Chapter 34: CHAPTER XXII – Between Black and White

“Wow, this is amazing! Even the iron hooves look so tiny from way up here above the trees! With this view, I bet the sunset looks spectacular!” F120 declared her excitement, her poor garm pup panicking as the ground was pulled away from his paws, urging him to all but dig himself down in F120’s lap. The storm clouds were just starting to depart and only a small portion of the sun was peeking out from behind them.

“Ya think this is thrillin’, ya should see what ‘e can do when ‘e kicks it inta high gear!” Sphaere suggested.

“Let’s not! I’ve had enough excitement to last a lifetime just today. A pleasant breeze on the way to a hot bath, if you please, hold the insanity.” Rhystea insisted.

“Ahh, lighten up an’ live a li’l!” Sphaere argued, “How can FLYING not getcher heart racin’?!”

“I don’t want my heart to race, I want to relax.” Rhystea reiterated.

“Well it’s not like ‘e’s gonna drop us! Even when ‘e took ya screamin’ through the skies, ‘e didn’ so much as lose yer glasses, now did ‘e?” Sphaere pointed out.

“That’s beside the point. I want a pleasure cruise, not a wild ride. The only thrill I’m looking forward to, is a clean shirt!” Rhystea announced.

“Spoken like a true bookworm!” Sphaere laughed. Rhystea readjusted her spectacles, but decided against engaging Sphaere in a war of words, and ignored her comment.

“How ‘bout you, F120? Ya wanna soar like an eagle, don’tcha?” Sphaere prodded.

“I’m just happy to be here! I’ll take whatever I can get, I don’t want to be ungracious.” F120 replied.

“Bah! Where’s yer adventurous spirit! How ‘bout you, R248? Ya wanna go fast?” Sphaere pressed.

“I must admit, I’m used to being the slow one of the group, so there’s a certain appeal to speeding through the air…” R248 weighed her words before continuing, “But, we are rather high up, and I, too, wish to be neither tactless nor inconsiderate.”

“Strong gal like you cain’t be scared o’ heights, can she? ‘Fraid yer gonna fall?” Sphaere smirked as she said the words.

“It’s not the fall I’m worried about, but that sudden stop at the end.” R248 surmised, “This is amazing regardless of our speed.”

“Oh fine then! Maybe on the way back we’ll wanna cool off with a stronger breeze!” Sphaere surrendered.

They enjoyed taking in the sights on their leisure cruise, with F120 pointing out every animal they flew over, as well a rainbow roc that she spotted soaring not to far from them. Even R248’s usual icy glare had both melted and evaporated to reveal a smile denoting child like excitement that belied her scaly exterior. It wasn’t long before they approached the base of the plume of steam, where Cekell sat them down at the edge of the hot springs.

F120 was the first to hop off of Cekell’s magic carpet barrier, and quickly set Lucky down, who was happy to have his feet planted firmly on solid ground, and immediately went to investigate the hot springs, slowly sniffing the perimeter formed where the water’s edge met the pebbled shoreline.

R248 leapt off and made her way to a nearby boulder to climb up on and surveil the area.

Cekell groaned as he was placed on the ground, but otherwise didn’t resist, and instead covered his eyes with his hands before curling up into a ball at Rhystea’s feet, who sighed and shook her head, “I had hoped that coming here would restore his spirits, but wow, he really took all that harder than I thought…”

“Why is he covering his face?” Devose asked nonchalantly.

“That’s somethin’ we kinda taught ‘im…” Sphaere explained.

Rhystea started stripping, kicking her clothes off and leaving them where they landed, aside from her shirt, which she carried to the water’s edge and started washing the arachnophage blood out of it.

Sphaere shook her head with a soft smile as she recalled back to how their first trip here went, where she herself had disrobed in a similar fashion, only to have Rhystea pick up her clothes to fold them and place them neatly together. Sphaere returned the favor by gathering Rhystea’s clothes, but more piled them up in lieu of folding them neatly.

Devose pondered for a moment before asking, “Why did you teach him to cover his face?”

“Well ya see, a sober Ritsy is a modest Ritsy, an’ she didn’ want ‘im ta see ‘er nekkedness…” Sphaere explained.

“But that wouldn’t stop him from being able to see.” Devose announced his perplexity.

“Well at the time, we didn’ know ‘e could see out ‘is tentacle!” Sphaere exposed their ignorance.

“Should I cover my eyes?” Devose questioned.

Sphaere sighed, “It’d be easier if we could treat ya like a child, but yer too well spoken.”

“What does that mean?” Devose inquired.

“It means you talk better than she does, so she can’t treat you like a child without feeling the full weight of her own impediment.” Rhystea giggled.

Sphaere scoffed, “It means I cain’t pretend like ya didn’ see anythang.”

“You do talk differently, but I like the way your words sound. So what is it that I’m not supposed to see?” Devose spoke as he looked up at Sphaere with both eyes and probe.

“It’s not appropriate for a young man to gaze upon the exposed body of a maiden.” Sphaere revealed using proper speech, causing Rhystea to turn and gawk at her. In an effort to further badger her friend, Sphaere reached up with her free hand and imitated readjusting a pair of glasses that weren’t there, causing Rhystea to scowl before turning back to tend to her shirt.

“Why is that?” Devose pressed her curiously.

“It jus’ ain’t somethin’ ya should see ‘til yer older, an’ even then, ya should only see someone in that manner if they’re close ta ya.” Sphaere replied.

“How much closer can we get?” Devose misconstrued.

