Chapter 51: Assassin Arc : Chapter 19 : Late Afternoon

Chapter 19 : Afternoon

In the instant the dome fell away, Reality was lost.

Fueled by the connection they had to Anton, Fiona and Kianna spared no thought to conserving their power as they unleashed the full might of their combined auras out into the world around them.

Ila and Nokko both froze where they stood as existence itself was bathed in a cold, unnatural darkness.

Nokko's eyes went wide as the sky above began to dim down into a sickening ashy gray, and the sun, sitting over the horizon behind the dark elves, suddenly shifted into a sinister, blood red orb that now hung menacingly above the darkening world.

Taking a step back, the kiochi's breath became caught in her throat as the air all around her fell flat and grew heavy. Her unblinking eyes began to strain in their sockets as she watched, horrified, while the edges of the world appeared to tilt inwards. This effect caused the horizons to rise in such a way that the land itself seemed to have been transformed into a massive, inescapable maw, which now threatened to close in above and seal away all the unlucky souls that found themselves trapped within its expanse.

Reality had truly been lost, stripped away by the wills of monstrous beings, and in its place was left a dire landscape filled with nothing but darkness and dread.

“Hm... Well now...” mused Anton as he gazed up at the darkened sky before glancing about at the now twisted terrain “This is certainly impressive... So this is what happens when they work together... I do hope that this is just an illusion of some sort, and they're not actually ripping apart the world... Because that is going to be pretty unfortunate if they are...”

Instinctively reaching for her weapons, Nokko stopped short as her eyes fell back on the dark elves. Although they were already naturally taller than herself, the sisters had somehow seemed to be to have become much larger than they were even mere moments before. With the red orb that was once the sun hanging in the sky between and just above them, the now towering dark elves remained completely silent as the features of their faces and bodies began to fade behind a thick, enveloping darkness that seemed to encase their entire beings, and left them as solid black, living silhouettes.

Nokko made a small sound in the back of her throat as she watched, mesmerized, as the eyes of the two dark elves lit up and began to blaze with an angry, fiery red glow that shined out brightly against the blackness around them.

The kiochi's chest tightened as a bone-chilling, nonexistent wind carried by the dark elves auras, rolled straight through to her core as it spread outwards and saturated the very landscape itself with not only a message of their power, but their wordless promise of impending entrapment, despair and pain.

Frozen where she stood, Nokko did nothing as her mother's tail wrapped itself tightly around her middle and jerked her backwards. Snapped free from her trance, she grunted and blinked in surprise as a series of pink and green glowing rings winked into existence in the spot she had been standing in less than a second before. In the next instant, a tangle of pink and green chains erupted out of the rings and began to angrily rip at each other as they searched for their intended prey.

Furious now, Nokko pulled her gun from its holster and went to level it at one of the dark elves.

Though she had regained her senses, she was disheartened to find that her movements and reactions were being heavily hampered by not only the feeling of intense dread that permeated her being, but by the very environment itself. The air around her had become so dense that moving through it in anyway was no longer an easy task. It literally felt as though she was now deep underwater or more accurately, had been buried in sand, and this not only worked to break her focus, but caused her limbs to feel so weighted that even lifting her feet off the ground was now a struggle.

Though she was no where near as experienced in combat as her parents were, Nokko was still savvy enough to know that this hindrance could easily cost her the fight against the still quickly moving dark elves. This notion was immediately illustrated when in the moment before she could even pull the trigger of her gun, a pink bubble winked into existence around the dark elf she was aiming at, and the end of a glowing, neon green whip sliced through the air and wrapped itself around her weapon.

Unable to react fast enough to make any meaningful difference, Nokko could do nothing but cry out as her weapon was ripped away from her and sent sailing into the hand of the attacking dark elf.

Turning to her assailant, she stopped short when she found the barrel of her own gun was being aimed right back at her. She couldn't help but to grin when a click sound rang out and indicated it had failed to fire.

“Heh! Bitch!” she sneered as she watched the dark elf's glowing eyes tighten in annoyance as she looked down at the gun in her hand “It's not synced to you, you idiot!”

Turning back to her, the dark elf narrowed her eyes even further as she took in Nokko's mocking expression. The gleeful light in the kiochi's eyes quickly died when in the next instant, three thin, tentacle-like glowing green chains snaked out of the dark elf's palm, wrapped themselves around the gun and commenced to violently rip it apart.

“...You! Bitch!” breathed Nokko as she watched the pieces of her former weapon fall to the ground “You stupid bitch!”

Fiona didn't respond as her attention was taken up by Ila suddenly disappearing from behind her daughter. Summoning her own shield out of caution proved to be the right move when Ila reappeared in the air over Fiona's head and went to strike her from above. The elder kiochi's swords bounced harmlessly off the side of the aura field and using this momentum, she flipped herself backwards so as to land on her feet in front of Fiona and fall into a fighters stance with her weapons at the ready.

Focused on her Mother's antics, Nokko came back to her senses when several pink rings suddenly winked into existence around her. Startled into reacting, she immediately teleported herself up into the air and out of the rings reach.

Enraged at the effort made to entrap her, the kiochi pulled a set of daggers from a pair of sheaths strapped to her thighs and curling her tail up and over her head, dove down at the waiting dark elf. Slamming onto the top of her bubble, Nokko preceded to furiously strike at the exact same spot over and over with both her bladed spade as well as her twin daggers.

Circling slowly around Fiona, Ila jumped back in surprise when the dark elf suddenly dropped her shield and stuck at her with her whip. Feinting a forward strike, the kiochi froze when a set of green rings appeared around her. Rather than teleport away as her daughter had, Ila instead tucked her swords and tail in close to her sides and hopped into the air. As she dropped back down from her little jump, the kiochi failed to land back on the ground, as instead, she sank down into her own shadow.

