Lolisa's Turn
"I still think you'll be better served using your natural look than going for the sex on legs approach," 'Beth' my superior at our shop and now fashion advisor recommended.
"Maybe," I conceded, eyeing myself critically in the mirror, checking to see if my curves looked right from every angle. "It's our go to form for a reason though, and as far as we know he's a typical 18 year old boy. He can't be that different from the young adventurers here."
"If you were planning to do a dream service, certainly. But remember your goal. Approaching him in the real world and trying to earn his trust in that form might only scare him off. Especially at his age. We of all people have to know that what men want in their fantasies isn't always the same as in reality."
Humming agreement, I canceled the changes to my form and felt the extra height and 'padding' fade away as I returned to my natural petite look. "Just as well I guess, I was NOT looking forward to relearning how to walk with that much difference in height and center of gravity," I admitted glumly. I'd tried the 'classic succubus' look on for size before, all of us had at least once, and it had been a nightmare. After dropping more cups and plates than I could count, knocking perfectly reachable things off shelves, and even in bare feet walking around feeling like I was on stilts and afraid I'd tip over any moment, I'd finally given it up after a week. The less said about what it had done to my flying the better.
"You likely wouldn't have had time to either," my mentor succubus Beth cautioned. "I understand this is a rush project, I wouldn't count on having any time to spare at all."
I turned to her, finding a more 'classic' looking succubus than I'd been even with the enhancements I'd tried. Our forms only stretched so far after all. "I hadn't heard that."
"No one said it in so many words, but I got the impression that the Court wants you on your way at the earliest practical moment. With Wolbach and now Hans gone…" she trailed off, not able to finish the terrible thought.
"In that case, best go with my town look since I'm used to it the most outside this one." With that, I made the changes, familiar from long practice. With just a bit of extra height, a little additional padding around the bust, butt, and hips, and my face mostly the same except for the eye color, I went from an annoyingly young looking build to something that could pass for a girl in her late teens, if a bit on the shorter and slighter side of average. Small favors, it wasn't nearly as much extra energy to maintain either, since the changes were minor.
"That should work," Beth agreed. "Cute, friendly, and approachable. Here, I've got something that shouldn't stand out too much based on what Seresdina reported." She handed me a cream-colored sleeveless blouse to go with the wraparound dark green skirt I'd already picked out. In my first form it would've been almost a miniskirt, but for this one fell just above the knee.
"Right, wings," I reminded myself after tucking my tail in under the skirt and buttoning everything up. A quick illusion removed them from sight leaving my usual short hair behind.
"Keeping your hair color the same? That off white doesn't seem to be common over there." Beth asked, handing me a pair of new low heeled black leather shoes, matching the outfit while not being too difficult to run in if needed.
"It might get his attention, it shouldn't hurt anything to look a little exotic. If only we knew more about him, I feel like we're just guessing here. So, anything I've forgotten? Or forever hold your peace!" I gave a quick twirl for inspection before I locked the new form in place. Losing hold on your form was not only super embarrassing for both parties, it was totally unprofessional.
"You're not wrong about that, either one. No, I think you're as ready as you can be." She stood, and drew me into a quick hug. "Good luck, on the other side and in the Castle. I know they picked you for having the most friendly connections in the human world. But our clients are going to hate losing one of our best, and so will I."
"Maybe, but I still can't believe they picked me over someone like you or Zel," I admitted. "I can't have been anyone's first choice."
"You weren't," Beth replied evenly. No surprise or not, it hurt to have it confirmed that baldly…
"Nobody picked you as their top choice for the mission," she continued. "But you were near the top on almost everyone's list. And with as little as we know about this man we need someone who is very good at appealing to a wide range of tastes, not one who is excellent with a single group. You specialize as a generalist."
Huh. That was an odd kind of compliment, but I'd take it. "Well, in that case maybe Carla will finally have a chance to catch up and start pulling her weight." I suggested with a cheeky grin.
"I'll believe it when I see it. Be off with you."
I met the mage teleporting me to the Royal Castle just outside of town, a human this time, not that that was terribly unusual. I'd only been to the Demon King's stronghold once myself, when I first came to the human world almost twenty years ago before journeying to Axel. But other succubi had mentioned it never seemed to be the same wizard twice of whatever race, and never less than one other wizard with them. Maybe they were making sure as many as possible had a marker here?
