Chapter 92 – Face to face conversation

"What's with Noah?" Asked Brianna when Noah suddenly stopped in the middle of getting up and then sat down with a strange face, closing his eyes.

Tessa and Priscilla, still hugging each other, were watching him as well.

"He is having a conversation with his invisible friend, I think." Said Tessa releasing her daughter and sitting down near Priscilla taking her hand into her own.

"What do you mean invisible friend?" Asked Priscilla.

"When we first met, I had a feeling that he was having a conversation with someone. It felt the same way like you two tend to do with our little friends living in the mansion when you speak with them behind my back, thinking I do not notice. So I asked him who he was talking to. He said that there is another entity living within his mind. This friend of his is very smart. He can outplay me in chess."

"No way." Whispered Brianna.

"I did not ask him many questions as it has something to do with his system, but I think there is another entity there as well. The one that gives out the spider smell that allows us to see him as a kin." Said Tessa.

"So why is he having a conversation all of a sudden?" Asked Priscilla.

"Let's wait and see." Said Tessa slightly squeezing her daughter's hand. "If it is Noah's friend, then maybe…maybe he has some idea." Whispered Tessa and Priscilla turned to her shocked before looking back at Noah while squeezing her mothers hand in return.

When Noah opened his eyes he saw three girls watching him in silence. He smiled awkwardly and then looked at Tessa.

"He says that maybe he has a way to…"

"I agree." Interrupted Tessa.

"...help us." Ended his sentence Noah. "You did not listen to the end."

"There is a condition I presume? Otherwise you two would not need such a long time to discuss. I agree. If he has a way to prevent me and Cil from hating each other while keeping you here, I agree, Noah. I want you to stay, and I want you to be with us." Said Tessa with trembling eyes.

Noah looked at Priscilla sitting near her mother and saw a firm look of determination in her eyes as well.

"He wants to have a talk with you face to face." Said Noah.

"What? Why out of a sudden?" Asked Tessa.

"Mom said it is someone in your head. How can we meet him?" Asked Priscilla at the same time.

"His friend is very smart, dear. I presume he has figured a way to do that." Said Tessa seeing Noah nod in reply with a slight smile.

"So why he wants to meet now?"

"He did not tell me the condition. He said I will hate it, so he doesn't trust me in passing the terms to you. From his words the price is yours to pay, not mine so you should be the ones deciding that."

"I see. If he is worried you might not tell us it must be a heavy price indeed. But I am willing to pay anything at this point. Let us meet Noah."

"Me too." Muttered Priscilla.

"Tessa, please be very rational in making decisions. Do not do something that you might regret after. I will understand and accept any choice. Do not do it if it is not to your liking Tess."

"I understand, dear."

"Dahlia." Called Noah.

"Yes, master." Said the voice of a maid entering the room.

"Dahlia, is it possible for you to bring Tessa and girls into my dream world?" Asked Noah.

Dryad watched him with raised eyebrows in silence for a moment.

"Theoretically, yes. If we attack them with illusion and you let us into your mind without resistance, but…"

"Dahlia. I swear to not attack you and repeat what the three of you were punished for by your mother. Please help me with this."

Dahlia turned around and looked at the two more dryads that watched her from the door to the room shrugging their shoulders at her.

"Alright, but…" Said Dahlia, sighing. "Although making an illusion for the girls may not give too much trouble, I doubt we are strong enough to influence the madam if she is guarded against it." She explained.

"I will lower my mind barriers and give my word not to attack you." Said Tessa watching Dahlia with a pleading eyes.

Dahlia looked at her for a few moments as well as if measuring her with her eyes and then nodded.

"Let us proceed to the garden. We may need an additional strength for this, that garden might provide us with."

"Thank you." Said Tessa.

Everyone moved to the garden behind the mansion, that the dryad girls were busy turning into their masterpiece for a few weeks, bringing back its old glory and beauty.

Zinnia brought out a big blanket that she put on the ground for everyone to lay on, while Aster brought a basket with snacks.

"Why do you bring food?" Asked Dahlia.

"It's the first family picnic in our repaired garden. I want it to be ideal."

"This is not…" Started to say Dahlia.

"Thank you, Aster." Said Tessa smiling at her. "This is a wonderful idea. We were so…busy…we did not get to enjoy the garden's beauty at all. Let's make this a family picnic then."

"Please have a seat, Madam." Said Aster with a smile.

Noah was sitting in the center of the blanket with Priscilla and Tessa at the both sides of him. Brianna sat down in front of them, while Aster prepared the snacks and poured tea.

First time in a while all of them had smiles on their faces, however by the tightness of the two girls hands in his two forearms he could feel that both Tessa and Priscilla were struggling with their full force to keep their appearance happy.

After a small picnic they all lay down on the blanket and closed their eyes, while tree dryads sat around them.

*****

When Tessa opened her eyes she was greatly shocked.

"It worked." She muttered looking around, seeing how her daughters opened their eyes as well after her words.

"This is your mind, Noah?" Asked Brianna

"Mind realm, yes. It is a special realm created by my system." Answered Noah.

"Looks beautiful." Said Priscilla.

"Thank you. Took me a long time to make it look this way. I am not very talented with arts."

"You created this all yourself, Master?" Asked Dahlia standing near him.

"This is a lot different than when we were last here." Said Zinnia.

"Yeah, well I just gained my system back then and did not know what could be done here, so it looked awkward back then. I learned to create all this just recently."

"What an interesting house design." Said Tessa watching a two story wooden building with an unusual for their world style. She couldn't place to word her exact feeling from seeing it, but if she had to she would say futuristic.

"It is a style of a world that is very advanced in science." Said Noah.

Although it was a typical wooden house, certain points gave it away as atypical to the world they lived in. Big windows and the absence of the chimney were just most noticeable of the many things.