Fiona's glowing eyes tightened in question as she watched Ila disappear, and they became annoyed when the shadow the kiochi had disappeared into began to quickly move about across the ground and out from under her rings.

Brandishing her whip, Fiona struck at the shadow as it zipped back and forth around her and in anticipation of Ila resurfacing, she kept summoning more rings into existence whenever the shadow would stop moving.

Sunk down into her shadow, Ila found the effects of the dark elves auras had been lessened quite a bit for her, unfortunately she wouldn't be able to maintain for too much longer without air and would need to resurface at some point soon.

“These stupid bubbles!” growled Nokko as she worked to both keep chipping away at the bubble and ignore the glowing red eyes that were staring up at her “If it wasn't for this shit you and that bastard over there would both be dead already!”

Kianna's eyes widened in fury before narrowing down into thin slits. Reestablishing her composure, she took a step back and out from under the kiochi.

Preoccupied as she was, Nokko failed to notice the dark elf as she pointed a finger up at her. And the next sequence of events happened far too quickly for the hindered shinoccubi to react in time, as all at once the bubble she was sitting on disappeared while at the same moment a thin, glowing pink chain shot out from Kianna's fingertip and almost instantly latched onto the now free falling kiochi's tail.

Unable to teleport now and too surprised to fully register what was happening, Nokko did nothing as she fell to land in a heap on the ground.

Struggling to get back on her feet amid a torrent of curses, she stopped short while on her hands and knees as an icy chill ran its way throughout her entire body. Flipping herself over to land on her butt and see what was happening behind her, the kiochi's eyes went wide as she immediately realized what was wrong.

The dark elf was now holding onto her tail.

“Uh, no!” croaked Nokko as every muscle in her entire body went stiff and froze up as a flood of raw, soul crushing fear washed its way into her being. Her jaws clenched themselves shut as the dark elf's glowing eyes bored into her own, and unable to move in any real way, she could do nothing but struggle to scramble away backwards as Kianna lifted up her free hand and began to slowly approach her. Nokko's chest tightened in alarm as she watched a long, pink rod take shape and float in the air above Kianna's open palm. Freezing up, her heartbeat began to ring in her ears when the dark elf took hold of the rod and with a flash of light, it instantly reformed into a glowing pink replica of her Father's sword. Her heart then skipped a beat completely when Kianna raised said sword up high into the air above her head.

Staring up at the looming, solid black monstrosity that was now posed and ready to end her life, Nokko went to scream, but as she opened her mouth to do so, the frantic, desperate cry that suddenly filled the air, didn't come from her.

Both Kianna and Fiona couldn't help but to pause for a moment before they each turned to stare directly at Mica.

The terrified looking kiochi was still in the same place she had been this whole time, though now her tear stricken face was twisted into a look of pained horror that was clearly brought on by the sight of her sister's impending execution.

In the stillness that followed, Ila sprung up out of her shadow and with a flying somersault landed on her feet facing Kianna. With a blazing fury in her eyes, she brandished her swords and dove into a headlong run at the dark elf.

Turning to defend herself, Kianna was caught off guard when the charging shinoccubus suddenly made a hard left just before reaching her. Her surprise quickly shifted to anger when Nokko's tail was subsequently ripped free from her hand.

Having successfully snagged Nokko with her own tail, Ila wasted no time in putting some distance between them and the two dark elves. Racing back towards where their portal was located while towing the weight of her daughter through the air behind her was no easy feat though. And when the effort became too much to bare, she dropped down into one of trenches that Anton had cut into the ground and quickly pulled Nokko in next to her.

“Run!” cried Ila as she gave Nokko a frantic shake “You have to run with me!”

Making a small, fearful noise in the back of her throat, Nokko nodded in understanding.

Springing out of the trench, the two kiochis made one teleporting jump after another until they both reached the area just in front of their portal.

Turning and brandishing her weapons, Ila made a visual effort to recompose herself as she and her daughter both tried to shake off the effects of the dark elves auras.

Fiona and Kianna remained just as foreboding as they stood motionless on the other side of the field.

Staring at them for a moment, Nokko groaned in misery before doubling over at the waist. Tearing her mask away from her face, the suffering kiochi dropped down to her hands and knees as she began to violently retch.

After another moment of stillness, the two dark elves both turned in unison and gazed down at the still kneeling Mica.

Realizing she was now under their scrutiny, the trembling kiochi stared forward at nothing as she worked to avoid looking up at them. She flinched when a much smaller version of the dark elves pink and green dome appeared and not only encased her in its protective cover, but trapped her in the very spot she sat in.

“...Oh no.” whispered Ila as the two pairs of glowing eyes slowly turned and fell on her.

“Fascinating, aren't they...” mused Anton as he gazed at the now advancing dark elves “Such capable beings... And to think, these two still don't even know about everything they can do yet...”

“Anton!” cried Ila as she teleported to the very edge of the crushed grass “Please! Call them off!”

Anton's thoughtful expression shifted to one of mock confusion as he turned to her.

“Now why in the world would I do that?” he asked as he arched an eyebrow “As far as I'm concerned, they're not the one's who have done anything wrong... You are.”

Steeling her jaw, Ila quickly looked from Anton to the slowly approaching dark elves and back. She went to speak but stopped short as Anton leveled his arm out to his side and dangled the kunai over a downed Leopold's chest.

“We had an agreement, Ila.” said Anton as his eyes hardened “And you broke that agreement.”

“...Anton!” breathed Ila as she stared at the kunai and shook her head “Wait! Just wait!”

“No.” said Anton as he dropped the kunai.

Gasping in fear, Ila breathed a sigh of relief as the apparent clone dissolved back into shadow.

“This would have been over. But you chose to make a very poor decision...” said Anton as he pulled the kunai back up into his hand “One that I'm going to make sure that you and Leopold both come to regret...”

