Danny was struck by a memory. Someone else had once begged him to let them in, told him to let them take care of things. Who had it been? Danny’s mind scrambled, searching for the details of the memory. The woman hanging off his shoulders tensed. “Stay with me, Danny. You can’t wander off now.” She ran her finger along his jaw, making him face her. Those deep green eyes began to suck him in again.
That memory clawed at him though, dragging his thoughts away again. What had it been? Where had he heard something like this before? “Danny, sweetheart. Where are you going?” The sultry woman cooed, a hint of frustration flashing in her eyes.
Frustration. Woman. Control. It came back to him suddenly, striking him like a thunderbolt. Anna. Anna Agostino. The white space around them transformed. Danny found himself in a lavish bedroom. A young woman with dark wavy hair stood before him, her presence making his skin crawl. She was short but athletically built. Her eyes carried conviction, an undeniable force of energy. “Danny, sweetie, won’t you stop going to that dirty club? You can come and train at my gym, it’s so much nicer there. Then we can be together!” The young woman’s voice was sickly sweet, grating against his ears.
Danny shook his head violently. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes he was back in the white space, the old woman standing before him once again. Danny now knew where he had heard that voice before, the fog having been lifted from his mind.
“The Old Hag, I presume?”
The old woman looked up at him and grinned. Her deep green eyes shone through the shadows cast by her hooded shawl. “Well met, child.”
“Why are you here, in my dream?” Danny didn’t feel the need to be on guard. Something told him that he was safe here, it was his domain as long as he didn’t let the demon have control.
“I wanted to meet you with, Danny.”
“After trying to get your followers to kill me today?” Danny raised an eyebrow.
The demon chuckled. “Oh no child, you misunderstand. You were never going to be killed.”
“I think you explicitly used the word sacrifice, like multiple times.”
The old woman waved a hand. “Merely language to control the unrefined followers of mine. This, a meeting, was the goal all along. This was just a more costly way to achieve my means.”
“Costly?”
“Yes, where do you think all that mana went?”
Danny couldn’t be sure that the demon wasn’t lying, but it sounded like a reasonable answer. The curse, the demon, now this, the dream.
“So, why the meeting then?” This is where Danny felt the need to be cautious. Why would a demon want to meet him? He was also aware that he was entirely brushing over the fact that she, it? Had tried to manipulate him into giving her some sort of control over him.
“Oh child, I was not lying when I said you find yourself mired in a swamp of plots so deep you wouldn’t see yourself drown. You are a culmination of an alliance that defies nature, a creation of the most devilishly twisted minds, you, Danny, are the product that the writhing masses salivate for.”
Danny stared blankly at the old woman before him. “What in the nine hells does that mean?”
The demon grinned. “You’re a wanted piece of meat child. And your little city is going to be torn apart to get it. That little girl has no idea what she has brought upon herself.”
“Take a step back for a second, Hag, what’s any of this got to do with me?”
“Oh, Danny. You know it as well as I do, I know you do. You’re no human, not at all. You’re a monster of mana, wearing the skin of a human. Even more so now, you’ve shed your last physical connection with humanity.”
Danny’s mind grew choppy. Thoughts stopped and started, without proper beginnings or endings. “What- What does that all mean?” Danny struggled to grapple with the thoughts that were assaulting his mind.
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“You know what I’m saying, Danny.” Danny’s mind rattled.
“You.” He began to feel nauseous.
“Aren’t.” His vision spun.
“Human.” He tumbled over, crashing into the ground.
Before his head could bounce off the invisible floor he found himself resting on the lap of the blonde version of the demon. Her green eyes peered down at him. “And that’s okay, Danny. I can still look after you. You’re special, desirable.” Her voice purred that last word, causing goosebumps to race across his body.
Danny pushed himself off the demon and got to his feet. He took a deep breath and did his best to clear his mind of the turbulent thoughts that he suspected didn’t originate from himself. “Enough of your tricks, foul demon!” Danny yelled.
“Ouch.” The blonde woman pouted, still sitting in seiza.
A grin began to spread across Danny’s lips. “Oh foul demon! How dare you assault me in my dreams! Leave me be!” He began to feel fun. His body felt lighter.
“What are you doing?” The woman tilted her head in confusion.
“I know not what wretched words you spout, but they will not tempt me!” Danny yelled, the grin growing wider, the invisible heaviness that he hadn’t realised he had been carrying lifted.
“How childish.” The demon frowned. “But surprisingly effective.”
Danny laughed. He realised that the demon was trying to weigh him down with negative thoughts. He had no idea how it worked but by trying to make a joke of the situation the negative thoughts lessened. It was working, even if he felt a bit silly putting on such a character.
The demon sighed and stood up. “How about we try and be serious?”
“Depends demon, are you going to keep messing with my head?”
The blonde woman shrugged. “It’s second nature, I can’t promise anything-” Danny raised an eyebrow at her. “-but I’ll try.”
“So, what do you want from me?” Danny asked.
“I want you to form a contract with me, become my vassal.”
“We haven’t even had a first date, and you want to make it official?” Danny frowned, he didn’t intend to joke, but it came out unnaturally.
“I apologise, remnants of my power.” As the demon spoke Danny felt something change in his mind, his thoughts felt like thoughts again. It felt like everything had been on ice, flowing together, but now it was back to being coherent.
Danny shook his head. There were definitely more demonic tricks at play here, he needed to be cautious. “What would becoming your vassal mean and why me?”
The blonde woman licked her lips, drawing Danny’s eyes to them. They were plump and alluring, he couldn’t help but gulp as he watched her tongue glide across the flesh. “Can you go back to being an old woman?” Danny said as he shook his head.
“But this is so much more fun, don’t you think so?” Mirth danced in the demon’s emerald eyes.
“No, I don’t. I won’t talk to you unless you change.” Danny crossed his arms and looked away.
He glanced back and saw the blonde woman pout cutely before transforming back into the form of an old woman.
“Your mana is precious, child. Outer beings and other demons will fight tooth and claw to have access to it. I want access to it.”
“And by becoming your vassal, you would?”
“Yes. We demons share mana pools with our followers. That is why beings are so desperate to form contracts with us. For a price, you can access nigh-limitless mana.”
Danny quickly put two and two together. “I have a whole lot of mana.”
“Yes, you do.”
“And you want access to that mana, by making me your vassal?”
“Yes.” The demon watched him, a degree of caution entering its eyes.
Danny paused. “What’s in it for me?”
The old woman grinned. “I have lived for thousands of years child, I am a demon of dreams and nightmares, curses and hexes. I can give you the knowledge and power to control the minds and fates of all that oppose you. Even that self-proclaimed king you fear.”
“What’s the catch? I give you mana and you give me power? That doesn’t sound very demonic.”
“Your conception of demons stifles your mind, child. Your limited perspective of demons comes from a primitive culture of fear and control.”
That made sense to Danny, slightly. “You take children as sacrifices, that’s pretty evil.”
The demon shrugged. “Your people’s conception of mana is just as limited as everything else. Mana operates the way you will it to. If people believe that sacrificing children works, it works.”
That felt like a massive bombshell of information. “Sorry? Mana is based on belief? What does that even mean?”
The demon grinned, mirth filling its eyes again. “Oh you have much to learn child, become my vassal and I will show you have wide the world truly is.
That sounded like a pretty inciting offer to Danny. “Well, when you put it like that…”