76: The Land of the Dead, Part Three

The Land of the Dead, Part Three

{Erin}

The next time the lamia was summoned, she was standing back at the camp. A quick look around her let her know there were no enemies, though, often, Erin found that she knew whether there were enemies or not the instant she appeared. 

Neve was standing right in front of her. The awkward, sapphire-haired girl met Erin's gaze for just half a second before turning away. 

"Well, dearest summoner of mine. What cruel and unnatural torture have you lined up for me today?" Erin asked though she couldn't inject as much hostility into her tone as she had before. 

As she'd acknowledged after Ahlakan had disappeared, before she returned, it was just harder to get mad at Neve now. Not that it had ever been fully justified to do so, of course. Neve hadn't been the one to trap her in that cage or put her in this position, but, she had been the only one Erin could aim her frustrations at, and now, she was just a little too tired to do that. 

The serious expression on Neve's face made Erin wonder if, perhaps, this would be something different from fighting. 

Or, if the incoming torture was actually far worse than anything she could imagine. 

"I've been thinking about ways to pay you back for everything you've done for me. Uh... I'm not really good at this sort of thing, though." 

Erin's brows shot up. 

[So, that's what this is about?] 

"Instead of thinking about it on my own, though, I decided to just ask. Erin, what would you like from me?" The healer shuffled a little, slightly uncomfortably. Her eyes seemed unable to remain on Erin for long before she felt the need to turn away. "If it's something I can do, I can get, somewhere I can take you to, I'll try." 

It was a difficult question that Neve just dropped on her lap, admittedly. Having accepted what she was, a lot of Erin's desires, thoughts, and feelings had been in the process of gradually fading away. 

She could feel herself becoming more of a blank slate with every fight that she partook in. 

Neve's words, however, brought back years worth of images to her mind that she'd been working hard to push away, just so she would feel less awful about her situation. Faced with them, and a question lingering in the air between them, Erin considered the memories briefly. 

"... That walk on the beach has yet to happen," she muttered quietly. 

"Uh, finding one is a bit... well, out of my control, but if I do, I'll let you know." 

"Some of the food you've shown me has been nice, but other stuff has been painfully bland." 

"I-I figured that I may as well show you the average food too, so you appreciate the stuff that tastes good more." 

"Some skinship would be nice," Erin said. Being so upfront was unbefitting a princess. She was far more used to having people fight over her rather than having to push herself onto someone like this. However, she wasn't truly a princess anymore, was she? "I was trapped in that cage for a very,  very long time, and I do not believe I will find many others to caress anytime soon. Honestly, a simple hug every now and then would be nice." 

"I..." Neve's shoulders dropped. "I'm new to that stuff. I-I could try, but... Yeah." 

Erin got frustrated. 

It seemed she was being too subtle, apparently. 

"You don't understand what I'm trying to say?" Erin asked. 

"Huh? Um... No, I don't." 

Erin hugged herself as she threw a half-hearted scowl Neve's way. Her claws dug a little into her tanned skin as she hesitated. Neve held so much power over her as things stood that she didn't really want to give her more, but through her words, it appeared she would have to do that. 

"I want you to make me feel real," Erin finally admitted quietly. "I want you to treat me like an equal. Share your thoughts with me, let me know how you're doing, how you're feeling. Stop hiding things from me. Treat me like I am not just a summon." 

[Even though that is all I am, of course.] 

"If you can do that... Then..." Erin inhaled and nearly choked on air like the last of these words had nearly gotten stuck in her throat as she tried to push them out. "I would appreciate it greatly." 

Thankfully, it seemed like Neve understood. 

[Good. Being even more vulnerable than I am with her hurts.] 

"I'll try." 

---

{Neve}

The more she thought about it, the more the idea of making a guide of this floor and working around it seemed nice. Not particularly feasible or purposeful beyond providing Neve with a sense of familiarity, but nice. 

She figured that it might help with internalizing the information she gleaned from the situations she got herself into and preparing for future possible scenarios. 

And, on the off chance that she made it out of here, maybe she could sell that guide and make so many WS Tokens off it she'd never have to fight again. 