Not my problem either way. He greeted me with a small nod and immediately began chanting the Teleport spell, whisking myself and two others away.
Beth's instincts turned out to be right on the money, I was due to leave the very next morning once the ritual was fully powered up.
After a sleepless night in a guest room that was bigger than most of the shop back in Axel, and had furnishings worth more than all of us put together, I stepped into the ritual circle in the castle archery practice yard after the orc castellan came to fetch me.
It was…incredible.
Not just because both His Majesty and Her Highness were both present to supply the veil transfer. Though for a low ranking demon like a succubus that alone would be a once in a lifetime event, even one of our lifetimes.
But the sheer power that saturated the air around the glyphs, making the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention like the instant before a lightning bolt struck. And I wasn't even all that close to the royals given the size of the array. What it must be like to be standing beside either one of them I can't even begin to describe.
Greetings not really being possible, I curtseyed from my place in the center to both of them, and waited.
I stood for what seemed like an hour with my nerves getting scraped rawer by the minute standing in the middle of so much concentrated mystic force. Then, without warning, the glowing brightened to a searing white and I was gone.
When I opened my eyes again, it was at least late afternoon, maybe early evening, and I was standing in a deserted lot with grass tickling around my ankles.
Well, so far so good.
I'd been told I'd be dropped in near where the, client I suppose, should be and as I stepped over some broken glass bottles and onto the amazingly smooth (stone?) sidewalk near the street. I saw a gaggle of children about my own apparent age coming closer. They were exiting through a gate further down the street and dressed in black jackets and pants or a similar color skirt and vest depending. Chatting and sometimes laughing, like I'd seen the adventurers of Axel do hundreds of times over the years. It seemed like Jiro hadn't arrived home yet, so no convenient name tag on the door telling me I'd found him.
And here I hit my first snag.
I'd gotten a description of Jiro Sato and a sketch of Kazuma's face for comparison's sake, so I had an idea of his likeness. Apparently he also wore eyeglasses, which were very rare in Belzerg, so finding him seemed perfectly simple.
Here on the other hand, it seemed like every fourth boy in the whole group matched a description of 'black hair and eyes, wears glasses, about 165cm tall'.
Maybe not that bad, but way too many to just randomly go up and ask them their names without looking bizarre.
I really wasn't supposed to talk to any other natives if I could help it to avoid attention, but so be it. I walked up to a group of girls with my best friendly smile and asked if they'd seen Jiro Sato.
"Who? Is he even in our class? What year is he? Do you know what room he's in? "
What kind of school was so big you don't even know each other?!
"He's about to graduate," I replied, hoping for the best.
"Oh we don't know many third years, we're all in second. You should try them," the leader of the group pointed out another cluster further behind them. "Good luck with your date!" she cheered after I thanked them, and I smiled and waved back.
The second snag was that even among the right year, the students were split among eight different rooms. What kind of school even had that many rooms at all?! How many hundreds of children were even in there?
Over two hundred in his year alone, I found out over the next half hour, my feet getting steadily more chafed against the brand new, not at all broken in shoes Beth had foolishly given me and I'd idiotically accepted. I don't even wear shoes outside of walking to Erisday market or a quick errand. We fly to all our clients, like civilized beings.
Finally, I found somebody who admitted to knowing the right Jiro Sato, it seemed there were two, and thank all the Denizens he was walking by himself after splitting off from another boy he'd been with when I'd first spotted him.
Right, showtime.
Forgetting the blister I'm pretty sure just popped on my left heel, ignoring the raw spot on the ball of that same foot, and treating with complete disdain the pinching somehow between my big and middle toes from walking up and down this street canvassing students, I approached my new client with the brightest smile I could muster.
"Hi! Jiro Sato? I'm Lolisa, I…"
For the first time ever, the blood drained from a man's face on catching sight of me, and he looked like I'd brandished a sword at him.
"I don't know anything about what Kazuma did. He hasn't been here in months. Whoever sent you, tell them we have nothing to do with it," he rapid fire answered while backing away from me.
"Um, I'm not sure what you mean, I'm here to talk to you…" I replied hesitantly, taking another step closer.
"Save it. I don't know what he's gotten himself into, and I don't want to know. His mess, he can clean it up." With that he backed away further, keeping a wary eye on me.
"Wait!" I cried, and started after him, only for Jiro to break into a sprint up the street. A pretty good sprint too, unfortunately for me.
