"That is not what we should be worrying about!" Calidia yelled a scared frantic look on her face."Calm down." I told Calidia as I pulled her into my arms to rea.s.sure her. "She was the Green Death, now she is Emy." I told her.
Everyone stared at me in surprise.
"What?" I asked.
"You really don"t care do you?" Trill asked me, she was the first of the beast girls to speak since we arrived.
"Of course I do. It would have been fine if I found this out when the first marital bond was in place and I had no choice on the matter. Instead she didn"t tell me anything until after she insisted the bond be reestablished. I am p.i.s.sed, but there is little I can do besides punish her later." I replied.
"But she has killed millions of people!" Calidia argued.
"That is true. She even admitted to that." I replied a complicated feeling inside me. "I know I should be disgusted or at least scared of her, but I"m not. Maybe it is easier for me since I never witnessed what the Green Death did or lost anyone to her. Then again Nala tried to eat several of us the first time we met and I have never held it against her."
Calidia glared at me, obviously unhappy with my response.
"Besides, now all of that power and ability is on our side, to protect us, and if necessary destroy our enemies." I replied.
Calidia stared at me in shock obviously she hadn"t even considered that.
Karen"s giggles woke her from her shock. "You just want to be in a Mary sandwich." she said amidst her giggles.
"Projecting your own desires on me?" I retorted back, I hadn"t thought of that yet but the idea was appealing, especially as the twins weren"t currently available.
Karen suppressed her giggles then rolled her eyes, "Don"t forget I have known you the longest and know just how much of a pervert you really are." Karen snorted.
I mimicked being shot in the heart and fell to the ground. I was an awful actor but it broke the tension in the group.
When I climbed back to my feet Calidia was staring at me with a weird expression.
"What?" I asked her.
"It really doesn"t bother you? How? Why?" she asked me.
I frowned at her. "No I don"t think it does. I have killed twisted and beasts already. I am sure I will have to kill both awakened and unawakened at some point in time. Our encounter with Jessarn proved that was a possibility. So why should I be angry for her doing what she felt she needed to do to survive? If she hadn"t changed I wouldn"t want to have anything to do with her, but she has changed. I am permanently bonded to her, and I can feel her emotions and how worried she is about what our opinions of her will be after this. It"s also why I gave her a new name, she isn"t Green Death anymore, she is Emy. She is now your sister and the pair of you have slept together before, or at least the Mary. Can you ignore all of that because you found out what she did before the bond?" I asked Calidia.
"So you are fine with the fact that she will continue to slaughter whomever she comes across?" Calidia asked as she started to get heated up over the subject.
"I won"t." Emy spoke up.
"Huh?" Calidia asked turning to face Emy.
"I am not the same as I was before. My goals have changed so I do not need to do those things anymore." Emy explained.
Calidia stared at Emy for several more moments before she looked at me for confirmation. I nodded. "She isn"t lying."
"Was it really that bad?" Grace asked curiously.
Calidia nodded. "We lost tens of havens to her since she discovered us." she replied. "Even more had to be abandoned when we suspected she had discovered them."
"That isn"t true." Emy spoke up.
"What?" Calidia asked getting angry, "Are you denying killing millions in the havens?" she asked.
"No, to date I have absorbed all I could within fifteen havens the humans occupied. However there were no havens I discovered that you were able to evacuate before I arrived, it is not possible as I could open s.p.a.ce tunnels into the haven the moment I discovered it." Emy explained.
"Liar!" Calidia screamed, "We have lost over seventy havens to you!"
"Calidia!" I yelled at her angrily.
"Are you defending her?" Calidia shouted back at me.
"No, but listen to yourself, why would she admit to killing some and not all?" I asked her. "Can"t you even consider another possibility other than she is lying?"
"Like what?" Calidia asked.
"Other plants?" Megan offered. "Sounds like all the strong plants would be interested in finding your havens."
Calidia paused for a moment a frown maring her pretty face.
It was obvious she didn"t want to believe it but it seemed like the possibility was actually warring with her irrationality.
"Just give her a chance Caly, she is a part of our family now." I told her.
Caly still seemed reluctant but eventually nodded.
