by Nathan Anton
***
Examining people was one of Ghost’s favourite hobbies and did it frequently to the lord she admired. Inspecting a specimen through vigorous touch, taste, and smell was how she loved to play; such activities have gotten her in to trouble on more than one occasion. Numerous times Ghost would sneak into somebody’s room and begin sniffing their strongest perspiration points. The fume that would drive away many was like sweet smelling candy to her. The fun never stopped there; Ghost’s victim would no doubt be groped, prodded, and licked until she was satisfied or until she’d extracted the sweet nectar in which she craved. Ghost was nothing short of a nuisance to her peers but she had an innocent charm; and a personality that made others want to protect and forgive her, rather than punish.
Ghost knew it was morning and should probably wake the lord from his slumber before he missed any important appointments. Ghost’s embarrassment was clear on her pale face as she gently leaned closer to Leros’s face. The only way to awaken this demonic being was a passionate kiss from a lovely maiden; Ghost was fortunately seen as a lovely maiden by Leros, however few others could see the beauty she possessed. Using her 8 spider appendages to suspend her, Ghost floated above the sleeping lord and laid a slimy kiss on his soft lips. Her tongue slipped into his mouth and found its lifeless counterpart. Ghost began to take action to remedy Leros’s curse. For a second nothing happened and Ghost continued her duty, until the sleeping being began kissing back and lay upright in bed with a cute spider on his lap.
Yawn, “Mo- morning,” Leros said, his arms outstretched.
“I can always tell when you wake me up, because my mouth is either really dry or really slimy, the latter being today.”
Ghost’s unique skin pores allowed her to make any part of her body slimy or sticky, a fact that had caused her foes to lose grip on her, or for her to cling to them mercilessly. Ghost didn’t show much emotion but being close to Leros made her appendages relax, whereas they were usually constantly twitching to every sound or movement that they detected.
“So…” Leros kissed Ghost on the forehead.
“Shall we get breakfast?”
Ghost nodded in glee and the pair hopped onto the ground and out of the bedroom door.
They were greeted with a spiralling staircase at one side and a curious door at the other end of the corridor. The staircase led down to the dormitories where other residents of the Dark Palace stayed, and the ominous door at the other end had ‘portal room,’ inscribed on it. The ground of the corridor was tiled black with a red carpet laid across the centre, and the walls were a lighter shade of black made of stone; the décor was suitable for a demon Lord of the Underworld, yet oddly peaceful.
Ghost skipped down the stairs as Leros followed sluggishly, still recovering from the surprise wake up, which he received every morning. As they reached the next set of stairs they appeared in a deceptively short corridor with about 20 rooms either side; the place was slightly less colourful than the lord’s demesne. Ghost always had fun scampering up and down this corridor, it was somewhat alluring as it seemed to have an end within sight but no matter how far she travelled she could never reach it, and always appeared back at the start.
The dormitory corridor that the pair now stood had so many occupants that it would be impossible to build a building big enough to house them. To fix this Leros and Aimi cast some fancy space distortion magic, present within the entire Dark Palace, so that any door led to a specific occupant’s room with the right key. In reality it was the palace itself that did this miraculous work; it was a living entity that transcended even Aimi, but Ghost wasn’t supposed to know this.
Leros and Ghost continued further down the spiral staircase till they met a large lobby similar to that found in a typical mansion but much bigger. Ghost suddenly clung to Leros with her humanoid arms as they reached this large space, half her legs also curled around him. She didn’t like the lobby or any large space for that matter; she was agoraphobic, feeling exposed and like an open target for an enemy to exploit. Ghost was far too vulnerable in this place and started to needlessly worry and grow nervous.
Then it came, the warm gentle arm that pulled her close to her shining beacon of safety. Ghost now felt like she could do anything with Leros at her side, even leave the palace… or maybe not as the countless worries halted her thought pattern again.
Leros gave Ghost (his new body part) a soft smile as they walked towards the dining room. Nobody was around at this hour; the ones that did wake up early were probably already gone, training or studying or whatever. Leros and Ghost walked into the dining room. It looked somewhat small like a storage room with a small table and chair for eating, unbefitting of the grand estate. But as the pair set foot in the room, it reacted and changed into a cosy dining room typical of a humanoid abode; more space distortion at work.
Now in a safe zone, Ghost released Leros from her grip and sat on the chair in the corner of the room, childishly swinging her small legs.
“Looks like nobody’s in the kitchen…” Leros said, with a pained look on his face.
The kitchen and dining room were actually connected and if someone were in the kitchen a panel of sorts would open to see through the dining room; space distortion added, this time for a friendlier atmosphere.
