Casey’s night watch was over, and it was time for Francis to switch out with her. But she didn’t feel like going to bed just yet, so she kept Francis silent but comfortable company while sitting on the suburban’s hood.

Because of the stat progression, she found it easier to stay awake and be alert than ever before. She was stronger and faster by an incredibly degree. It would be child’s play to face face down a pre-system man or three.

She felt her healthiest and could concentrate when she wanted to instead of letting her frazzled brain ping-pong her attention everywhere. That was really awesome for her. And just as awesome as that was this strange magic energy stuff humming inches above her skin. It allowed her to sense weird mystical stuff from a distance and pinpoint it.

She didn’t have a Systemic Skill for it, but she might get one soon based on what she learned from Dazzle, Roberto, and Mariah’s experiences.

Though, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was cut out for this stuff. Dazzle was a stoner, yet she had a lot more fight in her compared to Casey who had panic attacks when she got a bad comment on her social media feeds.

Her hand twitched over her phone, but she pulled back at the last second. She didn’t need to check the thing every ten seconds. She really wanted to, especially when it involved family and friends.

It wasn’t safe for her to message her family since her mom had… chosen to take Hypersun’s side and come out on the first wave. God, Casey had no idea what she was going to do if she had to fight her mom. Mrs. Song had already found some of the family that remained human hiding out in Casey’s home town and…

Casey slid off the hood, her hand coming up to finger the chest scar under her shirt. She pulled her pistol out of her hip holster and performed a brass check. The magazine was full and loaded with a brass in the chamber—DeSean called it Condition One.

Just thinking of his lessons, and him especially, made Casey’s chest flutter crazily. She still remembered how he looked down on her like a dark angel while she was dying. Something about his fierce and determined gazes made her want to keep living, keep fighting for breath even though death was singing very sweetly to her.

It was torture, but Casey ‘Social Media’ Song could be a tough girl when it mattered most. Just not all the time.

“You should get some sleep, Casey,” Francis insisted.

She holstered the pistol. “I just can’t find it in me to get shut-eye right now. I want to go see what DeSean’s up to.”

“Sergeant came over just to let us know he won’t be back for a while,” he replied. “I say it’s best to leave him be. Who knows what the Main Path selection can do to you.”

“I can feel him right now, though,” Casey said with a sigh. “It’s a super weak pulse for me. But for me to feel it means it’s really powerful. And the pulse feels like it’s him.”

“What sort of magic you got there? It’s been really helpful today.”

“Dunno, but it’s what I can do.”

Francis mumbled lowly to himself, which was quite low since they were all developing super hearing. He spoke up. “I don’t feel like I have any sort of power that fits me. Everyone is fitting themselves for a role. Mariah’s fast. Roberto’s strong. Botany’s got a thing for the ground. Maybe more. You’re earning DeSean’s respect a lot.”

“Am I?” Casey blinked.

“Yeah, I can tell by the way he looks at you,” Francis said. “I’m not saying he has a thing for you or anything, who knows what that guy is into. Probably weird fetishes.”

Casey’s chest was warming up with the thought of DeSean having a thing for her. She tried and failed to keep her cool, so she acted frantically like her usual self. “Soooo, what are you saying? He, like, sees something special about me?”

“Maybe he wants you to be like Hailey, a leader,” Francis said.

“No way.”

He shrugged. “Who knows. Strange world we’re living in. I wish I knew how I fit into things. I’m trying to play whatever comes to mind, but it isn’t easy. I’ve devoted so much into learning about art and it’s history and all that has affected it, and what it has affected in return. Now, I wonder if I’m, y’know, obsolete.”

“I’m going to go check on DeSean,” Casey said.

Francis gave her a flat look. “Man, he’s really the main character here, isn’t he? I’m pouring my guts out, and I’m completely sidelined.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. My brain keeps going places. Y’know how it is.”

“You have, what, twenty-plus Focus now?”

“Now I can remember where I left off when I go reeeee in my head. So, yeah, art and history and stuff.” Casey patted Francis on his thigh and noticed how he swallowed a lump in his throat. “Look, mi amigo, just go with what feels right. If it’s art. Do art magic. Who knows. It’ll be pretty cool to see how that works.”

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Before Francis could rope her into his dilemma, Casey shoved off and walked in the direction she felt DeSean’s pulse. This energy reading stuff hadn’t been a thing until she pushed her Attunement into the mid twenties earlier today. With her Focus and Endurance up in the low twenties, she felt like a walking radar that could function for long periods of time.

That didn’t mean she could avoid sleep, but the urge was less than before. It was crazy stuff to think about, and her thumbs itched to talk to the people of the internet about it. There were so many pages to visit, videos to see, posts to comment on, and pictures to like, as the end of the freaking world became a volcanic topic that was crashing sites left and right. There was a lack of people to keep them updated.

It wouldn’t be long until the internet returned to the early days where forums were the place to be, a time Casey remembered as her first forays into meeting online people over her passion for celebrity hijinks and which Disney star everyone thought was the dream husband to have. Those were good times. Those were times that might not ever return and—

Oh, look, a human sized egg!

“Oh. Shit. That’s way creepy.”

Casey stopped in front of a black and red cocoon. It pulsated like a heart, which was kind of gross. But she knew it was DeSean’s cocoon, which gave her a huge sense of awe. She barely noticed her mouth was hanging open until she clicked it shut.

