With a flash of hellfire, the serpentine demon found herself back in a familiar-looking cathedral. True to her word, the gatekeeper and her cat had transported her back to the depths of Resmyrd, the home of the exorcists that offered to help the cause--offered, of course, being a rather unsuitable word in this case, considering the exorcist that had been assigned to her group failed to do anything except introduce herself and immediately stay behind to help defend the place from a group of rogue wraiths that threatened to tear the place apart.
"Truth be told, I'm curious to see how the place would look after it's been reduced to rubble..." Xana smirked as she noticed the demon lord standing in the center of a circular room with a large seal affixed to the floor. She slithered closer to the Apokailon, cracking her neck to rid it of all the kinks that were still built up from before. "Damn human skin is rather cramped..." she chided within earshot of the demonic general.
Treylion frowned upon hearing her words as Xana entered the catherdral. His gaze shifted towards her slowly as she made her way towards him. The demoness had turned back into her demonic form rather than keeping her human attire. He didn't spare her a lasting look and returned his gaze to the seal upon the floor. He was concentrating on keeping that from breaking ever since the wraiths and spirits had decided to turn on Resmryd the moment the exorcists and their teams left. How... convenient.
"I believe I ordered you and all other demons to keep your human form unless there was reason to shed it," he reprimanded, but the words weren't meant as a threat. He'd called her for a different reason all together.
"Don't worry... Of course they didn't see anything out of the ordinary... Of course, they might have felt slightly... aroused to see me in that damn shell, but then again, most mortals are..." she explained. "They're so damn easy to toy with, you know..." She began to slither around the seal affixed in the middle of the room, keeping her eyes fixated on the Apokailon with a slight smirk on her face all the while.
"Your excuses would do you well if you kept them to yourself, Xana. But, that is not why I called you back. We've run into... a slight problem. As you well know, archdemons are not killed easily nor are there many to begin with. Unfortunately one has decided that death is very becoming of him and thus, I'm at a loss of what to do next," Treylion's lips upturned ever so slightly as he flicked his eyes towards her.
"What do you mean, 'becoming of him'? Did he off himself because he couldn't take the pressure of working under your command?" Another smirk, this one a bit wider as Xana crossed in front of Treylion.
"If only he were so honorable. Forget the details, Xana. The point is that we need a replacement of sorts. You've been a demon of high power for quite some time, not quite as powerful as some, but more so than many," Treylion was undoubtedly regarding Lucian when he spoke, there being no need for his name, "Why don't you show me what it is you're capable of doing?"
Xana laughed, a bit of a high-pitched titter that decreased in pitch and gave it a rather... haunting quality, especially when it reverberated in the high-domed room they stood in. "I thought you understood what I was capable of, Treylion... What do I need to prove to you that you have not already witnessed dozens of times already?"
"Let me try again. A bit more specific. Show me if you've learned anything more than what you already know, dear Xana," Treylion stated, his voice slightly velvety, but more creepy rather than attractive. Most assuredly a sign that he was getting only slightly irritated.
"Human or demon?" she asked, referring to the form she would have to take.
"Human. If you've learned anything new, you'll be able to use it in either; your demon form will only enhance it."
Xana huffed as the crimson-plated skin began to take on a lighter pinkish hue and her serpentine tail began to split down the middle. The horns growing out of her head were soon replaced by a wild crop of fiery locks which cascaded down to her mid-back. Her eyes, which had once glowed bright orange, were now a much darker crimson-purple color.
"Go after the exorcists, then?" she asked as she walked behind the demon commander, a doorway to a larger antechamber on the other side of the room.
"Do not kill them, if you can help it," Treylion answered shortly, "We still need to work with them... no matter how much we may... differ on the idea."
"Can't feed off of a corpse, Treylion--maybe Culsa could, but then again, she's a crazy bitch..." With that, the now-humanoid demon walked out into the antechamber and searched for a bit of prey, someone that might be able to not only feed her a bit but also someone that would be easy to... persuade.
