Erin Schlange didn't regard her life as interesting or out of the ordinary. In fact,
she was going to college to become something quite ordinary: either an accountant or a
school counselor. However, when she awoke in a daze to find herself in a rather
extraordinary room, Erin was quite sure she had entered another dimension.
As she rubbed her eyes, her heart skipped a beat. She was definitely not in her old
room back at her parents' house. Instead, it was something more akin to a Greek palace with
columns and elegant draperies. She was very tempted to curl up in a ball and go back to
sleep. Hadn't she been walking down the sidewalk of the nature trail before... before...?
Erin wasn't sure what happened. She had said hello to the woman walking her dog and
proceeded to pass by a dense forest.
She remembered that forest and how often she would take a walk out on the sidewalk
just to guess what kind of things lived there. Didn't she hear something? Soothing words?
All she knew was she had been walking one minute and now here she was, in some strange,
luxurious palace.
Erin took a quick peek at her watch. She must have been asleep for awhile because it
was already 10:26 pm. She let out a groan and flopped back. Her parents would be worried
sick... Her purse was nowhere to be found and inside her purse was her cell phone. Great.
She sat up on the bed and dejectedly began pulling twigs from her hair. This situation
was getting weirder and weirder every second. The beautiful young woman noticed something
out of the corner of her eyes. There was a beautiful white robe folded on a stand right next
to a door. Erin was starting to think she was stuck in a Greek (or perhaps Roman) place. All
she needed was lightning to strike her down and that would be her confirmation.
The white robe was soft and silky to the touch, making Erin smile regardless of her
awkward situation. She took a peek and saw that the door next to the robe led to an
immensely extravagant bath. Even if this was a crazy dream or a murderer was going to pop
out and knife her, she might as well enjoy it. Undressing quickly, Erin was rather creeped
out to find that the water was quite hot, as though someone just drew the bath for her.
However, something about the elegant, pearly white tub shouted 'jump in me!' and Erin
was never a girl to disappoint. As she washed herself, she tried to come up with a logical
plan of finding out what had happened. Maybe leaving the room would be a good idea. She let
out a sigh as she got up from the bath and dried herself in the conveniently placed fluffy
white towel. Everything was a little too convenient and she was starting to worry that there
might be some conveniently placed cameras around...
Regardless, she dressed in the white robe, happy to find that there were some
undergarments that came with it. Now, there's something very important about Erin that many
people don't know. Contrary to her last name, Erin harbors an EXTREME phobia of snakes.
While being afraid of snakes is nothing uncommon nor irrational, Erin's fear teeters on the
brink of insanity. It's not an ordinary 'omfg!-there's-a-snake' fear, it's a
'thank-God-I-emptied-my-bowels-earlier-today' kind of fear.
So when she saw the little black snake slithering around on the tiles in the bathroom,
Erin entered full panic mode.
*****
"Where do you think these ribbons came from?" Krystal asked her lovely companion,
noticing little shreds of cloth around them. "Well, considering the way the branches are
broken, it was most likely caused by something wearing ribbons bursting through the forest
at rapid speeds."
As much as she loved Isaka, Krystal gave her a disbelieving look. "Right. The only
person who would run around wearing nothing but red ribbons would be you." The demon gave
her a toothy grin. "Christmas is coming up and I wouldn't mind being wrapped up beneath your
tree."
The blonde woman tried to not think of the implications. Suddenly Isaka stopped,
gazing up at the forest around her. "Krystal... whatever we're dealing with is huge," Isaka
said, pointing out the broken branches. "Considering the diameter of how they're broken..."
The exorcist nodded and let her hand rest on the hilt of her sword. "We should be
ready for anything... I hope Erin is-"
At this point in time, Erin's scream echoed throughout the forest, like that of a
banshee. If snakes had ears, the one she was screaming at would be deaf. Luckily for Krystal
and Isaka, they were far away enough to save there ears, but close enough to hear it.
They exchanged worried looks and started racing towards the sound. "At least we know
she's alive," Krystal shouted over her shoulder. "Pfft. Or she just died." Isaka got a nice
pout from Krystal for that comment.
As they followed the sound (mostly Isaka with her demon senses) they found themselves
at the mouth of a gaping hole in the ground. "I'm not liking the look of this," Krystal
murmured and Isaka grabbed her hand comfortingly.
"Don't worry. If anything happens, I'll protect you..." Isaka gave her a delicate kiss
and Krystal sighed happily. Their romantic moment was interrupted as another blood curdling
scream emanated from the cavern. The two lovers wasted no time sprinting down.
Krystal drew her sword and the pulsing holy light from it illuminated their path.
Isaka ran up ahead, noting that she could sense the presence of a person... most likely
Erin. "She's this way," Isaka murmured, swiftly making a left turn in the network of
caverns. "This whole place gives off a strange vibe, so we have to watch out for the
unusual."
As soon as she finished speaking, Krystal started to notice the architecture of the
cavern. It appeared that a temple of some sort (Greek or Roman? She really needed to pay
attention in her Euro class...) had been buried. She could see the remnants of pearly white
columns and other structures, not to mention the elegant candles lighting the sides of the
cavern.
