Chương 80: Chapter 79 - Satyr, pt. 1

1 Atzi and Daisy returned to the metal door. Daisy knocked and said, "We're back." A few clicking noises later, and the metal door creaked open. Atzi headed in after Daisy. She noticed Alana was already wearing a new pair of pants. Looking away, she held up the book over to Oak. I can't learn anything about this group and what's going on with Cory unless I help them.

"Perfect. Just joined and already such a help," Oak said, smiling. He reached over and took it from her claws.

"We are summoning the arch-demon on the night of the fifteenth. We need to prepare the ritual ingredients before then." That's later than the normal demon attack. I guess normally they have to make do with what they can get.

"It'll stick out if I'm not there for the heist meeting tomorrow. If Cory doesn't show that might lead to V looking into the book being missing. Should we go to that?" Oak turned to Cory.

"Coraline, what do you think?" Atzi looked at her too, wondering what she would say. Cory shrugged casually.

"Let V be suspicious. It's better than getting caught up in their job." She looked Atzi in the eyes.

"We shouldn't go."

"Oh…" Atzi clicked two clawed fingers together.

"Sure."

"I'll tell Fence I'm out so they don't go either." Atzi nodded. She felt weird. She knew the plan involved killing people. She didn't know how bad the arch-demon would be, as she had never been around when it happened. But Daisy's comments after Hemm's made her feel like it was going to be worse than she thought. She wasn't going to sell Cory and the others out, but was left wondering what she should even do. After considering it for a moment, she came up with a plan.

She could find out what their group in Hasen was up to, which was actually worth learning. That meant getting involved with the plan to summon an arch-demon. I guess... anyone who dies is gonna come back to life anyway. And I'd be stopping a lot more people dying if I find everything out. So it's alright? Atzi looked around awkwardly as discussions she couldn't overhear happened between the others. She felt exhausted. It wasn't fair she had to make such choices!

She wished life was simple for her, relaxing in a mansion.

"Meet back here the night of the ritual," Oak said to everyone. They all nodded. Atzi paused, then also nodded, making sure to nod enthusiastically so they wouldn't catch onto her doubts. As they left, Atzi followed after Cory and Alana. She stammered out, "So... uh.... are you gonna be collecting stuff for the next few days...?"

"I will!" Alana said happily.

"Should I collect stuff too...?" Atzi asked. Cory shook her head.

"No, you shouldn't. Leave it to Alana and the others. They know how to seduce people easily."

"Oh." It made sense to Atzi that it would be easier to steal ingredients if they seduced whoever had them. She laughed awkwardly.

"Must be nice..."

"I could teach you!" Alana suddenly said, excited.

"Eh?" Atzi's eyes widened.

"It's something you can teach people? L-like a martial art?" Atzi remembered the statue-like person who had killed her. Screw them! Why bother learning martial arts when I can learn seduction instead! Alana tapped her chin as she looked up at the dark ceiling, before saying, "Yeah, I guess so! We just call it satyr work." Atzi salivated. Ultimate power. She coughed.

"Uh. Sure. Yeah. Yeah, it's not like I'm doing anything else."

"You really gotta build up to it, though. I'm not sure how much I'll actually be able to teach you in time. Especially since I'll be busy at night. But this afternoon we can practice!" Alana pumped a fist into the air.

"Meet me in the big residential street where all the best parties are shortly?"

"Sure. Thanks, Alana." Atzi looked at Cory, wondering if she had anything to say. But she'd already turned away, tapping her foot impatiently.

"U-um. B-bye!" Atzi waved to them, and walked off to use a different sewer exit. - Atzi went and grabbed some food first, since she doubted Alana would be done with whatever she and Cory were doing so soon. After she was done, she headed to the residential street Alana had mentioned. It was less busy than she was used to, given it wasn't party time yet. She easily found Alana's pink curls, and walked up to her. Alana grinned.

"Good, you're here!"

"Yep!" Alana walked next to Atzi.

"Basically, this is how we get stuff we need when we're out on missions. Let's see how much you already know! What's the key to all seduction?"

"Uh…" Atzi thought about Cory.

"Being hot?"

"Nope! How you move your body."

"Oh. Like, dancing?"

"Exactly! You catch on quick." So that's why she was dancing with everyone...

"That's why the first lesson is dancing lessons. Show me how you dance. Don't worry that there isn't any music." Atzi stood there feeling nervous.

"Well... I don't dance alone..." She'd never given it much thought before, how exactly she should dance.

"Then you lead me in a dance." Alana held out her arms.

"C'mon." Atzi laughed nervously. She reached forward and took Alana's hands in her claws. She led her around in a circle. They danced a few times; Alana kept telling her to try different things, most of which Atzi had no idea about. She just kept to what she knew worked with Kurgi, and her own instincts. Then Alana stopped her, smiling.

"Not bad. You know how to move your lower body. But you don't know how to move your upper. Here, I'll lead for a second and show you." The difference in the dance was instantly noticeable to Atzi. Alana was keeping her movements simple, almost like she was barely dancing. But Atzi was keenly aware every time Alana brushed up against her, almost like it was an accident. When they were done, Atzi stared up at her with wide eyes, tail swishing back and forth excitedly.

