Burning Lust

[Rosemary Mori]

Rosemary wasn't about to say no to the dog for a simple request. She stretched her back a little. "Of course. I can set it up for you. There are some levels where the Inakum are completely immune to fire and heat just to warn you. Did you want to play by yourself or with someone? I must warn you I am ready to try to sleep again, but I would at least watch you play a little."  

[psychotic__Gal]

Ophelia bounced excitedly on her feet. "Well...I'd love it if we could all play together." her fiery tail wagged again. Her intelligent eyes gazed up at the two, taller individuals. "That is, if you want to." Another smile crossed her hound-mouth. "But I understand that you're tired..." Her smile got bigger when Rosemary mentioned the anti-fire levels, her amber colored eyes glittered mysteriously, "Those levels won't be too hard. I have other weapons." She tossed her head back with a semi-confident laugh.  

[GamingLord]

((Because of how spaced out and everything the RP's been, this is a reminder post to look back on, a sort of rebriefing of what's been up and where all the characters are.

Adira, Banquo, Ophelia:
-Escaped Heegh and Hell, had been horribly abused for a while.
-Currently has their Hell-Chains broken, Adira (and Eztli, really) has been ambushed in Limbo by black market slave traders. Saved by Limboian armed forces, angels, others. Encountered an angelic by the name of Jezebel.
-Banquo and Ophelia have relations to the enemy Hellhounds.
-Now in Gaia in THoR, preparing for an inevitable battle for freedom.
-Someone in Hell was scrying for Adira the night before. Jacob/Cian team took care of that though.
-Banquo is outside running, Adira is stuffing her face with strawberry pancakes, and Ophelia is about to enter a game.

Duran, Nym, Nerissa, Salanio:
-The three enemy hellhounds are under orders to track down Adira.
-Mysterious fallen Duran offered to help in exchange for a chance at Nerissa's pups should she have any.
-Duran boosted immune systems of the hellhounds to covertly undo tampering done by Heegh, which seems to be improving the overall state of the hounds.
-Duran, Secret Project, ??? = Profit! Or something. Also, Duran somehow has THoR bugged, and is aware somewhat of the going ons there, waiting for the perfect time to strike.


Add to this you two, as you see fit.))  

[GamingLord]

Before Jacob finished stroking Veni's hair, he commanded the vampire to stop feeling ill and to rest again, sensing that he wasn't up to par at all. He then joined the others at the breakfast table to eat.

Somebody (Maybe Eztli) suggested that Adira try her pancakes with whipped cream, and Galantros handed over the spray can of the stuff. As he did, he glanced at Adira oddly for a brief second, sensing something in her emotions he couldn't place for a little while.. then it clicked as Sylin left. It was mistrust. Perhaps for good reason, he supposed. It was odd, being near another of his kind like this. It almost felt like another form of communication that he wasn't familiar with, yet was instinctively picking up on. Like she was a type of family, long separated that he never fully knew. It certainly wasn't on any sort of romantic level, no, he still felt that longing in his heart for Black he felt.... it really felt like... a cousin? or a sister?

Little did either of the two demon mixes know that they hailed from similar, if not the same breed of demonic incubi/sucubi, where a minor connection was usually felt amongst all their brood.

The glance didn't go entirely unnoticed by Eztli, who recognized it as more as a long lost sibiling type of bond than anything else. He was seated next to Adira, and unconsciously one of his now invisible fiery wings brushed against her hidden ones in a slightly shy, romantic gesture. The reaper angel was fully unaware that he had done so, the wings sometimes having minds of their own at rare occasion as he idly absorbed his breakfast with his fingers.

- - - - - -

Sylin looked thoughtful for a moment at Ophelia. "That sounds... interesting. I would work better with actual individuals instead of simulated characters. Perhaps it could be like a manner of teamwork building exercise?"  

