Evelynn felt a hoarse groan leave her lips. She ran her tongue against them and felt the faint grooves on their usually smooth, plump surface. A light cough left her, jolting her body, causing her to bounce a little in the arms that still embraced her. The succubus blinked her eyes now as she woke from the deep slumber brought on from the pain and exhaustion of the prior night. She gingerly slid a hand against her back where her lashers were brutally stripped and winced. The injured flesh was so still sore and raw to no one's surprise. Her fingers came away bloody and Evelynn licked the red from the pads of her fingers.
"You're awake…" Daelys murmured from beneath her, his voice still husky from sleep. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter before opening them, blinking rapidly to get used to his new state of consciousness.
Evelynn tried to move, only to have Daelys close his arms around her midsection a little more. "Get off."
"What do you think you're doing?" the man questioned, his thick, golden brow arching as he raised his head a little from his seated position, half propped up by the wall, half slouched on the ground with Evelynn curled up against him still.
"Let go or else I'll claw your eyes out!" Evelynn exploded, struggling as hard as she could without opening her freshly acquired wounds more than they already were.
"Tch, troublesome thing..." Daelys muttered under his breath, his temper flaring up already; it was far too soon to deal with this volatile, mysterious woman.
"I hate you!" Evelynn spat, unsure as to what the feelings inside of her were. It burned white-hot and pushed her to lash out against Daelys but there was also a quiet voice in her skull, telling her something else. Evelynn wasn't sure what but it wasn't wrath or lust or anything she understood and it confused her to no end. This confusion only fueled the anger that did exist in her right now yet the tiny, babbling voice still told her to hold her claws and not lash out.
"I know that, damn it… You tried to gouge out my eyes in my sleep. You must've had a horrible dream or something." Daelys sat up a bit straighter. "I can imagine why you'd get them… Or maybe you just really wanted to kill me." He didn't even need to glance at the bloody, severed lashers on the floor to convey what was not said; the grim twist of his lips and the furrowed tilt of his brows were more than enough to signal he could still recall every moment of last night's brutality.
"I don't dream." Evelynn mumbled as she gave another half-hearted struggle.
"Hm, say what you will." Daelys replied as he closed his eyes again. "It's early, you should try to rest more."
"How do you know?"
"Know what?"
Evelynn grumbled, "The time…"
"The light and where it hits the stone tiles." Daelys said back, "It's early morning right now."
"You know just off the light?" Evelynn chided, her voice taking on a slight tone of mockery and disbelief.
"I'd like to think after ten years here in these cells, I would've figured out something useful." Daelys muttered back, a muscle in his jaw ticked at her tone. "You don't have to believe me but I'm the best you got right now, wom- Evelynn." Daelys reminded himself to use her name, try and be as fair to her as possible despite her prickly demeanour.
"Ten years?" Evelynn grew still at his words. Her brows scrunched up at this. "You let them keep you here, in chains, like a dog, for ten years?" her tone was one of admonishment, cold and uncaring, completely void of any understanding.
Daelys shoved her out of his warm arms, the honey pools of his eyes burned with hurt and rage. "What the fuck do you know?!" he bellowed at her, his voice sounded rusty from all the time it spent mainly unused. "You think I have a choice? You think I deserve to be here like you?" Daelys' tone dripped with poison now. "I heard loud and clear yesterday about what you did to the mage hunter. As vile as they are, if a fraction of what the commander said was true, you're a monster! I'll never stoop to your level… you vile creature, monster, murderer."
Evelynn stared at him, wide-eyed at the outburst as confusion settled in her gut. Monster? she thought, pondering the word in silence. That's what humans think of her. To them, of course she's a monster. And? So what? Evelynn mauled over his words and tone. She feasts upon the pain of humans and there was no reason to do anything differently. After all, who cares about them? She certainly didn't. Why should she as long as she feels pleasure?
