"You're on my side."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are! I can feel your tail touching my feet!"

"Oho, I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff, Butterskin!"

"Sh- Shut up, and move your fat ass back over to your side!"

"Fat ass, huh? I'll take that as a compliment."

"SHUT UP, WHORETITS!"

With a small laugh of triumph, Karazelle shuffled back over to her side of the bed. When Whitney first found out that she was going to have to share a bed with her 'best' friend, the first thing she did was draw a line down the middle of it and threaten to kill the Succubus if she dared to cross it.

So naturally Karazelle had taken to crossing the boundary in as many ways as she could manage.

"Y'know, this whole experience could be good for us," she said, turning around to face the back of Whitney's head.

She scoffed.

"Dream on."

"Who knows? Maybe it'll..."

Slowly, the Succubus reached over and gently stroked the Nymph's electric blue hair.

"... awaken something in you...?"

As quick as a flash, Karazelle leaned across and blew on the back of Whitney's neck. With an unholy shriek, her arms and legs flailed in a fit of panic before she toppled out of the bed and onto the floor. Grabbing her dressing gown, she wrapped it tightly around herself and glared at her bedmate.

"That's not funny!" Whitney hissed.

"On the contrary!"

Sitting up, Karazelle cocked her head.

"Besides, why are you wearing a robe in bed, anyway? You trying to tease me?" she goaded, fluttering her eyelids.

Whitney bared her teeth threateningly, but the redness of her cheeks and the slight electric charge raising her hair told the Succubus that she was definitely embarrassed about something. Tying her sash, she threw the door open and stepped out into the darkened hallway.

"W- Whatever! I- I'm going to the bathroom!"

With that, she stormed off and left Karazelle alone in the guest room. With a sigh, she spread herself out over Whitney's side of the bed, extending her wings in order to take up as much room as possible.

But as she tried to think of more ways to irritate her erstwhile roommate, the Succubus found her thoughts drifting towards the conversation she had earlier with Jezebel. She had always just assumed that Cobalt was a late bloomer; a herbivorous man that just needed a little coaxing to come out of his shell. But if what his mother said was true - that he really was depriving himself of happiness - then how did that bode for the future?

If the Incubus really was forcing himself to live an ascetic lifestyle, the question was why?

And was it really ethical to use something as powerful as Red Rose Extract on him?

With a forlorn sigh, she tumbled out of bed, flopped onto the floor and rolled forward onto her feet. Stepping over to her bag, she fished out the phial from where she had hidden it. It glowed with a strange, enchanting warmth.

After some research, she managed to find a few Succubus messaging boards discussing alchemical practices. Apparently, Red Rose Extract was notoriously difficult to brew, requiring all kinds of exotic ingredients that were only really cultivated in one place; the reclusive Succubus town of Phrodival. A town that was so deep in the wilderness that it wasn't marked on any maps. Some said that navigational equipment refused to even work for miles around it.

The fact that Jezebel casually brewed a dose for her son spoke volumes about her skill as an alchemist.

But for Karazelle herself to be the one to administer it...?

"I'll see how he gets..." she murmured, stashing it back within her bag.

She heard the bathroom door open.

"Did she really not flush...?"

Darting back to the bed, she sat herself down on the bed and crossed her legs, ready to question the Nymph on her lack of decorum when she returned. But she waited and waited, and Whitney didn't show. Furrowing her brow, Karazelle straightened out her pajama top and stepped out into the hall.

The bathroom door lay wide open, and she could hear tentative footsteps heading down a different hallway.

The Succubus' eyes widened. The hallway that led to the other side of the house. Where Cobalt's room was.

"That little...!"

She rushed out, skidding around the corner in an effort to catching up with the errant Nymph. Thankfully, she hadn't gone far. Whitney was standing at the end of the hallway, her robe lying around her ankles. In place of her bedclothes, however, she was wearing an incredibly risque set of lingerie, made from black lace and complete with a matching pair of black thigh-high socks and long gloves.

"Butterskin!" Karazelle hissed, balling her fists.

Whitney yelped and whipped around, her face red and her ears quivering.

"Do I even gotta ask what the fuck you're doing?!"

Whitney glanced down at what she was wearing.

"I- It's not what it looks like, I swear!"

"Then do enlighten me!"

She began to fidget nervously.

"L- Look, Azul told me about Cobalt's situation, and how his mom was planning on, like, marrying him off. I- I said I was just gonna talk to him, but she said she had this outfit on hand, and I just got carried away, and I- I dunno..."

