“Urhhhh….”

Talia slurred in her sleep as she tossed from side to side. She groaned and mumbled words with no meaning as she displayed a distressed look.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and felt the danger she percieved before losing consciousness.

“Enemy!!!” She immediately screamed, rising from her sleep.

She looked to her side and around her, discovering she was all alone in a strange room she didn’t recognize. She was still in confusion when she noticed the state of her body.

“This is…” She said, feeling herself as she discovered that she was completely recovered from her battle with Pheobe.

Suddenly, she remembered what happened leading to her passing out. She remembered the lady in white.

“Who was she? What happened after…” She slowly said to herself, leaving the comfortable bed she sat on.

She walked around the large room and looked around. 

While still being lost in thought, Talia heard a knock on the door which startled her.

“Eeeep!” She shrieked in surprise..

Without any word of warning, the handle bent as the door creaked, opening slowly.

She focused her eyes on whom the intruder might be, or rather was she the intruder? She had so many questions, perhaps this would answer the questions she had within her.

“Y-You… You are…?” Talia’s eyes widened as she saw the person who entered the room.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you once again, Talia.” The lady in white spoke to her with a slight bow.

Talia felt uncomfortable by this and got a little flustered, before regaining composure. Realizing that the person before her could be a potential enemy, she took a defensive stance and stared intensely at the lady in front of her.

“You can be at ease. I am not your enemy. My name is Ana, and I am a fellow servant to the master we both serve.” The lady in white replied calmly.

“W-What? Then… You are..?!” Talia stuttered.

She still couldn’t process it. Where did she come from? Who was she? Did Hexarion come into contact with her while she and Shamac were still unconscious?

“I understand that you have many questions. However, for the meantime you should calm yourself and relax.” Ana said.

Talia still felt unsure of what to do and she hesitated.

“If I was your enemy, I would have killed you when I saw you that time. You were weakened and vulnerable. Instead I brought you here. That should count for something, right?” Ana said with her still and calm face.

“She has a point. In that case, I suppose it should be safe for now…” Talia thought to herself.

She heaved a sigh of relief and stopped her defensive posture, reverting back to her upright stance.

“I understand.” Talia said to Ana.

Ana nodded slightly and walked further into the room.

“It’s understandable that you are flustered and defensive. In fact, I am pleased by this act you exhibited. It shows you are no mere fool. For that, you have my respect” Ana spoke with a tone of formality and seriousness.

“Err… Thanks…?” Talia said, feeling a bit awkward in the conversation.

“Now then, I’m certain you have many questions. Let us start with answering a few of them.” Ana said, picking a seat by the corner of the room to sit on.

Talia remaining standing and glanced toward the bed, which was the only remaining place to sit on. Before she considered making herself comfortable, she had a question burning on her mind that she just had to let loose.

“Where is Hexarion?” She asked with a determined and suspicious look in her eyes.

Ana heaved a sigh and met Talia’s gaze, not faltering for even a moment.

“The Lord has other pressing matters to attend to. He’s currently in the process of taking over this entire city. Since he is so busy, he has entrusted you and the other one to me.” Ana said in a slow paced tone.

“Ah… I see then…” Talia muttered when she heard this.

She felt conflicted on how to feel. Hexarion entrusted her and Shamac to her?! What did that mean? Did Hexarion feel she was lesser than Ana? Or that Ana was more superior in terms of ability and use to him? 

He didn’t bother to tell her anything about his plan. Instead he played them, used them and suddenly demanded from them. She fulfilled what he told her to, but that didn’t change the fact that she felt hurt by his neglect. 

And then there was the issue of Ana, the new servant. She seemed sincere and honest. Perhaps even a bit too much. Besides, she made a fair point when she said if she was an enemy she would’ve done away with them a while ago. Of course she could also be decieveing her, and there would be a larger scale to her plan if she was an adversary, but…

If what the lady said was the truth then that meant something she couldn’t ignore…

“She’s an enemy… But in a different sense” Talia said to herself.