Alana leaned in very close and whispered, "Like that." Atzi swallowed her saliva.

"Y-yeah, that's... way more effective, aha…"

"The key to all good seduction is making them wonder 'is she interested in me?' It's the uncertainty that gets someone's blood pumping. And then you can leverage it to get what you want." Atzi opened her mouth in realization, before blinking.

"Yeah, that makes sense.

'Cause if you knew for sure, you wouldn't have any reason to keep trying."

"There's a place for being the wet sop they want to pick up, but that's not the style I teach. That's more how Daisy does things with her 'I hate this place' attitude." Atzi understood instantly.

"Yeah, when you see her hanging out, you really wanna be the one to walk up and be the one cool person at the party."

"Exactly! She also tells people to go away so she can 'accidentally' talk to them again later and 'figure out' they are actually cool. Makes them crave the attention." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I'm not a wet sop, I'm really cool. So Alana's method is definitely the right one for me to learn. She just had to make her movements seem more accidental. I can do that. I've 'accidentally' bumped into people to swipe a coin pouch a bunch of times.

"It'll take you a few weeks to get it right at least, but I know you can do it. Now try it!"

"Alright." They danced more. Atzi felt awkward at first, too aware of what she was doing. Alana corrected her more and more, and Atzi realized how much more mentally tiring it was than she realized. She felt like she was being instructed on every minute movement, extremely different from the natural way Alana made it look.

"How do you make it seem so simple?" Atzi asked, complaining.

"With lots of practice!" As they continued, Atzi felt like she was getting the hang of it, piece by piece. It took several hours, but Alana was correcting her less and less. Eventually, she felt like she'd finally gotten down the rhythm. Alana let go.

"Wow! You're incredible! It's impressive how fast you learned that. It usually takes everyone much longer."

"Really?" Atzi scratched the back of her head, smiling.

"I must be a natural."

"Really really. I knew you were special." Atzi let out an embarrassed, happy laugh.

"But now it's time for some more complex parts. You can use your tail more." Alana pointed to it.

"Brush against their leg. Just don't trip them."

"Oh, yeah. I used to do that a lot when I was a kid, so I always try and keep it out the way usually." Atzi waggled it.

"Just a light brush on the side of their leg, enough to make them feel it but not freak out," Alana suggested.

"When you get into the really advanced stuff you could try tripping them without them noticing it was you, so you can catch them."

"Cool." Atzi nodded.

"Yeah, I could pull that off."

"This is just the basics though, pretty easy for you to practice on your own. The next part is a little more advanced." Alana got closer, again.

"It involves picking someone up." With that, she lifted up Atzi in a swift motion.

"E-eh?" Atzi's tail thrashed uselessly through the air.

"It unbalances them to have it happen, putting them in your control. Then you just make sure to make it a positive rather than negative experience." Alana spun Atzi around in the air, and then set her down.

"Like that."

"Right. P-positive, right." She remembered the time Alana tried to kill her, and how easily she could have done the same, right there.

"Is there something wrong? Usually people don't react like that!" Alana stepped a little closer.

"They get all giddy and laugh a lot!" Atzi tried to come up with a good excuse. She lifted up her arm.

"Um, I'm not sure if I'm strong enough for that part, though."

"It takes a lot of stamina, too. You know what else takes a lot of stamina? Doing all this while drunk. You really want to drink a lot while doing all this. The smell of alcohol makes people hornier." That made perfect sense to Atzi.

"Oh, that's easy. I basically can't get drunk. One of my ancestors was a swamp dragon. So drinking and most drugs just do nothin' to me."

"That's great! But how fast can you drink?"

"Pretty quick?"

"Wanna compete?"

"Sure!" Hells, it's something I can win at. I've won these before. Though not against her… this time I will!

"I'll be right back." Alana suddenly ran off. Atzi watched as the pink haired satyr ran directly towards somebody's house, and knocked on the door. The person who answered just looked like some average guy who didn't know her. Fifteen seconds and a touch on his arm later, and he let Alana inside his house. Wow, so that's what you can do when you're really good at seduction. That's even better than sneaking in! She came out a moment later with a keg in one arm, and two mugs in the other.

The man happily waved and called goodbye. Alana slammed the keg down in front of Atzi, creating a heavy sloshing noise.

"He even gave me his spare key, for some 'fun' later."

"People do that? What suckers!"

"I know!" Alana poured the contents of the keg into the mugs, before handing one to Atzi.

"Anyway, bottoms up!" They both drank as quickly as they could, refilling their own mugs when they were done. But Alana seemed even more motivated than the last time they'd competed. In the time it took Atzi to down three, she'd already gulped down seven. Atzi stared. Alana set down her mug on top of the keg and burped. Her face seemed flush, and she swayed slightly.

"That's all for now. You're a natural, just practice some more and you'll be as good as a satyr in no time. But before I teach you the really good stuff, I need you to pass a test…."

