46 Begin Again

Count Agist rolled over in bed and felt Lillica's warmth lingering next to him still. He smiled sweetly at her and never actually considered that demons needed to sleep. Looking on the ground, Count Agist noticed both Lillica's and his own clothes were strewn across the floor, and he couldn't help but remember the night they had just had.

Count Agist felt something stirring inside himself and was afraid that remembering those activities would again arouse him. Hence, he did his best to calm himself. Strangely enough, the sensation never went away. It felt like something was about to erupt from his body!

Count Agist hurriedly rolled out of bed and ran to the mirror to see what was happening to him. Suddenly, he felt pain shoot through his entire body, releasing itself from his extremities. He clutched his own body, growled, and then felt the pain lessen to the point that he was able to look at himself once more.

"What is the matter, my love?", Lillica said from behind him. She walked up from behind him and draped her arms around his shoulders. Lillica smiled and raised Count Agist's head to see himself in the mirror.

Count Agist looked at himself in the mirror and saw his eyes had changed to the same color as Lillica's, as well as horns growing out of his head. His whole body appeared a dull shade of red and somewhat scaly, and he realized his fingers now had long claws instead of fingernails. He wanted to scream, but all that came out was the howling of a beast.

Lillica clapped her hands excitedly and proclaimed, "You look fantastic now!"

__________

Count Agist sat up in bed suddenly, cold sweat dripping down his back. He feverishly felt his own face and head, then looked at his hands. His panic started to recede when he realized he wasn't a demon and that it was a dream… well, more like a nightmare.

Lillica woke up when Count Agist sat up suddenly and looked at him strangely. "Everything all right, Agi?"

Count Agist waited for his breathing to return to normal, then looked at Lillica and asked, "Will I turn into a demon if we… how do I put it…"

Lillica smiled mischievously. "If we what… Make love enough times?"

"That or just contact in general."

"What do you think?" Lillica said sweetly while gently pressing on Count Agist's nose.

Count Agist smiled back at her, took her hand that just pressed his nose and kissed it, then said, "Nope, I think if you really wanted me to be a demon, then I would already be one."

Lillica laughed, then leaned in and kissed Count Agist. "Very good, most humans treat being a demon as some sort of disease or curse. I'm glad you're one of the few with an open mind and willing to see everything for yourself."

"Well, I do admit that you and Lorraina have proven to me that demons are not much different than humans. I do realize that just as there are evil humans, there are evil demons too."

"Indeed, and I think you have earned the right to know why Lorraina and I are here."

"It's not for the sex?" Count Agist said cheekily.

"No, but that has become part of it, love," Lillica said teasingly while running her fingers up Count Agist's bare chest. "You have time for a little story, right?"

"Of course, but is it long? Your teasing is starting to become too much for me, and I fear I won't be able to pay attention to it."

Lillica looked at the sheets and noticed Count Agist's manhood was coming back to life. "Hmmm, I think we should take care of that first then!"

Count Agist threw the covers back and climbed on top of Lillica, straddling her hips. He pressed down on top of her and kissed her passionately, deciding to ignore everything else just to be with her.

__________

Lorraina and Isadora had spent most of the evening talking together in Isadora's room. Lorraina was glad that Isadora had accepted her as a demon, and Isadora was relieved that she still had her first female friend.

"So, is there anything I should be careful of that can hurt you, Lorraina?"

"Uh, not really… I bleed and feel pain the same as you, Isa. We die the same way you do and everything. I mean, I don't really know much about humans, but I just guessed that you were the same as us on the inside. Oh! I can think of one thing! Holy water!"

Isadora didn't know much about demons and the divine. Still, even she thought that this was way too obvious. "Let me guess, is it water sanctified by the church, purified with some holy power, and used to smite the undead and evil?"

Lorraina laughed and said, "Ha! Hardly! Holy water is made by the Church, but really it is a strong acid with some anti-magic properties. It will burn a human's skin and demon's skin equally, but the difference is that we can't reinforce ourselves against it."

"Reinforce yourself? What is that?"

"Sis explains this better as she has much more knowledge on this stuff." Lorraina furrowed her brow in thought then perked up again. "Think of it as wearing strong armor that can deflect just about anything!"

"That sounds almost too good to be true," Isadora said skeptically.

Lorraina pondered again, "Hmmm… you're making this hard for me. Like, when I get really tired, I can't use it anymore. I'm not as skilled as my sister at it, so I have rarely used it. I did make a breakthrough with it recently, so now I can even become stronger than Agi for a short amount of time!" Lorraina then proudly puffed out her chest like a child seeking praise.

Isadora reached over as if she was about to pat Lorraina on the head, but instead, she flicked her lightly on the forehead.

"Ouch! What was that for?", Lorraina whined while rubbing her head slightly.

