Standing in a bedroom far too small for the three people in it, staring at the heroine’s hand, I felt the sudden urge to laugh. In fact, I was laughing. No. Giggling! It was a manic, panicked sound that bubbled up from deep within my being, clawing its way up my throat and forcing its way past my lips. It was a sound of horrified amusement. Of all the people who could have answered this village’s call, of all the adventurer’s across all the world – who would have thought that the heroine herself would appear? I’d hoped to spend this entire life without seeing her, yet there she was, right in front of me.

I couldn’t stop laughing. Tears were streaming down my face, and I was bent forward. My fingers were clutching desperately at my skirt. I couldn’t breathe. The laughter just kept pouring out. The heroine! In front of me! My ultimate enemy, simply standing there with a confused expression on her face, still holding out her hand.

It occurred to me, suddenly, that I could end things there and then. Lucy hadn’t defeated any of my generals yet. She didn’t have any of their power. I was far stronger than her at that moment; all I needed to do was disregard my ancestor’s teachings and grab her while she was still powerless. Lock her in a dungeon, and everything would be solved.

The thought was sobering, like a splash of cold water across my face. The urge to giggle ceased and I regained control of myself. Instead of laughter, I was suddenly fighting the urge to throw up. Not from fear, this time, but from self-disgust. Even if it was only a frantic thought of desperation, I couldn’t believe that I’d actually considered abducting Lucy. She might have been the heroine, but she wasn’t like the ones who came before her. She actually cared enough to try and save my people. Even if I hadn’t needed her for my plan, to make peace between humans and demons, I would never want to bring her harm. 

“You know, it’s not polite to laugh when people introduce themselves,” Lucy told me, placing her hands on her hips. Rather than angry, she looked legitimately upset. “I really am the heroine!”

“She really is,” Lissera promised. She had a worried frown on her face, and her left hand kept tugging nervously at the fingers of her right. “According to Travill, at least. He said the guild vouched for her and that she more than proved her strength on the way here – she moved a tree trunk that was in the road!”

“I’m sure you are, and I’m sure she did,” I assured them, forcing myself to give a small smile. Lucy was no threat to me, as she was now; I knew that. It was only that images of Tower Conquest kept flashing through my brain. Me, on all fours, weakened and exhausted. Lucy, standing proud above me, slipping the collar about my neck. Her first order, done with a blush on her cheeks, to kiss her feet and show that the collar had really worked.

I didn’t want it. I couldn’t take it. I wouldn’t ever let that be me. To avoid that fate without harming Lucy, I needed to stay as far away from her and that thrice-damned collar as possible. Which meant I needed to get out of there.

“I apologize for laughing,” I said, bowing my head ever so faintly. “It was quite rude. It simply amused me to think that I might have taken on a job fit for the heroine herself.” A little flattery could go a long way, and I was hoping it would get me a very long way indeed.

“Really?” Lucy asked me, drilling into me with her orange eyes. “You aren’t just laughing because you think I look weak? Because I’m happy to spar with you if you have doubts. Though I hope you won’t hold it against me when you end up pinned on the ground!”

“I’ll pass,” I declared, still smiling at her. “In fact, I really must take my potatoes and get going. I’m supposed to be undergoing a journey of self-improvement, you see. I only even came into the village due to the rain.”

“Really?” Lucy asked me, face brightening immediately. “That sounds so cool! Is that how you got so strong? I travel a lot on my own, too, and let me tell you, the effects really start to show! When I first started, I couldn’t ride a horse without getting sore, and now most of the time, I don’t even use a horse! I just run! I mean, I’m not as fast as a horse, obviously, but I can go a lot longer without a break!”

“Yes, well. I might be strong, but I can still get stronger. Perhaps one day even as strong as you, Miss Lucy, the heroine.” I held out my hand, hoping to end things with that.

Lucy took my hand, but rather than letting go, she stepped close until her face was right in front of mine. 

“Can I come with you?” she asked me, eyes bright and sparkling. “I want to get stronger, too! I mean, I need to get really strong if I’m ever going to lead the holy army against the demon tower, right? And even stronger if I want to defeat the demon queen! The church actually wants me to form a party for it, but I haven’t found anyone strong enough, and I don’t want to put anyone at risk, so I’m thinking of going myself, and I need to get way stronger for that!”

“I… Ah…” I glanced at Lissera, but her only response was a helpless shrug. “It’s really supposed to be solo training…”

“Oh, I won’t get in the way,” Lucy vowed, releasing my hand and placing her palm against her chest. “I absolutely promise. I mean, as long as you’re able to take care of it, I’ll leave it be! But I actually have an ulterior motive for wanting to come along.”

“An ulterior motive?” I inquired, my heart skipping a beat. Could it be that she was suspicious of me? 

“Well…” Lucy dithered, toeing the floor with one of her metal boots. “It’s just… You’re sort of the hero of this town, you know? And you just recovered, after sleeping for three days, and… I think everyone here would be happier if I could report that you completed the next leg of your journey safely! I mean unless you’re willing to spend a few days recovering here, where they can keep an eye on you?”

“I…” I hesitated. Lucy’s motives were purer than I’d expected, and I could see from the conflicted look on Lissera’s face that she wasn’t entirely off base. The problem was that the next leg of my journey rightly involved flying back to the tower. Not a trip I was willing to take Lucy on. 

“Please?” Lucy pressed, eyes bright and wide. She again reached out, clutching my right hand in hers and holding it up between us. “I can help you? You want to go to a city with a guild and register as an adventurer, right? Well, there’s a probation period when you join, but if I vouch for what you’ve done here, I bet you can get past it in a heartbeat!”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t planning to go to a city for some time, or that would have been legitimately tempting. Unfortunately, I was blanking an excuse to give her. The last thing I wanted was to make the heroine suspicious of me. Lucy couldn’t do anything to me, personally, but Lissera would almost certainly be killed if it came out that she’d helped the demon queen.

“Very well,” I conceded, with a tired sigh. “You may walk with me for a while. But only until you’re convinced that I am fine! After that, you can go ahead of me to the adventurer’s guild and get them ready for me.”

