Chapter 57: Bloodline

Perspective: Warnado


It was the day he was due to meet demon-grandpa, or demon-grandma, or whatever it was. Warnado kept almost turning back but managed to grit his teeth and push through each time, remembering that he had Shadow looking out for him, and that he needed this power boost to be useful here or back home. Still, demons were freaky, and he didn't like the way they tended to take control away from him.

Eventually, this two-steps-forward-one-step-back pace managed to take him right to Shadow's door.

He knocked. He waited. He wondered if he should just open the door. Knocked again. Looked up and down the hallway. Opened the door.

On the other side he saw a rectangular shape, the same black-beyond-black colour Shadow turned when she entered her void-state. Warnado grimaced as he remembered how looking at her had filled him with fear, and how it had paralysed her coven into useless awe. Suddenly, he wondered if this was such a good idea. Maybe Kay was right that she was dangerous.

Then, he remembered that literally everyone in the Shelter was dangerous and it didn't seem that good of an argument. Kay was taking advice from a paperback sociopath and his bodyguard was a human blender. Besides, he remembered that Amanda had told him to deliver a message to Shadow, so he also remembered how cruddy he'd felt when he realised the bandits had taken Amanda and killed the whole village he'd been trying to protect, and so he finally remembered exactly why he was doing this.

He stepped through.

He stood in a pitch-black space, stretching miles ahead of him - well, near as he could tell. The only thing there was what he presumed to be the ritual site. It comprised a big circle of rough-hewn stones which looked embedded into the darkness as though it were soil. Around the edges stood tall, imposing torches on iron stands. And off to the right were a series of chests filled with demonology supplies - cases of special chalk, supplies to make that chalk, charts outlining and explaining different patterns, compendiums of runes and known demons and so much else.

Shadow stood over one of these chests, searching for a specific piece of chalk. He couldn't see her face behind her white hair. The only thing he could be sure of was that she looked ever-so-slightly distorted, and that he felt an echo of that fear from the raid. She was partly void-stated.

"Hey, Shadow, I like the setup. Very witchy. Totally on-brand," he said with a thumbs-up.

He wished he had some clever line, but he didn't. He hoped this played well. He forced a smile.

"Boo!"

He leapt forward and turned around, clutching one hand to his heart and raising the other in a futile 'stop' gesture. Then, he saw his assailant, and both hands dropped. He bunched up his left cheek to show his disappointment.

"By Light, you are such a wuss, Helix," laughed Amanda.

"Okay," he said. "Okay. How about I just jump out of an endless black void at you and we see how calm you are."

"Sure, try it, I'll kick your butt."

She pushed him playfully.

"Well, obviously you won't be scared now that you know I'm going to do it," he sulked.

"You are such a baby!"

She hugged him and he snorted with laughter.

"So, why are you here?" He asked. "You told me to carry a message to..."

He cast a sidelong glance at his mentor, then raised his eyebrows emphatically at Amanda.

"Shadow called me here for emotional support, yours and hers too probably. Besides, great opportunity for me to meet your family! Haha!" She lowered her voice, though obviously Shadow could probably still hear her. "And, no, uh… The black void of nothing kind of put me off."

Warnado turned to Shadow, who was still brushing her fingers across different sticks of chalk, meticulous as a surgeon.

"So, uh, how're you feeling?" he called a little louder.

Shadow replied: "Generally not good. My tremors from before have gotten worse, I can't even use my hands, partially going into my void state restores my control but that is obviously no permanent solution. I couldn't turn off my passive senses before, now I even hear thoughts of those around me. I'm actively suppressing it for you two but in larger crowds it becomes impossible." she paused. "I can handle one more confrontation with the Entity, maybe two, then I'll probably lose myself to my true nature."

"Oh, sorry," said Warnado stupidly.

Amanda elbowed him.