Karazelle folded her arms, unimpressed.

"And this house full of Succubi just so happened to have a AA lacy bra to hand?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm just an A, you bitch!"

She massaged her temples.

"What I mean is that this was planned in advance. Oh sugar, I can see why you were so apprehensive about staying the night..." Karazelle sighed.

Whitney picked her dressing gown off the floor and pulled it on.

"A- At least I don't break into his room and sneak into his bed in the middle of the night!" she stammered, struggling to get a leg up in the argument.

"I do what I do because I want to. You're just doing this because you feel pressured to."

"No I don't!"

The Nymph, realising how loud she was being, cast her gaze downwards and started fidgeting again, ears twitching nervously.

"I- I do worry about him too, you know. I- I thought I might feel more confident speaking to him about... all this... if I wear this," mumbled the Nymph, blushing so hard that even her ears were red.

Karazelle sighed and patted her head.

"Well I can't deny you look sorta sexy in it. In a stickbug kinda way."

"Hey!"

The Succubus folded her arms, smiling smugly. It didn't last long, however.

"Wait, hang on..." she murmured.

Ignoring Whitney's indignant whining, she furrowed her brow and thought. Jezebel had given her the Red Rose Extract and suggested for her to use it on Cobalt. Azul provided Whitney with lingerie and coerced her into going to the Incubus' room. If she was to consider this as some kind of pattern, then...

Her eyes widened.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Oh shit."

Without another word, she took off. Whitney, embarrassed to be standing alone dressed as she was, wrapped her robe around herself and followed her.

"W- Wait! Where are you going?!" she whispered, catching up in an instant.

Karazelle's glanced down at her companion's rapidly blurred feet, impressed. She knew Nymphs were fast, but for some reason she never considered that Whitney would be particularly light on her feet.

She shook her head. No, she was getting distracted.

"To make sure nothing's happened to him."

"What do you care if something has? I- I thought you were, like, into all that."

Slowing down as they came to a corner, Karazelle stuck her lower lip out. She would be lying if she said that she never imagined a situation involving Cobalt and all the girls at once, but she knew for a fact that it wasn't going to happen.

"It just... he wouldn't like it, I know that," she sighed.

Whitney pouted.

"And have you ever considered how he feels every time you come to his room unan-MMPH!"

Sensing something up ahead, Karazelle clamped her hand over the Nymph's mouth, shutting her up. She thrashed about and tried to break free, but the Succubus quickly motioned for her to be quiet. Taking a hint, she stopped struggling and pricked her ears up.

"Mm... moo... mah... mm..." warbled a familiar voice.

Raising an eyebrow, Karazelle slowly rounded the corner. There, dressed in a cowprint onesie, was none other than Lottie Deyeyr. She was singing softly in her sleep, smiling dopily to herself as she snuggled up to the hallway carpet. Crouching down, the Succubus placed a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her awake.

Eyes blinking open, Lottie yawned, stretched and sat up. Smacking her lips, she stared blearily at the other two girls.

"Karazez...? Whiddy...? she murmured, rubbing her eyes.

Karazelle glanced back at Whitney, who just shrugged.

"Lottie, sweetie... what are you doing out here?" she asked, helping the Golem stand up on her own two hooves..

"Um..."

She idly tapped her chin, eyes crossing a little as she struggled to remember.

"Oh, yah! Amba said that Mr. Traya has no-one to sleep with! So I was gonna go and make sure he's not lonely!"

Whitney gave he a strange look.

"Wait, you mean...?"

Karazelle sighed and took Lottie's hand, figuring it was better to take her with her than leave her alone in the hallway of a house she wasn't familiar with.

"I told you this was planned! I'll give it to the Trayers; they know how to pull a good pincer maneuver...!"

With the confused Golem in tow, Karazelle carried on towards Cobalt's bedroom. After a few wrong turns, she eventually reached his door, but she wasn't the first one to arrive.

Jelli was already at the Incubus' door, dressed in fluffy pink pajamas and clutching a pillow to her chest. She was staring at the door handle, her tail beating nervously behind her.

"Oh, honey..." Karazelle sighed, letting go of Lottie's hand.

The Glutton jumped and wheeled around, causing an erotic novel to tumble out of her pillowcase. She looked down at it, then back up at the Succubus, before tears began to well-up in her eyes.

"E- Es tut m- mir Leid..." she blubbered, tears already streaming down her cheeks.

