Blasphemia Ii: Deus Vult

In stark contrast to everything going on hundreds of yards above them, the catacombs under the city were as still and stagnant as ever. Judith led the way, lighting the path forward with Celerity's glowing blade. The cold stone walls bent and twisted in the flickering light as they moved forward, their stillness and relative normality almost jarring in comparison to the kaleidoscope of horrors they'd left behind.

Luca followed along behind with nary a word of complaint. If Filia was growing too tiresome for him to carry, he didn't say anything. In all likelihood, Judith thought, it was because he didn't trust her anymore. Which was justifiable, given her actions.

Her shame grew with every step, contrasted by her sense of being in the right. Hating creatures of the Inferno had been ground, hammered, and literally beaten into her, until it was intrinsic to her being as breathing. Such conviction was needed to summon the full power of faith, to bring righteous wrath upon the enemies of God. At least, that's what she'd been taught. She didn't know what was real anymore. Nothing made sense.

"Do you know where we're going?" Luca asked.

"No," Judith admitted, peeking around a corner a moment before pressing on. "I'm just hoping we find a quiet place, that's all."

Filia stirred in Luca's arms. "Feels...a little faithful down here..."

"Likely from the city above," Luca murmured to her. "Though God's light may not breach the surface, the warmth of His love seeps down to the center of the Earth."

Filia laughed once, a raspy, labored noise. "I mean..it is pretty warm in Hell...heheh..."

Luca sighed. "You know what I mean. Or...do you?"

"I...ack!" Filia's response trailed off into a long coughing fit that echoed through the tunnels. The harshness of it set Judith's teeth on edge.

"She's getting worse," Luca said. "We need to find someplace soon."

Judith turned the corner ahead of her, then stopped short and pinwheeled her arms as the floor in front of her dropped off.. "Whoa!"

"Got you!" Luca's strong hand hooked into her collar and pulled back, keeping her from pitching forward into the yawning black abyss in front of her.

She settled back on her heels, her breathing hitched and panicked. "Thank you."

"And our trials continue yet further," Luca muttered, staring out over the abyss.

Judith followed his gaze, a feeling of familiarity tickling her. "Wait, I think I was here before?"

"When?"

"After I was dragged out of the Sanctum Templar, I wound up down here in the dark," Judith said. She cocked her arm back and overhanded Celerity out over the abyss. The area around her and Luca was plunged into pitch blackness, and all they could do was watch the sword turn end over end as it sailed away. After a moment, it landed on the ground far in the distance. The glow from the blade illuminated a stone wall faintly.

"I knew it," Judith said, calling the blade back to her. "We're in the undercity, in a large cavern with a few old churches in it. That must be where you're feeling faith's power from."

"How do we get down?"

Judith dropped Celerity again, the blade clattering against the ground below her. "Just a short jump." Judith slipped off the ledge, falling about ten feet to the ground next to her sword. She turned and looked back up. "Let her down to me, then drop down."

"Here goes," Luca said. A moment later, Filia's slight form fell out of the darkness. Judith lunged to the side and caught the succubus in both arms.

"Feel... like a blushing bride..." Filia said, before collapsing into a fit of giggles. Judith stared down at her Infernal companion, realizing just how solid Filia was. It was no wonder that she'd been able to pin Judith to the floor like she had

Luca landed a moment later. He took Filia back without a word, leaving Judith's arms feeling empty. "You have the light," he said.

Judith picked up her sword and walked in the direction she'd thrown it, holding the blade out to project the light forward until it spilled over the wall they'd seen earlier. Judith walked to the left until she reached a corner, then cut around it. In front of her were the church's doors, partially open with still air flowing through them. "Here seems good," Judith said, shouldering the door open.

Aside from a hole in the ceiling, the small space was cool and dry, though the pews had seen better days. There was no tabernacle on the altar, and the actual marble altar was cracked in half and tossed to the side. But the space was clean enough, and they were alone. Judith let Luca through the door, then closed it behind him with a loud clunk.

"This should work," Luca said. He ascended to the altar, clearing away a few chunks of rubble with his feet to make a space. He knelt down and rested Filia on her back, his fingers lingering on her should. "I need light, more than your sword can provide."

