<Ava's POV>

"You don't understand."

How much I hate this one thing people say is simply incredible. Vesper does too, maybe even more than me.

I recall many times when I heard that, but three are most vivid in my mind.

First was when I wanted to study Chaos with a personal teacher, one I had in mind that was Touched. That was what my father rebuffed me with, and proceeded to a tirade that there's no point doing that, I shouldn't waste my time over it, and instead focus on something productive.

Second was a bit after my parents got to know I and Vesper were a thing and they dragged me to a talk about family and relationships, mainly about my role and my duty in them. Those were the words I heard when I tried to tell them I think otherwise.

And the third was not very long ago, when I told my parents I intend to work in GCM. In hindsight, that was the one where I might have been wrong, and yet it doesn't change the fact that they were not right. When my mother tried to explain me what I should do as a proper lady, that is. I'm Vesper's girlfriend, not some proper lady, and most certainly not theirs.

Thinking about it now, funny that all three came from my parents...

Interestingly enough, Vesper heard none of those three. But she was the person who calmed me down after each of them, so she knows those words very well.

Now hearing them... I don't think she would get so pissed over those words alone, but I guess she was already on the edge after my father's words. Not like I don't agree with her and understand her emotions, because that furball can be volatile at times and I know what sets her off.

So I look in worry as Vesper dashes forward, and I can't help the tightness in my chest at the thought of who we are facing now. Vesper never lost to any ordinary human in a fight since I got to know her, but Touched are completely another matter.

I don't know if Vesper will be able to beat that woman, but her attitude... or lack thereof, makes me worried. We have no idea what powers she has, and I refuse to believe she is not a Touched. Harvin might be as well.

Damn, I can't just sit there doing nothing. I have my flames, but I've no idea how helpful they will be against either of those guys. Should I attack the woman? Shit.

I dash forward after Vesper, still unsure what I should do, but at least I can't leave her without help. I see as she steers to the left and attempts to run past the woman, but she extends her arms with black tendrils appearing to extend from her wide sleeves.

Shit, she's going to catch Vesper this way... or not, I can burn that!

I whip my arm forward and concentrate on pushing my vitality as powerfully as I can through it, and a moment later a cone of scarlet flames bursts out of my hand. Aimed at the woman's right side, so the one her tentacles are coming from.

I see as her eyes turn to me briefly and she starts quickly spinning a few tentacles in front of her... which are probably supposed to blow away my flames, but the moment they come close, the woman suddenly pulls her tentacles back and quickly retreats. Still with the same, unsettling dead face.

Did she realize that my flames aren't physical? Or did she retreat for safety? Does she know how powerful they are? Should I continue attacking?

Aaaah damn it! I'm not cut out for fighting! At all!

I can manage assets, I can talk with people, I can live in this society, but that's because I have time to think. Not like here.

I look to the side and see as Vesper rushes past the woman, and is followed a moment later by another set of tendrils coiling in pursuit. All this time with the woman maintaining this dead, expressionless face. Uuueh. She's creepy.

And then her head explodes, spraying gore to the side in a massive bloody ring.

...Huh?

I blink in surprise and stare in shock as the rest of her body slowly falls forward, exposing the torn apart neck for me to see, and lands on the ground with a thud, accompanied by wet splatters from the rest of the head falling down. Blergh, yuck. This shit is disgusting. Her body is literally a black mess of writhing tentacles.

Did Vesper... no, that's impossible... oh, someone's standing in front of Vesper and holding Harvin by his neck.

It's a gorgeous woman, actually. Wait, holy shit! When the hell did she get there!?

I'm pretty damn sure no one was there last time I looked, and I didn't notice anyone approaching. Was it her who killed that woman? That would be only logical... and that would mean she's awfully powerful. Higher end of Class 3, at least... or maybe Class 4? I don't know their faces though, and I've no idea what one would be doing here.

I slow down and stop by Vesper's side, who, now that I look at her, is gaping at the new arrival with open mouth, ears raised probably the highest I've seen them, and strange expression between awe, shock, and hunger. Hunger...

Holy shit! "Vesper!" I hiss next to her ear and she flinches, then looks at me in confusion, which turns to realization a moment later. And then embarrassment, and then excitement.

"Ava, listen!" She whispers excitedly. "This is a Mythical! I'm sure of it! Her orb looks different! And it's massive! At least three times wider than mine!"

"Do- wow. Don't get overexcited, furball. You don't know if she is an ally." I tell her, pushing away the amazement her words bring, and finally look at the woman properly as she is holding the terrified, choking man with a thoughtful expression.

She has, how do I put it... dangerous beauty. She gives the impression of a warrior at first glance, but doesn't have the rough skin or bulging muscles that would usually come with it. Instead she has fair, pale skin, lean build, and long, dark blue hair. Her sharp face is a bit similar to Vesper's in the way that it's beautiful, but doesn't try to appear this way, with kinda dishelved hair and at first glance completely without make up.

What catches attention instead is a pair of massive segmented horns on the sides of her head, growing down the sides of her jaw under her ears.

A dragon. Holy shit, it's that new Draco, isn't it?

I don't see wings or tail, but I heard it's not rare for Demi to be able to retract them. Horns though are a fundamental asset of a dragon, and there's no mistaking the fact she has horns. Apart from that though she... isn't very impressive.

