8

Beelzebub

Immediate relief hit once I saw Wally, felt his presence, tasted his sweat in the air. Aside from a few cuts and scrapes, I didn't note any major sensations of pain from Wally and our strengthened bond, no longer hidden by the temporal folds of time and space. He struggled against the Fae that continued attempting to strangle him, conserving a massive amount of Diabolic essence. Clearly, I'd have to guide Wally better in understanding how much circulated through his being. Then again, the entire process was still new to me, too.

An elemental barrage proved most effective when navigating through this maze and tearing down the walls which stood between Wally and me, but now with many books ablaze, I could feel Walter's panic in his swelling chest. I huffed. Prioritizing the preservation of these dusty old tomes over his well-being. With a twist of my wrist and a curl of my claws, I simmered the flames I'd unleashed upon this library. Not that it seemed to matter; sparkling lights blossomed from the symbols etched onto the marble floor and cast radiating waves of rejuvenation and restoring damage to books and repairing the disarray in this library.

I prepared to lunge ahead, eviscerate the Fae who'd pinned Wally beneath him, but my worried little mage broke free from the tight grip on his neck, took a deep breath, and knocked an oozing clump of flesh off the rotting face of the Fae with a solid punch. Nice.

Wally turned, eyes wide and begging for assistance, so I paused. Keeping my feet firmly planted where I stood, I raised my shoulders and gave Wally a perplexed expression. "What do you want me to do? I can't just impulsively slaughter the man."

"This is not the time to make a point, Bez." Wally kicked the Fae in the chest, using the leverage to frantically crawl away. "Just do something!"

"But what if this is all one big Fae misunderstanding? I wouldn't want to overreact," I said, keeping a careful eye on the Fae's swiping hands, the erratic flow of magic, and the profane hollering of vengeance. Ugh, such an insufferable man. All that pompous dignity washed away the minute he suffered a minor blow.

Wally's breathing steadied, our waned airways no longer blocked.

"Are you serious right now?" Wally asked, skirting around a strike and running between aisles in some futile attempt to avoid the conflict.

"You made it very clear my nature defaults to murder, and I can't jump into this situation rashly. My instinct upon arriving here was kill first, ask questions later." I zipped past the Fae, shoulder-bumping him so he'd follow my blur when I reached Wally at the end of an aisle. "Yet you may have a point. I must contemplate these possibilities, Walter. Your lengthy lectures have left an invaluable impression on my heart."

The Fae bolted for Wally, splintering shelves through the harsh melodies carried in his seething exhales. This obnoxious and enraged Fae had yet to acknowledge my presence, though. Considering the burns on his face, I surmised Wally gave the man an acid bath which he sought recompense for. Good for him. Both of them, actually.

"Not sure who to root for," I said. "My lover or my potential soon-to-be BFF. Oh, the funny stories Novus and I shall share when out on the town. One day, we three will laugh and laugh about this awkward anecdote."

"Fuck you"—Wally ground his teeth—"Bez."

"Not here, Walter. Though, I'm flattered." I winked, which he missed, of course, due to desperately dodging Novus' flailing swipes intent on slashing my little mage to ribbons based on the augmented golden rings which now coated his fingers like an eagle's talons.

Claws slashed at Wally, tearing his shirt and nearly drawing blood. Crimson glimmered beneath his tattered shirt. Thankfully, our longstanding bond had increased the lengths my Diabolic essence extended in protective measures. It now guarded him from more than mere mortal wounds, reacting to his subconscious instinct.

The Fae snatched Wally by his curls and flung him into a shelf. I winced from our shared back pain.

No matter. Wally was in no immediate danger, having the evasive upper hand from the infuriated fairy. Thus, I waited. If things got risky, I'd kill the bastard. In the meantime, I was more than satisfied observing and making a point.

Dropping to the floor, I sat crisscrossed with my elbows on my knees.

Antoninus hissed, pinching my ear from his perched spot on my shoulder. Fucking bug got his claw caught on my earring.

"Begone, pest." I flicked a finger and sent the familiar hurling into a far-off bookshelf. Good riddance. His poor tutelage was the reason it took me so long to decode the damn card, making me nearly miss this delightful conflict.

