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In Hell, things are starting to slowly unravel, becoming disorganized, messy, and in a word, violent. The war has grown worse, to the point where even the cities â€" once deemed off-limits â€" are now facing the threat of attack and destruction in the Eastern and Western Provinces. The Northern Provinces have turned into a wasteland, and even the Southern Provinces are becoming damaged and ugly under the constant attacks of Az'Iriel's golems, war machines, and undead soldiers: he has turned all his disadvantages into advantages, using necromancers to manipulate the corpses of the dead into permanent followers that don't obey the Pawn system of Hell, where captured soldiers must serve the Throne that defeats their leader.

For Zerrex, it has been more than two hundred and sixty thousand years... a long, arduous, and painful quarter of a million years that has left him feeling bitter and pessimistic, despite everything he has gone through. His strength is sloping off, his trainings slowing and showing less and less improvement, and he has learned all the magic he can... unless, of course, he wants to spend ten years focusing on one spell for one week a year.

He survived the Terror attack... barely... thanks to Little Arcy and Sin's efforts. He also discovered the identity of his attacker: one of the few Terrors that had actually been given the chance to reproduce by Mephistopheles, and one of the even-fewer whose descendants now serve in as soldier demons under the Throne. The Minotaur King, Lokivas Sol Terra, the Bull God... and one of the sons of Sin.

His body had been repaired, but he had fallen asleep for a long time, close to death... and finally he had awakened after more than a thousand years in his own home, looking stupidly around and confused. Sin and Selena had taken care of him for all those years in the Ravenlight Estate, and afterwards he had gone to see the Princess.

The death of Lokivas had caused a massive power surge in one of the southern territories of the Southern Province, but overall she seemed pleased with what he had done and his strength. She had also noted that she wanted to meet him tomorrow in the Garden of Salt... and the next day, she had mentioned idly she wanted to auction off most of Feldspar's valuables, but she could be convinced to allow him to have the Garden itself as a reward for his combat ability if he was willing to part with several valuable objects in return, such as the broken parts of the scepter Feldspar had wielded.

Zerrex allowed her to have it on a random hunch, and the Princess had first been pleased... then infuriated when she'd set it back together with her strange ability to reverse time around objects, but it had only remained a bronze-colored, ugly scepter, and nothing more. It emanated no sense of prestige and power... and when she'd struck Zerrex with it out of anger, he'd been sent skidding backwards, but that was all.

The Princess had left in fury... and Zerrex had explored the Garden of Salt before finding his way down to Feldspar's dungeons. Terrible monstrosities were kept inside cages here, and demons were sitting in cells with their body parts replaced by moving stone or rock... and Feldspar had left hundreds of notes on her tables, along with incomplete experiments and other ideas, including a note on the alchemical processes of the Lucifer's Eye. Zerrex had freed the demons that hadn't tried to kill him, then wondered for a while on what to do with the monstrosities before deciding to talk it over with Sin and Selena later.

He had spent the next few years studying Feldspar's experiments and logs, bringing some of these to Ixin, who was all-too-happy to help in complete seriousness with this sort of work. Anything to get back at Feldspar â€" even from beyond the grave â€" seemed to fill the already-too-cheerful mortal with great pleasure, and the two were able to discuss alchemical processes and magical modification together as equals, with Zerrex explaining mortal technologies where necessary and Ixin filling in the many blanks Zerrex had on magic and alchemy himself.

Selena eventually took over management of the garden after Zerrex had the golden statues sold off, both worth double their weight in silver coins, and he'd removed every other ornament that displeased him... which were most, since ninety percent of them were busts or sculptures of Feldspar herself, and he didn't want to be reminded of her. The only one he kept was a statue of her in the days before she had gone insane, of her standing with a sword in full armor and looking irritated, if anything. He also kept several old paintings of her and gave one of the smaller pictures to Selena, who thanked him quietly for it. Feldspar had been a bitch, after all... but she had also been misguided and broken by the real enemy.

The reptile encountered more than his share of fights and mayhem over the years, but much of it was what was to be expected in Hell's pandemonius world: he fought on the front lines in the battlefield as a soldier before the Princess banned him from participating in the military, and then he went back to construction work for a while... but too often that led to issues with him being challenged openly by the other workers. He took care of animals for a while, and although he loved it, it became more of a hobby for him... and a wonderful entertainment whenever he forced Selena to ride with him, since she was terrified of Wyrms for whatever reason.

Zerrex snuck down to the Central Spire and the Circle of Tragedy whenever he could, too, visting Blake in the libraries and wandering the museums, looking now and then for Ixin's flute while he tried to memorize the setup of the tower... and he also ran across other members of the Legion here and there, but he tried to avoid the Circles of Hell, as Masters and other soldiers of Az'Iriel too-often attempted to ambush him down there. That, however, became a bit more difficult after he finally took on the job of bounty hunter for the Hall of Justice, working directly under the Judge of Death White and for the Magistrates. Sabnock, at least, seemed happy to have him... although it was always hard to tell what was going on in White's mind from his hard, expressionless features.

He had met with Lily several times, and found out more about the Resistence Movement... and he had even wanted to go with them when they stood up against Master Scribe Vine, but Lily had said it was far too dangerous: not for him, but for them, since Vine would undoubtedly have been trained to recognize him. It made him miserable, but he had sighed and agreed... and then waited impatiently for news, pacing back and forth in his home and taking the entire week off work. Sabnock had been pissed off at this, but White had understood... and when the wolverine demoness had started on a lecture about responsibilities and common courtesy, White had simply tilted his head and mentioned the date, and Sabnock had shut up and looked embarrassed. And Zerrex couldn't explain how or why he had felt so glad that White had revealed a bit more about himself and his loyalties, and that he wasn't part of the Princess's vast following.

Lily, Raze, Selena, Amiglion, and several other demons returned, but the losses had been high: Shimmer, the erotic dancer from the ‘Meal Club' Zerrex had once attended had been killed, along with several other members of that old group Zerrex had hung around with... and most of the others injured severely. Only Amiglion was still left in good condition, but the Grim Reaper mumbled embarrassedly and attributed this mostly to luck and cowardice as he rubbed the back of his head slowly. But on the other hand, they had successfully attacked and destroyed the Scribes in the Castle and severely-wounded Vine, forcing him into retreat with a promise of coming vengeance.

But none of them had been identified other than Lily and several other Eastern Province demons, either, which had been a bonus... and with the castle recaptured, Lily had taken it over and immediately set up her new base inside of this instead of the Lust Circle hideout. Soldiers in cities had been overrun by demons proclaiming her as the Eastern Throne's Princess, and many of the smaller garrisons had been either destroyed or converted to Lily's cause, making the Eastern Province a three-way warzone between Az'Iriel, the Princess, and the proclaimed High Princess Lilith.

The Princess condemned her, and Az'Iriel's soldiers had done the same, led by Majesty and the other concubines of the Warlord... but with all three groups of soldiers fighting one-another, neither side had been capable of establishing authority over Lily's province except for her. Zerrex had been more glad than he could say... and then, in a powerful sign of defiance, he and Lily had been wed in a public ceremony together in classic mortal style, under an archway of roses by a priestess of Hell.

