The Succubae Seduction Bk. 02: The Twins Ch. 02

Shelly is awoken rather rudely, and has to deal with the fallout of her brother's indiscretion. Jessica's true motives come under even more doubt as disturbing news is told to the twins.

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Chapter 02

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The Fairy Spring

"Shelly, wake up!"

Shelly jumped out of bed, wondering what was happening. Were they under attack? She'd been having an odd dream about... something. She felt it was important, but couldn't get her sleep fuddled mind to remember.

"What's going on?" she yelled as she dressed. Mentally she went over all the weapons she could change into if needed, as well as defensive objects. She wanted to be prepared for whatever awaited her outside her room.

"Just get out here," a familiar voice called. A voice she knew very well, in a tone she dreaded.

"Mom?" she asked as she stepped out. "What's going on?"

She wasn't prepared to see the common room of the house she shared with her brother full of people. Their house was small, and it seemed even smaller with everyone in it.

"Your brother ditched me to have fun and do perverted things," Areth stated. Her fists were on her hips as she fluttered around the room. Shelly had never seen her angry before. When had she shown up?

Shelly's eyes were drawn to the other person in the room, besides her mother and foolish brother. It was the girl that'd helped them yesterday with the ogres. Or she had set that trap for them. Shelly hadn't decided yet. What was her brother doing with the woman? Her brother could be so dense sometimes! At least he had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Everyone calm down," another voice rang through the room. It was Aunt Lysa. She had a hard time controlling air currents around herself in small places, so she was probably staying outside and only projecting her voice. As crowded as the room was, Shelly was glad for the consideration. "Areth, I didn't bring Sheila here to punish Sheldon."

"Why not?" the fairy pouted. "It would be a lot more entertaining. Ooh! I know. I can punish him! Please!"

Shelly noticed her idiot brother glance at the fairy in fear. The tiny woman could be quite chaotic, and there was no telling what the fairy might consider as punishment.

"No," Shelly's mom said quietly. "There are more important things to discuss." Despite her words, she was glaring at Eldon.

"Drat!" the fairy kicked open air.

Shelly was confused about everything going on, and was still tired and ornery after being woken up so rudely. "Will someone please tell me why I had to wake up, just to find out my brother was being an jackass?"

"Hey!" Eldon protested. "Thanks for having my back, Shells!" Sarcasm and indignation filled his voice.

"This sounds like a family affair," Jessica spoke up for the first time since Shelly had come out of her room. "I should go."

"Stay where you are, girl," Shelly's mother commanded. It was odd to see Sheila Lance be domineering. She acted like a completely docile slave around their dad, but when he wasn't around, she had a way of taking charge.

Jessica obeyed and sat back down. Her eyes dropped to the folded hands in her lap.

"For better or worse, you're a part of this now," Lysa's disembodied voice said. "I know I asked you to watch over him. I didn't ask you to get into his pants."

The woman's cheeks burned bright red, even through her dark complexion.

"What's the big deal?" Shelly asked. "We're old enough to be with who we want."

"Oh, now you have my back," Eldon muttered.

"Besides," Shelly added just to spite him, "it's not like she's the first woman he's been with."

"And there you go again," her brother shook his head. Shelly noticed that he was looking everywhere, except at Areth or Jessica. Just how far into the act had they been caught? She wondered briefly what form he'd taken to be with her, before deciding she really didn't want to know.

"That's not the point," Lysa said. "He is our father's son, and has every right to be with who he wants."

"Thank you!" Eldon said.

"But he shouldn't have ditched one of his chaperones. Especially not Areth on Earth," Lysa continued.

Shelly now understood. Areth tended to get herself into trouble when she went to Earth alone. She had too much fun tormenting the mortals—a fairy's lifespan was infinite, as long as they didn't get themselves killed. Areth called it entertainment. No one else did. If she had come right back, instead of staying on...

"Wait! You went to Earth?" Shelly demanded of her brother. "What were you thinking? Lysa told us to stay put. Do you still have ogre brain between your ears?"

Shelly saw Jessica mouth the words, "Ogre brain," in confusion.

"That brings us to the problem," her mom said. "After you two almost fell into that trap yesterday, Lysa checked into things. It seems visitors to this world have been coming under a lot more attacks lately."

