* NEFFEX - Alive *


    "So, Tu huh? what''s your story?" Cami asked casually as the group moved inside the mansion rather than staying outside.


    Since Raven had already exined Ka''s special circumstances and how she technically is still pretty young, Tu''s situation was still a mystery.


    "That''s a rather broad question, don''t you think?" he asked back with a smile. Contrary to what one might expect, his voice wasn''t as deep as before since he''d changed it to match his human form.


    "Well, let''s start with who you really are and where are you from?" Cami asked in a forced smile.


    "Hm, that would be too much information for you, but I can tell you about the general circumstances that lead me to be trapped inside the kid''s body," Tu said as everyone perked their ears as it was a rather interesting subject. "How does that sound?"


    "I like it, go ahead!" Cami said while feeling proud that she was able to get him to talk.


    "Tu, the kid you''re trapped in actually has a name you know," Ka scolded. "We don''t call you lizard because you''re a dragon, and you don''t call her kid because she''s young!"


    Hearing that, especially that it wasing from the girl who looked almost six, everyone smiled at how cute she looked and sounded while ying tough. Raven hugged her the way someone would hug a stuffed toy while Tu scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.


    "You''re right..." Tu said in defeat, "so I''ll share with you the events that have lead me to be trapped inside Raven''s body." He spoke thest sentence while looking at Ka who in turn nodded her head in approval.


    ''Oh my, she''s so cute!'' Cami couldn''t help but feel her heart melting as her hands begged to pat Ka.


    "So, it all started a couple of years back," Tu said, "I was in search for... something that was stolen from me, you could say."


    "Wait," Raven inquired, "I understand if you don''t want to talk about that something, but how was it stolen from you? Aren''t you like... I don''t know what rank, but probably one of the strongest beings around?"


    "Haha I can see why you''d say that," Tuughed, "I may be one of the strongest beings on this, but when you startparing me to other creatures across the gxy, I''m not all that impressive." he said with a smile as Raven looked concerned. Seeing that, Tu smiled at her.


    "It''s only natural that you might feel inferior to unknown dangers such as mysterious enemies, considering that you''ll probably make them stronger by filling out the missing details with your imagination." Tu reassured, "but fret not since you have no one outside of this to worry about. For now at least." He finished with a smile.


    "Uhm," Raven nodded while taking a deep breath to calm herself down. ''I know I shouldn''t be worried... but what''s this strange feeling I can''t shake off?'' she thought to herself silently.


    "Anyway," Tu continued, "during my search, I passed by a strange that was giving off a strange aura. Against my better judgement, I suppressed my energy and decided to check it out.


    "Upon setting foot there, I noticed that the sky was dark red which didn''t really seem weird inparison to others, but the issue was the way the clouds were arranged. Instead of being organised randomly, they were mostly concentrated above one specific area, which after some observation, seemed like an abandoned castle of sorts.


    "On the outskirts and areas near that castle, countless creatures, humanoid and otherwise, wereying around motionless. Some were alive but others were dead, not from an injury, but rather from thirst or maybe other reasons. However, those who were alive were almost as motionless as their dead neighbors."


    During all of this, Joey seemed to keep moving in his chair a lot more than usual.


    "I can see that you''ve already noticed the simrities, young soul weaver," Tu smiled and said to Joey, "although I didn''t notice at the time, I did eventually realize that was the soul weavers'', Erembourc."


    Having his theories confirmed, Joey sat in his chair quietly. But that only made him think harder about what had actually happened at the time. ''He must be talking about the season of sacrifices...'' he thought to himself.


    Raven on the other hand had a sickly feeling about it all.


    "Anyway, trying to dismiss the weird phenomenon as a local matter, I decided to investigate the castle," Tu continued, "however, just as I was about to enter through the gates, a tremendous amount of pressure tired to crush me against the ground.


    "Recovering quickly, I looked around to find a person staring at me with a smile. That person had pinkish crimson hair, blood red eyes, and wore a heavy dark armour while a sadistic smile surfaced his face."


    Raven didn''t need to look at Joey''s reaction to know who that person was. Yet, she stayed silent in thoughts.


    "Hm, I''m assuming you two know who it is?" Tu asked in a low voice.


    "Uhm," Raven answered after some hesitation. "But please go on."


    Seeing how she didn''t want to talk about it, Tu didn''t push any further and continued.


    "Well, to be fair, there''s nothing much to talk about after that," Tu said sheepishly, "I''m not sure how, but I got defeated pretty badly that I don''t even remember the full details of the incident. But the immediate memory after that was me waking up to being sealed within your body." he saidstly while looking at Raven.