“Emotionally close… like, someone ya love. Didn’ ya read someone’s mind? Why do I need ta explain all this to ya?” Sphaere was becoming exacerbated.

“Well I did, and I could even feel the things they felt, but only insofar as physical sensation. There’s a lot to peer into, and while I did swim around in their mind, it’s not like I drank of it. Emotions like love are far more… elusive. Though I have learned a thing or two about hate…” Devose explained, turning to look down upon his brother in actual disdain.

“Well it comes down to this: gen’rally, curious boys wanna see nekked girls, an’ gen’rally, girls wanna maintain their modesty, which means not lettin’ curios boys look at their nekked selves. An unwelcome gaze makes people feel… vulnerable. Clear as mud?” Sphaere questioned with a smile.

“Hmm…” Devose paused to ponder, “I think so, it’s just strange. Are your clothes supposed to protect your modesty? We can see through them.” He stated nonchalantly as he aimed his tendril at her chest.

“Oi…” Was all Sphaere could express through her churning emotions at the site of him staring back at her.

“Well I’ve noticed Cekell is always focused on both of your hearts, which are rather accurate indicators of how you feel. In any given situation, we can tell as soon as your heart jumps, be it in surprise, fear, sadness or anger. Like when I looked at yours, you felt startled, with a twinge of irritation. You can’t shroud your heart, and we can read it without you ever speaking a word.” Devose explained. “Is your heart what you are wanting to cover? That would be a real shame, they’re so warm and beautiful, you should never hide them!”

“That’s ‘xactly it!” Sphaere said softly as she squeezed tightly on the warborn in her arms, “People cain’t gen’rally read each other’s hearts, which is where they hide their secrets. It ain’t fair thatcha can read ours so easily!”

Devose turned his gaze back up to Sphaere’s eyes, as her visage took on a very serious look before he asked, “Is that why you’re so concerned about us?”

“Whatcha mean?” Sphaere asked quizzically.

“Because we lack a heart?” Devose reiterated.

“Ha!” Rhystea rebuked his very question, “You two are nothing but heart. We just want to make sure you are not twisted by hatred, and instead grow into beautiful, warm hearts yourselves.” Then started to wring the water out of her shirt before walking over to and stretching it out over a rock in what remained of broad daylight away from the water’s edge.

“What she said!” Sphaere echoed.

Devose turned and again peered down at his brother before spitting out, “The only warmth he’ll have is what he pilfers from others.”

Sphaere grabbed his tendril and pulled it in eye level and sharpened her gaze before insisting, “That ain’t true, no one can steal what’s offered freely!”

Devose in return offered a twisted smile, “He stole the warmth from mother’s heart, and gouged the warmth from father’s. Even you can’t promise to keep him warm, what if he fails to protect you? What if he takes something he can’t give back?”

With a disappointed frown, Sphaere drew in a deep breath and sighed at him, “Well what if we never give up? What if ‘e finds a way ta warm the hearts o’ others? What if ‘e can figure out how ta make others smile, an’ never betray ‘em?”

All Devose could offer in reply was a scowl, as he tried to find words that matched his feelings, but came up empty and decided to remain silent, as he only found discontent and hatred.

Reading the disparaging confusion plastered across the warborn’s face, Sphaere added, “I know it ain’t what ya wanna hear, an’ forgiveness ain’t an easy thing ta muster up, let alone offer freely. Should me an’ Ritsy hate ya fer threatenin’ ta hurt us?”

Devose looked down shamefully, and realized he wanted to shout ‘No!’ At her, but instead opted to wrap his arms and tendril around her neck.

“Aww!” Sphaere cooed, “I’m not tryin’ ta dredge up yer shortcommin’s so much as I’m tryin’ ta get ya ta think ‘bout what ya’d want if the shoe were on the other foot.”

Having cleaned her shirt to the best of her ability and laid it out to dry, Rhystea returned to Cekell, and scooped up the bundle of silver, which didn’t make a peep as he curled back up comfortably to her heartbeat. “That’s really all we want to teach Cekell. Just as he has faults, he’ll find faults with others, and when that time comes, we don’t want him charging down a path of vengeance either. We want him to be big enough to forgive the mistakes of others. A wise person once told me that only the strong can be kind, and I believe the same is true with forgiveness. A weak person could not offer such.” Rhystea turned and eyed Sphaere with a slight smile as she said the words.

Having said her piece, Rhystea motioned to F120 before striding straight into the warm water of the hot springs, Cekell in one arm and opened container of nectar in the other, gasping in relief as the warm water washed over her.

F120 quickly followed after her, taking a seat next to her on one of the rocks towards the middle of the springs, and announced her surprise, “Wow! This is really nice! To bad it wasn’t close enough to home for us to keep it all to ourselves!”

With Devose wrapped around her, Sphaere shifted him to one arm and started to disrobe herself, and was surprised to find him groan uncomfortably before releasing his grip on her to cover his eyes and coil his probe up within his tendril, tying it into a knot that sat upon his head. Sphaere chuckled at him, but squeezed him extra tightly, noting, “Yer much more perceptive than yer brother.”

Sphaere walked to the water’s edge, but before entering to bask within it’s warmth, turned to R248 who had posted up atop one of the larger rocks to leer at the area around them. “Oi, Shelly, ya gonna join us?”

R248 didn’t seem to notice that Shelly was a reference to herself, and kept her vigil until Sphaere tried again.

“Oi!! R248, Shelly, I’m sure that rock is nice an’ comf’trable, but I promise the water’s even better!” Sphaere shouted.

