Hours passed, and the sun would soon rise from the horizon.

"Oh, you're finally awake!" Mireille stopped scribbling and closed the book. "Good morning!" She put on a fine sanguine smile and put Moira's belongings back in the small leather bag. 

"H...mm." Moira let out a husky morning voice and brushed off the eye boogers.

"Glad you slept well, but it's a bit early though." Mireille glanced at the gaps in the aged wooden walls. "It's still in the blue hour. I think it's five in the morning."

"Is it?" Moira got up. "Right. It's still dim." She yawned. "Sooo~ tired. I want to sleep longer, but the magic I cast in this cabin will run out soon. So, we shall go." 

She stood up and stretched, relieving the soreness of the muscles from sleeping. However, she moaned "mmm~" for a brief moment that she never intended to. The morning stretch must be satisfying.

That was so out of nowhere, however. Mireille gaped after catching that rather suspicious voice. She sat frozen with a 'what the hell did I just hear?' look plastered all over her face.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Moira peeked on her shoulder and quit stretching. "Is there something in my face? My dress? Is it my messy hair?"

"No no no," Mireille shook her head, trying to slip off the baffled face she made seconds ago. "Good. All good. All is well. Ahem!" She coughed off the rather awkward atmosphere. "So, where shall we go? I'll follow your lead."

Moira wore her leather slippers and opened the aged wooden window. Rusty metal hinges grated an ear-piercing sound. It cringed her off, showing her teeth. She looked back at her fanged friend. "Hey! Why was there no screech when you opened this window? It deafened me!"

"I don't know." Mireille shrugged. "Maybe, that window is sentient. Booo! It's a ghost!"

Moira rolled her eyes and drew a long sigh. "Never mind." She pointed her finger through the window, switching back to the main objective. "We will go to the Municipality of Sanhai. It's far though."

"Wait a minute, I have a question," Mireille inquired. "Do the people there not know about your issue? I mean, it's the church we're talking about. So, their influence must be widespread."

Moira turned her head back. "Okay, listen. I've worked at the capital of this province; Mingo City, Muiuan. From there, I've run through two distant cities." 

Mireille nodded, listening.

"They only knew about my 'sacrilege' deed recently," Moira said. "So, their news spreading to Sanhai should have not yet reached there, but I hope it will not. They rise in power because, you guessed it, holy magic."

"Are you the only one being hunted by them?

"No." Moira shook her head. "There are others, so I'm not the only one." 

Mireille wished to ask more. "Moira," she called. "Why do you want to go to Sanhai?"

"My younger brother." Moira looked through the windows. "Before the magic plagues the world, I visit him whenever I'm on my day off, or you can say, I go home to our ancestral house. I only rent an apartment in Mingo." She grabbed her leather bag and headed outside. "Okay, let's not waste our time here. Let's go." 

However, instead of going out through the doorway, Mireille princess-carried her friend in white and skipped through the window.

"HEY!!!" Moira crinkled her face. "What do you think you're doing, huh?! Put me down!"

"I'll use my speed to get there fast," Mireille said. "You don't like being carried like this?"

"I mean!" Moira clicked her tongue. "I appreciate your willingness, but put me down, okay?!" Her slippers touched the ground. "I can enhance mine for a while, though I'll be much slower than you."

Mireille looked up. "Moira, I just want to say something."

"Go on."

"Why are you so tall?! I'm jealous!" Mireille leveled her line of sight, and it equaled Moira's chin. "Unfair! Let me have some!"

Moira looked down at the short vampire before her. She clenched her lips closed, trying not to let out a single laugh. Her giggle only escaped from her breath.

"Oh? You just realized that?" Her smile became a peal of laughter. "What are you? I'm starting to think you're just a weird girl with fangs! Wahaha!" She stuck her tongue out. "Shortie! Shortie! Shortie! Dwarf! Dwarf! Dwarf! Midget! Midget! Midget! Gahaha!"

Mireille pouted. She was 150 centimeters tall before she got reborn here, and that height remained the same. Her Southeast Asian height cursed her even after reincarnation. 

"Haha! Alright." Moira crossed her arms. "So, how do you carry me?"

"Uhm." Mireille rubbed her chin. "Oh, I remember it." She faced her back to Moira, bent down, and gestured her hands to hop on. "Here. I'll piggyback you. This will be fun!"

"That will do." Moira got on her fanged friend's back to have a ride. "Your body's cold. Are you sure you're alive?" 

"I am, indeed, alive."

———

Deep in the lush forest, a scream reaching the soprano shattered the silence of the morning blue hour. "Wahhh!!! Slow down! This is too fast! I can't take this!!!"

Moira held so tight that her life depended on it. She buried her head on Mireille's nape, her arms gripped around the shoulder blade, and her legs grappled around the waist.

Her skin was getting torn off from the drag force of the wind, but when she observed the one who piggybacked her, she did not notice a slight disruption on the skin. From her perspective, the wind was blowing at 350 kilometers per hour.

One single slip and the great momentum would cost her life. However, that would be less likely to happen as she was held safe and tight by her vampire friend.

