It wasn't long until the three of us were making our way back to the place Celeste had previously mentioned. It would take an hour, if I recalled correctly. Of course, that was accounting that I wouldn't be walking on foot. I was way too tiny now to make any decent speed alone, and, thankfully, Remura jumped at the chance to carry me herself.

 I spent a lot of time asking questions, and having questions asked of me. Celeste was kind enough to heal up any injuries I had remaining from my short battle with her father, but she still managed to say very strange things to me. Remura promised me Celeste would not harm me, but at this point, I was just afraid of her in general. She was... eccentric.

 From Remura's palms, I was able to see the cottage in the distance. It was a little larger than I expected it to be, even two-stories tall and likely had a basement as well. Of course, even a closet would appear to be a grand structure to me now.

 "So, I forgot to ask, why were you in that bandit's wallet, earlier?" Celeste spoke directly to me, interrupting my musings.

 "Ah... heh.. I was actually hiding from you two, since I was scared and didn't know whether you were friendly or not," I explained.

 "Sorry bud, but that made for a very poor hiding spot," Celeste chuckled, "You're lucky it was us that found you."

 Remura merely nodded in agreement, and I found myself sharing the same sentiment. I shuddered to imagine what would have happened if one of the bandits had found me, instead.

 ~~~

 Finally, we had arrived at the cottage. It had seen better days, but for a wanderer, anything to keep rain off your head was good enough.

 "Home sweet home," Celeste sang.

 "I... I'm going to give him a tour..." Remura quietly informed Celeste. Of course, I heard everything, but I don't think Remura was trying to be secretive about it. She honestly just seemed like a soft-spoken lass, through and through.

 "Of your wardrobe's panty drawer?" Celeste immediately joked. She was met with a swift, yet harmless tap on her shoulder. Remura obviously wasn't going to feed into the fire, everything she said always seemed to give Celeste more ammunition to tease her with.

 I was on my hands and knees, balancing myself in the center of Remura's right hand as she opened the front door with her free hand. Her flesh was still very cool to the touch, and I wasn't sure how quickly I would get used to it. I'd never met a vampire before now, I'd never hoped to. I'd always heard tales that they were evil, undead always searching for ways to prey on humanity and fuel their own immortality. Of course, I'd already seen the aftermath of Remura's feeding when I ran across the first bandit corpse, but a vampire's feeding doesn't kill their prey unless they're actively trying to do so.

 "T-this is the first floor... Sir," Remura bashfully mentioned, "There's a living room and a kitchen, and the master bedroom."

 Something was bugging me.

 "Hey, um, Rem," I spoke up, trying to catch the attention of the titanic, shy vampire.

 As expected, she practically flew out of her own skin, as if the King of the land just ordered her execution.

 "Y-y-y-yes!?" Remura comically overreacted, eyes wide with surprise.

 "Can I ask a favor of you?" I urged. I still had reservations about Celeste, but Remura wasn't actually as intimidating anymore. Unless I were to be in her direct path, and she were to be unaware and accidentally crush me, I couldn't think of any other scenario where she was dangerous to me, as long as she was aware of my presence, I found it easy to trust her.

 She seemed extremely eager to please me, and ferociously nodded her head. "Yes, of course, sir!"

 "I feel like you're nervous around me," I admitted.

 Remura seemed completely caught off guard, but her lack of a reply was damning evidence that I was correct in my assumption.

 So, I pressed on.

 "Both you and your friend are hundreds of times my size. I feel as if it's a little bit backwards for you to be the one nervous around me? You've been very sweet to me so far, and you've also stepped up for me when Celeste picked on me on the way here. I appreciate what you're doing to make me feel at ease, and I was wondering if there was any way I could do the same for you?" I spoke, earnestly.

 "S-sorry, s-sir, I-- uh..." Remura trailed off, unable to think of a proper answer.

 I sighed.

 "It's okay, Remura! I don't want you to feel pressured, I just wanted to make sure you're okay," I replied.

 "It's... saying kind stuff like that, Sir, that, um," Remura spoke, another half-sentence.

 I understood what she was getting at, somewhat. She had no trouble speaking with Celeste, for the most part, but I was new and foreign to her. And apparently she was really awkward with the opposite sex, according to Celeste. I was beginning to see why.

 "Okay, how about we start with maybe referring to me as something more... informal?" I suggested. "You don't constantly have to refer to me as Sir, per se..."

 Remura cannot blush, but I could sense that her unused facial blood vessels longed to do so once more.

 "I-I'm sorry...! Is Shute fine?" Remura asked.

 "Yes, perfectly fine! You said it a few times when I met you earlier, so please feel free to continue! No need for the Sir, no need to add Mister." I explained, and smiled up at her.

 Remura awkwardly smiled back, and gave a slight nod. "Understood! Um... Shute... Sorry."

 "You also seem to be saying sorry a lot, when there's nothing to apologize for," I mentioned.

 "Um... sorry," Remura replied, with the barest hint of a burgeoning frown, as if she thinks she had upset me. I honestly wondered what could have started such a habit. People don't do weird things for no reason. I suspected she's had a rough time in the past to cause this behavior, but I wasn't going to grill her for it.

 "No, no, it's okay, Rem! Do and say what makes you comfortable, I was just letting you know that you don't need to apologize to me for trivial things. I'm not going to randomly get mad or offended at you, you know?" I mentioned.

 Remura slightly nodded her head, and then dropped the subject, continuing to showcase the layout of the house. She seemed only slightly less tense, so I chalked it up to a small victory. It would be a work in progress to completely get her at ease around me, and I was fine with that.