Testing the quantum break field with her tail, Ila grunted as her spade was immediately forced to the ground. Dragging her weighted spade back out of the field, she hopped into the air and fell back into her own shadow.

“...Now what do you hope to accomplish with this?” mumbled Anton as he watched the living shadow slip into the field and begin to zip from one Leopold to another “Aside from showing me where the real Leopold is?”

After making a quick pass between all the Leopold's, the Ila-shadow made a beeline for the edge of the crushed grass but was instantly stopped in its tracks when it slammed into the wall of an orange-colored aura field.

“I take it you found the real one then.” reasoned Anton as he narrowed his eyes at the shadow “So why don't you come out of there and tell me which one it is.”

The Ila-shadow paused for a moment before going back into the side of the aura field. After seemingly probing the edge for a way out, it rushed over to Anton and began to rapidly zip back and forth in front of him.

“...Can you not get out of there?” questioned Anton as the shadows movements became more frantic “Hm, I take it the pressure won't allow you to slip back out then? Well, that is certainly unfortunate for you...”

Pausing at his words, the shadow flew across the ground and slammed itself back into the side of the orange bubble where it slunk back and forth along its edge as it desperately tried to find a way out.

Sighing in annoyance, Anton shook his head as he dropped the aura field away.

Ila reappeared the instant her shadow crossed the line of crushed grass. Falling to her hands and knees, the choking kiochi desperately gulped down lungfuls of air in between each fit of frantic coughing.

“...Hm, that gives me an idea.” mused Anton as he turned back to the Leopold's “There's only one of you that actually needs to breathe...”

“Alright! Anton, you win this!” exclaimed Ila as she tentatively got to her feet and turned back to him “I was wrong. I shouldn't have attacked Mica like that. I broke our agreement, and it was a mistake. It was, was... What are you doing!?”

Having crossed his arms over his chest, Anton had taken a position back in the center of all the remaining Leopold's.

“...Ila, have you ever seen images or video footage of whales that have become stranded on beaches? It's such an awful, tragic sight...” said Anton in a somber tone as he gazed down at the Leopold's and slowly shook his head “The poor creatures. They suffer such a long and grueling death... I have this friend, named Rembraunt, and he can't stand the very idea of it. He'll drop everything, and do all that he can to help them, but sometimes... He's just gets there too late...”

“...Anton? What are you talking about?” questioned Ila as she shifted her attention between him and still approaching dark elves.

“Many people believe that what's happening is that the whales are like fish, and that they die because they're out of the water for too long... But that isn't really the case...” said Anton as he turned only his head and locked eyes with Ila “What actually happens, is that the weight of their own bodies, slowly suffocates them...”

Staring back at him, Ila couldn't help but to ease herself away as a sense of unnerving dread began to fill the air.

“You see, when in the water, a whale's great bulk is rendered nearly weightless. And they can move about rather easily, even considering how heavy they really are. But when on land, without the buoyancy that the water gives them, they're forced to carry all that weight all on their own... And this just isn't something that they can do for very long...” said Anton as he kept his eyes locked to Ila's “Can you imagine how horrifying it would be, to suddenly find yourself in a position were you are forced to lift the weight of the entire world... Just to take a single breath...”

Ila's eyes went wide in horror as she understood the direction this conversation was taking.

“And with each herculean effort that you take... Your strength is slowly ebbed away, bit by bit, with each and every breath...” continued Anton as he began to slowly shift the intensity of the gravity around him “Until, finally, you have nothing left, and with your mind filled with panic, you breathe your very last breath, and slip into blackness...”

As they both stayed focused on each other, the kiogahs around them began to shift about in discomfort before finally starting to struggle in earnest.

Ila balled her hands into fists as one of the Leopold's let out a choking gasp a split second before the rest followed in imitation.

“There you are...” said Anton as a thin grin spread across his face “Finally found you...”

Tearing her now panic filled eyes away from Anton, Ila locked gazes with her husband, who was laying a few paces behind Anton and was laid out on his stomach with the side of his face pressed down against the ground.

“You win, Anton! You win!” she cried as she turned back to him and showed her open palms “Please! We'll leave like you asked! This is over!”

“No...” said Anton as he turned away from her and eyed the real Leopold “I'm afraid this isn't over yet...”

“Stop! Anton! Please!” cried Ila as she shifted into motion “Don't! Stay away from him!”

Giving up on any pretenses of remaining anonymous, Leopold let an angry scowl spread across his face as he struggled to breathe.

“Anton! Don't you dare touch him!” exclaimed Ila as her tail stretched upwards to its max length and began to wave about angrily over her head “Get away from him!”

Stopping to stand next to Leopold, Anton had a stoic expression on his face as he turned to Ila.

“Tell me, just how permanent is your oath of loyalty?” he asked.

“...Wha, what!?” stammered Ila “...What are you talking about!?”

“That oath of loyalty ability that you invoke whenever you officially join a clan.” stated Anton “How permanent is that?”

Clearly taken aback, Ila hesitated for a moment before narrowing her eyes.

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” she said in a dry manner.

“I see.” said Anton as he angled the kunai out over Leopold's left leg and then let it drop.

Both Nokko and the dark elves all turned at once to the sounds of Leopold's gargled cry and Ila's ear-shattering scream.

“Now, now, Leopold... You shouldn't waste your breath being dramatic like that...” said Anton as he pulled the bloodied kunai back up to his hand “You know you don't have the air left to spare for such theatrics...”

“Stop! Anton! Please!” cried Ila as she dropped to her knees “You win! You win! We'll leave! Please! Just let us leave!”

Anton's face was emotionless as he dropped the kunai onto Leopold's other leg.

