Warning: Violence. I really don't know what this chapter would be categorized as otherwise. I did put a "!" at a part I was uncertain of what warning I should give it or even if it needed a warning, so you can skip that and go the Author's Note at the end if you don't want to push your luck farther.
Looking around, there was nobody in sight that fit what Sua was looking for. She was getting desperate. If she couldn't find someone despicable, then she had to go for her Plan B. As sad and awful as it sounded, her next targets would be those who have given up on life. The people who would drink all of their pain away with no one else in their lives to support them. She thought of it as a way to put them out of their misery. She hated resorting to this option but she had no other choice.
With her new goal in mind, she scanned the bar once again. Most of the tables were filled with people enjoying their night with their friends and families. The booths would be the best bet. That's where most of the lonelier people would be. The area was fairly empty for the most part, except for one other person. A lone, black-haired woman who looked around 27 years in age. She'd picture her hanging around friends her age, partying the night away. Yet there she was without even a small smile on her face. She was just looking at her glass the entire time. She might be the person Sua needed.
She walked over to her spot as casually as she could. She didn't want to raise any alarms. She always wanted her victims to have a false sense of security. Of course, she could use her charms right from the get-go, but she always tried to use her natural charms to get their attention. Magic was only used when she couldn't do it herself. "Hey, I noticed you're alone over here. Do you mind if I join you?"
"Hm? Oh, hi. Um. Sure. I'm just having a drink, nothing more." She went back to looking at her glass and swirling it around in her hand.
Sua points at the girl's drink. "Is it good? I might get one for myself. Why don't I buy us both a round?"
"I recommend it, but you don't have to get me another. This is fine."
"But I insist."
"No, it's fine. Really! Don't waste your money on me." And the conversation turned to silence as the girl awkwardly looked back to her glass. I guess it was time to bring out the magical charm.
"It's never a waste if it's someone as pretty as you." The mysterious girl looked at her eyes like Sua predicted. That was key to charming her victims. "You deserve more than you think." She slowly moved her hand towards her face to palm her cheek. "Believe me on that."
Moments of silence past before the mysterious girl's face changed to confusion as she pushed the hand off of her cheek. "Woah! Hold on a sec. Now I see what's going on here. Word of advice, no one's going to go home with you if you act that creepy to someone you just met."
Sua looked at her in surprise. She broke through the charm. Now that she thought about it, there wasn't that click she felt when she charmed people in the past. Was this girl even affected? No human could ever break a demon's charm, especially for one as powerful as her. There was only one explanation for this. "You're an angel."
"That's sweet of you, but you already tested your luck."
"No. I mean, your a literal angel!"She said a bit quieter to avoid the bartender overhearing her.
The girl's eyes started to widen. "Are you ok? Did you have too much to drink?"
"No, I'm completely sober. Look, I know what you are. I need you to purify me!"
"Woah, that's moving a little too fast. We just met." The girl's stubbornness was starting to annoy Sua.
"You know perfectly well what I mean. Please. I need your help. I have no time for your stupid quips."
The girl chuckled a bit. "Alright, you got me. You must be a demon. That's the only way someone would recognize one of us, especially in a place like this. Which kind are you?"
"A succubus."
"Makes sense. What does someone like you need to be purified, though? A being thriving over pleasure. I'd thought creatures like you would be living the dream."
"Not when it comes to accidentally killing someone they truly like. I'd do anything to make sure I won't hurt her." Sua looked toward the side. She hated picturing that possibility.
"You're a weird succubus, but are you sure you want to go through with this? You know how painful the purification process is?"
"I'm fully aware, but it'll be worth it in the end. As long as we're both happy. I don't want to keep living a life like this."
"What's your name? I don't want to keep calling you 'Succubus.' People would give us weird looks."
She couldn't really lie about her name with another magical creature. She might be able to tell she's lying. She responded back, "I'm Sua. I want to ask the same to you."