It was bad enough that she had Shamac to worry about, now this new one had joined the fray. When would she catch a break?

“I miss the old times when it was just me and Hexarion” She lamented to herself.

Of course, with Shamac she feared she would lose her place with Hexarion, but she had also powered up recently, making her of combative use to Hexarion. Besides, Shamac was a guy, there was no way he could fill in her role. She used that to comfort herself, until now.

But with this new member, Talia truly felt she might lose everything. Not only was the woman calm and composed, she seemed to know about Hexarion’s plans in total, something even she didn’t know. The fact that she was also kept in charge of them and that she knew of them, but they didn’t know of her proved that she could be higher than them in the food chain.

And then there was one other thing…

“This woman… Is pretty…” Talia found herself thinking.

Her beauty was so threatening that Talia was left speechless. Her attire, coupled with her always calm facial expression made her seem more capable than Talia herself. Her pale skin, vulptious chest and we’ll rounded figure, at least what she could make out from her looks, made her seem like an angel. How was she to compete with that?

Talia was currently wearing plain clothes meant for bed, but even if she dressed up, she wasn’t sure she could be a match for the lady sitting in front of her.

If this was what she, as a woman, felt when she saw her then what about Hexarion, her master?

“Maybe… He l-l-likes her?” Talia’s thoughts rang.

She didn’t want to accept it, but what if..?!

“It seems you have a lot on your mind, then why don’t we invite your friend to this conversation. I suppose even he must have questions as well.” Ana said, after watching Talia agonizing over her thoughts.

“O-Oh… Shamac” Talia said, reminding herself of the other servant and wondered where he was.

Ana closed her eyes and heaved a sigh slowly. Suddenly Shamac appeared in the room. He appeared on the smooth floor of the room and suddenly his eyes bulged as he noticed a change in his surrounding.

“W-What?!” Shamac said as he looked around him.

He saw Talia who stood and looked at him with a stressed expression. She glared at him and he glared back.

“So it’s you after all, annoying fairy person. Where the heck am I?!” Shamac asked as he stood on his feet, rising from his sitting position.

“I wake up in a strange room, and next thing I know I’m in another strange room. What the heck is thi-” Shamac began mumbling to himself.

“Welcome, Shamac, fellow servant of our Lord Hexarion…” Ana’s voice appeared behind him.

Shamac’s eyes bulged as he heard this and swiftly turned to see who spoke.

His eyes widened even more as he saw Ana. Her beautiful exhuberance as well as her entire look shocked him, making him unconsciously blush.

“Y-You are…” Shamac said with hushed whispers.

His heart beat fast as his eyes couldn’t stop gazing upon the beauty in front of him. He only had one word to describe the simply ecstatic being in front of him… 

“You are… An Angel..?!” Shamac muttered.

“Tch, he never said anything of the sort when he saw me” Talia muttered to herself in envy.

And she even had wings too.

“My my, thank you.” Ana said, still maintaining her dignified demeanor.

Shamac beamed when heard this and his grin widened uncontrollably.

“Now then. I am certain you also have questions that require answers. Let me address the issues that remain, as our master and lord concludes the state of transition in this city until he completes the takeover.” Ana said to Shamac and addressed the two of them.

Talia sighed as she sat on the bed since her legs were already feeling weary and Shamac followed suit. There was a lot they were curious about, Shamac even more so since he had no idea what was going on.

“I will introduce myself again. I am Ana, the former Apostle, and now Acolyte of our Lord and Master, Hexarion. I bring glad tidings. Within moment’s time our great master will have complete control over everything there is in this city.”

“A-Apostle?! Then you are…?!” Talia said with shock.

Shamac was also surprised as well, but was so preoccupied with Ana’s beauty that he didn’t mind.

“That is my past. I am currently Lord Hexarion’s servant. I suppose I should formally say it now that we are all here in this room…” Ana said.

Her calm and straight laced lips suddenly tilted to form a soft smile. She bent her head a bit and gave a charming gaze. 

“…. Let’s get along well, shall we?”