I actually was planning to go to a city near here, when I went at last. I’d likely wait a while to give Lucy time to move on, but I wanted to establish myself as an adventurer in this area. If things went according to plan, I would eventually settle down in the general vicinity of this village. That way, I’d have both allies and potatoes when I started to live my life among humans.

Unaware of my plots, Lucy smiled brightly and gave my hand a firm pump. “It’s a deal!” she declared. “Are we going right now? I mean, you did want to, so I guess we are? I’ll grab your potatoes, and we can get going!”

“W-Wait,” Lissera protested, interjecting herself into the conversation at last. “What about the other villagers? Nobody’s even had a chance to say goodbye to Eena, yet!”

“I have no desire for drawn-out goodbyes,” I informed Lissera, moving to walk out of the bedroom. “It is not as if I won’t be back. In fact, I suspect I will be a regular customer of this village.” It was my hope that the demons would be able to produce their own potatoes, but it would take a while before we had enough for everyone. In the meantime, I’d be coming back to Derrin village whenever I wanted to refill my personal stash. Not to mention that I hoped to secure a supply of walnut dye.

 “Wait! You’re not the sort of hero who just rides off when everything’s done, are you?” Lucy demanded, putting her hands on her hips. “You got your reward, so you’re just going to leave? That’s not right! These people are invested in your well being! You spent three days sick because you pushed yourself too hard for their sakes! The least you can do is show them you’re okay, so they won’t have to feel bad or worried or anything.”

“Oh very well,” I muttered, unable to stand the onslaught of good intentions. “Have anyone who wants to see me gather at the gates. I’ll give you twenty minutes.”

“Okay!” Lissera ran toward the bedroom door, then paused. “The potatoes are right outside. Only two bags, because we know you can only carry so many, but I promise we’ll keep giving you bags any time you come back. So you will come back, won’t you?”

“I’ll come back,” I promised. Honestly, I could carry infinite potatoes in my bag but, since I wouldn’t be able to explain where I’d gotten a heavenly item, I’d have to be satisfied with what I could carry in a couple of sacks, for now.

Lissera stared at me, with almost the same intensity as Lucy, before nodding and rushing out the door. A small, honest smile tugged at the corner of my lips. I never would have thought she’d want me back, knowing who I was, and the fact that she didn’t seem to care genuinely warmed my heart. 

“Soooo, do you want to spar?” Lucy suggested, with a big smile. “Oh. Or maybe I should wait until you’re back at full strength? I really want to see how good you are at your best! I mean, I don’t know many adventurers who could take on all those wolves and survive! Unless you were only able to do it because you used magic? I did hear you were out from magic depletion. But I’m good with magic, too, so we can do a battle with both!”

“I’d rather not,” I demurred, shaking my head. “As you say, I’m not quite at my full strength.” That was actually true. The porridge had given me some energy to work with, and my body’s natural strength and resilience were certainly seeing me through, but nothing could change the fact that I’d been unconscious for three days. It was going to take me a little to get back in tiptop condition.

Of course, I was confident I could still kick Lucy’s ass. But picking on someone so much weaker than me would be far too crude.

“Well, what else can we do with twenty minutes?” Lucy asked me, wrapping some of her red hair about her forefinger. “I don’t just want to stand around. That’s boring. Maybe we can workout? But I don’t see anything heavy enough around here to let me build up a sweat…”

“Perhaps a different sort of workout, then?” I suggested, deciding to tease Lucy a little. I knew relatively little about the human church since discussions of them had always made my blood boil, but I did know they were against sex for pleasure. Apparently, it was reproductive or nothing, among the religious sort. And since there was no reason for me alone to be feeling uncomfortable…

“What sort of workout?” Lucy asked me, curiosity painted across her features. “Is it fun? Invigorating? Will it make me feel good? I love when workouts make me feel good!”

“It would be fun, invigorating, and quite delightful,” I vowed, now smiling widely. “Though it might be a little beyond you. I’m not sure it’s really your speed, you see.”

“It’s my speed! I think? I mean, I don’t really know what that means! But if it’s a workout, I’m definitely up for it! How do we do it?”

“Well, to start with, we have to get naked,” I replied, my smile shifting into a smirk. “Then we wrestle a little – partly with our bodies, partly with our lips...”

I was going to continue, expecting Lucy’s cheeks to go red at the suggestion, but they didn’t. Instead, she simply stared at me, eyes wide and mouth ever so slightly ajar. She seemed absolutely shocked. Perhaps I’d gone a step too far? I didn’t mind violating her precious views on the sanctity of sex, but I was a little concerned about drawing her ire. And much more concerned about getting a sermon on sex.

“You…” she started, at last, then stopped. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, her eyes dropping to the floor at my feet. “You…” she began again, only to stop once more.

“Yes?” I inquired, raising a single eyebrow. “Is something the matter?”

“The matter?” Lucy asked me, before letting out a short bark of laughter. “Is something the matter? You know I’m the heroine, but you… You’d still…” A tear slid down Lucy’s cheeks, as her bright orange eyes lifted up from the floor to meet my gaze. “Even knowing I’m the heroine, you’d still have sex with me?”

It was my turn to stare, shocked into silence by her words. My mouth opened, and I lifted a finger, then my mouth closed, and I dropped it again. Lucy was actually interested? She actually wanted to have sex? I knew that she’d been willing enough to sleep with people in the game, but those had been desperate circumstances, trying to get the generals to turn against their leader so that she could save them and the entirety of demonkind. I was just a random stranger, offering her a casual fuck. 

And what was with the crying? I had only meant it as a joke, to make myself feel a little less freaked out, yet she was looking at me like I was offering her food after a lifetime without. 

“…I can hardly believe this is true – but from the way you’re talking, is it possible that others wouldn’t?”

