Ch 52 – It’s like that feeling of betrayal you get when a friend pickpockets you. Except worse, oh so much worse.

[CW: parental abuse]

The ogre moved so quickly that just the force of it knocked the wind from my lungs. As I gasped, I caught his face, noticing the grave expression that had formed and the slight frown on his lips. The sobering atmosphere was a stark contrast to the aloofness he’d put forward until now.

The bright runes around us flickered, as though threatening to fade.

“Watch her,” the ogre ordered, suddenly shoving me into Melkar.

The magic that the diabolist had been caged within was gone, likely disappearing just as the demon pushed me aside. As I collided with Melkar, another brief flash of steel caught the corner of my eye, slicing toward the ogre and then vanishing as quickly as it appeared.

“What are you—” Melkar began, just as I kneed him between the legs, putting as much force behind it as I could.

I wasted no time in punching the boy in the jaw. He staggered backward and my next swing caught him between his left eye and nose.

Imbecile.

I wasn’t fully sure what was happening, but did he really think I wouldn’t beat him to a pulp the first opportunity I had? As his back touched the stone wall, I stepped forward. He raised his arms to protect his face, but I grabbed a handful of hair instead and slammed the back of his head against the wall, once, then twice more.

The idiot fell to the floor, blood pouring from the new wound. He would live… probably. Either way, it was one obstacle out of my way. I was surprised that the ogre hadn’t stepped forward to stop me, but when I shot a quick glance over at him, I realized why.

A blade had cut through his left side, right through his armor, leaving a long bleeding gash. I watched as the ogre maneuvered within the too-small hall, swiping at some invisible foe. He was slowly shifting away from me, and it took me a moment to realize why. It was likely the same reason he wasn’t destroying the place with magic.

The ogre had been serious about both owning and protecting me. Ugh.

I turned, deciding it was time to finally make my escape, only to come face-to-face with a very visible magic barrier. It cut the hall in half, casting the other side in monochrome. I kicked and then smacked my fists against it for good measure, unsurprised when nothing happened. It was a solid wall and would need magic to get through. Something that I still didn’t have.

Annoyed, I turned around, eyeing both Melkar and Thamus’s unconscious forms, before looking back at the fight. Even if the ogre won, the fight could leave him weak enough for me to escape.

He hadn’t fared well in the few seconds I’d looked away, several open wounds splattering blood along the floor and walls. But his opponent looked to have taken at least one hit as well. No longer were they invisible, instead the human-shaped figure was cloaked and covered in shadow. Were I to guess, the ogre was likely the stronger opponent. If not holding back in order to protect me, it might have won the fight already. But we were underground in an inclosed space. And that barrier kept me from running.

As the two danced, blade versus claw, it was clear that neither were moving as quickly as they had been in the beginning. The ogre let out a loud, enraged roar, making use of its long reach to try and cleave the opponent in two. The mystery figure was put on the defensive, dodging as best they could, and to my surprise, occasionally merging with the shadows around them as the ogre’s claws cut into the brick wall.

A technique I’d seen before.

It couldn’t be…

A chain appeared around the ogre’s foot, and he stumbled. Then the shadow vaulted back and away as the magical runes brightened, fully lighting the hall. Something was happening.

More chains erupted from the circle and wrapped around the demon. It fought against them, tearing them apart, claws ripping through the metal-like magic constructs as though they were made of butter. But each was just as quickly replaced. The ogre couldn’t keep up, chains tying around him faster than he could cut them and forcing him to take steps back toward the center or lose his footing.

Several wrapped around the ogre’s arms, immobilizing them. The demon yelled in outrage, and a blazing inferno erupted from its body. I flinched away from searing light as it blinded me, covering my eyes with an arm. Even from a distance, the heat felt as though it would melt my skin if I got any closer.

I stepped further away, for what little good it did, my back pressing against the barrier. It took what felt like minutes for the fire to die down. When I was able to look again, the demon was barely a foot from the circle, down to one knee with trails of smoke wafting from its body. Chains still clung to him, though not as many as before. He snarled as more came to replace the lost.

