Naomi

The Teketa's military was laid off until the empire got mostly everything organised. It's been five years since Netedinark lost his throne. Aelen and I became its new lords. He broke the laws in the universe. This universe has more gods than the gods known in our own universe, where Earth resides. Phirus, Evanity, Gaeriscelleh, Yanmaham, Etison, Titane, and Jersome helped Teketa get back on its feet while providing troops to help with protection.

Everything has been decimated by Markus's attack when he went nuts. I offered them a new start, removed all the burnt rubble, and gave them house material. They stayed nights in tents until houses were situated. In return, I would plant the trees and they could build their houses as they saw fit. I learned the Teketa used to live in their own houses until Netedinark and the admirals took over housing and reassigned them. We allowed them to use any resources outside of the empire. They didn't have to worry about war and the military until after we were finished. Blathnaid, Queen of Evanity, has explained to them on how the Phitalite and Netalite worked. They were all overwhelmed because they went from citizens with no outside help to receiving knowledge beyond their territories. I went as far as showing them other empires and giving them inspiration on what to build.

"You're going all out, aren't you?" Aelen asked me, seeing what I had done.

"I want to give them my best," I replied to him. He was pleased to hear that.

Aelen was the one who decided to lay off the military and give deprogramming rehabilitation for the Teketa from Netedinark's reign. He reworked the government, adding new ranks for justice and congress. War was all they knew. Battling strategies was all they knew. Those who survived needed therapy from scarring, which was all of them. Gaeriscelleh has helped us plenty with that. Aelen redesigned the laws to have the people have their say and prevent us from becoming despots. I am feeling like I am living in England again, but we are the one who makes the law. What Blathnaid would say, "And we're not going to break it." As for Netedinark's palace, well, it was destroyed. I didn't want a palace to show that I rule until Aelen pestered me into giving in.

"We don't need a big palace. It will be heinous to clean and I don't want maids. Why need a house that big because we are not having a thousand babies," I told him off.

"We want to show other palaces that we have power, Nao. They are very beautiful and we can design them to our liking. Besides, imagine all the good rooms we can add."

"Like hell are we going to use them all," I said while shaking my head.

"We can open it to all the Teketa. They can work for us in the palace and they also can have fun within the palace, Nao."

"Can we focus this on after we rebuild the homes lost?"

"Where are we going to sleep then, Nao?"

"Outside. I will build a tent. We'll watch the auroras."

"Your call."

Therefore, we slept in separate tents.

Teketa is not the same empire as it used to be. After five years, it looks much different. After Teketa was rebuilt, the castle was constructed. Aelen and I didn't want Netedinark's type of castle; we can see some colour and beauty. With Forgison's help, we built the castle upon the hill and surrounded by trees. Teketa is mostly flat with minor hills here and there, so we wanted to add more beauty to it. The hill resembles an extinct volcano. Our castle is within the crater, surrounded by water that rivers into the empire below without flooding any Teketa's homes. The river goes out into the ocean. Bracus granted us permission to extend the rivers to the sea because overall, his land is a peninsula.

Aelen made the castle huge, plus a basement. He created a white palace that has a cyan glow. He took inspiration from Evanity and created waterfalls at the entrance of the castle. He manifested statues of each kind of the Teketa in purple and black stone. Kateta and Etouka are at the outer edges of the entrance path while Reveta and Queenta are in the middle. He also added vines to the castle, but later changed it to purple to match the theme of Teketa. They no longer mould the whole trees to craft their hives. They used part of it like smooth purple stone spiralling all the way to the bottom. I like it like that. He spread out the fun and important rooms, such as an arcade, theatre, art gallery, historical heroes, museum, ballroom, kitchen, living room, and so on. The throne room is in the base's floor centre after many twists and turns just like Gaeriscelleh's castle.

Dominique explained to me in telepathy, Bracus only did that because he prefers to walk and move around, not sit down. He is too antsy to sit down.

I asked, What are the thrones doing there then?

Bracus intervened, Decoration props. That made me burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing about?" Aelen questioned my sudden reaction. He wasn't weirded out or interrogative. He was smiling.

