"Hey," Haru muttered in the strange silence that followed, looking up at Fox. "Doesn't it seem a bit weird for our skills to be listed like some sort of video game perk or ability?"
"No?" Fox shrugged, rolling her shoulders. "It makes sense that local governments would want to have something like that on hand for the sake of classifying people like us. Anyway… we should probably rest, right?"
"Right, right, learning to fight tomorrow- but I don't feel nearly ready to sleep, I've spent like half my time since we got here napping- I'm gonna take my time getting back to my room," She added, chuckling and straightening up, tail wagging.
"Haru I swear, you'd better not to be about to go and hit on Cecil," Fox grumbled, narrowing her eyes.
"Fox I'm gonna be so real," Haru laughed, pushing out of Aurelia's office with the shorter girl. "I couldn't be with him."
"Why not? You were so busy admiring his body, no?"
"It's the name! Can you imagine it? Really?" Haru laughed, harder, shaking her head.
"What do you mean?"
"O-Oh," Haru moaned, voice thickening. "Oh- nggg, I'm gonna- C-CECIL-!!!" She screamed, her voice melting into terribly-amused laughter at the end. "No Cecil is NOT a name I will be moaning- sides, it'd be weird to sleep with him, barely know the guy. So don't worry, unless he starts violently pursuing me.
"If he does, I'm kicking him in the balls. I don't make the rules sorry," Fox added, snorting boyishly and looking away.
"Yeah? Still gonna make me yours?" Haru winked lazily.
"I'll find a potion to give myself one of those stupid things, then you won't need to go see some stinky man," Fox retorted, and Haru shuddered, laughing, color flooding her cheeks.
"A-Anyway, come on. Let's go look around, okay? We have training that starts tomorrow, after all, we need to make sure we're rested up."
"Please, I'm gonna win any sparring match against Aurelia, I'm the best," Fox snorted proudly, crossing her arms.
-
Aurelia's foot slammed into Fox's chest, and the short girl was sent rolling, landing on her hands and knees with wide eyes.
"Even if you had years of street fighting experience under your belt," Aurelia hummed, walking forward and looking down at the dark-haired girl. "-you'll get nowhere if you can't blend in actual techniques. Your strikes are wild and without rhythm- you tired yourself out in moments. Haru, your turn, let's see where you're at."
"Oh. Okay," Haru shrugged, bending her knees and throwing a punch- there was a pressure on her wrist, the world spun, and suddenly she was on her back, wincing, winded. "Oh. Okay."
"Yeah… it's alright. We'll make progress, even if it's boring as first. Let me show you two how to throw a proper kick," Aurelia hummed, straightening up and stepping back as the two girls climbed to their feet.
"Why do we need to learn stuff like this?" Fox asked suddenly, sounding not angry, but curious. "I mean, why not just pull out a gun?"
"Sure." Aurelia turned on a dime and walked to the wall; here was a smaller training room than the gym, and racks of training weapons lined the walls. Aurelia grabbed something that looked like a real gun and walked back, handing the small pistol to Fox.
"It's okay," Aurelia smiled reassuringly. "It only has rubber bullets in it. Go ahead and shoot me."
"What- no I don't want to hurt you,"
"Hey!" Aurelia snapped, but it seemed playful, her tail flicking around. "I'm a big girl, I've been shot with much worse. Come on. Shoot me, see what happens."
"Okay…" Fox raised the weapon, pulling the trigger… nothing happened, and Aurelia laughed.
"Safety off. That little switch by your first finger- okay, okay. Try again."
Fox leveled the gun, and it suddenly flew out of her hand, Aurelia flicking her wrist in the same direction as the gun sailed, hitting a wall and falling uselessly to the floor.
"Oh no," Aurelia laughed, stepping forward and leaning down, narrowing her eyes. "Does that answer your question, shortstack?"
"Ugh…" Fox huffed, looking away. "Yeah, yeah."
"Good. I'm going to have you two start spending a half hour per night in the gym," Aurelia nodded. "You need to work on your stamina. Now let's practice the basics of an effective kick," She added, hopping lightly from foot to foot and yanking her hair tie out, retying it.
