Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

I Summon the All-Seeing Eye	By : all_possible_worlds Category: +S through Z > Star vs. The Forces of Evil Views: 29523 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Vs. the Forces of Evil or its characters. I made no money from writing this story.

Chapter List
- 24
- 25
- 26
Chapter 25: Always a Charade
Note: Please review if you enjoyed. Constructive criticism very welcome! I respond to reviews here: http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/topic/64957-review-responses-and-open-discussion-for-i-summon-the-all-seeing-eye-star-vs-the-forces-of-evil/
Not a smut chapter. But updating here synchronously nontheless.
----------
"Dear devils, esteemed gentlefiends, I bid you welcome to my humble home," boomed Sam's voice through the grand ballroom. He didn't appear to raise his tone, nor put any effort into talking louder or more forcefully than usual, yet the speech carried strong to each corner of the huge room. "It is my honor and my pleasure to have each and everyone of you in attendance this evening."
Tom looked around him, at the crowd gathered inside the ancient devil's palace. They had been slowly marching into the place since as early as five in the afternoon. By now, there was barely enough space in the room to hold them. It was a bizarre and intimidating congregation: demon kings and queens, masters over domains at least as vast as those of his own parents, and often far grander, sat along the twelve long tables by the walls. They were wearing an assortment of costumes. Most fit their wearer at least somewhat: giant flame demons in medieval armor, tentacled inhuman horrors in long black cloaks, etc. Orcus, in all his sickening bulk, sat naked, while two masked succubi catered to his every whim. Her augustness, She-Who-Invites, to whom most gave almost as much of a wide berth as they did Sam himself, was wearing a simple shinto shrine maiden robe, white and red. If anyone had gotten to choose their own costume, it was her, but hers was power beyond the need for ostentatiousness.
On the other hand, there were also many others whose disguises seemed far less probable. An ancient lich wore a jester outfit. Mirage, The Great Deceiver, was dressed as a countryside priest. One of the Balrog lords wore the garbs of a medieval doctor. Princess Nephafel was dressed in an elementary school girl uniform, and looked utterly pissed at the fact. Under different circumstances, Tom would be delighted to see her annoyed so. But he was far too worried about what Sam's game might be, and about what had happened last night. Hopefully she hadn't seen him yet.
The dance floor was illuminated by a veritable galaxy of floating spheres of bright blue flame, high along the vault of the room, and by the shaky red glow of fire rising through the open windows. Standing on the marble and obsidian floor, whose mosaic represented the first of all wars, stood most of the attendants, those not important enough to get a seat by default. Apparently, that included Tom himself, despite his princely title, which meant Star and the three humans were also among that crowd, somewhere.
"As you all know, there are a few ground rules for this party. I am sure all of you will do your best to abide by them," Sam continued. "First, none is to leave before midnight. I shall make another announcement then."
It was seven now. Perhaps, if they held for five more hours, they would at least be allowed to retreat to their rooms and wait there, without that being in violation of their deal with Sam.
"Second, you must wear your costumes at all times, and represent your assigned persona to the best of your abilities," the devil commanded. "If your card said courtesan, then you must whore; if it said assassin, then thou shall kill; and so on, and so forth..."
Certainly a large number of demons were dressed as prostitutes, particularly among those standing, and an even larger number looked like dangerous killers. Then again, in the later case, sometimes it was hard teasing the disguise apart from the fact that they were indeed murderous fiends of the worst kind, by nature as well as nurture. Tom wondered what would be required from his own role as a scoundrel.
"... as for me," Sam paused for a moment, "Until the clock strikes twelve, I shall be but a humble servant."
The blue fires of his eyes suddenly went out. His blindingly golden hair faded into coal black. Two curled goat horns sprouted from his skull, and the marble white of his skin became a more muted pearl color. A black tux appeared atop his now frail thin body: a waiter's uniform.
It was Adorjan.
Sam had become an identical copy of the head of staff at The Faust. The same old waiter that had attended Tom and Janna on their first date, and had served the demon prince at the underworld restaurant within his family lands for centuries. Tom looked up, and saw the old goat demon smile back at him. No, not a copy. Sam had been Adorjan before, he had been Adorjan that night, he had perhaps always been Adorjan. Another charade from the bored lord of Dis. A chill went up the demon prince's spine.
Before Tom could recover from the surprise, Adorjan - no, Sam - continued his address. "And one more thing, a final detail for all my honored guests to keep in mind..."
A spotlight shone over Tom, and he saw, among the crowd, four other spotlights come up in the middle of the marble and obsidian floor. He couldn't see the people they illuminated, but was sure those sitting around the room had a better view. He also knew that, if he were able to see past the sea of hats, wigs, horns, skulls, and twisting bodies, he would see those lights trained on Star, Janna, Jackie, and Marco.
