"Falling unexpectedly. Plummeting through the air. Landing upon cold, unfeeling stone. It's eerily familiar, is it not? Secondhand nostalgia, almost."
Cobalt slowly opened his eyes, shakily gasping for breath as adrenaline coursed through his body. He was lying face-down upon sterile tiles, feeling as though they were leeching the very warmth from his body. Blinking his vision clear, he stared at one of the dead roses growing from the thorny vines snaking across the floor. It looked just a little bit livelier, its dry white petals flecked with little red spots. Shivering from the shock, he tried to reach for the flower, but his limbs wouldn't respond.
"What are you talking about...?" the Incubus spluttered, craning his neck.
As he suspected, he was back in the entrance hall of his Deepest Refuge. The dead roses covering everything had perked up a little, but the surfaces looked more dilapidated somehow. There were more cracks in the walls, and he could see clawmarks cut into some of the tiles. The chains holding the doors shut looked strained and ready to break. He couldn't see the cat anywhere.
"Hm. Even as the locks break and the doors open, your mind is as tightly shut as ever. Even though the way lies wide open, you fear to take that first step," he heard it say in its infuriatingly snide voice.
He felt the distinct sensation of paws pressing into his back.
"What do you want from me?" Cobalt sighed, silently enduring as the cat made itself comfortable on his back.
"As ever, my answer stays the same. I want you to face yourself and move forward, free of denial and regret," it replied calmly.
"I've already done that. I know I'm an Incubus. I know Incupsychosis is taking hold. And I'm trying to get stronger. What the Hell else is there to do?"
The cat purred, but it wasn't a comforting sound.
"... Baby steps, Cobalt. Mere baby steps. You're still focusing on minor things, not the whole issue."
Baring his teeth, the Incubus forced himself to plant his hands against the floor and force himself up onto his knees. The cat deftly leaped off his back and sat down in front of him, its tail idly batting against a nearby rose as old book pages fluttered about in the stale breeze.
"I've got bigger things to deal with than your riddles," he scowled, wincing as his nerves seemed to cry out in pain.
The cat stared at him with those deep, unblinking eyes. There was something about them that disturbed Cobalt. They weren't the eyes of a cat. The were the eyes of someone who knew more than they were letting on.
"Bigger things? Dear Cobalt, you're in the biggest conundrum one could possible be a part of."
"What?"
Slowly, the cat turned it's head clockwise, farther than should be possible.
"Oblivion, Genesis, Destruction and Creation. Have you heard of any of these forces?" it asked in a low, cold tone.
"Wh- What...?"
"You should. One of their daughters is taking refuge in your very skull."
Cobalt's eyes widened.
"Lilith...?"
"If that's what you want to call her. She who faced down the Horsemen, who stood at-"
"Enough of this!"
Slamming his fists against the ground, Cobalt cracked the tiles in the floor as he shakily climbed to his feet. Peering blearily around the inside of his Deepest Refuge, he tried to find any signs of a way out, all while the cat just sat and stared at him lopsidedly.
"... clearly such things are beyond you at the moment. That's fine, that's fine. I just need you to hurry up in finding your true potential. Time may be an ever-coiling Chain, but for some it's still finite," it sighed, licking one of its paws.
"Where's the exit?" Cobalt mumbled to him, stumbling over to one of the chained doors.
He tried to pull it open, but it refused to budge. Though the chains were covered in tiny cracks, they still held fast.
"Nowhere comfortable, I assure you."
Cobalt ignored the cat's words as he tried another door.
"You'll need to face uncomfortable memories if you wish to-"
"I have faced them! I face them every time I'm left with a moment to myself!" the Incubus snapped, glaring at the dark feline.
It stared back at him, never blinking.
"Of course. You've faced those wretched memories that you would rather forget. But what about the ones you have forgotten? The ones you were forced to leave behind?"
Before he could give it an answer, the cat stood up and padded off towards the door that Lilith had broken open a few weeks earlier, the one leading to the ruined corridor.
"I wasn't lying when I said it was going to get worse, Cobalt. But before you can pull the weed, you must first grasp the thorns."
It slunk around the busted doors, its tail seemingly winking out of existence. Swallowing hard, the Incubus furrowed his brow and stepped over to the door, stopping in place as he stared down the hall. The dried red roses, like the others, seemed to have perked up a bit, but the rest of the corridor was still in complete disarray. The dented metal doors, the gouged stonework, the destroyed equipment... a nightmarish copy of the Undercroft's deepest levels.
Taking a deep breath, he began to walk down it, doing his best not to break into a panicked run as he did the last time he was there. This place... it was fed by the fear he felt that day. It was like his own mind was trying to keep him out by showing him that he feared the most. But as much as he hated to admit it, the cat was right; he had to face up to everything he was. Everything he had done.
