At long last, I can finally unveil this monster of a project I've been working on for the past four or six months. This is probably going to be where I focus most of my efforts, for real this time. I've put a lot of planning into this whole thing, so I hope it doesn't wind up going to waste :') Well, without further ado, go on and check it out. I'll be at the bottom to explain a couple things.
Disclaimers: I in no way shape or form own Vocaloid. All rights go to their official creators, so don't sue me please. I also do not own the art used in the cover. Word Count: 3,035
~START~
The chilly afternoon air nipped at Anon's skin as she pulled her simple white jacket taut around her body, wincing as the derelict brick wall behind her dug through the fabric of her clothes. She stared nervously into the growing darkness of the alleyway, where the slow, calculated sound of footsteps drew closer. Anon dropped her gaze to the ground as a low rumbling laugh echoed off of the shaby rundown walls of the alley.
A sharp gasp escaped her as claw like fingers appeared at her neck, tilting her chin up to face the glowing red eyes of her pursuer. She held her breath as the demon, who she recognized to be of the dragon species, flashed a toothy smile at her. They chuckled.
"Well, well, what have we here?" The Dragon sneered. "Looks like a little Succubus wandered a bit too far from the brothel, ay, Len? Heh… What do you say we do with her?"
"Ne~ That's a bit obvious Fukase, don't you think?" Anon shuddered as a young looking Vampire shoved his way into her line of sight, his catlike eyes seeming to roam over Anon's body with what could only be described as predatory lust. He nodded to himself, seemingly content with his observations, before the dragon, Fukase, shouldered his way back into view.
He shot an amused look at his partner. "Now now, Lenny. I'm the one who trapped it, so I get to go first."
"What?! That's no fair! You always go first!" Len whined, shoving at the Dragons shoulder before turning his attention to the pinned Succubus. "Ne, ne, what do you think? Fuka's being completely unfair right?"
"I-... N-No… You can't-!"
"Don't be childish, Len." Fukase cut in. "It doesn't care who goes first. The little scamp probably wants us both, now that I think about it."
"No… Please… P-Please let me go." Anon murmured, wincing as Fukase's sharp fingernails sunk into her skin. "I'm not… Not from any b-brothels…"
The Dragon scoffed, dragging his claws down the succubus' throat, watching the thin trails of blood that bubbled to the surface. His piercing red eyes met with alarmed emerald orbs, and he sneered.
"Well would you look at that. A Succubus that denies her ethnicity. Heh." Fukase withdrew his hand, turning his gaze to Len. "Well don't just stand there, grab its tail. Hold it down or it'll give us trouble later."
Anon locked up. "Please don't-...!"
"Please don't." Len mimicked in a sickeningly high voice, his hand shooting forward to rip the Succubi's tail from where it wrapped loosely around her waist. "Ne, you're a strange one alright."
The apricot haired demon whimpered as the sensitive appendage was gripped tightly. She lifted her hands to cover her face, her body seeming to buckle under its own weight. There wasn't anything she could do. Not against a Dragon… Not against a Vampire. She was doomed.
'I should have waited for Kanon!' She wailed internally. 'She… No… Could this, have even been avoided?'
"Ne, ne, she's crying Fuka. What now?" Len asked casually, holding up the pointed tail he still held in his grasp.
Fukase hummed false heartedly. His red irises bored into the shaking form of his prey as he looked her over once more. She was unlike any Succubus he'd met before, granted, he'd met very few in his lifetime. Even her appearance was quite curious… Weren't demons like her supposed to jump at the prospect of sex?
Why was she cowering at the very thought?
He wasn't allowed the time to chase these thoughts any further, as the sound of velvety black wings beating the chill noon air broke through the tense silence. He shifted his gaze to the sky, where the unmistakable form of a winged demon hovered just overhead, and narrowed his eyes. The winged demon was drawing close. It seemed to be examining the scene, before swiftly swooping in lower to land a little ways off from the trio.
"Bonsoir, frère~" It greeted cheerfully, though, it's voice didn't match its expression. "So this is where you ran off to, ay, Fufu? It took me quite some time to hunt ya down, you know."
Fukase sighed, turning to face the newcomer. He motioned for Len to release their hostage before stepping forwards to met the demon as it stalked closer. His gaze locked with the intense red orbs of his sibling, and he halted.
"To what do we owe the please, ma sœur?" Fukase remarked, putting his limited French vocabulary to use. "Come to ruin our fun again?"
His sister chuckled dryly. "Non, not this time. I was simply sent to retrieve you. Our dear mother would like a word with you."
"Is that so?"
"Oui."
Fukase blinked up at his sister, before sighing. He turned his head to his partner, who still stood obediently by the confused Succubus, and waved him over. The blonde wasted no time in bounding to the redheads side with a smile. The Dragon cast one last glance at his sibling before wrapping one arm around Len's waist and unfurling his wings, taking two experimental beats before taking off into the orange tinted skies above.
Anon watched them go from her defensive position on the dirty alleyway floor. She let out a shaky sigh of relief once they disappeared past the tall building walls and tenderly reached out to draw her long tail back to her. She would feel a lot more secure with it wrapped tightly around her midriff. Where it belonged.
But all that was thrown out of her mind as the dull thumping of heeled boots reached her ears. She jerked her head up in surprise to see the strange newcomer walking towards her with an eerie expression of familiarity. As if they knew each other from somewhere. But Anon knew that wasn't the case.
She'd never seen a Dragon up close before now… So surley, that Dragoness only recognized her race… And she was going to try and finish what her sibling had started.
With that in mind, Anon scrambled to her feet, clutching her tail like a knife as she gestured with it threateningly at the approaching demon, which actually seemed to stop it in its tracks, if only for a second.
"Comme c'est étrange…" It muttered.
Anon tensed, gripping her only weapon like a lifeline. She wasn't familiar with the language this Dragon kept slipping into, but however nice it may have sounded, she wouldn't put it past a demon like her to have been speaking down to her this whole time. That's what all the high class demons did, after all.
This one would be no different.
'This is my last chance to get away…' The thought was burned into her mind as she lowered herself into a more offensive stance. 'I need to get past her. If I can do that then… I can go home.'
She nodded hesitantly to herself, before preparing to lash out at the Dragoness. It had stopped walking, but it's piercing red gaze still lingered on her body. And Anon could almost feel the predatory hunger that lay just behind the winged demons irises. She shuddered under its gaze.
The Dragoness tilted its head, and she tensed, ready to strike.
"La bonté, my brother really fucked you up, didn't he? Metaphorically speaking, of course."
Anon nearly stumbled over herself at that. She shot the other demon an exasperated look, which only made the redhead smirk.
"Mmmhm… You're a little out of it I'd say." The Dragoness tittered. "It'll take more than just your… What would you call that? Natural defense? … Mm, no matter. Point is, you're not going to beat me with that."
"Says y-you." Anon whispered back, her tail quivering with adrenaline.
Her odds of beating a Dragon in a fight were slim to nothing. But if she could distract it for just a little while… Then maybe she could slip past it. Maybe she could outsmart it, and live to see her sister again….
It was now or never.
The Succubus exhaled sharply, before kicking off the ground with as much energy as she could muster. Her sudden jerky movement seemed to catched the red eyed demon off guard for a split second, but that was all the time Anon needed to launch her attack.
She released her tail, digging her right heel into the ground and pivoting hard to the left. For the briefest of moments, she feared her ankle would snap, but that was all quickly pushed to the back of her mind once the pained yelp of the Dragoness reached her ears. Her tail had nicked the area under the demons right eye, carried by the momentum of that sudden turn.
Her plan had worked!
But she had no time to dwell on that. She took off towards the alleyway entrance, the light of the nearly deserted market streets acting as a motivator that pushed Anon to move even faster. She was almost safe!
Just a little farther to go and…-
A scream was ripped from her throat, just like the ground had been from under her feet as the fierce sound of wings tearing through the air filled the sky for the third time that evening. It was deafening, though she couldn't tell you if it were her shrieks of terror or the rhythmic beating of the dragoness' wings.
She struggled wildly to find something to hold onto as they ascended higher into the air, half afraid the demon would just drop her, and half afraid the demon wouldn't. The Succubus ended up wrapping her tail around the redheads leg and her arms around the demons shoulders once she'd managed to turn herself. And she could swear she heard the demon laughing at her all the while.
"Having fun there?" The winged demon asked simply, halting their assent to wait for a reply.
"P-Put me down!" Anon cried back. "On the g-ground! P-Please!"
She chuckled. "You sure about that beau? If I put you down now, you'd surely die."
"I don't care! Just stop touching me!"
