Shadow Slave: The red Goddess of War and her dragon

Kai, already back in his apartment in the Waking World, couldn't stop pacing back and forth, his mind fixated on one thing. His bare feet lightly tapping against the cold, grey floor being the only sound around him.

What did he do wrong? And why had Lady Morgan been so cold to him?

It wasn't anything new that the princess of Valor was coldhearted, of course, but she had never been this cold, toward him especially. Kai haven't really noticed it before, but now that he thought about it, the princess was always treating him in a special way.

And before her mood changed, she was so… so charming and fun?

'No, wait! How can I call her charming when she was literally threatening to cut me up?!'

Kai shook his head, waving the thought away. He came to a halt in front of the large window, his eyes drawn to the view beyond. From here, he had a clear sight of the NQSC, or at least the area designated for Government officials.

As a Saint, Kai naturally lived in a luxurious apartment. It had everything a Transcendent warrior could possibly need, from a high-end meeting room to a training facility built to withstand battles between Saints.

Of course, if he wanted to, he could reduce it all to rubble in an instant just by transforming… but it's the thought that counts.

Looking down at the moonlit world from above, he sighed, his own reflection staring back at him through the glass.

'Do I apologize for offending her?' He kept overthinking, stepping back before letting himself fall onto the large bed, sinking into the plush mattress. 'But it's not like I did anything to make her mad… right?' he thought.

After a moment Kai suddenly shot up into a sitting position, his eyes widening. 'Could it be that she thought I was trying to guilt-trip her?'

His face scrunched in thought, one hand supporting his chin while his elbows rested on his bare knees. "It has to be that… But now, how do I fix the situation?" Kai mumbled to himself, his voice barely loud enough to be more than a thought.

"Wait… why do I even care that much?" he kept whispering, clearly growing annoyed at himself and these weird feelings in him.

Then, as if his mind was desperate for a justification, a valid excuse formed, 'It's because you can't mess up our relationship with the Valor Clan, Kai!'

Yeah… a really good excuse. That was definitely the reason. Of course, it was exactly that…

Waving off the annoying and judgmental thoughts, he sank deeper into thought. When would be the next opportunity for him to meet her? Should he just head to Bastion tomorrow if he had the time, or would it be better to wait for the right moment?

'No, I can't just go to Bastion… but I also can't wait too long either…'

With an exhausted groan, he collapsed back onto the bed, grabbing the thick blanket and rolling himself into a cocoon.

As a Saint, he didn't require food or sleep as often as normal humans, but he couldn't remember the last time he had felt this drained. Naturally, exhaustion hit him, making him feel rather tired.

'I'll think about it tomorrow,' Kai reassured himself, closing his eyes and trying to drift off to sleep.

And he would have, if not for the sudden knock on his front door, immediately followed by a shameless clang, signaling that someone had just let themselves in with a spare keycard.

"Hey pretty boy!" a voice -which he already knew who it belonged to without them even speaking- boomed through the corridor, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps as the tall woman stormed into his bedroom. Only Effie could be so shameless to simply burst into someone's apartment in the middle of the night.

Kai rolled over onto his back and looked up, his auburn hair spilling across the mattress. "What is it, Effie? I'm sorry, but I hope it's something important if you're storming in like that…"

Effie raised an eyebrow, already forgetting why she even came as she saw his face. She placed her hands on her hips, standing tall and straight. "Why so sour? A woman finally rejected you?" she said sarcastically before waving the thought away as if it was the least possible thing that could happen.

"No-" he answered defensively, trying to move his hands, but since he was still wrapped up in his blanket, he could do little more than squirm. With a frustrated sigh, he glanced up at her again. "Actually, you could say something like that happened, I guess…"

With a dramatic gasp, she nearly stumbled to her knees, clearly in disbelief. And doing a bit too much like usual of course. "No way! How could any girl reject the magnificent Night from the Nightingale?!"

Slowly stepping forward, she sat down on the edge of the bed, stifling a laugh. "Who was it?"

'You're exactly the person I didn't want to tell this to!' Kai screamed in his mind, though he didn't say it out loud of course, not wanting to hurt his friend's feelings.

Rolling out of the blanket, Kai sat up, leaning on his elbows and looking up at the sudden intruder. "It was Morgan." Before Effie, who was already opening her mouth with wide eyes, could say anything, he quickly added, "But she didn't reject me in the way you're thinking! It was more like-" He paused, searching for the right words, but after a moment, only a groan escaped him before he buried his face in the mattress.

"Is our famous and beautiful Dragonslayer in looooove?" she asked teasingly, poking him at the back of his head.

"No," Kai's voice came out muffled as he swatted at her hand, "I'm just... embarrassed. You see, I think I messed up and made her mad at me."

"Hold your horses," Effie said, smacking the back of his head lightly. "You better start from the beginning so your bestest friend can help you out!"

'Help me out… sure…' Kai sighed, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. Telling Effie about the situation might have been the biggest mistake, but Kai couldn't bring himself to say no to his friend. Plus, oddly enough, Effie had the most successful relationship out of all of them. She was a married woman with a happy husband and a child after all, so maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to ask her for help.

Waiting for Effie to calm down, Kai sat up and leaned against the headboard. Once the muscular woman finally stopped grinning and giggling like an overexcited child, he began retelling her the events, making sure not to leave out a single detail.

Kai had to give credit where it was due -Effie was listening closely without interrupting. Well, except for when she burst out laughing every now and then, taking a good minute to calm herself down before she could let him continue.

By that point, Kai was more or less used to her childish behavior, so it was a miracle that she managed to listen for even a full minute without turning the conversation into a dirty joke.

"And yeah, I just left after she told me to. I was too nervous to ask her if something was wrong," Kai finally finished with a heavy sigh, after nearly an hour of talking.

Effie couldn't help but wipe away a tear from her previous fit of laughter and smack his knee so hard he thought it might fracture. Ignoring his wince, she chuckled, "How could the famous Night from Nightingale, the Dragonslayer himself-" she paused, bursting into laughter again, "-be so bad with women?!"

"It's Morgan, what did you expect from me?!" Kai groaned, his tone full of annoyance and self-disappointment.

"Not to be a chicken and actually talk to her!" Effie replied, slowly calming down. "Kai, you're one of Neph's closest friends. Do you seriously think she would hurt you?!"

Kai tried to open his mouth to argue, but Effie didn't give him a chance, nor did he even have a solid argument to counter her. "She even asked you to talk to her like she was a normal woman! But no, you had only politics inside your pretty little head!" she continued, flicking his forehead with enough force to send his head back.

"But don't worry, aunty Effie knows how to fix this!" she boomed, her voice so loud that Kai could've sworn the entire NQSC must've heard her.

Standing back up heroically -hands on hips, back straight, and chin lifted high- she spoke, "The Valor clan will be holding a charity gala in a week. They can't let the people of NQSC think they've abandoned them, so they're trying to 'help' us out with money." She said the last part with mockery and sarcasm, but Kai didn't even hear it. His mind was focused on one thing.

'The gala, how could I forget! That's my chance to make it up to her…' he thought, face-palming himself and drawing a confused look from Effie who was eagerly awaiting his response and appraisal.