[It's fun to think about. Making a little guide, flipping the world off, shutting myself indoors, and never coming out of my house again. The road to that would be paved with missing limbs, stabs, cuts, burns, arrows, and bullets, probably. For both me and Erin, all in the name of trial and error. If I put it that way, then...] She gave a self-deprecating smile. [It's a good thing I'm a healer.] 

"What exactly are you pondering?" Erin asked, slithering to her position.

There was a detail Neve had noticed recently that was further confirmed at this moment. Sometimes, when Erin was curious about something it would show in the way she moved toward her, slightly leaning down, hands a little bit behind her waist, and her eyes half-squinting. 

Neve found it to be rather cute. A word she could scarcely use to describe this elegant killing machine, but moments like these were suitable for it.

"You've been sitting here staring at nothing for the past twenty minutes. I was beginning to wonder if you'd fallen asleep with your eyes open. Will we be heading out soon?" 

"Yeah," Neve replied, shifting a little on the bench she was on and nodding ahead. "I was thinking that, instead of focusing on killing things, we should focus on learning about them."

Erin's curiosity had been rewarded with further perplexion as she arched a brow high and squinted harder. 

"Why is that?" Erin asked, crossing her arms over her golden corset. 

[... She said to stop hiding things from her, didn't she? Here goes nothing.] 

"Remember what I told you about how you got stronger from my healing and stuff?"

"Somewhat, yes." 

"Well, that's all thanks to this thing called the System. It, ehm, places rules on the world. One of them is that, basically, every time I kill something, I, individually, get stronger. And, in here," Neve gestured at the world around them, "my enemies do as well. The problem is that you don't," she stated. "So, as I get stronger, that actually makes it harder for us to progress because you won't be hitting any harder. And, all my skills revolve around keeping you alive, understand?" 

Erin hummed, slithering around Neve until she was sitting on the bench with her, her tail coiled in front of Neve's legs, and her eyes looking out to the same path. 

Neve was reminded of something as she looked at Erin from the side. 

[This was where Carson and I talked right before everything went down. I still have that note of his in my inventory...]

"The System?" Erin murmured.

[That's the part that caught your attention?] 

"Sound familiar?" 

"Hm," Erin scratched her head, contemplating the matter. "It does, but it doesn't? It is like... Like I know what you are talking about, but cannot recall anything about it." 

Neve blinked. 

"... What about 'Unity Trials'? Does that ring a bell?" 

"No." 

"..."

Neve stared at her.

The lamia must have been unaware of it herself, but just before she denied knowing about the Unity Trials, a certain look had appeared in her eyes.  0

Almost like she was about to yell, only to deliver a very calm "no". 

[... Okay, then.] 

"Setting that aside," Erin then followed up, "if I am understanding what you're saying, then I agree. Until we get you a suitable weapon or some offensive magic of some sort, then we should be avoiding fights."

"That won't work," Neve responded. "The part about me using a better weapon or magic, or whatever." 

"Why?"

"The System won't allow me to." Neve stretched her arms as she spoke. "Those same 'rules' I just mentioned dictate that I can't use weapons or offensive magic. So, yeah." 

"Hmph. All of a sudden, a lot of you just started to make sense. I wish we'd gotten to this point in our relationship sooner." 

Neve looked over at her. 

"... What is our relationship right now, exactly?" 

"Our relationship is one where if you, and your actions, and the way you are, and the things you say, stop frustrating me for long enough, I may just finger-fuck you as a reward."

"Whoa," Neve laughed. "T-That came out of nowhere." 

"Do humans have a name for such a relationship?" Erin inquired, ignoring Neve's shy panic.

"Do lamias?" Neve countered.

"Not to my knowledge. I will admit, this is the first time I've been put in a position where my desire to grab a person by their shoulders and shake them violently is equally as powerful as my desire to make them mine. Perhaps I should invent a name for it."

"... You're... Are you being serious?" Neve asked, blushing a little.

"Maybe, maybe not," Erin said. "I look at you and a great many emotions fill my heart. Many of them unfamiliar, many of them unpleasant, many of them quite... tender. Who is to say? Whether I do or do not stick my fingers up whatever pleasure-inducing cavities you humans possess may just depend on what side of the bed I wake up on that day."

Neve swallowed. 

[... Noted.] 

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