Hatsumi and I helped my parents load the last of their luggages into the car. I wiped the sweat from my forehead. The days were getting hotter. Summer break was quickly coming to an end. I wondered if I could beg my mother-in-law Amaterasu to dial back the heat.

Our parents emerged from the house, donning their usual business attire and sunglasses. They stopped right in front of us, expressions stone cold. At least until our dad drew the two of us in for a bear hug.

"I'm going to miss you two. Maybe next year we'll all go on a vacation together?" he asked hopefully.

"That depends. Can you survive mom by yourself for another year?" I joked.

Our mom cleared her throat.

"Honey, may I have a moment with our daughters?" Mom asked, pulling off her sunglasses.

"Alright. Stay out of trouble you two," he said, then leaned in and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I'll do my best, but you know how she can be."

After he entered the driver's seat, Mom pulled me and Hatsumi around back.

"Before I go, I just want to make sure— Beatrice is truly gone?" Mom's eyes tightened on me in particular.

"Would it change your mind about leaving if I said no?" I asked and received a scolding glare from her. "She's gone! Really. I can't summon the Blade of the First Temptress, and Yumi and Hana scoured my mind to the point of finding embarrassing parts of my childhood."

"Are you still worried?" Hatsumi frowned.

"It's not that, I… I was hoping that she had a few last words for me. When we last spoke it just left a sour taste in my mouth. Now that Beatrice isn't here anymore, maybe I'm feeling a little lost. We were companions for centuries, you know? There was a stretch of time that we became intimate—"

"We don't need to hear about that!" Hatsumi and I exclaimed.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "For what it's worth, I didn't feel any lingering grudges from Beatrice in her final moments. If you want, some of her memories and emotions might still be somewhere deep in my mind. I can dig for them."

"No, it's quite alright. I'm glad to know that Beatrice was at peace with herself, and with Mio. Hatsumi, Saeko. I couldn't be more proud of my… daughters," she said, stiff in posture and unable to make it more obvious about wanting to hug us.

Hatsumi and I saw through her right away. We embraced her for what must have been ages. An awkward but warm hug that the three of us needed.

"I will count my lucky stars that the next time I return, it will be my girls and not Beatrice I see. That being said, your father and I still have our expectations of you. Saeko, keep those grades up. Hatsumi, you better be several rungs higher by the time we come back. We pulled many, many strings to get you into that senior marketing job—"

"Delilah!" Dad saved us an earful by opening the door to call out to her. "I think the girls get it. Give them some space. They can handle themselves."

Mom relented. She looked each of us in the eyes, smiled, and went to join Dad in the car. As they drove off, the last weight lifted off my shoulders.

"I never thought I would say this, but I'm a little sad to see them go," Hatsumi said.

"Yeah. I feel the same." I nodded.

Hatsumi put an arm around my shoulder and leaned her head against mine.

"So… We have the house to ourselves. Mio isn't around… How about I wash your back like old times?" she asked suggestively.

A tingle ran up my spine, and I turned to find Hatsumi giving me the bedroom eyes.

"A-As much as I'd like to, maybe another time! I have to get ready for classes to begin, remember?" 

"Oh, alright." Hatsumi pouted.

We settled on a sisterly kiss, and I took the car to head to Yumi's place to pick up Mio. In the days following Beatrice's passing and the destruction of the Blade, life was quickly returning back to normal. With many of the renegade succubi captured, there likely weren't enough to conduct another ritual anymore. The dryad threat had been stopped. All there was left to do was wait for Shayle's mirror artifact to finish recharging and send the prisoners to Elendir's manor.

As soon as I arrived, however, the auras of several succubi in addition to Yumi and Mio's scraped against my own. I hadn't called for a meeting, so it was unusual for my officers to be gathered in one place. When Yumi opened the door to let me in, Selene and Hana were seated in the living room. Shayle was present, too. They all had a serious expression on their faces.

"If it's bad news, I don't want to hear it." I sighed.

"There's something wrong with the mirror," Shayle said defeatedly.

"Great…"

The artifact in question that was supposed to be our go-between Earth and Elza sat idle on the coffee table, surrounded by everyone in the room.

"I think it's straight up busted," Hana offered.

