The Succubae Seduction Bk. 02: The Twins Ch. 22

"So, aliens really do exist," Lyden spoke before he could think better of it. Gaia glared at him, but he noted that her glare wasn't as strong as it had been for Bridget. He ignored her look, and continued on, instead. "You said that order caused them pain. I remember hearing that before the Chaos War as well. That's why those that remain out there want to destroy our reality."

"Yes," Gaia nodded. "Basically, we live in a growing bubble of order, floating within an infinitely larger sea of chaos. They want to pop our bubble."

Something in her statement made Oberon chuckle, but every ignored him.

"Who was the first First?" Sheila asked. She'd regained her feet during the lesson, and had come to sit next to Lyden. "I mean, who was the one that created the spark of order?"

"You know her as the Pillar of Light," Gaia replied. "Something about the fact that she created everything makes her able to support this world without the need of a generator of her own."

"But she needs the other Pillars in order to keep this world?" Lyden asked, not sure on that point.

"If one more original Pillar falls, even if someone were to take their place immediately, then this world would crumble, and return to your world. It may even be enough to cause order to collapse in on itself, and start a chain reaction that would return everything to chaos. If that happens, everything you know, and everyone in existence would vanish."

"What would happen to the remaining Firsts?" Brooke asked.

"We've been here too long," Gaia shook her head. "Our minds have become too ordered. Even if we were to survive the transition, the other creatures of chaos would destroy us because we represent order."

Lyden sat, taking all of that in. It was weird to get the story of the creation of the universe from someone who had actually lived through it. He didn't know what to make of it all, but it put into perspective what they were trying to protect.

"Now you know what you're up against," Gaia said, as though reading his thoughts. "And I hope you can forgive me for doing what I had to, in order to support this world."

Lyden felt his anger rise up again. "You could have at least asked me," he snapped at her.

"And you would have denied me in order to protect your secret," Gaia replied, the hurt returning to her eyes.

"True," he admitted, "but it would have been easier to forgive you, now that I know the truth."

"You can forgive me?" she asked, hope blossoming across her face.

"That depends," he told her, intentionally stomping on that hope. "If you ask next time, I might try. Force me again, and I will never forgive you."

He watched her mouth the words, "Next time," and grimaced at his choice of words. He understood that there would need to be a next time in order to keep her strength up. While he couldn't deny that having sex with Mother Earth was quite pleasurable, he didn't appreciate being used as a tool.

"How is it, Master," Sheila asked next to him, "that you are able to wrap every woman in your life around your finger? It has to be more than you just being a Generator."

Instead of giving her an answer, he leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips. She pulled him tighter into the kiss, and he felt her teeth before she released him. Yeah, she was going to make him pay for his command earlier. Chances were that he was going to enjoy that as well.

"Sorry to interrupt," a new voice broke into the room, "and I'm truly sorry to have to do this, Gaia."

Everyone turned to see Gloria stride in, sword in one hand and a golden girdle around her waist. She was in full Aphrodite battle mode. Lyden jumped to his feet, uncertain what was going on.

"I understand this isn't by your choice," Gaia replied in somber tones. "And I've been expecting you. You're right on time."

"I always thought of you as a friend," Gloria said as tears streamed down her cheeks. Before anyone could respond or react, Gloria leapt forward, sword glimmering in the light to kill the Pillar of Earth.

* * * *

Shelly ran to her brother as he dropped to his knees. She had to shove the redhead away from him. His scream was one filled with the deepest, darkest agony. She was sure that he would recover any minute as his body returned to its permanent state.

Hunched over, Sheldon screamed his throat raw, and then continued to scream some more. The only breaks were when he had to suck in breath, before the screaming continued.

"What did you do to him?" Shelly screamed at the Pillar of Darkness. The tall man had a small grin creasing his lips, but didn't answer.

"What needed to be done," Lysa responded, floating over to the siblings. She ran her hand over Sheldon's head, and he quieted, going limp in Shelly's arms.

Fearing he was dead, Shelly felt at his neck and sighed with relief. He had a pulse, slow but strong.

"What do you mean, what had to be done," she demanded of her half-sister. "I thought we needed to get something to return Areth to her natural form."

