Smack
Crunch
Crash
It was a place outside the city where Emi had dragged her, she knew they would return eventually to the place she had brought her earlier, but right now it was just a place to get beat up.
It was nearly midnight, but the brutal training continued, the room was soundproof thanks to Emi's twisted magic. And after some last punches, Raven fell to the ground defeated once again. She was improving fast, but she lacked combat experience. It wasn't enough to just acquire raw power, a mindless monster was powerful, but learning how to conduct the power was the difference between a person holding it and a beast.
"Pathetic! Disgusting!" Emi kicked Raven who rolled on the ground, and threw the painful potion at her again, she twisted in the ground and stood up, whimpering and sobbing.
"I'm gonna make you pay for all of this!" Raven shouted fueled by her anger.
"Then make me pay with your claws, Raven!" Answered the trickster taunting her with her voice.
"Aaaaah!!"
The battle was short and intense, this time Raven managed to claw her face drawing blood, but she wasn't strong enough to resist the barrage of punches and kicks, even if she now could dodge and block some of Emi's attacks, she wasn't nearly good enough to bring her down on her own. She understood that Emi's was stronger than her, but it wasn't just a thing about levels, it was about experience.
"Waaaaaaaah!!" Raven received three punches in under a second on her shattered ribs, but she also managed to punch her hard in the face, which made her smile.
"Remove that stupid goofy smile from your face you bitch!" Screamed Emi but her own voice deceived her, and revealed she was quite amused.
"As if I wouldn't be happy you bastard!"
And so, the cycle of endless fighting continued, each time Raven was defeated, she was brought back by the disgusting potions used by Emi, she had grown used somewhat to the intense pain of her bones being put back together. And finally, at the last encounter as Raven felt a kick connected to her solar plexus and was sent flying, she heard it inside her mind.
<
Darkness...
She was engulfed in darkness...
That night Raven dreamed of a distant happy life with Fuwa, both being silly and happy. But for some reason, it looked so distant. Was it even a real possibility? So, the dream ended up feeling like a dull version of what happiness could have brought her, it was as if she was looking from the outside at someone living the happy life that should be hers.
And so... when she woke up, she couldn't help but feel an empty void in her heart. Emi's cheerful voice shattered the stillness of the morning like glass against stone.
"Good morning, kitten! Rise and shine. We've got a big day ahead"
She was naked, on a big bed. Her body was devoid of any injury, it seemed as if she had been dragged here when she finally collapsed. It was very comfy, but it didn't bring her any special joy, she was just alive, for now at least.
"Shut up, so loud!" She said throwing a pillow at Emi, she could tell where she was just by her hearing.
"Come on! Don't be like that!" Emi said laughing her ass off at her reaction of Raven "Okay, okay~"
Then she jumped and landed near the cat girl, who was startled by the presence of her captor.
"Don't be like that~ You are too ugly for my tastes!" Said Emi laughing "But okay, let's talk about business"
"Eh?" Said Raven confused.
"What? You thought I brought you with me just to be a sandbag? No, you are actually a key piece for this operation... if everything goes well... I can offer you something you may be interested"
"I don't want anything that comes from you!"
"Come on~!"
"Go to hell" Raven muttered, her voice low and flat.
"Already there, sweetie" Emi purred "And guess what? You're coming with me"
"What?" Raven said but then she felt Emi's hands on her hips, which made every nerve and fiber of her body feel repulsion.
"Listen here you punk, this is the deal..." She said as her hand moved to Raven's belly "We can offer you safe passage, for you and your sweetheart across a dimensional gate, if you help us here, ain't a bad deal, right?"
"Ugh!" Raven wanted to protest, but she was immobilized by a dark aura released by her captor, the idea wasn't bad actually... if she could just take Fuwa and get away from here it would be amazing... "What's the deal?"
Emi laughed as she kept playing with Raven's body as if it would be the most normal thing ever.
"You just have to pretend to be Princess Nyatalia!" She said raising both her hands "Don't you worry, all her family is dead, actually she is dead too, but that doesn't matter! They got killed by the humans but nobody cares, at least neither you nor me"
Raven swallowed her saliva making a sound, she didn't like this.
"What's the catch?"
"There is no catch you stupid cat, does all the members of your race are so stupid?" She asked with curiosity "Maybe you all are cute but dumb!"
"Grrrr..." Raven growled offended.
"Shut it!" Ordered Emi "Don't cha worry, we will pretend you have amnesia, we can say we found and protected you from the nasty humans, this benefits you and me!"
"Why do you want me to do something so stupid?" Asked Raven "I'm not princess material!"
"Of course not, you are vulgar, and nasty, and have a sharp tongue, and no grace, and almost no feminine, and did I mention that you are vulgar?"
Raven was at a loss for words.
"But Nyatalia disappeared eighteen years ago when she was a baby, her whole family was killed in an ambush, and these mongrels only care about bloodlines, since you resemble her everything will go smoothly, they haven't lost their noble status, and since you are strong enough with that rare black hair, you are good enough to pose as her" Then Emi laughed "Well you like it or not, I already announced you as her"
Raven's ears flattened against her head, and her tail lashed furiously "You what?!" she shouted, her voice echoing with a mixture of outrage and disbelief.
Emi clapped her hands together, her twisted cheerfulness returning "Perfect! I'll have a maid bring you something suitable to wear. We've got a lot of work to do, Princess Nyatalia" She spun on her heel, her laughter echoing as she left the room "Or you want to be presented naked? Not like I care, but if you do you are bound to have some fun time with lots of people"
"Shut up and bring me something to wear!" Raven screamed panicking.
Raven moved from one side to another on the bed, her mind racing. Pretending to be a princess? She barely even knew how to act like a normal person, let alone royalty. But if it meant keeping Fuwa safe, she'd have to figure it out. She would do this stupid charade and then she would leave this stupid world, even if she had to drag Fuwa by the neck.
"Oh, right now you are free from the eyes restrain, but if you keep trusting too much on your stupid eyes I'm going to rip them appart" Emi said making a sound with her fingers and the blindfold fell from Raven's face.
As the trickster left the room, Raven felt ashamed and flustered, she didn't want to go on with this stupid charade, but she had no choice, or even if she had it this was the easy path. As she looked around, she noticed she was in a fine room, a place so ornamented as she had never seen in her life, even the bed was ornamented with carvings depicting cats.
"Whaaa?" She asked herself, but before she could complete the word the door was suddenly opened by two girls dressed as maids, both had feline traits like her, and they looked between them dumbfounded as if they didn't believe their eyes.
"We are here to help you dress princess!" Announced one of the maids.
Then to the terror of Raven... She was presented with a cute dress...
'Oh damn no!'