Across Eternity

Welcome back, everyone! I'm proud to present the seventh volume of Across Eternity! Enjoy!

Immersed

The flames of Welindar burned bright in every direction, a fitting sight to match the screams of battle. Lupin, rendered bruised, bleeding, and exhausted from fighting Kaisen, hobbled over to Nell. Though he had received a potion from Noah, all it did was pull him back from the brink. He reached the young woman who held his heart, left unconscious from mana depletion. Behind Lupin, the fruits of her labors: the almighty Kaisen and his phantasmal form reduced to a dissolving pile of darkness, oozing towards the palace as if trying to flee the holy rain that had scoured him.

Lupin knelt beside her and lifted her head. "Nell. Nell, can you hear me?" he murmured, saving his voice for her, while all of his prayers to the gods remained unspoken, prayers that she would wake up. He could sense she was still alive, the subtle flickers of her lips and eyelids showing how hard she was struggling to overcome her fatigue, how she fought to look upon the face that belonged to the voice engraved into her soul. Finally, with a shuddering breath, she was pulled from her slumber and gazed at Lupin.

"There you are," he said with a smile as he cupped her cheek.

"Your Highness," she whispered with relief. "Are we still alive?"

"Yes, thanks to you."

She looked him up and down, seeing the blood and dirt that clung to him. "You're hurt!" She raised her hand and tried to cast healing magic, but she had put every drop of mana she had into attacking Kaisen.

Lupin grasped her hand. "Don't worry about me; it looks worse than it is. I'm just glad you're all right. How do you feel?"

"I don't think I can stand."

"That's ok. We'll just rest here for a minute."

"But the city?"

"Right now, making sure you're ok is all that matters to me. Besides, there isn't much I can do in the state I'm in. Noah went off to finish Kaisen, and once he does, victory will be ours. I think we can take a little time to catch our breath."

Nell wrapped her arms around Lupin and pulled herself closer to him, wanting to feel as much of him against her as she could. "I'd like that."

"Well, well, what do we have here?" The cruel voice reached Lupin and Nell, making their blood run cold. Two Profane were approaching them: a beautiful woman with tiara-like horns and a wing that wrapped around her like a cloak, and a man with a split lower jaw and bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in a week. "Would you look at that? Prince Lupin of Uther. This really is my lucky day," the man said, with his mouth opening both horizontally and vertically when he spoke.

"Nell, you need to get out of here," Lupin whispered. "Whether it's on your feet or your hands and knees, you need to move as fast as you can."

"Your Highness, you're in no condition to fight!" she implored.

"Whether I am or not doesn't matter. I have no choice but to fight."

Lupin got to his feet, though it was a struggle, and he was unsteady. He held his chain, now feeling so overwhelmingly heavy in his stiff fingers.

"You feeling all right there, champ?" the man asked mockingly.

"Take one more step, and you'll be feeling a lot worse than I am," Lupin bluffed.

"Sure, prince. Whatever you say."

"Remember, Voraith, Lord Scyler wants him alive," said the woman beside him.

"I know, I know. But half-dead is still technically alive."

Voraith approached, taunting Lupin with his stride. Lupin desperately swung his whip, trying to combat his fatigue with desperation, but Voraith easily dodged and closed in. He tapped Lupin on the forehead, and in that moment, what little strength Lupin managed to gather was ripped from his body as if the ghoul had just yanked out his skeleton. The very warmth was stolen from his blood, dropping him to the ground in a hypothermic state, too exhausted to shiver.

"Prince Lupin!" Nell screamed.

"Oi, Helena, what about the girl? I'm feeling kind of hungry at the moment, and she looks tasty."

Voraith then looked down, seeing Lupin grasping his ankle. "Don't you dare touch her," he hissed.

"Well, isn't that sweet? Even on your deathbed, you still try to protect your woman. It would be admirable if it weren't so pathetic." The ghoul then kicked Lupin in the face, knocking him on his back.

Nell struggled to get to her feet, using her staff to support herself. "Leave him alone!"

She then screamed as Helena appeared behind her and grabbed her by the hair.

"You two don't seem to understand the situation you're in. You don't get to make demands."

"Please, let her go," Lupin panted with blood streaming from his nose. "It's me you want, isn't it? She's no threat to you. Do whatever you want to me, but I'm begging you, don't hurt her."

