The farmer and the knight arrived at the head of the street, at a three-way intersection. Behind them, the intersecting road led left or right, but only the street before them mattered to Lauren. It was a suburban neighborhood, but the houses were all quiet, the yards silent, the gutters dry, and the greenspace unwent. The asphalt was old, its cracks patched by tar. The street ended in a cul-de-sac. Overhead, darkening oranges mixed with deepening blues as evening approached, yellow sun di

 As the group strolled towards their final goal in the afterlife, Zelda spoke eagerly with her daughter & granddaughter. The three Grand Sorceresses kept their gaits confident, but Lauren could glimpse behind their locked expressions the anxieties of those three great mistresses of their own realms. Land they could control; civilizations they could build; the very forces of nature they could unravel; but their family? It was a difficult thing to confront, indeed. Lauren knew it very wel

 For the afterlife, Lauren, Nadalia, Giselle, & the three Grand Sorceress sisters went. The plane for the dead souls from the realms of the Siblings lay without end, yet in defined borders. It was a realm of caring, the selfless act of the selfish. In their waking slumber, the dead were at true peace. Certain souls were more aware than others, but none were more active than a light meandering. Most were still. There was no blood. There was no magic. There was no Hunger. It was a blur wi

 Laying in her bed, her womb full of her lover, Lauren had a thought. Rather, it was a catalyst of a clue of a thought. She sat up, staring through the darkness at the mirror opposite to her bed. Her reflection stared back at her. Lauren wiped away a single tear. The farmer moved herself up the bed, and she gently let out Nadalia so that the knight would remain under the covers. Then, she carefully crawled out of her bed. Lauren stroked Nadalia’s hair, and Nadalia murmured in her sle

 Of the drinking competition between Valentina & Lauren, the arrangements had finally been completed. Only, the competition had expanded over the course of the wait to include nine of Lauren’s other friends – Strea, Rita, Melody, Theresah, Foa, Alba, Sange, Terrica, & Ume. These additions had not impeded Bart’s plans, only required him to bring in a larger amount of inventor. With the bar/kitchen in the common area of their new base available, the drinking competition was bein

 For the first time in many months, the meeting of the Siblings’ trusted reconvened. No longer were they situated around the eradicated mesa out in the wilds of the Core Realm. That small reality, an abandoned base found by the Offices of Para-Universal Investigation & approved by Lauren, had been brought into reoperation by work from the Siblings and some helpful volunteers. It was nearly at full functionality, and Lauren had decided that it was in a state to reveal to their allies.

 It was the opening of Grecinma’s very first train station and the Core Realm’s first railway. While such an invention was a marvel to the Core Realm, the celebration was minor, as many such small marvels were frequent in those days. It did draw a crowd, but nothing as big as half the whole population of the city. Strea was the organizer, as the instigator behind the Core’s locomotive adoption. She stood at the head of the event. A small host of Dissolvers stood behind her, including

 It was Harmon’s eighteenth birthday, and Melody had organized him a birthday party. The party was held at Hanno’s inn, having been properly rented out for the occasion. In attendance were: his two friends, Franklin & Chels, along with their month-old daughter whom Chels carried most of the event; all of Melody’s friends (read: Lauren’s friends) along with her professional associates Craythur, the Mermaid Queen Tirtra Moonlight & the Queen’s army-organizer Rodric

 Valentina, Circe, & Bart clinked glasses, and they knocked back a shot of tequila. Everyone on the Sharpshooter property let out a cheer. Valentina was formally out of office with the inauguration of the Desert & Plains Territories’ new president, one Casey Bendlake. It was a moment to celebrate, for Valentina was free to lead The Sharpshooters without obstacle. Tequila, whiskey, mezcal, beer, and wine were in abundance. Guns were fired. Bows were loosed. Knives and axe

 “She was that troubled?” Fóa asked, holding back an unusual snicker. “Yes,” Nadalia said, doing less to restrain glee. “She really shouldn’t be,” Lauren said, taking a swig of mead. “When you all become gods and come back, you can have any type of body you want.” Lauren and Nadalia were taking a break from discussing which of the nine Winter Knights, those chosen by Glaðalf, those who came before the expansions in numbers, would oversee which realms in te

 Lauren & Nadalia went to meet Alba over a particular sticking point about her spot in the upcoming unifications, ascensions, & institutions. The mobster had told them to meet her at The Buskers’ casino. Since neither had wanted to traipse through the Murk Realm to get there, Alba had informed them of a simpler method. Arriving in Kazan Kessel-przy-Caldera, the farmer and the knight walked to the city’s water-treatment facility – after grabbing schnitzel, rántott sajt, &

 The Palace of Progress was eventful on the day that Lauren had gone there to run an errand. Firstly, Su was testing a new robot in one of the Palace’s hangars: A lifesize model of Vbrociv, the Phoenix Outrider Legate of the Oceans who had died during the Second Coarse War. The robot was crafted from Blue Bone, Gloom Cries, & several other sturdy metals, much like the sets of power armor worn by Lauren’s friends, and it carried accouterment like hers, including the trident &

 The office of Clan Heion Na Shi’s 長 was cleared of all Yuki Hi’s personal effects. Ume had made it her own, keeping the decoration to a minimum. The one piece of flair Ume allowed was her swords, crossed in their sheaths, where Hi’s butterfly collection had once hung on the wall. Ume did not have her bed in the office, unlike her predecessor. Whether she wanted to keep work and leisure separate or she was too attached to her long residence, Ume never clarified. The new leader wore

