by Jessie Wolf
Dai Etsu smiled at the two of them, and then reached out placing her right hand on the young woman’s check. “In the name of the Goddess Inari Ōkami I name you Akira Emi. Your new name means ‘bright blessing child.’ Carry it with pride and do honor by it, child.”
The young girl smiles up at Dai Etsu in a way that she has not seen in years. It was as if Akira was truly a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Then something kicked in and Maiha thought back over what she had said. This young girl had been a member of the Silent Sisters for seven years. If she had joined them when she was seven that would be enough to charge the Silent Sisterhood with child abuse and a whole lot of other things. I needed to know exactly how old she was when she joined.
“Akira, how old was you when you joined the Silent Sisters?”
The young girl looked at Maiha with curiosity before answering. “I had just turned nineteen. Why?”
When Dai Etsu and Maiha heard this they looked at each other as if the very pillars of heaven were about to be pulled down on their heads. Looking around at the other girls as they sat up or climbed out of their cocoons they both came to the same realization at the same time. The nanites had reset their clocks. All around them they saw young girls who looked to be thirteen but no more than fifteen years old. Turning back to Akira, Maiha smiles and says. “Sister Akira, I think that you and the rest of the new Nightingale Sisters need to go look in a mirror. Please remember that we did not mean for you to turn out looking like you do.”
“Um, Guardian Sister Maiha, just what is wrong with us?” it is at that point that the new Sister sees the first of her new order. The shock that crosses her face is mirrored in her voice. “Sister Kathy, is that you?!”
The young girl looks at Akira and yelps out. “Marry?! Oh man, if that process did that to you, I can’t wait to see what it did for me.”
Clapping her hands mama gets all of their attention. “Sisters of the Blessed Saint Nightingale please give me your attention and I’ll explain what has happened to the best of my ability.” Once every one was giving her their undivided attention, mama step into the middle of them all. “From what we can tell the nanites have reset your biological clocks to an earlier age. Now, we had not expected for this to happen. The reason for what appears to be your new age maybe due to part of the original programing that was over looked. For most of you this did not happen as you were already within the programs age parameters. For those of you who were not look upon this as a complete new start on life.” One of the girls raised her hand and Dai Etsu nodded for her to ask her question, and when it came she was ready for it.
“Reverend Mother, is this, what you went through when your daughter saved your life?”
“Yes, Sister Roberta, this is exactly what I went through. The only difference is that the nanites could only regress my age to a point without causing great harm. For you all I believe that because of your relative youth they merely reset your ages to a time that will give you a better chance at succeeding in your new calling.”
Maiha wisely said nothing to contradict this lie. She knew exactly what had happened thanks to what Dee De and Charlie had told her. The nanites had regressed them all to make them better fit in with the other new orders. The more students that joined the new orders the wider the age bracket will become, but until that time the average age upon joining will be fifteen. This alone will be an asset and a handicap. However it will be more of an asset as it will allow them to better understand the other girls and later the boys as they join the orders.
Before more can be said another one of the cocoons started to beep. Moving the new Nightingales away from the still closed cocoons Maiha starts to get ready to welcome the new Dragon Daughters. As one the thirteen Nightingales and the six members of the Nakatoma family looked out at the one hundred and sixteen beeping cocoons. Then almost as one they cracked open. Once again the mist flowed out from inside the cocoons before the lids pulled back to reveal the girls inside. At first none of them moved, and then slowly they began to sit up and look around. The first one to stand up was Cassidy, to be followed quickly by Princess Daniela, Lisa, and Susan. All four girls looked as if they had just stepped out of a rejuvenation center. Oh, they still looked like themselves and their true ages, but there was an air of youthfulness that was not there before. As Maiha, her family, and the Nightingales looked at the new Daughters of the Dragon as one by one they climbed out of their cocoons.
It was at that time one of the biggest differences between the two orders was discovered. The armor for the Dragon’s Daughters was the same color as their robes before they entered the cocoons, while the armor for the Nightingales was almost a pure white with red trim going down their arms and legs with a red and black crest on their lift breast in the shape of a bird in flight. The next thing Maiha and her family noticed was how each of the Dragons Daughters had a small crest in the shape of a dragon on their left breast.
Maiha and her family were pulled out of their wonderment as Princess Daniela walked up to them with Cassidy, Lisa, and Susan right behind her. “Lady Maiha once again you have shown me and my friends what it is meant to be a true Citizen of the Empire. I had no idea how having my mind shared with an AI was so enlightening. If this is what a regular Death Dealer experiences when they first wake up.”
Maiha quickly interrupts her. “No your Highness, this is nothing like what a regular Death Dealer goes through. For them it usually takes a lot longer to get used to the idea of having to share their heads with someone. For you all it will be a whole lot easier I hope. Now it is almost time for breakfast why don’t we head for and get something to eat?”
