Sisters 3 Part 2

     “Are you out of your tiny fairy mind?”
    “Ya can’t be serious. Ya expect me to work with that thing?”
    “What possessed you to think that this was a good idea?”
    Melissa had anticipated this. She knew how they would react when she came back with Holly and she wasn’t screaming in pain. Melissa however, had her explanation planned out.
    “Morgana dear, I am simply doing to her what was done to us.”
    “Oh, and what’s that?”
    “Giving her a second chance.”
    Morgana opened… then closed her mouth. She folded her arms across her chest.
    “Fine,” she growled. “But if she steps out of line, Ah’ll be the first to say ‘Ah told ya so’.”
    “You can’t be serious farm girl.”
    “Half a year ago Ah tried to kill ya Luna girl. Y’all forgave me for doin’ that. Ah have to at least give her a chance.”
    Holly watched the byplay with interest. There was so much hidden in the background with this group that no one even suspected.
    Mei-Mei walked up to Holly and looked up at her.
    “I want to know why you are doing this and I want the truth.”
    “I don’t believe anything I say will convince you.”
    “Try.”
    “I…”
    Sometimes the greatest strength is to admit your own weakness
    A voice whispered those words inside Holly’s head. Involuntarily she started to look for the source.
    Don’t turn around.
    Wha…Ms. Kusanagi? Why…
    I want to see how you handle this, Violette answered. Now I gave you your advice now act upon it.
    “Well?” Mei-Mei asked.
    Holly sighed lowered her head and closed her eyes.
    “I was wrong.”
    “What?”
    “I was wrong. I picked the wrong people to ally myself with.”
    “That’s your excuse? You picked the wrong side to work for?”
    “Did you grow up afraid?”
    “What does that mean?”
    “I… my glasses aren’t fake. I have very poor eyesight without them. I grew up constantly afraid of losing them. Of not being able to see. And I still am. So I made myself as useful as I could and offered my service to those who I thought were powerful enough to keep me safe. I’m a spy. I infiltrate other people’s offices and computer systems and take what my employers want. And I’m very good at it. But in the end I guess I’m still that same frightened little girl.”
    “Why are you telling us this?”
    “Because you don’t like or trust me. Therefore you are going to do things to me to express that. I don’t think it’ll be anything life threatening but still you’re going to be … unpleasant to me. I accept that. You don’t make friends in my line of work, and I’ve lost count of how many enemies I’ve made. All I ask is that whatever you are going to do to me, please don’t take my glasses.”
    Mei-Mei continued to stare up at her.
    “Is that what you told Zimmer as well?”
    Mei-Mei watched as Holly tried to hide the pained look that crossed her face.
    “Zimmer… was a fool. He had no grasp of the larger picture. He was a cold abusive…”
    “You loved him didn’t you?”
    Holly was silent for a moment before she continued.
    “I … have made many mistakes in my life. That was one of them. He had no interest me beyond cleaning up his messes… look can I be completely honest with you?”
    “You haven’t until now?”
    “Quiet Juana. Go ahead.”
    Holly sighed again.
    “Like I said, I have made many mistakes in my life and for the past two days I thought organizing that fight was going to be the biggest and last one I’d ever make. I was sure that by this time I’d be either dead or screaming in pain.”
    She paused.
    “He himself told me that if I begged for mercy he’d only keep me alive in constant pain for decades instead of centuries. But now…, I’ve been given a second chance. A chance dependant on obeying her and I’d be a fool to do anything to jeopardize it. I will serve Ms. Selene faithfully to the best of my ability for as long as I live.”
    She speaks the truth Ms. Mei-Mei, Violette spoke in Mei-Mei’s mind. This is her at her most sincere.
    She expects us to abuse her, Mei-Mei thought. And we are all too willing and eager to oblige her. Just as they do to poor Mariel here every day. How can we condemn them when we aren’t any better?
    “Very well.” Mei-Mei spoke at last.
    “What? “
    “We’ll give you a chance.”
    “You too Mei-Mei?”
    “Everyone deserves a second chance Juana. A single second chance, without us being unpleasant to them.”
    “I…”
    “Have you ever stared into Shachi’s eyes when she’s been truly angry?” Melissa asked Juana. “You’ve annoyed her but have you ever made her angry? You don’t forget that and you never want to see it again.”
    Juana remembered that look in Shachi’s father’s eyes and shuddered.
    “I should correct something I said,” Holly corrected.
    “What’s that?”
    “If you take my glasses, I will curl up into a ball. When I get them back however, I will fly into a murderous rage against whoever took them.”
     “Arrogant, flawed, violent, mistakes in her past… and rather cute in my opinion,” Melissa commented. “I think she has the makings of an angel.”
    “A what?” Holly asked confused, trying not to blush from Melissa’s compliment.
    Mei-Mei looked up at Holly, and found herself trying not to smile.
    ”I do believe Ms. Anderson that you may fit in quite well.”