"Areth," Lysa spoke up, "I sent you to watch over the twins and protect them. Not to go gallivanting to Earth."

"But I was bored! And it's been so long since I got to go there. I was keeping an eye on him," Areth protested. "I was keeping him out of trouble."

Jessica snorted for some reason, but didn't look up. What happened while they were away?

"While my daughter remained unprotected," Sheila said. Areth blanched away from the heat in her tone.

"If you'd already sent her to watch over him," Jessica started to ask, "why did you send me too?"

"Because a fairy isn't the most trustworthy babysitter," Eldon answered her question.

"I didn't send her to babysit you," Lysa said. "But we're getting far from the point. I think someone is behind these attacks. So far, Shelly and Sheldon are the only ones that a trap was set for. While visitors were attacked, some of them were able to escape. Only with the twins, did the force escalate."

The Pillar of Air let her words sink in. Someone had targeted them. She looked to Jessica. Had the woman really just happened to be in the area when those other ogres appeared, or had she somehow brought them? She couldn't read the woman's expression. But why would she help them, if she was the one to set the trap?

"So, I'm not in trouble?" Eldon asked into the silence.

"You're in trouble, alright," their mom told him. "Not only did you leave Areth alone on Earth, but you left your sister unprotected. What would have happened if someone attacked her while you were gone?"

"I can defend myself!" Shelly said, filled with indignation. She'd warded off her brother when he turned into an ogre yesterday, hadn't she?

She was ignored.

"I want the three of you to see what you can find out about whoever is instigating these attacks," Lysa said.

"Is that wise?" Shelly asked, giving Jessica a pointed look.

"I think she can be trusted," Lysa said. "If she'd meant you harm, she would have let the ogres have you."

"Unless she wants you to think that way," Shelly said.

"Jessica's a good person!" Eldon nearly shouted. "She... she..." His cheeks turned bright red, and he looked down at his lap. No, not his lap, at his crotch.

No, she thought. He couldn't have. He wouldn't have shown her that! Would he? If she'd seen that, and not gone running, no wonder he was defending her. Oh, Sheldon. You foolish, foolish, man.

Shelly watched as Jessica reached out and grabbed Eldon's hand. He looked at her gratefully, then at everyone else, and his cheeks burned brighter.

"Anybody who is willing to protect my children, has my gratitude," Sheila said.

Jessica was winning everyone over to her side, Shelly realized. She was going to have to watch her even closer.

"Okay, then," Shelly said. She smiled at Jessica, hoping it didn't look as fake as it felt. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. "If everyone else says you're okay, then I'll accept that. Please forgive me for being so rude."

"I understand," Jessica replied. "If I were in your shoes, I'd be worried too. You don't know me, so naturally you'd be suspicious." She turned to Sheila then. "But I don't know about putting my neck on the line for whatever is going on. I saw someone who needed help yesterday, and I helped. It was a split moment decision. You're asking me to risk myself, for what?"

"You're right," Lysa's voice said. "We don't know what's going on, or why. You have no reason to help us in this. If what the twins told me is true, however, we could use your skill. The choice is yours."

"Please," Shelly read Eldon's lips.

"I'm sorry," Jessica said as she let go of Sheldon's hand. Shelly thought she heard true regret in her tone. "I like you, Eldon. You seem like a really nice guy, and an amazing..." Her gaze dropped to Eldon's crotch.

He did show her! Shelly thought. And apparently she didn't have a problem with the grotesque thing.

"But I'm not willing to risk my life for something like this," Jessica continued. "You're connected to some really powerful people, and I prefer to keep my head down. I'm sorry."

Shelly watched as her brother's heart broke. If she hadn't liked Jessica before, she loathed the woman now. But she was conflicted at the same time. If Jessica really had been the one to set the trap, wouldn't it be in her best interest to be a part of the investigation? Or did she have something more nefarious in mind?

"Please leave," Shelly found herself saying as she pointed to the door. Her tone was incongruous with her words, but she didn't care. She wanted Jessica out of her house.

"I understand," Jessica said. She stood up and gave one more apologetic look to Eldon. Then she turned and walked out.

"You could have been nicer to her, dear," her mom chided her softly.

