"This is all rather foolish," Fibonacci stated as he watched Pepa work, not noticing that everyone else was busy watching him.

And how could they not? First it had been because he was someone new and different and that instantly caused the villagers to begin to whisper. Then there was how he looked; it wasn't often that someone in full plate armor casually walked about the village saying hello to those that let their gaze linger a bit too long.

But try as one might to ignore it... there was no getting past the fact that Fibonacci was not a man in armor. He was a machine, one of the most advanced machines Pepa had ever seen, to the point that it didn't feel RIGHT to call him that. He did not walk quite like a person, as there was a fluidness to his steps that a human didn't have. One might expect a mechanical man to be clumsy or to lumber about but it was the exact opposite with the Warforged: he understood how to move and did so with a grace that would make Felix feel utter envy for… and then beg him to teach him how to glide on the dance floor. Then there was the way he stared at people, it clear that there was no human face under that helm but all sorts of mechanical bits. Pepa felt like she was staring into a dark pit that went down forever when she looked into his eyes.

"It... needs to be done," Pepa said with a sniff. "The fields need to be watered."

"It is a waste of your gift," Fibonacci stated simply. "And it is cruel to the village as it is to the plants."

Pepa frowned at that before focusing once more on the inner sadness she always had to call up upon in order to make the rains fall. In the past it was her regret that she never got to know her papa. For the last ten years it was worries that Bruno and Mirabel might be hurt. Now... well, now it was the fact that she had to do this at all for a town that seemed utterly ungrateful for the emotional turmoil she put herself through just for them.

"You have a mighty power," the Warforged said, clearly not understanding or caring that she hadn't responded. "You can summon the storms and the winds and the lightning. And it is used for this?"

"I feed the village."

"A single village," Fibinacci stated.

"Yes, the whole village."

"I am not being clear. That happens sometimes... my mind works too fast for those like you."

"Humans?"

"The stupid." Pepa shot him a dark look and the clouds began to turn black. "I have misspoken?"

"Just a bit."

Fibonacci nodded at that; if he felt any other emotion it was impossible to tell thanks to his face being little more than a helm designed to vaguely resemble a human's cranium. "My apologizes. The others are helping me learn the difference between being direct and being rude. It is a... longer process that I expected."

Pepa looked at him for a long moment before finally wiping her nose; that was the worst part about making the rains, the snot that ended up dribbling down all over. "Apology accepted."

"Thank you," Fibonacci said with a slight bow. "But my points remain that this is a waste of your gift."

"How so?" she asked, glancing at the fields and seeing if they were done; thankfully it looked like all the crops had gotten just enough water and she was able to begin working on calming herself, which was getting quicker thanks to Bruno's meditation tricks he'd been teaching her. "I am ensuring the village has food."

"Yes, this village."

"We established that," she said in annoyance before recentering herself.

"You could feed an entire country."

THAT made Pepa start in surprise. "What?"

"With proper training you would be able to expand your clouds. You already are able to have localized weather or to influence the entire valley... with practice you could expand it to an entire country. There are dessert kingdoms that would treat you as a goddess. You would cry for an hour and then be pampered and worshiped for the rest of your waking hours. They would bow to you and see to your every need for your gift fed thousands."

Pepa swallowed at that, for a moment seeing it...

~MC~GF~MC~GF~

"More grapes, my lady?' a shirtless servant said, offering her a tray as Pepa lay on a bed of pillows.

"I grow tired of the fruit. Bring in the pleasure servant!"

Felix merely chuckled as he walked over. "You enjoy calling me that far too much."

"Silence, pleasure servant!" Pepa teased before yanking him down and-

~MC~GF~MC~GF~

"I believe if Dryft were here he would stated that you have suffered a sudden spike in arousal," Fibanacci said, breaking her from her thoughts.

Pepa, for her part, shook her head to rid herself of the visions. "Are you a mind reader too?"

"No. Of the many talents I have, which are numerous and would take weeks for me to fully describe, mindreading is not one of them." He paused, tilting his head. "I am not entirely sure I would want to see what you flesh and blood creatures think about. I imagine it would be rather like descending into a fire worm's maw."

"I'm going to try and not be insulted by that."

"Thank you!" Fibinacci said pleasantly.

"Let's put aside the fact that I could be helping countries for a moment... why is it cruel to the village?"

"And the plants, please don't forget them."

"Of course," she said sarcastically. Mirabel had pulled her aside and warned her that Fibonacci, as a Spore Druid, was very respectful of plant life; while he had been willing to attack Isabella's plants in the heat of battle he had tried to apologize to them afterwards., Not Isabella... the vines. "Why is it cruel?"

"Because you dominate them and refuse to give them freedom."

"Pardon?" Pepa said, raising an eyebrow. "You think I do WHAT?"

"I shall repeat myself: you dominate them and refuse-"

"I heard you. I just don't agree with you."

