Ophidian sighed quietly and shook his head.<span style="color: #00b300">"who says that she will give them back? i cannot say that i understand Eternals or Eternal hybrids but i do know that taking your powers away instead of just suppressing them was a drastic step and may not be so easily reversed."</span>he frowned at her and shook his head, obviously thinking before he spoke.<span style="color: #00b300">"if you love her then you owe it to her not to judge her for her ignorance but to patiently educate her so that can can understand that you are the Karrie she loves. if i had not had two Zelinas rattling around in my mind for years i would have trouble believing or accepting the truth of your existence. perhaps if we both talk to Rachel? i can tell her what it was like having two unique women bickering in the back of my mind and assure her of just how uniquely rotten they both were as proof that they are separate beings and that you and the other two are equally unique and separate. i will not say that i have any great charisma for persuading people, but i can speak the plain truth well enough, or so i hope."</span><br/><br/>Susan shook her head and muttered before she dove into her work on the Priestess.<span style="color: #ffa64d">"alright little one, what seems to be the problem?"</span><br/><br/>Ibara looked up for a moment and then held up one finger to tell the Animus to wait for her to finish reading the paperwork in her hand and she was done moments later, obviously a little behind schedule but not much. she looked up again and listened with a deepening frown and then she sat back in her chair.<span style="color: #ff8000">"i am aware of the Timelost Ras, he made quite a scene in Goldshire, sleeping under a tree like the moron every Ras must be... and since he is the only known Timelost person that would have reason to want his name concealed i must deduce that he is the person who contacted you."</span>she shuffled her papers into a neater pile and set them on the left of her desk where she always put the done paperwork.<span style="color: #ff8000">"four hundred square acres is absurdly enormous. i would prefer two hundred square acres chosen at your discretion but we could go as high as three hundred of his choice. wine and jobs are good, wheat and jobs would be better. if he is willing to devote the extra acreage to food then by all means make the deal. but i am sure we can all agree that the last thing we need is a drunk and starving population on our hands."</span>she shuffled through her finished papers and then handed one to the Animus.<span style="color: #ff8000"> "there are disturbances to the south which threaten the food shipments we depend on... this expansion of land would allow us to be substantially less dependent on those shipments." </span><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>