Disclaimer: I owned nothing that relates to Marvel.
Chapter Four: Nakia's Demon
"Talk to me," whines the disembodied voice of Mephisto to Nakia. He has been trying to engage in conversation with her since the ending of the trial. He waits for her expected answer of "no," which she delivers promptly. He muses at her restlessness as he watches her paces from one side of her bedroom to another.
"Eventually, you are going to have to communicate with me. After all, we are one now," Mephisto says with a slight giggle at the end, knowing that she hates his connection to her.
"Let me be!" Nakia finally audibly commands, and Mephisto is nearly giddy that he finally got her to talk to him. Sure, he could've materialized before her, intimidating her with his devilish appearance. However, he didn't want to frighten her into a relationship with him. He wants her to submit to him willfully, that, and the pure enjoyment he got out of manipulating her. It was far too easy for him to cause her insane jealousy towards Ashtyn.
There was already a seed of spike nestled within her soul regarding the dark beauty. Mephisto witnessed the budding of her hatred as he lurked within her psyche. The temptation for him to prod at her animosity was overwhelming. So, he stoked the ambers of her rage and was pleasantly surprised by the severity of her anger. Never could he imagine his little Nakia had it in her to be so...sinful.
Though he only stirred her fury, she felt him moving within her and manipulating her emotions. Ever since she has been quiet, not that she was a chatterbox before, but at least she would respond to him from time to time. Nevertheless, that was the past. At this moment she is finally speaking to him. He would be a liar if he were to say that he isn't dying to hear her explanation for her murky feelings towards Ashtyn.
"She speaks!" He exclaims. "I feared you'd forgotten the art of speech. I cannot tell you how lonely I have been since you had gone silent. You are my first new friend since my awakening.
"I am not your friend!" Nakia vehemently corrects.
"What a nasty thing to say. I would say I am surprised, but after bearing witness to your ferocity earlier today, I must say, I am not."
"Silence!"
"But I want to talk. I want to understand you. Besides, you have shut me out for long enough. I am bored and tired of you pretending I am not here. I am not going anywhere anytime soon."
"Why? Why will you not leave me? I freed you, though I unwittily did so; now you're free. Go, somewhere far away from me!" She screams.
Tears roll down her cheeks as she collapses to the floor. Her theatrics didn't move him, but he is again amazed by her range of emotions. One moment she is brave and fearless, the next she is broken and weak. Mephisto has been around nearly since the beginning of time and has met many people during his existence. However, something about Nakia fascinated him beyond his expectation.
"I could leave, but I have nowhere better to go." He answers truthfully.
Being trapped within the stone has shamefully made him somewhat timid to venture out on his own. After all, it is whenever he takes a physical form that he becomes susceptible to attack. Perhaps, that is why he is so satisfied to hide within Nakia. She is like his walking suit of armor. Plus, he hates to admit it, but he isn't yet at full strength. So, a much as she wants him to leave; her wish will not be fulfilled, at least not for the moment.
Nakia is still sobbing softly. "Nakia, I know your first instinct is to resist me but talking to me will not condemn you to Hades," Mephisto affirms. For the longest time, she says nothing. Just when Mephisto is about to say something more to convince her to speak to him she finally replies.
"You are a devil. Evil personified, you live off the pain of others. How can I forget all of that and converse with you as if we are friends?"
"How do you know me so thoroughly?" He asks.
"I can feel you just like you can feel me," She confesses.
"Really?" Mephisto questions. Never did it occur to him that she could feel his emotions. He wonders now what she'd witnessed emotionally regarding him.
"Yes, I am a beast and desire to do wicked things, but that doesn't mean that we cannot be friends."
"I'm not sure about anything anymore," Nakia admits.
"Then give me a try. Allow for me to prove to you that I can be your confidant. I can feel your distress. Can you not feel my intent?"
Nakia can feel his intent and the sincerity of his words. Finally, she opens herself up to speak with him. She cannot see him, but she can feel him with every fiber of her being. Resisting him was difficult because he never sleeps. Therefore, his relentlessness in his pursuit to talk to her made for long and unrestful nights. Mentally she was spent. If talking to him will end his constant pestering, then she will submit to his will.
"I do not know who I desire to be?" Nakia divulges.
"It is odd that you say, 'who I desire to be.' Your statement implies that you do know then who you are. It is the pretending that you cannot live with, the constant lying to yourself that is causing you pain."
Nakia says nothing because it is all true. She loves T'Challa, but there's something within her that will not allow her future role as his queen to satisfy her. Though, Mephisto isn't the one who she ever thought would provide an open ear to listen to her problems. She had to admit it feels great to talk to someone about her uncertainties.