Turning to glare at Sphaere, aggravation twisting her face, Shelly spat out, “I thought I was here for guard duty?”

“Nah, that was jus’ a scheme ta getcha ta come with us! ‘Sides, we got Deve an’ Ceke here ta take care o’ anythin’ dumb ‘nough ta bother us!” She then turned to Cekell, who had heard Sphaere use his nickname and stretched his probe out towards her. Seeing that she had Cekell’s attention, Sphaere pointed at the pods of nectar he held with his dark orb a shot distance above Rhystea’s head, and motioned for him to give them to her.

One after the other, the nectar pods slowly floated towards the girl, who received them, squeezing the first one between Devose and herself, and grasping hold of the other, which she offered out towards the scalekin. “Come on Shelly! Cast yer cares away an’ come relax with us!”

Shelly sighed heavily before asking, “Why are you calling me that?”

“Cuz ya have a shell!” Sphaere laughed, prompting a scoff from Rhystea, who shook her head and would have tended to her glasses, were her hands not already full.

“Fine!” Shelly groaned as she made her way to the water’s edge next to Sphaere, “But only for the peace offering of nectar.”

“That’s the spirit!” Sphaere insisted, tossing the pod to her as she approached.

Shelly’s eyes went wide as she wasn’t expecting this, but quickly snatched the pod out of the air and eyed it warily before biting a chunk out of it to spit out on the ground, then drank deeply of it’s contents.

Sphaere made her way through the water to sit down next to Rhystea and F120, where the young cat girl eyed her curiously, but Sphaere didn’t notice as she kept her eyes trained on Shelly, who had stalled out at the water’s edge. “Ya comin’?” Sphaere called out to her.

Shelly took another pull off her nectar pod before cautiously toeing the water, which she must have found most agreeable as her eyes nearly leapt from their sockets as she quickly charged in, exclaiming, “Wow! This is incredible! How have we never discovered this ourselves?!”

“There’s not meat in here, so your series never really bothered.” F120 answered. “Retrieving water isn’t exactly a task a hunter finds acceptable.”

“That’s going to change!” Shelly insisted, “Those iron hooves drink a large amount of water, R208 was already looking for something we could do to help with them. Have him stick his tail in here and they’ll all be fighting for an excuse to come out here!”

F120 asked quizzically, “What does the Reptilia heir apparent want with the iron hooves? Even if he could, he wouldn’t enjoy hunting a caged animal.”

Shelly shook her head in exasperation, “He’s dead set on riding one, but knows he won’t be allowed to try unless he offers some form of contribution.”

Sphaere burst into laugher and Rhystea sighed in dejection.

“I’m afraid it’s not only R208 that wants to try riding them, either.” Shelly groaned.

“Are they not worried about getting trampled?” F120 queried.

“Truthfully? They are more concerned about riding one through the jungle and being dismounted by a tree limb.” Shelly explained, further fueling Sphaere’s laughter.

“You strike me as more thoughtful than your brethren. Where they lack the ability to see the forest for the trees, you show awareness and foresight. I can’t for the life of me understand how they don’t highly value your insight.” Rhystea stated matter-of-factly.

Shelly was struck by surprise, and a moment passed before she could find the words to explain, “Well… I’ve spent my entire life trailing behind and watching them run face first into one situation after another. I guess that allowed me to learn from their mistakes. The truly puzzling part is how they are oblivious to such lessons.”

“Ahh, they ain’t that bad! Sure, they pride themselves on their muscles, but they’re good natured, an’ they don’ use them muscles ta push ‘round the other series.” Sphaere pointed out.

F120 gasped, drawing everyone’s attention to herself, but quickly fell silent and lowered her head.

After giving her a moment to think, Rhystea insisted, “Oh, don’t be like that! If you have something to say, don’t hold back! We’re all friends here!”

“It just…” F120 started, but again fell silent. After a moment, she looked up and saw everyone’s curious gazes, which spurred her to continue, “Felt like that was directed towards the Aves.”

“Maybe a li’l,” Sphaere remarked, “Not ta speak ill o’ the Aves, but we should all be thankful that the Reptilia don’ practice might makes right.”

“That’s not fair!” F120 retorted, “They make fun of the Aves for eating bugs! Do you have any idea what it’s like having to choose between eating bugs and going hungry?!”

“Yea, actually, I do…” Sphare said solemly, smiling softly she stared straight into F120’s eyes, “I’d traipse around the trash, diggin’ through garbage, lookin’ fer food, pickin’ the mold off crusts o’ old bread, thankful that there was old bread ta pick mold off o’, savin’ the cleaner stuff so my li’l brother could have a half decent meal. I know quite well that the only thang worse than eatin’ somethin’ ya don’ wanna eat, is not eatin’ anythang at all.”

Rhystea’s jaw dropped and her heart jumped into the back of her throat with such surprise that both Cekell and Devose whipped around to face her. “I thought you…” Was all she could get out before realizing she was prying, and choked her heart back down to where it belonged.

“Ya thought what I wanted ya ta think, princess. Even if I had toldja how my life was, do ya think ya could actually understand what a hard life is like? The slums ‘round the edge o’ the city, ‘r the jungle full o’ beasties, there’s no real difference. Money is jus’ another form o’ might, an’ money is ALWAYS right. The poor are every bit as subjected ta the whims o’ the rich, as the weak are pushed ‘round by the strong.” Sphaere explained bitterly.

“I’m sorry, I…” Rhystea racked her mind for words to fit something incomprehensible.

“Well, what’re ya sorry fer? Was any o’ what I jus’ toldja yer fault?” Sphaere pressed her.

