Part 37 (1/2)
”Oh, come on now, Earth. Look at it through mortal eyes. Is there nothing you would like to experience?” She put one hand to the upper hem of the robe.
Justin tried to turn away, but Earth prevented him. ”That mortal flesh is interesting, now that I am in a mortal host. I would like to see more of it.”
”She is trying to trick you into not getting rescued,” Justin retorted hotly.
”Surely there is no harm in just looking.”
”There can be phenomenal harm!”
”I doubt it.”
Fornax was watching him through Jaylin's eyes. Slowly she drew the robe to the side, so that more of the flesh of her upper torso was exposed. Earth watched, his interest increasing.
”I came here to rescue you,” Justin said. ”Do not allow her to deceive you!”
”What deception is there? She is merely uncovering the natural body, abolis.h.i.+ng the deception of clothing. I hope to see it all.”
”That hope will be your undoing! Would you have any interest at all if you were not with a mortal body?”
”Naturally not. The moment I leave this body, I will lose interest. That is why I wish to appreciate it now, while I am able to.”
”But don't you see-if she manages to distract you long enough to prevent your rescue, then the mortal bodies will all be abolished, and you will be forever her prisoner. For the sake of a moment of mortal experience, you will sacrifice your immortal freedom.”
Earth hesitated. ”What you say is true. It is not worth it to allow one percent of my attention to spoil the situation of the remaining ninety-nine percent.”
Justin was amazed. One percent had been set as the upper limit of Demon attention for this game, but apparently that was not based on the conventional standard. The Demons were even more unimaginably beyond mortal comprehension than he had thought.
”True.” Earth started to turn away.
Fornax s.n.a.t.c.hed the robe the rest of the way clear, together with the supportive undergarment, showing a full half of upper torso. Justin's eyes were caught. The Demoness had acted the moment she saw the decision go against her.
”We can still turn away,” Justin said, staring. ”Such a view is not completely compelling. Just make our body turn, carrying the eyes along.”
”Agreed.” Their body began to turn.
Fornax stepped quickly forward to embrace them. But her bare feet snagged on the dangling fringe of the robe, and she tripped again, falling into him. He caught her, but the view of her torso had been interrupted, and his eyes were free.
She tried to draw away, ripping off the rest of the robe. But he held her close, preventing it. She tried to catch his head for another kiss, but he averted his face and she caught him on the ear. His ear tingled with the pa.s.sionate force of it, but he was not close to freaking out.
”Bleep!” she swore again. ”So you will not have it yet? Then remain confined in your room!”
And he had to obey, for he was her captive. He watched her whirl and flounce out, shutting the door behind her.
Justin sat down on the bed. He wasn't sure how Demon Earth had been held before, but now that Justin was here, it was physical confinement.
”I was locked in stasis,” Earth clarified. ”I could not move at all, or extend my powers beyond this chamber. Now I share your mortal body, but my powers remain severely limited. I have no omniscience. That is uncomfortable.”
”How did Fornax capture you? I thought each Demon was all-powerful in his own region.”
”That is correct. I was tricked.”
”Tricked?”
”I received news that there had been a grueling contest of status among the foreign Demons, with Andromeda raiding Fornax and forcing its Demon to flee. Thus Fornax was undefended, and might be appropriated without opposition. So I made a quick raid of my own, to incorporate it, adding the power of antimatter to my a.r.s.enal-and it was a ruse. Fornax captured me away from my base, and I was helpless. It was a most humiliating defeat.”
”But perhaps the emotion of hope ameliorates it,” Justin suggested.
”It does. I never experienced positive emotion before. It is a wondrous thing. For the first time in my existence, I care what happens to me personally.”
”You did not care before? What about when Demon Xanth invaded your domain, and you tried to trap him there?”
”That was a matter of status. Had I succeeded in trapping him, I would have gained. As it was, he gained. He has been remarkably fortunate in recent games.”
”That may be because he has a.s.sociated with the mortals of his realm, gaining insights and a different perspective. He has been learning emotion, and dreaming, and it has been changing him. That appears to give him an advantage, because he has become less predictable, in the mortal manner.”
”So we gather. I understand he has even a.s.sociated himself on an even basis with a mortal creature, and devoted much attention to her.”
”Yes. That would be Chlorine, who was a bad-tempered wench with the talent of poisoning water. He transformed her to a lovely woman-physically, mentally, and emotionally-and I believe married her. At any rate, they now have a child.”
”What do you mean by lovely?”
”She is pretty, beautiful, esthetic, appealing to the eye and touch. A suitable love object.”
”Love-what is that?”
Justin laughed. ”Perhaps we shall never completely understand it. I love Breanna of the Black Wave.”
”She is lovely?”
”Yes. But it is more than that. She is imperious, forthright, aggressive, and quick to take offense.”
”These resemble Demon traits. That is why she compels your love?”
Justin shook his head ruefully. ”No, they might be considered faults in a woman. But they only make me love her more.”
”You like faults?”
”I don't know how to explain it, because the whole business is rather new to me, for all that I have loved her three years. I-I simply want to be with her, in every way. Without her I am incomplete.”
”Does Demon Xanth love Chlorine?”
”Yes, I believe he does.”
”And that emotion contributes to his success in Demon contests?”
”It may. I really am not party to Demon ways.”
”I am. Xanth has changed, and thereby benefited at the expense of other Demons. I want to learn his secret. Teach me love.”
”Demon Earth, this is impossible! Love cannot be taught, only experienced.”