by P. S. Power
So, it really was a trap that way. One that she could get out of, but wouldn't, since she was still too stupid to just kill off her feelings and let everyone around her perish. Yes, some of them would do it anyway, eventually. Hally, unless something happened, probably wouldn't live past eighty. Gary was even worse, being suicidal like he was. Darla had to work to keep him from sinking into a deep depression, and eventually she'd get bored with the idea. The easy thing to do there would be to take him as a slave and merely order him to honestly feel happy. That took work and effort however, and even though he was a friend, Keels didn't know if the boy was worth that kind of time commitment. Thinking that left her feeling a bit sad, until she started to shut that down, too.
He wasn't, at that point, a good investment. He didn't have skills or hobbies that would benefit her or anyone else in the long run. Worse, his personal habits made him disruptive to the natural order of the world. Not his being gay, which was fine. No, it was the fact that he was different from most people, while also being smart, and brave enough that he wouldn't back down. That could have made him a natural leader, but being as young as he was, it would remain to be seen as to how well he did in that regard. He'd been an indifferent student and hadn't planned for college. It wasn't a lack of intelligence, just that his interests, what he was conscientious about, were too different. Sports, and martial arts for self protection.
Gary was then, in short, not really ready for the world.
Still, she was being a bit dark and decided to dump that on Zack, just bringing up the idea with him. They had time, if they wanted to bring the boy back around, after all.
Darla however kept watching her, even as she politely made her excuses, several times. Finally she just glared at the older Demon and snorted at her.
"I'm me, okay? I just have some things to get done. Here... Let me..." She'd gotten them both back to her house and sank onto the sofa, making it creak again. That should have been a sign right there, since she hadn't been trying to do that, but her sister wouldn't be able to count on that. A good faker, was, by definition, good.
Instead of snarking again, she closed her eyes, ignoring the world around her, trying to work out what she'd really need. It was possible to form a connection at a distance for a Deal. Darla had managed taking Becky over the phone, in a normal conversation. That was really due to telepathy though, which was... A thing that Keeley could do too. She was even decent at it, if the truth were told.
She found Quince with her mind, the ancient Durg resting on his bed, at home with his parents in the background. The people that had been hired to take him in. Worry and a bit of anger slid off his thoughts, going over everything that he'd been doing. How at each turn, he hit dead ends as far as finding what had happened to his brothers. It ate at him. He'd heard some rumors of a Greater Demon called The Bold, and figured that one for being the likely attacker. A fearsome beast that even went after other Greater Demons.
It was hard to keep a straight face, but she managed it, not wanting to be insulting, even at a distance. Fram did actually do that. The only thing there was that he normally lost when he tried. It was just that he had a blind spot that made him think that being thought of highly by his peers meant something. It didn't. That lack of understanding was why he was insane. Other than that he wasn't a bad sort of being, just a bit... Limited in one direction. It got him noticed.
It was clear that Quince wasn't up on who was doing what however. Not even that he lived in the territory of The Technician. It wasn't that hard to find things like that out, but it would require actually asking around for a while, which wasn't a thing that schoolboys had a lot of time for. So he'd done a lot of divining, trying to find out what he could in the entrails of animals. It didn't work on Greater Demons, but there were patterns left, that showed where things were missing.
Like the ones that he'd found around the school. There had to be one of her kind all over things to make it work out as it had, according to what he'd seen in the entrails. That was why The Bold must be one of the Teachers, if not the Principal. He was tempted to go after the man that night, just in case. If he were wrong, it would be a shame, but an acceptable loss. If he was right, well, a surprise attack would be the only thing that might work.
He was a powerful fighter, and a warrior that knew his skills very well, having practiced them since before Humans regularly farmed the land. That didn't make him the equal of a Greater Demon however. If he gave that kind of being even a half warning, it would be too much and he'd fail. All he had to do was get up, and go.
He started to, as Keeley formed a link with him, sending the idea of a Deal to his mind. A bargain that he couldn't refuse, since it was her doing it. All he had to do was stand up, and that would be the agreement to be her slave. Forever. If she'd been working in words, she might have been a bit more gentle than that. His thoughts however responded to her, which showed that what she was doing was working. That it could work. He also stopped moving suddenly, refusing, at least for a moment, to get up.
She focused, and sent a single thought to him then.
'Stand.'
He rose with a shocking speed, which allowed her to feel the link between them sink home. Then, because it was the hard part, she gave him orders instantly, using her mind for it, instead of words, which was all she'd ever tried before.
'You will obey Keeley in all things. You cannot lie to her, or struggle against her. You will allow no loophole in your thinking, serving her only.'
Then without moving or opening her eyes, she went over that several times with different variations of the phrasing. He responded to it pretty well, but she really didn't want to make mistakes. Her first grab had been too clumsy for instance. If that had been a powerful being of her own kind, it would have likely ended with her own death, even being seven miles away like she was.
Opening her eyes, she winked at Darla and then patted her leg as the girl raised her eyebrows in return.