-
"It's weird- and I don't think I had any special abilities before," Haru yawned, blinking tiredly, now, as she jogged the treadmill, powering through the burning in her lungs. "Watching all the bruises that Aurelia gave me healing in minutes like that… but it was humbling, to get my ass beaten so hard. I'm glad to be in her hands than just, you know, out there."
"Yeah." Fox agreed tiredly, walking on a stair-step-simulator beside Haru, panting, skin glistening with a sheen of sweat.
"Something I wonder," Haru continued talking, jogging faster, now. "Aurelia said something like if this place- or rather the people here, don't agree with the Queen's orders, they have the right to refuse. What does that look like, though, you know?"
"Yeah?" Fox wheezed, nodding and slowing her machine down.
"Well like, surely the queen has the resources to kill everybody here. So… does Aurelia have the right to resist or simply to stand by and stay out of it."
"Yeah…"
"Hey, why are you so tired? I feel like we've barely started," Haru laughed, and Fox, groaning, finally turned her machine off.
"Yeah…"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, your abilities… one of them… was enhanced healing…? I bet you're…" Fox yawned, closing her eyes, now just sitting on the bottom step of the machine she'd been using. "I bet you're just, you know… healing through the damage… instant gratification workout… hope you die, you suck…"
"Stay jealous, I guess," Haru shot back playfully, but she did turn her machine off, slowing to a walk, then hopping off the machine. "I mean I guess my legs kind of burn, if that's worth anything?"
"It's not," Fox huffed, pushing sweaty hair out of her eyes. "But hey, it means you can have a nice ass soon."
"Soon? As if I don't already?" Haru narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms. "Punk."
"Please your ass is flatter than my chest, somehow," Fox retorted in kind, stretching. "I'm gonna get to bed."
"Really? You're not hungry, after working out that hard?" Haru raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"No, too tired for-"
"HEY!!" The strange, yet familiar voice, came from nowhere as something warm crashed into Haru from behind. When she turned her head… it was Lottie, the same demented cat girl who'd originally been spotted dripping blood from the ceiling. "So good to see you again, Haru," The cat purred, wrapping her arms around Haru from behind, hands finding their way to her hips. The snow-and-ash haired girl squirmed; eyes widening, back instinctively arching to try and create distance as Charlotte nuzzled into her neck. "I missed you, new friend~"
"L-Let go of her!!" Fox snapped, and Lottie shook her head.
"Mmm, no, she smells good, and she's my friend now," Charlotte spoke back casually, relaxing, crushing her breasts against Haru's back, at which the green-eyed girl shuddered, eyes widening.
"Let go of me," Haru muttered, and Charlotte sighed, letting her arms slide off, stepping back. "Fineeeee, but it's good to see you again, really. How was your first day of training? Aurelia says that she beat you two so badly, it was like watching a dragon try to take a gold coin from a human baby."
"Wow. Rude," She snorted, relaxing, and grinned, trying to deny the heat pooling in the bottom of her stomach. We're all adults here, but regardless, be good.
"So the others are back?" Fox cut in, still glaring at Charlotte.
"Yeah, we're all here. You'll probably meet Lif and Ica tomorrow, they crashed in one of the movie theaters trying to unwind after the mission. I don't advise going in there- they smell so bad…" Charlotte snickered, rolling her eyes. "Then again, so does Fox, so maybe she'd get along with them?"
"Rude!!" Fox huffed, standing up on shaky legs. "I smell because I was working my butt off- it's not my fault that Haru here seemingly isn't capable of breaking a sweat!"
"Oh I'll make her break a sweat," Charlotte spoke in musical tones, smirking, and Haru opened her mouth to respond only to end up fuming quietly, heat flooding her face.
"I need a shower. Sleep, too," Haru huffed and turned on a dime, starting to walk toward the showers- but two steps of footsteps sounded behind her, slapping loudly when they hit the exposed wooden flooring. "I need a shower privately, mind you."
"Yeah?" Charlotte angled her head when Haru looked back as if she was some sort of confused kitten. "There are stalls. I also need a shower; I worked up a sweat. Is that so wrong? The shower room isn't private or yours," She added with a lazy, wolfish grin. "Don't worry, I won't peek too much!!"
"This is what I get for being nice to strangers, huh?" Haru rolled her eyes, blushing darker and laughing, tired.
