Demon Bait (Keeley Thomson) (12 page)

Her black hair was loose and flowing,
and she wore a white skirt, with sandals. Those were
nice
, but seemed
like something that could be bought at a shoe shop anywhere in the world.
Nothing about the woman spoke of wealth, or even power. Just availability.

"Lover." It came out
sounding a bit wrong, but Keeley didn't blush about it. If you picked a name
like that, you probably wanted that kind of effect.

"Mistress of Souls."
There was no attempt at being pleasant, since she looked over at The Vile and
sneered, even as he rather kindly grinned back at her. Oh, sure, it was the
kind of thing to make most have nightmares, but the attempt was real enough.

Before she could speak however,
Keeley held up her right hand a little, which got them all to look at her. She
could have been about to do something, like steal their will, for instance, so
they all tensed, just a tiny bit, seeming to relax when she spoke instead.

"I need to be informed as to
the nature of the difficulty. We should all strive to deal with this today, or
at least not turn whatever it is into a larger problem. If an equitable
resolution cannot be found, then I'll personally take whatever the issue is and
all valuable or desirable parts of it, and leave you with nothing to fight
over. Is that agreeable to you? If so, please don't answer, since my abilities
might accidently try to take you over if you do." It was a threat, and one
that she followed with a smile. "Which means that you all agree with that?
Excellent. The real goal is, however, to have everyone leave here, if not happy,
then at least no worse off than you started. Right now, let's go in and have a
seat? We can eat something and have some drinks. You can each trade something
of comparable value to what you have, later. I'll leave that assessment to
you."

She turned, and started to walk
inside, wondering which of the three would attack her first. She was being
incredibly
snooty, by Greater Demon rules and standards. Really, they probably should have
all attacked at once, agreeing that whatever they'd been troubled about before
was worth less than being rid of her, but no one did more than follow. The Vile
came in last, stopping at the door, and suddenly flaring with magic. Rather
than an energy blast hitting them, or an increase in stench, the man suddenly
transformed. His face became real looking, which was an illusion, held over his
true form like a mask, and the odor, when she let herself chance a whiff of
him, had turned to a pleasant musk. One that mimicked a popular men's body
spray. He seemed normal suddenly, if a bit stiff.

"So that I won't taint your
dwelling, Mistress of Souls. May I call you something else? Mistress seems a
bit too... Commanding, for the time being." The words from the Vile were
well spoken and articulate, holding the air of a well educated person who
wasn't in any particular hurry or rush.

"Keeley, or Keels, if you
wish? What may I call you?" Vile would work, but that seemed a bit off,
too.

There was a long pause, before
the man spoke again, sounding a little odd this time. Flattered, rather than too
proper.

"I was once called Marcus.
Would that serve?"

"Certainly, Marcus. Please
all of you, come in. We should..." Keels looked at The Lover and winked,
which didn't get a glare back or anything. "Really, perhaps we should have
another name for you, too? Not that
Lover
isn't a fine name."

There was a saucy hair flip, and
a flirty look, but the woman didn't say anything until after she sat in the
living room, taking one side of the sofa, next to William. Without even a hint
of shyness she moved in next to him, almost as if making room for Marcus, who
elected to sit in one of the two reclining chairs instead. They were all in a
soft cream color, which was probably a mistake, but went very well with the
black and green streaked marble tile floor she'd put in.

Finally, the lady, her face
looking a bit too directly at Keeley, smiled.

"Emera. Though you, dear,
may call me any time." It was a joke, but there was no indication of that
on the surface of her being.

 "Thank you, Emera. Now, why
don't you tell me what the issue is here? Each of you can have a turn at it, if
needed, to put your own spin on things. Why doesn't... Marcus, go first?"
Her idea there was that The Vile would be the one she needed both to court the
most and who would be likely to have a problem with reality. The others were
sane, which meant they saw things clearly. That didn't mean they knew it all,
but most problems came about when people couldn't understand what really was in
the world, and didn't know it.

The man perked up a bit, as William
leaned in to listen politely, and Emera crossed her arms across her breasts,
pushing them down, locking herself off from whatever was being said. Which
meant she clearly didn't think it was real, or at least wanted Keeley to think
that of her.

"Thank you, Keeley. I'll
attempt to be brief and concise. I contracted The Cartographer to draw up a map
to a secret location, where I might hide some valuable possessions, and have
them unmolested by others. When I arrived, I found the place already being
used, by The Lover. That would have simply been an issue between myself and
William, for selling the map twice, against our agreement, but when I went to
him, he assured me that the two maps he'd given us were completely different
and led to different locations. They do appear to be different, but when The
Lover follows hers, it consistently takes her to the location I'd bartered for.
We do not know who is responsible for this, or what recompense should be mete
out for it." Then he stopped, and looked at the others, who seemed to
agree with him, for the most part, about what he'd just said.

They even waited to speak about
it. That was really pretty considerate, as far as she was concerned. She'd
expected to have to instantly try and stop actual violence. This was nicer. It
was almost as if Tarsus
hadn't
told them to be difficult on purpose or
something.

"Emera? Would you like to go
next?"

"My experience was similar.
I asked for a map, since it takes less work to do that than find my own hiding
spots, and the Cartographer is well noted for being trustworthy in such
matters. After several days of working on the new site, setting up safeguards
and protections, this...
Thing
, showed up and started claiming that I'd
stolen his spot. We fought about it, but ended with it being a draw. Short of
bringing others into this matter, there doesn't seem to be a resolution. That
paper pusher, Tarsus, suggested that we dump it on you, so that when we took
our friends to war over the issue, we had someone to blame other than ourselves.
So, here we are!" The honesty rang out in her words, hidden just beneath
the ingenuous tone.

