"Well, at least we know she's okay," Matt said with a raised eyebrow. "Billy, don't hurt her please. I think that was just an instinctive reaction."

"But Consul Matthew, she attacked Consul Alejandra, in clear violation of guesting laws and–"

"She woke up in a strange place to see strange faces over her, and the last thing she probably remembers is being carried off by Sentinels to whatever a 'rendering facility' is," Matt cut the tree off in as stern a voice as he had ever used with him. "I would have thrown a punch too." He paused and looked over at Allie, who was still sitting against one of Billy's trunks rubbing her jaw.

"Allie? You good?"

"Our new guest has a hell of a right cross," she mumbled. "I think one of my molars has been loosened."

"I can probably fix that," Luc offered from where he stood a few feet off.

The whole family was gathered around now in a loose half-circle. They'd been drawn in first by the elf girl's scream, and then drawn in faster by Alejandra's surprised shout when the girl had surged up and straight up clocked Allie right in the mush. It had caught Matt completely off guard, and when the elf made a break for it like a broken-field runner, she would have made it except for one thing.

Billy the tree now had her restrained, a dozen roots and branches trussing the girl up like a christmas turkey. She was suspended off the ground, her arms and legs outstretched and shackled by wood, her weight supported by a thicker limb wrapped around her waist, her mouth gagged by another branch wrapped around her lower head.

It almost looked like something out of an Aliens movie, especially when Billy's branches twisted and tightened in response to the elf's frantic struggles.

"Okay look," Bel said, frowning at the scene, "I know she hit Mom, but she's clearly terrified out of her mind. Can we please put her down?"

"No way," Liv spoke up, glaring at the elf. "She wakes up, healed and safe, and the first thing she does is hit-and-run? Keep her tied up until we know what's going on here. She could be an enemy spy. She could try to escape again, and bring back her friends to take us out. You heard what the System said, she's part of an enemy faction!"

"She's a hurt scared girl," Bel shot back, glaring at her sister. "And if she tries to run again, Billy can just grab her again. Dad, Mom, c'mon," she turned to glare at Matt and Allie. "You can't just keep her up there like that."

"Yeah, especially since she's bleeding again," Luc said.

Everyone blinked and turned to look first at him, then the elf girl. Then back to Luc.

"Hey, you all are the ones who said I should take this healing stuff," Luc said, waggling his fingers that glowed slightly. "Don't get weird when I use it. Diagnose Injuries. She opened up a cut on her back, she's still got bad bruising on her legs, and when Billy grabbed her his branches cut up her arms. It's not, y'know, bad, but she is hurt."

Matt heaved a sigh. Much as his inner caveman was jumping up and down and demanding that he unga bunga his way through the next couple minutes because the girl had popped Allie right in the jaw, he knew that just wasn't the right way forward.

He stepped forward to where the girl hung in the air. She'd stopped struggling now and was just hanging limply, her eyes half-lidded and downcast. She didn't even look up when he approached.

"I know you can understand me," he said to her. "It's in the magic of this world."

No reaction. Not even a twitch.

"I'm going to have Billy put you down now," he continued gently. "And then we're going to treat your wounds. Please don't try to hit us or anything, okay?"

That got a reaction. It was just a flicker, her eyes flashing up to meet his before dropping down again. That was it.

He sighed again.

"Billy," he said, glancing up into the tree's canopy. "Please let her go. Gently please. Just put her down right here."

"I… hear and obey, Consul." The tree obviously didn't like the idea, but he complied. The prehensile branches holding the elf slowly came loose and deposited her on her feet in front of Matt. As soon as she was no longer supported by the branches, she seemed to crumple in on herself and sank to the ground.

"Please…"

The elf's voice was a hoarse whisper, like she hadn't used her voice for years for anything except screaming.

"Please just kill me."

That got a reaction from everyone. Olivia and Dinah's mouths dropped open. Isabel's eyes narrowed to slits. Luc gasped. And Allie took in a deep breath.

Matt just stared.

"Why in the hell would we want to kill you?" The question was blurted out before he could stop it.

"You are sojourners." The elf said like that was an answer in and of itself, her voice gaining some strength. She kept her eyes downcast, not looking up at him. She looked like a whipped dog, trembling on the ground, trying to look as small as possible so as to present less of a target.

Matt felt a pain in his chest at the simplicity of the response. He glanced down to Toraline, now hung in her customary place on his hip.

"Were the others really that bad?" he asked the sword.

"Sojourners, even ones as noble as Mighty Caesar, brought with them destruction and strife in vast quantities whenever they walked the earth of Seroco," the sword said promptly. "Scars have been left upon our world for generations by those pulled here by the Systems."

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"Great," Bel grumbled. "Gotta love a reputation."

Matt turned back to the elf, still in a puddle on the ground in front of him.

"We are not going to kill you," he said as gently as he could. "You have my word."

"You are Sojourners," the elf said again, still not looking at him. "You have suborned the noble Kel'Darshein. Your power comes from the Enemy. You are sworn to him. I am not a fool. I know what you have in store for me. Please, just kill me and get it over with."

The elf's voice gained in strength and volume, changing from a hoarse whisper to something soft and almost melodic and utterly defeated.

And one other thing.

"She's Scottish!?" Olivia's outburst was loud enough that even the elf's head jerked up in surprise, wide almond eyes shooting to Olivia.

Matt blinked, and then realized his daughter was right. The elf's voice, now that it didn't sound like something a coal miner had dug up with a rusty pickaxe, sounded like nothing so much as a light scottish brogue.

