Hug Your Destiny [NSFW] - Explicit / Kink (Trans Protag)

[The_Letter_K]

Enemy Territory
Morningwood
Founder Faust von Frankenstein's Manor
Common Area


Day 13 of Capture
Evening


Lyle had left with the Wonderlander, and in so doing had left the house appreciably safer for me. Lyle was perhaps the most physically dangerous of my current problems, but I was under no circumstances going to engage with… Akubra. The mindset of a Wonderlander was so hazardous that their realm itself can 'convince' you to submit to revelry without an ounce of Demonic Energy invading your body or mind. It's simple infectious madness. Those that actually live there… well, there's reports they unnerve even other Mamono.

No small feat.

Regardless, I still had more time I needed to spend available to everyone. I felt it like a sort of cup, or divot, in the back of sense of self, almost hanging around my neck, still too empty to be comfortable. What I really needed was something I could pour this time into. Something… Something that would help me escape, something that would get me intel. Something that came naturally, something I could control the pace of, while keeping my distance.

Something...

Something…

"Um!"

The Bicorn, Blackberry, interrupted my thoughts.

"What is it?" It wasn't that I had more patience with her than the others, I knew enough to know that the most disarming monsters are among the most effective, but the rest of the residents here seemed to have a soft spot for her, and if I upset her, I upset them all at once.

It wasn't that I wanted to be nice to her.

"I was wondering! Can you… can you tell me some stories?" She asked, settling down onto her ottoman-like seat. I admit that the intricacies of providing for Mamonos' unique body types tickled my inner engineer. Normally I scratched that itch with enchanting, but I couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship required to cradle her barrel while still being easy for her mount in the first place.

"Stories?" I asked, "What kind?"

"Well…" She said, "There weren't very many warhorses in my herd, and they never seemed to wanna talk about their heroics..."

The Holstaur, Amy, by far the least threatening, and therefore the one I couldn't forget I was most likely to underestimate, was walking through the room, and she stopped when she heard Blackberry speak.

"Actually, uh… I wouldn't mind hearing about some of that kind of thing either," she said.

I raised my eyebrow at her. The Bicorn at least I sort of understood. She seemed to have an almost child-like innocence and naiveté.

The Holstaur blushed, looking down at her hooves, only able to see them due to her… unusual stature. Another reason to be wary of her. There was no telling what advantages her mutation afforded her.

"I g-grew up in the human lands," she said, bashfully choking out the words, "Hero-work… was the sort of thing that got spoken of in hushed tones, y-you know? You must have lived a pretty exciting life."

Unbidden, the scent of burnt flesh and hair assailed my nose. I thought for a moment I saw the fires burning even now.

Just stress.

"It's nothing that exciting," I lied. I wasn't sure they really understood what they were asking. In those stories, I was the Hero, but they, those like them, were the Villains, and it was a fight I'd never lost. One I couldn't afford to.

No matter the cost.

Piles of charred skeletons with too many bones; wings, tails, horns, and more amidst the human remains, all gathered to be ground down and scattered. I fingered the femur in my hands. Not certain, but small enough to possibly have been…

…No, a living room, with two dangerous creatures I couldn't afford to ignore. Focus, Charlotte.

"Samael might have better stories than I do," I said instead. "She's been around for a long time."

She'd also have a better sense of what you could handle hearing.

The Holstaur nodded, slowly. I was very good at controlling my expression, so she'd gotten nothing from my face, but there was no telling what she gleaned from her other senses. Could she smell the fear I felt, even now, with one of them on each side?

I was leaning back as much as I could, a forcibly relaxed posture, but one that also kept them both barely in view.

Whether she could tell or not, she moved closer to the Bicorn, and I let myself relax a fraction as I found them both clearly and easily visible without needing my peripherals.

"Can you tell us about Sally and Lyle, then?" she asked.

I took in a deep breath, nodding curtly. "I left the village fairly early in their lives. They were much like any other children, although they never really got along with the group. I kept watch of them, since they preferred to wander off by themselves.

"Sally was such a cute foal, wasn't she!?" The Bicorn again.

I frowned, thoughtfully. "Bashful, shy, quiet… I suppose you could say that." I said, ignoring the misuse of the word 'foal', "She loved to bring me little 'gifts'. Things like smooth stones or flowers in bloom. Well, I say she did, it was always Lyle who did the delivering. Sally never liked to make eye contact."

Amy seemed to be enjoying that little tidbit, while Blackberry was staring openly.

"She must have been really scared of you!" Blackberry said.

Amy, for her part, just snickered, leading into a snort.

"I've been told she… wasn't normally like that," I said, "But that was all I ever really saw of her. I have to be honest, I never understood how it was she had the… grit, or drive, or what-have-you to keep disobeying the rules about staying with the group. I assumed everyone who said she was a troublemaker were just scared of a powerful magical talent in a young girl. It's not an unreasonable fear."

I kept meaning to recommend her for mage training, but I was so wrapped up in my own responsibilities, I would forget, and honestly I think I was glad knowing there was a talent back home, someone who could watch over everyone, and who was suspicious of Beeps.

Even I had a hard time resisting the pragmatic charms of Beeps, after all. She was just too useful. The day she came to town was actually a minor holiday, it marked the last time we ever went a night without food. Hardly a year after she'd arrived, and the farming infrastructure had been completely transformed. We still hunted the surrounding area, but in the months where food was scarce, livestock was tended with frightening efficiency, and could even still be exported.

She'd done that, taught us how, likely to secure Lyle's safety, but she'd still been the one to fix it. She was an amazing sparring partner, too. I'd started our fights just so I'd never forget what she was, but… somewhere along the way she started teaching me too.

She just wormed her way in, made you reliant on her. It was startlingly effective.

I spent ages devoting myself to learning to fight her, to understanding her strengths and weaknesses, it was what had made me Hero material in the end, almost no applicant could claim practical battle experience against Mamono, and none had the breadth I'd started with. It had been long hours, but totally worth it.

It was something that came naturally, something I could control the pace of, while keeping my distance. It was something-

Something…

Something perfect.

 

[The_Letter_K]

Enemy Territory
Morningwood
The Park Ring
Lake of Love


Day 13 of Capture
Evening


If I had to give one of them something, I would give Blackberry this; the girl did not know the meaning of 'quit'. She might be simple, naïve, and seemed generally unprepared for the real world, but even just watching her here, I could see how she'd gotten so far anyway.

She simply wouldn't stay down.

I'd trained my fair share of fighters in my time at the Chaltéan barracks, and while it would have taken me time to prepare a villager like Blackberry for the horrors they might face, that was ultimately my job, and my failure to shoulder if they broke under the pressure. It was their job to do what I told them to, no matter what, and to be frank, I'd never seen drive like this in anyone.

When I'd offered her the chance to see what warhorse training was like, she'd jumped at it, and even learning how grueling it could be, it simply didn't shake her determination. I'd learned to adjust for Mamono endurance ages ago, training against Sammy… against Samael, so that wasn't the issue. It wasn't quite what I meant anyway. I would show her footwork, hoofwork, I suppose, and she'd get it wrong, but that wasn't the end of it. She'd just… keep doing it, getting a little better each time, and eventually I had to accept that her stances were flawless. It didn't take her long, and the mistakes didn't repeat.

More, each genuine success was for her a cause to celebrate, and she was right back to the innocent creature frankly too fragile for what I was putting her through, jubilant and not even remotely subtle about it. She would look to Amy, Beeps, or even myself for support, and with Amy and Beeps she'd find it.

Amy watched our lessons with interest, but she never asked to take part. I imagined that would change, perhaps even before we ran out the contract and I made my escape. There was something in her eyes too, a smolder to Blackberry's blazing passion, but I thought it was catching alight, not burning out.

"Charlotte, look." Amy said, gesturing. I'd seen it too.

We'd attracted the attention of a herd of Centaur doing laps around the park ring, and as they saw Blackberry circle the lake in perfect form, the leader called a halt. She got Blackberry's attention as she passed, and got a cheerful wave, but when Blackberry didn't stop, they ran alongside each other for a lap or so, chatting although Blackberry was breathing hard.

After Blackberry finished her final lap, they trotted over to me together.

"This?" The woman asked, as they approached me, "This is your trainer?"

Blackberry nodded, and the woman continued.

"And your mother?"

Beepatrice just raised her hand from where she was seated on the ground.

The look that crossed the Centaur's face was deeply familiar, and as she turned to face me again and caught my eye, no doubt to question what it was I thought I was doing, I instead felt an involuntary understanding pass between us as we both floated unmoored in the absurdity of the situation.

"Your name, Human?" she asked, almost reluctantly.

My instinctive urge was to deny even such a simple demand, I didn't want to get into the habit of obeying strange Mamono, but I reluctantly quashed the instinct. Centaurs were notoriously prideful, and the last thing I needed was to bring an entire herd down on myself; Sally and her crew of delinquents were more than enough trouble already.

"Charlotte Abernathy, Heroine of Chalté."

She nodded curtly. "I am called Lokai. I am also… not fond of leaving the training of a sister or cousin in the hands of a human, not even a Heroine. You can only take her so far, your bodies and ours are different in too many ways. However, that choice is ultimately her mother's, not my own."

Centaurs it seemed, like many Mamono, were strongly matriarchal. She grimaced as she looked again at Beepatrice.

"You are fine with this, even acknowledging their differences, honored mother?" It looked like it pained her to call Beeps anything of the sort.

Beepatrice was quiet for a moment.

"Offer?" she asked, finally.

"I would challenge this woman for the right to train your daughter."

Amy chose now to speak up. "Um, I'm sorry Ma'am, but…"

The Centaur turned toward her, brow raised.

The Holstaur flushed red but continued to speak, "She's under contract, she's not really allowed to fight right now."

The Centaur turned back to me.

"I'm… under the protection of the Human Founder until the end of the week. In return, I'm not picking fights." I gestured at Beepatrice, "She is actually representing that agreement right now, if we started to fight, she'd have to step in."

Her eyes widened. She may not like that Beeps was playing at being the Bicorn's mother, but she wasn't dumb enough to brawl with an Automaton, at least.

"I… See." She said, haltingly. "I will… not pick a fight with a Mother over the activities of her daughter."

Beepatrice just nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Although…" I said, almost in spite of myself.

The Centaur, Lokai, raised an eyebrow at me.

"After that week has passed, I'm planning to leave town. I'm passing the time here training Blackberry, but she'd be available after that, if you wanted to pick up from there."

Blackberry chimed in, "But you won't really leave, right, Charlotte?"

I gave her a flat look, and a little bit of pep leaked out of her.

"You will abandon her training?" Lokai asked, and I thought I heard anger in her voice. "Humans. What other sort of Heroine would desert her responsibilities?"

