Sis, I Think We May Be Lost!~ (open)

Lily waited patiently for the next member of Zienna's team to arrive. She figured that it'd be a lot wiser to stay in the spot they already were in, so that the remaining members wouldn't have to get confused if they started moving. The silent girl normally didn't know what to do in those sort of situations. She was always moving and getting from place to place, the only real break consisted of her going back to her room and resting for a period. However, when the raven called Nero arrived, Lily smiled a bit more. Better yet, the bird found itself interested in the young girl and went over to stay on her head.

"Hello." Lily said softly and with two fingers, would gently pet the raven. Her small smile soon turned into a frown and her face into a full flushed red, when Celia started to go on and on about Lily. The girl became really irritated and shot her sister a glare. Lily's form was normally kept a secret, because she disliked it. The process of becoming it was painful and always left her extremely tired afterwards. The girl hissed softly at her sister in order to shut her up. "You talk too much. Shut up or change the subject." She said sternly. If it wasn't for Nero being on her head, Lily had the right mind to start shooting at her sister's feet.

"Nero could tell what?" she asked the energetic young woman as she watch the bird being friendly with Lily. When she heard what it was, the succubus tilted her head questioningly at Nero. "Is that true?" The bird shrugged and preened himself before making low gurgling sounds requesting Zienna to transform him.

Zienna couldn't talk to birds. The only reason why she could discern what he was saying was because he was her soul-bound familiar; they shared a type of psychic link, and although they couldn't read each other's thoughts, it was strong enough to allow them to communicate freely. And to his request, she shook her head. "Nope. Not gonna ruin your chances with her. You're better off being that way for now." As she expected, Nero ruffled his feathers and hissed at her, which prompted the succubus to playfully stick her tongue out. "Trust me, you'd ruin it for yourself."

Nero moved from his perch on Lily's head to her shoulder and let out a grating sigh. ("Sometimes, I regret choosing be bound to her...") he cawed quietly to Lily low enough to only be heard as a mumble to Zienna.

In the distance, towards the direction they were going to before, Zienna saw a subtle blue glow from in between the buildings, followed by a ring in the sky that was all too familiar. "That cute shadow works fast..." she said, picking her feet and walking towards the disturbance. Wolfram followed closely and Nero remained on Lily's shoulder for the time being.

From the ring in the sky, she could see a few lightning bolts crashing down towards their unfortunate targets on the ground. Zienna glanced at the twins and gestured for them to follow. "It looks like Isis found some playmates. Come on, you too. If we're lucky, there might still be some left for us too!"

By the time they reached Isis, they would have seen a couple of shadow corpses already littering the ground. Artful products of Isis and the Neoshadow Zienna had charmed

"Lily, don't be mean! I'm just having fun." Celia pouted and crossed her arms. Despite the fact she was the eldest twin, she acted as though she were the youngest between them. Her pout didn't last long and she soon perked up, giggling softly to herself. Celia found herself looking back and forth between the banter being shared by Zienna and Nero. She wasn't like her younger sister and merely smiled at how happy everyone was. Celia started to happily bounce in place, her energy still lasting even after all of the fighting.

Her eyes suddenly caught the faint blue glow in the distance and her bounce ceased, but not her smile. She knew there was something rather intense going on in that direction. Celia only watched as more lights were thrown into the night sky, her attention focused on the possibilities of what could be going on. Much to her excitement, Zienna revealed that it was more than likely her partner, Isis, who was taking care of a group of those shadow bugs from before. Even before Zienna motioned for them to follow and quickly, Celia was already off, giggling and taking her staff from its resting position. A terrible dark aura crackled around her momentarily. She wanted to kill more of those things.

When they arrived to, the twins were introduced with a series of corpses riddled with lightning damage (or what the mage assumed was lightning). Celia looked in both awe and disappointment. She was glad to see that Zienna's partner, Isis, was doing alright and well, but was disappointed that the shadows were all dead by the time they got there. Celia wouldn't complain though, as it was better to have a positive turnout than no turnout at all. The girl looked upon Isis and the sparkle in her eyes lit up even more excitement.

Through Nero's own gurgled noises and screeches, the woman was able to make out the bird's request. She assumed that the bird form was just a form that he took when he was out. Either that or it was because the succubus had some sort of control over the man. Lily smiled softly when the two spoke, seeing it identical to the way how Celia and Lily often spoke with each other. There was definitely one thing that Lily and Nero could agree on and it was the fact they followed next to people who they sometimes wonder why they follow them. Lily nodded and turned to glance at Nero who was now perched on his shoulder.