It had been beautiful, and Zerrex had enjoyed himself... but he had felt hollow and sad inside at the same time, wishing for his girls to be here. And he had stayed with Lily that night, and they had made love and fucked and done everything in between until they were both sore the next morning... and even then Lily had kissed him and murmured quietly that she wished they had time for more.

There had been no fancy coronations, despite the massive ceremony they'd had... and of course, the moment Zerrex returned to the Southern Provinces, he'd been escorted to the Princess's chambers. He'd expected to be caged up or punished viciously, but instead the Princess had only given him a deadly-serious warning: "Be careful what side you choose, Lord Zerrex. In real life, the underdog rarely wins."

Then she had dismissed him... and Zerrex had gone back to life in Hell. Despite the time that passed, there hadn't been many other high points or low points: a few fights here and there, a lot of shoving people around as the bounty hunter he now worked as, a lot of feeling fidgety and uncomfortable as news of the war filtered down. The other largest point was the fact that one night he had ended up discussing marriage in Hell with Selena... and the next day they had been standing together in the orchards behind the house as a choir of demons sang in soft harmony and a priestess married Zerrex to his second wife in Hell. Lily, Sin, Raze, Amiglion, and a few others had been present, Lily standing at Zerrex's side and Sin on Selena's... and then they had kissed, and Vampire, standing near the back, had cackled and thrown a bottle of champagne at Zerrex's head before blushing deeply as the Drakkaren ducked and glared.

They had sipped from a silver cup of virgin's blood together, then shared it in a kiss: a strange ritual of Hell. They had proclaimed their affection for each other, Selena blushing deeper than Zerrex at this point... and then they had gone to the Garden of Salt, walked along the river to a small clearing... and both had shown their true, demonic bodies to the other.

Zerrex's own form had grown several feet, to a total of forty-two feet tall by this time, his muscles bulging but his chest and abdomen beginning to thin out, ribs showing through slightly against scale despite the tauntness of his muscles... and he remembered hugging her tightly against his naked, corrupt body as she stepped forwards in her own twisted form, and they had held each other close before they had indulged each other's bodies with their own, and Zerrex had put those tentacles he could produce to good use as he discovered that he could, indeed, shape and form them so any tentacle he produced out his body became shaped like the quasi-tentacles between his legs.

It had been interesting, to say the least... and now, after all these years, all these changes, Zerrex was checking off the last name on his schedule of a demon he had just hunted down and kicked through a one-way portal straight into a jail cell. His body was strong and supple, and he made a bit of a face as he looked up towards the ranches nearby in the Western Province of Hell, muttering: "I guess that's what we call bestiality back on the mortal realm."

He looked up and over the large, open stalls, inside which were housed not unevolved animals, but instead mortals, one of them laying on her side and bleeding from the anus as she shuddered violently. He had interrupted the demon in the middle of raping her... and Zerrex didn't know what to do now with these mortals, as he walked over to the paddock and rested his arms against the wooden sides, the runes on the wood glowing softly as he said mildly: "You know, you guys should be smart enough to get out of here."

"Guys here?" asked one of them stupidly, and Zerrex made a bit of a face: ninety percent of them were females, and most of those beautiful, young girls of all species. Mortals, bred like unevolved feed or pack animals, and the most beautiful of either sex carefully placed aside in special stalls while still virgins for their blood to later be drained and sold once they reached a certain age. Mortals, after all, were highly-useful in magical rituals... thus they were specially-bred like any other animal to produce the best and strongest... while carefully limiting everything they heard or learned, to ensure that they wouldn't ever be too troublesome to take care of inside their stalls.

Zerrex sighed, then he paused as something heated up in his pocket, and he produced a small circle of polished steel. A single rub of his thumb over the rune in the middle of the circle, and it glowed before an image of Selena's head appeared, looking at him sourly. "You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago."

"Sorry, I got sidetracked by a late bounty... he was busy molesting a mortal girl in one of these paddocks." Zerrex paused, then created a portal and sighed, looking morbid. "I'd ask to skip this session, but..."

"Yeah, don't bother." Selena said irritably, crossing her arms and glaring at him. Amazing how our relationship really hasn't changed much... "Hurry up and get your ass over here. I hate this shit myself."

"I'm coming, give me ten more minutes to find you. I still get lost in the Central Spire." Zerrex muttered, and he stepped through the portal to enter into the Hall of Knowledge, looking back and forth and rubbing at his bare chest. His black greaves thudded against the floor as he walked forwards, slipping the small communications device back into his pocket.

He made his way up to the fifth floor of the Central Spire, flashing his metal pass to the Royal Guards standing in front of a pair of steel double doors, and they nodded before stepping aside to let him through, the doors automatically swinging over as Zerrex slumped and looked morbid, walking into the huge cement room.

Wentaku and mages wandered back and forth between huge cradles and pods, all of them living, pulsing plants inside which demons slept, thick, long strands of ivy strewn over the floor like power cables in a disorganized lab. He carefully made his way towards Selena, who was standing past the first rows of plant pods and at one of the ‘stacks;' a massive, spiraling ramp supported by a central pillar, both going all the way up to the ceiling. Upon each of these ramp grew more of the strange pods and clusters of ivy, and Zerrex mumbled: "This sucks."

"Yeah, well, that's life. This is Hell, after all." Selena said mildly, and then she led him up the ramp, the Drakkaren looking sourly back and forth as she added: "Feel fortunate I got you booked into here... after all, most people have to do this from a makeshift Cradle, and believe me, that's even more uncomfortable, unless you learn how to grow one of these plants for yourself."

"These things scare me." Zerrex whined, and then he sighed and slipped the Executioner's Saber off his back, passing it over to Selena as they halted in front of an empty one that was gurgling and pulsing slowly. He made a face at it, then pulled the junk out of his pockets and tossed the assorted items into the small bag sitting next to the pod, before tying the bag tight and carefully placing it into another open pod, which closed hungrily over the sack before ivy wrapped tightly around it, and the Drakkaren added mildly: "Possession really isn't my thing, you know."

"I know, but whatever. It's the only sure way in and out of Hell." Selena shrugged a bit, and Zerrex sighed again as he slipped carefully into the pod, wincing as the fleshy inside of the plant conformed to his body and squeezed him lightly, the rattling gurgles of the living plant making him nervous as vines slowly began to wrap around him. "Now relax and just let this thing do its job and take care of your body while you slip out into the mortal plane. You think you'd be hopping for the chance to explore up there some more with how much you always talk about it."

"Symbiotes terrify me, ever since the stuff that happened with Drake." Zerrex replied, and Selena gave him a flat look before he mumbled: "Okay, so it was a parasite, but-"

"Lord Zerrex, my apologies to interrupt... but I'd like to have a word with you." interrupted a quiet voice, and Zerrex leaned up as several of the vines withdrew, Selena turning in surprise at the sight of White standing nearby in a black vest and a blue cloth shirt, his jeans covered by a pair of heavy-duty chaps and a choker at his throat. His wide-brim hat sat upon his head, and he looked meditatively at Zerrex before his eyes flicked to Selena, adding mildly: "It's a little bit important."

