Chapter 1
Pixie's 'home', some random storage room on the second floor.
"...Huh. You weren't kidding. There really is a lot of interesting stuff around here, huh?" Ley commented as he casually picked up and examined some random objects scattered about here ant there.
"Right? I mean, I don't really know what half the stuff here even is or does, but Hollow Innocents love tinkering around with the stuff so they're more than happy to trade whenever I need macca or other stuff."
"That right? Oh, you mentioned them before, but what the hell are 'Hollow Innocents' anyway?"
"Oh, right! Um, well... They're...kinda like you humans... but, not?" Pixie not so helpfully tried to explain.
"...Huh? So, they're what, like androids or something?" Ley asked back, eyebrow quirked up in mild confusion.
"I dunno, maybe? You'll just have to ask one yourself if you wanna know," Pixie replied with a shrug. "Like I said, they're sort of like you humans, but not."
"Okay, fair enough. Hm... First demons and now androids maybe? What a weird place this is..," Ley muttered to himself as he filed that new bit of info away for later while continuing to look around the room. Pixie, on the other hand, was surprised at how mentally tough her new human companion was about his new situation.
"...You're weird."
"Hm? Whaddya mean?" Ley asked back without taking his eyes off of the tablet looking device he'd picked up and started examining.
"I mean, while I haven't met any humans myself, I've heard a lot of stories about them from other demons and Hollow Innocents who said they have... and they all tend to say the same things about them; that they freak out out and are hard to deal with once the reality of their situation sets in. But, you don't seem like you mind all that much, almost like you don't even really care. I mean, you really only freaked out when I used magic. Like yeah, I guess I'm a 'friendly' demon or whatever, but still," Pixie explained as she fluttered about in step with her confused and perplexed emotions about the strange human in front of her.
"...Huh. I guess that makes sense. But I mean, it's not like I'm not surprised or freaked out by all of this y'know."
"... Uh huh," Pixie replied, though didn't seem all that convinced.
Ley chuckled a bit at the little demon's easy to read expressions as she flitted about trying to figure him out. "I just make it a rule to take all that energy I could spend freaking out and just, I dunno, put it to use somewhere else? Like, 'faking it til you make it' or something like that?"
"...Huh. Well, whatever works for you I guess. But I was right, you really are weird."
Ley smiled and nodded. "Guess so, but that's just how humans are. Most of the time, yeah. We'd definitely freak out in an absurd situation like this but... every now and then you'll get some real oddballs like me, hehe."
"...Apparently."
"Honestly though? I think it really helped that the first demon I met was a friendly cutie like you. Humans, especially lonely single men like me, are real suckers for cute and friendly girls, demon or not," Ley admitted without even a hint of shame. "That's just the sort of stupidly simple creatures humans are sometimes."
"...C, cute? Me?" Pixie said in surprise with wide eyes and sporting a healthy blush on her pale cheeks as she flew about in circles trying to process what she'd just heard. As for Ley? Well, he found the whole scene funny, but had enough sense to not say anything about it... partly because he didn't want to get hit with magic for pissing the little cutie off saying something stupid. "...An, anyway! Forget that! We, well?"
"Hmm? Well what?"
"Did you see anything you like? I'm feeling generous so, if you like it... then you can have it! Consider it a gift! You know, since everything here is all mine, and stuff!"
"Oh yeah? Nice! Thanks! Ah, right. Speaking of gifts... I thought of a name for ya."
"Huh? Wait, really!?"
"Sure did," Ley replied with a smirk as he watched the little bluish, violet haired demon happily fly in circles around him. "Like I said though, I'm not the best with naming stuff so don't expect too much, alright? I did try my best though so don't zap me if you end up not liking it."
"A name! A name!"
... And, of course, Pixie wasn't listening.
'Wow, she's in her own little world huh? Well, I think I'll let her be for a bit til she calms down. Meanwhile... Huh?' Ley thought before his mind suddenly turned its full attention to the very interesting thing sticking out of a bock to his left. "Oh? What's this? A gun? Huh, too high-tech looking for a regular gun though..."
"Hm, what are you looking a-Oh! A gun type COMP!" Pixie exclaimed as she took a peek over Ley's shoulder and saw what he was holding.
"...A gun type, what? The hell's a COMP?" Ley asked, surprised by what Pixie called the strange weapon in his hands.