"Tell me about it." Lily said and jabbed a thumb towards her older twin. There wouldn't be much time to laugh and joke around. Far into the distance, there was a faint glow and the discharge of lightning magic into the air. Lily hypothesized it was either Zienna's partner that they were looking for, or it was a person under attack by the same shadowy creatures. Lily wasn't surprised to hear from Zienna that it was indeed her comrade and that it more than likely found some "playmates" for them. Lily took a deep breath, then exhaled it. She started off with the group, allowing Nero to stay perched on her (not the she mind in the first place).

Once they were off, Lily had her hands on the butt of her guns. She wanted to stay quick on the draw and constantly wanted to be in position of readiness. This was because of the fact that their powers were severely limited and that Lily's aim, for the most part, had been based upon errors on the enemies side. Should she had been fighting a more mindful opponent like Zienna, she'd be in a lot of trouble. Either way, she was determined to stay ready and continued running. They eventually came upon the bodies of the same shadowy creatures before. They were all defeated from what it looked like, but Lily had to make sure before she took her hands away. Lily looked towards Isis and wondered what sort of marvel the partner was going to be.

Zienna walked towards Isis, who was just pulling her pronged swords out from a Neoshadow's chest. She was levitating about a foot from the ground, making her seem taller than she actually was. Her attire was a mix of leather and soft yet durable fabric. It was black, but had accents of gold, silver, and blue, and showed a little bit less skin than Zienna's but not by much.

The girl turned around, and when she saw the succubus approaching, she shouted her name happily. "Zienna!" her voice squeaked. The large device on her back whirred silently as she glided over to Zienna, and when she was close enough, the device and her swords disappeared, hurtling her towards the succubus, who caught her and whirled her around until her foot touched the ground, like they were dancing a ballet.

"Sorry, I kinda killed your, uh, friend." She held up the chain that belonged to the succubus and glanced at one of the Neoshadows that had the mark of a lightning bolt running down from its head to its feet.

Upon noticing the two new faces, Isis shrunk a little into Zienna. "Oh... uh... hi there..." she said softly, the volume of her voice suddenly dropping. It was no secret that she was shy around new people, however, she did eye the two with interest.

Grinning, Zienna dragged Isis by the hand and placed her front and center, slightly pushing her just a little bit closer to the twins. "Go on, introduce yourself."

Isis twiddled her thumbs, tilting her head down to let her long gray hair cover her face and sapphire eyes. "Uh... Hi there, I'm Isis," she said timidly, holding out a hand.

Celia looked at all of the corpses around her. The mage smiled and giggled at them all, poking them with her cane. Eventually, the young lady saw that the person who had indeed laid waste to all the shadows. Isis, was her name and she was quite the cute weapon of mass destruction. Celia knew that Lily was going to fall in love with the woman, mostly because of the fact that Isis was walking armaments. Celia liked the shy woman because of her shyness in general. That was really cute about her. The mage smiled wide at Isis and waved at her.

"Hello, Isis! I am Celia and the one who is going to fawn over your fanservice in a bit, is Lily!" The young woman said as she introduced them. She giggled happily and really wanted a hug like how Isis and Zienna did. The very act of twirling in the air with somebody you cared greatly for seemed like a lot of fun. That was when Celia had an idea and turned her attention towards her younger twin. The older twin grinned with a rather playful look and wanted to attempt flying while hugging her sister. "Oh sis!" Celia sang out with an ominously cheerful tone to her voice.

Lily was more than fascinated by the very image of Isis. She was a humanoid with armaments and much more, the gunslinger could feel it. A strong blush went across her features and she took cautious steps over to Isis. Lily looked at the woman from different angles and from all she could tell, it was a matter of banishment spells or some other form of magic that allowed the woman to summon them at will. The silent girl looked up at Isis and gave her a soft smile, her eyes sparkled from the darkness of her hood, with a light of genuine interest and happiness.

"Shut up, Celia." Lily said with an embarrassed tone. But she couldn't deny that Celia was wrong and found herself fixated on Isis, though, she wasn't being creepy about it. The young lady dipped her head in apology and slowly backed off. She was just going to marvel at Isis from afar. Lily had always wanted to meet someone like Isis and now that she did, the woman wanted to ask her so many questions about her weapons. Just like Isis, the gunslinger found herself twidling her thumbs in nervousness.

