Cemetery Summons Ch. 20

She breathed calmly and easily."That was fantastic," she said in a low, satisfied tone. "I must invite you again. If only Nyx were here to see it. Ormus, you are as good as you said."

Jack said, "Do you wish me to tend to your wounds?"

Ekana thought on it, and then grinned. "Does that mean more wax?"

"It means salt, vinegar, and oil," Jack replied as he pushed her up and off his body. She lay on her back silently and thought quietly while Jack grabbed a large case with dozens of labeled bottles in it and set it down between Ekana's spread legs. She sat up and flipped the thing open to reveal its contents.

"I can find them well enough alone," she said, swatting his hand away as she pulled out the vinegar and body oil. A container filled with salt followed, and then she handed it back to him. Jack slid the case back and flipped the succubus over onto her back. She squirmed, but Jack held her down with one hand, uncorking the bottle with the other.

"Can you guess what this is?"

"Vinegar."

"Wrong. I'm starting with the body oil first," Jack announced.

"Use vinegar first," Ekana said. "I want it to hurt."

"And I want you to go from one extreme to the other. Sit quietly," Jack ordered. They bantered like that for a while and those being entertained by the show lost interest for the moment. Dalaria, who had been skeptical at first, was now believing the situation was real. She was surprised that Ekana wasn't the one in control though, mostly because of her reputation as one of the most domineering succcubi in the Sanctuary of Salvation.

Anathane leaned over casually and said to Dalaria, "I guess this is what happens when two tops go head to head."

The woman looked less than pleased. "I am not here to see this. I am here for you. I have a sneaking suspicion that you are plotting something behind my back. You realize what would happen if that were true, do you not?"

"I do," Anathane said in her defense. "I do. Trust me; plotting is not my business. After I...after you made me realize that he was forbidden, I was unhappy, yes. I wanted to kill you. But, I thought better of my situation and decided that coming here to spend time with my old friends would take the edge off," Anathane said, lying through her teeth.

"Good. I do believe you, but I am not allowing you to go free yet. You are still my dog until all of them are sold. Remember that. You are my dog." She stood up and sighed. "I'm leaving now. I only came here to check up on my mutt. Carry on. I have no further interest in this show."

"You're going to miss the good part. This is where she has the strength to scream," Jack said, pouring the body oil all over Ekana's back and legs. As Dalaria disappeared through the doorway, Jack looked around.

Everyone had their eyes glued on the demon's back as she walked away, axe gripped in one hand and little tail swishing about behind her. Jack rubbed the body oil into Ekana's back and she moaned like her sister had when he'd given Elassa a massage. If Dalaria decided to look back and he wasn't still continuing, then it was going to be bad news for everyone.

He roughly poked and prodded Ekana's wounds until Dalaria's presence was all but gone entirely. Once Anathane said that she had left the premises, everyone relaxed a little. Jack let out a long sigh and casually began to massage the succubus' skin. Now, instead of aggravating the deep cuts, he tried to avoid them.

"Why'd you stop being rough?" she asked after a short while. Jack pulled the gas mask off and started trembling severely.

"B-because I'm done acting." He continued the massage with shaking hands and fingers. "I can be me again instead of...that." He shivered at the thought of what he'd done, and the sight of it just made his trembling worse.

"And what exactly is 'that' then, hmmm? Is it something you want to be? Or something you don't want anyone but you to know about? If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought you were a dom by the way you acted."

"No, I was scared out of my mind when I was doing that. I don't like hurting anyone I like or care about. I'm sorry about doing that to you. I know it hurt," Jack said meekly, casting his eyes down in shame.

"Don't worry about it. I really enjoyed that, especially that choking bit. I really thought I was going to pass out at one point. You'd make a good dom if you weren't such a pussy. You have the brains, but not the stones for it." Ekana turned her head to the side as Jack got off the table.

"Well, I'm just glad that I never have to do that ever again. Anathane, can you do something about all this oil? I don't have a cloth or anything to wipe it off with."

"Sure thing Jack. Hold your hands out." Jack held them out and Anathane sucked on each of his fingers until they were clean. Then she licked his palms and the backs of his hands until there was no oil left. Jack swore under his breath as she blew a nice cool breath at him and leaned in to lick beads of sweat running down his neck.

Jack got hot and bothered instantly and a hand crept down to his member.

