“Wait, what?” Pokora muttered after a second of laughing. Her face turned serious and she turned to the bathroom while pulling my arm. “Come here for a sec.”

I gave my girlfriends a confused shrug and followed the Archer.

They shrugged back.

Pokora closed the bathroom door and turned to me. “Why do you have a drip jacket?” She inquired, resting her hands on her hips.

“Hmm...” I thought for a second, trying to remember. “I got it from a gacha roll if memory serves right.”

“A gacha roll?” She repeated. “What?”

I tilted my head in confusion. “You don't know what a gacha is?”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I know what a gacha is, you twat,” she replied in exasperation. “What does a gacha have to do with you having a drip jacket?”

“Ah,” I uttered, connecting the dots. “Yeah, about that. I died while playing a game. Most stuff in my storage resembles what I had in that game. There was a meme event back in 2027 where I got the jacket.”

Pokora stared at me for a second in confusion. “How the fuck does that work?”

I raised my eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“How does virtual shit become real shit?” She clarified with a hand gesture.

“No clue. I just roll with it,” I admitted with a shrug. “I guess there's more to the universe than we thought,” I offered.

She scoffed. “Like magic.”

“And Gods,” I added.

“And real life futas,” she chuckled.

I laughed and nodded. “True.”

We left the bathroom and I helped Alyssa and Lapia pick a formal outfit.

The two had an easier time finding their desired fit since both wore dresses as daily clothes.

Alyssa decided on an emerald green dress that complimented her light purple skin, dark scales and horns, white hair, and scarlet eyes. It was also the same color as Lapia's eyes, which was a pretty nice detail.

Lapia went with a scarlet dress that exquisitely contrasted her tan skin and dark blonde hair. Similarly to Alyssa's the dress matched the other woman's eyes.

Both looked gorgeous, and both chose white sandals to cover their feet.

Once the five of us were done with the outfits, I left the room and offered the same to Bromisnar, Bonte, Elena, and Thelea.

Unsurprisingly, Bromisnar and Elena already had formal clothes.

Bonte wanted to pick an edgy outfit to the surprise of nobody but decided on something more appropriate after Thelea convinced him otherwise. He reluctantly went for a thin, stylish robe and a gray overcoat along with black shoes.

Thelea chose the same, going for a matching look with her boyfriend.

I suspected that was her goal, but can't confirm.

Even though the event was two days later, being prepared is always good. Everyone had their outfit ready and was informed of the details.

Alyssa was taking a nap in our bedroom, Lapia was reading a book at the dinner table while writing some notes and discussing something with Elena, Yolin was in the bathroom, Pokora was in the kitchen drinking water, Bromisnar was playing music in his room, Bonte and Thelea were in the living room reading books and chatting.

And yet, there were still things to be done that day: fetch the second batch of toys and the request from the Tiny Laples.

I checked my pocket watch and saw it was six. Six more hours. Doable, I concluded and walked to Bonte, who was sitting on Thelea's lap in the living room. “Hey, Bonte,” I called to him.

He looked up from the book he was reading. “Yeah?”

“Could you help me with something?” I requested. “I was asked to look into something and I could use your help.”

“Sure,” he replied with a smile and stood up. “Anything you want, buddy.”

Thelea gave me a look. “Don't get him killed,” she warned me.

Bonte laughed. “You could come with us?”

I shrugged and explained, “Someone went missing a few months ago. The Watchers didn't find anything. If things turn out to be darker than I expect, we might end up killing people.”

The Goliath winced. “I became a tank to protect people, not kill them,” she pointed out and shook her head. “Be careful.”

We nodded in understanding.

“Pokh'Orra would be a huge help,” Bonte suggested.

“I was planning on asking her next,” I chuckled and walked to the Archer, then gave her a short explanation.

She agreed to join us.

I walked to Lapia and asked her if she could take care of the toys after I explained what I intended to do.

“Sure,” she replied with a smile. “I'll go with Alyssa and Yolin.”

And so, the three of us set out.

***

We first went to the Church where I met the Tiny Laples to get more information than 'our friend lives two blocks away'.

On the way there I told Bonte and Pokora about the details of the situation and shared my own conclusion: that the demon that had been tormenting the King might have 'replaced' the missing woman in a not so gentle way.

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Both understood and frowned.

The Tiny Laples gave me a map of the city with the location of the man's house, which would haven been nice to have from the start.

Maybe they thought I'd approach the Watchers for information.

We reached his house shortly after. It was a nice two-story building that I guessed was pretty expensive considering how close it was to the market and the Church. Perhaps the wife's job at the Royal Palace brought enough income for them to live better-than-average lives.

I dismounted and walked to the front door, then knocked two times.

The door opened, revealing a young female Shishi Tigea. Her eyes met mine and her eyebrows climbed her forehead along with her feline ears shifting a little. “Good evening, Your Excellency,” she greeted me.

“Good evening,” I greeted back. “Is this the residence of Bernard Roy?”

“It is,” she confirmed with a nod. “He's my father.”

“My name is Natasha Novak,” I introduced myself, then gestured at my companions. “He's Bonte Slirmy and she's Pokh'Orra Pezh'Che.”

The two gave the Tigea a nod.

She blinked a few times and sighed. “I'm Beatrice Roy,” she introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you, Beatrice.” I gave her a friendly smile, then continued, “I'd like to talk to your father if it's not a problem.”