"I don't see why we can't do both," said Helena. She then turned Nell towards her and grabbed her chin. "My, my, you're a cute little thing, aren't you? Such sweet, innocent eyes. I wonder how you taste."

She cut Nell's lip with her thumbnail until it started to bleed, then pulled her close and kissed her. It was not a simple peck; Helena really leaned into it, savoring the sweetness of Nell's mouth and blood. Nell tried to resist, whimpering in refusal at having her lips stolen by a woman of the Profane, but Helena's hold on her was firm, keeping her still while her tongue slid down the girl's throat and their lips got more and more acquainted. Lupin shouted in fury and tried to stand once more, but Voraith stomped on his back and kept him pinned.

"Just enjoy the show, princeling," Voraith taunted.

Finally, Helena pulled away, leaving Nell gasping for air with a thread of red saliva stretching between their lips. "Just as I thought: virgin. So, your beloved prince hasn't claimed you as his woman yet? I wonder, is it because he's too straightlaced to give in to temptation, or simply too spineless to seal the deal?"

"Let go of her, you filthy ghoul!" Lupin roared.

Helena turned to him with a scowl. "A ghoul? You think I'm a ghoul? Don't be so quick to reveal your ignorance, boy. The man keeping you pinned is a ghoul, but I am a succubus."

"Fiend, ghoul, succubus; you're all the same, just soulless abominations that need to be exterminated."

"On the contrary. Our differences are quite distinct and clear if you're not a total moron. Fiends are the result of beastmen being turned into Profane, gaining incredible strength and powerful bodies. Ghouls are what you get when mages, monks, and warriors are turned, wielding corrupted magic."

"That's me," said Voraith, raising his hand.

"But succubi, our origins are much more specific. Every succubus was originally a healer--a female paladin."

Helena's words filled Lupin with dread. "No, you wouldn't dare!"

She flashed him a cruel smile. "Welcome to the Age of the Profane."

Both Lupin and Nell screamed, he in protest and she in agony, as Helena sank her teeth into her neck.

----------

Lupin woke up with a start, drenched in cold sweat from the chilling grip of the nightmare that haunted his mind. He sat up, holding his head and trying to shake away the lingering darkness. The bed he was in was warm and soft, and the dark bedroom was spotlessly clean, decorated with priceless art and beautiful antiques, but none of it offered him any comfort. A hand reached out of the darkness and rubbed his chest, trying to soothe him, but only making him more tense.

"Shhhh, it's ok. You're here with me."

Lupin was afraid to look, but he had to. He turned to the eyes gazing at him through the veil of night, almost glowing.

"Nell," he gasped.

He said her name, but the fact remained that he barely recognized her. He remembered her eyes always full of innocence and love, but since she was turned, the innocence was gone. Instead, there was a predatory glimmer, the instinct telling Nell to drain him of his life force. There was still love, but it scared him, what that love might drive her to do to him. Nell leaned against Lupin, her hands wandering across his body, feeling like the tongue of a predator tasting its meal.

"It was just a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

"I've slept enough."

He tried to get out of bed, but she held onto him tight.

"You need your rest."

"Nell, please...."

She wrapped her wings around him, layered with black feathers like a raven. She had two feathers growing out of the top of her forehead, similar to antennae. The feathers began to flex and tremble, shedding succubus dust that robbed him of his strength. She pulled him back into the heart of the bed, lying against her with her arms and wings wrapped around him.

"Just forget about everything else," she whispered in his ear. "This is where you belong, my love, in bed with me. And I'll never let you go. Now, let me purge you of all your nightmares, so you only have sweet dreams."

Lupin tried to resist the powder and remain conscious, but with every breath he took, his strength faded. Soon enough, he was sealed back up in the erebus of slumber, as if sinking below the waves of some black ocean, but even there, Nell was waiting for him, the two of them floating in darkness like twin stars in the night sky. With her succubus powers, she was able to penetrate the outer layers of his mind and slip into his dreams.

Their unclothed bodies met, with Nell's hands wandering while her lips met Lupin's. His hands did the same, but not of his own volition. It felt like he was an actor in a play, forced to move and speak as the script dictated. He held Nell close, both relishing and hating the feeling of her against him, the taste of her on his tongue, the scent of her in his nose, and the softness of her voice in his ears. He wished, more than anything, more than his freedom, that he could turn her back into a human, that he could purge her of the corruption that turned her into this monster.

