Lost

-A short nap later-

-Kasumi and Akio were awoken by the two members of the cult and were granted high ranks and locations that lead to the underground church. They thank Kasumi and Akio for giving them reasons to have faith and be useful and swore oaths to Akta. Before leaving, Kasumi asked them to keep the worshipping lowered as there are more people above them and the sounds can reveal their location, the congregation agreed to lower their voices and thanked them again. When Kasumi and Akio return to the inn from the basement, Kasumi reverts back to her human form just in times as they see the woman from their travels walking down the stairs in her nightgown that has very thin fabrics making it easy for anyone to see through the outfit and at her goodies.-

“Hey, you two, did you find the source?”

“Yup. Turns out to be some pipe issues. It’s fixed now, thankfully.”

“Guess you two want to shower then?” She points at the wall to their left, “there is a bathhouse next door. It has separate rooms, but I’m sure that won’t be much of a bother for you two. No one else will know if you decide to stay in one room.” The woman walks over to the bar, finds a glass and pours some water then heads back upstairs to bed.

“Well, I guess we should do that. Join me, Kasumi. We had so much fun down there, I’m still surprised we can walk.”

“Speak for yourself, I’m still exhausted.”

“If you fall asleep in the bathhouse, I’m not carrying you. I know that’s what you want.”

“Please~? If you don’t, I won’t repair your armor and weapons… for free.”

“Really? Just because I won’t carry you? Fine, I’ll get you back someday.”

-The two head to the bathhouse and entered the male’s side. The water still looked clean as if it was being taken care of daily regardless of the citizens not living there anymore. They wasted no time in removing their clothing and dipped into the water and started bathing each other. They washed certain areas longer than others but neither said a word against it so they continued. When they were done, they got out of the water, dried themselves off while trying their best not to immediately have sex in the bathhouse, Akio put on his clothes and carried his armor while Kasumi just put on her pants and walked around with her breasts bare and they went in the inn to their room. The room was spacious enough for two people and had a queen-size bed. Akio changed into his sleepwear and went to bed while Kasumi stripped off her clothes and hopped in with Akio.-

“Are you trying to seduce me again?”

“No, this is how I normally sleep. No clothes. Have everything out.”

“Kinda risky don’t you think? What if someone comes in and has their way with you?”

“You forget I’m a succubus. I can easily retaliate if they try.”

“Ok, but what if it’s a female? As a matter of fact, we need to work on your magic.”

“You know anyone who would take the time to teach me magic?” Kasumi asked Akio who had the front of his body facing the ceiling

“Akta is always busy so, don’t want to bother her.”

“What about the woman who came with us or the cultists?”

“The cultists would think you aren’t a succubus if you aren’t good with magic and the woman… we could ask her, but I doubt she knows wild magic,” Akio said as he turned over to Kasumi.

“We’ll ask her tomorrow then. Wherever she came from must have people who know magic or at least have an academy. Our town couldn’t afford one because not a single person knew a simple spell like Fireball.”

-Kasumi and Akio went to sleep without a sound disrupting them except for some crickets. When it finally became morning, Kasumi was the first to wake up and head to the bathhouse. When she exited the room, she saw the woman from earlier turn to her and check out her ‘display.’-

“Well, I can see you two had fun.”

“Oh no, we actually didn’t. I sleep naked. No doubt it makes it a bit more difficult for him to get some sleep, but I do help him relieve when he asks. Oh, this is probably not the best time to ask, but, can you teach me some magic?”

“What makes you think I know magic?”

“I—I was just hoping someone would know magic so I can practice. Sorry for assuming, I thought there were towns that knew magic and had academies, unlike mine.”

The woman giggles, “I’m sorry, but I just wanted to know how you knew I do magic. I’ll teach you some today but if we have to be on the same field, I’ll have to strip too,” she says as she points at Kasumi’s body and blushes.

Kasumi blushes darkly, “Oh, uh… I’m sorry, I’ll go freshen up and… I’ll meet you at the door?”

“Sounds good.” She gives Kasumi a nod and walks downstairs to make breakfast and Kasumi heads to the bathhouse while sneaking a glance at the woman who is checking her out. When she enters the bathhouse, the waters still look clean, which prompts Kasumi to check the water for any magical properties that are affecting it. To her surprise, she couldn’t detect any magic from the water, a possibility of her still being a bit tired or something else that is on her mind. The bathing goes well without any interruptions and she dries off the water from her body and walks back to the inn, still naked.

