Choices

Kira found herself waking back up again after she had barely closed her eyes, she couldn't be certain but something told her she really hadn't slept as long as she thought she would.

Her mood was still gloomy, everything that could go wrong had done so, not to mention she ended up with the lizard girl and multiple other demons as practical slaves, right after she had told Desmond and Ash off, what hypocrisy, she was quite sure that both of them were just ecstatic.

Mischief was looking at her while snuggled up near her feet.

"I know why you did it, but I'm honestly not happy" she said our loud.

getting up and stretching in a way only cats can do so he walked up closer to her and sat down.

"My deepest apologies master, but I believed it would be more meaningful if you discovered the answers to your questions yourself."

Kira just nodded she couldn't deny that she had gotten her answers, sure they had reacted when they saw her appearance being similar to her moms but they barely changed their behaviour because of it, to them she had been just as scary a monster prior.

The look in that lizard girls eyes was something Kira couldn't get out of her head, it was true genuine fear, like Kira had been the boogeyman himself. the girl had even told her she needed to work on her acting if she wanted to fool humans into thinking she was one of them, at this Kira couldn't help but give a self deprecating laugh.

Apparently she can't even pass for the thing she thought she was her entire life, something about loosing control, she then thought back to the extreme joy she had taken in seeing the chubby man going out of his skin skin to fear, she hasn't just been OK with knowing she was the cause, for a moment it had actually caused her joy, how twisted was she?

getting up she glanced towards the pile of now oversized clothes she had kicked off, what was the point she thought to herself and grabbed the clothes now fitting her much smaller frame.

Looking at herself in the mirror the same dissonance she had felt towards what she saw was mostly gone, instead she was left with a hollow sadness of admitting her entire existence had been a lie, and going back just like that wasn't even an option.

Mischief was glancing her with a rather odd look.

"Master if you're thinking your entire life was a lie and your achievements, your suffering and what you had to go through was all a lie, then please stop yourself.

While you have never been human, did you effectively live like one under the same rules and circumstances, if a beggar wins that weird on TV with balls with numbers on them, he becomes rich, but that doesn't invalidate the fact he had the experience of being poor.

likewise were you trapped under the rules held by humans, just because you're no longer bound by the same rules and different truths now apply does it not mean that Masters experience while bound by the rules never happened."

Kira glanced towards mischief with surprise, since when had her cat become so smart and wise, have he always been so and she just never noticed before he could speak Kira couldn't help but question herself.

Looking back in the mirror she now truly saw herself, she was cute, it was almost eerie, the perfection of her features were to a point where she looked more like a photoshop model than a real hu... well she wasn't human so it probably makes sense.

feeling nothing better to do she decided to plug in her laptop and she started re compiling all the evidence she had on the different kids at the Library, her former life might be no more, but hell would freeze over before she gave up on the idea of at the very least getting those kids the help they needed, even if it meant taking it into her own hands, much to her surprise however had her ability to scrape through the information and compile it down become become inhumanly fast, it had barely taking her five to ten minutes to compile all the data, along with a todo list of how to most effectively approach each of the cases.

Closing down her laptop again, she went back to the bed grabbing her switch, but thinking better of it instead she decided to spend the time mentally mapping the castle, atleast she could revel in Ashes expression once she found her already in the dining hall, opening the door mischief had jumped up and followed behind her, but much to her surprise did she see the girl she had seen the day she woke up sleeping on a chair near her door, she looked pale and drained.

"Didn't you say demons doesn't require sleep"

Kira whispered towards mischief but even though she had attempted to he quiet the girl flew up in her seat, seeing Kira in front of her eyed widened.

The girl got up in a rush and gave Kira a deep bow.

"Thanks to your kindness my brother is still alive, I wanted to thank you personally but Ash wasn't keen on the idea of someone of as low a status as I interacting with the princess, but I had to thank you regardless"

Kira held up her hand to stop the girls rambling and went into her room, she had received a small box of crystallised crushed soul orbs to help mischief grow stronger the other day and grabbed a small pile of the crystals.

the maid was still standing where she was, and Kira made a gesture for the girl to hold out her hand, sprinkling a bunch of the small crystals on there.

"Eat, and once you no longer look like you're about to pass out on the spot, come inside and close the door" Kira ordered, she found no pleasure in the idea of commanding anyone but she was simply acting like she would if she had interacted with anyone else who was sick.

