❖ 16 ❖

“Do you have all your things, Mio dear? double-checked your luggage?”

“Qu-quadruple checked it!” Mio shouted back shakily. “But I guess a fifth time couldn’t hurt, huh?”

Haqua laughed, and petted her hair softly.

“Best to be prepared, but there’s certainly no need to worry too much, dear. The signing will go splendidly, I’m sure, and Suzume really is harmless.”

Haqua had, in truth, expected to hear a protest from the demon king beside her. Bratty shouts, or at least a frustrated groan. She even had her foot hovering above Suzume’s own, ready to bring down her heel if she said anything compromising.

But she seemed totally unbothered.

“Mm, we’re rooting for you, Mio! It’ll go great!” Suzume cheered her on, with all the warmth of Rina herself.

“You’re sure you two don’t want to come with?” Resta, one of Adri’s many brides and the ghost who served as Mio’s editor, asked Haqua and Suzume both. “The hotel room’s big enough for all of you, and even if it’s not, I can book extra.”

“The offer is greatly appreciated, Resta, but with Iori and Rhody still away, Rina’s holding down the fort at the office, and she’d simply fall apart without me by her side, isn’t that right, mutt?” Haqua chuckled, summoning a leash around Rina’s collar and giving it a small, sharp tug.

“W-wan~! Wan wan~!” Suzume barked, squatting down in front of Haqua in a true show of doggy obedience.

“Mhmm, good girl,” Resta sighed, feigning petting Suzume by holding her hand an inch or so above her head.

“Scared you’ll possess her again?” Haqua smirked.

“My soul still hasn’t recovered. I keep barking whenever I get stressed,” Resta huffed. “It’s awful…”

“Quite the impact you’ve had, dear,” Haqua laughed, looking down at her pet.

“M-my bad, ahaha…” Suzume laughed bashfully at an incident she wished she could’ve been present for. “B-but if you wanna possess me again, you can do anything you want with me, y’know?! Undress me in public, make me an exhibitionist streamer, the world’s your oyster!”

“How would that help?!” Resta asked, blushing furiously.

“Down, dog,” Haqua growled, tugging on Suzume’s leash a little bit harder.

All embarrassment and desire quickly faded, however, as the sound of Mio’s gentle, eternally warm laugh filled the apartment.

“Ohhh, I needed this,” Mio grinned, wiping a happy tear out of the corner of her eye. “Thanks, girls. I’m feeling a lot calmer now.”

“Because you pictured me as an exhibitionist?” Resta asked, furrowing her brow.

“No, no, but that would be fun,” Mio giggled, sending a shiver down her editor’s spine. “Just…seeing you all so relaxed calmed me down, I guess. It all feels a whole lot less daunting, ehehe.”

“How wonderful, dear!” Haqua smiled, pulling Mio in for a gentle hug. “Just think about us if you get scared, alright? We’ll be with you every step of the way. And please give Suzume my regards. It’s been quite some time since we’ve spoken…”

“And give us a call if you need anything, OK?”

“Mm, thanks!” Mio nodded, smiling happily at the pair. “I’ll pass along the message for you, Haqua!”

“Phew, glad you’re doing better, or I’d have had to walk you to the signing myself…” Resta said, breathing a relieved sigh. “Ready to go then, Mio?”

“Guess so!” Mio said, grabbing the handle on her suitcase and heading for the portal to Adri’s home, before turning to give Haqua and Suzume both a precious little kiss. “See you both in a few days! I love you!”

The girls bid farewell, and sent Mio off with a smile, watching and waving as she and Resta made for Hell, before the portal shut behind them.

The apartment suddenly felt so very quiet.

“Just us, then,” Haqua said, stretching out her arms before heading back to the living room.

“Getting stuck in with a game that fast, huh?” Suzume asked, chuckling softly. “That sounds pretty good though. Fuck, getting to relax on the couch with you’ll fix me…” she sighed.

“My, someone’s a needy little bitch today, aren’t they?”

“H-hey! I didn’t say anything dirty!”

“We all know what you mean by ‘relax,' dear,” Haqua chuckled. “Not that I’m opposed, of course.”

A small, excited little yip left Suzume’s lips, and the moment Haqua plopped down on the couch, she hopped into her lap, nestling in against her wonderfully soft, curvy figure.