Selena nodded after a moment, motioning to the reptile to get out, and he carefully pulled free of the pod, wincing a bit and feeling relieved he didn't have to go back out into the world like this. To be completely honest, it had bothered him ever since his first successful Possession, taking over someone's body and forcing his way into their mind, wearing their body like a suit... even if in the end, the goal of the Possession was a good one.

For now, he pushed that out of his mind as he half-reached for his sword, but White shook his head slightly and turned away, heading down the spiraling ramp, and so Zerrex only gave Selena a look before following, absently rubbing his fingers over the three rings on his fingers: silver to remind him of his family, and two golden rings for his new wives in Hell. The two made their way out of the room, but White remained silent even as Zerrex caught up to him, and Zerrex decided to just follow the badger for now.

They strode down the stairs to the third floor level, but it was another floor before White said mildly: "I ended up being the Judge of Death for a wolf named Mahihko Narrius that claims to know you... formerly named Lone Wulfe, I noted. Does his name mean anything to you?"

"Mahihko's dead? What?" Zerrex felt a chill roll through his body, and then he snarled, clenching a hand into a fist and glaring at the floor as it turned to rage, muttering: "When I find out who did it, I'll rip them limb-from-limb... no one hurts my family, no one lays a finger on any of them, not even the-"

"Suicide. He was manipulated into it by a Marina Narrius... in fact, they performed quite the complex suicide-ritual together to become demons, except she hasn't come through yet... meaning either she was sent to another Judge of Death, or more likely, she was interrupted." White said in his same calm voice, and Zerrex halted in shock as White continued to stroll down the hallway, before the badger stopped and softened a bit, glancing over at the Drakkaren and adding quietly: "I ain't supposed to, but I know what it's like to lose a kid. I'll take you to see him before the cart him off to begin his punishments in the other circles, if you want. He's got a long haul ahead of him, though... a short tour of a few thousand years through almost every Circle before he gets sent to the Circle of Minor Sin for a few million or so."

Zerrex nodded slowly, rubbing the back of his head slowly before he looked down, gritting his teeth... and White pulled out a plain pocketwatch, checking it before Zerrex said finally in a weak voice: "I shouldn't see him."

White looked up in surprise, and Zerrex looked away, murmuring quietly: "I love him like my child, much as I don't want to. After everything we've been through together, he has enough meaning in my life that I... that I want to do right by him first-off. He... killed himself to see me, and I'm honored, and I'll see him... but I don't want him to be given special treatment, and I don't want him to be attacked or hurt from association with me. If you could, though, just... call Wolf. Mahihko Wolf, to protect him... and I'll sneak in to see him the first chance I get, after... after this war has settled down."

White nodded slowly... then he flicked his hand to the side, a logbook appearing in it as he drew a pen out of his pocket, editing something quickly. A moment later, the logbook vanished as he tucked his pen away, and White said quietly: "I did the same thing with my second son... I abandoned him in an orphanage, to keep him safe, always swearing I'd go see him again... except Hunters caught up to me and killed me. You just make sure you go and see your kid before somethin' bad happens to you, Lord Zerrex, that's all I ask in return.

"But come on. There's one other thing I wanted to discuss with you." White turned and motioned for him to follow, and again there was silence as they walked together until they reached the Hall of Knowledge. The badger whistled at a passing mage in librarian's robes, and then he said mildly: "I need a portal up to the Center Throne, if you will."

Zerrex frowned a bit as the mage bowed before creating a plain-looking portal... and White stepped through it before Zerrex followed slowly. It closed behind them as the Drakkaren stepped out onto black tiles... and he stared in shock at the sky that seemed only a few dozen feet away, looking down to see the Southern balcony some hundred feet down beneath him before he turned around to stare at a massive pillar of solid grey rock.

It was rounded and smooth, and the top of the enormous cylinder seemed to press through the vortex in the middle of Hell's sky... and Zerrex made a bit of a face as he approached slowly towards where White was standing on the edge of marble platform it stood upon. The badger glanced over at him, then touched the cylinder gently... and runes burned in black energy over the entire length of the pillar, and it shuddered violently before the badger drew his hand away, asking quietly: "What do you see?"

"Something sealed... that should probably stay sealed." Zerrex murmured as he approached slowly, and White tilted his head as the Drakkaren smiled faintly at the ground, saying softly: "I mean... absolute power corrupts absolutely, right?"

"Except everything's corrupt in Hell... and many of us have had far too many millions of years to care anymore about this..." A pause and a bit of a smile towards the Drakkaren as he added mildly: "But hey, what do we know, right? It's not like either of us can open this thing."

Zerrex nodded, and then he slowly reached out, his fingers grazing the pillar before the runes glowed again... except this time in blue, and it gave another shiver, sending a thrill of electricity through the reptile's arm as he asked quietly: "How does it open, out of curiosity? The Prophecy said something about a great hero who fights a great battle or some nonsense... does that mean it just... opens for him or does he break it with a spell of sword, or what?"

The badger shrugged a bit, and he touched the pillar again... but this time it stayed smooth and cold, and White finally answered after a moment: "It's supposed to open at the touch of the new High King or High Queen of Hell... but no one has ever managed to cause it to do more than shudder. Any and all attacks on it are repelled or reflected, and that made it the perfect hiding place."

"The perfect hiding place?" Zerrex looked at White with confusion... and then the badger took a step back before he threw himself upwards, the Drakkaren staring in shock as the badger landed neatly on the edge of the forty-foot high pillar, his head almost brushing the skyline as he glanced down at Zerrex with his hands in his pockets. What. The. Hell. I'm lost. And impressed.

"Come on up." White invited, his voice easily carrying down to the reptile... and Zerrex made a face before he stepped backwards with a sigh and tensed, then leapt upwards and landed on the edge of the pillar in a crouch with a wince, beginning to look over at the badger as his mouth half-opened with the start of a question... before his eyes locked onto something pulsing slowly in the distance, imprisoned inside a circle of runes sketched on the top of the pillar. "No one ever thought to look for it up here..."

"That's..." Zerrex's breath caught in his throat as he stood up, staring at the blue, floating pearl of the Heartstone. It was beautiful and terrible all at the same time, dancing slowly back and forth inside a dome-shaped field generated by the circle of runes inscribed upon the surface of stone beneath it, and the Drakkaren walked slowly forwards before wincing and pulling away, feeling his head resounding with the power of the Heartstone's draw. He looked over to White, who smiled a bit and looked somewhat impressed as the reptile asked quietly: "The Heartstone of Mephistopheles?"

White nodded, and he walked slowly forwards himself, sighing quietly as he murmured: "I relinquished it and kept it safe for a long time in the Central Spire itself... but after so many attacks from demons, I had the Scribes make me no less than a thousand fake Heartstones, and I scattered them across Hell with the help of both angels and demons to deter anyone from getting their hands on the real one. I then put the real one up here, in a place impossible for many demons to reach even if they can fly... and no one's ever guessed at its location until now. I'm giving it to you, Lord Zerrex... my Heart- I mean... the Heartstone of Mephistopheles." A pause and a faint smile as he looked down, adding quietly: "It still has a powerful pull over me. It's a compulsion, an obsession... but even if I still think of it as my Heartstone, it's yours now... and I think the compulsion will die down with it gone forever and bound with you.