With a round of yes’s the two new orders all headed over to the main house and the great hall to eat. The sun was just coming over the horizon and the dawn sky was just starting to lighten. As the girls looked around they saw how the estate slowly came to life. At first it just one or two people then more and more start to show up. They don’t stop to talk with anyone, but headed straight for the Great Hall and the food therein. As they sat to have their breakfast Maiha had a startling revelation. Turning to her mother for help. “Mama, I think I might have screwed up.”
“How so, my child?” the look on Dai Etsu’s face said that she knew something already. “Is it the fact that the Nightingales lack certain members to be a full Sisterhood? Oh like say a Reverend Mother or maybe even the rest of the upper members of a sisterhood such as the Dragons or Black Swords?”
“Um, yes ma’am.” The blush that crossed Maiha’s face said it all. The fact that she had not planned for this was apparent in her eyes. What she was not expecting was for Dai Etsu to point to the back of the hall and smile as four very beautiful women entered. They all wore the armor of the Nightingales with one exception. Inside of a single bird on their breast there two, one on each side. One of them had golden trim surrounding the birds, while the others remained the same. “Were did they come from mama?”
“Last night after the fight I saw that you would do more than just return the old orders of Ida-ten. So while you slept outside on the Temple Steps I sent for the current members of the Sisterhood of the Saint Nightingale. Of all the orders that belonged to the Temple of Ida-ten only they have been able to survive as an underground order. All four of these young ladies were members of that said underground order. Before you ask one of the requirements to be a member of the Nightingale Order is to have a medical education.”
As they came closer to them Maiha was able to identify each one of the four women and where she had first met them. All of them were doctors in the Temples medical wing. She recognized three of them right away. There was Doctor Elizabeth "Liz" Wilson head of surgery, Doctor Pamela Isley head of pharmacology, and Doctor Ritsuko Akagi head of medical research. It was the last one that she failed to recognize. There was something familiar about the woman, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. What was really frustrating was the fact that she was the one with the gold trim around the birds on her chest.
The woman started to giggle as she turned to Dai Etsu and handed her a ten gold credit saying. “You were right, Dai Etsu, she doesn’t recognize me.” looking back at Maiha, the woman smiled before bowing to her. “I am a little surprised that you would not recognize me, my Lady. After all you were the one to give me this wonderful chance to not only be a member of this order, but to become the woman I should had been born.”
It took Maiha a few minutes to put two and two together. When she finally came up with the answer it was not four, but the Imperial budget. “Doc Tam?! I thought you were heading back to Earth Prime?”
“I was, but my drop ship doesn’t leave for another two weeks. I should say Simon’s drop ship leaves in two weeks. However for River, his sister, will be staying on as the personal physician to the Nakatoma family.” The fact that Doctor Simon Tam is one of the finest physicians with the Mountain Wolves was staying here as a woman in an order filled by women was amazing, the fact the he was Transgender just blow Maiha’s mind.
“But your contract is up. I’m sure you would have better and more profitable choices on Earth Prime.” Maiha was really trying her best to figure out what was going.
“Lady Maiha, I realized that the nanites could do more than just reset the clock for me, but with the right programming give me the body that I should have always had. If joining the Nightingale Sisters was the price for my happiness, then it is one that I would gladly pay. Besides you need someone who not only understands what it means to be a doctor, but one in adverse conditions. These young ladies maybe fine doctors, but they lack the experience of a battlefield surgeon. I have all these things, plus I get something in return.”
“Ok, I’ll buy that, but why are you the Reverend Mother? I mean shouldn’t it be one of the other three? After all they were all members of the Nightingales before you.”
It was Doctor Pamela Isley who answered Maiha’s question. “The Nightingales have always put experience in the medical field over in the Sisterhood first. As Reverend Mother River has more than three decades of practice, so we made her our Reverend Mother. We can teach the new Sisters the ways of the Nightingales, but she can teach us all the ways of a surgeon.”
“If this is what you want I won’t stand in your way.” Maiha moves over to them and give each one a hug. Stepping back with a smile on her face. “Welcome, Sisters to the beginning of something wonderful.”
Chapter 8
After breakfast mama and I introduced the Nightingales to their new order’s heads. Once everyone got to know each other we headed outside. As we walked down the steps at the front of the House we saw the first of the House Engineer vehicles leaving. Four of the heavy duty transports had construction Power Suites on flatbed trailers behind them. Next came three heavy long haul transports with triple trailers loaded down with heavy construction materials. After those seven pulled out another seven moved into position to be loaded up. They could all tell that this was going to be something big when it was done.
I was stopped by Cissy. “Excuse me, Lady Maiha, but where are they going?” she asked as she pointed at the transports.
Looking over at her and then the rest who had gathered round us. “They are going to build our new Temple. It will be on the school grounds between our school and Jacob Salomon School for boys. Our new Temple will be the first Temple of Ida-ten in four hundred years.”
One of the other girls asks Maiha. “How long will it take for them to build our new home, Lady Maiha?”
