[Story] Once upon a time in Kebre (DMFA-fic)(PG-13)

[ZacAttac21]

  WTFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Dammit Meany, please tell me you're not going to leave it hanging there for a while!

Did I mention that I really liked those two as a couple? Especially Domino? *flips table*

[Chairtastic]

Little peek behind the curtain: I liked them as a couple too.  Which is exactly why I did that.  Bwa ha ha.

And no, the next snip is 2k+ words at the time of this posting.  I am back into the headspace for this fic.

[Chairtastic]

Chapter 18: Questions

In a house where there was an... active couple, Hyden had to take preventative measures to get a good night's sleep.  Strong incense burning every night, he usually went with pine or maple scents to remind him of home - sandalwood no longer interfered with his powerful scent ability.  And to keep his ears from picking up anything, noise cancelling earmuffs did the trick.  Domino usually wasn't in town so he didn't have to use them, but he knew to break them out when Swoon started getting giddy - for it usually meant she'd gotten news of the former Captain's return.

So he found it decidedly unusual that when he woke up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break that when he stepped out of his room he was overcome with the smell of death and blood.  The need to pee forgotten, Hyden filled one of his hands with an orb of fire and moved around the house cautiously.  His nightvision wasn't as good as a normal Demon's so the added light from the spell actually helped a lot without letting possible intruders know someone was awake.

He got to the kitchen, and found it ransacked.  Drawers taken out, and cabinets emptied onto the floor.  In the living room, the television was gone, as were the photos on the wall - and the endtable Swoon had brought from her home when she moved in.  He passed by Evgenija's old room, still locked, and made his way to the master bedroom shared by the adults in the home.

The room was mostly empty,  everything of Swoon's was gone, as well as most of Domino's most valuable items.  Except... Domino himself.  The ferret was splayed out on the naked mattress of his bed with a clear hole in his chest.  Hyden processed what he'd seen and had to force himself to remain functional for a solid minute.  He remembered what his mother had told him when they'd found Seburr stabbed to death in the streets of Vecenstein.

"Push the feeling deep inside you and lock it up.  We have to keep moving and keep thinking right now, but we can cry about this later, alright sweetie?"

Hyden's fire orb had disbursed, so he worked up a spell of light, to examine... Domino's body.  The injury looked like someone had shoved their hand into his toso and yanked something out - but he didn't want to touch the body to find out what.  The ferret's bronze eye was missing, and his remaining eye was wide open, with evidence he'd been crying.  Domino's strange ninja-pyjamas had absorbed a lot of the blood from his injury, but Hyden could smell more in the body drying out.

There was no sign of Swoon anywhere - he couldn't even smell her perfume.  The clear line of analysis said that... she was responsible for Domino being dead, and the house messed up.  She was an Angel, and easily over six hundred years old, it wouldn't be difficult for her to do... but why?  Domino loved her, and she loved him from everything she'd seen.  What he'd learned of Angels were that they coveted power, and as the oldest son of Ti'baltr's current king, Domino would have been a really good match for her.  Even though he'd never likely be king himself - it was done through election, strangely.

Hyden's senses were barely above a Being's, but he could pick up on the minute shift in temperature from a window or door opening.  The heat from outside rushed to fill the void from the air conditioned interior.  He nixed the light spell and gathered heat in his hands.  Fire would give him away, and he wasn't strong enough to hurt most Creatures, but turning his claws into heated blades would give him some cutting power.  The floor of the house was relatively new, so there was no creaking that he could hear as he left Domino's body in pursuit of the intruder.

There were three of them, all white-furred feline Demon women, with black hair and dresses.  They stood shoulder to shoulder, with their leathery black wings blocking out the kitchen behind them as they eyed him through the dark.

"Was it you?"  Hyden, already discovered, let the heat in his hands become fire as he advanced into the living room.  "Did you three do it?"  The three looked from Hyden, to the room in which Domino lay, then back to the ram.  Without a word they shook their heads no.  "How can I believe you?"

"We work for the Ti'baltr Trading Company," the centermost Demon cat said while she produced a leather wallet from her cleavage, and flipped it open to reveal a carved wooden shield with the TTC logo emblazoned on it.  The other two did the same, but had more sensible carrying areas.  He started to look between them, to get more details on who was whom.  The center one who had spoke had her hair long, to the point Hyden wondered how she fought without it getting snagged.  Her long black gown was clearly not meant for combat, as it fanned out behind her and extended almost to the kitchen door from her place at the living room transition.  "I am Phoebe."

"Luna," introduced the one on the left.  Her dress was similarly not conducive to a fight, but hugged her form more, and seemed to be made of leather.  She had a predatory expression that Hyden's mother would have approved.

"Selene," the last informed.  She was the only one to go without makeup, or to wear trousers.  Her outfit was a pantsuit.  "We've been ordered to be your bodyguards until Director Donya can come with your legal representative."

"You're with the department of conflict?"  Hyden's question got a nod from the three of them as they broke their ranks to move about the house.  Phoebe went to the window and kept watch, Luna walked right up to Hyden while ignoring his fire-hands to examine him, and Selene went deeper into the house.  "H-hey, I need more details here and- mind where you put your hands lady!"  Politeness didn't seem to apply when his hands were covered in magical fire, which Hyden demonstrated to the Demon cat.  She actually chuckled at him.

"Two thousand adventurers are en route to this location, investigating your parran's souldeath," Luna told him like it was a joke for him to laugh at.  He froze in horror, and the fire around his hands went out.  With the apparent threat gone, she went back to inspecting him.  "The director doesn't want them doing as adventurers tend to do when this happens: killing every creature in three miles."

"Soul... death?"  Selene came back onto the scene with a suitcase - Hyden's suitcase, he realized, and forcibly shoved Luna away from the teenage demon.

"Both the Adventurer's Guild and the royal family have aura detections set up to pick up where people are, what their status is, and if they're alive," Luna told him, in the same professional tone he'd heard teachers explaining bad news to parents in school.  "The royal family's methods indicated soul death, which necessitates armed guards be dispatched to all members of the royal family, including you."

Hyden's expression went slack as he tried to process the elder Demon's words.  The pressure from suppressing the grief around Domino didn't help measures, and he almost lost control.  The young demon buried his face in his hands and blindly walked back to the couch, which he fell backward onto.  "This is too much, I- I can't.  I can't deal with this madness right now."  His breathing was shaky, from the suppressed urge to cry.

"Geeze," he heard Luna mutter.  "Kid acts like a Being- ow!"  The vivacious cat Demon was cut off by a full on slap from Luna, he could tell from the way the sensibly-dressed Demon's shoes twisted on the wood floor.

"There is no more time for questioning," Phoebe declared with a dramatic flair as she entered the room.  "The mob is here.  Take your positions."

--

Dread made Evgenija's feet heavy as they walked the long road from Ti'baltr to Domino's house.  It was only the feel of hundreds of minds behind her that kept her moving forward.  There was no time to coordinate with Zoos or Aina on how to handle the situation.  Hyden was a half-demon, more than three quarters of the Adventurers in the mob would consider that enough of a reason to kill him.  He was also a foreigner, citizen or no.  Tribalism would be a factor they'd have to play around.

Things didn't get any better when they diverted off the road to split up and surround the house.  Inside she could clearly sense three people she'd never met, all surrounding Hyden.  Had it become a hostage situation?  Evgenija and other sneaks in the mob were instructed by Arran to go in first while swordsmen and support casters got in position.

As she made her advance, fading partially out of the physical world as sneaking up on Creatures required, she felt herself pass through some barrier that had not been there before.  A glance back let her know it had repelled the sneaks that had come with her.  Once that had been revealed, the magical artillery began to fire off.  The house was surrounded by a translucent bubble that appeared whenever a spell struck it - devastating the local sandalwood forest with explosions, ice, and other elements that were deflected off.

On her own, she made her way into the house.  The shadows were her ally, letting her pass in and out of the physical world at will.  In the living room there were three Demons - all women, all feline, all surrounding Hyden who was in a fetal position on the couch.  There seemed to be no force restraining him.  If she could just get in close enough... a cloud passed over the moon, darkening the room, and giving her the shadows she needed.

However one of the Demons was able to reach into the shadows, and knock Evgenija back.  She skidded on the floor from being forced back into real space, and fanned her wings in a threat display.

"We are with the Ti'baltr Trading Company's department of conflict," the evident leader of the group, in a dress that could have been lovely if it had not been so low on her chest.  "We are acting as bodyguards for this claimant to the royal family until his legal representative is present."

"I am Evgenija Morozova," the lammergeier informed the Demons, producing knives between her fingers.  "Adventurer commander to Domino Ti'balt.  You are in the house of my murdered friend, and are keeping his foster son captive.  Claims to official authority requires further evidence."

The three Demon women consulted each other and looked back at Hyden briefly.  Evgenija looked too, and picked up on subtle shoulder movements - the boy was crying.  He was older than Evgenija had been when she'd lost her mother, but the inability to grieve that loss had cost her dearly, so she couldn't begrudge Hyden's emotions.  Even if they made him a load to be carried in the present situation.

"Very well.  We will keep your mob from doing harm to the claimant, but the barrier protecting the house will be dropped so you can investigate the scene of the murder.  There will be no questioning of the claimant until his legal representative is present."  The woman spread her arms and made a questioning expression, clearly seeking approval from Evgenija. 

The knives between her fingers were returned from whence they came, and she slowly walked backward out of the house.  Her eyes never left the trio, as she opened the door and walked outside blindly.

The magical bombardment ceased as she approached, and Arran came up to the barrier to hear her speak.  The Guild Master decided that the bulk of the mob would start fanning out to seek out local Creatures for questioning, and an investigative team would be sent in with Evgenija's squad to check the house.  Anti-Demon snipers were ordered to look for firing lines in the surviving trees, with orders to go for kill-shots on all four Demons should something happen.

Arran himself would verify the women's identities for the mob, and verify the 'legal representative's' authentication when they arrived.

"Yelmo," Evgenija spoke in her 'order' voice.  "You will be the sniper in charge of taking out Hyden if it become necessary."  The dog paused for a second before he went red in the face.

"Now you listen here-!"  His tirade was stopped short by Evgenija glaring at him.

"You know Demons well enough to know how to take down a weak half-breed with no trouble.  And you care about the boy enough to give him a chance.  He's not handling this well at all and could snap at someone.  I refuse to have anyone without empathy making kill decisions for him."  The last sentence was directed at Arran, and she held his gaze, as if to dare him into countermanding her.  Instead, the kangaroo nodded.

Zoos, only slightly less red in the face snarled a bit before heading off for the treeline.  The lammergeier turned her gaze to Aina.  The swan phoenix had glazed over eyes, and her broom-staff was held loosely in her hands.  Domino and her had some past business that they'd never been willing to discuss, and clearly the news had not set well with her.

"Aina...."  The swan looked in Evgenija general direction, not directly at her.  "You don't have to go in if you don't want to."

"I know."  Aina's voice was raspy, like she had gone without water too long.  "But I need to see... the body.  I don't think I'll believe it until I see it's really him."

With nothing left to say, Evgenija led the ten adventurers left into the house.  Aina went with the investigators to search the house, while Evgenija and Arran went directly to the Demons in the living room.

"Luna, Phoebe, Selene," Arran greeted the three stranger Demons stiffly, and they in turn acknowledged him in their own way.  The leader of the three tilted her head back, the trouser-wearing hussy smiled at the kangaroo, and the plain-looking one waved.  "To verify you three aren't shapeshifted, what did we do on the Lonely Island that required an emergency room visit?"

"Marlyn, the king's niece, threw a molotov cocktail at the king's son and badly burned him."  All three of them answered together, and the answer made her glance at Arran in surprise.  A wave of grief and despair washed over Evgenija all of a sudden, and almost forced her to cry from the intensity.  But after years of dealing with tragedy, she adapted and overcame it quickly.  From her guess, Aina had found Domino's remains.

"Why are the king's guards here?  The king's son is dead, and needs no protection now."

The leader, 'Phoebe', gestured with her wide sleeves to Hyden behind her.  "This one is a candidate for Mikhail's bloodline.  Our orders are to treat him as an extension of the royal family in times of crisis until it is disproven or verified."

"That good-for-nothing runt?"  A knife was in Evgenija's hand before she realized she was about to stab her Guild Master in the throat.  She bit down on the instinct and put the blade away.  Hyden would soon be a man, and he could defend himself.  No matter how badly Evgenija wished to do it for him.

"We got hairs," one of the investigators called from the master bedroom.  "Doing a scan now."  Evgenija looked through the window, and confirmed Zoos' presence in the trees before leaving the living room to go to the scene.

She felt like she had been stabbed in the stomach when she saw Domino, laid out on the mattress, a massive hole in his chest.  Aina was staring at the body, bawling without a word while the investigative team worked around her.  But there was something... wrong with the situation.  It was like before her vision had been clouded, and she began to piece together the scene.  All of the property owned by Swoon was missing, along with Domino's valuables.

She quickly patrolled the house and discovered the only rooms not torn up for their most valuable objects to be Hyden's... and hers.  Domino had always respected her privacy, and for that she respected him more than any Ti'baltic man deserved.  The ferret had let her put a lock on her door, and never asked for a copy of the key, even when she moved out.  'You will always have a place here, if you need it', he had said.

So she fished her keychain out of her hidden purse, and found the key to her room.  Evgenija had expected something malevolent or damning to be hidden in her room, it seemed so obvious a place where Swoon's body could have been stored by a shapeshifter without fear of discovery.  But no, there was just a layer of dust on the furniture.

Without more leads until the hairs that had been discovered were scanned, she left the door open for the investigative team and returned to the living room.  As she passed the master bedroom again, she stopped to look at the corpse of her friend.  The circumstantial evidence pointed to Swoon or Hyden being the murderer, but Hyden wasn't stupid enough to remain.  And... for all she had been able to sense from the Angel woman, she had genuinely loved Domino.

Who could do such a thing to someone they loved?

---
To remind folks who might not have photographic memories, Aina was being financially supported by Domino because both she and her husband were in Breach of Contract - a legal status where their reputation was basically worthless, and few companies or employers would agree to do business/employ them. 

[ZacAttac21]

Welp, apparently I don't have a photographic memory.

Anyway, any chance Hyden is actually an incubus?

[Chairtastic]

You might not remember, but back when Dosve was first introduced, he hinted at something in Hyden's bloodwork that would destroy the boy if he found out.

I like me some Cubi, but does him being a juvenile incubus seem the sort of world-shattering thing for Hyden?

[ZacAttac21]

You might not remember, but back when Dosve was first introduced, he hinted at something in Hyden's bloodwork that would destroy the boy if he found out.

I like me some Cubi, but does him being a juvenile incubus seem the sort of world-shattering thing for Hyden?

Yeah, I remember that. The way I read it, I figured the thing that would "destroy" him could be to find out that his father isn't who he thinks it is...

[Tapewolf]

Did I mention that I really liked those two as a couple? Especially Domino? *flips table*

Yeah, losing him does take something big out of the story.  Still, what's done is done.

[Chairtastic]

Here we have our first major action set-piece of the story!

---
Chapter 19: Smackdown

"Make way, make way!  Lawyer coming through."  Hyden flicked an ear toward the new voice he heard enter the kitchen, but didn't move from his position curled up on the couch.  One of the good parts of being a demon was that he got over the weepy bits of being sad quickly.  But the depressive part, that made the whole world seem awful so why bother doing anything didn't go by so easy.

The new voice was high-pitched, squeaky, and accompanied by a buzzing sound.  When he turned his head enough to look out on the scene, he saw Mr. Donya walking in the living room, accompanied by a blue-white glowing... person?  They eminated so much light, and were so small he couldn't discern features well, but he could tell they were bipedal, had two arms and a head, but also tiny insect wings flapping furiously to allow them to hover.  As they moved, quick as a bird, a trail of blue-white sparkles hung in the air behind them momentarily.

"Hyden Bloodstone, I'm Bellblossom, your company-provided lawyer," said the... Mythos he presumed as it landed on his nose.  Bellblossom weighed next to nothing, he noticed.  "The adventurers hear haven't hurt you or caused you emotional distress have they?"

"No."  Hyden's voice was croaky from his previous fit of crying.  He didn't want to shake his head and risk tossing Bellblossom.  There was a tiny snapping sound and a bubble formed around the two of them.

"There, now no one outside can hear or see in here.  This is as close to a private place to talk as we can get."  Hyden looked out on the scene, Mr. Donya was talking to Evgenija about something, before he stepped aside for one of the adventurers examining Domino's room to talk to the kangaroo guy.  "Now... this is going to be unpleasant.  But I'm your legal representative, what you say to me is confidential, and I will do my best to see you free no matter what.  Did you do this?"

He wanted to be mad about the accusation, he wanted to be able to go into a tirade about it.  But in the back of his mind he realized how this had to look.  A demon not detecting someone in his home being murdered until after it'd happened?  "No," he answered.  "I... couldn't have done it.  Domino died from having his chest bust into and something yanked out.  I can't break bones that easy."

Bellblossom's figure tilted their head and put their hands on their hips, as if to convey disbelief.  But Hyden didn't change his reasoning, so they shrugged and burst the bubble.  "Alright, I can work with that."

Bellblossom floated up and started rapid-fire talking at the kangaroo guy, not talking to, talking at.  The increasing sour expression on the man's face did nothing from dissuading them from keeping up the talking, so fast that Hyden couldn't really pick up on what was being said.

"Does this house have an attic?"  He heard a mouse adventurer ask Evgenija after coming back from the region of Hyden's room.

"No, I'm told the old attic was taken apart to give the kitchen and living room higher ceilings," responded Evgenija.  She barely looked at anyone, keeping her back perfectly straight and her expressions neutral.  But Hyden could tell from the way her breathing was just a tad too fast for someone wearing a corset that she was forcing herself to remain that way.

"There's a storm cellar."  All eyes turned to Hyden as he started standing up.  "Swoon demanded it be added after hurricane Nogu.  It's at the other end of the clearing - inside the shed where the lawnmower is."  Evgenija and two other adventurers left the house quickly.

