Chapter 23: Chapter 21: Getting used to it

It had been a week since the attack on the castle, and both Robin and Carver had recovered. I spent the week helping Fate in the laboratory, teaching and playing tabletop roleplaying games with my three partners, and trying to get used to having three partners in the first place. We shared life stories, books, and relaxed for the first time in a while. It was the first day they were out of the infirmary, and I had finally finished telling the others about my conversation with Sky.

"That's a weight off my shoulders." Robin said. "But I do wish I was there while she told you."

We walked down the streets of the market, looking for something new we could eat. Carver tripped every once in a while, still not used to her new body.

"How do I use this thing?" She pointed at her tail, swaying chaotically behind her.

"I didn't notice you had one." Robin raised her eyebrow. "Can't help you with that though."

"My tail isn't as long as yours either." Fate added.

"Damn does everyone have a tail around here? Do you have advice, Nay?"

"Just let your subconscious take over, I guess. I don't really think about it most of the time." I got closer to her and wrapped my tail around her wrist. "Unless I wanna do something like this."

"Woah..." She looked back, trying to control her tail properly while we walked.

It's then that I notice Heather in the distance, making her way through a crowd and running directly toward us at full speed. She had chainmail awkwardly wrapped around her regular robes, which shone faintly with an unnatural yellow light.

"You! The four of you!" She stopped running to catch her breath, barely able to form a coherent sentence. "The... Demon... Awake... Go castle..."

"Is she finally awake?" Robin quickly slipped back to her stern self. "We'll go oversee the interrogation, you stay here and rest."

"Yeah... The chain m- chain may- Heavy..." Heather let herself fall onto a nearby bench. "Go."

We ran as quickly as we could back to the castle, attracting many stares and concerned whispers. We barged into the interrogation room after hearing screeches and shouting only to find Hector, the leader of the paladins, leaning against a wall and casually talking to the demoness. She was chained to the table by her wrists and neck, and her legs were tied up with several layers of rope. All of it glowed the same holy light as Heather's armor.

"What happened?" I asked, confusedly looking around to try and find the source of the noises.

"Hm? I'm just catching up with our mutual acquaintance here. This here lady caused us a hell of a lot of trouble back in the day."

"Lady." The chained demon scoffed. "Mistress suits me a lot more."

"No."

"But... The screams." Carver seemed even more lost than I was.

"Screams?" The demoness smiled, then laughed loudly. "I really am entrenched in that pretty head of yours, aren't I?" She sighed, the smile disappearing from her face. She looked tired. "I'm happy you're alive."

"Hard to believe that, if I'm being honest." I sat on the chair in front of her and the other women crowded around me, all staring at our prisoner.

"Oh come on, if you remembered shit you'd actually trust me. I really did think you died back there, asshole."

"Yeah, well. You've tried to kill us several times already." Carver quickly pointed out.

"I- I wasn't-" She groaned. "Look, I was desperate. I'm sorry I tried to kill you, okay?"

"Hm. Alright, I forgive you."

"Carv!" Fate protested.

"What? I don't wanna hold any grudges!"

Robin leaned down over the table and stared the woman in the eyes.

"Enough with the small talk. You know why we're here." Robin's rabbit ears twitched. She could barely hide her anger.

"And I don't have a clue as to the answer." She leaned closer as well, her chains rattling once she reached the limits of their length. "Do you think she just lets us all know everything about her operation?"

"You know something." I tried to take over the interrogation, afraid that Robin might get too heated. "She wanted to take my body to infiltrate the kingdom, but why did she possess that lady?"

"What, do you think she should do everything in person and risk dying herself? Nah, she doesn't take unnecessary risks. I haven't seen her in person. Ever. I know about as much as you do. She wants the kingdom and her Vulna back, that's it."

"What's a Vulna again?" Carver asked, lost as ever.

"A vulpine magical familiar. Your queen, in this instance."

"This isn't going anywhere." Robin got up from the table and started to walk towards the exit. "We should investigate that woman's village, the one you rescued. There might be something in the surrounding area."

"Wait!" She got up as best she could, the loud noise of the chains startled Carver. "Take me with you. If you're investigating this-"

"No." Robin continued to walk.

"You'll need all the help you can get!" She started shouting, anger and desperation taking over. "Give me a chance to rip that woman's throat out!"

