Hellacious Hospitality Ch. 13

"I'm afraid you still don't understand, human. There is sense in what you propose. I am not so unreasonable. Perhaps, though I'm loathe to admit, I'm even quite jealous at what you've managed to accomplish. No, Iara, I'm not so foolish as to deny these truths. But the future you imagine, it's simply not possible. Not through the depths of Hell that I've seen."

"Why not enlighten us, then? What darkness is it that has you so on edge, so willing to throw in the towel and give it all up?"

"Allow me to pose you a question, human. 'Haven' is how she sees this place, is it not?"

"Yes."

"A lie fed to her, on which she willingly laid her hopes and dreams. What is it that you see in it?"

"I mean, she also likened it to a gilded cage. A haven is her true dream, yes, but she doesn't deny that there's a lot of work to go before it fulfills that potential."

"A cage is apt. What is it that you see, as you watch the children play and frolic without care?"

"You mean Aila and Merah? They're good girls. Aila's a bit of a handful, but they pair well. It's great that they treat each other like real sisters."

"Have you ever given any thought as to the circumstances that led to their upbringing as siblings to begin with?"

"Should I have? I've only really thought of how some of Caeli's conscientiousness has rubbed off on Merah, which is good, with how much Aila seems to get herself into all sorts of mischief."

"And what of their true families? Mothers and sisters. If preservation were the goal, would it not be in their best interest to have with them others of their kind, to explore their nature and their culture. But if this place were truly matched to Caelestinum's ideals, would such a situation have ever arisen in the first place?"

"That you bring it up, I suppose that is a little odd. I guess I just assumed they were rescued like that."

"I can forgive that ignorance. That is the truth she projects. The lie that many of us were told. You haven't been here for very long to meet enough of the others to find out. The situation of those two is not uncommon among the residents here."

Most of the demi living here were solitary? He'd been told as much about Iara, and that jibed with Caeli's recanting of succubus lifestyles and customs. But surely the people living here must have families, especially for the centuries this locale had existed. That made no sense.

"That can't be right. If this place exists for the sake of safety and preservation, how can there ever be hope of survival if there's only one of each of your species present."

"And that's where you've misled yourself. Perhaps that was the intent, at one point in time. We were purposefully kept content, without any meaningful cause to form larger family units, and thus anything resembling a societal structure. In other words, docile. It wasn't a sanctuary that was provided us. We were led into a menagerie."

There was a dark intonation in her words that didn't sit right in the pit of his stomach. It was like when Caeli had briefly touched on the enslavement of the demi races.

"For what purpose?" Whatever answer she provided couldn't be good.

"The only thing I know for certain is that once Caelestinum realized that our Master's goals were not as altruistic as he made us believe, he was dead soon after. It was all about power. It's all you mortals ever seem to want. Even as far removed from human society as I carried my existence, even I came to understand that much."

"What sort of power would he have been after? I heard he was a sorcerer. One of the last, even. If we go back a hundred years, to when it sounds like this story ended, having any command over magic whatsoever would've still made him one of the most powerful men on this planet." No sooner had those words left his lips, when a memory stirred loose in his mind. Something Caeli had once told him, buried amidst a pile of his own self-doubts. "Time. He was running out of time, wasn't he?"

"Indeed. The one thing from which all mortals can never find their escape."

"Surely, you must have realized there must have been something amiss. What could have changed so suddenly?"

"I doubt very much that there was any real change. Plans were already well in motion before any of us had even an inkling of comprehension. The difference was, no-one cared." Xochitl's words carried with them the feeling of confusion and regret only revealed through hindsight.

"Except Caeli..." Benson mumbled, in solemn realization.

"Even she was fooled, for a spell. Time is the real barrier that divides our worlds, our natures. Such sad, short existences you lead, with precious little time to make your mark on the world, yet all the ego to assume that to be your cause. We do not share such weakness."

Without her snidely casual misanthropy, he'd almost forgotten who he was talking to for a moment. "And where do you get off, thinking you're so much better?" He snapped instinctively. Despite Iara's mediation efforts, she couldn't eliminate the tension of uncertainty. Story time alone was not going to bring Caeli back.