 ~~~

 Several hours later

 I abruptly woke from my slumber, my heart slightly pounding. I had a flashback of my time in the sky, and subsequent defeat. Perhaps I was in shock at the time, but I found myself a bit mentally scarred from the ordeal. If I seemed outwardly fine with being nearly killed and shrunken, it was an act. My face was wet with tears.

 I could have died.

 And now I'm cursed to be a lot easier to kill.

 I was, indeed, very grateful for being rescued so quickly by my two new allies. I wasn't quite sure what good I brought to the table, but they'd assured me it was no trouble. During dinner, before bed, both Remura and Celeste said they longed for the company of someone who treated them like normal people. I'd never once thought about doing or saying anything otherwise, the only thing that spooked me about them wasn't the fact that one was a vampire and the other was the daughter of the Dark Lord, but the fact that they were just massive compared to me. Even with the purest intentions, I could end up injured or killed if they're not always aware of my location.

 I hopped up from the small, makeshift bed I was given. It was a few, folded scraps of some soft fabric, but it felt better than anything I'd ever been accustomed to, growing up.

 I was in the master bedroom, where Remura slept. Celeste tended to sleep in the second story of the place, which gave me some small comfort.

 I glanced towards Remura's bed, and it was empty. Perhaps she was doing something else? Can vampires even sleep at night? She sure acted tired when we previously laid down in here.

 The bedroom door was cracked, so I made my way to it. It took a little longer than usual to reach it because I wasn't being carried around, but it felt good to stretch my legs again. I made my way around the first floor, and found no sign of Remura. But if she had gone outside, upstairs, or even into the basement, I wasn't going to risk going somewhere difficult for me to traverse.

 After awhile, I finally gave up searching for her, and made my way through the living room back towards the bedroom.

 But, from the shadows, emerged something I wasn't quite anticipating.

 Directly ahead of me, a short distance away...

 Was a spider.

 And it was facing me.

 I yelped and stumbled backwards and fell on my ass. Would it attack?

 The short answer is, I didn't know. But, the fact that it was quickly moving towards me scared me shitless. I was unarmed, and even if I were armed normally with some sort of miniture weapon, this thing would have been a difficult fight most likely.

 It got closer, and closer. I stood up, and ran full sprint away--

 Directly faceplanting into the end of an enormous leather boot. It hadn't been there a moment before, I was sure of it.

 I hurriedly glanced up, only to see Celeste grinning down at me with a look of amusement in her eye.

 When did she get down here!? I could have sworn I was alone, and the way she was just silently watching me was eerie.

 Wordlessly, she raised her foot above me. I felt ice run down my spine as I imagined the next thing that would happen.

 "N-no, C-Celes...! Wai--" I began to beg for my life, and hurled up into a pathetic little ball. I had no time to react, and running out of the way was hard because my legs felt like they'd turned to jelly. For some reason, instead of getting the hell out of the way, all I could do was freeze up. I shut my eyes tight and--

 *BOOM*

 ...

 ...

 ...

 ..?

