“I'm beginning to see the draw backs to coming to this place.” As Maria walked alongside Joseph she was glad that she could smell him again. The fact that the citadel tended to make it nearly impossible to track someone by scent hadn't truly upset her before. She was certain Joseph was safe there. That had been before he had started making such regular visits. The fact that he had become extremely mobile while there didn't help the situation. Three weeks of her arriving to visit him or take him home and she had learned to detest it whenever she couldn't track him down.

“You know you can just ask the citadel to guide you to me using a terminal.”  Joseph hadn't told Maria yet that he was moving beyond the secure regions to do his research into the body of the sister's. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her but rather the protectors didn't want him to tell her. Apparently there was little they could do should he tell Maria about them but he was trying to be respectful of their desires. If such behavior was in line with what the Luvarians of old would have done or not wasn't clear to him yet. They were being accommodating as well. The protectors would warn him whenever Maria came looking for him and even tended to guide him to her.

“I know but that just feels so wrong. I don't know how you stand to rely on such systems to guide you. Well I guess having limited hearing and a weak sense of smell doesn't give you much of a choice. Anyway. Tell me what you discovered today?” As she spoke Maria was actually holding back her excitement. Joseph had her completely convinced that sisters could learn to manipulate mystic energies. This meant that they should be able to learn to increase the flow of energy into their body through the proper conditioning. She still wasn't sure how much energy this actually was but she was eager to find out and hear about it.

“I don't believe the Luvarians designed your bodies so you wouldn't be able to use magic. At least I don't believe it's even remotely likely anymore. I just don't believe they gave your ability to use magic any thought. They had a list of criteria they wanted to meet and put all their effort into meeting those criteria. Fortunately a lot of your body is still based on that of a human. Except well you have a few organs that do a few things that ours don't and that we don't have in two cases. You knew that though. The issue is figuring out how this different body design influences your ability to use magic.”

“What about feeding me so much that I'm positively overflowing and trying to teach me during those times? I really liked that plan!” Maria couldn't help but smile as they made their way out of the citadel. Bending down she outstretched her arms towards Joseph but rather then picking him up she waited for him to walk into her arms. He stepped into her arms without a moments hesitation and indeed it seemed like the move had become so routine that he did it without thinking.

“I had hoped we could go that path as well but then I considered how much you might grow and the risk involved. Until I know more and have an idea of how long it's going to take to condition you to learn magic I just can't go that path.” Even as he spoke Joseph found himself thinking about Naidra and her help. He was no longer planning on putting energy into the sisters to teach them to direct magic into themselves. He was going to put them in an environment in which that energy was drawn out of them. They would need to learn to resist such influences. Once that was done they could apply most of the same techniques into directing more energy into their bodies. This could easily be as unpleasant to a sister as eating was pleasant though.

As she was carrying Joseph Maria easily observed the changes in his body. Something about what they were talking about had him down. “Joseph did you run into a problem? I know you said that we were about ready to begin a week ago was there a delay?”

“No. No delays. Depending on your definition of almost ready.”

“I'm going to start requiring a time estimate from you if that's how you're going to talk.” As the words left her mouth they were followed a sharp giggle from Maria. “Joseph is the food about ready yet? Almost. Could I get an estimated time of completion on that? Joseph are you about done bathing yet? Almost. Could I get an estimated time of completion on that? I need to know if there is enough time for me to join you and enjoy myself. Joseph are you ready for sex yet?”

“I believe that last one would be going way too far!” Despite the energy he put into his voice Joseph couldn't help but grin as he felt himself squeezed more firmly against Maria's body.

“You're probably right about that. The way you were speaking earlier it sounded like you already had something in mind. Could you give me an idea what's causing the delay?”

“It's mostly safeguard related. Namely it's very hard to make safeguards with how much I know about your bodies. Then once I find the information I need making adjustments to the process can be quite an issue. I've actually had to abandon a few concepts and start over a few times. I don't want to risk causing you any permanent damage either mental or physical.”

“Wow that sounds a lot different from just feeding me a lot and trying to teach me like any other magic student.”

“Well you and your sisters are quite a special case.”

“Thanks. That's such a sweet way of saying we're difficult to work with. Now before we go home do you have enough energy to stop by and visit with Maria and Dan? I want to peek in on little Dremera.”

“That sounds nice. Are you sure Mina won't mind? She seemed rather insistent about Dremera's privacy and the last I heard she wasn't exactly being welcoming to anymore visitors.” As he spoke Joseph had a very good idea of why Mina would take such grounds. With so many sisters wanting to take a peek at little Dremera they had to deal with quite a few guest over the last few days. Letting Mina deliver in the citadel had helped but it was inevitable that news of the young girl's birth would get out eventually. He had been surprised whenever Mina had chosen to take Dremera out of the citadel but she had been insistent that such a sterile environment wasn't good for a young sister who needed get out and smell the world.

“That's one of the advantages to being close to the family. Besides I want to see if she's prepared to return to the citadel yet.”

“Huh? Did you hear something?”

“I was talking to my mom a bit about it earlier. Mina's a first time mother and this is really her first time dealing with how destructive a newborn sister can be. She seemed rather certain that Mina would be begging to go back to the citadel once Dremera had nearly turned their wall into splinters. Did you notice the corner the last time we were there?”

“I'm afraid I didn't. Why?”

“Mina covered it up a bit but it looked like Dremera had nearly clawed through it.”

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“Dremera let daddy's clothes go. Dreamera that's being naughty. Come on honey let them go.” As she spoke Mina was dealing with quite a situation. Dremera had managed to not only escape from her crib but she had managed to get hold of one of Dan's nicer sets of pants. Using physical force to take away the clothing would have been easy but it would have destroyed them as well. Currently Dremera had both hands and feet wrapped around the right pants leg in a death lock. Her little claws were just extended insuring that any use of physical force should shred the garment and her eyes were focused on Mina's. “You don't want to destroy more of your daddy's clothes do you?”

Dremera moved the clothing lightly between her hands enjoying the soft texture. She could smell the scent of her father. It had been that scent that brought her to his clothes in the first place. At first she'd just been curious about them but after giving the clothes a few smacks she'd noted how the flowed about. The more she smacked them the more they moved and the more they moved the more she wanted to smack them. Now her mommy had come to play with her. Dremera knew better then to let go of the clothing or start smacking them around now. If she did there would be no way she could get them back from her mommy. Even mommy's tail teasing the side of her face wouldn't convince her to release them as she began to growl lightly.

“I'm beginning to see why some sisters believe it's a bad idea to have a mate living with you and a child at the same time. Come on wouldn't you prefer to play with your mommy's tail instead of those old pants?” As she spoke Mina continued to flick her tail lightly against Dremera hoping that it would tempt the child to release the clothing. Even if it just meant releasing her hands at least that would diminish the damage to the pants. Unfortunately Deremera seemed to be onto that trick. What could she offer Dremera that she'd like more then her father's clothes? Given that Mina had made it clear she wasn't allowed to play with those she doubted anything other then food. Toys that you weren't allowed to play with always seemed to be the most fun.

Could she leave the room in order to retrieve Dremera a treat? Given how rapidly a young sister could shred something Mina was rather worried. “Okay you just hold onto daddy's pants and mommy will pack you into the kitchen.” The fact that Dremera continued to growl and extended her claws further as Mina lifted her up actually worried her quite a bit. If she decided to use those claws now then Dan's pants wouldn't be recoverable. She couldn't let this continue to drag on though as she began to carry Dremera towards the dining room. “Come on in Maria. Dremera is just being a handful right now.”

“So I heard.” As she spoke Maria was already stepping inside followed shortly by Joseph. She still liked to keep him near whenever he was around Dremera. She hadn't even began to learn to be careful yet and her claws were already sharp enough to open up a human quite easily.

Mina, “Do you smell someone else Dremera? Who are you smelling? It's not daddy.” As she spoke Mina was quite hopeful that Maria and Joseph would provide her the distraction she needed. The site of Dremera's claws loosening up help to bolster these thoughts. Unfortunately the young girl seemed to realize what was happening and once again locked the clothing down while looking at her mother. “I wonder if my mother ever went through the same thing with me. Okay would you like. Oh blast it all if only I could have done more hunting. Let's see. We have some fish left. Would Dremera like some fish?” As she spoke Mina was already holding the food in front of Dremera's face in hopes that she would choose it over the clothing.

Maria, “Mina I'm sure my mom told you that rewarding such behavior is dangerous.”

“I know I know but Maria. She's already destroyed so many of Dan's clothes. With all the repairs going on and the destruction of the market area we just can't get them replaced either. It doesn't help that these are some of his more comfortable ones. He likes to wear them whenever he really needs to focus on his work or plans to be setting for a while. Oh come on baby just let mommy have Daddy's pants back. Would you like some tusker meat instead? I know that it isn't the freshest but.” As she was speaking Mina noted Dremera's attention suddenly turning. It was fairly clear at a glance that the young girl wasn't focused on Maria but instead was looking directly at Joseph. She couldn't waist her chance.

Joseph felt more then a little silly. His face was bright red and it was taking all the willpower her had to keep from covering it up. He'd just given his best version of a tuskers charging scream. The one he had first heard whenever Maria had saved him before. He had hoped that it would be enough to distract Dremera. The fact that she and Dan's pants were suddenly separated made it worthwhile. He was quite surprised whenever he heard a sudden and sharp hiss from Dremera as she looked strait at him and then towards her mother.

Maria, “Oh my! Someone is angry about being tricked.” Even as she was speaking Maria found herself having to fight to hold in her laughter. Between the strange sound she'd heard from Joseph and Dremera's response this was proving quite difficult. At least Mina seemed to be happy now that she had Dan's pants. “I don't know if I'll ever be able to leave you alone with Dremera after that one Joseph. I think I saw murder in her eyes.”

“So did I. How are the clothes Mina?”

