Lila was quick in her step, with nothing on her mind but her dreadful encounter with Yrix. So lost and distracted was she that the girl barely noticed who was waiting for her just outside of Yrix's office.
"Hey, Lila." Rena greeted the Earthling with a bashful wave.
"Huh," Lila muttered in response. "Wha-?"
"Listen, I just wanted to...apologize."
"Shouldn't Ivy be the one hearing this?"
Rena raised a curious eyebrow. She had never taken Lila to be one with a poor sense of self-worth. In her mind, something had to be amiss.
"Well," Rena rubbed the back of her hoodless head, her pink hair flowing downwards. "I meant more so about you, Lila. I hurt you and...I think we can both agree that was wrong. My problems with Ivy don't justify what I did to you."
Lila began recalling her close encounter with the flames in the crimson forest, and how Rena genuinely almost threw her into a morbidly painful death. Somehow, that fact had slipped her mind. Yet even still, she couldn't bring herself to feel very upset about it.
"It's fine." Lila smiled sheepishly. "Really."
"Fine? Lila, you almost burned alive because of me."
"Well, we all make mistakes. Besides, you locked the frick in at the end and helped us."
"Is that heiress's abuse grooming you? Listen to yourself. Sure, I helped, but only after I sabotaged you. I got saved later on anyway." Rena squinted with suspicion. "Have some self-worth, girl."
A third voice entered the fray, its cadence slipping into Lila's ears with a smooth and silky accent. "What's wrong with a little bonding? It's made her stronger, however tangled her mind may be now."
Lila whirled around to see Alia, who stood with a relaxed posture, leaning against the doorframe to Yrix's office. She barely had enough time to realize the girl was there before her warped mind registered her as breathtaking.
Breathtaking? I don't even like girls. What has Ivy done to me?
Alia had a unique leer to her face as she placed a hand on her hip, shifting her weight to the side. She knew she was being gawked at by someone just recently introduced to the world of feminine appreciation. Although in Lila's defense, her choice of attire was just as devious as Lunae's.
"Alia." Rena facepalmed. "Now's not the time."
The one named Alia bore a darker complexion compared to the other girls, with spotless skin akin to a beautiful brown bar of chocolate. Her attire, which had been heavily modified by her Psionic abilities, took the form of a purple dancer's outfit with gold and bronze garters. And while her tastefully exposed stomach had no effect on Rena, it was already wreaking havoc on Lila.
"What?" Alia shrugged, brushing her black hair aside. "She's barely registered our existence till now."
"I uh." Lila struggled not to stare, especially after she began to notice the glimmering jewel that was pierced through Alia's brown navel. "Not sure you stuck out like this before either."
"In your defense, I remained close to the shadows before the second trial." Alia chuckled. "You can thank Rena for making me more social."
If there had ever been any doubt in Rena's inaffection towards women, then it had been utterly cast aside, for she was entirely unfazed by Alia. She saw her only as a friend at best. But for Lila, whose more tender feelings were still fixated on Ivy, she was struggling to stay focused.
It was hard for her, having only recently awakened to her own tastes.
Alia was keen of mind, and saw Lila's true feelings in full transparency. But she didn't need to catch the girl's heart for her gig to continue. All she required was a hint of bashful lust.
"So...your...uh...pals." Lila nodded, staring at the floor to stop herself from gawking.
Alia chided playfully. "More like thieving buddies. Rena here knows her stuff, and I needed some materials. In exchange for some mutual assistance in her endeavors, I gave her my assistance."
"Ugh." Rena groaned, rolling her eyes at Alia. "That's one way to put it. We just fought the same enemy for a bit. Shared some common experiences."
"She's not into girls." Alia giggled, winking at Lila. "She has to let us know every so often."
"I uhh...I'm not either." Lila grinned awkwardly. "Wacko stuff from you freaks. You'll never see the pearly gates like that."
Alia strutted over, performing a slight twirl to show off the way her outfit flowed in the wind. Lila didn't need to know much about the girl's origins to pinpoint what her profession was before Yrix stole her.
She was a performer of the more sensual kind.
"Right," Alia whispered. "Whatever you see, little girl."
"So...what about materials?" Lila tried to redirect the conversation. "You mentioned something about that."
