It was that night that Selene learned about Sera's love of laying on top of other beautiful women as if they were her hoard. Beth had embraced Selene, tangling their limbs together, and the dragon had flopped on top of them both, pressing her huge breasts against them and wrapping both her long arms and very long tail around them. It might have seemed a little weird from an outside perspective, but Selene found it immensely comfortable. Beth was the last asleep and the first awake, as was usual for her. She embraced Selene tighter on waking, nuzzling against her neck slowly as the demoness woke.

  Selene gave Beth a very deep kiss as she woke before saying, "Sorry. Habit with Alex."

  "It's a great habit," Beth replied before kissing Selene back.

  "You two are horny," Sera muttered, kissing Selene's cheek.

  "We're not interfering? With Alex, I mean," Beth said once Selene broke off the kiss.

  "Not at all. It's just a shame she can't be here," Selene replied with a sigh, stroking Sera's horns while the dragon girl kissed her shoulders and neck. "She would love to join in."

  "That's a shame, but you should invite us back when she returns," Beth said with a smile.

  "You're welcome back any time, even before Alex returns. If that's alright?" Selene said, shuffling a bit on the bed at the end. Beth already recognized that, whether subconsciously or consciously, Selene fidgeted a bit when she was nervous.

  "You're cute when you're nervous," Beth said, interrupting an indignant response with a deep kiss.

  "I could accept cute, but it's nothing beside how gorgeous you are," Selene fired back when Beth broke off the kiss.

  "You were right," Beth said to Sera. "She really does have it bad for me."

  "Oh, so you noticed?" Selene asked the dragon girl, shuffling a bit more.

  "Do you notice the sun in the sky?" Sera replied just a bit sarcastically, nuzzling Selene to show it wasn't meant to be insulting.

  "I didn't realize it was quite that obvious. Not at first," Selene said with a little sigh.

  "Trust me, I'm an expert at this," Sera said with a huge, very toothy grin.

  "I'm starting to believe it," Selene returned with a small smile.

  It took them a while more to get out of bed, which should have been little surprise, and they spent quite a while in the bath before Sera cooked them breakfast. Finally, it was time for them to get back to the rest of their group, and they had to rely on Selene for that. She teleported them back to the Seven Lights, though they wound up in a far different room than the one they had left from. This was rather clearly an office, and it was pretty obvious to Beth that it was Selene's office. After thanking her for the evening, with knowing grins, and a few more kisses, they left the room, leaving Selene behind, and headed out for the CRA Hall.

  Beth didn't even need to communicate with Blood to find her, just following their bond to a rental room in the basement. A quick knock and Neph let them in, Blood not bothering to do more than raise herself up on the couch just to make sure it was Beth and Sera. Beth went over and picked Blood up by the scruff, ignoring her indignation to get her up and moving. Their next destination was home, Earth, and she wanted to get back and get through the theatrics of their homecoming quickly.

  Well, she was sure there would be some theatrics with her family, but she was eager to see the people at the CRA Hall again. And her sisters, for that matter, which really made it her parents and the other old fogies that she was not looking that much forward to seeing again. Though, she was chuckling just a bit as they made their way down to the teleporters, considering she was about to overwhelm them with just a bit of shock and awe. They would likely be so focused on Sera, Neph, and everything else she had that she would almost fly under the radar.

  She set the teleporter for Earth, able to get there in one hop from their current Hall. The CRA network was incredibly extensive, covering almost every single world out there, but it had also been built over the course of thousands of millennia, if not even longer. That turned the whole thing into a tangled mess of interconnections that meant it sometimes took several hops to just go a few solar systems over. It was one reason why Beth was glad she wasn't an enchanter, or a really high-level smith yet, as she might be drawn into building, maintaining, or untangling that bird's nest. She didn't have to worry about it, other than it transporting her where she wanted to go, and that wasn't really in question.

  Appearing back in the basement of 'their' Hall, she had a second or less to glance around before a massive figure was in front of them. She wasn't worried, however, as she was very familiar with that figure and that figure was very familiar with them.

  "Oh, it's yer lot," Baelvyr rumbled. "Hadn't thought ya'd be back now."

  "Surprise!" Beth said, stretching her hands out and waving them. She grinned at his flat look, saying, "We're back for a little, if that's alright?"

  "I'm not in charge of ya," Baelvyr rumbled, turning and thumping out of the room. "Just don't mess with anybody too bad."

  "He's kinda scary," said Neph quietly.

  "Nah, he's fine," Beth said with a laugh, leading the other three out of the room. "You just have to get used to him a bit."

