The high level and powerful three route caster specialist Popplianna Fablehoof cocked an eyebrow in an expression of pure surprise at the situation in front of her. Ivan gave her a glance, but focused back on Penelope.
If the witch already knew he was close to his demon there was no sense in hiding it further. Ivan leaned toward Penelope and touched his forehead to her own for a little time. Penelope chuckled, and granted him a soft and sweet kiss.
Ivan touched her dark than night black hair, and was surprised for a moment to feel human ears beneath the light eating silken strands. He touched her cheek, her jaw and the slim line of her neck as he took a deep breath of her scent. Penelope leaned into his touch, and bit her lip; showing the expression of an anticipatory lover.
“Ivan...” Penelope whispered, her voice carrying what Ivan took for warning.
Ivan prepared to step back, but her hands held her arms.
Penelope smiled up at the witch, fangs showing among her pearly white teeth, and held Ivan close to her by a gentle grip on his wrists.
“You've learned that I am the Daughter of the Night and you are happy. I am not sure I should be afraid for you or happy for myself. The world should tremble that I feel either, or perhaps all the more for the elation in my heart. I will tell you all that you need to know, and we will swear yet more pacts to come, but first we must call to Quixla, and then go to the Ocean waters with an offering.”
“My master...My Ivan....One day you will call upon me as you have Azalea, as you will Quixla, and many more. In fullness of flesh and mind I will accept you, but not yet. Not yet young master, but I promise you that as long as you keep trying you will. I...will...” Penelope said, her chest shining with a mix of curling blades, and glowing silver strands of light.”
Ivan felt the promise forming, binding around him and waiting for his acceptance.
He looked at Penelope, seeing at once her in a demon shape, and how she might change upon sealing the promise. It was another pact, but this one was different from what had come before, spawned by her mysterious magic, of her presence as a Demon that also held within it the spark of Divinity.
Ivan found himself kissing her and feeling her change as he did. He pulled away, too aware of Poplianna's wide eyes staring at them, and of the other things he had to get to today. Still he was a little amazed as he pulled away from her.
Penelope had shrunk just a little for starters, becoming something more like what she had first appeared as instead of matching Myrn’s build and body. Her eyes were sharper, larger, and more their purple hue was something a little apart from his own. Her arms and claws were not so bestial. In fact her appearance was almost entirely human now apart from the small, but sharply pointed antlers on her head. Those still ate the light around her, but almost gave off their own negative light as if their power and strength had been condensed. Her wings and tail had lost their fur, becoming smooth, elegant, and covered only in smooth entirely black hide. Her face had even changed though it appeared her legs were still hoofed and covered in void dark fur.
For a long moment she seemed startled like a girl who had just woken from a frightening dream. But she saw Ivan and relaxed, cool logic, and her normal reserve settling behind her pleasantly surprised eyes. She seemed even more herself this way, as if something within the pact they had just made allowed Penelope to express some part of herself she normally couldn't reach.
Poplianna's eyes seemed about to fall out of her head as she stared. Penelope laughed. It was a pleased girlish sound that promised hidden, but pleasant secret things. Ivan could have checked what pact they sealed, but was too busy as Penelope crashed softly into his arms, and took hold of him possessively. She continued laughing, giggling even, as she looked over Poplianna.
Ivan shivered, feeling something in the bond stabilizing something deep within him, but he wasn't sure if he cared too much about himself right now. Penelope was doing well and that was good, but he was worried about Azalea, and Quixla. He couldn't do much more than trust in Samiel's word for Azalea's safe return, but Quixla he could do something about.
“Thank you Madam Poplianna, but if you'll excuse me there's a friend of mine who is waiting for me to get in contact with her once again. I will keep in mind your offer, and see you when I can, hopefully when we conquer more of the tomorrow. If you'll excuse me...” Ivan said, and turned to leave the garden.
Poplianna seemed helpless to murmur as much as a word. Penelope was carried off, still held closely to Ivan's side, and she smiled back at the witch. It was a pleased and confident smile that was full of edges for the other woman. Ivan didn't mind.
