Chapter – 15 – Sweet Lies

{Alice}

Demons, infernal beings spawned from the never-ending Hells. A barren and chaotic dimension's desperate desire for order and life, or so it was said. Since ancient times, long before humans had ever spoken their first words before they had so much as set foot on earth’s surface, the demons had come up with the tongue of flowing sands. The infernal language was ever-changing and twisting; impossible to speak or even understand for those untouched by the Hells. Only those whose souls contained a seed of miasma could learn the tongue, all others had to fall back on magical tools. Of course, being a Dutrar, I had always been fluent in infernal, ever since my early childhood in fact. The only problem was that now I couldn’t stop speaking it!

Somehow I had been speaking it ever since I had woken up without even noticing. And while I still knew how English worked and how to speak it, I just couldn’t! No matter what I said it always came out in Infernal.

“Poop! Ah, nope, still infernal. Hmmm… Diddley widdley tiddle bits!” I frowned at my own reflection. “How the hells was even that in infernal? For fucks sake, what I am saying doesn’t even match the way my mouth moves! I must come across like a badly dubbed anime villain… and I have the looks of one that too.”

From the mirror three yellow eyes looked back at me, the one on my forehead looked especially displeased. Obviously being me, my first course of action had been poking the damnable thing. That had been rewarded with it actually glaring back at me through the mirror! And flipping it the bird had only resulted in my own hand slapping me. Since then it had been staring at me like a particularly displeased Imp. Though I could have sworn it looked almost happy about my language problems.

“You win this time demon me… but I was here first so don’t get any funny ideas!”

My reflection actually had the gall to roll her eyes… well, eyeball. Apparently, that was the only part of my body this other me had full control over, which suited me just fine. There was no way I was going to give up my life and body to some upstart demon baby.

“Wait… doesn’t that make me a demon baby too? But no, I’m the human part, or am I the spirit part? Ugh! This is way too confusing. And my two sets of memories aren’t really helping at either, hells… I really did some terrible things. Anygay! As long as we just agree on being Alice, and you keep still, we’ll be just fine. Roll your eye if you understand!”

I smirked at the glaring eyeball, now that I was prepared she couldn’t hijack my body anymore and I was fully in control. Good thing too cause I needed all my focus just so I didn’t slip.

Slowly and carefully I lowered myself down from the basin and back to the floor. There was no way I’d try and drop onto the wheelchair, that thing looked way too rickety. Getting in the wheelchair itself was surprisingly easy though. Sure, I couldn’t move my legs anymore but I was rather fit and slim, lifting my body with just my arms was one of the easiest things for me. And yet, I was weak still compared to Lyn. Despite not looking like it she was much, much stronger than me. It was scary to think of what her affliction was doing to her. I had never seen a fully transformed infected, but my mother had described them to me as fearsome, terrible beings that stalked the night hunting for common folk and witches alike.

And to make matters worse there was no telling as to which kind of strain Lyn was carrying. If it was truly Strigaria then there were several forms the sickness could take. Even if it was named after the mythical Striga, I had never read of any real-life sightings of those beings. Most people infected turned into Ghouls, lesser vampires – if they were lucky – or in the worst case a Warg. Easily two-meter tall wolfish monstrosities that could transform back into humans only during the full moon. My cousins used to joke about them and call them “shitty reverse werewolves” back when I was younger. Though they also regularly called me a tiny vicious demon so maybe they knew more than I gave them credit for.

“Alas, they are off traipsing through some monster den or whatever, so I don’t see me questioning them anytime soon. And I am stuck here… in a wheelchair… being a horrible fusion of girl, spirit, and demon or some shit… bound to a soon to go crazy but also very hot, rich girl. By the Hells, my life is a mess. Shows me once more to not be so hasty with everything, especially relationships. And it’s not like I am going to learn any better this time around. Right, me?”

My third eye just rolled in annoyance again. Well, at least one of us was seriously done with my love life. Now if only that part of me wasn’t a demonic splinter that was trying to take over my life! I was certain that neither of us would be fast friends so I didn’t feel all that bad about covering up the eye with bandages. Or at least I had wanted to do so, it all got a lot more complicated once I realized how annoying my new finger claws were. After barely a minute of cursing and frustrated squawking I gave up under the mirthful gaze of my demonic passenger.

“Don’t think I am done just yet, Demon! I will triumph! Lyn! Ithelyn! Get your backstabbing, cursed, magical ass in here! I need help.”

