A Vassal Nation?

------ Kristen remembered a section of the prophecy she had seen before: [The Fire Queen's daughter a Master of beasts.] ------

Liana sat by Lillian's bed for the second time, with Lillian lying unconscious in it. She examined her and found that she was only physically exhausted as her body was not used to using so much power at once.

After she had caught Lillian, they immediately went back into the castle and Kristen suggested bringing Lillian back over to their Tribe first while she recovers, then later on when she wakes up, they can talk again.

This time though, Liana finds herself laughing softly as she sits beside Lillian. While her body is exhausted, Lillian herself is awake.

*****************(What is going on while Lillian is unconscious – from Lillian's side) *****************

Lillian opens her eyes and finds she can't see anything.

(Lillian) "Why is it so dark? Wait… this is not dark: I can see in the dark."

She then realises she is unconscious and is currently stuck in her head.

Having had this happen before, she visualised a space in her head and sat down at a table that appeared as well. She used a spell to be able to see what was going on around her body, and found Liana sitting at her side with a concerned look on her face.

(Lillian) "I'm sorry. You don't need to be worried, I'm fine. I just exhausted by body by pulling too much power at once."

She wasn't sure if Liana was able to hear what she was saying, as she remembered that Liana could see into dreams but she technically wasn't dreaming. Her guess was proved correct as Liana replied,

(Liana) "It's fine. I just wish you'd have told me earlier so I could have been more prepared."

Lillian looked down, though she wasn't sure if Liana could see it or not.

(Lillian) "I'm sorry."

Liana smiled but didn't say anything more.

(Liana) "How long do you think it'll be before you can wake up? Is there anything I can do to speed up the process?"

Lillian frowned slightly and said,

(Lillian) "There is a spell that would speed up the pace of energy recovering, but it's a rather complicated spell."

Liana thought for a moment.

(Liana) "And how long will it be before you wake up if I don't do anything?"

(Lillian) "You know, technically I'm actually awake."

Liana chuckled softly but didn't comment.

(Lillian) "I'm not sure. It should be at least five hours. You should get something to eat."

Liana thought for a moment, then said,

(Liana) "And if I do the spell?"

Lillian frowned but replied,

(Lillian) "It's not a concrete guess, but I think around ten minutes after the spell is cast."

(Liana) "Can you show me how to do it?"

Lillian raised an eyebrow.

(Lillian) "You can actually see exactly what I'm doing?"

Liana nodded.

(Liana) "I don't know why, since you're not actually dreaming, but it seems to work the same way as when someone dreams. I can control how much of the dream I experience or can see."

Lillian nodded and thought for a moment.

(Lillian) "Alright. I'll show you."

She stood up and proceeded to create a dummy in front of her before starting the spell. As she finished, she directed the spell at the dummy, and it hit it, a faint glow enveloping the dummy.

*************(Outside) **************

Liana watched as Lillian performed the spell, then concentrated on exactly what she did for a moment.

(Liana) "No it's fine. Just give me a moment."

She stood up about two minutes later and proceeded to perform the spell exactly as Lillian had done it.

*

Ten minutes later, Liana was sitting at the bed, waiting for Lillian to wake up. Lillian's finger twitched and Liana smiled, knowing that Lillian was finally going to wake up. She wondered for a moment where Liz was, since her sister was unconscious, then remembered what happened the last time and gave it no more thought.

A minute later, Lillian opened her eyes and Liana moved forward to help her sit up.

(Lillian) "How did you manage to do that?"

Liana blushed lightly and said,

(Liana) "As long as I've seen a move or spell performed once, I can duplicate it exactly."

Lillian nodded, understanding that it wasn't just because of her memory, it was a unique skill in and of itself. She herself had a similar skill, but it wouldn't be an exact duplicate of the move or spell. Rather, it would change to fit her style of fighting or well, anything.

(Lillian) "Thank you."

Liana blushed lightly as she said,

(Liana) "Of course."

*

There was a knock on the door and Robyn's head popped in.

(Robyn) "I sensed you were awake, but do you guys want more time to talk or can I come in?"

Lillian glanced at Liana, then said softly,

(Lillian) "It's up to Liana. I just want to know what happened after I cast the spell."

Liana stiffened slightly and Robyn said,

(Robyn) "I'll leave you two to talk a while longer."

Lillian frowned as Robyn left the room and closed the door behind her. She turned to Liana with a quizzical look on her face.

(Lillian) "Why did she react like that?"

Liana had a sheepish look on her face as she said slowly,

(Liana) "My powers that were mentioned in the prophecy may or may not have surfaced when you fell after casting the spell."

Lillian's eyes widened.

(Lillian) "Your ability to control beasts?"

Liana nodded.

(Liana) "Well, sort of. More like hundreds of birds."

Lillian raised an eyebrow, waiting for Liana to continue.

(Liana) "When you started falling, it was like my body refused to listen to me. Then suddenly, it seemed like I was sending out a signal for help. And almost immediately, hundreds of birds flew in from all directions and caught you. They then lowered you into my arms."

She frowned slightly and paused for a moment before continuing with a lightly confused voice,

(Liana) "It felt like I was commanding them, giving them instructions, but at the same time it felt like I was like, actually talking to them."

Lillian thought for a moment then spoke.

(Lillian) "It could be both, but you have time to find out."

Liana nodded and leaned over to hug Lillian. When they separated again, Liana thought of something and asked,

(Liana) "Have yours already surfaced completely?"

Lillian frowned as she shook her head.

(Lillian) "You saw me in my wolf form. I have no control over when I turn or even what I do when I'm in it."

(Liana) "How often do you turn?"

Lillian thought for a while.