He didn't really care to think about women right now. All he knew was that Tila would never get the chance to become one herself now. She would have been beautiful like Myrn...and strong and clever, and ready to fulfill her dreams to explore the world and become an adventurer just like her cousin, and like her mother and father. Just like Jen.
Ivan shuddered as rage flowed through him, only recoiling from the feelings when he nearly splintered the back door leading into the alley. He was so angry, and running on instincts that he did something without thinking.
He slipped into the shadows using the Shroud once more, as he had in the Dungeon, and appeared down the alley. He appeared with Penelope still clinging to his side even, her mood unaffected by his own, or the magical movement power that was the next best thing to real teleportation.
When he stopped in the dark of the alley between two lanterns that needed some serious cleaning Penelope simply found his hand with her fingers. Her pale digits laced into his own and she led him on, keeping his arm about her shoulders.
They went on into the dark, and Ivan began to see his Shade Hounds as they approached. Penelope laughed, pleased as could be, and scratched the head of one of the shadows as they went by. The creature actually stopped, having no physical body of its own, but still its tail wagged, and it appeared to face Penelope for a moment before descending into the Shroud. Ivan wondered at that, but his focus was stolen by soft, pale, and vulnerable naked flesh of Penelope's new form.
He found his eyes wondering the patterns of marks on her skin. They were dark black freckles, each paled by the layer of pale skin around them. Penelope hadn't had those marks before, and he found each of them fascinating. Her scent once sharp and animal like was a different floral sort of thing now, softly subdued in spite of its clear magical effects. The scent had almost no effect on Ivan that he could register except that maybe its mundane scent had changed.
Penelope smiled at him as they walked, her wings tucked about her neatly within the cover of the Shroud. They were barely enough to compare to a cloak, and for all appearances they appeared to be a pair of lovers that had perhaps lost the young lady her clothes. Except perhaps the inclusion of Penelope's slowly lashing tail, and the soft click of her hoofs on the cobblestone street beside Ivan's boots.
The sudden urge to take and have Penelope right then and there washed over Ivan. He fought it for a long moment with his eyes closed. -And opened them with something close to a snarl of lust when Penelope bumped and pressed into him with her hip. Her smile was almost luminescent. The slightly paler purple gems of her eyes seemed to twinkle in delight as she guided Ivan's palm over her naked hip, to her flank, and then turned her back to him.
Ivan's blood sang, and his left fist crunched in the rear stone wall of a home or business in his next lucid moment. Penelope had her hips pressed back into him, and for all but his own clothes they would have been doing the deed. Both of her hands held them back from the wall and she was letting out something of a half chuckle around the grip of his other hand.
With his right he had slipped under her arm and taken her slim neck in his grasp from behind. He didn't mean to choke her, but he had moved with the supernatural strength given to him by his various attributes. Had she been plainly human he might have hurt her, but she like most any woman had jobs also giving her attributes.
“Ivan...” Penelope whispered longingly. “Ivan soon. So soon now. I promise. You're almost in control. You almost have everything you need to have me. I don't mean to tease you so badly, but I want this nearly as much as you do.”
Her hands lifted from the wall now that he was supporting them, and she traced her very human fingers over his cheeks, and down his neck and arms. Her body pressed against him tightly. Her wings had snaked their way under his arms with surprising fluidity. They gripped his shoulders now, helping her brace back against him, and pulling her body tight to his. Her tail did much the same, wrapped around him like a belt, encouraging him to be closer and pressed tighter against her.
“You need to be strong enough to summon just a little more of me.” She whispered, her voice devouring all of his focus, but that of her body pressed back desperately against his own.
“When it's enough I'll give it to you. I'll give you what I've given no other in body or spirit, and I will give it gladly. I will bear you children if I can. I will bear many for you, and be the Dark Mother of an abyssal legion sworn only to you. But not yet Ivan.” She hissed and pulled him into a long kiss over her shoulder.