"Telepathy between Dominique and Bracus," I answered him back.

I thought he created it that way to distract criminals while the soldiers race to you on time, I admitted.

Nah, it raises the chances of them not making out alive in the castle. There are underground tunnels for my troops to move around in secret in case it's time. I never even used them.

Goodness gracious, I mutter in my head.

Aelen finally pried in, Hmmmm. It sounded so suspicious.

No! Don't borrow any more ideas! We already have a basement!

I want to add a pool next. He was grinning mischievously next to me. Me eye twitched.

We got a lake, you git! I yelled at him. He chuckled. I thought telepathy links can be private?!

Yeah, Dominique said with no remorse, I invited him in. I wished I could dart my eyes at her, instead of screaming in my own head, You little-

"The master bedroom has been made, Naomi," Aelen informed me.

"Oh dear God," I whispered to myself.

He created only one king-sized bed. I informed them that we are not even married. He replied that 'partners' can still sleep together. He kept pestering it off as a joke, not getting the memo that I don't sleep with dudes that I am not in love with if that is ever possible because I never felt any romantic attraction before, nor sexual attraction. I don't feel keen on sleeping on the same bed even with some distance. Besides, I am used to sleeping in my own bed.

"Aelen, it's not because I don't want to sleep with you or we are both Lords ruling the same territory; I just feel uncomfortable!" I voiced my concerns.

He finally stopped. "Sorry," he apologised as he used the Netalite to separate the master bedroom into two bedrooms with two separate bathrooms.

"You can build a connected bathroom if you like," I offer, feeling like crap for going off on him, "Just in case you need me and you don't have to go out in the hallway. I'm aware there was no need to be guilty, yet Aelen needed to know how I feel and I needed to be honest with him.

"I respect your privacy, Naomi," he told me, "I don't want to walk in while you are in the bathroom."

I breathe. "Alright. I'm also sorry for yelling at you; you weren't trying to do it on purpose."

"Don't worry about it," he shrugs his shoulders a little, "You have nothing to apologise for." His smile returns, "Now decorate your own room."

I used my powers to furnish my own bedroom. I set the bed on the side of a bedroom with a window next to it. It's a white canopy bed with some black blankets and a black bed supporter. The veil coming from the top of the canopy bed is white lace that turns black at the bottom. The walls are painted silver with pictures of my family on one side and a fireplace on another. The fireplace looks mosaic with mini lights that blend in with the stone. Fire is blue like Ourdera's star. I put flowery plants on top of my shelves and bed supporting edges to make it homely. I created an invisible layer inside the bedroom. It looks like a modern bathroom to my own eyes and others, but once I clap my hands twice, it transforms into a temple spa. Candles light it all around the room with purifying bubbly hot water in the centre. I come in to relax. I planned to keep it a secret from Aelen. For now.

I walked into Aelen's room and it was pretty much a Christmas fest. It's dark green and a silky dark red with a king-size bed surrounded by hanging crystal beads with white magic in them. They look like mini snowflakes. He has a white fuzzy rounded carpet complimenting the dark wooden floors. I thought his room would represent the Sun. All he needs is a Christmas Tree and other Christmas decorations and he will be all set for winter unless he is going to get reindeer, Santa Claus, and his sleigh as props or the real thing. Oh, the cookies that he might eat all by himself. Okay, that was enough judging his room. This castle has already existed for three years. I don't expect it to look the same in the future.

I leave the castle and journey into the dense areas of the residence of the Teketa. I don't know where Aelen is at now, but he is probably assisting Teketa's military again. He leaves without telling me. He always does that. I bet he probably did that with the coven too; he disappeared somewhere else and reappeared in another. He did it so well that none of the coven thought he was supernatural. I wish he does tell me because we are both lords; we need to know what we are doing. I understand we both have telepathy, yet it's better to know upfront than to be informed when he is attacked.

There are houses on the ground and houses on the trees- Treehouses. I look up and see bridges from one treehouse to the next. They don't look like the dark mucky hives from years ago, but the houses look like purple stones with golden lanterns to light them up. Some created ladders or a porch to land on after flying. There are fun ones with twisting slides down the trees. I think that's my favourite part of the build. There are moments when they added extended routes for neighbours on the same tree. Teketa prefer to live upon the highest tree due to the view. I see treehouses that go up above the trees and get starlight. That's not all. There are dark elven-style houses on the ground or near the rivers. I have seen Teketa grow Verantuvian fruits upon the stream as well. It is also a house attraction because the river is so uplifting and satisfies needs. Two Teketa brothers, Laphis and Jacoutia, built a water park upon a pond. It's a popular tourist attraction.

Evanity's resources alter Teketa's appearance. We put a rule on them that they can only alter themselves a few times, so they'll be easier to recognise. It's difficult if someone changes their appearance a lot. They look closer to humans too, but their skins range from light grey, black, dark grey, or any darker colour, except for green and orange. Quite a few of them had their skins shiny as if they covered themselves in plastic. I guess that is Netalite's effect on them. Many Katetas removed their branches and gave themselves dark wings.

I strut along the path. The Teketa don't bother me. They are already used to my presence. They were approved to not be hostile towards reform. I walk to the three-story house at the side of the river. It's one of the biggest houses on the ground, but not uncommon among the river. I am here to check up on Ilit, the only one that didn't go to war five years ago. She fled for her life when the battle between Bracus and Netedinark started at the castle. She didn't wait for Netedinark to bark out the order. She was far enough from the lava wave. She hid in the mountains. Ilit was fine once she figured out I was Kursa. She embraced me as the new ruler.

Since I don't own her house, I politely knock on her door. She opens with a child Kateta by her side. "Lord Naomi," she greets me with a smile.

"Just Naomi," I correct her as we hug. She looks the same five years ago. She is one of the few that never changed their looks. It's not a law that they must change. That'll be stupid. She welcomes me in with five little Teketa running around the house. Four Kateta and one Etouka. The Kateta can't move their branches yet. For now, they are soft, still, and somewhat slimy. A Queeneta can birth up to seven Teketa per round, but under four if a Reveta is present, otherwise it would be too dangerous.

"Hello, Lord Naomi," another Queeneta, Rarasi, walks up to me with a royal nod. Rarasi's family lived during the time of the Jersane Massacre. They lived under wrap until another reign. Rarasi returned to Teketa and is now Ilit's mother helping hand. Yes, even her lover.

"It's your home, no need for formality," I tell her while letting the children go by me.

"Sorry, Naomi, these guys are full of energy," Rarasi says, referring to the children.

"The norm," I shrug.

"At least, they are not like this during bedtime," Ilit sighs in relief, "One round of my children didn't give me a WINK of sleep."

"How have you been doing otherwise?" I ask.

"Pretty decent. We went to the Teketa Watersplash last week and we enjoyed it," She replies.

"That sounds fun."

"What have you and Aelen been up to lately?" Rarasi asks.

"Military organisation," I say stressfully, "The last lord made his military organisation with only one draft."

"They need a lot of help," Rarasi says with pity, "Give it a while and things may be fine."

"There are still reports of Teketa going a-wall out of trauma or they were so into the last lord."

"I won't be surprised if the awfully loyal ones are like that," she then turns and sees a Kateta throw a mud ball at another, "Senphrend, we got a guest here! Why do you think it's okay to throw a mud ball at Ademula, clean up the mess, go to your room, and reflect! I want you to think for yourself. If you don't realise what you did was wrong, lord help your soul!" She scolds Senphrend in a mild yell tone.

I stare at her with a little embarrassment. I will not help their child's soul or consume it. Their parenting is not my business unless a law is broken. Ahem, abuse. Senphrend goes upstairs in a rush. Rarasi sighs. "I'm getting tired of him," she tells Ilit.

"We should start calling him Mudball," Ilit replies unamused. She looks at Ademula, "Go wash your face, darling."

"There's some mud in my eyes!" The child cries.

"Go wash your face and your eyes," Ilit rephrases.

"Want me to help?" I offer.

"No thanks, I got it," Ilit reassures me as she guides Ademula to a sink to help him get his face clean. Rarasi is trying to keep the other kids calm by playing catch with a plastic ball inside the living room. A few minutes pass and Ademula stops crying. His face is cleaned while the rest of the kids are enjoying playing a little game of catch.

"Go play with your mom and your other brothers, I need to check on Sen," Ilit informs the now cleaned-up child. The child obeys and heads to the living.

"Want me to come with?" I ask.

"Yeah, just in case there's trouble," she grants me.

I follow up to the third floor, which holds two rooms. I follow into Senphrend's room, the room on the right of the stairs. He gets a room all by himself. There's a net that he practices climbing up and down. He doesn't acknowledge our presence.

"Senphrend," Ilit says lowly with her arms folded. The child stops and winces around, knowing he has been caught. "Punishment doesn't mean play time."

I have never been grounded before in my life because of my mother. She was already facing constant anxiety attacks and mental breakdowns. I didn't want to add more burden to it. She got frustrated when I was non-compliant while she was praying for me to be protected from evil. The only time she got mad was at the hospital after uncle's attack. She was dead close to throwing me out of the house, blaming me for the tragedy. I am not going to say what happened next.

"Do I have to send you to the punishment room for a while?" Ilit asks in a not-so-pleasant tone.

The punishment room is just a normal bedroom without toys. Ilit and Rarasi use it when a child is behaving badly. In order to get their room back, they have to settle down and learn their lesson. Back in the day, the former lord ordered Ilit to lock them in and never open them for a while to prevent a child from acting out in the future. She ignored him. Her friend, Natoko, another Queenta, obeyed him. Her punishment room looked more like a prison than an actual room. They received no nutrition. No lights and no windows. She saw most of her offspring would still act up even after being in the punishment room or become lone wolves. She wished Natoko would notice that after her fourth round of offspring.

Teketa's former God expanded a Queenta's lifespan up to 300 years while the rest of Teketa lived up to 100 if they never died from war. Ilit saw only three Queentas after the massacre. Most of the Queentas fled around the time Netedinark used their children as soldiers and for his own gain, the Jersane Massacre followed. Ilit's mom, Jilika, stayed in Teketa. Queentas were outnumbered by Reveta because some spoke out against Netedinark. They were dead. He also killed them if they weren't doing their job. Deaths from a plague or multiple Reveta births still happen. Natoko died from birthing three Reveta at once. Ilit produced the bare minimum to keep Netedinark from killing her. In a highly stressful situation, the less likely a Queeneta will be born. Although it has been five years since the war, Teketa's population is the lowest of all the empires. I am not going to force Ilit. Other than Ilit and Rarasi, two other Queeneta immigrated from Jersome while another five moved from Titane. The other rulers revealed that there were Teketa living in their empires.

"No," Seprehend replies nervously.

"Then, tell me why you think it's okay to throw a mud ball at your brother?"

The child is silent.

"Don't be silent, Sep, tell the truth. Tell me what you believe. Silence will get you more in trouble," she warns.

"I thought it'll be fun," he replies. His hands clustered together, his fingers playing with each other, very shy.

Ilit goes on her knees to be at the same height as her child. "Listen, Sep, it may be fun to you, but it's not fun to others. It's worse when they get hurt. You can't keep doing this. If you don't stop for now on, you'll be in much worse trouble. Don't make me go there because I don't want to either." An angry Queeneta may be much worse than an angry mother on Earth. It's because I have never seen the rage of a Queeneta and I don't want to witness it.

"Okay, ma, I'm sorry," the child says in absolute guilt.

"Apologise to your brother and to Lord Naomi," she orders while gesturing to me, "She is a guest."

Senphrend winces at me. "Sorry, Lord Naomi," he apologies with his head looking down.

I go on my knees. "It's okay. Don't repeat it," I tell him.

He looks at his mother. "Can I apologise to Ademula now?" He asks his mother.

"Yes," she grants.

Aelen sneaks up on my mind, Naomi, where are you?

