Mortal Emotion Ch. 02

Four years earlier

Bree was struggling with the ties on her panties. They were black, lacey, and did nothing to leave her decent, not that it mattered in Hell. As her fingers carefully secured the knot, the pressure undid the strings on the other side of her hips, as they had done two times previously. The bra for this set of lingerie was already on, but not without an equal amount of issue. Looking around the classroom that looked almost identical to the images shown of mortal universities, Bree could see that all the other students had already gone home, dressed in their scarce undergarments as per the assignment. When the knot loosened for the fourth time, Bree grunted, tossed the panties aside, and plopped back down into her seat.

"Ugh, why do mortals wear this? It's impossible to even get on."

Professor Laezynnarus walked over with a smile, She was dressed in her normal garb, being a black cardigan over a red shirt that contrasted in a satisfying way with her dark purple skin. Her long, long legs that gave her the six-foot frame were on display from her black skirt that came just below her knees, and obviously held no intention for physical attraction. As with any succubi, the clothing still somehow managed to conform and fit just perfectly to the Professor's figure, accentuating her proportioned breasts and slim waist.

"Breetheolamus, mortals often idolise form over function. It does not matter how easy something is to create or maintain, as long as it looks nice. In the case of many types of lingerie, the same is true."

"I get that it looks sexy, but this bra is so uncomfortable. I couldn't wear this for three minutes, much less three days. What kind of assignment is this?"

The professor laughed. "As a succubus, you are going to need to get used to wearing the kinds of clothing most mortals find sexually attractive. You are going to be wearing them often when you start your job next month, so it is better to get acquainted with them now."

Professor Laezynnarus bent over and picked up the discarded panties, allowing the skirt to naturally draw attention to her shapely rear. She twisted her neck slightly as she stood to avoid catching one of her horns on Bree's desk. Her horns were long but slim, emerging about an inch and a half above her eyes and turning sharply backwards, following the edge of her skull like a pair of black-ivory mohawks. Towards the back of her head, they turned again and allowed the remaining half-inch to taper to a sharpened point that pointed to the ceiling. The black bone was shiny and polished, and Bree had to keep from bringing a hand to her own head in an attempt to feel if her horns were developing yet, despite knowing they weren't.

"Breetheolamus, why aren't you applying yourself?" She passed Bree the panties, which the student accepted with a grumble.

"I've been trying to put on this underwear for twenty minutes and you think I'm not applying myself?"

The professor sighed. "You know what I mean. You are putting in the effort, but you aren't actually trying to succeed. You work as if there is no goal. You are trying to pass this class, but not to help your future as a member of A.F.A.."

Bree slumped forward onto the desk, resting her chin in the crux of her elbows. "It just... Doesn't it feel weird? Existing for a singular purpose defined specifically by what you are? Like, I get it- I'm a succubus. I'm good at sex stuff. I really like sex stuff. But is that everything? Why can't I choose to work for Satan in the Wrath department?"

The professor pulled over an empty seat beside Bree and sat.

"I know it doesn't seem very fair, but that is just the way it is. We are greater than mortals in every way, except for one. There is one singular facet of a mortal's life that we as demons lack- the ability to go against our nature. A mortal born in any country, under any lifestyle, can become anything they might desire. Aside from obvious limitations of course. An evil child who faced nothing but hardship and abuse still has the capacity to become kind and benevolent as they grow older. In the same vein, a lovely child who experienced only kindness can age to provide the most wrath and hate."

Professor Laezynnarus rested a hand on Bree's shoulder.

"However, we demons are more restricted. Perhaps a curse bestowed by the ones above, but we possess no such luxury of choice. We cannot go against our nature. We simply cannot even comprehend such an act, and for the few that can, the committing of the act is impossible. We are succubi, and that means we can only be demons of lust and sex- nothing more, and nothing less. In the same way that a mortal's heart beats without their control, the need for sex and intimacy acts beyond our intentions. Take these wishes of yours- you wish to work as something else, but even you cannot comprehend existing as anything other than a succubus. Wherever your desires tread, sex inevitably follows."