"I-It's nice to meet you both," the Animus said with a voice that was just audible, and gave the two a slight bow. Isis looked back to Zienna, who was smiling with mischief, and that alone made her come to the conclusion that she was brewing up a scheme in that sick mind of hers.

Zienna chuckled when Isis turned her head back to the twins, only to see the younger one observing her closely. A bit too close as Isis jumped slightly, her hands moving to her chest as she leaned away from Lily with a blush running across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. But what was this? It seemed the two shared a little bit of affection towards each other in that short time their eyes met. The succubus looked to Nero and he chuckled, covering his beak with a wing. He noticed it too. Wolfram, as always, had no interest in what they were doing, and was simply looking towards something in the distance.

As Lily backed off with her head pointed down and hands fidgeting nervously, Zienna went behind Isis, wrapped her arms around the timid girl, and rested her chin on the animus' shoulder. The act surprised her and she squeaked on cue. Zienna whispered something in her ear which caused her blush to deepen. "W-w-what?! I-I-I..." Isis bit her lip and looked at Lily for a moment before diverting her eyes somewhere else.

Zienna let Isis go and walked towards Celia with a smirk. She cupped her hand to the girl's ear. "Would your sister be interested in a little play date?" she whispered, making subtle jerks of her head towards Isis. Nero couldn't hear what Zienna had said, but nonetheless he cawed softly ("Ah boy... If I know Zienna, she's got something planned for you...")

Celia giggled at the display Lily showed off to Isis. Both of them were rather withdrawn and seemed as if they mainly, only spoke to those they were extremely close to. The older twin felt like she was looking at a mirror of her younger sister. A taller, blue haired version of her sister. The woman giggled again and gently curtsied to Isis when she bowed to them. When all of the looks were going around, Celia immediately knew that the entire group, besides Lily and Isis, knew that they were a little affectionate towards each other, in some small way. The mage watched as Zienna whispered something into her companion's ear and it caused her face to flush red. She began to bounce when she wanted in on the secret and watching Zienna come over to her, only made her bounce even more.

"A play date? Sure, Lily would love to have one... I think." Celia only guessed, but she made sure to whisper back to the woman just as quietly. Both Celia and the succubus were people of great mischief. The two of them together could only spell trouble. The mage looked back and forth to her younger sister and smiled deviously. She wondered what Zienna had in mind. "Who are we setting her up with?" She asked softly.

The gunslinger had become a little nervous after her sudden display towards Isis. She was just so genuinely interested in the woman and her ability to summon weapons, that she wanted to study her. Not in the creepy way that involved needles, but wanted to take out pen and paper, to write down the different ways the woman explained her powers to Lily. The woman looked back up to where Isis was standing and noticed the blush on her face. The withdrawn girl offered her a smile and thanks to her make-up, was able to hide her redness rather well. However, she noticed that Zienna had said something into her partner's ear, that made her flush red even more. Lily became weary and Nero's comment on a possible plan the succubus could have came up with.

("What is she up to?") Lily made a series of small screeches and gurgling noises, that Nero would be able to understand, as if Lily was a raven herself. She didn't have to lower the volume of her voice, because she knew that Celia nor Zienna would be able to read into what she... Screeched.

"Isis, of course! Don't you think they'd look cute together?" Zienna giggled, glancing over her shoulder. "She's a bit shy though, so I wouldn't count on her making the first move, but seeing as your sister's a little bit more.... daring than she is, I think that wouldn't be a problem. We just need to find a way to get the two alone somewhere..." She already had a plan, though, it would be hard to execute without making it seem a little obvious. Locking someone in an alley way with a pillar of earth didn't exactly scream subtlety. Alternatively, they could split into teams to explore, but currently that option didn't make sense in the current context. That option had to wait until they got somewhere worth exploring. "So, got any ideas?" she asked Celia, wondering if she had a plan that wasn't so conditional.

Meanwhile, Nero watched how the succubus' body moved as she continued with their private discussion. And judging from how one of her foot was tucked behind the other, and her other hand was supporting her upper body by propping against her lap, he could tell it was something involving their timid companion, given the context. ("Something that, undoubtedly, concerns you and Isis... and it looks like she's collaborating with your sister. To be honest, I envy her... Well, whatever it is they're up to, you better keep your eyes peeled. Zienna can... get a little overboard sometimes...")

