Succubusekai: The Demoness Just Wanted To Stay With Her Friends! [Original-Ish] [Quest]

[X] (Eira's Class) (Psychic Rogue) "... A sneak and thief, but not your normal sort exactly." (Oh the potential mix of options here could be fun to say the least.)

Helen pauses. "... You will need to clarify on that."

The fox sighs. "I don't have my equipment on me, for reasons I hope I don't have to explain… But, in short, I'm kinda psionically tuned."

You pause. "Like, the magic-like power of the mind? I've heard of it, but…"

Eira nods. "Yeah. I can do a few things with it. Used it to get enough money to slide over here off some jerks. Wasn't sure what I was going to do next, until Senaz showed up."

"... Some way to show it, you came across as mostly just, well…"

"A girl can have more immediate interests, yes?", Eira responds. "But, yes, the idea of adventuring with someone with, um, such capabilities was specifically interesting. More than that, you're the first opportunity to show up…"

She glances toward the jail, finishing with, "... And it looks like you're in on something big."

Helen sighs. "I can't say we couldn't use someone skilled in this sort of thing, though I am loath to admit such."

The fox shrugs. "Get me in on something big and gimme a fair share of the loot, and I'm willing to stick to the straight and narrow. Easy enough."

You pause, your expression a bit uneasy. "I… I guess? I'm cautious about endangering people, but if you're able…"

"Trust me," Eira responds. "Eira Nicholls has handled her share of that sorta thing. And the fact that a Succubus is working with a Paladin who I'm reasonably confident is still true to her oaths? Means you're something different too."

This does give you pause. "It's. Um. Probably bigger than you - Helen, should I?"

"Probably; I doubt you could keep it hidden for long."

"..." You sigh. "Helen and I are from two different worlds."

Eira blinks. "... That. Wasn't what I expected to hear."

"Yeah. Skipping the key points, we are both here for a 'divine quest', whose nature we don't know. We're… Well, guessing that the cultists' larger plot is related, honestly."
"... So, wait, you were summoned from different planes of existence to here? And a divinity summoned a Succubus for-"

Helen deadpans, "Oh, no, the divinity granted wishes and Senaz chose that part."

Eira blinks, and mutters something, which you clearly recognize is her saying she'd consider that. Someone gets you.

You sigh. "Well, I mean, besides the… quite a few things, it's more nice than not. But yeah. I'm sorta obligated to stop this. And to my old day job. And a, um, social group." If you can delay explaining the Internet for a few minutes, the town will probably think you're saner.

Helen sighs. "Again. She chose to be the most responsibility-bound being of chaos and evil this world's probably ever seen."

Eira blinks. "Well, that, um. Huh."

You observe, "Anyways. Yeah. We need at least supplies, and then we need to get to the Arnstey Keep region."

"You can probably get most of what you'll need at the Keep," Eira responds. "So, mostly, you need to travel out there. Um, based on your budget, I'm going to assume we're talking either on foot, or riding on a merchant caravan."

You nod. "Probably something like that, yeah."

Eira shrugs. "The ones I have connections with are going the wrong way, sadly… So we're probably talking hoofing it." She stretches her arms behind her head. "I've hiked worse. So… Tomorrow, let's just get moving."

Helen pauses. "... I was wondering if we might find more allies first."

Eira shrugged. "Doubt it, honestly, but you can ask around. For now, though, I've gotta pack to move. Ugh, just bought a buncha stuff, too…"

You pause. "Um, while it's got some, uh, catches, I might have a solution there?"

---

"... So this place exists on a different time flow," Eira says. "And it lets you handle the job and social group, even though it's just an okay-sized apartment?"

You nod. "I'm, um, working on how to explain the Internet, but it lets me communicate with people back on my old world, which is all I need for both, if that's a start?"
Eira nods. "And some kinda magical lighting, magic icebox, shelves…" Again, you can explain that later, you decide.

And she steps into the third bedroom, sweeping her tail against the wall. "And a perfect space for my lair." She smirks, leaning in a bit towards you. "Just a fair share of responsibility, right~?"

