Episode 1: Part Two: Somethings Missing

This is an unusual situation. I look up at the woman who sat on her legs, clutching me in her arms. She has chestnut hair and sweet almond eyes, her smile affectionate enough to warm a cold, wet cave. I could feel the warmth of her arms wrapped around my body, it was the first sensation I’d felt since I died. I could see the slow lifting of her chest as she breathed, and hear the drip, dripping of water down the bluish-grey walls.

“Are you alright, sweetie?” The woman has a low, soothing voice.

“Yes.” I nearly clasped hands over my mouth in surprise. My voice is higher than it had been just a few moments ago, “I’m fine, you can put me down now.”

“If you’re sure.” The woman stands up while helping me to my feet, it’s now clear that she’s a fairly tall woman, at least 5’9” (my brother was 5’7” and she was at least a head taller than him), cutting quite a stunning, voluptuous figure.

There’s a moaning sound from behind causing me to step back, expecting the exhibitionist Aphrodite to be perched atop a boulder behind the woman. The woman turns around and shuffles over toward the sound. There’s a girl there, stretching her arms into the air- scratch that, there are two girls.

I say girls because they looked to be about 12. One has a short blonde bob, and the other has messy blue hair. I walk over to them, my body feels a bit lighter than it had been in my previous life, though it’s hard to tell. My old life feels like a dream already, this new body feels as natural as my old one. I knew that I had been sent here by Aphrodite to kill the current succubus queen but I knew it wouldn’t be that simple. First thing to do is assess the situation. I wasn’t exactly a gamer or a puzzle solver, but I wasn’t dumb, despite a few end of life decisions.

“Are you awake?”

“Yeeeees?” The blonde girl replied sleepily.

“Good.” The woman picks up a container off the ground and hands it to the girl. It was probably water, in fact, there seemed to be soup and rolls over in a corner of their cave, as well as a clear vial of white stuff next to each of the four bowls. I could probably guess what it was. I gulped in disgust, I think I’ll save that for last.

I started to walk over to the woman but stopped, something didn’t feel right. I took some careful steps forward trying to pinpoint the issue. I stopped again. The woman noticed my behavior and tilted her head at me, “Are you alright? Is something the matter?” She seemed like a compassionate person at first glance, but it was too soon to let anyone here know anything about me, “I’m just getting used to things.”

“Oh, okay.” She smiled like she bought it. Okay, I lifted my arms out in front of me, my skin was grey but that was probably just because there wasn’t much light. There were violet markings running along them, I noticed the same ones on the woman. My fingernails were pink and a bit sharp looking. I looked down, and saw that my boobs were coated in glittery purple scales, yet felt smooth like glass. They were not too much bigger than how I remembered them in my past life, but they seemed to be more rounded and had a natural lift to them. I began to trace my hands along my stomach, I was extremely petite, I wasn’t exactly fat in my past life but I would have never described myself as “petite” but that seemed like an accurate description of my current body.

My hand descended lower until it reached the spot. It was smooth like my scales, I slowly pressed my finger across it’s surface. This wasn’t right; there was no give, no folds, no place to put anything. I pressed harder and all I could feel was bone where a certain body part should have been. There was nothing there!

“Eeek!” What are you doing?” I glanced up and saw one of the girls staring at me in shock, that’s when it dawned on me what it looked like I was doing.

“I wasn’t doing anything! It might have looked like I was doing something, but I was certainly not doing anything, despite what it may have appeared like I might have been doing. Got it?”

The blonde girl had a disgusted expression. Hold on a second, if I’m a succubus and we’re all presumably succubus then doing something sexual may not necessarily be taboo, but then again it could be a “don’t shit where you eat” kind of thing, though succubae gather nutrients through sex, or at least that’s the way it was back on my world… I wasn’t getting anywhere with this side tangent. I had obviously offended the girl with my display.

I walked over to the food. The woman helped the teal-haired girl up, both of the two girls were about the same size; teal girl had a boyish face and a flat chest, while the blonde girl was probably similar in proportion to myself, actually as they approached it seemed as though all three of us were about the same height.

The woman helped the girls down to the ground before joining them, I too joined them in the semi-circle. It was time to get to know these three. I had just arrived so I had no idea what was going on or what we were doing in this cave. Had I been here all along with these girls? Did I just blink into existence, no, I think they’d be more alarmed if that was the case.

