Chapter 23 - happy days for her.

Author's note

[

Two things: I am trying to make the dialogue better, trying to give it more personality and emotions. I would appreciate it if you guys gave feedback about it.

Second thing, I have the context of what iam writing in my head, but I might forget to add such context to the written story, so some things might seem out of place or without context or seem to have no connection to the chapter, if you find any such examples make sure to tell me so I can fix them, for me it's hard to discern if I put or didn't put context for it, there is a fine line between well described scenes and info dumps, I might cross the line a few times as I am distracted, but if you spot any error or opportunity to improve it I would appreciate if you point that out.

Third extra thing:

Whoops, I ended up making it 7k words long, again. >.>

]

 

Today was a happy day for Inanis.

 

On her first day with the hotel open she managed to get 5 whole guests, every one of them was a poor soul that needed shelter and protection, which was the target customers for the hotel, except for the couple as they were warriors that defended earth from danger on a daily basis.

 

But she was happy anyways.

 

And all of those clients arrived in the morning, and something made her even happier; The Young man who obviously was a vampire exited the hotel and returned three hours later accompanied by four more people, all were young men and women.

 

This new group dressed almost identically to each other, all black or dark gray and with their faces obscured by a hoodie. Not that it could hide anything from Inanis.

 

It was obvious from the way they stayed closer to each other that the young man from earlier and one of the women were in some type of relationship, there were also two girls who clearly showed to others that they also were in some relationship and there was the last man who was close to the young man, probably just a friend.

 

The group shyly came closer to Inanis on the counter and the young man from earlier spoke as a representative of the group.

 

“Uumm, hello… By any chance, would you please offer my friends the same deal you offered me? To get them a room?”

 

Inanis raised an eyebrow and the group could feel it despite not being able to see it. She then made a question the young man should have asked to himself.

 

“What's the problem with the room I gave you? It has plenty of space, four bedrooms to be exact. I can even reform and add more rooms to your room; At the cost of more “rent” that is”

 

The young man was surprised and delighted to hear that. So he had to confirm.

 

“Can we really share a room?!”

 

Inanis answered with “Yes, I can even extend your stay by a month in exchange for 200 ml of blood from one of your friends! I am working on something and it would need the blood of different beings, it's nothing bad or evil if you were wondering. But before you offer to give a liter of blood outright, I will warn you that I will only accept 200 ml per person per month”

 

The young vampire asked in confusion and still being somewhat fearful

 

“But, won't they also need a key for the room? Sorry to ask but you have a copy?”

 

Inanis spoke in her usual warm voice and was looking at the group like they were cute small children asking cutely dumb questions.

 

“The key is just for show, you don't need it to open the door at all, and before you start worrying about security, only those you gave permission can enter your room, you just have to open the door as if it was unlocked and it is going to open normally, even if you “locked” it with the keys, you can try it once you go there. And speaking of going there, do any of you wish to sell your blood like I suggested?”

 

The young vampire looked at his group and each of them nodded to him before each of them said “I accept to trade my blood for a month’s stay”.

 

Inanis only said “okey” while all smug before she put bottles on top of the counter and just like it did to the young vampire, they started to fill themselves with blood, one bottles for each person, except the young vampire. Once the bottles were filled with 200 ml they stopped and Inanis put a cork and label on each of them before disappearing with them behind the counter.

 

The group was waiting for something and Inanis seemed to catch onto it, she warned them to follow the hotel rules like she did with the young man. She used the tone of a mother educating their children, and it seems like she does that unconsciously as she essentially views them as little children.

 

“I already warned this young one” she pointed at the young man who was the group leader and continued “But I will also warn you all who weren't present. this hotel has simple rules, they resume down to being respectful and have basic education, so it's easy to follow them, but one of the most notable rules is to not devour or eat other guests or possible guests without their clear and unadulterated consent, by breaking this rule you will be at best banned from the hotel for a few months or permanently depending on the severity of your actions and at worst you will be punished by me depending on the severity of your actions, and you don't want that”

 

Despite Inanis not flaunting her strength, her level of power or existence, or clearly specifying what the punishment would be, the group of young adults could clearly feel both a chill on their souls and could instinctively feel that whatever she meant as “punishment” would be worse than death; all members of the group had superhuman instincts, specially the two girls who were a couple.

