'what kind of person curses a young child with this kind of curse I wonder..?'

a cold light flashed though Mars' eyes, if he knew he would add them to his to-be-killed list and maybe even moved them above the emperor on the list

'well anyways... what to do now..? I need my sword so maybe I should bring Mary back to Green river?'

"Mars I'm okay now..."

"are you sure?"

Mary gave a small nod, her eyes were a little red from crying but they seemed to be glowing brighter than ever before then she gave a sweet smile

"yes I'm sure"

"okay then.... do you want to stop by my home real quick?"

"eh..? Mars you have a house here in the city?"

"not quite"

Mary tilted her head to the side and Mars gave a sigh

"it's a yes or no question"

"then yes"

"okay then..."

Mars quickly transformed his hand before he called out

"Victoria you don't have to hide anymore"

"okay..."

Mary tilted her head again but then she felt a chill and turned around and saw Victoria sitting ever so elegantly and staring at her with her big blue eyes while she licked her paw

"wh--"

Mary was about to draw her swords but then Victoria's voice appeared in her head and monetarily stunned her

"hi... my name... is Victoria"

not knowing what to do Mary simply gave a nod

"I'm Mary, nice to meet you?"

Mars gave a nod it was good that they got along then he slashed the empty air and a rift in s.p.a.ce appeared and stabilized into a portal, this of course startled Mary quite a bit

"w-w-w-what's that Mars!?"

"a portal, now ladies first"

"o-okay..."

Mary steeled herself and steeped into the portal and disappeared, next was Mars and then Victoria that jumped into the portal just before it closed...

Mary stepped out of the portal and looked around, she found herself in a building of some sort and walked over to the window and looked out of it

'wow...'

the view startled her a little, after all it was the first time she had been in such a high building, but she quickly got used to it and admired the view of the river and the other building below

"neat right?"

before she noticed Mars had showed up behind her, he wore a smug smile on his face

"yeah it's a nice home"

Mars' smile became even more smug before he continued bragging

"the whole building is mine, I was granted it as an apology by the elders of Green river... never mind that, let's go greet the others"

"the others?"

"well you'll see.... here comes the first one"

Mars turned and looked down the hall, suddenly someone ran around the corner

"I KNEW IT!"

Mary just managed to see a red blur as Varvei jumped into Mars' arms and hugged him tight, even wrapping her long tail around him before she turned her head back and yelled

"IT'S MARS!"

"...Mars who's this?"

"wait a second Mary here comes the rest"

next around the corner was Elsa that also ran and jumped into Mars' waiting arms and then finally came Chloe that also jumped into his arms, looking at the 3 beauty's in Mars' arms Mary's smile stiffed a little before she gave a small sigh

"well then this is Mary, Mary this is Varvei Elsa and Chloe"

Varvei and Elsa was busy rubbing their cheeks against Mars so only Chloe looked over and took a long look at Mary before she let go of Mars and gave a sweet smile

"h.e.l.lo Mary I'm Mars' legal wife, those two are just leaching off him"

"what did you say!?"

"Chloe that's going too far, we're all his wife!"

Mary's smile stiffed a little more before she turned to Mars and asked him

"....is that true?"

"yeah they are my lovers"

Mary gave a sigh before suddenly a resolute light shone in her eyes as her entire face lit up red before she walked over and also joined in the hugging, seeing this Chloe gave a rather strange smile

"my oh my~ Elsa, Varvei look at our newest contender~"

Varvei stopped rubbing her face against Mars and looked around herself soon she saw Mary was also hugging Mars and gave a sweet smile, meanwhile Elsa was too busy rubbing her face against Mars to care about anything, Mars gave a sigh and asked Chloe

"Chloe do you remember where I put my sword and armor?"

"hmm... it's in the main study I think?"

"okay thanks"

Mars spent the rest of the day chatting with the girls and Mary which for some reason remained latched on to him for the rest of the day, after eating dinner Mars went to bed early and left the girls to talk among themselves, they seemed to have taken a liking to Mary so Mars was not worried and collapsed face first into bed and soon fell asleep...

The next morning Mars gently tore off Elsa and Varvei that was clinging to him and walked into the living room were he found Mary sleeping on a couch with a blanket covering her, Mars had a urge to poke her cheek but stopped himself as he had more important things to do, after he found the main study Mars put on his armor and grabbed his sword and turned to leave the study when he found Victoria sitting in the doorway looking at him with her big blue eyes, Mars gave a smile

"good morning Victoria"

Victoria just looked at him and didn't respond for some time until finely her horns flashed and her voice appeared in Mars' head

"I'm... going too"

Mars gave a sigh and walked up to her before he kneeled down and petted her on the head

"....this is not a trip in the park Victoria, there's a chance I might die for real"

Victoria just kept on looking at him with her big blue eyes before she repeated

"I'm... going too"

Mars gave another sigh

"fine, but if I tell you to run you must run"

Victoria shook her head as her horns flashed again

"I'm your... partner... if you die... I die"

Mars gave a smile

"I see... well then I'll better make sure I don't die then"

"yeah..."

"okay then let's go up to the roof"

Victoria gave a nod and followed after Mars, but before they reached the roof they ran into Mary that was walking around with slight panic on her face

"Oh thank the 13 Mars where is the nearest toilet!?"

Mars was a little stunned but still pointed to a nearby door

"right there"

Mary gave a nod and ran towards the door and opened it before she let out a strange victory cry and shut the door after her, Mars gave a sigh and walked up to the roof and opened a portal to Central and walked though with Victoria following after her...

"now where to go..?"

"the...castle?"

"sure let's do that Victoria"

Mars looked into the distance and saw the giant castle, after walking for a few hours they arrived in front of the castle gate were Mars walked up and asked a random guard

"is the emperor in?"

"what are you talking about? The emperor is always in"

"I see, well you seem like a nice guy so I'll ask you once, step aside and let me in"

"....are you joking with me?"

"no"

Mars put a hand on the hilt of his sword, and let out his blood l.u.s.t which made the guard pale

"p-please I have a wife and child"

"in that case let me though and you'll see them again"

"o-okay"

the guard fumbled to open the gate he was guarding before he suddenly stopped and took off his helmet which revealed a pair of fluffy looking wolf ears before he turned to Mars and said

"....if you're after the emperor I would not advise you to enter here"

Mars narrowed his eyes slightly

"really? then where would you enter?"

the guard swallowed his saliva and pointed to the left

"500 meters that way is a hidden unguarded entrance, just press the loose brick"

"and why should I believe you?"

"because I know what the emperor has in store for my kind"

"....I see, thanks"

Mars turned to leave but before he left he turned back to the guard

"I would take the rest of the day off if I were you"

the guard gave a hurried nod then Mars left and walked about 500 meters and came face to face with a brick wall

"now where is the loose brick... there it is"

Mars pressed the loose brick and just like some kind of magic trick a hidden tunnel opened

"...neat"