“I’ll introduce myself. I’m Adrianna, pleased to meet you.” The tall woman was the first to speak. Adrianna was probably the senior here, she had a mature charm, she’d probably seduced and mated with hundreds of men by now. Yes! She seemed like an old pro (minus the old). “How about you, if you please.” She gestures to the blonde girl.

“Oh, uh, gosh! I’m, uh, Vanilla. Mmm, oh, I’m so embarrassed, I can’t!” Vanilla shook her hands in front of her face, it was unclear whether she was hiding it or preparing to block a punch. “That’s quite alright. Is it okay if I call you Nill-chan?” Vanilla shook her head in all directions. It seemed as though they used Japanese honorifics here. That’s a weird touch. I had some friends back home who were into that whole anime thing, so I was aware of them at least.

“Mona. I’d prefer not to socialize. I’ll only be here to sleep and eat, so don’t bother chatting or making friends with me.” Mona grabs a bowl of soup and a vial of “man stuff” stands and walks to the other side of the cave.

“I guess Mona-chan won’t be joining us… oh, well, it can’t be helped I suppose.”

“Mona-SAN or nothing at all!” Mona yelled from the other end of the cave.

Adrianna continued on with a unflappable smile, “Finally, would you care to tell us your name?” It was my turn.

I didn’t know where my knowledge level was supposed to be. It was now clear that none of us had met prior to waking up, but that was about it. For now I would just tell them my name, “Rami, it’s nice to meet you all.”

“Rami-chan! Yay, and now we all know each other. Let us eat.” Judging from the spread it was also safe to say that Succubae couldn’t get all their nutrients from sex and had to supplement their diet with normal human food, but where did it come from?

There weren’t any utensils so I picked up the soup bowl and put it up to my mouth. It was lukewarm but it didn’t taste bad, it was similar to chicken noodle soup, there were carrots and chicken and herbs, and the soup itself was definitely chicken broth, I will say that it needed salt. My mom put salt in everything, it was the go-to seasoning in our house. I didn’t always like copious amounts of salt, but it might have been warranted here.

I noticed Adrianna and Vanilla staring at me and out of the corner of my eyes I caught Mona doing the same. Weird. Adrianna studied the soup then put copied me and put it to her lips. Vanilla followed suit and Mona, once she noticed that I’d seen her, turned back around and copied the behavior. Did they not know how to eat soup? Maybe the lack of utensils threw them off for a second? Wait! Was I supposed to drink it with… no, no, that couldn’t be it… how would you even, unless succubus v*****s functioned differently… no, no, no… but there’s magic here, right? No! No! No! I’m not going to jump to conclusions just yet. I’m going to take a wait and see approach for the time being.

“Mmm!” Adrianna let out a pleasurable sigh, “so good!” she exclaimed as she savored the soup. It wasn’t anything spectacular, so I don’t know why it was garnering this sort of response. Could it be that this is what’s considered a “high class” meal here in SuccuLand (or wherever we are)? Oh, no, these poor, poor, women. I guess I have to add that to my list of things to accomplish: give them a proper meal.

I could hear voracious slurping coming from behind us, it seemed Mona was enjoying the soup as well. After everyone had consumed the soup, it was now time to consume the other thing. I was curious to see how this would play out. I waited eagerly as Adrianna turned the vial around in her hand. I noticed Vanilla and Mona (secretly) watching as well. It was time to see how this veteran at work. She uncorked the bottle, lifted it to her nose, and gave it a sniff. She licked her lips and lowered the bottle to her mouth. As disgusting as this whole thing was I was still enraptured, it could have been the biology of this new body, or perhaps that human fascination with schadenfreude, I don’t know.

The atmosphere tensed as Adrianna downed the bottle of white goo in a single gulp. “Hmm?” Adrianna tilted her head as if something about the thing she’d just consumed perplexed her. “Hmm?” She was deep in thought as she swirled it around in her mouth; on one hand, gag, and on another I hadn’t been expecting her to be so particular; was she a c*m sommelier?!? Did she carefully evaluate every vial? She got up and began looking frantically around the cave, a moment later she emerged with a leather notebook. She sat back down and began scribbling something inside. Did she keep a notebook for writing down the taste and texture of each meal? What a pro! I was dumbfounded by the sheer gap in maturity levels between us, I had so much to learn from this woman.

