Before we start, my most heartfelt thanks to everyone who is working to provide care, medicine, food, services, deliveries, manufacturing, garbage pickup, pet care, and other services essential during this time. Please, be safe, be smart, and be kind to one another as we face our own struggles in tackling this pandemic.
"Hey, that tickles," Cobra said as he looked down as a very sexy demoness who was currently biting the inside of his naked thigh. Doc McSexy bit him again, using her tongue to soothe the bite, and he chuckled before carding his fingers through her inky tresses. He looked into her red eyes and gave her his signature panty-melting grin.
She stopped teasing him and crawled up his nude body, straddling his hips. Her dark red lips lifted in a pleasured smile, "you think you are adorable."
"Babe, I know I am. You know I am. Now how about that round three?" he asked, lifting his hips a little to let his erection press against her bare core. She looked so damn hot right now, naked with a light sheen to her skin, makeup a little smudged, her hair down and wild around her shoulders.
Doc McSexy kissed his forehead, "sorry, Cobra, but I have to get back to the lab. This was only lunch."
Cobra pouted, trying his best to look all puppy dog cute like. She laughed, a rich throaty sound that almost made his ass shiver. "Lunch? Babe, I'm certified desert."
"Hmmmm," she pressed her finger to his nose, "that you are. As a medical professional I should remember sweets in moderation."
"So, see you later?" he asked as she slipped off him before looking around for her pants. He turned to his side, propping his head into his hand and noticing a small scrap of red lace under one of the black pillows. Cobra pulled it out and started twirling the little thong around his finger.
She looked over her slim shoulder and quickly came back to the bed. As she snatched the thong, "of course. I may need to stick another needle in you."
"Doc, that was a dildo," he half joked. Cobra liked a kinky chick and when he saw the Doc's war chest, he almost asked her to marry him on the spot. Name it and chick was into it and damn she was so cool about any of his kinks. Which he found out were damn tame by demon standards.
Fun fact, demons don't have rules in sex. Safe word isn't a thing. Once there is consent, it's literally anything goes in happy hardcore land. Cobra was a fan of this kind of lifestyle and Hell fit his fucked-up world view.
What he learned, in the last two days, was that promises were sacred, if you gave your word, you owned that shit. Free will was always respected as a sacred right of being and you didn't ever mess with someone's free will. Murder was tolerated with ample reason and rape was never tolerated. Also, don't touch the damn kids, ever. Demons liked to enjoy life, with as few rules as possible, he loved that idea.
He enjoyed watching Doc get dressed, watching how she slipped on tailored black clothes over her gorgeous toned body. Seemed like a fucking shame to cover that firm ass, but she was like royalty or something. Had to fit the image, or something like that.
Doc was pulling her hair up into a high pony tail when she spoke to him again, "Cobra, would you like to come with me? Get out of this room for a while?" She scrunched her nose and side stepped to one of the windows, opening it and letting in some of that fresh-but-not-really Sulphur tinged air.
He sat up and chuckled, "like take your boytoy to work day?"
"Boytoy?" she asked as she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of smokes. That got Cobra out of bed and not giving a shit about being naked and half hard, walked over to the window. Doc handed him one and then snapped her fingers to produce a small flame.
He lit the smoke and took a drag before leaning against the grey stone wall, "fuck buddy? Cute man you keep as a sexual toy."
She arched a brow and blew out several smoke rings, "a sex slave. I do not consider you like that."
Cobra face palmed, "not quite a slave thing. It's a human expression, it means you enjoy this fine ass cause it is fine."
"Humans," she grumbled, "this is why you all lose in making contracts with demons. We watch our words."
"Yeah, like what-the-shit, ain't none of you know what a contraction is."
"We understand possessive, but contractions are open to misinterpretation." She ashed her smoke out the window, "double negatives are a real bitch and sometimes with shortened words or slang, regional variations can be damning. Children use contractions, but adults cannot because of our society and very being."
"The promises thing huh?" he asked as he looked down at his feet before shifting his gaze to her.
"It is not just a thing, not to us. If I promised something to a lesser demon and then failed, depending on the circumstances I could be removed from my castle and stripped of my title, at worst case I could be tattooed a deal breaker and displayed in public on the Wall."
