I feel like I should say this ahead of time, but this will be a Good!Dumbledoor story. He'll be a good guy forced into making bad choices by those around him, and regretting it all the way.
The reason Lilith didn't get any notifications from the system at the end of last chapter was because I forgot about them despite having a notepad specifically about the notifications from when they were muted. In universe, I'm just gonna say that the System didn't turn them back due to a technicality.
Also, minor Content warning for the chapter. Nothing graphic, but there is mention of child trafficking.
Fun fact: 3k words of this were written the same day the last chapter was uploaded!
===Three Days Later===
Fuck. Got too caught up playing Disgaea 1, FGO, and reading Crossedge's and Flameclaw's fics. Whoops. Still have 1k words left.
===another day later==
I am somewhat unsatisfied with the POV change, but it felt right to do. I'm more unsatisfied with the wording. Oh well.
Please note that its gonna be head pats and hugs for a long while, as MC is still underage.
As usual, I own very few things, and the only things that will be shown in this chapter is my OC, sadly.
"Verbally Speaking"
'Mentally Speaking'
[System Speaking]
[System]
"Powerful Being Speaking"
===Chapter003:Fresh_Arrivals===
You know, when I imagined entering a new world, I didn't expect this.
I kinda expected to either step out to the other side of the portal, or maybe just wake up in an alleyway, but I really didn't expect to wake up in a demon summoning circle. I'm in an abandoned warehouse that appears to be falling apart, and there's a single old man standing right outside the circle, along with a young looking (looks roughly seven years old) child with shoulder length black hair tied up in a chair next to the man. The old man, who I'm not going to bother remembering the face of, is wearing what seems to be a pitch black cultist robe.
The seven year old (I'm assuming) is wearing, well, nothing besides the ropes which bind them. Though with the way the ropes are tied, I can tell the child is a girl, or at least I hope so, otherwise that would be painful. They're covered in deep bruises and seem to just barely be hanging onto life.
As soon as I stop taking in my surroundings, the old man starts talking.
"Yes, YES! After all these years of work, ridicule, and suffering, I, The Greatest Malfoy, have summoned a demon! This will show those bastards who cast me out exactly what I'm worth!" He shouts at the top of his lungs, spittle flying from his lips. I keep my face neutral, but I was very close to giving a grimace as he very much seems off his rockers, though his name does bring me some slight interest.
'Observe,' I cast mentally. I've learned that I can cast racial skills and Observe silently if I focus hard enough, though only those skills. They're still much easier to cast if vocalized, but it's still possible for me to do so.
[Brutus Malfoy - Squib Lv5]
[HP: 100/100
MP: 10/10
SP:50/50]
[A squib cast out of the Malfoy family for being unable to use magic. He would've been killed had he not ran away. Elder Brother of Lucius Malfoy.]
"Oh great demon," his tune quickly changes from the maddened sounding voice of his, to a more composed tone, "I have summoned thee from the deepest pits of hell to answer my plea!"
I almost immediately get a headache as I realize what was going on. He summoned me for a deal, a deal that I'm still a few weeks too young to strike. I'm just glad my Observe tells me the exact timing on when I unlock new Racial Skills, as otherwise I'd be blindly guessing. Though for the deal, this means that I'd have to buy the skill for it. The issue with that is that I'm still a level short of buying the skill, so I'm currently faced with a dilemma.
'Hey System, why was this the way I entered the world?'
[The Game chose to drop you in a random location that's near a plot relevant POI. The summoning circle didn't actually work, it was just a coincidence.]
'Observe,' I say, casting it mentally.
[Summoning Circle (False)]
[This is a non-functioning demonic summoning circle, carved into the concrete of an abandoned warehouse by a madman. Doesn't summon, doesn't bind the summon, nor does it compel the summon to answer questions like a working circle does. Glows when someone attempts to use it.]
'Interesting, though on another note, POI?'
[Place of Interest.]
'I see,' I think to myself before choosing to play along, "What is it, exactly, that you desire? Money, Power, an outlet for your lust, or maybe Vengeance, I suppose?" I say, lacing my voice with trace amounts of magic.
Though it's not very powerful due to my young age, the slight bit of magic I lace my voice with still affects him, due to his deteriorated mental state. It's a trick I learned I can do thanks to that accidental cast of Observe on myself. Though it's not quite powerful enough to be labeled as a racial skill yet, mainly due to my young age, it's still powerful enough to compel him to speak the truth.
"Vengeance, yes, I… I want revenge on those who casted ME out! Those who thought me less than DIRT!" He starts to rant, his voice growing thick with hatred, "I WANT THE POWER TO MAKE THEM ALL SUFFER!"
I can understand his desire, I really do, but I first have to figure out whether it's worth helping him. While I may be a demon, it hasn't been long enough for my morals to degrade very far. They've degraded, I no longer care about killing humans, but not enough for me to condemn innocents. I won't grant him any power if he's just going to use that power on innocent souls.
I choose to activate another racial ability of mine, Soul Sight. It allows me to see the amount of 'Sin' that cakes a soul. I've been unable to use it due to the fact that, while the undead I've been facing do have the souls of their living self trapped inside of them, the curse completely obscures the souls.
Once activated I immediately feel disgusted as his soul is filled with absurd amounts of Wrath, Pride, and Envy. I manage to hide my grimace but any plans of striking a deal are off, as while I can understand his motives, the color of his soul offends my remaining morals. I immediately mark him for death and turn to look at the kid.
I'm almost immediately fascinated by the color of the child's soul. It shows all the signs of childlike innocence, but also shows the signs of an abused child. It has so many cracks in it that it's a miracle that they still have any will to live, yet what draws me in the most is their endlessly strong Lust of Life. It's absolutely contradictory, but it makes the child's soul oddly adorable.
I subconsciously toss another silent Observe at the child due to my fascination with them, before getting furious (though my face remains stoic) at the results I see.
[Holly Potter - Sorcerer Lv1]
[HP: 5/50]
MP: 12/200
SP: 2/25]
[The eight year old true Girl-Who-Lived, she was abandoned by her parents despite the pleas of those who knew them. Given to her aunt, she was abused in all sorts of manners except sexually by the Aunt and Uncle. Her magic is constantly working overtime to keep her alive, increasing her reserves. Is only feigning unconsciousness.]
Not only am I in one of those wrong-child-who-lived worlds, the real child who lived is being full-blown abused! Not only that, someone dares to abuse such an adorable soul! Not again, not if I can help it! I shall claim her as mine, she's too adorable to not claim, and no one harms what's mine!
I pause for a moment when I realize I referred to her as 'mine', before shrugging it off to plan how to make her mine. My demonic nature sees her soul as simply too adorable to let go, and thinks it would be even more adorable if corrupted. My morals are saying that it would be evil to corrupt her, corner her into making a deal, but all of the rest of me is disagreeing with that so I'm able to shrug off morality. The only thing my morals and nature agree on is the fact that neither wish to see her truly break.
Should I strike a deal? Get her out of her abusive situation in exchange for her soul? It would have to wait until I level up again, but that doesn't mean I can't bind her to me before the deal. It'll just be more difficult. Or should I befriend her and just extract her from the situation in a mundane fashion…
Oh, my body is affecting me more than I thought.
As my thoughts were spiraling further and further due to my demonic nature conflicting with my (slowly dying) morals, Malfoy apparently notices my focus on Holly.
"Ah, yes, I see you've noticed my sacrifice towards you!" He says cheerfully, "In exchange for power, I offer to you this virgin child!"
I suddenly feel the need to kill him quickly, as he casually lays his hand on Holly's shoulder. I have to physically fight against the urge, so I decide to play along in order to get (physically) closer to him. Can't very well stab'n'drain him if I'm not within tail-stab distance.
