The Succubae Seduction Bk. 02: The Twins Ch. 06

"The next time I got out, I ran. I wasn't going to risk getting caught again. I wasn't a danger to anyone, and that goblin girl showed me that people in the outside world could be friendly. I will never go back. I ran to Earth, and spent some time there, but some humans found me hiding in an abandoned warehouse. They thought I was weak and tried to rob me. Of course I defended myself. Mom made sure I knew how to fight. There were... other... issues that arose, and I came back to the Shadow World. I was left in peace, as long as I didn't bother anyone else."

"Sounds lonely," Shelly said as she reached over to grip Jessica's hand. She felt Jessica stiffen for a moment, then accepted the touch.

"It was," she responded after a few seconds. "I wasn't completely alone. The goblin girl showed me that not everyone was bad, but the humans made me wary. I'd make a friend for a night, or a week, but never longer. I never let anyone get too close. My mom's words still make me worry, but I know I'll be safe with you. You're just like me. You're proof that I'm not evil."

It almost sounded like Jessica was trying to convince herself. Looking into her blue eyes, Shelly saw pain and anguish. She couldn't imagine how it would be to grow up like that. To be told you were evil, or that you would be killed if anyone knew what you were. Eldon and she had seen a bit of mistrust from others because they were crossbreeds, but they had Gaia's blessing. It was part of why they fought so hard to keep people safe. They wanted to prove that they weren't evil. The fact that their father was a well known hero only made them fight harder. Shelly knew her brother struggled being in their dad's shadow.

"When I saw your brother fighting those ogres, I saw an opportunity to prove myself again. He looked good in that form. I thought maybe he could keep me warm for a bit, if I helped save him. I didn't know who he was at the time." She shook her head, but Shelly felt the grip on her hand tighten. "I didn't think I would get caught up in all of this. Your father, your siblings, and now the Pillar of Water is dead..."

Shelly's heart broke. She saw in this other woman something that she might have been, if her father hadn't been the legendary Lyden Snow, and if her mother hadn't loved them as much as she had. She opened her mouth to say something, anything to comfort her girlfriend, but Brooke spoke up first.

"I'm truly sorry for what you went through." Brooke stood and walked back to where the women were sitting on the bed. The redhead looked down at them with sorrow in her eyes. "I once hated the succubae as well. I was taught that they were evil soul sucking creatures. When I found one hanging around the man I cared for, I planned on killing her. Lyden stopped me, and I'm glad he did. We became good friends after that, each of us saving the other's life multiple times. She turned out to be a good woman, and worthy of love and respect. I have met a few that only cared about what souls they could take while pleasing someone, but I have known many more that were like my friend."

"I think Gloria is one of the good ones," Shelly offered. For a moment, she thought Jessica was going to pull her hand away, but she ended up slumping her shoulders and looking at her lap.

"You're right," her voice was soft, but Shelly heard it in the silence. "I treated her poorly, and she's done nothing to deserve it. I guess... No, nevermind."

"Please," Shelly pleaded, squeezing the woman's hand. She knew Jessica needed to get everything out in the open if she was going to work through her issues. "We're your friends. I—I hope that I'm more than that by now. You can tell us." Shelly's heart hammered in her chest, thundering in her ears as she made that confession. She really liked Jessica. She wouldn't call it love by any stretch of the imagination, but it was more than simple friendship.

"You are!" Jessica looked up and met Shelly's eyes. She clasped Shelly's hand in both of hers and held it between them. Jessica's eyes shown with unshed tears. Her grip would have been painful, if Shelly didn't find it so welcome. "I just... I don't want to hurt you."

Shelly's heart dropped. She didn't know what was behind the hesitation, but was afraid of it.

"If it's the truth..." she trailed off, trying to sound encouraging.

Jessica looked at Brooke and she got the message. "I'll go back up front. Sorry to get in the middle of you two." She squeezed Shelly's shoulder in comfort before walking away. Brooke was always compassionate to her husband's children, but right then she felt awkward receiving that compassion from one of her father's wives, while dealing with her own matters of the heart.

"I like you," Jessica started in a way that sounded like there was a 'but' coming. Shelly let Jessica take a few breaths, waiting the other woman out. "But, I think I still like your brother, also. I hate that that succubus has her fingers in him. I shouldn't have treated Gloria like I did. I'm... I'm so confused."