Expelling his breath out through his clenched teeth the shinoccubus began to claw feebly at the ground as he tried to keep from crying out in agony.

All around Anton the rest of the clones began to dissolve away into nothing.

“It's permanent!” screamed Ila “It's completely permanent! Forever! Lifetime! Nothing can break it!”

“Not even your Makieve?” questioned Anton as he yanked the kunai free of Leopold's leg.

“...No!” whined Ila as she clearly struggled to answer “...Nothing, can!”

“I see. Well that's good to know... A bit unsettling as well...” nodded Anton as he turned to face her “If it really is as permanent as you say, then it's thankful it's something that can only be willingly invoked.”

Ila gazed back at him for a moment before letting her eyes fall to the ground in front of her.

“That, isn't always true...” she mumbled softly as she shook her head “It, isn't always a choice. It can be forced...”

“...What!?” exclaimed Anton.

“...A demon, or a devil. ...They can force it to invoke.” explained Ila in the same soft tone.

“...Are you serious?” questioned Anton.

Ila said nothing more as she nodded her head.

“...So does that mean that any demon or devil could do it?” asked Anton.

Again, Ila silently nodded her head.

Anton went still for a moment as he stared at her.

“...I swear, of all the neglect you've shown your daughter, this has to be the cruelest thing you could have ever done to her!” seethed Anton “You've left her to grow up believing that she was legitimately a fully free and independent person. When at anytime, one random encounter, one single event, and all that could be taken away from her! Forever! She could be gone in the blink of an eye! And not only did you fail to prepare her to defend herself from this danger, but you've given her no warning of it at all! Is this some kind of sick, terrible joke to you!?”

“You don't understand what you're talking about!” cried Ila as she began to tremble “She's not part of our clan! We can't just explain any of this to her!”

“Then you should have found someone who can!” shouted Anton “There is no excuse for this! You both should have done better! You two risk everything for the chance to give your girls a life of freedom, and yet instead of seeing this through to the end you went and brought your own brand of oppression with you by not giving them the information they desperately need to stay safe! Why!? Why when every year there are more and more cubi fleeing the demon realms for the freedom of Terra! How many of your own kind have already done the same!? And yet you couldn't have asked a single one of them to help you!? To help your children! What is wrong with you two!?”

“You don't know what you're talking about!” exclaimed Ila as she frantically shook her head “You have no idea! It's not that easy!”

“Yes it is!” countered Anton.

“No, it's not!” cried Ila “You don't understand!”

“And what do you think is so difficult to understand!? Hm!? Do you think I don't know that everything with you has to be a secret!? That everything you say and do has to go through a filter that's been ingrained into your very minds from birth! Do you think I don't know what you are!? Because I do! I know exactly what you are!” declared Anton as he slowly shook his head “I know, that you were never meant to be free... I know, that despite whatever dedication you may have to your clans. They were never meant to be yours... They were always meant to belong to someone else. And by extension, so were you and every one of your kind... This was the purpose that you were born and bred for. To blindly follow the orders of your betters. Those that sit above your clans. The one's who rule them, command them, and ultimately own them, as well as they do you... And I know, that no matter how far you run, what lies you tell yourselves, or how badly you may want to rise above this fate... Deep down, you will always feel their hold on you... And any doubt of this is shattered immediately by the fact that you've come here today, with your armor and your weapons, ready and willing to kill your own child... And all so that you can play lip service to calls, customs and traditions that you don't even want to believe in, but can never escape from...”

Everything remained still for a moment before Anton spoke again.

“Don't try to tell me that I can't understand you. When I understand you completely.” said Anton as his face softened “I know exactly how you work. And I know that you can't just reveal everything about yourselves, even if you want to... I also know how far you've come... And I know how hard it's been for you... But unfortunately, that's still no excuse for not making sure that your girls were prepared. That they had the knowledge they needed. If Mica wasn't left as clueless as she was, then none of this would have happened.”

“We didn't want this to happen, Anton.” breathed Ila “We never wanted any of this to happen.”

“I know you didn't...” sighed Anton “And for what it's worth, I didn't want any of this to happen either...”

Glancing down at Leopold, Anton found the kiogah had his eyes shut and was taking in one quick, shallow breath after another. Surprisingly, his expression was no longer angry, though clearly still in pain, his face gave the impression of exhaustion more than anything.

“...Leopold.” said Anton in a soft tone “Are you done?”

Opening his eyes, Leopold looked up at Anton and merely gazed at him. Though silent, the confirmation in his eyes was still clear. Nodding in acknowledgment, Anton turned back to Ila.

“Ila.” he called as he tilted his head to the side in an effort to crack his neck “I think this day has been long enough... And I'd like to see it end now. So if you'll bring me that stuffed frog you were carrying earlier, I'll trade you your husband for it.”

The kiochi looked up at him in confusion for a moment before suddenly disappearing.

Reappearing on the other side of the now arriving dark elves, she gave them a wide berth as she quickly searched the field for the stuffed frog.

“Alright girls.” said Anton as he addressed the dark elves “This is over. You two can let up on the theatrics now.”

The two dark elves tightened their eyes in annoyance as with a poof of blackness they both suddenly appeared normal again.

The world around them immediately returned to its original state as they each dropped their auras.

“W-w-w-what the hell!” exclaimed Nokko as she looked around at the once again blue sky before glaring hatefully at the dark elves.

Reappearing at the edge of the crushed grass, Ila met Anton's gaze as she held up the recovered frog.

Nodding, Anton snapped his fingers and dispelled the intensified gravity.

Coughing loudly, Leopold lifted himself up on to his elbows as Ila rushed over to them and stopped in front of Anton.

“Thank you.” said Anton as he took the stuffed frog she held out to him “Nokko! Come and help your Mother collect your Father.”

The younger kiochi turned from were she was brandishing her weapons at the glaring dark elves and immediately disappeared only to reappear next to her mother.

