THOSE WHO BOW.

Nya blew into the bridge of the Excalibur like a cold wind, the moment they felt her presence everyone felt the shiver go down their spine.

It was understandable why they were so tense; someone had just kidnapped the kids of the most powerful person of their nation and they had to figure out how.

With her was Amara as they met with Merlin, Terror and Kiva.

"What happened?" Nya demanded as soon as they were in audible range,

Terror and Kiva both seemed hesitant to reply, possibly trying to look for the best way to phrase their response, but it was Merlin who replied

[Basically, this is all Providence's fault.] she said with folded arms, she looked almost as pissed as Nya.

"Merlin," Terror chided, "we agreed we'd look at this objectively."

[They took Eli. He's the only other person aside from Nya that I can actually have a decent intelligent conversation with.] she seethed,

"Explain." Nya ordered

"It's my fault," Kiva admitted, "I had promised Astrid that after her lessons I'd take her out for ice cream, I even invited Eli to join us. I didn't believe—"

With blinding speed, Nya was before Kiva, and with her one arm, grabbed her and slammed her into the nearby wall, Merlin and Terror had to hold Amara back

"Listen to me, Kiva." Nya said, "I do not care if you blame yourself for this or whatever. But someone has my kids, and the longer they are not here, the harder it is for me to control my rage. So when I ask you what happened, I expect only the facts, because I have no time to listen to weak presumptions or excuses. Is that understood?"

Kiva nodded her head and Nya let her go, she dropped to the ground, coughing and gasping for air.

"Now, someone explain." Nya order again, "Just. Facts."

[Eli met with Amara and Astrid at Victory Square.] Merlin said, creating a byte reconstruction of the events, [There, they encountered Providence peacekeepers.]

"Why? Their garrison is on the Phalanx." Nya queried

"I thought it was odd too," Kiva asks, "They said they were 'familiarizing themselves with the capitol layout'. not uncommon for a foreign garrison."

[They recognized Astrid and Eli as your kids and offered additional protection, since Kiva was the only one they saw with them.]

"Go on," Nya says, her voice returning to its normal calm,

[Here is where things went shit-shaped,] Merlin said as on the reconstruction, all of a sudden a cloud of gas is released right in the middle of the Square, people start to panic and run for the exits. The peacekeepers surround the kids, as a Spartan security detail that had been shadowing the kids secure the area.

"The peacekeepers rushed us out of the square after that. It was all so hectic and mad that, by the time I knew it, I had lost sight of the kids. I'm so sorry Nya,"

Kiva hung her head in shame, and Nya reached out for her. Amara tensed, fearing it would be another assault, but she just placed her hand gently on her shoulder

"It wasn't your fault… someone planned this." Nya said, "And I'm going to find out who."

[First suspect would be the peacekeepers who were with Astrid and Eli last.] Merlin said

"Let's go pay them a visit."

* * *

Nya led a small procession into the office of the Providence garrison. There were about five dozen Providence agents mingling about their business. As soon as Nya and her crew were inside, a squad of Spartans blocked off the entrance.

A senior Providence officer approached the group, "Grand Marshal, we are sorry to hear about your children."

"Thank you, Captain Brix," Nya said, "Now, I would like the squad of peacekeepers that was in Victory Square earlier."

"I'm sorry?"

"The agents that were there at the time when it happened, I want you to gather them on my ship within the hour… or I will kill all in here, and hunt them down myself." Nya said with a cold smile.

"A threat against a Providence agent is a serious offence." The captain chided

[This is no threat; this is a guarantee.] Merlin glared

"Rest assured captain," Nya said, "I do not make this threat lightly, I'll admit that I may be behaving rather overzealous, but that is just to get my point across."

The look in her eyes assured the captain that she wasn't bluffing about killing everyone there.

"A-alright," the captain sighed, "they will be sent to your ship shortly."

"Thank you, captain," Nya said offering her hand, he grasped it then she began to squeeze, "I really hope you had nothing to do with this. It would be a shame to have to come back here in a much worse mood."

The captain gulped as she let him go and proceeded to leave the office.

A while later, half a dozen peacekeepers were waiting in a meeting room aboard the Excalibur. They had been escorted here by Spartans, relieved of their weapons and communication devices and had been kept waiting for about an hour alone. The room was bare except for the large stone-like table and the chairs.

