"So, what do you think of her?"

"Hm?"

"Nya?"

They were all currently in some random safehouse, a location that was difficult to find but also very easy to get up and leave if any signs of their existence were discovered.

Perfect for traitors to the world like them.

Arthur's question causes the two beside him to perk up.

One is a young man with brown hair who appears to be adorned with what could be seen as Chinese armor with an iconic gold headband.

Another is a woman with black hair and yellow eyes wearing a somewhat seductive kimono with cat ears sprouting from her head.

Bikou, fiddling with his spear, and Kuroka, half awake, looking up at the stoic knight in clear confusion as he pushes up his glasses.

"What do you think of our Vali's sister?"

The so-called leader of their team is the current white dragon emperor, Vali Lucifer, but they are less of a group and more of a ragtag group of misfits either manhandled into it or who just have similar views in life or disagree with others.

But overall, they didn't care about world dominance or being morally just. The reason they all gather is just to have the ability to do what they want. All they do is travel the world and try to discover its deep mysteries, and they challenge great foes as long as they see it as interesting, which does involve some terrorism here and there, but hey, who's counting?

Kuroka was the first one to answer, but rather than respond, she stares at him in suspicion. "Why are you asking this? Is this some kind of PAR? What, is this going to be sent to Vali?"

At that statement, Bikou starts looking around for any cameras, but the blond man remains unfazed.

"Nothing of the sort," he corrects her, "I am just curious since even among us, she's a very unique individual."

Yes, being that she wasn't from this world and they don't know all the details, apparently Melusine was from beyond the dimensional gap, an Ablion from a different world. And with her vast array of unique abilities and skills, they had no reason to deny her.

"She's a.."

"I-"

You would think that with her nature, she would draw attention and curiosity wherever this is revealed, but,

"Pain in the ass!"

"Don't want anything to do with her!"

With these two, that seems not to be the case.

"She does whatever she wants and treats us like her playthings!" Bikou calls out.

"Not to mention if we dare to peep about her, Vali throws us straight into that goddamn gourd!" Kuroka adds.

"With her around, our team turns into a freaking dictatorship!"

"It always has been," Arthur holds himself back from quipping Bikou's response as he sighs through his nose, but before he can speak up, Bikou interrupts him.

"More importantly, why are you so interested in her?"

"Well, because she's also a good person, and I feel sorry for her. She doesn't seem to have anyone to depend on. She reminds me of someone I knew."

This causes the two to look at Arthur with a mix of surprise and a small bit of disgust at his immediate response.

"You don't mean..." Kuroka asks.

"Seriously?" is the only word Bikou can say to that.

Arthur nods undeterred by the two's looks, "Yeah, I'm sure you've noticed, she is quite clingy towards Vali so I feel it's perfect normal to assume this conclusion simple deduction that's all"

Arthur's explanation causes the two to tense up and scrunch their faces as they try to figure out a counterargument until Bikou finally sighs in surrender.

"Alright, you win, but first." He points his finger at the other male. "You have to tell us your opinion first."

This in turn causes the stoic young man to blink, which is as much as you'll get from him to show confusion. "But I believe I just did?"

Kuroka then pounces in to add more pressure: "Oh, come on, nya, that couldn't be everything, right?"

"Well, while she's usually fine, whenever she brings up Arthur from her world..." The hero descendant's eyes wonder as he ponders, and he then surprisingly makes the same expression as Bikou and Kuroka, as if the thought made him scrunch up in pain. "It turns into a complicated subject to say the least"

A little bit thrown back by the large crowd, both of his teammates look on in surprise before Kuroka's expression changes to one of confusion and annoyance.

"Wait, the midget actually talks about her past with you?"

"Well, it is simple as long as you know what to say. You two would most likely never have a decent conversation with her, though."

In response to the curt answer, Kuroka and Bikou exchange a similar expression, desperately wanting to retort but knowing the blond is correct.

"So what do you two even talk about anyway?" Kuroka asks, wanting to move on.

"Well…" For the first time since this conversation started, he hesitates. "How much do you understand of the doppelganger theory?"

[A few minutes later]

"And that should be all the versions of my ancestor, both male and female, to date."

"..."