Judith walked past the altar through a doorway behind it. The back room of the church was covered in cobwebs as dense as fishing nets. Celerity hummed through them, clearing a path for her into another small room in the back. This one had several cabinets, and Judith rifled through them, looking for candles. She found none, and stood up, tapping Celerity against her leg. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a drawer she hadn't opened, and did so. Inside were scraps of cloth that had been untouched by time. Judith grabbed them and hurried back into the main room.

"No luck with candles," she said, moving over to one of the pews. "However, I can improvise." Celerity snicker snacked through the wood, hewing off several large lengths of the dry material. She wrapped the cloth scraps around several of the lengths, then lit them with quick bursts of holy fire.

"Perfect," Luca said. "Thank you."

The "thank you" sounded more like it was spoken out of obligation, rather than any honest appreciation. Judith clenched her jaw and set about jamming the makeshift torches into gaps in the stonework around the room. Within a few minutes, most of the space was illuminated in a warm, orange glow. Judith took a step back to admire her handiwork. "There."

She turned to see Luca resting his head in Filia's chest, his eyes looking down the length of her body as he listened to her heartbeat. "It's getting weaker," he said, sitting back on his haunches.

"Do you know anything about healing Infernals?" Judith asked.

"No," Luca admitted. He folded his hands and closed his eyes. Golden light began to radiate from his palms as his tattoos began to glow. "But I know that too much power will hurt her rather than harm her. I'll start low and up the intensity if I can. Like treating cancer."

"Can I do anything?"

Luca gave her a flat look. "I would rather you not."

Judith flinched, then turned away. "I'll wait, then." She moved away from the altar to a pew that was still relatively intact and sat down. The moment she did, it was as though her body finally allowed all of the exhaustion of the past few hours to crash down on her. Her entire body felt like it weighed four times as it normally did, as if her limbs were made of metal. She sagged against the wood. "God above..."

Luca closed his eyes, murmured something under his breath, then laid them on Filia's belly. The light bloomed across her skin, and the succubus stirred under his touch. Her fingers tensed against the altar underneath her. "Nnnh..."

"At least you're still with us," Luca murmured, his voice incredibly gentle. "Does this hurt?"

"A...a little..." Filia said. "But it's like...stretching a muscle...keep going...let's see what happens..."

Luca bent his head a little, and the glow grew in intensity. Filia's lips pulled back from her teeth as she clenched them, her fingers pressing down into the floor with such force they gouged the stone underneath her. "Hells...too much! Too much!"

He yanked his hands off her skin as if he'd been touching a hot stove top. "That's only a small fraction of what I think I'll need to use," he said, flexing his fingers.

"Well it fucking hurt," Filia said, clutching the area on her belly he'd been touching. "I think...we might need a...different approach."

"You know your body better than I do. Tell me what I need to do."

Filia's other hand went to her chest, where the bony monster appendage had punched through her body. "I mean, I know what'll work for sure." She inclined her head towards Judith on the bench. "Trouble is

she's

probably going to get all stabby at me for even suggesting it."

Judith gave her a sidelong glance, knowing exactly what the succubus was getting at. She hated the warm feeling that crept up her body at the thought, like sinking into a warm, scented bath. She worked her jaw for a moment before speaking. "In the interest of keeping you alive, I'm willing to make an exception."

"Aw, you're being nice, thank you," Filia said, before coughing several times. She grunted, then spat out a mouthful of blood. "Eugh. But it's not you that I need."

Judith blinked. "I actually offer and you turn me down? What strange realm have we entered?"

"The one where you're not a virgin, sweetheart," Filia said. "You are

decidedly

not a virgin." Her eyes slid over to Luca. "This one, on the other hand."

Luca's face turned such a shade of red that it was visible even in the glow of the torches on the walls. "I-I...uh..."

"Don't deny it, we're all - ack - friends here," Filia said. She wiped more blood off her bottom lip. "Also I'm a succubus and I can literally smell it on you. It's like walking past a street vendor selling kebabs in Istanbul, except he follows you with his cart. It's been driving me nuts...this whole time." She pawed at the ground by her side. "And you're a special kind of virgin too. Never even jerked off before."