As the inactivity was just starting to get to some of them, Nya walked through the door, locking it behind her.

"Mind telling us why we've been just sitting here, ma'am?" one of the agents asked slightly irate.

"Yes," Nya said, "My children were kidnapped on your watch. I believe that among you are those who were complacent in that plot. You are going to tell me where they are and who has them."

There was an uproar of outrage as each person protested their innocence.

"That is a very serious accusation," one agent said stepping towards Nya,

"And who are you?" Nya asked

"I'm in charge of this squad, and I can vouch for their character." The leader said, "what happened there was awful, but your people were just as much to blame for this, how do you know it wasn't them who were involved?"

"They wouldn't cross me," Nya said with a shrug, "all my people have something you lack."

"And what's that?" the leader asked arrogantly, stepping back when Nya's eyes turned from blue to red,

"They all have an instinctual fear of me." Nya said as her body gave of a sinister red glow, made more prominent by the fact that the lights in the room dimmed and flickered.

The peacekeepers all hurriedly backed away from Nya as she looked at them menacingly

"Now, you were about to tell me why you took my kids?" Nya asked, "or do I have to start vivisecting you all one by one? I've found that losing a few bits and pieces works wonders on loosening the tongue."

* * *

It might've cost a small fortune –which, given his current tribulations, he now knew was actually a lot of money— to convince his people in the Providence garrison to acquire the children for him, but now Wes Lao had Astrid and Eli Crimson in stasis pods aboard his ship, the Lao Yun. It was the pride of his former fleet and currently the only ship had had left after his other ships and assets were seized by the Union.

The children had been delivered to his ship, which had been just outside of the Draxia system, by a Providence patrol pod, then he had swiftly left the area to avoid being tracked.

He was fantasizing about all the things that was now within his grasp when an attendant entered his chambers.

"Sir, you have a call on private channel 6." The attendant said

Wes sighed, "The peacekeepers? Alright fine, put it up, audio only."

"At once sir,"

"What do you want? I already paid you quite handsomely for your services." Wes said, "I don't want our communique being traced."

"So you're the one who paid them?" said a voice Wes knew all too well, "Well, that saves me the trouble of asking."

"N-Nya Crimson?" Wes gulped. He wasn't ready for this yet, he hadn't even planned on contacting her for at least another day or so,

"You obviously know me, which means you obviously know how bad this is going to get for you." Nya said, "You may be anonymous to the Providence agents you paid to kidnap my kids, but I will find you—"

"No." Wes said, he had her kids, he was the one in control, he could make the best out of the situation. "Here's how this is going to go; we have your brats, we can dump them out into the vacuum of space at any time we want and you'll never find them again. Is that what you want?"

Her reply was quiet, but Wes definitely heard a whimper. He made Nya Crimson, the Nya Crimson whimper? The thought was making him so hard right now.

"W-what do you want?" she asked meekly, the anxiety was heavy in her voice, Wes wished he could see her face now.

"We will send you a set of coordinates. You are going to follow those coordinates and come to us, alone, and await further instructions. If we detect you brought anyone else or that monstrosity you call a ship, you will never see your kids again, understood?"

"…Understood." Came her reply.

"Good. Expect the coordinates soon." Wes said as he ended the transmission abruptly. He then turned to his attendant, "summon my best concubines, I feel exhilarated."

"But what about Nya Crimson, sir?" the attendant asked

"She'll still be waiting when I finish fucking my girls." Wes said as the attendant left.

Shortly afterwards, he returned with about a dozen naked omen women, all wearing jeweled collars around their necks.

"Ladies," Wes said from his bed, his robe undone, exposing his hard-on to them "we are going to be very busy tonight." He chuckled as the girls started to crawl towards him.

Hours later, Nya Crimson, who had still been waiting impatiently, received a transmission with coordinates for the rendezvous.

* * *

The coordinates Nya received took her out of Avalon space, into the vacant territory that surrounded the Draxia system.

As instructed, Nya went alone, using a small corvette that the Excalibur's constructors had assembled. This ship was the size of a jet plane, sharp and angular, like an arrowhead, it had the same burnt black hull as the Excalibur and features a similar gothic aesthetic. It had large fins along its sides, along with two detached engine pylons positioned by the read, with a single larger pylon at the rear which sustained a small orb of energy.