“They seem to be in good condition thanks to you. Oh.” As she spoke Mina draped Dan's pants across her tail and was now using both hands to tend to Dremera who had began struggling to get lose. If it was to go after Joseph or take hold of the pants again she didn't know but she wasn't going to find out. “I swear this was so much easier in the citadel. She never seemed to wonder off there and it sure felt like she was sleeping more. Ever since I brought her home she's constantly going after either Dan or Dan's belongings. I've actually started having him carry a few things that Dremera can play with on himself throughout the day.”

Maria, “How is that working out?”

“It was going fine though as you can see there are limits. I'm really thinking of returning to the citadel.”

Joseph, “I'm sure Dan would be happy about that. He didn't seem to think you should leave in the first place.”

“I know. I just didn't think it was good for Dremera to be in such a sterile environment. She needs to be in a place where she can really use her nose you know? I just wish she'd stop using it to track down everything that is delicate and belongs to her father.” Even as she was speaking Mina found herself using her left hand to wrestle with the still struggling Dremera. It was fairly clear that her daughter was upset about having the pants taken away from her. “Oh but it's has been so hard to get any sleep since we left there! Having so many sisters busy with the restructuring means I don't have many that can help me either.”

Maria, “Just think my mother had to deal with this twice.”

“She is a far stronger woman then I am.” A slight giggle escaped Mina as she noted the rather angry look Dremera was giving her. Unfortunately letting the young girl attack her fingers didn't seem to be resolving the situation. “I just worry so much that being in an environment that is so empty of scent wouldn't be good for a growing sister. I know there was all that talk about how the Luvarians raised the first sisters there but I'm sure many Luvarians were coming by to see them.”

Maria, “Mina. You know that excuse isn't right. If you was to just give the brothers and sisters permission to come by and see Dremera she would be introduced to plenty of scents. I understand wanting your daughter to be raised in the same loving environment you were though.”

A slight chuckle escaped Mina despite the scolding. “Your mother told me the same thing. Now I just need Dan to call me on my bull and I'll probably have been scolded enough to listen. I do not look forward to telling him that Dremera was into his clothes again especially after I assured him I would keep her out of them.”

Maria, “Do you think he'll scold you?”

“No! That is kind of the problem. He so quiet about it and I hate to see him wearing damaged clothing especially in bad weather.” By now Mina had made her way back into the setting room and settled down with her daughter. Dan's pants remained atop her tail well outside of Dremera's reach who seemed to be growing increasingly frustrated with the situation. “I'm going to speak with him whenever he's brought back about returning to the citadel.”

Maria, “You know I bet my mother could give you some tips about taking care of a young sister.”

“She has. It's just a bit harder for me to do what she said. Plus she didn't have to worry about her mates clothing being destroyed. I swear though little Dremera seems just to be drawn to anything that smells like her father. I've heard some other sisters talk about their newborns but I've never heard of one quite this determined.”

Joseph, “I bet it isn't just Dan is it Dremera. Your daddy works with all those reagents all day anymore and he must smell really nice to you.”

Mina, “Do you believe that's what it is Joseph?”

“I have no idea.” As he was speaking Joseph had been moving closer to Dremera now that it was clear Mina had her. The fact that the young girl still seemed to be sending him death threats with her eyes made him a little nervous though. “Young sisters don't hold grudges until they're adolescents do they? She still looks. Oh! She hissed. She's still mad at me.”

It was impossible for Mina to keep from laughing as she noted Joseph take a few steps backwards. “Give her some time. She'll be plenty fond of you in time. Once you stop being the mean person who helped take away her toy and start being the person who makes the funny sounds. Isn't that right my grumpy sweet heart? Come on over Joseph and give her head a little rub if you don't mind. I'll make sure she can't open you up.”

“Won't that just make her angrier?”

Perhaps but that's something she's going to have to learn to deal with.”

***********************************************************************************

“I looked in on Julia to see how she's doing as far as her new training habits. I'm impressed by how badly she wants this. She's always been dutiful in showing that she's worthy of being considered a sister but now that she has a clear objective in mind she's reached an entirely new level. I'm a little worried that she's going to burn herself out with the level of dedication she's showing but I'm better suited to evaluate the condition of ones body rather then the long term workings of the mind.” As she spoke Vera quickly moved Mira's arm to the side and delivered three very sharp punches to her side. Typically Vera would have used her claws for this but she was trying to avoid doing serious damage. The pain of Mira's face told her that had been enough.

It had only been a few weeks since training with Vera had began and Mira had been showing improvement. Which unfortunately did not mean that Vera was going easier on her. If anything she had began going harder on all her students as they had obtained the ability to take the hits. She also knew the talk of Julia was meant to motivate her or distract her. Mira really didn't know which one it was. It seemed to have both effects as she managed to slip free of Vera's grip. “Are you sure it's discipline she's showing and just not a really intense desire to hit someone.”

Even Vera was made to chuckle as she noted the importance that Mira put on hit someone as she easily evaded her attacks. So far she had worked on conditioning the bodies of her students and even given them some combat training. They were doing better at hunting for openings in their opponents defense but they were still leaving too many openings on themselves. This was naturally though given that sisters typically had far more practice attacking then defending. They were so few things in the forest that could actually harm them they had little reason to develop their defense. A sharp strike to Mira's hand and Vera had it locked in place as she looked strait into her eyes. “You hesitated right there Mira and it allowed me to stop your attack. If we were truly fighting I would have taken this chance to counter. You can't let the fear of being hit slow down your attack.”

“Does that mean I'm allowed to fear being hit so long as I don't hesitate in the attack?” While she'd been working with Vera Mira had learned that she did have a sense of humor. The fact that Vera was grinning told her that. Mira did find herself worrying that grin was because Vera liked hitting others rather then the joke she'd told though.

“For now that will do. As you gain confidence in yourself that fear should vanish.”

“I had confidence in myself then someone punched it out of me!”

“Well that confidence wasn't justified then was it?” As she spoke Vera chose to release Mira without delivering another hit. She would give her a few more chances to deliver her attack properly. It was important to remember that if she went too hard on Mira then the lesson would have to end early and all she would have is a beat up student instead of a better educated one. She was a bit surprised whenever she felt the fur on Vera's fist tickle her nose a moment later. The attack had been fast and certain enough that Vera had to openly evade rather then counter.

“Blast it!” It had been there for a brief moment. Mira had seen an opening and went for it with all the strength she could manage. Unfortunately her arm was still hurting from all the attacks it'd taken and she hadn't been able to get her full power into it. She had been so certain that she'd finally managed to land a solid hit on Vera that she couldn't hide her frustration whenever she dodged.

“That was good Mira. You're learning at an impressive rate but then again that's one of the reasons I chose you. Pretty soon you're going to know the basics well enough that I can have you begin showing others how to get started.” As she spoke Vera truly wished that she could say the same for all of her students but with only a few weeks instructions it was amazing Mira was already ready. Maria seemed like she would take several months due to issues with her speed. She was more likely to put a sister on the ground then to demonstrate a proper attack.

“You mean sparring?”

“Oh no. I'm only teaching you the proper way to hit now we haven't even began to study control yet. I mean proper exercise techniques. Our bodies are so strong relative to their size that as you know we have to become inventive if we want to strengthen our muscles. You can also demonstrate attacks but I don't want to hear about you sparring with anyone. You're moving into the area that you're more likely to seriously injure someone then teach them anything.” This time Vera was ready whenever Mira tried to attack her. She chose to evade as she had done before but kept the movement subtle enough that she could have attacked Mira if she wanted to.

“Now how do you know I've learned the proper way to hit if I never manage to hit you? Sure my attacks could look correct but do they feel correct?” Mira couldn't help but grin as Vera began to openly laugh. Since she had began teaching them Mira had spoken with Vera a lot more then usual and was learning more about her sense of humor each time they sparred. She had quickly learned that it tended to deviate rather on the violent side of things though not cruel. Given what she had learned from Vera she was actually rather glad that it wasn't cruel. “So what do you think of the matrons training together?”

“It's an extremely frustrated efforts due to some of their weapons. They have to be careful in who they choose to train with to avoid critically injuring one of their own. Sora has it particularly rough given that she remained the smallest of the matrons in order to better make use of her body's adaptations. Due to that their progress is astoundingly slow. I fear that it may take many years for them to truly develop a respectable fighting stance.”

“Really? I was thinking Sora might be onto something. Apparently she began training with Zarena. Maria told me about it.”

Since she had began teaching Mira Vera had learned what an excellent source of local information she could be. She was actually rather surprised to learn that Sora had taken up learning from Zarena. Though she wasn't surprised by Mira's kick and gave the limb a sharp strike in passing. It had been a while since she'd delivered a hit to Mira and she still needed to be better conditioned to endure pain without relying on rage to numb it. “Well that is someone she doesn't have to worry about harming in the least. Do you have any idea as to how they're training together though? Zarena's eyes should make it nearly impossible for Sora to sneak up on her.”

“I'm not sure. I know that there is some physical training involve. I guess Zarena sort of uses her fingers to provide the resistant Sora needs to exercise her body. She's probably also showing Sora the same methods of movement she's been showing to my sister. They are all three lighter builds. It's kind of unfair. We need to wake up a sleeper with a moderate build for us.”

“Hm using a sleeper has a form of exercise equipment. I wonder if we should start talking to the matrons about doing something similar for us. I can just imagine them telling us to first reach Kersara's level then come back and speak to them. I wonder how the sisters she's began teaching on the water front are doing.” As she spoke Vera was moving in closer to Mira. It was clearly making Mira nervous as she was retreating without being hit. Clearly this was going to be a problem. The sisters weren't used to hunting things that could do them serious harm on a regular basis. They weren't mentally conditioned to avoid flinching.

“Oh no!” As she spoke Mira could feel her heart beat speeding up. She recognized the look that Vera was giving her and she didn't like it. This was Vera's first time teaching several students and thus was a learning experience for her as well. Unfortunately for her students whenever Vera came to a realization it often meant something unpleasant for  them. It was amazing and upsetting how many times Mira had seen that thoughtful expression on Vera's face.

