77 Discovery

Aisha collapsed to the floor, hissing in pain as another explosion rocked her body, despite nobody actually attacking her. Aisha groaned in pain, but had no respite as her body jerked and spasmed again, jerking as if she was being attacked by some invisible enemy.

She hissed as the grass brushed up against her burn wounds painfully - she jerked her arm back, but had to put another burned hand on the grass - Aisha hissed again, kneeling, but agitating her burnt shin.

.

Eventually she just gave up, resigning herself to the agony. Through sweat-matted hair, she could see the burns on her hands fading, but it was slow. Much slower than usual - barely noticeable at all.

.

"That's…" She gasped. "We're out of mana."

"I'm not out of mana!" Sui chirped.

.

"Eat a dick."

.

Sui just laughed, walking over and kneeling down next to Aisha, her cloak falling around neatly in a circle. Aisha recoiled when Sui held a hand up to her face, but soon relaxed when she felt an icy, numbing wind on her damaged skin.

.

"Ice magic?" She mumbled. "That's your element? You look a little too cheerful for ice."

"It's not ice magic." Sui corrected.

"...Then what is it?"

"Nothing." The short girl said quickly.

.

Aisha didn't even bother. She was in too much pain, despite Sui's efforts. Years of slavery, whipping, beatings, had left her with a unrivaled pain tolerance, but it was still unpleasant. And she needed to rest. Or she would risk damaging herself beyond repair.

.

"So what were you doing?" Sui asked. "How did you manage to damage yourself like this? What were those explosions?"

Aisha rolled her eyes. "Nothing."

.

Sui puffed out her cheeks in displeasure, smacking Aisha on the tummy. Aisha yelped in response, but did nothing but stick out her tongue at her curious friend.

.

"That's not funny." Sui frowned.

"If you want to keep your secrets, that's fine by me." Aisha sighed, turning her head painfully to the side. "But I'll keep mine as well."

"I insist that you tell me." Sui whined. "The data!"

.

"I'll tell you if you tell me what the ice was." Aisha offered.

.

Sui bit her lip.

.

"I… I can't. Okay?" Sui mumbled, pulling her legs into her chest.

"Why not?" Aisha mumbled, curious at Sui's insane insistence on privacy.

Come to think of it… she knew literally nothing about the girl.

.

"How can we be friends if you don't trust me?" She said lazily.

"I do trust you!" Sui exclaimed. "I think you are a wonderful, smart person!"

.

A corner of Aisha's mouth curled up in a lopsided pleat, an expression of incredulity on her face, letting Sui know that she didn't buy a word she said.

.

"Whatever." Aisha muttered, after seeing Sui's look of tormented despair.

"I-it's true!" Sui whined. "I-"

"Whatever." Aisha sighed. "It's just a spell. I don't care enough."

.

Aisha winced as she finished her sentence, the talking irritating her burns. Seeing Aisha's pained expression, Sui took hold of Aisha's midsection, hoisting the girl up on her back in a piggyback carry. Aisha reluctantly rested her arms over Sui's shoulders, as she began to trudge back towards the town.

.

"I do trust you." Sui reaffirmed weakly.

"But you can't tell me anything about yourself?" Aisha mumbled, rolling her eyes. "How… hollow."

"I can tell you things about myself!" Sui protested. "I can tell you my favorite food, or favorite tree, my greatest fears, who I find attractive…"

.

"What's your greatest fear?" Aisha offered halfheartedly.

"Dying." Sui said cheerfully. "To disappear without seeing everything! Without experiencing everything! To meet everyone."

"Aren't you enthusiastic?" Aisha sighed. "Why do you want to do that?"

"Well, why not?"

.

"Because there's nothing in this world worth experiencing." Aisha muttered scathingly. "Just pain. And struggle."

"I disagree." Sui said quietly, adjusting Aisha on her back. "I think it's beautiful."

"To see people suffer?"

