"Morning Nox," mewed Mia as she scrubbed her eyes, then yawned as she pushed her body into a sitting position. She was currently within a small sleeping bag which was large enough to fit herself and two others. Of whom were Maya and Nox, but were busy chatting for a time. Upon realising the third member of their party was awake, did they scamper over to her person with a great hug as their tails swished slowly back and forth.

As to where they were? Still in the playroom, of course, though time did pass by a turn. For after the event of her falling from quite the height, did the doors to the room burst open to reveal Sia and Shauu. Of whom, once again, frightened the twins with their sudden appearance. Which then summoned Sarah, who dragged their persons from the room before returning once more. Whereupon she did comfort the children enough to calm their small hearts and mind. Even going so far as to bring about a small meal for them to enjoy, before placing them all to sleep inside a large sleeping bag.

However, Anasi was not able to enjoy the rest with his friends, and had to bid farewell to them. For he had many duties as the only male of his people, and yes, he did opt for them. Once more, yes, a Judge was called forth in order to make certain that such things were the wishes of the Arachne, and was not pressured by his family in any sort of way. On the other hand, though, they were cautioned not to place too much on his plate, as the saying went, and to make sure he rested and played with his friends as much as he wants to.

In the meantime, Maya and Nox were in the middle of hugging Mia whilst petting her head. For the prior day's experience was incredibly taxing, and they wanted to make sure she was okay. "I'm okay," she mewed whilst struggling to free her small body from their persons. This caused them to let go, but as she stretched, the hybrid leapt onto her back. Thus ensued another rough-and-tumble sort of play, and yes, Maya was pulled into it once more, albeit willingly this time.

Soon afterwards did they come to a halt, lying flat on their backs with paws splayed out from their bodies. Whereupon they did pant happily, their tails slowly swishing back and forth upon the floor. It was here that Nox flipped over and crawled towards Mia, and gently pat her snout, whispering, "I win," with a smug expression upon his features.

"Muu," she replied, puffing up her cheeks as she flailed at his paw weakly, then relaxed her body in order to continue resting.

"Nox," whined Maya, who puffed up her own cheeks and flailed around at the lack of attention her way. Whereupon he did trot over to her person and lightly pat her muzzle, too. This action caused her to grin up at him, whilst the other sister puffed up her cheeks once more.

This led to him repeating such actions until he flopped down with the twins grinning over him, and did pat his own muzzle whilst whispering in his twitching ears, "I win." Of course, the moment they spoke these two words, did they jolt up, their ears perked, and looked upon one another. Whereupon they did giggle whilst placing a small paw close to the tip of their snout in an effort to muffle their enjoyment of the scene. Unfortunately, such a thing never occurred, and the young hybrid puffed up his own cheeks, flailing his paws up at their persons for a time.

Which led to all three of them giggling loudly, until Nox's own belly grumbled loudly due to the lack of food in him. After such noise ensued, it was answered by the twins', which resulted in another round of laughter, as they scampered over to the small, side-door he had shown them some time ago. Whereupon they did half run, half hop down the hallway, sometimes waving at the Living Armour and servants within the castle. Many of the latter replied back with their own greeting, whilst the former own twitched, as they were not allowed to move unless given an order by one of their leaders. Of whom were Zabartik, Sarah, and of course, the Ageless.

Nothing and no one bothered them, as they were children of Terra, as well as either relatives or friends of the God King and Queen of the Terran Pantheon. That didn't mean there weren't obstacles, however. For just as they entered the dining room, did they come across a Satyr who grinned down at them from a chair on the other side of the table. One that, once they noted its presence, caused them to scream and dash out of the room.

For the grin of the unknown scared their little minds and hearts, causing their bodies to flee, their hunger momentarily forgotten. Of course, once the Living Armour noted such a thing, did they react by coming to life with their weapons at the ready.

Those that activated caused a ripple effect, which slowly awoke all others within the castle, notifying Sarah who was near one of their number at the time. Thus, upon being notified of what had occurred, she did dash into the area of the dining hall, and found her child and his friends inside the breastplate of one of the armours. Of which had instinctively scooped them up in order to deposit them inside. Whereupon they did mew and whine pitifully in the darkness as it stood still until someone could come and take care of their small persons.

"What's going on here?" called out the Goddess, as she came upon a stilled Living Armour who was being guarded by three others with raised shields and spears at the ready.

"Mama?" echoed the voice of Nox who was within the stilled suit of armour. Of which then slowly unbuckled its breastplate in order to allow the Wolfwoman to scoop up her child and his friends, hugging them close. Afterwards, they did salute towards her person, and returned to their posts as the four nuzzled one another.

"What's wrong, Nox?" she asked slowly, kissing his forehead once.

"Scary monster," mewed Maya as she flailed her right forearm towards the dining room.

"A monster?" Sarah asked, perplexed as she made her way towards the room, much to the dismay of the children. Whereupon she did peer into it with great confusion, then turned to address the children with, "There's nothing in there." Here, she showed the trio by bringing them into the room, where they saw that it was very much empty.

"There was a monster here, though," whined Mia with tears beading on the corner of her eyes, "Honest."

"Well, it's not here now," muttered the Goddess slowly, and called out to the Elven chefs from the kitchen. Once they appeared, did she ask if anyone was out here when the children entered the room.

"No Mistress," five shook their heads as one of their number spoke aloud, "We heard the children screaming, but a moment ago. When we rushed out to see what had happened, the room was empty with only their tails disappearing out the door."

"We did follow them to make sure they were okay," piped in another who was covered in flour and had pieces of bread dough stuck to their apron, "but they were already inside a Living Armour, and we had food to prepare. We still do, Mistress."

Of which caused them to be dismissed, and whilst they hurried back into the kitchen, her own features darkened as her left arm waved in front of her person. Whereupon nine portals of ever changing colours erupted within the dining room and the hallway. Stepping through such portals were eight metallic, skeletal and four-armed Undying. Each of them held up a torch with emerald coloured flames above their heads, illuminating the area around their persons.

The ninth being to appear was a metallic, four armed Orangutan which hobbled over to her person, bowing low to the ground, "Your Honour Guard has heard your call, and have come to your aid. What is your will, O Queen of Terra?"

"Auua, we have an uninvited guest that had the nerve to vanish after scaring Nox and his friends," growled Sarah as the children stared at the nine newcomers with widened eyes full of curiosity and tails swishing with excitement, "You are to discern who it is, why they are here, and to remove them from the castle. Understand?"

"Ook," replied the ape with a feral grin, which was kept hidden as his face stayed close to the ground, "Perfectly, My Lady Goddess."