"Vitalis?" I speak into the water of the fountain, feeling slightly dumb while doing so. I set this meeting point, and I know that she can make herself invisible in water, but if she's not here yet, I'd be looking really stupid for speaking with myself. The plaza is empty, so at least nobody is seeing me do this.
"Miss Asoko?" The bubbling voice of the slime girl comes from the water, before I see a face appearing on its surface. It breaks out in a relieved smile and she begins to rise up, forming her body in the process. Stepping over the edge, Vitalis comes to stand before me in all her naked glory. Well, it's obvious that an amorphous body doesn't need the important bits, so it shouldn't be embarrassing at all - just like when I did it. She notices my glances and tries to hide her body. "P-please do not stare so much..." How cute~
"Come, we need to discuss with the others how we should continue." I say and walk ahead, towards the entrance to the underground. Paying close attention to the windows all around us, I make sure nobody is watching. However, the storm shutters are all closed tightly, so I guess we should be safe. Coming after me, Vitalis also looks around, but I don't know whether she does so with a plan or just to ease her state of mind.
I quickly descend the stairs and find the underground path before me empty. Panic builds within me as I stop all movements and let my eyes wander across every single detail before me, to see if I can glean any hint on what happened here from evidence I might otherwise destroy by randomly walking forward. The most logical reason for Hestia and Senka's disappearance would be that they hid when they noticed someone approaching.
"Hey, it's Asoko, I'm back." I call out to them, and to my shock, a portion of my sight distorts, revealing the doll-like girl from thin air. Rubbing my eyes in disbelief, I blink a few times, but there she is, standing before me like it's the most natural thing. "What was that?"
"Don't pay it any mind. Hestia is around the bend." She point behind her, where I see the fallen angel peek out her head from the corner nervously. "I see you rescued someone from the academy." Her eyes are looking past me, to Vitalis. "So what about the other one?"
"Ah, before that." There's something I need to do. This is the longest I've kept something alive inside me, and it's possible that every second matters. Pulling out Lenoly from inside me, I set her down on the ground as she gasps for air. Hm, is it just me or are her horns slightly larger than before? And they look a little more rugged... "Are you alright?" She doesn't look like she's close to dying, though. And even if she was, Hestia should be able to use some healing magic.
"Yeah... I'm alright..." Huh, why does her face look flushed? Don't tell me I'm having a similar effect on her as I had on Vitalis after all? Well, the latter is a slime, so I thought it had to do with both of us being amorphous. "Vitalis!" She notices the slime girl she had thought dead until I told her otherwise, and jumps into her bosom, hugging her so tightly that I fear she might squeeze her in two. "I really thought you had died..."
"I nearly did die, if not for Miss Asoko here." Vitalis says with a smile as she returns the hug. Ahhh, it's always endearing to see a heartfelt reunion.
"Tell me, what happened to Onee-sama?" Hestia asks me in an impatient tone when it appears that I'm not going to speak about my findings anytime soon.
"I think that's best explained by these two." I gesture to Vitalis and Lenoly, who flinch at being put into the spotlight so suddenly. With her piercing crimson eyes, the fallen angel's pressure doesn't make it any better.
- Girls are Explaining -
"And that's why we have to decide what to do next." I say after the two girls finish, preempting Hestia's expression of hatred for the people at the academy.
"You seem to have something specific in mind." Senka looks up at me questioningly. Indeed, there are a few possibilities that I've been considering along the way back from the academy, based on the people gathered here. But the delivery of these is quite important, since I know that I'll be facing opposition, most specifically from the fallen angel.
"For now, the biggest choice we have to make is whether to stay in the capital or leave for a safer place." I breach the subject carefully.
"Of course we stay and wait for Onee-sama to return!" I expected that response from Hestia, but I know she can't think straight when it involves my other half.
"What do you think, Senka?" I want to know what the others think, starting with the one I consider to be the most sensible of those gathered here.
"This city is dangerous. While the academy may have put its all into that last battle, from what I hear, none of their people was injured or died. In other words, if they were to find us, we would have to face them at pretty much full power." The doll-like girl states with a thoughtful expression. I nod in assent and turn to the others, before a movement inside my body stops me dead in my tracks.
"Uhm... wait a second..." I completely forgot about the other person I took with me from the academy. I take Ninlil out while keeping her arms and legs bound with my tentacles, and one jammed in her mouth to keep her from screaming. Upon seeing her delirious eyes, I can feel a very base part of me stirring. But now isn't the time for this, I have to keep myself in control for a little longer; the time to have my fun with her will come eventually.