"This isn't like a Heartstone of a God or Angel or Demon, Zerrex..." White turned to face him fully, locking gazes with him as he continued slowly: "This is for keeps. The power of Mephistopheles is incredible, but he's been dead for so long that the Heartstone had begun to crack... and when you take it into your body, it will probably shatter, and his full power will spill into you and become yours. It'll break that last seal chain on your body... but at the same time, who knows what powers or changes it'll bring out at the same time."

Zerrex nodded slowly... then he closed his eyes and concentrated, before wincing and flicking his wrist with a long breath, feeling a bit of energy leave him as a golden heartstone pushed out his palm and appeared in his hand, and White frowned before the reptile said mildly: "Then how about a trade? This is the Heartstone of Anubis... I'll give it to you freely to help make room for that one. I haven't really bonded with him, anyway... it helped me learn some magical tricks and stuff, but that was about it."

"Zerrex..." White began, and then he sighed when the Drakkaren shoved the Heartstone at him, adding mildly: "I see you're as rough about this as you are with everything else... no wonder you piss Sabnock off so much."

The badger still hesitated, however... and then he finally took the Heartstone, plucking it out of the Drakkaren's hand before rolling it slowly in his fingers, looking down at it with fascination before shaking his head and tucking it away in his pocket. He glanced back up, watching as Zerrex stepped through the energy field and towards the Heartstone, as it floated tantalizingly in the air... and then the reptile reached out and seized it as White closed his eyes and tilted his head away.

Blue lightning sparked over the Drakkaren's body, and he cursed as he fell to his knees, snarling in pain as the Heartstone tore into him almost immediately. His body convulsed, and he hacked violently before vomiting black bile as the tattoo on his bicep twisted and writhed, the swastika spinning violently as the ivy on his arm began to writhe and twist, scale pushing out... and then Zerrex straightened and stared in horror as the circle the swastika was in filled in dead black.

A moment later, the ivy pushed up out of his arm, twisting violently around and down his forearm and up to his shoulder, squeezing his own arm in a tight embrace as it thickened, more strands of ivy spilling out and melting together as a terrible heat burned along his right arm, the Drakkaren letting out a cry of shock and agony as he fell over and spasmed on the ground, scrambling backwards and away from his own limb as it distorted and lengthened slightly. He arched his back and screamed as his fingers humped up next and twisted, and a voice whispered in his head: Our bodies are our weapons...

"Stop it... goddammit, I control you..." Zerrex hissed, grabbing his own wrist tightly... but it felt like a mix of metal and stone, like some hard, solid mineral as it hardened... and then the Drakkaren shouted furiously, as rage and pain filled his mind: "I control you!"

He swung his arm through the air as he staggered to his feet, roaring as he grabbed his head with his other hand and held his warped arm high... and then the pain that had been pulsing through him halted as the last seal chain on him shattered, the metal links flying free in a blast of force as the Drakkaren slowly clenched his fingers shut, and red light shove through several cracks in the black and grey, rocklike armor of his arm, the reptile panting hard as he slowly brought it down in front of his face as his horns pushed out of his head without the reptile even feeling them. He let out a guttural groan, and then he fell to his knees, staring in horror at what his arm had become as terrible power pulsed through his body at the same time, and then White murmured quietly: "Wrath and Earth... as dangerous a combination as Lust and Fire..."

"What the hell has happened to me?" Zerrex looked up at White with despair and fear in his eyes, a shudder rolling through him before he stared back down at his arm, asking weakly: "Is... is this what my whole body will become?"

"I can't say for sure." White shrugged a bit, and Zerrex felt fury growing in him at the detachment of the badger before he added quietly: "Besides, it doesn't matter. You should be able to draw it back and restore your arm to normal if you concentrate... but it might take you some practice. You have the Lust characteristic of being able to shapeshift your body, after all... and who knows what you can do with that thing, on top of that."

Zerrex stood shakily, and he concentrated as hard as he could manage at the moment... but nothing happened, and the reptile cursed and kicked at the pillar in frustration before striding towards White with a grimace, wincing as a bit of energy sparked over his body as he passed through the dome. He flexed his fingers slowly, hating the way they felt so... solid, heavy, like he was wearing a long, armor-plated glove... and then he brushed absently at his rocky, twisted shoulder before almost cutting himself on several rock-hard spines that jutted from it, feeling a vague reminder of Feldspar as he shuddered a bit. "This is just like what Feldspar did to her own body..."

White nodded again, looking unperturbed as he glanced over Zerrex's body slowly, before he looked down at his own hand and flexed it slowly. "With her alchemical skills, she might have added a few surprises into the Lucifer's Eye, or anything that was prepared for you... but either way, I've done my bit here. You take care of yourself, Zerrex, and harness the powers of Mephistopheles... don't let him harness you."

White met his eyes, and Zerrex nodded slowly before the badger paused, looking up and saying quietly: "It's a funny thing, you know. I heard that they're reorganizing the artifacts in the Central Spire today, so all the magical security systems have been shut down. I also heard they moved a certain flute to the first floor display cabinets. Then again, no one knows how to work the last artifact, so I suppose even if someone did steal it, few people would recognize its worth... but I just found it odd, how sloppy they were being about things."

With that, White created a portal and stepped through it as Zerrex stared in shock... and then the Drakkaren grinned slowly before creating a portal of his own and stepping back into the Hall of Knowledge. He rubbed at his new, strange arm as he hurried while trying to look like he wasn't hurrying towards the doors opposite the ones he had emerged through, and the reptile kept a close eye on the display cabinets as he passed them before halting at a glass case just around the bend, and he knelt to look curiously at the plain-looking wooden flute as a pair of soldiers passed by, before he shot a look to the Royal Guard standing near the doors.

The guard looked back with distaste, and Zerrex's eyes glowed emerald. The guard immediately frowned and winced, the bear-demon fighting back hard against his Dominate trick... and Zerrex applied more mental pressure before the bear simply fell over and began to drool, and the Drakkaren winced before sliding backwards as another Royal Guard he hadn't seen around the bend ran over to check on his friend. The reptile backstepped until he couldn't see the guard anymore, and then he did his best to look innocent as he walked slowly forwards, the Royal Guard dragging his drooling partner past him with a look of distaste. The soldier didn't pay him much attention, however, as he instead kicked the door open and dragged his friend out into the Hall of Knowledge, shouting irritably for a mage.

Zerrex took the opportunity to pause by the glass display case, looking back and forth for anyone else before slapping the glass front lightly with the back of his stony hand, and it shattered with a loud tinkle as the reptile winced away... but nothing else happened after a few moments, and the Drakkaren immediately reached in and snatched the flute before walking quickly towards the doors with a dumb grin... and then it faded as he realized he had nothing to put the flute in, and no escape plan. He stared at it, realizing it was far too big to slip into his pocket... and instead the reptile quickly shoved the flute down one leg of his pants as he heard several bickering mages enter the other end of the hallway, and he quickly stepped into the room beyond, closing the door tightly before turning around and pulling it open to step into a different hallway on the first floor, keeping the flute against his leg with hooks of blue energy.

The reptile stumbled forwards, peering back and forth nervously as he quickly made his way up to the fourth floor again. Selena, thankfully, was still waiting by the pod... and she immediately frowned and crossed her arms, looking at him sourly as he coughed and rubbed the back of his head, starting: "What did you... what the fuck happened to you arm?"

