Tales of Alavern 03 (Non-Canon)

Tales of Alavern: Problems & Solutions

Prologue

The Great Mother sat silent and attempted to meditate, trying to heal and regain her power for another trip through the Source of All to the world she had plucked Cyrus from. If her daughters on the Isles of Alavern were to survive and produce another generation, one man wasn't going to be enough. There would need to be others, and they would need to share his moral character. Hopefully by the time she was ready, her daughters would be more willing to accept more men into their society.

Her attempts to calm her mind seemed to fail spectacularly though, as she thought about the recent development between the former queen Naomi and her dear friend & Captain of the Guard, Brianna. The two had declared their love for one another and had spent from the early afternoon until the early night in a long game of passionate lovemaking. The Great Mother had felt dirty for a moment, wishing that her two daughters would not truly be in love until Naomi had spoken about her desires to regain her crown from Cyrus and keep him as both a valuable advisor and bed mate.

It had honestly felt like she'd dodged an arrow to the heart by a hair's width, but it seemed that everything would still be on track as long as Cyrus managed to smoothly endear himself to the rest of the residents of the Alavern Isles. The queen and captain of the guard were an excellent start, but hardly the entire population of her daughters. Indeed, her new son had quite a lot of work ahead of him.

She gave up attempting to meditate, realizing she'd never quiet her mind enough to focus her energies until she'd at least checked in to see how things were going on the isles. She set her focus to the Alavern Isles, peering in through the window of the mid-day sun. She searched the isles of her daughters for her new son, and quickly found him being escorted to the sacred pool she'd gifted her daughters so long ago by Megara.

A twinge of guilt flooded her, thinking of the pool she had given her daughters so that they could continue their peaceful lives without having to sacrifice the love of family or children. She had already taken one man from his home, and was now preparing to take even more for the sake of her daughters. She took a deep breath to force that guilt down and continued observing. As she watched, she couldn't help but wonder... why in the world was her new son headed to her failed pool?

Chapter 1

It had been a fairly simple question, wondering how the women of the Alavern Isles managed to reproduce for multiple generations. Yet now Cyrus found himself being led through the main island's city by the royal head physic, who was currently in the middle of assaulting him with a series of very uncomfortable questions.

"So the penis becomes enlarged and stiffens when the male body is subject to arousal. That I understand, but what exactly is the purpose of the...you said they were called testicles?" Megara asked, scribbling something down on a scroll that she had brought with her. Cyrus groaned, cringing at the question despite knowing she wasn't intending to unnerve him so.

"Look, you remember what we were talking about earlier? DNA and all?" he replied, trying to keep his voice steady as they walked through the streets of the city. It was his first time outside of the palace since he had first arrived on the island three days ago and he couldn't help but notice the looks he kept getting. While the palace staff had come to tolerate him and the palace guards held a begrudging respect for him, all the women that he and Megara were passing on the street gave him looks as though he were Godzilla getting ready to tear through Tokyo.

"Yes, I do recall that conversation." Megara said, snapping his attention back to her. "It's a very fascinating theory..."

"It's not just a theory where I come from." Cyrus interrupted, "Back home, we've managed to create tools powerful enough to actually let us see DNA under the right conditions. We know for a fact it's a real thing and its general purpose overall. Science has come a long way in helping us understand the universe we live in."

"Science?" Megara said confused, stopping in place and turning back to look at him.

"Yeah, science. The study of the universe and how it works and stuff." Cyrus replied, not sure exactly what to make of her reaction. "Do you guys call it something different or...?"

"I suppose we've never had an official word for it before. We simply refer to it as studies, then name them as they become more specific. Like how we call the study of different ingredients and the effects they have when combined together, alchemy." she said, a proud look on her face.

"Oh yeah, I know what alchemy is. We call it chemistry nowadays but we called it alchemy a long time ago. Now alchemy tends to refer to chemistry that has to do with the occult." he replied with a smile.