“I didn't hit any bones, or arteries. So it should be a simple matter to heal him...” said Anton as he looked over the stuffed animal in his hands “If you need a potion, I can have one brought here.”

“We're fine!” snapped Nokko as she helped Leopold sit upright while Ila popped open a thin tube and handed it to him.

Taking the offered potion, Leopold downed it in one go and then went still as he let it get to work on repairing his legs.

As her husband let out a soft sigh of relief, Ila let her eyes wander back to Anton and she watched silently as he began to brush away debris from the plush toy.

“...Anton.” said Ila as she eyed the stuffed frog “You know we don't need that frog to find Mica. We have plenty of other items we can use. So why do you want to keep it?”

“...Because, I'm sure Mica will appreciate having it.” answered Anton as he plucked a last bit of stuck grass off of the frog “The poor girl has already lost everything else today... And I think it would be nice for her to be able to keep at least a single piece of her old life... Even if it's only a small thing...”

Ila was silent for a moment as she stared at the frog.

“...I see.” she said in a soft tone as she looked back at her husband “...That's very kind of you, Anton.”

Staring back at his wife, Leopold found a growing resolve in her eyes and with another soft sigh, he closed his own eyes and nodded his head.

“...Anton.” called Ila as she looked back at him “There's something I need to tell you... It's about our oath, and how it works.”

Anton's movements immediately ceased as he stopped to listen.

“...This, isn't going to be easy for me to tell you. ...But I want you to know this, for Mica's sake.” said Ila as her speech became strained “Please just listen...”

Registering that this was a difficult thing for her to do, Anton kept his eyes away from Ila and said nothing as he waited for her to continue.

“...At times, there will be those among our young who are, for one reason or another, determined to be unworthy of joining the clan. ...Unusually, these would be those who are unfit for combat. But not always.” explained Ila “...When this happens, a Makieve may decide to part with these individuals. ...And would set them aside to be sold or traded. ...They would often end up in other clans. ...This isn't something that any shinoccubi would ever want to do willingly of course, nor would any clan want to see its numbers drop like this, but it happens, often. ...To prevent these individuals from activating their oaths themselves, which would ruin their prospect of joining another clan, they would be enslaved with traditional binding curses. ...This would not only suppress their ability, but would also stop other demons from being able to just activate it, and binding these open shinoccubi to themselves before buying them.”

Anton's expression became thoughtful as he listened closely.

“...Anton, you said, you were going to enslave Mica.” continued Ila as her eyes tightened in sorrow “...Well if you do that, then no one else will be able to bind her against her will. ...Not until the curse between you is broken.”

Anton nodded once in understanding.

“Anton, please listen... I'm sorry to ask this of you... I know I have no right to do so...” said Ila as a thin sheen of moisture formed over her eyes “But please, please take care of our daughter... Please keep her safe, even from us...”

Pausing for a moment, Anton nodded reassuringly as he lowered his eyes to the frog.

“I can only promise you that I'll try my best...” he said softly “But you do have my word on that. I will try... I'll do everything I can...”

“...Thank you.” whispered Ila as she blinked the moisture from her eyes and turned back to Leopold.

Gazing at her for a moment, Leopold took a deep breath and grunted softly as he planted his foot against the ground. With the use of his tail, and with help from his wife and daughter, he quickly rose back up to his feet and turned towards the portal he and his family had come through.

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“...Anton, I am not satisfied with the way things have gone today.” he said as he kept his eyes on the portal.

Anton said nothing as he merely nodded.

“Be that as it may though... Business is business.” said Leopold as he looked back at Anton “And this business won't effect any other business that we have with each other. You have my word on this.”

“...Oh. Well, that's good to hear.” said Anton as he turned to the shinoccubi and nodded in agreement “I feel the same.”

“Good. Then I'll give you a call this week, and we'll set up a time to meet and discus your, other, business ventures.” said Leopold as an air of fatigue seemed to overtake him “For now though... Have a good evening, Anton.”

“...Yeah. Same to you, my friend.” said Anton as a thin grin spread across his face “And to you, Ila, always a pleasure. And again, it was nice to meet you as well, Nokko. I hope you all have a good night.”

Scowling angrily, Nokko said nothing as she hid her face back behind her mask and turned to face the portal.

“Yes, same to you, Anton.” said Ila as she glanced from him to the dark elves and back “And I'm sorry, I hope we didn't disrupt your evening too badly.”

“No, not at all.” said Anton as he looked down at the stuffed frog in his hands “If anything you've made it far more interesting...”

“Well then... Good.” said Ila as she started towards the portal “We'll be off then...”

Glancing back upwards, Anton watched the three shinoccubi make their way to the portal.

“Leopold, Ila!” he called out as they made to enter the portal.

Stopping short, both Leopold and Ila turned to him with questioning expressions.

“...If things turn ugly for you. And you find yourselves in a difficult situation.” said Anton “...I'd like to know about it.”

“...What are you talking about, Anton?” asked Leopold.

“I'm talking about your clan. If they find out about your girls. And they come for you. If there's going to be a battle, and you need an ally to fight by your side.” said Anton as he looked from Leopold to Ila and back “Call me.”

The two shinoccubi stared at him for a long moment before nodding softly.

Turning in unison, they and Nokko all quickly disappeared through the portal.

As the shinoccubi's portal winked out of existence, Anton turned to the waiting dark elves.

“Well now. I really don't think they expected things to go the way they did.” he smiled as he began to head back towards Mica.

“No! No they did not!” exclaimed Fiona as she and her sister both fell into step with him.

“Did you see us, Master!?” cried Kianna excitedly “Were we scary!?”

“Oh, are you kidding!” laughed Anton “You were both amazing! In fact you were so terrifying that I'm pretty sure you've completely traumatized both Nokko and poor Mica!”

