"We gather here today…to celebrate not the loss of a bright man, but the life he lived in service of the ones around him, right to the end," the pastor began at the funeral. Everyone was dressed in native fashion, the seats awash with all sorts of colors about.
At the front of it all was a casket, with picture of Lalu smiling in his graduation cap. Ola couldn't take his eyes off the photo, using his agbada to wipe one of the tears out of his eyes.
The missing posters went up months ago, first Virto, then Lalu had disappeared. He remembered it like yesterday, the after-gathering of Virto's funeral.
"I'm going to get some fresh air," Lalu said to him in a solemn tone. The entire time, his movements and gaze were dead, like a zombie aimlessly moving around, like a bot that ran out of instructions to run and milled about in search of meaning. Ola had been following him around to keep tabs on him, but he was starting to get seriously worried now.
"Stay close to the house alright?" Ola said. "I'm going to refill my drink and I'll be out with you."
"Alright…" Lalu said, finishing his and going for the front door. Turning back to see his face, he looked more focused than he had the last two days.
"We are very glad your family could make it," he overheard Virto's mom tell his mom while he was getting more lemonade. "His death has been hard on all of us. He was just such a gifted kid, so bright…"
"We wouldn't miss it for the world, just like you aren't missing ours," his mom replied. "Especially Fola. He kept to his room a lot after getting the news…"
"Fola especially," Virto's mom said. "I know it's probably not obvious, but Virto was never quite as much a talker as he was a scientist…"
"I've seen a lot of scientists who grew up without the talking half," his mom said. "He was always well behaved though. I'm glad he could be a good influence on Fola."
"And I'm glad Fola could, 'rough him up' a bit, as the kids would say..." she chuckled. His mom gave her a weird look. "Rough him up?"
"You know, get his hands dirty…but not in like, a bad way, I just mean-"
"Stop while your ahead sweetie!" Virto's dad called out to her, as he was talking at another table.
Those two were always off, Ola thought to himself, taking a sip of his lemonade. He left the place to go outside, looking around in front of Lalu. However, he was completely gone.
"….and for him to rest in peace, in Jesus' name we pray," he heard the pastor say. He came back to reality just as the pastor finished the prayer. He still remembered the near panic attack he had rushing all around the area to find him. If only he hadn't left him for a second, if only, if only…if only….if only-
Gasp. He audibly gasped, waking back up at his work desk. He wasn't at either funeral anymore. He was just in his room, in a meeting with the rest of his team to discuss the engineering work for the next few weeks. For a second, he thanked Allah that his camera wasn't on to see the droll dangling from his mouth onto his touchpad.
"Oluwale, you're there?" someone said through his laptop's speakers. "We were going over the progress this week, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah…" He said, shaking his head awake and double-checking his mic. "Nothing much to report here John, I'm just going to talk to financials to see how they want to handle the self-checker page for aid."
"Alright, with that I guess everyone knows what to do. If there are no more questions, I think we're all good to end the meeting." As soon as he heard that, he disconnected his headset and started clearing his desk. "Remember guys, you don't have to take this home with you, but we are on a deadline. The city's system is already slow. We don't need to make it any slower to do anything, amirite, hehe."
With the last meeting of the day done, he finally left the bedroom he referred to as his "dungeon". A dimly lit, albeit dusty bit of house filled with trophies, honor rolls, and degrees galore. He would get another house, but he couldn't find much reason to justify sinking 75% of every paycheck into a mortgage…yet.
"How was work?" his mom said, her and his dad spoofing up in their bedroom. Ola always peeked in after work, even if only to say a quick hello. "More of the same thing," he said. "I'm just tired now…"
"Well, luckily for you, we need you to stay home today," his dad said. "You and Fola. Your mom and I are going out."
"I thought Seian was the one that babysits everything now," Ola mentioned. It was the first time in a while that he was put on big brother duty. With Seian now allowed in the house, the children practically gravitated toward her. The only rule was that flying had to be done at a jogging pace and nothing more. At first, it was no flying at all, but too many times they would come home to 5-year-olds getting the confidence to jump off the roof into Seian's arms. It was subtle, but he did miss her presence when she wasn't here.
His mom shrugged. "Seian said she had other duties to tend to tonight-"
"-and we already don't pay her," his dad added.
"It's just for tonight, she already does a lot for us," his mom said to ease the stress. "Just watch your younger siblings and Dominika's kids for a bit."
That's the worst combination to ever exist in my life, Ola said, only his twitching eye revealing the cringe he was feeling inside. His brothers were enough already. He didn't need kids who could also tear off a countertop over a stolen controller. "…Yes mommy," he said dejectedly, knowing he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. He walked with them downstairs and to the front door, handing them their keys until they said they wanted to use the Ferrari. "What."
"Please?" his mom said. "You don't have to if you don't want to."
Her new favorite line, Ola thought. From the moment she opened up, she has been extremely cordial with both him and Lalu. It wasn't perfect, but the 180 was still enough to make shivers go down his spine. He sighed and took his own keys out of her pocket, his dad smiling as he took the keys. "Thank you," he said.
"Fola is going to get back at two from a test to take, and Dominika should come by to pick up her kids by six," his mom told him. "Alright, bye now!"
"Bye bye…" he waved before closing the door. Slowly turning around, he saw six children all stare at him. The blinds were currently closed, but he could see four of the eyes glow, before the quadruplets all poofed with their wolf features.
