Chapter22: Off Ya Ear

Ren and I sped down the spiralling staircase as fast as my legs and her wings could carry us. In a sense, things went perfectly. Ren did an excellent job slipping away to look for Yusha. She managed to find the cage she was being kept in and found a way to open it (you go girl!) We managed to get Ren out of there without suffering any serious injuries (my ass hurt a bit,) and we didn't even have to kill the two Werebats guarding her!

So why did I feel like such a dick? They were nice girls (maybe a little bat shit). But there was no way I was going to spend the rest of my life in such a depressing, little shit hole. I think maybe it was because they reminded me of myself in some ways. For their entire lives they have lived up there. Having no right to come and go as they please. They don't really know anything about the outside world. And have no plans for the future (sad to say, but that's me in a nutshell.) But at least I lived on a massive property with plenty of things to keep me busy. Those two don't have that luxury. The only thing they really have is each other (lame!)

"Bain?" Yusha called back to me, "Do you think they're still chasing us?" "I don't think they even started to in the first place." I answered. Yusha came to a sudden halt, and I had just enough time to catch myself to prevent my face from crashing into her (that would have been painful for both of us!) She then spun around and gave me a rather adorable frown. "Then why the heck are we still running!?" That was a very good question. No one seemed to be following us (I couldn't hear any footsteps from above,) and running this quickly down a flight of stair was dangerous (a stumble could kill me!)

"Point taken." I sighed as I sat myself down onto one of the steps. "Let's take the time to rest and look over Yusha." Ren nodded before landing on my lap. Very carefully, I scooped an unconscious Yusha up with one hand and held her up to my good eye. She was not looking good. She was sickly and pale with bags under her eyes. The lovely water lily she was wearing had been torn in a few places and her hair (which was still in a bun) was dirty, and stuck out in a few places. Actually, scratch that last part. There was dirt all over her!

"Yusha…." I accidently said aloud. Ren heard this and flew onto my shoulder to hug me. "Don't worry big guy!" She emphasized, "Ren's still breathing! And she's a tough little cookie too!" Her words provided me some comfort. But I still couldn't help but feel a little bad for our friend. She dragged me all the way here to try and make things better for everyone. Instead, she gets her friend killed (ouch!) turns the city into a vulgar fun house (double ouch!) and gets locked up in a musical bird box (make it a triple!) With a finger, I gently wiped the grime off her face. There was no response to indicate she was aware of her surroundings. She was out cold. She was going to need medical attention and fast.

"What should we do now?" Ren asked as I pulled the hood off my cloak and wrapped Yusha up like a baby. "I'm going to take her to the infirmary." I answered calmly. "I want you to join the battle (if it's still going on) and help retake the city." Ren flew off my shoulder and folded up her arms. "Once Yusha is taken care of, will you be joining us?" I decided to be honest with her and responded with a simple "No." Ren looked a little hurt at how blunt my answer was. "This isn't really my fight." I explained quickly. "If you guys want your home back you need to fight for it. I've done my part. Now it's time to do yours."

You can call me a selfish cunt if you want (I probably am in some ways.) Sure, a few Imps wouldn't pose a serious threat to me. But that's not the point. These guys need to understand that they can do things on their own. Their small and childish. So what? Everyone is in their own way! It might be just my inner child talking right now. But these guys could do anything if they believed in themselves a little more. "Yeah…" Ren pondered for a moment. Before raising a little fist into the air and saying more confidently "Yeah! I can do this!" And before I could even blink, she was gone. "well, I'm glad that's been settled!" I declared to no one. With Yusha in my hands and my bow hung over my shoulder I continued my way (much more slowly) down the stairs.

By the time I had reached the main floor, the battle inside the castle had pretty much concluded. Fairies and Pixies were rounding up Imps who had surrendered and were putting them inside these strange, transparent orbs. They appeared to be light and pellucid from the outside which made it easy for them to be moved around, but solid enough on the inside to make it impossible for the little Imps to break out of. And it brought me some piece of mind to see no one was seriously injured.

I sped down the corridors and eventually found the door with a sign saying 'Infirmary' nailed onto it. I opened the door and walked inside. Only for the door to suddenly slam shut behind me. The force made by the doors momentum produced a strong gust of wind powerful enough to extinguish all the candles in the room. And for the second time tonight I found myself alone in the dark. The funny thing is. I wasn't the first one to panic.