"But why does that have to stop me?"

This brought a sad smile from the professor. "Because the other departments simply cannot provide for beings like us. Lust is necessary to our survival. The other departments simply have no way to provide it. We have the souls of sexual torment here to feed from, but they only exist here. It is simple, if we work somewhere else, we will fade- cease to exist entirely."

Bree breathed for several moments. "At least the students of wrath don't have to wear this stupid lingerie. Blood is disgusting, but is probably much more comfortable."

Professor Laezynnarus chuckled. "Perhaps. You should give A.F.A. a chance, Breetheolamus. You have the potential to be a great succubus- once you get the proper motivation that is. Each of us have our own unique abilities, but yours may very well be one of the most useful for a succubus that I have ever seen in all my centuries of teaching."

Bree blushed, the pink of her cheeks darkening to a purple almost the same shade as the professor. Despite being nude from the waist down, Bree felt comfortable next to the professor. With the professor, there was no judgement- only helpful advice. "S'not that useful. Pratillerum can give his partner endless stamina- that's much better."

"I wouldn't say so. All succubi connect to the Lust and pleasure of those around them, but your ability brings that to an entirely new level. Not only do you experience the Lust around you much more profoundly, but it extends beyond Lust to other emotions. You can feel joy, sadness, rage. You can look beyond their sensation and directly into their mind. You think what they think. You see what they see. Hear what they hear, feel what they feel. You are able to connect to others in a way that no other succubus can, and a connection like that may be the single most powerful tool of any succubus. You could understand exactly what it is that your partner desires, and use your other abilities to become that very wish."

"You make that sound like it would be easy."

"It isn't, child. It never is. Out of all of the sins, Lust is the most difficult to obtain."

Bree looked up and locked her amber eyes with the pale greens of the professor. "Really?"

She nodded. "Indeed. We succubi and incubi have to work the hardest out of any of the collection demons. Mortals tend to lean toward acts of war, they always have. As much as they can change their nature, the one thing that always lies dormant and reay is their sense of violence. When they get angry, they want to break things. They want to hurt people. That makes Wrath very easy to obtain."

The professor reached a hand up and closed it around an object that materialised into her grasp. Bree recognized the object from the previous lessons as a standard U.S. dollar bill.

"Greed is even easier. Not everyone is greedy, but the ones who are have far more than enough for the collection demons to siphon. Mortals who have an abundance of something almost always want more- more than anyone else. They want to be the wealthiest person alive. They don't care about the needs of others, just their own desires. The more they collect, the more their Greed grows, and the more that Mammon Enterprise takes. The other companies are no different."

"What makes Lust so difficult?" Bree questioned.

"Simple- we can't just find it and take it, like the other sins. With Lust, we have to force the mortal to produce it, and not just to another mortal- they have to produce it for us. We have to actively entice them into engaging in sexual acts with us."

"Well, that doesn't seem too hard. They have sex with each other constantly."

"With other mortals, yes. But we are not mortals. We can pretend to be mortal to more easily entice the relations, but a full bond cannot be made if we hide our nature. The mortal must be made aware of our existence as a demon, and that is what makes our job difficult. Contrary to whatever you may have heard before, mortals do not naturally take kindly to demonic beings. They regard us with fear and hostility, so we have to try and make them lose those inhibitions first with nothing but the promise of pleasure. Especially in more recent centuries with the spread of christianity among the modern world, our job is harder than ever."

Bree's eyes dropped. "If our job is so hard, what happens if we fail?"

"Well, every succubus fails an excursion, even the most experienced. Just last week, my advances were denied and I was forced to find a more willing mortal. In our line of work, failing isn't just normal- it is expected."

"Yeah, but what if we can't get any success at all? What if we get denied by everyone?"

Professor Laezynnarus frowned. "I suppose one would get fired. If they then can't find a way to consistently feed, then they starve. If they continue to starve, they perish."

Bree whistled. "Harsh."

"There is no kindness in Hell."

Present day

"Yes, sir Asmodeus?"

