Chapter Two - What Did You Do?!

*Contains one mid-level cuss word. Shield your eyes, children!*

"Ava, what the hell happened?!" Emerald whispered fiercely over her shoulder. "All you had to do was take out the trash and not be late to that interview! Where did these guys come from?!"

"I don't know! I found them all in the alley by the dumpster then they grabbed me and hung me in a tree and I missed my interview and then they came back and the red one set the tree on fire and then I tried to pull off his horns, only the horns didn't come off and then I passed out and woke up here and then you came out with a baseball bat and now we're stuck here and -"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Emerald sighed. She knew if Ava started panicking, they'd never get out of here in one piece. "Look, just calm down. I'll find a way to get you out. It looks like they're fascinated by your bra... if you throw that pan, I'll cover you while you make a break for the door."

"What about you?!"

"Hey, I've got a bat. I'll be fine." Emerald nodded towards the white-haired man. "Do you think if I smack him a bit, we could both make it?" She grinned, despite how nervous she felt. "They all seem pretty distracted. We'd have more than enough of a window to get to the stairs."

"I mean...if you're sure..."

"Trust me. Just let me hit the green one before you take off." She lowered her voice further, readying the bat in her hand. "On three. One...Two...THREE!"

At the signal, Ava chucked the frying pan as hard as she could into the group. As it happened, she landed a decent hit right on the red one's face. She took off screaming right through the middle, ignoring Emerald's advice to wait until the path was clear.

The older woman didn't have time to be disappointed as she swung the bat towards the green one's ribs. She felt it connect with something, but didn't check as she dropped it and ran after Ava as quickly as she could.

Just as she was about to round the corner, something hard collided with Emerald's back and it hurt. It knocked her down, sending her skidding into the wall near her bedroom. The back of her head bounced off the baseboard, filling her vision with stars and winding her. Her glasses flew off, sliding under the door into the laundry room. She was vaguely aware of Ava screaming her name.

"Run!" Emerald managed to yell out, shaking her head to try and clear her vision as she began to stand back up, trying to ignore the dull pain running through her side. It was then she felt something sharp against her throat.

"Don't. Move." A low, menacing warning was whispered in her ear.

Emerald froze, knowing very well she was completely at her captor's mercy at the moment. If anything, she didn't want to risk them turning their attention to Ava. If she could just keep them distracted -

"Subdue her," came another voice. "We can't risk her attracting the attention of other humans."

There was a flash of green and Emerald felt herself losing consciousness. Just before she went completely under, Ava's scream broke through her daze.

Dammit.

* * * * *

"Nonononono... "

Ava was gibbering, she knew that. But she also knew she'd just heard Emerald get smashed into the wall hard. As she turned to check, she was shocked to see the light-blue garbed demon right behind her. He swiftly grabbed her, pulling her towards his chest in an iron grip before turning back towards the apartment.

Ava screamed at what she saw.

Emerald appeared to be unconscious, the white-haired demon still holding one of his daggers against her throat. The dark blue demon was nearby, looking her over.

The latter finally noticed Ava watching and spoke to the green one. "Leif, make peace with her. I'll restrain this one."

The one called 'Leif' approached, putting away his weapons and speaking softly. "It's okay, calm down. We're not gonna hurt you."

Not going to hurt her?! Bullshit! Ava saw what they did to Emerald, there was no way they were going to treat her any differently!

She kept screaming.

"Heyheyhey, look at me." He flashed her a smile full of fangs. It was like getting a grin from a shark."

AHHHHHHAHAHAAAA! HE'S GOT TEETH! AHHHHHH!"

"What did I do?" Leif seemed genuinely confused.

The little orange demon looked impressed. "Wow, never seen someone reject your smile like that."

"She seems to be immune to your charm. Perhaps a cultural misunderstanding." The dark blue one came up, looking vaguely annoyed. "She's going to alert the other Ee-urth residents. Calm her down, now!"