The three cat Demons still stood around Hyden, not letting anyone else draw close.  Hyden tried to get around them, but found it difficult when they seemed to be able to coordinate to keep up a roughly triangular formation around his movements.

"Ladies," Mr. Donya spoke up, having one hand in a thinker position under his chin while supporting it with the other.  "I think you're going to be needed outside."  Without a word, the felines broke formation and walked in locked step out of the room.

"They told me Domino's soul was-"  Mr. Donya cut him off as he approached the snow leopard.

"I'll answer any questions I can, when your legal representative is done using their words to grind the Guild Master into powder, and the situation outside is resolved."  Hyden glanced at th kangaroo, looking like he had swallowed a glass of pure lemon juice while Bellblossom talked, quoting legalise Hyden guessed.

"Wait, a commotion?"  As if on cue, an explosion sounded outside, shattering the windows and sending glass from the sliding doors, and metal debris from the shed flying inward.  However, a second later, Hyden noticed one of Mr. Donya's wings had enlarged to cover the entire transition from kitchen to living room, protecting all parties from the shrapnel.  As soon as the incubus' wing shrunk down again, the kangaroo guy rushed outside with his axe ready.

"Arrogant little girl," Mr. Donya criticised while Hyden watched Evegenija, the feline demons, and the adventurers all move around in the dust cloud from the fight.  "Lingering because she wanted to summon a warp aci to move all her plunder."

"Aren't you going to help them?"  Mr. Donya looked down at Hyden with an arched brow and a thin-lipped expression.

"I would - and maybe my decades out of practice fighting would turn the tide out there.  But my priority is keeping you safe in here."  Hyden tried to rush past him when he saw a winged figure in the dust send Evgenija flying off with a punch.  Instead, he was lifted physically off the ground with one of Mr. Donya's tentacles wrapped around his waist.

"Let me go, they need help!" Bellblossom floated into his view and once more rested on his nose.

"As your legal representative, I have to advise you to let the professional combat Demons, and Adventurers take down the monster out there."

"Unfortunately," Mr. Donya actually growled.  "Because she's going to get away, it doesn't look like it'll matter."  Hearing this, Hyden tried to struggle free, but the thinly feathered tentacle held him fast without giving an inch.

Outside, she heard cackling along with the kangaroo guy who had called him a 'runt' calling for a reinforcements.  One of the Demon cats, Luna, was physically thrown through the house, necessitating Mr. Donya moving Hyden out of the way while she flew out through the living room wall.

"Fighting style is reminiscent of the Academy advanced combat course, no tentacle-heads, and... ah, I see the clan mark."  Hyden couldn't see anything outside from the dust of the explosion, and the ash from the magic bombardment had stayed in the air unnaturally long.  "Hrienth clan.  The Guild has a flee on sight order for those Cubi.  But they didn't notice it in time, anyway."

"Cubi?  They're fighting a Cubi out there?"  Bellblossom fluttered around, trying to get a good look.  "That's going to complicate the case exponentially." 

"And getting absolutely demolished from the looks of it."  A strong wind thinned the mist enough for Hyden to see two figures, both with tentacles coming out of their backs clashing repeatedly.  "Ms. Morozova has called on her clan's powers to even the field, but when the reinforcements Arran's called show up the girl will just 'port out of here."

"Then let me go, and you can go help them!"  Hyden frantically clawed at Mr. Donya's tentacle as he watched the figure in a flowing dress, he guessed Evgenija take a spinning kick to the spine and go sailing off.

"Alright, this place has gotten entirely too dangerous already."  Quickly, Hyden found Mr. Donya forcing the suitcase Selene had made for him into his hands.  "Bellblossom, sweetie, my card."  Hyden's lawyer enveloped him in another bubble, and held up a business card almost as big as their body.  In a flash of orange-gold light, they were gone.

--

The fight was not going well, Evgenija realized as she had to roll out of the way of Arran's axe, and the man's arm, were tossed at her prone position.  She had always read that Cubi were weak at fighting because of their powers, and their emotional instability.  It was why she prioritized control, even as she felt the delicious, juicy fear all around her putting strength back in her limbs, and the pulse-pounding power of Kish'Ta running through her like an electric current.

But the succubus that had emerged from the storm cellar had just defeated an Adventuring Guild Master, and three bodyguard Demons.  The succubus, a lime green lynx in a form-fitting blue dress, seemed to have absolutely no trouble keeping anyone save Evgenija from being able to engage her for more than a minute's time.

Her blades had been useless, so the lammergeier produced a tomahawk in each hand and rushed the murderess, sinking into her own shadow to gain speed and attack from below.  When she lunged up, the feline succubus blocked both chopping axes with her tentacles - which actually shed some of the vile beast's blood.  At last, something to indicate she was not invincible.

But with her tentacles occupying Evgenija, her hands were free to work magic, and a second later the Adventurer Succubus found a spear of ice lodged in her liver.  Following her tutor's advice, she backed off the fight, to take mass away from her own wings to fill the gap around the spear and prevent bloodloss.

The sorceress Demon was the only combatant left, Phoebe Evgenija believed her to be.  The Demon woman threw out spells of healing onto the downed Adventurers and Evgenija herself, while keeping the succubus from being free to move around with suppressing fire.

With a terrible roar, another combatant entered the fray.  A massive taur Creature, reptilian in appearance with skin in many shades of blue, a thick and powerful tail covered in spikes, three eyes, and teeth longer than Evgenija's fingers lept clear from the house all across the clearing to descend on the succubus like death from above.

As it fell, Evgenija noticed an orange symbol at the base of its throat, like a long-shafted hammer bent into a circle around a dot.  The succubus somehow managed to shove the unknown species of Mythos off her, though with a terrible shoulder wound from its teeth.

A profound crack split the air, and a mote of purple light sailed through the air, one of Zoos' magic shots, and found its purchase in the bite wound left by the mythos.  The two injuries combined to result in the succubus' arm falling away from the main body.

Evgenija and the Mythos both advanced on the succubus rapidly, even as she started to fade away.  A teleportation spell, Evgenija dimly realized and threw her tomahawk to attempt a killing blow.  The succubus seemed to smirk at the lammergeier as she became insubstantial enough for it to pass through, and vanish altogether.

The Mythos landed in the spot she had occupied, shattering the ground with its weight.  "Phoebe," it ground out in a voice she recognized.  The snow leopard incubus who had been inside.  "You got her face and clan mark spot memorized?"

"Yes sir," the Demon responded, dedicating her healing powers on keeping Arran and an investigative Adventurerer alive.

"Then we add her to the list of bounties.  Your guild," the Mythos pointed at Evgenija with a hand that had only two fingers and no thumbs, "has exclusive scrying rights to that arm for three months since it was Yelmo who took it off her.  After that, we alternate scrying attempts."  Evgenija nodded, feeling her injuries more and more as Kish'Ta's power faded from her system.

Over the course of ten seconds, the Mythos reduced itself back into the suit-wearing blue and orange snow leopard she associated with Domino's 'uncle'.  "All in all," the leopard seemed... peppy, "not a bad ending for a fight that was way, way out of your league."

She wasn't proud to admit that the only reason she didn't throw her other tomahawk at him was because the pain from the ice spear made it hard to move without Kish'Ta's power.

[ZacAttac21]

Ah, I was wondering if you would ever introduce a Piflak character. Which is his true form, the snow leopard or the mythos?

BTW, sweet fight scene.

[Chairtastic]

Dosve is a recurring character of mine in DMFA content, primarily from the Ballroom.  He primarily takes the forms of felines from arctic or subarctic climates.  Some details will come to light in the story itself, but if you guys have questions about Dosve, or the rest of the cast, then I can do some Questions from the Readers things even if I can't draw them out.

[Chairtastic]

An entire chapter from Dosve's perspective.  What a twist!


Chapter 20: Emotions

The house was a complete loss.  The explosion had damaged the foundations, and Luna being thrown through it had snapped two vital supports.  Dosve was able to support the roof while Ms. Kynaston and Domino's remains were recovered, but afterward the building lasted less than a minute on its own.  A lovely little family home, which had been in the Ti'balt family for seven hundred years, destroyed in an afternoon.

But it was a building, it could be replaced.  The same could not be said for people.  And once the healers from Arran's adventurer mob showed up, it was firmly decided that the Swoon impersonator would claim no other lives from her escapade.  He called her an impersonator, but until he checked the citizen registry, he wouldn't be certain if there had ever been a real Swoon to impersonate.

Phoebe had been able to collect enough of the succubus' blood to fill a vial for him, which he thanked her for.  Even without the arm, the carefully preserved visceral liquid would give Dosve all he needed to make her suffer.

Taking on the Blue Volcano Mythos form had been his only real combat option at the time - he had no puppets to command to fight on his behalf, and raising Domino's body would not have been effective.  Perhaps Aliph had been right - he'd been growing too rusty that he no longer carried weapons nor could take down a single opponent with the number advantage.

Taking a course from Taun's daughter at the Academy was in order.  Such a thing would be as good as a war for getting his edge back.  But that would be for the future, there was the present still to deal with.