How can someone who literally asked you to hypnodom her not even - what, two hours ago now? - be so casually trying to be in control now? It took you years to get the steppy aura going, and it's half broken down in less than a day… By the Abyss, the Red Queen's going to be more disappointed than infuriated with you at this rate, that's almost worse.

But she's not wrong. "Yep. Let's get things in. The time thing, though, has a bit of a catch."

"We can't safely wait out the night in here," Eira observes. "So either we have to camp outside, or we have to travel during the night and day. Good for outpacing any more cultists, bad for all the typical night hazards."

At this point, Helen leans in. "Indeed. Plus, we probably don't want everyone knowing we can do this. So we need to at least look like we're traveling the normal way."

You sigh. "Meaning we still need tents and other supplies for a few days of travel."

Eira nods. "We can cheat quite a bit, though. I've got fresh stuff in the house that normally couldn't go on the road, but with that kitchen setup, we can keep it easily. So, better nutrition than the usual travel food, for one."

You never thought of a kitchen with a refrigerator and freezer as that exceptional, but the more you think about it… No wonder Helen was interested in raising this world's tech level.

Helen pauses. "... Given that, we probably want to actually go on foot. Don't buy too many things, but enough that we could 'normally' travel. Then…"

You nod. "... On to find this 'Chaos Mountain'."

"It's definitely not actually called that," Eira observes. "They seriously didn't know which mountain they were talking about?"

"Nope." You sigh. "Hopefully the rest of them are just as dumb."

"For now," Eira observes, "let's get my stuff in here, and then gear up."

---

The next few hours were a flurry of activity - loading a smallish house into an apartment, sorting everything into place, making sure Eira doesn't set anything on fire trying to understand the stove and oven…

… And then, night fell. And with it… Another test.

It's pretty easy to figure out that while the door's open, time advances on both Earth and this world. However, there's a rather obvious catch to this - namely, the door's visible to the outside world when available to be opened. Which is fine when it's, say, inside Eira's house and out of sight of any windows, but means keeping it open while outdoors where people - or various other creatures - can see it is not the most feasible plan. Illusion magics could cover it up, but even that isn't superbly reliable.

Plus, of course, when both sides are open, time advances on Earth too - and if the two fall out of sync, which is probably inevitable, you're going to have tracking to do to ensure you keep to your Earthside schedules - your job (after a few Earthside weeks) and your raid group (starting basically now). Your much-neglected email calendar will need to be put to heavy use… And no taking anything with heavy time dependency outside like your phone.

There's also the factor that your ability to grow your party may be a bit limited - at least, among those who use the apartment. Even at three bedrooms, the place is not that large, after all; adding more people would cram the space and kinda nix the comfort value of having it, and reduce potential use for storage and transit of materials - something you suspect Helen's thinking about quite a bit, given that she compared the space's overall size to a 'micro-class frigate'. Apparently, they're primarily tools used by a criminal megafaction called the Breakers Gang, though the Compact - her faction - uses some for specific purposes. Good for single-digit tons of material, apparently. Less when you have three bedrooms and want them to be comfortable for their occupants. (The fact that Helen was perfectly comfortable intending to use three-fourths of her room for this purpose warns of a potential self-sacrificing streak you'll want to watch out for.)

Either way - not a massive scale of space overall. But enough to start, especially when your most immediate quest doesn't exactly call for a personal airship or the like. All three of you, while you have training, are pretty fresh adventurers, after all.

… Helen was right about how much you've piled on yourself. But at least some of it can be enjoyed, especially when the night syncs up.

---

It's around 9 PM Earth Time when you reach a very specific, important point - namely, when Eira's house is about picked clean and sorted into the kitchen and her room. (Her bed's mattress isn't as good as yours, but her frame is nicer. Of course a thief would want a good bed.) More importantly, however, it's when Helen admits to being tired - it has been a rather busy day for her, after all. Eira is also not protesting the idea of enjoying the warmth of a centrally-heated apartment to get a good night's sleep.

