He found himself in a precarious position as Juna began to hug him. Her palms pressed tightly behind his back and while she was certainly smaller than himself, she still managed to grasp him strongly enough that he wondered how she had so much strength.

“Are you, uh, alright Juna?” he said.

She nestled her head against him as he patted her on the back.

“Oh Kiran. I was so worried about you. I tried to come visit you sooner, but they wouldn’t tell me where you were.”

He looked over at Lar who had her arms crossed. She had a less than enthusiastic expression, to say the least.

Kiran pulled his arms back expecting Juna to do so as well, except she kept tightly hugging him as if the idea of ever releasing her grasp from him was to in fact lose him forever.

A few moments later, she pulled away and rubbed her teary eyes. “I’m just glad to see that you’re alright. With everything that’s happened…”

“I know,” he said. “We’ve been through a lot.” His time in Liall had started off quite well but it quickly went out of control. Lar’s warnings to him that the beauty of the city was very much illusionary were quite true. It mystified him and made him feel more secure than he was. He couldn’t afford to make such mistakes again.

“How have you been holding up?” he asked Juna.

“I’ve been alright I guess. I haven’t really been able to do much recently since our faction of the coalition was practically almost all wiped out. I’ve been staying busy though helping Hoghdar relocate people from the slums to another area.”

“He needs all the help he can get. I do admittedly feel a little bad that I haven’t been able to help you with those efforts,” he said noticing a curly-mustached man approaching the three of them.

“Don’t feel bad, you’ve been having to recover,” Juna said as a man who wore a butler outfit came up to them and bowed slightly towards the three of them.

“I’m happy to welcome you all here,” the butler said with one hand behind their back. “Please, come with me inside. You need not freeze to death out here when you can be nice and warm.”

Kiran followed with the other two by his side. “Whose mansion is this if I may ask?”

“I’m surprised you weren’t told before. This is Yorais Dumiar’s private residence.” Yorais Dumiar, eh? I wonder who this person is. They’re certainly quite wealthy judging by their home. It might even be nicer than Rinas’s mansion.

They all reached the final step to the front of their mansion with lots of tall beautiful windows running along the sides of the structure. The front doors were opened by the man in a butler uniform and a nice warm interior beckoned forth for them all to enjoy. He wore enough layers that it kept the cold from doing him in, but being inside certainly helped a lot more to fight against the bitter cold that Liall currently endured.

“Do you know who Yorais is?” he asked towards Juna.

“Sure I do,” she said. “I’ve never actually met her before though.”

The butler approached Lar with a hand stretched out. “If I may my lady.”

Lar handed him her cloak. He also took Juna’s.

His dearest beloved companion sighed. “Was it really necessary for me to wear this?”

“What’s the matter Lar?” Juna said. “You look great in that dress!” His companion’s dress formed tightly to her body. Her elbows were exposed and he wondered why she might be so averse to wearing such a thing. He thought it odd that out of all the kinds of attire Lar could wear, she was somewhat averse to a dress of all things. He much would prefer her to wear dresses than some of the more revealing clothes Juna had let Lar wear until it became too cold to tolerate such attire.

Juna on the other hand appeared quite liking to the dress she herself wore. Her dress came in the shade of a nice glistening green. For today’s meeting, everyone was to be dressed accordingly so that they all fit in and not look so suspicious coming to such a fanciful place. If a bunch of bums showed up from the streets, it would look more obvious that something was afoot he figured. He hadn’t noticed any bums in these parts of Liall either. These parts were entirely the opposite of the slums he had become more and more acclimated towards as time went on.

Juna made a slight gesture with her arm and hand. “Well if you don’t like to wear dresses what do you prefer then Lar?”

His companion thought for a moment. “I think I’d prefer nothing.”

Juna began to laugh. “You know, I think practically all familiars I’ve known have said as much. If you tell that to most humans, they would think you’re crazy.”

Clothes did make it more tedious for familiars to change forms. Still, he didn’t think that justified being naked all the time as some excuse. Perhaps that was just some silly opinion held by humans such as him. It was probably completely normal and not seen as strange amongst their own kind although the familiars within Liall had little choice but to accept human societal rules and norms so that they could blend in.

While Lar and Juna chatted a bit amongst themselves, Kiran spotted the butler walking by them. Kiran raised a hand getting their attention. “Are we supposed to be going anywhere in particular for this meeting?”

“You needn’t worry about that for now sir. The meeting itself isn’t to occur until some hours from now. In the meantime, you may enjoy yourselves here. Several more are expected to arrive soon for the informal party taking place. Since this is your first time coming to one of these affairs, these parties are orchestrated to act as a cover for the true reasons for you all joining here.”

“Well then,” he said towards Juna and Lar. “What are we to do in the meantime then?”

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“To have fun of course!” Juna said with a clap.

For a while, it was just the three of them lounging about at Yorais’ private mansion. Since he had gotten the chance to see more of the inside of her place, it became clear at least to his uneducated eye, that this Yorais person whom he hadn’t met yet held undeniably more wealth than Rinas himself. It made him wonder how such a person amassed so much wealth while working for the coalition.

It appeared evident to him that the coalition had several notable members or leaders within it who had a good portion of power. Such a movement needed those with wealth and potentially powerful connections.

When he had first joined the Human Familiar Coalition, he had been forced to only associate with a particular faction of it that occupied the poorest parts of the city. And now it appeared clear that the coalition wasn’t as entirely destitute as that faction would have some of its members believe. In fact, he thought that it was done that way purposefully to weed out people who weren’t going to earn their position within the movement beyond a certain point. It also ensured that only a select few truly knew who the higher echelons were within the coalition creating a barrier of protection for them.

