"No, little brother, I am not sick. After turning an entire planent/demiplane inside out, did you really think I was going to be full of energy and as hyperactive as you are after a barrel of candy?"
"And yet you had enough energy afterwards for that misguided assassination attempt. I wish I could bounce back that quickly when I'd just done something mind-bogglingly beyond my capabilities...."
"We did have a plan you know. We had plenty of energy left over after opening Agartha. What we didn't expect was the curse Ephebe had placed on the energy and Alton would effect our plan..."
"Anyway, it wasn't just me, was it? I got a temporary boost when Ta'Su and Su'Ta came back. Trust me, Jim, there is nothing wrong with me."
"So....are you saying that they don't exist anymore? Poor Belyu. She's pretty pissed off and hurt you know."
"They are still there, I just need to take the time time to manifest them again. Once they're out of my mind, they can go about business as usual for them. It's... weird, like my mind's an apartment with three tenets in it."
"Kam and I will deal with Belyu when we get back. It's not we could have brought her with us. She'd have been in over her head out in the Empire, and I certainly couldn't take one of the school's most infamous with me, could I? People would have noticed."
"Nice attempt at justification. If it was really out of concern, why not leave a letter for her? Something. If she's friends with you guys again after this it's better than you deserve."
Taron lays back again and sighs as he watches a cloud goes by.
"We couldn't risk it. We would have had to leave the letter before we started the ritual, and if she told someone before we were ready we would have failed. We only had once chance to get things right."
"Anything you want me to tell her? Not that I expect her to listen. Especially after what you just said, Geez. You moron. You don't even know who your friends are or understand what that means."
"If we didn't get things right..! Tell her we're sorry, for whatever that's worth now."
He sighed. "Yeah. I'll tell her. Maybe you're lucky. Maybe she'll forgive you."
"And maybe she'll crack a guitar over our heads."
"First thing I'm going to do though is apologize to Ephebe and fix the connection as best I can. If there is only one thing I regret, it's that."
"I really hope you can. I just....I want her to understand that she really is our sister. No matter what timeline she came from. She's still her. I really hate this. It's like...losing part of myself, you know?"
"It will be one of my biggest surprises ever, I swear."
"I dunno, Tare. You're gonna have trouble surprising anyone from now on. Turning the planet inside out kinda raises the bar there," he teased.
"It's nice here. Did you base this off of a real place?"
"It's a place from Kam's memory. He can't remember how he knows it though. It's peaceful, quite, and the silver rain is an amazing sight."
"Nice. It's good that he has some nice memories too. I'm glad you have him with you. I'd worry more if you were out there on your own."
There was a long moment of comfortable silence.
"When you come back I want to see all of your memories of the places you've been. I probably won't get to see any of them for a long time since I'm so busy now making factories and getting tech back on track at home. And I want to know what it's like out there."
"Deal. You have to have some reason to keep from beating me over the head with a factory." :)
"It really is great out here. With so many wonderful places, it's hard to remember the horror stories of Imperial rule sometimes."
"Just talk to our youngest sister sometime if you're ever in danger of forgetting. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more Imperial refugees in the near future too."
"Yes, yes we will..."
"So, student council, huh? Someone's becoming all responsible."
"Yeah. Student Council is the least of it. But Uncle Ryo really needed help with the school admin. So I'll get things on track and then they continue on with the student council taking care of a lot of those organizational details again like they used to. Which is good since I'm going to have to give more and more attention to the factories. RIght now they're still building the first one so I only have to check in every few days to make sure it's all going exactly according to blueprint. But once these things go operational I'll have even more responsibility."
"It's weird. But it's a good weird. I like having something that I can do to really make a difference."
Aananda yawned. "Heh. Looks like the first thing on my to-do list is get some sleep....make that the second thing. I'm going to go check on James. Then get some sleep. See you in the morning, Jim."
She headed down to the infirmary. "Hello, Fieri, Vai. How's James?"
