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In this world, there are no magical girls, but there is magic. Dark magic. The Black Arts. In this world where demons exist, but no god is their antithesis, society has shaped a portion of itself around their ever-present predation. Though humans generally live in peace, demons have infiltrated their society unavoidably, and the only ones left to stop them are specialized and brutal hunters who pose a lingering threat to any stupid enough to reveal themselves. With humanity as their source of sustenance, demons are forced to lay their grasp in the shadows where only they reside, in societies split from the Earth.In this world of a constant struggle between purity and corruption, there exists a single succubus who is currently crawling across the streets in the middle of the night, too starved to give it her all but too stubborn to settle for what she doesn't like.Another succubus looks on from above and mocks her, “What's wrong, Homura? You a little hungry?” She barely holds in her laughter.Homura groans in pain, lamenting how correct she is, but knowing what’s about to come next. She tries her best to stand up and ignore her.“IT’S NOT THAT HARD ! LET THE DICK INTO YOUR HEART!” the other succubus teases, giggling maniacally to herself.“Eat your heart out, Natsuko!“ Homura spits back. “You wish you had half the dignity I do!”Natsuko laughs her ass off, “Oh fuck, this is too fun! Come on, Homura, give up and I'll even throw you one of my meals! Come on, we can be friends about this! Come on, threesome?”Homura tries to ignore her and walk away. Alas, she collapses right back onto the ground when she tries to take a few more steps.Natsuko smirks as she calls out, “Ooooh Mariiiiiie!”Out comes another one. This time holding a small, violet octahedron. She coos in a surly tone with a bit of a southern drawl, “Oh Hoooomuuu, you want one of these?” She tosses it up and catches it a few times before holding it out.Homura knows better than to believe their bait, but she tries nonetheless to snatch it before they know what’s happening. While Marie is trying to say something insulting, Homura leaps forward with wings out to grab at it, only to find the other demon several feet in front of her again.“Whoops! Guess ya don’t want it, do ya? Aww, sweetie, you shoulda been right patient. I’m gonna give you ONE more chance, so be a good girl and show me them goods!”Not about to believe her, Homura stands back up again, growling, and stares silently right at the shaded demon.“A little defiant, aren’t we? Guess I’ll keep this to myself, then.” She pockets the crystal. There’s a slight hesitation in her voice near the end before she vanishes into the shadows and reappears besides Natsuko.Homura shouts confidently, “I won’t take your handouts! And next time you fuck with me, I’ll take you both down no matter what else happens.”Natsuko scoffs, “Whatever! Don't say I didn't warn you. Have fun starving to death and becoming another shit-eating imp! You'll get plenty, then!” With another smug laugh, she flips backwards and flies off into the night. Marie similarly blows her a kiss before slinking away, their cackles echoing into the night.Homura scoffs at her while she's gone, “Harlots. 'Let the dick into your heart!' Oh, I'll put something a lot worse in yours if you don't get out of my life for one damn day.”Suddenly, another shooting pain goes through her entire body that drops her to her knees. “Tch!” she scoffs again. When the pain settles, she admits to herself internally, “Dammit. Should have killed her for that mana shard... Need to find someone, quickly.” She gathers what strength she has left and starts to look around for a house that's gone dark. In the middle of the night, it's not that hard, so she ends up just picking the closest one. Despite the pain, she manages to leap over the fence of her chosen target and up to one of the second-floor windows. There, she peers in and can barely make out the figure of a girl in bed, sleeping.“Perfect. Please don’t be trapped...” she pleads to fate, using what little magic she still has left to open the lock on the window, which is only protected with a mundane religious seal that works about as well as the placebo effect. After stopping to catch her breath, she crawls in slowly and tries to not step on the bed before she’s ready to pounce.Unfortunately, she’s far too weak to manage such acrobatics. Her flight kicks in for just long enough to save her from falling on top of the sleeping girl, but not long enough to stop her from crashing face-first into the floor. The thud, of course, is loud enough to startle the sleeping girl and force her to spring up and gasp, “Wh-Who’s there!? Mom!? Dad!?”She grabs a remote on her nightstand and flips the lights on, coming to stare eye-to-eye with the invading succubus that was sprawled out onto her floor just seconds ago, now barely sitting up to look at her. The two sit in stunned silence, staring at each other before the reality sets in.