A Nagas tale

Mounting problems

"Hm, so you got no luck asking Mother for the information." Yuri sits up from his bed. "Thats right, she refused to tell us much." Ammar answers. He sighs "Then I can't help." He answers "What!? why not!?" Ammar demands. Yuri stands up and slips on his lab coat. "You see, I was there with Mother when she was going through all of this bullshit and I promised myself I would never aid the enemy," he answers. Ammar frowns "What would it take for you to give us this information?" Ammar asks knowing Yuri always had a price. He sighs walking into his lab. He looks at the parasites he had been researching and the effects it has on the body. "You want to talk about trade?" he asks. He rests his hands on the papers scattered on his desk. He had all of the basic information about the parasite its life cycle and its habits. He smiles "Well firstly you will need to get Mother's permission you must be daffed if you believe I would risk getting that obnoxious woman angry." he answers. "Wow Yuri, to think you would be afraid of a woman." Helen jabs hoping to hurt his ego. "Hm. Helen, have you met Audrey? Have you felt her aura? Did you witness what she did?" he asks. "I do not fear that woman, I respect her for her ability, I've witnessed several people try to both erect a barrier and seal away a person." He starts with a deep sigh. "Care to guess how many of them managed to do it without losing their life?" He asks. Helen hums "None Helen, Not one person survived the simple act of putting a barrier as large as she did up. Not one person survived a singular act of sealing away an animal much less a god and survived to tell about it." his praise solidified in the group's mind how much they would not get out of him. "If you want to offer a trade Ammar, I would ask for Audrey so I can dissect her body and examine what makes her the exception. To test her abilities and how far they go." He answers Ammar. "But, I know you would not dare step on Kogen's toes just to get me what I want." he huffs. Yuri knew that he would never dare to try and test his leader's ability. Despite his desire to test Audrey and what made her so special he would not and could not hope to overpower his leader. "Yuri, I appreciate your honesty, can I ask what we could do to get Audrey to agree?" Aurora asks. He sighs "To please Audrey? Aurora you already know what this woman is like." He answers knowing of their first meeting. Aurora stays quiet "Hm, I guess we will have to do what I wanted to avoid." Thoren chuckles. "Thank you, Yuri." Thoren cuts the call. Thoren grins as he looks at the three dejected people. "What are you thinking?" Loki asks. Thoren nods "We will have to take these men to grovel at Audrey's feet!" Thoren answers. "what!?" Ammar asks. Thoren nods "I have learned that my lovely Granddaughter has a bit of a superiority complex!" he answers. Loki sighs "It's not a superiority complex Thoren, She simply appreciates a person who can take responsibility for their actions." Loki explains. Aurora nods "Yeah, She was pretty cold to me the first time we met due to my disrespectful way of talking to her." She sighs. "Wait? but wouldn't taking them to the Island make Audrey mad?" Helen asks. Thoren nods "Oh undoubtedly it will piss her off all the way to next month but if she refuses to help over the connections spell what other way do we have?" He asks. Helen sighs "She is your granddaughter." She can't argue with his logic. "If the only way I can get her help is by apologizing Then I will do it." He agrees. His father wants to say something but the spell on his lips stops him. "Great we should start making plans to head back asap!" Loki agrees. 

