Of Heaven or Hell, Chapter 2

[Jaynin]

Chapter 2: It Isn't Purgatory


“You want me to do what?”


Syia arched an eyebrow, not terribly pleased with the current situation, and acting coolly. She leaned instinctively back into her seat as a result of Eury’s invasion of her personal space; the haughty angel had slapped her palm onto Syia’s desk and was now leaning forward, fixing her intense blue stare on Syia as if she could will Syia into complying with her request if she just tried hard enough. It was, in all honesty, probably something that would have worked a lot in the past, but there were two points in Syia’s favor. One was that, despite the angel’s aggressive stance, she had already seen it in action and knew what to expect; thus, she wasn’t overawed. Two, there was still a lingering disapproval in Eury’s eyes, and it irritated her just enough to present a chink in her front. The nurse’s outfit wasn’t even that bad, Syia thought irreverently as she closed her eyes, legs and arms crossed in a classic expression of closed body language.


The current situation was quite amusing, on the face of it. What it boiled down to was this; Eury was demanding that Syia teach Lamelle how to be sexy and seductive. It amused Syia because, to her, it was quite clear that Eury had disapproved of her from the start. What the angel thought was her own business; Syia knew that not everyone shared her admittedly liberal views of sex and sexuality. But to have the imperious angel come to her not a day later and ask for her help and expertise to transform the big, innocent Lamelle into someone capable of weaving threads around men? It was delicious irony, and though Syia was tempted to deny the request just to see Eury’s reaction, she realized such a thing might not be wise. Besides, the challenge was appealing to her, and her mind had started to mull on the problem even as she considered her answer…


“I said, I want you to instruct Lamelle in the ways of… someone like yourself,” Eury said, then gritted her teeth, knowing that such a vague statement could easily be twisted by Syia into something unrecognizable just so the blue-haired woman could tweak her wings for amusement. Though Eury disapproved of Syia’s obvious pandering to male perversion, she recognized that the woman was not stupid, and furthermore that her expertise did have tactical value in this situation, enough so that Eury had put the greater good of Heaven over the improper methods she might need to use. “How to be… seductive, and to look attractive to men.”


Syia just smiled. The reason for the request was obvious. Eury knew, as the devils who were opposing her knew, that Jaynin’s most pronounced weakness was his weakness for women, especially those who pushed all the right buttons. She knew from reading him exactly what buttons needed to be pushed, though she didn’t often do it except to tease. But Arishna, Eury’s main rival, was probably just as skilled as she in the business of seducing men. It had to be a source of grave concern for Eury, for she knew that the longer Jaynin was subjected to the devils’ willing behavior, the more likely he was to intercede on their behalf. The fact that she had swallowed her pride within the space of a day and come to ask Syia for help earned the angel some respect in Syia’s mind, enough to convince her to take up the task. By itself, it wouldn’t be enough; Syia couldn’t do this overnight, and Eury had to know that. So she must have something else in store… Syia would have loved to know what it was, but she had a feeling that would have been pushing too far. “All right, then. I’ll teach Lamelle everything I can, but you have to promise not to interfere, otherwise this won’t work. All right?”


“Good, it’s done. Lamelle, you stay here with… Miss Syia and learn what she has to teach you.” Eury nodded curtly to her subordinate, who straightened up and nodded more formally. Eury looked back at Syia with one last glance of disapproval before leaving the room. The room they were in was the nurse’s office, on the fourth floor of the castle; unlike many of the other ‘themed’ rooms in the castle, which only had the outward appearance of the rooms they were designed to emulate, the infirmary was actually a functioning infirmary. Syia was herself a trained nurse, a fact that surprised many, who assumed that the uniform was just for show. She didn’t cultivate the impression of a trained nurse, but that was done on purpose.


The room that Lamelle and Syia were in now was the outer ‘office’ of the infirmary. It was a small room, painted off-white, and lit from above by fluorescent lighting instead of torches. The entrance was a wooden door with an opaque rectangular window, looking pretty much like a standard door one would see in a school or any typical building. Immediately to the right upon entering was a closet with two sliding doors, protruding outward from the wall; directly across from the entrance was another door of the same type, which leads to the wards within. Syia’s metal desk, the color of teal, was set to the left of the door, with three teal filing cabinets behind her. Against the left wall was a sterile plastic countertop, with a sink set into it and some general medical supplies, like tongue depressors, in glass containers neatly set in place. There were hanging cabinets above and more cabinets below, all of these full of medication; a refrigerator was set at the end of the cabinets, for medication that had to be kept chilled. Syia also kept drinks and snacks in there as well.


There were two chairs set on the white tile floor, across from Syia’s desk, and Lamelle looked at these, then at Syia, unsure if she should take a seat or not. Syia relieved her of the decision by standing up, letting her office chair roll back and gently bump into the file cabinets. Syia’s desk had two baskets, the quintessential ‘in’ and ‘out’ bins, and a computer perched on the corner of her desk. Its monitor was dark, idle. Syia stepped out from behind her desk and gestured for Lamelle to follow her. “Come this way, Lamelle. I’m going to help you with what Eury wanted, but first we need to get a few basic things straight. You’re going to need to undress, though.” Lamelle blushed at this statement, but only nodded. Syia opened the door to the ward and ushered Lamelle inside. Some rather naughty thoughts were percolating through Syia’s mind as she closed the door behind them…


The ward was a long, rectangular room. Lining the right-hand wall were rest beds, all with freshly made white sheets, and a small nightstand next to each. White privacy curtains hung from rails on the ceiling and could be drawn around each bed, though at the moment they were all fully retracted, showing the line of beds against the wall. What couldn’t be seen at a casual glance was that there were restraints hidden at the corners of the bed. The metal framework was quite sturdy, and like all ward beds, the head of the bed was inclined for comfort, so the patient could sit up. There was no real reason to have so many beds in the ward, but Syia was a stickler for authenticity. Along the left side, there was a scale, and a height chart, as well as some more cabinets with equipment inside. There was also an exam table, which was padded so that a patient wouldn’t have to suffer the cold metal on their bare skin. At the far end, there was a privacy curtain in the left corner so that a patient could change clothes. Syia beckoned Lamelle to the left, near the scale and height chart, where she usually did physical examinations.


“What is all this for?” Lamelle inquired shyly, looking around at the room. She wasn’t so stupid as to not know its purpose, but the question slipped out anyway. She joined Syia near the scale, sitting on the side of the examination table. “I am surprised to see that this place has a full-scale medical facility, even if it is small in scope.” Crossing her arms under her chest, Lamelle looked to be thoughtful as Syia turned. “But why must I have a physical examination? I’m only trying…”


“I’m going to need to change your attire in a number of ways,” Syia responded smoothly. “I can’t procure proper clothing if I don’t know your measurements, and then there’s the issue of your unique physical structure. So, we’re going to have to figure how to get around that. Come,” Syia said, beckoning with her finger, and smiling when Lamelle did so. “Now, would you mind explaining to me how your wings fit through that uniform?”