"Murder would be nicer?"
Doc smiled, "Mard Geer once said, murder is too polite. He was right, there are certain crimes where murdering the person would be a quick and easy way to handle it. An eye for an eye is not always applicable," she finished her smoke and flicked it out the window, "come on, get dressed."
"I like Munchkin too, he's alright. Makes Sunshine happy," Cobra said as he moved about the room grabbing his clothes off the ground. Doc had been awesome in getting him some new duds while he was here, and holy fuck did spider demons know how make a pair of pants.
"Why do you do that?" she asked while watching him pull on his purple "evil spelled backwards is live" t-shirt.
"The name thing?" he asked, and she nodded, "dunno, just do. Probably cause as a kid it didn't matter what your name was, most people didn't live long enough in the Tower for you to make friends."
"I understand this, demons are given temporary names until they are of age for the naming ceremony. Then they reach into their higher self and find the name that is who they truly are."
"Dude that sounds kind of cool, you're all connected to your soul huh?" he asked as he sat on the messy bed and pulled on a pair of black with little green snakes socks.
"It is more complicated than that, but for now that analogy works," she checked her golden pocket watch, "we need to leave, your labs should be done. Thank Satan."
He finished tying his boots and said fuck it to his jacket as he followed Doc McSexy out of the room. Hell wasn't like a raging inferno, but it was warm like 85 degrees or so, and he fucking loved it. They didn't really have a winter here either, but you could find snow if you went to the tops of the Legion Mountains.
They walked down the Palace corridor, making small talk. Cobra still couldn't get over the small purple skinned imps in tuxedos that were everywhere, and all those motherfuckers looked happy. He'd not seen one of them in a bad mood or frowning, nope, not these guys. They waved and chittered at Doc McSexy, who quietly nodded or waved in reply.
"Do you like pay them to be nice to you?" he asked, a little curious about the servants.
Doc chuckled, "yes, technically. Their species, Hifreichiodi, would mean helpful idiot in your language. They simply exist to serve, each other or their employers. They are such a harmless little race until you abuse one of them and then," she gave him a malicious grin, "think starving piranhas on steroids."
Cobra got the hint and he did a double look at one of the imps who was smiling at him while carrying a basket loaded with cleaning supplies. He had a new appreciation for the little guys, gals, whateves. "So, they like to be maid service, that's cool."
"I like to think so and it preserves their race because they no longer need to live in the wilds of Hell. Outside of our cities and towns are where the truly wild things are and Hifreichiodi were popular meals." They rounded a corner and Cobra looked down it, seeing a bunch of demons in lab coats standing around, hugging each other.
Doc trotted ahead, speaking in Infernai to the people. He watched how one of them was excitedly talking to her, complete with big arm movements. One of the demons pointed at him and suddenly he found himself being surrounded by a bunch of nerds in lab coats. Cobra had no idea what they were saying, but he got the hint when one of them lifted him up on his Hulk wide shoulder.
"Doc, what the shit?" he asked, grabbing a fistful of blood red hair of demon Hulk to keep his balance. The demons all started chanting, dererroser and dankevar Satan.
She said a few clipped words and Cobra was back on his feet as he pulled him away from the happy fun nerd parade. "Cobra!" she hugged him, "it is you. You have saved lives."
"What the fuck? English. Do you speak it?" he asked.
Doc laughed, "your body is literally a hostile environment for Corpsotirits. Your mutated cytokines and natural poison abilities have created a perfect storm, enough of a reaction to fight the parasites but not enough to harm you in the process."
"Which means…"
"There is a lot of work to do but you are the antidote to this Corpsotirits. We could never cure it beyond the initial incubation period before the symptoms manifested. Now we can."
"Well, bow to your savior bitches," he said, making most of the nerd parade laugh. A few in the back were literally bowing. Mental note, demons be whacked and I'm the coolest motherfucker in Hell.
Natsu put his arm around his mate as they sat in the diner's bright red fake leather booth. He still couldn't believe he managed to find the courage to talk to her about any of this. Let alone that she would return his feelings, with great enthusiasm. He'd never had so much sex in one evening, but with Meredy it was fun and the way she could swirl her hips...
"Earth Land to Hot Stuff," she teased and Natsu blinked before he looked at her.
"Sorry," he kissed the tip of her cute little nose, "thinking about you again."
She giggled, "which body part this time?"
"Yes," he replied watching how licked her lips and knowing that her tongue was a weapon of his brain's destruction.
"Is that all you can think about?" Meredy said as she grabbed the menu from the little silver wire stand.
"I would hope not, otherwise, we are not going to get anywhere," Mard said as Natsu finally registered that Luce and her mate had joined them. Natsu gave an awkward smile at them, feeling a little embarrassed about his train of thoughts.
Luce smiled at him, "don't sweat it Natsu, Mard is just as bad, he just won't admit it."
"In public, Rosebud. Also, I thought you would prefer if I not disclose to everyone that you like to be sp…" Luce turned red and quickly put her hand over Mard's mouth, glaring at him like she could murder him. Or worse, kick him.
Natsu and Meredy laughed at the pair, as Luce whispered a few choice words about the amount of nerve endings in a man's dick. Natsu crossed his legs under the fake granite table and noticed how Meredy looked like she was taking notes. She slid him a sly smile and Natsu shook his head before he placed a kiss to her pink hair.
"Don't even think about it," he teasingly warned.
"I don't know Hot Stuff, "she shrugged and flashed him a mischievous smile, "I think Lucy could teach me a lot about how to keep your mate in line."
"Ha! I wish, I'm still figuring it out and making it up as I go along," Lucy replied, removing her hand from Mard's mouth. He took it and placed a kiss to her knuckles before turning his attention to Natsu.
"Mating is fun, is it not?" he asked.
Natsu nodded, "yep, got a good one here."
They trio sat around the table looking over the barely readable and greasy menus. Today they were headed to the dark guild hideout and Natsu hoped that that Mard or Luce could figure out what they found. His mind traced back to the place and he still couldn't quite figure out what he was smelling or even seeing around the dilapidated hidden cottage. To him, the shadows looked like they were moving but that wasn't right.
The more he thought about it the more unnerved he felt, and he played with his white scarf absentmindedly. Natsu sniffed, still recalling that strange mixture in that place, it smelt like a mixture of rot and the unique salt of tears mixed with the copper of blood. As he looked at the water ring from where his glass sat, he could see the strange circles written in black substances all over the stone floor of the basement. Natsu shivered and felt Meredy's cool hand rest on his bicep, he looked over at her and she frowned.
"Still thinking?" she whispered, and he nodded.
"How bad was it Natsu?" Luce asked as she set down her menu and looked at him.
"Um, you kind of have to be there," he said his voice a little shaky. To his surprise Mard reached across the table and took his hand. Mard was unusually warm, which Natsu did not mind and his hands were soft.
"Permission to scan your thoughts," the demon said and again Natsu could only manage a jerky nod. Their eyes met and Natsu felt as if his brain was growing itchy as he felt the unusual magic start to enter him. He felt sucked into Mard's black eyes, the world around him becoming dim as he was reliving yesterday. Every bit of him felt as if he was back there and he shuddered.
In Natsu's fast moving mind they just got to the basement when Mard dropped his hand and suddenly he couldn't feel the brain itchy anymore. The demon stood up, "skip breakfast, we are leaving," he commanded.
"Mard?" Luce asked as he took her hand and pulled her from the booth.
"I need to be there, now. This is important," he said and even Natsu felt compelled to listened to him. Whatever he saw, was most likely what had Natsu a little on edge. Well, when he thought of that place, not when he was with Meredy.
Meredy slapped down a few Jewels on the table and the four of them left the small diner. Outside Natsu took in the sunshine and lifted his face to smile at the warmth and light. He opened his eyes and saw the sky turn black before it cracked and destroyed the sun.
He blinked and it was blue again. Natsu shook his head as Mard put a hand to his bare shoulder, "that will take a while for you to recover from. When we get there," he looked at Luce, "Corvus and I will go in, it is not safe for you all."