I stopped in front of the door. Everyone else turned to me, their gazes filled with concern, curiosity and disbelief. I look behind me to the chained woman and felt pity. Once again the sense of nostalgia filled my mind, and I felt as though whoever I used to be was still reaching out to me on occasion. I wanted to take her with us on a mission, if not to pay her back for protecting Robin and the kingdom, at least to keep a closer eye on her instead of trusting in the castle's walls to hold her.

"Let her go." I ordered Hector, who did so with a hearty laugh. "You stay close to us at all times and never leave Carver's sight. At the first sign of betrayal we will take you down. Got it?"

"Whatever you say, ma'am." Her snide smile returned as she let the chains fall to the floor.

"Why am I not surprised?" Robin sighed. "You already know how I feel about this, so I'll bite my tongue."

"So... What should we call you?" Fate nervously asked the demon, fiddling with an empty potion in her hands.

"Hmm. Lumina will do just fine."

"Changing it again, I see." Hector scoffed, leaving and locking the interrogation room behind him. "Still copying Naomi in that regard?"

"I-" Lumina froze, unable to come up with the right words. "Watch your mouth, old man."

---

Just a few hours later we had said our goodbyes and were ready to leave. Lumina was wearing a holy bracelet to dampen some of her abilities, much to her discontent. She shapeshifted to look like a human so as to not cause any problems, and was wearing one of the spare cleric apprentice robes from the castle. The rest of us would simply wear our usual battle gear, including the armor set the paladins gave me. We loaded up our equipment and set out for the road.

The first hour of the trip was spent in silence, calmly enjoying the start of another journey. Everyone seemed to be in a surprisingly light mood apart from Lumina, who was clearly bored to her core.

"So... How long to this town?"

"At this rate it should be just two or three more hours." Fate replied from the box seat. "We're travelling light this time around."

"Right." She groaned. "This would be so much faster without this ridiculous bracelet."

"For you, maybe." Carver poked the bracelet, making it shine slightly each time she did. "And you'd have to wait for us there anyway."

"Yeah, as if. I'd have everything figured out before you all crossed the town's entrance."

We eventually found our way to the small town, the sign at the entrance reading 'Lakeswood' was brand new, and there were a lot of people moving crates and supplies around. We stopped at the stables and left our horses in their care, as well as the simple carriage. I heard footsteps approaching me, and turned around to see a familiar face.

"And here you are again." The leader of the bandits we ran into during our travel stood in front of me. "I didn't fully believe you when we met, you know."

"You." I approached him with caution, trying not to get too close. "Listen, I'm here on important business. I'm not looking to cause trouble."

"Good. That's good." He pointed at the rest of the group, grabbing their things from the cart. "I hope they're not either. We've got something nice going here. We offer protection to the folk of this town, and we get paid in food, weapons and shelter."

"Giving up the side-of-the-road thief business?"

"Maybe." He shrugged. "Too many monsters gathering here lately anyway, not like there's much movement to take advantage of. Just don't start anything and you'll be fine."

He walked away into the town before the others had a chance to speak.

"You know him?" Lumina asked.

"Yeah, met him on the way to... You know. Pretty agreeable fellow when blades are involved."

"Right, whatever. Let's get this thing started, where should we-"

"Nuh-uh, not so fast!" Carver held her by the shoulder. "First we settle down. Let's get some rest, get acquainted with the people of the town, and then we can start with the questions."

"Sounds good, Carv." I gave her a thumbs up.

"Thank you, my lady." She replied, completely changing the tone of the conversation.

"Right. I'll go buy us some extra rations for the days we'll be staying." Robin took out a few coins and started to count. "Don't want to run through our travel supplies."

"Wait, a few days?" The disguised demoness sounded really surprised. "Just how long do you people take to ask a few questions?"

"You never know what might happen, Lumes. Now come on, let's get to know the people of the town." Carver beckoned her and started to walk.

"Don't call me that. And wait for me, gods damn it!" She ran after her, exasperated.

"We should get us some rooms at the local inn for the night!" Fate exclaimed. "Come on, Nay! If we're there first we get to pick the best room!" She held me by the arm and started running through the streets.

"You know this place?" I asked, trying to keep up with the overexcited alchemist.

"No! But all roads lead to an inn... Probably."

We ran for a little while, my attempts to get her to slow down failing every time. Eventually, we did come across a respectable establishment, proudly displaying a 'We got rooms!' sign right next to the front door. Fate finally stopped, we caught our breaths, and went inside. She did most of the talking, securing the two vacant rooms for the five of us. We went inside to drop off our luggage, finding it to be a nice resting spot after a few hours of travel.