    “Are we going to officially make it a habit of forgiving everyone who tries to kill us?”
    “At no point did I ever try to kill you,” holly corrected Juana. ‘Fantasized about it perhaps.”
    “You’ve daydreamed about killing us?”
    “And you have never thought about doing hurtful things to me? You were practically drooling at the prospect of my pain when he dumped me in at her feet.”
    “I… have no comment.”
    “Besides, if Ms. Selene ordered me to kill you, I’d have no choice but to do it.”
    “Oh really?”
    “Yes.”
    “It’s the nature of how things work,” Violette interjected.
    “Really?”
    “We do what we are told. If my lord ordered me to harm any of you, I would not like it, I rather like all of you, but I would have no choice but to obey.”
    “I see…”
    “Rest assured, it’s highly unlikely that he will ever do that. He fears making her angry.”
    “He’s afraid of her?”
    “So to speak I fear that he is… what is that expression you humans use…tied around her…?”
    “Wrapped around her little finger?”
    “Yes, that’s it.”
    “The idea of the most feared being in existence as a doting father takes some getting used to,” Melissa commented.
    “Why? We’re not the monsters you seem to think we are. We have feelings just like you do and love our children like every other species. Most of us do.”
    “Do you have any children?”
    For only the second time since they had met her Violette looked horrified.
    “Great Maker no,” she insisted. “I’m way too young to even want to think about having them. I’m only twelve hundred years old. I’ve got another thousand years before I even start to think of settling down.”
    She stared at the shocked looks on their faces.
    “I know, I get that a lot. I look a lot older than I am. It helped me sneak in to certain places when I was younger.”
   
   
    Elsewhere a figure stood consulting a myriad of screens that floated in the air around him. His eyes went from screen to screen dismissing some as irrelevant while making notes to further investigate others.
    “Are you busy my lord?”
    The mental note tapped on his mind.
    “Never too busy for you old friend. Come in.”
    Toshiro heard the heavy footsteps approach and seem momentarily surprised as he looked up in to the huge reptilian face.
    “Forgot to change back, my lord?” Astonage asked looking down
    Toshiro looked down at his naked human body.
    “I got as far as undressing when the latest project report came in. I got caught up in it.”
    His form expanded and shifted back to its silver white scaled dragon form. The screens around him shifted their positions and enlarged to accommodate his new size.
    “I never could understand how you can stand to be in that tiny form for so long. It’s so cramped and confining.”
    “It has its uses. And it’s very convenient for dealing with those races that either run in fear or attack us on sight.
    “That is true.”
    “It is also the form that my daughters have been confined to for the foreseeable future. So in order to interact with them needs must.”
    “Those poor children… speaking of which, that why I came by. I have the results of their medical evaluations.’
    “By all means, tell me what you found.”
    Astonage gestured and the floating screens moved to the side while a central larger one took their place.  An image appeared with numbers running along the side.
    “The Lady Pai had suffered from multiple broken ribs, a severely lacerated right leg, it was barely still attached, severe blood loss and all over concussive damage as if from type of sonic weapon. A very effective one too. Prolonged exposure could cause severe permanent damage.”
    “Go on.”
    “She is slightly malnourished. Her scavenging diet hasn’t been the best for her, we are offsetting that with supplements as she heals. The only permanent damage we can find are the ruptured blood vessels in her eyes. As near as we can tell it happen shortly after she hatched. It would coincide with the old injuries to her head that we found that date back to that same time. However the most troubling thing
    Is that punishment collar the she’s wearing. Some wear modified versions of them to allow them to stay among other species when changing back would be problematic.”
    “I know. I have several.’
    “Her’s however is fully armed and activated. It can’t be removed except by the one that put it on her.”
    “Did you check her memories to find out who that is?”
    “With all due respect my lord, scanning the lady’s memories would require your authorization which we did not have at the time.”
    “You do now.”
    “It will be done. Aside from that she will be fine when she wakes up.”
    “Good. Has she started to manifest any of her special traits yet?”
    “No, they still remain dormant. Neither have her full mental capabilities. Perhaps she needs the right environment?”
    “Or teacher. I’m sure that either can be arranged.”
    The image on the screen changed.
    “As for her,” Astonage continued, his voice taking a more serious tone. “The damage goes far beyond mere physical injuries.”
    “Start with the easily repaired first.”
    ‘Yes my lord. From top down, her nose along with the bones surrounding it were shattered. Her jaw was broken and partially dislocated. These show signs of healing though empathic damage transfer, no doubt do to her fairy companion. Bruising around the neck however was only partially healed. Right elbow joint shattered. Severe bruising to the chest area…”
    “They seriously went after each other.”
    “Yes they did. I remember you and your sister doing something similar”
    “That was centuries ago and Shishoshi had it coming.”
    “I see. Remind me again, who won that fight?”
    “Focus on the matter at hand.”
    “Yes my lord.”
    The image switched to an internal view.
    “Internally, not to be insensitive my lord, but she’s don’t know how she’s alive. Her systems are a jumbled mess.”
