Gustav: A Familiar's Loyalty, Part Two

"Mary, are you okay?"

With all of the girls still seated upon Gustav, Leafy was the first to speak up, cautiously sliding down from his back.

However, Mary gave no response. The tiny red pupils within the black void of her eyes darted around rapidly, not focused on anything or anyone. Her body remained completely still.

It was clear that she was internally struggling with herself, Gustav observed, relaying this to the girls.

"A wild demon would have gone on a rampage by now," he said. "But the fact that she remains completely motionless means Mary is still in there, fighting to stay in control for as long as she can."

Hearing this, each of the girls slowly began climbing off his back and dropping to the ground beside Leafy. As a group, they then cautiously approached Mary, standing at the edge of the crater.

"Mary," Lydia began. "Can you hear us? Say something if you can hear us."

"Yeah, Mary, tell us if you're still with us," Maria added.

However, the former demon queen remained as she was, immobile and breathing heavily. Her eyes continued moving around rapidly within the black void of her gaze, while black steam kept rising from her skin.

"L-looks like she saved the town already before coming here," Minimo said, gazing off in the opposite direction.

Following the voice of the cat girl waitress, everybody turned, including Gustav, to see what she was talking about.

To their surprise, she had spoken the truth.

The sky over Blendingbrook had quieted down. Gone were the previous noises of demons flying about, of monsters, spears, and fire raining down from above.

Civilians were no longer screaming.

While the girls looked on in amazement, Leafy dropped her sword and rushed back toward the crater.

"Mary, I'm sorry for everything I said," she began. "For calling you a monster, for calling you those names. None of it was true. I didn't mean any of it. I was just hurt and confused and scared. I didn't know what to think."

Tears began to fall from the girl's eyes and rolled down her cheeks, dripping onto the ground.

"I didn't mean to call you a demon like that, honest. I wasn't trying to hurt you, I swear."

Taking the opportunity, Lydia stepped forward and gently rested her arm on the shorter girl's shoulder.

"Yes, Mary. And you are our friend. You are our sister. So please come back to us, okay?"

A few seconds of silence passed as the girls waited for Mary to respond.

But she didn't.

She remained exactly as she was, her body still, her eyes darting rapidly within the black void of her gaze.

"Mistresses..." Gustav suddenly spoke up, watching his lady carefully. "I'm sorry, but I see no change in her form. It will become too dangerous for us to remain out here for much longer."

"No!" Maria suddenly stormed forward.

"We're not leaving until we get this big baby back!"

She craned her head over the edge of the crater and looked directly at Mary.

"Look, we get it. You spent all your time hiding who you really are because you thought we'd hate you, right? And that's fine. Actually, we probably would have hated you if we'd known who you were from the start," Maria shouted, the girls looking at her in shock.

"But listen, you are not a bad person, Mary," Maria continued. "And we know that because of everything you've done for us."

Maria pointed toward Leafy.

"The first time any of us heard about you, it was when you saved Leafy over there and a bunch of travelers from a group of monsters on the road."

"Yeah," Lydia carried on as she straightened up. "And she also saved me after the raid on the marketplace from those Skull Crusher bandits, which, thinking back, I now realize it was you. You were that invisible force helping the knights defeat the orcs that day too."

Snowpoppy stepped forward.

"That's not all. She didn't just save Lydia and the market. She also reformed the orcs and turned them into good people who now help everyone in town. Without them, we wouldn't have stood a chance against today's invasion."

"And you also helped Chanchan learn how to read better," Chanchan added.

"Yes, and you saved me from a bunch of armed robbers," Minimo said.

"Wait, people actually tried to rob you?" the girls suddenly asked the cat girl waitress in unison.

"Y-yes. It was on the first day I met Mary, when I was closing the shop that night. A bunch of armed men were trying to rob the place. But then a mysterious savior swooped in and saved me at the last minute."

Minimo paused before pointing down at the still figure of the Demon Queen.

"I eventually suspected it was her. It was Mary who saved me."

The girls looked down at their transformed friend, wanting to continue talking to her. But without warning, Demon Mary suddenly jerked forward, causing the girls to jump back in fear.

The transformed Demon Queen slowly rose to her full height, her movements becoming increasingly jerky and unnatural as her demonic aura continued to build around her.

"Mistresses," Gustav warned. "It is time. I must put my lady down before she does any harm. We must stay back."

"Wait, what?" Maria shouted. "You want to do what now?"

"Yes," Gustav replied.

In that moment, he remembered the separate instructions Mary had given him back in the bathroom of the Adventurers Guild.

"Listen, Gustav," she had said. "When it happens, when the time comes, I will try my best to keep the demon from taking control long enough for you to find me and kill me. For your safety, and for everyone's safety. Do you understand?"

