Hellacious Hospitality Ch. 11

Foreword from the author -

Story's getting messier and wilder now. If you've just stumbled in on a whim, I highly suggest starting this story from the beginning, as you've skipped ten chapter's worth of development and deep character cuts. For those of you who've been following since the story's humble beginnings, enjoy the ride.

If you enjoyed the story, don't forget to leave a vote, and don't be afraid to comment! I enjoy hearing it all.

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Luna? His "cute little sister"? Even after what they'd just done together, the playful, innocent girl of his memories still dominated his perception. Benson's mind reeled, struggling to form a coherent train of thought.

No, not his Luna. It couldn't be. She wore her face, but the woman standing before him couldn't be her. The person he held in his thoughts and memories blended like oil and water with the reality he was witnessing. Irreconcilable.

All the precautions they'd taken. How had this pretender managed to slip beneath his notice?

She stood triumphant in the Haven's foyer, breathing deep the magically-charged air that crackled around them. Arcs of purple lightning danced across the surface of her naked skin as she grinned broadly.

"You've kept me waiting for far too long, 'Mr. L'," she said, lacing her term of endearment for him with such derisive malice. She turned his portal key over-and-over in her hand, examining it with equal degree of curiosity and disdain. Oddly, it still retained its bright glow. Either she didn't know how, or it wouldn't allow her its proper usage. Not that it mattered, as she'd apparently brute-forced its security with her own power.

The portal cracked shut behind them. She dropped the card to the ground and moved to tread on it, showing her disrespect, but before she could do so, it flew into his hand as it usually did. He hastily stuffed it into the pocket of his shorts, the underclothes all that he'd managed to grab while diving through the portal after her. He suddenly felt very protective of it. A rather useless sentiment, to come after the fact.

"A neat trick, not that I particularly care. I've gotten what I need from it. Really, though, I was starting to think that waiting on you was a fool's errand. It took far longer than I would've expected for that witch to stake her claim. It must be nice, to have the luxury of being so choosy. It's been torturous, playing the simpering girl at your doorstep, but the charade ends here."

As she spoke, a bright light collected at the top of her head, and washed over her hair like a wave, dyeing her bleached platinum locks an unnatural color - a pale, luminous green. Like moonlight, with a pall of mist-cloaked danger like in some Halloween movie.

While the transformation took place, she strode forward with resolve and purpose. Not with her usual bouncy, energetic gait, but a focused, confident one. A smooth snap of each long leg ever onwards, rolling her hips in a poised and seductive fashion.

The air around her shimmered and rippled, coalescing into sheer, ephemeral cloth like the night sky made manifest. She didn't wear the garments, so much as let the flowing fabric grace her perfect body. Still effectively nude, the loops of fabric merely hung against her crotch and bosom, serving as a sensual backdrop for a layered mesh of golden chains and charms to rest, without daring to mark her gorgeous honey-almond skin.

She reached out behind her to brush out her hair, and a great veil of midnight billowed out behind her. A dark blue so endless and deep, sparkling with an infinite constellation of stars embedded in the breezy cloth.

Just as the dramatic wind that trailed the garment from nowhere threatened to sweep it clean off her, more light collected atop her head. This time flowing up into thin air, he expected it to solidify into horns. Surely, a rival succubus? His heart lurched for being played like a fool. It had been too easy to fall for her charms. Is that how it was, when a demoness availed herself of her full bag of tricks?

It was to his surprise, then, when the light instead coalesced into the shape of long, rabbit-like ears, with fur that matched the color of her hair. They extended through her hooded veil, pinning it in place. The way they swiveled and twitched in response to the tiniest of noises, they were most definitely real.

Pausing in her stride, she performed a graceful heel pivot on feet now clad in open-toed sandals, for no reason other than to show off for him, indulging her vanity. Licking her lips, she savored the air saturated with magical power that surrounded her.

"Well, you've certainly got a flare for the dramatic," he said, nonchalantly. It wasn't that her transformation had been unimpressive. Just that he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of winning him over in that way.

