Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 058

A pink, powdery substance hit him in the face, and the world spun around him as he tumbled to the ground, sleep seeping into his eyes. As he drifted off to sleep, he hoped that things at the house were going better than they were for him.

Kisa stared in awe at the door of the Labyrinth. It had been ripped clean off its hinges and was curled up against the opposite wall. She walked inside and looked around, uncertain of where Marco could be, then moved to inspect the door a little bit closer.

There was no way that the wand did this. It had to be something else, and she thought back to the Grimoire that Dana had mentioned. It vaguely rang a bell for her, but she couldn't seem to hold onto the memory for more than a second.

Moving into the Labyrinth, she turned the first corner and felt the air leave her body. A large hole had been carved into the stone wall of the Labyrinth, creating a path that went through the next several walls. Marco had made his own shortcut apparently, and she was hesitant to follow him in.

Maybe she should just wait for him out here?

Somewhere deep inside the Labyrinth, she heard an explosion, followed by the sound of escaping steam. The glow of a fire illuminated the low hanging stalactites of the ceiling, and now she wondered if Ratu was okay. There was no way the Minotaur could have held his own against Marco, but maybe Ratu had a shot.

And maybe she could help.

Clenching her fists, she sprinted down the path, following the sounds of battle, wondering if there was a single thing she could do to help. The path deviated occasionally, and she had to take a detour around the river and find a place to jump across. There was no sign of Asterion anywhere, and several traps had been sprung without being reset.

Something large cried out, and the Earth trembled. Afraid that rocks might fall from above, she hugged the walls of the Labyrinth as she moved closer to the center until she finally found herself standing in Ratu's lair.

The place was destroyed.

Piles of blasted furniture and magical artifacts lay everywhere, and the naga herself was nowhere to be seen. There were scorch marks along the walls and floors, and the caverns that encircled the room had been caved in. Rubble had rolled down the hill, piling up into a hill against Ratu's magical pagoda.

Kisa moved along the edge of the cavern, her eyes constantly hunting for movement when a hand grabbed her ankle.

She hissed in surprise, then looked down to see that a patch of dirt and rocks by her feet had eyes and a mouth. When she knelt down, she recognized Ratu's features, her face distorted as if it had been ripped off her head and glued to a pile of rocks.

"My appearance is...unsettling," the naga wheezed, then blinked her eyes. "The shadow overpowered me with that damn book of his and I was forced to hide or be destroyed."

"Where is he?" Kisa asked.

"In my pavilion. He came down here looking for something. Help me over there." Ratu gestured with her head, and Kisa grabbed onto her body and pulled. The naga looked like a lump of clay that had been filled with pebbles, and moved like one, too. They were now huddled under the remnants of what was once a large table that she used for her experiments, and they were able to watch the pavilion through a gap in the wood.

"Thank you." Ratu sighed. "I don't suppose you saw Asterion on the way in?"

Kisa shook her head.

"I was afraid of that. Hopefully he wasn't killed, but I'm all out of hope. I'll be okay in a few days, but if I am found like this, I have no way to defend myself." The naga flicked her tongue out, then moved her head toward the gap. "Shh," she cautioned.

Kisa looked through the gap in the wood and saw Marco emerge from the pagoda. He scanned the room with dark eyes, the wand held ready in one hand and the book in the other. Seeing nothing of concern, he moved to a nearby table and set the book down, then reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

It was a necklace with a beautiful blue stone in it. It seemed to glow as he held it, and for a minute, Kisa thought he was hypnotized because he wasn't moving. However, she realized that he was talking to the necklace, and it seemed to pulsate in his hands in response.

"Shit," whispered Ratu. "I can't think of anything worse he could have found."

Marco retrieved something else and held it up near the necklace. It was a crystalline vial with some sort of black liquid on the inside.

"I take that back," Ratu muttered. "Kisa, he can't be allowed to take either of those things out of the house."

"What am I—" She pushed herself against the ground as Marco pocketed the necklace and the vial, then picked up the book. He left the way Kisa came in, and she turned her attention to Ratu. "What am I supposed to do about it?"

"You have a natural predisposition for avoiding discovery. You need to sneak up on him, knock him out, kill him if you have to." She groaned, and her body seemed to melt into the ground. "Get ahead of him, lay a trap, anything."

