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

--- Kat ---

When the brawl finally ended things calmed down. Though to call it "over" would be wrong. Meg had either gotten bored or decided the new situation would be funnier. Meg had pulled out a bunch of blankets and used them to wrap Hunter up into a ball. Bower was trying, and failing not to laugh at the sight though he was the only one.

Kat personally wondered why Hunter wasn’t using her new ability to escape.

[Well if I had to guess then I’d say it’s because she wants to keep it as a secret weapon for the future.]

With that plausible answer out of the way, Kat asked, "So… now that you’ve … finished with whatever that counts as? Would you mind telling us what help you can give us in finding the dragon’s remains?"

"Sure," said Meg with a smile as she sat down on the ball she’d made out of Hunter who of course, continued to hiss at Meg for this affront. "So the first thing is I’ve got this…" Meg pulled out a globe with a spinning needle in the centre. It spun around a few times before putting off into the distance. "This is the tracker compass.

It searches for large collections of time energy and focuses on the closest one. Within a certain margin of error of course. If they’re too similar in size it’ll focus on the closest one regardless of which is actually larger.

"If you know what you’re doing, like me, you can set it to ignore that bit of energy and work out where the others are as well… but you can only ignore two at a time and getting the compass to focus on the ignored energy signatures again is a pain so we won’t be doing that. Now we’ve only got one… so obviously I’ll be keeping hold of it.

Can’t give my Lil Sis an excuse to take off without me now can I? Anyone got a problem with that?"

Meg didn’t actually give any time to hear objections, unless you counted Hunter’s continued hissing which was summarily ignored. "So I’ll be leading us to the nearest one and then destroying it permanently or for so long that it’s basically the same thing. As Hunter spoiled for you, I have the ability to see weakness in things and that will include the drake’s pieces.

"Once I have eyes on the drake I can instruct you all on what to do to destroy it. It might take different things for each piece but I’m sure we can work it out between everyone here and the extra supplies I’ve got. Any intelligent questions?"

Kat looked at Lily who sighed and tried to escape the confines of Kat’s chest to start asking questions… only to fail. Kat let out a laugh as she picked Lily up to free her from the ’prison’. "I’ve got a few questions actually. The first is this.

You said you’d need to see the drake parts with your eyes to know how to break it… but will looking at just the one be enough to know how to destroy all of the parts?"

"Hey that is a good question!" said Meg in a tone that seemed to convey genuine surprise. "I don’t know the answer to it sadly, though I am curious now you’ve mentioned it. Really, it depends on how ’separate’ the drake pieces are considered. If they’re still connected in some way I should get the full details but if not, then just the one piece,"

Meg brushed her hair back and then, as if it was a secondary thought, added "Oh, and because that was a good question you can ask another one,"

[Wait, I’m being limited on my questions?! Um… that’s a bit more pressure then I wanted. Should I ask about backtracking? Ideas for removing the mist? Or some questions about Meg and Hunter’s relationship? Meg’s other powers?

Why she wasn’t sent to deal with this thing originally? Seeing as she can spot weaknesses?]

*Maybe go backtracking first and then go for the mist?*

"Right… um… another question I had is if it’s worth backtracking to the place the fight went down? It was in a separate dimension but maybe there’s something there you can pick up on?" asked Lily.

"Boo, boring question. Obviously, we go onwards to adventure! It might be different if the fight was in this dimension, but turning back would be such a drag. Still… the first question was pretty good. Alright hit me with another one!" answered Meg.

*Um… but it should be NEW to you right?*

"Can your weakness sense tell you enough about the mist to know if it’s worth removing or thinning out?" asked Lily.

"Hohoh, that one was pretty good too. Not as good as your first time… which is actually a surprise. Things tend to trend upwards. Good on you for bucking the trend," said Meg with a smile. "As for the mist… nah there’s nothing to be done about it really. Oh if we got to the place that produces it we could take it out but while I’m good… I don’t get step by step guides.

So I know it’s a weak point but not where it is. Nor do I know if it would devastate the local ecosystem and economy! So probably best not. Next question?"

Lily glanced back at Kat only for Meg to click her fingers. "Hey, no looking to your girlfriend for help. I’m politely ignoring your mental link but speaking out loud or having longing glances is a no go," Lily was surprised for a moment but Meg just kept going. "Yes that does mean if you spend too long speaking mentally I’ll complain. You guys haven’t worked on keeping it a secret like… at all,"

"Um… I don’t know if this is rude… but why weren’t you sent to deal with the drake originally? It seems like you are one of the few demons that could definitely kill it," asked Kat.

"Ooh, asking questions about me? Good job! I love talking about myself so go ahead, pile those on me," *Didn’t you get annoyed at Hunter for spreading your secrets?* "as for what I was up to? Why, killing things of course!

I take big breaks between my hunts unlike a certain workaholic but it just so happens I had a long job just before this situation popped up on the radar and I was still working on it after that. Only reason I even showed up was to help my Lil Sis. Otherwise I’d have told them to find someone else,"

"You’d be ok risking the end of a world?" asked Lily before she could stop herself.

Meg answered anyway, "Yup I would. I’m no hero of justice. I’ll accept a Summoning if the rewards are good enough but if I’m not interested then I’m not interested. The multiverse is a big place. There’s always someone who’s dying or being mauled. If a job can’t entertain me, then that’s that!

With that said… you jumped ahead. Hmm… I’m happy to answer more questions, they’ve been interesting enough so far… but how do I punish you for cutting in line? Hmm… hmm…"

Meg tapped the side of her face as she shifted her head from one side to the other clearly thinking about the answer, or at least pretending to do so as she drew things out. "Hmm… hmm… I’ll keep thinking about it but keep a watch out! There will be a punishment! So, next question?"

Lily considered asking about what was up with her and Hunter… but with a punishment of some sort looming over her head Lily couldn’t quite work up the courage. She had to fight back the desire to turn to Kat and ask for help. In the end, Lily scramble for a question and managed to settle on, "Are you a greed demon? Kat and I were curious about that…"

"Yup I am!" said Meg with a clap. "I would ask if that wasn’t obvious just by the fact my skin appears to be fabric and my eyes look to be made of precious gemstones but I already worked out Kat here is a bit special so I get why it wouldn’t be super obvious. Now… that was a pretty boring question so your punishment is going up. Ask me another and try to reduce it!"

Lily gulped, certainly not convinced that answering asking more questions would be a good idea at this point… but she also wasn’t brave enough to simply stop. Even if she trusted Kat to try and protect her from the worst of the potential punishments, that almost made things worse. "How do you sneak around?

Err… I mean, the greed demons we know are like… filled with things so they make noise when they move? So… does the question make sense?"

Meg burst into laughter as Lily was finishing speaking. "Oh that’s a great question. I know plenty of people have wondered the exact same thing but have been too scared to ask. Only Lil Sis and a few others have ever bothered! The answer is…