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. "