She stared in horror at the black, warped arm that had several large, cracks twisted through the dark surface of the limb, through which a faint red light pulsed and twisted, like semiliquid flesh... and Zerrex shrugged, looking morbid before Selena leaned forwards towards him, asking in a low murmur: "Did... White... show you... that?"

"Well, at least he didn't molest me with it." Zerrex said mildly, and Selena glowered at him before the Drakkaren coughed and leaned away, wincing and muttering: "Yes, he did. So I motion we skip today's possession to instead move on to something else more interesting and less repulsive."

Selena sighed and softened a bit as she looked at him, saying quietly: "Look, Zer, you're a demon... you need to learn to control every aspect of what that means for you now. And not every possession is going to go the same way your last one did... besides, no matter what else, you still did a good thing..."

"And I keep imagining if that was Marina, how I'd feel... and wondering just how that little girl is going to grow up now." Zerrex responded quietly, closing his eyes and tilting his head away. Selena was quiet, and then the Drakkaren clenched his rocky fist tightly. "I don't want to hurt people... even if I do want to do what's right first of all."

He could see the possession in his mind clearly: first, he'd possessed a mentally-incompentant beggar, and from him he'd slunk around a schoolyard before grabbing a little girl and jumping from the beggar to her in an alley. In her body, the reptile had then quickly made his way towards the real target: a pedophile in this remote, isolated city in Northern Ire's mountain zone, safe from the attacks of the demons and far enough away from the other battle zones to make it one of the few hospitable cities in the separatist nation.

He could channel his powers through the little girl's body, even though it was difficult to do so: it meant that he could throw a blast of telekinesis into whatever tried to attack him, or cast spells and use a surprising amount of his strength even in this little girl's form. She had been kicking and screaming for a while mentally, giving him a headache... but he'd pushed her away and imprisoned her deep in her own mind, blacking out the outside world as he'd gone about the task of finding the pedophile's home.

It was sort of ironic, with what he'd done once with Little Arcy... but he tried to remember how she had been a consenting adult, no matter what her body... and that he didn't prey on little girls for a living. He remembered knocking on the door, and greeting the male who entered, sketching a curtsy â€" it had been retardedly hard for him to pull off, despite using the little girl's memories and skills to his advantage â€" before he had begun to try and think up some dumb little girl excuse for knocking on the door... but he grabbed her and jerked her into his home, and Zerrex had laughed and grinned from on the floor in the body of the young, small dog with pigtails he'd chosen, her eyes turning from brown to green as the older male in fatigues halted and frowned a bit, his pants already halfway down.

Zerrex had tortured him as he'd been ordered to do, then castrated him and left him to bleed to death as he'd walked out of the room. He'd taken the girl's body out to a park somewhere and allowed his spirit to flow out of her, and he'd quickly slid into the ground and down towards one of the many Cracks deep in the earth: invisible, natural rips in the fabric of the universe.

He'd returned to his body... and later the thoughts and worries had started. He wondered how much she remembered... he wondered how she'd react... he wondered how he'd react if that had been Marina. And he'd started beating himself up over it... but most of all, he felt slimy and weak. It was too cheap, too traitorous, too... ugly a trick, possessing someone and making their body dance to your whim. He didn't like it, in short... and he didn't think he ever would, meaning he'd ducked possession training whenever he could, despite how he grudgingly realized how useful it was for demons, and how it could be their only means of passing along information on the mortal realm without detection.

But thankfully, now he had an easy excuse to get out of it... and he held out his deformed arm towards Selena, saying mildly: "I think stuff happening with my real body takes priority before anything else. Besides, I uh... we should leave the Center Spire. You know. Now."

"Oh fuck, you did something else on top of this." Selena sighed and rolled her eyes, but she nodded with a mutter, as Zerrex made a face at her. "Fine. Let's go before we get arrested."

"That... is a very real possibility." Zerrex mumbled embarrassedly, and Selena stared at him before he laughed a bit and rubbed the back of his head with a dumb grin, looking at her lamely. "I can't help the things I do. Besides, White told me to do it. Sort of."

"This is sounding worse and worse..." Selena groaned and muttered some incantation, and the smaller plant pod beside Zerrex unravelled and opened up, the sack of his stuff sliding slowly out. Zerrex took it with a grateful look at the demoness, beginning to quickly put things back in his pockets as she asked pensively: "Is it at least something useful?"

Zerrex wondered for a moment how to answer this, but he decided to simply shrug and grunt in the end as a Wentaku passed by, saying mildly: "Well, I was thinking about taking you out to dinner tonight, but if you're going to be grouchy..."

Selena snorted, easily falling in step with the reptile as she retorted: "Take me out to dinner, really? I'll be impressed when you actually make me dinner, you ass." A pause as Zerrex looked at her flatly, and she added mildly: "Assuming, of course, you know how to prepare your own food, which I think most mortals learn around age five or six."

"Maybe when you were born. Unless peanut-butter sandwiches count, and uh... stuff that you just... you know, pull open or unwrap." The reptile nodded thoughtfully at this, and Selena rolled her eyes, rubbing a hand slowly down her muzzle before the Drakkaren paused and slumped his shoulders a bit as he looked down at the silver ring now trapped on one of the blackened, ridged lengths of stone ending in a claw he had for fingers. "You know... Mahihko committed suicide to come and see me in Hell."

"What?" The demoness frowned and tilted her head, handing the lizard his sword as he tossed the empty bag down to the ground. The reptile quickly slid this on, adjusting the strap that held it in place as she asked quietly: "Is he in Hell, then? Is he okay?"

"White is going to see to him... I'll visit him sometime, make sure he's okay... but for now I figured that it was best he not see me." Zerrex said softly, looking down at the ground and slowly starting down the ramp, and Selena walked up beside him and quietly took his rocky hand... and Zerrex felt his stone arm warming up slightly at her touch, the Drakkaren looking at her with surprise as he asked hesitantly: "Aren't you scared you'll like... get some demonic disease touching that?"

The demoness shrugged, then squeezed his hand quietly and smiled a bit at him, saying dryly: "I'm scared about that every day I touch you, anyway, so what's the difference?"

"I hate you. We're getting a divorce." Zerrex said sulkily, and Selena threw her head back and laughed brazenly, not caring about the Wentaku and mages that winced and glared at her... and Zerrex thought that was probably one of the reasons he cared about her so much, embarrassed as it made him feel. "But seriously. I don't know what this thing is. It could try and eat you or something like that."

"So sweet of you to be concerned, but I think you should be more worried about Mahihko... this arm probably has a few secrets to it that we'll have to work through." Selena said mildly, squeezing his armored hand lightly, and the Drakkaren tilted his head curiously before wincing as she reached up to tapped one of his horns lightly. "By the way, are you having issues with control right now? As in, should I drag you off to the fields and let you rampage around and get out whatever you need to?"

Zerrex shook his head, making a face and closing his eyes as he concentrated, and his horns slowly receded into his own head, causing the reptile to wince a bit. "No, I think I'm fine... it's just this stupid arm that needs to be fixed. It's all creepy and armor-plated and glowy and stuff, and it feels so... weird."

