Fortune and Fortitude Pt. 07

"Crystals, more accurately." She nodded. "But diamonds are the most effective. As such, Noumena was historically quite irritatingly difficult to store, especially before we could grow them in a lab," she explained. "But nowadays its rather simple." She smiled. "It also explains the origin of diamonds as wedding rings."

Jared closed the deleturm, which shut with a quiet snap. "But why store things in the first place instead of just eating it?"

"Well, if you're a leader of a group of lesser demons," she explained, "It serves as an effective way for them to bring you food. Additionally, it makes negotiations simpler by simply offering them a deleturm with a set amount of energy already inside."

He nodded. "Makes sense."

She took it back from him and returned it to its container. "Obsidian is used as a powerful negator, actively resisting most energies' attempts to penetrate it. As such, it is used as the outside lining and containment units for deleturm, as well making an effective outline for a lair."

Jared squinted. "So this room is..."

"Lined with obsidian," she finished for him, taking her seat once again. "Nearly two feet thick."

He whistled in appreciation. "That can't have been cheap."

She shrugged. "It wasn't. But riches aren't too difficult for a demon such as myself to obtain."

She gestured with her hand. "So, what other questions do you have for me?"

He paused and leaned back, resting his hands on his head. One question came to mind above everything else, but he wasn't sure if he should ask it. She was being pretty open at the moment, but he'd interrupted her...

He sighed. Might as well go for it. "Why aren't you eating?"

She froze, staring at him blankly. "What do you mean?"

He leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "Exactly what I said. Someone told me that you haven't eaten in... a long time."

"Ria," Senguine muttered under her breath.

"So what's going on? I thought you demons were obsessed with power. You especially."

"I'm obsessed with control, not power," she insisted.

He waved his hand dismissively. "Regardless, it sounds like you're not doing a very good job. What is going on?" he repeated.

She scowled and crossed her legs. "My feeding habits are hardly your concern. You have much bigger issues that you need to be dealing with."

He shook his head. "Wrong. It's very much my business." When she raised her eyebrow, he hesitated. Ria would never know, and he doubted it would prove harmful to her to tell Senguine. "That's Ria's goal," he confessed. "Her condition for becoming my vassal. I need to get you eating again."

Senguine stood suddenly and walked back over to the window, arms clasped behind her back. "I see."

After a long silence, Jared spoke. "So...? Is there something I can do?"

She laughed bitterly. "Doubtful." When she failed to elaborate, he pressed her. "Miss Senguine... I need to know what's wrong."

She stared out the window for a long moment. Finally, she answered. "When your father... disowned me, he severed my connection with him." She sighed. "It's an interesting talent that you Ferronaughts have. Not only are you capable of feasting on noumenal essence, but you are capable of retaining a connection, receiving a constant stream of nourishment from your vassals."

She shook her head, halting the digression. "Nevermind. The point is..." She looked over her shoulder at him. "Do you know how a bond between a Ferronaught and a vassal is severed?" When he shook his head, she returned her gaze to the window. "Another man must claim her. It damages the Ferronaught more than if she died, and effectively severs their connection. To regain it is lengthy and impractical. She is usually discarded."

"So he forced you to... sleep with someone else?"

She snorted. "That would have been too kind. He wanted me to suffer."

Her gaze fell and her shoulders drooped slightly. "He gave me up to three of his friends. They..." She hesitated. "The connection was severed. Unquestionably."

Jared squeezed his eyes closed. "That's horrible."

"Only made worse by my status as an engora." She sighed miserably. "It was brutal, calculated, and utterly destructive. Enough so, in fact, that my psyche rejected the essence."

He opened his eyes to see her staring out the window forlornly. "It can do that?"

She nodded solemnly. "Apparently. Though I've never heard of a case like mine." Her nails dug into her wrist. "Ever since, it has rejected every trace of essence it has come across."

His eyes widened. "You haven't eaten since...?"

"About ten years ago," she confirmed. "Don't get me wrong. I had stored some of his essence using the device we just spoke of," she said, gesturing to the shelf. "It sustained me for nearly a full decade. When I ran out..." Her voice quieted. "So too did my nourishment.

