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

--- Kat ---

Kat's relaxation aura exploded out as she tried to calm herself. Since the Gloops, it had been another day and a half of gruelling travel. Nothing interesting or noteworthy, just near endless amounts of monsters crawling out the woodwork and nice stone paths that lead to nowhere important or the wrong place. They did find a small village of six to ten people twice, but it wasn't the one they wanted.

No, that's because here? Right now? Right in front of Kat's eyes? Was a large stone sign.

"Welcome to Forrest Village!"

Kat didn't consider herself an angry person. Neither did the others. Hunter was usually quite calm, patient, always waiting for her chance to strike. Lily was rather sleepy these days and ravenous for knowledge but it was hard for her to get angry unless it involved Kat. She simply lacked a sufficient level of self esteem to get angry about her own situation. That was Kat's job anyway.

Finally, Kamiko. She actually had the most anger out of the group, but she was used to pushing it down, burying it with other feelings… and awfully shy when it came to expressing herself. Yet now, she was angry just alongside the rest of them. The aura was helping a lot, but not completely.

"You know…" Kat started to speak slowly, somehow realising everyone else wanted her to voice their thoughts. "As lovely as this little mural is… this is FAR different from 'you'll know it when you see it' in fact… I'd have to say it's A FUCKING CLEAR SIGN! Which perhaps makes the statement factual, but I do feel horribly misled,"

"Agreed," stated Hunter, who was actually allowing Kat's aura in this time. Her attempts to bask in the calm Kat was providing did help somewhat.

"Like, looking at the stone path next to it? It's perfectly ordinary. A bit sloped, I assume so the rain can run off into the grass but besides that? It's perfectly normal and if anything in slightly poorer condition then the other paths we checked, which, if I had to guess is from lack of use but like… I do not see how this pathways stands out compared to the others…" continued Kat.

"It does seem rather ordinary," agreed Lily as she tried not to cut herself. Apparently she now knew how to pull out her claws in her human form and they were NOT helping right now.

"Don't get me wrong, the sign is clear, the large arrow makes it impossible to go the wrong direction and despite my earlier criticisms about the designs and the slightly worn down state of it, the road looks perfectly acceptable. There are no large cracks or potholes, and it seems quite sturdy.

I have no issue with anything the townsfolk, and the earth mage have done," Kat was on a bit of a roll now.

"Um… yeah it's a bit plain… but I do sort of like it… and um… that actually lets it stand out a bit? It's almost like concrete, though a lot smoother and clearly more solid…" added Kamiko. .net

"Right… there is all of that… BUT SLVR IS A FUCKING MORON! You'll know it when you fucking see it! I don't like to swear much either but it really, REALLY feels like the right time to swear. I want to punch something, or go sulk in my room while cuddling Lily or just… something to bleed the anger off. I know she's the vice captain, I know she probably hasn't left the town in literal years…

"But it's a massive sign! It has vines growing up around the posts! It's clearly been here for, if not years, then months! Surely she would've heard at least a few whispers about the signs? Though, now that I'm saying that out loud… WHY IS THIS THE ONLY PATH WITH A SIGN!

"Honestly that's just as bad, perhaps even worse. What if we were looking for some other place? Or heck, even with this village, if we had literally any signage for the other detours we would've known not to go there! I refuse to believe they were recently knocked down by the flood of monsters. This one is still here and it looks untouched. It's a massive block of carved stone!

They aren't going to just corrode away in a few days!

"So what the heck are the people here thinking? I can maybe forgive the crazy old lady, she at least probably doesn't want people to know she's there at all, or perhaps only wants to encourage the adventurous or something… but the noble? The old mine? The other settlements?! Why would anyone do it this way?"

Kat let out a long breath of demonic fire that froze the grass nearby. She was careful not to get it too close to the sign, because lord forbid, she accidentally damage it and cause issues for another group in the future. Kat let a lot of her anger go after a few long breaths and the frosty air nearby helped the others cool their own tempers.

The group stood around in silence for around five minutes before Kat spoke up again, "Ok, I think I'm alright. Does anyone have anything they want to add?"

"No. I am thankful for your aura this time. While I was hesitant to lean on it before, in this instance we were experiencing rather petty anger. Slvr mislead is, likely without any intention to do so.

I wish we had simply left the town without requesting additional information as we would have simply continued on for the more distant destination and then come across this sign organically," stated Hunter.

"Um… sorry guys," mumbled Kamiko.

"What are you sorry for?" Kat asked confused. "I don't see how this is your fault?"

"Well… um… it was my idea to spend the night in town… and even though that was quite nice and it… helped me recharge a bit and get into a better headspace… if we hadn't have stopped we would've made it to the sign at least a day earlier… and… maybe it wouldn't have been such a big issue for us?" mumbled Kamiko.

Kat strode over and pulled the smaller girl into a hug. Lily read Kat's thoughts and quickly moved around behind Kamiko to sandwich the succubus between the two of them. Lily took extra care with Kamiko's wings. "It's ok," said Kat as she patted Kamiko's head.

"The town was right in the middle of the highway and we may have asked for direction even if we weren't stopping, besides it's hardly your fault Slvr gave us questionable advice,"

Kamiko's horse snorted in agreement with Kat and licked Kamiko on the ear causing her to giggle. "Alright, alright, I get it…" laughed Kamiko.

"You want in on this hug Hunter?" asked Kat as she opened one of her arms up so that Hunter could slide over. "It's a great way to cheer up. I may have been mostly calm before, but now I feel like I'm ready for just about anything you know!"

"I am fine over here," stated Hunter.

"Come on Hunter, you know you want to. Let's all have a big group hug," said Lily.

"As I said, I am fine. I would not want to intrude on the moment," stated Hunter.

"Um… it's… it's fine…" mumbled Kamiko. "I think it would be nice if you joined in…"

"I am not really one for hugs and I know that lamia have the unfortunate tendency to hug a bit hard when we try, it is better if I ref-" Hunter's statement was cut off when the horse moved behind her and nudged her forward with its head. Nowhere near hard enough to really force Hunter to do anything, but she went with the push just enough for Kat's outstretched hand to grab on.

Kat reeled the lamia into the hug and let her tail bind the group together. She even sent a big smile and a thumbs up over to the horse. "Good job sir! We need a name for you after that! Heck I'll even try to make sure you get some good food… though I'm actually not sure what you'd consider 'good food' so maybe not?" giggled Kat.

The horse snorted in amusement at the statement, apparently understanding, if not the specifics then at least the intentions as the rest of the group laughed along. It was cathartic in an extreme way. The anger they were experiencing bleeding away even as Kat reeled her aura back in and let herself flop down onto the others a bit.

Apparently massively overcharging your demonic aura and blasting it out, not just over your friends to calm them, but the entire nearby forest, was exhausting. Who knew?

Of course the others were able to take the extra weight easily, even Lily. Hunter wasted no time wrapping them all up in a proper hug once she got comfortable and they all just took the time to laugh and smile. Perhaps they hadn't saved the world just yet. Perhaps they'd just wasted a whole bunch of time… but the world was still there. Their journey could still progress.

Forest Village was just down the path.