Abomination (Zienna)

[The Black Mage]

That's what this world was. Or, so it seemed.

Gideon Arctus had, under his uncle's training, unlocked an ability that ran in his family. By navigating a sub-space known as the Realm of Darkness, he was able to navigate between entire spheres of reality. Having no map of this place meant he had to chart his own. And, this discovery was most interesting.

A world in the super-space of the Realm of Light, which, in spite of this, sits on the skin of the Realm of Darkness. A world which did not thrum with a heartbeat. It was a world of contradictions. Which is what drew him to the place.

Rain poured down off of his hat and coat as the young arcanist navigated the alleys. It somewhat reminded him of the hustle and bustle of Paris... But, these buildings were several dozen feet taller than what he was used to. Towers which reached up to heaven, threatening to tear ugly gouges into the sky. Had there been any ambient light from the sky, it would no doubt be blocked by these impossible structures. ...Well, improbable. He supposed that it was possible his people had not yet discovered the magic or science that made such structures possible.

He supposed, for a moment, he must stand out. A storybook wizard, ambling though this endless, empty city...

[Zienna]

They were back for the second time in this desolate place. They had no quest nor objective aside from exploration. The leader of the party had always been the adventurous type, and her companions were always ready to tag along. It had been a long while since their first visit, and it was eventful to say the least. The memories made here were easy to recall, and the memories after them even more so.

The party was only there for exploration purposes, and didn't aim to find anyone else wandering the area, nor were they expecting to run into someone. Hours spent traversing the lifeless city finally caught up to the members of the party, and they settled inside one of the buildings, which was conveniently fully furnished and large enough to accommodate a twelve-foot walking behemoth. Though, furniture for his size wasn't available, so Wolfram decided to sit, cross-legged in the lobby while the others retreated to a nearby room.

What happened inside? Nothing really. Two of the succubus' partners were too exhausted and immediately fell asleep at the first taste of rest, so she was left to slowly drift into her dreams, which was surprisingly different than what people would expect from her. It made no sense to her, but she saw two orbs, one white, the other black, floating in an empty space. They pulsed like heartbeats, synchronized like they were one in the same. And then a presence snapped her out of her dreams.

"Mom...?" Under the blindfold, Zienna scanned the room, but there was nothing there, except Isis, who was curled on the bed with her, her hair falling over her features, and Nero, who remained a bird, perched on the headboard. Carefully as to not disturb her companions, she got out of bed and out the room, being as quiet as she could.

Wolfram turned to her in a questioning manner, but she simply shook her head to reassure him that everything was fine. She walked out the building, still feeling that strange, familiar aura... It felt like her mother, but... it was so faint, like a drop of ink dropped into a gallon of water. What did this mean, she wondered.

Wondering could only take one so far, so the succubus walked towards the direction of the presence she felt. It could have been nothing, but somehow she just wanted to know why the presence felt like her mother so much.

[The Black Mage]

And, finally, a change.

Through the haze of rainwater, Gideon could finally make out a change in the endless towers. Lights, in one. A sign of life! Such a strange world as this, the young sorcerer couldn't help but be drawn to it. There was nothing even resembling inhabitation of this dark, empty world, until this moment. How could he possibly avoid seeking it out?

This is exactly the sort of thing Michel wanted him to do. Ho out. Experience the many myriad planes that Zurin had written about in the Book of Shadows. Enrich himself by experiencing worlds vastly different from his own. Leave no mystery uninvestigated. The rain ran off him as he approached the barely-lit tower.

...And, much to his surprise, he found someone making their way out of the building. The rain was too heavy, the light too bright; he couldn't make out any details of this person out. He wasn't so naive as to be off his guard, though; he gripped his staff, coming to a halt in the rain. He shook out his left arm, the dagger up his sleeve sliding down to where he could grab at it, if he needed to. Letting it settle into the folds of his cuffs, he raised his hand, waving to the emerging figure.

...What would come of this, he wondered?

[Zienna]

The rain didn't discourage her from setting out, she simply raised her wings over herself to keep her body dry. Relatively. Her wings were successful from shielding her from the water, but she couldn't do much about the raindrops that got through the front gap she kept open so she could see.

As she continued to follow where the presence was, she made up a faint image of a figure ahead of her. It wasn't her mother, that was for sure. But then... who was it? Why did they feel so familiar, essence-wise? The figure seemed to beckon to her. They were too far to know whether or not their intentions weren't to cause her harm, but then again, if it were the case, she would have approached any way.

Some might wonder why she was given such senses if she'd go to danger anyway just for a quick pinch of pain to tingle her pleasures. Personally, she thought of it as a hindrance to surprises, though it made some things... much easier to... manipulate to her favor.