His mind raced. "So his essence still worked? Maybe we could-"

"No." The cold anger in her voice cut him off. "I would rather die miserably than eat another scrap of that..." She took a deep breath. "Of his sustenance. Not to mention," she added drily, "Attempting to get some would be virtually suicidal, even for you."

Jared frowned. "There's got to be something we can do."

Senguine shrugged helplessly. "I doubt it. I've explored a truly immense number of options, with little hope or motivation. The rejection process is... uncomfortable at best. I gave up a few years ago." She shook her head. "You must understand, Ferronaught essence is incredibly rich. Truly," she said with a distant smile, "Some of the most incredibly concentrated energy amongst demon kind." Her smile faded. "I suppose I simply became addicted to it. Only in my most distant youth did I consume anything else." She sighed. "And now, it broke me."

Her face darkened. "You once asked why I was against Ria being your vassal." She pursed her lips. "The two of you are built with incredible compatibility. Much like me and your father."

"You're worried," Jared said slowly, "That I would ruin her. Make her unable to eat anything else."

Senguine shrugged. "Given my experience, that seems likely. Especially if the two of you were together for any reasonable amount of time."

Jared raised his chin. "But she'd never have to worry that I'd abandon her."

"Perhaps," Senguine conceded, "But given your rash nature, you may die. And power can turn people so quickly. You never know what might happen." She scowled. "And if anything did, she'd be resigned to my fate. A slow, painful death, I assure you."

Jared frowned. "We can save you." He thought for a moment. "What if we found you another Ferronaught? Maybe it IS the richness issue."

"It could work," she responded noncommittally. "But in the INCREDIBLY unlikely event that I become a vassal again," she responded drily, "My loyalties would shift by necessity, leaving you and your designs utterly vulnerable."

Jared folded his arms. "What about MY essence?" He ignored the tiny ping of his conscience. They could always just use a deleturm.

She turned her head to glare at him. "I would rather die." At his surprised expression, she backpedaled. "I don't mean that personally. I simply mean that I have spent enough time in misery." She sighed, her age revealing itself once more. "I'm done with this world. I have enough regrets, enough misery, to rival any demon ten times my age." She closed her eyes. "I'm tired."

Jared rose to stand beside her. "What about your protégés? Don't they mean anything to you?"

She opened her eyes and met his gaze. "I'm merely paying off an old debt. Once the apocalypse begins, that debt will be paid. And I," she stated emphatically, "Will fade away."

Jared set his jaw. "I made a promise, Senguine. And I intend to keep it."

She raised her eyebrows in amusement. "What are you going to do? Force feed me?" She laughed, a rare relief contained in the sound. "You can hardly bring yourself to sleep with a consenting peer. Need I remind you," she added, folding her arms, "That I am your mother?"

Jared hesitated. She'd more or less called his bluff. "I'd figure something out."

She waved her hand. "Don't bother yourself until the apocalypse. I'll last at least that long. Then you can figure out your little plan to keep a walking corpse breathing." She rubbed her forehead. "Now, excuse me. I think I need to retire for the time being."

Jared's gaze followed her out of the room. It was true, attempting to force her into something, even for her own good, made his gut twist in a truly horrible way. Still... he couldn't just let her die without trying anything!

He sighed and was about to leave when he noticed the awkwardly placed newspaper again. After glancing at the door and making sure she was gone, he lifted the paper to examine the book beneath.

He briefly looked at the title. Brittle Passions. It sounded like some trashy romance novel, but given Senguine's nature, he doubted it. He opened it, expecting to see some kind of book regarding human frailty.

But no, it was exactly what it looked like. His eyes widened as he read the graphic scene depicted on the bookmarked page. Definitely pornography.

He was about to close it when something caught his eye. Opening it again, he noticed the faint markings made around various words. Certain passages had been underlined, words circled, question marks denoting certain phrases.

He frowned. It didn't seem to be a code, really. More of an analysis, like a writer might do to a book they were reading.

But it was all off. Despite multiple events of less-than-ideal grammar, all marks were focused on the... steamier portions.

He flipped to another page, searching for more marks. Again, focused on the pornographic events themselves. A quick glance at the desk confirmed that the pencil matched Senguine's.

She was analyzing... sex? He sighed. She had mentioned that she had tried a lot of things. Maybe she thought that changing something in the how would help.

He frowned. But then... Why would she be doing this now? Assuming she had just been marking the book, it meant that she was...