I watch Audrey pace around the dining room chewing on her lip in anger. "why would they ask me!? they are the ones that made that stupid thing." I walk up to her wanting her to just calm down. I could not answer her questions but I wanted her to relax and maybe look at this from a different point of view. "Audrey, what if we are looking at this wrong?" I ask. She frowns "I am not looking at this wrong! if they had been looking for a way to cure this parasite they should have found an answer in less than a month!" she answers. I sigh "What if they did not have a smart-ass scientist like Yuri?" I ask. She shakes her head "Kogen! Do not forget! you were the one who pushed out the parasite from my neck." She reminds me. "There was no in-depth analysis like Yuri provides it was just your hunch! You felt something off about my aura and acted on your hunch." She points out. I groan unable to argue with her reasons. She shakes her head "How can they be so goddamned blind!?" she growls annoyedly. I sigh pulling her into my arms already tired of seeing her pace like she was. "Alright, what do you think this is about then?" I ask. She drops her head on my chest "I don't know." she murmurs. I nod "How about we sleep on it for tonight and maybe look at this with fresh eyes." I offer the idea. She nods "Hmm alright." she gives in. A few days later Yuri came to the village and informed me that Ammar had called him regarding the information they wanted. "So did you tell them?" I ask hoping he would have fixed this issue for me. He laughs "And risk having Audrey down my throat about giving them this information?" He shakes his head "I just came to see how she was doing." he answers. I frown 'goddamn it.' I did not want to deal with Audrey being stressed. "I will also give you a small warning it may not be worth much but be on alert if they come to the Island to speak with Audrey." He waves me bye before leaving the office. I groan 'Great! just fucking great!' I look at the calendar May 18th 'Three more days till the final ceremony.' I sigh 'I should try and keep Audrey occupied with the ceremony.' I nod getting out of my seat. I never thought Yuri would end up following Audrey as religiously as he has been. I walk down the village seeing all of the new couples shopping around. I spot Darius and sigh 'First it's him and his family dispute, Then Audrey and her aura recovery, and now the four families.' I close my eyes when I hear a familiar "DADA!" I look towards the tea house and spot Audrey chatting away with the girls. 'Why can't life be peaceful and mundane like this?' I wondered as I walked into the tea house. "Oh! Honey! you came!" Audrey calls out. I am glad she found something to get her mind off of the new problem. I sit with the group of men seated at the next table. These kids have grown attached to me as the girls did to Audrey. I noticed the tea house was rather empty and the couples from before started pooling into the building. "Oh! good everyone made it!" Audrey chirps. 'Did they plan something?' I wondered. "Good! Good! as planned! All of the men are to Join Leader Kogen and the others for some hunting and the girls can stay here with us to catch up and snack!" Audrey announces. The couples did not argue instead gave each other hugs and parted ways. "Honey, do you mind guiding the hunt today?" Audrey asks. I nod "Sure, You should have told me earlier so I could scout some hunting grounds though." She nods "Yeah, I was going to tell you a few weeks ago but then The call and all that Jazz." she sighs. I nod "Alright, We will be out a long while is that alright?" I ask. She nods "Yep! We can head to the venue after some tea to keep talking." she answers. I nod "Alright, don't stray from the girls too far." I give her a quick kiss before gathering the men to go on a hunt. 

I gathered the girls due to be married this year and started asking them about their partners and what they thought. A lot of them didn't have much to say other than "They are a great match personality-wise." I felt bad hearing that. Luna was the first to chirp "I love How sweet Darius is!" I smile "Is he treating you well?"  Luna nods "Yes! He is such a sweetheart! He always gets me flowers and loves to read with me." she tells her. "Wonderful!" I praise "What is your favorite pastime?" I pose the question. Luna nods "We like to go hiking and camping! Darius is so well-versed in hunting too!" She tells me. I smile sipping my tea 'I think we did well this year too.' I sigh. "Uhm I like my partner too." I turn my attention to the shy voice. 'Oh, its aria!' I smile at her. "You are paired with Idris, right? How is he treating you?" I wonder. She nods "He is so nice, He always gets me snacks and feathers." she tells me. 'feathers?' I tilt my head. Aria blushes "I like collecting different bird feathers." she tells me. I can't help but smile widely. "Oh, how sweet!" I chirp as she squirms. "I like to drink with him too," She adds. I lift my brows a bit surprised. "He is a bad drinker but it's cute watching him struggle to try and beat me," she answers. 'oh I see she's a heavyweight.' I nod "Good don't let him win." I praise. She giggles "Has he created any problems for you Aria?" I ask. She shakes her head "No he is actually very calm." she tells me. 'Calm? Idris? please!' I think as I recall the first times I ever met him. 'he was such a pain in the ass.' I sigh. "What do you two like to do together?" I ask. She nods "I like to play Mahjong with him." she tells me. I nod 'Sounds like a calm game to play.' I nod "Good, come to me if he gives you any problems." I offer her my ears. She nodded "Okay." she answered. The other girls opened up a little more after they spoke up. I learned that a lot of them liked to go to the city of Zeras for the shopping district. Some of them went for the fishing and the charters out to fish. Then there were the girls who like me enjoyed the indoor activities like reading, writing, and yarn work. I asked Yuri to send me some yarn when he could after I found out they had a craft store in Zeras. I liked waiting for Kogen while reading to the girls. That night the men returned from their hunt in the middle of Nora telling me about the fish they caught at sea. I had never been on a charter boat for fishing and this sounded so fun. "We stored the hunt at Old Man Torries butcher shop," he tells me as he peeked at the girls sleeping in their stroller. Kogen was a mess with animal blood but it became a charm I started to like. I always felt like my boring everyday activities were too boring for him. So I was happy he had his way of having fun like hunting and giving the younger guys tips on things around the house. If my grandma was here she'd make a joke out of me for being such a bad housewife. I smile watching Kogen pull out a rabbit's foot. 'it's a bit grotesque but I know what it's for.' I can see his aura infusing the foot. "Do you think the girls would be okay if I hung this in their room?" He asks. I stand from the chair I was in and walk over. "I'm sure they would like a good luck charm from their dad," I assure him. He nods "I'll have to clean it up a bit but it should work." He looks at the foot. "We will be heading home Mother!" I turn to the girls as they all start pairing up. I nod "Alright, you girls be careful, and remember I am here if you need to talk." I wave them goodbye.