"The occult? Well isn't the occult simply another part of the world? What sense does it make to separate such things so much?" she asked, looking proud as though she'd just won an argument. Her pride deflated slightly as she saw Cyrus merely looked indifferently and shrugged in reply.

"What can I say, humans are weird. I know there's a reason we started doing things certain ways but in most cases, we've been doing them so long that we don't really question why we do them a particular way anymore. We just accept it as the way things are and go about our lives." he replied, earning him a small, annoyed grumble from Megara. "Oh come on, you said you'd show me how your people make babies. Weren't you looking forward to showing off your knowledge to me?"

"You've only been here for three days and you're already learning how to manipulate me." Megara replied quietly, making sure she couldn't be overheard by the women who were staring at the two of them. "You're quite dangerous after all, though in a very different way than our foremothers warned us about." Cyrus rolled his eyes at her tone, and Megara couldn't help but chuckle as she began leading him once again. "Anyway, back to the testicles you were about to tell me of."

"Ugh..fine." Cyrus groaned, a little upset he wasn't successful in changing the subject. "Basically, testicles produce sperm. Sperm is a liquid substance that contains bits and pieces of our DNA. That DNA combines with the DNA in an egg in the womb. The combined DNA slowly grows inside of the womb and after about nine months the mother goes into labor and eventually squeezes the kid out of her vagina. That's how babies are made where I come from."

"Sex to make babies...fascinating." Megara said, tapping her fingers to her chin in thought as they approached a large, ornate building. The building was clearly important, having imagery that Cyrus had learned from Naomi represented the Great Mother painstakingly carved into an elegant white stone. The building was beautiful, though one of the smaller structures that he'd seen in the city of the main island and was noticeably absent of any signage.

As he and Megara approached the ornately crafted double doors of the entrance, a lone woman came running out. The woman rushed past the both of them crying the kind of tears only the grieving and the hopeless can cry. Megara watched as the woman disappeared off into the city, sighing and looking after her with a look of sad compassion and understanding that Cyrus wasn't used to seeing on her face.

"The poor child. She must have been especially hopeful for answered prayers. I wish I could figure out why the Mother's blessing eludes us all so. At this rate, our people will simply die out..." Megara said solemnly, then turned to Cyrus. "You wished to learn how our people have children. I will take you to where it happens, but I'm afraid I won't be able to show you, my king."

Cyrus nodded and Megara led him inside, revealing that the building was just two very large, connected rooms. In the first room were a few benches to sit on and places to hang your clothes. The whole area would have given off the feel of a bath house if it weren't for the knives on the walls and the little holes in the wall that held medical items clearly intended for bandaging up cuts. He gulped, shivering as he fought down his own squeamishness while ignoring how ironic it was for cuts and blood to freak a boxer out.

Megara led him further inside to the second room, which was nearly bare except for a large, but shallow pool that was in the very center of the room. The walls were simple, with no markings or windows. The only light in the room was from the pool itself, which had a soft blue glow that filled the entire room with just enough light to see comfortably.

"A bathing room?" Cyrus asked, confused as to what he was looking at.

"Not at all, my king." Megara answered softly, kneeling down at the base of the pool and bringing her hands together in silent reverence. "This is the Mother's Pool. It is where our children come from...came from." she corrected herself, her face seeming more weary for a moment than Cyrus had ever seen it before.

"From inside the pool? How does that work, Megara?"

"You saw the knives adorning the walls of the preparation chamber we entered through, yes?" Megara asked, receiving a silent nod in answer. "The woman who would become a mother to a child prepares her heart and body before coming here, then they offer a prayer to the Great Mother and shed their clothing in the preparation chamber. After that, they grab one of the knives and bring it here where they proceed to wade into the pool. A cut is made with the knife so that blood can freely flow into the pool. From that blood, a child in the image of their mother is formed using the power of the pool."

"Clones..." Cyrus said suddenly, causing Megara to turn her attention back to him and give him a confused look. "Right, another new word. How to explain...uh, well a clone is when you take a part of someone containing their DNA and create a copy of them. It can be anything that contains sufficient DNA. Blood, hair, spit..."