 

But just like Inanis suddenly scolded them she suddenly returned to her usual warm motherly tone and said “You can go, the dining hall is easy to find and we will have whatever you ask, that is as long I saw it at least once” Inanis looked at the girl couple and asked “By any chance are you two on a raw meat diet? We have a variety of meats available”, to which the couple shook their heads in denial, but they didn't make clear if they did so in fear, shyness or honesty.

 

Inanis only said “Well, if any of you have any food request you can just say it to me, i will be here and at room 1 most of the time”

 

Inanis made a small pause and continued with a joking tone.

 

“One last thing! Your bedrooms can be locked and you can choose who can unlock them, and they are anti-spying just like the entire designated room is” before jokingly winking to the group, the group immediately forgot their previous fears and the couples blushed making the lone man only look at the young man and his girlfriend with a sharp gaze. It looks like he is the brother of the young vampire's girlfriend, classical.

 

“Go take a look there, I just changed the dining hall’s food for lunch!”

 

The young ones quickly skedaddled towards the dining hall and left the smiling Inanis alone.

 

.

.

.

 

And just like that, the day quickly passed with guests entering and leaving the hotel, going about their business. Inanis even put a computer at the reception counter to register the guests and to pass the time, nothing fancy or too eye catching.

 

And after the first day, the second obviously came about.

 

Inanis didn't close the hotel to sleep or anything like that, she just stayed at the reception counter and room 1, but on the second day Inanis was sitting on a table in the dining hall while drinking some coffee when Raven entered the dining hall with her usual purple cloak, she took a considerable amount of food and warm milk before sitting right in front of Inanis.

 

They stayed in silence for a few moments while they drank and ate, but Inanis broke the silence rather out of nowhere.

 

“By any chance do you have identification documents?”

 

“No, i am not from around here”

 

“I can arrange some for you, do you have a guardian or parents we can reference?”

 

Raven was having complicated emotions upon hearing that question, but she did her best to not let it show or to let it cloud her mind and simply answered “No”.

 

“I can see that you are hurt, but I can also see that it is fixable, and even you yourself can fix it, you have plenty of time”

 

Raven was a little depressed but as soon she started eating again her mood started to rise to a neutral one, she even was a little happy because of the delicious food.

 

“Do you want the documents? You just need to say it and we can go to the place order them, they will probably be done in a week or two”

 

“When can we go there?” Raven asked.

 

“We can go there in the middle of the day, or just before midnight”

 

“Why those specific times?”

 

“The “identity merchant” will obviously be there in the middle of the day, and before midnight because it's cooler, you obviously need to make shady business at midnight in an underground dimly lit room, and you also need to make a cool entrance like teleporting behind the other party or appearing from the shadows”

 

Raven lacked knowledge in such departments and the only thing she knew, she got from some books that were just like Inanis described so she chose the midnight option as a form of basic education towards the Identity merchant.

 

“Lets go before midnight, it's more polite that way”

 

Inanis only smiled and said “If you say so” before she suddenly changed the subject after some more silence.

 

“What do you think of the guests at the hotel?”

 

Raven only shrugged and answered with “I been here only for a day, the only things I noticed was that the monk couple likes to stare at everyone and everything,  Bruce is just a old man, and the group of 5 that arrived last…I noticed that the two muscular girls like to eat a lot of meat and the other 3 like to drink that red juice and eat little to no food, except for the monk couple who seems rather tense all the time, the rest seems to like the hotel a lot”

 

She thought Inanis was asking for a report on the guests, so she gave one.