Still trying to figure it out. He sighed. Maybe she wanted to live more than she wanted to admit.

Either way, there wasn't much he could do about it. He set the book back down and readjusted the paper over it, trying to make it look undisturbed.

He stretched as he wandered down the stairs. It was almost evening by now.

Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Jared halted on the step as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He almost reached in, when he remembered the events of the morning. It was probably Mecham calling.

Just in case, he brought it out to check. Sure enough, it was an unknown number with a Midsville area code. Probably the police station. He pocketed the phone once more.

Almost immediately after it stopped ringing, it started again. He checked it with a sigh. It was Mecham this time. Technically the second call.

He shrugged. It counted as the first. Mostly he had just said what he did to convince Mecham to call him in an emergency.

He arrived at the kitchen only to find it completely empty. Even the buffet had been cleared away. He looked around blankly at the room. It was quite possibly the first time in Fairway that he had... absolutely nothing that he was supposed to do. Presumably, they'd train more tomorrow, and he kind of still needed (or more wanted) to talk with Quinn, but he didn't know where she was. He could always call her, he supposed.

He sat down on the couch in the nearby sitting room and pondered his options. Suddenly, he heard Quinn's voice coming from downstairs, along with a fair bit of playful shrieking. Curious, he decided to head down.

Upon arrival, he was surprised to find all of the protégés, along with Quinn and Zoe, had decided to join Ria in the pool. Quinn was in the middle of a splash fight with Kiara and Zoe, with much laughter and noise.

As he looked on with a smile, he caught Ria's eye. She was wringing out her hair on the side, working out the excess moisture as she watched the spectacle. Their eyes met, and his flame roared to life.

The two of you are built with incredible compatibility. Senguine's words rang in his mind as neither of them looked away. His breath caught in his throat, and he quickly had to turn away. She glanced away with a smile, and a light blush.

She was dressed in a bright pink bikini swim skirt that hugged her very generous curves in a rather flattering manner. He had to pull his eyes away as his flame roared at him louder.

Later. He had other things to worry about. Satiated, the flame in his stomach cooled somewhat, but the pull was still there.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Quinn finally looked up and noticed him, smiling. "Hey, Jared! Care to join us?" She was dressed in a fairly modest tan one-piece.

He shrugged and raised his hands helplessly. "I don't have my swimsuit on me, I'm afraid."

"Is that the only problem?" Quinn gestured to the locker room in the back. "I already bought you one."

He stared at her in disbelief. "When?"

"Yesterday morning." She shrugged. "Jessica asked if there was anything I needed to add to the shopping order. And after having seen the pool, I figured you could use a new suit."

He shook his head with a smile. "Alright.

He quickly made his way into the locker room before noticing the problem. "Which-"

"217!"

He chuckled and opened the locker, finding a stylish pair of swim briefs inside. They were charcoal gray, a rather conservative choice, and one he found he rather appreciated. They fit very well.

When he returned, the girls had already started up a chicken fight, with Zoe atop Ria and Quinn straddling Kiara. Annika sat on the sidelines, merely observing the spectacle. She hadn't even changed clothes. The advantages of lounging in swimwear, he supposed.

He hopped into the pool and crossed over to Annika, going virtually unnoticed by the other occupants. He held out his hand and grinned. "Care to join in?"

Annika raised her eyebrows before giving a nod. He turned around and backed up, giving her easy access to his back. She climbed on, and they came up to join in the fight.

Zoe was currently being a bit overwhelmed by Quinn, but Ria was holding her surprisingly steady. When he and Annika joined the fray, Quinn was suddenly forced to defend herself from two adversaries, and Kiara retreated.

The fight was a lot fairer with the three pairs. Initially, both Kiara and Ria were wary of him and Annika - after all, he was pretty strong, and from what they knew, SHE was pretty physically competent herself.

Quinn, however, knew the truth. At her insistence, Kiara rushed the two of them, forcing Annika and Quinn into a grappling fight.

In the meantime, Jared grinned as he pushed into the fight against Kiara. She wasn't particularly weak, but she couldn't really match his strength either.

Steadily, Quinn was forced backward, but she was handling Annika pretty well.

Immediately, Ria and Zoe came from behind and started pushing Quinn. Kiara was forced to pull away, removing herself from the awkward surrounding position.

