Xico Rescues Her Mom, Nora Visits

All work in the United States - both my own, and that of this reality - is affixed to an eight hour workday that was standardized for the benefit of the industrial laborer. For those with jobs that are more seasonal, making you work forty hours a week during the off-season is completely irrational; and accounting is a seasonal job, with particular spikes in the amount of work that's necessary around tax season. Although one might expect crime to be a year-round affair, and thus Star Heroic to not have any particular seasonal peaks and nadirs in activity, in point of fact, crime was mostly a warm-weather affair, and about 60% more common in June than in February.

It was currently a low-ebb month, which meant, combined with the eight hour workday, that I was bored very quickly after coming in to work. I had decided to spend that spare time, not by browsing various videos on Youvid for something interesting, or by playing Mars Colony (a simulation game that was turn based and easy to minimize), but by teasing Xico.

Xico was very easy to tease, thanks to her telepathy. I could just imagine something like her blowing me, and she'd light up like a Christmas tree, biting her lower lip and intermittently glancing down at my groin to check to see if I was hard. (I always was.) It was fun, imagining her in this or that position, watching her response. The fact that she knew what I was doing didn't help her at all.

It was only an hour into the workday when Mira entered. It wasn't some casual sticking her head in; she entered with all solemnity, and I could see as Xico's posture suddenly shifted from whatever the issue was, jerking to attention. "Is she... okay?" Xico asked. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I stopped mentally teasing Xico. "You can... say it..." she added, for my benefit.

"Last night, there were reports of a taliké collapsing in a convenience store parking lot. We've confirmed their provenance, and based on video evidence, it appears to have been Erlqueen's work. We don't know for certain that the taliké in question was your mother, but they were alive when the Erlqueen took them to Arcadia."

"It... was Mom... she came to... visit," Xico explained, and Mira quickly nodded in response.

"We have the codes to Arcadia, and can open an extradimensional portal there within the hour; do you want to come with?"

"Yes," Xico said, nodding.

"Sorry, Roger," Mira said, giving me a quick, broad grin. "Guess you'll have to go home early, since your watchdog's on leave. Or I could just lock your computer out of our financials, and you can play Mars Colony while listening to Youvidders talk about their dogs, if you prefer."

I actually did feel a certain burning of my cheeks. "I'll go home. I can watch videos at home."

"Great." She clapped her hands and jerked her head - all three of us left my office. There was an increasingly large gathering in the conference room, and I could spot Hank and Jacy and Priscilla and a number of other people I didn't know by name there. One of Nora's bodies stepped in front of me, as Mira and Xico entered the conference room.

"I will escort you home, Roger, as I need to keep at least two bodies in this universe for safety's sake," Nora stated, evenly. "Since you have no combat experience or training, you cannot participate in this mission."

"I didn't want to go to the universe with the crazy lady who wanted to kidnap me, thanks," I told her.

"Good. That is a logical thing not to want. If you did want to do that, I would be worried about your suicidal behavior." Nora paused for a moment. "If you do not wish me to escort you home, then please say so."

"Oh, it's fine, let's go," I said. Nora immediately latched onto my arm and started walking out of the building with me.

* * *

The bubble of thoughts in the conference room made it hard to concentrate on any one set of ideas, and in turn it made it hard to discern what people were saying. This is why she was studying English, but she still lost decent chunks here and there. She caught Mira glancing her way, making a small nod that said the other woman understood that she'd need to have everything told to her a second time, when they were alone; she still tried her best to catch as much as she could.

The overall thrust of the plan relied on Priscilla and Xico. As the most powerful psychic at Star Heroic, but also the most distinctive, she and Priscilla would wear the appearances of a couple of Erlqueen's retainers who had previously been identified, using Priscilla's power to do so. Xico would use her psychic abilities to track down her mother, Priscilla would make a quick risk/benefit analysis, and probably the two of them would return back to their entrance site. At that point, a more detailed plan could be formulated.

* * *

"Now that you are safely home, I can stay with you, if you feel unsafe," Nora said, as we arrived at my apartment's door.

"Why would I feel unsafe?"

Nora blinked. "According to Xico, her mother visited you shortly before her kidnapping. Therefore, it is possible that Erlqueen chose to kidnap her based on observing her exit from your apartment. Therefore, it is possible that she may attempt to kidnap me."

"I don't think that's going to happen."