"... the Prince Lucitor and his mortal friends are under my personal protection. No harm will come to them by any hand other than my own, and I will stay my hand, if they follow the rules," the devil concluded. "Now, with that said, please, enjoy your evening! Make sure to play your roles. I'll be playing mine."
Tom wasn't sure if Sam had done them a favor by announcing his protection, or painted a target on their backs by hinting that they would be punished for a violation of protocol. Knowing who it was, the demon prince had to suspect the later was the true intent. Either way, Tom had someone he needed to talk to.
"Thomas, darling, glad to finally see you attend one of this things," spoke a voice behind him. He meant someone else. Hell, come to think about it, he meant anyone else!
"Hi Neph," he replied. "Sorry, there is something I need to do. Perhaps we could catch up later?" Or, you know, never.
Nephafel smiled at him; a broad smile, one showing three rows of pointed razor-sharp teeth. The rest of her looked almost human, if you were willing to ignore the two bat wings behind her back and the pale lavender color of her demonic skin. Her black hair was tied into two piggy tails, but that was probably only for the dumb schoolgirl costume. She usually wore it down.
Out of the corner of his eye, Tom saw Marco and Jackie through the crowd. The boy was hurrying to move between his chain-bound girlfriend and an angry looking slime demon. The creature seemed to be pointing at the trail behind him, as it tried to shove a half-soiled rag at the human girl. It desisted, however, as soon as Marco pulled out his iron sword. That was slime demons for you in a nutshell, all bark and nauseating breath, but no real bite at all. Neph, unfortunately, was another matter. She did bite. Tom knew that from experience.
"But Thomas, it has been so very long," she pouted. Her bright red eyes followed his, finding the two humans. "Oh, so it is true, then? You are bringing mortals here?! Whatever for? Food? No, it can't be, I remember you being quite squeamish..."
"Friends," Tom corrected her. "Not that you would know the meaning of the word..."
Nephafel was not the most evil being Tom knew, but she was, without a doubt the worst person: petty, scheming, volatile, and utterly selfish. She had been as much of a bad influence in his life as Star and her friends had been a positive one. Which, alright, didn't make him or the mewman a well-behaved pair. But, by comparison...
"Friends?" the demon princess laughed. She glanced pointedly to the side. Tom followed her eyes to find Star.
The other princess was standing in line for drinks. She seemed to be yelling something at a pair of demons, no doubt fulfilling her assigned role as she bullied her way through the queue. Before Tom could make an excuse to head that way, Nephafel lifted her hand and ran her fingers through his neck, slowly caressing his rose tattoo. A rose, like Star's transformed cheek marks. A fact that was not lost on the demoness at all.
"Oh, Thomas, I think I know all about being 'friends' like that. I taught you all about being... friendly, if I remember correctly," she mussed, running a long red tongue through her inhuman teeth. "But mortals? Well, that's a new one! Didn't think you'd have it in you, Thomas, darling! You were never that adventurous when we were dating..."
Dating was a weird way to describe what they used to do. Tom had danced with Nephafel at a few underworld balls before, and, well, a few times one thing led to another. But he couldn't trust her, they had never been friends, and certainly not boyfriend and girlfriend. He hadn't seen her in almost one hundred years. She was just, a series of bad decisions. Bad decisions... like last night.
"Nephafel, I..." Tom tried to extract himself out of the situation.
Suddenly, he noticed Adorjan, Sam, walking their way. He carried a plate of eyes and crackers on one hand, and a long red napkin in the other. His expression was the utterly unreadable mask of professionalism Tom had come to associate with the servant, before he knew who he truly was.
"Pardon me, sir, madam," he interjected, with a deep servile bow. Tom had a brief moment of gratification when he saw that Nephafel was even more unnerved by Sam's act then he was. She flinched. The endless shadow, one of the greatest powers in all of the hells, was serving them snacks. His next words, however, reversed the feeling, causing Tom to frown and the demon princess to grin. "I couldn't help but overhearing. It would seem to me, though it is certainly not my place to judge, that a young girl being so forward and a true scoundrel being shy is not how this particular encounter should play out. Certainly I can't imagine either of you would risk breaking character, especially not the Prince Lucitor..."
Tom sighed. 'Play your part, play your part or she dies', and he didn't mean Neph. He took a cracker from the plate Sam was offering, and ate it as he thought of his next move. It was admittedly somewhat viscous, but quite tasty.
