Devilla

“Mmmm…”

I awoke to the sound of a soft moan, and the sensation of something squeezing tightly about my waist. A quick glance was all it took to spot the culprit - a pair of slender arms, attached to a sleeping Heroine, whose head was currently resting upon my breasts. 

“Eena…” she whispered, before giggling in her sleep. “You’re so cute…”

Me? She was the one who literally exuded adorability, even in her sleep. 

“You know I don’t care how tall or small you are, right…?”

“Just who are you calling small!?”

Lucy’s form tensed against my own as her eyes snapped open, surprise and fear momentarily painting her features. It was almost odd to see how swiftly that fear faded, once her eyes landed upon me. As if… no, because my presence put her at ease.

Even if it was only possible because she didn’t know who I was… And yet, she was okay with not knowing who I was, so…

“Eena? Are you okay?”

“Is it just me, or are you asking that an awful lot?” I remarked, propping myself up on one elbow, and pulling myself free from Lucy’s grip, so that I might look down upon the redhead.

“Of course I am!” Lucy declared, immediately shifting to regain her grip upon my waist, and pressing her head between my breasts. Somehow, the passionate gaze she directed up at me seemed no less fierce coming from betwixt my tits. “It’s only natural to ask how someone’s doing when you’re worried about them!”

“Well, worry not,” I assured her, gently brushing a few strands of hair off my breasts, before petting the blushing redhead herself for good measure. “I was merely lost in thought. It happens from time to time.” 

Especially around Lucy. While I was certainly prone to bouts of introspection by default, Lucy in particular had a habit of birthing emotions and thoughts full of such conflict as to actually give me pause. With others I could easily think things through in the briefest of moments, between one word and the next, but when it came to Lucy… Well, I would clearly need to get a better handle on it if I didn’t want to worry her.

“My apologies for worrying you first thing in the morning,” I added, before narrowing my eyes at her. “Though, since we’re on the subject of my emotional wellbeing already, I must ask - just what sort of dream were you having, to be prodding at my insecurities even in your sleep?”

“Huh? I was just reassuring you!” Lucy protested. “And I don’t think it’s really fair to be mad at me for what sort of dreams I’m having, anyway.”

“I’m not mad!” I replied. “Merely… concerned about what was going through your mind…”

“Eena…” Now it was Lucy’s turn to narrow her eyes at me, her expression bearing remarkable similarity to what I could only think of as Abigail’s ‘pre-lecture look.’ Yet, to my surprise, what came out next was not an angry tirade, but a high pitched giggle.

“Lucy?” I questioned. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Lucy promised me, squeezing me a little tighter. “I’m just really happy! And also kind of annoyed? Because you really should just be honest about being mad, even if it’s something simple! But at the same time, I never thought I’d get to have petty arguments with someone like this! Most people only disagree with me about super serious things, you know? Stuff like whether they stole, or murdered, or did something that would just generally put their soul on the line! But you…. You make me feel like a normal girl, with the way you treat me. And I really like that!”

“Lucy…” I frowned. To think she would take such pleasure from a simple squabble. “I promise you, here and now, no matter what may come, to think of you as Lucy first, and the Heroine second, if at all.” A promise I could make wholeheartedly. For while it was true that I needed Lucy’s help as the Heroine, it wasn’t exactly her title that had ever drawn me to her. Rather, it was only who she was as a person that made me believe her title could be used for good. “And I also promise that if you ever call me short again, in your sleep or no, I will find a way to get revenge.”

“Is it weird that I look forward to it?” Lucy asked, squeezing me tighter. “To arguing with you and having sex with you, and poking fun at you while you poke fun at me?”

“A little,” I confirmed, albeit with a teasing tone and smile. “But I suppose what you’re really longing for is a relationship. A friendship.”

“To start!” Lucy agreed, nodding. As best she could with her head still buried between my breasts, that is. “I mean, I definitely want more than that one day! And it’s not like I don’t have any friends, besides you, but…” She frowned. “Well, it’s different with you, I guess… My title doesn’t put a wall between us. It’s like you don’t even care I’m the Heroine!”

