Oh Hi Guys. So I heard you like stories, so I made a story within a story so you can read a story while you read a story. (Totally not foreshadowing anything... Also the last advice I give you about my hints)
Thea is Councillor Tevos first name, just so your not confused as to why her name switches in the middle of a sentence.
Saoer - An animal I made up for the sake of having something to line the sofa, just imagine them as a cross between an elephant and a tiger. (Yup, that's not a horrifying thought at all)
An IOU is a promise of a favor.
Arda - Father in Asari and Ada - Mother in Asari. P.S Thanks for letting me borrow stuff from your story Elizabeth. (If you want more pure Asari awesome look up Rising From The Ashes by Elizabeth (Eli) Carter)
WOOHOOO 5K WORDS BABY. NEW RECORD.
As she slowly came around Asana could feel something soft and velvety flowing over her skin, letting out a soft hum of content as she snuggled deeper into the silk sheets that she was entombed in. She frowned at the sound of a slight giggle disturbing her attempt sleep before she jolted upright taking in the sight of her home, Benezia's Armali compound, as she remembered the last thing that she had done before falling asleep and with a slowly rising sense of accomplishment she looked over at her fellow captive in the med bay with a slightly giddy smile.
"We did it" She whispered to herself drawing a giddy smile from Liara and a small dignified grin Shiala, although Shiala wasn't radiating anywhere near the same joy as Liara because this was her third hunt to date. "We did it, We did it, We did it" She whispered to herself several times growing louder with each repetition until finally she was nearly shouting it out as she laughed in glee, unaware of the way everything seemed slightly more colorful and vibrant to everyone within the range of her empathic powers as flowers bloomed and the birds seemed to chip happily at her joyous presence as it spread outwards.
Feeling the effect's but not showing it, Shiala was none the less impressed at this newly discovered ability of empathy, something that had yet to be documented in the rare few other empath's. "Yes, we did, and I must say Asana you impressed a lot of important people today, Enough to have them considering having you inducted into the commandos now rather than with a few decades more training" Shiala explained with a small smile on her face as shes suppressed the grimace that her face wanted to show at the though of what was her's being in such a dangerous occupation, not wanting to hurt her feeling's by declaring that she doesn't want her to take the job as if she is inadequate.
"Yes, oh godess at the time it was so scary but now when I look back on it I can't do it without a smile on my face now that the fear and adrenaline has faded" Liara was almost speaking faster than she could hear now, something that hadn't happened since they were 14 and Liara had found a book about archeology in the library and managed to sneak it out and to her room where it still rested on her shelf now.
Smiling at Liara, Asana smiled tried shifting a little when her body reminded her of why she was in the med bay when it screamed out in protest of her laughing as her ribs ached so badly she thought for a brief moment she had re-broken them, before she felt a nudge at the edge of her mind that whispered calming thoughts to her. As she recovered from the sudden unexpected flash of agony she pushed feelings of thankfulness towards the mind that she had accidentally reached out to and felt that it belonged Shiala, and received feelings of motherly affection and worry that seemed to be smothering something darker underneath, something that would... hurt her feelings?
Feeling the sensation of her mind being gently removed from another made her aware of how obvious she had made her poking around and smiled sheepishly at Shiala while silently wondering why she had let her sense the feeling if she was being as clumsy as she thought she was.
When she realized her error she bowed her head and tilted it sideways in the traditional way of showing submission to punishment. Liara looked slightly confused and mildly alarmed at the show of submission until she saw their eyes fading back to normal, signifying a meld being severed between her Arda and her crush.
Just as she was about to comment Shiala smiled "You needn't worry, I have been informed how hard it is for an empathic Asari to keep out of another Asari's mind" She said her grin growing at the embarrassed look that came to Asana's face as she quickly turned her head away to hide her growing blush and grumbled to herself when she heard Liara giggle before turning over and burying her head under the covers as the exhaustion of her ordeal caught up to her half-healed body and she fell asleep in seconds.
Three Day's Later...