Cobalt knew he had gaps in his memories. Gaps that were far too large to be natural. What little he remembered from his childhood seemed strangely off, like it had been curated specially to appear that way. Names, faces and events that Elya told him about didn't show up at all, or he remembered them happening entirely differently.
And the chains barring him entry to those memories...
They were put there on purpose by someone else, just as the cat told him.
Before Cobalt knew it, he had reached the end of the hall, in front of the heavy metal door, heavily battered and dented from where he had struck it again and again. Gouged into the metal was the word it bore before.
RESENTMENT
He took a deep breath, and as calmly as he could, he pressed down on the handle. The locks clicked and withdrew, allowing it to creak open into blinding light.
Cobalt stepped into it.
~~~~~
When the Incubus opened his eyes, he was met with a tomb of rubble. Shattered stone covered his vision, and he could feel every chunk of broken masonry weighing down on his body. Pain arced through him with every dust-choked breath he took. His legs, his arms, his ribs... they were broken, or at the very least cracked. He would have screamed, had he the energy to do so.
He could hear frantic voices just beyond the rubble he was buried beneath, and more echoing down from above.
Swallowing hard, he tried to push the rocks off, but they kept him pinned in place. All Cobalt could do was shake the pile a little bit.
"... Hold on, somethin' just moved," he heard the voice of Izzbelle say.
She sounded pained, but it was good to hear her voice.
"H- He's over there!" cried the voice of Jelli.
Choked-up and terrified. The poor girl didn't deserve this.
Thundering footsteps reverberated through the cold floor as Izzbelle rushed over to the pile of rocks that entombed her teacher. With every stone she pulled away, the pressure weighing down on Cobalt's body alleviated somewhat. He coughed and spluttered, his voice spurring the Oni to work harder.
"Hold on, dumbass! Just hold on!" she called, gasping breathlessly.
What the Hell happened? One moment they were taking some rubbings of a mural on the floor, the next... Explosions, and falling.
How deep underground were they now...?
One of the stones obscuring Cobalt's vision was lifted out of the way, revealing Izzbelle's strained face. She was covered in dust and sweat, and a worrying amount of dark blood was staining her hair.
"You still with me, dumbass?" she asked, gazing into his eyes.
He blinked a few times, dazzled by the sight of his student.
"... Just about..." the Incubus wheezed, wincing as another spasm of pain rocked through him.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"Is he okay...?" Jelli sobbed from somewhere out of his field of view.
"He's okay, just... just stuck. Hold tight, I'll get this shit moved."
Lying still, he waited for the Oni to remove the rest of the rocks, gritting his teeth each time the pressure on one of his broken bones shifted. Once the rubble pile was removed, Izzbelle tried to pick him up, but Cobalt shook his head.
"N- No, wait. Bones... broken. Just... give me a second..." he gasped.
Her face creased with worry, but before Izzbelle could say anything, Jelli rushed into view. Thankfully, she looked mostly unharmed; Izzbelle must have protected her from the worst of the impact. Tears had cut tracts through the dust coating her face, and her eyes were red and puffy.
"M- Mr. Trayer..." the Glutton choked, reaching a quivering hand for him.
Her friend gently grabbed her arm, stopping her from touching him.
"Don't wanna make anythin' worse. He needs a hospital," she said softly, admirably keeping her nerve despite the situation.
Swallowing hard, Cobalt tried to block out the agony he was in and keep his bearings. Raising his neck as far as he could, he took stock of their surroundings.
They were in a large, dark chamber, built from the same stone as the rest of the ruins. The remains of ancient wooden furniture were scattered about, obliterated by the rubble loosed by whatever explosion had caused the massive hole in the ceiling. Peering up, Cobalt could see many similar floor above them, with the barest speck of daylight all the way at the top. In the distance he could hear the frantic yelling of the rest of his class, and the barely-audible wailing of sirens.
Frowning, he looked to his left to see that Izzbelle had smashed up some of the furniture in order to start a small fire with her magic. It was a good thing, too; the cold was unbearable.
Gritting his teeth, Cobalt tried to tap into the fire in his gut, but all he was met with was hunger pains. His bones weren't healing anytime soon; not while he was in this state.
"Wh- What do we do?!" Jelli suddenly gasped, rubbing the tears from her eyes.
Izzbelle shook her head.
"I... I dunno," she murmured, peering up at the hole in the ceiling.
"Just stay put. They'll send a rescue team," Cobalt told her through his teeth.
The Oni, usually so against the suggestions of others, just nodded slowly and put a hand on Jelli's shoulders.