A loud snarling sound ripped out of my chest and I was walking towards her before I knew what I was doing.

"I. Am not. A Deserter." I said, my finger in her face. "I will escape this godforsaken place and return to my post and no one will stop me. Not you, not her, not anyone!"

The Centaur blinked. "Ah. It seems… it seems things here are even more complicated than I'd assumed."

A startled laugh rang out, and we all turned to see Amy had lost control of herself.

"Hahaha th-that's so so so… so true you don't even know!"

I felt my face flush in embarrassment, and I took the opportunity to put some space back between me and the fuck horse.

The situation, at least, had been thoroughly defused.

"That was my last lap, um, Charlotte, Ma'am." Blackberry said. She was still breathing heavily from exertion.

"We're heading back, say your goodbyes to Lokai. Get her information if you like," I said, packing up what few possessions I'd brought with me. I was getting hungry, and sadly that meant going back to my gilded cage, the only place in town I could trust the food.

Unfortunately, it would also likely mean dealing with Sally and Sammy, and the break from both had been quite welcome.

 

[The_Letter_K]

Enemy Territory
Morningwood
Founder Faust von Frankenstein's Manor
Common Area


Day 13 of Capture
Late Evening


Lyle and Akubra had yet to return, even after running most of my remaining time out at the park with Blackberry's impromptu training regimen. Given how late it was, and the purpose of their departure, I expected they'd not be back tonight.

That was somewhat… disappointing. With Blackberry and Amy both getting clean, and Beeps back in her maintenance closet, that left me alone to spend my remaining few minutes of my sentence for today with Faust and Samael.

I didn't resent Beeps taking her time to get herself back up to her own standards, she'd had decades away from any of the tools she might have needed for deep maintenance, so it wasn't surprising she spent so many hours on her own upkeep, and having gotten Blackberry to her physical limit, it made sense she'd want to clean up, and would need help with cleaning herself properly, with Amy as the natural volunteer, but, well…

I am a Hero.

I should not have been feeling this awkward.

"I'm afraid I do not understand the significance." Faust said.

"It's kinda… complicated," Samael said, haltingly. She was looking at me with an arched brow.

I felt a flash of irritation.

"I am allowed by the terms to spend my time here how I want, and that's what I chose."

She just kept her brow arched.

"I don't appreciate your scrutiny," I said. "It's not endearing."

Hurt briefly colored her face at the reminder of where we stood, but she collected herself. I didn't like attacking her emotionally, but… Well. I didn't like a lot of things about this situation.

"It's still weird, though," Samael continued, apparently ultimately undeterred.

I liked hurting her for no real gain even less.

"A few days of military training for one Bicorn won't provide any more advantage to the people here than your own defection did."

But apparently I keep doing it anyway.

That one at least, struck home. She leaned back in her seat, her emotions barely concealed. She looked on the edge of tears. I couldn't let her see that affect me, or she might decide to let go of her emotions.

I wasn't sure I was prepared to watch her weep right now.

The truth was it was a little odd. I didn't like that I agreed with her sentiment. I'd stopped interacting with a lot of the rank and file members of the Chaltéan army for the same reason I didn't try to make friends with other Heroes anymore. The ones that would last weren't any better company than I was, and it hurt to see the earnest ones die or fall.

Aside from solemn drinks with the veterans, I just didn't get out much anymore, and taking on an apprentice had been pushed and pushed by the higher ups, but I'd avoided it with one ploy after another.

I wasn't sure what had made me decide, albiet briefly, that doing anything even approaching apprenticing Blackberry seemed appealing.

I was on par with most of the male Heroes when out behind enemy lines, but that actually meant I wiped the floor with them back home. They generated their own spirit energy, after all, so they didn't lose any effectiveness when the surrounding energies were corrupted, whereas I couldn't draw anything in other than what I already had.

Without Samael to safely spar against, I suppose I'd lost an awful lot.

I had to be careful not to start looking to replace it in the wrong places.

That was a large chunk of why I expected I'd be getting my final rites when I returned to Chalté, why I welcomed it really. I couldn't exactly retire in peace, calling down high class monsters like Faust and Lyle on wherever I settled down, and they'd be just as likely to show up on any strikes or operations I was party to.

In short, I was a liability now.

But at least I'd finally get to see the world I'd been fighting for. Sammy had always-

The angels I'd spoken to had nothing but praise for the palace of the Chief God, and the surrounding heavenly city.

I'd always looked forward to being shown around. ...At least I could still meet up with the ones who had gone before. There should be souls up there from even before the dawn of Monsters, practically pre-history. I might be able to learn from the people who had built Beeps.

I could see my folks again.

"Charlotte?"

I leapt back, and my hand went for my blade before I could even think to remember it wasn't there.

Faust and Samael were staring at me, confused and a little frightened.

I'd forgotten where I was.

Dangerous.

"What?" I snarled, my voice all gravel and spit.

"I-I was merely… that is-" Faust said, obviously unsettled.

I took a deep breath.

"I'm… sorry," I ground out. "I was thinking. You… you startled me."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Perhaps…" She said, delicately, "perhaps whatever thoughts those were, you should let them be for now."

I nodded curtly. My face felt flushed. I hated how awkward this was more than anything. I was meant to slay Mamono, not have cordial conversation with them.

"I was explaining to Samael that I have been putting the finishing touches on a gift for the two of you, to make your time here together easier, however long it may last. It should be ready by morning."

That… that was news.

"A gift?"

Samael watched at me knowingly. She knew where my mind had been. I hated how cleanly she could read me. It used to be it made it so easy to confide in her. Now it was just a reminder of what she wasn't anymore.

"She won't say," Samael said. "I've been pestering her about it since I found out, no luck."

Faust drew herself up in her seat. "A poor surprise indeed would it be if I told you the details before the reveal. Suffice to say I think you shall both be quite impressed."

"That remains to be seen," I said, finally settling back into my seat. "I don't think I want anything you can give me."

"Ah ha ha! That is where you would be incorrect," Faust said. "I have taken your desires into account with this undertaking. The simple acquisition of your gift has already made you much safer here in Morningwood, and miraculously, you shall be safer still upon receiving it. Moreover, I suspect it will be rather useful in lessening tensions between Samael and yourself. In truth, I am delighted with the elegance of it. I look forward to the presentation!"

My eyes met Samael's, and for just a moment I forgot the gulf between us. Whatever our differences, our shared history made it clear we'd reached the same conclusion.

As I got up to head into my room, my time for the day finally spent, I was secure in the knowledge that as bad as today had been, tomorrow would only be worse.

Because, whatever else this 'gift' might be…

It definitely was trouble.

 

[The_Letter_K]

I woke up in a bucket, sloshing around, groggily trying to figure out why the sun seemed to be swinging.

"Morning, darling." The world stopped shifting, and I followed the arm holding my swinging body up to find the face of Akubra, cheerily blocking the sun with her hat.

"Urgh. Bright."

She laughed, loud and bright, even brighter than the sun, and I was in the perfect position to check.

"It is, yes."

I stretched, lifting my head up and out, flowing along the handle, and rolling my shoulders as they clarified themselves, clearing the lip of the bucket. As my horns circled my head and connected and my hair flowed out, a freshly formed hand landed on her shoulder, and I used the leverage to pull up faster, more of my body shaping itself as the surface area became available. I felt myself spilling out of the bucket, hitting the ground, and after only a moment, enough of me had pooled to begin forming my legs, and start supporting myself.

My tail flicked and waved as it stretched out from my body, and my wings unfurled, spreading wide, and using the air they caught to expand and fill in faster. I arched my back and stretched my arms high as I finished forming myself and let out a satisfied groan.

"Aaahmmmn~"

I heard several whistles and cheers, and abruptly realized I was naked in public.

My eyes widened across my body, then slowly shifted to glaring at the various gawkers as a quick shimmy had my robes falling out of my mass and settling around me.

Ignoring the mass of disappointed noises and the heated blush on my face, I focused on Akubra.

"Where did the bucket go?" I asked.

She gestured down, and sure enough, as I glanced down past my meager chest, there it was, stuck in my hips.

That's embarrassing.

I reached down and pulled on it, and it slipped out of me with a 'shlorp'ing sound.

I gingerly handed it to her, not really sure what to say, and she took it with her characteristic nonchalance.

"How did you get me in there, anyway?"

I was picturing her shoveling me out of the carpet, ounces at a time. My bed could hold me in place, even if I bled into the mattress in my sleep, but only because the frame was watertight.

The idea was vaguely annoying for a reason I couldn't quite place.

I forcibly imagined the shovel as purple with cute little eyes on it instead.

Much better.

She smiled her mysterious smile at me, and I knew I'd not get an answer. Oh well.

"We're almost home," she said instead.

I recognized the area, now that she mentioned it.

"I didn't think we'd be out all night," I said, although without any heat. We'd spent that night in ways I certainly couldn't complain about. The solution to feeding Akubra had been quite enjoyable, but it wasn't quite practical. If I wanted to feed everyone at home that way, and I thought perhaps that I did, I'd need to be making an awful lot more visits to Nightcap's, and I ached at the idea of spending that much time away from the girls.

We'd only been apart one night, and I missed them terribly.

Not only that, but I'd then have to spend time feeding each of them. I obviously wasn't opposed to that, in concept, but back when I was still feeding them organically, I was beginning to run out of personal time, and this would require roughly double the attention.

Faust was a Monster Princess or something, maybe we could get a live-in lunch guy? That seemed like it might be possible, but who would I let in my house? They'd have to use my furniture.

I growled.

No, actually, they'd have to bring their own.

That seemed pretty impractical.

But totally necessary.

Akubra patted my head possessively, and I preened a little before even considering why she might be doing that.

"So…," I said, putting those thoughts aside for now, "You own a fancy restaurant and a hat shop?"

She nodded.

"How do you manage that?"

"Mmm. I always seem to be at the hat shop when customers arrive, and whenever my assistant needs paperwork done, there I am."

Curiouser and curiouser.

She smiled at me, and I felt a warm feeling deep in my chest. What did I do to get surrounded by such beautiful and interesting women? It was an awfully good thing we were going to live forever; it would take at least that long to puzzle them all out.

Our house had snuck up on me as we chatted, but we walked down the path to our front door in companionable silence. I opened the door, gesturing for her to go first.

"After you."

She nodded, walking ahead, but stopped in the doorway.

"Thank you for walking with me, it's not often I get to see the city."

I nodded, dumbly. Hadn't she just said she traveled all over all the time?

Maybe it would take a lot longer than forever to figure her out.