 The vibration of Celeste's boot slamming into the floor finally left my body, but I was very much unharmed. I turned around to look where she had stomped, only to watch her foot rise again. Under her sole, was a gory mixture of spider guts and viscera-- half on her boot and half on the floor.

 She slowly returned her foot back beside her other foot, and finally spoke up.

 "Hello Shute~!" Celeste happily greeted me.

 "H-H-Hi," was all I could manage to choke out in turn. I was still mentally recovering from the image of being gruesomely crushed underfoot just moments ago.

 Celeste was beaming sweetly at me.

 "You're up late! Are you looking for Rem?~" Celeste asked me.

 I weakly nodded.

 "Aww~ that's so cute. But she's not here, sweetheart! She usually has to find someone to feed on every night. But don't worry, she'll be back by morning. And before you start to worry, she doesn't usually kill her victims, either," Celeste explained.

 I swallowed a lump in my throat, but found myself at a loss for words, "O-oh..."

 "I've been wanting to talk to you actually," Celeste explained, "You've been huddled up with Rem since we arrived, it feels like..."

 Well, there was a good reason for that. You spook the shit out of me...

 "S-sorry! I didn't mean to.. um, appear rude.. And, thank you for saving me," I admitted. She could have gone about it a little more tactfully though. "You, uh, scared me a second ago..."

 Celeste was still smiling, but the mirth wasn't present in her eyes. It seemed a little forced.

 "Uh, yeah, sorry about that~ but that was on purpose, little one," Celeste suggested.

 My fear never completely went away, but now it was creeping back.

 "Come again?" I dared to ask. My voice cracked halfway through.

 Celeste laughed, but it was more contained than usual. "Don't worry, Shute. You're safe around me, but, I am... well, how do I put this?"

 Celeste pursed her lips and tapped on her chin with one finger, to emulate 'thinking.'

 "... a.. sadist." Celeste put it bluntly. "It was cute watching you get frightened for a bit. I'm warning you, it's not going to be the last time, either."

 I subconsciously took a step back. Everything in my brain was screaming that this chick was batshit crazy. And, as if on cue, she provoked me again by raising her foot.

 "Shute, come stand underneath my boot," Celeste teased. "I don't care if you look up my robes either~..."

 "C-Celeste...? Are you..--" I began to ask.

 "I'm not kidding. Stand underneath my boot, please," Celeste stated, matter-of-factly.

 God damn it, where's Remura!?

 Should.. should I just run for it? No, we're in the center of a sparsely decorated living room. She'd easily capture me, or stomp me before I could get anywhere. Damn it.

 I cautiously walked underneath Celeste's boot, and refused to look upwards.

 Once I was completely in the danger zone, Celeste just held her foot still. If I wanted, I could probably reach up and touch the bottom of the sole. This was a different foot, so there wasn't any spider blood to be reminded of.

 Silence. For about fifteen agonizing seconds, neither of us said anything. I felt my heart pounding, the same type of fear one might expect when they're about to get executed at the gallows.

 Eventually, Celeste spoke up, "Okay! Now move back to where you were standing just a minute ago, and face me again~"

 She spoke in such an excited girly tone, it was a bizarre situation. As if it were a child playing with a toy.

 I followed orders, and turned about-face back to Celeste. Then, a moment later, she stomped the floor where I was standing. It was loud, thunderous, and most of all, terrifying. 

 I... I was... I was just standing there, a second ago, and then all of a sudden, just some random spot in the house became a zone I could've perished in.

 Celeste obviously did this to prove some type of point.

 "Aww, Shute~... You're sweating! It's soooo cute!" Celeste squealed with delight.

 I was speechless. I thought she was supposed to be my friend! This isn't... this isn't what friends would do!

 I tried to speak, but all that came out was a barely audible 'help me.' Celeste obviously didn't hear it.

 "That's okay, Shute. Take a minute to catch your breath. I'd piss myself if I were in your position, too," Celeste teased. "Can I just go ahead an admit something to you? I'm not a... um... good person. I mean, I don't think I'm as bad as my Dad, but I'd still consider myself a bit, uhh... evil? Like I don't plan to go oblierate a village or something like he would, but I absolutely love to be feared. It makes me feel~ er, nevermind. That's probably too much information."

 Celeste got down on her knees, and adjusted her robes to accompany the motions.

 "I smile a lot because I have a serious resting bitch face," Celeste admitted, and ceased the happy masquerade.

