The Wielder of Death Magic

“No need to worry.” Expectations of a humble apartment in a not-so-nice part of town had prepared the mind to witness the worse of what an adventuring town could offer. There, after crossing the bridge overlooking the highway, she treaded along the pavement, caution to movement around her, the way her hand and body reacted spoke of a trained fighter. Not wanting to interfere in private life, he simply followed, admiring the diversity of architecture. Soon, they’d cross a residential block of tall apartments of many vacant rooms. Lazily painted advertisements read, ‘-500-5000 Exa.’

“Ignore those,” she said curling her index, “-they’re scams, I think,” she brazenly added before the guard of one of said buildings, the man looked and paid no heed.

“Are you daft?” he hurried to her side, “-we’re in a sketchy part of town, right?”

“What?” returned a perplexed look, “-if you haven’t noticed, the whole town is sketchy. Our house is in a better place anyway, too bad we have to walk through these parts.” Before the next hour, they arrived whereby she said, “-pardon the mess,” whether it be jest or not, Igna watched straight-faced. What laid wasn’t a normal house nor an apartment; a manor of lavish proportions had, “-Eizo Family,” written in golden font. Certainly, many questions rose, who is the Eizo family, how did they make their money, and how powerful are they. A touch of the earring replied in a faint vibration, the lens swapped into infiltration mode – unseen information else spared for éclair’s backend processing displayed. Aside from names, the value they held, rumors linking to their past, and a summary of what they’d been known for or had accomplished in the past weeks sorted itself. The blocky silver barricades opened, to which, she asserted her hand upon Igna and pulled, “-I don’t see why you’d ask for pardon,” they landed inside, the gates slammed.

“Don’t talk, just follow.”

The truth of previously transpired events linked in a timeline. Was it wrong to trust people, was it wrong to enjoy relations of innocent nature? A nasty gut feeling of deception whelmed, what he felt was a tangible uneasiness, red-alarms riddled. Thoughts ran amok, yet, the truth was Wendy had grabbed and pulled since the start, she didn’t let go, and a part felt the reluctance to let go, there was a newfound affection, a natural allure to her words. The trail’s thought tightened into tunnel vision, the damning scenery – part clean and part unclean held a sense of disassociation. A block of a building laid at the center, a very typical built for those wanting to flaunt their wealth.

.....

‘I don’t feel like myself,’ an astral projection of himself parted from the physical self, ‘-the manor looks nice, tis too good to be true. What did she mean by a mess,’ no sense of body allowed for movement, ‘-think, Igna, think. Taking spirit form isn’t normal – the only time I know of this happening is when activating the curse of Nox, the all-seeing eyes,’ he watched as they entered the building, there, the spirit forcibly pulled, the head rocked into a lack on self. Field of view grew blurry, the five-sense numbed, “-will you satisfy me again?” said a female voice.

“Yes, I will,” he replied without uttering a word, ‘-my mouth’s moving on its own.’ A barrier rose between personality and body.

“You’re a good slave,” it added crudely – a glimpse of the untouchable room was black, a warmly lit fire, and the touch of another.

“Yes, I am,” he replied, ‘-no I’m not,’ he fought, ‘-I’m trapped within myself, what sort of trick is this?’

“Tell me your most guarded secret.”

“I’m afraid of letting go of my children.”

“No, something more consequential.”

“I love my companions.”

“What about your bank account, how do you make money?”

“I don’t know, I order people around and they obey.”

“Why did you come to Aria?”

“To meet a friend.”

“And who’s this friend?”

“I don’t know...”

“Connect into Phantom’s servers, I want administrator access,” a gentle caress went down his neck and to the stomach, slowly slipping into his pants, “-you’ll obey to your mistress, won’t you?”

“I will,” keys tapped, the screen dimly lit the darkened room, “-access denied.”

“Access denied?” she slammed the table, “-Yeah, hello, there’s no way to gain entry. What should I do next, I’m expecting my payment.”

“No information, no money,” it replied somberly.

“Don’t screw with me,” she exclaimed, “-you know the amount of shit I had to pull to get in this shitty manor. The young lady wasn’t exactly a nice host to inhabit.”

“I don’t care, damned monster, no information, no payment.”

“Fine, fine, how about you make him a political hostage, a high valued customer like him will make a fine piece in international deliberations,” she straddled and stared into his empty bicolored pupils, “-act now and I’ll throw in his phone.”

“We’ll wire the payment, check the usual account.” *Beep,* notified the laptop screen, [540,000 Exa delivered], “-expect the rest upon a safe exchange of the goods. Our team is ready at the airport, making sure to move him quietly, don’t want to alert his faction.”

“Don’t take me for an amateur,” the call ended, “-look at you,” she bit her lips and pulled his cheeks, “-empty and without a will, helpless and under my absolute command. Go on, move your hand and undress me.”

“Will do,” he reached behind and undid her bra.

“Little dog,” she spat on his face, “-get down and kiss my feet.’

“Yes, master,” he dropped to the floor, slithered to her feet, and pressed his lips, she pulled her feet and slammed his head against the cold floor.

“BAHAHAHA, HOW SUBMISSIVE CAN A PERSON GET!” she laughed and moved to a table, “-come here,” he followed, “-you’re going to serve me until I’m satisfied,” she spread her legs, pulled his face between her thighs, “-men are all dogs,” her legs tightened, “-you exist to serve me and only me, do you hear, prince of Arda?” her eyes watered, the cheeks flushed, she stared the ceiling, drool ran down her chin. *Gasp,* hands snapped to her neck, a brief moment of elation faded in favor of fear, ‘-I c-can’t b-b-breathe.’