As we entered the house, I looked towards Amy's room. I thought I might pay her a visit. I hadn't seen the inside of her room yet, and, well… I wanted to talk to someone about what I'd gotten up to last night. She seemed like she'd be most sympathetic. She was really good at that, being a comforting presence, I mean.

Akubra walked to her room's door, disappearing inside; she had her own things to do, no doubt.

Samael and Blackberry were out in the main room, Blackberry excitedly chattering to her about something or other. Samael waved lazily at me, and Blackberry turned to look, an arduous process for a kneeling centaur, a lot of twist in that torso of hers. I could tell the exact moment it registered I was home, her expression, always cheerful, only amplified, and I could have sworn I heard a squeal at the edge of my hearing.

"LYLE!" she shouted, "You're back!"

I am, yes, and now the whole house knows. Saves time, I guess.

She hopped up and trotted over, quick as could be, and swept me up in a hug that lifted me off the ground. I cuddled into her, filling all the space between us as best I could.

"Hey, honey." I whispered, nuzzling into her neck. "How was your sleep?"

"I slept like a rock!" she said, chirpily. "I got to go be a warhorse yesterday, and it was super exhausting!"

"Oh?" I asked, a little surprised. I leaned back some to take in her face. Easier to talk that way. "Did Samael take you out, then? How was that?"

"Uh uh." She said, shaking her head, her braid shifting and the flowers dancing in her hair, "It was Charlotte! We ran laps at the lake until I could hardly lock my legs! And the stuff she weighed my saddle down with, it was soooo heavy!"

Charlotte, huh? That's interesting. I guess Blackberry was a pretty safe way to spend her time, but I was surprised she'd gone out of the house.

"Did you take Beeps with you?"

She nodded excitedly. "Momma and I met some Centaurs! We're gonna meet up again later. They said they'd teach me to shoot a bow!"

I raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were interested?"

"Uh huh! I've been thinking…" She shrunk in on herself a little. The effect still left her huge, but it was noticeable, and concerning. "You know how Sally keeps adding bits onto herself?"

"Yeah?"

"And… and Sammy is an Angel, right?"

"Well, a Valkyrie, but yes, I think that counts?" Fallen though. Not worth arguing too much when I was much more interested in where this was going and why she seemed so nervous, or sad, or… something about it.

"I was thinking… Maybe I could be an angel too?"

My brain stopped. I wasn't sure what to say.

"My… old Momma, my herd, none of them would want me now that I'm a Bicorn… but… Cupids are Angels of love! If.. I can prove that I'm still pure, maybe…? Maybe…!"

Oh honey.

"Sweetheart…" I said, delicately. "I'll support you whatever you decide to do, but…"

"But?" She looked almost scared.

"But, you should remember that you're already my angel, heart of my heart. I don't know if chasing the opinions of people like that is a… healthy way to live your life?"

She frowned.

Uh oh, abort! Abort!

"I just mean… any choice you make, that's going to be with you for the rest of your life, sweetie. You should make those choices for you, not for them. Live honestly to yourself. The people who matter will love you no matter who you turn out to be deep inside."

"But…" She said, "If I don't like it, can't Sally just fix it?"

My eyes widened.

"Uh…" Wow. I'm not sure I've really processed what I've gotten myself into here in Morningwood. "Maybe? We can ask, I guess. I just… I don't want to see you let those people hurt you again."

She smiled, wide and bright. "That's sweet. You're sweet, Lyle. But… I'm not the one who's hurting. It's… it's all those girls whose Mommas are filling their heads with mean thoughts. I'm gonna find another way, for them. Then? Then I'm gonna show them what it is! It's the right way. That's what I feel in my heart."

Uh.

Wow.

I uh. I didn't have anything to say to that.

"You're… really brave, baby."

"You think so?" She sounded scandalized. "I'm not sure. It feels a lot more scary than brave."

I kissed her, deeply.

"I know so." I said. " I see you, sweetie. I don't know how you could be braver."

I pulled away, and thought, briefly, that I saw Charlotte's door close silently.

I watched it curiously for a moment, uncertain I'd actually seen it move.

Faust's door flew open, and my attention was drawn away as she entered the room the only way she knew how.

Undeniably.

"It! Is! Finished!" She shouted, and I thought if she could have been any louder the cutlery on our coffee table might have shook. "Once more do I declare unto the world the depth of my genius and cunning, and once more does the world dociley retreat, like unto a tamed beast! No mere natural order can violate a will such as mine!"

She looked wildly around the room, searching for something.

"Charlotte? Charlotte! The hour of gift-giving is at hand!"

By the time I looked to her door, it was already open, her body filling the frame. I couldn't tell if that meant she'd been close to the door already or if she'd simply leapt up at the calling of her name, some kind of instilled training.

I saw her exchange a look with Samael, one old, practiced, nuanced, too complicated for my understanding to grasp.

"Faust," I asked. "What are you shouting about?"

She looked my way.

"Ah! Lyle! Perfection. Welcome home, my love." She grinned at me, her teeth sharp and numerous, her mouth wide enough to do all sorts of interesting things with. "Well, to respond to your query…"

She paused.

Then grinned wider still.

"You will not have to wait long to see."

 

[The_Letter_K]

Whatever was going on, Faust thought it deserved quite the production. I got nervous flashbacks back to the days in town, filled with the likes of 'magi-mowing grass' and 'fire you light with your imagination'. Not because these things had gone wrong, rather the reverse. They'd gone horribly right.

It turns out magi-mowing grass is a huge allergen problem, with the tiny bits of plant matter constantly self-severing and floating into the air, and even more worryingly, that the people in town were very rarely not imagining fire, when taken as a whole population.

The combination of the two at the same time had been even more unfortunate.

It always seemed to be fire with this one.

We'd all piled into Faust's room, an uncomfortably cramped space with as many of us as there were getting to be. Faust, over by the wall, near a curtain hiding whatever 'gift' she'd be bestowing today, and Amy seated in a chair suspiciously well-sized to her. Given this was Sally's room, it was surprising to see furniture suited to anyone else making an appearance. The two had apparently gotten quite close without my notice.

Blackberry had, in a fit of honest genius and a complete misunderstanding of boundaries, just crawled right onto Sally's bed without a thought. She took up essentially no room as a result, but, well, maybe this was a Mamono thing, and I had leftover human hangups, but someone's bed seemed like the kind of place you always asked about inhabiting. Still, it worked well, and she likely had entirely different ideas about all that, given her room didn't even feature a bed, exactly.

Or maybe I was just grumpy two of my wives were using dead trees and cloth instead of something better.

Beeps was at my side, near the door. We knew from experience it was always best to have an escape route in these situations.

Charlotte, meanwhile, seemed to have taken her cue from Beeps, setting herself up on the opposite side of the door, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and with one knee lifted high, her foot resting against the wall. I couldn't deny it looked heroic and cool, but I didn't think she could really receive her gift from there, so I doubted Faust would be satisfied.

Samael was, of course, nearby Charlotte, but not so close she could reasonably complain, in their unending, unacknowledged, and unthawingly frosty game of "I'm not touching you!' 'She's touching me!' 'I'm not touching you~!".

Sometimes I wondered what the difference between adults and children was meant to be, exactly, and if anyone actually knew.

Perhaps most worryingly though, was Akubra.

She was front and center, by far the closest to Faust, although against the left wall, so as not to block our view. She was twirling something in her fingers, it looked like a inkpen, of all things. Whatever that was about, that she was here at all had my hackles up. I'd come to love and respect her, but she never seemed to be around when things were going smoothly.

"Okay," I said, with saintly patience, "We're all here, we're all ready, and we're all waiting, Sally."

She frowned at me. Cutely, it must be said.

"So impatient. Have you no sense of gravitas?" She floated in front of the curtain, gently bobbing up and down, her tail whipping back and forth excitedly. She had, at some point, gotten a new cloak, the material higher quality than I'd yet seen on anyone, the interior lined with uncountable feathers, and she was wrapped in bandages much like Charlotte's.

The way the feathers twitched and the bandages swayed, I wondered if they were somehow alive. She'd mentioned something about that. Had she had the time yet, or was it my imagination?

Whether or not they were moving, they were covering her more completely than her old cloak had done, even if the effect left little to the imagination. I thought Charlotte ought to appreciate that at the very least, she'd made a token attempt to clothe herself.

She cleared her throat.

"Charlotte," she began, "Do you recall, some days ago, when you fought the dread Dragon, Thagolynn? That battle which shook the hearts of many, myself included in their number?"

Charlotte nodded, warily. "I don't 'shake hearts', but I also don't fight Dragons often enough to just forget one."

Had it already been that long? Last night had been her third night with us, even if the first day hadn't really counted. I needed to pick up the pace if I wanted to convince her to stay.

"What you may not know," Faust said, clearly relishing the attention, "Is that she was unsatisfied with her loss that day."

Charlotte scoffed, and Faust grinned.

"My thoughts on the matter precisely." She wiggled her hips, lightly. "No one who saw that fight could have taken anything from it other than your utter domination of her on her own terms."

She paused.

"No one, it seems, except the woman herself. Since your bout, she has been stalking the streets, interrogating those who claimed to have seen you, trying to pinpoint your location. She has not been gentle, and many an innocent Incubus or Mamono has been harmed in her pursuits. Admittedly, none beyond repair, but…"

I spoke up. "What are we doing about that? We can't leave that be."

I had a sort of magical interest in protecting Charlotte from harm, but even more than that, it wasn't right running around beating on people, and I didn't want to live in a place that allowed that kind of thing.

She smiled at me, like the old times. Like whenever I'd gotten myself to a point she was trying to lead me to, but before she'd expected.

"Indeed. Queen Twinkle Star," I noticed Charlotte as she scowled, "was not impressed with this behavior, and in one of our weekly consultations of the Founders, she sought advice and solutions from us, her court."

"Her court? Your role as the… 'Human Founder'?" Charlotte asked.

Faust frowned. "I prefer to be referred to as Majestic Nemesis or Arch Heretic, actually."

Of course you do.

"In any case." She said, "The title is essentially just that. I could likely have a fancy dress prepared, but my own sense of style is nearly incompatible with such things." She means she's basically nude all the time. "Other than our door here at the center of town, and the Queen's own ear, being a Founder is merely a matter of broad respect."

"We got a discount too!" Blackberry said.

"Ah yes." Faust said, dubiously. "The so-called 'Founder's Right'. If I ever have need of the baubles those in the city produce and sell in their free time, I shall, I'm sure, be quite pleased to obviate the need to haggle."

"Free time?" Samael asked.