Luca looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there in that moment. Judith felt her own face burn a little more. "You can tell that?" she asked.

Filia had another short coughing fit, stifling the noise with the back of her hand. "Honey, there is

nothing

about a person's sexual history I can't tell from a look or a touch." She pointed to Luca, making an up and down motion with her finger. "And this one is as untouched as, well, probably most of the rest of this cavern."

Judith felt her fingers clench of their own volition. "This had better not be an elaborate ploy to sully another of the faithful-"

"Give it a

rest,

Judith!"

Both Judith and Filia blinked. Neither had been expecting Luca's voice to get that loud. It echoed through the empty church around them, bouncing out into the cavern beyond. The normally calm librarian was glaring daggers at Judith. "Your insistence on treating her like she's a monster is nothing short of infuriating! There is a time and place for righteous wrath, and it is neither here nor now. Please, just...stop! Enough!"

Judith opened her mouth a little. "I..."

"It's not her fault." Filia's fingers tensed against her collarbone. "She had it brow-beaten into her to hate me." She dipped her head. "Plus there's the whole thing where I, y'know, chained up her free will and turned her into a sex puppet for a few days. Then again, she also likes it a lot. There's a lot going on here."

"That's understating things," Judith said.

"Be that as it may, we're supposed to be better than this," Luca said. "God is more than just wrath, but I wouldn't know it from looking at your actions, or listening to the words from your mouth."

Nobody had ever said such things to her before. A part of her mind wanted to rise to his words, argue back against them. But she was so

tired

- physically, mentally and emotionally. THere was no fight left in her, not after all the battles she'd fought over the past day. Not after all that she'd witnessed.

Slowly, her body protesting for her making it move, Judith got up off the pew. "I'll give you some privacy," she muttered.

"I mean, I'm not opposed to you watching," FIlia said. Luca made a strangled noise.

"That's not to say I won't be close." Judith slipped out the front door of the church, tugging it mostly shut behind her and leaving just enough of a crack that she'd be able to keep an ear on what was going on. She set her sword on the ground, then slowly dropped into a cross-legged position on the ground.

There was no need to cut her palms to give herself some pain to focus on. All that she needed was within. In the space of a day she'd lost her home, most of the people she'd ever known, and the figurehead of her faith. She should have been able to prevent the last one, but hadn't. She hadn't been strong enough, neither in faith nor in body. Despite all her training, all her self-inflicted punishments to harden to body and mind, she hadn't been able to rise to the challenge. A sick feeling settled in her gut. She hadn't been able to combat the Infernals a year prior. How in the world could she have expected to face whatever Yog-Sothoth and his minions were?

Judith flinched, her whole upper body tensing as her hands clenched on her crossed knees. And now Filia was just going to have her way with Luca like it was nothing. She should be working to prevent this. But the righteous flame within her had fizzled out, leaving nothing there. The hollow emptiness made her heart twist. Pressure build up behind her eyes, and she let out a soft gasp. She raised a finger to her eye and dabbed gently. It came away wet. Judith couldn't remember the last time she'd cried. It had been over a decade, at least.

In a strange way, it felt good. So she dipped her head and wept for all that had been lost - the citizens of Rome, the members of the Church, her own sense of purpose and identity. Tracts of tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping off her chin onto her legs. She kept going until she had nothing left, then gently wiped her eyes. The release of emotion had made her chest loosen up, and she felt better, even staring out into the darkness as she was.

Judith shuddered. She should've brought one of the torches outside. Too late now. Or was it? She couldn't hear anything happening inside. Had Luca gotten cold feet? Judith got to her feet and crept closer to the church door. She put her hand on the old wood and pushed it open slightly.

And

stared.

Judith's repressed mind hadn't dared to imagine what Luca would look like without his shirt on. She'd had an idea, sure, but hadn't lingered on it for more than a fleeting, singular second. It turned out the reality was ten times better. Luca was muscular on a level of a warrior, his chest broad and defined from the square pectorals down to the flat belly. He had just the right amount of body hair, light tufts that accented his muscles and trailed down towards his naval. Arms that could have belonged to a lumberjack rested at his sides, hands shaking with nerves.