"Now…" Ola said. "Just stay still for a second and-" but it was hopeless. The real authorities, the real alphas of the house were gone. In their eyes, this tall man with a giant afro was nothing more than a poser with a giant kneading post. In an instant, they turned into a tornado of terror, going from sitting quietly to engaging in a massive war. Ola shrieked as a pillow came right for his head, ducking so it slammed harmlessly into the steely front door. "Everyone sit back down!" Ola yelled, but no one was listening. He had to crawl out from the door, going on the ground when another pillow came flying over him. Peering over some furniture, he saw the remote to the off TV, lying vacated on the ground.
He counted himself off from three, flinching when he heard glass breaking. At three, he got up and sprinted through the living room, holding his hands over his face before diving for the remote and pressing the power button.
As soon as the screen clicked on, it was as if the whole world stopped. The arms froze as heads turned towards the TV powering on. As soon as he relaxed though, he was trapped under six bodies that wanted to use him as a bed, laying all over him as they got settled to watch the reruns of Noggin.
He was stuck like that for what felt like hours, watching TV mindlessly as the kids were all enthralled with the programming. Eventually, though, his savior came in the form of a doorbell.
"Is that daddy?" one of the quadruplets said, leaning over to Dami who was eating popcorn. He turned back to the door, hearing more knocks come. Dami went over to check, going up to one of the windows of the house to get a peek from a different angle. Sure enough, Lalu was right there, staring back at Dami with bags of food in hand. "Open the door!" He yelled, the walls of the house muffling the sound. Dami went back around and rapidly unlocked the doors, seeing Lalu now standing in the doorway with several bags worth of food. "Who's ready for a movie?"
"Me! Me! Me!" everyone got up and ran towards the doorway, leaving Ola finally able to get up from his prison. He rolled on his back and took the first deep breaths he could, his vision spinning as oxygen could fill his lungs once more. Tilting his head forth, he saw Lalu start to hand out boxes of food to everyone, herding all the kids to the kitchen to eat. Ola entered just as everyone settled down, munching on steak and fries from the local grill.
"Where did you get so much money for food?" Ola said, rubbing his eyes.
"I just got a nice payout from some elves," Lalu said smiling. "Honestly, there are enough stores here to kinda milk them for some quick cash you think?"
"Yeah…" Ola said, smiling. "I suppose there are."
It was just less of a headache when someone was around who actually knew their names.
Ola remembered when he was the only one who had any caretaking responsibilities in the house. To vacuum, to sweep, to mop and wipe, dish duty, car washing, even the occasional spring cleaning was all him, while Lalu and eventually Dami got to relax in the living room. Eventually, Lalu had his own fair share of things to do, and even Dami had to do some dishes once in a blue moon. Although…
"I'll be right back."
Something started to creep back up again.
"Back…back…back…Oluwale?"
Ola shook himself out of the memory again, seeing Lalu staring at him confused. "You're hands on the tap."
Ola looked down, seeing that he had turned on the water at the sink. He quickly let go, and then shut the tap off. "Probably, just tired from work…"
"Well…I was saying that Dominika was going to swing by a few hours early. Apparently, it was a half day at her office," Lalu said. "So if you had to blow anything off for this, then-"
"Oh no, that's fine," Ola said. "I'm just glad everything's finally back to normal…" On cue, he felt two hands in his Afro, one of the quadruplets kneading it again with their paws. "Honestly, if you take away the paws, this is just a little cousin."
"Technically nephew," Lalu said, snapping his fingers. "Surmon, get down."
"I'm here!" one of the quads at the table said.
"Ah, dang, um….Lemin!" just like that, they got down, climbing down Ola like he was a rock face and going back to the table. "I swear, I gotta put marks on their arms or something…"
"Actually," Ola said. "I've been thinking, and I wanted to ask you something, Lalu."
"Yeah?" Lalu said before hearing another knock at the door. "Wait, hold that thought." He changed his mind and focus, instead going toward the door. Ola sighed and shrugged, following Lalu to see who was there.
"Lao!" Dominika said, hugging the two of them in her giant paws. "Oh, I thought the dragon was going to be babysitting again but I love running into you!"
"S-she…had to do something…" Ola said, being crushed against Lalu. For the second time today, his lungs were practically empty. By the time she let go, both of them collapsed on the ground, coughing and taking deep breaths.
"I see…" Dominika said, sniffing the hair. Catching a whiff of food, she came inside and peeked around into the kitchen, seeing everyone almost done with their food. "Did everyone get steak without me?"
"Agh, knowing you, you would have put them out of business…" Lalu said, getting up annoyed. "But yeah, I went to pick up a few things."
"I'm glad they can get some meat here," Dominika said, smiling softly. "With all the cows turning into lovely, lovely women~, the poultry industry has been lacking. Having a portal to go through is such a relief…."
The adults chatted for a bit more, moving to the kitchen once the kids had finished eating. Soon though, an hour had passed, and Dominika was ready to head back home. "Well, in that case, Lalu I'm going to head back to my room for a nap," Ola said, moving on back to his room.
"I'll go with you, that food run took way too long," Lalu said, seeing Ola go upstairs. "I trust you know what to do?"
"Oh, I've done this millions of times," Dominika said, waving off the question. "At this point, I think I know your neighborhood better than the actual residents…would make good for a quick invasion…"
"Don't you dare," Lalu warned.
"I wouldn't dream of it," she said smiling brightly. "Now, go on up! Get some sleep so that we can talk for a lot longer next time~" Once he went upstairs, Dom looked at the boys, who were all huddled back around the TV. "It's time to go," she said. "If we don't leave, we'll miss the fountain of youth spraying up!"