“This won’t do,” consciousness returned, “-a spell of subjugation, narcotics, and brain-washing mana waves. Who in the right mind has the audacity to target me?” he pulled away, rose with her neck within his grasp, and pressed her against the table, “-who are you, really?” Her eyes rolled, “-someone’s kinky,” the grip eased, *Blood-Arts: Crimson Threads,* chains of crystal tightened her limbs around the table, “-Not the Wendy I remember from last night, who are you?”

“I’m Wendy,” she panted, sweat dowsed the table, “-what are you going to do to me?” said a very suspicious sneer.

“Nothing,” he laughed, “-anticipation is the worse feeling a person can endure,” he caressed her legs, “-you’ll crave it until the inner peace falls.”

“I DON’T CARE, THE MORE PAIN THE BETTER!”

“You’re gone,” he sighed, “-we’re inside a weak domain,” a scan about pointed so, “-Wendy Eizo isn’t a freaky individual, she seems earnest with a slight temper. Whoever you are has a very nasty personality and a way of charming people, who do you work for. The realm is definitely not godly, angel, nor demonic, it’s artificial.”

“Perceptive of you,” she cackled, “-still, no matter of torture and questioning will answer your question. I’ve won, be as it may, my realm is but an addition to further trap my prey. You’ve lost, Wendy’s under my control, and if my demands aren’t met, the more pain this body feels, the louder will grow her emotional scars, I’ll break her ego and slit her throat before you can react.”

“I guess you have,” he walked about, looking for the edge, “-quite the quandary. I gathered much, you’re not a spy, I’d wager hired help. Don’t presume I was knocked out, everything spoken was recorded,” the promenaded ended by leaning upon her visage, “-if you won’t give me what I want, I won’t give you what you want.” *Partial Realm Expansion: Puppet Summoning,* “-I’ve called in a member of the Dogeio Race, one renowned for its stamina and large member,” he snapped, the puppet got in between her legs, “-he’ll give you what you want,” she moaned, “-I just need to know who employed you.”

“I’ve won the trade,” she clenched, “-I’ve gotten what I desired.”

“Too good to be true,” he flashed his brows, “-the truth about the Dogeio Race, when they mate with another race, their bestial side takes over – it is said, none save a member of the Dogeio people can withstand their lovemaking. About the threat, the body thee host isn’t of Wendy, tis but a reflection, the lass’s most likely already dead.” A sense of dread washed the entity’s self, “-no, no, no, no.”

“The die has been cast,” he ambled to the realm’s barrier, “-how long can thee last against a beast,” fingers against the murky wall, “-don’t mind if I take a shower and get dressed,” *crack,* the realm shattered, *Partial Realm Expansion: Period Sustain,* another bubble wrapped around the lady, “-enjoy,” he winked, exploration resumed. A warm shower, new pair of clothes, and browse through the Arcanum, ‘-when did it go wrong. I met the true Wendy yesterday, I’m sure of it, the way she acted and how Tenmo went along to her whims is tell-tell she didn’t change until the morning. The narcotics and drinks explain why I had a headache, it must have happened midway into the night, perhaps the night me and her shared, I don’t remember much. She must have spiked my drink, the Eizo group, cleaners of this morning,’ a seemingly innocent sentence came to, ‘-look after her, I know it’s a tall order to ask of a stranger, but still, I trust you.’

“Trust is a big word to throw around – the glare I received from the cleaner wasn’t completely innocent. Eizo has a darker past I would imagine; drugs aren’t easily obtained without contact to the D.G or an overseas supplier.”

“Master,” said éclair loudly, “-good morning, I’ve tracked the location of the caller. It’s somewhere in the Empire. I was able to dive into the laptop when she tried to get access to our servers. Other parties simultaneously wanted to assess as you type the code, the nodes were interconnected. She’s but a puppet in another’s chess game.”

“Anything else?”

“Not really, the data’s been wiped, I managed to reconstruct the signature on a letter; E.E.”

“E.E, not much to go off of. Have you looked into the Eizo’s history?”

“Yes, they’re tied in heavily with corrupt nobles, often used as intermediate in the trafficking of workers.”

“I see, they specialize in demi-humans I’d assume?”

“Yes, and how did you know?”

“Observations, the cleaners were all demi-humans. The atmosphere was very inviting, I didn’t think much, however, when a small fraction of people enjoy life whilst the majority cry in pain, there’s a slight chance the disparity is a sign for help. What faction do they serve?”

“Here’s the frightening part, they tie with Godfather Sable’s faction. They’ve been very proactive in expanding their influence over Plaustan.”

“Being tied to the godfather doesn’t amount to much. We need evidence, and speculation alone won’t bring the truth. What we know is this, someone wanted to access Phantom’s servers, and when failed – she offered to use me as a political hostage, blatantly outed her employers. In addition, there’s this, ‘-I don’t care, damned monster, no information, no payment’, an innocent sentence at first. Focus on the Damned monster part, the church’s renowned for rejecting anything and everything going against their dogma.”

“Doesn’t help us much,” he said, “-should I relay the information?”

“No, let it be. Whoever wants to go after me needs to think they’ve won. éclair, the time’s come to show me thy prowess. Grant them access to our servers, mimic it and give them access to you, and your database, it’s fine if they steal data – use one of the dummy hosts, have the sister system assist in the cyberbattle.”

“It will be done. A battle worth my time, tis the perfect opportunity to show how ruthless thy butler can be.”

*Partial Realm Expansion – Release,* “-I’ve come with a new proposition.”