"There are many things that you don't know about me, kid," he emphasized the last word, savoring Nephafel's look of irritation. She was technically his elder by almost a full thousand years. By demonic generations, they were peers. But him treating her like a child was a reversal of their usual dynamic. She usually presented herself as the more worldly of the two. "I am looking to chat with some ladies tonight, not change anyone's diapers, so get lost!"
Actually, being in character wasn't going to be half bad.
"Aww, but siiir," she insisted in an exaggeratedly high-pitched voice. "All I want is one little dance. I can make it worth your while. Pretty please!"
She drew a finger to her mouth and sucked on it. Then, she tripped forward, or pretended to do so, and fell into Tom's arms. By reflex, he caught her, just in time to see her smirk triumphantly.
With uncanny strength, the demon princess grabbed him by both arms and begun forcing Tom to dance, pulling him in reverse through the motions, pretending to follow but leading him on the sly. He could drop her now, if he truly tried, but not without revealing she had dragged him along. Would that be breaking character? For a few moments, he was forced into the awkward dance. He eventually began leading her normally, as an alternative to being moved around like a rag doll. She relaxed her grip, but only slightly, when she thought he was no longer immediately planning to free himself.
They did a turn and then, behind Nephafel, Tom saw a girl in a black bloodied cloak staring at them: Janna. Her gaze was one of pure contempt, tinged with disappointment.
"Sorry, kid, but my date is here," he forced himself to give an in-character reason. Then, summoning all of his own strength, he managed to extract himself from the other demon's grip. Before Nephafel could react, he ran towards Janna.
As he did, the witch retreated into the crowd. He pursued.
"Janna, wait! It's not what you think!" he shouted. It was something a scoundrel would say too, so it was fine to shout it in public. Except, unlike the role he was meant to play, Tom really did mean it.
"And what do I think it was?" Janna's question came from his left. He turned quickly, to see her right in front of him. It was strange, he never noticed her doubling back towards him.
"I... I don't know," Tom admitted. "But Neph is just an old pain in the ass, ok? I just couldn't get rid of her."
"Well," Janna observed. "Didn't seem that hard once you really tried. Maybe there is a lesson in there for me..." she mussed.
"Wait, what?!" Tom asked, surprised, not sure he understood what the human girl meant. "She was forcing me to dance, really, that was nothing..."
"I saw that," Janna shrugged. "I don't give a rat ass about her. But tell me, yesterday... was that nothing? Star... was she forcing you too?"
"Wait! You know?!" Tom went pale.
Janna's eyes narrowed.
"That's your reaction? Seriously?! Surprise that I found out?!" the troublemaker girl shook her head in disbelief. "I am not sure which is worse, Tom: what you two did, the fact that you would have been ok with keeping that a secret from me, or that you think I am so much of an idiot that you could ever have!"
Tom felt anger rise within him. He wasn't going to be berated like this. After all, it was not like he and the girl ever agreed they were going steady or anything of the sort. Actually, him getting it on with Star had been the plan from the beginning; her plan. "Janna, wait a minute! That was our deal! Remember? You knew I wanted Star. You said you would help me get her, right? That we would be dating until I had a chance to get Star back!"
"Right..." Janna replied, coldly. Around them, the crowd started parting, a lot of eyes on them. "... yes, I did say that."
"And ok, maybe along the way it became a little bit more than that," Tom explained. "A lot more than that, ok? But is not like I ever promised you anything different, is it? You knew what the deal was! You set those terms! I did nothing wrong!"
"Ok, sure, Tom, you are absolutely right! You did exactly what you promised! What you always wanted!" she shouted. Her fists were clenched. There was something in her left index finger. Blood? A cut? No, not quite, it looked like the tattoo of a ring, except only half of the way around, like a crescent moon. "Congratulations then! Mission fucking accomplished! Hope it was worth it... because you are right, you don't owe me shit. The thing is, that one goes both ways, Tom... I also don't owe you a damn thing."
She took a deep breath.
"You know? The funny thing is that, maybe, if that had been the first thing you told me, that our deal had worked, well, I wouldn't be happy, perhaps, but I could understand," she added. "But that's not what happened. You were fine with keeping me in the dark, if you could. That doesn't make me a partner in a scheme, fucked up and outdated as that scheme might have been... It makes me the goddamn mark! That's not a role I'll accept, Tom. I am done with you. And you know what? I think so is Star."
Sam was right, the costume fit. It seemed playing his part had been no challenge at all.
Janna turned around. Tom felt sick. He hadn't realized it, but what he had said before was true, his relationship with Janna had become a lot more than a game for him long ago. It wasn't the last thing she said that was the most hurtful, even if she meant it to be. He was fine with Star not being his, he was fine with it having only been a one night thing. But this, this he didn't want. It was not the trade he'd meant to make. Once more, he'd messed up, badly.