She had commissioned and built this ship as soon as the coordinates came through, thus she had named it The Rescue.

The Rescue had reached its destination. An abandoned mining platform atop an asteroid. The faded logo of an extinct mining company was barely visible over the wood brown hull of the station.

Landing in the docking bay, Nya walked off her ship, stepping onto the grated metal flooring of the old station. Mining shuttles in states of disassembly and disrepair were scattered around the docking bay, and the hissing of vents was the only sound in the area.

All of a sudden, there is a loud screeching as the intercom comes online

"Greetings, Grand Marshal Nya Crimson." Comes a voice hidden behind heavy distortion, "Follow the red line on the floor."

"Where are my kids?" Nya demanded, "are they safe?"

"Follow the red line on the floor." The voice instructed again before shutting off

Nya grumbled as she looked down, there was a red line painted onto the floor leading towards a door, there was also a green line and blue line and a yellow line, all leading towards different doors. Following the red line, she hit the door control, and it opened up into a long corridor leading deeper into the station.

Nya walked with purpose, her steps echoed across the empty corridor, that and the stale air blowing from the vents were the only sounds that kept her company.

The red arrow went straight, underneath another door at the end of the corridor, continuing into the next section, and she followed it, section after section. In the latest section, she noticed smaller doors along the walls, probably the barracks for former workers of the platform. Finally, the red line ended in an arrow pointing to the large red door at the end of the corridor. Hitting the controls, Nya exited into a large room, possibly a breakroom or mess hall from all the tables and benches. The benches had been cleared out forming an empty space in the middle of the room, sitting on benches around the clearing were several men, all of whom regarded her with contempt and hostility as she entered.

"Ms. Crimson, please join us at the clearing," one man said gesturing her forwards. Nya recognized the man as Wes Lao, from the Xmilftien trade union, she'd barely thought about him in months.

Without much fare, Nya walked to the middle of the clearing and regarded the gathered men, "I want my kids,"

The men around her start to chuckle cruelly and sneer at her, and for a moment, her heart froze at the possibility that her kids were already…

She must've been wearing her fear on her face because when her saw her expression, several of them started cheering and laughing. These men obviously hated her a great deal.

"My dear, you are not in control here," Wes told her, "We are the masters, and if you want anything from us, you have to beg for it on your knees."

Nya glared at the man, then sighed, she got on her knees and lowered her head, "I beg of you… please, where are my children? Are they safe?"

Wes gave a very pleased and smug smirk as she clapped his hands together.

Another door opened up and two androids stepped forward, holding her children with their arms bound.

"Mom," Astrid cried

"Mom, help us," Eli called

"As you can see, your children are fine, and they are safe… as long as nothing untoward happens." Wes said, the threat heavily implied in his words.

"What do you want?" Nya asked with gritted teeth, she figured that the guards were probably programmed to kill her kids at a command, or in case any of the gathered men were attacked by her. She was at their mercy.

"As I said, here and now, we are the masters, which makes you the servant. Isn't that right, friends?"

"Yeah, she's our slave." One man yelled

"She's our bitch." Another jeered

"Those are some fine clothes for a common slave, take them off." Someone said

"Yeah, strip! Get naked!"

Nya looked at Wes who shrugged, "You heard them, servant."

Nya turned to her kids, "look away kids, I don't want you to see this."

She got to her feet and started to undress, removing her coat, her boots and belt, her pants, her hat, even the base biotic suit she wore underneath, discarding each article in a grandiose manner, she was essentially performing a strip tease for them. The gathered men were laughing and hollering, eating up the performance before them.

Unashamedly, Nya stood there before the men, fully nude, save for the black ring on her finger. "Is this to your satisfaction?"

The men all leered at her naked body. As much as they hated her, they couldn't deny the attraction they felt as they looked upon her smooth porcelain skin, supple figure and toned physique, her wide hips and firm breasts capped with pert pink nipples drove them wild, her shapely ass and plump thighs that led up to her cleanly shaven crotch had them drooling. The only blemish on her picturesque body was the scar on the stump of her right arm, a marred mass of burnt red flesh that went up to the right shoulder, a grotesque deformity on the otherwise perfect body in the eyes of the gathered men. Displayed prominently on her back was the bright red markings of her prime crest, though none of these men would know what it meant,

"You are quite the woman." Wes said, his eyes betraying his lust.