"I dunno..." Celia said, shooting a glance over to Lily. "My sis seems to be interested in Isis's weaponry so..." The girl trailed off and glanced towards Lily, plotting against her younger twin. There wasn't so much that they could just do suddenly, seeing as the group just formed and met. Not only that, Nero and Lily were able to speak to each other on a level that bordered impossible between all of them. Celia softly stroked her chin and furrowed her brow in thought. "At the minute, no. We would need to do some exploring and get split up somehow or... I got it!" Celia said with sudden idea.. "Send them both out on recon! Have them travel ahead, but Nero with you. He'll be trying to counter your plots if he went along with my sister. We stay here as a large group and they move as a quick, small group of two. It's perfect and logical for our situation, seeing as we don't know where up and down is for this place." And that was the plan. Hopefully Zienna was able to vibe with it.

Celia gave her sister another glance and smiled, then she smiled towards Isis. The vampire girl wanted to know what exactly it was that Zienna was planning. She was a succubus after all, so was it something sexual between the two? Something that would involve kissing, touching and the whole nine? Celia's slightly perverted mind started racing and she herself began bouncing in place.

Lily was feeling a little uneasy as Nero explained how Zienna could grow overboard with her plans. The young lady tensed and knew that Celia was that exact same way when it came to certain... Things. Lily felt that her older twin naturally had this older sibling sense of having to mess with the younger one. Due to that, the gunslinger started to prep herself for anything that could happen. A thought lingered and sure, Lily knew what a succubus did and how they could get, but what about her and Isis specifically did the woman want with them. She gave a worried glance over to Nero.

("Can you tell me what you mean by 'overboard?' What is it exactly could she have planned between Isis and I...? I mean, we just met and everything, so what ideas could she already have?") She asked the raven and went for her guns. The woman took this time to reload them and when she did so, turned towards her sister, pointed them both at her and pretended to unload several rounds into her, before she placed them back in their holsters. Lily sighed and glared at her sister. ("She's just as dangerous Zienna, if you believe me. We should get those two far away from each other...") The gunslinger said as a future warning to Nero in the event they ever do meet up again, after all of this was said and done.

"Ooh, I like that idea, and should they encounter some enemies along the way, that'd be a great way for them to bond! Especially if Lily's interested in Isis' weapons, then she's in for a show." Zienna's excitement made her bounce for a moment. There was just something about ploys involving timid people that gets her bubbly inside. And Isis had suffered more than a couple of those, but Zienna had always taken care not to hurt her. She was her closest friend after all. Unfortunately for Isis, that also meant she knew the ins and outs of her, which Zienna readily exploits for her own mild entertainment. "Alright, I'll go talk to Isis, and I'll leave you in charge of convincing Lily to go with her, 'kay?"

Zienna withdrew from Celia and walked back to Isis again, smiling widely. "Hey, Isis, I need to ask a favor from you."

Isis looked up questioningly. "What is it, Zienna?" she asked softly.

"I was wondering if you could do a little reconnaissance trip for us ahead. Your Reaver works best in quiet areas, doesn't it? And we'll be trailing behind, so just shoot us a signal of things go a bit wrong, okay?"

"O-oh, yeah, I can do that." Isis focused her magic to recall her equipment. Two circles appeared on her back and split to the sides, followed by a black void that quickly took the form of the magic-focusing device. It whirred for a second before the sound muted. Slowly, Isis levitated a foot off the ground. "Is there anything else before I go?" she asked, but Zienna put her hand to her chin and pretended to think, stalling the girl so Celia could have enough time to convince her sister.

Nero looked at Lily and sighed. "You know how, if you'd want someone to quit smoking, you'd simply try to convince them to stop for their own good? Well, Zienna tried something like that once... she, uh... made a certain smoker hold the cigarette in his mouth while she attempted to cut it with a whip... Luckily, she had a good enough aim and the guy left with his nose intact, but he still didn't stop, so what she did next was... put a little gunpowder in his smokes..." the raven shook his head. "His kind heals up quickly, so I guess I know why Zienna felt it was okay, but... I guess what I'm trying to say is, that her plans escalate ridiculously quickly. She's only a half-blooded succubus, so I'm sure whatever she's planning is a mild one compared to her full-blooded counterparts, more in line with mischief than, you know, somehow getting you and Isis to mate, so there's a little reassurance for you."