Kisa muttered to herself as she moved away from their hiding place. "I don't suppose you have something I can stab him with?"

"Improvise," Ratu responded, her eyelids closing. "I need...to...so tired." When the naga shut her eyes, her body settled and she looked no different from the earth itself. Worried that she may have died, Kisa put her hand on Ratu's skin and was relieved when it shifted beneath her touch.

"Go," Ratu muttered, and Kisa moved toward the exit.

She ran after Marco, her padded feet allowing her to be completely silent, and it wasn't long before she caught up to him. He didn't seem to be in much of a hurry, and was speaking as if someone was next to him.

"Yes, my army is keeping them busy, so we should be able to sneak out of the front," he said. "Your mother will be waiting out front, you have no idea how thrilled she'll be to have you back."

Something in his hand pulsed blue, the glow casting an eerie shadow behind him. Kisa realized he was talking to the necklace.

"No, he's out of the house. He started a fight with the faerie queen, so I let her know he was coming. I imagine she's already killed him." There was a rumble from above, and he looked up, concern on his face. "We should still be safe. The home can't be destroyed by normal means, but it will be in a state of disrepair."

Kisa was able to move even closer, and was surprised when she felt a chill form in her gut, and a sudden urge to hide. She ducked behind a wall just as a rockpile behind her shifted, and Marco's footsteps halted. She imagined that he was looking her way now, his wand outstretched, the image so intense that she was frozen in place when the wave of energy blasted past her hiding spot and struck the rockpile, scattering stones the size of her head in every direction.

"Just making sure," Marco muttered, and then his footsteps were moving again. When Kisa peeked around the corner, the blue glow of the necklace was fluctuating wildly.

"Me? I used to be a Caretaker, like Mike, only competent. I didn't have a house like he does, rather, it was a magnificent tower. It's been almost completely destroyed, but I was able to salvage part of it in a pocket dimension. However, now I'm stuck in its duplicate in the Underworld. Hmm? Yes, I was killed some time ago, but I had learned enough about soul magic to stitch it into a book. It was by accident that I—"

Kisa felt the chill again and ducked into a shadow as Marco spun around. She was able to watch him through a gap in the stones as his dark eyes searched.

"I can't wait to be free of this place," he muttered, then turned around again.

Kisa rubbed her tummy, marveling at the odd sensations that kept passing through her belly. What was that about?

"Anyway, I was a lot like you. Instead of being trapped inside of a necklace, I was gradually gaining strength inside of Emily, the previous Caretaker. Eventually I was able to bend her will to my own and manifest physically, but the bitch killed herself and I was stuck in the Underworld again until my tower was discovered." He tilted his head as if listening to something, then laughed. "Oh, you have no idea. I spent so many years exploring this place, and had only just discovered some of its treasures. The Architect was clever, I'll give him that. The Grimoire is just the beginning, but we will need it to craft a new body for myself. Once that's done, the game can begin anew."

The way Marco spoke made Kisa pause. He sounded happy, and kept chuckling in response to whatever the necklace was saying. Was he flirting with it?

They were nearing the exit to the Labyrinth, and she was closing the distance behind him. On occasion, she could see the shadowy outline of the spirit possessing Marco, as if it was struggling to wear him properly. Dark lines had appeared on the back of Marco's hands, and he was starting to limp.

He was nearly to the reflecting pool when Kisa made her move. She charged toward him and was only a few feet away when she felt that chill in her gut again.

Marco turned around and pointed his wand, but Kisa slid beneath the blast that would have taken her head off. Up close, she jumped for his face, claws outstretched, and tackled him to the ground. She heard something clatter across the stone floor of the Labyrinth, and Marco shouted something in a language she didn't recognize. Her fur stood on end and she leapt off of him as his entire body was engulfed in green fire.

Stunned, she watched as he jumped into the reflecting pool and vanished. She moved to follow after him, but stopped when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. It was the vial of black liquid, and she picked it up to see that the cork had come loose. The liquid crawled up the sides of the vial as if to escape, and she pressed the seal back into place, then put the vial on the ground. The vial was thick enough that it couldn't easily fall over, but she found a small rock to put on top of it just in case.