His hiss sizzled out in the distance, and the angry clack of his claws grew faint. I stifled a snicker.

Wally traced incantations in the air. Their luminescence held the faintest orange hue, displaying how far his control over the Pentacles of Power had grown since most incantations cast only glowed a standard white. Thrown into the midst of conflict, Wally always flourished. He waved the incantations at Novus, caging the Fae, but not fast enough. Novus shattered into specks of glitter.

I shook my head. "Lazy technique, Walter."

"Shut up."

"Fine. You've obviously got this under control." I pretended to zip my lips.

The glitter formation of the Fae flickered erratically as it funneled through the air, looping about and discreetly gathering behind Wally. Novus reappeared, startling poor oblivious Wally, whose elevated blood pressure suggested the teleportation was instantaneous.

The movement was hardly instantaneous, in my opinion. Despite the shock on Wally's face. Nope. In fact, much slower and easier to track than at the theater. Perhaps with my emotions more in check, I was able to note his dimensional movements easier, or his fury prevented a proper stealthy shift between the atmospheres. Either way, killing him would be succinct as soon as Walter learned his lesson.

"Had I known I was in for such a show, I'd have brought a snack."

Wally ignored me as his desperation grew. Channeling currents of wind, he sent stacks of precious books flying at the angry fairy.

I sighed, perhaps feeling a pinch of guilt for my adorably misguided mage. "I can offer assistance, but I need you to say those magical little words."

"Help?"

"That's one word, Walter."

"Please!" Wally backed into a corner, whimpering and confused like an adorable puppy.

I crossed my arms, unyielding until he'd said the words. He knew them.

"I love you?"

"Bah." I flicked my tails, sending a small spark of black lightning coursing between them but offering Wally nothing. "As if I'd be swayed so easily by declarations of affection."

"Just kill him already!" Wally shouted.

"That seems rather dramatic." I stood tall and stretched my arms, playfully grinning. "But I suppose if you insist."

I ran at Novus, who'd finally acknowledged my presence and transformed into a glittering form, which he used to quickly conceal the presence of his Fae light beneath various layers of reality. Fascinating. He'd tucked himself behind the veil to hide his movements, whereas with Wally, he didn't bother with such things. It was only through deep examination and unblinking eyes I could seemingly slow reality and study these actions that happened in fractions of seconds.

He burst into a glittering discombobulated form. He unzipped the walls dividing planes of existence. He jumped into this world of light. Now, he moved around like a rat under a carpet, the subtle alterations in the air revealing him.

Unveiling my wings, I slowed my pace, making it easier to pivot my direction.

He froze, still hidden behind a veil. Fool thought he was safe so long as he remained incorporeal, but I ripped my way through his villa, studying the hidden plane he kept us on so nothing about the frequencies of teleportation would catch me off guard a second time.

Coating my hands in essence, I tore through the barrier dividing us and snatched a clump of glitter. Tendrils whipped from my wrist, lapping up the stray magic of the Fae's current form. He might've believed himself untouchable in this form, but with his Mythic residue divided a million times over as specks of twinkling dust, it was rather easy to eat.

He regathered his form, wheezing and backing away. Bloody and broken, with the rot on his face sinking even deeper.

"Wait, don't." Novus crawled on his belly like the insignificant worm he was. "You need me. Especially in this place. If you—"

SPLAT.

I smashed my heel through the back of his head. It caved in, splattering blood, chunks of bone, and gooey grey matter onto the floor.

"You talk too much," I said, grinding my foot into the marble flooring.

The squish beneath my shoe was divine, coupled with the fading melodies of the Fae's magics. It seemed this entire villa ran on horrid, pitchy tunes humming along like a locomotive, but now it all stilled, replaced by the spasming of a corpse and splash of pumping blood gushing from a formerly intact head.

"Gods." Wally cupped a hand over his mouth, his face sweaty and green. "Did you have to crush his head like that?"

I shook off the queasiness he sought to share with me, having nothing but joy in the messy muck at my feet.

"You practically begged me."

"Only because you were going to let him murder me to make a point."

"Nonsense." I scoffed. "I'd have drawn the line at light torture."