Getting down on one knee, Karazelle sighed sympathetically and opened her arms. Tossing her pillow aside, Jelli ran to the Succubus, where she latched onto her like a distraught child. As the Glutton's tears soaked the back of her pajama top, she gently rubbed the back of her head.

"Did one of his sisters put you up to this?" she asked in a soft voice.

She sniffled and nodded.

"V- Viridi said his health was at s- stake...!"

"He's gonna be fine, honey."

"I- I don't w- want him to die...!"

"Jelli, he's not gonna die."

But she continued to cry all the same. As Karazelle knelt there comforting the Glutton, she suddenly became aware of a series of heavy, pounding footsteps vibrating through the floor. Gritting her teeth, she gently pulled Jelli away and passed her over to Lottie.

"Take over for me," she said, getting to her feet.

Lottie nodded, embraced her, and began to rub her back.

"It's okay, Jelili..." she cooed.

Swallowing hard, Karazelle gestured for Whitney to stand back, all the while bracing herself for the rapidly approaching form of Izzbelle Suyas.

She was the picture of rage. Smoking mouth, balled fists, bared fangs and blazing eyes. Thundering up to the group outside Cobalt's bedroom door, she jabbed a finger at Jelli, who was still sobbing into Lottie's chest.

"I'm gonna give you three seconds to explain what the fuck you did to her, otherwise I'm puttin' all of you through the fuckin' floor!" she spat, fists raised and ready to fly.

Karazelle raised her hands defensively.

"Easy there, tiger! She was already here before all of us!" she explained.

"Then why the fuck is she cryin', huh?! What the fuck did you do?!"

Swallowing hard, the Succubus took a deep breath.

"I didn't do anything. Cobalt's sisters, on the other hand..."

Realisation flashed across the Oni's face as she glanced from one demon to the next, silently piecing it together in her head.

"Wait... you too?"

Whitney shook her head.

"I don't get what's going on at all..." she sighed miserably, folding her arms.

"Scarlet came up to me before all of you got back. Said she needed me to, uh..."

"Do it with her brother?" Karazelle interjected, finishing her sentence.

"Yeah, that..."

Realising the look the Succubus was giving her, Izzbelle's face heated up as yet more smoke began to billow.

"D- Don't fuckin' look at me like that! Like I would ever even fuckin' consider doin' somethin' like that!" snapped the Oni.

Karazelle rolled her eyes.

"Sure~."

"I fuckin' mean it!"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that..."

She raised her fingers to her temples and began to massage them as she silently processed whatever was going on. Apparently, nobody had escaped the Trayers' machinations, not even the immovable object that was Izzbelle. One thing was for certain; she couldn't allow them all to accost her teacher in the middle of the night.

As fun as that would be...

Taking up a position by the door, the Succubus cleared her throat loudly.

Whitney stopped fidgeting. Izzbelle stopped fuming. Jelli stopped sobbing. Lottie woke up.

"Okay, so, clearly we've all be duped. I for one don't think that Mr. Trayer is in any kind of danger, and I certainly don't think that riding him raw is going magically heal him of his woes," she announced, keeping her voice low.

They murmured to each other in agreement. But before Karazelle could finish her point, she thought back to what Jezebel said. About how Cobalt deprived himself of life's little pleasures. Despite whatever lies his sisters told, that fact about him was most definitely true.

Her lips crooked into a smile.

"However, now that we're all here..."

She grasped the door handle.

"I'd say there's no harm in having a little fun with him, right~?"

A threatening voice suddenly hissed from somewhere above her.

"Enough of your games, you haughty little brat."

A dark shape suddenly dropped from the ceiling, right as a freezing cold hand grabbed Karazelle by the throat and pinned her against the wall. She tried to lash out, but the honed edge of an iron dagger was suddenly pressed against her neck, silencing the Succubus.

"Nurse Elya?!" Whitney cried, completely bewildered.

True enough, Elya Yalfre stood with her dagger readied to slit the Succubus' throat, dressed in little more than her filthy white coat. Izzbelle suddenly grabbed Jelli and held her protectively, while Whitney just panicked.

Lottie had fallen asleep again, still standing up.

"How many times do I have to tell you? The man that slumbers within is mine. His soul is mine. His heart is mine. And his body is mine to do with as I please. I need no permission." she hissed, eyeing them all up threateningly.

Karazelle raised a finger.

"I- I'm guessing Violet got to you, then...?!" she choked.

Elya bared her teeth.

"It does not matter whether she did or she did not. I will still take what is mine!"