During her stay in the medical bay she had discovered something that was fun to play with, she had found that if she focused her biotic's into her hair strands that she could very,very slowly change the color that it grew from the roots, when she asked the doctor she mentioned some scientific mumbo-jumbo about dark energy mixing with DNA when she was young or some other crap that she ignored when it was too complicated for her to understand. After playing with this for awhile she had decided to change her hair color permanently so as soon as she left the med bay she went to the supply closet and foolishly decided to wash her hair with red clothing dye. The end result being a burning pain that she could deal with from the chemicals and fiery dark crimson hair that would now grow from the roots and over her dyed hair unless she changed her mind. (A/N - Tell me if you want her hair to be Red or Black, Personally I'm leaning towards Red but public opinion shall be the deciding factor)
Taking her mind off of her in her opinion 'Badass' hair Asana glanced up from where she was sitting in the garden with Liara , basking in the sun in the garden now they were out of the med bay, when she felt a welling of positive emotions mixed with professional tones converging on her from the main building in the compound. Feeling that she was eager to do something and felt like a commando that she trusted, she reined in her senses pushed her hair out of from over her eye and sat up to smile at the huntress as she rounded the corner of the hedge, not appearing even slightly surprised that the young maiden had sensed her even if it was slightly annoying, as it was fairly common knowledge in the compound that she could now sense emotions to an even greater degree after her accidental reaching out to Shiala's and Liara's minds during the hunt, the action born from desperation advancing her empathy prematurely and making her hyper-sensitive to an others emotions to the point that she had to meditate and train to lower her abilities range when it was discovered that it couldn't be turned off, before she was swamped and her mind broken under the strain of a hundred others emotions flowing over her like the tides of the sea.
It had gotten to the point that she had accidentally melded with several people when something about their emotional state caught her attention, usually gaining reproving looks when her eyes flashed black, as most were made aware of her new lack of control and how she could reach out and meld without actually touching someone. Something that had been confirmed when an empath Sha'ira had trusted to ask had told her it could be done, also telling her about the potential issues and various advantages and disadvantages of such a power.
The huntress noticed that Asana had spaced out trying to block out her emotions and smiled at her as a way of thanking her for her thoughtfulness clearing her throat and glancing at Liara as she jumped at the sudden noise, gaining both of their attention. "Mistress Benezia want to see you in her office" She said in a neutral tone that she knew would fool the two, as Asana's empathetic ability had been 'turned off' for now and Liara was clueless in the art of lying, as she mentally smiled at the thought of the two thinking they were going to be punished when it was quite the opposite.
"Yes Strike-Mistress Verada" They chorused at the same time trying to suppress the worrying feeling they were getting about going to Benezia's office, they had rarely ever gone there and usually it was to be punished or asked awkward questions that they didn't understand the meaning to, leaving them confused and sometimes flustered.
"It's been a while since you have called me that Little Wing" Verada said to Liara grinning at the way she briefly scowled at her 'private' nickname being called out in public and by someone not of family, even as she tried in vain to ignore the way the huntresses eyes roved across Asana's bare stomach before she grit her teeth and walked over to her.
"Yes, it has. It was nice to see you again, just make sure to stay away from what is mine" Liara said in a normal tone before she dropped the last part to a whisper as she leaned into her shoulder as if embracing her as old friends would. Ignoring the way her girl's eyes bored into her back in an attempt to learn what she had whispered.
"Yes well, if you want something. Then you had better be prepared to take it" She whispered back "I don't want her, a little young for my tastes but even I can imagine the many, many others that will be pining for her attention. Just one slip in judgement and she'll be in their bed before you can blink" Verada quietly gave her sagely advice before moving away in the opposite direction to where she was posted today in the bathhouse, sometimes it payed to be part of a species that weren't very sensitive of their nudity, it gave her a great view to pass the time.
As Liara stared after her as she walked out she frowned briefly before glancing at her 'sister' and jolting as she spotted her several meters away, Liara obviously having missed her call to come when she began jogging to catch up to her as her mind turned around the idea of another taking what was her's and feeling something in the pit of her stomach twisting for a brief moment, as an even briefer moment of possessiveness swallowed her before mind forcibly brought her back to Thessia with the words 'What if she doesn't like me' The thought insidiously whispering to her 'She hasn't ever shown any real want for relationship towards her' and even as the thought whispered to her another started 'She be taken, all of the strange people that keep trying to take her away, take her away from me'
With the though running through her mind she started feeling depressed and loosing hope before she felt a warm hand on her Azure (Lower-middle of back) that sent comforting feelings flowing through her, for a brief moment she was confused until she felt the very tip of Asana's mind brushing hers in the simplest meld possible, one that just shared vague feelings, not even rudimentary thoughts, so it was usually used as a way to comfort those who were close.
