Last Stop, One More Meal

Amazingly, it only took one day for Blue to return to full health. Her muscles regained their strength, and her energy level recovered. The healing plant from the Fleur contributed greatly to this effect. That’s how she saw White and the Succubus off the next day.

“You really don’t have to,” White said, turning around at the foyer of Red’s house. “You should be recovering.”

Bluejoy gave her a big smile as if she had just heard the most ridiculous thing in the world. “What’s there to recover when I haven’t felt this good even before I got sick?” she said. “Besides, I’m so tired of being in bed. Let’s go!”

Without giving White another chance to protest, Blue, dressed in her jacket and sturdy pants, stepped around White and set off without looking back.

The Paladin bowed to the Red Witch and said, “I’ll bring Blue back safely.” He ran after Blue.

The Scholar shrugged and followed the Paladin. The Fleur trailing behind them.

The Succubus stood waiting outside.

There was nothing White could do other than follow Bluejoy with the rest of the gang in tow. Only Red stayed behind.

“This will be goodbye,” White gave Red a quick hug and ran after Blue, who was already entering the forest.

Red smiled warmly, waving them off, and prayed for White’s safe journey.

Today was the last day that the Gate would remain open before it moved on to its next spawning point. The Witch always made a stop in a city before heading into Pandemonium. They arrived at the same city where they had teleported to. Since the Gate was near the forest, this was the only convenient city to stop by.

It was rare for demons to step foot into the human world, and she was always given a shopping list of items to bring back to Pandemonium.

This time, in addition to the shopping that needed to be done, she stopped by the Arcane Association and met up with the head of the office there. He was a Wizard in his nineties but still youthful as a man in his fifties.

Blue explained the attack to him while the Scholar and the Fleur presented the method to heal the mana channels. The Paladin showed the Holy power and technique needed to break the curse with occasional comments by the Succubus. The White Witch demonstrated her micro-control of mana when the Wizard asked for a demonstration.

“I really wish that no one would have to suffer the curse as I did,” Blue said. “However, if you find the criminal, don’t touch them.”

The Wizard nodded. “It seems like it’s a curse that could only be applied when there’s skin contact, as most strong curses are. Some blood from the victim would probably be necessary, or else the criminal would not have sneaked up on you and stabbed you. It was risky to attack a powerful Witch like yourself, and ranged attack would have been the best option.”

“Or perhaps they needed access to the mana channel,” the Scholar speculated. “Either way, the criminal must get close to activate the curse.”

“It’s unclear if Holy power will offer protection against the initial attack,” the Paladin said. “We’ll need to capture this criminal and get all the information out of them.”

“Capturing alive would be the best,” the Wizard said. “I’ll relay the message to the Council. In the meantime, there’s a chance that the Blue Witch might come under attack again if the criminal knows you are still alive. I recommend you to stay hidden.”

“I’ve already spoken to the Temple and alerted the other paladins,” the Paladin said. “We’ll stay by Blue’s side and protect her for the time being.”

The Scholar and the Fleur nodded.

“Unfortunately, I have business to attend to. I won’t be able to offer much assistance, but I trust that they are all competent to get the job done,” the White Witch said.

“Ah, yes, your trip,” the Wizard said knowingly. “It’s that time again. I wish you a safe journey.”

Before they left the Wizard’s office, he gave each of them a protective amulet that was even stronger than the one the Yellow Rose gave to Blue. With such a precious gift, they left feeling reassured and confident.

Out on the streets, the group accompanied the White Witch as she made her purchases.

“That wizard man was really nice,” the Fleur said, examining the protection amulet that they strung on their neck.

“Wizards are wizards for a reason,” the Scholar said. “They are the epitome of arcane artificers. It’s not an arcane class that you’re born into, like a mage, or something that appeals to your affinities like witch, warlock, sorcerer, or others. Any class can become a wizard, but one only becomes a wizard if they have seen into the truth of the world. There are only a handful of wizards in existence, and some of them have chosen to live in seclusion, never stepping foot into the outside world ever again.”

The Fleur listened with attentive curiosity as they made their way along the street.

One thing the White Rose always did with the Guide was eat a meal before leaving the city.

In the center of the food bizarre, they first purchased food at the stands on the outer rim of the seating area.