"Look at Eldon's face and tell me that again," Shelly growled at her mother. Sheila looked at her son, then back to Shelly and shook her head. Eldon just stared at the door. This wasn't the first time his heart had been broken, and she knew he would get over it. The best thing to do, would be to find another girl for him.

"Well, it's not ideal," Lysa said, "But I guess I'll have to rely on you two. At least I know you will always have each other's backs. Let's try to figure out how to find whoever is causing these attacks."

"I could help!" Areth piped up. The tiny woman bounced around the room in her excitement, waiving her arms.

"No!" Shelly and Eldon said at the same time.

* * * *

"We've already tried this plan," Shelly complained. She had transformed herself into a large backpack, and was resting against her brother's back. He was wearing a baseball cap, and a bright shirt that read, 'I <3 magic.' He was using someone else's form, and they had just come through one of the portals the normal humans used to visit the Shadow World.

"If you've got any better ideas, then let's hear it," Eldon snapped at her. "Otherwise shut up and act like a backpack."

His words stung her, but she understood where they were coming from. He still hadn't forgiven her for driving Jessica away a week ago. Shelly had tried to get him to go to a club, or to meet someone else, but he refused to listen to her. She was starting to get desperate and had hatched a plan.

Hopefully it wouldn't backfire.

"Excuse me," someone asked Eldon. He turned to look at the woman. Shelly adjusted where her eyes were. Well, not her real eyes, but rather what part of her she was looking through. When she took the form of an inanimate object, she was capable of looking in multiple directions at once. That's why she was so good at watching her brother's back. "Could you help me? This is my first time coming here."

The woman was attractive, with long blonde hair pulled through the back of a red baseball cap. She stood almost as tall as Sheldon was in this form, which was only slightly smaller than his true form. Shelly didn't recognize her.

"Sure," Eldon said, his voice tired. "I'm not from around here, but I know a thing or two about this place." Shelly winced as he spoke. He sounded like he was rehearsing his lie, instead of believing it. There was no emotion in his voice. They were trying to act as tourists. They needed to see if they could trigger an attack, but after a week of trying, there had been nothing. No tourists had been attacked in the last week, at all.

"I understand there is a beautiful beach between the Earth and Water areas. Do you know how I can get there? My name is Gloria, by the way. Nice to meet you," the woman held out her hand.

Eldon looked confused for a moment as he shook her hand. "You came through the wrong portal, if that's where you wanted to go," he told her. "Right now we're closer to the border between Earth and Fire. It'll take you days to travel there by normal means."

"Damn it!" the woman stomped her foot. "Now I don't have an excuse to wear this bikini I got. What am I going to do?"

"Offer to take her for a tour," Shelly whispered to her brother.

He shrugged his shoulders in a way that told her to be quiet.

"I have plans, or I'd offer to show you around," Eldon told her. He turned to walk away.

Shelly saw confusion in the girl's eyes. She really hadn't expected to be dismissed like that.

"Well, would you mind if I tagged along anyway?" she asked.

"Say yes," Shelly whispered to him. "She wants to spend time with you."

"It might be dangerous," he whispered back. Then a moment later, "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do."

He sighed, and turned to face the woman. "You can drop the act," he told her. "I know what you are. Did my sister put you up to this?"

Her blue eyes opened in shock for a moment, before she started laughing. "What gave me away? I thought I played the part of the lost girl just right."

"You did," he told her. "But Gloria is a pretty old name. Not many people are called that these days. At least, not as young as you appear to be. The real tip-off was when I shook your hand, though. That's when I knew you were a succubus. You'll want to ply your trade with someone else. Just be careful not to take too much from them. I'm not really human, anyway."

"But maybe I really wanted to meet you, Eldon." Shelly felt him stiffen as she used his name. He hadn't given it to her, and Shelly knew that he was trying to figure out how she knew it was him. He wasn't in his true form, and every time they'd attempted this, he'd taken on a new persona.

"Shelly!" he growled. "What are you playing at?"

Darn it! He figured it out. Shelly changed back into her true form and stepped away from him. "All you've done for the past week is mope about," she complained. "Can you blame me for trying to get you to move on?"

"But a succubus?" he demanded.

"Eldon, don't be rude. She's right there."

"It's okay, Shelly. I'm not ashamed of what I am," Gloria said.

