Just as she reached for a towel, somebody knocked on the door.
She wrapped the towel around her narrow hips and answered the door, not stopping to think about how anybody might react to a demon, even a very pretty one, answering the door.
It was the hooded figure. Her first instinct was to slam the door, but something nagged in the back of her head that she ought to let them in.
“Oh, would you look at that? It’s you. You - the one who did this to me. Why don’t you come inside and explain? I’d love to hear your take on what the fuck just happened to me,” Laina said, her melodic and masculine voice full of acid and accusation.
“Fine,” the figure responded, in a voice neither clearly male nor female. They stepped across the threshold and crossed the room to take a seat on the end of the bed. “It’s quite simple, really. I needed adventurers. They’re not easy to come by in this realm, so I had to work with what I had. You already had some personal connection with that name and body, so I simply went with that. And that particular form comes with plenty of impressive intrinsic power. All for the better. You’ll need it. Come along, Xecanthys. We’ve got work to do.”
Upon hearing that name, Laina was seized with an odd feeling. Xecanthys. That was her - no, his - name. Not Laina. Laina was nothing but a character in a novel he’d been writing in his down time. She was nothing more than a spunky and overworked schoolmarm, and she was fictional.
“Xecanthys, get dressed,” the hooded figure said, pointing to a pile of clothes he could’ve sworn weren’t there the moment before. A pair of black leather pants, knee-high boots, a white linen shirt, and beautiful silk jacket in golds, yellows, and oranges, with an ornate sunrise motif, a reddish sash, and a belt with various trinkets and pouches tied on. These were his clothes.
He got dressed.
“Alright, my friend, it’s time for us to get going. As I told you before, an adventure awaits.”