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

”Interesting” said Kat, because it really was. *It’s such a surprise that the discrimination is fairly minimal. I wonder if demons are more tolerant because of the wide variety of appearances they have? Plus… the discrimination they  do have only makes sense. As much as it might annoy some people, there is a big difference between how you should treat someone if you know they’re going to be around for centuries. It’s just common sense to not make any major grudges. 

If someone really pissed you off, you could hole up in a mountain somewhere and train for like… one or two hundred years nonstop just to get back at them. It’d be fine because not only is it a small portion of your life but becoming stronger increases your lifespan by a huge margin.* 

”Another question, perhaps in the same vein. How easy is it for demons to have kids? You seem to have a rather big family… and you’re parents can live for a very long time afterwards… it just seems like overcrowding would be an issue.” Explained Kat

The triplets smiled. ”Well, it really depends on the kind of demon. Though, for the most part space isn’t an issue because the multiverse is really large. You can find empty planes all the time. Some are more suitable then others, but finding places to leave has never been a major concern.

”The other thing is that the more powerful you are the harder it is to have children. Succubi are somewhat exempt from that… but only for like two generations. That trait gets bred out really quickly for some reason, so unless you’re like us and have two Succubus parents it can actually be somewhat of a concern.

”Even some demons that look like Succubi don’t have the ability. We’d say it’s about a eighty-twenty split when it comes to that. It’s something you tend to disclose early on. A lot of demons… especially ones descended from Succubi… take joy in those sorts of acts so it’s just common courtesy to inform people about it.”

Kat nodded with a thoughtful expression on her face. *I guess that makes sense. You wouldn’t want overcrowding to be an issue, so it breeds out quick. The other demons probably don’t mind because as large as the succubi population grows, their propensity to marry outside of their specific type means that their traits get spread through the population instead of just getting more succubi.* 

”So… like what is common then?” asked Kat

The triplets looked at each other for a few seconds before saying. ”Well, we guess it depends. Our mum is actually a bit behind the norm… but she got to Rank 4 before she had her first child so that evens it out a little, and considering there’s three of us… that might put her over the edge.

”Look, it really is just a ’it depends’ thing. A lot of demons, even Succubi don’t want kids. They think that they’ll get around to it later and… just don’t? We may stay young for a long time but it is certainly NOT the best idea to have kids later. It gets much much harder Kat. That’s something so many demons fail to understand.

”It’s not just ’a rank or two’ it could be the difference between having a child at all and never having any children. It gets harder, it takes longer and, from what Mum has said, it’s more likely to fail part way through if whoever they chose as a partner has a drastic difference in power level.

”This gets even WORSE at high ranks because some demons are just more powerful then others. Mum and Dad are surprisingly evenly matched power wise despite the fact that Dad is bad at combat, and Mum works in medical. They’re some research Mum has been doing to suggest that spending time with people actually brings weaker demons’ power levels up to their strongest companion… but it’s still early days yet. Are you thinking of kids Kat?”

Kat shook her head. ”No not at all. Plus I’d probably just adopt I think. Having lived in an orphanage, I know that they are plenty of greats kids that have lost their parents, and I’m not sure I’d want to just… create more? I guess? It’s really not something I’ve thought to much about.”

”Not at all?” asked the triplets ”Don’t you have anyone you…” the triplets dropped their hug on Kamiko, which had been going on quite a while at this point, to surround Kat and whisper in both her ears ”have feeling for”

Kat shook her head. ”Not the way you’re looking for. I have my best friend Lily, my new friend Kamiko, my adopted sister Sylvie and my… well I’m still not sure what to call Callisto and Vivian, oh and Major and Minor as well… but explaining those two would be hard.”

The triplets stood back so Kat could see them all wiggling their eyebrows. They managed to sync it up so that it looked like a wave was going on along their brows. ”Oh ho ho? Are you interested in them both?”

Kat shook her head violently. ”No, that’s… just no. Not only does Major have someone that’s already in love with her, and seems to share a mutual affection with… they’re both kind of like… maybe not sisters… cousins? Let’s go with cousins. It’d just be… so weird to even think about it. I shouldn’t really talk about it too much even though you probably won’t ever meet them… but Major and Minor share the one body, but they have a soul each.”

The triplets all dropped their mouths opened wide, with Kamiko doing the same thing in the background. ”Ok what?” asked the triplets with Kamiko adding in ”How!”

Kat raised two hands in surrender. ”Look, it really isn’t my place to say. Some parts of why it happened I was specifically asked not to talk about. Just know that… it was a really weird situation when I got the job to escort Major, and then my true sight lets me see through an illusion put on the girl that causes a massive freakout and suddenly I’m talking to Minor instead. They were… are? Were? Honestly the fact that I can say both just adds to the confusion… they are or were twins?”

”She does raise an interesting question” said Erra ”Are you still twins if you share a body?”

”Well the um… what’s it called… I don’t remember the name, but when twins are born with body parts connected. They’re still called twins…” Kerra added.

”But based on what Kat’s saying… did the always have one body? Or did they have two at one point?” asked Merra.

Kat was shocked the three actually spoke separately for the question, even if they did add their responses together. ”Two, once upon a time”

The three triplets looked over to Kamiko. ”We probably aren’t the best people to figure that one out. Kamiko ideas?”

Kamiko shrugged. ”Aren’t you three the best to decide it? I mean, you can talk to each other mentally and you’re triplets.”

*Ha! I knew they were cheating. So they can hear each other’s thoughts?* The triplets seemed to really think about Kamiko’s response. ”We guess you’re right sis. We were thinking that we might be a little too close to the issue, but we suppose if it was to look from their perspective instead… I guess it depends? Are they still equal partners in all this?”

Kat made a ’so-so’ gesture. ”Hard to say. Major would argue they are, Minor would argue they aren’t and I’d say… it really is difficult to answer. Minor has some… forgive the pun, major issues, and I’m not sure if they are inherent limitations or if they’re just psychological issues.

”Minor doesn’t like to be the dominant personality, and also neither of them are the people they were before it all went down. Minor likes to say she’s… like half a person and Major is one and a quarter. Together they are only like… one and three quarters of a person, and it has caused issues” explained Kat.

”That does make it hard” said Kamiko

The triplets all winced, trying to imagine what sort of thing must have happened for you to consider yourself only half a person. ”We really aren’t sure where to go with that. If one of us was hurt we’d never think less of them… but it sounds like… they actually are less?”

Kat nodded. ”Yeah, I had a second Contract with them and had to go inside their head to help fix a few things… Minor’s area is much smaller then Major, and Major has been in charge for over a decade. The way Minor tells it she just wants to be a little voice in Major’s head. She doesn’t want to be forgotten but she really doesn’t want to be in control either.”

The triplets all winced.. ”C-can we move on?” Kat was amazed that they stuttered in sync. ”Not that… not that we have anything against your friend? Friends? S-sorry but… we’re… we’re overthinking the whole thing now and w-we just want to move on if that’s ok…”