The raven took a glance at Celia then to Zienna. "Yeah... keeping them apart would be a good idea in the future... lest they get a little to familiar with each other, then that'd be the end of peaceful days for you and me..."

"Leave it to me!" Celia excitedly said to Zienna and the minute the succubus went off to go talk to her comrade, the mage went over to her sister and did the same. Celia turned just in time to see her sister aiming and pretending to shoot her. The girl feigned being shot and let out fake convulsion noises. She then laughed and went over to Lily, giving her younger twin a hug. "Go with Isis and help her with a recon mission. We're all going to stay behind here and use this as a temporary hub. We need to make sure the way towards that power we felt is clear and you two are our fastest, quietest members. Can you do that?" She asked her twin rather genuinely.

The best thing about her little plan, was that it killed two birds with one stone. They were going to eliminate any enemies along the way, while being alone to see Zienna's plan come to light. Another thing Celia loved about what she was doing, was that she wasn't lying to her sister in any way. The older twin also made sure to give Lily her very sweet smile.

The gunslinger the hairs on the back of her neck raise when Nero explained just how bad Zienna could be. She looked towards the succubus as she went off to go talk to Isis, but when Celia started walking over to her, the woman was extremely on edge. Not only that, her face was fully flushed when Nero mentioned that Zienna, if she wanted to, could have been setting up the two for some form of sexual encounter. Lily quickly pushed the thought from her head and was seriously hoping that Celia wasn't plotting together with the succubus to set her up.

"I swear, Celia, if this is a hair brained scheme of yours, I will shoot you in the knees." Lily said softly and with such a dead-serious tone, it could certain that she was very serious about shooting her older twin. However, the twin was very surprised when the mage mentioned to her that it was going to be a simple recon mission with just her and Isis. Lily rolled the thought around in her mind and given how much sense the plan made, she found it hard to see any set up going on with that. They could travel faster in a group and since they were indeed quiet, they would be able to get in and get out with no problem. The plan was pretty good and was something along the lines that Celia would think of. Lily frowned at her inability to find anything wrong with it.

Lily turned to face her new ally, Isis and was introduced to her method of summoning her battle gear. The gunslinger's eyes lit up brightly and she seemed almost entranced. The intricacy of the machines and the ways how they silenced themselves were gorgeous. The girl was truly in love with Isis's machinations. The girl quickly made her way over to Isis's side and nodded to her, affirming that they were to be accompanying each other on the mission and that she was ready to get going.

Zienna patted Isis' Reaver as Lily joined them, beaming the latter with a happy grin. "Hmm, I think that's about it. Well, off you go, we'll pick up the pace in a few minutes. You two play nice now okay?" She patted the two scouts on the shoulder before turning on her heel and walking to the other group. "Oh and, Nero, I need you to stay with us in case something else pops up. If we get attacked here, you can fly to alert them, but if they get attacked, Isis could just light up the sky for us, won't you Isis?" The timid girl nodded with a smile, content with the reasoning.

Nero screeched sarcastically, ("Yeah, of course.") He turned back to Lily to confess his confusion; recon job was something Isis did regularly since that device of hers made her senses sharper than any of the other three, plus there was the added bonus of being able to leave behind zero footprints in her wake, not to mention she gets around fairly quick. ("Huh... I could have sworn... I was sure she was up to something, but things are making too much sense for this to be one of her plans... At least you're with Isis, so you're safe. Still, keep an eye out.")

The raven flew off from Lily's shoulder and circled the area once before landing on one of Zienna's horns. Isis and Zienna traded nods before the former glided towards the unknown, keeping pace with her partner. Nero pecked at his perch to get the succubus' attention. ("What are you planning, Zienna?") he asked suspiciously.

"Me? What do you mean? It's a routine scouting mission. We've done this before."

("Ahh, but I know you enough that there's some ulterior motive behind this.")

"Oh Nero, I'm much too exhausted to be constructing a web of deceit right now. I've been looking for all of you for hours, and I'm tired."

("Tired? That's a laugh. You've got the stamina to match all the workers of the three biggest brothels combined and then some.")

Zienna chuckled at the comparison, and maybe even blushed a bit. "You think so? I appreciate that." She faced Celia with a smile. "What shall we do while we await the fruits to ripen?"