"I wish I could see the fountain of youth," Kunmi said, sighing as everyone started to get up. "I heard, if you drink from it, you stay young forever!"
"That would be infinite summers…" Dami said. He turned back, seeing everyone starting to go through the door. To his knowledge, both of his brothers were nowhere in sight. "Say, what if we could go see that fountain?" Kunmi was at first confused. But then he looked at the door, then was now only shocked…but he nodded along. If they could be back before Dami's parents got home, it would be genius!
Ola woke up from his nap, stretching in his bed and scratching the itch under his denim jeans. Looking outside, he saw that the sun was just about to start its setting course below the horizon. "That must have been a good nap," he said, going downstairs and letting his eyes adjust back to the lighting. He came down to an empty house, as peaceful and serene as the dreams he had upstairs.
He hummed to himself as he looked in the fridge and got some milk. Looking around, he saw that everything was off, although all the games had been left scattered across the living room floor. "Uhh, Dami?" he called out, to no response. "Weird…"
Yawwwwwnnnn…Lalu went, coming down the stairs. "Oh, brother!"
"You took a nap too?"
"Yeah, Dominika has been coming here for a while…" He said, going to the fridge as well. Only he stuck his head a lot further in, rummaging around to see what he liked. "She is weird, but she's fine I guess."
"Isn't…she like a BDSM person?" Ola asked. Seian he understood, but Dominika seemed to swing the opposite way. Literally, on a sex swing, with a gun and a flogger. One of her first small stories was about how she turned an entire infantry into a black market of human trafficking. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, but-"
"You think that there's something wrong with that?" Lalu said, poking his head back out and arching an eyebrow.
"I mean…her work is kind of sexual in nature so, but I understand if I'm-"
"Oh no, I felt the same way," Lalu told Ola. "But she promised no weird shit, and I trust her."
"Right…"
"Say, does this place seem a little too quiet to you?" Lalu said, carrying a loaf of bread with him.
"Yeah, because those two knuckleheads are not here," Ola said. "Did you hear anything upstairs?"
"Not at all," Lalu said, taking a slice from the loaf. The concern meter was starting to rise. Ola went into the living room, Lalu following calmly behind as Ola looked behind a few chairs. "They, they aren't in here."
"Maybe they're outside?" Lalu said calmly. "You know, touching grass? Ever heard of it?" Ola ignored him and went to the backyard, opening the patio door and looking around. Lalu waited for him in the living room, thinking that the issue would end right there, and his older brother would come right back in and say-
"There are not there either," Ola said, albeit more frantically now. Lalu snapped his head around, midway through eating another piece of his bread. "Huh?"
"Where could they have gone?" Ola thought, starting to pace around. "Do you think they could have went to the playground? They aren't supposed to go to the playground!"
"The one day I thought we could relax…" Lalu said. He leaned forward, putting down his loaf of bread slices in frustration. "Alright, not much time has passed right now. What time is it?"
"The sun's about to go down," Ola cried hastily. "And our parents are going to be back in an hour. We napped for hours, they could have gotten halfway across New Jersey now!"
"I got it!" Lalu said. "We can use Seian to sniff them out!"
"Really?"
"Wait no, she's busy in the other world with Maggie…" Lalu said, groaning.
"Wait, other world…" Ola said. "You don't think-"
"Naaaahhhhh, this is Dami we're talking about," Lalu said, reclining back in his chair. "Think about it, would he really risk all that just to go play with the quadruplets some more?"
"No not really," Ola said. "Buuut, if you were in elementary school and you had friends that lived in a world with magic, elves, werewolves, and other cool shit you wouldn't get here, would you go with them?"
"Well…n-no…"
"Would you go if you knew you had someone that could get you back before your mom and dad found out?"
Lalu gave Ola a weird look. "There is no way in hell they are getting back that fast."
"Counterpoint, they are in elementary school," Ola corrected. "You know they don't think that."
"Well…." As Lalu thought about it more, the concept seemed more and more realistic. Worryingly realistic. "Shit…"
"Is that a you're right shit or a we're fucked shit?"
"That's a my little brother and cousin is in a world where the Sabbath exist and the only protection they have is a sexy werewolf who is also the head honcho of a sadistic sex army shit."
"So we're fucked…." Ola said, sitting down beside Lalu in defeat.
"Maybe," Lalu said, being it was now his turn to correct. "If you're right, which you always are because you're a STEM nerd-"
"You just had to squeeze that shit in?" Ola asked, "Right now?"
"-They are in her office, or her house, which means we still can get them and actually be back before our parents get home."
"And what if we're not?"
"I have a plan," Lalu said, rubbing his hands together. "Just wait here, I'll be back before you could say-"
"I'm not letting you go alone."
"Exactly," Lalu said, "Now, let me just go get my equipment and- wait what?" He looked back down at Ola, who was staring straight ahead with his hands covering his mouth. His eyes were full of resolve, and didn't waver until Lalu tapped him on the shoulder. "You can't come with me," Lalu said. "It's dangerous over there. You might die, or fall off a cliff, or get tricked by a fox girl and shacked up in the mountains."
"All things I could say to you," Ola said standing up. "I don't wanna have to explain myself, but it is completely different with Dami stuck there than you. I'm getting my boots."
"Bro, it's not that serious…" Lalu said, watching Ola go upstairs to his room. He followed him up (he kinda had to anyways since his stuff was also there) and split off to go get his own things. Passing Ola's bedroom/office, he saw him packing and changing, feeling his own aura shift as he got ready to go into the unknown.
