April 17th, 1566 ME
"Anti-Mamono Zone" of Floria
Amias Solis
I still remember the first time I met Elise and Eryn. Allen and Ariana Maxwell had hired me to take care of them because of how busy they were running their business. While I had disliked how little time they spent with their children, it allowed for more time to bond with them. I was the aunt they never had. Most of my free time was spent playing with them, doing whatever they wanted. It was a joy to be around them. Yet, on December twentieth twenty-five years ago, it all came crashing down when I heard that Eryn was experiencing symptoms of a deady disease.
Elise's words to me after Eryn was taken to the healer stuck with me. "Is Eryn going to be alright?" She had asked. I didn't know what to say. Twenty-five years later, Eryn was still alive, but that was all we had managed. There had been little to no progress on curing Noble's disease.
"Amias." Eryn's quiet voice brought me back to reality. We were sitting at our table, just having finished dinner. I had washed all the dishes, and was just spending time with Eryn before we had to go to bed. The sun was setting but Elise had gone to bed already, seemingly disturbed and stressed out by something while refusing to tell me what was wrong. It was a worryingly common trend with her nowadays.
"Yes, Eryn?"
"Would you be angry if I married a monster?" He asked, cautiously.
I pondered the question. I was born in a small but fiercely religious Order town. The first lesson I had learned in school about Mamono was that they were evil and not to be trusted. Yet, as Floria integrated monsters into the populace, I was coming across numerous examples that disproved that. It was making me question everything the Order taught me. If that was a lie, what else were they lying about?
"Well… Elise's therapist seems rather nice." I said, bringing up the most prominent example of a monster proving they could be trusted. "I guess… I wouldn't be too upset if you married one of the less aggressive ones."
Eryn had given me his copy of the Wandering Scholar's book on Mamono once. I remember flipping through a couple pages. Most of the descriptions had made me sigh in disgust, the Dark Elf entry in particular making me feel sick for a few days. The following nightmare about Elise monsterizing into one and raping Eryn solidified them as my most hated monster. Yet, not all of them were like that.
"I remember reading through that encyclopedia of yours. Some of the monsters didn't sound too awful. The Dhampir, the Bogey, the Weresheep…" I listed a few that came to mind that were palatable enough and didn't make me want to throw up.
"Of course… No matter the monster, Elise isn't going to be happy if I marry one." Eryn muttered.
"But… She seemed okay with Roseann and that Lizardman."
"Yeah and those two are the only ones. What's going to happen if a Ushi-Oni decides she wants me? Elise is going to lose her mind."
Just thinking about Elise's reaction to her beloved little brother marrying an Ushi-Oni made me tired. "Eryn, do you mind if we talk about this in the morning? I'm tired and I still have to clean the kitchen."
"Amias, you're the only other person-"
"Eryn, please. We can talk about this tomorrow." Thankfully, Eryn didn't pursue the topic any further. "I'll bring your wheelchair upstairs. Call me if you need anything."
Eryn silently nodded as I rolled his wheelchair up the ramp leading to his room. Thankfully, he was able to get himself ready for bed without my help. After that was done, I headed back downstairs and started cleaning the kitchen. Humming a tune that my parents had sent me helped offset the monotony of chore.
A knock on the door broke the silence about forty-five minutes later. "Who could it be at this hour…?" I mumbled in irritation. I continued cleaning in hopes that they would just leave us alone, but they kept knocking. I put my rag down and ran over to the front door.
"What do you want?!" I couldn't stop myself from yelling as I opened the front door, only to be greeted by a Lilim.
"Greetings. I apologize for bothering you at this hour, Miss Solis, but I'd like to talk to you about something. Is Elise here?" The Lilim asked, her voice as sickly sweet and soothing as the encyclopedia entry had described.
"She's asleep right now." I quickly responded, bowing out of fear.
"Good. By the way, there's no need to bow, Amias." The Lilim cleared her throat. "My name is Amaya, I'm sure you've already heard of me." The Lilim held out her hand for a shake. I quickly held my hand out, afraid of what would happen if I didn't give her a response.
"May I come in?" I nodded and stepped aside, leading her to the dinner table.
"Now. From what I understand, Eryn has been suffering from a disease called 'Noble's disease' for almost his entire life, am I correct?"
"That's right." I could already see where this was going.
