You dwell on your conversation with Aria, concerns keeping you from sleeping comfortably once again. While you are happy that you have avoided feeling your employer's wrath for the second time and looking forward to using Aria's plan to get the Church off of your back you cannot help but be worried about the future. Aria's attitude this night really leads you to believe that she's actually anticipating a full on confrontation with the Apostles, a confrontation you may well end up encouraging by pointing Sister Cassandra and her companion in your demon associate's direction. A full on conflict most certainly isn't what you are looking for right now, not after narrowly escaping their attention.
Then again, a clash between the two of them could prove beneficial to you. The only question would be whether you are able to position yourself in such a way to benefit from it. At least you feel as though you've got a pretty solid grasp on Aria's personality by now. She'll tease you, play pranks on you and try to get ground on you but you have a sneaking suspicion she doesn't intend to betray you or make any serious moves against you. So long as she still considers you to be 'entertaining' that is. And with all the crazy shenanigans that have been happening around you, you doubt your life is going to get dull. That isn't what you want anyway.
You manage to wake in the morning with a certain amount of confidence. Two big problems weighing on you should be cleared up today. Plus you will be visiting Sherry this evening. You aren't sure a single evening will be enough to finish your work on her, but you can at least do the necessary ground work on her parents to keep them from growing suspicious and start adjusting your soon-to-be puppet's mentality. Upgrading your Dream Invasion may allow you to get everything done in a single night, but you aren't sure if that is how you want to invest your malice.
Speaking of which, a quick check with the Diary indicates that you are tantalisingly close to your next Tier 2 upgrade. You don't know how much you'll suffer during this purification ritual you need to be subjected to but it is sure to put you back some way. If you could just farm a little bit of malice before the ritual occurs you could spend the whole lot and not have to worry! But is there any way to do that with the time alloted?
You decide to take advantage of this new found 'Internet' thing. So many voices floating in the ether, so easy to hide your voice amongst all the others. So easy to stir up trouble. You hope, at least. You create an anonymous account on a streaming website and encourage a fight between a group of antis and some hardcore fans. While you are watching the fire you started you quickly call for your mother. Elisa heads into the room, entirely naked. She seems to have grown used to not wearing clothes in the house but she'll be ready for work by the time she needs to be. Time to test how much progress you've made with her.
You reach out with your tiny seven year old hands and grasp the soft flesh of her breasts. They feel great as you squeeze and play with them, watching for her reaction. She makes no effort to stop you, frowning down at you as though she suspects that something is wrong but cannot quite place it.
'You've been dressing like this for a while, mum,' you comment, beginning to pinch her nipples, 'are you enjoying it?' Elisa struggles, clearly finding it difficult to explain her recent behaviour to her son. Either that or she's just not used to you being so forward. Her body is not so uncertain, however, her nipples hardening under your fingers, growing firm.
'Excited?' you comment, 'enjoying your son playing with your tits? You think that's how a mother should behave?' Her mouth opens, then closes again
'I...' she splutters, 'but... wait...' her face flushes and lets out a moan. Then she shakes her head and pulls herself away.
'I shouldn't... this is wrong...' she stammers. You smile innocently at her.
'What's wrong, mummy?' you taunt her, 'if you need any help let me know, okay! I love you and I want to help as much as possible!' She shakes her head and moves around as you look back at the monitor. They are still arguing, you were barely paying attention at all! You might be pretty good at this!
41 Malice gained from hurt feelings on the Internet. 10 more from your mother's torment! 505 Malice now in Reserve!
Soul Anchor has been upgraded! You now have more control over your own soul! It will now be very difficult to end up in an animal's body! Unless of course you are into that! Also more influence over who you end up in, that's probably important!
With your malice spent and your soul more secure you have no qualms about heading to school on time. If you get the ritual out of the way at the beginning of the day maybe you can still use Ms Erikson's free class skip to bail from school early. Though you aren't sure exactly what you can do with that extra time. Whatever it is you are sure it will be more productive than staying at school. Hell, you can simply claim you were traumatised by the ritual and you doubt anyone will blame you for that.