(Lillian) "About two to five months. Since I was eight."

Liana hesitated before asking softly,

(Liana) "Have you tried to turn into any animal intentionally?"

Lillian shook her head.

(Lillian) "I didn't want to risk anything. If I did manage to turn into a different animal, what would happen if I lost control?"

Liana nodded in understanding.

(Liana) "If we want to properly understand and control our powers, we are going to have to start somewhere."

Lillian nodded.

(Lillian) "I know."

They sat in silence, thinking how this would impact them and those around them. A few minutes after, Liana reached out and gently grabbed Lillian's hand, sending a comforting smile towards her.

(Liana) "I'm sure it'll be fine. We'll be helping each other."

Lillian smiled and tightened her hold on Liana's hand.

(Lillian) "We'll figure it out. Together."

Then, as an afterthought, she added,

(Lillian) "Well, technically we can't not do it together."

Liana rolled her eyes and they both laughed.

*

There was a knock on the door and Liana moved back before calling out,

(Liana) "You can just come in."

The door opened and Robyn, Liz and Ruby slipped in, Liz sending a look at Lillian before creating chairs for them to sit down on. Robyn sat next to Liana, and Liz and Ruby were on the other side of Lillian.

(Robyn) "Liana told you what happened?"

Lillian nodded.

(Liz) "It was so cool! We were all a bit frozen in place, then suddenly there were hundreds of birds approaching you."

Lillian smiled at Liz's excitement, knowing her sister had always been easily impressed. When it came to things she could do, Liz had sort of become immune to it, as it had happened too many times.

(Robyn) "Liz is right, but on a more serious note, Kris said she'd contact you when you woke up."

Lillian frowned.

(Lillian) "She definitely knows I'm awake, but she has yet to contact—"

She suddenly stopped and smiled.

(Lillian) "She's coming over."

Robyn smiled at the sudden change.

(Robyn) "Why didn't she contact you immediately when you woke up though?"

(Kris) "Because unlike you, I knew they'd need some time to talk first."

She sat down beside Lillian and said,

(Kris) "Other than that, I was busy."

She hugged Lillian and said,

(Kris) "The spell worked. Thank you so much, Alex."

The other girls waited expectantly as Kris released Lillian.

(Kris) "Apparently the niece of King Jasper, Princess Alana, got the throne and sent me an invitation for her coronation. She also sent a letter with it."

She snapped her fingers and a paper appeared in her hand. She handed it to Lillian, who read it and a surprised look came over her face.

(Lillian) "She wants the Sunstone Kingdom to become a vassal kingdom for the Vayithen Empire?"

Kris shrugged.

(Kris) "I don't want that, so we'll do some negotiations."

Lillian nodded.

(Lillian) "That makes sense. Will you go over or will she go to your side?"

Kris thought for a moment then replied,

(Kris) "I'll go over for the coronation, then she'll come over for the negotiations for the truce."

She grinned.

(Kris) "Normally if a new leader comes up with some sort of idea like this it'd be greatly opposed, but because the spell got rid of any who wants to attack the Vayithen Empire, everyone left is a supporter of her. She was actually the third in line for the throne but the first two were well, sort of taken out of the equation."

Lillian frowned.

(Lillian) "Alana has an extra motive for the truce."

A worried expression came over Kristen's face.

(Kris) "Is it bad?"

Lillian shook her head.

(Lillian) "No. In fact, it'll greatly help your kingdom."

(Kris) "Don't scare me like that, Lex!"

Liana sent a strange look at Kris before asking Lillian,

(Liana) "What is it?"

Lillian looked at the paper again before saying,

(Lillian) "She wants the support of both the Adrenian Empire and the Vayithen Empire. She's only nineteen, so many may not support her. She's choosing the thing that would help her the most by offering to make the Sunstone Kingdom a vassal kingdom. Her main aim is an alliance and a personal relationship with Kristen, as the Empress of the Vayithen Empire."

(Liana) "You got all that from a note?"

She already knew about Lillian's ability to infer information from certain information, but she didn't know to what extent it worked. Lillian merely nodded and gave Kris back the paper.

(Kris) "What do you think I should do?"

It was interesting that an Empress of her own Empire was asking a Chief of a Tribe not even in her own Empire. And at that, the girl she was asking was ten years younger than her.

(Lillian) "You have two options. One is to accept her offer and keep the Sunstone Empire as a vassal nation. The other is to counter-offer an alliance. If you choose to counter-offer, she will probably see it as you are giving her a chance to prove herself."

She thought for a moment and said,

(Lillian) "There's a third option but it's much more complicated."

(Kris) "What is it?"

Lillian explained her idea to Kris, and Kris decided she'd use that idea but changing a few details to fit her situation better.

(Kris) "Thanks, Alex. You always come up with the best ideas."

(Robyn) "The weirdest ones, too."

(Kris) "Yeah, Lex's ideas are weird half the time, but generally those are the best."

Liana cut in,

(Liana) "Why do you keep doing that?"

Liana had had enough and was seriously confused. Lillian reached out and grabbed Liana's hand.

(Lillian) "Doing what?"

(Liana) "When Kris addresses you, she keeps changing from Lex to Alex and it's really confusing me."

Kris grinned.

(Kris) "Sorry, it's a habit. I just say the first thing that comes to mind. Lillian brought it up once when we were younger but I guess she started ignoring it."

Lillian suddenly frowned and sat up straighter, turning to face the door. There was a knock and Rose quickly entered the room. At the sight of the five girls sitting around Lillian, she bowed to both Kris and Liana before addressing Lillian.

(Rose) "A letter came, Chief. From King Zander and Queen Adelia."