Shepard Stories - Chapter 19: Milizkia
Main Characters: Milizkia, Aria, and Liara
Omega – Aria T'Loaks' Home – Spring 2215CE
It was late into the afternoon, and Milizkia was in the living room watching tv when she heard her mother shuffling around in the kitchen. She turned toward her "It's about time you got up."
Her mother groaned as she reached for a cup and a tea bag. "I was up until the crack of dawn, give me a break." Aria removed the wrapper from her tea bag, placed it in her cup then poured hot water over it. She grabbed a muffin and made her way to the couch to sit near her daughter. She placed her cup down to let her tea steep then bit into her muffin as she sat down. "Mmm…"
Milizkia looked at her and smiled "You like those, huh?"
Aria nodded her head as she chewed the remaining bit in her mouth. "Yes, these are soo damn delicious. Where did you get them? I didn't think any place on Omega made anything like this."
She smirked, "I didn't buy them, mom, I made them. Like any place on Omega would carry something that good."
Aria arched her brow. "You made these? Damn." She took another bite then put the muffin down and slightly circled her hands around her mouth. "The flavor is just soo..mmm. It's fluffy and moist, and it's like a tiny explosion in your mouth. So good!" She paused from her moment with her muffin and turned her head to her daughter then said, "Wait, where did you get all the stuff to make these? I don't have any of that shit here."
Milizkia gave her a lopsided grin. "Seriously mom, I've been here for four months and several times before that over the years. You think I haven't purchased what I need to live here or haven't brought items with me, goodness!" she said as she laughed. "Oh, don't mind me. You can go back to your intimate moment with your muffin."
Her mother laughed, then pushed her daughter's arm, "Shut it!"
Milizkia and her mother propped their feet up on the coffee table, crossed their legs, and sunk back into the couch. Aria continued to eat on her muffin and drink her tea then said with a partially full mouth "You know you could probably sell these badass muffins. These are that fucking good and people will buy the shit out of these fuckers."
Milizkia opened her Omni tool to check for messages as her mom talked. She saw several messages, some from friends and the others from her cousins but no emails. "Mom, if I ever sell these, it's not going to be on Omega."
Aria shrugged "Well, whatever but people will buy these, just sayin'. What do you put in these to make these so good? My taste buds are dancing right now."
"My secret mom." She looked over at her mom that was examining the berry in the muffin. "What are you doing?"
"Hmm? Oh! What kind of berry is this? The name is on the tip of my tongue, but I can't place it." She said as she finished off her muffin.
"They're expensive to have them exported." She said as she looked over at her mother when her hands popped together.
"I know what these are! You put frazzle berries in these muffins. Hot damn, before this week I haven't had those in centuries. Those berries are only grown on Thessia, and I am very impressed with your baking skills. The fact that you're able to cook these and keep the frazzle. That's literally the tiny explosion I'm feeling in my mouth, isn't it?"
Milizkia nodded, "Wow, mom, you're good. That's correct, what you're feeling in your mouth is from the frazzle berries. Frazzle berries are extremely potent if eaten without cooking and can be overwhelming. What's unique about cooking with frazzle berries, especially in bread mixed with a special ingredient, is when the berry cooks or shrinks. When the frazzle evaporates, that special ingredient traps the evaporated frazzle into the muffin. The berries in the muffin aren't actual frazzle berries; those are just regular asari gumble berries, which makes them super yummy."
"Damn Mili my mind just exploded. How did you come up with this?"
"Well, it wasn't all me. Lena came up with the how after my many attempts of failure, but the cooking idea was mine." Said Milizkia
"You two absolutely amaze me," said Aria as she flipped through the tv channels.
Milizkia smiled as she looked down at her Omni tool when a few more messages came through. "Thanks, mom." She pinched her lips to the side as she hit the refresh button on her email. "Mom, it's been four months, and I still have not heard back from the higher learning schools." She said as she replied back to her messages.
"hmmm… strange, you should've heard back by now." said Aria as she continued to flip through the channels. "I wonder what the holdup is?"
"That's exactly what I'm thinking, but Tev said that I'm just impatient and that I'll receive them soon enough once the school year is over. The reason could be that there's a waiting list, they are busy, or multiple other reasons." She said with irritation.
She watched her mother scrunch her face then say, "What a load of varren shit!"
"That's exactly what I thought," she said as she laid her head back on the couch and groaned.
"What else is up your ass?" Aria asked
She grunted "I'm on the Omega, that's what's up my ass. That and not hearing back from these damn schools."
Her mother huffed. "Your attitude about Omega is getting old."