"You said the same thing about your tentacle metamorphisis, but now you keep using them abusively." Selena pointed out, and Zerrex looked up thoughtfully as a tentacle slid out of his shoulder and carefully slipped around behind them, tapping lightly against the demoness's right shoulder as they walked along. She glanced over to the side, and then shot an icy glare at Zerrex, saying irritably: "Stop that. You don't need to illustrate every point I make by being an idiot."

Zerrex mumbled something under his breath and wrapped the tentacle around her muzzle, holding it closed, and Selena flailed a bit before punching him in the kidney with the hand not squeezing into his rocky fingers. The Drakkaren groaned loudly, the tentacle quickly retreating as Selena muttered: "Fuck, between this and your creepy incest fantasies, it's a surprise I haven't gone insane yet... I just hope that arm isn't capable of the same shifting as your body, or I know I'll be in for all sorts of fun surprises."

"Hey, it's not my fault you guys won't let me go and spend my nights at the Castle with Lily." Zerrex replied defensively, and then he winced when Selena glared at him possessively. "And I'm getting the feeling, for some reason, that the whole ‘it's not safe due to the three-way-war' deal is only part of it. You're changed a lot over the years, you know that?"

"Fuck that, you've just gotten to know me better from all the years that've passed." Selena replied mildly, and then she paused and prodded his side as they continued on their path down the tower, adding dryly: "On the other hand, believe me, I'd kill for some time away from you. I don't like this mortal husband-wifey shit, I want some space, honestly. But I'm also not stupid enough to let you go parading around with Lily like you two are mortal teenagers on a quest to overthrow the evil empire."

"Mom, it's not my fault the Princess is evil and rules the evil empire, or that the evil Warlord is named... the evil Warlord." Zerrex whined, and then when Selena looked at him oddly, he sighed and rubbed at his forehead slowly, looking sourly amused. "It's a mortal thing, nevermind what I said... just... you know. Take it at face value. Besides, I feel young again, so... shut up. And unlike you, I'm not a whiny little bitch who... okay, I'm just going to take my own advice."

Zerrex made a face at the glare he received from Selena, and then he shrank slightly as let go of his hand and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, grinning widely and leaning towards him. "If I'm such a whiny little bitch, then why is it that I can make you squeal like a goblin under a steel wheel when I-"

"Okay, let's keep it PG13." Zerrex winced away from her, coughing and rubbing at his muzzle with his armored hand, before cursing under his breath as he tore several scratches through his muzzle by mistake. "Goddammit, this stupid thing!"

He swung it irritably out to the side, then gaped as several crude spikes shot out of his forearm, and several nearby mages stared as well as they stepped into the Hall of Knowledge. Selena frowned a bit, then leaned around him to look at his now-thorny arm... and then she did a double take before raising her hand to a Rakshasa in purple robes that was passing, half-reading from a book. "Hey, I need you to hunt down a few books for me on magical mutation and Mephistopheles... you recognize this?"

She jerked Zerrex's arm around and towards the Rakshasa, half-dragging the reptile behind her as he made a face... and the Rakshasa wandered over to him, peering thoughtfully at the Drakkaren's transmuted limb before he nodded and flicked through several pages, murmuring thoughtfully: "It looks like it's dynamic and based off the element of earth... strange, though, usually these only react to situation... yes, give me a moment."

The Rakshasa walked over to a nearby table, laying down his book and turning a few more pages before scanning down an entry and jotting a long code of white runes over the table. A moment later, a thick tome flickered into existence, and this process repeated several times before the mage walked back over to them and handed the books to Selena, who immediately turned and shoved them firmly against Zerrex's chest. The reptile grunted, catching the books and staggering backwards a bit as the spikes receded back into his arm, and the Rakshasa asked mildly: "My apologies, Lady Selena, but do you have a library pass? Otherwise there's a fee of about a hundred silver for three of these books, and fifty silver for the other two each."

Selena gaped, then fumbled at her pockets before Zerrex mumbled: "Oh, you just usually come here and look stuff up. I've got a bag of silver coins in my pocket, it's-"

"Thank you, I've got my own." Selena snapped, and Zerrex rolled his eyes as she created a small portal and dug for her own little magically-enhanced bag. Still my money you're paying with... you don't make much giving angels tours, and your head certainly isn't worth paying for... "Here."

The Rakshasa held out a hand, creating an empty glass bowl, and Selena began to loudly drop handfuls of coins into this, earning her several hisses and mumbles that people were trying to work, but a challenging glare around the room sent most of the mages hurriedly back to reading. After two minutes, the glass bowl finally pulsed lightly before vanishing, and the Rakshasa said mildly: "A library pass is only five hundred silver and some paperwork. You might want to consider it if you plan on making any future large withdrawals from the library."

"Thank you." Selena said sardonically, then she turned around and grunted to Zerrex as she slid the bag between her cleavage, looking morbid. Zerrex coughed a bit and shrugged as they walked towards the main entrance, and finally she grunted: "Let's head home and start looking through this stuff to see what we're dealing with."

"Right." Zerrex nodded as she created a portal, then followed her through to step into the mostly-empty library of the Ravenlight Estate, the Drakkaren immediately wincing as he looked around at the shelves upon empty shelves. "No way, not in here. This place creeps me out... there shouldn't be so much emptiness in a place that's supposed to smell like paper and books."

"You smell." Selena grumbled irritably, then she slammed a fist down on the table she was standing beside when Zerrex began to sidle slowly towards the door. "Sit your ass down. We've got a long haul of reading and studying ahead of us."

The reptile let out a long sigh, then sat down at the table, dropping the books and shoving the stack over childishly towards her. The demoness glowered at him in return, but then picked up one of the dusty books and flipped open to the contents, scanning quickly through it before beginning to flick through pages. Zerrex, meanwhile, sulked for a few moments before dragging a moldy tome towards him and pulling it open, frowning at the demonic runes and mumbling: "This stupid language is too damned complicated..."

"You'll get used to it." Selena said absently, tracing out a passage of runes with her finger before saying clearly: "‘Mephistopheles was known not only for his ability to grant so-called ‘wishes' or ‘miracles' but also for his talent in creating Cracks and raw material substances. His abilities permitted him to manipulate metals and other minerals as he willed, going so far as to be capable of conjuring them out of the air...' That arm looks like its pretty metallic or minerally, right? Maybe since Mephistopheles leaned towards control of earth elements, somehow that's naturally bonded with your own abilities, huh?"

"Yeah, except this is a book on alchemy, and it talks about Feldspar's sort of experiments..." Zerrex flexed his rigid, armor-like arm slowly, the reptile making a face as his eyes traced over it. "And this seems a lot more like... transmutation or transmorgrification then as if there's just some bands of metal wrapped around it or whatever."

Selena rolled her eyes, grabbing another book... and an hour passed as the two studied and talked, until finally the female tapped a diagram near the back of one of the mustier, uglier books and said triumphantly: "Here it is! It's an Abomination's Claw."

"Oh gee, that sounds brilliant." Zerrex said sourly, leaning on his rocky hand as he glowered at Selena, who grunted and glared at him in return before returning her eyes to the text. Zerrex glanced down, and indeed it looked sort of like his arm... before he frowned a bit at several runes, asking slowly: "Does that say what I think it says? A freak mutation?"