The girls eyes widened like she had just handed her a mansion.

Looking at Kira like if it was really OK she watched as the girl threw the crushed crystals into her mouth with a grateful look.

After a bit the girl came into Kiras room and was about to do a deep bow.

"Please for just one night nobody knows you're here stop the formality, I'm not keen on it"

The maid looked surprised but stopped her bow went to close the door.

Meanwhile had Kira sat on her bed and gestured the maid to do the same, she clearly hesitated but eventually she relented and sat down.

"Now tell me what you came to talk to me about"

Kira said with a polite smile, which threw the maid off but trying to quickly recollect herself she started.

"My brother had been deeply wounded in a fight of someone trying to claim our territory and was fighting for his life, I essentially took the job as the maid position in hopes I could earn enough to buy soul crystals to help him recover even low grade would have been a blessing.

the queen might be fearsome but she is not cruel and unfair and she rewards everyone working under her more fairly than any other demon in the realm, the day I escorted you I didn't truly believe you were really the princess, I knew you were likely strong but you were so starved it was hard to make out anything else than hunger, but even though you weren't keen on following you did so without getting angry at me, it was quite surprising to see you coming back out from the dining hall, you were the spitting image of the queen, and your power had risen to a degree where there was no longer any denying your legitimacy, I was then rewarded not only with a medium grade soul orb but actually was given a high grade soul orb, I returned home and my brother have made a full recovery and also become much stronger, we no longer fear others invading our territory trying to take our valuables."

Kira looked at the maid who was finally regaining a more healthy look.

"I'm happy for your brother and that is great and all but that doesn't explain why you were on the verge of passing out" Kira stated, a bit more coldly than she had intended.

The maid gave her a smile that this time didn't quite reach her eyes.

"The soul orb was meant for me, and Ash expected I had ingested it so she struggled understanding why I was still weak, and trained me rather fiercely, now that you're back every single maid is being trained to atleast be able to serve a distraction in case anyone should ever attempt to harm you, also Ash is rather insistent that if we don't get good enough to do it before you notices would you likely start lifting your finger towards something that is far below your stature so in trying to prevent that everyone is undergoing extra rigorous combat training"

Kira was not to keen on hearing this, but she also couldn't deny that ofcourse would she help she wasn't the person to just sit back down and let others literally sacrifice their life for her convenience so she didn't have to lift a finger.

"Mischief how much of your powder would constitute a high grade soul orb ?"

Tiling his head.

"Master do you mean to give this girl that much without obtaining anything in exchange?

Kira frowned.

"She showed me kindness on my first day here and shared a bit of wisdom I should have listened to earlier, secondly I'm sure she won't forget this"

She gave the girl a wink.

who looked at her with astonishment.

Mischief nodded and went to the jar of crystals and scooped up a ser size portion by pawing unto a little plastic tray.

Kira went to grab it and handed it to the maid.

"Ash expects you've consumed this much for your training, so let us atleast make sure you have done so to make your training more fair, don't you think?"

Much to her surprise the girl started crying.

"Princess, I will never forget this, On this day I Swear"

Oh No. No no no! Kira thought to herself about to swing her hands around like a crazy lady but before she could stop her, the maid had continued.

"my full loyalty, my soul and my life belongs to you and I will do everything in my capacity to serve you utmost"

as the girl finished yet another red string got added to Kiras connection.

Groaning Kira plopped backwards.

"Just why does this keep happening to me she complained to no one in particular"

The girl who was now another of her so called loyal subjects she didn't even know the name of looked at her with confusion.

"What is bothering you princess"

She was saying that while constantly nibbling at the crystals in small portions she had been given which made it seem rather comical.

Kira frowned.

"I can't give you a convenient white lie, neither do I seem to be able to explain to anyone here in a way they can understand"

Still nibbling the maid made a gesture urging Kira to atleast try.

"OK, let me try, how would you feel about the brother starting to serve you?"

the girl gave a shocked expression.

"He have always been stronger than I so it wouldn't be right as the superior should never serve the lesser individual unless provided something holding equal or superior value to the persons strength as compensation"

She said and immediately went back to nibbling.

Kira just face palmed, that was definitely not where she was going with the question.

Trying again from another angle.

"How do you feel about being in servitude to anyone, to have your free will removed and having to do what another individual demands of you without question?"

The girl just tilted her head giving Kira an odd expression finishing the last of her crystals in one go she took a bit and started to answer.