Instead of her coming inside, I was surprised when I heard a commotion from outside. Even after rolling closer on my, oh so nifty, wheelchair I couldn’t really make out what was said. To make matters worse I had no idea how to open the door while stuck in this delightful rolling torture device! If it had opened away from me I would have just rolled into it but this stupid door opened towards me!

“This is going to get boring really fast but eh, fuck it…” Channeling my ever-growing frustration, I let out a mighty scream! “Open the Gods' damned fucking door!”

Almost immediately the door swung open and crashed right into both of my deformed feet. I looked at the person before me with all three of my eyes showing the same displeasure.

“You just crushed my feet.”

The girl was fully covered up with a beanie, sunglasses, and a hygienic mask, looking quite like some sort of hobo. First, she stared at my face, then my wheelchair, and finally my feet, what was visible of her face growing paler by the second.

“Oh gowsh! I’m swo sowwy pwease dwon’t hwuwt mweee!”

If my eye could have bulged out of my head they surely would have upon hearing her abomination of a voice. I didn’t even care that she could understand me, the fact that she had a lisp like a damn baby was overshadowing everything.

“What is wrong with your… voice?”

“I’m swowwy! I dwon’t want tow spweak like this!”

“Then how about you stop?”

“I can’t! I’m twying but mwy mwouth is all swollen!”

“So why are you annoying me with that? And where did Lyn go off too? Anygay, I’m just gonna go and find her so if you could step aside…”

“Noooow! Wait! You have tow helpw mwe!”

“And why would I?” By now I was getting seriously annoyed, what the Hells did the girl think I could do about her situation?

“Cause you mwade the wiwt that caused so mwuch mwiasmwa tow bwe weleased!”

“Oh.” I couldn’t help but purse my lips in discontent. “I did that… yeah. Admittedly, not my most glorious moment. So you got a seed now or… wait no. Your aura… you’re that tainted blood with the big tits. Got an older seed, right? Gonna turn into a Lust-spawn? Is that it?”

The girl looked at me quite distraught but soon enough gave a faint, sad nod. Looking at her for a little while longer I noticed something curious. While she was obviously very meek and insecure, she also seemed to possess impressive mental defenses. I could barely hear so much as a distorted whisper of her thoughts. And the longer I stared at her the less I could make out until at some point trying to overcome come her mental fortress had me actually hurting.

“Pwease dwon’t twy tow get intow mwy mwind.”

“Yeah, I can see why. That’s one hell of an impressive defense. Now You still haven’t told me what exactly I am supposed to help you with? On a wild guess, I would say you want to stop turning into a demon?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, fuck, that’s gonna be hard…”

“Can ywu dwo it?”

“Uhm…” I was just about to scratch my head before I remebered the nasty claws on my hands. “So, you can see how very fucked I am but, if I asked Ithelyn for help… perhaps it might be possible. There are rituals, old rituals mind you, my clan used before… well before what isn’t important. But yes, technically I should be able to help you. But keep in mind tha- AH!”

I couldn’t even finish the sentence before she literally tackled me to the ground, wheelchair and all.

“Thwank ywou! Thwank ywu sow mwuch!”

“UGH! I literally understood nothing of that! Now get off of me!”

I didn’t bother waiting, instead, I just pushed her right off me. Which only served to make me more upset as I got to feel just how much I was missing compared to her.

“SWOWWY! Dwo ywo need helpw?”

“No!” I leaned away from her. “I definitely do not want your help. Just go away, I’ll find you when I have time!”

“Ohw, okay.”

Crestfallen and looking quite like a beaten puppy she slunk out off the bathroom. I did feel a little bad about mouthing off like that, but she had literally knocked me out of my stupid wheelchair. Which I now had to get back into, all on my own… and the door had fallen close again.

“Oh, I hate today.”

. . . . .

{Ithelyn}

I had actually tried stopping it, the smoking that was. But with all the recent stuff going on it provided at least a little bit of relief. And I was starting to doubt that smoking would really kill me by now. Not with how many other things were gunning for my life.

“Hah… blessed Strawberry flavored nicotine, only you can truly satisfy me. Even when there is just way too much going on.”

My fingers gently traced the rim of the letter in my hands; it felt strangely heavy for simple paper, though perhaps it was the wax seal? The symbol of a rising sun set in orange wax. I had actually thought to never see it again, not after my time in the middle east.