“It’s simple…” Lamelle said, turning around and then looking back at Syia, so that her back faced the other woman. “The tunic buttons in the back, there.” Syia looked; there was a green stripe located in the space between the wings, and when she flipped it up, she found that there were indeed buttons holding the tunic together. Intrigued, Syia undid the buttons, and the tunic separated in the back. Lamelle slipped the top half over her head, and then the whole outfit slid down to the floor, which she stepped out of, blushing heavily as she turned to face Syia again, clad only in conservative white underwear – what else would an angel wear? – and her white boots, as well as the glowing halo above her head. There was no way that could be taken off, but Syia gestured for the boots to come off, and Lamelle complied. With a smile, Syia took up her pen, which was a stylus on one end and a pen on the other, and picked up her clipboard. On the clipboard was a standard physical form; it might have surprised some to know that Syia kept records of this. It became somewhat less surprising when one realized that Syia’s physicals had extra information.


First, Syia wrote down Lamelle’s name, leaving the field for last name blank. “Step onto the scale,” Syia directed, and Lamelle did, allowing Syia to take down the measurements. 165 pounds; quite healthy for one of her size, if a little high. That was probably due to her breasts and wings adding to the weight. Next, her height; 5 feet 11 inches, more like 5 feet and 11.75 inches. She was very nearly six feet tall. “All right. 165 pounds, five feet and eleven and three-quarters inches. Now…” Syia took out the measuring tape and placed the end between Lamelle’s breasts. “Hold that for me, please.” Lamelle did so, squirming a little bit as Syia ran the tape around. It was a little difficult with the wings, but she managed, arriving at a final measurement of thirty-nine inches for the bust. Then the waist, which was thirty-four inches. She was a little big, but with her height, she looked fine. And then thirty-six around her hips. Legs thirty-two inches, shoulder to hip 16 inches, wrist to shoulder 20 inches. Syia put the tape measure away, writing all of these numbers down.


Lamelle, by this point, was squirming more, so swift and rapid was Syia with the measurements, and the tape curled around her body, guided by Syia’s fingers. She hadn’t let out a giggle, but she had given a start a few times, and her cheeks had become red. Syia made a few more notations on the pad. Under ‘race’ she wrote ‘Angel’, with the expectation that she might have a ‘Devil’ before too long had passed. “All right, that’s it for the quantitative measurements… now, could you please turn around?” Syia ran the stylus gently along Lamelle’s waist to prod her into to doing so, and smiled when the angel gasped at the action. She turned around without a word, allowing Syia to examine that which interested her most, the wings. “Mmmm…” She leaned in close, looking at how they sprouted from the back where the shoulder blades were on a normal human…


Lamelle must have felt Syia’s warm breath softly on her back, because she tensed up, and spoke breathlessly: “M-Miss Syia, please be careful back there, I… just… be careful.” She fell silent, fidgeting, but Syia was intrigued, and touched her stylus to the base of one wing… “MISS SYIAAAAA!” Lamelle squealed, flapping her wings suddenly and causing Syia to flinch backwards. Yet no sooner had she relaxed than Syia was back in action, this time holding the left feathery wing gently in place while her stylus ran exactly at the joint between wing and flesh. Lamelle, quite predictably, went mad: “Don’t do thahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAATTTT!” she cried, stumbling forward into the wall, trying to escape from Syia.


But Syia kept with her as she met the wall, and gently eased forward to pin her there while the stylus traced slowly, teasingly, up and down along that joint. The right wing was flapping madly, extending and brushing against the cabinets and equipment, knocking things to the floor. Syia did have to stop and quickly focus; her mind extended its will into the physical plane as she allowed her psionic powers to seep from within her mind… The fallen objects stopped in mid-air, and then slowly hovered in place as Syia replaced them all, still smiling quite calmly as she set her pen and clipboard on the floor. The instruments wouldn’t have dealt well with a fall to the ground, despite being made of metal. Lamelle didn’t say anything as Syia worked, just panted and giggled, wings flapping and fluttering…


“So, the wing joint is a very sensitive area?” Syia asked calmly, betraying none of the excitement she felt at this little game. Lamelle only nodded, and Syia mused aloud, making some notes with her pen as she stood back up from where she had been kneeling. “Like the feet, the wings require plenty of nerve endings so as to provide an accurate sense of stability and a fine degree of control, yes?” Lamelle nodded again, turning around to face Syia, though holding her hands to cover her breasts. Apparently showing her front was less dangerous now than showing her back, or so she thought. “Hmm, I see. Well, I was only playing… come, let me finish.”


Lamelle didn’t know that Syia already had all of the information she wanted. The rest of this was just playtime for her, and so as Syia stepped close to Lamelle again, she grinned widely. Lamelle’s back was still to the wall… there was nowhere to go as Syia brought her stylus to Lamelle’s hip, circling the bone with it gently before tracing it along her waist, exactly at the line her underwear made. Lamelle gasped again, clapping her hands to her mouth and letting out soft, sweet giggles. This could get addictive, Syia realized with a grin. The stylus never made more than a light touch on her skin; it never tickled enough to elicit more than a giggle and some shaking from Lamelle. “You seem to be extremely sensitive,” Syia commented as the stylus curled from the right hip up to the ribs, tracing each one and going upwards with long, slow S-shaped sweeps. Lamelle gasped softly, but tried to respond:


“Y-Yes, Miss Syia, I’m extremely sensitive… well… I suppose so, it’s just that all of this touching on my bare skin is a new experience for me. So it… it feels more acute because of that, I guess.” Lamelle didn’t like the way Syia’s eyes seemed to glint at that. The stylus lazily traveled up to just beneath her breasts, softly tracing the line her bra made against the tender skin. Syia could only nod at Lamelle’s comment; her skin was very fair, almost white in color, and extremely soft. Just the slightest touch was clearly driving her to distraction. How would it be, Syia wondered with a smile, when a devil with wicked intentions ran her fingernails against this creamy skin? She could imagine the busty angel breaking out into fits of laughter, wings and arms flailing helplessly, and… “M-Miss Syia, why are you grinning like that? It’s scary,” Lamelle whimpered, and Syia realized the vision in her head had triggered a rather evil-looking grin. She wiped that from her face and replaced it with her nurse’s smile, looking into Lamelle’s eyes as the stylus traveled downwards now, along the left side of her body, to her thigh.


“No reason, Lamelle. While we’re here, I should give you your first lesson,” she said with a chuckle, circling the front of her thigh and then curving the point of the stylus towards the inside… Lamelle shook, giggling as she did so, and nodded, eyes focused on Syia’s, open a little wider than would be normal. “Poise, Lamelle.” Syia grinned. “Poise is very important… to be seductive, you can never lose your poise, even during times of great distraction… Even if someone is, say, tickling you to wit’s end, use that to your advantage. You’d probably be tied up; beg for mercy, beseech whoever it is to let you go, you’ll do whatever they want…” Lamelle had flinched and turned her head to the side, mouth compressed tightly as she struggled not to laugh; Syia was leaning closer now, her voice dropping to a softer note. The stylus moved in a gentle path akin to the tone of voice Syia was using, and teasing just as much… it would circle her knee, then circle ‘round to the back, spiraling up her thigh to end up just below her crotch before tracing the curve of her groin, right along the line of her underwear… even cheating that some, slipping beneath the fabric to get closer to that oh-so-sensitive skin… “You can’t flinch, or shudder, or twitch if you get touched. Even your begging has to be seductive… ‘No, please, Miss Syia, it tickles there…’” Syia said, using a breathy whisper. “Now you try it.”