Marco knew she was coming, and she was about to jump in the pool when she felt the cold spot in her gut return. It was a warning system, of that she was certain, but where had it come from? Kneeling down by the water, she closed her eyes and saw a very vivid image in her mind of Marco standing opposite of the coat closet by the door, his wand outstretched and waiting.

"Stupid fucker," she muttered. After a while, the cold spot faded, and she opened her eyes to contemplate the glistening pool in front of her. She knew she needed to jump in, to take the shortcut back to the house, but there was only one problem.

She hated the idea of getting wet. Shuddering with revulsion, she closed her eyes and jumped, fighting the impulse to turn around and scramble back to the safety of dry land. As the cool water wrapped around her, she panicked, hoping that Marco still wasn't waiting on the other side.

When she spilled out into the living room, she got tangled up in a piece of furniture that was on the floor nearby, then tumbled forward and slid on the slippery floor before crashing into the wall. She tried to stand, but her feet kept slipping out from beneath her.

"Ah, yes. The cat. I remember you." Marco crouched down in front of her, his wand thrumming with power as he pushed it against her forehead.

Kisa whimpered, the ice in her veins making her hold perfectly still. She somehow knew without a doubt that any attempt to flee would end in her death, and she was trembling.

"You were her last ditch effort, did you know that? There was a time when Emily thought she could pull one over on me, to undo our bargain, and when I tried to make her kill you, it took everything in her power to shut you away instead. Well, her and that damn goblin."

"Tink?" Kisa went still, satisfied to let Marco keep talking in the hopes that an opening would appear and she could run away.

The shadow frowned. "That cunty little gremlin was always a problem. Manipulating her memories was always such a hassle, and if not for the fact that she kept the house running, I would have been rid of her years ago. But yes, she begged and pleaded with Emily not to hurt you, even offered to give her goggles back to spare your life. Emily took over just long enough to block me out and seal you away. What I didn't know was that she had sealed away the Grimoire as well. Tricky little bitch."

"What...why did Tink want to spare me?" Kisa was curious, but noticed that Marco was relaxing his guard the longer he talked.

Marco rolled his eyes. "I'm not surprised you don't remember, Emily kept making you wear that damned collar until it scrambled your brains. You were best friends with the goblin. Unwanted and unloved by everyone, both of you desperate for Emily's affection, it was so pathetic..." He frowned, and then dropped the Grimoire to pull the glowing necklace out of his pocket. It was flashing furiously, and he scowled at it.

"Yes, you're right, I do talk too much," he said. "It's a bad habit I need to break is all. Hmm? Yes, I think that would be an excellent idea."

With his attention on the necklace, Kisa kicked the wand away and made a break for it. She was almost to the door when Marco tackled her from behind, and she was about to roll over to scratch his face when he slid something over her head and around her throat.

She tried to scream, but darkness closed in on her. The last thing she saw was a pair of intense blue eyes open in the darkness, followed by a woman's laughter.

Dana had stripped enough of the coating off of the end of the wire for Quetzalli to hold onto, but definitely hadn't expected her to stick it in her mouth. The lights in the house dimmed as she sucked the current through her teeth, filling the air with electromagnetic energy. Nearby spirits were bedazzled with electrical sparks as they came into focus, then shrieked in pain as the magic of the house tore them apart in an effort to boot them out.

She pumped her fist in victory, but it was short lived. The smell of copper and ozone filled the air, and then the power went out completely. Standing in the darkness, she could just make out the eerie shadows that formed on the stairs below them.

"Up!" Dana shouted, and Quetzalli followed. They ran into Mike's room and closed the door behind them. The room had been tossed, and Mike's bed had been flipped over on top of a large backpack. It was Tick Tock, and Dana picked up the mimic and strapped him to her back.

The door shuddered, and then a black mass formed and pushed through. There was just enough light from outside to see the menace on the spirits' faces, and when it reached for them, Quetzalli touched it. There was a loud zap, and the spirit backed away, color moving across its face. Instead of exploding like the others, it faded back through the door.

"I'm low on charge," said Quetzalli. "There are too many. If we go to the fuse box, I can do it again, but I don't think I can make a big enough field for the house."