"Ugh, I won't even ask..." Senka comments while rolling her eyes. Hestia looks at the bound cat girl in shock, as it's clear that she knows her. However, the ones I would have expected to react the same way as the fallen angel glare at her in anger instead.
"She fought against Miss Marcott!" Lenoly says with a hateful expression.
"If she had not delayed Onee-sama, she would have defeated the principal and not been sent to the heavens." Vitalis adds in a voice filled with contempt. Understanding that she's surrounded by enemies, Ninlil looks away, not in fear or shame, but in regret. I don't know her exact position in the academy, but she must have been a teacher or something, so I guess seeing her students directing their animosity at her is a disappointing feeling.
"Now now, she's being punished for that." I pull her back inside me, now that I know she's alive and well - and not suffocating. I make a point in doing it slowly, so that she can be fully aware of the impending continuation of her pleasurable torment. Her eyes show horror as she shakes her head and slowly disappears inside me, struggling fruitlessly against my bindings. Yes, that's it. Your resistance only makes me-
"What are you going to do with her?" Senka asks, but immediately regrets her question. "No wait, I don't want to know. As long as you make it so she doesn't become an obstacle to us, I won't ask."
"No, she has to die for her actions against Onee-sama!" Hestia's yandere temperament is showing again, and I feel the need to reprimand her. I'm still Kuroe Makoto, and while I may not be the one she has hopelessly fallen for, my presence should be on the same level as hers. Transforming into the appearance my other half's took on during our travels, I turn my firm gaze to her, a hint of irritation in my eyes.
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"Control yourself, Hestia." I order, and her face switches from anger to dismay.
"I am sorry, Onee-" She realizes her instinctual response and shuts herself up by covering her mouth. I wouldn't mind being called Onee-sama, too, you know~
"Now, let me tell you my thoughts." I start, so that this fruitless argument doesn't continue to waste our time any longer. "If we choose to stay inside the city, it would have to be inside the dungeon. While I'm sure I won't care about being surrounded by darkness all the time, I don't know about you." Most specifically, I'm looking at Hestia, Vitalis and Lenoly. "Another option is to leave for the Demon Continent and get under the protective wing of my mother."
"So you want to run away?" The fallen angel looks at me in suppressed indignation. It seems she has settled on remaining respectful to a certain degree, considering who I am, but at the same time she is aware of the fact that I'm not actually her beloved Onee-sama. Yeah, I can understand where she's coming from with that thinly veiled accusation of cowardice.
"There is one more course of action we could follow." I gather my resolve to speak this proposition, since it may seem wholly counter-intuitive under the circumstances. "That is, to split up and do both."
"Elaborate." The doll-like girl requests with a skeptical look.
"One group remains in the dungeon of the capital to wait for my other half's return. The other travels to the Demon Continent to enlist my mother's help." Of course, that latter group will have to contain myself, since maou-mama surely won't even give an audience to strangers knocking on her door and asking to see her. And Senka will have to be in the group that remains, so that she can continue trying to contact my other half, when she returns here.
"I suppose you would go back to your mother, since that'll make things easier. I should stay here, then." Senka says while contemplating this option. "Since this city is most likely the first place she would return to, I can try to contact her when she enters the range of my communication ability. The second most likely place is the capital of the Demon Continent, where you can wait for her." As expected of the most reasonable person in this group, she understands my thought processes.
"I shall remain here." Hestia states without hesitation - which was also the expected response coming from her. Her wings are hard to disguise, so taking her with me would surely cause complications along the way. I turn to the other two to wait for their answers, but I can already tell what their choices are going to be.
"I will stay here, too." Vitalis says with determination. "I can move through the sewer system of the city and infiltrate the school to gather information." But that was unexpected. I didn't think she would be making her choice with such a plan in mind. Still, I can't condone her risking her life like that, and have to warn her in my other half's stead.
"Be careful. You got out this time, but there's no guarantee that the academy doesn't have some sort of countermeasures against that." My face remains serious, although I want to smile at how dependable she seems to be, when compared to a certain fallen angel. Turning to the last person present - not counting the sweet little prisoner being ravaged all over inside me - I look down at the small goat-like girl.
"I'm going with Miss Asoko." Lenoly states after a long pause, before she turns to me with a blush on her face. Oh my~ "I don't know what I can do to help, but... I want to be of help to you." Yeah, it would have been pretty lonely traveling on my own otherwise - once again, not counting the cat girl inside me. While I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I still have to make certain that she understand what it means to come with me.