“Are you...a demon?” the girl asks. Now, Homura can clearly make out that she’s a short, pink-haired girl who could be no older than maybe 15 or 16.“...No?” Homura tries to deceive her in the most obvious way possible, just hoping that she’s as stupid as she is cute.Predictably, this does not work. “That... No, that doesn’t make sense! Yes you are! What...” she starts to hyperventilate “What do you want?”“Uh...” Homura is practically frozen in place, unable to place exactly how dangerous the situation is. Either way, she decides that the “puppy dog eyes” tactic may be the best approach. If only she wasn’t dressed like a...well, succubus. She proceeds to get down on all fours and start begging, “P-Please, I need your help.”“Help?” the girl comes a bit closer, gulping.“I’m starving. I need...something.” Homura tries to explain, but is at a loss for words.The girl lets her guard down a bit at the mention of starvation, “Well... I guess it’s bad if you’re starving, even if you’re...like that. I uh...” she hesitates. “Does she even realize I’m a succubus?” Homura starts to wonder. If not, this could either be incredibly good or incredibly dangerous.After a minute’s consideration, the girl finally says, “Hold on. Let me just...can you move?”“Yeah, I can—” Homura tries to, but immediately falls over when her legs refuse to move and her arms tremble uselessly, folding and letting her fall onto the floor again.The girl quickly reacts, diving down and lifting her up onto the bed, “Whoa...it’s okay. I’ve got you. Just lay down.”Homura, unsure of what to even do in this sort of scenario, just does as she’s told and lies completely still on the bed while the girl leaves. A minute later, she comes back with literal milk and cookies.“I hope this helps. I couldn’t really make anything without waking mom and dad up, so...”Of course. Just saying, “starving” won’t help a human to understand what’s really going on. So Homura thanks her, “Thank you, but...that’s not really what I meant.”“Eh?” the girl looks baffled. As if the thought had never occurred to her.“I don’t need food, I need...” Homura tries to think of a way to explain it in a way a totally innocent person would understand “...magic.”“Magic...from what?” the girl asks.Surely, she could not be this sheltered. Everyone knows what that means. Was she just never taught about demons? Or...“Do you need to make a deal with me or something!? Suck my blood!?” the girl jumps back upon realizing the implications. “That explains it...” Homura internally sighs. Then externally. She slowly explains, “No, nothing like that. I’m...a succubus. You know?”The girl remains silent.“We get it from...bodily fluids.”More silence. Perhaps that’s too close to vampires.“Or, well, exchanging bodily fluids. And physical contact.”“So like...” the girl thinks for a moment “hugging? Or kissing!? Or HAND HOLDING!?”Homura stares at her for a moment, “...Well, one of those counts.”And even with those relatively tame acts, she’s startled as though she was just forced to watch a gangbang or something equally traumatizing. And yet, her only complaint is, “But...I don’t even know your name, yet...”It’s honestly just one surprise after another with this girl. Pleasant surprises, but still. Homura almost chuckles as she says, “Well then I’m Homura. And you?”The girl gulps, “M-Madoka. Kaname.”Homura decides to be a bit more confident and seductive for once, “Well, since we’re going to do this, we might as well be on a first name basis. Right?” With that attitude, she can already feel some semblance of power coming back. Enough to sit up, anyways.“Right!” Madoka jumps, “Uh, Homura. So...this is going to help you, right?”“Right.” Homura smiles disarmingly.“You’ll live if I do this?” she asks again for confirmation.“That’s how it works.”Madoka gulps, “Well...then, this is my first time, so take responsibility for it!”