Chapter 34

  After Tyberous left in a huff, Wes took the time to check on the girls. They, of course, were fine after the pressure from Tyberous was gone. However, Wes still took the time to inspect the girl's condition and ask if they were all good. The girls both only offered a nod in return.

  When that was done, he turned his attention back to Runar and asked, “So, just how much trouble have I caused myself?”

  Runar's smirk grew into a smile, “Not much. He has always been rather stuffy to be around. You need not worry about him; he’s among the oldest in the family and is a stickler for traditions.”

  Unwilling to waste any more energy on the matter, Wes moved on to his next order of business. He activated the girl's favorite, Cleanse. The girls' moods, however, did not brighten as he expected. The floor seemed to hold their attention. Wes finally remembered what he had done.

  “Sorry, Phony. I probably shouldn’t have talked to you like that. I know I hold the power in our relationship, and I’ll be careful going forward.”

  Phony looked up from the ground, confused, “Oh yeah, thanks.” She immediately returned to her thoughts after.

  Confused, Wes looked to Dozel for help. But she was still off in her world as well, so Wes turned back to Runar.

  Runar chuckled, “They are just embarrassed that you took ownership of them.”

  “Huh?”

  Laughing, Runar followed up, “You said they were your family. Being the support can be quite stressful; just knowing that you’ll take responsibility for them can be overwhelming. No doubt you have alleviated a major worry for them.”

  “Isn’t that just normal?” Wes asked.

  “No, not really,” Runar answered.

  Turning around, Wes shouted mockingly, “You both are stuck with me, and I have separation issues. So, of course, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Continuing, he asked Runar, “Nia told you about our little arrangement?”

  “I had my guesses. I wasn’t sure until your little show with Tyberous. Very unexpected to find out that you have a direct tie to the main line.” Runar replied.

  “You mean Phony?”

  Runar nodded.

  “Why is that unexpected?” Wes asked.

  Wincing, Runar answered, “Her children are her pride and joy. To find out that you have secured one of them quickly is valuable information. It will let the rest of the family know how highly she thinks of you.”

  Wes followed up, “You didn’t know already?”

  “No.”

  Phony walked up and bowed, “Family Head, it is an honor to greet you.”

  Runar clicked his tongue, “Please, child. Let's not make your soon-to-be unhappy with nonsense.”

  Phony laughed, “Sorry, little things don’t bother him.”

  Runar raised an eyebrow in question.

  “He rolls with everything. Not a lot phases this dummy.”

  “Hey, some things bother me. Like when I have to use my poor ability to give you guys a bath. Or when we are chased by a bunch of clan members. Or when you girls pout.” Wes quipped.

  Phony held her hands out, palms up. “See.”

  “I think he’s more uneducated than anything. Speaking of which, are you all ready to go?”

  Dozel spoke for the first time. “But we haven’t found what the Matriarch has placed for us to find.”

  Runar laughed, “There are only two things for you to find here. Power and or Teamwork. And although I can’t be sure about your power, I can say you do have teamwork. Plus, you have killed 6431 clan members. And I fear you have permanently changed the balance in this area for the foreseeable future.”

  Wes was shocked by the number he gave. “Is that a lot?”

  “Considering you would have to travel a couple of hundred miles in any direction to find any. I’d say yes.” Runar answered.

  “I don’t understand, if all we need is power or teamwork, how is it possible that people stay here for thousands of years?” Phony asked.

  “That is due to stubborn individuals and their families who refused to have them come here with a team. The dumb ones end up having to hide and pick off the Clan Members one by one until they amass enough levels. Teams have the opposite problem. When you have an overly strong team, you become confident that you can handle everything, and in the end, they end up in the same situation as those who came here alone. As soon as the balance of their team is thrown off, they usually have trouble adapting.” Runar looked at Wes, “And not every team or individual has someone that can hit that far above their level.”

  Mildly embarrassed, Wes shrugged and said, “Sorry about that. It was my first time using it.”

  “Now that is a very concerning statement,” Runar added.

  Phony and Dozel saddled up on either side of Wes. Dozel on his left and Phony on Wes's right, just like they always had.

  Phony said, “I’m ready whenever you are, Wes.”

  Dozel agreed, “As am I.”

  Wes looked over either shoulder and toward the hole leading to the flooded cavern, “I’m really going to miss our first home.”

  __________

  Returning to his little manor on Nia’s still unnamed world made a wide range of emotions bubble up in Wes’s mind. He couldn’t help but feel relieved at the thought of not spending a thousand years in the Ruined Forest, but it also meant that the adventure of it all was gone.

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  Runar had used an ability that was different from Nia’s. He had to be touching all three of them to move them through space. The feeling was also more jarring to him, making him queasy in the process.

  Runar also didn’t return them to Wes’s house. He brought them back in front of Wes’s front door.

  “I will inform the Matriarch of the details of your success. I am sure she or someone will come and fetch you when she is ready for you.” Runar explained.

  “Any idea how long that’ll take?” Wes asked.

  “I am unsure,” Runar answered.

  Wes asked, “Can you at least let her know? I don’t want to be dragged off to somewhere else right away. I wanna relax a bit.”

  “I can relay your wishes, but she will do what she wants,” Runar replied.

  “That’s all I can ask for. Thanks for the ride, Runar.” Wes said.

  Runar didn’t offer a reply. He blinked from his vision as if he was never there. Not bothering to turn to the girls, Wes said, “Shall we?”

  “I can’t open the door since I was never registered.” Phony commented.

  Dozel stepped forward and placed her hand on the long door handle. After a moment, Wes heard a faint click, and Dozel opened the door.