"Our current consensus is that it's somehow no longer recharging mana. Hana keeps throwing out wild guesses, but the fact of the matter is we're unsure why," Selene explained.

"Shayle, you're the artifact hunter. Any ideas?" I asked the expert.

Shayle leaned forward with both hands clasped together. "Likely overuse. As with any tool, every use wears it down a little. An artifact is no exception. Granted, giving it time to rest usually works. Or so, that is what I believe is the case initially. Until we figure out a way to energize the artifact without potentially breaking it for good, your succubus prisoners will have to remain on Earth a little longer."

And therein was the problem. Currently, we had the renegade succubi imprisoned in Hana's many love hotels. A succubus would eventually starve if we did nothing and denying them sustenance was cruel. Queen Elendir and her dark elves had the means to see to their hunger by means of magic, but we weren't afforded that luxury here.

"Say, now that we don't have Saeko's sword to juice a portal, and if the mirror breaks… does that mean you're stuck here?" Hana asked Shayle.

"I…" Shayle raised a finger and was struck speechless. "Would like to hope it doesn't come to that."

"For now, we have the matter of accommodating almost a hundred renegade succubi in Tsukiji… Do they have a leader I can talk to? And where's Mio?" I glanced around the room for her, but she was nowhere to be found.

Something crashed with a thud in Yumi's room. All eyes turned to the door to her bedroom. When I looked at Yumi, she answered me with a somber look.

"Ugh. My head hurts. You called?" Mio staggered out of the bedroom with a hand clutching her head.

"Geez. What happened to you?" I hurried over to let Mio lean on me and got a heavy whiff of alcohol. "You've been drinking…"

"What? No… I was drinking last night. I've 'been sleeping' is whatcha mean!" she corrected me.

Beatrice's passing hit her a lot harder than I expected.

"Make sure to drink plenty of water, alright?" Yumi came by and rubbed Mio's back.

"If it's the renegades' head honcho you're looking for, I put her in a hotel around Suma Ward. I can take ya there," Hana said.

Mio was in the middle of chugging her third water bottle, and Yumi held two more for her just in case.

"Alright, let's see if we can get there before Mio needs to take a leak. I'll drive," I offered.

We cruised down the freeway for only five minutes before Mio started complaining about needing to water the flowers. Suma wasn't much farther, but Hana and I weren't sure the bucket of water was going to make it.

"Seriously, can you drive any faster? I like waterworks, but I'm about to wet my pants here!" Mio cried from the passenger seat, legs squeezed together as if that would do her any good.

"Uwahaha! That's what ya get for not going at Yumi's place!" Hana taunted from behind.

"We're almost there so just hold it in for a little while longer," I urged her.

The second we arrived at Hana's love hotel, Mio didn't wait for me to park. She unbuckled her seat belt and barreled straight through the door. I gazed up at the thin, two-story building with a neon diamond sign out front.

L'amour. French for 'to make love'. Talk about being subtle. The auras of ten succubi brushed against mine from within.

"So about this renegade. She's a Big B loyalist. Probably won't be happy that you off'd any chances that she might see her former queen again," Hana explained as we walked through the lobby.

"I don't get it. Until recently, I thought the consensus was that Beatrice was a shitty leader. How come there are succubi still fiercely loyal to her?" I asked.

"Ehhh. It's less about loyalty to her. More like they dig what Big B wanted. It's a succubus' dream to drain whoever they wanted without retaliation. For years we were kinda just going with the demon lord's flow, then the light elves kicked our asses. Earth was supposed to be their big buffet since no one had the power to contest them here. Then you came along!"

"And ruined it for them, I understand. Well… At least we're dealing with a succubus and not dryads this time," I remarked with relief.

Hana flipped through a large keyring until finding the right one. She opened the door, and a succubus lunged right at me.

"I'll defeat you in the name of Queen Beatrice!"

I sidestepped her and stuck a foot out. The succubus tripped, stumbling into the wall in front of her. She slumped to the ground.

"You don't chain them up or anything?" I glared at Hana.

"You're the one who told us not to be cruel!" Hana fired back.

