Pennywise
Mystic Elder
Rep! : 26
Location : Behind you
 | | Subject: Desire Thy Name is Thu May 19, 2011 12:17 pm | |
| Chapter I .
Desire thy name is
Desire thy name is greed.
In the hearts of man thou doth take seed.
Dreams of kings, of gold, a throne
Plans in motion set in stone
A feast for yourself. Man hath made
Upon their smiling corpse. You parade
Flying was, boring. It usually mean that he'd miss all those little interesting bits of good and evil that occurred here in the pit. It was an interesting reflection on life, in the place of greatest torment and suffering. Could the greatest of all goods be seen. And it was that chaos, that balance interested him. For by his nature, despite the taint and evil that ran through his veins Jack was a curious fellow. Much like how one human might decide not to crush a particular bug simply because it was doing something out of the norm, strange or interesting behaviour. Jack tended to be like that with most beings, for the most part Oni that lived anywhere in hell were easy to predict. They displayed mostly animalistic bestial qualities. A Darwinist struggle for survival that had no foreseeable end. And for the most part, he was glad for that. He enjoyed the chaos. Enjoyed watching things tear one another apart. If only so that he could look and see the act of life and death in front of him. His cane clicked against the stone streets, or rather. The remnants of what was once a stone street. This city was no different from Externus. In fact, in many ways. It was worse. This place had more cover, more places to hide. So more demons flocked here. But ultimately the only result of that was pressing together prey and predator in tight quarters. Which resulted in far more death than would have been otherwise. It was strange being among these types, so used to the clan type war fare of his own kind. To see so many individuals that only wanted each other dead, the moment he came in he had to step over the corpse of a wolf like demon. The others tended to avoid him, he could feel the eyes of other oni on him as he walked past dark places. He could feel them there. It was an odd talent of his. He could sense the taint in other Oni, or those who shared that tainted blood. It meant for the most part he was difficult to catch off guard, one of the reasons he had survived in the early days here. One had to remember that although he was naturally a demon, he had initially awakened in the human world. As of such. Things had been easier. Softer. Coming here had been a stark change. Luckily. Like all superior creatures. He had adapted. He felt the eyes of one staring at him, the taint moved slightly closer indicating that it was thinking of stepping out. A grin on his face. With one quick movement he drew his sword from the cane sheath. Sure enough the demon had already begun the process of diving towards him. He slashed downwards with a single brutal cut, the crunch of bone as his sword connected, carving through the flesh and splitting the face of the creature in two. It let out its death rattles and Wiseman removed a handkerchief from his pocket, wiping the blood off the sword. He placed it carefully back into his cane, before continuing on his way. Fear in the air. Blood in the soil. The Bad wolf cometh.
Being an advocate for a leader in hell was far different from what one would imagine it to be in the human world. In the human world they were generally just right hand men, those who would promote their ideals and win people over to supporting them. In hell it was similar. But so utterly different. He did promote Jowans ideals. However instead of harmless self promotion through talking to people. He promoted Jowans interests via skinning his enemies alive and removing what might be harmful obstacles in his way. Of course, he only really did this knowing that one day he planned to stab Jowan in the back, repeatedly. And take his place for himself. The end of that would of course be simple, Jowans seat of power would pass to him. Along with all his problems. So eliminating them now would make things easier in the days to come. Of course this one particular job wouldn't bother him in the slightest when he became leader. Save Jowans bastard child and bit on the side from being killed by the demons of desire. Wasn't really something he was interested in however it was an order, and he could not go against it. Hunting demons of desire wasn't going to be easy, but spotting one wouldn't be too hard. The demons usually crept into the dreams of those around them and started planting images of greed, lust and want in their minds. This would inevitably result in these thoughts and feelings emerging in them. And that’s when the demon took hold. Sucking off that desire like a leech. Pride demons could arguably work in the same way, but his kind saw that as low. Something that was left for the rats, to feed on the scraps of creatures. As if they had no dignity. He made no effort to hide himself. Knowing that the best way to catch a desire demon. Was by using himself as bait. What greater meal would there be for a demon of desire, than a demon of pride who sought to take that seat of power from his own master? It would be like putting a fat man in front of a buffet table. He felt safe enough doing it, his senses would tell him if another demon approached even if he was in slumber. So the idea of dying wasn't much of an issue. None the less he wouldn't make his resting place too obvious. Desire demons would be able to taste the greed and want in the air. And it would lead them to him. Other demons, wouldn't be able to do as much. He hid himself in the crevice of a ruined building, keeping himself for the most part out of sight. It wouldn't be easy to get to sleep. Hours passed and eventually he managed it, the place was uncomfortable but he managed to drift off into his dreams.
Once again waking up in this damned library, pages falling all around him. This dream, it hadn't left him alone ever since he'd met Ceila. Just why was this place persistent in haunting him. And why did he always wake up facing that corridor with the blinking lights. The one with the dark door....the dripping pipes. The darkness. The place was dizzy, hazy. There this time though, in front of him was a book. Bound in green leather. The title was incomprehensible gibberish. Symbols that he couldn't make out. He opened the book drunkenly, this place, he could never focus properly, always as if something was dragging his mind away elsewhere. Each page of the book for awhile appeared to have been ripped out rather forcefully. There however, was one page that hadn't yet been ripped out. Upon it...a rather cryptic poem. Behind the door of sand and age, a secret lost within this page. A man who Jack had once become. Lost forever, to the sound of a drum". Tired now, it had taken effort to read that, he looked back up at the corridor. The door. Did the poem mean?...behind the darkness...something had grabbed him. Was something lying there behind that door? He didn't know. Didn't want to know. But you do. Yes, he did. Couldn't deny it...he wanted to know just what the secret to this place was, wanted to know why he had come here, why he had saw Ceila. But he couldn't risk falling into madness. If what she had said to him in this place held true, then it was a place reserved for the mad ones. Keeping his mind here was difficult. Almost impossible. He felt constantly drunk. Unable to keep himself upright without the aid of the bookshelf behind him. Unable to walk without something to balance on, even the it was difficult with the constant threat of him falling over. But he had to out last it, had to wait till his mission was complete. Yes, so that you can return and take what is rightfully yours, to rule over all of- " Damn right". He spoke to himself. Well. It wasn't to himself. But rather to the desire demon feeding him thoughts of want and curiosity. " But I don't need you to tell me that". Awakening from his dream he struck out with his hand, grasping the desire demon by the throat. He felt slightly weakened. No doubt that the creature had fed off of him slightly. Still, he was still far stronger than it. It was a she. Most desire demons tended to be, however there was the odd male. Her face was clear, one of shock and horror. This wasn't the leader. But she would tell him where the rest of them lay. He smacked his fist across her face. Then laid a hand on the side, and smacked it against the stone wall. Knocking her clean out.
He sat back and let out a sigh of relief, an unhealthy aroused feeling arriving within him with the unconscious females head lying as an empty weight against his crotch. " Righto". Standing himself up, he crawled out of the ruin and dragged her behind him. He'd need to find a private place next for these...private matters. He would break her. And she'd sing like a blue bird. Finding a building still intact enough to provide cover for this little business wasn't an issue. It was finding one with a basement area. However he did eventually find one, admittedly after having to slaughter his way through several of its denizens. He dragged over an old wooden table and hauled her onto it. He drew his cane sword, flipped it around and then stabbed it into her leg. The moment that he did that she jolted up screaming. And he punched her right back down. Dazed. Confused and in pain the demon looked up at him. " Why...haven't you killed me...". He grinned. Beginning the process of draining her of her pride. This would make the task of information extraction far easier if she didn't have any honour keeping her back from spilling the beans. " Well you know the answer to that don't you? You were in my head for a bit, surely you found something that linked you all to this, or did you just enjoy the feeding so much that you were wiling to take the risk?". She groaned, looking away from him to the side. " Ding ding ding ding, we have a winner, you desire demons, you are so much like leaches, you enjoy it too much you are just addicted to the meal aren’t you?". She looked up at him, if he hadn't been draining her of honour he knew she would have tried to lash out t him. But in this state of hopelessness she just looked so pathetic and spoke the words. " Yes, we are...just kill me....I can't stop myself... I felt your desire...and I had to have it". He nodded, it as understandable. He did enjoy draining her pride so, it made him feel like he was on top of the world, a natural demonic high he could understand that if desire gave them the same feeling just why they could get addicted to the processes, After all such things were common lace in the human world. Even if it was bad for them, addicts just sometimes couldn't help themselves. He understood it, but that didn't mean he was going to let her get away. She was going to die, and that look in her eyes said she knew it. " I know why you want me, but why should I tell our...your just going to kill me anyways". He nodded and laughed. " Yeah, I am. Glad to see that all that pleasure hasn't addled your brain so much that you don't know that, but my incentive of you telling me is...just how much pain I inflict on you before I kill you". Once again she looked to the side, despairing. " Oh...silent type eh? I like...makes this much much more fun..". He rolled up his sleeves. And started.
