Maxine slowly trudged through the forest that she had spotted Michelle Baker in. She decided to look for her during the day rather than at dusk when she had originally spotted Michelle. Thankfully, she had thought to have her shadow wolf follow Michelle the night before to avoid having to hunt her down later and was surprised to find that she was living with a trio of arachne. I've heard of arachne living in groups, but I've never heard of them letting a human, or any other species for that matter, live beside them for any period of time before.

After a few minutes of hiking, she finally spotted the arachne nest and heard one of them yell at her, "That's close enough, lizard woman. What do you want?"

"I want to talk to the human living amongst you," Maxine replied, "And I'm not a lizard woman. I'm a human with a powerful bloodline, not a lizardkin."

"Noted, but our human friend doesn't want to talk to you. Go away," the arachne said coldly.

"Even if I want to give her information on the people that killed her father?" Maxine asked. Through their silence, she knew that her statement had caught them off guard and were probably notifying Michelle. A few moments later, her suspicion was confirmed when Michelle came into sight just behind some dense webbing.

"What do you know about the men that killed my father?" Michelle asked with a serious tone.

"I know they were ordered to capture you by a man named Petre Andrevich and that man is the current russian ambassador residing in the city of St. Louis," Maixne answered honestly.

"And why are you telling me this?" Michelle asked cautiously.

"Because we're both victims of that bastard," Maxine answered, "But in comparison, I was far luckier than you. My mother was only injured from the encounter."

"Interesting story, but you're not human. There is no way he would be dumb enough to kidnap an offworlder," Michelle said coldly.

"I didn't always look like this. I looked human in my teenage years when the attack on us happened," Maxine replied, "But that isn't important. What is important is what you want to do to that bastard that ruined your life."

"I want him dead," Michelle said angrily.

"That's where we disagree," Maxine said, "Death is too good for him. I want him to suffer horribly."

"Hmph, and how would you do that?" Michelle asked.

"By revealing every last one of his dirty deeds to not only his people, but to everyone," Maxine answered, "It would effectively ruin his career and if he's particularly unlucky, he'll end up being hunted by his own people. If you think that's going too easy on him, there are other things that I can do to worsen his life. But if you decide to end him, I'll help you do it."

"Give me a few days to think about it," Michelle said before retreating back into the arachne nest.

"I'll return in five days," Maxine shouted before she turned to leave, but shouted behind her as she left, "Just so you know your aunt has never stopped looking for you." I'm not lying. Her aunt posted a $5000 reward on any information that leads up to Michelle's return. Still, it's her decision to help me out with this. It really doesn't matter to me either way. Thankfully, she gave me the option of giving her some time. It allows me to get a hold of the documents from th at information broker. Now all I have to do is go through with my uncle's request in return for helping me get that stuff. I don't understand why he insisted that I pay him back by singing at a concert. I still don't understand why he didn't just ask me to make a bunch of potions. I'll just ask him about it when I see him.

Once Maxine was far enough away, she created an arch and returned back home. Lucas hug tackled almost immediately and asked, "Sarah's house?"

"Sorry, but not today," Maxine said apologetically, "But I'm going to sing for a bunch of people today. I thought I told you that earlier. Anyways, do you want to go?" Lucas looked at her for a moment before nodding his head.

"I hope you plan take him for another playdate soon," Hellen said from the couch, "It's done him some good. He's speaking so much more since his time with Sarah."

"That he has," Maxine said with a smile as she ruffled Lucas' hair, "You must really like her, huh?"

"Yes," Lucas replied, "She's fun." More like, the only other kid that can and will play with you.

"How about I see if I can have Amanda bring her along to join us for my performance?" Maxine offered.

"Please," Lucas begged and even tried his best to use the puppy dog eyes.

"I can only ask, but if she says no, there is not a lot I can do," Maxine said honestly.

"Call them," Lucas demanded.

"Alright, alright," Maxine chuckled as she pulled out her cellphone, but she saw that she had no signal. Of course, I wouldn't have a signal. We're on the fucking moon.

"Here, use mine," Hellen said as she tossed Maxine a smart phone.

