Chương 31: Friends with the dragon

Sophie Hunter was a mediocre student but an amazing friend. Luna spent almost all her free time with her on campus. Being the daughter of a divine dragon had its ups and downs, and when her father was deep into his work of being a good god, he was really getting too deep into it. That meant plenty of time for Luna to either be alone or talk with the servants around the castle. She certainly enjoyed the new building, but she also wanted real friendship.

The maids were nice, and Purra had gotten way too deep into the whole anime cat-maid thing, but that was that. There was way too much submission and not enough of the real deal. Luna wanted to be the social glue that Naruto was in her favorite anime. As such, she was a bit loud, silly, and not at all apologetic about her positivity. Sophie, being an anime lover herself, found Luna to be an absolute best buddy, and the two spent quite a lot of time messing around.

When a guy tried to mess with the class nerds, Luna proved that she didn't need Matteo's help as she verbally assassinated the would-be bully. When the whole class laughed at the boy, he walked away gritting his teeth.

"That was so cool!" Sophie chuckled.

"Hey, wanna come hang out for one night at my place? I have a load of secretly downloaded episodes you can't find online and snacks."

"Would I?" Luna beamed.

"I might need to ask permission from my father, though."

"Oh, come on. You told me he's busy these days. Perfect time to have a girls' night out."

"I guess you're right." Luna nodded. Six hours later, they arrived in Bishopbriggs at a lovely home.

"Ma and Pa usually arrive way too late," Sophie said with a shrug.

"Don't worry." Luna simply nodded and kicked off her shoes into a corner, where Sophie tossed her own beside them. The room Sophie had was lovely, if a bit snug. She had a bunch of anime memorabilia and even posters of boy bands. A nice flat-screen TV was set up next to the bed, and Sophie opened her wardrobe, only for a dozen snacks to pour out.

"Heheh... sorry. I might have planned for more classmates coming." She gave an awkward smile. It was easy to tell that the girl felt a bit embarrassed.

"No worries. Ohh... you have the super-crunchy ones. Neat!" Luna picked up a bag of chips.

"So, what are we gonna watch?"

"Oh, sister. You are in luck. I have all the restricted stuff. No one outside Japan even has these. I spent days on torrent pages just to get a glimpse of these gems." Sophie laughed as she unzipped a Blu-ray folder.

"The quality might not be the best, but this is the only version with subs." She made the disc spin on her finger before sliding it into the player. A previously unknown anime title appeared on the screen, and bags of crisps were popped open as they settled in to watch the slightly badly rendered anime. Luna laughed at many of the scenes, calling them way too unrealistic and pointing out all the issues, while Sophie simply enjoyed being able to share her collection with her new best friend.

- - - - - - - - - - - - Skheet was a tormentor demon. Her ability allowed her to create objects that seemed completely ordinary, but once used, the unfortunate person who activated one could never escape, no matter how far they tried to run. Combined with her immortality, only a saint or a holy priest with enough power could ever hope to damage or kill her. She had started with books, later moved on to VHS cassettes, and now her cursed object was a DVD.

Her latest meal had sold her cursed object online, advertising it as a collection of anime that had never been published. Skheet was certain someone would pick it up soon. The hunger to see the unknown had always been, and would forever remain, one of humanity's greatest weaknesses. She could only grow more excited when a nerdy girl finally picked up the DVD. For some odd reason, however, the girl wasn't watching for a while.

When Skheet realized that the girl wanted to watch it together with her friends, even the demon could feel a little excitement. More viewers meant more food. She would suck all the life force out of them, leaving them as empty husks who wouldn't remember a thing. They would then slowly waste away and die within a few weeks after she had finished feeding. Her DVD was the third one to be put into the player that night, and Skheet was practically vibrating with joy as her curse instantly attached itself to both girls.

"Yes... yes. Enjoy yourselves while you can," she thought to herself as she turned the house's upper floor into her domain. Infinite stairways, endless corridors and illusions of all kinds. She would make them afraid, lost, and desperate. Because fear only made them taste better. - - - - - - - - - - - Luna looked at the screen and immediately felt that something was off. The anime title had gotten stuck on the screen, and it looked like black liquid was oozing from the lower part of the flat-screen TV.

Sophie tapped the remote, then used her foot to nudge the DVD player.

"Did it get messed up during burning? Damn it... and I paid good money for this. I wanted to watch it with you so we could both see it for the first... time." Her voice became faint as the air suddenly seemed to darken. Even Sophie noticed the slow flow of the black ooze.

"Luna? You see that?" She pulled herself under her blanket.

"I do." Luna nodded and stood up from the pillow. Suddenly, a hand came through the screen. Its fingers were long, grey, and seemingly emaciated. Another hand followed. Sophie screamed. The girl jumped from her bed, grabbed Luna by the arm, and ran toward the door, only for both of them to stop at the sight of something impossible. A maze of stairs and corridors constantly shifted around them. Beneath their feet was a dark, slightly sticky liquid that smelled metallic.

The entity was almost completely through the screen when Luna pulled out her phone. She quickly looked up Matteo Drake, pressed call, and tossed the phone to Sophie.