[psychotic__Gal]

Adira brushed some of her wavy brown hair away from her face. "You called it whipped cream?" She asked, taking the can from Galantros. She fumbled with the button to make it come out but when she got it, she became distracted. There was a new feeling. Affection? togetherness? Family affection? Her eyes scanned the other occupants and met Galantros' eyes. Oh. She forgot he was half incubus. That made him family. At least according to the rumors she'd heard and when she met with other succubi years ago. They seemed to connect on a deeper level. She sent an affectionate feeling to Galantros before focusing on her hand. "Oops!" She accidentally put too much whipped cream on the pancakes. She took some of the substance on her fork and put it into her mouth.

"oh! We have this in Hell! We just call it something else. It...wouldn't translate well into this language." Luckily, Adira liked it. She felt something feathery, light, and hot brush against her leathery wing. She glanced to her side, noticing Eztli who had been silent after suggesting the whipped cream. She ducked her head slightly, a light blush creeping across her body. That felt like an intimate touch. Something sweet. Something loving.

Banquo felt wonderful as he sprinted across the yard. It was cool and still snowy. His body shuddered as he ran but he did not transform into his hell hound form. He kept his body in check. His eyes naturally scanned the area, looking for a threat. There was nothing. He stopped midstride and put his nose to the air. Nothing seemed to be off about the area...then again, Banquo wasn't used to the area. He took off running again, this time toward the house, reaching it in no time. He scratched on the closed door, wondering how Ophelia managed to open it in her wolf form. No doubt she pulled some amazing stunt.

Adira stood and walked over to the door when she heard the faint scratch. She was glad for the distraction. Her face was pink now. Luckily, her face was not too pink. Adira opened the door and grinned down at the ice hound, "Did you enjoy your run?"
"Definitely" He felt invigorated yet tired at the same time. He yawned, his wolf's mouth stretching open to reveal a set of sharp teeth and a pink tongue. He flopped on the floor with a sigh of satisfaction and put his head in between his paws. His eyes were still open but at this rate it wouldn't be long before they closed.

Adira sat back down, enjoying more of her breakfast sin. She would probably regret eating so much later on as her body still wasn't used to such rich food but she decided she didn't care. This stuff was addicting.

In the other room, Ophelia looked up at Sylin. "I bet it could be interesting. I'd like to see how you fight....both of you really." She said, "Well, what did you have in mind?" She asked, cocking her head to the other side.  

[Rosemary Mori]

"An easier game if it involved everyone here and for it to be done this evening. I hate how much you tempt me so," she said glancing at Phe's flames. "Do the flames on your body hurt to bump into?"  

[GamingLord]

Out of some strange natural instinct, one of GL's tendrils made a strange symbol. He glanced back at it, confused. He hadn't ever seen the marking before, so he had no idea what it meant, but Adira quite possibly had seen it before, a type of Hell language amongst their kind. It had the loose meaning of sibling, or rather in this case, "I recognize you as kin." Not sure what to make of the symbol, but somewhat used to his tendrils sometimes doing odd things, he gently batted the thing, and it shifted to it's usual semi-wing shape.

- - - - -

Sylin fiddled with his mask a little in thought.

"Perhaps a worst case scenario simulation where we all work together to see where we stand skill wise? I'm sure with all our combined knowledge of our past foes, we could see just what we could stand up against us exactly, and where our talents are."  

[psychotic__Gal]

Adira eyed GL for a moment, noticing something in his tendril but dismissing it as something natural. She turned back to her food before she really understood what was happening. She looked back up and with a smile asked, "Galantros, Do you know the Hellish Succubi/Incubi language?" She paused, "Do you know what that sign means?" She pointed to his tendril before he forced it to disappear.

Banquo's ears perked when he heard Adira's question. His head lifted from the floor. It was a seemingly random question...his eyes focused on the person she asked. He squinted and saw it. Huh. They all seem to trust this...man but if he's creating demonic symbols with...can we really trust him? he asked himself. He caught a glare from Adira, who had vaguely heard his thought. He closed his mind off for a brief moment, clearing it then opened it back up. He wouldn't think that in Adira's presence. He kept his emotions under control the whole time, only letting it drift to polite inquiry. He scratched his face with a paw but waited for Galantros' response.