'She must have felt my emotions as they were overflowing from me even if her ability is stunted at the moment' She thought to herself, the doubt cleared from her mind with the meld she had shared with Asana 'I'm just going to have to make sure that everyone knows that she's mine, they wont take her from me then' She thought to herself triumphantly before her mood dropped as she realized that she had no idea what to do to achieve said goal.
'Shiala will know, she knows everything' She thought to herself satisfied with her thinking, even if it was the naive thinking of a very young and soft girl not yet scarred from the harshness of real life. Not thinking that it was strange to be chasing another at the equivalent human age of 12, Asari developed faster and had far less hang-ups over age issues than humans, you tend not to after living for as long as you can bear. The oldest Asari known to date was a racial secret and any aliens who knew were eliminated and all evidence destroyed, but it was known to specific Asari that she was just topping one thousand and seven hundred years and she didn't seem to be slowing down, her body frozen at the same appearance as she was when she was 1000. This evidence only supporting Asari theory's that they were ageless but when they reached what other races considered their age limit, they had simply lost the will to live and let themselves fade into eternity to be with those who had passed beyond.
In Benazia's office...
"She did well" Tevos mused as she looked at the reports her from her agent's that were present during the Hunt "Extraordinarily well in fact, Shi'ira was right to name her Shepard" She said quietly, her mind mulling over the fact's and the different way things could be arranged from this.
"Yes, things will change but for the better" Benezia responded to her while she meditated lightly in the middle of the room, trying to gain perspective of the event's that had past "Oh and on that note, about the last time you are dealing with a threat please be a little bit more subtle. Do you know how hard it was for me to keep your image as the calm, collected and wise Asari Councillor when I have to stop leaks of you having a fit inside the most well recorded place on the Citadel?" She chastised Thea softly, with good intentions in her heart.
"Well, I have become rather fond of the two but I suppose that I really should have been more careful. I mean just imagine what would have happened if that Turian bitch, Aciria Romulus, had gotten hold of that tape. I would be out of a job within the day" Thea spat out the name as her face went from being pale in fear of that occurring and hating that damned reporter.
"Yes she would have, your welcome for that by the way" Benezia replied with an expectant glint in her eye, after all even if they were good friends she had stuck her neck out far more than she should have for her and well, a favor for a favor is an old saying that still held true.
With a slight grimace Thea reached into her gown and pulled out a plain looking holodisk that contained her IOU, something that was so rare for her that there were only three in existence and placed it on Benezia's desk before moving over onto the black Saoer-skin sofa and slouching down now that it was just her and someone she trusted.
After relaxing for several minuets she reached over and plucked the data-pad of the desk and skimmed through the report again. Only three of them and they killed the biggest Firaxon since Aria took her Hunt, to her that was impressive on the level of what she expected special forces like the Spectres to work at, and even then she doubted most would be able to make such an achievement as recently the Spectres were getting complacent, they relied far too much upon their gear, were forgetting subtlety and were often seen running through the streets gunning down their target, not stealthily assassinating them or sneakily manipulating someone else to do it for them with them none the wiser, they were just blowing up the whole damn building and causing massive property damage and cost in repayment for the Council.
As she looked at the facts she came to the conclusion that they were slipping away from what they had been taught to be when they entered the Spectres, they were becoming nothing more that very well trained mercenary's that vaguely adhered to the Council's rule and that was not what Spectres were, they were the Council's sword and shield, their first and last line of defense, something that could be relied upon absolutely to get the job done no matter the cost or the moral implications.
Despite the fact that it left a sour taste in her mouth she realized what she had to do and several minutes later she had informed the other Councillors and when they were in agreement she coordinated with them and sent off dozens of messages that confirmed the assassination of 3 borderline renegade Spectres and orders to start a slave uprising in the Batarian Hegemony that several of the newer Spectres were to be assigned to various position in for experience with several older, more experienced Spectres around to make sure that things turned out they way the Council wanted when the uprising inevitably failed.
Pushing the thought's of guilt to the back to her mind where she would deal with them in private, she turned to Benezia, not showing the slightest hint of anything out of the ordinary on her face "This is something I expected to see coming from a rookie Spectre, not a Asari just entering maidenhood" She spoke as she prodded for information, making sure to keep it out of her tone even though she knew someone as experienced in politics as Benezia would have caught it, still she tried as it seemed like Benezia was using these little session to try and teach her how to be a better Councillor by teaching her more than she though possible about politics, various ways to to lie effectively to the different species and how to manipulate a conversation so that the other agrees either give you what you wanted in the first place or make you end up with the better deal.
"I told you when you first saw them, they will be something truly special when they grow older. Especially Asana, I can see her doing great things, things that will be remembered for the rest of time immemorial" Benezia spoke with her eyes having a slight glazed look with a slight flare of biotic energy leaking from the edges of her eye's, something Asari Matriarchs did when they were feeling the flow of the future, where they take memories from their past and using their experience of the present to try to predict what will happen in the future. That was the true secret to the power Matriarchs wielded, the ability to accurately feel the way the future would flow and planning on what they felt from it.
"I can see them doing great things as well, but their actions being remembered for the rest of time? We barely bother to remember our own past let alone the other races, the only reason we know ours because of the fact we archived it, if we didn't it would have be forgotten to time. So how do you suppose that they will do something so monumental for it to be remembered?" She spoke, her voice without mocking even as she tried to find a scenario where this could come to pass and the flow coming back turbulent every time. Lacking the same experience to look into her flow and predict things with any real degree of precision when she was only in her mid six hundred's, the idea was inconceivable to her and it reflected on her flow.
"You will see, as you grow and your ability to manipulate your flow matures you will see their impact, even now with your limited experience you can feel that they are going to be something special cant you? They they will do something so amazing that it has muddied your view of the flow" Benezia spoke with passion and the usual fire in her eyes had exploded to a burning conflagration. In her passion she had gotten up and stood tall as she radiated the aura of regalness that made her dominant in any situation.
Feeling slightly off kilter from the sudden action from the normally calm Matriarch she stood frozen in her aura for a moment until her mind caught up to her and she calmed herself "I can feel something, but my flow has nothing on the scale you can predict on" She admitted grudgingly.
"It's fine, remember sometimes it's just the way the tides flow" Benezia spoke in a calming voice, the sudden energized rush dieing down and opened her mouth to speak before she heard a knock on the heavyset wooden door and nodded at Thea to settle her ruffled attire as she walked to the door and settled her own from standing up so suddenly. As she slowly pulled the door open she smiled as she caught sight of dark crimson hair and those purple eyes that she knew so well before she noticed Liara standing unusually close to Asana with a shining glint in her eye, one that spoke of primal want and childish confidence, a strange combination if she had ever seen one.
"Strike-Mistress told us that you wanted to see us?" Asana said respectfully, still unsure if this was for punishment or not until the thought was reinforced at the sight of the Asari Councillor coming into view several seconds later, looking as regal and beautiful as she ever.
"Hello, Benezia and I would like to talk to you about your hunt" She spoke softly calming their nerves about that fact that it might be a punishment "I have spoken to Shiala about her perspective of the hunt and what happened, now I would like your perspective of what happened when you were taken. Then we will give you our thoughts as council from us if you are up to it"
"Alright" They spoke back in unison before moving over to the sofa and carefully sitting on it with their backs straight and their hands folded in their laps looking like a miniature 5'2ft version of their mother when she sat down. Looking over at Benezia with a raised eyebrow she saw Benezia shaking her head slightly until she heard her mutter something that sounded suspiciously like 'Shiala' under her breath.
With that slight amusement in mind she gracefully made her way across the room the the padded chair in-front of Benezia's desk and sat down in it slowly, taking comfort in the familiar feeling of the velvet pillow it was adorned with "We would like you to start when you were separated" Thea asked of them while Benezia came up around her to stand slightly behind her while she was speaking, making an intimidating sight for the two barely twenty-five year old maidens.