"Ofcourse that would depend on who I serve and how I came to serve them, had my brother lost and not been able to fight those who attacked our territory off, I would likely have ended in a situation where I was given the choice between serving someone where I would have to provide my body with no compensation, the alternative would be death or hope someone else killed him off.

that situation would be less than pleasant, however serving the queen I've been rewarded graciously, while it was always meant to be a temporary thing as I'm unneeded for the queen, we both knew this when I applied for the job.

however the princess is different, she have shown kindness even to someone as low as me, and rewarded me with something my entire life time couldn't repay, if was by the princess as proxy my brother survived and you gave me something as valuable as high quality soul dust enough that I will now be able to handle the training much better, already I can feel the increase in strength.

if the princess asks how I feel about my oath to her, the answer can only be excitement, I feel you won't needlessly let your subjects die so I feel safe knowing your strength and your kindness and I'm certain it would make my brother quite proud to know I pledged myself to the princess."

Kiras mind reeled, how could an entire race be just this stubborn.

Asking in a serious tone she tried to finally get her true feelings out in a way the girl could understand.

"Wouldn't you rather have freedom, than being bound to someone like me, being able to reach for your own goals rather than just following along in my footsteps serving my needs and my goals?"

The girl looked at Kira with a newfound surprise but after a bit she spoke up.

"I understand the princess grew up in the human realm thinking she was human?"

Kira simply nodded.

"You see very few demons actually even gain the ability to visit earth without being summoned and even then there is always conditions and contracts where it becomes a fight to see who can outsmart who, we might be stronger but all of us are equally powerless against contracts with the human summoning us tethering us to earth, if he dies and we haven't found a vessel we will be back in this realm.

and here is freedom not what you think, freedom is not a good thing, because it means you're vulnerable to everyone else who sees you as easy pray to grow stronger, its a constant fight.

being pledged to someone like you grants a weaker demon like me protection because it is an unspoken rule to not mess with any higher demons property without being prepared for the owner to retaliate, so the stronger the demon we serve is, the more safe we can be and the easier our life would be.

Your human version of freedom to us is a curse, ofcourse can we demons not just pledge ourselves to anyone because giving just anyone your life on a silver plate is not wise, as you might have wished you chose death, but when we find someone worthy of serving and pledge ourselves the person have two choices, either they kill us, you easily offend strong demons if you're pledging yourself while you're too weak or have nothing too offer but owning our soul makes it easier for demons to extract and consume it with minimal waste, if they accept us then all we can hope is we made a wise choice with our pledge, but in all cases it is often a much better alternative to being on your own struggling every single day to stay alive."

Kira couldn't help but feel dumbfounded.

what the girl made logical sense to Kira and she absolutely hated it, thinking back to how determined Ash and Desmond had been to change her mind, she couldn't help but wonder if their only considered alternative was death, did her mom still hold a grudge for their failure of keeping me safe Kira pondered if they were only kept alive because they technically belonged to her and not her mom, and it was the whole don't touch other people's property kind of thing.

Sighing Kira suddenly felt extremely dumb.

She had the tether to both Ash and Desmond and if she hadn't been as Dense as she was she would have known that both of them was close enough to her for this entire duration likely having heard everything.

"Why don't both of you come in instead of listening by the wall to my room" Kira said in a neutral tone, she didn't know how but part of her was convinced that was enough for them to hear her.

The door went up and in came both of them, much to the shock of the maid girl.

Kira pondered if she should get her name, as she couldn't keep calling her maid girl, but at the same time did a small part of her not care, being weirded out by this fact she quickly asked

"Girl, what is your name?"

her eyes went up in surprise.

"Sorry princess but I'm just a weak demon I've not been used for summoning in the human realm hence neither have my achievements granted me one nor have I had the privilege of having a master bestow me one as of yet"

As the girl finished, Mischief puffed up his chest.

"Master gave me my name on the day she contracted me, I couldn't have been a luckier demon" to which Mischief earned an oddly envious stare from the girl.

Desmond and Ash was currently kneeling a bit from her and deciding to not beat around the Bush, "If I truly rejected you and decided to just let you do as your pleased while leaving you behind, and mom was aware I truly had rejected you, she would kill you wouldn't she?"

Desmonds smile changed, it was the first time she had seen him showing true emotions.

"Not because she can't forgive us, but because we pleaded with her to do so, if we ever found you and you couldn't forgive us but wouldn't kill us yourself we had the queen promise to put us out of our misery as we consider it a better alternative than living with the shame.

In return we are providing reports on your status, and only once she is truly convinced you have rejected us completely will she act out the contract as she doesn't want to offend her daughter by harming her property"

Kira scowled.

"And why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

Ash spoke up this time with a sorrowful smile.

"We saw it back at the library, you're much too kind its one trait you truly inherited from the humans, we knew you would likely pretend to accept us if you knew that rejecting us would mean our death, all you knew was we can't betray you, but surely you thought something along the lines of.

If i just leave them behind without giving them any orders it will be the same as allowing them to choose their own life, or something silly like that

what you don't understand is you doing that would be more painful to us than you just killing us yourself

atleast we would have been sure we had been rejected if you left us behind, where we know you're smart enough you would find a way to make us second guess if you rejected us or not if you knew we would kill ourselves once we had confirmed the truth.

however your reason for rejecting us had to atleast not be vague or superficial like the one you gave us the other day, we wanted you to discover for yourself what it truly was you were rejecting and understand how we failed and be absolutely sure there was nothing more in our power we could do before we would give up"

Sighing Kira shook her head.

"Ash are you aware all you achieved was frustrating me more while forcing your servitude upon me, it didn't increase my joy and likelihood of accepting it, on the contrary you just made me more stubborn in regards to find ways around it"

Ash looked surprised but also ashamed.

"I'm deeply sorry, I just thought that it was because you had never experienced the convenience in your life that having someone serve you could provide and I feared you would reject it given the chance"

Kira couldn't deny there was truth in what she was saying.

Sighing, I can pour stuff myself and I can hold the door myself, I'm not that fragile.

However I've come to realise i actually could use help in other regards, walking over to her laptop and booting it back up.

If you want to prove yourself to me do I want to see how you can deal with this specific job.

There is more, but this list contains my suspicions

in regards to less legal things this vile woman is doing however I don't have any proof, if you can find evidence of anything on this list and prove it and let Jack know that I am around, and I will make sure to save him

If you can bring me evidence that proves any of the things on the list consider yourself accepted, the better you handle the job the higher my opinion will be of you"

Both Ash and Desmond had for once finally achieved a genuine smile, opposed to that eerie one they had held prior.

After they read what the laptop said and Ash jutted key words down on a notepad

They both bowed deeply and said in unison

"We won't dissapoint!" before they left.

The maid looked at awe at Kira.

"You are aware loosing you is the only job the crimson twins have ever failed, I knew they were in your service but to see Ash take anyone's command is still awe inspiring."

This struck Kira as odd as she had basically been fighting Ash from trying to serve her every whim nonstop since arriving here, were she talking about the same person ?

shaking her head.

Looking at the girl Kira smiled.

"From this day onwards you shall be known as Lucy, do you accept"

slightly surprised Kira felt like a chunk of her energy just got drained, a bit like she had just gone for a jog.

Lucys' eyes widened and this time her eyes didn't just water over she outright cried.

"Thank you so much for bestowing me a name I will do my utmost to ensure you don't regret it!"

Kira simply smiled in return.

I'm definitely not going on a naming spree anytime soon she thought.

"Master was very kind to Lucy, she is still starved but chose to offer you her powers anyway, don't ever forget this"

Mischief said in a threatening voice Kira hadn't ever expected hearing from him, deciding it was likely another demon thing she had yet to understand she excused herself.

snatching some of the crystals from mischief it did absolutely nothing for her, sighing, she decided to just sleep and get some food tomorrow.

"Lucy, please excuse me for the rest of the night you're free to inform my mom that I've accepted your pledge and provided you a name but for now please return to whatever you normally do I don't intend to sound dismissive but I am truly exhausted.

I will be expecting you to be here in let's say 5 hours from now to guide me to the dining hall."

Lucy gave a formal bow and left.

plopping down back on the bed,

This wasn't really how I had planned for things to go, but at this point it beats fighting a loosing battle, while laying down she swore to herself that she would never knowingly demean or mistreat anyone in her service, like she had seen those rich snobs from her high-school do.

She almost expected something to happen but apparently pledging to yourself didn't magically form a contract with yourself, she understood how it was a bit silly to claim her own soul as punishment but it dissapointed her a tiny bit it didn't do anything.

then again she had only thought it and not said anything out loud.

feeling drained she quickly fell asleep once again.