“Mm!” Adrianna thrust her journal out so that we could read what was written in it: I can’t open my mouth or swallow! It’s hard! Need water!

Upon second glance, Adrianna’s eyes were watering and her cheeks were puffed up. Why didn’t you get water instead of a notebook!!! I internally chastised her, “I’ll get it!” I got up and began looking around. Vanilla began frantically beating Adrianna on the back while crying, making an attempt to help, I guess. if I was remembering correctly the bowl with the water should have been over where Vanilla and Mona were sleeping. I noticed a rucksack of some kind over there, probably where Adrianna got the notebook, but there wasn’t any water. Where did it… I looked toward Mona who was sitting still over on the other side of the cave. So, that’s where it went.

Mona was still as a monk, she seemed like the type who was serious about everything, probably even food. As I approached (quickly, but quietly, as not to spook her) I noticed that she was pale and her mouth appeared to be open. I carefully walked around to face her. Her eyes were cold and distant. At her side was the bowl of water. “Umm, can I have that water?”

“There is no joy in this life.” She mumbled. Were you fed upon by a Dementor! I tentatively bent down to pick it up, she made no moves to stop me. “I’ll just be taking this, then.”

Returning to Adrianna, I attempted to feed her the water but she shook her head. Vanilla took the opportunity to be of use, grabbed the bowl, and aggressively shoved it into Adrianna’s face, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry”

“MMMM!” Adrianna screamed without opening her mouth. Oh! Right, she “said” she couldn’t open her mouth. “Stop, stop! This isn’t working! Huh, I have an idea. Adrianna, this won’t be pleasant but if you’re willing, I think I can help you. I need you to roll your head back. Vanilla hold her steady.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Take a deep breath in and out, in and out-”

As she was about to breath in I poured the water into her nose, “MMMM!” She began coughing, “Nill-chan pull down on her jaw! Now!”

“I’M SORRY!” She yelled like a battle cry and yanked Adrianna’s mouth apart. Adrianna began coughing up water and white goo on to the floor.

“You good?”

“Yes, thank you very much” Adrianna replied in a raspy voice.

“Thank goodness!!!” Vanilla cried, “I thought you were going to die, and it was my fault!”

“”“How would have been your fault?”” Adrianna and I both asked at the same time.

“I DON’T KNOW!!!” She bawled.

Adrianna smiled and hugged Vanilla, she rubbed her back, “It’s okay, I’m alive, we’re all okay. Shh, shh.” She comforted Vanilla like a mother would a child even though Adrianna was the one who almost suffocated.

Just then a pink pulse ran through Adrianna’s skin, the purple lines and scales took on a dull pink glow. They broke off their hug. Adrianna stood up and inspected her hands. “This is so strange” a symbol lit up on her chest, and by that I mean a giant heart shape traced itself across her giant breasts. Then just as quickly as it started it flickered out and the symbol disappeared.

“Adrianna? What was that?” I asked. Did she level up or something! That would be cool if people had levels like in video games. If only.

“I’m not quite sure, I felt a bit warm in my cheeks, chest, and v****a but it’s already faded.”

“Hasn’t this happened before? Adrianna-sama?”

“Before? Sama?!?” Had I said something wrong? Her cheeks suddenly became a bit flushed, “Oh, my, I couldn’t be worthy of such high stature, you can just use my name, I don’t even know that I’ve done anything to deserve such respect.”

“You just seemed like such a professional, the recent mishap not withstanding. And you’re so mature, how could I address you as anything less?”

Her expression shifted slightly from charmed to confused. She seemed about to say something when a flash of pink exploded in my periphery.

Mona was now glowing and it was a bit stronger than with Adrianna. Mona let out a shaky breath as the glow slowly dissipated. “Why are you all staring at me, mind your own business!”

“It seems that we glow when we ingest this white stuff.” Adrianna commented.

I walked over to Mona. She was looking herself over for any changes. I stood for a second waiting for her to address me but she appeared to not be in a talking mood. “Mona-san, would you be willing to tell us how you drank that stuff without water to wash it down. It apparently dries very quickly.”