"That wasn't even the good stuff? Wow. What's the test?"

"Go out and find someone! Anyone! Sweep them off their feet and seduce them before the night is over." Atzi swished her tail in excitement.

"Yeah. Yeah!" She felt totally confident she could do that. - Atzi wandered around, passing multiple parties just starting up. She needed an ideal target. A woman who looked lonely, and preferably shorter than her already short self so she could practice lifting someone up, too. I wonder if this stuff would work on Cory… That's probably why she's dating Alana! So she's not a bad person after all! She was just seduced by a satyr!

After an hour, when the parties were finally going in more earnest, she finally found someone who fit what she was looking for. The dark haired human woman sat on a chair, looking at the ground as she sipped her drink. Beside her was an ongoing party full of people dancing with each other, to the sound of nearby musicians. I could lift her up! Atzi approached her casually. She felt totally confident, given that even if she messed things up, it didn't matter.

She didn't know this person, and it would all be reset by the loop eventually anyway. She spoke up in her scratchy voice, "Hey... your friends ditch you?"

"Huh?" The woman blinked up at her.

"No, um..." She looks at the crowd.

"They're all dancing. But I don't know how to dance." This is perfect.

"Lemme show you, then." Atzi held her claw forward.

"Alright, get up, it's easy."

"Huh?" The woman looked away.

"But what if everyone sees me?"

"Then that just means you're doing it really well." Atzi grinned. The woman looked back down at her drink and mumbled, "... I guess I could try." She set down her drink beside her chair, and then put her hand into Atzi's claw. If it hadn't been for Alana's training, Atzi wasn't sure how she would've reacted to this gesture. She probably would have been taken by surprise and started stumbling over her own words, trying to look cool and not shocked. Instead, she just gently pulled the woman up.

"Cool. Just follow my lead." She kept it simple at first, like she was really trying to teach her how to dance. The practice with Alana was fresh in her mind, and Atzi was already pretty good at subtle motions from all the thievery in her life. Then, emboldened by memories of the successes she'd had with Kurgi even before she knew the tricks to seduction, she started putting in her practice. An accidental hand brushing near her arm, an accidental tail sliding near her legs, keeping it natural.

When Atzi saw the woman blush, she went in for the kill. Leading her close enough to the other dancers that she could blame one of them if things went wrong, Atzi then slipped the tip of her tail behind the woman, just as she took a step back. The woman tripped backwards. In a swift motion, Atzi pulled her back and up, spinning her around as her legs lifted slightly in the air. And then, instead of setting her down, kept her suspended slightly in the air.

"Careful there."

"Ah-um-um. Thanks," the woman squeaked out. Her face was an even deeper shade of red.

"No problem," Atzi said, still not letting her down.

"Were you looking to get caught?"

"Ahhh?"

"Let's get another drink. You're getting pretty red. If you're embarrassed about dancing, we could head back to your place instead."

"Letsgetthatdrinkthatsoundsgood!" Atzi set her down. The woman let out a breath of relief, and together they headed over to drink. - Three drinks in, and the woman already seemed at her limit. She was holding onto Atzi's clothes and complaining about her friends.

"They're not that nice. They invite me to stuff but they don't really want me there. I know. They're not nice like you." They sound like jerks. Good thing she found someone like me. I'm basically a hero for this.

"Yeah. I get it. Mine did the same, we were supposed to be doing stuff together but as soon as one thing goes wrong, they all run away."

"Yeah!" The woman then blinked, and let go. She rubbed her head.

"Uhhh... I'm kinda tired..."

"You wanna go to bed?" Atzi asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah… yeah..."

"Let's get you home, then. Show me the way, I'll make sure you get there alright." The woman stumbled a bit as she led Atzi through the streets. I'm so good at this. I'm a master. This loop is awesome, and I love it. === Atzi woke up to a scream. She shot up from the stranger's bed.

"Eh? Wh-what's wrong?" She looked around for anything wrong, before she saw the woman beside her, half dressed and pointing at her in horror.

"What's wrong? What happened?!" Atzi asked.

"Get out!" She suddenly looked furious, teeth gritted as she glowered. Atzi put up her claws in front of her.

"Okay, okay, I'm going." She didn't understand the problem, but she didn't want to deal with someone being mad at her when the loop was already turning out so well. She got out of bed and lazily started dressing herself. Suddenly, the woman shoved her. Atzi stumbled out of the room, catching herself before she fell.

"Hey, I said I'm going!" The woman picked up Atzi's dagger. - Atzi was forced to dress herself in the street. She had to retreat to an alleyway just so she wouldn't be stared at. At least she had her dagger back. The woman had skidded it across the ground as soon as Atzi ran out, before slamming the door shut. Seriously, what was her problem? Well, I guess Alana never said her strategies work long term. But they do work! She felt like, as she tried them more, she could probably get even better results.

She spent some time lazily eating from a food stall, whittling away the day until she could meet with Alana again. Come late afternoon, she headed back to see the satyr. Even with a bad start to her day, Atzi was excited to learn more.