 

Inanis asked “What do you think of the hotel? Is it to your liking?”

 

Raven smiled and spoke with a mouth full of food.

 

“Best place i have seen till today!”

 

And after that they talked some more about nice things like the PC games or the books Raven bought and brought to the hotel yesterday, they talked until the other guests arrived, the first were the “monk couple” as Raven put it, the second was Bruce and the third were the muscular girls couple, all of them sat by the same table while giving others some space.

 

Inanis talked some more and the subject of her daughter obviously came about, the TAO’ apprentices obviously were alarmed to know that there were more of Inanis around and were specially alarmed because the other party was her immediate descendent, and that meant a lot of things. 

 

They immediately asked Inanis about it while trying to be respectfu and mindful of their wordsl.

 

The woman from the couple asked “Ms. Inanis, your daughter… is she… like you? Or is she more like… your wife?”

 

Inanis said “She got quite a few things from her mother but she still ended being my daughter, so she got a few other things from me, like a few of my abilities for example, but as I had her while very young, she only got the abilities I had at that time”

 

The woman inquired further “Is she coming here? Is she here already?”

 

Inanis answered in her warm tone with “She is far away, and I don't plan to bring her here for the time being.”

She then took more of a prideful tone while speaking of her wife and daughter.

 

“I don't want to brag or anything but to bring you some peace of mind let me tell you something, my wife was considered a literal Saint by basically every kingdom and empire where we lived, and our daughter got her kind nature from her mother while she got my interest in magic and artefacts” She was definitely bragging.

 

One of the young muscular girls asked with curiosity “Saint? Like the holy kind? Where you receive a title and is knowledge as a holy figure?

 

Inanis responded all too happy but still with a warm and calm voice “Yes, my family received quite a few titles during our lives, me and my daughter have one or two ourselves, my daughter even got her Archmage title before 75! can you believe it!?”

 

While Inais was all smug about that, the guest were ignorant to what a Archimage is, the ignorant one only thought was a cool mage title, only the Apprentices couple had some understanding of what it meant, so they asked “Ms.Inanis, are you a Archimage?”

 

Inanis took more of a humble tone and said “Not exactly, but I was the one who taught magic to my daughter, well, she went to Schools and universities, but I taught almost everything she knows about magic, my wife taught her light and “holy” magic while I taught her the basics and some other stuff”, the apprentices couple only made notes silently on a notepad they always have with them.

 

Inanis sighed deeply and said “They grow up so fast, i remember the time she used to charge at orcs with nothing but the light construct of a sword almost twice her height, but now, she would just obliterate it with a simple spell, kids these days don't appreciate the art of getting your hands dirty”

 

The other muscular girl asked to fill her curiosity “You aren't a Archimage? Then what title you have?

 

Inanis said dismissively “It's the same as Archimage, but with “Grand” in front of it, just your average joe, or your average Inanis on this case”

 

Bruce who was eating some baked pastries asked Inanis a simply question, but the answer wasn't normal, contrary to the tone Inanis used was suggesting.

 

“Your daughter, how old is she? You said you had her when you were younger, but I don't trust your definition of “young” “

 

“I had her when I was around 122, sooo, she is is around 997 years old today, I don't remember exactly because she grew up so fast”

 

Bruce said “Riiight” unsure of himself, and Inanis spoke as if defending herself from a unspoken accusation.

 

“Well, the equivalent on here would be a young adult, or around 22 years old, where we lived the humans simply lived longer, the average lifespan there was 53 thousands years, it had its downsides but it also had its good points”

 

The apprentices couple wasn't dozing off and quickly noted down what they were discovering there.

 

A question popped inside Bruce’s head, and it might not be what you were thinking, or it might, who knows? He asked it anyways.