Her garb stood out as something of a cross between a belly-dancer's and a Gypsy fortune-teller's. Or a harem maiden's, the brain in his lower half tried to interject, given how the skimpy outfit did next to nothing to hide her most intimate areas. Bare nipples and puffy pussy lips were still visible through the sheerest layer of diaphanous fabric, highlighted further by the looping chains that now hung from her erotic piercings, gleaming gold now rather than dull silver. Her supple ass cheeks remained completely bare, covered only by the long veil that now trailed behind her.

"Sorceress," he uttered under his breath, his mind settling on the term. No, her seductive outfit wasn't designed merely to show off. Everything about her gave off a dark, manipulative aura.

"Oh? You're more keen than I gave you credit for. I guess you would pick up a thing or two, in the presence of that witch," she sneered, with an air of haughty superiority.

"What's going on here? I felt a portal open. Who's here?" Came the call of that sweet, familiar voice from down the hall, the rapid tapping of heeled shoes on tile echoing after it.

Xochitl unfurled herself from her leafy cocoon to respond with a half-hearted shrug, in that smug "why spoil the surprise?" sort of way. Her gaze turned in their direction with the hint of a malevolent smirk.

"Ben!? I... so soon? I didn't think I'd see you back here..." From her forced smile and the light glow on her cheeks, she'd been crying again, another guilty knife twist to the gut for his failures. Her turbulent emotions were so laser-focused, she didn't even seem to acknowledge the stranger standing in the room with them.

Her arrival only served to make him feel more self-conscious in his current half state of dress. For all intents and purposes it was like he'd been caught in a compromising position with a mistress. Despite the freedoms she permitted and encouraged in their relationship, none of this felt right, the way it had with Elena. The complicated look of longing on her face stabbed at his guilty heart.

"On a nickname basis with your prey, little doll? Did no-one ever tell you that it's rude to play with your food?" Luna eyeballed the petite woman standing before her, scoffing. Her once hazel eyes now gleamed a toxic purple color, so visible at a distance because they brimmed with underlying power.

"Ben, who is this woman?" Caeli's expression turned cool as she finally acknowledged her uninvited visitor. She'd changed out of her provocative office uniform at some point since last he saw her, returning to her trademark concierge outfit.

"Sorry, I'm afraid my stray's gone a bit rabid."

"Ooh, there's the sass and vigor I had to coax out of you last night. Is that how it is? You've truly fallen for the witch, haven't you? No matter. You'll soon see whom among us is truly worthy of that adulation."

With hardly a warning, the crackling energy that danced over her skin collected in her palm and launched with frightening speed in Caeli's direction, a bolt of pure, purple-hued magic.

He hardly had time to react, let alone cry out a warning.

He needn't have worried, though. In that same span of time, the warm, welcoming expression Caeli wore for him turned hardened and serious. Without even a second to register, her arm was already outstretched, intercepting the attack with cool efficiency. The once deadly-looking projectile hovered harmlessly, almost serenely, in the air beyond her open palm. "You dare attack a succubus in her own home?" Her eyes were ablaze with an inner fire the likes of which he'd never seen. Searing white, not of wild passion, but cold, calculated fury.

"That's the problem with you demons. So smugly self-assure in your own abilities, you can't comprehend the need to improve. Meanwhile, I've spent the better part of my life preparing for this moment." Her broad smile grew hungry, feral.

The glowing projectile darkened, turning impossibly pitch black and arcing with angry red streamers of electricity, before shrinking into a singularity in a instant. Caeli's bright eyes narrowed in shock. And just as quickly, it exploded with a deafening blast.

"Caeli!" He shouted. Or at least thought he did. He couldn't even hear his own voice over the ringing in his ears.

No worse for wear, her long ears flattened against her head, the woman he only knew as Luna continued her forward stride, eager to surveil the damage she had wrought.

To his relief, Caeli's silhouette still stood, whole, exactly where she had been a moment ago, unflinching. Her glowing eyes pierced through the haze, narrowed into vicious slits. Those fiery trails of amber were quickly joined by upward arcs of luminous pink as her horns flashed into existence, and her tail wheeled about, sounding whipcracks of warning in the air. Unmistakable, even through his dulled senses.

As his auditory capabilities slowly returned, however, more disconcerting sounds joined the fray. Caeli's breaths ran wincing and ragged, and somehow, other sounds came so muted that his ears were able to perceive a steady drip-drip-dripping on the tiled floor.