“Good girl,” Haqua cooed, kissing the top of Suzume’s head as she got back to an RPG she loved.

“Feels a little lonely around here with everyone gone, right?” Suzume asked. “It’s nice to have a little more free space, sure, but…I kinda miss it being packed, ahaha…”

“Oh? And here I thought you’d welcome a little more quality time,” Haqua chuckled, leaning down to gently nibble on Suzume’s ear, getting an adorably excited squeak out of her.

“I-I mean that’s fun too!” Suzume shouted, squeezing her thighs together as her belly started to flutter, before Haqua spread them open again not a moment later, rubbing her finger against Suzume’s crotch through her tight, bratty-looking shorts.

“Oh, but you could find the fun in anything, I’m sure~,” Haqua smirked. “Mutts are so easily pleased, after all.”

“W-wan~!” Suzume barked, squirming and bucking her hips desperately.

“Yes yes, wan wan,” Haqua chuckled, playing her game one-handed as she so expertly teased Suzume’s most sensitive spots. “Still, I’d be lying if I said I felt at all lonely in your company.”

A finger slipped inside Suzume, and the teensy succubus twitched and moaned.

“Nnnh~!”

“If anything, I find it incredibly nostalgic, you know? I won’t soon forget the feelings I felt when you first summoned me, and…and-”

Haqua’s eyes widened, and she pulled her finger out from Suzume in shock.

“Forgot who I am, huh?” Suzume smirked, rubbing her contentious little ass against Haqua’s crotch to tease her. “Bet that pisses you off soooo bad, right? Bet you’re gonna make me really feel it, right?!”

Haqua gritted her teeth, and firmly gripped Suzume’s bratty tail, pulling it between her legs, and plunging it deep inside her pussy.

“Fhuaa~!” Suzume gasped, falling back against Haqua as she pumped her tail in and out with a vigor and passion that set the brat’s heart aflutter. “Haquaaa, you’re the best~!”

“Know your place, mutt,” Haqua sneered, pulling her tail right out and letting Suzume collapse in a heap, nearly sliding off the couch in her bliss. “Forgetting just isn’t something I do. Understood?”

“Uh-undershtood…” Suzume replied, giving a weak thumbs up as her words slurred into an indistinct mess.

“That’s all it took to ruin you, is it?” Haqua said, looking down at her with an arrogant smirk. “Pathetic, such a bitter disappointment. Rina would last far longer, and she’d still find a way to be more useless than you could ever dream of.”

Suzume looked up at her with a stupidly blissful expression, every single word Haqua uttered hurting so, so wonderfully.

“Huaaah…keep it going, please…” Suzume whined, desperately kneading her own breasts, desperate for some kind of touch.

“No, I won’t,” Haqua refused, focusing all her attention on the game. “Satisfy yourself, mutt. You don’t deserve my touch.”

“Wan wan wan~!!!” Suzume barked, crumbling to dust as she was toyed with.

I didn’t forget. I simply lost my train of thought for a spell. Mutts forget. I don’t.

Haqua tried to calm herself with the game, though she remained ticked off all the while. To those who didn’t know Haqua, it might've seemed as though she were always a little annoyed, acting like she was above anyone and everyone that surrounded her. That wasn’t true, though. For all the airs she put on, she was a sweet, loving woman who wanted the best for anyone who treated her as an equal. Haqua rarely, if ever, got truly mad.

And yet now she really was angry, and at nobody but herself.

But…I’ve trained her too well, haven’t I? For a moment there, it really was as if…

Haqua bit her lip, thinking on the days she'd spent with Rina after she’d first transformed. The sex was deeply invigorating, lighting a fire in Haqua that she’d long since believed to have died out, but the moments where she just relaxed with her were what she’d treasured most. Laying back on the couch and playing a game with her pet in her arms relaxed her in a way little else could, and reminded her that she was so far removed from the sadness and melancholy that had once plagued her mind. It was an irreplaceable memory, and a feeling none could hope to recreate.

And yet…for just a brief moment in time…

No, she’s not here right now. She’s in Hell, proving herself every bit as capable as I’ve always known her to be, Haqua thought. She’s deeply pathetic, but when push comes to shove, there’s nobody stronger than her…

She looked down at Suzume, and felt her frustration growing.

And no matter what, this brat could never truly be her.