"Alright. I'm not sure if you're aware, but the non-aggression law that protects humans that King Emyr imposed when he was still alive, isn't as effective anymore. There have been reports of monsters breaking into people's houses and taking them forcefully." Amaya said, sounding rather ashamed of herself. "My forces have been doing what they can to stop that from happening, but they aren't always successful."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"I'm saying… You could kill two birds with one stone. You could cure Eryn of his lifelong disease and keep him safe from any aggressive monsters."
"What's the catch?"
"Are you aware of the effects of monsterization on human women?"
"N-not exactly… Do you want to monsterize me?"
"That was the original plan. Nikolas, he insisted that I do this. You see, he wants Eryn to live a normal life, and believes that you're a good match for him. But, I would be breaking my own law if I forcefully monsterized you. So, I came here to offer you a choice."
It's true, I care about Eryn. But to say I'm a good match for him romantically feels… strange.
Amaya took a bottle out from her cloak with a glowing white liquid inside. "This, Miss Solis, is what we call 'Lilith's Panacea'. It's a potion that transforms you into whatever mamono fits you best. My mother gave it to me a long time ago, and I've been holding onto it ever since. I can't think of a better person to give it to than you."
"I… I really don't know about this…" I stuttered out, before unleashing a flurry of questions. "Would I still be myself? How do I determine what monster I'll turn into? Would Eryn be in any danger?"
"One thing at a time, Amias. Just going off your professions and the way you act, you'd likely turn into a Nureonago, a Kikimora, or a Shoggoth. In all three scenarios, you'd still retain your personality and memories. You'll likely start feeling a romantic attraction towards Eryn, since you've been caring for him for so long. It's only natural." Amaya said, tapping the table.
"Will I lose control of myself?"
Amaya thought for a moment before responding. "Probably not. Assuming you turn into one of the Mamono that I mentioned, you won't experience any uncontrollable post-corruption urges." The Lilim looked outside. "Goodness, it's getting quite late. I must get going. Nikolas will get lonely without me."
Amaya got up from the table and headed towards the front door. "Remember Amias, you have a choice. You don't have to drink the potion if you don't want to." She winked at me before slamming the door behind her, leaving me alone once more. I stared at the glowing white concoction, contemplating everything Amaya had said. Once I drank that potion there would be no going back. I would be forsaking my humanity, permanently.
I sat at the table, thinking for hours. The candles eventually went out, leaving me in the dark, with the only source of illumination being the moon and the faint glow from the potion. Eventually, I decided to go to bed as fatigue took over, making sure to take the potion with me. Even as I tried to fall asleep, my mind was racing.
How would I hide this from Elise? How would Eryn react? What if Amaya was lying? What would Elise think of me if I did this? What would I tell my family?
I didn't get much sleep that night. But by morning, I had made my choice.
April 18th, 1566 ME
Elise Maxwell
"Anti-Mamono Zone" of Floria
Something felt… off, about the anti-mamono zone these days. It felt quieter than usual. There were barely any signs of life. The only indication that this place wasn't abandoned were a few mamono prowling around, with the occasional human woman keeping their distance. I only saw one man, practically clinging to their wife. Some of the buildings were growing vines from the lack of maintenance. Coming to an open plaza, I saw a collapsed statue in the center. I saw stone fragments of what looked like wings scattered about.
Must've been a statue of the Chief God. Eh, better to have it collapse then let a Gargoyle defile it.
Suddenly, the sounds of shouting in the distance broke the near-silence of the city. A few of the monsters even perked their heads up, before going back to whatever they were doing. As I got closer to Norah's house, the shouting grew louder and louder. As I got closer, the yelling started sounding different. Intermixed with the frustrated yells were the sounds of bending metal.
Something caught my eye on the side of the street. A Hellhound, tearing apart what looked to be a reinforced metal door in a desperate frenzy. It was holding, but just barely.
"Christos! You're not getting away from me this time! I'm going to pin you to the ground and make you mine! We're perfect for one another and you fucking know it, so spare me the trouble of breaking your door and come out here!" The Hellhound screamed deliriously as she slashed at the metal barricade over and over again.
Christos? That was the kind man that brought me home from when I got blackout drunk and ended up in an alleyway. I drew my sword. If there was any time to repay him for his kindness that night, it was now. Circling to the opposite end of the house, I saw him hiding on the roof behind the chimney. The two of us made eye contact.
