"You can't. Five questions," was all she replied.
"Promise me, promise me you won't hurt me please," begged Berthelm.
*I kinda feel bad for this poor guy. Am I taking this too far? Nah this is pretty funny, and besides nothing is actually going to happen to him. *
"That isn't a question," said Kat.
shaking the man sputtered out a string of nearly incoherent words."WherecanIfindtheloveofmylife,whenwillIdie?" spat Berthelm, before breathing deeply trying to stop himself hyperventilating.
"I. Don't. Know," said Kat. "Your problems are your own Berthelm. Come, I thought you wanted to know about demons?"
The man collapsed on all fours, sweat dripping from his face and hands, before it all stopped. A glassed look came over the man as he slowly stood up and looked Kat in the face, "How do demons access different dimensions?" he asked.
"Using something older than even myself, I know not the inner workings," said Kat.Berthelm nodded, as if this was to be expected.
"Are greater demons truly immortal?" asked Berthelm.
"Well, I've never seen one die, and every single one I know still exists," said Kat settling into a more passive expression to try and match Berthelm.
"Finally, how much of this day did you plan for?" asked Berthelm.
"Enough," said Kat with a small inclination of her head which was matched by Berthelm. He had a strange look on his face as if all the mysteries of the world had somehow been answered for him. He nodded once more at Kat before collapsing face first onto the floor.
* Well that sure was fun… I really do think I went a bit overboard here but this was hilarious. The dude thought I was stronger than him and that there are countless demons ready to break down the dimensional walls if someone pisses them off. Though then again, as he mentioned we can cross dimensions somehow so maybe the demons could do pretty much everything I said. Aw, well not my problem. * The tunnel of fire engulfed her again. Kat relaxed and let the colours float by, taking in the tunnel as it sent her on her way.
Kat was deposited back in her room but before she could begin preparing for bed, the familiar letters burned in front of her.
CONGRATULATIONS USER KAT, D.E.M.O.N.S THANKS YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE. YOU HAVE COMPLETED THIS TASK TO AN UNIMAGINED STANDARD AND D.E.M.O.N.S HAS DECIDED TO REWARD YOU WITH TWO FAVOUR TOKENS INSTEAD OF THE ONE INITIALLY OFFERED FOR THE SPECIAL CONTRACT. TO USE THESE TOKENS PLEASE VISIT THE SHOP SECTION.
* Shop? I haven't heard anything about a shop. What are you even talking about?*
USER KAT DOES NOT YET HAVE THE REQUIRED RANK TO ACCESS THE SHOP. MUST BE AT LEAST RANK 1 TO ACTIVATE THIS FEATURE.
* Well, can I use one of those favour tokens to activate the shop early?*
USER KAT IS CORRECT, THE TOKENS COULD BE USED FOR THIS HOWEVER D.E.M.O.N.S SUGGESTS THAT USER KAT DOES NOT CONTINUE WITH THAT OPERATION AS IT IS A DISGRACEFUL MISUSE OF THE TOKENS POTENTIAL.
* Well what do they even do? I know I accepted the job and everything but what can I even get with favour tokens? *
D.E.M.O.N.S FAVOUR TOKENS CAN BE USED FOR AN EXCEPTIONALLY LONG LIST OF SERVICES. IT IS BEST FOR USER KAT TO THINK OF SUCH THINGS AS A WISH FOR ALMOST ANYTHING. PLEASE NOTE HOWEVER THAT D.E.M.O.N.S IS NOT OMNIPOTENT OR BENEVOLENT AND SOME OUTRAGEOUS SUGGESTION WILL BE OUTRIGHT IGNORED. ADDITIONALLY, USER KAT IS FORBIDDEN FROM MENTIONING THE DETAILS OF THE TOKENS TO OUTSIDERS. USER KAT IS ONLY PERMITTED TO SAY THAT SHE HAS THEM AND THAT SHE IS UNABLE TO SPEAK FURTHER ON THE MATTER. ANY ATTEMPTS TO BYPASS THIS LIMIT WILL RESULT IN PUNISHMENT.
* Well, great, Kat thought as she stretched. Pausing halfway through the stretch, Kat remembered that her outfit was supposed to accommodate her tail now. Repositioning herself and stretching, a shudder ran up Kat's spine and she let herself relax.
* Ah, I should have done this earlier. I can hardly compare this to the few times I could unwind my tail in after a long day. The ability to move it properly with clothes on is such a benefit. * Kat enjoyed herself for a little longer before being interrupted once again by the system
D.E.M.O.N.S INTERRUPTS USER KAT WITH NEW INFORMATION. IT APPEARS THAT THE NEXT STAGE OF USER KAT'S AWAKENING WILL INVOLVE MORE CHANGES THAN EXPECTED AND WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANTLY MORE MESS THEN IT HAS PRIOR. D.E.M.O.N.S RECOMMENDS KAT FIND SOME WAY TO CONTAIN THIS SUCH AS A LARGE SHEET OR GARBAGE BAG.