"Right, I'm Siyeon. I'll help you, but there's one thing you need to keep in mind. If there is any indication that you have malicious motives, I won't hesitate to kill you. Understand?"
"If you're so willing to kill me, then why help me in the first place?"
"Demons do what they can to survive. I don't blame them for that and I'm willing to help one in need. It's only when they do things past survival to make humans suffer is where I draw the line."
"Not as angelic as I thought. I thought they'd be good no matter what."
"And I thought demons weren't sympathetic, but I guess both of our views changed, huh?"
"I guess. So, what was the reason you were actually here? Are you on watch or something?"
"No. I told you the truth. I was just having a drink. Nothing more. I thought I wouldn't get bothered tonight, so I left myself to my thoughts. I didn't think there would be a succubus trying to charm me. How did you know?"
"What do you mean?"
"How did you know I liked girls. I didn't think I seemed very obvious from where you're sitting."
"Oh, that's easy! How do you think we find the right people to charm? We have this innate ability where we know when someone is attracted to women. No matter the gender, we get some sort of a ping in our heads that tells us that they'll be into us. In a way, I have the best gaydar."
Siyeon chuckled. "Makes sense, but does the charming work most of the time? Did you do it on me?"
"Usually it does, but since you're another magical being, it won't work. It only works on humans. And about that, I'm sorry. I promise you I don't prey on random people. I usually feed on awful people. I couldn't find anyone, so I resorted to people who just gave up. It's been a bit since I fed and I'm starving."
"Wait, you thought I was giving up on life?"
"Well, yeah. You looked so sad. Your form made it look like you were a lonely twenty-something drinking your sadness away."
"That's a little dramatic. I space out a lot, which I guess makes it look like I'm sad. My responses probably didn't help either, huh?" Siyeon thought back to the start of their conversation. "It was the reason why I sounded so hesitant in the beginning. It takes a bit of time before I fully register what's happening when someone interrupts my thoughts. You can't really judge how a person truly feels just from looks alone. How many times did you go through this kind of target?"
"Actually, this is the first time. I didn't always have these plans. They were only created when I took my first victim. I didn't want to do it, but you know how it is. Once succubi get to a certain age, hunger suddenly develops." Sua paused a bit before continuing. "I just chose someone at random. At first, I just wanted to get a little from them to survive for a bit, but like tonight, I was starving. I got too greedy and ended up killing her. The amount of guilt I felt as I was draining away her life energy was too much. I didn't want to go through with that again, but I had no other choice."
"So, if I was a human, I would've died? And you'd go through all that guilt again?"
Sua sadly nodded. "I'm glad you're an angel. Not just because you can help me, but because you prevented me from making the same mistake I've made a couple years ago." She suddenly started to feel pain as she grabbed her stomach. She needed energy fast. "Please...help...me..."
Angels wouldn't die from a succubus's effects, but at the same time, a succubus wouldn't get any energy from them. Siyeon looked down sadly at the currently dying demon. She had to help her. She had to think of another way for her to feed. "Have you tried a different location?"
"I've...been to other...bars."
"No. I mean, have you been to places other than them?"
"No. Just...bars. More...casual...that way."
"Let's go. I have an idea." Siyeon grabbed Sua by the arm and walked out of the bar.
"Where...are we going?"
"You'll see."
***
They soon arrived in an alleyway. It wasn't too busy, but it was only like that due to the gang activity. It was a popular area that had no witnesses. It was a cruel area to do their shady business practices, but that's how things are around here.
Just like Siyeon predicted, there was a group of gang members targeting a lone and cornered pedestrian.
"I swear I didn't mean too! Help! Somebody, please!"
"No one's gonna hear ya, worm." The leader of the group pulled out a switchblade. "This is what you get for scoffing at us. No one scoffs at us and lives."
"But all I did was cough. I don't mean to mock anyone, I swear! Please, let me go!"
