Lexi found herself sitting in her favorite chair at her usual table, her fingertips unconsciously gliding over the small, silver dragon that was curled around her ring finger. She barely noticed when Romeo and Banksy burst into the guild, the latter with a large grin plastered across his face and the former looking like he was about to cry.

"Hey Lexi!" Banksy sat down across from her. "Congratulations on the win!"

"Thank you, Banksy," Lexi smiled. She glanced at the forlorn Romeo. "What happened to you?"

Banksy's grin grew. "Ah, he’s been like this since the night you won. Hasn’t stopped moping since.”

“What happened?”

“Well you see… How do I put this…” Banksy lifted a finger dramatically to his chin. “Perhaps they should have sent a bard. To accurately describe watching someone crash and burn in such a spectacular way.”

“So, he was rejected.”

“Big time.”

Lexi turned her eyes to the downtrodden Romeo and her eyebrow went up. "That isn't so unusual."

"You're right," Banksy shook his head. "Let me try again. Romeo didn't even get a chance to get shot down."

"Shut up," Romeo pushed Banksy, but the effort was weak. Slumping his shoulders, he fell into a chair and dropped his head on the table.

"What happened?"

"Okay, so the other night after you won, Romeo got really drunk," Banksy started.

"It was celebrating your victory," Romeo said against the table.

"Okay, so anyways, Romeo is completely wasted and we run into Cross and he's got this girl with him. She was with him at the tournament but we didn't really talk to her right? So Romeo here-" Banksy took a moment to let out a loud bark of laughter. "Romeo here saunters up to this girl and starts his whole thing with 'Oh you are so beautiful like a flower' or whatever bullshit he says."

"Not bullshit. Poetry" Romeo protested pathetically. "And it was good poetry too. You're just unsophisticated."

"Yeah, whatever. So, he's trying his poetry and the girl looks at him, just looks at him and Romeo completely froze. Like, tongue-tied, no idea what to do, and goes completely silent. I've never seen anything like it. He must have stared at her for almost a full minute before finally… Romeo, what was it she said?"

"Banksy Shut up," Romeo whined.

"Oh right, she called you 'adorable' and patted you on the cheek." Banksy cackled as Romeo moaned.

"Anyway, fun night. Lots of guild members bet on you to win last night. Lots of gold exchanged hands. I made a killing. That big guy from Dumas actually had odds to beat you. Obviously, I bet on you." Banksy finished as he settled into his chair. "How are you feeling though? You took one hell of a beating."

"She will feel better soon," Makina announced as she sat down at the table, accompanied by Lara. She took Lexi's hand and placed it firmly in Lara's. "There. I have helped. Be grateful, mortal."

"Oh," Lexi breathed as her pain was drastically reduced until she felt nothing. She hadn't even realized how much pain she had been in. After a moment she felt a slight numbness creep into her limbs. She looked down at Lara who was staring blankly ahead with a glassy eyed expression.

"Lara?" Makina peered at the succubus as she began to sway back and forth. "Are you alright?"

"Good pain." Lara murmured as her eyes began to droop.

"Good pain?" Lexi repeated as the feeling of numbness began to grow. She blinked rapidly as black ate at the edges of her vision. "Lara…"

"I'm sorry!" Lara jolted and released Lexi's hand as she roughly shook herself. Blushing, she tentatively took Lexi's hand again. "I'm sorry, I took too much of your pain too quickly. Life force is very… it's very pleasing for a succubus to absorb, but some is better than others. Pain is also like that. Some pain is much better than other pain. Pain from a poisoned wound doesn't taste very good, but pain from a well-fought victory like yours it… I'm sorry Miss Lexi."

Lexi smiled. "It's alright Lara, it's not your fault. And you can just call me Lexi."

"Thank you Miss… Thank you, Lexi." Lara said. She griped Lexi's hand tighter. "I promise I'll only take your pain. Nothing else."

"Don't worry. We all trust you." Lexi said gently.