"Indeed." Faust said. "Or did you think there was truly sufficient demand for artisanal crafts within one city-state that so many businesses could be sustainably run when the only customers are artists themselves? Past a certain point you might as well try to sell your leg hair. We have far fewer needs, and more free time to achieve them. Indeed, with the proper tools properly placed, a husband and wife can sustain themselves on merely the byproducts of their time together. Sustainability is admittedly not the same as comfort or luxury, but it makes an excellent foundation."

"So all those people on the street are selling their art as, like, a hobby?" I asked.

Faust frowned at me.

"I have gathered you here to present a gift, not a lecture on economics," she said, "I suspect you are stalling, my love."

Ah. Guilty.

With my questions quelled by a feeling of sheepishness, Faust cleared her throat.

"As I was saying," she continued, "Queen Twinkle Star sought our advice. The nature of Mamono is one of, unfortunately, fundamental imbalance. While those on the street are largely able to handle problems themselves or with a favor from a friend or neighbor, there is not much any but the most powerful can do against a Dragon to curtail the sorts of behaviors she was indulging in. A humble Harpy can do little more than squawk indignantly if Thagolynn were to become physical, and she had been dominating the tournament scene for some time now. Even those more inclined to fight back had likely already been shown the futility of it."

She began to pace while floating, a sort of back and forth that looked even more dramatic as her cloak and bandages twirled at each sharp turn.

"She is no fool, and avoided those more capable of tangling with her, however…" She paused. "I and the other founders are precisely the sorts of individuals most able to handle her."

Charlotte scoffed.

Faust looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"You're powerful, but you can't expect me to believe you can best a Dragon. They're on another level."

Faust smiled thinly. "For you, perhaps. I can touch her, however, and I am already dead. There is nothing left on this planet I need to fear. Even a second death would be at most a temporary setback."

Don't say it.

She took in a breath.

Oh Lord, she's going to do it.

She opened her mouth. "Don't you see, foolish hero? I am-"

Uuuugggghhhh.

"-invincible!"

We all were quiet a moment as she basked in our stunned silence. Charlotte looked completely unimpressed, luckily. We need her to be less afraid, Faust, less!

The worst thing was it was it had just enough truth to it that I knew I'd lose the argument if I started it.

Blackberry started to clap and I realized right then that at some point I'd surrounded myself with enough women more on Faust's wavelength than mine that reigning her in was likely a lost cause for the rest of our lives. I had a type, and that type was…

Well, whatever this mess was.

I squelched the weirdly horny feelings that welled up when my wife defied a bona fide Hero right in front of me and pressed on, desperate to end this before I started monologuing too.

"So, you talked to Twinkle Star," I said. "How is this related to the gift?"

She narrowed her eyes at me, but was gracious enough not to continue to revel.

"Indeed I did. Many ideas were floated from those in our meetings, from the frightening to the absurd. An artisanal sadist, requesting a rare canvas; an accomplished sculptor, a statue frozen in time; a medical prodigy, a durable shame cone."

She smiled smugly.

"But none know Twinkle Star as do I. None see what I can see, her vision of Mamonodom. Too wrapped up in their own visions of artistry to perceive the tapestry of life the Queen herself weaves. She has no interest in accepting a loss. No interest in punishing the unruly. She prefers to find a place for them, happy and productive. It is her project, her grand design. Morningwood, her greatest creation, art as alive as her own self. What was needed was not a victory of domination, but of understanding."

What did that mean?

"Dragons are proud. They do not yield in life, excepting in the rarest of circumstances. I could not guarantee such an outcome. However… Life. Life is not my domain."

She ripped the curtain back, revealing…

She laid on a metallic slab, her skin pallid and cold, her eyes closed. Her wings were folded in a chaste manner across her body, hiding what was likely a nakedness she had worn proudly in life. Her hair was brushed, braided into a crown that circled her head, her four horns jutting forward aggressively, anyone she kissed would need to be certain to hold still, lest they cut themselves on the wicked sharpness, She was tall. Strong, well built. Even unmoving, she set me on edge. To be near her was to be threatened. Thagolynn looked pretty good, all in all.

For someone with a head severed at the neck.

I looked around the room. I wasn't sure how I felt, how to deal with what I felt. I did the only thing I could, and checked on the others. After Akubra, Amy was the least surprised. If anything, she looked grimly resolved, as though she'd expected what we'd been shown. Had she found out ahead of time, or had her sense of smell tipped her off? I couldn't say. She seemed almost angry, but at whom, I couldn't say. All that was clear was that this was complicated, as far as she was concerned.

Beeps was impassive as always, though I could hear her gears whirring internally. Even she was processing what she was seeing. How could she have even accomplished this? How could she have done this? I didn't know. Beeps didn't seem to either.

Charlotte and Samael both seemed disgusted, the two mirror each other's expressions in small ways as their shared history led them to the same reaction. I got the sense that perhaps Charlotte would like very much to return her 'gift'. Not that I could blame her. What had she been thinking?

Faust, for her part, was losing her grand stature as it dawned on her that perhaps the rest of us were not enthused to be presented with a decapitated corpse. There was a little bit of self-awareness left inside that empty head of hers, then. I knew I held her soul safely inside myself, or I might, in that moment, have questioned its existence. I felt the warmth, the excitement of it grow colder, more confused.

Good.

As for Blackberry, well…

"Is… is she dead, Sally?"

Was this the first body Blackberry had seen? Had she ever had reason to see the dead before? Certainly not on display like this, like a gaudy toy. It was crushing to see her small, confused posture, the largest of us shrunk in on herself, her light not able to shine brightly enough to illuminate a mood like the one brewing here and now.

"Technically yes." Faust said, starting uncertain, but regaining steam quickly, "However, as a necromancer, to powers such as mine, death is little more than dreamless sleep. Dragons awaken as undead having tasted the flesh of other monsters in the afterlife, they are evermore much more agreeable. I have taken steps to ensure the success of the process, however."

I scoffed, or meant to.

It came out more as a growl.

"I see," I said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "Well that makes it alright, then."

She turned to look at me.

"L-lyle?"

I was boiling.

"In fact," I said, "killing people and remaking them in your image seems like a pretty great solution to all sorts of problems, Sally. Charlotte's proving hard to convince that we're all ultimately harmless, why not flip to the other end of the spectrum and prove her point? Wouldn't she be happier as a Zombie?"

Her eyes widened. "I would never-"

"What would have happened to me, Faust?" I asked, furious, stepping forward. "If I'd trusted you with my body and soul? Would you have 'taken steps to ensure the success of the process'?"

"I-I wouldn't… she's not… you're… she's no one. I… I did this to protect us! You are more important than the universe, she is nothing but a threat to those I, those we, hold dear!"

Wow.

"She's a person, Sally. She has, had, hopes, dreams, and an entire life! People who loved her like we love each other! The world shouldn't be a place where people who love each other squash people who love other people! We're not special alone, we're special together! How could you do this to someone? She's just like us! If you'd known her like you know us, how could it have been different!? She was who she was whether you knew her or not, and so am I! So is everyone! What is wrong with you?"

"I… I…" she struggled for words, her soul roiling inside me. I could feel how upset she was, but I couldn't stop myself. I was so upset. My feelings mattered too. She'd breached a level of trust so fundamental I'd never realized I'd even extended it. On some level I knew my fury was counterproductive, but I just… I just couldn't feel any other way.

"And another thing-!"

A hand alighted on my shoulder, gently, but firmly. I whipped around, not even bothering to open a new set of eyes.

It was Beeps.

No one else it could have been, really.

"Enough."

I started, surprised. Out of anyone, out of everyone, Beeps should understand this best. "Beeps, she-"

"Lyle."

I took a deep breath, forced myself to stop.

"This wasn't right." I said, finally, my back still to Faust, to the room.

"I-I… perhaps… should I simply… should I leave her, Lyle?" Faust sounded lost. "I had not intended murder. She was but to sleep, to awaken to understanding of the very ideas you describe. I… do not know what to do? If I do not resurrect her, then… what have I done?"

Amy spoke, quietly, "Maybe you should have asked that question earlier, Faust. Back at the café?"

There was silence for a moment.

Charlotte spoke next. "Why did you think I would want this?"

Faust spoke again, her voice slightly unsteady. "I thought… I thought, to remove a threat, to provide you a loyal guard, one which would obey you absolutely. Give you power equal to nearly any monster at your fingertips, but without any corruption. I thought to level the playing field, to soothe discomfort. I have… I had… I prepared things such that she should be able to protect you, envelop you as a Will-o-the-Wisp does unto her lover, safe within a cage of bone and fire, to give unto you her head, brought to heel with the insignias of a Jiang Shi, placed upon her forehead. Absolute authority over a creature such as this, no one could make you any safer under your own power. I thought to provide Samael a sexual outlet, that you two could speak again without fear. I had thought to teach this creatu- this woman the same joys I have come to value, I thought she too, would be happier, as I am."

She paused.

"I thought you would be pleased?"

Dammit, Sally. Sometimes you think too much.

"I see." Charlotte said. She looked surprisingly more conflicted than I'd expected. "I… I understand why you did what you did, Sa- Faust."

She does?

"You do?" Faust asked.

Charlotte wore a solemn expression, Samael gazing at her from behind, forlornly. She looked like someone seeing a place where their home had once been, before a fire took it in the night. Unable to separate the lifetime of good memories from the moment of horror.

"Protecting the people that matter from harm." She said. "It's why I do what I do. I protect those who can't protect themselves from the things they couldn't prevent, even with their last breath. It's why I've slain so many. It's why I'll fight you all for my freedom in five days' time. It's not something, though…"

She looked directly at Faust with something closer to kinship than I'd yet seen.

"You have to understand; violence is not a gift. It's not something that can be a gift, Sally. The gift is a non-violent solution, they're so very few in our lives. Violence is our curse, Sally. The last thing we should ever do, when all else fails and other action would only irrevocably harm. It's too easy to become something irredeemably awful, even keeping to that ideal. Was this something you had to do? Was there really no other way? With all your power?"

Sally took in a breath, opened her mouth, but then looked away, breaking her gaze.

Charlotte, if anything, looked more sympathetic. I wasn't sure I understood what was going on between the two of them, but I thought this might be the first time Charlotte had taken the lead of any conversation with us, so I knew enough to stay quiet.

"Maybe it's true that you can bring her back. For a Mamono maybe that really isn't a big deal, I don't know, I don't want to. I do know, though, there's never any excuse that you can let yourself accept that allows you to do anything other than your absolute upmost to make sure that when you strike, it's necessary, and doesn't exceed that necessity. The girl I taught was bright enough to do better."

Amy spoke up, and I was sort of startled. I forgot the room for a moment, just listening to her speak. I guess this was the inspirational might of a Hero.

"She… Thagolynn, she did threaten the lives of innocents. She nearly crushed me to death, and maybe ten others. It was only with Faust's help she was stopped."