But you have to at least go through the motions. You arrive at class in the same spare room as yesterday, apparently your own class is still unavailable. You go through the motions, suppressant in your pocket and ready for use. Of course you aren't actually sure it will happen today. You assumed that it will be today, they spent yesterday just covering the area. But other than the leader of the bullies they apprehended yesterday you should be the only suspect they need to examine.
They make you wait almost an hour before they show up. You actually feel her approaching before the door opens. That leftover five malice you had is toast! But that's fine, it was almost a lot worse! They make their excuses to Ms Erikson, who seems reluctant to let you go. No doubt she's still affected by your Suggestion from yesterday to shield you from the Church. But making a fuss right now wouldn't be of benefit to you so you pop the suppressant in your mouth, hide it in a corner with your tongue and allow yourself to be led away. The priestess, Cassandra, is all smiles and reassurement. The officer is more serious, his eyes more on his surroundings than you and her. He looks, dissatisfied, as though he was hoping for more.
You decide to play up the 'scared child' routine. It should fit, this isn't something a normal seven year old would be comfortable with. You have, after all been pulled out of class by two strangers who are talking nonsense about how they are going to 'save' you. So you swallow what little pride you have left and put on the big brown eyes.
The result of this, the Sister gives you a hug. Normally you'd enjoy being embraced by a cute girl, but you can barely focus as her emotions crash over you. So much kindness and tenderness and concern for your immortal soul, it's positively revolting! You'll have to struggle very hard not to spew your suppressant all over the floor along with your breakfast! Fortunately, she lets go of you fairly quickly and you carry on.
They've set up shop in your original classroom. No doubt they've purified it already and spent the morning getting it ready for you and for anyone else they feel has been corrupted. They have you stand in the middle of the room under a cross suspended from the ceiling. It is, decidely uncomfortable. You can feel inside of you the desire to run away or try to escape. This isn't a good thing, it's probably going to hurt. But you'll have to endure it. The officer stands behind you looking almost bored, a book in his hand. The Sister is before you, clutching her cross and mumbling in not so silent prayer. There's probably a number of other things around here you should be interested in but you are too busy focusing on making sure you don't give yourself a way to check.
Both their voices join together as their prayers grow louder, building to a climax. You can feel the power gathering above you, your tounge moving the suppressant to your mouth, ready. And then the power strikes you as you swallow. FUCK! It's been a while since you've felt pain like this. Like you're being sliced in half. It isn't like the pain you are used to with The Torturer, it's like someone has applied a scrub brush to your very soul and is trying to rub you clean. Except of course the taint isn't just on the surface of your soul but right down to it's core. They'd have to keep rubbing for much longer to completely erase your corruption. They'd likely have to take your soul apart and put it back together, if that is even possible.
Pain is likely expected here, as is surprise. It's easy enough to disguise exactly how much this is hurting you, just making sure your shout doesn't reflect it. There's likely too much light right now for them to know exactly. Besides, this chick is blind, she can't read your face anyway. And the man is behind you, also not in a position to read your expression. Only your voice is relevant right now. And you'd long gained mastery over your own screams. It had been what had convinced your tormentor to finally let you go.
So you wait for the ritual to finish and do what you expect any other kid in your position would do. You make a dash for the door. You contemplate calling outloud for your mommy, but you think that might be overdoing it a bit. Before you reach the door you are seized from behind somewhat roughly. This guy has no idea how to treat a traumatised child!
'Relax, kid,' the man says, 'we aren't going to hurt you, we just need to ask you some questions and make sure you are alright before we let you go back to your friends.'
And so you allow yourself to be carried to a chair and sat down while the pair check to make sure the purification was a success. One of them hands you a drink and the questions begin. You decide to keep your answers as close to the truth as possible without giving away anything important. You decide in the end not to throw oil on the fire. You doubt your responses here will be sufficient for these two. If they conclude that you are a victim and not the culprit as you hope then the next logic step will be to try and determine how you were corrupted. That will naturally lead them back to your home. At which point things will proceed as Aria wants anyway.