"We'll be alright. Just gotta keep warm, and make sure to... I... my fuckin' head, it's... oh..."
Izzbelle's eyelids drooped as she slumped forward, crashing to the ground in a flurry of dust and stone chips. Screaming in terror, Jelli fell to her knees and tried to wake the Oni, but she was dead to the world.
"M- M- Mr. Trayer, she's not waking up! Sie wird nich-!"
"Jelli! Calm down!" Cobalt spluttered, trying to keep a hold of his own emotions as well as Jelli's.
This wasn't good. Izzbelle had clearly suffered some kind of head injury on the way down, and though she managed to stay conscious for the most part, exhaustion had finally claimed it's due. With her out for the count and Cobalt rendered incapable of moving, Jelli was liable to break down into a panic attack. And if it got too much for her... No, they couldn't risk another outburst, not down here.
He needed to get and moving. Then he could attend to the Oni and keep Jelli calm.
Broken bones be damned.
"A- Agh...!" the Incubus guttered as he forced himself upright.
It was torture. He could feel every fractured bone grinding against one another as he sat up, alarming Jelli even further.
"Y- You can't! You'll hurt yourself!"
Cobalt shook his head.
"That... doesn't matter right now! Just hold on, okay?"
She looked on with wide, quivering eyes as he struggled to get up. Looking down at Izzbelle, she wiped the welling tears away and hunkered down by Cobalt's side.
"Mr. Trayer, wh- when you were on the news, and you, um... b- bit yourself... what happened?" the Glutton asked, choking on her own saliva.
Cobalt's blood went cold at her question.
"Jelli, I..."
He heard her catch her breath as she fumbled with the sleeve of her coat, rolling it up to reveal her bare arm.
"I- I saw. Your... Verletzungen... they got better, didn't they?" she continued.
She sounded terrified, but Jelli just bit her lip and presented her forearm to her teacher, much to his horror.
"Here. I- If it makes you better, please," Jelli begged, looking deep into his eyes.
Cobalt shook his head painfully.
"Jelli, I can't-"
"Please, Cobalt! I- I can't bear to see you like this, a- and Izzbelle needs help! I don't care about me, so please! Just do it!"
She pushed her forearm right beneath his nose. She smelled so sweet.
Cobalt wanted to push her away. He wanted to hold onto his integrity. He desperately wanted to keep that feral, Incupsychotic side of him hidden from the innocent eyes before him.
But he was just too hungry.
Reluctantly, the Incubus opened his mouth, whereupon the Glutton held her breath and pushed her arm inside. Their eyes locked for a moment before he began to bite down, doing everything in his power to be as slow and gentle as possible. He could feel Jelli's rapid heartbeat; she was scared, and in all honesty, he was too. When his canines pierced his student's supple green flesh, she gasped and nearly stumbled forward. The rest of his teeth followed through, wrenching a squeal of pain from the Glutton's throat.
Warm, sumptuous blood flowed into Cobalt's mouth and down his throat, immediately drowning him in that euphoric sensation that he had felt so many times before. He lashed his tongue against Jelli's wounds, coaxing more of the crimson ichor forth as his veins flashed and began to glow. As the Incubus' body heated up, his bones groaned and cracked as they were forced back into place by his constricting muscles. He winced as they fused back together, accidentally biting down harder on his student's arm. Eyes wide, he looked back tearfully into Jelli's eyes, but she shook her head and placed a hand on the side of his face. She was trying her best to be reassuring, even when she was crying herself.
"I- It's okay, i- it doesn't hurt...!" she lied, hissing through her teeth as she struggled to keep herself from crying out.
The hungry flames in Cobalt's gut flared with new life, urging him to bite down as hard as he could. But he quashed those feelings. With a choked splutter, the Incubus relaxed his jaw, extracting his teeth from Jelli's flesh as he swallowed the last dregs of her blood.
"O- Oh sweet Hellfire, I am so sorry...!" he cried, reaching for the sleeve of his jacket.
Despite the thick cloth, Cobalt tore it off and hastily bound the bite mark in her arm. Jelli kept trying to maintain her straight face, but it looked close to cracking.
"It's okay, Mr. Trayer," she repeated breathlessly, clutching the bandaged wound, "as long as you're okay."
Guilt gnawed at him from the inside out, but he realised that he didn't have time to dwell on it. Jelli made the choice to feed him; he couldn't fault her for that.
Leaving the Glutton to tend to her injury, Cobalt rushed over to Izzbelle, his veins pulsing in time to his rapid heartbeat. He quickly checked her vitals and was relieved to find that she was steadily breathing. The Oni was tough.
