Fantasia Concordat Ch. 03

Jack wasn't very optimistic about what the final destination might be. His current surroundings reminded him of a medieval castle dungeon. It wasn't out of the question; from what Allister had said, Jack had broken some sort of supernatural law. But more so than for his fate, Jack was worried about Dahlia. Jack felt guilt about the entire situation. They had walked into Allister's compound willingly because of Jack's stubborn nature. But maybe Allister was right, and they would have been caught eventually anyway. If that was the case, then Jack felt guilty he had ever chosen to buy that Grimoire from the dusty thrift store and doomed both Dahlia and himself.

Eventually Jack and his captor came to a well reinforced door. The woman motioned for him to stop walking, and opened the door for him. Jack tried to peer into the dim room before entering it, but the woman sensed his hesitation and shoved him into the room unceremoniously. Jack wobbled on his one good leg and nearly lost his standing. He looked back over his shoulder just in time to see the door slam shut behind him.

"You have five minutes."

Those were the first words he'd heard the armored woman say.

Jack turned back towards to dim light of the room. His eyes quickly adjusted to the change in light levels and he took in his surroundings. He soon discovered that he was not alone in the room.

There were three other people in the room with Jack, each sitting in a posh armchair and looking at Jack with varying stages of interest. Jack scanned the people in the room quickly and he did a double take as his mind sparked with recognition. Closest the Jack, sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, sipping on his tea, was Lord Allister.

Jack didn't have time to be surprised as he took in the other occupants of the room sitting next to Allister. On the other end of the group was a woman sitting up straight in her chair. She wore animal pelts and leather, but had the stance and glare of a regal queen. She stared boldly at Jack, appraising him. Her predatory glare gave nothing away.

The final occupant in the room seemed to Jack to be the oddest of the entire bunch. He sat in the middle of the group, implying nonverbally that each of his companions deferred to him. But his body language was not one that Jack would suspect from a man of authority. There was a huge smile on his face. A genuine smile, Jack decided, one that a person only wears when meeting with a friend. He slouched slightly in his chair, somehow managing to look neither intimidating nor disinterested. He simply looked like he was resting comfortably in a chair.

He was also completely naked.

"Ah, you must be Jack!"

The man quickly rose from his chair and strode over to Jack, first eagerly shaking his hand and then pulling him into a firm embrace, despite Jack's protests. Looking at him up close, Jack noticed that his skin was a pale shade of red and he was quite a bit taller than Jack. He also noticed, although he tried not to, that the man's flaccid penis hung halfway to his knees. Jack knew for sure that this man was not human, but he felt it was safe to assume anyone he met in the coming future probably wouldn't be.

"Listen, my friend, we don't have much time, so I'll be brief," The man gestured to each of his companions before sitting down. "My name is Prince Grigori, I represent a large portion of incubi and succubi. You can call me Greg. On my right is Queen Fenrir, also known as the werewolf queen. I hear you've already met Lord Allister."

"Allister is the one who turned me in."

Greg's face twisted into dismay and regret. "Jack, I know what you must be thinking. But hear me out, everyone here answers to a higher authority. You being detained was not something any of us could have changed. Allister did what he had to. But what comes next is very important. All of us here are your friends."

Jack didn't know what to say, so he motioned for Greg to continue, since he obviously seemed so eager to continue.

"I know you won't see it this way, but you coming here is a very good thing. It's a wonderful opportunity."

Jack must have looked puzzled, because Greg stopped and attempted to explain.

"The disbarment of humans from the supernatural circle is one of the most controversial topics among demon-kind in the last thousand years. There are still some who believe that humans belong on the Council, same as the rest."

Greg smiled and opened his arms wide, "And here we are. The three of us represent a growing force of those who wish to see the Council revoke its anti-human edict. We each have seats on the council. We've always been shut down every time we've tried to make a move in the past. But now, with you being one of the first people to break this law in the last few hundred years, we can make a stand. We can use your case as an opportunity to call a vote, and get the anti-human edict overruled."

Jack was silent a moment.

"Why are you telling me this," he eventually offered.