"Elise?! Is that you?! Help me out here!" He said, looking in the direction of the enraged hellhound.
"Jump off the roof! I'll protect you!" I said to him as quietly as I could to avoid attracting the Hellhound's attention. Christos snuck over to the edge of the roof, looking down nervously.
"It's an eighteen foot drop…"
I held my arms out, walking to the spot below where Christos was standing. "Get into position, I'll catch you!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! Just do it before that Hellhound figures out where you are!" Christos nodded. He slowly eased his way off the rooftop, before jumping off. Thankfully, the man wasn't too heavy, and I managed to catch him without a problem. I let go of him, letting him stand on his own.
"Thanks for that…" Christos uttered, taking a deep breath. "I would've been royally screwed if you hadn't come along."
"You're welcome. Has that Hellhound been harassing you lately?"
"Harassment's an understatement. She's been following me everywhere for the past month or so! I've had to memorize her sleep schedule so that I know when it's safe to go out and get supplies. On top of that she's been getting more and more aggressive. I nearly got snatched five times in the past week alone!" Christos ranted. "My defenses have been the only thing keeping her away."
I put a finger to my mouth, silently signalling for him to be quiet. "We can talk later… We need to get out of-" I turned around, seeing the Hellhound standing across from us with a look of pure rage in her flaming eyes. Yet, my eyes were drawn to something else. Where her left ear should've been, was a bandaged stump. It slowly began to dawn on me who this Hellhound was, and what she said next confirmed my suspicions. I got into a defensive position, putting myself between Christos and the Hellhound.
"Oh. It's you." The Hellhound said with no small amount of hatred in her eyes. "How's life without your right eye, you Orderite bastard? Was your invasion of my town not satisfying enough for you? You wanna steal my future husband away from me as well?"
"You know her?" Christos asked, surprised.
I grimaced. That wasn't what I expected to hear. "Last time we met, I assumed you were married. Did your husband dump you or something?"
The Hellhound's eyes burned even brighter as a low growl emanated from her throat. "I am this close to clawing your other eye out…" She sneered. "No. I'm not married."
Christos peeked out from behind me. "Anna… I'm sure there's plenty of other men willing to marry you-"
"That's a lie and you know it, Christos! Half the fucking houses in this dump are either empty, or the men are married already! You're the only single man in this area!" The Hellhound, apparently named Anna, roared in anger. "I came here to get a husband, and I'm not giving up, damn it!"
"You're not touching him, not on my watch." I said, pointing my blade at the monster. I could see her preparing to attack. "Leave-"
Anna lunged at me, letting out a cry of anger and desperation. I reacted as fast as I could, whipping my foot into her stomach. She slid back, landing on all fours and leaving claw marks in the ground. I braced myself for her to lunge again, only for her to dig deeper into the ground and hurl a clump of rock and dirt at me. The debris didn't hurt, but it felt incredibly unpleasant and distracting.
"Bastard!" I yelled in anger. The Hellhound rushed forward with her fist aimed at my face. I quickly stepped to the side at the last second, watching the creature pass by me. I lashed out with my sword, but the monster quickly course-corrected and parried the sword with her long claws. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small crowd forming around us, made up mostly of monsters.
Anna took full advantage of my distraction and launched herself towards Christos like an arrow. Before she could reach him however, I reached out and grasped her large, fluffy tail, and yanked it towards me. The canine monster let out a yowl of pain as she turned back towards me. I followed up with a slash to her legs. A shout of surprise came from her mouth as she fell backwards. She got herself upright before stumbling her way towards me.
"You bitch… You can't do this to me… I was so close!"
I didn't respond. She raised her arm, slashing down at me with all her strength. I parried the blow and followed up with a punch to her chest, causing her to stagger backwards.
"Don't you understand?! I'm so sick and tired of being alone! I need this!"
Once again, I didn't grace her with a response. I stepped forward and drew the realm silver blade into her chest, delivering what would've been a fatal blow. I withdrew the blade and brought it down on her head for good measure, ending the fight.
I turned towards Christos, who had been watching everything with a mix of awe and sadness. Before I could say anything to him, I heard two different voices coming from behind me. I turned around to see a dark blue-haired Dullahan wearing light plate armor armed with a halberd and an Ochimusha with short, brown hair in a wolf cut wearing a dark red cloak and wielding two swords.
Show-off.