 

“Did you expect me to believe you only had one wife during your life? I bet it was common to have multiple wifes or husbands in whatever fairyland you lived, likely at the same time too”

 

Immediately after Bruce said that something strange happened, everyone could feel as if the air became denser and suffocating, their minds seemed to be playing some tricks on them as they started smelling something akin to fire in the air, they started to feel a strong taste of something similar to blood in their mouths and a strange static sound was playing in their ears, but after a second of confusion all of the guests noticed from were such illusions were originating, it was Inanis.

 

Their minds seemingly playing tricks on them again as they could swear that they saw cracks appear in midair as if reality itself was breaking like glass, and with those illusions the realization dawned on them, the things they were feeling were pure anger, rage, wrath, it was Inanis rage that was almost visible to the naked eye, but it seemed to be contained and restrained by something.

 

Inanis was indeed furious, but she even more offended than furious, she was offended that someone suggested that she would have a partner other than her wife, and was specifically offended by the suggestion that she would cheat on her wife.

 

The “something” that was holding Inanis back from literally tearing Bruce's very existence piece by piece with her own hands was… her personality, I know, it sounds contradictory and confusing.

 

It's the nature of Inanis’s kind to be chaotic, which was the cause for the unnatural level of anger she displayed, but her personality and morals are what is stopping her from enslaving or eating entire worlds. And the levels of anger Inanis displayed are barely a speck in comparison with the average for her kind, which is the reason that the guests didn't immediately got shred to atoms on a spiritual level from her anger alone.

 

But as quickly she was to anger, she was as quick to calm down, she calmed down mainly because Bruce was essentially a child with 5% her age, and because she knew he was ignorant to the culture she lived with, he was ignorant to her story outside of a few very resumed events and because he couldn't possibly know who she truly is as they met less than a month or two ago, so she made sure to clarify the truth to him.

 

As she calmed down the manifestations of anger the guests were feeling started to disappear along the cracks in reality to the relief of the apprentice couple who were thinking that they were going to die or worse, they were professionals so they made sure to note down that Inanis takes things related to her wife very seriously. The apprentice couple were the only ones who have any idea of rhe danger they just faced, the rest was oblivious to the danger, they only thought that Inanis got angry but calmed down quickly.

 

Inanis who at this point wasn't showing any hint of anger started her explanation in her usual calm and warm tone.

 

“Actually it's the opposite! it is very common there that a person finds someone they love and spend their entire life with that single person, at most someone would date another person, see that thing will not work out and proceed to find another person they love, date to then marry them if things work out”

 

“Before you ask, I already told Bruce but I will say it again, me and my wife met when we were very very young and quickly became friends, from friends we quickly started dating each other, after a few years of dating we got married, after some time married we had our only daughter, and both me and my wife only had one partner during our lives(each other), but unfortunately, my wife got a rather peculiar disease quite recently, her disease brought her here and I came here to check on her condition”

 

Raven asked “Not a single person there has more than one partner in their life?”

 

Inanis answered calmly.

 

“There are some who have more than one partner yes, some even have more than one at the same time, but most of those people are in a nation further west, there is a kingdom who believes in a goddess of sex and love or something similar on that area, but outside of that kingdom, it's mostly like what I explained earlier”

 

Raven again innocently asked out of curiosity “Since you started dating “young” I assume your daughter did the same?”

 

Inanis smiled warmly and said “Not exactly. She started dating somewhat late in comparison to me, my daughter and her wife met when one of our friends introduced his disciple to me and my wife and just like us, our daughter and the disciple quickly became friends, but it was clear that they were made for each other, and soon after becoming friends, they started dating”

 

The two girls who were a couple were listening attently and were periodically giving glances filled with emotions and meanings to each other. But Inanis continued as if oblivious to the emotions flying in the air.

 

“And not much later, they married, but they still didn't gave me a grandchild to this day! And whenever something even close to the subject is brought up they become redder than blood, hahaha, both still are just kids after all”

 

One of the muscular girls asked what they been thinking this whole time, the question that was trying to force through their lips finally managed to do so.

 

“You mentioned your daughter having children, but aren't she and her wife both women? And how did you have your daughter? Aren't you and your wife also women?”