They ensnared one arm and then the other. Then finally the ogre’s legs. No longer able to push back against what had to be a hundred of the constructs, the demon’s legs finally buckled, and they pulled him into the center of the circle. The ogre’s snarls were cut off, as several wrapped around his jaw. A loud crack echoed through the hall as he slammed a fist down against the stone floor.

The shadows around the figure faded, leaving a far too familiar man standing with his side to me, sword still out and ready. I had to take a steadying breath, trying to calm the erratic beat of my chest. The sight of him put me on edge far more than any ogre could. With a face as calm as water, my father leaned down with a casual grace. The tips of his fingers brushed against the edge of the circle, and it lit up fully. Somehow, he’d taken control of it.

“I will be back for what is mine.” The ogre’s voice rumbled through the hall, despite his mouth being chained shut. His eyes met mine.

Then, as though he’d never been there at all, he was gone. No flashes of light or loud sounds or explosions of magic. He simply disappeared. My father and I stood in silence, his back to me.

I wanted to be relieved. It seemed like everyone wanted me on my knees at their feet recently. Though it made sense for most demons to be that way. They were savage creatures, looking to fight and dominate all that they could. Diabolists like Melkar similarly saw demons as nothing but tools to be used and then discarded. Not that I’d been truly any different.

With the demon gone and Melkar unconscious, one might think that I could finally take charge of my life once again. But no, that was never going to happen, was it? Even if I turned human again, my reputation was already shot. A lot of blood needed to be spilled before the Shadow Families would respect me again.

Was that… was that really what I wanted? Why did the idea sour and curdle within my gut?

For now, the other families were the least of my problems. My father turned to face me, and I turned rigid. I didn’t truly have a choice in what awaited me..

My mind continued to swirl. How had he known to come? There was no chance that this was a coincidence. He showed up at exactly the moment where the ogre made the circle to go back to the Under. He’d saved me from being dragged to another realm, but I was under no illusions that it was the only reason he came. Deep down, I knew what he was here for.

“Gellin,” he said in a voice as stately and cold as his eyes. Narrow brown eyes stared into my own, making it clear that he expected a response.

“Father,” I responded, my own voice quite different from when he’d last heard it. His face didn’t change, but I could tell he didn’t like it.

Despite the battle and his injuries, the man stood as though he was out for a nightly stroll, his posture as dignified as ever. His sharp face looked the same as the last time I’d seen him: short, ash-blonde hair that looked much like my own before my transformation, and a face that was cleanly shaven.

“Tell me, son. Why am I here?” There was an edge to his voice, one most people wouldn’t notice. It hit me like a brick, the wave of shame making me want to curl up and hide.

“I…” Not answering would only make him angrier, but the words just wouldn’t come.

“I should not need to come here. You should be thriving at a place like this. If you cannot handle yourself at a simple academy, you have little no hope of leading our family. Your older sister may have to do. Flawed as she is, I never had to intervene during her time here.”

I wanted to say that his words were unfair. My sister had never had to deal with something like this. How did one anticipate and overcome being turned into a succubus of all things? I’d managed as best I could.

He sighed, seeming to read my face. I could feel the disappointment, like a heavy chill in the air. “Have you really learned nothing from all that I’ve taught you? Or has becoming a demon rotted your brain?” His hand came up to rub his cleanly shaved chin. An old habit from when he kept a beard. “What was it that the professors were theorizing? That becoming a succubus has perhaps corrupted your mind. I must admit, from everything I’ve heard of your exploits, I’m inclined to agree.”

My eyes widened. “N-no! I’m still me. I’m still Gellin, still your son.” The words hurt to say.

“We shall see. I’m taking you out of the academy. You’ve dragged our name through the dirt enough. It will be up to you whether you survive to the end of the year.”

I gulped. “Yes, Father.”

Before I could say more, two people ran down the steps and into the hall, pausing in surprise as they spotted us.

“Ruby?” Lilis said, clearly relieved. “You’re alright?” She glanced at Evara as though to have the girl confirm it.

“Ah, good. So the two of you did show up. Though I only really need one of you,” my father said. His hand slapped the wall and a familiar barrier formed between them, Lilis on our side and Evara on the other. The now-grayscale colored girl beat against it, shouting what I assumed were curses as Lilis froze and stared. He hadn’t simply blocked Evara out. He’d trapped Lilis in.