For once I had to fight to keep from laughing. The fact that these girls already considered the new Temple their home was a promising sign. “If all goes well, and with just a little bit of luck, they should have the first of the new dorms built by the end of next month. Now, before you ask, this is about right for the amount of work they will have to do. Those four Heavy Construction Power Suits can do the work of twenty different machines. Everything from concrete pouring to welding steel support beams. They can work as road graders to what they call high steel construction. Now, they will not be the only ones on the site. By tomorrow there will be another six of those machines, giving the construction crews a total of ten. They will break down the work so that each one will be doing something different on each building. So you see, by the time they move to the next building all that will have to be done on the inside will be the finishing work. Now, that will be handled by the electricians, plumbers, and other trades men.”
“How many new dorms do you think the new Temple will need, my Lady?” that was asked by one of the girls with the Nightingales.
“I figure that we’ll need at least four new four story dorm buildings. One for each of the different orders.”
“Excuse me, Lady Maiha, but just how many orders are there going to be?” it was Lisa who asked me this one.
Smiling over at her I decide to fill them all in on what I wanted to do. “I plan on bringing back the four orders of Ida-ten and restore the Temple of Ida-ten and its followers.” At their blank looks I begin to tell them all of the Knights of the old Republic and how they worked as Peacekeepers, Healers, and all they did for the old Republic of the Empire. As I was telling them about the Knights of the Republic I continue to walk toward Fiddlers Green.
When we arrive a quiet falls over them all. “If any of you are wondering why I had decided to do this I only ask for you to read what is written here on this monument. After that walk through this cemetery and reading the names of the men and women buried here. I believe that you’ll understand then, however if you still have questions come to me back at school and I’ll do my best to answer them.”
With that I turn them loose to wander the area. I leave them be as there are three graves I need to visit on my own. They are on the far side of the cemetery. I know that they are empty but the headstones are there with the dates of birth and death. I know that technically they don’t belong in this cemetery, but there are no other graves for them in the rest of the universe. It was mama’s idea to put them here. She said it was to give me closure and to put their souls to rest. As I approach the graves I see that the flowers that I left there just a few short days ago are still there and blooming.
The headstones were plain in design, but held a great deal of meaning for me. The only difference between them and all the others in Fiddlers Green was that these three had the names in gold and all three sat upon a single slab of black highly polished Hades granite. To most the names would be meaningless, but to me they meant the world. They had another meaning for me that most would never understand. Those three names were the reason for what I am about to do and am doing.
“Who are they, Lady Maiha?” the voice belonged to someone I had not expected to be in this area.
“Why are you asking, Celina?”
“Because you are crying and their names are different from your own. They must be someone special as their names are in gold unlike everyone else’s here.” The look on her face was one of worry and concern. This was not something I was expecting to see from this girl.
I decide to give her a break and reveal a little bit about myself. “The two on the right are my mother and father. Captains Ohmie Owens-Steal Heart and James Steel Heart, they died in the battle of Havens Mist. The other is my Uncle James J. Owens a Major in the Death Dealers and at one time a member of the Imperial House Guards. He died while taking part in a very highly classified mission. They are my family.”
“Is your grandfather buried here as well?” I could tell that for some reason this meant a lot to her.
“No, his ashes are over in the family crypt in the main house courtyard. You can see his and all of my family’s pictures there.”
“Why are they over here then?” once again I could tell something about this was bothering her.
“Celina why do you want to know about my family?”
The girl took a deep breath before looking me in the eyes. “I don’t understand why people bury their dead like this.”
It takes me a minute before what she sa
id registers. “You’re from Ironhold Four aren’t you?” when she nods her head yes I realize that I’m going to have a hard time explaining burial customs across the universe. How does one explain burying ones dead to a person who was raised on a world where they recycle their dead for the next generation of clones. There hasn’t been a natural birth on Ironhold Four in over five hundred years. To them they just go from one body to another. There is no after life for them just a new body. “Celina, what do you know about religion and the idea of an afterlife?”
“I don’t really understand them Lady Maiha. I have had the Cultural Difference class at school, but Mrs. Hardy couldn’t really cover this in class.”
“So you have basically no real concept of what it means to have a final resting place.” Sighing heavily I think of how to explain the idea behind what was done here, in Fiddlers Green. I watch as she nods her head yes again at my comment. “Ok, I’ll try and explain it to you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Nakatoma.” The girl could tell I had gone into what was quickly becoming my ‘teacher’ mode.
“You see, for most of the Empire we come into this life through natural means. Unlike on your home planet where everyone is born in invitro tanks as clones. Do you understand this?” she quickly nod her head yes. “Now, for the rest of us, birth is the start of a long journey through life that begins as infants, not preteen children. We have to learn everything from how to feed ourselves, to wiping our own ass from our parents. We are not born with this knowledge the way your people are. For us our parents become the most important people in our lives until we meet the one who will become our spouse. After we have children ourselves they become the most important people in our lives before they move out to live their own lives. When our parents or children die we need a way to remember them. So we create places like this cemetery where we can come and remember them. Now, a lot of religions believe in reincarnation that is where our loved ones are reborn into a new life. However lot of religions do not believe this, but they do believe in a life after death.”