As we trudged through the city in a hurry, my mind kept drifting. My death, awakening, and subsequent assassination attempt had all left… marks. Marks I couldn't even begin to process properly, because my damned soul kept pulsing with agony.
The worst part was knowing that I had the resources to fix most of the damage, but couldn't use them yet.
Divinity and angelic soul essence would likely do a remarkable job , especially if I combined them. Unfortunately, I couldn't just pull out either of those substances in the middle of the street, and Glaustro seemed dead-set on taking us somewhere now.
At least Mia's presence in my arms was a balm against the pain and frustration. I found a smile drifting over my lips whenever I glanced down at her sleepy expression, memories rising to the surface of my mind unbidden.
What we had done… Well. Most demons, most people, would not tolerate letting someone else link with their mind so closely. In fact, we had gone past any kind of 'link' and straight into melding. It truly had felt like we were one creature split between two bodies.
It had been exhilarating. It had been terrifying. It had been starkly enlightening.
You can't really hide things from someone when you are them.
So, all the doubt, all the love, all the affection and obsession and several slightly darker Emotions we shared… everything was out in the open now. And through all of that, it had never even crossed my mind to push Mia away.
After all, did it matter? Gods holy and unholy knew we were both messed up, in our own unique ways.
I was a glued-together jumble of two people with extra bits of my victims added in. She was a revenge-obsessed gremlin who only cared about learning how to kill stuff better until she got stuck with me. And then she'd been entirely uncertain how to show her affection.
Just walk up to someone, plop yourself down on them to claim your territory, and move on with the cuddling, right?
Of course, she was just as unwilling to let go of me as I was unwilling to let go of her, so…
We were two horrible, messy messes. But now we had each other. She knew exactly what and who I was, and she hadn't pulled away. I'd gotten a direct look into her past, too. And while we would definitely talk about some of it, just so I could help her claim her revenge better, I was entirely unmoved from my original stance.
Mine. Hers. Two cracked demonic creatures, who might someday figure out how to function. Maybe.
Until then, and past that, of course, we were stuck together. Quite willingly, at that.
From that first ill-fated meeting on Berlis when I thought she was trying to kill me and reacted appropriately, to the sands of Lagyel where we fought side by side, to our growing closeness on Breskwor, and through the angelic invasion of Desire.
Together.
"We're almost there." Glaustro's gruff, tired voice broke into my thoughts. "We are currently… in between compounds. But the general is subsidizing our stay at an inn."
"Which one?" I asked.
For just a moment, Glaustro's lips quivered with amusement. "Apple Infernal. All costs covered, including any special services."
A deep white flush bloomed over my blue cheeks and most of my neck in less than a second. The asshats were never going to let me live down that particular misunderstanding.
During my very first invasion ever, after I'd barely survived the initial charge, a 'helpful' demonic food stall owner had pointed me towards Apple Infernal as the 'perfect place to stay for a while for cheap.'
Which was… technically true.
What he'd never bothered to tell me was that Apple Infernal was way more than just a 'regular' inn. I mean, the fact that the franchise was owned by Desire probably should have tipped me off, not to mention the flirty disposition of the employees, who were plainly succubi.
Still, I'd never known to request the inn's 'special menu', not that I would have, and the employees had never offered. Seeing as they were demonesses, I was fairly sure the succubi could feel that I hadn't been drawn to their inn by carnal desires, and had decided to play along for their own amusement. So it was that I had spent months convinced the Apple Infernal was just a cheap, fancy inn.
Which again, it was. You were just expected to order something else off the special menu to complement your cheap room.
My embarrassment didn't mean I wasn't going to mess with Glaustro, though.
"I thought you were in a happy, exclusive relationship, oh major of mine?"
My mighty major flushed almost as deeply as I had. "I am, and Bronwynn will be waiting for us there. Along with Methialia. All of us were worried sick about you. We've each been monitoring different resurrection squares."
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Naturally, I opted to ignore the second half of his speech for a moment. "Kinky. You sure Methialia is fine with joining you? You're not going to hire Apple employees too, right? Also, I'm telling you now, Mia and I are opting out of the… play. Both of us are way too tired. And, no offense, we just don't see you three like that."
"You little irreverent…!"
Glaustro literally hissed fire as his eyes blazed with inner flame. Still, the wave of embarrassment that had erupted out of him was tinged by remarkably little anger.
And I got Mia to let out a tired giggle, so that was a win in my book.
Thankfully, it didn't take long for us to reach the inn. I could ordinarily rely on my demonic physiology to keep me going for days at such a sedate pace, but soul damage was a different beast entirely. Every step I took made me feel like my body was sapping away my mana, energy, and will to live, all at once .
I was briefly reminded of Wilhelmina. The demoness had been my first superior officer, and was a grade A asshole. Her subsequent suspension and punishment had been a balm to my soul. But then she'd shown up months later, sustaining heavy soul damage and yet still determined to contest our claim of Breskwor.
Experiencing the wonders of soul damage for myself now, I was genuinely impressed she'd even been even functional when we fought.