For you, however, it's… An odd feeling. Senaz, ten-years-experienced Succubus, was of course absolutely used to tiredness being a fleeting thing. Even refilling on Bard magic only required something resembling downtime, not really sleeping.

But in your headspace, one of your metaphors - the past life of Sean - feels deeply confused by the premise. "Wait, you mean, just. Not needing sleep?"

The seductive side nods. "Yup. I mean, you can, might be a good emotional thing, but…"

The slutty one shakes her head. "If you're not sleeping with multiple hotties, what's the point?! You can go all night, so do it!"

The combative one observes, "You do, however, still need downtime. You don't need to be completely sedentary, but you need to rest your head and your body."

Your past life pauses. "Well, good news there, I think. The idea of being able to pull gaming all-nighters… It's exactly what I hoped for with this wish."

"Wait, that qualifies as restful?"

The past life's eyes have practically become star-shaped, as she observes, "Oh hell yes. Freed from the limits, I can just game and game and yeeeeee."

… So, computer on. There is one limitation - you need to make sure you don't wake people up. Which hadn't been a problem with Phil or Jack, but you don't know if they were just heavier sleepers than Helen or Eira might be.

Also, chatting with them a quick minute while the computer starts up might be good. Almost reflexively, you think to try shifting to some pajamas - purple, of course, but a bit on the sensible end - loose and soft, most importantly. Your shoulders almost reflexively droop a bit, as you step out into the hall.

The bedroom closer to you is the one Helen had taken earlier. She's in there, having unrolled her bedroll and set up a couple of things.

"... We should work on making your space more comfortable," you observe aloud. Helen, even though she was facing away, isn't startled by your arrival.

"Mmm," she responds. "I mean, a Paladin isn't exactly bound to asceticism or anything, but it's also… Having more than we need feels wrong, somehow?"

"Is that part of your actual vows, or just trying to decide at which point it becomes greed and leads to a darker path?"

"The second one," Helen admits. "I want to do good, first and foremost, and anything else is incidental. Given that, it feels like the best luxuries are those immediately earned, not those borne of built up funds."

You pause. "... I guess I can see it, but at the same time, I think it misses a few important trees. You're human, after all, and sometimes that means, for example, needing to recover from sickness or more serious injuries - which are both much easier from a warmer, comfier bed."

"Yet you don't need such things but opt to keep them. Like, your computer and stuff is one thing, but I could easily say that I'd benefit from your bed more than you at this point." Helen's tone indicates she's not seriously asking this… Which means it's a philosophical exercise more than a joke, probably.

"You wouldn't be wrong," you counter, "but that would also require denying that I earned that bed, and that I like my creature comforts that I can. Never mind the, ahem, 'alternate uses'."

Helen nods. "And few would deny you that. As I said, I don't actually need it. If I were sick - rare for a Paladin, confessedly - I'm sure you'd lend your bed then."

"You got me there," you admit. "Probably strong evidence that the whole demon-cruelty thing isn't very strong in me, huh."

Helen smiles. "Perhaps. That said, this will work for now. The room's warm enough to be fine. I presume, however, you will be playing instead of sleeping?"

"Well, it is restful for me."

"Fair enough. Perhaps I'll have to learn one or two of your games at some point."

You can't help but assume that her world had much better. Guess you're not finding that one out firsthand, though. Two worlds is enough chaos.

"Good night, Helen."

"Thank you and good night, Senaz."

Quietly closing the door, you go to check in on-

After just some hours ago, you'd think your reaction to a foxgirl sitting on the bed, entirely naked, would not be to turn red and pause. To be fair, it is a bit shameless for her to have done so with the door open.
You do, however, suppress the urge to stammer, and look closer. She's sitting cross-legged, almost like some Elven meditations you've seen, her eyes closed and expression flat.

(Arcana: 17 + 4 = 21. QM's Ruling: For the purposes of skill knowledge, Arcana and Psionics will be treated as transparent - though psionic topics may be more obscure to arcane casters.)