Maybe you'd have more control over the narrative and the timing of the activities if you made a move now, but right now you are more hoping to postpone the seemingly inevitable clash until you are more prepared for it. Not that you think you'll ever really be ready for said clash. But one can certainly hope, at least.
The questions dry up and Sister Cassandra seems satisfied, smiling at a job well done. The man seems less convinced, he's been consulting a notebook all this time without seeming too interested. Now suddenly he snaps the book closed and moves closer.
'One last question, kid,' he starts as he kneels down to eye level with you. Now he's pushing a photograph in your face.
'You recognise this man?' he asks you. You glance at the picture. Yes, you recognise him. Of course you do. You killed this man, after all. Chopped him up into pieces and fed him to his own dog. Your eyes go back up to the officer. He can read it on your face. No point in lying, not completely at least.
'Yeah,' you reply, 'I saw him once, he lives next to my friend. Why?' He straightens up. If he had intended to startle you into giving something away he's probably happy now. But the fact that he's got that picture with him tells you that he must be connected to Ina in someway. It's been almost a week since that incident happened. Some sort of retaliation may well be pending. And now they know you are connected to Roger and possibly to Usa as well. Just another problem on your list. But at least it isn't one for right now as the pair let you go to continue on your way.
You decide that enough is enough of this stupid school. If anything is going to allow you to get the hell out of here surely it's being abducted by a couple of loons, being doused in white light and being rigorously interrogated. It's time to go crying to mummy and get her to pick you up. You'll head to Usa's place and tell him what just happened. Maybe that guy will follow you, right now you don't necessarily care. If trouble is going to hit, it will hit Roger's place first and you need to make sure that you cover your tracks. At the very least you need to make sure the corpse has been properly cleaned up and hide it somewhere.
Your mother agrees to pick you up, Ms Erikson agrees to sign you off due to 'sudden illness' and you are on your way out of the door when you feel something calling out to you. No, not to you specifically it's just a call for anyone who can feel it. A call from one soul to the next. But you don't recognise the feel of this call. It doesn't feel demonic in nature, but neither does it feel divine or even like Usa. This is different. New. New could be good, but it could also be bad. Regardless, it's likely worth checking out. You head out of the school grounds and start walking. It doesn't take you long before you are standing in front of a suspicious looking alleyway.
Common sense would indicate that you should immediately turn around and walk away from this, but you are already moving forward, your body, or maybe even your soul responding automatically to whatever signal is being broadcast from this spot. The air here feels wrong, stilled, like time itself has stopped. You should probably feel distinctly uneasy but something is telling you that whatever is awaiting you isn't hostile. A few more steps forward and...
'A new customer, and a special one at that!' A gruff voice speaks in a way similar to a death rattle.
'Welcome, newcomer,' the figure greets you, 'it's about time you found your way to me. Your predecessor was one of my best customers. I have high expectations of you! But where are my manners, eh? I am The Merchant, I look forward to working with you!'
'My predecessor?' you repeat. The man chuckles, though it sounds more like blades being sharpened than you'd like.
'The owner of that pretty little blade you carry around with you, the one who persued all manner of depravity and depredation to obtain the position he now reviles! Watching him climb to such heights was truly enjoyable, and immensely profitable. But I repeat mysef, heh heh!'
You understand, the former Demon Lord must have relied on this man's wares and services to great effect. If that is the case you should be able to as well. A merchant places profit above all else, in that regard this man, if indeed it is just a man, may well be one of the most reliable individuals in the city. So long as you can afford his help.
'How much can you tell me about Kairos?' you ask. The Merchant chuckles again.
'Did you know, boy?' he says, 'people say that talk is cheap. They are dead wrong. Talk can be cheap, but it can also be very expensive, if you get my drift. But I do still owe that guy a favour from our last exchange. And he asked me to pass it on to his successor the first time we met. Seems he's moved on to other things. Good news for you, though, eh? Don't think you'll want to waste that favour on something like that though hm?'
