“Maaaluuumaaaaa!” I shouted with my hands up in the air as we approached the black bubble.

My companions had long given up on questioning me or telling me to stop. I was free to do my demon summoning ritual all I wanted.

“It’s so close… Aren’t they touching already?”

“Not yet! Maaaluuumaaaaa!” I continued the very necessary ritual all while Kelly stood next to me with her fists clenched, obviously nervous.

Willow and Chad also watched in anticipation a little further away.

Today was the day we freed the maniacal demon and I reunited with my bestie!

A few tense minutes later, I felt something connect, and my eyes shot open.

“It happened! She’s here!” I shouted. “Go on, our demon representative! Go and greet our visitor!”

Kelly nodded, still tense, and walked over to the black bubble. She raised her shaky hand and hesitated for a moment before finally touching it.

From one moment to another, the black bubble slurped her up.

“Kelly!” Willow shouted in horror and ran right after her.

I stopped the goblin with my arm and gave her a knowing grin. After all, the black bubble was part of my bubble system now. I knew perfectly well what was going on inside.

Willow eased up but remained nervous. All eyes were on the black bubble now, waiting for a reaction.

Nothing happened for a good while, but finally, after what felt like an eternity, the blackness of the bubble began to move. It swirled around the whole perimeter, converging into the middle, leaving a colorless bubble behind.

The darkness all came together into the shape of a girl. A demon. Kelly.

She stood inside the white bubble for a moment, facing away from us. I contemplated coming over myself, but before I could decide, Kelly raised up her arms, made a grabbing motion with them, and then tore them downwards.

The bubble popped.

My eyes widened as the odd sensation hit me. I stumbled backward and got caught by Chad.

What the hell? She'd popped the bubble? How in the--

The demon was outside my bubbles now. And she was facing us… With a grin.

That was not Kelly anymore.

The figure took a step toward my bubbles and my companions tensed.

We stood there as the figure who looked like Kelly approached my blue bubble and touched its surface.

For a second, I was worried she was going to pop the other bubbles too. Luckily, the demon simply grinned, turned into a black cloud, and passed through the bubble’s boundary like it wasn’t there.

Once inside, she reformed the humanoid body Kelly had been using and eye each one of us in turn still grinning.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

The stereotypical villain words certainly didn’t help with my companion’s nerves. Nobody dared to answer her. That meant the task was up to me.

“S’up! Long time no see!” I spoke up whilst giving a little wave.

In a second, she was standing next to me.

“Why hello you. Kelly’s memories didn’t exaggerate at all. You are suuuper cute now. I always imagined what you would look like as a girl.” She leaned closer to me.

“Uh…” I had no idea how to answer.

“Hahaha!” She laughed and drew back again. “Bullseye! Now that you are an adorable girl, I can tease you all day! This is the best day of my life!”

“Hey! That’s illegal!” I shouted in reflex.

“You… are Reina, right?” Willow dared to ask, interrupting us.

“Hmm? Yeah, of course. Who else would I be? Didn’t Kelly tell you?”

“She did. But you seem… different.”

“Different? As in, cooler? Cuter? Or more demonic?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Well no, you just seem a bit more… subdued?”

“That’s subdued…?” Chad whispered, incredulous.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m still a bit sleepy. Being sealed away in a timeless bubble for who knows how long does that to you, you know?”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely. Hate when that happens.” I did not really know.

“Well now!” She clapped her hands. “I heard from Kelly you were doing some kind of cooking montage to prepare a gift for me?” She grinned.

“Oh! Right!” I slapped my forehead and went to use my bubblekinesis. A second later, I was holding a delicious mana-packed fruit that would probably kill any non-demon trying to taste it.

“That’s my bestie!” She snatched it away from me and began munching. She then stopped. “We still are besties, right?”

“Of course!” I confirmed without hesitation.

“Good, good…” She put on that demonic grin and came closer again. “Unless… You wanna be something more than just friends?”

“UHM!” I immediately backed off.

“Ah… rejected.” She wiped a fake tear. “I waited so long to reunite with my love again only to be shot down…”

“W-w-wait a second!” I stammered out. “You had a crush on me?!”

The demon continued to look sad for a moment before returning to her grin and falling into uncontrollable laughter.

“Ahahahaha! This is way too much fun! Why couldn’t you become an easily embarrassed girl sooner?”

Dammit! She was toying with me! What a horrible demon!

“So… Reina?” Willow, my savior, decided to cut in.

“M’yeah?” The teasing demon shot her a glance.

“As much as I appreciate Fei getting her just desserts --” Hey! “-- How did you get in here? Into that bubble? Did the crusaders…?”

“The Crusaders…!” Reina’s expression and mood flipped in an instant, as a surge of mana exploded away from her. “How dare they kidnap Iris and stuff me and Kelly away!”

The burst made all three of us stagger.

“W-wait! What?! Kidnap Iris?!” I asked once I recovered.

“Yeah. They had this mage who could fuck with dimensions and souls. Split us apart and Iris volunteered to become a hostage if they didn’t kill me and Kelly.”

What the hell?!

“Well then, now I’m fully awake. And I’m ready to tear those cunts apart once I find them and take Iris back.” She punched her palm. ”Thanks for reminding me… Willow?” The demon raised her eyebrow. “Or did you come up with a different name yet?”

“Uh… Well, I wanted to, but honestly, I’ve gotten to like the name Willow.” She shook her head. “Anyway, what?! How long has it been since they sealed you away? Would Iris still be alright?”

“I sure hope so.” The surroundings began to rumble. ”It would be a shame to destroy the world in vengeance.”

Oh…

Uh oh.

BottledChaos

Hey there passing reader! I am the bringer of news. The bad news is that the next chapter will be the last for a little while until I figure out what to do next. The good news is that in place of elf, I'll start releasing the continuation of Princess Fox!