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Okay, I know I should be working on many other stories...but I love Helluva Boss, and after someone already did a Loona de-aging fanfic (that sadly had very few canon things there, but it was still a very good story despite that), I had to get on mine, since Loona's my favorite. For those paying attention to Helluva Boss, a fair warning: this story occurs a bit after Loona gets her Hellbies shot, so some of the other things that have happened aren't going to happen in this story. I've taken a few liberties with some of the Sins that haven't appeared and Loona's past as well (as we don't know exactly what happened), so take that into account as well. Anyway, as a warning, this is Hell, so there's going to be a lot of complicated content warnings for this story that I urge you to take heed of in the tags. I promise to warn you when they come, but I do want to warn you ahead of time. Anyway, on with the show! - Chapter One: Expectations. - Octavia was tired of hearing her parents fighting, especially when it involved her. Stolas and Stella - her father and mother - were screeching at each other like homicidal demonic barn owls (don’t ask her how she knew that; some things weren’t meant for living human minds), barely paying attention to her, and yet…custody. Fucking custody. Over her. Just…why? It wasn’t fair. Yes, Loona had said that families were complicated, but this right after she had run away the last time… The owl-like Goetia heiress froze. Loona. The hellhound was definitely a bit rough around the edges, definitely sarcastic and rude, but she could talk to her, maybe? The last time, when she was lost on Earth, looking for a meteor shower she had waited years to see, it had been Loona who found her…and unlocked a side of her she thought was missing. Octavia felt like - in Loona - she had a sister, an elder sister she could confide in, someone braver than she was, someone whom she could…look up to, maybe? Her fucking emotions were getting the best of her, maybe, but hell with it. Lucifer, what if I’m being…no, time to be brave, Via, show Father and Mother what a mistake they’re making. She was going to go to I.M.P., maybe read from the Grimoire, maybe find a way to placate her parents, somehow, maybe talk to Loona, see what she thought. She had no idea Loona was already having a bad day. - Loona was pissed at Moxxie. Fucking fatass (he wasn’t really fat, she admitted to herself, but she needed another reason to hate the smug little prick.) imp was beyond late to work along with Millie, his wife. Bad enough she had five fucking years worth of her yearly Hellbies shot (She hated shots. Shots in the pound usually meant…euthanization for the hellhounds who aged out…like she had nearly been before Blitzo - known to all as “Blitz”; the “o” was silent - had adopted her. Blitz had lied to her twice, by the way: it was not “one little prick”, and her ass was still sore from it, so he lied about not feeling it as well. Thank Lucifer the cone was off, at least.) a week ago, but now he was pacing the halls, trying to figure out where they were. “Goddammit, if you could be any later, Moxxie, I’d need a fucking stopwatch to fucking time you…” Blitz muttered. If his voice didn’t clearly show his annoyance, the tic of him scratching the white and black, curved horns on his bald head certainly did. Loona knew that if the imp paced any more, he was going to wear out the floorboards - and they had survived a fire from hellectric eels (don’t ask), so she personally knew how tough they were to destroy and/or wear out. She flicked her bluish-gray hair fur to one side, her red eyes firmly focused on her most prized possession: her H-Phone 666 LX, a gift to her from Blitz for her twenty-first birthday a year ago. Then Moxxie and Millie broke down the door - quite literally. “You know that’s coming out of your paycheck, fatass,” Loona said, not even looking up from her phone as it played VoxTube videos. No response. She raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t like Moxxie to not defend himself from her taunts. “Okay, why are you two fucking hours late?” Blitz demanded. “We were supposed to be using the Grimoire for our target, and-“ “Sorry, Sir, but…” Moxxie twirled a strand of his white hair nervously (not that Loona was paying any attention or cared what Moxxie thought; it was clearly phone time). “We’re expecting!” Millie finished excitedly in her Wrathian drawl, her yellow eyes gleaming as Moxxie brushed her glistening black hair. “What, like a prize for being late?” Loona snarked, not even looking up from her phone. “No, silly: a baby!” Millie giggled. Blitz’s eyes went as wide as full moons, as he looked at them, doing a double-take at them. “Wha-WHAT?!” he stammered. “So, you were-“ “Well, I took the test, showed red, then went to the doctor who confirmed it!” the female imp gushed with excitement, as Moxxie wrapped his small, gentle arms protectively around his wife’s stomach. “Oh, that’s, uh, congrats!” the head of Immediate Murder Professionals (hence the name “I.M.P.”) said, his eyes gaining a semblance of…warmth? An unfamiliar emotion was growing in the pit of Loona’s stomach. She didn’t know what to call it, but she didn’t like it one bit. “So, Sir, we all have a lot of back pay from our jobs, so…” Moxxie began. “First kid’s always worth a break,” Blitz said with a jovial laugh. “Loony-Toony might have to join us later on while Millie handles the Grimoire, but-“ Loona barely heard the excited imp talking because she recognized a different, yet all-too familiar emotion bubbling up to the surface: anger. The hellhound had a nice job as the secretary of I.M.P. Yeah, going out in the human world for occasional work was fun and all, but her job was simple: open a portal to the human world, listen for when the three imps needed to get back, reopen a portal back. She had a routine. She had time to go on her phone, go to the latest Sinstagram pics and VoxTube videos, get a cup of coffee, and wait by herself, with no one’s problems but her own bugging her. And now this…this was threatening the entirety of that safe routine. And she was realizing the unfamiliar emotion was very familiar, after all: envy. A fucking imp baby with Millie replacing her job, and judging by Blitz’s expression, replace his affection for her. That’s all she was, when it came down to it: replaceable. Even after she told Blitz that she’d be there with him, she was still replaceable. The next words tumbled out of her mouth before she could take them back. “How do you know that they’re telling the truth? I mean, are you sure Moxxie can even have kids?” Loona immediately realized she had said something wrong with the immensely hurt look in Millie’s eyes, a pulsing vein throbbing dangerously in Moxxie’s temple as he drew his pistol, pointed it at her and shouted furiously, “YOU TAKE THAT BACK, YOU BITCH!” But the worst was Blitz looking…disappointed, as he said, “Now, Loony, you need to apologize to Moxxie and Millie.” “How about he apologizes for calling me the b-slur?” Loona snarled at Blitz without even thinking, her rising anger taking over. “LOONA, you will apologize to Moxxie and Millie.” Blitz’s voice was surprisingly stern, even a bit angry - a tone that, to her knowledge, he had almost never taken with her. “Oh, so you can replace me with the little brat, huh, Blitz, be a real dad as you stalk them in their private lives like you usually do? Well, guess what, Blitz: you aren’t a fucking real dad! You aren’t their kid’s dad, and you aren’t my fucking dad either!” She felt a vile concoction of satisfaction and guilt course through her as Blitz looked as if she had hit him. It almost would’ve felt better to her if he had hit her back, if he said anything at all. Even Moxxie was stunned into lowering his gun. “I-is this a bad time?” a new voice asked. Octavia Goetia had made her appearance, all four of them looking at her in simultaneous shock, the same look the demoness had on her face. Loona took the Grimoire from the safe, and Blitz didn’t even protest, the hurt look in his eyes saying all that needed to be said. “C’mon, Via, we’re crashing at my place,” Loona said darkly, as she held the Goetia heiress’s clawed hand to the demoness’s shock, leaving the job, the silent absence of a protest echoing in her heart. - Hope y'all enjoyed~ I don't know if I'll have a regular schedule for uploading; I never do, but I'll do my best every week, I think.

I know that I should be working on A Little Loony, along with my other fiction, but bipolar disorder demands that I focus my efforts elsewhere, for now...so we come to the second of my Helluva Boss age regression fanfictions, one based with Moxxie (who gets a fair bit of age regressor stuff on AO3) and Millie (whom, sadly, does not)! Naturally, the backstories of a few of the characters are pretty sad, so there's content warning based on that; I will warn you when we get to these parts. Also, this does not feature diapers like my other stories do. The imps who are regressed are five-year-olds who are potty-trained, and while there may be funny moments like needing to go while they're in the car, that's about it. About critique, feel absolutely free to tell me what I'm doing wrong; in fact, I encourage it with all my heart! I want to publish this under my pseudo penname in books for AR/AB stuff, and in order to publish without mistakes and errors, I absolutely need to know what I've done wrong. If you can't find anything wrong, then tell me what you liked, please! These things make me a better writer. I'm not soft when it comes to critique, and I'll always listen to it. In any case, here's the first chapter of Ki(mp)Court: - Chapter One: Early Extermination - Millie and Moxxie were going on a private date in Pride when things went to Hell - figuratively and literally. Millie was the one driving as Moxxie stared out of the window. Millie drove at a speed a little faster than most denizens of Hell. Not to the speed of their boss, Blitz (he was known as “Blitzo”, but the “o” was silent), but definitely a long way over the speed limit, and the streets of Pride were beginning to blend together as they drove close to the limits of Pentagram City for a lovely dinner at a fancy restaurant (The Rusty Hammer and Nail, supposed to have excellent Hell Hog burgers) before a night of…well, Moxxie could imagine the night they’d have in the bedroom. He looked at his wife lovingly. Millie was his everything; beautiful, brave, kind, strong, passionate, just an amazing woman he loved more than anything. He couldn’t imagine his life without her, and he knew she loved him just as much and felt the same way he did. He took a random look in the rearview mirror and let out a sound like a choking cat. Blitz’s van was right behind them with their boss driving like a maniac. And Loona, his hellhound adopted daughter, was clinging to the front seat, looking terrified at the tall imp’s driving. “HE’S STALKING US TO OUR DATE!” he shouted in annoyance. “AND I TOLD HIM NOT TO DO IT AFTER WE GOT KICKED OUT OF OZZIE’S, AND THAT RABID BITCH IS WITH HIM, TOO!” Millie chanced a look back and sighed. “Well, we could make concessions for them,” she said. “Moxx, that’s who Blitz is.” “That doesn’t make it right, Millie!” “He’s our boss…” “And it’s entirely inappropriate!” “Moxx, just…let’s just enjoy the night, whatever may happen.” The smaller imp grumbled, sinking into the seat, as they drove down the street…only to hear a siren. A very familiar siren. The Extermination Day’s siren. But it was too early, it wasn’t even three months since the last Extermination, it had to be a drill. “Moxx, were we scheduled to have a drill?” Millie asked, her eyes worried. “Mills, I’m sure it’s fine, it’s-” Then a blaring note on their phones echoed, and his heart stopped in fear. “Extermination Day has been moved up,” a metallic female voice echoed. “Take cover as soon as possible. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill. Take cover as soon as possible.” “We’re not being targeted,” he said with a nervous laugh, holding on to his wife as he saw the hole open up, saw the angels pour out of the hole, weapons drawn. “We’re Hellborn, the Exterminators don’t target Hellbo-” A rocket was fired at their car from one of the angels, and Millie grabbed Moxxie and leapt out with him…just in the nick of time, as they saw their vehicle go up in smoke. They scrambled to the side of the road, near a row of burnt-out buildings, Millie having drawn out her knives, and Moxxie, his pistol, as they took cover in a charred building without a roof. He chanced a look up at the sky, hearing the screams of Sinners dying. Moxxie was panicking, breathing heavily before Millie kissed him on the lips. He broke off for a second. “Mills, is this rea-” “We don’t stand a chance against Exterminators,” she whispered to him. “You know that. I know that. If we die, I want to have this memory of you and me. I want our last moment to be our best.” Moxxie nodded, tears in his eyes - tears in both of their eyes - as he kissed Millie, a kiss that would last a lifetime, a kiss that was their lifeline. Then he heard Millie scream in pain that he wished his lovely ray of hellfire would never feel, felt something hit his chest, shooting horrific pain into his nervous system, blood vessels, and brain, and he screamed in agony before everything went black. - Blitz was listening to his daughter, Loona, grumble as she texted Beelzebub, Vortex, and a couple of the hounds she met at the party, saying she couldn’t go, as he dressed in a nice long coat, shirt, and pants, along with his signature skull choker. “Can’t believe I’m missing a great opportunity to go to a party in Gluttony for this,” Loona muttered, flicking her white hair to one side as she tapped on her phone. “I know I’m keeping my word to Bee after you went to Gluttony to get me the first time, but still…” “Aw, c’mon, Loony, it’ll be great!” Blitz said excitedly. “We could go to an awesome restaurant in Pentagram City - Hell, even Sinners need to eat, right? - hit up Stylish Occult at the end, and you can get what you’d like within reason! What’s not to love?” “Whatever…” Blitz felt a little bad at not telling Loona the truth. He was going to that restaurant because the M&M couple were going. They were his friends, and he realized that they didn’t want him in their private life…but he wanted that intimacy, craved that affection, feeling like he didn’t deserve it, but knowing he wanted it, wanted it more than anything. Especially after…the evening at Ozzie’s. With Stolas. Hell, that hurt so much…but it’s why he wanted to go with that couple. They had something he admired, and he wanted it, even if it was rejected again and again, even if it was as a third wheel. And now he was bringing Loony along…even if he didn’t know why. No, he knew why: he wanted that familial bond that they had…to include her as well, as more than just coworkers. Because he knew some of Loona’s past, knew she had gone through shit that was horrifying, even by Hell’s standards, and he wanted her, Moxxie, Millie, and himself to be one giant family. One giant fucked up family in Hell. Ah, fuck if he knew. Fuck if he knew anything that was wrong with him. What he did know was that he was going to that restaurant with them, see how everything would go. Impulsive? Yeah, but that’s who he was. He grabbed the keys as Loona continued texting, grumbling as she got in the front seat of the IMP van that doubled as their normal car. He got in the driver’s seat, turned the key as the van rumbled to life, listened to the Pride station blare out music (Loona had headphones in; her phone doubled as an hPhone, so she could listen to her own music if she wanted to.) as they drove off. He drove surprisingly carefully for him, only honking his horn twice and cutting off only several cars than all of them, his eyes craning for Moxxie and Millie’s car…and when he spotted it, he immediately gunned for the car like a maniac, startling Loona out of her music with a shocked yelp. “You set this whole fucking thing up with Moxxie and Millie AGAIN?!” Loona screamed, as she held onto the car’s seat with her claws, her eyes wide with terror at the sheer insanity of his driving. “And you roped ME into it?!” “Loony, I know it sounds bad, but-” “I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM OUTSIDE OF WORK! THEY ARE MY COWORKERS, AND THAT’S IT!” “Let’s just go to the restaurant. I’ll even order what you want, but let’s-” Then the Extermination Day sirens blared out, and Loona whimpered. “It’ll be okay, Loony-Toony, I’m sure it’s only a dri-” “Extermination Day has been moved up,” the metallic voice echoed. “Take cover as soon as possible. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill. Take cover as soon as possible.” “Shit, shit, shit, shit-” Loona swore multiple times, her tail tucked between her legs, eyes wide with fear. “Loony, they don’t target Hellborn, remember?” A rocket hit the van of Moxxie and Millie, as they barely got out in time, as he saw them scramble towards a burned out building. “I FUCKING HATE YOU, BLITZ!” Loona screamed. Blitz veered off the road, parking the van close by the building, as they saw an angel, its wings purely black without any lines, go into the building and shoot Moxxie and Millie with an angelic pistol as they were kissing, hitting them both in the chest. He went into the building, his flintlock pistol at the ready, along with a snarling Loona, ready to avenge the couple. The first angel went in for the kill, raising her gun, and that’s when things got crazy: another angel, with mostly gray wings and a black stripe across them stood in front of them, facing the first angel…and started to verbally ream the other angel up the ass. “YOU - FUCKING - MORON!” the second angel roared in a feminine ethereal tone. “What is Extermination 101? What is the very first rule you learn when you become an Exterminator? What is the ONE - FUCKING - THING we are NOT - under ANY circumstances, no matter WHAT those circumstances might be - allowed to do?!” The first angel lowered its head and mumbled in a feminine tone. “Target Hellborn or anyone other than Sinners.” “WHAT DO THEY FUCKING LOOK LIKE TO YOU?!” “...Hellborn imps.” “SO FUCKING HEAL THEM BEFORE WE START AN EXTRADIMENSIONAL INCIDENT!” Blitz aimed his flintlock at the second angel, who tried to pacify the situation after taking a deep breath. “Apologies for shouting, and apologies for my dullard apprentice. Do not worry, imp and hellhound; my colleague will heal them, and they’ll be right as rai-” The angel went over to Moxxie and Millie and spread a white light over them…and they began to shrink. “WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO, YOU STUPID BITCH?!” the second angel screeched in disbelief, and Blitz and Loona watched in horror as their coworkers shrunk into their clothes, getting smaller and smaller, even though the bullet holes were healing. “PLEASE, GOD ALMIGHTY, PLEASE TELL ME YOU’RE NOT SUCH AN UTTERLY FUCKING INCOMPETENT AND USELESS IMBECILE THAT YOU COULD BOTCH A SIMPLE HEALING PRAYER WITH A FUCKING COMPLEX PERMA-YOUTHENING SPELL?!” “Um…” the first angel said sheepishly. “Sorry?” “SORRY?! SORRY?! I’LL ‘SORRY’ YOU, YOU STUPID FUCKING SILLY CUNT! YOU JUST TOOK AT LEAST TWENTY CENTURIES OFF OF MY AFTERLIFE WITH YOUR SHIT! LET ME HANDLE THIS, AND AFTER I’M DONE, I’LL MAKE YOU SORRY YOU EVER WENT TO HEAVEN, BY JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, MOSES OF FUCKING EGYPT, MUHAMMAD THE FUCKING PROPHET, AND GOD-FUCKING-ALMIGHTY THEMSELVES!” The second angel went over to the couple, who had stopped shrinking and now had the appearance of small child imps, trying to spread a light over them. “Not working, come on…” the Exterminator muttered, trying various glowing light magic without success before the siren stopped blaring…with them still as children. “...Are you shitting me?” the angelic superior said bluntly. “Fucking Extermination Day suddenly stopping out of nowhere…fucking idiot apprentice making this hard…fuck…what to do…hmm…” She thought a while and came to a resolution, pointing at Blitz and Loona. “You two, listen to me well. You are to take care of these two as if they are both your children, until I can get a proper healer to come down and fix this before the Lord smites everyone involved. They are about five of your Hellyears old now, and while they may remember they were adults, unfortunately, the memories of adulthood will be locked away. They will act like five-year-old children, will think like five-year-old children, and will need to be treated like five-year-old children. And since we can’t take care of them and give them help, it’ll be up to you two.” “But-” Loona protested, before the angel who was obviously in charge gave such a vicious death glare at the hellhound that she could do nothing but whimper in response. “If you two do not take care of them like they were both yours, I will personally annihilate you and every single thing you hold dear, Hellborn or not - and I have had centuries of killing under my wings. I have no tolerance for those who harm children, and I will do everything in my power to destroy you both if any harm comes to these two. Do you understand me?” Both Blitz and Loona nodded gravely, looking at the sleeping little imps who had once been a married couple. “Then we have an agreement. The next time I can get a Healer down here will take at least a year and a half; they are notoriously fickle. They will not grow up during that time, thanks to this IDIOT-” The lead angel jerked her thumb at the shamefaced apprentice, “making the spell so complicated, so I expect you two, what are your names?” “I’m Blitzo, the ‘o’ is silent, and this is my daughter, Loona,” the imp said. “Adopted,” Loona retorted. “Very well, Blitzo and Loona. I expect you two to be able to find help at times with other willing demons, but you must care for them the most. If they are harmed in any way, if they are not in your care when we return, I swear, as God as my witness, I will break you both in half. With that, we bid you farewell; we've overstayed our welcome.” The angel Exterminators disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the four alone with a whole Hell of a lot to deal with. - Hope you enjoyed~

Here is the next chapter of my brand new story - Spire of Submission! I've been so excited to post this first chapter! I hope you all enjoy it! A tower in the neighbouring province has been an issue for far too long, and a hopeless band of adventurers will be chosen to take on the Spire, with promise of riches and power... if they can survive. Set in a fantasy world (think Dungeons and Dragons) full of elves, dwarves, tieflings, magic, demons and warlocks, this story will see our adventurers take on the Spire, in the hope of defeating the Mistress who resides there. This story is a bit of a slow burner when it comes to the ABDL content, and there are other... interests... in it. It is also not like my usual stories. It's not told by a protagonist, instead being told by a narrator, and it is not like my romance stories. I can't even promise a happy ending. This will be a challenge for the party, and not everyone will make it out... if any. But it will be kinky and fun. So I hope you enjoy it, even if it's not like my usual stories! I feel like the humour is the same as Infernum, so if you liked that, you should like this! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them. They really help with the motivation to write more! Especially when it comes to new stories and stories like this that aren't my usual thing! Especially when it's a story not connected to either of my main series. Don't forget you get get 2 week early access (so 4 chapters) to my main ongoing story, if you subscribe to my Subscribestar. Also, please link to my stories rather than posting them as files when sharing with others! Chapter 1: The Tavern Spire of Submission – LittleFallenPrincess The sun began to set across the crooked sign for the local inn, causing nearby traders to start packing up their goods to head home before the darkness comes… and all manners of dangers begin showing up in search of unaware travellers or food. Which in these parts of the Audrasta Empire… were often the same thing. Sure, the town had guards; the King ensured that all their subjects were protected, no matter where they decided to settle down in the Empire. Problem was, some were more ‘well-guarded’ than others. And Rosehaven… well it was a small town on the border, close to the Oblivion Province. And it was not one of these lucky settlements. And for the longest time… that bordering province was considered non-hostile. It had no armies, no capital… just small villages apparently full of feral bandits who never ventured out, surviving purely on the unaware traveller that passed through. But not once did any of them make the crossing over to Rosehaven. And then there was the Spire, but not once had anything stepped foot outside of it. That’s why no one ventured out that way. Tales told throughout generations meant that there was no need for a large garrison, that the Oblivion Province was not dangerous… provided you stayed out of it. At least that’s what they say. So with its two guards, both of whom were stationed here due to insubordination, the small village of Rosehaven began settling down for the night, before the nearby forest woke up and all its inhabitants started hunting the outskirts for lone travellers. But as the quaint little village started settling down, with its small cottages, its tiny array of stores, its rather cramped marketspace, and its handful of farms… its tavern started waking up. During the daylight hours, the Dazzling Leaf Pub was… well… It was a shithole. It was a run down old pub that hadn’t seen a new fresh piece of wood or a non-rusty nail in what was probably decades. The drinks were watered down, the food was stale and off, and the company was… questionable. And during the twilight hours… well… It was the same shithole, just a bit rowdier. But to Rosehaven, it was their shithole. It was the one good place to socialise, to get out of the house, to get away from the boring, monotonous lives the villagers led. It was also the only place the adventurers would gather in, every ten years, when the village mayor put out the same quest he and all his predecessors had put out every decade. So tonight… it was going to be busier than usual. Ten years to the day was the last time the adventurers, mercenaries and do-gooders gathered in this shithole-of-a-tavern to drink the last remaining hours away, all before one group was chosen to enter the tower and try to slay the Mistress there. And like clockwork, more adventurers, mercenaries and do-gooders have shown up to take on the same quest that the previous group failed to complete. Determined to defeat the Mistress of the Domination Spire, the Mayor put out the same bounty every ten years, when the doors to the tower magically opened, to attract any groups they could… to kill the Demon Queen. And every time, more suckers turned up, despite knowing full well that the previous group who had been chosen… were never seen again. And it’s been like this for over a hundred years now. You see, the doors to the Domination Spire open only every ten years, allowing entry for anyone stupid enough to go in. Nothing ever came out, mind you, and no one who went in ever returned. So you may be asking why send adventurers to their inevitable deaths? Why risk it when the Domination Spire shows no threat or hostility to the village? Well… It started off hundreds of years ago, back when the village was more of a bustling town than the run-down quaint village you see today. Every ten years, the tower doors opened, and the town thought nothing of it as the Spire was miles away from them. It wasn’t even in the Empire’s lands, so they dismissed it and went on with their lives. Around that same time, there were a few disappearances every year, seven… to be exact. And it took a while, it wasn’t until the Mayor’s daughter had disappeared that they finally started noticing this phenomenon. One that had been going on for a lot longer than they realised. Ten years later… Another seven went missing. Then another seven. The Mayor at the time, still distraught from losing his daughter two decades ago, didn’t put two and two together until it was too late… when his Granddaughter went missing. Then a note appeared. A sealed note, sealed with a wax symbol of the tower. ‘I will return this child. I have no use for her. But you owe me an adult soul.’ So the Mayor instantly put out a quest for all adventurers to enter the tower… and recover his Granddaughter. Many adventurers took up the quest, preparing themselves and heading into the Dormant Vale, where the Spire stood… waiting. And as the first adventurer, sword in hand, entered… the doors shut, magically sealing themselves before anyone could react. No matter what they did, they couldn’t break through the seal. Fire had no effect. Hammers shattered upon impact. Some even brought a battering ram, only for it to burst into flames… along with the adventurers carrying it. All hope had been lost, until hours later… The door opened and out walked a little girl, looking for her Grandfather. Safely returned, the Granddaughter told the Mayor that the Mistress of the tower required seven souls every ten years. That’s it. No bloodlines specifically, no specifics about who it could be… just… anyone. But there had to be seven. Ten years later, as his last act as Mayor before stepping down due to old age, the Mayor rounded up all the vagrants about town. Drunkards, layabouts… anyone society deemed as ‘unproductive’, and lead them to the tower. The doors opened, the sacrifices were made… and no one disappeared from the village that decade. Ten years later, the next mayor did the same. And ten years after that. But eventually… they ran out of ‘undesirables’, and had to look elsewhere. Instantly, the community started looking inwards, trying to judge who could be sacrificed and who couldn’t. Until… the Granddaughter of the previous Mayor stepped up, now a young woman… and suggested that they hire adventurers. If the adventurers make their way in and somehow manage to slay the Mistress… then they can keep the riches of the tower and the village never has to worry about her ever again. But if they fall… then they reach the quota of sacrifices for the decade and the village tries again ten years later. So it’s a win-win. And so here we are, many… many decades later, having been through countless adventuring parties… the day before the ten year mark, when the sacrifices need to be made. ---------+++++++--------- “I know we’re technically sacrifices… but do we really reckon we’ll kill the bitch?” the angry-sounding halfling grumbled, before lifting his tankard vertically as to obtain peak-chugging capability. “What I want to know is… why seven?” asked the pointy-eared devout, as she sipped her drink slowly. She had never been one to drink much, and her party knew it… that’s why they gave her the biggest tankard. To ‘calm her nerves’ before the Spire tomorrow… or so they’d tell themselves. Really, they just wanted to watch the devout cleric get drunk and dance on the table naked for once. “Why seven? Well it’s clearly some ritual or spell,” the dwarf commented as she stuffed scraps of food into a pouch. “But hey, that means we have a better chance at getting picked in the morning, as looking around now… these other parties drinking tonight are much smaller. It’ll be easier to pick us than stitch some other smaller groups together and hope they fight well enough together to beat that demonic bitch.” “Yes, but Herta… do we even want to be picked?” the tiefling said to the dwarf ranger sitting beside her, as she looked at her adventuring companion with disgust. “I heard no one’s ever even made it out alive…” The differences between the ranger and the warlock were as clear as day, as one clearly loved roughing it out in the wild, sleeping under trees, communing with animals and foraging… and the other… Well, the warlock tiefling had standards. “Or even out, full stop,” the Half-elf hovering at the edge of the group added, lending their voice to the conversation finally. “Look, let’s just enjoy tonight,” the Paladin ordered to the other six, trying his best to sound commanding, because he loved the way everyone looked at him as if he was the leader of the group. “We’re probably going to get picked tomorrow morning, so we need to be rested and ready. So first thing, before the Mayor calls us all to the village square… get your equipment prepared, got that?” There was no real leader of this party, they were all equally incompetent in some way and were either too arrogant to consider voting for anyone but themselves as leader… or were too anxious to vote for anyone else… in the worry that others would be upset. Herta, the stout dwarf ranger with scruffy brown hair, wearing roughed-up leather armour, communed with animals so well that she has been invited into wolf packs, which led to her gaining her current companion, Trace, who is patiently sat outside the tavern due to a ‘no pets allowed’ sign hanging above the front door. And despite a lot of arguing and well-reasoned points… the tavernkeep had told her that the wolf had to wait outside. Herta was a stocky dwarf, with a love of alcohol, and a soft spot for her animal companions… but when it came to people… she was hopeless. It’s not like she didn’t trust them… but… well… no, she didn’t trust them, and would happily sacrifice them if it meant saving her wolf. This party is the closest she’s ever got to actual people, and she was slowly warming up to them, especially after they survived their last quest together. To her though, they still rank below a squirrel she saw once. Maybe above a slug. Magnus, the overconfident Paladin who normally would be wearing his signature heavy plate armour… was a darker-skinned human with perfectly cut jet black hair… who had been born with a silver spoon stuck up his arse. Which would explain the superiority complex this man has now. Desperate to ‘fight evil and save the innocent’… This man felt righteous in his quest for justice… but didn’t realise that he just looked down on everyone because he felt like he was superior to them, all because of his status as a Paladin. If this man was here to save you, he’d be just as likely to smite you by accident if you stood too close to his enemy. …And then he’d blame you for it. Thistle, the Half-elf dressed in the stereotypical messy green and brown druid robes, with brown hair and a youthful appearance, was a small, timid creature, perhaps even rivalling the elf cleric in how anxious they were around people. They were very similar, apart from the fact that Thistle didn’t put themselves down as much as the other elf in the group, they were actually pretty confident about their abilities. It was mostly just social interaction that the druid was lacking on, mostly due to growing up in the forests in a small druidic commune where no one talked to each other. Despite knowing the group for over a year now, since they were grouped up for another quest by a Lord miles from here, no one could tell if Thistle was male or female. And when one of them would finally get the courage to ask… Thistle just laughed and shrugged it off, never actually answering them. They loved that no one could tell, and made them feel so happy and so… them. Serrill was the other elf, though she wasn’t a half-elf like Thistle, she was a High-elf. Serrill grew up in a small village, quickly becoming a Cleric, one who worshipped one of the smaller Deities of the Empire, one that brought her childhood village good crops and a scarcity of disease. And for this, she trained to become a Cleric and travel the world, to do good and help others to thank her deity for all the privileges she had growing up. Serrill was definitely the most shy one of the group, often not standing up for herself, and only being part of the group because they needed a healer and she happened to be the only one around. And it’s not like she could just tell them no… she didn’t want to disappoint anyone. With a lack of self confidence, blonde hair, very pointy ears, her trusty staff, and her favourite blue robes that were always clean when she put them on in the morning (thanks to her deity), she worked her arse off keeping this catastrophe-of-a-group alive, often causing her to run out of magic and collapse. But not once is she ever thanked for it. Not that she’ll complain… that would just cause drama and that’s even worse than getting no recognition to her. Vico was the halfling currently choking on the ale he attempted to chug in one go. He’s an idiot. That’s it. Fine. If you had to describe this feral barbarian half-pint in five or more words… ‘No brain, compensates with rage’. Wearing what would be more accurately described as ‘scraps’ or ‘rags’... this little ball of rage favoured no armour at all, as even leather armour would slow him down. He had a great big brown bushy beard and a matching brown mohawk that just made him look feral more than anything. He clearly didn’t take any effort in his appearance, as no doubt it’d just get covered in whatever monster’s entrails he’d be fighting later. Even his backpack was falling apart, which made his companions wonder just what he spends his money on, because it clearly wasn’t himself. If you’re wondering… it’s ale. Ale and a weird multi-level marketing scheme he fell for years ago… one that he swears is going to pay off eventually. Isolde is the bard. Because what party isn’t complete without an idiotic annoying creature that loves to flirt with literally anything that can form a sentence. Sometimes not even that. With ginger hair, a pretty face, and a great body for a human… you’d think that this charisma-focused musician would get action wherever the party goes… but she can’t even do that right. She has all the charisma… but also has the worst luck imaginable. It’s led to some of the party thinking she may be cursed, as she should by all means be able to sweet-talk anyone into anything, but no matter what… she is being constantly rejected and ignored by everyone and everything. She’d often wear something slutty, in the hope that she’d get some action, but even with this body-formed brown leather armour she had custom made to hug her curves and show off her cleavage, the only ‘fiddling’ she was getting… was from her own instrument. Aurelia was the refined Tiefling warlock, sipping her drink slowly, savouring the little flavour it had. As mentioned before, Aurelia has standards. Which begs the question… Why did she decide to join this group of all groups? A refined, red-skinned tiefling, with perfectly brushed black hair, a perfectly ironed black robe, and a taste for the finer things. You’d think she’d have found a better group by now, but for some reason she likes adventuring with these six failures. Whether it’s to boost her ego, or to rob their bodies when they inevitably die… no one but her knows. She’s also the direct antithesis of Isolde. This woman gets laid. A lot. But she doesn’t brag about it or openly flirt like her companion. She doesn’t need to. And despite their failures and their problems… this party has managed to stay alive for the past year, managing to take on jobs across the Empire, until they heard from another party that there was an upcoming quest. One that promised untold riches… if you survived. So being the party of idiots and people too anxious to speak up… they bravely made their way to the quaint little village of Rosehaven and settled down in the tavern, waiting for the announcement tomorrow morning. ======================================================= It's always scary posting the first chapter of a new story. You'd think having posted 11 other first chapters on here... it'd get easier. But this being a new story and a new series for me... makes it even scarier. So I hope you like it! Obviously, with it being such a uninvolved first chapter, mostly setting some stuff up... there won't be much to comment on as the story hasn't even gotten started properly yet and you haven't really properly met our characters yet. But I hope that you love them all as much as my other characters from my other series! And I promise it won't take long for the story to get going, even if some other things in this story are a bit of a slow burner. But despite this, comments are greatly appreciated, especially with this being a new story. So please let me know what you think, even at such an early stage. ❤️ Don't forget I'm on Subscribestar! Subscribers get 2 weeks early access to chapters, and exclusive short stories (Nessa's Tale is currently the only available one). The next four chapters of my new story posted on my Subscribestar! ======================================================== I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them! If you want to read the next 4 chapters, thanks to two weeks early access to my main story and also soon-to-be exclusive access to short stories (or even have a chance at commissioning one when I add the tier for them!), why don't you check out my SubscribeStar! The basic tier gets early access and exclusive access to short stories (when they're written), higher tiers will be limited but get a short story each month (1-2 per month in total, also not yet running this tier yet, will announce when I'm starting!). Thank you to all my subscribers for their support over the past few years! Seriously, your support means the world to me. New chapters of my latest story every Wednesday/Sunday! 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Hello! This story is a sequel of sorts to another story of mine "Mother; The Demon" quick recap it is about a man who summons a a Demon named Alex whose whole desire is to turn adults into babies. You don't need to have read the previous story to enjoy this one. This story is about a group of friends who are going out on vacation and are stranded at the doorway of a Daycare run by a very powerful Demon. Chapter 1: Friends Until the End. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock the slow heart beat of the clock. Every second felt like a minute, every minute an hour. The cute little blonde watched the clock as the second hand moved slowly around the face. *Did the damn cogs have rust or syrup on them?* She asked herself. The thought of syrup had her thinking of pancakes, then waffles. How she loved waffles, getting small pools of butter and syrup in every square trap, light sprinkling of powdered sugar with strawberries and their wonderful sugary liquid. The crispness of a well cooked waffle…if not crispy then fluffy and if it was fluffy makeup that wonderful crispiness with fried chicken. A wonderful, magical, exotic and almost forbidden combination! Chicken and Waffles. A bit of ranch or honey mustard on the side. Sure it was weird and not everyone appreciated the platter of goodness but those odd flavors mixed together perfectly somehow. Kylie grabbed a candy from her purse, the sweet caramel confection helping her sate her appetite for a well made pattern of chicken and waffles all while she glanced over at the clock. A mere 5 seconds had passed yet she felt she had daydreamed of one of her favorite brunches for an hour. The little caramel treat helped distract her, scones, ice cream, parfait, crepes, fudge, fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies who cared if they would burn your mouth. She longed for them all and couldn't wait to get out of work. Summer was on the fast track to being over. She longed to just once get to do things she wanted to before it was over. Binge eat sweet treats and lay about the beach, maybe even hit up a theme park. Today was exciting though it had been two months ago that she and her closest friends would set out on that one good trip and hit up all the good spots, there was a campground that had both a high quality beach and hiking trail. A town along the way that held high end restaurants and a theme park near the end for the high excitement and lastly another campsite to end it all one that their electronics would be useless, a last respite before returning to civilization with the honks of traffic the beeps of phones and the bright lights of a night time city. Kylie sighed as her caramel was bearing the end. She checked the clock as she fantasized about the trip that was, TAKING ITS SWEET ASS TIME! Kylie looked at the clock, she had spent maybe Thirty seconds in her daydream, with a growl she plucked out another caramel candy and popped it into her mouth… Her jubilee of fantasies, or as jovial as they could get, was interrupted by the ding of the coffee shop's door. Kylie switched from looking bored and lazy, to work mode and greeted the customer with a big smile full of shiny white perfect teeth. "Welcome to Squeaky Bean, how many I see you?" She asked in a bubbly giddy voice. The brunette woman walked up and smiled at Kylie, the cute blonde noticed the woman's tan business suit, the black leggings with well polished black high heels. Her hair tied up in a bun and black square lenses. "I'm here to pick you up, you nut" The woman said and Kylie recognized her voice. Among the dozen of well dressed business ladies all identical in some way, only one would call her a nut. Kylie's Bubbly giddy big smile self shattered away to a real bubbly giddy big smile, so much so she began to bounce on the spot. "Lilly, oh my gosh! I didn't recognize you, cause of all the other hundreds of tailored suit snobs that come in here, like literally I thought you were at least five of them" she said her new found cheeriness making her speak much faster. "Thanks" Lilly said, giving her a stern look with a half smile. Lilly was Kylie's best friend, they had been together since kindergarten. Ever since second grade however, Lilly wanted to become a business woman and took the phrase *Dress for the Job You Want* literally. She worked hard on her schooling to get into a good college and only took job offers that sounded like there was a fast track to the top and so her resume would look good to help her get into one of the big corporations. Kylie was impressed with her work ethic but didn't understand how she could handle all that stress, Kylie would have thrown a fit if she so much as had to scrub a toilet it was also why she was stuck in a coffee shop. "It's not even time for me to leave yet" Kylie whined a pathetic and rather immature whine. "It's almost three, you can convince your boss to leave early," Lilly said. "One of the girls called in sick so I am stuck until five now" Kylie pouted. "Have you tried your cutesy charm on him, isn't he into that?" Kylie shivered at that suggestion. "Ew, no, I know he is into that but I have been saving it for a bigger raise once he says I can get one." She said, "This is big Kylie, last chance at a big summer party before life decides to hand out our pink slips and give us the boot," Lilly said. "Besides, I want us leaving by Five and I need to make sure you are fully packed." "I'm packed!" Kylie whined again. Lilly gave her a disbelieving look. "From that, no you are not, you have what? one suitcase of clothes and I am guessing a backpack full of sweets?" Lilly placed her hands on her hips switching from a friend to mother mode. "No…" Kylie lied but she fidgeted like a child caught stealing a cookie. Lilly always had that effect on her. Lilly was like a second mother to her at times, always watching out for her and keeping her in track with school work and chores. If not for her she would have done whatever she liked and held back a couple years, she couldn't cutesy charm everyone sadly. *Snapsnapsnap* three quick snaps of her fingers and Lilly held out her hand. "But I am!" Kylie whined harder, pouting at her friend. "Candy Now!" Lilly demanded. Kylie relented and popped the sweet caramel treat from her mouth she had been hiding, so as to not let on she had candy in her mouth. She handed it to Lilly who grasped it firmly as a sign of power that she wasn't worried about where it had been. "Now, either go cutesy charm your boss or let me speak to him" Kylie headed into the back of the office and moments later the manager came out. Lilly switched from mother mode for Kylie to business mode, her normal mode. Kylie watched as she put on a big smile and introduced herself and then began to explain the situation. Kylie stood there like a child watching her friend ask if they could sleep over, it wasn't too far from that really. After several minutes, looking over schedules, the boss looking over sales, he was finally convinced to let Kylie out early and wished them a happy vacation. Kylie was in Lilly's car and bouncing for joy their big weekend would be happening soon. "Seatbelt" Lilly reminded as she turned on the car. She wasn't going to go anywhere unless her friend was properly secured, and Kylie knew that. __________________ "Women, always taking their sweet time" Matt gave an irritated sigh. "Kind of a law don't ya think?" Josh said, trying to dismiss the comment. "All things considered I would bet Kylie isn't packed and Lilly is making sure she is". "The fuck you say?" Matt asked, getting fired up at the insult to his girl. "Your girlfriend likes candy and has a bag full of it, all I'm saying" Josh explained. He took a step away from Matt, it wasn't good staying near him when he got angry, which he did a lot. Matt was that antagonistic stereotypical jock from highschool movies, while he didn't dress like one in the movies, kept more to cargo pants and a t-shirt, his attitude was like one, he even had the cheerleader girlfriend to top off the stereotype and she wasn't far off from the bully's girlfriend trope either. An R.V. pulled around the corner and came to a stop near the two men. "All aboard the Bus to the best vacation around!" Lilly called out from the window. Josh and Matt grabbed their bags and headed around the R.V to get inside. Matt was first on who was greeted by Kylie the two embraced and found their spot in the back. Josh tossed his luggage under the table and sat in the passenger seat with Lilly. He leaned over and the two kissed as a way of greeting. Lilly shifted the R.V into gear and they began to drive down the road on their way to a beautiful vacation. Josh went over the list that Lilly had prepared for what all they would be doing. She was very thorough as her list had little lists of their own. First up was visiting various restaurants that each person really enjoyed, this would be a two day thing, one lunch and one dinner each day. In between those were activities. A go-kart track, an escape room and an arcade, as well as a winery and a shopping mall. After those two days was a big road trip going to a very expensive hotel one night and using the R.V on the others. After that was the camping trip they planned out which would take up the majority of their time. While camping they would hit up an amusement park for a couple days, finish up their camping return home using the R.V for sleep, and the last two days were hitting up their favorite restaurants again. "Damn Lilly, why not get the thing a hard cover and make a book rather than use a binder." Josh said, thumbing through the details of what time they should do things. "I would have but a binder is easier to organize than a book," she said. Josh rolled his eyes, he loved Lilly but she could get a bit more than meticulous at times, which was also why he loved her, it was a two way street. For the road trip the driver got the main call for songs, the passenger directly next to them was one who either agreed for songs or didn't mind the choice of genre. The rest of the passengers had to suffer, but they could wander the cabin more and had other distractions to keep them occupied for the lengthy bits. So long as the driver and their assistant were alert then everything was fine. The driver's assistant would help pass candy, drinks and treats to the driver when asked and jokes were shared by all. Their first stop was a pizzeria chosen by Josh, who claimed it was the best. It was a bit old and one from his childhood. The place hadn't seen an upgrade in decades; it seemed as Josh said it hadn't changed since he last saw it. Josh wanted his own pizza for the road and Matt, Lilly and Kylie agreed to split a pie between the three. The crust was rather thin and the pizza dropped as if it had barely been in the oven. Yet the four of them enjoyed the pizza, Matt enjoying the pizza more, rolling the crust to tip and treating it like a taquito. They moved on and what pizza was left was stored in the mini fridge. A couple hours later came some entertainment. The group of friends were given a mind boggling challenge in an Escape Room. The session lasted an hour, the four friends needing to solve a WWII themed mystery. Matt and Kylie tried to find everything and anything that was a clue or puzzle while having Josh and Lilly solve said found puzzles. Afterwards came shopping at the mall. Matt and Josh headed off for the electronics while Kylie and Lilly hit the clothing stores. There was a brief moment that all four were in Spencer's and while there were jokes, special purchases were made. After the shopping trip came dinner which was another pizzeria that Lilly picked out. This one being in a bigger town was far more extravagant. Lilly recommended the white pizza, a butter garlic sauce with a swirl of honey with mozzarella and asiago cheese cooked in a brick style oven. The crust was thin and crispy, the cheese was the picture