    The image zoomed in on the brain.
    “The metamorphosis control center here is systemically damaged. There was enough of it intact to allow a single change and then that shredded. It can send the signal but the control receptors aren’t there and the ones that remain are too damaged to fully process them anymore. All she can manage is those extended nails of hers.”
    “I see. Is that in any connected to all that hair she has?”
    “It’s a direct consequence of it. It reflects the growth she should have normally been doing had she been in her normal form. It also has some very unusual properties.”
    “How so?”
    The image changed.
    “Aside from being nigh indestructible, it is connected to her nervous system. She can feel vibrations through it…”
    “Forgive me my friend, but I do know this. Her friends told me about it. It routes through her damaged telepathy control center. She can also store those vibrations and release them.”
    “I didn’t know much you knew. Yes, she can focus them with her vocal chords. But what she hasn’t discovered yet is that she can also mesmerize with her voice as well.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes, as these vibrations are being controlled by her telepathic nerve center she can create a form auditory mind control by altering the pitch of her voice.”
    “She’s a siren…”
    “In a manner of speaking yes. She’ll need to be trained in how to do it. We’ll need to find a real siren to teach her.”
    “That is not a problem. What did you mean ‘nigh indestructible’?”
    “We attempted to take a sample of it for analysis but were unable to cut through it. Nothing worked on it.”
    “That may have been a good thing for you.”
    “Yes, I read that part of the report after we tried. She is extremely vain about it isn’t she?”
    “Murderously so it would appear. Tell me was this all part of Isla’s sabotage?”
    “No my lord, that was all an incidental result of what she had done. Genetic collateral damage”
    “I know she still posses the mental capacity for storing large amounts of information. What of the other abilities that we had intend that she have?”
    “I’m afraid they are no longer viable within her. They have been supplanted by these new ones including a form of telekinesis that only works on metal. Even her data storage ability has mutated in that she now understands how any device she touches works and can extract information from any storage device just by touching it.”
    “Really? Fascinating… an unexpected surprise out of her pain.”
    “It’s a dangerous ability my lord. I fear she could even access our systems.”
    “That was what she was meant to do.”
    “She was meant to be able to download what she had learn in to the system, not extract the data from it. Still that ability should be studied for possible duplication.”
    “We will table that discussion for another time. Now tell me the bad news. What has Isla done to her?”
    The image changed zooming in on the brain.
    “The very nature of her psionic and magery control centers in her brain have been inverted. She is a telepathic and magic dead zone but only in the sensitive range. She actively negates all forms of non physical detection and those only register her as some sort of humanoid. If you didn’t know exactly what to look for you would assume the she’s just another human”
    “Their primitive doctors already discovered that. I have reports of the probes done on her companions.”
    “They’ll be angry to find out you had people reading their minds while you were having dinner with them.”
    “I feel they’ll be angry over a great many things before they leave here. But continue, they also said that it’s growing stronger and spreading out from her.”
    “Yes but they didn’t have the ability or data we do to fully extrapolate what going to happen with her.”
    “Which is?”
    “When she reaches maturity she will block all forms of magic and psionics in a fifty foot radius around her. Nothing magical will work within that field.”
    “Interesting. Utterly immune to all magic…”
    “For however long she lives.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “That field will even block the ambient mana from reaching her. Without that she’ll…”
    “I know. How long…”
    “As she approaches maturity she’ll become weaker and weaker until when she reaches it she’ll be no stronger than a normal human. After that, she’ll have a week. Maybe less if she exerts herself…”
    “…no…”
    “My lord?”
    “No that will not happen. The guards will find those responsible and wring the exact nature of what they did to her out of them.”
    “With all due respect my lord, you have one of their leaders already in you possession.”
    “I am aware of that. And… she will confess to what she has done.”
    “My lord, are you…”
    “No my friend.”  He sighed. “Despite everything she has done I still cannot bring myself to harm her. Love makes fools of us all.”
    “Yes. Yes it does.”
    “Fortunately I have someone at hand who has no such limitation. All I need do is mention that she holds the key to her future and she will do the work for us. I think she deserves to be the one to get the information out of her.”
    “Is that wise my lord?”
    ‘In what way?”
    “Will she stop before she does something permanent to her?”
    “Very unlikely.’
    “What?”
    “But I’m very sure she will tell us what we need to know in between her screams.”
    “Yes my lord.”
   
    Morgana stood looking out of one of the outer windows. She kept looking between the shattered Moon and the constantly changing surface of the world below.
    “In a sad way, it’s kind of beautiful,” she sighed.
    Her companion nodded slowly in agreement.
    Morgana turned and looked at her. A petite 5’ 3” she wore the same armor as the others… no her sisters although hers was more leather straps than metal. For flexibility ah guess. She had a look on her face that looked like was always on the verge of being surprised. But that metal skullcap of hers… couldn’t understand it
    “Ya don’t talk much do ya?”