“What?”

“You just thought of something and it's probably going to end up hurting me!” The fact that Vera's grin seemed to go from friendly to evil didn't help the situation. Whenever Vera was happy she tended to keep her mouth closed. Whenever she thought of something amusing and tended to include suffering for others though her smile became far more toothy. It was as if her predator nature and her sense of humor had been stimulated at the same time. Given how the lessons often changed whenever Vera had such moments Mira believed that was the case.

“If you're going to be teach future students Mira I have to make sure the lessons are as complete and effective as possible. I know that's rough but it is my responsibility and it's one I take very seriously.” As she spoke Vera couldn't help but imagine what would happen whenever Mira and her fellow students began to teach students of their own. The entire community was going to pay for assigning her this task in time and that's something that Vera found very amusing. “I wonder if we're going to find any truly remarkable sisters. Those with a truly remarkable gift for combat that simply wasn't developed before.”

***********************************************************************************

“I told you that it was more complete then you thought.” As she spoke Zarena smiled down at Pera who was currently standing at the tip of her index finger of her right hand which was now fully extended and slightly lifted. This gave Pera a far more complete view of the village and the progress of their repairs. “I first noticed how fast our progress was whenever I realized I could no longer walk in a few places that I could before. I wish that you would have made the paths just a little bigger.”

“We made it big enough that the matrons would be comfortable walking around town even if they grew again though! If we make it much bigger we're going to end up taking to much of the forest but. I guess that might happen eventually. Hey Zarena what would we do if we all ended up as large as you?” As she spoke Pera turned away from the town and looked up at the massive sleeper. The question seemed strange to her. Their town never really seemed to grow or shrink. The sisters were very long lived and strong but their reproductive rate was just so slow they seemed to counter balance one another. What would happen if they became even stronger though?

“I imagine that some of us would have to leave. I believe if that happened and we were no longer chained to the forest I'd like to go on a journey.”

“Where to?”

A slight chuckle escaped Zarena as Pera took a few steps closer to her palm and she began to pull her arm in a bit. The question wasn't funny but she felt strange about the answer. “I want to go look for the other Luvarian strongholds and see if anything else of them remained. We've endured for this long perhaps some of their other constructs have as well. This is only one of their workshops after all and it's very much based on the natural world. Have you ever wondered if they were others that are based on other things such as the elements?”

“Oh that could be neat! Do you believe there could be a fire version of us or perhaps a wind version? I wonder what they've been doing if they are.”

“I'm not sure. They might be trapped or chained like we are. If that is the case perhaps we could try to find a way to free them. I was going to say it'd be nice if we could bring them back here but given that the idea is we're spreading out I suppose that wouldn't work. Of course, a few of us could always relocate there and help them to begin developing like we did if they want to. I'm a little concerned that I might find something that shouldn't have been released though or perhaps they don't want to be free.”

“That sounds like fun Zarena. You'd also get to see the humans and the orcs that live outside of the forest. I heard Joseph talking to Maria a few times about how this or that is different in the world outside of the forest. He seemed really surprised whenever Maria showed him the average height of a forest orc as well. Hey Zarena you were around a long time ago did you get to see many outsiders?”

“Oh yes! But it wasn't in the good way that you're hoping about. Remember I was born shortly before the second great collapse. We had so many groups pushing to take our forest from us or just destroy it. If our brothers wouldn't have been able to defend themselves at that time then a lot of the forest would have been destroyed in the fighting. It was an ugly time and it was those events that made us resolve that we needed a weapon powerful enough to insure no such threat would arise again. At the time I sure didn't expect to become one of those weapons.”

“The great collapse?”

“Ah. A term that is a little before your time. The first great collapse was whenever the Luvarians crumbled as an organization. The second was whenever we lost our leader and our primary source of energy. I'm just glad that the events with that amalgam didn't become a third great collapse. Who knows perhaps this will be the great revitalization in time.” As she spoke Zarena once again turned her attention towards the village. They were rebuilding their homes bigger and stronger then before to accommodate a new age. They had a new energy supply whose full potential wasn't even close to being tapped she imagined and they were reawakening to important lessons from the past. It sure felt like she was looking at a time of rebirth.

“Do you think one great revitalization will be enough to undo two great collapses?”

For a moment Zarena said nothing but gave a slight hum to let Pera know that she was thinking. She didn't know if the life bloom would serve as an equal energy source to what they had before but it sure seemed to have a lot of potential. “That really depends on you, your sisters and your brothers Pera. If the lessons stick and you continue to build upon them I believe that it may indeed undo both collapses which is kind of funny. If this one stronghold became as powerful as the entire Luvarian organization of old I'm sure our creators would be delighted.”

“Hey what about you! I know they're a few changes that you have liked. What about you learning?” As she spoke Pera had moved from Zarena's finger to her palm. The fact that she could easily stand on Zarena's palm did nothing to hinder her opinion. She had simply become too comfortable with Zarena being around. The fact that Zarena was quite friendly in most situations had helped with this a great deal.

“We're talking about years and decades of change Pera. I'm going to be asleep again before too long.”

“You keep saying that and I know that's how we used to do things but I just don't see it happening. I mean. There hasn't even been talk in the town about you going back to sleep or how we could use the energy from the life bloom if you were asleep. The only mention I've heard of it is actually whether or not the new system is getting all of it can out of the life bloom. Oh! Well that and sense we're already building so much there has been a lot of talk about converting more space into rooms to grow the bloom. That's actually been a really common topic. I mean the one garden we have has turned out so well why don't we grow another one? Then there has been talk about creating a bloom that doesn't have fruit but simply draws in energy. That's not very popular though as I think most of us prefer eating the fruit.” As she spoke Pera couldn't help the energy in her voice.

“I. I see. So the life bloom grows that fast?”

“Very fast! It's remarkable how Joseph was able to go from having seeds to trees in such a short period of time. The only real fear is that if the bloom was released into the forest it could cause irreversible damage. Oh that's been talked about a lot as well! One of the favorite solutions to that is trying to develop the fruit so that the seeds are very fragile. That way even if a seed is released into the wild it won't survive long enough to produce a tree. There is also talk about developing the tree so that its bark is very weak so that insect life could easily kill it. Right now we're really careful to make sure we give the seeds back. I remember once a sister miss placed an entire packet of seeds. Oh you should have seen all of them sniffing around trying to find them!” As she was speaking Pera couldn't help the energy that was sinking into her voice. She didn't notice that she was speaking faster either.

“Pera. Pera!” Zarena couldn't help but chuckle as Pera gave a slight jump the second time. Apparently she'd startled the girl. “Thank you. Well that sure is interesting. So have you spoken to your brothers about developing these new trees?”

“A few of us tried once. Apparently they placed their hands on the books and papers on their desk then gave the sisters that were asking them a strange look. We um haven't asked sense. We sort of set a rough date for the next time we're going to run the idea by them again.”

“When is that?”

“When the stack of papers they have to work on is down to half of what it was the first time we asked.”

Zarena gave a sharp jerk almost immediately and pressed her lips tight together. Immediately she realized there might be a problem and was made to be grateful she wasn't holding onto Nathan as she rapidly bent at the knees and lowered her hand towards the ground. The fact that she found her body shaking with increasing intensity only made her more certain she needed to set Pera and herself down. 

The fact that Zarena felt the need to set her down before she burst into laughter actually made Pera laugh as well. Though she could only imagine what her brothers and sisters were thinking at the moment. Zarena was quite obvious to everyone and to see her doubling over with laughter probably made more then a few curious. It was enough to make Pera wonder what it would look like to see another sleeper awake. It was one thing to have Zarena around as an individual but what would it feel like to have several sleepers out and about? Given the damage Zarena did to the forest by herself she doubted they could all stay in it. As they woke up would they begin relocating to the waterfront? There was a fair bit of space there that didn't concern them. There was also the outer edges of the forest.

Much like Pera Zarena knew that everyone could see her laughing. She didn't mind that though. She was used to being quite visible whenever she was awake at this point. “Okay that was a good one.” A sigh escaped Zarena as she settled down. “I'm sure that they'll appreciate your consideration during their time of hardship.”

“They had better! Hey Zarena what are you going to do once things have calmed down and don't start talking about going to sleep again.”

“That is a bit of a tough one. I can't roam the forest like the wrest of you that would cause too much damage. That said I don't like the idea of simply laying in my room all day. If I was going to do that I might as well be asleep. I believe the best thing for me to do would be go to the outer edge of the forest of course my presence might end up stirring up some of our neighbors.  I could go to the water front and begin working on building myself a home there.”

“How would you do that?”

“Well first I would need to find a good spot and start gathering stone. They would need to be large enough that I wouldn't have to worry about them being washed away either. Eventually I could set my own island up just on the outside of the forest. Building that should take long enough to keep me busy for a very long time. Then again perhaps I should make it large enough for some of the other sleepers as well.”

“Where would you get that much rock!”

“The ocean is vast and deep Pera even at my size. I'm sure I could collect enough stone. Of course, there is the issue of it being crushed under my weight. I would need to make sure I'm compacting it and not dispersing it.” As she spoke Zarena turned her head towards the path she'd been using to go from the beach to the village. “I would also need to find a new way to keep clean. I swear getting myself washed up after all that salt water has dried in my fur is difficult. It takes a lot more water then I'd like as well.”

“Your size can make things a bit difficult can't it?”

“Oh goodness yes. Nathan was talking to me about using a technique my brother developed to make a book for me that I could still enjoy. I hope he succeeds as one of the worse things about becoming a sleeper was no longer being able to read. Well worse as far as day to day comforts. These hands of mine just can't grasp delicate paper with any real functionality.”

“Did you ever trying reading a normal book as a sleeper?” 

“I tried a few times while I was still growing. As my hands became larger I shifted from using my finger tips to turn the pages to using my claws. Now keep in mind back then my claws were perfectly normal. Now whenever I scratch something or give it a little nick it seems to begin falling apart. Even now I could still use my claws to turn the pages but it is so difficult and some of the book would end up being damage.”