Shelly sat there for a few moments, trying to absorb that. Jessica still liked Eldon? But she'd rejected him. She'd broken his heart. Shelly loved her brother—in the familial sense only—but she felt jealousy at Jessica's admission. She couldn't pin it down. Eldon had moved on. Didn't Shelly deserve to be happy with someone?

"Say something," Jessica pleaded. The tears flowed from her beautiful blue eyes now. Shelly looked into them, and knew what her answer was.

It took her a moment to speak past the emotion trying to close off her throat. "I'll let you have him. I don't want to stand in your way. I know he still likes you. I can see it in the way he looks at you. I—" She had to stop to keep her voice from shaking. Jessica squeezed her hand, and she knew the other woman was about to speak so she hurried on. "I won't stand in your way when we get back, but I won't try to break them up, either. He likes Gloria too, and I think she is a good woman, no matter what you think of the succubae." She had to look away, lest she reveal her emotions.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated the succ—er... Gloria. I was rude, and I can see where she didn't deserve the way I treated her. The next time I see her, I'll apologize." She moved one of her hands and Shelly felt one finger turn her face back. The finger lingered on her chin for a moment before moving to cup her cheek. "Just because I like your brother, doesn't mean I don't want you. I meant what I said. I like you... A lot. I—It's screwed up, I know."

"Wow, that's..." Shelly didn't know how to complete that sentence.

"I'm sorry! Forget I said anything," Jessica moaned. "I'm sick, and screwed up. I—"

"Would you knock that off," Shelly snapped, getting exasperated with the woman's behavior. Her emotions were in flux, and right then she wasn't sure she could tell up from down without laughing and crying at the same time. Jessica liked her, but liked her brother also. Shelly loved her brother and wanted him to be happy, but she had a right to be happy also, didn't she?

She didn't know what made her do it. Maybe it was the fear mixed with hope she saw in Jessica's eyes, or her own uncertainty roiling in her stomach, but she took her free hand and grabbed the back of Jessica's dark hair. She pulled the other woman into a kiss, pressing her lips to Jessica's soft mouth.

Jessica didn't react at first, unless you count stiffening. Shelly held it for a moment longer before realizing what she'd done. She let go and backed away, tears already forming in her eyes. Before she moved a couple inches, Jessica released her hand and pulled her face back into the kiss. Jessica's hands kept an iron grip on her cheeks as her tongue slipped between Shelly's lips.

Despite her rollercoaster emotions, Shelly was quick to respond, meeting the invading tongue with her own. Her arms wrapped around the tanned woman as they fell sideways onto the bed. They rolled to the side, until Jessica ended up on top, gripping Shelly's wrists and holding them over her head in a vice-like grip. Shelly moaned as she felt the other woman take control and kiss her with renewed passion.

"Ahem," Brooke's voice interrupted them.

Shelly came back to reality with a shock, as she remembered her stepmom and half-sibling in the car with them.

"Sorry," Jessica mumbled, her cheeks burning as red as Shelly's felt.

"I'm glad you two made up, but I thought you should know we're almost there," Brooke stated.

Shelly noticed a slight smirk on the mermaid's face and her cheeks burned hotter. She sat up, straightening out her clothes and avoided looking at her accomplice.

"Relax, you two. I remember what it's like to be young. At least I stopped you before anything embarrassing could happen." She winked at them. Shelly wanted to crawl into the deepest, darkest hole and never come back out.

"Mom, leave them alone," Brock came to their rescue, but Shelly only felt worse.

Brooke chuckled as she went to one wall of the car, then grew serious. She opened a hidden compartment that Shelly had no clue ever existed. The mermaid hesitated, then reached in and pulled out two long, thin blades. She pulled each one out of its sheath about an inch, then slammed them back in.

Shelly caught a glimpse of blue. She knew what those blades were. They were the blades of a mermaid assassin. Magical, they could cut through almost anything. She wished she would have had one when she saved Jessica from the Myrmidon. The watery blades were instant death to those fire-based creatures. They had one major drawback, however. Their wielder felt their victim's death. It was supposed to harden an assassin's willpower. If half the stories Shelly had heard about her stepmom were true, Brooke's willpower had to be granite.