“Let’s talk, Rina.” Haqua said, scooping her up into her arms, reaching under her top, and toying with her nipple rings. For all she’d said about leaving Suzume alone, she had some frustration to burn.

“W-wan~!” Suzume barked, putting her eagerness on full display.

“How goes your investigation? Any closer to finding this realm’s pleasures, hmm?”

Ordinarily, Suzume would have grown pouty. She’d insist that nothing could compete with what Hell had to offer, and act like she failed to understand why anyone would stay here.

Now, though…

“Well, y’know? It’s not so ba~hd~!” she started, sounding awfully noncommittal before Haqua tugged on her nipple. “St-still looking for that secret, but…but it’s slow-going… One day, I bet.”

It was a discouragingly non-committal answer. So Haqua stopped teasing her, and tried again.

“Really? You’ve lived out this life for this long, experienced Rina’s daily routine as completely as anyone could, and you still don’t understand?”

“These things take time…” Suzume mumbled. “Ooh, you leveled up!” she said, pointing at the screen.

Trying to distract me, are we?

“Tell me, dear, what has life been like without the weight of a crown, hmm? Do you miss ruling at all?”

“Gonna ask me about work and not even bully my tits to go with it? Bleh,” Suzume said, sticking out her tongue.

This damn brat!

Haqua delivered a quick lash of her tail to Suzume’s butt, leaving a deep, bright red mark in its wake.

“Ahn~!”

“Will you be a good girl and answer me now, hmm?”

“R-Rina’s got it on lock, right?” Suzume asked back, smiling like a moron as she rubbed the impact zone. “Doesn’t really matter how I feel. Clearly, she’s doing the job just fine, or Radiata would’ve said something.”

“You believe that about my mutt? Truly?” Haqua scoffed, hiding her own feelings on the matter. “Radiata’s probably too overworked to even think of contacting you. The poor girl’s likely done nothing but clean up her messes. You aren’t worried about her?”

“Not even a little,” Suzume said matter of factly, raising her butt and practically begging for more, something Haqua was more than ready to indulge as she squeezed and kneaded her bratty butt, using her tail to tug and twist on her nipple rings. “Nnhaa~! Sh-she’s amazhing, sho… I-I trust her!”

Haqua had heard enough. She understood now.

Perhaps she had trained her a bit too much. Had she not been so hands on, Suzume wouldn’t sound quite so completely like the woman whose body she puppeted. Yet that wasn’t the issue here, was it?

After all, no matter how complete her act was, no matter how many people she managed to fool, or how low she sunk…

This had all been a ruse.

All you’ve done, all that pretense about Rina’s power, and the pleasures that make this realm worth living in, they’ve all been a lie.

All you’ve longed for is escape, Lord Suzume. You wanted a life to steal, one free from all worry and stress.

And so you’ve taken Rina’s.

Haqua’s smirk had never looked so deadly.

Oh, what a wonderful mistake you’ve made.

“I must say,” Haqua leaned in close, “for such a proud ruler, you seem like you’re in no particular hurry to return to your subjects.”

“Mmh~!” Suzume moaned, as Haqua tweaked her painfully hard nipples.

“You show not an ounce of regality, nobody who might see you now would recognize you as king.”

“Because- Hhhn~! I’m perfect at playing this part, that’s all!”

“Perfect? No no, that’s a word might have thrown at your usual self, but like this, you’re a small-”

Suzume twitched.

“Pathetic-”

She squirmed, backing up her butt into Haqua as she silently begged for more.

“Desperate bitch.”

“Wan wahhhn~!” she barked, as Haqua reached down into her shorts and popped a finger in her butt.

“Would you look at that?” Haqua smirked. “You call yourself perfect so halfheartedly, yet all those insults really make your heart pound.”

Suzume tried to deny it, but it was no use while she whined and moaned at Haqua’s touch.

“In fact, if I didn’t know any better, if I wasn’t so certain that this was all some grand performance, I’d say you like being like this, dear. In fact, I’d say your heart wants nothing but to remain a whimpering little mutt forevermore.”

“A-as if!” Suzume made a weak attempt to protest. “I’m only in this body so that I can see what draws Rina to living so p-pathetically! I certainly don’t want to be like this!”

So easy…

“Say what you will, your body’s being so wonderfully honest,” Haqua whispered in her ear, letting her warm breath tickle her. “And it wants this. It wants to be so very small, tiny enough to get dominated by any woman who so much as glances your way. You want to feel weak, you want to feel needy, don’t you?”

