Ch 26 – The pot is stirred, and things begin to brew. We get a whiff of ill omen from this bubbling stew.

The rest of the short tea party was awkward to put it simply. Gaila was too flustered to get past my and Evara’s mischief, particularly with me still there in front of her. Given the atmosphere, little time passed before we parted ways, and Lilis dragged me back to the room.

The whole thing had me drenched in nervous sweat… and other fluids, admittedly. Lilis was understandably simmering during our silent walk down the halls. I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed, and between my roommate and the stares of everyone we passed, I couldn’t decide which to fret over more. It was like the walk of shame, yet somehow much worse.

“I don’t blame you,” Lilis said, breaking the silence as she shut the door to the room and followed me in. “At least not entirely. I know you can’t fully control yourself.”

I opened my mouth to protest, then thinking better of it, clapped my jaw shut. Now was probably not the best time to argue when she was giving me a free pass… regardless of the implications made. Though wasn’t this also partly her own fault, given that she was the cause of my near-nudity?

Instead of arguing, I gave a rigid nod, holding back the resulting wince at admitting to such a thing. My feet fidgeted back and forth as I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, not sure of what to do with myself.

For a moment, I felt the urge to apologize for my actions, before shaking it off.

Lilis stared, giving me a thoughtful look. It seemed as though she was about to say something else, only to sigh instead. “Come here. Your hair is a mess. Let me brush it for you.”

Still hesitant, I followed her to the large ornate vanity in the room. She pulled out a chair, and I shifted my tail before sitting. Lilis shuffled through one of the drawers, finding an unused brush. Meanwhile, I stared at the reflection in the mirror.

Oddly, I found that I didn’t mind the look of the demonic girl that stared back. It was annoying that all of this had been forced upon me, certainly. But at least in terms of appearance, I had to admit that my reflection looked… cute. Even the red skin and horns were endearing in their own strange way. Did I truly like the way I looked on some level?

I bit my lip, fretting momentarily over the thought. It wasn’t at all how I was supposed to feel. In fact, just yesterday, I’d been furious about it. Why wasn’t I prowling through the halls with a blade in hand and out for blood? Day two of this predicament, and I’d done little to find and get revenge upon the culprit. Even my progress on changing back was middling, at best. I even had the beginnings of a way forward practically handed to me on a platter.

The knowledge sat like a heavy stone in my gut. Lilis made her way behind me and gathered my long, black hair. As she ran the first pass of the brush through, I couldn’t help but sigh.

It was time for me to face the truth here; I’d changed. The old Gellin wasn’t so incompetent. Magic or not, he’d have found a way to put Lilis in her place and taken control of their situation. I’d faced worse opponents than her, after all. Even if he had yet to find the culprit for the transformation, he’d have certainly vented his boiling rage onto someone—namely Melkar. There was no way that prick didn’t have something to do with all this.

But what had I done? Little to nothing at all. I’d used the excuse of biding my time and accomplished nothing for it. In my passivity and vulnerability, I’d allowed Lilis to hold control and order me about. And worse, in my most depraved moments, I’d enjoyed it. My libido had completely flipped from almost non-existent to something that felt entirely out of my control.

In much the same way as my reflection, the truth was difficult to face. The professors had been right; becoming a demon had fundamentally changed me. Was I truly still Gellin at all?

I shook my head, chasing away the silly thought. No, I was still me, on some level. Just different.

Right?

The brush in Lilis’s hand bopped me on the head. “Stop moving around so much.”

I met her eyes in the mirror, but hesitated to give her an apologetic look. Why did a growing part of me want to work alongside her, to…to do as I was told, so to speak? The thought left an odd mixture of feelings swirling inside of me, and even as the idea struck me, my mind rushed to deny it.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” she asked.

Was she… making small talk? Did people actually do that? It seemed like such a waste of time and breath.

“Nothing, really. Just thinking about tomorrow,” I lied.

Lilis gave a soft hum as she continued to brush my hair. The gentle rhythm turned soothing.

Was it worth giving the two of us properly working together a chance? I was stuck with her for the time being, regardless. We would inevitably be doing some things together, no matter what. That didn’t mean I had to give in to her demands. I was good at being belligerent and contrary. While I’d outwardly said I’d do as she asked, there was no reason that I had to truly hold to that agreement. I already actively hadn’t been.

Yet if I was to get through this and succeed at becoming human, I couldn’t deny that I might need some kind of help. I couldn’t trust Lilis, but perhaps I could work alongside her more willingly, so long as our goals were aligned. The provost hadn’t been fully wrong in commanding her to watch over me. Changed as I was, in both body and mind I’d become vulnerable. I—I needed her.

After the gut reaction to protest faded, the simple thought felt freeing, in a strange way—as though a weight was lifted off me. I didn’t fully understand why. It should have swallowed me into a pool of shame and revulsion. I’d become much too reliant on Lilis—on someone other than myself. A fact that I was certain to come to regret. After all, how can a person trust themselves to another, when you can never truly even trust yourself?