 

Inanis said “Ah” in realization as she sees this kind of thing as common knowledge before she said “I thought it was obvious but the place we lived had quite the abundance of magic you see, there were a few methods to make a woman have children with other women, you could use curses, advanced shape shifting, potions, you could just turn one of them into a man partially or fully, among others means”

 

Inanis continued as if what she was saying was nothing important “But we didn't use any of that, we didn't need to because I am not exactly female”

 

Except for the apprentice couple who already suspected as such, the rest were somewhat surprised as Inanis never hinted at that kind of thing before that moment, Bruce was the first aak a question with a incredulous face.

 

“You are a man?!”

 

Inais was rather amused by the question but chose to clarify it anyways.

 

“No?”

 

“?????” Is what was inside the heads of those who were surprised by this revelation.

 

Inanis could see why they thought that, so she explained while using a somewhat amused tone.

 

“You see, my kind is beyond something like sex or genders, if one of us have a sex, it is mostly because of preferences or some other silly reason”

 

“Learning shape shifting on such advanced level is to us what is to a human to learn the multiplication table from one through ten, but it's common for us to learn such skills from our parents, however, I am not in contact with mine or have been”

 

“so I am not exactly neither sexes as I am both a woman and a man at the same time, but with mostly female traits as you can see, I chose to be like this for personal reasons, and my daughter is the same, but where we lived, this kind of thing wasn't relevant at all”

 

The male apprentice didn't miss the part about her parents and quickly took down some notes and asked “Can you explain a little better what you meant when you said you don't have contact with your parents?”

 

TAO and her apprentices got a small glimpse of what Inanis is, and they knew she had to be the spawn/child of a being who was likely stronger than Inanis herself and could possibly be dangerous and have unknown goals.

 

Inanis was very aware that the apprentices couple were here to report back to TAO, but both did she not mind it and she thought that whatever she said until this point is worthless information, but Inanis was kind of underestimating the seriousness the TAO group put into defending earth and this realm, so whatever they could find out about Inanis was greatly sought out by them.

 

So under the intense gaze from the apprentice couple Inanis answered as if it was the most unimportant thing in the world.

 

“I literally meant that I have no contact with whoever brought me to that world, one day I suddenly found myself there, alone and naked, and whoever that is my “parent”, never contacted me or showed up, so I don't even know them”

 

The couple took some more notes and one of the muscular girls asked while oblivious to the implications of Inanis answers.

 

“You said that for your “kind” such shapeshifting is common, is this your true appearance?”

 

“The answer to that question would be a half “yes”. I shrunk myself a bit and changed my skin color along another details, but I look basically the same as my “original” appearance, I only changed a few things to look more human and natural”

 

The same girl asked another question.

 

“What do you truly look like? Do you have a tail? Do you have horns?”

 

“Well, I look almost the same as I look like now, but I have pure black skin, a pure white hair and I am quite taller than a normal human, I shrunk down to be somewhat shorter than my wife was, but I don't have any wings, tails, or horns, I could, but I don't see why I should”

 

The girl was dying to know how she truly looked, and a simple description wouldn't suffice, she needed to see for herself.

 

“Can you show us?”

 

“Yes, it's no problem”

 

Inanis then started to slowly grow in stature and her skin started to darken while her hair started to get more white with her clothes changing to match her size. While in her transformed form she was already taller than all of those present here, but now she simply towered over them.

 

The girl said in response to that “Well, your face still the same so it's kind of easy to still recognize that it's you”

 

Inanis chuckled before she said “While that is true, I think you have a misconception there”

 

The girl asked, confused, “What do you mean?”

 

Inanis questioned, rather amused “My face, what does it look like?”

 

The girl answered 100% sure of her answer “Everyone can see what it looks like, sharp eyes, small defined nose, puffy lips, and defined jawline”

 

The apprentice couple were the first to notice something.

