The Scorching Depths

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bc56
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Pandemonium
Sekhmet just scowls.
As soon as it's over, she turns to the doctor. "What can we do to keep that from happening again? We can't give her an anchor to this kingdom." Sekhmet isn't heartless enough to banish the unfortunate host back to the abyss, but the only other easy option would be to send her to the real world and that seems like a bad idea. Better not give Libidine a foothold there. She has an idea. "To start, clear out one of the shielded laboratories," she instructs a guard. "Move her there as soon as you can," she tells the doctor. A chamber shielded against interplanar influence is a good starting point, those rooms are designed to block both physical and incorporeal entry to prevent theft and scrying.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Pandemonium]

"In the short term, I can give her sedatives and restraints." The doctor offers, doing her best to hide her unease at the situation. "It won't stop Libidine from coming back, but it should limit her ability to make Tricksy hurt herself. If she has another seizure like that, she could end up bucking off her life support and nothing else we do will matter."

The guards report back quickly. They already had a shielded lab ready for an unrelated experiment; the attending technician agreed to step it back, given the circumstances and a direct line from the queen. They can transfer over the succubus immediately.

And, of course, they do. She did say they should.

Once she's in the lab, the door is shut and the appropriate measures are in place, the succubus sits up slightly, rubbing at her forehead. "...It's... it's hot in here." She breathes, looking at her surroundings. "...Lady? Where did you go?"
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Pandemonium
"I'm right here." Sekhmet doesn't understand that Tricksy isn't talking to her. "You're safe here." Hopefully. This room is pretty secure.
She'll see how the succubus responds to this.
Probably with more frustrating disbelief and distrust.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Pandemonium]

"I... I feel lightheaded." Tricksy elaborates, holding her forehead in her hand. "...Wait... that isn't right. It's... I feel different, I know, but I don't..." She glances up at the demon queen. "My head feels like I... well, I'm sorry, I really can't think of a better metaphor, but like I just had a massive... movement. Only in my brain instead of my colon." She winces, apparently not feeling too great about bringing up the subject in front of royalty. "What... what did you do?"
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Pandemonium
"This room is protected against external influences. No one will be listening in on us here." Sekhmet hopes Tricksy gets the implication. She's safe from Libidine here. She's free to speak her mind.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Pandemonium]

The succubus sits in silence for a moment, still except for her massive tail swishing back and forth. She looks up at Sekhmet, seeming to suddenly be keenly aware of the size difference between them (if Sekhmet reverted to a smaller form) or her and everyone else (if she did not).

"...I believe you." She says finally, curling up slightly. "I do feel... better, I guess? Kind of? Like... I don't think I realized how tiny everything is before now." She winces and looks down at her side, then back up at Sekhmet, with a little frown. "...You stabbed me." She says, sounding mildly annoyed.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Pandemonium
"Sorry," Sekhmet shuffles awkwardly, "I thought I was stabbing her." She is smaller. It's easier to fit through doors that way.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Pandemonium]

"...I suppose, in a sense, you were." Tricksy concedes, lowering her head back onto the pillow. "...Just got caught up in the crossfire is all. I hope it hurt her as much as it did me." She gives Sekhmet a rueful little chuckle, which quickly devolves into a bout of painful-sounding coughing.

And sobbing. Lots of sobbing. The massive succubus has tears running down her cheeks when she finally stops moving, arms squeezed around her torso. "Oh, god, I'm stuck in here for eternity." She moans into the mattress. "If I step out of this room, she'll take me again. I don't want... that can't happen, please, it's awful. I... I know what people taste like... she doesn't even need them, ahe just makes me drink for the taste..."
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Pandemonium
Sekhmet knows exactly what to do in this situation.
A hug.
She tries to be gentle though, Tricksy is still injured. "It's all right, we're going to do everything we can to keep you safe. No one blames you for the things you were forced to do."
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Pandemonium]

It probably helps that Sekhmet only physically can hug so much of her. Her head is twice as big in every direction as Sekhmet's, possibly larger, as is her neck, shoulders, and so on. The proportions are rather like a young child trying to hug her mother, only with the dynamic more or less reversed.