"Oh," I start to ask in faux curiosity, all while slowly pacing towards the Malfoy squib, "And just where did you get this child, I suppose I should ask?"
"Hah! I just paid the young one's Uncle a few pounds and he sold her right to me!" He brags, angering me more, "Though according to him, the only reason she's still a virgin is that she's worth more like this."
"Oh? And what was the Uncle's name?" I say, feeling disgusted at this scenario., "Afterall, I feel a need to reward you both for getting me such an adorable sacrifice…"
He clearly doesn't understand the menacing undertone as I say 'reward', otherwise he'd be running. Though from the way Holly is shaking, I can tell she does. I already have a feeling that I know who the uncle, but I wanted to confirm it just in case as this is an AU.
As this all is going on, my left fist balls up, and my tail gets poised like a snake, ready to strike. If Malfoy had actually been paying attention, he would notice my right eye twitching as I stalked towards him. Along with my entire body being tense, my right hand is twitching for the gun as I debate the pros and cons between draining him and just shooting him dead.
"Of course, oh Great One," he says, still grandstanding, "It was Vernon Dursley and his family."
Eventually, by the time I'm standing at the edge of the circle, I decide to just drain him as I know how to make the drain feel painful. Far more painful than a gunshot could be. I also know how to make it feel pleasant, or even pleasurable, but I want this sicko (and Vernon Dursley once I reach him) to feel nothing but pain. This will show them what happens to those who harm what's mine.
"I see, I see," I whisper as seductively as I can, "and just what kind of reward are you wishing for, I suppose?"
"Magic, I wish for the ability to cast magic like my ancestors did!" He says excitedly, almost like a child, "I want to be able to use spells like my faAHK!"
I cut him off from finishing by stabbing him in the chest with my tail.
"Wh… why…?"
"Oh, I suppose it's because I despise child sacrifices, really," I say cheerfully, "I hope you like the pain!"
"AAAAAGGHH" He screams as I drain his vitality through my tail. It takes less than a second, though for him it felt far longer, for him to be fully drained. Almost immediately I shiver, though not because of the cold draft blowing through the warehouse. The vitality I took from Malfoy tastes addictive, as if I just ate a hamburger and want to eat more. Kinda makes me sad that he died so quickly, but there's always more sinners out there I can eat.
Once his body hits the floor with a dull 'thud', I turn my attention to Holly.
"You're not okay, I suppose?" I ask the young girl who's staring at me. Though she can't answer as her mouth is duct taped shut.
I blink twice before taking the cultist robes off of the Malfoy and wrap them around Holly's body to cover it. I then grab the corner of the tape and rip it off.
"Ah, there we go, now, can you please introduce yourself?" I say, lacing the words with mana while giving a disarming smile. By this point, my excitement must be visible, especially when you consider that my face is barely a few centimeters (and yes, I'll try to switch to the metric system, i'm not in America anymore,) from hers.
"Ho-Holly P-Potter, who are you, w-what are you?" She asks, clearly scared. Though for some reason it quickly seems to die down as she stares at me.
"Hmmm, call me Lilith. Now, how about I get you off that chair?" I ask rhetorically, before using my tail to cut the ropes, "And I'm a Demon, although young."
"Are you going to take my soul?" She asks, strangely not looking scared at the prospect. Her stutter has also mostly disappeared.
"Only if you strike a deal, and even then, it only means that I get first claim on your soul should you die," I explain with, imitating the tone my Kindergarten teacher used when talking to us, "Of course, most deals have the consequence of cutting the signer's life short, but those are idiots who either don't negotiate or don't read the contract, I suppose."
I see her nodding along with what I say. She's… really bright for a child. I can tell that she truly understood what I said and that's kind of frightening.
"If I were to give you my soul, what would happen to me after I die?" she asks innocently, and it's a very disturbing sight to see a thin, underweight and underfed kid asking about what happens after death.