“Of course not!” Lucy exclaimed. “I’m the heroine. The chosen one of the angels! Even people who are willing to commit the sin say they aren’t willing to do it with me. Plus, I’m strong! Really strong! And I can’t control it well! I can’t just have sex with anyone off the street. It has to be an adventurer who’s trained their body up! But since they’re always putting their lives on the line, they’re even more religious than most, so they won’t have sex with me, and I can’t sleep with anyone, and you’re the first person to ever want to have sex!” 

Lucy was practically shouting by the end of her frantic speech, and her breath was coming heavily. All the same, she reached up to her shoulders and began to work at the clasps on her armor. 

“Hold on,” she told me. “I’ll get undressed right now! Okay? We can – twenty minutes is really enough? I always thought it would take longer. Oh, my Goddess, I can’t believe I’m actually going to have sex!”

“Hold on a minute!” I shouted hurriedly, holding up a hand to indicate she should stop. Lucy looked surprised, but her hand reluctantly moved away from the clasp of her armor.

“You’re changing your mind?” she asked me, voice soft and sad. “Oh. Of course. It was just a joke, right?” She let out a short, forlorn laugh. “There’s no way anyone would want to have sex with the heroine, after all…”

“I didn’t say I was changing my mind,” I argued, hardly able to believe the words slipping out of my mouth. It had been a joke. This was the living embodiment of my doom we were talking about, here! My bad end made flesh! 

But here she was, crying about how nobody would ever have sex with her. Upset because the humans she protected were so uptight about what the church said that they forced her into celibacy. And perhaps the worst of it? For all the problems I had with my aunts in heaven, Luci had never once claimed they were against sex. In fact, she had always said the goddess enjoyed a good fuck. Sex purely for procreation was, as far as I knew, entirely an invention of the human church. And Lucy was suffering for it.

“I’m fine going at it like a rabbit,” I assured her, shoving away my misgivings. So what if she was my enemy? I could start avoiding her tomorrow. Today, I was going to save one of the church’s many victims.

“Then what’s the problem?” Lucy demanded, looking up at me with wide eyes. I could tell she was itching to start pulling off her armor. It was rather cute, and a little ridiculous. For all my fears of meeting Lucy, I never could have imagined a scenario like this would unfold.

“Fucking you is one thing,” I replied. “Fucking you in someone else’s bedroom is another thing entirely. If you wish to bed me, I’m afraid it will have to be outside of town, on the forest floor.” It would probably be more comfortable than the straw, in any case. But my main reason for the decision was my suspicion that Lissera wished to have sex with me. I was unwilling to sleep with someone else in her home before even giving her a chance.

“In the forest?” Lucy echoed. “So. When you say go at it like rabbits. You mean literally?”

“…Something like that. If it’s too much for you, we don’t have to do it. I’m sure you’ll find someone else to fuck you eventually.” In fact, I could say it with a hundred percent certainty.

Lucy shook her head, though “I want to sleep with you, Eena! Today! As soon as we leave town! We’ll find a place with some nice leaves, clear out all the stones and twigs, and we’ll just…. Oooh, I can’t wait!”

“Well, you’ll have to,” I warned her. “If only for twenty minutes.”

Lucy nodded as if she agreed, but the look in her eyes remained eager as a puppy. On top of that, she started to shift eagerly from foot to foot, a big grin on her lips.

It seemed to me that twenty minutes had just become a rather long wait.

***

“You’ll be okay, won’t you?” Lissera asked me for the third time since my arrival at the gate.

“We will both be fine,” I promised her, uncertain if her concern was for me or for Lucy, the heroine of her people. “You haven’t seen the last of me.”

“Okay. Because if you’re not ready for travel, you can stay with me for another day or two. I’ll make you potato stew?”

‘Thank you, but no. My journey is far from complete.” By which I meant my journey back to Dimona Tower. I was concerned about how my people might be reacting to my extended absence. No matter how much they hated me, they were also depending on me to take care of… Well, the very woman who was eagerly bouncing on the balls of her feet beside me.

“I’ll keep her real safe!” Lucy promised, pressing a hand against her chest. “You have my promise that no harm will befall Eena for as long as we’re together!”

“…And you’re really sure everything will be okay?” Lissera asked me, yet again, ignoring Lucy.

“By the Goddess, Lissera,” Mother Reliz complained, pressing her fingertips against her forehead and rubbing the spot as if trying to chase away a nasty headache. “You weren’t this concerned when Eena went out against a pack of literal monsters! Now she’s with the heroine, and you’re suddenly going to raise a fuss?”

“Well, that’s…” Lissera started, only to trail off. “I mean…” she shot me a look, to which I responded with a shrug of my shoulders. I, too, thought she was overreacting. I felt fine, for the most part, and Lucy seemed mostly harmless, except perhaps to my peace of mind.

“I’m sure Eena will be fine,” Monica said, a small smile on her lips as she turned her gaze from Lissera to me. “And even if she isn’t, I’m sure she’ll survive. The savior of our village won’t go down without a fight, now will she?”

“I won’t,” I promised, smiling at the girls, before turning my gaze to the rest of the villagers. Everyone who’d been in the tavern seemed to have gathered, along with a few villagers I’d yet to meet. Even Jackson was there, though he’d been relegated to the rear. They were all there to see me off.

“I’ll be fine,” I promised them, unsure what else I could offer. “I’m much stronger than I look, you know.”

A low chuckle rippled through the crowd at that, and a smile touched my lips. With a final wave, I reached down to grab hold of a potato sack, tossed it over my shoulders, and began to walk into the forest.

“Bye, everyone!” Lucy called out behind me, grabbing my second sack. “Don’t worry, I won’t let her push herself! I’ll definitely keep her safe! Otherwise, I just plain wouldn’t be able to look you all in the eyes next time I came through!” 

“Are you even planning to come through here again?” I asked once Lucy had caught up to me.

“Who knows? The poe-taste-oh or whatever stew was really good! And I like everyone here well enough. If they ever need help with more monsters, I’ll definitely come back! Though I guess they have you for that. Unless you aren’t planning to come back?” Lucy asked. “They told me you really liked their poe-taste-ohs.”

