Blood Ties, Part 29


The situation is dangerous, but you know that reacting out of panic will only make things worse. Running through your options, you quickly select the best one out of a bad lot.

"Keep a close eye on the general," you tell Meska. "Learn anything you can about what he's planning. If he's coming after me, I want to know what I'm dealing with as much as possible."

The ratfolk nods. "We will be doing so, master incubus. And... good luck. May the ancestors be guiding your steps, even as you are walking through peril." And with that, she darts away.

You, meanwhile, slip back into Ceriss' manor, your mind working as fast as it can, planning out how best to do this. Ceriss isn't quite as seduced as you would have liked... but she is nearly there. You'll just have to hope that the level of attraction you've already enkindled is enough to let you get the rest of the way, even after telling her what you're about to say.

Returning to the bedroom, you sit down at the side of the bed, staring off into the distance, your hands folded pensively, your arms on your knees. Anxiety isn't a hard look to pull off, not at the moment.

Eventually, you hear stirring behind you. "Niko?" asks Ceriss, sounding worried. "Are you alright?"

You hesitate for just the right amount of time, then sigh. "There's... something I need to tell you. Something I usually need to keep hidden from the world. But... you deserve to know. I can't keep it to myself any longer. Not when it might help in hunting this killer."

You can feel the bed shift as both Ceriss and Janessa sit up. "What is it, Niko?" asks Janessa. Her tone is warm, encouraging. Which isn't surprising given that you've already seduced her far more comprehensively. It's from Ceriss where the true test will come.

"I... wasn't actually ordered here to arrange food for the army," you explain haltingly. "That was just the excuse I used for why I was here. I was really sent to do what I could to prevent this damn war altogether. To try and convince the people in power—in both armies—to stop the fighting before it's too late. Before it causes another tragedy, like ten years ago."

You let your shoulders slump, as though ashamed. "But then... I met the two of you. And things... changed. I... lost focus on what I was ordered to do. Especially since there was the killer. Helping you hunt him seemed so urgent. And... now that we know he's a demon? If that's the case... I... I can't keep this hidden any longer."

And then you release your transformation.

Ceriss and Janessa both draw in shocked breaths as your body enlarges, your skin turning red as black-feathered wings sprout from your back. And for several long, painful moments, all is silence.

"I'm sure you had suspicions already," you continue after a while. "This was how I got to the cathedral in time to save Lady Kagan. I could tell that you noticed something was off, Ceriss. And you probably won't be the only one who notices, either. I knew when I did it that it could cause everything to fall apart. I... I just thought you deserved to hear the truth from me."

More stunned silence. Then, finally, Ceriss' voice, sounding scared and confused. Almost panicked. "You're... you're an incubus! But... but my wards! They should have activated if they encountered any aphrodisiac trying to affect me!"

You glance back over your shoulder, looking puzzled. "Oh... you had wards against that?" you say. "Well, it's not that they failed. I just didn't use anything like that on you."

Ceriss gives you a stunned look, while you continue. "Even if I had, the effects aren't as scary as the stories make them out to be. It's not mind control or anything like that. Just a way to make sex even better. But... I still suspected you wouldn't like it, considering your history. So everything we did... it was just using ordinary means. I wasn't going to show you what I could really do. At least not until you knew the truth."

Her eyes widen a little, as she realizes that what she's experienced up until now has been only a foretaste. You can see the temptation tugging at her, building upon how far you've already gotten her. But she shakes her head. "And... and the brand on your palm? What is that, really? Another fake?"

You shake your head. "No. No this is... exactly what I said it was. A curse. I don't know who gave it to me, or how, or why. It gives me extra power... but it also twists at my mind, just like I told you."

Ceriss frowns, staring at you like she's trying to read your thoughts through force of will alone. You meet her eyes without flinching, giving her your most soulful and honest look. Behind her, Janessa is just sitting there in shock, trying to make sense of what she's seeing.

Finally, though, she places a hand on Ceriss' shoulder. "Maybe... maybe we should hear him out..." she says. Her tone is troubled, uncertain of where her duty lies... but Janessa wants so badly to believe you. "He didn't have to tell us any of this. And... he did save Lady Kagan. At risk to his own secret!"

