxa nearly got knocked on her ass throughout all of this.

- “Sit. Now.” - Valerie points to the twins and then to the couch. - “You too Leshy, on the other couch. That’s an order from the Shield.”

We look at each other for a second. I get it, this is her job and technically I work for her. I stretch myself out and make my way over to the couch, never leaving Thraxa out of my line of sight. The twins also sit next to each other.

- “Now you two can talk. TALK, do you understand?” - Valerie stomps over to the couch I’m on and falls onto it with a long grunt. - “These two… And you too love? Why do you keep getting into trouble?” - Valerie leans over to my ear and whispers.

- “I’m an asshole magnet as it seems.” - I shrug and she sighs, massaging the bridge of her nose.

- “She wants me to come back home and apply to be a grunt soldier in her Guard, Valerie. Can you believe that?” - Xerra leans forward with her arms stretched ahead of her.

- “You’re talking to me or your sister? I told you that you will have to deal with this when we’re here.” - Valerie leans back and with a hmpf turns her head away from Xerra.

- “It’s all because you decided to run off after the mission failed.” - Thraxa leans back, huffing through her nose. - “You could’ve just come back. Mother would surely understand.”

- “Our mother sent me to die Thraxa. I was held in a fucking basement for three weeks until some asshole put a needle in me. I don’t remember much of what happened after. I was out until Valerie knocked me out of it, funnily enough her doing that was more than any of you did for me.” - Xerra slaps her cheeks and sighs.

- “Your inadequacy in completing the mission is nobody’s fault but yours. You should know that being a high and mighty Guardian.” - Thraxa looks away and crosses her legs.

- “I don’t care what you say to Xerra in terms of your family. But insult my organization once more and I’ll show you why they called me The Jewel of Death…” - Valerie’s eyes are wide, her pupils narrow. This wouldn’t even be a fight. Thraxa looks at her and sweat forms on her face as she swallows.

- “Where is mother by the way? Why didn’t she come if she’s so wishing for my return?” - Xerra turns towards Thraxa with a frown.

- “She wants you to come to see her. Why would a mother go see a child that does not want to meet?” - Thraxa’s tone is making my eyebrows twitch, she’s the kind of person I’d rip into without remorse, verbally then, physically now…

- “Fuck, that. She can come here, or she can wait for when we all visit once she has time for us lowly Spotters. It’s not like we could roll over Gallahan and make her understand who’s actually the higher power.” - Xerra’s scoff is met with Valerie’s gaze now, but she doesn’t say anything. Xerra however immediately drops her cocky mockery and makes herself presentable again.

- “Well, she won't, so you're going to have to deal with it.” - Thraxa scoffs.

- “I will not have to deal with anything if I don’t want to. The only thing I have to deal with is being dragged along on Spotter business and doing work for Valerie.” - Xerra immediately snaps back.

- “Well maybe your work is a little too much? You could join the Guard and have all the free time in the world? Hmm?” - Thraxa’s not letting off.

- “Alright. I’m tired of this, you can go now Thraxa. I don’t give a shit what your position is and how mighty important you think you are. You clearly only came here to talk shit to Xerra.” - I can’t deal with them anymore, Thraxa’s entire purpose here is to be a menace. - “You can find the door or I can help you find it.” - I stand up and so does Valerie.

- “I agree, you’re dismissed Chief Thraxa, the Spotter Consensus has no more business with you.” - Valerie adds.

Without any further word Thraxa gets off the couch and makes her way to the door, exiting the house and slamming it shut behind her.

- “Why can’t you two just be siblings? Why do I have to deal with this every time we come to Rixen, Xerra?” - Valerie immediately leans on Xerra with a motherly tone. - “Why can’t you just buckle, you don’t need to love them, just fucking deal with them and get this done with. But you keep dragging it out”

- “I want my mother to admit she’s wrong, by going back on my own to see her I concede that she was right and I was the improper child. That ain’t happening Valerie.” - Xerra relaxes on the couch, sprawling out her arms and legs with a grunt.

- “And you too Leshy. One second of not saying anything is all I wanted. Just a hesitation from you. Instead you told her to fuck off.” - Valerie pushes her hands into her face, massaging it, pulling on the skin, pushing into her eyes lightly. - “My Boyfriend’s an asshole magnet and my best friend has mother issues. Why me?”

- “Well… I’m going to be… Wait! Where’s the gremlin?! And why are you fucked up Leshy?!” - Xerras’s eyes widen and her eyebrows furrow, she’s looking at me with a tilted head. - “The fuck did I miss?”

- “He got approved as your Protector by the Guardians… BUT he had to fight Kassandra to earn her vote.” - Valerie pats me on the shoulders and massages them. - “And then Nyxie who was supposed to train with Leshy had to train with Raxis, a bunch of other stuff happened. Long story short, Gremlin will be back later, Raxis will bring her over.”

- “Is Varux coming too?” - Xerra’s eyes turn to coins. - “I need to outdrink that fucker!”

I immediately sign to Xerra to stop talking and she covers her mouth.

- “I mean… TALK to him! I need to talk to him, big boy’s probably got some stories to share! Hehe~!” - I facepalm at Xerra’s attempt at dodging the bullet. She’s hopeless.

- “Just, gosh, whatever, do whatever you want. There’s no way I can control any of you at this point.” - Valerie falls back onto the couch and deflates.

- “Why don’t I give you a massage, love?” - I pull on her hand, she’s playing ragdoll right now.

- “Get a room, you two~!” - Xerra giggles and lies down on her couch.

- “Alright, just… not here.” - Valerie finally comes back to it and lifts herself up with the help of my hand. She pulls me upstairs, leaving Xerra who’s wagging her eyebrows at us behind.

We go to our room, and the grand bed meets us. It looks like it would swallow me if I went to sleep in it.

- “Take off your top and pop down on the bed. On your belly, I’m massaging your back, not your front.” - I say to Valerie and take off my gear and Valerie stands there dumbfounded.

- “Ummm… I, you know. There’s nothing underneath.” - Valerie is kicking the floor with her hands behind her back. twisting her torso back and forth a little bit. - “Can you turn around?”

- “Of course love. Though you don’t have to be embarrassed. I wouldn’t mind having a peek~.” - She slaps my back and turns round, lifting her dress up and sliding it off, she then takes off her boots and gets on the bed. Laying down on the bed, pushing her face into one of those pillows. - And if by not having anything underneath you meant your breasts...” - A pillow hits my face, cutting me off.

- “Stooop~! Mmmm!” - Valerie presses her now beet red face into her pillow. - “Get on with it will you~?”

- “Alright… just don’t panic, ok?” - I take off my boots and get on the bed. I then straddle her. Sitting lightly on her legs. She turns her face towards me and is looking at me with her mouth half open, the major league blush sticking to her cheeks. - “Just relax, it’s a massage.”

I lean down and put my hands on her bare back. I search for tense muscles and signs of tiredness with my fingers. Her smooth skin sends a jolt into my brain but I keep myself contained for now. She hugs the pillow and turns back into it. After a couple of minutes of seeking out any places that need extra attention I apply some pressure after turning my hands into fists. Pushing my knuckles with precision into the tense spots, one after another. Valerie melts and moans in response.

- “In all my years, I’ve never felt anything like this.” - She arches her back and smiles at me, peeking at me again from below. I smile back at her for a second and then continue with the massage. - “Where’d you learn this? Oh my, ish sho good~!”

- “I used to be a dancer with a few other friends. We’d have to massage each other in case of injury so we all learned how to do this.” - I’m now pushing my thumbs up and down her spine.

- “A dancer? That’s not very common amongst anybody I know.” - She wiggles around.

- “Stop moving, It’ll hurt if I miss the right spots.” - I pinch her side and she quickly stops her wiggles. - “This is the spot…” - I place my hands on her neck and so the fun part begins. I massage her neck, she looks ecstatic. - “Will you mind if I do your legs too?”

- No~! I want the whole package please.” - Valerie kicks her feet back and forth. I move back a little to expose her thighs and follow the same formula, running my hands up to her panties and then back down to the knee, looking for tense spots.

- “You’re a very beautiful woman.” - I let my thoughts slip.

- “You don’t think that…” - Valerie denies my objective compliment. - “You’re just saying it to make me feel better.”

- “Oh shush!” - I lean in and kiss her just above her butt. - “This body’s a gift. I have trouble sleeping just thinking about it. The fact that such a wonderful person inhabits it, couldn’t ask for a better package!”

- “Stop~!” - Valerie kicks one of her feet up and bumps my back with it, albeit with barely any force behind it. I lift my butt up and lean over her. I press my nose onto her neck and kiss her. She jumps a little, but tilts her head over, allowing me in.

- “Mlem! Delicious!” - I rub my nose on her neck, she gives out a slight giggle in response. I push my hand up her neck and through her hair on the back of her head. She gasps and grips the pillow harder.

- “Hey…What…?” - She looks back at me. I grab her by the chin and lean for a kiss, letting this one linger for a moment. She turns her entire body towards me, the sight of her half naked form is something I’m incapable of ignoring anymore. Hormones start kicking down the door in our brains and for this moment.

We’re both breathing heavily, the inescapable demand of our bodies to connect beyond anything before is growing louder and louder. She reaches down to my waist and grabs the hem of my shirt, pulling the entire thing up and off me.

- “Just tell me if it’s too much…” - I whisper into her ear and slide my hand down from her chin, following the contours of her collar bone and further down around her small round breasts. Her breath hitches and she arches her back a little in response. She doesn’t let herself be passive however and goes on her own exploratory expedition, searching through my torso, scratching and squeezing my muscles.

We lean into each other, her warm breath coats my neck as she leans in and kisses it tenderly. My hand continues its exploration of her gentle curves, following her waist, slowly and methodically memorizing the texture of her silk smooth skin. Our lips connect and our tongues intertwine in a frantic dance, each trying to explore the other, pushing and pulling as if to assert dominance over one another.

Our bodies heat up, blood rushes through our veins. Valerie moans lightly as we continue our kiss, wrapping her arms around me, the warmth of her hands as she slides them through my hair makes it stand at attention, each strand waiting for its turn to be met with her tender embrace. I lightly push my knee between her legs, slowly pushing one to the side, then I the other. She wraps her legs around my waist without an ounce of hesitation, pulling me down further onto her. I respond in this tug of love, gently and carefully exploring her bare breasts. With precision pressing and pinching on their nipples. Her yes shoot open and then quickly melt into a look of complete bliss as she moans in between our kiss, the heat of her breath on my face and neck ramps up my own actions.

We succumb to our own desires, participating in a tug of war between lust and desires. All reservations are gone, the resonating emotions between me and Valerie take over as we connect beyond the physical, slowly and methodically like the strokes of a paint brush against a blank canvas. We spend the next eternity painting a masterpiece of euphoria and bliss, solidifying our connection beyond what words can describe.

When our work is completed and the seed has been planted, we succumb to one another's embrace. Valerie’s pants coat my chest in the warmth of her breath as she lies on me, fulfilled and spent. I gently caress her cheek and stroke her hair to which she responds with a humm, wiggling her body.

We spend the next couple of hours cuddling and mumbling around. No real conversation is taking place, we just exchange glances and settle into this newfound world. A barrier was broken between us, elevating this little relationship into the real deal. While we enjoy our silent company a slight knock on the door kicks us out of the hazy moment. Valerie quickly jumps up and covers herself in the bedsheets.

- “Hey! Lovebirds, Nyxie’s back! Get dressed and come out. I’ll wait for you two.” - Valerie sighs and looks at me with a gentle smile, her body glistening with some sweat.

We both slide off the bed and get ourselves in a semi-presentable state. Valerie frantically looks for her hair brush to fix herself up but can’t seem to find it.

- “Relax, we just… slept, it’s normal to be a little ragged after sleep, right?” - I hug her from behind and kiss her head from above.

- “Right… slept!” - Valerie takes a deep breath and we come outside of our room. Xerra’s standing there with her arms crossed.

- “You need to learn to be a bit more… quiet Valerie. I heard everything.” - Xerra elbows Valerie playfully. She covers her face in response and gives an exasperated “noooo~!”.

The three of us make our way downstairs. Nyxie is slumped on the couch, gasping for air, when she notices our presence she gives me and Valerie a slight death stare.

- “You two left me to die~!” - Nyxie yelps and lifts her arms up, they quickly fall down, unable to hold their own weight up.

- “You’re a resilient little twerp, we’ll make a Spotter of you yet! Haha~!” - Raxis laughs, standing proudly behind her. He looks over at us and waves. - “Hello! You two seem like you had fun!”

- “Raxis, I beg of you~! Not you too!” - Valerie is at a loss, her attempt at hiding what happened failed. - “How was the training?”

- “It was good! She’s a strong girl but she needs to shape up. Halfway through she passed out on me twice. Ha~!” - Raxis says that, like it's nothing.

- “Well, I’m glad to hear you survived this guy Nyxie!” - I walk over and rustle her hair.

- “There’s one more thing I need to talk to you about Shield. Leshy and Xerra can stay but Nyxie’s too low in rank…” - Raxis takes a seat on the table and props up his head on the back of his hand.

- “Fine. I’m going to bed!” - Nyxie lazily lifts herself up from the bed and while grunting with every step she makes her way upstairs.

- “What is it Raxis?” - Valerie sits down, trying to fix her hair using her hands. - “Bad news, good news?”

- “Depends on who you’re asking. There are reports of something interesting in the west.” - Raxis pulls out of his thigh pouch, a roll of paper and spreads it out on the table.

It looks like it’s been through hell and back to get into this room, it’s tattered and ripped in some places but the contents on it are clearly visible. It’s a map with a lot of annotations on it, pointing to different locations. Where there wasn’t enough space for the note another piece of paper was literally sown into the main roll.

- “What are we looking at?” - Xerra leans over and eyes through the map. - “The area in there doesn’t look familiar at all.” - She pulls out her map and fumbles around with it, unwinding the whole thing on the floor.

- “It’s about a thousand kilometers west, around the Vibra Flora area. Anyway…” - Raxis clears his throat and points to a black X with a few notes in a language I don’t understand. - “While the area itself is something we’ve yet to figure out, there are fresh Titanothar tracks right at this point.”

- “No shit…” - Xerra mutters to herself with a smirk.

- “How fresh?” - Valerie on the other hand is keeping a straight face, but when you look long enough, she’s actively trying to hide a smile.

- “A few weeks, but here’s why this might not be exactly good news. There’s no tracks behind or in front of the direction they point towards.” - Raxis leans back and scratches his head. - “Normally those things leave a trail that’s hard to miss, but this track exists only in this place.”

- “Maybe the Boots and Leads scouting this fucked up? Missed the tracks?” - Xerra scratches her chin and tilts her head. - “It’s not out of the realm of possibilities if the party that found it was inexperienced.”

- “The information is solid, it’s from an old friend of yours Shield Valerie.” - Raxis raises his eyebrow at Valerie who has a surprised look on her face. - “You know who.”

- “She’s still kicking then, good. I trust the information but we need more to act on it.” - She pulls out ink and a quill out of her pouch with her signature wax seal kit. - “Take this and have it sent to her. For her eyes only.” - Valerie scribbles a letter in a language I recognize but have yet to learn, Ancient Astarian was it?

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

- “So, there’s an active Titanothar? Do we finally get to be Spotters?” - I elbow Valerie who pokes my side in response.

- “Not yet, once we’re certain of the track's nature and she does what I asked of her we’ll act.” - Valerie looks over all of us. - “Did you tell anyone else about this Raxis? Varux, Kassandra? Anyone?”

- “No Shield, as your direct proxy for personal letters only I and now you three know of the contents of this letter.” - Raxis rolls up the map and puts it back into his thigh pouch.

- “If it’s for Valerie only, why didn’t you ask for complete privacy?” - I tilt my head, we’re basically reading private contents of very important letters addressed only to Valerie. I don’t understand why it would be fine for us to know it and not anyone else.

- “Because you’re her partner and Xerra’s as close as a Sister to Valerie. I doubt any of you will share this outside of this circle.” - Raxis brings up a couple of good points there.

- “Nobody’s to hear about this until I make the announcement. Not even the other Guardians, understood?” - Valerie commands Raxis to which he bows his head immediately. - “Send the letter and standby for further instructions, thank you Raxis.”

Without any further elaboration, he stands up and goes out of the house. The door closes and Xerra starts punching the air while humming and jumping around.

- “We got Tracks! You hear that Valerie?!”

- “Calm down, we’re not even sure if they’re good yet.” - Valerie pushes down on Xerra’s shoulder to stop her from jumping but Xerra just… jumps less while still punching the air.

- “You say that but that smile of yours is about to go ear to ear if you don’t let it happen.” - I press my thumbs into the corners of her mouth and pull them apart, making her kinda look like she’s smiling.