“Potatoes,” I corrected, unable to help a small smile. She’d mangled the pronunciation even worse than Abigail. “They happen to make for a decent staple food.”

“So you must be planning to eat them pretty quickly, huh?” Lucy asked me, eyeing the large sack I had slung over my shoulder. “I mean, I’m sure they’ll go bad if you don’t! Oh, though, if you have someone to share them with, then you’ll probably have an easier time getting through them. Do you? Have someone to share them with, I mean?”

“…I’m traveling alone, aren’t I?” I asked, choosing to deflect the question.

“Well, for now,” Lucy agreed. “But do you always travel alone? Or are you open to traveling with other people?”

“It’s not as if I have a preference for it,” I admitted. “But I think I’m best suited for traveling by my lonesome. I’m not a very lovable person, as I’m sure you can tell.” I kept walking a moment, after delivering my response, before realizing that Lucy was no longer walking beside me.

“Lucy?” I called out, turning about. To my surprise, she was standing stock still a few feet back, the sack of potatoes sitting by her feet. “Is something the matter?”

“…How could you say that?” Lucy asked me, instead of answering my question.

“Say what?” I retorted, raising an eyebrow. “If you don’t specify what you’re referring to, I won’t-”

“How can you say something like that and not even have it register!?” Lucy demanded, stepping toward me. Before I could pull back, she reached out and grabbed one of my hands, holding it against her chest. “How can you say that you’re not lovable? How can you believe that?”

“You simply don’t know me very well,” I murmured, starting to pull back.

“I don’t need to know you to know you deserve love!” Lucy shouted, causing me to freeze in place, one hand clutching mine against her chest and the stretched out toward me. She took advantage of my shock to grab hold of my other hand, stepping closer to me and pressing those fingers against my chest, even as she squeezed my other hand against her armor.

“I can feel your heartbeat,” Lucy whispered after a moment. “You probably can’t feel mine because of the armor, but I can feel yours! That means you’re a living being, doesn’t it? And you’re not evil! You saved that village, so I know that much! And if you’re a living being who isn’t evil – that means you deserve love, right?”

I stared into Lucy’s orange eyes for a long moment, searching for any hint of guile or deception. I found instead eager determination mixed with pain as if she genuinely couldn’t believe the words I had to say.

“I… have not always been the best version of myself,” I told her, at last. “I caused problems for those who were close to me and brought direct harm to more than one. Whether I deserve love or not is irrelevant at this point – I neither expect it nor seek it. Instead, I choose to travel by myself. Perhaps it will be different in another life.”

“But that’s too sad,” Lucy protested. I was surprised to find her eyes swimming with tears for me.

“That’s simply the way it is,” I insisted, extricating myself from her grasp and stepping backward. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, Lucy, but things don’t always work the way we think they should.”

“…I know that,” Lucy whispered, eyes downcast. “I know I’m an idealist and that the world doesn’t always work the way I think it should. I know good people suffer and bad people get away with making it happen.”

“If you know all that,” I started, “then-”

“But that’s exactly why we need to fight for what’s right!” Lucy interrupted, lifting her head and meeting my eyes. “Whether it’s a town being threatened by monsters or a woman who thinks she doesn’t deserve love – I don’t care what the problem is! If I see injustice, I’ll face it head-on!”

“And how precisely do you intend to face this problem?” I demanded, exasperated by her insistence.

“By inviting you to form a party with me!” Lucy answered immediately, closing the distance between us once more. “We’ll face the demon queen, her forces, and the hardness in your heart, all at the same time!” She reached out for my hand, again, as she spoke. I was too shocked to stop her from lacing her fingers through mine.

“If you fight alone, you’ll become your own worst enemy. But if we fight together, our combined strength will let us face obstacles neither of us could handle alone! Mother Morrine has been pushing me to form a party with someone, anyway, and it sounds like you’re really strong. You’re a nice person, too, I think. But most of all, you’re someone who needs my help!”

I stared at Lucy, my mouth ever so slightly agape, trying and all but failing to process what she was saying to me. The heroine was offering me a chance to join her inner circle. To fight alongside her. If I was actually interested in interfering with her, this was a golden opportunity that would likely never come again.

How unfortunate, then, that I had no interest whatsoever in derailing her plans. Joining a party with the heroine struck me as nothing more than a needless headache. Besides which, I was fairly sure simple logistics made it impossible to begin with. Where would she think I was when I was at home in Dimona tower? While I was planning to spend a certain percentage of my time in human lands, the better to build an identity for myself, I was much more interested in establishing myself as a low-tier traveling adventurer. One that could disappear for days on end and then wander back into town without anyone giving it a second thought. 

“I refuse,” I told Lucy, once more stepping back. “I am still in the midst of my journey. If I allow myself to get tied down here, I’ll never finish my training.”

“But… But I…” Lucy bit her lip, pulling her fingers away from mine to squeeze them into fists. She was trembling, perhaps aware of how impotent she was before my refusal. Lucy couldn’t force me to join her party. If she kept pressing, I would simply use it as an excuse to break away from her and return to the tower. Perhaps she somewhat realized this because she broke eye contact with me and began to stare hard at the ground.

“Fine then,” she conceded, after a long moment. “If you won’t join my party, then… Then have sex with me, like you promised, instead!”

I blinked in surprise, caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic. I hadn’t precisely forgotten my vow to fuck her, but I’d rather thought the mood ruined when we started down this line of conversation.

“If… That’s what you wish,” I agreed, nodding slowly. “We should be far enough from town that nobody will come running if you scream.”

“That… That sounds really ominous, but I know you mean well!” Lucy told me. Her hands were still clenched, and her eyes were still locked on the ground at my feet. “I know you’re a good person! The sort of person who’d save a village and have sex with me!”

“I hardly think that last part makes me a good person,” I protested. “If anything, I imagine I’m committing quite the blasphemy, so far as the church is concerned.”