"Try that one," Treylion's voice had traveled with her though he had not moved from the room behind her. He was far too busy trying to keep Resmyrd in one piece to have to move anywhere. He followed her much like he followed all of his subjects-- their demonic essences.
"I'm quite capable of picking my own victims, thank you..." Xana shot back under her breath as she found an exorcist deep in meditation. The man seemed rather stoic--nothing that a bit of her feminine "charm" could break, though. She sat down in front of the exorcist, staring straight into his unmoving face as she merely watched for ten... twenty... thirty seconds before--
"I sense your presence, demon... Begone, lest I be forced to deal with your foul stench..." the man spoke with a rather hostile tone in his voice.
"Tsk tsk, temper temper..." Xana purred, smirking despite having no one else to watch her face. "I was under the impression that you were supposed to suppress your emotions in order to prevent, well... possession..."
The exorcist did not give any verbal response, instead attempting to resume his meditation in some sort of peace despite the intrusive demon's presence.
"You humans intrigue me, though--how can you devote yourself to a cause without being sure whether you believe in the good you do for your kind?" Xana tried again, this time waiting for an honest response from the monk.
"You're lucky that the circumstances prevent us from banishing your ilk back to Inferno where you deserve to burn...." the monk growled, letting a bit of anger seep through his words. Right where I want him, the demon smirked as she stood up and stretched out her legs.
"My dear meat-puppet--and when I say 'dear', I don't mean this with any sort of affection whatsoever--what the order has told you about us is a lie," she explained in a rather quiet voice, taking the time to walk behind the meditating man and kneel down. "You believe you can banish my kind back to our home plane, but the truth is that your order is simply... human. It lies to you so you remain blindly loyal--"
She could tell that the human was trying to keep his composure throughout her little charade. His breathing was becoming more labored, and she could feel the distractions weighing heavily on his mind. It was rather refreshing, a mortal who attempted to resist her words--it brought more of a challenge than any of the drunks ever could.
Time to spread the seeds...
Xana placed her hands on the exorcist's shoulders and leaned in close to his right ear. "But of course, you know better than to follow blindly, yes?" Her words were laced with literal venom, seeds of doubt that would soon implant themselves on the mind of the poor exorcist. She just needed to get them to grow...
The monk suddenly shivered from the sudden sensations now building up across his body. "The Order is the vanguard between the forces of darkness. We are the keepers of the light against that which threatens to engulf the world in shadows. I pledge my strength to my brothers and sisters, and they in turn grant me their own. Against our light and our might, humanity shall never falter." Xana was unsure whether this was a sort of mantra that the exorcists had been forced down their throats from their earliest days of initiation, but either way, she applauded the man's feeble attempt to shrug off her assault--a slow, sarcastic applause, but applause nonetheless.
"Your order has failed you, so-called 'exorcist'," Xana continued, turning to the exorcist's left ear and whispering there now. "If your order is unable to prevent an attack against the facility that you call home, how can you expect them to protect the other humans that you care so deeply about? And what about now, your so-called defense against the 'shadows' from one lowly demon--"
"We... we are not able to predict where and when rogue spirits attack..." There was a definite lack of power behind these words from the exorcist. "And demons are another breed of danger entirely--"
"Oh, believe me, I know how dangerous we can be..." Xana purred again, pulling herself closer to the exorcist's ear. "Dangerous and powerful... Something your order does not value in you, apparently..." she smirked and moved her head around to his opposite side once more, now about to whisper in his right ear.
"...the Order... There is no assignment that they require my assistance with at this time..." The man's voice was breaking--Xana could feel the doubt growing in his mind at this point. Still, she was not quite finished with her little game--the doubt was rather pleasant to feed from, especially coming from a "stronger" human such as an exorcist.
"They do not think you strong enough... They condemn you to this darkened room where you meditate and do nothing all day," Xana purred, heat radiating slightly from her skin. "What sort of righteous order is this when it throws aside members that could prove to be... valuable to their cause?" The words were oozing from her mouth at this point, dripping with deception and slander that only she could produce.