The red eyed demon paused, glancing down at the struggling succubus in her arms, before gliding back down towards the roof of one of the buildings that bordered the alleyway. She dropped the apricot haired girl carefully onto the worn cement roof before landing next to her with an obvious frown.
"Well someone's a little haphephobic." Her frown deepened. "Was that too forward of me?"
Anon only shuffled away, ignoring the question in favor of straightening out her sarong skirt. Today was just not her day.
First she had woken up late and skipped out on breakfast, then she had foolishly decided to cram all her morning chores into the afternoon and gotten cornered by two higher up demons while shopping, and now she was dealing with yet another high class dragon with a cute accent and no understanding of what personal space meant. And then she had the gall to sound apologetic about it all afterwards! How infuriating…
What was the point of feigning guilt to someone you considered to be beneath you anyway?
"Did I hurt you…?"
Anon bit the inside of her cheek. "No. Just leave me alone."
"Je suis désolé… I didn't mean to offend you."
"It's fine. Really." Anon muttered, slowly edging further and further from the demon. "I just… Have to go now."
"Is someone expecting you?" Came the ever persistent sqeakish voice of the Dragon. "Can I at least get your name before you go?"
"... No."
"Oh come on~ I'll tell you mine! Je M'appelle Cul! Comment vous appelez-vous?" The Dragon, Cul, shouted after her.
Anon kept walking, her tail dragging along limply behind her. She didn't want to turn around to pick it up. She didn't want to see that demon anymore.
"I'm going to pick you up again if you keep ignoring me!" Cul didn't seem to get the hint, appearing to pout before a sly smirk crossed her face. "Actually… You're really cute when you're angry. Tout à fait."
"Flattery will get you nowhere." The Succubus called back. "You'd have better luck down at the brothel in the next town over."
Cul snorted. "The next town is three hour trip from here. Besides, why would I waste my time with that when I have a perfectly enticing succubus right here?"
"Funny, I thought you upper class demons had higher standards." Anon stopped walking, her head turned slightly to the right as if to peek over her shoulder. "You can do better-"
"Ha~! As if. You completely outsmarted me earlier, ma chérie. Had you pulled that on Fufu and LenLen, you'd have gotten away for sure." The Dragoness sighed contently. "It really got my blood pumping, you know? You've got wits and a cute visage, quite a bargain if you ask me."
"Well, yeah. It's not easy being a… A sex object…You know." She seemed to wince at her choice own choice of words. " I had to learn to defend myself at a young age… Me and my sister both…"
Cul nodded slowly, taking note of how Anon's eyes seemed to dim at the mention of being a 'sex object'. She crossed her arms with a pensive expression, before quickly closing the distance between them all within a couple strides. She stopped just short of where the tip of the demons tail lay.
With a smile, she leaned closer to the Succubus, who still had her back to the Dragon, before asking her next question. "Where is your sister now? If you don't mind me asking."
"Still alive and working out in the garden, which I really need to get back to." Anon replied simply.
"I take it that's your main source of income then? Farming?" The Dragoness inched forward slowly. "Must be hard for you."
Anon huffed, finally turning to push Cul away with a delicately kept fingernail. "I know where this is going, and no, I will not sleep with you for money. Go to the brothel if you're so desperate."
"But I can make you feel goood~! Annd pay you twice as much as you'll ever make on a ragged old farm anyday!" Cul whined.
"I doubt that. Goodbye, Cul."
With that said, the succubus turned her back to the dragon. But before she could take even one step forward, she felt a clawed hand wrap around her wrist. She shot an unamused stare over her shoulder only to falter slightly at the vexed glare that stared back.
"You really are a strange one, ma biche." The Dragoness stated flatly. "Let's try this again."
Anon let out an exasperated sigh. "Nothing you say is go-"
"My name is Cul Aria, first born child of the King and Queen of the Dragons Palace and heir to the throne. Nice to meet you, anonymous." She winked, her earlier scowl melting seamlessly into a charmed smile. "Now, would you kindly accompany me to my chambers tonight? I'll be sure to send you off with a generous tip afterwards~"
Anon shifted out of Cul's hold, casting a skeptical glance at her. "You… You're messing with me, right?"
"I assure you I'm not." Cul pouted, before gesturing to a blood red crest that marked a large portion of her left hip. She tapped it a couple of times with a sharp fingernail and grinned. "See this? It's the mark of my bloodline. Every Aria has one uniquely fitted to each member, so it's hard to replicate."