"Damnation!" I snarled, watching him for a moment then running into an alley, all thoughts of terrible footwear forgotten.
Succubi have hunted men for centuries, even if the game is a lot friendlier now than it used to be. I'd stand thrice shamed before my sisters if I let one get away now. Deciding I was discreet enough, I leaped to the roof of the two story building with a quick flutter of wings, and started skimming the rooftops the same direction Jiro had gone.
He was quick for a human, especially a Level 1. But he couldn't move like I could going rooftop to rooftop, and he made a ripple in the crowd as he passed at a run. Even low level demons like me don't see with just our eyes. The, call it the color of his soul even if that's like trying to explain music to a deaf person, let me stay on him. Even after Jiro turned a corner and slowed to a walk, taking off his black jacket while trying to blend into the crowd. After another half block, he quickly looked around before entering a busy looking cafe.
I fluttered to a building crosswise from it where I could see where the alley between it and another building let out, but he didn't try to pass through. Assuming he must still be inside, I leapt to the ground with a final pulse of wings and recast the illusion. Then I straightened my clothes and pushed through the glass door, spotting Jiro in the back corner where he could see the front door and be near the door to the back. Smart kid.
I slid into the bench across from him and leaned across the table, grabbing his wrist in the same motion to keep him from bolting again.
"Listen. I'm not here to hurt you, or Kazuma. I'm here to seek your help. All I ask is that you listen to me, and then if you want to leave then you're free to go. Please."
I almost thought we'd have another foot race, and I had no idea what I'd have had to do then. The realm, and I, was deep into 'failure is not an option' territory. But he gave a reluctant nod.
I released his wrist, folding my hands in my lap. The server must have been watching for someone to show up, he came over and asked if I wanted anything almost immediately, so I just asked for water. No clue what sort of food they had here, and I couldn't exactly read the menu.
"Right," he sighed. "Let's start with how you even found me and got through the door without my noticing. And believe me I was watching it."
"Easy, magic." I replied. That much should've been obvious.
"I saw Kazuma and Iris pull some crazy ritual thing when they left, so I'm not saying that's impossible or anything. But there were glowing lines, and strange writing, and all kinds of stuff going on and I didn't see any of that either."
"There's more to magic than just the big flashy stuff, no matter what certain so-called wizards might tell you. All I had to do was cast a spell that makes me, not invisible, just look unimportant. It won't work on a recording or anything, and with training you can break past it. But for a casual walk around town without getting attention it's perfect. Some of my sisters use it to avoid being hit on," I giggled.
"But I think what you really wanted to know is what I actually am," I continued, "You've got good eyes. You keep looking at my hair like you're sure something else is there, and you're right. I don't want to drop my illusion here in the open, but…" I got up and walked around to his side of the booth, sliding in and bumping him over with one hip as I did.
"Here," I leaned forward and reached across the table to grab my water, and as I did my skirt rustled. As I sat back, my tail slipped out the back where it wrapped around and overlapped, working its way free before draping itself across his knees where the table and my body hid it from the rest of the cafe.
Spade, or maybe heart shaped, on the end. Black and about as thick as my thumb at the narrowest point before it flared back out, and gradually getting thicker as it got closer to my waist.
"You can touch it if you want to, as much as you like. Just…be gentle with me?" I asked in a soft voice, looking up at him through my eyelashes shyly while leaning close, pressing against his arm.
Jiro jumped in his seat like I'd zapped him with static, and I leaned away giggling. "Sorry, I couldn't resist teasing you. You can touch it if you want, but please be careful. It's part of my spine after all."
Grumbling, he took me up on that. Most people expected it to be scaly, or maybe just plain skin, but it really had more of a velvety texture than anything from being covered in really short, fine hairs.
"So, where were we?" he prompted after a moment, visibly pulling himself away but leaving my tail draped across his knees.
"Your brother is about to be guilty of a massacre," I answered plainly, "And I'm praying you can stop him."
Jiro's turn
Kazuma was always the smart one between the two of us, when he could be bothered to try. And he'd always had a bit of a canny, paranoid streak, not to mention the luck of a devil. Once I learned about probability in school, I did a quick check to see what the odds were he'd win all the games of rock paper scissors or whatever we'd played as kids. Just going by the ones I could remember off the top of my head at the time, the chances were over 1000:1 against. It was hard to think he'd get taken in by a line of bullshit and be drafted into..that.
