Chapter 136: Tentacle Skirt

My jaw hung open, and I felt like if I didn’t hold my tongue in, I’d taste the floor. “You… what?”

The room went silent enough to hear an empty quill fall from a desk. No one spoke, but all eyes were on myself and Nelys. Sharp, tenuous anger spiked from them, and Kartania’s cold pool of fury rippled.

Nelys exhaled sharply. “A contract, Renna. I want to be stronger—not just for now but for when I want to see the world.”

“But… your family?”

My small friend smiled wanly, an atypical expression on their usually-jubilant face. “Do you think what might happen to me could be the thing that keeps them from accepting me?”

“I…” What a question. “How am I supposed to answer that Nelys?” I pleaded.

“Sorry, Renna. I guess that wasn’t fair.” They cast their eyes down at the floor. “But I can’t think of anything else. You know all about my body situation and this might help.”

“Might!” I interjected. “It might help. Nelys, there might be non-demonic magic or something.”

They shook their head. “Don’t you think you’d see people then? Changed like that?”

“Maybe the Empire…” I trailed off, my words ending in a surprised hiccup.

“They’re right,” Seyari said softly. “Demonic mana is the only thing that can catalyze extreme bodily changes.”

I glanced at my fiancée, feeling suddenly betrayed. “Sey, did you—”

“No.” she shook her head. “They asked me about magic for changes, that’s all.”

“You would corrupt them, sister.” Kartania’s eyes moved to Nelys. “Are you asking to be corrupted?”

“It’s not corrupted if it’s Renna!” Nelys cut back.

“What about minor changes?” I tried desperately.

Nelys shook their head. “Don’t want that. I don’t have legs, Renna. I want legs. And even then, that’s not the only thing: I’d be able to take care of myself—I wouldn’t be a burden.”

“You’re not a burden!” I blurted.

Nelys shook their head. “I know you think that! You’re nice, Renna! Whatever your contract does, I’m sure I’ll be fine with it!”

“But what if it’s not and it’s permanent?”

“Could it really be much worse?”

I faltered. Stubble, body hair, rough skin, a wrong body shape. I felt for a vivid, agonizing moment that I was back in the body I had as a human. What if that body was what sat under my transformation, waiting? Would I not take any chance I could get?

“Nelys…”

“Nelys,” Seyari said carefully. “It’s unfair to ask Zarenna something like this.”

Nelys scrunched their eyes to try to keep their composure. “I know that! I know it, but I can’t stand this! You can say all the nice things you want, but as I am now, I can’t go fighting with you! I don’t have years to train, and I hate to make you all worry.” They balled their hands into fists, shaking. But they also looked up to meet Seyari’s gaze—and mine. “Or worse yet have someone get hurt on my behalf! And even more than that, I want a body I’m comfortable in! Joisse got hers!”

Nelys didn’t point, but the dared to glance in Joisse’s direction and the wrath demon flinched, keeping a tenuous hold on her fury.

I slowly placed a crimson arm between them. “But Joisse’s is a transformation: what she was when she was human,” I said after some hesitation.

“Actually…” Joisse started so quietly, I almost didn’t hear her. “Actually, the transformation’s a little bit different. And my demon form too; it’s less… monster-ey now, even just a little.”

“Is it still changing?” I asked reflexively, lowering my arm.

Joisse nodded. “I don’t look a lot, but I can feel it, I think.”

“Think you’re gonna grow four arms?” Taava enunciated the joke with an oddly serious tone. “Look, boss, it’s a shitty choice, but do ya wanna let Nelys make their own choice? They know the risks.”

Know the risks. I stared down at my hands, all four of them. What risks would I have taken to get this form? Would I have died for it? Was a contract even that much of a risk?

I took a deep breath and when I looked up, all eyes were on me. Damn. Opening my mouth, I almost asked for time to think. But all that would do is sow seeds of mistrust and put a lot of strain on Nelys.

I needed to decide now. What would Abby do?

She was always a risk-taker, but she looked before she leapt. Nelys looked too, I supposed. Without another mortal as a test subject, there was no way to truly know. And even then… I sighed, but the sound that came out was a hitching stutter. Damn, I guess I’m doing this.

When my voice finally came out, it was hoarse and quiet. I coughed after the first syllable and took a big breath. I can’t sound defeated. I can’t sound forced into this. Honestly, I can’t be forced into this.

“Nelys, what will you do if I refuse?” I asked bluntly.

Nelys’s eyes went wide. “I… I’d leave, I guess. Try to stay safe. Maybe go home.”

I sensed no greater anger. If I could sense disappointment, though, there probably would have been an ocean.

“What about Lilly?”

They shook their head. “Don’t trust them like I trust you. Only you, Renna.”

I’m really going to do this, aren’t I? I nodded, as authoritatively as I could. “Alright then.”