Charlotte went to speak, but she was cut off.

"No, that is true, fair Amy, but I planned that meeting with every intention to end her life, it was the plan from the start. It was only under that threat that she became so violent."

She looked at Charlotte.

"That is what you mean, isn't it? That escalation was caused by my own foolishness. If I had not grandstanded, if I had simply… simply set her to sleep in truth before she knew what was coming, those innocents could have been spared peril. By reveling in the violence, I put them at risk?"

"It's a start," Charlotte said, "But a plan should almost never start with 'kill someone', and your pitch to that thing in the castle did. Appeal to those she cares for, if you can't appeal to her. You had other options."

Faust nodded, and looked resolved. Maybe, just maybe, she'd be more responsible in the future? I knew that death… didn't mean the same thing to us anymore, it was impermanent, but… I think Charlotte had hit on the heart of it. There was still no excuse for the violence of it.

"We… we aren't gonna let her stay dead, though," Blackberry asked, "are we, Lyle?"

"No." I said, I heard the anger still tinging my voice, hard and terse. I wasn't sure how to process all of this yet, but it needed to be resolved before I could try, anyway. "What do we need to do to bring her back? What should we expect?"

"She… Dragon Zombies are sexuality incarnate in a way that even Succubi are not. Lascivious, instinctual, almost stupid. Their draconic greed and superiority oriented onto their instincts as a Mamono, they are unstoppable forces of destruction and undeath drawing a line towards the one they are destined for." She paused. "Unstoppable, that is, unless you are yourself even moreso. I am one such. This talisman," she raised her hand, holding an intricately inked piece of paper, "when placed onto her forehead by the one who shall take control, will instead raise her as a Dragon Jian Shi. A type of Zombie, but one for whom obedience is paramount. This should be all that is required, now that the talisman has been prepared.

"The other elements I have introduced into her body, essence of Will-o-the-Wisp, as I stated, should allow Charlotte to wear her body as a sort of draconic armor, like the heroes of old. I thought it apropos. With the head at her hip, and bound to her command, she should be safe from all harms, and Thagolynn herself will not be able to even attempt to disobey." She turned to look at Charlotte, "Her instincts as a Mamono will still need satisfying, however… Samael requires the same. You should be able to set one upon the other, two birds with one stone."

The plan had a certain elegance to it, I had to begrudgingly admit.

"Fine," Charlotte said, stepping forward, "It should be easier to get out of this place with something like that, at least."

Faust's eyes widened.

Mine did too, I hadn't even considered we'd have to fight this thing later.

"Perhaps… perhaps her body does not need nearly so many installed features after all," Sally said, but it appeared the time for discussion was long past.

Charlotte extended her for the talisman, and Sally gave it to her.

"Inscribe your name, and place it upon her brow."

"Do you have a pen?"

"Um." She looked around her room, it was a mess. "It may take me a few minutes to locate one, admittedly."

Seriously, Sally?

"Here's one," Akubra said.

Wait.

A chill ran down my spine. She'd been waiting there. She'd had that pen since the start.

"Hey guys, maybe we should wait a sec-"

Charlotte's fingers brushed Thagolynn's forehead, paper meeting flesh.

Light exploded, and shadows lit aflame.

And the body twitched.

 

[The_Letter_K]

The world was nearly silent as the body thrashed. I might not be a necromancer, not even a novice, but it seemed pretty clear to me this was an incredibly violent process. The noises, gurgles, screeches, and bassy growls highlighted how unnatural the magicks being used here really were. From the sounds alone, it was clear this was a body clawing back to life, no soul yet inside. The violence of the flailing, the wild swinging limbs struggling against the, apparently surprisingly durable, straps holding her down.

It looked, not surprisingly, like a violent death, but this time in reverse.

Charlotte, wisely, had moved back to the wall while the lights and shadows had been doing their bizarre dance, moving as far away from this as she could. Everyone else was transfixed as we watched something that, Lord willing, we'd never have the chance to see again.

Faust had said Dragon Zombies were powerful, stupid, obedient, and horny, owing both to their experiences in the land of the dead, and in the case of the obedience, the control talisman. Any moment now we'd probably be hearing the moans start as the returning tainted soul of Thagolynn took control of her body once again. I'd never been dead, so it was tough to confirm, but I had to assume that overall it was better to be alive, at least, unless you were prepared for the afterlife. Maybe she'd be grateful to be back?

The sound of a deep inhale of breath came from the corpse as the body arched up, the twitches and noises finally, suddenly, ceasing.

"HAHAHA! FUUUUUUUCK YOU!" Shouted the head, as her eyes shot open, her mouth in a rictus grin.

Her body flexed, breaking free of the restraints, and stood, stretching tall and proud.

"That's right, bitches! No one pins Thagolynn!" She yelled, exuberant, as her body began jumping and spinning in circles, seemingly unaware of her audience, "I'm a fucking goddess of destruction! Oh, you thought you had me cornered, thought you finally had me, but guess what jackassesssssssss? Hell! Can't! Hold! ME!"

She punctuated her screams with stomps on the ground as though she were attempting to kick whoever she'd been fighting across dimensions.

Oh boy, this is gonna be one of those days.

"Hey, over here, dumbass!" she said, presumably to her body. It stopped bouncing around in delinquent glee, and swaggered over to her, picking her up and setting her back atop their… uh… mutual neck.

She rolled her shoulders, and turned to face the room.

"Who the fuck are you losers?"

"I'm Blackberry! But… I'm not a loser!" Blackberry said, from her position atop Faust's covers. "You're Thagolynn, right?"

Thagolynn's eyes snapped to our most vulnerable member, but as they did, they brushed past Amy, who was still seated next to Faust's bed. She did a double-take, focusing back in on Amy again after only a glance at Blackberry.

"You." She snarled. Her gaze lashed around the room, settling on Faust. The paper on her forehead danced through the air as she swung her gaze. "Both of you."

Faust, for her part, seemed very confused. She didn't respond to the accusation right away, and I recognized the expression I'd seen far too many times. Eyebrow cocked, lips tight enough to change color, head slightly askew, eyes narrowed, and nostrils flared.

Something had gone wrong.

I was shocked.

Amy, meanwhile, was lenses down. Fran, I suppose.

"Hello creature. Life returns to your body. I see the manners are still missing."

Thagolynn snorted. "Fuck your manners. I'mma shit down your throat." She took a menacing step forward.

Between the two of them, I wasn't sure she was considering whose throat was the more accessible. Her head pops right off. Not that I thought the idea was worth doing, it was just that she needed to choose her threats better.

"Beeps," I said, "If she makes a move, blast her."

Like that. Great threat.

"Affirmative." Her arms snapped up and popped apart, cannons jutting out of them. They began revving ominously.

Thagolynn turned to me and Beeps. "How many of you are there?"

"More than enough," Charlotte said. "So don't try anything stupid."

Thagolynn looked at Charlotte next. If her neck were still attached, I'd be worried about her straining it, snapping her gaze around the way she had been.

Her eyes widened, and I remembered abruptly that Faust had said she'd been hunting her.

I felt a lurch. An itch. A fire inside me.

"I found you!" Thagolynn yelled. "You're mine now, bitch!"

I started bubbling, increasing in size, almost involuntarily.

"YoU wOn'T tOuCh HeR, yOu OvErGrOwN-"

"Is that my baby girl?" a voice cried, just outside the door behind me, "Is that my little Golly?"

…Golly?

Thagolynn's pupils narrowed to slits.

"Mother." She whispered, fearfully. Her head whipped around, looking at all of us in turn. "Hide me!" she hissed.

There was a pause, then the door handle began jiggling. It was locked, but how long could it hold up to whoever was on the other side? Faust's room wasn't meant to hold off an army, the lock had no reason to develop into something that strong.

Blackberry looked between Thagolynn and the door, then patted the bed.

"Here," she said, surprisingly solemnly.

"Not on my bed!" Faust yelled, but Thagolynn wasn't listening, and she leapt into place, hiding behind Blackberry's bulk and trying, failing to get beneath the covers, instead shredding them with her scales.

I guess… someone would have to… replace them.

I shook my head wildly, banishing naughty thoughts, and noticed I was the last one, besides Beeps, anywhere near the door. I picked my loyal maid right up, and slid across the room like ice, putting my back to Faust's tables and myself and Beeps in between Faust and Akubra.

Just in time, too, I heard a small *crack*, and the door opened.

Standing on the other side was…

Thagolynn's mother.

I think I recognized her species?

I'd never seen one in person, they were pretty rare, but she seemed to fit the idea. Her sharp features and black hair reminded me of Thagolynn, but the red hearts seemingly growing naturally as streaks through that hair would have marked her as different from your average Dragon, even if nothing else had. Her four horns, unlike most Dragons, ended in soft tips, and curled up around her face in a way that framed her flushed expression rather pleasingly. The pupils in her eyes were widely dilated, but from what I could see of the edges, they too were heart shaped. Her clothing was tiled pink and white, matching her scales, and her tail appeared to be slick with… something. Something trailing from barely out of sight beneath her blouse. The smell left little to the imagination, she must have been painfully horny. Her wings were curled up around her claws, almost like enormous pockets, and she had two… mouth-tails? Each licking its teeth and lips, drool slowly dripping from their tongues.

A Jabberwock. The Dragon of Wonderland.

As she strode forwards into the room, I felt myself become more aroused just watching. This woman knew how to move her body, or rather, it seemed to be instinctive, but far more effective than anyone I'd yet seen, Twinkle Star excluded. This woman was sex, she knew it, and she was proud.

I was a little jealous.

She smiled at me, indulgently.

"Like what you see, dear?" Her voice was like honey. "I'm the very best there is, no shame in staring."

She was wearing a large, obnoxious, flamboyant, yet well designed…

Sunhat.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Golly? Golly!? I know you're here, baby, Mommy knows your smell! Come on out, dear!"

 

[The_Letter_K]

Thagolynn, Golly, apparently, let out a small groan from her admittedly rather poor hiding place behind Blackberry's barrel. She sat up on the bed, looking towards the door.

"Hello, mother."

Thagolynn's mother continued smiling her warm, indulgent, frightening smile. The mouths on her tails were licking their lips.

"What was that, dear? I couldn't hear you?" She said.

"Oh Lord, please no." Thagolynn whined.

"Mmmm?" Her mother said, or… hummed I guess.

"Hi… Mommy," Thagolynn ground out, her tone was not quite utterly defeated. More someone who was frustrated that there was nothing they could do.

Her mother, meanwhile, let out a squeal.

"Oh, Mommy and her little Golly, her little special girl, together again!" She beamed at her daughter, standing in the doorway.

Standing by the bedside.

Standing in the doorway.