He would probably be right about that. Asking about the Demon Lord is likely a waste of time, being as he's so far beyond you it doesn't even matter. But asking for information wouldn't be so terrible, unless there are better options available.
'What exactly are you offering?' you ask him. The Merchant contemplates you.
'I've always had a good eye for knowing what a customer needs. More importantly I can smell a good investment a mile away. If you inherited his power then you and I can work very well together. Right now you are squandering your strongest assets and your most valuable ability. To repay the favour I owe I'll give you a hand with that and point you in the right direction. That soul you've been carrying around with you all this time, why not get some use out of it, eh?'
It takes you a moment to realise he's talking about Zachary's soul, the thing you obtained long ago and understand to be in some way valuable without really understanding why.
'You can help me make use of this?' you ask him. The Merchant nods.
'Sure thing, boy,' he replies, 'you don't seem to get exactly how useful a willing soul is! Plant it inside a suitable vessel and you'll have yourself a priceless treasure, a servant with a nigh unwavering loyalty or even an energy source if necessary. Willing souls can power technology, reanimate corpses and otherwise be shaped as their master desires. Pretty much anything is possible with a devious enough mind. For you I suggest starting simple. I'll provide you with a vessel to pop that soul into. You just need to tell me what you want it to do. Just name something and we'll go from there!'
You spend a long time trying to decide what you want your free item to be. There are so many possibilities, after all. One of your biggest weaknesses right now is your inability to obtain or really work on willing souls. You can fiddle with a person's mind as much as you want but without access to their soul it does you little good. An item to help you shape souls would cover that weakness well. Still, would you even know what to do with it once you got it? That would probably be something you are better off having later on when you have better access to souls. And it's unlikely you can make something that will let you seize other people's souls. You'll need contracts for that, or Soul Brands.
The next obvious issue you can think of is the same issue you just managed to clear up earlier. Shielding your demonic nature from the outside world. If you crafted some sort of device that could utilise Zach's soul to shield your own that could spare you some headaches. This was originally his body after all, so what better soul to hide behind. But it likely wouldn't protect you from the most perceptive of observers. And you aren't much fond of playing defensively anyway. You always preferred offence.
With that in mind your choice is obvious. Just another way to do what you are already doing would be great. So sure, you'll keep beating this dead horse for a while. Perhaps an item to help you dominate and control others in a different way can help you overcome some of the obstacles you are facing. More influence will mean more malice and more potential for souls which should bring you back here sooner for your next item. This guy must surely have a lot of them for you to buy.
The first decision made, you move on to the 'form' of the item. You briefly toy with the idea of making it something like an animal that can follow you around and move independantly. As useful as that could be it would be just as likely to get into trouble without you and you would prefer something so valuable to be firmly under your control the entire time. So then, an item, something simple and mundane to look at so you can use it in public without drawing attention or raising eyebrows. Something that can work independantly from you in a way that you cannot, regardless of how long that might be. You present your decision to The Merchant and he rattles off a list of possibilities.
It's another difficult decision. A lot of them sound good. You carefully and ruthlessly eliminate a bunch of options until only two remain. A pen that will allow you to write instructions on someone sure sounds like fun, but the rules governing it sound a bit convoluted and you'd likely be limited in your ways of using it. The book, on the other hand, should be easier to use as it wouldn't require you to even be in the same room as your intended target.
The limitation will be the time restriction. You can only target one person at a time and will have to wait an unknown amount of time between modifications. You will also be restricted on who you can use it on and how many modifications you want to make, unless you want to devote multiple pages to the same target, which would create it's own issues. Finally you have to be careful not to use it prematurely on targets whose True names you do not know. Fucking that part up could mean never being able to target that person again. But, if used properly and with care the notebook could be powerful indeed. So that is what you end up deciding on.
You briefly toy with the urge to use the book right now. Then you mentally slap yourself for such a rash move. This thing is potent and it's power shouldn't be casually squandered. You'd be better off thinking about it more at length once you have more time. You take the Reality Notebook and store it in your bracelet.
