"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this" muttered Stanley as he stood with arms folded watching the four women.
After breakfast it was decided that Thera's second day on Earth would be spent outside with the three girls giving her a tour of the city.
"Well Stanley, you could always come with us~" Ezraphel offered.
"Yeah Stan," Natalie chirped, walking up to rest an elbow on his shoulder and lean against him. "We could use a manlet chauffeur."
"Begone thot" he spoke through gritted teeth to which Natalie laughed him off even as she acquiesced but not before ruffling his hair.
Stanley grumbled and turned to Anastasia "I'm counting on you as the most responsible person here to keep them out of trouble. Especially that one."
He pointed at Ezraphel who pointed at herself "eh? Me!?"
"Yes you" he emphasized "don't use your sister being here as an excuse to do something…irresponsible" he finished diplomatically.
"Hey, I'm responsible!"
She received four pairs of blank stares in response.
"I mean…" she touched her fingers together while looking away sheepishly "I can be."
"I may not be very familiar with your culture but I promise to keep my sister in line" Thera announced.
Anastasia gave a thumbs up and Ezraphel huffed and pouted "jerks."
Natalie decided to cheer her up by wrapping her hand around her waist in a hug "ah don't worry Ez, since I'm apparently not the responsible one here I'll just have us focus on having fun while those two are being the chaperones."
The Wight's words made the Lilim smile and she hugged the shorter woman back "thank you Natalie!"
Stanley watched the two of them with the stare of someone very close to aborting a mission after witnessing one too many blatant red flags.
"Isn't the whole point of this to show Thera around?"
"So what? Does that mean she gets to be the irresponsible one?" Natalie asked while looking at the older Lilim "She doesn't look like the type if I'm being honest."
Ezraphel rubbed her chin in thought "hmm, is it even possible for Thera to be irresponsible?" She looked to her sister "could it be that in the time since I left you finally started to have fun?"
The excitement that had been building died a swift death at the absolutely dry stare Thera gave her.
"...I'll take that as a no."
"Is it just me or do those two kinda resemble each other?" Natalie stage whispered.
Ezraphel looked at her sister and husband with Ana joining beside them to observe the two and together the three all tilted their heads a bit. Coincidentally Stanley and Stanley were standing close enough for them to be observed together. Both stood with feet slightly apart, arms folded, shoulders set and sporting shockingly similar glares of mild annoyance.
"Huh" Ezraphel sounded "they do sort of look similar" her eyes blinked "ooh, that…that explains some things."
"What things?" Natalie asked.
"Oh! Um, n-nothing."
Natalie gave her a suspicious look but didn't press "I'm going to choose to let that go…for now."
Meanwhile Thera and Stanley were eyeing each other, not even bothering to acknowledge the similarities in their stances and expression, rather they gave each other a look that simultaneously conveyed a single sentence.
"See what I have to deal with?"
Then the two subtly recoiled as in a rare moment of empathy (that would become less rare as time went on) they came to the same conclusion.
Yes, they knew exactly what the other had to deal with because it was the same source. And together they looked at the same person.
Ezraphel's eyes narrowed "oooh, I know what those looks mean and I am frankly offended" she harumphed.
Thera and Stanley could only sigh before sharing another glance before the Incubus spoke "I wish you all the luck with them."
"Thank you."
Even Thera knew she was going to need it.
A pouting Ezraphel surged forward, effortlessly lifted him off the ground in a glomping hug and gave him a pointed look "I find your lack of confidence in me to be disturbing Stanley."
Unfazed by her action to the point where he didn't even unfold his arms Stanley shot back calmly "And whose fault is that?"
Ezraphel's pout lost its playful edge, her shoulders straightened and her expression went through several emotions. All of this was observed by Thera and from the looks of the other two they also caught onto it. The only difference was that unlike Thera they had context for this kind of interaction.
Ezraphel broke the bit of silence before it got too awkward by saying "if you feel that way then why not join us on this outing?" her smile returned blinding "come on, it would be so fun!"
For a long while Stanley said nothing, his expression was stoic as his gaze lingered on every other face in the room before landing back on Ezraphel.
"No."
There was no inflection in his tone as he said it, no change in his inscrutable expression. The answer was as simple as it was brief and final in a way that brokered no further argument or attempts at convincing him. Ezraphel knew this which was why she was giving an epic pout.
Just then Natalie got their attention with a clap "alright ladies, if we're doing this then we might as well get less pretty."
With that said Natalie applied her disguise resulting in her corpse-like bluish grey skin gaining a healthy hue and her red eyes turning brown. Thera noted how this change paired with her shoulder length brown hair coming down in waves made her bare a slight resemblance to her brother.