“N-no, please Miss Syia, it tickles there…!” Lamelle’s voice started off shy, quavering, and moved to a higher pitch as if she was about to start laughing, which was understandable given the circumstances. Syia shook her head, keeping the stylus on its winding, teasing path, tracing it around on her buttocks gently.


“Try it again. Don’t let your voice quaver, and speak more like I do. ‘No, please, Miss Syia…’”


Lamelle took a moment to compose herself, eyes shut tight, and then she tried again: “No, please, Miss Syia, it tickles… there…” Her voice had been a soft whisper, almost too soft to hear; still, her control was admirable, given the fact that she must have been dying to laugh right now. Syia brushed her knuckle gently against Lamelle’s hip and smiled, nodding: “One more time. Not so soft.” Lamelle was grimly determined if nothing else, Syia noted with glee. The stylus circled her hip and began to trace back to her thigh, but taking a different path… one that would guide the tip straight over the center of the forbidden zone covered by Lamelle’s undergarments. “No, please…” The stylus slowly touched the fabric, traveling towards that particular spot, and Lamelle’s voice, and body, hitched upwards… “…Miss Syia, it tickles… there –! Ahhh!”


Guided by Syia’s expert touch, the stylus had traveled closer and closer to that point, the nurse’s trained ears listening as Lamelle’s voice come closer to a squeal, and had timed its movement so that it would have crossed right over that spot as she spoke the final word… Lamelle’s body was still pressed against the wall, and the woman actually arched her back as she spoke… but, the tip had suddenly left her body at the last second, before it had touched anywhere that could be considered improper, and Syia backed away abruptly, making a few more notations on her clipboard and then turning around. “That’ll be all for now, Lamelle. I’ll find you some more clothing that will be more suitable, so you can come back tomorrow and we’ll practice a little more. Remember what I told you.”


“Miss Syia, why did you st–“ Lamelle burst out before her brain caught up with her mouth and she went silent, as she watched the nurse set the clipboard down, tear the top sheet off, and walk with it back into her office, giving a quick wink as she did so. Lamelle was arched against the wall for a good minute before she thought to relax and stand upright. Her clothes were still pooled on the floor where she had left them, but her mind was so addled by her… close encounter… that it took her some time just to form the thought of what to do next. Slowly, she walked to the puddle white robe and picked it up, stepping into it and pulling the top part over her head before reaching around back to button it up and put her boots back on. Then she walked out the door Syia had gone through, still very much in a daze.


Syia grinned, as the angel stumbled through her office and pushed the door open as if she’d been meaning to lean on it, returning to her computer with a wide smile. Lamelle had been given not one but two lessons this day. The first had been simple enough. Would she catch onto the second? Syia wondered…


Syia’s encounter with Lamelle took place on the evening of that first day, but she wasn’t the only one to have a closer encounter with the new arrivals to the castle.


Felin had hoped she’d be allowed to quietly remain in her laboratory and continue with her studies as if nothing had happened. After all, she was located in the castle’s basement, away from the center of action, and there was no reason for anyone to bother her. Or so she had assumed; unfortunately, Arishna and Rati returned to the basement after the first round of talks, entering through the security door together and stopping to talk for a moment in the entryway before going their separate ways. Rati returned to the upstairs, while Arishna set her sights on Felin, who was quietly tapping on her keyboard. Actually the tapping had mostly stopped at this point, because Felin was awaiting the results of the model she was hoping to build using the devil DNA she had extracted earlier. Maybe there would be a clue in there, a clue pointing towards something she could use to her advantage…


Felin pretended to be totally focused on her monitor, absorbed by the lines of code running in the simulation and the wireframe model they were building. But her peripheral vision noted the arrival of the devils, and Arishna’s approach. Even without seeing her clearly, Felin’s mind filled in the sauntering stride the devil was using, and knew that there was trouble headed her way. Still, she feigned ignorance of Arishna’s presence until the devil came right up behind her and laid one hand on her shoulder. Felin could see the grin reflected in her computer monitor. “Is there somewhere we could go that’s more comfortable? I’d like to talk to you for a little bit…” Felin turned around in her chair then, so she could face Arishna as she delivered her reply, but upon doing so her brain raised all sorts of red flags. Something in Arishna’s expression, her gaze, the way she held herself, was unsettling… Felin weighed her options quickly. Rati was not here, and there was a chance that she could overtake Arishna on her own power. Stripped of infernal magic, she matched Felin’s available appendages exactly; one tail and two hands, and in clothing they matched fairly well also. Arishna’s only advantage was her boots.


“Certainly, follow me.” Felin chose compliance, for now, seeking to get the devil into more familiar territory, into a place where she’d have more of an advantage. Standing, she nodded politely to Arishna, with a smile, and led the devil straight back from the workstation, opposite the room from the entrance and the security door. This path was not carpeted nor treated specially, but it did lead to a door set in the far wall of the laboratory. These were Felin’s personal quarters, and the one place where she allowed herself to indulge. The door was a simple motion-sensor type; once upon a time it had been keyed to Felin’s biological profile only, but Jelex had wandered into range once, trying to get in, and for some reason or another it had thrown the program into a loop. This had all happened while Felin was asleep, and so when the door didn’t open the next morning, it threw her into quite a panic; having the bathroom two floors away in the morning was bad enough, but needing to write code in order to get there was an exercise she’d rather not repeat…


Felin sighed as the door opened. Jelex certainly had a knack for causing her to be caught short of the bathroom more than a few times, either by design or by accident, and always was present to make a comment when the worst episodes played out. Maybe she should install a bathroom down here… though troublesome, it might be worth it. The door slid aside as Felin approached, her mind having wandered away again… This room had once been a storage closet, but Felin had cleaned it up for her own personal use. Garnet carpeting covered the floor from wall to wall, and more substantial lighting than elsewhere burned brightly in the ceiling when on, but it was off now. Felin remedied that with the flick of a switch, and the room came to life, gloomy dark blue stone walls regaining their light grey color. The room was actually shaped like a rectangle that was tilted so the laboratory wall intersected the leftmost corner at an angle, and this is where the door was located. It made entering the room itself slightly disorienting, because everything seemed tilted.