Twirling a strand of red hair in her hand Asana cocked her hand or her hip like she had seen others do and though back to what she could remember of the Hunt "It was chaotic, I was scared when I woke up somewhere else entirely and they might have taken me without being noticed if they hadn't started fighting between themselves over what would happen to me, one of them wanted to start experimenting on me right away and the other disagreed" She recited her knowledge and feelings from memory before she shuddered as her mind imagined what would have happened to her if she didn't escape.
Benezia and Thea looked on sympathetically as they took in the information and various plans for the shadow broker were drawn up and discarded as soon as they were made, he wasn't the 'shadow' broker for nothing as no-one knew where he is, or what he is, although most subscribe to the theory that he was an Asari as the broker had existed for over a thousand years with no noticeable changes.
"After I managed to warp a hole in the sub I pushed my injured hand out of the hole before the kinetic barriers could completely activate and block out the water" She took a breath as she omitted how she had gotten injured, she didn't want to imagine how angry they would be with her if they knew that she had injured herself in the Hunt just so that she could attract the most deadly predator on the planet as her hope of escape, not just using what she already had on hand.
"After a moment they realized that I had put a hole in the sub when the alarms started blaring and they were on their way to knock me out I think, before the Firaxon started tearing the sub and them to pieces" Asana at this point was slightly green when she remembered the blood and gore that spread from them as they were eaten, she might have killed a Firaxon but to her naive mind killing an animal and a person were two vastly different things.
"Do you know who abducted you?" Thea asked in a soft tone as she watched Asana bury herself into her sister missing the blush that spread from the action. As despite knowing who had committed the crime based on evidence, as miniscule as it was, they need direct conformation from the abducted as it would help streamline the process of getting back at the broker significantly.
"No, well yes kinda" She tripped over her words out of the corner of her mouth as she buried her head into Liara, the older two Asari smiling at the rare sign of childish affection from Asana, after she came back she had started to act much more mature and they missed the playful and childish girl that had once brightened their day, helping to wash away the guilt from nearly a millennia of making hard political and military decisions that usually ended thousands of lives.
"It was those guys again. Y'know those guys that tried to take me away last time" She said the end of her sentence with a petulant whine that she knew that they loved to hear nowadays while she hid the growl building in her chest at the thought of being taken away from her home, away from Liara and her Arda and Ada.
"It's alright, you don't need to say anything else, Shiala has told us the rest but we needed to know what happened aboard the submarine" Benezia spoke in a soft motherly tone as seeing her daughter's distress, she walked over and gently pulled the two onto her lap and into her embrace as she sat on the sofa, softly stroking Asana's hair, something they had discovered that she liked, while running her hands over Liara's crest enjoying they way they snuggled deeper into her embrace as she let out a sigh of content to have her children safe and sound once again.
As she felt the two nearing sleep she looked up as Thea and they shared a glance that told the other all they needed to know, for Benezia it was that she would receive all the help she could so long as it wouldn't interfere with her job or seat on the Council and for Thea it was a burning fire that told her all she needed to know about her love for her children and silently showed her support in her eyes.
Just as the two were about to fall asleep they were almost jolted awake by the sound of the door slamming open before their young minds were soothed by the sound of Shiala softly humming an Asari tune that sent them to sleep, instinctively knowing that they were safe when that sound was nearby.
Right you lot, give me all of your Reviews and tell me about any grammar errors I missed or spelling mistakes. Also please tell me if you spot something that could be edited of improved, as after several days the chapter will become permanent with no edits to it forthcoming (unless I need to fix an error on my end)
Also please either Review or PM me you choice on her hair color. I put the poll on my profile page but I know it will be easier for many just to write it in a review.
Yay! Aria reference, she will play an important role in this story later on and Boo politics that are actually surprisingly vicious. (You didn't think that being a Councillor means you don't have to make hard decisions like this one regularly do you?)
So worth the wait eh? I am going to continue writing for a week and then uploading rather than writing for a day or two and then uploading with the pieces of crap that I had been spewing out before. Also this is much easier for me as I can write at a more leisurely pace and not have to rush to put out a chapter every day or two and burn myself out on wanting to write. I hope you like this chapter as it took me a whole damn week of writing to get it done.
Bye and see you around this time next week for another chapter (or even sooner if I write fast enough :D)