Asmodeus sat comfortably in an office chair, wearing a simple, black office suit and tie. His body was that of a completely normal person, save the tinge of reddish-orange skin on his hands, but that ended when Bree's gaze rose to his shoulders. His neck was massive- a thick pillar of flesh that rose about six inches before branching off like a tree into three different heads, each terrifying in their own way.

The left one was larger than the other two, resembling the bestial, shaggy visage of a black-furred, red-eyed bull, complete with a pair of equally large horns that curled upwards. A heavy ring of brass dangled from between the nostrils, and this close, Bree could see the remnants of tormented souls trying to reach through the fur as if trapped within. How many? Bree had no idea.

The right head was that of a ram, a long face ending in a rounded snout, the short fur a pale white. The horns atop its head were even larger and thicker than the bulls, curling in on themselves and wrapping around and around in a tight spiral that must have weighed dozens of pounds each.The eyes were a piercing blue, staring directly through Bree with wisps of smoke reflecting across the irises like a fire was burning deep inside.

The middle head, though, had always been unsettling to Bree. Resembling that of a normal human, it had hard features and a powerful jawline. The skin was the same orange-red tint as his hands, unblemished by freckles or facial hair. The short-cropped, neatly-styled hair atop his head was a moderate grey, yet not of age. His face was perfectly smooth, free of any wrinkles or anything that could make his age easy to guess. He could pass as twenty, sixty, or three hundred- the timeless complexion was disorienting.

Most unsettling though, were the pair of eyes that the human head bore. With no irises of any kind, they were a solid, glossy black that reminded Bree of the time that she visited the voids beneath Hell. Standing at the edge, it was as if she were staring into the edge of everything- past her toes existed nothing. There was no land, no light, no life. Only a pitch expanse that almost begged her to jump so it could swallow her whole and erase every memory of her existence. Asmodeus's eyes looked exactly the same, and made Bree shiver.

All three heads spoke in unison again. The bull's voice was a deep, rumbling bass that almost shook the floor, tempered by the high, almost melodic bleating of the ram. Between both tones spoke the human head, a voice that carried the power of confidence, and the weight of tragedy.

"It is time for your bi-annual progress report."

"Uhh, yes... Yes, sir."

Bree fumbled around with her hands before finally managing to close her fingers around a folder that materialized within her grasp. She reached across the desk to hand it to the intimidating visage of Asmodeus, who opened it. The bull and ram head tilted downwards as if they were reading both sides of the page at the same time, but the human head remained focused on Bree. The dark eyes were unblinking, unrelenting, and unescapable. When he spoke, only the middle head created a voice this time.

"We established the boundaries of your demotion last progress report, and ensured that you would be working on file management under the supervision of Lillithalius."

"Yes, I remember sir."

"Your progress has been mediocre at best ever since you started with that position. I had been hoping to see some improvement, but you have shown none."

Bree stammered, readjusting her skirt with one slender hand. "B-but sir, I am trying as hard as I can. There are thousands upon thousands of files, with even more coming in at all times. Trying to read and sort them based on which succubus seduced which mortal, and which mortal committed which sexual crime is impossible to do that fast."

"Krazeamuthalitioner does well enough."

"Sir, he has four arms and can stop time for himself. I'm just a succubus- all I can do is make mortals horny."

"Apparently not, else you wouldn't have been demoted."

Asmodeus continued to smile, a sight that made Bree's stomach shrivel. Meanwhile, the ram head looked up from the folder, its higher pitched bleating almost painful to Bree's ears.

"This here says that you illegally travelled to the mortal realm for the period of..." The head looked back down and squinted. "Nine hours, twenty-six minutes, and forty-three seconds. Just prior to this meeting, in fact."

If Bree could sweat, she would have. That folder apparently stayed very up to date.

"Well, you see, Lillith tricked me into trying to get files from a mortal named Mordrekotos-"

The bull spoke up this time, the voice rumbling through Bree's chair more than her ears. "Lillithalius has no authority to send you to the mortal realm, such was explained to you during your demotion."

The ram head spoke again. "Not to mention, Mordrekotos deals with Beelzebub Incorporated, in the Gluttony department. He has no standing in Asmodeus Fabrication and Associates."