"He is inside." Said Noah and entered the garden through the fence but then stopped in place.

"Dahlia, Zinnia, Aster I am sorry, but can you wait outside the house?"

"We understand, master. There is no problem. If you don't mind we would like to have a bit of a look around.

"Alright, however…do not get close to that mountain over there." Said Noah pointing with his head to the mountain peak covered in dark clouds in the distance. "You might die or bring trouble to your mothers doors again."

Dahlia's face became firm after these words.

"I understand, master." She said bowing.

When everyone entered the house they were even more surprised by the interior than its exterior. From collars to materials everything inside gave a feeling of something exotic and novel.

Tessa looked around the house for a short time then her eyes slanted, staring at the young spider girl that sat on the couch in the big room in her half human half arachna form.

Noah sensed her firm gaze and smiled.

"Girls. This is Yuko. She is a nightmare." Said Noah introducing her

Tessa heard this word from him before and more or less understood the meaning of this already, however her daughters had a puzzled faces

Then Noah walked to the armchair and picked up a plush bear.

"And this here is my system. His name is Ugy." Said Noah. "He is the one that asked you all to come here."

"Thank you all for coming." Said plush bear struggling out of Noah's hands and jumping down on the floor coming over to the guests.

Priscilla watched him a bit warily but Brianna's eyes were shining with interest.

"Why is he a toy?" Asked Brianna in excitement.

"He does not have a body, so I felt awkward speaking to him. But I made a bit of a joke on him when I gave this body to him. However, Yuko quite liked it, so she asked me to keep it this way.

Ugy turned to Yuko with a shocked face.

"You…"

Tessa raised her eyebrow in surprise for a moment looking Ugy over when he started to move, but then turned her gaze back to the spider girls watching her coldly the entire time.

Yuko stood up from her seat gazing back at Tessa with her own cold gaze and took Ugy into her hands.

"Let's have an agreement here, girlfriend." Said Yuko coldly coming closer to Tessa. "I do not touch what is yours and you don't touch what's mine." She said pressing Ugy into her chest making him only mutter, unable to say anything clearly.

"I see. This is indeed assuring. I agree."

"Good then." Said Yuko and turned back walking to the couch.

"As for you, bastard." She whispered into a plush bear's ear while she walked. "If I see you trying to look under their skirts again, I'll twist your head off." She whispered with such menace Noah felt it became colder in the room all of a sudden for a moment. But when Yuko plummeted on the couch with Ugy in her lap while smiling the cold air disappeared.

"Alright. Enough with the pleasantries. Let's get straight to the business." Said plush bear with an awkward look on his face, while everyone saw Yuko hold him firmly squeezing him tightly in her hands.

Noah closed his eyes for a moment and another big couch appeared in the room. Tessa smiled at him and sat at one side while Priscilla sat on the other side, obviously leaving space for Noah between them.

Brianna sat down on her mother's side silently watching the conversation.

"Noah said, you have a way to help us with…our problem."

"In a sense, yes." Said Ugy from across the room where he sat on Yuko's lap. "But before that I want you to make it clear what you are all planning with Brianna. Are you going to find her another mate or would you both let her into your relationship with Noah if I have a way to help?" Asked the plush bear, making everyone turn to look at her.

"Wha…I…I what? Ummm." Stuttered, Brianna surprised.

"Dear." Said Tessa putting her hand in Brianna's. "You know what this means. What matters is not our decision, but yours. I may not be able to help you with mate as I was not capable to do it with Priscilla. Are you willing to wait for me to find you someone."

"You may not have any chance to do it already, mom." Said Brianna turning down her gaze unable to watch her mother in the eyes.

Tessa immediately realized what her daughter meant, finally understanding why she really wished to leave the house with Noah.

"Oh, dear." Tessa hugged her daughter. "I was so busy thinking about Cil, I did not notice. What kind of mother am I? I am so sorry." Said Tessa with her eyes starting to water.

"You have done nothing wrong, Mom." Whispered Brianna hugging her mother back.

Priscilla watched her sister with surprise for a few moments.

"How long has this been going on?" She asked Brianna.

"Ever since Noah came to the house. I did not want to bother you all. I knew how agitated mother was with your state. I did not wish to increase her worry with my crossing of the stage coming as well." Said Brianna quickly threw a glance at Noah that had a shocked face.

"I am sorry, Noah." She whispered at him.

"No, Bri, you did nothing wrong." Said Noah regaining his composure. "But what were you going to do if I refused to travel with you?" He asked.

Brian a shrugged her shoulders.

"Find a place far enough from home to be killed by humans, so that mother would never hear of it." She said with a sad face.

"So am I right to understand, you are willing to become Noah's mate as well?" Interrupted their conversation Ugy.

Brianna lifted her eyes at Noah with a shy look. "If you are willing, I would really like that." She said while her cheeks became red as hot iron with redness going to her ears.

Noah looked at Tessa and Priscilla seeing what they thought about it and saw determination on their faces however both of them bit their lips from frustration.

"We want that too, Noah." Said Priscilla. "I know what kind if torture is waiting for my sister. I've been through it. I don't want her to suffer like that. Please take her in as your mate as well." Explained Priscilla while clenching her fist so hard, Noah could feel her bones making slight popping sounds.

Noah sighed and nodded.

"If you are willing, Bri. I would like to be a mate to you as well." He said, turning to look Brianna in the eyes.

Brianna's already red ears started to go even redder, almost starting to shine from their hotness while she gazed down to her knees unable to look anyone in the face, however there was a happy smile in her lips.

"Alright." Said Ugy. "In this case let me explain my idea." Said Ugy bringing everyone's attention back to him

"The way to help you, that I came up with, is to utterly destroy your family." Said Ugy.