Foreword from the author -
Story's getting messier and wilder now. If you've just stumbled in on a whim, I highly suggest starting this story from the beginning, as you've skipped ten chapter's worth of development and deep character cuts. For those of you who've been following since the story's humble beginnings, enjoy the ride.
If you enjoyed the story, don't forget to leave a vote, and don't be afraid to comment! I enjoy hearing it all.
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Luna? His "cute little sister"? Even after what they'd just done together, the playful, innocent girl of his memories still dominated his perception. Benson's mind reeled, struggling to form a coherent train of thought.
No, not his Luna. It couldn't be. She wore her face, but the woman standing before him couldn't be her. The person he held in his thoughts and memories blended like oil and water with the reality he was witnessing. Irreconcilable.
All the precautions they'd taken. How had this pretender managed to slip beneath his notice?
She stood triumphant in the Haven's foyer, breathing deep the magically-charged air that crackled around them. Arcs of purple lightning danced across the surface of her naked skin as she grinned broadly.
"You've kept me waiting for far too long, 'Mr. L'," she said, lacing her term of endearment for him with such derisive malice. She turned his portal key over-and-over in her hand, examining it with equal degree of curiosity and disdain. Oddly, it still retained its bright glow. Either she didn't know how, or it wouldn't allow her its proper usage. Not that it mattered, as she'd apparently brute-forced its security with her own power.
The portal cracked shut behind them. She dropped the card to the ground and moved to tread on it, showing her disrespect, but before she could do so, it flew into his hand as it usually did. He hastily stuffed it into the pocket of his shorts, the underclothes all that he'd managed to grab while diving through the portal after her. He suddenly felt very protective of it. A rather useless sentiment, to come after the fact.
"A neat trick, not that I particularly care. I've gotten what I need from it. Really, though, I was starting to think that waiting on you was a fool's errand. It took far longer than I would've expected for that witch to stake her claim. It must be nice, to have the luxury of being so choosy. It's been torturous, playing the simpering girl at your doorstep, but the charade ends here."
As she spoke, a bright light collected at the top of her head, and washed over her hair like a wave, dyeing her bleached platinum locks an unnatural color - a pale, luminous green. Like moonlight, with a pall of mist-cloaked danger like in some Halloween movie.
While the transformation took place, she strode forward with resolve and purpose. Not with her usual bouncy, energetic gait, but a focused, confident one. A smooth snap of each long leg ever onwards, rolling her hips in a poised and seductive fashion.
The air around her shimmered and rippled, coalescing into sheer, ephemeral cloth like the night sky made manifest. She didn't wear the garments, so much as let the flowing fabric grace her perfect body. Still effectively nude, the loops of fabric merely hung against her crotch and bosom, serving as a sensual backdrop for a layered mesh of golden chains and charms to rest, without daring to mark her gorgeous honey-almond skin.
She reached out behind her to brush out her hair, and a great veil of midnight billowed out behind her. A dark blue so endless and deep, sparkling with an infinite constellation of stars embedded in the breezy cloth.
Just as the dramatic wind that trailed the garment from nowhere threatened to sweep it clean off her, more light collected atop her head. This time flowing up into thin air, he expected it to solidify into horns.
Surely, a rival succubus?
His heart lurched for being played like a fool. It had been too easy to fall for her charms. Is that how it was, when a demoness availed herself of her full bag of tricks?
It was to his surprise, then, when the light instead coalesced into the shape of long, rabbit-like ears, with fur that matched the color of her hair. They extended through her hooded veil, pinning it in place. The way they swiveled and twitched in response to the tiniest of noises, they were most definitely real.
Pausing in her stride, she performed a graceful heel pivot on feet now clad in open-toed sandals, for no reason other than to show off for him, indulging her vanity. Licking her lips, she savored the air saturated with magical power that surrounded her.
"Well, you've certainly got a flare for the dramatic," he said, nonchalantly. It wasn't that her transformation had been unimpressive. Just that he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of winning him over in that way.
Her garb stood out as something of a cross between a belly-dancer's and a Gypsy fortune-teller's. Or a harem maiden's, the brain in his lower half tried to interject, given how the skimpy outfit did next to nothing to hide her most intimate areas. Bare nipples and puffy pussy lips were still visible through the sheerest layer of diaphanous fabric, highlighted further by the looping chains that now hung from her erotic piercings, gleaming gold now rather than dull silver. Her supple ass cheeks remained completely bare, covered only by the long veil that now trailed behind her.
"Sorceress," he uttered under his breath, his mind settling on the term. No, her seductive outfit wasn't designed merely to show off. Everything about her gave off a dark, manipulative aura.