By the… by the bedside?

She beamed at her daughter, standing by the bedside.

My head hurt, a little. Maybe I was getting a headache?

I heard vomiting sounds coming from my left, I focused on one of the eyes on my shoulder, and saw Faust was doubled over on the floor, retching.

I leaned down, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"She's by the bedside." Faust whispered, her breath heavy with acid.

I looked up. So she was.

"Yeah, I guess so?"

"N-never mind. Just my imagination," she said. She said that, but she didn't look convinced.

I put my hand on her shoulder, and she stood, steadying herself against me. I returned my focus to the two Dragons arguing far too close for comfort.

"Mommy…" Thagolynn said, "you're embarrassing me in front of my enemies!"

"Now, Golly," the woman said, "that's not nice. They invited you over to play games on their bed and you're being mean? That's not the cute little hatchling I raised."

Golly's eyes widened, and her hands patted the bed frantically, perhaps realizing for the first time where she was.

"I-it's not like that!" she shouted, leaping out of the bed, "I was just, I was just!"

"Cuddling that sweet Bicorn awful closely~" Her mother said. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Mommy!" Golly said, and she sounded less scandalized and more petulant, "It really isn't!"

Her mother winked at her. "Of course, baby child. Mommy understands. I'll get out of your way."

Her mother, in the doorway, looked at us all warmly. "I'm so glad you all made friends with my Golly. She's been so lonely, the poor dear. I'll be back to check in now and then, so you all play nice and stay healthy~!"

Then as swiftly as she arrived, she was gone.

Tension I hadn't even been aware of bled out of the room, as we all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uuuuuuuugh." Thagolynn groaned, from her position near Faust's bed. "Great. Now I'm stuck with you losers."

"What just happened?" Samael asked.

"I think we just met her mom?" I said, "And I think she liked us?"

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing, though?" Amy muttered, rubbing her forehead.

"Where is Charlotte?" Faust asked, after a moment.

"Under the table." Samael said, pointing to one of the tables holding Faust's experiments, covered with a table cloth. "We should let her come out on her own. Best way to deal with a Wonderlander like that, from her perspective, is to hide and pretend they aren't there. She probably can't hear us right now, and poking at her while she's cutting off her senses is just going to lead to her defending herself on reflex."

I raised my eyebrow. "The military trains you to cower under a table and cover your ears if you see a Wonderlander?"

Samael nodded. "It seems silly, but you can't engage with something like that, it only encourages it. Best you can do is hope it isn't here for you and avoid drawing attention."

"It won't work," Golly said, forlornly. "You don't understand. We're friends now."

"What do you mean?" I asked, "You were threatening us just a minute ago."

She glared at me. "If I try to leave, do you know what's going to happen?"

"Uhh… Well I mean I thought you were supposed to be like… a mindless sex zombie or something? I'm not really clear on anything that just happened. So no, I guess not?"

She growled. "Mindless sex zombie?" She looked at Faust. "That was your plan? Turn me into a Dragon Zombie for Charlotte to play with?"

Faust looked away, at the corner of the room. "She needed a loyal body guard and you needed to quit being a nuisance. It was an elegant solution, had it worked."

She paused.

"And, I'll note, we do not yet know if you are disloyal. You have received nary an order. You are just vexatiously more obnoxious than I'd hoped."

Thagolynn's eyes narrowed, crossing to look at the paper on her forehead. From here I could read the script written on it. 'Charlotte Francesca Abernathy'. She yanked on it, and it came off easily.

Faust chuckled, "A bit late for that, I am afraid. That was merely the completion of the spell, not the spell itself. You are a Jiang-Shi, and you are bound to Charlotte, although your willfulness is… unexpected. The paper itself means nothing."

I sighed. "Look, this has been a lot. Like, a lot a lot. Can we figure this out later?"

Golly collapsed back onto the bed. "Fine, whatever. Not like I've got anywhere better to be."

"Oh right," I said, "You said you can't leave. Why?"

"If I go out, if I try to run, she's going to be waiting." Thagolynn said, exhaustedly. "The first door I go through will lead me home. After that, she'll embarrass me for hours and let me go, and I'll wind up right back here. There's no escape until she gets bored of this."

Ah. Wonderland, right.

"Well…" I said, "We'll do what we can to make you feel welcome until then."

"Oh great," she said, "pity from the liquid doormat, just what I needed."

I took a deep breath. I didn't have time for this, I had an AlpAnon meeting to get to, it was only my second one, I couldn't miss it.

"Look," I said, "Mope if you want, I need to get going."

"I'm a dragon! I don't mope!" She shouted, as I walked towards the door.

My exit broke up the meeting, and others followed me out. It was probably going to be a while before we really understood what had just happened, but I guess things had sort of worked out?

Maybe?

It's a good thing I was going to get a chance to decompress. Hopefully it went better than last time did.

 

[The_Letter_K]

I didn't really have a morning routine, anymore, besides going on a run with Amy. Unfortunately, there was no point in washing up or getting dressed, since I was both the wash and the dress, and double unfortunately, we'd spent long enough in there I didn't think we had time for a run this morning.

Even if I couldn't make time for the run, though, I couldn't have been happier to have escaped that situation. If I'd still been breathing, I just knew a heavy sigh of relief would have been visiting me several times over the next day, just from the memory.

As it was, I mimed one, just for the catharsis.

I'd sat near our central table, the main fixture of our living room, trying to gather myself for the next AlpAnon meeting. Heh. These days I literally had to gather myself. I wonder if bits of me would ever actually run away?

I shook my head, clearing the nonsense out. Too many Wonderlanders lately.

I wasn't sure what to do about everything that had just happened. Sally… on the one hand, I was furious with her. On the other… it was kind of like being angry at the ocean for being full of water. If it weren't, it wouldn't be the ocean. As much as I wanted to scream forever about this, it's not like this behavior was new. Just… amplified, now that we'd lost the constraints of humanity. I'd fallen for her knowing who and what she was, and while I had a right to be angry for what she'd done, I couldn't lose sight of the reality. She'd do something like this again, eventually.

You have to take the good with the bad, when you love someone. It was my job, as her wife, to make sure her thoughtlessness didn't hurt anyone, just like it was hers to make sure I did things for myself, reached beyond my grasp. I was meant to be moderating her, and she challenging me. At least, that's how I always thought of it. It's easier to say that than to do it, but that's what it means to grow together, right?

As for Thagolynn… well, it was at least kind of nice to have someone in the house I wasn't likely to wind up sleeping with. What an aggravating lady. And her mother… Lord… what kind of life is this that I have to deal with something, someone, like that?

I mimed another sigh. It helped, a little.

With everyone off doing their own thing, each trying to deal with what had happened their own way, and with my own looming lateness, I finally stood and walked out the door.

It still hurt a little, going out by myself. It felt wrong. I wasn't someone meant to be alone. A Shoggoth, generally, is incomplete without someone else, and while I was maybe more independent than most, it still held true, in a way. Perhaps it always had?

Regardless, this was something no one else could really help me with, so going alone made sense. …Maybe next time I could walk over with Blackberry and let her shop while I met with the group? That was a good thought. Comfy. I'd have to remember it.

The walk wasn't far, not that anything really was, from our centrally located home. It was also, maybe, that what I'd considered a short walk to be had changed, some. I no longer tired, and moved faster in the first place. A leisurely walk in my old body had been far slower than I walked now, and then considering I never fatigued, the longer the walk, the better I did than my old self would have done.

Even still, the building was close. It was a meeting hall, it made sense for something like that to be more central, and it was only about two rings out from the palace ring. My own house was in between the palace and first rings, so walking along it until I reached the closest point to the building and then walking down the connecting street to the second ring took maybe five minutes, walking from that intersection to the meeting hall itself another two, maybe less.

Like the castle, it was a historical building, actually physical, at least to an extent. The hallways and the large stadium remained untouched, but the side-rooms; the meeting rooms, offices, and such, had had their doorways reframed long ago with the more modern doors that made up my own home. Still, it did mean the building looked quite distinct in its own way, one of the few fixtures not constantly being torn down and reconstructed so that the façade fit some new artistic fancy or trend.

That meant it had a more… practical look than a lot of its surroundings. Brownish tan brick, regular, rectangular sections that held the remnants of the old physical rooms hidden behind the new doors, preserved for historical purposes, and a much larger ceiling over the area where it was plain, even from the outside, that the stadium was housed inside.

That's not to say that it wasn't well crafted, the architect had clearly been quite skilled, even at the time of construction, even back before the Queen's feedback loop. A material I didn't recognize was used for roofing, and it shone as it caught the light of the morning. I'd also been told the way the stadium was set up, it helped a respectful audience to be able to hear even the slightest whisper from the stage. Something like that was honestly more impressive to me knowing it had been physically built, rather than magically imagined.

Perhaps that was why it was preserved?

As I entered the room we'd used last time, I saw Nicole at her desk, and waved at her, somewhat cheerily. She waved back, her cheeks red, likely drunk again. Or… would it be 'again' if she just never stopped being drunk in the first place? Probably not, and she probably hadn't, so… Either way, I couldn't exactly meet her eye, what with her blonde bangs covering them entirely, but I felt a recognition pass between us anyway. We weren't close exactly, but even just having met her the once, I'd probably say hi on the street, if I saw her. She looked like she'd gotten a tan. Some time at the beach, maybe? She seemed the type.

I sat down, noting I was one of the last to arrive, the perils of living so close. Always sure I could make it quickly enough that I never budgeted my time properly. It exasperated Beeps to no end. It wasn't easy to tell, but I knew her. Plus, now that my ears were better, I could almost swear I could hear her gears spin up when she gets excited. Far too quiet for human ears, but her the deeper more intricate parts of her clockwork did make noise, just not as much as the more obvious stuff.

As the final people filtered in, and took their seats, Nicole kicked off the wall, sliding out from behind her desk on a chair that rolled along the ground. She stood up, and waltzed around the circle of chairs, arms swinging lackadaisically.

"Welcome back ladies," she said, and the smarm in her voice would have set me on edge not long ago. I saw a few of the Alps shuffle uncomfortably. There were more Succubi than anything else, but Alps could come about from any kind of communicable monstrous form. We had a Werewolf this week, even. I didn't expect that one to last long, Werewolves had some of the strongest instincts driving them together into cohesion, but maybe she could find a pack to run with that hadn't turned her, at least, if she could resist long enough.

On that note, no sign of Dylan.

She continued, "You all know why you're here! You're too cute to be anywhere else now, and you're afraid you might be dangerous to the ones you care about!"

She paused, drawing in a lazy breath. Her curled horns had gold filigree on them, I noted, as she passed close by. I might ask her where she got that done, it was striking and went well with her blonde hair.