“Kasumi, carry some clothes when you go to the bathhouse,” Akio instructed while trying not to directly look at Kasumi.

“Nobody else is here and you’ve seen this body at least 3 times so, I don’t mind if it’s you looking.”

“What about our guest?”

-Kasumi turns to the woman who looks up at them and gestures to them that she doesn’t mind if they walk around with little to no clothes, she then tells them the reason why she doesn’t mind is that she grew up around people who did that normally.-

“Wait your parents walked around you with no clothes? Umm…” Akio glanced at Kasumi who was also concerned about her reasoning.”

“Oh no, sorry I phrased that wrong. I meant when I was around your age, independent and needed to learn new things. I used to stay at a town for a while and I noticed that some of the people there either had just one clothing which was a tunic or just walked around naked.”

Kasumi excitedly interrupted Akio before he could say a word, “Where is this town? Can we head there soon?”

“That depends on if you have winter clothing. To get closer to that town we have to cross a frozen wasteland, a swamp and a small part of a desert.”

Kasumi looks at Akio, “I’m in no rush. I can still work on my magic and you could… well if you want… fortify the wall. I have a feeling before we decide to head there, we’ll be stuck here for a while.”

-After they had breakfast, Kasumi finally put on her clothes and went to do some magic training with the unknown woman. She was getting some stationery targets ready when Kasumi found her.-

“Oh, this is very nice.”

“Indeed, most of these spells I know can come in handy when the time calls. Oh! I forgot to introduce myself… My sincerest apologies. My name is Vita.”

“Nice to meet you.”

-The two women began the training and Vita was using utility magic that would benefit not only in battle but also for everyday use. It takes a few minutes, but Kasumi is able to learn a few more spells both for combat and practical use. Before Vita could teach her a couple of advanced spells, Kasumi hears a familiar voice behind her. It was Valeria, she was wearing her normal cleric outfit and smiling.-

“There you are. I see you made a friend or found a teacher, whichever it is. However, this is where this game of ‘tag’ ends. Surrender now, we just want to know your connections.”

Kasumi casts Earthen Grasp and a hand made of compacted soil grabs Valeria and begin squeezing her. “You’re right, I’ve had enough of hiding from you. It’s because of you, my parents are dead. Because of you, I had to leave my hometown and it's because of you I will take my time and squeeze the life out of you.”

-A rush of waterfalls from the sky and drenches the hand and Valeria and she was able to break free from the grasp. A firebolt lands near Kasumi and ten people dressed in white cloaks show up behind Valeria.-

“I’m sure you met them.”

“Yeah, your pawns, because you don’t want to settle this like civilized people so you would rather have some advantages before you decide to fight me.”

“No, they are here on orders from the gods and goddesses. You will surrender as the gods ordered you to do or this will be a quick confrontation.” On cue, an arrow strikes the head of one of the individuals and he falls over dead. “What the—”

“You can tell your gods this has nothing to do with them. You and your gods don’t care about the people who are doing their best to survive but when someone says something about them, that’s when they make it a war.”

“Because you commoners need to learn respect and worship.”

-Kasumi casts Thunderclap, sending jolts of lightning from her fingertips striking Valeria and a few of the individuals. She places a hand behind her and prepares an Eldritch Blast.-

“Not bad, demon worshipper, but did you really think that will scare us?”

“No. Just want you to know I’m done with your shit,” she casts Frostbite which barely did much to Valeria but froze the people who were struck by the Thunderclap and gave a few others blistering wounds. She then casted an Eldritch Blast at Valeria, who wasn’t prepared for it, and the **** from it sent her dragging across the ground.

Three more arrows hit four of the individuals which made Valeria angrier, “Find that damn archer and kill him. Use your high spells on this bitch if you have to.”

-The others who weren’t focused on finding where the arrows were coming from casted different types of magic on Kasumi, but a barrier denied them from getting any closer. When Kasumi, looked behind her, Vita had her arm extended and glowing light blue.-

“I know who you are Valeria and I am very disappointed that the gods even considered giving you command over the elites.”