"You are welcome to do that as much as you wish. It is your right, of course. It doesn't change the fact that you are wrong in this instance and I am correct." Pepa took a step forward, another storm cloud forming. "It is rather nice you have that gift," Fibonacci said out of nowhere, causing her to halt. "With others I try and determine their emotions... you provide me with a clear indicator. I like that and you."

"I... thank you?" Pepa said, utterly knocked out of her anger at that odd compliment.

"It is why I give you what I believe Gahoole refers to as tough lust."

"Love. Tough love."

"Yes, that sounds right. Tough love. While you might believe that you are helping the villagers it is only in the short run, same as the plants. You deny them a chance to suffer."

"And that is... bad?"

Fibonacci quickly nodded. "But of course. Life is suffering. The moment an infant, no matter the species, enters the world it suffers. It is cold and it is confused and it is scared. It is why they cry. It is similar to my own kind... when we first awaken we do not understand where we are. It is like being in a dark room only for one to throw open currents and let the sun blaze in. Suffering is important... for it is how we move past it, how we battle it and overcome it and learn from it... that makes us alive."

Pepa... could understand the logic there. "I let the villagers get too complacent."

"Correct!" he said, pleased. "And the plants you coddle. You do not allow the strong to flourish. It is sad when a weak sapling dies but needed if the next generation will be stronger." He paused. "And then there is the matter that the control you attempt to have over all is harmful to all."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Have Mirabel or Bruno told you the history of my kind?"

"No."

Fibonacci nodded. "I thought as much. They assumed, rightly so, that I would prefer to tell the tale. Just over half a century ago there was a party, similar to the one that I am a part of. They were filled with all manner of adventurers and they strove to protect lands that had once been under the control of a dark mage. They defeated him and set themselves up as the rulers of this land, to repair the damage. But as time went on they began to fear threats that might come. They wished to protect more, to guard more... and this led them to impose laws. And those were accepted, for laws are fine, needed. Except… the party's fear did not lessen it grew. When you remove threats you only allow yourself to fear new ones. So the party made more laws. The people could only do this, couldn't do that. They saw threats all over... until they felt that even the people they had sworn to protect were threats to themselves. They saw them like children that must be constantly watched over, lest they trip and fall.

"They ruled for 5 years and by the third year they had become tyrants themselves. They looked down on the villagers and peasants, stating they knew better than them. And... they knew better than their own party. A member of their party, an Artifcer much like Mirabel, decided that to protect their lands they needed an army."

"You," Pepa whispered in growing horror.

"Not me. I came after. The 3rd generation. But my forefathers... they were built to dominate. But they lacked the spark of life… they were just mindless beings. They did not think; they only did as commanded. They were different than I in many ways. Smaller, thinner, most human-like in appearance. The tyrants wanted their people to believe they could be everywhere at once.

"Two of the party, a War Magic Wizard and a Battle Master Fighter, decided they could not go along any further with the creation of my kind. But… they were cowards and instead of standing up against those they had once called friend they chose to disappear. They decided to settle down, to live as simple villagers." He paused. "The party... did not take kindly to that."

"They hunted them down," Pepa said softly.

"No, but they made my ancestors do it," Fibanacci corrected. "They burned the village the two party members had settled in and chased them into the darkness. But something happened that they did not expect: the War Wizard and the Battle Master gave their lives… to give us ours." He looked up at the sky and she knew at once if he were able to do so he would have smiled. "The First Spark, that is what some call them. The War Flame to others. Forgers of Fate to the rest. They gave up their mortal forms so we might have souls. To truly live. So that we might see what was happening was wrong. We turned on our masters and declared we would not rule or enforce… we would protect."

Pepa didn't know what to say.

"The control you try to have over these fields… you can't maintain it. The longer you try… the most your grip will weaken. Until you can hold nothing." He held out his hands. "And then there are the villagers."

"Because it's cruel to help them?"

"Because who determines what is helpful?" Fibonacci asked. "You give rain now… what if you decide that you don't like a crop they are growing. It isn't healthy. They get too much of it in their diet. So you decide to not allow it to grow. And you have made them so dependent on you that they can't farm without you. And the fields wither and die on your whim. And what if you decide that there are too many in the village… so you only allow so much food-"

"I wouldn't do that," she told him sternly.

"The tyrants… thought the same."

Pepa swallowed and closed her mouth, considering what he'd actually said. The village… it was growing. Slowly, yes, but growing. What would happen years from now, if they grew too big? If there wasn't enough space in the valley? Would it be decided to… control the population?

"I think… you need some time to consider what I've said." And with that he took out his staff, gave a quiet chant… and slammed the staff into the ground. A beam of light shot out of it before it spread across the sky, racing in all directions like ripples in a pond. "There… eight hours."

"Eight hours?"

"Where I control the weather," he informed her. "I won't be able to do this again for a few days, as this will take a lot out of me, but even your magic will not be able to counter what I have done."

Pepa looked up at the sky as she realized just WHAT the Warforged was hinting at.

She took a shaking breath as it suddenly hit her just WHAT he was giving her… and not a cloud formed over her head.

And for the first time since she was 4 years old… Pepa cried in the sun.