- “Aaam~!” - Valerie tries to bite one of them but I pull my hands away. Now she’s smiling! - “There’s still a little bit of the day left. Maybe we could do something relaxing while we wait for this news to develop? Though someone should stay behind in case the damn Messenger comes by to pick us up… Damn”

- “I stayed behind last time, it’s your turn now Valerie.” - Xerra picks up her Glaive and gets ready to leave.

- “Fine! I’ll stay then, are you going to go anywhere Leshy?” - Valerie looks at me.

- “I was thinking of hitting the shops.” - I rub my coin pouch which is excessively empty. - “But the coin’s not there yet, still waiting for your payment.”

- “There you go!” - Valerie throws me her coin pouch. - “We’ll pick up some funds from the Headquarters before we leave Rixen and you’ll get your cut then.” - Valerie has a smug face, wagging her eyebrows.

- “This will most definitely cover my cut though.” - The pouch is heavy with coin, excessively so.

- “Think of this as a gift from your girlfriend.” - She kisses my cheek. - “Have a good shopping trip!”

Xerra’s already on her way out, I kiss Valerie goodbye and head out myself. Once outside Xerra waves at me and immediately splits in the direction opposite to where I’m going. The walk is very short, the entrance onto the market street is only a few hundred meters away from our house.

Just like before the area is hustling and bustling with life, different colors of skin, different clothing and gear. It’s incredible. Now that I’m not being dragged by Vaurx to the nearby slum I take a better look around the architecture, frankly, I don’t think I’ve seen skyscrapers as tall as this carved out cavern.

I start slowly walking on the side of the main walkway, making sure I don’t bump into anyone. All the while looking mostly at the structures around me. They reach easily fourty… no, fifty floors up. The right side, where I’m walking, each floor protrudes out and over the street, more and more, some floors are pulled back in, only to then continue this cascade of architectural ingenuity.

The ground floor is lifted, with a flight of stairs to reach it every now and then, some spots along the building have rope lifts attached to them while others are connected to the unbelievably intricate web of stairs, walkways, bridges over to the other side and back. And nearly all of it is carved out of the same stone, out of the mountain.

The other side of the road is adorned with a never ending line of storefronts, each colored in different shades of pink, red, yellow, green, any fucking color you can imagine. It’s making my eyes spiral around. Each shop also has a massive sign with its name, carved out of a single piece of wood. BURRRRR…! A little bit ahead of me the rumbling noise of stone rubbing against stone can be heard and I notice that one of the shops is twisting in place, the floor above it is stationary but the actual shop is spinning around, once it does a full 180 degrees it stops with a wooden sign saying “Closed” on top and a large single pane window now posing as the storefront.

I’m looking specifically for two shops I notice on the way to the Slum. After a few minutes of walking through the loaded to the brim street I find the first shop. The sign atop the entrance says “Parthux’s Armory of Wonders”. The building is blue in color, and the front door is wide open with two different pieces of armor, one holding a large ornate sword and the other a long spear.

I enter the shop and just as I cross the threshold, the entire noise of the bustling street behind me subsides.

The place is a bit stuffy, the smell of hot metal permeates the entire shop. There’s a clear divide in the sold contents with the left side of the shop being dedicated to weapons and the right side is entirely armor pieces. The floor is made of charred wood and the weapon and armor stands each are carved out of a single piece of wood.

I walk over to the abandoned front desk. There’s a very shiny golden bell on top of it. With a tap a harmonic ding rings out around the shop, in the back of the shop there’s a sudden racket and in a few seconds an unexpected sight appears in front of me.

From behind the door to the back of the shop, pokes out a half skin half scaly head with long black hair coming out of it. After blinking a few times at me, the head turns into an entire person, coming out of the doorway. An extremely tall woman stands in front of me, wearing a very simple white shirt and black shorts, a leather apron hangs off her neck, one of her hands is wearing a large leather glove with metal plates nailed on the knuckle and wrist area. The top of her arms is covered with a black scale that fades into a coconut skin as it spreads outwards. Her face is similar, with her jugulars covered in black scales that extend out to her cheeks only to then fade out into her dark skin.

- “Well howdy there! Welcome to Parthux’s Armory of Wonders! Whether yer big an' strong or quick as a whip, we got just what ya need fer when yer wanderin’ 'round them shadier parts of town!” - The woman grins at me and reaches out her gloved hand. I reciprocate with a smile.

- “That’s not what I expected if I’m being honest.” - I note, looking at up at the large woman

- “What? I know Parthux ain't all that feminine, but it's a given name, alright? Ain't no reason a woman can't be big an' strong too, now is there?” - She laughs excessively loudly and props her hands on her hips. - “So, what’re ya lookin’ for in this humble little shop o’ mine?”

- “Something like this, just better and with more character?” - I slowly pull out my trusty old sword and safely place it on top of the front desk. Parthux looks over at it with wide eyes and tries to pick it up a few times before ultimately giving up. She then leans over it and pulls out a small magnifier glass, carefully scanning the blade up and down a few times.

- “Honestly, I never could figure how y'all Spotters lug these things 'round so easy. This big ol' hunk o' metal ain’t gonna do much good for nobody 'cept you folks.” - She puts her magnifier back into the back pocket of her shorts and props her chin up on her thumb and index finger, thinking and mumbling to herself. - “Considerin’ the stuff yer lookin’ for ain’t exactly human-sized, I reckon I can recommend somethin’ special… c’mon, follow me.”

She leads me over to one of the weapon stands in the corner of the shop, it’s lined entirely with swords that are the size of my own or even bigger. She points to one of them. It’s a single edged straight sword, with the tip angled towards the dull edge. The entire blade is broad and about as long as my entire sword. The hand guard is made out of a solid piece of metal, it’s engraved with runes similar to what Kassandra had on her sword, only more stylized and smaller, covering the entire guard. It’s also huge, like the sword is massive but the guard is basically a hollowed out hunk of metal that holds the massive blade inside. The hilt on the other hand is slender, thick by the guard and it tapers slimmer and slimmer the further down you go, at the end of it is a golden bulb with a blue gem at the end.

- “This here’s a Barythium blade, with a Revertium guard. Now at the bottom, that gem ya see? That’s an artifact that gives the sword its power, keeps the edge sharp no matter how much ya use it.” - She slides her fingers along the blunt edge.

- “And this costs how much?” - It looks fantastic, but I’ll need a harness to wear it on my back, it’s too big to be on my hip. - “Actually, nevermind. I’ll take it, with something I can use to wear it on my back.”

- “Perfect! There’s a harness made just for holdin’ this thing up, with a whole mess o’ gems enchanted to lighten the load for ya.” - She walks off for a little and comes back with a simple, leather strap harness that has foggy, gray gems plugged into it all over the place. - “That’ll be 500 Ri, sugar!”

I grab my and Valerie’s coin pouch and hand it to Parthux.

- “Could you count it out for me. Take 200 more, let's say it’s for a fruitful relationship.” - Parthux’s eyes glow at the sight of the coin, she carefully takes it to the desk and starts counting out the coin. - “Does the clothing shop further down the road have good items? Or do you have a better recommendation?”

- “The shop down that road? Are you talkin’ ‘bout Sphinx’s place?” - She asks me but I’m not entirely sure. I’d know if I’ve seen it.

- “Yeah that one!” - I most definitely know what she means, it’s not like I’m here for the first time, right? Hehe…

- “It’s a good shop! We got ourselves a partnership goin’. I make armor that fits his clothes, an' he makes clothes that fit my armor sometimes. We split the profits like that. Not a bad deal, huh?" - She yells out to me while I’m looking through her armor. - “All done! Here ya go!”

I go over to the counter and strap myself up. Parthux then leads me over to the sword and presents it to me. I pick it up, it’s almost three times as heavy as my other sword, but nothing I can’t wield. I whip it around me and attach it to the harness.

- “What 'bout that old hunk o’ metal you brought in?” - She points back at my old sword. I undo the sheath I used for it and hand it to her.

- “Make it into something fancy, ceremonial. I want to hang that thing on my wall, we’ve been through a lot to gether.” - There’s this feeling of leaving an old friend behind in my mind, that thing’s been with me through a lot. I want to make sure it’s well taken care of even if I’m not using it.

- “Got it, chief! I’ll polish it up real nice an’ keep it in storage for ya.” - Parthux bumps her chest with her gloved hand. - “Anything else I can do for ya?”

We exchange goodbyes and I go out of the shop, back into the rowdy street. Easily an hour passed, it must be really late at this point but the amount of people in here didn’t reduce at all. Now, to find Sphinx’s little shop… I start moving along the storefronts, window shopping as I go, only a few hundred meters up I find it. “Sphinx’s string and needle”. There’s a clear naming convention to these shops. The walls are painted in a soft yellow color.

After entering the shop I’m met with a very similar setup to what Parthux had at her shop, the store is filled with mannequins, each dressed in a different kind of clothing, from extremely pretentious stuff to more functional get-ups.

- “Welcome, to the house of the one, who sells clothing.” - A small, winged man flies over to me and lands on a pedestal. He’s about as big as a can of soda. - “They might have what this one’s looking for?” - Aside from being extremely small, the man is wearing robe, incredibly intricate in its design, mixing different complimenting colors to not leave an ounce of empty space on it. His long blond hair, flowing well past his feet adds to his almost regal presentation.

- “I’m currently just looking around, but Parthux has recommended I come here. So I’m hoping I’ll find things of at least similar quality.” - As I move around the shop, looking through the clothes, I find a couple of interesting choices. There’s one outfit that specifically catches my eye. It’s a very distinct piece of clothing compared to the rest.

The outer layer is a long, loose haori primarily colored blue with long white stripes following the edges and the collar extending up, high above what a normal collar would be. The right hand seems to have small belts attached to it, strapping it onto the forearm of whoever would wear it, while the left arm seems to stay completely loose. The whole thing is neatly tied at the waist by a white obi, tightened up using two leather belts that run around the obi itself. Underneath is a tank top shirt with slots for a harness akin to the one I’m wearing right now to carry my new sword. The pants are simple, black with white stripes on the sides, clamped to the legs of the mannequin with knee high boots, giving them a baggy appearance.

- “I like this one. How much is it?” - I point to the Samurai looking combat clothing. - “I’d like to buy it.”

- “This one’s made for Spotters of high rank, unfortunately it seems it’s not for sale for this one.” - The little man lands next to the mannequin. - “Maybe once this one’s no longer a boot they could come back and shop once more?”

- “I’m a Protector, Sphinx.” - I pull out my Spotter ID and hold it up for him to read. - “I’ll be buying these clothes. Do you have a changing room?”

- “Of course they do, this one’s proved them wrong. Let them provide a discount, for friendship's sake. - The man flies up and scratches his chin. - “This one pays 200 Ri and the clothes are theirs?”

- “They are indeed theirs.”- I look over the attire. Fuck, I didn’t think I’m going to get myself a wardrobe change today, but here I am huh.

AW FUCK! I need to take Valerie for a damn date, shit. I completely forgot I promised that after the whole… thing. I go over to the counter and pay out 200 Ri to Sphinx. He carefully counts each coin and with a smile reaches out his small hand for a handshake. I poke out my finger and he shakes it vigorously.

- “Please, if that one will follow them into the changing room, their assistant will bring the garments.” - He leads me behind the counter into a small room covered in mirrors. It’s very trippy inside and once I step in the curtain behind me closes.

A minute or so passes while I take off my clothes, hanging them off a hanger attached to one of the mirrors. I take a look at them, man, they are fucked beyond belief now that I see them. Cuts, rips, furled material all over the place, the shirt is missing a sleeve after I ripped it off. The boots are entirely mangled and ripped open in places. How did I not notice this before?

- “Here, put these on first please so that I can open the curtain. Just tie it at the waist with the string.” - A female hand peeks into the changing room, holding the boots and pants from my new clothes.

I follow her instructions and quickly slide them on. They fell fucking amazing, incredibly light pants that are smooth as silk, the boots that came with them are nothing less of incredible as well, light as a feather and perfectly fitted to my feet. Why do they fit so perfectly?

- “All done, I’m more or less clothed.” - I stretch my arms and legs, and do a couple of squats. - “Man, these are comfortable. Incredible work.” - The door opens and a lady wearing a white long sleeved dress and an apron, with a bandana covering her hair steps inside, she’s in her forties.

- “Alright, so the clothes size themselves to you when you start putting them on. Put this on next and don’t tuck it into your pants.” - She hands me the tank top. - “Make sure to put on the sword harness after you put the shirt on.”

I follow her instructions to the T, same as the pants and boots. This thing fits perfectly around my torso, after strapping on the harness for the sword she hands me the haori. I put it on and my god, it’s texture tickles my skin, it’s like the touch of a god. I’ve never worn anything like this.

- “Now, up with your arms!” - The lady lifts them up and straps the obi with it’s leather belts on my waist, she then pulls the haori together to meet behind the belt and tightens it using the leather belts. She then grabs my right arm and tightens the belts around my wrists. I’m starting to look fancy as fuck, like an anime character.

She pats the clothing down, fixing up some wrinkles here and there, roughing it up in other spots for style points and turns me to the mirror. I’m filling out this attire really well. There’s two problems I'm going to have to solve though.

- “There you go Sir, all done. You’re free to go” - The lady promptly goes out of the changing room and covers the curtains behind her.

I look at the Revertium sleeve hanging off the hook and the sword propped up against one of the mirrors. IF I have the left sleeve on, I can’t wear the Revertium gear and I don’t have anywhere to attach my sword… I slide my left arm out of the sleeve and attach the Revertium armament onto my arm, strapping it on just like I always do, once that’s done I grab onto the sword and attach it to the back of my harness. It’s done.

I look like the most badass samurai I can imagine, massive oversized sword on my back, huge collar covering the side of my head, big metal fucking arm. God damn, I look ready to go!

- “What do I do with my old gear?!” - I yell out, I can’t just leave it here, can I?

- “Leave it, we take the material and reweave clothes out of it.” - The lady can be heard from a different room. Fair enough then. If they can live on as some other clothing, why not.

I step outside of the dressing room, clad in my new gear. Sphinx flies over to me and looks me up and down, holding his chin and nodding his head.

- “This one is good, they are pleased with this one’s presentation.” - He claps his hands together. - “They hope to have this one’s patronage in the future.” - He bows, I bow in response and make my way out of the store.

I’ve been out and about for a couple of hours. I think it’s time to get back to the estate and show off my new things. I look over at the pouch Valerie gave me, it’s half empty and my pouch is rumbling like a hungry stomach, completely drained of coin.

On the way back I continue window shopping, checking for anything interesting that might catch my eye, but I think I had my fill of shopping for the day. I head back home at a brisk pace. Fifteen minutes later I stand in front of the front door of our house. With a deep breath I open it and step inside. I can hear Nyxie and Valerie chatting about in the lobby. I step in and stretch out my arms.

- “How do I look?” - I do a spin, presenting myself to them. - “Too much? Not enough?” - I watch the two as they turn to me and eye me up and down.

- “God damn you look good!” - Valerie leans over the backrest of the couch and nibbles on her lower lip. - “Now you look like a Protector!”

- “I thought you’re going to go for less shirt to show off.” - Nyxie chimes in, she’s taking in my new outfit. - “But this is cool! What happened to your sword?” - She points at the new, bigger hunk of metal on my back.

- “My baby is being prettied up at one of the smithies, I’ll hang it on the wall once I get a house or something. This thing’s three times its size though.” - I reach behind my head and pull out the massive greatsword.

- “This is a very well made weapon! How much did you pay? I’m curious.” - Valerie makes a smug face, she knows I blew most of my money on this.

- “700 Ri in total.” - I look at her, there’s no reason to undercut the amount I spent.

- “Pffft! WHAT?!” - Valerie looks over me wide eyed. - “Fuck me, things are expensive these days.”

- “The sword has a self sharpening enchantment, the harness for it is riddled with gems helping it hold up the sword and now that I think about it the haori… robe has something to it but I didn’t ask. There’s an aura to it.” - I look over my haori, there’s certainly something there.

- “Well, looking at the fact it’s riddled with enchanted gems, I think you didn’t pay that much after all. Those things are hard to get in general.” - Valerie taps her chin. - “Well, you’ll look great in the throne room!”

- “Why? Do we know when the audience is happening?” - I take a seat next to Valerie, taking off my sword to not have it cut the furniture.

- “Tomorrow morning Leshy. The other Guardians will be there as well. “ - She looks over at Nyxie. - “You too, no complaints.”

- “But why? I’m not even a fully fledged Spotter yet.” - Nyxie goes limp on the couch and grunts.

- “Why are you this grumpy? You were all eager during the trip?” - I go over to her and flick her nose. - “Sudden changes of mood, weird outbursts… oh my god Valerie, she’s possessed by the ghost of a Ludocanis!” - I gasp in faux shock, covering my mouth. - “QUICK We need to act!”

I lean over Nyxies and start tickling her, she wiggles and wobbles around trying to get out of my tickles, it’s no use Gremlin!

