Charlotte

Mikaela was currently ahead of me but she’d stopped at the sound of the scream, turning towards me, and I wasted no time in catching up.

“Let me guess,” she began, “you want me to-”

“No time,” I interrupted, almost tossing Singh towards her before changing my mind halfwayhalfway and thrusting Singh at her instead. “Just grab her with your magic or something, alright? I’ve got to get going.”

Mikaela stared at me for a long moment - far too long a moment as far as I was concerned - before letting out a sigh and shaking her head. “...Fine, but we are going to have a talk when this is over.”

I nodded, letting go of Singh as soon as I felt my sister’s magic overlap my hands. Singh looked like she wanted to grumble about how she was being womanhandled, but thankfully didn’t say a word as I pushed my bag - with Bonnie in it - into her hands and hurriedly unsummoned my wings, plunging towards the forest below.

Not that I was falling for long, mind you - just long enough to turn my eyes black and summon my succubus wings. They caught me long before I hit the treescape below me, and carried me towards the sound of the scream at speeds that mortals weren’t meant to handle. Sure, I was dampening it a little by focusing a spell to cut through the air resistance, but the sheer acceleration would probably do terrible things to the average human or demon’s body.

As for finding the scream’s exact point of origin, that didn’t turn out to be too hard - not when she screamed out again a few seconds later. This time I was close enough to make out what was being said.

“Get away from me, you filthy rat!”

I turned towards the sound, ready to beat my wings and blast off towards the source, but paused when another voice reached my ears.

“Hey! Don’t call me names! That’s hurtful!”

“Yeah, well, don’t threaten a girl with a bad time then!”

Wait… I knew that voice!

“And what are you going to do without me, huh? Find your own way to civilization? Without a guide, you’ll die out here… and it’s not like I’m asking for that much, am I? I mean, the way I heard it, all you demons are more than willing to jump in the sack with anyone, aren’t you? Even people you’ve just met.”

I blasted off towards the source of the conversations. Moving so fast I was a blur, I skimmed over the tree tops and then dove through the branches. I heard them, felt them break against me, and I didn’t care. I went straight through them, moving at a slight angle with my fist stretched out in front of me. Then, at the last moment, my wings flared out - not to speed up, but to slow me down, enough that when my fist slammed into the face of the dark haired jackass who’d been speaking that way it only snapped his head to the side a bit and didn’t go straight through his skull. Unfortunately, I’d overcorrected a bit. I didn’t even  chip any of his teeth. It did send him stumbling back a few steps, though.

“Wha…?”

“Shut up, or taste my foot instead of your own for a change,” I told him, my tail whipping out behind me. “Nobody talks to my little sister like that!”

“I’m only ‘little’ by like, three days!” the owner of the original voice said. I could practically hear the pout in her voice, even without turning around - not that it stopped me from doing so. “And I’m not your sister!”

“No, but ‘second cousin’ sounds so distant!” I replied with a grin as I saw the kitsune who’d been speaking to me. Standing at five foot nothing, she was a bit on the small side - a trait she’d inherited from her mom, who also happened to be Mama’s cousin from the mortal side of her family. She’d also inherited her mom’s violet eyes, which was a good thing since that was pretty much the only visual feature we had in common. Other than the red hair, at least - but mine was dyed, so that didn’t really count.

Ruby - the kitsune in question - swished her three tails behind herself, pouting at me with her hands on her hips. “You do realize this is why I left the tower two years ago, right? To get away from your incessant coddling!”

“Uh-huh,” I confirmed. “And yet here you are in need of rescue, just like before.”

“I do not need rescuing!” she protested with an even fiercer pout, stomping her way over to me. “I totally had this in the bag!”

“Right. Let me guess. You were going to beat the dude into giving you proper directions?”

“Uhh… Maybe?” she replied, clearly hesitant. “I mean, it’s not like he doesn't deserve it…”

“Uh, ladies?” the person in question spoke up, running a hand through his black hair. “I don’t really get what’s going on, but if you’re looking to get in on the fun with me and Ruby than-”

“Go die in a fire,” I replied before promptly ignoring him again in favor of wrapping Ruby up in a hug. “Little sis! I can’t believe it’s been two years since I last saw you!”

“Gah! Clingy! Too clingy!” she complained, trying to push me away. I let her, of course, but only after getting my hug in!

“Look - girls,” he tried again, “I don’t think you understand the position you’re in. This is dangerous territory! Monsters all over the place - you could be torn to shreds without a guide to get you back to civilization."

“Uh-huh. We’ll be fine. Why don’t you go guide yourself back where you came from?” I suggested, not bothering to look at him as I made a dismissive gesture with my hand to shoo him away. “I wanna spend some time with my little sis.”

“Not that little!” Ruby protested again, still with that adorable pout on her lips. “Just because you and your sister are literally demi-”

“Shush!!” I interrupted, putting my hand over her mouth to stop her from talking. “We can talk about that later. After your ‘guide’ gets the message and gets lost.”

“Look,” he tried yet again, clearly not getting the message one bit. “I know you demon girls can’t resist a good lay. Why don’t you just give into your baser instincts and-”

And this time it was Mikaela’s fist that came zooming in from the side. She didn’t hold back as much as me either, driving him right into the ground with her punch and making me wince. Thankfully he didn’t look too hurt, even laying there embedded in the dirt. A bit of blood, sure, but no loose teeth or anything! It made me wonder if he was actually some sort of bigshot adventurer, or something. I mean, he seemed pretty tough - by human standards, at least.

Not that I could be bothered to spare him any more thought. “Hey, Sis! Look! It’s Little Sis!”

“I gathered as much,” she replied, rolling her eyes. Or at least I’m pretty sure that’s what she was doing - like me, she’d taken on her succubus form. “It’s why I hurried over as fast as I did.”

