Chapter 40 - Dealing with the rabble

While Ivar had decided to spend some time training and becoming stronger, Molly had gone to confront the members of Sanctuary, who were still gathering in front of the stairs to the penthouse, waiting for news from their boss.

The group had grown smaller, however, as many people had accepted Alita's explanation and returned to work.

While Molly could be incredibly caring to the people close to her, most of the people in Sanctuary knew her as a fierce taskmaster who lacked a lot of bedside manners.

So they were not surprised when she stood in front of them in one of the poses they were so used to seeing from her, with one hand on her hip and the other accusingly pointing forward as she said, 

"What the fuck are you all still doing here?! What, did you think Alita and I wouldn't be able to handle a single mercenary together?! 

Nova is fine. She and the mercenary finished their sparring, and I'm sure she will tell you guys all about it later, but for now, get back to work and let her rest! Who is even guarding the front gate right now?!"

Despite being the nurse and how she looked, everyone knew Molly to be one of the strongest people in Sanctuary. Some even speculated she might be able to defeat Nova, but since no one had ever seen them fight, those rumours never went further than speculation.

Since that was the case, most of them dispersed as they decided they would simply find out the result of their fight later. Surely Molly, Alita and Nova, all together, would be able to deal with that mercenary if he was a problem?

Only Ista remained in the end, as she kept looking at Molly with suspicion, "Why won't Nova come down to talk to us herself?"

There was a reason Ista held a high rank in Sanctuary and had been appointed as the daylight guard captain; she was intelligent and capable and worshipped the ground Nova walked on.

Molly sighed; she had expected Ista to be a problem; if she saw Nova in her current state, there was a chance she would charge up to the penthouse in a rage and try to take revenge for someone she considered a goddess.

Although she enjoyed the idea of Ista annoying that suspicious man who had done something to her friends, she couldn't be sure he wouldn't do the same, or even worse, to Ista when left alone with her.

She didn't particularly like Ista and her blind fanaticism, but doing something like that to her was still a little much for Molly.

So she tried to get Ista to leave by glaring at her and saying, "Because she is exhausted from the fight. Now leave and return to the gate before I make you leave! I don't mind putting you in the infirmary, even if I am the one that has to fix you up afterwards."

Knowing Molly's strength and personality, Ista couldn't help but feel intimidated by those words, as she wouldn't put it past this tiny, fierce nurse to make her words a reality.

But her conviction made her stand her ground, "I- Do what you have to, bitch! I won't leave without knowing she is okay!"

As Molly grinned, just about ready to vent some of her frustration on this deluded fanatic, she heard a cold voice behind her, "So little faith in me, Ista? Don't believe I won't dock a week's pay for deserting your post. 

Investigating a fight is fine, but sticking around after an underboss like Alita tells you the situation is under control is not. You and everyone else who stayed after Alita told you what was going on will face the consequences."

Looking behind her, Molly saw Nova coming down the stairs with a stoic expression, followed by an uncharacteristically bored and annoyed-looking Alita, who would have preferred staying with Ivar rather than being grilled by Molly for an hour.

Ista barely even noticed Alita's strange behaviour and seemed to ignore the harsh, cold tone by which she was just scolded as she quickly approached Nova with an excited, "Boss! I knew you wouldn't let yourself get beat by some man! No one defeats you!"

Nova sighed and moved quickly as she grabbed Ista by the collar and slammed her against the wall, all while keeping her stoic face intact, despite the fact her body was still aching from her earlier fight, 

"I don't appreciate insubordination, Ista. And I don't need you coddling me, either. I told you to return to your post, so do it before I toss you out of Sanctuary myself."

Instead of being afraid or angry, Ista seemed excited by the mere fact the woman she considered a goddess was touching her. Truly, there were a few screws loose in this woman.

Regardless, she quickly nodded and, after Nova let her go, scampered off to go to her post, still smiling excitedly.

Alita rolled her eyes and made a prediction, "That woman is going to cause problems. Probably soon."

Then, she noticed Nova staggering a little and quickly grabbed her by the shoulder, "You alright, big sis?"

Nova nodded, "Yeah, my body just hurts. That guy's strength is something else, and he wasn't even transformed."

As Alita had already filled her in on what happened after she fell asleep, she knew that Molly was not exactly what she had claimed to be, so she wasn't worried about mentioning transformations in front of her.

Then, while leaning lightly on Alita, she returned to her apartment and laid down on the couch so that Molly could take a look at her.

While Molly started treating Nova, she also interrogated the two sisters on everything they knew about Ivar.

Since Nova was still angry at Ivar, she felt compelled to spill the beans on everything she knew, but remembering Ivar's threat after their fight, she decided it was better to keep quiet.

She did, however, warn Molly that Ivar would likely hear anything they talked about, which caused Molly to have no desire to talk about her own past, either.

Alita, obviously, was an ever harder nut to crack. She helped care for her sister but responded to none of Molly's questions or her attempts at turning Alita against Ivar.

So, after about an hour of fruitless conversation and Nova had once again fallen asleep, Molly left in a huff, intending to return to Ivar to get some more answers while Alita followed in her footsteps.

When they entered Ivar's room, however, they froze at the sight of the large, grotesque-looking wendigo sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by whirling masses of blue wind.

Upon sensing their entry, he opened his fierce eyes, which were still amber-coloured, stood up and beckoned to Alita with one of his large clawed hands, "Come kitten. You aren't suddenly scared of your master, are you?"

He intended to test her while also punishing her a little for letting Molly slip past her.

While Molly was still frozen, Alita's body had already started moving before her mind had even comprehended his words, as she ran straight at the monster with a slightly crazed smile.

Luckily for her, the masses of wind opened up to her and closed again when she passed them.

While Ivar still could not do anything but create shields with his ability, it had only taken this short hour for him to have much greater control over his shields.

That said, he felt like he was still far from his goal.

When she arrived before her master in Wendigo form, she had to gulp despite the conviction that had brought her this far. But she moved to hug the monster anyway, showing her devotion.

Thankfully, when she felt herself touching something, it was just the regular human Ivar she had come to serve and even care for.

Ivar chuckled at her relieved sigh as she hugged closer in order to deeply inhale his pheromone-filled scent while he patted her hair, 

"Good girl. With that, I forgive you for letting Molly pass. Considering her strength, I doubt you would have been able to stop her, anyway."

Alita smiled, feeling thankful to her master for not punishing her, a thought that actually caused her to giggle a little, as she could have never imagined thinking something like that even just a week ago.

Meanwhile, Molly had unfrozen and was looking at this sight with a complicated gaze, not expecting Alita to go so far, nor for Ivar to look so caring, as she asked,

"Seriously, what did you do to Alita? No way did it take only a few days for her to suddenly decide to serve a man.

And what are you, anyway? I've never heard of anything that resembles what you just did!"

Ivar just smirked as he kept petting Alita, "And why should I tell you anything, munchkin? I don't need you, nor am I afraid of you."