"Is... Is she okay?" Jelli asked from her position by the fire.
Nodding, the Incubus heaved her onto her side and adjusted her into the recovery position. Removing his jacket, he tore off the other sleeve before placing the rest beneath her head.
"Here," he said, directing the Glutton to join him, "hold this against her head. Gently, but keep pressure on it."
Jelli gave him a shaky nod and did as she was told, murmuring uneasily as blood seeped through the cloth.
"What do we do now?" she asked in a quiet voice, looking up at him for guidance.
Cobalt swallowed hard.
"... Give me a moment to think."
Standing up, the Incubus walked around the circumference of the chamber, taking note of everything around him.
The room was ancient, that was for sure. The walls were mostly stone bricks, but at certain points they gave way to dark, unmoving machinery. Cogs, gears, pipes and pistons; all silent and partially rusted. Following one of the pipes with his eyes, he saw that it was broken in a few places, dripping thick, grey fluid onto the floor. Stooping down, Cobalt dipped his finger into the puddle and sniffed it.
"Diesel?" he murmured, recoiling at the acrid smell.
"Tch. It's as much diesel as steel is copper."
Cobalt furrowed his brow at Lilith's sudden interjection. For a few blissful moments, he had completely forgotten about her.
"They can serve similar functions, but one is clearly superior and bears more potential."
"Then what is it?"
"Ferrohaem. The lifeblood of Devilish society."
He frowned.
"Does it burn?"
"Of course it burns."
"Alright."
Pulling off his tie and stowing it safely in his pocket, Cobalt unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off. Despite how cold it was, the burning of his blood kept the Incubus warm enough. Grabbing the leg of a broken chair, he wrapped his shirt around one end and carefully dipped it into the "ferrohaem".
"Lilith, he honest with me, what is this place?" he asked beneath his breath as he ensured the cloth was soaked through.
"I told you already-"
"I don't care what you told me! If we're gonna be stuck down here, the least you can do is tell me where the Hell we even are!" Cobalt hissed, balling his fist.
He heard her sigh.
"...Tempered Bastion 31-3. A fortress-slash-staging post. We had them all over Hell at one point," she murmured, clearly annoyed.
"Why is it so far underground?"
"That was my idea. The entire structure was designed to recede into and out of the earth depending on what was most strategically advantageous."
Cobalt's eyes widened.
"You... designed this place?"
"For the most part," the Devil sighed, almost disinterestedly.
"So what was up with that explosion?" Cobalt asked, glancing up at the crumbling hole up above.
"That's... not supposed to happen. Those detonations sounded sequential, not simultaneous like a normal system failure."
"Meaning...?"
"Someone did this on purpose."
A cold sensation settled over Cobalt, and it wasn't because he was topless.
"Meaning someone else is down here. Someone with the know how to sabotage Devil machinery," he breathed.
"Yeah. Shit..."
"... We'll deal with that if it comes to it. For now, I'm going to look for a way out. Do you know of any?"
"Every Bastion has emergency evacuation procedures. When triggered, augers tunnel through the earth to the surface, so there might be some exit tunnels. Even if there are any, they might be too difficult to navigate, or collapsed entirely."
"If I can get Izzbelle and Jelli out any sooner, I'm willing to take that chance."
Cobalt swallowed hard as he carried his makeshift torch over to the campfire. Jelli was still taking care of Izzbelle, but upon seeing her shirtless teacher and the spiderweb of red light glowing through his skin, she nearly choked on her own spittle.
"M- Mr. Trayer...?!" the Glutton gasped, her cheeks flushing at the sight of him.
Doing his best to ignore the embarrassment, the Incubus carefully touched the ferrohaem-soaked rag to the campfire. Instantly, it burst into brilliant blue flames, illuminating much more than he thought.
"What are you...?" Jelli asked, pointing a finger at it.
Clearing his throat, he did his best to give her a smile.
"I'm going to look around for a way out."
"But-!"
"I know. I'm sorry, but I can't just sit here and do nothing. Take care of Izzbelle, and I'll be back before you know it."
As he passed the Glutton by, Cobalt reached down and patted her head. Just like that, the fear and uncertainty in her eyes ebbed away, just for a moment. She sucked in a deep breath, let it out, and returned an uncertain smile.
"Viel Glück. Ich, ähm... ich liebe dich."
Unsure of what she just said, the Incubus thanked her regardless and walked over to a huge metal door set into one of the walls. It looked mechanical in nature, but at some point in the past thirteen-and-a-half centuries it had gotten stuck halfway open, allowing him to squeeze through into a dark, cavernous hallway.
Swallowing hard, Cobalt raised his bright-blue torch aloft.
"Let's go."