It was a cold, snowy day. The Pocket Castle was covered by a white coat, with more snowflakes falling from the sky as time passed by. It was the perfect time to stay inside and enjoy a book near a fire place, which was precisely what Mephisto intended to do. She was comfortably sitting in a padded armchair, holding a book, while fire was crackling in a stone-made fireplace. In front of her were several of the youngest monsters present in the castle, as well as several fairies. They were sitting on a thick red carpet, impatient to have their senior read them epic stories from the book she was currently holding.

"Good evening children, since you all have been good girls and with us stuck because of the ugly weather, I decided it would be a perfect time for stories."

"Yaaaay!"

"Now, you know how your teacher cares about you learning more things. This will be both fun, and educative. So you should remember them well, for they can be useful to you."

"But if you know them so well, why do you read them from a book?" Several pupils chuckled.

Mephisto smirked. "Actually, I don't need that book, but it is more comfortable that way."

A feminine figure in pajamas popped up off the book the yoma was holding. "So why did you choose me rather than any of the inert books?"

"Yoko, books are not supposed to talk. You're breaking the magic."

Yoko glared at the yoma. "I am used as a prop for the sake of your narrative. Don't you think I am allowed to express how I feel?"

Salamander, the fire spirit, glared from the fireplace. "Do not complain. Please do not complain. Let her just get started so that it will be over as fast as it can be."

Mephisto gestured toward the children. "Good grief, do not be a bunch of wet blankets and let children enjoy the stories."

Both monsters calmed down and camouflaged themselves in their current environment. The yoma teacher started smiling gently again.

"Now, now, let us start those epic adventures."

"Yaaaay!"

She opened the book on the first page and started reading.

"So let us begin with the one story that started it all."

"Once upon a time…"

There was a gentle goddess alone in the darkness. She was sad, travelling alone in the empty vastness of space. One day, she discovered a verdant world, filled with cute animals. There also were strange, hairless animals that were using tools and using a more complex way of communicating. She tried mingling with those animals, but some fled when they saw her. Eventually, she made herself look more like them and managed to start living with them. She started learning more about them and enjoyed being with them. As she got to know more about them, she realized that they wanted to live together because they were afraid of dying alone and were enjoying the companionship of others, just like her.

She realized that if the animals around were more like them, those humans would be happy and have plenty of companions to live with. She then used her magic to transform six animals into beautiful monsters that would bring the company those humans wanted. And so the first six monsters were born. And soon, they each got companions and had lot and lot of children, even the goddess. Everything was happy and well as monsterkind and humankind started growing together, hand in hand. In her infinite wisdom, she had made it so that her six daughters wouldn't age, so that they would acquire a lot of wisdom and could always share it with the human's children.

But this all displeased greatly someone else. After some time, that someone else revealed herself. She called herself the goddess of light, and said that these humans were her creations and that the other goddess was defiling them. The Dark Goddess tried to talk with the other one, but soon, the other started attacking her cute little subordinates and everyone that supported them. Saddened by this senseless violence, the Dark Goddess had no other choice but had to fight to help her creations.

As the fight went on and on, it was clear the Dark Goddess and her forces were stronger than the other army. However, their fight became so huge that the whole world was in danger. And then, the other goddess lowly tricked our heroine and her best friends into sealing themselves, only leaving her daughter behind. But one of those best friends saw through the ploy and managed to slip through, although weakened. She was loyal to her mother, and saw that the other goddess would never manage to kill all the Dark Goddess' children.

The other goddess laughed at her victory apparent victory, as she thought she only needed to send someone to kill the Dark Goddess's daughter to win. But soon she stopped when she realized that the world was filled with the children she hated so much. And she cried even more when they continued growing in numbers while the heroes she sent kept failing or joining them. She cried when she realize her petty person could never be liked as much as the Dark Goddess, who gifted monsterkind to humanity. And now she's sadder than ever, as the Dark Goddess, still sealed, is patiently waiting with her friends while she herself is knowing loss and failure.