* Oi, don't just say something like that out of nowhere, what the hell is going to happen to me. *
D.E.M.O.N.S IS SIMPLY MAKING BEST GUESS BASED ON USER KAT'S MOST RECENT STATUS UPON TRAVELING THROUGH THE SUMMONING SYSTEM. D.E.M.O.N.S CAN ONLY GUESS AT USER KAT'S NEXT TRANSFORMATION AND IS NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM ANYTHING AT THIS TIME.
* Great just what I wanted to hear. Ok Kat, what options do we have. Flinging open her closet doors, Kat scanned the thing for anything useful. * No old sheets, we don't even really have spares, um… wait it's cleaning day tomorrow, I should be able to find one of the larger garbage bags for whatever is happening. *
Quickly but silently making her way downstairs, Kat made her way through the dining room into the kitchen and found the oversized rubbish bags used to store the kids bags before dropping them in the bin outside. Grabbing it and making her way back to her room, Kat sat on her bed unsure of what to do with it.
D.E.M.O.N.S RECOMMENDS USER KAT UNDERGO AWAKENING FROM WITHIN THE CHOSEN COLLECTION METHOD.
* Oh, what great advice 'burning text'. Falling asleep in a garbage bag is way up on my priority list. * Kat sighed to herself, wondering about the life choices that had led her to such a decision. *Are you certain this is the best way D.E.M.O.N.S? Surely sleeping like this is going to cause more problems than it solves. *
USER KAT, D.E.M.O.N.S WILL NOT REPEAT THE MESSAGE AGAIN. D.E.M.O.N.S HAS BEEN GENEROUS WITH THESE SUGGESTIONS IN LIGHT OF THE OWNERSHIP OF TWO FAVOUR TOKENS AND WHILE SUCH ADVICE IS EASY TO PROVIDE IT IS SIMPLY A WASTE OF RESOURCE TO CONTINUALLY REPEAT THE SAME ADVICE FOR USERS WHO ARE UNWILLING TO LISTEN.
*Fine, fine, I get it. Alright I'll sleep in the bag. Sheesh I just hope that I wake up in less pain then the first two times. Is that too much to ask? Peaceful transformations?* Kat grabbed a pillow and pulled it onto the floor before covering herself in the bag.
After much tossing and turning, Kat finally managed to sleep.
I've started using a Find/Replace script to put in the * for Kat's thoughts. Hopefully I can go back to italics soon because I am not looking forward to fixing all my chapters with them in. If you find something that you think probably needs an * please let me know and I'll get to fixing it
Calming waves pushed themselves over Kat, starting in the centre of her head and working their way down to her fingers and toes. It was an extremely calming sensation and Kat felt like she could drift back to sleep. *Wait a minute, back to sleep? Where is my crippling pain and torturous fire?* Kat's eyes shot open. She was still in the bag she slept in and pondered what the point even was before another wave ran across her body and her eyes went wide.
Every wave that passed through her was flaying another layer of her skin; she was surrounded by it. The waves continued speeding up and the bag filled with dead and dying skin before one final tremble rocked through Kat, peeling of her nails. Kat paused, stunned as her hair floated down in her vision. She was scared to move; she couldn't see her hands or feet and she dared not touch her head. * Ok this has to be worse than the pain, right? At least it was over soon enough. *
Carefully extracting herself from her awkward sleeping arrangements, Kat noticed the skin on her arms was pale and smooth and her nails seemed fine. Reaching up timidly she felt for the top of her head and to her relief found she retained or regrew hair after the incident. Quickly tidying up her remains, she tied the overflowing bag shut and went to examine herself more closely. * Ok, this is weird. My nails look about the same, but my skin is really pale, like I haven't seen the sun in three years pale. * Kat's tail twitched in annoyance and that only increased her confusion as she felt it brush through her hair halfway down her back.
Reaching around Kat confirmed her suspicions. She now had long hair, much longer than she ever really wanted or bargained for. * I can't even decide if this is easier to hide than the tail. I mean sure my hair is really long but that's not so bad, my skin though, surely someone will notice that, right? I've only dropped a few shades but I'm closer to paper than person at the moment. Well maybe I can cut my hair and then put on a jacket, hide most of my arms… but what the hell am I going to do about my face…* Kat pinched her nose and sighed. *I can deal with this later. Wait a minute, can I? *
Quickly glancing over at the clock Kat was half relieved and half annoyed to find that it read 5:00 exactly. * Clearly I didn't get much sleep but I feel mostly fine? At least I have time to clean everything up. Now do I get rid of the bag or do I clean up? No that's a stupid question. * Kat quickly prepared clothes for the day, before entering the bathroom. Just as she was about to remove her outfit, she remembered she was still wearing the kimono. Ok, the system said I can just will it away, does that still work? Concentrating for a moment the dress quickly faded leaving Kat stunned at how easy it was.
