Chapter 3:

Succubus

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...

Romir shifted on the tree stump he sat on to better view the entourage of gardevoir frolicking around between the compound and the verdant entry of Elreino not a couple hundred meters away. Their graceful and lissome figures danced about a small pond, giggling and jesting at each other to get one of them to fall into the water.

They played their silly game as the sunlight refracted off the water and outlined their enthralling curves.

He watched with a heavy sigh.

Being a guard meant living a life of militaristic asceticism. A mate, and much less, an unwanted child meant a responsibility that would contradict his obligations to the kingdom, and his role was decided at birth by his familial heritage of gardevoir and gallades serving the same role for generations by the grace of his majesty. Only when he reached the age where proficiency declined would Romir be allowed to pass on his genes and knowledge, for to do so would mean the completion of his role to the kingdom.

Yet, he couldn't help but think: what was the point when one couldn't enjoy the embrace of another at the prime of their youth? Was there no joy to be had before the time of decay?

It wasn't fair—

"Watch'ya lookin' at, pretty boy?"

He almost fell off the stump in shock at the interruption, and what startled him even more was the ice blue and amber staring at him, with a gleaming smile that seemingly bordered on a grin.

He shot up from his seat, extending his elbow blades and crossing them with a shing, "W-What do youwant, abomination!?"

She raised a questioning brow at his reaction but lightened her smile and strode over as suave and fluid as a shadow. Her hot amber gaze never left his. She raised her hand and he stiffened as he gathered energy for a psionic barrier, only for her frigid fingertip to touch the intersection of his crossed arms. He found his crossguard lowering with her gentle and slow yet confident tug downwards.

She let out a shrill giggle, "Relax, handsome, no need to get worked up. It's just little old harmless me."

Something was different about her. He was sure of it.

Yesterday she seemed terrified at first sight of him, only to change attitude into feverish placation when he rebuked her companion.

Now, her stellar confidence made it seem like she believed herself a goddess. It was almost too arrogant and, quite frankly, insulting, as it made him feel he was no threat and that he couldn't harm her.

Yet her beaming smile suggested it was more along the lines of her being absolutely sure he wouldn't harm her.

It was confusing, yet it was oddly gratifying.

"Don't overthink it, I'm just here to chat."

Setting aside his initial panic, he detected no hostility from her and lowered his guard; though, her wavelengths were odd. Romir dismissed it as part of her being a curse-mon.

"Again, I ask, what do you want?"

She raised the same index finger and bit on it playfully while looking him over.

"The same thing that you want, Romir."

Her response sent his nerves into alarm.

Did she just enter his mind without him even noticing!? How!? Even the most powerful of psychics would find that a difficult feat to perform!

He gulped but attempted a facade of stoic indifference, "What's that supposed to mean?"

She giggled as she circled him before claiming his seat and eyed the other gardevoir further away. "I'm just kidding. My, you're awfully jumpy today."

"Wha? I-I'm not jumpy! Enough with your riddles. What business do you have with me? I have but a few precious minutes left before my break is over, and I'd rather not spend them speaking with you of all people."

"Oh come now, you don't mean that…After all," she said as she gave him a narrow side glance. "You used to watch me like you watched them, and I still think you do even today."

What was it with this gardevoir!?

She continued. "Or was it mere coincidence that you happened to see us coming through the alternate entry to the camp and no one else? Few know of that route, after all."

He froze mid-retort, emptied of any possible defense. He blustered, "Y-you're misinterpreting! I just sensed you coming!"

"Only me in particular? With such little psychic energy in my state? My, you must have been quite focused on me to not even notice Alis helping me out on my feet."

"Huh!?"

She laughed. "You heard me."

"Well obviously I was focused on you, you're a curse mon!" He huffed and folded his arms, looking away from her amused face. "After all, somebody around here has to keep an eye on you," he muttered.

"Oh my, I feel much safer already."

He glared at her and snapped, "That's not what I—"

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But a finger rested on his lips and her incandescent eyes, inches from his, halted his movement.

"If I was truly the threat, why attack my companion but not me? Or why not even kill me in my sleep? After all, rarely am I in such a pitiable state, last night would have been so easy for you to do so."

He froze.

"And now, here I am, the 'curse-mon', weakened and stepping into your space and touching you twice now. Yet you still do nothing to rebuke me…" She moved her hand and held his chin, moving to whisper into his ear. "Why?"

The simple touch of her cool, smooth skin destroyed any composure he might have had and rendered him helpless. His stomach flittered and his breath shuddered.

"I think…you're more curious than afraid of me, Romir." She said with a throaty hum that reverberated through him.

Worst of all, she wasn't even using a single iota of psychic power, at least none he could detect. It was purely her words and touch that immobilized him.

What was this? How was she doing this?

Or…was it himself who allowed it?

He couldn't form a single coherent thought to speak out beyond vowels.

"I…I…don't—"

"Ah, it looks like our little chat is over," she said as she looked over his shoulder. "How sad."

"Wha?" He said as he turned to the sight of one of his guard mates walking over to him from a distance, coming to fetch him from their break and resume duty.

He turned back only to see her disappear.

"Meet me tomorrow night by the same alternate entry…if you want me to satiate all of your curiosities, my knight," she said as she walked away with her alabaster frills swaying in the gentle breeze as the very day itself seemed to dull without her amber eyes in sight.

He was so out of it that he was certain she had teleported, but all she did was walk out of his vision without him noticing. This couldn't be real.

"Romir."

He flinched at his co-worker's voice.