"Alright, explain yourself, lady. Why did you stab the poor Hellhound?" The Ochimusha asked, brandishing her sword threateningly. "What did she ever do to you?"
"She was threatening to rape him." I said, nodding at Christos. "I take it that's against Amaya and Delilah's laws?"
"Yeah. It is." The Dullahan confirmed, looking down at the Hellhound. She then looked at Christos. "Can you confirm that she did this to you?"
Christos nodded. "Yeah. She's been trying for the past month. What have you been doing? Aren't you supposed to be protecting us?"
"She's a tricky one. She slipped through our fingers multiple times." The Dullahan explained. Christos snorted, shaking his head and muttering something about incompetence underneath his breath. The Ochimusha didn't seem to notice, instead occupying herself with hauling away Anna's unconscious body.
"Shit, she weighs a ton. Give me a hand here, Alessia."
"Just a second." Alessia said, walking over to me and Christos. "What are your names?"
"Elise Maxwell."
"Christos Torres."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Alessia, and this is my partner, Ikaia. Christos, I am terribly sorry that you had to go through this for a month. The remaining unmarried mamono are getting incredibly desperate, and our forces have been stretched thin trying to keep things under control." Alessia offered an apology. "If you ever need us, we're by the old barracks. The one heroes used to use around here."
"Are you going to help me with this or what?" Ikaia called out, struggling to move Anna's body.
"I'm coming! Stop being so impatient! Sheesh…" Alessia rushed over to Ikaia and grabbed her by the legs. The two of them hauled Anna away without another word, leaving me and Christos alone. The adrenaline from the battle had worn off, and I realized that my face was still covered in dirt from my battle.
"Do you have anywhere I could wash myself?" I asked Christos.
"There's a well not far from here. I'll get some towels from my house as well." Christos responded, entering his now-defenseless home. Any monster could just waltz into the house with the front door broken. "My fucking door… That cost me so much to make…" He growled quietly as he glared at the broken entryway. He disappeared into his house and came out a minute later with a few small towels in hand.
He tossed me the towels and the two of us began traveling to the well. Christos looked at his house once again in dismay. "Looks like my home is compromised. Where am I going to live now?!"
"You could always come live with me." I blurted out impulsively. Christos stopped walking, and looked at me in surprise.
"Really? You aren't struggling to provide for yourselves? Heard this part of Floria isn't exactly receptive towards mamono aid." Christos chuckled. "Not that Amaya and Delilah aren't trying."
I was always grateful that I was born into a wealthy family. The worst hunger that I had to suffer through was when a freak thunderstorm had destroyed the marketplace near my old home. When my father passed away he had arranged for a portion of the funds his mercenary company made to be sent to me. And that was on top of what the Order paid me for fighting for them.
"No, I've got plenty of food back home. You don't have to worry about eating us out of house and home." Christos chuckled, but I could detect a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"Aren't you the privileged one… Don't have to leave your house to get food, don't have to risk getting raped everytime you leave the house by desperate monsters…"
"I'm not sure about that second one. I'm pretty sure Amaya and Delilah really, really want to monsterize me."
"She does? What'd you do to them?" Christos inquired, astonished.
"...I don't want to talk about it. I really don't, Christos."
Christos seemed to take the hint, staying silent while thinking of another conversation topic. We reached the well he was talking about. The water was surprisingly clean for a rickety, old well. As I was washing the dirt off my face I noticed something written on the base of the well.
Clean and uncorrupted. Feel free to drink some.
Something in the back of my mind told me this was Amaya's doing. Part of me wondered if I was too harsh to her. Christos was right, it sounded like she was genuinely trying to appeal to the anti-mamono crowd. I finished cleaning myself and dried my face off with the towel Christos gave to me, tossing it back to him.
"I need to ask you a question, Christos."
"What is it?"
"What are your opinions on monsters? Back there with the Hellhound it seemed like you were trying to comfort her. If I was in your position I would've just told her to fuck off and leave me alone."
Christos contemplated the question for a few seconds before answering. "I think they're okay."
I stared at him in disbelief. "Christos, that Hellhound tried to rape you. She was ranting about how she was going to pin you to the floor while you screamed her name. If that's your definition of 'okay', I really don't know what to think of that."