'Business is concluded, for now,' The Merchant rattles. You open your mouth to speak more but he raises a hand.
'No more favours, mate, my obligation is over now! Next time you come see me you'd best do it with something of value. Time is money, after all! I'll take malice, souls, hell even human currency if you can get enough of the stuff! Maybe I'll even buy a few things off you if I fancy 'em. More importantly I'll see about finding a way to put your 'talent' to good use. I may know of a few guys who would pay well for it. For now just carry on as you have been. And if you need anything well, come back any time!'
It would appear that you have been dismissed. He doesn't say another word, just simply watches you. You cannot really make out enough of his face to discern his expression. Nevermind, you have already benefited greatly from this little detour. You thank The Merchant and depart. You can already tell that your relationship will likely be a lucrative one for both of you.
You now have a chance to randomly encounter The Merchant while travelling through the city. It is possible to spend time searching for him, in which case the chance of encountering him will be higher, though not certain. Time does not pass while shopping with The Merchant so encountering him does not affect your other actions for the day unless you spent time looking for him. He is more likely to show up when you have goods to trade or if he has good news for you.
As per your original plan you head to Roger's. You should have enough time to get some work done on Venus and speak to Usa. Not too much, though considering you have your all important visit as Sherry's house this evening you don't have too much time to fool around. Even so, having another crack at Venus is just too tempting right now. It may well be the sheer knowledge that she's being protected that makes you want her all the more. She's also one of the best possession choices you've encountered thus far. So sure, why not spend an hour or so banging your head against that wall again?
You would rather reserve your mana for later, the more of it you keep for Sherry the more progress you can make this evening. So instead you just talk with Venus, trying to probe her about the shrine in the garden with limited success. You move on to talking about the carrots in the fridge next door. This time you get a bit more of a result. Venus's gaze becomes more muddled as she struggles to focus on something that is likely being deliberately hidden from her knowledge. Using this as a jumping off point you are able to lull Venus down into a more suggestible state. Still nothing that you couldn't already achieve with your Suggestion. But at least you feel as though you are getting closer to real progress. Though it may still be faster to work on Venus through Usa. Speaking of which you should speak to the rabbit before you leave.
You pass your latest information to Usa. The rabbit is unsurprisingly rattled.
'They've caught up with us already! That isn't good we'll need to speed up your training immediately who knows what Ina might do now that one of her people is gone. I haven't spotted anyone else in the house so far but it's only a matter of time. I'm pretty sure I can fend off Ina's flunkies if they come but we don't want to draw anymore attention and who knows how much damage they could do when they attack. You'll need to come visit a lot more regularly if you want to make any real progress with your training.'
You decide to have another training session, if just to get the rabbit to shut up. Fortunately, Usa provides the mana for use as you practice Null Presence, activating it and heading back into the house to stand near Venus, checking to see if she notices you. You feel as though you are getting something of a hang of it but it will probably be a couple more sessions before you can reliably use this ability. Still, the training is helpful. Maybe it would be a good idea to spend more time here over the weekend.
Your plan for the evening is simple enough. Hit Sherry's parents with the bare minimum and then focus the rest of your attention on Sherry. You want to make sure she's ready for your big move. That means doing most of the heavy lifting this time. Then next time you'll finish it. You just need to make sure you instruct Sherry to meet up with you at a later date. Preferably at your house where there won't be any distractions. It will be unfortunate that you won't be able to mine Sherry for malice any more after today but you did say you'd look after her properly once she's yours. You'll just need to find another source of malice.
Sherry's parents unsurprisingly have mixed feelings about you. They know that Sherry likes you and they know that her feelings aren't being returned. They know that they shouldn't resent you for such a thing but it must be difficult for them. Her father in particular looks like he'd like nothing more than to take you to one side and give you a good talking to. You decide to leave them for a while and have dinner. During this time you carefully probe them for information about themselves while unconciously teasing Sherry and provoking more ire from her parents.