"A COMP! It's, um.. Now how was it explained... Oh, right! It's basically a machine that lets humans store and summon demons to fight for them while doubling as... whatever they look like. In this case, a gun."
"The fuck? What kind of sci-fi bullshit is that? And are you okay with being used like that? I mean, aren't you supposed to be a demon too?"
Pixie just shrugged. "I mean, I guess? Might makes right and the weak obey the strong in this world. Sure, most humans are pretty weak on their own, but they're clever and smart. And, if you think about it, being clever and smart are a kind of 'strength' of their own too, right? I mean, how else could they come up with a way to contract and use demons to fight for them in the first place, right?" Pixie countered. "Besides, it's not like we don't get anything out of it either, y'know? A good summoner can help even weak demons like us pixies get stronger too! I even once heard of this one redheaded pixie who got super strong after meeting this weird shirtless human who was looking for his friends! Anyway, seeing as you found a COMP, why don't you check it out? Maybe even register as its user!"
"How do I do that and does that mean you're looking for a good summoner too? To get stronger?"
"I mean, there's that too, but I just wanna see what a real COMP's like! Y'know, seeing as I've only ever heard of them before now. Oh, by the way. Not all summoners need a COMP to summon and store demons, it's just that these things are the most common way to do it. The humans who don't need to use them are super rare and are either abnormally powerful, use another method entirely, or both."
"...I see. Alright, well... I don't really get all of that weird summoner business but whatever. Ah, looks like there's a little switch or button on the side of the barrel... And-"
*Tap, tap... CLICK!*
"-there we go!"
After a second or two, Ley managed to open up the gun type COMP's user interface, which turned out to be a touchscreen tablet built in to the side of the COMP's unusually long and large gun barrel.
"...Huh, a lot lighter and more well built than I expected," Ley observed as he noticed how oddly easy it was to hold this obviously absurd piece of technology. "Can't exactly see how you're supposed to use this to summon demons and fight with it, but... hm. Let's turn it on and see if there's a user's manual or something installed... Man if there is, I hope it's written in English or I'm screwed..."
"What's English?"
"Huh? Oh, uh. The language we're speaking? Oh, this must be one of those super all too convenient 'auto-translation' cheats you see in games and books... Whatever, I'm not gonna complain about it. Long live cliches!"
"What are you even talking about?" Pixie asked, eyebrow furrowed and wondering just what in the heck was even going on in her strange human friend's head.
"Sorry, sorry. Just thinking out loud. I was just saying how odd it was that we can even understand each other at all in the first place and thought it might be because of some kind of magic or something like that."
"You can use magic!?"
Ley shook his head. "Nope, not me. That sort of stuff is all make believe where I'm from, at least I think so. Anyway, it's because magic doesn't exist where I'm from that we tend to obsess over it and think of how it would work and how to use it if it did. Usually in stories and stuff like that. This exact sort of situation is actually a super common one in those games and stories I mentioned. The whole 'we can somehow suddenly understand each other even though we're from completely different worlds and shouldn't be ablle to' kinda thing."
"...That's really weird," Pixie finally concluded after hearing Ley's explanation. "But, why do humans even think about stuff like that in the first place though?"
Ley shrugged. "Who knows. That's just the kind of silly creatures we weak humans are. Huh, lucky for me this thing is written in English, or at least had it as one of the languages preinstalled in its setup menu, nice. Now then, let's have a look around..."
"...Ooohhh!" While Pixie didn't really understand even a quarter of what Ley was talking about or what she was seeing, that didn't mean she was any less curious and excited though. After all, she was a pixie, and pixies tended to be one of the more curious among demonkind.
"Oh, it uses a simple touchscreen interface, nice. Nothing too flashy or fancy here, but it gets the job done," Ley noted as he noted the COMP's UI layout. "Looks like it hasn't been registered to anyone yet either... huh, that's weird."
"Hm? What's weird?" Pixie asked as she flew over to take a closer look at the COMP's display... only to remember that she had no idea what the strange symbols meant. "This is English's written language then, right? Hm, it looks a whole lot different from what Hollow Innocents use and taught me..."
"Hey, you said that these COMP things were used to let humans store and summon demons, right?"
"Yeah, why?" Pixie asked.
"It looks like whoever made this thing heavily modified its functions and features, There's nothing about letting me summon or store demons here," Ley said as he skimmed over the gun type COMP's installed features and functions.
