D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad-Chapter 1545 - What’s in a Name

--- Kat ---

After Hunter’s ’Blunder’ Meg kept much closer to her. While before Meg might have been standing next to or around Hunter in general now she would occasionally bump into Hunter with her shoulder or hip check her slightly.

This may have been sweet if every ’inadvertent’ touch wasn’t accompanied by the biggest shit-eating grin Meg could manage, constantly taunting Hunter for the single slip-up she’d made.

Kat honestly felt a bit bad about just going along with calling Meg well… Meg. Kat wasn’t sure why it was now that Hunter slipped considering she’d been putting up with this for years. Perhaps Kat’s small involvement was just a grain of sand in the dessert, or perhaps it was a much bigger deal. Kat didn’t know and she couldn’t take it back. Not that Kat was certain she should.

*While I do feel a bit bad… if Meg wants to be called Meg I feel like it’s fine to indulge her. Granted she’s now made an ass of herself by playing it up to this degree… so maybe not? Gah it’s hard. I want to respect Hunter’s beliefs and values but they just seem so dumb to me. Is it not better to respect Meg’s wishes here? It’s not like she’s asking us to kick puppies or crusade against the innocent.

She just wants us to call her by her name.

Which… god I don’t know. Hunter… and Meg have both turned it into a big deal. Hunter because it’s important to the clan and Meg because she MADE it one. Perhaps if she was less of an ass about it I’d be siding with her. It may be important to Hunter and her clan but Meg has clearly made her peace with the fact the clan won’t be happy… and it IS much easier to say Meg instead of… what was it? 23HX502?

Anyway… it puts us all in an awkward position where now I’m not sure what to… say… do. Really anything. It doesn’t help that everyone is scared of Meg. It’s worn off a lot for me, especially because she keeps referring to use as Hunter’s friends so I’m guessing that if push comes to shove then she won’t do any permanent damage… look I don’t know. I guess I’m just ranting at this point.

What are your thoughts Lily? You’ve been a bit, mentally, quiet.*

[Well… I don’t know what to do either so it seemed better to just let you "talk" about it. Maybe you’d manage to work something out? I agree it’s hard. We’re Hunter’s friends first and foremost… in large part because Meg’s not very nice or understanding but… it IS a very strange and dehumanizing requirement.

Like, I get it, they want to push people to EARN that name… but the criteria seems to be… live long and Rank up which well…]

[It doesn’t really seem to be something you can influence much. I mean, we all ranked up because of the drake but if Hunter goes out on these sorts of missions regularly it can’t be a normal thing. Not sure what was different here, probably the time energy if I had to guess… but that’s just a guess.]

[So… yeah it feels like Hunter’s clan withholds what really should be a super basic thing to try and force people to either do dangerous stuff or basically nothing in the hope it will make them better hunters… somehow. I don’t get the connection or understand why it would ever work.

But the clan thinks it does and Hunter either thinks it helps, or respects the rules or her clan enough to just go along with it.]

[I sort of get Meg’s frustration. Hunter could be so much better if she just questioned things a bit more and broadened her perspective. She has allowed her clan to put all of these frankly silly rules on her and instead of questioning them she just goes along with it all instead of only accepting the good or useful rules and traditions…]

[But it’s not like we’re any different. We probably have a bunch of silly laws we still at least try and follow… but they’re baked into our worldview now so we don’t know that they’re silly or why we should ignore them. It’s easy for us to throw stones as people that aren’t in the clan… but maybe it DOES matter.]

[Like… they’d have the data right? I imagine they have a notably higher rate of high rank demons compared to other clans or maybe just the general population. Of course that being said it’s unlikely you can tell how much of it is about the names, so maybe it’s fine to go along with Meg… but it’s not just about the names is the problem.]

*What do you mean?*

[Well… Meg is clearly pushing the name thing, and has been for a while. I’m not sure if it’s about the name… or just to get a foot in the door so to speak. If we start showing support for Meg now, even though it seems reasonable… she can probably use it to pry that door open further.]

[Because really this all goes back to their core tenants… or at least the core of the arguments they have. Hunter fundamentally believes the clan is a good thing.

That they have rules for a reason and even if not all of them are perfect, as a hole, the clan is a net good… or at least it achieves it’s goal of gaining stronger hunters and Hunter thinks that’s a good thing that is worth pursuing even if not everyone is fond of the idea.]

[On the other hand, Meg thinks the clan isn’t as helpful as they claim. That it’s a combination of the clan’s training and your own drive… but that drive is just as if not more important and the clan shouldn’t get to take credit for that. Hunter would probably argue the clan helps instil a drive in its members as well but that’s a separate argument.]

[My point is… if Hunter gives up on the name thing, she’s not just giving up on the name thing. She’s fundamentally accepting that Meg might have a point. She might not be entirely correct, but she must have a point… and I don’t know if Hunter is ready or willing to admit that.

I’m also not sure that she should because… well Meg would probably be like ’Ha, you agree I’m correct’ which isn’t the same thing, but Meg would try to make it seem like it is. Shifting the goalposts and whatnot.]

*Urgh. I already thought this was complicated but now you’re telling me it’s worse? I just want Hunter to be happier at the end of things then she was at the beginning but it’s just… so hard and annoying in this instance. Making her some good food is easy. Trying to work out if calling Meg by her name is the right thing is just… god it feels so needless complicated.

I feel like I’m repeating myself but I just… urgh what’s the right choice?*

[I’m really not sure there is one. Hunter definitely could stand to lighten up some… but Meg feels like she’s one step away from being an anarchist, or at least, if given the chance to destroy the clan I’m pretty sure she’d take it and that would devastate Hunter.]

*Not sure destroying the clan is all that likely… but I get what you mean. I don’t even know what’s better long term. As much as I want to try and convert Hunter more towards my own way of thinking… that seems like a shitty thing to do? I don’t want Hunter to be more like us, I want Hunter to be a better version of herself. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

And I don’t know if Meg is really helping achieve that… god it would be so hopeful if I could just see the future!*

A beat passed. Then another. Then another. [What are you waiting for? I can FEEL you waiting for something.]

*Oh well I was sort of hoping that between the time magic, the fact we were sent here because of at least one seer and my own desire to know what the future would hold in that moment… I was hoping my Rank 4 ability was to let me see the future. It’d be really helpful right about now, and if you think about it that’s almost exactly how my Rank 2 ability came about.*

[Wasn’t there a spell setup to help you even if you didn’t gain that ability all of a sudden? And how do you explain your other abilities with that logic?]

*I dunno. It was mostly wishful thinking.*

[Kat I could feel the sudden spike of anticipation.]

*I was hoping if the universe thought I gave up on my shiny new power it would suddenly come to me in a moment of irony, signalling that I was wrong to despair… or something like that.*

[But you weren’t despairing at all! Plus do we even know how any of the future sight abilities work? Surely there must be some sort of caveat to most of them. Even if it’s something simple like sitting down on dreaming.]

*Ooh, that could be on theme. Prophetic dreams!*

[Stop banking on future sight to solve your problems!]