Tricksy's sobs get muffled in Sekhmet's chest, but they don't stop. Not for a while, at least. When she finally does calm down enough to start talking coherently again, the first thing she does (after apologizing for soaking Sekhmet's dress) is ask:

"What do I do now?"
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Pandemonium
"I don't know." Sekhmet admits. "You, uh, aren't going anywhere before you've healed though. In the meantime, I can, uh, have reading material brought to you." It's better than nothing, right?
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Pandemonium]

"Reading material?" Tricksy blinks, slowly turning a little red under Sekhmet's gaze. "Oh. Um... I'm... I don't think that will do me much good. I... never actually learned how to read..." She explains, propping herself against the bed. "I was only four when I bit the big one. I'll spare you the sad story, but suffice it to say I didn't get any teachers down in the Abyss."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

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Here's to us!
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Pandemonium
Sekhmet's eyes wide. "Oh that's..."

"...horrible!" She seems genuinely distraught that a little girl would be treated this way. Growing up among demons (if she didn't just become a fully formed demon upon death) would be awful. "Now, uh, it's moe important than ever. We need to find someone to teach you." There's probably a teacher here somewhere. All sorts of people wind up down here. But Sekhmet needs to be sure Tricksy is okay first.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Pandemonium]

"...You're someone." Tricksy points out, stating the obvious. "...I mean, you're also the queen, and I understand you have other duties, but..." She shuffles nervously. "...I... I'm not... entirely comfortable. With the others, I mean." The succubus's face flushes a little. "I mean, if I'm being perfectly honest, I'm not entirely comfortable with you, either, but..." She shuffles again. "...I've been surrounded by demons for centuries. Bunch of bullies and whores, the lot of them, myself included. It's... difficult to imagine trusting any of them. Or anything like them. But... you're already not like them, you know?" After a moment, she winces. "...Open mouth, insert foot." The oversized succubus mumbles.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Pandemonium
"You're right," Sekhmet finally answers, "I'm not like them." Not that you'd especially be able to tell by looking at her. The biggest difference between her and most succubi is that she wears more clothes. "I am busy, but I can see about making time." Between being queen and being a mother of two, Sekhmet has a lot to do.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Pandemonium]

"...I suppose that's all I can ask." Tricksy nods, laying her head back down and letting out a morose sigh. "Other than that you find the time soon, I mean. I... I'm probably going to get a little lonely in here."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

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Here's to us!
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Pandemonium
"I can't just leave you without anyone to talk to," Sekhmet says. She looks to the medics (and also Mendacity). "Just, uh, make sure she's okay and keep her company while I'm gone. Uh, you know what I mean." She means that should be in the most literal, least euphemistic sense possible.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Pandemonium]

"...I thought I did, but then you said so and now I'm not so sure."

"Poor woman can't even sit upright. Contextually, I'd say there's no innuendo there, on the grounds that she's physically incapable."

"Lady, if you think you need to move to enjoy company, then-"

"We're talking about the bloody queen, for gods' sake-"

"-positively shatter your pelvis-"

"-couple of fingers, at most-"

"-ever underestimate the power of a good kiss-"

Tricksy glances at the squabbling succubi, then back up at Sekhmet. "...Hurry back. Please."
Who're you? ...Don't matter.

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Here's to us!
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Pandemonium
"Do I need to get a guard down here to chaperone you!?" Sekhmet snaps at the arguing succubi, "I will," she adds to Tricksy. "Don't do anything to her she doesn't ask you to do. Got it?"
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Pandemonium]

"Yes, ma'am!" Chorus the succubi.

"...Now why couldn't she have said that in the first place?"

"She did. You're just a pervert."

"Oh-ho! Irony much, miss-"


...