Mona looked at me, slightly perturbed, wrinkled her brows, then spoke, “If I tell you, will you all leave me alone from now on?”

I nodded, “Fine! I put it in the soup.”

“Thank you for the information.” I had eaten all of my soup so that was no good, I may have to just try my luck and hope it goes down smooth. What if I just didn’t drink it at all. The only issue is I don’t know how essential it is to the functionality of succubae. It feels like a stupid question to ask, like one that would immediately give myself away.

I took a seat back in my spot. Vanilla and Adrianna joined me. “She said to put it into the soup, but I already ate mine.”

“I h-have s-some left.” Vanilla offered her bowl.

Adrianna gasped, “Nill-chan, you didn’t eat hardly anything at all! it’s important to finish everything.” She lectured Vanilla on good eating habits.

“Let’s split it. Are you alright with that, Nill-chan?”

“Y-yes.”

I poured both our vials into the soup. The white stuff sat on top of the soup like an egg yolk. I was practically dry heaving just looking at it. I gestured for Vanilla to go first. She slowly brough it to her lips and began to drink. She took about three gulps then set it down on the ground with a disgusted look on her face. Her color pallet of her face was shifting from rosy pink to toxic green.

Just like with Mona and Adrianna, Vanilla began to glow, a heart manifested over her small chest, and then she returned to normal.

“Do you feel any different?”

“No?” She seemed perplexed, like maybe she expected some sort of change, but nothing did.

“I guess it’s my turn then.”

I raised the bowl to my mouth. It was taking all the willpower I had to get it up to my face. Knowing what I was about to consume (Of my own free will, I might add), as a former human girl, this was so demeaning and disgusting. I didn’t even know where (read: whom) this came from. I know that this wasn’t a uncommonpractice back on Earth (swallowing), but I just never expected or wanted to do such a thing, and I still don’t. Does it make it better that I don’t know where this come from? Not in the slightest. It’s still jizz and that means it’s still just as disgusting. I was truly uncomfortable with anything sexual, I managed to hide it better than my new friend Vanilla, but I was still just as prudish in the end.

My dad died when I was 8 years old leaving behind my mom and two sisters. I suppose that was when I started to isolate myself at school. I still got along well with my mom and my two younger sisters (my older brother was nearly 15 and pretty much stopped talking to any of us) but I knew that whatever money my father left behind wouldn’t sustain us indefinitely. We had been living in a fairly well maintained suburb at the time, I couldn’t imagine moving away from there, but we were forced to due to financial strain. My mother never let her worries show, there were presents for Christmas and checks for birthdays, but behind her smile was the harsh reality of 18 hour work days, 6 days a week. I knew that I would have to start working when I turned 14. No, I wanted to start working. I couldn’t leave her to fend for herself like that.

A year later my mom fell ill from overwork. How she managed to hold out that long, I can’t even imagine. She ended up in the hospital, it was really looking bad. We-

CAN IT AND DRINK THE DAMN MAN JAM!

I felt a hand on forcibly open my mouth and pour the soup down my throat. It was thick and tasted like sweat and dust with the texture of badly emulsified smoothie mix. I coughed and gagged. Ugg, that stuff is horrible! Why do people do this!?!

I could feel it oozing down the back of my throat.

I sat there in shock over what I’d just done. Slowly a warmth bubbled up starting from the place where my v** ought to be and moving up through my stomach, and chest and into my cheeks. I felt dizzy and feverish all of the sudden. I noticed my the purple lines on my hands were now glowing like the others, only so much brighter. The entire cave was now illuminated in purple light. It wasn’t just my lines that were glowing, it was my entire body. Also, strangely, I could hear a choir singing in Latin, with ominous organ accompaniment.

I looked around, everyone was frozen, time was at a standstill. The world was now covered in a purple haze. A window popped up in front of my eyes.