of a waterfall as pieces were torn from it. The honey wasn't that strong and complimented the cheese and butter garlic than over power it. After dinner the group headed off for the winery and while Matt wasn't happy with the wine, the four friends became buzzed enough to retire to a hotel room. The next day wasn't much different. Breakfast at a nice restaurant. Simple fun activities for the day. Lunch was a hibachi grill picked out by Matt who was happy to pay for the most expensive of items for everyone. It would be enough for leftovers at least for tomorrow. Arcade came next with Matt and Josh competing at every game possible. The two saved up their tickets and got a set of foam maces that they used to hit each other and their girlfriends at their leisure. Dinner was at a cheesecake factory picked out by Kylie. While there were dinner options Kylie only had a salad to save room for three different flavors of cheesecake entire pies worth so she could have extras for the rest of their trip. The four friends settled into their hotel room. They had a big road trip ahead with plenty of leftovers to satisfy them until their camping trip, maybe even during it. The four wound the night down with a card game before they retired to their rooms. Josh and Lilly cuddled close in their own room while Matt and Kylie got busy in theirs. Two days down and the best was yet to come. If only they didn't take that short cut. Chapter 2: My Name is Alex To start the trip off Lilly was the first to drive. She had plotted the course and set the schedule for her; it was only natural to get the ball moving. The first challenge was getting everyone ready. She had to pry herself from Josh, which woke him. She didn't mind that much, some kisses and soft words and a soft but firm notice to get moving and he was up and getting around. Matt and Kylie on the other hand… Kylie was like a child who needed reminding constantly and help getting herself around. If Lilly was alone with her things could get done in around ten minutes. Matt on the other hand was a devil who wanted nothing more than to pull Kylie back into bed and "get another five minutes" if Lilly so much as turned her back Kylie would be in his arms once again snoozing about and slowly losing what clothing she had just gotten on. What should have been a simple fifteen minute wake up nearly took an hour just to get Kylie and Matt in the shower and dressed. "I swear if we are fifteen minutes late I am throwing away your leftovers!" Lilly threatened. This helped get everyone moving. "You throw mine away I am going to beat the life out of you" Matt threatened. Unlike his threat however Lilly would make good on hers. The four climbed in the rv settled in and took off down for the freeway. Today was just a long road trip to get as far along their route as possible with as few stops as they could manage. They passed the time playing road games or chatting. After a couple hours of driving they changed drivers, Lilly updated Josh on where to drive and they set out again. Another stop and it was Matt's turn as Lilly told him where to go he took note of the route and saw a road that connected to two of their roads. They had to go south for a time before heading west, this road took off a good hour or so if he was looking at it correctly. The four friends piled in and began heading down the road. Matt kept an eye on his phone for when the little shortcut came up. "Hey Lilly I think I found a shortcut, says it will take an hour off our trip." He said holding his phone back so she could look at the route. "I did check that and I am worried that it won't be wide enough for the R.V." "We can look at it, if it's a two track, or something we won't take it." Matt said. The shortcut was a normal road and with a big grin Matt turned onto the road. "You sure this shortcut will take us far enough?" Kylie asked. "Lilly's route would have us double back along the freeway, this cuts that right out." Matt said. An hour had passed and there was no sign of the freeway. "Face it were lost," Kylie said. "We're not lost, it has been a straight line and we should see the freeway soon." Matt said. "Well besides those few turns" Josh quipped. "Fuck you" Matt spat. "We haven't seen a house for a good thirty minutes nor any other sign of civilization." Kylie began to whine. "Will you shut up, might be longer than the gps thought." Matt said. Longer it was, the road twisted and turned and before they knew it another hour had passed. "I told you we were lost!" Kylie whined "We're not lost" Mark spat and slammed a hand on the wheel. "Look there is a place Josh said pointing out the window. "Has a sign even so bam not lost" he said and the two boys fist bumped. "Eleven Stars Daycare," Lilly read out loud and looked out to see a mansion. A modern style, three story house with a large playground out front and the signs of a pool near the back. "Damn!" All four said in unison. "Jinx!" Josh shot out. "Alright pull in and we can ask for directions" Lilly said. "We're not lost-" "Pull in Matt, Now!" Lilly demanded. "Lost or not we clearly are not on the right road and we need to figure out where we are." With a huff Matt turned into the driveway and parked the R.V turning it off. "There walk the rest of the way" Matt growled. Lilly shook her head and climbed out, Kylie followed wanting to see the inside of the mansion. "Women…need to ask for direction" Matt said in a mocking tone. Lilly knocked on the door and was surprised to quickly see the door open so quickly. Before her was a woman with curly brown hair tied into a bun, a strand of hair on one side of her face. Dressed in nothing more than a shirt and jeans with sneakers, nothing like a woman of grand tastes that the mansion suggested, just a mom dressed to take care of things. Besides that the woman had curves that made both girls jealous. And the brightest of blue eyes as if lit with fire in them. "Hello! I wasn't expecting any babies today" the woman said in a warm welcoming voice. "Sorry to disturb you ma'am we have been traveling for a while and we think we took a wrong turn." Lilly pulled out her phone to show the map and the road they had taken. The woman smiled and with one slender finger tapped at the screen and moved the map before pointing. "Yes, you made a wrong turn sweetie, we are right here" the tone was a bit condescending, a mother letting her child know of the mistake and correcting it. Lilly cursed Matt in her head but smiled. "Thank you Ma'am, I must say you have a very lovely house" "Well Thank you, would you like to come inside for a bit?" "No thank you, we are behind schedule as it is and we need to get going if we are to catch up" Kylie all the while had been staring at the playground, trying to glance inside the mansion as the two women talked. Soon it was time to leave and Kylie gave a smile and her customer service goodbye. As she began to turn and leave however, she noticed the woman look to the R.V she wasn't sure but with how the light reflected off the woman's face she swore she saw one eye flash pink. Kylie did a double take but the woman's eyes were that fiery blue. The woman smiled and waved as if waving goodbye to a child. As the girls returned to the R.V Matt spoke up. "What's the damage?" He asked. "You took a wrong turn, dingus" Lilly said, showing her phone and pointing where they ended up. "I followed the GPS" "Well it must have rerouted to here so let's get going" Matt put the key in the ignition and turned the R.V revved up but didn't turn over. He tried again and again and- BANG a loud noise followed by black smoke from the engine. "What The Fuck!" Kylie yelled and both men also swore watching the black smoke rise out from the engine. The four quickly got out and watched as the black smoke billowed out and soon flames could be seen in the grill. "Holy shit!" Josh said, watching as the flames licked at the R.V threatening to grow bigger. From behind the woman showed up and began to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher. "That was fast," Kylie said, watching the woman. "You are not the first car to spontaneously combust on my driveway. I always come with a fire extinguisher when I hear that noise" the woman said. "Thank you," Lilly said. "Fuck! God fucking damn it piece of shit, what the fuck happened!" Matt gave the R.V a hard kick. Kylie sighed and saw the woman with a very stern face, disappointed, angry. "Fuck!" Matt roared again but this time the woman stormed over and grabbed him by the arm. "Does your mother know the kind of dirty mouth you have, young man?" She scolded. Kylie grimaced Matt wasn't the kind of person you brought authority to especially when it was a woman. Not to denounce how nice he was but he did have that "Alpha" complex. "If you were my child I would have you over my knee and a bar of soap in that mouth, becoming very acquainted with Mr Spanky" those bright blue eyes seemed to shoot fire from them as the three friends watched this woman tell off Matt for cussing. Matt ripped his arm away and gave a sigh. "Sorry, whatever" Matt backed off but Kylie knew he would be grumbling for hours on it. Kylie did find it surprising for him to back down so quickly. Lilly cleared her throat. "Apologies for my friend ma'am, do you know the number to a mechanic?" She asked. The woman pulled a one eighty on her expression and helped Lilly with the number. A short call later before she announced. "Good news, Bad news. Good news they boast they are equipped and stocked for whatever problem for whatever vehicle, Bad news, They will only be able to pick it up…tomorrow…" she said. "We're supposed to go camping," Kylie whined. "We can still go camping but we will need to cut it short by a day." Lilly explained. "Matt and I can pull an all-nighter tomorrow and we should be able to make it to the campsite so we don't miss a day of it," Josh said. "In the meantime it sounds like you four need a place to rest" the woman said. "Please come I am more than happy to entertain you all, it is still the slow season for my little daycare so I don't have many little ones to take care of" "How can a daycare like this even exist? you must be charging an arm and a leg for something like this" Josh asked. "Oh no, sweety, I don't charge at all, this is my hobby and my real job is far more boring. I am a C.E.O if that will sate your curiosity, I don't want to talk about that job, I would love to talk about my daycare though." The woman said. "Are you expecting any kids?" Lilly asked. "I am expecting four…but you will be long gone before they show up, now come come please let me give you a tour." The woman led the four to the house. Kylie was a bit giddy to see the mansion in all its glory. She looked over at the playground again. It had to have had all the playground equipment ever. Sections were made up for each kind of kid. In the middle was for everyone a sandbox and seesaws and some slides. A section to the north was for older kids, climbing equipment, big slides and an elaborate jungle gym. South was for babies, little playhouses, tiny slides, tricycles. East and west were similar jungle gyms for the younger kids plastic and more metal and wood for the slightly older. There was also a ball pit and bounce house. "Do you like the playground sweetie, I am sure you could make your friends jealous being the only one to play in them" The woman had leaned over to murmur to her. She was awfully friendly. Kylie waved her off not wanting to admit the idea of playing on the jungle gym crossed her mind, what adult with an inner child didn't want to play on that, what adult didn't want to play on it? "Oh my gosh I am so rude!" Lilly popped up and held out her hand. "My name is Lilly" the woman grabbed her hand and gave it a shake. Josh followed suit introducing himself. "Kylie" Kylie said shaking her hand, "and that's Matt" she added pointing back at Matt she knew he wasn't going to go for the hand shake, once you step on his toes all friendliness was gone from him. "Well it is so good to meet each of you" the woman spoke as if she was greeting a bunch of little children and made sure to look each one in the face as she said each word. "My name is Alex" Chapter 3: Daycare Tour The group was soon at the door and the woman opened it and gave a small flourish to invite them in. "Welcome to Eleven Stars Daycare, may I have you all sign the guestbook? Before our tour truly begins?" Alex gestured to a book, next to it was a quill and inkwell. "Fancy" Josh said being the first to sign, as each person signed the woman gave a big grin. Kylie noticed something felt weird after she signed it, as if she just made the biggest mistake in her- the feeling was gone and she couldn't remember what it was. "Eleven Stars Daycare was made simply because, well, I am a little baby crazy, if I must admit, I love taking care of little ones. After my own children grew up and moved out, I was left wanting, this lets me take care of babies each and every day, well days that are scheduled anyway." "You do this absolutely free?" Lilly asked. "Oh yes, I make more than enough to satisfy myself and felt I should use it for something truly good. Free daycare for the parents in town. I also accept everyone, I even have some parents willing to drive a four hour round trip just so they can drop their kids off, and honestly I feel like I am cheating them. I get to play with their kids all day!" Alex gave a giddy squeal and a deep sigh of satisfaction. "Wow, you really love kids," Kylie said. "I know I have a picture that represents me perfectly." Alex pulled out her phone and showed a picture of a car with a set of family stickers. There was the mom and dad followed by nearly 12 kids of various stages of youth. The back window was a bit dirty with the words drawn 'OMG get off her' "though it isn't perfect it should say 'get off him'" she giggled. "Now come, come let us begin the tour!" A step past the entrance and they were in a large living room. Shades had been pulled half way. There was a step down lined with a very plush couch and filled with fluffy pillows. On the wall In front of it was a massive TV. In one corner of the living room were three large toy chests and a pile of stuffed toys. A shelf held many stuffed toys in glass cases with names below them. A large playpen sat near a bay window filled with various toys. From some of the walls were large colorful holes that were obviously slides. "Here of course is the hub of the daycare. Kids can jump into the couch area, it is very safe, watch TV and this shelf here holds some of kids favorite stuffed toys. I save them for each kid that gets attached to them and when it is time to say bye bye to the daycare I let them keep their favorite stuffie, some kids though, bless their hearts, leave them here for another kid to play with." Lilly gave a small aww to that. "I wonder if any of you would love to have a stuffie?" Alex pondered. Josh gave an essence of a laugh and held up his hands to decline. Kylie looked at the pile of stuffed animals and thought about the one she had back home, but shook her head. Matt of course didn't even entertain the idea. Lilly was polite. "If I did pick one out, it would be a giraffe, more neck to pet weremy thoughts as a child." She said, "That's adorable" Alex cooed, "I believe I do have one" her voice gave the suggestion that Lilly could have the stuffed giraffe. "No thank you, I am curious, do you work all alone?" "It depends on how many kids and their age difference, I have a few babysitters that assist me, just makes things like eating that much easier, to which let me show you the kitchen!" Alex led them toward a large dining room, a long table with a deep purple tablecloth and candles stood empty. Around it were various sized chairs and a couple high chairs. Beyond that was the kitchen, two stoves and ovens, a couple microwaves and two large fridges. "Here is one of the busiest places of the mansion. I try to make sure I have one chef on call at all times. You know how kids love their snacks and if I have an infant, a five year old and a tween in one go, I need help preparing their specific tastes. Thus the room and one chef on call" Alex said. After the kitchen she led them through the halls. "Two bathrooms next to each other, absurd I know, but I try to give my little ones some privacy and this has actually saved my carpets more than once, or at least I believe it has, one child potty training taking up time and another somehow has to go real bad!" Alex said with a small giggle. "Down this hall, bedrooms I will show you to them when the tour is over" Alex said and gestured to some stairs. Kylie's curiosity had her grabbing a door knob and giving it a twist she opened a door that revealed stairs leading down. "Ooh, what's down here?" She asked. Alex moved over to her and shut the door. Kylie noticed it seemed a bit too hasty. "That's the basement, nothing but the boiler and some spare storage, no need to go down there, it is boring and dusty" she said and pulled out a key turning it in the lock. "I usually have it locked. I don't need little ones playing hide and seek down there" Alex said, giving Kylie a pat on the head. She then shoved the key between her breasts. "Now up, up, we are getting to my favorite part." She said, shooing them up the stairs. They were first greeted by a long hall with a set of stairs at the end. "More rooms as you can see but this one" Alex placed her back against one particular door. She grinned, placing her fingers to her lips as if to stifle a giggle. With dramatic flourish she opened the door and revealed a rather bright room. It was colored in pastel colors. Cartoonist clouds with sun and moon and stars decorated the ceiling. ABCs One Two Threes in colorful blocks and cartoon animals decorated the walls. The floor was very soft and squishy. Lilly and Kylie walked in while Josh and Matt got enough of a view for their liking in the hallway. Cribs lined the walls with changing tables. A large playpen sat on one end of the room near a set of bouncers and walkers. A large TV sat on one wall near a bookshelf and a pile of stuffed toys. The entire second floor was mainly a nursery. The smell of baby powder filled the room. Alex gave a deep inhale. "I will never tire of this smell. It really gets my maternal instincts going." Alex moved to one of the changing tables and pulled out a diaper feeling it and hearing it crinkle. "Sometimes I wish I could have a baby that never grew up just so I could never leave this room" "I am sure you get plenty of time in this room when you are busy," Lilly said. "You are correct there, anyway let us move on before I become drunk on this aroma and start diapering all of you!" Alex laughed and ushered them out and led them up to the third floor. There were only two doors at the top of the steps and beyond one was an entire bedroom set with a king size bed, a full vanity mirror and what could only be a walk in closet. "This is my room, congratulations boys, you have been in another girl's bedroom, your girlfriend's are going to kill you" Alex teased getting a small laugh from Lilly and Kylie. "We will give them hell later" Lilly said. Alex then opened the second door. "This is the toy room" she announced. Inside were several other stuffed toys, but more toys geared towards older kids. Up here was also the start of the slides. After letting them see Alex then returned to the second floor. She opened one of the doors. "Lilly, this will be your room" Alex said. The room wasn't as extravagant as Alex's but it still held all the necessities of a five star hotel. "Josh you can have this one" Alex opened another door. "Unfortunately these other rooms are for when some babies need to cry themselves to sleep and to not keep the others awake…so your rooms will be downstairs." She told Matt and Kylie. They went to the first floor where Alex opened one room. "This can be your room Matt" unlike the first two rooms they saw this one only had a double bed, the room however had all the fixings for a young boy, toys of many varieties the walls were painted with planes and trains and cars zooming about. The bed frame was that of a sports car. "Yeah, no…I'll just sleep in the RV" Matt grumbled. "Are you sure sweetie? I assure you the bed is very comfortable and the blankets very soft and warm" Alex tried to assure him. "I ain't some kid, not gonna sleep like one" he said and began to head off through the home toward the entrance. "Well Kylie, here is the room you can stay in." Alex opened a door and revealed much the same as Matt's room except this one was pink, pretty princess pink. The bed had a canvass, a doll house and a pile of dolls and stuffed animals in one corner. "Aww Kylie it's perfect for you" Lilly teased. "Only you would think I am some princess," Kylie said. "You should know I am quite the opposite" Lilly, Josh and Kylie returned to the R.V to grab their things and set them in their room. Kylie was a bit hesitant, standing in the bubblegum pink surrounded by dolls and stuffed toys, even the bed was occupied by stuffed toys. She gently removed them but stopped as she picked up a stuffed chipmunk. Kylie smiled having a love for chipmunks when she was small. Her favorite thing about them was how they would stuff their mouths full til their cheeks were ballooned out. Fat Cheeks Checkers that was the name of her stuffed chipmunk back home. She wondered if her mom still had him somewhere. "Did you pick out a name for him yet?" A warm voice said from behind. Kylie jumped and turned to find Alex standing behind her, a big smile growing a bit bigger from startling her. "Sorry, I should have knocked, I saw you admiring him" Alex said, pointing at the chipmunk. "Oh uh, yeah, no, he just reminded me of a stuffed toy I had when I was little" Kylie told her putting the chipmunk away with the others. "Oh was he a chipmunk too, what was his name?" "He was, I called him Checkers, Fat Cheeks Checkers" Alex moved around her and picked up the Chipmunk holding it out to her. "Aww that's a nice name, maybe this is a new Checkers huh?" Alex said, wiggling the stuffed toy. "No, I shouldn't, I can't, better leave it so a kid can have it" Kylie said pushing the chipmunk into Alex's arms. "But I am letting a kid have it, you" Alex said. "I am not a kid," Kylie scoffed. "Oh sweetie, not everyone, truly grows up. Some children just grow an adult shell. It's ok for you to have a little friend with you, to hold, to cuddle, to tell all your worries to." Kylie was now holding onto the chipmunk, the honey colored marble eyes staring up at her. She soon felt an urge to hug it and another said she was too old for this. "I…can't" Kylie said, a bit disappointed. Alex took the chipmunk and set it down on the bed. "Well, how about he waits for you here for bedtime, maybe when you're sleepy you will want him nearby ok?" Alex tucked the chipmunk into the bed and smiled at Kylie before leaving. Kylie looked at the chipmunk. There was that little voice telling her not to leave it behind. With a shake of her head she left the room. The five adults soon gathered in the dining room. Alex had prepared a charcuterie board for all of them and poured out four glasses of wine and a sippy cup, which was handed to Kylie. "Sorry honey, I don't have any more glasses, I really ought to start the dishwasher" Alex said looking disapprovingly toward the kitchen. "That's fine, I can deal," Kylie said and grabbed the cup. At first she tried to remove the lid but the design was odd and try as she might she couldn't figure it out. She looked up to see her friends diving into the charcuterie board and starting up the jokes with their hostess. Only Alex kept her eyes on Kylie. She had a warm, comforting smile that told her to just relax and her eyes…almost mocking her. Kylie smiled back but couldn't break eye contact, they were almost hypnotic bright almost glowing like little fires in them a mix of blue and pink, almost saying, *drink it just like that, little girl*. Kylie blinked and shook off the feeling. Alex was no longer watching her or maybe she never was. She looked down at the sippy cup and gave a resigned sigh drinking it and feeling ridiculous, she felt like a toddler. No one questioned it though, did that make it better or worse? As conversations went on, they talked about their vacation, the places they had been to and the places they wanted to go to. "Well, I am sad that your R.V broke" Alex said, placing a hand over her chest and sticking out her bottom lip to them. "I hope you can get back to all the fun things you have planned, and I hope this will have been a nice detour." She said, "Thank you, you have been a gracious host Alex," Lilly said. Kylie gave a big yawn and stretched her arms out, Alex gave a grin and beamed at her. "Oh? Someone is sleepy, I guess it is time for bed, Alex said. "We should probably get to sleep. I want to make sure I am up for when the tow truck arrives." Lilly said tapping at her phone to set an alarm. "Well, if you don't mind, I would love to give you all a good night ceremony once you are all in bed" "That would be lovely, thank you" Lilly said, grabbing glasses. "Allow me to at least help with the dishes." "No, no, no! You are on vacation, go ahead and get to sleep young lady, I can do the dishes." Alex said. "Well if you're all going to bed, I'm gonna get a game or two in, before bed" Matt said. "Dude, challenge ya" Josh said getting up to join. The two boys headed outside toward the R.V. Kylie walked into the pink princess room and got herself ready for bed. She slipped into the covers and looked over to see the chipmunk, still waiting for her. She picked it up and squished it's soft fur. Then came a soft knock. "Kylie?" Alex softly asked. "Oh, um good night," Kylie said. Alex smiled admiring Kylie in the bed stuffed toy in her hands. "I knew you would like him," Alex said. "If you want to take him with you, you can hide him away in your suitcase," she said. Kylie set him on the nightstand next to her. "I am too old for such things" Alex came into the room and picked up the Chipmunk and got it settled back into her arms. "Nonsense, sweetie" she said, taking the blankets and tucking Kylie in them. "At the very least you sleep with him tonight, he will enjoy it." Alex said. "Thanks, I guess," Kylie mumbled. "You're welcome, now, Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don't let the Bed Bugs Bite, and if they do then take your Shoe and hit them until they are Black and Blue" Alex half spoke half sang the rhy me. Slowly closing the door. Kylie felt sleepy almost immediately as she watched Alex leave. In her tired head she could have sworn just as the door was closing, one of those firey blue eyes was actually pink. The door was closed before the thought took root. Kylie pulled the chipmunk a bit closer to her and closed her eyes for good.

