As Tess and her wives were walking down the street after finishing up with Joan, they were stopped by a young man that Tess didn’t recognize running up to them. “Can I ask for an interview?” He asked breathlessly. “I saw you and just had to ask.”


    “Uhh…Come again?” Tess asked, taken aback.


    “Right, right, sorry.” The man replied, standing up straighter. “I’m Marley Smith, host of Mael: the Unseen World, and we’re here in town to investigate the strange happenings. You’re Tess Los, the girl who recently made a splash at her high-school yearbook signing, correct?”


    Tess raised an eyebrow. “And you’re not afraid of me?” She asked. “Most people who know of me tend to steer clear.”


    “They just don’t know what an actual threat looks like.” Marley laughed. “By all accounts you’re polite and reasonable, I once hunted down a bone horror, so this is barely even comparable in terms of the fear factor.”


    “You actually chased after one of those?” Maven asked. “Did you have any sort of protective gear?”


    “Some body armor and a gun, it tends to ward things off well-enough. If you make monsters think you’re too hard of a target, they’ll generally back off. Plus, there was a Hunter with me, so it wasn’t as big a risk as you’re thinking. It’s episode twenty-two, if you’re curious. You sound like you have experience with them, would you mind sharing?”


    Maven thought on that. “The three of us have killed a few.” She admitted. “I was just surprised a civilian had the guts to go after one.”


    “There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and I walk that line every day.” Marley replied. “I take it the two of you are also in touch with the occult, then?”


    “Why don’t we take this somewhere more private?” Ellie suggested. “And, yes, we’re involved with the occult.”


    Marley looked to Tess, who nodded. “We’re fine with being interviewed.” She confirmed. “But Ellie is right, the street is no place for an interview like this.”


    “We’ve rented out a studio just down the block that we’ve set up for stuff like this.” Marley replied. “We were actually in the middle of filming when I saw you three out the window.”


    “Lead the way, then.” Tess said.


    Marley began walking down the street, turning to give Tess and her wives a smile as he did. “You know, most young women are more hesitant to be taken to another location until I show them proof I am who I say I am. I assume you’re not particularly worried about it being a trap, then?”


    Tess shrugged. “We just know you couldn’t actually hurt us if you tried. Believe me, we’re regularly in much more dangerous situations.”


    “I did just admit to working with Hunters, you know.” Marley replied. “Who’s to say I don’t have some waiting in the studio?”


    “Again, it wouldn’t make a difference.” Tess said. “I’ve already encountered the woman who is supposedly the best in the business, and she wasn’t capable of doing anything to stop me. I’m more worried about holding back so as not to kill them if they insisted on fighting.”


    Marley raised an eyebrow. “And you’re still just walking about in broad daylight? You’re not worried about her coming back for revenge?”


    Tess snorted. “If she did, I’d be more worried about her, because she’d clearly be under some sort of magic or is being blackmailed or something. She’s on quite good terms nowadays with us nowadays; in fact, if you want to interview her, just head down to the church in the evenings and ask for Marie. Tell her I sent you, and she’ll be more than happy to clear her schedule.”


    Marley stopped, an incredulous look on his face. “I’ll actually do that, you know.” He said. “I’m not afraid of being laughed at.”


    “I’m serious.” Tess replied. “Worst that’ll happen is that she’ll call me to verify.”


    “Is there a reason you’re so buddy-buddy with her?” Marley asked, beginning to walk again. “Usually, hunters don’t get along well with supernatural elements.”


    “We’re both servants of the gods, and once we actually sat and talked things out, she realized I wasn’t a monster and that we’d be much more productive if we worked together rather than being at each other’s throats. And they don’t get along well with monsters, I’m a person, and that makes a world of difference.”


    Marley stopped in front of a building, opening the door. “After you, ladies.” He said. “First room on the right.”


    Tess and her wives confidently strolled into the building and into the room that Marley had pointed out. The room was large, and a stage of sorts had been laid out near the back, dressed up so as to give the impression that it was a cozy library with two comfy chairs arranged around a fireplace.


    The crew milling about spoke in hushed whispers which, thanks to Tess’s enhanced hearing, Tess was able to hear perfectly. It was, of course, about her and her wives, the crew wondering if the videos they had seen were real or just hoaxes, and if it was safe to have them in the studio. “I won’t be hurting any of you.” Tess said, smiling at them. “As a heads-up, yes, I can hear everything you’re whispering about right now, and we can prove that later if you would like, but don’t talk about anything private if you don’t want me hearing.”