"Umm, I don't think that a change of phones is the issue," Maxine said and called Amanda without even bothering to look at the signal strength. If mom handed me this, she must've already tested it's ability get in contact with Earth.

After a few rings, Amanda answered, "Hello? Who is this?"

"It's Maxine," Maxine replied.

"Oh, I'm a little busy right now. So, if you made it quick, I'd appreciate it," Amanda said.

"Sorry about that, but will you be going to that concert being held by the Kavros Clan?" Maxine asked.

"That's exactly the problem I have right now," Amanda complained, "The ambassador wants tickets to it for him and his bodyguards."

"I can hook you guys up," Maxine said confidently, "I'm their young miss, afterall. I just need to let my uncle know."

"I'd appreciate it," Amanda said, "By the way, how did he convince you to perform?"

"I'm doing as a favor for my uncle and getting you some tickets is not a problem at all," Maxine explained, "His subordinates were bored out of their minds and this is a good way to perk up their morale. It's not every day they have their 'young miss' sing for them."

"That's true," Amanda said, "In any case, make sure to include a ticket for me. I'm supposed to escort the ambassador around."

"So, Sarah isn't coming?" Maxine asked.

"I could bring her. Why do you ask?" Amanda asked in return.

"Well, Lucas wants to listen to me sing with Sarah," Maxine explained, "He really likes her."

"That's convenient. Sarah seems to like him as well, scales and all," Amanda said, "It's adorable."

"I agree. It's too bad I can't talk more. I have a few errands to run before I sing tonight," Maxine said, "See you then."

"See you later," Amanda said before she hung up.

Maxine handed Hellen's cellphone back. "Thanks. How does that thing work out here, anyways?" Maxine asked.

"Oh, that. I just had it specially made," Hellen replied, "It's effective range is nine million miles or so." That's some impressive range, and I'm willing to bet that cellphone literately has more computing power than the vast majority of the computers on Earth.

"Hmm, I might order one," Maxine commented, "Anyways, do you know of any places on Earth that might be suitable for Lucas to find some more friends?"

"You could try one of the parks set aside for beastkin," Hellen offered.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"There are parks set aside for that?" Maxine asked. Segregation? I thought we did away with that shit more than half a century ago.

"Yes, but it's not what you think," Hellen said, "The beastkin are the ones that requested for these parks. I think they simply wanted to avoid their children from harming normal humans." Oh, yeah. That's right. Beastkin children are born with their cores and possess much greater physical strength.

"That makes perfect sense," Maxine said, "I'm glad they thought of that. Because I certainly didn't. I'll look for one of those parks so Lucas can finally play without worrying about hurting his playmates."

"Oh, that reminds me. Who's going to watch Lucas while you sing?" Hellen asked.

"I will," Maxine said with a smile, "I have a clone that can do the singing while he sits on my lap." Amanda will be too busy watching Sarah.

"It will severely confuse him. He's never seen your clones and he's already expecting you to be on stage," Hellen advised Maxine, "I can look after him during your performance."

"You're right and thanks," Maxine said gratefully, "It never occured to me that he hasn't seen my clones yet."

"You should remedy that soon, so at least, he knows that they exist," Hellen said, "You should introduce him to Turan as well at some point."

"Tell me about it. If I don't, Lucas is likely to attack him as soon as he pops out of nowhere," Maxine joked and after a moment, she realized something, "Now that you bring him up, I've realized I havn't seen him for awhile." It's odd that he hasn't found his way to me yet. Hell, he didn't even check on me when I made my attack on the Alchemists Association's branch office.

"It almost sounds as if you're worried about him," Hellen pointed out.

"I'm not worried about him," Maxine replied, "It's just that he's been watching me for years. It feels odd that he's not there." I am worried, but I refuse to admit it out loud. I hate that I actually consider that stalker as my friend, but he's one of the few men whose touch doesn't bother me.

"He's probably just being held up by his teacher at the Stardust Academy," Hellen said, "So, he will probably return to your side soon enough."

"I don't like how you phrased that," Maxine said in annoyance, "But I'll let it slide. I need to make sure uncle Zeph doesn't lay out a dress that makes me look scarier than I already do."