Platters of food made their way to them. Juna gorged herself with all the fine cheeses and meats that she could get her hands on.

“Careful Juna,” he said taking note of her stuffing her face. “At this rate, you’ll be puking in no time.”

She swallowed the fist full of cheese she tossed into her mouth a moment ago. “Have you tried this?” she asked with a mouth full of food.

“No.”

She grabbed a piece and handed it to him. She swallowed whatever she had chewed up appearing quite pleased. “You have to try it.”

He wasn’t much of a cheese kind of guy but he had no choice at this point. He tossed the piece of cut cheese into his mouth and began to chew.

As he took the time to get a full appreciation of the taste, Juna handed Lar some as well. “Well, what do you think?”

“It’s pretty good.”

Juna began scarfing down even more becoming practically intoxicated by how much she enjoyed eating it. “I can’t get enough of it. Oh, and look at that over there!” She became distracted from the cheese as more platters of food came out with sweets and loaves of bread.

As she ran off from them a tall figure started to approach them. He smirked at Kiran as he looked down at him. For a big tall guy, Frederek had a frightening way of appearing silently and suddenly despite his size. “Well, well. Beat us here did ya?” Frederek said. A shorter stubby fellow stood by the one who always dwelled in the depths below the city. “I guess I can’t be surprised. It takes me a lot longer to reach my destinations when I have to get brought up to the topside.”

“How often do you leave the depths?”

“Not all that often.” Judging by how pale his skin looked, Kiran thought that had to be true. He sometimes wondered how people could tolerate living in such conditions. He supposed people would either get used to it or just tolerate it especially if they had little other choice. Frederek on the other hand always gave off the impression that he was made for that kind of environment. As for Kiran, he much preferred living in an environment that the sun could reach.

For whatever reason, Lar pressed her palm to her face. “What’s the matter?” Frederek asked towards her.

She pointed over towards Juna who kept taking advantage of all the food being provided to them. Considering her living circumstances, he figured she must’ve wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get all of the food she could eat. If he hadn’t eaten a hefty breakfast earlier in the day, he imagined he’d be right there with her stuffing his face. He wasn’t quite hungry enough right now however to conduct himself in such a way. The sight of Juna eating tons of food was somewhat amusing though even if it might be otherwise embarrassing for some people.

As time passed, the gathering grew larger over time. More and more members of the coalition intermingled with one another. Some chose to greet Kiran while others kept to themselves. Everyone wore nice outfits that fit with the crowd much like themselves. It made him almost feel like a noble of sorts instead of just being a practical nobody in a city full of people.

This lavish and ornate lifestyle certainly had a lot of perks. It was by no means an option for the majority of souls within Liall however. Only a few could experience life this way and afford to serve such extravagance with others who associated with them.

After a while, even Juna had to take a break from her abnormal consumption of food provided to everyone in attendance. Even her stomach could tolerate only so much. He was honestly amazed that she could eat as much as she did. If she wasn’t careful in the future, she might just burst right open. That was certainly a sight he did not want to see.

Kiran found himself sitting on one of the sofas in a room with a nicely lit fireplace and people chatting all around. Lar sat beside him struggling to find any will to engage with anyone in attendance. He was just glad she was able to be out of bed and do anything at all. Compared to him, she was far from her previous strength. It would take a while before they were back to normal unlike him who felt well enough that he could start fighting. Although it would be best to avoid any altercations for a little while longer to truly ensure his body fully healed to a sufficient enough degree.

As Juna came to sit with him on the large sofa, a woman who he hadn’t seen before came to greet them. She wore black robe-like attire with a yellow cloak running down her back. She also wore black heels and wore a devilish smirk on her face as she looked down at them. Her hair was as white as milk running down the front and back of her shoulders. With one hand pressed to her hip, she chose to speak to them first. “I’m glad to see that you three made it to my residence. I’m sorry that it took me so long to finally welcome you all to my esteemed home. ”

“Y-your Yorais?” Lar muttered aloud.

“The one and only,” she said only to squint a little as she eyed Lar. She quickly looked away from her to meet his own eyes. “I don’t believe we have met before.”

Kiran chose to stand up to greet her properly. He shook her delicate yet sophisticated hand. She smiled at him revealing her teeth just slightly. She looked at least a decade older than himself and yet, he got the impression that her somewhat youthful appearance was misleading. The way she spoke and the way she carried herself made it seem as if she was quite a bit older than mere appearances would suggest as well.

She lent out her hand towards Lar who reluctantly shook it from the sofa. Kiran sat back down and Juna eagerly shook Yorais’s hand when given the chance.

“I hope you all have enjoyed your time here so far.”

“We have,” he said.

“Most definitely! And all of this food here…” Juna’s voice trailed off as she became distracted by a bout of laughter erupting from behind them.

“Yes, well,” Yorais said looking away briefly. “I do know how to throw a party. I’ve thrown, let’s say, quite a few as you can imagine. I wish this one could go on forever, but alas, we must convene soon I’m afraid to carry out our important duties with this evening’s meeting. And if we may Kiran, I would like to speak with you particularly alone after the meeting. There are some things that I am most curious to ask you in particular about.”

“Sure,” he said. “We can do that.”

She smiled at him and took a step away. “Thank you. Enjoy yourselves for now.”

Lar kept watchful of her as she walked away. Lar sure seems on edge when around her. I wonder why that is. Maybe white-haired people who also had yellow eyes were always suspicious of each other. Something was up with the two of them though. That much he could tell right away. I’ll have to do a little digging and see what the deal is between them.