"Thank you… master," Nya said with a bowed head and the gathered men laughed some more

"She just called him 'master'," one man said

"Does she have no pride?" another asked

"I always knew she was a submissive bitch on the inside." A third added

Wes turned to Eli and Astrid, "You see kids? Your mother loves you so much that she'd throw away her pride and disrobe in public view. I bet she'd even allow all of us to fuck her if it'd secure your safety."

"You sick bastards!" Astrid snarled, her eyes glowing a bright red that frightened Wes for just a second. He didn't know she could do that.

"Get those kids out of here," one of the men demanded

"I agree," Wes said, "the children shouldn't be allowed to see what we're about to do to their mother."

The guards dragged Astrid and Eli back through the doorway and it closed behind them

"Now," Wes said as he undid his trousers, "which position do we start with?"

Nya looked at the gathered men, all of who were consumed with lust and the thought of abusing and violating her. They had the same looks in their eyes as the first vampires she killed all those years ago.

"How utterly pathetic." She hissed

"What was that?" Wes asked

"I said, how utterly pathetic," Nya repeated, louder this time,

"It appears you still have some fight in you after all," Wes said, "Good, it'd be boring if you just took everything we did to you."

"You aren't going to do anything to me, master, because you are all beneath me." Nya said defiantly.

The hoots of lust and excitement turned into sneers of contempt and anger. They had almost forgotten why they hated this bitch in the first place, she's so damn arrogant.

"And what makes you think that?" Wes said, "Right now, you are naked and alone, and we have your children and you under our control."

"You are beneath me because you think that gives you power over me." Nya said, taking a step forwards, instinctively, the men all back away from her.

"You believe that all your wealth and influence gives you the illusion of power, the right to control things as you see fit, but your wrong." Nya looks at each man with pity in her eyes.

"W-we are in control here," One man stutters, "You are ours."

"Then why are you still afraid of me?" Nya asked, "As you said, I'm naked and alone, you have all the weapons and the leverage, so what makes you so uneasy?"

"Shut up bitch!" Wes yelled, "Shut up, or your kids die!"

"We both know that's not gonna happen," Nya said a mocking smirk on her lips, "That was certain the second I saw them. And to answer my own question; you're scared because you know."

"Kn-know what?" one man asked

"That in life, there are those that rule and those that bow. It's an irrefutable fact in the nature of all living things. And right now, there is only one person in this room whose nature is the former, and you all know it."

Nya's body was then engulfed in her blood aura and all the men yelped and scampered away in fear. Only Wes, who was directly in front of Nya didn't run, but he did piss himself a little.

"E-execute," he called, giving the command to the droids to harm the kids, but then the doors opened and both kids walked out free, and accompanied by Merlin

"Sorry, I guess I lied; I wasn't alone." Nya confessed

"B-but how," Wes whimpered, "Your ship was scanned when you arrived, there was only one signal."

"You all seem to forget that I'm smarter than you," Nya said, "You had me at a disadvantage, yes, but did you expect I'd remain there? I could predict every likely scenario that could be waiting for me and acted accordingly, it's surprisingly easy to take control away from you when you're too busy staring at my tits."

Wes was dumbstruck, she had come here as his pawn and somehow he had ended up hers, he lowered his head in defeat. "What happens now?"

She looked down at him, even naked, she was still an imposing figure, like the depiction of an ancient god, "You will be coming with us."

[What about the other accomplices?] Merlin asked

"I only need to know where they went," Nya replied, with a sinister look in her eyes

[Understood,] Merlin nodded

Nya brandished her ring and in a flash she was fully dressed again.

"Do you know something funny about this platform?" Wes said quietly, "It belonged to the Barrowman Mining Company, a small-time family-run business, they used to mine ore out of these asteroids. A few years ago, I acquired the rights to these asteroids and drove them bankrupt so I could buy their mining platforms cheap. I didn't even need it, I just wanted to take it away from them. They told me that karma would catch up to me. I guess it has."

"Interesting story," Nya said as she grabbed him by the arm, "But we need to be off now."

