Off in the distance, on top of a crumbling building, a lanky figure wearing a lab coat watched the scene with never-ending curiosity. “That was an interesting test for Master Larkin... I'm not surprised that this attempt to capture the Umbral Queen failed as well. But this will be good data for the amulet moving forward.” Bifrons noted to himself before jumping off the building and slumping away through the destroyed city.
Euryale stood up and took a few deep breaths, hurrying back over to Elizabeth and Irisyla as the barrier around the former finally dissipated. With the barrier gone, her eyes stopped glowing and returned to normal. “Is everyone okay?!” she shouted like a concerned mother.
Elizabeth nodded as the two succubi approached her. Everything she had witnessed was unbelievable, but what she was mostly in shock about was how she felt about the dead creatures. The ways they had died at Irisyla’s hands were 'brutal' to some degree, yet she didn't feel scared or horrified or sick. While unsure of the entire reason, she thought that feeling safe with these girls played a part of it. “You're both amazing.” she muttered to them.
Irisyla gave her a thumbs up with a smile, acting like a child who had been praised by a parent.
Euryale shook her head and put her gloves back on. She carefully held Elizabeth's arm that she remembered had been cut at the start of the attack. All three of them watched in awe as the wound began sealing itself, the inside of it filled with what could only be described as dark energy. “So what Lilith told me about before was true, you can regenerate your wounds after some time passes. Are you doing anything to make this happen?” she asked with great curiosity.
Elizabeth shook her head and stared as the wound finished healing, the pain completely disappearing along with it. “No... I haven't done anything. It's happening on its own I think.” she explained in confusion.
She motioned Irisyla to come closer so she could have a look at where her bones came out. The process left no wounds or marks on her body, however her red hoodie suffered from tears and holes where the bones punctured through. She placed her hand upon the other succubus and her eyes began shining again. A warm blue glow came from the single cut across Irisyla's cheek and healed it completely. With her friends taken care of, she placed her hands upon herself and did the same. The plethora of wounds and scratches she suffered during the ambush healed up completely, with the only evidence of the fight being the damage to their clothes.
“I feel like I have so many questions...” Elizabeth admitted to them as Euryale's eyes returned to normal.
She smiled at her reassuringly. “I assume you mean about our magic?” She asked before looking down at her own hands. “Succubi have a few abilities that we all share no matter what, but like humans, we have things that make us different as well. Depending on heritage we can all do things that others can't.”
Elizabeth nodded in understanding as she looked at Euryale's hands. “You can heal with your magic, and create barriers?” she asked her. “But how did you keep those monsters visible?”
The succubus stared intently at her hands as she answered. “You are correct about those magical feats, but I have another that is not voluntary for the most part.” She explained to her and pointed at her open hand. “Ever since I was born, if my palms touch another being with magic flowing through them, I absorb it and nullify all of their magical abilities. How long it is nullified for and how much magic is absorbed depends on how long I make contact with them for, and if I ‘will’ it to act stronger.” She tugged on one of the gloves she wore and showed it to Elizabeth. “That is why I wear these all the time, so I don't accidentally harm those around me.”
Elizabeth looked down with a hint of sadness in her eyes. “I'm sorry for asking something insensitive like that!”
She shook her head and reassured the poor woman. “It's nothing you need to worry about! I have lived a long time with this condition, and I know how to deal with it and use it to my advantage when needed. If it helps keep everyone safe, this burden is nothing to me.”
Elizabeth nodded, her spirits lifted a bit knowing that it wasn't a huge weight on her friend’s mind. She looked over to Irisyla who was simply smiling without a care in the world. “Were those your bones earlier?” she asked for clarification.
She nodded eagerly in response. “Yeah! I can make bones in my body and they're super tough! I can do lots with them!” She paused for a moment before jumping up and down excitedly. “I can also make myself super tough and super strong!”
“Is that why you feel so strong all the time?” she asked.
Irisyla tilted her head and shook it. “Nope! I can do that without help! I can just get a bigger boost for bashing baddy faces in!”
Elizabeth in that moment didn't necessarily regret the decision she made in staying with the succubi. However, she felt like adjusting to what they were all capable of was going to be a task in itself.
A loud, audible growl came from Irisyla’s stomach. This caused her to stop jumping and dart her eyes towards Euryale. “Yuuuu! I'm hungry, can we get the stuff so we can have lunch now?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In one of the far corners of Tartarus, a storm was brewing around an enormous mountain with a small castle embedded in it. It was inside the deepest chambers of this castle that a small group gathered. The main group consisted of four individuals who sat at a large round table, while a few other demons watched or went about their business nearby.
A glowing demonic symbol and shadows swirled inside the right eye of one of the individuals. After blinking a couple times, the symbol remained in the iris but stopped glowing, while the violet tinted shadows continued to swirl about. Her body was completely covered by a dark cloak, and her face was hidden under a demonic mask that only showed her darkness-filled right eye.
“Elizabeth has officially taken the first step forward. This means I will be spending a lot of my time observing her.” She briefly paused before continuing. “Larkin is making moves to capture her now, but I believe that the clan housing her can handle things for the time being. Now... I assume you three will be able to handle assisting me with my other duties in the meantime?” the mysterious young woman spoke.
The other three individuals that sat with her were far less intimidating in their presentation. The first was a red-scaled drakoran, a type of demon that takes the form of a dragon with a humanoid body shape. He nodded to the young woman adamantly, his piercing blue eyes staring down at his book while taking notes about his duty changes.
The second individual was a petite alraune woman, a humanoid demon that can manipulate nature due to being partially plants themselves. “Understood, I will not bother you unless absolutely necessary.” she replied in a calm voice. She gently pet one of the plants that surrounded her body as the meeting continued.
The final individual was a mature woman who was a very rare descendant of the 'cerberus' creature. She was human-like except for her sharp red eyes, the blonde canine ears that poked out from the top of her head, and the three blonde tails that came out from her backside. “Why don't you just go there yourself to get what you need done?” she asked with a huff.
The canine woman's blood red eyes suddenly turned blue, and her demeanour changed completely. “D-don't be so rude to her! S-she knows what she's doing...”
After that, her deep blue eyes turned green, and she began uncontrollably giggling. “Ooohhhh, you tryin' to get us punished again? Don't tell us you're startin' to like it!~”
Her eyes went back to red when she finished speaking. All she did was sink into her seat angrily and mutter to herself. “Absolutely not...”
The masked woman shook her head at the personality-swapping canine. “I haven't shared the details with all of you yet, so that's a fair question to ask.” She stood up from her seat, a few of the other demons in the room watched her amorously as she walked over to the large ornate doors. “I would like to make as little direct contact with her as possible during the process.” She told them as the darkness in her eye flared up.
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