"This is the last time I'm saying this Greg, immortality is not worth cutting off your cock. What's the point of being immortal if you're deprived of the best feeling in the world?"


"Ey' maybe he's lacking in that area. No wonder he wants immortality if all he has to do his cut off an inch or two worth of pecker."


Greg suddenly stands up, drawing your eyes to the bickering trio. They've been arguing random hypotheticals since you've gotten here. All you wanted was to get a quiet drink before meeting with Catia. As long as these buffoons are here, that's impossible.


Even as Greg stands up he's shorter than the other two sitting. It's no wonder they pick on him, he looks pathetic.


"Can you both just shut the fuck up? I mean, god damn. All I'm saying is living forever outweighs the downsides of not having a dick," he says in a whiny voice.


The other two laugh uncontrollably at his pitiful attempt of defiance. One manages to calm down and spits out,


"Maybe when it's smaller than a gnome's toothbrush, but for the rest us it's not so easy."


Queue more uncontrollable laughter as Greg's face becomes redder than demon blood.


"I'll shove a gnome's toothbrush up your ass if you say that one more time! C'mon, let's move on to another question."


The trio quiets down and you zone them out. You take a swig of whisky and start to remember the reason while you're here. Oh yeah, the succubus. She wanted you to drink a bit before meeting her. You didn't necessarily jump at the idea of getting drunk before meeting with a demon, but she promised you she would make it worthwhile. You're pretty sure that means…


Your thoughts are interrupted by the thickheaded trio once again.


"You're telling me you'd prefer your child be retarded and kind than ingenious and mean?"


"Yes Connor, I would."


"God damn it, Greg! You want to spend an eternity with no dick while taking care of a retarded child? Pathetic. I would kill myself after a week."


"Har har har! I would kill myself in a week if I had to live Greg's life as it is. No, scratch that, a day!"


"Fuck you Tom. I can't be the only one who thinks this…"


Greg glances around nervously looking for a savior. Eventually he turns his gaze towards you and his eyes light up.


"Hey you over there! What would you rather have, a dumb, but kind child; or a smart, but cruel child?" he says while pointing at you.


You stare blankly ahead and breathe a deep sigh. This is beyond stupid. You briefly consider just ignoring him and getting the hell out of this place.


"Why do you think that man would agree with you? He's a soldier. Surely, he recognizes the benefits a genius could provide for society. Especially when you consider the need for mages regarding the growing demon problem."


Soldier? Shit you forgot to change out of your uniform. So much for staying inconspicuous. You can thank your lucky stars none of the other guards are here to see you in this shithole.


"Now now, let the man speak. Just because he's a soldier doesn't mean he agrees with you," says Tom.


"Fine, what do you think...and hurry up! We don't have all day."

You say "I prefer a genius but cruel child."

"My man!" shouts Connor.


"Har har Greg probably wants a retarded child to have someone finally agree with him," Tom jokes.


Tom and Connor start shouting about how much of a dumbass Greg is. You agree, but don't join in on the berating. Instead, you walk out of the tavern without a second glance. As you make your way outside you are hit with a rush of cool air.


"I can't wait to meet Catia," you mutter to yourself.


You tuck your hands in your pockets and begin the walk to your home. On the way, you bump into a familiar face. It's Lars.


"How did last night go?" he asks.


Something about Lars is rubbing you the wrong way. It might be his emotionless eyes or his downtrodden tone, but you feel like telling him about Catia is a bad idea


"I nearly froze to death," you say, wanting to be vague.


"Yeah how exactly did you avoid doing that? When I left it looked like you were about to pass out."


"Just lucky I guess."


"Lucky huh? Well it's your 'luck' that got me fired. Thanks a lot, now my family can starve to death before getting killed by demons."


You remain silent.


"The captain chewed my ass out for quitting guard duty. I thought he would berate me and give me a warning, but he fucking fired me. I told him how much bullshit that was because I would have frozen to death otherwise. He told me I was lazy and incompetent because 'the other guard didn't complain' as if your dumbass was smart to stay."