Rami (Lv.1)

Race: Succubus (Error)

Strength: 3/50

Speed: 18/50

Dexterity: 12/50

Spirit: 30/50

Mana: 12/50

Charisma: 3/50

Race Skills: Passive Charm (Lv.1), Arousal (Lv.1), Hypnosis (Lv.1), Purification (Lv.1), Liquid Manipulation (Lv.1), Abnormal Status Nullification (Lv.6), Flight (Lv.1), Tracker (Disabled), Glamour (Disabled), Gender Fluidity (Disabled), Alchemy (Disabled)

Skills: Mental Fortitude (Lv.8), Regeneration (Lv.1)

Unique Skills: Magic Mouth (Lv.1), God Tongue (Lv.1), Steel Teeth (Lv.1), Empath (Lv.1)

Conditional Skills: Growth Multiplier, Growth Potential Multiplier, Changeling (Disabled)

This is unusual.

“Hello, my chosen child, I am your god, Aphrodite!” A voice rang inside my head.

“What is this? I thought you couldn’t interfere?”

“Yes. It is I, the one and only Aphrodite.” Play it cool, girl. There could be other people on the line, “You have been given my divine blessing, which will allow you to grow your abilities far beyond that of your peers.” This is my last chance to talk to you on the DL. As you’ve probably noticed, you have a slight defect.

“How so?” You call a succubus without a v***** a “slight” defect. Their whole stick is riding d***s. Am I wrong?

“With my blessing you now have the ability view your status screen, you can use this to track your progress as you continue down your current path.” You’re not wrong. That is mainly what they’re known for, but that not their main purpose here in this world.

“Keep going”

“You have also been gifted with unique skills that will further enhance your power and synergize well with your race and aptitude.” I can’t get into it, that’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own, consider it part of your hero’s journey. That’s not why I needed to talk to you. Remember how I told you that your circumstances would be randomized?

“Yes, that’s very interesting.” I vaguely remember something like that. Does that have to do with my new body?

“The humans of this world don’t have the ability to level up, they have a set maximum growth potential usually capped between 100 to 200. There are exceptions, some people have growth limits of 500 to 1000 but only those people with my blessing have the ability to level up. In other words only a chosen few can surpass their maximum growth potential”

I should have explained more about the way succubae have children. As I explained, they reproduce through a process called spirit birth. Succubae can choose whether they want to get pregnant or not, and it’s usually done at the end of a succubae’s life. The child is endowed with the mana and soul of her mother and as the child is born, the mother essentially fades out of existence. The child is born as a ball of spirit and mana without a solid physical form. It’s genetic makeup is the only thing concrete. The child is usually born with two things, language and purpose which are both inherited from it’s mother, you could say she also passes on some amount of genetic memory.

“So what am I?” You keep talking about the mother, does the father contribute anything?

“You are now a being that surpasses the potential of your race, it is in your ability to be whatever you want to be from this point forward.” That’s where this whole thing becomes tricky. He is essentially the crux of your current problem. Normally, the father is just a sperm “donor” hardly making any impact greater than hair or eye color, but your father is a bit different. He’s one of my blessed children, and certainly one of the more eccentric ones, and your mother… well, she was problematic in her own right. You could say that you are the product of an experiment between a human and a succubus to see if they can bring the succubae race back to it’s initial God-given purpose. The results are a mixed bag, babe. I really can’t help you over there. You’re going to have to think your way out.

“Thank you for choosing me for this great honor.” I said through gritted teeth. So, what now?

Lean on your sisters for help, you are in an odd situation, and they each have their own problems as well. You’ll see soon enough. Your father interfered a bit too much. It’s honestly such a mess, I can’t even. I step away for a couple 100 years and this is what happens. In any case, I gave you an extra special power, actually, I gave you a few of them given the circumstances you’ve been thrust into. My view of things is so limited, ugg, I can’t even point you in any particular direction. For now just try your best to learn about the succubae and assimilate as best you can.

So, your advice is, “do your best,” is that right?

I’m super duper sorry.

And all of this is after you killed me!

Ooops! Would you look at the time, I have so many other things and people to do! Good luck!

“I bid you well on this long and rewarding journey, my child. May you live a long and prosperous life.”

The haze cleared and the glow quickly faded away. “Screw you, you worthless hag!” I yelled out loud.

“EEEK!” Vanilla threw herself backwards onto the ground, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“I didn’t mean you, Nill-chan! I’m sorry.” We both proceeded to bow and apologize to each other for several minutes until Mona shouted for us to knock it off.