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Back at the mansion the girls gathered in the lounge while Elizabeth explained to them what happened that morning. Irisyla listened intently, eating her delicious mint ice cream straight from the tub with the happiest expression on her face.
“So that's why I'm so late getting back.” She finished explaining, looking over at Lilith who was giving Sarana a playful smirk.
“You totally did that, didn't you Sara?~” Lilith asked her while giving her a wink.
Sarana nodded shyly and closed her eyes. “Y-yes I did, I'm sorry!”
Elizabeth gave them a confused look as the gothic girl's hair was ruffled by Lilith playfully. “What did she do?”
“All those 'weird' things that happened around you were from Sara's magic!~” she exclaimed to her.
“Her magic is not something that can easily be shown. To put it simply, she can manipulate the flow of time to a certain degree.” Euryale explained properly to their human companion. “Although, isn't that using a lot of your magic pool Sarana? Are you uhm... recharging it enough?”
The shy succubus shook her head, blushing deeply as she looked over at Elizabeth. “I haven't since the start of classes, not since I saw Elizabeth...” she admitted to them.
She couldn't help but stare, in complete awe. Her mind was struggling to comprehend the situation entirely. This woman had the ability to somehow manipulate time, and they talked about it like it was normal. Putting her powers aside, she had also never met someone who had an actual 'crush' on her before. While the succubi like Lilith have expressed affections to her, this felt different. It was likely because Sarana admitted she felt this way before any revelation of Elizabeth's Umbral Queen powers came to light. “She's so infatuated with me that she wouldn't sleep with someone else to regain her magic quicker...?”
Euryale looked back at Elizabeth like a concerned mother. “This Tessa woman, do we need to help you with her at all? This level of harassment is out of control, especially in the span of an hour. Why does she hate you so much?” She asked as the other succubi looked equally curious about what happened.
She sighed and looked down at her phone as a message from her friend Ruby popped up. “It's nothing exciting or anything. I guess it's what you'd expect from something that started in high school.”
While the other succubi had a decent idea of what the implications were, none of them had ever actually attended a high school before. “W-what do you mean?” Sarana asked quietly.
“I don't really know her closely or anything. At the start of high school she was just another person who ignored me. She was friends with Ruby and Jett, who are a couple of friends I've had for years. All of this happened without me knowing... but I guess her boyfriend broke up with her because he had a thing for me. When she talked to the twins about it she blamed me for it and tried to get back at me. This pushed them away from her... and then after that Tessa has just done whatever she could behind my back.” Elizabeth explained to them all and let out another sigh. “I didn't even know the guy and I never spoke to him, I had no clue what happened until my friends told me after. It feels so extreme... so I’ve always thought there was more to it that I don’t know still.”
“So that pissy cat brought it to university, and is all moody cuz Liz doesn't live in the dorms anymore?” Lilith growled. “Let me at heeer!”
She shook her head, and broke her sombre expression with a smile. “I appreciate the concern, but I'll be okay! It's a lot easier for me to just ignore her as much as I can.” She tried to convince them, although she wasn’t fooling anyone. “There's been so much going on today, I'm going to head to my room and unwind for a little while.”
As Elizabeth stood up, Irisyla did as well. She put down her partially eaten tub of ice cream and hurried over to her, giving her a comforting embrace. “Before you go! Thank yoooou so so much for the ice cream, Liz!” She chimed happily while squishing herself against her.
“You're welcome!” She replied through the squeezes, feeling some warmth in her chest from seeing how happy Irisyla was about receiving the treat. She could tell that sometimes the succubus wasn't always tuned in with what was going on, but she knew she was trying her best to understand.
Irisyla nodded happily and let go so that she could breathe again. She quickly plopped back into her seat after and continued shovelling ice cream into her mouth.
Elizabeth laughed quietly at her energetic nature. She lifted her head up and took that warm feeling with her as she left the lounge and went up to her room.
Watching her leave, Euryale frowned slightly at the others and shook her head. “She cannot ignore this Tessa girl forever, it won't solve anything.” She paused, laughing at herself in a sombre tone. “Though I suppose saying that makes me a bit of a hypocrite doesn't it?”
“I don't think you're a hippothing!” Irisyla quickly chimed in with her spoon in her mouth.
She laughed and turned to head out of the lounge. “I have to work this afternoon, so you have to fend for yourselves for lunch today!” She looked back at Irisyla whose face was lighting up with joy. “No Iris, eating that tub of ice cream does not count as lunch! Put the rest of it into the freezer and you can have more later.”
“Awwww!!!” Irisyla nodded dejectedly with the spoon in her mouth. After slapping the lid back onto the tub she skipped off to the kitchen.
Lilith leaned over to Sarana and giggled. “Can you tell she's already in daycare mode?” She whispered while giving her a couple nudges.
Euryale spun around, grabbing her by the shoulders and bringing her face to face. “Do NOT bother Elizabeth while she is winding down. Is that clear?”
She rolled her eyes in response and nodded. “Yeeeeah Moooom!!!” she groaned with a playful smirk.