“I-I don’t!” she argued, though her shaky voice made her lie as clear as crystal. “I don’t want that at all…”

Her voice dropped to a mere squeak.

“...Even if it’s been fun…”

Haqua smirked, and whispered a small incantation to herself, before plucking a small bottle of bright, shimmering dust from her cleavage, smearing just a pinch of it on her fingertips.

“H-Haqua?” Suzume asked, feeling antsy at the brief lull in getting railed. “What’s up?”

“Hmm?” Something the matter, dear?” Haqua asked, before slipping her covered fingertips down the front of Suzume’s panties and eagerly fingering her.

“Ah~! N-nuh-uh, everything’s perfect~!” she squealed, losing it as Haqua stroked her clit.

“That’s right, everything’s perfect,” Haqua chuckled, smiling to herself as Suzume’s lips tightened around her, a sure sign that she was getting exactly what she wanted.

“Fhu~ck…” she groaned, barely keeping it together. “Haqua, you’re so…so…nnh~!”

Wha? Wh-why’s it feel so tight? Her fingers feel so big…

Suzume tried to ask her that out loud, but her mind was too racked with bliss to manage it. It felt incredible, as though Haqua were working extra hard to stuff her completely full.

And then, she began to feel painfully packed.

Haqua licked her lips, very ready to have some fun.

“NnnhH~! Haqua! T-too big…” she squeaked out, too strained to even notice as her top slid right off her shoulders.

“Ah, my mistake, let’s give you some breathing room, hmm?” Haqua cooed, letting Suzume pop free of her. As she did, however, the desperate motion sent her tumbling straight to the floor, where she landed in a heap of her own clothing.

“Owww…” she groaned, sitting up to rub at a sore spot above her butt. She’d landed on something soft (if a little damp), sure, but it hurt like she’d fallen a mile… “The hell? Why’d my clothes come off, anyway?” she asked, her heart pounding like crazy at the thought of her whole body being put on display.

“Why, because they no longer fit, dear.”

“They don’t fit? Wha?” Suzume asked, looking up to see…

“H-Haqua?! Y-you’re huge!” she cried, pointing at the absolutely gargantuan smirking down at her. “Wh-what happened?! How’d you get so big?!”

“Oh dear, are you playing a part, or did you get every bit as stupid as Rina, too?” Haqua asked, letting out a loud, haughty laugh. “I didn’t get bigger. You just shrunk.”

“Shrunk?!” Suzume cried, standing up and looking at her surroundings, letting out a loud, shocked gasp as she realized that what had cushioned her fall was nothing other than her own damp, sticky panties, now big enough to cover her like a blanket.

She thought she knew what it meant to be a runt. She felt so much smaller than everyone around her, and she’d come to adore that.

But this went far, FAR beyond that. This didn’t even compare to when she was reborn in her own body. She hadn’t gotten younger at all, no, her body still bore the distinct, tremendously bratty curves that made Rina’s body so uniquely alluring. Yet where she’d once stood around 5 feet tall, now, she was lucky to clear that in inches.

“Wh-what’d you do?!” she cried, certain that Haqua had to be behind this.

“My, is that any way to speak to someone who granted your wish, hmm?” Haqua asked, reaching down and picking Suzume up by the tail, pinching it between her fingertips as she held her up to her face. She looked so precious like this, like a cute little doll pouting up a storm as though it might tip the scales even slightly in her favor. “After all, you wanted to be small and pathetic, and now you’re exactly that, dear. A slave to my every whim.”

“I-I didn’t wanna be this small! W-wait, I mean, I didn’t want to be small at all, this body’s just convenient, so-”

Try as she might, her protests faded fast once Haqua leaned forward, spread her legs, and licked at her crotch.

!!!!!!!!!

It was like nothing she’d ever felt.

She’d been eaten out, she’d been filled up, she’d been teased and toyed with.

And yet the feeling of Haqua’s massive tongue rubbing against her pussy, licking and grinding against it with more intensity than she’d ever felt before completely put all of that to shame. It felt as though her entire being, right down to her very soul, had been engulfed in pleasure, depriving her of her ability to do anything but moan and shudder, crying out in ecstasy.