Greg's smile disappeared, a hurt look replacing it. "Because I want you to know, Jack. I want to know that you have hope, you have friends who are going to be fighting for you."

Jack looked from Greg's face to each of his companions. Queen Fenrir looked as scary and impassive as when Jack walked in the room. Allister was still sipping his tea quietly, but Jack caught his eye briefly, and remembered his final words to him. Neither of them seemed to be overflowing with friendship. Jack wasn't convinced.

"Listen Jack," Greg started again, "I'm also telling you this because we need you too. We need you to be able to stay strong, and fight. You are not just a victim; you're a player in a much bigger game..."

"'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts...'" Jack felt himself reciting before he realized it. He didn't mean to sound pompous, but his years of dedication to literature had taken over.

"Ah, Shakespeare!" Greg's face pulled into a nostalgic smile. "Not my favorite work of his, though, but that's beside the point. Listen Jack, Shakespeare was right; the stage is set, it's time for Jack to enter stage left."

"Time's up." The armored woman was at the doorway once more, waiting.

Without another word, Jack turned and strode obediently toward his waiting captor, mulling over the odd conversation that had just taken place. Allister's words from earlier echoed in his mind.

He was led roughly through more corridors, this time with the guard's grip tightly on his arm. Jack soon learned it was for his own protection. They soon entered an area that Jack had been expected to arrive at sooner, the dungeon area. There were cells lined along each wall, most of them containing females. They screamed and clawed and cat-called at Jack and the guard at they walked past. The guard's grip was the only thing stopping one of the other prisoners from slamming Jack into the bars and tearing him to pieces.

Many of the prisoners, and some of the guards, began to look hungrily at Jack as he approached, though he noticed their looks of hunger changeg to looks of disgust or disappointment as he got closer. He was hardly in a position to have his pride wounded however, as the armored woman leading him quickly dumped him into a waiting cell and locked the door.

When Jack first picked himself off the dirty cell floor and looked around, he thought he was alone in the cell. He was far enough away from the other prisoners that their jeers were hard to hear, and he knew they would settle down eventually. He assumed that because of the special circumstances surrounding his crimes that he was being given his own cell separated from the rest.

He was wrong.

"Haven't seen one of your kind here for awhile." A husky voice called from the shadows in the corner of the cell.

Jack looked wordlessly, mouth agape at the source of the voice. When his eyes finally grew accustomed to the darkness, he could make out the basic form of a woman propped up against the far wall.

"Who are you?" Jack asked with trepidation, "Show yourself."

"Right here, kid."

The form shifted forward and Jack heard the clinking of chains sliding across the cold floor. The woman moved slightly into the torchlight and then finally Jack could see her. She was bound by chains at each wrist so that she had to bring her arms behind her to cross into the lighted half of the cell. From where he stood, she could not reach Jack. That did not stop Jack from backing farther away from her.

She bore a startling build of muscle and power. Her arms were covered in scars. Her hair was wild and messy. But most important were the eyes. She had the frightening eyes of a wild animal.

"I'm a werewolf, kid," She spoke in a grisly, blunt manner, but there was some tenderness there. "These chains hold up pretty well, so stop cowering in the corner. I'm getting embarrassed just looking at you."

"S-sorry, I'm just a little on edge."

The woman plopped herself back down against the wall, sighing as she did so.

"I'm glad they finally put another person in here with me; I almost had to break my arm last time trying to reach the water bucket."

It took until the light glinted off her pointy teeth that Jack realized she was smiling, and had said a joke. Jack smiled half-heartedly and slid the bucket across the floor towards the shadows. He kept himself on edge, in case she decided to spring on him, but the woman didn't move towards the bucket until Jack regained his place on the opposite wall.

"Thanks kid," She gasped after a few solid gulps, "I really needed that."

"So," The woman began after awhile, "What you in for, kid?"

It was such a silly question, Jack thought, just like in the movies. For a moment, Jack considered not answering or outright lying. He'd seen how people had been reacting to his being a human mage lately. He was scared. But more than that, he wanted to tell someone. He needed to vent, even if that person happened to be the dangerous werewolf in the cell with him.