In the blink of an eye, they found themselves onboard The Rescue, which was on its way out of the docking bay. A few moments later, Nya reappeared on board, straightening her clothes, a fading glow emanating from her hair. "We can go now." She said

As they put distance between themselves and the asteroid, the entire platform was engulfed in an explosion. Unknown to the others, this explosion had actually originated when the luxury ship, the Lao Yun, hidden a little distance away suddenly went on a collision course for the platform. The impact damaged its primary plasma reactor, which went critical and vaporized everything in its path. Fortunately for the accomplices, the crew and the other inhabitants of the ship, they were already dead by the time that happened, consumed by a flood of blood red energy.

"What are you gonna do to me?" Wes asked defeated as Nya walked up to him, "Kill me?"

"I thought about it," Nya said, "You did kidnap my kids and threaten to kill them. But no, you have skills that may prove useful, so I'll let you live… for now."

"So, my attempt to extort you served as a resume?" Wes almost chuckled at the futility

"Sure," Nya said, she then whispered into his ears, "If you ever think of touching my kids again… you will live a very long time to regret it."

"I believe you," Wes said as he sat back and closed his eyes. There was no point to resisting now, he had lost.

With Wes silent, Nya went to check on her kids, in a flash, she went from being this apathetic force of domination to a worried panicking wreck of a mother.

"How are you guys?" she asked nervously, as she checked them over, "are you hurt anywhere? Did they treat you alright? A-are you hungry?"

"We're fine mom," Astrid said as she hugged her, "We knew you'd come save us."

"I don't know what I'd do if you ever got hurt because of me," Nya said as her voice cracking as she choked up. This was the closest she's come to absolute helplessness since she first woke up as Nya Crimson in that alley.

"And I never want to be used to hurt you, mom," Eli said, "those men didn't like you, why?"

"I guess I'm not really the 'good guy' to a lot of people." Nya said apologetically, "Some of them might even see me as a…"

She really didn't want to let her children see that part of her, not when they were so young. Even Morgan was yet to see how truly terrible she could be. She'd never realized how her usual behavior would appear to her kids, she was supposed to be their hero not some…

"… a monster?" Astrid asked, finishing Nya's thought

Nya nodded, "A lot of people are scared of me."

"You don't scare us," Eli declared

"Give it a while." Nya said ruefully, "I can be very scary,"

"I'd never be scared of you, mom," Astrid said, "even if you are a monster. Besides; not every monster is evil, even the really scary ones can be nice."

Nya burst into tears as she hugged them tight with her one arm, "Thank you, sweetie."

* * *

Back on the Excalibur, Nya had just put Astrid and Eli to bed, they had had a pretty exciting couple of days and they needed to rest. Wes was also put up in a room, with guards at his door so he didn't wander.

Nya crashed onto the couch in her suite, she was mentally exhausted. She had been played down her worry for the last few days and it was taking its toll. Her head was drumming with voices.

Shut up, she ordered the voices in her head, and they quieted down a bit.

Her MARS was acting up, ever since her trip to Adryn-V her condition had progressed from purely biological to psychological as well. All the different people she's absorbed into her blood aura could now retain parts of their consciousness, and they were all yammering in her head.

This was why she needed to meditate constantly; the more she fed, the more powerful she grew, and the noisier her head got. Every time she absorbed someone, their voice was added to the never-ending cacophony that was the background music to her life. Recently, she'd started to worry that these echoes inside her could revolt against her and take over, so meditation helped her remain centered, in control… the dominant persona.

But right now she didn't feel like meditating. She didn't feel like fighting, or eating, or fucking. Right now she just wanted to be alone.

[Nya, you alright?] Merlin asked appearing in her physical form

"Fine," Nya sighed,

[Come with me.] Merlin said pulling Nya to her feet. Nya barely resisted, she just whined and groaned as Merlin dragged her down the hall to a door Nya wasn't familiar with –and Nya designed every room on the ship.

"What's this?" Nya asked as the door opened to reveal darkness. It was a spherical room with no lights and no windows, the walls were extra thick and in the middle of the room was a single chair floating.

[I call it the 'zero room'.] Merlin announced, [I took great care to ensure that the interior of this chamber is completely isolated. No form of sound, or light, or even energy can penetrate this level of shielding.]

"Impressive, what's it for?"

[It's for you.] Merlin said, [I designed it so you could use as a meditation studio/sensory deprivation room. Only you and I have access to it, and no one else knows where it is.]