Her gaze went to Anastasia whose complexion became less brown and more sun kissed. Her short brown hair was styled in an inverted bob that grew longer as it went from the back to the front with long bangs that went past her chin. In all the changes were surprisingly minimal as unlike the Golems on Eos Ezraphel's designs were surprisingly streamlined to more closely resemble humans. As she understood, the design wasn't so much Ezraphel's as it was based on one of Earth's many interpretations of Golems and Automatons. It was still surprising to her as Anastasia more resembled an Eos Automaton than a traditional Golem.
Finally as Ezraphel assumed her disguise, her long hair, which was styled in a high ponytail, turned blonde while her eyes became blue. More than that Thera observed how the natural aura of charm and charisma coming from her became muted to an extreme degree. She'd say it was more than necessary, but then again her sister wasn't looking to attract attention.
'The same could be said for Anastasia.'
Which made sense since both of them already had partners.
Seeing everyone else assume a human form Thera followed suit and with a flex of her will her horns, wings and tail disappeared, her ears shortened and became round, the black in her sclera drained into white while her red iris turned dark. Finally her hair which was styled into a high bun but leaving a single side bang that obscured her left eye changed color from snow white to midnight black.
"How do I look?" She stated.
"Looking good~" Natalie praised.
"You look wonderful!" Ezraphel cheered.
Ana offered her an 'ok' sign.
"You look like a walking traffic accident that's bound to happen."
Everyone looked to Stanley who was still being held off the ground in Ezraphel's arms.
The man who still had his arms folded furrowed his brows "what? All of you look like that."
Thera looked mildly confused by the term while Natalie scoffed and Ana shook her head lightly. Meanwhile Ezraphel was silently staring a hole through the side of his head which he did his best to ignore but as the silence stretched cold sweat began to build. It was only after the red started to bleed through the disguised blue of Ezraphel's eyes that Stanley finally broke.
"Of course you look the best out of everyone and anyone Ez!" He shouted with flustered indignance.
Like a switch Ezraphel squealed and rewarded his praise with a wet kiss firmly planted on his cheek. By the time she finished there was a visible pink imprint of her lips which acted more as a mark than anything else.
"Alright, put me down and get the hell out of here!" he yelled without any heat.
Ezraphel complied but perked up "oh! Before we go you need to take pictures" her phone appeared in her hand.
When it came out Thera's gaze sharpened as this was one of several pieces of magitech-like 'technology' introduced to her the night before that had immediately caught her attention. An all purpose communication device capable of relaying messages across long distances. It wasn't confined to only one form of communicatiob either but had several forms that could be utilized by the users at their discretion. Written messages, speech or even real time visuals. Then there were the other functions like capturing instant portraits (pictures), recording voices (audio), capturing real time visuals (videos), taking notes and so on.
But perhaps the most important function available in the phone was its ability to tap into the 'internet' which in itself was the true prize in her eyes. Having the concept of the internet explained to her was the only time Thera's impeccable composure broke and she was left truly bewildered.
A communication system that links thousands of individual networks across the world to facilitate the exchange of information that is stored in perpetuity and accessible to anyone and everyone provided that they have one of the many devices that are readily available to the public?
"Horse shit!"
She shamefully remembered reacting in denial yet it took only moments for her to be proven wrong. Worse than her shameful lapse was the fact that her reaction was captured via a recording taken by her traitorous sibling and sent to her husband and his sister's own devices before being stored in what he referred to as his private storage meaning that the evidence of her shame would be forever immortalized.
'I must have one!' She once again reiterated to herself as Stanley began taking several pictures at Ezraphel's request.
With the pictures taken the four women left through the door. Ana was first followed by Natalie then Thera with Ezraphel lingering behind with Stanley. The moment Thera left the shadow of the house she froze out of pure shock. It wasn't the sight of the outside world that got her so much as it was the feel. When they told her that Earth was devoid of mana, logically she had no reason to distrust them but it was one thing to be told this and another to actually experience it.
She never went outside last night and despite being bereft of corruption, the house was still rife with mana like a Bright Green Demon Realm. The change from that to a complete absence of mana was understandably jarring to say the least.
Everyone noticed this and looked at her with concern.
"Hey, you okay Thera?" Natalie asked.
"I…" Thera wasn't sure but she recomposed herself "I am well, I just did not expect…" she trailed off.
"It is the lack of mana" Ezraphel informed before resting a hand on her shoulder "you will eventually get used to it."
Of that Thera had no doubt but it brought many questions to the forefront of her mind. Specifically ones that involve the nature of their two worlds, their inhabitants and history.
'Questions for later' She thought with resolve.
Externally she nodded to her sister and spoke up "it is as Ezraphel says. There is nothing to worry about, I will adapt shortly."
Natalie looked skeptical for a bit but shrugged, choosing to believe her "if you say so."
