Splosh... Warm tea poured into a cup.
"Rhea, why is your sister such a bitch? She tried to put an arrow through my head. Is she insane?" Natsuha Shinomiya complained, still shaken.
"My apologies," Rhea's voice sounded embarrassed. "I didn't expect Vayas to be so aggressive. I released my aura, but she still pulled her bow."
"I don't know how those two little girls manage to partner with that monster," Natsuha sighed. "They seemed so timid and shy. Thanks for saving me, by the way."
"It's what I do," Rhea replied. "Vayas was never like this. In my memories, she wasn't so trigger-happy."
Rhea paused. "Wait. Now that I think about it... that wasn't Vayas. It was a 'Summon.' It attacked like a puppet, with no emotion or speech. I was so excited to find a sister that I didn't notice it lacked a soul."
"A summon? Does that mean she's dead?" Natsuha asked.
"No. She's probably sleeping. Those two girls she's with... they have almost no mana. They aren't strong enough to wake her fully. The summon was likely an automatic defense mechanism. Vayas must have set it to kill anyone above a certain power level to protect her 'hosts.' Since you're a budding Transcendent, the puppet flagged you as a threat."
"Sleeping? Then why are you so active?" Natsuha caught the contradiction.
"Do you really think all the 'Lust' and 'Soul' energy we collected from those thugs went only to your level-ups?" Rhea's tone was mocking. "I'm not a charity, Natsuha. I take my cut."
Natsuha went quiet. She had been naive.
"Vayas is sleeping because her hosts are too soft. They have huge tits, sure, but they don't look like the type to go out and murder criminals for energy." Rhea's voice sounded slightly salty. As a Demi-God, she hated that these "mundane" girls were more physically developed than she had been.
"Hey, having them too big gets in the way of fighting anyway," Natsuha mumbled, looking down at her own ample chest. She remembered how Alistair used to love playing with them.
"How do you girls grow so big in a world with no mana?!" Rhea ranted. "It's not fair!"
Natsuha gave a weak smile. She thought of Mina, Akane, and Kasumi. Almost everyone in Alistair's circle was... well-endowed.
"Whatever," Rhea sighed. "I'm not as bad as those two. Tomorrow, we go to school and meet Mina Morita. I can sense Second Sister's presence on her. We need to gather as many sisters as possible before the Gates open. If only Eldest Sister Holliace were here... she'd know exactly what to do."