As soon as the deal was struck, Stella launched into her tale.
"Okay, so, you didn’t hear this from , but about twenty-ish years ago, the Demon Breaker turned up with, like, half a dozen badasses from Ayther. I’m talking big nas. People with big nas for their swords and stuff. Real big-dick-swingers-"
Kir cleared his throat.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you hate fun," Stella said flatly.
"Can we stick to the facts?" Kir asked, one leg bouncing up and down with how anxious he felt.
"Right. Facts. So there I was, getting ready for my first contract. I’m talking hardcore training. Strapped to the wall sort of stuff-"
Rain mumbled sothing behind Kir and he turned mid-facepalm. Once he was sure Rain was just sleep-talking, he turned back to Stella. "Can we skip to the relevant parts?"
" being strapped to the wall is relevant!" Stella protested. "I saw the whole thing. The Demon Breaker and her crew busted into Maledict’s place like they were taking over. Put up a hell of a fight. Of course, Janice was the one who left there... sadistic bitch..." Oddly Stella sounded proud of Janice. "There was this big guy with a hamr. So girl with a crossbow and no tits. Like, two mages. Oh and this squirrely-looking fella who kept going for Maledict’s back like it owed him money. If I didn’t have my mouth strapped shut I would have yelled sothing."
She went on to describe as the group proceeded to dispatch every demon and guard sent their way.
Kir sighed. "What was Halie doing?"
"Who?" Stella asked.
"The Demon Breaker," Kir ground out.
"Oh. Dunno. Halfway through the brawl, she went into a different room. Didn’t see her after that, but oho, Maledict wiped the floor with everyone once she was gone. He was pissed after that. And I really an pissed. Could feel the whole castle shaking. I tell ya, the ones who died are lucky Maledict killed them right there because Maledict can hold a grudge. He put out a bounty for her and so demons tried to chase her to Ayther. Never saw them again."
Her story done, Kir laid himself out on the bed as he tried to process what she’d told him.
"You said the ones that died... was there anyone that survived?" he asked.
"You know, I’m not entirely sure. It’s hard enough coming and going between Ayther and Hell when there isn’t a Heavenswar happening. I’m just lucky I got here before the next one."
"Why do you say that?" Kir asked.
Stella shrugged. "Dunno. It’s just gets easier to co and go every couple of centuries. That’s what I learned but I haven’t been alive long enough to see it for myself. Takes really strong demons to open up portals for even a mont. I got punted through mine by this asshole gnosinian when my contract ca through."
Kir tried to think about this, but ca up blank. He didn’t understand much about teleportation magic yet.
It wasn’t long before Stella crawled on top of him, straddling his hips as she leaned forward on her elbows. "So I think I might pick one of the second-year girls-"
"You haven’t told anything that will help actually find the Demon Breaker yet," Kir pointed out.
"Ugh, I told you about what I saw, okay? I’d recognize that monster’s mana at the drop of a hat after watching her fight. Battle lust, through and through. But like, sizzled. Kinda wrong, people getting lusty for things they aren’t fucking."
"Says the virgin succubus," Kir snarked back, having experienced his battle lust in the past.
"Are you going to let get a ’partner’ or what?" she asked.
"Since you didn’t tell anything to help find her, want to change the deal to you helping find her? You said you’d recognize her mana, right?"
Stella pouted and leaned forward onto Kir elbows-first, causing him to jump a bit as she hit his ribs. After a long puff of breath, she let out an exasperated sigh "Fine, I’ll help you find the bitch. But you gotta do sothing more for since that’s not what we agreed."
"What do you want?" Kir asked.
"One favor. At a ti of my choosing," Stella said. Kir frowned. He was about to open his mouth when Stella continued. "Not the fucking or hurting kind of favor. Just one favor, no one gets hurt," she said.
The look in Stella’s eyes told him that sothing else was going on in her head. "One favor, no one gets hurt, and nothing to do with sex," he said.
"Swear on it?"
"I’ll swear on it," he replied.
"Swear it with a kiss," Stella said. "Sa as when we ford the bond."
Kir flinched. Thanks to the seals he didn’t know if he could... but if Stella was being serious with him, maybe he should give her this chance.
He gathered mana into his lips, sensing her doing the sa.
A small peck was shared between them and the deal was made-
"Fuck!" Stella shouted as both she and Kir began to convulse with pain. The seals clearly didn’t like what they were doing.
It was over in a mont, but Rain jumped awake, fists ready as he looked around in confusion.
"Are you two okay?" he asked, lowering his fists once he saw the room was clear.
"Yeah," Kir panted. "Just... tried to make an agreent."