"I trust you remember the way to my house?"  Dosve loomed over Ms. Morozova while she was being tended to by healers.  She said nothing, but nodded.  "That is where I sent Hyden, my staff will see to his needs while this mess is cleared up."  He looked up and examined the scene.  Adventurers had gathered around Domino's remains to pay respects, while Aina stayed in proximity.  Mr. Yelmo was making his way over as well.

That just left the matter of the storm cellar.

Perhaps he should have been worried with how many adventurers there were at the scene, but he was a son of Piflak - he would act as if he had every right to be there and none of them would challenge him on the issue or face the consequences.

The storm cellar hadn't actually been the epicenter of the explosion - the Hrienth woman had launched a powerful explosion spell from the cellar's stairs and it impacted the roof of the shed. Placing a storm cellar in a shed was an awful idea, Dosve realized as he made his way down the stairs.  Too easy for a hurricane to knock the structure down and leave the people inside trapped.

In the cellar, sure enough, was the missing property from Domino's house, along with evidence of an incomplete summoning ritual.  The explosion had smashed most of the delicate things, but large pieces had survived.  He found Domino's eye, and a box with a heart on the decoration, but with nothing inside.  Perhaps the girl had taken it with her.

Irrelevant.  Something of hers was needed, to pair with the blood.  And in a situation where it wasn't known how long she'd been in disguise, there was really only one option: hairbrush.  Domino had given 'Swoon' his grandmother's hairbrush, carved out of ebony, inlaid with ivory in a scene of fair Nanbi brushing her hair, and just the right level of gaudiness in Dosve's opinion.

"Blue hair, blue hair, blue hair... aha."  The great thing about people with such bright hair colors was that against dark colors, such as ebony, they stood out.  Three strands of blue hair he extracted from the hairbrush.  And all that was needed was to go home and make a poppet to enact vengeance on the girl while Adventurers hunted her down.  Without putting thought into really trying, Dosve began to slip between space, moving from the cellar to his home not terribly far away.

As he manifested in the cellar of his home, his staff descended on him.  Providing a change of clothes so that the suit could be cleaned of blood and debris, providing materials to begin making the poppet, and informing him of the status updates he'd missed while gone.

"The operation in Port Kolma is a success, peace talks are significantly less likely."

"The Hatchet Job, Antiquity, and Vernacular are in position to keep the merchant fleet safe when making runs between Ti'baltr and Port Kolma."

"Your mother sends you a happy birthday message and has made an appointment for lunch with you."

"The young man you sent is having an emotional breakdown in the backup office."

"Given how weak he is, if he were seven years older I'd wonder if he was going to sprout headwings," Dosve muttered while bending down so a maid could adjust his tie.  His hands were occupied with a colorless stuffed doll in a rough approximation of a lynx succubus with the stomach open.  He wrapped the hairs around the vial of blood Phoebe had given him, and inserted it into the poppet's stomach before sewing it shut.

While he and his entourage made their way upstairs, the poppet began to color itself.  Green and blue like the succubus had been, with the purple moon of Hrienth on the sole of her foot.  A butler handed him a fork, which he began to stab into the doll's torso repeatedly.  Each thrust released a pulse of sympathetic magic, and Dosve grinned from the effect.  Fork stabs, while minor, would still hurt.  And without sinew, all he could do was hurt.

The sun was just about to start rising, so there was plenty of time before he had lunch with his mother, thus Dosve went into the backup office where Hyden lay among a pile of once-luxurious rubble.  With some orange-gold dust falling from Dosve's hands as he passed, the furnishings of the room repaired themselves.  The snow leopard sat behind his desk, and enjoyed stabbing the succubus doll some more while Hyden continued to lay, insensate.

"She ended up getting away.  But with Adventurers chasing her, and my magic keeping her from being able to relax, odds are she'll be caught sooner rather than later."  The boy had done as adventurers would, bury the pain to keep functional.  But from what he could piece together from snippets of emotion coming from the boy, there was just so much that he couldn't manage it.  The young demon's thoughts were drifting between images of Domino's body, a stag Being bleeding out in... Vecenstein?  The stonework reminded Dosve of the far north.  "I'm sorry, but we can't have him made into an undead.  He's had a grave reserved for him in the Adventurer's graveyard for a while now."

"... Not the Company's?"  After several minutes of nothing but Dosve stabbing the poppet and relishing in the magic pulses that transmitted sensation to the witch responsible for the situation, Hyden spoke up.  Slowly, the ram managed to sit up and move to one of the leather and ebony chairs he'd previously destroyed.

Dosve, in hindsight, realized how terrible the boy's fit had to have been to push his strength far enough to break ebony wood.  "No.  After the Harridan was sunk, some of the family's crew filed complaints against Domino having a reserved grave next to their loved ones.  He relinquished the spot rather than fight parents, wives, and husbands."

"But it wasn't his fault the Harridan sunk."  The snow leopard nodded appreciatively at the growing rage in the boy's demeanor as he gained information.  It revealed so many red buttons he could push to lead the boy around.

"Unfortunately, as far as they were concerned, it was.  The ones responsible for the attack were rounded up and... dealt with, but that didn't matter to the families."  Anger and confusion enough to keep a Cubi well fed radiated off him, which Dosve took as a question - the boy was too busy trying to wrap his mind around the situation to speak.  "The Harridan had been a cursed ship.  She was largely seen as a punishment posting, and that's what it had been intended when Domino was assigned there.  But he went to his friends and allies in the merchant, enforcement, and resource acquisition fleets to get a crew of spirited, happy, and most importantly, willing people."  The stabbing of the poppet was set aside to give Hyden Dosve's full attention.  "There was no one on that ship that had not been asked to serve aboard.  Some gave up promotions, Ms. Canora - the first mate - gave up a command of her own.  But it was Domino that put them there to die when the attack came."

"So they blamed him... because of that?"  The incubus nodded, noting how already the anger had congealed into bitterness.

"Mhm.  People, especially Beings, tend to get vindictive and unreasonable when their loved ones are killed."  Hyden looked down, and his thoughts began to swirl in a tumult so dense Dosve could not pick out much information - so he went back to stabbing the poppet with the fork.  "You had questions about his death, if I recall?"

"Was it Swoon that did it?"  Dosve noticed that Hyden had started to grip the ebony arm of his seat with sufficient strength to make it groan from the strain.  Impressive for a 'good-for-nothing runt'.

"We don't know yet.  The department of voices is checking their records to see if an Angel named Swoon ever really existed in our system, or if the succubus had been her the whole time."  That the witch hadn't been able to escape Dosve's poppet magic yet meant she hadn't gone to the Academy.  Perhaps she genuinely had been pregnant, and thus couldn't take refuge there.

"The... bodyguards, they said Domino's soul was destroyed?"  Existential fear washed over Dosve like a wave, originating from the ram demon.  When Dosve looked at him, in that same chair in the same room, feeling the same fear, he briefly saw a young ferret who had come to him crying that his father was going to kill him.  Dosve still hadn't forgiven Dylan for implying such things to young Domino - mutations or no.

He took a deep breath and set the poppet aside in a desk drawer.  "Yes, the succubus did consume Domino's soul, but... Really it's only a more parasitic way of killing."  Thin lines of disbelief began to break up the wave of fear eminating from Hyden, who slowly looked up at Dosve.  "The belief in an afterlife was largely spread by several Creatures to keep their weaker subjects in line, along with making certain crimes artificially worsened in severity by making soul destruction a punishment.  Really, a soul is little more than an energy field that contains some information about the person's life."

"How do you know that?"  Dosve snapped his fingers and produced a improbably thick tome - with a dark blue symbol of a crescent moon and bizarre circle close together with a pair of dots at their middle.

"I read Zezzuva's book on the subject is how."  He held up the tome for Hyden to grab.  "The book's enchanted to change to whatever language you know the best, so aside from how technical it is, you should be able to follow it."

"Thanks."  Hyden opened up to the first page of the forward, and after only a few seconds he snapped the book closed and looked at Dosve with doubt.  "I don't know what half of those words mean."

"You need to invest in a dictionary then, my boy.  Any other questions?"  Discomfort added onto the layers of emotions Hyden was giving off, and Dosve could pick up the word 'claimant' from his surface thoughts.  'Note to self,' Dosve thought while waiting for Hyden to spit it out, 'find out who told them to spill the secret.'

"Um.  The bodyguards are for people of the royal family, right?  So why'd they come to me?"  The ram's gaze quickly darted from Dosve, to the portrait of Dosve's mother over the fireplace, and the book, the boy was unable to sustain his gaze.

Dosve took a deep breath and clicked his tongue against his teeth.  "Well.  Domino didn't want you told until you were in your mid twenties - something about the age of adulthood in Vecenstein, I think.  But... we are ninety-five percent certain you are in fact descended from Mikhail through your grandmother.  That's why Isarra kidnapped you when she found out."  Hyden found himself able to look at Dosve directly again, before the ram let out a forced laugh.

"That's... not a very good joke, sir."