"Finally I get to get out of these baggy travel clothes." Fate rummaged through her own luggage, looking for something to wear. "I hope you brought some spare clothes of your own!"

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"I sure did." I removed my armor carefully, storing it inside one of the travel bags. I then started to remove the simple clothes I wore underneath it.

"O-oh!" Fate blushed, turning her sight away. "Sorry, I'll turn around."

"Fate." I chuckled, going on to remove my underwear. "You've seen me naked already. I really don't mind."

"Right. I..." Her voice got a lot quieter. "I hope we still get to spend more time together like that night."

"We're definitely going to." I carefully turned her head around to kiss her, which immediately made her whimper. Once she saw the outfit I had picked for the day, her eyes widened.

"That's the dress I gifted you!"

"Sure is! I finally get the chance to wear it while we're out. Just something nice to walk around in and ask some questions."

I put on the dress and held out my arm for Fate to hold. She gladly did, and we walked out of the inn to finally start our mission. I scanned the crowd for someone who didn't look too busy, but found no one lounging nearby. The whole town seemed to be working hard, and we'd have to adjust to get what we needed.

"We need to find someone who might have seen her lackeys around." I thought outloud.

"Maybe that lady that she was possessing?"

"I thought about that too, but we'd have to find her first."

The next hour was spent looking for her, asking questions to passersby and shopkeepers. Some knew the woman, but couldn't tell us anything other than her first name, Mia. We decided to take a break and see if someone else had found anything. We trekked back to where Robin should be buying our supplies. Thankfully, that didn't take long.

"Hey, you two." The rabbit woman sifted through some large bags, organizing the contents inside. "Just sorting through the inventory. You get us a bed for the night?"

"Yeah, two rooms for the five of us. It was all we could get." We discussed the details of the rooms further, before asking about Mia.

"That name did come up once or twice. She's helping the town's security on patrols, should be back at night. We should find Carver and rest for the remainder of the day."

"That sounds good!" Fate sounded particularly happy. "Feel free to drop the supplies in the Inn! Here's the room key."

"Now to find Carv and Lumina."

We walked over to the local church, and found the two leaving through the front door. Our holy friend smiled and waved at us, walking with the disguised demon by her side. A very upset and confused looking demon, surprisingly.

"Hey, you find anything?" Carver asked.

"Yeah, Robin knows when that woman who got possessed is back in town. We should learn something from talking to her."

"That's good. We found out the local clerics have been sensing a constant demonic presence in the area, and it hasn't gotten any better yet."

"Are you doing alright?" Fate asked Lumina as she cautiously approached her.

"I'm fine." The demoness crossed her arms. "I just need time to think."

"Speaking of, can we talk in private for a second, Nay?" Carver completely shifted her cheery tone to one of worry.

"Sure, Carv. Hey, Fate, can you watch her for a little bit? We're going to be right back."

"Of course!" The alchemist proudly answered, before reminding herself of who our guest really was. "Oh, uh... We'll stay right here, d-don't worry!"

We left the group and went to a small, secluded area next to the church. Carver seemed nervous, looking from side to side and fiddling with her horns a bit too much. She tried to start talking a few times, but couldn't bring herself to speak. Finally, she decided to simply kiss me instead.

"Huh... I assume that's not the only reason you brought me here?"

"No, that was just to calm my nerves a bit. Thank you." Her tail happily swayed from side to side, and it looked like it had worked. "I just had to talk about me and... everything, I guess."

"I'm all ears." My ears twitched on top of my head, as if on cue.

"I just... Ugh, I feel so shitty! It's like, on the one hand going back home probably would mean having to deal with the consequences of being missing for... however long it's been there. But not going back means... Not going back! Losing everything I've ever known. And it's not that I don't like this place, but... Damn it, I miss the internet! I miss my video games! Fuck, I never got to finish Questing Fantasy Three or any of the books I got for my last birthday..." She took a deep breath and leaned herself against me. "I'm scared, Nay. Sometimes I feel like I don't fit, other times I feel like I've made my peace with being here... It's so confusing."

"I get it." I pet her head, gently stroking her horns in the process. "I think I've just finally accepted it, myself."

"So you're not going back?" Her voice was filled with grief and upset.

"I... I don't know. I don't think I could."

"Then I'm staying too. I love you too much, Naomi. I don't want to abandon you."

"Carv, if you something different from me, you have to-"

"No. I'm sticking with you, and that's that. I just have to... get over it, I guess. I need to get some rest on my own, I think."