She waved her hands around "Being on Omega is getting old. There's nothing to do here, and I honestly don't understand how you can live h—"
"Here we go… All you do is complain all damn day. I'm not forcing you to be here. You came here on your own free- "
"Mom, I came here because I miss you and I love you, but I can't stand it here. It smells, the people here are disgusting, the whole place is just gross, and it's just horrid here."
"Then go back to Illium with Tevos and Lena." She said with annoyance then she paused "Oh wait, you don't want to be there either. Well, you have to be somewhere."
She rolled her eyes and grunted, "I expected to be in school by now with most of my day being consumed with education. Not sitting on my ass on disgusting Omega."
"I resent that, and I expect you to be the queen of Omega someday."
She shrugged, "That's the problem I don't want to be the queen of Omega. I seriously cannot stand this place. I'm a prisoner locked up in this house. I can't go outside; I can't even walk around or visit any of the shops." She cringed, "Not that I would want to but still."
Aria rolled her eyes "I set those rules for your own safety, and you're allowed to go with escorts." Her mother's voice trailed off as she received messages…
-/
Group message from Anna and two others: School is out bitches…
Message to Anna: I've been out of school biaaaatch!
Message from Anna: Oh, that's right. You still on shitter rock?
Message to Anna: Yes, and I'm losing my mind. Please save me!
Message from Anna: I can't even imagine what you're going through. You've been on Omega for four fucking months now. How about you come here? Gimme a sec and let me go ask my mom.
Message to Anna: Seriously, can I please? For like the entire summer. Tell auntie that I would love her to pieces!
-/
Her mother saw her smirk. "What's so funny?"
She shook her head "Nothing, it's just Anna. She wants to know if I can come over for the entire summer, can I?"
Her mother ran her fingers around her eyes "You must think I'm an idiot. I know she didn't come up with that on her own, you asked her. How about you call your auntie and ask?"
"Seriously?" she said as she crossed her arms.
Aria just gave her a look. "If you want to go, I need to hear Liara or Shepard say it's ok."
She groaned loudly, "Ugh Fine!" She tapped a few buttons on her Omni tool to vidcall her aunt. After a moment, she saw her aunt appear on screen, "Hello Milli, we were just talking about you."
Milizkia smiled. "Hi, Auntie! Yes, I know, but my mother said I had to call and ask so she could hear from you that it's okay. I'm assuming she wants to make sure I'm not running off somewhere."
Her mother spoke sharply, "That is NOT what I was thinking!"
She smiled and shrugged then heard her two older cousins pleading with their mother. "Please please please we haven't seen her in months please, mom."
"Aria, you're okay with this?" asked Liara
Milizkia turned to look at her mother "Well, are you okay with this?"
Aria took a breath as she sat up straighter on the couch "I'm sure those girls have told Liara how you feel about being here." Aria changed her voice to mock her daughter "Oh, it smells here, I'm cooped up inside and have nowhere to go, and it's sooo boring here. Goddess, this place is sooo horrible! It's sooo much more fun at auntie Liara's house." She looked at her daughter with her head cocked. "Does that sound about right?"
She rolled her eyes at her "Yes or no, mom?"
Aria pinched her lips together, then said: "Yes, if your aunt wants to take my nagging daughter off my hands, then please do so."
Milizkia laughed silently as she watched her aunt make a face. Liara smiled then said, "Aria, I agree to keep Milli for the summer."
Milizkia smiled and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, I'll see you in a few days." said Liara before she ended the call
-/
Milizkia got up from the couch to go pack her clothes, and as she began to walk off, she heard her mother say, "Sooooo how do you plan on getting there?"
Milizkia's head and shoulders slumped at her mother's words. "Seriously mom, do you want me to take a fucking cargo transport over there? No better yet how about one of your crew take me over there?" said Milizkia as she turned toward her and dropped her hand down on her thigh.
Aria curled her lip as she turned toward her daughter, "Don't get smart with me, Liz! How about we call Tevos and ask her to come pick you up and take you there? I sure as shit am not having some fucking Batarians or some damn Vorcha take you there."
They heard Bray from the other room, "Hey…." Aria's head whipped around and snarled, "You shut the fuck up, and you know what I mean!"
Aria pulled up the large video screen to call her lover. After a moment, Tevos appeared on the screen and said: "Hey love, what do I owe the pleasure of seeing your lovely face this afternoon?"
Aria smiled "Hey babe, Liz has something to ask you."
Milizkia took a breath as she looked at her mom then over at Tevos "Hey Tev, I was wondering if it was a possibility that you could come pick me up and take me to the T'Soni-Shepard's."
She looked at Aria then nodded, "I don't think that would be a problem, I could swing by and spend time with your mother. How long do you plan on staying?"