Suddenly, a slight shift in the monk's movement as his head turned toward Xana's, still looking ahead but making sure to get a good look at the demon out of the corner of his eye. "...what are you saying?"
"All I'm saying is that if you are as strong as you claim to be, you should be aiding the other exorcists in dealing with your... infestation, not cooped up down here waiting to be called up for cleaning duty..." The demon rolled out her neck once more, feeling the kinks building up in this human form again. "Perhaps a visit to the leaders of your precious order is necessary--let them know that you feel that your time is being wasted down here meditating instead of helping out on the front lines. You and I both know that it's where you really belong..." Another smirk as the demon gently took her hands off of the man's shoulders, letting the heat linger for a few moments before it dissipated. "And if they tell you that they do not need your help... Well, let's say that what I've been telling you is true then... You would be better off on your own if that's the case--think of it: you, an exorcist who went 'rogue' to reveal the truth behind your precious Order..."
The exorcist rose slowly, looking off to a flight of stairs in the back of the room. "I... I am unsure why I have not questioned my position here--I have been here for quite a number of years, yet..." his mutterings grew quiet as he began to walk toward the very back of the room toward the aforementioned stairs. Xana smirked as she made her way back to the room with the seal embedded on made her way back to the room with the seal embedded in the floor, the Apokailon watching and awaiting her return.
"Satisfied?" Xana asked. "One of their most devout members, too--managed to break him pretty easily..."
Treylion watched her as she moved back into the room having finished what it was he'd asked her to do. With a slight shrug, the Apokailon returned his attention to the circle beneath him. He waited a while before answering her, making sure his voice was dull as he spoke.
"It was far from exemplary, but I suppose it will do," he flicked his gaze over to her for a mere moment before continuing, "I'll continue to keep an eye on you while you continue your orders given to you. You've grown a bit, Xana. I'll be in touch."
"...so that's it?" Xana's brow furrowed. "That's all you called me back for? Just to show off a bit for you?"
Treylion laughed at her, "It was hardly a show. Of course, if you don't wish to take on the role of an archdemon... I could always find someone else."
Xana cocked her head slightly as she raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Who else did you have in mind, and why would you honestly think they'd be a better candidate than I?"
"Who?" Treylion asked, slowly turning his head so he could look at her full on, "I could pick anyone I wish, Xana. But lucky for you, I've decided to put my sights on you. Don't make me think twice on it," his voice was deeper than usual, pulling on the demonic power that resided within him. Even in human form, he was something to contend to.
Xana nodded. "It may also interest you to know that I've already repaired one seal, which is more than I can say for the other groups--at least, from what little I've heard from the gatekeeper... Speaking of groups, it gets awfully lonely out there for a girl like me--I'm tired of feeding from the drunks all the time, and the first angel and exorcist I was forced with seemed to hold the protection of Resmyrd in much higher of regard than helping me to seal the other gates..."
"Are you trying to please me or irritate me?" Treylion ground between his teeth. With a sigh he answered her unasked question, "Don't worry, you'll be paired with another exorcist and angel soon. In fact, Ki has found an angel for you and sent them to find you. You best scurry off and find them."
"You never can tell with me, Treylion..." Xana smirked one last time before walking out of the chamber, leaving the Apokailon somewhat irritated with her reply. His feelings were rather filling, especially when Xana did not have to use any of her power to force him to feel that way either. After navigating the halls of the complex, the demon finally made her way out onto the cracked, dry surface of the world. She had an angel to find--she hated playing this game; after all, she had been given no name, no possible location, no appearance profile. How was she supposed to find this damn needle among the rabble?
Still, this newfound opportunity... Despite the promise of power and prestige, something did not sit well in her mind, something she continued to chew on as she made her way across the wastelands.
Promotion to archdemon... This does not happen... What is he up to?