He still loved her, and her love for him was unquestioning, but she was a member of the Profane. Lupin had spent so long fighting against them, seeing so many beastmen twisted and corrupted into horrific abominations. To know she had that power within her, the same power that had forced him to murder his own friends and subordinates, made him sick. He penetrated her, reddening her cheeks and filling her eyes with joy, and she gyrated against him to pull his manhood deeper into her depths, wanting to feel him stir her up. Riding him harder and harder, she moaned into the darkness, happy that she could be the kind of woman she always envied, and that Lupin could be the man she desired, and they could unite physically and emotionally as she had always dreamed.

Still, she wasn't blind to his feelings. She felt his conflict and hesitation, felt his aversion to what she had become, but it didn't matter. He was all hers, and she would never let him go. She had to close her fingers around the throat of his doubts and strangle them, to smother his unease, to drown his repugnance in her love. In time, he would forget everything but her, know nothing but their room, and desire nothing but her touch. It was all a matter of patience and work, but inevitably, she would erase everything that could get between them.

Then, without warning, he was ripped from the dream world, courtesy of a hand around his neck. He opened his eyes, groggy from the comatic maelstrom, and saw a face unfamiliar to him. It was a woman who reminded him of Helena, another succubus, but with two sharp horns and a pair of featherless black wings. She had the same ominous beauty as the other Profane women, but her face was twisted in a mixture of misery and hatred. He could feel that hatred in her grip, strangling the life from him.

"So, you're the one he wanted me to find, the fucking prince," she hissed.

"Let him go!" Nell exclaimed, trying to pry the woman's hand off Lupin's throat, but receiving a smack for her efforts. The succubus looked at Nell in disgust.

"I can smell Mistress Helena on you. How much of her venom did she waste to create something as pathetic as you? One measly drop?! You might as well still be human. I lost Leanne and got you for a sister instead?! What a fucking joke!"

"What do you want from me?" Lupin gargled, struggling to breathe.

"I want my life back!" the succubus cursed with angry tears in her eyes. "I was sent here to find you by that bastard, and here you are, sleeping and fucking like a useless beast." She dropped him back on the bed, Lupin trying to pull in as much air as he could, while choking on every breath.

"I don't... I have no idea what you're talking about," he panted. His eyes then fell to the ornate magical seal tattooed on her lower stomach.

"No, you wouldn't, would you? You wouldn't know what he did to me, what he made me do, what he reduced me to! I have half a mind to kill you now, just to prove he doesn't own me."

Nell got between them. "Helena said he's not to be harmed! She promised me!"

"Whatever," she scoffed in disgust.

The succubus stormed out, and Nell turned to Lupin. "Are you hurt, my love?"

"No, I'm fine, just a little sore."

"Then you need rest. Come, and I will help you forget about all of your pain."

"Really, I'm fine. I just need to--" But Nell ignored his protests and wrapped him in her wings, dosing him with her powder. Lupin was rendered helpless as she pulled him back beneath the covers like an alligator dragging its prey into the water.

As Lupin was dropped back into darkness, Duska wandered the corridors of the estate, not knowing where she was going, but trying to hold back tears of frustration. Finally, she stopped and punched a wall. She lacked the physical strength of a ghoul or fiend, so she did more damage to her hand than to the actual wall. She slumped down to the floor, watching her wounded hand mend itself. Once it healed, she placed it on the seal below her stomach. She could feel it at all times, this accursed mark that Noah had placed to limit her powers and link her to him, as if his hand was pressing on her womb.

She had made numerous attempts to remove it since he inscribed it on her, using everything from runecraft to simply trying to remove the marked flesh by fire and blade. Regardless of her methods, the seal remained, revealing itself in her healed flesh, and each failure subjected her to unbearable agony, making her feel like her very mind would be ripped to shreds as her flesh threatened to disintegrate. To use her own venom and some of his blood to craft this seal--it was frustratingly brilliant. There was no medium more fitting to bind her very existence, and in all likelihood, its removal would mean her death, as would its discovery by her superiors. It was why she hadn't reached out to anyone for help, even Curcio, for she feared what would be done to her.

