B.C.E.

She turned to the dog, smiled. "Pleasure... Wait. If Lady Star is with Lord Shadow..." She went over the rest of the details in her head. "Then you are with Lord Echo...?"

Sunny nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. We're getting married this weekend and all that."

She smiled brightly. "Congratulations. Sol and I have been married for some years now. Lord Hector sanctioned it personally, Gods bless him."

Star smiled happily. "That's great!"

"Yes, it is. I owe my life, and the lives of Yue and Luna to him."

"Are those your girls' names? Are they with your husband now?"

She shook her head. "Lord Hector just appointed him chief archer today, making him a general. He's on the battlefield. A friend of mine is watching them, for the moment. She's wonderful with kids."

Star nodded, frowning slightly. On the battlefield... "That's good..."

Her smile faltered. "...I suppose the two lords are also on the battlefield. Sorry..."

"Shadow said they'd be back this weekend... I want to marry him."

Sunny sighed. "They'll be fine."

"I sure hope so. I couldn't imagine a life without my husband. He was my only comfort in those times..."

"Mew?"

Her hand clenched slightly. "Well, as I'm sure you know, half-breeds have had a very hard time before that law passed. You could murder, rape, or otherwise torment our kind, and a finger wouldn't be laid toward you... Sol and I were victims of that persecution."

Echo and Shadow brought the ballista to the shores.

"Pile the dead 5 feet high."

Star sighed, sinking into a chair. "I'm so sorry..."

Just then, a giant rock pillar shot out the ground, piercing the ballista in the process.

"!! By the Gods!" Hector cursed, quickly backing away from Menelaus' flagship, sword drawn. He thought something was off about the king, but he didn't expect that...

*

She shook her head. "It's done now, so don't worry about it. Besides, it wasn't your fault. After all, you faced a similar persecution, or the threat of such."

Echo cursed and touched the pillar, absorbing the power. Hecthen took control of the beaches.

"PILE THE DEAD!!!"

"Yeah, but... Sunny and Echo and Shadow... They all kept me protected and then the guys worked so hard to get that law passed..."

The order was carried out quickly. Sol prepared the archers. "Orders, sir!?"

"Still the bows!" Hector commanded. "We don't want another surprise like that!"

*

"And I'm thankful that the law was successfully passed. And look on the bright side: I'm not dead. And I have two healthy and happy children, with a third on the way."

Shadow had the remaining ballista liften onto the piles, crushing the bodies and causing them to leak massive amounts of blood.

"Fire!" the ballista fired, stricking the ships. Echo fell to his knees.

"BE QUICK! I CAN BARELY HOLD THE BEACHES!!!!!" shadow nodded then looked at Sol.

"Shoot the men over board before they reach shore."

"Yup!" Star reached over and patted Mani's belly fondly. They'd never met before, but she couldn't help but feel friendly towards her.

A salvo of arrows went into the air, but halted in midair. Sol's mouth hung open. The enemy's power spread that far?? The arrows fused into several large spears, piercing through more ballista.

*

Mani blushed slightly, smiled. "...You're really friendly. I'm sorry to say I didn't expect it."

The hedgecat purred, smile bright. "I understand! I never expected to meet anyone like Sunny, let alone Shadow and Echo, when I was first lost..."

"I mean..." She averted her gaze slightly. "Since a relationship between a pure and a mix wasn't ever heard of, let alone feasible due to the laws of old, I imagined any mix that managed to engage in such, especially with a pure of such high status, would be arrogant, pompous even."

"Oh. Well... No?" She blinked, looked at Sunny. "Am I pompous?"

"Pfft. Of course you are. I can't even stand to be around you."