"Actually, Amanda and I, we got a message last night. Amanda mostly, I heard about it the next day. From her of course." He looked back and Amanda gestured impatiently for him to her up. "The Lady of Dreams showed up, told Amanda she'd just been inside Claw's dream."

He craned his neck and looked for Shadow's face. She didn't seem to be slipping into her void-state any further, but he wanted to know how she was reacting.

"She says Fire - that Peter's okay in there. She thinks," he smiled a little as he said it.

He'd tried not to think about it too much, but he did miss the big scaly guy. He could be a little distant, but he was kind. And Kay might still have been sore about that drinking contest, but Warnado thought that was just the funniest thing.

"And she seemed pretty cautious about saying anything like that," tuned in Amanda. "She sounded like she really did her best to make sure he's okay. Trust me, I could tell."

Warnado suddenly found Amanda's hand wrapped around his. He didn't know why but he wasn't complaining.

Shadow's posture visibly relaxed and a slight smile crept up on her face.

"Peter really couldn't have wished for a better phantom. She came into existence because of something terrible he endured, did you know that? Just manifested, only knowing he needed help. She helped him with his trauma, he helped her understand humans and emotions in turn. It's… kind of cute actually. Thanks for telling me, it helps a lot knowing he's at least not suffering."

Warnado felt relief wash over him, then remembered why they were there and felt nervous again. So, before he tried to leave, he forced himself to say, probably a little too quickly and loudly.

"So, haha, demon ancestor day already! How about that? The time just flies by. I've been just so hyped up for this, let's get right into it - unless of course you're busy. You look busy! I'll go, great talking - namaste!"

He reached for the portal he had been subconsciously backing towards and found nothing. She was smiling wryly at him.

"Oh, so this is just a hostage situation now? I have rights, you know! In the constitution or whatever..." Warnado trailed off. "I don't know what a constitution is."

Amanda wrapped an arm around his shoulder and led him towards the ritual circle. She gestured to Shadow to begin outlining the curriculum for the day.

Shadow said: "I'm sorry for closing the door on you, Warnado, but you have said it yourself that you want to do this. You need to push through the instinctive aversion. I've already looked through my books to try to identify demons that could be your ancestor. The traits we have to go off are your horns, your natural affinity for magic and trickery and your alignment with flames. I have a list of demons that could fit this description but it's too long to go through them all. So first we'll summon a few other demons, ones that may know which of the candidates actually have mortal offspring."

Warnado breathed deeply.

"Okay, we're going for the town gossips, sounds harmless enough. Who's first?"

Shadow began drawing on the rock with a reddish-green chalk. First, she made multiple concentric circles, connected them with both straight and curved lines. Along these lines she started drawing the runes, Warnado saw their meaning flash in his mind when he looked at one. The runes easily outnumbered those she had drawn back during their first summoning, when they summoned the blacksmith demon. By now Warnado knew enough about demonology to see that Shadow was drawing a reusable ritual, one that included constraints that covered every possible type of demon. There was just one rune Warnado couldn't understand, no matter how hard he squinted at it.

He pointed at it. "I can't read that one, what does it mean?"

Shadow spoke as she continued drawing: "For one it means your ancestor is not an incubus or succubus, if it were you could read the rune. As for its meaning, it roughly means 'be summoned with some damn clothes on', it mainly concerns our 'gossips'. They and their own offspring are usually very aware of other demon bloodlines."

"Oh, cool. So, uh, what do you need me to do again?"

"At this point your grasp on the demonic language should be enough that I don't need to provide you with a reference sheet. You will need to take down your obfuscation spell and tell them you are looking for your ancestor, supply them with anything that could help, anything you know about your father. As long as you don't deliberately insult them you should be fine."

Warnado shifted his eyes about the pocket dimension and realised this was probably why she'd called Amanda. Amanda was the only person he ever intentionally took that down for - that said, Shadow had probably caught a few glimpses recently, whether either of them had wanted her to or not.