Felin’s bed, made neatly with pure white sheets, was directly across from the door, yet set against the far wall, so that it was angled from the perspective of the doorway, with the bed’s lower left corner facing the door. To the left, in the corner of the rectangle, was a large corner desk; it had a more conventional-looking personal computer resting atop it, as well as some media in the form of CDs and so on. The wall furthest away from the door was entirely taken up with bookshelves which were packed with books of all kinds, and even more books were stacked on top of the shelves themselves, enough so that Felin had a short stepladder handy to reach them all. This was quietly resting in the corner of the room. But Felin’s most treasured collection was not that of her CDs or books; it was in the wall-mounted rack that was directly to the right of the door and took up the entire wall. On that rack hung what could only be described as toys… toys of all kinds, some with a sinister appearance, some whose use was blatantly obvious, and others which had an esoteric feel. She smiled, as she usual, when she laid eyes on this rack, but in her moment of self-absorption, she’d forgotten where Arishna was… Only at the last moment did she start to turn around, and then it was too late.


Arishna grabbed her one wrist and rushed her forward, so that Felin fell onto the bed face-first with one hand behind her back. Before she could react, her other joined it, and there was the distinctive sound of handcuffs clicking closed. It all happened so fast as to boggle her mind; how had Arishna moved so fast, let alone snagged a pair of handcuffs from the wall rack and used them? But Felin made not a sound, and Arishna did not speak; the quiet whispering of the door sliding closed was the only noise that cut through the tranquility and stillness after the brief moment of hasty action. Finally, Felin stirred. “I thought you wanted to talk…”


“Oh, I do want to talk,” Arishna said cheerfully, letting Felin up off the bed but not removing the handcuffs, forcing Felin to rise slowly and turn, hands locked behind her back. She could feel that Arishna had chosen a fine leather pair of handcuffs, comfortable on the wrists, yet tight enough as to preclude escape. “It was just the force of habit, you see, and when I saw all those lovely toys hanging on your wall, I let instinct take over for a minute… Sorry about the outburst,” Arishna said with a light laugh, examining the rest of the toys and making noises of approval and interest. “Say, I didn’t know you had one of these… and one of those? How interesting! I’ll have to make certain to use this sometime… oh, and one of those. What a kinky kitten you are.” Arishna grinned over her shoulder at Felin. Perhaps she was sorry for the outburst, Felin noted sourly, but she certainly hadn’t moved to unlock Felin’s wrists from the cuffs. Then again, she didn’t want to draw attention to the matter, so the simply sat down on the bed and waited for the devil to go on.


“So, what was it I wanted to say…? Oh yes. I remember now.” Arishna came away from the rack with another pair of cuffs and a length of connecting chain. Felin gave these a sour glance, but Arishna laughed it off. “Just indulge me, I’m having fun. It’s almost like being back at home. Home, mmm.” Arishna nodded, sitting on the bed next to Felin, and playing with the cuffs as she spoke. It was highly distracting, and probably intended to be so. “I think I already said that Rati and I come from Hell, yes? You’ll have to forgive Rati’s enthusiasm. She’s still so young and energetic, though it suits her job function quite well.”


“Job function?” Felin asked, blinking, and forgetting about the handcuffs and her immediate fate for a moment. “I didn’t know there were jobs in Hell…”


“Oh, of course!” Arishna laughed merrily. “Of course there are. Devils, like humans, and any other race, are good at different things. Rati works on the First Circle of Hell, which means she deals mostly with pleasures of the flesh and related issues. That’s what I used to do, once upon a time.” Arishna chuckled. “It’s been a long while since I actually worked any summons. Usually when a wish birthed of desire reaches us, such as the thoughts of a particularly lonely man on a lonesome night, it works as a summons even without any spoken words.” Arishna’s eyes twinkled. “Rati takes care of that. Sometimes the person desires something for themselves… other times, they want to see something happen to someone else. We handle both. Now, of course, there are people who wish for vengeance, or ill luck upon others, or for personal gain, and those are handled through different Circles.”


“And what is it that you do exactly?” Felin asked, her curiosity starting to get the better of her and ignoring, or at least temporarily discounting, the fact that she was still sitting on the bed with her wrists handcuffed behind her. “Are you a supervisor of some sort, or...?”


“Supervisor, hmm?” Arishna grinned widely, reaching down to Felin’s feet as she did so and trying to lock them in the cuffs she was twirling on one finger. Felin, of course, pulled her feet back and tried to squirm away, crawling on her belly to the other side of the bed, but Arishna caught her and soon had her ankles cuffed tightly, then used the connecting chain to hogtie Felin quite securely, linking the ankle- and handcuffs. She talked while she did so, so that if anyone had heard only the words and not seen the actions, they’d have suspected nothing amiss. “I suppose you could say that, loosely. I’m a senior devil, you see, and I work on special missions now and then, but what I do more frequently is teach. I teach the young and ambitious devils – male and female alike – of the First Circle.” Felin could only imagine what kind of ‘extracurricular activity’ such a course would entail. As if reading her mind, Arishna went on: “Teaching such a subject requires more than good instruction; more often than not, your professor is also the material for your practical exam.” Arishna’s finger tweaked at Felin’s side, making the catgirl jump. “I’ve been in your position more times than I can count, and I haven’t even started taking into consideration the pranks…”


“S-so,” Felin said, trying not to start laughing even as Arishna’s fingers showed an increased interest in her sides, “y-you’re a succubus, th-then?”


“Ah, I was wondering when you’d ask.” Arishna’s eyes twinkled. “It’s not like we can explain this state of affairs to you on the mortal plane, but now that I’m here, I’ll fill you in. A ‘succubus’ in your language is a demon, like me, who lies with sleeping men and extracts their souls through intercourse. Now, while it’s possible to do that, it’s not always what happens.” Arishna laughed. “That was a more superstitious time, and people showed a much greater affinity for pitchforks, tar, and torches than they do now. So it was necessary to sneak about at night. But to answer your question, ‘Succubus’ is actually a title, the title given to the female head of the First Circle; likewise, ‘Incubus’ is the title given to the male head. Does that make more sense?” Felin had to concentrate to understand what was being said; Arishna’s fingernails were exploiting the short, fine fur on Felin’s feet, and Felin’s laughter was only quiet because her face was pressed against the sheets as she tried to muffle her laughter. Tugging at the bonds one way or another only met with solid resistance and nowhere to wiggle to. Arishna just smiled, as if she was doing nothing wrong.


“So then,” Arishna said, her tone of voice changing for the first time since they entered the room. Felin noticed the change. At first, she had been quite amicable, talking like a teacher to a favored student as she explained the situation and a short overview of the structure of Hell. But now her tone of voice had changed, to that of the predator about to toy with her prey. “Felin, I’ve seen your work and I’m quite impressed by it. Were you a devil, you’d fit right in with the First Circle, and advance in our ranks very quickly. Your work is top-notch,” she complimented Felin, not mentioning that her fingers had started working harder on Felin’s soles, firmly scratching at the base of Felin’s toes. Even muffled, Felin’s laughter was starting to increase in volume, and she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting to hear the demand that would follow the flattery. “I was hoping you’d allow us to make use of your excellent facilities in the upcoming struggle… yes?” Arishna’s words said one thing, but her tone of voice said another: Agree or be tickled ‘til you scream.