Uncharacteristically ignoring the bait, Xochitl continued in an even tone. "That's how I used to think, anyways. Companionship was a foreign concept to me. I was only ever a monster. Not until she showed me otherwise. She was a real nuisance when she first showed up. I would have been perfectly content to live life quietly by myself, believe me. How I came to be paired up with that do-gooder... if I knew what would come to pass, I would've let myself wither back to a seed and stayed buried. Really, she was the center of everyone's attention. Her outgoing vivaciousness was something none of us were accustomed to, coming from backgrounds of persecution and neglect."

"Some things never change, I guess. That's exactly how she is with me, as well."

"And I hate it. She fell too easily into her old habits, rather than learning from what happened with the Master."

"Do I really come off as being capable of whatever it is he did to her? Or to any of you?"

"I really don't know. He was amicable at first as well. That's how many of us ended up here in the first place. I believe our resident nymph here is the only one with knowledge of what things were like before his tenure, but good luck getting anything useful out of that tangled root ball she calls a brain - OW! Do you want my help, or not!?"

He wasn't sure if there was any way for Xochitl to see, but Iara was in the middle of pouting rather cutely, probably sending another telepathic shock the alraune's way for her insult. Otherwise, she shrugged innocently.

Unfortunately, Iara couldn't be much assistance in explaining further. Even if she were witness to the events in question, it was doubtful whether she'd be able to elaborate on them in any meaningful capacity. Her mind simply didn't work that way.

It was becoming increasingly clear that the subject was becoming a sore spot for Xochitl. She normally had no trouble speaking her mind, no matter how offensive or inflammatory. But here, she was becoming increasingly cagey around the specifics.

Maybe a different approach was necessary.

Back to the topic of power. Their Master must have had plenty of it. Certainly enough to establish his dominion over beings like Xochitl. Even if her current personality was a result of his orchestrations, her mistrust of humans seemed to go back even further. There was no way she would have come along quietly.

Somehow, the balance of power had shifted. When, and how?

"Xochitl, do you regret having met Caeli? You say you'd have buried yourself away. Was that for your sake... or hers?"

"Where are you going with this, human?" Sharp and accusational again, it was easy to read when he'd hit a sore spot.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and assume the latter. You get extra defensive about anything concerning Caeli. I don't think it's jealousy. Earlier, you were legitimately scared for her well-being. I think -"

"I recommend you stop barking up this tree. You won't like where it leads," Xochitl snarled.

"Unless you give me reason to do otherwise, this is the only lead we've got. What is it that you're trying to hide?"

"I've already said too much. Gods, you're persistent. I should have known better than to accept this invitation." Then, in a hushed tone, "Damn you, Caelestinum. Even in your absence, I'm still left to clean up your messes. Does your neediness know no bounds?"

Benson doubted that aside was meant for his ears. Sounding increasingly frazzled and distraught, she was having troubles filtering her thoughts from Iara's broadcast.

"What do you mean by 'still'? You're still covering for her, aren't you? Is her safety and well-being really worth your silence?"

"How...? Curse you, nymph! Get out of my head!"

There was a time when he would've loved to hear Xochitl squeal and squirm, her haughty attitude a constant source of irritation. But not like this. Her resolve was admirable, if misguided. At every step of the way, she seemed to crudely undermine Caeli's authority, and he couldn't understand why. Not when what Caeli was after was for the benefit of all the demi under her care.

Insubordination would've been the easy call to make, but the longer they talked, the less certain that assumption became.

For all her harsh words, the more dire the situation became, the more she would refer to Caeli by her full name. More importantly, she was the only one to receive that modicum of respect. The others, she constantly referred to in an impersonal, off-hand way. Strangely, her uncooperative attitude seemed to stem from a place of loyalty.

That struck closer to home than he cared to admit. Until he met Caeli, he'd come to treat his coworkers dismissively, almost as if they were sub-human. Marooned on an island of his own making, until she threw him that lifeline.

Caeli's teachings left him ill-prepared for this moment. They were so close to a breakthrough, he could feel it at the edge of his mind where Xochitl currently resided. Frustratingly out of reach, he lacked his lover's inward gaze. He didn't have the words to undo at least a century's worth of suffering that was bottled up inside.