"Let me explain myself, Elise. While I'm not okay with the rape part, I understand why they're acting that way. The no-rape law makes it way harder for the more aggressive monsters to get a husband. Combine that with the fact that a lot of anti-mamono citizens are either vanishing from their homes or killing themselves, and they are understandably getting desperate to find a husband. Almost all of the men in the pro-mamono region have been claimed already."
A Manticore passed by us, staring at Christos hungrily. I put myself between the monster and Christos once again. The Manticore glared at me angrily, her spiked tail whipping back and forth in an irritated manner. She stopped walking, then turned towards Christos.
"Hey. Christos. I don't know what you're thinking, spending time with a frigid human woman, but I'll be a much, much better wife than her. Trust me. I can do all sorts of things she can't." The monster gloated, puffing her chest out.
"Back off." I snapped at her. "He deserves someone better than a glorified rapist. And if you dare touch him I'm going to rip your tail off." Only after I finished that sentence did I realize how weirdly defensive and clingy I was being, my face becoming as red as a tomato.
"Don't provoke her, just keep walking." Christos whispered to me, not even bothering making eye contact with the monster. The Manticore seemed to take that statement as an invitation, smiling wickedly. Meanwhile, I kept my hand on my sword, preparing to defend Christos from the second rape attempt in the span of fifteen minutes. Just as it looked like she was about to fire, Alessia and Ikaia walked up to her, tapping the Manticore on the shoulder.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ikaia asked, a tired and irritated expression on the Ochimusha's face.
"She was planning on spiking poor Christos, obviously." Alessia shared Ikaia's annoyance. She grabbed the Manticore by the arm and began leading them away. "For fuck's sake, why can't he just marry someone so we don't have to keep bailing him out?"
The two began arguing in the distance about whether Christos should get married or not, while the Manticore began cursing them out for getting in the way of her husband hunting. In the meantime, I quickened my pace, practically dragging Christos behind me, eager to get to my house before we had any more encounters with desperate Mamono.
"Just as fancy as I remember." Christos remarked.
"I don't think it's that fancy. Some of the nobles' manors I've been to were ten times as luxurious." Neither me, Eryn or Amias wanted something fancy. I simply wanted the house to mimic my old family home.
"I'd kill to live in one of these."
"Well, good thing I'm letting you do that free of charge for now. Stay outside for a bit, I'm going to go tell my maid that I have a guest." I unlocked the door and came inside, taking my shoes off. Amias came running downstairs, a disappointed look on her face. I braced myself for a scolding.
"Fucking hell, Elise. Would it kill you to at least tell us when you're going to leave the house?" She asked, frustrated.
There she goes, treating me like a child again. "You know, I'm thirty-four years old. I can come and go whenever I damn please, Amias."
Amias shot me an unimpressed look. "You know that's not what this is about. Eryn and I are worried you're going to get kidnapped again. Besides, you assumed the role of taking care of Eryn with me. Where were you?"
"Meeting with Norah again. I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually enjoy her company." I presented my half-lie, half-truth.
"Oh. That's nice, I suppose. Just warn us the next time you're going somewhere, alright?
"Sure." I nodded. "By the way, I have a guest visiting me right now."
"Wait, what? Why?" Amias stuttered out, surprised.
"I was on my way back from Norah's house when I saw some guy on the roof getting his house broken into by an angry Hellhound. Turns out, that Hellhound was the exact same Hellhound that did this to me." I pointed at my eyepatch. "Anyways, I rescued him, then I rescued him again from a Manticore. He doesn't really have a place to stay right now since his house is compromised, so I offered for him to stay here."
Amias actually seemed proud of me. I sighed in relief. "...How valiant of you. That's the most hero-like thing you've done for the past month."
"Whatever, Amias." I opened the door. "You can come in now, Christos."
Christos stepped inside, looking around in awe. "Wow, this place is nicer than I thought!" He remarked. Seeing Amias, he gave her a friendly wave. "Oh, hello. You must be the maid Elise was talking about. Nice to meet you."
"Amias Solis. Nice to meet you too, Christos. How long are you going to be staying here?" The maid responded calmly.
"Uh… Until I find someplace safe to live. I can help out while I stay here if that's fine with you, Miss Solis." He offered.
Amias smiled. "Well, maybe this won't be so bad after all. Elise, why don't you show Christos around the house and introduce him to Eryn while I make lunch for everyone?"
