REBORN LUNA

AT THE PEARL CENTER

"Sure" the man replied without hesitation.

Janus was lucky because someone was kind enough to help him reach the pearl center, which was situated near the palace of the king. The building is huge. The walls has sculpture design of an image of a mighty wolves, the ancient human-wolf in history, it was form by stone and pearl in it's eyes.

There are five guards securing the entrance. All of them are warriors.

Janus Marasigan followed the man that led him to get inside the building, so the guards would not notice that he was not registered in the city, which means he would be treated as a rouge, which may take him into 10 years of imprisonment until the king approves his citizenship in his kingdom.

When Janus Marasigan entered the pearl center, he was amazed at the spaciousness and design of the interior. The whole area is decorated with shiny pearls. Inside the center, there are sellers of beauty products, shops and restaurants. That's why there are many people here who can be likened to a lark.

He observed that both young men and women enjoyed the place. But since Janus Marasigan knows the type of creature, whether it is a human, wolf, or vampire, it is easy for him to understand the nature of each of them. This trait is unique, and only his grandfather knows about it.

"So, I think I should leave you here" the man bid goodbye.

"Thank you for bringing me here. I'm fine being alone" Janus Marasigan smiled at him before he left.

Janus Marasigan sat in the common room where he liked the most kind of games. There is a young human girl playing a game of stones with one of the girls, a cute brunette with a freckled face.

Ever since Janus, as Alice in his true identity, has never experienced playing with other girls like this in her teenage years. There are many things she missed from her childhood. She deeply thought.

"I win again!" one girl said with a giggle.

Janus Marasigan handed her a copper.

"Another game?" he asked, and she nodded eagerly. Few of the girls in the room would object to earning an easy copper or two.

Caught between fear and boredom, Janus Marasigan had spent the day filled with fear and worry, and before long the small room had felt like a prison cell.

Eventually, boredom had won out over fear, and he had headed down to another room inside the pearl center.

The next few hours he spent playing games of stones and cards with other girls. He missed all but a few of the games, and at the same time, he had no idea that someone was watching him from a distance.

It had been two hours since he came to that room, and there was no sense of vampires in the place. Or maybe they had still not appeared. He decided to wait for another hour, before he could leave.

With a sigh, he forced himself to abandon the thought. Worrying now would do him no good.

"Want another drink?" he asked the brown-haired girl, and she agreed happily.

Janus Marasigan invited the girl and walked over to the bar.

"A strong and sweet wine, please."

The bartender gave him a warm smile as he put down some coppers, then handed him the drinks.

Janus Marasigan had been generous to these girls, who had quickly won him a friendship in the games room— a friendship that would last exactly as long as his money did, without thinking about running out of coins, he thought.

As he moved to turn around and walk back to his table, he bumped into a large man, half of the wine in his mug spilling over the man's shirt. He could hear the growling anger inside of him. As he slowly raised his head to look at the tall guy, the ugly expression on his face made him uncomfortable, and he instantly sensed trouble.

To all the people around, they knew that this man was a mercenary, a thug who had started multiple confrontations with the other patrons.

Alice as Janus Marasigan felt the bouncer would have thrown him out if they got into a fight. At the same time, Janus has come to a halt for a while because he detects the scent of a death in him, the scent of vampire.

"Sorry about that," Janus Marasigan quickly said.

"Let me buy you a drink."

"A drink?" The mercenary's square face twisted in a cruel grin.

"You think I'll let you off that easily?" The man added.

Janus Marasigan saw the man's two fangs begin to emerge from the bottom of his mouth.

"What if I end up being the worst nightmare of your life right now?" this man added to say and show his evil smile, the smile of a bloody vampire.

"How did you get inside the city?" Janus Marasigan asked him in a low voice instead. The man seriously looks at him, and that makes him questionable on the side of his mind.

"I stay in the city for years, nobody noticed my words and actions. Nothing can stop us, but you? How did you know that I am-"

"It's not an important thing, all I know is that I must kill all of your kind" Janus Marasigan strongly said.

But before Janus Marasigan could say another word, the mercenary's fist swung toward him. It was only through his luck that he managed to avoid it. If the man had the blood of a pure human-wolf, there was little doubt in Janus's mind that he would have been hit squarely in the face.

However, people around gathered to witness the scene, and nobody attempt to stop the fight between the two.

The man took a step forward, and Janus Marasigan launched a punch at him with all his strength; he wasn't excellent at fighting, but he was skilled at dodging attacks, which was his technique. Because he only fights with his whole strength with a sword. As a result, he would not simply stand there and allow the man to beat him.

To his surprise, his fist connected with a loud crunch as it smashed into the mercenary's face. Instantly, blood gushed from the man's nose, he raised his head to stop himself from the flow of blood, and he stumbled back several paces.

"You bloodless son of a w***e!" the mercenary said, his left hand reaching for his face.

"You broke my damn nose! You're going to pay for this!"

Janus Marasigan was shocked to see the mercenary withdraw his blade, a heavy saber filled with the scars of battle. His own hand immediately went to the sword at his side, only to find it missing.

