Infernal Contract: Bugsby, The Dark Apprentice (II)

--- Booker H. Freeman ---

Returning to the scene of his young summoner’s crime was a quiet affair, the boy clearly not wanting to do this but feeling like he had to.

(Wrath: It’s something we can respect.)

(Pride: After all, if something needs doing then someone needs to do it.)

Still, this return trip allowed him to actually see the public front of the building they were working out of, and as he saw the sign with some kind of delightfully smiling bear mascot he couldn’t help ask, “Bugsby’s Arcade And Biz?”

Bugsby the boy, grimaced and told him to “Shut up.” before heading towards the back entrance.

He merely followed with an amused grin as they re-entered the workshop full of machinery he could not recognize. Be it due to his lacking memories or just not having seen them before, he didn’t know.

(Pride: It’s hard to tell, but I can tell it’s all more advanced than anything we saw in Ira Invidia at the very least.)

“So… what now?” The boy asked him, looking clearly overwhelmed as he took everything in, his eyes never quite reaching the stairs leading towards the corpse he’d made.

(Gluttony: He reeks of fear.)

(Envy: Can you really blame him?)

(Lust: He’s just a kid and he’s been through so much…)

(Sloth: Kids can grow up fast…)

He gave the boy as comforting a grin as he could manage. “Well, that depends on a few factors given the… nature and circumstances of my arrival.”

Bugsby narrowed his eyes. “What kind of factors?”

“Well, given how -if I’m understanding things correctly- you were the man’s apprentice, then you have a certain claim to everything in this workshop and an even greater one to the things in the ritual room.” He explained.

(Greed: Especially since you keep what you kill in this world.)

The boy was quiet for a moment as he finally looked at the stairs into the abyss before swallowing, and asking, “Meaning I can set them free?”

He paused at that question, before asking his own. “Set who free, my boy?”

Bugsby’s eyes darted towards him nervously, before looking away. “Do… do Demons eat souls?”

He couldn’t help but tilt his head at that question, finding himself curious given what little he knew about Demons himself. (Well?)

(Envy: The soul is… ephemeral? It… can be anchored but not touched… I think? Um, Death deities definitely don’t like people messing with them directly.)

(Gluttony: We could try eating but… Flesh and blood taste sweeter…)

That was the most unsure his more mystic voice had been thus far, and the most reluctant to eat someone the feral one had ever been. (Which likely means,) “It’s possible, but not the wisest idea…”

“Okay, okay…” Bugsby nodded, looking like something inside him was beginning to firm before he took a look around the room. “I… I don’t care about what happens with all of this junk. We can sell it for all I care, but the stuff in the basement…”

Rather than continuing his thought the boy started making his way down the stairs, leaving Booker to once more follow the lad if he wanted to get anything done tonight.

(Sloth: Getting tired of following… Didn’t you say that all we had to do was help get the girl home? Haven’t we done our half of things?)

(Greed: You forgot our deal is ‘Granting power negotiable upon summoning based on the entity in question.’ When the guy in the driver’s seat agreed to help dispose of the body that got added to our contract terms.)

(Sloth: And you didn’t stop him?!)

(Greed: I’m not scared to earn what’s mine.) His greediest voice scoffed. (So long as everyone gets paid I’m not going to stop anyone from doing anything they want.)

(Hmm…) He’d need to be careful about agreeing to anything else as long as he was bound by that particular clause.

Stepping into the basement proper, he found Bugsby looking down at the corpse of his former mentor with a mixed expression. When the boy finally noticed Booker’s presence he said, “We… we need to seal the body in one of these coffins…”

His brow furrowed. “Might I ask why?”

“Because Da- Because he was a necromancer, and… and I don’t doubt he’s got some way of coming back.” Bugsby explained with a frustrated look. “Sealing his… his body in the coffin means he, it means it won’t be as easy for him to come back. Is… is that something you can do?”

(Envy: Maybe… Given what little I can piece together, the theory at least makes sense. If the coffins were built to keep something in, then they can just as easily keep something out.)

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

(Is there anything we need to do that?)

(Greed: Another coffin for one, otherwise we’ll be throwing away a decent cut of our pay.)

(Pride: And I doubt bathing a necromancer’s corpse in power will work out for us.)

(Envy: It won’t. Which is why we’re also going to need more salt to form a new circle.)

(Anything else?)

(Envy: Other than keeping people away from the body? I don’t think so.)

“I’ll need an unused coffin and a fair amount of salt.” He summarized as he took another look around the room before finding a couple of coffins stacked in a dark corner and making his way over. “These should do for the first part, but I’ll still require salt.”

Bugsby nodded. “Right, um, the kitchen should have salt.”

“I’ll arrange things while you find it.” He told the boy as he tried to pick the coffin up, only to find it significantly heavier than he’d been expecting.

(Pride: You’re going to have to use the chains and pulleys above you.)

He looked up before finding a series of tracks hanging from the ceiling like a meat locker. Tracing these tracks with his eyes he found a chain and clamp dangling near a switchboard of some kind on the wall.