 Making eye contact was harder now. She looked... pissed. She looked like a villain. She gazed at me as if I were a lesser creature. She was still beautiful, but her beauty was greatly out-weighed by her expression now.

 "I've been told I look pretty scary when I stop smiling. But, I promise I'm actually in a pleasant mood~" Celeste purred at me. I wasn't sure if that was supposed to make me feel any better, but all I could do was stare back.

 Celeste yawned. "I'm pretty sure you get the point by now, little Shute... I'm a bit of a bitch at heart, but you're not gonna die. But, even if you do end up dying... Hmm. Oh! I've got an idea!" 

 Celeste quickly snatched me up. Again, it was more surprising rather than aggressive or uncomfortable, but I found myself securely held within her grasp. It was an all encompassing warmth from her smooth palms and fingers.

 Celeste held her free hand out over the dead spider, and it glowed with a white light for a second. Miraculously, the spider had been revived. I'd almost forgotten Celeste was technically a Cleric, but Dark Cleric sounded like a more fitting description.

 "B-but... it might c-come after me again...?" I managed to squeak out. And I honestly was worried about any pests roaming the place, now. Celeste, well, I was afraid of her, but I didn't really expect her to actually kill me while Remura was still in the picture. I wasn't even sure why they were travelling together at this point, to be quite honest.

 Celeste clicked her tongue twice. "Nah, I just wanted to prove a point, Shute." 

 Celeste promptly stood up to her full height, and stomped on the spider as it tried to scurry away again.

 And then, again. And again, again, again. She just kept stomping on the spider's corpse, which was quickly turning into paste.

 "S-stop... please," I whimpered. I wanted to throw up, thinking about how she could've easily done the same thing to me.

 Celeste either did not hear me, or chose not to.

 A few more hard stomps, and she did eventually quit. But apparently, she wasn't done.

 Celeste returned to her knees, and spoke to me, "I'm going to revive it again, I just wanted to get my anger out of my system." 

 ...? 

 Anger? What was she angry about?

 "Actually, I'm going to do something a little different this time, Shute," Celeste explained, and set me down, a little ways away from the spider paste.

 "I'm pretty good with magic. I inherited it from my father, you see..." Celeste spoke, almost bragging, in a way.

 Once again, Celeste revived the same spider again, and cast a couple extra spells on it this time.

 "What... were those?" I dared ask. At this point, I was just feeling fortunate to still be alive. Asking her questions seemed to be okay, though.

 And, sure enough, she explained herself with some sick satisfaction, "Well, I revived the spider, gave it human level sentience, and the ability to talk." 

 If I had been drinking anything, this is the point I would've spat it out in disbelief. "What!?"

 Celeste ignored me, and spoke rather aggressively to the spider. "Hey, bug. Were you going to eat him earlier?"

 The spider stayed motionless, but soon, a telepathic, androgynous voice emanated from its location, "Yes."

 Celeste wasn't smiling. And, there seemed to be a step further than her resting bitch face. Somehow, she looked even angrier than before.

 "Apologize to him," Celeste curtly demanded.

 "Why?"

 Celeste looked like she couldn't believe her ears when the spider spoke with such indifference to a direct order.

 "Fine, fuck it," Celeste spoke, her voice void of anything remotely friendly. She then quickly picked up the spider with two fingers before it could react.

 "This is what you deserve for trying to eat my friend," Celeste spoke matter-of-factly, and placed the spider on her tongue.

 She turned to face me.

 It was the middle of the night. I just wanted to find Remura. The house was silent as a grave. I was able to clearly and easily hear--

 *gulp*

 Celeste opened her mouth, and showed me both the top and bottom of her tongue. The spider was gone.

 And, then, her smile actually returned to her face.

 "All gone~" Celeste half-sang. "It also knows what just happened to it, thanks to the whole 'sentience' thing." She then pat her stomach. "Burn in Hell."

 Celeste had made her point. Earlier, I only suspected she was batshit crazy. Now, she had without a doubt confirmed it. What the fuck did I get myself into..?

 "Well, it's nice to finally meet you, Shute," Celeste explained. "The real me. Not the one you met in the field."

 I gulped, but my throat was feeling a bit dry. I had no other choice than to just go along with it for now.

 "N-n-nice to... meet you," I replied, failing to exhibit any hint of bravery.

 "Good boy," Celeste piped up, before standing up to her full height again. "I guess you're going to head back to bed since Rem's not here? Or would you rather stay up with me?"