"Don't worry, I won't touch until you beg me to," Lottie spoke on a laugh, and Fox, fuming, tried to cut in, but the cat girl cut her off. "You'll both beg me to. I promise. I'm not stealing your Haru, I'm gonna share her!"
"I-" Haru shook her head. "So much to unpack there- can we change topic? How was your mission, what were you even doing?"
"There was a younger dragon that didn't know to stay away from human territories, we had to teach it a lesson." Charlotte shrugged as they entered the room, which did indeed seem to be a standard sort of public locker room, with shower stalls, but also poles rising from floor to ceiling here and there, with four shower heads attached to spray in an umbrella around them. She'd seen something like that before, she thought… but the memory, whatever it was, slipped away before she could properly remember.
"Ah screw it," Haru sighed, lifting her shirt up and tossing it onto a bench, then spinning her bra around, unhooking it. Fox stared, eyes wide, and Charlotte grinned, lecherous. "What? We're all girls, and there's a shower here, leave me be," Haru snickered, enjoying their reactions as she unbuttoned her waistband, letting her pants fall.
"Still, you know I- anyway-" Fox stammered, and, seemingly not one to be outdone, lifted her own shirt, tossing it, exposing the lack of a bra, and the lack of, well- a need for one.
"Well then I guess that's settled," Charlotte shrugged, stripping herself just as quickly, soon naked, and reaching around to start all four hot water nozzles. "Now let's just hope Cecil or Lif don't walk in."
"Isn't it weird that there's only two men as part of the actual team here?" Haru wondered aloud, grabbing a bottle labeled 'Hair Clean' from a shelf installed under the benches beside them, uncapping it and starting to lather her hair. Charlotte and herself seemed perfectly comfortable, confident- but Fox kept her thighs clamped shut and often covered her chest, face burning so darkly red that Haru thought the water might get a bit hotter just for her face being in the room.
"Not really?" Charlotte shrugged. "Lots of men who meet us… well I'm not sexist but this isn't their cup of tea."
"That does sound sexist, what do you mean?" Haru angled her head.
"Well, I don't know." Lottie shrugged, lathering up her own hair and sighing- God her tits are huge-No- listen to her words, Haru, eyes up there. "They just say that they think it's cowardly, more often than not. It's the fact that Mir and Pempan militaries put such a huge focus on honor, looking your enemy in the eyes while you kill them. Then Aurelia's team- us- it's all subterfuge and stealth, thinking on your feet and stabbing in the back if that's what it comes down to. Sometimes, though, honor, and looking your enemy in the eyes- they just won't work. We never would have saved you, for example, trying to march an army into the Capitol, and I love a hundred dead men, but not when they're on my side," Charlotte threw her head back, laughing harshly, her tail curling languidly in the air.
"Still feels kind of sexist," Haru shrugged.
"Picture this," Charlotte spoke coldly, suddenly serious, tail still as she scrubbed her hair. "Woman. Three heads shorter than a man. They fight, in war. Man uses honor, so does she- he's double her weight, he breaks her bones and she's dead. There's a reason we say that you need to fight like a girl, and honey, it's not fairness." Grinning, she shook her head, flashing fangs. "There's a reason that there are, statistically speaking, more male arch angels, and female arch demons."
"Interesting…" Haru nodded, looking down. "So this team shares a mentality with a lot of women in the militaries here…"
"That's right," Lottie agreed. "The mentality of doing anything and everything to win. Power comes to those who will do anything to take it- or in your case, to cute girls who catch the eyes of a half succubus, half pixie."
"Well, if I haven't earned it yet, then I will." Haru shrugged.
"Don't you want to get home?" Charlotte countered gently, curiously.
"Not really? I mean, why?" Haru shrugged, rolling her eyes, scrubbing the skin of her chest, between her breasts, closing her eyes for a long moment. "I can't really see a reason to be too freaked out. I was there, whatever that world was. Now, I'm here. It is what it is- and I remember things, you know? I was a student… I think, if that came back, and something like marriage or obligations didn't it, I was probably somewhat of a nobody, don't you?"
"I guess so," Charlotte shrugged, and Fox stared on curiously, angling her eyes.
"Haru?" The dark-haired girl spoke quietly. "If you get the chance to go back, you wouldn't take it?"
"I don't think so. I don't see a reason to," the snow-and-ash-haired woman shrugged. "How about you? Would you want to go back?"