"I suppose that it depends on how you acted in life and what you've done, along with what you believe in," I'll openly admit I'm getting uncomfortable talking about this, as I'm now visibly fidgeting, "For those who make deals, it's up to the claimant in question. Some like to torture the souls they gather, some eat them for power, and others just like to collect them, I suppose. Well, for demons at least. Other races that do deals do different things with the souls."
She now looks unsure about something, which makes me confused. Is she really thinking about selling her soul to me already? I've barely known her for a few minutes. I know I may have been plotting to make her mine anyways, but now I'm just plain worried about her home life.
"What about you? What do you do with the souls you collect?" She asks, both worrying me more and filling me with anger.
Worry about just how bad her home life is, and anger for much the same reason.
"It would depend on the soul, I suppose." I admit, keeping my emotions in check, "Some I would gladly torture then devour, while others I would keep like a precious pet."
She nods her head, before her face shifts into one of contemplation, her jade eyes staring at me as if judging me.
"Do you haveany souls yet?" she asks with a head tilt, making her look even more adorable than I thought was possible.
"Nope! I'm too both a few months too young to make deals yet, and too weak to forcibly unlock that ability, I suppose," I answer her, though her face shifts into a look of disappointment, "May I know why your so curious about all of this? I'm a demon, evil, a creature who feasts on children's souls. Why are you believing what I say?"
She shrugs and says "You look like a good person, so I have no reason not to. You certainly don't look like you're hiding anything from me. If anything, you feel like you'll protect me. A perfect person to hold my soul."
What? What does she mean? I'm confused.
'What does she mean I look like a good person? I'm a damn Succu-AHEM-Demon!'
[Notice]
[The target 'Holly Potter' has a degraded version of your Soul Sight, called Aura Sight.]
Oh. That explains a bit. That means she knows that I'm not good, probably neutral right now, but that I'll protect and cherish her anyways? How does that work though? I doubt I'll remain even slightly neutral, I'm demonic by nature after all.
"Oh. Umm, thanks I guess? I'm still new at this so I really don't know what to do now, I suppose." I sheepishly admit, before changing tracks "On another note, do you want to come with me? I'm not giving you back to your previous 'guardians'."
"Why not?" She asks, tilting her head further. I have to hold back every urge in me to tightly hug her.
"Well, One: They sold you to this psychopath, and Two: you've clearly been abused, and I don't like what's mine being abused."
"Oh," she looks confused, "I'm yours now?"
"Of course! He gave you to me as a sacrifice, so you're mine!" I say, possessively clinging onto her, "I'm willing to let you live your life however you wish, but I'll not let anyone else claim your soul!"
"But you said you can't do that unless I make a deal?" She sounds even more confused now.
"Just because I can't officially claim your soul, doesn't mean I can't call dibs."
"Dibs?"
"Dibs." Respond with a self satisfied nod.
"O-oh…" by this point her eyes seem to be spinning, partially from the fact that she's on Death's Door, partially because of confusion.
"Ah! I have an idea!" I say, and she looks at me questioningly, "We could steal from the dead guy's house! We could stay for a day or two, let you recover from your injuries, then leave! He won't need it anymore anyways I suppose!"
"Is that really okay?"
"Well, he tried to sacrifice you to me, I suppose, so he kinda deserves having nothing. I doubt this guy has any family left he was in contact with, so I suppose it would be free for the taking anyways!" I say, satisfied.
She doesn't really look disturbed at all, just slightly reluctant to do anything she could get in trouble for. She likely doesn't want to be sent back the Dursleys again. Though she does look somewhat curious about something.
"Why do you say 'I suppose' so much?"
That question makes me pause and go over everything I've said since I've gotten here. I can't really think of a single time I didn't add 'I suppose' in one way or another…
"Verbal tic, I suppo… Verbal Tic."
"Oh, okay," she nods understandingly, "so how are we supposed to find this guy's house?"
Aanndd I'm back to square one with no clue what I'm doing.