    She shrugged.
    “Nothing to say or what?”
    Again she shrugged.
    “Ya are totally different from Mariel. She never stops talking.”
    She sighed and nodded.
    “But ya love her don’t ya?”
    She was surprised.
    “What? ya didn’t think that ah didn’t see how ya reacted to her?”
    She turned away cheeks turning red.
    “It’s alight. Ah have a sister as well. She drives me crazy too”
    She looked back at her.
    “We used to fight a lot. Never anything important just… stupid things.”
    She looked at her curiously.
    “Ah haven’t seen her in years. Daddy says she went off to school earlier this year. Before meeting them and all this happened to me…”
    She walked up and put a hand on her arm. Morgana looked down at her smiling.
    “Yeah, ah miss her.” she paused. “Let me give ya some advice. Tell her that ya love her while ya have the chance. There are very few things worth staying mad at somebody for.”
   
   
    She felt herself floating in the…
    What was she floating in? She wondered.
    She didn’t know, but she felt… how did she feel?
    Calm.
    Yes. That’s how she felt. Calm. At peace with… well everything.
    It was a feeling of calm that she had never known before…
    Why? Why was she feeling like this?
    Did it matter?
    Shouldn’t she just enjoy it?
    She should. She should just relax and…
    Something wouldn’t let her.
    It nagged at her from some corner of her mind…
    What was intruding on her…
    Wrong.
    I was wrong.
    It came to forefront to confront.
    Everything I’ve ever done in my life has been based on my being wrong.
    What do I now?
    Where do I go from here…
    Home.
    The word startled her
    I go home where… where I am forgiven for the past
    Where… they wait for me with…
    She didn’t know the word that went that feeling of…
    Warmth, she though, not unlike lying under the sun but… better.
    It asked nothing of you… just to be let in.
    But the space it wanted was already occupied
    Anger sat there. Her anger at what she had been forced to do to survive because of…
    No.
    There was no one else to blame.
    It had been all her own fault.
    You were lied to.
    You were used.
    It’s not your fault.
   
    These words intruded on her own thoughts.
    They were not her own, but they were…calming… reassuring… caring…
   
    She had a chance to make things right by…
   
    Pai opened her eyes and found herself staring into a single green eye above her.
    “Good morning princess. How are you feeling this morning?”
    “I’m… princess?”
    “That will do Mariel.”
    “As you wish sir. Try not to stress her out to much.”
    The green eyed red-haired human stepped back and source of the other voice came into view.
    “Daddy!”
    “Easy little one don’t try to sit up yet.”
    “Where…”
    “You’re home.”
    “Home?”
    “Yes I brought you back home where you belong to have your injuries tended to.”
    He gently stroked her head, those same emotions came back and threatened to overwhelm her. She was not use to this…
    “Love?” he intruded on her thoughts.
    She nodded in agreement.
    “I’m afraid that you’ll just have to get use to that.”
    “I… it’s different from what I’m used to...”
    “I know you poor child. But you’re home now.”
    “Home… I don’t how I’m supposed to feel.”
    ‘It will take some time for you to adjust, but know now that you are safe here.”
    Pai relaxed at his words. She turned to take in her surroundings. Her eyes stopped on the bed in the room opposite hers.
    “She will awaken soon as well,” he answered her unspoken question. “You two were very thorough in mutilating each other. It’s been two days since then.”
    “TWO DAYS?”
    ‘Yes, as I said. The damage you had inflicted was quite extensive. But you’ll both be fine with no lasting effects.
    “except my eyes.”
    “…yes… unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done about that… but tell me where did you get that collar from?”
    “Magnus.”
    “Magnus?”
    “I ran into him just before I… went to see her. He explained how he and Toki had them and how it let them stay in this form and more around the humans with ease.”
    “I see.”
    “He gave me this one. I tried to take it off before … before our fight, but it wouldn’t open. I think I got the password wrong then I went back to enjoying that tub I was sitting in. I think the bathtub may be the greatest thing that humans have ever made. Anyway, I was going to try again later after everything was over, but you saw how that turned out…”
    She looked up at him as she felt the worry rising behind his calm face.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “My child, what you are wearing is called a punishment collar.”
    “Punishment collar?”
    “Yes. Criminals are forcibly compelled to metamorphous into a form and the then the collar is placed on them locking them in that form for the duration of their sentence.
    “So… someone caught and punished them?”
    “No they can be adjusted for normal use for when changing back would be… problematic.”
    “So what does that have to do with mine?”
    “While those two most likely have the adjusted ones, you have a regular one.”
    “Meaning…?”
    “That it’s locked on and can’t be removed except by the one who put it on you.”
    “You mean… I’m… I’m stuck in this form …until he decides to take it off me.”
    “Unfortunately yes.”
    “But… but… can’t you make him take it off?”
    “We have to find him first. We can start with where you last saw him and move on from there. But there are so many different worlds that he could have gone to. Rest assured, we will find him it just may take some time.”