Ophelia looked up at Rosemary as the vampire answered her question. Her tail stopped wagging for a moment. How boring She thought, but she shrugged in response. It could be fun to try this later when everyone is awake. She thought of the various possibilities of individuals. Characteristics about the people hinted at their fighting styles. Ophelia thought that Daphne, for example, would not be a strong fighter due to her somewhat lax and silly nature. Daphne's mate Cian was a different story though. Ophelia didn't know what to expect from him.
"Okay. I'll ask them then." she paused as Rosemary spoke, "I'm not actually sure. Everyone avoids them. When I use my fire power, the flames extend from my body. Well, some of them do anyway. So I'm not sure." the hound shrugged her bony shoulders. Sylin spoke next and Ophelia's eyes turned from the vampire to the demon. "I see." it was a little disappointing. Ophelia would have loved to know where she stood against the others. "I suppose that could do." She added thoughtfully, "I am going to go ask the others about their thoughts. I'll be right back with their answers."

Ophelia ran back out, her body shuddering again as she transformed into her wolf form. It would be better not to show up in her hound form in there. Might scare people. The air around her still smelled of smoke, however. She trotted into the kitchen, her head held high. "Rosemary wants to test our skills tonight in a game. Our fighting skills. Tonight. Maybe even work on teamwork, that's what Sylin suggested anyway. I'm supposed to get your answers." She said this all very quickly and sat down when she was finished.

Adira looked at the hound in surprise, "well...I...I guess that would be fine. I could, uhm, give it a try." The succubus had not trained in a long time. She wondered if she still retained her skills as a fighter. She brushed those negative thoughts aside. She could spend the rest of the day stretching and getting ready. She turned a little pink. She had lost her confidence in her fighting abilities when Heegh took advantage of her. She couldn't escape from him without outside help. She felt a little bit of shame and looked down at the table.
"I'd be willing." Banquo responded to his mate before turning to Adira, noticing her expression, "you don't have to if you don't want to." he offered.
"No, I think I can handle it." She didn't sound as sure as her words intoned.

Banquo eyed her still but gave up and put his head on his paws. He couldn't argue with her like this. If she wanted to act "strong", fine.

Ophelia turned her eyes from her pack mates to the others in the room, waiting for their responses. Her shaggy wolf tail beat against the floor.  

[Rosemary Mori]

"Ophelia seemed disappointed to not get to play now. I suppose I'll try to do one quick scenario with her before I lay down," she said after Ophelia left. "By the by, when you ate breakfast this morning I heard a purring noise that did not sound like it should be coming from you. What was it? Is it harmless or is it something possibly inserted in you by Heegh?"  

[GamingLord]

Sylin actually grinned a little and chuckled slightly, a slight hiss escaping from his mask as he did so.

"Absolutely harmless. To all of you, at any rate. You know the weaponry I have that is self-contained within my body? It's actually a type of symbiotic living organism that's bonded with me. It was pleased with the food I was eating. Should I somehow unfortunately lose the weapons I have now, a part of that creature remains within me to be able to reproduce them over time...

As well, if you feel too exhausted, I could take your place in that game with Ophelia."

- - - - - -


Galantros was about to answer until he sensed a feeling of mistrust from someone. He didn't notice the quick glare of Adira to Banquo, so he wasn't able to pinpoint where it was from before it was gone, but he had his hunches. That saddened him just a little, but he tried not to let that show.

"No, actually I don't. I've never been around many of our kind to hear the language and then learn it. I've no idea what that symbol my limb made means... was it something bad?"

Everyone else pretty much answered in the affirmative to Ophelia's question about the training, though Dieamos asked Galantros a question.

"Galantros, I too would like to participate in this exercise, but I have a concerned. Would that piece of technology of yours be advanced enough to emulate me in my truest form, without me actually changing into and.... well... giving Rosemary the need to give massive repairs to this structure? As you know, I am rather large in stature..."

Galantros nodded before he answered.

"I do believe so. Even though it's been a while, I did spring for the best model avaliable at the time, and I've been doing my best to keep it up to date. I'll triple check to make sure, Dieamos."

