The next afternoon, the group found themselves at the playground. Blair and Indigo sat on a bench under the shade of a large oak tree, enjoying the serene ambiance, especially Blair. She rarely got to spend so much time with her daughter. As bad as the thought was, she was quite glad the Abyss Nest incident happened.

In front of them was a scene with vibrant colors and a symphony of laughter underneath the warm sun as numerous children and small to medium-sized dragons brought the place to life.

With the sound of swings creaking and children’s shouts of glee, Aella and her plus two found themselves in the thick of it all, their energy seemingly inexhaustible. Aella and Seraphina were engaged in an oddly intense game of tag, darting around the playground equipment with a nimbleness not held by normal children. Not even bothering to lie to himself that he could keep up with those two, Cid was content with his fascination in the sandbox, his tiny hands meticulously shaping the sand into various forms.

Stormy, surprisingly, was chilling. He had perched himself atop the jungle gym, his eyes following the children’s movements with an almost paternal attentiveness. Every so often, he would let out a soft chirp as if cheering them on or perhaps offering some form of gentle guidance in his own way.

Aella still kept her eyes on him, though. She didn’t trust the little gremlin. The moment she let her guard down, he would try to bite her ears again, even if her ears weren’t out because of her [Transformation] skill. She was sure he’d find a way somehow.

Blair leaned back, sipping her iced tea. “It’s weird seeing her act like a normal child.” She remarked, a content smile on her face.

Glancing at his wife, Indigo eventually nodded in agreement as he missed the true meaning behind her words. “Well, she is the child of those two. She’s sure to inherit her father’s mantle eventually, so it’s good that she can enjoy herself now.”

Back on the playground, Aella listened to their conversation and allowed Seraphina to tag her.

“Your it!” She shouted.

“Ah, why you little!” Aella shouted in response, immediately giving chase.

Narrowly dodging Aella, Seraphina squealed with delight as Aella showed remarkable restraint, making the game more about the fun of the chase rather than the catch. Since she banned herself from using Mana, it became painfully clear just how much stronger Seraphina was than her. Physically, at least.

If not for the fact that she had so many years of training on Seraphina, she’d have absolutely no chance of comparing. Cid, meanwhile, had attracted a small audience of children intrigued by the elaborate castle he was building in the sand. He tried his best to ignore them, but with each tower he crafted, the onlookers clearly became more curious and fervently tried to interact with him.

Noticing his distress, Stormy decided to comfort him, gliding down from his perch and landing gently next to him. The children gasped in awe at the sight of the dragon, their eyes wide with wonder. Stormy’s appearance was very distinct from any other dragon they had seen before.

With Stormy near, Cid smiled lightly, offering to open up slightly. They weren’t Seraphina, and they certainly weren’t Aella, but they couldn’t be that bad.

As time passed, Blair suddenly got a phone call, which Aella gladly listened to.

“Hello?”

{Miss. We found two of them. However, we’re still collecting information on the one. Why are you looking for orphaned Naturalis who lost their parents?}

“That is something you don’t need to worry about. Give me the details.”

{Right. It is a young male, aged 16, he works in a magitech repair shop with a “distant relative,” but we haven’t found any proof this relative actually exists. He lives…}

Blair’s face was full of curiosity at the description of this young man and disgust at the fact that her people found two people so quickly. Naturalis were always in danger as very few could hide their features like Aella.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Even Seraphina was no different. The best she could do was hide her wings, which was highly uncomfortable for her, and they couldn’t do anything about her halo anyway, so it was redundant.

Despite that, the people under her found two unrelated individuals under a very specific set of criteria in just a few days. Naturally, she couldn’t tell her men about the Cult for their safety, so she had to be very roundabout in her methods.

“Alright. Understood, get me the details of the girl as soon as possible.”

Hanging up, Aella and Blair gave each other a knowing glance.

“Did something come up?” Indigo inferred.

Blair shrugged indifferently. “Nothing too important. It’s starting to get late, though. We should start heading home. Would you mind returning them and getting them something to eat on the way? I wanna stay back and have a chat with Aella and her parents.”

The worst outcome appeared in Indigo’s mind for a moment, but seeing his wife remain so calm, he quickly discarded that thought and nodded. “Sure, don’t be too long.”

“We won’t.”

Saying their very temporary goodbyes, Aella and Blair got into a separate car after the rest of the group left.

“Okay, firstly, why do you just have a second car? Secondly, how did that lie work? And thirdly, how long do we have?” Aella questioned, confused beyond belief.

Sure, it was nice that she got away easily because she wanted to handle this situation quickly so she could move on to the next, but the amount of trust Indigo has for Blair is absurd to Aella.

“Your mother and I went to college for business together. Although we talked less, we never lost contact with each other. And what do you mean by how much time do we have? You know how long your mother can talk for.”

Aella nodded, “So, 2 hours, got it. Do you have any paper and a pen? Need to make something that any craftsman will be unable to refuse.”

Not even bothering to question what Aella was thinking in that screwed-up head of hers and only pointed at the glove box. Instead, she had a more important question to ask. One that scared her far more, but she had to ask it sooner or later.

“What do you plan on doing to the poor kid? You’re not going to indoctrinate each of them, are you?”

Aella, genuinely offended, made an audible gasp as she grabbed for the paper and began drawing, her eyes not leaving the paper.

“They’re the Cult, not me! All I’m doing is giving them an outlet for revenge; if they don’t want revenge, I’m giving them a stable job! Clearly, you’re helping me, so you’re not above child labor.”

“Yeah, you don’t need to remind me that I’m helping you.” Blair rolled her eyes while looking at Aella in the mirror.

The trip was short. It only took them 5 minutes to get to the portal and another 15 to arrive at their location.

“Halfmoon Citadel: Arcane Innovations & Repairs. I thought I recognized the name; this place is extremely famous, right? He works here?” Aella read aloud as she exited the car, already transformed with her black hair and fox-like features.

“Work? As far as we can tell, he owns the place. All the papers are under a fake name, just like some aspiring businesswoman I know.” Blair answered sarcastically.

Clicking her tongue at the fact that another Naturalis had the same idea as her before her, Aella expanded her senses to the limit, ensuring no drones or small dragons were keeping an eye on the boy. You never know since he was a target of the Cult, especially since this boy was… A little special.

Upon entering, Aella was greeted by a fascinating site of small gadgets for sale, each extremely intricately designed. Her eyes immediately wandered to a small music box without pins or cylinders that you’d see in one.

Instead, it worked similarly to Aella’s sound manipulation in a far cruder fashion. She manipulates the Sound energy that vibrations create the moment they enter her radius, allowing her to do all sorts of things with her sound.

This box works on the same principle, taking a dull sound created by the box and turning it into something melodic.

“How pointlessly beautiful.” Aella mused, already very intrigued by the fellow who made it.

As if she called for him, a young man came from a door behind the counter with a cheery “Welcome!” before he saw who entered.

His and Aella’s eyes met, his cheery expression shifting slightly upon seeing another Naturalis waltz into his store without trying to hide her identity at all. It shook him a little bit.

“Hi, do you take custom orders?” Aella asked curiously, walking toward the front desk to get a better look at the guy.

“A-ah yeah! We do. Can you describe what you need made or repaired?” He answered, swiftly regaining himself.

Nodding, Aella placed her hastily drawn scribbles onto the desk, “You have beautiful wings. You should reveal them more often.” She said with a kind and innocent smile.