Lucy glared at him and Mard continued, "what they saw were markings from the Abyssial creatures in the Plane of Madness. I have to see them directly because it is starting to play with Natsu's mind."
Natsu fidgeted with his scarf and closed his eyes, lifting his face towards the sun again. He felt better under the sunlight and the soft comfort of Meredy holding his hand. "Is that why the sun feels good?"
"Yes, there is no light in the Plane of Madness. Sunlight is your best weapon and should subside the effects of your exposure to the magic."
"Hmmm," Natsu hummed, "okay." Mard said a bunch of other things but Natsu wasn't paying attention, he was soaking up the warmth and holding his mate close. He didn't want to go back there.
"Mard, why is it affecting him now? What about me?" Meredy asked and Natsu opened his eyes, looking down at her.
"Were you in the ritual area?"
"No, Hot Stuff told me to stay upstairs." Her red eyes investigated his and Natsu smiled as he touched her cheek feeling a little tingle from his fingertips. His whole focus on her, barely hearing the conversation, if it wasn't for enhanced hearing.
"That is why, you were not exposed. As for why it is delayed, I suspect it was because the ritual may not have been active, this is just residual magic."
"Alright, I'll stay with them, let me summon Corvus." Luce added and Natsu hummed, starting to hear a curious little melody play in his head. One he noticed that Meredy was softly humming.
Limit how much you touch them, Rosebud. Mard said into her mind as he watched the pink haired pair out the corner of his eye. He worried that his little scan of Natsu's thoughts might have awoken the lingering Abyssial magic when it felt demonic power. The only thing to do was keep them in the light and keep them calm.
Anything else I should know? She asked and Mard appreciated the fact that she was not questioning him or whining about being left behind.
If their eyes turn black, summon Mr. Kitty. His holy magic should counter any new effects.
Poor Natsu, he's been through so much.
He has and after this I think they need a decent vacation.
Us too. She thought and Mard kissed her forehead before he turned around and nodded to Corvus.
"Ready?" the Raven spirit said as he stretched his ebony wings.
Mard was ready to shift when he looked around the area seeing people walking along the sidewalks or sitting on benches. The little town looked peaceful and he tilted his head as he studied one woman hiding under an awning, away from the sun. He concentrated on the stocky older woman and could hear her humming lightly while fishing around her big purple bag. He took stock of the area, not risking his chances with opening his mind to listen to them. His left cat ear twitched.
Rosebud, on second thought, summon Mr. Kitty now and keep him here with you.
Why? She asked and Mard pointed to the old woman, he then pointed to several other people, each of them covered up to protect them from the sun. Rosebud nodded, got it. This is bad Mard.
Yes, keep your wits about you. If you need Corvus, summon him back immediately. I will be fine.
Alright, she pursed her lips and squared her shoulders back. Mard smiled as he looked at her, taking charge and understanding the severity of the situation without the need for lengthy conversation first. As much as he wanted to kiss her again, instead he took off towards the edge of town with Corvus following him as they ran down the center of the dirt road.
Once they got outside of town Mard transformed and took to the air, himself enjoying the warmth and the smell of fresh pines. He was scanning the fast-moving ground, looking for a semi clear area where the pine trees were dying and the rickety shack with a black roof.
After several minutes he pointed and began to descend with Corvus following. They landed outside the cottage and Mard sniffed the air before wrinkling his nose. Only the Abyss gave off such a scent it was the scent of blood and misery, the slow leak of madness from the mind. The very essence around the cottage had Mard's back going rigid and he slipped on his old mask of impassiveness to hide what he was feeling.
"I hate that Plane," Corvus groaned as he opened the door and promptly covered his nose with his pale hands.
"You have been there?" Mard asked as he walked through the door and swatted at a few flies that wanted to greet him. The place was disgusting to his olfactory sense, from the pungent decay of food, uncleanliness in general, and the general scent of Abyss magic.
"Yeah, went out of curiosity for like two minutes. Holy fuck that place is like every bad nightmare I ever had," he added and Mard nodded.
"Agreed," he passed from the front room into the kitchen and almost retched as he saw the disaster in the sink and spilt all over the stove. The room was covered in a layer of grease and mold, hiding what was probably nice green stone counters and eating the paint from the white cabinets. The sand colored flooring was peeling and curling up in a few areas, complete with roaches scurrying around the black grout lines.