“No, it’s just…” Rhystea’s words once again failed her.

“Please, spare me yer pity. If I wanted it, I woulda toldja already.” Sphaere announced her frustration before digging at her pod of nectar in a feeble attempt at opening it, gouging at it with a nail that she only managed to bend sharply backwards, followed by quickly pulling her finger to her mouth and bite at her throbbing nail.

Sensing her wavering heart, both Cekell and Devose turned their attention to Sphaere, with the latter still covering his eyes and probe. Cekell noticed that she was attempting to puncture the pod and formed a small barrier which was pulled away to reveal an opening, which Sphaere muttered, “Thanks…” then promptly lift the pod to her lips and threw her head back in a bid to drown out her cares.

“You don’t have to enjoy my pity any more than I have to enjoy hearing about the sufferings of someone I care about. Truly, it makes he happy that you would confide in me, but I do wish you would do something about that spiny exterior of yours.” Rhystea insisted curtly before lifting her nectar to her own lips.

Sphaere let out something of a scoffed laugh, before lowering her voice to be barely audible, and murmuring another, “Thanks…”

Their tension broke when F120 held her hands out expectantly towards Sphaere, and gingerly requested, “May I?”

Shocked, Sphaere parried with a question of her own, “What, ya wanna hold Deve?”

Equally shocked, Devose turned to face her, still covering his eyes and tendril, with his mouth agape, silently expressing his discontent.

“When ya react ta every little thing, it makes it readily apparent that ya can still see, despite coverin’ yer face, goofball!” Sphaere countered.

“No! I want a drink!” F120 insisted as she rapidly opened and closed her outstretched hands to more urgently relay her lack of having anything to slake her thirst.

Sphaere turned to Rhystea, who was already staring at her intently, before they both slowly turned their gaze on Shelly, who raised a single, scaly eyebrow to signal her curiosity and confusion, stating, “You gave this to me, I’m not sharing.” As she lifted the pod to her mouth for an intentionally loud slurp.

“I jus’ ain’t sure ‘bout givin’ any ta a younglin’…” Sphaere spoke slowly as she turned a wary eye towards F120, who sharpened her gaze and groaned in aggravation as her hands clenched into tiny fists, but were kept outstretched towards Sphaere.

“Did you not get thirsty when you were young?” Shelly questioned with a puzzled look.

“Please~~~~” The young feline featured girl pressed.

Sphaere slowly reached out and offered the pod of nectar to the girl, who squealed excitedly as she quickly yanked it from Sphaere’s grasp.

“Really?” Rhystea tonally chided her friend, “Just like that?”

Sphaere slowly turned her gaze on Rhystea, with both her eyebrows lifted by shock and surprise, “I gave you some, didn’ I?”

“I’m not a kid!” Rhystea scoffed.

“Ya shore acted like one!” Sphaere laughed.

“You cried and laughed at the same time!” Devose added.

Even Cekell squeaked up at her as if asking, ‘What the actual hell?!’

“You picked a fight with a monster that was literally several times your size!” Shelly burst out in laughter.

Rhystea shrank back and sipped on her nectar to hide a compulsive frown.

“Yummy!” F120 exclaimed and took another drink before returning the pod back to Sphaere.

“See how she’s pacin’ ‘erself, an’ not jus’ guzzlin’ it down?!” Sphaere pointed out with a laugh.

Rhystea’s eyes sharpened into a glare that she kept trained on Sphaere, who only found it to be amusing, and finally relented, “Well, when in Rome, I guess…”

A long moment of silence passed before F120 broke it, stating, “I just want you to know that the Aves aren’t all bad, either. Yes, the previous Eminent could be cold hearted, but he saw his series through some extremely hard times, when not even the Reptilia could afford to help us. He wasn’t always like that. I realize that you only confronted him in order to save me, and cruel as he was, he always put his series first. Not just the Aves either, but even the Feline series wouldn’t have survived without him.”

Shelly eyed F120 suspiciously, as though she wanted to say something, but settled for silence.

“Would the Reptilia series not have welcomed the Feline series?” Rhystea gave words to the unspoken question that was implicitly understood by her companions before taking a sip of her nectar.

“No!!!” F120 half screamed in reply, “They’d try and make us lay with them at night!”

Rhystea spat out nectar along with her question, “What, what, WHAT?!”

“They’re cold blooded, so they wanna cuddle with the furries.” Sphaere explained, shivering as she recalled having a similar reaction when A212 told her that R208 wanted to lay with her.

“Pfft!” Rhystea tried to hold back her laughter but failed utterly.

“It’s not funny!” F120 insisted in irritation, “Imagine having a sack of sharp stones stretch itself over the top of you and pin you down!”

Shelly looked almost hurt, as she had dearly wanted one such sack of scales to wrap himself around her, but refused to give words to her feelings.

“Wouldja snuggle up with a scalehead?” Sphaere queried her companion.

The question caught Rhystea off guard, and in her hesitation, she noticed a piercing gaze from Shelly, and playfully replied, “I don’t know, if he is big and strong… maybe? If he kept me safe and fed, I might be willing to keep him warm.”

There were splashes as everyone’s jaw fell into the water, but Sphaere was quick to trace Rhystea’s eyes to Shelly, who was utterly astounded by the reply. Catching on to Rhystea’s ruse, Sphaere suggested, “Ya’d never go hungry ‘r have anythang ta fear if ya kept R208 warm!”

“Oh, but he’s so big, I’d be afraid his hulking frame would squash me!” Rhystea added a girlish giggle to really drive her remark home.