His fellow gallade eyed him with mild concern. "Are you alright? What did that freak say to you?"

Romir hesitated, before shaking his head. "Nothing. Just obscenities from a crazy fool," He lied as he brushed past him at a brisk pace. "Let's get back to work."

It was all so strange…Was she perhaps…

...

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That same day, being the second of Meagan's stay at the camp, was rather cumbersome.

He insisted that Emryth and Alis bring him along against their protest for his (or rather Celeste's) health, not really to help them, per se, but to observe and sense how they used their abilities; and, of course, feed off some of the produce they would pick from the forest. He was not going to eat that crap their overlords considered as 'food'. It took over a half-hour of debating before they agreed to let him come along.

It was during the moment they picked at a pecha berry tree further into the woods that he decided to risk pushing the tale.

"Umm…guys?"

Alis and Emryth looked over as they multi-tasked levitating their berries from the tree.

"I feel as though I've lost some of my ability to function. Please don't laugh, but…" He batted his lashes and gave them his best wet puppy stare. "I need help getting used to my abilities again, could you…help me remember?"

They stared at him for a few moments before looking at each other and then back at him.

Alis piped up. "I have an idea. Why don't you allow me access to your mind and I could quickly insert the inform—"

"No!" Meagan panicked.

Alis flinched at his reaction, clearly weirded out.

Meagan calmed himself after realizing she hadn't done anything yet. "No, I must insist you keep out of my mind. Whatever this is, it…it could be contagious! Psionically speaking." He quickly remedied.

Both the sibling's eyes widened before Alis put a finger on her chin in concern. "I see. Your worry makes sense, we still don't understand what this illness is, though odd it may be."

Meagan resisted the urge to grin at the gullibility of the two.

Really, psionic infection?

How utterly ridiculous, but they bought everything so far, so why not this? It was the perfect use of their apparently undying trust in Celeste.

It would also give him time to learn how to erect psionic defenses in case Alis decided to read even his superficial consciousness without consent again. He'd been incredibly lucky that she didn't delve far enough from the get-go on the first day, only having learned of his name but being easily misdirected, again, thanks to her confidence in Celeste.

Neither of them would dare risk their minds as things stood, which meant they would never be able to tell from outward appearances that Celeste was actually no longer with them.

For a moment he pitied the fools. They didn't seem bad, all things considered, especially their unfortunate standing in their society, but they were just pokémon in the end.

He held no attachments to them, only having just met the siblings…though Celeste's mind and body, on the other hand, seemed to disagree on a profound level, said emotional rebelliousness that sometimes he found difficult suppressing.

But he'd make sure time would see him tame the body into submission…At least until he figured out how to get back under the comfort of his own 'human' skin and body once again. Speaking of which, Celeste had better not be fucking around too badly in said body if indeed they had 'swapped' vessels, which was his current hypothesis. The question of 'how the flaming fuck' would have to wait. This was his situation now and his priority was a fast improvement to his environ, which was falling into place nicely.

Alis spoke, interrupting his thoughts. "Do you remember how I taught you to levitate?"

"You mean how I failed to levitate."

Alis' winced. "Well, maybe your own weight was too much for you at the time." She gave an encouraging smile.

"Try levitating this pecha berry instead," she said as she held out the pink and vaguely heart-shaped fruit.

Meagan closed his eyes, pulling at the numb meta-limb in his mind, trying to extend it and reach out for the fruit. The pressure the fruit exerted was far less than his own body, but the gravity of it still weighed heavy. The more he tried, the more his grip slipped away.

"You're forcing it too much. Don't forget to breathe," said Alis, likely noticing the furrowing of his features in concentration. "Try and visualize yourself simply picking up the fruit with your hand,"

He did as asked, and the pressure was still there, but now the weight resistance felt akin to actually holding a fruit in the palm of his—

He opened his eyes to see the pecha berry floating in front of him. His surprise caused it to wobble, but he learned from his fall yesterday that such a distraction would cease his focus, so he regained his composure and the fruit steadied as a result.

Meagan couldn't believe it.

He wasn't sure how or of the exact mechanics behind it, but he had actually just learned to be a psychic; granted it was in a body capable of doing so, but still. Though there is a rare set of humans in the world who could also wield psychic power like pokémon, they are extremely uncommon.

Despite that, it was euphoric to even just taste the experience of being a psychic, like the famous Sabrina of Saffron gym in the Kanto region, or the great Olympia from Kalos.

Meagan experimented by moving the berry from side to side, then up and down, back and forth. He tested the limits of the distance. It was fine for a few meters, though he noted some mental strain setting in after about fifteen meters or so. So that was his limit for now. Not bad.

Alis clapped in joy and hugged him. "You did it! You did it! Did you see that Emryth!? She's recovering!" She cried.

Emryth beamed at him. "That's wonderful! You're on your way to recovery, my fair lady!"

Though annoyed at the 'fair lady' part, it certainly was elating to know he wasn't completely helpless. All he needed to do was master this power.

"Indeed." He gave the pair a genuine smile for once. "Now I can help you guys take the berries."

Though Meagan quickly found that levitating more than one berry apart was far harder, when he kept the berries clumped together and touching, it was slightly easier, extra weight notwithstanding. For now, a few kilos in close proximity was his limit. It was only a matter of time and practice.

For now, this would do, and it was perfect timing too, for tomorrow night, he would enact his plan…

As they walked with the provisions toward camp, Alis and Emryth gazed at him funnily when he let out a guttural chuckle at the thought.

"Tomorrow night will be my last night in this shit hole…"

...

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