 "I... um... What would you like--" I began to ask, before getting cut off.

 "Cute that you're even asking me, but cut the shit, Shute. No one would want to hang out with me," Celeste spoke, sounding actually dejected for once. She then started walking towards me, causing me to flinch, but just stepped over me instead, and headed towards the stairs, towards her bedroom.

 ...

 Was that it? I'm off the hook?

 I desperately wanted to run back to my makeshift bed and pretend everything that just happened was a dream.

 But, if I was going to be roommates with Celeste and Remura, it would be best to keep them both happy. Celeste had just thoroughly proven to me that she wasn't someone I wanted to make sad or angry. And, a part of my mind kept thinking about how she referred to me as her 'friend' before she executed the spider. Call me crazy, but I wanted to see if I could get her to ease up on me by buttering her up and humoring her.

 "I'll hang out with you," I shouted to Celeste once she had one foot on her staircase.

 Celeste froze, and took her foot back off the first step.

 "..." she was quiet.

 Did... I just fuck up, somehow?

 ~~~

 Even after everything I just did.

 Did he really just say that?

 I was certain, no one in their right mind would...

 ~~~

 "Shute, I wasn't kidding when I told you I'm a cruel, sadistic bitch," Celeste finally spoke up, after a short pause.

 "You called me your friend earlier," I objected.

 "... so?" Celeste replied.

 "So... friends hang out," I answered.

 "I might do horrible things to you, you know," Celeste replied.

 "I know," I answered.

 "Then why the fuck would--"

 "I trust you."

 "Are you mental, dude?"

 "Every single interaction you've had with me so far. You talk rough, but you haven't hurt me. Nor have you killed me, either," I pointed out.

 Celeste spun on her heels, staring directly at me, but I stood firm. Just like I did against her father.

 "Do you want me to hurt you?" Celeste asked.

 "I mean, no... But..." I trailed off.

 I walked towards her, causing her to be the one caught off guard. I stopped directly in front of her right foot.

 "Step on me, then," I challenged.

 Celeste's foot didn't move, but she did bend all the way over and swoop me up into one of her hands. Again, she failed to make it painful.

 She stared at me incredulously. "You have a lot of nerve, you... puny little shrimp."

 "Something about bones, but words can never hurt me," I japed back.

 Celeste was blushing from embarassment now. "How dare you! Little fuck! That's it. Time for you to meet the fucking spider again."

 With that, Celeste opened her mouth, and rolled out her tongue. I'll be honest, this is the point where I was starting to feel a bit less bravado. I was washed over with a hot, moist wind. Her mouth was coated and shiny with saliva, and her throat heralded the entrance to a dark fleshy tunnel that I really didn't want to explore.

 She wasted no time, thrust me into her maw, and shut her lips. I was tossed around, being coated in her saliva, which permeated everything about me. Everywhere. In my ears, nostrils, and even into my mouth. I coughed up, and tried to catch my breath, but all I was inhaling was Celeste's breath.

 A minute passed, but to me, it felt like half an hour.

 Celeste tilted her head back, causing me to slide on her tongue towards her throat. At this point, I began to panic and hold on to anything I possibly could, but nothing in this cavern was on my side.

 "AAGGHHH!" I yelled, terrified, as I lost my grip on one of her tastebuds.

 I slipped, and fell quickly towards her throat, and--

 My world once again flipped upside down, and I was released into her palm, coated and slippery, still covered in her spit.

 I knew it.

 I spent a few seconds coughing up saliva, trying to catch a fresh breath of air. When I finally managed to look up at Celeste, her face was awash with concern, which she quickly fixed into her usual smug smile.

 I knew it. I'm still alive, and besides a little bit of humiliation, I'm not even hurt.

 "Had enough yet?" Celeste asked.

 "*sputter* Let's... *hack* hang *cough* out," I answered, trying to catch my breath, still.

 "..." Celeste didn't answer me.

  ~~~

 "So, this is the attic. Over there's my bed, and all of the decorations in this room are stolen, ill-gotten gains from people I've murdered, sometimes even in self-defense," Celeste bragged.

 "Even so, you managed to pick out the most beautiful decor, and even took the time to arrange it in a very aesthetically pleasing manner, Celeste," I praised the giant half-demon.

 Celeste puffed her cheeks, and blew out her hot breath in my face with palpable sass.