"Mother, why are you calling me all of a sudden?" Amalia Nosferatu asked with a smile as she saw an image of her mother appear on the holographic screen before her.
"Why didn't you tell me about the whole Stacey incident?" Levana Nosferatu asked angrily.
"Stacey incident?" Amalia asked in confusion.
"I'm talking about Renne's attempted murder of Stacey and how you kept quiet about it to protect our family," Levana replied.
Amalia's eyes widened in shock before she asked in a trembling voice, "How… how do you know about that?"
"The progenitor informed Asema, who informed Alaric and me."
"The progenitor knows about what happened? How?"
"Asema didn't say, though, if I had to guess, it's most likely because of the progenitor's blood pool. As you know, the progenitor has the power to monitor everything that happens on Darah Five, but they just decide not to because they know that we, their children, would not like them constantly monitoring us.
However, even if the progenitor doesn't constantly monitor everything that happens on the planet in real time, he has the ability to recall events that have already happened using his blood pool.
I'm guessing that the threat of Stacey's new boyfriend caused him to look into what happened."
"Stacey's boyfriend? Threat?" Amalia asked in confusion.
"Stacey's boyfriend has demanded the heads of Renne, Merle and Tierney for what they did to Stacey back then and threatened that if the Nosferatu don't do this, he will visit Darah Five and claim them himself," Levana explained, causing Amalia to gape wide-eyed.
"Her boyfriend has threatened to go to Darah Five and claim their heads himself?" Amalia repeated as if confirming what her mother had just said before asking, "Does he not fear the progenitor?"
"You know as well as I do that the progenitor will not involve themselves unless it threatens the lives of many of their children," Levana replied before adding. "However, according to Asema, the progenitor is cautious of Stacey's boyfriend because he wields planetary annihilation weapons."
"Planetary annihilation weapons?" Amalia repeated before asking in shock, "How did Stacey of all people find herself such a powerful boyfriend?"
"Have you not seen the news, daughter?" Levana asked in surprise before saying, "Stacey's boyfriend is the same man who is dating Diva Lorelie."
"WHAT!" Amalia shouted in shock before saying, "I had no idea. I have been busy with work recently."
"It's true, in fact, it seems that Stacey was his girlfriend first, with Diva Lorelie joining their group relationship later," Levana informed her daughter.
"Stacey's sleeping with Diva Lorelie? How lucky," Amalia replied in a jealous tone.
"There is no evidence that Diva Lorelie and Stacey are sleeping together," Levana replied with a frown before adding, "Also, is that really what you should be thinking about right now?"
"Sorry, mother," Amalia replied timidly.
"As you should be, let's remain focused on the main point of my calling you."
"Of course," Amalia replied before asking, "You only mentioned that Stacey's boyfriend wants Renne, Merle and Tierney heads, but what about me?"
"We don't know; he made no mention of you or your punishment," Levana replied while shaking her head before she continued.
"What does that mean?" Amalia asked before adding hopefully, "Does that mean I have nothing to worry about?"
"What do you think, silly girl?" Levana asked with a frown before adding, "Do you really believe that he will let you off covering up his girlfriend's attempted assassination?"
"No," Amalia replied with a sigh.
"And what about Stacey? Do you really believe that she won't seek vengeance for everything you girls put her through when you were younger? Even if we aren't talking about her attempted assassination."
"No," Amalia said again.
"She might not have been able to do anything about it in the past and seek revenge, but the entire situation is different now that she has a powerful backer," Levana explained.
"I'm sorry," Amalia replied.
"I'm not the one you should be apologising to," Levana said in disappointment before asking, "Why did you even have to bully her so much when you were all children?"
"It wasn't something I particularly enjoyed, I just went along with the others," Amalia explained.
"You mean you followed Renne's lead?" Levana asked, to which Amalia simply nodded in reply.
Amalia sighed before saying, "So, we need to decide what to do about this and if you should return home."
💫💫💫
"This ship is amazing, it's one thing seeing it on your stream, but it's completely different seeing it in person," Emma remarked as she sat with the others in the mess hall.