"The mana-backed kind," Stella groaned, then looked over at Rain’s naked body. "Hello soldier."
Rain blushed and grabbed the sheet to cover himself. "You shouldn’t test those seals like this," he said, settling down on the bed next to Kir and gently pulling the hair away from his forehead. Then he looked over to the window. "Shit! It’s morning. You need to go to your eting!"
"I already did, Rain," Kir said tilting his head just a bit to jab his boyfriend in the side with his horns. "We should go get Kordia, I’ve got a lot to tell you both."
"Should I be in on this?" Stella asked.
"I guess it would help if you knew my new schedule too," Kir said.
"New schedule?" Rain asked.
Over an hour later, Rain and Kordia finished listening as Kir went over what was discussed, his theories, and his impression of the Vice-Commander of Norneau’s Arcane Knights. Stella seed to be listening for the first part but had tapered off in interest, focusing instead on playing with Kir’s tail in ways that occasionally made him quiver and grow annoyed. More than once he smacked her in the face with it, trying to quietly make her stop.
"So wait," Kordia asked, "Are you for sure going to accept this? We could try to find another way to get the seals off."
"I think I have to... because if Lumis is giving up, we’re not going to figure out sothing," Kir said. "Not unless anyone here can read Celestian." He looked at Rain hopefully.
Rain scratched the back of his head with an awkward look on his face. "Half-angels aren’t really taught all that much about Heaven, or its language," he said. "I an, not unless we prove important or sothing." He snapped his fingers suddenly. "But I do know how to say ’cute’! It’s eanta."
"Eanta," Kir replied. "What about your angel parent?"
"I don’t have one. My mom and dad were both half angels," Rain said. "But maybe I could ask the Commander. He’s a half angel too. Also half orc I think."
Kordia shuddered. "I don’t think he’ll help us if he learns about Kir," she said.
"Why not?" Rain asked.
"He was the one who had sketching all the demonkin entering the city... I didn’t get the impression he likes them at all," Kordia explained.
"Oh," Rain deflated a bit. He liked to think the best of most people, and Kir knew Rain trained in the mornings with the Arcane Knights sotis. It was simply likely that Rain had never been in place to see the Commander exercise his prejudices, since he wasn’t the subject of them.
Kir knew all too well what Kordia was talking about, having been the one to convince her to stop. The event was barely over a month behind them yet it felt so distant given everything that happened recently.
"Then I won’t tell him about Kir!" Rain said. "I’ll just ask if he knows anyone who can translate Celestian."
Kordia’s tails twitched with so awkward emotion "Rain..."
"It could work," Kir said. "But I think once I show up for training tomorrow, the cat will be out of the bag as soon as they see these," he gestured at his piercings. "There’s also the Vice-Commander to worry about. He probably has to tell so people about my situation. And when they realize I can’t cast..."
The Arcane Knights weren’t exactly known for going easy on Academy students they got their hands on. As much as Lumis had talked about wanting to keep Kir away from duels, he felt that she’d only doubled the potential for him to get into trouble.
Stella chose that mont to add her two coppers. "I don’t see what the big deal is. Couldn’t he just wear a helt or sothing?"
"Horns," Kir answered, pointing at his pair of swept-back, spikey protrusions.
"Oh, riiiight. You’re such a goody-goody I thought you really were half angel," Kordia snarked. "What I ant was: Go get a helt, idiot."
"Stella-" Kir started to speak when Rain interrupted.
"She’s right... people with different kinds of heads need different helts for so training stuff. We could get one at Enumasam’s in the Lower City," Rain bead. "Especially if we hurry."
"This is going to be an expensive weekend," Kir sighed, "But I guess I need a more durable uniform anyway, and I have a dozen gold thanks to those duels last week."
"Can I co with this ti?" Stella asked, sitting up with Kir’s tail held against her chest. "You always go on dates without ."
"Weren’t you writing a sequel to that smut you wrote about ?" Kir asked.
"That was you?!" Kordia blurted out, before blushing profusely.
"Did you enjoy it?" Stella teased Kordia. "I thought for sure you would know I wrote it. Was the succubus touch not evident in every word?"
"Stella’s a pretty common na..." Kordia said sheepishly.
"Ladies," Kir interrupted, "I’m not sure how much ti we have, so we should probably get going."
"You an I get to co with?" Stella asked, her succubus tail appearing to wag excitedly.
"Yes," Kir said. "You can co with."
Stella jumped up and pumped her fist. "Alright! First date! And it’s a fourso!"
"""This isn’t a date!""" Kir, Kordia, and Rain said at the sa ti.
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