"I don't want to be queen. I could never be happy sitting in some palace waiting for my husband to come home; while he goes to live a life full of adventure. I would only grow to hate him, T'Challa doesn't deserve that, he is too good of a man for that.
Mephisto wants to keep his promise, which is laughable because of his demon heritage, that he wants to honor his word to be her confidant. However, perhaps because of his origins he had to ask; "Does Ashtyn has qualities that you think T'Challa wishes you had?"
Nakia becomes enraged by his question or implication that Ashtyn is better suited for T'Challa than she. Yes, she is concern regarding T'Challa's enduring mercy towards the couple. Indeed, Erik is his blood cousin, a fact that prevents T'Challa from punishing him as he should. T'Challa always was the hopeful type. However, Nakia is beginning to fear that T'Challa's compassion isn't the result of his desire to build a connection with his cousin, but with Ashtyn. She has noticed fleeting glimpses of his eyes lingering on Ashtyn from afar. Nakia recognizes his look. it is the same expression that he has given her many times before.
Now, the looks she receives from him are different. He looks at her with uncertainty within his eyes. She knows that it is her finicky ways that have caused this rift between them. One moment she is ready to wed, the next she is running away. Has it all gone too far? Has T'Challa finally declared in his heart that she is not worthy of his love? Does Ashtyn now have his focus?
The question nearly sent her over the edge. She screamed aloud and slammed her fist onto the floor. Somehow, she hit the floor with such force that the marble flooring cracked. She removed her fist and marveled at the sight.
"Glorious," mouths Mephisto, impressed by her strength. Never could he imagine that the binding of their two souls would create a new creature within Nakia. His supernatural abilities are beginning to flow through her. Not only can they feel each other, but they can lend each other their gifts. Never in all his years did he know such a thing was possible. "Your rage tabs into our strength," he professes.
Nakia feels the power flowing throughout her body and is amazed by the exhilaration of being unrestrained. She takes a moment to allow the feeling to seduce her. It is the first time in a long time that she felt good. No worries bothered her for the moment, and she is free just as she always desires to be.
Mephisto felt her liberation and felt her emotions. The unfamiliar sensation that she caused him to experience tantalizes a part of him that he long had forgotten. He could only identify the feeling as arousal. Though her stimulation relates to the freeing of her soul and mind, his arousal is regarding her.
For the first time, he sees her as something more than an object for his amusement. Still sprawled out onto the floor, he takes in her exotic beauty. Her lavish gown, which she wore during the trial; is bunched up around her thighs. Her exposed legs only aided in Mephisto's lust for her.
At that moment, he vowed that he would have her. However, he wants her to submit, to come to him of her own free will. Then she will be his to possess; mind, body, and soul. Until that fateful day, he will remain at her side and gently draw her closer to him. He will chip away at her morality until she sees the world as he does, an empty void of nothingness that needs a ruler. That needs Mephisto. She will then submit to him fully, confessing her allegiance to him. Nakia will be his vessel his link to the world, and he will be her master.
However, before he can become her ruler; he will need her to trust him; for that; he requires a gentler approach. Mephisto takes on physical form, but not the demonic image she initially first met him as. He chooses an attractive form, one that would appeal to her. Her eyes are downcast, staring blankly at the indentation in the marble flooring beneath her.
He approaches her slowly, only when he is standing before does she realizes that he is hovering over her. She looks up and sees the most handsomeness man she has ever laid her eyes on; if it was not for his glowing red eyes. Nevertheless, his suave features remind her of a young Billy Dee Williams.
He reaches out to her and gently pulls her into his arms. His embrace is firm around her waist as he tucks her close to him. She would be lying if she were to say that she isn't attracted to him in his current form. He smiles at her making her feel warm deep within. He leans in she prepares for his kiss, but the kiss never comes. Nakia opens her eyes to see him looking at her, his expression is unreadable. He traces her lower lip with the pad of his thumb, and she feels herself shuddering from his touch.
Mephisto stares at her for the longest time. If his eyes weren't glowing fiery red, as if they came from the deepest lava pit from hell, the moment would have been endearing. Without any further discussion, he sweeps Nakia off her feet and carries her to the bed. With a gentleness that she wouldn't believe was possible for Mephisto to possess; he lays her onto the bed. His hands caress her hips briefly before releasing her.
"Mephisto?" Nakia asks in a small voice.
"Yes?"
"Do you really want to be my friend?"
Looking down at her he only smiles before dissolving into nothingness. Nakia is momentarily alarmed as he disappears, but then she feels him within her. She feels his warmth surrounding her and senses his protective nature. It is then that she realizes something, she never quite felt this way with T'Challa.
A/N: Okay sorry again for the long wait. I have truly been busy with life. Trying to get back on a regular writing schedule. I really hope you enjoy. Please review. Thank you! Concrete Lily.
