She should decide herself

She should at least know. She'll decide whether or not she wants to meet her daughter.

I shook Dahl's shoulder gently to wake her up. She yawned and stretched, slowly opening her eyes.

"Hmm? I fell asleep? Sorry, Yun."

"It's alright, you were adorable anyway." I replied, smiling at her as she blushed. "But I received a message you should read."

I showed her the phone and her eyes widened when she read Marion's message. "Oh no..."

"What do you think, Dahl? Should we see her?"

She looked away. "I-I don't know... I... think I messed up..." I tilted my head, making her continue. "I was... too careless... I didn't even think she could be one of your followers..."

"It surprised me too. But in retrospect, I am mostly popular with young people. What shall we do, then?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking back at me. "Accept, Yun. She wants to, she's just afraid."

"Lia?"

She nodded and smiled. "I know you wanted to spend the day with Dahl but she's panicking again right now, so I switched with her. Let her cool down a bit. But trust me, accept, she'll end up regretting it otherwise."

"Okay, I'll ask Marion when we can meet. It'll be fine, Dahl, I'll be by your side." I replied, squeezing her hand gently.

I quickly replied to Marion's message, agreeing to meet whenever she'll be available. Now I just had to wait for an answer.

Lia meanwhile got up and looked around. "Well, since I'm out, why not continue exploring for a bit longer? We still have some time before nightfall."

"Is Dahl fine with that?"

"Yeah. She needs to prepare herself for what's to come, so she let me in charge for now."

"Alright. Is there a specific place you want to visit?"

"She thinks it's just a tourist trap, but I'd like to see the London Eye from up close." She replied with a giggle. "It's not too far from here either."

I smiled. "Sounds good."

The two of us walked towards the London Eye, crossing a bridge above the Thames river. Lia kept looking around, seemingly excited.

"It's my first time leaving the US, you know?" She said. "London wouldn't have been my first choice, but it's fun to explore it and see how it's like. A lot of things are different from Dahl's memories, too, so it's still a fresh experience for me."

"It is my first time as well, but I hope it won't be the last. I do plan to at least visit South Korea someday."

Lia grinned. "Oh, it'd be great. South Korea is one of the rare countries Dahl hasn't visited yet. But we'll fix that soon enough~"

"Really?"

She shrugged. "No real reason as to why, but yeah, she never got the opportunity to go there, even though she's been living in China and Japan for a while."

"I see. There are so many countries I'd like to visit in the future. I was thinking about that when we were at the museum, to be honest."

"Great minds think alike, huh?" She said, smirking.

"Seems like it." I replied with a grin.

We reached the London Eye shortly after. It was a massive observation wheel, the biggest in Europe, towering above most of London. We didn't plan to get inside, but just seeing it from up close was impressive nonetheless. We walked around it and found a bench near the river.

"We've been pretty lucky with the weather so far, but it might not last. We should probably buy some raincoats and boots in case it rains during our stay." Lia said as she observed the sky.

"I heard that the weather in the UK is pretty unpredictable, yeah." I replied.

She pointed towards the other side of the river, further south. "See the district there? That's Westminster. One of the wealthiest parts of London. Lots of nobles and celebrities live there, including some members of the royal family. And... lots of skinwalkers too."

"Huh?"

Lia snickered. "Come on, don't tell me you didn't expect it? Skinwalkers are all driven by their greed and desires, it's only natural that most would want to slither inside rich and influencial skins. Even you and Dahl are guilty of that, to a lesser extent."

"You think?"

She gave me a sly grin. "Yun, you're a beautiful and fairly popular model, with a wide audience and a lot of money. You meet all the criteria. As for me, I am cute, smart, and from a wealthy family. Most of the skinwalkers there would love being in my skin, but luckily for me, the one who ended up stealing my life was far **** than them. The group Dahl's... 'genitor' is from was based in Westminster. I have no idea if they're still using the same building as fifteen years ago, but we should avoid the place. She doesn't want to risk meeting any of them, and I agree with her."

"Alright... We'll have to be careful, then."

"The district has some interesting landmarks and monuments to see, so it's a bit of a shame, but we really don't want them to notice us."

"Are they that bad?" I asked as I observed what I could see of Westminster from here.

Big Ben throned over the district, with a palace and the Westminster Abbey not far from it. All the buildings seemed very old, judging from the architecture, but there was this... 'aura' of majesty to it. It was clear at a first glance that wealthy people lived there.

Lia shivered slightly. "They're real monsters without an ounce of humanity left. You haven't met another skinwalker yet apart from Dahl, but trust me, the two of you are truly exceptions among them."

I didn't reply, I kept staring in the distance and thinking about what she said. I wondered how many skinwalkers were hiding in higher spheres of society. How many of them were in Hollywood? In governments? Among the billionaires of this world? Probably a lot. My crusade against corruption will most likely lead me to cross paths with other skinwalkers in the future, but I wasn't sure I was ready to face them yet.

The two of us stayed there for a moment, admiring the view, until we decided to buy more clothes, like Lia suggested. I bought a pair of leather boots and a long coat, as well as a pair of slim jeans, a few skirts, a navy blue dress, and a few more pairs of pantyhose with different motifs and colours to keep my legs warm even while wearing a skirt or dress.

After our new purchases, we drove back to the hotel and laid on the bed.

"It was a fun day, don't you think?" Lia asked, turning her head to face me.

"It was, yeah."

"Your stunt from this morning really surprised me, I didn't expect you to propose to her like this. It'd make me envious if I wasn't sharing a body with her." She said, giggling while looking at the newest ring on her finger.

"Are you fine with that, Lia?"

"You're charming, caring, and hot, why wouldn't I be fine with that?" She replied as she leaned closer and kissed me, surprising me. "We both love you, you are the best partner a girl could ever dream of."

"Does it mean that I have two girlfriends?" I asked in a teasing tone.

She chuckled. "Two girlfriends in one, if you want to picture it like that. It's strange, because it almost feels like she and I bonded on a spiritual level. It didn't happen before she became me. The previous skins she wore, even if she manifested their souls, they couldn't control the body, they couldn't see her memories, they were just... voices in the back of her mind she spoke to in order to feel less lonely. It was the same for me at first but, as time went on, we got closer and closer. Now, we share everything, even memories and feelings; we're pretty much two faces of the same coin by this point. I think the ability she got from evolving grew stronger with time. I remember her 'genitor' mentioning something like this when he taught her."

"I see. I wonder how I could potentially evolve. You told me that it was based on my desires, but all I really desire is you and Dahl, to be honest."

She smiled warmly. "You're not in a hurry. Some skinwalkers, like Dahl, needed years before evolving. Just keep following your desires and maybe you'll get the opportunity to evolve soon, who knows."

"You're right."

After a brief moment of silence, she spoke again in a less confident tone. "Hey... did Marion reply yet?"

It looked like Lia and Dahl switched again, and Dahl was back in control.

"I'll check, give me a sec." I said as I took out my phone.

I scrolled through my Instagram messages and indeed found a new one from Marion.

"She asks if we could meet her tomorrow after school in Watford. Is it good with you?"

She nodded shyly. "Yeah..."

I hugged her and caressed her head. "It'll be fine, Dahl, I'm sure."

"I wish I could share your optimism, Yun, but I'll try. I'm feeling pretty tired, so let's find something to eat and go to bed."

"Alright." I replied, kissing her. "Want more pizza? I wouldn't mind eating the same one again, it was really delicious."

Dahl smiled weakly. "Sounds good, I didn't get to enjoy it properly yesterday."