“Eh, what?” Homura tries to ask as Madoka tackles her and gives her an earnest but childishly shallow kiss on the lips.Homura is too overwhelmed with how adorable it is to parse that it’s not exactly going to work for her, but only for a moment. She pushes the advance and gives a much more proper kiss in turn which makes Madoka gasp, “O-Oh my goo...” and grip onto the demoness’ shoulders like a vice. Homura can easily feel her heart trying to beat out of her chest and tries to hold her closely to appease some of her anxiety.The more both of them ease into it, the faster Homura can feel an almost overwhelmingly potent ethereal strength flowing into her, and the weaker Madoka’s grip becomes. In seconds, she practically turns into putty. Before she’s too weak to hold on, Homura stops short to apologize, “Mm, sorry. I might have sucked a little too much out.”Madoka gasps for air and is unable to properly respond. In fact, she might as well be unconscious at this point while Homura has gone from nearly dead to 100% charge; something she didn’t believe was even possible without going all the way and then some. As she lays the now exhausted girl back into bed and tells her to rest, she whispers to herself, “Just how rich is that soul of yours? It was like eating a whole cake in a single bite... Might need to keep an eye on you.”In her daze, Madoka tries to reach out and touch Homura’s face while murmuring something completely unintelligible. Homura shushes her, “Shhhhhhh... You get some rest. You’ll need it to get your strength back up.”Madoka grumbles and quickly dozes off. Homura, not wanting to waste the other gift she was given, decides to just sit on Madoka’s bedside and snack on the cookies while she strokes her hair and casts a little spell on her. “Let’s give you a nice reward...” she whispers into her ear. Her hand glows, and though nothing visibly happens, Homura can easily feel the girl’s body relax.With the snacks eaten and the job done, Homura sneaks out the window and re-seals it. This time with her own magic, a mark of sorts. “There...” she says “ Now you’ll be safe.” Knowing she would eventually have to see this girl again, she giggles, “See you soon...”As soon as she returns to Hel, Homura’s mood immediately drops along with her body temperature. Though not by much. One might think that odd, considering the fact that the entire landscape is caked in ice, snow, and ash — dimly lit by a sky-dominating aurora that radiates from a glowing white orb in the sky. “Pretty.” she comments to herself, this now having become a sarcastic ritual for her.Even after so many years that she stopped counting, gawking at the scenery still detracts from the absolute eyesore of the walk home. Demons of all shapes and sizes slinking around and stealing from, beating, killing, and coercing each other left and right. Hordes of tiny imps being herded down the street by carriages of rifle-wielding slave drivers and their tamed beasts. In the slums, the buildings become more and more neglected, icicles forming and falling freely with nobody bothering to clean them up. The streets shrink and become a series of claustrophobic alleyways that nobody populates for fear of the existential murderers stalking the shadows.In a tiny corner of the city, a frozen gargoyle stares down at her as she approaches an apartment building. She stares back at it until it spontaneously comes to life and speaks in its gravelly, nasal tone, “Aaakemi Homuraaaaa. Goooood to seee you made it baaack saaaaafe. Welcoooome hoooooome.”“Good day, Archibald. How’s the weather?” she asks sarcastically.“Haaaa haaaa haaaa...” he says. She’s still not sure if that’s a genuine laugh or if he’s reciprocating the sarcasm. In reply, he gives her a question, “What is a penguin’s favorite aunt?”Homura sighs, knowing what’s coming by now, “...What?”“Aunt-Arctica!” he chortles.Homura shakes her head and ignores him, going inside. She ascends the usually — and still — quiet stairs to her own apartment. A tiny little thing, it is. Just three rooms: bedroom, bathroom, living room. Kitchen built into the latter. None of them are flashy. She skips right to the shower.The bathroom itself is just big enough for a single person to occupy and no more. Even with just herself, it’s still very claustrophobic and would be unusable for a larger demon like a taurus. She dematerializes her clothes with magic and draws a lukewarm bath, the ornate but worn tub creaking as she inches in. And there, she just lies down and stretches.Silence ensues. Sweet, loving silence. Not rare in this part of the city, but still welcome after listening to that one bitch’s suspiciously boisterous prattling on and flaunting her completely generic taste in genitalia. “But best not to dwell on that.” she assures herself. Instead, her mind wanders to the girl she met tonight.