Your proding reveals that Sherry's mother works for an accountancy firm while her father works in a retail office. Neither are particularly high up the chain and probably not worth working on. So then, bare minimum for them as planned. A quick Suggestion to the two of them to ignore any of Sherry's odd behaviour and the two of you head up to Sherry's room. You decide to milk her one last time for malice by asking her for more 'advice' about Ami. Not that she has all that much more to tell you other than Ami's preferred food and drink. After a few more superficial pieces of advice you decide to move this on. A quick Sleep and she's out, followed by a Suggestion to remain asleep which you hope will keep her out for long enough to do what you want. And finally you Invade her Dream to start your work properly.
Inside her mind you conjour up an image of Sherry watching you and Ami holding hands and spending time together. You visualize all of her negative feelings as black shadowy creatures lingering around her, tormenting her and making her feel even worse about herself. Then you step in. The real you, in your real form. This is important, you'd rather her loyalty remain even after you change bodies.
'It feels awful, doesn't it?' you tell her. Sherry is by this point crawled up in a ball with her hands over her ears, trying to shield herself from her own negative emotions. You lift her up and wrap your arms around her.
'Let me help you,' you tell her, 'I'll take all the nasty feelings away. If you let me.' You conjour up a chest before her.
'Let's put everything inside this chest,' you guide her, 'we'll lock it all up so the bad feelings can't hurt you anymore.' You lead her to doing just that. All her jealousy, all her sadness, all her insecurities and negative emotions. All her images of 'Zachary' and Ami dating and spending time together. All of it goes into the chest. Then you push her further. You want to help her chase the bad memories away. All the bad emotions. You have her conjour up every memory she's ever had that has inspired negative emotions. Then you have her lock them all up inside the chest.
'Excellent,' you encourage her, 'No more bad feelings. Just trust and rely on me and I'll make sure you don't have to feel bad anymore. Wouldn't that be great.' She nods, smiling dreamily.
'Good,' you wrap up, 'I'll hold onto the key for you, make sure you don't let the bad feelings out. And I'll be back soon to make sure the bad feelings don't come back. Would that be good?' She nods, giving you an open invitation to meddle further. Excellent. Now you just need to arrange one last meeting.
Sherry is now incapable of having negative emotions. But at least you managed to obtain a good amount of malice from her and her parents during your visit. Reserve Malice: 160
After your work is concluded you allow Sherry to wake up and test her by talking to her about Ami some more. Interestingly she now speaks to you fondly, without the embarrasment or nervousness she had before. Did she interpret them in her head as negative emotions as well? The moment you mention Ami her face drains of emotion and she regards you blankly without really responding to you. Then her smile reappears and she continues as though you hadn't said anything, slipping her hand into yours and blushing with affection. You hope that this doesn't affect your malice level, you worked hard to get that up.
You have to be somewhat surprised at yourself, as well. Previously the thought of Sherry's crush on you made you recoil. Now you find it oddly endearing. Is that because you are so close to owning her at this point? You couldn't have cared less about her before. Perhaps exploring your own sense of morality might be a worthwhile endeavour at some point. More than likely it will just be a pain in the bum. Probably not worth exploring.
You carefully extricate yourself from Sherry and arrange for her to visit your place Sunday afternoon. You are looking forward to finishing the job and making her yours. But before that you have your meeting tomorrow with Ami. It might be worth spending more time training at Roger's over the weekend too. But before any of that you have your reckoning with you know who...
You arrive home satisfied with your evening's work. A decent amount of malice and a good amount of work done. That malice vein is very much dry now, but you are sure you can tap into some more. Before that though you feel the increasingly familiar tugging sensation. There has to be an easier way for her to summon you, hasn't there? Once again you end up flat on the ground before your mistress. You perhaps sense a hint of eagerness on her face before you quickly pretend you hadn't been looking.
'Well, slug,' she demands, 'let's see what you have for me today!'
First thing is first. Having removed all the items from your bracelet in advance only the ten souls you gathered are left inside it. Safe to hand over without concern of her seeing and helping herself to your stuff. Without speaking and without looking up you hold out the braclet and brace yourself as it is inevitably snatched out of your hands. Once again you sneak a quick glance as she watches the souls tumble out of the bracelet. From somewhere to your right you hear a groan of pain. It's quite likely some other soul on the hook. No doubt she's been busy using her same methods on the other souls you brought to her. Not a pleasant line of thought.
