* * * * *

The most painful of truths are the ones we hide from ourselves, because we don’t want them to be true.

* * * * *

* Mei -

After the terms settled, and brunch was finished, Mei wasn’t sure what to do with herself. The negotiation hadn’t been contested. If anything, they’d accepted damn near everything. But why?

Had she missed something? The Necromancer had sat back, letting the Succubus do most of the talking. She was clearly the one in charge. Or, maybe, he’d been studying her. Made sense. Could a Succubus understand anything besides lust? ‘Probably,’ She thought. ‘Best to kepe an eye on her.’ They knew about her mother now. It was impossible to keep that hidden. She’d tried, but the Demon had pulled it out of her.

She was saved from that horrible moment of indecision by Dani tapping her on the shoulder, beckoning her to the far corner for a private word.

When she’d settled on the far edge, hands held tight in her lap and back painfully erect, Dani shook her head. “You need to relax,” She stated. “You’re expecting some trick, some trap, someone to pull the rug out from under you. You’ll do nothing but hurt yourself thinking that way.”

Mei spluttered, “Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?” She demanded hotly.

“I’m a Slayer,” Dani flatly admitted. “If I can relax around a Demon, you can relax around a Necromancer.” Dani laid out her case. “I understand that you’ve got no reason to believe a single thing we say, but you’ll need to drop some of your baggage if you want to help your mother.”

“Why should I trust you?” Mei challenged. “For all I know you’re under some spell!”

“If you take note of my prior sentiments, you’ll discover a lack of the word trust, or that you should put it in me.” Dani shot back evenly. “What I ‘am’ telling you to do, is get your priorities straight.”

“And what would those be?” Mei, thin nose raised high and brown eyes sneering down that slope, inquired haughtily.

“Don’t know, don’t want to know. I’ve got enough to deal with without adding your shit to my silver platter - being an excommunicated Demon Slayer and all that.” Dani retorted snidely. “You can take some advice from someone trying to help you, or you can piss it against the wall. Either way, that’s on you and my conscience is clear.”

She rose to stand but Mei wasn’t finished. “Wait!” She said, loud enough to turn the rooms attention. In a softer voice, “I… Ho-why are you involved with them?”

Dani sat and appraised the Tiandihui Champion. “If you don’t show up after your mission within forty-eight hours of the deadline, you’d better be dead, or so the Bishops say.” Dani remarked in a detached manner. “When I was almost killed by Ember, she told me… things, things I knew I couldn’t leave unanswered. So, I tracked Ian down.” She shrugged when Mei’s countenance didn’t look convinced. “Believe me or not, but they took me in and showed me what the esteemed Order thought of me. Ian offered me a place to stay until I figured myself out.”

“In case you haven’t noticed it, that’s what they’ve done for you.” Dani outlined. “At first I thought it was just some scam to leave me behind while they left for another place.” She grew misty, remembering Ashley, and the memories they’d shared. “I’ve never been so happy to be wrong.” Wiping away the tear with a happy sigh. “We’ve all got our own crap to carry, nobody can take that away from you. What matters is what you do about it, what will ‘you’ do going forward.”

“I don’t need your help, I’ve survived on my own just fine.” Mei defiantly claimed.

“Good,” Dani nodded. “When you need it though, I’m pretty sure Ian will be there to pick you up.”

“I don’t need your help,” Mei clipped off each syllable.

“Then you’re an idiot,” Dani concluded. “If you don’t need our help, what are you currently doing? Taking charity? The strong ask for help because they are either smart enough, or self aware enough, to know their limitations. The stupid and the weak ask for others to do it for them. You’re not weak, from what I’ve seen you survive at least.”

“Disengage your pride from the moment, and take a look around yourself. That, or prove me right and continue being stupid, your choice.” She directed. Mei was about to give the girl a good sized piece of her mind, then situational awareness kicked in. Everyone was doing their best to ‘not’ hear them…, but the living area was only so large. “Lie to yourself if you want, but the fact remains we’re all equals here.”

“Women who seek to be the equals of men lack ambition,” Mei mocked, proving to everyone she wasn’t going to listen.

“And exhausted, strung out, prima-donna’s shouldn’t tangle with their betters,” Dani smiled back. “And before you go embarrassing yourself further, ask yourself this: if the roles were reversed, would you have done what Ian did for you?”

Dani stood again and Mei watched her go. She wanted to scoff at the presumptiveness of the girl, but there was something about the way she said it, the conviction behind her words, that made her feel uneasy, alone…, adrift. The surrealness of the present situation had never diminished. A Necromancer, with a Demon concubine, working alongside a Demon Slayer… She dropped her head into her hands as a headache began to form. 'What the hell have I stepped into?'

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

* * * * *

* Ian -

Ian sat back and folded his arms, half slouching as he watched the exchange between Eris and Grim play out. He noticed Mei’s head coming up as the Archive continued to battle his point.

“I’m telling you, it ain't natural.” Grim refused to budge, his spectral form bobbing back and forth as he paced.

“And what the fuck in all this is 'natural?'" Eris shot back with glinting teeth sparkling through her half smile. "Everything he does is extraordinary.”

“Oh, forgive me." Grim mocked, earning a dirty look. "The Undead, alive for nearly a week after ten years, knows all! Everyone heed the decree of the mighty Lich, knower of all the Spirit Realm.”

Mei’s jolt from the couch caught his attention.

He too let his eyes wander over the beautiful woman, noting her snowy hair, alabaster skin, even the very way she breathed - slow and measured, savouring the feeling - combined to give her a verritible otherworldly beauty.

“Well I may not know everything about the Spirit Realm like you claim to,” Eris replied cockily, breaking Ian from his admiration. “But there’s at least one thing I can do that you can’t.”

“Pu-leaze,” Grim drawled. “Do share your prowess, I'm sure it's very impressive.”

“This.” Eris said smugly, clapping her hands slowly.

The traffic outside quietened, the unseen cars awaiting a reaction.

Dani sniggered. Around the room different levels of laughter emerged, with Ember’s musical titillation cackling high over them all. Grim wasn’t so happy. He was cursing furiously at anyone and everyone that took his fancy. Ian slowly, shaking his head all the while in disparaging amusement, allowed a smile to emerge.

Ember recovered first and raised her hands for peace; though her shoulders continued to tremble. “I fail to see the issue. She’s a Lich bound to him, thus she gets power from him like he does," Indicating Scraps with a flourish of her slender fingers. "She could talk to the spirits and all that jazz when she was one. The only difference now is she has access to the powers Cassandra had residing in her body.”

“If only it was that simple.” Grim scoffed. “It isn’t like that." He started. "Mages, or magical creatures, shouldn’t have more than one planar magic at their disposal. The energies just don’t mix within the caster. So how then, is she able to do both, and both at the same time?”

“Same time you say?” Ian asked, his tone full of interest.

“Yes Einstein, they don’t mix. In the same way flesh doesn't mix with Spiritfire, you try and mix them together in the same space and one destroys the other. Oh sure," Grim said with his own hand wave. "Every Mage has access to magic and can do roughly the same thing, though most specialise on an affinity, but they're still under the bigger picture of their magical type.”

Ember glanced at Eris who was looking down at herself, as if the answer would be painted on her skin. “How do you know she’s doing two types at the same time?” Ember shifted her weight from one hip to the other, reclining her back against the dining table.

With a wave, “Bring up a shield,” Grim commanded. Eris looked questioningly at the floating spirit. The energy within the room shifted noticeably. A faintly blue, translucent membrane aparated in the air before her. “That!" Grim pointed, indicating the apparition's blue hue. "She's using Aethral magic right now. But she’s still being sustained by her link to his Spiritual.” Thumbing at Ian, Grim continued to float around the space. “It’s like a Warlock using Spiritfire instead of Hellfire. Similar spell, but borne from a very different place.”

“But she isn't pulling the energy into herself.” Ian muttered, to which Grim stared at him like he’d grown a second head. Ignoring the look, “Ember, you said that I don’t need to pull energy into myself to use my Spirit magic, right?” Ember nodded cautiously. “So, if the Aethral magic is still flowing around inside, then the Spirit magic can’t be inside her. It's coming from outside, from me."

“That… Hrm,” Grim pondered, posture becoming decidedly less agitated. “That might work.” Then he shook his head so violently it reminded Ian of a dog shedding water from its fur. “Then again you ballsed your way into bonding a Demon - so what the fuck do I know.”

“Hold on," Dani looked at the various Mages around the room. "What do you mean, 'Aethral?'”

“Aethral magic is all about moving, creating and charging the realms around. It's where Cassandra pulled her blade from.” Grim explained.

“Like a pocket dimension?” Dani clarified.

“In a way,” Grim stated offhandedly. “It’s more of a spin off from all the dimension magic mumbo-jumbo that surrounds Warlocks and Necromancers. The Aethral Mages can shape the world around themselves to cause various effects, like store shit. You've probably seen them as Electromancers.”

“Electromancers control the world around them?” Ian repeated. Then the blind arrogance of thunderpants lance came back at him.

“What does all this have to do with me?” Eris asked. “I can raise the dead and everything now?"

Ian perked up at that idea. Sharing out the control of the spirits could mean-

“Probably not,” Grim dumped on Ian’s parade.

‘Easy come, easy go,’ He grumped.

“If what he said is the reality we've got,” Grim continued unaware. “You're sustained by the Spirit magic, not connected to it. I dunno, this shit hasn't happened in thousands of years and it's all shrouded in mystery. Probably to stop idiots from attempting to do it and blowing up half the world or something.”

Stretching, Ian threw an arm around Ember’s shoulders.

Sensing his confliction, “Relax,” She cooed silkily, drawing her fingernail along his cheek and under his chin. “Who cares how or why it happened. Enjoy the perks of having a more powerful ally in your corner than you bargained for.”

Eris beamed happiness at that.

Ian chuckled. He had to agree. No use second guessing himself now. He rolled the dice and they came up in his favour. Eventually, he knew, luck would run out and shit would hit the fan in some serious blow back. Until then though, he’d do as she suggested and enjoy himself.