"I, uh, I got involved with some magic," Jack said lamely. "I guess they don't appreciate that around here."

The woman made a low whistling noise and chuckled a bit, an action that Jack suspected was done for his benefit.

"Yeah, they've been a little touchy about it." Jack felt the somber tone of her voice. "I don't want to scare you kid, but don't be shocked if they decide to throw the book at you."

"Well, actually," Jack started, suddenly driven by an insane hope, "I may have some allies fighting for me on the council." And just like that, Jack began talking, and told his cellmate everything that had happened to him since he was taken into custody and brought to the dungeon.

"Well of course they offered to help you." The woman's matter-of-fact tone irritated him, and he prodded her for more.

"What do you mean by that?"

The woman paused a moment, considering, "How much do you know about demon culture?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing. I barely even started my magical studies." Jack was glad the shadows enveloped his cellmate, so he couldn't see the eye-roll he heard in her voice.

"Alright then, listen up." Jack heard her slide into a more upright position on the wall, as if preening herself for a dignified speech. "A long, long time ago, you could've divided the citizens of Hell and Earth into two categories: demon and human. From the very beginning, the two hardly got along with each other. If you ask any demon alive today, they'd deny it, but they share a lot of similarities with humans and sadly a lot of the same flaws. I hear both of them are proud to a fault."

Jack caught on when she paused for effect. "I can definitely see that," he said plainly, and motioned for her to continue.

"However, a few thousand years ago, a third type of creature was introduced: you might hear them referred to as demi-humans or demi-demons, depending on who you talk to. These would be your vampires and werewolves and so on. Since these creatures had the characteristics of both demons and humans, they were accepted by neither. For a long while there was somewhat of a three-way love/hate triangle that eventually resulted in an uneasy truce.

"Then around a thousand years ago, the council decides to officially evict humans from the equation altogether; they vowed to keep them in ignorance for generations to come and even took away true authority over Earth from them. No, I won't tell you why, it's a long and painful story and it's not for today. Suffice it say that humans were out of the picture.

"Once humans were no longer around, the demons turned on the demi-humans, hating them for their human-like qualities. Vampires and werewolves and their kin became second-class citizens in the ancient society fostered by demons. When humans were no longer relevant politically, we demi-humans took all the heat, and we couldn't take it. A lot of the demi-human races agree they want the humans back, if only to give the demons someone else to pick on.

"And that," the woman concluded plainly, "Is why Queen Fenrir and Lord Allister wanted to 'pledge their friendship' to you, not out of the kindness of their hearts."

Jack was stunned, but didn't want to show it. He fired off one of the questions he'd concocted while the woman had been speaking. "What about Prince Grigori? He's an incubus isn't he? So why is he helping me?"

"Ah," the woman said, "Clever. This is where the story gets complicated. Incubi and succubi have a special relationship to the human race. You know what they do, right?"

Jack tried not to blush. "Yes, I know. They have sex with humans to gain magical energy."

"Well it's more than magical energy; it's their life-force. Technically they use it to perform magic, but it comes from a different place than yours does; just a little thing to take note of. Most of the nonhuman races handle magic differently than you humans.

"Among incubi and succubi, you could say there are two main theological branches in opposition to each other. Let's call them white and black. Black succubi view human males as food, and don't hesitate to drain them to death. White succubi prefer to keep their human mates alive, and over time they turn them into incubi. Now, there are some incubi born a different way, and there are certainly some black incubi, but let's keep things simple for you. The white incubi and succubi want humans back in the magical community because it would make their population skyrocket, and also probably boost their power over the black succubi and incubi. So, in short, Prince Grigori represents a group of white succubi and incubi."

"And what about Lady Alice," Jack asked, "Is she black or white?"

"Black as the maw of the abyss, kid. Stay clear of that one. And you'll probably want to call her 'Lilith' if she's in earshot. I've seen some of her slaves beaten for far less."

Jack wished he had his notebook and pen with him; he had the urge to write all of this information down. Good thing he had a good memory. "Why does she want to change her name so badly?"