"She came highly recommended by Angela," Shelly said. "And you really could use the release."

"Angela? When did you have time to talk to—nevermind! Haven't you caused enough stress in my love life lately?" He turned back to face Gloria, "I'm sorry she wasted your time. You don't have to stick around. I'm going home. This mission was a bust, anyway."

"It wasn't a waste of time," Gloria said. "Really. I've always wanted to meet you. The Pillar of Fire just gave me an excuse."

"Why, because I'm Lyden's son?" he snapped at her.

"No," she laughed, her voice coming out in musical tones. "Because you're Sheldon Lance. Already your prowess as a fighter has made a name in this world. The Pillar of Fire speaks highly of you. She once told me that if she had any children of her own, she hoped they would be as strong as you are."

Shelly could see that Eldon was taken aback by the praise. He really hadn't expected to hear that about their step-mom. Even Shelly was surprised. Angela rarely spoke of her feelings, much less anything to do with her husband's children. It was whispered that she was jealous of the wives of Lyden Snow that he'd been willing to have children with. Especially Sheila and Brooke.

"I couldn't do it without my sister," he told Gloria.

Shelly was surprised to hear her brother include her in the praise. Maybe he wasn't as mad at her as she thought.

"Yes, I've heard you two are quite the pair," Gloria continued. "Listen, I understand that you're going through a rough patch, but I would really like to get to know you better. This plan to seduce you was foolish, and I'm sorry about that. Can we start over?"

Sheldon looked at her curiously for a moment. Then he shrugged his shoulders and held his hand out to her. "Hi, I'm Sheldon. Nice to meet you."

Gloria giggled as she took his hand. "Hi Sheldon. I'm a succubus named Gloria. I'm so glad I finally got the chance to meet you. Would you like to go out for some drinks? I know this great place in Gaia's city where they serve the best wine. But don't let me drink too much, or I won't be held responsible for my actions!"

Eldon glanced at Shelly. "Go ahead," she told her brother, trying not to smile. "I can get home on my own."

"Are you sure?" Sheldon asked her. "I don't want mom getting mad at me again." She could tell that he actually wanted to go. It was the first sign of life she'd seen in him for a week.

"Go!" she laughed. She took a moment to change into a giant bear trap, and then back again to show she could handle herself. "Just don't do anything foolish!"

He rolled his eyes at her before turning to face Gloria. "Shall we?" he offered the succubus his arm. "My chariot is just over here."

Shelly watched them walk away, with a smile on her face. Her brother was going to be just fine. He was even starting to act like his cocky self again. A roc flew down from the sky to his call and picked them up. There were a few other visitors that had come through at the same time they had, though they'd separated after coming through the portal. Most of them gaped as the massive bird dropped to the ground. Ancient legends said that rocs were big enough to carry away an elephant. The truth was they were big enough to carry away an elephant in each claw.

Shelly decided to walk for a while before calling for her bird. It was seldom that she had time alone, and she decided to enjoy it. Besides, if Eldon hit it off well enough with Gloria, he'd want the house to himself.

* * * *

"Help!" someone screamed, pulling Shelly from her thoughts. She'd been walking for about an hour, when she heard the scream.

She was in a hilly area of Gaia's domain, and started running. Had a visitor been attacked after all? If so, she wasn't equipped to take out whatever was causing the problem on her own.

She rounded the bend of a hill, and stared in confusion. "No way," she muttered to herself. "It couldn't be."

But there was no denying what was before her. Jessica was being attacked by a myrmidon. She slashed at it with one of her daggers, but the creature made up entirely of red ants only laughed at her. The thing looked human in shape, except for two large mandibles sticking out of its mouth. As Shelly watched, the monster opened its maw. It began to glow a split moment before a gout of flame bellowed out of it.

Jessica blurred as she tried to dodge it, but some of it caught her left calf, and she went down. Shelly could see that the burn was bad, and she wasn't getting back onto that leg anytime soon. The next attack would take her out.

"Son of a, mother trucking, piece of, DANG it!" Shelly swore as bad as she ever did. She ran for the prostrate woman, trying to think of what she could become to fight off the monster. From what she knew, only magical weapons and water could kill them. She was magical, but not enough to take out one of them. And of course, there was no water here.