“Going to have to do this the hard way.”
Leros was terrible at cooking, he knew it and Ghost knew it. So instead he used his amazing power to make the food in his head and fabricate it into reality. The results varied and it was usually dependant on his concentration.
“What do you want to eat?” Leros asked.
Ghost thought for a moment, still swinging her legs under the table. She then held her emotionless gaze while she adorably waved her finger about in the air. Anybody else would think she was bonkers or would have no idea what she meant, but Leros knew perfectly.
“Flies again, should have known,” he sighed.
Cooking flies was no easy task, Leros needed to imagine the appearance of what he was to cook inside and out before it could be made. Imagining a fly’s insides correctly was a difficult feat for anyone, even if they had seen them. In the past Leros had been forced to read books on a fly anatomy to better make what Ghost desired. Ghost somewhat knew the complexity of this task yet offered no mercy to the already troubled man.
“Phew…rigggggght,” Leros said, jumping up and down, flexing his joints as if doing a work out.
Leros then stood in silence, closed his eyes and began visualizing the meals. Now focused, Ghost sat and watched, mesmerised by Leros’s moving hands cooking. Ghost felt like she could see into his mind as she recognized invisible implements and techniques he used to make her breakfast. After a short time he was done and two meals appeared on the table next to each other. In Leros’s mind there was no waiting for things to cook, all he needed to do was visualise the end result of an ingredient or process and it effectively happened. The demon’s power was something to fear indeed if cooking was obsolete to him.
Leros sat next to Ghost, exhausted from his experience, and saw she was heartily digging into the fly soup he had made her. After a few short breaths Leros started on his soup…without flies.
Ghost loved eating Leros’s artificial cooking. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside whenever she ate it, as if she was eating raw love. However nothing beat the taste of the real thing: fresh fluids, from Leros or her many friends in the Dark Palace.
Breakfast ended up being short and quiet, just how Ghost liked it. No other vixens such as witches, mermaids or demonic cats intruded on her time with Leros .The air was peaceful and allowed Ghost to start thinking of who she could molest in the day, and how her victims could be caught.
Leros didn’t really have a lot to say to Ghost as he knew he wouldn’t get much response. He cared for her well-being and took it upon himself to protect her, but didn’t usually spend too much time with Ghost as her hobbies were usually…odd. One thing Leros did do with Ghost was pl
ay the occasional video game. Ghost was good at playing video games; her incredible dexterity and concentration allowed her to play as 3 different players simultaneously. She was practically unbeatable with a gaming controller but the playing field evened out in the virtual reality games, if only slightly.
After breakfast the pair made their way to the scary lobby. Ghost clung once again to Leros as they entered, and the dining room behind them shifted back to a small store room as they both exited it. Ghost then suddenly felt the air move and instinctively jumped away in fear. She was now sat curled up in a ball in the nearby corner. Before Leros could react, a sensual voice called his name and then held him close from behind.
“Awww is she still scared of me, that’s cute,” said the mysterious half-invisible woman as she continued to phase into reality. The woman was none other than Aimi; the powerful being that created Leros, and the caretaker of the Underworld.
“What’s up?” Leros asked gently.
“There’s another reading, this time in the Terror Caves,” Aimi whispered.
“I think it’s another lost soul, a female child this time,” she continued.
“Right, looks like duty calls,” Leros ran to the large black steel doors nearby to head out but not before he looked at Ghost and winked, knowing full well she was safe within the Dark Palace.
The doors creaked shut behind him, leaving Aimi and Ghost alone in the lobby. Ghost was scared of other people but especially this woman; she was impossible to follow; the only one in the Dark Palace that could not be stalked to find out her routine and habits.
Aimi approached the curled up Ghost silently, even though Ghost could detect her every move. She smiled and rapped softly on the protective bundle of legs shielding Ghost, as if to knock.
“Got a job for you sweetie,” Aimi said softly.
The legs protecting Ghost loosened.
“Four girls are visiting our esteemed palace today, be a doll and let them in,” Aimi exaggerated.
Ghost knew what this meant and slackened her barrier again. Pale womanly hands then appeared before Ghost’s eyes as her legs were moved gently to the side; she could now see Aimi, smiling into the dark chamber within Ghost’s spider legs.
“They’ll arrive in the portal room in 10 minutes,” she whispered, all of Ghost’s eyes watching her intently as she spoke, but still Ghost did not move a muscle.
Aimi then let go of the small creature and stood up.