“You definitely are,” Lucy admitted, nodding. “The church says anyone who has sex for fun will go to hell. Unless they submit a donation for the sake of absolution, at least. And even then, most people seem to think having sex with me will get them damned for eternity… But… But even if I have no proof… Even if the church says otherwise… I disagree!” Lucy proclaimed, putting her hand on her chest. “I’m sure the Goddess wouldn’t give us these urges just to deny them. I think we should do what feels right to us! And what feels right to me is having sex with you, Eena!”

“My, my,” I murmured, shaking my head faintly from side to side. “Speaking against the church’s teachings? Are you sure you’re thinking straight? Getting horny can do strange things to one’s thought process.”

“Mom always told me I had to think for myself. That I couldn’t just blindly follow what the church said, but that I should listen to my heart. The Goddess’s voice, what she wants from me – I’m sure it’s carved deep inside my soul! That’s why, rather than listening to the church, I’m going to do what feels right to me.”

“And having sex with me feels right to you?” I asked, the corner of my lip pulling up to form a small smirk. “Are you sure that you’re not simply mistaking your own base desires for what the Goddess wants of you? There’s nothing wrong with simply wanting to have sex, you know.” She was closer to the truth than she knew, so far as I was concerned. There was nothing blasphemous at all about consensual sex. But I still couldn’t help but poke fun at the idea that anyone in heaven wanted the heroine to hook up with the demon queen.

Despite my words, the look Lucy was giving me was one of pure conviction. “I’m sure,” she informed me, her lips spreading into a grin. “I’m more sure than ever before what the Goddess would want of me, right now!”

“And what she wants is for us to have sex?” I asked, again, unable to help my skepticism. 

“No,” Lucy denied, to my surprise.

“Then-”

“What she wants is for me to help you! She wants you to realize that you’re special! That you’re worthy of being loved! That you deserve happiness!” Lucy edged closer to me as she spoke, reaching once more for my hands. I stayed still, too surprised to move, allowing her to recapture my fingers with her own. “She doesn’t just want us to have sex. She wants us to be intimate with one another. To grow closer to each other. To understand one another! If you won’t listen to my words, and you won’t join me so that I can convince you, then I’ll simply have to put my all into sex with you! I’ll show you with my actions exactly what I think of you and make you admit once and for all that you’re lovable!”

“And if I refuse?” I countered. Although I was getting tired of it, I again tugged my hands from her’s, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“Then I’ll give up,” Lucy told me, still smiling brightly. “But I don’t think you will. Not knowing how much sex means to me.”

For a long moment, I was silent, simply staring into Lucy’s eyes. I was looking for some crack in her resolve, some indication that she might back down. I found nothing. 

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I grumbled, sliding my fingers beneath the hem of my black top. I pulled it overhead in one smooth motion, letting my breasts flounce free of the material. I was distinctly aware of Lucy’s eyes on me, even with the black shirt covering my eyes, but I expected her gaze to be somewhere more polite by the time I pulled the top off completely.

I was wrong. Lucy’s eyes remained locked on my tits, even as my own gaze settled on her. To be more specific, her eyes were practically latched onto my left nipple, and her fingers were opening and closing as if she were desperately trying to resist the temptation to grab onto something. She licked her lips as I watched before forcing her eyes to meet mine.

“You’re really hot,” Lucy informed me, grinning again. “Like. Wow. I can’t believe I get to have sex with you? It’s going to be so amazing!”

“Yes, well, the feeling is mutual,” I asserted, giving Lucy a once over. The armor did an excellent job of showing off her figure, with the upper half clinging to her curves and her leather skirt doing little to hide the shapeliness of her legs. Combining that with Jacob’s memory of the game, I had a relatively good idea of what I was working with. Enough to declare Lucy attractive, at least.

“You do plan to undress, don’t you?” I asked since Lucy was still staring hungrily at my tits. “I’m afraid the sex will be rather one-sided if you don’t.”

“R-Right!” Lucy reached up toward her shoulders, as she spoke, starting to fiddle with her armor. 

I left her to it, slipping my thumbs into the waistband of my skirt. A simple tug and the red fabric was pooled around my ankles, leaving me in a pair of black panties and heels. 

Lucy was moving at breakneck speed and was already shimmying out of her skirt and showing off her pure white panties. She tugged those off, too, revealing a perfect slit beneath a red bush. I wondered idly what she’d make of my own, clean-shaven look.

As for my own underwear, I chose to wait until Lucy had sat down to take off her greaves. Then I reached down to undo the straps on my shoes, shoved down my panties, stepped out of both, and sat down as quickly as possible, hoping Lucy wouldn’t notice my reduced height. As much as I loathed to admit it, I was a mere five foot four without heels. If my memory of the wiki was to be trusted, Lucy was five foot six. 

Having sex with Lucy was fine, but I’d brave both heaven and hell before letting the heroine know she was taller than me.

“So… What now?” Lucy asked me, once we were both well and truly naked. We were sitting on the forest floor, a bed of leaves, pine needles, and the occasional twig beneath us. Lucy, for her part, was nervously wrapping a few strands of her red hair about her forefinger. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes kept darting between my tits and pussy. Occasionally she’d tear her eyes away and stare at the ground for a moment, but her eyes would always travel back again. The only place her gaze never quite settled on was my face.

Well, that wouldn’t do at all.

I moved quickly, not giving Lucy time to react. I didn’t reach for Lucy but rather reached past her, my body pressing hers down. My hand slammed into the ground, as did Lucy’s back, and a small squeak escaped the heroine’s throat as my lips pulled into a smile. Reaching out with my other hand, I gently grabbed Lucy’s chin and waited for her gaze to meet mine.

“Focus on me, Lucy,” I whispered. “Not my tits. Or my snatch. Or my ass. Or whatever else it is you’re imagining right now. I know my body can be quite enticing, but the first lesson in making a woman feel good is that you have to pay attention to the woman, herself. Not just her assets. Understand?”

I took my hand from Lucy’s chin, and she gave me a firm nod of acknowledgment. Her eyes were now locked fully on mine.

“Good girl,” I praised Lucy, reaching out to pat her on the head. This caused another blush to spread across the poor thing’s cheeks, which only made me smile wider. “Now, how about I show off a thing or two about how to please a woman?”