Shelly’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when F120 realized what they were plotting, and immediately burst into laughter, quickly followed by Sphaere and Rhystea.

Realizing what had just occurred, Shelly reeled in her jaw and took a large pull from her pod, then proceeded to silently glare at her companions.

“Don’tcha worry Shelly, Ceke ain’t gonna tolerate us cozyin’ up with no scaleheads!” Sphaere managed to calm herself enough to speak, but her comment clearly rattled her already mortified Reptilia friend and sent everyone else back into hysterics.

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After taking a moment to calm herself, Rhystea explained, “Apparently, F120 nailed it. It’s cute that you don’t want us taking up so much of his attention, but receiving outsides would naturally stoke curiosity, and boys are nothing if not curious creatures. You can rest assured that neither of us have any designs on him.”

“Yea, we coulda cleared that up days ago, hadja not avoided us!” Sphaere insisted.

“Wouldn’t have stopped him from being so taken with you, and it also wouldn’t have changed her getting all jealous about it, either!” F120 piped up.

The steam around Shelly was denser than anywhere else rising from the hot water as she forcefully transformed her embarrassment into aggression to growl through her teeth and flash a pair of wild eyes at F120, who quickly scooted nearer to Rhystea for protection.

“Oi, yer an ornery li’l thang, ain’tcha?” Sphaere pointed out and burst back into laugher.

“Well, she was the only one that didn’t want the Feline series to get close to the Reptilia series. In fact, she didn’t really like any of the warm bloods getting close to the Reptilia… Then again, she’s not exactly fond of the Amphibia series, the only other cold bloods… She’s obstinate with just about everyone else but the Reptilia, come to think of it…” F120 discerned.

“I like the Amphibia just fine, so long as they’re not leaping up on or off of me!” Shelly grumbled.

“Really?” F120 asked surprised, “You make for such an amazing combination! I’ve heard numerous tales of how you handled yourself against even large numbers of shadow garms! You’re the only one brave enough to charge into a pack of them all on your own! You can’t expect the frogoons to fight them on level ground; but from the safety of your shell, they make short work out of even superior numbers!”

“Hmph!” Was all Shelly spat out in reply.

“Wow! You sound every bit as bold as R208 himself! I bet such tales of valor impressed him!” Rhystea noted.

“Reptilia value quality over quantity, and shadow garms are neither sizeable nor particularly tasty.” Shelly grumbled.

“What if you took down an iron hoof on your own? Maybe we could help!” Rhystea urged.

“Tricks like your rocks are feats of neither strength nor skill, and as such, merit no honor among my series. They are no doubt valuable in a pinch, but pushing through in such a manner only stands testament towards your ability, and not my own.” Shelly explained with a snort.

Rhystea smiled wryly and contended, “Exploding rocks aren’t the only tricks up my sleeves! Even a shield that could repel any attack would hold no value in the hands of someone faint of heart! Could you stand strong with an iron hoof bearing down upon you? How many others could say the same?”

“Hmmm…” Shelly pondered, “You don’t mean one of the barriers the little one makes, do you?”

“Oh no, it was my understanding that the great shield was your tool of choice. I can make it lighter, I can make it reflect kinetic force, but I can’t keep it’s wielder from going weak in the knees. We can adorn it with spikes if you wish, but those would just make a mess.” Rhystea clarified.

“Hmmmmm…” Shelly slurped loudly on her nectar before posing the question, “Why would you assist me?”

“Us girls gotta stick tagether! ‘Sides, we’d like ta see ya get the credit yer due! Maybe yer not as fast as the rest o’ the scale squad, but ya’ve no need ta be part o’ the unruly mob, not when ya can stand tall all on yer own!” Sphaere shot back.

“It’s easy to charge in when you have a whole gang to watch your back, but you strike me as the type of gal who doesn’t need to lean on someone else in order to stand her ground!” Rhystea added.

“Hmph.” Shelly replied, in a noticeably softer tone.

Having performed his perimeter, slowly sniffing all the way around the hot springs not just once, but twice, Lucky discovered that there was no easy way to the middle and whimpered for attention at the water’s edge where everyone else had entered from.

“Aww, poor puppy!” Sphaere gushed.

“We should go get him!” Devose suggested as he stared at his brother through the blockade he had placed in front of his eyes, hoping for an agitated reaction.

“He could probably use a bath…” Rhystea pointed out, also looking down at Cekell, who had hardly more than twitched since being carried into the warm water.

“Come here Lucky! The water is great!” F120 called out to him.

Lucky ran back and forth a short distance along the bank, audibly discontent, but would not set paw within the water. After a moment of listening to him whine, F120 hopped up and headed his way, much to his excitement as he yipped gleefully.

His excitement evaporated as F120 quickly scooped him up and immediately turned to march right back into the water, causing him to groan nervously. “It’s not so bad! The water is nice and warm!” F120 insisted.

Making her way back to her seat, F120 slowly submerged herself, prompting her shadow garm pup to frantically climb up to her shoulder and sharply voice his displeasure, even as the warm water swept over his lower half. After a moment, he acclimated and unease was assuaged.

“See? Not so bad!” F120 insisted.

Having his weight supported by the small girl helped serve to mitigate his distress, but Lucky was still uncomfortable in the situation, and let out a final galled groan before succumbing to his circumstances. “Now we’re all holding someone!” F120 announced, before diverting her gaze to Shelly and amending, “Well, almost all of us.”