“Right I’ll be off then, hahahahaha.” Aimi then evaporated into thin air, her laugh echoing eerily as she vanished.
One advantage Ghost had over everyone (besides Aimi and Leros) was that she knew the Dark Palace like the inside of her webs. This usually meant that she was perfect as a tour guide or a lost item finder, the former being today.
Ghost was one of the few people with unlimited access to the portal room as it was a very dangerous environment. Only a few portals that existed there actually worked, but the portals linked to countless dimensions based on where Leros himself had visited. This room could only be unlocked by Leros or Aimi. Most residents in the Dark Palace could access one portal, their own, usually the dimension they came from. However, this mini portal was in their respective rooms; few people could access the massive portal databank because of problematic incidents such as paradoxes and even dimension annihilation.
Ghost could open any portal to let newcomers through, but was forbidden from entering one. In fact Ghost only had these privileges because Aimi and Leros found it ‘troublesome’ trying to keep her out, to say the least. Due to her incredible savviness and stealth, Ghost could slip in unnoticed or create hidden passageways as she saw fit. Like a child, once she was allowed to enter the room, she got bored and never caused mischief again.
Once Ghost was sure Aimi had vanished (after much peeping from within her spider legs) she set off to the portal room upstairs. Creeping on the gigantic walls, Ghost managed to safely cross the terrifying lobby and began skipping up the stairs towards the lord’s corridor. Once she reached the dormitories, a group of 5 girls were coming her way, giggling and talking loudly. Ghost’s hair stood on edge and she clung to the wall on the staircase in defence. Her sticky limbs ensured she was firmly attached; and her comfortably wrapped web shielded her from the wandering eyes of strangers, as well as danger.
As the unknown people approached, Ghost began the chameleon effect on her web to render her completely invisible, but was worried they would spot her before it completed, and her little heart began racing wildly.
One briefly looked her way and noticed some strange green splodge on the wall, but after a double take, the girl was satisfied nothing was there and began considering psychological therapy. As the girls were walking down the staircase, another one bumped into Ghost and felt her silky web. The girl reached out to feel the sensation again but felt only cold stone as Ghost had already moved along the wall and into the corridor.
The girls eventually left, scratching their heads, and Ghost deemed it safe to proceed up the stairs.
The residents of the Underworld often yearned to see the Dark Palace in all its glory. Since the ‘enlightenment system’ had been implemented, many souls have been able to carry out their wishes and essentially ‘live’ how they wanted. Ghost tended to avoid random people that entered her home but definitely stalked them if she had the time. Making notes of others’ routines and habits was an insatiable hobby of hers; she always got excited at learning what others did, and liked to touch and smell them for more intimate deductions. She frequently attacked her friends to feel their sensations but always got a scolding afterwards, even if they enjoyed it themselves.
Once Ghost reached the portal room, she stood dumbfounded for a few moments, realising she hadn’t brought the key from her seldom-used room. Evidence of emotion was present for a split-second when an idea sparked into her head. She summoned one of her strong arachnid appendages, and expertly tied web around the end of it to mimic a key, and stuck it in the keyhole. With a swift turn, the door to the portal room was now open. Slipping in unnoticed, she closed the door and was enveloped in its embracing darkness. Unfortunately the room detected her presence and lit the short path leading to the portal activator, foiling her otherwise perfect camouflage.
The portal room looked like an engineering room to the untrained eye, but with peculiar large circles in the background, hung up on a sort of manufacturing line. The control panel had many buttons and lights that would confuse anybody attempting to travel to another dimension. Ghost wrapped an appendage around her small wrist to form a watch, and the curious atmosphere of the palace began breathing life into it so she could see the time briefly; then it disappeared and her appendage flopped back into place again. The palace itself was sentient and watched over its residents like a parent.
Ghost sat on the fence next to the control panel and began kicking her legs like a child again; waiting that extra minute till her job arrived. Looking down from the fence revealed a long vertigo-inducing drop, and what looked like a reactor powering the room. Tons of wires and lights were strapped neatly around the dome-like space, giving it a sci-fi look; a look that meant nothing to this spider as it was noisy and bright. The time had finally arrived and Ghost hopped off the metal fence and began pressing buttons on the control panel. The panel accepted the user and brought up a portal from the back of the pile. Ghost cringed as she knew what came next and plugged her small ears with 2 of her 8 extra legs. Hitting the big green button to activate the portal caused an eruption of noise and power to blast into the room. Luckily Ghost activated her sticky feet and wasn’t fazed much by the activation. A mesmerising red light emanated from the portal and 4 figures emerged from its core.