“Without our companions?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “We are in the rat king’s territory, you know.”

“They’re fine,” she promised me, before glancing up into the sky. “I have them hovering on a stone platform far above us. Best we keep them out of this fool’s sight if we don’t want to be recognized later, don’t you think?”

“Probably,” I agreed, glancing at the fool in question. He’d picked himself up out of the ground and was currently rubbing at his cheek, glaring at all of us.

“You know what? Screw this! Screw you! All of you!” he declared. “I thought you demon bitches were supposed to be absolute sluts, but you’re way more trouble than you’re worth! I hope the monsters eat you all!”

“They won’t!” I replied cheerfully as he stomped away, mentally making a note of the guy’s voice in case he started to scream later. Not that I would be in a rush to rescue the dude, but he’d probably make decent bait for the rat king wandering all by himself. 

That… was actually a pretty disturbing thought? Probably not very heroic, but at the same time he had been trying to pressure my little sister into sleeping with him, so… Yeah, no, he could deal with being bait for a little while.

“So, what brings you out here anyway?” I asked Ruby. “You wanted to be a traveling bard last I checked, right? A big creepy forest isn’t exactly the place for you to work your craft.”

“Thom was supposed to be guiding me on a safe route to Derrin,” she told me with a scowl, hands back on her hips. “Where I was supposed to meet the two of you!”

“Us?” Mikaela asked, arching an eyebrow. “Does that mean you have a message from home, or something?”

“Yes, it’s ‘Use your damn sendstones to call home so that Ruby doesn’t have to be your damn messenger all the time!’”

I flinched… and to my surprise Mikaela did as well. It wasn’t like I hadn’t thought of calling home… I’d just… sorta figured Mikaela would handle it? I mean, everything had been kinda non-stop for a bit, and I was just starting my adventure! But…

“Mama is being a worrywart, isn’t she?” Mikaela asked with a sigh. “Even though she knows full well that literally nothing in the mortal world can harm us…”

“Not only that,” Ruby informed us, “apparently she’s been going on a cooking spree. You know, just to have something homemade ready in case you decided on visiting home for a family meal?”

I winced. Hard. Mama only cooked on special occasions… or when she was really stressed. It wasn’t like she didn’t know how, but the professional chefs could generally do a better job than her, and the head chef Lenora found her more than a bit distracting when she took over the kitchens.

“I suppose a trip home wouldn’t hurt,” Mikaela murmured, grimacing at the thought of how stressed Mama must be. “There’s some stuff I left behind that I’ve been meaning to pick up anyway.”

“Me too,” I admitted. Mostly the disguise artifacts I’d used when sneaking around the lower floors of the tower. 

“Good,” Ruby said tersely before clapping her hands and relaxing. “Message delivered. Have fun, alright? I’m going back to barding.”

“You mean singing and dancing for room and board?” Mikaela asked, arching an eyebrow. “Honestly, I don’t see what you get out of it, but… as long as you’re enjoying yourself, I suppose?”

“Can’t you stay a little longer?” I asked. “Just until we get back to town?”

“Well…” Ruby hesitated. If I had to guess, she didn’t actually know her way back to begin with, so the fact that she was hesitating despite that kinda hurt… but I did understand. Sis and I did both have a tendency to baby her, what with her not being invulnerable like we were. Still, in the end, she nodded her head with a sigh. “I guess I could head back to Derrin with you… It’s been a while since I visited, anyhow.”

“Great!” I grinned. “Let's introduce you to our companions! I can’t wait to see the look on Singh’s face when she finds out there’s more of us!”

“Just so long as you know I’m not joining you,” Ruby said firmly. “I have my own adventures to go on!”

“And how many brushes with death have you had with those adventures over the last two years?” Mikaela asked with a flat stare.

“Only, like, twenty or so!” Ruby replied, puffing out her chest with pride. “I’m getting way better at handling them, too!”

“And she wonders why we always end up so overprotective of  her,” Mikaela muttered, shaking her head. “Very well then. Get on my back and I’ll fly you up to meet the others.”

“I’m a bit old for a piggy back ride, Mikaela!” Ruby protested with another pout.

“Would you rather a princess carry?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. “Or perhaps you’d prefer to be thrown over my shoulder?”

“Uh…” Ruby hesitated, clearly debating which of the options was the least embarrassing, before eventually deciding on piggyback. I tried not to laugh - really I did - but I don’t think anyone can blame me for the little bit that got through. Or the smirk that followed, for that matter.

Ruby glared at me, but she still got on Mikaela’s back, ready to be taken up into the air to meet our companions. I readied my wings, too, crouching down to get ready to leap into the air - only to pause, when a new, even higher pitched scream tore through the air from the direction where that jackass had wandered off in.

Which meant either he’d managed to somehow find another woman to trouble, or…

“Looks like it’s time for you to deal with the Rat King,” Mikaela remarked as my smirk turned into a grin.

It was time to let loose… and if, in the process, I happened to scare that jerk into never going near me or anyone I cared about ever again… Well, that was just a pleasant bonus~.

~~~

Author's Notes

Yup! That's right! Chapter 16 has officially been edited (with many thanks to FallingLeaf~!)

I'd love to say more about the chapter, but honestly my mind is kinda elsewhere tonight... My bearded dragon's UVB light fixture started shedding plastic, you see - to the point where I had to take it out of the tank. I have a new, better fixture coming... but it won't be here until Monday. Meaning poor Autumn is going to be without her UVB for a few days...

I'm worried. Scared that it won't arrive in time, or that something will go wrong before it does. Not much I can actually do about it, though, so... Here's to hoping for the best? DX