("... Okay, now I know you're both up to something!")

Celia feigned being offended when her younger twin threatened to shoot her in the knees. The older twin raised a hand to her mouth and put another hand over her chest. Beneath the hand that covered her mouth, a small, devious smile formed. She soon dropped her hands to her side and smiled sweetly. The young woman waved them both off and let out a small giggle.

"Come back safely to us you two and have fun with the mission!" She said genuinely and watched as Isis and Lily went off with their recon mission. When it came to Zienna asking what they should do next. The young girl placed a finger on her lips and looked into the sky briefly. She then looked into the blindfold of the succubus and smiled curiously at her. "Tell me more about yourself, Zienna. I am quite interested in getting to know a succubus on a better level." Celia said and was becoming quite excited with the topic already.

The gunslinger tensed just a bit as Zienna touched her shoulder. She couldn't help but let Nero's words echo into her mind. Zienna was somebody who went to extremes, but granted that she was with Isis, she would be relatively okay. When the topic of Isis sprang up, Lily caught herself blushing at the thought of how well made the woman's weapons were. She glanced over at the woman, but quickly looked away. That was when she started off in a run. The two had to be quick and they had to be quiet. Lily almost blended in perfectly with the darkness that the world exuded and found that she moved easier with somebody like Isis, who had a ton of mobility.

Lily drew her guns and held them at an upwards angle. Her eagle eyes were working like clockwork, as she scanned every nook and cranny she came across. They had just started off, so there was no action just yet. However, she remained privy to the surroundings and often glanced to Isis and nodded to her. The nods served as small indicators, making sure that everything was okay. Should an enemy have been spotted, Isis could either give a small shake of her head or verbally speak at her own discretion. Either case, the woman kept her eyes forward and her guns loaded. She was ready for anything.

Zienna clasped both of her hands behind her neck and hummed. There were plenty of things she could tell, and there were only a few that she was shy of saying; shame was a word lost to a succubus, but that didn't mean she didn't have some secrets that she'd never ever tell anyone. Besides, she wasn't sure what the girl wanted to know about her yet. "What would you like to know about me, Celia?" she asked, dropping a hand to the side while the other touched her chest. She had a pleasant smile for the girl and urged her to ask what she wanted to know.

Meanwhile Isis couldn't help herself from blushing as Lily kept nodding to her. She was getting a lot of the signals wrong after what Zienna had whispered to her a few moments before. Did Lily really have a thing for her? She knew how Zienna was like, always teasing her and the like, but Lily did seem to be interested, if how she looked at her before was any indication. But she couldn't just ask that now, could she? She'd just wait until Lily spoke, but at the moment, she just nodded back, unsure if she was sending a good or bad signal.

When Zienna was more than happy to oblige Celia's question and answer request, the young girl bounced happily and got closer to her. Before any questioned started, the mage began to check out the succubus, but in a non-perverted way. She looked at the woman's wings, her hair, body, clothing and blindfold. The blindfold was what really interested Celia and gave her the reasoning that she could show the succubus a certain "something" in her collection. The young vampire became a bit invasive, hopefully not to the annoyance of Zienna, by softly stroking the woman's shoulder and arms to get a feel for her skin texture. Not only that, but she started to poke at her sides and stomach to see what sort of reactions the succubus would give her. Once she was satisfied with her little experiment, she took a step back, tilted her head at Zienna and gave her a sweet smile.

"I have learned from a certain book, that succubi gain much of their nourishment from the energies of human males. Now, considering how patriarchal society was back in the day, I call bullshit. I'm sure you can gain the same energies from a woman, no?" She asked and was excited to be getting an expert opinion from the source itself. Celia was one who loved to have her resources stated and have them in case anyone ever questioned her logic and knowledge. The mage was also one to keep literate and updated on the information she already knew, just so she doesn't fall behind on certain topics. Celia definitely had a follow-up question and decided to ask it now, rather than wait for later. "Another thing, how do you pick out the humans you want to extract essences from? Is it like a foresight or second nature ability, that allows you to find the best... 'source' of nourishment for your kind, or is it just, 'he or she is hot and I want their energy?" Celia asked excitedly.

The woman started fidgeting around in her coat and put a hand on her grimoire. She really wanted to show it to Zienna.