Lucy nodded rapidly, her cheeks growing even brighter. I chuckled softly, moving my way down Lucy’s body. With one hand still pressed against the ground, supporting my weight, I moved the other to ever so gently cup one of Lucy’s tits. It was large, only slightly smaller than my own, and it filled my hand completely. I curved my fingers about the flesh and shifted my thumb to ever so gently brush against the tip of her nipple. This caused Lucy to stiffen, much like the nipple itself.

“You can still ask me to stop,” I remarked, eyes flicking up to Lucy’s. “If you’re uncertain.”

Lucy shook her head, though, a determined look in her eyes. “I want this,” she promised me, with a grin. “It already feels so good!”

“As long as you’re sure…” I waited a moment in case she chose to change her mind, then shrugged my shoulders and lowered my lips to her tit. My warm breath washed over the nipple, warming it. Then my thumb brushed against the nipple, again, making sure it was nice and hard. Lowering my mouth to it, I ever so gently nipped the sensitive flesh before sealing my lips about the teat and lightly sucking.

Lucy let out a low moan in response, an almost animalistic sound of need and want. She repeated that sound, near enough, when I let my tongue dart against her nipple as my hand squeezed her tit.

I wasn’t satisfied with mere moans, though. I wanted to make Lucy scream. To that end, I moved my mouth away from the nipple and began to kiss my way down the side of her breast, into the cleavage. When I reached the taut flesh between her breasts, I moved to scrape my teeth ever so barely against the skin, then licked the line of abraded flesh before plastering it with tiny kisses. My eyes flicked up toward Lucy’s face as my lips shifted to seal themselves on the so-far untouched nipple, opposite to my starting point. Lucy’s mouth was open, and little sounds were pouring out of her. Whimpers, moans, and pleas for more. It was enough to make me smile.

I pinched her nipple between my teeth, not biting down but merely holding the peak in place as my tongue struck against it. My hand squeezed her other breast, the thumb moving in slow circles about the areola, as I graduated from biting to sucking on her tit. Lucy continued to make noises above me, but I could tell she was still holding herself back, trying not to be too loud. If she could still hold herself back, then I wasn’t nearly finished yet.

Releasing Lucy’s breast, I pushed myself into a kneeling position. Lucy was panting below me, her hair splayed out against the ground, her wide eyes all but rolled back into her head. After a few seconds without touch, she regained her ability to see straight and focused her gaze on me.

I smiled the moment I knew she could see it, and then lowered my head down to her thighs. Kissing one, I slid my hands between her legs and delicately pressed them apart. I could feel a faint tremble in Lucy’s body as she realized what I was planning, and her breathing picked up its pace in what I thought to be excitement. 

“It’s not too late to stop me, heroine,” I reminded her, my lips pulling up into a smirk. “Do you really want me to ravish you?”

“I want it more than anything,” Lucy confessed, her eyes as honest as they were eager. “But what about you? I want to make you feel good too!”

“You first,” I insisted, with a small shake of my head. “Unless you actually know how to bring another lady pleasure?”

Lucy didn’t respond, which was answer enough. I smirked, lowering my head to kiss her lightly on the inner thigh, then moved up to press my lips against her outer labia. Leaning in even closer, clutching at her thighs for support, I gave Lucy’s slit a long lick, causing her to squeak. Then I pressed my face up against her, the bush tickling my nose, her scent filling my nostrils. She smelled of sweat, and hard work, mixed with the heady scent of arousal. There was something else, too, an undercurrent to it all that my nose could just barely pick out—the sweet smell of Lucy, herself.

My tongue pushed out, pressing into Lucy’s folds, causing her to let out a soft moan. I pressed even deeper, shoving my face against her snatch, working my tongue as deep inside as I could. At the same time, I moved one of my hands to slide up her thigh, my fingers slipping through the hair of her bush. As my tongue pulled out of her, I gave a firm tug on the short hairs, and at the same time let my tongue dart out to flick against Lucy’s clit. 

That got the high pitched scream I was after, a sound of pleasure tinged with the faintest bit of pain. I again pushed my tongue into her while simultaneously letting her curly red hairs trail through my fingers. My thumb found her clit, nestled in a tiny little hood. It was still wet from my tongue, and the pad of my thumb slid easily across its surface.

My ministrations soon had Lucy squirming and panting above me. When my thumb brushed against her clit, her thighs squeezed tight around my head. When my tongue worked its way into her slit, working its way through the tight but slick channel, she let out a loud moan. When I pulled away from her sopping wet pussy, she let out a little whimper of need, but when I nipped and kissed and sucked at her inner thigh, playing with her clit all the while, she soon devolved back into moans and cries of pleasure. Then my tongue returned to her snatch, licking across the surface. I moved my hand from her bush, reorienting it so that it slid under her. My fingers were pressed up against her needy slit while my thumb was once more positioned to play with her clit. My tongue worked at her opening, even as my finger pressed into the channel.

Lucy’s walls pressed tight against my intruding finger, but her natural lubrication was more than enough for me to work the digit in and out. I pushed deeper, then pulled back, then pressed in again. The pace was easy to establish, and the pattern simple as could be, though I did let my thumb brush her clit every few thrusts.

Of course, I wasn’t just pumping in her body for the sake of it. If I simply wanted to make her cum, I could simply have kept up what I’d been doing so far. But I was after a different sort of orgasm, this time. The type that originated from deep within a woman’s channel. The first few strokes of my finger failed to find anything, but the fifth time my digit plunged into her, I felt her suddenly stiffen as my fingertips brushed against a particular spot.

I pulled my finger away from her g-spot and almost entirely out of her vagina. I kept only the very tip of my nail still inside her as if I were trying to keep my place in a book. My mouth moved to kiss her inner thigh, on the same spot where I’d nipped and sucked at her a moment before. I’d given her a hickey there. I was sure of it.

Then I turned my attention back to her clitoris. Sealing my lips around the cute little button and sucking at it like a straw, I pushed my finger deep inside her once more. Teasing my finger against her special spot, even as my tongue darted out against her clit, it wasn’t long at all before Lucy’s thighs tightened about me, and she let out an ear-shattering scream.