"Semen?" Megara interrupted, the smile she gets when she understands something new gracing her face.

"Yeah, yeah. Semen would work too." Cyrus answered, unable to help blushing to Megara's amusement. "Though there are limits to cloning. For example, if you cloned a clone then the DNA would...get...diluted..."

"Is something the matter?" Megara asked as Cyrus's words trailed off. His eyes grew wide as realization hit him.

"This is the only method your people have been using to create new children for generations, right?" Cyrus asked, needing to make sure he was on the right track. Megara nodded and he flinched, hoping this wasn't going to be the poor news he was thinking it would be. "And you haven't had any new people come into the island between when your foremothers were sheltered here by the Great Mother and when I arrived?"

"That's correct. What are you getting at?" Megara asked, coming closer as she considered his words.

"What if...what if the reason that your people can't use the pool to make more clon...children," Cyrus quickly corrected himself, not wanting to seem too cold by sticking strictly to scientific terminology, "is because the material's just become too diluted? Your foremothers used the pool to clone themselves, so every one of the current inhabitants of the island are clones of the clones of the clones and so on. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

Megara's face scrunched in thought and Cyrus watched as she counted...something on her fingers. After a moment, Megara's eyes went wide and she gasped out. Cyrus wasn't sure if her gasp was one of surprise, horror, or possibly both but it made him uncomfortable just the same. She stared at the pool, her expression blank for a moment before she did something Cyrus never would have imagined her doing in the entire time he had known her. She fell to her knees and began sobbing uncontrollably.

"Megara?!" Cyrus shouted, running over to her and kneeling by her side.

"All this time...the problem was such a simple thing." she said to no one in particular. "So many of us thought that we were being punished, or that we weren't devoting ourselves enough to the Great Mother. For so long, I thought She had simply betrayed us...betrayed me, but...but..." Megara's words were cut off as she resumed crying, unable to form words against the unrelenting wave of sorrow washing over her.

"Well..." Cyrus started while gently rubbing her back, "we know the problem now, right? So now we just have to figure out the solution and solve the problem. We can do that, with your brains and what information I can add to your pool of knowledge..."

"Solution?" Megara said suddenly, cutting him off. She wiped her eyes and that look of contemplation Cyrus had become so familiar with had returned to her face. He watched her eyes dart back and forth in her head as she silently mumbled to herself and tapped her chin with her fingers. She stood up slowly and a look of eureka came upon her face, washing away most of her sorrow despite her tears still flowing gently from her eyes. "What if...what if you're the solution?"

Chapter 2

Naomi groaned as she stretched herself awake. She and Brianna had gone for a rather vigorous night of passion last evening, yet only Brianna seemed to have had the energy to wake up on time this morning. The light shined in through Brianna's bedroom window as the former queen laid there and tried to muster up the will to get out of bed. She turned her head, frowning at the now-empty spot on the bed her lover had inhabited all night. She had shared a satisfying bed with two lovers now, and she had quickly grown to loathe sleeping alone.

Her dissatisfaction was enough to finally get her out of bed, throwing off the covers and stretching her gloriously nude form in the light of the early afternoon sun before getting to her feet. She looked around Brianna's room, sparse in decor save for the bed that was even more luxurious than her own, and felt a twinge of sorrow. As much as she loved finally getting to curl up asleep with her love every night, she couldn't help but miss her old room. She missed sleeping in the royal chambers and waking up, then going to enjoy the morning sun on her balcony.

There was no going back though. At least not until she reclaimed her crown from Cyrus, but the right for him to pass the crown back to her required two more months of waiting. Who knew if he would still feel like giving it up after having it sit on his head for that long? Not using its power or revealing that he was, in fact, king of the Alavern Isles might not last more than a few more days. Eventually, word would spread and panic would ensue all across the isles. They would have to figure out how to prevent that, but doing so would mean somehow combatting generations of fear about the evils of men.

