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

— Kat —

“You seem a bit subdued,” said Vivian once everyone was sitting down for dinner. Kat had spent the afternoon getting thrashed in poker by Sylvie. Good thing there wasn’t any betting going on. Callisto had acted as the dealer and Lily alternated between copying notes and playing a few hands… but even she did better then Kat.

When Vivian came home and saw this, it was pretty obvious. Sylvie and Callisto had previously made the decision to just not mention it. Kat clearly wanted to leave the elephant in the room undisturbed for some time. The fact that Lily was working so hard on her spells just made that feeling stronger.

Of course, Vivian was never one to let problems lie, not for long. So here they were, Kat trapped at the dinner table with nowhere to escape. It made her feel like she had no choice but to answer the question. “So… I’ve been offered an emergency contract that I’ll need to leave for either tomorrow or the day after to save a world… and it’s just a bit much,”

Sylvie’s eyes lit up,” That’s so cool!” then she paused for a moment. “Wait… no it isn’t. There’s an entire world in danger?”

Kat nodded slowly, glad she didn’t have any food on the table. It meant she had more room to fiddle with her hands. Lily paused her own eating to lean on Kat a bit and give some silent support. “That about sums it up Sylvie. It’s… big. I mean, it’s not something I want to turn down but it’s a LOT of pressure,”

“Why are you the one getting drafted for this?” asked Vivian, a suspicious note to her voice. “No offence to your capabilities, combat and otherwise… but you are a rather young demon Kat. From what I already know there are plenty of people who have been stuck at Rank 3 for centuries. Surely they would have more experience with whatever it is you need to do,”

Kat let out a long sigh. “That’s part of why I’m feeling a touch nervous. I was chosen because of my regeneration and because I’m friends with Kamiko. Because of a treaty the demons have they almost need to send her… to avoid letting the angels know.

So Kamiko has to go, and because I’ve worked well with her in the past and she’s my friend I was already a strong candidate, then add in the fact that I have extremely good regeneration and I’m likely to ensure she stays alive?

“Apparently all that together makes me the best choice. Now there’s also a third person in the team, her name, if you can call it that, is Hunter 23HX443. She’s going on the contract to be our tracker and main source of damage. Apparently she’s very good at her job… but her clan is more than a bit weird. She’s not allowed to have a name yet. So… yeah not sure how that’s going to work.

“At the same time it doesn’t really help me feel comfortable. We’ve got Kamiko who has to go, Hunter who has trained for this sort of thing… and then me who might only be so close to the top of the list because I know Kamiko. I’m… better then I was earlier, Lily helped me calm down a fair bit, but I AM still worried.

“So… yeah it’s a thing. Um… is there anything else? Oh, the contract is to kill a demonic drake that’s liable to devour a large amount of life on the planet until it gets strong enough to eat the planet somehow. Forgot to ask how that part works. Um… oh yeah! I was also told that if I fail there’s quite a few teams waiting in the wings to make sure the thing actually dies because this is a BIG deal.

Like… as I already said, it’s a proper ‘end of the world threat’”

Vivian nodded and kept her comments close to her chest for the moment. Sylvie kept quiet as well, her face twitching as she tried to come to terms with what Kat was saying. She was in a similar position to Lily. Saving the world WAS cool, and her mind couldn’t properly comprehend the idea of Kat failing in that quest.

Additionally, despite her intelligence and maturity it was just hard to accept the true scope of the problem.

So it was up to Callisto to say something. “I think you are underestimating the number of candidates, as well as the amount of time and effort that likely went into putting together your team. I personally suspect that a whole team of demons ran the numbers before even approaching you.

“From what I understand? This is important and they are treating it as such. They have backup plans on top of backup plans and intentionally sabotaging any one of those just because you are somewhat familiar with the only person who has to be on the team? I find the idea ludicrous.

“I can see them accounting for the smoother teamwork that will inevitably manifest because of your familiarity. Perhaps you also have the best personality of the choices, and you will be able to bring out the best in… Hunter as well. That is not even getting into how useful your regeneration potentially is.

“We were informed that the Succubus form regeneration you possess is quite rare and powerful. It is entirely possible that your willingness to push through pain combined with that regeneration puts you further ahead of the competition then it might seem. Though if I was to guess?

“I suspect that there was a number of radically different team compositions considered. I doubt they looked for ‘Kamiko, one defensive demon, and one offensive demon’ no I imagine they tried to look for as many ways of defeating the… drake I believe you said? Yes I imagine them putting together a number of teams and then running some simulations to see which ones come out on top most often.

“Truly Kat. I believe you are underestimating the amount of research and testing that likely went into this. I know Lily would have already tried to talk you up, so I am taking a different angle. You have already said that they have backups, that this is important. Would something as small as a friendship really be the main factor for choosing you to SAVE A WORLD,”

There was an odd moment for Kat, part of the way through Callisto’s speech where things just… fell into place. It was a unique argument that’s for sure, but it resonated with Kat on a visceral level. She already knew, logically, that she was being silly but this new strain of logic from Callisto instead of herself seemed to calm her heart in a major way. Callisto was RIGHT.

The idea that this wasn’t tested thoroughly was ridiculous. Sure sending Rank 3’s out to do the job might be a little risky…

But the idea that she wasn’t the best Rank 3 in the Hub at the very least? Well that was starting to seem more and more unlikely. Even if there were better fighters, better defenders, they likely weren’t better for this fight specifically. Perhaps they specialised in crowds, perhaps that couldn’t work with others.

Perhaps they would just bicker with Hunter, or perhaps other combinations lead to Kamiko getting injured too often. If Nira really was the observer? Then Kat was sure she’d use all of her political weight to lean on them and ensure Kamiko was, if not safe, at least safer.

“Thank you Callisto that… that helps a lot. It means a lot that you said it as well,” said Kat with a soft, but extremely warm smile directed at the older woman. It was perhaps the first moment she felt truly connected to Callisto. Like there was some new understanding between the two of them that wasn’t there before.

Kat had never doubted that Vivian always had her back… and perhaps it was correct to say that Callisto felt the same way. Perhaps it wasn’t her idea to adopt… but she wasn’t taking any less responsibility.

Lily pulled Kat into a hug as Sylvie slipped off her chair and made to do the same. Callisto and Vivian shared a long look before leaving their chairs as well. Kat laughed as Sylvie hopped up onto her lap, while Vivian and Callisto flanked her from either side. With Vivian on the same side as Lily, wrapping her arms around all three younger women.

Callisto was a bit more restrained, her hug was really just a calm hand on Kat’s shoulder… but that was enough.

Kat laughed as she felt her heart swell. Sure, she was going off to save the world. Sure, it would be tough. Things would be different this time, and likely afterwards as well. That didn’t mean she needed to be worried. She had loved ones that believed in her, and a mystical organisation of ancient demons that new she could get the job done.

So all Kat had to do was prove them right. This might not be the last of her worries, but that too was fine. Kat would simply give it her all and live up to their expectations.