“Hey! Let go of me! Where exactly are you taking me!?” Magnolia complained as she was dragged around by Luna for the past hour until they were in the megadome and surrounded on all sides by shops and stores. A place where no one knew who they were…

Luna gave a quick look around to see if anyone was paying attention, then put on a hood and brought Magnolia in close until they were face to face. Luna then revealed her ears to Magnolia. “See these ears? I’m exactly like you! I’m a half-elf! Look!”

“Wha-!?” Magnolia looked shocked, then realized where they were and quickly tried to cover Luna’s face and ears. “What are you doing! You're going to get caught!” She said fearfully, looking around her like at any moment someone was going to denounce them right then and there in public.

Luna shook her head and removed Magnolia’s hands. She then got rid of the hood and stood tall. “I am a half-elf. And I know exactly what you’ve been through!” She took Magnolia's hand into her own once more.

Luna then tried to vomit her whole life’s story in just ten to fifteen minutes, about how she was treated and all the horrible things she’s been through as quickly as possible in a very abridged fashion. Magnolia could only stare in wide-eyed shock, rooted in place and unable to flee.

After Luna was finished, Magnolia could only stand there trying to process everything she heard and wondering why she heard it.

“Don’t you get it!” Luna said. “We're perfect friends! We can even be like sisters!” Her eyes bored into Magnolia’s. “No one knows what we’ve been through! Not even our friends can understand what it’s like to be us! But I understand… I can help you…”

Luna looked around. “Look around! Anyone who sees us and figures out what we are will only see one thing…” She then gazed back into Magnolia’s eyes. “But we can mean so much more to each other. I can help you also. Help you find actual friends and maybe even a husband! Trust me… I know what it feels like to be in your position…” Her eyes grew in intensity the more she talked.

Magnolia didn’t know what to say. Everything was happening too fast and sudden for her. She felt a little dizzy.

During this time, Van had slowly been steering the two girls towards a water fountain with less traffic, even going so far as to place a sound barrier around the two so that they wouldn’t be overheard. Thankfully he had his hood on and Anna was there to ward off any unwelcome women who tried to get too close.

“Give me a minute, I need to think!” Magnolia said, raising a hand and looking away, trying to process everything she heard and what a good response would be. A few moments passed in pregnant silence until broken by what she said next.

“Look… I get you want a friend but… This… This is too soon for me. I don’t even know you. Please give me some more time.” Magnolia asked, trying to inch away from Luna.

Luna looked heartbroken and let go of Magnolia’s hands.

“I’m sorry… I really am…” Magnolia said. “You are the first person I ever met that… Actually seemed like they wanted to be friends with me but…” Unshed tears began to form on the rim of her eyes. “This… This is too much for me to handle… I… I can’t! I’m sorry…” She turned away from Luna and quickly fled the area.

Van wasted no time in ordering Anna after her. And as Anna left to shadow Magnolia to make sure she would get back to the dorms safely, Van turned to comfort Luna who looked deeply hurt by Magnolia's rejection.

“Hey Lun… you okay?” He asked, placing a hand on the small of her back gently.

Luna sniffled and leaned on him and began to explain her actions. “I… I just wanted a place where no one knew us… A place where even if someone found out we would never have to see them again. I wanted to show her that you would accept us, you and Anna, despite revealing that we are half-elves… That she wasn’t alone and there are others like her… That there are people who would stand up for us…”

She sniffled some more. “I’m sorry… I just don’t know what’s come over me.” now wiping her eyes. “I wasn’t thinking straight… Was I…” Looking like she was already inwardly berating herself for her actions.

“It’s fine Luna…” Van said gently. “I think your words broke through to her… She just needs some time to… Digest it all… I’m sure once she does she would be more than happy to be your friend.”

Luna gave one final sniff. “Really?”

Van gave a loving smile. “Really.” He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “Why don’t we take this opportunity now that we are out to go on a date. Just the two of us. I saw some nice jewelry on the way here that I think you would look beautiful in.”

Luna gave a small smile and nodded. “Okay…” But then looked back towards the direction where Magnolia fled, clearly worried about her.

He then led her away down the busy streets to distract her, his own mind in the clouds about everything that happened and trying to process it, checking up on Anna mentally to make sure everything was okay and telling Luna to help calm her down.

It never occurred to him that there would be someone else like Luna in Alcray. He always thought she was a special exception. But this showed otherwise.

Though he tried to calm Luna down by saying that Magnolia would eventually want to be her friend, he wasn’t so sure inwardly if that would be true. He had no idea what the poor girl had been through, and while it was true what Luna had experienced was horrible. At least she had friends to help make up for it afterward. Magnolia didn’t seem to have a single one…

Who knows what kind of upbringing the poor girl had without anyone to support her…

But what was more concerning to him was… Luna…

She had been acting more and more emotionally lately. He wondered if it was because her parents were so far away, too far to help them should something bad happen. Or the lack of authority figures that could save her should something bad happen. Sure Luna said she was only going to allow her friends to sleep with him from now on. But it was clear that wasn’t much of an improvement from before since she seemed to want everyone to be her friend.