    Her head dropped and she buried her head in her hands.
    “Why do I keep believing people who lie to me and not trusting and hurting the ones who want to help?”
    “Pai…”
    “Why am I so stupid?”
    “You’re just young. You can’t expected to know everything.”
    “She does. She knows everything.”
    “She was made that way.”
    “Made?”
    “I did do some … improvements to all of your genetics before you were born
    “Then why did you make me pretty but stupid?’
    “You’re not stupid Pai. You and your sister were supposed to complement each other. You were to help her figure out the emotional aspect of things while she helped you with her store of knowledge. Together you two were to be an unstoppable infiltration team.”
    “But why didn’t that happen?”
    “Your mother and I… disagreed on things. Then she disappeared. When she came back she laid you all but refused to say where. I finally tracked down where, but I arrived a few hours too late. I got to see her and the place where you hatched disappear into one of the shifts. After that my search started again.”
    Pai was silent, then leaned over, laying against him.
    “So what do I do now?”
    “Whatever you want. If you want to stay here for the next several centuries and relax you can. You are after all a princess of the house.”
    Her head perked up.
    “Princess? You mean like in those stories with the servants and all that?”
    “Yes.”
    “I could get use to that.”
    “Good. Now when you’re better I’ll take you to your private royal suite.”
    “Now I definitely like the sound of that. Oh, does it have a bathtub? The kind that have jets to make the water move around.”
    “I’ll have one installed. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on your sister.”
    Pai lay back looking up at the ceiling.
    Princess, royalty, me.  She smiled, her days of scavenging to live were now officially over.
    “Oh yes. I am going to like it here.”
    “I hope so.”
    The voice caught her off guard. She turned to look at the petite… human? Yes she smelled like one, standing a few feet away from her bed. Another woman, about half a foot taller than her wearing some kind of armor stood next to her. Her short brown hair pulled into topknot on the top of her head. That one like… it was pretending to be human but it wasn’t.
    “One should always enjoy being home.”
    “You’re that human… Mei-…”
    “You can call me Mei-Mei,” she bowed as she spoke.
    “I see and who or what is she?”
    The taller one looked surprised.
    “My lady, you can tell?”
    “There’s something just not… right about your scent.”
    “My lady’s sense of smell is indeed impressive. Forgive me, I am Angelica Astonage. Leader of the Black Ghosts.” She also bowed as she spoke.
    “Black Ghosts?”
    “We are one of his lordships covert operation units.”
    “I see but why are you two here?”
    “Oh I’m just making one of my hourly visits to check how things are.”
    “And I am her escort and protector.”
    “You came to check up on her?”
    “No both of you.”
    Pai felt the sarcastic edge leave her voice.
    “Me? Why check on me?
    “You were hurt as well,” Mei-Mei walking up to the bed. “Why shouldn’t I check on you?”
    Pai reached out and touched Mei-Mei ‘s hand. She felt… compassion, genuine caring, some apprehension but mostly it was... the same as father.
    Pai pulled back her hand squeezed her eyes shut.
    “Are you alright?”
    “I …”
    “How are we doing?” Mariel asked as she bounced up. “Feeling better?” she asked as she took Pai’s wrist
    “I’m sorry.”
    “What?’
    “I’m sorry for how I acted when I first met you. “
    “You didn’t do anything…”
    “I believe she was talking to me Mariel.”
    “I attacked you, just like I did her. If I had only talked to her instead of…why am I so dumb?”
    “You’re just a child and children make mistakes. The important thing is to learn from them. And you’re forgiven.”
    Pai looked at her in disbelief.
    Mei-Mei sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Pai to her.
    “You’re just another lost child who never had anyone to love them.”
    The emotions coming off her were more than Pai could stand. She wrapped her arms around Mei-Mei and soaked it all in like a sponge.
    “Please…don’t let go.”
    “I’ll stay as long as you want me to.”
    “I don’t think his lordship is going to let you take both of his daughters with you.”
    “Quiet Mariel.”
    Mariel cocked her head to the side.
    She had been told such things many times before, but the way she said it was different. There was no anger behind it there was only…
    She reran the information she had gathered from the scan she had done of Mei-Mei a few days before.
    Aside from the energies that coursed through her that were slowing her aging there was nothing in her make that was out of the ordinary. So how does this small human invoke such strong feelings in other beings?
    Perhaps she will let me study her in greater detail later
   
   
    It is never still. Something is always moving.
    Movement constant movement;
    Constant motion.
    Even in the dark, the movement doesn’t stop.
    Not just things that were moving, but the sounds they made were moving. As if sound were a tangible thing.
    A constant roiling mass of movement the never stopped.
    Until it did.
    Not all at once. It was a gradual dimming of the mass. As if the sun were setting and the light was fading with it.
    The still was unsettling at first then became restful. The still had come once before but that had been preceded by searing waves of pain that nearly destroyed everything. This time it was gradual, almost relaxing…
    Shachi opened her eyes.