Suffice it to say the description used is, indeed, very much ironic. Although if true, Sekhmet will probably want to get the number of her chiropractor and/or cardiologist. Apparently they do good work.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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"So? How does it fit?" Sekhmet asks. "It feels fine, but couldn't there be a little more substance to it?" Mary stands awkwardly in the hellish workshop, a gauzy black garment wrapped around her torso. "That will come later. First we need to attune it to your essence so you can control it more easily. Focus your power on this," Seam, the succubus seamstress, impeccably (if provocatively) dressed as always, holds up a crystal tuning fork. Mary obliges and the fork turns a deep, glossy black. "Perfect. Now," Seam pokes Mary in the stomach with the tuning fork, causing the color to drain from it, and Mary's clothing to seem a little more solid, "Change your form. Any form will do." "You can, uh, use your dragon form." Mary nods and changes into a horse-sized, pitch black dragon. The garment stays firmly secured, yet sized up and reshaped to fit her quadrupedal form. "Good, good. You make a very beautiful dragon. And everything still fits? Now change back." Mary does, and everything continues to fit correctly. "We're almost done. You wanted to wear something more substantial? Do it." "It's like shapeshifting. Imagine the look and feel of the clothes you want on your body, then focus your power into your current clothes, then release." Mary concentrates. When she breathes out, her clothes rearrange themselves into a simple, light blue dress. "Perfect. Just two more things to check." Seam opens a drawer and pulls out an aging but well cared for flintlock pistol. "Don't move. I wouldn't like to miss." Both queen and princess are frozen, tense with anticipation.

BANG! "EEEEK!"

Mary uncovers her eyes and glances down. There's a tiny soot mark on her dress, right over her heart. Seam picks up the bullet from where it wound up on the floor and drops it, still warm, in Mary's hands. "It'll stop a bullet, turn a knife, and deflect weak spells, no matter what material it seems to be made of. Except for silver. A silver weapon will unravel it entirely, so keep that in mind. Now, last thing, you should change to dragon shape again. This time, also consider your clothes. You can't transform them completely into nonexistence, but consider what form they should take when you're a dragon. As you reimagine yourself, reimagine your clothes too." Mary does. The dress becomes a light blue band around her neck. "You've got it. You're all set, cleared to use that however you want." "Thank you!" "Thank you, Seam. But we will have words about how willing you were to shoot my daughter."


Demon mother and dragon daughter leave the tailor shop and continue through the palace. "That's settled. That outfit is self-cleaning, so you don't need to worry about it getting dirty. And if you have other clothes you want to replicate easily, you can 'feed' them to it so it can bring them back. And..."
"Mum?" "Yes Mary?" "I, um, were you worried when Seam shot me?" "Of course I was. But I also knew she was going to do it, she did it to me when I got my raiment fitted." "Then why let her do it? And why discipline her if you knew she would and let her?" "Because even though I knew you were safe the whole time, it was awful to stand there and watch her shoot you. I wouldn't feel right with myself if I didn't at least tell her off for it
Even so, it does make a much more effective demonstration than her just telling you it's bulletproof."
"Okay?" They walk in silence a bit farther. Mary stops at a balcony and steps out, overlooking the sunless volcanic wasteland of their kingdom. The heat feels so good on her scales. "Why are you doing so much to help me be a dragon?" "Because I love you and I want you to be happy," Sekhmet steps out onto the balcony next to Mary and presses her scaly bulk up against her daughter, folding her wing over the smaller dragon's body for a hug, "And to people like us, what you are on the outside doesn't matter. It's what you do with your power that's important."
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Sekhmet's Summer Party]
Jack doesn't resist or prevent herself being teleported into the corridor, and now she's there she's going to look around at the surroundings with interest. And maybe pocket anything small enough to fit in her bag, like a vase or decorative ewer. "So... which way do we go from here?" Jack glances back at where she thinks they came from, and spreads her wings. The eyes in the joint of those feathered limbs are very good at seeing things her normal eyes can't; she doesn't always know what she's looking at, but if it's been hidden she can see it.
The hallway is pretty sparse on decoration, other than the gold inlay in the walls. Nor is there anything especially out of the ordinary for Jack's eyes to see.
But assuming Anchor remembers the way it shouldn't be hard to get to Sekhmet's chambers from here. The door is locked, but presumably Anchor can use some shadow trick to get past it.

The rooms are thickly appointed with rich carpeting and masterfully made wooden furniture. The first chamber is a bedroom, dominated by a four-poster bed, but also a wardrobe, a dresser, a vanity with a jewelry box and makeup kit sitting on it, and a full-length mirror. Magic swirls around most of the furniture (everything except the bed, really) visible to Jack's eyes and maybe Anchor as well. Three doors lead out from that chamber, one a stone door tightly sealed, and the others wooden and slightly ajar, revealing a bathroom of marble tile and gold fittings and a cozy study.
"This way." Anchor whispers and points down the hall. If the party is around the corner behind them, and the dungeon off that way, then this route that she recalls must be the way to Sekhmet's chambers.