It was an exercise in self destruction.

But for whatever reason, it didn’t feel like one.

— — —

Melkar lounged on the soft, cushioned couch, his feet propped up as he idled through a thick tome. To his side stood a bored-looking student holding a large tray of fruit. A small lantern dangled from her right hand, the orange orb within easily lighting the pages opened before her. Her eyes, however, were apathetically staring off to another corner of the room, where two figures were splayed out across the floor. One was another student, completely bare besides the blanket covering half of him—thankfully the middle half. His face was pressed down against the floor as he continually took in deep breaths of air, smelling the aged wood as though the scent could impart some important secret to him, given enough effort. Or perhaps it merely smelled that divine to the boy so high out of his mind that he’d forgotten how to stand.

The “serving girl” didn’t truly care either way. Her gaze moved to the figure laid on her back beside him—a succubus just as naked as the boy, but without the benefit of the blanket. Her eyes were closed and a light, continuous snore escaped her lips as the demon slept, her arms and legs spread out without the barest hint of shame.

The apathetic girl’s eyes drifted over the others present in the room, pausing on one other student almost as high as the one of the floor, before moving on to the few other students and minor demons in the room. Briefly, her gaze moved past the recessed circle of smooth stone in the room’s center and the unfinished summoning circle drawn atop it. It appeared the same as it had for almost two weeks now, and as it probably would for the next week as well.

“Suze,” Melkar called out.

Suze’s attention moved back to Melkar, and she shifted the lantern such that the light once again brightened the pages in his hand. As she was far too used to doing, she held in a sigh, and for probably the hundredth time that evening, hoped his lounging would end soon. Between the long periods of ever-increasing torpor, she hated being relegated to Melkar’s wench. Particularly when he could just have some random demon do the job instead. She wasn’t a damned lantern post! Why was she stuck sucking up to his obnoxious ass for her entire time here at the academy?

She knew why. It was entirely at her family’s insistence. Gaining the favor of the future head of the Kheln family was essentially her entire purpose for being here. It certainly wasn’t to study or learn, though she had to find time to do that too. Melkar was, of course, plenty happy to take advantage of it. Suze had barely managed to pass last year’s exams, and this year was already unfolding to be much worse.

The girl held back another sigh. Just how much longer would she have to stand here?

As though sent directly by the gods, the door opened and Melkar’s ogre strode in.

“Company,” the large demon grunted toward Melkar.

Melkar closed his book. “Again?”

His annoyance brought a small amount of satisfaction to the unfortunate serving girl, despite not having caused it herself.

Before the demon woman could respond, three students walked in behind her. Suze’s heart skipped several beats at the sight of the three brothers casually entering. The quiet whispering in the room altogether stopped.

“Melkar,” the lead brother spoke. His voice was like a serrated knife. “That is your name, isn’t it? I have the right room?”

Melkar stared at the three brothers, momentarily frozen. “Pharsian,” he breathed. “I—err, what can I do for you?”

As his ogre stepped up to his other side, Melkar regained some of his composure. He turned to face them and crossed his legs. Unlike the other two triplets, Pharsian’s brown hair was cut short and thick enough to stick upward.

When he smiled, it revealed a mouth full of pointed teeth. “Don’t worry, Kheln boy, we’re not here for you. At least not in the way that you’re thinking.”

“Then why are you here?”

Pharsian’s heavy boots clicked against the old wooden floor as he tread further into the room. He cracked his neck and stepped over the boy laid out on the ground, who didn’t seem to realize Pharsian was even there. Behind him, his two brothers followed, eyeing the others in the room with hunger.

“I’ve heard that you’ve embarked on a hunt.”

Melkar’s gaze narrowed as he thought over the boy’s words. “You mean—for the succubus.”

“The little red gem that’s slipped from your grasp. Word from the shadows is that you might like a little help acquiring it,” Pharsian said.

“Perhaps,” the young diabolist responded slowly. “What would you want in exchange?”

“We always love a good hunt, don’t we, brothers?”

Simultaneously, the other two shouted, “That we do!”

“We won’t ask for much.” Pharsian’s eyes roamed across the room, pausing on Suze. “Though I’m sure we could find an agreeable trade.”

As though broken from a trance, Suze bolted forward. As she rushed around the edge of the room, nearly tripping twice before flying out the door, no one made a move to stop her.

Melkar frowned. “Unfortunately, I need her. I can’t simply give her to you.”

“We’ll just borrow the girl for a few weeks,” the second brother said.

“Bring her back in one piece,” said the third.

“Hopefully, she’ll be a good hunt.” Pharsian grinned, once more showing off his pointed teeth. He stepped forward, almost close enough to touch Melkar, and the ogre shifted in front of him.

Melkar stood up to her left. “Bring Ruby running to me and you can have Suze for the week.”

“Week and a half,” Pharsian counter offered. “Starting after we leave the room.”

“Deal.” Melkar stuck out a hand.

Pharsian shook it. “Let’s talk details, shall we?”