Chapter Text
The demon full of doubts had already spoken to Valentino. Still, something pulled her back, something didn’t let her run, as much as she wished to, since she saw the true face of her so-called friend.
The Overlord wasn’t just the ruler of the porn industry –which Luminy blissfully ignored, —. She had been lost in the dream of a utopian friendship, but she had been forced to look past the pink glasses the moment she stumbled into the tower’s underground and reached the secret laboratory, by accident or by wrong luck.
A small light guided her. The light of the elevator. She had wandered through the dark with her camera clutched in her hands, taking pictures and using flashes to move around. Curiosity took the best of her and led her to read a pile of files on the table she stumbled upon. What she found made her terrified, making her finger slip to take an immortal piece of what she had just seen with her. The flash lit the room and revealed a hooded figure she hadn’t noticed before.
That was the first time they met, and it had gone wrong, completely wrong. She was still wary of both, the ones who had tried to restrain her. There was Valentino first, who chased her, who held her down. But there had been a moment of hesitation in him, not enough to let her go, but enough to not want her to hurt too much. And there was the other one too. There wasn’t a single hint of mercy in the eyes behind the mask, and she knew it. If it wasn’t for Val, she wouldn’t have had the chance to leave. No, she would’ve been forced to stay down there, one more subject in the files.
But she had managed to escape.
After the pursuit, the fear, the solitude… Valentino had found her, and she had ended up accepting his side once again. Their bond was shattered, but she hadn’t found the strength to pull away. Giving up into the remnants of that twisted friendship hurt less than facing the void of solitude again.
Then, the idea of power.
The things Valentino had shown her, how energy could be taken –claimed— sparked something in her. Her heart started beating again through the pain, in hopes. But the doubts came along too. How could a mere lower demon ever reach for souls, for power? She was a sinner, recently arrived from who knows where. She had no strength, no knowledge, while Valentino was an Overlord with plenty of years and souls of experience in the matter.
The path was going to be long and covered in thorns, but it was tempting. It represented a chance to face her friend on equal ground. To stand face to face with Valentino. And for that, she needed help. She was far from being powerful or convincing, and she needed to figure out some things before even trying to move forward. It was impossible to succeed with only her scattered knowledge and uncertainty. But Val… she would’ve asked him, but now she knew he was not to be trusted yet, not until she could look into his eyes. He had already done enough by opening her eyes to reality.
There was nobody else she could turn to. Palsoma, silent as they were, might have been a support, but they had vanished from the vastness of Hell. The rest of souls weren’t even an option, they were Val’s people, not hers.
With no one left to trust, she armed herself with defiant courage and her dear camera. She walked into the Vees tower and repeated her past steps into the elevator. Val would be busy for long enough.
The decision had come from earlier, when she was in the ruins of her house and Valentino was rumbling about something unimportant. She had been flipping through the photographs, drifted through memories stained with nostalgia and some deceit, as she looked surreptitiously at her friend. Then she froze, looking at a recent pic. Her mind clicked into place; she had to go back. She needed answers, and there she could find them.
The fear hadn’t faded, but the realization hit, she would do anything. And maybe dying wasn’t the worst of fates, maybe trying was worth it.
But could demons even die? Nobody knew.
The elevator’s door had slid open with an erratic sound, revealing the same loud darkness she had already faced before. She stepped inside, unsure of where to start with. The answers would eventually come, she convinced herself, she just needed time. Using the flash of her camera she, once again, moved around, looking for something.
Although she didn’t dare to make a sound, the decision wasn’t a synonym of braveness or lack of fear. Eyes scanning every shadow, every corner of the room, nothing was to be found. Nothing out of place, it almost felt too empty. She had read the document more than twice. She had seen him too, it was obvious, that wasn’t all. It was more than clear when she heard that voice.
“So, the little sheep jumps into the lion’s den?”
She hadn’t heard footsteps or any other noise. The voice was cold, her eyes darted into the darkness, trying to find where it came from.
“You were lucky to get out alive last time. And you returned by your own will… Fascinating”
“Last time I wasn’t thinking clearly!”
She snapped, seizing her camera harder, her finger starting to slip.
“Don’t even dare.”
A cold hand grabbed her wrist and took her camera away in less than a second, just enough to have all her memories crashing over.
That voice, she knew it. It had shamelessly accepted the atrocities written in the files. There was also Valentino chasing her everywhere, the sound of his ragged breaths and his cries, the sweet words Lum had fallen into so many times before were again ringing in her ears. That day, the elevator hadn’t answered the rush; the masked one having cut all the power in the place. Then, the sound of the stairs breaking under Val and her, and the things that came after. Especially the things that came after. The smell of blood, the despair, the same smell that had been home in the past, first in her streets, then in Val. And the hands seizing her, the hands that hugged her, that helped her, they tightened and hurt her. The pressure in her wrist, in her shoulder too. It was warm then, when she had reached the entrance and was almost free. When Valentino almost took her freedom, when the light came.
But now, the touch had been cold and brief, and there was nothing but darkness. It was not the same.
She exhaled the air she hadn’t realized she was holding and pushed down the urge to run. There was a reason she was back; she couldn’t keep running away if she wanted power. She had to be strong. The experiments hadn’t been the biggest part that got a reaction out of her, they were a partial answer. The worst part was the image she had of his friend crumbling painfully in seconds, and the fear. She had to push all of that aside to answer, realizing she had been standing there for too long.
“There’s something I need.”
She forced her voice to sound steady, hiding the tremble on her body that came along with the memories.
“What makes you think I’d ever listen to you, let alone help you?”
The voice seemed to come from everywhere around the room, unable to find the direction of the source.
“It’s related to experimenting, that’s your thing.”
She heard something being dragged, or pulled, in the dark.
“I believe this could be interesting for you too.”
She took the following silence and the touch of a chair nearby as a free proposal to sit down and continue explaining her reasons, narrating her will to understand the thing that happened during her escape. Back in that last moment, when she was back right in the entrance, she had felt something electrifying and warm, something she hadn’t felt before. A light. And she wanted to know what it meant.
“I have no idea how or why that happened, and you look like someone that can figure it out.”
She had to wait some more before she heard a scoff.
“And what do I get from this? I am not a psychologist.”
Hesitation filled the air. She knew what she needed to do, as risky as it was. The darkness pressed down on her, as she played with her fingers. Finally, she took the courage to look up to nothing.
“I’ll be your subject.”