Talk It Out.

You open your mouth to say something, but you close your mouth when you don't really know what to say. You aren't really sure what is bothering you.

"Hmm...must be something truly troubling if you can't even speak about it" Annabel chuckles.

"He's very tense as well" Yvette states as she continues rubbing your shoulders.

"I'm fine everyone. I promise" you tell everyone. The look everyone gives you shows it is clear that they don't believe you making you chuckle.

"I promise. I am just nervous about my upcoming talk with Sean, and I am having a hard time determining why I am nervous about it" you tell them.

"It may be that he represents two things that are going to be very important to your future goals" Dawn tells you. You think about what Dawn said for a moment.

"I can see how he represents finding out who has been after me, but what would the other thing be" you ask.

"Something just as important, maybe even more so. Do you plan on killing everyone who wants to maintain slavery" Dawn asks you. Your eyes widen and your eyebrows go up from how serious Dawn was asking the question.

"Of course not" you reply quickly. Dawn waits for a moment staring at you. It is clear from her face that her question was meant to make you think.

"Alright, so obviously I wouldn't want to kill everyone who wants to keep slaves. So...I would need to convince them that slavery is no longer acceptable, and even further I'd need to convince them to help me if possible" you say as you think out loud. Dawn nods her head slowly as if you are almost there.

"In order to stay here, Sean would need to commit to helping slaves regain their freedom. Either by helping liberate them, or helping them build their city here. Either way, I'd need to convince him that slavery is wrong" you say finishing your thinking.

"He is the only person here who you need to convince, and he is also the first person you will attempt to convince. Well...excluding the Amazons, but they do not have slavery. It is my understanding that first times can make anyone nervous" Dawn says with a very coy grin on her face. You stare blinking at her for a moment until you can't help but laugh. Dawn starts laughing with you, and the rest of women join in as the room fills with laughter. It takes a few minutes for the laughter to finally fade, and you feel Yvette start to rub your shoulders again.

"He's much less tense now" Yvette says earning a short round of chuckles from the group.

"That was a solid joke Dawn, but you're right. He doesn't really represent a continent full of people I will eventually need to convince that we need to get rid of slavery, but still...he almost kind of does. I am optimistic about him...but I guess we'll see" you say.

"That is very wise" Diana says with a grin and a nod.

"Heh...right" you chuckle. It occurs to you that everyone is in the room currently, so now would be a good time to get things moving.

"Since everyone is here right now. I kind of wanted to go over what I was thinking would be our next steps if that's alright" you tell the group of women. Everyone nods or says ok, so you lay it out.

"We'll need a group to go to the Amazons to deliver their healing potions and ****. Nadine and Annabel, I'd like you two to be in that group, and I need that group to negotiate how much lumber we can take from the Green. I don't want to just start chopping down their forest and make them angry at us. In fact, try to get some rudimentary agreements in place for trade. Find out what they can provide, and what they would like us to provide in return. Dawn, you should probably be in this group too since you know this facilities capabilities better than any of us could" you tell them.

"Will you not be going with us" Annabel asks.

"I'd like to, but I want to take at least one vehicle capable of transporting people north. Yvette and Rene, I'd like you to come with me. Jane if you'd like to come with us we could certainly use the help" you reply.

"Why do you want to go north" Nadine asks and you can tell she's holding back a smile.

"To rescue slaves" you reply grinning. You feel Yvette's hands freeze from her ongoing massage, and then you feel her arms wrap around you from behind in a tight hug.

"It's happening...we're really going to do it" Yvette says, and you can tell she is holding back tears.

"It's time" you say as you put your hand on Yvette's arm.

"What is your plan for rescuing them" Dawn asks.

"An ambush. Rene and I will snipe the guards, with Yvette and Jane calling them out to us. If it gets to be a closer fight then the four of us will finish them off with small arms fire and our blades. This is of course after we find a proper spot to ambush from. Hopefully we can free up ten or so slaves, bring them back here, get them food and shelter, tell them who we are and what we offer, and see how it turns out" you say. You can tell Dawn doesn't seem overly impressed with your plan.

"It's flimsy I know, but right now we have a major advantage that should make the first few times relatively easy" you say.

"What would that be" Dawn asks.

"No one knows who we are, and we have a vastly superior level of tech. There will be a short period of time we can take advantage of before they start bulking up their guards. Sending out scouts. Hiring mercenary groups. All of that will be a good thing though...in a way" you reply.

"How would that be a good thing" Jane asks clearly skeptical.

"Because the price of slaves will skyrocket" Annabel answers.