"I understand. However, it is common for men to feel irrationally afraid of sexual assault. It is OK for you to feel worried."

"You only have one body," I countered. "You basically don't have any superpowers at the moment."

"That is true," Nora agreed. There was a silence that stretched out. "I can act as an alert system if something should happen, however."

I let out a sigh. "Sure. Come inside," I said, and I saw the trace of a smile appear on her lips as she followed me in.

* * *

Arcadia itself was an alien landscape to Xico. She had grown up on a compound in the Arizano desert, where there was little life except what they specifically cultivated - which was itself a mix of Earth and Chandrath crops. Then she had moved to Nuyawk City, which was all steel spires. Sometimes she had been sent out for an investigation elsewhere, but normally it was Tsuru or one of the other telepaths who handled that sort of thing. Even when she did leave, one city looked similar to any other.

Arcadia didn't look anything like what she was used to, though. Where the spires of human habitation in Nuyawk were made of gleaming metal with glittering lights, Arcadia's looked to be sculpted of a variety of materials, from living wood to white candle wax. And sculpted was the proper term: they curved and bulged in shapes that didn't look like the thick blocky shapes of human buildings. Some leaned to one side or the other; one that she saw even had a donut shape in the middle, and another did a three hundred sixty degree turn in the middle, before returning to its upward climb. Despite the sophistication of the buildings, they were relatively short, compared to those of Nuyawk, and covered a territory that also carried with it copious amounts of what might have been park or farmland.

Priscilla held her hand as Xico tried her best to pick up any mention of a taliké, of tentacles, of a flying or telekinetic beast. Most people were thinking of other things: affairs, gossip, pets, business. Sometimes she picked up a couple imagining doing sexual things to one another, and she felt her cheeks glow again, as their debauched imaginations outpaced anything she'd done with Roger, and most of the things Roger thought about.

Eventually, though, somebody's thoughts wandered to 'the Erlqueen's new exhibit,' and Xico followed after them for a bit, long enough to pick up the broad contours. Her mother was being paraded around like a nonsentient beast might be, trapped in a cage and paraded in front of strangers. The person had seen the creature, and from what Xico picked up, it was clear her mother was still being drugged.

She took in a deep breath through her nose, and Priscilla noticed. "Is everything alright?" She asked.

Xico considered telling Priscilla what she'd picked up, but she knew the consequence would be the two of them heading back to the extraction point, abandoning her mother to whatever torments the people of Arcadia wanted to lavish upon her. Lying wasn't really in her nature, as a half-taliké. But as a half-human... "Yes. I think... there may be... information... that way," she said, with a gesture towards that direction. She was lucky she didn't have her tentacles at the moment, or their anxious curling would probably have revealed her first-ever serious lie. Well, technically it wasn't even a lie...

* * *

"I will cook for you, so that you can relax and remain calm," Nora had told me, and I had decided to just let her. I could cook for myself - the miserly bachelor lifestyle I'd lived before coming here had made sure of that - but just lounging on the couch seemed nice.

I told myself that I wasn't feeling anxious after what had happened to Nidra, but the start I had when I heard a knocking on the door disproved that idea completely. Still, I decided to answer the door myself, to prove to myself that there was no threat, and I used my superspeed to make sure that Nora couldn't beat me to it - though I saw her body, in slow motion, trying its hardest to, rushing away from the kitchen still wearing my star-spackled black "Galactic Cook" apron and her casual clothes beneath it. I spared a second to admire her body, all the muscle of her fit physique, her expression a stern and solemn mask, then quickly got to the door and checked through the peephole.

It was just May, I realized, letting out a sigh of relief. She held a six pack in her hand, too, and I let out a small snort of laughter as I opened the door to greet her. "Hey," I said. "I have a friend over."

"I am more than aware," she told me, easily hefting up the six packs as if they weighed nothing at all. I guess that slim physique of hers hid some decent muscles - I certainly wasn't complaining about her flexibility or endurance in the bedroom. "On ordinary days, you are not home near so early - what is the occasion?"

"Something came up, and I wasn't going to get any more work done today anyway."

"I see," she said, with a faint hum. "May I enter your abode?"

"My friend is-"

"A woman who does not need your presence, or your use of alcohol as social lubricant," Nora interrupted, having arrived at the front door. She paused for just a moment, a tiny expression I was pretty sure represented her thinking seriously - then promptly plastered herself to my side. "Thank you for your offer of free alcohol, but it is unnecessary, as Roger will have crazy, fun, kinky sex with me even when he is completely sober. Therefore, you can depart."