Nelys blinked suddenly. “What?”

I crossed my lower pair of arms under my chest and sat up straight, turning my chair to face them. “I will form a contract with you, Nelys. In private, of course, so only we know the terms.”

I saw tears form at the corner of Nelys’s big, dark eyes. “Thank you, Renna.”

“Terms,” Kartania whispered.

I glanced her way. “I assure you I’ll ask for nothing meaningful in return.”

My sister cocked an eyebrow. “Meaningful?”

I nodded. “A contract needs to have some terms. At least that’s what it feels like. I can’t just give power away.”

Tania sighed. “I cannot believe I am witness to this. Moreover, I cannot believe I am witness to the genesis of a contract a demon accepted for the sole benefit of the other party. If there was any doubt about your sincerity, Sister, you’ve certainly banished it now.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to thank Tania, so I simply nodded. Perhaps it was because I could feel myself choking up again. What a day this has been.

Seyari stood up. “Shall we leave them to it?”

I blinked. “Now?”

“Would you rather wait? At the very least, you can discuss terms.”

“Nelys?” I asked my small friend.

They nodded.

“Alright then, now it is.” I took a measured breath. “Meet me in the lobby or Joisse’s room when we’re done?”

“Fine by me!” Joisse answered.

Seyari nodded and Taava shrugged.

Kartania, however, looked down from staring into space and shook her head. “What about training tonight?”

“About that!” I cut in, not wanting to miss this last opportunity.

My sister regarded me carefully.

“Look, I think we might need to get further than a couple hours’ walk into the forest. I don’t want to cause a stir in the city, and I’m also not keen on causing damage this close.”

Tania blinked. “Damage? Perhaps people near the forest might hear something, or see a flash of light above the trees, but I sincerely doubt that—”

“Kartania,” Seyari cut my sister off. “How much do you know of what happened in Lockmoth?”

“I know there was a fight between Zarenna and a massive demon that destroyed several blocks of the city… Wait. Don’t tell me that was Zarenna’s doing?”

I winced. “Yes and no. The demon burst from an underground chamber and made the crater. I used a spell to try to kill it or trap it that burned out the rest.”

“Surely the fight spilled beyond—”

I shook my head and she stopped. “No. I saved who I could from the rubble first, but I know my spell killed at least some people who were trapped. Without it, they may have survived the fight. I just hope I saved more lives by damaging and containing the reaver as much as I could.”

“The reaver?” Tania’s eyes widened.

I nodded. “Yeah. Nasty one, too, I think. Seemed like a wrath demon to me, but challenged me anyway. I have a bad feeling that’s not uncommon for my kind, though.”

“At least they’re straightforward!” Taava chipped in before my sister could speak, wrapping an arm around my upper shoulders. “Better than a ‘yes ma’am’ now than a knife in the back later.” She flashed Tania a toothy grin. “What Zarenna’s guilt trippin’ over and beatin’ around the bush tryin’ ta say is that she’s real strong. Big softie here’s too timid ta admit she could snap her fingers and turn this whole district inta—” Taava cut herself off. “Uh, sorry boss—don’t wanna dredge up the bad memories.”

My breath hitched. Eyes wide, for a brief moment I imagined myself standing in the center of the burning ruins of my home city.

“Taava,” Sey warned.

The kazzel got up off me and backed away. “Look, I get it okay! I stopped myself, yeah?”

Seyari brought a hand to her own forehead. “I guess, but… Look, Kartania, Zarenna is obscenely strong in a fight. And I think she’s not-insignificantly stronger than the last time I saw the aftermath of her going all out. We’d need to go a day or two out into the wilds if you really want to see what she can do. And even then, if she takes out an entire hill, the city’d feel that.

“Why don’t we let Nelys have their moment, leave for now, and go to the Gelles Company training range tonight? Zarenna’s got enough goodwill and authority to go in after hours so long as we don’t make a racket. She can demonstrate precision and you can see her full strength if we need it.”

Kartania looked around the room, then nodded hesitantly. “Fine. But fighting without giving it your all isn’t enough for practice. However, I understand the need to rein it in—I do the same for my own magic if I’ve limited space. As soon as we are all on the road south, I will see a demonstration—from all of you. I’ll give my own as well, because if we are to fight together, there needs to be a hierarchy and a plan, or someone isn’t coming back.

“Am I understood?”

“You are, Sis,” I answered.

Seyari narrowed her eyes, breathing out through her nose, but she relaxed her shoulders when she caught a glimpse of my own casual posture. “Fine. Zarenna wishes me to meet Bourick in three days’ time. Why don’t we train what we can here, have a nice meeting, and then hit the road south?”

Kartania bit her lip, but nodded. “Though I warn you that the pass is only going to get worse.”

Seyari smiled smugly. “Between you and Renna, we won’t have to worry about that.”