"Are you sure? I appreciate your sentiment, but the journey will most likely be quite dangerous, maybe even more than staying here." I say, but seeing her determination, I understand that she has made up her mind. "... I see. Alright, then get ready. We'll depart as soon as possible."
"I need some blood from you." Senka comes up to me and says in a matter of fact manner. I look at her with a questioning frown and she realizes that this request requires some explanation. "I see, you don't know the details, only that I can communicate over long distances. For that, I need to ingest the blood of my target... but in your case, it's more like a piece of your body."
"Is it genetic material?" I ask with slight anticipation. That'd be an excuse for a deep kiss, like what my other half did to give me Hestia's template.
"No, it's a strangely ambiguous ability that works with the soul. And blood is basically considered the essence of the soul or something." It seems she doesn't really want to talk about the specifics of how it works. "And I have a feeling I know what you're getting excited about, but not going to happen."
"Aww..." I can't contain my disappointment, but extend my index finger, growing it longer to take a piece from it. No wait, I can still turn this around a bit. "There, bite it off yourself. I don't feel comfortable severing a piece of my own body." This way I can get to see Senka suck on my finger, if even only for a moment.
"Thank you." She responds with a smile and approaches me. Oh, this is exciting! How will it-
Snip.
With a pair of scissors she produces from somewhere within her clothes, she cuts off the extra length on my finger and tosses the piece into her mouth unceremoniously. Ahhh, you killed my excitement! I watch as she repeats the process of darkening her eyes and their surroundings.
"Test." Her voice echoes in my mind without any perceivable direction where it could be coming from.
"I can hear you loud and clear." I respond in my thoughts, and apparently it was transmitted properly, as Senka cancels her technique and the ink-like darkness on her face retreats to her pupils. "How fascinating."
"Don't ask me how it works. It just does." With slight irritation, she turns to watch Vitalis and Lenoly speaking their farewells with promises of meeting again as soon as circumstances allow them to. "What would you do, if you ended up in space?" She asks without looking at me.
"I don't know much about space, only that there's no air and no gravity. So getting back would be quite difficult. I wouldn't be able to chant any spells, and no air means no air resistance for wings to function..." Even though I liked to watch all sorts of anime and movies taking place in space, as expected, they don't offer much scientific knowledge. Therefore, I can't really say anything without experiencing it first. Seeing Senka's face in profile, I can feel a hint of anxiety and loneliness in it. "But know that I wouldn't rest until I'm back on solid ground."
"... heh, as I thought." She laughs in resignation. "Good luck on your journey."
"Be safe down here." With this small exchange, we separate. I go to Lenoly's side and pat her head, signaling to her that we have to go. "Remember not to leave any witnesses in the dungeon. People go missing or die in here all the time, so worry more about rumors of a girl with black wings spreading, than about an unknown dangerous monster killing everything that enters."
"I understand, Miss Asoko." Hestia responds with a serious nod. Her attitude has calmed down and she seems much more level-headed, like she was during most of our journey.
"I will be careful, Miss Asoko." Vitalis reaffirms my image of her being the reliable older sister type - despite looking younger than the fallen angel. She did say that she's clumsy without Lenoly, but I hope Senka will be able to cover for that part. That doll-like girl is easily the most dependable person I've met in this world, so far.
"Then, until we meet again." I say my goodbyes, before turning around and walking towards the exit. Lenoly ends up inside my body once again, even though she did say that she can disguise herself as a human; she's as small as a child, so her appearance will attract unwanted attention. I don't want to take any chances. Walking down the path, I transform into an adult male adventurer covered in cuts and bruises, before rounding the corner behind which Hestia hid earlier. I'll act as if I'm just returning from a day-long dungeon crawl, and act ignorant of the occurrences above ground.
As expected, there are already quite a few people on the plaza, and a small barrier has been erected in front of the underground's exit, to mark it as closed. When I emerge, the guards standing around it stare at me in suspicion first, but upon seeing the state I'm in, not a single person questions that I'm just someone who survived the dungeon and came out moment ago. To cement my disguise, I actually initiate a little small-talk with them, and ask about what happened. They gesture for me to quickly pass through the checkpoint impatiently, as they don't have the time to chat.
I leisurely walk down the main street, which grows increasingly more active, and disappear in the crowd.