"Janna, wait! I am s..."
But she was no longer there. In an instant, Janna's cloaked figure had become translucent, and then dissolved like a fading shadow. Tom blinked. She had probably displaced herself to somewhere else within the room, or had made herself invisible. She was far too smart to leave and let Sam win that way. Either way, Tom didn't think she could do something like that yet. Hell, he didn't think she would master magics like those for another fifty years, if ever. He himself couldn't do that outside of his own domain. He didn't know if Star could. More strangely, he hadn't felt her taking the necessary power from him. The other guests, perhaps? It was an extraordinarily magically saturated environment, after all.
In any case, Janna had vanished, and whether she was still in the room or not, Tom knew that searching for her would be futile.
----
Well, it was a hell of a crowd. And yet, in a way, it was tamer than Star had imagined it to be. Yes, ok, there were a few naked demons wearing carnival masks, of at least two different genders, and not always a single one each. And yes, some of them had rather extreme anatomies, and a handful were even making use of them in ways that she dared not observe for long. But honestly, she had sort of expected that to be a lot more common given that it was hell and Tom had described Sam's parties as 'intense' even by infernal standards. And ok, sure, there was a huge hairy creature laying in a pool of blood in the corner of the dance room, probably because somebody was doing good on one of those assassin roles. But, then again, that also happened with some regularity at Star's family reunions. By and large, most attendants were dressed as if for a normal costume party, more Halloween Night than "demonic orgy of sin and debauchery".
Not saying she was disappointed or anything, it was a good thing that this didn't live up to her worst nightmares. But, still, she had expected to be more shocked.
"Out of my way, you imbecile!" she commanded once more, and a huge stone gargoyle in chains moved to let her finally get to the drinks.
She smiled. It was part of staying in costume after all, nothing she could do about it. She had to do it anyways to remain on Sam's good side. Her gown didn't particularly fill her with a sense of kindness towards those beneath, so being too polite might actually have been dangerous to her and her friends. And well, if she really had to be bad, if there was no choice in the matter, well, she might as well enjoy it. Guilt was overrated, after all.
"Hey, Star, there you are!" shouted Marco, walking towards her in long strides. He was frowning.
Behind him, Jackie shuffled painfully, dragging her own chains behind, looking down. Every so often, Marco glanced back at some of the patrons looking the human girl's way, and gave them a quick peek at the blade of his otherwise sheathed sword. His expression was that of someone not to mess with. Although Star assumed it was mostly the effect of the Champion costume, she couldn't avoid thinking that Marco was throughly pissed at her in particular, when his eyes met hers.
Star gulped. It was hard seeing Marco right now, after last night, particularly when he held so much fire in his gaze. It made her feel... that one emotion that was pointless. She would have to tell them about last night, sooner or later, it was the right thing to do. But now it was not the time. How could she apologize to him and Jackie, and still keep her role? How could they say their piece, and still keep theirs?
Well, if either way she had to fix it later, then what was the point in agonizing about it? Better not to tell them just yet, and not let pointless guilt show.
"Hey Marco, Jackie! Want any drinks?" she smiled at them. Then, lowering her voice to a whisper. "All going well with, you know, the slave bullshit? Anything I can do to help?"
"I...," Marco begun replying. Jackie just nodded. "We are managing. My role helps. I think the really scary ones heard Sam and are not getting themselves involved in his game, and the rest back off when threatened."
"Good, good... well, let me know if you need help with the threats..." Star mussed. She downed a glass of some red liquid she had first assumed was wine. It didn't taste like grapes, or alcoholic. It just tasted sort of metallic. Ugh. Not pleasant at all.
"But, Star, there is something we wanted to ask..." he begun.
"Does it need to be now?" Star interrupted him. There was a lot she needed to talk to them about. Not only last night, but also her dream, and what she had decided because of it. But, right now, "We need to be careful, Marco. Our roles..."
"But, Star, it is important..." Marco insisted. Star sighed, exasperated. She knew the costume was influencing her, but well, didn't Marco get it? They literally couldn't have an honest conversation right now!
A three headed cyclops, with a single eye in the middle head and huge foaming circular maws occupying the entirety of the other two, stumbled onto the edge of the small table. A dozen glasses fell to the ground, breaking and spilling their contents. The monster grunted. The left head bellowed, baring its sharp knife-long fangs as it spoke, "You! Slave girl! Clean this mess!"
Marco began to move his hand towards the sword, but Jackie pulled at his arm, and shook her head. She whispered something into Marco's ear. Then moved towards the table and grabbed a large cotton napkin. She knelt to the floor, with some trouble due to the shackles around her feet, and begun to clean. The three headed creature nodded satisfied and began stumbling away.