… How curious. She's practicing what you think is autohypnosis - a form of meditative training designed to…

Oh no wonder she went that far under so fast earlier. She has literally trained herself for it. You recall hearing back on Earth that, ultimately, all hypnosis is self hypnosis… Still, you have to assume psychology isn't as well-studied here, which makes that she developed this a bit impressive.

Also kinda hot. But…

[X] (Do You?) Only a little.

You cast one of your stronger Succubus magics, enchanting your voice. "Please remember to close the door if you're going to go naked."

"Mmm…. Yes," she responds languidly, making you go red again, even as she walks up and closes the door in your face, eyes never opening all the while.

… You decide to slip in - she's already back on the bed, and approach her. She doesn't seem to react much.

"... What, I wonder, should I ask," you say.

Eira blinks, not quite startling awake but definitely sliding out of her trance. "... Eh. I can't hold it for too long. It's soothing, of course. Good way to exercise my psionic capabilities. Doesn't beat the real thing… Though, um, maybe another night for that."

"Yeaaah, given, um. Everything."

"... This is gonna be a weird adventure, but honestly, I could use one," the vulpinae responded, stretching her arms a little. "It's the only way I'm going to get better at what I do."

"... You described yourself as a thief," you observe. "But what do you do with it?"

"These days? Not as much as it seems," Eira responds. "It… Um. Well, I never got caught, at least. But I kinda got some serious cold feet, and so I came out here."

"Abandoning the score of a lifetime or something?"
"Abandoning the fact that some of my fellows were considering going for churches."

… Ah. A conscience, in other words. Or just prudent concern with church artifact security. "Well," you respond, "Doubt we'd be going for any churches that you should have qualms targeting from a moral standpoint at least."

Eira sighs. "I think I prefer that to what I was initially thinking."

You pause. "... Charmed and seduced into dropping the moral qualms or something?"

"Yeah. This is definitely nicer than that."

"How'd you pick up such a, um, submissive streak, anyways?"

"Gimme a bit before I tell that one, k?"

"Erm. S-sure." You nod. "I… Should probably let you sleep. I'm going to be up doing my own thing for a while. I'll be quiet."

"Mmm… All right. Good night, Senaz."

"Good night, Eira."

And out you go. You can't help but think it was right to not go right for anything… But another day or two, perhaps?

For now, it's back to your room… Computer's on, time to game.

---

… For, apparently, nine solid hours.

Work would normally be in three more. Of course, you could put those three off quite a bit even without the three weeks off now. But still…

What does your morning routine look like now? You've got two roommates-slash-teammates (so far), you don't need as much, but the ritual side of things feels like it matters…

Stepping into your living room reveals through the door that the sun is just rising. The question then becomes…

[ ] (Roommates) Let Eira and Helen wake up on their own.
[ ] (Roommates) Go wake up Eira, but not Helen.
[ ] (Roommates) Go wake up Helen, but not Eira.
[ ] (Roommates) Wake up both Helen and Eira.

[ ] (Morning Rituals) Write-in Plan Vote.

Yesterday morning (relative to Earth), Senaz's morning rituals were all solo (Jake and Phil had their own morning routine), and were pretty basic: Shower, prepare coffee, microwave either leftovers or a food-like object from the freezer, get dressed, get working (remember that Sean usually worked remote). Few of these are as important now from a physiological standpoint given the whole Succubus thing, but maintaining some normalcy could be good for her headspace. Proposals for what to offer in terms of what you might do for Helen and Eira may also be part of this. QM vetoes may be at the line-item level; if this seems to negate the vote's intent by the end, I'll put a fresh replacement vote.

In addition, please feel free to ask questions about Senaz's observations of Helen and Eira to help inform your planning - some may call for rolls.

***

This was a weird one, because the writing just kinda kept going and going until I actively cut myself off to stick something in vote-wise.

That said, we are nearing the end of the Prologue, and the beginning of Act 1. You don't exactly have the typical Fighter Mage Thief setup, but should be up to the immediate task presented you! Maybe. (Probably.)

Eira's character sheet will also be coming soon.