"Hey! Slow down! Listen to me! Seriously! It's hurting my skin!" Moira raised her voice so high that she cracked hers. "It's NOT fun, Mireille!"

She peeked ahead, and the figure of a massive boulder zoomed in at an unnerving speed. Her soul jumped out of fright. "Watch out!!!" Her veins popped from screaming.

"Wahhh!!!" She gripped tighter and ducked for a cover. A loud boom jolted her off and pieces of stone bits rained on her face. "Phphf! Pfwe!" She spitted out the scraps that stuck on her red cherry lips. 

"What are you doing?!!!" Moira hurt her throat, causing her voice to get hoarse. 

"I punched the boulder." Mireille was so calm that it did not concern her. "I thought I couldn't, but it turned out I could. Also, I'm not wearing slippers."

"You–! Don't be so reckless!!! Oh my gosh!!! Are you trying to kill me?! If I were your mother, I'd really whack you with slippers!!!"

Mireille wheezed.

"You jest!" Moira pouted. "Mireille, listen." However, a silence fell when she deepened her voice. She had an assertive and solemn tone that she would erupt for real if her patience ran out.

Mireille liked to fool around, but she held back her speed to a comfortable ride. Even if she possessed such power as vampires should have, a heavy aura seeping out from Moira put her in place. 

She was not as prideful as most vampires depicted, but she felt inferior that the human riding on her back was greater than her, at least when Moira deepened her voice to listen up.

Or was it because she did not know her full capabilities well, which made her lose how she should place herself? She believed that if one had blurry pictures of themselves, they had low confidence to stand up against the walls higher than them.

"Sorry." Mireille halted on her bare feet. She bowed and faced the grassy field.

"Why are you saying sorry to me? We're fine!" Moira cooled down her tone and giggled. "Don't be so serious! Haha! Oh my gosh~ you!"

"Do you find me annoying?" Mireille asked.

"Hmm, well." Moira peered from behind, trying to get in the peripheral sight of her red-eyed silly friend. "To be honest, it was kind of annoying, only because of this daredevil stunt of yours."

"However!" She pinched the vampire's cold pointy ear and put on a darkened smile that suppressed her anger. "What if you couldn't pulverize that huge boulder, what do you think will happen to us, hmm?!" She squeezed the ear even tighter and raised it higher. "I've exhausted my magical energy from using revival magic, do you want us to die, hmm?!"

"Aaa–aah! I won't do agai–ahh!" Breaking the house-sized boulder into pieces was not a problem, but Mireille cried when Moira twisted her ear. "Moira, huu!" She sobbed and was forced to put down her friend, quitting the piggyback. "That hurt! You almost tore my right ear off! Huehuehue!"

"I scolded you for the first time, yet you put me down so calmly," Moira said. "Why do you think I did that to you?" She crossed her arms.

"I'm lacking discipline… and awareness." Mireille mellowed. "I got blinded by the excitement."

"Next time, be careful, okay?" Moira said, and her silver-haired friend nodded with an inaudible "hmm".

"Anyway, piggyback is fun, but not that kind of speed, can you do that?"

"Mhm." Mireille bent down. "I'll slow down. I promise."

"Good. Let's go."

It took them around two minutes to arrive at the border of the Municipality of Sanhai. Mireille slowed down her speed to 90 kilometers per hour. It would take them around half a minute to come if she went at full speed instead.

"So, that's Sanhai," Mireille said. "Moira, is your brother handsome?" 

"Why is that the first question you asked?" Moira narrowed her eyes. "Are you planning to seduce my brother? Don't you dare!"

"I'm just kidding!" Mireille laughed. "I won't do such things, you know. I'm not a succubus." 

"But you're a vampire, so you still suck."

"What kind of 'suck'?" Mireille put on a smug.

Moira flicked the pointy ear. "You filthy midget." 

"Ouch!" Mireille flinched down. A second later, a grumble of a stomach grabbed her attention.

"Right. Using too much of my magic makes me hungry." Moira touched her belly. "I wonder if people will have a suspicion of you when we go there."

"Now, you mention it." Mireille leaned on a tree behind her, one leg over the other. "How should I show myself there?" She touched her pointy ears. "Moira, have you met an elf?"

"No. I have yet to read a case about a single one existing all over the world," Moira said. "The national and international news would publish a newspaper when a nonhuman being is spotted. The most recent one is a humanoid beast that resembles a wolf. It's not this country though."

Mireille gaped. "What about me? The vampires?"

"Just like a non-existing elf, I have never read or heard of a blood-sucking demon until I met you."

"Moira, I have questions I'm dying to get answers for." Mireille pointed her hands at her chest. "What are we? You said that magic came here three months ago. Is there a reason why we exist here? You've met succubi. You've met demons. You've met me. Why is that, Moira?"

"I don't know. I can't find the answers to them." Moira pointed her finger up to the sky. "Ask who's above us. He's the one who only knows." She pushed Mireille's shoulder. "Anyway, why did you drop me and stop here? Let's continue!"

"Wait! Let me have a glimpse!" Mireille shouted.

