Chapter 2: Anything For You
"Temptation is a woman's weapon and man's excuse."
There was an unamed tension that had struck and consumed us all: this man's eyes stared me down as if I were nothing but an inferior bug he had wished to step on while the others simply watched in wonder, horror and disbelief. Despite everything that happened around me, only a smile clung to my lips as I stared at him which in turn got him even angrier. This was simply too much! Even though he held a knife to my neck and seemed to want to slice through the flesh of my body, I could do nothing but smile. Despite the fact I was a demon from the fade, I was actually not that powerful. Infact, even his body weight and armour seemed to begin to bruise my already purple skin from such a mass and it hurt to move the slightest bit. The only thing I was good at was use my wits and hope for the best. However, retrieving me from my thoughts, I heard the one I assumed that was Irving say.
"Cullen, remove yourself from her. It's not going to bring Rose back."
"I wish it would." He gritted through his teeth and stared at me with such hatred and venom. It didn't wipe the smile off of my face but it pained me a little. In all honesty, did he really hate me that bad? I meant no harm but just a little pleasure, so what was wrong? Grudgingly, he removed the blade from my neck and got up off of me. He still shot me daggers and glared and me with those dark, beautiful eyes. I had never met a man such as himself before, and it intrigued me. It seemed this Rose was wrong about him, it seemed he really did love her. From behind, the one named Irving spoke again.
"We should ask her what will bring Rose back, it's much more suitable than striking her down. It seems she wishes to speak before we jump to conclusions."
"It's probably some sick freak show that ends with all of us dead, that's how." Cullen venomously mumbled to himself. Still smiling to myself, I decided that all of this was too good. These people, these things, these humans were all so different. Irving wanted to listen to me, Greagoir just wanted to rid of me and Cullen simply wanted me dead. Quietly I stood up from the ground and smiled at all the men in the room. I walked over to the man beside the one named Greagoir and Greagoir protectively put himself between us. I cocked an eyebrow and said rather unamused
"I'm not one of those things that kill people. I have more respect than that, if you don't mind."
"If you even think about hurting First Enchanter Irving, I don't care if you're still Rose or not, but you're will pay." He hissed back as he glared at me. Yet another person added to my little fanclub of hate. It seemed quite clearly that in this world i would be making more friends than enemies, oh joy. However, to my right I began to hear Cullen raise his voice.
"So I'm not allowed to kill her but you are?"
"First Enchanter, I simply can't bring her back. I'm here now, and I cannot leave until I serve my purpose." I quietly began as I ignored the other two beside me. The only mad with the long white beard looked at me with sad, lonely eyes and muffled quietly back.
"And that might be?"
"To make Cullen mine." I stated simply, making it as simple as I could.
"What! That's insane, I can never let you do that! I could never, you will never! Absolutely not! You're a demon, an abomination!" He protested sourly as he now turned Greagoir a blind eye. I turned back to him, and said quite bluntly.
"Mm...so is that how you treat the people who love you? I can see why Rose wanted to escape."
"You take that back! You don't know anything about the feelings I have towards Rose! You leave her out of this!" He bellowed.
"And if Cullen's yours that will bring back Rose?" Irving questioned as if he didn't hear a word come out of Cullen's or my mouth.
"It might, just depends. I simply cannot bed him and it'll be over with. I need his heart, literally or not." I said boredly, staring at my black claws as the tension grew more and more.
"No, I will not. Forget it." Cullen said angrily and looked at me with those darkening eyes of his. Still, I smiled at him and said cheerily
"Your loss. You won't get your precious Rose back then. I hope you have a mighty fine conscience for all of this because you'll need it every time you go to bed."
"Is there a catch?" Irving questioned
"You're a smart man, for an old one. Wise is what you call it in your tongue. The catch is simple; I must make Cullen mine before the next full moon. If it's after that, the body will be mine forever and Rose's spirit will either wander the Fade, or become an abomination herself." I answered and once again looked towards my nails for any amusement. The feeling of Cullen stare at me, angrily I assumed, engulfed my entire back side. I then heard him state with such hate and anger.
"I will not stand for this! Can't we just kill you rather than me having to sleep with you? It would be much easier than all of this."
