楼上的上瘾女士

Hal and Marla sighed simultaneously while Lena turned to Tanya,

"He took advantage of me and I want him to apologize" she implored.

Tanya who had 'seen' all that had happened took a deep breath,

"Stop being a drama queen Lena. It was only one little peck"

"Exactly" Marla piped and Tanya's eyes darted to her before she looked at Hal,

"And who is this?" She asked.

Lena nodded vigorously,

"Yes, I was going to ask him that. It's probably why he kissed me *gasp* to distract me" she said.

Hal shook his head,

"No, I kissed you because I wanted to and I thought you would like it just like you did..." He began,

"I did not like it" Lena interrupted him to say.

Hal continued despite her interruption,

"... This is Marla. A big fan of the Imperial family and really wishes to make your acquaintance" he said,

To which Marla gave what was unmistakably a fake smile as she waved at the princess,

"Hello"

In her mind, she was thinking,

'What's with the high and mighty look. Oh, I can't wait till he has you moaning and yelling at the top of your lungs with pleasure. Let's see if you can look high and mighty then.'

Hal flicked his wrist and withdrew a bronze and run down Orb that looked to have parts of it caved it as though pieces of it had been chipped away, which Makena, the Silver moon sect head had given to him as what he had come to her for.

The next piece in the puzzle that was the map to find the Nexus stone.

"Here is what you wanted me to get" He said as he placed it on the little table in front of Tanya before seating in a chair opposite the sofa while Marla sat on the armrest of said chair.

Tanya frowned at the fact that Hal brought the Orb out in front of Marla and proceeded to ask,

"Why are you including her in my plans?"

Hal shrugged, not at all put off by the menacing undertone in her words,

"She helped me get it. She knows all about Orb already.

She doesn't care about the Nexus stone though" he said.

Marla nodded,

"Oh yes, who needs that stuff. Seems a boring way to establish a rule" she said.

"Very outspoken I see" Tanya said to which Hal replied quietly,

"You have no idea"

"Is she a member of the Silver moon sect?" Tanya asked to which Hal shook his head,

"Nope"

Tanya's eyes darted between Hal and Marla for a while before she sighed,

"Fine. You trust her then I will trust her as well." She said.

Lena's mouth gaped.

Was Tanya not letting it all slide too easily?

Was she not just letting the bastard do as he pleased now?

However, that was certainly not what Tanya was doing.

She had always wondered how Hal was able to accomplish certain things he accomplished and while the reports showed no possibility of him having help, the presence of Marla and his admittance of her helping him showed that he definitely had help.

If so where were they?

How had they followed him to Black Lagoon when not even Hal had known where he was getting taken to after he was knocked unconscious.

Clearly, Hal had a lot of secrets.

Even now, she was only just learning some of them.

Telling him Marla could not be aware of their dealings or that she was not to be involved in any of the missions she gave to Hal would probably be a detriment to his effectiveness... If he decided to be obedient.

What was the point of being difficult?

Regardless of his means, Hal had been getting results from the very start so why should she mess with what was probably his winning formula.

Speaking of which,

"So, how exactly did you get this?" She asked as she picked up the Orb and examined it.

"How else?" Hal asked with a cocky grin.

"It's obvious, not even the Silver moon sect head is immune to my charms. I am just too likable" he said.

"No, you are just too sickening" Lena said but Hal ignored her.

Tanya however smiled lightly,

"Really? You quite literally charmed your way to this?" She asked.

Hal raised a brow,

"Why do you find that so hard to believe? It's what you wanted me to do, is it not?" He asked.

Tanya sighed,

"If I am being honest, I did not think it would be enough to succeed but if it was, then I have surely underestimated your charms." She said.

"Yes, you have. You absolutely have. That said, my charms were Indeed not all I used to get this orb. I needed to trade services as well"

Tanya was piqued and she leaned forward,

"What was it? What services did you trade?" She asked.

"Assistance. I offered the sect my help against an enemy. Making use of all my resources as well as a few allies" Hal said and gestured towards Marla who waved at Lena and Tanya with a smile.

"Oh, so the Dome that is described to have surrounded the entire territory had been... Your doing?" Tanya asked.

Hal's eyes widened slightly,

"How could you even think that? Even with all my resources, such grand use of Astral energy would have required a constant stream of Astral energy, much more than a mere Rank five runemaster could possibly endure.

No, the dome was someone else's doing while I and my allies fought along with the Silver moon sect ladies away from all prying eyes.

It was a gruesome encounter but we all did our best and got the result we hoped for."

"And how many of these allies do you have?" Tanya asked. Her skepticism of his answers which she believed were definitely lies, still evident in her eyes.

"Not that many to be honest. Anyway, such dedication to aiding their cause and fight against her idiot of an ex-lover got Makena and me on a first-name basis so taking away the Orb was far from being a problem"

The fact that Hal had called the Silver moon sect head by her name caused Tanya to raise a brow as that had to be evidence of familiarity between the two. Familiarity she had not expected.

She shook her head slowly.

She had more important things to think about right now, namely this Orb and if it would lead to the Nexus stone directly or just to another piece of the puzzle.

Thanks to the scroll Hal had gotten from the Kruger Estate, she knew her blood was going to be required to activate the next piece even though she had not known what said piece actually was.

If her blood did not prove enough for activation, then this could not possibly be the next piece that she was seeking.

First, she released rose-red Astral energy to cast powerful noise-canceling runes about the lounge.

Then pricking her finger with Semi-saint energy, Tanya let drops of her blood fall on the decrepit orb and for a second, a second in which all four in the lounge watched on with bated breath, nothing happened... and then...

*Whirrr*

.... The whirling began and the top part of the Orb began turning clockwise while the bottom half began turning anti-clockwise as green energy was released outward in a steady stream.

Thanks to Grimoire, Hal knew what was happening already and knew what the Orb was.

It was a storage Artifact that was quite like a lockbox.

One that very likely held the key to the vault inside which the Nexus stone was kept safe while also holding information on where the vault itself was.

But it could not be opened yet because...

"Incomplete.. The Orb is incomplete."