"I'm not joking."  All humor and mirth vanished from Dosve's face and his voice.  "Over the three years you've been here, you've been inspected to find if you're blood descended, and if you'd be a right fit.  As your cousins, and younger siblings have been arriving in steady numbers, we're not short on applicants.  Yes, at least your mother and cousin Auriga are alive as far as we know - they've been sending their children to live with you but you weren't exactly in a place to take care of them."  Once more rage and disbelief came to the forefront of Hyden's emotional spectrum, and for once the boy almost looked like a Demon as he began to snarl.  "They have each been placed with foster families who are loving them every second of every day - we made sure of that."

"Who's 'we'?"  Hyden had stood, operating mostly on the instinct of 'intimidate answers out of the weak Cubi'.  But Dosve stood up as well, and reminded Hyden how much larger the snow leopard was.

"Domino and I.  Because the children came from an active war zone, they fell under the department of conflict as refugees rather than immigrants."  Dosve sighed when he saw that the boy was too incensed to really be thinking about what was being said.  "Please understand that I do understand... but I'm afraid that at no point in the situation was I required to inform you.  You were having fun, doing schoolwork, setting up for a career, taking care of your younger family members would have been impossible."

"What about Asir?"  The question actually caused Dosve to blink in confusion.  "My other cousin who's here.  He has a job, he's trying to become a citizen cause he's related to me.  Did you tell him?"

"... I have no idea who this 'Asir' is, but if he's from Vecenstein too he should have been directed to me as a refugee, not an immigrant.  If he does have a job and is amenable, yes I would contact him about taking care of a niece or nephew.  If they weren't already placed in homes."  Dosve pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing the absolute hissy fit Florine was going to throw when he brought the subject up.  Admitting the information seemed to trip Hyden up, stopping his growing temper tantrum in its tracks.  "... Would you like to meet them?  Your younger sister and brothers?  I could set up a meeting with their foster families."

For a moment, Hyden seemed to forget Domino's death - as was expected of Demons, and focused on the family his instincts told him to prioritize.  Drained of energy, the teen flopped backward into the chair.  Dosve sat as well, the conflict resolved.  "After... after the funeral.  If that's okay?"

"That's fine.  Would you like to rest?"  Hyden's emotions had dulled into general numbness, he'd been feeling too much too fast, but he nodded mechanically.  Dosve rang for a maid to show the boy to a guest room, and when the boy was gone picked up the phone to make the most important call of the day.  "Hello, Mother.  You would not believe the day I've had so far...."

Seven months remain.

[Tapewolf]

It's interesting to note that Zezzuva's letter describes soul mechanics only so far as she understands it, it's not the absolute truth.  She takes a very atheistic world view and does not believe in an afterlife, but that does not mean she is necessarily correct.

[Chairtastic]

You are correct.  And in the canon of this story, there are several religions that posit these beliefs.  The closest thing to definitive proof of such are Fae - who we know can bring the dead back to life with no problem... for their friends.  Given the nature of the story DMFA is telling, I don't know if a definitive answer will ever be known.  The goobers in this story certainly won't find out the nice way, at least.

[Tapewolf]

You are correct.  And in the canon of this story, there are several religions that posit these beliefs.  The closest thing to definitive proof of such are Fae - who we know can bring the dead back to life with no problem... for their friends.

Yeah, I was just about to add that it doesn't make a whole heap of difference, because clearly Dosve believes the same as Zezzuva, regardless of the correctness of her beliefs.

[ZacAttac21]

Well dangit, when did Aina die?

And who's "Ms. Moroskova"? Evgenija? I can't seem to find "Moroskova" anywhere in the story.

And what is Flo going to throw a hissy fit about? I don't follow.

[Chairtastic]

I accidentally typoed Evgenija's family name.  Multiple times.  Because I'm awful like that.  Should all be changed to Morozova.

Aina didn't die, she just stayed in the house with Domino's body when the fighting started.  Because he was sort of the only friend she had.  Grief isn't pretty.

And Florine is the head of immigration, and is going to be throwing a fit because she processed a refugee as an immigrant and thus has to redo literal years worth of paperwork.

[ZacAttac21]

BTW, you're really not helping to dissuade me from thinking Hyden's an incubus. I'm thinking Taun Clan... perhaps Owona.

[Chairtastic]

Well, Sebur was an Adventurer....

[Chairtastic]

Chapter 21: In the limelight

Domino's body was sent off to the Adventurer's Guild morgue, to ascertain the exact time and cause of death.  Aina, obviously couldn't go with it, so she bid farewell to her friend until his funeral.  The ferret's passing would likely spell the end of their Adventuring group, and it was unlikely that Aina could find a new group to take her.

While she trudged through the streets of Ti'baltr, still replete with Adventurers now too awake to go back to sleep, her mind swirled with what Domino's death would mean for her and Dolf, her husband.  Domino had been her main character witness for the appeal of her In Breach of Contract status - without him, would the case be thrown out?

She tried so hard not to think about how Domino had to feel when he died - killed by someone he loved so much.  It was a risk they all new could happen, the Guild even told him such when he first joined.  But she'd worked for Swoon for years, and while the Angel had been harsh and a taskmaster, and harped about Aina's inability to do a perm correctly - Aina never suspected her of being a black widow.

'That's how you got into this mess,' she told herself bitterly while holding the broom staff closer to her chest.  'You didn't think someone could hurt the people they loved.'

Speaking of which, she was getting close to home.  And ideally, Dolf hadn't gotten into too much of a mess.  The Kynaston house was... not particularly a house.  It was an abandoned building in Ti'baltr's industrial sector.  Once, it had been used for the purification and manufacture of iron - but since Ti'baltr had switched almost entirely to conjured iron, the facility had gone to disrepair.  Partly because of the natural progress of things, and partly Aina's own meddling, the nearby jungle had begun to reclaim the building.  In more than one place, trees had broken through the stone in their pursuit of optimal growing conditions.

In what had once been the administration level did Aina and her husband make their home.  Grass had grown into a carpet, flowering vines grew around the frames of broken windows, and because Aina had magicked it so, an old vat filled with water for their needs.  But things such as paper to track expenses, food storage, clothes and sleeping arrangements, as well as basic entertainments - all suffered for the choice of lodging.  Aina found it perfectly pleasant, but Dolf hated it.

As evidenced by her hearing him screech and smash something made of glass.  Probably one of the few windows left.  She sighed, and ascended the stairs to the living space, hoping that she would have the patience to deal with Dolf while processing that Domino was... gone.

Dolf, Aina's husband, was a peacock Being.  In his youth, he had been a thing of beauty;  possessing a sweeping train of vibrant tail feathers, aesthetically pleasing build, well maintained hair and plumage.  An extravagant match for the swan Phoenix woman, with her pure white feathers and naturally grey hair.  But time had been cruel, rendering Dolf's train to ragged remains - each feather a precious thing that he mourned the loss of - and his once hunkish physique worn down into unhealthy thinness with his bones clearly showing.  The peacock stamped around the bedchamber of the improvised living area, switching from muttering and screeching as he waved around a colorful patch of paper.

Aina recognized it immediately and looked around the room as her worn emotions kept her from getting enraged as should be proper.  Sure enough there were plenty of such colorful patches - covered in shiny silver portions that could be scratched off to reveal the contents.  "You've been gambling again," Aina muttered while she still looked for the glass Dolf had broken.

"And I almost won!"  The peacock held the scratch-off loto ticket he'd been holding up for Aina to see, but not close enough to discern the numbers.  "I could have won five hundred gold dollars if the damn company hadn't tricked me - they moved the spots where the five hundred usually are!"

"How much did you spend?"  Dolf acted as if he didn't hear her, going off on a tirade about the unfairness of moving the usual winning number locations.  So Aina looked for the receipt while she looked for the glass Dolf had broken.  The glass was found a pile of blue and white porcelain - the last piece of Aina's china set from when they had a home.  Fortunately, Domino's foster son had invented a set of needles tipped with magic stones - household spells that he'd hoped would make keeping a house in order much easier.  For someone like Aina, whose spells were not conducive to such applications, it was a godsend.  She found the pink-tipped needle and wove it in the direction of the porcelain, which began to snap back together before her eyes.

"And, with you waking me up so early in the morning - I couldn't get back to sleep, you know how iffy my sleep schedule is - I had to find something to do, while you went off on that adventure.  So -...." Aina found the receipt for Dolf's scratch-offs while preparing herself some tea with a pitcher of water from the vat, and the smokey quartz tipped needle.  There was a handy little switch on the magic item that let her determine the temperature of the water and the type of tea made - and she opted for green tea in light of the money Dolf had spent.

"You spent... almost all of the pay I got for the adventure.  In a few hours."  While the needle did its magic, Aina set her broom staff away and collapsed into the only chair in the living area.  "What are we going to do for groceries, Dolf?"

"Just ask that ferret friend of yours for another loan or something, the important thing is I think I have the new spots figured so I should be able to start getting five to seven hundred gold dollars for every ticket and - "  Emotional exhaustion let her just sit there and sip tea while Dolf went on his tirade about how much money he could earn.  Dolf had chosen a poor day to pull such stunts, as Aina couldn't panic to think of solutions to the problem.