“What about reading it?”

“Pera for me seeing isn't like you standing atop my head and looking around.” As Zarena spoke she shifted her setting position and leaned forward so that she brought her face and more importantly her eyes closer to Pera. “You see these great big eyes in my head? These things collect a lot of light. I don't know the finer details of it but my brother said that all that light and all the light receptors in my eyes influence how well I can see despite my scale. So I had no trouble reading the books which comes in handy. The mystic book he made for me tends to show things in relatively small letters. Then again given that he knew how my eyes worked I suppose he knew I wouldn't have trouble reading it.”

“So can you see even further then us?”

“Indeed I can. Oh goodness now you have me thinking about my brother again. He spent so much time with me whenever I was growing into a sleeper. Unfortunately not all of it was emotional or family oriented. At times I felt like a test subject. Then he would say or do something and that feeling would go away. One of the most insulting things he ever said was this. For you to be able to process all the information your larger eyes and greater number of skin cells are sending you your brain must be changing as well to handle all the new information. So why aren't you becoming any smarter?” Despite the insulting nature of the comment Zarena couldn't help but chuckle the fact that Pera seemed to burst into laughter seconds later only added to it.

“He really said that!”

“Yes he did! I couldn't believe it at the time. I don't believe it was his intentions but I never expected him to call me stupid. Then again he was just awful for that. He would be trying to explain this or that and he'd make you feel dumb. It became even worse whenever he was trying to be understanding or comforting. He was just awful!”

“Given an example!” As she spoke Pera found herself practically bouncing with excitement. After how Zarena had spoken of her brothers magic abilities Pera had began thinking of him as some superb example of what the brothers should be. To hear that he was actually quite flawed had her excited on many levels.

“Which one to tell is the problem! Okay let me think for a moment I don't want to make him out to be mean. He really was trying to help but the way he tended to say things. Okay one of the brothers was trying to conjure a sort of living flame. It was to be imbued with just enough life so that it would be sustained and could chase a target for a few moments. Except he did it wrong and the flames came after him. Before it could reach him though my brother had thrown up a wall of ice stopping the flames. He then rushed over to the brother and began looking him over. Now the first thing out of his mouth where. What were you doing using magic so far beyond someone of your ability? He didn't stop at just saying beyond your ability he said it as so far beyond. Oh and let me see if I can get this right. So far! No. That's not quite right.” As Zarena repeated the words so far she found herself struggling to make herself sound more judgmental. Each time it seemed to fall so far short of her brother.

“Was he like that with everyone?”

“Yes he was.”

“Wow. Most of our brothers are always so polite to us.” As she spoke Pera found herself thinking back to what her mother had taught her. She had been raised to be kind and considerate to her brothers. That she shouldn't pick on them especially if they had no means of picking back. The only reason she got away with picking on Allen was they were such close friends. At the same time brothers were raised to never provoke a sister. After all in a brief moment of anger they could end up killing a brother. “Did any sister ever try to hit him?”

“None to my knowledge. I'm sure that several of them thought about hitting him quite a lot with what he put them through at the citadel but none of them ever tried.”

“So he wasn't worried about making a sister angry?”

“Of course not. He wasn't worried about making anyone angry whenever he was speaking the truth. Even if there was a much better way for the truth to be spoken.” A slight chuckle escaped Zarena though she did notice an odd expression on Pera's face. “Oh for goodness sakes. Are you about to tell me that your brothers are raised to be polite so they don't end up angering you?”

“Well it wouldn't take much for a sister to kill a brother. Just a brief moment of anger and something could happen that everyone would regret.” Pera found herself feeling a little worried as she heard Zarena sigh though her smile hadn't vanished yet. She hoped that meant she wasn't too angry with what she'd just been told.

“Pera that is an absolutely horrible line of reasoning. I'm going to find out whenever the keepers are going to get together again and have a few words with them about that as well. You say they should be nice because you might lose yourself in a moment of anger. You should learn to control yourself because that kind of attitude could cause you to miss out on something important. Sure my brother was blunt, judgmental, brutal, inconsiderate and a bit of a bully at times whenever he spoke but he was always honest. Honesty isn't always polite but it needs to be heard. I swear I wonder if there ever were any incidents in which a sister lost control of herself and killed or injured a brother.”

“A few that I know of.” As the words left her mouth Pera was a bit relieved to see that Zarena was maintaining her calm. She had just said that she didn't like the truth being softened though. “So what would you have done in such a situation?”

“It depends a bit.” For a moment Zarena went silent as she placed her hand against her forehead. The notion that the brothers were raised to be polite out of fear of what a sister might do while angry was making her head hurt. Fear of ones sister should never be the reason for a brother's actions. “We would need to find out if he was intentionally provoking her or if he was simply being honest. No matter what she would be in trouble though. If someone can bend you with their words so easily you have a problem. The difference would be whether or not the murdering sister was executed herself or forced to do acts of compensation to the community. Well I believe that's what would have happened. It never did happen though.”

“Then what would a sister do if a brother was provoking her?”

“Oh lots of things. Provoke him back, ignore him, if she felt it was justified she'd hit him or even beat the day lights out of him. It's what happened with other sisters at times as well. We were pretty stressed in those early days and some people like to run their mouth sister and brother alike. Of course typically the keepers would resolve such issues before they reached that point.”

The casual tone with which Zarena talked about a sister hitting a brother actually surprised Pera. When she considered it though it fit. The brothers of Zarena's time were active allies in combat and in day to day activities. They were viewed as being on a more even level. “How did the sisters avoid killing the brothers whenever they hit them though?”

“It's just self control there was nothing special to it. I'm really worried about the idea that you've conditioned your brothers to not anger you though. I'm worried about how you would respond to anger now. I'm just not certain how to test your self control and compare it to the sisters of my time. Well that gives me something to think about. How do I induce rage in an individual sister to see how she responds to the anger? Well actually I guess the best thing to do would be to learn a bit more about what's been happening. So Pera when have you been made really angry?”

Now Pera was feeling rather nervous. She wasn't frightened by Zarena but she did believe she'd opened a door that she shouldn't have opened. Zarena would have learned about such cultural changes in time but it sure felt like she'd been the one to awaken her to a lot of them. “I think the others are going to start not letting me talk to you sense I seem to always show you something else to be upset about.”

“Ha! If they tried that I would come to get you. That just means they're hiding something they know is wrong.”

***********************************************************************************

“So you believe that your glyph is complete?” As Naidra looked at Joseph's paper she noted not only the different symbols used to make the glyph but the fact that it required four different types of inc. He had clearly shown what regions should be made using what type of inc and most importantly how the incs should be mixed together at the connecting sections. She had scolded him a few days back for not taking the transition points into consideration only for him to seem confused. Fortunately he had quickly realized how important the blending of the incs at these points where. “You seem to have taken my criticism well.”

“Is that your way of saying the design looks good?” The fact that Naidra didn't respond right away but continued to look over his work worried Joseph. Every time he had prepared a glyph to show her she had pointed out something that was wrong with it. He was grateful to her though. As each time she pointed out something he'd done wrong it was quite likely that she had helped protect Maria. “Naidra you're starting to worry me with this long silence.”

“It could be better but I.” Instead of continuing Naidra gave several rapid hums. Joseph had designed the glyph so that it would respond to a person's mystic energies and life. As their life energy went down the drain the glyph put on someone would decrease as well. At the same time while the flow of energy from them increased the drained would increase. The restriction put by the response to life energy took priority over the response to mystic energy. The outer edges of the circle had been designed so that it would only influence the space within the glyph and if broken the entire glyph would immediately fail.  He had taken her advice and made some sections of the glyph so that they would fade and shut down the entire thing if too much energy ran through them as well.

“Naidra are you doing that to make me worry?”

“I like the conversion of the energies into radiant life energy. That was a good use of it. There were some mages that converted the mystic energy into heat of all things. This could be very bad for those standing around the glyph whenever a strong source of energy was being drained. I'm a little worried about what influence such energies could have on the surroundings and those near by but given the amount of mystic energy you're likely to be working with the risk are acceptable.”

“Likely to be working with?”

“Yes well. You're the first one to try to teach the sisters to draw in energies like a mage. I'm currently working under several assumptions as to how much energy is going to be involved but they're educated assumptions. You know how to make a potion to protect your body from alterations due to exposure to magic right?”

“Yes.”

“You should drink one before you test this just to be safe. Well done you've made a very promising experiment.” As she spoke Naidra returned the glyph to Joseph. The fact that he seemed relieved was amusing though she wasn't going to say anything about it. “I didn't mention it before but I noticed you mentioned the defective faelom and the awakened one as well. We were happy to see what you were trying to have something done about the defective ones but we don't feel you're pushing hard enough.”

If Naidra could think about things other then his current experiment Joseph felt certain that he had made a good glyph this time. That or the protectors were running out of patience and wanting results. He truly hoped it was the first one as he responded. “Naidra I don't feel comfortable calling for the deaths of others. Besides I know that Flora is well aware of the distrusted. What more could I do whenever I was speaking to her?”

“We had hoped that you would demand something be done about them due to the risk they pose to the outside world. With the new developments the defects may be allowed to grow in power. Just letting them live is mistake enough but to allow them to increase in power or become independent of the forest would be foolish beyond reason. Have you been told that some of them tried to leave with several of your seeds? We presume that they intended to begin their own crop of life blooms and perhaps leave the forest with them.”

How did Naidra know that? How did he not know about it? Both questions popped into Joseph's mind even as his face twisted into an expression of concern. He didn't need to think much to realize how bad that could have been and that the other two questions weren't important right now. “What happened to them?”

“The guardians who discovered their efforts recovered the seeds and put them through some very ineffective instructional routines. We here are not adverse to the use of pain to educate whenever reward and gentle instruction have failed but an ineffective method is an ineffective method. Besides given that they've chosen to hold onto their ideas and endure their hunger it's quite clear that pain is not the solution.”