"You're a terrible babysitter," Virto said, punching in the coordinates while Lalu and Ola waited behind them. Lalu had equipped his normal New Order attire, but Ola, looking to copy the attire, decided to throw on his formal suit with jet black sunglasses on. Once Virto finished setting up the portal's destination, they turned around, eyeing Ola up and down. "And what are you supposed to be?" they asked like a parent not knowing the costume their kid chose for Halloween.
"A secret agent," Ola said plainly. "I can't exactly waste time running to the store."
"Oh really?" Virto said. "Because that is definitely not going to get dirty at all."
"You're right, it's not." Ola said, adjusting his suit jacket.
"You still have the Demon Army's headquarters on there?" Lalu asked, just to make sure.
"Yep! I saved them from…" suddenly realizing Ola was there, Virto quickly sidewinded. "…a trip I did. Just walk through the portal, and you should be all good to go."
"Great!" Lalu said, clapping his gloved hands together. He watched as Virto hit an important-looking button, the portal sputtering on until it blasted out to fill its ring with a glowing swirl of pink. Ola looked mystified. Behind those glasses were awestruck eyes. The difference between his imagination and reality was like reading a book and seeing the design on the big screen for the first time. It left him without words, but it was alright because the portal seemed to be filling in the gaps for him. Prodding his mind with visions of what could be his new reality…all he had to do was cross and never cross again…
Was this what it was like to go mad?
Was this the feeling that overpowered Virto, and eventually his brother? It was indescribable, but if he had to put into words what he felt…it would be fearful to even attempt to engage it.
"Hey!" Virto said, snapping in front of Ola's head. His face was now sweating, and his body seemed unsure of itself now. With so much drive, he could have never foreseen it crumbling like a poorly baked cookie.
"I fine," Ola said, gulping as he hadn't swallowed in a while. "I just need a moment to get ready…"
"Well your brother is already going through," Virto said, pointing to the portal. Sure enough, Lalu was already crossing over into the world without him.
"Lalu no!" Ola said, reaching but his legs not working. He wasn't sure if he even heard him, desperately trying to move the feet that now felt like there were encased in stone. "I…I never got to meet you before you…"
"Are you sure you want to go?" Virto asked in sincerity. "I know the voices can get to you, but don't push yourself more than you have to."
"I'm fine!" he exclaimed. He did small hops to get his blood pumping, feeling moist from the nervous sweating around his body. "All I have to do is walk through, right?" Virto cautiously nodded, watching carefully for any recklessness. Ola did a few, slow and methodic lunges, before on the third, he broke out into a full sprint into the portal, in to the pink unknown.
"Hey! Careful you'll-"
"I'm coming for you!" Ola yelled, holding his hands out as he went through. The feeling he got as the portal engulfed him made him lose the feeling in his knees, a split second of numbness that felt like it lingered on for minutes on end. But just like that, he came on to the other side, slowing down and stopping to open his eyes.
He stood in a dark hallway, dimly lit with candlelight. To him, it felt like he went back in time. Numerous emblems were in the hall, leading to a door with light coming through the open slit below the door. So that's what standing between me and my brothers, he thought, walking slowly towards it. As he got closer, he smelt something that gave purple…no, more than that. He began to see purple mist blanket his sight like fog, making him feel more woozy and woozy. Beginning to fear the worst though, he kept on. Once he got to the door, he was surprised to see that the knob felt unlocked.
"You got this," Ola told himself, counting himself up again in his head…
"Da…da…THREE!" He YANKED open the door and went in, holding up his fist on guard. "Where is my brother!?"
Nothing giving him that information was there. Instead, he found an office that looked more like the principal's room than a dungeon or warrior fight. Its one inhabitant was currently enthralled in what was happening in a crystal ball. She had pointy ears and hair that was folded into a bun, with eyes whose pupils could cut through a tenderloin steak. Her chest was open due to the top buttons of her dress shirt being undone, and a tail moved the orb around while her hands worked behind the desk. "Oh yes, fuck that orc..." she murmured to herself. "Pound that ass into the ground…" Ola couldn't see behind the desk, but he heard a quiet shlick motion that had him confused to hell. "Uhh…"
While the screaming hadn't gotten her, the voice of confusion made her ears perk up. She looked up at the suited man and blushed, looking back and forth between her and the orb before quickly taking the orb and yeeting it into a corner of her room. "I WASN'T DOING ANYTHING IN HERE, I SWEAR!" She claimed, straightening up her desk and placing a bunch of documents down. "All finances are almost in order, I just need to-"
"I-I'm not your boss…" Ola said. Her moves had all but confirmed she was jilling off in here, and now he was blushing too. "I just…"
"Y-you're not?" she said, letting herself fall onto the desk. "Oh thank goodness…I just started here since the last person got put down by Dominika. I really want to turn into a Demon, and I heard Demon's Alley was one of the best places to be, but I needed a job to justify it…"
"Dominika?" Ola said. "Is she a werewolf with jet-black hair?"
"And the bushiest fur, you wouldn't believe…mmmm~" The succubus mesmerized herself again, her hands starting to go back to her pussy when she knocked herself out of it. "Wait! Do you work here at all? You seem pretty human, I must say…"
"Well," Ola said, rubbing his neck. "I wouldn't really focus on…small details…" He started to back up as the succubus got up, walking him down until his back was touching the door, and she was pressed up against him. "If you're not, you must have a lot of balls coming here~" The succubus said.
"Uhhh, c-could you at least cover your vagina?"
