"Oops, I guess I don't know my limits yet," Emory giggled, "Thanks for catching me; I'm sorry for almost running into you."
Tiny red tulips appeared on Myrrh's cheeks as she smiled, "No problem. It's a good thing you're so strong; I could feel your arrival on planet and your approach."
"Emory, this is Myrrh," Sam said as she shifted back to her human form, "Myrrh, this is my friend Emory. She's the leader of the mission I'm on."
"Any friend of Sam's is a friend of mine. Pleased to meet you, Emory," Myrrh breathed as she let the red-haired beauty out of her arms.
"The pleasure is all mine," Emory bowed slightly, "This is a lovely planet you have here; Sam tells me this is all your doing."
Myrrh sighed, "Thank you very much.. That means a great deal coming from someone such as yourself. Sam, you should have told you that you were friends with a Goddess. I would have cleaned up a bit more."
"A what!" Sam squealed, "Emory, you didn't say anything about being a god!"
"Woah, I am not a god or goddess or anything like that. Wait, you can tell that I'm different from Sam?" Emory inquired.
"You two smell differently. And while I hadn't smelled anything like Sam before, I have smelled someone like you before," Myrrh replied as she brushed her finger on Emory's cheek, "They called themselves 'fire children', but I refer to them as Gods due to their immense power for a singular mind. I've never met one as powerful as you. You're truly breathtaking."
Emory's cheeks turned bright red before she responded, "Thank you for your kind and generous words. I'm still growing into this body and its magik. But I hope to do a lot of good with it all. If it's okay, I plan on inviting our allies to our growing makeshift base; danger will come for us unfortunately."
"The Apleem? Parasites," Myrrh glared, "How do you know they will come here again?"
"I destroyed a platoon of theirs yesterday because they tried to attack my friends somewhere else. So, I'm certain they will seek out any of our bases and attack. I apologize for bringing them to your home," Emory apologized.
"I bet crushing them was simple for you," Myrrh murmured as she walked around Emory, gently bumping into her as she did, "Your allies are my allies; feel free to build on the space I have allocated for you and ask me if you need more. How long will you be here, Goddess?"
Emory expressed some regret, "Sam and I need to take care of some business off world, but I'd be happy to have a longer conversation when we return."
"I'll hold you to that," Myrrh whispered seductively in Emory's ear. Emory and Sam bowed and headed out of the forest while Myrrh waved and gazed at Emory as they left. They walked in silence for a quarter mile before Emory stopped and sat on the ground.
Sam looked confused, "I don't understand, don't we need a teleport symbol to get to Gwen?"
"How do you think I teleported onto the ship inbound for Nephenee?" Emory smirked, "The circles are only necessary if you don't have the Arcane sphere. Come on; grab my hand." Sam clasped Emory's hand as she sat down next to her. Emory closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them to see a frozen wasteland before her.
"Where's the base? It's hard to see anything with this blizzard," Sam shivered.
"They must not have their circle built yet," Emory's teeth chattered, "Let's try this again." Sam nodded as she took Emory's hand again, and the next moment they were standing next to a bunker on a chilly plain. Something must have fallen in the bunker since Emory and Sam heard a resounding clang echoing out of it. Scrambling noises followed before Tana came rushing out to greet them.
Tana let out, "I didn't expect you all so soon. Actually, I thought you were Ninian again, though I'm very glad you're not."
"Tana! Good to see you!" Sam rushed over to hug her, "It's been a while. Where's Gwen?"
"She's in the base, checking on the status of all the construction projects," Tana casually mentioned. Seeing that they weren't a threat, she called another squad member to watch the bunker and led the pair of girls to the FOB. Along the short walk, Tana explained that they were on the lookout for Ninian due to the problems she caused last time she visited. It made sense, given that Ninian probably had the Charm sphere to influence others to do her bidding. Emory thought it might be a good idea to meet her in person but only if they had enough time. Once they made their way to the base, they found Gwen in the center of the room, flipping through virtual items on her wrist.
"Gwen, look who stopped by," Tana joked, "They got here a lot earlier than we expected. What's the status look like here?"
Gwen waved, "Hello friends! Tana, we should be able to setup the inscription platform later today, though we're behind on the research center."
"Come to the command center," Emory beckoned her, "I have a couple things to go over with the both of you before we go back to Earth." The four headed to the ship's command center and sat around one end of the conference table. Once they were seated, Emory went through the attack from the Mantoan and what had happened to Innes as well as the change in herself. Then she went on to explain the Contract spell and how it would differ between Gwen and Tana since only one of them had a Primal sphere. The decision was further complicated by the reading Emory had once done that said the Arcane and Blood spheres might not interact the best. Still, after she detailed the whole process, both girls were eager to take Emory's offer of becoming Hexbloods. So, using the same process she had with Gatrie, she used one finger to cast the spell on Tana and then Gwen. Emory's legs wobbled a little after finishing with Gwen since she had cast Contract four times in the same day while Athos had told her previously that the cap for most people's entire life would be five. She stumbled to her chair, took a deep breath, and circulated magik around her heart to recover her stamina more quickly.