“Could she be feeling threatened? Technically speaking this is a far less accepting and more violent environment than what we are used to… Could this be her way of gaining allies to protect her? Is she doing this on a subconscious level? Or is she being affected by the soul realm on a spiritual one? Maybe… She’s finally experiencing the emotions that she would have if she hadn’t ever turned into a succubus… It could be her body, mind, and soul are finally balancing out, allowing the more insecure Luna from before to pop up once more… It would explain why when she met Magnolia that she acted in such a crazy fashion… I should probably talk to Ren about this next chance I get…”

Van’s thoughts were interrupted when Luna began tugging on his arm to point at a stall that was hastily put up with a human who clearly was not from Alcray running it from behind.

“Van look! Vespera bangles! I had no idea there were stores for them!” Luna said in surprise. “We should take a look!”

Van was also taken by surprise, his interest perking up as he put his thoughts aside to review for later. The couple moved together to look at the many different types of bangles on display as the merchant smiled endearingly at them with all her might.

“Like what you see? I have different bangles from all over the continent! Some even with unique properties! Or are you interested in upgrading your current existing bangles? We also provide an exchange program. Give us your existing bangle and get up to eighty percent off any Vespera of your choice!” The merchant said with a glib smile.

“Oh wow Van! Some of these have spikes!” Luna looked in with interest, peering closer to the many ornate and beautifully made bangles. “Do you think we should upgrade?”

“Hmm…” Van looked closer at the many options available to them, wondering if any were better than what he had. “Can I get a closer look at that one?” He asked, pointing at a very nice Vespera further in.

“Of course! Let me get that for you~” The merchant said cheerfully.

“Oh no you don’t.” A voice said from behind.

Van and Luna turned and to their surprise, found Kiki and Nikki right behind them.

“I knew you two looked familiar,” Kiki said with her arms crossed. “Come on, let’s get out of here before she tricks you into buying anything.” Grabbing Van’s hand while Nikki grabbed Luna’s and began pulling them away.

“Hey! What do you think you're doing to my customers!?” The merchant exclaimed, clearly unhappy about Van and Luna being dragged away.

“Saving them from being scammed,” Kiki said matter-of-factly.

“How dare you! What proof do you have of that!” The merchant shot back angrily.

Kiki rolled her eyes at the merchant. “Oh please. I’m from Malor. I know for a fact that most of those are at least three times more expensive than they should be. And that what these two are wearing is still more valuable than what you're offering and of better quality!”

The merchant scowled. “Well, how else am I going to make money? Bringing all these here wasn’t cheap! Especially when taking into account the tariffs! I also provide an important service in upgrading already existing Vespera! How many people around here do you think can do that!” Looking smug like she won an argument.

Kiki smiled and raised her hand to show off her bangle, revealing a symbol of a star.

The merchant paled. “You're from the Vespera company!”

“Just an associate. I work for another company affiliated with them, but I know enough about Vespera bangles to do my own upgrades and updates.” Now it was Kiki’s turn to smile smugly.

“...Fine! Take them!” The merchant muttered sourly after a while. “Just don’t come back!” Then turned away to readjust her products ignoring the group.

With a triumphant grin, Kiki and Nikkia escorted Van and Luna away. When they were far enough Van stopped them.

“Kiki! Nikki! I can’t believe you two are here!? What are you doing here?” He asked confused but pleasantly surprised.

Kiki and Nikki smiled. “What? Did you think that we would stop at Bright City? Thanks to the connections we made, we were able to get our hands on some tickets to the east. We still have so much to film after all! And our videos are earning a lot of views! So many people are interested in Alcray… And my vampire lover…” Kiki teased seductively, placing a finger on Van’s chest.

Nikki took that chance to sniff Van. “You… Smell like… Cat?” She asked, giving Van a narrow and suspicious look.

Van gave a cough. “Long story…” He said defensively.”

“This is amazing!” Luna exclaimed happily, then proceeded to give the two girls a massive hug. “I’m so glad to see you two here! We should go out together!”

The two girls smiled and returned the hug happily.

After that Luna began to excitedly tell them everything that happened since the last time they parted. Kiki and Nikki took as many notes as possible as they walked the streets and took in the sights. As they were walking and talking and taking notes, they didn’t forget to film their surroundings, explaining that they were planning to do a documentary after they were finished with Alcray and so needed as much footage as possible.

“Wait… You two aren't going to stay here?” Luna asked, dejected when it was explained to her that Kiki and Nikki were going to have to eventually leave.

“Sorry Luna, but we are contracted to at least visit each and every nation at least once for about a week each. And we already spent about more than a month here. The only reason why we haven’t left Alcray yet is because our boss thinks we're doing a great job and helps fund our traveling expenses.”

“Oh…” Luna looked sadly to the floor.

“Hey… It’s not so bad…” Kiki said, trying to cheer Luna up. “We can still have plenty of fun before we leave. Both on the streets…” Then gave Van a side wink. “And in the sheets…”

Van wanted to roll his eyes.

