No matter how much I don't want to believe it, the undeniable truth is right in front of me. My own sister has been transformed into a succubus. I never wanted her to get involved. I thought I was doing well keeping her out of this succubus dilemma.
Where did I go wrong?
"Hatsumi!" Mio's sudden shout causes me to flinch. "Whatever she's told you is a lie. It's all that bitch ever does!"
"I'm sorry, Mio. Your sister has shown me how much more terrifying the Demon Lord is. This is the only way I can protect Saeko, and for her, no sacrifice is too great." Her grip on the black sword tightens. It begins to glow with energy, and as it does, I feel my own strength slowly being sapped away.
"Thank you, Saeko." Beatrice says, sneering. "Your sexual escapades were invaluable in charging up the Blade."
Just hearing Beatrice talk now is pissing me off. "Sis, how is this protecting me? Can't you see that she's using you?"
Hatsumi shakes her head. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. At first, I didn't either. Even if you hate me, I'll still love you. Everything I do is for you."
An explosion blasts the roof. The old and rotting wood burns fast, setting the temple ablaze in a matter of seconds. Everyone's jaw drops seeing Mio's smoking hand. Beatrice and Hatsumi float just above the wreckage.
"You sound just like Bea now. That's exactly the kind of shit I hate," Mio says, scowling.
Beatrice's smile widens like that of the Cheshire cat. A black orb accumulates energy on her palm. "Little sisters should listen to their elder sisters. Don't you think, Hatsumi?"
The orb is fired at us. Hitomi opens a portal to swallow the spell, and spit it back out in front of them. It explodes between Hatsumi and Beatrice. We give chase as they fly further into the sky.
Hatsumi traces a circle in the air with the sword and fires a barrage of black orbs. We barely dodge out of the way as it explodes behind us, much larger in magnitude than Beatrice's spell.
Hana, Yumi, and Mio have flown closer to Beatrice to engage her. They fling spells in every direction, and the ones that come too close for comfort are blocked by Yumi's barriers. I'm too distracted by their battle to notice a blast of fire coming towards me. Hitomi tackles me out of the way.
My sister stands between us and the other battle raging above us.
"Hatsumi, you don't have to do this. Fight with us instead!" I plead.
"There were many things I didn't need to do. I could have followed my dreams, left the city, stayed with Kotaro. Can't you understand I'm doing this for you?"
It's no use. Is the only way to get to her is defeating her? I don't want to hurt my own sister, but it's looking like the only option I have.
Hitomi and I lay into my sister with our spells. I can't hesitate. What I need to do is get the sword back first. Hatsumi comes out of the barrage uninjured. She slices the air in front of us. A blade of energy slams into us both, sending us crashing to the ground.
Hatsumi lands next to us and slams her leg into Hitomi's chest, kicking her away. I throw out a punch, but my fist stops short of making contact. My sister's face is less than an inch away, it's the same face I've always remembered.
"I know this is hard for you. Let me just remove the troublesome part of you." She strokes my cheek with the back of her hand. My body feels a whole lot lighter. "Aww. Now you're just as I remembered!"
Hatsumi tries to kiss me, but I slap her hand away and race to Hitomi. She's flat on the ground, blood trickling from her mouth. As I help her up, I'm struggling more than usual to lift her head.
Hitomi looks as though she's seeing things. "S-Saeko…? You're—"
Meteors crash down around us, debris from the impact cut into my skin. Pain that I haven't felt in a long time agonizes my body. I quickly realize it's Mio, Hana, and Yumi who have been sent hurling down.
There's no winning here. I have to get them out somehow.
When I try to fly, I don't take off. My feet stay glued to the ground.
I can't fly anymore. I don't feel my horns, and I can't see my tail behind me. What I do see is a penis between my legs. "I've been… transformed back into a boy…?"
Behind me, the others are beaten and bruised. Hana and Hitomi have fallen unconscious. Mio and Yumi can barely move, let alone stand.
Hatsumi lands on her feet and comes rushing towards me. "Saeko, are you hurt?"
"Stay back!" I stand between her and the others. The only thought in my mind, even as weak as I've become now, is that I have to protect them. Behind me are my friends who asked nothing from me, expected nothing from me, and treated me like one of their own. Behind me, is someone I love.
"You're bleeding! Let me patch you up before you lose too much blood." She takes another step forward.
"Don't pretend to care about me! You're not my sister anymore. The Hatsumi I know would never hurt me or my friends. You're a fake. You just love the thought of loving me. If you really do love me then give me my real sister back!"
Hot tears stream down my eyes, as the words leaving my mouth were just as hard to say.
"That's not… true…" Hatsumi reaches out, but pulls back, hurt by what I've said.
Beatrice flies down next to Hatsumi and stretches her arms like she'd just woken up. She wipes the drool from her lips, staring at me as though I'm the prize she won from this battle.
"Oh, I can't wait to ravish you. I'll make you my personal fuck toy, have you on a leash and collar, on your hands and knees with a gag in your mouth. Come to think of it, you're still a virgin as a boy. Shall I be your first, Saeko?"
Hatsumi raises the sword to block Beatrice from coming any further. "Don't you dare touch my Saeko."
"Pardon?" Beatrice scoffs.
"Did I stutter?" My sister turns around to face Beatrice. "Don't. Touch. My. Saeko."
