The man buried up to his neck in the ground swallowed nervously. "Yes, he's our leader but he's also my god's chosen. Much like your child of prophecy."

"Is that right...?" Vivian held her chin in thought, "Except our god is dead. What is it your god wants?"

"I don't know," he replied.

"I think you do." Vivian replied with a frown, "Isa..."

Vivian issued out some whispered instructions and Isa flew off with nothing but a nod. The man watched in silence with a deadpan expression.

"I'd rather you volunteered to talk, we are a peaceful folk." Vivian spoke cordially, "We do need information though, so when she returns..."

Vivian stopped talking as the leaves rustled, seemingly interrupted in her speech.

"No, I wouldn't put you in that position, Anya." Vivian stated when the leaves became still. "I'll do it myself."

"Matriarch, do what?" Daryl asked.

"Torture our prisoner." Vivian smiled brightly sending shivers through everyone present. Everyone except Jaden.

"I-I see." Daryl replied.

"Do you have to mother?" Jaden asked, he noted the slight reluctance in her tone that the others missed.

"That's up to him," Vivian pointed the end of her staff at the head of the buried man.

"What do you want to know?" the man asked.

"Why we're hunted." Vivian stated, her face expressionless. The man sighed.

"I don't know all the details, what I do know, my god fears your child." the man cast a glance at Jaden.

"Me? Why?" Jaden asked surprised. Vivian cast him a sideways glance and returned her vision to the head at ground level.

"Er..."

"You don't know?" Vivian frowned, giving the man pause.

"No." he replied dejectedly.

"Can't be helped then," Vivian said somewhat sadly.

"No, don't mom," Jaden pleaded.

"Hm?" Vivian questioned as she motioned to Anya. The ground around the man was shifted slightly as vines carried him out of the hole. "You can go."

The man wasn't the only one who looked at Vivian in disbelief. "You won't regret this decision when I'm back later?"

"When you come back, I'll just bury you deeper in the ground." Vivian replied flatly to his question, "And there you'll stay."

He swallowed hard, there was no deception or falsehood in her words; and she had already proven that she could. "Then I bid you good day." he turned around and ran away, eager to put as much distance as possible between himself and that woman.

Vivian raised her hand, preemptively stopping the barrage of questions six voices were about to fire at her. "He won't be back. Along with most, if not all, of the army that was defeated today; they won't return."

"You're certain?" Daryl asked.

"I know this hasn't ever happened, but imagine for a minute. Let's say you were on the offensive and you had an overwhelming advantage, not just in numbers but also in individual strength. And you got crushed, though your life was spared. Would you eagerly be rushing back for a second time with mercy off the table?" Vivian asked.

"You're right, it's hard to imagine such a scenario, considering we'd never be in that position... but I get your point. I hope you're right that they'll not be back." Daryl replied. "Still, I can't imagine winning a fight with a non-lethal weapon."

"Non-lethal? This?" Vivian asked pointing at her quarterstaff, "I assure you this is as, if not more so, lethal as a sword. Don't let the lack of a sharp edge fool you."

"Really Matriarch?" asked Emily looking a bit doubtfully at the staff.

Vivian sighed. Sasha, I need a piece of local fruit that's about the same density as my own head.

Including the bone, the closest would be a gaulm.

"Anya, do you have any fully grown gaulm fruit?" Vivian asked. "I assume you are all familar with this? And its toughness?"

A series of nods affirmed her answer as a vine erupted from the ground holding a large object. The gaulm fruit was a deep purple on the outside with light red spots, and about half the size of Vivian's head. She knocked her fist on it testing the firmness of the fruit. She nodded slightly in satisfaction, it was dense enough and the outer shell was tough enough for her demonstration.

Sasha, is this safe to eat?

Yes it is. Highly nutritious as well.

Vivian looked sadly at the fruit, "I hate to waste food, but this is necessary..." she tossed the fruit into the air and swung her quarterstaff as hard as she could. Upon contact the fruit exploded, and bits were sent flying in the direction of her swing.

"If that's not proof enough..." Vivian pointed at a broken sword on the ground, "I broke that man's metal sword using my wooden staff. Non-lethal? Never underestimate anything."

Everyone fell into thought as they recalled their staff training. Some accusatory glances fell on Bayne recalling his foolishness where he continually hurt himself, and nearly others.

Vivian sighed as Isa returned. "Vivian, I have finished as you ordered."

"Asked." Vivian stressed, "I'm not a leader barking orders. There were no problems?"

"No, the men and women you defeated were pretty well dispirited and just wanted to get out of here, but as you knew some of them had gotten lost, so I pointed them to the way out." Isa replied more casually.

"Thank you," Vivian replied, "And about breakfast..."

As if that was a cue, vines grew from the ground carrying a decent number of gaulm fruits. Vivian frowned, "Anya?"

Vivian listened attentively to the ruffling of the leaves. Eventually, her frown softened. "Very well. We accept your gift graciously. What can I do for you in return?"