The kiss went on, and she struggled free. Ivan wasn't really sure if she was struggling against him, or herself more at times, but the kiss ended with her panting, legs closed, and wings about her. Ivan had her more or less pressed against the wall, and she was trembling. Her eyes burned with longing and some desperate, somehow innocent fear. Ivan was finally able to pull away as he sensed how she felt and stood away from the wall.
Penelope followed, taking his offered hand, and slipped quietly into the Shroud. Once inside she let out a heavy breath of relief and went to sit by Tanya's grave. Before long she was meditating, sitting up poised on her knees, as she had done many times before. It just hadn't ever really seemed as distracting as it was right then.
Ivan snaked his way through Dentenneks quietest streets and into the dark of the forest beyond. This area was filled with hills and cliffs; steep forest ridges could open to sudden expanses of sea, or enclosed sea coves of variable sizes. Ivan would need one of those coves soon, but for now he made his way to a familiar place.
The tumbled little nest of fallen trees made the perfect hideaway and would have been an excellent lair for Quixla as well. He wasted no time once inside, easily calling forth the dagger, and the portal itself to call to the demon spider by simply running mana through the pulsing mark on his left hand. The portal slipped into existence, and a soft, extremely satisfied hiss came through the boundary border.
Ivan twitched as he felt Quixla begin a soft chant in Hell Speak. His mystical senses had picked up on something, something that had already begun to form between him and the spider demon with their past dealings. Quixla was able to finish those ties now, but that wasn't all she was doing.
Pain lanced up Ivan's arm into his mind, filled with the sensations Quixla herself was feeling as the tremendous amount of rich dungeon mana he was able to give her through her dagger became a ritual, and a spell of violent revitalization. A vision came to Ivan's mind then.
He was back at the deep mountain shrine, where once all things there had been sealed in dust and holy magics. Now the cave crawled in deadly small white spiders, an eye-like red dot on their thorax. The spiders crawled and hissed, and a small gathering came before the larger shrine.
Humans, strange in garb, stood before the shrine in a daze. They had made a massive ritual circle about it, and with a surge of energy each of them pulled a dagger or knife from their belt and slammed the blades home into their hearts. The seals on the temple went up in scarlet, dripping, blood red fire. Something within the shrine shrieked at the same moment Quixla did before his very eyes, the vision faded, and very suddenly her power redoubled through Ivan's mystical senses.
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The last images of the temple were of it going up in those bloody flames, taking holy symbols, and the bodies of the hypnotized priests along with it. -And a sensation of invested power in the children Quixla had been able to spawn. She gave them as much as she could spare, and cut them free from the binding of her will with a last order. Survive.
Ivan blinked his eyes and touched his head with his right hand, but it wasn't another moment before his own mystical senses were flaring again. Quixla came to where his portal opened upon her domain. Things inside were changing, becoming fluid, and the demon spider gladly found his hand. She began brushing against it like a cat, her fangs clacking, and legs scuttling as she writhed in pure unadulterated pleasure. She made no attempt to hide her albino form from him at all this time.
“My Lord!” She hissed, her voice something of a giddy whisper. “My Lord Ivan! Let us waste no time in the swearing of oaths. You have done as you and Penelope promised, and I will do as I have promised. I have been freed! FREED! No longer must I stand guardian over my own remains! I am my own!” She said this while doing about everything but spinning in place like a happy puppy.
Ivan couldn't help but smile even if his head was twinging. The same thing hurting his head was probably what had Quixla so excited. Ivan tried to calm her, but didn't know what to say. She kept scuttling and bobbing against his hands. Her multifaceted eyes reflected his face like the surface of rubies. He got her to settle a little as he reached into the portal with both hands.
He touched her cephalothorax gently, stroking with his thumbs and fingers in a way that made her slowly rise up on her legs before settling back down.
“I will swear to you now, Lord Ivan, if you like. I will be the first and I will not be ashamed, but proud. You have kept your word, as a Lord should, and I will serve you as I can. Be it as your delegate in Hell, your Huntress, or you summon upon the material plane I will be by your side my Lord.” Quixla said, her voice picking up a serious tone as she bowed her head toward him.