"Oh come on!" Olivia threw her arms up and glared up at the sky. "Scottish elves? What's next? Jamaican dwarves? British orcs? Yugoslavian Hobbits? Come on, just once, give me something the way it's supposed to be!"

"I always knew she'd be the first to snap," Bel said, watching her sister with almost clinical interest.

"My money was on Luc," Dinah said, also looking at Liv.

"Hey," Luc said, glaring. Then the glare faded to be replaced by something more thoughtful before he frowned. "Okay yeah no, that's fair."

Allie smirked and came up to stand next to Matt, putting an arm companionably across his shoulders.

"Do not tell anyone," she whispered to him, "but my money was on you, mi corazone."

Matt snorted and turned back to the elf, who had a decidedly confused look on her face. Which, at least, was a step up from abject despair.

"Listen," he said, crouching down so he was eye-level with her. "I know that Sojourners don't exactly have the best reputation around here. But whatever you've been told, whatever your histories say… Me and my family are not that. We're not warmongering monsters looking to take over the world, we're not here to hurt anyone. We're just trying to make the best of this weird situation we've found ourselves in."

The elf's eyes had locked onto him as he started speaking, and when he got to the end there was a long moment of silence as she digested what he'd said.

And then Matt learned what it felt like to be looked upon with utter hatred.

The elf's amethyst eyes blazed, her body tensed up, and her lips peeled back from her teeth in a snarl.

"You lie! You are Sojourner. You say you are not dangerous? You say you are just trying to survive? But you carry her," one long finger jabbed out at Toraline like she was a poisonous snake that had just insulted her mother.

Matt blinked. "Toraline?"

"Take whatever form you like," the elf spat, ignoring Matt now and glaring at the sword. "I see your Aura. Tutorial Tribe. Your kind guided those who slew our kin by the thousands. Taught them the ways of slaughter and conquest. Led them to the secret places. Forged weapons for them, gave advice on how to overthrow us, sent our kin to the rendering facilities." The elf was almost frothing now, her emaciated form trembling and her breaths coming in great gasps. Hating amethyst eyes snapped back to Matt. Speared him.

"Stop playing with me, Sojourner," she snarled. "I am caught and at your mercy. I know what fate awaits me. I've known since your damned Sentinels plucked me from the jungle. If you will not give me a quick death, a painless death, then at least stop trying to give me false hope! Stop tempting me with your poisoned words and just send me off already! Please, if there's a shred of good in you–Ow!"

Matt blinked as a pebble bounced off the elf's forehead, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Luc picking up another one from the remains of the Sentinel, tossing it up and down in his hand thoughtfully.

"Lady," he said, coming forward to stand next to Matt. "You're nuts."

The elf blinked. "What?"

"We saved your butt from the Sentinels," Luc said, rolling his eyes before tossing the piece of rock–actually what had been the Sentinel's nose–to the ground in front of the elf. "And bandaged you up, and made sure you didn't die, and gave you a bed, and used up a bunch of our magic medicine stuff to make sure you woke up again?"

"But–" the elf started, but was interrupted again, this time by Isabel.

"Oh for the love." the older girl rolled her eyes. "We're not gonna eat you. Look, I get that you got your bell rung, but if you pull that same bell out of your butt and use it to actually think for a second–"

"Coming up next on 'Weird Metaphors Weekly'," Olivia muttered.

"Shut up, Godzilla" Bel pointed at Olivia without looking at her. "What I'm trying to say is that if you'd just think about it, you'd realize that if we wanted you dead or tortured or whatever, we could have just done it while you were asleep."

"Or just not killed the Sentinels," Luc added, nodding at the stone nose in front of the elf.

"Did you guys get coins for that, by the way?" Olivia asked.

"Ten each," Matt said, watching the elf as his kids did their thing.

The elf stared from one young face to the next, then up to Matt. He could see the war taking place in her eyes, doubt and fear in a pitched battle against hope and logic.

"Listen," he said gently. "You don't have to believe us. You don't need to trust us. You don't even need to stay here."

"But," Allie said, taking up the narrative smoothly, "You are hurt, you are hungry, and you have obviously been brought a long way. We will not do anything against you, you have our word."

"So if you want," Matt said, gesturing towards the jungle, "you can leave. No one will stop you, no one will come after you. Or you can let us help you, treat your wounds, fill your belly, that kind of thing."

"Or, y'know, just eat something before you leave," Olivia said, jerking a thumb at the campfire pit. "We've got some frankensoup left we can heat up for you.

The elf blinked, her nose wrinkling and eyebrows lowering. "... Frankensoup?"

Matt grinned. "It's better than it sounds."

The elf was wavering. He could see it in her eyes, on her face, in her trembling limbs. And he heard it when her stomach let out a deep gurgle.

"Tell you what," he said, standing up again. "We're just about to sit down for lunch. We'll leave you be, and you can decide what to do on your own. Billy? If she decides to leave, let her. Don't track her, don't stop her. Clear?"

"Clear, Consul!"

"Come on guys," Matt said, beckoning the rest over to the campfire. "Let's get some grub. Then we'll get back to work."

They left the elf behind them, still slumped on the ground but now with her head up, watching them as they moved away.

"Think this will work?" Allie asked as they walked.

"Coin flip," Matt said with a shrug. "But those are the best odds we're going to get." They walked a little further along, then Matt glanced down at the sword on his hip.

"And Toraline? We're going to have to have a little talk later, it sounds like."

"Yes, Consul," the sword said, and it sounded resigned to Matt's ears.

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