 

Bruce explained in confusion “What are you talking about? She has a round face with big round eyes, thin lips and a normal nose along big round cheeks?”

 

A smile formed on Inanis face as she saw the confused faces they were making, but while she found it amusing she felt that she needed to clarify things a bit.

 

“That's the misconception I was talking about, what you think you see is your mind filling the gaps for you, it happens quite often, you just don't even notice it. While all of you think you know how my face looks like, you truly don't know, do a little test, go over your memories and try to remember my face”

 

The apprentice couple was the first to notice this anomaly, and they were rather shocked that they let something like this pass without them noticing, the first thing they did was to make notes to report later to TAO, but while they were disappointed in themselves, they also had quite some worry and fear, they were worried that Inanis was somehow affecting their minds without them noticing.

 

A metaphorical light bulb went off on the guests heads accompanied by more confusion.

 

And the other guests noticed that the usually strange but serious couple were worried about something as they had let their usual serious and attentive demeanor slip and revealed their emotions a bit.

 

Inanis quickly reassured the couple that they were in safe hands.

 

“I don't need to read your mind to know what you are worrying about, no I did not change anything in your mind, I simply put a illusion/barrier over my face, it simply hides my face completely, and as you can't see anything it hides, your mind don't know how “nothing” looks like so it make things up for you”

 

“I could do it using a variety of means, from just using a mask to locking up the concept of information about my face so nobody knows it, but I chose to use a simple one”

 

Inanis made the outer layer of fog covering her face thinner to make it visible before she pointed to her own face and said “See this fog? It's the barrier/illusion I mentioned, it's one of my abilities, you don't need to feel disappointed for not noticing it as it can hide things even from the eyes of higher beings, and to give a better perspective, it could hide things from Haindal and your teacher, so you both would be able to see through it, let alone a normal human”

 

The couple were somewhat reassured but they still noted everything down as it was their mission.

 

____________

 

At the same time this conversation was happening, a peculiar customer entered the hotel and hovered in the air right in front of Inanis who was at the reception counter. Yes it hovered, then it spoke to Inanis in a voice that sounded like a small child.

 

“Hi! Is truth you have many different food?”

 

Inanis answered casually “Yes, but it is only for guests who are paying for a room”

 

The visitor said “You have sweet flower dust?”

 

Inanis thought for a moment before answering “I easily can arrange that”

 

The visitor almost glowed from pure happiness before putting on the most serious face they mustered and said “What you accept to trade for a room? I don't have rich“

 

Inanis looked closely at the visitor before saying “How about the dust from your wings? If you give me some, I will let you have a room for… hmmm… for 21 days, and every time you get me more dust from your wings I will let you stay for more 21 days, and while you are paying you can eat as much sweet flower dust as you like, is that good for you?”

 

The visitor looked behind to look at their flapping wings before smiling widely and asking “Can brothers and sisters have the same room?”

 

Inanis answered “yes” to which the visitor said “Deal!”

 

Inanis then warned the visitor “But you have to follow rules here, no eating other guests or giving them traumas. Your nectar will be at the dining hall and your room will be the one with the door that have the number 6 and a flower drawn on it”

 

“But before you go, let's collect the wing dust”

 

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.

.

 

The day quickly flew by, Bruce leaved the hotel to go to work, the apprentice couple and Raven stayed on the hotel watching TV and playing games respectively, the group of young adults leaved the hotel to do whatever they do somewhere else, the new visitor brought their “brothers” and “sisters” to visit the room they had been designed; a overall nice day for Inanis.

 

But before the day ended, Raven went to room 1 and pressed the doorbell thingy on the wall by the door side to call Inanis. 

 

This time, Inanis came out dressed in more casual clothes, black sneakers, black jeans, a dark gray t-shirt and a white baseball cap. She was transformed back to her more human appearance and size at this point.

