Love's Not Void

Chapter 13:

"Can't one of you *pant* teleport us *pant* to Ransen?"

Verg was about to say something, when she gave him the hand.

"I KNOW. It's a pain in the ass for you. Does anyone else volunteer, because I'm two steps away from oh-my-God."

"I'll take her," Froud offered.

Walking over to him, she sighed. "You look like a god right now. Just get me to Ransen."

"With joy. Stay still, unless you wish to end up someplace you don't want to be. Falling off a cliff would be most presumable."

A growl emanated from all the cats.

"Oh come on," she whined, facing them all. Each one of the boys had a disapproving look on their face. "I won't move. I won't even breathe."

As Rai stepped forward, she grabbed Froud's arm. "Go if you want to live."

And in a blink of an eye, she was standing at the gates of Ransen.

"Thank you so much," she sighed, collapsing where she stood. Lying on her back, she groaned.

"If you feel tired, I can carry you."

She looked to the side to see Froud hovering near her.

This was out of character for him. He should be laughing at her, poking fun at every little thing she does. Something was up. Something was going through his head.

And Kimberly wasn't about to fall for it.

"No. I know what you're thinking. I know what's going on in that mind of yours. And I'm not gun-ho with it; not at all. So take a step back, and be quiet until the others get here."

"So mean," he complained, "Isn't there a softer side to you?"

Oh yeah, I'm sure you'd LOVE to see her 'soft' side.

"It's nothing personal, but I don't like you. However, I'm still thankful that you offered to take me here. For that, I'll allow a courteous thank you."

His thin demon tail swayed when hearing the words.

...

"What's taking them so long?" She sat up, and moved hair out of her eyes.

"There are many possibilities. They could have gotten into a fight."

Pffft, yeah right. In three days, she's come across one fight. And they were drunken jackasses...probably. Either that or they were terrible fighters. Maybe both?

Just then, a thought crossed her mind. She imagined those fighters with beer in their hands. Their faces were replaced with cross-eyed mules.

Before she could let out an amused giggle, a group could be seen in the distance. Just as she thought, they were her friends.

They were also with someone else...

"Kultz," she asked.

Hearing his own name, the blue-haired devil raised his head to look at her.

There he was! She was wondering where he was, earlier and in the videogame. When taking Asato's path, he seemed to just jump off a cliff. You never knew if he died or not, or if he simply passed out.

This said, Kimberly knew well why he was here. Asato and Kultz were related. Like any other father, he wanted to be near his son. It was kind of cute, actually.

"Yo, where have you been," Froud interrogated.

"I was collecting myself," the quieter one answered.

Asato tried to stay as far away from his father as possible, his ears drooping and head pointed down. He probably blamed himself for his father's disappearance.

Remind her to hug him later.

~

They got to an Inn. It was a familiar looking Inn. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she'd think this Inn was run by...

"Hello, may I help you?"

Bardo sat behind a counter, leaning against it nonchalantly.

"Oh, it's you Konoe!" His eyes traveled to the other unwanted guests, "And I see you brought your friends along as well... I thought we were done with devils."

"Circumstances have changed," Kimberly spoke up.

She was wearing Konoe's cape, so her human ears were hidden.

"Who might this be?"

He tried to look under the hood to get a better look at her, but Rai tossed a bag of money on the desk. It certainly got his attention.

"Three rooms."

Pulling out a book, he searched for three empty rooms.

"I have three vacant ones upstairs. All of them are beside each other, so they shouldn't be too hard to find." He handed three keys to the white haired cat.

Without a complaint, everyone turned to leave wordlessly.

Once reaching the upstairs, everyone stopped and looked around. Eyes met eyes, people examined people.

"How should we split up?"

...

"Asato and Rai, you two sleep in one room. Konoe and I will sleep in another. The devils can have the third room to themselves."

"Tch, I will not sink to the slave's level," Rai snickered.

Ah, so it's going to be like this, eh?

"Fine. Rai, you stay with me. Asato and Konoe can share the other room. The devils can still have their own place."

"How do we know she will be in good hands," Froud pouted.

"Yeah, maybe we want to make sure you don't hit the road overnight," Verg added.

Rolling her eyes, she sighed.

"Can't you sense my soul or something? Either way, I'm sure you will know if we're gone or not."

She watched Rai pass everyone room keys, but tossed the third key at the closest devil. That happened to be Razel.

Then, they went their separate ways.