"Ummm, uncle are you sure this is your home"

"Yes?"

Glancing between the creepy dark entrance that looked to be an open maw and the now smoke covered YuJu who was holding her she increasingly felt that it did suit him, the same strange uncle vibe that her parents warned her about

"Is it too late to take me back now uncle?"

"Heh"

He just laughed the comment off and proceeded into the den

Along the way he was met with bats flying all over the place, each carrying something as they went about their jobs, whatever they were, making the place bustling and not at all the graveyard Imy expected

"Those little bats look adorable, can I hold one?"

He didn't mind, motioning for one of the smaller ones barely carrying a vial in its claws to come down before giving it to the little arms which delicately gave it a hug

"What a cute young girl"

"Hey there sugar, what's your name?"

The three remaining women quickly came to greet him but were drawn to the child in his arms first, Nee was even nose to nose with her immediately wanting to get to to know the child

"Imy"

She replied in a mosquito voice that they would have missed if not for their great hearing

"What a nice name! I am Nee, this is mother Mia and that one is Zero"

Mia flashed a smile but Zero remained without an expression, clearly uninterested

"Nice to meet you"

The little girl answered, eyes darting between everyone and noting many strange things that she wanted to voice out but was afraid to, just the red eyes were unsettling enough to silence her

Seeing how nervous she was they did not push her buttons, instead they greeted YuJu and all went to the throne room together, past the cages which were now covered in a cloth, placed there so Imy wouldn't panic at the sight of imprisoned humans, or thralls at this point

"Whoa"

Upon witnessing the luxury that it boasted Imy couldn't help but exclaim, taking in all the furniture until her sights rested on the high throne

"Uncle, does a king live here?"

"A Lord little Imy"

Nee replied in his steed while he took slow steps inside, inching closer and closer to the throne until he set foot on the first step of stairs leading to it, that's when he let little Imy down and proceeded to take his place on the seat

"Prepare something for her to eat, something lacking in energy as her body doesn't seem to accept it yet, meanwhile call for the largest bats we have"

The three bowed while Imy stood confused, not knowing what to think when the strange uncle turned out to be a lord of this seemingly not so good place

"Come with me little Imy, let's go eat something"

Taking her by the hand Nee led the cutie one of the tables so as to fill the now growling stomach, mentioning food always brought about pangs of hunger to this poor starved girl

No sooner than their food arrived so did the nine large bats, each boasting the size of a door frame

"They seem fit enough, have four of them carry chains which you nail to these ice chunks, the others should take turns with them once one of them is injured from the extreme ice, have the giant winged thrall follow them as well"

"Yes Master, also her name is Alphys"

Mia informed, it would be a mouthful if he went about calling her a giant winged thrall all the time

YuJu nodded, not all too interested in the names of disposable tools, still it was indeed easier to say

Dropping the chunks of ice onto the ground he nestled the two eggs within and wrote a note to Subrina on what to do with them before sending the group on their way

"What's our next mission, Master?"

"Hmm"

YuJu tapped his throne at the question, he naturally needed to heal first but that would take less than a day, so what would he do for the rest of the time he needed to wait in, just experiment? That sounded…

'Wait, this feeling, am I bored? No that couldn't be'

He laughed at the idea, but then he noticed something

'I laughed…'

Yet another feeling that came spontaneously, he wasn't mimicking human nature like he usually does nor did something happen to garner such a reaction, he merely felt bored and then laughed at the notion, simple feelings...that shouldn't exist

'I spent years observing without a word, not an action, merely an onlooker that does nothing and now I'm feeling bored upon thinking that I have to spend a little over a month doing some experiments?'

It perplexed him, why was it so? Was he regaining the humanity that he lost? Has his stone heart beat with feelings once more? He didn't know, nor did he believe that it was so easy to turn back from what he became

While he was mulling over his existential crisis a bat came barreling through, squeaking about like it had seen its life flash before its eyes

"What is it on about"

"I have no idea Master, I can tell however that this was one of the surveillance squads placed nearby, where are the rest of your friends little guy?"

"Squee! Squee!"

Dead! Dead! They presumed he meant with the intensity of pain behind those squeaks

"Whatever they encountered must have wiped them out, looks like we've got some rude visitors"

"It's not possible to expect this huge place to remain hidden anyway, some people would definitely wander close"

"Is it best to dispose of them?"

He could see Imy flinch out the corner of his eye at the merciless question

"Not until we know who they are first"

He was cautious not to kill any important humans who might lead their race forward

Mia nodded and had Nee send of her thralls who was under mind and blood control into meeting the hostiles, talking to them in the guise of being a scout from a nearby camp exploring the place

"They say they are from a large settlement far away from here my Lord"

"How far?"

"A couple hundred kilometers"

She reported while suggesting the questions through her Whisper skills

"That's quite far, they should be quite strong to come this far Master, and must have a valid reason to do so as well"

That did seem so if they were being truthful

"Warn them of a dangerous creature residing here and tell them not to go close"

Nee instantly went about conveying the information, the next second however she seemed to seize up, if only for a moment

"Anything wrong?"

Mia didn't miss this strange act and was quick to question the now nervous thrall

"Umm, well, they said they were on a mission and two of their members were in charge of exploring this place before they went missing, they suspect that the two might be here to they came for the rescue"

The two listeners frowned, there has been no sighting of anyone nearby or they would have been informed, unless…

Their eyes locked on the fidgety Nee, before they could ask however she quickly explained on her own

"There were two people who came and got drained by Alphys, I didn't report it since they weren't too close to the entrance and shouldn't matter…"

The longer she spoke the harder YuJu's gaze bore down on her, until her voice turned so meek it was unhearable

"Tell me how they look and get to know their names"

"Yes!"

Afraid of getting punished if she messed up even more she went about describing everything in great detail, too much detail that if she could see it even the color of their underwear would have been giving

"...And the leader said his name was Faris, the others are-" "That's enough"

Her eagerness to try and wiggle her way out of punishment by working hard only gave him a headache, plus he now knew who he was dealing with

"Send Jona and Taia to battle them, assist from the darkness if need be but do not kill or maim anyone, give them enough of a scare however to never come back"

"As Master wishes"

Mia took the white skinned beast, Taia, and Jona to face the human group, meanwhile Nee wanted to slip out and escape the hard gaze of her lord but was stopped seeing as she wouldn't be useful

"Uncle?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you really not kill them?"

"Yes"

The answer gave Imy quite the relief, she didn't know those people nor would their life and death affect her yet she was so worried that one might mistake her for their friend

'Truly pure hearted'

He thought, not at all in disdain

'What was the saying again? Ah yes, having a soft heart in a cruel world is courage, not weakness'

Now whether that courage turned you a hero or spelled your doom was another matter entirely