===Mady===
She was curious about why Mister Dyan wanted them to go for a walk with his three subjects. She has been there for some of their sessions, but she didn't pay attention as they just talked.
These past few days, she also tried to fix her amulet but found no way. But, of course, Dyan wasn't the only researcher they had on the base, as there was Tryst, who was to create the designs Dyan came up with. But Dyan rarely had anything for him to make, so he had a lot of free time.
She showed him his amulet, and he told her it would take some time to fix it as it was a delicate work for something that small. She mentioned nothing about the chains that came out of it, as it didn't happen again, no matter what she tried.
She kept looking over at the demon, trying to understand if he hid something from them. She knew demons were manipulative, so she was on guard against him.
As they sat to have some drinks, she kept looking at him and looked away when he noticed her.
She also noticed him looking at her a few times strangely, which she didn't like at all.
"So, children. Do you have something to share with me today?" Dyan said after everyone seemed to have gotten comfortable at the benches.
"Could you stop calling as like that? Each of us probably is older than both of your ages together," the demon exclaimed.
"I am sorry if you don't like the term. The Mister Zix, do you have anything else that you wanted to share with us?"
Zix said nothing else and just continued enjoying his drink.
"Miss Astherielle. Would you like to add something to our discussion today?"
The fairy raised her head a bit, while she had her cub near her mouth to get a sip.
"I…am fine," she said in a low voice.
She started speaking just two days ago, but she said little and kept her voice low.
"And you miss…"
"Nothing to tell you, human," Corienla told him before he could finish his question.
"Well then, I hope you enjoy your drinks. I specially made them for each of you."
As he said that, Zix and Corienla looked over their drinks.
Mady even looked at her drink and noticed that each person's drink had a different color, even if it came from the same bottle.
"What did you do?" the demon asked.
"Hm… I did nothing. At least nothing new, as this is another experiment of mine. Each cup has a special powder to add to the liquid that you fill it with. It is just to add to the taste, but each of them is different. I was curious to see if you would pick the right ones. So how about you try it?"
Mady remembered Dyan didn't give them the cups, but he just filled them and let them chose which one they wanted. At that point, she also noticed that the bottle was a bottle of water and not juice that all of them assumed since the liquid in the cups was colorful.
She tested hers and had to say that it was pretty good. It was a bit bitter, but she enjoyed it more than sweet things. Still, she enjoyed eating sweets, but sometimes a bitter taste would hit her spot.
Astherielle was the first to take a sip after the revelation of what it was, and the other two followed since they already had some before.
"Not bad, human. Next time, though, make it stronger," Zix said as a remark for his drink.
"Happy to hear that. Will adjust it for next time."
The two girls made no remarks about theirs, but Mady could tell that they enjoyed it as they kept drinking it quicker than they usually should.
They had a few refills, and the taste was getting weaker after a few.
Dyan kept asking questions and tried to start discussions with each one, which seemed to annoy Zix and Corienla mainly, but Astherielle was getting more open and talked more.
On their way back, Mady had a strange feeling, as someone followed her, but as she looked around, she saw nobody. She had the detector that she used when she found Zix, but it didn't detect anyone other than the ones they had with her.
She decided not to overthink it and move on, but how could she know that an overjealous Water Demon had just marked her.
===Pyre===
Her new minion was more potent than she could hope for. No wonder the bond with him strengthened her that much. He had the Fire Element like her and the Dark Element, which even she hadn't completely unlocked. She could use it but not produce it from within her like the Fire Element.
Maybe now things would be different since Skotos should strengthen her control of the Dark Element. She never had a minion with a dark Element in the past, but she was pleased with the surprise.
Also, she enjoyed the fact that the name she picked for him fitted his Element so much as hers did. Of course, Vampires didn't need to be named after their Elements, but Pyre enjoyed those instances. She gave him that name cause he seemed to have a dark past, but it seemed to have worked out even better.
Skotos overworked himself as he unleashed a complete fireball merged with Dark Element, which led not to just an explosion that blew a hole in the wall but consumed the earth that it interacted with.
She revealed to Vlad and Rubert that Skotos had the Dark Element since it shouldn't be hard to come to this conclusion.
"You should keep this to yourselves only. Understood?"
Vlad nodded at that, and Rubert followed his gesture after a few seconds.
"Well then. How about we go out of here? We also need to get Skotos to rest. This time probably at an actual bed."
Gareth picked up Skotos. It was impressive watching a man that looked so old almost effortlessly pick up an adult person. Of course, he was still a vampire, so having inhuman strength was expected, but he still wasn't as strong as Vlad.
Vlad opened the door and headed up.
Pyre left Gareth in charge of taking care of Skotos as she headed alone somewhere else.
She looked around and soon found the person she was looking for.
"Are you ready for today's training?"
Aislinn, who was speaking with her mother, turned towards the Princess.
"I am," she responded with a smile.
She then heard a light cough from behind her.
"Do you forget something, young lady?" Ecaps asked.
Aislinn had a confused look for a few seconds, but then her face changed to one of suddenly remembering something.
"Mom, can I go? I will help you clean up later."
The young Vampire gave a slight bow towards her mother as she put her open palm hands together with a bit of distance from her mouth.
"*sigh* Fine, you can go. But you need to stay in the castle."
Ecaps turned and left towards where Pyre knew it was the kitchen.
She and Aislinn kept training every day, but Pyre hadn't reached the point she could with the help of those gloves of the human. She still needed to wait a couple of days to meet him, and she was excited to see the results.
"So, what are we going to work at today?" Aislinn asked.
Pyre gave it some thought.
"How about working on improving your summoning skill? You shouldn't need too much to get your Power Shards for it."
It was a helpful skill to have, and since she couldn't improve or reacquire hers, helping Aislinn was the better option.
Still, this option seemed to have brought silence to the room.