  After the three stepped into the main atrium, they were bombarded with noise and laughter. Children, both Human and Coeus, were running around. Wes could hear water slapping in the pool. The teenage kids were the first to recognize that someone had entered. A moment later, one of the Coeus kids recognized Dozel standing in the entryway. She ran up in front of Dozel and looked over to Wes. Immediately thereafter, she offered the same deep bow that Wes had seen on the day he met them. When the other children recognized what was happening, they all ran over and bowed. Even the kids who had been near the pool ran out of the pool area, soaking wet, and they all bowed as well.

  Only after what Wes thought was the last straggler did he speak. “Hi ya kiddos, I don’t think that’s necessary. Can any of you tell me where Orthol or Mordune is?”

  A human teenage boy answered, “They have not returned from their training, Master Wesley.” The boy stayed in his bow as he answered.

  “Any idea when they will return?” Wes asked.

  “They have been gone since the day you left Master Wesley.”

  “Alright, thanks for filling me in. I don’t know about these lovely ladies, but I am quite tired and would like to sleep for a True year after having a proper shower. So you kids can go about what you were doing.”

  Wes pushed past the kids, taking the most direct route through all the furniture and pillows in the middle of the sitting area. The kids had really made a mess all around the atrium. Not that it bothered Wes, he expected nothing less from kids.

  Phony followed closely while Dozel said a few words to the kids before rocketing forward past both Wes and Phony. Calling back, “Excuse me, Wesley.”

  Wes stopped and looked behind at Phony and asked, “Any idea what that was about?”

  Phony put her finger on her lips playfully and said, “Yes.”

  “Care to share?”

  “Not particularly,” Phony teased.

  Sighing, Wes continued to the door leading to his private area. Finding nothing out of place in the long hallway way Wes continued forward to his private atrium. When he cracked the door leading to his private area, he heard Dozel yelling at someone, “How dare you, take advantage of Master Wesley’s generosity. Gather your things and leave.”

  Wes heard a voice that sounded similar to Dozel. The voice wasn’t quite as gentle as Dozel’s, but it still came off crisp like hers. “We thought you were gone for. We only wished to enjoy ourselves before we were sent to the frontier.”

  Wes held the door cracked open and looked back at Phony and whispered, “How do you think I should play it?”

  Phony tone came back as serious as he heard it that first day he met her. “You are the master of the house. You must quash any idea of insubordination, or you will be facing problems, all the way up to assassination attempts.”

  Although Phony made no attempts to hide her voice, Wes still whispered back, “That serious?”

  “Not every Coeus is as awesome as our Dozel.”

  Wes smiled, “Nice to see you both are getting along. Thanks, Phony. Wait here a moment for me, would you?”

  “Are you ordering me to wait here?” Phony asked.

  “You know I don’t like doing that,” Wes replied.

  “Then where you go, I go.” Phony answered.

  Shrugging his shoulders, he took in Dozel’s continued chastisement of her fellow Coeus before opening the door the rest of the way. What waited for Wes was three other Coeus women. All were sitting on the side of the room. Two were sitting on the long chair, with the last on one of the singles. Dozel stood in front of them, silent as the three took notice and stood up to bow.

  Wes walked over to their side. “Hi ya, ladies. What brings you to my private living area?”

  The three remained silent.

  Dozel shouted, “You will answer, now!

  The woman furthest from Wes, the one sitting by herself, answered, “I am sorry, Master Wesley, we have taken advantage of your hospitality.”

  “Dozel, what did you tell them before we left?” Wes asked.

  “Only that I was now your mistress and that they were now allowed to use the rooms in the hallway.”

  “So you didn’t tell them they could come into here?”

  Dozel shook her head.

  “I see. Well, that begs the question. Why are you three in here?”

  Silence.

  Dozel shouted, “Answer!”

  The same woman answered for the three. “We did not venture into here until weeks had passed. We first wanted to see how our great Dozel was going to be living, and eventually, one thing led to another.”

  Phony asked, “Wes, you mind if I ask a question?”

  Wes nodded in the three’s direction.

  “Did you go into his private room as well?” Phony asked.

  When nothing but silence came back, Phony rocketed forward and grabbed the one who had been answering by the neck. The long chair that had been in her path shattered into hundreds of pieces. The two who had been standing in front of the long chair had a hand around the back of their necks as well. Dozel held them tightly, anger playing across her expression.

  “You three will agree to take the remainder of Dozel’s service contract.” Phony said while increasing her grip on the one in her hand.”

  Phony’s captive coughed at her air supply being cut off.

  Wes wanted to interject, but the words refused to leave his lips. He felt pride in Phony’s actions.

  Phony’s captive gasped out, “I’d rather die.”

  Phony looked to her left at Dozel. Dozel, in turn, closed her eyes tightly and walked over to Wes. Offering a small assent of her head.

  “So be it.”

  Phony slammed the woman into the ground hard enough for the stone underneath to shatter. The woman tried to fight back, but Wes knew with Phony’s absurdly high strength that that was a fruitless endeavor. If she had any chance of fighting back, she would have done so already.

  The slamming of Dozel’s family member rang out over and over. Dozel didn’t turn around even as the screams dissolved into little more than guttural gasps through wet breaths.

  Phony stood and looked at the broken body under her. The vibrant hair that the woman had below her had turned purple from her original deep blue. “I am only allowing you to live out of my respect for Dozel. You three will sign the contract of your own accord, or I will kill you all for disrespecting our home.”

  Dozel dropped the two in her grip and said, “Take her and get out of here.”