“I see. I don't know why the sisters haven't done more about the distrusted Naidra. I've heard Maria speaking about it and they're all kind of scared about what's going to happen whenever Zarena learns about them. As I'm pretty sure she would kill them. Perhaps they're hoping that with the changes and the brothers beginning to train for combat again the distrusted will change their views. It's a lot harder to look down on someone whenever they can burn your skin off with their mind.”

“I do not consider fear a good substitute for respect but you are correct that it can change behaviors. Thank you though for respecting our request. Even if you're not pushing as hard as we would like you've done as we asked and for that we're grateful.” As she was speaking Naidra had retrieved a second sheet of paper and began to copy Joseph glyph. “Oh! I almost forgot to mention. I'm very happy that you took the time to find out what material the glyph would work best placed upon. I would like to do you a kindness though.”

“What's that?”

“There is a parchment made from plant fibers easily found in the forest that once soaked in the proper solution should work even better. Well will work even better. Well I was going to ask you to wait a few moments but it seems that the parchment was already prepared and it's being brought to us right now. I've been asked if you would feel more comfortable if you had an apprentice join you in the secure area as well.”

“What? You mean that I could bring someone else in with me?”

“No. Well yes. Joseph you are a Luvarian you can take an apprentice in with you if you want and we could not stop you. We just ask that you don't. There is one apprentice that we have welcomed in of our own choosing to avoid complications. An apprentice that's been helping us with another task.”

“What! Who's the other apprentice? What's the task? How long has this been going on? Was he allowed in before me?”

“Ridon the student of the apprentice Julia. That is such a strange thought even now an apprentice with a student of her own. He is currently helping us to convince the faelom to start tending to their children within the citadel once again. His efforts have been frustrated but respected. That's another thing if you could convince the faelom to start using the raising rooms again it would be appreciated. He has only been here for a few weeks and technically entered after you but became aware of where he was before you.”

“A connection?”

“Yes. The spiritual being who once used the body of his beloved faelom became one of us. She still felt a powerful connection to him and with all his efforts to find her it was decided to let them approach one another. I should mention this is not the first time such an event has happened. It is very unfortunate that none of them have progressed as we have desired but this time seems promising. He is not however aware of you. So would you like to be brought to meet one another?”

“It would be nice to have someone here to help me with my studies but with everything Julia has him doing and apparently you as well I don't believe it would be good to force additional responsibilities upon him.”

“You do realize that Julia is currently in training to become a spirit hunter. Ridon doesn't have to worry about doing much of anything for her. Due to their earlier efforts he also hasn't been called upon to perform many acts of necromancy either.” As she was speaking Naidra knew that the protector with the parchment would be arriving soon. She could feel her approach and here her thoughts. “Joseph in the event that anyone ask the fibers from this parchment came from the clovine flower. If they want to know more then that just tell them that we gave the parchment to you.”

“Wouldn't that be telling them too much?”

“They know it was us who left them the tools for their studies. It should have no influence on how they view you.” As she spoke Naidra had walked over to the door and opened it up. Nothing was said verbally as she received the parchment and a small sack while the other protector turned and departed. Naidra was grinning as she turned to Joseph. “Now here is a handy item I want you to tell Mina that you found in the raising center.” As she spoke Naidra held the small satchel up for Joseph. “Also have you decided on what you want to do about Ridon yet?”

“Well I'm aware of him now. So how about asking if he'd like to help me out? As for the sack is that come kind of gift for Dremera? I'm not sure if you know but it wouldn't surprise me if you did. I spoke to Mina a few days ago and they're planning on bringing Dremera back here.” As he spoke Joseph still hoped Naidra would explain what the toy was. Though he wasn't sure how a small satchel made from some strange white cloth would survive Dremera's attention.

“Yes I'm aware of that but this should hasten her actions. Now what you do is take some of the blood from the object of the faelom's affection and put it inside the satchel. You bind it tightly and give the blood time to infuse the fibers and then you unfold it like this.” As she spoke Naidra was already demonstrating to Joseph what she meant. The satchel appeared tiny within her hands but as she unfolded it and revealed that it was actually full. The cloth quickly came to cover a much wider surface area. “It will hold the sent of the person who's blood was used on it.”

“I see. Could you fold it back for me?”

“Easily.” Naidra didn't wait to begin folding the cloth back into its sack state. As she did so she had to resist the urge to hum while working. The material brought back memories from long ago that she didn't tend to think about. Part of her wanted the days where the guild always had a few young faelom or other constructs roaming it to come back. For the longest time the youngest construct there was hundreds of years old. Though they still tended to take care of her as the child of the citadel. “No one has been in the raising center as of late so if you say you wondered there while out for a walk they should have no trouble believing that you found it there.”

“That reminds me. Naidra the brothers have mentioned that their feet seems to lead them throughout the citadel at times. Is this place actually influencing their minds?”

“Yes.”

“Um is there anything else you could say to make me feel comfortable about that?”

“The citadel is only trying to take care of them and provide for their needs quietly. It guides them to the books or plants they seek at times. That or to something that might inspire them. We are aware that this has caused some of them discomfort. I take it that you're mostly concerned about the influence the citadel may be having on their mind. There is no mental alterations being done to those living within the citadel. Perhaps you should encourage them to begin a journal detailing their day to day thoughts. Whenever they look back at it they could try to find any changes in thought patterns. This is typical procedure whenever one isn't certain of whether or not an environment is influencing your mind.”

“You mean standard for Luvarians?”

“Yes. Especially those that deal with constructs that do have the ability to influence they mind. It is important to insure that one is still in control of a project and that the project hasn't began to control them.” Naidra was actually a bit surprised whenever she noted Joseph laughing. A few moments of shared thoughts and she realized the reason why. “You're currently feeling like your projects have taken control of you.”

“Well I am mated to my favorite project.” Now it was Joseph's turn to hear a laugh. Unlike Naidra thought he didn't have anyone to share thoughts with to try to figure out why. “What did I say?”

“You said something that's very much like a Luvarian which is fitting. Many of the accomplished Luvarians would feel as if their project was a child to them or even a mate. In some cases it was literally true. This could make convincing them to share their final results a chore. In fighting could begin if the project had been a team effort but several of the Luvarians believed that the project was more the result of their work then the others.”

“Hey now. I had this mind set along time ago.”

“I am aware of that.” Naidra chose not to mention that when he had obtained such feelings had nothing to do with her statement. Joseph had a moment that was very fitting with a Luvarian. The fact that he had developed this mind set before or after he came to the citadel didn't matter. “Have you considered how to approach your Faelom test subjects?”

A low groan escaped Joseph as he nodded his head. Unfortunately considering how to approach Maria about it and thinking of a way to make it sound like a good idea was two very different things. He had thought of it a lot he simply hadn't thought of a good way to do it.

***********************************************************************************

In her time with Joseph Maria had noted certain changes that tended to happen whenever he was about to give her bad news. His scent changed and he tried to prepare her a nice meal. As he couldn't prepare her a feast each time he tended to focus a great deal on the flavor. In truth the food wasn't necessary he had never told her anything that truly required a meal to comfort her. At the same time she wasn't going to tell him that. A nice meal was too good to pass up even if it was guilt that was compelling him to prepare it. “So this is why you had yourself taken home early. It smells like you used some honey.”

“Yeah I wanted to give the meat time to slow cook.” As he spoke Joseph was checking his preparation. He had treated preparing this meal like preparing one of his more dangerous potions. After building up Maria's hope with the notion that she would soon be feasting regularly to now tell her that she would need to endure what amounted to torture sessions wasn't going to be easy. He had managed to locate Pera and have her run down a fresh tusker for him. She had even been considerate enough to butcher the animal for him though he suspected that was more due to her wanting some of the meat herself.

So how bad was the news that Joseph was going to Deliver? Maria was tempted to ask immediately but she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Depending on his answer it could end up spoiling the entire meal. At the same time if she didn't know what the news was she might end up wondering about it the entire time. Perhaps this was Joseph way of saying he apologized for making her wait so long to begin the experimenting after he had her hopes so high. She doubted that was the case. Joseph tended to only go fancy whenever he was feeling grateful or exceptionally guilty about something. Had she done anything to make him feel grateful recently? Maria tended to take care of tidying up their home. He just worked so slowly and as many things were made for her size it just wasn't practical for him to clean except for in his own workshop. He tended to chase her out whenever she tried to tidy up his reagents and going near his flask wasn't allowed. That wouldn't be enough to make him feel such gratitude though.

As Joseph looked at Maria he noted her ears twitching. They pointed strait up, went to the sides and even flattened against her head. The fact that she hadn't said anything for several moments and the movements of her ears told him that she was thinking about something. Given the situation he had a pretty good idea of what it was. “Maria I'm just going to tell you now. I had to abandon my original idea to help you learn to direct energy into your body like a mage. The method would have been too risky as I have no idea how to even begin teaching someone with your body type and I don't know how long it would take. You could end up being as big as Zarena by the time I worked out all the issues for all I know. So I've come up with a different method.”

“Ah! I was really looking forward to that original method.” As she spoke Maria made sure to use a very high pitched voice. In truth she wasn't nearly so upset though it was disappointing. The fact that Joseph had still been spending so much time at the citadel told her that he had already come up with an alternative method. “So What is your new plan if that's the case?”

“Wouldn't you rather eat first?”

“No. A good meal can make anything go down better but it doesn't work if the foods already eaten. It's during the time of chewing and my body experiencing a brief period of satisfaction that all those bad feelings just melt away.” What had Joseph come up with? Maria was guessing that it wasn't going to be as pleasurable as stuffing herself. It was actually sounding like it was going to be rather unpleasant or difficult.