    Marley walked in a moment later. “I’ll be holding you to that. In the meantime, do you mind waiting while we fetch some seats? I already have people grabbing them.”


    “We don’t mind, but we can do you one better, if you don’t mind people’s inevitable accusations of blatant fraud.” Tess replied.


    Marley raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Elaborate.”


    “I’ll be blunt, I’m willing to do just about anything you ask of me, and a lot of people are going to have a hard time believing it’s not CGI. I know I wouldn’t have believed it before I got involved in all of this. But, here, watch.” Tess reached into her pocket and pulled out a folding chair that she had stored in there, setting it up and sitting down. “Extradimensional storage, I keep lots of stuff like this in there just in case it’ll come in handy.”


    There was a long moment of silence as the crew stared at Tess, but they rallied shockingly quickly. “That might be a bit much.” Marley admitted. “Let’s stick to the stuff we’ve already seen you do, and maybe a bit of extra magic, nothing too flashy.”


    Tess nodded, standing up and putting the chair away. And, as she did, a few people came into the room, carrying two more chairs with them. They placed them on one side of the fireplace, and Marley motioned for Tess and her wives to take a seat. They did so, and Marley sat down opposite them.


    “We’ll start rolling as soon as you’re ready.” He said. “I’ll give a little intro, just follow my lead and it’ll be fine. I’ve got a list of questions here, you can read through them if you’d like but it’s fine if it’s just off the cuff. I’ll be making some pauses that might seem awkward, but they’re there for the sake of editing, so we can make smoother cuts and whatnot.”


    “We’ve probably got answers cooked up to any questions you can ask.” Ellie said. “We’re ready.”


    Marley looked to Tess, who nodded, then cleared his throat. “Alright, three, two, one…start filming, please.”


    <hr>


    Marley turned to the camera, putting on a big smile. “Hello folks, right now I’m in a studio in the town of Kaas with a trio of very special guests, would you mind introducing yourselves?”


    The camerawoman turned the camera over to Tess, who turned and gave the camera a smile of her own. “Hello! I’m Tess Los, and these are my wives. You may recognize me from a few videos that have been circulating online lately, and I’m here to help answer questions about them.”


    She turned and nodded at the redhead to her left, who spoke up. “My name’s Ellie, and I’m going to let Tess do most of the talking, since, you know, she’s the one who’s front and center in this whole thing, but I’ll probably pipe up from time to time.”


    “And I am Maven.” The black-haired woman to their right added. “Like Ellie, I will mostly be quiet, but I likely will speak up if a topic comes up that I feel I am more suited to speaking about.”The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The camerawoman panned back over to Marley, who was still smiling. “Now, if you don’t know what these young women are talking about, allow us to take a moment to share the videos in question.” He paused momentarily, then continued. “Fascinating videos, aren’t they?” He turned to Tess, then continued. “So, I have to say, this is a first for us; we’ve never actually been able to interview the subject of an episode before, usually they’re too busy trying to eat us. You’re different, though, would you mind telling us why?”


    Tess shrugged. “I’ll admit I haven’t seen an episode of your show before, but chances are that’s because you’ve been chasing down monsters. I’m a person, and I was completely ordinary until seven or eight months ago. You don’t just become some sort of maniac after getting magic.”


    “Any chance you can tell us how one would go about learning magic?” Marley asked.


    “It’s not something you can just learn, I’m afraid.” Tess replied. “You have to have someone who can use magic initiate you, and there aren’t that many of us. Last I checked I think there were around…twenty to thirty people in the world who can use magic? And it’s not something those of us who know magic can just go around handing out willy-nilly, either, there’s a whole process to it, and you have to be prepared to get seriously injured if you’re not careful. Point is, it''s not something you can just go and learn if you want to.”


    “I figured it wouldn’t be that easy.” Marley chuckled. “I’m guessing you don’t want to entrust it to someone you just met, either?”


    “Exactly.” Tess replied. “I need to have more than just ‘you run a TV show’ if I’m gonna trust you with this. I need to get at least some idea of what your character is like, first.”