Felin tried to roll onto her side to get her feet out of the devil’s grip, and she succeeded only in wiggling her feet away from the tickling touch for a bare second. Swiftly, Arishna moved on, adding more demands as her fingers reached Felin’s sides and began to tickle quickly. Felin’s head jerked upwards and she let out a yowl of laughter, cheeks flushing slightly as she shook her head. It wasn’t intended to be a refusal, but Arishna seized on it as an excuse to toughen her position, grinning wickedly. “No? Well, I don’t know what else to say, Felin. Let me see… what if I offer you the chance to help us secure this negotiation by using your device to allow more of our… comrades… onto this plane?” Her leather-clad fingers stopped tickling for a moment, and when they returned, the gloves were gone, short fingernails tickling firmly at her ribs. Felin squealed.


“Nohoo!! Nooo!! Nahahahahahah!! S-sthahahahAHAHAahaha!! Stoppit! Stop! Hahahahaha!! HAHAA!! KYEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!” Arishna looked at Felin with great interest. The last outburst had come about because the devil had raked her fingernails gently from hips to ribs, running against the grain of her fine grey fur, and the catgirl had reacted particularly strongly to that. Sensing a weakness, but not quite knowing what it was, Arishna ceased her attack for now and removed the connecting chain that held Felin’s hand- and ankle-cuffs together, allowing the feline to stretch out and catch her breath as Arishna stood, taking the chain back to the toy rack, and examining it with a grin.


“Seems like you’ve got a bit of a weak spot there,” Arishna said with a grin, replacing the chain on the rack. Felin had rolled onto her back so she could see what Arishna was doing. That was more difficult than it looked, since she couldn’t use her arms for leverage. But she needed to see what Arishna was up to, if for no other reason than to mentally prepare herself for whatever came next. Arishna glanced back, and saw that she was watching. The devil figured she could use this to her advantage, and turned back to the rack, but in reality she was examining Felin out of the corner of her eye. Felin was breathing hard, recovering from the first assault, and when Arishna reached for a feather… nothing happened. No reaction. What next, then… The devil mused to herself, reaching for a backscratcher, and was rewarded with a soft gasp as Felin saw her take it into her hand. More effective, but… not enough for Arishna’s tastes. She put it back. What else could be used…? Oh, this looked like a vibration wand. Dual-purpose… but that would have to be examined later. The only reaction that got was a squirming and a soft exhalation. Maybe Arishna would explore the possibilities with this device later.


But Arishna struck pay dirt when she happened to lay her hand on the brush. Felin made a clearly audible gasp, and Arishna took it off the rack, examining it. It was nothing more than a fairly standard hairbrush, plastic stalks with tiny balls on the ends, the kind that would massage the scalp while brushing. Apparently, she was afraid of this one… Arishna grinned, turning back to the bed and wagging the hairbrush at Felin. It took Felin only a moment to realize what had happened, and she groaned with disbelief at allowing herself to be led on like that. Arishna only chuckled, sitting astride the catgirl’s thighs and stroking her waist gently with the hairbrush. Even that gentle touch sent Felin into a giggling spasm, but Arishna only smiled, her voice gentle and persuasive as she tried a new tack.


“Don’t be so hard on yourself, dear,” she chuckled richly. “I know it must have been a blow to your pride to be led on that way, but you are at a disadvantage, and I figure you’re smart enough to know that.” Felin nodded, feeling rather ticklish, and quite squirmy as well. “I’ve been doing this for hundreds of years. I know you like studying living beings, Felin… their reactions, their thoughts, how to best get inside their heads and get the reactions you want. It’s all mind games. You enjoy that kind of control, don’t you? So let me tell you what, Felin… like I said, I think you’d have made a fine First Circle devil. I’d love having a student like you; bright, eager to learn, and possessing that sense of poise that’s so hard to teach.” Arishna’s hairbrush was only teasing Felin’s stomach gently, raking back and forth through the fur, reaching down to the soft skin beneath and stimulating it. Felin seemed as if she would explode with laughter, shaking and screeching and curling her upper body as if trying to do situps, but all the effort tired her out, and so Arishna was able to tickle her entirely without resistance.


Finally Arishna came to the heart of the matter. “Felin, if you help us, I’ll teach you everything I can. I’ll teach you the things that only devils of the First Circle are allowed to know. Think about it… you’ll know things that even other devils don’t know, Felin…” She had stopped tickling, allowing Felin to think about it. The fact that she had to stop to think about it let Arishna know what the answer would be already. She wavered, just a little. Arishna could see it in her eyes, and so she made another push, just one more, a little one… smoothing her hands over Felin’s hips, she said teasingly, “Remember what I said about the exams?”


That settled it, and when Felin nodded, Arishna smiled widely, setting the hairbrush aside and releasing Felin’s limbs from the shackles before standing up and returning the brush and cuffs to the rack, smiling to herself as she looked over the various implements. So absorbed was she in studying the rack that the sensation of claws touching her tanned skin caused her back to arch, and moments later she felt Felin’s body pressed against the back of her own. “So… when do I start…?” she asked softly. “I’m eager for my first lesson…”




Meanwhile, Rati had been sent by Arishna to perform a reconnaissance mission; namely, to see what was on each floor of the castle, so that they would have a working knowledge of what was where. Rati also had her own goal in mind. She wanted to find that big angel again. Her name was Lamelle, right? Lamelle. Rati grinned at the thought of that. She was certain that if she hadn’t been interrupted last time, Lamelle would’ve become a giggling wreck within just a few minutes. Rati had only been caught off guard by the wings, after all. She hadn’t expected them to bend like that, but now she knew better. The sassy red-haired devil returned from the hallways of the first floor after discerning what was there. The rooms had looked pretty nice. Once Arishna had summoned a couple dozen more devils, they could be live pretty comfortably in those rooms. Rati grinned at that thought too. Those two angels, helpless before a swarm of devils, and…


For the time being, she realized just then, fantasies of that sort would have to wait, because the two angels were coming down the stairs just as she was going up, and they met just outside of the door to the second floor, both angels and devil stopping and silently sizing up their opponent. Rati sneered openly, her fingers wiggling slowly as she took one step closer, and then another. The angels looked at one another, and then the door to Rati’s right swung open to reveal Eury’s face, smirking coldly. Rati was taken aback. Three angels? She realized then, taking a step backwards, that neither of the two angels she had just run into she recognized. There were more! And Lamelle wasn’t even here… but how? What had they done? Rati was so shocked by it all that Eury had grabbed her arm and pulled her into the second floor hallway by the time the devil had opened her mouth to protest. “Lemme go, you stuck-up featherhead! Where in Hell did you all come from anyway? I thought you angels always went on about fair play – what’s fair about ganging up on me like this?” As Eury put the struggling devil into a firm hold, Rati started kicking her legs like a child throwing a tantrum. The other two angels, taller than Eury and leaner than Lamelle, tried to approach, but were slightly put off by her kicking legs.