"I hoped never to wield these again," Brooke whispered just loud enough for Shelly to hear.

She realized the opportunity she had before her. These weapons were rare. They were only given out when an assassin earned them, and usually recovered on their death. If she could touch one for just a moment, she could become one of those weapons. She didn't know what that would do to her when she was used to kill, but the opportunity to replicate a magical weapon was too great to pass up.

"Can I see one of those?" she asked as she got to her feet.

Brooke tucked the weapons close to her chest and backed away. "I can't let you do that," Brooke pulled further away until Shelly retracted her hand. She understood that Brooke knew enough about the blades, and knew what Shelly was capable of, that if she didn't want her touching it, it was likely for the best. Even so, she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at the lost opportunity.

They felt the car stop, and Shelly glanced outside. The sun was setting, but they were nowhere near the Bermuda Triangle, much less underwater. She couldn't make out much through the distortion between the inside and outside of the Orange Bubble, other than they weren't in any city.

"We're not going straight to Varun's demesne?" she asked, confused. She thought they were going to investigate the Pillar of Water's murder.

"We can't," Brooke stated. "Though, I suppose we should start thinking of it as Poseidon's demesne if he really took over. We're too well known there. After the events yesterday, we'll have to take another route in. That means a different portal."

"But where?" Jessica asked with a note of nervousness in her voice. "If we have to travel underwater, I won't make it."

Brooke regarded them for a couple moments. Shelly didn't like the frown that crossed her stepmom's face. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to blindfold the two of you."

"What?" Jessica spluttered and moved further up the bed, away from the mermaid. "Why? What about your..." she trailed off as she glanced at Brock before adding, "son?"

Shelly didn't like the idea of being blindfolded either, but she trusted Brooke.

"Brock knows where we're going already. He helped me build the place. Unfortunately, the place is kept top secret. The only people that know where it is: those that live there and those that helped create it. The fact that I have to take you there will cause more than enough problems."

"Why does it have to remain a secret?" Shelly asked. She might not be the most privy to all that happened in the Shadow World, but she thought she was trusted enough to know some things. That there were secrets this big she wasn't trusted with bothered her. Was it that she wasn't trusted, that this secret was just that big, or something she didn't understand?

She decided to trust in her stepmom. She went to Eldon's dresser and grabbed a couple of his shirts. Her shirts would be too small to make a good blindfold.

"Trust me," Shelly told her girlfriend. "I would trust Brooke with my life, and you can too." She waited for Jessica to nod before tying the shirt around her head. She made sure her black hair wasn't in the knot. To make sure it was secured, she held her breath and put her face in front of Jessica's. When she didn't react, she pressed her lips firmly against the other woman, and smiled at the way she jumped slightly.

Brooke tied Shelly's blindfold on, leaving her in darkness. She waited for the mermaid to guide her, and jumped when she spoke in Shelly's ear. "You'll forgive me if I don't use the same trick to make sure you can't see."

Shelly's cheeks burned as she heard the smile in the woman's voice. A moment later she felt a hand slip into hers and squeezed it, somehow knowing it was Jessica.

"Okay," Brooke spoke up, "We don't have to travel far, but keep a hold of my hand. Brock will follow after, and I'll let you know when it's safe to remove the blindfolds."

Brooke grabbed Shelly's other hand in a firm grip that belied her small frame. She placed one foot forward, testing the floor of the car, then berated herself. She knew the path was clear and would be until they got out of the Orange Bubble. She would have to trust Brooke to watch her footing after that.

"Step out of the car now," Brooke guided her as she heard Brock's mechanical legs following them. "Good. Now the path is mostly flat, with only a few turns until we get to the building. I'll let you know if you need to avoid anything. Okay, Jessica, go ahead and step down. There you go. Now just follow me."

Brooke guided them a small distance and true to her word, whenever something might slip them up in the slightest, the mermaid warned them.

Shelly had no idea where they were, or if they were even in the same country. The Orange Bubble could travel faster than airplanes, and was infinitely safer. Chances were that if they weren't still in the U.S., they were in Canada, but there was no way to know for sure. The humidity in the air was tolerable, and not overpowering, and the temperature was somewhere in the eighties.