Lily took note that Isis blushed whenever she looked back to nod at her. The young girl found herself blushing as well and wondered if there was something going on, to cause all of this heat to start rising. Nero was probably right that there was some plan that brewed between Celia and Zienna. The two were now acting it out, but it was too late to go back and confront the two about it. Despite how much Lily wanted to gun her older twin down, she had to keep going and actually make something out of the mission.

The gunslinger and the animus were going on a straight and wide path forward. Up ahead, seemingly on a hill, there was a large castle in the distance. Lily's eyes were well trained enough to see enough of the detail on the castle. The power that came from it, along with it's massive structure was perfect for the Darkson family to move in to. They were going to occupy it and make it theirs.

The younger twin stopped suddenly and stretched her right arm out as a signal to Isis to halt their movements. She felt something moving. Lily's head started to whip back and forth between buildings, nooks and crannies. There was extensive movement within the darkness. Isis and the twin were about to be attacked.

"Be careful, they're here." The young woman warned and continued to look around. Eventually, something jumped at her when she walked out far enough. Around 9 or so Neo-Shadows all leaped out at Lily, their claws were wound back and their intent was to cut the girl to ribbons where she stood. Lily wouldn't let that happen, however, and the gunslinger had a plan to get out of her seemingly dire situation. The woman activated her Tempest Shot ability, then put her guns onto full-auto. She crouched low and had her arms out stretched with her guns ready. "Isis, get down." She said just loud enough for the animus to hear, before she quickly spun and released a flurry of 10 bullets in one revolution. The first four bullets from both of her guns went a lot faster than the ones that came after them and served as the ones to shred through the first eight Neo-Shadows, while the last two were aimed specifically at the head and torso of the 9th one.

That wouldn't be the end of them, however, for another group of 9 showed up and started to move around Isis, in an attempt to cut her off from Lily. Some circled her, while others stayed in place and wanted to gauge the animus's next course of action. Four of the nine ran at Isis. Two of them dived into their shadows, swam over to Isis, then jumped out to stab into her sides, while the other two came at her from the air and aimed to slash her in the event she tried to jump out the way.

Zienna smiled at the older twin's antics; she was like a curious little kitten observing her like she did. When she began touching her, the succubus welcomed the contact, though wished she was just a little more touchy. The demoness suddenly winced when her ticklish sides were prodded, and chuckled lightly, playfully attempting to swat away the girl's hand from those spots. The girl retreated, and Zienna could see she was happy with her observations. She returned the smile with her own.

A moment later, she began asking about how her kind got their nourishment, a topic Zienna was happy to enlighten her with. Maybe even give a little demonstration? The succubus chuckled to herself, which caused the Raven to roll his eyes and relocate to the spike on Wolfram's helmet. She raised a finger but was cut off before any words escaped her lungs. Given the girl's excitement to learn, she was rather amused.

Zienna walked behind the woman and placed her arms around her stomach intimately and let her head rest beside her's. With such a topic, it'd be wrong to simply talk about it like some sort of police interrogation. "Well, firstly," she started, somewhat hushly, "we can get just as much energy from women as men, it's just that men have a better tendency to... scratch a certain itch that women have trouble reaching on their own." She giggled to herself as she playfully squeezed the girl lightly. "They're usually pretty firm as well~ As for how we choose our marks, it's mostly dependent on the succubus' tastes. Some like choosing the first person they see, some like the sensitive ones, and some like to build up them up high before claiming their prize. But sometimes, it's they that calls to us. Oh, and did you know that sometimes succubi, if they like their partner, bring them back to their homes, turning them into an incubus if they were men? They're like an infinite source of energy for us when they're converted. We can convert women as well, it's almost the same process. Do you have any more questions, or would you like a demonstration sometime~?"

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There was definitely something happening between Lily and herself, but Isis couldn't be sure if that was just something Zienna implanted on her mind, making her think one thing meant another. Asking for a clarification on the signals was out of the question. She sighed softly and diverted her brain power to their environment. That had to be her focus now, lest her face be red permanently like an imp.

Her ears twitched, hearing a faint clutter. There were a lot of them, and they were getting surrounded. She turned to warn the other, but she was beaten to it. She nodded to her and charged her blades, causing a few tiny arcs of electricity to dance between the metal. Lily shouted another warning and Isis ducked momentarily to avoid friendly fire. She heard a lot of shots and when she looked back, Lily's attackers had already fallen.