"Sure. Come on, Christos." I took him by the arm and led him around the house. What was meant to be a brief tour turned into a multiple hour voyage around the house, going into the backstory of every painting, every award that the Order had given me. Christos seemed super interested in my exploits as a hero, and he made that very clear.
"...This is a painting me and my team commissioned after the successful raid on Mamono Realm Syto. There's me," I explained, pointing at myself, "That's Kenton, that's Suvina, and the guy with the punchable face is Nikolas."
"Not friends with him anymore, I presume?"
"Nope. Turns out he was a traitorous scumbag that sold the entire city out because he was fucking Amaya. Fun fact, I proposed to him a few years ago. Thank the Chief God he said no, because I don't wanna imagine living with that jackass."
"Damn, you dodged a nasty bullet there. Sounds like someone you can't trust to do anything." Both of us laughed together. It felt great tearing into Nikolas and having someone agree with me. "What about the others, though?"
I stopped laughing. "Ah… Suvina just kinda vanished when the monsters showed up. No idea where she went. She was okay, I guess. Bit of a softie for my tastes but she was able to follow orders when it mattered."
"What about Kenton?"
"...Long story. A-anyways, he's not really important either." I lied. I was in a good mood for the first time in a while, and thinking about Kenton would ruin that.
"Hang on a minute, that's the person you thought I was when we first met."
I need to tell him the truth. I've hidden too much from him.
"Okay… I guess I should tell the truth. Long story short, he was an orphan. His parents got monsterized and chased out of the village. He wanted me and Nikolas to train him, and he ended up rivaling me in skill and strength as a hero. Back in March he supposedly committed suicide, only to resurface and try to kill Amaya and Delilah. He's still out there… somewhere." I gave Christos a shortened version of my history with Kenton.
"Oh. I'm… I'm really sorry. That must've been traumatizing." Christos put a hand on my back. "But hey, at least you know he's alive now. That must mean something."
"Yeah… That's the good news. Bad news, Delilah came by the other day. She figured out that I was the one who trained Kenton, and she wants me to lure him out for her."
Christos grimaced. "Talk about ruthless."
"I know. I absolutely hate her."
The two of us stood in front of the painting for a few seconds, not saying anything to each other. The pleasant feelings I had from showing Christos around the house were gone, replaced with dread at having to hunt down Kenton. I desperately looked for something to distract myself.
I turned away from the painting of my former allies, lightly tugging Christos away from it as well. "I should probably show you where you'll be sleeping for the duration of your stay." Christos looked at the painting for another second, specifically at Kenton, before finally turning away.
I took him to one of the guest bedrooms. Christos immediately jumped onto the bed, enjoying the soft sheets. "Wow… How much did this cost?"
"A lot." I responded, not having the energy to come up with an estimate. "Did you have anything back at your house that you wanted to bring over?"
"We can do that later." Christos yawned. "I'm exhausted right now. Anna decided to attack my house early in the morning, so I didn't get much sleep. I'd like to take a nap if you don't mind."
"Go ahead." I nodded. "I'll wake you up when lunch is ready."
"Thanks, Elise. You have no idea how much this means to me." I smiled at him warmly before shutting the door.
Several hours later
I yawned, taking my eyepatch off and setting it down on the nightstand next to my bed. I reflected on the past few hours. Eryn and Christos had gotten along rather well. Christos seemed rather sympathetic towards Eryn's disease, offering to build him a new wheelchair when he got the time and supplies. Eryn had eagerly accepted, the two of them already discussing decorations and weird gadgets to attach to it. It made me wonder if Christos was working under a Gremlin or some other technologically inclined monster.
Just as I was about to get into bed, I heard the faint sound of glass shattering coming from the floor below me. As much as I was hoped that it was just Amias accidentally dropping a glass on the floor, it sounded too much like a window being broken. A home invasion by regular bandits wouldn't be too difficult to deal with, but something told me the intruders weren't human.
"Search everywhere! If you find Christos, bring him to me. You know what he looks like, we've been trying to catch him for days now." Anna's unmistakable voice shouted. "I know we're all struggling to find a husband, so I suggest we share him. Trust me, it's for the better. And if you find the single-eyed bitch that took him from me, do whatever you want with her. Monsterize her, beat her, I don't care."
What?! Did she just walk away from breaking the non-aggression law with a slap on her wrist?!
"Actually, I'm sensing another mature human male. We might not all have to share after all." Another voice I didn't recognize chimed in.