Instead of pressing the attack, Annika suddenly turned on Zoe and started grappling. She wasn't very strong, Jared knew, and the fight seemed pretty fair.

Until suddenly, Annika put on a burst of speed. Before Zoe could react, she was tossed from Ria's shoulders into the water below.

Sputtering, she surfaced, treading to keep herself afloat. "Hey! That's not fair! Some of us don't have powers!"

Annika grinned. "Welcome to the world of demons, kid. Might is right."

While she was talking, Kiara and Quinn rushed her from the side, and she quickly had to switch to fend off the attack. But the surprise was to her disadvantage, and she started losing quickly.

But randomly, Quinn's attack slackened. Her cheeks turned red, and her eyes widened.

Annika didn't hesitate, suddenly pushing with a burst of force, shoving her into the water as well.

Kiara had to pull her out, and she still seemed a bit out of it. Jared tilted his head, unsure of what he'd just seen. "Quinn... Are you okay?"

Quinn turned to look at Ria. "What... What did you just do?"

Ria smirked and folded her arms. "You're smart. You figure it out."

Quinn blinked, her stimulated blush slowly fading. "You used Psyche energy on me? I thought you could only do that to humans!"

Ria gestured with her hand. "Unless you really are one..."

Quinn didn't even blink. "Can you teach me to do that?"

Ria winced. "Uh... Maybe later."

"For now," Annika interrupted, "Maybe we should do another round?"

"I call Jared!" Zoe yelled.

Everyone set up for another round, this time with a little rotation. Kiara and Quinn switched places, while Annika hopped on Ria.

Quinn struggled to support the larger woman and they ended up out quickly. Zoe and Annika were back at it, with neither Ria nor Annika apparently willing to spend the energy to just knock her down with an ability.

Ultimately, it didn't matter, and despite Jared's best efforts, Zoe fell off. More than once, he had to consciously weaken his grip to avoid hurting her ankles.

For the next round, they rotated again, this time with Kiara on Jared. Quinn ended up carrying Annika, and Zoe and Ria were back together.

It was the first time that he'd ever seen Kiara in a swimsuit, he noticed. She was dressed in a large purple bikini, with a plunge top and boy shorts bottoms.

In contrast, Zoe was dressed in a bright yellow one-piece that looked like something from the preteen section. Considering how long it had been since she'd grown, he supposed it could have been.

With Jared's solid support of her fit frame, Kiara utterly stomped the other two. Ria seemed to contemplate using some energy to knock her down a peg, but Kiara had already defeated both of them before she had decided.

Jared got Quinn for the next round, leaving Zoe on Kiara, and Annika on Ria. It was a MUCH more interesting fight. Each of them circled, trying to figure out who to really fight.

It ended when Ria and Kiara apparently reached some kind of silent agreement, both targeting Quinn and Jared. It was a valiant fight, and Annika got pulled off in the process, but Zoe managed to bring Quinn down in the end.

Under the silent rules of the rotation, Ria was up next with Jared. She wasn't quite as tall as Kiara, or as fit, but she more than made up for it with size.

She wasn't overweight, really, but compared to the slim frames of Zoe and Annika, the medium-small build of Quinn, and even Kiara's lean build, her figure was rather generous, leaving her at the highest weight - if he had to guess, Jared would say she weighed nearly 150 pounds.

They opted to have her sit on the side and Jared lifted up beneath her. He briefly had to gain composure when her soft thighs settled against the sides of his head.

This time, there were no rules barred. Kiara and Zoe targeted Annika atop Quinn, and Annika was spending active energy to hold them at bay, despite Quinn's low support.

What Ria and Jared lacked in finesse, they made up for in sheer size. Between her and Zoe, they handily defeated Annika, who quickly caved and gave up the fight. Then, they turned on each other.

Jared was surprised when he saw the telltale blush creeping up Zoe's cheeks. Ria was using her gift on her?

Zoe bit her lip and fought through, redoubling her efforts against the much larger woman. With one final surge, she leapt off of Kiara and tackled her with enough force to push her off, sending them both plunging into the water.

When they surfaced, both were laughing, each apparently satisfied with the turn of events. Jared just shook his head. He didn't understand women. And he doubted that he ever would.