Gonna rip this one out stream of thought straight into the post window let's go.
"It's another fine day in the underworld. What? Have you not been there? Of course the underworld has nice days. Oh the misery and wailing and stuff yeah, that's mostly just the PR campaign, part of the contract. Word of advice, don't ever enter into a contract with the holy. They're worse than Sphinxes about the trickery, seriously. Like the ten percent trying to weasel the work out of you without letting you into their penthouse club."
"Anyway where was I? Oh, right. Fine day in the underworld, honestly I wasn't expecting it either. No, really. I was in traffic, the light turned green, I twisted a little throttle on and eased the clutch out, pulled off the stop line and all of a sudden my bike and my body were wedged under a Demon skidding at like seventy miles an hour into a concrete barrier.
What? Oh, no no no not like one of my coworkers a demon, a Dodge Demon. You know, the car. Ran the red light at highway speed and hit me so hard it ripped my body off my soul and I didn't even know it had happened, didn't notice the changeover."
"No, really! See right when you first cross over into the land of the dead it looks a lot like topside, I mean a lot. They do it that way so people don't freak out when they die. It looks nice and familiar and then someone shows up to collect you and they're like "Oh it's okay, you're fine. Well, you're dead but it's okay, this is the next step" yadda yadda yadda. I'd never been to that end of town before so everything was unfamiliar anyway, all I knew was my GPS suddenly stopped working. Yeah I was still riding... okay no motorbikes don't have souls. It was an echo I was attached to because I didn't know I was dead. It's complicated. I remembered the directions anyway, five miles and turn right at the second industrial park entrance blah blah blah."
"So I roll up to this office and I am literally in Hell's "corporate headquarters" complex and don't even know it. Luck of the draw. Yeah they have their own office park for like, corrupt middle managers where nobody answers their phone calls or listens to them and they're denied promotions and stuff for eternity. It's apparently the most miserable place you can imagine for office management type people, and I roll in to ask the receptionist for directions because the office part doesn't match up with where I thought I was going. The receptionist, man she looked at me like I was fucking crazy. Just absolutely bat shit bananas out of my mind, and at this point I knew something was weird. But what the hell was I gonna do? I had like fifteen minutes to make it to my job interview."
"The receptionist is just like "Oh you're lost. Hang on let me get you some help" which I thought was nice. She makes a phone call, a couple minutes later this absolutely smoking hot lady in the sharpest suit you've ever seen steps out of the elevator and calls me by my name. I hadn't told anyone my name, but she knew it, so she's gotta be the boss. Right? Makes sense to me. So you know, we do cordial introductions in the lobby and we go into the elevator. I tell her who was supposed to interview me and she tells me he's not in the office but she can do it. I mean yeah later I found out it's because I was dead and he wasn't, you get the idea, but at this point I'm over there like "fuck yeah, these people are serious and I have a good shot at a job" which you know, I'd been out off work for a couple months and unemployment denied my claim so I was getting pretty desperate."
"So we ride the elevator like, forever, and I'm running through my whole deal about how I'm really organized and motivated and task oriented, computer savvy and good with data entry. I'm terrible at interviews but man I was trying, we eventually get out of the elevator and walk through this amazing office floor. Obsidian glass walls with gold corner trim and perfect red carpet, the works. We get into her office and all the chairs are red leather, the wood is dark and shiny, and it's so warm in there you could fall asleep without a blanket. It's the real deal, and she tells me that under no circumstances am I going to be working in the tower mail room. I was just like "damn you could've told me that earlier I'd have saved us both some time and gone home" but she's all "No, that's not it. I have something else for you.""
"So I'm here like, okay. It's a job, right? Like, they're gonna turn the power off at home and I've been eating nothing but rice and beans and potatoes and canned meat for weeks. So she finally breaks it down to me that I'm actually dead and this is the underworld, and I don't believe her. Till she rips a portal into the air next to us and we walk through and we're back at the intersection and there's cops and rescue and fire everywhere and a tow truck lifting a car off my fucking corpse. So I'm like, wow I am dead as shit. Now what? And she's like, the job offer still stands. So we go back to the office and I'm like damn dude I'm dead as hell. Who's gonna take care of my cat? So she lets me know my bestie is gonna take care of him for me and give him a good life, and I can trust her because she knows that kind of thing because she's some kind of succubus demon queen."
"Which like, that's wild as fuck but okay. Then it hits me. If she's a succubus demon queen, what the fuck does she want with me? I have the sex drive of a dead battery, my fire is impossible to light. The furnace has been broken for years, good luck. She leans up and whispers some shit in my ear and I'm like OH GOD DAMN YEAH THAT WOULD DO IT and I get a little thrill right on the spot. I can feel my heart race up real quick and she just smiles. Then she sits back and she's like here's the deal, most normal people would have been furiously masturbating by the time they got to the elevator and I was standing there stone cold going over my organizational skills and typing speed. It turns out I'm immune to the like, ambient sexual energy of even a succubus demon queen. I just don't feel it, it passes through me like a neutrino or something. She knows how to spin my wheels though, because she's who she is, but that's not why she wants me."
"She wants me specifically because I'm immune, because I'm different. I can stroll into a ten thousand soul eternal orgy, pick one person out, and hand them a telegram or grab them by the tail and drag them to the front door without succumbing to the energy or being mobbed by the lesser succubi. It doesn't bother me, and it's not a matter of personal strength or something. There's plenty of demons who are super strong and can resist and have command of their minds and souls and stuff, but I'm just flat fucking immune and that's straight up OP. So anyway I'm her personal assistant and errand girl, and she treats me real nice and when I do get frustrated she's the only one who has the keys to my locks, and that's how you end up with an asexual succubus."
The small coven of a half-dozen fairly disappointed teenage "witches" nod between one another and do some whispering. Though one still can't keep her eyes off the full figured, well-dressed and bespectacled demoness doing the storytelling with her cute spaded tail wrapped around one studded leather platform boot.
"S- so should we try to summon your boss?" one of the brave ones asks.
"Oh, probably not. Well. Hmm. I'll tell you what I'll do. You toss that little notebook in here with me, and thanks for not making the circle teeny tiny by the way. Nothing pisses a demon off like a cramped summon. Toss that notebook and a pen in here, and I'll write down how to do a proper contact circle. I'll relay your message back to the boss, and at the next quarter moon you guys perform the contact circle and you'll ping me directly. That'll give you some time to get your stuff figured out, I'll be expecting the call. If you still want to talk to the queen and make a deal, we'll set something up. Okay?"
They nod, one by one. Then one speaks up for the quiet one in the back after passing the notebook and pen. "What about Christie's stepdad? That's a few weeks away and he... he's still..."
"Oh don't you worry about him. I know someone who'll tear his ass apart and I'll pass that message along free of charge. He won't be bothering anyone after tomorrow night, when you go home your mom is gonna tell you she has to go out of town for a couple days. Right then ask her if you can go stay with your friends, she won't say no."
"Are you gonna send a demon to kill him?"
"Only if you want me to, but remember I'm a messenger. He's religious, right? I have contacts all over, and I know a few extremely righteous guys that'd just love to polish up their holy scrolls on an ass like that."
"For real?"
"For real. Doing judgement and claiming souls and stuff isn't my thing, but I can definitely shine a light on the situation. I'll put a few good words in a few ears."
"Oh! Thank you so much!"
"Nothing to it, ladies. Keep studying and keep practicing. The world needs a few good witches if you decide to stay, and if you decide to cut a deal the boss lady loves a smart girl with a good head on her shoulders."
The demoness smiles and curtsies, pulling the hems on an imaginary skirt and vanishing with a wisp. The circle's sigils all go dark and a swirl of wind picks up, blowing all the salt, spices and ash up into a heap in the center. One of the girls reaches over and picks the notebook and pen up off the ground. They're both warm still, almost hot to the touch. The edges of the pages are a little crispy, but sure enough there's detailed instructions about ingredients, symbols and sigils, the proper size of the circle, time of night, cardinal directions, how to set it all up. Also how to correctly perform the incantation so they get the right demon. There's also a little note reminding the girls to be careful, and that they are the only ones who can actually see the instructions. The pages will be blank to anyone else, and they should guard the notebook closely. Finally, a cheerful "See you soon" and a little heart with a cherubic arrow through it. Though she didn't sign her name.
I was one of the odd ones, one of the slow ones. It was weird, truly, because nobody really knew how it was going to work. I mean sure there’s aces on every level from the deepest pits to the top of paradise, but succubi are known to feed on carnal sexual energy. Certainly among the hundreds of millions of souls who’ve passed the gates of judgment, at least one must’ve signed up before me. Right? Nobody was sure, and there are a lot of records to go looking through. I mean a lot, more than you want to know about. At the end of the day, we weren’t even sure if someone like me had even been offered the job. It didn’t really matter to me, though, and that really wasn’t the point anyway. The boss lady thought I’d be a good fit, she extended the offer, I accepted it.
Most changes are pretty fast, really. I’ve been at this a while now and you can tell when someone’s got it. You can feel that energy, the eagerness that’s been lurking in their soul. The ones like that, it almost explodes out of them. Just a touch from one of the mistresses and their humanity falls off like ill-fitting pajamas. They’re fully realized in minutes, sometimes just a few seconds. Most of the time it takes a week at the most, as the latent fear slowly melts away and they accept who they are. That’s not just for succubi either, that’s everybody. Just regular infernal folks of no particular bent, sphinxes, banshees, angels, fae, natural cryptids, you name it. People find themselves between the realms, totally unbound, and their soul usually pulls them in whichever direction they need to go. Funny, that. Paradise is the only one with a gate and a guard, the only exclusive club. I guess that’s why everyone wants to get past the bouncer. I wish I could show you the crossroads, but it isn’t your time yet. Most of the time the person gets there and the soul reveals itself, and on they go. I never passed through the crossroads, the boss picked me up in person when I wandered into the wrong building.
I was a slow change, though. Despite that I had barely been dead for a couple hours when I made my decision. It took me a few months, like six or eight for my body to fully change, which is weird when you consider the driving forces behind things. There was some contention about it as well, I had been in her service for maybe a week and word had pretty well gotten around that there was a normal human running errands in the hallways of the damned. Contracts started coming out of the woodwork, promises of power, of eternal gratification, of perfect rest. Everyone wanted a piece, eventually I asked the boss why it was happening, why I wasn’t under some kind of contract with her. Her reply was simple, I didn’t need to be held under contract. I laughed at first, because surely we had already at least made a verbal agreement. That’s just it, though. It was only verbal, wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny, but it was unnecessary anyway. Then she pulled me in gently and gave me a long hug, wrapped me up in her arms and held me close to her chest, squeezed softly and stroked my hair. She let me feel her strength, her fire deep inside, she shared with me the knowledge that I didn’t have to worry about contracts or being stolen away because I had her, and I realized I was safe. I cried for a little while, and when she gently loosened up and held me at arms length to look me face to face she realized that my eyes were changing.
I wish I could have seen it happen, because from my perspective there really wasn’t any change in my vision at all. That was the first thing though, my eyes were always a kind of bluish hazel. She said it was beautiful, like watching the pain drain out of me as they got brighter. She got me to a mirror after, I had never seen anyone with metallic eyes before but I recognized the color immediately. The pinkish gold of pure bare polished copper, I was ecstatic, suddenly I had the prettiest eyes I’d ever seen and I’d always been of the belief that the eyes are the window to the soul. She pulled me in close again and told me that I’d be able to see souls soon enough, but I’d have to take her word that mine was beautiful. Then she stroked my head again and found the two little rises, new shapes that would grow into the roots of horns.
I think that was when she figured it out, after all we already knew that I was immune to carnal sexual energy. She offered a place in her bed that night, and I accepted. I think it turned out good for the both of us, because that turned out to be a very long and tiring day. I hadn’t really thought about what it takes to be a demon queen, but you’d imagine there would be a lot going on. I didn’t know what to expect at the time, sliding into bed with someone like her is a bit of a gamble. She’s beautiful, absolutely stunning in every respect, but when I saw her tired and weary I realized something about myself. I was drawn to her, driven to comfort her. She didn’t need a romp between the sheets, she needed the same kind of thing I needed and that much I was able to provide. I looked at her perfect body, she looked at my scars and wrinkles, my cellulite and my insecurities, and we laid down together. She told me I was beautiful, I told her she should raise her standards, she laughed, we tangled up in one another and drifted off to sleep together safe in each others arms.
That morning we slept late together, thankful for the peace and rest, and when I finally roused myself from bed I felt different even to myself. A check in the mirror revealed that very little had changed except that from the day before. I felt the twin bulges in my scalp, turned around to look at myself and naught else was different though I felt like something was. Then she stepped in behind me, wrapped her arms around me and kissed my head. I felt my heart rise a bit and heat in my chest, she smiled and told me she could feel it too. My fire had lit, the furnace that I had joked had been broken for decades and was impossible to even strike the pilot, was suddenly alive. I could feel the confusion wash away as pieces of the puzzle of my prior life began to fall into place. What I had been missing the entire time, what I was seeking and never finding for my entire time in the corporeal realm was right here.
Then she gave me a squeeze and asked aloud. “Having a moment of clarity, are we?”
I spun in her arms so I could face her and wrap her up and hold her as the fires within roared to life. I pulled her in and hugged her so hard and buried my face into her neck and shoulder, flooded with love and joy. I felt her soak it up, I could feel her revitalizing herself in my arms, drinking the emotion like parched soil.
She pulled in a long, sighing breath and mumbled out. “Ohh that feels amazing. Now I’m definitely keeping you.” She paused a moment, again stroking my hair, gently thumbing over the growing buds of my horns. “Then I should be giving you a name, if you’re to be one of mine.”
I nodded gently against her, having already learned some of the customs between succubi and their queen. More importantly the significance of a name rather than simply a prefix or a title.
“Well then.” She paused, considering. “Now that you’ve had your moment, Clarity. Do you accept this name?”
She had to ask, I had to answer. I stepped back and nodded, gently folding my arms and smiling. “I do. Now and forever more. I hope I can live up to the simple beauty of it.”
“Nay.” She smiled back, reaching and thumbing my hair away from my face. So rarely did she use antiquated phrases. “I hope such simplicity will retain its beauty as the stunning creature within your mortal trappings finds her way to the surface.”
Then she pulled me in and fully embraced me with a kiss. Wrapping myself around her and pouring myself out for her, I was far too lost in the moment to feel the tips of my horns break the surface and part my hair. Nor did I notice the bud of my tail begin to form at the bottom of my spine. The coming weeks were promising to be transformative indeed.