You try to apologize but Lars is having none of it. He gets angry and says,


"I pray to god the demons invade and gut you and the captain like fish. Scrape out your insides with their claws and your other insides with their dick."


"Jesus man I said I was sorry."


"Sorry doesn't feed my family. Get out of my way, I'm gonna' drink until I die."


You move aside as Lars storms past you. Well, that was an interesting encounter. You don't even know what to think, were you wrong to lie to him? How would he have reacted if you told him the truth? You push these thoughts out of your head and focus on getting home. It's super cold and you don't want to freeze to death and not have a succubus save you.


You find yourself exiting out of the slums and into the residential part of the city. Most guards sleep in the barracks, however, since your parents never returned from their trip their house is all yours. If they ever return, you hope they don't mind you bringing a demon inside the house. Although, they were always bugging you about finding a girlfriend, this might not be what they had in mind.


You arrive at your parent's old home and open the door. The wooden door squeaks loudly as you open it.


"Some things never change," you whisper to yourself.


You immediately start making yourself more presentable. You change out of your soldiers' uniform and put on a loose-fitting black tunic. You probably should take a bath but you're too excited to see Catia that you forget to. Do demons mind odor?


You're about to sit down in your bed when a chill runs down your spin. Your door makes a squeaking noise and a cold breeze rushes towards you.


"Is somebody there?" you ask.


No reply, although you don't know what you were expecting. It's possible the breeze pushed the door open, it's pretty flimsy and it wouldn't be the craziest thing that's happened in the last 24 hours. On the other hand, you can't shake the feeling your being watched. Should you grab your sword and investigate?

You close the door and get in bed

It probably was just the wind, no need to be paranoid. You hop in bed and close your eyes.


"Cat---"


Your head is struck making you collapse.


"They may have taken my job, but they didn't take my sword."


"Lars?" You ask through blurred vision.


"Why yes, it's me, demon! You really think I believed you survived on pure luck?"


He looks completely unhinged. You try to say something but just start coughing blood. It comes out in chunks resembling mashed berries.


"You really thought you could get away with it, didn't you? HAHAHAHA! I know you've been possessed by a demon; how else could you survive the frigid cold?"


Clumps of blood continue flying out of your mouth as you fail to speak. Lars crotches down next to you and strokes your face.


"It's ok, calm down. Like I told you before, or at least the non-possessed you, the city could use some heating up."


Where is this going?


"I want to make a deal with you! Kill the Captain and I'll let you live. Hell, I'll even give you something in exchange. Perhaps a part of my soul? If there's anything left in there."

You nod your head

That's the last thing you do before passing. Between your shuttered eyes you can make out one last thing.


An even bigger smile on Lars' face.


The next time you wake up your chained in darkness. You can still reach around a fair bit and waste no time exploring your surroundings by touch. When you get to your face you find it hastily wrapped in gauze and bandages. You shallow and taste dried up blood sticking to your mouth like honey. You really need a drink. With nobody around you start banging your chains against the ground. It makes a loud rattling sound that will surely attract anyone close by.


Nothing. Wherever you are nobody is here. Although, you assume Lars will be back soon. That is, unless he was killed as raving mad men often are. As you sit here hungry, tired, and thirsty you rack your mind trying to remember anything that can help you. Your head pounds with each thought, it feels like a hangover but a 100 time worse. Getting whack in the head may have some long-lasting effect on your mental capabilities.


After a few minutes of fruitless concentration, it hits you. The thing that got you into this mess is what will get you out; Catia. While the alcohol has mostly worn off, your injuries have left you in a susceptible state. Assuming she wasn't lying when she said she would meet you again, she should be able to get you out of this mess. You can't believe you need a demon to rescue you, but you have no choice.


"Catia," you whisper.