 

Instead of Raven asking, it was Inanis who said “You are ready?” to Raven who answered with her monotone voice “Yes, it is far away? Because if it is I don't think we are going to get there before midnight”

 

Inanis only said “It's not that far, it's just 25 minutes away by foot from here, let's go” before both left the hotel to go for the identity broker.

 

After walking through the dark and labyrinthine streets of the city, both Raven and Inanis arrived in an alleyway, it was by the side of the bar where the identity broker was. Inanis turned to Raven and said “I will put both of us on the hallway right in front of the door where the man we want will be, you just have to knock on the door”

 

Raven nodded and suddenly they were no longer on the alleyway but were instead standing in a hallway with a dozen wooden doors, they were in front of a door with the number 8 on it. For Raven it was disorientating to say the least, as while she can teleport, it's more of a “sinking in a shadow to emerge from another” kind of teleportation. Luckily Raven only got a little disoriented and didn't vomit.

 

Inanis pointed to the door, and Raven remembered what she just had heard moments ago. 

 

She knocked on the door and heard a “Come in”, she was planning to let Inanis open for her as she seemed to know the man, but between the moment they teleported here and the moment Raven took her eyes of Inais to knock on the door, Inanis was simply gone.

 

So thinking there were some reasons for her disappearing and thinking she would appear back soon, Raven took the initiative and opened the door revealing herself to the man sitting behind a desk in the middle of the dimly lit office.

 

Raven didn't know the man, and as the man didn't know or recognize Raven either, he was surprised to see her and asked in confusion “Who’re you?How did you pass Steve?”.

 

Unfortunately to the man's heart the answer came from behind him in the form of a silky and warm voice that despite its warm nature, couldn't refrain from startling the man.

 

“A client” the voice said.

 

Richard immediately turned in surprise to see behind himself who it was, he had some suspensions about who it was based on the voice but once he laid eyes on the person behind him, his suspensions turned out to be true, he then calmed down a bit from his adrenaline rush, he couldn't help but give a awkward smile as Inanis calmly walked from behind him and stopped in front of his desk before repeating what she said before.

 

“A client, she's a client; I need a new identity for her”

 

Inanis turned to Raven who came closer to her and asked “Would the identity of an orphan be alright for you?”

 

Raven said “It seems like you have some kind of plan, so I think it is fine for me” with a raised eyebrow

 

Inanis turned to Richard and asked “Is it possible to make a document of a orphan from a existing orphanage and make a transfer request of said orphan to another orphanage?”

 

Richard still with an awkward smile answered “Easy, but, there are two problems, the first is the place she is “coming from”, they will have her documents but it will be kinda obvious that something is wrong as none of the staff or kids would know about the kid. The second is the identity of an orphan, If you are going to such lengths for her, I assume you don't want her to live in some random orphanage”

 

Inanis responded in a tone that gave the impression that no obstacle could be a challenge for her, with the latter part of the sentence being stated as a fact that should be obvious.

 

“You don't need to worry about the first part, and the second part is simple, I will obviously adopt her immediately after she is “transfered” “

 

It is obvious that this was the first time Raven was hearing about this because she let out a “You what?” In surprise and confusion but with a neutral voice, Richard was obviously confused by the events unfolding before him.

 

“Bu-but you met me like, two days ago!”

 

Inanis spoke as if she was asking Raven if she wanted a pie, but in a serious tone nonetheless.

 

“That is not an excuse, do you accept me? Or I am not the right person?”

 

At first Raven exclaimed “It's not that!” But she assumed a hesitant and self deprecating tone “The question is if you accept me? You wouldn't accept something like me and I know it!” She continues but with a barely audible voice and with tears threatening to flow from her eyes “You barely know anything about me, if you accept me you will be disappointed later”.

 

Inanis responded in a reassuring voice “Oh Raven, you didn't learn anything from the stories I told you? Not only did I met plenty of adults and children in basically the same situation as you, but I can literally see who you are on a first glance”

 

Raven said “No you don't ” in a small and disappointed voice as she thought Inanis was talking about a figurative speech.