"That sounds pretty cool. All we're doing is following some copies of old maps around the Empire. Sucks when all the attractions are gone, but they were all Alton could get us that wouldn't be missed."
"Out cold, but otherwise seems to be fine."
"That sounds pretty cool. All we're doing is following some copies of old maps around the Empire. Sucks when all the attractions are gone, but they were all Alton could get us that wouldn't be missed."
"Have you checked out the ruins of Ianthe yet? If there's anything you could recover from there it would totally rock."
"Hmm. I'm gonna run a med scan on him to be sure. You too while I'm at it. Humor me."
Aananda set up the scanner so it could give James a thorough check up even though he was laying down.
"Okay. Results look good. Everything is normal, although I don't think this drip is delivering as many nutrients as he needs. I'll just change this and reset the scanner for you, Fieri."
"Have you checked out the ruins of Ianthe yet? If there's anything you could recover from there it would totally rock."
"Pun not intended?" Taron asks, teasing his younger brother. "We hadn't planned on it, but we might be able to give it a quick once over. Anything in particular you'd like?"
Fieri made a face, but she already knew better than to argue with her mother-in-law. It was pretty much a waste of breath. She stood impatiently while the scan went on.
"Have you checked out the ruins of Ianthe yet? If there's anything you could recover from there it would totally rock.""Pun not intended?" Taron asks, teasing his younger brother. "We hadn't planned on it, but we might be able to give it a quick once over. Anything in particular you'd like?"
"Anything you can find that might have records or examples of tech even if they're in bad shape. I'm not holding my breath. The Empire is pretty thorough about destruction. But...I dunno. It would be nice to have something that belonged to our ancestors."
Okay. Just....breathe. Freaking out will not help. It will absolutely not help.
"Have you by any chance been feeling extra tired and cranky lately?" she asked Fieri, trying to find some way of breaking the news gently.
Vai watches patiently as her mother performs the medical scans. She remembers having this done to her after they recovered her from Aegythrax's lair.
"Yeah, I figured it was just stress...is there something wrong? No...oh no....do not tell me that....."
"Would you rather see the readout for yourself?"
Vai's hands go to her mouth as she realizes what her Mother means. "Fi! You're... gonna be!" then she sees the look on Fi's face and stops short.
"Yes. Yes, I would," she said, turning the screen to face her. And then she paled.
"Oh, dear gods, no.......FOUR?!?!!! This is not fair! He's unconscious. He is not supposed to be unconscious right now. He's supposed to be awake so I can beat him to a bloody pulp for doing this to me!!!" she wailed.
"Well... to be fair Fi, you kinda did it to yourself too." Vai winces. Perhaps not the best response at this time, but true.
"In all fairness the wishcraft seems to be more than a match for any and all attempts at birth control. So I can't say I'm surprised. I know it sucks that James isn't awake for this, but it's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. Just breathe, Fieri," she said, gently, pulling a chair over for the hysterical firebird to sit down while she processed the news.
"Anything you can find that might have records or examples of tech even if they're in bad shape. I'm not holding my breath. The Empire is pretty thorough about destruction. But...I dunno. It would be nice to have something that belonged to our ancestors."
"I understand. I'll do a bit of snooping too. You know how dragons like to hoard things, so there might be some pieces floating around in a non-gems vault." For some reason, Taron smiles and laughs. "Still funny to watch responsibility pile up around you. I think you'll do just fine though."
"Well... to be fair Fi, you kinda did it to yourself too." Vai winces. Perhaps not the best response at this time, but true.
Fieri glared at her. "I'm having quadruplets. I get to be hysterical for a few minutes at least....."
"....so.....this explains the major charcoal craving?"
"Oh, geez, Vai....I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you."
"Anything you can find that might have records or examples of tech even if they're in bad shape. I'm not holding my breath. The Empire is pretty thorough about destruction. But...I dunno. It would be nice to have something that belonged to our ancestors.""I understand. I'll do a bit of snooping too. You know how dragons like to hoard things, so there might be some pieces floating around in a non-gems vault." For some reason, Taron smiles and laughs. "Still funny to watch responsibility pile up around you. I think you'll do just fine though."