    Where am…
    Memories of her surroundings came forth. Not her own though, that she was sure of but she still recognized the smells and sights of her location.
    Home, she thought. I am home.
    “Good morning,” a cheerful lilting voice spoke as the red haired nurse smiled as she stepped in to view. “How are you feeling? You were really banged up.”
    “I am… why can I not move?”
    “Well thing is, you had all that hair…”
    “Had?”
    “Don’t worry, it’s still all there. Not like anything can cut through it. Trust me they tried. I mean it’s indestructible. Well nothing is ever really indestructible. But it would take a lot to damage it. “
    “What do you mean they tried?”
    “Well, they tried to get a sample for testing. Something about abnormal growth rates but nothing they tried worked. Then word came down that it would be a bad thing to keep doing that. So they stopped trying.”
    “That was smart of them.”
    “But still there was the issue of just the volume of it plus it was feeding a constant stream of input in to your brain. Even sedated it was still happening it so it made it impossible for your mind to completely rest to promote maximum healing. So they wrapped all of it up is a sensor dampening mesh. The control portal what your head’s resting on. We put padding on it to make it more comfortable.”
    “It is. Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome”
    “Although it does not explain why I cannot move.”
    “Now that’s the interesting part. In most species hair is just hair, dead stuff that grows out of them. Yours however is directly connected to your nervous system. It’s like one huge sensory organ like a cat’s whiskers only much more sensitive.”
    “I do know that.’
    “So because of that connection, we think that the sensor dampening mesh is also effecting the rest of your nervous system. It’s not supposed to though. Wonder why that is?”
    “I do find the… lack of sensation rather disconcerting.”
    “I can understand. Your brain scan showed some recently healed damage in that area. But don’t worry. We’ll have you back on your feet in no time just as soon as we figure out one important thing.”
    “What is that?”
    “Just what you are?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Your genetic profile makes no sense and normal things don’t work they way they should on you. But for some reason giving you a treatment based on our lordship worked.”
    “That is because he is my father.”
    “Phft... yeah right. Everyone keeps saying that. I don’t see any of the markers for… why are you looking at me like that?
    “I think I know you.”
    “I don’t know how. Unless it’s from all those times you tried to read my mind.”
    “Read your mind?”
    “That’s right. I over looked because you were asleep. But now that you’re awake, not cool.
    “I…..  Tried to read your mind?”
    “Every time I get near you try.”
    ‘I… I cannot read anyone’s mind…”
    “Well you keep trying and… why are you so happy?”
    “Could it be... I am getting them back...”
    ‘Getting what back?’
    “My telepathic abilities
    “I’m afraid that is not the case.”
    Mariel turned toward the new voice. Shachi watched as she curtsied to him.
    “Good morning my lord.”
    “Hello Mariel,” looked down smiling.
    “And good morning to you too little one.”
    “I am bigger than Pai.” Shachi protested.
    “In this form only. In your true form she is still much larger than you.”
    ‘Why did you have to make me so small?”
    “Small? Have you looked in the mirror? Your chest is anything but…”
    “Thank you Mariel. That will be all.”
    “No, do not send her away. She said I was trying to read her mind. Maybe I…”
    “As I said little one, sadly that is not the case.”
    “But why not?”
    “Mariel, put your hand on her head and leave it there.”
    “But…”
    “Do it.”
    “Yes my lord.”
    Mariel placed her hand on Shachi’s forehead.
    Both their eyes went wide in surprise.
    “Oh…” Shachi was both disappointed, yet fascinated.
    Mariel took a step back and blinked several times before she curtsied and bowed her head.
    “My lady, please forgive me. I…”
    “I will consider it a nonissue if you stop calling me ‘my lady’.”
    “My lady I cannot not do that. You should have seen that responding to you in that manner is embedded in my programming.”
    “I see. Then please turn this dampening device off so I can move.”
    “At once, my lady. Sorry, my lady. I forgot you don’t like to be called ‘my lady’, my lady. Gah, I did it again, sorry my lady. WHY DO I KEEP DOING THAT? Sorry for the outburst, my lady… ”
    “Mariel…”
    “Yes my lord?’
    “Just turn it off.”
    “Yes my lord.”
    Mariel moved to the control panel by the bed and turned off the device.
    Shachi sat up in stretched her arms out in front of her.
    “Thank you.”
    “Now if you would be so kind as to let her companions know that she is awake…”
    “Yes my lord, my la…”
    Mariel clamped her hands over her mouth, and nodded in agreement. She let the room in that same pose.
    “I don’t know how Astonage puts up with her.”
    “I rather like her.”
    “Given your taste in companions, I’m not surprised.”
    “Are you criticizing my taste in friends?’
    “You have collected a rather odd menagerie.”
    “I had thought that I was the one that had been collected.”
    “Your host is an interesting being.”
    “Mei-Mei? She is more than just our host she is…”
    “Like a mother to you. A better one than the one you actually have.”