"And the legal fees, Dolf?  That we're already behind on?"  The swan coolly looked through the discarded tickets - most of them were rendered void from Dolf scratching out the whole thing to see where the winning ones were.  "You haven't won us enough to cover... much of anything beyond this week."

Her husband flippantly waved his hand.  "Your friend's come through for us every time in the past - he'll do it again, no problem."

"No he won't."  Dolf's face screwed up in rage like it did every time he'd been directly disagreed with.  "Because Domino's dead."  Underneath his affront, Aina could see the realization take hold, and rapidly the peacock went into denial about it - he tried to tell her she had to be wrong.  "That's why the sirens went off this morning, Dolf.  Domino was soul murdered this morning.  He can't help us anymore."

For years, the solution to their problems when Dolf made a mistake of this caliber was to go begging to Domino.  At last, they had run out of easy outs of the situation.  "Well... you can go on another adventure, right?  Something quick to get the money we need.  Yeah, yeah just take on another job - that'll solve the whole mess."  She wanted nothing more than to go to bed and wake up with the energy to start crying again.  But instead, there she was, watching her husband decide on the solution to the problem without any input from her.

"You know, you could get a job too, Dolf."  Her husband curled his beak in a snarl at her, then launched into an explanation of why he couldn't do so because of the In Breach of Contract status, and how the stress of trying and failing would cause him to lose more feathers.  "Fine.  Whatever, I'll look around for something I can do in town because I'm not leaving the Big Island until Domino's funeral is done at least."  The swan Phoenix stood and bypassed Dolf, not giving him so much as a glance.  "And when I get paid - I'm going to keep the money with me so we don't run into this problem again."

"Wha-?  You can't do that!  I need money too, you know!"  Aina did know.  Living on his own in between her extended leaves was difficult for anyone, let alone someone as virulently unhappy as Dolf.  But in that moment, with the life she had struggled to rebuild almost destroyed again and without her only friend to help, she simply couldn't care.

"I'm going to bed, we'll talk more later."  Aina fell onto the patched up waterbed, and lay there fully dressed for a while.  She didn't remember when she fell asleep.



By the time school started, everyone was talking about the big Adventurer battle that had happened in the early morning.  All the halls were talking about the view they'd had of the explosions or the adventurer's from the big city they'd seen talking to neighbors and sometimes their parents.

Renet had been worried the whole morning during her wake-up spar with Tyrone.  It felt, to her, that the Mother was trying to warn her of some danger but nothing came.  An unexplained tension in her limbs and something always drawing her eyes toward the forested region where the Adventurers had been.

The feeling persisted through breakfast and th walk to school.  Tyrone was, as always, flippant about the matter.  No Adventurer had bothered them, so why would the Mother warn her about anything, he'd said.  It was the first time when he didn't poke fun at her 'asking the air for help' since she started praying more frequently.

Tyrone left her alone for a bit while they waited for the bell to let them go inside, so he could deliver a flying thunder kick to his younger brother as morning greetings.  It was then that she noticed, or rather failed to notice, something which she realized had to be the source of the Mother's warning.

Hyden wasn't among the students milling around outside.  Renet asked some of the folks in Hyden's school clubs - business, magic, and home economics - if they had seen him, but got only negative responses.  Fighting the urge to panic, she took out her phone and tried to call Hyden's house to hopefully confirm he was just sick.

"The number you have reached has been disconnected.  Please hang up, and try a different number."  Hearing an automated response only made things worse, and Renet immediately went over to Tryone in the middle of his scrap to let the Demon know.

"Tyrone, Hyden's not here and his house phone's disconnected!"  Her sudden shouting got the assembly of Demons to look at her, all with raised eyebrows.

"Okay so we need to get his homework for him or something?"  The red dog Demon shrugged while holding his younger brother in a headlock.  "Wait, do we have a group project today?  Damnit, that means I'm going to have to work!"  The younger Demon was released while Tyrone recoiled in despair.

"No, I mean I think he might have been involved in the Adventurer thing last night."  Tyrone and the other Demons all looked between each other before gently clapping, and nodding.

"If he did that's actually pretty good for wimp like him.  I think a couple ambulances had to be called for the near deaths?"  Renet buried her face in her satchel bag and screamed, unable to otherwise vent her frustration.  "Oh, you think the Adventurers kill him!"  Tyrone pointed dramatically, and nodded when Renet admitted to thinking such.  "Well then we find the one that dealt the killing blow - gonna be hard, because who'll want to admit they could only kill a Demon by killing Hyden - and rip their spine out!"

The cow Amazon nodded, and sighed.  While she was more concerned that Hyden was hurt, for once Tyrone's idea of 'get revenge if needed' seemed appropriate.  "I mean," Tyrone's little brother chimed in, "that runt guy's pretty good at fire magic, right?  If he was fighting like his life depended on it, the whole forest would be on fire, yeah?"

"Yeah... yeah," Renet admitted with many nods.  "That makes sense.  Okay, I'm sorry for panicking."  The cavalcade of Demons all nodded and made token lines of understanding while Tyrone immediately recaptured his little brother's head for additional noogies.

A bright orange-gold light lit up in the street in front of the school, drawing significant attention from students.  When it cleared, there was Hyden standing surrounded by white and black feline Demon women, while an orange glowrat hovered around them.  Relief flooded Renet, and she moved to go over to him.  Tyrone did the same while continuing to drag his younger brother with him.

"I'm sorry, but please do not come any closer," the fanciest-looking of the feline Demons told Renet while holding her hand up.  The cow stopped and looked between the Demons and Hyden in the middle.  He seemed... miffed and sad at the same time.  Siffed?  Miffad?

"She's my friend," the demon ram muttered.  "They're both my friends."  One of the more sensibly dressed Demons bent down to talk into Hyden's ear, and he scowled at what she had said.  "Alright, fine.  Whatever.  Sorry guys, but I have to go to in-school suspension for the day.  You'll have to do that biology project without me."

The bell rang, and students started to migrate into the high school, Hyden and his Demon escorts with them.  Tyrone released his younger brother and waited alongside Renet.  She, for her part, was stunned and trying to process the situation.  "So," the dog Demon bounced on the balls of his feet a bit.  "Think we can get Laramey to help with our biology project?"



In a perfect world, Hyden would be allowed to miss school for a few days while processing the situation. But this is not a perfect world.

[Chairtastic]

Chapter 22: What Family is For.

In her dreams, Evgenija did not fail.

Swoon was fast, but Evgenija was faster.  She ducked into her own shadow to dodge Swoon's wing-tentacles stabbing at her, and came back up to cut them away.  Evgenija's kukri weapons were made vorpral - specifically to bypass Creature defenses.  Swoon recoiled in agony as her wing started to bleed from the wound.  Evgenija didn't care that the murderess wore her orange and pink form instead of her lynx base form - she just wanted Swoon to die.

Everything that didn't happen in their fight that should have happened occurred in Evgenija's dreams.  Every time a killing blow was struck by Evgenija, the scene rewound so that Swoon could be killed again.  Impalement, dismemberment, being cast adrift in the realm of shadows, so many deaths and more that she was convinced Swoon deserved but had been unable to give to the witch.

They fought atop the surface of an endless plane of smooth glass, with their reflections fighting in entirely different ways.  Blood spread out in great sweeping arcs, with occasional pools or random splotches - in accordance with their fighting.

This is how it should have been.  Evgenija's mind roused itself from the senseless cathartic carnage.  You should have been faster.  You should have seen the danger coming ahead of time.

Halfway through flourishing a spear to impale Swoon through the hand and heart, the feline woman became Anevka.  Evgenija desperately wanted to stop, but her dream body kept on going, to murder her mother with vicious execution.  Then the scene played out again, only instead of fighting against Swoon, Evgenija was chasing down Anevka and murdering her while she tried to escape her murderous daughter.

No, this isn't- I didn't do this.

You may as well have.  She died because of you.  Because you weren't good enough.  Because you weren't smart enough.  Just like he did.

Once again the target of her murder shifted - this time to the ferret Captain as he'd appeared to her on the docks.  One-eyed, one handed, offering to help.  And he kept that pose even as Evgenija mercilessly cut him apart, rewound time, and did so again.

But the contradiction had roused Evgenija to lucid dreaming, and she found herself in control of her reflection, and used this to stop herself from killing Domino in the mirrored world.  The world flipped, and suddenly it was the reflection that was true, and the murdering became the reflection.
The lammergeier looked down to Domino, offering his one good hand to her, while her reflection killed him over and over, in so many horrible ways.

"I'm sorry."  In her dreams, there was no need to be proper.  There were no people that she needed to impress, to intimidate.  In her dreams, she could do as she wished, and so she went down on her knees to capture Domino in a hug while she started to leak tears into his shoulder.  "I'm sorry."

The ferret's form contorted around her, and suddenly she was a girl again, clinging to her mother and repeating the apologies to another ghost. But then that form contorted too, and left her with nothing.  They were gone, and she was never going to see them again.

"Well, I don't know about that part."  While she looked down into the endless mirror, her reflection twisted in on itself, until beside her reflection sat Domino as an Adventurer.  He rested his chin on his hands, like he was watching something interesting.  "This is your dream after all.  Any time you want to see us, ma chére, you just need to say so."  It was... nice to hear his voice again, even if it was a dream.  Evgenija actually smiled and was able to wipe her face on a reflected handkerchief Domino provided.

