Across town, Aliza gasped out in pain, clutching the spot where her heart would be instead of a black lump of coal.
Tizlira and Ra-Barbus were instantly at their friends side.
"Aliza are you okay?" Tizlira asked.
"How are you hurt?" Ask Ra-Barbus.
" . . . Wicked . . ." She hissed.
"What about her?" Tizlira asked, worried.
"She .. . she's no longer Wicked . . . I could sense it . . . she was turned back into a HUMAN."
The pair gasped in horror.
"But . . . but I didn't think that was possible!" Tizlira said.
"It's not supposed to be unless you have the costume of your old human life and are made to put back on . . . and that is ONLY if it happens within the time limit before your human lives fade from reality. But . . . but . . . none of that happened . . . she was . . . she was forced back to being Wesley!"
Ra-Barbus clutched her bat-club so hard her knuckles were white. "Let me at whoever did it, I'll knock their head off then bash their brains in."
"NO!" Aliza snapped. "No you won't! They were able to take Wicked from me! I won't lose you two too!" Said Aliza in a tone not unlike endearment.
The three imps hugged.
Aliza if she could, would cut her losses, and retreat back to hell with her two converts. She had occasionally lost converts before, and she had their names written in her diary to remember them by, but having lost one that broke the rules of how it was supposed to be undone . . .it had scared her.
But she knew, that returning without Janith after the Council had openly let her create converts, would not be pleasant for her.
"Maybe, maybe we can get Wicked back." Tizlira said.
"No chance."
"It can't be done twice?" Tizlira asked.
"That's not the problem Tiz'. The problem is that Wesley has to consciously agree to play the game, remember? And most humans, stupidly think being human is better than being a demon. I seriously doubt he'll want to be Wicked again."
"She'll, er, he'll want to be with us right?"
"He'll want to make you two human again."
The two imps gasped in horror.
With genuine reluctance Aliza said, "So forget about getting Wicked back for now, or you'll end up just like her. I'd just have us wait it out until your human lives finish fading from reality. But I'm still on assignment, and as my converts, you have to help. The good news is, is that I can sense where she ceased to exist." Aliza shuddered at the memory. "But . . . given that one of my converts was turned human again in a way that circumvented the rules, I think the council would be willing to let me observe the enemy some and build up our numbers a little bit. Rushing in blindly is likely WHAT got Wicked zapped. We CAN NOT rush in blindly."
"Replacement for Wicked?" Ra-Barbus asked.
"Wicked can't be replaced. But we CAN make new friends!"
"Gotcha." Ra-Barbus nodded.
"They'll LOVE being imps!" Tizlira grinned showing her fangs.
Before Janith was just an excuse for Aliza to create more converts. Now she had taken one of Aliza's friends from her, 'Janith, you just made an enemy!'
Tizlira, had finished charming and converting her ( or rather, Trisha's) little sister. She had revealed herself to her, told her she had become an angel (technically a fallen angel, but she didn't need to tell her that before hand) and wanted to play a new game. Her little sister, Alexsis, had agreed.
The new imp, Giflira, was wearing a jungle loin cloth like you'd see in a movie, had a white bed necklace and similar one around one writs and one ankle, she looked ready to swing form vines like Tarzan. Her tail curled around like a monkey's, and her horns looked like a little bull's. Her hair was a wild mess.
They dumped the costume of her former human life onto a garbage scow and waved it bon voyage.
"You want to play hard ball, we'll play hard ball!" Aliza swore.