Lucy was louder than I’d expected her to be. The grip of her thighs was tighter than I could have imagined, too. If I were anyone but the demon queen, she might have caused me serious injury. As it was, it felt quite nice to have her soft thighs pressing hard against my skull. Besides which, it blocked out some of her scream.

When she was finished, Lucy stayed lying on the ground, her chest rising and falling with each heavy breath she took. 

“That… That was amazing,” she declared, reaching out her hand in yet another attempt to grab me. I didn’t resist but allowed her fingers to twine about mine as a slow grin spread across Lucy’s lips. “But now it’s my turn, right? I want to make you feel good, too!”

“Or we could do you, again,” I offered, trying to hide a sudden pang of nervousness. Bringing the heroine to orgasm was one thing, but putting myself in that same vulnerable position was a different matter entirely.

Lucy, however, only blinked at me in confusion. “Again? But I already had that really-good feeling. Doesn’t that mean it’s over?”

“…Someone is going to pay for your lack of sexual education,” I muttered darkly. “Lucy. Girls can orgasm multiple times in a single sitting. With how strong your body is, I’m sure you could go another two, three times.”

“I could do that again!?” Lucy demanded, eyes wide. “More than once? I-I mean… No!” She gave a furious shake of her head. “Not until I make you feel good, Eena!”

“Then how about a compromise?” I suggested, not willing to let it drop. “We can eat each other out at the same time.”

“E-eat each other out?” Lucy asked, curling a bit of red hair about her finger as she thought. “Is that the thing you were doing with your tongue? And your hand…”

“Precisely,” I confirmed, smiling at her. “I’ll be on top; you take the bottom. My lips on your sex, your mouth on mine. All you’ll need to do is follow my lead.”

“And I’ll definitely get to make you feel good?” Lucy pressed, her eyes searching mine. 

“Promise.” I met her gaze as I spoke, trying to convey with my eyes that I meant what I said.

“…I’m not sure about being on the bottom,” Lucy admitted, breaking eye contact with me. “I mean, the main point of this is for me to pleasure you, so shouldn’t you be the one lying down?”

“Thank you, but I’d rather not.” I was already concerned about being so vulnerable before the heroine. Topping would at least give me some illusion of control over the situation. “Of course, if that’s a deal-breaker, we can simply skip the whole thing? I did undoubtedly fulfill my promise.”

“No!” Lucy dissented, shaking her head back and forth so frantically that I practically got whiplash just from looking at it. “You made me feel so good, Eena. I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive myself if I didn’t do the same for you! And besides,” she added, with a determined frown, “I haven’t given up on making you realize how lovable you are!”

“You’re still on that?” I groused, glaring at her. “You’ve had an orgasm, yes? You should know full well, then, that there’s no intrinsic connection between that pleasure and true love.”

“Maybe that’s true,” Lucy admitted, biting her lower lip. “But I don’t think it’s entirely separate, either! I’m sure the sex was only so good because you honestly cared about bringing me pleasure! And even if that’s not love, it still shows caring and affection, right? I want to show those same things to you!”

“…Do what you will.” I sighed, pushing myself up onto my feet. A moment later, I had lowered myself again, this time straddling Lucy. As I’d promised, my pussy was within reach of Lucy’s lips, while her slick slit was close enough for me to catch its delightful scent.

Lucy was still wet from my earlier efforts. I was sure that if I simply lowered my head to her snatch, I could make her feel good. If I skipped foreplay, however, I was quite confident that she’d follow my example. Even if I saw my own pleasure as secondary, for this encounter, I didn’t want to lead her astray in this matter. If nothing else, it was my duty as queen to ensure that my generals would enjoy their eventual defeats.

With that in mind, I decided to start with a soft kiss to Lucy’s inner thigh. As I’d predicted, Lucy did the same to me, leaning up to press lips against me. I sucked the flesh between my teeth, hard enough to leave a bruise, but didn’t bite. I then waited for Lucy to do the same – but she surprised me. Instead of merely sucking at my thigh, Lucy bit the flesh ever so faintly, pinching it between her teeth and then releasing to lick the spot. Before I could even react, she was already running her fingers gently across the flesh as if to soothe my non-existent wound.

It seemed that Lucy had learned a thing or two from my earlier demonstration. With that in mind, I decided to speed up the pace of our encounter, kissing up the length of her thigh and stopping only when my lips were pressed against her inner folds. There, my teeth again came into play, ever so barely scraping against her tender flesh. Then my tongue pressed itself against the folds that I’d treated so cruelly, and I gave a drawn-out lick to her sweet snatch.

My actions pulled a long, low moan from Lucy, and I could feel her shuddering ever so faintly beneath me. Still, she wasn’t one to be left behind. She pressed her lips against my own wet pussy, pushing her tongue into my entrance and drawing her first lick of my flesh. I worried for a moment that she wouldn’t enjoy the taste, but then her tongue pressed again against my opening. Her licks were soft and fast but moved with a speed that spoke of excitement and joy. I could just imagine her, eyes wide, lips spread into a grin, as she licked eagerly at my snatch. The thought brought a smile to my lips, entirely separate from the warm pleasure that was suffusing my body in response to Lucy’s tongue.

I pressed my lips back against Lucy’s sweet sex, this time sealing my lips on the clitoris. I pressed my teeth against it, careful not to bite or even scrape the flesh, merely wanting Lucy to feel the difference in texture. Then I pulled away, licking the clit, before lifting a finger to Lucy’s entrance.

Lucy beat me to the punch, catching me off guard when she slipped a finger into my entrance, causing me to squeak a little in surprise. Her tongue worked at my flesh, moving around her finger as it started to press into me. My inner walls tightened about the digit, but just as my strength had overcome Lucy’s resistance, so too was Lucy able to overcome mine. Her finger started to move slowly in and out, searching for my g-spot. Since I had a few extra nerves in there, however, even the basic touches were more pleasurable than they should have been, and soon I was biting my lip to try and keep from screaming out.