"Well, I didn't know that, sir-"

Asmodeus, the human head, interrupted her. "So you should have checked to confirm before travelling to the mortal realm. Lillithalius will face a minor punishment for intentionally trying to get you in trouble, but you face the greater punishment for not following my direct orders detailing your prohibition from travelling to the mortal realm."

The bull spoke again, vibrating Bree's chest.

"You also broke the details of your prohibition about siphoning the Lust of mortals. Concerning one Elijah Hanes, you entered his apartment, located at 735 Rosewell Street, Bradford, Ontario this morning and failed to seduce him. Following that, you not only broke the conduct of not returning to Hell immediately, but also informed him of several details about our company."

"Well, I-"

The ram head continued this time.

"You then convinced him to willingly let you siphon his Lust, but did so only to sooth your hunger. You siphoned plenty, but brought none of it back for fabrication into Ichryte. On that same topic, you also siphoned him for the period of nine hours, twenty-one minutes and twelve seconds- significantly longer than the premandated period of forty-five minutes."

"I- I didn't have the watch, sir." Bree managed to chirp out.

Asmodeus frowned. "As evident by your prohibition on siphoning. Yet, you did anyway, and because you did not have the mandatory watch for succubi and incubi, your siphoning went on far beyond the safe length."

"Yes, I'm sorry-"

Bree was interrupted yet again by the ram head. "There are reasons that forty-five minutes is the longest period in which we allow the siphoning of Lust."

Bree shivered. "I know, I could accidentally kill him if it went on for too long."

The ram head gave a wicked grin, one that shot fear into Bree's heart. "Breetheolamus, you cursed him with something worse than death."

Bree's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

Asmodeus spoke this time. "This was taught during your classes, but obviously it needs restating. The reason we use forty-five minutes as our cut-off time for succubi and incubi is because that is a short enough period of time that the bond you form with your partner does not permanently alter their brain. If it is less than the mandated time, then the magic will force them to forget about the succubi or incubi, and all of their activities, within an hour after the demon leaves. Because you went beyond that limit, Elijah will not forget about you. He will not forget about your conversations, nor will he forget that Hell is, in fact, real."

Bree felt like saying something stupid. "So?:

Asmodeus leaned forward, clasping his long fingers together with a devilish smile. "You don't understand, Breetheolamus. Mortal minds are fragile. The only reason we can make excursions into the mortal realm for siphoning of Lust is because our magic makes them forget us. If they do not forget, then more often than not they will be driven insane by the existence of both Hell and our dastardly upstairs neighbours."

The bull head snorted loudly, but Asmodeus continued. "That boy has been cursed with knowledge of our existence, yet the inability to make anyone believe him. He will have to live alone with his memories, knowing that nobody could ever or will ever understand what he knows. More importantly, it makes him a target.

Bree shuddered. "What will you do to him?"

The bull laughed, and Bree honestly thought her chair would collapse from the small earthquake that shook the room. "To the child? Nothing! There is no need. This situation has two upsides that make it so we don't have to do a thing. First, our knowledge in the mortal realm inscites unrest, and there is no better way to anger our heavenly counterparts. They have all of their oaths to not interfere with the lives of mortals, but that gets overruled when our own activities become involved. I suspect that if the boy starts making large ripples in the pond, an angelic bird might come down to pluck him out of the water altogether. Just like that one fellow- how long did he last? The one from Germany that Lillithalius went too long with last century."

Bree's eyes widened. Meanwhile, the ram did not give her a chance to speak before answering the bull. "Hmm. Thirteen years. However, he fully believed that he could entice her to come back with enough death. Fool should have known that wouldn't work since our import is Lust, not Wrath. Took him over a decade of rule and almost the entire jewish race eradicated before he finally learned she wasn't coming back. Wasn't long after that before the pricks above stepped in and plucked him. They have tightened up their restrictions since then, so the boy may not have to use such drastic measures in order to get a personal visit from one of those righteous asshats."

Bree's mouth went dry, but the bull once again rumbled through the walls.