Alia pointed to the purple jewels dangling from her ears and the golden choker wrapped around her neck. "These. Hard to fabricate metals, even as a talented Psion. And a girl's got to get her bling."
"Oh." Lila cringed. "I see."
How did Ivy get her brooch then?
"She has no idea how that process works." Rena shrugged. "I didn't either till you told me."
"We can reshape the cloth we have based on what's attached to our bodies. Yrix's limited and...prudish wardrobe got me through most of my style, but I needed more metals." Alia explained, silently judging Lila's long skirt and concealed vest. "Really, I can't imagine rolling out of bed so...covered."
Lila didn't know what to say and looked over to Rena for guidance. All she got from the girl was a shrug. Perhaps Lunae could shed some light on the girly ambitions of a wardrobe queen, Lila thought.
"So... stealing?" Lila cringed once more. "Ya'll crooks?"
"I'm surprised you aren't one, what with your speed." The dancer smiled. "And yes, I did notice you zipping around the forest."
"What she means to say is that sometimes..." Rena did her best to explain. "Girls of our class need to get creative."
"You mentioned life was hard on your flotilla." Lila nodded in solemn agreement.
"Orphans, the two of us." Alia drifted towards Rena. "Life can be rough on people of our...composition."
Lila took a deep sigh. She felt privileged to have no idea what any of that was like. But she understood enough what it would take for a girl to survive in such brutal conditions. Clearly, Alia was a bit more aggressive in her approach, but the idea remained the same.
They sacrificed much.
"Anyway," Rena moved away from that idea, clearly disturbed by her ruminations. "We killed some fancy alien with some help from the twins. Took what was on their armor for Alia."
Lila finally found the courage to quip. "Damn girl. You're crazy for that. Kinda cool though not gonna lie."
"You should hang with us more." Alia flicked her hand out, causing her jewelry to rustle. "Get away from all those freaks back there."
"Hey," Lila frowned. "They may be freaks. But they're my freaks. Besides, whoever said we're the normal ones?"
"I'm the only one with a shot at calling myself that." Rena chortled. "You all are a bunch of degenerate fiends."
"Hey!" Alia huffed. "What did I do?!"
"Oh, I don't know." Rena sighed. "Try to seduce this baby Earth girl five seconds after meeting her. She's like a little deer out there."
Lila flashed a thumbs-up at Rena. She couldn't even disagree with that assertion. All she ever wanted, from the first night she came to the Aerie, was to be able to grapple with her circumstances. Moreover, she just wanted to go home.
"With her, right?" Alia interjected, reading Lila's mind like an open book. "Adorable, by the way."
"Huh?!" Lila blushed.
She wasn't even aware her mind had drifted there. But it was true. In her ideal vision, she wouldn't be going home alone.
She'd take the heiress with her.
It was a perposterous assertion. There was no way she'd ever want that. But somehow it felt right.
"No way!" Lila peeped. "We're barely even friends."
"That's not what friends look like, Lila," Alia explained calmly. "Rena and I are friends. We don't linger on each other's minds the way you do with that brat."
"But I-."
"And the way you hesitated at the sight of me?" The dancer chortled, shifting her hips again while winking. "Hah. That's just proof this is your first time opening yourself up. She makes you vulnerable in ways you can't even understand. You're like a boy after his first crush. Everything sets you off."
Lila fumed like never before. "And what if I don't want that! What if that makes me feel like shit! I never asked for this!"
"We don't choose the ones we love." Alia seethed, directing her negative emotions primarily towards herself. "Grapple with your feelings however long you want. But that heiress has a bond with you."
Lila realized she had forgotten to ask Yrix about that - what it meant to carry a Psionic bond. It was all so overwhelming to hear about Earth and to face down the uncertainty with her own romantic feelings. Alia wasn't helping.
She had proven how weak Lila really was. She was certain of nothing. But more importantly, her whimsical sense of innocence was fading.
Perhaps that was merely a side effect of becoming a Psion, however. Yrix did warn her of such things. Lila could only hope that when all was said and done, she would emerge pure of heart.
"You're lucky she got to you first," Alia smirked playfully. "I'd have eaten that pure soul of yours in a heartbeat."