Ava felt a hand clamp over her mouth, the demon behind her shifting his grip to hold her with only his left arm. 'They're going to kill us they're going to kill us THEY'REGOINGTOKILLUS!'

* * * * *

Noi clapped his hands. "Haha, good job Pierce!"

"Indeed." Rhys nodded, feeling somewhat relieved. It was bad enough the two human females had attacked them, even worse they had both scored direct hits. The larger female in particular seemed to be a sort of caretaker for the smaller, given how she had tried to buy the latter some time to escape. Who knows what could have happened if Pierce hadn't head-butted her into the wall on his way to capture the little one...

Asch gave an annoyed sigh next to him. "The noise is still unbearable! Ugh!" The Daemos prince formed a small fireball in his right hand. "I'll shut her up!"

"Asch, stop! We need her to trust us, hurting her isn't going to help us..." Rhys trailed off, glancing down at the larger human female. Belatedly, he realized it would be much harder to convince this small human female they meant no harm after what they had done.

Well, at least Pierce and Leif hadn't killed her. She would probably make a full recovery in no time, then they'd all be able to move past this particular unpleasantness.

Confident in his logic, Rhys nodded to himself. "We'll just wait for her to stop, which should be aaaany moment now..."

THREE HOURS LATER

"Let me try something."

Rhys realized he was vaguely impressed. He didn't think the small human female would be able to sustain this level of resistance. It was becoming painfully obvious she wasn't going to stop on her own. No, the only thing that might calm her down at this point was her companion...which would mean releasing and waking the large human female.

"We've tried nothing, and we're all out of ideas." Asch was coming dangerously close to making a very rash decision.

"I have an idea."

"You couldn't have had one sooner?" Noi whined.

"Silence!" Rhys approached the unconscious human female, waving his hand to dispel the bonds he had summoned earlier. Despite being unbound, she showed no signs of stirring from the cushions. "Leif, awaken her."

The former assassin's hand glowed green for a brief moment, quickly fading.

* * * * *

Emerald groaned softly, slowly opening her eyes. She had hazy memories of running... something hitting her... Ava screami -

"Ava!" Emerald shot up, instantly regretting her decision as pain exploded behind her eyes and along her side. She curled into herself, taking a few hissing breaths through her teeth.

"Human."

Emerald forced herself to look up where the voice had come from. The dark blue cosplayer from earlier was in front of her, waving his hand to get her attention. She focused on his face, a little concerned with how her ears were ringing, making him sound like he was underwater.

"My apologies for what occurred earlier. We require your assistance in... quieting your companion."

"Ava?" Emerald became aware of muffled screaming from her left. She turned, shocked to see the young woman firmly restrained in the arms of the light-blue cosplayer. "Hey!" She began pushing herself up off the couch. "I don't know what the deal is with you guys, but - "

Emerald stopped short for two reasons. For one, her head was swirling and making everything go sideways.

The other was the very hot ball of fire being held inches from her face, behind which she could see the furious eyes of the white-horned cosplayer. "Watch your tone, human," he snarled, moving closer. "Or I'll burn that attitude right out of you."

"Asch, no!" The first cosplayer shot his hand out, blocking the fireball. "We need her help! Threatening her isn't going to make this any easier."

Emerald let out a short bark of laughter, causing the two men to look at her in shock. "Ava's really been giving you a hard time, huh?" She slowly stood up, feeling the world tilt dangerously again. "Ugh," she groaned, bringing a hand to her side.

"Are you all right?" The dark blue one came up to her right side, carefully taking her arm to support her.

Reluctantly, Emerald accepted his help. "I'll be okay. You guys just rang my bell a bit." She grimaced. "You also might have cracked a rib or two."

She felt him tense up beside her. "I apologize! It was not our intent to harm you!"

"Shh..." Emerald started walking towards where Ava was still panicking. "Not so loud. Bad enough Ava's going berserk..."

Once they were standing in front of Ava, Emerald clapped her hands together once, loudly. "Ava!