How should he say this? The food wasn't on the table yet and in truth didn't really need him observing it right now. Yet he didn't want to look at Maria whenever he delivered this news. It was rough enough telling her as is. “Maria the best way I can think of to teach you to draw energy into your body is to teach you to resist having it be pulled out. In order to do this I've been designing a glyph that will slowly draw the mystic energy out of a person's body so that you can practice resisting its influence.”

For a moment Maria just considered what Joseph had said. Already she could think of one serious problem with his plan. “Joseph our bodies are designed to draw in energy as you observed with our fur. We're also extremely resistant to harmful magic spells. I'm not sure if your glyph will work on us.”

“In truth I'm not entirely sure either but that's what I've been designing the glyph to do. Instead of trying to make something that could power through your defenses I've been working on something that can go around them. I managed to come up with a glyph design that effectively goes around most of your defenses or I believe it will. I've designed the glyph so the rate at which it drains someone depends on how much energy they have within their body so it won't drain you down to nothing but it won't be pleasant.”

For a moment Maria said nothing but focused on Joseph. His heart rate had sped up and she could smell his sweat. He was feeling nervous. He was always nervous whenever he gave her bad news though but this was the first time that it sounded like he wanted her to do something painful. “So your theory is that by remaining within that environment I can learn to resist the affects of having my energy drained. Then I suppose once I'm outside of that environment I'll be able to direct more energy into my body. It sure sounds like the two would be related and it should at least get me on the right path. I'm a little nervous about how painful it's actually going to be but there is only one way to find that out.”

“Maria I hate to ask you to do something like this and if you want we can try other sisters.”

“No.” Maria knew that she needed to cut Joseph off right there. He'd be wondering why of course. “Joseph you've done a lot for me by sustaining me after I grew larger then I was allowed yet again. You've brought a lot of joy and comfort into my life. So I'm quite happy to endure discomfort and pain that might lead to something better for all of us. Besides I still feel a slight debt to the community after having myself put to sleep. I figure if I endure this and we get results I'll be ahead.”

“Maria I believe after everything you've done for your sisters that's already been taken care of.” Already Joseph could feel himself beginning to relax though he couldn't do so entirely. He still knew that this was going to hurt Maria and the idea of causing her to suffer wasn't comforting to him in the least. Part of him had hoped that Maria would let him experiment with another sister. Yet he truly wanted her to be the first to benefit from his efforts.

“Well maybe. I did find you after all. You might want to go remove your food from the oven by the way. Oh and when do you plan on beginning the testing?” Joseph had already stood up and began to move back towards the oven yet Maria chose to continue. Joseph's news was far from the worse she'd ever received. The worse being whenever she was told that she would have to go to sleep. It was disappointing to have good news turn to bad but every experiment couldn't be a pleasant one.

“I don't know how badly this is going to influence you. I wanted to speak with some of the others to see if they could free you from other responsibilities during the testing. You might be too weak afterwords to work after all. I would also like someone who has experience treating a sister's injuries to be here in the event something goes wrong.”

“Treating a sister's injuries?” For a moment Maria went silent as her mind almost went blank. How many people did they have that really knew how to treat a sister's injuries? They were injured so rarely and their bodies did such a superb job of healing on their own it was rarely a need. They were more sisters and brothers that knew how to inflict harm on a sister then there was ones that knew how to help their bodies heal beyond the basics. “Joseph I'm not sure if we have what you're asking for. I guess the best people I can think of to handle such a thing is Fera, Vera, Julia and my mother. Fera and Vera just because they know the best ways to harm a sister and I'm guessing that would help them in knowing what needs the most care.”

“I suppose your mother because she's had the most experience tending to two children.”

“That and nursing a child that was forced to sleep in order to regress in size back to health. Given that this circle. Oh! Wouldn't it be neat if your glyph actually triggered new mutations in our bodies?”

There was a new complication. “I didn't consider that possibility. If the circle ends up simulating the conditions of your slumber well enough it is possible it could trigger changes in your body. I wonder if there is a way to insure it won't. Ouch!” Joseph was a bit surprised whenever he felt something flick his ear hard enough to leave it tingling and make him wonder if it had been detached from his head. The fact that he felt a powerful wind strike him and a slight scraping noise just moments before told him what had happened even as he looked back at Maria. She had managed to get up, rush over to him, flick his ear and then return to her seat before he could turn around. “What was that for?”

“What was what for? I guess I gave you a harder look then I thought. Joseph even if your glyph doesn't help us learn to direct more energy into our bodies triggering additional changes isn't something to be avoided. Believe me we would be quite happy with such results. Now how about we eat and then I'll run out and tell my mother what we have planned? Then tomorrow you can speak to the brothers about it.”

“Shouldn't we wait to tell your mother?”

“No.  She can begin speaking with the other sisters about giving me some more free time to be a test subject. Honestly given what you're going to be testing on me I doubt there is going to be much resistance. I received some pretty mean looks because I was the first to sample the life bloom but this is an entirely different issue.”

“Okay. Does that mean we're done talking about this?”

“I believe so unless there is more you want to tell me.” It was nice to see Joseph was calming down though he was still tending to his ear. Maria had considered given him a bit more of a thump then a flick but had held back at the last moment. Joseph just hadn't been thinking. He was so busy worrying about side affects that he didn't distinguish between good and bad side affects. Just because an event wasn't predicted didn't mean it was a bad thing though.

“That's good. So now you know what I've been up to. How has running messages been going? Last I checked you were making regular trips to the water front to see how things were progressing there.” It was calming to Joseph to speak about something other then his testing.

“Kersara has the sisters there busy. You know the body gives off a different scent whenever it's exhausted  rather then when it's well wrested. Well if this happens over a regular time period the scent changes yet again though it's really hard to notice. The sisters that are training and working alongside Kersara truly smell of the conditioning she's putting them through. Not that I have a great deal of sympathy for them given what Vera did.”

“What did Vera do?”

“We were sparring and she gave me permission to use more of my speed then normal. We had been talking about reaction time and reading your opponent as well as the danger of common patterns. I'm not sure how she managed to do it but nearly the moment I had rushed in to attack her she had taken hold of my tail and used my own speed to throw me using my tail. My backside was hurting so much! When I asked her how she'd done it she told me. The rate at which you process information means that none of us can respond faster then you. However, you can only respond to what you can see. Apparently she wanted to show me that even with my reaction time my response is only as good as my observation skills.”

“Now by more of your speed do you mean all of your speed?”

“Not all of my speed but I don't want to give the wrong impression. I was thinking as quickly as I could whenever I attacked Vera. I was also moving far faster then I've ever seen another sister move except for Zarena. Those legs of hers can really cover the distance. Actually I think if I would have been moving at my full speed I might have needed my mother already. Put those plates down for a moment and just take a look at the fur on the end of my tail.” As she spoke Maria brought her tail forward. The tip of it was still tingling and the fact that her fur had been badly disturbed was quite clear. It actually felt a little better whenever Joseph took hold of her tail tip then gave it a little kiss.

“Does that feel better?” Joseph didn't know what he was doing until he'd actually done it. He actually had to repress a chuckle whenever he noticed be rather surprised expression on Maria's face.

“Ah well. A little bit I suppose.” A slight chuckle escaped Maria as she ran her fingers along the fur. “Still you can see how it was nearly ripped out right?”

“I don't know about see but it does feel a little off. I'm guessing that you didn't come to an immediate stop whenever she caught hold of your tail.”

“No. She explained it a bit more as being able to read what I was going to do by the way my body moved.”

“I can imagine. Even with that I'm surprised that Vera was able to take hold of your tail. I really didn't expect a sister to have that kind of a reaction time. Even if they know what you're going to do the inability of their body to keep up should give you an advantage.”

“I would have agreed with you a few weeks ago but there is one thing wrong about your belief. The notion that Vera's body isn't capable of keeping up. Her reaction time and the rate at which her body moves once something has been noticed is a lot faster then normal. I know you've heard me compare Mina and Kersara to one another. Well Vera seems to have the natural version of a speed augmentation.”

By now Joseph had served the plates and was waiting for Maria to begin eating before he started. Due to a sister's tendency to savor their food it was easy to finish before them and be left waiting. “That makes sense. Maria I've been wanting to ask about something. Vera is part of a small group of sisters if I'm not mistaken. So why haven't I seen any of the others?”

“You have. They're just less obvious about what they are and better at blinding in. Vera you might say is their spokesperson. Honestly I'm not sure if any of us actually knows who the entire group is composed of. They are after all responsible for watching quietly.”

“I thought it was the matrons that kept the keepers in line though.”

“Matrons are large and obvious that makes them easy to avoid. Vera and her little group are far quieter. Besides they're not really responsible for dealing with the keepers. They're the ones who help the brothers with things that the wrest of us probably wouldn't approve of or could harm us. Like oh say let's say the brothers developed a new energy source but it wasn't tested yet. They know that if we learned of it we're liable to push the development date or try to use it without permission. Yet despite that they need our help. That is where Vera and her little group comes in.”

“What about the fact that they're trained to fight sisters that are their size and larger as well?”

“I believe they train to do that for two reasons. The first is in the event that they need such skills while performing their main roll. I mean you remember how angry we were about the escape. Now let's say that Vera had needed to take a few of the escapees in alive. I'm sure you can see why she'd need such combat abilities to perform such a task if another sister had happened upon the same escapee at the same time. The second reason is because I believe they're a little insane.”

Joseph gave a slight chuckle thought he couldn't respond right away. Maria was finally chewing her food and he'd taken this chance to take a bite himself. He hadn't mentioned it but since he had began working on the glyph he hadn't eaten much. If it wasn't for Maria and the protectors of the citadel he would have eaten even less. “Okay the first one I can see but the second one I'm not buying into.”

“There has always been some fear amongst the sisters that the distrusted would grow in number and try to take our brothers by force. I'm sure you heard it mentioned it but for a while we were even more controlling of our brothers. Vera and her little group are those who aren't just determined to insure that doesn't happen but they're dedicated to insuring it doesn't happen again. In truth I'm surprised they didn't say anything whenever Zarena was scolding us.”

“I wonder if they remained quiet because they felt they hadn't done enough.”

“You'd need to ask one of them about that. Vera would probably be your best bet for a strait answer.”

“Probably. So I noticed something earlier whenever I looked at her hands. Vera's claws have a different curve then most sisters. Is that biological or conditioning?”

“That is entirely due to conditioning. My claws for example are meant mostly for cutting up soft flesh creatures like bears and tuskers. As well as week materials like most stone and steel. Vera's claws have been conditioned to cut through the skin of other sisters though. I know how they do it but I've never built up the resolve to rework my claws like they do.” Before continuing Maria took another bite of her food. “This is really good Joseph. Now as for Vera's claws it's all about working them so that they thicken and harden. Naturally given that our claws retract into our fingers this means adjusting the fingers as well.”

“So it's painful?”

“It's very painful and it's not just that. It takes a long time to influence the growth of our claws. I'm actually scared that Vera will mention conditioning our claws into better weapons one of these days.”

“You make it sound like you tried it.”

“I did! When I first learned the method of strengthening our claws they use I tried to do so with my own. I was able to adhere to the daily routine for about a month and then I just broke down. I didn't care about the days I'd already spent working on them and I didn't care about the end result. I just wanted to stop.” For a moment Maria found herself going silent but then a chuckle escaped her as a realization set in. “Now your glyph might cause me even more pain but I'm still going to do it. No more being a little girl like way back then. After all I couldn't even keep my hunger in check back in those days. I wonder if I could succeed now.”

It still seemed strange for Joseph to think of Maria not being able to handle her hunger. Even if he'd seen her having issues with it. He typically considered such failings to be an issue of willpower but Maria never struck him as weak willed. He hadn't known her whenever she was younger though. “Maria I really can't imagine you as being the type to easily give up.”

“That was when I was younger and after a long nap Joseph. That was also before I found you. I like to believe that I've developed as a person sense then. Not that I have a great deal to challenge me. I was made a scout due to my speed and I still work in that roll. We've been allowed to grow larger and I have you to take care of me.” A slight chuckle escaped Maria as she took another bite of her food in order to make Joseph wait for a moment. “I really haven't had anything to challenge me. Now the way you set down and just focus on your work that's some impressive willpower.”

“Maria I've been living with you for a while now. I know that speed of yours isn't all due to your mutation. You've also been helping me with my experiments.”

“Thanks for the encouragement but with you that's pretty easy. I guess we'll know depending on how the work with the glyphs goes whether I've developed any real willpower. That's something to look forward to even if the wrest of it sounds very unpleasant.”

“Ah! We're getting back on the subject of the glyph. We decided that we were done with my day. Did you get a chance to read The Obsidian Embrace?”

“Roughly two minutes after you suggested I read it.” A slight chuckle escaped Maria as for a moment Joseph seemed rather perplexed. From the expression on his face he remembered how quickly she could read shortly afterwords. “I was rather surprised to see that the Luvarians had more then just tombs of knowledge back there but actual stories. I'm pretty sure that was even a work of fiction.”

“I believe that the book was put there in order to serve as a lesson book. I just wonder if it happened after the events with the infernal beings or before. I get the feeling that either they forgot the lesson the book tried to get across or it came after. You probably read it while you were walking back to put the book on the shelves again didn't you?”

“Yeah. You seemed quite wrapped up in it so I was curious. I have to say imbuing the armor with necromancy so that it would preserve the muscle sounds like something Julia would be capable of doing and I'm sure other necromancers as well. Then using that muscle in the flexible regions of the armor to serve as protection and add strength was an interesting idea.”

“I liked that as well and honestly it seems like something that could easily be done given the materials they used to make the armor. What did you think whenever the armor began to talk to its wearer though?”

“Honestly I was shocked to find out that the armor was female. Then I thought about it and don't you think it would make sense? After all it's women who carry life within their bodies, protect and nurture that life just like the armor was doing for its user. Except well perhaps not being entirely nurturing. There was the little issue of the armor trying to twist its users way of thinking. It sure started off fine but I guess that's the way it always goes with infernal beings. I had my first notion that something was wrong whenever the armor began to help with decision that the wearer wasn't quite certain of. I admit I wasn't sure though as at first it seemed no more corruptive then a friend trying to get you to relax a bit.”

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“I hope you understand that if I didn't believe you loved my daughter so much I would never allow this. Even knowing that you managed to gain the approval of the other brothers doesn't truly comfort me in this situation. Now exactly how long do you plan on going through with this experiment of yours? I somehow doubt that the results will be immediate.” As she spoke Flora wasn't trying to sound threatening but she was going to make her concerns be known. Even after what Joseph and Maria had told her about their proposed experiment she hadn't been comfortable with it.

“Well training mages to channel energy or even alchemist isn't something that happens immediately. It often takes months or even years for it to truly become noticeable. I hope that it doesn't take as long with Maria. Initially I plan to study whether or not Maria is doing a better job of resisting the glyph's influence. Much like a student mage first begins to let energy flow through their body with greater ease even if they can't channel their own. This will probably take at least a few weeks to become noticeable.” While he tried to keep his tone confident having Flora studying him so intently made Joseph wonder if he had succeeded. “Flora I love Maria and wouldn't even allow her to do this if I didn't believe that she would be safe.”

“How safe?”

“Safe enough that I'm not fearful for her life or her sanity. I'm also certain that any physical damage will be minor and very recoverable.”

“Mom stop giving Joseph such a hard time about this!” As she spoke Maria had come to stand next to her mother. “I swear you didn't give me nearly as hard of a time about this three days ago whenever I came to speak with you.”

“True but that was only because you couldn't answer my questions but I knew Joseph could. Joseph the fact that you feel the need to have me here worries me. If you had conducted this experiment without asking for someone to observe my daughter though it would have enraged me. I swear I would have started pushing to have your status in the community lowered. You've shown a lot of wisdom in your preparation though and I know that you love my daughter. Now I've been told that you also want to conduct the experiment within the citadel to provide protection from outside influences. I'm fine with that though are you prepared to begin?”

“That's partly up to you. The brothers have agreed to the experiment after a few of them reviewed my plans. Well that and after they insisted a brother be there to observe Maria's medical condition not just for safety reasons but in order to study any developments that come of it. I managed to convince them that Ridon was a good choice.”

“The keepers agreed with your experiment.” A shiver went through Flora's body the moment the words left her lips. Given that it was one of her daughter's that was being experimented on and in such a harsh way she truly hated to say those words. “Vera did say that you had better try your hardest Maria though or she will have to intensify your training to make up for time lost.”

“How could she even do that! If she made it even more intense I'd probably be dead!”

A slight chuckle escaped Flora as she nodded her head. “I don't believe you'd be dead but it would be pointless. Vera is already trying to find the optimum level to push you to. Once she finds that there is no point going over or under. We talked a bit about her methods and she admitted that she started off light and tried to work her way up. At this point she's beginning to believe that starting with the maximum she can put you through and working down would be a better method. She believes that it would work faster at least as she trust her sisters to be closer to the top then the bottom.”

“What top and bottom!”

“Of what she can endure of course. We're off subject though. Now Joseph we're behind this project of yours when do you plan on beginning?”

“If that's the case then we're ready to begin today. We just need to go to the citadel and set up the testing room. Given that I've already prepared the glyphs and the requirement equipment we could begin today. I wanted to give Maria a nice meal before we began the testing though. It seemed the appropriate thing considering how unpleasant this is going to be.”

Before speaking Maria leaned forward and gave Joseph a quick kiss on his cheek. As she did so she couldn't help but think what it would mean if this project resulted in her growing even larger. She already had to bend at the knees even while leaning forward if she was going to be standing whenever she kissed Joseph. Fortunately she was extremely flexible so this was hardly a problem. She also liked the view of her breast she could give him whenever this happened. Depending on how much she grew though she would have to do far more then just lean forward and bind at the knees. She could easily end up having to set on her knees or pick him up. The last thought brought a chuckle from her. It seemed quite likely she would prefer to pick him up rather then set on her knees each time she wanted to kiss him. “That sounds nice but how about we have that nice meal after the event?”

Flora, “I agree with Maria. After she's been drained of energy if your glyph does indeed work she's going to need to eat to help recover her strength. Besides the goal of your experiment is to force her body to retain energy isn't it? The need will be less urgent if her body is currently gaining energy from what she's eaten.”

“You make a good point. Well given that I've the needed approval I believe we should begin. Maria I just want you to know that I regret what this requires of you. If I could I would use a pain killer on you but I just don't know of anything that's strong enough to influence a sister without running serious risk. I hope you believe me.”

“Joseph I believe you. I can hear and smell how worried you are. You shouldn't worry so much though I know that this is good for me. Is there anything we need to take with us?”

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Whenever a brother wanted to test the power of a spell it wasn't uncommon for a sister to volunteer to take the hit. They were simply so resistant to magic it was hardly an issue. They also had no trouble drinking failed alchemy potions even whenever not asked to. It was just the easiest safest way for them to dispose of them. This at times resulted in them getting sick but she'd never heard of any deaths. Only rarely did the brothers truly insist that the sisters shouldn't do such a thing. It was their understanding that this alchemy potions or spells were truly above the wrest in terms of power or refinement.

As Maria looked around at the equipment Joseph had prepared she found herself a little worried. There had been experiments designed to work on sisters in the past. Typically these were meant to help a sister and indeed Joseph's was as well. Yet in helping her he would have to harm her. How many projects had been designed to intentionally harm a sister? It made her worry. Yet she also found herself worried about what would happen if the glyph failed. Would Joseph try something else or would he refine it even further? “Should I be feeling anything yet?”