"Indeed. Which will hopefully mean that capturing more slaves is a losing game. Only the richest people will be able to afford them, and there are only so many rich people. They won't want to buy slaves just to buy slaves. They'll have the slaves they need already" you say.

"Won't that make the prices of slaves drop back down then? If no one is buying then they'll need to drop their prices to get people buying again" Jane asks.

"Not if we're making capturing and transporting slaves expensive for them. They won't want to sell slaves at a lower price then what it costs them to get them to the auction. Our goal, part of it at least, will be to make it more expensive then it is worth to be a slaver. Then at least some of them will stop doing it" you reply.

"Oh...yah, that makes sense. Seems like a lot of pressure would be on us though" Jane replies.

"It will be at first, but then the next part of my plan starts" you say pulling Yvette around to sit in your lap. Yvette smiles and grinds herself on you for a moment.

"Hopefully we'll have a thriving town. Freed slaves and people who migrate here. If we can make our town a city, a city unrivaled by any other. Then we'll have some political clout. Only towns who get rid of slavery and free their existing slaves can do business with us. No exceptions. We'll help those friendly towns grow and thrive. Those towns will add to our political power, and we can start doing more and more until one day slavery is, at the very least, a rarity" you say before giving Yvette a rather chaste kiss as you realize Juliet is still in the room with you.

"That easy huh" Nadine says smirking at you and you smirk back.

"No...it won't be easy. Slavery is entrenched in every town...I assume. It makes people's lives easier. I makes people rich and powerful. It will be difficult to root it out. That's why we have to fight it on multiple fronts. We have to make it dangerous to capture and transport slaves. We have to make it expensive to own and buy them. We have to make it ethically revolting. We have to show you can be just as prosperous, even more prosperous, without slaves. All of that will take risking our lives, working hard, and even down to the smaller aspects of it like convincing individual people that slavery is wrong. Plus whatever troubles decide to pop up randomly. I won't think any less of any of you if you don't want to contribute to this. That includes today. If any of you want to back out right now, or later on, then so be it. I'm ok with it" you say looking around. You are a little relieved to see everyone looking confidently back at you.

"For right now I feel confident speaking for all of us that we would go to Hel and fight Hades if you wished it. We're with you" Rene says after a moment of silence and you see everyone smiling and nodding their head.

"I have to admit I feel a little relieved you're all with me on this. It is a fairly crazy thing to try to do honestly. I'll always be open to any of you taking a lighter role or stepping out of it completely though. If it gets to be too much for any of you then don't be afraid to take a break at the very least" you say trying to show you are being serious.

"Um...is there anything you would like me to do today. You didn't really mention me" Diana steps forward to ask.

"Yes actually. I'm going to go talk with Sean after this, and I'll likely be letting him go. He'll be free to stay, and I assume he probably will for the time being, but...he might be a bit emotional and lost. He's going to need people he trusts around him. If you are comfortable with it I would like you to hang out with him. Show him around. Talk with him. Get him comfortable with helping us build this future together. You are someone he trusts, so you are the best person for this particular task" you reply.

"I understand" Diana says as she nods her head.

"I'll help too" Juliet exclaims making everyone smile.

"Juliet, you absolutely can help with that, and you've already helped more than you know" you tell her. You can tell she is slightly confused as to how she already helped, but none the less she seems pleased to be included.

"Anyone have any questions or concerns" you ask the group. You can see everyone looking around at each other, but no one speaks up with anything.

"Alright then. I'm going to go talk with Sean right now, so Diana and Juliet you can take over after our meeting if it goes well. Yvette, Jane, and Rene you three can go start getting your gear together. Annabel, Nadine, and Dawn go ahead and get everything together to take to the Amazons. Please make sure to tell them I wished to be there as well, and I want you to take the Dinos for protection in the Green. Let's get to building our future" you exclaim.

The girls all let out a cheer, and you smile seeing Juliet happily clapping and bouncing up and down. As each of them leave they all give you a peck on the lips except for Diana who licks your cheek with her long tongue, and Juliet makes you lift her up for a brief hug. Your spirits were high right now. Everyone seemed excited and cheerful to finally be taking steps towards your goals. It made you feel hopeful and proud, but there was still a sense of fear at this almost overwhelming task, and there was of course something you'd purposefully not mentioned. The group trying to capture you to bring back Wendel.

As you walked down the hall towards Sean's room you wondered what you'd find out, if anything. In fact, it occurs to you, that whether you learn much of anything or not doesn't matter. What matters is Sean becoming a better person. That's what this talk was about really. The future you wanted for this continent started now as you rang the bell to enter his room.

"Come in" you heard Sean call out. You took a deep breath and slowly released it as you open the door and stepped into his room.