"Although I am pretty new, and you seem pretty resistant to still be sane right now," she continued. "You must be one of Velle's old slaves, right? I heard from older people he secretly ran a trafficking ring behind Dominika's back. It's hot to think about, but you know how the Commander is~"
Trafficking ring? Ola thought. Was that happening in-
"No matter, she started a program to kinda get them some "homes" as an apology." She pressed against him harder, her tail starting to snake up Ola's pants leg. Wanting no part, he moved to push her off, but accidentally grabbed her titties in the process. "Gah!"
"Hey, so eager!~" She said excitedly, watching him struggle to push her away. "You really must be new here. Don't you know mere humans can't force themselves off of a monster girl? Say, if I was any less scared of losing my job, I would take you here. Right. Now."
"I-I don't want that!" Ola said, slipping out and stepping away. He adjusted his glasses back, glad they never fell off in the scuffle. "Look, I already have a girlfriend, I'm just here to get someone!"
"Lllllliar!" She said, rolling her Ls. "I didn't smell a whiff of anything on you. You know how impossible it would be to have a human girlfriend in the realm of the Demon Lord herself?" She moved back to the desk, hopping on it to scope him out. "I get it, you're playing hard to get. You're like a fucking child when it comes to sex, aren't you?"
"I wouldn't really use that choice of words…" Ola said.
"So you're a virgin," she said, biting her finger. He could see her tail's spade end batting the desk. One regretful, split-second glance said she hadn't put her pants back on either, her sodden panties in plain view for him to ogle. "Luckily for you, I like my men freshly sprung. Makes it easier to play with.~"
"God damn woman, I already said no!" Ola said swiping the air.
"Such resistance…fine, then it's back to your cell for you. I'm disappointed…you could have had the fuck of your life, sunglasses-wearing human." She reached into her desk and pulled out perfume, spraying Ola directly in the face with it.
"Aii! What are you…" Ola stumbled before he could finish his sentence, before completely collapsing on the ground. The last thing he saw where her high heels clacking on the ground towards him, rolling his body so he was looking directly up at her. "Memorize this devilish sight between my legs," she said, referring to how much her secretions were dripping down her legs. "Because of you, I couldn't get off. Luckily for you, I know a certain thing you have that can finish the job, and it is going to take you to heaven, tee hee hee~…"
Ola woke up from a groggy, deep sleep. He opened his eyes to a dungy, dark ceiling of cobblestone, with drops occasionally falling down and echoing throughout the cell holdings. Once all his senses came back, however, he remembered what had happened earlier and sprung up. He turned to the bars and looked out, seeing more rows of prisoners in their own cells. "Wait, where am I!?" Ola yelled. He shook the bars, but like every movie he had ever seen, of course, it couldn't have been that easy. "Heeeelp!"
"Don't bother," the crusader in full medieval armor said across from him. He had been stripped of his weapons, left with only damaged metal and a yellow-themed tunic on his person. He sat up against one of the side walls, staring down with no urge to even turn towards Ola. "The evil scum at the top won't budge for a human."
"How did you get in here?" Ola asked. "I-I'm looking for my brother, two of them actually. They got loss here, and I just wanna bring them back home."
"Tsk!" the crusader said, chuckling. "Don't bother, kid. They are as good as dead here…."
"No…" Ola started to falter but wasn't about to give up hope. "No, no! I know they are safe, I just need a way, any way to get out of here!"
"Really?" the crusader said. His voice was low and rattled like a snake's shaker, deepened by what felt like lifetimes lived. "You think that so close to the Demon Lord, two hicks from fuck all could survive against their mana? Only the strong are able to last this long, keep the last shreds of pure humanity that must endure…" He gripped his fists, clenching hard. "And that's what I aim to do. I'm going to kill the Demon Lord, and I am going to bring honor to my kingdom!"
This Demon Lord sounds like a real piece of work, Ola thought. I swear, if they did anything to my brothers, I'm going to-
"Say, I don't see much conviction like you have right here," the crusader said. He slowly got up, pulling his heavy-set self to the bars to face Ola. "With your youth, and my experience, we could get out of here and take the fight to the devil incarnate!"
"I'm down with that," Ola said. "What do we have to do?"
The plan was quickly gone over, with the first part being to wait. According to the crusader, new prisoners came in here all the time. All that had to be done was to wait for one to come, and the plan could start in motion.
As if it was clockwork, Ola soon heard steps and chains. He looked towards the crusader, who smiled and just nodded to him. Act sick, he remembered him saying. Then once she takes you out to check on you, push her towards me…
"Cough, cough!" Ola faked a mean sore throat, hacking away in his corner of the cell. "What in the-stay here prisoner!" the guard around the corner said, leaving the chains and jogging in front of his cell. She was armored, twice as much as the crusader, but he could see demonic eyes with silts through the headgear. "Ah, another one has caught something from the fungi!" She quickly unlocked the door, helping up a still coughing Ola in her arms. "We'll get you to Sabbath headquarters, they can patch your aliment right up…"
"Thank you…cough!" Ola said, being hobbled out of the cell. "Thank you…for being such a fool." The guard stopped in her place, turning to him with concern. "Now!" Ola yelled, pushing the guard in front of the Crusader's cell. Before she could react, her helmet was grabbed, and she was pressed up against the cell, held by her neck. "Ack!"
"Love live the Chief God," the crusader whispered behind her in a hoarse voice, before slamming her head against the bars. The impact knocked her unconscious, rendering her limp in his arms while he ruffled around for keys. "Aha!" he said, finding a loop of a bunch of keys.
