Like a deer caught in headlights, the three girls were staring. Unmoving and unblinking, they held their breath.

It was taking all the willpower that the succubus had to suppress the blush attempting to creep up on her face. Sure, she was ancient, but she had been solitary and incorporeal for eons and she was a bit embarrassed at her juvenile prank.

Putting her shame aside, the demoness glanced about the room. They must be beggars, she speculated. This place is filthy, and it looks like the walls were recently on fire.

Smoke lingered in the air and with trash strewn around the floor, spanning outwards from the kitchen.

They must have taken advantage of a recent fire to stow away in this building for winter. At least they’re resilient despite their frailty, she thought, as the chilly air reached her skin.

Looking around, she saw the tall and skinny one was crying to her mother or some such nonsense while the plump one held some crude weapon in a rather impractical stance.

No doubt she bullies the other street rats for their food, the demon thought. There’s no other way a street kid could put on so much weight.

Seeing the terror written on the faces of her new toys, the demoness shook her head. “Come now.” she mocked, “Is this how you swear loyalty to your new master? A bunch of frightened kittens isn’t enough to make me crawl out of bed.”

Might as well keep up the act, she thought, it’s fairly amusing.

The one with thick limbs plastered a silly grin on her face and, to her surprise, the girl started bashing her head against the floor. This one must have brain damage, she thought. But I did nothing that would cause this; I just copied a few memories.

With obvious enthusiasm and a trickle of blood running down her face, Ashley spoke, “My lady, I swear my fealty to you. My life and soul are yours to command, so long as you take me with you to travel new worlds!”

“That’s a very nice offer, but I already have your lives and your souls,” she replied. But as she noticed the girl’s wandering eyes and obvious blush, she couldn’t help but add, “Don’t worry, I always treat my pets well.”

“Great!” the girl half-shouted as she bounced up with a nervous smile. “So, you’ll treat us well and take us on vacation to another world, right?” she pleaded innocently.

One of those words confused the demoness. She had only taken two days of memory from this bubbly girl, and the word ‘vacation’ was never mentioned.

I don’t want to seem like an incompetent owner; she thought. They must view their master with a sense of awe.

After a bit of pondering, she spoke using a voice eerily similar to the bubbly one, “Hey Android, what is ‘vacation.’”

As she listened to the phone’s reply, she gave herself a mental pat on the back.

I just arrived in this world and already know the local customs for acquiring additional information, she thought. Now I will be viewed as someone who does their research and not some interdimensional tourist.

Seeing that the other occupants were still looking terrible, she decided to demonstrate her benevolence; After all, she needed these toys to be entertaining.

“I am a generous master,” she emphasized, “serve me with loyalty and you can have a vacation every five thousand years!”

With a nod, she watched the bubbly girl leave to fetch refreshments as the frightened duo retreated to their rooms.

I was a bit too generous with my vacation terms, she thought, as she reflected on the bubbly girl’s delighted eyes and blushed cheeks.

--- Sara’s POV ---

Sara was the first to shake off her surprise, but fear etched into her mind. She reached out slowly, with trembling hands and fumbling fingers, to retrieve her earrings. She inherited them when her mother, a priestess, died in an accident.

Sara had never taken off the jewelry; until today.

Until today, she thought, I would have never even thought of doing this a few years ago. Clutching the jewelry to her chest, Sara sobbed on the floor while contemplating the betrayal of her mother’s memory.

“I was just playing with my friend.” she mumbled, “It wasn’t real, just a game. We weren’t supposed to actually summon a demon.”

Sara felt her mind spinning out of control when Ashley’s proclamation reached her ears.

“My lady, I swear my fealty to you. My life and soul are yours to command, so long as you take me with you to travel new worlds!”

The words forced Sara out of her stupor as it redirected all her fear and shame in an instant to form a pure white rage.

This is all her fault, Sara thought. All these years she has been tempting me further and further from my faith. She’s been corrupting me from the very beginning!

As her anger boiled over, she took a deep breath to shout her accusations, but the demoness interrupted.

“That’s a very nice offer, but I already have all your lives and all your souls. Don’t worry, I always treat my pets well.”

These words seemed to pull the air from Sara’s lungs; her anger faded into emptiness. Blaming Ashley is pointless, she realized, it’s too late anyway. I betrayed my mother, and I betrayed my faith. What’s done is done, she sighed, and I can only blame myself. Head lowered, she resigned into a slump.

Lost in thought, it seemed like only moments passed before Lisa guided her away. For a moment, Sara’s kindle of anger tried to reignite and shift its target to Lisa.

She had talked me into it, Sara thought, but quickly pushed it down. Her mother had always told her to accept her mistakes, and she wouldn’t break this promise as well.

Blinking, Sara found herself in the bathroom. She heard Lisa talking to her, but couldn’t make out the words. It was as if she wasn’t completely there; viewing reality through a hazy lens. She made out Lisa’s tone though. It was her same suave indifference that Lisa layered over everything. As if a demon summoning were just another Monday.

Usually, Sara finds this tone dull tone annoying, but at the moment she used the normalcy to regain her clarity. “I’m alright now,” she whispered, “I can bathe myself.”

“You know, it might not be the end of the world,” said Lisa, “sure Ash says we were summoning a demon, but I saw it change into that. It was something else at first. Who knows, maybe it's god. Or maybe an angel.”

“That thing is not God.” With some heat in her voice, Sara continued, “Why would God take such a horrific form? Why would he steal our souls?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Lisa drolled, “Didn’t you always say that god works in mysterious ways? If the devil is a fallen angel, wouldn’t angels also look similar? Maybe it's god saving us from an actual demon. We are still alive after all.”

Sara scrubbed herself without replying.

“I’ll go get you some clean clothes. Anything in particular you want to wear?”

“Just get another robe from Ash. I don’t feel fit to wear anything else right now.”