In fact, as we trudged upstairs after Glaustro's quick chat with the Apple Infernal receptionist, I was growing concerned that I might drop my sleepy kitty before we reached our destination. The only reason I didn't was that we stopped on the second floor, and Glaustro immediately admitted us into a room there.
"Finally!" The voice rang out the second we were through the door. My hazy brain failed even to properly register the approach of a potential threat before Mia and I were enveloped in a brief but firm hug. "I thought we'd lost you."
Bronwynn stepped back, an unguarded expression of distress on his face. His eyes kept snapping over us, looking for injuries and cataloguing our condition, like he wasn't quite convinced we were actually there and safe.
"Not getting rid of us that easy," I chuckled wearily.
Mia started to agree before her words were cut off by the mother of all yawns, which shifted into a loud meow.
It was honestly adorable. Doubly so when she flushed scarlet right after. She was always quite careful not to let any of her more catlike mannerisms shine through in public, even when we were in the company of friends. Of course, all bets were off when we were alone, but I only loved her all the more for it.
"Good thing, too," Methialia cut in happily, draping herself over Bronwynn's back. "Seriously. All of us were seriously pissed off when the battle ended and we couldn't even find your bodies. It was almost… bad. But then Conner himself attested to seeing you go through the portal to Cradle and, I'm quoting him here, 'blowing the fuck out of the assembled angels.'"
"Ah, yes. That." Glaustro's stormy eyes suddenly found me. "What the fuck were you two THINKING?!"
"That we were really not up to getting butchered in Desire, or viciously tortured into insanity before getting executed in Cradle?" I offered with a raised brow, which was thankfully enough to silence him and put a sheepish expression on his face. "Plus, I'll admit it was HILARIOUS, getting a chance to blow myself up as a trap for once. Everyone and their angelic mother doing that shit to me was getting old!"
Methialia cackled. Bronwynn chuckled, though he looked like it pained him. Predictably, Glaustro remained stoic, disapproval radiating from every inch of his body.
"You know dying in Cradle is still risky, right?"
"Oh, trust me, I know. The soul damage I'm currently rocking is more than enough to remind me of that," I snapped, then wilted a little right after.
I had managed, for the most part, to integrate myself into demonic society. That demanded a certain style of speech. A certain level of… not poise, but cold calculation and just the right amount of sneering. My bone-deep exhaustion was making me slip.
"Yes, the soul damage…" With a weary sigh, Glaustro gestured at me to take one of the comfy armchairs or couches strewn about the large sitting room. "You should address that at once. Both of you. I'm sorry for holding you up."
"No, no, it's fine," I hurried to reassure him, still feeling a little bad for snapping and afraid of further fatherly displays of disapproval.
The second I sank into the sinfully soft armchair, Mia still draped over me, I withdrew two divine banners acquired from the yeti of Breskwor. They must have worshipped the things as totems for generations, because the banners were chock full of delicious Divinity.
Divinity… As the perfect blend of pure soul-stuff and Emotion, there were few things so nourishing for a demon.
I playfully tossed one of the banners onto Mia's face, taking advantage of her burrito-ed state. Then I pulled deeply on the other.
Instantly, the wash of Divinity over my soul made the tension in my back unwind. It was like I'd spent way too much time in the sun, until my entire skin buzzed and ached, and then slipped into a nice, ice-cold shower.
Sure, the first reaction was a flash of agony. But the pain melted quickly and gave way to blessed numbness.
I might have moaned a little in relief, but if I did, I was going to pointedly avoid acknowledging it.
"That — that's better. Damn it all, I really didn't even know how bad I felt until it all went away," I groused.
Mia muttered in annoyed agreement. Managing to squirm her right arm free of the burrito, she peeled the banner off her face with an affronted scowl.
I couldn't blame her too much. The so-called 'banner' was really just a stretch of skin, with blood and whatever else they used for paint depicting an ancestral yeti warrior. It was relatively tolerable while Divinity filled it, since the mystic substance rendered its container holy in some indefinable way. But the instant the banner was drained of all its Divinity, the material's true nature came out to play.
Seeing as its true nature was 'rotting, ancient flesh and various icky materials', I couldn't blame Mia for not wanting it on her face a second longer than necessary.
"So… how much time did we miss, anyway?" I tried to aim for a 'joking' tone, even if the question weighed on me. After all, resurrection could take a few days. It could take a month. It was a lottery no one understood. "Seeing as someone tried to kill us immediately after our resurrection, I'm guessing something's happening? "
If Methialia's affronted expression and Bronwynn's inarticulate screech of rage were any indication, I'd apparently missed 'joking' by quite a margin.
"Assassins?!" Bronwynn shouted. "WHAT?!"
"Ah… well, yes." Glaustro cleared his throat. "There have been… a few developments."
I sighed. "Fill us in?"
"Don't you two dare ignore me!" Bronwynn protested.
Glaustro did it anyway. "You weren't out for too long. This is day five after your untimely demise. However, we are slated to meet the general in two days. Which you now can't avoid."
"Oh…" I groaned and threw my head against the armchair's back, blocking out Bronwynn's grumbling as I continued to drain the totemic banner of its Divinity. "That's… lovely."