"So what now?" Ola said, watching him free himself and toss the guard aside like used paper. The crusader rushed over to the source of the chains, a bagged prisoner in a long blue trench coat. "Now, we get more hands," the crusader said, pulling the bag off of the prisoner's head.
"Ahh!" Lao said, finally free to breathe and see once more. "I knew it! She took me down here!"
"Fola!" Ola said, rushing pass the crusader to hug him. "How did you get caught?"
"I thought Dominika would have put in a good word for me but noooooooo," Lao complained, seeming more annoyed than anything. "They scooped me up and took me hostage!"
"That's just like them!" Ola said. "But don't worry, that crusader guy and I was able to break out. I'm sure one of the keys we got can undo the chains on you."
"Oh, that's lit!" Lao said. "Wait, did you say…."
"Aie," the man with the keys said, looking Lao up and down. "That's a New Order emblem…"
Lao took one unsure stare past his brother before facing Ola. "Correct me if I'm wrong but did he ever mention a Chief God?" Ola turned around, seeing the eyes in the crusader's eyes as hungry as he when he eyed the demon guard. "Y-yeah?"
"WHY WOULD YOU GO ALONG WITH HIM?" Lao exclaimed.
"But, he was the only other human here!" Ola yelled. "And we're going to free you! We're going to help him, right?"
"No we aren't!" That crusader said, leaving the two of them and going to the guard. He reached around, stealing a sword from her person. "Young man, put him down!" he commanded, aiming the sharp end of it toward Ola and Lao.
"This might be my favorite night out yet," Lalu's mom said, as they both went to a nice steakhouse to enjoy each other's company.
"Everyone is back home, and Fola's friend finally fixed up the portal," his dad said. "I haven't had that much stress since-"
"He was in middle school!" They both said at the same time, laughing at each other. "Really, I don't think anything could phase us now."
Ring ring, ring ring!
Lalu's dad's phone started ringing, buzzing in his pants. He checked his watch, confused when he saw the number was Virto themself. "What is he calling about?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure if it was important he would probably teleport or something…" His mom said. They went back to eating, but soon after the first set of rings ended, the mom's phone started ringing now.
"Really?" his dad went.
"I'm telling you, whatever it is, it can't be that important," his mom said. Once again, they let it go to voicemail.
As soon as the ringing ended, a portal opened up right beside the two's table. It attracted everyone's attention in the restaurant, and even made a little wind around the parents' table. Through it came Virto, wearing a tank top and work shorts with mysterious black oil on their cheeks. "Everyone's in the other world," they said, a matter of factly.
"Well, scoff, that's pretty obvious," Lalu's mom said. "Let me guess, Lao got lost over there again?"
"I don't know, you want to find out?" Virto said, pointing to the portal. The two looked at each other, then at the portal then back at Virto. They were joking, right?
"Is he serious?" his dad asked.
"They," Virto said, "and yes. It's either you meet them there or you wait for all your children to come back, probably after midnight." Lalu's parents looked at each other, confused. Why would they need to wait until midnight?
"That creature right there is a fiend!" The crusader said, pointing the sword past Ola to Lao. "Don't you see the emblem, young man? That symbol is the symbol of Lord Geo!"
"Lord Geo?" Ola repeated, looking back at Lalu.
"I would appreciate it if you kept his/her name out of your mouth," Lao said, stepping in front of Ola. "Brother, stay behind me."
"But, the chains on your arms…" Ola mentioned.
"Trust me, I rather it be this way than you caught in the crossfire," Lao said without turning around.
"So, is it true?" Ola said. "Are you really aligned with…a demon?"
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but it will make a lot more sense once I get these chains off my hand," Lao said. "Say, crusader! You really trust that sword in your hand? I feel a lot more confident with you wielding it than bare-fisted!"
"Big talk for someone with trapped hands!" the Orderite bellowed. "I'll stab this right through ya, and leave you bleeding out to your maker!"
"Oh, try me," Lao said, growing noticeable fangs in his mouth. He dashed directly for the Orderite, the knight showing no fear.
"Your death!" The crusader said, doing exactly as he said. He aimed the sword forward and thrust, Lao stopping in his tracks as the sword went right through him. Clear, purple liquid started coming out of his mouth, coughing it out like blood.
"Fola!" Ola yelled, watching the crusader grab Lalu's head and use it like a knob to pull his body off the blade.
"Poor lad, corrupted like that," the Orderite said, watching the pool of purple blood expand out from the hole in Lao's body. "May the Chief God have mercy…"
"You bastard!" Ola said. "I told you he wasn't evil, and you still gutted him like he was vermin! I'll kill you!"
"Oh? And I thought you were pious…shame, I suppose once you're tainted, the only way out for you is death." The crusader started approaching Ola ominously, tossing the sword back and forth between hands while Ola shuffled backward. "What's wrong lad?" He said. "You can't take back what you said. Now die with conviction!"
Ching! The ear-piercing sound of chains being snapped in half stopped the crusader's tracks he turned around, his eyes widening. He saw the one he just stabbed stagger back up, even growling as a purple aura burned off him like a low-blazing fire. Even Ola was enthralled, seeing dog ears, a tail, and paws grow from his body. Wind started to swirl around his body, and his breath steamed off of what felt like nothing.
"That can't be," the crusader whispered, readying the sword again. "You have a hole clean through you!"
"Had," Lao corrected, the gape in him healing back like it was nothing. "I told you, you had better chances with your bare hands."
