The loud knocking on the door distracted the relaxing, ethereal woman. With a raised brow, she stood up, wondering who might look for her this late at night.
"Coming!" She shrieked, causing the windows to tremble and the visitors to plug their ears despite the distance.
After walking to the door and opening it, the radiant visage of a banshee met her eyes. 'No. She looks like one but is not. Wait, why does she resemble Number six?' She thought, confusion veiling her features as the strange ghost pounced on her.
"It's been so long, big sis!" Nova's melodious scream, contrasting sharply with her shrieks, entered her ears, deepening her perplexity as she hugged her.
"Who are you?" She asked, suspecting the woman got the wrong address. After all, all her little sisters died or went missing, scourging the canyon after going mad. Even if number six was alive, she knew she wouldn't hold on for long. She was the weakest-willed and the most sentimental among them. That's why she gave her advice to catch a man. To save her from her fate.
Yet, even after seventy years, she heard no news of her and didn't see new males join the city.
Sighing after remembering her poor junior, she focused on the newcomer and waited for her explanation.
"It's me! Number six. But now I have a real name, so call me Nova!" She said, excitement permeating her voice.
"Number six?!" She exclaimed, her eyes widening before adding. "How did you change so much? And who gave you a name?"
Then, she slapped her forehead and said, a playful smile tugging at her lips as she noticed the sleeping ghost floating behind the group, "Wait, come in and explain everything to me."
Everyone followed her, entering her soberly decorated living room and sitting at a ghostly table shimmering with flowing lights.
Number one gazed at Nova attentively, her smile broadening and her head moving up and down excitedly. It's been so long since she heard good gossip and was impatient to discover her junior's story.
"Why are you so excited?" Nova said, her singing voice carrying peace and harmony with it instead of their species' usual despair.
"Look at you! Even your abilities are no longer related to banshee's," Number one exclaimed before adding. "I want the full story, even if it takes the entire night, including who this charming ghost and those two living beings are."
But Nova wasn't ready to recount her story yet. "First, where is your husband? You said he went to buy milk seventy years ago and that he wouldn't be back before I departed for duty."
"Him? We divorced a few years after marrying. I just invented a random excuse not to make you feel bad or overly selective when the time came," answered number one, shrugging in dismissal.
"See? I told you," Morgane chimed in, puffing her chest in pride after verifying she was right.
Simultaneously, Julius moved his chair away from the table, wishing to have nothing to do with these kinds of discussions. His big brother always told him to stay far from gossip, and somehow, the trio's glowing eyes scared him a little. Thus, he closed his eyes, focusing on cultivation while nodding his head occasionally.
"Was he that bad?" Nova asked, patting her big sister on the shoulder comfortingly.
"Hum. More than bad, he always blamed me and called me a scammer," she replied, smiling wryly. Unfortunately for the man, he had died on the borders, finding his way to the canyon a few days later. After seeing her beauty and flirtatious behavior, he thought ghosts could do it, too.
"Hahaha. He was a fool to think we could train together in bed without bodies!" She giggled, causing Julius to swallow wrong and explode into a coughing fit.
'I'll block my ears using earth Qi,' he thought, remembering what Arun told him after he asked about the red light shops he saw in Alkemia Al-Nur.
"Wow, I didn't know I would be that on point with my analysis," Morgane snorted in disdain, remembering the lecherous gazes of some nobles during her days as a princess.
"Well, that's the type of man you get using your body. The good ones will look at your personality instead." Number one answered, raising her hand dismissively. Then, her excitement returning, she pointed towards Adam and added, "Enough about this boring boor. Is he the one you caught?"
Despite the Qi blocking his ears, Julius fell to the ground upon seeing her predatory eyes while nodding mechanically. 'I need to flee. Women are scary when they are together!' He thought, alarms ringing in his mind. With his brother sleeping, he had to protect him!
"I-I'll wait outside with the guard. I'm sure he is bored all alone in the street," he said, his figure blurring as he swiftly escaped, dragging Adam's ethereal body behind him.
"Humph, you scared him away!" Nova exclaimed, shaking her head bitterly before explaining everything.
Twenty minutes later, she concluded her story. "So, I didn't catch him. He even was mad at me for my forcefulness."
Upon hearing the complete story of Adam's heroic deeds, number one's eyes narrowed. "I see, I see. So, you mean he is free to grab!" She exclaimed, her eyes glowing pink.
"What? No! I mean... Ugh," Nova tried to answer but failed to find the right words. Truthfully, she didn't know if she was interested in him or any men. Yet, seeing her big sister trying to hook him felt wrong.
Smiling impishly, number one said, "Listen well. I have lived for almost eight centuries alone. If you don't want him, I'll take my chance."
"Wow, you are almost as old as the Belloria kingdom," Morgane remarked, impressed by her age, before giggling. "I think Julius would have died from a heart attack if he heard your last declaration."
Simultaneously, Nova glared at her before snorting, "Humph. You can try. He won't fall for you."
"We'll see that. Let big sister show her years of research on male behavior once he returns," Number One said, confidence filling her voice and heart.
Meanwhile, an icy shiver ran down Adam's spine, his body shivering in his apartment. "What is this bad feeling?" He muttered, his eyes glued on his interface.