A short story spinoff by LittleFallenPrincess based on the Infernum Infantem/Parum Mortis universe I created. So to start off... I know it's a bit late. But thought I'd quickly sneak this in before New Year and the Christmas period is over completely, as I didn't want people to miss out on this small story update to one of my favourite stories that I've written so far, whilst also giving early access to those who support me on SubscribeStar. It's only short, at 4 chapters long, and probably a good indicator as to the length and quality of my soon-to-be commissioned short stories that will be exclusive to my SubscribeStar. It's a little light on the ABDL elements, but I hope you still enjoy it as it was a lot of fun to write. And if you're interested on reading more short stories from me, keep an eye out on my SubscribeStar as I hope to start a trial run of commissioned short stories in January, ideally taking on two per month from the following month if the interest is there. Chapter 1: Christmas Eve Infernum Infantem: Nativitas Reunionis – LittleFallenPrincess “Nia, we’re going to be late… YOU BETTER HURRY UP!” Vic shouted from the hallway. “IN A MINUTE!” I yelled, struggling to pull the zipper up on my new coat. “Do you need help?” I heard her ask, from the other side of the door this time. “Damn infernal mittens making everything so difficult…” I grumbled as Victoria opened the door. Her heels clacked on my wooden bedroom floor as she walked over and stood in front of me, quickly taking over and pulling the zip up. I now looked like an overgrown toddler with this huge puffy coat, thick snow pants, cute pink boots, and these ridiculous mittens which made everything a thousand times more difficult to do with them on. At least it was only the boots and mittens that were pink, I think I’d die and go back to Hell if my coat and pants were pink too, thankfully they were black so I only looked semi-ridiculous. But no, what scared me most was what was underneath this thick winter clothing. But hey, at least only those attending this thing will get to see that, and they’re all littles too and have seen me in much worse. “You ready, babygirl?” Vic asked me as she looked down at me with those gorgeous blue eyes of hers, wrapping her arms around me and pulling my body against hers. For a second I completely forgot how ridiculous I looked compared to the gorgeous Goddess that was my girlfriend, with her long, smart black coat and hella sexy sparkly black dress underneath it. For that second, I melted into a subby little pile of goo as I embraced the hug. Ignore the leg being raised behind me and the tail swishing, it means NOTHING, got that? “Won’t people get scared if they see me?” I asked, pulling away from the hug and pointing up at my horns and then turning around to show my tail to her. “We’ll be in the car for the drive over, and our windows are tinted. And you know the Sanctuary has that perception doodad thingy that the street has where Teles’ cafe is. Humans won’t be able to see you, don’t worry. I want you to be yourself today, both as my gorgeous demon girlfriend and also my adorable ickle babygirl…” Vic said, booping my nose before quickly kissing my cheek, making my already red cheeks even redder. “Stooooooop!” I whined, rubbing my cheek where she kissed it, but not-so-secretly hoping she would just replace the kiss again. It’s not like her lipstick would be noticeable, the benefits of having demonic red skin I guess. “Right, you ready then, baby?” “Uh huh. So can you tell me what this is yet?” She had told me that we were having an ‘event’ at the Sanctuary, but that was it. She hadn’t told me anything else, other than that it was going to be for littles and that all my friends would be there. I wondered if it had anything to do with this ‘Christmas’ or whatever it is that humans call it, as Vic had been so different this month, putting up fancy lights and sparkly decorations all around the manor and playing all sorts of music I had never heard of before. All it consisted of was ‘Christmas cheer’ and ‘love for all’ and something about decking some halls… which I didn’t understand… but I have to admit, it wasn’t too bad, and it was really nice seeing Vic looking happier than ever. Like seriously, I don’t think I’ve seen her this cheery in… well… ever. “Nope. Now get that cute padded butt in the car, and watch your tail in the door…” “THAT WAS ONE TIME!” I whined. “And I’ll continue to remind you.” She giggled, making my heart soar. “Now go on, off you waddle…” And so I did, off I waddled out of my bedroom and down to the car, Vic following close behind me, giggling every time my ‘underwear’ crinkled. Which was constantly. I was really excited to see my friends again. It had been a while since the last time I saw them, Susie and Beth had had another long trip away to help someone again, Lucy had become a bit of a shut in after a very brief attempt at dating again, Grim and Abby were busy with lots of stuff, and even Beatrice had moved out. That’s right, Beatrice was no longer Vic’s maid, now that her whole ‘setting me up with Vic’ plan went off perfectly. She has moved into the Sanctuary temporarily, whilst she finds a new purpose in life. So I was excited to see her again, as I must admit… I missed having a Nanny. She made changing time… yeah… Talking of changes! Brelgamur, or Belle as we have been calling her, also moved out. She found her own place and has sworn off returning to Hell. I did ask my sister if she was also one of our siblings, given Belle’s reluctance to return to Hell, but Lucifer insists she was a human originally. And no matter how much I whine and beg and brat, Lucifer still won’t reveal which of the demons are our angelic-siblings-turned-demon. But I swear, one of these days she’ll break… So yeah, mostly it’s just been me and Vic, which has made the manor feel a bit… empty, but at the same time it’s allowed us to get closer and more intimate. Our relationship has definitely blossomed and I love her even more and more each day. The only time we fight is when I’m a brat and even then that’s fixed with a quick spanking. She’s even learned how to tame my tail so she doesn’t get thwacked in the face whilst trying to thwack my butt! After a very anxious car ride in which I was worried people would be able to see my horns and skin through the tinted windows, we arrived at the Sanctuary in Vic’s latest sports car, pulling up in our usual parking spot. Yeah… we spend a lot of time here. When Susie and Beth are around, I’d usually be spending a lot of time with Susie, catching up after all this time apart, whilst Vic and Beth would sit together and chat. Victoria wanted to know everything about this supernatural side of the world, as her library only contains a very very limited amount of knowledge of it all and Beth is one of the most knowledgeable people we know, her library puts both of Victoria’s to shame. So we have our own little parking spot that we usually take. Waddling into the Sanctuary, through the entrance hallway, I was greeted by all my friends standing together in a group, all looking at me. “NIA!” They cried out, rushing over and pouncing on me, each one of them joining the hug puddle. “Hey you lot… it’s good to see you too, haha!” I laughed, trying not to get smothered by affection to the point I couldn’t breathe. “Aren’t you excited?” Lucy asked, being the first one to break the hug. “About what? Vic wouldn’t tell me anything about what is going on.” “What has she told you?” Susie asked, pulling away as Grim and Abby also did the same. “That it is an event for littles, that’s it.” “Oh then we’re not spoiling anything…” “Good girl.” Beth said, grinning down to her wife, making Susie wiggle and blush. “Yes, I’ve got the camera ready…” Vic said, ominously, as she held up her fancy, expensive camera that I got her for her birthday. “I knew getting you that would come back to bite me…” I groaned, rolling my eyes at her. “Come on, let's go!” Lucy announced, excitedly, as she grabbed my hand and escorted me through the lobby, which was just as well-decorated as our manor, with tinsel and fairy lights and everything. “Why are there decorations here? I wouldn’t have thought our world would celebrate such a silly holiday? If anything, maybe something a bit more… Pagan?” I asked. “Its origins are Pagan, but no, that's not why we do it.” Beatrice said as she rushed over and grabbed me, pulling me up into a huge hug as she lifted me onto her hip. “Missed you, kiddo.” “Missed you too!” Everyone else continued towards the play room, whilst Beatrice stayed in the lobby with me, bouncing me up and down gently on her hip. “Sorry I’ve not been about, been figuring things out.” She apologised. “Oh psst, shush, it’s okay! Managed to find your new goal in life?” I asked, as she continued bouncing me on her hip. “Not yet, but I’m sure I’ll find it. Anyway, yes, we celebrate because we like the cheer it brings. Sure, we don’t celebrate the religious part of it, but we do like the gift-giving and all the other silly human traditions. So we celebrate our own way, a bit of human tradition and a bit of our own. Helps those who used to be human, like Lucy.” “So you do this every year?” “Look, I don’t want to say this in front of Vic… but we haven’t done this in decades. At the sanctuary? Sure, every year without fail. But at the manor? No. Vic was in a very, very dark place, so she never wanted to celebrate a holiday in which everyone is with family. It was a bad time for her, so I spent most of my time keeping her attention off everything around this time of year.” “But now…?” “Now she’s got you. She’s worked on her trauma, and even though she’s got her own new brand of trauma from her trip to Hell… she’s doing better than ever. All because of you. So this year, she’s wanting to go all out. Like I mean… ALL out. So whilst I’m going to keep today a bit of a surprise, I will say that we’ll all be around yours tomorrow.” “Huh?” “For Christmas dinner, duh!” “Christmas… dinner? Do you eat… Christmas?” “Silly baby, it’s just a big family meal, in which everyone eats way too much turkey and roast potatoes and gravy, they wear stupid paper crowns from mini explosive satchels, and then play party games when everyone is in a food coma afterwards.” “And you’re all coming for it?” I asked, confused. “Who do you think is cooking it? Vic certainly isn’t a great cook!” Bea winked at me. “So… everyone? Wow…” “I know you don’t understand the big thing about Christmas, I don’t blame you. You’re a demon and you’ve spent most of your time in Hell. But just play along, okay? Even if only for Vic’s sake. She needs this. Let her spoil you, let her celebrate this.” “Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on ruining it for her. I haven’t seen her this cheery in forever. It’s… really nice.” I smiled warmly thinking about my girlfriend being happy. “I’m glad. Now, you’re going to be extra blushy when I carry you through, so get ready.” “Huh… what?” I said, squirming and wriggling in my ex-Nanny’s arms as she carried me towards the playroom. The whole play room was decorated with the same kind of stuff the manor and the Sanctuary was decorated with, making it feel… festive? Is that the right word? Either way, it was… nice. Especially seeing Vic’s face light up as I was carried in and over to the centre of the room, where everyone’s eyes were on… me. I swear my face couldn’t get any redder as everyone smiled and giggled, before I noticed someone sitting in the centre of the room… dressed… like some of the decorations? A big human dressed up in a red suit with a big white beard… Beatrice carried me over to the strange human man and placed me down… on his lap! ‘WHAT THE HELL? Why am I being given over to this large human?’ I thought to myself as Bea walked away, leaving me on the lap of this strange man. “Hello there, little one…” A deep, booming voice came from behind the beard. Upon closer inspection… I noticed it was fake. “Umm… Vic? What is this?” I asked, nervously. “This, Nia, is Santa Claus. Or Father Christmas.” “So is there like a Mummy Christmas or a baby Christmas? Is there a whole family of Christmases?” “No, silly baby…” She sighed, laughing to herself. “He delivers presents to all the good children at midnight on Christmas day. You wake up to presents from him.” I knew it was a gift-giving celebration, but that’s pretty much the extent of my knowledge. “So…” “So here is your chance to tell Santa what you want!” She exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly at me. “I… umm… I ask this big guy for stuff… and he brings it to me?” “Pretty much!” Lucy said, smiling over at me as she looked adorable in her smartest ‘little’ dress. “I WANT A NEW GAMING RIG!” I yelled at this strange fat man’s face. “Ho ho ho… I think that can be arranged.” The bearded man laughed as he… jiggled. “So what, are you like a warlock or something? What is the extent of your magic? Because there are billions of human children, right? So that must mean you… yeah there is no physical way you could deliver that many presents in one night.” “I have my secrets…” He winked at me. “You’ve been a very good girl this year, Nia, so I’m sure we can find something for you, don’t you worry!” “You better…” I squinted at him, giving my evilest look and scrunching my face up at him. “I think that’s enough… got the pictures?” Beatrice asked Vic as she pulled me off Santa’s lap and started unzipping my coat, taking all these thick layers off me. “Yeah, I was surprised that she was that well behaved!” Vic giggled, walking over to me and planting a kiss on my forehead. “So that’s what you want? A gaming rig?” “I mean… I’m just happy to have my family here. That would have been my first wish. But now I’ve got you all… yeah, I want a freaking gaming rig!” I grinned up at her. “Well we’ll see what Santa brings you tomorrow.” Vic said, as if deep in thought. “Now, why don’t we get you into just your baby party dress and you can go play with your friends.” “We’ve got all day, right?” “Yep. Then we’re off home and you’re going to snuggle with me on the sofa as I show you Christmas movies that we’ve both missed out on, ones that Beatrice recommended.” “I have good taste, don’t worry!” Bea winked at me. “She does. And then after that, early night for you, baby! You’re going in your crib tonight too.” “Early night? Whyyyyyyy?” I whined. “Because we’ve got a busy day tomorrow, and Mummy has some things to work on. And most importantly… if you’re not asleep early, Santa won’t come.” “So no… no gaming rig?” Here came the puppy dog eyes. I was getting better and better at them. Vic will be powerless against them once I’ve mastered them. “Nope.” She snapped back at me, grinning back at me. “Fine. Early night it is. I better have at least 32gb of RAM though. And be water cooled. And have fancy lights.” “I’m sure he won’t disappoint.” Vic said, with both her and Beatrice laughing, making me pout and stick my tongue out at the two of them. Chapter 2: Christmas Day Infernum Infantem: Nativitas Reunionis – LittleFallenPrincess I woke up with an energy flowing through me that I had never felt upon waking up. Usually I wake up and need at least five energy drinks to be able to even string a coherent string of words together to form a sentence, but today… Today was different. The way they hyped up the arrival of this jolly fat guy wearing red, delivering presents… I can’t say I’m not excited to see if what they said is actually true. I know lots of entities in this world and other worlds, from vampires to trolls to Elder Gods… but I had never heard of this ‘Santa Claus’. He must have some pretty impressive magic if he manages to deliver all those presents in one night. Maybe I’ll hunt him down and find out his secret one day. For now though… I should have a fancy new gaming computer sitting there… just for me… So jumping up out of my crib with the agility of a cat, landing on my feet on the outside of the crib, with a thick, soggy nappy drooping close to my knees, I ran… or waddled… as fast as I could out of the nursery and towards the door. I wasn’t going to let a soggy nappy slow me down, I wanted my presents! As soon as I reached the door, I swung it open and dashed out, skidding across the floor as I turned down the hallway, running at full speed towards the living room. “Ah ah ah…” That voice stopped me in my tracks as I stumbled forward, trying my best to stop… but finding it hard as I barreled into the wall. “Oh dear! Are you okay, babygirl?” Victoria asked as she rushed over in her dressing gown and fuzzy slippers, bending down and helping me up. “I… I’m okay. Sorry. Did I wake you?” I replied. “No, but as soon as I saw you leap from the crib I knew I better get out of bed.” “You saw…?” “The baby monitor has a video function…” She grinned at me. “EEEEK!” I cried out, quickly hiding my blushing face in her chest. “Is someone excited to see what Santa left her?” “U… Uh huh…” “Well the rule is, you can’t open them without me being there.” “Wait, that’s a rule? Sorry! I didn’t…” I looked down at my feet, feeling really guilty all of a sudden. “It’s okay, my love. You didn’t know, and I forgot to tell you last night. I have to watch you open your presents! As if I couldn’t miss that adorable face as you see what you got…” I nuzzled further into her chest, burying my face deeper into her dressing gown, and wiggled my tail. “Still… sowwy.” “That’s okay baby, why don’t we go head downstairs and see what you got?” I broke free of our embrace and backed up, nodding up at her and smiling from ear to ear as she held out her hand. Grabbing it, I turned and followed closely by her side as she escorted me towards my new gaming computer. “This… this is… umm…” I said, awkwardly, as I sat cross-legged on the rug near the Christmas tree. There were dozens of little gifts, all wrapped perfectly, just underneath the bristly branches. And I had chosen the biggest one there, pulling it close and tearing the paper off without even thinking about how much of a mess I was creating. “I thought you wanted a new computer?” Vic said, looking confused from the sofa as I sat in front of this… gift. “I… it’s not really a computer, you know that? It looks like the babyish toys in my nursery…” I pressed the button on the fake, colourful keyboard and the monitor showed the image of a cow as a ‘moo’ sound came from the speakers on the back. “I thought…” That’s when she broke into laughter. “I’m so sorry, sweetie, I couldn’t keep it up… as soon as Beatrice suggested this prank I just had to…” “Beatrice… of course it was her…” I sighed in relief that this was just a prank. “Check behind the sofa. Be careful pulling it out…” Vic said, pointing behind her. Jumping to my feet, my even-soggier nappy weighing me down and sloshing about, I waddled behind the sofa to find an enormous box! And because I’m a good girl, I did as my Mummy said and carefully pulled it out from the sofa and around to the front so she could see me open it. “AHHHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed in delight as I tore the colourful paper off my huge present, and saw the multiple boxes inside it. Monitor, keyboard, mice… everything! Like… this was everything I wanted! “I did ask Lucy for some help picking out the things. You know how I am with computers compared to you two. Did she pick well?” “Wait…” I turned to face her, my own turning serious for a second. “I thought Santa brought gifts…” “I’ll explain it to you later, sweetie. It’s a very complicated system…” She giggled, making me feel like there was another joke being played on me. After my presents were opened, and after Vic had opened a cute little handmade bracelet I had made for her at the last little’s event, we snuggled up on the sofa, surrounded by Christmas decorations and the enormous tree in the corner. But I could feel my tummy rumbling, so I looked up at Vic as the noise reverberated around the living room. Yes, it was that loud. Demons get hungry, I can’t help it! “Is that a food thing or a succubus thing?” Vic asked. “A bit of both?” “Well your wet nurse is on holiday, so we could always… you know…” “Oh… fun big girl time?” I looked up at her, excitedly. “We’d have to be extra careful… But you need breakfast first anyway, and then we have family coming over, so I don’t know if we have time, you may have to wait til later. I told everyone to come over at twelve, apparently Beatrice doesn’t need much time to cook the turkey thanks to her magic.” “I could always take it to Hell… I’m sure the brimstone will add a nice… flavour…” I giggled. “No more trips to Hell, Missy! For either of us. Once was enough for me, thank you very much.” I giggled a bit more before snuggling back into her arms and relaxing. If our friends were coming over soon, I wanted to make the most out of this snuggly time with my Mama whilst I can. “I wuv you, Mama…” I whispered up at her, earning myself a squeeze and a kiss on the top of my head from her. “I love you too, baby. My little ‘Child of Darkness’.” That was her cute little pet name for me that she sometimes uses, due to her expecting to give birth to the bringer of the end of the world and ending up with… this overgrown baby. It made me pout, but it made us both giggle, and it was our special thing, so I loved it. “So you say our friends are coming over…” I began, before getting cut off. “I said family, but yes, friends too.” “Huh?” The doorbell rang, indicating that someone had arrived. “Wait… is it twelve already?” Vic yelled, jumping up and ruining our snuggly time. “I didn’t realise it was that late!” I had been too engrossed setting up my new gaming PC and opening all my gifts and snuggling to realise the time, so it seemed like neither of us were on the ball today. “I’ll go answer that…” Vic said, turning and looking down at me, as I sat on the sofa still. “You go get dressed, into something less babyish, okay baby?” “Less babyish? I thought you’d want me babyish today…” “No, our friends are okay with it, but I don’t know about family.” “You said family again, like it’s a separate thing… what are you talking about?” “Go! Go get dressed, quickly!” Vic pulled me up quickly, smacking my padded butt lightly, rushing me out of the living room. As I waddled up the stairs, I heard familiar voices coming from the main hallway of the manor. Beatrice, Beth and Susie had arrived by the sounds of it. I couldn’t make out any other voices, so Lucy’s house must not have arrived yet. As I was in the middle of taking the huge nappy off, managing one tape but getting stuck on the second, I heard a knock on the nursery door. “Hello?” Someone called out. “Occupied!” I cried out, desperate to stop them from coming in and seeing me like this. “I know, silly! Your Mummy said you may need a hand changing your nappy and getting dressed. And since Susie already needs a change, I offered. Especially as Bea has her hands full with Christmas dinner…” “Oh… Beth… sure… umm… come in?” I responded, blushing, as she and Susie walked in, pulling that ‘oh, doesn’t she look adorable?’ face at me. “Come on then hun, let's get you changed. Where are your big girl clothes?” “In… in my bedroom…” I replied. “That’s okay. Let’s get the nappy done first, then I’ll go get some clothes for you.” So I watched as she escorted Susie over to the changing table, lifting her up onto it and lifting up her smart, adult dress. I blushed and looked away, because even though I had been changed in front of other littles, including Susie, and they had been changed in front of me… I still found it embarrassing. Susie though… by now she felt no shame. It had been decades since she got introduced to all this, so she no longer felt the embarrassment of doing any of it in front of other littles and caregivers. “Any idea why we have to dress up smart?” Susie asked me as she got her nappy changed. “Nope. Vic won’t tell me.” “We’ve gotta pretend to be adults apparently. Non-kinksters attending or something like that.” “Non-kinksters? Who?” “Don’t ask me, I’m in the dark about this too…” Beth joined in, shrugging. And so as I waited for my turn to get changed, I wondered just who-in-the-Hell Vic invited. Shortly after I got changed into a clean nappy and a nice, appropriate dress, we headed back downstairs and I got to say hi to Beatrice, just in time for Lucy, Abs and Grim to arrive. They too were all dressed up all fancy, which surprised me. I thought it must be another big prank, but no… this seemed genuine, but none of us knew why and Vic was mysteriously absent most of the time. That was… until the doorbell went again. “Did she invite Meddy and Pandora?” I asked around the living room, but everyone shook their heads and shrugged. “GET THAT, WILL YOU BABY? I’M JUST GETTING READY.” Vic shouted down from the balcony, loud enough that I could hear it from the living room. “I guess I’ll answer the door… I hope they’re okay with demons…” I shrugged, knowing that my glamour hadn’t been applied, as this was supposed to be a day I wouldn’t need it. I shuffled off towards the front door as everyone continued to talk about presents and gifts and what their families are doing and stuff. And as I got nearer, I could hear multiple voices, ones that sounded familiar but I couldn’t place. ‘Maybe she did invite Pandora and Meddy…’ I shrugged, turning the doorknob and slowly opening the large front door. “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” Four people I had never seen before all looked at me in wonder, with great big smiles on their faces. Apparently not even demon-red skin, horns and a tail could scare these carolers away. (Yes, I had that experience earlier in the month. Usually the big, creepy manor deters random people coming up the driveway, but some carolers got especially brave, climbed the gate, and made their way to the front door. Safe to say… they won’t be coming back again. I nearly sent them home with nappies, they clearly needed them.) “I… sorry, you have the wrong house?” I replied to these… very beautiful people. Like seriously… these were like model-status gorgeous. They all wore white winter coats and looked immaculate, two guys and two gals, they all just smiled at me. Except one of the guys, who you could tell was pretending to smile. “NIA! AHHHHHHH!” One of the women thrust themselves forward, wrapping their arms around me and hugging me tightly. Despite the uncomfortable unconsenting hug, I felt a warmth from it that felt… familiar. But it was what I could now see behind them, that made things fall into place a little bit better. Or should I say… who. “Lucifer…” I croaked to the figure in the background, hanging out a dozen feet or so behind the group. I tried to sound normal, but you try that whilst having the stuffing squeezed out of you by this gorgeous woman hugging you! “Hey Sis. You seem surprised. Oh no… don’t tell me that lovely girlfriend of yours didn’t tell you…” Lucifer replied, sighing and clutching her forehead in disbelief. “Tell me… what?” I cried out, pulling myself away from the stranger who may have tried to end my existence on Earth by hugging me to death. “You don’t remember us?” The hugger said, looking offended as she flicked her gorgeous mousy-brown hair behind her shoulders. “I told you… her memories are slowly returning…” Lucifer said, before getting cut off suddenly. “Yes, but I don’t trust anything you say, viper…” She hissed at Lucifer. “Ugh, why don’t you go shove it up your angelic arse…” “Angeli…” I said, before getting interrupted. The four figures clad in white all turned back to me and smiled, before announcing in unison: “We’re your siblings, Nia!” “Sib…lings? Wait… are you… angels?” I asked, confused and bewildered. “Well duh, of course we are!” The black haired woman said. “Sorry… I… I don’t remember you.” It’s true, I genuinely didn’t. They felt familiar… but I couldn’t remember anything about them. My memories had been returning, but it seemed to be in reverse. Newer memories were returning, then ones from about a hundred years ago, then two hundred, and so on. I hadn’t remembered anything about my old existence as an angel yet, or any of my siblings aside from Lucifer. “That’s okay! We certainly remember you!” “Is… is that a good thing?” I asked. “Of course! We missed you, silly!” The brown-haired woman stepped forward and hugged me again, before backing off and introducing herself. “I’m Gabriel. We were as close as you and Luci were. But then there weren’t any angels who disliked you, hun. Everyone loved you. I don’t think it was possible to not love you.” The guy who had been fake-smiling before coughed awkwardly, looking around. Clearly he was the exception, whoever he was. The other guy, the one with long, dark hair stepped up next and hugged me. “Raph. Or Raphael. It’s good to see you again, Niazriel. I was wondering if any of you would break Father’s curse. But I think we all knew if anyone could… it was you.” He smiled at me. His aura just felt… he felt very ‘big brother’ to me… which felt nice. The other woman stepped forward, gave me a huge hug and waved at me. “Azrael. Angel of Death.” This woman looked different from the others, as she looked a lot more like Lucifer. Dark makeup and jet-black hair… This just made her stand out more with her white coat and white dress. Kinda like if you shoved someone pure into someone dark and edgy… this was the result. But she seemed nice at least. The last one, the snobby guy in the back, didn’t come and hug me like the others, they just nodded at me and turned their eyes away from me, before taking the lead and walking past me, straight into the house. “Oh my Dad… is this where you’re living now?” Gabriel said as she walked in after the snobby angel. Azrael and Raphael quickly followed them both, walking straight past me as if I wasn’t there. Thankfully, that’s when Luci walked up to me, put her arms around me, and hugged me tightly. “Yeah… that last one is Michael. He’s an ass. He was the only one who didn’t like you.” “He… didn’t like me?” I asked, feeling deeply hurt. “Well… he hated how much attention you got from the others. And how much Dad loved you. So when you sided with me, it just increased his hatred towards you due to his loyalty to Dad. He was the one who egged Dad on to give you all this curse and not just banish you to Hell, so excuse him. It’s been way too long since I saw him, he’s clearly not changed.” “Is… is this everyone? I thought there were loads of angels?” “Because of the date today, most of us are at Dad’s favourite son’s birthday party… even if he wasn’t born in December and it was just stolen from Pagans. But anyway, yeah, most couldn’t make it, and I’m not exactly welcome up there, so I was free anyway. I was going to just get drunk. Your girlfriend prayed for your family to visit, and Gabriel… being Gabriel… rounded up as many as she could afford to pull away. So you got us.” “You heard them?” “Hey, I’m still an angel. I can hear prayers too. And despite their disgust towards me, and my inability to deal with their Holier-than-thou bullshit… I wasn’t going to miss out on spending a holiday with my fave sis! Though I must say… I was expecting you to be more… infantile…” Luci winked at me, grinning, making me blush instantly. “Oi! That was… shush! She made me dress up nicely today.” I pouted at her. “I can hear the crinkles, sis. You’re not completely an adult. Don’t worry, the others won’t realise. Now, shall we go see how our siblings react to your non-human friends?” Lucifer said, putting her arm around me and closing the front door behind us. Chapter 3: Christmas Reunion Infernum Infantem: Nativitas Reunionis – LittleFallenPrincess Walking into the living room, I was still slightly in shock that not only were my family wanting to see me… but that they were here, for Christmas dinner. I couldn’t remember any of them exactly, but they felt familiar, like… home. But the stark difference between our appearances kept reminding me that I had apparently fucked up big time siding with Lucifer eons ago, as their pristine white dresses and suits they had hidden underneath their coats clashed with my dark purple dress and my red skin… and horns… and tail… and fangs… “Umm… come on through… umm…” I mumbled, showing them through the main hall towards the living room where everyone else was currently chatting happily. Opening the door, I hesitantly smiled at everyone. “Hey Nia, are you okay, sweetie? You look… nervous.” Beth said, holding Susie on her lap. Nia, Abby and Grim were all sitting on the sofa together, and Beatrice was in the corner with her back turned to me, pouring herself a drink. “I… I’d like to introduce our latest guests…” I replied, awkwardly. “Who did Vic invite this time?” Beatrice laughed, without turning around. “My… my family…” I heard the clink of ice dropping into a glass as Beatrice turned around, her face looking mortified. “WHICH… ONES?” She growled at me. “Um… my… angelic ones…” “Angelic ones?” Lucy asked, confused. “Nia… she used to be an angel. She’s Lucifer’s sister…” Beatrice explained. I’m glad Beatrice explained it for me, as it still felt awkward for me to say. I hadn’t told anyone, only Vic. But since Beatrice knew about the whole thing, as her and Lucifer were the ones to set Vic and me up to break the curse… of course she already knew. My friends though… none of them knew. I mean it’s not something I can just blurt out whilst playing with dolls or colouring something. ‘Oh hey, so I used to be an angel and tried to rebel against God himself and got turned into a creature of Hell forced to suck the life force from others for eternity.’ They don’t even write a greeting card for that kind of thing. “Nia… was an ANGEL?” Lucy looked back over at me with amazement on her face, her mouth open wide. “Makes sense. Demons were probably transformed angels after the rebellion.” Beth said, as if it was just normal for her to know these things. Susie, Abby and Grim all looked at me in surprise, but still… nowhere near as excited or amazed as Lucy was currently. She must have a thing for angels. “Nia… which ones are here?” Beatrice asked, looking angrier than I had ever seen her before. “Raphael… Gabriel… Azrael… Michael…” “RAPH, GABE… GET IN HERE, NOW!” Beatrice screamed, her voice echoing through the whole manor. I turned around to see Raphael and Gabriel shuffle guiltily into the living room, looking at the floor. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Bea asked, crossing her arms the way Vic does whenever I’ve been bratty. “We… we didn’t know you’d be here… We honestly didn’t know you even knew our sister…” Gabriel replied, sounding nervous. “Yeah… what she said.” Raphael added. “Wait… so Beatrice knows two Archangels?” Lucy asked Grim, who just shrugged his shoulders. “Bea? How do you know my siblings?” I asked her. “How do you think…?” Lucifer said as she walked past us all, confidently, pushing past the two guilty-looking angels and walking over to Beatrice, where she began making herself a drink. “What does she mean by that?” Lucy asked, innocently. The rest of us had figured it out already. “It means they fu…” “ANYWAY!” Azrael said, cutting Grim off and walking in. “Hi, I’m Azrael. Hi Beatrice.” She said, nodding over to Beatrice, who just nodded back at her. ‘At least she hasn’t gone through my entire family tree…’ I thought to myself, rolling my eyes at my ex-nanny. “Azrael? The angel of Death?” Lucy asked, surprised. “I’ve met Death. You’re not them.” Susie spoke up, giving the evil eye to Azrael. “I… well…” Azrael looked around, nervously. Lucifer laughed, causing everyone to all look at her now. “She’s Death’s biggest fangirl. She’s probably the first ever fangirl of anything, ever. She saw Death once near the beginning of time and since then has been obsessed about copying them. Hence the edgy makeup.” Lucifer said, popping the olive from her drink into her mouth. “SHUT UP, VIPER!” Azrael snapped at her, making Lucifer laugh. “Oh hello! You must be Nia’s family, it’s lovely to meet you all! I’m glad you could come!” Victoria said, appearing in the doorway on the other side of the living room, looking absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. If she didn’t have me getting hungrier and hungrier by the minute just looking at her, I would probably yell at her for surprising me with all this. No, instead I was too busy thinking about jumping her bones to be angry right now. Thankfully, Beatrice had my back on that front. No, not the jum… oh nevermind, you know what I mean. “Vic… why didn’t you tell me you were inviting MY EXES?” Beatrice yelled across the room, towards my Mummy. “Your… oh. Sorry! I didn’t know! I just thought it’d be nice for Nia to have her family for Christmas…” Victoria looked really awkward now. Lucifer just laughed again, walked past me, towards the comfortable recliner in the corner. But as she passed me, she bent down and whispered: “Oh this is going to be the best Christmas ever…” ----------------------------------------------------------------- And so we all chatted in the living room. Trying to act like a ‘normal’ family. Whatever that is. Lucy kept asking Michael questions, but he kept looking at her with disgust. Lucifer explained to me discreetly that Michael is bad enough normally, but he despises the ‘creatures’ of Earth, ‘creatures’ being vampires and werewolves and undead. Humans he can stand… just about. It was adorable really though, because it looked like a toddler asking their Uncle question after question, and the Uncle has had enough but is trying to be polite and not ruin dinner. Azrael was busy talking to Susie about Death, about their experiences, all whilst Beth sipped her wine, happily listening to her wife ramble on. Grim and Abby kept to themselves mostly, they didn’t seem bothered by my angelic siblings. Vic got an earful from Beatrice, before our friend turned her gaze to her ‘exes’ and started having a go at the pair in the corner of the room, before dragging both of them out of the room to finish cooking Christmas dinner. It was hilarious, Gabriel and Raphael both following her heels closely, like a couple of submissives… It made me wonder just what kind of relationship they had had in the past. And… how many of my damn siblings she’s dated… Lucifer sat in the recliner, drinking slowly, happily listening to the chaos that had engulfed our normally-cosy living area. Vic… Vic seemed hesitant to even look at me. She could see how weird I felt about this, and I think she felt like she had fucked up. Which just left me, sitting on the sofa, awkwardly, not talking or interacting with anyone, just watching everyone else socialising or enjoying themselves. Twiddling my thumbs, squirming in place as my other hunger started rising… I was not exactly having fun. This wasn’t the reunion I was expecting. It was somehow better but also worse than what I had imagined. They weren’t at each other’s throats… or mine… but there was this awkward distance between Lucifer and the others, as if none of them could stand to even look at her, let alone be near her. Lucifer, however, didn’t seem to mind this, as if she was used to it… maybe even enjoyed it. So, taking the initiative, I took a deep breath and walked over to where Lucy and Michael were sitting and completely interrupted what moment they were having by sitting on Michael’s lap. It seems my inner brat was back, and I was going to take these fuckers down with me if they don’t start behaving like adults. “So do you have wings? Do they magically appear or are they squeezed under your suit? Can I see them?” Lucy asked him as I sat down. “Grim wants to chat to you.” I lied to Lucy, making her wander off awkwardly, sitting by Abby and Grim and chatting to them. Once she was out of earshot, I turned and grinned at Michael, who looked just as visibly disgusted at me as he did around Lucy. “What?” He snapped at me. “How’s it hanging, big bro?” I replied, my grin growing with each uncomfortable second. “Hello, Niazriel.” He was clearly an angel of few words. “So obviously correct me if I’m wrong, as the whole ‘having my memories stolen from me’ kinda ruins a reunion when you can’t remember even knowing them… but it seems you don’t like me. Why is that?” “I…” “Is it my red skin? Tail? Horns?” “That is just evidence of your betrayal.” He looked up at me and stared at me directly in the eyes. “But I don’t even remember doing it. And even then, it sounds like Dad wasn’t exactly ‘Father of the Year’...” “Don’t you dare talk about him that way…” Michael growled at me, trying not to raise his voice. “Or what? He’ll take my memories again? Oh what a shame. Plus I heard it was you who planted that idea in his head…” “He can do much more than that. What if he decides to take away your little girlfriend…” I laughed and put my hand on his shoulder, gripping tighter and tighter until I could feel my nails cutting through his suit. Any tighter and that’s not all that they would be cutting through… “Michael… don’t underestimate our sister.” Lucifer said, appearing behind me. It appears she had been listening the whole time and decided now was the best time to step in… probably for Michael’s sake. “You hear all the gossip in the Silver City, so I assume you heard about what she did when those cultists took her girlfriend away from her, right?” “I…” Michael rolled his eyes. “She. Is. Off. Limits. Got that?” I growled. Michael just grumbled at me. “GOT THAT?” I growled louder, gaining the attention of the other guests in the room. “Understood.” He muttered. “I don’t give a flying fuck what kind of beef you’ve got with Lucifer, monsters, and more importantly… me. You can come at me with all you’ve got if you want. But if you, or Dad, come for her… I will tear down the Silver City if you even lay a finger on her.” “She will. Not even Dad will be able to stop her.” Lucifer added. “Off limits. Got it. Now get your filthy claws off me, Hellspawn…” Michael replied, with venom in his voice. My anger subsided and I put a huge grin on my face and smiled at him. “Okay Big bro, good catch up!” I said with a chipper voice, jumping off his lap and skipping off to go sit with Vic. “What was that?” Vic asked as I sat on her lap and snuggled up to her, laying my head on her shoulder. “Just family squabbles. It’s nothing.” I smiled up at her. “You threatened him, didn’t you? Because he threatened me?” “Only a little bit. But wait… you could hear?” “No, but I saw your tail stand on end when he growled at you. Then I saw the vice-like grip on his shoulder and put two and two together.” “S… sorry…” “No sweetie, I’m sorry for not telling you about inviting them. I just thought… I wanted you to have family here for Christmas. And now that your memories are slowly returning, I was hoping seeing them would speed it up a bit and you could be happy. I didn’t even stop to think about the animosity between Lucifer and your other siblings… or you and them.” “Shush. You did a lovely thing, but it blew up in your face. Plus Gabriel and Raph seem okay with me! Az… she seems okay… I guess… and hey, Michael is a dick to everyone, apparently. And did you see Beatrice’s face when she found out Gabe and Raph were here? Priceless. That alone would be the best Christmas present ever.” I grinned up at her. “Well I’m glad you’re okay with it. Again, I’m sorry. But don’t worry, that’s not all your presents. I know you got the toys earlier and your computer, and now this… but there’s still one present later.” My eyes lit up upon receiving this news. I loved presents. “What is it?” “That would ruin it. You just enjoy your day. Food shouldn’t be too long now, then after a few party games we’ll snuggle up just me and you and have a nice evening together. That’s when you can have your present, okay baby?” “Is it a sexy present then?” “It’s… pretty sexy.” She smiled back at me. I clapped my hands, excitedly, wiggling on her lap as my tail swished back and forth behind me. “Now, baby girl… how’s that nappy?” She whispered. “I… umm… it’s a bit soggy…” I whispered back. “I can tell…” “Y… you can?” “Yes. But don’t worry, pretty sure your big brother couldn’t tell you were padded when you sat on his lap.” I blushed and nuzzled into her shoulder more, enjoying this closeness, surrounded by family. Even if it is a little dysfunctional. Chapter 4: Christmas Dinner Infernum Infantem: Nativitas Reunionis – LittleFallenPrincess “Who wants to say grace?” Gabriel asked as we all sat around the enormously long dining table in this lavish dining room. Everyone had their own places, with Vic and my friends sitting at one end, and me and my siblings sitting at the other end. I wish I was sitting next to Vic, but my family insisted on spending more time with me after wasting so much time being yelled at by Beatrice. “Seriously, Gabe?” Lucifer gave the hardest stare at our sister, and I quickly joined in. “What?” She replied, not seeing why we were so upset. “You want to thank Dad for this… when both of us were…” “You were cast down for rebelling! That’s on you.” Gabriel responded, sounding very ‘holier than thou’ towards us. “I don’t think it’s in good taste either…” Vic said, thankfully standing up for me. “But we are his loyal children.” Gabe argued. “You’re a suck up, that’s what you are.” Lucifer muttered, rolling her eyes. “SHUT UP SAMAEL!” Gabriel yelled across the table. “OR WHAT?” Lucifer shouted back. “OR I’LL SEND YOU BACK TO HELL MYSELF!” Michael joined in. The three of them started yelling back and forth at each other, picking up cutlery and threatening the other with it. Raph and Azrael hadn’t raised their voices or joined in yet, but I could see them eyeing Lucifer like they were ready to attack her. “Please… stop…” Vic muttered, sounding a little overwhelmed. Normally she’d stand up for herself, and especially for me… but these are angels, she’s just a human. I think she felt a little out of her depth around this celestial family feud, so her fight was just… gone. I could see how upset she was getting as Raphael and Azrael finally joined in the yelling, aiming their hatred at Lucifer. It was now four on one and my girlfriend was getting overwhelmed and Beatrice looked like she was ready to step in but Beth was holding her back, with her hand gripping her sister’s arm. “This… was supposed to be a nice Christmas… I haven’t celebrated since… her… and I just wanted Nia to…” Vic started quietly crying to herself next to me. And I lost it. “EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP!” The scream violently filled the room, echoing through the whole manor, making everyone freeze in place, instantly losing their voices, looking terrified. As they all stopped and turned to look at me, their eyes widened in fear and shock (well, all except Beatrice, who had the biggest grin on her face right now), I felt my throat ache like never before, so I grabbed a glass of water from in front of me and chugged it down before looking back up at my siblings and slamming my hands down on the dining table. “STOP. NOW.” I coughed out, sounding scratchy after what was probably the loudest noise I had ever managed. “Can’t you see what you’re doing to my love?” I said, pointing at Vic who had stopped crying at this point and joined the rest of them looking up at me in shock. “I…” Gabe began. “NO! Shut the fuck up, Gabe. And you too Michael. And you Raph. And Azrael.” Lucifer smiled and began to open her mouth before I cut her off too. “AND you too, Lucifer.” They all sat down, awkwardly, giving each other menacing glances. “I don’t give a shit what went down thousands of years ago. Boo hoo, Lucifer rebelled. Maybe she did it for good reason, I don’t know, I CAN’T FUCKING REMEMBER thanks to the worst father of all time. But no matter what, that shit happened so long ago it should be in the past and forgotten about. People change. Look at me, I was torturing nerds in Hell until not that long ago. And now here I am, surrounded by the most wonderful family. And no, this doesn’t include any of you angelic arseholes. Look at my gorgeous girlfriend… She wanted the world to end for the past 40 or so years, but here she sits, trying her best to give me the best Christmas possible. People change. If you can’t deal with that, or at least play nice together, get… the fuck… out.” I growled, bearing my fangs at my ‘siblings’. Vic put her hand on mine and smiled up at me. “S… sorry.” Lucifer said, finally finding the courage to speak up. “I guess things have been left to fester for a while now. None of us ever even tried to move on.” “Yeah… I’m sorry…” Gabriel looked just as guilty as the rest of them, but managed to smile up at Lucifer with genuine kindness in her eyes. “Sorry, Sis…” Raph and Azrael chimed in next. Michael though… no, he can’t accept anything, being the righteous Daddy’s boy that he is… And so he left. Just took the napkin from his collar and dropped it on the plate, before screeching his chair back and walking out in a huff. There was an awkward silence lingering in the air as no one knew what to say once Michael had left. “More food for me!” We all stared at Grim, who had the biggest grin on his face as he reached over and grabbed Michael’s plate, bringing it over to his place and began devouring it. And so the silence broke. Tensions were relieved as everyone laughed at the wolf boy shoving a turkey leg into his mouth. “That, Beatrice… that was amazing.” Lucifer said, undoing the button on her waistcoat and patting her tummy. “I agree.” Gabriel added, gently placing her knife and fork on the empty plate. We had all eaten way too much food and collapsed back into our chairs, not a single one of us leaving a scrap of food on our plates. “Glad we can finally agree on some things.” Luci replied. “Like how we’ve got the best little sister ever?” Gabe smiled at Lucifer, before they both looked at me. “Agreed.” I quickly hid my blushing face behind my napkin. “Shame Michael couldn’t accept this new normal. But then he never liked me.” Luci shrugged. “Don’t mind him, he’s always been like this.” Gabriel said to Lucifer before turning to me. “Thank you, Nia, for all this. And you too Vic, I can’t imagine a better human… no, person, for my sister to be with.” Vic’s face lit up and found it hard to maintain eye contact with my sister. “Yeah, Nia… you’ve found yourself a really good human. And who knew these… What is the collective term for you lot? Monsters?” Gabriel asked. “We don’t really like that term…” Abby spoke up, after staying quiet for so long during that awkward family drama. “Sorry, what do you call your kind then? We’ve always called you monsters.” “We never really coined a term, though lately we’ve been going by ‘Monstrum’.” “That’s literally the same word we use but in a dead language…” Gabe looked confused. “Yes, but it doesn’t sound as mean.” Lucy piped up. Gabriel just laughed, making Lucy blush instantly. “Okay then, well it turns out we’ve been a bit hasty in judging these ‘Monstrum’. Okay… I can see it now, it doesn’t sound as horrible, I understand now. Anyway, yeah, I’m glad you’ve found a family of your own Nia. Though please never forget you also have one in the Silver City.” “And in the underworld…” Lucifer added. “Am I even allowed back in Heaven?” I asked. “I’ll have to talk to Dad. Maybe I can get you a visitor's pass?” Gabe laughed. “So what now?” Beatrice asked, changing the topic quickly, thankfully. “Games and a few drinks?” Vic suggested. “Brilliant! I’m a pro at that game where you buy property and build hotels.” My ex-Nanny grinned. “NO! I’m not playing with you again. I ended up owing you like twelve favours that one game we had.” Lucifer replied to her. “Yeah, I’m out already. Never play against Beatrice.” My other three angelic siblings all said, bowing out instantly. “I’ll play!” Lucy spoke up, stupidly getting herself into something she wasn’t prepared for. “Me too!” Abby and Grim added. Susie and Beth knew better, keeping their mouths shut, as did I. Vic was about to agree to play before I quickly reached over and placed my hand over her mouth, shaking my head violently at her, trying to signal to her not to. “The three kiddos then…” Bea’s grin grew wider… and more sinister. “We’ll have to get going, we need to get back to the Silver City and make sure Michael isn’t telling Dad too many lies about today. Plus you know it’s the ‘kid’s fake birthday, and we already got an earful for skipping out part of that.” Gabriel shrugged. “Awww, do you really have to go?” I whined. “Don’t worry, we’ll come visit more often now.” I climbed out of my chair and ran over to Gabe, pouncing on her and giving her the biggest hug. “I’m glad you’re back with us, Nia. And thank you for starting the healing process for our family. It may take a while, maybe even a few centuries or millennia… but I think we’ll get there eventually thanks to you.” “And Michael?” I asked. “I’m sure you’ll drag him along with us, kicking and screaming, if needed. Don’t you worry about him.” “Oh… Miss Gabriel?” Susie shouted from the other side of the dining room. “Yes, Susan?” “Can you tell my Grandma something?” “Sure. What is it?” Gabriel smiled at my reanimated friend. “That… I… That I made the right choice.” Susie said, blushing and burying her face into her wife’s shoulder. “Got it. I’ll make sure she gets your message.” Gabriel replied, smiling at her. “I’ll see you out. Luci… are you staying or going?” I asked my devilish sister. “I’ll… stay for a bit. If that’s okay. It was nice seeing you Gabe. Eww… I can’t believe I said that. Nia, you’re rubbing off on me.” Lucifer laughed. “She’s always been able to do that. On all of us.” Gabe said, squeezing me tighter. Once my more angelic side of the family had left, leaving just my ‘Monstrum’ side and my devilish sister left, we all moved back into the living room and broke out the party games. Of course Beatrice won her games against my friends, making them all quickly regret signing up for it. And because they lost… they’re all currently in the cutest, frilliest little baby maid outfits, waddling about, cleaning the manor from top to bottom with feather dusters and washing the dishes after our meal. I swear I have never seen Lucy’s face more red than it was during that humiliating experience. The rest of us all dodged a bullet. A very humiliating, blushy, bullet. Lucifer had a few more drinks before bowing out and leaving, but not before she teased my friends. I guess having the head honcho for torturing as a sister pays off, it makes her an expert at teasing. Though for some reason, she still pales in comparison to Beatrice, who kept the losers of their little game blushy for the rest of the afternoon and evening, all the way up to the point where they had to leave and go back to their homes. Nia, Grim and Abby were the next to go, thanking Vic and me for such an amazing Christmas and thanking Beatrice for the food once again. And I noticed as they all waddled out of the manor in their normal clothes… Beatrice hadn’t returned everything back to normal. That extra-wide waddle was not there before… Susie, Beth and Beatrice stayed for another hour, before announcing that they were leaving, but not before Beatrice handed a little wrapped present to Vic, planting a little kiss on her cheek and winking at me. And once the door shut… it was just Vic and I, alone together, again. “What did she give you?” I asked, desperate to know what surprise present Vic got. “A present. Isn’t that obvious, silly baby?” My girlfriend grinned at me. “Buh wha is it!?” I whined more. “Oh I see, as soon as your friends have gone, little Nia comes out to play instantly…” “I wanna knooooooow!” “I… fine. Come with me, demonling.” Vic said, grabbing my hand and escorting me into the living room, where it suddenly felt so… empty… so lifeless. All that was left were the remnants of the board games we had been playing, the empty glasses of alcohol that had been consumed, and the roaring fireplace keeping the room from freezing over. “So… what is it?” I asked again as my girlfriend led me to the fireplace, now holding both of my hands as she positioned me perfectly in line with the toasty hearth. “This… is a present for both of us.” She said, letting go of my hands and taking apart the wrapping on the small box. It looked like a jewellery box. “Is that…?” “It is. A new amulet of protection. Though this is enhanced with certain extra magical properties…” She teased. “Huh?” “Your wet nurse isn’t on Christmas break, sweetie. She isn’t needed anymore, so I gave her a hefty severance payment.” “Wait… so…” “If you ever need to nurse, or you want to feed through more adult means… this has got you covered either way…” I blushed and nearly melted into a little pile of demon goo on the spot at the thought of her feeding me like my wet nurse does… did… I mean, I was a blushy mess whenever she fed me, and I guess I needed to feed otherwise I’d have to suck on other people’s lifeforce, people who can’t regenerate. But it felt… less special. This though… This was my ultimate fantasy involving Vic. Or at least I thought it was… “But I have one last gift to be opened.” Vic said, reaching behind her back. “Ooooh! From who?” I asked. “From me… to you.” “Huh? I thought I got my presents.” “They were presents for little you. I told you earlier I had one more for you, so this… this is for my girlfriend.” “Huh?” And that’s when she pulled out another box, though this one was… smaller. Holding it in one hand, she used the other to open it, but at the same time… she knelt down, standing on one knee. “Wait… I… I’ve seen humans… oh…” My brain was piecing all my memories back together, the ones I remembered about all this, as I saw the sparkling great big whopping diamond on the silver ring in the box. “Nia, my love… will you marry me?” ======================================================== And there we have it. So... what did you all think? I loved writing it and so far I've made a number of my supporters on SubscribeStar cry, which I am very proud of. I just finished writing Little in Love 2, so after a small break I'll be starting Monster book #3, which will be posted once Little in Love 2 has finished (got months left of that, don't worry, it won't be for a while that we see monster book 3 on here). And as stated, this is going to be the rough length of most of my short stories that I'll be taking commissions for, starting next month. They will be exclusive to my SubscribeStar though. Don't worry, my main series stories are still going to be posted here, two weeks after they're posted on my SubscribeStar like usual. And lastly... Happy New Year! Expect more LittleFallenVerse and LittleFallenMonsterVerse (Name pending) in this new year! And maybe even MORE evil cliffhangers! 😈 Also if you haven't heard, I'm now up and running on Subscribestar! (Sorry, just trying to get the word out that I've found a new home now, trying to get my supporters back!) ======================================================== I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them! If you want to read the next 4 chapters, thanks to two weeks early access to my main story and also soon-to-be exclusive access to short stories (or even have a chance at commissioning one when I add the tier for them!), why don't you check out my SubscribeStar! The basic tier gets early access and exclusive access to short stories (when they're written), higher tiers will be limited but get a short story each month (1-2 per month in total). Thank you to all my patrons for their support over the past couple of years! Seriously, your support meant the world to me, and I hope to be set up somewhere new soon. New chapters of Little in Love 2 every Wednesday/Sunday! Also just a quick note: I don't mind people saving this story for personal reading. But I'd appreciate it if people didn't post it elsewhere, even if you're just suggesting it to other people. If you want to show others, please send them a link to the first page of this post! Thanks!