"Pfft… kahahahaha! You forget your place. I made you." Beatrice creates an explosion that sends Hatsumi skidding to me.
Hatsumi drops to her knees, clutching her stomach. The blast looks to have taken her by surprise. She gets to her feet and flies at Beatrice again. Hatsumi is pelted with a barrage of spells, she tries to deflect as many as she can but just as she reaches Beatrice, another blast sends her flying back.
She continues to rise to her feet despite the injuries. Beatrice is clearly the stronger of the two. I almost want Hatsumi to stop. She should have stayed as the succubus I hated, not the sister I missed.
Hatsumi dives in again, unleashing powerful spells this time, but Beatrice is able to deflect them with her bare hands. A blinding explosion disintegrates the ground between me and Beatrice. Hatsumi lands at my feet, a smoking mess.
"Hatsumi!" When I help her up, my human hands burn from touching her skin.
The tears steam as they leave her eyes. "You were right. I am a failure of a big sister."
"No, you're not perfect. But you're still my sister."
"Hehe. Ah… everywhere hurts. How about giving your beloved big sis a kiss?" Hatsumi still has the audacity to ask me for something like that after everything that's happened so far.
Even though it's a silly request, I feel compelled. Maybe it's her succubus aura, but I lean down to kiss her anyway. My lips burn, it's like pressing it against a lit stovetop. I pull away embarrassed, but she's already gone limp in my arms.
A surge of magical energy sinks into her body, and then travels into the sword. I take it from Hatsumi's hand and stand to meet Beatrice.
"Kahaha! What does a mere human hope to—"
The Blade of the First Temptress resonates with something inside me. Magical power courses through my veins, transforming me back into a succubus. And, I've lost my penis a second time.
"W-What?!" Beatrice croaks.
"You tried to turn me against Mio. You tried to bring Hitomi to your side, and then you tried to convince me to join you. When all of that failed, you tried to turn my own sister against me. And guess what? That failed, too. You can't force people to love you, Beatrice. It doesn't work that way, and that's why you're going to fail again." I raise the Blade at her.
Beatrice falters back. "Where are my succubus?! Get out here and fight!"
"I don't need to tell you why they're gone. Do I?" This time, I'm sneering.
"Kuh… cocky, aren't you?" Beatrice summons a dozen black orbs that float around her. "This changes nothing. I'm better."
Behind me, I hear Hitomi groaning as she comes to consciousness. She whispers very quietly, "Go."
A green aura envelopes my body, healing me of my injuries. I charge forward. A black portal opens up in front of me, and as soon as I enter it, I come through the other side right next to Beatrice.
"You're alone is what you are!" I plunge the sword into her chest.
She clutches the blade, grinning as the black orbs explode all around us. "I am the First. I am the true Queen."
A portal, not of Hitomi's making, rips open behind Beatrice. An abyssal vortex of swirling darkness. Dread fills my entire body as both of us are being sucked into it. I can't wrench the sword from her grasp, she's clutching it hard despite holding it from the blade.
"Saeko!" Mio calls out my name as her arms wrap around my chest. "Let go of her, you shitty excuse for a sister!"
Beatrice starts laughing. "No one will love you as much as I do, Mio."
"You're sick. Spend a few years in solitary confinement and then come back to me, bitch." Mio spits at Beatrice, but it lands on her hands instead.
Mio's pulling me back, but in doing so, we're pulling Beatrice with us. She holds out her hand, a swirling black orb coalesces, much more condensed and full of power than the previous ones. I get deja vu from the time when she gathered energy into her hands in the classroom.
A blast this powerful may kill us all, and Beatrice is willing to risk that to take the sword with her. Before it can go off, her hands slide along the blade slickened by Mio's spit, and now the blood that's dripping over it. Beatrice slips into the portal. Her laughter disappears as the portal closes, leaving us in silence.
We fall onto each other onto the hard stone of the temple grounds. I realize by the soft cushion on my head that I'm lying on Mio's chest.
"Whew. I'm going to need an orgy after today." Mio says, hugging me from behind.
The others, having regained consciousness, rush up to us. Hatsumi grabs the both of us and brings us into her arms, clutching us tightly.
"I'm so sorry, you two. I never meant to hurt any of you… I thought I was doing the right thing…" Hatsumi tears drip down our faces.
Mio is uncharacteristically embarrassed. For all the times she expressed how much she wanted to have sex with Hatsumi, she's surprisingly weak to this sort of affection.
"No, I'm sorry for keeping this a secret from you." Mio says. "All of this happened because I turned Saeko into a succubus. If anything, I don't deserve your apology."
I try to shake my head despite being held onto by their vise. "
Hatsumi pouts. "Looks like I have to punish both of you. As your older sister it's only right."
"S-Sister…?" Mio begins to choke up.
"Of course. You're family, remember?" Hatsumi says, stroking Mio's hair. "Isn't that right, Saeko?"
"Hatsumi can be a bit overbearing, but she's at least a better older sister than Beatrice," I add.
Hatsumi pouts even more. "I feel like that was an insult!"
Mio swallows hard, fighting back tears. She laughs quietly between sobs. "The hell, you guys… you were supposed to be angry at me…"
"Hey…" A high pitched voice from behind interrupts us. Hana is crawling on the floor clutching her stomach. "Can we have kebabs for dinner today? I'm starving!"