"Yeah!" Sui nodded, bumping her head against Aisha's forehead accidentally. "Oops. I mean, to see people struggle. It's… ooh. It's difficult to describe. But that feeling that you get… when you see someone accomplish what they want… that look of happiness… it's beautiful! That despite the odds, despite all the sorrow in the world… people keep going on. Trying their best."

.

"It's all for nothing." Aisha said softly. "Such a fleeting feeling… for what? A lifetime of suffering… just for one or two moments of happiness. What a joke."

.

"I think it's worth it." Sui whispered. "But what about you? Why do you keep living, then? If you think life isn't worth it?"

.

Aisha was silent for a second, biting her lip, her heart starting to burn softly with affection. Just thinking about her…

"Love." She said.

.

"Ooh, who is it?" Sui asked excitedly. "Tell me about her!"

"She's… she was-"

"Was?"

"..."

"Sorry."

.

.

.

[

"Aisha?" Lorian called from the couch, lazily.

"Yeah?" The little fey responded, looking up from the dish she was washing. One of two dishes in the Lorian household.

.

"Do I smell…?" Lorian asked hesitantly, looking down, cheeks flushed with redness.

.

Aisha, a full room away, sniffed the air, her small little nose twitching.

"You smell great!" She said cheerfully, smiling. "Like-"

"Kasha was riiiiiiiiiight!" Lorian wailed, burning her face into her hands. "Oh Maruna, I do smell! I'm just a fat, smelly idiot!"

"W-what?" Aisha stammered, feeling guilty. "Y-you don't smell… bad?"

.

"You're the only one who thinks that." Lorian puffed out her cheeks childishly. "Oh… I need to take a shower…"

"But I like it!" Aisha exclaimed, drying her hands and walking over to Lorian, the floorboards of the kitchen creaking underneath her socks. "You smell… you smell good!"

.

Lorian blushed as Aisha knelt in front of her, nuzzling her face into a thigh submissively. Recently the girl had picked up a habit - she wouldn't leap into her arms, she would kneel down, mewling like a kitten, until Lorian picked her up and gave her all the cuddles she wanted, instead of just jumping into her arms.

.

It was adorable, but also embarrassing - treating Aisha like a pet… it was so wrong, but at the same time, both girls absolutely loved it. Aisha loved it, because she got headpats, kisses, tummy-rubs, kisses, and all the love and affection she wanted, all in excess. Lorian loved it because she was a huge pervert, and because it was just so adorable, to see Aisha mewl and beg...

.

Lorian bit her lip. She was tempted to just do nothing, and let Aisha worship her, until they were both too horny to resist…

.

"Yay!" Aisha squeaked happily, as Lorian's hands grabbed her below the armpits, lifting her up into Lorian's warm, soft lap. Lorian's heart melted when Aisha hugged her midsection, and the tall girl couldn't help but return Aisha's affection, burying her face into Aisha's amazingly soft ears, taking a deep breath of her scent.

.

"Love you Aisha…" Lorian mumbled, squeezing the girl tight. "Such a fluffy lil goo' girl. My adorable little Aisha. My good girl. Sweet, adorable, fluffy… fluffy fluff…"

.

Aisha blushed as praise was heaped onto her, being spoiled absolutely rotten by her overindulgent mistress. She squeezed the large woman tighter, relishing in the amazing softness, the soothing, warmth, like the afterglow of an amazing orgasm… Suddenly, a thought came to mind. What if… what if she had a real one…?

.

"A-uh, mistress…" She blubbered, shaking her head, but also unintentionally rubbing her face into Lorian's cleavage, something that didn't help to quell the heat in her stomach.

.

"You smell so clean…" Lorian whispered. "So fresh. And sweet. Like… berries."

"O-oh…" Aisha mumbled, blushing. "T-thank you…"

.

"What do I smell like, again?" Lorian mumbled.

"Like candy." Aisha mumbled dreamily, taking in a deep, deep breath. "Like… cookies. And cream. And marshmallows. And-"

.