"Asshole. I can't believe you—"

"Saved your life? I know. I'm as shocked as you." I spun around, hand on my forehead to convey phony exhaustion, which Wally didn't buy. "Thankfully, I was able to decrypt the complex secrets hidden within that card and teleport to you."

Wally's anger faded, replaced by curiosity because of all his emotions, Wally's curious nature for answers about everything remained intact. "How'd you manage that?"

"I listen when you talk, obviously."

Antoninus skittered behind Wally, the scorpion quickly approaching with each step of his tiny, pointed feet. I used a tail to subtly chuck the scorpion across the library again. He'd simply take all the credit, insisting he'd been the reason for Wally's rescue when it was clearly my essence which activated the sigils, and I safely flew us through the dimensional barriers warded throughout this villa.

"What'd you learn during your visit?"

"Visit?" Wally twisted his lips, a musing gesture when searching for a way to express something. "That Baron Novus has a lot of illegal relics, access to lots of magics, and was planning on creating his own dimensional traveling port. Or I suppose he has but wanted your essence to add to it. Not sure why. Other than a devil's essence would be a thousand-fold stronger and fast track his agenda."

"So, nothing we didn't already know?"

"Next time I'm held against my will in a separate dimension by someone who wants to bleed me of essence and control my boyfriend, I'll be sure to direct the conversation to more revealing secrets."

"That'd be considerate, all I'm saying." I batted my lashes, watching Wally's face turn red from flustered aggravation. "Let us search this place."

"You know, I suspected he wanted to control you, but he didn't. Whatever he's doing with Diabolics doesn't involve a bond."

The foul stench of demon essence seeped into every wall of this villa expressed that much.

"There's more than bonds," I said. "Hell realms themselves use Diabolic essence from feeble demons to strengthen borders, enhance defenses, and make life generally more streamlined for everyone else living there. It's similar to the mortal working class, only devils shred demons and pour their discombobulated essence into the fabric of Hell."

"That's awful."

"Yes, terrible. Truly," I said. "I'm more curious about how the Fae managed to pull off something like this."

"A Fae," Wally said. "From what I gathered, in my completely unhelpful detainment, is that Novus didn't trust a lot of other Fae knowing his plans. Chances are this was a solo act."

"Perhaps." I sniffed the air. Mythic residue permeated the air almost hand and hand with the Diabolic essence coated throughout, but I couldn't discern if the magical residue came from visitors, captives, or his collection of trinkets. "Keep careful attention all the same. I don't desire being caught off guard by any Fae loyalists."

"We could start our search here." Wally rushed off, immediately heading to a podium where he'd clearly guessed correctly on a directory for this vast book room. "There could be useful information about how this villa works, how he's using Diabolics, a map to the place maybe. Seems huge from what I've seen so far."

"Please. I tore my way through the bulk of the villa. Simply a manor, smaller than the one you worked at when a part of the Collective." I conjured black flames between closely pressed palms. "I say we save ourselves the hassle and burn this entire place to the ground. No secrets to uncover or potential partners to exploit in a heap of ash and rubble floating between worlds."

"Absolutely not." Wally grabbed a book off a shelf, clutching it to his chest like he'd birthed a baby of words. "There are one-of-a-kind artifacts here. Tomes of knowledge that could benefit everyone. Secrets kept from the world. Things to—"

"Fine." I smothered the fire. "Explore, research, catalog, just stop talking about it."

Mora would be displeased if I destroyed the villa without uncovering Novus' methods anyway. Then again, fuck her. She'd conned me into a celebration that tossed us into this situation to begin with. She should be stuck here, unraveling secrets and listening to Wally's discoveries.

I sighed. This library alone would lead to a million new lessons and rambling discussions. I felt it in my bones.

"Let's save the library studies for another time." I waved a hand, telekinetically taking the stack of books Wally had already started piling up for his reading and moved them back to a shelf. Any shelf. I didn't care about the librarian's code of organization. "I want to find where he's keeping the demons. Even if he's funneling their essence throughout the villa, he has to keep their hearts and minds in one place."