This was just what Nya wanted. She looked at her jinn, "Thanks,"

She stepped inside, sitting on the floating chair.

[I'll leave you to it.] Merlin said as the door slid closed and Nya was locked in darkness

Days later, Nya emerged from the zero room, having alleviated herself of all the fears and worries that had been weighing her down recently and feeling stronger than before. After sitting in the emptiness for hours, she then proceeded to meditate, quieting each and every voice in her head one by one, reasserting her supreme dominance. Then she reevaluated her existence, consolidating new abilities, techniques, skills and knowledge from the memories of all her recent victims. Using her spatial manipulation, she turned the zero room into a training space for her to practice these newly acquired talents.

She stepped out into the hallway, her awareness of her surroundings heightened to such a degree that she could tell that seven decks below her, two crewmembers were having sex in a shower stall, and two doors down another was having a video message to a loved one. Within seconds of stepping out of the isolated space, she knew exactly where everyone was on board her ship, and what they were doing.

A message window popped up in her mind;

[ALERT: YOU HAVE TRIGGERED THE SKILL [OMNISCIENT]! YOU NOW HAVE COMPLETE AWARENESS OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS! THERE ARE NO SECRETS FROM YOU WITHIN YOUR DOMAIN!]

She turns to her left, where the body of Merlin just appeared.

[Welcome back,] Merlin states as she bows her head respectfully. [How was your time in isolation?]

"Productive." Nya said

[Oh, by the way, Terror and Mari—] Merlin starts

"…are waiting for me on the bridge." Nya finishes, "I know."

[How, you just got out?]

"Change is the only constant of life," Nya mused "That contradiction suits me perfectly, don't you think?"

[Your capacity for constant and rapid evolution sometimes surpass even my expectations] Merlin says knowingly, [sometimes.]

"Let's go see what they want?" Nya said offering her arm

[My, how polite,] Merlin jokes as she takes it and the two of them vanish

They reappear just outside one of the doors to the bridge.

[That didn't feel like your usual spatial bridge,] Merlin notes as another message window appeared to Nya;

[ALERT: YOU HAVE TRIGGERED THE SKILL [OMNI-PRESENCE]! YOU CAN BE ANYWHERE YOU WISH IN NO TIME AT ALL! NO PLACE IS FAR AWAY WITHIN YOUR DOMAIN!]

"I did a little fine-tuning to my collection," Nya said cryptically, "and added a few new variants. It's all in the mix."

[You have to let me examine you in detail.] Merlin said as they stepped onto the bridge.

"So, what did I miss?" Nya asks as she was suddenly right behind Terror, scaring the lykan right out of his skin.

"Fucking hell!" he cursed, "You're gonna give me a heart attack if you do that again."

[Fascinating,] Merlin mused as she approached, [there was barely a disturbance from that spatial exchange.]

"Since you took it upon yourself to spook my husband, I take it you're in high spirits?" Mari asks

"But of course," Nya says, before bowing, "what business does the Primark have with me at this time?"

"Cerberus is launching a new generation of Paladins, the first to utilize the technology we've engineered from studying the Praxians." Mari said, "I know that they fall under the purview of the Marshals, but I was hoping the Grand Marshal could also be in attendance?"

"Why not," Nya said, "and speaking of Vulcan, we really need to visit soon,"

"Something going on?" Terror asked

"The new Excalibur class ships I commissioned should be done about now."

"What do you need three Excaliburs for?" Terror asked

"Well I was thinking of giving one to the Under Marshal." Nya joked

"We don't have an Under Marshal," Mari said

[That's what we call Terror behind his back.] Merlin states

"Hey,"

"It's not an insult," Nya says with a cheerful smile. "Oh, speaking of jokes, I need to have a word with Wes."

"Oh, I think he's in…" Terror starts

"I know where he is," Nya says before she vanishes

Mari and Terror both look at Merlin, who just shrugs

[She's been upgraded.] she replies, before she too vanishes.

"Why isn't there anyone we know on this ship who isn't weird?" Mari sighs

* * *

Nya reappears inside the room that currently holds Wes Lao. He was resting when she suddenly was there, sitting at the foot of the bed.

"How did you do that?" He demands as he jumps out of bed,

"Not your concern," Nya says, "what is your concern is the reason you're still alive."