    “Well, that’s fair enough, I don’t think it’d be wise to just hand out those sorts of secrets willy-nilly.” Marley said. “But I’m sure the viewers all want to see some real magic, do you have any you care to show us? And, folks, like always, don’t be shocked if the camera quality takes a sharp drop; it’s not some sort of error, it always happens when the supernatural is caught on camera.”


    Marley paused, giving Tess an appraising look. “Actually, do you happen to know any ways around that?”


    “It’s something Life and Death put in place to help keep the supernatural from causing panic.” Tess replied. “If the video quality remains poor, it’s easy to write off what’s in the video as fake. However, times are changing; I think you’ll find that you’re not going to have that issue going forward. It’s not my place to say why, but I can say that I’m putting myself out there so much for the same reason. Now, what would you like to see first?”


    Marley would have liked to take a moment to digest that, but he had an interview to film, so he gathered himself and pressed on. “Well, let’s start with the big one, I suppose; can you show us those claws?”


    Tess nodded. “Any specific way you’d like me to show this off?” She asked. “Like, should I just bring them out while I’m sitting here or do you want a close-up shot or what? There’s not a huge difference on my end, so as long as you don’t want me to hurt anyone, I’ll do whatever.”


    “Elias, bring out the slow-mo cam, please.” Marley called out. “I’d like to get a shot of those claws coming out.”


    “This’ll be interesting.” Ellie mused. “I’ve never gotten a good look at them coming out before, it’s too quick to really see.”


    As Elias wheeled out the camera, Marley made some more conversation. “So, how often do you end up needing to use those claws?” He asked.


    “Every day.” Tess replied. “We’re doing very dangerous work, and they’re my main weapon.”


    “The monsters you have seen pale in comparison to what we deal with.” Ellie added. “There’s a reason that the only monsters people see are the kind that can be dealt with without magic.”


    “So, the magic community deals with them, then?” Marley pressed.


    “Yeah. The main job of people like us is to make sure that civilians can live their lives without fear of the supernatural.” Ellie confirmed.


    Elias finished bringing the camera to the camerawoman, and Marley gave him a smile. “Thank you, Elias.” He said. “Tess, would it mess things up if you let your hands rest on this end table? It’ll make for a more stable shot.”


    “No problem at all.” Tess replied, walking over to the table and laying her hand on it. “Let me know when you’re ready.”


    Marley waited for the camerawoman to signal that she was ready, then nodded at Tess. “We’re ready.”


    It was a blink and you’ll miss it moment; one second, Tess had perfectly normal human hands, the next her delicate-looking fingers were encased in thick keratin, the nearly foot-long claws that looked sharper and more deadly than any Marley had ever seen. Marley stood and walked over to the end table, inspecting the claws as best he could. “Fascinating.” He breathed. “How do these claws compare to those of the monsters you fight?”


    “You would be hard pressed to find better.” Maven said. “To put it in terms that are more easily digestible to the audience, you can consider these claws to be on par with those of the toughest of dragons.”


    “So, dragons are real, then?” Marley asked idly, shifting around to get a view of the claws from another angle.


    “Yes, but I’m told Mael hasn’t had a real dragon appear in centuries.” Tess replied. “The most that we’ve had to deal with are wyverns.” She paused, looking at Marley with the faintest hint of amusement. “You can touch the claws if you want, just be careful; they’re incredibly sharp.”


    Marley nodded. “If the videos are any indicator, then I don’t doubt it.” He ran a finger down the top of one of the claws, carefully analyzing its texture. It felt just like any other claw Marley had handled, and he had handled more than his share of odd claws, the only discrepancy being that this claw was completely unblemished, no nicks or imperfections to be found in it. “You must take quite good care of these.” He observed. “It looks immaculately kept.”


    “Eh, not really, they’re away most of the time.” Tess replied. “Magic helps keep them fresh, and I’ve yet to have any sort of serious damage to them, they’re significantly more durable than most stuff I’ve come across.”


    “Even that door at your school? Surely a metal door left some impact on you, no matter how flimsy.”


    “Not even that door.” Tess confirmed. “I’ve taken swords, claws, magic, all sorts of things to these claws, and they’ve yet to show any signs of damage. They’re made of extremely sturdy stuff.”


    “Can you slice through this end table for me?” Marley asked. “Uh, provided you can mend it, that is.”


    “Yeah, I can do that, I’ll just make a relatively small cut. Stand back, please.”