"Good idea. Then no one said
Tarsus was stupid, did they? So, William, from your perspective?"

That got the being to pause, and
then slide his large hand into a small gray pouch on his waist, from the way
things inside of it moved when he did that, it was filled with some kind of
dust. Given that the man looked like he could bench press the house they were
in, it probably wasn't anything normal or regular either. Keeley took it as a
warning, and got ready to move, if fighting started.

He merely spoke, calmly, instead.

"I provided each of these
others with maps, which are extremely difficult to manufacture, requiring
expensive materials and much travel on my part. They
are
similar, but
lead to different locations. I have tested and retested them several times. The
one that Vile here, Marcus, has is a set of directions to the location they
both have been contesting. The other is to a completely different and very
remote spot. Normally I would simply remake the maps for them, but it took
several months for each one. The value of my time may not be great to others,
but to me it is rather more so. I do not know what to do about it, that anyone
else will allow. Now there are hard feelings on both sides, and no one will
back down, I fear."

Keeley thought for a few minutes
then, going over everything she'd just heard and what it would mean.

The important part wasn't the
problem itself, but the underlying issues between the various people. She could
tell that, without having to get any more information from them. William had
shared that with her openly, and neither of the others had reacted to the idea
that he would, so it wasn't some kind of secret. They had friends, on each
side, and they thought that their people would back them up in a war, over
minor hurt feelings. Given what her real goal was, she was going to bet that
there would be four very powerful beings involved here. Or, rather, three.

The Void
wouldn't
be part
of the mix.

After a bit she nodded.

"I see. Okay, so, let's
reduce this problem, shall we?" She looked at the others and no one asked
what she meant, they just each got ready to fight. Because, clearly, being who
she was that would be all about taking them over. It was tempting, to tell the
truth, except that then she'd have more pet Demons than she wanted for the time
being. She only had two rooms after all.

No one seemed terrified of the
idea, but it was clear that each planned to kill her the second they felt even
the slightest tickle of energy coming from her direction. Luckily for her, that
wasn't part of her plan for the day.

"First, William, will you
remake those maps for these two? I think I can show you why there was a problem
this time. These two simply use the lines differently, which changes the
starting point." Or, to be more than blunt, she could have pointed out
that The Lover was barely able to get into the lines, and used more power doing
that than was
sane
, but it would be pointing out a flaw in a person that
probably had a lot of powerful and insane friends.

The Cartographer glared at her a
little, not seeming all that pleased to hear those words.

"My maps were fine. I gave
them what they paid for." It seemed, for a bit, like he was going to have
a real problem with the idea.

"Exactly. You aren't to
blame here, except that you didn't take into account the fact that your maps
are also representations of the beings using them. That created a problem, in
this case. True, no one else in existence would think about it either, until it
was
a problem, but now you know, which is valuable to you, if annoying
to find out this way." Without waiting, she glanced at the other two,
speaking to Emera first. "You may keep using the location that you've been
working with, if you'll trade maps with Marcus? That isn't ideal, and new
locations will be coming for you both, but it will give each of you an extra
value from this. In exchange, I think that you should each try to come up with
some sort of gift for William, for being so kind as to put himself out for you
in this, to make certain you're both happy." She sounded very bossy, in
that moment. Commanding too, and young, as well as more than a bit idealistic.

Again, she knew that the real
problem wasn't these three and their petty disagreement, but the others
involved. It was, helpfully enough, Marcus that explained that part to her, so
that she wouldn't have to give them the idea that she already understood that
portion of things.

"That's a solution. I think
that things have already gone too far for sense and reason however. The Chaotic
has taken up my part in this and has some small issue with The Lover. A bad
breakup in the fifties, I hear? Eighteen-fifties, if I have that right. It's an
excuse only, but as any that know him will tell you, The Chaotic does not often
follow rules. Anyone's."

That got Emera to grimace.

"On hearing that, I might
have possibly made an agreement with The Rage, for protection. It's an
understandable thing, don't you agree? They are two of the most imposing of our
kind, and can command armies to their whim."

Which left the Helmsman. Keeley
half expected The Cartographer to mention that, but he just sighed and shook
his head a little. "Neither of them would touch me, of course, since it
would be without bearing to this. Except that my... Failure, as you pointed
out, is now part of this. I'll see to fixing my portion of things, so that I'm
not attacked without cause. I suppose that fixes this, as far as you're
concerned, Keeley? It seems that you've rather handily conquered your Second
Crucible, doesn't it?"

To her surprise the others stood
up, then, speaking softly.

The Lover moved in for a hug, and
pushed herself against Keels with a bit more effort than should be needed
really. Grinding and rubbing in ways that weren't quite understandable. It was
all about sex, but not something natural either. That was, probably, what being
The Lover meant however. She was a being, like they all were, of magical
extremes.

"Congratulations, if that is
a thing you wish for. I failed, you know, when I was tested. I didn't even have
to deal with an insane one, like you did. This was well performed." Then
she took a step back, and looked at The Vile, as if he were going to say
something rude now that he'd pretty much won the day.

He hadn't been in the wrong
however, so Keeley could accept that idea. Instead he smiled at her, which
looked like he really wanted to convey joy for her. Even pride, though she
didn't know why that was.

"Yes, I congratulate you
too, Keeley. May I call on you again, in the future? You seem a delightful
person. We could perhaps have that meal you mentioned?"

"That would be good.
Perhaps... in six days? I still need to get things set up here. Call it, seven
in the evening? My time." She had no clue where he lived or worked, but
the man seemed to think it was a great idea. He said so, several times at least.