“Uh, yeah... Mica did kinda break down a little bit...” mumbled Fiona as she folded her arms above her head “I don't know if she's even going be okay?”

“Oh yes, poor Mica...” said Kianna as she shook her head “She really was looking like she was falling apart back there...”

“Well we can't really blame her for that.” said Anton “She's been through quite a bit today...”

The three of them went silent as they approached the dome containing the still kneeling shinoccubus. As they came closer, the dark elves dropped the dome away.

Mica stayed still and continued to stare unblinkingly at the spot where her family's portal had disappeared. She showed absolutely no response to the dome vanishing from around her, or the arrival of Anton and the dark elves.

Anton had a sorrowful grimace on his face as he stood next to the kiochi and looked her over.

Mica sat on her knees with her arms hanging limp at her sides and her shoulders completely slumped. Her motionless tail was laid out across the ground around her and her stricken eyes were nearly vacant as they stared out at the now empty field. Thin lines of tears trailed down her cheeks and slowly dripped to the ground below her.

Leaning down, Anton silently offered her the stuffed frog he had gotten from Ila.

Without a word, Mica's head turned just enough for her to see the frog clearly. The expression on her face never changed, but upon registering what she was looking at, she tentatively reached out and took hold of the stuffed animal. Her gaze went back to the spot where her family had disappeared as she silently clutched the frog to her chest with one arm.

Fiona and Kianna both shook their heads as they looked from Mica to each other and back.

“How could they do this to her? Their own family member!” muttered Kianna “Argh! I wish those two hadn't gotten away from us!”

“Yeah... That was really fucked up how those bitches went right for her.” said Fiona “No hesitation at all! ...Would have been seriously nice to get a hold of them both.”

“It really would have!” growled Kianna as she pointed her ears straight back “I was about to chop off that one's feet so she couldn't get away, and if I had, I could have really made her pay for this! ...I know that would have been gruesome, but we could have just repaired her later... But then the other one jumped in and saved her!”

“Right, yeah. That was my fault. Dumb bitch turned into a shadow before I could catch her. And I couldn't get her out of it... Sucks too. If we'd had caught them we could have each had one to play with. Which would have been perfect.” smiled Fiona “I'd love to have my very own kiochi to twist up into knots. I still really want to see how far I can bend one in half.”

Mica blinked as she appeared to register that people were talking around her. Slowly she tilted her head and looked up at Anton and the dark elves. As the realization of who she was looking at seemed to reach her eyes, she clutched the stuffed frog even tighter against her chest with both arms and curled in on herself as she coiled her tail in tightly around her body. A look of raw fear spread across her features as her eyes widened to their fullest and quickly darted from one face to another.

The dark elves both blinked in surprise at the sight of the terrified looking kiochi who suddenly seemed to have become even smaller than she ever was before.

“I'm, I'm sorry. I, I give up.” whimpered Mica as she began to tremble uncontrollably “Please. Please! I give up!”

“Wha, what?” questioned Kianna.

Mica flinched at the sound of her voice and hunched down even further.

“I give up! Please! Please don't hurt me!” begged Mica as she looked from Kianna to Fiona “Please don't decorate me again! Or bend me in half! Please!”

The dark elves both quickly looked at one another before turning back to Mica.

“I'm sorry!” wailed Mica in desperation as she frantically looked back and forth between them “I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! Please, I give up! Please don't hurt me anymore!”

“Oh, Mica we're-!” started Kianna.

“Ugh! After everything that we just-! Are you even serious right now!? You stupid, stupid little ninja-bitch!” muttered Fiona.

Kianna and Mica both turned to her the instant she spoke.

Fiona still had her arms folded behind her head as she huffed and looked off and away at nothing.

“...Fine! ...I won't! I won't hurt you, and I'm not going to bend you in half!” said Fiona as she blinked away a thin sheen of moisture from her eyes “You can stop crying already, you little baby! ...You're gonna be okay now. ...I promise!”

“I'm not going to hurt you either!” exclaimed Kianna “Ever again! I promise!”

Faint, desperate relief reached Mica's eyes as she looked back and forth between the two dark elves.

“...R-really!?” she whimpered as she tightened her grip on her frog “Y-you really promise!? For real!?”

“Oh... You poor little thing...” cooed Kianna as she bent over, planted her hands on her knees and flared out her aura so as to fill the area with a calming essence “You don't have to be scared anymore, Mica... You're going to be okay now... We not gonna be mean to you... We promise...”

Taking quick relieved breaths, the shinoccubus had a pained but thankful smile on her face as she looked from one dark elf to the other. Her smile faded however as her gaze traveled upwards and landed on Anton.

Anton was slowly shaking his head as he stared down at the cowering kiochi.

“It's just so unbelievable that you've been accepted by these dark elves like this...” he mumbled as an amused smirk spread across his face “Dark elves actually promising that they won't be cruel... Will wonders never cease...”

Unsure of how to respond, Mica blinked and looked downwards in discomfort while softly breathing in and out through her nose.

“...Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to say otherwise.” said Anton as his face took on a more serious expression “I'm afraid I can't make the same promise that they have...”

Mica immediately looked back up at him with renewed fear in her eyes.

“Wait, what!?” she whimpered as she leaned away from him “What do you mean!?”

Anton's expression never changed as he took a small step towards her.

Panicking, Mica scrambled backwards as she frantically got to her feet. Her eyes locked to Anton's, she gripped at the manabinder around her neck as she slowly backed away from him.

Anton stopped his advance and stared back at the frightened kiochi as he let his aura expand outwards to join with Kianna's.

Mica froze in surprise as the calming essences of the combined auras flooded the space around her.

“...Mica, I'm sorry.” said Anton “But I'm afraid we don't have the luxury of time.”