And indeed, when they arrive, shadows will slip under the gap at the edges of the door and let them in much the same way.
Anchor steps forward and spins around. "Here we are. Accommodations fit for a queen. All so colorful, isn't it?"
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Re: The Scorching Depths

Post by Earl of Purple »

Sekhmet's Summer Party

"Yeah! It really is. Oh, wow. Look at the size of this bed!" Jack jumps up and lands on her back, spread-eagled on the bed. Her dress hikes up a little as it's too tight for the position, but she doesn't particularly care. At least until she rolls back over onto her belly and stretches her wings a little. "Ooh, this is a really comfy bed. Fancy joining me?" Jack grins at Anchor.

For my reference, Jack is a pale-skinned woman with short black hair and grey eyes, a pair of auk wings emerging from her back with another pair of eyes in the middle of the joint. She's wearing a grey dress and hiking boots, which looks a little odd.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Sekhmet's Summer Party]

"Get into bed with you? I mean, without even looking at the other rooms? I'd love to."
Anchor hops onto the space that Jack just rolled out of and settles herself under one of those wings, enjoying the comfort and company.
"Oh, it is so soft.
Surprised to see it's all made out of wood. You would think things in this part of hell would be fireproof material as a matter of course. Not that anyone is going to set Sekhmet's bedroom afire, or anything.

Anchor's shadow has slipped past the two and slid through one of the open wooden doors (the stone one looks a lot harder to bypass with their usual tricks) to look into the study.

For Earl's reference, now that we're in a new thread, Anchor is a beige-skinned woman, quite short in height, with medium-length, very straight black hair, and eyes that are sometimes grey - sometimes blue. She has on a longer dress of lighter blue and glittering shoes with lots of unnecessary straps.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

Post by Earl of Purple »

Sekhmet's Summer Party

Earl likes to keep track of what his characters are wearing in a given scene for reasons of continuity, and has often had the arrival post open in another tab when replying.

Jack stretches the wing out over Anchor and grins at the other woman. "It is, isn't it? I could sleep on this all day. Or... maybe not sleep." Jack kicks her boots off, so they hit the floor with a potentially muted thud if the carpet's thick enough.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Sekhmet's Summer Party
The bed is soft, and until the pair gets onto it, it was perfectly made, suggesting it hasn't been used in a long time.

The shadow slips into the study. There's a writing desk with a tea set and a small mirror on it, a fireplace with an empty kettle hanging in it, and a large bookshelf filled with old, leather-bound tomes. It's a small, cozy room.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Sekhmet's Summer Party]

"Well, we don't have all day." Parties can drag on, and it doesn't seem like Sekhmet actually sleeps here, but the suite doesn't go completely unused. Still, Anchor follows Jack's lead in taking off her shoes - taking time to relax somewhere you aren't supposed to be has a certain appeal - and reaches out to hold the other woman's hand.

The shadow notes all the books - Anchor might be interested, but it isn't much for reading, flickers around the mirror for a little bit, and then checks out the bathroom area. The study was kind of small for a queen, wasn't it? They didn't expect much coziness from the palace.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

Post by Earl of Purple »

Sekhmet's Summer Party

"No, I suppose we don't." Jack sighs and takes Anchor's hand, before climbing out of the bed. "I guess we should look around, see what else there is to see before we have a nap, right?" It'll also be quite obvious that someone's been on Sekhmet's bed, since Jack doesn't straighten the covers.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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Sekhmet's Summer Party
The shadow slips into the bathroom. The whole room is made from gleaming white marble, and the pipes and other fittings are pure gold. There's a sink with a surprisingly large cabinet under it, a tub and a shower, but no toilet. All the pipes, valves, and even drains are enchanted.
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Re: The Scorching Depths

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[Sekhmet's Summer Party]

"Right. There'll be plenty of time to sleep later~"
Anchor leads the two of them in front of that big mirror first and then twirls around.

The shadow is just enjoying the contrast of the marble. Although, just the bathroom must be worth a fortune...
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