The renegade succubus currently rubbing her nose and groaning in pain was young for being the ringleader. Young relatively. She was older than me for sure, but the aura emitted from her gave the impression of a much younger succubus than Yumi and Hana. Long, blonde hair reached down to her waist. She wore hoop earrings on both ears and gaudy jewelry adorned her horns.

"We've already foiled your dryad plans. There's no use fighting back anymore. Even Beatrice is gone. I destroyed the Blade of the First Temptress, so she isn't coming back," I said.

"Liar!" She swung out at me again.

All the fighting lately made me a better combatant. I blocked each and every one of her attacks. In one swing, I managed to catch her arm and pin her against the wall.

"Uhm… Can we get checked in please?" a couple asked from the lobby.

"Oh, shit. On my way!" Hana was about to take off running, stopped, then dropped a key into my hand before seeing to the couple's needs.

"Why don't we get ourselves acquainted?" I threw the succubus inside and shut the door behind me.

She tensed up as my aura wrapped around her. After falling firmly under my charm, she sat patiently on the bed. Though… the defiant look on her face was making up for the rest of her obedient body.

"I want things to work out for all of us. You don't have to rot away in a dungeon back in Elza. If I can help it, I'd like for you and the others to live peacefully on Earth. Can we start over? Maybe with you telling your name?" I asked.

"I'm Reza," she said through gritted teeth.

"Oops. Forgot to turn that off. I don't want to control every facet of your life."

The instant I loosed my aura, Reza lunged at me again. A swift kick to the chest sent her falling back down onto the bed. I thought she was going to continue attacking me, instead she covered her eyes with her arm.

"Is Queen Beatrice really gone?" Reza asked in a quivering voice.

"Yeah," Mio kicked the door open and said.

Reza sat right up, and we turned in Mio's direction. She was sucking on a lollipop, probably taken from the front desk. A piece of toilet paper was stuck to the back of her shoe.

"Bea's gone and there's nothing you punks, or anyone else for that matter, can do about it now. So, leave the ghosts where they lie and get over it, move on, and do something worth doing in your life," she added like salt to the wound.

However, I knew that Mio wasn't just telling it to Reza. To herself, too.

"Following Queen Beatrice was all some of us ever knew to do… How would we survive without her?" Reza asked me.

"What do you mean how? There's no crazy magical war or meddling gods— at least not anymore I hope… You don't have to fight here. Riddle me this: what would you be doing after conquering Earth and Elza?" I questioned her.

Reza's mouth snapped open, seemingly convinced she had an answer prepared. Instead, she stared into her hands. Stumped.

"I'll answer," Mio said. "Playing glorified farmer, keeping the livestock in check and fucking whoever you wanted. Right? You'd still be shitting and pissing from morning to night. Then what?"

I kneeled down beside Reza. "Isn't there something you'd like to do now that you're free from it all?"

Reza looked me in the eyes and still wasn't sure how to answer this question either.

"My vote is to hit up an amusement park. There's one going on right now in this city. Picked up a flier from the counter." Mio waved the piece of paper in our faces.

It was up to Reza, so Mio and I glanced expectantly at her.

"Okay," Reza said finally.

We three flew to the amusement park and left the car behind at the love hotel. I kept a close eye on Reza in case she thought about bolting. Not that she could escape the two of us anyway.

The amusement park was run by the prefecture. An unusual thing, given that the government usually didn't dip their toes in managing entertainment. But in a bid to push Japan in the direction of bettering mental health, politics had become rather volatile lately in that they were trying literally anything.

Ferris wheels, roller coasters, bumper cars, booth games… all subsidized compared to privately-owned ones. As I paid for all three of our admission tickets, I could only think that at least the money was going back to the city.

We entered the whimsical fanfare music playing on the loudspeakers. Several local mascots like Habatan the phoenix and Kobe Weston the cowboy pig posed with children for pictures.

"Are those… monsters?!" Reza clenched her fist in an aggressive manner.

"No, those are mascots! It's people dressed in costumes!" I exclaimed.

Habatan trotted up to us, waving his wings.

"What's up, birdie! Where can I get some spicy chicken wings around here?" Mio asked, but Habatan cowered away from her and hid behind Reza instead.