==Scene==Break==
We managed to find a journal that the cultist wannabe had on him. It's a magical journal, enchanted to have many more pages than the journal should, and he's used it to keep track of everything important from the last twenty years of his life. He was apparently deathly afraid of being oblivitated of his "knowledge" on Demonic Rituals, so he wrote down literally everything about his life. It's a boon for us, as I was able to find his address in it, so now I'm carrying Holly to his house in the dead of night because she's still weak. Not exactly comfortable for either of us when my wings get in the way, but luckily she fell asleep due to her exhaustion.
I'm then hit with a sudden realization.
'Hey System, why haven't I received any notifications?'
[The User has yet to turn them back on.]
'What!? But I cleared the encamp… oh. No I didn't, the throne is still there.' I realize, 'System, turn back on notifications please.'
[Understood, you shall receive them in order of obtainment.]]
[Class Level Up: Puppeteer]
[Stat increases: INT 2, CHA 1, WIS 1. Gained 6 Stat Points]
[Due to passive Skill, CHA gain doubled]
[Skill Unlock: Demonic Impulse]
[Cost: 20 Mana per Second, 20 Stamina per second.
Effect: Increases all stats by SkillLevel*0.2+1. Guarantees all attacks are Critical hits. Changes Health Regen from X per Hour to X per Minute, increases Health Regen by 500%. Chance to temporarily lose self to the Sins.]
[Skill Level Up: Demonic Impulse (2/100)]
[Skill Level Up: Vitality Drain (10/100)]
[Class Level Up: Puppeteer]
[Stat increases: STR 1, AGI 1, INT 2, CHA 1, WIS 1.]
[Due to passive skill all CHA gain is doubled.]
[Quest Complete: Get Outta Dodge]
[You're trapped in a 'dead' end world. This is a world where no new life will be born and the dimensional barriers of it are quickly breaking down. While it won't let creatures in for another few millennia, you don't want to be here when it does. Escape.
-• Find an Item from another World
-• Find 3 Items from other Worlds (Optional) (Incomplete)
-• Find 5 Items from other Worlds (Optional) (Incomplete)
-• Leave to this world
Rewards: 100 XP, 10GP, Companion Gem: Melusine.]
[Inventory Full, rewards will be distributed once space is made.]
[Skill Learned: Soul Sight]
[Cost: 10 Mana per Second
Effect: Allows the user to see the souls of those in Line of Sight. Higher Skill Level allows more information to be discerned from souls.]
Holy crap that's a lot of stuff I missed. I knew I finished the quest, But I didn't expect the other things. Though I will admit that the lack of Soul Sight alerts was what tipped me off to my lack of notifications. Though my eye remains caught on the Companion Gem, because if that's the Melusine I'm thinking of, they're worryingly strong.
'Hey System, are summoned companions loyal to me when summoned?'
[Loyalty of freshly summoned companions changes from summon to summon.]
'Will Melusine be loyal at least?'
[Melusine will be as loyal as a Bond 0 Servant.]
Ah, so I was right about which Melusine would be summoned. With that knowledge, I'll summon her later, once Holly is healed up a bit. I don't want to accidentally worsen her fragile mental condition by unnecessarily stressing her out. I want to corrupt her, not break her after all.
Once that's done, we quickly arrive at The Dead One's house. It was a short walk away, maybe 20 minutes or so. It's in a suburban neighborhood, right at the end of a dead end. The house is a simple two story house that looks abandoned, like a haunted house taken straight from a horror movie. When I take a closer look, it's clear it's not anywhere near in as bad a shape as it looks, but it still looks horrid.
I unlock the door before stepping inside, locking the door behind me. I immediately notice that the inside looks much better than the outside. It also has furniture, decent quality furniture. It has a 60" Flat Screen TV, though I can't see any game consoles anywhere, sad.
Anyways, I gently lay her on the living room couch while I look around the house, fully planning on putting her on the Master Bedroom bed once I find it. I quickly find the dining room, it's right next to the living room, with no real walls between the two, and the kitchen is right next to that. The upstairs area is just a few empty bedrooms, which makes me kind of confused on why his house is so large when he lives alone, and he does live alone.
