It was already past noon by the time they crossed the threshold into the cave their group had escaped just hours prior. She had returned to the cave with Andras, who was currently inside of Sarah. The group had been split up so Lena and Andras could grab the Daemon Ritus and look for Kiera while Bianca and Amber scouted out the ritual site.
If all went well they could all be back at the villa in a few short hours with the artifact and crucial information as to how they could possibly beat this threat but that was easier said than done. The neon haired girl was to impersonate Andras and while the demon had spent a full hour training them all to replicate the behavior of the possessed without the ability to turn their eyes green they were facing an uphill battle.
According to Andras, total and unwavering confidence was the main ingredient to impersonating his brethren. After all they were very powerful creatures who managed to remove their one weakness, sunlight, by taking a host body. This took the form of a very deliberate style of walking around, it was slow and heavy footed movement with a healthy amount of hip sway.
The girls had been able to replicate this easily enough but the hard part was maintaining the deadpan and deep voices the demons used when not trying to pass themselves off as humans was significantly harder. It sounded very odd coming from Sarah’s body when Andras had taught them, all emotion and tone stripped from their friend’s voice.
Bianca had struggled the most, so used to being emotive and expressing herself however she pleased, Amber didn’t fare much better but if they kept a low enough profile they might not have to talk to anyone.
Lena however, had picked it up quite easily, her introverted nature had come in handy in this instance. Nonetheless it was still nerve wracking as she strode through the cave just one step behind her possessed friend. Lena had no idea where she was going, there were no distinguishing marks throughout the cave system, just a mix of the green ravines and more tunnels.
“Do you even know where we are?” She whispered
“Well… yes and no.” He replied carefully.
“What do you mean yes AND no?” She asked, speaking more sharply at the idea of being lost.
“I’m pretty sure I implied I didn’t know exactly where she was being held, I just know there are a few sections the queen forbade us from entering a long time ago, this is the second area, we already walked through the first.” He explained.
“I wish you had to-” she tried but the demon silenced her.
“SHHH.” He hushed her, “There are demons ahead of us.” He warned as he halted in his tracks and hugged the wall.
In the dim lighting Lena strained her eyes to see what was ahead of her, two seemingly motionless figures stood with their backs to the wall ahead of them about six feet apart from each other. While the rest of the cavern’s walls consisted of a bumpy and sometimes jagged surface, the space between the figures was completely flat… A door! She realized.
The demon turned to her and moved his mouth right up to her ear, “This should be the place, there are two guards. One male and one female, you are going to have to maintain your composure if you want them to let you in, can you do that?” He had spoken so softly she had almost not heard him.
The prospect of getting discovered by those things made the girl’s stomach turn but, gritting her teeth, she responded to the demon with a firm nod. She WASN’T going to be possessed again and she was determined to make it off this island with her friends.
He responded with a curt nod of his own in acknowledgement before moving off of the wall and restarting their march, getting closer she could finally make out the figures like Andras had depicted, one male and one female. It was only a few steps before the female spoke up, “Stop, this is a restricted area. What are you doing here?” She asked, turning towards the pair.
A split second had passed before Lena realized she was the one who should respond, “My name is Andras, I am the one who managed to bring the Queen her new host and as such she has rewarded me with the honor of presenting her the Daemon Ritus tomorrow.” She lied.
The female looked to her male colleague before he spoke up, “Who is this then?” He said motioning to Sarah, “I am Gognar, I was given the body of one of this girl’s friends and have been instructed to aid Andras in moving the Daemon Ritus in preparation for tomorrow.” Andras answered, his eyes glowing bright green.
The guards had no reason to distrust their own kind but they did hesitate before responding, “Very well, honored one. You may pass.” The female responded.
Andras and Lena slightly bowed their heads in thanks as the pair parted the two large wooden doors so they could make their way in. Lena could barely control her awe at the interior of the room as the doors closed behind them, the interior reminded her of an old Victorian study. Bookshelves littered the room with it also featuring a fireplace and a desk. Had Lena not just been in the adjoining cave she might have been convinced this room wasn’t underground.
The room was dimly lit by the low fire burning in the fireplace and a few lanterns. Through the light, Lena could make out various curios scattered throughout the room, everything from a seemingly prehistoric tooth to chunks of crystals in glass dome cases. Whatever they were used for was anybody’s guess.