“You were saying?” Haqua asked, smirking as she lay the thoroughly spent Suzume down on the palm of her hand.

“M-Moooore…”

“My, you want more?” she asked, licking her lips hungrily. “Isn’t it amazing, just a dash of pixiedust inside you, and you become an even more depraved slut,” Haqua loudly chuckled, before teasing her lips with her fingernail.

“Guah~! Hafhuaaa~!” she moaned, before Haqua leaned in to wrap her lips around her breasts, licking and teasing at her teeny tiny nipples. A part of her couldn’t believe she’d fallen for such a basic spell. She should have been able to sense Haqua’s intent before she got anywhere close to this point.

And yet, the fact that she didn’t filled her with a strange sense of pride. After all, if she’d tried to stop this, well…

“Khhh~!” she moaned, gritting her teeth as Haqua’s sucked at her tits. She couldn’t believe how good it felt. She was using so much strength, and yet there was a clear delicacy behind her movements, a desire to not break such a splendid toy, that made her feel more pathetically weak than she ever had before.

She couldn’t do a thing back, she really was little more than Haqua’s doll at this point, stripped of any and all power she may have once possessed.

“Fhuuck~! Fuck mheeee…” she squeaked, as a thumb squished against her needy lips. She’d never cum quite as hard or as often as she did like this, every orgasm feeling better than the last, draining her of what little reason and regality she still clung to.

“It’ll only last a few hours, but that just means we need to make the most of this chance, don’t you think?” Haqua swallowed. There was so much less of Suzume to taste than usual, but it was so tantalizingly sweet now.

Every bit as delectable as a real pixie. Haqua chuckled. It had been so long since she’d laid with a pixie, but she’d never forgotten just how good it felt to really dominate someone this much smaller than you. If Suzume was going to be so deeply frustrating, then at least she’d provided Haqua with a scrumptious treat.

She dove back in, seeing just how far she could shove her pinkie inside the king who’d forgotten her place. Her dopey smile looked so blissful as more and more of Haqua’s fingertip filled her up, before she eventually couldn’t take anymore.

“Ahhhn~!” she moaned, as her juices gushed out between her legs, coating part of Haqua’s pinkie.

“And to think, you were trying to tease me,” Haqua smirked. “Now, you’re little more than my toy. My plaything, to tease and taunt and break however I please.”

Another, louder moan left her lips.

“My, even being broken excites you so, does it?” Haqua laughed. “You might not have the body of a phoenix, but my mutt is still ve~ry resilient, don’t you know? I wonder how far I could push you…”

“Puh…please…” Suzume desperately moaned. “Don’t hold back…”

“Oh, but I want my mutt back, you know? It’d do no good if I completely broke my new toy…” Haqua laughed. “But if my needy little pixie wants to really squirm, well, that can be arranged…”

Haqua bit down on her teeny-tiny nipple rings, and tugged at them firmly, all while rubbing at her crotch with her thumb, flooding her brain with pure, unbridled lust.

“Fhuaaa~!!!”

For someone with such a tiny voice, it was impressive just how far her shouts and moans carried in the moments before her body went limp against her palm.

My, she’s passed out, has she? Haqua thought, looking down at the slumbering doll of a woman in her grasp. How unbecoming of a king. You’re a disgrace to your people like this…

She let out a soft chuckle and lay back on the couch, resting her tiny mutt between her boobs.

And yet, for as exciting as you’ve been, you’ll never truly match Rina. Ohhh, the moans she’d have shown me if I’d done this to her…

As much fun as she’d had, Haqua couldn’t deny that she was left with a hazy dissatisfaction in her breast. She’d been amused when she first realized what had happened to Rina, but this couldn’t last.

I need my mutt back, and you’re little more than an Aibo next to her… A pale imitation of the woman who stole my heart.

Were it not for Mio’s book signing, I’d grab her back right this instant… I can’t allow this to mar such a big event for her. 

It’ll have to wait a few days, but let’s get the gears turning in the meanwhile, shall we?

Confident that Suzume wouldn’t wake for a while yet, Haqua grabbed her phone, and made a call.

“Adri, dear, it’s Haqua,” she spoke, smiling softly at the ever-warm greeting her sister gave her. 

“I was hoping you might be able to deliver another message for me.”

I’ll leave the ball in your court, Rina. So come back to me soon, OK? It’s no good to keep a lady waiting, you know?