I could put up with a bit of babying if it meant potentially finding out how to use my mana again, so as much as I wanted to insist that I didn’t need my hand held, I pushed my frustration down. Behind us, the knightly priestess followed, allowing the high priestess to take the lead.

  Hetka led me down a trodden path through a wild garden. Rather than trimmed and sculpted hedges or meticulously pnted and managed flower beds that I would have expected, the area was left to grow mostly as it pleased. Though it still held the occasional flowering tree or bush, and even a few old statues, so covered in moss and ferns that it was difficult to tell what they were supposed to represent. Only the path itself was managed, with tall arches rising to occasionally allow thick, snaking vines to travel across overhead.

  The high priestess had to duck beneath a few of them, reminding me just how tall she was. Much like many of the moth-like demons I’d seen, I only came up to around her waist. I’d unfortunately gotten used to feeling small here, and having my little hand gripped into hers didn’t help things.

  “How would you know anything about my magic?” I broke the silence, letting some of my frustration through.

  The demon hummed, her rge hand giving mine a gentle squeeze. “All vyxa have trouble with learning magic, particurly with unlocking the ability within them. It’s an unfortunate result of your origins.”

  My eyes narrowed “My origins?”

  “You don’t know?” she asked with some amount of surprise. “No, of course you wouldn’t. Humans wouldn’t tell you, would they? Or perhaps they’ve forgotten as well. It was quite a few eons ago, so I suppose I should not be surprised.

  “Vyxa originated from humans and demons mixing. Ogres specifically. It was a bit of a magical accident of sorts, from back when our kind would open portals between the realms much more freely, as we didn’t realize the potential consequences. But that’s all old history now,” she said, brushing the topic aside with a wave of another hand. “Thanks to that happy little accident, we now have beautiful little things like yourself running around.” She gave a sigh. “I can’t imagine what the realm was like without you. A bit more dull, I’m sure.”

  As she spoke, my mind reeled. At first, I’d assumed she’d been referencing my transformation. But this, this was almost bigger. Succubi came partially from humans? It sounded absurd to my ears, and yet she spoke it with such confidence that I wanted to believe her.

  Could this be a clue to why I transformed?

  The wild garden ended as we moved beneath one final arch, revealing a stone wall and open gate that stood higher than some trees. A few vines crawled up the sides of the creamy white stone brick, though beyond the gate was nothing but thick fog.

  “The walls here are a remnant of an older barrier into the Sanctum. Now they serve as more of a simple boundary around it,” Hetka expined.

  As we made our way through the gate, the fog parted in front of us, revealing a sea of red.

  Stretching out as far as I could see, a soft, crimson grass flowed in the gentle breeze, broken up by the occasional green pnt, tree, or rounded, white rocks. Our dirt trail turned into stone pathing that curved zily through the red field.

  The waves of flowing grass had no clear end, instead fading into a horizon of gray fog. My eyes trailed along, looking for an edge, yet finding none. Then my stomach dropped as my gaze made it way behind us, only to find that the tall gate and forested garden was gone, repced by the endless red expanse.

  “W-wh—”

  I tripped, and the high priestess caught me as though having expected it.

  One of her hands continued to grip mine as another curved around my back. She didn’t let me stop, instead continuing to guide me gently forward.

  “The Sanctum rests at the edge of our realm and those of many spirits. So please do make sure to stay on the paths while you’re here. Almost every year we have one or two vyxa that we have to send out a search for, and it often takes days before we find them.”

  The high priestess gave my hand another squeeze as she fshed a soft smile.

  “And I’m the one who usually has to lead the search,” Risteldna commented, her tone close to threatening.

  “R-right,” I said, composing myself. Then, I realized, “This was what you meant by getting lost.”

  Hetka beamed down at me as though I’d done a cute trick. “Indeed! So remember to stay on the paths,” she repeated. “Even if you’re heading somewhere you’ve grown familiar with. No reason to tempt the spirits.”

  And just when I’d thought I was getting used to the condescension… I almost groaned from pure exasperation but held my tongue.

  “Oh, look! We’re just about there,” she continued.

  Ahead of us, a structure seemed to rise up out of the fog, the sea of red parting to reveal a grand building with a simple garden in front. The small area of green grass and a short hedging circled around a welcoming fountain. An oversized statue of a moth demon poured water from two rounded pots into a small pool, two hands clutched each pot, with one raised higher than the other. Its massive wings circled partially around the edge of the little pond. As we got closer, I spotted tiny fish swimming within, along with a few lily pads and other pnts just beneath the surface.

  The building itself was reminiscent of a rge castle, not as tall as some of the multi-structure towers of the city, but still impressive in scale. At a gnce, it seemed bigger than Fir’va Academy, even including all its secret underground passages and rooms. Several fgs much like the ones I’d seen already fluttered in the wind, along with a red fg that I couldn’t quite make out the details of.

  “This is what you might call the main building, for ck of a better term in your nguage.” Hetka said, breaking me from my thoughts. “It has existed here since well before the first vyxa was born, and it’s where you’ll be spending quite a bit of your time, especially in the beginning.”

  Rather than steps, a low solid stone slope brought us up to the set of great doors, nearly as big as the gate we’d gone through. I couldn’t imagine either demon had the strength to open them, even with the three of us working together. As we strode toward it, that proved unnecessary. The right door swung out toward us, seemingly of its own accord. Neither demon had cast a spell as far as I could tell, which only made me more curious as to how it worked.

  Would it open for anyone? Was it because she was a high priestess? I would need to find out if there was some kind of item to open the doors and make preparations for if and when an escape became necessary.

  “Now, before we enter. Allow me to begin making good on one of my promises,” Hetka stopped in pce, turning toward me just outside of the doorway.

  Far above us, the loose fabric of a white and green awning fpped in the air.

  Then in bright, bubbly words, she said, “Tell me about this person you’re searching for, and I’ll have a search ongoing first thing in the morning!”

  — — —

  The adorable little vyxa stared up into her eyes with an expression so cute, it made Hetka want to melt. Her nose was all scrunched up, eyes ever so slightly narrowed in suspicion, and her lips curved into a small pout. Ruby, or rather, Aqua, as she was calling herself, was precious beyond compare. Though Hetka felt like that for most vyxa, to be fair.

  How the little one had survived out on the streets and all alone for several days was anyone’s guess.

  It was no wonder that Furi’el seemed so desperate to get her hands on her. The little cuties always managed to make the high priestess scream in delight on the inside, and it was often a struggle not to constantly squeal and dote on each and every one of them.

  She had appearances to maintain, after all—a fact that she had to constantly remind herself of, even after so many years as a priestess and then high priestess of the Sanctum.

  Aqua took longer than she expected to ponder over her words, and for a moment, Hetka worried that she wouldn’t answer. Then, just as she was about to ask again, the cutie finally came to a decision.

  “Her name is Lilis, and she’s…” Aqua bit her lip, making Hetka have to suppress another shiver of delight at the sight of her. “She’s human.”

  The high priestess could smell the flood of vulnerability coming off the girl in waves as she stared nervously off to the side. It was practically a siren’s call, and the tall kh’aithri couldn’t help but take a small step closer to her. Hetka’s two other eyes opened, all four of them staring deep into hers. The vyxa gave a small jolt as she noticed them.

  Risteldna cleared her throat, and Hetka managed, just barely, to not grab hold of the darling vyxa and twirl her up into the air as she’d done when they’d met. Instead, she moved down to a knee, still holding Aqua’s hand and gripping it between two of her own.

  “Do not fret. We’ll do everything we can to find her, little one. I can tell how much she means to you.”

  It was too difficult to tell whether she’d bonded with the human, but it was safest to assume they had. Aqua held a difficult expression, unsure of what to make of Hetka and her commitment.

  “Right. She should have long brown hair and green eyes, if that helps with the search. If you find her—when you find her, you’d better not harm a hair on her head, or I’ll make certain you come to regret it.” Her red eyes gred, as though daring Hetka to object.

  The high priestess didn’t pinch Aqua’s cheeks, but it was a close thing. “Don’t worry, she’ll be within safe wings. You have my word.”