 

With a small laugh Inanis clarified that it wasn't a metaphor at all.

 

“Again, didn't you learn anything with the stories? When I said “literally”, I really meant it, I can literally see your existence, your essence, your soul, i literally can see everything that makes you, you. It's not a metaphor or a figurative way of speaking”

 

Raven was surprised and skeptical about it, but not because she was thinking Inanis was telling a lie, it was the opposite actually.

 

She asked in a shaky voice that was filled with confusion “And you still accept me? Even after seeing who I truly am?!”

 

Inanis asked in confusion as if Raven asked a question with a obvious answer that simply was a fact everyone should know.

 

“Why I wouldn't? I though it was obvious that I wouldn't care about such things based on what and who I am alone”

 

Both kinda forgot it but Richard was still there, he had a blank face as he didn't know how to react to such a scene; he was experient in many fields, especially those related to his business; but family drama was not one of them, he ended choosing to remain in silence and only observe.

 

Raven’s emotions were in a messy state to say the least, she wanted to cry from happiness a lot and was on the verge of doing so, but because of the risk of her losing control over her demonic side she restrained herself, something she was accustomed with, and something Inanis noticed.

 

Inanis wanted to comfort Raven but chose to not go for something like a hug and instead only spoke in a voice warmer and more comforting than her already warm and comforting voice.

 

“Once we return I will cut your connections with your dad, he's been subtly influencing you, after I cut of your connection you will remain the same, but without his bad influence,, and I will teach you some meditation exercises so you can control your other side, or become one if you so wish”

 

Richard was still silent, silent but confused and unsure of what they were talking about as he didn't have the context for it, he was thinking that maybe Inanis found this child in the streets or that she was dating the child's mother and the child had some trauma or some mental disorder and Inanis was talking about it, but he still was somewhat unsure, the part about seeing people souls kind of flew over his head.

 

Inanis turned to Richard who somehow was feeling out of place in his own office and said “Can you make so that the orphanage she is coming from is one made for children who need special care? It would help a lot if it was one who takes care and helps children get over trauma or bad childhoods”

 

“I plan to say to the orphanage she is going to, that she was living with me to see if it would help with her trauma that she got from her “bad dad” “ 

 

Despite Raven having to keep her emotions in check all the time and as a result she ends up with a neutral serious face all the time, she still had a reaction when Inanis mentioned the supposedly “bad dad”, and Richard did not miss said reaction, and that made he think that Inanis was telling at least a partial truth, but he also knew that probably there was a lie or two mixed as it is obvious, she is literally buying a new identity for the child after all.

 

Ianis continued “And that because it was both working and we liked each other I was planning to officially adopt her but for a reason or another they had to transfer her when I was about to do so and I would like to officially adopt her immediately after the transfer is done. You don't need to worry, whichever orphanage you pick will have memories of her being there”

 

Richard again believed there were some truths and lies in what she said, the truths probably being the part about how they liked each other and the part about wanting to adopt her, but he didn't comment on it, he got curious by what she meant by “whichever orphanage you pick will have memories of her being there”, but he only assumed that she probably is going to bribe the orphanage to confirm her story when asked about it. Nothing unheard of.

 

Richard's thoughts became focused again as Inanis asked him “Do you think it's possible to find an orphanage that fits the description I gave?”

 

Richard said “Yes, that's rather easy, I kinda know some in this city that will work” in his usual serious business tone.

 

Inanis responded with “Good” before she gave him one of her smartphones and said “This is a secure smartphone, you can use to contact me, you can message me or call me as my contact is already in it, inform me when you chose the orphanage she is “coming from”. Do you need her to be present when you make her documents?”

 

Richard spoke honestly “I need to ask some questions and take a picture or two”

 

Richland got up and said “Let's go to another room, that's where the stuff for documents is” before guiding Inanis and Raven to said room.

 

And with that, the clock struck midnight.