The young human was super confused about this behaviour of hers.

Was this more flirting of her?

Was this a threat to not try anything with Inu?

Or did she legitimately just want to keep the conversation alive as she was relaxing in her bathtub.

“Let's see, Mr. Smartypants...”, Curel said with a grin that was so wide, Sage could hear it in her voice, even though he still had turned his back to her. “Do you know why I need to take a bath three times per day?”

Sage sighed: “Of course. Riverelves have adapted to a life close to or completely inside of water. Their skin has adapted to it and if they do not get water on it regularly, it will degrade into dry scales. It's known as Erass, a genetic sickness from which all Riverelves suffer.”

“Fascinating...” Curel just responded to this display of pure knowledge, before she hopped into the bathtub.

“You... really know a lot about Elves, Sage.” Inu said, seeming just as impressed: “I wish I knew so much about my race.”

Sage laughed uncomfortably: “I just wish I knew more about myself. As it is now, my knowledge about Elves seems pretty useless.”

Inu nods: “I... can imagine how you feel.”

Sage raised a questioning eyebrow. Inu blushed uncomfortably.

“I... don't know my Name either.” she said slowly. “My Mum placed me in front of the door of this Clan and then ran off. It's Kyu who gave me my name; because she thinks my ears look like the ears of a Shiba Inu. My full name therefore is Inu Shiba... Because Kyu logic.”

“You allowed her to name you after a dog?”, Sage asked in disbelief.

“It's not like I had much of a choice.”, said Inu in response. “I was a baby back then. Curel raised me basicly inside of this building nearly my entire life.”

“Still. This isn't very nice of Kyu, is it?”, asked Sage with a sceptical expression on his face.

“It's just the way Kyu thinks. She shapes the world rather than learning about it.”, Inu explained.

“Can confirm!”, Curel called from the bathtub. “It's sometimes pretty hard to be around our personal mad goddess, but definitely an interesting life to live.”

Sage looked at one of his two conversation partners and then asked, so loudly that even the second one could hear it: “So... Kyu... what do you think about her?”

Inu blushed, obviously taking this as too much of a private question.

Meanwhile Curel took much less offence in it and answered: “According to Kyu, the world revolves around her. Heck, she might even be right about that, all things considered.”

“How did she get this way?” Sage asked interestedly.

Sage could hear a sigh echo through the bath: “I got a suspicion there... but that's a story she should rather tell you herself. It would be impolite to gossip around other peoples private past.”

Sage was left even more curious but he didn't dig deeper. Curel was right in mentioning politeness when it came to Kyu's past Also, as if on cue, the door opened and Titania stepped in together with Kyu.

“I got one!” Kyu called upon entering, then immediately froze when she saw Inu with uncovered sleeves and without cap. “Inu!”

Said Wildelf twitched and sat back a bit, but this couldn't stop Kyu from rushing over to her and pressing her against the backrest by the shoulders.

“I told you NOT TO SHOW HIM.” she said, remarkably pronouncing the last four words.

“She was overheating!” Sage felt like it was his obligation to throw himself into this conversation as he felt like it was partially his fault that it came to this situation.

“Can confirm!” Curel called from the bath. She seemed to like this catchphrase. “It was either getting rid of one or two layers of cloth or systemic circulation problems.”

Kyu was quiet for a second, and then she sighed: “Alright... I just get worried about Inu a lot.”

Said girl blushed, obviously appreciating the gesture and said: “Sage already said he wouldn't tell it to anyone.”

“Oh I would actually like to hear that myself.” Kyu said in a bittersweet tone and stepped with one of her combat-boots onto Sages knee. “Well?”

Sage, who had to look up to Kyu now from his sitting position was quick to nod and if it was just to get rid of the pain below his lap: “Alright, alright I won't tell.”

“Promise.” Kyu demanded.

“I promise!” Sage reassured which indeed, made Kyu stop hurting him.

“Alright... I guess we'll have to take your word on it” she said. “But seriously, Inu’s life as we know it depends on this staying a secret. If you break it I'll personally rip your tongue out.”

She said it so casually, as if she was threatening other people with the prospect of taking their ability to speak on a daily basis. Sage had the strong suspicion though, that this was just Kyu’s specific kind of humour; half-ironic death threats.

“Anyway.”, Titania involved herself into the conversation again and sat down on the couch. “That means only one of us is missing at this point, eh?”