With a bit of trial and error he was eventually able to move the chain around the room and secure it to the coffin, before using the switchboard to get it into the center of the room. Once there he proceeded to undo a number of switches and latches on the coffin to open the coffin, before turning his attention to the corpse in the room.

(Gluttony: Wait.)

He paused, his hands inches from the body.

(Gluttony: You feel that?)

(Lust: Feel what?)

His stomach began to growl.

(Gluttony: You’re hungry.)

He was.

(Envy: Really? You’re doing this now?)

(Gluttony: Ignore them. You’re talking to me right now.)

He saw no reason not to.

(Pride: I see several.)

(Gluttony: Look, you’ve got meat right in front of you, don’t you?)

He did.

(Gluttony: Surely no one will notice if you take just a nibble.)

He licked his lips as his mouth began to water. “Surely…”

(Gluttony: After all, it’s just a nibble.)

“It’s just a nibble…” He agreed, as his mouth slowly opened wider than any human could manage.

(Gluttony: That’s right, so go ahead and dig in.)

The flavor was odd, at least compared to what he’d tasted during his time in Ira Invidia. Oh, it still had the sweet taste of copper, but at the same time it almost seemed to… lack something that his previous meals had had. A certain something that always did to refill the well of power within his stomach, the one that had allowed him to heal the many many injuries he’d received during his time in Ira Invidia.

Instead the meat held a different flavor, a different power that while not quite as potent as what he’d grown used to still held something… less filling in his belly. A problem easily resolved by continuing to eat.

(Gluttony: What was that?)

He froze, his ears twitching as he heard something nearby, not close enough to witness his fiendish frenzy, but still close enough to become one if he wasn’t careful.

(Gluttony: Clean up. Meal time is over. We can’t be caught now.)

Moving with a swiftness, he easily picked up the body and shoved it in the metal coffin, the corpse tilting lopsidedly as it was now missing a kidney and one of its legs, bone and all.

(Gluttony: Your face.)

His tongue shot out and instinctively lapped at every drop on his face as he slammed the coffin shut and sealed it tight, hiding away his latest crime just as young Bugsby entered the room with a large bag in his hands. “Will this do?”

“Yes, I believe it will.” He smiled at the lad as he accepted the bag, before slowly pouring it out in a circle around the new coffin. “So long as no one opens the coffin, then there should be nothing to worry about.”

(Envy: For him or for us.)

(Gluttony: Does it really matter?)

“Right.” Bugsby nodded, his eyes never leaving a small glass pane in the coffin allowing his mentor’s face to be seen. “This basement can be sealed so… So they shouldn’t find him any time soon. There’s just one thing left before… before lock this place away for good.”

“And that is?” He inquired upon noticing the boy had turned his attention to the Demon.

“The… the souls in the coffins…” Bugsby answered plainly.

He blinked for a moment, his mind suddenly racing as he glanced towards the coffins full of power, (full of souls…)

(Envy: That explains why they’re border is bound so tightly. To force the souls to remain anchored instead of letting them move on. That’s… dangerous.)

(Dangerous how?)

(Envy: I… I’m not sure. I know I should know. I know that souls are part of my domain but I… I just can’t remember.)

(Wonderful…) He smiled tersely, as he turned his attention back to Bugsby. “And pray tell what do you want to do with my payment?”

He wasn’t actually sure what he could do with souls, but he saw no reason to let the boy know that.

“I… I want to make a deal.” The young Bugsby stuttered out. “A different one from the one that brought you here.”

“Hmm, I’m curious as to what you think you have to offer that has more value than a good dozen souls.” He admitted, crossing his hands behind his back as he looked down on the boy, more because he liked watching the young man squirm than any actual opinion.

“I… I…” Bugsby stuttered, before taking a deep breath and giving Booker a determined look. “I want to take their place.”

“You want to take their place?” He repeated with just a touch of surprise.

The boy nodded. “Y-yeah. You’re a Demon, you, you can’t get to the mortal world without a summoner, and, and… the old man, he, he taught me some things about Necromancy and other magic. And my family owns… a business that’ll go to me since I’m the last one alive.”

“An interesting proposal…” He confessed as he tapped his clawed fingers on his teeth. (Thoughts?)

(Sloth: A mortal minion could be valuable. Though as young as he is we’ll have to work on building him up a bit more.)

(Greed: If the runt’s being honest he’ll be worth a decent amount in the future. Question is if he’s worth the cost given how ‘money today is worth more than money tomorrow’.)

(Envy: We don’t really have any means of containing a soul. In fact, while setting them free might cost a lot of the power in the coffin, we should be able to keep anything they’ve left by being trapped for so long.)

(Greed: And how much is that?)

(Envy: Anywhere from a fourth to half? I’m working with only half the book right now.)

(Pride: Problem to be sure…)

(Greed: Still at the very least that means we won’t be working broke anymore… In the end you’re the one making the choice. We’ll profit one way or the other here, it’s just a matter of which you think is more valuable. Money today or more money tomorrow.)

He gave Bugsby a considering look, measuring his actual worth here before coming to a decision.