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Valerie isn't sure what to do about this. Did she take a wrong turn? Did she get lost? Crap, she got lost, didn't she? ...Well, no time to get bent up over getting lost. She has a phone, she can just call someone, and she'll be able to get someone to come get her easily.
It's a good thing that Styles is with her, too. She was worried that they might've gotten scared by the ominous terrain, but they seem to be toughing it out. That's good. If they didn't tough it out, then Valerie would've been all alone. But like, c'mon! This place isn't that scary! Styles' got that bravery like she does.
One bar...
Well, if she enters this mansion, will she get better reception?
...
Maybe.
She gently knocks on the door.
The champion wonders who would even live in a place like this. Valerie isn't sure if she believes in ghosts or not, but this seems like the place that would be totally haunted. Ghosts, ghouls, what have you. Though, they better be friendly ghosts, or she's gonna have to call the Spookbusters.
The door opens.
And out comes... a... Is that actually a demon or is that just cosplay??
The demon does a finger gun motion and says, "Heeey!"
Valerie isn't sure what to say. Is this guy actually a demon? ...Well, she isn't sure what to say. She hasn't really been around these parts at all. She's from Australia, not... wherever this is. Maybe there's not that many demons in Australia! That must be it!
Valerie clears her throat. "...Do you think I can call someone in your mansion?"
"Oh, sure thing," The demon nods. He looks really nonchalant about this. "Just be mindful about my younger brother here."
"Yeah..." Valerie steps foot inside, to see the absolutely vast interior at display. She's unsure if she's in awe, but this is the closest to awe that she's been in a while. Well, it's hard to awe her, especially since she's seen stadiums bigger than this.
Though, something tugs at her mind.
...Dammit! She didn't ask the demon his name!!
"Wait, hold on," Valerie looks back at the purple demon. "What... What's your name?"
"Oh. It's Chirval," The demon replies, doing another chillaxed motion. "I'd say it's fair if you're interested in me. I am an incubus, after all."
"No, that's not-" Dammit, Valerie! Say something not stupid! You're blowing this!! "That's... That's all I wanted to know, okay?"
Chirval nods in response.
...Phew.
Well, she certainly didn't know he was an incubus. Does that mean he's... supposed to be more sexually inclined? Romantically inclined? Well, she supposes that's kinda par for the course, unless she's mistaken. She hasn't met a demon until now, so she doesn't really want to accidentally say a microaggression or something.
She walks around, until she nearly bumps into another demon. "Wh- Oh! Sorry."
The other, lighter purple-skinned demon, nervously puts his hands up. "Oh! Nonono, I-I'm sorry! I- I um... I didn't know there was someone else here! I- Sorry!"
Valerie sighs. Well... This must be Chirval's younger brother. She feels bad for bumping into him, but she supposes he could say the same about her. He is... a bit on the more reserved side, isn't he? ...Well, that's what she's getting from him, anyway. He's certainly less confident than his older brother.
"You're uhh..." Valerie snaps her fingers. "Chirval's bro, right?"
"Y-Yeah... You're right..." The younger demon mumbles. "...N-Name's Baezel..."
Valerie looks at the laptop that Baezel is holding. She looks at the peculiar looking stickers. ...Huh. From the looks of the stickers, he seems to like something called 'Demon's Gaea'. Well, Valerie could ask him about that. It's probably one of the few thing's he's passionate about, considering the laptop is absolutely adorned with stickers about it, along with a certain character that she can infer is from that piece of media as well.
"I see that your uh... Your laptop has a lot of Demon's Gaea stickers on it..." Valerie hums, starting a conversation. "You... wanna tell me some stuff about it?"
Baezel smiles and laughs. Wow, she didn't know it was that easy! "Would I ever! It-It's this immersive RPG series where you go on adventures- to- to- And! This character right here!!" He points to one of the stickers that has the character on it. "This is Majiko, my favorite character! She's- She's so relatable! She calls others her peons, but that's because she has this inferiority complex where she..." Baezel trails off after that, continuing to infodump about his favorite series.
...Hm. Well, she's glad that he's so passionate about this thing he likes. It kinda reminds her of her passion for Beastieball. Kinda. It's more reserved, but she supposes that some people can mask their enthusiasm better than others.
"Uhh... That's awesome, Baezel," She appreciates his enthusiasm, but she's not really passionate about this series that she hasn't heard about until now like he is. Though, she doesn't have the heart to tell him. "Maybe if we see each other again, we can play together, or something."
Alright, now she's gonna do the thing that she came here to do. Call someone on her phone. Probably Ace, the person who came with her. She respects them, and she appreciates the extra help with traveling somewhere that she's unfamiliar with.
She opens her phone, and starts dialing Ace's number.
When suddenly, a tiny, fluffy moth humanoid flies into her phone.
Valerie is absolutely confused. "Uhh-"
"Light!! Light, light, light!!!" The small humanoid cheers. "We are enamored by the light of this... device!"
Valerie chuckles. "Do you not know what a phone is?"
"Oh! Maybe we do, maybe we don't," The small moth person hums, flying around Valerie and her phone. "But all that matters is that you have brought light into our lair! And for that, we are eternally grateful!!"
"Yeah, that's..." Valerie sighs. "Uhh... Who are you, anyway?"
"Oh! Of course! Who are we if we don't introduce ourself?" The moth humanoid perches on her phone, and bows. "We are Princess Poffin! Princess of the Moth Kingdom!"
"Wait..." Valerie scratches her chin and furrows her eyebrows. "...This is your kingdom?"
"Oh, of course!" Poffin sings, flying around her phone once more. "Everything the light touches, is our kingdom!"
Alright, cool. That's... totally not weird in the slightest. Honestly, if she was revealed to be a demon as well, that wouldn't really make much difference. In fact, she's 99% sure she is a demon, considering that two incubi live in this house as well. Though, that might just be generalizing again. But who knows? Maybe this Poffin fellow is also a demon!
"Hah... You really enjoy light, huh?" Valerie hums.
"Of course!" The moth princess perches on her phone again. "Light is what gives us life, after all! Without it, we would be lost!"
"Yeah..." Valerie mumbles to herself.
Well, this Poffin fellow seems pretty nice, despite her quirks. Maybe she could get to know her more, but she generally has a hard time socializing with people if they aren't interested in Beastieball...
Hmm...
...Well, maybe she could get the number of one of the incubi that live here, and... maybe the two of them could talk some more? Though, she's not sure if they have phones or not. Maybe they do. Baezel had his laptop, after all.
...Eh, maybe there's another way.
"Hey, Poffin?" Valerie hums. "What do you think of the two of us becoming pen pals?"
"Pen pals...?" Poffin looks up at Valerie, with gleaming eyes. "We have never held a pen before! Maybe we could find a pen small enough for us to hold...?"
Valerie chuckles. With her stature, she could just find a tiny piece of wood and use that as a pen. "Eh, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it."
"Oh! Then, we accept!" The moth princess bows. "During our princessly hours, we shall become your penpal!"
Valerie smiles at the tiny moth princess. "Cool. Make sure that our conversations don't get in the way of your princess duties."
Well, she supposes that could've gotten worse. She could've been a lot meaner, but she supposes she's mellowed out after that whole league debacle.
Honestly, she's glad to have a new pen pal, even if it's gonna be hard to read her tiny messages.