New story, new series, new art style, same MDLG stories! Just in time for Halloween too! I've been so excited writing this, I love all things supernatural. Lore, myths, legends, monsters, magic, everything. And for the longest time I've wanted to write a new story set in a brand new universe that I haven't written in. And like every project I start, it quickly turned in a much bigger project, so it turned into a brand new series and not just a single story. I've got this and 3 other books planned, but this time it won't all lead to a big finale in the 5th book like my other series. They're individual stories, but with recurring characters and themes and places, all based around all the classic monsters (and some lesser known ones). Think of it more like a continuing world that I'll write stories for rather than it being a big plot spread over multiple books. Oh and no multiverse shenanigans! These are completely separate from my multiverse series, you won't see any cross over whatsoever, just some good old fashioned monsters and spooky things! The first, Infernum Infantem, is a story about a cult trying to bring about the end of the world. I won't say more than that other than if you enjoy my other stories for their cute MDLG stuff... you should enjoy this one. I have focused a lot more on humour in this one, so I really appreciate any and all comments, especially regarding how funny it is. I got a few chuckles out of the person I gave early chapters to, so I'm hoping I get the same reaction from everyone else. I've nearly finished writing it, and if this is liked, I'll feel comfortable to start writing the next book as soon as I've finished this. One chapter per week. Every Friday. Just like last time. Increasing to two when Regression Echo ends. And as usual, if you want two weeks early access to chapters of Infernum Infantem and Regression Echo, you can sub to my Patreon. You'll also get access to my discord server to discuss chapters there and stuff. And also to tease me apparently. Grr. I hope I've covered everything that needs saying and I hope everyone enjoys this story as much as my other stories! Please feel free to leave comments and feedback, I love reading it all! Also, please link to my stories rather than posting them as files when sharing with others! Chapter 1: The Ritual -Victoria- Infernum Infantem – LittleFallenPrincess “Oramus Dominum nostrum tenebrarum ad ultima tempora vocare, ad destruendum hunc mundum miserum et resurgendum. Benedicat nos perditor, donatum sacerdotio. Hanc benedic et adiuva ut puerum suscitaret usque in diem hanc terram destruet.” I stood there, in the middle of the circle, my hands quivering as I nervously awaited the outcome. My bare feet touched the cold stone cellar floor beneath me. The dampness of the cellar made the air feel moist and unclean, but this was the place we would conduct this ritual. In this cold, damp cellar underneath my estate, in the middle of the English countryside. I tried keeping my eyes closed, but I couldn’t resist the temptation. Opening them slightly for a peek at my surroundings and my fellow circle members, I looked around at the hooded figures surrounding the summoning circle painted on the ground, the same circle I was currently in the centre of. Five people at the five points of the pentagram painted within the circle. Each of them chanting the words that would bring about the desire we had worked hard for for the past thirty years or so. Runes decorated the sigil. It was all a bit nerve wracking. But tonight was the night. We were ready. There was no backing out now. Thirty years I had researched, experimented, done everything in my power to end up in this very moment here, right now. We would complete this ritual, and with it… our wish. I had spent millions on getting to this point. I had built my empire up just for this purpose. If this works, that empire will soon be worthless… but it will have all been worth it. “Oramus Dominum nostrum tenebrarum ad ultima tempora vocare, ad destruendum hunc mundum miserum et resurgendum. Benedicat nos perditor, donatum sacerdotio. Hanc benedic et adiuva ut puerum suscitaret usque in diem hanc terram destruet.” Again, they chanted the words. Velvet black robes hiding each of my fellow cultists within it, their hoods up, masking their faces in darkness. A dull, monotonous tone echoed through the large, dark, grimy cellar. The sound of running water could be heard through the walls, but other than that and the chanting… silence. “Oramus Dominum nostrum tenebrarum ad ultima tempora vocare, ad destruendum hunc mundum miserum et resurgendum. Benedicat nos perditor, donatum sacerdotio. Hanc benedic et adiuva ut puerum suscitaret usque in diem hanc terram destruet.” Is this even going to work? Did we even translate the text properly? For all we know this could mean ‘Can I have a large fries with that?’ We had found the tablet hidden within a temple, a temple that was lost to nature, hidden away from human eyes for thousands of years. Transcribed by worshippers of a dark being, the one who would bring darkness unto the world. “Oramus Dominum nostrum tenebrarum ad ultima tempora vocare, ad destruendum hunc mundum miserum et resurgendum. Benedicat nos perditor, donatum sacerdotio. Hanc benedic et adiuva ut puerum suscitaret usque in diem hanc terram destruet.” Decades had passed since I founded this little gathering of like minded individuals. Years of research, spells, and preparation for this very moment. I wouldn’t let anything stop me now. We had security posted around my estate, all the doors were locked and sealed, and we all held our amulets of protection. The ones that we had put our heart and soul into… literally. Well not the whole thing, but a fraction of it. But they still gave us perfect health, protection… and long life. I was reaching sixty years old now, but I still looked like I was thirty. Some of my circle were nearing a hundred years old now, some were just reaching their fifties. But all were dedicated to the cause… and to me. We had sacrificed so much to get to this point, and nothing would stop us from achieving our goal. “Oramus Dominum nostrum tenebrarum ad ultima tempora vocare, ad destruendum hunc mundum miserum et resurgendum. Benedicat nos perditor, donatum sacerdotio. Hanc benedic et adiuva ut puerum suscitaret usque in diem hanc terram destruet.” Being the High Priestess of our circle, and also only one of the two women in it, it was my job to be the one standing in the centre of the circle. The intended target of the ritual. After everything though… I would do anything to further my cause. Tonight had to be the night, otherwise we’d have to wait another hundred years for the next window. So everything had to be perfect. “Oramus Dominum nostrum tenebrarum ad ultima tempora vocare, ad destruendum hunc mundum miserum et resurgendum. Benedicat nos perditor, donatum sacerdotio. Hanc benedic et adiuva ut puerum suscitaret usque in diem hanc terram destruet.” The cold air surrounded my naked body, causing me to shiver. The spell required there to be no clothes whatsoever. But hey, at least the circle all had their eyes closed, so it’s not like they’d see anything. “Oramus Dominum nostrum tenebrarum ad ultima tempora vocare, ad destruendum hunc mundum miserum et resurgendum. Benedicat nos perditor, donatum sacerdotio. Hanc benedic et adiuva ut puerum suscitaret usque in diem hanc terram destruet.” If this worked… this would be the end of the world. Or at least lead to it. And honestly? Good riddance. Humanity had its chance. Now we would wipe the slate clean. The intention of our little ritual was to summon the child who would bring about the end of the world. Many languages, many civilisations had different names for him. We had spent decades researching them all. And if our ritual was a success… I would be the one to bring him into the world. I’d be his mother, and when he becomes of age… he’d bring destruction and wrath to this pathetic planet. Now my fellow cultists… they wished to bring about the end times for their own gain. To rid the world of the ‘failures’ of humanity, and to start again, with boons from the Dark Lord. They would rebuild humanity under the watchful guidance of him, making sure humanity is faithfully serving us. I however… I had nothing to live for anymore. Not for the past thirty years. I didn’t care about rebuilding the world. I didn’t care about humanity. I didn’t care about any of that rubbish they spouted. But I wouldn’t tell them that. If they knew my true intentions… they would remove me as head of our little organisation and I couldn’t allow that. I wanted the end because… I just wanted the world gone. I couldn’t stand this world anymore, but at the same time I didn’t really care what would come after it. This was the only thing keeping me going, and I would stop at nothing to end this world. Most people would have moved on from their trauma… spent the rest of their life doing something more productive. No… I had to join a cult, build a business empire, then give birth to the bringer of darkness. Maybe I should’ve gotten into knitting. “Oramus Dominum nostrum tenebrarum ad ultima tempora vocare, ad destruendum hunc mundum miserum et resurgendum. Benedicat nos perditor, donatum sacerdotio. Hanc benedic et adiuva ut puerum suscitaret usque in diem hanc terram destruet.” I had a feeling this wasn’t working. We’d been at it for twenty minutes now, them constantly chanting, me freezing my naked butt off… Not to mention it’d probably take me multiple washes to get this cellar smell out of my long, blonde hair. ‘Maybe we should give up?’ I thought to myself as I felt a shiver run up my spine. ‘No. I can’t give up now. We can’t give up. We’ve worked too hard for too long. We need this to work. I will accomplish my goal. I will cleanse this Earth.’ “Oramus Dominum nostrum tenebrarum ad ultima tempora vocare, ad destruendum hunc mundum miserum et resurgendum. Benedicat nos perditor, donatum sacerdotio. Hanc benedic et adiuva ut puerum suscitaret usque in diem hanc terram destruet.” It just wasn’t working though. Maybe we had messed up the ritual? It could be the sigil we painted on the floor, the runes could be slightly off, the translation may not be correct… it could be any number of things. This… this has never been done before. No one has brought upon the end of the world like this… “Oramus Dominum nostrum tenebrarum ad ultima tempora vocare, ad destruendum hunc mundum miserum et resurgendum. Benedicat nos perditor, donatum sacerdotio. Hanc benedic et adiuva ut puerum suscitaret usque in diem hanc terram destruet.” I was just about to throw in the towel, when I felt something surrounding us. A gush of air encircled us. But the cellar was sealed, so there was no wind. But still… The candles blew out and the cellar suddenly plunged into darkness. This was it. It worked. It actually fucking worked! My body started shaking. Not because of the cold… no… that was no longer a problem, it no longer bothered me. No… Now it was fear. Fear that we had actually accomplished it. A twang of doubt filled my heart as one by one, the candles around the cellar spontaneously lit back up again, slowly illuminating the pitch-black cellar. I felt no different though. Other than the fear invading my body, I felt no different from that moments ago, before the spell worked. Maybe I was expecting to be at least half way into pregnancy with the Child of Darkness. Maybe we were wrong about that, maybe I’m much earlier on than that. Will I have to wait nine months just to give birth? And then there’s raising the child until they are ready to bring upon the end times. That would take… what… years? I know I’m a bit impatient, despite somehow managing to wait thirty years for this window of opportunity. But I liked results as soon as possible. Once the corners of the cellar had lit up, the candles around the centre of the room started lighting up one by one. First the one in front of me, then in a clockwise motion, each one surrounding me lit up until I was staring at the faces of my brothers and sister. But something was different. I could feel it. Like a… pull… a connection… a bond. This was it! It worked! I was bonded to the Child of Darkness! The feeling however… didn’t come from within… Looking at the faces of my brothers and sister… I saw genuine fear in their eyes. Fear and… confusion? All of them staring at one point in the room. Somewhere directly behind me. Exactly where I was feeling the pull coming from. Slowly turning around, my heart beating like a hummingbird’s… I turned my gaze to the object of my fellow cultist’s interest. A demonic figure stood there. Scarlet skin… beautiful grey-blue eyes… short black pointed horns protruding from the top of their head… a black, whip-like tail with an arrow point at the end wrapped itself around her leg. She was a demon from the pits of hell. But why was she here? Was she here to bless me with the Child of Darkness? But she was… not what I pictured. What I pictured when I thought of demons were monsters of darkness… red skin, forked tail… just like hers… but I expected larger horns… someone taller than me… maybe dark hair… and revealing outfits? Slutty outfits? Or even no outfit? I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when it came to clothes… but whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t this. Instead, her white hair was tied up into a messy ponytail, with messy bangs covering her forehead, split apart slightly by her horns. She was a clear foot shorter than I was too. She wore an oversized hoodie, baggy dungarees… a low-cut top… and a… choker? She even wore hi-tops. If anything, she was dressed like she was a teenager, though her body was clearly that of a beautiful woman… a beautiful, red, demonic woman. I inspected every inch of her as she stood there, blissfully unaware… as if we weren’t even here. I examined her face… it was… gorgeous… but also… cute… and somehow… innocent… My heart was still racing as I felt a connection with the demon in front of me. Stronger than any bond I’ve felt before. Maybe even more so than with… her. I noticed crumbs covered her clothing, orange dust of some kind painted the corners of her mouth… My eyes stared into hers. Those beautiful grey-blue eyes… looking down at… a device… “Is that a Gamegirl?” I blurted out. The demoness looked up at me, looking into my eyes… into my soul… Her arms holding the portable gaming device lowered to her sides. Her eyebrow arched. Her mouth opened… her fangs protruding out. She was about to speak the words of our Lord of Darkness… “What the fuck?” ========================================================== I know it's only the first chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them! Thank you to all my patrons for their support! Don't forget, the next 4 chapters of Regression Echo and the next 2 chapters of Infernum Infantem are available on my Patreon which can be found here if you go for the second tier. You get two weeks early access to chapters of Regression Echo and Infernum Infantem. New chapters of Regression Echo every Wednesday/Sunday! New chapter of Infernum Infantem every Friday! Also just a quick note: I don't mind people saving this story for personal reading. But I'd appreciate it if people didn't post it elsewhere, even if you're just suggesting it to other people. If you want to show others, please send them a link to the first page of this post! Thanks! ?

