Judging by her actions and amount of flux energy coursing through her body, everyone thought Nika would beco violent, though she only used her trait to move so chairs and nudge each of them to make them take a seat.
"Right now I'm furious with you all and the only way to appease my anger is to be completely sincere with each other. We're all going to sit here and we won't exit this room until we're all caught up with each other."
"So that's why you refurnished the eting room, you had this all planned." Uriel pointed out. At first, he was reluctant to participate in the conversation Nika wanted to have. Being the only one who already knew what happened on Nika's end, he wasn't interested in hearing her story again. However, in less than an hour the conversation evolved from a 'catching up' into sothing else entirely.
"I told you witchcraft was real!" Nika crossed herself after hearing about the society.
"I still don't think it's actual witchcraft, they're just a bunch of hunters trying to bite more than they can handle."
"How so?" dusa asked.
"It seems they're trying to perform so sort of blood ritual, though I think it's closer to using blood to activate an ancient structure than it is to witchery. They just don't understand it."
"What about the hybrids you ntioned? Can you be more specific?" Luna's eyes glead with scientific curiosity.
"You're a hybrid yourself, shouldn't you know all there is to know about hybrids?" When dusa spoke a cold silence filled the room. "Did I say sothing wrong?"
"It's just that... I think you're a hybrid too, dusa." Uriel awkwardly pointed out what everybody else was thinking.
"Ha, ha, nice joke." dusa tried to laugh it out, managing only a strange grimace instead of a smile. "And you all agree?"
"You don't look like a human anymore." Uriel finally said it, though due to his phrasing it sounded like an insult instead of an accurate depiction which caused dusa to start crying.
"Are you implying I'm a freak?" dusa blurted out offended by Luna's remark.
"That would be the sa as saying I'm a freak." Luna replied, coldly as ever, then turned to Uriel. "You should apologize. My sister always said whenever a friend's feelings were hurt I should apologize."
"Okay, first, I can't picture your sister saying sothing like that. Second, you never apologize when you hurt our feelings..."
"Uhm, that's because I don't." Luna butted in, but Uriel continued nonetheless.
"And third, you've noticed it too, haven't you?"
"Uhm... yes." Luna nodded without taking her eyes from dusa. Although dusa couldn't see them, she could feel the intense stare directed towards her and she suddenly beca uneasy.
"You're scaring ... please tell what's going on." dusa sniffled.
"I only recently beca aware of it, but I think I've known it ever since you acquired your trait and then, when you used it on ..." Uriel didn't have the words to phrase what he needed to say without hurting dusa. Luckily for him, Luna didn't share his worries.
"Rember what I said to you after I asked you to use your trait on ?" Luna asked.
"The uncanny valley thing?" dusa teary eyed nodded.
"Yes. Back then I was trying to keep my hybrid nature a secret and I thought you were doing the sa. I was too little to rember, but according to Cassie before we left our hotown, our mom told her to ntion the uncanny valley effect in front of friendly people that might be hybrids so we could seek for their help, but you didn't react and I simply discarded it.
But after you reached the heavenly rank your body proportions, your height, even your face, there's sothing, uhm... inhuman in them."
"Don't you guys think that if I was a hybrid, I would be the first to know?"
"I was born as a wolf, not a hybrid, a wolf. Can you imagine how my mother felt? I can't, but I've heard it was a shock for everyone in the family despite them being lycanthropes. For six years they outcasted us, shunned us, threw stones at our ho, at . Believe it or not, those were the happiest days of my life. I wasn't conscious about my hybrid nature.
I was just a wolf, happy to have three als a day and to pass the ti with my sister Cassandra. That happiness ended the day I turned into this monster." Luna pointed at herself.
"My poor Lunita..." Hearing Luna's sad story, Nika too started to cry, but Luna didn't stop.
"I was never fond of my human form and it was only after eting you that I beca sowhat accustod to it. Yet all the ti I spent with you, I always feared the reaction you guys would have when you saw in my true form and that's why I refused to participate in fights when we first t.
I lived enough ti in human society to know that people who are different are also treated different, I knew you wouldn't throw rocks at , but I thought you might kick out. I am considered a monster by those of my kin and also by humans, my fangs, my fur...
if being ugly on the outside isn't enough to scare off any potential mating partner, then consider also how difficult it is for to act like a human even when I look like one."
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." dusa took Luna's pause as a chance to apologize.
"I'm not done yet. Your body is different to that of humans, yes. It's as if every inch of your body was made by design. You're so perfect you look just like the statue of the woman inside the dungeon, yet you feel offended when soone points it out." Luna's eyes widened for a short second, then beca sharper than ever when he turned to Uriel as an idea crossed her mind.
"Why are you giving that look? n can be scared too, you know?"
"Yes, it's every biological creature's prerogative no matter gender, age, size, though I'd be inclined to say it only applies to those from the chordata phylum."
"There you go, speaking gibberish like always." Nika chuckled as she mindlessly patted Luna on the head.
"Why do you always refuse to help with my research?" Luna asked.
"I have my own research to do and I've been so busy."
"Do you even know what is my research about?" Luna insisted.
"Sure, you want to prove that cryptids have been around for who knows how long." Uriel shrugged.
"That would be the sa as saying that you're trying to prove that all civilizations co from the sa origin." Luna rebuked, then added. "You think I don't listen when you talk about archaeology, but I do. Because of that, I also know that your research goes beyond that. I think we have all the data we need to unravel the mystery of the ti mirage."
The conversation shifted once more and it turned into a passionate brainstorm of wild theories as they began fitting all the pieces of information each had. It was a dense discussion of topics that didn't pique Nika's interest at all.
Being the one who called for the eting she felt hurt that her concerns had yet to be addressed, but after Luna's venting she couldn't bring herself to scold them and instead resorted to the beer stash to keep herself awake.
"There's a saying in my hotown: "Para todo mal, zcal. Para todo bien, tambien."
"What does that an?" dusa tilted her head.
"Don't mind her, it's just her alcoholism speaking," Uriel knew just enough Spanish to understand, but that didn't an he cared and continued jotting down the information they've collected into his journal. "I can feel we're getting really close to sothing, but sothing is missing."
"The data we collected should be sufficient." Luna insisted.
"I know, but even if our theories are correct, nothing explains why dusa was unaffected by the ti mirage. If it was because she's a hybrid, then the ti mirage wouldn't affect you either."
"Maybe it's like Chichén Itzá." Nika swirled her can of beer.
"How so?" Uriel directed a questioning look towards Nika. dusa imdiately understood what she ant and blushed up intensely, but that didn't stop Luna from saying it out loud.
"It's because she's a virgin too."
"If that was the case, then I should have remained unaffected too. Unless... it's about sothing different. What have we done that dusa hasn't?" Uriel asked out loud, not expecting the quick answer that followed.
"dusa has never killed a human." Luna said casually.
"You... you've killed people? I thought you only killed vampires on campus."
"Uhm..." Luna stuttered, but it was actually Nika who replied.
"Two young runaway girls move from a small town into a gacity, what do you think happened? Sothing similar happened to , but I was a killer even before getting my trait." She shrugged.
"That's it, then... I think it's ti to make a Vlog." Uriel grinned when the last piece of the puzzle finally fell into piece.
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