Eury scowled. “Hurry up, I cannot hold her when she –!” What she had been going to say became quite clear as the angel, smaller, and not nearly as strong as the devil she held, lost her grip on Rati as she swung her body first one way and then the other to break Eury’s hold. The two angels were still between her and the doorway to the stairwell, and so she had little choice but to turn and run down the hall of the second floor. With a grimace, Rati realized that the second floor was outwardly identical to the first, and its rooms were probably the same on the inside as well. That meant there wouldn’t be any other way off this floor except for the doorway that the angels were guarding. Rati broke into a run, heading down the hall as fast as she could. Her best option was to get out of sight, and then to duck into one of the rooms and try to hide until they lost interest or gave her the opportunity to sneak by. She pulled ahead and turned the corner to the right, knowing that she had very little time to pick a place to hide and conceal herself; the sound of the angels’ boots on the stone floor was very close behind her. Choosing the second door to the left, Rati eased the door open and slipped inside, and then closed it just in time, taking care to see that the door didn’t make any noise as she closed it.


She couldn’t take the risk of cracking the door open to see what the angels were up to; the doors fit flush against their frames, and they were fairly thick, so that she’d have to crack the door noticeably in order to see outside. Best thing to do then was to hide, and without a second thought, she got down on the ground and rolled under the bed. It was slightly dusty, as one might expect, and her breathing sounded loud to her ears, but she was fairly confident that she’d not be found… until she realized that the lights were on in this room, and for that matter, they had been on when she had entered. Rati resisted the impulse to curse under her breath. The lights being on could draw the angels to this room, making it more likely she’d be found. On the other hand, they could conclude that Rati would have been foolish to turn on the lights, and ignore the room in favor of a ‘better’ hiding spot. Hiding in plain sight, or drawing attention to herself? Only the next few minutes would reveal which of the two she’d engaged in.


But Rati didn’t factor in a crucial third variable to her calculations; rather, a third option, in this case being that there was already someone occupying that room. Jelex had been lounging on her bed, wearing rather casual clothes – casual meaning revealing; one could see her pubic muscles when she stood up because of the way her pants fit. Had Rati seen the elf girl, she’d have licked her lips with glee and wasted no time in playing with her new toy. The devil hadn’t seen the elf girl in her haste, but the nature of Rati’s entrance had made it all but impossible for Jelex not to notice. What came next was even harder to ignore. The door to her room banged open, and the stern-faced Eury filled the doorway. Because of her wings, she did actually fill the doorway despite her small stature, though the two taller angels had to duck slightly in order to get their wings through the door, and then all three were in Jelex’s room when the door closed.


“You, elf,” Eury said imperiously, pointing at her. “Did you see a devil come by this way just a moment ago?” Her eyes narrowed as she evaluated Jelex’s figure and adopted her disapproving look. The two angels, behind her and to either side, took their cues from Eury. One looked just as stern-faced as she, but the other was only able to adopt a neutral gaze which betrayed slight hints of enthusiasm, as if she were anticipating what was about to come. Of course, Jelex’s ability to read subtle facial cues was not the sharpest of her senses, and this distinction was lost on her as she put her manga aside and levered herself up on her elbows, raising an eyebrow. As per casual attire, she wasn’t wearing her fingerless gloves, only a metal-studded leather bracelet on her right wrist, and instead of her black sleeveless tank top, she wore a red top with black trim that showed a considerable amount of both cleavage and stomach; it fit tightly on her body to maintain its shape, and it was really just a little bit more than a bra. It went without saying Jelex was not wearing the latter garment at the moment. And her black shorts were too big, with no elastic around the waistband; a silver belt was threaded through the loops and could be tightened, but it was left slack, so that the shorts hung on her hips, providing the aforementioned effect of making quite a bit of her visible. She also, to Eury’s irritation, showed no shame at being so exposed.


“Maybe I did,” she said offhandedly. “I was just sitting in my room reading, so I wasn’t really paying attention to what was happening. All I know is that you guys just barged into my room and started makin’ demands and stuff.” Jelex’s decision to protect Rati was reflexive, and mostly based on Eury’s attitude instead of any loyalty she might have felt towards one side or the other. Jelex didn’t care for in-your-face regal authority that Eury displayed, basically the notion that Jelex had to listen to her because Eury said so. Someone who showed that they were worth listening to was a different story, but Eury was just being obnoxious. And so Jelex made it a point to make Eury’s life difficult by denying her that which she wanted. She wouldn’t take it well, Jelex knew. She smirked.


Jelex was right; Eury didn’t take it well, and the smirk only made things worse. A vein stood out in her forehead, throbbing, as she wrestled to keep herself under control. “Very well then,” she said in a voice so tightly controlled that it was obvious what she was doing, “I guess we’ll just have to ask more directly.” Her peeved expression turned into a haughty smirk, and that gave Jelex pause. But Eury went on, snapping her fingers and pointing authoritatively. “Triel, Yuli, show the elfling that we mean business.” Triel, the stern-faced subordinate, nodded and smiled slyly, whereas Yuli let her grin blossom fully; she had shown the semi-interested grin before, and the two angels flanked Jelex before hopping atop her bed, and atop her as well.


“Hey! What the hell’s the big idea?” she protested, trying to swat and kick the angels off of her. Being limber and no weakling, it took some time for the angels to wrestle her down; Yuli was trying to straddle her thighs and Triel to sit on her arms after stretching them above her head. This didn’t quite go according to plan, and for a few minutes the bed was a tangle of flailing limbs and legs and wings, as well as a fair amount of screeching from Jelex, whose exposed skin the angels were exploiting as they attempted to wrestle her into place. “Gyehh! Hey! Stop! Knock it off! Quit! GHahhAHAHAha stoppit! Lemme goohooo!”


Meanwhile, Rati wasn’t sure what to think. The mattress above her was bouncing and the springs squeaking with Jelex’s struggle. She could see Eury’s boots on the floor in front of her, and didn’t dare move or breathe too loud, though the chances of her being noticed underneath the bed were almost nil now. The devil did wish she could witness what was going on above her, but she could listen, and that was almost as good… Rati closed her eyes and tried to envision exactly what was happening up there. The struggling had stopped now. Maybe that meant the angels had pinned the elf girl. Rati grinned at the thought.


“Wearing such skimpy clothing is quite immoral,” Yuli said, now firmly seated across Jelex’s thighs. It looked as if she herself was trying to suppress a smile as she reached backwards, running her fingers on Jelex’s socked soles before smoothly pulling her white ankle socks up and off her feet, tossing them aside as her fingers curled in to scratch at the elf’s soles. Jelex’s feet were small, and rather firm from the workouts she frequently engaged in, but still soft – Syia saw to that – and she reacted rather nicely to the stimulation. “Be thankful your master has decreed we cannot employ further punishment than this, but in your case, this is punishment enough.”