"Not really sure what's so funny, but okay. I used to hate responsibility, but since I bonded with Fieri, I don't really mind anymore. Something about growing up I guess," he said with a self-deprecating grin.
"I appreciate you looking, Tare. It would mean a lot to all of us. Even grandma has only ever heard about Ianthe in stories."
::Excellent. I... Thank you, Headmaster. How soon can it be arranged? I would like to try tonight, if possible.:: Anthony finally "hears" Ehos' voice, as he speaks through telepathic connection. His voice sounds almost identical to what it did two years ago, except for a small note of sorrow.::A minute please.:: Ryo thinks as he turns to a map of the school and looks at the various gym rooms. He taps one after a moment. ::There you go, Gym Room 11 will be soundproof by the time you get there. If you choose to go tonight that is. I took the liberty of adding targets as well.::
::Thank you, Headmaster. I... I assume you'll need that room again at some point?::
"Well... to be fair Fi, you kinda did it to yourself too." Vai winces. Perhaps not the best response at this time, but true.Fieri glared at her. "I'm having quadruplets. I get to be hysterical for a few minutes at least....."
"....so.....this explains the major charcoal craving?"
"Oh, geez, Vai....I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you."
"No, it's okay. I was being a bit insensitive. Isn't there some way we could wake him up, if only for a bit? Smelling salts or something? This is pretty important."
::Thank you, Headmaster. I... I assume you'll need that room again at some point?::
::No, it's just faster to re-purpose a room than to make a new one. I hope this idea of young Anthony here helps you.::
"I appreciate you looking, Tare. It would mean a lot to all of us. Even grandma has only ever heard about Ianthe in stories."
"No promises, but we'll take a look. I'll have to use non-standard methods of course, it's the only way to find anything the Empire overlooked."
"Say... would you like, say, a minute or two of wakefulness? I can manage that, and you can pass on a few of my apologies."
"No, it's okay. I was being a bit insensitive. Isn't there some way we could wake him up, if only for a bit? Smelling salts or something? This is pretty important.""Well... to be fair Fi, you kinda did it to yourself too." Vai winces. Perhaps not the best response at this time, but true.Fieri glared at her. "I'm having quadruplets. I get to be hysterical for a few minutes at least....."
"....so.....this explains the major charcoal craving?"
"Oh, geez, Vai....I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you."
Fieri grimaced. "No, when he's like this there's nothing to do but wait. Dammit," she swore, tears starting to well. "This is the part where he's supposed to hug me and tell me he's happy and that it's going to be okay. It's not fair!"
"I appreciate you looking, Tare. It would mean a lot to all of us. Even grandma has only ever heard about Ianthe in stories.""No promises, but we'll take a look. I'll have to use non-standard methods of course, it's the only way to find anything the Empire overlooked."
"Say... would you like, say, a minute or two of wakefulness? I can manage that, and you can pass on a few of my apologies."
"Really? You can do that? Yeah, that would be great."
"Really? You can do that? Yeah, that would be great."
"Don't thank me yet." Taron says as he reaches over and closes James' eyes. "Just tell Fieri this is my way of saying sorry."
With that, Taron pushes his brother back the way he came, sending him back to consciousness.
"I'm gonna feel that in the morning." Taron says to himself as he lays back.
James opened his eyes. For some reason there was a lot of noise.
"Wha?" he groaned. "Only have a minute. Tare....sent me back. He's with dad. They're okay. Said he was sorry."
He grunted as Fieri pretty much threw herself on him and hugged him.
"Fi? Why are you crying?"
"Because I'm emotional! I'm supposed to be emotional! I just found out that I'm pregnant. With quadruplets. Four babies, James. That's a lot of babies," she said, sounding panicked.