One of the angels for some reason felt the need to say something to Adira in her head, even though they didn't know why, or for what reason. It was done anonymously, with divine interaction. Something higher was speaking through the angel, using him or her as a medium to get to Adira.

Feel no shame or guilt. All will need help now and again in their lives. Those who are evil will be punished in the end, and every pain, every loss, every tear will be wiped from your souls.

There was a sort of powerful lovingness in those words that ran through Adira's mind, along with something that felt extremely powerful and undeniably true. At this time, Eztli noticed Adira looking down in some shame, and frowned slightly himself, his reaper's empathy reacting as he gently patted and rubbed her shoulder, giving her a questioning look as if asking if she'd be alright.

Besides, you can kick some serious butt, God willing.

That last thought, Adira wasn't sure if it was some divine being sending that to her, or something she thought herself exactly. Perhaps it was some strange sense of heaven's humor making her think that.  

[psychotic__Gal]

Once Adira dealt with Banquo's mistrust and once it disappeared from the air, she turned her eyes back toward Galantros, catching the sadness. She frowned, acknowledging that he probably felt the mistrust in the air. She brushed it away and instead listened to Galantros' question. A faint reminiscent smile crossed her lips. "It's old." she commented, "It's meaning...can't really be translated to English except for the idea of kin. It's kind of recognizing me as your kin." her smile brightened slightly, "It's a good thing. I haven't seen the sign in years. I never really talked to a lot of succubi or incubi before this point." Her smile dropped as Ophelia entered the room and stated her purpose. The feelings of inadequacy crept up on the succubus.

Ophelia's tail beat harder against the floor as one by one people agreed. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Adira," she reassured. "well if everyone's in on it.."
"Actually we don't know about Veni, Cian nor Daphne." Banquo corrected. His mate sent him a glare about the interruption.

"Fine. As most of us are in agreement, I'm going to go tell Rosemary and Sylin." She nodded to the others in the room before leaving, padding out of the kitchen before her body shuddered all over and she transformed into the hell hound.

Ophelia entered the training room where Sylin and Rosemary were located and smile, bearing her teeth. "they all agreed! Tonight it is!"

Adira blushed when the angel spoke to her. It seemed to believe in her. I...I can try not to feel shame or guilt. She thought slowly, trying to send it out toward the voice that was speaking to her. Thank you. The feeling that she was beloved seeped into her veins, filling her. Eztli's hand was upon her shoulder, patting and rubbing it not a second later. She managed not to flinch with his sudden touch. Adira generally liked to see who was going to touch her before they approached her. It made her feel more in control. Thankfully, the loving feeling enabled her to not feel fear from the unexpected contact.

Emboldened by the feeling of love that poured into her veins, Adira smiled shyly at Eztli in a reassuring fashion then put her hand on top of his as it rested on her shoulder. She squeezed it gently. Her smile brightened for a minute at the thought that she could "kick some serious butt, God willing." It felt forced if it came from her mind. She probably wouldn't have thought of the "god willing" part but she could not exactly say it was the other voice in her mind from earlier.


As an extension of Adira's mind, Banquo felt the loving feelings slip into his own mind and flood through her system. It was comforting but not enough to erase the years they spent with Heegh.  

[GamingLord]

Later that evening...

Sylin sat in one of the chairs in the holographic gaming room, his rifle in his hands, a compartment of it opened, exposing living, breathing, beating tissue mixed with mechanical parts. Tiny tendrils wrapped around his fingers in a seemingly caring manner from the weapon as he tinkered with the weapon, performing maintenance on it. The gunner demon couldn't help but feel a slight thrill at the prospect of battle, even simulated. It was in his blood, he supposed, but to fully realize he no longer had to fight for purposes that felt unclean and wrong was refreshing. It renewed his purpose.