"Give me a minute, dammit." Selena muttered, and Zerrex rolled his eyes, leaning backwards with a sigh and letting his arms hang at his sides as he looked at her morbidly, and a moment later she said mildly: "Alright. The quick summary is that it's yes, a freak combination of your shapeshifting abilities, earth affinity, and the Heartstone you absorbed... not to mention your Wrath orientation. The shape, hardness, everything changes according to the situation you're in... but you can force its shape to change as well to whatever you want... and it does mention that you can return it to looking like your normal arm after so... what is that?"

Zerrex had slipped the flute out from where he'd hidden it in his pants, and was now tapping it slowly against his muzzle. He blinked at her, then glanced at the flute before coughing at Selena's eyes narrowed slowly, before he carefully put it down on the book in front of him and said dumbly: "Ixin's flute."

"You moron, you were thinking of freeing him, weren't you?" Selena glared at him, and Zerrex looked away embarrassedly, rubbing at the back of his head slowly with one hand as she slammed her hands on the table and leaned across towards him. "You'd think the Terror would've been enough, but no, let's go pick a fight with a crazy motherfucker like Ixin, now! Whether he helps us out or not, the son of a bitch is a lunatic... and we don't even know what's happened to you with that last seal broken, so you could very well go psycho at any moment, on top of that."

The Drakkaren shrugged a bit, grinning stupidly as he spread his arms. "Then wouldn't that be a good reason to go and free Ixin? And I mean, come on, put some faith in the poor bastard. I'm sure he'll be grateful enough that I let him go... I mean, what sort of moron would immediately leap at the person they've been training and attempt to kill them?"

Selena looked at him flatly, and Zerrex looked back for a few moments before sighing and rolling his eyes, shrugging a bit. "Fine, I won't attempt to free Ixin until we figure this arm out, how about that?"

"A bit better." Selena said moodily, crossing her arms and looking at him huffily, but the Drakkaren could see concern through her features. He smiled slightly at her and leaned in close, then she glared at him as he reached out and touched her face gently from across the table. "Don't do that, I'm mad at you."

"Shush." Zerrex said softly, and he leaned in to kiss her lips teasingly, causing her to blush a bit as she tried to look away, but he held her eyes with his own as he slid his other heavy, rock-plated hand across the table, grinding against the wood and brushing aside a few books as he asked playfully: "And what else does it say about my arm here, huh?"

"It says you're a twat." Selena shoved him backwards off the table, and Zerrex laughed as he fell back into his chair with a loud thud, the female looking at him dryly. "But at least we don't have to move too far to get into training with this... and let's not fuck things up by prodding me with your tentacles every five minutes, huh?"

Zerrex rolled his eyes, but relented to Selena's demands, deciding that it might instead be a better idea to let her have her way for now. So instead, he ended up spending the next few hours discovering how well he could control this strange new change over his body... and he was only thankful that at least he wasn't being forced to learn a new slew of magical spells.

Learning how to transform the arm itself on one hand was fairly easy: it was just like transforming any of the reptile's other body parts in the minor ways he was capable of, except now he was able to polymorph his limb in a far-wider, thought-impossible variety of ways, leaving the reptile staring at things ranging from a massive, doubled-in-size claw to a long saber to an immense battle axe, while the rest of his arm bristled with spikes, and pulsed with faint red light from the cracks along the stony limb.

On the other hand, however, actually forcing the limb to shrink down and return to what was normal for the Drakkaren was far more difficult, and far unlike his other transformations. It hurt like hell, for one thing... and it also cracked apart as the red glow first increased, then dimmed out as his limb returned slowly to normal as vines of grey and plates of metal and rock fell off his arm to the ground, shattering against the hardwood floor as Selena winced and stared. After almost ten minutes, however, Zerrex was finally standing and panting hard, his arm returned to normal as he flexed his fingers slowly, the tattoo on his arm twisting like it was a living thing as the black circle slowly emptied and turned back into the swastika.

He flexed his once-more normal hand a few times, and then he dropped down to sit on his butt, looking miserably over at Selena as he batted a few broken bits of stone away from himself, rubbing at his repaired limb slowly. The demoness walked over to him and ducked down, carefully checking over his body as his heart thudded quietly and painfully in his chest, before she muttered: "Amazing. What an incredible level of transformation... not flesh and bone but rock and metal... powered by all that energy flowing through you, I'm surprised it's not a full-body thing."

"Dear Gods, let that never happen..." Zerrex muttered under his breath, rubbing at his head and looking up at her exhaustedly, before the two glanced to the side as a portal opened and Sin stepped through. "Hey there."

"Hello, Lord Zerrex." Sin bowed respectfully, then she paused and tilted her head towards him, frowning a bit before she asked slowly: "Is... I sense an energy form around you that I haven't felt for countless years now, and I... is that..."

"Judge of Death White gave him the Heartstone of Mephistopheles... we were just working on learning to control it properly." Selena informed, glancing over towards her, and Sin swallowed a bit, resting her hands in front of her waist as she breathed a bit harder, earning a frown from the female. "Sin, what's-"

"Would you please excuse myself and Lord Zerrex for a moment? I'd like to speak to him alone." Sin said courteously, but there was a certain edge to her voice, a serious glint in her eye that told Selena not to argue. The demoness swallowed a bit as she carefully stood up and bowed politely to Sin, before heading for the doors. There was silence for almost a full minute, and then she strode slowly over to him and quietly reached down to touch his cheek, whispering: "Yes... I feel him there. Mephistopheles... his essence, his energies mixed with your own. Far stronger than it was in White, not only because you're better suited for his essence, but also because the Heartstone has broken after so many years of disuse... now you can no longer pass it on. It's breaking apart inside of you... but that also means all of his essence will flood your body eventually, and you'll be forced to contain the... the power and will of long-dead Mephistopheles..."

Sin had fallen to her knees, leaning forwards towards him and taking his face into both his hands, breathing hot breaths over the reptile's face as Zerrex leaned away from her with a wince, swallowing hard. But she leaned forwards aggressively over him, looking into his eyes and sliding her hands down to squeeze firmly into his shoulders. She leaned down and rubbed the sides of their muzzles together slowly, then she closed her eyes and shuddered, letting out a quiet sigh. "Yes... amazing how the mighty fall, isn't it? The mightiest of demons ever to exist, slain by White Phoenix... then not even mortal, but a member of the living dead raised by the very presence of Mephistopheles. Life is full of such terrible ironies..."

She shook her head slowly, then leaned forwards and kissed his cheek gently, murmuring softly down to him: "It is not a scent of power so much as it is a feeling... but at the same time it almost is... and whatever pheromone or musk that drives all the demons around you into fear or frenzy has become even stronger. It..."

Sin halted suddenly, then drew quickly back and away from the Drakkaren, flushing deeply and half-stumbling backwards as she rubbed slowly at her cheek, looking away and mumbling: "I... I'm sorry, Lord Zerrex, I was acting extremely improper... I... I don't... I just... I mean... I didn't mean to..."

