The cityscape passed by the windows of the bus. Simona was very uneasy with how easily her mistress, though it was apparent how unhappy Candace was with the situation, accepted the offer to be taken to where her husband was. The big tip off was the way she was grinding her teeth, to the extent that Simona could see particles raining from her mouth.

"What the hell does he even mean? What you find, may not truly be what you think you are going to find? This must be why my husband hates him so much," Candace gripped the back of the seat in front of them so hard the wood core was creaking.

"My Lady-," she started.

Candace fixed her with a look, "Don't speak, think. He doesn't need to know what we are talking about."

It took Simona a second to be able to comply, mostly as she had never had a truly telepathic conversation in her life, 'My Lady, are you sure we should have taken his offer? What if he has less than charitable intentions?'

"I doubt that he is going to be foolish enough to try to take us anywhere to defile or kill us. My husband would no doubt realize it occurs, and he would not have a very long or comfortable life afterward. He is honest, as he has to be, but I don't know how far that actually extends. For now just be quiet, and let me deal with him," the expression on the vampire's face would have been lethal on it's own.

The human on the bus simply looked back out the window with a large degree of concern, and no little hope that she wasn't about to become a footnote and statistic. Just weeks ago she had been a simple housekeeper for the estate, and now she was in Hell. This was Hell.

"Ok, that is just unnecessary. I'm not that horrible a person. I don't think I am? Hmm. I never thought about it before. Still, this isn't Hell. This is Asia Majoris."

A single glowing eye appeared in the mirror over the windshield, "I can still hear half of your conversation. I'm not your enemy. So you don't have to be afraid, but I would appreciate it if you would try to reign in your words so that they quit beating me over the head. It is making it hard to concentrate on the road up here, and I like this bus enough that I don't want to wreck it."

It was apparent that Candace was in a unique emotional state. Simona would have preferred to be anywhere else, but given that wasn't an option, she turned her attention to the passing scenery. The urban sprawl was something foreign to her, at least she wasn't as used to it. She had gone to college in Bucharest, so she had been in a major city, but most of her life had been at the estate.

Soon though the sights changed. It went from urban, to suburban. The large tower blocks giving way to single family homes, and smaller apartment buildings. This was foreign to her. She hadn't spent anytime in the suburbs. It actually looked nice to her, an inbetween to what she knew. Maybe she would have the chance to someday live in a house with a nice lawn and a family.

"Children are nice. I loved my daughters dearly, and I hope there is a chance at least one of them may still be alive. They weren't like me, they were just vampires. I, don't actually know how long a vampire lives. I don't know any that died before I went to sleep, but I know that they aren't immortal. I don't even know if I am truly immortal," the vampire looked down at her hands, a sad look crossing her face.

Simona looked over at Candace with a questioning look. She didn't understand the vampire thing as well as she should have apparently, because she didn't know that vampires came in more than one variety. Of course she would be something other than the regular variety, because that was Simona's life.

"Simona," Candace's saying of her name seemed, quieter, than the addressed woman was used to.

"My Lady," she asked.

"I have put it off until now, as I wasn't sure quite how to bring this up. Every other woman who had been my voice, for hundreds of years, was a slave."

"A slave?"

"Yes. They had no choice in the matter, well less choice than you do. They existed with little more than their devotion to me, and as little more than a mouthpiece for me to speak through. Not even their personality," Candace looked over.

Something dropped out from under Simona. She hadn't expected that, and she wasn't sure how to take it. Did it mean, That she was destined to become little more than a speaker for the vampire.

"Simona, do you trust me?"

She didn't answer. She didn't know how to answer her. She was terrified at the prospect, the idea of giving up who she was. How wouldn't that scare anyone?

"Please, I know it's hard. I never would have stopped to consider the position, or the happiness, of my voice before. I never had a reason to. You are the first."

