D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 1298 1298 Marigold’s True Spirit

"Well, I'd prefer to have body, but I guess I can take spirit as a consolation prize," said Marigold wistfully. 

*Oh god there's two of them.*

[We nearly had three. So don't you start.]

*I am not that bad.*

[Kat… remember the time… oh, just a few days ago where you tried to learn how to hide your wings so you could go to the science fair more easily?]

*That wasn't progress for progress' sake, that was for Sylvie. It's completely different.*

[I don't believe you.]

"You are still very easily distracted," grumbled March folding her arms across her front, which had the side effect of pushing her chest to be more prominently displayed. 

"Titties," said Marigold with drool coming out of her mouth. Vanya slapped her the hardest she could with such an awkward angle which instantly snapped Marigold out of it… assuming she was ever really distracted in the first place. It DID get her to stop drooling on Vanya though. "Spoilsport. But yes, I suppose I can be a bit easily distracted," 

Kat decided to jump in before things degenerated too much, "Would you mind talking about WHY you went through all that? I mean, you said that it was better to have then not, but I feel like that's not the entire reason," 

Marigold let out a long sigh and said, "Yeah but that's boring and introspective and shit. Do I really have to answer that?" 

"Of course you don't HAVE to answer it," said Kat. "But I would like you to," 

"Hmm… what do I get if I answer?" asked Marigold. 

Kat chewed on her lip for a few seconds as she tried to think of something that would tempt Marigold. The obvious answer was something lewd, like a kiss of showing off her boobs… but Kat didn't really want to do that. Sure, if she had to she would, it wasn't that bad… but it would just encourage Marigold and didn't really seem worth the information. So the next question step was to ask herself, 'What does Marigold like'. 

The two big answers were of course, sexy things, and pain. *So… I could promise to hit her as hard as possible? Though that might take her out of the future rounds if I hit her too hard. Even if she does ask for it. Hmm… what else? What can I offer that's somewhat exclusive but not all that valuable.* 

Suddenly, Kat had it. "I'll let you ask for some demonic fire from me using fifty percent of my power or less. You can ask for smaller amounts that add up to fifty percent, or get it all at once. As long as you're careful it shouldn't be deadly… but you might need to cut off your own arm or hand, or whatever you stick into the fire to get it off if I'm not controlling it,"

"Deal," said Marigold with a toothy grin. *I… I feel like I've made a mistake now that I see how happy she is about this. I can't help but feel offering the chance to touch a deadly substance shouldn't be this persuasive.*

Marigold shook her shoulders out, rattling Vanya a bit in the process before she breathed in deeply, clearly exaggerating the preparation it was taking her to tell the story. Eventually, after several more stretches she was ready. "It all comes down to a few things. I had more than one reason for following it all through to the end… but honestly, it's not all that interesting. 

"As I'm sure you're aware, I'm the daughter of a queen and that has… expectations with it. Even if my parents, those biological and otherwise, have all been quite careful to make sure we aren't crushed under the weight of responsibility. Auctifer has always been careful about that, especially after he took Artema as a wife. She… well it's not fair to say that she was crushed under the weight… but the fact that she was baren was a big deal for human nobility back when she was younger. 

"Other than the mother who gave birth to me, Artema was probably my biggest female roll model… and well, as much as they all try not to have expectations… that's almost as bad you know? They just covered the basics but I was so driven to exceed those minimums. To show them I could TAKE IT. Which, might be part of my masochism, because I know I'm not just into the physical side of things… 

"So when I found out that there was a rare and hard to learn technique that only the best regenerators could learn at Rank 2? When I found out that most can't deal with the pain, and those that remain usually fall short? I felt like this was my chance. Pain was essentially nothing to me, and I wouldn't just give up. I didn't know that it wasn't always a matter of 'sticking with it' because some people just can't learn to keep spells up in my sleep… 

"But at the time I read it as 'People who can't handle the pain, and people who stop trying later because they can't handle the pain' which I was certain I could do. I was right of course. The pain wasn't an issue at all for me… it was a lot of the other stuff. It's still pretty gross for me to think about, even if the pain of it isn't an issue. Then there's all the tests! I was so stressed out for all of them. 

"I mean, even if I had trust in myself, what if I panicked and fucked up an easy question? Even if I still knew the answer that didn't mean I couldn't get it wrong. I had more than a few nightmares of just getting stuck in an endless loop of testing as I panicked, and panicked getting worse and worse results because I couldn't keep it together, and not because I fucked up the healing. 

"So it was… it was an experience. Still… it came back to that whole 'no expectations' thing. Perhaps setting reasonable expectations would've been better because I set myself a massively high bar. I don't know what I would've done if I just didn't have the talent for it. I wanted to show my family that I COULD do it, that I was special. That I deserved to be a princess. It was… not the healthiest mindset, and I'm lucky I got out of the mindset a while ago… but it did haunt me. It was my personal demon for quite a while. I can handle humiliation. I can handle pain. Biting off more than I can chew? Having to tell my parents I couldn't do it? Seeing them disappointed in me? Yeah is much, much worse," 

Kat nodded and said, "Thanks for explaining. I didn't expect it to be quite so personal," 

Marigold shrugged, "Yeah Auctifer has a lot of kids… but we're elves so it's not like… a lot a lot. All of them were older than me so I just sort of… tried to show that I mattered? Which is stupid because I spend plenty of time with my parents and siblings but, eh, what can you do?" 

March nodded, "Indeed, we can only push forward. Knowing what we can do is just the first step. Though I see now that you are dedicated to your craft. Would you be interested in an arm wrestle?" 

*Are we going to get to the obstacle course at all? I mean, I know this is partially my fault but I'm starting to think it just might not happen.*

"Sounds like a good idea," said Marigold finally letting go of Vanya. Seeing this March moved the table so that it was between the two of them. 

[Yeah well… this has been entertaining at least. The obstacle course isn't going anywhere, if things get delayed we can just try again tomorrow or the day after. Or after dinner. It doesn't really matter.]

Marigold and March clasped hands and then started to push. They were surprisingly even, with both holding out well for a time… until March started to get serious. Marigold's arm started to fall, slowly, just a millimetre at a time, but it was happening. Marigold frowned and pushed, her dense muscles bulging as she tried to fight her inevitable defeat… 

But it just wasn't enough. March was a mountain of a woman with an arm around as thick as Marigold's waist. Training for impossibly dense muscles gave Marigold a lot more strength in her small frame then she should have… but March trained for pure strength. Muscles. Power. In the end, Marigold's hand hit the table and she said. "To the winner go the spoils," and she zipped around the table to kiss March on the cheek. 

March just rolled her eyes. Not surprised in the slightest.