The smoke cleared, and the blood-curdling sight formed churning knots in his stomach. At the epicenter of the devastating blast, her outstretched arm had been mangled, severing flesh from bone. Twisted red digits warped and crumpled, paralyzed in their broken grasp. Her jacket had been seared away up to the elbow, revealing more charred flesh below the blackened cuff. Ashen skin and pulverized meat sloughed to the floor, carried away by oozing streamers of blood.

The strength left his legs at the disturbing sight, but he stumbled forward, willing his body to rush by her side.

"Stop! Stay away!" She snarled through grit teeth, vicious fangs bared. "I'll be... alright." Her voice came strained, fighting through what must have been excruciating pain.

He didn't listen, his lurching, stumbling gait carrying him forward. His concern drowned out all other stimulus. It wasn't until the second voice that joined the fray that he stumbled in his tracks, dropping to his knees as his brain finally caught up to the futility of his plight.

"I'd listen to her, lover boy. She can take the punishment. You, on the other hand, wouldn't be much more than a smear on the floor after a blast like that. So do be good and just stand aside to watch my triumph."

"Awfully cocky, aren't we? You still have quite a ways to go to best me!" The savaged limb snapped forward to point at the invader with utter defiance, as it began to regenerate before their very eyes. Far more extensive than any feat he had witnessed yet, the process was morbidly fascinating, mesmeric in its horridness.

Bones cracked and realigned. Flowing blood gained structure, forming an impossible latticework in midair as veins and capillaries took shape. Strands of sinew coiled and knotted through that delicate framework, rebuilding muscle. Skin followed, re-sheathing the grotesque limb and making it whole again. White nails extended from her fingertips, before turning the same sort of obsidian crystal texture of her horns as they sharpened themselves into claws.

She'd barely had a chance to flex her regrown hand before another sphere of magic hurtled her way.

Not repeating her previous mistake, she quickly slashed forward, her newly-formed talons catching on some indeterminate point in space, rending arcing rips in the air itself, glowing brightly momentarily, before cracking shut with a sound like a miniature thunderclap.

Bang-bang-bang! More rips opened and shut as frenzied slashes sliced ribbons through the air, intercepting a rapid-fire volley of magical bullets. With each cut, the projectiles ceased to exist at the precise moment the tears closed.

"Good, good. I almost thought you were going to make this too easy for me!" Luna glowered. "At least now I can say my victory will be well-earned!" She lunged forward with inhuman speed to close the distance, strangely opting for a physical strike where her magical attacks had failed.

In the blink of an eye, Caeli's wings appeared from her back, spread wide and flapping as she launched herself backward, narrowly dodging a palm strike aimed square at her nose. Clearly, her instincts had caught on to something his senses hadn't even comprehended, as the visage of her opponent detonated in-place, harmlessly. "Why are you doing this? What have I done to offend you?" She pleaded.

"Offend? We're well past that point." The voice came from her right, as Luna used her decoy to pass invisibly into a blind spot. A fist materialized out of thin air to strike Caeli's unguarded ribs, as the rest of her shimmered into view. That fit, athletic body wasn't just for show. Her stance showed the discipline of a trained fighter, as she followed through with her punch.

Caeli coughed and winced as she stumbled sideways, knocked off-balance by the sudden blow. The signs of a bruise bloomed under her pale skin, but quickly reversed. "I really don't know what it is I've done to you. Can't we talk this out?" She said, spitting up a small amount of blood.

"Why bother? I'll suffer no more of your empty words."

"I'm sorry? You act like you know me. But I have no recollection of what this could be abou~t!" She narrowly avoided an expertly-placed kidney shot.

"Are you mocking me? My life has been nothing but suffering as the result of listening to the hollow promises offered by this place. Why should I listen to any more of your lies, demon?"

Caeli's mind raced, seeking to make sense of the accusations, even as she was being buffeted by attacks on all sides.

Finding a new pace, Luna's shattering assaults came more furiously. She augmented her martial arts prowess with her illusory spells, fading in and out of sight and striking from unpredictable angles.