"To everyone's surprise, it silenced her instantly.

"That...worked?!" The orange-clad cosplayer was still incredulously reacting to everything around him.

The green one (Leif?) popped up from his position beside the couch. "Why didn't you think to try that sooner?"

"Hey, not my fault...you waited so long to... wake me up." Emerald was gasping, holding her side. Just clapping had jostled her more than she'd been prepared for. She took a careful breath, focusing her eyes on Ava. "Ava, let them talk. No more screaming..." she trailed off, her next word barely more than a whisper. "...please..."

Ava nodded once, her eyes fixed on the older woman.

Emerald's living crutch nodded back. "Good. All right, Pierce. Let her go."

* * * * *

"H-heh heh. Heh-heh-heh.. Oh... one, one second." Ava helped Emerald up from her position leaning against the coffee table. "You come with me. Important girl talk time."

Emerald offered no objection as Ava led her down the hallway. She wobbled slightly, the smaller woman's stature apparently making it hard for her to keep her balance.

"Why is she going to the death room?" Leif sounded worried.

"Perhaps...to make communication." Rhys seemed confused. "Or perhaps to attend to the large human female's wounds."

"B-b-bu-but what if they alert - ?!"

"Patience, Noi." Rhys silenced the young Daemos. "We need to give them trust before we can earn it ourselves. Especially after what happened earlier." He turned to Pierce. "Was it necessary to hit her into the wall like that?"

To his credit, Pierce looked apologetic. "It was not my intention to harm her."

* * * * *

Ava carefully helped Emerald sit down on the bathmat near the tub, then went over and splashed her own face with cold water.

"Th-this is a dream, right? This is some kind of sexy dream I'm having right now that just is stupidly weird and informative."

"If that's the case...I wish you would've left me out of it." Emerald rested her head back against the side of the bathtub, closing her eyes.

"Hey, no sleeping." Ava retrieved the hand towel next to the sink. After wetting half of it, she knelt by Emerald's side and put the damp cloth on the older woman's forehead. "What hurts?"

"You mean besides my sense of self-worth?"

"Em, this is serious. You probably have a concussion." Ava paused. "How're your ribs?"

Emerald groaned as she lifted up the edges of her shirt. "You tell me. I can't look down right now without feeling like I'm gonna keel over."

Ava let out a soft gasp.

"That bad, huh?"

"They're pretty bruised up, but it doesn't look like anything's poking out weird." Ava gently ghosted her fingers over where the bruising seemed a little heavier. "Doesn't feel like anything's broken."

Emerald hissed out a groan. "... fantastic..."

"Sorry!" Ava carefully lowered Emerald's shirt again. "Just... try to relax. I'll think of something." She turned away, muttering softly to herself. "Okayokayokay. Think smart, Ava. We are outnumbered here." She patted down her pockets. "... aand my phone has gone off somewhere. Those guys probably took it. Wait!" She turned back to Emerald. "Your phone! We can use your phone to -"

"... in my room." She cracked one eye open. "It's probably dead by now, though. It wasn't plugged in when your new 'friends' came to visit."

Ava let out a curse under her breath, getting up to pace. "Okay, so... there's no way they're actual real demons, right? Yeah! They're probably just some optical illusion on us or something. Maybe on drones...? Wait... I've got it!" She knelt back down by Emerald. "What if we just ditched them?"

"... and how do you plan on doing that?"

"By luring them outside. Honestly, they seem kind of dumb. If I can convince them to follow me to a place where there's lots of people, maybe even some cops, then - "

"Won't that make them mad?"

"Probably."

"I don't think I can take another hit like before." Emerald began to stand up, the towel falling from her forehead. "But, if you're sure..."

"Whoa!" Ava carefully grabbed her arm, helping the woman sit on the edge of the bathtub. "You're staying right here: you can barely stand up! There's no way you'll be able to walk all the way to City Hall."

