Chapter 5: 5: Challenger

“Lyssa’s not here…” For the first time since my unexpected shift in perspective to that of this female demon known as Lyssa, I allowed myself to consider what this scenario meant. From physically being at my apartment in the human world to this room in a place called Neth’Lareese. I’d come here, not as myself but by becoming Lyssa. If the summoning ritual I’d created worked then that would mean instead of summoning Lyssa to my apartment where I could command her to do what I wanted, somehow the results had instead turned into a swap of our physical faculties…? But where had I gone wrong? Why was this the result? Examining what I could see of Lyssa’s body once more, my mind was overcome with worry. I’d read plenty of fantasy stories about evil wizards and warlocks summoning demons only to have those demons break free and begin rampaging across the lands… “This is bad! Really bad! Did I unintentionally release the apocalypse into our world!?” Hands shooting up to my temple, I threw back my head and cried out. Doing this, I could feel the horns through my fingers which only served to increase the anxiety trembling throughout the body that wasn’t mine.

                “No.” Lulu’s overly calm voice interjected, her deadpan voice cutting into my chaotic thoughts.

                “What do you mean no?” Lowering both my head and hands, I shifted a quizzical stare in Lulu’s direction.

                “Lyssa can’t do anything to your world.” Seeming to be completely bored at my distress, the Light blue haired girl hoisted herself up to standing and proceeded to lazily approach the dresser.

                “She can’t do anything? What does that even mean? She’s a demon I accidentally let loose into my world and now I can’t even do anything about it because I’m stuck here!” Objecting to Lulu’s nonchalant dismissal I angrily turned to argue but hastily averted my eyes, face flushing red upon noticing her undressing. “Sh-she’s free to do what she wants over there… Why do you say she wouldn’t be able to do anything?”

                “Because our world has mana, and your world does not.” Lulu explained. Minced into her words I could hear a hint of annoyance. Was explaining these supposed facts to me really that annoying? I dared to take another glance toward Lulu and immediately dismissed the thought. She struggled with two sets of clothing which appeared to have gotten tangled up in one another.

                “Do demons need mana to be a threat to the human world?” I asked, deciding to keep my eyes trained on Lulu’s back. With how little concern the other appeared to be over me seeing her naked, I started to think that my exaggerated embarrassment towards it might be observed as naive.

                “Mhm.” Lulu hummed, having freed the desired clothing from the unwanted. “Without mana to power our existence we’d be no stronger than your average human.” Dumping the rejected clothing back into the dresser, Lulu turned to face me, holding up a plain black dress. I’d resolved to stop being embarrassed by this careless nudity of hers, but she made it difficult. Seeing Lulu scrunch up the dress so she could fit it around her head and down over her otherwise naked body, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for her. Dress in place, Lulu took a minute struggling to pull her hair out. I watched, not certain if I should offer to help, and a little surprised she hadn’t yet asked me to do it for her.

                With the dress now adorned and straightened out, Lulu approached. “W-wait, aren’t you going to put anything on underneath!?” Stammering, I scooted backward over the futon. Raising a hand to try and stop Lulu’s advance.

                “Why?” Genuine bewilderment spread across Lulu’s features.

                “Because! Girls are supposed to put on p-panties when they wear dresses!” My face reddened. I felt like a complete idiot having stuttered over the word panties.

                Lulu paused, briefly thinking about the words I’d given her. Her face then fell into a featureless deadpan and she looked me straight in the eyes as she spoke. “But Tamaki isn’t wearing anything underneath.”

                I could feel the heat in my face instantly rise. I was wearing shorts, and a black shirt. How could she notice something like that!? “H-how do you know that!?” I exclaimed. It never occurred to me that Lulu could just be fishing for confirmation of an assumption, a confirmation I’d literally just served to her on an open platter. But instead of reciprocating my exclamation with an explanation of her own, Lulu stepped off the futon.

                “Lulu wants something to eat…” Stepping over to the door, Lulu paused. Turning, she waited for me get the hint and follow.

                “Right… Breakfast.” I acknowledged, getting up to follow Lulu. Walking out into the hallway, I paused, eyes widening in realization. “Wait… did you call me Tamaki just now?” But Lulu’s figure had already dipped around the corner and into the kitchen.