"We're entering the building where the portal is. The floor is smooth, but we'll have to go down a few flights of stairs. Don't worry Brock, those legs were designed to be able to maneuver in any terrain. Your dad wanted to make sure you wouldn't be limited to one place anymore."

Shelly didn't know what Brooke considered a few flights of stairs, but her legs were tired by the time they were informed that they'd reached their floor. Brooke guided them for a couple more minutes down winding hallways, or what Shelly assumed were winding hallways.

She knew the moment they went through the portal. The solid floor turned to dirt and rock beneath her feet and her ears wanted to pop from the change in pressure, but the blindfold wasn't taken off right away.

"Who are they?" a deep voice demanded, followed by what Shelly thought sounded like an angry purr.

"I've told you about Shelly Lance, and this is Jessica..." Brooke started to answer, but trailed off when she didn't know Jessica's last name.

"I'm Jessica Angel," she replied for herself.

"Yeah, well, what about... By the Pillars, is that Brock? Nice legs man!"

"Thanks Erwin. My dad just got them for me." There was no doubting the amount of pride in Brock's voice at his new gift.

"Humph," the man grunted. "That doesn't explain why you brought them here, Brooke. This place is supposed to remain hidden. What do you think you're doing by bringing them here?"

"Varun is dead, Erwin," Brooke's voice was solemn.

Shelly itched to take off the blindfold, but she remembered Brooke's warning to wait. She didn't like the way this Erwin guy was treating her stepmom but she also sensed a subtle danger about him. She could shift into the form of a shield or sword with a simple thought, and since Jessica was still holding her hand, she would be armed or protected as needed. She was hesitant to do so, not wanting to turn this situation into something more dangerous than it already was.

"Sucks to be him, then." Erwin's response to Brooke's statement shocked her. "Seems we've been losing Pillars a fair amount in the last couple decades. That one was a bit too uppity for my tastes anyway. Did your hubby finally do him in?"

"This is serious," Brooke stated in a tone Shelly knew well. It was the same tone she used when teaching the twins how to fight, and she thought they weren't trying hard enough. Sheldon had received that tone more than Shelly, and every time, her brother ended up sprawled on the ground, a new bruise forming somewhere. It wasn't that Brooke was violent, but she didn't tolerate fools very well. "Remember the amount of chaos that followed the Chaos War? Lysa and Angela did their best, but a lot of bad things happened while they were learning to control their powers."

"Heh, they should have called that time the Second Chaos War. Volcanoes going off all the time, and windstorms whipping up enough sand to shred an ogre in seconds. Hell, remember that new volcano that suddenly appeared in Egypt about a year after your hubby destroyed that outsider? Baffled scientists, until our world became common knowledge over there."

"That's why we're trying to find out who did it," Brock piped up. "We don't want them doing it to any other Pillars."

"Meh, they could take out the Pillar of Darkness for all I care. He's not exactly a friendly guy either. And that Pillar of Light? I hear he's pretty stuffy and won't see anyone." The man chuckled, but Shelly couldn't believe what she was hearing. The Pillars were what allowed them all to live in this world. That's why they're called the Pillars! "None of them matter to us down here. It's not like the water can hurt us after the way you built this place, and as long as Gaia doesn't find out we're here, none of the other Pillars will learn of us." Erwin's voice gained a hard edge as he continued to speak. "But bringing strangers here is a good way for others to find out about us. You know the rules as well as I do, Brooke. They need to die."

Shelly didn't understand what was going on. She was blind, but what the man was saying made no sense. Gaia knew about everything that touched her ground. It didn't matter whether it was in this realm, or Earth. She didn't watch everything at once, but to think that there might be something going on under her nose was laughable. Unless... This wasn't ground under her feet, but something else.

The sounds of blades being drawn broke the momentary silence. Shelly decided to act. She'd seen Jessica fight with a sword and decided that would be the perfect shape to take. Sheldon's shirt fell away from her eyes as she formed her hand into the hilt and the rest of her body twisted into a sharp, three foot long blade. She had to shift much of her mass out or she would have been too heavy for Jessica to wield. She didn't know where that mass went, only that it was there for her when she needed to change back. When she formed into things with greater mass, she had to absorb mass from objects around her. She hated doing that, though. It made her feel bloated for days afterwards.