"I can't let you go alone!" Emerald tried to stand again, but her legs wouldn't cooperate. She leaned heavily on Ava's shoulder, waiting for the world to stop spinning. "Ava, please... don't do this. It's not... safe."

"It'll be fine. I don't think they're dumb enough to do anything super obvious out in public. Especially if I can get them near a cop or two." Ava helped Emerald back down to the floor. "The sooner I get them out of here, the sooner we can get you to an emergency room." She smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "And hey, I can probably get one of them to carry you over to the couch so you'll be more comfortable."

"That's... not really what I'm... worried about, though..."

"Trust me. Everything will be okay." Ava spun around and marched to the door, opening it to reveal all five demons standing there in a semi-circle. "Okay. I can help you guys."

"You can?" The dark-blue one (was his name Rhys?) seemed hopeful.

"I can! In fact, I know the perfect people who can help you!"

"Other...humans?" The one called Pierce sounded apprehensive.

"Should we trust this?!" Leif gave Rhys a disbelieving look.

"Anything to help us is greatly appreciated," the latter answered.

"Under one condition: first, you have to get my friend over to the couch."

"Ca-ouch?"

"The cushion-y thing you had her lying on earlier, before she woke up. You guys hit her pretty hard and she can't make it back over by herself."

Asch snorted angrily. "Who do you think you are giving orders t-"

"Okay." Pierce entered the bathroom, emerging soon with Emerald aloft bridal-style in his arms. He had his hands positioned in such a way as to not further aggravate her damaged ribs, Emerald leaning her head into the crook of his neck as another wave of dizziness hit her.

Ava led him to the couch, supervising as he gently laid the larger woman down. She bent in close to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry. I'll ditch them in no time and be back before you know it."

"... don't... go..." Emerald pawed weakly at Ava's arm.

"Shhh. Just get some rest. I've got this." Standing, she turned to Pierce. "Okay. Let's go back to the others and get you guys taken care of."

* * * * *

"Emerald!"

The woman in question slowly opened her eyes, wondering where that annoying sound was coming from. She found herself propped up against the bookcase near the front door. How did she get here? It definitely wasn't very comfortable...

Ava's worried face came into focus. "Please don't be dead please don't be dead," came an urgent muttering, almost like a mantra.

Emerald grunted. "... not dead... Ava."

"Good."

The older woman froze as she heard another voice that definitely wasn't one she wanted to hear. "Plan didn't... work out?" she whispered to Ava.

Ava sighed. "Not exactly, no." Her face grew serious again. "What happened to you? You were resting on the couch when we left. How'd you get all the way over here?!"

"Got worried." Emerald began trying to stand up. "Tried to... follow you. Didn't get very... far..." Her arms gave out and she fell back towards the bookcase...

...only for a strong hand to catch her gently behind her back, cushioning the blow. Turning slightly, she was surprised to see the dark blue cosplayer next to her.

"My deepest apologies," he stated sincerely, helping her to stand. "We will help you get settled, then see to your injuries. Pierce, if you would - "

"Okay." The one called Pierce lifted her in his arms again, carrying her in the same manner he had before.

"A-ava?" Emerald was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by the sudden focus.

Luckily, Ava caught on quickly. "Her room is this way. Follow me." She led the way, pushing open the door and flicking the lights on in one fluid movement.

Emerald's room wasn't a place anyone entered except for her. It stood out from the rest of the apartment simply by how neat it was. The walls were painted a light khaki, powder-blue curtains framing the window and a matching shaggy carpet covering the floor. The bed was smaller than the one in Ava's room, covered by a fluffy sapphire-blue comforter over white sheets. The walls were bare, except for a few framed certificates near Emerald's work desk.

As he carried her to the bed, Pierce looked at her seriously. "I wish to apologize for causing you injury. It was not my intention to hurt, merely stun."

"That... was you?" Emerald huffed out a careful laugh. "For what it's worth... apology accepted."

Ava motioned to the bed. "Right here. Carefully," she warned.