"You have," Lucifer chuckled, his voice rich and smooth with satisfaction. "I have given him a paradox. The only reason he lives is because of Areth's blessing upon him. If any normal mortal were to receive my blessing, a paradox in itself, they would be consumed within moments."

"How does that help?" Shelly failed to keep any semblance of calm in her voice. "You're killing him!"

"No, Shelly, he isn't," Lysa tried to soothe her.

"And you!" Shelly spat at the Pillar of Air. "You knew this would happen? He's your family! How could you?"

"Shelly," Sonia appeared at her shoulder, her voice calm. "Listen to Lysa."

"Don't tell me what to do!" she spat at the android. She saw that Shlee and Mandy were hovering close by, either supporting Megan, or holding her back. She focused on the new woman. She recognized her as the woman yelling for her brother's attention outside the hospital after the White House blew up. Apparently, she found Sheldon, and if Lysa was to be believed, the Pillar of Air had set that meeting up. But other than that, who was she? She'd seemed disgusted when Shelly revealed that she'd had sex with her own brother, and yet challenged Sheldon to screw her and take her virginity.

"Did you do something to him?" Shelly demanded. "You were the only one near him when he started screaming. Lysa said she helped you get here. You're working with them to hurt my brother!"

"What?" Megan asked, shocked. "No! I—"

"Shelly, knock it off, right now," Lysa yelled at her.

Why was everyone yelling at her? Her brother was hurt, if not dying from what the devil or the evil redhead did to him, and they were yelling at her?

"Shelly..." Sonia's hands landed lightly on her shoulder. Her body reacted against her control, turning to the android and letting go of her brother. Tears streamed from her eyes as she buried her face in the woman's bosom. "Shelly." Sonia repeated and hugged her close.

"Jeeze, she really loves him, huh?" Megan's voice said over Shelly's sobs.

"Not in that way," Mandy said, an edge to her tone. "No matter what they were forced to do against their will, they're siblings, only."

"I was never close like that with my brother," Megan went on. "At least, not before he was killed overseas."

"I think what was revealed would be best kept amongst us," Shlee said. "Ambassador Snow is a good man, and I don't think he needs to know about what his wife and children did while being controlled by Jessica."

"That would be a great idea," Lucifer chuckled darkly, and Shelly pulled back to look at him. She felt ashamed for her weakness in crying in front of everyone, but couldn't bring herself to pull away from Sonia. Her emotions were a wreck, and the robot was her only stability. "But there's one problem. You see, we're surrounded by a fairly large group of very angry vampires and their allies."

"Let them have me," Shlee said, her voice sad but firm. "While they tear me apart, the rest of you can get away."

"Bloody, fucking shit!" Lucifer swore. "I've never met a group of people more willing to sacrifice themselves to protect each other. You make me sick! Get out of my sight!" He flung his arm out and darkness swallowed them all.

Shelly felt something behind her stomach twist as panic set in. There was no way they could stand up to a group of vampires and their allies. Especially not in their own domain: the darkness. Or in their current level of readiness. Before she had a chance to scream out, or do anything, she was blinded by a brilliant light.

She closed her eyes, but the light was still painful. She didn't know who brought the luminance into the Pillar of Darkness's domain, but hopefully it would hold their death back a little longer.

"Where are we?" Sonia said, still holding her. "I hate not having any GPS in this world."

Shelly felt ill. She didn't know how, but she knew things were worse. She accepted her fate. Guilt welled up in her for all that she'd said and done, and she knew she deserved to die here.

"I don't think..." Mandy started to speak. She sounded just as sad and defeated as Shelly felt.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Shlee spoke up right afterwards.

"At least we can see," Megan piped up. Her voice grated on Shelly's ears. It sounded too cheerful. Held too much hope.

Shelly peeped through a crack in her eyelids and found the light tolerable. It was still bright, but she could make out her surroundings if she squinted a little bit. With a groan, she realized where they were. The world around them looked washed out. There was color, but it was muted, as though anything pastel or that wasn't white would offend the being that ruled this area. It also explained why she felt the way she did.

"We're in the Pillar of Light's demesne," Mandy spoke up before Shelly could. "What we're feeling is guilt for every sin we've committed."

"I feel fine," Megan said, her voice sounding too loud. She needed to be more reverent in this place. Couldn't she sense that?

"You just fucked another woman's man, outside of wedlock, and with an audience," Shlee murmured. "How do you not feel bad about that?"