"Why?" Star asked Marco.
"She said," the boy muttered, angrily gritting his teeth. "She said that we all have to play our roles at least somewhat, and that this was an easy one to tackle. She also said you have to play yours."
"So, then you understand why I can't talk to you right now, right, Marco?" she had intended it to be apologetic. But the tone came out a haughty sneer.
Something was going on with them tonight, with the costumes. Were the instincts embedded in their magics stronger during the party? Or was this just the effect of wearing them for so long? Or simply how well they aligned with their current mental state?
"Ok, fine. I know you can't explain now, Lady Star," he highlighted the title, addressing her as a countess, albeit using the wrong part of her name. He was making a point of talking to her not as a princess, and definitely not as his girlfriend or his best friend. "But, just so you know: We know. About Tom, I mean."
Star's eyes went wide. They knew? How? Why? Oh, right... the link! Marco must have seen her. Oh god! Marco had seen her, her and Tom!
"Marco, I am so..." she begun, not worrying about what the damn dress was telling her to do.
"Ahem," she heard Sam cough behind her. Star turned around to see him smiling, in his new goat-like appearance, silently offering her another glass of whatever the hell it was. Blood, probably.
She sighed, and glared at him, which luckily was perfectly in character. The devil kept toying with them. It would have been the easiest thing for him to let them fail this little charade then and there, but he had stopped her from breaking her role, at the cost of forcing her to do something she didn't want to do.
She addressed Marco. "I believe we can discuss this another time. For now, the party must go on, and I'd rather be on my own. I believe that would be the best for all of us."
She tried to convey, with her eyes, what she would have said if she was free to speak her mind. That she was sorry. That it had been a mistake. The she understood if it meant the end. But that right now, their lives were at stake, and that the longer they remained around one another, the higher the chance that all their masks would crumble.
He seemed hurt, but he nodded right back in understanding. He and Jackie begun walking away from her. It hurt, a lot. Well, better get used to that, because once their three nights at Sam's place were done, she planned to send them both away, permanently.
Sam had said it himself, in the dream, if it had truly been a dream: feeling guilty was useless. If all she could do was to keep hurting them, to keep putting them in danger, then feeling bad after the fact didn't help. She needed them to go back to Earth, to leave her alone, for their own good. In a way, the Tom thing should make it much easier. If Marco and Jackie hated her for it, then it would be easier to convince them to turn back, to let her take the rest of the road alone. Still, she felt... irritated. Yeah, let's go with irritated.
"So, you are Thomas new 'friend'?" said an even more irritating voice. It belonged to this winged lavender-skinned demon in a school girl uniform, with more teeth than fucking Toffee crossed with a hair comb. "Can you spell downgrade?"
Star scoffed. Trying to ignore the stranger. She didn't seem like a threat, and the least people she talked to at this party, the least chances she had to break their stupid deal with Sam.
"The name is Nephafel, by the way, Princess Nephafel Gibborim," she kept at it. "A bow is preferred, but a scream of terror would be fine too. Maybe Thomas mentioned me? I am her ex. I mean, his original ex."
Star smirked, and answered truthfully "He never said a word about you."
"Oh, well," Nephafel shrugged. "He should have!"
She jumped at Star then, the middle finger of her right hand extending until it was as long as a spear. Its sharp tip lounged towards Star's chest.
It hit a solid barrier of bright violet magical energy.
"Ugh," the demoness exclaimed. "Sam's protection?"
"No," Star corrected her. Pulling her wand from inside her purple gown. "My own. Just like this..."
She took aim.
"GLOWING DARKNESS HELLBLAST!" she shouted. A thin beam of blinding violet light emerged from it. It hit the demon princess' leg.
Star smiled as Nephafel yelled in pain. This was just what she needed after that exchange with Marco, after the decision that had hatched inside her heart. If all she was meant to do was hurt, then she would hurt those who deserved it. She smelled the demon girl's flesh burning as the beam continued steady out of her wand, piecing all the way through skin, muscle, and bone. Slowly, she moved it further and further up the limb.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Nephafel cried. "You... you can't do this! You are bound by Sam's hospitality, those are the rules! Argh!"
"Oh, but I am following the rules," Star observed. "I am just playing my role. You should have asked what it was, I think, before you tried to attack me. Turns out that, tonight, I have to pretend to be the kind of bitch you probably are..."
Internally, Star was surprised at her own words. At the same time, saying that felt better than she cared to admit. Star had never craved power over others, the amount she had by virtue of her birth was burden enough already. But this act let her feel in control of herself, of her own pain, able to direct it intentionally against a foe rather than having it explode around her friends. It was also a much needed victory, after her defeat against her mom's killer, and her feelings of impotence when it came to dealing with Sam's games.
She looked around, most of the other guests were looking at the two of them indifferently. In fact, there were three or four other fights in progress around them, along with at least five separate ongoing sexual acts, and a dozen other events that would normally count as extreme displays of one sort or another. Yet, the vast majority of the people dancing or talking paid no attention. Sam himself was elsewhere, carrying a few larger trays of food and placing them on the tables around them. He was whistling.
Her beam reached past the girl's knee and Star begun to grow bored with her screams. With a swift movement, she cut horizontally, severing the leg at that height and cauterizing the wound in one shot. "Fine, that was enough. You can go now. I meant it when I said I have never heard of you before, and I better not hear of you again. Deal? Bye!"
Nephafel scrambled away on all three. If she was anything like Tom, her leg would grow again. But either way, it was not Star's problem. The demon princess had tried to kill her, after all. She deserved it, and it had been... relaxing.
----
Jackie's first visit to Tom's hell, and her meeting with the green ghost of Queen Moon, had been humbling and violent. The road to Sam's place had been eerie and haunting. As she tried to fall asleep last night, she had heard the screams outside in the night: blood-curling howls from the burning city below. She had also met their host yesterday, who in theory was the scariest thing around, and she had no trouble believing that claim, despite his occasional fake playfulness. She had faced all that with her chin held high. Yet, now, she was truly terrified.
The room was full of bizarre inchoate monstrosities, animated corpses, and huge red winged demons. There was a two-and-a-half meters tall walking skeleton in a harlequin dress that seemed to lower the room temperature a full five degrees all around it wherever it went. The snacks were eyes, the drinks seemed to be blood. A fat red demon with goat legs and a goat skull for a face, was sitting on a huge chair, jerking himself off, while two winged demon ladies in carnival masks danced in front of him. There was the corpse of something that looked like a four-horned minotaur sprawled on a corner, and she could have sworn he had been alive when the party started. How was nobody else unnerved by this? How could Star and Marco still act so... so... so unfazed?
The worst part, was the way some of the nightmarish creatures looked at her, at her small form dragging chains around. In some eyes, she saw lust, and that was chilling enough. But the appetites she saw on some of the inhuman eyes that followed her made her sick to her core. She could tell who wanted to hurt her, and who wanted to eat her like a pig or a chicken, and who wanted to break her so thoroughly that death would be a welcome release. Somehow, she knew. And she knew that if they asked, she would feel the need to obey.
Most of the guests simply treated her like a servant, asking her to clean things of fetch them food. She tried to do those tasks, to keep her role as best she could. It helped that she truly felt good serving, felt useful. A voice in her mind recoiled at the idea, yelled at her that it was wrong, humiliating. But as a practical matter, she was ok with handling the easy stuff. Whenever any of the fiends asked for something more, she relied on Marco to keep them at bay. Some of the requests were gross, or dangerous, and a few were of a disturbingly sexual nature. Those were handled by the boy, with a stern look and a glimpse of an iron edge.
She was surprised, and a bit awed, that Marco had turned such an effective bodyguard. Sam's announcement that they were under his protection, and the fact that Star had apparently mutilated someone earlier that night, certainly helped make the creatures around them take the human boy seriously. But it also helped that it didn't feel like a bluff. He seemed genuinely fearless, and ready to exact bloody violence on anyone or anything that didn't back down from his irate glare.
At first, she had felt worried that something wasn't right. That wasn't how Marco acted, not even how he had acted last night. Jackie was grateful for him keeping guard over her, but at the same time couldn't help but feel unnerved by his behavior. He seemed different, rougher, angrier. It was not like him: Marco was thoughtful, and analytical, and not the least bit likely to strut around playing Conan the Barbarian in a room full of demons, striding ahead as she followed him meekly shuffling in chains. If anything, Jackie was usually the more confident one, the one who was brave almost to the point of foolishness... sometimes way past it.
It dawned on her, earlier in the night, that she also wasn't acting like herself. She was following her role, dragging herself around like a broken person. Somehow, on some level, the roles they were meant to play were more than just disguises, something was messing with their minds. Anger rose within her, she stood a little bit higher, held a wolf beast's gaze with her own defiant one. And then, realizing the problem, looked back down towards the floor.
Following her role was exactly what she needed to do. If she tried to be brave, she'd be breaking their deal with Sam. She had to let herself be cowed, be afraid, and let Marco (and Star) keep her safe. But was that just the logical choice? Or was that her role speaking? Or was it like Prince Jack had told her? That she was really, deep down, just that much of a coward?
As the hours ran by, she became more at ease with her temporary misfortune. More and more of the monsters learned what they would and wouldn't tolerate, which also meant less unreasonable requests.
Still, she felt tired, and hungry. It was now past eleven, and she had not dared eat a thing from this infernal buffet. Marco had taken a few disgusted bites off a drumstick of meat that fortunately seemed too large to be human, but was also raw and bloody. She had not been quite as brave. Then again, a few more minutes, maybe just half-an-hour, and Sam would do his midnight address. After that, they'd leave the party and the nightmare would be mostly over.
So far, it seemed like all five of them were holding their end of the bargain, including herself. Maybe she wasn't playing the role she would have wanted to play, but they were still winning, weren't they?
Deep in thought as she was, Jackie almost tripped on the dead body in front of her. 'Deader body', she supposed. It was a clean skeleton, devoid of flesh but wearing a bullfighter outfit. The bones themselves, however, were fractured and splintered, and there was no bright magical glow in the eyes of its cracked skull. An undead creature, rendered merely dead at a much more recent time.
Besides the remains, laid a sharp looking dagger, lodged into the marble of the floor itself. Its hilt was also in the shape of a skull, with sapphire encrusted eyes and a twelve-pointed ring of thorns carved into its forehead.
"Zzlave," she hard a clicking echoing voice behind her, as a hard cold hand wrapped around her wrist. "We zzhall mate."
She turned around to see the most hideous creature she had yet seen that night. Its lower body was that of a centipede the size of a horse. From it grew a human torso, albeit one covered in a sort of black carapace, not unlike that of a cockroach. Its mouth was also insectoid, with clicking external mandibles that rattled as it spoke, while the rest of the face was vaguely humanoid, but only in the broadest sense. Instead of hair, it had a mass of sprouting white maggots, which slowly dripped into the floor.
Jackie yelled as she pulled away from the monster. A second later, with a gleam of iron, Marco's sword came down between the two of them, forcing the horror to pull back its hand.
----
"Let. Her. Go!" Marco demanded. Shooting an enraged glare at the entomological nightmare before them.
He knew the creature would back down. He would make it back down.
Yes, the place was filled with bloodthirsty monsters, and he was not a fool to pick unnecessary fights, but if any of them forced the issue when it came to Jackie, he was ready. He had fought monsters before, with Star, and even more while chasing Hekapoo across half-forgotten kingdoms. Scary things were afraid of him. He had been ready for a fight since the beginning of this hellish party. He felt his blood boil at every step, his muscles tense every time that a creature held his gaze. He welcomed the sport! But so far, no being had taken him on his offer, made him make good on his threat.
It was like it had been back in Ennio, except he hadn't yet been forced to demonstrate a thing. So far, they had all backed down.
"No."
The creature pulled its hand back, but at the same time it rose on its lower centipede body, until it towered twice Marco's height.
"No," it repeated. A clicking buzzing voice. "I won't letzz go. Zzzhe and I muzzt mate."
Marco lunged forward with his iron sword, slashing against the beast torso. Eight legs out of ten times as many held onto his blade, yanking it away from its hand.
By reflex, Marco brought his hands up in front of him, and begun a sequence of twelve gestures and twelve words in Riradesh. He had been holding out on using the Fierceness Ritual. He wasn't sure what effects it would have on his mind when the costume alone was already goading him into aggression. Well, it seemed like this beast was about to find out.
Before he could complete the ritual, however, the monster tackled him, throwing him to the ground, breaking the sequence. It launched itself towards Jackie, too fast for Marco to respond.
----
Jackie saw Marco attack the creature, and the creature counter-attack. She saw Marco fall to the ground. She saw the gleam of the skull dagger near her and reflexively drew herself low to grab it. She hid it behind her back, as the creature lunged at her.
Marco's sword had been caught in the monster's appendages because it was large, and heavy, and slow, and it had swung in a wide slashing motion. The dagger was small and quick, and all Jackie had to do was wait until the insect abomination was close enough to her, and thrust the point against its chest. The blade would kill it, she knew. Somehow she knew it with absolute certainty.
A bell tolled somewhere, but to Jackie it felt distant. It didn't matter. Around her all seemed to freeze.
Marco was still in the floor, out of breath. Not unconscious, but not able to get back up on time. Even if he did, he was unarmed. It was up to her.
A bell tolled. Behind the monster, Sam, in his waiter attire, stood expectantly.
Time seemed to slow down, like it had during her fight with Princess White. The creature lunged at Jackie in slow motion. She could certainly murder it, avoid a fate worse than death. She wanted that foul beast nowhere near her.
A bell tolled. Sam smiled.
But she was a slave. She was supposed to be a slave. To serve. She was not the champion, that had been Marco's role.
A bell tolled. A raised eyebrow from their host.
If she fought, that might violate Sam's hospitality. That was why time flowed slowly, to give her the chance to act.
A bell tolled.
But if she did, if she fought her assailant, that would break her role, and then not only her, but all of them would suffer.
A bell tolled.
Tom and Janna. Star. Marco. She could not let Marco get hurt. No matter what, not even if he loved Star more than her.
A bell tolled.
He had tried to protect her. He kept her safe all the rest of the night, and even if he had failed this one time, she still wanted to do her best to protect him in return.
A bell tolled.
Even if it meant torment. Even if it meant hell.
A bell tolled.
The creature was now upon her, a second longer and the decision would no longer be hers.
A bell tolled.
Horror overwhelmed Jackie's mind. She closed her eyes, preparing herself for the worst. She dropped the blade.
A bell tolled.
A cry of agony forced Jackie's eyes back open, just in time to see a piercing bright violet ray crisscross the monster's carapace. The creature felt backwards, burnt and eviscerated. With tearful eyes, Jackie looked back to see Star pointing her wand at the remains of the insect-like horror. The princess looked appropriately murderous in her fury.
A bell tolled. Then, a long silence.
Jackie realized that Star was glaring past the monster's corpse now, directly at Sam. The devil was back in his usual form: glowing blue eyes and burning golden hair.
The human girl was vaguely aware that the time around them had begun moving normally, and she was probably perceiving it at the same speed as everyone else now. If anything, she was the one who felt slow. She new, on some level, that she was in shock.
"Devils and gentlefiends, that was the twelfth bell. It is now midnight," Sam spoke to the room, unconcerned, as he walked towards Jackie. "It is now midnight, and the charade is ended. I am afraid to say, that, in the last minute, one of my five guests of honor has delivered me a great insult, by breaking her role."
"What?!" Star shouted. "I didn't! I am pretty sure what I just did fits my role perfectly. But, you know what? If it didn't, I would have done it anyways! No way I am letting that thing hurt one of my best friends!"
"Not who I meant." Sam knelt down besides Jackie and picked up the dagger. He turned to address her, pointing the tip of the weapon carelessly towards her face. "You, you broke your role."
"W..w..." Jackie tried to talk, but the shock of the last few minutes was still too much, as was the creeping realization that they were all doomed, and somehow, despite what she had been ready to do, to accept, it was still her fault.
"I gave you the tool to kill him," Sam remarked, as he stood back up. "I gave you time to decide. I gave you the knowledge that you would win. You didn't raise your hand against an unbearable fate. Why?"
Slowly, Marco was beginning to get back up. She also saw that Tom was making his way towards them. Suddenly, Janna seemed to pop out of thin air right ahead of him.
"B... because," Jackie muttered. "Because of my role... because I was a slave... so, so... so you are wrong, I didn't break the deal, I kept my role. I swear it. I was even ready to... to..."
"Ah, but you see, child, that was not your role," he spoke. Suddenly, his smile was not one of amusement. There was only one emotion in the devil's face, a gelid cruelty, an utter malevolence. Slowly, those among the eldest and most powerful of the guests began vanishing, making their own ways out of Sam's domain after the designated hour. Those who weren't quite as powerful, but were smart, scrambled for the doors. Even Nephafel ran for her life. "What is the role of a slave, if not rebellion?"
"You..." spoke a voice behind her, almost bursting with barely restrained fury. It broke through the dazed coldness she was slowly sinking into.
Jackie turned around to see Star pointing her wand straight at Sam.
"... you monumentally unfair asshole!!" shouted the princess.
"And now, princess Butterfly, you have directly insulted me," he remarked, "and you have raised your hand against me, as well. By your friends actions, or by yours, I am free of our bargain. Consider my protection withdrawn."
The walls around them begun to crack apart, the ceiling exploded into a cloud of dust, falling upwards towards the sky. The spheres of blue flame, which used to be trapped below the hall's vault, let out a long wailing sound and flew away, to join their siblings in the aurora of souls of the now exposed sky.
Sam's body rose up, and lit up with blinding azure splendor. The demons and aberrations dumb enough, or unlucky enough, to have remained in the room burned to dust under the brightness of his light. Star lifted her wand, just in time, and a glittering purple magical bubble appeared around the five of them. It shook and wavered under the stress, but, for now, it held.
"Any last words?" boomed a voice like a thousand brass bells.
- 24
- 25
- 26
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

I Summon the All-Seeing Eye