I reply, At Ilit's house. Anything to report?

Aelen says, We got a warrior going nuts, need some assistance.

On my way.

"Ilit, Lord Aelen summons me emergently. I need to teleport," I saw with a nod and smile, "Nice meeting you."

"Thank you for coming, Naomi," she says to me with a smile, "See you soon."

I teleport to the warrior base in a haste. The warrior base is where soldiers meet up, discuss plans, and announcements. I didn't want the base to be part of the castle like with Netedinark's because not everyone wants to be a soldier again. Two, to avoid warriors getting lost in the castle. Three, possible nutjobs. We do have countless Teketa in rehabilitation and therapy. Some of them are so severe that they can no longer serve. In the case of a Netedinark worshipper, a few of them act so fine to get back in the military and try to kill us. For safety protocol, the warriors are ordered back from the captains and go in separate rooms if an individual goes berserk.

Aelen blocks him with a sword as the nut job tries to jab his sword. Aelen refuses to use mind-control on the Teketa. He only uses it on those who are rampant. Aelen is so focused on his defence that he doesn't notice me. This angry Teketa is a Kateta that looks like he has plastic grey skin, even though it's not. His tendrils are altered; spikes around all edges. With Netedinark's branches, he turns them very sharp at the edge. One slice can cut so deeply. This Kateta's branches can drive smaller wounds in many areas. Aelen's doing a diligent job trying to prevent him from getting impaled. Even though it won't kill him, it will still hurt very much. No one is in the mood for that, including me.

The difference between Kateta's and Netedinark's branches is when someone cuts them off. Kateta's tendrils grow much slower like in a month and painfully while Netedinark grows back instantly. I guess, he wanted to prevent less suspicion that he forced evolution on them. Their tendrils can be removed if the coroot, the organ responsible for regenerating branches, is removed as well. It can be removed peacefully with surgery or altered by Netalite. Surgery can be done at Gaeriscelleh, Jersome, and Titane. Luckily, it will soon be available in Teketa; there is a thirst for medicine. Surgery is a fast way to get rid of the coroot, but they need a placebo organ because some vital organs fall back because of the extra room. Netalite does it slowly due to the body not being fully acquainted with it. The organ will still be there, but functions might change depending on what the Kateta's want. The first sign, the branches stop moving. Second, the branches will fall off. Third, something replaces it. I have seen Kateta's wings growing from their mid backs. They use that to spice up their new looks to what they wanted. It's painless, changes to what they want, but it takes a while.

There is another method of removing the coroot, but it's a lot more violent: Remove it against their will. All you have to do is slam their bodies on the ground, use a knife to cut open the back, and rip it out. It's a large organ. They will mostly die of blood loss. I am not sure if it's edible. The next step is to run because you just killed one of my people and warriors will be chasing after you. Aelen and I will be after you too, just an F.Y.I.

In this nutjob's case, I will only remove his tendrils. My sword appears at once and charges at him with haste. I slice where they all join together, close to the back. I slice them off in one swing. He starts howling in pain as he winces around, violently panting. His body locks up as Aelen uses his powers. I form chains in my hands and lock him tight.

"Netedinark was the only true ruler! No false lords should steal the lord's throne!" He shouts while cursing.

"Well, he lost his throne-"

"You took his throne!"

"He broke the rules of his true kind," I say while trying to keep my cool. Aelen calls up two officers and two guards up to us.

"Escort him to Rehab: Correction Level Four," he orders them.

"Yes, my lord! To inform you, some guards were injured when he first lashed out, but nothing critical."

"Pleasant to hear, now go."

We watch the Kateta curse out loud while he is secured tightly in his restraints. The rehabilitation is outside the heavily dense area of Teketa. It's not too far away in isolation, but not too close to escalating a major panic if one of them gets out. We have communications with all the community buildings, so we'll know if an escape attempt has occurred. The Rehab is split into two areas with five floors: Rehab and Correction. Rehab is for Teketa struggling mentally and needs help while correctional is deprogramming and help for Netedinark's idols. I'm not saying jail because that's more isolated. The higher the levels, the more focused needs to be on that level. This Kateta is being placed in level four due to the injured guards and tried to murder Aelen.