"Hello?" she called out, her voice sweet and flavored with concern and allure. She didn't come off as any form of threat, rather, she was very... innocent in how she carried herself. "Do you need help?"

[The Black Mage]

He tensed up, hard, when he saw the wings of the figure. Leathery, batlike wings. ...He'd read through the Book of Shadows to know what a bat-winged humanoid likely was.

A Fiend. A catch-all word from entities which rise from the Lower Planes. Hell, the Abyss, Abbadon. That he new of, the denizens of these planes lacked even the capacity to do good. He gripped his hidden dagger, ready for a fight. ...And, then, as he drew ever closer, he could make it out a little better. ...Her wings were decidedly black... ...And, feathered. ...What? He'd never seen anything like a befeathered Fiend. Wings like those were a Celestial trait. He entertained, for the moment, that she could be a cross-breed, like him. ...A thought he quickly set aside. A Fiend and a Celestial would tear eachother to ribbons, long before they could copulate enough to conceive.

The strange-blooded woman seemed to adopt a certain mannerism, as she finally spoke up. ...And, Gideon felt something tick at the edge of his awareness. It was a feeling he knew well, Michel had trained him for it. Enchantment. Compulsion. Someone was trying to directly alter his mind. He cast his gaze across the area as he continued to approach the woman. He saw nobody else out in the rain. He hadn't ruled out that the caster could be indoors, watching him. ...But, he was soon able to see the truth... The compulsion grew stronger as he approached the woman. And, as the light was better nearer to the building, he could see the woman... And her beauty.

...A beautiful, winged woman. With a tail. Radiating a seduction effect. ...This was a Succubus. Without question, this was a Succubus.

...Now, this was a dangerous situation. Likely, this demon already had his scent. So, she could track him, if she chose. Demons tended to be more physically adept than anything else, so, he knew he couldn't fight her.

...Roll for Diplomacy.

He swallowed a few times, trying to gather himself. He was quite conversational in Abyssal. Not fluent, by any means, but practiced enough to get by in most situations. He had to gather himself not because of a lack of skill, but because of a lack of spirit; it was far from easy for a human to intone Abyssal syllables. He had a bit of a better time, due to his lineage. It wasn't going to cause him pain, like it might a normal human. ...But, the Planar Tongues are far from simplistic, and it always took him a bit of a wind-up, mentally, to begin conversing in them.

"...Well. I'd say you're quite far from home. Something we appear to have in common."

He supposed he'd soon know. Generally, the only beings who knew Abyssal, other than demons, were mages like himself. So, her understanding him would tell him a lot.

"A place to get out of this rain would be appreciated, if you're offering."

[Zienna]

As soon as he spoke a tongue that was only common to her home, she grinned in surprise. She began thinking if this man was one of her mother's agents, which would explain his familiar essence lingering in the air. "I didn't think anyone else was here~" she'd say sweetly before advancing and tilting her wings so the man was protected from the downpour. If he looked closely, he'd see the decorative lines of her blindfold glow as the abyssal language was spoken.

Agent of her mother or not, she knew what she was going to do with him. "You seem to be having difficulty pronouncing the words, I'm guessing you didn't grow up with that language." She spoke in the common tongue of the worlds, perhaps that would make things easier for him.

"My friends are in that building there." She pointed to where she came from, but that wasn't where he was taking him. "But before that, I'd like to ask you something~ Come, follow me~" With a sultry giggle, she grabbed the man's hand and pulled him hurriedly into another building. As they entered, the succubus flipped the switch with her tail, lighting up the room. She folded her wings closed, and faced the mysterious man and watched him intently, smiling a sugar-sweet smile. "Where did you learn that language?"

[The Black Mage]

Heh.

With all the water around them, he hadn't expected her to be this thirsty.

...But, then again, succubus.

He was presented with a simple enough question, after being pulled into a different building. Before anything else, he moved away from the demonic young woman, his every action measured, and precise. One of the ways he knew to deal with fiends, in general. Do not falter, ever. Your sureness of self must be unwavering, or your life and your soul are forfeit. Finding in short order a place on which to hang his hat and cloak,  he removed the near-soaked items, hoping that they would dry out in short order. As for her question... Where had he learned this language... ...He knew better than to lie to a demon. Especially one who could toy with physical and emotional responses. ...His awareness of the mental spared him the mind control, but, the effect she had on his body was undeniable. He was absolutely certain that it was not excessively warm in this place.

"I'm something of a mystic. As such, I've taught myself to read, write, and speak the major arcane tongues. Abyssal, Infernal, Celestial, and Draconic. ...Mind you, none of them are easy to speak, with a human tongue, but, nevermind that."