Adam had just shown her to her room and had given her a quick tour before they joined the others in the mess hall.
"Thank you," Spector replied through her internal comm.
"It is rather something, isn't it?" Lorelie said with a smile as she took a sip of her drink.
"Well, feel free to make yourself at home and help yourself to whatever you need," Adam said with a smile.
"I recommend the ice cream," Tephe said happily as Maya nestled happily on her lap.
[Celebrityhunter69 (Earth): She really loves her ice cream.]
The little Levithen had rushed up to Tephe as soon as they had disembarked the shuttle and started flying around her happily.
"You really need to cut down on that stuff; it's not good for you," Emma advised with a smile.
"But it's so yummy," Tephe replied happily before taking a big bite.
"Don't bother, we have all tried reasoning with her," Stacey advised with a sigh.
"Ice cream on its own is not good and will affect your figure," Emma advised, causing Tephe to freeze for a moment as she moved the next spoonful of ice cream towards her mouth.
This surprised the others as they had never been able to receive such a reaction from Tephe when they advised that she cut down. Just as they thought Emma might have succeeded, Tephe proved them wrong by eating the ice cream that was halfway to her open mouth.
Tephe enjoyed the ice cream with a happy smile before swallowing it and saying, "It's fine, my true form is that of a giant dragon, not this humanoid one, remember, because of that I can alter this form as I wish."
As she finished speaking, Tephe's body shone brightly for a moment as it suddenly started to get smaller before a child-like Tephe, who appeared to be around five years old, appeared before them.
[Celebrityhunter69 (Earth): KYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAA, SHE'S SO CUTE.]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Holy fuck.]
[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): Wow, first grader Tephe.]
[Superhearofangirl (Earth): She would look so adorable running to school with a backpack on.]
[Animefangirl (Earth): That was so Anime.]
[RealOtaku (Earth): It really was.]
Adam and Emma gaped at Tephe in surprise while the other women just studied her curiously.
"So this is what Tephe would have looked like as a child if she were a humanoid and not a dragon," Rowena remarked with interest.
"She's definitely super cute," Aphrodite stated as the others nodded in agreement.
"See," Tephe said proudly as Maya looked up at her with interest.
"That's really cool, but your voice doesn't match your body," Adam remarked, since Tephe's voice sounded exactly the same.
"Agreed, I was expecting a more childlike high-pitched voice," Emma remarked.
"While I can change my humanoid body's appearance, there are certain aspects of it that I can't change and my voice is one of them," Tephe explained before her body shone brightly again and she returned to normal.
"How come you chose to use this form?" Adam asked curiously.
"This size is the most convenient for me to move around in. Also, my physical appearance, such as my face, is one of the things I am unable to change; I can't just decide to appear as someone else suddenly," Tephe explained. "It only alters in the way you have just seen, so, for example, if I made myself an old lady, my face would have wrinkles."
"Which is strange, since why would anyone want wrinkles?" Eri asked in jealousy.
"Agreed," Lorelie replied before adding, "Unlike the finite races, dragons don't get wrinkles unless they want them."
"Hey! It's not like we Brood don't get wrinkles," Rowena replied.
"Same for us, Succuba," Aphrodite added.
"That only happens if you don't drink blood or have sex," Lorelie retorted.
"Do all races that can take on a humanoid form have that ability, Revi, for example or maybe Maya here when she learns to take her humanoid form?" Adam asked curiously as he looked at Maya, who looked back at him.
"It differs from race to race," Tephe replied happily, since she was enjoying being the one to answer Adam's questions.
"Revi's Phoenix race is rather unique, however," Tephe added before continuing. "While the Phoenix race is technically classified as a long-lived race, they do still die from old age and, as such, gain wrinkles. This is both a disadvantage since they have to repeatedly go through rebirth and childhood, but also an advantage since if they are killed, they are reborn as an egg, unless someone steals their heart, of course.
However, because of this, they do not have the ability to alter the form the same way we dragons do."