That wasn't really that assuring. She was the first ever given consideration? So did that mean that she was always going to get that, or would she someday be stripped away, and be left a doll with little more than a pull string on its back.

"Simona, I'm not going to do that to you. Too much would be lost if I did. Even as shocked and afraid as you have been because of me, you never tried to run away from me."

"Somehow, that is supposed to make me ready to just trust you when you start talking about taking over my mind and body as a mouthpiece?"

Candace looked down, shame written on her face as another voice spoke up, "You know, trust isn't a one way road. The number of bodies that have been laid out at her feet, is something to be terrified of. Even those who have been in the position you are in now were discarded if they so much as annoyed her. For her to say any of those words, means more than you would think."

"How would you know that," Simona looked up at the driver.

"Because she can't lie" he said simply.

"Shinso could not stand lies. He would never lie, and he only ever gave me one command, that I will always follow. Never lie. I love him so much, that I will follow that until I no longer breathe. Simona, will you trust me?"

The woman looked out at the landscape that had turned into rural fields. She almost wished that she could get off the bus, and just go lie out in the grass. Just watch the clouds go by and not have to feel the uncertainty that she did.

"What would I have to do?"

Candace looked up at her, "You would only have to relax, and basically drift off into sleep, or if you know how to, a state of meditation. I would impose my thoughts over the part of your mind that gave you speech. It used to be that the woman that was my voice was drugged into a stupor, so that I didn't have to worry about if I needed to say something at an instant. I'm not going to force that on you. When I am done, I will draw back, and give you back your mind."

They passed into a tunnel that was a darker black, than Simona had ever seen. There was so much that was telling her that she should refuse. Every logical part of her mind was yelling at her, just to say no. There was one part, though, that simply said:'Has she lied?'

She hadn't. She truly had not lied to Simona at any point. Even the threat to drag her around by her pubic hair had been little more than an irritated and sleepy woman's jest. Only when she had been afraid, had she done anything to hurt her, and that was unintentional.

"Candace, am I at risk," she felt weird using the woman's given name, rather than calling her My Lady.

"I will never hurt you. I've come to care about you too much in these few weeks. Can you trust me?"

Simona took a deep breath, "Yes. I will trust you."

The two women smiled at each other as the bus came out of the tunnel, and pulled up to a scarecrow on the edge of a cliff.

The music room was full as classes had let out, and since Utsuki had brought Fumiko on as the secretary for the PSC, unless there was an actual issue that needed her attention she was free to do as she wished. So all of the Mongrels and girls were able to hang out for once.

Tekeshi was on one of the couches with Utsuki and Karasu using his lap as a pillow. Akoni sat at the desk messing with another amplifier while Black plucked a guitar to help check it. The two sets of twins had some homework for a class they shared spread on the floor trying to figure it out. Nalin and Kurumu were pouring over a gossip magazine, while Machiko, Heavy, and Chun-hee were sitting on the other couch.

Akoni shook his hand as he got a small shock, "Son of a bitch. Ok, that works apparently."

"Shocking news it seems like," Tekeshi said, his head tilted back at what would have been a painful angle, were he still capable of feeling pain.

"You know, you aren't required to be an asshole. It can be optional," Akoni said, inspecting a small welt that had raised up on his finger.

The young demigod opened one eye and looked over, "Optional? You know me way better than that. I will giggle at minor pain. I will belt out a full on laugh at major, and then lay hurt upon whoever caused it."

"Hey, weird question. What the hell was that when you showed back up? The whole going from hair almost to your ass, looking like some emo vigilante, to looking like you," the dark skinned boy deep in examination of the welt, just wanting to change the subject.

Karasu opened one eye, "I have been wondering about that too. Is it something from being a vampire, or the whole Shinso demigod thing?"

"Demigod," Tekeshi said, "Though I'm not really sure how far it goes."

Everyone in the room looked at him, rather curious as to the extent that he could go with it. It had been strange enough for him to not have his signature tricolored hair when they first saw him. The idea that he might be able to change himself enough that he could walk past them, and they would never know it, was more than a little disturbing.