At least, to his eyes. She'd been caught out on the back foot earlier, but Caeli's reflexes were sharp, and she quickly adapted to the change in her opponent's fighting style. Relying on senses other than sight, she came to predict where the blows would be coming from, slapping back every forceful punch harmlessly.

"Enough!" She bellowed, with growing impatience. The nails on her left hand grew out to match the talons on her right, and she lashed out in wide swaths around her, rending tears in space to form a temporarily impenetrable barrier from all angles. Wider than before, through those rips, it was like staring into the same infinite cosmos that he'd seen traveling through the portals. A glimpse of something impossibly deep and vast, frighteningly beautiful, and forbiddingly deadly.

More than the sound of a thunderclap this time, the resounding wave pounded his chest, as the air rushed in to fill the void left by her rending claws as the spectacle collapsed in on itself.

Caught off-guard by her opponent's sudden retaliation, Luna rematerialized, leaping backwards and narrowly avoiding being rent asunder in the wild frenzy. The front of her waist wrap hung ragged, not just torn, but completely annihilated by the void-formed blades - a clear message that the sheer devastating power at her fingertips was not to be taken lightly. Even now, as she panted lightly, Caeli's knuckles clenched, cracking audibly as a warning, daring her enemy to strike again. The razor tips of her claws quivered and sparked as they caught on invisible points in the air, prepared to tear all of space asunder again.

Any normal person avowed of their sanity would have turned tail and ran at the sight. That amount of raw power was hard to comprehend. She had used the words "cessation of existence" in reference to those unstable voids, and now, she effortlessly wielded that as a weapon.

Why then, with all that power at her disposal, did she look to him with such a vulnerable expression in her eyes?

And her rival, in this moment, was anything but "normal".

The smile on Luna's face turned canny and voracious, stretched ear-to-ear with manic glee. "Excellent. Excellent! I was starting to think you didn't have any fight in you."

Her arms glowed as long, flowing sleeves formed around them, held in place by golden metallic cuffs fastened above her elbows. Like hanging banners, the weighted garments hung nearly to the floor. Reaching up inside one of them, she procured a knife.

Caeli's eyes narrowed in recognition, and he spotted it too. The same knife from the park, the one the thug had brandished at her. Still with smear of her blood dried along its edge.

"Why do you have that?"

"Oh, good, you noticed. You wouldn't believe how much effort I had to go through to sniff out your interesting little hiding spot." She gestured wide, indicating the space around them, while sniffing in that peculiar way of hers at the caked-on blood.

"Tsk. You're certainly craftier than I gave you credit for. Manipulating men to do your dirty work for you. I didn't imagine such power was still active in the world. I'm sorry, Ben. I lead your instincts astray."

Manipulation? Was that how it was? Was all her insecurity a ruse? Preying on his accommodating nature to get close to Caeli? The boy in the hallway, and the thug in the park - all just actors in some sick game? Had he unwittingly become another? Was anything about "Luna" real?

"That's rich, coming from you, a natural-born manipulator. Apologizing to a thrall? That's a new one. Whatever. I didn't come here to psychoanalyze your oddities. I'm just here to take what's been denied me."

"I still don't know what it is you're talking about."

"No matter. Those born with power have no clue what it's like to live in weakness. There's no point in explaining myself to your kind."

He could feel it. Her blind prejudice. Whatever preconceptions she held, they didn't apply to the woman he loved. Yet, he somehow empathized with Luna all the same. Even going in with an open mind, it had taken him a bit of work to clear his instincts of the stigmas surrounding demonkind, and he was still learning new things every day.

But for Luna, there was something different there, something more deep-seated and personal. Something she felt wronged by. He didn't know how long she'd been holding onto that grudge, but it wasn't something she was likely to just get over.

That's when he understood the look in Caeli's eyes. That profound doubt. With her back pushed up against the wall, that frightening power of hers was her only means to defend herself. But it was that very power that Luna seemed to draw ire with. Caeli was trapped and crying for help.

What the fuck does she expect me to do? Flesh-meltingingly destructive magic and bone-shattering superhuman strength. He was living a scene right out of one of those big-budget comic-book movies. As much as he wanted to play the hero and break up this fight before it got even more ridiculously out of hand, that couldn't possibly be his role. His existence had been reduced to that of one of those hapless bystanders on the sidelines.