A distinct flapping of wings caught her attention. Looking up, Casey found Princess Lylothia’s glowing red eyes surrounded by darkness. The demonic doll-like princess leaned forward, revealing her cute but ethereal face.

“I am not surprised to see you here,” Lylothia said.

“Oh, I didn’t know I was expected.” Casey fidgeted with her gun belt. “Did DeSean wanted me here.”

“I don’t think he was quite particular about your arrival,” the princess said. “But I’m well aware of your attraction toward him. He is quite the specimen for a little mortal.”

Casey’s face felt hot.

“Worry not, the Summoner is not interested in such relations at the moment. But there will come a time where he must fulfill his male duties at a later stage of this Cycle.”

“Male,” Casey mouthed, “duties.”

The princess chuckled deeply, giving Casey goosebumps. “Such discussions can be saved for a later time. The world doesn’t revolve around him, after all. Unlike me who has my own world and vassals to rule.”

“You do come across as very mighty, Princess,” Casey said. Flattering a demonic royal that could order you to be melted sounded like a great idea.

The princess grinned at the compliment. “I grow fond of you further. However, you are lacking the killer’s will that is a staple of the Summoner’s character.”

“Yeah… I know.”

“Yet, he pays close attention to you in ways that is lost on me.” The princess quirked her head to the side. “He can see explosives in the mud. Are you such a thing?”

“Whaaaat?”

“Exactly, I am still quite perplexed by the analogy.” Lylothia took to the air and landed on Casey’s shoulder. “I’ll like to help you develop a Skill of sorts. It will be for a favor, of course.”

“I dunno. I was told it’s not a good idea to do deals with, um, demons.”

Lylothia laughed. “It is wise to not conduct contracts with demons. But worry not for I am a Hell Princess. What I’ll want from you will fall within your abilities, but a favor must be done when requested.” She leaned closer to Casey’s ear. “It will also cement a connection between us just like I have a connection with the botanical human.”

“DeSean does like you. So, maybe it’ll be okay.”

“It most certainly will,” Lylothia said. “For you will be his eyes and ears, a great station to have without always being in the throes of combat.”

“I’ll fight if I have to,” Casey said in a small voice.

“Will you now?”

She nodded. “I… I don’t want people to get hurt because I don’t want to fight. I’ll fight. I just hate it.”

“Then you are a brave one, future concubine,” said the princess. “You mortals are like the smallest grains of sands with lives so abysmally small, it amazes me that you exist at all. But your short-lived, incredibly endangered lives have drawn me with its dramatics and strange opposition to the history and culture of my origins. For it is a must to love what you are designed and destined to do. Yet, you have no love for the fight and will still face danger anyway.”

“Yeah, that’s because I want to help my friends, old and new,” Casey said. “And maybe get strong enough to find what remains of my family before… before the other part of the family kills them.”

A shaky breath escaped Casey before she pushed forward. She reached out, hesitant at first, before seeing that Lylothia wasn’t going to stop her from touching DeSean’s cocoon. Then she pressed her palm flat against it and felt its near-scorching heat.

“If it wasn’t for him, I’d be dead,” Casey said. “So I want to help him get stronger. Help us get stronger. Then we can go and save who we can. That’s how it’s gotta go, right?”

“You are heavily affected by your emotions, yet you know the best path forward to better you chances,” Lylothia said. “I am impressed by you, social human. Perhaps you are more than a concubine, so now I must ask of you an addition to the future of our relationship.”

“Whaaat?”

“We shall have you develop a contract when I deem you ready, but not one like the Summoner. I know of a lesser Princess who is of good relations with me who would fancy you. I can serve as a bridge while DeSean could conduct the summoning rites for you to speak formally with her.”

“You’re… you’re going to lend me to another Princess?” Casey gawked.

“She would owe me quite the favor, for if my hunch about you is correct, she will see the investment quite worthwhile. The same can be done for the botanical female, the artsy one, and the strong boy.”

Casey blinked. “What about Mariah?”

Lylothia smiled. “I’m awaiting further development on that one.”

“Oh, wow, okay. When will we get our own, uh, princesses?”

“Once you’ve leveled up your Main Path to a respectable degree. The Summoner is a special case, something no princess would risk at such early a stage. Usually. But I am willing to… gamble on him.”

Casey looked between the little bat-shaped princess on her shoulder and the hellish egg containing DeSean.

“Is the gamble risking his life?” Casey asked.

“Yes,” the princess said. “He’s [Hell Marked]. If he was [Chaos Marked], the Main Path Selection would go smoothly in the course of an hour. But this Selection will take the rest of the night and might see him dead if he doesn’t win.”

“Oh gawd, DeSean!” Casey pressed both hands to the cocoon. “Please don’t die. Please don’t leave us like that!”

“The conclusion may meet an unfortunate end, social one,” Lylothia said. “I saw an opportunity and seized it. But my overeager nature might have ruined what could’ve been a good long-term investment.”

“He’s more than just an investment!”

“We shall see,” the princess said with a note of finality.

Casey fell to her knees. She felt the urge to pray like she did when she was a little girl who struggled to pay attention in Sunday School. She was a bit more free-spirited in her spirituality now, so she prayed to whatever great power that was listening for DeSean to survival the trial.