And as she said there was no shame in her. She was still ecstatic about being free, and though it made a great deal of sense once he thought about it, the stuff about swearing and lordship had honestly startled him at first. Now he petted, and caressed the very being who would be his first demon vassal as if she were a pet.
His instincts surged upon the idea. Hatred seethed under the surface of his thoughts, and yet he almost felt giddy for the tendrils of ambition turned reality that was practically purring under his fingers.
“Quixla I would glad to have you as my first vassal. Your fang has already served me so well that I have no doubts about what boons you might provide being altogether with me. If you're ready I will bond to me now as a familiar. I need all the strength I can manage right now.” Ivan told her, his voice coming out calm and smooth regardless of what else besides that he was feeling.
“Of course my Lord. I have already begun moving my domain.” She quivered, delight running through her body. “I am ready and will swear the oaths of fealty once the binding rituals are done.”
Ivan bit his finger, and at once Quixla used the tip of one of her legs to cause herself to bleed as well. A thrum of near sexual pleasure ran through the demon beast as Ivan put his finger to her wound and enacted the fairly simple ritual of binding with its touch. Next he prepared the Binding of Shadow, and plied that to Quixla without issue using his conjured scroll.
The demon spider shuddered under each of the bindings, and the twinging sense of something shifting became stronger each time in Ivan's head.
“I, Quixla Emilia Bloodbane, hereby swear myself by my name and power to the service of Ivan, Son of Nathaniel, chosen of Penelope Inyx, as his sworn vassal. I so swear to defend his person, spirit, and domain as long as we both persist, until all the stars go out, and the world is swallowed in endless night once again. Let my power be his own. Let his success bring us fruits and favor. Let him rule and prosper as the first Demon Lord upon a new world.” Quixla said, in a manner not so far off from a prayer.
And as she said it Ivan felt the twinging pain fade as Quixla's oath settled over them both. He felt her domain become part of his own, and watched as a spider web tunnel opening, large enough to fit a full sized dog and more, opened in the garden wall within the Shroud. Quixla shivered under his hands and the portal he had summoned slowly glided over the top of her as her domain faded behind her, leaving her with him in the material plane. She actually grew larger as she appeared to him, Ivan sensing that she was able to condense some of her own power from her domain and invest it into her form as his familiar.
What he was left with was an albino spider with ruby red markings about her legs and body. Her eyes were glittering red gems with countless facets. Her fangs shone with deadly edges, and wet with a venom Ivan now understood instinctively. His conjured dagger would produce the same now after all. Still he inspected her, curious and eager to find out more about his new summon.
Inspect Demon: Inspection Successful, Target is willing, and your sworn Vassal. Total Information is available.
Quixla Emelia Bloodbane: An Albino Blood Weave Spider that has suffered magical experimentation while being raised as a pet guardian by the Vampire Qui Lang Xi. Quixla ate him, his servants, and devoured half a nation before she was eventually sealed and banished to the Hells by a band of heroes. There she became a demon, and spun up a nest to defend the place where her remains were anchored leaving her spirit vulnerable.
HP: 49/49 MP: 37/37 SP: 63/63
Major Attributes:
Strength: 19 Endurance: 31 Dexterity: 27 Agility: 35
Intelligence: 15 Charisma: 17 Wisdom: 11 Perception: 25
Minor Attributes:
Luck: 11 Insight: 12 Vampiric Corruption: 14
Basic jobs: Monster, Spider, Neophyte
Standard Jobs: Blood-Weave Spider, Demon Beast, Blood Acolyte
Adept Jobs: Blood-Reaper Spider, Blood Mystic, Demon Vassal
Title Jobs: Vassal, Knight-Summon
Ivan stared at Quixla's given title job and then inspected himself.
Ivan, Son of Nathaniel, Age 18
Title Jobs: Warlock Noble
Warlock Noble: You, a living mortal caster, have summoned and gained the immortal favor of a demonic entity while presiding over a demonic domain of your own! This entity has returned the favor owed by swearing fealty to you and your cause. Your own strength and that of your summoned ally have caused you to earn your first title job.