Then there was Noah's warning that if he died, she'd die as well, meaning she couldn't allow the Profane to kill him, and had to obey. Even if it was for the sake of survival, the idea of accepting her subjugation made her sick. The things Noah did to her left her mind bruised and scarred, with the hot blood of hate seeping from the wounds yet to scab. She hated him with a burning fury for the pain and humiliation he had inflicted on her, but she was also terrified of his cruelty, knowing that there were more horrors he could and would inflict on her if he were so inclined.

Yet what scared her even more than the pain was the pleasure; the sensations he had forced her to experience and his control over her. She remembered when her mind broke, snapping under the barrage of countless orgasms, and she devolved into a subservient doll in exchange for further pleasure. She feared returning to that state and never coming back, instead living the rest of her life as his toy, addicted to his touch. Regardless, if she wanted to stay alive and protect Helena, she had to obey Noah, and the first thing she had to do was cover her mark.

Duska went to her bedroom in the mansion. Having spent a great deal of time here, she had one waiting for her and used it to store curios and items that caught her fancy. She even had a few outfits, though she rarely used them. She preferred to expose her skin and was usually half-naked. She compromised with a black leotard that perfectly hid the seal. Then, as she turned to leave, she was stopped by a ghoul standing in the doorway. She was beautiful, but an icy cold beauty, with pale skin, hair as white as moonlight, and red eyes.

"Welcome back, Duska."

"Greetings, Mistress Andromeda," said Duska with a bow.

"Trying out a new look?"

"I'm bored and want to shake things up a little."

"I noticed you went to see our new guest. Did he catch your eye?"

Duska swallowed the lump in her throat, but maintained her composure. "As food, he's not even worth my time. I could suck more mana out of a child than that useless waste of skin. Why are we keeping him here, anyway?"

"Lord Scyler is toying with the idea of using him as a weapon against Uther. Apparently, the humans down there have regained control of the Wassengel and possess a device that summons and commands it, but it only works for those of royal blood. Who knows if Scyler will actually use him for that, though. Frankly, I'd rather just have the prince's severed head on the mantle as a trophy."

"Why not turn him?"

"Angels kill our kind on sight, and I doubt they would obey one, no matter what device we have. Besides, he's no threat to us, and the new girl is doing a good job of looking after him. I swear, Helena really went for novelty over strength with that one."

"They're made for each other, equally weak and pathetic. I hate the idea of that insect here. But I suppose orders are orders."

"I'll put up with him so long as he stays in his room." Andromeda turned to leave, and Duska released a sigh of relief. She knew where Lupin was, so when Noah summoned her again, she'd be ready. Hopefully, if she gave him answers, he'd spare her further torment. Hope was all she had at this point.

----------

Nell was gone when Lupin awoke, finding himself alone in bed. He could not tell how long he had been asleep, though his growing hair and beard gave him a clue. It seemed to have been days since he was last awake, something he hoped wasn't true, but it was an unnerving sensation he received often. He could count the total days he had been conscious on one hand, but it could have been weeks or even months since he was captured in Welindar. The window near his bed showed the gray sky and the matching mountains, sheer and bleak, but at least it was daytime.

From the stone walls and floor of this place, it appeared to be some kind of castle or mansion, and though all mountains looked the same, he assumed he was somewhere in Vandheim. Next to his bed was a bowl of fragrant flower petals, filling the room with a sweet scent. Someone seemed to periodically replace the old petals with new ones, but there was no telling who.

He got out of bed, but it was a great struggle. His limbs and body were stiff from remaining still for so long, and he could feel his muscles atrophying. He found some clothes in a wardrobe, and getting dressed helped loosen him up, though doing even that much left him gasping for air. Breakfast had been set out on the table in the corner, but the tea was cold. Still, he scarfed it down, having no idea how long it had been since he had last eaten. Besides, if he was ever going to escape this place, he needed all the strength he could get.

Lupin checked the bedroom door and found it unlocked. He stepped out into the hall, wary of being spotted, and set out to continue his exploration of his strange new place he found himself in. Lupin scoured the mansion, searching for anything he could use to escape. Unfortunately, the place was built like a maze, perhaps to trap prey like him and keep them from doing precisely that. He tried to memorize the artwork and furniture to use as landmarks and help him find his way, but since there were so many similar pieces, he got confused. He frequently had to double back, encountering countless dead ends and corridors that went nowhere, with endless rooms that were locked and sealed off to him.