- “Yes indeed! Don’t resist Nyxie, this is a ritual we have used since the old times!” - Valerie hops behind her and starts tickling her neck.

- “STOP~! GEEZ~!” - Nyxie is laughing, struggling to breathe in from the onslaught of tickles. - “No more~! I surrender~!”

With a poof, followed by wisps of flickering light Nyxie disappears from our grasp and reappears over by one of her daggers, wiping off the sweat from her eyebrow.

- “Safe!” - She yells out, making an X with her hands. I don’t think she knows what baseball is, but it’s kinda funny how some things are universal even across different worlds. - “Fine, I’ll go to the audience. Just don’t make me talk or anything like that.”

Nyxie finally gives up. I look over at Valerie and then back at Nyxie.

- “That was your ability? The flickers didn’t happen before.” - I point to her dagger. - “I see! You can teleport to your weapons at will?! Is that it?”

- “Yep, Raxis drilled the living hell out of me until I was able to do it on a whim.” - Nyxie shudders, thinking about the training she went through.

We spend the next few minutes teasing Nyxie a little more, then we just spent the evening chatting about anything that came to mind, anything that can be fun around Rixen to look at once we’re done with the Audience with this Matriarch.

Xerra comes back a couple of hours later, Nyxie’s completely tapped out at this point and snoring on the couch. We tell Xerra about the audience to which she responds with a dismissive wave of her hand. We decided to end the day here, gotta be awake and ready tomorrow.

Next morning…

The next morning comes, we’re all ready and waiting in the lobby for the fateful knock. It doesn’t take too long, a couple of hours after we woke up, there’s a loud knock on the door. After opening it we see the messenger that met us at the station.

- “The Matriarch will now see you, please follow me.” - We immediately go out of the house and begin following him, roughly in the direction of the shortcut to the Spotter Headquarters.

- “Will you take away our weapons before we enter the throne room?” - I ask the Aide.

- “There’s no need, the guards are more than capable to take care of a small group of Spotters.” - I feel some venom in his tone now. Like he’s looking down on us.

The walk is relatively short, with most of the space we move through being rather desolate of people with the occasional well dressed man and woman going between rooms with a stack of scrolls.

The Messenger leads us to a big double door, upon opening it we’re met with a large circular room. In the middle of is a big pillar with a stone door that’s currently open and guarded by two very well equipped guards, wearing a shimmering full plate, each holding a long lance.

- “Matriarch’s chambers please.” - The Messenger speaks to one of the guards who nods and marches off to a small booth on the edge of the room.

The other guard steps aside and bows lightly, inviting us into the pillar with his hand.

We follow the messenger inside and the door closes right after everyone’s inside. Is this an elevator of sorts? Sure enough, the floor underneath us wobbles and begins slowly lifting up, speeding up as we go.

- “You have elevators?” - I look at Valerie. - “Do you know how this works?”

- “It’s called a Lifter and there’s a body of water underneath us, I don’t fully understand how but they shift the amount of water under the plate we’re on right now and it goes up.” - A Hydraulic Elevator? I grin at Valerie.

The ride is not that long, only a few minutes. We stay mostly quiet with Xerra having to occasionally tell Nyxie to chill out when she gets restless.

- “Once we enter the throne room I request that the child stay behind and wait outside.” - The Messenger's request is met with a raised eyebrow from Xerra, Valerie on the other hand taps her chin for a few seconds and responds.

- “As a member of the Spotter Consensus, the ‘child’ stays with us in the throne room.” - Valerie turns up the authority on this one and the Messenger bows at her response.

- “As you wish, please follow me.” - The platform stops moving and the exact same door is opened. The air is much colder here as well, we’re deep inside the mountain now.

We exit after the Lifter and are led to a massive open arch. The Messenger waves at us to wait with his hand and enters ahead of us.

- “Nyxie, not a peep inside, understood?” - I flick her nose.

- “Yes, Leshy.” - Her response is quiet but she seems to understand.

The three Guardians are already present close to the arch, Kassandra is resting her back on the wall nearby, Varux and Raxis are chatting her up with little to no response. Varux waves at us when they notice us but that’s about all the interaction we have.

A few minutes later the messenger comes out from behind the arch, beckons the Guardians in and comes over to us.

- “The party has been announced. Please follow me.” - He leads us into the throne room.

The inside of the throne room is plain, simple, utilitarian even. There are some ornamental pillars and other indications of where we are like a massive red carpet spanning the entire length of the room all the way to the throne. But other than that, it’s white walls with a few chandeliers lighting up the space.

There’s a very wide flight of stairs leading upwards about halfway through the room, and on top of this room on a pure white throne sits an older woman dressed in intricately woven clothes that are still simple in their overall design. No Dress, no cloak, nothing of the sort. She’s wearing white pants with a frilly white and blue shirt. Simple ballerina shoes adorn her feet but it’s her hair where it’s at.

An absolutely enormous fiery red mane flows from her head, reaching all the way down to the floor and then some, her eyes are a deep burgundy with a light glow to them. She sits relaxed on the throne, her head propped up by her arm on the armrest.

The four of us make it roughly halfway into the throne room before she lifts her hand and signals us to stop. There’s a moment of silence, the only noise comes from the three Guardians standing to the side, overlooking the room. Their armor clatters about whenever they move.

Her eyes stop at Xerra after eyeing everyone of us down. Looking at Nyxie she’s trying to make herself as small as possible, Valerie standing next to her has her hands propped up on her hips.

Xerra on the other hand looks tense, her eyes are glowing and her Wave has absolutely ramped up since we entered the room. I focus up and flip the switch on my own ability, being able to read the room will come in useful it seems.

- “And finally the forsaken daughter returns.” - Xyraena’s voice echoes throughout the room. Her low tone flows down the stairs and wraps itself around Xerra.