Her casual shirt hangs on her loosely, short blue jeans hug her thighs snugly, she is barefoot, and... that's all basically. I would have never thought she is a Mythical if I was judging only by her looks.

"I'll need to learn to control my strength better." I hear a sigh from the woman and focus on her, alert, as she drops the immoving man to the ground and turns her head to us. Not sure if he's dead. Furball would know, but it's not time to be asking that.

"You are Ava and Vesper?" She asks casually, in an energetic voice, as she steps closer.

"That question is getting repetitive." Vesper mutters in a slightly annoyed voice. "But yes, we are Ava and Vesper."

"Alright, nice to meet you then." The woman grins happily. "I'm Syrya. You might have heard of me as the youngest Mythical dragon."

"...We've heard of you." My girlfriend confirms with a nod. "That doesn't give me any idea as to why you're here." Ooof.

After that response I get to enjoy the view of a dumbstruck Mythical, the only one I've ever met, who has no idea how to reply and instead opens her mouth and closes it without a sound. That a definite good thing about being Vesper's girlfriend.

"Hrm." She finally harrumphs. "That, uh, is actually something I should talk about. Yeah." She rubs her forehead and looks at us again, regaining a smile. "So basically I want you to come with me. For various reasons, but nothing like that idiot. Imma explain in a moment, just please be patient cause I'm bad with those things."

"Well, already sounds better than that idiot." I comment in dry voice.

I and Vesper, and especially her, have the mindset that even if someone is helping us, if they don't give a good enough reason or motive, we prefer to cut them off and do things on our own. Even if we would end up doing much worse because of that. Some might say it's stupid, but I really like honest people much more and I would rather do what I like than what someone tells me to in better conditions.

"Yes, well, I can't really disagree." Syrya nods, rubbing her nose. "So I heard of you yesterday, because I was visiting White Crow, or, uh, more like I went for a meeting I couldn't delay any further, and I heard them talking about you two. I didn't really get any details, but the gist was that they were planning how to approach you."

"So they already knew." I mutter with scrunched eyebrows. "I thought it was organized action, but I didn't have any confirmation."

"Yes, it was organized." The dragon nods her head. "They supposedly treated you as a high priority target, something about your abilities, but when I asked, they said they can't share that information for your safety. All this while saying they can't let you fall into other's hands. So, uh, I... got interested, let's say..." Her voice trails off as she rubs her nose again in what I realize is embarrassment. Interesting, interesting.

"That sounds like a particularly possessive girlfriend with murderous protective tendencies." Vesper comments and I snort in amusement, unable to stop myself, while Syrya blinks in surprise and blushes.

Holy fuck, a blushing Mythical. Never thought I'd live to see that. Wait...

"That's not you, just in case." My girlfriend adds helpfully, then grins, and I barely stop myself from slapping my hand to my forehead, instead opting to rub it exasperation. That little furball is... disastrous. I love her for that, but there are times when that's not very helpful. Actually no, it's not helpful in most cases.

Syrya meanwhile seems to be re-enacting her coherent thought sequence and is right now standing sideways to us and holding her face in her hands, which have claws similar to ours now that I take a look, with a huge blush visible on her ears and profile.

"Please ignore that." I tell her in place of grinning Vesper and give my girlfriend a look she takes with a twinkle in her eyes. Chaos damn. Insufferable. "Could we get back to how you found out about us?"

"Yes, let's do that." The Mythical mutters and shakes her head, then starts speaking... with another smile. Wow. She's good at that. "So basically I was from the very beginning sceptical of White Crows, and didn't get into any agreements or anything, and after getting out of that meeting I asked around the Eye a bit and got to know where you live. I sat the night and morning out flying and walking around, and I saw how that man started following you. Aaand I intervened when he tried to sedate you." Syrya finishes and smiles apologetically. "I know I probably shouldn't have... well stalked you, and I don't really have an excuse for that."

"It certainly doesn't make me happy, but I get why you did it." Vesper nods with a thoughtful expression. "And the reason you want us to come with you are White Crows, I assume? Or is there something more to it?"

"Well, White Crows are the main reason, but I also want more capable people in my place." Syrya says and tilts her head. "Actually, I should probably tell you about my work. I am a branch manager in... an organization, let's say. I was Touched two weeks ago actually, so I'm pretty new to all that stuff, and I'm right now in that weird territory where I have the power of the manager without actually being one. Ah, but I'm starting to ramble. Sorry, I lack a person to rant to and sometimes end up using random people for that. Anyway, we search for unusual jobs and let our members do them for appropriate pay. We're something like a guild you'd find in some stories."

"Alright, sounds interesting." Vesper nods, and I definitely agree with that. At first glance much better than anything Harvin was offering. "What do you want us to do? Take those jobs?"

"Basically, yes. If you find something you wanna do. You can also stay in the dorms. Every permanent member receives their own room, and all other members can rent one. You wouldn't have problems with money either way, as I understand?"

"Probably not." I reply, glancing at Vesper.

"Yeah. Also, please don't worry about your powers. Untouched usually act out of fear. There should be no Touched that would do anything to you if they learned of your powers, and if any try, I'll set them straight." Syrya grins, lokking down at Harvin. "Like that bastard." She stomps down and splatters his skull on the ground.