Now it was Kartania’s turn to narrow her eyes, but she followed Seyari and the others out of the room anyway, leaving me and Nelys alone. The abruptness startled me. Sure, it shouldn’t take long for four people to leave a room, but the weight of what I was about to do rammed into me with the suddenness of a ballista bolt the moment it clicked closed.

“So,” I started after taking some time to compose myself, time I spent staring at the lavishly-varnished door, “how do you want to do this?” I got up from my seat and walked over to sit next to them on the bed, curling my tail around both of us. This is their choice. I can do this.

Nelys wrung their hands together. “I… dunno. I know what I want, I guess. Can we start there?”

“Sure! But I’m also pretty new at this whole thing. And it’s not like I’m granting a wish. You might not get exactly what you want, and I’m not totally sure everything will be reversible.”

“I know. You said that already.”

“I’m reminding you. I know you’re an adult, and this is your decision, but damn if I’m not nervous about this whole thing.”

“Me too, I guess. A little. I dunno the right word in Ordian.”

“Anticipation?” I guessed, then said the same in Turquoiser.

They nodded. “Yeah, that.”

“So let’s start with what you want then!”

Nelys nodded. “Well, I want to be stronger and more durable, and I figure that’s probably pretty easy. Those demon corrupted guys in the mine were pretty strong, and they didn’t really have big changes. And if we can get something kinda like what you have with Joisse, maybe you could know if I’m hurt or something? But at the same time, I don’t want… I want privacy.”

“Absolutely!” I responded. “If anything might be too invasive, we’ll end the contract. In fact, I’m pretty certain I can make it so you can end it whenever.”

Nelys nodded. “Thanks, Renna. But… well…” they looked down at their human-looking hands and flexed them. “Some things are too much to hope for. Mostly, I just want to be able to explore land. There’s so many people up here! And the small things, too—I like having hair.

“But at the same time, I don’t want to lose the water. I miss it a little bit, actually.” They giggled. “I filled the bathtub up and just sat in it the other day.”

“Is that why Taava barged into our room to bathe?”

Nelys shrugged. “Maybe, I dunno.”

So yes.

“Maybe a form like something in-between?”

Nelys nodded. “Yeah.”

I sighed. “That’s not something I can grant you—at least not that I know of, or not on purpose.”

“I know…” they bit their lip. “It’ll be enough just to have the strength to keep myself safe.”

I couldn’t help it. At their downcast face, I pulled them into a side hug. “Do you need some time?”

Nelys shook their head vigorously. “No, let’s keep going. What do you need from me?”

I smiled wide, my Name and title seemingly confirming or rejecting terms as I thought of them. For a moment, we locked eyes, and I tried not to show my anxiety. “For terms, it unfortunately must be something that can be, in any sense, objective. Merely asking for you to ‘continue to be a wonderful friend to those you care for’ wouldn’t be enough.”

Nelys nodded, so I took some more time to think. It didn’t take me long to land on the perfect terms.

“Nelys, this may be difficult for you, but my part of the contract is simple: you may not cheat at cards when you play with me unless I specifically allow you to do so. Attempting to cheat under these conditions without my approval will first result in a warning in the form a strong pinch on your index finger. Failure to heed the warning will result in the failure of the contract. There! How does that sound.” I put on my best toothy demonic smile.

Nelys giggled. “Evil. Maniacal. And perfect!”

“I’m glad you like it! Now, we need to discuss how much of my power I am granting you. As a demon, I am unfortunately limited to taking your soul upon the contract breaking. However, I can and will add that I may choose to decline and allow you to keep your soul. I also have an idea that I may be able to try to direct my power to ‘enable you to be the person you know you want to be,’ Nelys.”

“What if you break the contract?” Nelys asked.

I blinked, and the answer came to me, clear as the morning sun. “I lose the power I granted to you twofold and may never form a contract with you again. But… I’m not even sure how I would break a contract? Perhaps by trying to sever the link it creates?”

My small friend hugged around me as best they could, and I returned the gesture by ruffling their hair. “I know you’re not going to break the contract, but that means we need to make it extra-unbreakable!”

I laughed. “It’ll be fine, Nelys!” Somehow, I found myself believing those words. “If you break it, then I simply decline to take your soul and you walk away unscathed. And there is no way I could be influenced because I think I cannot be swayed by magic as a Sovereign. Though, with this idea of multitudes of contracts, I can’t help but guess the two may have a related origin.”

“We’ll have to look for an answer then! After Mordwell, though. And after we go back to my family. Oh, and Seyari will need to come too! Taava if she can stand staying wet!”

A dopey smile grew across my face. “We’ll have to. But let’s not count our chickens yet; we have a contract to do!”

Nelys nodded. “I’m ready!”

“First, how much of my power should I give you?”

“All of it?” they joked.

I snorted. “Wouldn’t that be funny! How about one one-hundredth?”