“They must know, right Hugin?” My fingers stopped in their tracks. “Oh… right. You’re gone. Just like, Dad.”

“Not quite actually!”

I spun around in shock only to see Alice grimace at me.

“Come on, I’m not that creepy, just medium creepy at most. You have apparently never seen a quasit. Now that will haunt your dreams, ugly little bastards.”

“Alice.” I quietly muttered.

She rolled up to the balcony I was standing on and fixed me with a deadpan stare.

“Ithelyn.”

“Uhm, hey?” Now I was never gonna tell her, but her third eye really was creepy.

“So, you’re probably thinking. Oh no, what ever could have the crippled bird girl meant!?”

“Eh.” Apparently, her snark had only intensified over the last few days. “No?”

“I figured you would, so to clear up the confusion in that smooth brain of yours, Hugin isn’t really gone in the sense that you are probably thinking. In fact, you are so terribly lucky cause you get to keep me around forever.”

“What?” I was far too baffled to form any kind of eloquent response. Not only was she still talking in infernal, which I could only barely understand thanks to my implant, but her third eye was looking up and down my body as if checking me out!

“Ah, I see. You really are confused. Well, should have studied demonology like me! So bare bones explanation, Hugin is only so far dead as he no longer exists in the form of a spirit. But he does very much exist now in the form of a marginally beautiful and crippled woman!”

“Okay, not gonna lie. I am still very much confused. Also, your third eye is staring at me like I was a piece of meat!”

“Ithelyn, ignore that thing in my forehead and listen to me, I will make it as simple as possible. Hugin is me and I am Hugin. Got it?”

“Wait… are saying you are not Alice?” I sneakily used the distraction to slip the letter into my back pocket. “Cause you’re demon side said your name was Ali’ce Desra?”

This time all three of her eyes focused on my face and I could feel the change in her more than I could see it.

“Correct, Mistress. But our soul is an amalgamation of different biengs. Hugin, Alice, and the demonic base instincts are all parts of us. We are Hugin, and we are Alice but first of all, we are Ali’ce Desra. Over time every part will cease to be separate and we will become whole and…”

Her eye suddenly refocused and went back to acting independently of one another.

“Please don’t use that name, Lyn. It feels like ants crawling over my mind. Very much unpleasant!”

“Sorry, Alice. I guess I didn’t think.”

Trying to act casually I took another drag of my cigarette but by now it had already burned down. Still, it no matter how I turned and twisted her words, I couldn't make sense of them. While I didn’t think she was lying to me it was all quite strange. If demons could just absorb spirits like that, what happened if the spirit was more powerful than the demon? Would the demon be destroyed or would the spirit turn into a demon?

“Both really.”

“AH!” Once more I spun around, shocked by the sudden intrusion on my mind. “What the fuck was that? Hugin?”

“Ah, cool. So I sound more like Hugin than Alice in your mind?”

I looked back down at Alice who had her eyes closed but gave me a short smile.

“Yeah, actually! You sound almost exactly like him! Though much more feminine I guess.”

“Hmm… Guess that is what my voice will deviate towards once I am fully transformed, I wonder what this will mean for my body.”

“How are you doing that? I didn’t know you were a Psion!”

“Oh, I’m not. But you ARE my Mistress. And a certain mental connection is a given between Witch and Familar. Demon familiars aren’t any different there. Also, I can read your thoughts quite easily now, so maybe try and raise up some defenses.”

She could read what now!? No, there was no way that I was letting anyone in my head even if it was Alice or Hugin or whatever!

“Ma… ...ot ..a… ...ong!” Alice's eyes opened up only to give me a death stare. “Guess we need to train that a bit more. By the way, what’s up with the letter you are so worried about?”

“How did you…” I shook my head in disbelief. “Right, read my mind. Gods, you really are just like Hugin.”

“Mhm, oh fuck it.” Before I could react Alice disappeared in a flurry of feathers and clothes. In the next second, a giant raven with three eyes flew up to my shoulder and sat down. “Craw!”

“Much better! At least in this form my legs still work.”

“So…” I began wearily eyeing her sharp beak and claws. “You aren’t going mental and try to eat my eyeballs or anything, right?”

“Did I ever? Wait… ye, back when we first met?”

“Not gonna lie, it is a bit scary how much you sound like Hugin.”

“Well, if you get a hold of one of my sisters you can call her Munin. Weirdo.”

“Sisters? I didn’t know there were more of you!”

