LOGO Comics

Sequel to "Pale Exposed Neck".

Katarina was using vampire literature to flirt with her. She had to be. There were too many coincidental turns of phrase for it to be anything else.

Maria was flattered and decidedly not against being courted by the beautiful young woman she had inexplicably become friends with, but this was a shocking realization regardless. Was that why she kept emphasizing that Prince Geordo was not her fiancee anymore?

A devious idea occurred to Maria in that moment. While Katarina Claes was not a vampire, Maria was certain that the other girl would be completely flustered the moment that Maria flirted back.

It was time to turn the tables.

"I've never been so humiliated," Blue declared as he ran in the little wheel.

"Yes, you have," Purrpurr noted as she continued batting at the ball of yarn.

"Yes, you have," Zwei agreed between gnawing on the chew toy Ruby had provided him.

"Less complaints, more historical revisionisms!" Ruby decreed.

Sequel to "Pomegranate Lips".

"I did have something of an ulterior motive in inviting you here," Katarina admitted as Anne handed Maria a nightgown from the other side of the folding screen in Katarina's room.

"What was that, Lady Katarina?" Maria asked.

"Just Katarina, if you like. We're not exactly in a formal setting at the moment," Katarina requested, and Maria began blushing behind the screen at the drop in formalities as she changed her attire into the surprisingly comfortable outfit. "I had actually initially wanted to hate you, you know?"

"What?" Maria asked, confused by that statement, given both the invitation and how Katarina had threatened the girls who were bullying her just the other day.

"My fiancee at the time had taken an interest in you," she replied, smiling genuinely as Maria stepped out from behind the screen in the pink night gown with blue flowers as embellishments, "I had thought I should hate you, but you're such a hard worker, and a genuinely kind girl, that I couldn't find any reason to bear you ill will, especially since you didn't and seem to still not harbor any romantic inclinations regarding my then-fiancee, despite being close with him."

Maria could have sworn she saw Katarina's eyes flit to her neck before the noblewoman's cheeks turned pink as if she'd had some sort of embarrassing thought.

Shaking her head as if to shake off whatever thought struck her, Katarian continued, "So, I wanted to learn more about you as a person. Tell me about yourself."

And that request, alone took Maria by complete surprise...

Most would assume Zwei would be offended at being picked up and carried into a room with his former (the status was unclear) romantic partner and former (also unclear) friend, especially when Ruby shut the door with the spherical knob, trapping all three parties in the room with her.

He was, however, used to Ruby's shenanigans and personally thought that piecing together what happened during the war would be a good idea.

But where did she get that bucket of popcorn from?

Sequel to "I Don't Drink Wine… Is Juice Acceptable?"

...This was definitely Sophia's fault. Maria knew she shouldn't have read the story of the vampiric countess that Sophia had recommended to her! Katarina Claes was giving her a tour of the Claes manor, occasionally pausing to greet one of the servants like they were members of the family, and Maria couldn't help but keep getting her eyes drawn to the red from the pomegranate whenever Katarina took a sip from her glass.

She would need to figure out a suitable revenge on Sophia once she was more capable of rational thought again.

Alas for the duo, Ruby loved a good story, and two sides of a war with full memory of what happened from two different perspectives happened to be an excellent story.

If they wanted to have any time to themselves, they were going to need to flee.

Sequel to "No Leaving Until Daybreak".

"A tour really isn't necessary, Lady Katarina," Maria insisted as Katarina's maid brought a tray two glasses with an eerily red liquid inside of each from around a corner that Maria hadn't even noticed.

"Nonsense!" Katarina replied with a cheeriness that had been noticeably absent while at the Academy, making it both an unexpected delight and a source of uncertain confusion, "I am your host, and you are my guest. I need to find a way to entertain you." She paused, taking the tray from Anne and placing it on a small table that Maria also hadn't noticed. "Pomegranate juice? I've never been one to enjoy wine, unfortunately..."

"Huh. So you remember taking a strategic command position the revolution, then?" Blue asked as Ruby caught Purrpurr mid-pounce, stopping her from jumping the hamster.

"I what?" Ruby asked in shock, slipping Purrpurr some catnip to calm her down.

"This is where the war got very complicated..." Blue noted.

Sequel to "Turn And Face The Strange".

"You are our guest," Katarina insisted, "It is night, and there is a storm blowing outside. You are in our care."

Maria was about to note upon the fact that the storm was currently literally only over their lands when she saw Katarina's maid seem to practically materialize from behind a pillar that Maria would have sworn hadn't existed seconds ago.

"Anne, wonderful timing," Katarina greeted, "Can you take Maria to the guest room next to my own?"

"Of course, my lady," Anne replied politely.

Maria, for her part, was beginning to feel like there was something going on that she was missing...

As Purrpurr and Blue continued arguing, Ruby went to the pantry and placed a bag in the microwave, waiting.

Naturally, the duo paused at the sound of the kernels popping, but Ruby was unconcerned. This was riveting. Apparently the two were basically siblings before the betrayal, and this was, to her, better than the soap operas that Uncle Qrow loved.

"I offer you fair warning as your friend, Maria," Keith noted, "Our house is a bit strange to outsiders. My sister, even more so when she's home."

For her part, Maria wasn't sure why Katarina Claes, of all people had invited her over, let alone why she used her brother to do so, though she supposed the latter could be explained by Keith giving up on pursuing her romantically.

But why did the self-proclaimed villainess that terrrorized several noble members of the student body want to have her over.

...Was that a lightning storm localized entirely over their manor?

Ruby blinked in surprise before turning to look at the hamster again.

"Well, what was I supposed to do!" said critter exclaimed, "We were on the verge of becoming an empire built upon the conquest of kingdoms that could not defend themselves! I did what I had to in order to save our kingdom's soul!"

Well, now Ruby was invested in this story.

Sequel to "I Have So Many Questions".

"So," Katarina teased in a whisper, "A pirate king and a lifelong spy walk into a chapel..."

"Keep teasing like that," Maria threatened playfully, "And I might have to kiss you into silence."

Hearing Sophia Ascart squeak in shock told the pair that they were about to become a topic of interest...

In which there is a fierce debate on the ethical ramifications of killing a hamster.

Ruby, for her part, was getting curious as to why Purrpurr was so invested in killing a single hamster.There had to be a reason for it...

Sequel to "Long Have I Wanted To Speak With You Again".

"So do I," Katarina chimed in from the dark corner she had apparently been sitting in. Maria, for her part, was still trying to wrap her head around the idea of her mother being some manner of spy, let alone that she'd apparently been the Queen's wrongly-described-as-imaginary friend.

In which a magical talking cat attempts to convince a living blender that avoiding noncombat targets is not finesse.

For her part, Purrpurr just really wants that hamster she saw dead.

"And they told me that I imagined you!" Giulia exclaimed cheerfully upon Maria's mother stepping out of the carriage that had been sent to escort her to the palace, "You were the girl living in that one closet when I was growing up on Golden Sands for almost a full year. Everyone thought you were my imaginary friend."

For her part, Alice Campbell, retired Spy of the Kingdom of Magier, was desperately trying to think of a way to talk her way out of her current situation, while Maria realized some new things about her mother.