“...It’s not as if I don’t care,” I admitted, grimacing. The subject she’d broached was one I’d have preferred to avoid, but now that it had come up I feared that there were things I needed to say to her. To do otherwise would break the spirit, if not the letter, of our truth-telling agreement. “In fact, there’s something I need from you, that only a Heroine can give.”

“Something only a Heroine could give?” Lucy asked, her voice quivering a touch. I could only imagine what was going through her mind.

“A couple things, actually…” I confirmed, fighting the urge to try and backpedal. I needed to see this through. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t try and reassure her. “One of which I can’t tell you. And neither of which I’d feel comfortable asking from just any Heroine.” 

I hesitated a moment, before moving to wrap an arm around Lucy, to hold her against myself, even as she tightened her grip on me. “I want to be clear that I meant what I said earlier, Lucy. While your title of Heroine might be of use to me, it’s not what draws me towards you. Rather, it’s only because you are you that I feel comfortable coming to you at all.”

Lucy nodded slowly, and while her hold upon me grew no less tight, I felt less tension in her hold. “I believe you… And thank you for telling me.”

“Even though it ruined the mood?” I asked, smiling ruefully. “I know it can’t be great to hear that I have an ulterior motive in befriending you…”

“Even then!” Lucy affirmed. “ It means a lot to me that you’d tell the truth like that! And I know it’s not the main reason you came to meet me - I mean, it’s not like you arranged for our first meeting, right? And I was actually really worried you wouldn’t agree to another meeting when we first parted! So this is probably something new, isn’t it?”

I nodded, slowly. “Correct on both accounts.”

“Then it’s fine if you have another reason for spending time with me! I mean, I tried to bribe you into coming out and spending more time with me, to begin with, you know? By promising to help you join the guild, and everything. So who cares if you have an extra reason to keep spending time with me? Especially since I believe what you said about it being me you want help from, rather than just ‘the Heroine’! And besides, I’m sure you wouldn’t be bringing it up at all if you didn’t trust me as a person, right?”

“I wouldn’t,” I verified, in turn. “Even as it stands, I can hardly believe I dared to tell you this much… But you’ve made it rather clear that you appreciate whatever honesty I can manage. And I feared it would taint our relationship, if I wasn’t clear about wishing something from you.”

“It’s fine,” Lucy repeated. “I mean, it would be nice if you were just spending time with me because you wanted to, but it’s not like I don’t want stuff from you, too! Like sex. And cuddling! And teasing! And… Well, I guess I mostly just want you. But it’s not like you don’t enjoy spending time with me, right?”

“...I do enjoy it,” I admitted, a little surprised myself to find it the case. Perhaps it was simply nice to be with someone who didn’t know of my flaws, just yet. Or perhaps it was the way she relaxed around me - how my presence seemed to make things better for her. With Abigail, I was happy simply not to make things worse. And Bailey… Well, once again, my relationship with her felt closer to that of a pet and her mistress than that of a friend or lover. 

“Then that’s enough!” Lucy declared, giving me one final squeeze before at last parting from my flesh. “Oh! But you said there was one thing you couldn’t ask me right now - that means there’s something else you can ask for, right?”

“There is,” I agreed, nervousness tinging my own voice now. “But it might come across as a little strange…”

“Strange?”

I nodded, slowly, closing my eyes and gathering my courage. “I need to know the words of a holy spell.”

My fists clenched tight on the bed, as silence fell between us. It was a risk I was taking, asking Lucy for this. If she knew that the Demon Queen could cast holy magic, she might be able to piece together my identity. But the way Lissera had described me - as a being made of sin, tentacles, and such - led me to believe that the church didn’t know of the Demon Queen’s true origins. And even if they did know I was a fallen angel, would they truly preach that one who’d supposedly left the goddess’s side could still wield the same magic as her ‘chosen one’?

“A holy spell?”

I thought not. And, judging by the fact that Lucy’s voice was laced with confusion over suspicion, it seemed that my wager might pay off.