The woman actually laughed at that. Jack felt a little embarrassed, but decided it was better that some werewolf in prison laughed at his mistake than some demon warlord kill him for it.

The woman eventually stopped laughing and sighed contentedly, "Ah, kid, 'Lilith' is not a name, it's a title. The leader of the succubi is called Lilith, after the original matriarch. As for the reason Alice wants to be called Lilith, well that's a little bit of gossip saved for another day. "

"How do you know all of this?"

At that, the woman grew immediately silent. The woman drew a couple rough breaths, and he knew he had somewhat upset her. Jack wished that he could take the words back, having really enjoyed a regular conversation, but like trying to catch smoke with your hands, he knew it was impossible.

"Hey, look, I didn't mean..."

"It's not your fault, kid. I've got my own problems to deal with. You couldn't have known."

Jack noticed the woman changed the subject rather quickly, "Gotta say though, you look pretty tasty from here. Why don't you come over from this side of the room and let me have a taste?"

He felt the blood rush to his head at the sudden sexual tension. He was certainly not used to overtly innuendo being directed at him. Suddenly, his mind stopped in his tracks and something came to him.

Sensing his pause, the woman spoke up again, "What's the matter? I won't really bite, unless you want me too." There was a playful tone to her voice, but also a thinly veiled longing. If Jack had to guess, he would say that the werewolf was secretly kind of lonely. But Jack shook his head, that wasn't what was bothering him.

"Why aren't you disgusted by my like all those guards were? What was their problem anyway?"

The woman looked up at that, confused. Then, with a spark of inspiration she chuckled and spoke once more, "Most of the guards here are werewolves. As a werewolf myself, I can pretty much guess what's going on in their heads. For a werewolf, it would be considered dishonorable to take a mate that is weak. Mating rituals are violent things, with females fighting for dominance over the males during copulation. I imagine the guards saw your disability and knew that it would be dishonorable to try to mate with someone as weak as yourself. Lucky for you, I don't really give a shit about honor."

Jack felt hot anger pulse through to his face. He liked to imagine that the woman smiled after saying her last statement because it just made it that much easier for him get mad at her.

"Well, gosh, I sure am lucky that you'd be willing to throw away your pride to fuck a poor cripple like me." The words came out bitter, even though Jack had meant to soften their blow. Not that he wanted to appear less angry, he just didn't want to let on how much she had unintentionally hurt him.

The woman was silent for an agonizingly long time, but she finally broke the silence by laughing.

"I know one thing's for certain; you're no weakling. But the time for our lovely conversation has run out, unfortunately. Here comes the guard."

Jack looked up to the steel bars of the cell and saw an armored guard approaching. He was at first confused, but then realized he hadn't yet been sentenced or even accused of his crime formally. It seemed odd that demonic law operated with such regulation akin to human law systems.

"They want you already?" the woman said with a hint of worry in her voice, "That could either be really good or really bad. Good luck, kid."

Jack turned as he got up to leave the cell with the guard. "I don't even know your name."

"You can call me 'Lia'."

"I'm Jack."

"Good luck, Jack."

Jack stood in the center of the stone dais, feeling more vulnerable than ever before in his life. Before him sat the entire Fantasia Council, seated at elevated pedestals so high that Jack had to crane his neck to see their faces. It made Jack feel very small. There was no place for him to sit, so he stood, alone in the middle of the floor while the council members looked down disapprovingly at him.

Jack saw the familiar faces of Greg, Allister, and Queen Fenrir. He even recognized Lady Alice, who offered him a sultry grin. He also saw the faces of members he had never seen before and probably wouldn't again. There was a mixture of male and female on the council, but a wide variety of demonic races that Jack had no idea where to begin to identify. Allister and Fenrir were the only demi-humans he could identify. Then he saw the man that stood out above the rest. He sat in the middle of the council seats, managing a stately scowl underneath his impressively white beard. He looked to be extremely old. Jack guessed that this man held all the power in the room. After all, he saw a gavel lying next to him on his podium.