Heavy grimaced as he spoke up, "Boss, I'm not going to lie, that makes me a little bit nervous. You know I trust you, but, well you know... it's a little disturbing."

"Try looking in the mirror and not recognizing who is looking back at you. Almost two months ago, I spent a few days in Northern Ireland as black guy named Alexander Cosgrove. That was disturbing enough, but then there was the, uh what is that called again, a trans person? It was a guy, that looked like a woman, and had the man parts taken off, who was suggesting that I might be like that. That was a weird day at the pub."

"Hol' up. Hol' up. You was running around black? You must have been the whitest black dude ever," Akoni redirected his attention from his hand to Tekeshi.

Tekeshi shrugged, "Akoni, I'm not white, so, I must have been the most Asian black dude ever. Look, I don't know how that was supposed to work. I was just trying to be discreet. I also wasn't doing a very good job at that. That said, only one person noticed my teeth at all. So, small victories."

Utsuki chuckled, "I love you, but discretion is not what you are known for."

"Hey, when I have to be I can. I just never had a reason before. When smacking the hell out of your problems solves them most of the time, why do you need discretion," he said, reaching down and stroking his girlfriends head.

"So, just how far does it go? I mean, Boss, I'm not going to walk in on myself doing anything weird at any point, am I," Heavy gave him a wary look as he asked.

Out of nowhere a sultry voice answered, "Now why would I do anything like that? Isn't it much better to be beautiful, than a propaganda poster?"

Everyone turned their head to where Tekeshi was supposed to be sitting. Utsuki and Karasu sat up and turned around as the thighs they had been using as pillows, suddenly became much softer. What they saw shut everyone up. Their minds just could not process the sight.

Instead of Tekeshi, the six foot two inch tall, heavily muscled, and rather handsome Asian guy, there was a stunninginly beautiful woman, with deep tera cotta colored skin, outstanding curves, and delicate facial feature, standing no taller than Utsuki. If it wasn't for the look in her eyes, no one would have realized that it was Tekeshi.

A slight coy smile rested on her lips. While everyone else found it shocking, Tekeshi found it hilarious. She didn't know where the form was coming from, but there it was, and she suddenly found it very disturbing not feeling three specific body parts where they were supposed to be. It may not have been the very best joke to pull.

Utsuki and Karasu looked at her blankly, not quite sure how to deal with it, especially since Tekeshi had also changed her clothes to be the girls school uniform. The two girls could only sit and stare at their now girlfriend, not able to wrap their brains around it. Then Utkusi reached for the collar of Tekeshi's shirt, as Karasu reached for the hem of her skirt. Both looked under their chosen article of clothing, suddenly making Tekeshi turn into a almost shining red beacon out of embarrassment.

"No," Utsuki said.

"Uh...," came the violated girl's response.

Utsuki suddenly started pounding on Tekeshi's, extremely impressive, bust, "NO NO NON ONO ONON ON O NON ONONONONONON ON NOOOOOOOOOOOO. Too big."

"I never got to have a chance at it," Karasu said, her head obscuring the interior of Tekeshi's skirt from the view of the rest of the room.

Tekeshi sat there as a woman for another couple of seconds before he sat there as himself again. He was still beet red from the experience, but it was him, and thankfully he had the presence of mind to return his clothing to what it was supposed to be.

"Boss, don't ever do that again. That was the single most terrifying thing I have ever seen you do, and traumatizing," Heavy had his head cocked at a strange angle, a look of complete confusion plastered on his face.

"Yeah, I uh, don't plan to. Babe, please stop hitting me," Tekeshi reached up to catch Utsuki's hands.

"Your boobs were bigger than mine," she said, pouting.

Karasu put her lips up to his ear and whispered, "I don't mind clambakes, but I would rather try the hotdog stand first."