Flying back to my hometown with Dahlia and Claire

After the nice lunch, we stopped by Dahlia's building so that Claire would be able to remove Jason's skin and restore him. She and Dahlia went to Jason's flat, while Mother and I waited at Dahlia's. I took a look at Dahlia's flat to try to ease my nervousness from leaving this town for good and not being with Claire like we used to anymore.

Dahlia's plants seemed really well maintained and quite pretty. Her flat as a whole had a comfy vibe, with a large living room and a TV with a Switch next to it. I knelt and observed her list of games. Mainly casual games, like Mario Kart, Zelda, Super Smash Bros...

"I can see how anxious you are, but relax, my child." Mother said while kneeling next to me. "Claire spent a few hours in a skin, she should be fine enough for the time being. Besides, she'll have her assistant to wear during her stay anyway, I made sure of it."

I turned to face her. "Who will they be? One of Minh's brainwashed slaves?"

"For now, we are fairly short in term of available willing humans, so yes. But she should be someone Claire will enjoy greatly nonetheless."

I closed my eyes and let out a quiet sigh. "I see."

I suppose Claire will treat her well, whoever she is... I thought.

"Oh, Dahlia has some good tastes in games. Do you want to play a round of Mario Kart while waiting for them?" Mother asked, taking the game case out of the shelf.

I shrugged and got back up. "Why not."

She turned on the console and we sat on the couch, starting a race. Mario Kart wasn't my specialty, it had been a long while since I last played a game from this series. Mother was a lot more skilled than me in that regard, and dominated me completely.

Claire and Dahlia returned while we were still racing, walking into the living room.

"Having fun with my game console, I see." Dahlia said, an amused smile on her face.

"Indeed. Video games really are a lot more entertaining than I thought." Mother replied, giggling.

"You're feeling better, Claire?" I asked.

She did regain some colour, even if she was still slightly paler than normal.

"I am, Ed. Thanks." Claire replied with a reassuring smile. "And thank you for your help, Mother."

"You're welcome, Claire. How did you find your first time being someone else?" Mother asked while playing, still easily leading.

"It was... an interesting experience." Claire answered more awkwardly. "I... I sorta knew what skinwalkers could do after Ed and Dahlia explained it to me, but living it is another thing entirely."

Mother giggled. "It is, indeed. Now you have the ability to experience many kinds of lives, so I hope you'll have fun. But be careful and stay low."

"I'll do my best, Mother."

As Mother easily kicked my ass at Mario Kart, Dahlia went to her room to grab some clothes and other belongings she might need for her night at our hometown. We then stopped by Claire's and my old flat to do the same. I stuffed everything I wanted to bring inside a backpack and carried it alongside my suitcase, even if it was quite cumbersome with how small I was. My center of balance was so different now that I was Elise.

We took a taxi to the airport and passed the security checks with no issues. Claire was somewhat nervous as we approached our flight's gate, understandingly so, since she had fairly bad and still fresh memories of our hometown. And heading to meet Mother's coven soon probably didn't help either. Dahlia held her hand, to reassure her. Mother, meanwhile, spoke to Claire about some games she enjoyed, visibly trying to help her relax. And it seemed to work, as Claire timidly joined the conversation, talking about Tekken and other games she and I played a lot.

In the plane, I sat next to Dahlia, Mother wanting to spend more time with Claire. Dahlia closed her eyes and leaned against the seat, letting out a soft sigh.

"You okay?" I asked her.

She gave me a slight smile. "Yeah, I'm just... bracing myself. The last time I met... others like us, it wasn't a pleasant experience."

I remembered her mentioning her mentor before I left, as well as the hatred and bitterness she clearly felt towards him when she told us about him.

"Ah, right... But I think it'll be fine, this time. I don't know them all that well yet, but they didn't seem so bad." I said in a reassuring tone.

"If you say so, then I'll take your word for it." She replied, closing her eyes again.

I decided to let her rest for the time being and follow her exemple, relaxing and listening to some music while waiting for our plane to land. A few hours later, we were leaving the airport, the sun setting as we followed Mother to a familiar-looking Subaru.

Minh was waiting for us, leaning against the door, his arms crossed and a smirk on his favourite stolen face. "Welcome home, Aga, Claire~"

"Good evening, Minh. Thank you for picking us up." Mother said, smiling at him.

Minh unlocked the trunk, letting us store our bags, and looked at Dahlia with a flirtatious grin. "Cute skin you got there~ You're the one who turned Ed, I assume? I'm Minh, nice to meet ya~"

"I'm Dahlia." She simply replied, still a bit tense.

"N-nice to meet you, Minh..." Claire timidly said.

Minh's smile became **** when he glanced at Claire. "I already met you before, cutie, but it's a pleasure to finally talk face to face~"

"Everything is ready, Minh?" Mother then asked.

Minh nodded. "Yeah, the rest are at our usual spot. We shouldn't make them wait too long." As we all got into the car, he continued, laughing. "Poor Aisha is gonna have a fit. First you introduce Edward to the coven, and then give Claire our blessing yourself."

Claire tilted her head. "Aisha?"

"My youngest skinwalker child before blessing you, Claire. She's a good girl, but she can be quite... protective and possessive of me." Mother explained.

"She gets jealous real fast." Minh added. "She never liked that Aga had a soft spot for you two."

"Don't worry, though, she would never do anything to harm any of you. She knows what it'd entail." Mother declared confidently.

I wasn't so sure about it, considering how much she seemed to hate me and Claire last time we met, but Mother knew her a lot better than me, so I didn't say anything. I would keep my eyes open just in case, though.

As Minh was driving us to what I imagined to be the same house the last reunion took place at, he had some small talk with Dahlia, trying to get to know her better.

"So, how long have you been a skinwalker for?" He started with.

"About fifteen years." Dahlia replied.

"Ah, so many youngsters... I'm really starting to feel old." Minh said in a joking tone.

"It's all in your head, Minh." Mother chimed in, giggling quietly.

"Anyway, where are you from, Dahlia? I'm Vietnamese, but spent most of my human life in L.A."

After a short moment of silence, Dahlia spoke. "I'm from London."

Claire and I glanced at Dahlia. We never asked about her origin before, so we were surprised to hear that. I wasn't sure what I expected, though. I never really wondered about where she came from before now.

I really don't know much about her... I thought.

"Oh, a Brit? Oliver, my lover, originates from Scotland." Mother commented. "We met in the 1920s, as I was touring Europe with my late mentor. We spent a few months in Edinburgh back then, and I remember that time rather fondly."

"I see."

"I'll stop with the questions for now. Wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable by turning it into an interrogation." Minh chuckled. "You clearly don't feel at ease around us yet."

"Indeed." Dahlia simply said.

The conversation died down afterwards. Claire didn't say anything during the ride, trying to relax before the meeting.

Finally, we arrived in front of the house. It was indeed where I was introduced to the coven last time. We all got out of the car, Claire holding Dahlia's hand and staying behind us. I couldn't deny being nervous myself, wondering how this meeting would go.