Only a moment had passed before I found myself in the tight embrace of an unknown woman who was crying out in a very high-pitched voice "What!? Who turned out the lights!? I'm scared of the dark! Someone help meeee!" "Mmmffffppp!Ooommmaaaffff!" I couldn't really say anything because this girl had her….things in my face! "Huh? What did you say?" I managed to pull my face out of her soft parts to scream out "I said get off me and I'll light a candle!" I wasn't really pissed off about the physical contact (she felt quite nice actually.) I was worried I might drop Yusha and accidently stepped on her. "Oh….Ok!"

I searched my cloak clumsily with one hand and thanked the Chief God that some of my flint stones were still inside one of my pockets. I carefully made my way through the room and placed Yusha onto one of the beds. I burnt my hand on some wax in my search for one of the candles and after a few flicks, I was able to light it up again. with the candlestick now in my hands, I could see the stranger was a….very strange person. She was quite tall. At least six-foot-tall and a little on the skinny side. She had pale skin. A fair face. Long, white hair. And eyes that shone bright red in the candle light. She wore nothing but a simple, white gown made from silk. It was also transparent….and she was a very developed lass. "Who the heck are you!?" I asked uneasily, "And what was all that about!?"

The woman quickly regained her composure and leaped forward with a great "Ha-ha!" Only to fall over and land on her face. "Ouchy!" I felt a little bad for her and offered her a hand. When she was back on her feet, she began to rub her massive breasts. "Ow, my boobies hurt!" She whined loudly. I couldn't help but smile at the stupidity of it all. "You should be more careful when walking around in dark rooms." I suggested with a little sarcasm. Her reaction was not what I was expecting. She slumped back down onto the floor with a defeated look on her face. She muttered "Yeah….I suck at this." And then burst into tears (way to go Bain! Way to go!)

I didn't really know what to do in that situation. I looked around desperately for something to calm her down. There were chairs ( useless.) Some beds (she might get the wrong idea.) A few lollypops (perfect!) Some banda….lollypops! "Umm….would you like a lollypop? I offered gently. "A lollypop?" She whimpered "I love lollypops." She sucked on a strawberry flavoured lollypop (it's her favourite flavour) for a few minutes before jumping back to her feet again. "Ah! That's better!" She declared happily. She then returned her attention to me and her face went blank. "…..Oh….yeah….right."

In a split second she was looming over me with a funny scowl on her face "Mortal!" She shouted dramatically "You stand in the presence of I! Freyja! Seventh daughter of the Demon Lord! And Empress of the Mamonon Empire!" She then reached her arm out and held it over my head menacingly. "You are the one my servants speak of, yes? The leader of this rebellion!? The One-eyed swordsman!?" I went into shock. All I could do was stand there with my mouth gaping wide open.

She was (of all fucking things!) a Lilim. Only nine of them are known to exist. But they are powerful. Very powerful! So powerful, they are able to enslave noble, law abiding men with looks alone (so, why aren't we going crazy?) Most of them serve their demonic mother in her quest to fill the world with sex loving monsters. Others, have created their own little dimensions to rule independently. It would not be an exaggeration to say that these monsters have powers that would rival a god! And there is one right in fucking front of me! A clumsy, goofy one at that! But a Lilim none the less!

Neither of us did anything for a while. We just stood there….staring at each other awkwardly. Gradually, Freyja's angry scowl was replaced with a nervous smile. "Ummm…. Are you ok?" She asked timidly. "Yeah….I'm ok…I think." I managed to force out. "So, are you?" She pressed. I quickly realized freaking out wasn't going to make things any better. So I decided to ease the tension in the air the only way I knew how. With a bad joke. I placed my hands on hips and put on a painful grin. "Well, I'm more of an archer than a swordsman." I answered with a small chuckle. It was lame, I know. But it was better than nothing (father would have been proud!)

Freyja placed a hand over her mouth and gasped. "I'm sorry! My servants said you were a swordsman!" (I don't think she got the joke.) "I did….use a sword….to fight Fidelis…." Freyja jumped into the air (jiggle jiggle) and squealed with excitement. "Really!? That's so cool! Did you win!?" I pointed a finger to my eyepatch and flashed her another smile "You tell me." (Two times the charm.) Freyja jumped back and almost broke into tears again. "That's horrible! Are you ok!?" (Ok, no more jokes Bain.) I threw my hands up in surrender. "Y-yeah, I'm fine! I was just joking around!" Freyja tilted her head in confusion. "….Huh?" "I didn't actually lose my eye during the duel." I tried to explain to her in a calm voice. "….Oh….oh! Ahahahaha! Your funny!" For a moment there, I thought I had (finally) succeeded in calming things down. But then she walked up to me and reached for my fracking eyepatch! "So that means you still….have….both….KYAAAAA!"

It took a few more minutes to calm her down again (the process required a dozen apologies and another fracking lollypop!)