"It will be better if we go there!"

"No! I'm an introvert!"

"Introvert? What is that word, Mireille? Is it magic?"

"No. It's a shy person whose energy is only reserved for their close friends."

"Liar! You're even shameless!"

"No! I'm honest!"

Mireille, with Moira on her back guiding her way, jumped over the dense foliage of bushes. She descended through the steep plain of greenfield and followed a footpath leading to Sanhai. 

She arrived at the road paved with sandy-shaded bricks. As she went deeper into the street, people of different personalities increased in numbers, and so did the fresh morning filled with the buzz of locals. 

She went by the sidewalk. If she got in the way, the horses would break their necks trying to clop over her, and the carriage behind would get destroyed.

"It looked like I went back in time." Mireille slowed her steps. "Amazing!" She gazed at every corner.

The architecture and culture resembled the Philippines during the Spanish era. Beige pillars and walls stood high, casement windows fanned out, and maroon roofs lay above.

With locals around her, observing them doing business, she felt similar spirits emanating from them. A few gazes started to notice her mystical appearance.

But why was it that, even in different timelines and worlds, she went back home with her fellow countrymen? 

"What do you mean by that?" Moira tilted her head, peeking at Mireille's peripheral sight. "You made me curious about you even more."

"No, no, no! It's just deja vu from my dream. Teehee!" Mireille giggled and covered her mouth. However, her spirited mood cooled down when she saw a bloodied man being assisted on the sidewalk.

Crowds switched their attention to the bloodied man and murmurs started to erupt.

"Moira, we just got in and there's already news here."

"Mireille, put me down," Moira whispered. "Cover your mouth and act like you're my mute and shy friend."

"That's… a bit hard," Mireille said. "Being not able to talk." She braced herself with a long breath. "Alright, I'll show how good I am at acting like a mute girl."

The man in gray tattered clothes stained in crimson blood hissed from his eaten left arm and a deep wound on his left thigh. Bandages tied his severed limbs. Along with the two men carrying him by the shoulders, his eyes squinted when a mystical girl in black with long silver hair stole his attention.

"Why are they here?!" He screamed. He couldn't point with both hands, so he opted for telling his direction with his gritting face.

He looked deeper and a pair of scarlet eyes avoided his gaze. The girl then hid behind the woman in her company. However, in a short moment, he had a brief familiarity with that woman in white.

"She looked like that monster who almost killed me! They looked the same!" His voice resounded all over the street, making the crowd fix their eyes on the girl he was looking at. 

"Tito, we'll get you to the nearest hospital!" one of the men in rugged clothes yelled. "Hold tight, Tito! We're almost there!"

The bloodied man clicked his tongue. "If only the priests were here." He glanced at the silver-haired girl one more time for a better look. "I don't believe that lass acting so innocently. Mark my word, that girl is using that woman to blend with us."

"Tito, I don't think she looked like the one who attacked you. She's shorter than that thing," the other men said. "Her red eyes looked creepy, yet cute."

"Goddamnit, bro?! What the hell are you?!"

"I don't give a shit about your fantasies, you monkey-ass brat!" The bloodied man shouted. "I'm dying here! Hurry up! My whole ass body is trembling right now!" He cursed. "Fuck! Just how much did that monster eat my limbs?!"

However, his eyes widened in surprise. "Hold on, Moira?! Is that you?!" That familiarity with the woman in white was true after all. "How could I not recognize you?! Why did you cut your hair?! How have you been?! It's been a long time!"

Moira had conversations with the locals, but the most talked about subject was the mystic girl hiding in her arms. All she said was to take home this 'mute' silver elf girl. The locals were, of course, shocked by the existence of a first-ever 'elf' in the flesh.

"Oh?" Moira politely cut off the people and switched her eyes to the bloodied man. "I'm doing fine!" She waved goodbye to the locals who had chats with her. "Okay~ We'll be off now. This girl is afraid of people. She wanted to go home."

"Wait," the bloodied man said. "Moira, just so you know I'm not here to get back with you, but that girl." He used his eyes to point down.

"Are you sure about that? Her red eyes tell me that she is. She really looks like the one who attacked us while traveling. Good thing we have people with magic and holy magic on our side. Too bad, their energy had run out to even heal me and finish that monster off."

"Matthew, I'm impressed with how you can speak so clearly despite that perilous situation of yours," Moira praised. 

"Hmph!" Even with a little strength, the bloodied man lifted his chin. "Like I said to you, I'm a strong man! Anyway, seeing you once again after all those years, you're still beautiful, but eh, life happens, you know?"

"Huh?! Tito?! Have you had a girlfriend before?! I thought you're a 22-year-old virgin!"

"Shut up, you fuckers!"

"Hey you, the two of you, get this fool out of my face. He's embarrassing me." Moira swept the air away with her hands. "Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! You loser Mat-Mat! I hope your doctor will break your bones and get robbed off!" She stuck her tongue out.

"You're still the same as ever, eh?"

Moira turned away, never looked back, and grabbed her vampire friend's hand. "Let's head home, Mireille."

"Mhm."