“Don’t do this, Mai.” Aria said, blocking the door to their room. “This is wrong.”

“They deserve it!” Mai protested. “And, as a wise man once said, it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission!”

“You already asked for permission and were denied.” Aria said. “And it’s not always better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

“Well, I’m doing it.” Mai said. “I want a little brother, and I’m not taking no for an answer! They’re not tough, so they’re just going to die out there anyway, I’m saving a life! Now, move aside, or I’m gonna be forced to move you.”

Aria grit her teeth. “No. I’m not moving.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Mai asked. “We both know I’m stronger than you.”

“I…I…” Aria stuttered. Mai was right, but Aria wasn’t going to move aside just like that. Errus? She asked. Can you hear me?

I can hear you. Errus replied instantly. I can help you here if you would like, but I would recommend calling for your mother instead.

Can…can you help me keep her at bay while mom comes?

Yes. She may be stronger than you, but she can’t do a lot in the state she is now. Would you mind if I took control of your body for just this moment? I’ll give it back the moment your mother gets here. Or, if you would rather, I can just give you advice while you fight.

Um, please do. Aria said. I don’t think I’d do well, even with advice.

Got it. There was an odd sensation, like permission was being asked of Aria. She hesitated for only a moment before giving that permission, and suddenly someone else was moving her body. “We’re not moving.” Errus said flatly. “This is unacceptable behavior, and you know it.”

Mai groaned. “Did you really just call out Errus?” She whined. “Why? This isn’t a big deal!”

Aria ignored her, instead reaching out for her mother. Mom? She ventured.

After a second, she got a reply. Aria? Lilith instructed. Is everything alright?

I need you in our room. Aria replied. It’s an emergency. Mai’s trying to go to the prisoners and make one our little brother.

I’m on my way. How are things over there?

I had Errus come out because it looked like Mai was going to try and force me out of the way.

Errus, if you can hear me, stand down. Lilith instructed. I’ll be able to catch Mai before she can make it to the prisoners, and I don’t want Aria getting hurt.

I understand. Errus said.

Thank you.

“Well, if you’re not going to say anything then I’m coming through.” Mai said, advancing on Aria. “Whether that old man helps or not, I can still beat you in a fight.”

Errus sighed, then stepped away. “Very well.”

Mai stopped in her tracks. “After all that?” She asked. “You’re just letting me go, after all that blustering?"

“I won’t let Aria get hurt for this if I can help it.” Errus replied. “Besides, my job is done.”

“Wha –”

The door to their room flew open, revealing a very cross Lilith. “Mai, what are you doing?” She asked sternly.

“N-nothing, mom!”

Alright, I’m going back to sleep. Errus said. Don’t hesitate to call if you need me.

Thank you, Errus. Aria replied. I appreciate it.

Any time. With that, Aria was once again alone in her body, and she could focus back in on the conversation.

“I was just…getting a drink!” Mai protested. “That’s all!”

“I don’t think there are any drinking fountains in the prison area.” Lilith said dryly. “Mai, you’re grounded.”

“What?!” She wailed. “But I’m not doing anything wrong! They’re going to die anyway, so what’s the harm in making one of them our little brother?!”

“They will not necessarily die.” Lilith said. “That is something that is up to them. There is a real possibility that they survive.”

“But they’re not like us!” Mai argued. “They’re weak! How are they going to live out there?!”

“They’ll find a way, or they’ll die.” Lilith said calmly. “But that’s not for you to decide. It is incorrect to assume that they will die because they are not Perfect Chimeras. Furthermore, making someone my child as a punishment is something that would hurt my position if it ever got out. And, above all that, it’s just wrong. It’s…like a worse way of killing people.”

“I don’t get it.” Mai said frustratedly. “They’re still alive, so why is it worse? It should be better!”

“Because people are like that.” Lilith replied. “I’m sure there are a lot of people that would agree with you, but I believe many would rather die as themselves, especially if living meant becoming someone that disagreed with everything you stood for.”

“But…but…you’re right, so it’s okay to make them think like you! That’s what you’re doing with me and Aria, right?!”

“Like I said earlier, you two are special.” Lilith said. “You’re too important to let die. With Aria, she deserved to be set back to how she was before, and with you it was the most fitting thing to do.”

She paused briefly. “But we can talk about this later. I’m going to lock you in here for the rest of the night, and if I even get so much as a hint of you trying to escape, you’re going to be grounded for another month, understood?”

“But –”

“No buts.” Lilith replied. “Go to bed.” She turned to Aria, then squatted down and patted her head. “Thanks for letting me know,” She said, “but if something like this happens in the future you don’t need to try and block her or anything, okay? Just let me know and I’ll take care of it.”