"There, I have him. Quince. Kevin now. Do you want me to have him do something, to prove that I'm me?" No one else could have grabbed a person like that, she didn't think. Not that quickly. It had only taken about four minutes, which wasn't that shabby. Also too slow, for what she needed to become. A good start, anyway.
"Have him call me on..." She pulled out a cell phone and brought the number up for Keeley to see. "That line. Don't say the words out loud."
It took about a minute, but a totally different phone rang and had to be pulled out of her shirt pocket. It was a tiny thing, but she nodded when she glanced at who was calling.
"Quince? How good to hear from you! What can I do for you this evening?"
They chatted for a bit, and with only a slight bit of mental pressure, the boy invited himself over for a visit. There was no real reason for it, but he assured them that he'd be there by ten. Alone. He knew that Keeley was there, since Darla had mentioned it. At that point, he got pretty excited.
"I... Don't know, Quince. I guess that Keeley is free for the evening, come to think of it. Are you just using me to get to her, or are you hoping for a three way?"
That got a laugh that could be heard at a distance, and a polite denial of both things. After a bit she got off the device and looked at her sister.
"Impressive. Unless of course he realized what you tried to do and is just planning to come and kill you. What do you think the odds are?" There was a darkness to the words, but no distrust in the matter, which was heartening to see, after an evening of shifty glances.
"About fifty-fifty? I've never done this before, and I could have messed it up. So, let's... Actually, that gives us about three hours. I need to go shopping. You can come, or... I don't know, meet me back here then?"
"That second one. I need to actually check in with Zack. I don't get out of being his babysitter just because things get a tiny bit complicated. I also seem to need to transfer some funds around." Which was a sign that the other Demon really thought that Keels had pulled it off. She hope
d that was the case.
The trip to the store was pretty boring. Even loading up four full carts of food, and making two trips to different places, she didn't really have more than enough for a few days. Two, if she actually ate like she needed to.
She did that when she got in, making enough food for a small family to get fat on, then doing it again, twice more before Darla came in, at just before the stated arrival time. She could feel Quince coming, walking on foot, approaching the house as if it were a perfectly normal evening. That link meant that, if nothing else, she truly had him enslaved. What it didn't mean was that her commands had been received completely. She hoped that was the case, but reached into the space around her and checked her weapons again.
It was, technically a pocket universe. The second one that she'd built, since Tarsus had helpfully broken her first one, while beating her about like a sock puppet. This one was a bit bigger, and carried more gear inside of it. For instance, she had six swords and knives now, instead of two. Nearly a dozen guns and a rocket launcher were near her left hand, and behind her she had a small room filled with things that might be of use at some point. If by small she counted a space about the size of the house she was in. There was food there, for instance, which was nearly as much as she'd gotten that night. She needed to increase that. That, and make certain she had enough water put by as well.
It didn't look like much in there, since everything was invisible, but she could enter the space and find things. There was no need to breathe there, since time didn't exist. It made moving around interesting, but it was doable, using magic. The idea was, if she had to, that Keeley could walk into the space and simply hold still for a time, to avoid an attack or to hide from someone. Like a panic room, if it were portable.
When the knock on the door came, she decided that she was ready, and answered it, trying to smile. Quince didn't have a gun or sword of his own in his hands, so she decided it was a good sign.
"Hi Kevin! Come on in. Would you like something to eat? Or drink?" She said the words as naturally as possible, still ready to move if he came at her. Darla just watched, standing back, a smile on her face.
"Oh, that sounds good. Could I have some water? Please?" That was pretty polite for him, since he'd come from a time that was so long before things like politeness hadn't really been invented yet.
She got a glass for him, and a bag of corn chips to share, putting it all in a bowl. Then had him settle in on the sofa.
"So, Quince..." Keeley looked at him, knowing he was hers, but spoke the words anyway. "You can't lie to me, or fight against me in any way. Right now you're going to be relaxed and can't even think about becoming violent without my permission. Do you understand that?"
"Oh, yes. I understand. Why would I?" He seemed honestly confused, but something inside his eyes hardened just a little bit, and he winced. She hadn't forbidden him from thinking, and even a Durg could eventually understand what was happening. "By my beard! You're the Demon?"
There was no violence, just him looking at her as if to say he still didn't believe it.
"Well, one of them. Not, as you might have guessed, the one that you've been looking for. I'm The Mistress of Souls. Darla is The Technician."
There was an open mouthed look that worked for the young looking man, if not in any way that a thinking person would enjoy. He had nice full lips, and blue eyes, she noticed.
"The Bold?"
Darla shrugged, and moved to pat him on the leg. Then she moved to his hand, the drain of his life's knowledge palpable to Keeley as it happened.
"Fram. Who you knew as Barb? At least the last one. Before that the part was played by Xenses, The Defiler. To answer your questions however, the unasked ones, I was the one that killed your brothers. They killed Rob, who was one of my people, and they did it on my territory. Yes, they'd been ordered to by the Gatherer, Edith to harm one of the Raintree high football team members to ensure a victory for her students, but they chose to take it too far. Worse, they knew they were flouting her intent at the time. She died for that too, by the way. I didn't tell you, since I felt that you might be obligated to try and fight me if I did. I... Actually like you, Quince. So I hired Keeley here to enslave you instead."
