To say that Alita felt confused would be an understatement. First, she was barely clinging to life and about to be tortured and raped. Then, a naked man killed her attackers by ripping holes in their torsos with his bare hands.
Followed by fainting, experiencing some fever dreams that included werewolves, and waking up in an unfamiliar place with a body that did not seem like her own. Did she seriously have wings now?
Finally, to finish off her acid trip, she was being choked and pushed against a wall by the same naked man from the alley. At least he was wearing pants now. Good for him, she guessed.
She was pulled back to reality by a growling voice, "That's enough. The novelty of watching you adjust to your new body wears off fast. Calm down. Now."
Strangely, she felt her body obey this man almost instinctively, making her frown. Why did she calm down at the orders of this man who did who knows what to her sleeping body and might have all sorts of sinister plans for her?
She knew the world she lived in and the evil that lurked in the darkest corners.
Still, calming down was not a bad idea in and of itself since she needed to figure out who this man was, what he had done to her, and what he wanted from her.
Luckily, Ivar was not squeezing hard enough to prevent her from breathing and talking, although it was a little difficult, "Wh- Who are you? Where am I? What the fuck did you do to my body?!"
Ivar ignored her for now as he talked to Selene, who was standing next to him, invisible to Alita, "Selene? Do you know anything about those wings? What is she?"
Alita was confused as she could not understand a word of what Ivar was saying since he talked to Selene in his original language.
Selene shrugged, "No idea. She could have a bird-type therian ancestor, but for those genes to still be present in any meaningful capacity after 3000 years seems improbable unless some therians were left behind."
Ivar frowned, "It's not impossible some therians and vampyrs were left behind, but usually, when a newborn therian has two possible transformations, they will simply have a fifty-fifty chance to inherit either of them.
I have never heard of someone becoming some kind of mixed therian."
Selene nodded, "That is true. Another possibility is that she possesses genes of an entirely different species. The therian conversion has never been used on anything but humans and vampyrs, and vampyrs have proven entirely immune.
So this could simply be the result of using therian conversion on a species it has never been tried on. Or maybe it only worked because Alita is also part human; we'd have to try it on a pure version of whatever she is to find out.
As for what that is, well, since vampyrs and therians exist in human mythology, her race may do aswell."
As Selene assumed a thoughtful expression, Alita, still pushed against the wall and held by her throat, was growing more confused by the second.
This man who was holding her against her will now seemed to be completely ignoring her as he was having a conversation with thin air in an entirely unrecognisable language.
She supposed he could be talking to someone through an earplug or implant, but then why did he keep staring at one specific spot next to him while sometimes using gestures to respond?
Was he insane, or just weird? she wondered—a distinction she considered important for someone in her situation.
She finally lost her patience, "H- Hey, can you stop ignoring me? Who are you talking to? Can you let me go?"
He finally stopped ignoring her but, unfortunately, not to indulge in her questions. He looked at her with his piercing amber eyes, and she immediately felt meek for reasons she couldn't comprehend.
The man growled, "Quiet, I will deal with you soon," before he went back to looking at the same thin air as before.
Alita sighed and decided to just go with the flow for now. It's not like she could free herself from this man's grip, not because of the same compulsion that made her obey his order to calm down earlier, but simply because his grip was too powerful.
Meanwhile, Selene seemed to have finished looking through all the information on mythology she had gathered while surfing the web.
She shared her conclusion with Ivar, "I've found four mythological beings she could be related to, going solely by her black feathered wings and assuming they exist or have existed. Those are: phoenix, harpy, angel, and the fourth is a duo of ravens that served a particular one-eyed god, according to legend."
Ivar raised an eyebrow, "Are you avoiding saying this one-eyed god's name?"
Selene nodded, "Saying his name might alert him, assuming he exists."
Ivar shrugged, "Fair enough. So which do you think is the most likely?"
Selene thought for a moment and said, "Probably angel since they were basically humans with wings, and she does look like a combination between a wolf and a winged human. She would have to be related to a fallen angel, though, as traditional angels have white wings."
Ivar nodded, "Any idea how far removed this possible angel ancestor is in her family tree?"
Selene shook her head, "Not exactly, though it would be at least a few generations."
Ivar said, "Fine," before he turned his attention back to the woman in his grip.
"What's your name?" he asked.
Alita snorted, "Hmpf, finally remember I existed, huh?"
But her snark simply rewarded her with a harder squeeze around her throat, causing her to quickly answer, "Ugh, A- Alita. P- Please let me go."
Ivar raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to be a problem if I let you go?"
Alita quickly shook her head, as much as she could anyway, and then Ivar let her go. It's not like she could go anywhere, as he was still much more powerful than her. Wanting to know the exact difference between them right now, he summoned Alita's status screen.
*relative to strength level, 10 being average for current strength level.
**unrelated to strength level.
Most of that was as he expected, but there was one new stat he hadn't seen before, so he asked Selene about it. "Selene? What's this resistance stat?"
She answered, "That's something I came up with just now; it is my estimation of how willing someone is to follow your commands. Although I can't read her mind, my senses as a goddess are finely tuned to discover a person's intentions, allowing me to estimate their resistance to your orders.
Anything above 75 basically means they will ignore you even if you bring up a good argument.
Between 50 and 75 means they are willing to listen.
Between 25 and 50 means they will seriously consider your opinion
Between 10 and 25 means they will let you take the lead in most situations.
Between 0 and 10 means they will obey nearly all of your orders, but they will still have lines they won't cross, depending on the person.
Anything below zero means your word is law to them; they won't be mindless puppets and still remain who they were, with their own thoughts and desires, but nothing will be more important than you and your will.
Since converted therians have an instinctual urge to obey their sire, they will naturally receive a penalty towards their resistance against you. That, and the fact you saved her life, is also why Alita's resistance is already as low as twenty since her instincts are telling her to obey you.
You should try to bring it down by at least ten points and bring her within the 0 to 10 range. If she is going to be our guide, it would be best if she were as obedient as possible."
Ivar nodded, agreeing with her and already planning to bend this Alita to his will.
Meanwhile, Alita rubbed her painful throat as she stared at Ivar with some annoyance after noticing he was ignoring her again.
She broke the silence, "Sooooo, could you answer some of my questions now? Like where I am? And who you are?"
Ivar looked at her and finally seemed to truly focus on her, "I am Ivar, and you stink. Go and take a shower before we talk. Don't try to run, it's useless."
He gestured towards the bathroom he had used before while he picked up the chair he had been sitting on, which Alita had tossed over during her earlier thrashing and sat down.
Alita hesitated for a moment but quickly gave in when she noticed all the blood and dirt caked to her body and clothes, but there was still one problem, so she asked, "What about these damn wings?"
Ivar shrugged, "I'll teach you to control your transformation later; for now, just see if you can fold them behind your back."