“Why don’t you come over here, so I can hold you?” Shelly suggested before taking another loud slurp off her nectar, then adding, “Hold you under the water to silence your incessant blathering, that is.”

“You’d like that, but you couldn’t catch a cold, let alone me!” F120 spat out along side her tongue, which she pointed at Shelly and goaded her with an obnoxious noise for good measure.

“You may be holding the unfortunate animal, but he doesn’t seem to be enjoying it. At least he stopped whining.” Devose pointed out.

“Better whiny than malicious.” F120 tauntingly chastised.

Devose glowered sharply through his hands at the girl, and while no one could visibly see his eyes to confirm it, the tone of his silence along with a clearly intent stare gave it away, driving Sphaere to laughter. “Alright, no more nectar fer ya, if yer gonna keep on antagonizin’ ever’one!”

“Antagonizing?!” Rhystea gasped glibly, “Strange, hearing you speak words with so many syllables!”

Sphaere slowly turned her attention to Rhysea, smiled wide, and insisted, “Alright ya uppity snark! Don’tcha go encourgin’ ‘er!”

“And here I expected a scathing snub!” Rhystea responded, “This warm water is working wonders on your spiny exterior!”

“Well I’m watchin’ my words!” Sphaere insisted with a twisted smile, “Don’ wanna make ya cry… again.”

“Now who’s antagonizing?” F120 sneered.

“Oi! Don’ tempt me ta hand ya over ta Shelly!” Sphaere parried.

“I normally don’t like babysitting foragers, but I’d make an exception today. Here in this warm water, you would make for a comfortable seat!” Shelly offered.

F120 eyed Sphaere cautiously, then slowly shifted her gaze over to Shelly, then back to Sphaere, followed by pouting out her lower lip.

“That’s better!” Sphaere chuckled, “Thought I were gonna hafta teach A212 ta milk the iron hoof.”

Shelly sighed contently, “This has been much more enjoyable than I ever would have imagined. I don’t want to get out, but the sun is setting, and it will be getting dark soon…”

“Meh.” Rhystea and Sphaere responded in unison.

“We’re coddling the most frightening things out here.” Rhystea continued.

“Imagine if they could work together, I bet they could smack that shit eatin’ grin off ol’ shadow bastard’s face!” Sphaere added.

“Ha!” Devose denied, “You can’t begin to imagine what Verakry is capable of. There’s a good reason they let him run rampant all across their garden.”

“Is ‘e really that powerful?” Sphaere shot back.

“That’s a gross understatement. When he refers to this world as a speck of dust, he’s not remotely exaggerating. There’s more matter within his little finger than there is in this solar system. Even as an Umbralim, he’s no warrior; he’s actually more of an intellectual, but that just goes to show how biological life is utterly insignificant by comparison.” Devose described.

“How is that even possible?” Sphaere inquired.

“Well, matter as you know it is comprised of mostly empty space. Even that bead he provided to Cekell may as well be a ball of fluff, yet it easily weighs more than your iron hoof. Verakry could snuff out your sun with one hand and not even singe his fingers.” Devose detailed.

“So ‘e’s a monster above other monsters. If ‘e’s wantin’ ta use ya as a weapon, wouldn’ that imply thatcha were even above ‘im?” Sphaere asked.

“We have the potential, being able to manipulate both gravity and magnetic fields, we have the strengths of both the Umbralim and the Astralis, with none of their weaknesses. But our age can be measured by a matter of minutes, where Verakry is ancient far beyond the scope of your planet. Even for an Umbralim, he’s middling at best, they actually have very few warriors, as they are not fond of war. The conflict with the Astralis wiped out the bulk of the forces for both sides; but even just a single one of their warriors would hold more matter than your known universe. There is no scale with which I could accurately describe their power. If the earth was a grain of sand and the universe as you know it was a sandbox, then Verakry would rate as a sand castle, and a warrior would be akin to a desert.” Devose defined.

“And yet, you’re supposed to be a weapon to stop a war of that caliber…” Rhystea rebutted.

“Well, if one of us could incorporate both points, we would effectively be a perpetual engine. Alternating between fission and fusion, we could increase our capabilities… as much as we wanted? A stone into a star? A star into a galaxy? A galaxy into infinity? Then we could collapse that down into a single bullet, and fire it at anyone who opposed us. Absolute zero or the Planck Temperature, neither would hold any sway over us, as by manipulating gravity and magnetic forces, we could cycle between the two, controlling molecular vibration as if breathing. Swap to an energy body and move at extreme speeds to evade or close the gap, then back to a mass body to deliver a blow or defend; all without shedding a single subatomic particle. In theory, we could absorb and consume anything we came into contact with. Neither energy nor mass would be able to harm us. Even if something was found capable of such, we could simply rewrite physical law with sigils to mitigate it, if not claim mastery over it.” Devose delineated.

“What about antimatter?” Rhystea questioned.

“Well, even if they could produce enough antimatter to strike a lethal blow, we would be able to alter our body’s composition so that it would be antimatter against antimatter; so no real net change. Our only real limitations, in theory, would be how densely we could contract ourselves, or how far we could extend our fields of control; but in either case, our potential vastly exceeds what either an Umbralim or an Astralis could manage. Maybe if they could work together, but if that were possible, there would not be a conflict in the first place.” Devose disclosed.

“And that’s what they find fascinating about humanity? Small and insignificant as we are, we are both positive and negative, united in harmony?” Rhystea pressed.