As this conversation was going on, Sua was taking slow small steps toward them. She seemed as if she wasn't in control of her body and just kept moving her weak body, little by little. One of the lackeys noticed and pointed the two girls out to the boss. "Scared to go against a couple of girls? Don't be a dumbass. Take care of them yourselves." The lackeys quickly nodded before rushing towards Sua and Siyeon.
"..." Siyeon swore she heard Sua say something. She had to wait to hear it again. "Leader." She said in a weak voice. Siyeon nodded as she went to take on the lackeys on her own. They too had switchblades as they pulled them out to attack the angel.
"Are you sure you boys want to do this? It would be really embarrassing for you if you got beat up by a girl, right? That's the only way you're leaving this place." One of the lackeys, consumed with rage after being mocked, started to swing toward her with the knife. "Swing and a miss! You gotta be faster than that, buddy!" Both of the lackeys started to swing wildly at Siyeon. It was a perfect distraction from what Sua was about to do to their precious leader.
Sua stopped right behind the man. He seemed to notice her presence as he turned around to look at her and then at the two other lackeys. "Dumbasses." He looked back at Sua before getting distracted by her looks. "You're a fine piece of work. I'll take care of you after I take care of this little worm." He focused back on the poor innocent man. "If you move, I swear I will make your suffering worse." He was about to slice when Sua grabbed his arm midswing, making him look at the girl once again. The civilian took that opportunity and ran. It didn't matter if the leader saw him at that point, Sua already charmed the attacker.
!
She didn't have time to "flirt." She needed energy now. Since he was now in a trance, she didn't need to say anything. All she had to do was start kissing him. It was the quickest way to drain him. At first, he was in bliss. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary yet. He's making out with an attractive woman. Why would that make him worry? The bliss didn't last for long as he started to feel excruciating pain. It broke him out of the charm, but it was too late for him. He tried his hardest to escape, but Sua's magic kept him in place with his lips moving on their own. All he could do was release muffled screams as his life drained from him. Feeling her own energy coming back to her, she pushes the body aside and smiles toward Siyeon. "I feel so much better now! Thanks! Hey, are you ok?"
!
Sua looked over at a concerned-looking Siyeon. Right when all this was going down, Siyeon already knocked out the two lackeys. At that point, all she could do was watch what Sua was doing. "The fuck?"
"Right, you're not used to something like this. Sorry, you had to see that."
"Does this happen every time you do this?"
Sua looked down to the ground. "Not always. Usually, I like to take it slow, but since I was desperately hungry, I had to get his energy as fast as I could. This is one of the worst ways to do it. You've seen how I acted. I was completely driven by instinct. I hate it." She looked up to face Siyeon again, who had the same look on her face. It never changed. "Do you think I'm evil? Are demons actually beyond redeeming? Are you still willing to help me?"
Siyeon shook whatever she was feeling off. She's right, she wasn't used to this kind of thing. She hasn't been around demons all that much. Just here and there. She's just never seen them at work before. Sua was the first one. Was she horrified by the incident? Yes. Definitely. Nothing like this existed in her realm. Nothing terrifying ever happens up there. Down here, on Earth and in the Demon realm, were the real pits of Hell. Of course, something like this would shock her, but it's to be expected. After all, she's helping out a hungry demon. And from what she learned about them back home: A demon's punishment is never light. Remembering what Sua said earlier that night, she fully understood why she was so affected by the innocent girl. "Of course, I am. You don't want to live this way anymore, right? What kind of angel would I be if I abandoned those in need?"
Sua looked at her in surprise and ran over to give her a hug. She hasn't felt a real one in a while. All the others were used to get what she wanted. This one was sincere. She felt Siyeon hugging her back. The warm embrace was something she didn't know she needed. She didn't want to let go. She liked the feeling of these hugs better and she hoped she'd give more of these hugs when she's purified.
___
Author's Note
For the part you might have skipped: Sua kills the man using her succubus powers and asks Siyeon if she's okay as she sees the terrified look on her face.