“Hahaha~! Not on this side at least. Now that the spell on my soul is broken my thoughts are starting to get clearer. Giving it a bit of thought I figured out who or rather what I am. And if I am correct then my mother, well my real mother must be Grimaldra Shan’desra the Lady of Decay.”

“You know an awful lot all of a sudden.” Packing up her wheelchair I started walking back into the school. “Where is all that knowledge coming from?”

“From my head, silly. But no, seriously now, I’m just making a hypothesis. Black feathers and three eyes could be a bunch of demons, but that presence we felt during the ritual… wait! You changed the subject! Tell me about the letter first!”

“Yep, you definitely are Hugin.” Trying to be as quiet as possible I opened the door to the hallways. “Good nobody there, let’s hurry back to my room! Anyway, that letter is literally just a bunch of bad news. Probably my Mother trying to get back at me or something nothing that can really get to us while we are at school. Don’t worry about it!”

“Sure, that is always what people say about stuff that is not going to come and bite them back in the as- WAIT! Somebody is coming down the hallway.”

“Ah, piss. Do you feel strong enough to channel magic?”

“No idea! I never tried!”

“Oh well, no time like the present! May the shadows of noctis conceal me!”

My eyes widened when I heard my own voice, I had just spoken infernal! But I didn’t have time to contemplate what had happened, not a few seconds later a group of students rushed down the hallway.

“Did you hear? Apparently, the Dutrar witch woke up today!”

“No way!?”

“Oh, she is not gonna want to stay around the school much longer, not after what happened.”

“Can you imagine? Three students and a teacher tainted with Seeds!”

Almost immediately I could feel sharp claws digging into the flesh of my shoulder. Alice was staring at me with a look that even in bird form oozed displeasure. I cursed myself for not having told her about the… rest of the incident. To be fair I had been a bit distracted at the time with her being all demonic and shit!

“Oh, but we WILL talk about this! How could you just forget to mention this?! Infecting people with a seed against their will is a serious crime! Even if I just did it by accident! They will never let me off the hook! And if they find out that I am a demon I am even more fucked! Do you have any idea how many rights a demon has? NONE! And how many do you think a criminal demon has!? LESS THAN NONE!”

“I’m sorry, okay!?” I yelled at Alice as soon as the group was out of earshot. “I know how bad it is! I have been under scrutiny ever since I got out of the hospital myself. But we don’t need to worry, from what I gathered they are going to lay the blame on Dia’s mother! She should have never allowed you to summon a demonic familiar in the first place. And after that, she tried the shit with the null runes which even if it had worked would have killed us and the two students that had still been in the room. So please get your claws out of my shoulder?”

The pain as she lifted off was pretty bad but not as bad as the fact that she rather hopped along the ground than keep sitting on my shoulder. Alice didn’t even try and talk to me all the way back to the room. And once were inside she turned back into her human form and lounged on the bed glaring daggers at me.

“I’m sorry okay?” Smelling at my clothes I realized that I had no idea when I had last showered. “None of this went as I thought it would. Please don’t hate me, okay?”

I really was sorry, I had never intended for any of this to go as bad as it had. But this didn’t seem to matter to Alice, her only response was an annoyed snort before she started making a mess of the blankets. With an aggrieved sigh, I took off my clothes and headed for the bathroom. Not a minute later I was treated to the blessed warmth of my bathtub, perhaps I should just forget everything and take a nap? Alice could probably take care of herself and I really didn’t want to bother thinking about all the annoying things anymore. And yet to my great horror, a sudden ear-piercing screech from the bedroom shattered all my hopes. Barely clutching a towel to my chest I rushed out of the bathroom to see what was going on.

“Oh no…”

Alice was sitting on my bed holding the letter in her shaking hands; seeing me come in she quickly scrabbled away from me towards the furthest corner of the room.

“Alice! Please you have to believe me, this is not what you think! Just put down the letter and let me explain!”

Alice apparently wanted none of that, instead, she frantically tried to throw anything she could get her hands on at me.

“Alice, please!”

“Please!?” A book sailed barely past my temple and I had to take a step back. “You lied to me! You fucking bitch! You backstabbing disgusting stupid fucking whore!”

“I was only trying to protect you!” Hells, why was she so good at aiming!?

“Protect me!? The only one I need protection from is you!”

“I’m not going to hurt you!”

“Hurt me!?” Alice's hand stopped mid-throw. “You were born to hurt me! You’re the fucking Sun Scion!!!”