“Exactly. A thin gray line between black and white, a space neither of them could occupy, serving as undeniable proof that such a feat is in fact possible. It’s still not enough to stem the tide of conflict, though, not with how fleeting your kind are. Your entire lifespan is but a moment for them, come and gone in the blink of an eye. What good is harmony that only lasts for the briefest of moments? It would be no different than telling them all to lay down and die, just to avoid conflict. But, it was a start, and the only opportunity that has been found since Legatus and Deacon consigned themselves to the points. Verakry has been working with humans for a little while now, testing to see what effect mana has on biological life. The warborn is the culmination of that, born of conflict for the sake of ending conflict. At least, that was what was supposed to happen, but we were born as two halves that do not add up to a whole… at least, not yet.” Devose divulged.

“An attempt to overcome the disparity between Light and Dark… It sounds simply insane, and yet, there is something poetic about it. I don’t know what’s more laughable, that humanity could have a place in that Great Conflict, or that humanity might be it’s reckoning and resolution. It all simply boggles the mind!” Rhystea exclaimed before taking a long pull off of her nectar.

“The balance has only just been tipped, who knows how long it will be before anything is settled. It might not happen in any of our lifetimes.” Devose declared.

“Maybe we won’t get there tomorrow, but we’ll never get there if we don’t try. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Rhystea insisted.

“Oi…” Sphaere blurted out with a puzzled look on her face, “’Tween all them big words, it sounded as though ya were tryin’ ta tell me that Verakry ain’t the bad guy.”

“Well, it’s a matter of perspective, I guess. His intentions at least seem to be pure.” Rhystea reiterated.

“How ya figure? Ain’t the road ta hell paved with good intentions?” Sphaere voiced her doubt.

“Well, if you were in a hurry to do the right thing, and stepped on an insect in your haste, would they view you as a benevolent being?” Rhystea replied.

“Oi, didja jus’ compare us ta bugs?” Sphaere’s distaste was painted across her face.

“That was the scale I was aiming for, but, I guess I could compare the Umbralim and Astralis to Gods if you’d prefer.” Rhystea explained.

“Oof, that jus’ leaves a bad taste in the mouth.” Sphaere asserted before washing it out with a deep drink of nectar.

Rhystea peered down at the warborn in her arms for a moment before requesting, “Cekell, may I please trouble you to make a table we could set our beverages on?”

Without making a peep, Cekell did as he was asked, and a barrier was erected in the water between them all that Rhystea and Sphaere placed their nectar pods on. Rhystea hugged Cekell tightly to express her gratitude, and pouted out her lower lip when she didn’t get a happy squeak in reply.

“Well, I can’t get upset with you, but I wish you would perk up. I don’t like you being all depressed.” Rhystea stated.

“You mean you actually prefer all those noises he makes?” Devose asked.

No longer needing to hold onto her nectar pod, Sphaere grasped Devose with both hands and slid him down to her lap, dunking him under the water. He responded by raising his probe just above the water’s surface and pointed it at her, but otherwise quietly accepted his new position and curled up in her lap, retracting his tendril and wrapping it around her waist.

Shelly and F120 both gasped at her in total shock and surprise.

“’E’ll be fine, I promise.” Sphaere announced with confidence.

Shelly turned her gaze on F120 and eyed her curiously, prompting the young girl to shrink behind the barrier serving as their table. Lucky groaned as she receded into the water, along with more of his body, of which only his shoulders and above were exposed from the surface. Shelly smiled sadistically and slurped on her nectar.

Rhystea laid Cekell down in her own lap, who curled up contently. “Think we could convince him to… scan our memories again, to get him to learn how talk?” She questioned.

“Not a bad idea. ‘Is bird noises are cute, but it’d be nice ta hold a normal conversation with actual words.” Sphaere suggested.

Rhystea started intently back at her as a smile slowly spread across her face.

“What?” Sphaere pressed her curiously.

“Nothing, just funny hearing that from you.” Rhystea replied before grabbing her nectar for a drink to displace a laugh.

Sphaere sighed and shook her head but didn’t reply, instead she turned her attention to F120 and posed a question, “So, didja ever come up with a name fer yer iron hoof?”

“Hmmm…” F120 pondered, “I was thinking something like Proto F, since the Feline series didn’t have a Proto, but none of them had a letter, they had numbers, which would make Proto F strange…”

“That’s what makes Proto F a strange name?” Sphaere attempted to repress her amusement, and mostly succeeded.

“I also thought about naming her Sphaere in honor of yourself!” F120 exclaimed with reverence.

“Namin’ a cow after me, how nice…” Sphaere attempted to repress her discontent, but mostly failed.

“F121?” F120 asked with a voice full of doubt.

“What if you get an F121 in the future?” Sphaere shot back.

“It doesn’t work like that, the next line will be F2-something, so on and so forth. You seem to dislike our series names…” F120 pointed out.

“I’m jus’ tryin’ ta adjust ta the custom. I’m not used ta it.” Sphaere insisted.

“I know what you mean, Sphaere sounds like a randomly made up word…” F120 noted.

“Oi… My mama picked that name out fer me, I’ll have ya know!” Sphaere stated then turned her attention to Rhystea, who had burst into a fit of laughter.

“Well what was your milk cow’s name?” F120 pressed.

“Bessie.” Sphaere said fondly.

F120 frowned and inquired, “Any other cow names?”

“Nellie? Henrietta? Clarabelle? It’s not ‘xactly a science!” Sphaere declared.

“Hmmm…” F120 contemplated, “I’ll have to keep thinking about it.”

Sphaere shook her head in exasperation, retrieved her nectar for a drink and replaced it on Cekell’s table, then inhaled deeply before pushing out her discontent with a forceful exhale.