What Ola saw next was scarring. He backed up into a corner as he watched his half-dog brother maul the crusader, tearing through pieces of the armor like paper mâché. "Stay away!" the Orderite constantly yelled, narrowing dodging paw swipes that cut through bars that previously seemed invincible. Finally though, the Orderite was cornered, swiping and waving his sword constantly to keep Dog Lao at a body's length. "I said stay you mutt!"
Lao, seeing the sword constantly brush close to his nose, growled in frustration, finally catching the blade with his jaw and shattering it to pieces. Time seemed to freeze as all three watched the sword break apart like glass, falling to hundreds of useless pieces. "Wa-tak!" The crusader was grabbed by the neck and slammed into one of the bars, held there while Lao growled up at him. If it wasn't for his sheer size, he would have been dangling, kicking his legs like a trapped kid. "Have mercy! It's not too late for-"
Gurgle. The crusader looked down, hearing the sound come from Lao's gut. Lao also checked and then smiled toothily up at him. Hearing the signal, he instantly pounced on the crusader to tear him apart. Ola watched wide-eyed, seeing blood paint the bars as bite by bite the crusader was reduced to nothing more than an oddly shaped half-eaten bag of meat. What's worse, the crusader's natural aura kept him alive until near the end, his intact throat screaming at the top of his lungs as bones were chewed through for more juicer organs to feat on.
Ola couldn't bear the screams and the sounds of flesh being torn any longer. Weak in the legs, escaped back up the stairs, scrambling for his life while the sounds of death rang like church bells behind him. Once he got up the flight, he came to a corridor filled with arches. None of them had doors, with the only exit being a full sprint toward the opposite end.
A howl froze him still. Listening downward, he realized all the screams and sounds of terror had stopped. Now, it was only large strides, getting closer up the stairs. Ola dashed for one of the arches, crouching down behind a pillar the moment he heard the monster that was his brother reach the top of the flight.
Please don't look over here, Ola thought, his heart pounding. He wasn't sure if Lao could ever regain control of himself. He could smell and hear the blood dripping off his mouth, staining the floor with evidence of his kill. In a moment, the happy-go-luckily person he knew had turned into a killing machine, and it was killing him. This entire ordeal was nerve-wracking from the start. He had hoped that finally going into the portal would solve everything, but it just amplified everything to the point he almost sided with someone who near-murdered his brother.
"I should have never come," Ola shout-whispered to himself, about a hair's length from going into a panic attack right there behind the pillar. He routinely pulled against his hair, brushing it back to try to massage the fear-induced headache away. "Fuck this shit, if I knew he would be turned into this…."
"I'm going to get some fresh air."
"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!?" Ola said, clutching his head. "WHY YOU ALWAYS GOT TO GO OFF ON YOUR OWN!?"
"Arow?" He heard Lao woof. He could feel monstrous eyes lock onto his position too, covering his mouth as soon as he realized how dumb he was in that moment. Maybe I deserve to die, Ola thought. For some reason, his mind went back to his first class. He remembered when he saw he got a C on one of the assignments, and when he went to the teacher to change it, she said there was nothing she could do for him. "You should have been more on that, Oluwale," she said.
"If only I was just more forward, more involved…." Ola said to himself. He could hear the growling right behind him now. He could almost see the blood-lusting face turn the corner around the pillar, eyeing his next snack right in front of them. He didn't fight it, shaking his head while sobbing. "No matter how hard I try, I could never just be as strong as him…"
Soon, paws landed on him, with drool seeping down through the mass of his afro. Lao's entire wolfen body learned on him, sniffing out which part would be the juiciest to dive into first. "Just make it quick," Ola said. "That's the last wish I want, as an older bro-ow!" Lao wasn't listening, biting down on his ear just hard enough to make him bleed. Ola knew he could bite his head off. This was fucking torture.
But yet, the light chewing never moved from his ear. In fact, Lao sat down behind Ola, almost coddling him in his lap while he continued to nibble. His paws faded away, leaving behind normal hands. Even the fangs that first cut through his cartilage went back to being relatively dull teeth.
"Fola?" Ola asked, confused but relieved he wasn't dead. Lao finally lifted from his ear, only a light trickle of blood running down the Ola's ear and the side of his face. "Yousa bitch~" Lao said, patting his head.
"I-I thought you were hungry," Ola said.
"Nope, just horny," Lao said, relaxing against the pillar. "That sword is DA tech, meaning it doesn't kill you, but it does inject a fuck tone of demonic mana into your body. The hard part though is trying not to pin you down and…"
"And what?" Ola asked.
"…I would have rather eaten you, I would never live that down," Lao said, shaking his head. "So, what was that about me shutting up? I've never seen you like this before. You're usually so calm and collected it's annoying."
"I…I don't know," Ola said, leaning forward and scratching his head.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Lao asked. "I think I'm owed that after that bullshit earlier…"
"I…I just had some unprocessed stuff, that's all…" Ola said, turning. He saw how Lao wasn't buying it, his mouth in a scowl. "Come on man, we're supposed to be locked in together," he said. "I know something's up."
"Well…I should have been there with you." He finally started to unpack, turning back to Lao. "I thought I could get lemonade and we could walk around, but little did I know you left for Virto's place and…."
"Wait wait wait," Lao interrupted. "This is about the funeral? That was ages ago! I thought everyone moved passed all that…"
"Well I didn't," Ola said. "You don't understand, Fola. I'm supposed to be responsible for you. I'm your older brother for fucks sake! When I lost you, I felt lost," Ola said, rubbing his shoulder. "If I lost anyone like that again…I'll just be a fucking failure of a sibling…"
Lao nodded along. "I suppose I never really apologized for leaving you, didn't I?"
