Chapter 7-203: SLA’s (1/2)
“Ho, are we done here?” The Mick’s voice came from the neighboring room, sounding more than a little amused.
I smirked despite myself, and Master Fred and I wandered down the adjacent tubeway to the seraglio.
There was an enormous four-poster there, sized for a genie noble who liked to desport himself, extravagant and sumptuous like the rest of the room. It was completely out of place in a lava palace, but that was how genies rolled.
The Mick was seated on a padded stool, while a crimson-skinned demonic beauty, with cloven hooves, bat’s wings, a flicking spade-tipped tail, and delicately spiraling black horns was glaring at him with eyes lit by balefire. She had bright yellow hair, and a figure designed by Lust to inspire carnal desire.
The silks and veils she was wearing weren’t designed to conceal, but to emphasize. She turned her eyes on us two new entries, keeping her hands away from the Collar on her neck with an effort of will, staring at us in calculation.
“Master Fred?” I inquired calmly.
NOT A PACT GRANTOR, he stated calmly, barely glancing at her. LIKELY HER TRUE NAME IS HELD BY ANOTHER, MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE.
“Is your Truename held by the Efreet or the Firelord?” I asked the succubus directly, in Demonic.
“Why should I tell you?” she snarled back... politely.
“The next time you fail to answer a question of mine, I am going to Feed you to the Land, and find another succubus. There are an infinite number of you, and the reason you are still alive is because you are a succubus, not because you have any value outside that reason. I am patient, and the fact you were foisted off on an Efreet means the Firelord doubtless has access to more of your kind.
“Now, I will give you thirty seconds to contemplate the end of your eternity, and our relationship shall thence advance as you deem fit.”
She shuddered despite herself as I fixed my eyes on her. I hadn’t bought those Intimidate Ranks for no reason. I was also standing next to a Heaven-and-Hellbound, and The Mick looked like he was ready to feast on her.
Yeah, I was totally ready to feed a demon to vivus, and helpless or not, it was still a Good Deed by definition. She had to know I had literally slaughtered armies...
Her demeanor changed smoothly after a few seconds of thought. “In response to Mistress’ question, both the Firelord and his governor know my Truename.”
I waved my hand and isolated the Genie Prison, as Master Fred walked away to examine the rest of the room, his presence unneeded. “Do you prefer to spend your days Bound and Sealed, or in a comfortable Genie Prison with the Bey?” I lifted up the ornament for her perusal, and her eyes narrowed.
She licked sumptuous lips delicately, looking back and forth between it and me. Doubtless she found the Bey easy to manipulate to get what she wanted, even if he had her Truename. Her glance around the sumptuous room indicated that she took her comforts as quite important.
“I would take the prison, Mistress,” she replied carefully, waiting to see my reaction. Being in the prison would prevent her from being Summoned by the Firelord and punished, if nothing else.
“As you are a demon, I will need your Truename. I promise that I will not use it to Summon you for anything resembling combat, to torment you, cause you pain, or similar reasons to establish dominance over you. If I want something from you, I will order it from you and you will obey, or I will dispose of you, that is all. Do you understand this?”
She licked her lips, staring at me. “Yes, Mistress,” she agreed, fear and hate warring behind her eyes, and she closed them, concentrating.
The name was fairly involved in Demonic as she sent it to me telepathically, and I caught the grimace at the edge of her exquisite lips as she touched my mind. Yes, it would have been a very bad idea to attempt to ensorcel me.
Fires burned from across the room behind her. I WISH THAT THE SUCCUBUS )^*)(*(& BE TREATED AS A GENIE FOR PURPOSES OF SEALING HER IN GENIE PRISONS.
“Very well.” The burning words faded away, and The Mick’s dark eyes crinkled in amusement as he watched it all. “Inside with you.” Binding magic backed by knowledge of her Name reached out for her.
There was a swirl of burning balefire gasses, and she was drawn into the Genie Prison in a rush of motion and power, fwoop, gone, the Collar clinking to thick rugs on the stone floor behind her.
The Prison didn’t change weight, of course, as they were in a sub-dimension.
The Mick glanced at the Prison as Master Fred walked back, and I nodded. “Worked, did it?” he said, his voice a little hushed.
After all, I could now grant Wishes. That was no small thing.
“It did.”
His white smile blossomed. “Do I get one?” he had to ask.
I held up a finger. “Wait until before Dusk Renewal, of course. There’s no stress or cooldown to the ability, but it’s a very nice Reserve option to have.”
“Got it.” He remembered that I took world-defying abilities as just another granted thing, and shook his head, then grinned despite himself.
He was going to be getting Wishes to raise his Stats! He was going to be the most powerful Blooded in the world, bar none...
“That’s not the only broken ability,” I informed him, and he cocked his head at me. “I only told you to spare her if she was a succubus for a reason.”
“I don’t know enough about demons to guess why,” he admitted. “I doubt you want the ability to suck out souls.”
I laughed softly, and tapped the bridge of my nose tellingly. “What do you think Sama’s Marks are based on?” I asked him.
He blinked. “What? A succubus?”