"Tell the dude on the other side that we're in trouble and give him the address," Luna said as she cracked her neck and walked toward the gaunt, feminine figure. The entity looked slightly confused. Why was its meal coming toward it? BAM! A fist met the monster's jaw, and its head was launched straight into the ceiling.

"He... hello! This is Sophie Hunter! I am here with Luna Steel, and there is a monster here!" Sophie said, her voice trembling.

"Where?" came the quiet and calm question. Sophie quickly gave him the exact location, only for the person on the other end to immediately end the call.

"HEY!" She stared at the phone in disbelief before looking back at the monster. It was hanging from the ceiling, its head embedded deep into the solid material. Sadly, the thing simply pushed itself free.

"What are you? Heh... no matter. I cannot be killed by…" The next punch struck its stomach, literally folding the monster in half. It crashed into the window, but the glass didn't break. There was an invisible wall there. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Impossible..." the creature muttered as it pushed itself upright.

"Luna!" Sophie grabbed the white-haired girl's arm, only to realize that she felt like she weighed a ton.

"What happened to you?"

"You are too strong. I will eat you later. I will feast on this other one, then." The gaunt monster launched itself forward with stunning speed, nearly reaching Sophie. Only for its leg to be caught in an iron grip. The very next moment, it was pulled backward and repeatedly slammed into the floor, before being folded over like laundry.

"No one hurts my friend." Luna released her draconic aura onto the monster. She didn't want to ruin her secret, but she wasn't gambling with the life of her first ever friend. If she had to reveal herself, then so be it. Her horns poked through her human disguise, and so did her tail. She began to sing in a draconic tone as she held the now extremely confused Sophie close. The monster was truely immortal as the curse enveloping them made this being unstoppable.

Instead of going round, Luna decided to wait for the Vatican team. A shimmering bubble formed around them. It was Luna's strongest spell yet, designed to protect against all manner of attacks, whether physical, metaphysical, or magical.

"Don't worry. It cannot hurt us in here." Skheet stared at the bubble. Then she laughed. It was a deep, cruel sound that echoed throughout her domain.

"No matter how absurdly strong you are, or how powerful your defensive magic may be, I trapped you in my domain. No one can help you." Her cackle was harsh and long. - - - - - - - - - - - Matteo gathered the team, and they soon arrived at the given house.

"Scan cannot pick up anything. Not even background radiation. This is a domain-type demon." Eleanor looked up from the scanner, her expression serious.

"Use the Type 7." Briggs turned to her while checking his blessed bullets.

"Already on it. Power rating of seventy-two. Seriously deadly, sir." Eleanor stood up and opened a case filled with holy water grenades.

"There is a single human in there, so try not to cause her any injury," Matteo noted.

"I would like to avoid another year of punishment."

"I take front." Doyle grinned, his newly empowered body making him the odd one out among the team. The team placed seven seals around the house before Doyle kicked in the door. The moment he stepped inside, the house seemed to resist his presence, attempting to throw him back out. He simply endured the massive mental assault and pushed forward.

"First floor is clear. Anomaly on the second floor. Awww, come on." He looked up, only to see hundreds of moving staircases twisting and shifting above him. - - - - - - - - - - - Luna could feel the humans moving somewhere nearby, though any sense of direction was mostly a guess at this point. She did, however, have an idea. Reaching into her pocket, she took out a monster core she had kept as a fun memento from Gaix, pushed the hand holding it outside her bubble, and crushed it.

The sudden explosion of mana made the monster lose its concentration. For a few precious seconds, the physical illusion snapped back to normal as the domain was disrupted. The demon shook its head, trying to regain control, only to receive a hail of blessed bullets from the now-normal stairway. Its body jerked violently as rounds riddled it with holes.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" it screamed just as two holy water grenades landed nearby and exploded, splashing their contents all over its demonic body. The creature shrieked and tried to jump away, but once again, something grabbed hold of it.

"Picked the wrong target... hag!" Luna grinned as she pulled the demon straight back into the concentrated hail of bullets. Its body rapidly turned black, cracks spreading across its skin before it began to crumble and evaporate. Within seconds, the demonic aura disappeared entirely, leaving no trace of the creature behind.

"Grey Tormentor Demons… they're total glass cannons." Matteo took off his helmet and mask so he wouldn't look quite as intimidating.

"Are you okay?" he asked, stepping closer to Sophie.

"I am... but... but what was this?" Sophie finally managed to snap out of her fear, and almost immediately, all of it transformed into curiosity. She turned toward Luna, staring at her as if seeing her for the first time.

"Luna? How? You sent that monster packing like it was a toy, and you have horns and a tail and this magic bubble..." Her eyes suddenly widened.

"Wait! Are you a dragon?" she asked, covering her mouth.

"Well, the cat's out of the bag." Doyle chuckled from the stairs.

"We did our job. Tell your dad we did good, mkay?"

"Will do." Luna nodded, then turned back toward Sophie.

"I better call Dad to fix up your room and this corridor before your parents arrive... and, yes, I am a dragon," she admitted, biting her lip nervously.