"Anna and Nez got their permission to have me over for the entire summer." She heard her sister in the background "Aww that is so not fair; I want to go."
"Well, maybe you should call and ask squirt." said Milizkia as she saw her younger sister look at Tev.
"Mom, can I go for the summer if Liara says it's ok, please?" asked Lena
Tevos looked at her daughter then at Aria with a smile on her face. "It's fine with me if your dad is ok with it."
Aria smiled broadly, "Sounds fantastic to me, babe."
"Wonderful, I'll see you in a few days." said Tevos
-/
Message to Anna: Do you think Lena can come too?
Message from Anna: Ha! Gwyn just asked my mom, and of course, she agreed. I'll see you bitches in a few days.
Message to Anna: Hells yea, see you soon. Thank you for saving me!
Message from Anna: You know it!
-/
She looked over at her mother, who was still talking to Tev. "Ha... I look forward to several days of just us. I'll see you after you drop the girls off." After she ended the call, she looked over at her daughter gagging.
Aria rolled her eyes. "Oh, please you act like your dad and Miranda, or your precious auntie and uncle don't ever have sex."
Milizkia scrunched her face, "Gross mom, I don't want to know..."
Aria was now turned and leaning on the back of the couch. "Well, you know you're in the age for sex and sex melding..." She arched a brow "Have you-"
"Mom! I'm not having this conversation with you!" she squealed.
Aria smirked "Oh come on, you can tell me. I'm your mother…" she stared at her with a broad smile.
Milizkia looked at her. "No, I haven't… thoughts yes, flirting, and been flirted with… but no. I wasn't really that interested in anyone at school. It's not like I've had many species options."
"You have decades to pick from species Lizzie, so don't you worry about that. Rule of thumb though, physical stimulation is good, but once your biotic aura has been activated toward a sex meld then you'll need to complete it, or you'll be in pain for a day or so." said Aria
Her forehead scrunched. "hmmm well good to know…"
Aria smiled. "You know… I heard from Tev… that heard from Thyta that Liara has had a Biotic Supernova. Do you know anything about that?"
She furrowed her brow as she leaned on the back of the couch, "A what?"
Aria grinned. "Yea that caught your attention didn't it. Not many Asari have had one. Most are lucky to get one in their lifetime, but Liara has had several and from Shepard. Lucky bitch!"
"What is it though?" Milizkia said as she cocked her head.
"It's the ultimate sex meld release an Asari can have. I've only ever had one in my six hundred some odd years. It was the most amazing feeling ever, and I'll never forget it. I felt that pleasure ripple through my body for days. I would love to know what he does to get her to do that."
"Mom, auntie Liara, and uncle Jon are a very unique couple. They are constantly mind-linked … I'm talking like twenty-four-seven, and only the relays separate them. Their connection runs deep; it's almost like their souls are attached. I think that's why they're able to do that Nova thing you're talking about consistently."
She watched her mother cringe then say, "Fuck that shit. I can't even imagine someone being that close to me twenty-four seven. That's just too much." She shook her head. "Your aunt is going to crumble when that man dies… I do know that much."
Mili sighed at the thought, "You're probably right there."
"There's no probably about it, dear. She crumbled the first time he died, and she will crumble…if not die herself when he does."
-/
Milizkia walked briskly to the door and rang the doorbell. As she waited, she heard Anna yell from the other side "They're here, I'll get it!" The door swung open to the eldest of the T'Soni-Shepard girls. "Hey cousin, Lena, Tev. Come on in." Annabelle gave everyone a quick hug before they walked through the door. Milizkia walked further into the foyer and saw her auntie Liara and cousin Benezia walking down the hall from the living room. They walked up to each other, and she gave them a quick hug "Thanks again for allowing us to stay for the summer. Oh, I brought this for you." Milizkia said as she handed her aunt a muffin.
"It's no problem at all Mili. The girls have been dying to see you and Lena. Oh, and thank you." Said Liara as she took the small clear container from her.
She looked up the curved staircase toward the loft and saw her younger cousins Gwyn and Riley leaning on the balcony and waved at them. "Hey." They looked at her and smiled, "Hey." She saw their faces light up when they saw her younger sister walk up behind her.
They shouted down, "Lena! Come on up." Her sister looked at her, then up the staircase. Mili nudged her, "Go ahead." She watched her sister run up the stairs towards her friends.
Milizkia looked around, "Where's uncle, Jon?"
"My dad is out on some job. He's been gone for a few days and should be back in a week or so." said her cousin Benezia
"How's your mom doing?"
"You know my mom. She absolutely can't stand to be away from my dad." said her cousin as she shrugged.
Anna shook her head. "She calls him at least two to three times a day. It's so gross to hear her talk to him. She so mushy." She laughed when they both made faces. Her aunt walked up behind her and leaned in "Then don't listen…"
"Well mom, it's hard not to when you make your vid call on the couch for all of us to hear."
Liara laughed as she walked with Tevos to the living room. "It's my house, ladies…if you don't like it, then you have the outside and the entire upstairs to flee."
"Yea yea.." grumbled Anna.
Her mother shot back at her. "Besides, it's not like you hear everything we talk about, Anna."
All three of the girls looked at each other with a distorted face, then Anna yelled back, "Believe me, mom, we've heard you and dad."
"Annabelle-T'Soni-Shepard! That is NOT what I was referring to young lady!" her mom screeched as she came around the corner quickly.
Anna looked at her sister and her cousin with a clenched jaw, and a scrunched forehead then breathed out "Fuuuuucck…" Benezia and Mili both had their hands over their mouths with wide eyes.
"You're crazy!" said Mili through her hands as she stepped back from her.
She watched as her aunt walked directly up to her eldest, and she could see Tevos standing down the hall. "Anna, how dare you say such things when we have guests in this house! What I do in the privacy of my bedroom young lady is my business, and it's none of either of yours or our guests' business. Do you understand me?" she snipped
Anna stood with her hands together and her head down, "Yes, ma'am, I'm sorry."
Her mother lifted her chin up, "Look at me, Anna." She said in a stern voice. Then a smile crept across her face as she murmured, "That's exactly what I was referring to… you terd." Her mother made a face before she turned around toward Tevos, "I apologize for my daughter's behavior. Shall we have that glass of wine now?"
Anna turned her head to the other two with wide eyes. She saw that Benezia and Mili were laughing quietly into their hands. Benezia made hand explosions then whispered, "Mom just killed it."
Mili quickly walked over to Tev and handed her a small cooler. "Can you put this in the fridge for me please?"
Tev took the cooler from her. "Of course, sweetie."
They were walking up the stairs when Mili heard Tev call her. She walked to the balcony and leaned over, "Yes, ma'am?"
"Sweetie is this one of your delicious muffins?" Tevos said with a smile.
"Yes, it is." She watched her turn to Liara and tell her, "Liara, you have to try this. It is absolutely amazing."
Milizkia waited in anticipation for her aunt's reaction. Liara whipped her head up toward the balcony. "Mili, this is amazing. What's in this? Goddess, girls you have to come down and taste this."
Her two cousins ran down the stairs and over to their mother. They both pinched off a small piece and popped it in their mouths. "Mmmm wow…" said Anna as she went in for another piece then saw her aunt knock her hand away "Hey, she brought this for me."
Tevos and Milizkia laughed. "Well, if you don't mind auntie, my mom asked me to make her some more before I left, but I didn't have time. I told her I'd make some here before Tevos went back to Omega."
"That would be fantastic. I would love it if you made more." She handed the container to her daughters. "Here you can have this only if you give your two younger sisters some." Benezia grabbed the container, and they both ran up the stairs.
Tevos looked up toward the balcony "Mili, did your mother figure out what's in it?"
"She did. I was impressed."
Liara turned to Tevos. "What's in them? They are delicious."
"Don't tell her, Tev. If mom can figure it out, then I know auntie Liara can figure it out. Here I'll give you the same clue I gave mom. The berry is only grown on Thessia and very expensive and no cheating and looking it up. Oh Tev, Mom said I could totally sell these."
Liara and Tev shook their heads in agreement. "Yes, you could sweetie. Your mom is correct there."
Liara called to her daughter, "Nezzie, bring that back down to me and let me taste it one more time."
Benezia groaned "Ugh mom, I just got all the way up the stairs." Said Benezia as she turned and walked back down the stairs and over to her mom.
"Too bad, Mili has me on a mission to figure out what this is, and I will figure it out." replied Liara
-/
All three girls were snuggled up with each other under a blanket on the couch watching a movie when Milizkia felt her Omni tool buzz a few times. She looked down and saw several emails come through from Higher Learning Schools. "Excuse me, ladies." She removed the blanket as she got off the couch and walked over to Tevos and Liara. "Sorry to interrupt auntie but there's something I need to show Tev." She said as she sat down next to her, "Tev, I just received several emails from the schools."
Liara and Tevos's faces lit up. "That's wonderful dear. I knew you'd get a response. Bring up the emails and let's look at them." said Tevos. Then she paused, "Or we can call your mother, and we can walk through them with her."