He cleared his throat. "Thanks Anathane. That's all I need for now."

"You sure you don't want me to massage you again? Or give you a nice long blo-"

"No," Jack interrupted. "That's very sweet of you, but I'm fine. When do we leave? Helena's concert is already underway, right?"

"Oh, whenever Nyx gets back is when we can leave. Dalaria is probably long gone by now. So all we need is to...get...uh-oh..." Anathane buried her face in her hands slowly and dragged them down her face. "Oh, that's bad."

"What?"

"I took him into my body."

Jack shrugged. "Then spit him back out like you did Volna. No harm done, right? Where is he anyway? Your stomach didn't get big like last time."

"No, Jack, sweetie, I didn't eat him like I did Volna," she explained, worried. "I transported him back to my real body; my big body."

"So, just bring him back. What's the problem?"

"It doesn't work like that. He's stuck there until we get Dalaria's amulet. The me you see now is the me that was there the day that Dalaria took those four and threw them in jail. I haven't been able to siphon any of myself away from the main me since then because that fucking rat wrapped a chord around my neck and yanked it hard enough to hurt." She growled in annoyance, but left it at that.

"So..." Jack tried to get a more comprehensible answer out of her.

"He's stuck there until this is all over. I can't get him out until we have Dalaria's amulet, or until we take the Sanctuary of the Underworld." She dropped to her knees and hugged Jack around the waist. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Jack. Please forgive me." Anathane buried her face in his stomach and sobbed uncontrollably.

"Anathane..."

"Everything was going so fast...and, and I didn't know what else to do! I had to get rid of him. I'm sorry. I just...I'm so sorry Jack. I had to do it. I didn't mean to ruin everything. I'm sorry." She cringed as if Jack was about to beat her to a bloody pulp.

He couldn't do that if he wanted to.

"Anathane, get up. I'm not mad. Stop crying. We'll find a way to make everything work out alright. Anthony's safe, isn't he?"

"Yes. Of course. He's in my tummy right now."

"Uh...okay. Not like Volna's situation I hope. But, um, it's okay. Don't worry about it. This is the Second Circle! There has to be a way to fix this. We might not be able to get him out, but I'm sure that we can find a way to get this mess back in order. What about Nyx's library? Let's go see what she has in there and find out if something in there is helpful. C'mon."

"If you say so," Anathane replied. She started down the hallway and Jack turned to Grymir.

"What's wrong with her? She just had like three mood swings in ten minutes."

"She tends to be unstable mentally when she doesn't cycle different consciousnesses into a body outside of her original one. Do not worry. She is fine, if not a just a bit moody." He smiled faintly at the departing demon and then turned to his flat-chested friend. "We will go assist Anathane in finding a solution to our current predicament."

"Well, I guess I'll go with you."

"No, incubus, you'd be better off in her waiting for Nyx. I doubt you could even read the books we're going to rummage through. Besides," Kadae jerked a thumb in Ekana's direction. "Somebody needs to keep an eye on her for a while. Milord thinks that she is of...less than adequate sanity. Make sure she stays calm." Her eyes narrowed and she grabbed Jack by the neck. "Because this is milord's request."

"Kadae, are you coming to help us?" Grymir asked from down the hallway.

"Coming!" Kadae replied happily, hurrying after her lord and master like she hadn't just threatened someone's life less than a second beforehand. Jack rubbed his throat and watched the pair warily.

"Fucking demons," Jack said to nobody in particular.

"Not what you thought they were, right?"

"Ekana?"

"Still here on the table," she replied coolly.

"Shut up."

"Sorry kiddo. Can't do that. You got me too wired on your spunk."

"Well, what do we do now?"

"I dunno. I'm waiting for one of your 'legendary' massages."

"Sorry kiddo. Can't do that."

"Ouch, well, wanna fuck?" Ekana flashed Jack a cheeky grin.

"Sure, why not?" Jack got on the table and paused. "As long as we can have good, vanilla sex, okay? No toys or shit like that."

"Meh, fine. Haven't done that in a while."

"Good. I'm keeping the spreader bar on you though."

"Why is that?"

Jack scoffed. "I saw what you did to that fucking stone block. Not getting my ass crushed between those thighs, thank you!"

