Angels and demons

Angelica woke up with a start. She looked around herself hysterically as she slowly began to realize how hot the air was and how harshly the sun beat down on her skin. Seeing the vast desert around her, she was more than a little concerned. Knowing the situation, that she had been sent to another world, she checked herself for injuries.

"What the hells is this?" said Angelica.

Looking down, she found herself in a new outfit. While her right arm wore a strong metal pauldron and gauntlet, the rest of her body was woefully uncovered. She wore a bikini with each piece made of metal and fashioned like segments of armor that were only held together by leather strands. She looked absolutely appalled. She would've rather been in a regular skimpy bikini than this mockery of armor. As she looked down at her body in contempt, she heard a familiar voice next to her.

“Finally awake, princess?” said Athalia.

Angelica turned to see the dark-haired succubus she knew so well, kneeling in the sand. She was adorned with gold jewelry and was wearing a black belly dancer bikini, one that she didn’t seem too unfazed by. Once Athalia saw that Angelica was awake, she turned her head away to continue staring at something in the distance. Angelica sat up and looked around her. She clicked her teeth, annoyed at the predicament.

“What kind of place is this?” said Angelica.

“I don’t know, but clearly Helga wants to make fools of us, watching us prance around the desert aimlessly,” said Athalia, “I won’t let that happen.”

“And what about your clothes?” said Angelica, “And… and my clothes?”

“Another ploy by them no doubt,” said Athalia, “Another humiliation for their perverted eyes to enjoy watching us run about in little clothing. Fortunately, those confident in their bodies like me will have no adverse effects from such petty tactics.”

Athalia gave a wicked smile as she put her hands behind her head, gladly showing off her body and posing sexily with a wink towards Angelica. Angelica rolled her eyes.

“Of course I get stuck with you,” said Angelica.

“Now hush and don’t drag me down with you,” said Athalia, “I won’t be brought back because of a loser like you.”

Angelica sighed again and pulled herself up to her feet, stretching her arms to the sky like she had just gotten out of bed. Athalia turned to her and panicked.

“Get down idiot!” said Athalia, “There’s someone over there!”

“What?” said Angelica.

Angelica felt startled and instantly dropped to her knees. She then crawled over to Athalia and looked over the peak of sand she was looking over. She then saw a scene playing out in the landscape. Several human figures seemingly fighting in the distance. Angelica squinted her eyes and leaned in to get a better view. There were three men she didn’t recognize, one of which rode a great lizard as a mount, but she spotted vibrant hair colors from two girls in the midst of the scene. Green and red. Her eyes widened as she realized.

“That’s Tyra and Lila!” said Angelica, “What’s happening to them?”

“I don’t know, but better them than us,” said Athalia.

Angelica then watched as Tyra was stripped naked and put in chains with Lila. From her perch she clearly saw the bald man on the lizard leading the two of them by a chain further away from them, accompanied by the man who survived the fight. They left the body of the one Tyra killed to rot. Angelica grew angry.

“We have to help them,” said Angelica.

She began to jump over the dune but Athalia grabbed her and pulled her back, making her fall on her back into soft sand.

“Are you really that stupid?” said Athalia, “You have no weapons and they just took down two of our own! I told you not to drag me down with you!”

“We can’t just do nothing!” said Angelica, “Or maybe I should say I can’t do nothing!”

“Hmpf,” said Athalia, “Fine. If you want to go and risk your life for them, be my guest. You’re the one with more to lose, not me!”

Athalia hesitated. She crossed her arms and sat down on the dune so that she wouldn’t be spotted while she was in thought. As much as she hated to admit it, Athalia was right. It was made very clear to Angelica that losing this competition here and now would mean a permanent elimination. She didn’t even want to think about what that meant. In fact, the prospects of both losing and winning were terrible in her mind. But for now, she felt a strange urge to hold back. To be careful. To not throw caution to the wind for the sake of good as she usually did. It was like survival instincts finally kicking in after a long time. She slouched down and remained hidden with Athalia, refusing to aid her friends. Athalia smiled.

“So, the chosen hero has some brains after all!” said Athalia.

“Shut up, demon,” said Angelica, “Why do you care anyways?”

“I don’t,” said Athalia, “But if I’m going to have anyone by my side it would be the one who doesn't actually want to win.”

“What do you mean?” said Angelica.

“To win the game you need to kiss Malgor,” said Athalia, “No problem for me, but for you a different story. You hate him more than any of us, maybe even more than Daelana. Your dignity as a noble hero will not allow you to willingly touch your lips to his. A weakness that I, thankfully, do not have.”

Angelica looked down and pondered the notion that she had tried to bury. If she didn’t taint her honor by kissing Malgor, she would lose. A kiss like one a noble prince in a fairy tale would give her. A kiss reserved for her truest love, instead given to her truest foe. That might’ve been more humiliating than being stripped naked before everyone. At least she was **** to do that. This would be her choice.

“Have you never kissed a man before?” said Athalia.

“What?” said Angelica, “Of course I have!”

“So you haven’t,” said Athalia, “You said that with the most obvious liar’s tongue imaginable.”

Angelica groaned and buried her head in her lap. It was true. If she were to give a kiss to Malgor, it would be her first. That made it all the more terrible for her. Athalia laid down on the sand on her side, smiling with great amusement.

“Don’t be such a downer,” said Athalia, “When you eventually lose, you won’t have to worry about any of these conundrums you’ve manufactured in your head. It’ll all be over.”