...But worse still is the flower trapped within its own reflection...

The ominous words of that so-called prophecy echoed back in his memories. Why did magic have to deal in riddles? Supposedly, he'd cracked the code. But that solution had felt unsatisfactory. Who had recited it, anyways? It was most likely that Iara and Xochitl had both conspired on the delivery method for some reason, but the stern, foreboding voice belonged to neither.

Relevant or not, the words at least coincidentally pertained to the current impasse with Xochitl as well. She was unable to move forward in the present due to promises made in the past.

"Iara, leave her alone now."

She threw him a weird cockeyed glance as if questioning his mental acuity, but made no signs of resistance otherwise. There came a strange, shuddering feeling, as if a great sigh had escaped the very room. A brief glance at the sisters showed him that was all in his imagination. As the harsh pressure subsided from inside his head, a faint "thank you" seemed to tickle across his thoughts.

He collapsed back against the wall of Iara's pool. Only now did he realize he'd been holding himself in rigid tension for the entirety of that psychic encounter, and his still-aching body had been angrily protesting every minute of it. He hurt all over, both mentally and physically. This was all too much brain work.

*****

Had he fallen asleep? Everything was black. He seemed light as a cloud, floating weightlessly.

A warm, enervating feeling entered his body through his loins, and his eyes shot open, to find Iara diligently gyrating in his lap.

"Whoa there, settle down! When did we agree to this?"

The stern glare she imparted caught him off guard. It was of a complexity he didn't even realize she was capable of. Disappointed and chastising, and yet somehow proud, all at once.

"Sorry, I blew it, didn't I? You put a lot of effort into setting up that meet-up, but I couldn't get the answers we were looking fo~ooor!" Benson's brain melted as Iara's ridiculous sexual prowess extracted what felt like a massive orgasm from his body. So much so that he felt lightheaded.

As before, she fell away from him, body turning momentarily transparent as her uncanny anatomy worked to absorb his virile load. And indeed, that murky white cloud that floated within her belly seemed of abnormal size. He panicked, remembering what Xochitl had warned him about his body's ability to absorb mana. Was he still affected? That anxiety quickly drained away as his embarrassing erection finally returned to its flaccid state, after however much time it had been.

"The flow of mana in one's body has been normalized."

He didn't understand her at all. After that whole, big ordeal, she was acting like nothing had happened at all.

"Can we please talk about what just happened? I have no idea what I'm doing. I can't live up to your expectations like this."

Regaining color, a slender, watery finger raised up and pressed against his lips, gesturing for silence.

"It is always most difficult to swim upstream, against the river's flow. What one seeks lays where the tributaries of fate intertwine. History runs turbulent. To brave those torrential waters without a guide is a foolhardy quest."

Lightly stroking his cheek, she pressed her cool, moist lips against his as an encouraging, motivational kiss as her body flushed with energy. Diving away from him suddenly, the expression on her face was one of orgasmic bliss. The mana she absorbed from him glowed faintly, a pulse rippling across the surface of the entire pool emanating from her location. Without a single word further, her form vanished beneath the waves.

What he wouldn't give to be like her right now. Just blissfully unperturbed by the specifics. Her sense of the world existed on a purely spiritual level and the immediacy of flesh. All the little things invented by philosophers to bridge between the two seemed not to matter to her in the least.

Hers was a pure existence, unburdened by time.

Unfortunately, he didn't have that luxury.

The rift between Caeli and Xochitl, and whatever had happened in their past had hit some sort of critical mass. It started somehow with Luna's incursion. But was that the cause, or merely the catalyst in reopening old wounds?

Driven purely by idle thoughts, Benson crawled his way out of the pool. Iara had helped to open the box with all sorts of new puzzle pieces, but nothing seemed to fit together fully. He knew who held the remainder.

Somehow, he had to find a way to establish a channel of trust with Xochitl. Iara had helped create an in, however minor it was. A strong understanding of who she was under that armor of arrogance had formed. But capitalizing on that was a whole other challenge entirely.