She threw Karazelle across the hall. Turning around, the Fallen sheathed her blade and went to open the door, but at that moment, rage got the better of Izzbelle, and she made to swing her fist at Elya. She bumped into Whitney, who tried to grab onto Jelli as she fell. Lottie got knocked over in the ensuing scramble, forcing Karazelle to jump in and stop her from hitting her head off the floor.

At one moment, the weight of all six girls was thrown against the door of Cobalt's bedroom, and it was just too much for the poor lock. With an astounding crack, it was flung open, and they all toppled onto his floor in an unceremonious heap.

"Ow~! You're totally crushing me!"

"Ah! I- I- I'm sorry!"

"Grah! Get the fuck off me!"

"Mmngh... whuh? What happened...?"

"I should kill you all...! I should...!"

Pulling herself free, Karazelle dusted herself down and turned to face the bed. Cobalt's childhood bedroom looked about as she expected; neat, tidy, and lacking anything that could be considered fun or exciting. Turning to the large shape huddled beneath the covers, she took one look at the pile of squabbling demons behind her and shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, I may as well..." she sighed, throwing duvet off.

Rather than Cobalt, however, she was faced with someone completely different. Lying in the Incubus' bed was Quinn Redtile, though it took Karazelle a second to realise that, having never seen the Imp without her hat before. She seemed to be sleeping soundly.

"Quinn...?" she breathed, tapping her shoulder.

"Snrhk! Ngah, piss off!" the Imp suddenly cried, whipping a switchblade out from beneath her pillow and brandishing it wildly.

She stared at Karazelle with wild, catlike eyes before calming down.

"Oh, it's just you, Kara..." Quinn yawned, slipping her blade back beneath her pillow.

Raising an eyebrow, she peered past her and watched as the others set about disentangling themselves from each other.

"What the bloody Hell are you all doing?" she asked blearily.

She received a plethora of embarrassed replies. Shaking her head, Karazelle gestured to the Imp.

"Never mind them! What are you doing here?!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Mr. C paid me ten quid to swap rooms with him."

Karazelle's eyes widened.

"He did, did he...?"

Quinn just shrugged and settled back down into bed.

Of course. Of course! It appeared that Jezebel's cunning was hereditary, as not only did her daughters have the ingenious plan of conspiring to set Cobalt's own students - and childhood stalker - upon him in his sleep, but he himself also had the wits to swap rooms with someone else beforehand! Either the Incubus had intuition far beyond what she gave him credit for, or he was just extremely lucky.

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the hallway lights flicking on. Blinding by the sudden flash of illuminance, they all slowly turned to face the figure by the light switch.

Cobalt Trayer - bleary-eyed and none too impressed - sat in his wheelchair, dressed in his nightclothes. His arms were folded, and his brow was furrowed.

"I had a feeling they would put you all up to this," he sighed, rubbing his eyes.

Karazelle smiled nervously.

"Sugar, I-"

"Don't, Karazelle. Just... go back to your rooms. All of you."

Shaking his head, the Incubus turned and slowly wheeled himself around the corner, back towards Quinn's room.

They all were silent. Even Elya said not a word, ashamed of being chastised by the object of her obsession.

"Well... that's us told then, isn't it?" Karazelle said after a few moments, planting her hands on her hips.

Izzbelle, both angry and ashamed in equal measure, took Jelli's hand and pulled her out into the hall.

"Fuck this fuckin' bullshit! Come on, Jelli!" she growled, directing the teary Glutton back to their room.

Elya just tutted and disappeared. Quite literally. One moment she was sulking by the shattered door, the next she was gone.

Karazelle and Whitney stared at each other, both unsure whether they should even talk about what had just transpired.

"Back to bed, then? I'll stay on my side. Promise." Karazelle suggested.

The Nymph nodded, before she pointed at Cobalt's bed.

"Okay... but what should we do about Lottie?"

She followed her gaze. Lottie, having been conspicuously silent during the confrontation, had climbed into bed with Quinn. Her arms were wrapped tightly around the Imp, who was already fast asleep once more, snoring into the Golem's bosom.

Karazelle smiled.

"Ah, leave her. Come on, Butterskin."

The two began to make their way back to their room. They could just tell that they were in for an awkward breakfast in the morning.

"Will you really stay on your side this time?"

"Sure, sure. As long as you keep that lingerie on."

"Wh- What?! Why?!"

"I dunno~. Maybe I like my washboards looking sexy~."

"Gah, fuck you, Whoretits!"

"Hah! I have yet to see you try!"