“Laniel will make it.”, Kyu assured her. “She ran south, so she will have the longest way back after she escaped from the police. In the meantime, why don't we turn on one of the TV and bathe in our glory like Curel bathes in water.”

She picked up the remote control and took a seat between Inu and Sage while skipping a few channels. Titania dropped down in an armchair as well when Kyu finally found the news channel she was looking for and waited for the advertising break to end.

“And were back at the Avalon-Bridge to the John Bell District.”, an overly tidy dressed, white Human female reporter announced into a camera. “Just half an hour ago, another despicable terrorist attack took place at this site, wounding four people and leaving two of them in critical conditions.”

This was the moment, in which Kyu’s face brightened up and she offered Sage a high-five. Reluctantly, he clapped his palm into hers. The news lady didn't bother their enthusiasm, but continued.

“According to eye-witness testimony's, the perpetrators of this violent attack where six Elves, coming from the clan-milieu, that is still running rampant in the old city and the Dublin District. Minister of internal affairs, Jon Welland has released a press statement on the attacks, condemning them as ‘violent, hateful and coming from Elves, who do not appreciate the things that mankind has done for them.’ He also announced that...”

The rest of the lady’s statement drowned in a shower of ‘boos’ coming not only from Kyu, but from Titania and even Curel in the bathroom. The ‘boos’ soon got dissolved into mad laughter, as photos of the beat-up victims were shown and one of the guys from the bridge was interviewed, the one who survived the attack unharmed due to the pure fact he wasn't in the camp when the Elves attacked.

“That guy...” Titania pointed out amidst a short break of laughing. “...literally has a swastika on his biker coat. I wish I had punched him too.”

Kyu nodded in agreement as the biker said into the camera, in English of course: “They attacked out of nowhere! We just camped by the roadside for two days and these Elf terrorists instantly attack upstanding citizens like us. Where is the government in protecting us in this?”

“I doubt this douche bag is even able to know such words.” Kyu stated quietly. Titania nodded in agreement: “Yeah, that's not his statement, that's a Maranurr National Party statement, placed in his mouth...”

“This might come back at us...” Inu threw in quietly, but Kyu shook her hit.

“Doing nothing comes back at us.” she replied. “Elfish history ever since the humans arrived is a series of events on which we should've acted but didn't.”

“Hey!” someone called through the window.

Sage didn't know it was possible to turn off a TV as fast as Kyu did in this moment. The whole group stood up and walked to the window, where Laniel was finally climbing into the room. Even Curel stepped out of the bath now, with a towel wrapped around her almost non-existent chest to avoid getting stares.

“Welcome back.” Titania said and helped her younger sister to get into the room without an accident. “What took you so long?”

Laniel winked at the group and said: “No need to worry about me. I took a route through the Neotonic district. The police don't go there.”

While Sage had no idea what that meant, the jaws of every other person in the room dropped.

“Laniel, are you crazy?” Titania asked with true sisterly concern in her voice. “Mum will be furious.”

“She doesn't need to know.” Laniel answered obviously feeling the need to defend herself. “Also, what do you care? It was the safest route.”

“Safest route?” Kyu asked with a hysteric laugher following up on it.

Curel stepped into the conversation with a concerned expression on her face: “Laniel, Elves disappear in that district on a daily basis and reappear as drug addicted, broken husks. That is nothing to mess around with.”

“Erm...” Sage cleared his throat to demand attention for a bit. “Would anyone mind explaining what the Neotonic district is?”

Everyone looked at Sage, then back at Laniel and obviously, Curel concluded this was a great opportunity to refresh Laniel's knowledge on what exactly the Neotonic district was.

“The Neotonic District...” she explained. “Is on paper an economical zone created by the government and liberated from the boundaries and laws that limit the free market everywhere else. Some call it the Las Vegas of the Pacific. But in reality, it is a fucking dangerous shithole, where drug addiction, legalised slavery and forced prostitution are rampant. Elves who go in there are abducted, hooked onto some drug and released as whores for the Human tourists to enjoy. This is LITERALLY the worst place on this earth for a young woman to be.”

Laniel looked at Curel angrily: “Hey, I have used this place several times to escape the police and it always worked well.”

For a moment, everyone in the room looked at Laniel with a mix of worry and anger, then Titania said: “Yeah... Mum really doesn't need to know about that. But you also need to stay away from it, okay?”

Laniel rolled her eyes and nodded: “Yeah, ‘Mum’.”