I just give a shrug before carefully carrying Holly upstairs to the Master Bedroom and laying her on the bed. I decide to sit on the edge of the bed for a while, contemplating excuses we can use if any of his coworkers or neighbors decide to question us. Maybe claim to be relatives staying with him for a bit while our parents vacation, and that he came down with an illness? I'll have to work on it.
Either way, I eventually decide to stop thinking about this and take my first shower since I've gotten back. While my hair and body won't actually get dirty, I still feel filthy.
==POV=Holly=Change==
My name is Holly Potter, and I'm currently happy.
My day was going normally, in other words, badly. Aunt Petunia banged on the cupboard door and forced me to cook, I was forced to watch them eat, and was bullied at school. All of this is stuff I've been dealing with for ages, so I'm used to it. Doesn't mean I like it.
I spend my recess in the Library to hide from Dudley and his gang. Luckily the old lady there is nice to me, sadly she's the only staff member nice to me. After a few more hours of reading, being talked down to by teachers and classmates alike, and praying that someone would save me, the school day ends
Eventually, when I got home, (I had to walk, they picked Dudley up in their car), I was beaten by Uncle Vernon and locked in my cupboard again because I forgot to lower my grades. Normally he and Aunt Petunia would make me do chores first, but I guess Uncle Vernon must be extra mad today.
My hunger and pain eventually make me black out, but not before suffering for a few hours. By the time I wake up, I'm tied to a chair, naked, with some old guy chanting in a language I don't understand. After about an hour of chanting, something happens, the circle starts to glow. His chanting gains a more… excited edge to it, like when Uncle Vernon talks about getting a promotion at Grunnings.
After another minute, the glow begins to fade as a large flash blinds us both. Once our sight returns (though the old man still hasn't realized I'm awake) there's a young girl who looks to be about my age standing in the middle of the circle.
She's short, about my height despite me being stunted from malnutrition (something I read in a book). She had waist length black hair, and two different colored eyes. One, her left one, was red while her right one was blue. She had two bat-like wings, a long rubber-looking tail with a heart on the tip, and two tiny horns poking out from beneath her hair. They're all black, but unlike her hair they have the slightest, almost undetectable red tinge to them.
I wasn't paying much attention to what was said, I was distracted. To me, the person in the circle looked fascinating, unnaturally so. Most of my instincts scream at me that she's not human, and that whatever is there acting like a human is dangerous, but something else inside of me is also screaming that she'll save me.
Then our eyes met, and I knew that she would. At some point she killed the cultist and started talking to me.
"Are you going to take my soul?" She explained like a proper teacher why she wouldn't, it was nice. Much nicer than how my teachers speak to me.
"If I were to give you my soul, what would happen to me after I die?" Curiosity is what made me ask about what would happen after someone who made a deal dies, though she did start a bit off topic.
"Do you haveany souls yet?" I remember feeling disappointed when she said that she's too young to make a deal, though I can't remember exactly why.
I remember the confusion she showed when I said she felt like a good person, and the embarrassment she showed when she asked if I wanted to go with her. Why wouldn't I? No more Dursleys is a good thing.
Though I was confused on what 'dibs' means.
At some point I just started nodding along, too tired to actually think. Tired enough to where she had to carry me to where we were going. Her wings feel more like rubber than the leathery feeling I was expecting. I eventually fell asleep on her back, before waking up here.
I panicked for a moment as she wasn't here, then I heard the shower running, and felt relief. She didn't leave me. When she left the shower I still pretended to be asleep, partially to see what she would do, partially because the bed is comfortable.
She fell asleep hugging me after getting out of the shower. She was mumbling something about how 'she shouldn't be this adorable,' when she started hugging me, before falling asleep. I decide to do the only reasonable thing in my 8 year old mind: Snuggle closer to the warmth.
I, Holly Potter, am happy.
===Chapter003:Fresh_Arrivals===
===END===