"I… had a dragon bestie… all this time?" Sophie stared at her for a few seconds before practically exploding with excitement.

"AWESOME!" She jumped forward and wrapped Luna in a tight hug. - - - - - - - - - - - It took Joshua about six seconds to return the house to how it had looked before, and about six minutes for Luna to explain everything that had happened, being very specific about exactly how badass she had been during the whole thing.

"Fine." Josh patted her head.

"You did well. So, what about your friend? Should I remove her memories of this night?"

"Please don't." Sophie literally slid onto the rug on her knees in front of him.

"I wanna keep knowing all this. It was scary, sure, but... but this was the coolest day of my life."

"Can you keep it a secret?" Joshua asked.

"I can!" Sophie stood up and saluted.

"Fine." Josh shrugged and turned to Luna.

"You can stay too. I made sure nothing else was cursed, demonic, or any other type of bullshit." He gave Luna a hug before teleporting back home.

"So wait, if you're a dragon, does that mean your father is also a dragon?" Sophie looked at Luna with wide eyes.

"Well... he's a dragon god, to be precise." Luna scratched the back of her head, then saw Sophie practically bursting with questions.

"Let's open a few crisps, and I'll tell you all about it." The next few days, Sophie was begging her parents for a sleepover at her friend's place. They were nice about it, and after she cleaned the house from top to bottom, they finally let her go for the weekend. Of course, they asked about the place and made sure she would call them at least three times a day. What even Sophie didn't know was that the home she had told her parents about was actually Luna's old house.

When they arrived at the spot where Luna used to take off from, Sophie looked around in confusion.

"This is a dead end." She frowned.

"Put these on." Luna pulled out a pair of aviator goggles and a thick scarf.

"Flying? Are we flying?" Sophie beamed as a magical bubble extended from Luna, enveloping both of them and turning them invisible. Sophie then had to take several steps back as Luna grew until she was as big as a house.

"Climb on, Sophie." Luna giggled and positioned one of her arms so it could be used like a staircase.

"You look amazing!" Sophie said as she put on the goggles and scarf.

"Princess dragon ride!" she shouted as soon as Luna took off. This was the only time Luna ever flew slowly, as a human riding on her back would never be able to stay on if she flew at her usual speed.

"I am the luckiest girl alive!" Sophie shouted against the wind.

"I can see my house from here!" She pointed down at Glasgow as they reached higher and higher. Soon, the air grew chilly, and she was very happy that she had dressed warmly that day. After a short but lovely flight, Sophie finally spotted the castle below them, and Luna landed in the garden. After a bit of struggling, Sophie managed to climb down and shake herself.

"Brrrr... that was super cold."

"I told you to dress warm for the road." Luna nodded before shrinking back into her human form.

"A good day to you, young misses." A stone gargoyle wearing dirt-stained clothes waved to them. Sophie could only wave back and follow Luna, her mind still trying to catch up with everything. She knew this wasn't a dream. Her cheeks had already received several punishments lately from pinching herself, but this still felt like she had walked into a real-life Disney castle filled with enchanted stuff. The talking sets of armor barely made her flinch anymore, and she nearly melted when she saw Kate, Purra, and Lilly.

Luna, of course, bragged the entire way about how she had given pointers to the demon butler Felix on all sorts of things while the castle was being built. The fact that the entire place had been constructed in less than a month was barely shocking at this point. The two of them played games, talked about their shared love of anime, and Sophie even asked if Luna's father could make an anime protagonist real after she admitted she had fallen completely in love with one.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - Joshua sadly did not have quite as good a time as Luna did that weekend, as he was rather busy in his own realm fixing misunderstandings between the settlements, escaping the advances of a certain dragon queen, and being invited to Oberon's Summer Court. The Fae Court was as impressive as one could imagine. Joshua, of course, wore the set of clothing he had received from the Fae King.

By now, he expected almost all of the impossibly weird things that could happen there, including the fact that he was apparently the guest of honor. This meant greeting the sun and giving away a gift of his own while being presented with a golden crown of flowers. Since this was the Summer Court, Joshua presented a Sunstone, an extremely rare item he had gotten from Gaix. Then came the Feast of First Fruits.

He had to sit between Oberon and Titania while choosing which fruit would be deemed the first of the celebration. Joshua chose a peach, as it also represented the sun. His choice was greeted with loud applause, along with several satyrs finally breathing out the breaths they had been holding. Of course, he also had to dance, which lasted for about six whole hours. He might not have had human stamina anymore, but six hours of dancing was still a bit much.

By the time he returned to the castle, he was carrying a leaning stack of gifts so large that Titania promptly thumped Oberon for it. Joshua carefully set everything down and let out a long, happy sigh.

"I think I can finally relax for a while now…" He quickly got to his table and knocked on it, just to ward off any jinx he might just gotten from speaking aloud. PS. Currently I had been getting a massive amount of hate-reviews. If you reached this chapter, you are obviously an absolute champion so I would ask that if you find it in your heart to help with me not loosing my will to write, then just give an honest review. Thank you.