"No that's ok Tev I don't need to call my mom. We can walk through them then I'll call her later." She brought up the emails on her Omni tool and scanned over the recipients.
Liara walked up behind them and pointed to one "Oooo Illium Higher Learning, that's one of the best schools on the planet, and they only accept the best."
Tevos turned to Liara "Mili graduated two years early and in the top five percentile of her class. There's no way she didn't get in. I'll honestly be surprised if she didn't."
Liara patted Milizkia's shoulder. "I'm impressed, Mili! I would be surprised if she didn't as well Tev."
Milizkia looked up and saw Anna and Benezia standing at the table, waiting to hear the good news. "Open one up." said Benezia with a smile.
Milizkia took a deep breath and clicked the email then read aloud "Dear Milizkia T'Loak, thank you for your application…" her smiled, and her excitement faded as she continued to read "but we regret that Illium's School of Higher Learning cannot offer you a place at our school. In reviewing your application, we considered the strength of your academic curriculum, your athletic performance, your standardized test scores, as well as other supporting information that may have been included." She closed her eyes to hold back the tears that were creeping through. She took a ragged deep breath and continued as her voice cracked. "Unfortunately, due to your mother's background, we cannot have someone of that stature attending our school. We appreciate your interest in our school, and we wish you success elsewhere to pursue your educational goals."
Anna was the first to speak, "That's bullshit!"
Her mother looked at her eldest, "Anna your mouth, and yes, I know!"
Tevos rubbed her back. "It's ok, sweetie; it's just one school. There are several more to choose from. Open another one."
She clicked on another, then another, then another and all the results were the same. She threw her hands up in the air. "That's just awesome my mother's way of living has ruined mine, literally. Fan-fucking-tastic!" She looked over at her aunt, "Sorry, Auntie."
"Even the military academies denied me. What's up with that? I thought they took everyone!"
Liara let out a breath "I thought they took everyone too! I'm highly surprised that Dean V'Crios came to this decision. I know her personally and deal with her throughout the year. I donate money to them and several of these other schools. Every one of these letters were the same. It was almost as if they had a get together about this before they sent these."
Tevos sighed as she rubbed her temples "Aria is going to blow a gasket when she hears about this. Liara, do you mind if we use your office to vidcall her?"
Liara stood up, "Of course you may. Follow me, and I'll get you set up." Liara set the wall monitor up for viewing then walked out to give them privacy.
-/
Tevos and Mili stood there and waited for someone to answer. They saw Aria's right-hand man appear on the screen. "Aria T'Loak's line…. Oh, hey kiddo! Tevos… Just a minute. Let me go get her." said Bray before he left.
Milizkia saw her mother appear on the screen with a smile on her face. It quickly faded away when she saw the faces of her daughter and lover. "What happened? What's wrong?"
Tevos sighed, "Love, we just heard back from Mili's schools. They all denied her acceptance."
Aria roared. "WHAT?! How is that even fucking possible! WHY?"
Milizkia growled. "Because of YOU! That was their reason!"
Her mother snarled "What? Oh, fuck that! I'm calling all these motherfuckers. I will kill them all." She hit her com unit, "Bray get in here, NOW!"
"Oh, stop it! That's exactly why they won't allow me into their school. One argument, one mishap and you're ready to kill them. You did the same shit all during basic school. It doesn't matter how good I am; they'll never let me in. I'm fucked! I'll be out there with the other dumb ass fucking pole and lap dancing fucktards." she snapped, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
Aria pinched her brow markings. "Fine, I'm sorry! Well, then what the fuck do you want me to do? You sure as shit are not going to be some exotic dancer, not my daughter. We can just hire a personal teacher to come to teach you."
She scoffed, "Yea, right. No teacher is going to take you up on that no matter how much you pay them. What if I just went to dad's or hyphenated my name to T'Loak-Shepard?"
Aria clenched her fists "Absolutely NOT! You're a T'Loak you will not water down your name with a damn hyphen." she hissed
"Water it down? What are you talking about? I would be strengthening it with Shepard after it. Uncle Jon is famous for his military background, and aunt Liara has her name hyphened." Said Mili
Aria laughed. "Uncle Jon is, but your dad isn't. Your dad was dishonorably discharged from the military and became an assassin. Liara ruined her long-lived house name when she hyphenated it. The T'Soni's have been a high social ranking aristocrat type house for several millennia. Asari of her family lineage are not supposed to hyphenate their last names because the high council looks down upon that. I don't want you living with your dad. You need to learn the Asari way of life, not a human's."
"People won't know that I didn't come from Uncle Jon. Both of them, regardless of her last name, look up to them and respect them. Their children will never struggle."
Aria pushed her chair back as she rose. "People respect me-"
"No mother, people fear you. There's a difference!"
She turned her back, "Damn you, child! What do you want from me?"
"Nothing mother, I think your everyday way of living has done enough!" she screamed as she stormed out of the office. She leaned against the wall and slid down as she wept.
Liara walked up to her and knelt down beside her. "We'll figure something out sweetie. You will never struggle, not while we are around to help you succeed."
Milizkia embraced her aunt, "I know." She wiped her tears and took a deep breath. They could hear Tevos trying to calm down Aria. "Babe, you need to just breathe. We'll figure this out."
"I will call all these fuckers personally!" Aria growled.
"Mili, with your mother's permission I would like to do a conference call to Dean V'Crios. I have her home number right here. I would like to hear what she has to say about this." Said Liara
Milizkia nodded her head and walked back into the office with Liara.
Aria scoffed "Liara, this is a personal matter if you could, get the fuck out!"
"MOM! Aunt Liara is here to help. She has Illium's Dean V'Crios's home number. She would like to do a conference call to her home to hear what she has to say."
"Fine." Aria turned to Bray, "Bray, get this bitch on the line but block out and hide Liara's video."
Liara, Mili, and Tevos stood there and waited until V'Crios came into view "Aria T'Loak, it didn't take you long to hunt down my home number. What can I do for you?"
Maintaining her angry look but Aria spoke calmly, "Dean V'Crios, what you're doing to my daughter is completely unfair to her."
"I understand that Aria, unfortunately, our board of directors, staff, and parents do not want a T'Loak in this school. I cannot have parents removing their children because of her or you; it's bad for business. That's exactly what happened when she attended Illium's private general education school. I've spoken to them, and to all the other schools that your daughter has applied to. We've all come to an agreement; you're just bad for business."
Aria slammed her fist down on the table "I will fucking kill you all for denying my daughter!"
She rebutted quickly. "That's exactly the reason why we don't want her here. That's your answer to everything! We've all notified the local authorities, the mayors, counselor Irssa, and the justicar's. If we come up missing or dead, then you will be the first person they look into. Your threats may work on Omega and elsewhere in the galaxy, but they will NOT work here!"
Aria clenched her teeth as she took a deep breath. "What will it cost to get my daughter into this school?"
She smiled broadly "I'm glad you asked. Regular tuition for a year is ten thousand credits and every year after for twenty years. The years, of course, depends on the student and the rate at which they learn. Students don't live here; they just attend their part-time classes here. Your daughter's tuition for a year is two hundred thousand credits."
Aria blinked her eyes slowly "Let me see if I understood you correctly." She began to laugh in bursts, then shook her head "You want me to pay two hundred thousand credits a year for twenty years?" She continued to laugh, then wiped her eyes "That's fucking hilarious!"
Mili, Liara, and Tevos look at each other with their mouths gaping open.
V'Crios crossed her arms then just looked at her before she spoke. "That's her fee for her to attend this school, take it or leave it." She fiddled with her shirt. "Ask any other school, and their fee will be just as high. The military academies will be double that fee."
"Fuck you, I'm not playing into your extortion!"
"Then we are done—"
"She may have the last name T'Loak, but she has the DNA of a Shepard imprinted on her. Being a T'Loak and a Shepard, she will find away, I will guarantee you that!" snapped Aria
She watched as Yaere V'Crios paused for a moment then laughed. "Wait, are you trying to say that she's Commander Shepard's daughter? Nice try Aria as if he would associate himself with the likes of you. I know Liara, she's been with him since the Reaper war."
Aria snarled. "Fuck you, V'Crios. She may not be Commander Shepard's daughter, but she is a Shepard! Her father is Alexander Shepard, Commander Shepard's identical twin and the paperwork was filed and has been documented with the High Council. Look it up, if you think I'm lying. Better yet, why don't you ask Liara herself."
V'Crios laughed. "Oh, yea right Aria. When? After you put her under complete duress."
Liara quickly pointed to Tevos to move out of screenshot, and as soon as she was, she spoke up and said, "Aria, open video."
"Bray open video on Liara's end," said Aria cautiously
Liara looked at the screen "Yaere; I can guarantee you that I am in no type of coercion, Milizkia T'Loak is a Shepard. She is my niece and my god-daughter that I love very dearly and would do just about anything for."
Yaere V'Crios cleared her throat "Liara…I didn't realize—"
"You didn't realize what? That Aria and Milizkia T'Loak are actual people with feelings?" She pointed to her niece. "This is Milizkia T'Loak the lovely and very bright asari that you are denying acceptance to your school. She is currently here spending the summer with us." Liara shook her head as she took a breath, "Yaera, I'm extremely disappointed that you would do this. Especially with the type of consequences that this could have on you."
