DD 302 Ch 29

“Yuck.” Felin was on the floor gagging and trying to get the very much not cream out of her mouth as she continued to spit up in the kitchen sink.

Very quickly, once it became apparent that we were no longer safe in the dungeon, it was time to leave. And regardless, Des and I needed to be in Chicago the next day for the rest of our PR tour.

“It’s not—she’s not gonna die, is she?” Des said, glancing at me with a trace of guilt.

“She’s already gotten poison removal and healed. Sadly we have nothing to get rid of the taste. Worst case, Charlotte can just revive her,” I answered, which did not do me any favors by the glare Felin shot my way.

“Who carries poison looking like cream with them?” Felin grumbled.

“In fairness, I think that was weapon oil,” I said, taking the edge of the vial and rubbing a finger along the rim, feeling the oily substance, and then sniffing one of the daggers. I ran my finger along it and compared the two.

“And you let me drink it?” Felon was still hacking at the sink.

“In fairness, I tried to stop you.” I said with a shrug, getting a deep scowl from the Nekorian before she went back to trying to spit it out of her mouth. I took another sniff of it. It was quite pungent. I couldn’t imagine that it was very tasty at all.

“Well, if nothing else, Kitty’s gonna learn a lesson about not putting random things in her mouth.” Des added.

Felon had what appeared to be Des’ toothbrush and was rapidly trying to fix the situation, much to our amusement.

“What’s next for you?” Charlotte asked, while she groomed Bun-bun.

“Back on tour. Fun fun.” I’m sure my expression said anything but. “I just hope Lady Frey’s stone doesn’t keep going off on me.” It was back in my CID at this point, and I had a feeling that I was being called on almost as a series of tests rather than any actual need.

It was hard because I couldn’t necessarily trust the demons even though I had signed a contract. I simply hoped that I was moving forward in a direction that benefited all of us.

The demons clearly had their own agenda. Even if they weren’t hiding part of their own motives, it didn’t mean that it couldn’t harm me in the long run.

“Well, good luck. If I see you in the morning before you head off, I expect a kiss.” Penny told me.

I smirked and snapped a little salute at her. “Why, of course.”

My cheekiness earned me a slight eye roll and a faint smile from Penny.

“Or, you know, you can make sure you get your dose of Ken tonight,” Des purred into Penny’s ears, causing the frost knight to blush a particularly dark shade of red, or maybe it was her blue hair that made it seem darker than normal.

“Maybe,” Penny said. I knew she was more or less interested in privacy for something like that.

“Well, if that’s everything, I'm going to get some sleep. Good night, everyone.” I did my best to slip out of the group and find my room.

Going to the dungeon had been exciting once again. I felt a good recharge, but at the same time I was dreading going back on this PR tour and separating from my group.

So after a shower, I found myself instead slipping into the bedrooms one by one and reconnecting with each of them to our hearts content.

***

The next week actually flew by fairly quickly. It was almost like New York had been a warm-up and Chicago was the real deal. Which, it might have been given that Bellaire knew what she was doing, and she had also known how new I was to PR tours.

Time had moved quickly, with me going from one interview to the next, barely given a chance to stop and breathe before I was thrown into yet another lion’s den full of white-veneered sharks. But I had to admit, it was getting better. I was starting to feel far more confident with each one, although I still missed being in the dungeon.

After having been quiet for most of the week, Lady Frey’s stone warmed in my CID with the same intensity of an unstable nuclear power plant. I pulled it out of my CID, juggling it for a brief moment when I was shocked with just how hot it had become.

“Yes, Lady Frey,” I said, painfully holding one finger to the stone while resting it on the table and praying that it didn’t spontaneously combust the table underneath.

“Oh good, you picked up,” the Lady said in a hurry. She was dressed like she was going somewhere important and glancing back and forth like there was a little too much rumbling about in her head.

“Yes, I’m very happy I did before this sparked and ignited.” I told her.

The dismissive wave from her was not my favorite. “Oh yes, they can get quite hot, especially when used with such urgency. I must apologize. However my mistress is summoning you.” She told me.

The smile I instantly plastered on my face was not the least bit genuine, but it was the best I could do under a statement like that. “Oh, it would have been wonderful to know that in advance.” I answered.

“Oh, it’s not that it slipped my mind, it’s that she didn’t give either of us a chance to prepare. Likely on purpose.” Lady Frey waved a hand. “She had mentioned it vaguely, but I didn’t think she was going to follow through. She throws all kinds of tasks or comments out, only to deem them not important later.”

My polite smile was straining the further we got into this conversation. “Well. That’s wonderful. What is it she needs from me?” I asked.

“Put on something nice and join her,” Lady Frey said. “And by ‘put on something nice,’ I mean this.” She held up a suit, and I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrow.

“Well, she’s inviting me somewhere, I guess.” I stared at the garment.

“Yes. And you’re going to Hell in just a few minutes or as quickly as you can put this on.” Lady Frey told me. Luckily, that should fit fine with my PR tour duties, there wasn’t anything else until tomorrow.

I nodded along. “All right. Do I portal to you?” I guessed after a moment of pause.

“Yes, yes, hurry.” She told me. I swore these demons had no relaxed setting. But I wasn’t exactly in a position to say no. She was, in fact, my superior who I owed already.

I cast Des an apologetic smile, but she was already waving me off.

“Shoo, shoo, go have fun with the demons. Come back to me soon, and preferably with lots of sexual tension.” Des winked at me.

I gasped and put a hand to my chest. “You’re selling me out already?”

“Oh, but they offered me such pretty things, Ken.” Des smirked.

And I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her antics before I ripped open a portal to Lady Frey, who was still holding the suit aloft.

She shoved it into my arms the moment I stepped through.

“I’ll be ready in a minute.” I grumbled as Lady Frey leaned through the portal. “Des, would you like to come?”

Before Lady Frey could even finish her offer, Des was leaping through the portal.

“I thought you’d never ask. Or worse, you’d ask someone else.” Des answered.

Lady Frey laughed. “Oh, we both know that if I’m to keep Ken happy, the best thing I can do is keep his succubus happy.” She bounced her eyebrows. “Incubi are notoriously hard on the upkeep. No offense.”

I turned back slowly.

Des held her hands up. “I didn’t say it. Besides, she’s treating you like a demon.”

“Lady Frey,” I offered, and I squinted at her. “Just adding ‘no offense’ doesn’t really remove any offense.”

“Really?” Lady Frey leaned back, tilting her head. “Oh. And here I had been doing my best to understand human culture. So then why do people say it?”

“An empty nicety?” Des offered.

“Well, that sounds like an even more ridiculous thing.” Lady Frey snorted. “What, do humans just add random phrases to the end of things they say to blunt harsh discourse? Even though both parties still consider it harsh when the words are out.”

I looked at Des and shrugged along with her. “Kind of, yeah.”

Lady Frey made an affronted noise. “I do hope you won’t expect me to keep up such wasteful behaviors.”

“No, I would actually feel more comfortable if you were just yourself.” I said, realizing she was actively learning human culture.

“Goodie,” Lady Frey said. Then I watched as she disappeared for only a brief few seconds before she returned, this time decked out head-to-toe in what must be the current fashion of the demon world. Her dress was made out of some stretchy material and cut to look like an elaborate dark spiderweb. It had been stretched over her form and went well with her pink-grey skin.

Des looked down at herself and then up at Lady Frey. “I don’t suppose you had anything prepared for me?” Des asked.

“No, but my mistress has a closet deeper than you can imagine and likely ten different outfits to wear tonight. It might seem crude, but the best you’ll do is one of her extras.”

Des shrugged. “If it’s good enough for a princess, then I’m sure it’s plenty good for me.”