Zerrex blinked dumbly at her as she struggled to find the right words, then she turned towards him and bowed quickly, mumbling: "My apologies again, Lord Zerrex, though, for... for bothering you. I... I really didn't mean to come here and cause a commotion... I... I was just to inform you that the Princess requested your presence later tonight, for a strategy hearing. Undoubtedly she'll... she'll want to know what happened to your last seal and... and about... whatever else has happened to you, Lord Zerrex..."

The Drakkaren nodded stupidly, and a moment later Sin mumbled something and half-turned towards the doors before freezing in place, slowly looking over her shoulder and past Zerrex. The reptile frowned and looked over his own shoulder as well... and then a chill ran down his spine as both their eyes settled on Celestial Narrius, sitting quietly on the table with her legs crossed, torn and ripped robes hanging down around her as she smiled calmly from Sin to the Drakkaren. "Miss... you... you can't be here, I'm afraid that-"

"Shush, don't be so scared... I mean no harm to you or my darling little boy..." Celestial slid off the table, slowly walking over to the Drakkaren as Zerrex forced himself to stand up, his body still feeling weak but adrenaline pushing a bit more energy back into his form, before he felt another shiver roll through his body as she slid her arms around his neck and spun around to rest against his back, whispering in his ear: "Introduce us now, Light... don't be so rude now..."

"Sin... this is my mother, Celestial." Zerrex said quietly, meeting Sin's eyes and giving a silent order, and the Naganatine immediately dropped her illusionary shell to stand in her real form, half-bowing politely. Celestial, however, didn't even seem to notice as she swung around Zerrex's body like a pole, looking at him dreamily as the lizard winced a bit before catching her in his arms as she fell against him, adding with a grunt: "Mom, this is Sin, a close personal friend of mine."

"Sin, yes, I've heard much about you... the Great Mother..." Celestial slowly pulled herself away from Zerrex to slip towards the other female, gazing her over almost predatorily, but her eyes were still the same serene emerald... that's one good thing, at least... but I don't like the look in them, nonetheless... "I've also heard you've served my son very faithfully and lovingly. The times we've met over the years, he's spoken fondly and dearly of you... I must say, though, you're much shyer and kinder than the other girls he hangs around with."

"Thank you..." Sin blushed a bit, bowing her head towards Celestial respectfully as she laced her hands together, adding quietly: "Lord Zerrex is a very kind, and very tender person... he's also told me about you, and about how much he always loved you and looks up to you."

This obviously pleased Celestial, the female beaming brightly and her long robe seeming to knit itself closer together, some of that rapacious guile leaving her eyes as she tossed a smile to her relieved-looking son before saying back to Sin warmly: "Yes, I like you quite a bit... you're a much better match for my son than that rude Selena or that wild Lily, although they both have their good qualities, don't get me wrong. Selena is so very protective and good at keeping him in line â€" which he needs now and again â€" and Lily is a bit foolhardy, but she is strong and proud."

She paused thoughtfully for a few moments, her eyes roving over Sin slowly, sizing her up again before she asked curiously: "Tell me, Sin. All us girls have been in love... but have you ever been married yourself? And do you think that, should you be in... better condition... you could match my son's sexual hungers?"

Zerrex didn't know whether to feel horrified, indignant, or unsurprised at the question, and Sin blushed a bit as she looked down before glancing up and murmuring quietly: "Never married officially, no. I... well... haven't had many suitors other than Mephistopheles..." She halted, looking embarrassed and almost ashamed, then she rubbed the back of her head slowly as she said in a voice that had a hint of shame to it: "I... believe I could easily match his sexual needs, Miss Celestial, and would be honored to, if I... were in better condition to do so."

Celestial looked delighted at this response, licking her muzzle slowly and rubbing her hands together as she drew her eyes over Sin, before she said cheerfully: "Then all we need is a white wedding dress for you, and you two can be married and ready to fuck each other's brains out!" She paused as the two looked shocked, but before either could object, she held up a finger and tilted her head to the side, and her eyes turned blood-red a moment later as she whispered: "I feel him..."

She snarled, then sank quickly through the floor as if it was liquid, the floorboards rippling as the two stared in horror, and then Zerrex cursed and leapt forwards... only to land on solid floor and immediately stagger forwards, the boards cracking under his feet from the force of his landing. He pinwheeled his arms, then crashed into the table he'd been sitting at earlier, knocking Ixin's flute off it and sending it rolling along the floorboards.

Sin sighed and walked forwards, picking it up and holding it out to the Drakkaren as he hopped up to his feet, but she shook her head and said softly: "She's already gone, Lord Zerrex... there's no way she should have been able to slip through all the protective wards on the home so easily, but somehow she managed it... and I can't track her because she's neither demon nor angel, but more the shadow of a mortal god than anything else."

"Wonderful." Zerrex muttered, straightening and rubbing the back of his head slowly, then he paused and took the flute from her with one hand, bouncing the ivory-colored wooden instrument in his palm and asking curiously: "Wait... if demonic magic can't track her... then what about mortal magic or something else that's been developed along that line?"

"Lord Zerrex?" Sin frowned and tilted her head, then she stared down at the flute as Zerrex grinned widely at it, and the female rose her hands and shook her head vehemently, saying firmly: "Lord Zerrex, Ashcroft Ixin is a very dangerous prisoner of Hell! He helped engineer the process for turning demons and demonic essence into crystallized format and trapping spirits in objects, and he's a descendant of a now-extinct clan of chaos demons... he was sealed away for a reason, and-"

"Sealed, but not permanently sealed." Zerrex pointed out, tapping Sin's nose with the flute, and she made a bit of a face, still looking at him anxiously even as her body flickered back to an illusionary copy of his mother's form, but with that strange purple-black scale patterning. "Besides, even if he does turn out to be trouble, it'll just be a good test of my abilities... after all, if I'm to one day stand up to the Princess or the Warlord, I should certainly be able to take on the enemies they defeated in the past."

Sin frowned at him, looking over the Drakkaren nervously. "Lord Zerrex... I... I really don't think this is such a good idea, and..." She halted, then sighed at the stubborn look on the reptile's face, closing her eyes before walking over to the table and sitting down at it with a grunt, looking up at him with an expression of concerned disapproval. "Just... just don't get yourself in over your head. Call for me if things get too difficult... you've never fought a power mage like Ixin before, and it'll be a far different experience than any other one you've had in Hell so far if you do get into combat with him."

"This is why I love you, Sin." Zerrex grinned and hugged her head tight against his chest with one arm, Sin blushing deeply as she leaned against him before mumbling something as he kissed her forehead, and then he created a portal and trotted quickly towards it, winking at her over his shoulder. "I'll see you in a few, huh?"

The female made a bit of a face as he stepped into the black ring of energy, and then she called out: "Be careful! And good luck, Zerrex!"

The reptile nodded a bit to himself as he stepped into the clearing, vowing to at least do his best to watch his back, and the portal shut behind him a moment later, leaving the lizard standing indecisively. Ixin was looking moodily back and forth from where he was imprisoned... and over all the years Zerrex had gotten to know him, he'd learned a lot about the crazy Drakkaren â€" from his deadly mood swings to the sheer amount of wisdom and magic he possessed and had hidden away inside of himself. And he's strong... strong enough to have scared Feldspar, and she wasn't exactly a pushover.