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

— Lily —

Progress was glacial. Hunter was taking the lead with chipping away at the glass and she was basically the only one making any progress. Lily had tried a few spells but she only just barely managed to scuff the glass a bit. Kamiko and Bower at least managed some damage… but Kamiko only scratched it and Bower needed to then remove the arrow from the glass afterwards which was a hole thing.

So it was just Hunter working while Lily panicked somewhat in the background. Technically she was on lookout for any monsters that were potentially around. She was positioned on Hunter’s shoulder with a cloak of shadows around her to ensure that none of the glass cut into her. Hunter was wearing gloves to avoid a similar fate… but hadn’t done anything about her stomach being exposed.

Lily had said as much but Hunter had just shrugged it off. *If she wants to risk having her stomach cut open it’s really not my job to force the matter. The chips are small and don’t seem to be slicing into people like I’d expect from this cursed place so it’s probably fine.*

[Hunter should take more care of herself.]

*Miss Kettle I feel like you really don’t have a leg to stand on.*

[Regeneration.]

*I refuse to consider that a valid answer. Now, how is your attempts at escaping going?*

[They aren’t really. I can sort of squeeze the water that makes me up into the cracks… sort of. I can poke around the edges and there seems to be a bit of space but not enough for me to slide along. I guess I have a lower limit on the amount of water I need. Which is weird because I can control pretty small droplets. I’d assumed this was fine… but apparently it’s too much?

I don’t really understand why.]

*That’s… yeah that IS weird. So there’s space?*

[The weird 360 degree vision still works and I can SEE the gaps. I can even stretch into them a bit… but no not all the way.]

*Huh… can you see through the glass?*

[Sort of?]

*Maybe there isn’t space there… or not much space at all and you’re just seeing it as different to the glass then?*

[Could be. Could be. Not sure how we’d test it but I can see it being possible, that the gap is only there to inform me that there is two separate planes of glass.]

*That pun was terrible.*

[Are you all broken up inside? Perhaps a touch shattered?]

*Why are you making more bad puns?!*

[I’ve really got nothing else to do Lily. I don’t have enough space to transform back or build up sufficient momentum to damage the glass. I can’t squeeze into the gaps. I’m just sitting here being bored and you got mad at me for asking dumb questions so now I’m turning to puns to cope with the insanity.]

*Somehow I doubt that.*

[It’s all technically true! The best kind of true!]

*Not sure I agree with that one either.*

[Eh, it gives me something to do. It’s mostly your reactions that I’m after and I’m pretty sure you know that already.]

*Yeah but it’s nice to hear. I’m glad I’m so entertaining for you. Even if that sounds a bit weird to say out loud it’s just… nice to know that you can keep yourself occupied with just our mental connection and nothing else. So in a way… it’s very sweet.*

[NERD!]

*Now listen here you little shit!*

— Lily — 30 Minutes later

“Ok, I think the crack is large enough for you to squeeze through Lily,” stated Hunter.

Lily transformed at her side, there was enough room because Bower and Kamiko had moved further down the tunnel and were now playing cards. Kamiko had convinced Bower to play Sevens, which was… interesting with two people.

“Right… but how does that help?” asked Lily. “I mean, if you want me to squeeze through the gap I’m completely willing… but I can’t break through the glass so getting me through doesn’t really do anything,”

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“I am concerned about monsters showing up mainly. If they have some sort of ranged attack to spray into the corridor through the hole it could be a major concern. While we can of course simply back up further, if we get sent out of the bubble Kat could be well and truly trapped…” explained Hunter.

“What… um…” Lily turned and shouted down the tunnel. “What would happen if Kat was here when the bubble went down?”

“Not sure!” returned Bower. “Don’t think it’d be fatal for someone as strong as her… but the real issue is how long it would take. We could be waiting days or weeks for this place to collapse with Kat stuck here all the while. I’d have to try looking for this specific bubble again if we wanted to help her and that’s a hard task,”

“Alright I’ll go up,” said Lily even as she bit back a shiver of fear. Kat pointedly didn’t say anything over the link even though she was certainly paying enough attention to feel her emotions right now.

Lily transformed once again and looked over the gap… only for Hunter to scoop her up off the ground and raise her up to the gap. Lily huffed slightly, but from there it was a simple matter of squeezing through the hole with Hunter pushing her a bit from behind. When lily popped out onto the top of the glass she found herself sliding… and sliding… *Oh dear.*

Lily quickly looked around, and seeing nothing dangerous, swapped back to her human form and pressed her hands hard against the glass hoping that would stop her movement. It didn’t. “This shit is so slippery! I can’t stop!” shouted Lily.

“That’s not good…” returned Hunter who was about to start work on widening the hole. “Can you do anything about it?”

Lily tried digging into the glass with her hands and shadow to no avail. With that out she summoned a large piece of paper next to her with a spell and then rolled over onto it. She was no longer sliding… but the paper was. “Maybe? I can swap back to my Memphis form and that’ll let me be fine… but I have no idea what you’re going to do,” shouted Lily.

“That… could be an issue. Hopefully we can figure something out,” grumbled Hunter.

“Yeah I’ll keep testing things!” returned Lily before she transformed back into her Memphis form and took flight. There was plenty of space here and it was nice not having to slide around. *Kat, give me some ideas…*

— Lily — Another 30 Minutes later 400~

Hunter slithered up onto the glass and immediately started to slide around. Lily flew over and let a tendril of shadow down. She then tried to pull Hunter towards the spot Lily and Kat had figured out she was hiding. It was… surprisingly easy.

With the ground having what seemed to be negative friction enforced by magic it was very easy to pull Hunter where she needed to be, even if Lily should’ve been too light.

Stopping was a bit more of an issue but Lily managed it. Then it was just a matter of holding onto Hunter while she got to work chipping her way down to Kat. They didn’t need a big hole to get Kat out, just a sufficiently large one for her water form to make its way out. So… they got to work. Lily had to be careful to ensure Hunter stayed in place.

The whole swinging motion for Hunter’s strikes moved her in various directions and Lily needed to counter them all.

It took a few tries but eventually the pair managed to get into a good rhythm and things started to work. It was a bit odd with Hunter throwing out one of two heavily telegraphed strikes and Lily ensuring that Hunter hit the target rather then just having Hunter aim and swing.

They’d worked out pretty quickly that didn’t work, so Lily needed to take on the job of aiming Hunter’s body, while Hunter ensured her strikes were completely consistent.

— Lily — More DAMNED DIGGING!

Water flowed through the enlarged crack and reformed into Kat, posed with her arms outstretched in a cheer. “YEE-OOoh,” Kat’s cry of delight was cut off as she slid on the glass and fell down… and then promptly started to slide away. Lily rolled her eyes and shot out a tendril of shadow to pull Kat back.

Lily just glared, because she needed to remain a Memphis to fly… but Hunter had similar thoughts. “Kat, you knew that the floor was slippery, Lily warned you multiple times and kept you up to date on our progress. What did you think was going to happen?”

Kat, being pulled along by the back of her Kimono, looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with the two. “I regret nothing!”