Galantros stretched his back a little, still not used to the vertebrae that popped in response. A short while back before all this had started, he had seen a medical doctor. It turns out that his new internal parts were not vital to his survival, but rather supplemented his energy being, acting as an enhancer, pumping him full of more vital chemicals than liquid energy alone would take time to shift and form into that would enable his demonic incubus "battle-form" (as he called it) transformation. They even discovered some form of brain matter in his head that, while again not vital to survival, seemed to produce quicker reaction times, augmenting what was already there. A while back he'd also gotten a new scythe... he kept his old one at home now, more as a memento of the times he used it to help protect everyone he cared about here, but he was a relic, physical metal that was not much else beyond that. His new one was a combination of sharp crystalline melded with metals, enhanced with a vibration covering of randomized energy that would slice through many things quite easily. It actually had set back his luxury income for about a couple months to get it, and for someone as wealthy as his family, that was saying something. The weapon was nasty and efficient though, and he learned quick to use it better than his old one.... especially after accidentally slicing off his fingers and hand a few times.

Eztli stayed near Adira, studying his boomerang blades, the special heavenly gemstones embedded and runes etched into it's gold-like, holy surface. No matter what the weapon had come into contact with, it never seemed to dull or get damaged, and even easily coated itself with varying large amounts of Eztli's holy flame. He could translate some of what the cryptic language said, but some of it was still beyond his understanding. Just that he had a good feeling about it.

Jacob at the moment was quietly humming an old white necromancer's chant song meant to quicken the rejuvenation of one's magical and spiritual energies... and it was working quite well, if the faint blue glow around his body was any indication, along with that familar clean, necromancer's aura. It was having a calming effect on the vampires too.  

[psychotic__Gal]

“I suppose that could be it.” Ophelia shrugged in response to Rosemary. She saw Rosemary hesitate to touch her and was about to offer her back for Rosemary to touch but the woman suddenly said “good day”. Ophelia shrugged and stretched her back out, looking at Sylin expectantly.

[time skip]

Ophelia and Banquo sat in the Holographic gaming room. Both of them were rigid, though slightly shaking in excitement. They were also both in their skeletal hound form. Banquo had waves of coolness rolling off of his body, not quite cold enough to freeze the floor but still rather chilly. Ice coated his tail and his muzzle. The air was frigid next to his body but as it expanded out, it was cooler. Ophelia sat next to Banquo, waves of heat rolling off her own body. Flames licked the floor but did not catch anything on fire, thus proving Rosemary’s theory that only when Ophelia was purposefully using them at an object would that object catch on fire. Banquo yawned, his mouth stretching open to reveal sharp white teeth, the ends coated in ice. Ophelia looked attentive, her amber eyes taking in everything around her.


A few feet away, Adira stood with Eztli. Key features of her body had changed. Her wing tips were a little sharper and more hooked at the end. Her tail was a bit longer, also a little sharper, and it looked reinforced with some hard material. Her horns were as sharp as ever and her wavy hair was down around her face. She wore a tank top and short comfortable shorts. She held a silver knife in her hand, cleaning it lightly on her shirt. The knife had been in her family for several generations. It came when she summoned her “battle form”. She swallowed, still very nervous. ”I hope this goes okay.” She said softly to Eztli.

Daphne and Cian opened the door to the Holographic gaming room and stepped in. They had just been told of this evening’s activities. Daph yawned as she walked in, stretching her arms over her head. The blond vampire wore a pair of jeans, a black tank top and a dark brown leather jacket. Her hair was in a lose pony tail. Attached to her legs were several daggers. The vampire wasn’t the best fighter but she would try out this game simply to test her skills.

Daphne’s mate, Cian, walked in right behind her, taking in the scene around him, searching for any problem areas. Finding none, his shoulders relaxed. Cian was also in a pair of jeans. He was wearing boots on his feet and a comfy looking short sleeved shirt. He also had daggers strapped on his leg—he had more of them than his wife, however. He also had strange markings on his forearms and on the outside of his hands. The markings denoted a shamanistic touch that Cian learned from his maker. They would allow him to control his power with more ease. Cian and Daphne came to a stop somewhere near Eztli, standing and waiting for someone to tell them what was going to happen.