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

Lily landed, finally exhausted from her flight. She’d lost track of time at some point and had been grounded by the soreness in her wings. They had muscle definition yes, but no proper practice with endurance and Lily was paying for it now. Kat managed to get away with a lot because of her regeneration, Lily… not so much.

Despite being soar across her entire body, exhaustion was a powerful foe and quickly sent Lily into restful sleep. When she woke up some time later, she found herself wrapped up tightly with blankets. She glanced out at the room and found herself in one of the relaxation rooms for calming patients down again. It may have been the same one, but her current view was obstructed by the blankets. It certainly looked similar but her memory wasn’t perfect and she couldn’t see the whole room.

Lily’s ears twitched as she heard something shifting nearby. Before she could work out what it was, she felt the blankets around her being removed. Looking up she saw Nira was freeing her from the blanket wrapping. ”Good to see you’re awake” said Nira mostly to fill the silence with Lily unable to speak.

”If you’re wondering why you were wrapped up so much… it’s partially because of your soul not synchronising properly just yet. When you were asleep your body was moving around quite a lot and not really calming down without your mind to help mediate things. It was a way to ensure comfort and prevent you from hurting yourself too much.

”Now, we’re heading of to the binding room soon. Kat should be arriving sometime between twenty minutes and an hour. The process won’t be too long and Slethnoth is hoping the binding will help your soul. It hasn’t stabilised any further at all, not even in small increments so he’s a little worried at the moment. It still isn’t an issue, just long term it could become one if that makes sense.”

Nira grabbed Lily up and held her in the crook of her arm, holding her more off to the side this time. It wasn’t quite as warm or comforting but it was less awkward for Lily’s horns. As Nira exited the room through the hidden tree door she kept speaking. ”Now, we don’t really know how the binding is going to affect you both because you have a proper mind in your head.

”Memphis are intelligent creatures but they aren’t sentient. They never crossed the line, which of course, was intentional on our part. We didn’t want to accidentally create a race of people dependant on us or one doomed to go insane so we stuck to mostly animal intelligence… even if I know the limit on that was pushed about as far as it can go.

”What this will mean for you, who has a full mind, are unclear. In the normal bond we don’t really know what happens on the Memphis’ end because it’s not like they can tell us. We know at the very least it will siphon your demonic energy. We also know that demonic energy will slowly alter itself to be the same as Kat’s.

”That’s what we do know for sure. Things we can measure. We have a few other things that might happen. Just based on guesses you see. The first is that you should be able to know where Kat is at all times. We’ve been able to separate bound pairs and the Memphis is always able to find their partner. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. They can always figure it out. Sometimes it’s harder then others if we put puzzles in the way, but they can follow a straight line to their bonded if that’s an option. It’s been done multiple times.

”The other thing, something that’s less clear, is that we think you’ll be able to tell Kat’s emotional state. This is more speculation then proof, but Memphis have been observed to help cheer up saddened or depressed owners. Granted normal cats can do this as well, but the speed and success of the response are consistently higher then those standard cats so we think there’s something going on there…”

Nira kept walking through the hallways as she chatted. Lily just zoned out. Despite her nape she still felt tired and the muscles that supported her wings were definitely a little tender. Her mind was split. Part of it wanted to start spinning up and examining all of her changes properly now that she had the time to focus on them, while the other wanted her to just go back to sleep. She settled for focusing on Nira’s soothing voice, something that was actually a well practiced skill.

”Still I wouldn’t worry too much. We’ve never had the bonds do anything that bad as far as we know. Obviously more testing will be required to confirm nothing has gone wrong once the binding is complete, but I have faith it will be fine,” said Nira softly.

When they eventually exited the elevator Lily was surprised to find they weren’t in the office. No they were in what looked to be an observation room. There was three terminals with holographic screens on them all overlooking a large mostly empty room. There wasn’t anything in it… technically. What made it only mostly empty was the blood red markings on the ground that she could see were shifting and changing the longer she gazed at them. They never stopped in one position for too long.

Lily was slowly losing herself to the hypnotic flashing when Nira covered her eyes. ”Sorry about that. I didn’t consider what it might do to you. This is a rather high level ritual room. It’s not the standard bond, but we decided that having more power available is better then not enough should it prove necessary. This also has a bunch of failsafe’s built in just in case. The normal binding ritual is a very streamlined thing… this is… more improvised but hopefully just as safe.

Lily was still trying to pull her mind back together and remove the fog that had unknowingly creeped in. ”Please refrain from looking at it anymore, it actually reduced your synchronisation rate by a full percent.” Lily whipped her head around to see Slethnoth had taken up residence in one of the chairs. Lily was certain he wasn’t there before.

*Unless I lost myself to the colours… how… how long did I stare at the room? Why are they all fine? I wish I could actually ask them questions.* 

Lily didn’t get long to contemplate that question as the door opened to let in Kat, followed by Nobody who now looked like Slethnoth. Had anyone other than Kat walked through the door at the same time, Lily would have been trying to figure out how Nobody could mimic Slethnoth’s unique racial feature of being sort of 2D. With Kat there though, it wasn’t important.

Before she could blink, Lily was over in Kat’s arms. How exactly she managed that she wasn’t sure, but Lily did know that everything was alright in the world. She heard Kat chuckle, but it sounded distant as she purred contentedly in Kat’s arms. ”It’s good to see you too Lily” whispered Kat, though of course, with high level demons in the room everyone heard it.

”Right this way please. Lily keep your eyes closed,” said Nobody as she opened the door to the ritual room. Kat took her place, but when Nobody swapped back to Nira’s body to carry Lily to her spot, Lily dug her claws in automatically. ”Lily, please let go. It’ll just be a moment and then you can go back,” Lily reluctantly retracted her claws, knowing she really should have done so without being prompted. She didn’t hear Nobody mumble, ”Stronger reaction then anticipated. Keep an eye out for attachment issues.” 

Lily was placed in a circle opposite to Kat while Nobody stood in the exact centre of the formation. There was no warning when it started. Lily felt like her soul was suddenly exposed. Like something was looking at her. Judging all that she was. She shuddered under the gaze, she wanted to pull back, then all of a sudden. There was a feeling of home, of being safe, a feeling so similar to being in Kat’s arms again.

Then the feeling receded. It didn’t vanish completely but it was certainly lessened. Lily let out a shaky breath as her legs fell out from underneath her. *That… that certainly was something. I don’t… I don’t know how to describe it.* 

[Well at least with me you don’t have to.] 

Lily’s eyes shot opened and moved over to Kat, to spot her grinning. *Kat?*

[Yes Lily? Is something the matter?]

Lily’s eyes went even wider. *Best. Upgrade. Ever. I can’t believe… I mean… I didn’t consider that… oh I’m so happy to be able to talk, even if it’s only to you. Then there is the fact that we can talk to each other whenever we want and I love that and I love this.* 

Lily suddenly felt a warm embrace even though Kat never moved. Lily’s breath hitched as she realised what it was. Kat was projecting her happiness towards Lily.. *I need to figure out how to do that.*