“Had you been dressed more appropriately,” Triel said more sternly, “you’d not be in such a predicament.” Her fingernails, short and sharp, were teasing the elf girl’s smooth underarms, and her neck, and around the base of her ears. This last seemed to always cause the girl to hitch upwards with an especially breathless giggle, but Triel didn’t attach any significance of it, simply tracing her fingers calmly over sensitive areas… “Now you will suffer a punishment suitable for your condition…”


“NahahahHAHAHAHAH Now just a damn seheeeheheheheheh second!!!” Jelex screeched, laughing like crazy and whipping her head back and forth so that her long blonde hair got in her face. Her arms were firmly pinned beneath Triel’s legs, right across the bicep so that she had no leverage whatsoever in trying to lift the angel off of her. Her feet kicked rather cutely from Yuli’s tickling, toes curling and wiggling. “Whahahahah ahahaha hahaa!!! HAAA! What is this about anyway!? I thhahaah thought you were tryhing to mahahake me talk, dahahhaammit!” Jelex’s trapped hands pounded the mattress in ticklish frustration, her body wiggling within its constraints to avoid the teasing touches of the angelic figures who sat upon her. Never rough, never aggressive, their fingers simply found her sensitive points and skated upon them. That was what made it most maddening of all. Yuli’s wing tips had taken over, lightly teasing her soles, as Yuli herself started to run her fingers along the exposed skin of Jelex’s stomach and waistline, but it was very light, very teasing… yet constant. Jelex’s hyperactive body demanded more stimulation; none was forthcoming.


“Hmm, this is true.” Eury was wearing a superior smirk on her face as she nodded slightly, eyes closed. “Yes, we are going to require you to tell us that which we wish to know. But there is always time to inculcate proper morality into ourselves. Mortals fall often, but this is the way of mortals, and they must be guided, not shunned,” Eury said, almost as if she were preaching. Jelex would have pantomimed a gag reflex had she been able, so self-righteous and stuck-up did she sound. “But the truth is, we can always make time to better ourselves, and strive to be as moral as possible…”


“Gh—ghhahaa—ghahahahahahahhaa god dahahahahahammit!! Stop! I didhehehehehahahahaa… didn’t sehehehEHEHEheheh anything! Shahahahahah shaddap! Ghahahaa! Your preaching is… BWAHHAHAHAAHAHA!!!” Jelex suddenly leapt into fits of laughter as Yuli moved her fingernails to the elf’s sides and began to scratch lightly. The fact that her hips fairly leapt off of the mattress didn’t deter the angel, who seemed to be quite focused on dealing out this ‘punishment’, as opposed to the other who treated it like the command it was. Triel’s fingers only explored the same places she always had, with some slight variations; tickling under the arms, on the neck, and around the ears, or any combination of these places. Yuli, by contrast, sought weaknesses, and gladly exploited them. Jelex felt as if her tight, energetic body was going to explode with the unused energy she was building up; her hips slammed over and over again into the mattress, and when that failed to shake Yuli’s attack, tried to roll to the side, only to have the angels’ legs squeeze and pin her firmly in place.


Rati was enjoying herself quite thoroughly. She could hear the way the bed squeaked and bounced with Jelex’s struggling, and closed her eyes, imagining that the elf’s laughter was the result of her own actions and not those of the angels. The angels were fools, after all… if they could get this girl to react so much, imagine how an experienced devil like herself might fare! That thought made Rati chuckle to herself, a sound she quickly muffled, but it hardly mattered what with the racket being caused above her head. She listened, one ear cocked upwards and a wide grin on her face. Inwardly, she wished for the elf girl to continue to hold out so that the angels might torment her longer. But Rati wasn’t sure how long Jelex could continue, and worse, what she might say when they broke her.


That moment was not long in coming. By Eury’s direction, both Yuli and Triel focused their fingers on Jelex’s sides, and the elf’s laughter came in harpy-like screeches at this point, only recognizable as laughter because of the breaths she had to take in between. Looking at the elf’s body, one might think that she’d been engaged in strenuous exercise; she was sweating and flushed, and her movements were getting slower since she’d spent so much energy on her exertions. And still the angels tickled, driving Jelex to the brink of insanity before she finally blurted “GHAHAAHAAH!! STOAHAHHAA HAHAH HAHAA HAHAA THAHA BATHROOM! NYAHAAAHA!! GYAHAHAH HAHAH NOOO!! No more dahaha… hahaha… hamit! No…hohoo… hahh… ooohhh… oh… haha… you… stopped. Hahah… hah.” Jelex panted, in a rather exaggerated manner, but the angels had stopped nonetheless, and Eury looked at her with a pleased smirk on her face. “Whaha… haha… well…?”


“Yes, the bathroom.” Eury nodded and turned on her heel, beckoning for the other two to follow her. “It makes perfect sense. She could try and evade us in there even if we did go in to search for her. Very well.” It seemed as if the angels had forgotten Jelex existed as Eury began to command her two subordinates again. “Yuli, you’ll stand by the door while Triel and I search. You’ll need to be prepared, because she may try to attack you while we’re searching and attempt to win one-on-one…” Eury’s voice became indistinct as she headed into the hall and around the corner, until her voice was no longer distinguishable when the angels entered the bathroom. Only when Rati could no longer hear the voices did she crawl out from under the bed.


“Why’d you stick up for me?” Rati asked with a grin. “I’m a devil, ya know. I wouldn’t have taken that for your sake, I’d have saved my own skin. Maybe you just like it.” Rati smirked. “But still, I guess I’ve gotta hand it to you. It’ll take them long enough to search the bathroom that they won’t be able to catch me before I get to the next floor. Didn’t think you’d be able to lie on the spot like that.” Rati looked Jelex up and down, nodding approval. “You’ve got talent. Shame you’re not a devil, but I guess that’s that.”


“It wasn’t a lie,” Jelex said, rolling onto her side. “And I wasn’t trying to tell them that you were hiding in the bathroom. Trust me, I was gonna sell you out as soon as I couldn’t take it anymore, I wanted to see you get it too. What I was trying to say was that I had to take a piss, and she took it the wrong way.” Jelex scratched her head and rose, only to be confronted by Rati’s sudden smirk. “Hey, c’mon. You wouldn’t… I told ya I gotta piss, I wasn’t lying! Wait, well…” Jelex contemplated that for a bit. “Okay, fine, I guess if Felin or Syia had just said that, I’d be smirking too, but you’re gonna have to run no matter what, because as soon as they find you’re not in there, they’ll come looking for you.”


“Hmph.” Rati frowned. Despite her wishes, the elf girl had a point, and so she turned for the door, pointed tail waving lazily as she called one last comment over her shoulder. “Well, the same goes for you. As soon as they find out you lied, they’re going to come back for you, and I doubt they’ll let you take a piss break then.” Rati smirked and slammed the door to Jelex’s room on the way out, only to have it opened a second later by the blonde elf, who was hightailing it out of her room after seeing the wisdom of what Rati had said. The devil didn’t turn to taunt Jelex again, but allowed herself some private imaginings as she opened the door and ran up the staircase, continuing her scouting mission…


Jelex, meanwhile, ran through the same door, bare feet slapping on the floor, since she had not taken the time to put her socks back on. It occurred to her that she was wearing the absolute minimum amount of clothing one could wear and still be considered decent, but it was a passing, random thought. She ran down the spiral stairs, thankful that she encountered no one else on the way to the first floor, and burst through the door, making a beeline for the restroom. Why did it always seem like the need to piss got ten times worse with every step you took towards the bathroom? What had started as an irritating reminder had become a full-fledged urge as she threw the door to the bathroom open, racing past the hot tub area and sprinting into one of the bathrooms, slamming the door behind her.