The door shook, and a pair of shadows pushed their way through.

"We can talk about it later," Dana said, then helped Quetzalli toward the window. She grabbed onto the dragon as the spirits tackled them, sending them spiraling out into the night sky. Dana held tightly to the dragon and got herself underneath in time to take the brunt of the fall with her legs.

Both of her legs snapped on impact, and she let out a grunt as she did her best to protect the dragon. Tick Tock unfolded several metallic legs like a spider, then lowered them to the ground. One of the spirits had followed them down to the ground and moved toward them. When it reached them, Quetzalli zapped it with lightning from her horn, which caused the spirit to come into focus.

It was an angry looking woman holding a frying pan. She had the look of a peasant, and the rags she wore had several holes in them. Her movements were jerky as she approached and raised her pan high, but Beth appeared behind her with a flowerpot, which she brought down on the spirits head.

The spirit exploded into shards of light and drifted out into the night.

"Holy shit," Beth muttered, dropping the remnants of her flower pot. Around them, the shadows were now keeping their distance. "If we can charge them up out here, we can hurt them."

"Urk," replied Dana, trying to stand. Her legs weren't regenerating fast enough, and something was wrong in her chest. She coughed a few times and then took a deep breath. "We need...a bigger charge."

"I'm not sure where we're going to get one," Beth said, then winced when Cerberus roared. "It looks like you cleared the house a bit, but there are too many of them. We're outnumbered."

"Yeah, well..." Dana picked up a piece of glass and chuckled. "Tink is gonna be...pissed." She tossed the glass on the ground and dragged herself over to Naia's frozen fountain to pull herself up. The spirits still gave them a wide berth, and she shook her head. "I think this may be it. The home is trashed and that douche Marco is going to take the Grimoire. Going to be a hard sell on...house sitting again."

Beth's eyes shimmered in the blazing light of the Underworld. "I can't believe it. It's like this was all planned. Do you think the shadow was working with the faerie queen?"

"Does it...matter if he...what the hell?" Dana caught some movement through the gateway and was surprised to see Lily shoot through the opening, closing her wings for long enough to fly beneath the arch, then extending them again to carry her the rest of the way up the hill. She landed gracefully on Naia's fountain, then brushed a significant amount of soot off her face.

"You guys throw one hell of a party." She picked Dana up by the collar of her shirt and planted a kiss on her. Cum, hot and delicious, flowed down Dana's throat, and she felt her legs stretch and pop as the joints and bones went back into place. When Lily broke the kiss, she set Dana down with a grin. "Daddy is going to be so pissed."

"Lily, where have you been?" Beth asked.

She smirked, held up a finger for silence, then waited. Everyone looked at each other in confusion, and then a loud roar startled them. It came from down the hill, and the spirit platoon milling around the gate turned around and readied their weapons.

"What was that?" Dana asked.

"Help." They all looked down the hill in time to see a swarm of dark shapes descending on the phantom castle. Hundreds of angry demons of different shapes and sizes charged the walls of the castle wielding pitchforks, swords, and even a giant one with a whip of flames. There were yells of alarm, and the spirits who had been waiting by the gate seemed confused on which direction to go.

"Friends of yours?" Beth asked.

"Demons don't do friends," declared the succubus. "But any chance to raise a little hell, and they'll take it."

"Lily." Beth put her hand on Lily's shoulder. "The Jabberwock has been possessed. We need Cerberus to help us fight it."

Lily frowned. "Hmm. Cerberus might be able to come on this side of the gate, but not very far. The demons can't come through at all, but that's for the best. The only reason they're here is that I expected the shadow to pull something, but the sheer numbers of spirits he brought..." She shook her head. "I'll see what I can do about the Jabberwock. But all these damn ghosts? Not sure how to handle that. I may have shifted the tide, but the storm still rages on."

Storm. Dana looked at Quetzalli, then down the hill at where the spirits were building up. If she could secure the necessary power, she could power up the spirits down there as well, which might allow them to be attacked. So many thoughts were going through her head right now, and she commanded them to slow down and give her a moment to process. It didn't help that Mike's semen now sat in her belly like a hot coal, and she was suddenly very aware of how attractive all three of the women with her were.