               

*             *             *

 

                “Lulu wanted something more tasty…” Pouting, light blue hair curled over the edge of the table while an unsatisfied Lulu poked at the white mush in the bowl I’d set down in front of her.

                “Stop poking it with your fingers and eat it.” I scolded, placing my own serving of mush down on the table before taking a seat for myself. “I don’t know what any of this stuff in your cupboards is so naturally I have absolutely no idea how I’m supposed to cook it. This stuff looked like oats so I made us some oatmeal.” I claimed they looked like oats, but I’d never seen this kind of plant before. The grains, at least what I’d assumed to be grain, were long, flat, and oddly wavy.

                “They’re Souka seeds…” Lulu commented picking up the spoon I’d given her and eyeing the meal with a suspicious look. “Lyssa usually fries them with salt…” Picking up her spoon, Lulu scooped a half spoonful of Soukameal and placed it in her mouth. No look of disgust crossed her over face, but I did take note when she reached across the table and grabbed the salt.

                “You know… Earlier when you were telling me about the connection between demons and how they need mana, aren’t you afraid I might use that knowledge against you when I get back to the human world?” Attempting to continue the conversation from earlier, I dunked my spoon into the Soukameal. Pulling out a full spoon, I shoveled it into my mouth and immediately regretted it. After adding water and heating it, I hadn’t expected it to taste so exceptionally bland. It was worse than oatmeal. No wonder Lulu had gone for the salt…

                “Nope.” Lulu bluntly replied, busying herself by vigorously stirring salt into her Soukameal. “Tamaki’s stuck here now. Can’t go back.”

                “Can’t go back? What about Lyssa? She managed to get into the human world by swapping with me right?” Reaching over, I took the salt shaker, Lulu having relinquished it upon dumping half the contents into her bowl. I thought a moment, wondering if sugar would be a preferable ingredient to add to Soukameal instead of salt.

                “Tamaki helped her. Tamaki used a summoning circle and called for Lyssa.” Test-tasting another spoon of mush, Lulu then plunked the spoon into her mouth. She appeared to be satisfied with the taste now that she’d loaded it with tons of salt.

                “How-“ I stopped. Was Lulu a mind reader? First my not wearing underwear and now this? I’d gotten dressed with her still in the bathroom and she’d been asleep after that… I decided to dismiss my disbelief at Lulu’s knowledge and ask a different question. “You said that magic couldn’t be used in my world. If that’s the case then why did the magic end up working anyway?”

                “Magic spell. Incantation.” Lulu shrugged, spooning up another mouthful of Soukameal.

                Magic spell or incantation… Magic from the circle? I recalled the incantation I’d spoken at the time. Neither the drawn circle nor the incantation itself had seemed to have any effect. Nothing at all happened until after I’d attempted to leave the circle itself. “Incantation…? So... Erised yreve ym evr-“

                “STOP!!!” Lulu screamed. Nearly choking on the Soukameal in the process, she flew into a fit of coughing. “Water…” She rasped, eyes bugging out.

                Heart flying into my throat, I scrambled over to the cupboards and threw open the one I’d seen cups inside of while searching for food to prepare. Filling it from the tap I rushed it into Lulu’s hand and she promptly gulped down the water. “Are you alright?” I inquired. My mind filled with questions that I sought answers to, the least of which now being whether demons could choke on food or not…

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                “Don’t speak those words.” Lulu coughed, once she’d recovered enough from her fit to be able to speak.

                “Why? What’s wrong with them?” I asked, now curious about this unknown language I’d apparently used.

                “Everything.” Straightening her dress from the choking panic, Lulu picked up her spoon once more. “Tamaki’s world doesn’t have mana anymore but some words, those words, still hold magical power.”

                Confused, I fished for answers. “What language is it?”

                “Lulu has a better question. Why does Tamaki know how to speak English?” Pointing an accusatory spoon at me, Lulu’s eyes glared daggers.

                I shrugged, returning to my own Soukameal. The gravity of what Lulu felt was lost on me. English? She’d asked the question but also spoke the name of the language I’d asked for. English… Thinking about it I couldn’t recall ever hearing about this language. I’d never learned how to speak, read, or understand it either… Which begged the question; how could I have spoken it so perfectly that the incantation had actually worked.

                “…” Lulu stared.

                “I don’t know…” I responded.