Because that would make sense to anyone, ever. Looking over at her sister it was all she could do to not roll her eyes and make little violin noises. It was, naturally, a very well played scene, hitting just the right notes, but the fact was, Quince was more than a little annoying.
Not that Keeley was going to be mean to him. Her job wasn't about that. Not this time. He wasn't wrong, wanting revenge for his family members, after all. That just couldn't be allowed. The fact was, she personally benefited from the idea that no one got away with doing wrong to a Greater Demon. It would make her entire existence easier to manage, since they weren't all that popular for some reason. Sure, it was probably the fact that too many of them were insane killers that would eat your children for a snack, but even that helped to keep a lot of beings in line. Without that reputation, she'd end up having to fight, and kill, a whole lot more than she would otherwise.
Even Quince seemed to understand that. At least inside, where it counted. He didn't tense up, not being allowed to, but she hadn't told him to be polite all the time, so in a very relaxed fashion he told Darla to go and fuck herself.
"Or, if you want, I can do that for you? Not in a way that you'll enjoy however. You killed my brothers... How am I supposed to handle that? I thought we were friends." That was honest enough that he said it while looking at Keeley.
She grinned.
"It's a matter of conflicting world views. Now, don't let this get you down, it's all about you coming to terms with what happened. When you really do, I'll be able to let you go. In the mean time, how would you like a job? One far away from here?"
There was a lot going on inside, including thoughts of killing himself, but that ended when he realized that it would be him attempting to escape, which wasn't allowed. Glaring at her, he nodded, knowing that choice wasn't a thing he had anymore.
Except that he really did. If he refused to do the work, she'd place him somewhere else. There was no reason for her to make his life too hard. It was why she held out hope of being free one day. Yes, he'd have to die to do it, but here, in this one being, was a chance for her to do that without dying herself. Given that it could happen inside a few days or weeks, if he got his thinking around fast enough, she really didn't want him to be too upset with her.
Or worse, her friends. If that happened Darla would kill him.
"I guess?"
"Good! What I want, is for you to watch out for Becky Hoader. Get in good with her. Tell her about how you got a large inheritance from your grandmother, and want to move out to Hollywood. Invite her along. Make it about sex or something, but not so much that she feels trapped. Can you do that?" It might be a little advanced for him to manage, which would mean giving him a lot of help with the storyline, but he seemed to think he could do it on his own.
That meant she was able to simply add a few more explanations, and set up an account for him to use in his own name. It was hard to do at night, but the others were planning to leave the next day, for the Grand Canyon. True, Becky's boyfriend was going along as well, but that relationship was pretty much over anyway. Darla assured them both of that, explaining how she'd been making certain it would end peacefully. It made for an interesting story, but didn't take too long.
By midnight Keeley managed to have everyone out the door, and settled onto the bed in her room, going over all the information she had, about pretty much everyone. It took some time, being that several of the beings she was investigating were older than dirt. In some cases honestly so, given the rate of decay and how such things developed over time. Given the way things broke down and were recaptured by plants and fungi, most topsoil was less than a few hundred years old, even. The very surface layer was less than that in most places, unless the farming practices were just horrible.
She ran the list, going over the easy ones first. The ones she needed to handle for the Second Crucible. The Vile came first, which was a good plan, because he didn't have that name due to proclivities or habits, exactly. The fact was, everything about that particular Greater Demon was simply gag inducing. He smelled, which was on purpose, and covered himself with rotting and festering wounds. It was his own personal take on the world and didn't make sense to her, but the fact was, he enjoyed alienating others.
The Cartographer was more normal, and even sane, which normally would have made things work out well enough, even with one of the nut jobs being involved. Like his title said, he drew maps. Highly advanced ones that could show even a normal person how to transverse to almost any point in space or time. There was a lot of information about that kind of thing in her memories of him, but that was about all that might be considered interesting. He was, for the most part, his single task. He produced maps. Just that. He didn't bicker, or fight a lot, and wasn't prone to irregular emotional ups or downs. How he could end up involved in anything, given that, she didn't know.
The Lover was easier to see that way, since "Lover" was a pretty polite way to speak about her. Her main area of achievement was sex... and related topics. Like the Cartographer, she was driven by that one thing in all areas of existence. It was her defining trait, on a level that had to make it hard to live, day to day. She couldn't do a lot of simple tasks, like shopping or walking down the street, without stopping for sex every few minutes. That was, no doubt, going to make the job at hand nice and easy. Hopefully she'd hold together long enough for the rest of them to come to a conclusion about things. That, or they could try and hold the discussions needed while she had sex. If so, Keeley was going to hire someone to do that part. That, or get her friend Kaitlyn to come in and handle it, since she was a succubus.