“Yes, mom.” Aria said obediently.

“Good girl. Now you go to bed too, okay?” And with that she left the room and the door shimmered before vanishing altogether.

“Why did you have to do that?” Mai huffed. “Now I’m grounded, and we don’t get a brother.”

“Mom would have caught you anyway.” Aria replied, climbing into bed. “We’re literally inside of her. Why did you think you could get away with it?”

“I’m sneaky!” Mai said. “She doesn’t catch me when I sneak bread out of the kitchen at night!”

Aria rolled her eyes. “Do you think no one notices that some of the bread is missing?” She asked. “Raphi and Emily will, if no one else does. I think mom just doesn’t care enough to talk to you about it.” She pulled the covers over her head. “Now, I’m going to bed, good night.”

“Fine, I’m angry at you anyway.” Mai replied. Getting into her own bed.

There was no further conversation, so Aria soon found herself drifting off to sleep.

Lilith snapped a finger, transporting the prisoners from their various cells to the room she was in. “It is time for your punishments.” She said icily. “Given the circumstances, I have decided that a suitable punishment would be to banish all of you.”

The prisoners began to murmur, but Lilith held up a hand, activating a spell that would silence them. “This is not up for debate. I’m sure some of you are wondering how a banishment would work in this day and age, and the answer is that I will be sending each of you to the far-flung reaches of Haven, far from any sort of civilization.”

She waved a hand, and Nuwa grew enclosures out of the floor, splitting the prisoners into pairs. “The person you have been paired with will be the only other person you are allowed contact with, and will be teleported to the same location as you. Now, I’m going to open the floor for questions regarding the details of this punishment, but know that if you ask about anything not related to the punishment, or try to argue about the details, I will teleport you away immediately. Now, questions?”

“What about our families” A man asked.

“What about them?” Lilith replied, raising an eyebrow. “They haven’t done anything wrong, for the most part.”

“Aren’t they going to wonder what happened to us?”

“No. I’ll be releasing an official statement containing your identities and the punishments I’ve given; they will know exactly what happened to you. If you’re worried about them, you should have thought about that before you broke my rules.”

“What if civilization comes to us?” Another person asked. “Will you kill us then?”

“As long as you did not somehow instigate it, no. Do not get your hopes up, however; you are far enough away that, at the rate things are going, I anticipate it taking centuries or more for people to get to the point where they are settling the areas I will be sending you.”

There was a long silence before another person spoke up. “How dangerous are the places we’re being sent to?”

Lilith shrugged. “I didn’t pay too much attention, but you can assume they’re highly dangerous. I fully expect many of you to die in the coming years, so take that as you will.”

There was another outburst of murmuring, and fear flashed across the faces of some of the people. “I don’t care if you stay with the person I partnered you with or not, just keep in mind that splitting up may or may not affect your odds of survival. That being said, I believe that’s about everything important, so I’ll be sending you off now.”

She waved a hand, and teleported the first pair out. She followed this up by doing the same for six other groups, then turned to the one remaining person, Inanna. There had been an odd number of ringleaders, so Lilith had chosen to make Inanna the odd one out.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Inanna spat. “Teleport me out of here and let’s be done with it.”

“Well, someone’s eager.” Lilith said. “I actually have an offer for you, if you care to hear it.”

Inanna paused, clearly thinking that over. “I suppose I’m listening.” She admitted.

“Become one of the Adjudicators.” Lilith said flatly. “If you do, I’ll spare you any further punishment.”

Inanna frowned. “Come again?”

“I said become one of the Adjudicators.” Lilith replied. “No other punishment required.”

Inanna’s frown deepened. “Where’s the catch?”

“What makes you think there’s a catch?” Lilith asked innocently.

“The fact that you just sentenced everyone else to death?” Inanna said sarcastically. “Please, I’m not stupid. What exactly does becoming an Adjudicator mean?”

Lilith smirked. “I give the Adjudicators…special enhancements to make them suitable for their roles, as well as to ensure their loyalty. I will admit that I haven’t tried the process on a person yet, but the odds of survival are almost certainly higher than sending you to the wilderness.”

Lilith carefully probed Inanna’s thoughts as she considered the situation. She was weighing her options, judging the likelihood of survival if she was sent out to the wilderness and comparing it to Lilith’s brainwashing. It took her a few minutes, but in the end, she decided it was better to die in the wilderness than it was to live under the thumb of her enemy, even if she could probably escape Lilith’s brainwashing eventually. She was, of course, underestimating Lilith’s capabilities again, but Lilith wasn’t about to point that out.

“I’ll go to the wilderness.” Inanna said. “None of that Adjudicator stuff.”

“Very well then.” Lilith replied, waving a hand and teleporting Inanna away.

