On the outskirts of a forest grove, a blood red void split the air. Devillia stepped out in her Lyla guise. The beautiful forest air was breathtaking to someone who spent most of her life underground or in a dark monastery at the end of the world.

  Summer's breath was warm and inviting. The nearby pink flowers had fully bloomed and were ripe. They were love lotus, and they filled the air with a sweet fragrance. She plucked one and sighed. "This flower symbolizes young love blossoming in spring and reaching its height in the summer," she said to herself. "Never have I seen one befor…"

  She shook her head of all lovey-dovey thoughts. “Remember, Devillia,” she said to herself, “this is an important mission!”

  Her eyes looked back and forth. She gobbled the love lotus down hoping for some of its lucky effects. Nearly gagging on its sweetness, the darkling made her way to a nearby dirt road. Already ahead, she saw the castle town gates.

  A freshly painted sign read, "Welcome to Featherbottom" with the feather tailed crest of a duck below it.

  The gate was manned by two guards with long spears. A thought flashed through Devillia's head. Underkind Succubi had the power to transform, but when they did, they took on the physical characteristics of their form. While normal spears would not rupture her skin as a darkling, they could easily cut through Lyla's pale soft skin. She'd have to be careful.

  The first guard had a big, bristly mustache. He spoke in a boisterous voice. "Welcome to Featherbottom," he said. "I thought we put in a sign so I didn't have to say that, but what else am I going to say?!"

  "You should say whatever you want to say," Devillia said. "It's a free country."

  "Is it?" the guard asked. "I thought it was a monarchy. Now…who are you, young lady?"

  Devillia gulped.

  She hadn't imagined her backstory for this Lyla character.

  Without further thought, she started speaking in a rural accent. "I'mma farm girl."

  Both guards looked at each other skeptically.

  As her mind raced, Devillia took her fist and chugged it through the air. "Uh…Yee-haw?!"

  The guard with the mustache nodded. "Sounds about right."

  The second guard had a pair of circular glasses. He narrowed his magnified eyes at Devillia. "And…" he said. "What brings you to our humble castle town?"

  Again, Devillia frantically searched through her mind for an answer. Suddenly, a fly landed on her human skin and she swatted at it. "Hey!" she shouted.

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  The guards looked at each other again. The bespectacled guard nodded. "Well, hay is indeed for horses. You do indeed check out, missy."

  "Yay!" Devillia shouted, pumping her fist in the air. "Yay is for me! My name’s Lyla, by the way!"

  "Just…uh…Miss Lyla," the mustached guard said. "Be on the lookout for the scoundrels of the ground, Subdemons. Word is, they have been trying to infiltrate our happy kingdom."

  "S-s-sure…" Devillia squeaked and nodded as she walked past them.

  'Subdemons' were a slur for Underkind that were invented by humans. Even if she was well aware of the insult, it still hurt to hear.

  But it didn't hurt that much, after all, she had successfully snuck inside Featherbottom under the guard's noses!

  She pranced excitedly into the town square. It was overlooked by the mighty Duckworth castle on the mountain above it.

  Upon seeing the hustle and bustle, her jaw went agape over everything to see and do.

  All the different stores in the marketplace were fascinating. Stands selling fresh produce, roast duck (she didn't dare tell Peeping Tom who still remained hidden in her bosom) and herbal teas of all varieties. There were exotic pets stands and Devillia nearly squealed in joy, "Palm reading!!!"

  Devillia dreamed of the day she'd have a genuine fortune teller tell her the future, all the pets and children she'd have and how long she'd live all based on a few flabby creases in her hand. Underkind had smooth hands with claws so normally that wouldn't work, but her Lyla avatar actually had creased palms so it would be all hands-on-deck for fortune telling.

  She waltzed towards the fortune teller when suddenly, she caught herself. "The mission! I can't forget about the mission!"

  Dramatically, she thrust her arms over her head covering her sight. "I can't. I must resist. I muuuust…"

  She ran off, trying to remember where she was supposed to go to meet this apothecary. Her father said they’d be hiding “in the shadows” so she ducked inside the first alleyway she could find.

  Out of breath from all that running and drama, Devillia put her hands on her knees. The shadows in the alley stretched over her form, coating her in the coolness an Underkind usually prefered.

  A voice spoke and she jumped.

  An elderly hiss came at the end of the alleyway. "I didn't expect my Darknesssss to send his ssssscatterbrained daughter!"

  Devillia immediately struck a battle stance. "Daughter?! Darkness?!! Er… uhh

  …howdy y'all! I'm just an ordinary girl from the farmland!"

  A tiny figure in a dark cloak walked with a cane over to Devillia. They lifted their hood to reveal a withered old Underkind woman with horns and a wrinkled impish face. "Foolish child. You don't think a girl of my age has seen everything? After all, I'm only 17!"

  Devillia blinked twice in disbelief. The old woman cackled and held up a small vial. Glowing blood red liquid floated inside it and it was attached to a long string.

  "Only joking," the old apothecary said. "More like 177!"

  "Whoa…" Devillia said, her easily distracted mind focusing on the liquid. "Is that real Death Blood?"

  The old woman's voice was stern and creaky like an old catacomb door. "One does devilish things to procure this Death Blood! Things that even a darkling like you wouldn't want to know."

  Devillia's eyes gleamed with curiosity. She didn't mind a scary story. Especially when told in a place as dark and ominous as this alleyway.

  But before she could answer, the apothecary's batlike face turned grave. "But do not dally. I did not want to trouble your father in my letter, but a wound from a Devil's Hangnail can kill even a mighty Underlord like him if left untreated."

  Devillia squeaked in horror. She could lose her daddy if she didn't hurry?! Matters had turned more serious than she could imagine.

  "Fortunately," the apothecary said. "Two months is plenty of time. Especially if you warp right back there!"

  "Got it!" she said with an affirmative nod. "You can bet my daddy's life I won't be long!"