Now it was her turn to fight. Having fought those things recently, their tactics were fresh in her mind. She pushed herself backward to dodge the flanking attacks, then twisted gracefully to avoid the aerial attacks, jabbing the two in the head when they landed. The others who were standing by now charged at her, and she simply moved backwards, luring the seven into being so close to each other before a jet of super-heated steam shot out from her Reaver, momentarily staggering them. She held out her swords straight ahead. The air between the blades heated up at an alarming rate, and soon the space between the blades began to glow. Isis released the energy and a bright laser fired outwards, engulfing all the Neoshadows except one that managed to jump out of harms way. Though, the air was no escape for it as six balls of light quickly locked on to it like missiles. There was a large explosion as all six exploded simultaneously. It took longer than Lily's executions, but the job was done. "A-are there more of them?"

When Zienna responded to Celia's poking of her sides with a giggle, the young lady took note of that and started to formulate plans to have tickle fights with the succubus. However, when it came to Zienna's turn to do a little bit of touching, Celia felt her face heating up just a bit. The way how the woman moved around so gracefully and was gentle with the mage's body, caused her to feel tingling sensations being sent from her stomach, to throughout the rest of her body. She listened to the succubus's words and recorded them down into her memory. Celia was even surprised to learn how an incubus was created, something that she had a lingering question to as well. Her face lit up when the seductive woman mentioned about a certain it and then was squeezed lightly by her. Celia looked down sheepishly and gently bit her bottom lip.

"I don't if she's doing it, but man is she definitely a very seductive woman... That's the power of a succubus alright. Along with everything she's telling me too... I do have more questions, but demonstrations are always better... They tend to yield more results, but who would she demonstrate it on? I'll figure it out after my other set of questions." She told herself softly and perked herself right back up. The mage didn't make any attempts to move away or turn to face Zienna, feeling more like she should allow the succubus to get as comfortable as she needed. Celia didn't mind one bit. "Alrighty, next question! Zienna, when we first met, we noticed you used some type of blindfold. Can you see our energies like an outline or blob or is the fabric for the blindfold thin enough for you to see out of it? Also, what is the blindfold used for? It's makes you so much more mysterious, that it feels my curiosity meter more than it should. Oh, oh, we can also do demonstrations after questions, by the way. I'd be excited to see how you worked!"

The young woman spoke excitedly and fast enough so that the succubus could still understand her. This entire ordeal was proving fruitful with results and information. All that was really left, was the demonstration from Zienna and the news that would eventually arrive from Lily and Isis. Those poor two who were set up on a little play date with other. She wondered how they were faring out there.

Since Lily had already eliminated her targets, she was granted more than enough time to watch as Isis started on taking care of her group. She watched each movement the animus made and noted at how fluid and graceful she worked. Tactically, she was able to discern the patterns and attacks of their foes, maneuvering around them so easily. The gunslinger was thoroughly impressed with what she saw so far, liking how her equipment helped Isis through such a tough crowd of enemies. Eventually, though, she grouped up a large bunch of the Neo-Shadows and what happened next, caused Lily's eyes to widen in surprise. The woman let loose a beam from her swords and from what the younger twin could tell, it was the gathering of super-concentrated heat and magic, that was focused between the swords which are also used to aim the beam, while she fired it off. Lily made sure to get clear beforehand and watched as the Neo-Shadows sizzled. One managed to escape, but was barraged by six exploding missiles.

The gunslinger shifted her attention to Isis after the ideal was over, with sparkles in her eyes. She ran over to Isis and looked at the animus's gear. Her hands holstered her guns and she held one out to Isis and her Reaver, silently asking if she could touch the blades and flight pack. The girl was so excited and interested by what she saw, she wanted to mimic the gear for her own usage. However, she knew that the technology and magic involved with such a versatile piece of equipment, would be hard to replicate. Lily really wanted to take Isis back home with her. Either that, or bring the woman to their eventual castle and just talk for hours on how her equipment worked.

"So beautiful. You're a work of art." Lily said softly, forgetting herself in the thoughts of technology and armaments. Little did she know, she had both complimented the gear Isis wore, as well as the woman herself. "If we get stable and I get my workshop back, can you come over and share with me how it all works?" She asked, speaking a lot more than she usually did. More so, Lily only ever got this excited and talkative, when she was working on things with her older brother. She really enjoyed being in the company of Isis. They were similar in certain ways.