May let out a laugh, something good natured and affable, as if Nora's obvious and overbearing jealousy didn't matter to her at all. "I suppose I can depart, but what if I don't want to?"

"I am making Roger a meal. There is not a portion for you."

"I see no flaw in that - I have already eaten this morn's breakfast."

Nora faintly frowned at the comment. Then she glanced over at me. "Are you having sex with this woman?"

"Uh... yeah," I admitted. The twitch of frustration seemed to run through Nora's whole body, her frown deepening.

"You are aware that Roger is the sort who gladly slakes his lusts with many women, surely?" May asked.

"I am aware that Roger is a very good lover who is currently in a non-exclusive relationship with me." She wore a tiny look like a sly smile, then turned to me, whispering in my ear. "If you tell this woman to leave, I will not have my other spare body go find a man to pick up."

"It's really fine with me if you sleep around," I told Nora, making her give a faint pout, her head bowing slightly.

Nora turned her attention back to May a second later. "It is actually the case that statistically speaking, men prefer breasts that are not as large as yours. Although large breasts predominate in pornography, this is not a true reflection of men's sexual preferences, as it is made to appeal to women who often fantasize about having unnecessarily large breasts. The preferred male breast size is a C-cup."

"What, really?" I asked, surprised at the quote.

"I have just looked it up. Multiple studies find medium-sized breasts to be the primary preference." She paused for a moment. "Technically this makes my breasts too large, as I am a D-cup, however, this woman is clearly even larger, so you probably think that her breasts are unnecessarily and uncomfortably large."

May let out a laugh at that, adjusting her arm in a way clearly intended to draw my attention to her neckline. "Of all the things that may be said of Roger, I can offer you my solemn word that he does not find my breasts too large." That was definitely true. Though, maybe I wasn't really a breast man at all, given that I didn't really care one way or the other between Xico and Kate. The thought that I might not actually be shallow at all came to mind, and was quickly dismissed due to the fact that I definitely wanted to fuck all these women because they were hot. "Mm, praytell, what name are you known by? I'm May Colvin."

"I am Nora Kleiner," Nora responded. "Now that we are introduced, you can leave."

"Nora," I said, letting out a sigh.

Nora pouted, looking away as her lips thinned. "As it is your home, it is up to you who may enter. I should return to cooking," she said, heading back to the kitchen. "Please do not have sex with her while I am cooking to make you feel better, as it would hurt my feelings."

"Oh? Do you need comforting, my dear Roger?" May asked, fingers trailing along my neck. "Whatever for?"

"I guess I can tell you. Come on in," I said, stepping inside, and she followed after.

* * *

Xico felt Priscilla's fingers tug at her sleeve, but obviously, it had no effect on her. She carefully twisted her arm out of Priscilla's grasp, making sure that skin didn't brush against skin as she swam through the air forward, her thiasyar feeling out the shapes of the swarm of strange folk that surrounded the latest 'attraction' at the 'menagerie.'

Her mother was trapped in a wheeled steel cage, attended by two armed soldiers of the Arcadian sort, clad in enchanted armor and wielding long spears. They did not even have time to notice her sudden approach before her thiasyar had found them both, the invisible conduits of psychic power wrapping around both and slamming them forcefully against the ground. The shrieks of the crowd, their strange and manyvaried bodies swarming away from the scene, did not produce in her the slightest hesitation: her thiasyar clasped round the metal bars of the cage, ripping them away one by one, like a flower having its petals plucked.

She felt her mother's will and thoughts, not gregarious and expansive as they usually were, but soft and susurrous, like a sleeping human, but moreso. She considered hefting up the armed guards she had pinned, purely to slam them down against the ground again, but she was a hero. She hefted her mother up out of the torn-open cage they had kept her in, gently plucked the many needles that had pricked her flesh and administered whatever eerie poisons that the locals used. She glanced over at Priscilla, who was currently wearing the guise of a muscular, blue-skinned woman two meters tall; she jerked her head in one direction, and Xico nodded, following after her, taking flight.