"And that is the story of our origin."

"What's a subordinate? I often heard lady queen succubus tell Luka that he was a total sub."

"This is someone who obeys the orders of someone else."

"Oh so that's why Luka was called a subordinate. Because she was telling him to come to her to f-."

"Do you want another story?"

"Yes!"

"Once upon a time…"

There was a huge giantess. She was several times as tall as humans, but deep down, she had a gentle heart and wanted nothing more than to be friends with everybody. However, everybody was scared of her. Each time humans saw her, they ran away or prepared to fight. Each times monsters saw her, they kept at a distance, afraid of what she would do. Even the ones that called themselves their friend were keeping away from her, worried that she would hurt them or break their things.

As time passed by, she started feeling lonely. She wanted to know that feeling of company her friends shared with humans. However, her huge size prevented her from interacting with humans in any way. She saw herself as a freak. Even if human accepted her anyway, how could their difference in size work? After having accidentally broken a friend's house and being scolded one too many time, she left for the desert, where she had a lot of place for herself and wouldn't be able to harm anyone.

One day, a hooded woman approached her. The woman offered her the possibility to have the same size as a human, but she would never be able to go back to being a giantess ever again. She gladly accepted the deal, and soon, gained the size of a human. She then noticed that the desert she was in was now way bigger, and it took her a large amount of time to leave it and get back to a village. Once she reached one, she got to enjoy everything she couldn't before because of her large size. She got a house and settled down with a companion.

One night, a storm was blowing through the forest. The winds were so violent that it threatened to make the tree fall on the house of her new friends. At this moment, she wished for nothing more than being a giant again. In the dark, she saw the hooded woman who reduced her size in the first place. At first, she begged her to give her back her giant form so that she could grab them and prevent the tree from falling. The woman told her that she accepted that she would never become a giantess again. Later, the tree fell and destroyed her friend's s house.

When she got back to her companion, she despaired, but he consoled her and said he was happy as long as she was. Eventually, she came to accept that she would remain the size of a human her whole life, and lived happily with her companion until their death.

"But why didn't she find another mage to break the spell?"

"Because it can't be broken! Didn't you hear the professor?"

"You will see if this magic can't be broken!"

"Professor Mephistooo! The fairy made me small."

"Good grief. Don't worry, I always have a lucky mallet ready… There, fixed for you."

"See? If she had a lucky mallet, she could have broken the spell. Kya! Now I'm paralyzed! And stuck to the ceiling with slime! Help! Mmmh!"

"Try breaking that one you little… Now where were we? Oh, right, next story."

Now, not all monsters are kind. Some are cruel and vicious, wanting nothing more than to bully and torment the ones they see as weaker than them. This is the story of one monster, that everybody calls the blue ogre. She is the worst kind of monster, enjoying the misery of others, often done by her hand. Every time she appeared, she killed and ate people without reason beyond that she could. She only left suffering and a terrifying memory of her cruel laughter for everyone fortunate enough to have been spared.

Some people said she was like a lone wolf, but those people are wrong. A wolf is an animal that attack others only because he's hungry or scared. She didn't eat people because she was hungry or because she was scared, she attacked simply because she enjoyed it. She enjoyed seeing people terrified when they realized they were about to be eaten by the blue ogre.

Nobody could fight her. Her powers were too strong for her victims. Her skills were too great for those that wanted to protect her victims. And her speed was too high for anyone wanting to follow her. Only a few fools dared to challenge her directly, but they were not enough and were also eaten by the blue ogre. As no one could threaten her, she kept attacking whoever she wanted, whenever she wanted, and wherever she wanted. At a time, everybody was worried that the blue ogre would come for them and eat them whole.