"Pfft, empty words. You've had ten years to do something, yet you do nothing. You let them keep you here." Evelynn waved her hand dismissively. "Just find the moment and break free. Kill all of them. You said yourself, within the lowest levels of the prison, they keep the most powerful and dangerous prisoners." She studied him, "Why do they keep you here if you're going to be a spineless coward? I doubt you'd escape even if they opened the doors, you're so weak willed. Unlike you, darling, the first chance I get, I'll flay them all alive and—"
Daelys whirled around and clamped his large hand over her throat. "One more word and I'll—"
Evelynn moaned, "Oh, yes… harder, darling. Show me how much of a monster you are. How depraved you are. Your inner suffering , your rage, I can taste it all…" The succubus placed her hand against his wrist. She was afraid that if he snapped, he truly might hurt her or worse, but causing him all this turmoil made Evelynn's core burn with lust, her skin feeling hot and sensitive. "I know you want me. They all do…" She beckoned to him, reveling in her new-found control. The small flicker of power rejuvenated her and snapped her out of the confusing blend of other emotions.
Daelys stared at her naked body, even with nearly all of her magic sealed, her aura of allure was still there. It sank its claws into his mind and made him growl with carnal desire, to want to taste her, to possess her. Daelys looked into her fiery eyes which were shrouded by darkness all around and his hand loosened. He could see the lust as well as urge to maim and murder. But there was nothing else, just the simple urges for feeling pleasure and creating pain. All of her volatile actions from earlier only confirmed his thoughts.
Daelys swallowed and loosened his grip to the demon's surprise. "Darling, don't you want me?" Evelynn cooed, her voice stayed unwavering but held confusion now.
"You only know pleasure through pain… don't you?" Daelys looked at Evelynn who's currently propped up on her elbows in a lounging position. "You're so utterly filled with the obsession to see others suffer because you see yourself finding ecstasy in that. You know nothing."
Evelynn's anger returned now, "Nothing? I know—"
"All you know is pain and pleasure and making one from the other. You like a lonely, empty existence, Evelynn." Daelys felt his heart soften a little for the demon. She's a murderer, a monster, but oddly enough, she was partly innocent. Not of her crimes and the endless grief they caused but rather her own nature. She had no hand in choosing to be this monster. She was simply born from the magic of Runeterra, Daelys assumed, and lived the way her nature told her to with no one there to ever show her another path.
Daelys sat back on his heels and gently reached out to her hand. "If pleasure is what you seek and there are other ways to achieve it, would you be willing to try? To experience pleasure that is not just a momentary burst of satisfaction? I imagine your kills only give short lived joy."
Evelynn paused. Was he right? Each kill blended into the next and she couldn't get enough; she craved the rush of joy each kill brought her and as her claws and lashers would rend the last drop of life from her victims, she would already be thinking of the next. It was never enough. "More pleasure?"
"Yes, different pleasure. More pleasure but these pleasures do not come at the cost of others. Some even seem to solely give to others… only to have the good deed provide you joy in the end but deeds dome out of empathy are not done with the intent to please yourself." Daelys explained.
"To others? In the end? Why would I care and why would I want to wait for my pleasure? Why do it if pleasing oneself is not the intent?" Evelynn tilted her head at this strange concept,
"Because… it's hard to explain. There is a lot." Daelys replied.
"Mayhaps, darling…" The succubus returned slowly, still highly skeptical.
Daelys blew out a breath and nodded, "That's as good as I'll get for now." Daelys looked at the Petricite door. "I've waited ten years for another individual who's magic is strong enough to do this with me… and by the words I hear from the mage hunter guards and what they plan to do, Demacia is facing change. Terrible change."
Evelynn stared in silence, wondering what his plan was. She didn't trust him but he was her best chance of freedom whether she liked to acknowledge it or not. And his words from earlier made Evelynn's head spin with questions. Why, in this simple world of pain and pleasure, would someone go out of their way and try to help others?