However, in doing so, Reza panicked and shoved the mascot away. The poor amusement park worker inside fell onto their back, flapping both wings wildly and unable to get back up.

"Uugh… It's so creepy though. Can I kill it?" Reza asked.

"Are they going to hurt Habatan?" a little child asked her mother.

Sighing, I picked Habatan up and ushered him off.

"Let's… just enjoy what's inside the amusement park," I suggested to my companions.

Mio took off running right away, and we immediately lost her to the crowds. If anything, I was surprised Reza hadn't tried to escape yet. People of all ages were pursuing the game booths, lining up for rides, and taking pictures of anything possible. Including us. 

"It's so loud and stifling… You're telling me humans come to these places for fun? What fun is there to do?" Reza asked.

"How about this?" I pulled Reza over to a shooting game, where the goal was to fire a pellet and pop the balloons.

After paying the game attendant, he loaded five pellets into the rifle and handed it to me. I aimed carefully but only popped three. The guy handed me a small plushie of smiling Habatan.

"You try," I urged Reza after paying the attendant again.

Reza stared at the rifle for a moment, then pumped her fists to psyche herself up. She picked up the gun and aimed it in a wobbly way. Every shot missed. 

"Guh… I can just pop them all with my magic!" Reza exclaimed, igniting her hand with fire.

A burst of hot energy popped every balloon on the wall. The game attendant dove to the ground in panic.

"Stop, stop, stop!" I grabbed both of her hands. "You're supposed to use the gun!"

"Why the gun when I have magic?" Reza asked.

"It's just how the game is played!"

"Well, the game is silly. I don't like it," she huffed.

"Uhm… I'm sorry, but can I ask you to leave? I have a lot of balloons to start inflating," the attendant remarked exhaustively.

We slinked away and found an empty bench to slump down in. Reza was down in the dumps again.

"I understand what you're trying to do, but… war is all I've ever known. These human games and pastimes just aren't interesting. In fact, I find them downright strange!" Reza groaned.

I tried to think of a way to change Reza's mind when Mio found us. She was holding three sticks of cotton candy.

"Man, there's so much junk food. I'm practically in heaven! All that's missing is some caramelized dick. Here." Mio handed one to each of us and started digging in.

Reza wasn't sure how to eat the puff of cotton candy. She brought it up to her open mouth, decided to go at it from another angle, and then scratched her head over the size of it. At one point, she held the stick in both hands, glaring at the thing as if it had insulted her ancestors. Eventually, Reza sunk her teeth into it and ripped some out.

"Mm… mmh?! Mmmmmhhh!" Reza squealed in delight and lifted it up to the sun like a trophy. "What is this sugary… cloudy thing? It's incredible!"

"Right?" Mio was in the middle of dousing her cotton candy with a bottle of sweet and spicy sauce.

"Mio, I love you… but why are you like this?" I squinted at her cotton candy shrinking to the sauce being poured on it.

"Don't knock it 'til ya try it," she said, balling the rest whole and stuffing it into her mouth.

Reza went as far as licking the stick clean. Once it was all gone, she stared sadly at the empty stick and lack of sugary goodness. Her eyes lifted up to mine which I left untouched.

I extended my cotton candy to Reza, but she hesitated.

"Are you… sure?" Reza asked timidly.

"Well, only if you give another game a try. It's too early to go home yet, right?" I smiled.

Reza reached for the cotton candy and brushed against my hand. Her cheeks took on a little shade of red. She was eating it a little more subdued this time.

"I… I want to try the shooting game again. Without using my magic," Reza said.

Mio jumped to her feet and cackled. "Kahaha! You used your magic? I'm a fucking pro, so lemme show you how it's done!"

We spent the rest of the evening playing games. Eventually Hana joined us, crying about how we left her behind. When I saw Reza laughing and doing her best in the amusement park games, it gave me hope.

Mio, Hana, and Reza raced ahead of me to try a punching bag game. Knowing how strong a succubus was compared to an average human, that wasn't going to turn out well. I let them go anyway and glanced up at the night sky blanketed with countless stars. One of them shined more brightly than the rest. If Beatrice was up there somewhere in Takamagahara, maybe she was also listening.

"See? I can be a good queen after all," I whispered.