As if walking in from a nearby scene, Anevka joined the two, and sat down on opposite Domino.  "Here, you can tell us all the things you wanted to."  It was... hard to hear her mother's voice.  It seemed to be using a deepened form of her own.  Perhaps she could not recall the sound of her mother's voice as it truly was?  But the scene in her reflection, Evgenija again as a grown woman, with Domino on one side, and Anevka on the other.  All that was missing was that fool boy Hyden, and perhaps it could have been fit for a family portrait.

The thought jarred Evgenija enough to remember that this was a dream.  "But you're not really there," she said to them.  And as she spoke, the reflections faded away, like sand sculptures struck by a wave.  "I'm just... talking to myself."  Sitting alone, staring at her reflection and hoping, so badly that they would come back but knowing in her head that they wouldn't broke the great dam of willpower that had been holding back an ugly weeping fit years overdue.  For Domino, for Anevka, for the happiness that she had lost because she wasn't good enough.

"O, Child Mine...."  Immediately Evgenija recognized the voice that put her pulse pounding, thoughts of lurking monsters, and the faint trace of hope to be dashed away.  She hastily forced the sobbing to cease and comport herself in a manner befitting a proper lady.  On the horizon, massive black objects rose up and began to envelop the sky.  It wasn't long until everything was black from the loss of light.

When the blackness cleared, she was seated in her home back in Veldun, in the breakfast nook and across from her was Kish'Ta.  There was no mistaking the feeling of primordial fear that Evgenija felt from her presence.  The other succubus was dressed in an oversized bathrobe, with huge rings of fluff at the sleeves, hem, and collar, while her hair was constrained by dozens of colorful curlers, and wearing fuzzy koala slippers on her feet.  Kish'Ta's face was perfectly white, contrasting her black flesh, and of some sort of primate animal that looked like hadn't slept in its entire life.  "Your grief is deep, it reaches across the clan connection and spills over into your family."  An adorable, vibrantly pink cup of nothing appeared in the clan leader's hand, which she drank a long, gulping draft from.

"I apologize that it has inconvenienced you and the rest of the clan."

"I do not commune with you now to chastise you, O Child Mine."  Kishta's mask moved with her words, and portrayed a sorrowful expression.  "You are part of my family - I come to offer condolences, and to let you know so many of your family wish to help." 

"My family is -"  A picture that had not been in her Veldun home hung on the wall between the breakfast nook's windows.  A group photograph, of those that had lived in the homely house in the sandalwood forest.  Hyden, recently instructed in how to sit for a proper photograph by Evgenija, stuck out.  But so too did Swoon's, sitting with Domino in her lap, the picture of a loving couple.   "Mostly dead."

"You speak thus because you do not know the rest of your family, child.  This grief you feel has them calling out to Me, asking to meet you and help however they can." Kish'Ta reached out and forced Evgenija to look away from the photo, as Swoon's image stirred her insides up into a boil.  "Some for your loss, some for the revenge you so desperately want."  For a brief moment, the primordial fear associated with Kish'Ta lifted from Evgenija's perception.  It was like diving into cold water - awful clarity.  "Listen to an old woman, O Child Mine.  Vengeance will not see you any happier.  But the love and support of your family - happiness will easily be born from that."  Kish'Ta released Evgenija's face and took another long draft of her mug of nothing, while the creeping fear returned in full swing.

"I know.  In my head, I know you're right."  Her memories played back the three years of Adventuring.  No matter how many times they had been called to avenge a fallen Adventurer, a civilian, perhaps entire settlements, those that survived and had their wits to them never seemed happier to know the monster responsible had died too.  But still her heart beat faster at the thought, her hands instinctively went for her knives when she remembered how happy Domino had been to be a father.  "But...."

"I know, O Child Mine.  Which is why I ask you now to go to your family, meet with them, and let them share your burden.  It is what they are for.  What I am for."  Evgenija couldn't look Kish'Ta in the face, only slightly because the primate-mask looked so eerie to her sensibilities.  "A gathering has been planned of those from Our clan who wish to meet with you.  To grow to love you as their family, and help you through this awful time.  But if you do not wish it, I will inform them."

The thought of meeting other Kish'Ta, other cubi intrigued her.  Her tutor from the Une'jysune clan had been trying to gently encourage her to do so for years.  It seemed so... crass, however, to call on them after a tragedy that she unknowingly inflicted on them.  "I... thank you.  Where is this gathering to take place?"

"Fa'Lina's Academy, O Child Mine."  Evgenija visibly recoiled from the notion of going there.  She'd heard from her tutor the untoward behaviors and rituals that went on there.  And how quickly time, precious time could slip away.  "I know you dislike the idea, but it is not to make you a student.  If you can be convinced thus, We will support you.  But the gathering is merely there so that it will be safe."  Evgenija considered the situation while Kish'Ta drank her nothing in peace for a minute or so.  Simply... going to the Academy for a brief family event could not be so awful, could it?  Immediately, her mind reminded her of how it could be made awful.

"Will my father be there?  Or the Minister?"  Kish'Ta sighed deeply for a minute, and it was like her body was deflating for she grew impossibly thin and listless.

"Tharach is not among those who wish to meet with you.  But Theo is - he hopes that he can start to repair the damage his minions have done on your life.  And also that he can convince you to return to Kebre." Evgenija was reminded, by the dialogue, that she could not hide things from Kish'Ta.  The clan leader could, whenever she wished, look through Evgenija's memories, her eyes, and even her intentions.  "Indeed, I will not be allowing him to attend if you do not wish it."

The lammergeier considered the clan leader for a long time, before she sighed, and stiffly shrugged.  "Fine.  I'll go, and meet with them - even Theo.  When will the gathering take place?"  The clan leader went still for a moment, her primate face affixed on a distant location for minutes before she focused on Evgenija again.

"After the funeral you anticipate to happen in a week's time.  Surprise can take you to the Academy, if you trust it enough to release it from the jar you've kept it in for... three years now?"

"I suppose I could let it out on parole."  Evgenija made it sound like she was being talked into letting the glowrat out.  In reality she had just forgotten about Surprise after placing its prison jar in her cupboards.  "But it'll still be banned from television for one thousand years."


Yes, Evgenija's grief was so strong it effectively emotion-jammer'd her entire clan.  Goes to show you that severe emotional supression can backfire when you have an ongoing empathetic link with people.  This marks the beginning of the Evgenija-focused SAIA arc!  Woohoo!  In other news, I've added some entries for the character theme songs post, and the Kebre youtube playlist.  Check them out here!

[ZacAttac21]

“I suppose I could let it out on parole.”  Evgenija made it sound like she was being talked into letting the glowrat out.  In reality she had just forgotten about Surprise after placing its prison jar in her cupboards.  “But it’ll still be banned from television for one thousand years.”

That was much needed at this point in the story.

And once again, I love your depiction of Kish'Ta. I have to wonder how close it is to DMFA canon.

[Chairtastic]

Chapter 23: The Headmistress

The funeral was nice.  Respectful.  None of Domino's family had taken to wailing about the loss, but the expansive collection of ferrets seemed suitably sad from Evgenija's emotion reading.  She had the unfortunate honor of meeting Domino's mother for the first time shortly before the ceremony, and the brief conversation they'd had was for the elderly Amazon woman to thank Evgenija for trying so hard to avenge Domino.  Some of the Captain's family couldn't come, some had ships to command, while others were in foreign countries.

However, the elder incubus Dosve had been quick to inform her that Domino's father's absence was due to the man's personal distaste for Domino.  It wasn't... difficult for her to see how a successful businessman and politician would have not the best relationship with a person like who his son had been.  But the recent talks with her clan leader had reminded Evgenija that family should be better than petty actions such as these.

Hyden was handling it well, he had even refused when she offered to let him stay with her, turning back her own words on how improper it would be for the two of them to live together unmarried.  Evidently, he was going to live in Dosve's house until he graduated, and then go to a college in Kebre - under heavy guard, apparently.

Before the funeral, there had been an open casket segment with Domino's remains.  The morticians had done a good job with the body - it looked so much like he was just sleeping.  The ferret's bronze eye had been put back into its socket, but still required an eyepatch to keep it in.  When the time came for moving the body from the funeral home to the Adventurer's graveyard, Evgenija took the unladylike job of being a pall-bearer in place of Domino's father.

When it was done, Evgenija watched the attendees leave.  Some of them immediately went back to their lives while some, such Hyden, Zoos, and Aina lingered a bit.  She wanted to stay, and talk to them some more - but found that she could not.  She had nothing more to say, even though she wished to talk.

Thus, it seemed to her an appropriate time to leave and prepare for the gathering held in her honor.  The funerary dress she'd worn was traded for a composite dress of Kebrian and Ti'Baltan fashions.  A corset was built into the dress, but the sleeves and skirt were wide, billowing, and so much easier to hide weapons within.