Megan seemed to consider that for a moment. "Well, I didn't really have a choice, did I?" She shook her head. "And I did it to help someone else out." She paused and her eyes grew large as she stared between Sheldon on the ground and Shelly in Sonia's arms. "Oh, I get it! You didn't have a choice when you two did it either! I'm sorry I was so rude and mean to you about that. I still think it's disgusting, but since you weren't in control, I guess I can get past it."

Shelly stared at the woman, shocked. She shouldn't feel bad about having sex with her brother? Megan could get past it? Who did this woman think she was?

Except that Shelly didn't feel guilty about that. Five minutes ago she had, but now she didn't. She felt overwhelming guilt for abandoning her brother as she tried to go after Jessica and ending up captured by the Myrmidon. She felt guilty about all the times she thought of her brother as foolish, but she didn't feel anything about how much she'd enjoyed the feeling of his massive cock plumbing her insides. What was wrong with her? In the one place where guilt could be considered a physical force, the domain of Light, she should be on her knees weeping with guilt for the incestuous act.

"I can't believe you, Megan," Mandy spoke up, shock in her voice. "I tried to support you, even though you were chasing after my man, but to see the way you treat his sister, makes me sick."

"What did I do to her?" Megan asked, upset. "I thought I was apologizing for the way I treated her."

"It's the way you're being so condescending," Shlee replied for the other woman. By the shadows under her eyes, she was suffering from terrible guilt, but Shelly didn't know what the werewolf geek would have done to deserve it.

"Sorry to break into this conversation," a male voice asked, "but can you tell me why there is an army of vampires sitting on our border?"

Shelly looked up at an image of pure beauty. His hair was golden bright, his eyes blue, and his features chiseled by the hand of God himself. Marchosias was a man of true beauty in a dark way, but this new stranger was gorgeous because of his light. Or in spite of it. He even shined a golden brilliance all his own, brighter than that of her brother. He floated a few feet off the ground, feathered white wings flapping with a lazy elegance, as though he didn't need them to stay afloat, but enjoyed the cool air they wafted around him.

"That's..." Shlee tried to speak, but she closed off with a sob. She dropped to her knees, and hunched over, shaking as tears streamed from her eyes.

Mandy moved to her side, trying to comfort her.

"They're pissed off because their ruse to destroy the werewolves failed," Megan said, her voice confident, and still not registering any remorse. "One of them tricked Shlee into falling in love with him, and then tried to kill her when she confessed that she was forced to fall in love with Eldon."

The angel turned to face the redhead, a curious look crossing his face. "You are not without sin, yet you stand before me unfazed. What is your name, child?"

"Megan Raquel Myers," the girl said, and it tripped something in Shelly's mind.

"You're the girl that was stalking my brother when I got released from the hospital!" Shelly said, accusing her. "Who are you?" Who was this woman that chased Sheldon into the Shadow World, and ended up screwing him before the Pillar of Darkness? And why didn't she feel any guilt for her sins? "What are you?" She added as she glanced at Sonia. Even the android was feeling the effects of this place, if her shaking was any indication. Was Megan an assassin robot, as Sonia had been before? Is that why she was unaffected?

"Your father was a stalwart man," the angel spoke, ignoring Shelly's internal concerns. "It seems he raised you to be strong. Your brother is in heaven with him. I see from your thoughts that the Father of Lies has worried you about their fate." The angel turned his formidable and enchanting gaze on Shelly. "No, she is no assassin, Shelly Lance. She is flawed, like any human, but she looks at the world through innocent eyes, though a different innocence than your newly souled companion. Sometimes the most innocent are the wisest. She knows that her actions moments ago were not entirely of her choosing. Lucifer could not stand to touch her long, but I can see from your thoughts that he managed to kiss her, and so cast a geis upon her. Her personality was augmented, and she forced your brother to dominate her."

"But... but..." Shelly looked around, trying to understand. She didn't feel guilty for screwing her brother, but did for doing what she thought was right in chasing after Jessica? It didn't make sense. It wasn't right, or fair! And this redheaded tart was getting off easy, even after being an exhibitionist, having sex outside of wedlock, and stalking her brother!

"Jealousy is also a sin," the angel spoke with a calm and smooth voice. Shelly felt a new wave of guilt swarm across her skin, but pushed past it.