"Even better! If you find him, you get him to yourself."
Oh HELL no. Not on my watch.
I tore open my closet, looking for my armor, only to realize I had left it downstairs for cleaning the last time I had used it. All that was there was my sword, the special gloves I used to carry it, and a mamono realm silver knife that Norah had given to me at some point. The closest thing to armor I could find were my pajamas. Barely armor-like, but it would give me more mobility.
Breathe… You've lived here your entire life. You know this house infinitely better than they do. Use that to your advantage… I reassured myself before opening the door and peeking out the hallway. It was dark, and there didn't seem to be much moonlight illuminating the halls. It was perfect.
I quietly left my room and began creeping forwards. Amias and Eryn's bedrooms were on the top floor, along with the guest bedroom where Christos was staying. There were only two staircases leading upstairs. Unfortunately, Christos and Eryn's bedrooms were too far apart for me to defend them at once.
I quietly opened the door to Christos's room, and closed it behind me. Christos hadn't heard the glass breaking, and was fast asleep. I began shaking him to wake him up. "Christos! Wake up, we got intruders! They're here for you!"
Christos stared at me groggily. "Ugh… intruders?"
I pulled him out of bed. "Yes, intruders! Get up and come with me!"
"Alright, alright! At least let me get changed first…"
"Hurry the fuck up, Christos. They're gonna be here any minute now!" While he was changing, I peeked outside and just barely managed to duck my head back inside before a Succubus came around the corner. "Change of plans. Stay here for a moment."
As the winged harlot passed by, I snatched her by her hair and dragged her into Christos's room, making sure to cover her mouth as well. I knee'd her in the stomach before driving my mamono realm silver blade into her chest, incapacitating her. Christos watched on with the same awe and slight fear as he did when I fought Anna.
One down, who knows how many more to go.
"Hide her in the closet so the others don't find her." I ordered Christos. He did as was told, stuffing the unconscious Succubus into the closet with some difficulty. "Alright, now follow me. Stay low and stay quiet."
After making sure the coast was clear I made Christos follow me to Eryn's room. I let myself in, and pushed Christos inside. "Lock and barricade the door. If Eryn wakes up, explain what's going on to him. And stay absolutely silent." I shut the door before they could respond.
With Christos and Eryn more or less secured, I decided that taking down the intruders was the next priority. The mamono would probably ignore Amias if she stayed in her room. At least I hoped.
"Eva!? Have you found any of them yet? Eva?!" I heard Anna's impatient voice calling from downstairs.
I went prone and crawled over to the railing to the staircase facing the entrance. A Hellhound and an Amazon walked side by side, heading towards the stairs. I quickly ducked into the shadows and waited for an ambush.
"Eva?! Hello?!" Anna continued shouting, frustrated that her scout hadn't responded. She turned towards the Amazon. "Shavon, you search upstairs, I'll continue looking down here. I think Eva might've already found one of them. I swear, she better not have fucked Christos already…"
I watched from my hiding spot as the Amazon went from room to room, looking for Eryn and Christos. The hulking warrior came over to Eryn's room, trying to open the door. When it didn't budge, she wound her arm back and punched through the doorway. I could hear a fearful shriek coming from inside, betraying the two mens' position.
"They're here!" Shavon yelled, doubling her efforts to break through the barricade. I impulsively got up from my hiding spot and charged towards Shavon, only to run smack into Anna. The Hellhound grinned eerily, her eye flames casting a menacing orange glow on the walls.
"Well, if it isn't the one-eyed skank from this morning. I didn't know you live here. It took me a fair bit of effort to break out of that shithole you humans call a prison, and I'm looking for some compensation." I tried to dash past her to get to Eryn and Christos, but she blocked the way.
"My comrade is going to subdue my future husband for me while I deal with you. Oh, and I've decided to let her have that other man that's here as a reward for her help." Anna continued smiling.
I opted not to speak to her again, instead lunging forward with my sword aimed at her torso. We were in a narrow hallway, with very little room to dodge left or right. Anna leapt backwards, then got on all fours and shot towards me. I pressed my back against the wall, Anna just barely missing me by an inch or two. She turned around nearly instantly and slashed at me with her claws, leaving a nasty laceration on one of my arms and forcing me to use my sword with one hand.
"Getting distracted? Someone you want to rescue?" She taunted. "Don't worry. All monsters treat their husbands very nicely, even ones as aggressive as me. I'll take great care of Christos."