In the true style of a rebellion teenager who wanted to avoid a conversation, she walked into the room, past everyone else and looked at the TV: “Are we on air already?”

“Why would you be on air, I wonder?” an old, creaky voice from the door-frame asked.

Everyone turned around with different levels of shock and surprise mixed in their face. Especially Kyu’s face also showed an additional layer of nervousity on her face.

It was Kyu’s Grandmother, who entered the room, seemingly out of nowhere and obviously pretty angry. Her walking-stick tapped on the ground periodically as she hunched slowly toward the group of seats that the girls had gathered around, throwing each of them a mute, but furious glare.

“Sit down.”, she commanded before anyone had the courage to speak up.

“Can I maybe get some clothes first?” Curel asked shyly, but a simple look of Hlaya was enough to make her comply. “No? Shame...”

Everyone walked over into the living room and squeezed themselves onto the couch, while Kyu’s Nan sat down on the armchair on the opposite side of the room, before saying: “Given the amount of celebration I heard from this room, it seems I am correct to assume you are the ones who beat a bunch of Humans to bloody puddle on the Avalon Bridge today?”

“Not Humans, they were Nazis.” Kyu corrected her Grandmother in an impressive feat of aggressive defence. “And I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.”

“I guess, a Riverelf, two Humans and three Elves, one of which has iconic white hair band together on a daily basis to beat up Humans?”, she asked.

“It could've been anyone.” Kyu responded. “There are a lot of Antifascist groups out there, where Elves and Humans fight these Nazi shits together.”

“Oh really?” her Grandmother said. “Then what is this?”

She reached into her Dyun’s pockets and pulled out two of the face masks that they had used during the attack at the bridge this afternoon.

“I suppose you recognise these? I got them from your room and they are clearly visible on the footage which the police has.” she said with a threatening tone in her voice.

“You searched my room?” Kyu asked angrily, but her Grandmother just shrugged.

“You are not married yet, so I am responsible for you.” she said, calmer on the surface but at least as worked up as Kyu was inside. “And I am not letting you go down the same path as your mother.”

“My mother is a hero!” Kyu shouted aggressively. “Don't you dare question her achievements for us!”

“What achievements?” her Grandmother shouted. “Your mother, my daughter, was lured in by some bullshit promises of terrorist groups and then she died for them. She achieved nothing!”

“SHE'S NOT DEAD!” Kyu shouted furiously, clenching her fists and jumping up. “AND IF SHE IS, THEN SHE DIED AS A MATYR!”

Hlaya didn't respond to this, she just looked up to Kyu with endless disappointment and deep sorrow in her eyes. Everyone around Kyu seemed to fear she would start wrecking the room any second now and Curel was desperately gesturing towards Kyu to calm down.

Instead, Kyu went on a rant: “She is out there, fighting the fight which the Clans should be spearheading, while we are sitting here, doing nothing but working into this godforsaken Human machinery that they use to enslave us! Our race is not a race of cowards that surrenders without a fight! My parents are proving this, but you seem to be hell-bent on destroying anything that she builds up! You are COWARDS! And I hate all of you!”

With these words she lifted her body up from the couch, kicked violently against the table and ran out of the room.

Hlaya stood up shouting with all authority that she could muster in her voice: “Kyu Hsaya Ptaha, STAY!”

But Kyu ignored her, leaving the room and slamming the door in exactly the same manner you would expect it from an adolescent stuck neck-deep in her puberty. She was leaving behind her Grandmother and five of her friends in shock and speechlessness.

Unfortunately... or luckily, depending on the perspective, her grandmother didn't seem mad anymore, but rather sad, even depressed.

“This isn't your fault, Hlaya.” Curel said as she refused to speak up. “Kyu is...”

“When I told you to take care of Kyu...” Hlaya interrupted Curel, getting louder again with each word. “I didn't mean help her to conduct terrorist attacks!”

Upon the last syllables, she slammed her wrinkled hand onto the couch table and looked up with tears in her tired eyes.

“What should we do?” Titania asked in defence of Curel. “If we would not help her, she would try to take on these arseholes all by herself. And it's not like they didn't deserve it.”

“That doesn't matter!” she shouted with a frail voice, that was clearly on the brink of collapse. “Her actions get more radical and more dangerous each month! This isn't graffiti spraying and helping homeless Elves anymore, this is real political terrorism with real political consequences!”

Everyone was just quiet, looking down on their knees.