Doll was pushed into the huge semi-circle room carved of crystal. He wore the same outfit as every other no-fur already kneeling around the perimeter. The short, dark purple vest and shorts had a tiny bit of embroidery. The outfit stood out glaringly against his pale skin and made him feel out of place. The other no-furs' deep complexions matched the color much better. He was like a weed in a field of wildflowers.
The gray-speckled tom at the front stopped his lecture. "Well, hurry along, small god. We aren't here on your schedule."
The other no-furs looked at him suspiciously as he found a place to kneel. Doll was doing his damnedest to not cause a scene but his skin color was so different from the native Persians it seemed to make them distrust him instantly, going so far as to move away from him.
"Now, where was I?" Doll considered the speaker. He was wiry, even twitchy but there was a way his tail coiled that made the no-fur uneasy. He was not someone t
"Someone take my new boy to my cell and make sure he doesn't run away."Hades was hopeful he had made the right play. There would be no public display of sexual submission. Two of the toms who had meant to have their way with Hades did as King bid and dragged him to his feet. With a nod, they escorted him roughly but with a singular purpose to King's cell. Hades noticed the Calico guard making a wide berth after unlocking the exercise yard to let them through.King's cell was more of an office. There were several cushy chairs and a desk. Hades entertained the thought that King might have stolen the lead guard's actual office from the look of things. He didn't appreciate having his paws cuffed after he'd been made to sit in one of the plush chairs. Though it wasn't as bad as what he did to Doll on those thin wooden arms on the plane.He took a moment to savor that memory while he waited for King to join him.He considered trying to pick the handcuffs and esc
Not having any idea what was happening with Jinx, Guru became quite alarmed when the ground, the ice, and the water disappeared. It was just one big void where he sat holding Spitfire."I don't suppose you know what just happened?" Guru asked, not really expecting an answer but still in the act of keeping the pain in the ass awake.It was no surprise when Spitfire muttered sarcastically. "Of course I know. How did you find out I was an Underworld scholar in my free time?""Well, at least it's warmer." Guru unzipped his coat and in the processdumped Spitfire from the sanctuary he had created. "I have to take this off."As he shrugged out of his coat and set it down on what seemed like ground, Guru watched Spitfire. He wanted to make sure nothing was off, that the no-fur wasn't seriously harmed by the freezing water. The blonde tom didn't understand why he struggled so much with Spitfire. He practically started stuttering when he tried to talk t
Spitfire had experienced this once. But it only lasted five minutes before Agent rushed in and gave him the sweet candy drops and a needle with some kind of calming drug. That five minutes had been terrifying. The prospect of managing this without his candy was more than just terrifying. Spitfire didn't even know if there was a word for that.First, there were shakes and hot and cold spells with strange hallucinations. Next, the whole world would turn red and he would start scratching welts into his skin. Then the craving would start.Agent explained it could be managed if Spitfire could find something strong enough to distract him and help him ride it out, but it would come back over and over again until there was no managing it. The candy, which only the evil no-fur had, would be the only thing to soothe him.He couldn't worry about next time. He needed to have something right now. Something stronger than the pull of the candy."Get undressed, tom, and
Doll wanted to go home, though he struggled to remember where that was. Maybe he didn't have one anymore. But that didn't seem right.The blindfold shut out every bit of light. That was part of today's lesson as the strange, sweet smell from the other day made his mind fuzzy and the Great Sage of Persiana echoed in his ears.He and his fellow no-fur trainees were learning what it meant to be sacred. They were supposed to hone their god sight, whatever that meant. If he was so sacred why were his wrists in restraints that chained him to the wall? If he was sacred why wasn't he allowed to go find Hades? Yes, his Innehavre.Doll fought to flood his mind with images of his master, his Soot-walker. All the naughty things he did to him. He shifted his legs and sighed, feeling himself smile. If he tried with all his concentration, he could breathe in the sneaky thought-twisting smoke and stay in the memories.That was when he felt sacred. In Hades's arms, losing
This was getting old real quick for the Black-fur. Hades did not like feeling helpless. At least he had time to think. Hades was comfortable with darkness. They brought him to a concrete bunker and sealed the door with some of the omnipresent crystals.There was a fair amount of information to process so that was something. Granted, it was some out-of-this-world information. Did he believe King? Well, he'd seen some crazy things in his time so it was within his wheelhouse that the Black Devil himself would seek him out.The tom's first order of business was to study the Persianic crystal. This was the first time Hades had seen a tom summon it. And if it could be summoned, it could be manipulated and very possibly hexed. It didn't glow on his side and that felt deliberate, meant to keep his solitary cell in darkness. He wondered aloud if it was intentionally attempting to inspire fear.All toms could see in natural darkness so it wasn't something most toms knew h
Jinx was sore when he came around. He was surprised to discover he was in a warm bed. He was alarmed to discover there was an eight-foot-tall black and purple monster with numerous eyes and appendages and three mouths of giant teeth watching him sleep. The Orangelo sat bolt upright and mewed loudly like a frightened kit."Oh hell." The words came from all three mouths at once. "Hang on."The monster shifted to a black and purple Calico wearing a beaded vest and pants with the same beads on the side. The demon's tom form had fur-bleach tattoos in strange white scrolls up his arms."Are you what attacked me?" Jinx managed to calm down, though he was dubious of this demon for so many reasons."I didn't attack you," The demon in tom form argued. "I just spooked your magical deer pony things, which looking at them I wouldn't have guessed they would have reacted so badly to me. I forget sometimes that although I am a loving healer, I'm a pretty freaky demon."
Everything around Lexi started to heat up. It reminded him of being little and taking baths in the hot springs of hell but then it began to hurt. Really hurt. He screamed for help. The demon was still too weak to do more than flex a paw. But his voice was strong. Maybe it could shatter the container he was in if he tried hard enough.He felt something banging on the container. Or maybe it was not faring well trying to withstand his screaming. Something was happening,though. Lexi was getting knocked around quite a bit.He wondered if someone was trying to cook himand the knocking around was just the Lexi soup being stirred.He hoped not.It took everything to open his eyes and see if he could make out anything past the near-boiling miasma. Everything was tinted the purple color of hex energy but he could see clearly enough. His dear Orangelo was on his knees begging for something from a bizarre-looking tom. Lexi engaged his demon sight and knew t
"Yeah, I'm so not in the mood for Basic Crystals 101. You do know I'm losing air, don't you?" Hades couldn't believe what King was suggesting. "We could have done this in your office over some of that amazing chicken.""Quit your yapping and listen." King's voice was sharp. "Do you see the glowing pink gem above you?"It was kind of hard to miss but Hades bit his tongue and nodded."Okay, I need you to find a way to touch it."Rather than waste the oxygen to point out the obvious, that his paws were bound, Hades coaxed his tail out and flicked it towards the gem. "Got it.""Smart. Alright, now I need you to move past your fear." King probably had more to say but Hades cut him off."You should know, as fears go, this is high in my top five.""I'm the devil, dumb ass. I am privy to that information. Shut up and conserve your air, boy."The conversation stopped short as Hades's body began to feel like his fur was being pulled out