I told her about her room and she left to drop off her armor and bags. I stared at nothing for a while, trying to come up with a way to help my partner, but decided to just give her space for the time being. Something would come to me as I worked, surely. I walked back over to Fate, who was excitedly monologuing to a very annoyed Lumina.

"And then," She said, making grand gestures with her arms. "with a blue scale, of course, you can turn that botched old thing into a fully functioning mana potion! Oh, and with a gree-"

"Finally, you're back. She's been going on and on about dragon scales this whole time. It's getting... grating."

"You should pay attention to that stuff." I thought of the most annoying thing I could say at that moment. "You never know when you'll need to use a red dragon's scale for a potion, but if you mix it incorrectly, you might get some explosive results."

Fate's eyes shimmered and she looked as though she was about to scream.

"What?! How do you- When did- Who in the world-"

"1001 uses for burnt dragon scales. I retained some of the information at least."

Lumina rolled her eyes and started to walk away in the direction of the Inn, muttering something to herself that I couldn't quite catch. I smiled, proud of my results, and started following her. Fate held onto my arm and hummed to herself. I was glad to see her so happy. We met back up with Robin and walked back to the town center.

It was a calm day, knowing we could simply wait until nighttime to continue our objective. There was plenty of time to talk, eat, read, and spend time together with my companions. Carver soon joined us, wearing a beautiful dress and getting flustered whenever anyone commented on it. Sometimes I would find myself at a lack for words, staring into their eyes as they spoke and listening to each of their voices. Lumina remained silent, though, and I started to wonder if something was wrong.

"Do you want to talk?" I asked her in a whisper while the others talked.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"If you say so. You're technically part of the team right now, so just... let me know."

"Whatever."

The day went on as normal until it started to get dark. The evening was still young, but we were all still tired from the trip. We decided to actually stay at our inn rooms while we waited, and so we finally went back. As we walked, Robin placed her hand on my shoulder, and I heard her unsheathe her blade.

"Training." She said with a grin. "Let's go somewhere private, shall we?" The words made me smile, and I gladly obliged.

"I was almost thinking you'd forgotten."

---

The sound of metal hitting metal was comforting. Deep in the woods, we danced with our blades and slashed at each other, making surface level cuts at every attack. It was nothing that could not be fixed with a simple potion of healing, and we took care not to cause actual damage.

She was far more defensive than before, mostly keeping to herself and attacking in bursts of fast paced, strong armed hits. She kept me on my feet, but could not muster the level of pressure she did in our first fight. She was obviously holding back, whether she intended to or not. I picked up the speed, hoping to end the fight early and call her out on it. It did not take long for me to disarm her.

"Good work." She said, picking her sword back up. "You've gotten better since-"

"Again."

"What?"

"Don't hold back this time, come on. You know I can handle it." She turned away from me as I spoke.

"I'm not holding back, I'm just..." She sighed. "I went too hard on you that first time, it was a mistake."

"I already said I forgave you."

"And I am pretty sure I said I would never forgive myself. Look, I'm-"

I interrupted her by slashing her blade away once more.

"Stop that." Her tone was somewhere between stern and annoyed. "I'm not going to-"

I repeated my taunt, looking her in the eyes the entire time. She stood still for a few moments, considering what to do next. She cracked her knuckles, went back to her fighting position and without a word charged at me again. On the second fight, she was much more aggressive, making it so I could barely keep up. It was all I wanted.

We continued to fight in silence for at least another half hour, and I could tell Robin was enjoying herself as much as I was. I was barely paying attention to my environment, trusting my instincts and reflexes to not trip and fall on every tree root and rock on the ground. Unfortunately all it took was one wrong movement, and I found myself pinned against a tree with a sword against my throat.

"You're forgetting your fundamentals." She said in between heavy breaths.

"Do all of our fights have to end with someone pinned against the wall or the floor?"

"It is the most fun way to end a battle after all." She let go of the sword and went in for a quick kiss, which I gladly reciprocated.

"Don't you ever try to go easy on me again, by the way."

"Fine, fine... It's getting dark, we should probably head back before we miss Mia's arrival."

We drank our healing potions and walked back to town, wiping sweat and blood off our skin and drinking the rest of the water in our waterskins. Time had gotten away from us, and I hoped we weren't too late to meet up with our witness. Regardless, I took the time to enjoy the silence of the woods before getting back to the still busy streets of the village.

After walking and traveling for the entire day, I hoped the rest of the day would go smoothly. My legs were already killing me.

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