"So there's normal female version, alter female version, adult alter female version, normal adult female version…"

As Kuroka tries to count all of them with her fingers, Bikou can only stare at his companion with such a ludicrous expression, which Arthur did not comment on because he himself is not sure of what came out of his mouth.

"How do you deal with that brat?" Bikou could only ask in exasperation.

"Since my sister seems to be fond of her, I believe it is all worth it." The descendant of the once-and-future king replies curtly.

"You know if I did know you personally I would honestly think you're a sis-con." Bikou then pauses and says, "No offense, Kuroka."

"None taken." She answers without looking at him, still focusing on figuring out the many-Arthurs conundrum.

"Quite," Arthurs says, as he brings the topic back to its original focus. "Now then, since I've done what you said, I believe it's Bikou's turn."

"Geh," the monkey king makes a gagging response at the sound of his name, eventually huffing to himself and resigning to respond with a troubling expression.

"Well, honestly, it's probably better if I start from the beginning."

Perking up at that statement, the two fugitives slightly become more alert because, while it's nothing major, none of the team members have ever been open about how they met Vali and became a part of the group.

"Well, it all started back when I finally got to meet her after agreeing to go with Vali-"

"Wait." Kuroka interrupts, "Why did you agree in the first place?"

"Ah that? After getting beat up by the old man far too many times, Vali asked me, "Aren't there more interesting things to do with your time?" and I said, "Yeah, you're right," and that's all she wrote."

"...That is a very you way of joining."

"I'm just going to take that as a compliment." Bikou chides back with a dead stare. "Anyway it all started once I met her…"

X-X-X

She was right by his side once I finally lost some idiots.

"So you're finally here. In that case, let's get going." Without any waste of time we got moving

But I thought it was weird that he didn't bother introducing her, so I asked.

"So who's the little lady?"

For the longest time the reaction he gave then was probably the most emotive I have ever seen him get.

He looked over his shoulder, puzzled, as he trailed his eyes towards where I was looking, widening in surprise before returning to his dull expression.

Bikou realized later on how much this girl attached herself to that guy.

"Oh, that's my sister."

"Sister huh?"

Then the little brat turns to me and stares.

And then she kept staring.

I thought it was weird, but I had seen weirder before, so I went with it. Before I could ask what she was doing, she raised her finger to point at me and said a singular word that set our dynamic in stone.

"Monkey."

X-X-X

"...I don't understand, nya?" Kuroka says, "You are a monkey-nya!"

Kuroka yelps when Bikou slams his fist on the table

"That's not the point!" he shouts as his fist quivers. "The problem is she treats me like a freaking animal!"

"It's either good boy this or pat your head that! Every time I do something, she always claps her hands, trying to give me praise, and the worst part is that she is not even trying to be mean! Not to mention-"

The other two watch the young man watching in silence, aside from the glance Kuroka gives Arthur, to which he shakes his head in turn.

"And finally, why does she always ask me if I want a freaking banana every time we see each other!"

After a few moments of Bikou's fuming, Arthur raises his eyebrow. "Done?"

"... Ah, yeah, I think so," he settles.

"Alright then, Kuroka?"

At the sound of her name, the Nekoshou's ears fold over themselves as their faces scrunch up in conflict.

While Arthur doesn't say anything at that change of expression, Bikou doesn't have that much tact.

"Come on Kuroka it's not fair when we already open our hearts for you to keep yours closed up~"

At the monkey's teasing tone, she sighs, "Fine."

"Well at first it wasn't so bad she was a bit arrogant but nothing I did expect it-"

"So what did she call you?" Bikou interrupts with a sly grin.

Non-pluses she answers immediately "-Kitty cat" and she continues without a second thought "It was fine at first, I could tell from the start she's not a being I should mess with so I treated her the same way I did Vali, and she found that acceptable, until one day…"

X-X-X

It was just like any other day. I was in Vali's bedroom trying to seduce him, as one does,

"Come on nyaa…"

"..."

I thought I could crack that cold expression today, but then the midget walked in. She usually doesn't mind my lack of personal space with her brother; at most, she just stares for a second.

This time, however, things were different.

She just kept staring.

Vali turned his focus away from what he was doing, which made me notice that he also wore a look of worry towards her, which made me do the same.