"Wait, what? Seriously!?" Pixie exclaimed in disbelief.
Ley nodded. "Yeah. Apparently, all the functions related to demon summoning and storage were completely removed and a set of 'demon contracting, strengthening and enhancement' functions were installed instead."
Getting over her initial surprise, Pixie's ears perked up when she heard the bits about 'strengthening and enhancement'. "So, how is contracting going to make demons stronger exactly? Actually, wait. How is it any different from the summoning program that COMPs normally use?"
"Well, according to the manual, the 'Contract program' was designed with the goal of creating and strengthening bonds between demons and humans so they could truly support each other instead of demons just being used as mere tools to fight for humans."
"So? How will it do all that?" Pixie asked, fluttering around with excitement.
"Well, the biggest thing I can see is this thing called the 'Hrdaya (Connection) Matrix'. If I'm reading this right, it's a physical representation of the bond between a Contractor and their demons. It's apparently made when any demons agree to form a contract, registering them to the COMP, which then acts as the 'bridge' between them. It allows the Contractor to directly strengthen their demons through their COMPs using some of the stored up Essence gained from battle or harvested from the crystallized remains of dead demons, among other things. Apparently, the deeper and stronger the bond between Contractors and their demons, the more profound the changes manifested through the Hrdaya Matrix," Ley explained. "Huh. Seems like the Contractor has their own strengthening matrix too... Man, this shit's crazy. It's like leveling up in an RPG...!"
"...A what? What's an 'Ar, Pee, Gee'?" Pixie asked, head cutely and curiously cocked to the side.
"RPGs are a kind of interactive story based game some humans like to play and 'Leveling up' is how the main characters get stronger in order to beat the game's final boss."
"Oh, okay! So, do you like playing those Ar, Pee, Gee things too then?" Pixie asked, thinking that that was why Ley didn't seem very surprised by what they'd learned so far.
Ley chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I do. Still, never thought I'd be part of a real life RPG though... Man, talk about ridiculous...! Then again," he took a glance at the smiling Pixie in front of him. 'I never thought I'd meet a real life demon or see her use magic either though.'
"...ey! Hey! Ley! Quit spacing out on me, or I'm gonna zap you!"
"...Eh, Pixie? You say something?"
"The heck!? Hmph! Maybe I should zap you then! Well!? Should I zap you!? Huh!?"
"Sorry, sorry! I, um... just got caught up in my own head thinking about everything. Anyway, you were saying?"
Pixie sighed rather dramatically. "I was asking if you think we could try out that Contract thing! I mean, that's what you were thinking about too, right?"
"...Are you sure? I forgot to mention it earlier, but once we make a contract and you gain access to the Hrdaya Matrix, it can't be undone. Well, not unless one or both of us dies that is. I mean, don't you think you should take a little time to think about making such a big decision or that going through with it will literally bind us together until death do us part?"
Pixie just shrugged, not really all that concerned. "Meh. Not that big a deal to me. Besides, it's a small price to pay if it means I can get super strong if I join you. Y'know, like that legendary other pixie I mentioned before. Besides, you're a weak human who doesn't really know anything about this world and are gonna need to make some contracts later anyway, right? If that's the case, I wouldn't mind keeping you company and protecting you!"
"Ahaha! Thanks, I guess. But hey, having a cute girl like you protecting me ain't so bad! Alright... let's see about getting you registered then! Oh wait, I almost forgot! Your name! Let's get that outta the way first!"
"Oh! Right! My name, what is it? What is it!? Ah, but it better be cute or I really will zap you! Just so we're clear," Pixie said with clear excitement in her voice and (slightly unreasonable) expectation in her green eyes before letting off a little spark to show she wasn't just making an empty threat.
*gulp!* "...I got this! So, no need to zap me, 'kay?"
"...That'll depend on you, so hurry up and spit it out!" quipped an ever increasingly impatient Pixie giving off slightly more sparks with every second.
...
'...Wow, no pressure.' Ley thought as he felt a bit of cold sweat trickle down his back. "Violet! Whaddya think of 'Violet'? That'll work, right?"
"...Violet, like the color? Why Violet? I mean, it's a nice enough name I suppose, but what made you pick that for my name?"
"Oh, well. It's the name of a flower where I'm from too actually and has a lot of meanings associated with it too."