With an exaggerated, theatrical sigh of relief, Jelex exited the restroom after having washed her hands and leaned against the doorframe, wondering what to do now. Going back up to her room seemed like a bad idea at the current time. Those angels were probably still up there, and pissed off by now as well because they’d have searched the bathroom and found nothing. Hmm. Jelex wandered slowly towards the door, the humidity and heat of the hot tub swallowing her once more as she approached its entrance, on her right. By chance she happened to look in there, and what she saw there would provide her with her next few hours of entertainment. Sitting alone in the hot tub, looking a little worn, but cutely so, was Lamelle, submerged to her neck in the water. Jelex changed tack and headed into the changing room, quickly tossing her clothes into a cubby and grabbing a towel before sauntering back to the hot tub.


“Oh! Hello…” Lamelle said with a slight gasp of surprise as Jelex descended into the tub, smiling by way of greeting as the elf slid into the water up to her nose, leaving only her eyes and ears above the water. “How are you… hmm? Why are you looking at me like that? Why are you… wait, wait a minute…!”




Jaynin, removed from the hubbub of the floors below, was browsing the shelves of his library collection. On the floor plan, it had the same central location and entrance as the bathrooms on the floors below, but it took up nearly the entire center of the fourth floor. The thing that most people noticed upon first entering the room was the vast window that took up most of the far wall. The view from the entrance was impeded by the stacks, which ran perpendicular to the far wall, but if one were to cross the room for a better view, there were tables and comfortable reading couches and chairs oriented either towards the window or in small semicircles facing the window. From here one could look out over the surrounding countryside, the quiet cliffside road that linked the castle to the city in the distance. Placed on a peninsula as it was, this road was the only way in or out, though the castle was not oriented on the beach itself; rather, there were trees and some bluffs directly behind the castle, and a nice sandy beach off to the right.


From the entrance, Jaynin had gone left, around the L-shaped mahogany librarian’s desk. There was rarely anyone who acted as a functioning librarian, but the computer system and filing were open for use if you needed to search for something. To the right of the entrance was one of the many bookshelves, aligned against the wall; the three walls aside from the window were lined with bookcases, and the middle of the room was also home to a significant number of them, tall enough to require a stepladder to reach the top row in some cases.


Like the infirmary it was adjacent to, and indeed connected to by an inconspicuous door against the right wall, the library abandoned the traditional castle décor in favor of modern amenities, including a carpet and overhead lighting bright enough to ward off eyestrain. The desk and the bookshelves were also new, though wooden, and well-maintained. It was these shelves that Jaynin now browsed: he was looking through a number of books housed on the shelf against the far left wall, and finding one particular volume, he took it from the shelf and opened it to a page, reading a passage.


He had been reading for only a minute or so when Syia made her appearance, approaching from behind in the guise of a librarian. The rims of her glasses were thicker, and darker, her nylons changed from white to black to match the black pumps, and a charcoal grey miniskirt covered rather less leg than a normal librarian would care to. She wore a black vest and a long-sleeved white shirt, and her hair was pulled back into a severe bun. Were she of a mind to, her stern librarian’s glare would be in evidence, but she instead wore her mischievous smile. “Being cautious, are we?” she addressed Jaynin directly, not at all fazed when he did not look up for another minute.


“Seeing as there seems to be something of great value in this place that I don’t know about, I won’t be taking any chances I don’t need to.” Jaynin closed the book and waited for a moment. A book that one pulled off of the shelf to activate a switch was not only old and cliché, but rather distinguishable from other books if one were to examine them thoroughly. A book that had a switch within its pages would by necessity be designed differently than other books and consequently weigh less; both gave outward signs of their dual purpose. This particular book had one ‘key’ passage that, when read, would unlock the way into Jaynin’s hidden chambers. Perhaps that too was cliché, but some things did need to be kept secret. Jaynin returned the book to its place on the shelf and waited for the bookcase to sink into the floor, revealing the door in the wall behind it. “Did you find anything out at all?”


“No, but I wasn’t trying very hard,” Syia said smugly. “Though, I did learn something that might be of interest to you…”


“And that is?” Jaynin asked, with a sigh. Syia sometimes had too much fun ‘playing’ her games and not doing the things he wanted her to do, but he had long since learned that pushing her only made her more vague and less willing to do anything directly. The bookcase, which slid downward noiselessly so as to not betray the presence of anything amiss with noise, finished its descent and locked into place.


“The High Angel, Eury, is going to train one of her angels to seduce you so they can be on par with the devils in these ‘negotiations’. I’m sure you noticed that neither of them have tried to talk with you since you met with them earlier today. Instead, both sides are strengthening their position in anticipation of a struggle for primacy of place, figuring that when they have the advantage over the other, you can be wheedled or scolded or whatever they want to do to try and make you give in.” Syia chuckled. “But I’m sure you knew that.”


“It was somewhat obvious,” Jaynin allowed, turning back to Syia as he took a few steps forward, putting his hand on the doorknob and looking at her. “But how is Eury going to train anyone to be seductive? I don’t think that woman could seduce a college-age male with a case of beer.”


“She asked me to do it,” Syia replied, letting her smirk blossom fully.


Jaynin was silent for a moment. “And you agreed.” Syia only nodded in response. Jaynin could only chuckle in reply. “I should have expected no less from you. Well, we’ll see how your protégé turns out in the end. Since I trust that you’ll never directly betray me, I’ll let you play your game as you wish. Just try not to get ensnared in the webs you weave, all right?” He opened the door and turned to her. “Oh, and if you want to have fun with any of them, be my guest.” Syia’s wide grin and nod were confirmation enough of that, and as Jaynin closed the door, the bookcase began to return to its original place.


The passage beyond the door was dark, and slightly dusty; here, it did feel like an old castle, with flickering lights and all that. It would not have been an issue to draw electricity into this room, but… the ambience would have militated against it. Really, the passage lead only to a rather narrow stone room with a dusty bookshelf containing magic tomes on one end, a wooden desk against the left wall with arcane memorabilia, and prominently displayed in the center of the room, a magic circle drawn on the ground in silver, with glossy black stone pillars forming a square that the circle was contained within. Here was where Jaynin studied the arcane arts, and put their principles into play…


Theoretically, it should not be difficult. The angels and devils either had to be looking for a device that boosted inter-dimensional travel, perhaps as a way to force a path through the naturally existing barriers, or a dimensional anchor, something that would serve as a guiding beacon back to their place of origin, so they could explore alternate dimensional paths, perhaps finding a loophole, without getting hopelessly lost. Jaynin pulled two books down from the bookshelf and carried them to the desk, where lamps lit themselves as he sat down. Detecting either of the items in question was possible, but the more narrowly the detection spell could be refined, the better the result would be. Opening the first book, Jaynin got to work…