Nova looked a little hurt at that, "W- What do you mean? I did everything possible to keep you safe, but you never listened to me!"
Alita smiled gently at her sister, "I know you did, Nova. And that is why I love you. But the fact I never listened to you is precisely the problem! Setting aside the fact that Master is more powerful than you, protecting someone is not only about outside threats.
You also need to protect them from themselves." She shook her head, "Something you never figured out how to do."
Then, her eyes gained a fanatical shine, "But Master did! I constantly think about how to serve him better; even the thought of disobeying him creates a pit in my stomach while obeying him makes me feel warm, fuzzy and relaxed."
Nova looked at her sister as if she was crazy, "Y- You… What the hell did that man do to you!"
Alita went back to smiling mysteriously, "Oh, don't worry, big sis. You'll see what I mean when you're kneeling right beside me."
The image sprang up in Nova's mind, but she quickly shook her head to get rid of it, "N- Never!"
Alita stood up, walked towards her sister and took her hand, "Never say never, big sis. Remember, he gave you this power, and he can take it away, too. I'm sure you've already realised you can't access your transformation any more. That's because he won't allow it.
Not only does he have the power to protect us, but he can also make us stronger than we've ever been before, and the only requirement is a little obedience. Does that really sound so bad?"
Then she leaned closer and whispered in Nova's ear, "Plus, the sex is absolutely mind-blowing."
This statement seemed to freeze Nova as she had trouble coming to terms with her cute little sister not only calling some man master but also having apparently mind-blowing sex with him.
Alita smirked as she walked back to her seat, swaying her hips a little before sitting down and resting her chin in her hand.
As Nova.exe was slowly restarting, Ivar snickered at this scene, "Alita sure knows how to shock her poor sister."
When Nova finally unfreezed, she released a heavy sigh and forced herself to remain calm as she rested her forehead on her hands, "How can you trust this man so easily, Alita? Don't you remember all of those disgusting men I had to kill when we were living on the streets?"
Alita smiled, "How can I not trust him? He saved my life, had me unconscious and vulnerable on his bed, but still waited until I gave myself to him willingly, and he even protected me from Andra."
But Nova just snorted, "Hmpf, I doubt he is that good a person; otherwise, he wouldn't have convinced you to drug me so he could do whatever he did, which we still haven't talked about, by the way!"
Alita stood up with a cheery smile, "Oh, he's definitely not a good person, but why don't you judge for yourself? He's right upstairs, after all!"
Nova realised she shouldn't really be surprised that this man was already inside the building since he likely would have needed to be in order to give her this power, but she did wonder how he managed to sneak in.
Regardless, she stood up, a little anxious about how this meeting would go but determined not to show weakness, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you showed this man the penthouse. Fine, let's see him then. Let's see who you gave your freedom to."
*****
After having followed her sister upstairs, Nova now had a dumbfounded look on her face as she looked at her sister and the largest, most handsome and clearly most dangerous man she had ever seen.
When they entered the room, Alita immediately left her sister's side and jumped on the lap of Ivar, who was sitting on a couch and looking at them with a confident smile, making Nova stand in front of them like a subject meeting their ruler and his wife.
Now Alita was cuddling up to Ivar as she said, "Thanks for allowing me to talk to my sister alone, Master!" Then she leaned in and whispered, "I hope you won't mind if I call you master when Nova is around, Daddy. It would just upset her."
Ivar smiled and slowly caressed Alita's hair, "It's fine, kitten. And you're welcome. You did a good job calming your sister and making her more accepting of the situation."
Despite already hearing about the situation from Alita herself, actually seeing it was something else. To see her brat of a sister behave so docilely all of a sudden shocked her… but also excited her in a way that she quickly suppressed before she thought more about it.
She could now understand what her sister had meant by 'cheating', as she could feel the desire to submit to this man. It was like a gentle scratching in the back of her skull, not too bad, but she had to make a conscious effort to ignore it.
She quickly shook herself free from her thoughts when she heard Ivar talk as if he had been watching their conversation and forced herself to remain calm while wearing the cold expression she had become known for over the years, "You have been listening to our conversation?"
Ivar confidently smirked, "Sure, Nova, very little escapes my notice. Anyway, it's customary to introduce yourself first, you know."
Suddenly, Selene appeared next to Nova and rolled her eyes, "Sure, sure. Your notice."
Ivar chuckled, responding out loud in his original language, "Fine, fine. Ruin my moment, why don't you?"
Seeing Ivar ignore her and look at the empty air beside her while speaking in a foreign language caused Nova some confusion as she glanced at Alita with an unspoken question.
Alita shrugged, "You'll get used to it. Master has a hacker working for him by the name of Selene; whenever he talks in whatever language that is, he's talking to her."
She chuckled, "Selene is also the one who actually kept an eye on us. I have no idea how, so don't ask. She was probably reminding Ivar of that fact just now."
Ivar lightly hit Alita on the back of her head, "Quiet you." Having her suspicions confirmed caused Alita to giggle as she kissed Ivar on his cheek, "Sorry, Master."
This interaction actually caused Nova to feel a little better about the situation, as Alita was clearly comfortable, and Ivar seemed to allow her to speak her mind.
Still, it was far too early to let her guard down. She also made a note to remember that this Selene seemed capable of keeping a close eye on them.
She glared at Ivar, "We already know each other's names, so what's the point of introductions? Now tell me exactly what you did to Alita and me, and what is this annoying desire to obey you?!"
But Ivar ignored her for now as he opened her status window instead, wanting to check how strong she was.
*******
*relative to strength level, ten being average for current strength level.
*******
It seems she is stronger than Alita, which makes sense, considering she is the older sister and the leader of Sanctuary.
He noticed something new in the status window and looked at Selene, "If I had to guess, I'd say the numbers between brackets are their stats without being transformed?"
Selene nodded, "That's right, I added them to your own stats as well."
Ivar decided to check how much stronger he was than Nova in human form.
Ivar smirked as he realised he could still defeat a transformed Nova while he was in human form.
Meanwhile, Nova got angry as she realised Ivar had ignored her again as he talked with this supposed hacker instead, "Damnit, stop ignoring me!"
Ivar focussed back on her with a stern gaze, "You need to learn to wait your turn, Nova. I'll pay attention to you when I have time for you."
He actually had nothing else to do now, but he couldn't very well give in to her demand now; that would send the wrong message.
So, instead, he decided to have a friendly conversation with Selene about nothing while Alita kept snuggling up to him, and Nova stewed in her cold anger, seemingly about to attack Ivar.
Alita and Nova couldn't understand a word of what he said, so for all they knew, he really was having an important discussion.
Nova occasionally glanced at Alita, hoping to get some support from her, but her sister seemed perfectly content, just resting against Ivar's body while the current scene played out.
Eventually, he finally turned back to Nova, "Alright, let me tell you what happened to you and what's going to happen next."