The responsible succubus sighed and let go of her shoulders. Realizing that she was starting work soon, she gave her one last 'don't you do it' look before hurrying out of the mansion to the human world.
The moment Lilith heard the front door close, she turned back to Sarana with a mischievous smile. “Sooooo~ Liz was the girl you were talking about all this time! You can be so cute, Sara!”
Sarana blushed and gripped her skirt tightly. “I-I'm not cute! I am supposed to be getting tougher!” She failed to convince her, mostly due to her lack of eye contact.
The playful succubus took her friend by the hand and gave her a wink. “Then let's go toughen you up, shall we?~”
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Elizabeth tossed her shirt aside and plopped on top of her large, soft bed. Her room was finally decorated with her few belongings from her old dorm room including her band posters. The urge to get some other things now that she had a bigger room was strong, but she wanted to wait until she saved up the money. She stared up at her phone while sitting on her bed, and opened the message that her friend sent.
Ruby: Liiiz! We haven't heard from you in a couple days so I wanted to check up on you! Are your classes going okay? Are you adjusted with your new housemates? Gosh I'm still so happy you made some friends!!! ^w^
She smiled lightly at the message, hearing her act like a parent or older sister helped take a load off her mind. Deep down she felt guilty for becoming the wedge between the twins and Tessa, However Ruby and Jett never treated her any differently after the incident, so she tried to not let it bother her too much.
“Class went okay, I just have to get some extra notes I'm missing.” She spoke aloud to herself as she replied to her text message. Her smile brightened more, thinking about the succubi as she continued to write her message. “I'm... very happy too. I didn't think I could survive without you two, but I feel safe and warm with my new friends too.”
“Awww Liz, you're such a charmer!~” a voice chimed in from her doorway.
Elizabeth dropped her phone onto the bed as she sent the message, eyes locked at her door. Lilith and Sarana were peeking their heads in as the former giggled mischievously. She looked down at herself in her bra, becoming instantly flustered and covering herself up. “W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!?!”
She ushered Sarana inside and closed the door behind them. “I thought you two cutie patooties should totally hang out some more!”
Elizabeth lowered her arms a little and sighed. “T-that's good and all, but could you knock louder next time instead of just coming in?”
“You said you had to unwind! If you were 'unwinding' we didn't wanna disturb you!~” she replied with a sly smirk.
Both Elizabeth and Sarana's faces flared up red, the former covering her face with her hands. “Y-you thought I might be doing that and you walked in anyway?!” As she finished blurting her response out, she realized that the anxiety she felt from Tessa’s actions today was gone. The weight on her heart was lifted, even just a little bit. She slowly moved her hands away to see the two succubi sitting on either side of her. Lilith's antics were a good distraction, and having both of them present was calming. “Thank you...”
The succubi pair smiled warmly, each placing a hand on top of hers, then both giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek. “We are happy to have you here...” Sarana spoke up softly.
Elizabeth's heart was racing, but she handled the kisses better than she expected. Although she was still embarrassed as both of them had left light lipstick marks on her cheeks. “Sometimes... I get really scared thinking about everything. I could be in danger, but I trust you all to keep me safe.” As she spoke she grasped both of their hands tightly. “I know I can't do much to help right now, but I want to at least get braver so that I can stay level-headed in danger.”
“Y-you will!” Sarana quickly interjected, squeezing her hand lightly. “I mean... if I can be brave enough to help protect you, anyone can. It just might take time.”
Lilith giggled and nodded in agreement, looking at Elizabeth with sensual eyes. “I think it's time for me to help you get braver in other ways as well~” She pressed herself against her arm. “I'm gonna take you out on a date tomorrow, princess!~”
Elizabeth froze up, getting caught in the succubus' flirtatious gaze. “You want to take me out...? Why? Isn’t this really sudden?!”
“Cuz I like you, silly! Plus it'll be a good way to have you take a step out of your comfort zone. Though if you don't wanna... I won't force you.” she explained to her.
Deep down she knew the succubus was right, she needed to start taking steps forward. The nerves inside her were causing her to hesitate, but her heart raced at the proposal. This time she wouldn't back away, she wanted to listen to her heart. “Okay, I'll do it.” She answered, with a shocking amount of confidence in her voice. She wanted to take the first step in the right direction, so this opportunity was as good as any.
While at first Lilith appeared quite surprised by the answer, she quickly went back to her enticing smile and moved behind her. “Perfect, cutie~ I'll make sure you have lots of fun tomorrow, 'kay?” She told her in a sultry tone, pressing against her back and draping her arms around her neck.
Sarana blushed deeply, giving her new friend a reassuring nod to Lilith's words and giggling quietly. “I-I think the date will be good for you too! You will be safe with her for sure.”
Elizabeth immediately lost any amount of confidence she gained, almost collapsing into a pile of mush in the succubus' embrace. “Can I put my shirt back on now...?” While she wrestled away from Lilith to try and get her shirt back on, a text jingled on her phone without her noticing right away.
Ruby: My goodness!!! OwO If you feel that way, I hope you can eventually introduce us to them! Knowing you, they are probably an odd bunch aren't they?
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Elizabeth: You have no idea...
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