    Marley hurriedly stepped away, and Tess pulled her hands back, the claws becoming significantly shorter as she did. Then she flicked a finger downwards in an almost casual way, the claw slicing through the wood without even a hint of slowing. “Like Maven said, think of them like the claws of a dragon. If a dragon’s claws were significantly damaged by clashing with a knight’s sword, then it wouldn’t be a very good dragon, would it? I’m going to do the repair now, would you like to move the camera so you have a better angle on it?”


    “Yes, give us just a moment, folks…in the meantime, Tess, eyewitnesses report feeling frozen with an instinctual fear when you roared that day, would you mind enlightening us a bit more?”


    “Sure.” Tess replied. “It’s another one of my abilities, and it makes people and monsters I view as enemies feel that instinctual fear. Really, it’s better at dealing with monsters, particularly ones that have animalistic traits. That day at the yearbook signing was one of the very few times I’ve used it on a person, I generally don’t get into any sort of serious conflict with people, just monsters.”


    “Would you be alright demonstrating it for us here?” Marley asked. “It doesn’t seem that the viewers at home will get the same sensation, but I want to experience it for myself.”


    “How soundproofed is this room?” Tess asked. “I don’t want this affecting any people on the street who didn’t ask for this.”


    “It has pretty decent soundproofing, but perhaps you should roar as quietly as possible, just in case.” Marley suggested.


    Tess nodded. “Alright then. Anyone who doesn’t want to feel this, leave the room now, anyone who plans to stay, please make sure you’re not holding anything dangerous or valuable; everyone reacts a bit differently and I can’t guarantee you won’t drop something.”


    To Marley’s pride, none of his crew left. These sorts of things were always optional, it was a little outside of the paygrade of a camera crew, but most people who had stayed on his crew long enough were people passionate about this. They wanted the truth out to the world, even if others mocked them for it.


    “Everyone ready?” Tess asked after a moment. “I’m going to count down, if you’re not, just shout. Three…two…one…” Tess waited for just a moment more, then threw her head back and let out a roar. It was unlike anything Marley had ever heard before; he had heard the sounds monsters made on the hunt, but this was something different. It was the kind of roar that dug straight down into the most primal part of his brain and shut off all higher brain function, overriding it with the simple desire to get away. If he stayed where he was, the beast at the other end of that roar was going to find him and kill him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.


    He had never felt so completely and utterly helpless before, so weak and insignificant. He tried to command his limbs to move but it was like he was in a dream, his body reacting sluggishly if at all. And, then, after what felt like ages, the sensation abruptly vanished, and he felt normal again.


    Sweat dripping down his face, he looked up at Tess. “You said it’s better against monsters?” He rasped. “Because that felt pretty effective to me.”


    “Yes. For people, they just freeze in place. For monsters, they drop absolutely everything and run. It doesn’t matter if that puts them into the path of someone else, they’ll run right off of a cliff or into a spear if it means getting away from me. Of course, if you’re considered an ally…” she suddenly let out another roar, and though the sound invoked the briefest flash of the fear he had previously felt, it was only by association; he wasn’t frozen in place, could still think clearly, and if he had heard this version first, he would have had no real reaction other than to wonder how a girl like her made that noise.


    “See?” Tess said. “Perfectly fine. No scarier than a normal roar.”


    Marley nodded, reaching up and wiping the sweat from his brow. “Truly fascinating.” He said, then turned to the camera. “Sorry about this, folks, I’m sure it didn’t feel like much to you, but that was something the likes of which I’ve never felt before, it just completely shut me down for a few seconds. So, even though this was a controlled test, I’m going to take a moment to make sure everyone is alright just in case. We’ll be back in just a moment.”


    He turned back to Tess. “Sorry about that, do you mind if we take a five-minute break to collect ourselves? I like to make sure everyone is still doing alright after particularly frightening events, and though this was something we were bracing for, it’s better safe than sorry.”


    “By all means.” Tess replied. “We’re not in a rush.”


    He flashed her a relieved smile. “Thank you.” He said, then hurried off to check on his crew, taking the time to calm himself as he did. Fortunately, Tess was indeed quite the polite young woman; if she had been the monster some had claimed her to be…Marley suppressed a shiver at the thought. That wasn’t the case, and there was no use psyching himself out by dwelling on it. So, he told himself to just push through, and have a breakdown later; this was the biggest interview of his career, and he couldn’t afford to blow it by being all nervous on camera.