He frowned a little and took down his charm, though the hood stayed up. His horns just about showed, but they were still covered. Amanda squeezed his shoulder supportively.

"Okay, call them up. I only want to look stupid for so long."

"And the glowing red eyes aren't stupid? Don't make you look like an edgy twelve-year-old at all?" teased Amanda.

"Hey! I'm thirteen. I still have two more years until it starts getting really lame."

He was playing along but they would absolutely not get lame. The red-eyed hellbeast look would never go out of style.

Amanda then seemingly realized that Shadow had similarly glowing red eyes.

"They really suit you, though," she beamed apologetically. "And Fire."

Warnado raised a hand to stifle laughter and Shadow rolled her eyes.

Shadow raised her arms towards the summoning circle. "One good thing about my instability is that my magical energy is practically boundless. Let's get started."

Her runes lit up more brightly than usually, distorted in the blackness of her void-touched skin. Energy streamed into the circle and Warnado felt the ritual's call, the demon's name resonating through him. Moments later the innermost circle was filled with a thick, purple mist. As the mist cleared, a figure emerged.

What stood in the clearing mist was a tall woman whose red hair was shaved at the sides. She stood with her hands pressed deep into the pockets of a snow-white suit, and her head cocked enticingly to the side and her tongue scraping playfully between her teeth. She was perhaps the most ostentatiously glamorous woman he'd ever seen, and he immediately struggled to think of words to say.

This was not helped when she said something that was obviously supposed to be seductive in a language that he couldn't understand. It was like demonic, but it wasn't quite there.

"Uh… Hello?" He tried in demonic.

She cackled a little meanly.

"Oh, by the Circles, you minor-bloodline demonspawn are too honest. You really don't know what to do with me, do you?"

"Um, no."

He then remembered that Shadow had once told him there was no room for miscommunication in demon. He felt his insides twist with embarrassment as he realised ever ounce of his confusion and surprise had probably been perfectly communicated in his two brief attempts at communication.

She roared with laughter again, then surveyed Amanda, who was now glowering territorially. Then she saw Shadow and nodded in comprehension.

"Oh I see, you thought I wouldn't come if this was strictly business? You weren't wrong but at least give me the opportunity to disappoint you."

The succubus smiled hungrily at Shadow, a serpent-like tongue flicking between her teeth.

"So, what is it you really want me for?"

"I - I want to know who my grandparent was. Do you know him?"

"What's their name?"

"I don't know."

"Then, I can't help you. Not that way at least," she said, slipping into English.

Warnado was about to ask what other way she could possibly mean, then clocked it as Amanda stepped between them, drawing her axe. The succubus cackled again.

"Oh, baiting you guys is too easy," the succubus said, now in demon again. "Make it a little hard! Gotta say though, she is cute, hang on to her kid."

"Thanks, I will," said Warnado warily.

He cast a look at Shadow to try and figure out if this was going well or not. The look he got in response communicated that this was about par for the course.

"Now, about my grandparent, is there another way?"

"Oh, naturally," the succubus said. "I just get a kick out of messing with people. Right, any physical identifiers?"

"Horns."

The succubus started patting her chest, pulling out a notebook after an unreasonably long period of searching.

"Yeah."

"Since they apparently are too short for me to see under your hood, that's not enough for me to go off, too many horns look the same at that length. Any other characteristics? That gauntlet, it looks demonic, tell me about it, show me a spell, anything."

Warnado eyed it uncomfortably.

"Well, when I try to communicate with it, I see a man on a tin throne surrounded by flames."

"Oh!" groaned the succubus. "False monarchs, I hate them. All about showing off their power, never about making it last. We get it, you're regal but in a grungy way. You were once great, but now you've fallen from grace but that doesn't mean you can't still dominate anything you come into contact with. 'If this is me diminished, how powerful must I have been before they brought me low?' It's a damned humble brag! Big whoop!"

She stopped and locked eyes with Warnado.