“Specifically, a depetrification spell.” One I desperately needed, if I was going to get Sylvanna off my back. One I couldn’t afford waiting to ask about, if I was to build a proper relationship with Lucy. Because there was no way in heaven or hell that I could approach her casually with the deadline of Sylvanna’s ultimatum hanging over my head.

The ever-looming war between our people was, of course, an issue in and of itself - but it would take time for humans to gear up for the resumption of our war. Time for them to reach the tower. Time before they could even think about breaching our defenses. Time I could spend talking with Lucy, and growing closer to her. Assuming that I didn’t have to worry about the entire tower falling apart because its administrator threatened to turn against me.

“Well, I guess I can get that for you?” Lucy agreed, inspiring me to let out a breath I hadn’t even aware I was holding. “I mean, I don’t think there’s any harm in it, anyway? But I’ll have to write to the Grand Patriarch, and have it sent to me - I don’t have that one on me!”

“You don’t?” I questioned her, surprised. “I would think you memorized them all.”

“No way!” Lucy said, shaking her head rapidly from side to side. “There’s way too many holy spells for that! And I do write a lot of them down, but…”

“But…?” I prompted, arching an eyebrow in curiosity. Whatever could be the problem with carrying such a harmless spell?

“Well, the depetrification spell is really close to the petrification spell! Like, only a couple letters off! So if I memorized one, it would probably jog my memory of the other every time I thought about it? And I feel like if I knew both spells, I might be tempted to use them… I mean, it seems like such a useful spell on the surface, right? You could use it to capture bandits without killing them! There’d be no risk of anyone escaping, and you wouldn’t even have to worry about accidentally hurting someone in battle - just say a few words! But…” She frowned. “But nobody at the church can tell me what happens if the statues break. Whether they can be put back together. Whether they can even be depetrified at all… Maybe the petrified person’s soul would break, alongside them? Or maybe they’d just stay stuck in the statue, forever. And who knows what happens to their minds like that? Are people actually conscious when petrified? Nobody in the church has ever been petrified, or knows anyone who has been, so nobody can tell me anything for sure! It sounds… Well. Not evil. The goddess wouldn’t have an evil spell! But… Still… I think it’s the sort of spell that should be reserved for the worst of the worst! So I don’t ever want to risk being tempted to use it, just to make my job easier.”

“And yet you’re willing to learn it for my sake?” I questioned, unable to keep the wonder from my voice.

“Well, it’s not like I have to memorize it just to give it to you!” Lucy pointed out. “And I trust you not to give it to me without me asking! And to remind me why I don’t want to know, if I ever do ask! So it’s fine!”

“Lucy…” Now it was my turn to tighten my grip about Lucy, my hand pressing her head between my breasts. “Thank you.”

“For the spell?”

“For being you…” Someone so damn different from the monster who had killed my mother. For being a true hero, and not just another heartless Heroine. 

“Eena,” Lucy murmured, her cheeks oddly warm against my flesh. “Um… Since you asked me for a favor… Can I ask for something, too? Not that it’s really in return, or anything! I already agreed, and I won’t change my mind! It’s just something I really, really, want!”

“Something tells me I know exactly what it is you’re about to ask for… But go ahead.”

“Then Eena… Please have sex with me again!”

“Hah…” I’m not entirely sure whether it was a laugh or a sigh that ultimately left my lips. But whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t disagreement.

Princess_Kay

And we're back to short chapters! Especially for chapters 22, 23, and 24 - the two epilogues of volume 2, and the prologue of volume 3. I'm looking forward to sharing 23 in particular, as it gives all 3 of the main characters a bit of focus - that'll be up on 3/06. (Or you can read it on Patreon now, for as little as a dollar~)

All else aside, I hope you enjoy! Many thanks to FallingLeaf, as always, for proofreading and to Lulla for beta reading. And I'd also like to give a quick shoutout to an author who's work I've been enjoying, recently. Wyn's Untouchable  series has been a real joy to read. Lots of interesting characters, with their own complex backstories driving them. And, of course, a healthy heaping of girl's love~