With a gentleness not at all in keeping with his size, Pierce successfully lowered Emerald onto her mattress. She gave him a careful nod, then looked at Ava. "... think you could give me a little privacy? I need to get changed..."

Ava nodded, turning to Pierce. "Okay, out with you. No peeking!"

"But - "

"Nope! I'll let you know when she's done." She finished ushering him out the door, closing it behind him.

* * * * *

It took longer than it usually did, but Emerald eventually managed to change into her pajamas. Ava led her back to the bed, helping her sit down again but still accidentally jostling her a little bit. "Sorry!"

"It's...fine," Emerald assured her, grunting as she laid back against her pillow. Her head was spinning and her ribs were on fire, but she didn't think anything was flat-out broken. "Not every day... I get head-butted into a wall... by a hot guy..."

Ava rolled her eyes. "Now I know you're loopy. You'd never say that if you weren't concussed."

"Hey... I can appresh- appr- enjoy a nice set of... arms."

"Try to get some rest. I'll make sure they don't bother you."

"I'm... sorry," Emerald whispered softly.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I... couldn't keep you... safe."

"Stop it. None of this is your fault. I'm pretty sure my parents didn't think we'd have a group of weird demon guys breaking into the apartment and taking us hostage."

"They are... pretty weird." Emerald paused. "You think they're... real?"

"You mean, do I think there are currently five hot guys in the apartment acting out some sort of crazy game only they understand and we have no choice but to play along with it and hope they don't kill us both in our sleep?"

"No. I mean... what they said. About their world... and the monster and stuff..."

Before Ava could answer, Leif strolled through the door.

* * * * *

"Hey, I'm supposed to make the big one less hurty."

It seemed to take the larger human female a while to process what he meant. "You're going to... fix me? After I smacked you with a bat?"

"Trust me, if Rhys hadn't told me to I wouldn't be here at all." He gave his signature grin. "If it was up to me, I'd have killed you when you were lying on the floor after Pierce smashed into you."

"...yeah, that's fair," she murmured. "Sorry about, you know... hitting you. Are you okay?"

"What?!" The little human female stared at her companion incredulously.

"Really?!" Leif found himself stunned.

"Are. You. Okay?" The big one closed her eyes. "Sorry if I'm... not being clear. My head... hurts..."

Leif slid his expression back to neutral. "I can take care of that." He approached quickly, holding his hand out and placing it on her forehead. As he focused his magic, he made a cursory investigation of the rest of her. 'Definitely a couple cracked ribs. Surprised she managed to get as far as she did.'

His hand glowed bright green as he directed his attention towards her head and chest. As he let his magic do its work, Leif slipped a little sedation in with the healing. 'Last thing we need is her causing any more problems for us tonight. She seems the more threatening of the two.'

When Leif opened his eyes, he was surprised to see the larger human female's eyes still open, albeit barely.

"Em? Are you okay?" The little human female came in close to her companion.

"...yeah... gonna' sleep... now..." Her eyes closed completely and she went limp.

* * * * *

After covering Emerald with a blanket from the foot of her bed, Ava closed the door and rejoined all the guys in the hallway, Leif by her side. "So you guys really are demons."

"Daemos!" Rhys shouted, exasperated.

"Whatever. So... you guys have nowhere to stay?"

"Nope." The pink-haired one shook his head. "We don't have a home here on Ee-urf."

Ava sighed, resigned. "Fine. You guys can crash here tonight."

"Huh, we weren't going to take 'no' for an answer." The one with the furry shoulder smirked. "You are our prisoner, and you will do as I command."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. You need to get your manners in check."

"Huh?!"

"Look, I'm just... tired from all of this, especially after what happened to Em. So you guys make yourself at home, and don't steal anything. Blankets are in the closet and don't come into my room or Em's room! Okay? Okay."

With that, Ava went into her room and slammed the door. After a moment, she opened it up again. "But I swear to God, if I end up murdered, in the morning I'm coming back to haunt all of you forever!"