"That's for not being honest with me sooner… and knowing you feel pain the same way I do is a bit comforting for me. My family was very religious, especially my father. He would bring us to these church events where they preached that demons and devils were beings of pure evil and they wanted to lead humans down the path of sin and destruction."

"Oh, so I'm guessing you didn't believe them then?" Lorraina asked.

"I was too young to understand, but I have seen humans act demonic, and now I've seen demons that act human. I think we need to judge the individual and not the group." Isadora said with a soft smile.

"Ohhh… that sounds very nice! I wish more humans were like you… actually, I wish more beings were like you!"

"Actually, it was Count Agist that said something similar back when we were much younger. I loathe admitting that it seems your sister has brought Count Agist back to his old self."

"What happened back then?" Lorraina asked. For some reason, the prospect of hearing about Count Agist in his younger days made her a little excited.

"Well, I told you earlier about how my real father was a traveler from the far south hence my darker complexion. Most of Feldland is segregated; basically, the further north you go, the lighter the complexion. When Duke Agist was still alive, he was known to be fair, so many displaced vagrants and wanderers came to the old Agistania for a chance to live normally. Dion joined Siegfried, Morgan, Nicholas, and Thomas, and they did their usual boy things."

"Who is Siegfried?", Lorraina asked since the name didn't sound familiar to her.

Isadora stifled her laugh, then leaned in closer to Lorraina and said, "That's Count Agist's surname. He HATES it! You never heard that from me!"

Lorraina smiled as she was looking forward to teasing Count Agist with this piece of information later. "Sorry, go on!"

"Well, a lot of vagrants were gathered near the city gates. They were being registered or something, but the guards in charge of it were taking their time. Apparently, one of the vagrants that got in the day before stole food from the market while they were getting registered. In response, the captain of the guard stormed out and declared all of the vagrants not allowed to enter the city due to their criminal behavior. He even ordered a bunch of guards to forcefully remove the vagrants from the area."

"Ohhhh, did Siegfried come in and kick his butt or something?"

Isadora winced slightly when she heard Lorraina mention Count Agist's surname casually. She knew Lorraina was serious that she would tease him about it later. "Ahem, no, he actually tried to remind the guard captain of Duke Agist's policies. While he was correct, the guard captain didn't care and stated he would throw every vagrant out if it meant protecting the others of the city."

"That's lame… so what happened?"

"What the guard captain probably wishes he hadn't done was mistake the young Count Agist and his friends as part of the vagrants and try to throw them out with the others. Duke Agist was aware of the issue with the vagrants at the gate, so he was already on the way. The Duke stopped the guard captain and saw that Siegfried was somehow in the group. Considering how dirty Siegfried was, he couldn't exactly blame the captain for mistaking his son as a vagrant. When the captain saw the Duke pull out Siegfried and scold him, his face turned white when he realized he mistook the Duke's son as a vagrant."

"So did the Duke kill him, torture him, or just humiliate him to the point of making him wish he was dead?" Lorraina asked innocently.

Isadora hoped Lorraina wasn't seriously asking that, so she let it go. "He actually let the captain become his sparring partner, but instead of wearing armor, the captain would be reduced to his underwear. I remember the guards talking about how the welts on the captain's body made it impossible for him to sit down without wincing."

"Ok, so when did Siegfried inspire you?"

"Oh right, sorry, I started to ramble on thinking about the past. I was with the Duke's group since I was training under the current head maid, and she was quite elderly, so she asked me to go with him. After pulling out his son, Duke Agist asked Siegfried if he should punish the guard captain for driving all vagrants out because of the one vagrant that was caught stealing… Siegfried looked up and said, 'He is correct that his duty is to protect the people, but you can not judge every person in a group by the actions of a single member of that group. I think the captain means well and should just be reprimanded and reminded about your policies.'"

"So… Duke Agist didn't listen to his son?"

Isadora laughed again, "No, he did listen! Duke Agist said he could forgive the captain as his Duke; however, as a father, he could not be left unpunished."

Lorraina nodded in satisfaction, "Yes, family is the most important thing of all!"

"I agree… now, it is getting late, I shall retire for the evening, Lorraina. Your secret, and Lillica's, is safe with me."

"Glad to hear that!", Lorraina then scooted closer to Isadora and said, "I'm going to stay here again tonight, though. I don't want to go back to my room all alone."

"What do you mean, isn't Lady Lillica with you?"

"Ummm… she isn't in her own room… I mean, you saw how they looked at each other…"

Isadora bit her lip and nodded, feeling a little down, "Does that mean they are now a couple?"

Lorraina shrugged, "Maybe, but don't worry, it's common for high nobility to have multiple husbands and wives, right?"

Isadora furrowed her brow in thought. It didn't bother her that she may have to share Count Agist if he ends up being like other nobility. Still, she didn't want to share his heart… and she didn't realize that until she just pictured Count Agist and Lillica together just now.