"You can't just kill me. Like I said, if you took the easier way out and kill me, I would go back to the Fade without a scratch but the body will parish having no room for Rose's spirit to become one with the human world again." I replied simply. I watched him darken again and once more he shot a hateful glare. This was all too amusing for me. Making Cullen's life difficult was too much for me!
"You can't be serious." He mumbled
"This is as serious as we are going to get." I answered him as I crossed my arms. Now it was just getting boring. We went over the same thing again and again. You can't take the easy way out. You never can, so what makes this different? Then again, I was possessing someone so it was understandable, in a way. I then noticed how Irving and Greagoir were whispering to one another, trying to decide the benefits of this. They continued to look at me from time to time and I couldn't help but feel good about it, especially when the one named Greagoir would raise his voice. Cullen once again spoke.
"How is that her body when you look like your abomination self? There is nothing of Rose left in or outside of you."
"It's because I'm a mirror image of myself right now: I simply took over the body and my image over-wrote it. It's like my skin is a thin layer over her entire body. However, it only works when I'm in an extreme emotion. Like earlier when I was mad, my body was like the essence of fire and the rage consumed me until I turned into my true self. Soon enough though I will go back to using the other body and I will look, talk, and be Rose."
"That's disgusting." He answered while scrunching up his face. I touched my ebony tail and winked at him, causing him to cringe as if something disturbing had just came into this battlefield. However, I turned to look back at Irving who then began to speak.
"Alright, so we have come to a conclusion: You, Lyria, will stay by Cullen's side and you will not cause anymore trouble, or we will have to kill you on site. We will go through with your plan for only Rose's sake. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I will be a good Succubus. I will not cause any trouble whatsoever, or at least try to." I stated and mumbled the last bit to myself. Greagoir looked at me, obviously disgusted, and I said
"Come on Georgie, cheer up. I'll be out of your hair in no time!"
"It's Greagoir, and how can I cheer up when I'm letting an abomination like you run around my tower?" He replied sourly. I gave him a sort of a sad look and replied back
"You are all very mean men, you know that? I'll stick by my angry little cookie for now, thanks. I tried to be nice and this is what I get? Thanks a lot."
"You stay away you-you creature from the fiery chasms of the earth!" Cullen yelled and walked as far away from me as I neared him more and more. I, however, continued to follow Cullen and as he walked away from me. This was rather entertaining, probably the most entertainment I would get around here. Humans were strange, especially this one named Cullen and it made it all the better. I would have to think of ways to woo this man before a full moons passes. I had to admit, if I failed, I wouldn't get to go back home and I'd have to stay in this realm. Everything about that screamed boring, but it could be a pleasant surprise. For now though, I'd have to hang around Cullen and see what would happen. Like I said, it could be a pleasant surprise.
And as far as surprises went, I began to change back into Rose's body. No longer was my hair mine, my skin mine, my tail mine, etc etc. Now my indigo locks were now the chocolate brown color of Rose's, her skin was now the pale moonlight. I assumed everything else was hers as well. Just as I continued to near Cullen, the giant doors of the room swung open and the color of fire-red caught my eye. Next the sound of panting rushed to my ears and I noticed the shining steel armour. Soon enough, I noticed a young woman appear out of nowhere and as she huffed to catch her breath, she raised a pale hand to her forehead, brushed away the firey red hair and stated fastly
"Commander Greagoir, I'm so sorry I'm late! I d-didn't...realize...that the Harrowing...was t-today!"
"Astrid, you are two hours late. I'm sure you could have stayed back." Greagoir replied in a harsh tongue. This woman with firery red hair looked over towards me and smiled with sincerity, but then looked back to Greagoir and replied
"I-I'm here now! Is there...anything I can do?"
"Yes, please escort Rose back to her room. Her Harrowing is over, she has passed her test. Also, bring Cullen with you for she is not feeling too well." Greagoir commanded and waved everybody off. Astrid simply nodded and caused her short, crimson locks to fly about. My feet took me to her side and Cullen sighed heavily as he went to her other side leaving Astrid in between us. It would seem that my life as a human was already an adventurous one. Quietly though, I walked the rest of the way with both of my companions, even if one seemed like an utter ditz while the other hated my guts. Oh how fun my human life would be.