There was only the matter of Surprise left to resolve.  Once the dust had been cleared from its jar, it started to move around inside.  It actually complicated its release by pushing on the lid as Evgenija unscrewed it - and began to bounce around the walls of her apartment once freed.

"Ch'yah!  I'm finally free!  Free!  No more time out for me, no siree!  Ooh, this is new!  And this!  When we first got here I always wondered what this did - oh, that's not what I expected.  Oh hey, you've got some leftover ham."  Evgenija stood still while the warp aci moved around the room at breakneck speed.  Once it had stilled enough to investigate her fridge, Evgenija grabbed it harshly by the neck.

"You are released from your time out on parole, Surprise."  Her voice was calm, almost soothing, at odds with her holding the thrashing bird-like warp aci by the neck.  "In exchange for accepting a reduced sentence, you will be allowed a small degree of freedom, and the ability to return to your duties.  Acceptable?"

"Yeah yeah."  Surprise stopped its thrashing and glumly pouted up at her.  "What's the reduced sentence?"  When Evgenija told it of the one thousand years without tv, it began thrashing again, desperate to escape.  "Nuh-uh!  Nope!  I'd rather be ground to paste than go without tv for that long!  I have soaps I need to catch up on!"

"Very well."  Surprise paused from Evgenija's seeming acceptance, but scrunched up on itself when she reached for the jar again.  "Then back you go."

"Waitwaitwaitwait!"  The lammergeier fought the urge to smile as the warp aci fought her attempts to shove it back into the jar.  "S-surely we can talk about this?!  Ch'yah, there has to be a middle ground between the jar and missing my soaps!"  Evgenija physically slammed the bird-like warp aci on the countertop, and glared down at it while her wings morphed into fanged tentacles.

"Your inability to follow basic commands could have ended in so many horrible ways that the only reason I have not destroyed you and summoned a replacement is out of respect that you were a gift."  Surprise drooped, suitably chastised.  "You have your options.  Which will it be?"

To no one's surprise but Surprise, the warp aci elected to take the offered parole instead of an indeterminate sentence in The Jar.  Evgenija found herself fading away as Surprise's paper-like tail cut the dimensional barriers, allowing the two of them to slip into the resulting gap and appear in another place.

The Academy.

Evgenija found herself standing in a stone chamber, octagonal with a high ceiling, glassless windows opening up to a lovely night sky, and a single doorway out.  Surprise finished circling her and took up a perch on one of Evgenija's backwings.  As an afterthought, she released the mental lock keeping her headwings in her skull - on top of giving her away as a succubus, the damn things gave away her emotional state too easily.  It was overall an unnecessary risk having them out for prolonged periods.

But these people... were supposed to be her family.  She wanted to trust them not to take advantage of such a thing.  'Trust has to be earned', she told herself.  'Give them this chance, and see what they make of it.'

"So, um, we going in?"  Surprise broke the silence in the room, but Evgenija did not respond.  Her tutor had told her about... the Fa'Lina.  The semi-omnipotent succubus who could perceive every thought, every emotion, every word, every action, and every future within the Academy's walls.  There was only one opportunity to make a first impression, and Evgenija intended to make a good one. And the first step was abiding by the basic politeness.  "Guess not."

The only door to the room swung open of its own accord, and a figure began to step into the room.  A tall white-furred poodle succubus, her wings a mix of pink and white, dressed in an alarmingly revealing dress of the same color scheme.  She was taller than Evgenija, and far more... endowed.  Evgenija spent only a moment acknowledging the fact, and pitying the woman for the back problems that would resolve, before she returned to watching the poodle's face.  It occurred to Evgenija that the woman was also looking the lammergeier over.

Remembering her manners, Evgenija gripped her skirt, and bent down in a curtsey for the elder succubus, which earned her a wry smile.  "Would you believe you're the first one in fifty years to remember that they need to wait for a staff member to meet them when visiting?"  The poodle spread her wings before introducing herself.  "I'm Fa'Lina, and this is my Academy."

"Thank you for letting me visit, Headmistress,"  Evgenija had been told to expect Fa'Lina meeting her personally.  Especially in light of recent... events.

"You're welcome.  It's not too often that Kish'Ta's clan arranges a gathering in this size, which helps justify the expense in the large conference rooms."  The poodle folded her wings, and led the way out of the waiting room.  "Your warp aci can find its way to one of the box rooms, and it will be ready for you when you leave."  Surprise shifted on her wing excitedly and cheered when Evgenija gave it leave to go.  The glowrat went bouncing off the walls ahead of them.

In time, grey stone gave way dusty pink walls occasionally broken by white supports.  The floor was covered in an immaculate dark brown carpet - Evgenija had spent too long in Ti'baltr where carpet was eschewed, she forgot how good it was for muffling her footsteps.

"Let me just say, because I know at some point you will ask - no, I can't tell you anything about the cubi who killed your friend."  To her credit, Evgenija only paused for a step before keeping pace with Fa'Lina.  "The academy is neutral in clan affairs, and does not pass judgement on the actions of those outside our walls.  I can tell you that the Ti'baltr government has already contacted the cubi's clan, and that certain members of your clan have done the same.  Until they are captured, all I can guarantee is that they are not currently on the premises."

"Thank you for being upfront about that."  She kept her eyes from drifting to the cubi students lingering in the halls, most accompanied by a glowrat of their own.  It was unseemly to gawk at people, no matter how unnatural some of their hairstyles were.

"Playing games with you when there is nothing to be gained from it is wasteful.  It does nothing to endear you to the Academy I have a vested interest in you attending, and it poisons your views on Cubi in general when you're already dealing with your best friend's murderer being one of your own race."  Fa'Lina gestured to rooms they were passing, and Evgenija felt compelled to direct her attention there.  Grand intersections of many hallways where the assumed students crossed, classrooms, and an indoor aquarium that seemed larger the more she looked at it.  "But as this gathering is intended to show, there are more things that the Cubi race can provide you other than self-loathing and objects of vengeance."

"All I can promise is that... I will consider it."  Evgenija forced herself to look away when passing an absolutely indecent cooking classroom.  "I've heard... things about the Academy."  Fa'Lina stopped and turned to look at her, a genuinely curious expression.

"Oh?  What has the Adventurer rumor mill started up about us in your part of the world, then?"  Evgenija frowned, but that only seemed to make Fa'Lina smile.

"I've heard that there are certain liberties that students take with each other - particularly roommates - that I cannot agree to.  Please do not make me describe them, I'm sure you already know what I'm talking about."  The vulture's expression shifted from stiff and professional to plaintive, which the poodle seemed to find incredibly amusing.  "And... that time can slip by quickly and easily in the Academy."  Evgenija averted her eyes, and her mind drifted back to the cold cell she had shared with the elderly heron while being fed on by vampires.  "I've already lost so much time, I don't want to lose more."

"Hmm, I see."  Fa'Lina's amusement drained, and was replaced with a sombre one.  "That's far from the usual responses I get when people say they've heard 'things' about the Academy.  And I can't say either is wrong."  The headmistress leaned on the wall and turned her profile to Evgenija.  Even when diagonal, the poodle was still taller than her, which Evgenija found... unnerving.  She was too used to being the tallest thing in the room.  "Yes, roommates do take certain... liberties, but it usually isn't in a malicious way.  We place students together that we think can become good friends.  And part of that is forcing them to expand their horizons or experience new things, such is half the point of an Academy in the first place."  A pair of warp aci in yellow and red auras dashed around them, nearly activating Evgenija's peripheral attack instinct.  "Without the need to eat, sleep, or leave the Academy, time loses meaning to some students.  But we offer services to help combat that, such as taking part-time courses, or at-home programs."

"Gemenes told me about some of them," Evgenija volunteered.  It had taken her entirely too long to learn how to pronounce the Une'jysune tutor incubus' name correctly, she couldn't pass up opportunities to use it.  "But we checked, and the only courses I would be interested in taking are on-campus."

"Unfortunate.  But!  We've dawdled long enough, your family is waiting."  Fa'Lina made no moves to resume walking, which confused Evgenija until she looked around and found a double door with a whiteboard on a tripod with her clan symbol featured prominently.  They had been talking outside the whole time.

"Oh.  Thank you for showing me the way, and for talking to me."  The poodle nodded, and Evgenija turned to reach for the handle to the doorway, but found herself unable to take hold of it.  Doubt roiled around her mind, now that she was there.  She only knew her clan to be fear attuned, to have a tri-wing leader, and that they had a reputation for being monstrous.  Evgenija didn't look very monstrous at all... what if they didn't like her?

"One final bit of advice before I go."  The poodle pushed off the wall and leaned in to whisper to Evgenija.  "You don't need to worry about first impressions.  Kish'Ta has told them about what happened, and they came here specifically because they want to help you - to grow to love you as their youngest family member.  Aside from some babying, you'll be perfectly fine."  When Evgenija blinked, Fa'Lina was gone.

Impressed by the speed of Fa'Lina's teleportation, Evgenija stood statuesque for a minute before the issue of the door came back to her.  Anevka's rigid home life, and Tharach's lack of interest had left her with few expectations for how her family would behave.  But, she would never know if she stayed out in the lonely hallway.

She opened the door.

[ZacAttac21]

I like Surprise.