* Guess that works. * Kat stepped into the shower and turned on the water. Just as she was starting to relax she noticed something strange. What is wrong with the water? Kat stopped and examined her hair and arms to see that the water was bouncing straight off her instead of clinging to her skin. Well that's weird, does that mean I can't shower properly anymore? Quickly stepping out of the shower Kat attempted to dry herself only to confirm that she wasn't wet in the slightest.
* So… I really hope that things other than water slide off my skin and hair and this isn't another line of inconveniences I've been subjected to. * Putting on her clothes and hiding her tail, Kat took another glance in the mirror as she pondered what to do about her hair. * Perhaps I should just cut it? Surely that won't end well for me though. I'm not even sure I have scissors.* Quickly pulling open the drawers of the bathroom vanity, Kat was surprised to find a sharp set of scissors clearly well taken care of. * I sincerely apologise to whoever's these are for using them without permission. * Kat brought the scissors down on her hair only for them to get caught. Kat tried applying more pressure but stopped just short of putting her full strength into the scissors.
Clearly whatever had happened to her hair had made it much stronger as well. *Well that's just great, how am I supposed to hide this mess?* Gently returning the scissors to their hiding place Kat sighed. *I don't even have anything to hold my hair up because I tend to keep it short enough that school doesn't mind. Shit maybe I'll need to borrow something from Lily. Wait, would that work?* Focusing on her hands Kat tried to imagine just her hair pins from her Demonic Attire. Kat stared at her hand for thirty seconds intently picturing just the pins in her mind and just as she was about to dismiss the idea, something seemed to twist and all of a sudden, her hair had wrapped itself around her hair sticks. Uh… How did that work? I thought it just let my outfit appear why can it also move my hair, system?
USER KAT SEEMS TO POSSESS A SLIGHTLY MUTATED FORM OF DEMONIC ATTIRE. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY COMMON OCCURRENCE FOR SUCCUBI AND SOMEWHAT RARE FOR OTHER DEMONS. THE SPECIFICS OF YOUR MUTATION ARE UNKNOWN, FURTHER STUDY WILL BE REQUIRED.
* Well that's, reassuring? Maybe? At least I don't have to struggle with learning how to tie my hair back with the things. Guess I better get ready to wake the kids. * Finishing up in the bathroom Kat returned to her bedroom to deposit her things before stopping and remembering she'd simply phased out of her attire. Kat then proceeded to wake the orphanage before being confronted with Sylvie wearing a smug grin on her face."Yes, I know you have sharp eyes Sylvie, we can talk about it with Lily when she arrives ok," said Kat.
Sylvie just shrugged liked she had expected that answer and huddled around Kat's legs as she entered the dining room.
After breakfast Kat returned to her room with a pleased Sylvie in tow. Despite Kat's attempts to insist the girl have a shower, she wouldn't budge and Kat still struggled with Sylvie's demonic charms. Opening the door to the room Kat was mildly surprised to find the garbage bag still in the corner. * Woops, guess I'll have to sneak that in with the trash later, or maybe I'll get rid of it tonight. Hopefully Sylvie and Lily won't ask about it. *"Hey Kat, what's in the bag beside your bed?" asked Sylvie.* Why do I even bother. *
"You really don't want to know Sylvie?" said Kat with a slight shiver. The young girl looked up at Kat with questioning eyes but seemed to know that some questions truly weren't worth answering. Taking a seat on the bed Kat stretched slightly and leaned against the wall before Sylvie sat on her lap facing her and said,
"Can you wrap me in your tail Kat? It's the best." Kat just smiled at the girl and let her tail snake out from under her shirt before she paused and then began using the side of the spade tip to tickle the girl. Sylvie's cheeks puffed up as she tried not to laugh, her eyes screamed betrayal at her friend for even attempting this. Kat withered slightly under Sylvie's gaze and wrapped her tail around the girl before lifting her up a bit and positioning her against her stomach.
* I swear if my demonic powers are half as good as Sylvie's no one will ever be able to stop me. * Kat decided it was best to just relax. She had an adorable child hugging her, the peaceful morning air drifting in through the window, and she was all up to date on her studies. There was nothing she had to worry about right now.
I've decided to add a some intersting facts from when I was writing this story. To counteract all the complaining about formatting. Also I plan to fix the first few chapters within a week. but I don't quite have the time right now.
Vongrak's Fun Fact 1: Did you know Gramps wasn't always his name? In the orignal four chapters I was using 'gramps' and 'the old man' as a placeholder until I could figure out what to call him
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