    “That is true.’
    “But enough about her,” he sat on the side of the bed. He touched the side of her head, that look of sadness came over him again. “Oh my poor little girl. I will undo this butchery she has done to you.”
    The sadness in his eyes was again more than she could take. Shachi cupped her hands over his and closed her eyes.
    “I so desperately want to be me,” she confessed quietly, trying but failing to keep the emotion out of her voice. “I want to fly. I want to spread my wings and leave the ground far beneath me.”
    She loved Mei-Mei and the others more than she could say. But her father… he understood what they couldn’t conceive of. He pulled his child to him and held her.
    “We will find a cure. I promise.’
    “I hope so,’ she continued in to his chest. ‘But… the odd thing is… I… I love this body. Granted parts of it are annoying oversized…,” she looked down at her chest. “And why did you design them to be so… cumbersome?”
    “I believe the word you want is enormous.”
    “You are not helping.”
    “The truth is the truth. And as for why, your sister is distractingly beautiful in her human form. I had to give you something to allow you to compete with her.”
    “So your idea of balance was these?”
    “It’s what the research data indicated.”
    “Your data is highly suspect. Be that as it may, as annoying as they are to deal with… there are… things about this body that I do not wish to give up.”
    “I’m well aware of that.”
    He reached behind her and pulled part of her braid in front of her.
    “I believe you are referring to this?”
    “I know I am not being rational…”
    “Having hair five times your own body length and refusing to part with any of it? Yes, I do believe that qualifies as irrational. But after what’s been done to you, I expect a few… quirks in you.”
    “My hair is not a quirk. And do you mean ‘what was done to me’?”
    His mood briefly turned somber then brightened.
    “I’ve seen the full extend of the damage she caused to you and I will explain all that to you later. But for now know that when we are done, you will be a very odd sight.”
    “In what way?”
    “A dragon with a human braid attached to its head.”
    She smiled and squeezed him harder.
    “Now before your friends arrive, I believe someone else want to talk to you.”
    He turned to look passed her. She turned and saw Pai standing there, still her hospital gown. She walked up slowly to the bed.
    “Feeling better?” she asked.
    “Yes. You were quite thorough in you attack.
    “Well, you weren’t exactly gentle on me either”
    Silence.
    “I…” they both started then stopped.
    There was more silence until Pai spoke rapidly
    “I’m sorry for attacking you. I didn’t know you were… if had known I never would have done that to you.”
    “I am sorry for damaging your eyes. It was never my intention to do that. I… just wanted you to leave me alone.”
    “Look… can we start over?”
    “Start over?”
    “Forget this past year ever happened and start over from the beginning?”
    “I unfortunately, cannot forget anything. But we will ignore it.”
    Pai smiled and put her hand on hers, then pulled it back as if she had been burned.
    “What’s wrong?” their father asked, concern etched in his face.
    “I… I can’t feel anything from you. It’s like you’re not there. Not just that, I couldn’t feel anything from anyone around here when I touched you.”
    Pai paused thinking.
    “I didn’t notice it before, I was too focused on… but even then…”
    “It is another… defect of mine.”
    The look of horror swept across Pai’s face.
    “How do you deal with the silence? Being so cut off from… everything.”
    Shachi shrugged.
    “It is all I have ever known.”
    Shachi watched as a new emotion took control of Pai, quite possibly for the first time, compassion. Pai put her hands back on hers. This time she didn’t let go.
    “You poor… I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t know.”
    “It is alright.”
    “No it’s not. It wasn’t a fair fight.”
    “What?”
    “The fact that you held your own against me for so long while being so… handicapped…”
    There was a look of both sadness and pride in her eyes.
    “You’re pretty strong,” she said in a slightly mocking/condescending tone.
    “Strong enough to almost beat you.”
    “I got distracted. If I had stayed focused I would have won easily.”
    “It would have cost you limb at the least.”
    “Yeah right.”
    “When I am properly healed, we will fight again. And I will put you in your place.”
    “I look forward to you trying.”
    Their father watched, grateful that Shachi was blocking Pai’s empathy, as he could barely stop himself from crying.
    “Ok, what just happened?”
    “Ah don’t know.”
    Their father turned at the sound of the other voices in the room. The rest of her friends were standing by the door watching the scene unfold. Grateful for the distraction he went over to them.
    “Allow me to explain,” he started. “Pai was willing to fight her as an equal to the death. Such fights between siblings are common, and only rarely does it go to the death. The weaker will normally surrender before death or any permanent injury. But now realizing her condition, she sees attacking her as unfair.”
    “Condition?”
    “The… alterations done to her by her mother. To you she may seem like a very strong for a human, but in our terms she is very sick indeed. But despite the fact that she almost killed her, no… because she almost killed her in her current state if why Pai feels… proud of her.
    “Ah still don’t get it,” Morgana stated. “They were about to kill each other, now their actin’ like nothin’ ever happened.”