"Oh? You're more keen than I gave you credit for. I guess you would pick up a thing or two, in the presence of that witch," she sneered, with an air of haughty superiority.
"What's going on here? I felt a portal open. Who's here?" Came the call of that sweet, familiar voice from down the hall, the rapid tapping of heeled shoes on tile echoing after it.
Xochitl unfurled herself from her leafy cocoon to respond with a half-hearted shrug, in that smug "why spoil the surprise?" sort of way. Her gaze turned in their direction with the hint of a malevolent smirk.
"Ben!? I... so soon? I didn't think I'd see you back here..." From her forced smile and the light glow on her cheeks, she'd been crying again, another guilty knife twist to the gut for his failures. Her turbulent emotions were so laser-focused, she didn't even seem to acknowledge the stranger standing in the room with them.
Her arrival only served to make him feel more self-conscious in his current half state of dress. For all intents and purposes it was like he'd been caught in a compromising position with a mistress. Despite the freedoms she permitted and encouraged in their relationship, none of this felt right, the way it had with Elena. The complicated look of longing on her face stabbed at his guilty heart.
"On a nickname basis with your prey, little doll? Did no-one ever tell you that it's rude to play with your food?" Luna eyeballed the petite woman standing before her, scoffing. Her once hazel eyes now gleamed a toxic purple color, so visible at a distance because they brimmed with underlying power.
"Ben, who is this woman?" Caeli's expression turned cool as she finally acknowledged her uninvited visitor. She'd changed out of her provocative office uniform at some point since last he saw her, returning to her trademark concierge outfit.
"Sorry, I'm afraid my stray's gone a bit rabid."
"Ooh, there's the sass and vigor I had to coax out of you last night. Is that how it is? You've truly fallen for the witch, haven't you? No matter. You'll soon see whom among us is truly worthy of that adulation."
With hardly a warning, the crackling energy that danced over her skin collected in her palm and launched with frightening speed in Caeli's direction, a bolt of pure, purple-hued magic.
He hardly had time to react, let alone cry out a warning.
He needn't have worried, though. In that same span of time, the warm, welcoming expression Caeli wore for him turned hardened and serious. Without even a second to register, her arm was already outstretched, intercepting the attack with cool efficiency. The once deadly-looking projectile hovered harmlessly, almost serenely, in the air beyond her open palm. "You dare attack a succubus in her own home?" Her eyes were ablaze with an inner fire the likes of which he'd never seen. Searing white, not of wild passion, but cold, calculated fury.
"That's the problem with you demons. So smugly self-assure in your own abilities, you can't comprehend the need to improve. Meanwhile, I've spent the better part of my life preparing for this moment." Her broad smile grew hungry, feral.
The glowing projectile darkened, turning impossibly pitch black and arcing with angry red streamers of electricity, before shrinking into a singularity in a instant. Caeli's bright eyes narrowed in shock. And just as quickly, it exploded with a deafening blast.
"Caeli!" He shouted. Or at least thought he did. He couldn't even hear his own voice over the ringing in his ears.
No worse for wear, her long ears flattened against her head, the woman he only knew as Luna continued her forward stride, eager to surveil the damage she had wrought.
To his relief, Caeli's silhouette still stood, whole, exactly where she had been a moment ago, unflinching. Her glowing eyes pierced through the haze, narrowed into vicious slits. Those fiery trails of amber were quickly joined by upward arcs of luminous pink as her horns flashed into existence, and her tail wheeled about, sounding whipcracks of warning in the air. Unmistakable, even through his dulled senses.
As his auditory capabilities slowly returned, however, more disconcerting sounds joined the fray. Caeli's breaths ran wincing and ragged, and somehow, other sounds came so muted that his ears were able to perceive a steady drip-drip-dripping on the tiled floor.
The smoke cleared, and the blood-curdling sight formed churning knots in his stomach. At the epicenter of the devastating blast, her outstretched arm had been mangled, severing flesh from bone. Twisted red digits warped and crumpled, paralyzed in their broken grasp. Her jacket had been seared away up to the elbow, revealing more charred flesh below the blackened cuff. Ashen skin and pulverized meat sloughed to the floor, carried away by oozing streamers of blood.
The strength left his legs at the disturbing sight, but he stumbled forward, willing his body to rush by her side.
"Stop! Stay away!" She snarled through grit teeth, vicious fangs bared. "I'll be... alright." Her voice came strained, fighting through what must have been excruciating pain.
He didn't listen, his lurching, stumbling gait carrying him forward. His concern drowned out all other stimulus. It wasn't until the second voice that joined the fray that he stumbled in his tracks, dropping to his knees as his brain finally caught up to the futility of his plight.
