Early December (Luna)


    “Ahh, Ty. Noooo!” Miza screamed as his fingers danced across her ribs after he was chastised about a terrible joke.


    Tyler was lying on one of the large plush couches in the upstairs recreation room with Miza, Justin, and Valon. He was still adjusting to the fact that they all, very often when resting, would lay in a tangle of limbs and cuddles. He wasn’t used to this, but had learned very quickly that platonic touch, cuddles, and lots of conversations were common interactions in the nest. One thing that he was that regardless of the individual relationships to sex, they were all close, and the intimate relationships between everyone in the nest were different. He wondered what his would be like with the others as time went on.


    A few days ago, Jus had mentioned Peter, who he discovered was another chevalier, who happened to also already have a wife and kids, when he felt the pull. His other family was close to Miza and had interacted with her regularly. He was struggling to understand the dynamics, but he decided that letting it flow was the best strategy. Nothing made him want to pull away, but the culture shock - continuous culture shocks, honestly, were a bit overwhelming.


    Today they been watching a movie, but when that finished Miza had put on a whale documentary. Whales!


    Overall, he was happy. They had been discussing Tyler and Miza going public before Christmas break, and since Communion, twice per week, he had training with Donte. That was going well, especially since he took it upon himself to run every morning now. The increase in his stamina was definitely helpful for keeping up with the older man who was a solid block of muscle and strength. The amount of bruises he went home with on training days simply because he wasn’t used to fighting or blocking.


    Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the door. Loud enough that they could hear it upstairs. Valon immediately jumped up as Miza paled and Justin stiffened, preparing for something. Tyler understood the concern.


    “No one should ever be able to get to the door without us knowing.” Miza whispered, echoing the concerns going through his head.


    Valon held a hand out in the stop motion. He was listening knowing that Donte had been in the downstairs study doing work. There were muffled voices, and then they all heard the front door open.


    “Val!” He heard Donte shout.


    “Stay.” Valon said to the three still on the couch before leaving the room.


    He rushed downstairs, preparing to help Donte defend the others, but stopped short on the stairs. Donte was practically crushing Alex and Akierda in a hug while Mavrick was heavily leaning on Lihte.


    “Miza. J. Get down here.” He yelled up the steps before running into the group hug.


    Justin came down the stairs slowly with Tyler behind him and Miza following closely behind. Justin stopped in shock, struggling to process the scene before him as he heard Miza gasp and push pass them both with a sob.


    “Alex? K-Kierda?”


    Breaking the hug, Alex and Akierda both looked at her with longing and adoration.


    “Lady.” Alex said with a bow. Another sob ripped through Miza as she crashed into them, soaking in the warmth as she tried to understand that they were actually there. She let go and jumped into Akierda''s arms.


    “Babygirl.” He breathed out, pressing his face into her hair and breathing her in as she sobbed.


    “Sister?”


    “What.” She sniffled, looking up and then around Akierda when she saw no one other than an uncomfortable looking Rick. “Ricky? Lihte?” She screamed and ran to her brother, knocking him over, Lihte barely catching him.


    “Oh, Goddess, you are here.”


    “I missed you so much, sister.” He held her tightly while she clutched onto his arms. “I missed you.” He cried. Coming back to himself, Valon ushered them all into the main sitting area, firmly locking the door behind him. Tyler watched as Chris and Miza piled onto a couch with two of the new men. He didn’t feel angry, but he was confused.


    “Valon?” Tyler said unsurely. “What’s -”


    “Come.” I need to check the cameras, then we can join them. Tyler followed him into the downstairs study. Tyler waited patiently while his heart raced furiously. Valon pushed a button on the desk, and the wall across from it slid up into the ceiling. He watched as Valon rewinded several screens and then played them quickly as he scanned them. Tyler saw on a screen that showed an area near the front of the house that flashed with light and a rippling before the four men appeared. Valon watched for a few more minutes until the video passed him, closing the doors, and then became current. Sighing, he put the remote down and pressed the button on the desk.


    “It looks clear. I’ll contact security and have the amp things up around here for a bit. Tyler, I have a feeling that life is going to be a bit difficult at the moment, but these are some of our den-mates. Alex, the person with the long straight hair, and Akierda, who has braids, are two more of our nest-mates. They belong to Miza as well. The boy that looks like her is her twin and the other boy was a warrior in our crew.” Tyler looked confused momentarily as there were new words thrown in, but he quickly accepted the explanations. “ You don’t have to worry. They will have your back just as much as we do now that they are here. Things will be different, of course. I’ll explain more once they have given a brief. Are you ok? You seemed pretty shocked.”Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    “Um, yeah.” He shuffled, slightly embarrassed to admit that when it first happened, he had felt initially pushed aside seeing everyone that he had been becoming so close to with others, but that didn’t make sense. He was confused. “ I just didn’t know exactly what was happening.”


    Valon looked at him curiously. Noting his body language and guarded face.