Cursing under his breath, Janus Marasigan remembered that he had left his sword outside the gate of the city. He stepped back, fear filling him, as the mercenary started to move toward him.

As the mercenary raised his blade, a bitter smile formed on Janus Marasigan's lips. At that moment, a blond man suddenly stepped forward.

Janus Marasigan had not seen him before, and he guessed the man was a stranger also in this place. Then the blond man said,

"You dare attack my friend?!"

Before the mercenary could react, the blond man's hand shot forward, grabbing the arm in which the mercenary held his saber. Then, he twisted his hand, and with a sickening crack the mercenary's arm snapped like a twig.

"Ahhh!!"

As the mercenary's arm fell limply to his side, the saber clattered to the ground. However, Janus knew that his reaction was fake. He cried out in pain. Actually, vampires don't feel any pain, unless it is their death. The man looked at Janus Marasigan with such heavyness he felt, and his eyes started to turn red.

Janus Marasigan heard those cracking bones from his body, but the sound was abruptly cut off when the blond man's fist crashed into his head, sending him sprawling across the floor.

This time, all of them saw what was happening to the man's body. After being defeated, his skin suddenly shriveled until his skin stuck to his bones, and it was crushed little by little, and now his whole body has turned into sand on the floor.

"Woah! a vampire! There's a vampire in the city!" the girls in the room shout in fear. In an instant, they were surprised by what they saw and thought they would be able to let vampires enter the city with more humans for blood.

The room went quiet, all eyes drawn toward the blond man who had just beaten the mercenary with such ease. The mercenary's groans before now became a tone of silence in the air.

"Hey, Mister, Thank you very much for saving us!" one girl said.

The blond man did not reply, instead he walked toward the bar and slapped a handful of silver coin on the counter.

"Ready your best drinks for me!"

He turned toward Janus Marasigan, then spoke loudly,

"It's good to see you again, my friend!"

Janus Marasigan stared blankly at the blond man in front of him. Because he had never seen him before in his life.

"Who—" Janus began. The man stepped toward toJanus and said,

"You must treat me to a drink, as your payment for saving your life!" Before Janus Marasigan could dodge, the man had grabbed him, pulling him close.

"Chose someone you can trust. Always keep your mind awake even if you are sleeping," he hissed into Janus Marasigan's ear.

Letting go of Janus Marasigan, he called out to the bartender, "Bring me two pints of good ale."

With that, he grabbed Janus Marasigan's shoulder and pulled him toward an empty table in the corner of another room.

"What are you doing here?" the blond man said in a loud voice as they sat down.

Janus Marasigan was aghast, but he answered anyway, "my mate." He thought that this man couldn't be trusted, so he followed his lead.

"Should I say you're here to look for a fight or just want to hang out with all pretty girls here?" the blond man said loudly to two men who were sitting at the table next to them. They laughed awkwardly in response, clearly unwilling to get involved. Janus Marasigan remain silent, but the man stood and look around, he face everyone in the room and said,

"From what you witness here, please tell the king about it; he needs to know about it right away, as far as we are concerned."

After that all the girls leave the room immediately, followed by a few male human-wolf. Then the man turned his attention to Janus Marasigan

"After this we'll head back to the caravans. How about you?"

The bartender arrived, carrying two pints of ale.

The blond man handed the bartender a three silver coin.

"I'm looking for my mate" Janus Marasigan replied. He wanted to show being a normal shifter and respectful one when it comes to this man.

"Ah, feel sorry. I can't help you about that, anyway let's have a drink. We're leaving early in the morning." the blond man said, after taking one shot of liquor and set down next to Janus Marasigan.

What followed were several hours of pure torture for Janus. Speaking as though he wanted the entire room to hear, his 'friend' told story after story, half of them embarrassing tales from his childhood. But, each story was as fake as it was embarrassing and did not offer much comfort to Janus Marasigan.

A steady drip of coin kept the ale flowing, until the night fell. The ale took its toll on Janus. Finally, he felt as if he was about to fall over.

"Sad, I should not be drunk like this," Janus said.

"Hahaha, your a man with a sweet voice. How's funny?" The man laughed out loud.

Then Janus Marasigan realized that he forgot to control his original voice. The voices of Alice Marasigan.

Finally, the blond man announced, "That's it, lad! Time to get some sleep. We're leaving at dawn."

With that, he stood up, handing the bartender some more silver before waving them off. They had made more coin that time than they usually earned in a month, and their faces were glowing in delight.

As the man walked out of the room and went up the stairs, Janus Marasigan stumbled behind him, head abuzz with drink.

"Where are we going?" Janus asked.

"Looking a room to rest" The man said

When the man reached the door to his room he took a quick look around, then pulled Janus in with him. Once they were inside, the man wordlessly reached forward with his hand and put two fingers against Janus Marasigan's forehead.

Before Janus could react, a jolt of pain ran through his body, and his vision went blurry.

When the pain subsided a few moments later, he suddenly found himself completely sober.

"Sorry about that," the man said, sounding not the least bit sorry.

"It will be best if you stay calm and relax; then you will know what comes next."

"Who the hell are you?!" Janus Marasigan finally blurted out.