The sorceress looks long at you, her expression torn, struggling with her own thoughts. Can she trust you? Can she trust herself? Or are her own desires now suspect? Yet one more secret has been sprung on her, so soon after her last crushing revelation.

And she looks for all the world like a drowning woman, searching for a lifeline she can trust.

Finally, after long thought, she closes her eyes. "Well... there's one part of your story we can test," she says. She's still uncertain. But she knows she cannot afford weakness or indecision. "One way or another... it's long past time we had Nevati look at that curse. I want to know what it really is."

You don't object. The three of you dress, and you return to your human form. Ceriss keeps watching you, her expression clouded and unsure. Soon you exit the bedchambers, heading toward Nevati's guest room. Ceriss knocks, and despite the earliness of the hour, it opens almost immediately. "Oh, you're here!" says the air elemental—or Aila, as you recall Nevati calling her. "Bright and early, wow! Is this about that killer, or...?"

Ceriss shakes her head. "No. I'm sorry to request this so abruptly, but I realized that in all the commotion yesterday, we ignored the reason your mistress came here in the first place. And... I would like to have it looked at. As soon as possible."

Nevati appears moments later. Her hair is mussed, and it doesn't look like she slept well last night. But she still responds immediately to Ceriss' request. "O-of course!" she says. She tries to act like nothing is wrong, though the cheeriness is clearly forced to cover up her own yearning and regret. "J-just come inside, please! I can examine him in just a m-moment."

You sit on a nearby chair. Nevati sits opposite you, taking your right hand in both of her—far smaller—hands. Her eyes widen as her gaze traces the circle of runes, glancing back and forth across them. Soon she runs over to grab the bulky goggles you saw earlier off a nearby table, pulling them down over her eyes. She taps them on the side several times, each time making the lenses glow a different color as she studies your brand through them.

She's mumbling to herself under her breath. You're perceptive enough to make out the words themselves... but you don't know enough about magic to make any sense of them. Soon she pulls out a journal, making furious notes, copying down elaborate runic structures. Not only the obvious structure of the brand that's visible to the naked eye, but also other magical designs that are not so immediately apparent.

You wince internally at the notes she's taking. Who knows what information they could give the heroines about your powers, with enough time to study them. Still, there's no way to know whether there's a risk, or its full extent. And at this point there's no alternative.

Finally Nevati looks up, her eyes wide behind the goggles. "This is fascinating!" she says, her stammer entirely disappearing as she begins to get excited. "I've read about similar magic before, but... that was only a theory! Purely hypothetical! To think that demonic runes could actually accomplish something like this... And not just to make it work, but to make it work on a mortal! That shouldn't even be theoretically possible! I'll need to study this data much closer to figure out how they pulled that part off..."

Then she flinches, pulled back to reality. She looks up at you in shame, remembering that there's a living person suffering the effects of the magic she's so eagerly gushing about. "Oh. I'm... I'm s-sorry," she says, her face falling. "I... I didn't... I d-didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry," you say with a reassuring smile. "I understand. Can you tell us anything about how it causes the violent episodes?"

Nevati nods. "Well..." she says. "F-for one thing, the spell itself isn't designed to provoke violence, per se. It's... actually m-much worse than that. The v-violence is only a side effect of this specific case. The spell... it's d-designed to overwrite your soul entirely. W-with someone else's. Any violent effects aren't the spell. Just that the other soul i-infecting you must be just that... um..." She hesitates. "...i-insane."

"You mean... it's killing him?" asks Janessa.

"No..." says Nevati, looking down. "No, if it were only k-killing him, he would go to one of the afterlives. And eventually r-reincarnate. But this? I... I don't know what would happen to a s-soul extinguished by a curse like this."

That revelation causes a look of horror to cross the faces of Janessa and Ceriss, and even the sorceress's suspicion is—for the moment at least—supplanted by concern as she turns to look at you. She may doubt you, and herself... but you're confident she wouldn't have wished a fate like that on her worst enemy.

For your part, you feel numb. An existential dread clawing at your stomach that you won't—can't—let yourself acknowledge. But growing all the same, as unwelcome questions keep mockingly asking themselves in the back of your mind.