“Okay…” Luna said, then seemed to get some of her pep back, eyes sparkling upward. “Then let's do as much as we can before you leave! And film it all for posterity's sake!”

Kiki and Nikkia laughed. “That’s the spirit!”

Van smiled at that. It was such a nice scene…

Which was sadly ruined when he got an emergency telepathic call from Anna. He was surprised to find she was still in range.

“VAN! Big Trouble! Come to my coordinates!”

Van immediately straightened and stood stiff. It was very rare to hear Anna ask Him for help. So he quickly told Luna what was up and asked Kiki and Nikki to watch over her while he went away.

“What! Why!?” Luna asked, confused and worried about the sudden change that was happening.

“Sorry, Luna. But Anna is in danger.” Van explained.

Luna shook her head. “Then you know that means I’m coming too! Let’s go before something bad happens!”

Van wanted to argue. But then again his wife can hold her own, and he didn’t have the time to waste. So with a nod, he turned and set off in the direction he felt Anna in. Kiki and Nikki, while confused, also began to follow them.

The group rushed through the streets as fast as the crowd would allow. Eventually, they broke through it by going down a few alleyways and streets. But it still took them half an hour until they reached Anna who was doing her best to defend a wounded Magnolia in a dead end.

Van wondered how in the world something like this happened. But he pushed such thoughts off to think about later.

“Hey! Get away from them!” Van yelled at the group of gangsters that had Anna and Magnolia surrounded.

“Huh?” The gang leader turned to look at Van and the others behind him. “Well… Isn’t this a nice surprise…” The leader smiled a crooked grin. “At first we just wanted to sell the hair and ears… Pink hair is such a rare sight, some noble bitch was surely pay big to buy it as a wig. And now I have a new boy toy to break in. But I’ll tell you what… Leave now… And me and my girls won’t have to rough you up.”

Van quickly analyzed the situation in front of him. Anna was strong, but that didn’t mean she was Invincible. There were already about two thugs on the ground not moving around her. With two others clearly wounded but still standing up. But the gang leader had another dozen or so ready to charge, plus herself who looked stronger than her lackeys.

Magnolia looked frightened, but okay, maybe a little injured. She seemed to be doing her best to heal Anna up through a healing spell she conjured while activating a shield spell to protect herself so that Anna could focus on the thugs in front of her.

“I don’t think so…” Van’s eyes narrowed.

The thug leader shrugged. “Suit yourself.” And gave a feral grin. Then with a nod of her head, sent about six thugs Van’s way.

Van casually raised his hand and a swarm of shadow wolves rose from below him, like ghastly monsters made of black fog, they charged the surprised thugs. Screams reverberated as the thugs were used as chew toys. But much to his own surprise, the thugs weren’t easily defeated. For everyone he took down, they killed about three or four of his shadow wolves. And these were upgraded wolves on top of that! He was beginning to think these weren’t any normal thugs… Or if they were, perhaps that just went to show the difference between those from the west and those from the east.

“Not bad boy toy.” The thug leader said. “But we an’t so weak that we can’t deal with some shadows…” The leader then took out a scroll and charged it with magic, unleashing what could only be described as a hell hound of sorts. Three of them, to which they began to demolish the shadow wolves with ease. The other thugs not completely taken down also ingested some potions which healed them right up and began fighting once more, using enhancements to empower themselves.

“Did you think we’d be so weak boy toy? We grew up in the east. There's monsters right under our feet and right outside the walls. Not to mention a single guard here could probably wipe the floor with all of you combined. So did you really think we’d be some pushovers for you to roll over? You should just go back home and get your cock milked like a good little boy toy.” She sneered as she crossed her arms as if she already won.

Van frowned and let the anger flow. His sclera turned black and he turned to Luna who gave a nod and prepared to help fight.

“Oh~ is the little boy toy going to get serious?” The thug leader asked in a babyish voice. “And is that his wittle girlfriend? Seriously! What are the two of you going to do!?” Then began laughing.

Van forced himself to calm down, and with great focus, raised both his arms, channeling even more of his mana until there was a massive rush of shadow wolves pouring out of him like a flood. He had been conjuring shadow wolves in his soul realm for some time. And didn’t stop making them until he reached a hundred. So he felt like he had more than enough to spare, especially for a bitch of a thug that thought she was better than him and had too big of a mouth.

Soon the alleyway began to be filled with shadow wolves and the corpses of his shadow wolves. To which Van turned them into shadow bombs or binding tentacles, another upgrade he added to his wolves so that they wouldn’t simply disappear right away.

Luna began to pelt the thugs with arrows from a distance with unnerving accuracy. Distracting or tripping up the thugs and injuring them greatly. While Kiki and Nikki tried to stay out of the way and film the whole thing. But preparing a few weapons just in case they were needed as backup.

The thug leader wasn’t laughing much anymore. And Anna had recovered enough and was planning a counterattack.

The leader looked from side to side, realizing she had to make a decision soon or the tables would be turned on her. “Alright then… If this is how you want to play… SO BE IT!”