"That is not what other people say I smell like."

"What do they say?"

"They say I smell like cremated ashes."

.

"Bring them to me and I'll kill them." Aisha said quietly.

.

Lorian smiled sweetly as Aisha pulled away from her breast, eyes glimmering with malice. Lorian bopped Aisha's nose with her own, and the expression disappeared instantly, replaced by a submissive, affectionate expression, and a giggle.

"You're so sweet." She crooned. "But…"

"You can shower if you want…" Aisha mumbled dejectedly. "For me, you… um… nevermind. You… probably feel dirty, too."

.

"Do you really want that?" Lorian whispered.

"Yes." Aisha mumbled halfheartedly.

.

Lorian's face sunk.

.

Aisha had never lied to her like that before.

]

.

.

.

"And now I'm here." Aisha finished, mumbling into Sui's surprisingly… solid shoulder. "So I can… So… for mistress."

"That's amazing." Sui said, amazement audible. "How inspiring! Such a noble quest!"

"It's dumb." Aisha said dejectedly. "I should have just stayed with her… and talked our problems out. Now… now I… I have to make all this time worth it. Or she'll hate me."

.

"Mmh…" Sui mused. "Sounds tough, friend."

"Mh." Aisha mumbled.

Sui beamed a bright smile at no-one in particular. "Ah, well, I promise that I'll be with you all the way, friend! And I look forward to meeting this "mistress" of yours!"

"Hey. Sui." Aisha mumbled into the short girl's shoulder. "What… what do you think separates… humans from animals?"

.

Sui paused for a minute, the longest that Aisha had ever observed the girl not actively speaking or smiling. She even stopped walking, leaving Aisha to adjust herself in the awkward piggyback on Sui's shoulders. Sui was eerily still as she thought, but as Aisha began to slowly slip down Sui's slowly diminishing grip, she turned her head to face Aisha, a strong expression on her face.

.

Aisha raised a tired eyebrow.

.

"It's purpose." Sui answered. "To have an existence for something beyond yourself. What about you?"

"..."

"Friend Aisha?" Sui chirped.

"..."

.

Sui twisted her head around to ask Aisha why she wasn't responded, but smiled when she saw her sleeping peacefully, the gentle rocking and comfortable atmosphere sending the tired, sleepy girl into slumber.

.

"Ah, what is the saying?" Sui whispered. "Sweet dreams?"

.

.

.

"FUCK!" Aisha shouted, her voice reverberating out from the grassy hill she collapsed onto, body once again marred with painful, magical burns.

.

"What's wrong?" Sui asked absentmindedly, picking and pulling up blades of grass with her gloves.

"We've been here for two goddamn weeks." Aisha seethed. "And I haven't made any progress on my training. Nor have we gotten any word of the demon."

"Well, it's probably just going to be even more waiting." Sui pursed her lips. "Don't get your hopes up."

.

Aisha sighed, dejected, falling backwards onto the grass, spread-eagled.

"I'm taking a break." She mumbled.

.

"Then what do you wanna do?" Sui asked, sitting down next to Aisha, trading the grass for Aisha's cheeks and ears, starting to pinch and pull at the fleshy appendages.

.

"EEugh." Aisha grimaced. "Hey."

"It's payback." Sui said, rubbing her head and frowning.

.

"Don't be a baby." Aisha smirked. "I didn't take any hair-ack!"

.

Aisha grimaced as Sui poked her in the stomach, simultaneously squishing her nose in an unpleasant way that made Aisha want to rub her nose. Aisha flailed around, smacking Sui in the chest, which the girl returned with enthusiasm, thumping Aisha on the arm.

.

The girls traded playful blows, playfully smacking at each other until they ran out of energy. Eventually, Sui laid down next to Aisha, pressing their thighs together in a gesture of friendly affection.

.

"So what do you want to do?"

"I dunno." Aisha sighed. "Go back to sleep?"

.