V'Crios cocked her head to the side. "Liara is that a threat?"
Liara laughed, "Do you think that was a threat? Yaera, you have NO idea what I can do, and you've never seen my bad side. Here let me show you a smidge of my bad side and what I can do. I own the number one information brokerage in the entire milky way galaxy. Do you have any idea the type of information I can pull? Not to mention, I have my hands in multiple businesses across the galaxy. I am a multi-billionaire. You have absolutely no idea the type of damage I can do." she growled
V'Crios attempted to speak "Liara-"
"I am not finished!" She snapped as she placed her hands on her desk, "Glyph!" They all watched as a glowing semi-translucent orb flew over to Liara. "Yes, Dr. T'Soni-Shepard, what can I do for you?"
"Glyph, I want operative Mike -Lima one niner on this left-hand monitor with distortion of video and voice version three." As she was talking, she was typing a message to Miranda.
-/
Message to Miranda: I need you right now as a scare tactic. Playing as operative Mike-Lima one niner There are voice and video distortion.
-/
She turned to Mili, "Forward every one of those rejection letters to me, please."
Mili opened her Omni tool, "Yes, ma'am."
They watched as a grey distorted video came on view. Who spoke with slight distortion "Operative Mike-Lima one niner reporting in. What can I do for you, ma'am?"
"Operative Mike-Lima one niner, I have a Sierra Bravo priority rating three. I'm forwarding you a list of emails. I want everything you can find on these people, but first I want everything on Yaera V'Crios, and I mean everything."
"Yes, ma'am… pulling it now." Said Mike-Lima one-niner
As she waited for Miranda to pull her information. Liara did a quick search on her Omni tool in her company system on V'Crios then turned back to the main screen. "Yaera, here's the beginning of my threat. I will pull my funding from your school in a heartbeat. From what I see here, two of your daughters work within my companies, and I will let them go right now. Not to mention they live in my apartment buildings, and I will evict them today on the grounds of however I see fit!" Liara seethed.
"Liara, Nice try, but you will find nothing on me. My school relies on that funding, and you wouldn't dare!" said V'Crios frantically
Liara's laughed then her voice rose in anger. "Oh, I know I will find something because I always do. You think that I wouldn't fire your children!" She looked at Mili and winked. "Glyph, draw up paperwork for the termination of Erirao V'Crios and Cheava V'Crios on the grounds that our company feels that their performance is hmmmm lacking. Then draw up paperwork to evict them from my apartment buildings, both effective of as of right now. Next—"
"Liara! Please don't do this. This has nothing to do with my children!" V'Crios screeched
"Exactly the point I'm making Yaera. Aria's daily life has NOTHING to do with Mili. Now, what's it going to be? My niece is relying on an education to excel in her life, and I'm sure your children rely on their daily jobs." She pointed to the screen, "Mike-Lima one niner what do you have for me?"
"Sending you what I have so far ma'am, but the search is still running. I think you'll be content with what I have."
-/
Message from Miranda: Holy shit Mili was rejected from all these schools. What the hell is going on? Nothing really on Yaere but something on her husband. He has a gambling problem, and it seems he's drained her bank account. I need more time to search.
Message to Miranda: Stay tuned in
-/
Liara looked down at her Omni tool, shook her head and then looked up at the screen. "I have some fascinating information here, V'Crios. Now, what's it going to be?"
V'Crios swallowed hard then paused before speaking again "What if she hyphenated her name? That will improve her situation immensely. Everyone will take her with Shepard in her name."
Aria growled and repeatedly hit her fist on her desk. "I'm NOT hyphenating her name to T'Loak-Shepard! Fuck that shit. She's a damn T'Loak period!"
Everyone jumped when Aria hit her desk. Dean V'Crios panicked. "Then her fee to attend this school is four million credits!"
Before anyone could respond, Liara did "Yaere, that was not the answer we were seeking here. Mili is a highly exceptional student that would knock your curriculum on its ass. She graduated from Illium's general education two years early and at the top five percentile of her class for goddess sake. I would have understood if you charged a bit more per year, twelve, fifteen to twenty thousand credits but two hundred thousand credits is completely absurd!" She took a deep breath before she continued, "Your actions here have NOTHING to do with this young Asari's education or future for that matter. This has EVERYTHING to do with money. You would even let me kick your children to the curb for four million credits! Unbelievable. - Let me tell you something. Don't think for one inkling of a second that Aria T'Loak cannot afford four million credits to put her daughter through school. That's not it at all, she can afford that amount and then some. It's the fact that you're attempting to extort her through the means of her daughter. Four million credits are you out of your mind!" She shook her head then looked down at her omni tool.