Oh no.

I panicked. “F-father wait, I—”

“No,” he almost growled before his voice returned to normal. He stared me down. “None of that. I taught you better. Though it seems you need a reminder.” Then he looked at Lilis. “Girl. Come here.”

No. Please, no.

Hesitantly, Lilis stepped forward, but not quick enough to my father’s satisfaction. “You’re Ruby’s—” she began to ask, before a shadowy chord shot out of my father’s hand, wrapping around her neck.

He pulled and Lilis fell, dragged by the throat down the hall until she was at his feet. As he released her, the girl’s hands gripped her throat as she took several deep breaths.

I was struck by fear and horror, by his actions, but moreso at what he would probably do next.

“Lilis,” I muttered without thinking, the worry clear in my voice.

“I don’t believe you have the luxury to be worrying for others,” he said, hand gripping around my throat and lifting me into the air.

My claws did nothing to his skin as I fought to force him to release me. Unlike the ogre, my father likely had some kind of enchantment protecting him.

“Stop!” Lilis coughed out. “Don’t you dare hurt h—”

With a wave of his hand, the girl was silenced, and likely subdued from interfering.

Ignoring her, my father stared me in the eyes. “You’ve always been too soft. I thought becoming a demon would have made things easier for you in that respect, but it seems somehow to have had the opposite effect.”

He threw me to the floor, and I curled against the cold stone, falling into a coughing fit. Precious air filled my lungs.

“Or perhaps it was the girl. When I had you placed with her, I expected that you’d bend her to your will. And then when she stopped giving me thorough reports on you, my hopes once again rose.” He shook his head. “Only to immediately be dashed again as it became clear you’d instead caught feelings for her.”

My eyes widened as his words sunk in. My head jolted toward the girl in question. She was bound up by a dark rope, not unlike what the ogre had used.

Reports?

No, that couldn’t be right. It couldn’t be.

But as her eyes met mine, the guilt was far too obvious on her terrified face. No, she wouldn’t! How? Why?  Spying on me? For my fucking father of all people?

“Betrayal hurts, doesn’t it?” My father’s serpentine words were almost a whisper.

“Now get up, and tell me exactly where you’ve failed these last few weeks. From the beginning,” he commanded. “Your answer will determine what I’m to do with you.”

Shakily, I stood back on my feet, hesitant to meet his gaze. Gulping, I thought back to the beginning, back to where this whole mess began. “I—I shouldn’t have tried to summon a demon.”

His sigh immediately cut me off. “Diabolists are useless fools, gambling their lives for dubious benefit. But that is not what I am referring to. Even demons can have their uses.” He grabbed my hair, yanking it harshly. “You put too much trust in your servants. When I told Thamus to have your spellbook altered, you should have immediately noticed. Did you not even take the effort to find other sources to compare them to, simply assuming the one book would be enough to make you competent at something as complicated as summoning?” The fact that Thamus was doing his bidding as well didn’t even phase me.

“I didn’t j-just—”

A fist slammed into my gut. “Be silent. I am not done. If you cannot figure out what you’ve done wrong, you can at least learn to listen.” As I wheezed, he continued, “Then, after I go through the effort of having you placed with one of the most useless girls at this academy, you continually fail to take control of the situation. I didn’t care how you went about it, from threats and force, to simple manipulation; you should have had her eating out of the palm of your hand by the first day. Instead, you followed her around like a leashed dog. And while you were catching feelings, she was reporting everything back to me.”

His hand gripped my hair tighter, pulling it up in the air as he leaned forward. I didn’t bother to fight him.“Have you learned nothing from all the years I’ve spent drilling lessons into your thick skull?” he hissed into my ear. “Or is there nothing left of my son in you?”

The first tear rolled down my cheek, and before it fell, another followed.

“We’ll go over everything you did wrong with the Kheln boy as well. Particularly how you failed to fully subdue him the first time you had him at your feet. But that can all wait until later. There’s something else you need to do.”

He loomed over me. “Drink.”