“Madoka”, she said her name was. That name echoes in her head until she starts saying it aloud, repeatedly, “Madoka. Maaaadooookaaaa. Madoka. Madoka. Ma-do-ka.” She sinks underwater for a moment and says it there, too, making bubbles erupt. She rises back up and spits out the water, “I like it.” Though, her name alone isn’t the most intriguing part.In all her years as a demon, out of all the women she’s seduced, none were quite as welcoming and endearing as this girl. Normally, a human with the upper hand and no ulterior motive will go straight for the gun or whatever blunt object is nearest. Sometimes that’s a lamp. It’s usually a lamp, and those hurt. Like, a lot. But the weirdest she ever got hit with was probably a foot-long dildo that was so floppy it was like being slapped with a pool noodle. Still annoying, but not the same as getting glass in your hair. For the record, getting glass out of your hair is very unpleasant and time-consuming.For the rest of her leisurely bath, she finds herself daydreaming intensely about how things could have gone. How things might go in the future. All the things she wants to do. To her. With her. Sometimes both. Usually both. But despite her nature as a succubus, she finds her thoughts to be surprisingly chaste in retrospect once she absentmindedly gets out. None of that hardcore BDSM they’re constantly airing on TV. Nice things like holding hands and walking around a park. “The parks are quite lovely around this time of year.” she ponders.And as she dries off, one thing crosses her mind — the previous thought coming back with something of a vengeance: this girl not only didn’t attack her, but was naive enough to actually help a demon. The realization of the actual implications makes her slap her forehead. If another person, let alone her parents were around, they’d have to literally slap the sense into her. The sheer idea that someone would be that idiotically trusting makes her have to sit back and just think about it for several long minutes. Why? That’s the main question. Just, why? She was clearly scared at first, but just dropped her guard completely as soon as Homura showed even a hint of helplessness. A more dubious demon would have straight-up kidnapped her! Or worse! “Idiot!” Homura scolds the memory of her “You absolute fool! Why would you even think of doing that!?” No, she knows why. But the reason is so unbelievable that it might as well not exist. And yet, she finds her mind fixating on her. Not on the act that came after, that’s just routine. Rather, the warm light in her chest she gets from remembering Madoka’s apparently genuine concern. The feeling is utterly indescribable. Heartbreaking.But one more thing weighs on her mind while she dramatically splays out nude on the thorn-decorated couch in her living room, staring out the window and at the auroras: The girl’s soul. Under normal circumstances, getting “fully charged” requires going all the way, and for a while, too. Either that or get a lot of people in succession. Or at once if that suits your fancy. But for a simple kiss to do such a thing? Utterly unheard of. Sure, she did suck a little too hard, but a tiny amount of mana could equally cause someone to pass out from that. Would be like eating a single M&M for dinner. Speaking of the kiss, thinking about it makes her relive the moment again, this time with her focus squarely placed on the actual kissing part. “Tasted like strawberries... Chapstick, I wonder?” she reminisces. “Mm... Strawberries. Between her lips. But which lips, I wonder? Ooh.” After losing her focus for a minute, she shakes herself back into reality and attempting to solve this puzzle. Such a huge amount of mana should be more difficult to pull out, not less . It just doesn’t make any sense, and no amount of pondering it helps to come up with a solution to the puzzle. A leak, maybe? Did she willingly give it over? If she has that much mana and isn’t aware of it, that’s just impossible. “Have I just gotten stronger?” Homura wonders. “No, that can’t be it. I was about to die back there, anyways. Maybe that could be it? But it’s never happened before...” In the end, she just frustrates herself trying to think of literally any good explanation for how this makes any sense. Curiosity unsated, she decides to just turn in for now and get some sleep. At the same time, she decides not to set the alarm too far ahead. After all, she would need to start keeping an eye on this peculiar... specimen . For science, of course. No ulterior motives here at all, nope. Just to protect her and figure out what the hell that was. And in order to do that, she’d have to start doing some stalking. In the daytime. When all of the humans are active.“Fuck.” she explicates as she realizes what’s in store for tomorrow as she settles into bed.