The Succubus eyed her suspiciously. "If what you're saying is true… Then what do you need me for? Surely you have servants back at your castle who would gladly drop whatever they're doing to… Um, spend the night with you."
"Mm, true as that may be… I'm looking for something more… Exotic, if you would." The Dragoness smirked, her hands reaching out to lightly rest against the sides of Anon's face. She chuckled softly when the taller demon flinched away.
"L-Look, I get what you're trying to say. But I'm not like that, okay? And I really have to get back home now, or else my sister will start to worry." Anon forced a smile. "It was nice meeting you, Cul."
"Aw, leaving so soon?" Cul cooed softly, trailing her hands from where they rested on the others face, down to the smooth exposed skin on Anon's neck. Her eyes flashed with fervor. "I don't think your sister would be too upset if you returned home later with a little… Extra wealth."
Anon narrowed her eyes with the beginnings of a miffed expression crossing her features. "And by that you mean, what? 500 bi-"
"5,000 bits."
A flicker of amusement shot through the red haired Dragons eyes as the Succubi's mouth fell open with a startled gasp. No words came from the demons mouth, but the blooming conflict was evident in her reflective irises.
"5-5,000 bits…?" She echoed slowly. And Cul noted the disbelieving tone it carried. "You're kidding."
"Now what would I gain from that?" The redhead chuckled. This Succubus was as good as hers.
Anon opened her mouth, only to shut it, and open it again moments later. Her brow creased as she seemed to roll the idea around in her head for a couple seconds longer. Cul found herself leaning forward in anticipation, despite already having a pretty good idea of what her answer would be.
"I…" Anon paused, stopping to rethink. "A-Are you sure… Are you sure I'm the one you want…?"
The Dragoness had to fight back the urge to break composure and hug the life out of the other demon for sounding so adorably unsure of herself. But she could do that later. She'd waited three months for this, what was another couple hours?
"Bien sûr. I'd love to have you." The words rolled off her tounge like a knife through fog. "I'll treat you nicely, rest assured, and I'll even pay you up front, just in case you were worried about being swindled."
Reaching her hand out with a natural smile to accompany it, Cul stared at the blonde through half hooded eyes. "Just tell me your name, and we have a deal."
The Succubus hesitated, before placing her hand into the open palm of the Dragons. With a slightly shaky breath, she sealed the agreement.
"My name… Is Anon."
~END CHAPTER~
Ah yes, this chapter took a lot longer then I thought it would to complete. Hopefully the second chapter won't be quite as long. Eh heh, no promises though. But I suppose I should answer some basic questions you may have and a little bit more. Okay, so first things first.Will there be any form of 'citrus' in this story? Well, yes, assuming you're referring to sex and not the anime/manga. But I will put a warning at the start of the chapter just to warn anyone who wants to avoid that kind of stuff.What is the main conflict/goal of this story? To be perfectly honest, there isn't one. Sure, issues will pop up, but this is more of a slice of life/drama type of story then anything else. There will be moments of 'spice' but ultimately I plan for this to be a slow burn romance with a couple twists and turns.Why is Cul speaking French? This ones more of a headcanon of mine than anything else. It comes from the fact Cul's name means something very unfortunate in French. Yes, I will translate anything she says at the end of the chapter, but keep in mind it might not be 100% accurate since I myself speak limited French and am relying on things such as the dreaded Google Translate and other such websites (like one specifically for French pet names). I think any further questions/answers might be stepping into spoiler territory, so I'll leave you all with that. Now all that's left are the translations. Ack, Cul you're killing me. Keep in mind they may not be completely accurate. Bonsoir, frère - Good evening, brother. Ma sœur - My sister. Non - No. Oui - Yes. Comme c'est étrange - How strange. La bonté - Goodness. Beau - Beautiful. Je suis désolé - I am/I'm sorry. Je M'appelle Cul! Comment vous appelez-vous - My name is Cul! What is your name? Tout à fait - Very much so. Ma chérie - My darling. Ma biche - My doe. (This will be Cul's go to pet name if you're wondering.) Bien sûr - Of course. That's a lot of French- Uh. Hopefully you all won't have to wait long for the next update. I'll try to be quick about getting the next chapter finished. It'll certainly be... A step out of my comfort zone to say the least. Well, till next time. Farewell.