-ACT 1

(" Then my alarm goes off and that's as far into the dream as I can get.") "Damnable matriarch" I said out loud to no one in particular as I sat up in my bed; the lump beside me protested the sudden movement and rolled herself up in all the covers to make a point.

" Come on. Get up." I said hopping out of bed and on my way to the bathroom to brush my pearly whites, ("which are excellent if I do say so myself.")

" Hmmm… five more minutes!" came the muffled voice from dreamland. Then proceeded to roll over and over and over aaaaaaaand…"WHAM!" Landed unceremoniously with her behind in the air.

Inwardly, the other parts of my personalities were rolling on the floor laughing in their own inner space sections. Witnessing the spectacle from beginning to end, I just rolled my eyes and shook my head, then returned to brushing.

" OK. Fine. You want to be difficult, I can always MAKE you get up." Putting my right hand out the door and snapping.

The pale form bolted upright at the sound, nearly jumping out of the pile of cover and looked at me with a scowl that would make all the women of the universe's proud.

I decided to peek out the door way, I guessed at what was coming. ("Yup, pillow aimed right for my head.") So I caught it with a thought and sent it right back at her with twice the speed.

A second later, an "OOF" followed by an explosion of feathers from the redirected pillow resounded in the small apartment.

" Bulls eye" I said finishing my teeth.

" Have I told you I hate you today?" she said sitting up in a rain of feathers. Stretching her red wings, then inspecting them to make sure I hadn't done anything to them.

" Of course not, you only just decided to wake up!" I said getting tired of this morning's tirade. I went to the dresser and riffled through it to find the perfect outfit for the day.

" At least it wasn't hellfire this time." She said dejectedly as she laid her tail in her hands, inspecting it. I laughed out loud hard remembering the event.

" It's not funny! I couldn't sit right for a week!" Her cheeks flushing as she recounted the indignity of it all. "And my lovely tail is STILL raw." Looking down sorrowfully at her poor tail where a bright red spot could still be seen.

Finally settling on a black button up and jeans I sighed and went over to the bed. "Let me see." Holding it possessively to her chest until she saw the blue fire in my right hand and her suspicions died down. Reluctantly relinquishing it to me so I could heal it. " We have to be looking our best today after all." Smiling down at her.

" Right. " Thinking about something else entirely as she said it. This just annoyed me to no end when she did it.

" Mmmm, alright, I know I'm going to regret this but what is it? " I said crossing my legs, resting my chin in my hand to look at her.

" Can't you cut her some slack? " She said looking me in the eye. " Sure she was selfish and reckless, but who isn't? " Still looking at me but fidgeting now. " Do you not have any love for her? "

I let out a deep laugh. " Oh, this is hilarious. " Realizing this situation would be viewed as insane to any human. " I'm getting relationship advice from a succubus. In her birthday suite. With the blinds open. " [she dives under the bed.]

Waving at the man across the way, who was still in shock at seeing a young woman with wings and a tail, naked no less? " This is certainly the highlight of my day! " I said in a high pitch as I closed the blinds.

" Your getting better at hiding your presence. " I said just before turning around. Walking over and sitting on the bed again, looking at the shadow underneath the edge.

[silence]

Looking left, right then back down. " Your under the bed aren't you? "

" Maybe, can't you tell? " she said with a cheeky inflection, making her voice echo. Now quit dodging my questions." Is having a mother like Lilit-Aaacckkk... "

[Reaching into the shadows beneath the bed and pulling her out by the throught with my right hand and lifting her off the floor so I could look up at her.]

" I could have sworn I told you that NOT mentioning that pathetic puppet's name was a requirement for running with me. " I said flatly baring my fangs as I raised an eyebrow.

" S..ssso.y" she choked out trying to breathe. " s..sscck..ry " she squeaked out, squirming against my grip.

(" OKAY! Please just let me go, I-I swear to not mention it! EVER! ")

" You actually have enough concentration to set aside your physical predicament and link to my mind. " Bringing my mouth close to her head, my fangs grazing her ear and pressing my thumb into her jugular.

" Very good, but you gave away your position WHEN you made your voice ECHO. If I WANT to KNOW where you are, I WILL know. " I whispered as her eyes went half shut.

(" ya...nnn...y-e-s. ") saying it as her arms went slack.

" Still no more endurance then an amazon, ya know. Though a little disappointing but not unaccounted for." I said before throwing her on the bed.

" I'm now telling you this a second time." I said walking to the kitchen to get my cup of herbal tea. Teya regained her faculties a few seconds after I started heading towards it.

" Like I said when I SAVED your weak tail." taking a drink and releasing the lock on my power and oppressed her so she couldn't move.

" I don't CARE if your the older sibling give or take a few centuries, I can use you, but if you even look at me the wrong way I will destroy you, banish you, send you home or I could give your case to the higher ups if things go better than I expect." slowly walking towards her kneeling form on the futon retracting her demoness attributes.

" I understand...master." nodding demurely.

" I said I don't want you calling me that." sighing heavily " It's Alchemist. " Locking the power I released.

" Look, I certainly didn't want that to happen, but it was the only I could take you with me." I said helping her off the bed, then heading back to lean on the doorway.

" Now hurry n' get dressed, there's no way the more sensitive people n' the like will have MISSED my little display." looking at the seal on her left shoulder blade as she went to the dresser.("damn. this is getting too complicated.")

" So if Searcher's notes are right, my last memory crystal should be somewhere in or near this universes primary earth's 'Titan Tower'. Cute, if a little childish." I scoffed while sitting at the table looking over one of my alter persona's research in my small laminated black book.

Memorizing the geographical data and topical schematics of the area, I placed the book in the middle of a time/space transportation circle I had prepared the night before on the kitchen table.