- “Hello, Mother.” - Xerra’s response is cold and sharp. - “Let us focus on the reason you’ve called us all in here.” - Xerra continues.

- “Xyraena, it’s good seeing you again.” - Valerie interjects and steps forward. - “I need your attention on me for a little bit, you can have Xerra all to yourself after.” - She’s sharp like a knife, every word feels like it could slice the air around us. The Matriarch almost immediately shifts from Xerra and onto Valerie. I’m certain I can see sparks coming out of their eyes.

- “It hasn’t been all that long. I hear your little science project now hires little girls.” - Xyraena looks over Nyxie who shrinks. - “I’m glad you’re exploring new options, like indoctrination.”

- “What can I say, I’m just taking a lesson from Thaton’s book for once.” - Valerie stretches out and Xyraena leans forward.

- “Your measures are becoming more and more extreme. Maybe you’ll learn some humility from Thaton’s word, like how you shouldn’t chop off hands at your whim?” - Xyraena narrows her eyes at Valerie.

- “It’s something I learned from you, you’re a really… really good teacher!” - Valerie chuckles to herself and Xyraena smacks her lips.

- “So! Why are we meeting here Valerie?” - Xyraena stands up and starts slowly pacing in front of the throne. - “I wouldn’t want to waste your precious time, love.”

- “Time is one thing we both have plenty of, the oldest person in the world would know everything about that. Right honey?” - Valerie mirrors Xyraena’s pacing in front of the three of us. - “You saw it all in the letter. He fucked up by allowing to be bough with money from a human trafficking ring around Nova Vertex. Since he kidnapped this girl who was a trainee Spotter already, he got to meet with my judgment.”

- “That should’ve been handled by my forces, not yours.” - Xyraena looks over at me. - “Especially considering your pet, boyfriend or whatever you call him, caught this thief before both of them were Spotters, she should be strung up with chains on a wooden pole again. But you wouldn’t let that happen, would you, Valerie?”

- “Of course not Xyraena, it’s not like you could take her away with force anyway. Shall I remind you why you’re stuck as a politician Xyraena?” - Valerie eyes the Matriarch up and down. - “Oh wait, I’m sure you remember why you can’t hold your weapon anymore.”

- “How could I forget, I nearly took your head off myself after all.” - Xyraena’s aura heightens and so does Valerie for a split second. It was a small, miniscule amount of time, but I’m certain I am not hallucinating. My entire body screamed to run as far as possible for that one moment, my palms and forehead are drenched in cold sweat.

Nyxie is holding herself by the shoulders and crouching down while Xerra is already tending to her, even though she’s also shaken, her hands are trembling. There’s no doubt in my mind, if these two were to pop off on each other right now, everyone in this room would be dead. But, just like that, it’s over.

- “We’re done here. I’ll visit you and your group in the Royal Estate later today. Don’t go on any prolonged walks.” - Xyraena walks off the stairs and heads towards a passage at the back wall, right next to the stairs.

- “That went better than expected.” - Valerie sighs and runs her hand through her hair while looking up. - “Let’s go back. You three, you’re coming too!” - She waves the three Guardians over and we all start making our way out.

We go back to the estate using the same route we came here, taking the “Lifter” down and after a few minutes we’re right back at our house. Valerie invites everyone inside and everyone makes themselves comfortable in the lobby.

- “Did you really not talk to your mother since you came back ginger?” - Varux rests his elbows on the couch's backrest.

- “Not you too. I had this conversation with three different people already, let's focus on other stuff.” - Xerra scratches her chin. - “For example, why is she coming here? Any ideas?”

Xerra looks over the entire group, nobody has an answer until Valerie points her index finger up.

- “Maybe she has a request or topic that couldn’t have been brought up during the open Audience? Anyone can listen in on these things.” - Valerie taps her chin.

- “Should we like… evacuate? Nyxie’s still in shock from your little display back there Valerie.” - I point at Nyxie who’s still trembling. - “Not everyone can handle the pressure of your power, let alone another person who’s your equal.”

- “She’s not my equal in strength, Leshy.” - She snaps back.

- “That’s not the point, love. Look at Nyxie, and apologize for making her scared, please.” - I cross my arms and narrow my eyes at Valerie. She purses her lips and frowns. - “Come on, you’re not going to lose anything by apologizing.”

The other Guardians watch in astonishment while Valerie walks over to Nyxie and takes a deep breath. She crouches down and grabs Nyxie by the hands.

- “I’m sorry for making you scared in the throne room. I let my cool slip away for a little bit.” - Valerie is gently squeezing Nyxie’s hands - “Know that you’ll always be safe when you’re around me, ok?”

- “It’s ok…” - Nyxie reluctantly nods and gives Valerie a hug.

- “I wish we had you a couple hundred years ago, Leshy. We’d be saved a world of hurt from all the discipline Valerie laid down on us.” - Varux chuckles to himself.

- “I still don’t get it.” - Kassandra chimes in.

- “What? Want to go for another round?” - I look over at her with a smirk.

- “I’ll pass, I have had enough of teaching children how to breathe.” - She twists on her heel and crosses her arms.

- “I get it, you’re just worried I’d push you far enough that Varux over there would poke more fun at you.” - I laugh, slapping my thigh. Varux nearly bursts into laughter and Xerra’s fully cracking up right now.

- “That new sword of yours would be a popsicle in a fraction of the time we fought.” - Kassandra barks back.

- “She did kick your ass Leshy.” - Valerie slaps my butt. - “These are some cast iron buttocks.”

- “When’d you become a nympho?” - I look at her. She tilts her head and furrows her eyebrows. - “Nevermind, just remember there are kids in the room. Right Kassandra?”

- “Two of them, if we count you.” - She replies.