Griffon-riding knights approached her as she flew away with her mother clasped in her thiasyar - she reached out with her thiasyar for them one by one, plucking their weapons out of their hands and tossing them to the ground. When that failed to suffice for some of them, she instead grasped them around the waist and settled them down on the ground. She wasn't going to kill them, they were just doing their jobs.

Still, the pair rapidly approached their exit site - she wound up picking Priscilla up, even the woman's superhumanly fast pace, currently enhanced by switching to a quadrupedal shape, not matching Xico's speed with her mother carried in her thiasyar - and she shoved them both through the portal as it was torn open. Whatever chasers they still had were left unable to follow as it was unceremoniously closed behind them.

Hank looked down at her, his expression serious, and she felt her tentacles tangle up, even though she knew they weren't actually present. She could feel his disapproval, since he had already figured out what she had done. "They were... hurting her..." she explained. Drugging her. Keeping her captive. Throwing pebbles at her to see her response.

"We had a plan for a reason, Xico," Hank said. "I understand that she's your mother, but what would you have done if you hadn't managed to make it back to the site?"

Xico just bowed her head, not really knowing what to say. Mira was checking on her mother, hefting the woman's tentacles, waving her hand in front of her eyes, so Xico didn't feel too guilty about what she had done, but she knew she had done something wrong anyway. "Sorry..." she said.

* * *

I had just finished explaining to May what had happened with Xico's mom, when Nora popped in from the kitchen. "I have set the table for a romantic meal for just the two of us, Roger," Nora stated, her gaze focusing on May despite her words supposedly being directed at me. "May will have to watch in silence from the sidelines as we enjoy it."

May looked somewhat unsure, then spoke. "So this... bizarre creature... is actually Xico's mother? I happened to see it as it left your apartment," she explained. "I had assumed it was simply... I don't know, some strange animal I'd never heard of before."

"It doesn't look like anything from Earth?" I pointed out.

"Nor too does the platypus, or the elephant, or the giraffe; but those are all creatures of this planet, too." I guess that was fair enough. I suppose in a superhero world there were probably other bizarre animals I'd never heard of.

"I would like to have a romantic dinner with you, Roger," Nora said, pointedly.

"Oh, do it - don't hesitate on my account. I believe I should go," May said, rising to her feet.

"Nora's just like this, don't get offended," I told May, who nodded in acceptance.

"I understand perfectly well, but there are personal matters I must attend to. I bid you adieu," she said, with an exaggerated bow, before leaving my apartment.

Nora had cooked up spaghetti for the two of us, and it looked truly delicious. She'd poured me a tall glass of water, and herself some chocolate milk, as she sat down across from me, holding a lighter in her hand. She paused, then stood up, lighting the candle and turning off the lights in the surrounding rooms, leaving us with just the candlelight. "I have read that this is romantic," she told me. "Are you feeling romanced?"

"It's very sweet, thank you Nora," I told her, as I started to dig in. It was pretty good - I mean, spaghetti wasn't that hard to make, especially since I had a bottle of marinara in the fridge, but still. I gave what was on my plate a dollop of parmesan, mixed it in, and dug in.

"My other bodies may be freed up due to changes in circumstances regarding Xico's mother," Nora told me. I blinked at the statement. "If you would like to have group sex, we can probably safely do so."

"No, thanks," I said. For one thing, the phrase 'probably safely' was doing a lot of work. For another, it was kind of... cozy, being with Nora like this. I wanted to just try out being normal with her, if that makes sense - the woman was constantly offering everything she could think of to try to seduce me, and I wondered what it felt like if you put all that away and left her as an earnest girl who was trying her best to make a good date for the two of us.

We talked over the meal; Nora wasn't the best conversationalist about television or video games, since she clearly didn't watch much of the former or play much of the latter, but she was earnestly trying her hardest. I was pretty sure one of her other bodies was busily scrolling through the local online encyclopedia to try to find out what I was talking about half the time, but she didn't complain about me going on about video games she'd never played, so I had to count her as a quite good conversational partner in that sense.

"You should really try playing some video games, they're fun."

"I attempted to play Adventure Party 3, and I did not find it fun."

"I think that's because you were getting stomped by Lope, and the AI, and me."

"That is possible. Do you have a different game that I could play instead?"