A few seconds pass and despair creeps in. Just before you lose all hope a dark cloud appears in the room. It dispels a nauseous fume that ferociously attacks your lungs. You start violently coughing more blood, mostly dry, as you vision blurs. Your eyes shut close and you feel your grip on reality slipping away.


You awaken to find yourself in a metallic cage. This room is much brighter than the one before.


"When I saw you chained I figured a cage would make you feel right at home."


It's Catia and you're getting a very different vibe from her than last time. Your gut tells you to do what she says as you are powerless.


"Now tell me, how come I wasn't the first one to put you in chains?" she says while licking her lips.


"It's not like it was consensual. I was blindsided and nearly died."


She gives you a playful smile and whispers in to your ear


"Tell me everything and don't spare any details.


Seeing as you don't have much of a choice you describe everything that's occurred since you last saw her. You don't withhold even the most irrelevant details.


"It's nice to know you believe I exist. I know it's hard to believe someone this beautiful isn't a figment of your imagination."


Her red eyes pierce into your mind, daring you to think otherwise.


"So, what do you think we should do about Lars?" you ask.


She starts laughing to herself.


"What?"


She walks towards your cage and reaches inside. She puts her hand on your chin and points your head upwards. She locks eyes with you and grins widely


"You're going to kill the captain!"


Later


It took a lot less convincing that you thought it would. Something about Catia just makes you want to obey her, though this time around you didn't have much choice. She didn't give you a reason other than saying


"Chaos sows the seeds of discontent."


Which if you agree with this line of thinking, you are only helping the infernal realm by following Catia. Her influence is so strong you didn't consider any other option. Or maybe you just really want to fuck her. Either way, time to kill the captain.


After releasing you from your cage, she offers to heal you with dark magic. You agree, as you can barely move let alone assassinate someone. What you didn't know is that another demon would be performing the ritual.


"Why is a human stinking up the place?"


"Mind your manners, Jirzan. Someone finally wants you for your magic and you treat them like this?"


"Heh I guess you got a point. They don't call me Jirzan the Lunatic for nothing. Alright tell me what you need me to do."


She whispers into his ear and is too quiet to understand. Though you make out words such as "transform" and painful.


What exactly do they plan on doing to you? Perhaps you should try backing out of this whole ritual.

You go on with it

Catia asks you to join hands with Jirzan and her. Once you do, they begin chanting nonsensical words. Their eyes roll into the back of their heads and their bodies go limp. After a few seconds they get up and it's now you that's limp. You feel excruciating pain course through your veins. Your skin burns, and it feels like fire ants are crawling in your eyes.


You can't help but scream as every part of your body feels like hell, literally. Your skin starts to red and your head feels like it's being ripped apart. They can't be doing what you think they're doing.


"The transformation is working!" Jirzan shouts.


You begin spazzing out on the floor. This isn't what you thought she meant by healing you.


"Enjoy your new life under my servitude," Catia laughs.


Your body starts contorting as blood spills out of your eyes. You jolt in and out of consciousness while Catia laughs louder. Her voice sounds dreamlike as the room around you morphs into hell. You black out.


When you wake up you find Catia and Jirzan shorter than before. In fact, the whole room feels smaller.


"There he is!" shouts Jirzan.


"How does it feel?" asks Catia.


You stare at them in shock.


"What did you do to me?'


Catia approaches you differently than before. She no longer seems to be trying to seduce you. Rather, she carries a wave of supremacy not present before.


"You will obey my commands as long as I live. Now, get on your knees," she says.


You try to protest, but find your whole body paralyzed. You assume this must be some sort of magic forcing you to obey. This however is not the case as she makes clear.


"WHY AREN'T YOU MOVING?"


"It seems like my ritual may have had some unintended effects."


Your body goes into an epileptic seizure as they start arguing over the ritual. None of that matter to you as your heart can't support your new body. The world becomes a blur as you hear one last thing,


"Great, I'll never return home now that he's dead."


While you aren't dead yet, you will be soon. Your tale ends here.