The pair pushed past the kitchen and Mard saw a doorway with a staircase, he didn't bother with a light as he made his way down. The wooden steps protested as they moved and Mard could feel something skittering in the air. It reminded him of the heavy humid air of a sauna if it also had hyperactive ants floating around in it.
As he saw from Natsu's mind, he saw the black glyphs and the crude altar set up with dead plants and a hollowed-out deer. Mard stuck out his tongue and could taste the unique dark magic in the air. He grabbed Corvus's arm before the spirit could step on a marking. "Watch your step, I have no idea what these could do."
"Don't ya speak Abyssal?" Corvus whispered as he pulled a silver battle axe off his back and twirled it in his hand.
"A bit, but I am no expert on their magical traditions. I know it is completely alien to human, Celestial or Infernal magics."
Mard tried to take in all the glyphs, figuring he could draw them later and then maybe have Corvus show it to Merlin. She was probably the only person who could tell him what this all meant.
He saw a bit of a book's spine peeking out from under a black cloth under the deer carcass. A ritual book would be better and Mard summoned a thorn vine, using it to slither around the glyphs and touch the altar. As his magic made contact with it, it exploded into black flames. Mard and Corvus jumped back as suddenly the dead deer rolled off and started mutating before them.
The deer grew three times it's size, it's once brown fur turning into a dripping black ooze and its antlers twisting to look like various human body parts. It took a step forward and opened its eyes, all dozen of them, flicked out several tentacles from its opened belly, and it let out a howl. Mard covered his ears and fell to a knee from the pain of what sounded like the death wail of absolute terror.
He felt a tentacle wrap around his leg before Corvus shouted and he saw a blur of silver cut right through the black appendage. Corvus pulled Mard up and he nodded as thanks, "we have to kill it."
"Or send it home," Corvus winked at him and Mard tried to grab him but the spirit moved too quickly. The beast's tentacles all lashed out at the raven and he dodged the first couple but was hit by two of them. He crashed into a wall creating a sizeable crack into the stonework and vanished.
Mard summoned his own Curse magic, swiping his index and middle finger, "Rose Explosion." Before him a magical rose sigil appeared before it split apart into many petals, swarming the creature before it exploded. "Thorn Wall!" he shouted, summoning a curved wall of his own thorns to protect him from the blast.
His own magic couldn't hurt him, but it would be annoying to get hit by the kitchen sink or worse, the toilet. The creature shrieked again and Mard could see bits of the sunlight streaming in between his vines. As he said to Natsu, sunlight does make the best weapon.
Mard waited a few minutes before dissipating the magic, he waved his hand, clearing away the dust and particles in the air. There wasn't much to see, the creature was now a bubbling pile of ichor and most of the cottage was blown up. He noticed that the altar was mostly untouched, and he jumped over the ooze, careful of any lingering protection traps.
Mard grabbed the book, noticing that it was bound in demon skin and his top lip curled up a little. He opened it and looked through the frail off white pages, stopping when he noticed a fresh handwritten passage. What made it unusual was that it was written, horribly, in the human language not the Abyssal one.
Our Lord Q'thisdt'letezcal has granted us the divine Madness and Power. He has blessed our guild with his children, as his harbingers.
Even now they sleep in our blood and we shall share them with others. We shall bring his word, promise and greatness to the people of Ishgar.
All in preparation for his arrival, when the children of his Madness shall give themselves to him and become one with the sacred Madness.
As it is known.
Below that was a small picture of what looked like a black fuzzy ball. Which if Mard recalled was exactly what Natsu threw up when Rosebud saved him. He thought through everything and slammed the book shut before transforming back into his Etherious form.
He needed to find his demons, raise his armies of the Underworld, get a hold of Belial, and prepare Rosebud for the truth.
Corpsotirits isn't a random disease.
It is the precursor to an invasion.
As always, please review, fave, and follow. I'm going to try to work harder to update a little more frequently while people are under lock down to help give you some kind of entertainment while cooped up at home.
