Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

The life-sized Ella looked at the shocked faces around her with a nervous smile.

Meanwhile, Kane panned his gaze curiously between the doll-sized woman on his shoulder, and the one standing in the middle of room.

Aside from their size, they mostly looked the same, except for one small difference: the larger Ella had small, round human ears, rather than the long and pointy ones of her natural form.

"Hiding your ears was a good decision," Kane told her telepathically. He already had a suspicion on how Ella was appearing there, so he focused on the specifics instead. "The more strange new races they encounter, the more our story will start to fall apart."

Ella blushed lightly at the compliment while nodding softly, "Y— Yeah, that's what I thought, too."

Meanwhile, the life-sized version of herself muttered softly while poking her fingers together, "H— Hi."

Anna blinked as he looked at her, "You… you're Ella?" Suddenly, in total fascination, she extended her hand and tried to touch the slightly transparent woman in front of her, clearly suspecting something.

Her lips curled into an excited grin when her hand passed straight through Ella's clothes and body. "Holy Mother…" she muttered while looking at her hand. Then, her head shot up, and she looked at Ella with burning curiosity. "What are you?!" she exclaimed with eager excitement.

But only then did she notice that Ella was looking a little uncomfortable, and Anna realized she still had her hand sticking out of Ella's chest. "Oh!" she yelled, a little startled, before quickly pulling her hand back and apologetically muttering, "Sorry…"

"It's fine…" Ella mumbled awkwardly. "This situation is new for me as well. Suddenly seeing a hand go through you is… unnerving."

"Yeah, I can't even imagine…" Anna nodded, lost in wonder at this new experience. But then she suddenly seemed to think of something, and frowned, "Wait, you're not used to this? Then what's going on right now?" Her last question she directed at both Ella and Kane, as her gaze panned between the two.

The doll-sized Ella on his shoulder quickly spoke up, "How much should I tell them?"

Kane frowned thoughtfully for a moment, but then just shrugged, "Just tell them you recently became a part of me and have the ability to infiltrate computer systems, but it's complicated, and you'd prefer not to talk about it right now. If you wanted someone to talk to about all this later, you can que in Anna, assuming you become friends, but for now, let's not divulge too much."

Doll-sized Ella nodded along with him, and when he was done, life-sized her started followed his suggestions precisely

Unsurprisingly, Aelia looked at them with scepticism and Mira, the ramling, with amusement. The latter clearly didn't really care about the truth, whatever it was, but the former did.

Lyra and Anna, however, were more concerned with Ella's situation. With Lyra now looking at her with compassion and sadness, while Anna took a different approach.

"That's amazing!" the hareling exclaimed while eagerly panning her gaze between Kane's head, and Ella. "You mean you're actually in his head?! But wait, then how are you standing in front of us now?!"

Unfortunately, her apparent disregard of Ella's situation, earned her the ire of Lyra, who glared at her. "Anna!" she chastised angrily.

Instantly, Anna blinked and quickly took a step back. "I— uhm… sorry…." she fumbled while scratching her head. "I get a little carried away sometimes. This must be hard for you."

"Thank you," Ella smiled slightly at both Lyra and Anna. "But I don't mind. I'm already getting used to it, and Master's support has helped a great deal."

On the side, Aelia snorted while she looked with sceptically narrowed eyes between Ella and Kane, "I'd still like to know why you're calling him Master. One might think you are merely his slave, telling us whatever he wants you to…"

As soon as Aelia's voice fell, Ella underwent a startling transformation. Her nervous eyes hardened and she looked at Aelia with a cold gaze. It was a gaze of superiority and dismissal that had clearly been practiced from a young age. "The nature of our relationship is none of your business. You should do well to remember your place, lest you loose it all together."

For a moment, the old Ella reared her head. Although it wasn't an instinctive response. It was very deliberate. She merely realized Aelia would need to be brought down a peg, if she was to serve under Kane, and her old persona was very well versed in demotivational tactics.

Aelia actually felt herself flinch back a little from the harsh tone and cold voice. Ella's practiced gaze gave her the feeling she was innately inferior. Yet, when she realized she'd just been intimidated by a mere few words and a stare, she quickly rallied and wanted to strike back.

But, she was stopped by Mira's hand on her shoulder. "It's not worth it, Aelia," the ramling whispered. "What are you even hoping to accomplish?"

Aelia hesitated, but when she noticed Kane's piercing amber eyes were also pointing in her direction, she finally backed down as some of the fear she felt earlier rose up again. "F— Fine… whatever."

"I understand your pride is wounded because of your new situation, Aelia," Kane's calm voice echoed. "And I can understand, really. But Mira is right. What are you trying to accomplish?"

Aelia looked at him with frustration and a hint of anger. But then those emotions slowly ebbed away, until she suddenly sighed and rubbed her forehead, "You're right… I'm sorry. I'm having some trouble with the serving thing, but I'll get over it."

Kane looked at her for a moment, before nodding sternly, "Good. But if it makes you feel any better, I'll have some more benefits to share with you all later."

He didn't actually believe this was over yet, but it would have to do for now. He already had another plan to hopefully make Aelia fall in line, anyway.

Meanwhile, Ella had turned back to Anna with a small smile. "Anyway, some kind of projectors are spread all around the base, allowing me create this form. Combined with the sensors and a directional sound system, it's almost like having a real body again, aside from being transparent."

Of course, similar technology existed on both Earth and Alfheim, so none of this was particularly surprising to Kane, Luna, or Ella, but Anna was quick to shake of her previous awkward mood, and was now glowing with excitement again. "Really?! That's amazing!"

Sensing that the two of them were quickly getting sucked into a long conversation, Kane decided to move on. He turned to the doll-sized Ella on his shoulders, "Can you still talk to me while talking to her?"

Ella smiled and nodded at him, "Sure! Multitasking was easy even before the neuralizer." She smirked proudly, "I was a sixth stage Mystic, remember?"

"Good," Kane smiled slightly. "In that case, we should move on to next steps."