Nyssa walked through a garden, weaving lines of thorny vines that wrapped around an archway of greenery. Roses about twice the size one might expect bloomed from time to time, budding into a full spread and then closing as she walked past them, leaving their relaxed forms behind.
The blooming of these flowers seemed to follow Nyssa’s every step, almost like sensory lighting, but carried with it an overwhelming sense that quickly made one forget everything they were seeing.
Nyssa’s steps felt almost trance-like, and it wasn’t until she reached the end of the pathway that her eyes awakened somewhat. She shook her head, thinking for the millionth time about just how much she disliked that feeling.
As Sylas had said, Petals of the Seeing Thorn was an information network, and though they were open, there were aspects of them that remained deeply secretive.
Just now, she had exited a sort of maze of flowers. This maze was one that no one—not even the current head of the organization, her mother—knew the full extent of.
Instead, depending on one’s tier in the organization, you were given a Gene. This Gene would trigger in the presence of the maze, and your body would move on its own toward the location you were given access to.
This would happen even when Matriarch Valeria came to visit. For all they knew, they might have been taking the same route, walking along the same path, and even brushing shoulders before reaching the end.
The Petals of the Seeing Thorn was so confident in their Maze of Thorns that abandoning and ignoring branches like this was quite commonplace for them.
But the idea of using up a Gene slot for such a thing was something that many women across the universe had to weigh for themselves. It wasn’t exactly an easy choice.
The higher rank you held, the stronger Gene you would need—otherwise, how could it be strong enough to dictate your actions?
Honestly speaking, the last time Matriarch Valeria had any interaction with the main branches of the organization at all was when she progressed into the D-Grade. But even then, it was a perfunctory meeting, where she saw no one, heard no one, and simply had a new Gene presented to her under penalty of death.
…
Nyssa walked into the organization to find that there was still quite a bit of hustle and bustle, but it was the controlled sort, where hushed whispers and anxiety pooled into a mist that hung heavy in the air.
She knew what the problem was without even looking into it. The number of individuals that had joined their trials this time was considerable. It had only been ongoing for what was probably not even a week, but there were a ridiculous number of deaths and incidents already.
Normally, women from prominent families would be hesitant to join, but with the galaxy in chaos, many fringe families that didn’t have much power of their own found themselves having to balance the hopes of staying independent with actually finding a path of survival for the future.
The fight for the Bazaars was out of their leagues. Not everyone had a fighter like Sylas who could just take one over on their own, and against the likes of the Petals of the Seeing Thorn, the Thryskai, and the Trakar, what chance did they stand even with armies at their disposal?
In the end, many decided that attaching themselves to one of the three groups was the best option, leading to the entire galaxy being thrown into turmoil.
It had to be remembered that not long ago, the system had wiped out a large number of powers as well, leaving vast gaps in the chasm of power here.
Times were dangerous, but it was also an opportunity for these fringe families to try and cover ground they would have never been able to otherwise.
Nyssa shook her head when she saw this. It would probably just be more of the same.
They would be used as pawns, and rather than rushing in to fill the gaps left behind by the dead organizations and families, they would instead be part of the reason more power was concentrated into the hands of the already-elite.
“Nyssa!”
—
[171. Erythra Zalyn (Lv41) | Nythseran (F) | Planet Seran (Grade 2 Silver)]
—
A familiar young woman rushed up to Nyssa, sweeping her up in her arms. Erythra was still the over eight-foot-tall behemoth of a woman that she had been the last time, so lifting the barely-over-five-foot-tall Nyssa was a matter of great ease.
Of course, despite her height, Erythra had a similar seductive beauty to the rest of the Petals of the Seeing Thorn women. It helped quite a bit that she had a distinct, snake-like charm to her.
“Alright, alright, you can put me down,” Nyssa said with a sultry laugh. “You should at least buy me dinner first before you feel me up like this.”
“What can I say? I’m jealous of what that Sylas Grimblade gets to feel up on every day. You know how much of a celebrity you are now because of your hubby?”
Nyssa giggled. “I know how to choose my men—unlike a certain little slut.”
Erythra pouted. “It’s not my fault they’ve all let me down. You got lucky—let me rub some of that off you and onto me.”
The Nythseran reached down to cop another feel, and it took Nyssa a bit to finally wiggle away.
“You’ve been gone for so long. What brought you here now of all times? You know, you’re in a little bit of a…” Erythra looked around, feeling the cautious gazes on them. “Precarious situation…”
“I have another person set to join the trial. Help me set that up.”
“Another person? You’re sending them to their deaths? You know, the later you join, the harsher the penalty.”
“Don’t worry about that, we’ll handle it.” Nyssa said with a smile. There was a light of confidence in her eyes… but it was also clear that she had put up a facade once again.