What Benson had seen, peering into Xochitl's hardened soul was a reflection of himself. His older self, so smug in its self-confidence that it completely tuned out the world around him. Perhaps that's why Xochitl got under his skin so easily. Subconsciously, she reminded him of all the worst parts of himself that he'd come to despise. That egotistical brand of independence had won him no favors in life, and whatever justifications she made for herself were likely just as hollow. It was the coward's way of avoiding hardship and pain.

But how was he meant to go about offering that olive branch? He'd probably gone and burned the last remaining bridges by prodding unsolicited at painful memories.

The void they were all feeling right now was obvious. This sort of thing was more Caeli's forte.

A cool, clammy hand clapped over his shoulder, giving him a start.

"So, you and Aunt Ia have a good talk? Figure anything out?"

"Ah, Merah, you scared me. I... nothing new. Maybe the faintest idea of why she ran out on us, but nothing that'll help us get her back."

"Oh..." She was trying her best to stand resolute for her sister, but the look of disappointment on her face was plain as day.

"Does Auntie Lessee not like us anymore? Did Aila do bad?" Cowering shyly behind her larger sister, she looked so small and frail. Wings wrapped tightly in bandages and slings to help mend her broken bones denied her the majesty of her massive wingspan, and she moved in awkward, jerky way as her sharp claws slipped and scrabbled on the smooth tile floors.

"No, Aila's been a very good girl." He reached out to pat her head. In contrast to the dour mood, her soft, silver-teal plumage flared around her head like a shining halo. Apparently waterproof, her feathers were already dry. She cooed happily at the attention. "I think Auntie wants some alone time."

They dried up and dressed without further conversation. He found an impatient and irritable Lily pacing about atop his set of neatly cleaned and folded underclothes. He hadn't seen her since date night, and with the stink-eye she was throwing him, it was all too apparent that she didn't think highly of the fact that all her efforts to pretty him up had somehow resulted in her home life collapsing.

It was an ordeal in itself to calm her down. Ever the drama queen, in the end, she really just needed a shoulder to cry on.

Quite the homewrecker you turned out to be, Benson Lachlan.

How was it that everything seemed to turn all topsy-turvy after finding this place? All manner of social hierarchies and expectations were all ass-backwards when it came to all that had transpired in the last few weeks. Meeting and befriending all these supernatural girls was somehow the most normal thing about his life. It was everything else that had turned into a complete mess of epic proportions.

He paused as he reached the doorknob, ready to leave. And where am I even going? For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, he had no idea.

Meeting Caeli had been like a new lease on life, a fresh start. Making her happy had become his new life's goal. Now, for some unknown reason, she had chosen to run away from that "contract" of her own accord, leaving him stranded again, floundering for a sense of direction.

How can I save you, when I still need saving from myself? That glimpse into Xochitl's psyche had brought with it an uncomfortable reality. As proud as he'd been of his own development, it was all too easy to backslide. Withdrawing into himself, refusing counsel, just as she did. Just a moment of grief, of doubt, and he could very well become like his old self again. Friendless, solitary, and bitter. Despite having people who were all too willing to call themselves family, she stubbornly bore her cross alone.

Was that how it was for Caeli, too? She spoke highly of her past companionship, but that was just perhaps her innate hedonistic tendencies given another form.

She'd once said that she and Xochitl were alike. He dismissed it at the time. How could that bubbly, outgoing, and gracious girl be anything like that sneering, pessimistic woman? But both were stubborn to a fault. The tiff between them lasting for more or less a century showed no signs of abating anytime soon, and his arrival had only made things worse.

He felt warmth and weight upon his back. Peering over his shoulder, Merah's rose-streaked hair was nestled at the nape of his neck.

"What the...?"

"Sorry, does this bother you? You looked so out of it, and just from hearing her go on-and-on, I know that the man she fell for isn't like that, Aunt Lessee used to do this for me whenever I was feeling down. She'd say 'There there, you're doing great. Just pick yourself up and try again.' Of course, that was only because I was complaining and threatening to give up my music again after my dozenth try. Other than that, the only times I'd get emotional were when Aila crashed hard and I thought she'd died on me. It was only after the first two or three times there that I learned to stop crying, though. Her tiny little bird brain's built to take a little punishment, it seems."