Sui looked upwards, the sun blazing high in the sky above the two girls.

"In the afternoon?"

"Yeah." Aisha mumbled. "Or get food."

"You're always hungry."

.

(Starving!) Aisha's shadow called, in the recesses of her mind.

.

"Don't you think it's strange..?" Aisha mumbled.

"Think what?" Sui mumbled back, leaning on her side and propping up her head with an arm.

.

"It's been… three weeks."

"It's actually been two weeks." Sui corrected. "Sin-"

"No, since the demon last fed." Aisha amended.

"Oh. Why is that strange?"

"The elder… and also, that tavernkeeper, said that the demon comes every two."

"So? A few days discrepancy is hardly an outlier."

"It is." Aisha narrowed her eyes, sitting up. "People… people have cycles. They fall into patterns. And they don't deviate from those patterns unless something changes."

.

"...You think he knows we're here?" Sui asked.

"..." Aisha bit her lip. "I think we should hurry."

.

.

.

"OPEN!" Aisha demanded, slamming her fist on the door. "OPEN UP, NOW!"

.

Aisha paused for a second, pressing an ear up to the door, before resuming her pounding.

.

"Friend, I don't think that's a good idea…" Sui said hesitantly. "I think you're just going to make them angry like the last time…"

.

Sure enough, the door opened, finding a large, pissed off man, children hiding behind him, scared. He glared angrily at Aisha, who immediately slammed the door in his face, running quickly over to the next house in the block.

.

Sui hurriedly followed her, before the dad wrenched open the door again, furious, but just sighed, exasperated, when he saw Aisha pounding furiously on the next door.

.

"What in the fuck are you doing!?" He demanded. "Leave Jasun alone! Leave all of us alone!"

"OPEN UP!" Aisha yelled, ignoring the man.

.

"Aisha…" Sui mumbled. "I don't know if this is a good idea. We…"

"He's not answering." Aisha growled.

.

Sui reached out a hand in panic, as Aisha raised a foot, bracing herself to kick down the door. "Wait, Aisha-"

.

Splinters went flying everywhere as Aisha kicked down the worn door, almost taking a chunk out of the house with it. The man from earlier rushed over, furious, but soon recoiled, being hit with a rancid, awful smell.

.

"What in god- UGH!" He hacked, gagging, as Sui and Aisha made their way into the house, floorboards creaking underneath their bootfalls. Following the sound of flies, they climbed the stairs, the smell getting stronger, until…

.

"How long do you think he's been dead?" Sui whispered.

"I dunno." Aisha muttered. "Five days? A week, tops."

"Then the demon…"

"We should check the other houses first." Aisha grimaced, pinching her nose.

.

Sui paused for a second and held out a hand to stop Aisha from leaving, eyes scanning back and forth, incredibly focused. She scanned the room with her eyes, breathing in deep, the rancid, rotting fumes in the air. Aisha looked in disgust, but Sui didn't seem to mind, turning her gaze onto Aisha soon after.

"The demon's mana is here." She said. "A lot of it."

.

"So what, there was a fight?" Aisha asked.

.

Sui turned to the corpse, a massive gash in the neck, expression frozen in fear.

.

"Probably not. It suffuses the air."

"Then what, he was living here?" Aisha frowned.

"Possibly. But why?"

"..."

.

"It's how he's hiding." Aisha said suddenly, the conclusion coming to her. "He's able to kill without being seen by disguising himself as the people he kills. He then lives in their houses until he kills again. Nobody realizes, because everyone's holed up in their houses!"

.

Sui's eyes lit up, and she took Aisha's hands in hers, jumping up and down excitedly, creaking the floorboards underneath her.

"Wow! You're so smart, friend! I didn't think of that!" Sui said animatedly, smiling. "But then… then how do we find the demon?"

.

"We're going to have to check the rest of the houses." Aisha said firmly. "Gather everyone up, and then we can see what to do from there."

.

Aisha began to leave the room, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks.