But.
I'd met the woman he was with, Iris. She'd looked tough as nails, but she'd been a total snack too. And if there was one weakness Kazuma had always had, it was pretty girls who acted into him. It wouldn't be the first time a girl had blindsided him either. If she pitched it the right way, made it sound like he'd be fighting the good fight and saving the land like something out of an RPG, then maybe…
"Ok, fine. Lay it on me. What's Kazuma got himself into, and why am I getting called in to clean it up?"
The 'girl' beside me firmed her expression, straightening up from where she'd been resting her chin on one hand while half turned towards me, and did.
"As I said, among outsiders I'm called Lolisa, and I hail from the same world that Kazuma went to, though I'm on the other side," she began in a soft, but clear voice just over the background noise of the cafe.
They call us the Demon King's Army, and I suppose that's as good a name as any. There's more than demons among us though. Humans, animal folk, all sorts of people have called his domain home ever since we arrived from our exile.
You see, they call us invaders too, and they're maybe not wrong about that either. We lost a war on another continent in our world, and had to run with whatever we could get out with before the hammer fell. About two centuries ago, we made landfall on the north coast of the continent ruled by Belzerg, Lugunica, Yurgenshcmidt, Brydle, and at the time Elroad. The land there was mostly uninhabited, probably because nobody wanted it badly enough to bother taking it from the monsters that called it home, but it was better than life at sea so we took our chances.
At first, we lived in places nobody wanted, and so nobody cared. But as the years went by and we scraped out a place for ourselves, we started expanding further south, getting closer and closer to lands that they did care about. Sooner or later, something had to give, and when a border conflict escalated because neither side could afford to back down, it came to war.
This was all before my time in that world, but in the aftermath of the first battles we built a mighty fortress. Guarded by seven barriers astride the best invasion route into our lands, we made it our castle and capital. The barriers were powered by his generals, the finest wizards, warriors, and clerics we had to offer. Ever since then, we've improved and expanded it, and it's stood guard against invasion, until now.
Your brother has in the space of under a year killed or removed three of our generals, more than we've lost in the two decades before. Worse, he and Queen Iris of Belzerg are already building an army. If the last of the barriers fall, the route will be open, and the years of on and off war have hollowed us out. 'Purge the Demons, destroy the Demon King' has been the kingdom's rallying cry for generations, and if that army breaks past our frontier fortresses there will be absolutely nothing stopping it from pushing any of us that survive right back into the sea.
I can't, won't, let that happen to my people again. You know your brother inside and out, and more importantly you're probably the only person outside Belzerg that he trusts, that might even have a hope of making him listen before it's too late. Knowing that, the Demon King himself gave me his leave to offer whatever I must to convince you.
Money? We're far from poor even now. Power? You would have a place at court and the ear of the King himself. Women? Races from across our continent and others call our land home, and a hero who saved us in our darkest hour would have no shortage of admirers.
Most importantly, you love your brother, and I know you don't want him to be party to an atrocity. Just as we don't want to go back to being shattered, homeless vagabonds after so long with a land of our own.
So help us, and help your brother.
Please.
Lolisa's turn
The searing light of the veil return faded away, and I opened my eyes.
"Oh. Oh wow."
Beside me, Jiro's head did its best to turn in a complete circle as he took in his first look at our world. Dangling from his shoulder was a canvas bag he'd packed, lightly I'd insisted since there were limits to how much I could bring across.
"Welcome to the Demon King's castle, Jiro Sato. We're honored and delighted you agreed to assist us," the same castellan that fetched me what was probably days ago now here greeted us once the various sigils' power faded and fizzled away. "And well done to you, Lolisa. I'm afraid we weren't entirely sure when you would return, so I can only apologize for the lack of a reception. I shall inform the kitchens, in the meantime if you'd show our guest to his rooms?"
"Honored to serve, ma'am," I agreed, and turned to Jiro, who was trying and failing not to stare at the castellan. "We'll get you unpacked and I'll tell you a bit more about things here. Come on," I said brightly.
'Never send a priestess to do a succubus' job,' I thought, grinning to myself, taking one of his hands and leading him out of the circle.
AN:
For the curious, Lolisa is the succubus who tried to fulfill Kazuma's request and nearly got Aqua'd for her trouble. She's a regular character in Dust's series of spinoff novels.