D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

”So… Nira, is there anything else you think I should know? As a succubus or perhaps just a demon in general? I mean the system was pretty good, but it really wouldn’t tell me much without more specific questions,” said Kat

”Oh there are plenty of things” said Nira, and Kamiko paled slightly in the corner of Kat’s eye. ”The first and most important one is to be very careful about sleeping around.”

”Um… ok?” said Kat confused ”It’s not really on my to-do list so I’m fine avoiding that”

”Second thing, is be very careful sleeping with friends. In fact that’s more important than the first rule” said Nira cheerfully, clearly aware of her ordering.

Kat frowned. ”I don’t understand. I don’t really feel the need to sleep with anyone, but why do I need to both not sleep around and also not sleep with friends. Do I just not sleep with anyone? Are we talking sleep sleep, or sex? I’d think I’d like this to be clear”

Kamiko was desperately trying to find something to hide behind, desperately not wanting to listen to her mother and friend talk about said friend’s potential sex life. Nira was taking great enjoyment from that pain, but was a little annoyed at how unflustered Kat was. ”Well, the biggest reason is that Succubi very regularly pick up abilities relating to sex.

”You don’t exactly get a list of everything you pick up, and for a young lady like yourself it’s very easy to lose control of your powers especially ones related to sex. Why I remember breaking my poor husband’s back the first time. Of course, he also nearly killed me draining my demonic energy to heal the injury. But I never got this talk with my mother so I blame her for it all.”

Kamiko groaned and tried to sneakily leave the room only for Nira to blur slightly, and all of a sudden, a gust of air blew through the room, and Kamiko was back on the chairs with Kat. ”I’m very lucky my husband didn’t have one of the more dangerous abilities. My Great Grandmother is able to steal years of people’s lives and then add them to others. Not in the best way, but by aging them up. So, really, both people lose time living. Not really an issue for a demon of course but for some species it is.

”The most common power is just to drain energy from their partner. However, this becomes an issue because when a succubus first gets the ability, it’s not very efficient, a bunch of power is lost in the transfer and it’s really easy to accidentally kill someone. Happens all the time, so you should make sure to be careful if you actually like the person in question.

”The next most common is mind control. Mostly temporary, but sometimes permanent. You basically get a slave out of it because it locks up their soul and they become a puppet with a brain that follows your commands. Not a fun time turning your friends into an intellectual zombie.”

”MUM” shouted Kamiko, now bright red. ”Do we really need to talk about this?”

*I’m sorry Kamiko I didn’t think she’d go on this long. She really is your mother after all. Still… this isn’t exactly relevant to me. I don’t think I have these powers and I’ve never even wanted to sleep with anyone. Unless that other version of me from when I was transforming into a full demon… does she count? I don’t think she counts.* 

”Well, you might need a refresher as well Kamiko. You are getting older,” replied Nira with a serious look in her face but undisguised mirth in her eyes.

”It’s embarrassing to talk about” said Kamiko

Nira shrugged. ”I really don’t know why you ended up such a prude Kamiko. It’s just sex. You’re a succubus, it comes up. It’s not like I’ve ever hidden that fact from you. None of your sisters care when it comes up. The triplets hardly even date, but they care about as much as Kat here.

”It really is nothing to be ashamed off. Plenty of Succubi make a good living from it both contract wise and working in the Lust faction in the pleasure department. It’s important to talk about so that there are no misconceptions. Really, imagine what would happen if any of the things I brought up before happened. You’d be heartbroken.”

”I don’t even like anyone” mumbled Kamiko into her hands.

”Those stains on your sheets say otherwise” said Nira with a smirk.

”MUM. I do NOT have any stains on my sheets” Kamiko shot back, scandalised.

Nira grinned with full teeth before saying. ”Not all of them are darling. Got to keep track of all my various daughter’s developments. Of course, my nose is also much better than yours, so even if I wasn’t looking I’d know”

”Kat. End me now please” said Kamiko

”Is there anything else you can tell me?” asked Kat hoping to change the topic.

Nira gave Kat a look saying ’I know what you’re doing but I can’t have any more fun with this topic anyway so I’ll allow you to move us on’. Honestly, Kat was surprised that the translation ability of a demon worked on pointed looks.

”Well Kat, related to the previous topic is pheromones. You don’t have any, I can tell, and neither does Kamiko, but my husband does, so does the triplets and Aslena. You have to be a little careful with them. Demon law isn’t entirely consistent when it comes to them, plus out on contracts they can be annoying.

”Some people can’t turn them off, though most can. They aren’t the same as mind control, but they can be just as bad, or perhaps worse because of their ability to affect many people at once. I know my mother had a rather infamous story when she warned me about pheromones I never actually got.

”She took a contract, and walked into a town before she was mobbed by EVERYONE. Not exactly happy with that fact, she burnt them all, including the person she was supposed to be protecting, failing the contract for the week. She went into a bit more detail, but I don’t think that’s necessary. I wouldn’t want to offend Kamiko’s delicate sensibilities” said Nira.

”Is there any way to know?” asked Kat ”It seems like an awful thing to just have sprung on you”

Nira shrugged. ”If you really think that you’re probably fine. Nobody gets an ability they’ll hate forever. I know of a cousin with pheromones that only work on men. He was very surprised, or at least pretended to be. His parents worked out pretty quickly what it meant, still took the guy another five years to admit it to himself, and then another twenty to tell his parents.

”They of course, found the whole thing hilarious and were taking bets with people about how long it would take for him to bring it up and how many hints he needed. By the time he finally told them, they were making double entendre basically every sentence. Anyway, the point is…

”Abilities are always something you want, at least on some level, and while you might not be as happy with them, as you would be with others, you have to at least want them a bit. For example, just using myself, I am almost certain I’ll never get any Gluttony related abilities centred around consuming food.

”I HATE eating. I had major problems when I was younger with just not wanting to eat. It’s not as though I didn’t like the taste of things, but the act of chewing on things I supremely disliked for some reason. I get by now mostly because I have regeneration like you Kat, and I suspect, though have no way to test, another ability that lets me get by on practically no food ever.”

*That… that is a strange hangup I’m not sure I ever imagined hearing about.* ”If you don’t mind me asking…” said Kat watching Nira’s reaction closely. ”How exactly did you get by when you were younger”

Nira shrugged and said. ”Not all that well if I’m honest. My parents could overpower me easily enough to force me to eat, but it wasn’t a fun experience when they bothered. I think even back then I might have awakened a weak talent for it because I’m certain I didn’t eat enough to keep myself healthy when I was younger.

”It does make me wonder if that’s why I ended up with healing powers. So that I could help myself and help others with obvious medical issues.”

”Mum, I’m not sure refusing to eat counts as a medical issue” replied Kamiko with some bite, clearly still annoyed at her mother’s attempts to embarrass her and somewhat red still.

Nira sighed. ”See, that’s the thing. It’s a hard line to draw when you think about it. Golems for example, eat rocks. They need to eat rocks, and a golem that doesn’t is one with a problem. With how easily demons mix and match traits I wonder if my aversion to eating was because of some Living Shadow in my family tree. Those guys eat practically nothing.”

*Huh… I didn’t think about that. Medicine for demons must be a lot more complicated. Or… maybe not.. Some things must be easier with healing magic but I guess other strange issues crop up. Do they have psychologists I wonder?*