Unwilling to leave it at that, I pushed my own finger into Lucy’s opening. I knew exactly where her g-spot was, but I chose not to go for it right away. Instead, I worked a second finger into Lucy’s snatch, coaxing her body into taking the penetration and then squirming my way deeper inside. Two fingers worked even better than one for bringing noises from Lucy’s lips, and for a moment, the finger inside me faltered in its movements.

But I’d forgotten something important – that Lucy was taking her cues from me. Since I’d pressed a second finger inside of her, she started to work another digit into my body. I wasn’t as wet as she was, but after eating out a beautiful woman I couldn’t help being aroused. It didn’t take her long to get the second finger inside me.

I’d had a tongue inside me before, but never someone else’s finger. Certainly never two. It was a completely new experience for me. The same was true for Lucy, though, and I had no intention of cumming before she did. I began to pump my two fingers deeper inside her, pressing the pads of the digits against her inner walls and letting my barely-there nails glide across her flesh. I found the g-spot that I’d been ignoring so far and began to rub at the spot that had caused her to cum so recently.

Lucy’s breath started to pick up in pace, and her fingers pulled out of my snatch. I wondered for a moment if she had given up, but then her lips sealed themselves about my slit, and her tongue once more worked its way inside me. I could her thumb clumsily pressing against my clit, teasing at the folds of my clitoral hood as she tried to expose it for further attention. After a moment, her tongue pulled away from my pussy, no doubt so that she could have a better view of what she was doing. Indeed, the touches to my clit became much more sure afterward, and by the time her tongue pushed its way back into my entrance, she was once more working my button like a pro.

I wasn’t sitting still, either. My fingers continued to rub at Lucy’s g-spot, and I took turns kissing, rubbing, and even lightly pressing my nose against her clit. I wanted to give her a variety of experiences, a medley of textures. I wanted her to feel wonderful. I wanted her to cum, preferably before I did.

There was no particular reason for it. I couldn’t say what drove me to work so hard. Perhaps it was mere competitiveness that kept my fingers pumping inside Lucy. Maybe it was the natural rivalry between demon queen and heroine that made me work at her with my tongue, even as I teased her clit with my thumb and worked my fingers against her g-spot. Or maybe it was merely my pride, as a sexual being, that said I couldn’t cum until I’d given this girl the excellent time she deserved.

Whatever the cause, I succeeded. My two fingers rubbed lightly at Lucy’s g-spot, at the same time as my tongue pressed against her clit, and she let out another high pitched scream as her thighs tightened about my head. I took that opportunity to bite her inner thigh, eliciting an even louder scream, before licking and kissing the flesh. It was more or less the same spot I’d marked earlier, though, to my disappointment, the hickey had already healed. This time I worked even harder to leave an imprint, pulling her flesh between my teeth and nipping hard at the skin before kissing it once again. I suspected it would heal quickly, all the same, but I was also sure she wouldn’t need a mark to remember this kiss.

Her thighs loosened from around my head, and her screams trailed off. I thought perhaps it was over, but Lucy had other ideas. She gripped both of my thighs with her hands, lifted her mouth to my snatch, and began to press her tongue within me once again. Furiously licking, parting every few minutes to nip at my thighs or lick at my clit, it didn’t take long for me to feel the same pressure that had just exploded out of Lucy building within myself. It was like a fire in my core, getting hotter and hotter until it was threatening to burst from its container.

Then she pressed her fingers into me, again, sliding two in from the start. It was a little difficult for her to get them in at first, but she managed to work them deep within me. Feeling them inside my pussy, I couldn’t stop a soft moan.

That seemed to invigorate Lucy even further. She began to focus more attention on my clit, kissing and licking and sucking it, occasionally nosing it. She never bit it, but she did nip the skin around it, even lightly teasing my clitoral hood with her teeth. All the while heat and pressure built inside me, bringing me closer and closer to the edge.

Then her fingers found my g-spot. It was like a star exploding in my head. My vision went white, and my eyes began to flutter as my body spasmed out of my control. I collapsed against Lucy’s body, as heat washed over my entire being, and a scream tore itself from my throat.

When I came back to myself, my cheeks were pressed against Lucy’s thighs. The heroine, for her part, was panting heavily beneath me. When I pushed myself up to my feet and turned about to face her, I saw a wide grin on her lips.

“Did I do it?” she asked me. “Did I make you feel loved?”

“Well, you made me feel something,” I confessed, not quite answering the question. Lucy looked so happy, I didn’t want to take the feeling away from her. But I still didn’t feel any more lovable than before.

“I put everything into it,” Lucy told me, still smiling as she sat up. “All my emotions. All my feelings! Everything I felt for you! You felt it, right? The care and affection that I put into it?”

“I felt good,” I said, still evading the question. “If that was the result of your affection, then I suppose it was well done.” I wasn’t going to change how I viewed myself, though. Not based on a single night of sex.

“It was the most amazing thing ever,” Lucy gushed, reaching for one of her greaves. “I mean, your tongue! And your fingers! And the way you played with that special nub…”

“It’s called a clitoris, Lucy,” I informed her. “Or a clit if you’re feeling informal.” I reached for my own top, then paused as a large, brown snout pressed its way out of the bushes in front of me.

I stood, and the creature did the same. Only the beast was much taller than me when it rose to two legs. That made sense, considering it was a bear.

Or at least I thought it was a bear. I’d never seen one with spikes along its spine and elbows before.

“A spiked bear!?” Lucy demanded, immediately shooting up to her feet. She was wearing one of her greeves, and absolutely nothing else. “Oh no! All that noise we made!”

“…Indeed,” I murmured, sighing softly. I had been so concerned with ensuring the villagers wouldn’t hear us, I’d failed to consider that something else entirely might respond to our squeaks, squeals, and screams.

It seemed that I had another monster to fight.

Author's notes: Thanks for reading! This chapter was edited by Vivian Newswanger, something I'm editing in now since I apparently didn't mention it before.