Mica blinked in confusion and said nothing as she wavered on taking another step back.

“This isn't over. We may have settled things for the moment, but whether you're ready for them or not, your family will eventually come back for you. Again and again if they have to. They won't stop until their mission is complete.” explained Anton “And to get you to a point where you can at least defend yourself isn't going to be easy. You need to be ready as soon as possible, and that means I'll have to be intense with you and unforgiving.”

Mica's eyes remained wide as she stayed focused on Anton and eased herself out of her backwards step as she gave him her full attention.

“If I'm going to push you beyond your limits, then I'm afraid I can't be locked back by kindness.” continued Anton “If I need to be cruel to you to save your life, then I will be...”

“...My life?” breathed Mica as she looked down at her stuffed frog “...My life! They came to kill me!”

Anton remained still as the dark elves both looked at the ground in sympathy.

“They'll come back for me! They can find me!” exclaimed Mica as her voice became laced with panic “Wh-wh-what am I gonna do!?”

“...You're going to come home with us, and I'm going to place a charm on your collar that will mask your presence.” explained Anton “Then you're going to learn how to fight back and defend yourself.”

The panic slowly faded from Mica's eyes as her face became emotionless.

“...Collar.” she whispered as she looked back up at Anton “Wait! If I do that oath thing you were talking about earlier then-!”

“No!” interrupted Anton as he shook his head “I'm afraid that option isn't going to work out. We're going to have to go with a collar.”

“What, why!? Why won't it work now!?” asked Mica.

“It's not that it won't work, it's that it'll work too well. That oath is permanent.” explained Anton “While a collar can always be removed...”

Blinking in surprise, Mica's hunched shoulders relaxed a bit as a little tension seemed to leave her.

“Removed...” she repeated slowly “But what if I promise to just listen to you!? If I just do everything you say! And I, I will! I promise! Can't I just stay free!? ...Please!?”

Anton closed his eyes with a heavy sigh as he slowly shook his head.

“I'm guessing you didn't hear us then... We must have been too far away...” he mumbled softly.

“You, what?” said Mica “What did you say?”

“Mica, listen...” started Anton as he looked back up at her pleading expression “...Mica, there are some, things, that you don't understand... You don't realize what could happen to you...”

“...Wha, what do you mean?” asked the shinoccubus as her face became marred with question “What are you talking about!?”

“...Mica, just listen to me. This is for the best. I know that might be hard to believe but it is.” said Anton as his face hardened and became serious “I need you to trust me when I say there are things that I will explain to you, but right now is not the time. You already have enough to worry about. You don't need something else taking away your focus.”

The shinoccubus was still for a moment as she stared back at him.

“...Trust, you!?” she whispered as her eyes tightened “Why should I ever trust you!?”

“Because I'm asking you to. And because I don't need you to.” answered Anton “I can just enslave you right now and be done with this, and if I have to I will... But I don't want to do that. I want you to understand that I'm not trying to entrap you, and that there is a good reason for this, it is for the best.”

Mica continued to stare silently for a moment before her face softened.

“Why, why are you doing this all of a sudden?” she whimpered as she looked down at her frog “Why are you helping me now?”

“I'm not. I said I would protect you, keep you alive, and turn you into something useful. And that is exactly what I'm going to to do.” answered Anton “Don't think for one second that this is out of charity though, Mica. It's not. Whether you like it or not you have a job now, a purpose, and you will earn your keep.”

Mica grimaced as she tightened her hold on her frog.

“So what then!? I'm really just gonna be your guard dog now!” she mumbled miserably “Right!?”

Anton was silent for a moment as he stared at her.

“You are guilty, Mica Tajikara.” he stated softly “You fought me, tried to kill me, and you lost. So now, I own your life.”

Mica whimpered and started to tremble again as she leaned away from him.

“Prove to me that you deserve it.” said Anton as he tightened his eyes at her “...And I may let you earn it back.”

Mica stilled her trembling as she slowly looked back up at him in question.

“...I don't have to report what you've done. You don't have to be registered as a criminal. I can just say that you've chosen to become my slave. You're a cubi after all, so this would be easy enough for anyone to believe.” explained Anton “And without an actual sentence keeping you bound, I can release you at any time.”

“...Will you promise, that when this is all over, you'll really let me go?” asked Mica in a hushed tone.

“...No. I'm afraid I can't do that.” said Anton as he closed his eyes and shook his head “I won't make you a promise, unless I know for sure that I can keep it.”

Mica's eyes tightened in sorrow as she looked back down at her frog.

Anton made an effort to strengthen the effect of his aura as he stepped closer to the forlorn kiochi.

Mica hunched her shoulders nervously as he approached but remained where she was standing as he stopped right in front of her.

Without a word, Anton lifted the loop of string up and over his head, and showing the key to Mica he held out his hand for her.

Mica hesitated for only a moment before loosening her arm from around her frog and letting him take hold of her wrist.

“There are two promises, that a I know I can make for you, Mica.” said Anton as he gently twisted her wrist to the side and slid the key into the locked cuff “The first one is that by the time this is all over, you'll have become a creature so dangerous, that you'll never again feel the level of fear and helplessness that you've felt today...”

Mica blinked in surprise and despite herself, looked up at his face.

Anton removed the cuff and slid it into his back pocket before returning her gaze and looking her right in the eyes.

“...And the second promise. Is that when the time comes. And trust me, Mica, it will come. For you to have to face your family again, and fight for your life. I will be there.” he said as a slight smirk took form across his face “And I will not be joining that battle. I won't even lift a single finger. I will not do anything. At all. To help you in even the tiniest way. I will be there! But all I'm going to do is watch.”

Mica's eyes went wide in panic.

“Wh-what, why!?” she cried.