With the heavy, obscuring outer layers gone, the succubus would be able to see more of the man. Shaggy, shoulder-length hair hung about his face. Almost unnaturally bright green eyes looked upon the woman, as he idly flexed, for a moment. ...For a mage, he was surprisingly fit. A teal shirt was mostly covered by a dressier azure one. His pants were white, striped with teal, with voluminous pantlegs that were tucked into tall leather boots, which bore sharply-pointed toes, and slight heels. He left his soaked clothes be, peeling off leather gloves as he approached the woman.

"You see, I've managed to teach myself a great many things, in spite of my young age. I'm no expert, by any means, but, my journeys have rarely led me to something that I couldn't suss out the nature of."

His steps were measured, his posture strong as he closed the distance between them. Demons tended to be vicious. Brutal. ...That is, if you gave them the chance.

He knew one thing was certain, with those from the Abyss.

Gideon continued to close the distance between them, a mischeviously dark spark in his eyes. The succubus' seduction effect had been known to backfire. It worked, almost without fail. No, the backfire comes when one turns that eapon back on them. Tapping into his emergency reserves, he DOUBLED the arcane vitality of his spirit. He knew she would drain him. He was going to need a buffer against it, lest she begin to consume his life-force. Mana was a trifle to recover. Life energy, less so.

"And, one of the things that I know about, in regards to the Lower Planes, are your kind, miss. Succubi. Maneaters."

His advance didn't stop, when he got within her personal space. He knew he couldn't stop. His one and only shot was to commit to this, one hundred percent. He continued, forcing the demon to either move, or BE moved. Any move she'd make, he'd match. It didn't take him very long at all to back her into a corner.

If you wanted to have any chance of survival, it meant matching them, blow for blow. It meant being as wicked as they are. ...And, human beings have the market cornered for cruelty.

In the back of his mind, Gideon was rather repulsed by what he was about to do. Marius, for all that he hated the man, had drilled the concepts of courtly behavior and chivalry into his head. And Michel had instilled in him the honor the Arctus name carried. Were this being a normal woman, merely his intentions would've been grounds for imprisonment. ...But, this was no normal woman. This was a demon. And, in a manner of speaking, it's kill, or be killed.

"You prey on humankind. Feeding on our vital energies through the act of making love. When the human heart is at its most vulnerable. When we're most willing to give."

...Still. For all that he was resolute... This didn't sit well with him. Something... ...Something wasn't right, here.

Sometimes, the only thing that can best a monster, is another monster.

And, there it was. He finally had backed the demoness into a corner. Closing the last bit of distance with a lunge, he grabbed her wrists, pinning her to the wall. ...Gideon Arctus was a Cambion. Even though his succubic blood was some fifty-odd generations removed, the arcane exploits of his father meant that he was every bit as demonic as the legendary Zurin Arctus had been. Not wasting any time, he claimed the woman's mouth in a passionate kiss, his every movement meant to overpower. As he pulled away, to speak, he caught her lower lip between his teeth. ...And he bit down, hard. Not enough to rend flesh, mind; he wasn't out to disfigure. But, she was going to taste blood. As did he.

...Something about that excited him, in a deep, primal fashion he didn't fully understand, as he spoke.

"Did it never occur, to even a single one of you... ...That one of our kind would be more interested in TAKING?"

You're about to have a Bad Time.

[Zienna]

"Oh my, aren't you straight forward." Truth be told, the succubus was surprised that the man before her was so direct with his approach, but she sensed a hidden motive behind his advances towards her. It was a bit disappointing since she would have loved to tease him a little before they got to the action, but it has been a long time since someone decided to go straight for it.

As he spoke, she remained silent and slowly backed away with a smirk on her face. She leaned back against the wall and he kept advancing until she was grabbed by the wrist and pinned without being given the time to react at all. Her lips were taken. She let him come to her. Then her lower lip was bitten. Blood was drawn which she licked up, her tongue touching his lips in the process.

Her tail crawled up his body and coiled around his neck gently. "A textbook example of a succubus? That is all you know about us?" she said teasingly. She sucked on the wound seductively until the injury healed on its own. She wasn't fighting back being pinned to the wall as she curious as to whether or not he could go through with what he had set out to do. She knew what he was trying to do, and she welcomed it.

"Spend enough time with a succubus, and you'll learn things that dumb books can never teach you~ If you think you can take me, then by all means, I'd like to see if you have the resolve to keep your word. Better make sure you satisfy me, or I'll take over, hihi~" Uncoiling her tail from his neck, she swiped a feel for his package as the tail retreated to a manageable length just below her knees. She had a sultry grin on her face as she stared at the man from behind the blindfold with eyes that challenged him to do his best.

"Well? What are you waiting for? My body is all yours~"

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