But one day, the blue ogre travelled to an isolated place, probably hoping to find someone else to scare or to eat. She saw someone who was standing alone, looking weak and isolated. The blue ogre decided to attack her, but what she thought to be an easy target attacked her back and sucked a part of her power. The blue ogre was soon on the receiving end of all the harm she brought for several years. She pleaded for mercy, and only managed to escape thanks from the help of a hero passing by. Now that she was weaker, she was no longer a danger for the hero. She begged him to protect her, and, in his infinite goodness, he accepted. She was welcome and cared for by the hero and his companions as a new member.

But after all this, even after being weakened and even after enjoying the hero's goodness for herself, the blue ogre started acting up again. She bullied the other people in the hero's group, and left sometime on her own to bring harm on the others. But she wasn't as strong as she used to be, and this time, it didn't take long before someone challenged her. The blue ogre was beaten down, and the hero could only do so much for her. He still cared for her, but she was reduced to a pathetic creature, and everybody was happier when the ogre was no longer seen. She was ridiculed in her back, and she couldn't do anything as those that feared her were now laughing good heartedly at her misfortune.

"And that, children, is the story of the blue ogre. If you act like the blue ogre, you will end like the blue ogre, and everybody will be extremely disappointed in you."

"Another, another!" The children were chanting enthusiastically.

"But it is getting late, and some of you will have exams very soon. You don't want to fail and be treated as a second zone mage because you didn't sleep enough would you?"

"Awww…"

The yoma suddenly felt a magic surge from outside.

"Gah! It's incredibly fricking cold here! Whoever did break the Pocket Castle's weather system is asked to come out! I will not torture her for hours to calm myself or use her insides to keep me warm!"

Mephisto looked carefully at the window leading to the inner courtyard and saw several scantily clad succubi lead by Morrigan. Several of them were shivering, and the latter's aura was flaring in full which was not a good sign of things to come.

"Hey! Even Alrauna is frozen over! Anybody wants some frozen honey? Wait Serra, don't lick her! Aaaand now your tongue is stuck down there of course. It's fortunate there are no kids around… Don't move while I try to… Yeah I wanted to tell you that, Succubus Village never froze over or what? Yeah, get a white mage. Yes, you can try warming them up… Not that way! And you, go search Mephisto to warn her! Damn it, if I catch the idiot…"

The yoma looked back at her young assembly and closed her book as she cleared her throat.

"Now now, children, story time is over. You are free to leave, but do it silently, and don't disturb the blue ogre or she will eat you whole."

"Scary blue ogre!"

The children chanted the unfortunate nickname a few times as they left the room. Mephisto slowly exhaled as she pulled out the control system from one of the folds of her robe.

"How much are you willing to pay me to forget that you toyed with the thermostat for the sake of her setup?"

Mephisto glared at the fireplace where Salamander was evilly grinning.

"I did not consider a noble dragonkin would resort to blackmail. This is dishonorable."

"This is not blackmailing. This is an open opportunity negotiation. Papi could use new tools for her forge, the arena could use some repairs… Oh, and I promised I would get Regina a new armor."

"I accept your deal, you snake-tongued lizard. Just get sure this never leaves your mouth."

"Thank you."

Salamander got up and silently left the room. Mephisto looked at the command of the Pocket Castle in her hand, then at the book in the other when a twisted idea made its way to her mind.

"Now, let us go check San Ilia's library once again. I need more material for inspiration. Also, would you kindly bring this to Amira's room?" She held the command toward Yoko. The book monster took it and started moving on its own, slightly hovering like a sheet of paper carried by a gust of wind.

Mephisto crossed her hands under her chin and deployed her magic senses. Silently, she waited one minute, then another, carefully gauging what was happening. Eventually, she started hearing screaming, but there were no signs of a possible spell cast angrily. She decided to make her way out of the room, and saw Succubus with the command in one hand.

"What is happening?"

"Someone had fun with the castle's weather system and placed the command near an asleep Amira." She handed the command to Mephisto.

"Good grief, how do we know she isn't the one who fooled around with it?"

"Without fingers?"

The yoma finally noticed the small miscalculation in her perfect plan.