"You want my services," Wes surmised

"Of course, in a little while you are going to be introduced to the leaders of Avalon as an economic advisor. I will see to it that you are put in our department of commerce, and I expect that you would help in strengthening our economy." Nya stated

"And you trust me to do that?" Wes asked suspiciously

"Trust? No. I will have shadows on you monitoring your every move. But I know that you are, at the very least, a talented businessman and I expect you to know when a lucrative opportunity appears. If you help us, I'm sure it will be to your benefit. But betray us and… I don't really need to finish that threat do I?"

"No you don't," Wes says with a shiver

"Good." Nya said, "and since I'm feeling so altruistic, I'll even listen to any concessions you might have in exchange for your services."

Wes looked surprised. He knew since his capture that they expected him to work for them, it wouldn't be strange if he was forced into indentured servitude, but she was offering to compensate him for his assistance? This was beyond his expectations, especially considering how he had regarded her.

"I-if we talking reparation for my services, I should warn you; it isn't cheap."

Nya grinned, "Does it look like I have money troubles?"

"Alright then, let's talk terms." Wes said

* * *

A week later, Wes was officially welcomed into Avalon as an economic advisor and integrated into the Ministry of Commerce. In exchange for his services, Wes had demanded, a penthouse apartment, a salary in the hundreds of millions, a harem of omen women, a personal ship and a seat on the High Order.

Nya had agreed to give him one of the several properties she'd acquired over the years, and agreed to pay him half her salary as Grand Marshal which wasn't up to what he demanded, but still a lot of money –not that she needed it anyway—, the harem condition was flat out rejected, and Nya told him that if he wanted to sex that badly, she'd be willing to oblige, she wasn't finicky about sex that way, giving him his own personal ship was not a problem, and the seat on the High Order was not up to her, since it was a democratically elected position, he'd have to be voted in.

That same week, Nya had been present at the launching ceremony for the five new Paladin's with the flagship being christened Crimson Dawn in her honor. This fleet was different from the others that they had commissioned because this fleet was the first to utilize technology developed from what they learned from Praxian designs, the men and women of the Ministry of Research and Development had been working nonstop to understand the secrets of the Praxian data files provided on the Excalibur, they even refused Nya's help in deciphering it opting to spend almost a year to uncover it themselves. She found their level of dedication admirable and planned to award them somehow.

Much later, Nya went to Rao Island, the planet-side headquarters of the Spartans. In the medical ward, Morgan had been bedridden for the last two weeks, suffering the aftershock of her phantasm's power. When she used three copied phantasms her body –which had not been specially tailored for those powers— was suffering the recoil of using those foreign abilities. Luckily her life wasn't in danger, but her constitution was still so weak, there was still the risk of further complications. It puzzled the doctors why her recovery was taking so long as vampires had the strongest vitality of all omen.

As Nya sat beside her daughter's bed, Morgan smiled at her, "Hi mom,"

"How are you feeling today?" Nya asked

Morgan held out her arm, it was still trembling, but at least she could move her fingers, "getting better, but I don't think I should get back on the shooting range just yet."

"I can't believe the toll your phantasm has taken on you," Nya said, the recoil of this power made it essentially useless in the field if it crippled her so thoroughly afterwards.

"I guess I just wasn't as compatible with those phantasms as I'd have hoped." Morgan said, even for a vampire she was deathly pale, and she was unusually gaunt.

"Or maybe…" Nya mused, "have you fed?"

"Yeah, they served lunch a little while ago-" Morgan said

"Not that. Have you fed?" Nya said hinting her meaning

"Oh, you mean blood?" Morgan realized. "No,"

The truth was, Morgan had never tasted anyone's blood except for her own, whenever the vampiric urges would come over her at the sight of fresh blood, she'd sink her fangs into her own flesh and sip a few drops of her own blood.

Nya sighed and shook her head, "That's why you're recovering so slowly, you need blood, the fresher the better."

Technically, Morgan was a dhampir, a half-vampire, it was usually a rank assigned to newly turned vampires who had little control over their new capabilities. True dhampirs like Morgan, being the offspring of a vampire and a fae were practically non-existent, since vampires were infertile. Morgan was practically a one-of-a-kind existence since her father was a human and her mother was… well, Nya. The one thing Nya did know for sure about dhampirs was that they thrived solely on blood, while older vampires could learn to draw sustenance from other sources, dhampirs NEEDED blood, otherwise they would waste away… like her daughter was doing now.