  "Where to?" Blood asked as they moved through the building.

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  "Front desk first," Beth answered.

  "We gonna get a room here, then?" Blood asked calmly.

  "Yep. And we can take care of Neph, as well," Beth said.

  "What about me?" Neph asked excitedly.

  "Need to get you an emblem," Beth said. "Coppers are just a couple gold coins and don't need anything else."

  "I can pay," Neph said, bouncing excitedly as they walked.

  "It's fine, we'll pay," Beth said. "You don't have that much yet; better to save what you have. It's nothing to us to pay for it."

  "Well, if you think it's best," Neph said a bit dejectedly.

  "Here," Beth said as they stepped off the elevator, handing her two gold coins. "I'm giving them to you, sure, but their yours now and you can buy whatever with them. If you buy the emblem, it's still using your money, in a way."

  "Awesome! Thanks, Beth!" Neph exclaimed, hugging Beth happily before bounding off down the hallway.

  "I can't believe that worked," Blood grumbled as they followed slowly after.

  "She's still young," Sera said. "And even so, it just mostly worked. She still knows it's not really her money. But, giving her the coins and letting her decide to spend them still was a nice gesture."

  "That's me! Super nice, all the way through," Beth said with a grin which turned to a frown as she saw the flat looks on the others' faces. "What?! I am nice!"

  "Barely passable," Blood grunted.

  "It's sweet that you think so," Sera said, giving Beth a kiss on the cheek and getting pushed away for her efforts.

  They entered the lobby to find several people there, including multiple people at the counters, though Neph had managed to not only get someone to help her, but was talking with Tazeen himself. There were also several people just hanging about, as far as Beth could tell, sitting on chairs around the lobby in small groups. Many people glanced at them as they walked in, though just as many dismissed them fairly quickly and it took Beth a moment to realize that they were being viewed as Senior Enforcers with the way nobody was doing a double-take. She supposed it was just a sign of how much the times had changed that a heavily armored human, a dragon girl, and a wolf girl didn't rate a second glance.

  Beth walked up to the counter and leaned her hip against it next to Neph as she filled out a form, getting a nod from Tazeen, which was a huge gesture from the taciturn elf. She watched Neph fill out the form, the girl having learned Universal Standard from a crystal in the Hall they had trained in for a few weeks. She filled everything else out correctly and hesitated on her name, but eventually filled it out as Nephianna Bell. She submitted the form and payment to Tazeen, who quickly made her emblem without even looking at his own actions, the movements coming by rote. He handed Neph her emblem before turning to Beth.

  "Miss Bell," Tazeen said calmly. "It is good to see you back."

  "It's good to see you as well, Tazeen," Beth said with a smile. "You already met Neph, and this is Sera."

  "The youngest scion of the Black Dragon Clan, yes, well met," Tazeen said, nodding to Sera.

  "I acknowledge the blade," Sera said, bowing to Tazeen, which drew a confused look from the others. "Tazeen is well known in certain circles," she explained to them.

  "Well, learn something new every day," Beth said with a bit of surprise.

  "Is there anything else I can help you with?" Tazeen asked in his usual imperturbable manner.

  "We need a room, Tazeen," Beth replied with a nod.

  "We have quite a few rooms currently available," Tazeen replied calmly.

  "One of the ones in the main building," Beth said, dropping ten gold coins on the counter. She noticed the person next to them, being helped by John, glanced over with wide eyes.

  "That will be twenty days of time," Tazeen said calmly, quickly going through the motions to prepare four keys before handing them to the girls.

  "Thanks, Tazeen. We'll be around for a while if you guys need us for anything," Beth said.

  "I will note it, but I assure you, we can handle any problems," Tazeen said.

  "Thanks," Beth said before leading the others up to their room.

  "What now?" asked Sera.

  "I want to go down and see Jaq, then we can see about what else to do," Beth said.

  "I'll go with you," Sera said with a nod.

  "We'll stay here," Blood grumbled, slumping on the couch with Neph.

  "Cool," Beth said to Blood, turning and leading Sera out of the suite and down into the underworks. They entered the commissary to find Jaq already behind the counter.

  "Didn't I say you'd come back with a dragon?" Jaq asked with a sigh.

  "This is my wife," Beth said, pointing at Sera.

  "Girlfriend, for now," Sera corrected.

  "Fiancée," Beth retorted.

  "But...you haven't got me a ring?" Sera said in a slightly incredulous tone, though Beth could tell she was joking.

  "Jaq, do you have any rings?" Beth quickly asked, some faux desperation coloring her voice.