  She almost regretted the words as soon as she said them. There’d been no word of a human in the city. Which meant she was either hiding exceptionally well, or more likely, she wasn’t in the city at all. And if she wasn’t somewhere within the city’s walls…

  Hetka feared there might be little of the human left to find. They’d at least cleared out much of the nearby forest a few days ago, but there was no telling where she had nded. The high priestess very much disliked the prospect of having to tell Aqua what happened to her potential bonded.

  This did expin quite a bit on what went wrong with their attempted summoning, though. The portal they’d made hadn’t been meant for multiple people to go through. The question of why Ruby in particur hadn’t at least ended up at their feet was still a bit up in the air, and Furi’el had been tight lipped about what exactly happened just before the summoning, and why she’d been so in a rush to get it done.

  Perhaps little Aqua would prove more forthcoming.

  Hetka rose back to her feet, and pulled the young vyxa along into the temple. She watched as Aqua gawked around the entry room. While her face remained passive, a spark of wonder in her eyes gave her away. It was endearing in a much different way than most of the other vyxa she’d had the pleasure of admitting.

  The anteroom with all its shining, golden splendor was impressive. Its purpose was to impress guests as they waited, after all. Though Hetka always resented how much more nervous it tended to make the many vyxa that came through, being one of the first things they saw of the Sanctum. Its grandeur implied more than simple wealth. There was an expectation in it—an insistence that those who entered be just as genteel and affluent as it was. Something that most of the vyxa who came to them had little experience with, given their backgrounds.

  Even little Aqua appeared a hair more on edge by the time they marched through the next doors into the slightly less opulent grand hall.

  The high priestess did her best to distract her ward, not wanting the little vyxa to take a turn toward shyness or being withdrawn, as so many did their first few days. It would be a struggle enough for her given the nguage barrier.

  “You’ll be staying in the west wing, at least to begin with while you settle in and start to learn Rhuyi. I’m not sure how humans usually handle learning new nguages, but luckily, we have a few little tricks that help.

  “The wings are of course split by gender, though if you do find yourself going into a heat, we ask that you speak with one of the priestesses. They’ll be able to give you something to help.”

  “G-go into heat?” Her voice rose in pitch, the st word coming out as more of a squeak.

  “It’s rare, but it does still happen, of course. We openly discourage pregnancy here, though it’s not outright banned, per se. Our accommodations for it are simply a bit limited. Luckily, even for vyxa it rarely becomes a problem.”

  The cute little thing had turned three shades of red darker, Aqua’s whole body almost glowing with how much she was blushing. Her eyes turned as wide as round saucers, and her mouth opened like a fish as she stared at Hetka like her world had just been flipped on its head. Had she never considered that she could go into heat and get pregnant? Well, it would be in her lessons regardless, so perhaps that was fine.

  The high priestess remembered a comment that Furi’el had made about her having been born a human male. It was probably worth asking about, just to make sure the little thing was happy as she was.

  “Speaking of male vyxa, I’m under the impression that you used to be—”

  Her words broke the young vyxa out of her daze. “W-wait a second. ‘Male vyxa?’ What do you mean ‘male vyxa?’” Aqua’s face scrunched up all cutely. “Aren’t succubi supposed to be all women?”

  …manners were another thing that would need some definite work.

  “Ah, yes. I’ll admit, I’d completely forgotten that humans differentiate between the two for some reason. I’ve never understood why, given how arbitrary it seems. Humans are so curious sometimes.”

  “But, incubi and succubi aren’t… they’re not…”

  Once again Hetka’s words seemed to break the poor girl, though this time she couldn’t piece together why. “Of course they’re both vyxa, silly. Why wouldn’t they be? I mean, how else would your species reproduce, if there weren’t both?”

  Humans were so silly sometimes. Just what had they filled this poor girl’s head with?

  As she pondered the thought, another vyxa entered the hall. Or rather, she peeked out from the doorway.

  “Ah, Seni! Perfect timing,” Hetka said, switching back to the Rhuyi tongue. She beamed at the curious vyxa as she edged further into the hall. “Come along. We have another new little resident! I’ll introduce you two, and then I’m hoping you can take her along to have a bath. Perhaps a meal as well. The poor thing needs it, I’m sure.”

  FlitterPuff