"If you can't guess that's dime-a-dozen crap, just show me a spell. It'll be easier."

Warnado sighed and looked at Shadow.

"Okay, you'll stop me if it goes out of control, right?"

Shadow replied: "I will. Whatever is on the other side does not want to mess with me, especially right now. Though, I think after my last two put-downs it may have realized that trying again could be a bad idea."

"Cool, cool," he said. "And Amanda, I appreciate that you're here, your support is great, but if you could back up a little I'd feel a little more comfortable."

"No, I absolutely understand, I'll stand over here."

She backed up, though not before threatening the succubus with a feinted axe blow. The she-demon flinched and then sulked.

"Ready?" he asked the succubus.

"Yeah, just go already," she grumbled.

He reached out with his mind, saw the tin throne and the diminished shape within it. He wasted no time. He had to be completely clear, no ambiguity, and he had to let it know who was boss.

"I want my gauntlet and only my gauntlet to glow with that demonic fire spell of mine. It will not spread beyond the confines of the gauntlet, the tongues of flame will reach out no further than two inches in any direction. And you will have no control of my arm unless I explicitly say otherwise. It will stop after exactly one minute. These powers are my own, and I will use them as I have outlined. Capiche?"

The being in the throne sighed and waved its hand.

The gemstone glowed, the criss-cross of embers began, and finally the gauntlet erupted into deep purple flame.

"All-right," smiled the succubus. "That narrows it down a bit. The criss-cross thing is a very particular technique." She crossed several names off a list. "The channelling of inherited power into a gemstone is also pretty uncommon." Slightly fewer fell in this volley of pen-strokes. "And it's abundantly clear it's a family powerful enough to mutilate some dumb beta-demon, hollow out his arm and make him into a servant. 'Course, it also means they're not that smart as that nugget in the throne is clearly leeching off your power to stay alive. And with the horns that means…" As she said this last part she scratched away wildly.

The succubus looked suddenly very, very annoyed. She put her hands to her temples.

"Not this asshole again. Oh, I hope it's not him."

"What's his name?"

"Wrinkly nutsack."

"Really?"

"No, of course not."

She tore out the list and scrunched it up. With none of her performative sexuality, she turned to Warnado and said:

"I've given you a small list of candidates. Can I go now?"

"Sorry, this is all moving a little fast, who's this guy you don't like?"

"Some primordial elemental douche. Old as the Conception. Old enough that you're probably related to him at least somehow. Thinks he's better than the rest of us. I don't want to talk about him."

"Okay, but what's his name?"

"He's older than names, he'll spin some bullcrap on the spot and act like it's a title."

"Oh."

"Am I free to go?"

"Sure, but do you have time to fill out a brief customer satisfaction survey?"

"Bite me!"

The succubus stomped on one of the runes Warnado couldn't understand and smeared her foot over it. The rune was unaffected. The succubus roared in anger and began to tear at her suit. Shadow broke the connection.

She smirked. "She'll get over it."

Warnado, however, was barely worried about the angry demon-lady who now hated him. He just wanted to get this family reunion over.

"Can we talk to this elemental guy and just call it for today?" Warnado asked with substantial discomfort.

"There is one more demon we should consult beforehand, one that'll give me something I can actually use to call this supposed ancient demon." Shadow said, then added. "If he's as arrogant as described we may have to wait for a bit until he answers the call. Maybe we can try some others on the list in the meantime."

"Fine. Do it."

Shadow traced a new pattern. All sharp angles, yet somehow also weirdly curved. It looked… wrong. She began summoning, and soon something began clawing at the fabric of reality within the inner circle. When the gap opened, the demon stepped through. Well, slopped through.

The creature was a weird blend of flesh that was green and black and red, with a million eyes and a thousand mouths and single grasping arm rippling with muscles and with claws like lightning bolts.

"Gross," said Amanda.

"So," Warnado began with renewed confidence. "I have some questions. First and foremost, how did you get that cool arm?"