  Jaq had his face buried in both his hands, crushing his temples as if he was trying to crack them open. "I cannot believe this. They're fucking multiplying."

  "Well, I'm not sure if kids are in our future," Beth said a bit hesitantly, looking at Sera with a big smile on her face.

  "Just kill me," Jaq groaned.

  "I don't think even the two of us together would stand a chance," Sera replied.

  Jaq put his hands down on the counter and looked at them with a deadly serious air, saying, "No. You wouldn't."

  "I wouldn't want to fight you anyway, considering what you can do with knives," Beth replied.

  "I'm not as skilled as John, but yes, it would not be pleasant," he said.

  "Oh, is John better than you?" Beth asked.

  "I am good with knives; John is excellent," Jaq answered coldly.

  "That's…sorta reassuring?" Beth said, a bit unsure.

  "All knife users, somewhere deep inside themselves, are fundamentally unstable psychopaths," Jaq explained.

  "I don't know about that. Then again, you are a knife user," Beth responded.

  "You aren't winning any points with that argument," he replied crossly.

  "I don't need points," Beth replied with an eyeroll. "Anyway, we're back now for a while, so I thought at the least I'd come down and say hello."

  "I have to say, I am surprised that you are back so soon," he said. "You missed your family?"

  "Well, not really…" Beth said hesitantly.

  "You haven't talked with them?" Jaq asked, one eyebrow climbing slightly.

  "I haven't been the best about staying in touch," Beth said.

  "It happens," Jaq said, Beth raising her eyebrows as this seemed too close to sympathy from the grouchy shopkeeper. "Those of us who seek greater power, those of us who spend years out wandering and fighting, aren't always the best at maintaining connections. It can be terribly difficult."

  "What do you do about it?" Beth asked.

  "Find a group to work with," Jaq replied, nodding at Sera. "Find friends to work with. Find an organization to be part of."

  "Like the CRA?" Beth asked with a small smile.

  "Like the CRA," Jaq replied, dead serious. "You have three silver emblems who likely won't take long to reach gold; you're entering the senior ranks. For the Senior Enforcers, this place is a lot more than just an association, just a company with a bunch of coworkers; we're a family, a home.

  "Look at me," he commanded. "Look at me. Despite being called young, I'm over three hundred years old. My grand nephews and nieces, even those that walked the Path, are dead. Who do I have to rely upon? Who do I see and interact with consistently? The other Seniors. I've worked with Baelvyr for over two hundred years; I've likely known him six times longer than you've been alive. You need to find people that you can rely on, people who will be there for the long haul."

  "I hadn't really thought about it like that," Beth said, glancing at Sera before looking back at Jaq. "You've known everyone at this Hall a long time?"

  "John's older than he looks; Navere is relatively new, and by that, I mean he's been around for over fifty years; Lyrissa is the newest, and she's been working with us for more than thirty years; Elana's been around a century…or more, I forget; Tazeen is probably older than Baelvyr," Jaq ticked off on his fingers.

  "Really? Tazeen's real quiet and calm, but he's that old?" Beth asked, quite surprised.

  "Girl, you might not think it, but I am very strong, even for a low-rebirth Ascended," he said coldly. "Out of all the Enlightened among Senior Enforcers in the Milky Way, Tazeen is the only one who scares me."

  Jaq's voice was deadly serious, as was his expression, and even Sera, who had acknowledged Tazeen, had her eyes widen. Beth asked, "He's really that strong? I mean, I know he's good with a sword, but he's that strong at Enlightened that you don't want to fight him?"

  "Everyone has their own circumstances," Jaq replied a bit curtly. He relented after just a moment, saying, "Tazeen, as far as I know, is functionally immortal. He has not rushed through rebirths, but has instead worked tirelessly to hone his skills and develop his combat capabilities to the very limit. He has who-knows-how-many millennia of experience at this point, and I'm not sure what level his skills are at, but it must be quite high."

  "You're not able to see it with your fancy eyes?" Beth asked, quirking an eyebrow.

  "Girl, you don't even know if what you're seeing is real," he snorted in response. "When you look at someone, it's a complicated dance of skill interactions, strength of the soul, mana, items, special talents, and far more. I have skills that hide my level, my skills, my titles, my wealth, and alter the impression of my mana and strength. It's always a battle between your Identification skill or eye power and my defending skill, or multiple skills. Then, my soul strength and yours come into play, then our Mana Physiques come into play, then what items we have that can bypass or block skills, and on and on and on forever."

  "Oh," was all Beth could think to come up with to Sera's laughter.