Whose soul could possibly be encroaching on your own, bestowing so much power even in its nascent stages? Whose soul would have the resources to arrange such an impossible feat, to forestall its true demise? Whose soul would strike such a desperate reaction in the Lust Queen herself by its advent?

You can't stop the questions. But with great effort... you at least manage to keep your traitorous thoughts from admitting who the most obvious answer is.

As a result of that self-deception, you're able to retain the presence of mind to concentrate on what Nevati is saying as she continues. One of her tiny fingers trace the sigils on your palm as she speaks.

"The v-visible runes mark the progress of subsuming the p-primary soul," she explains. "They vary depending on how much p-progress is made with each step. These ones..." She points to one of the inert ᚡ symbols. "...are the s-smallest increases. But these..." Now she points to a ᛤ mark. "...encroach much more. Overlaying more of the p-parasite's essence onto the host."

"What about the two unique runes?" Ceriss asks. It's clear that those two particularly concern her, from her own appraisal.

"Those are t-trickier," admits Nevati, scrunching up her face in a frown. Then she points to the ᛠ symbol—the rune after next if they continue to activate in the same order. "I think... that one m-might allow the parasite to make a bid for direct control in some way. Both p-personalities would still exist... but—if the attempt succeeds—the invader would be the d-dominant one afterward."

Now the young gnome turns her attention to the spellwork that Ceriss cast over the brand. "Fortunately, Ceriss' seal seems to be h-holding. For now. But the more runes activate, the s-stronger the seal will need to be to contain it. And... and once the final rune activates..." She shakes her head. "I... I don't know if anything could c-contain it then. That's the point of ultimate erasure. Not just overlaying one soul on the other, but completely s-subsuming it. Leaving nothing behind to resist."

You swallow. If anyone asks later on, you'll probably say that the way your face paled and your fingers trembled were just one more masterful performance of the dread poor Niko Calwen would certainly feel. But is that really true? The stakes are unmistakable now. The complete unmaking of everything you are stares you in the face. An inevitable, inexorably-approaching doom.

One you can't just talk your way out of.

And—just as your luck would have it—it's right at that moment that your acute hearing detects the sound of heavy boots approaching Ceriss' manor. Soon you hear knocking at the front door. A sizable contingent. And you're pretty sure you can guess who it is.

You exit Nevati's room, going over to a nearby window, looking down from the second floor to examine the visitors as they stand at the threshold. It's General Raxien, accompanied by a half-dozen soldiers... and a priestess, holding a chalice covered by a white cloth.

Of course. Holy water. Hardly even an inconvenience for a mortal to be anointed by... since it doesn't burn their skin like acid, leaving wounds that are difficult for even your kind to immediately heal.

You're backed into a corner. Your options are limited. But you do still have them. You could continue to admit at least the demonic part of your secret while painting yourself as the enemy of the killer. Of course, you doubt that General Raxien will be anywhere near as easy to convince of your intentions as Ceriss, much less Janessa. He'll probably still take you into custody, at least until you can be further interrogated.

Still, even contained in a cell you could still continue the investigation through your dreamwalking, even as you worked to persuade the general. And it would be by far the strongest option for convincing Ceriss of your trustworthiness, for when you are released—or escape.

Alternatively, you just learned that this curse is afflicting you with a demonic essence. Of course, you were already demonic to begin with, but you could still use that as an excuse, with Nevati possibly even backing you up. You could show the brand to Raxien, and then claim that any reaction to the water isn't because you're a demon. You're just a human, with a curse that's confusing the issue! You could maybe even blame its influence for how you flew to the cathedral, if he tips his hand to having that bit of knowledge.

The trick there would be convincing Ceriss to go along with it. But you think you could pull that off, even if it might make her uneasy.

Finally, you could still just flee. Try to escape without being seen, and run. That would be the simplest and most direct, of course. But it would also raise the most questions, doubts and distrust among the ones who didn't yet know your secret, like Nevati. Possibly making it dangerous to approach the gnome again, as she starts to see how the puzzle pieces truly fit together.

There are no perfect options... but you're going to have to make a choice. And you're running out of time.