The woman thought for a second. “Please wait here,” she requested and closed the door.

I took a deep breath and sighed. Don't jump to conclusions, Natasha.

A minute later the door opened again and Beatrice gestured for us to come in.

We complied and she guided us to the house's living room.

There, a man was sitting on a couch. He was every bit of Shishi Tigea as the rest, but his eyes looked tired. He stood up and looked me in the eye. “Your Excellency,” he greeted with a nod. “What can I do for you?”

His voice sounded as tired as he looked.

“If you don't mind, I have a few questions regarding your wife's disappearance,” I laid it bare, walking to a sofa and sitting down.

He let out a long sigh and sat back down. “Sure.”

“How about you tell me what happened first?” I suggested.

He sighed again and started speaking. “Ines went to work one day and never returned. Her Bond with our family was consciously severed so we had no way to know where she was. I went to the Watchers as soon as it happened and they launched an investigation... but found nothing.”

“Have you heard of the name 'Nerissa'?” I inquired.

Bernard shook his head. “First time.”

I nodded. “When did this happen, exactly?”

“Evening of the fourth day of the third month,” he replied with a frown.

“Your Excellency,” Beatrice, who had been standing next to Bernard, spoke up. “My mother had been meeting with Changelings prior to her disappearance,” she blurted out.

“Bea!” The man hissed, turning to her. “That has nothing to do with Ines. The Watchers investigated them and found nothing...”

My eyebrows went up at that. Well, well, well...

“Father, Her Excellency won't-!” Beatrice began, looking at her father with apprehension.

“Enough...” he sighed.

I turned to Beatrice. “Can you tell me more about that?”

She nodded. “My mother-”

“I said-” Bernard began.

“I didn't ask you,” I interrupted him, then gave Beatrice a nod. “Continue.”

Bernard sighed.

Beatrice gulped. “My mother had been seeing a group of Changelings that promoted... politically dangerous ideas regarding the Kingdom and Halves,” she stated. “I accompanied her to a meeting once. They disguise as Performers and hold debates on various topics that people would consider as traitorous.”

“And the Watchers didn't intervene?” I inquired.

“The populace is allowed to think and debate on anything, Your Excellency,” Beatrice replied. “As long as they don't attempt a malicious coup, they are not a real threat. They're considered a debating association, if anything.”

“Hmm...” I nodded, thinking for a few seconds.

Changelings again... I'll assume they're a small group to avoid generalizing, I concluded and continued. While criticizing 'the powers that be' is healthy and a civic duty which I fully support, threatening the stability of a Kingdom and trying to kill an entire species is pretty fucking yikes. Is this some radical extremist group? Why does it have to be so political? Why not just mindless monsters? Why does it have to go that route? Will I have to oppress people? Will I have to kill others due to our differences of ideology? That's also super fucking yikes and I don't want that. Okay... what's the deal here? A group doesn't want super OP beings going around the world for a reason. But that ideology doesn't really work in this world... there's dangerous shit out there, after all. If we Halves disappear I'd bet wars would break out, countries would exploit nature, and Giants would have free access to the entire world if they so wish.

“Ines is not that kind of person,” Bernard muttered. “I'm sure she was manipulated or something.”

Maybe the demon got to the Royal Palace through them... I theorized. And Maybe... just maybe... Ines realized too late what the whole plan was about and chose to run away after she was neck-deep in shit. Hmm... too weak of an explanation. Maybe some mind control bullshit again.

“Did Ines' behavior change in any noticeable way before she went missing?” I probed.

Both parent and child shook their heads.

“Beatrice, do you remember where the meetings were held?” I changed subjects.

She nodded.

I pulled the map the Tiny Laples gave me along with a quill. “Could you show me?”

She approached and marked a spot close to the edge of the city. “They gathered in the underbelly,” she explained, turning the piece of paper around. The back of the map had a frontal cut of the city. She market a spot near the middle, around thirty floors underground.

“Thanks.” I nodded and stood up, then looked at the two. “You'll be the first to know if I hear anything about Ines.”

“But Your Excellency,” Bernard stood up with a worried face. “The Watchers didn't find anything.”

“The Watchers act based on the law,” I replied. “The law acts based on my will,” I added and turned to leave.

Bonte had a proud smile on his face.

Pokora was cringing.

Beatrice saw us to the front door and bid us farewell.

The catboy walked to me and patted my shoulder. “That was a really cool line, Natasha,” he praised me.

Pokora shook her head in disapproval and sighed, “Anyway. Someone was eavesdropping on the conversation.”

“Can you catch them?” I questioned her.

The Elf nodded.

“Oh! Can I go?” Bonte excitedly suggested.

“Sure,” I replied with a chuckle.

He chuckled and muttered, “To the Darkness I go...” and disappeared in a puff of shadows.

“Natasha,” Pokora began. “Doesn't it sound a little complicated to you?”

I nodded. “It does. On one hand, there's a group of people trying to get rid of both my species and the Gods. On the other hand, I will prevent it with everything I have.”

“The Gods?” she repeated, a little confused.

“That's what Elena said while under mind control,” I recalled. “She said 'why don't the Gods fuck off too', so yeah.”

She groaned, “Why does it have to get political?”

I shrugged. “Life has always been political, Poko-Poko. What you're allowed to do in everyday life comes from the decisions of those in power.”

Pokora sighed. “Don't call me that, bitch.”

“Fair,” I replied.