"Like what?"
"Well, like for example, depending on the color of the flower itself, violets can symbolize innocence or modesty. They've also been used as good luck charms by travelers or as symbols for manifesting wishes. Heck, I even read that they were popular ingredients in love potions and remedies to help ease anxiety, insomnia and headaches. All sorts of things really," Ley explained as he recalled some of the random trivia he learned thanks to his interest in the occult and other related topics inspired by the many games he'd played in his rare moments of free time. "I dunno, I just thought it suited you is all, or something like that."
"Wow. That's, my name is actually pretty cool...! Huh, you must be really smart if you know all that~!" Pixie said with clear admiration in her voice and a faint blush dusting her cheeks, obviously very happy with her new name. Honestly, a part of her was surprised that Ley could be so sappy while the rest of her thought it was kind of sweet and flattering too, hence the strange but not all too unpleasant heat welling from the depths of her body. '...? What, is this? Well whatever this is, it feels really nice though~ '
Ley, who still hadn't noticed the effect his words were having on the now blushing blue haired pixie yet, just shook his head. "Not really. I'm just the type who gets really interested in the most random things sometimes, that's all. Speaking of which... I also read somewhere that pixies can change their size. Can you? I mean, I know you probably aren't like the pixies I've read about but... I still figure that at least some of what I've read might be close to the truth here."
"...E, eh? O, oh. Yeah, we can. Why?"
"Hm, just curious mostly," Ley answered. In truth, he just liked the idea of traveling together with a cute girl who wasn't the size of a flying action figure, at least when they didn't have to fight anyway. Of course, he still had enough sense not to say that bit out loud though. Luckily for him, the now named Violet didn't seem to take it the wrong way.
"So what, you wanna see me in my 'big form'?"
Honestly, it also really helped that he'd complimented her a few times already too. Things like that really do tend to help after all. Demon or not, what girl wouldn't like being called cute?
"...I mean, if you're okay with it? But seriously, you don't mind?"
The now named Violet smiled and shook her head. "Not really. Besides, changing our size doesn't take any magic and is more of a unique skill of Fairy Order demons in general anyway. Okay, here goes!"
'Fairy Order demons?' But, before Ley could ask anything, he once again went totally wide eyed as he saw yet another profoundly absurd reality unfolding before his eyes.
"...No way...! You're.. you're actually getting bigger and taller...!"
In the blink of an eye,Violet went from being a roughly four and a half inch tall pixie floating in the air to a four and a half foot tall human sized girl standing in front of a very, very bewildered and slack jawed Ley.
"...Okay. Just, uh... just give me a sec to process all this. Yeah, I think this is just too much batshit crazy all at once for me."
"...Eh? Oh, but what do you think? Nifty, right?"
"...Yeah. Yeah, it really is. Damn, big or small, you really do look cute though. Nice."
"...~! "
Cue another round of blushing that Ley didn't fail to notice this time.
"Er, whoops. Sorry about that. My thoughts slipped out and um... my bad."
Violet shook her head. "... 's fine. A, anyway! H, how do we form a contract and register me to your GUMP?"
"...GUMP?"
"Y'know, as in 'gun type COMP'?"
"...Ohhh! I gotcha. As for the whole contract thing? Well, all we really need to do is confirm your consent and then sign your name on the display while standing inside the deployed magic circle. That'll be enough to bind us together," Ley explained as he found and activated the GUMP's 'Contract program'. Once the 'registration magic circle' was deployed, Ley looked over at a now very excited Violet. "So, you ready? Remember, once we do this, there's no going back."
Without another word and with the biggest grin on her cute face, Violet produced a spark of magical energy on the tip of her pointer finger and happily signed her name in strange yet beautiful looking foreign letters."And, there! All done!"
With their pact made, the bright red magic circle Violet stood inside began to rapidly spin and compress before turning into a bright sphere roughly the size of a tennis ball that split in two and entered both Violet and Ley's bodies. Meanwhile, the GUMP's tablet display read:
[Contract bound and the following demon, 'Violet', has been successfully registered.
Remaining 'Contract' slots open: 7/8]
"...So I can have up to eight demon contracts at once huh? Good to know," Ley muttered as he shook off the last bit of surprise and the weird tingly sensation he felt when the ball of red light entered his body. "Anyway, how are you feeling, Violet?"