“They know that I am loyal and I won’t question their actions, unlike you, Fallen.”

Fallen? Vita’s an angel? What is with these people?

“At least I’m the only one in the celestial realm with some curiosity to want to find out more instead of just killing everything that disagrees with me.”

“That is why you don’t have any followers. You fail to take action when needed.”

“Enough of this…” Kasumi casts a spell that creates a dark void that envelops the entire white-robbed group and Valeria with them. She then turns to Vita, “what else are you hiding? Spit it out, I don’t have the patience for games anymore.”

“You deserve this much anyway, the name I told you is my real name and I am the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. I lost my place in the celestial realm because I questioned the others and their decision on what to do with you. I was the only one who thought it would be better to get to know you and the situation that led you to make a pact with a demon while the others just wanted to get rid of you and those who were close to you.”

“So, I’m right. As long as someone does something you people don’t like, you send your elites to kill their families, destroy their lives and make their lives worse than it was before. I should make you join that bitch.” Kasumi was enraged and wanted to drag Vita into the void and watch her suffer but was distracted when Akio showed up.

“Well, I got the others that tried to get me. They should really learn to mind their surroundings.” He looks at the void behind Kasumi, “w…what is that?”

“That is the new prison Valeria and her friends are in. Also, say hi to a goddess.” She points at Vita. “She hid that bit of information from us and thinks that I will forgive her for that.”

“Kasumi. Go get the others and tell them to scatter, I’ll deal with her.”

-Kasumi nods and leaves Akio with Vita. She knows that Akio won’t be able to hurt her enough, but knows if she releases Valeria from the void and corners the cultists, she has one last spell that might save them. As she makes her way to the basement and opens the door, she sprints as fast as she can to the cultists and is able to warn them about the white-robed individuals and the fallen goddess on the surface. She urges them to leave while she tries to hold them back so the cultists can grab their valuables and torch the place. A few minutes have passed and the cultists are ready to torch the church and Kasumi hears footsteps approaching, her mind sets to it being Valeria being able to escape and the group is waiting for her, then it switches to Vita being a traitor and setting a trap for her and the cultists, then to Akio who she left with Vita and Valeria. She sets her mind to thinking it is Akio coming to her but, prepares for one of the other options. Akio approaches from the corner and Kasumi sighs.-

“What, were you expecting Valeria?”

“Would it surprise you if I said ‘yes’?”

“Kinda, well as for your void spell, when it was done, none of them were there. Are you certain you trapped them in there?”

“Yes. How the hell did they escape? Was Vita with you?”

“I had my eye on her the whole time. What are you doing down here?”

“Hiding. I needed a plan if I wanted to get out of here and well, this was a dead-end so…”

“Come on, then, Kasumi. We need to get moving.” Akio turns around and starts heading back.

“Not yet.” Kasumi stops Akio and he turns back to her. “I want to ask you a question.”

“Ok, shoot.”

Kasumi looks away from Akio’s eyes, “Do you remember my situation? Like what led to me being in this situation?” She looks back at Akio and her eyes turn blue.

“Of course….” He stumbles on his words a bit before finally saying, “You lost your way, so you asked a demon to assist you, right?”

“Good, it’s you.” She extends her arms to him and he walks over gives her a hug then feels something enter his back. “Nice try, the real Akio knows why my situation is like this.” The body reverts into one of the white robbed individuals as he died. “So, they want to try those games? Very well.” She changes her form into the deceased person and got rid of the body just in case they decided to check for themselves. She turns to the cultist who was watching the entire thing and told him to get the others ready for battle. She heads back to the surface and finds that Valeria brought reinforcements who captured Akio and Vita. Seeing a goddess captured by mortals made Kasumi visibly confused until Valeria walked over and snapped her out of the trance.

“Yeah, I know, it’s weird, seeing a goddess like this. However, what happens to her is no longer in the celestial beings’ hands. So we have to find a way to kill her. Now, what happened to Kasumi?”

“She put up a fight but due to the enclosed space, it wasn’t much.”

“So, is she dead or ****?”

“Dead.”

“Why? We need her to find out who the demon was that made a pact with her.”

“If I may, your clarity, with the demon’s follower dead, the demon will have to avenge her somehow and when she appears,…”

“She’ll have to come to us and will be enraged to notice anything out of the ordinary. Brilliant thinking. Alright, let’s round these two up and get to cleansing.” Just as she tells two of them to grab Akio and Vita, a horn is heard from one direction, then from another, and another and finally the last horn sound from the catacombs behind them. “What the?”

Right on cue. Just have to hope that they don’t attack altogether. Also, need to make sure that they don’t kill me.

“I’ll check the towers with the others, they might attack altogether.”

“Go then. We’ll save the execution for later.”

-Kasumi runs to one of the towers, heads up the top and waits for the cultists to give the signal. A minute later, yelling is heard from the west of the abandoned town and the majority of them focused on that direction. Kasumi readied an arrow on her bow, looked around for anyone checking in her direction and when it was clear, shot an archer before anyone could notice. Then another arrow hit one of the archers on the opposite side and the cultists stormed the town wearing bone armor and wielding bone weapons. The individuals laughed and went on the offensive, cockily thinking they will easily win, their weapons failed to damage the bone armor and were cut down while Kasumi did her best to take out the archers and limit the number of people on the ground. Valeria made a run for it but was stopped when an arrow struck her knee. She looked at the direction it came from and saw the individual she was talking to earlier turn into Kasumi.

“How did she…” She murmured to herself. She tried to remove the arrow as fast as she could but was surrounded by the cultists. Kasumi climbed down the tower, freed Akio and looked at Valeria. “How? How did you do that?”

“You should have made a code word for your ‘elite’ group. If you did, you could have easily stopped me.” She grabs one of the nearest cultist’s crossbow, aimed it at Valeria’s head and fired it, piercing her skull. Valeria’s head hit the ground and a pool of blood formed from her head. Kasumi waited for the body to morph thinking it wasn’t Valeria but the body didn’t change. Kasumi then turns to Vita, readies another arrow and aims it at her head.

“I’m not with the celestials anymore. They hoped I’d die which is why I chose to help you.”

Just as Kasumi is about to fire the arrow, Akio stops her, “give her a chance. She could have killed us before we came to town. If it makes you feel better, we can keep her hands tied.”

“Why are you so willing to give people chances?”

“Didn’t Akta give you a chance? You said it yourself, ‘she could have left you to die but she didn’t.’ Give Vita a chance.”

“Fine. But she is your responsibility. If she tries anything, it's on you, Akio.” Kasumi glares into Akio eyes showing him that she has had enough of people’s shit.

-Kasumi looks at Vita, lobs a knife near her, Akio picks it up and cuts the restraints on her wrists. Kasumi walks toward the lead cultist and says a few words to him, he turns to his followers and nods at them. A few minutes later, the cultists leave town and head west. Kasumi sees them off wishing them well on their travels, she looks at the town then towards the inn that Akio and Vita are still in. She knows they are packing their things getting ready to leave town but she decides to walk out ahead of them. She takes out her map and heads north towards the mountains. Many hours have passed, and Kasumi is still heading north following the map. She is growing tired and decides not to stop at a town but to stay in a cave. She finds a small cave that could fit a den of wolves, she checks the entrance but doesn’t find any wolves or tracks indicating that wolves recently lived there. _Better safe than sorry. _Kasumi thought to herself as she placed a few magical traps around the entrance. When she finally secured the cave, she set her bedroll down in the cave and went to sleep.-

Kasumi, why did you leave Akio with her?

That’s his responsibility now. He wants to give one of the beings responsible for the **** of my parents a chance. A chance to what? Finish the job? Like hell I’d roll over and let her stop me from doing this job for you.

You know she wouldn't want to kill you. Even if she did, it would have been foolish of her to show up alone. Go back, Akio is looking for you. He thinks that you could have gotten yourself killed.

Let him think what he wants to, Mistress. I have a job that needs to be done and I will make sure you get your artifacts with or without his help.

I’ll give you the night to reconsider, Kasumi. These artifacts aren’t as easy as the first one. You could actually die and don’t say you’ll ‘hire help from the next town.’ What if they leave you with whatever is guarding the artifact or kill you once you have it?

-Kasumi knew Akta had a point. There is only so much a hired help can do and if they left her, she would have to find her own way out if they locked her in there. However, with the situation that she is in thanks to Valeria, she is more than **** to start heading back when a celestial being is also waiting for her.-