Swearing more vassals to your side will increase your power and benefits, and the strength of your demonic domain.
Warlock Noble Level 1(of 5) skill: Bestow Knighthood(Demon): You may bestow the title job: Knight-Summon to twice your current level of Warlock Noble to any demon, or that of their children and direct clan members, that have sworn vassalage to you.
Warlock Noble Level 1(of 5) Perk: To Lead and To Host: You gain significant Recovery benefits while your demon vassals reside in your domain, increasing with the number of vassals within the domain. Likewise you will cause your summons to deal more damage when fighting within 10 meters of them.
Warlock Noble Leveling Attribute Bonuses: Gain a moderate Bonus to Charisma on each level, and a large bonus to Astral Familiarity.
Knight-Summon Level 1(of 1) Perk: Pact-Sworn: Imparts twice the Recovery and other Major attribute benefits given to any demon through its pact with its Warlock Noble summoner.
Knight-Summon Level 1 (of 1) Skill: Selfless Service: Once per day you may take a blow for your Lord as long as you can perceive its striking. You must rest within 25 meters of your Lord or within their domain to recharge this skill. This skill costs no mana or stamina.
When Ivan looked up Quixla was bowing her head at his feet.
“I am proud that it was my oath that triggered the Title Job to manifest, My Lord, My Master. It fills me with savage feelings of delight to be the first, and you will not ever find my service in your ambition wanting. For you Lord, I will be your huntress, your spy, and your keeper.” Quixla said, her voice carrying the tone of more oaths she would upkeep.
“Ivan...” That was Penelope's voice, though it had startled him.
Ivan focused inward. Penelope was smiling, and looking up at the sightless blackness toward the sky of the Shroud. There was no sky, not really, and any position inside could lead to an exit for her and Azalea. It didn't really matter that they looked up or down, but typically the parish garden stayed facing the same direction regardless of how Ivan turned or ran about. Ivan was suddenly curious about that.
Penelope was more beautiful than ever in her new slightly changed form. She looked elegant and deadly now where before she had been slightly more powerfully built like Myrn. Ivan liked her this way. Her shoulders were slimmer, still muscled, but almost delicate as compared to before. Her smooth leathery wings looked supple and soft. Her skin was even paler than it had been before. Like moonlight woven into flesh. Her pale purple eyes were enchanting, even to the eyeless sight of his omnipresent vision within the shroud.
Her...heartbeat was stronger now. Ivan's senses poured over her body, and something about her tingled across his thoughts and skittered away at the edge of his mind before he could catch it.
“Yes Penelope?” Ivan answered, reaching down to affectionately pet Quixla. He ran his hands over the demonic muscle of her body, over the smooth surface of her pale thorax, and even a little on her belly.
The spider leaned into his touch and let out a hiss that he honestly might have taken for a warning if her aura wasn't exploding with jubilation with each gentle stroke of his fingers. He had always liked spiders. They ate all the other bugs, like the ones that ate his flowers, their seeds, leaves, and petals. He had kept a number of them in his Goddess's garden, relocated from around the parish to a new and productive home.
Quixla was as cute as a puppy or kitten to Ivan right then. Even if she probably weighed around the same as he did, and could carry cows up into her webs. Ivan adored her immediately.
“I'm proud of you. When Azalea returns she will gladly swear her oaths as well. Samiel may in time, but not yet. We're both more powerful by far than either of them, but this is a very good beginning. I'm sorry about what's happened. The Fate will pay in time, and so will Theadus you need only be patient and do as we've planned. Especially now.” Penelope said, her voice gentle.
Ivan let out a little chuckle, kneeling now where Quixla was shying and crouching away from his continued petting of her. She was squirming and was letting out adorable squeaking noises, her aura streaming contented happiness at her master's affection all the while. Ivan embraced it, all of her feelings, and his subjugation over her. Quixla would serve him and at the same time she would be as safe as he could manage. Much safer than keeping her hideaway in Hell well kept with web traps and snares to foul up whoever came for her.
He grinned.
Now Ivan's enemies would be her prey.