"But you did. You said sorry to all of us, remember?"
"If you're still not over it, I didn't," Lao said. "Look, I may not make the best decisions. Hell, you saw it back there, but I promise the next time I'm doing some fuck shit, there would be no one else I would have beside me other than you."
"Thanks, brother," Ola said, "That means a lot…"
"I heard the noise here, this way!" A new voice sounded, along with dozens of footsteps. Lao and Ola both stood up, Lao moving to a new pillar to hide behind. They listened to multiple guards pass through, the lantern light moving down the steps. Once it was gone, they both ran past, slipping through the door and back into the main hallways of the headquarters. They slipped into the first room they could find, stumbling upon a stack of mess hall supplies.
"A cafeteria closet," Lao said, poking around. "We got some time in here."
"Yeah, but we don't get any time out there," Ola said, using a cup to listen to the other side of the door. He still heard commotion. The place had gotten hot within an instant, and it didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. "We're stuck."
"Not necessarily," Lao said. Ola, at first confused, was mystified when he realized what his brother meant. "Oh no, no no no," Ola said. "We are not going loud of all things."
"It's just like paintball!" Lao said. "Look, they are all in armor. Didn't you say you were getting into running as a hobby?"
"Jogging! And not from people that could kill me," Ola voiced.
"Same thing, look, sometimes you just have to go in head-on, and figure it out as we go," Lao explained. "For the first goal, we can try to find my weapons. I know where they put them too."
"You're saying the sooner we find them…"
"The more this would be a walk in the park," Lao said, holding out a fist. "What do you say? One more mission, James Bond?"
Ola looked at the fist, scoffing as he fist-bumped it, "You're crazy."
"You have to be in this world," Lao said, turning to face the door. "We're going to run on three."
"Three?" Ola said. "Wait, we need to at least scope out the pla-"
"Three!" Lao yelled, kicking the door open. As expected, the guards all turned towards him and Ola, hightailing it out of the crowd before they could react. "Chase them!" they said. Now an entire battalion was after them, pursuing them upstairs and across entire corridors of headquarters. Innocent office workers and soldiers stepped aside, watching the chase happen as they tried to move on to their own things.
"Everyone else is awfully nice!" Ola said, partially out of breath as they went up another set of stairs.
"It's not that," Lao said. "Demon's Alley is just one of the most secure places in the world. We're basically trying to escape Fort Knox here, and they know that! Come on, through here!" Lao said, opening a door and almost diving inside. Ola did dive inside, avoiding a thrown spear by the linen of his trousers. He ditch crawled further inside before getting up, thankful that he could finally rest. "Where are we anyways?" he asked, to which Lao ceremoniously clapped his hands to on the lights.
Section by section, rows of weapons were illuminated by candle chandeliers. It left Ola flabbergasted, but Lao wasted no time getting to his revolvers once he had the door locked. "My babies!" he said, picking them off of one of the rows and checking the rounds inside. "Just as I left them too."
"They are in here!" a guard said. A battering ram immediately started trying to knock the door down, causing Ola to scoot back a bit. "Hey, so we got the weapons, so what now?"
"Like I said," Lao said, tossing Ola one of his revolvers. "We walk in the park~"
"We're going to murder them?"
"No, I filled everything with reds so that you don't fill guilty," Lao said. He got beside Ola, aiming his barrel down the shaky door.
"Well, that works for me," Ola said, spinning the revolver in his hand and aiming down sights as well. "Target locked."
"Now there's the try hard that I know," Lao said, not moving his eyes from the banging door. It was this close to off its hinges, but with a gun in hand, it made all the difference to him. "Let's get ourselves a killstreak."
With trials and tribulations, the two of them managed to fight their way all the way up to Dominika's room. The last two guards fell without hassle, Ola tackling one and putting them in a chokehold while Lao pieced another one up.
"Sleeeeep…." Ola said, feeling her tap until she finally fell unconscious. Lao was more direct, spartan kicking his guard into the wall and knocking her out on impact. "You take too long," Lao commented, putting his gun away.
"So what?" Ola said. "My stuff isn't as messy. You on the other hand, are going to have to explain why someone's arm is bent…the wrong way against the wall holy crap."
"Potatoes to a potato," Lao said with his usual amount of carelessness. "Point is, we made it."
"So Dami and Kumni are on the other side of this door?" Ola said, looking at how grand it looked. For a commander's office, it was surely warranted.
"Should be," Lao said.
"Hey, Fola."
"Yeah?"
"If you're free this weekend," Ola said. "I would like to hang out like this again. This was fun."
"Same," Lao said, unable to hide a shit-eating grin. The both looked back at the door, and kicked it up together.
"Finally!" their mom said, lounging in a chair while getting a pedicure by an arch imp. She was watching the entire time, waiting for her sons to finally kick down the last door. "Ah, you both are so slow!"
"Mom?" Lao and Ola both said together.
"Well, obviously you two can't be trusted to watch two kids for a few hours," she said. "Your father is busy taking your brother and cousin to the bathroom, but we were ready to go once you two finished your little getaway."
"But how!" Lao said.
"Yeah, there's only one portal!" Ola added.
"A mom never reveals their secrets," she said shrugging. "By the way, you are doing really good, but I'm ready to take my family home now."
"Fu Fu~, who should I bill this to?" The arch imp asked smirking, starting to pack away their salon kit.
"Send it to the commander, or whoever runs this place," their mom said. "She owes me anyways for stealing my kids again."