  As soon as she had done so, Eve piped up in her mind. What was that?! She asked. I thought we were just sending her alone, none of that offer business! Didn’t we just tell Mai we weren’t going to brainwash and transform the prisoners?

I had the idea and figured I’d give her the option. If she chose that option, then the resulting brainwashing would be her own choice. And this situation is different from making her our child anyway; people get forced into community service all the time, this is just another version of that, except for people who would die anyway. Making her our kid is just too…personal.

Whatever. Eve said. She didn’t accept so it doesn’t really matter anyway. Just consult with us first next time, okay? You nearly gave me a heart attack there.

Sorry, it was spur of the moment. Next time I’ll let you know.

Good.

Lilith made her way back to her room, where she let out a huge sigh and flopped onto her bed, next to Kali and Alex. “That was tiring.” She said. “But I think that’s the last big thing we need to take care of for a while, right?”

“I believe so.” Kali said, grabbing Lilith’s hand. “Good job out there.”

Alex shyly followed suit, grabbing Lilith’s other hand. “Um…yeah. What was with that last bit with Inanna, though?”

“Just an idea I had.” Lilith replied. “You know, kinda like what we did with Elenoa except more severe. It’s not really important.”

“If you say so.” Alex said.

“So…what now?” Lilith asked.

“TV?” Kali ventured.

“Sure, but I mean…in general.” Lilith said. “After I put out that announcement, everything seems to be going smoothly, right? So…what do we do?”

Kali giggled. “Nothing. We just sit here and wait until something happens that needs our intervention, or we want to make a change or something.”

“Oh.” Lilith said. “I was expecting…more.”

“Well, you’re probably still gonna need to train, but other than that…nope, that’s it.” Kali said. “That’s the lot of people like us, we have times where we have to do a whole bunch in a short period of time, followed by a long, long time where we do nothing. But…you know, I am meeting with a few other Administrators in a few weeks, and you mentioned wanting to go to one of those, right? Either of you want to come?”

“Sounds like fun.” Lilith said.

“I’ll pass.” Alex said. “I’m not really big into Administrator stuff, and I’m not totally comfortable meeting others, yet. I think I’d rather just stay at home and keep an eye on things here.”

“Sounds good.” Kali said. “So…until then, TV?”

“TV is good.” Lilith confirmed. So, she let herself relax, content in the company of her girlfriends. There would come a day where she was needed again, but…for the time being, she was free to take her mind off things.

Fighterman481

So...this is a bit of a bittersweet chapter for me. This marks the end of...well, the story I wanted to tell, in a sense. There are no other big threats on Earth, and everything's stable. And, of course, without threats or conflict of some sort, a story has no long-term sticking power.

Which, of course, leaves me with only two, well, three options really. First is that I end the series. That's not something I'm really prepared to do. I've grown attached to these characters, and there are still a couple of things I want to do with them.

Another option, which I don't really even consider an option, is to make up some contrived threat. But, with the way my worldbuilding is and how the series has panned out, doing so would just feel...stupid. So, no, not happening.

The option I decided to go with is to shift focus. One thing I want to do is get more into the details of planes and Administrators, instead of the sort of...secondary function they've played in all my stories so far. Short of starting a brand new story, I haven't had an opportunity to do that without derailing things immensely, and I've got more than enough on my plate with the three I already have.

So, that's what I'm doing. However, for the time being, I'm unsure what to do with it in terms of release schedule. I don't have more than vague plans for things I want to see happen, so I feel like pushing it to be on a schedule will run into the issue of forcing things, and I don't want to be in that situation.

I'm currently debating on whether or not I want to move this series to something akin to Swarming Sovereignty in terms of release, especially given how infrequent those releases can get, but that is currently what it's looking like is going to happen, especially if I can't think of anything except infodumps to do with it.

Update from the present - I've decided to shift it to the same space Swarming Sovereignty is in right now, where chapters come out when they come out, until I reach a point where I feel like putting it back on a schedule wouldn't force things too much. I haven't actually written anything else in this series since then, due to taking a break and then starting a new, non-writing project. And, while said project may be going very well, it doesn't have enough substance yet for me to feel comfortable showing it to the public. Anyway, what that all means for this series in particular is that no public chapters are likely to be out for months. Don't freak out when the chapters don't come, the series hasn't been abandoned, not unless I specifically announce it has been, it's just on the backburner.

I suppose that means this is the end of "book 1" so to speak. We'll see some more vignettes and other things on Earth and Haven in the future, but they won't be the focus anymore. Next time, whenever that ends up being, we'll probably have a meeting with some other Administrators, so...look forward to that, I guess.

And, as always, thanks for reading.