They thought it over, then shook their head. “Two one-hundredths? You’re making me give up cheating, Renna!”

Sagely, I nodded. “You’re right, the cost is high. Fine then, mortal, I believe I could agree to hand you that much of my bountiful power.” Joisse was already strong when I gave her one percent. If I lost Nelys because I kept too much of my strength for myself…

My allies must also be a strength of mine.

Nelys giggled again, then relaxed their shoulders, staring up at me intently. They clutched at their amulet. “I’m ready! Again!”

I glanced down at it. Foreign magic during a powerful ritual… “Nelys… I hate to ask, but your pendant…”

Their hand froze. “It’s alright. That makes sense.” Slowly they took the pendant off, and their gold and blue tentacles spilled out onto the floor. They looked up at me, their “hair” curling lazily. The smile they gave was uncannily wide and filled with large, sharp teeth. “Better?”

Maybe not better, but we won’t damage your pendant now. I took a breath. My diction turned formal, and I covered the terms of our contract:

“I, Zerix’Arranthariel, Sovereign of Wrath, offer Nelys two one-hundredths of my power in perpetuity or until the death of either party, to ‘enable Nelys to be the person they want to be’ and allow them the strength they need to keep safe. In exchange, Nelys will play card games honestly against me unless I say otherwise beforehand. Failure to do so will result first in a warning of a moderately painful pinch to the index finger, and then the breaking of this contract. If Nelys breaks this contract, their soul is forfeit unto me—at my discretion.”

With the last line of my contract the same as with Joisse back in Gedon, the magic snapped into place. I had to admit, I was getting the good end of the deal.

Almost immediately, I felt a gut punch of a drain on my magic that then steadied into a slight pull toward my small friend. A crimson aura surrounded them like a cloud of fog, and a webbed hand reached out toward me.

I grasped it carefully and watched what I could. Along the floor, their tentacles slid backward toward the bed, shrinking. In my hand, their hand shifted color—as much tan as gold now. The webbing between their fingers shrunk back slightly, although their sharp nails kept their appearance.

Looking with aura sight, I watched, enraptured, as their aura, a faint, faint cyan before, shifted through green and into a lemon yellow that seemed to buzz as I observed it. Strength-wise, their aura expanded and filled in… were they going to have magic?

Did they have magic before, but simply very little? An aura would suggest that much…

The aura didn’t seem like fire to me. But it did tell me Nelys was okay through the magic. The entire process lasted perhaps a few seconds, and when the fog lifted, I gasped. I hadn’t imagined the extent a contract of mine could change someone.

“How… do you feel?” I asked tentatively. I hope this is what they wanted…

Nelys blinked the same black eyes they always had at me, white sclera and all. Their skin had shifted somewhat—now more tan than gold, but only just. One blue, glowing ring cutely dotted each cheek. They looked down, no horns on their head. Rather, curly black hair, longer than before, fell in ringlets to frame their face. Immediately, they shot their other hand out to touch it, rubbing it between two fingers.

That was faster than a human, I registered a moment later. Much faster.

With them, I followed their gaze down, as they continued to feel their hair almost disbelievingly. Around their waist was what I could only describe as a long skirt of blue-ringed tentacles, like their old lower body had simply shrunken down and moved up.

Sticking out from under Nelys’s tentacle skirt, however, were legs that ended in two tan-gold feet, each slightly webbed and tipped with sharp nails just like their hands. They kicked them a little, still just too short to reach the ground from the tall four-poster bed.

They stared down at the limbs for a moment, then, without hesitation or fanfare, they popped off the bed and landed on their own two feet, no enchanted amulet required. My hand trailed through the air as Nelys stood, and they spun to face me, hair and tentacles spinning outward from their pirouette.

They smiled, one finger twirling their black hair. Black eyes, same as they’d always had, locked with mine and they took a moment to find their words, settling on something simple. “Thanks, Renna!”

“So… you’re okay?” I blinked, worried about celebrating too early. How… how strong have I made them? How much exactly is two percent of my power?

“I’m perfect!” Nelys punctuated the quick shout by jumping. “Or close enough! I can’t think of anything I’d change, except for longer tentacles for swimming, but I’ll make do. I have legs now!”

It doesn’t matter. They’re happy and that’s what’s important.

At their words, their tentacles skirt seemed to spool out, falling to the floor to look more like a ballgown than skirt. They looked down, surprised, and then a big smile crossed their face, showing a still-overlarge mouth and relatively sharp teeth.

Nelys leapt at me, giggling, and I caught them in a hug.

“Actually perfect,” they mumbled. “But I’m kinda tired now.”

I ruffled their hair. “Okay. Can you make it to your room?”

All I heard in response was soft breathing as they relaxed against me. “Here it is, then,” I whispered. “It looks like the others might need to train without me tonight.”