Soul Merger

Sadly the world refused to shorten the distance between Alissa and a proper roof over her head, so they were forced to go over what had happened at camp.

Currently Alissa was trying to figure out what the hell Akari had been thinking. "So to clarify, your taming trick deliberately gave this girl a taste for brains? And that was the better option?"

"It was the option that fit best with us," Akari said. "Obviously the more domestic choice would have been easier for everyone, but Kotori's a little aggressive."

The harpy in question glared at her. "Why is it wrong to eat them but not wrong to kill them? That doesn't make any sense."

Alissa stared at the bird woman and sighed. Was it worth explaining that humans had issues with things that ate humans because it brought up uncomfortable questions around dinnertime? Because birds didn't have the same hangups. Her neighbor had a chicken that had nearly self cannibalized.

"I think you should have picked a more peaceful path as well," Raiel said. "But it is your choice."

After a moment Clara took over the conversation. "So did we confirm we bagged the right people?"

"Yes indeed. They were kind enough to keep their adventurer IDs too!" Rosalina showed the full set. "Between that and their gear we actually will be making quite a profit on this run. All at the cost of our peace of mind over the next few days."

"Yeah..." Alissa grimaced. Knowing that thing was still out there was bad enough. It apparently had found a friend. A friend that was interested in them.

First thing was to figure out what they were up against. "I don't suppose there's any chance that thing isn't reporting to a greater demon?"

Fili hesitated. "It's theoretically possible. A monster tamer could patch up a succubus' soul just like any other monster. But they're embodiments of lust and sadism that steal souls. It wouldn't stick for long."

"A powerful angel could do it," Raiel said quietly. "But the ritual requires both skill and human sacrifice. The first is uncommon and willingness to perform the second is rare. I wouldn't be able to do either."

Akari's tail swished. "It's definitely not a human. The puppeteer demon was there as well. No single human tamer could handle two demons at once. Much less a demon who hates orders as much as puppeteers do. We had to remove one from a shrine once, and it took two miko to deal with the thing."

Grim silence fell over the group. Greater demons were something you hoped stayed far away from your life. If you bumped into one you either killed it or ran away. Usually the latter.

And now there was one out there who had an interest in their group. Or at least in Alissa. She shivered.

"Guess we want to keep sticking together," Clara said. "At least we know we're safe in public. The city should be settled down, and the various hunting groups and religious orders will be happily tracking down and murdering anything demonic in the streets."

"At least during the daytime," Alissa pointed out while pulling out a whetstone. "Nightime's another matter." She started going over her blades. The metal was unlikely to have dulled much, but it was something to occupy her hands.

Rosalina stretched. "Ah goody. Curfews again. I'll try to pay more attention this time. Now Alissa, what was the other half of the cryptic nonsense she spouted at you in between your tries to stab her?"

"She told me to find the arena," Alissa replied in between strokes of the knife. "Which is its own set of bad news. Pretty sure we shouldn't have an arena."

Clara sniffed and stirred the pot. "Weren't supposed to have a monster brothel either, but seems like people didn't listen to good sense. Don't suppose either of you two heard anything about that?"

Raiel shook her head and Kotori ruffled her wings. "Nope," the harpy replied. "Lots of talk about hurting us, but no arena mention."

"The clientele would be similar," Akari said. "Which would suggest with so many of the perpetrators of the brothel dying, any arena would be abandoned. Or at the very least not very profitable."

"Figure one of the thugs would have squealed to get a better deal than hanging if there was one," Clara finished. "Maybe she used the wrong word? She is a demon. Being a pain in the ass is something they do for fun."

Alissa finished working on her knife and swapped to her sword. "Maybe. We should ask around at least. Maybe the guilds will have heard rumors."

"Good idea," Rosalina said. "Give us something to do in between home renovations and taking Ibaraki out partying."

Alissa winced at that. Akari had to be losing a lot of cash to that nonsense. On top of needing extra food to support Kotori. She'd have to bring that up when they partitioned out shares. Even among friends it was important to haggle out money problems early. Maybe especially among friends. Because if resentment festered you ended up with other problems fast.

"Just remember to stick close to someone," Fili said. "Um, preferably someone sober. At least until we get more information on what's going on."

Akari grinned. "I intend to. Also Ibaraki can call upon my abilities as well as her own. If something goes wrong I'll make sure to reach out to Kotori to warn you."

Silence fell after that, broken only by the crackle of the fire and little sounds of gear maintenance and camping. Alissa put away her stone and watched the smoke rise. She wondered idly if part of the fortress' enchantment made sure the smoke rose cleanly up and out, or if that was just handled by the design of the place. Fili had shown often enough that mages enjoyed using the laws of the world to give their spells more power with less effort.

Softer conversations soon popped up. Rosalina and Akari started their half flirting chatter, while Fili began grilling Raiel on monster details while Clara offered her thoughts. Alissa was tempted to join them, but she had something else to take care of.

She moved to where Kotori was sitting staring at the stew pot. "Hey."

The harpy twisted her head to look at her. "Yeah?" There was still an edge to the bird woman's voice.

"I wanted to thank you for helping me out with that... thing." Alissa tried to stuff down her hatred of the demon. "I hope you gave it some nice big claw wounds to remember."

Kotori brightened a bit. "Yep! Dunno if it'll stick but I gouged her good." To Alissa's surprise the woman looked a little chagrined. "Uh, probably should have been a little more careful though. Raiel said I'd have gotten in trouble if she hadn't been focusing on you."

"That's true," Alissa said "but it's also important to be able to take advantage of people being distracted. You'll learn when to attack and when to defend over time. Just never commit to an attack if you aren't certain they're off guard."

"Right right." The harpy nodded, her head still at the odd angle. After a moment the harpy turned her body to match her head. "Hey, can I ask a question?"

Alissa blinked at Kotori's suddenly serious expression. "Sure."

Kotori's eyes met hers. "Do you think I'm a real person?"

The question was as sharp as her knife. Kotori obviously had no question about what she was. And yet there was still some give. A hint of vulnerability if pushed the wrong way.

And so Alissa took a moment to collect her words. "I believe you're a person. Fili showed me that you're not just an autonomous puppet. But you're also not human, and you don't want to be. That worries me sometimes."

"And what's good about being human?" Kotori asked, the edge in her words directed elsewhere. "You see what humans do all the time. Seems like being something different is a good thing."

"Better the devil you know," Alissa admitted. "I know how to deal with failed humans. And how to recognize them before they hurt me. You're the first harpy I've known. And probably will be the last one as well."

She shrugged and gave a grin. "To be fair you're a pretty good harpy. Just maybe keep the eating brains a little more subdued."

Kotori perked up a little at that. "Thanks! But I figured being open about eating brains is a good thing. People would be way more dumb about it if I acted like I thought eating brains was something to hide. Be loud and proud!"

Alissa blinked. "Uh, well I guess that makes some sense."

Did a bird that was less than a year old just out think her on human psychology?

Best not to worry about it. She moved to check the cooking pot. DInner should be done soonish.