Gathering at a table, they put out the meat skewers, salads, friend noodles, grilled fish, and other local delicacies and sauces. The table filled to the brim with some plates stacked on each other’s edges. Demons were oddly fond of human foods.

“It’s all in the seasoning,” the Succubus said, taking a bite into a piece of meat wrapped with fresh lettuce. “In Pandemonium, the environment is so harsh that not a lot of variety of spices or plants grow. It’s either too hot or too cold, too dry, or the ground too barren for anything to flourish.”

“And you even lived there for a while and go back there every few years,” Blue said to the White Rose, with a look of disbelief.

“It’s really not as bad as it sounds,” the White Rose replied.

“I still can’t believe you’re going to Pandemonium,” the Scholar said. “I’d love to go take a look, but I heard humans can’t survive there.”

“Why is that?” the Fleur asked.

“For one, the gravity there is stronger than here. As soon as you set foot in Pandemonium, you’ll feel like you’re being pulled down by a full-grown horse. I heard that the atmosphere is also very different there. A normal human will feel like they’re suffocating, not because of lack of air, but the mana in the air is much more compressed.”

“Compared to Pandemonium, the human world is effortlessly easy to live in,” the Succubus said, “And that’s why you’re all weaklings.”

The Scholar shrugged his shoulders while the Fleur tilted their head in wonder. The Paladin, however, scowled.

“If we’re so weak, why did the war between the demons and the humans lasted so long?” the Paladin challenged.

“Ha, you really don’t know anything,” the Succubus said. “Do you really not know the despicable things that your kind has done? Don’t you even know why your sword could find me wherever I go?”

“What are you trying to say? We’ve done nothing wrong other than trying to prevent your kind from attacking us,” the Paladin said.

The White put a hand on the Succubus’s arm. “Most people don’t know what caused the war, and they don’t know what was done.” She looked over to the Paladin. “Let’s let bygones be bygones and not talk about this anymore. There’s something else I want to do.”

She took out her protection amulet from the Wizard and held it out to Bluejoy.

“I’ll be going into Pandemonium soon. I have no need for this. It would do me little good in the demon world. Can you give this to the Red Witch for me?”

“You’ll be able to use it when you get back,” the Blue Witch said.

The Witch took Blue’s hand and pressed the amulet into her palm. “This time, I’m not coming back.”

At the big announcement, Blue and everyone around the table turned to her in surprise.

“You mean you’ll stay in Pandemonium forever?” Blue asked.

“She’s stayed long enough in the human world already,” the Succubus said. “Too long, in my opinion.”

“You just want her all to yourself,” the Scholar said, crossing his arms.

“I do, so what?” the Succubus said, wrapping her arm around the White Witch.

“That’s the gist of it,” White said.

Blue looked on with admiration and sighed. “When will I find someone who can love me as much as well?”

“Why don’t you plant a love flower in them? They’ll be devoted to you and only you for all eternity,” the Fleur said, a mischievous grin slowly spreading on her face.

Blue’s eyes brightened in an instant. “Really? There’s really such a flower?”

The Fleur chuckled. “Of course not!”

Blue pouted at being teased, and everyone chuckled at the silliness.

The White Witch looked on with a smile. She was glad that her last meal in the human world was so full of joy and laughter.

They finished the rest of their meal with more banter. The Succubus ate the most, claiming she had voidspaces in her stomach. The Paladin, not wanting to lose to the Succubus, stuffed himself to the point where he had trouble getting up. The Fleur and the Scholar had to help him on both sides to drag his big belly out from underneath the table.

Blue couldn’t stop laughing as they attempted multiple times to get the Paladin to his feet as the man’s green and blue face contorted from stomach pain and nausea.

“This is what you get for competing in something you can’t win in the first place,” the Scholar complained. Annoyance steeped into his voice as he kept falling back to his seat under the Paladin and his externally-gained weight.

The Fleur, despite having a more petite frame than the Scholar, held their side surprisingly steady. “It’s not every day you can have an eating contest with a demon.” They chuckled, their voice ringing like little bells.

“Finally, we can get a move on,” the Succubus said.

“Time to go home,” the Witch said, smiling at the Succubus.