You distract yourself by focusing on your boss's face as it lights up with undisguised glee, before sudden suspicion crosses her face and she starts to glance up. You quickly press your face against the cold stone hoping she didn't see you peeking.
'You managed to get the souls I wanted,' she barked, doing a pretty good job of pretending she isn't impressed, 'but I'm pretty sure you only managed to gather this much because the other demons down below feel sorry for you! I cannot imagine how someone so pathetic could manage it on their own, can you?' She's asking you a direct question. Perhaps this is your chance.
'You are correct, Mistress,' you simper, hating yourself for every syllable, 'your humble servant is struggling on his own. But I understand that Mistress is so powerful and influential that she has been given some Soul Contracts to use. If she can allow this servant to have one I can guarantee another servant for you!' It isn't the way you'd prefer to word the request. But you doubt she'd agree otherwise. You are her only subordinate, after all. If you can convince her that you can get her more, maybe she'll be so excited she won't even realise your intention. At this The Torturer begins to laugh cruelly.
'Ha!' she mocks, 'you really think that a worthless creature like you can do anything with a Soul Contract? Don't make me laugh! You'd probably just lose it! And I don't remember saying you could speak to me! Perhaps your time outside has led you to forget your real place? Should I bring you back into my private chambers again? You can keep all the other souls you brought company! I'm sure they would be happy to see you!' You find yourself shuddering at her words. You really don't want to go back in there again. Anything but that fucking hook!
'In that case,' another voice sounds out behind you, 'why not let me take him, Sera?' Unable to help yourself you find yourself turning your head around to look. You've heard plenty of voices talking before but never actually seen what the others look like.
Ok, this is just unfair. Why are all the demons so fucking hot? This one looks like she'd roast you to death at a light touch! You'd probably feel the same way about your boss if you didn't loathe her with every fibre of your being! Speaking of which:
'Eris!' she shrieks, 'how dare you barge into my chambers at a time like this! And don't call me by that name! Especially not in front of...' You don't dare look over at her, pressing your head against the stone again even as the red hot lash of the whip burns across your back.
'You heard nothing!' she screams, 'NOTHING! You understand?' You don't bother answering, she's never cared much for your responses anyway. You simply withdraw into yourself and allow the pain to wash over you like waves crashing over a rock. It's impossible to block out all of it, your back is a burning, blood soaked mess by the time she's done, but you can fend off the worst of it, as you've grown used to over those years of torment. After a while the lashes stop and the conversation resumes. You certainly missed some of it there, they were likely talking while you were being punished.
'If that is the case,' the newcomer is saying, 'then why not just sell it to me? I'll give you a better one in return, one already fully trained and obedient.'
'Don't tell me what to do with my property!' Your boss retorts, 'I broke this one and I will train it! There's no way I'd give you that pleasure!'
'And all those contracts you have gathering dust?' the other demon says, 'why not just throw them away if you aren't going to use them?'
'Shut up!' Your tormentor hisses, 'you really are unbearable today! Get out! I'll be the one to whip this cretin into shape! I don't need any more help from you!'
'Suit yourself,' the newcomer relents, 'I'll be back later, friend. Bye bye little one, take care!' With that she's gone. For a moment you fear you are going to feel the lash again now that the intruder is gone. But instead something flops onto your head. You grab it and look down. Is this...
'Alright, maggot!' She hisses, 'if you really think you are capable of this I'll give you a chance! Use that Soul Contract and get me a soul bound to it. I could do with a servant that isn't as mind numbingly incompetant as you are! If you do a good job maybe I'll let you keep the next one! And don't forget the souls! The same again or more! Don't slack off! Or this new servant will be doing your job while you end up back in my larder! Now get lost!' And again, she pushes you out, with considerably more force this time!
You've gained a Soul Contract! Now you just need a soul to put in it!