“Perfect. Now…” Lady Frey gave me a look up and down. “You were changing.”

“Right,” I said, and hurried to what I assumed was the bathroom to get dressed, listening to Des and the lady talk outside.

“Have you found any use for the blood yet?” Lady Frey made conversation.

“Not quite.” Des sounded less disappointed than I knew she was. “If I had this before, I’m certain I could have made fantastic use of it, but as it is now, I’m not sure what my best options might be.”

Lady Frey hummed. “When we get a chance, we’ll ask my lady tonight, see if she has any thoughts.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose on her,” Des hesitated.

“Oh trust me, you aren’t.” The way Lady Frey said it, I could imagine she was waving a hand with it. “You’ll come to know her as well as I do eventually. My mistress is fickle and a bit silly. If it catches her interest, she’ll throw an enormous amount of resources behind it, and turning humans into demons will most likely come out as a new pet project for her. Especially after what Ken has done with it.”

Des gave me a cautious glance. “And what exactly might be the limit there on her interest in Ken?”

“Oh, don’t worry, she wouldn’t steal him.” Lady Frey said dismissively. “She might be a succubus, but she’s as old as dirt. I’d bet it’s even completely dry down there.”

“What?” Des hissed quietly horror dripping from her voice. “That eventually happens?”

I wisely pretended I had never heard that and continued getting dressed in a hurry.

“All done,” I said, swinging open the door and stepping out.

“Oh well, don’t you look fantastic,” Lady Frey purred at me. “I do like suits. Demons have something similar. Though you’ll find, with ages spanning a great deal, fashion is a bit of a nebulous thing.” She gestured down at herself. “We all have our preferences.”

“Well, you look lovely,” I said. “Now, am I opening up another portal? Otherwise I’m not sure how we get to Hell.”

This was the office in Star City, or at least I thought it was. But with the slow smirk spreading across Lady Frey’s face, I realized I was wrong.

“What do you mean, Ken? You’re already here.” She pulled open the blinds, and before me was something akin to a medieval city from the view of a spire far above the people below. They came in all sorts of shapes and sizes of the various demon subraces.

Lady Frey gestured out. “Welcome to the Third Circle of Hell. The entire floor belongs to the Imp King. This city along with the neighboring towns is my territory.”

I gazed over the massive city and didn’t see the end. Some of the dungeon floors we had been on, especially in the 50s, could be colossal, spanning tens of miles. Yet, I couldn’t even see the edge of the city.

“Is this floor just this city?” I asked, only for Lady Frey to laugh.

“No. This city is the capital of my mistress’s domain. There are three smaller cities within it, technically. This one is also under my purview. Though it’s hard to consider myself as ‘in charge’ when my mistress simply exists. The shortie can command whatever she wishes. Somewhere off in the distance is an even larger city that the Imp King and his most favored prince control as well.”

I swallowed and stared out. “Just how big is this floor?”

“It’s close to a thousand miles in each direction.”

With this, I was struggling to grasp the sheer size of this floor.

“And the other seven floors are the same?” I asked in a daze.

“Oh no, silly. The Imp King is the Third Floor of Hell, and thus the third smallest. Each of these floors are home to hundreds of millions of demons. Though, of course, so many of them are simple grunts and warriors.” She ran her hands along my shoulders, standing behind me as I stared out at the landscape, still stunned and wrapping my head around it all.

“Unlike you and I, who have firmly joined the hierarchy and continue to step higher amongst it.” She gestured out. “One day, Ken… you could control a city or even an entire floor like this. That is what it means to be a king of the demons.”

“Now, come along. You too, Des. Hold on tight,” she said to both of us.

And the world blurred around us as Lady Frey simply moved. She wasn’t running, it was as if the world was pulling us across the sky. I realized she was using her powers with gravity to move, rather than something as mundane as running.

And wherever we were going, we were going blindingly fast as everything blurred around us.