Emory heaved, "We've got to take a break for a little bit before we return to Earth. I need to catch my breath."
"This spell must really take a lot out of you," Tana remarked as she stretched, "With the little bit you gave me, I feel ten times stronger."
"Me too! I feel like I could take on an army with this much magik," Gwen gleefully added.
"Athos told me that while I have limitless magik, I don't have limitless stamina," Emory breathed a little easier, "This spell, no matter how much magik I use, takes a minimum of twenty percent of my stamina. Meaning at maximum stamina, I could only do this spell five times in a day, and I have done four castings, on top of several teleportations across tens of light years."
Sam pointed out, "And this is only the second day you've had this much magik too. Let's get some refreshments and wait a few minutes while you recover." Tana nodded and pushed a few buttons on her wrist to get Jask to do the heavy lifting. A minute later a series of water cups rose up from a hole in the center of the table and crept like spiders down to where the girls were sitting. The cups were metal, obviously made from nanobots which allowed it to change shape slightly and become ambulatory.
Emory quickly downed the drink and asked for a refill. After fifteen minutes and three more cups of water, she felt a little bit more refreshed and stretched her sore body. Then she froze and a look of worry washed over her face. "I just realized that I've never been to Earth before, so I don't really know where I'm going," Emory mumbled.
"How did you teleport here then?" Tana's eyebrow furrowed, "You've never been here before, and you arrived here just fine."
Sam corrected, "Actually, we ended up in a frozen wasteland first. Then we teleported near the bunker because Tana was there. What about when you teleported to the moving ship?"
"I just pictured the command center of the ship and thought of Lloyd since he was the commander aboard the ship," Emory elaborated, "I've only seen Earth in photographs and barely know anyone there. Gwen, could you describe your home? Maybe we could start there."
"No way, we can't go to my house. My father isn't a big fan of you or your clan. If he's particularly angry, he might even try to lock us up," Gwen shook her head.
"What about one of the other clans?" Tana asked as she unwrapped some kind of nutritional food bar, "Can't you get one of them to help you?"
Emory reached into her backpack and grabbed the small crystal she was given by Sam's aunt. After a few moments, it changed to a green color and Perceval answered, "Good morning, Lady Aurelias. How are things going?"
"Things are moving quick out here," Emory admitted, "I'm trying to get to Earth, but I need some help. Could you describe your house to me in detail? Specifically, the area where you have the teleportation platform."
"Of course I can. My house rests in a large forest, completely secluded by large pine trees and a hardy flower garden to the side. It's made entirely of stained wood and a brush roof with a gigantic greenhouse attached to the back. The platform is a rustic water feature ten feet in front of the entrance. When do you plan to be here?" Perceval inquired after describing the mansion.
"We should be leaving here shortly," Emory replied, "I'm bringing two close friends of mine; I hope they're welcome too as they are both closely related to other Council leaders."
Perceval cheered, "Please bring your companions; we have more than enough rooms to provide for the three of you. Excuse me, but I must make sure my house is in order before the Lady Aurelias arrives." After that, the crystal reverted to its cloudy clear color and Emory looked up at her friends.
"That was a good idea, Tana. Thank you," Emory smiled, "Lord Ide is going to host us for the time being."
"My aunt said he's a nice guy. Also, I just thought about it, but Lady Cassandra must have had a house as well. Do you think that it's yours now?" Sam wondered aloud.
"We'll have time for all those questions once we get to Earth. I should warn you two: once we're on Earth, it's a given fact that the entire Council will know I'm there. Lord Ide told me that the leaders learn a spell that allows them to sense strong magik," Emory prepared them, "Tana, I need you to work on a couple things here while we're gone. First, make sure the teleportation platform is done today. Then work on the research center and send out some long-range probes. Finally, we'll need some basic houses for an army, ten to twenty thousand beds."
Tana nodded, "No problem. Thank you again for the gift. Good luck on Earth!"
Emory handed Tana the small crystal she had used to contact Perceval. "If anyone needs my help, contact Lord Ide and let him know you're looking for me," Emory emphasized, "I can get back to any of our planets if I need to in a flash, so don't hesitate to call for help." Tana took the crystal and agreed before she said goodbye again and left to hand out orders. Afterwards, Emory sat on the floor as she had every other time and put out her hands to grab the other two. Once everyone linked their hands, Emory closed her eyes, and moments later, they were gone like a puff of smoke.