                “Learned it?”

                “Not that I recall…”

                “Passed down from a previous life?”

                “I don’t remember any other lives besides the one I’m living right now…”

                “Lucky…” Lulu’s eyes drifted down to look disapprovingly into her bowl of Soukameal.

                “Huh?” Why had Lulu just called me lucky?

                “Starting from now, Tamaki has to be Lyssa.” Lulu proclaimed, changing the subject.

                “You said that earlier but why do I have to be Lyssa? I don’t even know who Lyssa is or how she’s supposed to act or behave.”

                “Lulu knows this, but Lulu has no time to explain things right now.” Kicking out from the table, Lulu stood and walked around to me.

                “We have all day for you to explain things to me…” Irritated with Lulu’s blunt behavior and lack of explanation, I stood up to confront her when she approached. “Please explain everything to me so that I can understand…” Reaching out I placed my hands on Lulu’s shoulders. At this time I noticed the unusual glow. My hands and arms were glowing? I looked down. My entire body was glowing! “What is this!? What’s happening to me!?” I was becoming a friend to panic recently, my eyes wide with fear I looked to Lulu for help and surprisingly her demeanor remained calm and collected.

                “Lyssa already agreed to this challenge so Tamaki can’t resist.” Lulu followed up her statement by wrapping her arms completely around me in a tight embrace.

                “Agreed? Agreed to what!?” My voice filled with fear and panic, I witnessed everything around me turning completely white.

 

*             *             *

 

                I couldn’t focus on anything. My vision surrendered to the white light, blinding me to its brilliance. The temperature changed and I could no longer feel my bare feet touching cold hard tile, but instead the dust and dirt of solid ground. The physical touch of Lulu’s arms around me gave reassurance that she was still present. The brilliant light began to fade, replaced by the less overwhelming warmth of the sun above. My eyes began to make out shapes. With vision focusing back to a normal state, I could see a large stone structure with countless rows of seats. Filling those seats were an assortment of humanoids and creatures I’d never seen before. Lulu and I were surrounded on all sides by what I could only describe as a well-kept stone arena. Releasing her hold on me, Lulu took a few steps back. Opening my mouth to speak more objections, a lurching rose up into my throat and I became sick.

                “Sorry, Lulu will explain things later…” Offering a sympathetic pat on the back, Lulu retreated to one of the arena’s sealed entrances. Thanks to summoning sickness, I stood hunched over, wiping Soukameal and bile from my mouth while an announcer holding a megaphone piped up to excite the crowd.

                “Here it is everyone! Eight AM sharp and we are ready to start our first grudge-fight of the day!” Cheers arose from the crowd. “In this corner, weighing in at just under one hundred twenty pounds and standing five foot eight thanks to those lovely little horns of hers… Lyssa!” Whooping and cheering resonated throughout the stands while I recovered myself. Observing the space before me, I made out that I’d been brought in near one of the far entrances to this oval-shaped arena. The announcer stood on a small podium in the middle, raising the megaphone to her muzzle. Yep, a muzzle… with the variety of physical forms I’d glimpsed in the crowded stands above, I don’t know why I was surprised to see the anthropomorphic lioness, standing and spouting announcements into her megaphone. She wore a battle-hardened leather breastplate and tassets while also sporting a pair of steel axes hung from her belt.

                “And in the challenger’s corner! A bull with a nasty score to settle… weighing in at just over five hundred sixty-nine pounds and standing eight foot nine inches high… Kregnok, the Crackhorn!” The crowd went wild with cheers and laughter over the announcer’s joke. I dared to look and caught sight of the announcer acrobatically leaping backwards, evacuating the pathway of an enormously oversized butcher’s knife. Slamming into the podium, the blade sliced it in half and wedged itself deeply into the ground beneath. Taking in the visage of Lyssa’s challenger, a chill ran down my spine.

                Living in the human world we had rules, regulations, and above all, peace. I’d never fought before. I’d never trained in any sort of fighting art or technique because I’d never been interested, and it’d never been necessary for me to defend myself from anyone… Now I was stuck inside a frail looking demon girl’s body with no way to escape. In a moment I would be fighting against a monstrous and viciously snorting Minotaur…

                I swallowed hard, unsure if it were Lyssa, or myself I had to blame for my bad luck right now...

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