But even with that, she just kept staring with a blank look.

Without any warning, the girl did the creepiest thing I'd ever seen her do: her pupils dilated to the point where they were even more slited than mine.

But there was no change in her expression or any pressure, which made it odd enough to pass the threshold of disturbing.

Vali was the most expressive I've ever seen him; his eyes were wide open as if waiting for a bomb to drop.

But with nothing happening, it made my paranoia even worse.

"Oh, you're one of those."

And with that, she left, and both me and Vali let out a sigh of relief.

"H-have you ever seen her like this?"

He quickly shook his head, and then, standing up, he left while also mumbling to himself.

By the next few days, it was out of my mind, and I just went on with my usual business, so when I saw Vali, I thought nothing of it.

"Oh Vali-NNYYAA!?"

Before I could even get the next word out, a blue gauntlet came out of the wall and grabbed me, and then it all went black.

My first mistake was not thinking more about that event; the imp was mad, but I wasn't deterred from my course, obviously! As if I was going to let some child get in the way of everything.

At my next chance, trying to be more bold, I immediately swung the door open and said, "Hey, Vali! how about we spend a-"

What I got introduced to was the brat with a mask looking directly at me with a frown etched on her face, and I proceeded to close the door in a similar fashion.

Okay, bad start.

But that won't stop me!

(Few days latter outside)

"Hey Vali, want to see my-GEH!?"

My face went head first into the stream

The pint had headbutted me into a river! I felt like I choked on some water before rising out of it.

Alright, bitch, it's on!

(Later on…)

I scanned the whole area with senjutsu to be absolutely sure he's alone in that room. That girl was not going to surprise me again. -

"Sorry to break it to you, but your abilities won't be able to sense me." A calm quiet voice spoke behind me but before I could do anything her hands wrapped around my head and then-

*CRACK!*

(Later that night…)

"Alright, if my Senjustu doesn't work on her, I'll just use it to hide myself."

It was in the middle of the night, and I was confident that she was a deep sleeper. It was foolproof!

I slowly slipped past the door into his room, snickering to myself. I raised the sheets... only to see the white she-devil snoozing under the blanket along with her brother.

Covering it almost automatically, I turn away, pausing and muttering to myself.

"He seriously doesn't sleep with his sister at his age…"

Not completely sure; I check again.

And she was still there

But now eyes open and there silted

On that signal, I ran, but it was too late. The brat grabbed my tail and dragged me under the bed, covering my mouth, before I could scream.

"Hush, don't wake up Vali."

"It's already too late for that."

"Oh, if it's that, then-" The girl then switched from grabbing at my mouth to grabbing at my ears without a second thought at those words.

"-NNNYYYAA!"

(Later…)

"Okay, this time it must work! I'm hiding under the floor and using devil magic and senjutsu to hide my presence, and she isn't waiting for me. All I have to do is wait for her to leave–?!"

A blue gauntlet burst through the coverboard, beginning to rip apart the floor and revealing those dreadful yellow eyes.

Unable to run, I could only say one word.

"How?"

The runt cocked her head sideways. "I do this every day."

That's when I began panicking.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!"

Grabbing my hair and ignoring my pleas, she drags me out of the room to the only window, and Vali just watches while he's on the bed.

"Melusine, are you sure she's going to be fine?"

"She has, like, nine lives and lands on her feet or something."

"Stop, stop! Sto-"

(...)

I ran.

Even when screaming, surrender, that thing didn't stop its pursuit.

She just kept coming regardless of what I did!

"Okay! Okay! I won't go after Vali so STOP!"

My words fell on deaf ears even as I kept on pleading; her pace never broke, even more so when her gauntlet fins began spinning and generating some dangerous energy.

That flower-printed mask couldn't hide her blank stare at me, which made me realize what was going on.

"Ah… How long did she stop considering me as a being to communicate with?"

That was my last thought. Leaping across the distance in a second, the girl appears right behind me, grabbing me in a second.

Afterward, everything turned white.

X-X-X

"Kuroka, you are solely to blame for this." After she finishes her story, Arthur lays it into her hard, accusing the cat almost right away.