Karen and Megan pulled the woman into their embrace to comfort her.
"I have to admit I am surprised by your reaction." Karen told me.
I nodded, it didn"t seem like me, but I could feel Emy and Mary"s feelings, I knew they meant us no harm and that went a long way. "I think some of it is fear." I replied to them.
"Scared she will hurt us if we don"t accept her?" Trill asked warily.
I shook my head. "No," I said then looked at Megan, "I am afraid of my own Plant Emperor ability. Mary warned me that if I wasn"t careful I could become just like what Calidia described. I want her close to help me control that if I ever need to use it, or am forced to use it. I also want her change to be real because it means I can control the urges, instincts, or whatever it is that will come with that form." I replied slowly thinking it through. "I can"t hate her for being like that when I know I harbor the same kind of monster inside of me."
Looking to Cailidia, "regret being bonded to me knowing I could become just as bad as Green Death?" I asked her sadly.
I could feel the conflicting emotions in both Calidia and Emy.
Looking at Emy I could see her crying in relief.
I opened my arms and for her and she jumped into my embrace. Calidia watched us for a moment a complicated look on her face. Finally she pulled out of Megan and Karen"s embrace. I could feel that she had resolved herself.
Coming to stand in front of Emy and I she looked at Emy. "I can not forgive Green Death for what it has done." she told her plainly then after a moments pause as I felt the grief and regret sweep through Emy. "But, I can give Emy a chance. I like Mary and she has been nothing but helpful even if she seems emotionless."
I smiled at Calidia then pulled her into the embrace with Emy. Calidia was stiff for a moment but relaxed quickly enough. Maybe she adjusted, or maybe Emy"s hands slipping into Calidia"s clothes helped her along. I had no idea, but I was certain Emy was just as interested in s.e.x as Mary was.
"Anything else you wanted to share with the group?" I asked Emy as Calidia leaned into me pressing her mouth against my chest to m.u.f.fle her obvious moans, I was a bit surprised that she hadn"t pushed Emy"s hands away from her.
Emy paused which elicited a whimper from Calidia who raised her head and glared at me. I looked around and noticed the mood amongst my girls was quickly changing.
"Actually there is." Emy admitted.
"Is it as bad as that last bomb, because if it is I am going to need some loving too." Karen commented.
"I wanted to help Megan finish her advancement." Emy replied.
"How?" Megan asked curiously.
"I think you have accepted the idea of being the first wife amongst empresses. The last mana wave should have been able to prepare everything so you just have to continue accepting it and gathering mana to finish the advancement." Emy replied.
"How do you plan to help?" Megan asked the question I wondered. We had already been over all this earlier.
"By providing the mana." Emy replied then pulled away from me and reached into a s.p.a.ce pocket and pulled out a blood red apple. "This is a fruit I produced that is packed full of mana. By eating it that mana will transfer to you and fuel the advancement. However you have to feel confident in your position as head wife or it would just be wasted." Emy replied holding out the apple towards Megan.
"Do you have any more of those?" Karen asked her eyes bright.
"Not at the moment, even with my level it is hard to gather this much spare mana." Emy replied.
Karen seemed disappointed but it vanished soon as a mischievous smirk appeared on her face. "Well girls we really should leave the pair alone for a bit. Some alone time would probably be the best thing to help her feel like the head wife." she announced.
Megan snorted then grabbed the apple then walked over to me as she took a big bite out of it. Her lips pressed against mine the moment she swallowed. I was surprised but I adapted quickly. I wrapped my arms around her thin waist and kissed her back fiercely.
With Megan in my arms I could feel the changes happening inside of her as the mana within that bite of apple was released than absorbed into her body causing it to begin to change. When our lips finally parted I knew she had already advanced to silver. I had my doubts about how magic worked, especially as Mary had admitted it was all just conjecture she, or more likely Emy had come up with over time, but it did seem to be working.
Megan took another bite of the apple then I greedily captured her lips once I was sure she had swallowed.
She had finished half of the apple when she advanced to gold and was about to give the rest away but Emy insisted she finish it as she would need the extra mana to strengthen herself so she could keep up with the other empresses in our family.