She went towards Brianna's closet and pulled out some of the clothes she had moved in here yesterday while she thought of what exactly to do about the situation. She knew that she would have to speak with Cyrus about any plans going forward, but having some ideas to present to him would help them both to speed things along. First thing would be to ask him to anoint her as his official advisor. He knew next to nothing about the islands, her people, or their culture after all.

The largest problem would be figuring out how exactly to introduce him as King without causing a riot. She knew that it would mean revealing the folly of wagering her crown against someone she could have easily refused if it hadn't been for her own pride and ego outweighing her sense. Perhaps it was for the best though, after all she certainly wouldn't be repeating that mistake again any time soon. Still, telling everyone who wasn't a witness to the battle would be an issue unto itself. She would need more help to figure everything out and, just as importantly, she would need to introduce more intelligent, helpful Verni women to Cyrus.

Naomi's thoughts turned to the allies that they already had as she puzzled everything out and got herself presentable for the day. There was herself, of course, and Brianna. Brianna respected Cyrus, not because of his strength, but because of the compassion and humility he showed in the face of victory. Though she knew Brianna would never admit so out loud, especially when she was in one of her new fits of jealousy about Naomi's attraction to him. She chuckled at that thought before returning her attention to the few other allies Cyrus had gained in his time here.

Megara was a fan of the King, mostly because she had a curiosity that matched Naomi's own and Cyrus was more than willing to answer all of the questions that he had for the head physic. He even answered the ones that embarrassed the hell out of him, which was mostly the questions about sex and his own body. Megara was a bit frustrated that he wouldn't open up about the truth behind the many scars on his body, a secret he had only shared with Naomi so far and she had refused to share with anyone else out of respect for his wishes.

Naomi supposed that the last person she could probably count on as an ally to Cyrus would be Alexis, Brianna's second in command. Alexis had so far shown a fairly neutral attitude towards the king, being polite and courteous but not really interacting with him outside of the scope of her duties. She was always pleasant in her demeanor though, acting with him the same way she had with Naomi when the crown was still her's.

Naomi sighed as she exited the room, starting her way towards Megara's study. She hoped that the older woman would be able to give her some advice, especially since she was probably the closest to understanding a man's body as no other woman of the Alavern Isles had in over 12 generations. It was a far cry from truly understanding his mind and how typical of a man he was, but it was far better for assuaging the Verni's fears than nothing. She arrived at the door to Megara's study and heard what seemed to be an argument coming from inside.

"I'm sorry Megara, but the answer is no. A very firm no." Cyrus's voice said from inside. He sounded like an unusual mixture of irritated and sorrowful, a far cry from the usual stream of embarrassment he held when he would speak with Megara in private. Naomi silently opened the door and watched the argument that brewed between the King and the Head Physic.

"Why precisely are you so dead set against making a baby with me? Is it my lack of youth or beauty?" Megara asked, her voice obviously more than a little upset with his refusal. "I have read so many stories of the legendary, unquenchable lust of men. Where is that now, when I am literally offering myself to you?"

"It doesn't exist in me." Cyrus stated flatly, "And it's not about your age or your non-existent lack of beauty, Megara." Naomi watched as Megara actually blushed ever so slightly at his words, her own mouth hanging slightly agape at the rare sight. "Look, it's just.."

"Just what?" Megara asked, coughing to try and cover up the slight red in her cheeks. "I know that you slept with the former queen, and on your very first night here no less so you cannot tell me that it's because you don't find women sexually attractive."

"That wasn't...I mean..." Cyrus stuttered, this being his turn to blush now. "Look it was just... a really bad day, for the both of us." She saw his face fall a bit and worried about the twinge of guilt on it. "We had both lost a lot that day. Naomi lost her crown and I...I lost everything. My family, my home... I still don't know if I'm ever going to see them again. When we came together that night, it wasn't really about lust or love. It was...well, it was comfort. We both just..."