"Wait, friend… the body..?"

.

"..."

"..."

"I guess we can take it with us. Let the townspeople decide what to do with it."

.

Sui looked directly at Aisha, and stared, an expression that Aisha shared with the girl.

"..."

"..."

"I'm not carrying it."

"I'm not either."

.

.

.

The man outside felt queasy to his stomach. His next door neighbor… Jasun, his best friend for forty-five years… had been killed, right under his nose. While he had sat in his house, reading novels, his friend, his next door neighbor…

.

"AUGH!" He cried, hearing the sound of glass shattering, a lump of white fabric smashing through the bedroom window of the house. Landing on the street in a heap, the man hesitantly walked over and gingerly lifted away a fold of the fabric.

.

"Oh. You know, we wrapped it up so you wouldn't have to look at it." Aisha remarked, leaping out of the shattered window.

"Y-y-you- I…" The middle-aged man stammered.

.

.

.

"W-what in the world is this!?"

.

Aisha turned to the old man, the same person that had initially posted the contract to slay the demon, who was pointing to the pile of bodies that Sui and Aisha had thrown into the middle of the small little town. The entire population looked to be there, a few hundred people, mumbling fearfully among themselves.

.

"It's what's been happening for… about two weeks now." Aisha explained, disdainfully. "Right under your noses."

"I… I don't…"

"The demon has taken advantage of your fear." Sui announced. "To feed off your friends."

.

Aisha nodded. "Demons feed off of life force. A single life is usually enough to last them a very long time. So to take this many…"

.

Sui and Aisha shared a worried glance, seeing the dozens of bodies stacked in a pile.

.

"Why did you gather us here?" Someone demanded. "Just to show us this pile of bodies?"

"No." Aisha responded. "The demon is among you. Disguised."

.

A chorus of fearful, angry murmurs swept through the crowd, people looking at each other with uncertainty, some glaring with anger at the two short girls, standing on top of a stack of crates to look over the entire village.

.

"How do you know that!?" Someone demanded.

.

"The demon has been living in the houses of his victims." Sui shouted. "One of you are currently living in a house with a corpse inside."

.

"How do we know you're not the demon!" Someone shouted, at which Aisha immediately glared scathingly, contempt in her expression.

.

"That's fucking stupid." Aisha said with contempt. "There's two of us. And there is absolutely no reason we would reveal ourselves, given that you idiots didn't even know the demon was killing people."

.

"...Sorry." The voice shouted again, quieter.

.

Aisha sighed, holding her forehead in her hands, before a brief query from her side drew her attention.

"...How do you plan on telling the demon apart?" He asked.

"Well, everybody's here." Aisha sighed. "We're just going to draw blood from everyone. Sui can tell the difference, apparently."

.

Aisha glanced at Sui, who gave her a smile and a thumbs-up as affirmation.

"Corny." Aisha muttered under her breath.

.

"EVERYONE LINE UP!" Aisha shouted. "WE'RE GOING TO TEST YOUR BLOOD!"

.

A murmur of dissent passed the crowd, but nobody could really find any fault with the test, so with reluctance, everyone began to form into a line.

.

"This is bullshit." The first man murmured, hissing as Sui put a little cut on his finger, wiping away the blood with her thumb. He looked at the weird girl with disgust as she popped the finger into her mouth, keeping it in for a few seconds while swaying her head side-to-side.

.

"You have a cold right now!" Sui said enthusiastically. "Make sure to get plenty of rest. Oh, and you're human."

"As if I didn't know that…" The man sniffled indignantly, sucking his cut finger as he shuffled away.

.

Sui worked down the line, some people more reluctant than others, but looking at the pile of corpses in the middle of the square… they were willing to let Sui taste a few drops of blood.

.

Plenty of people still looked at disgust at Sui, though, who looked a little too enthusiastic, making pleased "hmmms" and "ah"s every time she stuck a finger of her glove into her mouth.