"My lady, you are asking me to do the unthinkable. To kill my queen. I will refuse."

Mary had then grabbed her own cheeks, tears filling her eyes.

"Please, please promise me that if I become too dangerous and I'm unable to come back, you will do it. Is that understood?"

Seeing the desperation in her eyes, Gustav had eventually nodded solemnly.

"You see, my mistresses," he said. "This is the plan we made in secret. I already gave you enough time to speak to her and see if we could bring her back, because I do not want to kill my queen. But it seems there is no other choice. She is becoming too dangerous, and I must do it now before it is too late."

As Mary continued building her demonic aura, she slowly began rising into the sky. Gustav did the same, increasing his own body mass as he grew bigger and bigger, matching her growing strength. Eventually, he would have to execute her before she became even more powerful.

He turned and found the girls huddled together in the corner, seemingly whispering among themselves. Looks like they were choosing to ignore me again, he thought.

"My mistresses, I urge you..."

"One second, Mr. Kitty," Lydia said, lifting a finger as they continued talking among themselves.

Gustav sighed.

Then, suddenly, Lydia shouted.

"Okay, go!"

Before Gustav could figure out what they were planning, Chanchan grabbed Leafy underneath her arms and flew the shorter girl upward until she was level with Mary, with the latter shifting her gaze to face them.

"Chanchan will try to keep you close for as long as she can!" the bat girl yelled, flapping her wings as she hovered in front of the monstrous Mary while keeping hold of the shorter girl.

"But please hurry up before Chanchan loses her grip!"

"Okay, I will!" Leafy yelled back.

Leafy took a breath.

What were they planning? Gustav muttered internally. But before he could even move, the remaining girls quickly rushed to cut him off, spreading their arms wide.

"Don't even think about it, Mr. Kitty," Lydia said. "We won't let you hurt our sister. Not until we've tried everything we possibly can."

"Please, Mary, remember who you are!" the shorter girl hovering in the sky screamed. "You are a demon, yes. But you are also our friend, our sister, our family!"

The queen continued building her aura as she floated higher into the sky. Chanchan struggled to keep the other girl afloat as they climbed higher and higher, fighting against the wind just to stay level.

"But if you think you're a monster that deserves nothing but hate, if you think you're a monster that only wants to destroy rather than strive for peace, then you leave me no choice!"

Without warning, the shorter girl swung herself out of Chanchan's grip and toward the transformed Mary, wrapping her arms around the monster and pulling the creature into a tight embrace.

All the girls gazed upward in horror. It seemed like that wasn't part of their plan, and Leafy had improvised in the heat of the moment.

Chanchan was already exhausted from flying and quickly began falling back toward the ground. Fortunately, Minimo rushed forward and caught her before she could hit the ground.

"What is she doing?" Lydia asked, staring up at Leafy, who was still clinging tightly to the former Demon Queen.

From where they stood, it almost appeared as if Leafy was rapidly mumbling something into Mary's ear, tears streaming down from her eyes. Neither Lydia, Gustav, nor the rest of the guild girls could make out what she was saying.

But whatever it was, it seemed to eventually reach Mary, the lonely girl underneath the mutation.

The Demon Queen suddenly halted her ascent. Then, she slowly began lowering herself back toward the ground.

Gustav and the remaining girls were taken aback at the sight.

As she descended, the creature's body began transforming back into its normal form, bit by bit. Her teeth shortened back into their normal shape. Her claws decreased in length. Her horns slowly receded into her head, and her hair became shorter once again. By the time the two girls reached the ground, Mary had nearly returned to her normal human appearance, save for the extra horns that remained on her head.

Seeing this, the rest of the girls quickly rushed forward into the crater, wrapping Mary in a group hug before they eventually toppled her over. They all remained tangled together on the ground, tears slowly streaming down their faces as they mumbled incoherent gibberish to each other.

"Is everybody all right?" Mary eventually asked, her voice hoarse.

"We should be asking you that," Maria laughed. "Don't scare us like that again, okay?"

"Yeah," Leafy said.

Eventually, Mary's gaze shifted toward the edge of the crater, where Gustav remained standing in his full demonic form. Slowly, he began shrinking back down to his normal size, sensing that there was no longer any reason for him to remain on guard.

"Welcome back, my lady," Gustav finally said to his queen.

"And thank the three great heads of Subarus," he added with a relieved sigh. "I'm glad I didn't listen to you and brought the mistresses along. They were the ones who brought you back to your senses."

"Really?" Mary mumbled.

Almost immediately, she seemed to have lost what little strength she had left. She slowly stumbled into one of the girls' arms, unconscious.

"Mary! Mary, are you okay?"

Gustav knew she was fine. She had simply used up an enormous amount of energy. Now, she just needed to rest.