"Unless he has a sign saying demon parts here, it could take some time," Wally said, retrieving the books to place on proper shelves, the gears turning in his maze of a mind. He was about to enter a tangent; I could feel it from the tension released from his muscles. "This place could be even bigger than we realize. Fae are known for spatial compressions, so there could be layers upon layers of the villa itself."

"Doubtful. This gaudy mansion seems to keep everything on display, probably easiest to remain undetected and streamlined by maintaining one reality."

Though, the frequency here was slightly off compared to most Fae traveling ports, completely different from what was used at the Fae Divinity performance, which was already challenging to read. Best compared to stations on a radio, similar to the fact I didn't understand how those screeching sounds traveled through wires, simply that I could detect them. If Wally could see the threads of time and space laced in this library alone, he'd probably have a better system description. After he jizzed himself in utter delight and created an obscene amount of categorical research.

"Where should we start?" Wally asked.

"I'd say where he kept you. Chances are, he meant to carve my essence from you and lure me to that spot."

"I didn't see any Diabolics in that room."

"Can we just go?"

Wally led the way through the labyrinth, using an incantation to manifest a torch that lit our way through long-winding corridors.

"I think it was this way."

"You don't remember?"

"I wasn't exactly drawing a map as I ran for my life," he said with a note of a huffy snark. "Wait a second."

I mouthed one, two, three, four, and five before he continued. Definitely more than a second.

"This wasn't here last time." He walked toward a doorway, trailing his hand along the faded symbols lining the frame.

The door glowed blue, holding the faintest hue of a pocket portal.

"Then we've clearly gone the wrong way."

"No." He pointed to a hole above several yards ahead. "That's where I fell through unless there are a bunch of acid-made holes here."

"Let's hope not."

"You know what this means?"

"No." I stifled my annoyance because I had a good idea.

"It means even if you cut through a lot of the villa searching for me, there could've been entire rooms cloaked behind wards like these." Wally studied the symbols. "You were saying something about that being unlikely?"

I grumbled at his cocky tone.

"My best guess is all these protective wards shielding the villa and hiding pathways were linked to Novus' magical signature."

Funny. The Fae noble was as arrogant as the dead magus I never got to pluck from this earth. Abe had similar security measures, tying his magic and life force to everything in the repository. I loved when grandiose fools were slaughtered, and their treasures were easily taken.

I snatched Wally away from the doorway and wrapped him into a tight embrace, flying us through the hole back to where he'd arrived. If I left him to his own devices, he'd spend hours studying the door's symbols. Hell, we'd have never made it out of the library with Walteresque sleuthing.

Wally scrambled loose from my grip when we landed on what remained of the clay floor. I quickly noted the trap above meant to cut off all access to magic and mana for those bound within the confines of the pentagram. Eyeing the oddities which remained shelved in this room, I found myself impressed by how he'd managed to break free completely independently against a foe such as Novus, who had far more age and skill in casting.

I smiled. My brilliant, worrisome little mage didn't require a rescue. Had I not dropped in, I believe he'd have ended that damned fairy on his own. Wally was simply perfect.

"Oh no," Wally said, running his fingers along a melted bookshelf. "I think the smog I released destroyed some of the artifacts."

My fingertips tingled.

"Don't touch it." I swatted his hand with a tail. "Could still be caustic."

"Doubtful. Goblin smog has a very short half-life." He frowned, gesturing at a pile of liquified metal. "Potent stuff, though. Melted a full suit down."

"That's not nearly enough metal to make a suit of armor."

"Maybe some trickled down into the labyrinth." He shrugged. "It's not like it got up and walked away."

"Ooooo, gorgon eyes." I looked at the tasty pair displayed on a shelf. "Think they're still fresh?"

I reached out to pluck one of the succulent optic nerves out of the glass container and into my belly.

"No." Wally popped my hand. "We don't have time for your funny business."

"I was gonna eat them, not screw them." I pouted. "I reserve all the funny business for you."

He rolled his eyes and rested them on the nearby door where the aroma of magic permeated from behind, thick and intoxicating in the air.

"This way," I said, leading us through the door and down a long hallway toward an iron door where the bulk of power radiating inside this manner stemmed. "This is the central source of power."