    “It’s our nature,’ he shrugged. “One minute you can be engaged in a conversation, the next attempting to kill each other over some insult, and then back to talking or most likely drinking a minute later.”
    “What a conflict driven culture,” Juana observed.o
    “But it does explain why she liked you the most of all us,” Melissa explained.
    “How?”
    “Simple,” she continued. “Your constant somewhat antagonistic sarcasm must have reminded her of her people. Your attitude made you the perfect dragon substitute.”
    Juana opened and closed her mouth several times before just closing it.
    “I’m almost reluctant to intrude on them.”
    “I think she’d want to see you.”
    Somewhat unsure they approached listening in on the conversation the two sisters were having.
    “How did you do that thing with your nails?”
    “That is all that remains of my metamorphic abilities.”
    “That’s all? What did she do to you?”
    “Be grateful you were hatched before me, otherwise it she would have done this to you.”
    They saw Pai visibly shudder as they arrived.
    “Your friends are here.”
    “I know. I felt them coming.”
    “I should go. We didn’t…”
    This time Shachi took Pai’s hand.
    “I think you will find that they are rather forgiving about…aggressive behavior and... why is she with you?”
    “Told you she’d notice.” Juana commented.
    “Holly works for me now,” Melissa explained
    “Dose she now?”
    “It would have been a waste to destroy such a talent for espionage.”
    “And you trust her?”
    “I have pledged my life to the service of Ms. Selene. I will not fail her.”
    “I see… Mariel…”
    “Yes my lad...”
    She clamped her hands over her mouth.
    “Restrain her,” Shachi said pointing at Holly.
    “Ma’am?”
    “Restrain her. Hold her so she can’t move her head.”
    “Wait… what…”
    “Stop! Let me go!” Holly protested as Mariel obediently took hold of her head.
    “Please stop struggling. You will only hurt yourself.”
    “Shachi, what are you doing?” Mei-Mei demanded.
    Shachi said nothing but extended her hand toward Holly. Holly’s protests stopped as her eyes went wide.
    The others also stopped as they watched as metal started coming out of Holly’s nose. She gritted her teeth in pain as the metal flowed like liquid in the air out of her head.
    “There. All done.
    A small ball of grey metal sat in the palm of Shachi’s hand.
    “That was inside her head?” Pai asked. “What is that?”
    “That is the wire mesh I put in her head after our first run in.”
    “You put that in her?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    “She put glue in my hair.”
    “I did not. I put the glue on the floor. You dragged your hair in it on your own.” Holly corrected. “But why did you take it out?”
    “A gesture of trust.”
    “What?”
    “If you have pledged yourself to her like you have said, then you do not need anything to force you to obey. So, your will is now your own.”
    Holly looked at her.
    “Thank you. But you could have warned me.”
    “Yes, I could have.”
    “Evil witch.”
    “That is princess witch to you. You should tend to her now Mariel.”
    “Damage to cranial tissues is minimal. Recommendation is a stimulant to accelerate the healing process along with an antibiotic to eliminate any risk of infection,” Mariel said in that strange monotone as she let go of Holly. She blinked and as she typed in her diagnosis with her left hand she pointed and waved her right index finger.
    “That was cruel and uncalled for my lady... oh bugger. There are many ways that it could have been removed without causing her any discomfort.”
    “I believe that was the point.”
    “Doesn’t matter, it shouldn’t have happen.” She injected holly with the withdrawn medicine.
    “You do realize that you are talking to our lord’s daughter and that he’s standing over there?” Angelica cautioned her.
    Mariel fold her arms across her chest.
    “This is a place of healing and no one is allowed to hurt someone here on my watch.”
    The staff went silent at that.
    The non natives looked around in apprehension. There was a feeling that some kind of line had been crossed that Mariel had gone too far.
    “You are right.”
    They were even more surprised at the princess’s words.
    “One should not behave inappropriately in someone else’s house. I am sorry.”
    Mariel’s face returned to its normal smiling state.
    “It’s alright. But you know... don’t.”
    Morgana looked around the room. Even though the issue had been resolved the tension in the room hadn’t decreased, if anything it was even higher than before.
    Toshiro stepped forward.
    “When will they be able to leave?”
    His tone was that same “honey over ice” that Melissa was so found of using. Mariel however didn’t seem to notice. She curtsied as normal before replying in that monotone voice of hers.
    “Healing cycles on both have been completed successfully. After a final full body scan to verify all injuries have been healed, both will be released from medical care. Estimated time to completion; one hour fifteen minutes.”
    “Well see to it then. I wish to show my daughters their true home.”
    She blinked and smiled.
    “By your command.” She turned to Pai. “You, back to bed. We have to run you both through ‘the violator’.”
    “’the violator’?”
    “Yep. The most through full body scanner in existence.”
    “Why do you call it that?”
    “Because once it’s done with you, you feel violated. Now who wants to go first?”
    A pair of eyes narrowed at this whole exchange. The owner came to a conclusion, it was time for a particular experiment to end.