Ivar rubbed his chin, "It sounds like this mistress might have had something to do with your parent's death and is now looking to finish the job.
Talking with Andra during our fight also revealed that this woman knows of the mythic part of this world, so she may be after you for the angel blood in your veins, whatever good that may do her."
He grinned, "If so, I've already messed with her plans by turning you two into therians."
Nova nodded, "I've suspected the same thing. I don't know how she knew about the angel blood in our family, though. Nor why it took her so long to come after Alita and, presumably, me."
Ivar shrugged, "Isn't it possible she only just found you? NLA is a city of 50 million people, and the slums are occupied by about 60% of those; that's a pretty big sea for two small fish."
Nova looked uncertain, "That's true, but Andra had been with Sanctuary for at least six years, so why did she wait so long?"
Ivar answered, "Well, why does she have to have been a servant to this woman from the start?"
Nova shook her head, "Because she was head of security from the moment we moved into this building four years ago and has barely left for more than a day since."
Ivar looked at Nova with a serious expression, "I think you're still underestimating the capabilities of the mythical world, Nova.
You made the two-day rule, assuming that people wouldn't be turned against you in less time than that, but I still managed to do so with Alita.
Now, admittedly, Alita is somewhat of a special case, as she had very little resistance to me from the start, but still, my method of binding people to me is not very direct and can be resisted.
What if this woman Andra calls her mistress has a more direct method? Not to mention that I am still only a soldier ranked mythic, while this mistress is likely higher ranked.
It's not impossible that Andra, as a regular mortal human, was turned into a loyal servant in a mere few hours."
Even Molly hadn't thought of this possibility yet, as she and Nova suddenly looked horrified at the implications, causing Molly to utter, "But if that's true, then who knows who else is actually serving another…"
Suddenly, the people downstairs seemed less like comrades and more like hidden vipers.
Only Alita still had the same carefree expression on her face. It wasn't that she wasn't smart enough to understand what this meant; she just didn't care.
Meanwhile, Nova thought aloud, "Even worse than that, if that mistress is more powerful than you or even Molly, then I wonder why she hasn't simply stormed Sanctuary already."
It was Molly who answered her, "I might be able to answer that, actually. When growing up, I sometimes heard about the mythic society living in NLA.
Since myths whose bodies don't have any particular value for humans are mostly left alone, they, and mythic humans, have their own community built up both in NLA and worldwide.
Part of that involves the most powerful myths dividing the city in territories, so it's possible we are in another powerful myths territory, which this mistress can't easily interfere with."
They all gained a thoughtful look upon hearing this until Ivar said, "Well, I'd say that's good news, but let's wait until we meet whoever claims the territory we are currently in."
Ivar then moved on, "Anyway, about the problem of possible infiltrators, I plan to turn all the important members of Sanctuary into loyal therians to prevent that. And perhaps even catch a few spies in the process."
Unlike the previous topics, this one seemed to set Alita off as she cutely poked Ivar's leg with a pout, "W- Why do you need more? A- are Nova and me not enough?"
Ivar chuckled and petted Alita, "Calm down, Alita. You and your sister are my personal valkyries; how could you possibly compare to them? I might use them for the occasional sexual release, but the position of a personal servant is not so easily earned.
You and Nova are far more special than that."
Alita smiled happily at this answer, apparently unconcerned about Ivar using the women in Sanctuary as little more than disposable sluts.
Nova and Molly couldn't help but gawk at this answer, however. Was he trying to turn all of Sanctuary into his personal little harem?
But thinking about his clearly lustful nature, perhaps they shouldn't be too surprised.
Seeing their faces, Ivar chuckled, "But let's set that aside for now; I'll wait until the women in Sanctuary have become a little more comfortable with me.
Let me tell you some of the other things I have in mind for Sanctuary, and also, something I will need its help with."
After Ivar had spent some time explaining the plans he and Selene had devised together, Molly looked at Nova with apprehension, "Are you sure you're okay with this, Nova?"
Nova smiled and nodded at Molly, "Sure. In fact, I wholeheartedly approve. Besides, it soon won't be up to me anymore."
Molly looked uncomfortable but nodded anyway, "I guess so." Clearly, she had some more to discuss with Nova about this, but it would have to wait for later, as Ivar still had some other things to say.
He brought the focus back on himself and addressed the two sisters, "Now that that's done, we need to discuss your training. And to that end…"
Ivar bit his finger and quickly drew a line on Nova's forehead, which got absorbed almost immediately.
Nova recognised what he was doing and quickly got excited as she finally felt the slight pressure in the back of her head relieved, and her body started shifting as incredible power once again filled her.
Since she still had not learned to control her transformation, she had no control over this. Luckily, she did manage to make her wings come out already folded, so they didn't push anyone away by expanding.
Before long, the still kneeling Nova was in her Valkyrie form, causing Alita to quickly change to her Valkyrie form, too, enjoying the feeling of being in this form together with her sister.
Molly looked at this with fascination, as it was the first time she had seen these transformations. She noticed the different coloured wings and wondered if they were related to personality, as Nova was clearly the compassionate one, but decided to ask later.
Instead, she reached out her hand, intending to stroke Nova's new dark-red wolf ears, but was stopped by Nova's hand, who panicked a little when she saw what Molly was about to do.
"Careful! My uh, ears and tail are very sensitive."
Molly giggled, "You only make me more curious now. You both look so cute like this! Alita, can I touch yours?"
As Molly looked at Alita, all she saw was a drooling mess as Ivar slowly stroked Alita's ears while he smirked. Still, the drooling mess answered, "Nooo! my ears arr only fer mashter."
Molly pouted a little because she didn't get to stroke any ears but decided to save this desire for later.
A few moments later, Ivar stopped indulging Alita and turned towards Nova, "Alright, I won't suppress your transformation anymore unless it's for punishment.
I'll teach you to revert to human form before we head downstairs, and either Molly or Alita can teach you to absorb energy later.
First, though, let's discuss the possible light manipulation of your transformations."
Both Alita and Nova got excited as their wolf ears twitched, not wanting to miss anything.
Ivar smirked at their behaviour and said, "If you're looking for a quick and easy answer, I don't have one for you."
Ignoring their disappointed faces, he continued, "For therians, most element manipulation comes in the form of a single ability."
He conjured a small version of the Northern Winds shield and said, "For example, this is a shield ability that combines the elements of cold and wind.
All I can do for now is adjust the shield form slightly, but eventually, I should be able to control this combined element more freely.
I suspect the same is true for the two of you, assuming your Valkyrie forms really can manipulate light.
So, I want you two first to try and discover what ability this light manipulation has given you. Once you have found the proper application, the rest should come with instinct.
Basically, think of as many different types of applications for a light-based ability as you can think of, and then attempt to use them. If you find the right one, instinct should take care of the rest.
But don't divide the abilities between the two of you since we don't know if there are any other variations between your forms besides the wings and personality. Your abilities may be different as well, so you each need to try every possiblity.
After finding your ability, you need to train yourself with them as much as possible. Eventually, you should be able to start expanding the ability into other uses. Understood?"