I know it's impossible to remove the worship towards Netedinark. They can still be attached to him and have their beliefs. I really don't know why they love him, but they need to learn NOT to cause public disturbances and violence. It sounds a lot like Earth. He was probably Netedinark's officer back in the day, so he gets treated better than the other soldiers. Most of the correctional patients are Kateta and those who were higher ranking in Netedinark's military. The Kateta are basically a copy creation of him.

We watch the Ofaka (Officers) lecture the Grochas (Recruits). There are Teketa applying for the army. The old ones that wanted to stay in the army and be higher than the Grochas needed to pass the mental test to do that.

Once an officer, now Royal Informer, Aephris, walks with an Archen. Aephris changed a lot too. His skin is a greyish brown, golden bug-like eyes, and short brown hair with red-highlights. His peacock wings have the colour of fire, which rests behind him like a cape. The Archen looked elderly, but with less wrinkles. He had long black hair with white ends. I guess this planet can't escape old age. Gaeriscelleh's citizens last for over 3000 years. Jersomians and Titans last 170 years. The Etison lasts around 110 years. Yannham's tribes can live up to 500 years. For mortals, that's impressive. Ferilocks' citizens can live up to 900 years and have more durability in a harsher climate. Phirus's lifespan is 1,000 years. Evanity's lifespan is wicked; the average lifespan is around 7,000 years, but there were many people who lived up to 10,000 years. Queen Blathnaid joked about a competition to see who can live the longest. This happened at a royal meeting about Teketa's progress in Gaeriscelleh.

"Do they win anything?" I asked her.

"No," Blathnaid shook her head with a smile, "Probably bragging rights. According to Lady Ourdera, the world record was 19,672 years old. I don't know if they're celebrating because they're dead."

"I can imagine two friends, Coocoo and Nuts," Blathnaid snorted while I said that, "Dying in Evanity's hospital, Coocoo will start cheering that he beated Nuts. Then, he suddenly drops dead."

Blathnaid and I started chuckling like the days we were at school. Blathnaid added. "Then, in the afterlife, Coocoo will meet up with Nuts and shout, "I beat you by three seconds!"

In the meantime, Bracus walked in and asked, "What in the world are you two talking about over there?" All the other royals were staring at us with confusion or amusement.

"Oh, nothing," I told him with a grin.

Anyway, my goal is to expand Teketa's lifespan up to Phrius's level or higher. The reports might take a long time to show the lifespan has expanded. The only time Teketa's lifespan was high was after The Great Heat and before the mortal empires manifested. It was around 400 years. Yeah, so the progress went in reverse.

"Greetings, Lord Naomi and Lord Aelen," Aephris says with a nod, "Wendall has brought a message from King Bracus and anointed Queen Dominique." Wendall is holding a leathery note.

Why didn't they use telepathy? I thought while he gave Aelen the note. I move right next to him to peek at it.

It read, Dear Lord Naomi McKelsey and Lord Aelen Fvandeles,

You are invited to the royal wedding of King Bracus and Dominique Soto, a week after the Ourdera Festival at 1.7.78, at noon. The wedding would be held at Lilee Peak in Gaeriscelleh. You may bring a partner as you wish.

Best Regards, Dominique and Bracus.

Verantuvia orbits Auta and Roedie within seven months, but Verantuvia keeps track with the cycle of Ourdera. It takes an Earth year to come by. Therefore, the Ourdera marks the beginning of the new year and the end of another. The date resets every century when Menisien peaks in the sky. Since the year date is seventy-eight, we got twenty-two years until the date resets. Scientists and historians do keep track of how many times they reset.

The blue star is only showing up in the night sky, so we got three weeks before the wedding. I am not sure if I am going to bring a partner or not. Blathnaid will bring Markus, who currently acts as her knight by day and best friends by night. They decided to remain friends. At last, it took Dominique and Bracus five years as lovers to be together forever.