“Not yet. I haven't woken the glyph up yet. Once it begins working it should use the energy it drains from you in order to sustain itself. If it isn't efficient enough to do that I'll have to regularly add more energy to it.” As he spoke Joseph finished preparing the last protective spike. Effectively he had surrounded the glyph with a necromantic focus that should prevent life energy from leaving the area it inclosed. The notion was simple. If Maria began to die he would break the circle she was currently within and the focus should direct the energy back into her. At least the energy that wasn't lost overcoming her natural resistance. He was currently wearing some enchanted robes meant to prevent him from absorbing any of that energy while Flora remained outside.

“I knew that I wouldn't be able to examine my daughter while she was within the circle but I didn't know I would have to remain this far back.” A sigh escaped Flora as her attention once again focused on Maria. “So are you ready to rush ahead of us again?”

“Of course! So if this works out mom are you going to be the next to go through with it?”

“Once they've been some promising results I believe that I shall. Naturally we'll have to find someone else to make sure I'm safe. I'm a bit older then you after all and not as resilient.”

“That works for brothers mom not for us. Have you been listening to Nathan use that old man line to get the younger brothers to do his work again?”

“Well it works very well for him! I think Zarena feels a little guilty about it but she seems happy to be spending more time with him as well. I wonder if she considered that by instigating these changes she would make it harder for Nathan to spend time with her.”

“You're talking about me and Joseph as well aren't you?”

Flora was quite proud that Maria had caught onto her second meaning. If Joseph's plan did work it was quite possible Maria would end up being larger. This could easily result in many life changes for them. “It's a concern for all of us. Joseph did you know that Zarena spoke to us about the possibility of preparing herself a new home on the edge of the forest in the event that she doesn't have to sleep again or we start to cycle the sleepers? The brothers were suppose to talk about it and see if it would influence the ocean's behavior too much.”

“I wasn't there for that meeting.” As Joseph walked over to Maria he took in a deep breath. “Okay Maria are you ready? I'm going to awaken the glyph?”

“I'm as prepared to endure pain as I can possibly be. Just as long as it isn't worse then the hunger I experienced right after being awoken from my sleep I should be just fine.”

“It has been a few years since you last had to deal with that hasn't it?”

“Yeah. Don't worry I'm prepared to handle it and perhaps even a bit worse though I hope that I won't have to.”  As Maria spoke she couldn't help but shift a bit uncomfortably. Despite her words the notion of how unpleasant this could be wasn't something she was looking forward to. Yet part of her just wanted Joseph to begin so they could see if this would even work. Part of her hoped that Joseph had underestimated their resistance to magic and the project would be put off for a while longer. The moment she felt the glyph awaken though it felt like her head was spinning.

As she looked on Naidra was eager to see the results of Joseph's effort. She watched the energies from the glyph radiate upward and then flow into Maria. As the energy moved throughout her body it became more obscure. This was where the procedure would fail if it was going to. Maria's body would retain the energy and convert it. She saw the energy fluctuate and then it began to leave Maria's body along with some of hers. Already it was clear to Naidra that Joseph would have to energize the glyph periodically. The amount of energy the glyph had expended to capture some of Maria's energy was greater then what it had captured.

“How are you feeling Maria?” As Joseph looked at Maria he knew that she was feeling something. From the way she looked at the ground he doubted it was good. The glyph wasn't designed to rapidly drain her though. It was meant to be a teaching tool not an attack upon her. This was beneficial as a slow drain was often more efficient then a fast one as well.

Sickness was almost unknown to the sisters. It happened rarely but was so short lived that it wasn't what they thought of whenever they felt weakness. “It feels like ten minutes after I've just eaten. I feel like I'm coming down from an energy peak though I'm only just beginning to come down. I still feel roughly the same but I know that it's starting. Except in this case I haven't just eaten so it feels more like I'm moving towards ready to eat more quickly then normal. It is not pleasant. So what do I do now?”

Typically when learning to use magic a small amount of mystic energy was first moved through a person so they could get a feel for it. This was often essential though some people could do so after only hearing the theory. This was different though. Energy was still being moved into Maria but it was also being moved out of her. It wasn't a teaching method that people heard of being used. There were some aspects of it that were similar to necromancy though. Ridon had some experience with that. “I hope you don't mind me stepping in but I believe that you need to do is try to feel the energies and see what's different. That or you should try to resist the influence of the magic. It'll be very hard to learn to resist though unless you're sure of what you're resisting.”

Joseph was glad that the brothers had agreed that Ridon could assist him with his efforts. His knowledge of necromancy and how to truly cast magic directly would be quite useful. “That's a good way of putting it. Maria you either need to try to resist the influence of the glyph or try to identify the energies. You likened this experience to feeling as if you were coming down from an energy high. Now think about how it's different from coming down from that energy high.”

“Different? How would I tell if it's different it really feels the same.”

Joseph, “Maria there is going to be some slight differences due to the nature of your body using up energy and the energy being drained from your body. Unfortunately I can't tell you what those differences are or how to really feel them out. All I can say is focus. You might try imaging yourself as pushing the hunger from your body if you could. As if the hunger isn't just a feeling but a fluid you can move out of yourself.”

“So. How long do I need to set here?” As she spoke Maria couldn't help the concern that sunk into her voice. Right now the glyph was a bit uncomfortable but from what Joseph had told her it would become far worse in time.

“I considered that. Flora I believe you should be the first to suggest Maria should be removed from the circle. You can understand what she's talking about whenever it comes to hunger better then any of us and you know the limits of a sister as well as the signs. Keep in mind that for this to work it is going to require prolonged exposure. Enough time for Maria to at least begin learning.”

The fact that Maria immediately looked towards her concerned Flora a bit. She knew that Maria was currently looking for a way out of her situation. Yet if Flora gave Maria that way out she either wouldn't accept it or she would be upset later on. “I believe this is like the treatments we've given brothers whenever they're injured. It's unpleasant and it takes time as well as repetition but the end results are worth while. Given that you're leaving this up to me I assume that the longer Maria is within that glyph and focused on the task at hand the better. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

Nodding her head lightly Flora took in a deep breath. “I had been worried about the citadel's tendency to remove scents from the air but within the same room I can still smell it. Maria you're no where near being in danger at the moment. Which Joseph if what you told me is true she should never reach that point given that your glyph drains less energy as her energies diminish. Correct?”

“Yes. I wanted the glyph itself to be safe. Our presence is more like a backup system.”

“You're a wonderful brother Joseph. Maria settle down and do as you were instructed. Joseph how should my daughter go about trying to resist though? The example of pushing a fluid from your body is very strange.”

“Ridon could I get a little help here?”

Now that wasn't what Ridon had wanted to happen. The questions relating to necromancy he was prepared to answer but this was a tough one. How could he explain this to someone that had never used magic and who's body resisted magic instinctively? “You just have to sort of will it I suppose. Like if you were trying to move something really heavy. Just imagine that you're pushing against the influence and push with all your might. You just don't actually push against anything using your body.”

To this Joseph nodded his head. “That sounds about right. You might be able to liken it to trying to fight sleep Maria. You're trying to push how exhausted you are to the back of your mind and keep focused.”

At first Maria had been trying to listen but as Ridon and Joseph explained the situation she couldn't help but groan. “You're not really helping!”

Flora, “Now Maria. Joseph told you that this was going to take time and dedication. Now settle down and try to do as you're told. I'm sure that it will catch on eventually. Especially given your remarkable rate of learning.”

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Despite all the time she'd spent asleep even a sleeper needed to wrest. As Zarena lay in her room she held the book her brother had made her in her hand. She had read far more on this book in the past few days then she had during several of her awakenings. There was still a lot to go but she was past the early days. At her current rate though she doubted it would be long before she finished. As prolific as her brother was he still could only write so much. Several years of regular writing could easily be read in a few hours by a sister and that was if she was taking it easy. A slight chuckle escaped her as she imagined her brother's voice as his words expressed a particular note of frustration with how his studies had been progressing and the behavior of the others.

“So what do you think of the new brush?” Nathan had tried to sound energetic when addressing Zarena but he couldn't pull it off. With everything that was happening all at once he was spending his days quite busy as was everyone else. To make their new structures the sisters required magically and alchemically enhanced items in many cases. In some cases it was done for future preparations. There was also the issue of the spirit hunters, the examination of the data taken from the fallen sisters, restoring the forest due to the amalgam. Nathan gave his head a quick shake. He didn't want to add to the list.

“I really like it!” As she spoke Zarena picked up the brush Nathan had been speaking off. In truth it was more of a comb then a brush when compared to her massive hands but it worked quite well. “It really does a wonderful job of removing salt and other bits of debris from my fur. I was even a bit surprised whenever I realized how dirty I was getting. I'm surprised you were able to make one of these on a large scale.”

Nodding his head Nathan began to move closer to Zarena. “Well actually they only exist on a large scale. That's a modified version of what we use to clean you off while you're sleeping. We have been working on ways of improving it after all. The one you're holding is meant for heavy duty and personal use though. I see that you've been catching up on your reading. Would you mind telling me what was so funny?”

“My brother was just telling me how frustrated he'd become with the efforts to restore the original system. He wanted to take some parts of it apart in order to learn more about it in hopes of making a new energy system. It seems there was a group who didn't want to turn the external laboratory into just a lab. They had plans to turn it into a vast power system as it were. Unfortunately there was more who believed this wasn't necessary and they should focus on restoring the old system.”

“Drat!” As he spoke Nathan gave his foot a hard stomp. “I was hoping you were about to tell me that there was more to the laboratory then we realized and we had yet another resource to call upon.”

“I wish. I haven't seen anything that has hinted at some hidden purpose or incomplete system. This is however during the early days of its construction. Still I'm pretty sure he would have mentioned such an important detail by now. Well unless he meant for me to find it later.” As she spoke Zarena extended her free hand towards Nathan. She had waited for him to make it to ground level so that he couldn't simply step off the walkway and onto her hand. She much preferred the feeling of him climbing onto her hand. The feeling of his hands pressing into the top of her finger rushed up her arm moments later and made her smile a little brighter as she felt him begin to pull himself upon her right index finger. “I'm a little worried about what I'm going to read once this is finished.”