Chapter 1
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Hello! This if my first story. I'm super excited.

 

A young female demon was having a terrible night in Abyss, the demon world. She was returning from the underground market, picking up deliveries for her clan’s madam at the brothel where she apprenticed. She hurried through small paths, climbing to the surface through steep alleys, and then running and jumping across roof ways to avoid getting stopped by anyone either strong or desperate enough to steal from someone as poor as her, a category that encompassed far too many other demons in this district; she wanted to avoid them now especially, since she was currently concealing her madam’s delivery under her tattered cloak. 

Tonight was unfortunate, however, as she soon realized that she was being chased by a demon both far larger and far faster than her. He hopped after her from roof to roof and she scrambled as best as she could across the uneven buildings. 

“How the hell does he know I have something today?” she cursed quietly to herself,  “Everyone knows I’m broke!” She began panting in the frigid air as she pushed herself to her limits to avoid her pursuer. A piece of roof crumbled away as she put her weight on it, causing her to stumble and fall. She groaned, trying to quickly get back to her feet and get away.

“You best stop before you hurt yourself, girl,” the stronger demon urged her from behind as he quickly gained on her, “I heard you got something valuable with you tonight and I want it.” He overtook her as she tried to flee and brought her down heavily, pinning her to the roof. She cried out from the pain and looked up at him piteously.

“Wow, trying to look cute and get sympathy, huh,” he laughed at her, “too bad I’m an irredeemably greedy bastard. I’ll be taking the package my boy noticed you pick up at the market earlier.” He lifted her cloak and grabbed the wrapped delivery from her, using his claws to tear away its secure bindings.

“No! It’s not mine; I can’t give it up! Not even to you, Seran,” she shouted at him while struggling to get out from under his knee on her shoulder, “the madam will kill me or drive me away.”

The stronger demon, Seran, gave her a second glance. “You’re that new brothel apprentice girl, yeah? Your running ain’t terrible, and you don’t look half bad yourself either.” He grinned suddenly, “So now that I’ve taken this little package, looks like you’ve got an unhappy madam and nowhere to go. How sad. How unfortunate.” She glared up at him as he continued, “If only there was a strong, kind, handsome big brother figure who would invite you back to his clan. I wonder what kind of appreciation you would be willing to show?”  She hesitated briefly, but began struggling again, trying to escape him.

“Or,” he continued, “you don’t have to come with me, and I’ll just eat you and absorb whatever pitiful amount of mana you’ve managed to accumulate at that brothel. I’d feel a little bad about it though, but what can I say, gotta take care of myself first. So you oughta just accept my invitation nicely.”

“No!” she exclaimed, squirming even more fiercely and fruitlessly pushing at his legs, “I don’t want to die! I don’t want to be your slave either!” She began to cry as she fought him uselessly, “Why do you have to be so much stronger than me? I hate this! Where the hell is my clan when I need them?” 

Seran pinned down her arms and forced her to look him in the eyes, “I’m strong because I take whatever I want from whomever I can. Come with me and stop relying on your madam, or I will eat you. That’s final. Decide right now!” 

She gave up the fight and stared at him hatefully, “This isn’t a real choice! Urghhh! I’ll go with you to your stupid clan. Just get off me already.” She resolved silently to slip away at the first opportunity and run to another district.

“Good girl, but if you so much as take one step running I’ll break your legs and eat your heart.” Seran threatened her as if reading her thoughts, before letting her back to her feet. He put his free arm over her shoulders and pulled her next to him as though they were close friends. She shivered and scowled at him.

He laughed, “C’mon stop being so sour! Act like one of my people and I’ll treat you like one too. I’m not as bad as everyone says! Just stay on my good side and show that you appreciate me sometimes.” She remained despondent. Despite his words, she knew his reputation as a cruel clan master. She recalled never meeting anyone in their district who served under him and was happy to do so. She was not looking forward to whatever treatment she could expect, especially as a former brothel apprentice. ‘I guess it’s better than dying, though,’ she thought to herself glumly as she was forced to follow the stronger demon.

Once they got back to his lair, Seran threw the female demon down in front of a shirtless, tattooed fat male demon, instructing him to show her the ropes, before disappearing somewhere, saying he was busy and didn’t have all night to waste. The rotund demon looked down at her over his chins, “Hello. Let’s get this over with and figure out where to even start.” He sighed heavily and scratched at his horns, realizing he would probably be working late again today. At least it was warm in the lair because of the nearby summoning altar’s dormant energy. He really hated to wear any more clothes than the minimum.

“Who do you watch out for in this district? Who is dangerous? Who should you avoid?” he quizzed her quickly.

“Uhh, Seran?” she guessed, hopefully, as she got back to her feet. He smacked the side of her head, “No, Seran’s your boss now, moron. Watch out for the baron’s people. They’re out to get us cause we don’t follow their rules. ‘Free spirits’ is what Seran says we are.” He somehow managed to say this with a straight face. “If you get caught, you’re on your own and you never worked with us.”

She cried out and held her head, “Okay okay I got it! Owwwww...”

“Can you steal stuff?”

“Yeah, I can steal stuff...”

“Are you good at it, though? Can you pickpocket, burgle, or con?”

“Uhhhhhhhh, maybe?”

The shirtless demon sighed as dramatically as he could, “You really don’t know anything, do you? Just a pretty face Seran brought back for fun.”

“Well that’s not my fault just ‘cause I dropped out of school when mom left. I- Wait, that isn’t right! I know stuff! I can fight too! And I can run the rooftops… usually, “ she protested, trailing off remembering how she even got here.

“Oh yeah, who’s the strongest demon you’ve beaten?”

“Ricard. He’s super strong, and everyone says he’s a good fighter,” she reported proudly, “I finished him in only one move, and I even got away too.”

“That Ricard’s an idiot. He lets his guard down all the time. I bet you kicked him in the kidney or something when he got himself turned around showing off some ridiculous move.”

“Well, maybe? But taking advantage of advantageous opportunities is a skill too!”

“Whoah, ‘Taking advantage of advantageous opportunities’ do you realize how dumb you sound trying to act smart?” He looked at her tiredly, “come over here and let me hit you again.”

She backed away from him before he grabbed her and knocked her heavily between her horns, “Listen, once I beat some sense into you we’re gonna have to start from the beginning on what you do around here, okay?”

She was starting to protest again when they both noticed the lair’s altar start to glow on the far side of the hall. A web of fine glowing lines filling out the center of a bright circle on its surface.

“Don’t even think about i-” he started to threaten her before she quickly concentrated her limited mana into her leg, kicked him in the stomach, and ran for it.

“Get back here you little rat!” he shouted from his new position on the floor, “and why is the altar going off now of all times? It’s unscheduled. That bothers me how careless we’ve been.”

“I-accept-the-conditions-of-the-summon-and-will-fulfill-the-summoner’s-contract” the female demon recited quickly while sprinting to the circle, totally ignorant of the contact’s details, “get me the hell out of here!”

“Hey stay away from there! I swear to the big Lucy…” the fat demon yelled while heaving himself up to catch her. He was too late. She tore her arm with her fangs, skidded to a halt on the altar, and dripped her blood onto the glowing lines. Her soul vanished, and her body disintegrated into ash.

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