 Parking Emma Wister in her garage, Lauren closed the garage door. She took a styrofoam container of roasted froglegs out from one of E.W.’s saddlebags – not leftovers, but a consolation. Lauren stepped into her kitchen from the garage, intent on putting the froglegs in her refrigerator. An unexpected sight stopped her in her tracks. Her Vampiric friend Sange sat in one of Lauren’s kitchen table chairs, facing the hall leading towards the frontdoor. It was not Sange’s presence, but

 Sad. Many ways the karst cave could be described: Dim & dark, shade dripping from every corner & crevice; warm air, like from a moan of misfortune; musk of lime, a dank effluvia of stone that could be felt on the skin before smelled through the nose; stalagmites and stalactites growing up & down & into each other, looking more liquid than droplets that made them; prone to echoes, which trail off in flat defeat; a misshapen cavity, the regret of the land. But, no descri

 Through the streets of HILPOAPOLIS, Lauren and Nadalia walked alongside Cateora towards the city’s – the empire’s – premiere school of gladiators, the LŪDUS GLADIĀTŌRIUS. Lauren wanted to be there for Terrica’s pick, and she was also curious as to Cateora’s reason for visiting the hoplomacha. The lion-faced general confirmed along the way that it was not about the plan mentioned by Su. During their walk, all three received praises of “savior”, and each of them was compli

 In a robotics assembly theater, Su was finishing construction of Harland’s new body. She melded and welded, and she wired and fired. She cranked, threaded, slotted, washed, and bent. She put Harland together. All the while, she transferred his code, his personality, himself into the new body. A crowd of onlookers – most of the Palace of Progress’ staff and many figures from among the studious planet’s erudite centers, along with Lauren, Nadalia, and Cammia – stood behind a protec

 Lauren was visiting the Aurori offices in advance of a meeting between Alba and a freshly-returned Karen Suzumebachi. It was also her first opportunity seeing Molly’s & Alba’s newborn, Agnella Aurori. She rested in a baby carriage beside Molly’s chair, swaddled, napping. Her soft hair was lighter than either Alba’s or Molly’s, but Lauren estimated its final, older shade would tend closer to Alba’s hair. At first, Lauren assumed that the girl was entirely Elf, for Lauren had

 Off the coast of an island to the north of the waters controlled by the Black Archipelago, the Hushed Bride anchored. Most of its crew had gone ashore, led by the bosun, Elynor, and Nadalia. It was the Isla del Valkea Manos, and it was, supposedly, haunted. They searched there for any signs of the previous Head Commander of the Guard-Knights, Warre Saltechire, who had appeared there for a week according to another Guard-Knight – Hank Derk – before disappearing. The search was on behalf

 A host of builders were fixing and redesigning the fortress that once served as the seat of power for the Terror In The South. Now, Ash worked among those builders, using her magic to disassemble unsalvageable components and set in place new sections of wall or brace. Her mother, Tynik I, worked alongside her, flying around with materials and helping on the upper portions of the structure. The bulk of the construction force was made up of locals of that Destroyed future who could tolerate

 Nadalia strode into the Overchurch, followed by Lauren and Strea. Rita and Melody had come with them to Grecinma, but they stayed outside for the time being. While Nadalia had returned to the Overchurch since her revival, she was still greeted with cheers and reverie by her fellow Guard-Knights and the clergy (and a single Dissolver passing by). Lauren received her own praises, of course, and Strea was offered her respects. The two Guard-Knights before the Approaching Chamber opened the do

For a catch-up, eight siblings take a meal at their new favorite diner. The head waitress greets them by name, and they greet her by hers. They sit down at a circular booth, the largest in the diner. Lauren, the hungry sister, lists out her order on a notebook as she goes down the menu, said notebook being provided by Bates, the knowledgeable brother. Del, the unassuming sister, makes paper footballs out of the napkins to flick between the upraised fingers of Axy, the strong brother. May, the pa

Lauren slid down Strea’s vaginal passage. Unlike the trip down Nadalia’s normal throat into a magic’d stomach, Strea’s sex did not stay tight. The corridor of lust became spacious before Lauren reached the womb. Lauren found herself falling, then sliding down Strea’s vagina. Lauren was caught by a fold, which served as a platform upon for her to involuntary rest. She stared over the edge, down at Strea’s cervix. While the scent of Strea’s passion was everywhere, the smells of Melod

 Lauren and Nadalia lay there in serenity. “I’m hungry,” Nadalia said. “I am, too,” Lauren said. Both laughed. “Let’s go fix yours, at least,” Lauren said. Lauren hopped out of her bed. She left her room without putting on a robe, pajamas, underwear, or her outfit. She went downstairs, skipping every other step. On the way, she felt Nadalia orient herself upside-down. In her living room, she spied some of her friends, who had moved from her porch. La

 Lauren and her friends were at her home. They sat out on her back porch so that Alba and Valentina could smoke, finding an ashtray for them (to which their curiosity was raised given her “no smoking in her house” stance). She did have to bring extra chairs from the inside so that everyone had a seat. Although, Strea sat in Rita’s lap, leaving one less chair needed. Lauren also brought out one of her better whiskeys to share. With the farmer and her companions all back together again,

 Lauren stepped out from the gate. She found herself by the cloven stone, the gathering place of the trusted. The gate had put her from where they had left. No one else was there, then. The sun was rising in the Core Realm. She squeezed her right hand tight, the talisman digging into her skin. Giselle stepped into the Core Realm behind Lauren. Soon, the rest of Lauren’s friends and her sister arrived, yet Lauren gave them no word. She held up her right hand, talisman reflecting the morn