And her screams fileld the night
II
Jack washed his hands in a nearby pool of water, the blood misting out, spreading diluting from deep crimson to a slight pinkish hue. Despite him draining her of pride, she had still been a rather tough nut to crack. An enjoyable nut. But tough none the less. For that reason alone, he'd decided to bury her body as opposed to letting the remains rot, or having some other Oni devour the corpse rather unsantimoniously. Again, this was one of these few little acts of kindness that were seen in hell. Something he didn't have to do for an enemy that he did. Give her a respectful burial and treat her corpse with at least more respect than he had her body whilst she as alive. Certainly more respect than she had treated upon herself. She had told him the location of her clan and her leader, and that meant that he could now go ahead and slaughter the lot of them. Of course, that’s what Jowan wanted. But he'd be adding his own little twist to it. He wouldn't be killing the leader of the desire demons right away. From what he had gotten from this one, the rank and file had no idea just what the leader had on Jowan. Which meant for now at least she'd kept it to herself. That or she had only trusted her closest allies within the clan to the secret. Treating them with that knowledge. Didn't really matter as he'd be killing them all anyways, just he'd have to spare the leader. At least. For as long as he had spared the previous demon of desire. He needed that information to use against Jowan himself. It would be useful when he came to power to have such a trump card to use against Jowan. To have him weakened to accept death or execution rather than have his family taken away from him. It was cruelty, he knew it. But he didn't care. This was all that mattered to him. This is all that he needed to care about. The demons of desire kept their clan base in a rather odd place for a clan of attractive creatures. They housed themselves within a cave to the east of his current location. So it was out that way he headed, there was no doubt in his mind that there would be some sort of guard at the gate someone to ward off/ kill people who would stumble across. Luckily he was a bit on the warpath today and didn't much mind a bit of blood in getting to his target. He approached the cave, a large cavern with a huge maw that looked like some sort of beasts mouth, the rock formations making it look as if the thing had fangs, only enhancing the image of a beast. There was a voice in his head, the tell tale sign of a desire demon. We don't want to go in there False feelings of fear crept in at him. But he knew to ignore the warnings. " Strange". He said to himself. " I thought you would have had more balls for a guard. ". Sword out of cane, stabbed behind him. Blood seemed to flow out of what was to the normal eye. Thin air. It would have probably got the jump on him if he hadn't the power to sense the taint of his own kind. With that, no matter how many invisibility tricks it pulled. Nothing would be able to sneak up on him like that. If it had, he'd probably have been killed by now. As the magic hiding the oni came to a close he looked around, the Oni now coming into appearance bit b bit as it fell to the ground, dead and dusted. He walked towards the cave, keeping his sword out of the cane sheath, holding the scabbard in one hand and the sword in the other, ready to stave off an attack. Or even launch one of his own. He knew they were here, he could sense their touch, their presence. There was no denying it, there weren’t going to get out of here alive. The first one ran at him, screaming like a banshee. She was attractive, and he found it odd that was the first thing he thought considering that she was actually trying to rip his face off. His sword out he stabbed into her stomach and ripped it up, disembowelling her. Her internal organs falling out onto the floor.