“Ok we should find the Daemon Ritus in here and hopefully Kiera too, start searching the draws and anything else you could hide objects of that size in.” Andras addressed her.
“What exactly does this Daemon Ritus look like again?” She asked
“It’s a gold pyramid with engravings, you’ll know it when you see it.” He answered.
The two set about the room trying to locate their friend and the mysterious artifact, they searched just about every drawer the bookshelves had to offer, finding many things like scrolls, books and even small gems but no sign of what they were looking for. “How does something like this exist down here anyway? Where would she have gotten all these books and furniture?” Lena asked the demon.
“Well she did take over the body of a rich business woman, she probably had this constructed so she could catch up on your history in preparation.”
Lena finally moved over to the demon queen’s desk, thinking she might have better luck there. The desk itself was made of what looked like mahogany, the top started as the same color as the rest of the desk but had a green rectangular island breaking the singular color scheme. The chair was equally as fancy with a very tall back, mahogany base with green colored padding to match the desks theme.
Searching the draws she was coming up empty until the top right hand draw slid open to reveal a gold pyramid within it, just like what Andras had described. She picked up the object, it was surprisingly heavy for an object of its size but she managed to hold it up to her demonic friend who was still searching on the other side of the room.
“I think I found it!” She announced
“Perfect, now we just have to find Keira.” He replied, approaching the desk.
“Any idea where that might be?” She asked
“Well… if I was her I wouldn’t just leave it out. It would have to be somewhere secret like… a hidden compartment!” He exclaimed in realization as he examined the desk, “Look at how thick the top of the desk is! There has to be something within it.” He pointed out.
The demon was right, Lena thought. The top of the desk was nearly a foot thick, there had to be some way of hiding something within and she was guessing the island in the middle had something to do with it.
They quickly searched the desk for any divots, switches or buttons. There was nothing underneath or on the desk, it was only when Lena had started blindly feeling the interior of the draw that had contained the Daemon Ritus did she come across what felt like a little button that when pressed let out an audible click that even Andras heard on the other side of the desk.
The desk sprang to life as a whirring sound started emanating from it. The green island began to rise from the middle of the desk, a three walled shelf emerged from within. That shelf contained just two jars with glowing protoplasms inside, It was Elizabeth Mondravius whose body she had met when she welcomed her to the island and a girl she didn’t recognise. This must be Kiera! She thought
“Kiera It’s you!” Andras said as he unscrewed the cap and pulled her out.
“Sarah!? Are you.. you again? What are you doing with that THING!?” She glanced over to Lena, “Wow RUDE, we haven’t even met.” Lena joked.
“Wait, you’re the real Lena? What happened to that thing that was inside you?” She queried the neon haired girl. Lena only responded by tilting her head at Sarah.
“Well… I am actually the thing that was inside of her” Andras mumbled awkwardly.
“You!? Why are you in Sarah? Lena, why are you with him?” She asked incredulously.
Andras went to answer the frantic protoplasm but Lena interjected, “Sarah is in there too, look, It is a long story that we do not have time to regale as I’m sure the guards are already suspicious of the time we’ve spent here. The important part is that he is helping us now but we can’t take you with us right now.”
“What!? Why not!?”
“SHHH!” Andras said, “Look we will come back for you tomorrow, if we take you now the demon Queen will get suspicious and we might miss our shot to beat them all.” He explained.
Kiera paused as she let that sink in before asking a question, “Just one question before you go… why are you helping us?” She asked quietly.
“I… regret what I did, the time I spent with you guys changed me and I didn’t realize it until it was too late.” He offered, Kiera was taken aback by his answer but before she could say anything else Lena interjected.
“We have to go, worry about this later.”
“Ok… don’t leave me here too long.” The girl’s protoplasm said as she was placed back within the confines of her jar, “We won’t, Elizabeth we’ll come for you tomorrow as well.” Andras replied.
Lena had completely forgotten about the protoplasm of the business woman. If Elizabeth said anything from within her prison they couldn’t hear her, they did notice a nod from the woman though so she seemed to understand.
Kiera’s jar was quickly sealed and placed back where they found her before Lena reached inside the draw and repressed the button. The only thing they noticed as Kiera sank back into the desk was the look of worry plastered over the face of her protoplasm.
“Alright, let’s go.” The demon said almost solemnly.
The sun was setting by the time Lena and her demon companion made it back to the villa, relief washed over them as Amber and Bianca were already waiting for them, looking… excited? The demon guessed.