    “If you aren’t okay, that is perfectly normal. Most people would be hard-pressed at their girlfriend suddenly being in the arms of someone else. If you ever need time to not be ok, you can say so. We can work through it.” Valon assured him.


    “I appreciate that, Val. It is somewhat weird, but it is nice that I kinda walked into this with a really accepting family. I looked it up, and our world’s version of this type of relationship isn’t always like this. The three of you seem to work so well with her. I kind of worried what it would be like when the others showed up.”


    “Well, I’m glad we do make it look like we are pulling it off so well. In historical accounts back home, I have read some trainwrecks, but overall, I think with us, we have been pretty mission-driven. You and Miza have the most “normal” relationship of us all. No weird age gaps, taking it slow, regular dates. I’ve been a bit jealous because it seems so uncomplicated by comparison. I know that is unfair. We are all going to have our struggles in this, we just have to be there for each other. Donnie and I are actually really grateful that you ended up with us. I think you were exactly what she needed during this. Thank you for sticking with it, even though it''s been hard.” Valon said expressing his gratitude.


    ~


    “You were in Lestania this entire time.” Miza whispered. Alex looked warily towards the boy who was standing behind her as they sat around the dining table. Donte suggested they retire there for a late lunch while they talked and the new boy, Tyler, was assisting him. The boy had paused by Miza as xe started relaying what had happened to xyr that night. Tyler had placed his hand on Miza’s shoulder massaging it soothingly as she listened to Alex.


    “Yes. I was meeting with some of the crew mates living on the palace grounds to discuss assistance with research, and the meeting was running longer than anticipated. When the attack started, I wasn’t going to make it back in time for safety protocol. I was attempting to gather the crew members still on site to get them to evacuate once it was confirmed that Mark Anthony was in control of the palace. I got a hold of one of the unseens and sent them to the Academy with a calling stone before I came across Demetrius.


    We were locked in a battle when Akierda came across me. I was in a bad way. I’m afraid I didn’t do Donte’s training justice at that moment. Akierda was able to jump him and knock him out with a vase of all things. Unfortunately, more people were coming. I don’t really know what happened after. I grabbed Akierda and ran to the academy veil in the palace, trying to slip in before they entirely took the palace. We didn’t end up in the Academy, though, when we went through the veil. We ended up back in the mountains. We were baffled, but I recognized the mountains. We were in a bad way because we weren’t prepared for the cold even if it was the warmer season, but we hunkered and developed a plan.”


    “I do not recommend survival situations.” Akierda threw in with a giggle.


    “Yes. But we, of course, did ok. Our abilities helped a lot with hunting. However, I do feel terrible about calling the poor creatures to us. Once we had a few furs for warmth, we started making our way down the mountain. Several days into traveling with a pack of wolves, we came across a small group of people living in the mountains. Not the villagers that we know who steward the North. There was a small group, but they disappeared. I called out to them for help and they just disappeared into the forest and snow. The wolves helped us make our way to the village.


    There is apparently a family line in the capital that allied themselves with the Reina duchy after the last meeting between the Dukes and Duchesses the Summer before your Rising. That is the only reason they didn’t kill us on-site. I didn’t realize how dangerous that Duchy’s village was. I found out that those people we saw are known to the villagers because they hold the stories of old. The ones we thought disappeared. The duchess said that after the ancestors proved to be no longer aligned with the Gods, the Duke at the time sent a contingent of their village with all of the writings and oral histories deep into the mountains. Those people are tasked to keep this history hidden and the oral traditions alive.


    They are called the Ore. Every 15 years a set the youngest weened children are sent to the mountains to keep their numbers steady. It was all quite fascinating. There are secret traditions and history being kept, Miza.” Alex said with excitement. “The Duchess explained how this was their Dukedom''s deepest-held secret and that the harsh conditions of the environment have made it easy to hide the truth.”


    “Their ally sent notice that a Goddess Incarnate had been named since their last visit and kept them up to date about you. So when we arrived, they recognized us and sheltered us. We learned so much while we were there. We agreed that with travel out of Lestania being risky, it would be silly to try to get across the mountains. Their winter is the majority of the year up there. We spent all of those months working with them to learn those histories until they were able to get us safe passage off of Lestania.”


    Alexandra explained to xyr mates, who eagerly absorbed the information.


    “We arrived in the States earlier this fall, but the tether has been incredibly weak. During this time, we ran into Lihte, who was with Mavrick, so we stuck together. Alex and I felt a pull a few weeks ago, so we packed up and ended up here. Lihte saw Miza at a school while searching the city and we tracked her down from there. We didn’t want to risk contact there, and it be an issue for her. We saw that name, you know that old guy that was gushing a Donte trying to get favor when looking stuff up. He is the one that gave us the portal stone when we showed up in his building''s parking garage today.” Akierda informed them.


    “Yes, Wisdale has been incredibly useful while we have been here. I honestly forgot that I gave him that stone. Speak of the devil.” Donte said as his phone vibrated with Wisdale’s coded messages for updates on their situation.


    Unknown Number: Please provide updates for the inventory of the next delivery.


    ~