I sauntered through the city, eyes scanning the demons that I passed and lingering on the particularly virile individuals. I smiled and winked at a few, ensuring that their eyes would stay glued to me. If I was lucky, they'd follow long enough to meet me back at the bar. Or before then, even. I had had my share of trysts in alleys in the last couple of months. Still, I kept my eyes out, not that I had any idea of what I was actually looking for. I was so radically different, and I had to imagine that the same would be true of Mikey and Zoe at this point. Not that I wanted that outcome for them, but...
But that brought me to the biggest issue I faced when searching for them. Especially Mikey. What did a young succubus even look like? Would I need to look for a little girl? Had he been aged by this place? It was so hard to wrap my head around, disheartening. A part of me had accepted that the odds of finding them was almost zero.
As I kept wandering, I found myself on a street where, oddly enough, eyes weren't gravitating toward me as they normally did. Something else was holding the attention of everyone who had been on the street, and anyone who wandered over. Unfortunately, succubi weren't very tall, so it wasn't easy to figure out off the bat what was up. I heard grunting, whimpers, and frantic scuffling. My mind immediately jumped to sex, as it typically did these days, but a sickening crunch pushed that thought to the side. Not completely away, but... probably not sex.
"Listen up, dipshit!" a voice said. It was a girl, maybe a teenager, and she stopped whatever she had been saying to grunt. Another crunch followed and a low groan. "Are you going to tell me what I want to know?"
"How am I supposed to help you find someone if you can't give me any information? No description, no name-" Another crunch and a louder cry.
"Bringing up that fucking name shit again? I had someone pull that trick on me when I got here. Not happening again," the girl said. Her voice sounded rough, like it was worn from screaming. But it sounded... a little familiar. I felt my hopes climb, spreading my wings, which grew to full size as I needed them, and flying above the crowd to land atop a building and get a better look at the scene. The guy who was being beaten mercilessly was one of a sort of demon that was pretty common. Tall, about 10 feet, and with pig-like features. Tusks and fangs, but one tusk was broken and a few of his fangs were clearly littering the ground. It was a sad sight. Even more so, considering who his opponent was.
The girl had long black hair that hung free, trailing nearly to her feet. Her skin was the sort of unearthly pale that I had only ever seen in Hell. She wore a tattered black dress with no shoes. From there, the demonic influence became more apparent. Her hands and feet ended in twisted ebony claws, and her arms had more matching growths emerging at random intervals. A tail of the same twisting, bone-like material trailed behind her, dragging on the ground a bit. She had two horns that were twisted and jagged, poking up from her forehead then back straight over her head. Her eyes were completely black except for the red irises. Her face was twisted up, more angry than anyone I had ever seen. And it looked so familiar.
She lifted the demon off the ground by his neck and snarled at him. "Figure it the fuck out. I've wasted enough time searching with nothing to go on. You're supposed to be an informant. Inform me!" As she finished speaking, she kicked, clawed feet digging in for a moment before he was sent flying back, crowd parting enough to not get his by the guy. The girl was already stepping toward him, clearly ready to keep beating him.
I flew down, landing a few steps behind her and reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder. As she started to twist around, hand raising to strike out, I leaned in and whispered, "Zoe?"
"How do you know that-?" She froze as she finished turning toward me, eyes going from a squint to wide. She looked me over, then clenched her still raised hand. "Are you... You're not mom, are you?" When I shook my head, she huffed and grabbed my hand. I winced, her claws digging in. I wasn't sure if that was unintentional or if she just didn't care. She glanced back at the beaten demon, snarled, and said "I'll find you later. You better have something usable for me by the time I turn up."
With that, she pulled me away from the scene and into a nearby alley. "I've been looking for you. Well, all of you. I was beginning to think that-" I trailed off as she gripped my hand harder, claws digging in more. I looked down, expecting to see blood dripping down. Her head turned toward the entrance of the alley. Another of the pig demons was there, looming at the entrance. He was grinning at us both.
"I couldn't help but overhear back there, as you beat my friend senseless. She called you Zoe?" he asked. "You know, names have power. So why don't you tell me hers, Zoe?"
She let go of my hand, which I lifted and rubbed at, wincing from the pain her grip had caused. She walked toward the other end of the alley, toward the demon. "Zoe, don't..." I trailed off as she approached him. He leaned down, licking his lips. Instead of speaking, she reached up and grabbed his throat. Unlike her grip on my hand, blood did start pouring out of the punctures on his neck. She slammed him into the wall, snarling.
"This is a private conversation, fuck face!" she said, slamming him again. "And didn't you hear me say to your shithead friend that someone pulled the name thing on me when I got here? Not gonna happen again." She pulled him away from the wall and tossed him out of the alley. He scrambled as he hit the ground and hurried away from the alley. She turned and started back toward me.
"I... sorry," I said, still rubbing my hand. "But that didn't work? How did you...?"
"You're wrong," she said. "About who I am."
"What? But you look just like-"
"Don't!" she said, reaching up and grabbing my shoulder. "Don't say her name. Lose that fucking habit or I'm walking away. I won't have you getting us turned into slaves. Fuck! Did you get the brain to match that fucking body, J?"
"I... no?" I said, wincing as it came out more like a question than a statement. "But if I'm wrong..."
"Call me M, okay? Now, you been staying somewhere?" she asked.
My brain wasn't quite working at the revelation that had just been dropped on me. Not Zoe, even though she looked so much like her, had the same anger that I had seen in Zoe for so long now. Mikey turned and glared at me with glowing red eyes, head tilted.
"Uh, yeah... this way."