    "Raven, that person... he was your biological father?" Maria asked calmly remembering a previous tall they had with Joey.


    "Uhm," Raven answered after a pause, "from what Joey had told us a while back and the description he''d given us, I''d assume that''s the case..."


    "Raven... are you ok?" Ka asked in a quiet voice as not to rm Raven or the others. Seeing that Raven didn''t answer her, she knew she was deep in thoughts so she decided to take action.


    "Eh?" Raven was suddenly confused as to why Ka was hugging her arm. "Kay, I''m sorry I forgot about the strain from maintaining your body here. How does it feel?"


    ''She is worried about me even though I can feel the pain in her voice...'' Ka smiled at how lucky she was to have Raven by her side. "I''m ok, I''ll go back once it''s too much for me." she said with a smile.


    "Oh look at you two," Cami said with an excited voice, "you''re so cute!"


    "Eh-haha... thank you." Raven sad awkwardly since she was still shaken from Tu''s story.


    "Anyway, I''m sorry Tu for what you had to suffer." Raven apologized.


    "Don''t worry about it, it wasn''t your fault or anything. But correct me if I''m wrong, it seems as though you have a question for me?" he said while looking at her.


    "Uhm yes, do you think you can adjust the rules of the contract? The one between me and Maria" Raven asked with a serious expression.


    After all, he was the person who had forced a contract with Maria and prevented her from harming Raven in any way since they were still enemies at the time.


    At her question, Tu put his hand under his chin in thought.


    Not able to hold herself any longer, Cami sat down besides Ka then started moving her hand slowly towards her head.


    Noticing that, Ka only looked at Raven awkwardly. Yes she was young, but she was by no means clueless.


    "Cami?" Maria asked with a forced smile, "what''s that about?"


    "Ah!", Cami was startled as she was so focused on how to sneakily get her hand onto Ka''s head. "Hehe, it''s nothing, don''t worry about it..."


    Noticing that Ka was looking at Kuru every now and then, Cami snatched him from his seat on a nearby couch, "Oho~ look at Kuru, he''s so cute right?"


    "Drop me this instant!" Kuru tried to shake her grip but Cami insisted on not letting go.


    "Uhm, he is," Ka nodded as she has always thought Kuru was cute from what she''s seen before through Raven''s eyes.


    "Oi, leave me alone!" Kuru screamed but Camipletely ignored him.


    "Do you want to pat him?" she said to Ka with a hungry smile.


    "Uhm," Ka nodded again, "can I?"


    "Yes, of course!" Cami said while handing Kuru to little Ka.


    Smiling happily, she hugged him between her arms. "Hi Kuru, can I pamper you a little bit?" she asked with a genuine smile that made Kuru smile shyly, forgetting all about Cami''s harassment.


    Not knowing how to react, Kuru nodded.


    "Hehe, thank you!" she said in excitement as she started rubbing his mane.


    ''That is so adorable!'' Cami thought as her hand was about to touch Ka''s head.


    "Cami!" Maria called out which startled poor Cami once more and made her retract her hand to her side. "I guess I''ll just watch for now..." she muttered to herself while a silent tear ran down her cheek.


    During all of that, Raven was forcing a smile since the whole ordeal seemed rather awkward to her.


    Leaving them be for a while, she nced at Tu again who was still thinking about her question. "Hm, since the contract was already made, it''s against rules to twist its contents." Tu said with a hand under his chin, "but since it was a forced contract, there might be a way to adjust it. However, you asked for an adjustment specifically and not for a nullification of the contract, why is that?"


    "Well, I like the fact that I can feel my mom''s vitals and general state," Raven said with a serious expression, "it has allowed me to save her previously. But also, the side effect such as if I die so will she, is rather... harsh."


    "I see," Tu muttered. "Well for a starter, I''d like to make it clear that I can''t change it at the moment, not even nullify it. I haven''t recovered even a small portion of the powers I spent earlier, so it''ll take a while."


    "I understand..." Raven said while looking down. "I''m curious though, now that the seal is broken, will you get your powers back?"


    "I think I should be able to get stronger, simr to how I was before," Tu answered, "but the issue is that I still need the item that was stolen from me in order to return to my prime."


    "I see..."


    "Raven?" Ka muttered as she pulled on Raven''s sleeve weakly. "Can I go back now please?" she said with a smile.


    "Of course!" Raven said hurriedly as it was obvious Ka was extremely tired.


    As soon as Raven gave her permission, a bright purple light envelope the living room as Raven felt Ka back in her original ce in her mind space.


    At the same time, a message shed in Raven''s mind; [The Ex System is now rebooting...]


    [An update is in progress, please hold.]