"We need to get to Lyden Snow," Mandy spoke up. "We need to restore the fairy, Areth, to her natural state, and remove Satan's blessing from Eldon before it kills him."

And shouldn't the four-armed twit be overcome with grief after all the deaths Sheldon and her caused? Shelly's thoughts flared with a dark desire to have those around her feel the same burning regret that she did.

"Stop it, my love," Sonia whispered to her, almost as though she could read Shelly's thoughts. But she wasn't Jessica. Jessica had been able to read Shelly's mind, and she'd still loved her. She was likely just reading her body language, but it bothered Shelly. She pulled away and glared at her girlfriend.

"Why do you even care?" Shelly spat. "I'm ruined goods. You don't love me because of who I am, but because it's my soul that you stole a portion of."

"Shelly, no..." Sonia moaned and covered her mouth. Pain reflected back in her eyes from Shelly's harsh words.

Shelly's guilt doubled, and she fought against the tide that tried to overwhelm her. She didn't deserve the android's love. She didn't deserve anyone's love. She was a wretched person, and she should crawl into a hole and die. King Aecus had seen how unworthy she was, and forever tainted her.

"It is always a terrible thing when someone leaves darkness, only to be blinded by the light," the angel spoke. He moved before Shelly could react, and she felt the back of his hand press against her forehead. "Calm down child, and know that your sins are not that great. Though they seem large now, redemption is not beyond you. Forgiveness can be tough, but everyone is deserving who seeks it with true intent."

Shelly stumbled back, numb and weak. Her guilt fled as fast as the darkness had when they were sent here. She looked back at Sonia, at the anguish and torment she'd caused and felt... nothing. No, not quite nothing. She knew that deep down her words were true, even without Mandy's presence, but she no longer felt guilt. For this one moment in time, she was incapable of feeling guilt. She knew that she cared for the android, and knew that at any other time she would feel terrible for her actions, but she couldn't do it right at that moment.

"If that's how you truly feel, then I won't press my attentions on you anymore," Sonia stated, a hitch in her voice. "I'm sworn to protect you, and I will continue to do so, but you won't have to worry about my unwanted attentions."

When Sonia turned her back, Shelly felt something. It wasn't regret or remorse, but a sudden emptying within her heart. Still, she couldn't offer any words to soften her actions. She was numb inside.

"That's much better," the angel said with a beatific smile. "Mortals can be such a bother. Now to offer solace to the werewolf."

"No," Shelly finally found her voice. She couldn't put her finger on it, but knew that she didn't want Shlee feeling as numb and empty as she did. She knew the woman was suffering, but this hollow feeling inside was unnatural.

The dazzling man turned to look at her with a question on his face. "Do you not wish for your compatriot to feel better? Do you truly wish her to continue to suffer?"

Shelly tried to look within herself to tell him why she felt the way she did, but there was no answer. There was nothing inside of her to answer.

"That's quite enough, Amenadiel," Lysa's voice floated to them. "It's time they returned to a less dismal location, anyway."

The wondrous man, Amenadiel, frowned at the empty space. Even his frown was beautiful. "You should not be allowed to enter this domain. Lucifer's current slut should be crippled with guilt and sorrow for her heinous and lascivious actions."

"Good thing it's just my voice, then, huh?" Lysa laughed back, a little on the malicious side. Shelly thought that if she were feeling normal, she wouldn't have liked this side of her half-sister. "Their ride is about here. Go on, leave them to me. Shew, shew."

"Philanderous slut," Amenadiel muttered, but flapped his wings and flew off into the washed-out distance.

"Now then," Lysa's voice remained disembodied, "I've directed the Rocs to speed you to Gaia's home, where Dad is currently enjoying her ministrations. You should have—Ah! Not right now, Lucy! I'm in the middle of—ungh!"

Everyone looked around, not sure what was happening. When Lysa didn't return to talking to them, they assumed she'd been cut off by the Pillar of Darkness, somehow. Shelly still couldn't find it within herself to care.

Mandy and Shlee looked over Sheldon, though it was obvious that Shlee was still suffering greatly from her guilt. Megan had tried to go to Sonia to talk to her, but the android ignored her. Shelly didn't stop her when the redhead came to her next.