.

The entire time, Aisha was watching like a hawk, watching the line of townspeople, in case someone tried to slip away, and at the same time, watching Sui, making sure… making sure she wasn't attacked. More than she probably should have…

.

(Why do I feel this way…) Aisha thought to herself, but she quickly shook her head, disregarding the sentiment. Sui was just as strong as she was. There was no reason to mull over it.

.

"No! I don't wanna!" A petulant voice cried, instantly sending a spark of annoyance into Aisha's expression. She tried to ignore it, attempting to stay focused on watching the villagers, but…

.

"I DON'T WANT TO! I DON'T WANT TO! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Listen, young man…" Sui reasoned desperately. "It's just a little cut. Just a tiny little prick, okay? It'll be over fast! I can give you… I can give you a-a coin, if you want?"

.

Sui rummaged around in her cloak, but… could not find anything that a child would actually want. She doubted he would want tape, or

.

"NO!" The child screeched, tears coming out of his eyes. "I-"

"SHUT UP!" Aisha snarled, jumping down from the crate. "Just give her the blood, or I'll come over there and drain the blood from your corpse like a pig!"

.

"Whoa! Whoa!" The people began to turn on Aisha, yelling into her ears, moving into her personal space. "He's just a kid! What's wrong with you!"

"He needs to give his blood." Aisha snarled. "I don't care if he's a kid. Everyone needs to. Do you want the demon gone or not!?"

"There's no way it's the kid! He's just a child!" Someone called, throwing a ball of sand, which Aisha returned with a look of venomous hatred, her notoriously low patience wearing thin.

.

"Don't you think that would make it a good disguise!?" Aisha snarled back. "If all you fucks give him a free pass just because he's a child!?"

"It's not him!"

"Leave him alone!"

"Get out of here!"

.

"FINE!" Aisha exploded, shoving a villager, who had the misfortune of getting a little too close to the short-tempered girl, into the ground. "Move on, Sui."

.

Sui's nervous expression subsided and sighed, simply relieved that they avoided conflict.

"Who's fucking kid is that anyway?" Aisha asked loudly, irritated beyond belief, as she climbed her way back on top of the crates, trying to count if anybody had attempted to flee during the commotion, turning to the old man once more.

.

"Did you see anyone leave?" She asked the elder.

"No, I didn't."

.

Aisha sighed as she watched Sui check another person, cutting a small slice into their finger and tasting the blood.

.

"Mmm…" She mused animatedly, turning her head to the side. "Wow! You eat a lot of peaches, don't you!"

"That's amazing, how can you tell that?"

.

The murmurs of the townsfolk faded out to a distant hum as Aisha locked onto the kid from earlier like a hawk as he walked away, a vein throbbing in her temple.

.

Nobody was prepared for when she leapt off her post, sword aimed directly at the boy's neck. And even more surprising, was when the boy whirled around, deflecting Aisha's sword with a powerful blast of red, arcane magic.

.

Someone screamed, and the boy, skin turning red, visage growing larger, and horns growing out of his head, fled off in the direction of the forest, Sui's cables and Aisha's corrupted magic trailing after him, soon followed by the girls themselves.

.

.

"How did you know it was him?" Sui asked, as they tailed the demon, zig-zagging through the forest. Aisha cast a glance at Sui with a hint of jealousy.

.

"Must be nice, being able to fly, instead of run." She panted, muttering under her breath.

"It is!" Sui smiled.

"What?!"

"Hm?"

"..."

.

"He walked too confidently. He didn't try to run away before we let him." Aisha muttered. "And his parents weren't there. Even though we rounded up everyone in the town."

"He could have been an orphan!" Sui suggested, concern in her face. "You were going to kill him, just off of his walk?"

.

"Yes." Aisha said darkly. "People follow patterns."

.

Sui paused, that uncomfortably still gaze once more trained directly on Aisha, locked on like a laser.

.

"You're going to have to teach me that sometime, friend."