"Well… no. I remember everything," Fox added, shaking her head.
"Yeah? What do you remember," Haru asked, smiling tiredly.
"I was from a world devoid of fear. The feeling was alien, our brains essentially didn't produce it, in almost every case. As such, people able to feel fear were seen as a one-in-a-million anomaly- myself included. I was locked up, experimented on and imprisoned. The worst part is that I kind of understand why they did it, honestly."
"Yeah?" Charlotte raised an eyebrow, curious.
"Yeah. I mean, fear makes you do unpredictable things- I once saw somebody, having a panic attack, mow down a crowd of nine people with a weapon. Then they claimed they were scared, and it was to protect themselves. Fear doesn't excuse the lack of self-control, but when you see somebody with the capacity for fear less than five times in a hundred years, and that was one of them… they call it control, taking necessary precautions. Can't say I don't understand, even if it led to my pain- but no. I wouldn't go back."
For a moment, there was silence.
"Well." Charlotte grinned, and she seemed more… normal? Now, if only a bit. "If we're trauma dumping, I'm from Underland. Not wonderland, though most people here call it that- they think it's some kind of outdated child's fairytale land. Nothing like that, though."
"What is it?" Haru asked curiously.
"There isn't just one hell. When people say hell, they think of the most common one… but hell is a collection of realities formed collectively of the gods down there- well I guess it is just one hell, but there's as much to see there as there is here on Earth," Charlotte swallowed, nodding.
"Anyway, there was a god of lust, long ago- they're not around anymore, it's a whole story. They created Underland- and it's still a terribly perverted place. Young girls who always think its their first time, mind-controlling parasitic mushroom hats, and oh god don't get me started on the jub-jub birds and what they'll do if they see a man. I could go on- but Underland was just the most militarized part of Hell, before all that, and its military hasn't dwindled at all, they're the enforcers of hell."
"Yeah?"
"I was one of their military officers," Charlotte nodded. "I killed on command, pushing my body to the limits. The reason I became an arch-demon is that I believed I was this- this unstoppable, undying killing machine. Then one day, I got shot in the head, and I wasn't scared- I knew I would survive and I did. Things changed after that… I stopped counting, but I've killed thousands, maybe more. I'd be lying if I said even half of them probably deserved it. Then… Aurelia found me a way out."
"Really?" Haru leaned forward, eyes wide, listening raptly.
"Well yeah. She told me that she'd find me a way to do good, and save people. I always wanted that- but I was manipulated. The fact I could visit earth from hell was hidden me- I was groomed to become… well, the thing that I am," She laughed. "A-Anyway, I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"Wait, how did Aurelia get you out-"
"I really don't want to talk about this anymore," Charlotte spoke coldly, but a smirk tugged at her lips. "Shut up before I repurpose your face as a chair."
"Wha- OH." Haru nodded, swallowing, cheeks flaring with color once again. "Okay, plot twist, sheesh-"
"You two make sure you rest well," Charlotte smirked, grabbing a towel from a nearby bin and slinging it across her back, starting to dry off. "I'm gonna go and get some rest, myself," She added, stepping, still naked and dripping, out into the gym.
"Huh…" Fox thoughtfully murmured. "Arch-demon huh…? Here I had gay fantasies running through my head when we all got naked… but no wonder, Lottie's… she seems like she doesn't even belong here- wait that sounds bad!" Fox choked, shaking her head. "She just seems like she belongs to bigger and grander things than mortal politics, I guess?"
"Who knows, maybe her aspirations will lead her to become a god." Haru laughed quietly, eyes closed, washing her legs, now, her feet, grinding her knuckles into the soles and running her fingers between her toes. "I'm sure she has a reason for staying here though, for being loyal to Aurelia."
"Yeah…" Fox sighed, scrubbing her tail now, looking down. "My head hurts."
"Water and sleep, child."
"Not a child."
"Shush, do not argue with your elders!!" Haru spoke in a mockery of an old woman's croak, smiling. "The audacity of youth, nowadays…"
"Har har," Fox rolled her eyes, but her eyes were closed, and she looked unsteady. Stepping forward, Haru gently guided the shorter woman to lean into her side, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Come on. Let's get dried off and to bed."
"Yeah, honk shoo, or something… my head hurts so badly…"
"Water!!"
"Nah…"
"WATER!!"