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

Chapter 2153: Chapter 2153 Water We Doing?

--- Kat ---

As soon as the battlefield was cleared away Kat moved up to check on Lily. Luckily, Furen was still hanging onto her back so Kat had her hands free to fuss over Lily. It seemed that, despite watching closely, they’d both missed a few tiny bits of Lily’s hair getting singed. Even with that... she didn’t seem hurt. Her skin underneath her fur wasn’t red at all and Lily didn’t seem to be in pain. Still... it was a pretty major fight. Kat wasn’t sure she could have managed it so cleanly.

Then again, Kat supposed it depended on if you considered damage that she simply regenerated away ’clean’ or not. [Kaaaat, I’m fine. You don’t need to check me over so thoroughly...]

*Considering it seems like you didn’t notice getting clipped by lightning I’m not sure I can agree to your request.*

[And I’m fine! It all brushed away! My fur is fine. The lightning that probably didn’t even touch me just seems to have burnt away some of the dirt that collected on our way here, or maybe bits of poison that settled into my fur. I’m fine.]

*Hmph.*

[Did you just mentally huff at me?]

*I did yes. Let me look you over and spoil you a bit.*

[Kind of making things awkward with Furen hanging off you at the moment.]

*Bah, I can ignore her easily. She’s not exactly heavy.*

[That... really wasn’t my issue with this but whatever.]

Sure Lily was grumbling at her mentally but she was purring in Kat’s hands so Kat wasn’t exactly concerned. Plus, unlike the fire which might still be burning back in the other corridor, the plasma puddles already seemed to be dimming here. They clearly had a much shorter shelf life. It would be simple to wait for them to burn out.

So that’s what they did. Kat continued to poke and prod at Lily, occasionally disguising her actions as genuine concern while really just trying to tickle her girlfriend. Eventually, Lily popped back into human form to avoid the tickling... but really it just gave Kat more area to tickle so the assault continued. Furen just did her best to pretend she wasn’t listening to... whatever this counted as.

She’d consider it a weird form of foreplay if it wasn’t for the fact that neither of them seemed to be getting ready for that sort of activity. She was thankfully saved from too much embarrassment by the gradually dimming pools of plasma finally winking out. Lily and Kat immediately reacted to the lack of a crackling sound and readied themselves to continue.

Though Kat did pause for a moment to ask, ”The corridor isn’t too hot is it?”

Furen shook her head. ”No, it’s cooler than the fire was... or at least it seems that way. I’ll make sure to warn you about the heat but... feels pretty normal. Which is strange now you mention it...”

Kat glanced over at Lily who shrugged. ”I mean... the lightning did seem pretty hot when I was being attacked but it wasn’t the kind of thing to linger. A bit odd that even the plasma puddles don’t seem to have leached much heat out into the surroundings. I wonder if there’s some sort of enchantment responsible or if it’s just how the golems for this area were made? Like... I don’t know the magic behind it but plasma isn’t meant to be like that... not when it’s part of lightning anyway.”

The pair shrugged at each other and began the walk down the corridor. Kat could see the end already... but it seemed to split off a good ways down the hall. So first they had to catch up to that. Kat considered breaking out into a jog but considering Furen was on her back it didn’t seem worth the potential risk so she settled for a power walk for speed instead.

Reaching the turnoff point Kat glanced at the remains of the sign, one side read ’Ge-’ while the other showed a ’Te-’ and the rest was cut off. ”You think this one means generator?” asked Kat as she tapped the side with ’Ge-’ on it.

Lily shrugged and glanced back at Furen who nodded. ”It would make some sense. Or perhaps ’Generation’ as in that’s where the water is made? However I would expect to find the generator in such a place as well if it was to be anywhere.”

Nodding at that the three of them turned to the left following the sign. It took a few quick turns but they soon came to a door a smaller, less grandiose one then those she’d seen previously. Kat turned the handle... and it came apart in her fingers. ”Been a while since you did that,” commented Lily.

”Ha, ha. This time it’s because the handle was already falling apart. I’m a bit hesitant to bust down the door though... just in case we end up swarmed by golems immediately. Of course, I don’t really have any other suggestions,” admitted Kat.

Lily examined the hinges on the door closely and realised they’d all been fused into place so it wasn’t a simple as popping the hinge pins out to open the door. Still... Lily reached her shadow into the hole left by the door hand and tried to remove the block of probably metal keeping the door closed... and found that it too was stuck. ”Hmmm... yeah it’s stuck. I could pull it sure but that would still be breaking the door...”

”I can hear water on the other side,” admitted Furen. ”If that changes anything.”

Kat started to focus on the sounds behind the door and found she was correct. It was a LOT of water. Kat and Lily shared a shrug and so Lily carefully cut a hole in the door, sliding out the bit that was getting caught and then pushed it open. Kat glanced at the hinges, reached into the hole and pulled the door back.

Lily coughed awkwardly and glanced away up at the ceiling as Kat rolled her eyes and stepped inside. The room wasn’t at all what she was expecting... or perhaps this is what happens when you leave a water generator on. Steeping into the room seemed to put you on a suspended platform made of wood, it was being held up... but that was unnecessary. Because whatever had once been beneath it was now covered in water. The water level was in fact, just slightly above that of the walkways.

Kat hesitated at the edge. ”Furen, do you want to wait here?”

”It’s just a bit of water,” Furen answered immediately before looking like she’d sucked on a lemon. ”Nevermind, ignore me, I’m apparently an idiot...”

Lily sighed, ”Well... um... at least you realised the problem pretty quickly? Still... what do you want to do? We’ve not seen the golems attack an area twice but there’s no real way to be certain of that so it might still be dangerous waiting here.”

”Ah, right...” grumbled Furen. ”I feel rather useless at the moment. While I am glad I invited myself along to avoid other issues I do feel like I’m causing you both a lot of problems... of course with that being said, now that you’ve reminded me it’s not safe to stay here by myself either I suppose I’ll come along.”

Kat nodded and made to step forward... but she was stopped by a shadow. ”Actually, you’ll have to let me go first for once,” announced Lily. ”The platform here is a bit under the water and we have no idea how sturdy it is. If it can’t support my weight there’s no way it can support yours AND Furen’s at the same time.”

Kat gave Lily a sighed eyed glance but nodded and retracted her outstretched foot. Lily grinned a bit... before her smile faded and she realised she’d just volunteered to see if standing on this old platform would end with her dunk into the water. [Shit... why did I want to do this again?]

*I dunno? Protecting Furen maybe?*

Lily didn’t deign to respond to Kat’s snippy mental comment. Instead she simply stepped forward... and immediately had to react. Sure the platform didn’t sink but it wasn’t exactly stable either. Lily’s shirt tore open as two wings exploded from her back to help her keep her balance. Kat stifled a giggle as Lily finally managed to balance herself out.

”Dammit. At least I didn’t really like this shirt... and we have spare... but still really?” grumbled Lily.

”I’m more shocked you managed your wings. They also seem appropriately sized... have you managed that before?” asked Kat.

Lily shook her head. ”No... and I don’t think I can quite fly with these yet... but they do help with my balance. Anyway, come on the bridge is... not sturdy but probably stable.”

Kat nodded, flaring her wings as best she could with Furen on her back. Kat even ensured that her tail could move freely to keep her balanced. Then again, unlike Lily Kat wasn’t too worried if she ended up in the water. She wouldn’t stay wet for all that long. Unlike Lily.