"You're right, of course." She smirked. "Odds are good that if you don't have someone already, that someone you're hoping to protect will be cuddling you in bed before long. We're monsters! Mamono! We are dangerous, but it's not something to hide from.

"The mere idea of being fucked is what brought you here. That's how powerful it is. Your urge to revel in pleasure drove you across the city, bright and early, through unfamiliar territory, past people you'd have fled from maybe even only yesterday. You're looking for a trick, a cheat, a way out. But ladies, there's no way to get outside of yourself, except to share your heart with someone else. You are a monster, you will have sex, you can't resist it any better than breathing, you just don't know it yet. The only choice you have left is the how.

"Are you," she said, sitting down backwards in her chair, the backrest clutched against her chest, "are you going to fight? Do you want to? Have you ever heard of an Alp that lasted? I was an Alp myself, if they existed, I'd have met them. The ones who fight the longest, a month, two? That's where a lot of the invading monsters come from, the ones that run into the human lands like animals, the ones you've always feared. They're the ones who lose control of themselves in the streets, and hunt down someone from their past to have and to hold, eyes wild and mouth foaming.

"You know as well as I do that's likely to get you killed, depending on where you go, and you ain't going to Heaven anymore. If you don't manage to snare who you're hunting before they burn you alive, you'll be down in Hell alone and starving, and you'll be left to beg attention from someone who already has more than enough wives to feed. There's no such thing as a single man down there, and if you've let yourself go that crazy, dying's not going to fix it. You won't come back to yourself until you're satisfied, and who knows where you'll end up?"

The room was silent.

"That's the prize you're fighting for. That's all resisting will earn you."

She sighed, and rubbed her forehead.

"I don't want that for you. No one here in this city does. We understand that you're afraid, we do. But don't let that fear chase you into a corner. Find someone in the city you like, even if it's here in this room, even another Mamono is fine. Take them to bed. Let your body have what it needs, and it won't take it by force. You can have a life close to the one you always planned for. You just have to choose it."

No one said anything, and only a few of us would even look at her, myself included.

She sighed.

"Go around the circle, introduce yourselves, talk about how things have been since you turned, or since you were last here. We have a guest speaker once you're done. Maybe she can get through to you."

 

[The_Letter_K]

The guest speaker, a gorgeous Selkie named Marina, had had quite a bit to say, after being ferried in on an army of what were apparently her personal maids. I got the sense a lot of the speech was aimed at folks here who hadn't quite experienced things the way I had, I was kind of a special case, but one sentiment in particular did stick out, even if I wasn't sure what to think of it.

"You can be a girl," she'd said, "Your body a girl's body, your mind a girl's mind. You just have to want it."

It was a novel thought. I knew that I'd physically transformed, had become lady-shaped, and I'd expected, I guess, that at some point I'd become a lady myself, it seemed like the way things were going, but the process had been… opaque? Far away? Not really something I worried about. And, to be fair, I'd had a lot more disruptive changes, I was a grime-hungry slime demon, I liked forging contracts with trapped heroes and nibbling on floor tiles. Being distracted by that stuff seemed, if not normal, at least expected.

But I hadn't really… I hadn't been bothered by the lady-shapedness. The idea that I had to eat male spirit energy, sure, but I wasn't like… unaware there were women out there only attracted to other women. The two things weren't the same. Was the difference between me and a lady just… was it really so slim?

I'd started to think of myself as a Slime, and I certainly was, I thought of the horns on my head as mine, and it felt true that they were, but… while I'd called my body lady-shaped, I'd not really inhabited that headspace the same way.

Was it something I wanted to do? That I was an Alp at all suggested the answer was yes, but… Could I really just flip a switch like that? Think of myself as a lady, and in so doing, be one? What was the difference, really, if not just that thought? Taking comfort in the role, I guess? Could the desire to be a woman be so simple?

If I were a woman, what would be different?

I guess… if I were, and I were owning it, proud of it? I might stop wearing this robe, dress a little less like I was hiding from everyone. Would I feel less weird about eating men? I didn't think so. I'd be a lesbian, right? Can you still be someone's husband if you're a lesbian? I wouldn't want to take that away from the women in my life that I love. I guess if I say so, and my wife says so? Who else would have the right to argue?

I wouldn't… start playing with dolls or anything? Did I know any women who did? …Actually, if Beeps counted as a doll then maybe I was the biggest fan of dolls I knew.

So then, what was the difference? Between me and a woman? If it wasn't anything, then… what?

The question gripped me as I walked home, thoughtlessly flowing around the crowds. Maybe I should ask someone. But who? Faust? She'd set out to turn me into a lady from day one. I knew what she'd say. Beeps? A good sounding board, but Beeps' devotion would probably remain if I were a toad, much less a woman. She was completely uninvested in the answer. Blackberry had been proudly proclaiming me as "her husband who turned into a lady but it was okay because we still loved each other" since before I even realized there was a question. For her, this wasn't complicated, and I wasn't sure she could explain how she felt in a way I could understand, even if the support meant everything.

Amy, of course, but I leaned on her for this kind of thing a lot. I might ask her, but she didn't have the wildly outside perspective I needed. Akubra, on the other hand, had too much of it. I didn't know Samael at all, and while Charlotte might have been otherwise ideal, the things she was going through right now made me think it was a bad idea.

That left Magenta, who, if I recalled right, had wanted to see me anyway, for something unrelated? I'd been meaning to drop by, maybe now was the time. I didn't think she was like… a great source to get answers like this from, but there's something to be said for asking someone you're likely to disagree with what they think about something. Sometimes that can help you form your own thoughts. And besides, even if maybe I shouldn't, I liked Magenta.

That decided, I abruptly was facing the other direction, and walking the other way. I had eyes across my body so it didn't really require any reorienting, but a few people in the crowd seemed bothered when a new face flowed out of the back of my head, and the old one fell away under my hair. My horns sort of rolled around like a plate dropped on the floor, and I was off, headed towards Magenta's warehouse. I'd have to figure out where she lived one of these days, but she spent a lot of her time at the warehouse anyway, so the need wasn't exactly pressing.

The trip to the studio warehouse was rather short, as it was itself centrally located in the city, if slightly further out than my home and the town hall. Anemone, the Kraken receptionist, was waiting when I entered, although presumably not specifically for me. She was huge, her torso was as big as my entire body, and her tentacles were far longer than humanoid legs, making her overall even larger than a human her size would have been, and it wasn't close.

Heck, her head by itself was about the size of my torso. She had shoulder length blue hair, wore presumably decorative spectacles, and had white, almost rubbery skin, like a whale's, which turned blue towards the tips of her fingers, tentacles, and her ears. She was covered all over with black markings that accentuated the femininity of her gigantic form, and it wasn't clear to me if they were natural or tattoos.

She waved to me as I entered, "Hey, Lyle!"

"Hey, Anemone, how are things here?" I asked.

She smiled. "Because we brought them here, Lyle."

I closed my eyes briefly, centering myself. It had the effect of making me look disapproving, and also helping me to avoid snickering at her ridiculous wordplay. It was a constant habit of hers, and she clearly didn't need encouraging.

Judging by the smirk on her face, she was used to this tactic, though.

"Hey, Anemone?" I asked.

"Mmm?"

"Do you have some sort of… underwater tunnel?" I asked.

"Oooh~ you want to know about my underwater tunnel, honey?~" She giggled.

I stumbled, metaphorically. "I-I meant… you aren't stuck in there, right? You can go home?"

Her smirk softened, she looked… genuinely touched. "Ah… yeah, I can. I can go to the park too, although…" and her smile broadened again, "I can actually walk on land if I want, as myself or in human form, if I like, you know?"

I nodded, thoughtfully. "Actually, do you shrink down, if you make yourself look human?"

She laughed. "No, I run around full-size, actually. The folks in the cities never suspect."

I paused, then shook my head, ruefully. "That makes sense. I don't know why I'm surprised, I can actually make myself bigger too, at this point."

A sudden light shone in her eyes. "Can you now?"

I paused, then smiled. "Well, no, not right now, there's not enough room!"

Her eyes widened, and then she laughed, long, hard, and loud. It was an incredibly honest laugh, one without consideration of those around her, no self-consciousness. Passionate.

"I like you, Lyle. Let me know if you ever need swimming lessons, okay? I'd hate to see you drift apart in the water because no one taught you how to keep yourself together."

My eyes widened, and I asked, slightly shaken, "Does that happen?"

Her eyebrows waggled, "You never know. Either way, I'd love to spend all day correcting your form~. Now go on in, honey. Magenta's been eager to see you."

She put down her hand and I stepped into the palm, letting her ferry me across the moat that separated the rest of the studio from the public waiting area.

It wouldn't do to keep Magenta waiting.

 

[The_Letter_K]

The 'communication' room in Magenta's warehouse was smallish, and the floor was oddly padded, cushioned. The walls, and the ceiling too, judging by the look of them. Any furniture that might normally have been in here had been removed. It was uniformly dark, demonic purple, and lit from no apparent source. Besides Magenta and myself, who were only really peeking in through the doorway, there was one other occupant.

In one corner, doing her best to pretend she didn't exist, was a normal, human woman.

She was damn near the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Naked, sure, but her breasts were smallish, slightly uneven. She was doing her best to cover both of them, as well as her crotch. Her black hair was matted, sweat-slick, and the sweat had gathered on her darkly tanned olive skin, as well. She was shaking terribly as she glared at us, brown eyes hateful and fearful both. She was covered in small imperfections, skin scarred, or pocked, a mole on one arm, some little acne on her back. Her ribs were starting to show.

Not traditionally what you'd think of as beautiful.

But fuck me if she wasn't anyway. I hadn't seen anyone like her in ages, and certainly not since I'd Alped. Except Charlotte, of course, but her collar protected her from our senses. I couldn't tell how corrupted she was or wasn't. This woman though? She'd barely taken in any demonic energy at all. She was so… so pure, so… empty. Wow…

I turned to Magenta, frowning, tearing my eyes away from the woman, doing my best to ignore the effort that took. I had a sneaking suspicion where this was going, and I didn't like it.

"Well? She's fucking hot, right? Doesn't she just get you going?"

I wanted to agree. She was. She did.

Instead, I said, "What did you say to her? She looks terrified." I tried to frown, tried to ignore the woman all my senses were screaming at me about.

Magenta smirked at me. "The truth. That I was gonna bring another Demon to meet her, that's you, by the way, and that you were gonna show her her new religion."

I stared at her, gormlessly.

"You know? Fucking? Her new religion is sex." Magenta added, when I failed to jump the woman.

"…No, I… I understood that when you implied it… I just… Is this how you do things? You lock women in rooms and do sex at them until they like it?"