Finally, they came to a stop in front of beautiful, stone double doors. "This place is
getting stranger by the second..." Krystal murmured as her demon companion pulled one of the
doors open. With a creak, it slowly swung upon its hinges, allowing the two women inside.
Krystal let out a gasp.
They were in something akin to a palace, with flawless statues gracing a hallway
covered in shiny tile. It looked brand new... a carpet was leading them across the room to
another set of doors. The two of them walked over in awe induced silence. The ceiling was a
beautiful dome with gold arches and Krystal was quite sure that only the Sistine Chapel
could beat such a wonderful design. Their admiration of the building was interrupted by a
jingling sound.
They exchanged worried looks as the sound reverberated through the room and Isaka
stepped in front of Krystal. An unspoken understanding led Krystal to keep her sword ready
and Isaka already had dark energy swirling around her hand. The jingles sounded like a
sleigh bell, but what emerged from the darkness of the two doors behind them was a
monstrosity.
Krystal bit down on the side of her mouth to stay quiet and Isaka's eyes widened at
the sight. Slithering before them was a gargantuan snake, it's green and brown scales
gleaming in the candle light. It's tongue flickered out a few times and the two women kept
from moving. It slithered around on the floor before let its head rise a bit off the ground.
The bell continued to jingle.
That's when Isaka saw it. Around the snakes neck were red ribbons, some of them
tattered, but they were holding onto the golden bell wrapped around its neck. The demon
started to scoot backwards, pushing her girlfriend behind her. Even if they were strong
enough to take the snake down, it was something they couldn't afford to do. What if there
were more giant snakes?
Krystal took a tentative step backwards, both of them trying to avoid making any
sound... however, the underestimated how good a snake's sense are. At that moment, it raised
it's head and plunged down at the two women.
Krystal screamed as it lunged towards them. They couldn't move that fast! How're they
supposed to avoid a giant snake?! She shut her eyes as it bared its fangs and... and...
Krystal suddenly released she hadn't been eaten. Isaka let out a few undignified grunts and
Krystal opened her eyes to see her lover holding the snake back from eating them. It's mouth
was wide open and only Isaka's demon strength holding the roof of its mouth open was saving
them.
The snake thrashed it's body, freeing it's mouth from the ground and launching the
demon away. "Krystal! Let me handle this!" The young exorcist gave a tentative nod as she
proceeded to remove herself from the vicinity. Isaka landed on top of one of the various
statues, but barely had time to relax when the snakes tail came at her full force.
The demon jumped away, launching a volley of dark energy at the monstrosity. It only
bounced against it's scaly forehead and fizzled away. Isaka grimaced. That wasn't good. Just
as the monster snake was about to eat her out of the air, a familiar voice reached her ears.
"Soul prison!" Isaka barely landed on another statue in time to see her lover standing
by the tail of the snake, hands clasped together, whispering the incantation under her
breath. The giant snake began to thrash and write, the bell jingling as it grew smaller and
smaller...
Isaka let a proud smile make its way to her face. That was her little exorcist...
Unfortunately, that reminded her she had yet to go all the way with Krystal. The demon
merely noted that for a later time.
She smoothly jumped off the statue, launching herself in Krystal's arms. They fell to
the floor, the demon towering over the exorcist. "Thank you for saving me," Isaka gave
Krystal a nice, smooth kiss. "Oh, Isaka... I couldn't just leave..."
Krystal's warm smile made Isaka want to rip her clothes and make her feel good, but
alas, they were supposed to be saving Erin whatever-her-name-is. For the nth time that day,
their moment was interrupting by hissing and jingling.
The giant snake from earlier had been reduced to a small green and yellow snake,
barely two feet long and no thicker than a hose. It was, sadly, trying to pick up the bell
and the large collar that had fallen off due to the transformation. Krystal was sure that if
snakes could cry, this one would. "Look... it's really in love with that bell-"
Isaka just walked over to it, raising up one foot, "Well, no we can squash it." The
exorcist yanked her demon lover back. "No! Look at the poor thing... I mean, it tried to eat
you, but look at how sensitive it is..." Krystal kneeled down and picked up the bell and
torn collar. The snake was indeed the thing that had kidnapped Erin.
She ripped some of the ribbon and tied the bell around the snake's neck before letting
it slither up her arm. "See? It's harmless," As if on cue, the snake opened its mouth to
reveal it no longer had fangs.
"I can't believe you're letting it live," Isaka said with a huff. "Well, I let you
live didn't I? Even though you wanted to kill me at first..."
Isaka just pursed her lips together. "Yeah, but I didn't try to eat you..." There was
a slight pause and Isaka let a devious smile grace her sultry features. "Then again... if
you let this snake get away, then I think you owe me a treat..." The demon not all too
subtly ran her hands around Krystal's waist, rubbing her hips suggestively.
Krystal let out a dilapidated sigh. "...we can talk about it later."
As the exorcist turned around to keep walking down the corridor with her jingling pet
in tow, Isaka fell into a fantasy. Talk about it? That meant Krystal was considering... and
if she was considering, that meant she could give in and... Isaka couldn't wait to bring
Krystal to the heavens and back again. She would show her how much she loved her and wanted
her. Isaka trailed behind her, grinning happily.
Back to The Student and the Goddess Index - Back to Original Fiction Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction