Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 351

Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 351

Chapter 351
Chapter 351
There was zero chance anyone in her clan would normally accept a contract with someone like that. Zero. Chance.
But there were ways around situations like this. Contracts could be written in very confusing ways, made to easily break or with strict stipulations. There was also the alternative of killing the warlock outright immediately after he handed over the Chalgathi altar and signed over all of his conquered or sworn people.
It was with this in mind that Fay agreed to speak to her kin, and entered the sunny tropical nether realm of the Sajovi Clan. Though when she arrived, it was both far busier and quite a bit different than it’d been in the past. She’d gone about half a year without returning home, and things had obviously shifted in her absence.
“Fay. Welcome back.” Her sister Nitidi said, immediately greeting her upon arrival after stepping into the realm and onto a Mayan-styled temple grounds filled with bustling people. “Mother and I have been watching you, so we knew you’d come before you even agreed to that ridiculous man’s request. Come along, we have a few things to discuss.”
Her taller sister turned heel and paused with a look over her shoulder, smiling. “Don’t mind the visitors, they’re political suitors given your relationship with Gluttony’s reincarnation. Also, you did very well in the Abyssal Descent - mother and father are both impressed.”
Fay quickly skipped to catch up, and fell in line with her sister as the two of them quickly made for a hallway at the end of the stone courtyard. The entrance was draped in flowers, and a number of non-succubus and non-incubus men and women of different demon species all snapped their gazes onto Fay’s figure as she walked by. Tieflings, gargoyles, and hellspawned ifrits were all present and representing 3 different clans by the sashes their representatives wore - all turning away from the rest of the Sajovi Clan to bow in Fay’s direction with respectful smiles and nods of approval. None of them approached her though, despite obviously wanting to, and she even saw one of the tieflings snatch another by the neck to stop his fellow from doing so before she’d made it to the hall’s entrance. It was a deep sign of respect she did not miss.
“They’re all very excited to be here, and you showing up just as we’re preparing a dinner for the sake of politics has some chomping at the bit.” Nitidi winked, and ruffled Fay’s hair to get a snort out of her shorter companion. “Oh don’t be so surprised! You look rather shocked, but you really shouldn’t be.”
“Logically I agree, but it’s still impressive to see it with my own eyes.” Fay muttered, withdrawing her wings entirely to only leave her tail out as it swayed back and forth during their trot. “I don’t feel any different. We’ve always just been an information broker, and we’ve only barely been respected because we’ve been weak. To have diplomats from three other clans vie for political gain is… not something I’d expected to witness in my lifetime.”
“Three?” Nitidi said, turning a corner and down a longer hallway with golden statues of various incubi wielding weapons, reading from books, or taking grandiose poses. “”Dear sister, those are just some of the ones that made it through the cuts. This is the 7th banquet we’ll be hosting, and each banquet hosts 3 clans. We have 11 of these banquets scheduled, and that’s after respectfully declining hundreds of diplomatic requests from other clans, countries, factions, or houses. You’ve brought us great honor, Fay, and our standing in the demon community has leapt up in a very short time.”
Fay began to frown. “Isn’t that a bit dangerous? Letting in strangers to our nether realm? They’d be able to kill us here if we’re not careful, nether realms are supposed to be safe havens. The Church of Greed is doubtless out to kill all of us now.”
Nitidi nodded along. “You’re correct, Greed has put a bounty on our clan, and even once had an assassin get through while pretending to be a Church of Gluttony emissary - but it was handled without casualties. We only allow diplomats below D-grade inside. Mother should easily be able to take care of any trouble that starts, and we have a very strict admission process with a three-fold realm seclusion that isolates the diplomats from their given nether realm in a pocket space before ours opens up to them. Don’t worry, we’re taking all the precautions necessary.”
Nitidi also pointed to the ceiling as they walked and grinned. “And we have a pact with Athela’s family, Clan Razok now.”
Fay’s eyes followed Nitidi’s pointing finger, and she couldn’t help but shriek and trip - almost faceplanting before being caught by a thin blood-red web that snatched her by the back of her head and lifted her up again. Straightening herself, Fay quickly tried to regain her composure and furiously blushed while bowing to the enormous arachnid demon on the ceiling.
“Apologies.” Fay whispered, head lowered. “I didn’t mean offense, you just startled me is all.”
The huge demonic arachnid hissed a chuckled, silently moving two of its legs - each larger than her to display what she could only describe as an upside-down bow. “Pleassssseeeee mistresssss, it is my placeeee to apologizeeeeee for sssstartling you.”
The arachnid faded from sight before Fay’s very eyes, and Nitidi let out a small giggle.
“I thought you’d react that way! I’ve had a couple scares myself, you can hardly tell they’re even here most of the time. Our Clan Sajovi may just be an information broker, but Athela’s kin are all skilled assassins and warriors - and many of them are very powerful ones too.” Nitidi winked and pulled Fay along by the hand to keep walking. “We have a permanently open two-way wormhole in the bottom layer of our compound, where Athela’s clan can come to us, and we can go to them. We’ve officially recognized ourselves as allied clans now, which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise since Riven was so kind as to buy that Merging Stone in the abyss! You wouldn’t BELIEVE how excited everyone was about that!”
Fay’s eyes followed the shadows left in the arachnid’s wake, and thought back to the merging stone Nitidi was talking about.
[Merging Stone (Guild Hall Add-On): Place this stone onto the core of your guild hall to absorb it. After it is absorbed, you will be able to select up to 3 nether realms to merge with - allowing denizens of those particular nether realms to travel in and out of the guild hall wherever it may be at any given time.]
Fay smiled at the memory. She’d been rather excited too, overjoyed even, to know her family would be so close in the real world outside this nether realm and would be allowed to traverse the guild hall grounds. Of course there’d be stipulations, she was sure, but the gist of it was clear as day - and Riven had already made it very clear that both Athela’s and Fay’s families were his own now.
The thought made her features soften, and her heart skipped a beat.
Wait.
Where was that dufus anyways?
Fay tried tugging at their soul bond again and sent a question through the link, but once again Riven didn’t respond despite the connection remaining strong.
That irked her. Annoyed her. Was he really so busy that he’d just flat out ignore her like this?
Or should she be worried.
Fay thought about it, then shook her head. No, there was no way he was in any real danger. No one in the entire Apocalypse Beasts event held a candle to him outside of Netithi Bluskish, the naga who’d nearly assassinated Genua and an unborn Iris. Even Netithi wasn’t much of a match in a fair fight too, and Gluttony was personally hunting down Netithi as they spoke. If Netithi hadn’t already been killed twice over, Fay would honestly be surprised - because Gluttony had made it a matter of personal grudges to make that naga’s life miserable with his new form.
The thought made her giggle.
That poor, poor naga.
It also brought up a lot of questions like, how long could Gluttony maintain that form before being resorbed into Riven? How often could Gluttony use it? What were the stipulations and boundaries while using his new body?
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None of those questions would likely be answered, even to someone like her, in order to keep Gluttony’s secrets safe.
Probably for the best despite her curiosity.
They eventually arrived at a cozy, intimate area with two cushioned sofas, where their mother, Saemi, was already seated, sipping a glass of wine and reading a book from a language that Fay honestly couldn’t recognize or read.
Typical of her mother to do something like that. It was completely intentional to make her look smarter and sophisticated, and whether or not the older succubus knew that fay knew - she still did it regardless and seemed to get a real kick out of it. Especially when she played dumb on the subject whenever it was pointed out by her children.
The room was dimly lit, with soft, golden lighting that highlighted the curves of Saemi's succubus physique. Her waist was accentuated by the delicate, gemstone-encrusted belt she wore, and her eyes sparkled with warmth as she smiled at her daughters when they entered.
"Ah, Fay, welcome back!" Saemi said, genuinely amused and showing it clearly as she snapped her book shut. "I see you've returned with a story to tell. Nitidi, dear, please pour your sister a glass of wine. She looks like she could use it."
Yuuuuup. She’d been spying on that interaction with the Tao character all right. In fact, Saemi was having a hard time not busting out laughing if Fay was reading her mother correctly.
Nitidi nodded and got up from the sofa where she’d sat down only seconds ago. She walked over to a nearby table, where a decanter of wine and several glasses were arranged, and poured a glass for Fay.
"Thanks, Nitidi." Fay said, sighing loudly and taking a sip of the drink. It was a rich, full-bodied red, with hints of spice and fruit. She savored the taste, feeling the alcohol warm her throat and chest.
Saemi leaned forward, lips twitching at the corners. "So, tell us about this warlock, Tao Zhang. What makes him think he can handle a succubus?"
Fay took a long gulp, then gave her mother a flat look.
That was all it took for Saemi to burst out into an uproar of laughter. Thigh slapping commenced, guffawing, and choking on her own wine when she attempted to drink it inbetween giggle fits.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Saemi crowed, wiping away tears streaming down her face as she continued to chortle. “I just couldn’t help but love that display he put on with the pillow and the minotaur! Oh my, I just can’t even imagine what that poor minion of his is going through right now after being forced to pretend to be his… Eh… What did that silly man call it?”
“A waifu.”
“Ah! Yes, a waifu! What exactly is a waifu anyways?”
“I truly don’t know. It’s likely some sort of Earth lingo.”
Saemi clicked her tongue, then the older succubus shrugged indifferently. “Well whatever the case, it was hilarious to watch him dance with that pillow! The minotaur looked like he literally wanted to die!”
Fay harrumphed and sipped on her wine again, leaning back into the cushions while her mother, and to a lesser extent her sister, laughed. “I’m glad you two thought it was so funny, because being there in person - it was one of the most mortifying and objectifying things I’ve ever been through. Did you see the way he looked at me? And he compared me to some kind of make-believe creature on a visual game from Earth! He even said his make-believe paladin could likely beat me in a fight! What kind of nonsense is this anyways!?”
Saemi cackled loudly and wiped at her face again before forcing herself to take in a long, deep breath. She expelled it slowly, and calmed down. “Oh honey, you’re a succubus. You’ll never stop being objectified, it’s a blessing and a curse depending on how you look at it - but it comes with being part of our species. And if you think the succubi have it bad, just remember that the incubi usually have it worse. You wouldn’t believe how many old hags try to enslave the soul of an incubus for all eternity only to make him do things like run errands or watch their pet cat.”
“You really think the incubi have it worse?” Nitidi declared, folding her arms and shaking her head. “Debatable at best.”
Saemi snorted at her other daughter and rolled her eyes. “We’ll just have to have a difference of opinion then. But my time having contractors was pretty good up until I became too powerful to be an option for most mortals out there. Truly it is a shame being retired, but I still hold out hope to get someone else in the next decade or two. Just like your father-”
“Let’s not talk about father after what he did to Tupper.” Fay said, her voice growing cold.
Nitidi immediately looked uncomfortable and shifted in her seat.
Saemi, their mother, frowned - but nodded her head. “Very well. Back to business then.”
The older succubus set down her drink, sat up, and steepled her fingers in front of her. “Back to scheming on how and who should take this contract, and how to word it so that this sucker chump of a human bumpkin doesn’t know any better when we rip him off entirely. Nitidi? I assume you’re completely off the books for this one?”
Saemi looked to her taller daughter with a raised right eyebrow.
Nitidi scoffed, loudly, and shook her head. “NOPE! No way. Not even for you sis, I’m not going near that man with his strange yellow clog shoes and that tinfoil wizard’s hat. I don’t mind chubby men but that guy is just flat out weird.”
Fay grinned. “I assumed as much. I was thinking one of the cousins? Perhaps Vivias? Or Plume? They both owe me favors.”
“Not favors big enough for this, dearie. They’d both say no, guaranteed. There’s a reason this man hasn’t had a succubus contact him for a contract, and I’m surprised he even got one from any demon at all given how he acts.” Saemi said with a shake of her head, eyes closed. “And I’d never hear the end of it from my sister if you got them involved with this man. No, if it’s not going to be Nitidi then we need to find someone in the clan but not directly blood related. My siblings and the other clan elders are already irritated that I’ve risen so much in prominence after your tremendous amount of success…”
She winked at Fay, who was blushing a furious purple underneath her mother’s praise.
“... And so I don’t want to involve their offspring any further if it can be avoided. If for nothing else, to keep the peace.” Saemi said. “No matter who it is, the contract stipulations are going to have to be steep so they don’t get roped into some kind of crazy nightmare. The man in question just reeks of desperation. I truly couldn’t believe my own ears and had to clarify with Nitidi when he said he wanted to, and I quote, ‘bathe in her bathwater’. And the way he stroked that pillow with the female on it was just strange. But I do have a suggestion…”
Saemi’s voice trailed off, and a sly grin stretched across her face as she folded her arms and flicked her tail from side to side. “The only problem is that you’d likely have to deal with the fall out. She’s been asking oh so many questions about you since you left, and you never ever reply to the notes she leaves under your door!”
Fay went from confused to mortified in less than a second, and her face turned pale. “No. No, no, no. Absolutely not, I’ll just tell Athela that we couldn’t find anyone to-”
“Don’t be like that honey bun!” Saemi crowed, and she reached out a hand to pat Fay on the head in a loving fashion. “Granny Beth has been wanting to make it up to you for years now! This is her chance! And she’s still only in F-grade despite being such an old hag because she always states in her contracts that she isn’t allowed to fight or involve herself in combat. That means she can bind to your mystery man! It’s perfect!”
“I said no!” Fay hissed, standing up and pointing a finger at her mother while her sister began to laugh again. “NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! I don’t want her even on the same PLANET as me after what she did the last time!”
Saemi hummed in amusement, twisted a finger through a long strand of silky white hair, and let her hand drop. “Well if you can find someone else to take the deal for your absolute nutcase warlock with the tinfoil hat, then by all means. But if you can’t, then I have it on good faith that Granny Beth would be a very fitting person for the role - and if anyone is good at twisting words around in contractual agreements - it’s her. You should know!”
***
Fay was extra grumpy when she returned from the nether realms, having failed utterly and completely to find a single volunteer for the whackjob still standing on the enemy side of the battlefield behind over a dozen different protective enchantments. Her witch’s hat was disheveled off to one side and her face sour. She did not want to go through with this at all, and very much would have preferred to just go about it the long way and kill the madman along with his stupid cow over the course of the next week. She would have preferred to just kill all the defenders lining the battlements of the Chalgathi altar just so that she wouldn’t have to hear or speak to her grandmother again.
Not after what Granny Beth had done the last time.
The memories still made Fay shudder with hardly suppressed rage. She was still mortified even when thinking about it many years later. The only person in her family she hated more than Granny Beth was her father, who she wasn’t even on speaking terms with right now after the severe abuse he’d dished out to Tupper for ‘not being a proper incubus’.
Well look who had the last laugh now. Her father’s children had isolated themselves from him entirely, only to fall into the good graces of the Reincarnation of Gluttony.
Her dad could go fuck himself many times over for all she cared. In fact it was a shame that he wouldn’t, because he still held a position of authority within the clan and participated in running many of the day to day contractual agreements with dispensing of information to outside parties. That, or her father actually arranged many of the minion contracts to put their people in the most optimal positions to acquire valuable information for selling purposes.
With a scroll equivalent to fifty-three pages worth of system notification text, signed in the blood of Granny Beth herself, Fay approached the poor sod of an idiot who had no idea what was coming to him. If and when he signed these papers and the contract went through, Granny Beth would begin a masterwork of shaping this bumbling idiot into whatever she desired. She was a true pro, far better at manipulation than Fay’d ever been and with many thousands of years experience to boot.
The scroll was a metaphorical axe hanging over Tao Zhang’s head, waiting to chop down, but he didn’t know that. Instead, all she saw behind those glimmering spectacles on his face was the excitement and thrill of victorious success.
In most cases Fay would have been internally laughing at the situation.
It just really sucked that she had to be in the crossfire as collateral damage. Because not only would Tao have to deal with Granny Beth, but Fay was sure that she would be dealing with the irritating old woman too.

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Chapter 351