"Tingly! And... yeah, definitely stronger too! Crazy! Ooh! and I even got some nifty new 'Contract skills' downloaded into me too!"
"...Contract skills? Hm, what's that about...? Oh, here's your status screen. Man, this shit really is set up like an RPG! But, how the hell does this thing even manage to accurately calculate, convert and display all your vital stats as numbers? Huh? Whoa! even I have a status screen now too!?" Ley was completely dumbfounded by what he was seeing. It was one thing to play games or read stories abut it,but to have it be his reality? 'Man, this is insane! Anyway, not that I'm expecting too much, what with being a plain ass human and all but... let's see what I'm working with here...'
Then, clicking on the party status tab on the screen, Ley braced himself for just how low leveled and basic his stats were going to look. Meanwhile, Violet herself was totally absorbed in testing out just how much stronger she'd become along with all the other skills she now had access to as a newly 'Contracted demon'.
[Page 1: Base Stats
Name: Ley Archer
Race: Human
Class: 'Contractor'
Lvl: 001
Exp: 0
Next Lvl: 0/60
HP: 45/45
SP: 25/25
Strength: 5
Endurance: 5
Agility: 5
Magic: 3
Intelligence: 4
Technique: 6
Luck: 3
To Next Page: Elements/State Proficiencies, Resistances, Weaknesses]
'...Okay, not sure if these numbers are actually any good or not but I guess I'll just have to figure all that out as I go I guess. Still, what the hell does 'Technique' stand for?' Ley wondered to himself before deciding to leave that for later and instead check out Violet's stats. 'She did mention getting a boost after forming a Contract after all...'
[Page 1: Base Stats
Name: Violet
Order: Fairy
Class: 'Contracted demon'
Lvl: 003
Exp: 140
Next Lvl: 20/130
HP: 40/40
SP: 50/50
Strength: 6
Endurance: 6
Agility: 8
Magic: 8
Intelligence: 7
Technique: 3
Luck: 10
To Next Page: Elements/State Proficiencies, Resistances, Weaknesses]
'...Huh. Not bad. Her stats do look pretty good, especially her luck! Way higher than mine anyway. No surprise there I guess, being a fairy and all. Heh, maybe she really is my good luck charm!'
"Hey, what are you looking at, Ley?" Pixie asked after suddenly appearing on his shoulder back in her 'pixie mode'. "Hm? Are those my stats? Nice, nice! Oh, right! I think we should go show off your GUMP to the Hollow Innocents that live nearby! Plus, they can tell you more about what's happening around here than I ever could. That and get some fresh air and all, y'know?"
"Huh. That's, actually not a bad idea. I'm pretty curious about what these Hollow Innocent are like too. So, do they live far from, wherever this is?"
"Hm? Nah, not really. We just gotta cut through a small forest that separates us from the valley where they live."
"Okay but, uh..."
"Hm?
"...Do you think we'll run into any trouble on the way there? Like, with other, not so friendly demons?"
"... Well.." Violet took a moment to really mull that one over a bit more now that she wouldn't be traveling alone anymore. "There's not much we should need to worry about, especially now that I'm strong enough to protect us if we need to firth, so no, I don't really think we have any reason to worry too much. Besides, your GUMP should work as a weapon too so it's not like you'll be completely defensless, right?"
"Easy for you to say. The only 'guns' I've ever used were in videogames. But, if I do have to fight though, I guess that'd give me a chance to see what this thing can really do," Ley replied before nodding. "Well, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' and all that, right?"
"Hey, don't worry! I'll be sure to keep you safe! And, if things get really tough for whatever reason... then we can always just run away!"
"Hahaha! Yeah, I guess that's true!"
xxx xxx xxx
A/N:
First contract signed! Not counting the five other, non-demon heroines, that leaves eight more demons to get!
- I took a lot of inspiration from the COMPs as seen in the Devil Summoner subseries, specifically the Soul Hackers. COMPs there cold be anything from a gun to a freaking saxophone!
- Yeah, Violet is pretty OP for a pixie, but still within reason and not nearly to the extent of the pixie from Nocturne... at least for now anyway.
- The Hollow Innocents are actually a fusion of two artificial humanoid races seen in both SMT: Liberation Dx2 and the now closed SMT: IMAGINE MMO. You can think of them as the standard human stand ins of this world somewhat similar to the Manikens from Nocturne.