"Umm..." I thought about it. First person shooters were really bad for new players, since they tended to have great difficulty simultaneously aiming and moving, and I didn't want to watch Nora corkscrew while staring at the ceiling. RPGs were often quite opaque in systems and subsystems, relying on preexisting knowledge - Nora's failure to understand a lot of Adventure Party! 3 was proof of that. Something turn-based and relatively simple, or perhaps a simple adventure game... maybe some other things. I hadn't really gone through all the games that Mira had bought me. The thought came to mind that I could take advantage of our relationship to get more video games from her, but I put it aside for the moment."Maybe. Let me look through the stuff after we're done with dinner... and dessert."

"I did not make dessert," Nora informed me.

"In this context, it's code for sex," I explained.

"Oh, I see. Then I look forward to 'dessert' very much," she explained. "What kind of 'dessert' will we be having, darling?"

"Uh..." I honestly had just planned to fuck her hard and see where it went from there. "I was thinking of starting with missionary sex?"

"I understand," she said, with a nod. I really had no idea if she actually did.

* * *

After we finished eating, I took a breath mint, since I didn't really know if Nora wanted to taste the spaghetti she'd made - she promptly also took one of my breath mints, presumably for much the same reason. "Now I am like an after-dinner mint," she declared, "which is like a dessert."

I just took her to the bedroom, stripping myself naked in short order. Nora had one very pleasant feature when compared to other girls, at least when you were alone with her - her eyes. Most other girls would eventually let their eyes wander back to your face, after drinking in your naked body and hard cock. Nora would just stare as long as she thought she could get away with, as if committing the entire thing to memory. It brought to mind the mental image of her using another body to sketch my naked form in precise detail - then I grabbed her, pushing her down onto her back on the bed. She kept her gaze on my cock the whole time, her eyes bobbing with each step I took to follow the way my cock bounced.

It was only as I slid my cock into her waiting sex - and she was wet, practically drenched with anticipation - that her eyes left my cock, instead sliding up to my torso, unblinkingly staring at my muscular chest as I started to thrust inside her. I met her lips with my own, my tongue invading her mouth, and only then did her blue eyes flick up to meet mine, as she kissed me back. Her hands immediately reached up for my body, not to caress me or pull me against her, but instead to grope my pecs. By the little hums of pleasure and delight she let out as she kept up the kiss, she very much liked to grope them, her eyelashes fluttering as she worked me over like that. My hard cock throbbed inside her, as I thrust again and again into her waiting sex, her breasts bouncing with each thrust on my part.

As I balanced on my other arm, my hand slid along her body, first giving her quite-nice, perky tits a squeeze, before sliding down her toned stomach to find her clit. Then I took advantage of all the techniques to make a girl come her brains out, the ones I'd learned by experimenting with Mira, on her. My finger brushed and ran around her clit in rapid circles, superhumanly quick - and she let out a soft little noise of delight, her eyes widening in surprise. My phone went off, presumably Nora wanting to call me to say something without breaking off the kiss, but I ignored it, letting it go to voicemail.

As the ringing ended, Nora came for the first time, her muscular pussy clamping down hard on my cock. It felt truly fantastic, the sensation of her cunt wrapping around my cock and just squeezing, her pussy going absolutely wild on my dick as her body spasmed in pleasure. I had to purposefully stay in superspeed mode as she came, turning an intense gripping movement into a slow motion massage, just to avoid coming alongside her. As she finished coming, I broke off the kiss with a wet pop.

Nora's post-orgasm face wasn't as extreme as Mira's, not by a longshot, but there was certainly something still pleasant there. The faint pink flush of her cheeks; her lips parted as she breathed through her mouth; this sort of look in her eyes, as if she was bewildered by what had just happened, almost as if that were the first orgasm of her life; it was all a delight to look at. Her breasts also looked gorgeous as well, seeming to defy gravity as her perky nipples pointed up at the ceiling, her tongue flashing out to lick her lips.

I leaned down over her, not kissing her on the lips this time, but instead letting my lips trail along her neck. She let out this curious little noise, a sort of mewl, as if she had never dared imagine getting this kind of treatment from me - that just encouraged me further, and I kept kissing my way down her body, attending to her collar bone before finally finding her breasts, kissing along the tops, currently flush with color. Meanwhile, my hand in her groin toyed with her clit.

"You are a very, good, lover," she got out, as I started to accelerate my subjective sense of time, letting me hyperstimulate her clit again as my thrusts held the same speed. "O-oh, you are doing something, very, very, puh, pleas, pleasant, to my, clitoris," she got out, before moaning in pleasure, her back arching.