"How?! I was perfectly normal; she's the one that overreacted!" Said cat shouts back indignation

"Hate to say it, but Arthur has a point." Bikou continues, his face transforming into a half-smirk, "Like what you would do if your sister was in the same situation?"

With a flippant hand gesture and a huff, Kuroka, however, dismisses that. "If she was being pursued by someone like myself, I wouldn't even question it."

"Does this woman believe it's okay for someone to sexually harass her younger sister for the purpose of reproduction, or does she believe in her own hype that much?"

Thankfully, the descendant of the once and future king is astute enough to keep his thoughts to himself, only indicating them by slightly raising an eyebrow.

"Anyway, Bikou, that sounds like you don't want my help?" Kuroka turns to glare at the monkey.

The monkey's face then takes on an oddly serious appearance. "Hey, I never said that. I don't care how nonsensical your reasoning is; you being on my side is all that is important."

Then Kourka adopts a similar demeanor while smirking: "Now that's what I like to hear."

Arthur does nothing but observe the two disputants laugh heartily and shake head only thinking of the distastar these two can make by rubbing their brain cells together

"Okay so the first thing we should do-"

"But what about-"

"Oh we could also-"

"Yeah but-"

"You should probably do this."

"Wait, why?"

"Yeah, I don't get it; he doesn't seem like that would work…"

"Because, while it may not appear so, Vali is extremely stubborn, so you should avoid doing exactly what he says that irritates him."

"Honestly, yeah, that fits!"

"Yeah, I can see that, it really does help!…"

Both with their eyes bulging out, Kuroka and Bikou stare at the sight of a young girl with white hair and yellow eyes who had been in between the two unaware until now, not noticing the new voice that was the last one to join in and give them advice.

"No problem, I just..." She comes to a halt, looking at the two people who are staring at her as if they've seen a ghost. "What?"

As she tries to continue speaking, Arthur interrupts her.

"You surprised them."

After only giving a small "Hm" at Arthur's comment, she then turns to Bikou, but before she could open her mouth, he cuts her off.

"No, I don't want a banana!"

"Okay then."

That retort snaps the two out of their shock.

"Melusine!"

A voice from afar calls out to the fairy while huffing, and it is Le Fey, the Vali team's Pendragon magician, with Fenrir walking beside her.

"Why… did you… just disappear like that?" the young mage asks, catching her breath.

"Well, I sneezed, so someone must be talking about me, and since you are one of the only few people who know about my existence, it wasn't hard to track down who.'

"That doesn't... make… any sense."

*Bark!*

At the sound of the wolf of the apocalypse, Melusine twitches in slight annoyance.

"I don't need you to butt in flea brain"

*Woof!*

"No matter what you say I was right, and that's the end of it"

*Grrr…"

"It's irrelevant if she gets my logic; she asked and I answered."

"Um... can I get the gist of what he's saying?" Le fay awkwardly raises her hand.

"Why? Can't you just- oh right human well-"

As the dragon, wolf, and mage lose themselves in conversation, Kuroka finally asks the question to Arthur.

"How long?"

Nonplussed, he answers casually, "Around the end of your story, from the looks of it, she probably heard everything."

The cat and monkey both snap at the little dragon, leaving them wondering what was going through her head.

*Bark!*

"Why did I give them advice?"

The next words that come from the fairy knights is a well-rehearsed phrase that she uses frequently.

"Why should the strong worry about anything the weak should do?"

"That…"

"Bitch!"

The wolf, surprisingly, agrees with the statement, and Le Fay herself laughs awkwardly as she can feel two people seething behind her.

"Melusine…can't you put that any better?"

"Put what better?"

Her look of confusion causes the somewhat taller girl to sigh as they walk away.

Arthur observes the two as they depart to seeth again before departing himself and speaking out loud to no one.

"I'm surprised you asked me to do this or that, it'd get so bad that this is closest the team staged a coup,"

With no one answering, Arthur gives out a rare chuckle and leaves, only for Vali to appear with, instead of a facade of cool indifference, a blank stare of clear annoyance.

"Those two are definitely going into the urn after this."

I probably should say this right now. Time Skips are going to be the name of the day in the story. I didn't make this story to have 50 to 60 chapters in mind so we will bounce around alot most forward in time but there's few moments that it'll go backwards but don't worry there's definitely a main through line in this story