"I don't understand." Vivian replied after the leaves returned to silence.

"She said she is already deeply indebted to you," Isa stated calmly.

"I understand what she said..." Vivian said to Isa, "I don't understand where this debt came from."

Isa looked at Vivian in astonishment, "Well... I'll try to break it down for you."

Isa sat down on top of a gaulm fruit. "You don't think you've done anything special. Honestly, your thinking has become skewed of late. First and foremost, consider Anya's very existence. The fact she doesn't worship you as a god is miraculous enough. The incantation you used probably has something to do with that. The phrasing called for mutual respect and a mutually beneficial coexistance.

As for the mutual benefit... you created her from nothing, so it's safe to assume she'll never fully balance the scale from this fact alone. Then on to the next part. You provided her with 'fertile land' which she's turned into her own territory. Surely you've noticed how she can manipulate this entire city? To top it off, she's capable of thinking of herself and for herself. No tree spirit before, no matter how old, has been capable of that before. Are you with me so far?"

"I..." Vivian's voice caught in her throat as her thoughts became a tangled mess.

"I'll take that as a no, but moving on. So far you've given her life, a place to call her own, the ability to think and act of her own will. There's still more, but these three things are enough to focus on for her deficit to the 'mutually beneficial' portion of the agreement. And what has she done for you in return?" Isa asked, "I'm not fully aware of everything, what I do understand is this: in her eyes, everything she has done so far pales in comparison to what you have done for her."

"Anya..." Vivian said her name slowly, "it was not my intention to create such a situation. I understand your gratitude as well though."

Vivian gathered up eight gaulm fruits from the vines. With a just a tap of her quarterstaff, she split the fruit in half and passed them around for everyone.

"Now, Anya, I'm going to put some perspective on this mutual benefit, not just for you but for me as well." Vivian spoke before taking a bite of the juicy blue innards of the fruit. "This is absolutely delicious by the way."

Anya's leaves rustled energetically.

"I didn't mean to fluster you. The main point is, you value your life. I understand, as I also value my life. Very highly. I gave you life. You saved mine when I should have died giving birth to my son. In that regard, we're even."

Something changed in the air as Vivian finished speaking, like an unseen weight was lifted off the entire city. Flowers grew amidst the grasses and vines throughout the city and burst into bloom simultaneously. Vivian nodded in satisfaction, "I agree with you, that is a heavy weight off my shoulders as well."

"The air is... fresher?" Jaden asked, "It's not from the flowers. Although they do have a pleasant scent as well."

"It's quite simple." Vivian answered, "Anya felt trapped and it affected not only her mood, but her entire territory. As the caretakers, it is our job to take care of Anya, and she in turn will take care of us. This is the agreement she and I entered, or she wouldn't have been born."

Vivian frowned as she ate the rest of her fruit in silence.

Why are you always upset when we talk lately?

The fact that you know I'm upset is partly the reason. I said we'd talk before you deepened our connection and you did it without my consent anyway. That one memory I detested is gone, but I don't remember why. I don't like this feeling that part of me is missing.

It was a worthless memory, and you wished it was gone.

I ultimately had no say in the matter. What else has been going on with me that I'm unaware of just because you deem it "beneficial"?

My goal is unchanged. I am raising your chances of survival. I simply removed a distraction.

"Mother?" Jaden interrupted when he saw her frown turn into an ugly scowl. His voice dragged her back to the world and her expression softened.

"Yes, Jaden?" she asked as she ate the last of her gaulm.

"From what I've been told our people have been hunted and killed or worse. Why did you let them go?" Jaden asked, the black pupils of his eyes locked onto Vivian's. His eyes pierced into her soul, while her eyes perceived the depths of the void within his. She broke the stare, turning her head away.

"There's a lot of things in this world that are hard to understand, hard to know the proper course of action. I have seen enough death and blood in my life. Far more than I'd like to admit. And all of it from our people." Vivian answered, "Killing them wouldn't bring any of our people back, wouldn't ease the pain I feel, and it wouldn't end our persecution... and in the end, killing them wouldn't stop others from taking their place."

"You intend to drive them away time and time again when they're coming here to make our blood spill?" Jaden asked.

"I have no dreams of grandeur that I can always protect you. There will come a day I will fail. Of that there is no doubt." Vivian sighed and locked her eyes on her son, "Would you have me kill them all? I'd be no better than they are."

Jaden couldn't hold his mother's gaze, unsure how to respond to that he sat there in silence.

"Something should be done, Matriarch." Bayne answered her, "I'll do it if you're unwilling."

"What they do to us we do to them?" Vivian asked, "An eye for an eye?"

Bayne nodded.

"Fool." Vivian snapped, "Such thoughts would have the the entire world blind and on the brink of extinction. There's something in motion beyond the races of this world. Have you not wondered why the future Daryl is privy to is uncertain when I just repelled our attackers today, and with the exception of Typhan, I didn't break a sweat?"

Vivian cast her gaze slowly over every last one of them, "No. The other peoples of this world are not our biggest threat."