Lara nodded but still her brow knotted in worry and concentration.

Romeo lifted up his head and looked at Lara. “So, when you take away pain are you like, eating my life?”

Lara shook her head quickly. “No, not when I do it this way. There are ways that would but… I’m not really sure how to explain it properly…” Lara chewed on her bottom lip for a few moments. “It’s like a cow? Maybe?”

“A cow?” Banksy and Romeo said in unison.

Lara nodded slowly. “Humans… you raise cows. Sometimes you eat them. When you do that, it is very satisfying to eat the meat, right?”

“Well, yeah,” Romeo said with a small nod. “Not much beats a juicy steak.”

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“But you can also use them for milk, and that doesn’t kill them. Taking pain is something like… like that. You radiate your pain and we can smell it. It’s not as fulfilling as other life force, but it won’t hurt you if I take it. So yes… you’re like cows…I suppose…”

“Well if I’m a cow I’m prime grade.” Romeo tried to grin before slamming his face back on the table as he grabbed at his head. "Any chance you could take away the pain of this hangover?"

Lara nodded. "I could, but that pain would taste bad."

"Fair enough."

"You should be careful Romeo," Servilia called as she descended down the stairs with a large bundle of papers held in her arms.

"I'll be fine once I sleep for a few… days," Romeo said with a weak smile.

"I don't mean your hangover," Servilia said as she stopped next to the table. "I meant you are giving a rather poor first impression."

"Wha?" Romeo rubbed at his eyes and looked around the table. "No one here is new."

"Wrong, actually," Servilia said. "There is a new Leader currently sitting before you. One who will have quite a substantial amount of input on what jobs you will be able to take part in."

Romeo blinked a few times as he ran over what Servilia said in his mind. When it took him too long Banksy slapped the table and smiled at Lexi.

"You're official now?" Banksy beamed.

"Official," Lexi said. She lifted up her hand and displayed the ring. "We can start taking requests again."

"Yes!" Romeo sat up and quickly threw himself back down, holding onto his aching head. He tried again with less enthusiasm. "Ah, yay. I can't wait. I know I sound sarcastic but I really am excited. When’s our first job? When do we leave? Please don't make me go to school again."

"I will have something for you soon," Servilia said as she hefted the papers in her arms. "There are quite a few requests in here that I believe will fit your team well."

Makina cleared her throat. "A team that I am more than sure I will be a part of, of course."

"Of course," Romeo grinned. "Every team needs a mascot.

Makina's eyes widened with indignation and she blasted Romeo with a wall of frigid air strong enough to knock him from his chair.

"Consider that but a taste of the smiting you shall receive in the future," Makina glowered as the rest of the table broke into laughter.

Lexi reached out and patted Makina on the shoulder. "If you want to be on the team, Maki, you're on the team."

"Good. You shall need my blessing if you hope to have any chance of success," Makina said before she glanced at Romeo who had elected to stay on the floor. "You shall receive no such blessing."

"This is divine discrimination!"

xXx

Alice watched as Cross carefully sorted through the vendor’s collection of scarves, picking one up every so often before putting it down.

"Don't you think a scarf is a rather poor gift for Lexi's level of accomplishment?" Alice said as Cross ran his fingers over a pink scarf before smiling and dropping it with a shake of his head.

"She likes them." Cross shrugged.

"She seems to have many already."

"She goes through a lot," Cross said as he picked up a red scarf.

"Oh?"

"Most of them get ripped during her Hunts," Cross said. "Blood is hard to get out too. Most of the time she'll just toss them if they get damaged. Like the one she ruined during the tournament."

“Oh yes. She surprised me then. I thought Lexi never removed her scarf. At least, that's what you told me."

"Things change." Cross shrugged.

"True." Alice caught his eye. "But hopefully not everything.” When Cross took too long to reply she clapped her hands together and continued browsing the store. "Still, girls like when you get them shiny things. At least, I do."