Wally adjusted his glasses, scanning the symbols lining this door like they seemed to do for all here. "You sure?"

"Yes." I grabbed the handle, which wouldn't turn. "Looks like it's locked, but that's no problem."

I coated my hand in Diabolic claws because I didn't have all day for Wally to examine the locking mechanism when I could efficiently slash this door to pieces.

"Infidous metronome caustious," Wally said, followed by other mutterings.

The symbols lining the doors peeled off the wall, glowing and changing their arrangement. Clicks and clanks followed their new placement, and the door swung open.

"How'd you do that?" I asked.

"Same secret code as the invitation on the card he offered. Guess Novus didn't concern himself with changing his passwords."

"What a moron. He's just asking to be robbed."

"Says the guy whose password is 1-2-3-4," Wally said, mockery in his tone.

"What? It's so obvious no one would ever suspect it. Plus, I'm not worried about some mortal stealing my telephone." But I'd delight in chopping off the hands of one foolish enough to try.

This room oozed as a central hub where all mana and essence circulated, yet nothing in here indicated a prison for the demons Novus had acquired. Their Diabolic essence merely lingered stronger before moving elsewhere. Beneath the concrete floor, pipes creaked and trembled, funneling the magics like fuel to power this villa.

There was nothing noteworthy here aside from a large screen that filled the entire back wall and a control panel covered in Sylvan symbols. No exotic baubles on display here like in the room where Wally was detained. The single chair in front of the panel and screen was a good sign. Maybe this Novus fellow truly did work alone.

Wally traced his fingers along the operational controls because he always had to touch things. "This is like the helm."

"The what?"

"Of a ship."

"This is a house, Walter."

"Yes," he said, pointing to a blinking blob on the screen. "But it's moving through time and space. Well, not like time travel exactly—which would be cool but involves too many quantum entanglements. Even briefly rewinding it could create an astronomical effect that causes an entire dimension to fold in on itself. I actually peer-reviewed a dissertation that explored the concepts…" Wally looked at my perplexed and unamused face. "But I digress. My point is, this room the helm, courses the navigation of the villa—also a ship—through the different planes of reality. These are probably the controls, which'll take time to figure out, and there's gotta be a blueprint around here somewhere. With that, we might be able to find where the Diabolics are being held or harvested or other not fun things. Hmmm."

Fuck me.This place did have different layers, which meant it'd take forever to search. It would've been quicker to torch the whole damn villa.

"We'll be here for weeks," I said, shoulders slumping.

"Maybe months." Wally's hazel eyes twinkled with joy, darting about and soaking in all the gizmos and gadgets of this room.

"I suppose this is an upgrade to our humble abode."

"What?" Wally asked with a squeak, not of fright or confusion but one meant to hide his enthusiasm.

"It's far more efficient to make this our home, at least for the time being. It'd require too much mana and time traveling between planes."

"Can we just take his place?"

"Pillage and plunder."

"We're not pirates."

"Which is a shame, but I'm reminded of my favorite mortal expression that's kept your world moving forward." I planted my hands on my hips, puffing my chest and boasting. "To the victor go the spoils, one of the few mortal sentiments I can get behind. And we were victorious. Me mostly, but you had a small, supporting role, I suppose."

"It would allow me to make the most of my time." Wally bit his lower lip biting back a dozen side tangents, no doubt.

"Plus, I can finally give our old home the pyre it deserves. I will be burning something down today," I said with a grin. "It'll be far easier to torch than clean all the stuff I broke."

"What?" Wally raised his eyebrows.

I skirted past him, examining the navigation system in search of a basic floorplan. "Where do you think the master bedroom is?"

"Can we rewind that conversation a tad…" Wally looped his fingers round and round.

"I'd like to christen it." I ignored his befuddled question, using a tail to playfully tickle his chin. "Then again, we should properly lay claim to all the rooms in this massive home."

"Okay, but what did you trash exactly because some of that stuff was client work, and then there's my personal collection—"

"What do you say, Walter?" I wrapped a tail around his waist and yanked him close to me. "Shall we introduce your lovely moans of ecstasy to this room? Or would you rather continue asking questions you know I'm not going to answer?"