With that she held up a device and pressed a button causing a chirping noise that sounded odd to Thera's ears. This made the Lilim direct her attention to the 'car' that seemed every bit the 'horseless carriage' Ezraphel described it as well as what she saw on her forays on the internet.
'So this is how humans get around in this world.'
It was only one of many types of transportation that the humans of Earth have created. Her eyes swept over the surroundings and noted a few other cars parked along the street, which was paved, or in the driveway next to the house. Speaking of houses Thera couldn't help but equate them, architecture notwithstanding, to a few Noble homes she's seen. Sure they weren't castles or even mansions but what they lacked in scale they made up for in affluence without the ostentatiousness.
'And to think, none of them are even nobility.'
According to Natalie this neighborhood was home to the 'Middle Class' whose name was self explanatory. She could maybe identify the Eos analogues of this class but things become uncertain since the humans of this world have an overall higher standard of living.
"Oh, Ezra!"
The call made Thera divert her attention to see an older looking human woman in strange looking oddly form fitting clothes jogging on the sidewalk.
The moment Ezraphel saw her she gave that same brilliant smile and waved "good morning Gwen!"
Gwen looked to the only man in the vicinity and Thera felt her emotions dim a bit "Stan."
"Gwendolyn" he greeted just as tersely.
'What's this now?' Thera thought, sensing the tension in the air.
Before things could escalate Natalie interrupted "morning, Gwen."
Ana waved when the woman turned her attention to them.
"Good morning to you too Natalie, Ana" she nodded to the disguised Golem who in turn gave a short wave. Finally her attention turned to Thera "Oh, I don't believe we've met before miss…?" She trailed off leadingly.
Before she could speak Ezraphel materialized beside her "this is my older sister."
This obviously caught the woman off guard "sister? Older!?"
Why does she seem more surprised by her age than the relation?
"Good morning ma'am, my name is Thera" she spoke with a voice like velvet.
"O-oh" Gwen's cheeks reddening had little to do with her previous exertion "it's…nice to meet you Thera." She swallowed a bit "when did you arrive?"
"Last night, I came to check on my sister and will be staying at her home for the foreseeable future."
"Oh, I see" she seemed to regain some of her composure "well I hope you enjoy your stay" her eyes shifted subtly to Stanley who was leaning against the door watching the proceedings, it felt like she wanted to say something but thought better of it.
Ezraphel must have sensed the same thing as she suddenly cut in "I hate to cut this meeting short Gwen, but we were just about to leave."
"Oh, you're going out?" The woman asked, taking a breath "I guess that's why you're all dressed up."
"Yep, we're going to show sis around the city" Ezraphel chirped as she wrapped her arm around Thera's shoulder "we'll be gone for most of the day I think."
As she says this she looked to Natalie who nodded "definitely."
"Well then don't let me keep you, just going to finish up my daily cardio" she informed while getting ready to move.
"Okay, I'll see you at the meeting Wednesday!" Ezraphel replied.
As they saw the other woman off and the four got into the vehicle Thera couldn't help but ask "is that woman someone important?"
"Depends on your definition of the word" Natalie spoke as she opened the door to the driver's seat while Ana took the front passenger side.
Ezraphel opened the door for Thera as she spoke "in the grand scheme she's not really important, just a housewife and mother."
"But in the not so grand scheme?" Thera asked after getting in the car and scooting over to allow Ezraphel inside.
"She is part of an inner circle of wives whose leader comes from an affluent background and is part of an organization that acts as a sort of management for the community" Ezraphel informed as she waved at Stanley who returned a brief one.
"I see" she nodded even as she was observing the vehicle's interior "and you have no doubt integrated into this group?"
"Yep, I have the favor of the most powerful woman in the community."
"And basically everyone else" Natalie added as she started the car and drove off.
"I make lots of friends."
"I couldn't help but notice she does not share the same favor with your husband" Thera spoke as she looked out the window scrutinizing everything.
Ezraphel became a bit sheepish at that "ah, it is as you say. There is no love lost between my Stanley and the rest of the community."
Natalie decided to chime in "I'd usually say it's his fault but these people can be total snobs and it's worse if you don't conform to their rules and preconceptions. Though there's no doubt he didn't make it easy on himself either."
"It sounds eerily similar to my world's politics."
"If there is anything I have learned dear sister, it is that some things are universal so long as there is civilization."
"Ain't that the truth" Natalie muttered.
"But we are not here to talk about such droll matters!" Ezraphel perked up with a clap "we are here to show you a good time!"
For once Thera could wholeheartedly agree with her younger sibling, not that she still wasn't curious about it but there were just so many other more important things she wanted to know, too much to even think about if she were being honest.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Natalie grinned. "So how about it, Thera? Is there anything you're interested in doing?"
After taking a moment to think about it she gave an answer.
"There is something I want to do first."