"Fine, fine. Just get over here and fuck me. I'm tired of waiting and now that you got me thinking about vanilla sex, I'm in the mood again. Come and get me big boy, I'm waiting." She rolled onto her back and spread her pussy lips with two fingers, grinning from ear to ear with bruised lips.

------------

Meanwhile, Anthony was lying on a floor far away, head spinning and stomach lurching. He lay curled up in a ball trying to keep whatever was in his stomach in its place. The floor beneath him was warm and things squished like flesh when he touched them.

He remembered someone telling Anathane that Dalaria was coming, and then something pulling him off his feet and enveloping him. Then, his memory was blank. He dizzily tried to sit up, but he couldn't exactly figure out which way was up. He lay back down slowly and stared at the ceiling above him.

He didn't know if it was a trick his eyes were playing on him or if it really was happening, but the ceiling looked like it was moving toward him. Something touched his forehead and he decided that the ceiling had moved after all.

"What is it?" a voice asked.

"I don't know," replied the same voice.

"Maybe the original knows."

"Maybe."

"So...is it...you know, available for use?"

"I don't know what it is. It might be dangerous."

"Move aside. Hey! Oh, you morons, this is a human."

"A human?"

"Yeah, God's 'greatest creation' or something like that."

"Maybe we should eat it?"

"A human? You know how much we could sell her for?"

"Her?"

"Yeah."

"How can you tell?"

"I'm a guy," Anthony said. The voices gasped and Anthony attempted again to push himself upright. He did, but he was still too dizzy to really look around, so he curled his knees to his chest and put his chin on them.

"You don't know anything about humans!" cried the voice again.

"I do to! Here, I'll get this one excited." Anthony watched with double vision as a large form pulled itself from the floor and stood proudly above him. He looked up with a dour expression on his face.

"What?" he spat.

"You are very interesting. I've never actually met one of you humans before, but if you're anything like demons..." The figure knelt down and Anthony just sat there, vision blurry and unfocused.

"Go away. I'm not happy."

"Why not? I can make you happy if you want."

"No you can't. Only Kan can make me happy." He realized that the feeling of vertigo and disorientation was gone. With that in mind, he slowly rose to his feet and stood firm before whoever it was that was annoying him.

"Kan? Who is that?"

"Maybe we should ask the original."

"Or get another split. Maybe a more recent one?"

"How about the...no. She's even older than me!"

Anthony reached out and touched the person standing there. "Anathane?" he said.

"How do you know my name?" she snarled defensively. Anthony felt something sharp press against his neck. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and waited for her to remove the blade.

"We're friends. I'm Anthony, remember? You know me. Well, one of you knows me anyway. I'm sorry I can't see your face that well; my vision is still blurry."

"Oh," Anathane said with an embarrassed quality to her voice. "Well, let me show you the place. You're inside of me right now."

"Us!" another corrected.

"You're inside of us right now. Our real body. Hey, somebody go get the split that knows who Anthony is." She turned directly to him and patted his hand kindly. "I'm sorry. She'll be with you soon. In the mean time, well, I'm Anathane. I suppose you and Anathane have known each other for quite some time then, huh?"

"Nope. I only just met her a few weeks ago," came Anthony's reply as he blinked hard to rid himself of the bleariness. It simply refused to leave. He resigned himself to just follow Anathane while she guided him, his hand between hers.

They walked down what seemed like an endless maze of corridors with all manner of voice following them and bickering amongst themselves, mostly. He got asked a few questions, mostly about if he and the 'Jack Split' got it on or not. To all of such things he replied that he did not love her, and therefore, had not had any manner of sexual relation with her.

At the end of their journey, Anathane spoke with another of her many selves and then turned back to Anthony. He couldn't tell what kind of expression she wore, but it would have helped to explain why she gave him a peck on the lips before leaving. The one that replaced her was a little more nervous.

"Sorry to make you waiting. I was...erm, busy." She laughed nervously.

"Huh? No, that's okay." He was lying through his teeth. Why hadn't she fucking gotten here sooner? "So, where am I exactly?"

"Oh, you're inside me right now. We're walking toward the core, the original. She's waiting for you. Though, she really wasn't expecting you for another few centuries, hehe." She scratched her head nervously.

"Oh, well, okay. How far do we have to walk?"

"Oh, not far. You're actually inside our heart. Just a few more minutes and you'll be with her and we can all talk to you and get to know you. Meanwhile, I'm here to give you whatever you need. I can't put anything inside you, but I can definitely pleasure you if you so wish."

"No, that's fine. I just don't want to walk any farther. I'm tired," he complained.

"Hold on. I can fix that." Anathane forced half a dozen tentacles out of her body and pushed them against Anthony's back. "Just sit back and I'll carry you." He reluctantly leaned his body back and the appendages embraced him gently, forming a sort of curved palate for him to sit on.

At the core, as Anathane had referred to it as, he could see almost nothing still. All that he could find was just a simple blur or color. A few things moved, lurched rather, like big cables hanging from the ceiling. Other things expanded slowly and then deflated, like massive lungs breathing rhythmically.

Anathane carried him up a slight incline and let him off at the top. Back on his feet, he felt the ground was slimy and felt like gooey mud, or brownie mix before being cooked. It wasn't but half an inch deep, but it was enough to make the floor slick and force him to take baby steps forward.

Before him was a huge red object with a white center. Upon it, something large lay in a tangle of colors ranging from one end of he light spectrum to the other. Anathane kissed his forehead and then slipped away, leaving him standing alone in front of the mass of color. He guessed that this was the original everyone had been talking about.

"Um...hey, I guess you've been expecting me. I'm Anthony," he said timidly.

"Don't be intimidated by me. It's only me, Anathane. You're my friend. Come, sit here," she said in a friendly voice, patting something. Anthony licked his dry lips.

"Uh...sorry, but I can't really see what you're referring to. My eyesight isn't really back to me yet. Kind of annoying right now." He felt something push him forward to her, and her fingertips pressed against his Gorgon's Eye. She thought for a moment, let out a thoughtful sigh, and then ran her extraordinarily long fingers through his hair.

"The symptoms are finally showing. Your third eye is starting to change your real eyes."

He had a feeling that this eye wasn't free after all. "So, I'm going to be blind before this is all over?" He hoped against hope that her answer wasn't what he thought it was going to be.

"Unfortunately, yes." Anathane pulled him closer, so that Anthony's head was resting against her shoulder.

"I had a feeling that was the case. Well..." His eyes began to tear up. Accepting that he was going blind was going to be hard. He wasn't ever going to see Kan again, or any of his friends, or anything else for that matter. He wasn't ever going to see daylight. He wasn't going to look at the sky, the water, anything beautiful ever again. He sobbed quietly and Anathane pulled him into her lap. She ran a comforting hand up and down his back in an effort to give him some sort of relief.

"Don't cry. Your world is not going to disappear with your sight. Kan will still be there, and Jack, and Volna, and everyone else. Blind is not dead."

Anthony controlled his sobbing. "But Kan..." He squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

"She will still love you all the same, if not more. Do you want me to say something prophetic to make it better?"

"Pro-"

"Eyes are the portal through which one may view the soul. Sight merely reflects the onlooker trying to see in, and fools he who is trying to be seen. Blind, however, a man may have his lover peer into the depths of his soul and find only herself within. A blind man will ensnare his lover for all eternity with but a single show of faith, and the love he shares will live as long as the stars in the heavens above."

Anthony was silent for the longest time as he sat in Anathane's arms and calmed his body. Anathane stroked his hair in a motherly manner and hummed to herself a tune that made Anthony's nerves calm and his tears slow. She wiped his tears away and set him down on a makeshift seat that she'd molded out of the floor.

"How did you know that would work?" Anthony asked after he was back to normal.

Anathane shrugged. "I'm older than you could possibly fathom. I know exactly how you think. And I would know how Jack thinks too if I could reach him now." She tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. "Sorry to complain in front of you. I haven't seen him in a while. I'm a little unhappy."

"But don't you remember putting on that nu-"

She put two fingers to his lips.

"Please don't ruin it for me," she whispered. "I don't know what the other me has done with him until she rejoined her consciousness with me. Please, don't tell me early. I want to hear and feel it all at once."

"Oh, sorry. But, can I say one thing?"

"Of course."

"You two have no idea how loud you get when you fuck." At that, Anathane giggled uncontrollably.

"Oh, believe me, I know! I have all the times before that day in my memories somewhere. I cannot tell you how well I know that. But, is it really that obvious?" She watched Anthony roll his eyes sarcastically.