Hi folks! Thanks so much for clicking into this tale. A little bit about me: I'm Lyra, one of the Starlings associated with the Sophie & Pudding community. You might have seen me (or heard me be mentioned) on The Usual Bet. Maybe you've read my previous work, Luna, which is about a new AI on the market designed to fulfill her users' every need. I'm thrilled to finally be releasing my second novel. Comments are, of course, extremely welcome. It's always a thrill for me to be able to give something back to a community that has given me so much already. Synopsis: Mugwort is a Junior Tempter with his first Patient. Luckily for him, his kindly uncle Scumtack has all sorts of advice on the ways demons can use the seven sins to ensnare a human soul! Will Mugwort be able to start his career on the right foot? ~~~~~~~ Preface I can’t tell you how I got these letters. No, I didn’t mean “won’t”. I know what I said. Or wrote. Whatever. The point is, I can’t. As in: “I cannot”. As in: it is literally impossible. Obviously, everything here sounds like total bullshit. I don’t blame you. I don’t think I’d believe me either, especially not with such a flimsy excuse as to why I can’t show you any proof. But what the hell (the irony!), you miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Scott, so here you go. I thought about saving the originals, but I don’t want to encourage anyone else to go down the same idiotic path that I have. The last thing Earth needs is a bunch of humans with demons as penpals, as if global warming and late-stage capitalism weren’t enough existential crises for us to deal with. If you’re like me (though I hope you’re not), you might have questions when you’re done. Do I expect you all to believe these are real letters? Like, actual goddamned ink on actual goddamned parchment, like it’s Lord of the Rings or something? Why didn’t I go find the people in these letters and try to save them? Am I really sure I’m not crazy? I mean, Occam’s razor, right? All good questions. And yet all completely beside the point. Don’t quibble over crumbs when there’s cake at stake. Especially when it comes to Hell—don’t dig too deep, or else Hell will dig its claws right back into you. I know some of you are going to ignore my advice and go looking anyway. I can’t stop you. But I hope, even if you ignore everything else, you at least take this last word of warning to heart: demons are liars. Remember that, no matter what they might tell you. Lyra Starling ~~~~~~~ Letter I My dear Mugwort, How overjoyed I was to find that you’ve followed my footsteps and joined the Foreign Office! To make Tempter at your young age—I’ve always known that you’d go far; you’ve such a great set of horns on that head of yours. I must warn you: don’t expect any nepotism—you’ll have to work your way down the ranks just as I did. Though, of course, asking your uncle for advice is always a good idea, and hardly something anyone can take umbrage to. You tell me you’re feeling anxiety over your first Patient. Good! Keep it in mind, and never fall into complacency. Although I’ve guided dozens of Patients into the imperturbable arms of Our Father Below, I still treat each new case as if it were my first. The most important decision you’ll have to make is your angle of approach. Each mortal has their own idiosyncrasies, and to lump them all together as one would be sheer folly. Though humans are made of nothing more than dust and mud, even ones crafted by the same mother and father might differ wildly in temperament and outlook. Although one can attempt to teach this in school, only fieldwork can show you how to delicately tip the weight of the scales away from The Enemy and towards Our Father Below. It is imperative that you close the trap delicately, so that they find themselves ensnared without even realizing that there was a struggle for their soul in the first place, at least until it is too late to do anything about it. Based on the background you’ve given me about the Patient—her being marked as gifted in elementary school, failing to live up to those aspirations in college, and now in her young adulthood with a sense of malaise, of feeling like she was meant for greater things—I suspect the avenue of Greed will prove itself fruitful. You should be able to play upon that injured sense of pride, that low-grade simmering resentment against the world, and through that offer shortcuts that lead her closer and closer to Our Father Below. Naturally, I have an illustrative example. Do not try and emulate my actions precisely with your Patient; rather, try to keep in mind that sense of careful prodding and digging to find the lever you need to move the world, as Archimedes so famously put it. Your affectionate uncle, Scumtack ~~~~~~~ Greed: Ava Stone Ava didn’t know it at the time, but the day she met Charlotte Kingsley would turn out to be the most pivotal day in her entire life. Her judgment, like that of Paris of Troy, would be the nexus point that spawned a boundless stream of bad decisions. The two women lived on the same floor in a college dorm, Ava crammed into a tiny triple, Charlotte in a luxurious single. On the first week of school, the hall decided to throw a “get to know each other” party, with everyone agreeing to prop open their dorm room doors and mingle. Ava found herself desperately trying to get out of a boring conversation about cryptocurrency with a man who smelled exactly as bad as his choice of topic when she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a set of unfamiliar green eyes paired with a twinkling smile. “Excuse me,” the stranger said, “I need my friend for something.” Ava felt soft hands grab her by the elbow. Each sky-blue fingernail was immaculately manicured, gently glowing under the hallway light. Without waiting for a response, the stranger led Ava away as she mutely followed. When the two of them had stepped out of earshot, Ava turned back over her shoulder. The man had apparently quickly found another victim to talk at. “You looked like you needed help,” said the stranger. Her words had the lightest drawl, which Ava had never heard anywhere other than on television and found that she quite enjoyed hearing in person. “Thanks, I did,” said Ava, who inexplicably felt nervous. She preemptively wiped her palms against her shirt. “The name’s Charlotte,” said the woman. Ava could see how the symmetry of Charlotte’s face was broken only by a small mole near the dimple where she smiled. She opened her mouth to respond to find that it had gone dry. “A—Ava,” she croaked. Her tongue felt as if it loomed too largely in her mouth, moving about ungainly and causing her to fumble at her words. “Well, A—Ava,” said Charlotte, holding up a brown shopping bag, which gently clinked as she moved it, “how’d you like to join me in my room?” Her room? They’d just met! Charlotte caught the flash of surprise on Ava’s face and winked. “Don’t worry,” she added, “I have a no finance bros policy.” “Well, if that’s the case…” laughed Ava nervously as she let Charlotte lead her down the hall. Charlotte still hadn’t let go of her arm. Part of Ava wished that she never would. Ava heard the laughter of conversation spill out from Charlotte’s room as it mingled with the sound of speakers playing music in the hall. It was a lightly discordant mess, with no attempt to coordinate the music across all the rooms. As Ava got her first look inside Charlotte’s dorm, she felt as if she’d stepped into a closet and ended up in Narnia. Despite the fact that the room only had a single occupant, it was somehow still larger than Ava’s triple. A gaggle of eerily well-groomed teenagers who looked like their parents had vacation homes in the Hamptons mingled amongst themselves. Ava self-consciously picked at a fray that had developed in her jeans. She was the only person in the room whose clothing didn’t intentionally have holes in them. Luckily it turned out that, in real life, greasers and Socs didn’t have to hate each other on sight. Charlotte introduced Ava to her coterie and pulled out the illicit bottles of wine she’d smuggled in. Afterwards, Charlotte fluttered off to different groups and let Ava quietly mingle, just happy to be peripherally involved in Charlotte’s orbit as she heard people use “summer” as a verb for the first time in her life. Pivotal days, of course, have pivotal moments, and Ava’s was coming up. Charlotte had somehow ended up standing on her wooden chair, an orator equal to Cicero with an audience that was just as enraptured. “Fuck capitalism,” she said, the red disposable cup of Two-Buck Chuck in her hand threatening to spill over as she punctuated each beat with a wild gesticulation. “I’m like goddamn Robin Hood. Steal from the rich. Give to the poor.” The crowd shouted a chorus of affirmations. Ava could see Rolexes—or what she thought maybe were Rolexes, she certainly had never seen one before—gleam in the lights as people lifted their arms and whooped and hollered. She joined in anyway, feeling like a sheep in wolf’s clothing. “That’s why I only lift from chain stores,” Charlotte continued. More meat for the ravenous crowd. “No mom-and-pop shops. It’s about the message.” She wobbled as she stepped off the chair and rejoined the mortals on their plane. “I didn’t know you shoplifted,” said Ava to Charlotte after she’d refilled her cup. “You don’t seem like the type.” Charlotte’s emerald eyes gleamed with amusement. “You an expert or something?” she asked playfully. Ava quickly shook her head no. “No? Have you at least stolen anything?” Charlotte followed. “Never,” said Ava. Charlotte’s expression fell a little—or maybe Ava just imagined it did. But either way, she quickly followed up with the line that would forever divide her life in twain: “Maybe you could show me sometime?” “Of course!” Charlotte beamed brightly, her teeth flashing like the sun’s rays cresting over a hill. Ava felt a glow in her chest, like her heart was lit with a farm flame, one that spread through her body and imbued her with a strange energy. She knew she’d do anything to see that smile again. ~~~ Ironically, it was precisely her initial success which ultimately doomed her. One crisp September afternoon, Ava and Charlotte piled into Charlotte’s shiny leased Lexus and drove to a nearby mall for a crash course in shoplifting. Ava chatted up a bored clerk at a stationary supply store while Charlotte stole some pencils as a warm-up, then they reversed their roles so Ava could steal a pair of gloves from a clothing outlet. Getting some alone time with Charlotte was already a pulse-pounding prospect, and the thrill of illicit activity made each moment sing with clarity. There was no way she was going to call it off after such a meager haul, not when there was more time she could spend impressing Charlotte. Ava’s beginner’s luck, however, could only hold out so long. Ava was spotted slipping some lipstick into her purse by a customer with a vigilante streak. Amid the clamor, Ava, who was in her heart a foolish romantic, distracted the employees long enough so that Charlotte could escape. This choice felt brave and daring, the kind of thing that high school Ava never would have done, but that new improved college Ava might do all the time. Eventually, when the adrenaline faded away, reality crashed the party. There was no way she’d be able to pay the fine, let alone the restitution on top. Ava was left with the grim hope that maybe at least she’d scored some points with Charlotte. With her mind on autopilot, Ava made her out out of the mall’s security office out into the world. The sky was irritatingly bright and blue, completely unaware of the swirling tempest of emotion roiling in Ava’s head. She stumbled her way to a nearby park in a daze and sat down on a park bench. Fuck me, Ava thought. She closed her eyes and puffed her cheeks out, sighing in frustration before turning her attention to how she’d dig herself out of this predicament. She could tell her parents, which was an option in the same way that someone could choose to walk on their hands for the rest of their life. You could technically do it, but why? Ava’s mind swirled, her thoughts looping back in on themselves like ouroboroses. Don’t tell Mom and Dad. But I can't afford the fines. Or a lawyer. Who can I borrow money from? I don’t have credit. Tell Mom and Dad. There goes their vacation fund. I’ll know I did this to them. Forever. Mom’ll love trotting this out whenever I see her. The two sides waged war in her mind, arguments arrayed like soldiers in phalanxes, though whatever victory would be inevitably Pyrrhic in nature. Maybe telling her parents wouldn’t be so bad. It really wasn’t realistic to try to run and hide. It would suck, and she wouldn’t get out unscathed, but together, they could figure something out. Maybe she wouldn’t even get suspended from school if she wrapped this up fast enough. Her mind set, she opened her eyes and saw to her surprise a stranger standing way too close to her. Although Ava didn’t really know anything about suits, his looked expensive. She could see her own reflection on the sunglasses he was wearing, saw herself startle at the sudden invasion of personal space. “Hello,” he said, and his voice sounded like the gentle caress of velvet had wrapped itself around those two syllables. “Mind if I sit here?” Ava blinked. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but it wasn’t this. “Uh…sure? I mean, I was leaving…” She made to stand up, but the stranger continued. “Oh no, Miss Stone, I meant with you. I’d like to chat.” She froze up, ice crystallizing in her veins. “How do you know my name?” she asked. Her fingers tightened against the lip of the wooden bench. “I have my ways,” said the man unhelpfully. “Rest assured, I do not mean you any harm. On the contrary, I’m hoping to help you out.” There was an awkward pause as that statement hung in the air. The man quietly loomed over Ava as her mind furiously raced through possibilities. This guy was clearly not normal. But it couldn’t hurt just to talk, right? They were out in public, with eyewitnesses. It was almost certainly going to be harmless. At least she could find out what he wanted with her. “…okay,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I’m listening.” “I know you’re in some trouble,” he said. “And I’d like to help.” “Trouble?” Ava asked warily. “What do you mean by that?” The shoplifting thing had just happened, so the only way he’d know about it is if he had been there. She and Charlotte had been on the lookout for bystanders though, and she definitely would have remembered if this guy had been skulking around the Sephora. “I know you have a fine that you have no hope of paying on your own,” started the stranger. Okay, so maybe he was a security officer or mall staff? “And I know you’re thinking about crawling to your parents on your hands and knees,” he concluded. A jolt of fear leapt through Ava’s body. “How the fuck do you know all that?” she asked as adrenaline coursed through her. “I have my ways,” he said, and lowered his sunglasses to look at Ava directly. His irises were the orange of a crackling fire, and his pupils were black vertical slits, slashes of empty void amid a blazing heat. Ava had the odd feeling that if she looked into those eyes long enough, she’d fall through the cracks of the universe. “What the fuck,” said Ava, which was an understatement. “I do apologize for startling you,” said the demon as he put his sunglasses back. He sounded as if he meant it too. “Who are you?” asked Ava. The stranger smiled. “Just someone who can offer you a trade.” There was absolutely no way to tell behind the mirror sheen of his sunglasses, but Ava was confident he’d winked at the end of that sentence. “…okay?” The situation was so odd that it almost became normal. Ava couldn’t properly process what was happening, so she decided she may as well proceed as if this was a perfectly mundane thing to happen. “I’m offering a mutually beneficial exchange,” he said. “I’ll give you two thousand dollars, enough to cover your fine. In cash, too.” A hand slithered inside a coat pocket and pulled out a thin stack of crisp hundred dollar bills. Ava scoffed. “For what? You want my soul or something?” For some reason, the demon found this uproariously funny. He pulled out a blood red handkerchief from a pant pocket and dabbed at the corners of his eyes. “Your soul? That immaterial manifestation of your heart? For something as paltry as money? Come now, Miss Stone, that would hardly be a fair deal.” Ava weakly chuckled at her own naïveté. “Then what do you want?” she asked, relieved. “I’d like for you to sleep with a pacifier every night this week,” said the demon, stuffing his handkerchief back into his pocket. “…what?” Ava said, after a pause. She must have misheard. The request was so incongruous. “A pacifier,” he said. “I’d like you to sleep with one for a week.” The hand that wasn’t holding the money dug into a jacket pocket and pulled out a pink pacifier. It sat there in the palm of his hand, absuredly large. It would have dwarfed an actual baby’s mouth. “Why would you want that?” asked Ava, dumbfounded. “I’m afraid for you, the what is more important than the why,” said the stranger. “The only question you should be asking is whether you believe the boon is worth the price.” Ava eyed the bills hungrily. The solution to her problems was so close she could reach out and snatch it. Her heart hammered at her chest, but she tore her eyes away from the money and looked at the stranger’s face, which was sitting in a composed state of neutrality. She absentmindedly bounced a rhythm on her thigh with the palm of her hand, deep in thought. This demon, or whatever he was, was clearly insane. But was what he was asking for bad? Sleeping with a pacifier was strange to be sure, but what was there to lose? It didn’t hurt anyone else. Plus, if it meant her current predicament could be wrapped up without needing to involve anyone else…In a way, it would be foolish not to accept. Ava thought about how Charlotte might be impressed at how casually Ava would shrug off her fine, and that was the last thing she needed to tip her over the edge. “Deal,” said Ava. “Do I need to sign a contract or something?” “I have no worries about you holding up your end of the bargain,” said the man with a smile. “A simple handshake shall suffice.” As Ava clasped his hand, the demon’s grip exuded a charismatic charm, drawing Ava in with a magnetic force of will. When all was said and done, the demon simply handed Ava the stack of bills and the pacifier. “Pleasure doing business with you, Miss Stone,” he said, smiling genially. “If you should require my services in the future, you have but to come back here.” Ava expected him to disappear in a flash of lightning or something, but he simply mundanely turned and walked away, leaving her to quickly stuff the contraband into her purse. Ava quickly made her way to a nearby ATM so she could cash the money. She half-expected that the deposit would be rejected, that it had all been an elaborate practical joke, but the machine cooly accepted her bills and credited her account balance. Just like that, she was two thousand dollars richer. As Ava walked back to her room with the crisp night air biting into her exposed skin, she thought about what she’d agreed to. He’d asked her to sleep with a pacifier for a week. There was no way she was going to sleep with one in her mouth—if one of her roommates saw that, it would be the end of her nascent social life. But maybe if she just had it next to her in bed, safely tucked away, then she could technically fulfill the promise with no risk of social suicide. That could work. Ava let herself grin. Her dorm room, luckily, was empty when she got back. Ava shrugged her purse off of her shoulders, dropping it onto the desk with a thud. She quickly palmed the pacifier inside and climbed up to her top bunk, the ladder quietly creaking. Ava flopped facedown onto her blue sheets without even crawling inside, exhausted from the day. She stashed the pacifier under her pillow and closed her eyes, fully expecting not to open them until morning. Ava found though, that despite the tiredness in her bones, that she kept tossing and turning. She was normally a quick sleeper—she honestly didn’t mind sharing a room with two people, they almost never kept her up—but right now rest was eluding her. Her thoughts weren’t even racing. It was as if her brain was just a idling engine, quietly humming with activity, but one that she couldn’t figure out how to shut off. She rubbed her eyes and rolled over, putting a pillow over her head to block out the dim light of the phone chargers in the room. There was no way she had to actually sleep with the pacifier in her mouth, was there? The thought was ludicrous. But as Ava yawned, feeling as if her energy had left her body along with her breath, it didn’t seem that out of the question. She felt like butter scraped over too much bread. It was worth a shot. She had class in the morning. Feeling silly, she rooted for the pacifier, grabbing it and sticking the bulb in her mouth. She nibbled a bit on the silicone, feeling how it gave as she bit and sprung back as her jaw relaxed. There’s no way that this will work, she thought, right before she drifted off. ~~~ Ava made it almost a month before reaching out to her mysterious benefactor. She’d managed to mostly put the incident behind her and count herself lucky, letting her deal with a demon fade into the background as the the grind of regular life consumed her attention. There were tests to study for and a girl to spend time with. It was too bad that Charlotte’s birthday was in November. “Hey so like, for my birthday I was thinking of doing a lil’ weekend in Vail?” Charlotte twirled a tress of hair with her index finger absentmindedly. “My parents said that their cabin was free so we can ski all weekend.” The two of them were in the café that Ava worked at part time, pretending to study over steaming mugs of coffee. Ava didn’t know what a Vail was, but she did know that skiing sounded expensive. It was like lacrosse or polo, sports that nobody in Ava’s life had ever done until she’d met Charlotte. “I don’t know how to ski,” she laughed nervously. “I’ll teach you!” The light in Charlotte’s green eyes danced with excitement. Ava pursed her lips in thought. She could miss a weekend shift. And it might be fun to try something new. “Well then, I’m in,” said Ava, grinning. “Awesome!” Charlotte squealed with joy, which Ava normally found grating on other women but which on Charlotte only reminded Ava of her zest for life. “I’ll book everyone’s tickets so we can sit together on the plane. Venmo me back whenever.” The record that was Ava’s life scratched. Charlotte hadn’t said anything about needing to fly there. But it was too late to back out now. “Great,” Ava smiled weakly. Ava absolutely did not have a spare couple hundred dollars at hand. She thought about picking up extra shifts, or maybe even a second job, but her schoolwork was already beginning to suffer. Suddenly, the deal she’d made at the park bench came to mind. Could she really go seek him out? Until now, she could truthfully say that she hadn’t gone out looking for demons. They’d come to her. If she did this, she’d be culpable. But that first request had been so innocent. Maybe they’d all be like that. And worst case, she could always turn him down. Indeed, it would be foolish not to at least see if he could help. As Charlotte approached the park bench, she could see that someone was already sitting on it. As she got closer, his details resolved into the familiar silhouette of her benefactor. “Hello, Miss Stone,” he said, nodding his head. “Please, take a seat.” This time, she sat. “I need some money,” she said, skipping right to the point. “Straight to business,” chided the demon. He dug in his pocket, pulling out a cigar and a lighter. With a few flicks, he got the fire started and puffed. “Can you help me or not?” pressed Ava. The demon blew out a cloud of wispy smoke. The smell reminded her of ancient tomes and spiced cider. “I can,” sighed the stranger. “You are seeking funds for a weekend trip?” Ava nodded impatiently. “I can offer you enough to go, and some spending money to boot.” “And the catch?” Ava stared daggers into the demon’s face, hoping to catch a glimpse of ulterior motive, but his unnerving sunglasses made him impossible to read. “Another small favor,” he said. He took deep drag and exhaled. “Juice instead of soda with your meals for two weeks.” It was twice the length, but much easier to hide. This time the calculus was easy. “Deal,” said Ava, and shook his hand for the second time. ~~~ The third time that Ava met the demon, the whole endeavor had gained the comfortability of routine, like well-worn slippers waiting at the end of a workday. The same well-worn bench in the same well-manicured park. Much like the trees, steadfastly evergreen, the demon’s appearance was constant. Ava exhaled as she sat down, her breath condensing into a mist of fog. The demon, who had already lit his cigar, blew out his own smoke from his lungs, and the two vapors swirled and mingled with each other before evaporating out of sight. “A pleasure to see you again, Miss Stone,” said the stranger amiably. Ava watched as three excited dogs on leashes walked a hapless woman. “I hope you’ve been well,” said Ava. Strangely enough, she almost meant it. Even with his weird stipulations, he had been helping her out. It was natural human instinct to want to reciprocate in kind. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “My my, such manners this time. What a good girl you must have been.” Ava rankled at the remark but let it go for now. Get what she wanted first, then she could worry about incidentals. “Could you get me enough money to get a new laptop?” she asked. “What’s wrong with your current one?” asked the demon. Ava blinked. He hadn’t asked for her reasoning the last two deals. “Well…” Ava thought about how isolated she felt when group projects came up and she was the only one without a MacBook. How her computer always whirred whenever it did anything remotely intensive like it was a helicopter trying to take off. How nice it would be to just have something that worked in her life for once. How nice it would be for Charlotte to ooh and aah at Ava’s new toy. “I just want an upgrade,” Ava finished, eliding her entire thought process. The demon unhurriedly scratched at his chin in thought. It was like watching a gargoyle come to life, his motions were so slow and considerate. “One month of sleeping with a pacifier,” he finally said. “One month?” Ava repeated, flabbergasted. “The first time it was only a week!” “The first time,” the demon evenly said, “you were in a crisis.” Ava frowned. “Wouldn’t that normally be when you charge the most? What’s your deal here?” The demon gently shook his head and sighed. “I am not a loan shark, Miss Stone,” he said firmly. “Perhaps in your world, people prey on the weak so that the strong may get stronger. But I do not operate like that. You need this laptop less, and therefore my price is greater.” Ava considered her options. A month was a long time, long enough that she would genuinely run into the risk of one of her roommates finding out. And he was right, she didn’t need this laptop in the same way she’d needed to pay her fine. But in its own twisted kind of way, the demon’s logic made sense. Ava knew that being poor was more expensive than being rich. Charlotte’s fancy laptop cost a fortune, but she never had to scramble for money when a part failed, or deal with the unavoidable slowness tax that plagued Ava every time she used it. Charlotte, for all her virtues, never quite understood this part of Ava. She couldn’t understand why Ava didn’t just buy the thing that worked the first time. She thought Ava was shooting herself in the foot by being cheap by choice, when really it was by necessity. The fact that this demon understood what Ava’s classmates didn’t was sobering. He was being fair, more fair than humans themselves would have been. “Deal,” she said, and she shook his hand for the third time. ~~~ By the time the end of the semester was in sight, dealing with the demon had become almost like another chore, like picking up her part of the room or working out, as had the baby things. She’d cut swear words from her vocabulary for two weeks. She’d worn a diaper for the first time in fifteen years, just to bed. She’d even wet it too, on another occasion. And now, her latest deal: wearing a diaper for twenty-four hours in exchange for extra spending money for a winter vacation trip with Charlotte and her crew. It was going to be a piece of cake. It was dead week. She didn’t have classes to go to. Her only job was going to be studying for finals. And so, one morning, Ava shuffled off to a private bathroom and taped herself into a diaper, each step taken with the steady hand of experience. Lay a towel on the floor, with the unfolded diaper on top. Shimmy off her pants and panties. Sit down, feeling how the soft fluff contrasted with the ragged fuzziness of the towel. Pull the front up between her legs. Slide a finger around the leg bands to ensure a snug fit. Peel the tapes off carefully, the loudest and most dangerous part. Press each one in firmly. Ava stood and looked in the mirror as she adjusted the tapes, feeling the thickness of the padding rubbing against her inner thighs. When she was done, she finished changing into her outfit for the day. She’d learned that her normal slim-fitting pants were a bad idea. Even when she tried wearing sweatpants, the diaper puffed up around her waist in a way that panties very much didn’t. She’d eventually found something that worked. For today, it was a simple white blouse with a black bow tied around the collar and a high-waisted gray skirt. Comfortable and discreet, perfect for studying. She put her towel back on the rack, sat at her desk, and opened her notebooks. Ava’s studies were interrupted mid-morning by a building urge in her bladder. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to wet herself though, though she couldn’t do it sitting down. After checking to make sure she was alone, she stood up and relaxed, feeling the warmth spread out from between her legs, quiet tinkling sounds covered by a sigh of relief. When she was done, she reached under her skirt and patted around the leg bands. The wet diaper squished into her skin as she felt her thighs for any signs of wetness. She hadn’t taped herself properly the first time she’d wet herself, and she’d had to do an emergency load of laundry in the middle of the night. This time though, her thighs were blessedly dry. Suddenly, Ava heard a knock on the door, followed by the creak of it opening. She quickly removed her hands and smoothed her skirt down, her heart skipping a beat with surprise. Charlotte poked her head in the room, her gently curled tawny tresses gently bouncing. “Hey!” she said. “I know this is real sponty of me, but I thought maybe we could have a picnic? Just the two of us?” She raised her arm up, showing Ava a wicker picnic basket. “I’ve got a whole charcuterie set and everything.” Her eyes shimmered like a mossy glen kissed by the morning light. Ava froze. Why did Charlotte have to stop by today of all days? Her first instinct was to demur. But why? Hadn’t she been doing everything for Charlotte? And a picnic—that was romantic. Turning her down would send the wrong message. It would jeopardize everything she’d worked for all semester. “Sure, I’d love to,” said Ava, anticipation and anxiety swirling together into a confusing cocktail of emotion. As the two of them walked, Ava couldn’t stop thinking about the diaper between her legs. Each crinkle seemed to crackle in the air like gunshots. There was no way Charlotte didn’t know, but somehow she was oblivious. Ava ran through a mental catalogue of increasingly flimsy excuses. Jolly Ranchers in her pockets. A plastic bag that had blown around them. Charlotte was just imagining things. Against all odds, Charlotte had somehow chosen the same exact park that Ava met her benefactor at. A pit of dread nestled itself into Ava’s stomach. Thankfully, as Charlotte led Ava to a sunny spot on a grass knoll, Ava could see that the park bench down the pedestrian path was blissfully empty. Charlotte unfurled a checkered blanket with a flourish, laying it on the lush grass before setting her basket on top and kicking her sandals off. Ava followed suit, plopping down with a soft squish. Charlotte pulled out the picnic spread. As they enjoyed their lunch, a light breeze swirled around the two of them like a mischievous pixie. “I know I’ve said this before,” Charlotte said between bites of bread, “but thanks for having my back when we got caught.” “Of course,” said Ava. “That was months ago though. Why’re you bringing this up now?” “Just practicing gratitude,” said Charlotte, winking beguilingly. Ava laughed and reached for the blueberry jam. The tips of her fingers brushed against Charlotte’s, sending crackles of electricity up Ava’s arm. She jerked her arm back, then looked at Charlotte, embarrassed. “I don’t bite,” Charlotte said with a smirk. “Unless you want me to.” She took her hand and slowly cupped Ava’s chin. “Uh…” Ava could feel her breathing quicken. The world fell away, leaving the two of them perched on a knife’s edge between worlds of possibility. “I think,” Charlotte breathed, “that you do want me to.” She closed her eyes and leaned in, giving Ava a kiss. Ava could taste the traces of jam on Charlotte’s lips, a perfect complement to Ava’s own. “I do,” said Ava, and received another kiss in response, Charlotte’s hair gently tickling Ava’s cheek. Ava could smell faint traces of Charlotte’s strawberry shampoo and feel the soft tickle of Charlotte’s breath on her skin. With a surge of movement, Charlotte wrapped an arm around Ava’s back and leaned forward, until they ended up with Ava’s back on the blanket and Charlotte on top. Charlotte shifted a leg, straddling Ava with her knees on the blanket, and gently kissed Ava on the neck. Ava let out a small whimper of pleasure as Charlotte moved her kisses further and further down Ava’s neck. Charlotte moved one hand under Ava’s skirt, brushing against her inner thighs. Ava suddenly froze, her heart skipping a beat as her she acutely remembered the infantile garment she was wearing under her skirt. “We’re in public,” Ava said, reaching for Charlotte’s arm to pull it away. She tried sitting up, but Charlotte just added more pressure to the hand on Ava’s chest. “No one’s looking,” Charlotte purred, gently tapping her hand up Ava's leg before poking the plastic leg band and pausing. “What…?” Charlotte said, almost to herself. That was decidedly not what panties felt like. Ava’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. She tried prying Charlotte’s hand away, but she swatted Ava’s arm away and patted Ava’s crotch. Ava felt the hand on the front of her diaper, the sensation muted by the bulky material wrapped around her hips. The soggy padding pressed into her skin as she was wracked with another wave of humiliation. Charlotte experimentally pressed her fingers into Ava’s diaper a few more times, as if she were checking to see if jello had set. Ava tried to wiggle her way out, but she had no leverage. Charlotte made a puzzled frown before suddenly shifting her weight onto her knees and flipping Ava’s skirt up. “What are you doing?” Ava cried out. She tried to flip her skirt back down, but Charlotte grabbed her wrists and pushed them into the picnic blanket. The cheerful outlines of teddy bears and baby bottles were visible to anyone who turned their head to look, the diaper a white badge of shame forever making Ava a Hester Prynne. Ava turned her head from side to side, feeling like a thousand eyes had manifested and turned their undivided attention towards her, but for the most part people were quietly doing their own thing. Ava saw someone point at her and turn to their partner before giggling. Her paranoia refused to allow for any charitable explanation. “What are you wearing?” Charlotte asked, bewildered. She hadn't been completely sure before she’d made visual contact—the idea that Ava would be wearing a diaper hadn’t even been a remote possibility in her mind. “Please,” Ava said, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She was on a knife’s edge, ready to break down sobbing, which would not have helped her case at all. “I can explain,” she said, hoping that maybe her mind would catch up and lay out a reasonable explanation. “Do you need diapers or something? Oh my God, I had no idea,” said Charlotte, her own cheeks reddening with sympathetic embarrassment. “No! I don’t!” blurted out Ava, scrambling to save face. Charlotte furrowed her brow as her mind shifted tracks. “So this is just for kicks? Like some kind of sex thing?” She shifted her weight off of Ava and sat on the blanket. It was clear that Ava had made a tactical error. “Char,” Ava said, pulling her skirt back over her diaper, “please. Don’t freak out.” “It’s not that,” said Charlotte, sounding conflicted. “It’s just really unexpected.” She bit her lip. “Like, what, was it fun for it to be a secret or something?” “I didn’t want to tell you,” pled Ava. “You should have,” said Charlotte. “You should have gotten my consent. I’m not a prude. I don’t care what you’re into. But you should have told me.” As Charlotte quietly packed the picnic back up and left, Ava could do nothing but sit, arms around her knees as she cried. After a few minutes, when her tears had slowed and her pity party started winding down, a shadow suddenly covered her. She looked up to see the demon, face perfectly neutral, as if the events that had transpired were like static on a television, meaning nothing to him. “I messed up,” Ava mumbled into her arms. “Perhaps,” said the demon sympathetically. “But you might be interested to know that my assistance can extend beyond the purely monetary. That girl doesn’t have to slip out of your reach.” The demon had led Ava into this. He wanted her in diapers for some reason. It was inevitable that eventually someone would find out. Maybe that’s what he’d wanted all along. Ava had no one to blame but herself. If she hadn’t taken his deals, she wouldn’t be in this situation at all. But that was true on multiple levels. Without the money to cover the fine, she might not have even been able to keep going to college. She might have been expelled. He’d never forced her to do anything. Her hand always shook his willingly, with no attached puppet strings. She’d been the architect of her own doom, and now the only thing she could do was pray in the cathedral she’d made. Ava had traded so much already to catch Charlotte’s eye. Why stop now? As long as she kept her wits about her, she could take more than she gave. Just because this deal had backfired didn’t mean that every deal would. She could be more careful. She could do it right. Ava took a deep breath in, then breathed it out with a sigh. “Tell me the terms,” she said, and the demon cracked the barest of smiles.