I screamed in fury and charged at Anna once more, managing to land a superficial blow on Anna's thigh. I couldn't swing my sword nearly as fast with only one arm, and it was working against me. She lunged forward with what seemed like an easy attack, only to retract her claws at the last second and sweep my feet out from under me. My sword fell out of my grasp and was promptly kicked away by Anna.
Before I could get up, she slammed a paw down on my face, blocking my vision. I momentarily panicked thinking she was going to try and crush me, but all she did was hold me down.
"I could kill you right now, but we don't do that anymore."
I began to try and break free, but Anna simply restrained my good arm and legs to stop me from moving. She took something out of her pocket; A mamono realm silver knife.
"Nighty night."
An idea popped into my head at the last second. Utilize the only part of my body that wasn't restrained or injured. I opened my mouth and bit down on her paw as hard as I could. Anna howled in pain, releasing my body. I followed up with a kick to her stomach, then retrieved my blade. I held it with both hands, gritting my teeth to ignore the pain. I prepared to use a trick I had only used once before.
It worked back then, I hope it works now.
"What the hell? Do you just rely on dirty tricks to win your battles?!" Anna seethed, nursing her paw. I stayed silent, instead cracking a smug smile.
"Talk! Say something!"
I refused to follow her requests, giving her a taunting gesture instead. She roared in anger and lunged forward. I threw my sword like a spear at the right second. Anna's eyes widened. She hadn't expected me to throw my only weapon away. She tried to course correct, but it was too late. The blade lodged itself into her lower torso midair. She dropped to the ground, out cold.
There was no time to celebrate my victory. I retrieved my blade from Anna and sprinted as fast as I could towards Eryn's room.
"Look, I know you're crippled and all, but I'll be gentle! I promise! You won't have to deal with that stupid disease anymore either!" I heard the Amazon talking to Eryn as I neared his room.
"R-really?"
"Yeah! You'll get to use your legs again! Doesn't that sound great?"
"...It does…But-"
A burst into the room, an enraged scream coming from my mouth. The Amazon turned around to see who it was only to get a mamono realm silver blade in her chest. I grabbed her by the neck and threw her to the ground with all my might. I slashed at her once, twice, thrice…
"Leave! My! Brother! ALONE!" I brought my blade down on her head, putting her out of commission for at least several hours. I began panting in exhaustion. I looked around, seeing Christos lying in the corner, clutching a mamono realm silver dagger in his shoulder.
"Elise… Pull it out for me…"
I crawled over to him and slowly removed the dagger. I knew it wouldn't hurt him since it was mamono realm silver, but I didn't want to take any chances. I dropped it on the floor.
"Are you okay? Did she do anything else to you?"
"No. Looks like she was just trying to incapacitate me for the Hellhound. You should go check on your brother…" Christos raised an arm in Eryn's direction.
I got to my feet and walked up to Eryn, expecting him to start thanking me for saving his life, only for his eyes to be full of… disappointment?
"You know… You didn't have to skewer her like that. She was willing to talk."
"She was going to rape you. She was getting into position, I saw her! I mean, they broke into our house, for fuck's sake!" I snapped at him.
"...She told me she was worried I was starving to death in here. Besides, I can't leave the house without extensive help from you or Amias. Hell, she was willing to cook for me. And she wasn't 'getting into position to rape me', she was just leaning against the side of the bed." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I stared at him, astonished, for a good twenty seconds.
"Eryn, I thought I taught you better than this… You can't just give yourself up to them-"
"WHY CAN'T I, HUH?!" Eryn suddenly shouted. "Why can't I? We've had this conversation! They're the only way to get rid of this damnable illness, yet you fucking insist on making me suffer!"
"I am not-"
"Do you know how irritating it is not to be able to walk!? To live every day in fear that you might not wake up the next?" Eryn screamed. "It's hell! I hate it!"
"Eryn, please…"
"Fuck off and leave me alone, Elise! I've had enough of your bullshit!"
I tore my gaze away from him, helping Christos get to his feet. I escorted him back to his bedroom, where he almost immediately fell asleep, the fatigue from the mamono realm silver's effects having taken its toll on him. A peek inside the closet revealed a still unconscious Succubus inside. We'd have to get them out of the house before they woke up.
Wordlessly, I slung the monster over my shoulder and began taking them outside.