Hellen chuckled and said, "I doubt that he will. In any case, I'll keep an eye on Lucas while you're gone."

"Thanks again, mom," Maxine said as she opened up an arch that lead to the Kavros Clan's compound on Earth, "Lucas, be good for grandma."

"'Kay," Lucas said before he changed the channel on the TV to watch cartoons.

Maxine simply shook her head in amusement and walked through the arch. She immediately saw a building that looked just like an apartment building, but she knew she was at the right place. Kavros clan members needed very little space to organize their people.

She walked into the building and was immediately accosted by a rather young Kavros clanswoman, "What is your purpose here, beastkin?"

"I see someone hasn't bothered to keep themselves informed," Maxine commented coldly, "You're going to feel like kicking yourself in a couple minutes."

"I highly doubt that," the Kavros clanswoman said, but Maxine only smiled at her when she spotted Zephyr walking towards them from behind her.

"Maxine! You've got excellent timing. I've got a few outfits for you to pick out from for your performance tonight," Zephyr said happily. However the Kavros clanswoman instantly paled. Yeah, I expected that kind of reaction. Uncle Zeph has no doubt informed everyone that his neice is coming to perform on stage.

"Good. Let's see what you've picked out for me," Maxine said cheerfully and sent via spiritual sense to the Kavros clanswoman, [You were just doing your job, so I'm not going to tell anyone about your behavior. But next time, be more respectful. Not everyone is as patient or understanding as I am.] The clanswoman only nodded her head stiffly before Maxine stopped paying attention to her and focused more on where Zephyr was leading her.

Zephyr brought her to a dressing room, but the both of them stopped in their tracks once they walked inside. Turan standing there with his back towards them and was holding up an elegant green dress infront of himself. Why am I not surprised to see him here?

"I think this one would look best on you," Turan said and turned around as he presented the dress to Maxine, "It definitely makes your eyes more dazzling, like smooth brown jewels flecked with gold."

"Where the hell have you been?" Maxine asked.

"I just arrived a few minutes ago," Turan answered, "My teacher at the Stardust Academy had very little to teach me and thus sent me away."

"I doubt that," Maxine answered.

"You can believe me or not. It matters very little," Turan said calmly, "But I still think this dress would look wonderful on you."

"Is that because you know that's my favorite color or because you think it would look good on me?" Maxine asked with a flat stare.

"Can't it be both?" Turan asked with a smile.

"It can," Zephyr chimed in with a smile, "But there are other outfits here. Let Maxine pick one out for herself."

"Of course, of course," Turan said as he placed the dress back into it's place on the hanging rack.

Maxine ignored both of them as she browsed through the various outfits set out. There were very few of them that could actually accomadate her tail, but narrowed her choices down to three. Unfortunately she couldn't decided amongst them and tried to visualize each of them on her. The black dress with the slit in the skirt would look okay on me, but it will need some modifications to accomodate my tail. And the frilly green dress that Turan wants me to wear has too much contrast with my silvery skin. It would draw too much attention to my skin tone. Hmm it looks like I will have to go with the shimmering red dress. Although I'm not a fan of how much of my cleavage is visible, but at least, it's already got a sleeve in the back for my tail. But after selecting that dress, Maxine had a sudden thought.

"You know I can use my energies, or even my shadow's embrace armor, to create any kind of dress that I want, right?" Maxine asked.

"Yes, we know, but it's very obvious that you're using your energies to make those clothing," Zephyr replied, "And your shadow's embrace armor always has scales of some kind. It's much better to just use actual fabric."

"Fine," Maxine said as she held up the red shimmering dress, "I'll wear this dress while I sing. Have your people adjust it to fit me."

"They already have," Zephyr replied with a smile, "Our seamstress took a glance at you the other day and modified most of the outfits in this room, but she was limited on how much of it she could alter. So that's why we decided to let you pick something out and adjust it to fit later. You just happened to pick out a dress that she already adjusted to fit you."

"You shouldn't have done that," Maxine said as she set the dress back on the clothing rack, "You'll end up overworking your poor seamstress."

"She'll be fine," Zephyr replied casually, "She was actually rather bored to begin with and enjoyed the heavy workload."

"Alright," Maxine said, "So when is this concert supposed to start?"

"Seven o'clock," Zephyr answered, "You should get here around half an hour before that to get changed and do whatever you need to do before you perform."

"Alright, anything else before I head out?" Maxine asked.

"Yes, there are a few song requests," Zephyr said as a data pad appeared in his hands before he gave it to Maxine, "I hope there are not too many of them."

Maxine looked over them and was rather surprised. The majority of the songs requested originated from Earth. She spotted at least twelve songs that were related to the theme song of anime characters. She mentally selected a few of them, but one in particular caught her eye. Voracity? That's actually a name to a song? I need to look this up. It seems to be an opening theme song related to the anime 'Overlord'.

"Do you have somewhere that I can listen to these songs?" Maxine asked.

"You can listen to them in the next room," Zephyr replied, "And while you do that, Turan and I will have a nice long chat about his coming and goings."

"Have fun you two," Maxine said, but she knew that Zephyr was most likely going to be mostly yelling and threatening Turan.

Maxine began listening to the songs that were requested and a devilish smile appeared on her lips as she listened to 'Voracity'. Oh, my. They're asking someone with a hydra bloodline to sing about their 'intense hunger'. Do they want me to scare the hell out of them? Fuck it. I'll have some fun with them and use it as my first song. I'll just pick a few others and use the remainder of my time on stage to sing a few elven songs.

Maxine listened to most of the songs before she selected the ones that she was confident that she could sing proficiently. Afterwards, she walked out of the room and didn't see either Turan or Zephyr, but with Turan, that didn't mean much. She knew all too well that he liked to remain hidden from sight.

She shrugged as she left the building and created an arch back to home. Lucas was watching TV and Hellen was in the kitchen cooking. She's making dinner early.

"Dinner will be ready in another half hour," Hellen said and Maxine glanced at the time. It was 4:30pm. I was over there longer than I thought.

"Thanks for letting me know. I'll be sitting with Lucas," Maxine responded and sat down next to Lucas to wait for dinner to get ready. As usual, he was watching cartoons.

After a little while, dinner was ready and Maxine went to the table with Lucas. While they ate, Guan asked, "You're performing tonight?"

"Yes, I'm repaying a favor to uncle Zeph," Maxine replied.

"Oh? What kind of favor?" Guan asked.

"He dug up some information for me on Petre Andrevich through less than legal means," Maxine replied, "Mr. Andrevich was the man that ordered the kidnapping of my birth mother."

"And what do you plan to do with that information?" Guan asked.

"That depends on the answer of a fellow victim that I managed to track down," Maxine replied.

"And if she remains undecided?" Guan asked.

"I'll reveal all of his dirty deeds to the world to ruin his career and severe his spinal cord in just the right spot to turn him into a quadriplegic," Maxine replied, "He'll be in a living hell for the rest of his life and I'll pay out of my own pocket anonymously to ensure that's a very long time."

"Ruthless," Guan said, "I approve."

"I don't need your approval," Maxine replied. Guan simply chuckled before he returned to his meal. They spent the rest of their meal in silence.

Shortly after finishing dinner and putting it away, Maxine created an arch to the Kavros clan's compound on Earth. Hellen and Lucas followed behind Maxine. As soon as they arrived, several Kavros clansmen escorted Lucas and Hellen to a VIP waiting room while Maxine returned back to the room filled with the dresses.

After changing into the red dress, Maxine waited in the hallway until someone came to escort her to the stage. When she got onto the stage and saw how packed the venue was, she was rather surprised. Thankfully, Lucas and Sarah were sitting side by side inbetween Hellen and Amanda and Hellen. They were sitting down in the front row in a VIP section, but unfortunately ambassador Andrevich was sitting next to Amanda. I wish he wasn't in the front row.

Regardless, Maxine showed a toothy smile as she thought about her opening song and transformed her pupils into verticle slits and sharpen her teeth into fangs. She took one deep breath as the instrumentals to kick in and sang 'Voracity' and enjoyed how some of the audience looked nervous rather than cheering like everyone else.