" Well this will be the last time you do info gathering on a large scale; You can have some fun but remember your job comes first and don't interfere with any events unless our next handler lets you." I said giving it a serious look.

" Awwwww, no faaaair!" came the childish response.

" Remember, you represent me before I actually get there Searcher. First impressions are everything and nothing." I scolded, giving the same speech I always do just before I send him off.

" Alright, alright. Best behavior, promise." the unassuming book said seriously. "Lets get this show on the road. My big entrance awaits!" came the excited screech.

" Hold your horses and let me check on something." I said closing my eyes and feeling out who, if anyone would come and investigate my power signiture from the release.(" Perfect. A couple ankle biters, hm-pf, I really hate nice-nice universe's.")

" Are you ok? Your scowling annoyingly." Came the voice of the now very normal looking Teya. "How long till they get here?"

" Six minutes. Plenty of time and the best opportunity to test two of my hypotheses." I said standing up and starting the ritual.

Gently pushing my power into the ether of the void coordinates of searchers destination. The candles at the seven points sparked white and burned teal blue. A few seconds later a rift sphere formed, Searcher dematerialized to travel and the rift closed.

Grunting I huffed down in the chair and turned to Teya. "Two minutes, time fer you to go sneak around their tower. Call me when you find it or send me a message if you don't; you know what to feel for."

" Right,On it!" she said in a sickeningly upbeat voice.

" Whatever just go." giving her a sideways glance, telling her to get out. She nodded and headed for the open window on the south wall.

-" And Teya!"- as I said in our original language, she stopped, visibly flinching. -"I suggest you NOT make the same mistakes each of our parents did."- letting her know she was on thin ice with me.

I felt her anger welling up but she just lowered her head and gave a sidewards nod. Then she morphed into a palm sized scarlet dragon an flew off.

(" Good girl.") I thought as my vision suddenly went blurry. ("I didn't use that much energy, did I?") closing my eyes and cupping my face in my hands.

" No, it's the feedback from his pawns." Taking a deep breathe and giving it a channel at the back of my mind. (" Ah, much better.")

Five seconds later there was a knock at the door. ("Right on time") getting up and making it half way to the door before feeling the familiar tear of a rift behind me. ("5, 4, 3, 2...") counting on my fingers and then pointing at the door.

Then the door went flying past me broken in two. ("Still rookies.") shaking my head and finally looking at them as the five-foot doorway finished materializing with my back to it.

" Took you long enough." lightly laughing. "If you'll excuse me just a moment; I need to take care of this." turning around and raising my bandegded arm to it.

" You know, putting this much of your essence through a temporal portal through an unimaginable distance just to feel out a potential enemy; There must be at least six of you, reasonably powerful." I released the lock on my power and began to feed it through my right arm slowly; stablizing my end of it.

Black tendrils of power began to come from the gravity well. " Hmm, utilizing a mini black hole to control the expansion of the event horizon to compensate for the power flow you need won't help you with me; ten thousand years too early for you to do that correctly." I said as the seal on the back of my hand started to glow and a clear yellow sphere of light formed around me and pulled the energy to its surface.

" And when your senses do get the information, your mind won't have any real memories of the person you were feeling out, heh heh." I said as I opened my left palm. Then, as the darkness swirled around the outside of the sphere, the light soaked into the blackness. After the sphere went completely dark, I condensed it into a ball in my left hand; Simultaneously I unlocked the eldrich rosary on my right wrist remotely, letting my store of hellfire out to engulf my arm burning off the bandages and of course disintegrating the shirt material.

(" How amusing.") Feeling the surprise and fear from the two behind me positioning myself so they couldn't see said arm.

" Say goodnight poppets." I said sticking my fist just inside the rift forcing the fire into it like loading a spring. Then forcing the ball of blackness in my left to encase my right arm.

Looking over my shoulder at the two girls a few feet away now with thoroughly dumbfounded faces and made a point of looking the one with grey skin and a dark blue cloak in the eyes. "This is how you control power children." saying before facing the subject of my annoyance.

At the point of maximum tension I braced my feet, opened my fist, and released a wall of hellfire at full speed to the other end of the tunnel. Then I slipped the black energy into it just after the fire; Then I looked back to the girls behind me. " You uh, might want to hang on to something, thirty seconds."

They then put up a round barrier with their backs against the wall. I looked at it and them with an eyebrow raised "Really? Don't you at least know rudimentary physics?" I said condescendingly, which earned me nasty looks. I rolled my eyes at that and said "whatever."

I just folded my arms and put up a narrow wedge shaped barrier in front of me just as the shock waves started.

As with any boom in a small space, the first wave pretty much destroyed the interior. My barrier easily parting the brunt and pushing the pressure to the sides.

I narrowed the sides of my wedge and let half of the sonic boom pressure hit the bubble behind me to see how much they could take before they collapsed. " Get ready! Two waves 5 seconds apart!" saying as two of the walls were blown outward by a condensed shock wave.

I turned around when I heard a low buzzing and found the two were making their powers cooperate; Knitting black and green energies so they made a stripped shield.

" That is a very smart idea, but I can't waste time." I said as the last two waves past me, destroyed the last support beam, and forced the girl's shield to go into the wall.

" I'm impressed you actually managed to successfully block that one." I said as they collapsed to their knees but not letting the barrier down.

I moved my shield to my front. " I'd stand a foot apart if I were you." I said just before I sent the small red wedge toward them and split their barrier in two as they jumped to either side.

" I guess your just too young to be a challenge." Saying as I punching them through the standing wall in the gut to stun them as the apartment building collapsed and kept going to the tree line up the nearest hill.