Having both their hands free, Sphaere and Rhystea decided it was a good time to tend to their hair, which they submerged, massaged, and ran their fingers through, repeating this cycle a few times until satisfied. They kept at this until a large dragonfly buzzed just above them, causing Rhystea to shriek out in surprise, but Sphaere managed to contain hers. Both of their hearts jumped, however, prompting a tendril to emerge from each of their laps to investigate.

“Ugh! That’s a big flying creepy crawlie!” Rhystea aired her discontent as she shuddered.

“It’s jus’ a dragonfly!” Sphaere insisted, as she strained her eyes in the fading light to search for it, as the sun had just dipped beneath the horizon but the big bug could still be heard from not far away. It took her a moment, but she did find it hovering just past the larger rocks that surrounded the springs.

A long moment passed before Rhystea pointed out that, “For ‘just a dragonfly,’ you sure seem to be awfully taken with it!”

“Well, it’s jus’ sittin’ there.” Sphaere answered without turning away from the creature in question.

“As long as it stays over there, we’ll get along just fine.” Rhystea noted.

There was another long pause before Sphare spoke up, “…Seems almost like…”

“…Like what?” Rhystea urged her to continue.

“…Like it’s watchin’ us…” Sphaere finished.

“Wait…” Rhystea was having trouble holding back her laughter, “That’s your stalker? A bug? Granted, it is a big bug, but it’s literally the most harmless thing we’ve come across out here!”

This caught Sphaere’s attention, who spun around sharply and stabbed a finger in Rhystea’s direction as she insisted, “I dunno if it was jus’ a dragonfly, but somethin’ were shore keepin’ an eye on me, makin’ the hairs on the back o’ my neck stand up!”

Devose slowly lifted his head above the surface of the water after placing his hands back over his eyes, “Earlier today, before the ordeal with the acid amoeba?”

Sphaere lowered a sharpened gaze to the warborn in her lap and softly reply, “Uh-huh…”

“When it was just you and Cekell, dealing with numerous arachnophage? And again when you were subjugating the wasp hive?” Devose averted his eyes from Sphaere’s as her gaze narrowed even further, not that she could see through his hands that he was now hiding behind.

“Uh-huh…” Sphaere repeated herself, her vision reduced to just a sliver.

“Well, I can’t say for certain as to whether or not any dragonfly, or any other bug for that matter, may or may not have been keeping you under observation for whatever purpose… but…” Devose trailed off after getting lost in a winding reply.

“But…” Sphaere urged him onward, “…what?”

Unable to tell whether or not her eyes were even open at this point, Devose froze up as if he didn’t move, maybe she wouldn’t be able to see him, but he would not escape her piercing gaze. A protracted moment passed by before he would admit that, “But… I might have been observing you from a distance…”

“Ya don’ say… Ya might have, mightn’t ya?” Sphaere shot back mockingly.

“Well, I was trying to make up my mind on some things, while observing Cekell… Being as he was with you, even sitting atop your heard at times, it’s possible that I may have, inadvertently I can assure you, monitored you as well… just by happenstance!” Devose reasoned uncomfortably.

Sphaere clutched Devose tightly in both of her hands and slowly lifted him up until they were eye level, and held him there until he ever so slightly spread his fingers apart so that she could look him in the eye. She gruffly spat out, “I knew it! I knew someone were watchin’ me!”

“Sorry…” Devose conceded as he squeezed his fingers closed and lowered his eyes.

Sphaere reeled him into a tight embrace and softened her tone, “It’s ok, it’s good ta know I weren’t goin’ crazy. I’m not mad atcha ‘r anythang, it’s jus’, I wanted ya ta quit beatin’ ‘round the bush an’ spit it out.”

Devose didn’t say a word, and only reply by wrapping his tendril around her neck, but kept his hands held tightly over his eyes.

“Look at you! Browbeating the devourer of worlds!” Rhystea giggled before retrieving her nectar.

“Would that I could beat ‘im with more than my brow! Li’l turd!” Sphaere chuckled. “I gotta know though, what was ya watchin’ us fer?”

Devose shrank back from Sphaere, and almost shamefully admitted, “I was trying to decide whether or not it was better to challenge him on a level playing field, or pull out all the stops and ambush him.”

“In’erestin’!” Sphaere proclaimed. “So, what didja decide?”

“Well, there were merits to both. A level playing field would denote viewing him as an equal, but an ambush acknowledges that I had to go all out… But both implicitly imply respect, which left a bad taste in my mouth.”

“Oh, I jus’ bet!” Sphaere chortled, “Well good on ya!”

“You’re… not mad?” Devose asked, puzzled.

“Well… I don’ like the idea o’ wantin’ ta fight ‘im, but, ya’ve clearly developed somethin’ resemblin’ honor. That’s much better than threatenin’ us jus’ ta get ‘im ta take ya seriously. Ya grown up, at least a li’l bit, an’ that makes me proud o’ ya!” Sphaere insisted as she wrenched down on him almost maliciously, “But don’ go growin’ up too fast! Ya gotta be a kid ‘fore ya can be an adult!”

Devose relaxed in her embrace as something warm welled up behind his eyes. His solace would not last, as an angry rattling caught them all unaware, and spurred them to full alarm.

Shelly and F120 immediately stood up facing the direction the noise was coming from. Lucky whimpered as F120 squeezed down on him too hard. The worry writ plain on both of their faces caused tension to permeate the air.

Rhystea’s heart skipped a beat, and Cekell erupted forth from the water.

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