"Call it a clit," I said, whispering the words in her ear - she immediately nodded rapidly, her body twitching beneath me as she continued to spasm in pleasure. "Fuck, you're so tight," I groaned out, as her pussy gripped me - and I could see the stupid grin that slid across her features. To a girl of this world, that was like receiving praise from a man declaring that his penis was so big.

As her orgasm ended, she made that much exceedingly obvious. "I am very tight. Am I the tightest girl you have ever had sex with?" She asked. No, that was Xico, but I wasn't going to just say that, so I just upped my pace inside her. "It is because, I exercise, my kegels," she told me, before coming again. This time, her fingers clawed across my bare back as she tried to pull me down into her, and I just suckled on one of her perky nipples as I kept thrusting away.

I went at her like that for what felt like literal days, though I'm sure even subjectively it was less. She came, over and over again, and occasionally I'd lose control and ejaculate inside her - but I'd quickly rally and start going again, Nora moaning and twisting delightfully beneath me with each passing repetition. She felt amazing, and the longer the sex went on, the more extreme her expressions got. Unlike Mira, who reached her o-face pretty quickly, Nora's ordinarily solemn mask meant that it took a lot of ramping up to get something really nuts.

All I actually got was a bit of drool, her eyes staring emptily at her own brow, and bright red features. Still, that was really nice.

* * *

Nora stared blankly at the ceiling, her whole body still heaving from all the orgasms that Roger had put her through. She had wanted to bring in a second body, but Roger had wanted to have lovey-dovey one-on-one vanilla missionary sex, so she had not. He had intentionally ignored the three separate times she had called him during sex, in order to use a body that was not being fucked to better communicate with him.

She believed this was because he wanted a more intense intimacy with her. As if she was a typical girl (not normal, as normal was not objective), who did not have multiple bodies, and thus could be driven to blissful ecstacy with only an hour of sex. It was very pleasant, particularly when, after the sex, he pulled her into his chest, letting her rest her cheek against his muscular chest and listen to his heart beat.

She was very happy with this turn of events. Casual sex was less likely to involve cuddling post-sex. The fact that Roger was choosing to cuddle with her was strong evidence that he was emotionally invested in their relationship, and that she could soon convince him to become her husband. She smiled at that thought.

Then Roger spoke, and instantly she focused all her attention on him. "Hey... so are dinosaurs still around?"

She blinked, unsure of the question's meaning. "Yes. They are called 'birds,' and they descend from theropods such as Archaeopteryx. Like other theropods, they are bipedal, feathered, and situate their spines largely parallel to the ground, with the primary exception of penguins to the last data point."

"No, I mean, dinosaur-dinosaurs. May apparently thought that Xico's mom was just a weird animal. Are there any t-rexes or ankylosaurs or anything?"

"Oh. No. They went extinct 65 million years ago."

"Ah. That's what I figured," he said, shifting his weight subtly beneath her, which made his pecs seem to dance against her cheek. "Just thought it would be cool. No cloning them? You guys have superior science."

"DNA has a half-life of 521 years; as such, it would be a one in approximately 4.5 times 10 to the 3755th power for any individual DNA strand from 65 million years ago to survive to present. There are upwards of 10 to the 20th cells on Earth at present."

"Huh," he replied. "No time travel, either, I take it?"

"We are currently traveling forward through time," she noted. He let out a snort and patted her head.

"Guess I'll never get to see a living dinosaur," he said, letting out a long sigh as he relaxed beneath her.

"It is possible some alien civilization sampled dinosaurs and saved their genetic data; however, I do not know of any alien civilization which was contemporaneous with both modern humanity and dinosaurs." He just nodded in acceptance.

* * *

Many people of her court were braying for war, now - particularly the satyrs, who were literally braying. Humans had invaded the kingdom to steal from their queen's menagerie, disguising themselves as citizens and then attacking them and theirs. While there had been no dead, this was not attributed to mercy on the part of the attackers.

Fals spoke with a casual dismissiveness of the whole affair. "I apologize; I told Xico that she should collect her mother as quickly as possible. That creature was no mere beast, but a very strange and foreign person. It was entirely inappropriate for me to take her captive."

That helped quiet the demands for war. She supposed she should be more circumspect about collecting new creatures for her menagerie, no matter how fascinating they may have been. As the humans said: live and learn.