Kneeling across from him was Filia, already fully naked. Without her shadowy garments, the full extend of her condition was visible. Though the wound in her chest had healed, the scar was puckered, green tendrils of corruption snaking across her chest, going up towards her neck and down towards her waist. She was touching Luca gently, caressing his neck with the tips of her fingers. "Nervous?" she asked.

"Yes," Luca admitted. His whole body was tense like a spring, sweat born of nervousness shining on his face.

"Don't worry too much," Filia said, her tail snaking back and forth. "Since you've never done this before it'll be over quickly. I'll bet you only last a minute tops before you pop." Her free hand cupped his groin.

Luca squirmed, his head tilting back. "Nnnh..."

"See? Nothing to it." Filia scooted forward, putting her hands on Luca's chest and pushing gently. "Let's make it happen, big boy."

Luca kept a hold on her as they fell backwards onto the ground, out of Judith's line of sight. She realized her mouth had been hanging open and promptly shut it. How in the world was he

that

gorgeous? What workout regimen was keeping a scholar that fit? Her head swam with a myriad of thoughts, foremost among them

I want to run my tongue along those muscles

right alongside

I wonder what his manhood looks like.

Judith realized she could easily find out the answer to the latter question. All it would require would be her to move forward. And there was no question about whether or not she would do what was required.

She crept forward back into the church, keeping low. A rustle of clothing came from her two companions, along with a soft gasp from Filia. "My my

my

." Judith started salivating as she reached the end of the pew and peeked around.

Filia was stroking Luca's burly manhood. It wasn't obnoxiously long, but it was thick, perfect for spreading a maidenhead wide. The succubi's finger drew a slow circle around the flared, pulsing head. "Marvelous," she breathed.

Luca's face was beet red. "Th-thank you," he panted.

"Hold on tight, cutie," Filia said. She straddled Luca, setting the head between her legs. "The ride... is going to be quick...but wild..." She sank down, eyes closing and shuddering in bliss as she claimed Luca's virginity. Luca let out a loud moan, an almost primal sound originating in his brain experiencing a whole new realm of sensation, amplified by it being his very first time and his partner being a succubus. Judith could only imagine what his mind was going through trying to process everything, and the thought made her groin ache. She wanted to feel that pleasure.

"Oh, Hell, I can already feel it," Filia said, grinding herself into him. Her skin flushed brighter in a moment, already drawing power from the coupling.

"This is...!" Luca managed to say. His hips bucked up, more base parts of his brain directing his movements. HIs hands twitched against the ground.

"Come," Filia said. She reached down and took Luca's hands, bringing them up to her body. "Touch me..."

"Ah!" Luca moaned, throwing his head back. Judith bit her lip, fingers pressing between her legs of her own accord. His moans were some of the most wonderful sounds she'd ever heard.

"Come for me," Filia mewled, bending down over Luca. Her lips fluttered over his neck. "Come in me, Luca..."

It was like a flipping a switch. Luca bucked up into Filia hard, the succubi's body rippling with the force of it. He groaned, the sound low and animalistic in a way that scurried directly into Judith's subconscious and aroused her something fierce. He slammed himself up into Filia, mouth opening in a wordless cry of ecstasy. Filia mewled and pressed down against him, tilting her head back. From her viewpoint, Judith could actually see Luca's balls tense and release, giving Filia exactly what she wanted.

"Good boy," the succubus said. She put a hand on her belly. Warm red light flared under her fingers, then spread across her skin like the edges of a piece of paper when set alight. The thin orange line reached the green corruption lines, making the cancer-like markings blacken. Filia's eyes opened, suffused with red light as she drew power from Luca's orgasm. She spoke in an old language, the syllables harsh and grating. Fire spread along her skin, red flames searing the corruption away and filling the room with crimson light.

After it burned for several long seconds, the flames vanished, as if it were a gas flame and the propane had been shut off. Filia sighed, her eyes returning to their normal color. "Good fucking fires of Hell that's much better."

"Did...did it work?" Luca said. He sounded out of breath, and looked a little dizzy.

"And then some, thank you, cutie," Filia chirped, sliding off him. His cock slipped free of her, slick with cum and Filia's own fluids. She put her hand on his chest, a look of concern pinching her face. "Are uh... are you okay?"