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

Chapter 1716 Returning with Gems!

--- Kat ---

Kat and Lily had taken up a spot in one of the rebuilt guest rooms that evening… but she was not prepared for the shock she would have in the morning. When Kat did open her eyes it was to Meg standing menacingly over her. Yelping in surprise and waking Lily up, Kat moved swiftly into a combat stance while standing on the bed, with Lily spinning up a shield of shadows around the two of them in her half dazed state.

That's when Kat noticed something else. Sure Meg was just sort of standing there menacingly… but she was doing so UNDER A GIANT SPOTLIGHT. A glance at the ceiling showed a lantern that had defiantly not been there before shining down on Meg. "Hahahahahahaha," Who was now laughing.

"Seriously Meg? What the heck?" asked Kat.

"Eh think of it as punishment for something I guess?" answered Meg with a shrug. "I haven't really messed with you two all that much after we first met because I had to get a bit more serious about things… but now I'm free I can! Think of it as punishment for not telling me where Lil Sis was yesterday!"

Kat narrowed her eyes, "You do know that despite the fact I'm tier 4 I've not really trained my eyesight to pick out details right? Hunter might have known where you were but I certainly didn't,"

"I did say you could THINK of it as punishment not that it was," retorted Meg.

"So… are you going to explain at all?" asked Kat.

"Nope! I don't think I will!" smiled Meg.

Kat frowned as she calmed down, sliding back onto the bed. Lily on the other hand kept the shadow wall up. She did lower it a bit and moved onto Kat's lap but she didn't make any aggressive movements. "Wait how long have you been here for?" asked Kat.

Meg just grinned back, clearly not willing to answer the question just because Kat had asked. Why do I get the feeling that she's actually been there for a while…

[Because she probably has? I'd guess that she can sleep or meditate standing up so it wasn't as big of a waste as it might seem… but I'd guess she's been there for a few hours at least.]

Kat decided that while Lily's guess had a good chance of being true it was also a terrible thing to ask for confirmation on. Instead she decided to go a different route. "So… what do you want? If you were just going to scare us and leave you would've… well left. The fact that you're still here means you want something right?"

"I could just be killing time while Lil Sis is asleep. I wouldn't want to risk waking her up like this after all. I'd bet that she would go straight for the kill even though it's me!" *Pretty sure that would INCREASE the chance of her going through with it…* "Hey, I heard that! No having nasty thoughts about me while I'm monologuing!" insisted Meg.

"Look Meg… what do you want?" asked Kat. Again.

"Hmm… well I feel like I should warn you to be a bit more understanding of me. I can just stab you a few times to get the message to sink in?" Kat rolled her eyes. Visibly and without care. Meg wouldn't announce a stabbing. She liked to bluff quite frequently. Usually with things she'd totally be willing to do of course, but they were still bluffs. If she was going to do something, she would and then force you to risk her doubling down.

Still… that was mostly a gut feeling it hadn't been tested yet so Kat waited for the follow up. "Urgh fine," admitted Meg after seeing that Kat wasn't very intimidated. "We're going to end up back in the hub because that's where we need to drop the crystal off. I would LIKE for you to stick around for a bit. Hunter isn't going to leave by herself, she'll wait till we all get dismissed or someone else leaves first. So I want you NOT to be that person,"

Continue your adventure with empire

"Why not ask Kamiko?" asked Kat.

"Because she's not going to leave until you do either," answered Meg with a eye roll of her own. "I feel like that one should've been obvious,"

"Ok, I admit I probably didn't think through the question before I asked it… but how sure are you that this will work? Hunter wonders off all the time, sometimes with permission but often she just vanishes to go do her own thing,"

"Indeed, indeed," agreed Meg. "What you're missing though is that it's all 'part of the mission' which is different from 'ending the mission'. Hunter isn't going to disband the group herself. Well… not without some prompting from me. If I go too overboard she'll probably leave anyway but I just have to avoid doing that!"

Kat wasn't convinced Meg COULD avoid doing that. "Sure that's fine," said Kat with a shrug. *I'll be a bit annoyed if it takes too long. I want to see everyone back home… but yeah I don't trust Meg to keep things respectful and civil for all that long.*

"Good to hear! I'll be off for now. Oh, and we're leaving this evening. The crystal is getting unstable and while it might not resurrect anything it might shatter and spread across space once again so be ready for that!" said Meg as she jumped out of the window… not bothering to actually open the window, shattering the glass as she went. It didn't hurt obviously but now Pebbles would need new glass and Kat needed a proper explanation.

Kat released a long sigh, pulled Lily into a hug and flipped over to go back to sleep. Sure she wasn't tired but after that nonsense? She certainly wasn't ready for the rest of the day.

--- Kat ---

Kat did eventually wake up, go out and see the city a bit and help the hospital with Kamiko before heading back to the mansion. When the three of them got to the underground area Meg was already there getting setup. She'd drawn a large pentagram on the ground with a number of additional symbols in the 'blank' spaces. There were also rather obvious large circles at the points that Kat guessed was for people to stand in. So she asked.

"Yes, but you and Lily should probably still just stand in the one. We don't NEED them all filled in, just three of them. Though I wouldn't double up with another demon. If you need to transport more than five people like this it's best to just do it in two sets or use a different configuration altogether," explained Meg.

Kat didn't really have any other questions. It was just about time to leave and once Meg was finished inscribing things Hunter appeared out of nowhere to take her place in one of the circles. Meg went over to give Hunter a quick hug before transport and was gracefully thrown into a different circle.

Once Kat and Kamiko were both in position there was a bright flash and suddenly, they were gone from the area. From Kat's perspective the fires of the transport rose around them in much the same way they always did but in the distance she could vaguely make out the figures of Meg, Kamiko and Hunter. Not the crystal between them though, which was a slight cause for concern.

At least until they were spat out into a large empty warehouse and the crystal was right where it was meant to be. Nira soon opened one of the warehouse doors and sprinted over to her daughter, enveloping the younger succubus in a big hug. "MUM WHY!" hissed Kamiko, even as she made no move to free herself.

"Oh I'm so happy you're safe! This turned out to be much more dangerous then it was meant to be, but you're all in one piece! No thanks to that lucky scumbag that only lost an arm…" Nira mumbled as she continued hugging her daughter.

Meg on the other hand was slowly backing up. Perhaps realising that if Nira was watching the whole time she saw Meg's bullying attempts. Which was perhaps not the best for her long term health. Hunter backed up a bit and moved off to the side as more people came into the warehouse.

Kat had been expected lab coats and safety equipment… but what she got was mining gear and safety equipment. It wasn't anyone Kat recognise, but there were two golems a fiend and a shadow that walked in, with the golems and the shadow carrying some industrial mining equipment.

They started to set it up in the corner and would presumably be the ones to destroy the crystal. *So… do we like… leave now? We did promise Meg to stick around but she looks about ready to bolt herself.*

[Eh… she does but I wouldn't mind saying hello to Nira. Probably should get my own checkup down once she stops fussing over Kamiko anyway.]