An idea I've had for a while from reading too many Anime Light novels. Prologue. A howl was heard in the distance as a demon was cut down dead. Emily held her hand up in the air waiting for her sword to come back to her after cutting off the demon’s head. “Well that’s number 200 today so far. They said it was a group of over 500 demons, but I don’t see anymore. I wonder if they got the intel wrong again like last time, they said over 2,000 I came out here and found barely 700.” Emily doesn’t get to think much longer before she spots her sword floating to her. She grabs her sword out of the air and puts it on her back and starts to walk around. It had been 50 years sense the war started and Demons started coming to their world and mana was first found to exist. Countless have died fighting the demons but the demons keep coming. People soon lost hope until 16 years ago when a child was born that had a huge pool of mana more than any other person. She was quickly taken away by the military to be trained at a young age to learn to fight the demons. That all had been years ago for Emily, her 16th birthday was coming up and here she was out hunting demons. She hated to be stuck hunting but what can she do, she was the Rank 1 Demon hunter in what was left of the US and the world. “God what’s taking so damn long? I sent all 9 of you guys out where are the other 8?” Emily ask’s her sword she’s holding. “Sorry Emily it seems they had bigger targets then I did.” “We still got time if needed I can go help them.” For Emily just having a huge mana pool and being gifted with all types of magic was not her only ability she had made each one of the weapons she used and gave them souls to help her fight demons. They were her best friends and only people she could talk too when she was alone. Emily had spent weeks making each one of her weapons by infusing her mana and a soul into the blade then enchanting them. When she was done, she had living weapons she could control and have help her in any tight spot. She had given each of her weapons a name that she felt fit them well and they loved the names she gave them. If you were to look at her weapons you would be shocked at how heavy they were and how a such a young girl could control them. “Drake what rank was the one you killed?” “It was a Rank B Tank class.” “Really? Well great that’s the 5th one this month we might have a problem. Any idea what the other 8 are killing?” “Speaking of that Amanda needs some help she says hers is a Rank S Assaulter.” “Shit really? Well let’s go.” One thing about Emily’s weapons she loved is they could talk to each other no matter where they were it helped make her job easier when she had to go hunting. Emily had taken off at speeds unheard of for someone running. She was easily running faster then any car could ever hope to. “How far tell we get to Amanda?” Emily asked. “She’s 2 miles ahead of us so get ready.” Emily grabbed Drake out of the air. Drake was Emily’s long sword and go to weapon for fighting Rank S and higher demons she had only hoped she got to Amanda in time. Emily came running out of the trees holding on to Drake as she spots the Rank S and Amanda’s spear head trying to stab it in the leg. “AMANDA BACK OFF.” Amanda swings Drake with all her might slicing the Demon in two and sending a shockwave flying cutting everything in its path. “Emily careful next time you used too much power again.” Drake said trying to calm Emily’s power down Drake knew what happened when Emily uses too much power and it was never good. Last time she did she hit a Rank SS tank and cut the mountains in half behind it. “I know I’m sorry Drake I was worried about Amanda. I know how easy you guys can break when I’m not near.” Emily didn’t want any one of her weapons to break like Drake did the first time. She cried for weeks as she tried to fix him. “Amanda are you ok?” Emily was concerned fighting a S rank assaulter is no easy thing even for rank 100 hunters yet alone magical weapons by themselves. “Yes, sorry Ma’am I should have called sooner.” “It’s ok, your safe and that’s what matters to me.” Emily hugged Amanda as tight as she could happy that she made it in time. “Drake Amanda what are the totals so far?” “Seems like once we are done, we only found maybe 300 demons that means 400 are still missing.” “Say Drake what is the closest village to us from here?” “I’d say maybe 20 miles away why do you ask?” Drake answers wondering what Emily is thinking. “What weapon is closest to the village?” Emily was starting to worry. “Elizabeth it looks like why?” “How close is she?” “She’s 4 miles outside of the village.” Emily’s worst fears are coming true she was not told that a Village may be a target. “SHIT GET EVERYONE TO FOLLOW ME NOW!” “What’s wrong?” Drake had just gotten the words out when Emily was off in a flash. It dawned on him what she had asked, and he knew they were in deep. Emily was running full speed as fast as she could hoping to get to the village in time. “Ma’am all your weapons are following you now.” Drake said with pride knowing it’s not often they all fight at once. Emily could see the smoke coming from the village in the distance and dreaded that her hunch was correct. “EVERYONE ATTACK ANY DEMONS LEAVE NONE ALIVE!” Emily screamed. “YES MA’AM” All 9 of her weapons answered at once. Emily Jumped into the air looking down she could see the village and the bad state it was in. She knew she had little time to act. Emily lunched spell after spell hitting all her targets as her weapons flew around killing everything in sight. ‘There is no damn way this is 400 demons there are way too many.’ Emily thought. “Ma’am!” A call from Asher was heard in her head. “We have a RANK SSS Overlord here!” Now Emily knew why there were so many demons, the damn Overlord was summoning them. “EVERYONE PROTECT THE VILLAGE I’LL TAKE THE RANK SSS.” Emily jumped from building to building as fast as she could to get to where Asher had seen the Overlord. Emily was one of 10 on the whole planet that could kill a Rank SSS Overlord’s were rare and only came to this side when they found a large pool of mana to use. Finding one out here in a village this far out was odd to her but she didn’t have time to think why she knew she had to act. Emily spotted the Overlord and hit it with a fire spell knocking it off its feet. Overlords for being over 50 feet tall, never could walk well and were easy to knock over and that was what she hoped to use to kill the thing. “EMILY LOOK OUT!” Emily heard Drake scream at her, but it was too late before she took a huge hit to her side. Emily’s only thought at that moment was. ‘Shit I forgot to put up my shield.’ Emily was knocked into a near by building causing it to fall around her while she looked at what the hell had hit her. Emily could finally see it now that the dust had cleared. “You have got to be shitting me.” Emily looked up and knew something was up. A Rank SSSS had hit her. “DRAKE! Why the fuck is a Demon Lord here?” “I have no idea Emily I am wondering the same thing.” “Oh, son of a bitch is the Military trying to attract demons again?” “It would seem that is a possibility that or something else is attracting them here.” Drake answered. “Find out what mana is attracting them while I deal with these two.” “Yes ma’am.” With that Drake took off while Emily dealt with the Demon lord and Over Lord. “Ok big boys it’s you and me now.” Emily tossed a gravity spell at the Over Lord cutting its leg clean off spraying blood everywhere. She then hit it with a dark spell and flame magic before jumping up and landing on its head crushing it. “One down one to go” Before Emily could hit the Demon Lord it hit her with a shadow spear causing her to fly back into a group of trees breaking them. “Son of a bitch that hurt!” Emily looked down and noticed the shadow spear had hit her in the hip leaving a small hole with blood coming out of it. “Shit that really hurt.” Emily cast a small healing spell just enough to stop the flow of blood before she ran back at the Demon lord. Emily ran and jumped before punching it in the face knocking it back into a house destroying the house. “Damn mortal you will pay for that.” “Oh, great you can talk I guess that means your above SSSS rank?” “Smart little girl but now it’s time for you to die and give me your mana.” “Fat chance of that ugly.” Emily hit him with a inferno spell knocking him back slightly. “Is that the best you can do girl?” The Demon Lord puts his hand in the ground and pulls out a massive sword before swinging it at Emily. Emily can barely dodge it in time. “ASHER COME TO ME!” At that moment a halberd flew into Emily’s hands “Ma’am I don’t feel any human life around us feel free to use your full power.” Asher tells Emily. “Sounds good to me.” Emily pulls on the end of the pole before twisted it and selecting the spell she put into Asher. “Asher destroyer mode.” A bright glow comes out of Asher as she slowly changes into a scythe like halberd. Slowly glowing white wings form on Emily’s back and a set of red demon horns on her head. “Ready to die bastard?” Emily shining with white wings and glowing red horns looking like a angel demon hybrid come to kill all life. “Oh, the Mortal knows forbidden magic. Didn’t your mommy tell you not to mess with the gods” “Well bastard your fucking kind killed my parents, so I think it’s ok if I do the same to you guys.” Emily pulled her Scythe up and took one huge swing in front of her. “You missed little girl what were you trying to hit a bug?” The Demon Lord then heard a noise behind him and turned around. “What the hell did you do?!?!?!” Behind him with a brand-new valley. The mountains trees animals everything was gone just a new valley. The Demon lord turned back to look at Emily but no sooner had he his head was on the ground looking up at his body cut in two. “What the hell are you girl!?!” The Demon lord screamed. “I’m your death.” With that She stabbed his head with her Scythe before she started to turn back to normal. “Thanks for the help Asher.” Emily let Asher go and watched her float in front of her. “Any time ma’am.” With that Asher took off to go finish cleaning up the demons and look for living humans. “Emily, I found what they were after.” Drake yelled into Emily’s mind. “Calm down what was it?” Emily wondered what the demons could want to send a Demon Lord and a Over Lord after. “It seems to be an Egg and a little girl ma’am.” “Say what?” “I found a little girl holding a Egg about her size a mile away from the village. She was slightly hurt but I healed her I’m bringing her back now to you.” Now Emily really wanted to know what the hell was going on why the hell did the Demons want an Egg or even the girl? Emily had a few Idea’s, but she was not sure, she would have to wait and see. “Has anyone found survivors?” Emily shouted in her mind to everyone. “Sorry ma’am it seems that no one alive.” “Bastard demons. How many did they kill Sarah?” “Total ma’am?” “Yes” “I count a little over 2,700 people.” “Shit if only we had gotten here sooner to save everyone.” Emily just wished she had been faster. “We did kill over 1,200 demon’s ma’am.” “Ok counting earlier that’s over 1400 counting a Demon Lord and a Over lord. Let’s report this once Drake gets back.” Emily heard a loud noise and quickly turned her head to see Drake coming with the girl and the egg floating below him. She knew today was going to be a really long day now.

Hey guys. This is my first attempt at a story. Not sure how exactly it's gonna turn out. But I figured there was only one way to learn how to write stories & that's by writing. Any constructive feedback you can give will be welcome & appreciated. So then, without further ado… Angel Hunter Chapter I 5:37am Ugh! Why am I awake at Five-thirty in the Goddamned morning on my day off? Normally I sleep like a rock on Saturday. Was it something I ate? Well, best not to dwell on it I guess. Maybe I'll make up for it by staying in bed an extra hour or so. “Arise, mortal.” Now if I didn't know any better, I'd think I just heard someone say “Arise, mortal” right next to me. But that's just plain ridiculous! I must still be dreaming. Yeah, that would explain why I'm awake so- “GET UP!” I shot up in my bed and looked towards the source of the command. What I saw defied all logical explanation. Standing there in my doorway was the form of a woman. Her body was pitch-black from head to toe. But what caused my blood to run cold with terror was her glowing red eyes staring me down. There's a demon in my bedroom. “Fear not. I do not wish you harm.” Well that takes a load off of my mind. But it does beg the question: why is there a demon in my bedroom? “I am here because I require your assistance.” So she can read minds too? “Yes I can.” “Stop reading my mind!” I immediately clamped my hand over my mouth. I just yelled at a demon in my bedroom! I was fully expecting her--I mean It--to pounce on me and tear me to pieces for lashing out. But it just stood there staring at me. Her head cocked slightly as if she found my outburst intriguing rather than infuriating. We just stared at each other for another long, terror-filled moment before she spoke again. “Well? If you wish to speak your mind then do so. I do not have all night!” Huh? Oh! Right. I told her to stop reading my mind so she's waiting for me to speak. Are demons normally this accommodating? “uh, what are you doing here?” I asked with more than a little trepidation. “I need you to look after my host.” Well, that answered one question. And raised about a dozen more. “Your host?” She sauntered into the room and only then did I realize how much she reminded me of the Enchantress from that Suicide Squad movie. Not sure if that makes her more or less terrifying. “This body belongs to a woman named Julia. When I release her she will be too weak to move or speak. I could just leave her in an alley somewhere, but I think you would agree that this is a much better solution. Unless, of course, you wish to see harm come to an innocent woman?” “what? No! Of course not! It's just,” it's just that this situation is completely insane! It's just that I'm not in the habit of helping demons! Come on, say something! “Why me?” She stepped up in front of me. I tried not to react but my body had other plans. I instinctively leaned back & shut my eyes tight as she approached. “all in good time, Luc.” she placed her hand under my chin and gently turned my head so I would be forced to look into her eyes if I opened mine. Suddenly her hand clamped around my throat. My eyes went wide with shock & I was forced to look into her fiery gaze. “But know this, Luc,” she said sternly, “If you should find yourself tempted to take advantage of her in her helpless state, I shall be forced to manifest myself again.” She leaned in close. Her face inches from mine. “And you will know the fullness of my wrath!” With that she released her grip on my throat. I gasped for breath as she nonchalantly sauntered back into the center of the room and laid herself down on the carpet. Before my very eyes she began to transform. The first thing I noticed were patches of pink flesh as the blackness of the demons skin (or scales. It was too dark to really tell) started fading away. The second thing I noticed was her jet-black hair returning to its natural blond. In mere seconds the transformation was complete. And where there had once been a terrifying demon now lay a beautiful, normal-looking girl. Eyes closed. Breathing steady as if she were in deep slumber. That's when I noticed a third thing: She was completely naked. I looked away as a reflex. The demon’s final warning now making a lot more sense. Had she been naked the whole time? Given the circumstances I suppose it's possible I could've missed that little detail. My thoughts were interrupted when the girl's eyes suddenly opened and she started gasping and wheezing as if she'd just nearly drowned. I jumped out of bed and rushed to her side. Kneeling down beside her, I started saying anything I could think of to try to calm her down. “It's okay Julia. I'm here. Nobody's going to hurt you. The demon is gone. She won't be coming back. Just breath normally. You're safe here.” Eventually her gasping devolved into sobbing. Tears began flowing down the sides of her face like rivers of pain and sorrow. Well that's hardly an improvement! I knelt there for what must have been several minutes stroking her hair & telling her everything was going to be all right. When she finally started to calm down I decided that it would be best for both of us if she were clothed. So I went over to my dresser & got out a pair of gym shorts & a T-shirt. It'll have to do. I started with the shirt. Have you ever tried to put a shirt on a completely limp body? I do not recommend it. Through some miracle I was finally able to get it on her. Well that's half her modesty preserved. I moved to her lower body and that's when I discovered that the carpet underneath her thighs was soaking wet. How did I discover that in a dark room you ask? Simple: I accidentally stuck my damn hand in it of course! At first I thought I must be mistaken. Surely she wouldn't… All it took was a quick sniff of my hand to confirm my suspicions. She peed all over my floor! I gave her a quizzical look. Which only elicited more sobbing. Not good. I wasn't angry at her or anything. Just a little confused. The demon said she wouldn't be able to move or speak. It didn't say anything about this! Now she's crying again. “shh it's okay. I'm not mad. You've had a rough night. These things happen.” damn. If this is what demon possession does to you I might have to start going to church again! Once I got her mostly calmed down again I went to the bathroom & got a wet rag. The carpet would have to wait. Right now I need to get Julia cleaned and dressed. I moved her away from the wet spot and proceeded to wipe down her legs and crotch. I had imagined many scenarios involving a naked woman in my room. But I had never imagined anything like this! Once I was pretty sure she was clean I grabbed the pair of gym shorts and slid them up over her legs. As I suspected putting pants on her turned out to be much easier than the shirt. Now that she's fully clothed I… I… hmm… What do I do now exactly? The demon had instructed me to “look after” Julia. I guess really the only thing I can do now is try to make her as comfortable as possible. “All right, Julia,” I said to her, “I'm going to put you to bed. I'm sure you could use some sleep after what you've been through.” I was trying to gage her reaction. But she didn't even act like she heard me. Her eyes were vacant; devoid of all feeling. Had I not known better I would've guessed she were stoned out of her mind. Yeah, sleep sounds like the best thing for her right now. I went over to my bed. Briefly wondering if the couch would be a safer option. She did just piss herself after all. No, I'm sure it was a one time thing. Probably happened the moment she woke up. However, just to be on the safe side I went into the bathroom & laid a towel under where her butt would be. An ounce of prevention… I picked her up--no small feat mind you--and laid her on the bed. “alright Julia. I need you to try to get some sleep okay? If you need anything just,” just what, moron? “just, I dunno, let out a cry or something. I'll try to remain within earshot. But even if you can't manage that I'll make sure to check on you fairly often, okay? Now just close those little eyes…” she closed her eyes and after another minute or so her breathing started to settle. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Good girl.” I said before covering her up and going back out to the bathroom to try and find something to clean the carpet. What the literal hell have I gotten myself into?