Death rattle and onto the next one. Stab death, slash death. Cut off head, death death dath death. By the time he had cut his way through to the central cavern his clothes were coated in blood some his own some not. Some from self inflicted wounds, others from the cuts and nicks of claws that got far too close. He looked on as another emerged, this one far more attractive than the rest, but her appearance was wavey, almost dream like in itself. This was clearly- " The desire demons somehow found out about this, their leader and I have never quite seen eye to eye, and now as far as I'm aware she’s planning on killing the child and its mother". . " I am echidna". The demon spoke out in her seductive manner, Each single word was like a force of its own, pulling him closer and closer. Suddenly he felt afraid, and this wasn't out of some foolish false fear generated by the demon itself, he was damned sure that this fear was his own. The last time one of these leaders had been killed, Ceila. It had been done by Jowan, and he had been the leader of Pride. To himself. To face now what might be the arch demon of Desire. This Echidna. It could be too much for him to handle. Regardless. He steeled himself against her powers and prepared to resist anything she threw at him. " I slaughtered my way through your kin and clan and now I'm here to do the same to you". He expected her to laugh, but she didn't merely frowned. and ran a hand up her body into a yawn. " Why fight? Its so brutal...I can tell you are a man of talent, you surely deserve to get the things that are coming to you...perhaps I could help...together we would be far stronger you know...". The leader of one of the clans on his side against Jowan it was a tempting offer, every part of him called to him to take it, to join with her and to kill Jowan, to take the seat of pride for his own. And yet it was precisely this that caused him to resist. Her powers were strong, and through using that desire, she was enhancing his own. Making it seem like a good idea. Or was she? He couldn't tell. That’s why he had to resist. Because he wasn't sure if it was her influence, or just himself.
" No thanks honey, I want Jowans throne but I want something else more...I'm sick and tired of you desire types messing with my brain, so I'm going to have a damned jolly time parading your head through the streets before punting it into the damned horizon".
Her frown deepened. " Very well if that’s the way you desire it to be. The let it be". The fight was over surprisingly quickly, for such a biog shot demon she had been relatively easy to slay, he'd just rushed in, his speed and reflexes far greater than hers. He'd chopped off her head and was now walking through the streets, holding it by the hair in his right hand. Yes, he'd go home this way to Jowan. March up to the seat of pride and throw the head at his feet. Then he'd chop Jowans head off and add it to his collection. He'd take the seat of pride for his own an- no. This wasn't right. This made no sense. Too much too quickly too easily. He tried to concentrate, but it was like the library. As if something was blocking him out from focusing. It was difficult. But there it was. When he obtained that single second of focus, it was enough to feel the taint of another oni right now to him. But when he looked to his right. There was nothing there. Regardless. he struck out an elbow in that direction, and felt it connect with something with a crunch. He was snapped back into reality, Echidna jittering back. The bitch had been feeding on him! She'd put him into a trance without him even noticing. With one movement he slashed open his palm and smeared the blade with his blood. His tainted blood that would corrupt all that it touched, he jumped forward and stabbed out straight through her chest. She gritted her teeth looking down, he knew that there was no way this stab would kill her if it had just been the sword. But filed with his blood...that was a different matter. The blood on the sword unleashed its taint into her body, the area around the stab turning black and twisted. She gasped. He felt his own taint pumping through her in his senses, that was the only way to know just whether or not this was a dream, the second reason he had done it. And he could feel it spreading through her. She dropped to her knees. He drew back. And cut off her head. The information on Jowans family was lost, but he couldn't risk leaving her alive for torture, her powers were just too strong, he never would have been aware when she was putting him into a dream, he could have tied her down and she'd still have been able to kill him without lifting a finger. That was dangerous. Too dangerous. Or at least, that’s what he had thought. Whilst rummaging about the camp for any items to pawn off later for food or perhaps a little bit of the good stuff from the local ass kissing merchant. He found some documents written by Echidna pertaining to the location of Jowans family. A grin spread across his face as he began to absorb the details. He couldn't risk bringing the papers with him otherwise Jowan or someone else might stumble across them. If they did he was screwed. Keeping details on this sort of stuff was bad news. But still. Keeping it n his head for later use wasn't a bad idea at all. After he had conformed it all to memory he threw the bits of paper on a fire. Watching it burn away, the Pride demon kept his secrets for now. Well. Secrets between himself and Jack. It was on the way home after burning those papers that Jack began to think about that time twenty years ago. With his own human companion. Could he be in Jowans shoes and not know it? Weakness was a threat. They could use any link like that just as well as Jowan himself could. How would he react with the knowledge if he did father a child? He honestly didn't know. Jowan didn't seem to...love the child or its mother. But at the same time nor did he wish them harmed. Perhaps he would be the same if it was him. But he wouldn't know. Taking a deep sigh. He noted to himself to find out.
Word Count: 4048
PWC: 4048
EXP: 4322
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