D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Kat ---

Sue ducked back out of her house, snacks in hand. "Yeah… if you guys don't mind sticking around and chatting longer? That would be great,"

"That's fine with me," said Kat. "Lily would probably agree but," Kat raised the sleeping Lily up a bit and the Memphis didn't even twitch on her girlfriends arms.

"Um… er… I think I can stay? I'm meant to be back for dinner but I still have a bit of time… and I'm not super hungry. I probably can miss it without too many issues… but… um maybe I should run back to the crystal and just let them know?" mumbled Kamiko.

"That's fine, I just don't want to hear what my parents are up to," admitted Sue. "I mean, we've got top of the line noise cancelling enchantments. It's why we can't hear anything out here. Not even when the door is open… but it seems the ones inside are wearing out a bit because the room-by-room setup isn't as sturdy,"

"Ok um…" mumbled Kamiko.

"Just head off now if you need to," said Kat. "Sue and I can set up a picnic blanket and the snacks while we wait for you to get back, or if you really need to leave that's fine as well,"

"Thank you and sorry I'll be right back! I'll probably bring my own snacks but I'll see you all soon!" said Kamiko as she waved before sprinting off in the direction of the crystal.

Kat considered what she was about to ask for a few seconds… and decided it was best to ask now before Kamiko got back. "So how long do those enchantments last anyway?"

"It really depends," said Sue as she waited for Kat to spread out the picnic blanket and then started to set everything down. "So the house has some proper once built into the foundation of the house. They're real solid and aren't likely to break down for a few thousand years. The house will be gone before they fall. The weaker stuff though? They're fairly cheap and need to be replaced every second year or so,"

"Why would they go for cheaper ones?" asked Kat as she glanced over all of the snacks around… and had no idea what any of them were. "Also what do you recommend here?"

"Um that's dried meat with some spice," Sue pointed to a packet of 'Dick's Suckin Sticks' "That one is chocolate with some nougat filling," A dark packet with 'Cream Yourself' "then there's the dried fruit," 'Ringem Dry' was the label. Kat was sensing a distinct them now she actually looked at the names. "Then we have normal chocolate," and it was a normal packet that said 'Goldy's Chocolate Box! Proper Milk Chocolate' "and some hard candies," 'The Good SUCK'. Kat rolled her eyes at the last one.

"Ok… so before we get to the enchantment stuff… why all the puns?" asked Kat.

Sue shrugged, "They're good brands that were renamed and repackaged for Lust consumers basically. Well, except Goldy's. Mum recons nobody does chocolate better for them on a factory scale. The rest of it is really just a new packaging for some more generic brands. It costs a bit extra but it's not like we're poor and my parents think it's hilarious. Heck I do as well. So… which one do you want?"

Kat just reached over for one of the Goldy's chocolates. When Kat popped it into her mouth she was immediately hit with the rich flavour of chocolate that seemed to really coat her mouth and settle onto her tongue. It was very nice even if it melted a bit quickly. "Try the others," said Sue as she plucked out one of the hard candies. "They're all good, don't worry too much about the names,"

Kat shrugged, "I'm not that hungry… and Lily would never forgive me if I didn't pressure you a bit about those enchantments. So?"

"Right so… remember I'm no expert here, I didn't take the classes needed to really understand this stuff and the fine manipulation of demonic energy is far beyond me so never considered it as a hobby in my recent rounds… but I did ask my parents that exact same question.

"It comes in two parts. The first is the 'foundation' of the house. It's designed to accept a number of… let's call them 'large' enchantments. Everything added to the main… it's not really a 'ward stone' because we don't use it for defence but I think that's still the technical name.

"Anyway, my parents brought a good ward stone but not the best back when the house was purchased. It had enough space for all the enchantments plus a little extra space… but only a little extra. Once it was set into the ground and everything was working the stone was sectioned off and you're not meant to mess with it. You can but it's not a great idea.

"Back when my parents were younger… they were planning for kids but perhaps not the best at realising what that meant. The sound enchantments were mostly because it's a requirement for the area and they work two ways. So they can't hear us chatting if we walked off to the road," Sue pointed off to the side. "My parents just… didn't really think about what it would mean if they had a kid around to hear them having sex everywhere.

"Once they DID realise that it was a problem they looked into fixing the issue… but you can't have ward stones overlapping. They quickly destabilise and then… boom," Sue mimed the area exploding with her hands. And just as she did Kamiko came running back down the path and slid onto the mat. "Welcome back Kami! As I was saying, overlapping them causes them to explode.

"Or well, it causes the smaller one to explode and might destabilise the larger one. It's a common tactic for bringing down wards when necessary. Anyway, in practical terms it meant they didn't have space on the original, shouldn't touch it regardless, and setting up another ward stone would be really bad…

"And from there it was basically a matter of cost. Yes, they could have every room enchanted for a fortune to ensure that it didn't ever need maintenance… but you'd be paying for something in the ballpark of two centuries worth of maintenance for them. Perhaps a bit more. In the end they decided it just wasn't worth it. It's not a major problem really. Just means they need to be refreshed every now and again. It just so happens to be that time,"

"I guess that make sense," mumbled Kat. "What other sort of enchantments do you have of the house? If that's not a secret? Is it rude to ask?"

"Not really? I mean, probably if you have like a real fancy place but for normal demons I don't think so? I know my friends used to share that information but it was all basically the same anyway. The sound enchantments, another to keep fires below a certain size with slight modifications if you have a yard. Um… the 'fresh air' enchantments that on paper are for poison gas and stuff but are mostly used to deal with the smell of sex and then the temperature control system. Some people have a bit of reinforcement as well but you can just use good materials on the house instead," outlined Sue.

"I know we have all of the same things," chimed in Kamiko. "As well as a few others that I maybe shouldn't mention? I… I'm not sure if it's meant to be a secret or not. I know I was asked not to tell everyone at school just in case but I don't know if it was meant to be something I should keep from friends or not… because well…"

Sue leaned over and pulled Kamiko into a hug before Kat could do the same. "Hey it's cool, you've got us now," said Sue as Kat leaned over to join the hug as well. Eventually the three separated, and Sue had to ask. "You think your parents got the anti-gass stuff as well?"

Kamiko chocked on her hands for a few seconds, wincing as she got caught out. "Probably," muttered the annoyed girl. A truth she'd known for a while but definitely didn't want all but confirmation of. Her parents loved each other, and her house had been around a long time… and her mother could probably heal any issues deadly gasses caused. That combined with the health markers she had on her children? Yeah probably not to keep them safe.

"So…" said Sue turning her "What hobbies have you got Kat? Lily wouldn't give up her research for anything, and I know Kamiko trains a bit to relax and she's got a big family to keep her occupied… but what do you get up to?"

"Um… not much? Training mostly? I might also be looking into woodwork?" offered Kat confused.

"Well perhaps we should find a few classes to check out together? Kami's free to come as well!" announced Sue. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire