The Demon Lord's Successor

You end up unintentionally inhaling some of the smoke the woman puffs out. It tastes sweet but you end up involuntarily coughing the second the airborne substance touches reaches and irritates your throat.

“Well?” the woman with demon-wings asks you and puts down her pipe on the counter she leans against with the same hand. That’s when you notice a long, thin, and slick tail flowing through the air behind the woman. The end of the tail is shaped like a smooth leaf or a stretched symbol of a heart.

A succubus? You wonder. Your knowledge of the mythical creatures is rather limited, but you’ve played enough roleplaying games to be familiar with a modern depiction of a succubus, which this seductress fits nearly perfectly.

“I’m looking for Eisheth,” you say. “Does she still work here?”

The young woman taps her long, black nail against the counter and says, “Who’s asking?”

You don’t need to think long to come up with a proper answer, “Ariadne.”

That struck a chord! You see the woman’s eyes grow wide, for a split second her cold, unwavering demeanor cracks.

“If Ariadne wanted something, she would’ve come here herself!”

“She’s been kidnapped, and I’ve come to you for help.”

“WHAT!?” The woman’s facade cracks. However instead of anger or shock, you see clear worry on her face.

“Eisheth, I presume?” you ask.

She only clicks her tongue, brings the pipe back to her lips, and takes another puff, while studying you with her ember eyes. She doesn’t deny your question, so in your mind the answer is pretty much decided.

“Cerberus!” the succubus finally calls out to someone or something, without letting her eyes off you.

Three identical little girls, no more than twelve years old, with shoulder-length light-brown hair, run down the varnished wooden stairs on the far end of the room you’re standing in. The second they get down the stairs and look in your direction, all three girls snarl and rush to you. As they approach, you see their small brown ears flopping up and down on their heads, and their fluffy tails flow through the air.

By this point, you’re hardly surprised by such creatures. If this world has bunny girls, minotaur girls, succubi and futa girls, then obviously it would also have triplet dog girls.

The three pups are anything but friendly, however. They surround both you and Epsilon, and snarl at you viciously, baring their tiny but sharp black nails filed to a fine point.

“Cer, I’m leaving you in charge!” Eisheth tells one of the girls. “I’ll be back soon, don’t let your eyes off of them! Don’t let them go further inside but also don’t let them leave.”

You have no way of telling who until the one in the middle turns to the succubus and salutes her. “You can count on us! Right, Ber? Us?”

“Woof!” The girl on the left barks in agreement. The girl on the right just snarls at you again, showing her pure-white teeth.

She just presumes we’re going to sit around? How strong are these girls if Eisheth feels comfortable leaving us with them? Wait, going where?

“What do you mean ‘leaving’?” you ask. “Where are you going?”

“For your own good, stay in this building,” Eisheth says and puts away her pipe.

“How long exactly do you expect us to just sit here and wait?” you ask the succubus.

“However long it takes,” Eisheth answers. The next moment you see the succubus phase-out of existence. As if she was one of those futuristic holograms all along.

After a moment of awkward silence you finally ask the girls, “Can we at least sit down?”

Snarl.

“Eisheth told you to keep from going forward or leaving,” you remind the girls. “She didn’t say anything about us having to stand on our feet all this time.”

Cer eyes you top to bottom then points on the carpet, a little to the side, closer to the corner of the room and further away from both the door, and the counter, and the stairs.

“On the floor, eh?” you ask and walk where you’re pointed.

“Are you going to let these three puppies boss us around?” Epsilon asks, her frustration written all over her face.

“Well, what would you do? Kill them all?” you ask.

“But how long are we supposed to stay here?”

“Don’t worry—I have no intention of spending the entire day here. I don’t have that much time to play around.”

However,  you don’t mention your “morning activities” to Epsilon.

And your wait is much shorter than anticipated. Not even half an hour must’ve passed, when Eisheth phases back into your reality. She walks over to you and asks, “Things seem to have drastically changed in the old ruin. How about you start filling in the details of what happened, 'Demon Lord'?”