“I’ll become his ****,” said Angelica, “I’ll have to do whatever he says. And you know he won’t be merciful.”

“Oh yes,” said Athalia, “But you might enjoy it after a while. I mean, you’ll have to. Otherwise you’ll just be suffering for all eternity.”

Angelica glared at Athalia with loathing. As she did, she noticed how Athalia even laid down with purposeful sexiness. Athalia was completely unbothered by the skin she was showing, running her hand up and down her body like she was posing for a painting while teasing the artist. Angelica looked down at her own body. She was reminded of her exposure and clasped herself tightly.

“What’s the matter?” said Athalia, “This is the best you’ve ever looked in armor!”

“Not all of us are demon sluts!” said Angelica, “We don’t just flaunt our bodies around shamefully whenever we wish!”

“Oh, such harsh words!” said Athalia, “What a curse I have to actually feel comfortable in my own body! Face it, you’re using your righteousness to compensate for the fact that you have an infinitely less hot body than me!”

“What?” said Angelica, “That’s ridiculous! Not everything is about sex!”

“Everything is about sex, my dear, except sex,” said Athalia, “Sex is about power.”

“What does that even mean?” said Angelica.

“Take this moment, for example,” said Athalia, “This skimpy outfit you were so suddenly **** into made you acutely aware of your sex. It embarrasses you and throws you off your game, giving the gamemasters power over you. With me, however, who knows how to use sex for my own gain, I hold the power in this outfit.”

“Is that so?” said Angelica.

“I wasn’t raised in some idyllic little village where mothers fainted if their child saw so much as a bare ankle,” said Athalia, “I spawned in the pits of the abyss. Sex was always a part of my life and I learned to use it to my advantage. Now I’m never thrown off my game when it comes to it.”

Athalia smiled smugly at Angelica who then lifted her head.

“Except for the maid outfit,” said Angelica, “You don’t seem on top of your game with that on.”

Athalia blinked, “What are you talking about?”

“It’s strange,” said Angelica, “Despite the fact that it shows off much less skin than this, you look far more humiliated in the maid costume.”

“I have no idea what you’re on about,” said Athalia.

“If sex is really about power, as you claim,” said Angelica, “Then is it that being a maid reminds you of how little power you really have? That you’re just a servant?”

“You better shut it now, girl!” said Athalia, “You should know better than to piss off a demon!”

“I’m not afraid of a little demon,” said Angelica, "Especially not one who's nothing more than a dark lord's bitch!"

Athalia growled angrily and crawled over to Angelica. Angelica remained stoic, even smirking at the fact that she got under the succubus’ skin. Athalia got right in her face, their eyes staring daggers at each other.

“There are no bars on his game,” said Athalia, “I could kill you right now. It’d be better for me, actually. One less competitor after all.”

“Our transformations and orders are still active,” said Angelica, “I can still order you to do anything I want.”

“Do it,” said Athalia, “I’ll just earn more points for myself.”

“In that case, do you want to take a little trip to join Tyra and Lila down there?” said Angelica.

Athalia froze, unsure for once. She wanted to win, and she knew that being clasped in chains like Tyra and Lila would significantly decrease her chances. Gaining two points would not be worth the twenty she would lose should she fail. Though she was safer than Angelica, she knew that a loss would put her in much more dire circumstances for the next round. With all the effort in her body, she swallowed her pride and smiled.

“No, you didn’t get to me,” said Athalia, “It’ll take much more than weak words to get to a distinguished demoness like myself. Besides, you could be useful to me alive so I won’t kill you. You’re the one who always wants us to work together, right? So let’s work together.”

Athalia backed off and laid back down on the sand, this time on her back. She stared up into the sky as Angelica smiled, proud that she got an advantage over Athalia. She didn’t want to use it, not only because it would get Athalia points but also because it would mean playing into the game even more than she already was. 'Dishonorable' was the word that sprung into her head, though she didn’t think it was quite right for how she felt.

"Also," said Athalia, "You ought to pick your insults more carefully. You're as much of a dark lord's bitch as I am."

Aneglica stopped smiling and sprung up.

"How dare you!" said Angelica, "I haven't given in to him!"

"And feel free to keep doing so," said Athalia, "It'll make my life much easier."

Angelica almost responded, but didn't. Whatever alliance she had with Athalia was already fragile, and she really would prefer to work together than face this strange world alone. To distract herself, she crawled back to the dune and peaked over. She saw a trail of footsteps leading from the dead body of the man Tyra had slain and to the group of them walking over another dune further away from them. It was clear that they were moving in a very intentional direction. Noticing Angelica’s observations, Athalia got up and went to her side.

“They’re taking them somewhere,” said Angelica.

“Good,” said Athalia, “This is a good opportunity, my loyal partner. Let’s follow them at a distance.”

“I thought you didn’t want to save them,” said Angelica.

“I certainly do not,” said Athalia, “But they are clearly heading somewhere, and I want to know where. Otherwise we’ll simply be walking blindly to nowhere.”

“Fair point,” said Angelica, “Once they’re a bit further, let's go down. I’ll loot that dead guy for whatever we can get. Hopefully he has food or water on him.”

“Very well,” said Athalia, “You can even keep his weapon. It’s so inelegant, after all. Perfect for you.”

“Are you gonna be like this the whole time?” said Angelica.

“I think you already know the answer to that one, dear,” said Athalia.

“How in the world does Christina put up with this?” said Angelica.