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

— Lily —

When Lily woke up for real her first action was to stretch out a bit. It was particularly satisfying in her Memphis form and was very much instinctual after sitting around for a while. Kat noticed as much as sent a few thoughts her way. [Morning Lily. I’m just hanging out with Mint. Did you need any assistance or will you just meet us in the park?]

*Um… I think we’re fine? Give me a second.* Lily finished her stretches and poked her head out of the pile of blanket she’d made for herself to reveal an odd sight. Green was asleep on her own bed as expected… but it was the other three that stood out. All three of them had set up on Nixilei’s bed. Nixilei herself was bound up in blankets with a pillow over her face while Gareth and Kress half sat on her. They were sitting on the bed and leaning against the wall while they legs draped over the fae.

Gareth seemed to be reading a book while Kress was just shuffling cards for some reason. Lily decided to just transform and ask. As soon as she was back in her human form she felt the need to stretch a few more times but settled for a single yawn. “Morning guys, or well… it might just barely be past lunch actually…” Lily shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. I… what are you guys doing?”

“Well Nix here didn’t want to sleep so we forced her to relax at the very least,” answered Kress.

“Yeah I feel so relaxed right now,” said a muffled voice from under the pillow causing Lily to give both men an unimpressed look. Kress shrugged back…

And Gareth had a proper answer. “Look it clearly hasn’t worked well but Nixilei NEEDS to relax at least a bit. I don’t know if I trust her not to snap at one of the assassins if they duck in to check on us,”

“I’m not that bad,” retorted the pillow causing Lily to sigh. *What’s the status on us leaving? From what I sort of remember from your note it was fine?*

[Yup. It’s all sorted. Eleanora is vouching for us and if there are any problems she’ll take care of it… probably violently but that’s apparently just how things go at this point. At the very least she hasn’t been reprimanded much for it, or if she has, hasn’t really noticed. So… yeah you’re free to come up whenever and then I guess we’ll head to some hotel she’s got set aside for us? Assuming you all want to go to that one anyway.]

*Got it. I’ll see what the others stay. I’m… hmm… well I don’t know that I trust her but I DO trust you and if you think she’s fine, then I’m happy to argue for your perspective.*

[Just tell them she’s related to Marigold literally and spiritually and I think it’ll make sense to them. At the very least Nixilei will work out what I mean.]

*I hate that your dumb explanation makes sense but alright.* “So, apparently we’re all good to leave whenever. The issues with the guards are sorted out and if we want they’ve got a place we can stay for free…” said Lily.

“Hmm… guess we can check it out. Did we pay ahead for the place we were meant to be at?” asked Kress.

“Hmm… I’m actually not certain,” mumbled Gareth. “I made a note of it somewhere but that’s more Nixilei’s think usually,”

“We put down a deposit but that’s it,” stated Nixilei. “We didn’t know when we’d get here after all. Just asked them to hold the room for the week leading up to the tournament… but I’m not sure what they’d have done if they heard about us getting arrested. I’m also not sure how much of that we can get back considering time has passed…”

Kat sent over Mint’s words on when the tournament started. “Well we’ve got two nights before the tournament according to Mint,” said Lily. “So… that’s five days we haven’t used the inn that are sort of paid for?”

Nixilei sighed. “It’s not a major issue but it is annoying. I suppose we’re not paying for food or cleaning because we’re not actually there but it’s still a pain. Though… not sure how safe we’d be. The place we organised is just a smaller inn with no real guard presence. Not sure they’ll even want to take us despite things being retracted. Might just be too much of a pain,”

“Right…” said Lily slowly. “And the alternative?”

“I already said I was cool with it,” chimed Kress.

“I don’t have an issue in principle… but it is a bit of a worry that the guards will know where we’re sleeping and watch us so closely,” added Gareth.

“I say we find somewhere else honestly. See if we can get money back from the inn if possible and then find someplace that’s somewhat hidden away and without guard attention,” stated the pillow.

Lily sighed, “Well, one of the top three guards, Eleanora, is hanging around because Kat beat her in a fight-“

“What?” hissed the pillow.

“She’s Marigold’s cousin. Kat said to mention it was both literally, and metaphorically,”

“Oh never mind then,” sighed the pillow.

Kress scoffed, “Oh? Backing off just because she’s related to royalty? Where has the Nixilei we know gone?”

“It’s not because of that you fool,” stated the pillow. “Her family line is known for being somewhat crazy and Kat’s implication is that this Eleanora is the same. I don’t know much about her personally… but I’d guess she has some obsession similar to Marigold?”

“She’s a combat maniac with three affinities,” said Lily.

“Wait… is she the Ice Knight?” asked Nixilei, finally shaking the pillow off her face.

Lily shrugged in response, “I can’t tell you. I mean, she’s got ice, metal, and regeneration affinities,”

“Hmmm… I think I might know of who she is. She’s a lot older than Marigold is right?” asked Nixilei with a glance over to Lily who returned a nod. “I see… I think I know who this is and I didn’t realise she was related to Marigold… interesting. It seems somebody isn’t doing their research properly…

“Never the less, if that’s the case we should be safe with her. She regularly keeps her word and should any problems appear she’ll be jumping at the chance to solve them simply as an excuse to get into more fights. If she’s sticking around then we might be bait for enemies… but she will defend us properly. I’m willing to take the risk,”

“Guess it’s time to leave then,” said Gareth as he hopped over Nixilei and made his way over to the door. He banged on it a few times before stepping back and going to wake Green. Kress moved soon after and started to free Nixilei who quickly slid off the bed as soon as possible, all while glaring at Kress the entire time.

“Hey don’t look at me, the break was good for you,” insisted Kress. Nixilei just rolled her eyes in response. Soon everyone was ready to leave… all that was left was to wait for someone to open the door. Took a few minutes but someone did eventually come down.

A man with a mask covering the top half of his face opened the door and said, “Ready to leave already?”

“Apparently Eleanora has sorted out our legal issues,” sneered Nixilei.

The man winced, “Right well… if she’s on the case you lot can leave then. Definitely don’t want her coming and causing problems,”

“Because she knows where you guys stay?” asked Lily cheekily. She couldn’t help it. The man in the mask seemed so serious but his outfit looked like he was trying to cosplay as a ninja or a mummy. It looked like it was hastily thrown together to keep his face hidden… and maybe it was.

“Yes actually,” said the man. “How did you know that?”

“Mental link to someone upstairs. They were around when Eleanora made her order,” said Lily.

The man just grumbled and walked off to the side leaving the door open and easy to walk out as he picked up a nearby lantern. Once everyone was ready and shuffling out the door, even a yawning Green the assassin closed the door behind them and started to lead them back out. Nixilei seemed to be memorising the path but Lily didn’t feel all that bothered. Knowing that Eleanora visited the shop meant the guard were at least somewhat knowledgeable about the people here.

When they stepped out of the trapdoor and into the shop proper the woman behind the counter just glare at them as they walked out and passed her as if they’re existence was somehow offensive to her on a personal level. “What’s her problem?” asked Green as they got to the street door.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s just an edgelord,” sighed the man.

“I’m a WHAT?!” hissed the counter lady as Nixilei pulled them out of the shop. No sense in getting caught up in that.