-/
Message from Miranda: Loan Shark has a request into Sierra-Bravo for two hundred fifty-thousand credits to find him. Her husband is in for a substantial debt with this shark and is on the run."
-/
"Did you honestly think that I wouldn't find anything on you or your family? Every single one of you knew that this would piss off Aria to the point that she would call you all. You wanted her to call you so that you could extort her and pocket the difference for yourselves. Your reason for four million credits is to pay for your husband's gambling debts and to replenish your bank account that he's drained. Not to mention he's currently being hunted down for that debt." Liara closed her eyes as she sighed heavily. "You have lost my respect; my friendship and your funding ends permanently as of right now." She snapped her fingers, "Glyph, cut Illium's Higher Learning funding."
V'Crios was weeping "Liara please…"
"Dr. T'Soni-Shepard that request has been completed." Said Glyph
Liara leaned on her desk as she shook her head. "No, I was your friend. You could have come to me for help, but instead, you denied my niece just to extort her mother for money. The money I was funding your school with probably wasn't even going to the school, was it?"
"Liara, I didn't know she was your niece; no one did. No, please, I'm sorry." V'Crios pleaded.
Liara rubbed her temples as her heart was getting the better of her. "Here's my deal Yaera, I pay for your husband's massive gambling debt and my niece attends your school for free. Take it or leave it!"
V'Crios sat there for a moment. "Liara, I can't do that; the board will never approve of free tuition. Can we do five hundred thousand?"
Aria crossed her arms. "Get the fuck out of here V'Crios; you make me sick."
Liara shook her head then looked at Aria. "Aria, thank you for allowing me to sit in on this conference call. I've heard more than enough, and I'm done here."
"As am I Liara." Aria turned to Bray, "Bray, please remove this piece of shit from my view."
Dean V'Crios attempted to rebut before she was disconnected. "Wait…Liara… please -"
After V'Crios video was cut, Liara said: "Glyph, remove distortion on the left monitor."
They all turned to see that it was Miranda behind the distortion. She smiled and said, "Hey, Mili."
"Well hot damn Liara. I would have never of known you had that in you!" said Aria with a grin on her face "Thank you."
Liara waved her hand at Aria. "No need to thank me, Aria. All of us, as a family will figure out something for Mili to continue on to the next step. Even if I have to teach her myself. She will be approved for a university one way or another."
Aria nodded. "Very well." She turned her head then looked back at the screen "I must attend to some business. Thank you again, Liara. Mili, behave yourself while you're there and I expect my muffins. Tev, my dear, I'll see you in a few days." She said before she cut video
Mili looked at the screen "Hey Miri! Thanks for helping."
"Anytime kiddo. Are you ladies having a slumber party without me? I'm hurt, I really am." Miranda said as she placed her hand on her heart then smiled
They all laughed. "Well, Miri you're always more than welcome to come over. Tevos is heading out tomorrow or the day after, but Mili and Lena are here for the summer." Said Liara.
"Oh, sounds fun. Maybe Madi and I will come on by." Said Miranda
"Hey Miri, where's dad?" Said Mili
"Oh, he's with your uncle Jon out on a job. They should be back in a few weeks. Alright, ladies, we're going to go pack. We'll see you tomorrow, probably."
Mili turned to her aunt after Miri faded from the screen and hugged her "You were awesome, Thank you!"
Tevos smiled "Yes, she was. There's Liara's way of handling things, and there is your mothers."
They all laughed. "Aria is pretty damn scary," said Liara.
Tevos and Mili both shrugged "Ehhh she comes off that way, but she really is a softie." said Tevos as she smiled.
Mili and Tevos looked at each other "Liara… you're pretty damn scary yourself!" said Tevos.
Liara waved them off "I suppose I can be, but I'm not going to fire her children or evict them. That would just be wrong, and I was just trying to make a point. I did cut her funding, though. I hate that she was using my funding to pay for her husband's mistakes and that she and everyone else were trying to extort your mom."
Milizkia scratched the back of her neck. "Even though you winked at me, I still believed you were going to do it."
Liara laughed "Well, that was the whole point, dear."
They walked out to see two young Asari standing there. "Anna…Nezzie. I thought I told you two to stay in the living room!" fumed their mother.
"Sorry, mom… What are we going to do to help Mili?" said Benezia softly
Liara sighed, "I'm not sure, sweetie. We'll think of something. If it comes down to it, I will teach her everything she needs to know to continue on myself. I'll need to discuss this with your father here in a little bit."