“GUYS! We know how we can beat them tomorrow!” Amber exclaimed, Andras felt Sarah bubble with similar excitement in response.
“Yeah, Amber came up with the idea when we spotted the soul had already been moved there.” Bianca added.
“Well what is it?” Lena asked.
“The stage they constructed has a pulley system that they used to get the well up there in the first place. If we figure out how to use it, we could reattach it to one side and use it to free all those souls.” Amber explained.
I could probably be of help there Sarah echoed in Andras’ mind.
“Sarah says she could probably handle that.” Andras relayed.
“Perfect! Well now that that’s sorted, how did your mission go? Did you find Kiera?” Bianca asked the pair.
“We did, she’s being held in the demon queen’s lair inside a desk, we spoke to her and she was definitely apprehensive about working with… him.” She said, tilting her head towards Andras, “But, like us, she didn’t really have much choice but to go with it… Oh and we found this.” Lena said, producing the Daemon Ritus from her jacket pocket.
“Lena n-” Andras tried to say but was interrupted by all four of them starting to spasm as their protoplasms made themselves known in their chests and swiftly made their way up their throats before being ejected. Andras was ejected as well, taking the form of a green ball as they all shot up to the roof, circling each other before shooting into the nearest body.
The group all blinked and shook their heads as their senses flicked back to reality, “Oh lord what just happened?” Sarah’s voice asked from Amber’s mouth. “I’m me again!” Bianca exclaimed.
“I should have warned you all, when protoplasms aren’t in their normal bodies in the presence of the Daemon Ritus it causes ALL protoplasms in the immediate area to exit and try to find their actual bodies.” He explained from Lena’s body.
You didn’t think to mention that?! Amber asked from within him.
“I’m sorry Amber I forgot!” He exclaimed and was met with puzzled expressions from the group, “Amber is the one in here with me.”
“You really can’t go more than a day without stealing my body can you?” Lena said from Sarah’s body, causing the girls to giggle. “What happens now?” She asked.
“Well we will pro-” He tried before being interrupted by the group being expelled from their bodies again. Audible pops sounding as the protoplasms impacted their new hosts, two pops coming from Amber’s body as Andras followed the protoplasm entering it.
“Oh your body feels so light, Lena.” Sarah said from her friend’s body.
Tell her not to get comfortable! Lena told Andras from within Amber’s body.
“Sarah, Lena says not to get comfortable.” Andras said as he looked down at Amber’s body.
“Speak for yourself Andras!” Amber said from Bainca’s body, crossing her arms in faux disgust.
“Damn Sarah, I can feel the power of these legs! Years of tennis really paid off it seems.” Bianca said, feeling Sarah’s legs up and down with her hands.
“Anyway… we will continue to switch bodies until your protoplasms align with the appropriate bodies” He finished.
“What about you?” Amber queried the demon
“I suppose I’ll just end up in one of your bodies once it’s over.” He answered, giving the girls pause at the thought of Andras ending up in one of their bodies.
Their thoughts were interrupted once again by their protoplasms being cast out once again, their spirits exposed to the open air before being swallowed for the third time. “I’m back!” Amber and Sarah announced together.
“Me too!” Lena added happily, “Wait… so that means…” She said as all the girls turned to look at Bianca.
“Yeah I’m in here.” Andras said from Bianca’s body, sparing a glance downwards when they broke off their stares briefly.
Sarah broke the silence, “Uhhh… should you hop back inside me?” She said awkwardly, “I was the one who agreed to shelter you.”
Tell her it’s ok, you can stay inside me. We need her to rig the well and it was probably my turn anyway. Andras heard Bianca inside their head.
“Bianca said it’s ok, we need you to rig the pulleys.” Andras echoed.
“Ok… if she says it’s fine.” Sarah said reluctantly.
“What do we do now?” Lena asked the demon inside her petite friend’s body.
“The rest of the demons will be out in force now that the sun is down, setting up for the ritual. We won’t be able to set up until the sun comes back so we should get some sleep for now so we are well rested when it’s time to take on an army of demons and their queen.” The demon explained.
“Ugh yeah… I can still feel the fatigue of what those demons did to us. Would it have killed them to have spent a little bit of time sleeping?” Amber complained.
“Alright enough talk about that, let’s get some rest and show these disgusting monsters what we’re made of… no offense Andras.” Sarah said with an awkward smile.
“None taken.”