“Well, lucky for me I don’t owe you any gifts.”

“Well, you did miss a few birthdays.”

“You missed mine, too.”

“Not very gentlemanly to demand gifts like that, Cross.” Cross glanced at Alice and she winked.

“Didn’t you teach me to treat everyone equally? I can’t go playing favorites just because you came back, now can I?”

“Oh ho, the cat that had your tongue has finally let go, eh? I don’t remember your tongue being quite this sharp when I left.” Alice was suddenly very close to him. “I’m glad. It’s no fun when you don’t fight back.”

Cross felt an all too familiar flutter in his stomach, but he managed to roll his eyes and push her aside. “I’m not stupid enough to fight you anymore.”

“I wouldn’t say you were stupid then. Maybe a touch tenacious, or dare I say, stubborn?”

“Then what does that make the girl who egged me on?”

“Well, considering she always beat you; I would say it made her the winner.”

Cross’s mouth twisted from one side to the other, but he had run out of comebacks. With a sigh he lifted up one hand in defeat before walking over to the counter. After paying for the gift and waiting for it to be gift-wrapped, he exited the store with Alice at his side.

"The tournament was very entertaining yesterday," Alice said as they made their way back towards the guild. "Your Leader is impressive."

Cross nodded.

"Still, she has room for improvement," Alice said lightly.

Cross glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you saw it as well. She was far too complacent in her opening match. She was afraid to expend too much energy that she might need later. That was why she received her early injuries. She should have decisively ended the match. Instead she hesitated."

"She hesitated because she was assessing the skill of her opponent. If Jane had been as skilled as Varz and Lexi attacked blindly, she would have lost."

"She should have done that assessment as soon as Jane attempted and failed to bait Lexi into attacking to open the match. It was a novice move and one Lexi should have capitalized on."

"It could have been a feign just as easily," Cross replied. "A trick to get her to rush in where Jane could have used the extended reach of her weapon to land a quick win or at least force Lexi into an area where she could only defend and not risk moving closer or backing away without opening herself up to an attack."

A smirk lit up Alice's face. "You know, for one who no longer carries a sword you seem to know quite a bit about how to handle yourself."

Cross shrugged. "I did train to be a Hunter under Mistress Jiana, among others."

"That you did," Alice tapped her chin thoughtfully. “How long has Lexi known the Raging Sword stances?”

“A while. Her family invented it, so she’s known the basics as long as I’ve known her, but it took her a while to really understand how to really use it. Mostly she would just get mad.”

“I’m sure you were quite the instigator then.”

“…yeah.”

“How many stances does she know?”

“Dunno. She usually doesn’t use the formal stances outside of training.”

“Mmmm, I’m sure it can be somewhat impractical. That type of technique does require a very focused mind. I imagine it would be quite hard to use with others around. In a one-on-one battle, however….”

Cross glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what.”

“Don’t do what you’re thinking.”

“What am I thinking?”

“You’re thinking you want to duel Lexi.”

Alice covered her mouth to hide a smile. “Am I that obvious.”

“You always want to fight. Lexi’s like that too. If you asked, she’d probably do it, even with her injuries. So, don’t.”

Alice bumped him with her shoulder. “When did you become so thoughtful?”

“I just don’t want to scoop one of you off the training room floor.”

Alice said something in response, but it was too quiet for Cross to hear. When he looked at her, she was already bounding a few steps ahead. Turning on her heel, she leaned towards him, a large smile lighting up her face.

Like clockwork, Cross’s heart began to race at the sight. He didn’t particularly care for that reaction, nor for the smile.

“Cross?”

“…yeah?”

"Tell me, are you busy tomorrow?"

"I'm going with Lexi to watch the Doubles Tournament."

Alice’s smile widened. A predator’s smile. "Oh, that is perfect."

Cross didn’t mean to, but he found himself taking a small step back. "Why?"

"I talked to Octavious after the tournament the other day. He told me something so very interesting."