"But mom, we're talking about drinking someone's blood, I don't want to kill anyone just because I'm starving,"

"We could get you a blood bag?" Nya offered

"I still can't, it just seems too gross."

"Well, don't knock it 'til you've tried it," Nya shrugged

"You're kind of a vampire, how do you feed?"

"Oh I don't need to," Nya said, "my evolutionary powers sort of took that requirement out of my physiology, but when I was a newly turned dhampir, I always needed blood. In fact, I'm surprised how you lasted so long without it. Y'know what…?" Nya held out her wrist in front of her daughter's face, "Drink up,"

"You can't be serious,"

"I am. You need to feed and I'm offering." Nya said

"I don't want to hurt you,"

"Sweetie, a bite on the wrist wouldn't be the worst thing I've ever experienced." Nya said, "C'mon, take a bite,"

Left with no other choice, Morgan sank her teeth into Nya's arm, tapping right into a vein. The taste of her mother's blood electrified her, it wasn't coppery like her own, it had a unique consistency she couldn't place, and the way it flowed into her mouth like she wasn't even sucking it, it was just pouring out. Morgan drank deep of her mother's ichor, letting the urges take over. After several minutes, she had to force herself to stop or risk sucking her mother dry. As she gasped for air, she felt the same electrifying sensation burn through her body, her eyes turned bright red and her veins glowed visibly beneath her skin. Seconds later, the glow faded and her eyes returned to their normal blue color.

In Nya's mind, alerts popped up one after the other;

[ALERT! YOU HAVE SHARED YOUR LIFE MATTER WITH YOUR PROGENY [MORGAN CRIMSON]! AS YOUR BLOOD HAS REJUVENATED HER, YOU HAVE MET THE NECESSARY CONDITIONS TO ACQUIRE THE SKILL [ESSENCE OF VITALITY]! YOUR BLOOD NOW POSSESSIVE RESTORATIVE PROPERTIES!]

[ALERT! DUE TO CONSUMING YOUR BLOOD, YOUR PROGENY [MORGAN CRIMSON] HAS NOW BECOME A TRUE VAMPIRE AND HAS A DEEPER CONNECTION TO YOU, AS SUCH, HER FURTHER DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN INCREASED BY YOUR POWER!]

[ALERT! [ESSENCE OF VITALITY] HAS BEEN SYHTESIZED WITH [BLOOD AEGIS] AND BEEN DESIGNATED AS DIVINE SANCTION VARIANT; [GATES OF PURGATORY: MOTHER'S EMBRACE]! ABSOLUTE PROTECTION AND RECOVERY CAN BE GRANTED TO TARGETS OF CHOICE!]

"How do you feel?" Nya asked as the deep bite marks on her arm evaporated on their own

"I feel… great." Morgan said as she held out her arm again, this time, there was nary a tremble, in fact. She looked much better now, he cheeks were no longer sunken and her skin now had the normal pale complexion without looking sickly.

"Good," Nya said, "whenever you need to feed just let me know, you can always ask me for a quick tap, or I can have Merlin whip up some synthetic blood for you."

"Do all vampires have to go through this?" Morgan asked

"I don't know, the only vampires I ever met are the ones who made me this way, and I didn't really do much talking with them." Nya replied, "why don't you talk to one of your fellow Spartans?"

"There aren't any Spartans I know who are vampires." Morgan said, "I don't think I've ever met any other vampire but you, and you barely even count anymore."

"That's odd," Nya thought aloud, she knew that the vampire race was still a prominent force in Hyperion, though they hadn't made any moves in the last several decades.

"Do you want me to look into it?" Morgan asked as she got out of bed

"No, you still need to rest," Nya said to her daughter,

"But I've been resting for two whole weeks," Morgan whines, "I was stuck here while my brother and sister were kidnapped."

"And you will continue to remain here until your doctor clears you." Nya said adamantly, "Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am," Morgan pouted as she folded her arms in frustration. Nya grinned, sometimes she still acted like a kid.

"Don't worry, Morgan," Nya said, "No one's going to hurt you or your siblings, not on my watch."