“I know. About you two at least. Azalea will benefit greatly from being another Knight-Summon, and thank you Penelope. Tila is just another life that wouldn't have been lost if Theadus hadn't betrayed Istania. I'll make it right. In the end if nothing else.” Ivan replied softly.
“Ivan?” Penelope asked, her face twisted in uncertainty.
“Yes Penelope?” He said, a smile creeping its way onto his face as Quixla surged against his middle and mostly hid her face in the act of snuggling against his middle. He had to fight a little to keep balance against the demon creature. She was rather strong after all.
“There's something else I feel I should tell you. About me. Before long.” Penelope said, her face showing a few signs of an outward grin in reflection of Ivan's mood.
Her own was somber, revealed in a telltale hint of her aura being let out from her normally flawless and undetectable control. Ivan considered her feelings and focused on her, passing the feeling of a need to change the subject of his attention to Quixla.
Quixla didn't even need to reply. Her aura settled, containing some of its nervous, but very happy energy for later. Still she settled into Ivan's lap as much as she could, and relaxed. She was large, laid flat like this, but Ivan adored her all the same.
“What is Penelope? I owe you so much, but if it would comfort you to tell me anything I will listen. I know I'm...I'm young, especially compared to a demons' lifespan, but I care about you. A lot.” Ivan admitted, his cheeks flushing just a little as his mind poured over the new and natural marks now displayed upon Penelope's body.
He looked down at Quixla, and felt her aura mixing with his own in a pleasant way. Ivan was grateful for her support. Already having her here and sworn to him seemed to be doing so much for his confidence; allowing him to better ply his charisma like strength to a lever.
Penelope blushed. She blushed through her cheeks and down her neck, and across her chest. Her heart beat quickly in her chest and she let out a sound of startled mirth as she settled a hand over her heart.
“You weaken me Ivan...with your charm. You tempt me...and make your domain so warm and inviting to my soul that it pains me. And yet you are ruthless.” She said, suddenly chuckling.
“You may be twisted, even from my perspective.” She admitted, still chuckling somewhat before she more or less extended a hand with her aura, asking to be let out of the Shroud once again.
Ivan remembered what had happened the last time they had summoned Quixla in this very spot, and blushed a little in memory, but lifted the succubus out of the Shroud all the same. She settled against him without trouble or temptation in her movements; sitting so she was just just under his arm within the comforting shadow cloak. Ivan hugged her to him, feeling soft pain and longing in her aura.
He looked at her, and for just a moment he thought he could imagine what she would have been like as a living, mortal being. She would be mischievous, playful, and passionate. She would be troublesome, but caring. She would be kind, and so very short tempered.
Ivan could see an image of her in his mind. Blue green eyes as deep and tempestuous as the sea. She would have brown hair the color of the flesh of maple bark and sun tanned skin dotted with freckles. Her legs would still be that of an animal, hoofed and fur covered, but she would shine with life. Chaotic, flourishing, and messy life that she would walk into smiling each and every day.
The image paled overlapping in his mind with the gentle shadow creature clutching comfortably at his side. He knew somewhere in his head that she was trying to comfort him. She sensed the tower of hatred inside him; his pain like mortar binding the bricks together with each passing moment. It was making him harder, meaner, and should have been just what she wanted.
If Ivan was more willing to bind himself to dark powers, and his ambition growing out of control seeking revenge, then why was she so focused on comforting him now? Ivan put an arm over her shoulder, and possessively ran his fingers down her arm and to her back.
She smiled up at him, pausing from petting Quixla. Something in her eyes seemed to glitter with concern, and then her aura and his just... Ivan didn't know how to describe it. Penelope's affection, concern, ambition and most everything else she was feeling became clear to him. Warm, and hopeful backed by ancient pain and rage at their base. Penelope felt like a reflection of himself, older, and wiser. It really seemed like it hurt her to see him suffer so much.
Ivan found himself kissing her in the next few moments. He wasn't exactly sure when it started. Only that doing it made him feel a way he hadn't in what felt like a lifetime. Even if that lifetime had only been the last couple weeks.