“Because, I still want to see what you look like...” said Anton as he reached up and with a single tug, removed the manabinder from around her neck “When you win...”

Mica had froze completely as she stared at him and absorbed what he had just said. After a long moment of stillness, frantic tears began to roll down her cheeks and her mouth twisted into a maniacal smile as she began to giggle hysterically.

“...You! That's so crap! ...Fuck you! ...That's, that's cool!” she declared between fits of laughter “...That's! ...Really, really! Dammit! ...Thank you, thank you!”

“You're welcome.” said Anton as he folded the manabinder down and slid both it and his hand into his front pocket.

Mica nodded frantically as she continued to both laugh and cry at the same time. She hunched in on herself as she gave her frog a tight squeeze and as she did so she noticed the ring-like shape that was creasing the material along the bottom edge of the pocket that Anton had his hand in. Her laughter slowly died down to nothing as she realized what she was looking at.

“...Is it, gonna hurt?” she asked as she raised her head and looked him in the eyes.

“Only if you fight it.” said Anton.

“...Will I still be me?” whimpered Mica as her tail lightly wrapped itself around her body.

“Yes, I can promise you that as well.” said Anton “All of your memories, your personality, your dreams and goals. Everything that is who you are. I won't take any of it away from you.”

Fresh tears rolled down Mica's cheeks as she clamped her eyes shut.

“Just... Please just do it...” she groaned as she held her eyes closed “I just don't want to think about this anymore...”

“...Alright.” said Anton as he pulled his hand out of his pocket.

Mica gasped and frantically gripped her frog to her chest as a metallic locking sound rang out from the collar that was now around her neck.

Pulling away from Anton, she reeled backwards and started to hyperventilate in panic as she began to feel the binding curse overtake her.

“Mica!” exclaimed Anton as he took hold of her shoulders and kept her from falling over “Relax Mica!It's okay! You're going to be okay! Stop fighting it!”

Still panicked, Mica locked her pleading eyes to his and began to whimper as her wings suddenly appeared out from between her shoulder blades and began to flap wildly.

“Relax, Mica! Just relax and it will end!” assured Anton as he pulled her in closer and kept her eyes focused on his “Let it end, Mica... Just let it end...”

Mica's wings suddenly went completely still as a second, louder locking sound rang out from the collar. Sighing heavily in relief, she went limp and collapsed forward as her legs gave way beneath her.

“Mica!” exclaimed Anton as he caught her in his arms and followed her down.

Kneeling, he let the spent shinoccubus lay limp in his lap as her wings, legs and tail came to rest in a heap on the ground in front of him.

“Mica!” cried Kianna as she and Fiona came around either side of Anton and peered down at the unresponsive shinoccubus “Is she okay!?”

“She's-!” started Anton as the sounds of sleep began to emanate from Mica “...Perfectly fine?”

“...Did she really just fall asleep!?” exclaimed Fiona “Seriously!?”

“It's not that surprising that she would be exhausted...” mused Anton as he looked over the sleeping kiochi “It has been a very stressful day for her... And I doubt she got much rest last night.”

“Oh, poor Mica...” cooed Kianna “It hasn't even been a whole day yet since she came here, and already so many horrible things have happened to her... The poor, poor little thing...”

“...Oh shit!” exclaimed Fiona as her ears pointed themselves straight upwards “It really hasn't even been a whole day yet! ...This has got to have been the longest day of her life!”

“More than likely.” said Anton as he gently hoisted the kiochi up until he was able to cradle her in his arms “Let's get her back to the house. Kianna, can you grab her frog, please.”

“Of course!” cried the dark elf as she snagged the stuffed animal and hugged it to herself.

As Anton got back to his feet Mica began to stir and quietly whimper.

Blinking groggily, she looked up at him as the slitted pupils of her large emerald eyes dilated out to their fullest and became probing black pits. Staring back at her for a moment, Anton gave her a soft smile and she blinked slowly in return.

“Aw!” cried Kianna as she stepped up close to Mica and smiled at her “She's so cute when she's sleepy!”

Mica turned her eyes on the dark elf as she slowly blinked again. Her eyes quickly tightened with worry as she noticed that Kianna was now holding her stuffed frog.

“Aw, do you want this back?” cooed Kianna as she placed the stuffed animal in Mica's arms “Here you go!”

Making tiny happy sounds in the back of her throat, Mica gripped the frog tightly and smiled broadly until her face and ears began to suddenly turn red in embarrassment.

“Aw, well look at this! Is the little ninja-bitch embarrassed of her little froggy friend!” teased Fiona “Isn't that just so sweet! What a cute little baby!”

Whimpering in embarrassment, Mica wrapped her tail around Anton's waist and hid her face against her frog as her blush deepened.

“Stop that, Fiona!” cried Kianna as she glared at her sister “Don't bully her!”

“What!?” exclaimed Fiona as she smiled wickedly “I'm just playing around!”

“C'mon! You know she's already had a long enough day!” chastised Kianna as she gathered together her bag and Anton's knife cleaning pouch “So just give her a break!”

“...Yeah, fine.” sighed Fiona as she folded her arms back behind her head and began to mumble “I'll just burn that frog later when no ones looking...”

“Fiona! Don't you dare!” threatened Kianna as she pointed her ears straight back in anger “I swear if you make Mica cry again, I will make you cry even worse!”

“Okay, okay! I'm kidding! I'm kidding!” smiled Fiona “...Mostly.”

Anton chuckled as he felt Mica's tail tighten around his waist. Angling his hand out from under her legs he faced his open palm out ahead of himself and created a portal.

“You know what, Mica...” he said as he smiled down at the nervous kiochi “I'm starting to think that having you around is going to be a lot more fun than I first thought.”

Gripping her frog even tighter, Mica groaned in frustration and wrapped her wings around herself as she was carried through the portal.

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