Magenta frowned. "Well, no. There's usually a lot more to it when I do it for me, but I wanted you to have space to find your own technique. It's a very personal thing, the first time you turn someone. It's important to do it however feels right for you."

Well… shit.

Magenta smirked at me as I quickly shut the door and turned to her, livid.

"No. No, I'm not doing this. Not participating in this… this thing you do." Even though I want to. Even though my instincts screamed. "I'm not sure why you thought I would!" I lied, brazenly. The anger helped to sell it, I hoped.

She got right up in my face, her skin smelling slightly of something floral. Her breath, however, smelled like cum.

It made me hungrier.

"Lyle, honey," her tail slid up the outside of my thigh, not quite enough pressure to break my surface tension. Teasing me with the potential penetration. "You're going to have to do this eventually."

I crossed my arms. It felt petulant more than indignant. "That's not true. I… have to eat, yeah, but… she's not food."

"She's the best kind of food, Lyle. Food for the soul."

Her tail slid to the inside of my thigh. My own started questing in a similar way across her body. I had a lot more control over myself than I would have as an Incubus, but it's still less than I'd had when I was fully human.

"Turning women into monsters is what we're for, Lyle. It's what a Demon is, what it means to be like us. Our souls screamed out to the Demon Lord and she gave us the power to enact our wildest fantasies, and now we return the favor. That girl in there, she thinks she hates us, that's she's terrified, but she's wrong, she's just sad, just repressed. A taste of pleasure will break that barrier down and she'll be grateful you did it. It'll be like nothing you've ever felt, I promise."

I sighed, opening the door again. I wasn't going to get anywhere talking to Magenta, she was a zealot, but I could try talking to her, at least. "Okay, okay just… just stay outside. You can watch from out here."

Magenta drew herself up indignantly before a small smile slowly crept onto her face. She became visibly more aroused as it did, the tiny slice of fabric covering her crotch soaking further, and her nipples tightening as her entire body flushed from its normal blue to a slightly darker purple.

"So you want to be alone with her, do you? You little minx. Alright, just remember, you can't pussy out. If you leave the room without her undying devotion, I'll make her regret it."

The woman in the corner whimpered a little. I grimaced in sympathy. Magenta was mostly talk, she just… liked to create a certain atmosphere. But that atmosphere could be scary enough on its own, and at the end of the day, while I wasn't certain she meant it, she might well carry through; after all, she was still a monster.

But, then again… So was I.

Steadfastly ignoring the dripping sensation trailing down my legs, I waited for Magenta to leave, before I sat myself down in to the opposite corner from the woman, and settled in for the long haul. The damndest thing was that Magenta or not, this woman wouldn't make it out of the city. Even if I took her by the hand and led her out, while somehow resisting pinning her down myself… and just the thought of that was getting me wet, so I didn't think it was super likely, but even if… well, there were more than enough Mamono giving off more than enough energy that the passive corruption alone meant she'd monsterize before we reached the city limits.

Magenta apparently carried her in by air, but I wasn't dumb enough to think I could put her body that close to mine with any kind of restraint.

The point was, once way or another, she was as good as done. That probably wasn't going to lift her spirits if I said it out loud, but Magenta probably already told her, frankly. She'd have done it just to see the look on her face, both now, and when she was thanking her for it later, after her transformation.

I sat in the corner, considering my approach and avoiding looking at her, both to seem less threatening, and to let myself cool down a little. I tried to match her posture, somewhat, but putting my hands anywhere near my breasts was a terrible idea at the moment. My pussy was desperate for something, anything to touch its over-sensitive skin, so I fought to keep it from so much as brushing the floor. It was really odd to me that that part of me was any more sensitive than the rest, given that I was slime everywhere, not just there, and I could actually probably make a vagina appear anywhere I wanted, but dwelling on thoughts like that tended to just make me more sensitive everywhere else, rather than provide any relief for my arousal, so…

Ultimately, I suspected that I not only failed to mirror her properly, but that I also looked kinda stupid.

I looked over at her, self-consciously.

Yep. She's staring.

I blushed. "Sh-shut up." I muttered, feeling a little petulant. "I'm trying to be less horny, it's… just not working very well."

She looked away, and so did I. A steady dripping sound echoed as the silence stretched.

Fuck I'm horny.

I waited a little longer, before giving up, and fidgeting, starting to switch my position. Her eyes tracked me as I moved, cautious, alert… which meant she had a great view when I slipped in a puddle of my own cum, and splashed my slimy ass down on to the floor, collapsing into a sad, sopping, formless mess. I jiggled there grumpily for a few moments, embarrassed, and not eager to reform. I still had a vague sense of my surroundings, but I really didn't want to see the look on her face right now.

Eventually, though, I bubbled back up, facing my corner, so I didn't have to look at her.

"Please don't laugh."

"…You're a Slime? I thought you were a Demon?" She asked, quietly.

"Technically…" I said, "technically I'm an Alp."

"Oh. Oh. I… see." She sounded… sympathetic? "So when she said I was your first…"

I turned around, slowly. "Yeah, I… I've been putting it off."

"Oh." She said. We both fell silent again. Alps were pretty commonly known to adapt slowly to being a Monster. It's one of the reasons they're so well known, despite being kinda rare. It was judged important that people know that it can happen to men too, and not to trust them if it did, no matter how clear-headed they seemed. We all fall eventually. I'd hold myself back as long as possible, but… this room was about as sealed as things could get. Just my passive demonic aura would 'cook' her eventually, and… once she got hot enough, she'd beg me to take her. I'd be able to resist that for… probably ten seconds, maximum.

"For what it's worth," I said, "I really am sorry."

She was silent for a while, then, "It… isn't worth much. But… I think I do believe you. …For whatever that's worth."

Not a lot.

"Why, uh… why don't you tell me a little about yourself? We both know where this is going to go, but… there's no reason not to be friendly until then, right?"

She gave me a look. One that screamed; 'I'd rather gnaw off my left arm'.

"Not… not to put too fine a point on it, but it isn't like you have to worry about me capturing you when your guard's down."

She choked out a surprised, bitter laugh, nearly falling over from the involuntary response, then she sighed, her glare softening a little. "…I guess not."

I waited another few minutes while she gathered herself.

"My name is… Elsie." I flinched.

Magenta had hunted down a name she knew I'd have history with, the same name as the girl from the dream, the one Magenta herself had failed to turn into a Demon, the one who'd been fucking multiple men at once. 'This is what's at stake', I could almost hear her say, 'so, don't fuck it up.'

Elsie continued, "I am… I was a student at a magical college in Chalté. Not studious enough to identify a disguised Demon, I suppose."

Magenta was a pretty strong Demon anyway. Being that she had an empire built on supplying sexual fantasy dreams to the masses and all.

"I… I grew up on a farm. I accidentally turned one of our pigs blue, and… well, the guards passed it up the chain. Studying to be a mage for the crown isn't a bad life, and I was able to send some money home, to friends and family…"

She looked for a moment like she might be overcome. Family, friends, maybe even someone she liked…? Not the sort of thing that's comforting in a situation like this. Any other time sure, but… by this time tomorrow she'd be plotting to fuck at least one of the people on that list, statistically.

I tactfully avoided saying that aloud.

"I'd been doing that for some time when, well…" She paused. "You said you're an Alp?"

I nodded, not wanting to interrupt while she actually talking to me.

"So you'd know, then." She said, "It's just… it's so hard to keep to what they tell you to. I felt so closed in, so controlled. I needed a place where I could let the pressures out…"

She looked at me, frustrated.

"So I went somewhere I knew I shouldn't have. A bar, on a bad side of town."

Ah. Yeah, that'd do it.

From the look she gave me, I knew I'd let my understanding show.

"Yeah, I guess I was too tempting a target. Someone routinely inside castle grounds security, out and about on her lonesome. It didn't happen the first time, or the fifth, but eventually, she found me."

I frowned, nodding.

"Did she get you too?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Love of my life came back from the dead. A Lich."

Her eyes widened. Liches had a reputation.

"Oh." She said.

"Yeah, nothing I could do. In my grief, nothing I wanted to. Not that I regret it, I admit." I smiled lightly, but she wouldn't meet my eye.

She shuffled lightly, sitting a little more comfortably rather than crouching. Now that she was leaning back against the wall, her legs, knees, and feet were sufficient to protect her modesty, and she freed up her arms.

"So…" I said.

"So." She said.

"I… um…" I continued, awkwardly. "There's uh… well, there's a couple way this can go."

She stared at me, unimpressed.

"I mean; I assume… I assume you don't want to let yourself go wild?" I ventured, carefully. "We could just… sit here until you turn, but you'd be a Succubus. You know what that means."

She glowered. "That wouldn't be me."

"I…" This was hard. "I don't think that's quite true. We aren't defined by our limitations, at least, not alone. We're also defined by the things we can do. Just because… you'd lose some limitations you've placed on yourself, that doesn't mean you'd become less yourself. At least, I don't think so."

She stayed quiet.

"I… When Sally came back from the dead, she was a little different, a little more aggressive, but still the woman I knew. I wouldn't have gone with her if I didn't believe that." I continued. "The thing is, the difference between what she did, and what happens to a lot of women, is that instead of letting the pressure mount until she broke, she found a way to redirect it towards her own aims."

I smiled.

"She's good at that."

Elsie narrowed her eyes at me. "You think I should lean in."

I hesitated. "I think… I think you could. If this is going to happen either way, why not try to guide it? If you're lost outside in the woods, you don't just… lie down, do you? You do something to turn it to your advantage. The trees can be shelter, with a little work. If you know what to look for, you can find food and water. Maybe you can't get out on your own, but… that doesn't mean it's over, does it? Some people live out there quite happily, you know?"

She huffed.

"Well," I said, "Think about it. If you have to cross a river, you don't let someone just pick you up and fling you in, you plan a crossing and you take some tools and you wind up exactly where you mean to. If you fight all the way up to the end, the snap as it overtakes you is going to be more dramatic, you'll be flung into the deep end by the sheer force of it, and when it washes you away, who knows where you'll come up for air? You can pick your place and wade in, though. There's still a chance you'll get swept up, but… That chance is better than nothing, right?"

Her shoulders sagged, just a little.

"This transformation will define you if you let it." I said, "so define it first."

She looked up at me, and I thought, maybe, I'd made a connection there, touched on something real, something even I was struggling with.

"And," I said, with renewed vigor, "You don't have to do it alone. I want to help you through it, and out the other side, if you'll have me."

Oh!

"Sorry, I forgot! Let me introduce myself."

I stood up, walking slowly closer, and held out my hand.

"Hi, Elsie, it's nice to meet you. My name is Lilac."