WHO: Pandora, It, and Arkady WHAT: Pandora disposes of a problem WHEN: Backdated a few weeks ago RATING: Erm...R? There's some blood and gore and language. STATUS: Complete.
Pandora was a happy little demon-girl, skipping through the midway with an oversized rainbow lollipop approximately as big as her head. She'd done a small favor for Riley--nothing major--and the puck had rewarded her with the giant treat...he certainly knew how to please her and keep her on his good side. A good place for her, she thought, but she was really quite fond of Riley...
When she saw a familiar silouette talking to a strange girl on the midway, she frowned a little, step slowing. She'd just been with Riley...and she knew, from her surreptitious spying, that Riley was with the pretty lady werewolf, the sister of the special one. She liked the werewolves; they were beasts of chaos and violence, even the ones here, even when they were caged up, and sometimes she would go and watch them, the nights they'd transformed. Not that they ever knew that, of course...
But this...her nostrils flared, as she got closer, and her hand clenched around the stick of the lolly. This was not Riley. This stank, like that bird-brain had but worse, because this one was evil. Oh, all of her kind were evil, of course...but this one--from Romania, if her senses told her right--was old. Old, and steeped in it...and she watched him, warily, for a moment.
It was wrong. It was wearing the skin of someone she favored. She did not like things that caused trouble to the ones she liked! But she would be in very big trouble, to start a demon fight here...and so she skipped up to the creature, and slipped her hand in his, beaming a wide, trusting smile that did not disguise the hardness in her eyes.
"There you are, Riley! I've been looking all over for you!"
It was standing near the game booth, looking at the girl that it was in the middle of seducing. She was a little overweight, a little homely, and It could taste the desperation on her breath, the scantest dream that a male who looked like Riley Poe could truly be interested in her. She was giggling, flirting her little heart out, and inside It was shuddering in revulsion at the sound even as It sipped at her misery like a finely aged wine. The sound of a childish voice made Its head turn, a hand leaving the girl's arm, and It stared at the small creature scampering up to It. Oh, it wore the guise of a girl, all wide eyes and innocence, but It knew better. The demon's reek was pungent and foul, the suphur of plain Hell; this one had no history, no domain outside the Circles. It hissed inwardly, keeping Its borrowed face perfectly neutral. "Excuse me, um... Jenny, was it?" It asked the girl, whose round face fell in disappointment that she tried to hide as she took a small step back to allow It to move. "Oh, okay, should I wait for you?" she asked uncertainly, full of pleading in her eyes. Take me home. Love me, just for tonight, those eyes begged, and Its mood soured considerably more at the fact that It would have to leave her behind, abandon the tasty morsel of her cracked and insipid heart to deal with this new nuisance. It paced several yards away, out of earshot, and then forced Riley Poe's mouth into a charming smile. "How are you," and a very quick scan of the memory bank before uttering, "Pandora."
"Annoyed!" The word was chirped, perkily, but those eyes hardened further. "You should get out of my friend's skin, whatever-you-are, and be glad you didn't get into it in the traditional way. Otherwise I would be very angry with you, and not just mildly miffed."
She pointed her lollipop at him, and there was nothing childish about the way she spoke. Crazy? Perhaps. Childish? Not as much.
"Now, if you please. You stink of cold places and lies."
It glared at her; so the jig was up, to use the current lingo, was it? It felt the illusion shimmer for just a nanosecond, too quick for human eyes to think they'd done anything but momentarily go out of focus; there was gray, scaled skin and wicked curving horns, pointed ears, and a lot of needle-fine teeth in Its mouth. A leech of the soul, Its eyes a flat, hatefilled yellow. "Mind your business, little one, lest I have to send you back to where you come from," It hissed low in Riley's voice.
A laugh, high and sweet; Pandora's eyes went flat from the threat, and It would feel the oldness to her. Perhaps not quite as old as the demon in front of her, but she had not been born yesterday; Pandora had been old when Christ was born.
"Do not think it will be so easy. Perhaps I should send you back, instead."
It stared at her through Riley's stolen eyes, that familiar face contorting into a grimace. "Big talk for a skinthief such as yourself. Mine is all illusion... what child had to die for you to inhabit such a form to lure in your prey?" It asked her in a melodic little purr. "This place is the perfect feeding ground, which is why you are here as well as I. There's no reason to fight... we can continue to hunt separately."
"I know what I am, illusionist, and I make no qualms about murder. But these are mine." Pandora's eyes flashed in anger, and she reached into the pocket of her pinafore; she was never without her tools.
"And I like the creature whose shape you are wearing."
"Then you know that said creature is just fine, little skinthief," It purred, danger gleaming deep behind Riley's brown eyes. "Living his life and sowing his oats like the vile little goat he is. I would've thought the puck would've been extinguished centuries ago, as modesty prevailed."
"Fine for now, but what trouble will you cause him when you wear his shape? Pandora's fingers curled around her small, diamond-honed knife; no matter that it was barely the length of her hand, it was deadly.
"Or others? Whose shape will you steal next, hm? What chaos will you cause?" The knife slid free, slowly.
"I think it's time for you to go away."
"When I've fed my fill, skinthief," It said in that same challenging voice, and It took a small step forward. The hand that came up was still Riley's. "We should not argue about this here, where your precious mortals can hear... Interference would not suit the unfortunate soul who takes it upon themselves to meddle, yes?"
"What a novel concept, a thing like you practicing prudence." Pandora kept her eyes on It, dark and forbidding in a child's face. "Lead the way. I'm not going to turn my back on you, and give you a chance to flicker into someone else."
She would dispose of this creature. He was soiling her playground! And she did not like him in Riley's body. She did not like it at all.
It smirked at her cleverness; perhaps she wasn't one to be underestimated after all, since she'd guessed Its plan to shapeshift. She'd made eye contact with It, and thus It could easily purge her memories to find anything in there worth looting for. It could be any figure from her past, anything that hinted at the traces of humanity that make her stink like fouled meat. When they were behind a row of vendor stalls, the din of the carnival a bit more subdued here between the cords and humming generators and gravel, It looked at her steadily, waiting.
When they were away, away from the crowds and the noise, from prying eyes, she struck. This thing needed to be sent back, at least; at most, it needed to be destroyed. And she would take a great pleasure in doing so...her knife flashed as she flung herself at It, throwing the oversized lollipop in Its face as a distraction.
It flinched back from the projectile she threw, hissing, and suddenly all pretense of Riley Poe was gone. Instead was a large slate-skinned beast, all teeth and claws and eyes, and It was snarling like a beast, whipping Its head to the side and lunging back at her to try and knock the knife away.
Good. She preferred fighting realities, not silly illusions; this was much better. Oh, he knocked her back--he was bigger, after all--but she managed to score him with the knife before hitting the ground...and she didn't drop it. He would have to cut off her hand, first.
"Come on." Her voice was a low hiss, tinged with a mad joy. "I haven't had a good fight in a long time."
The knife caught It across the hip and It hissed in pain, but more outrage; a little thing like this was going to try and best It? It flashed those gnashing teeth at her more as a distraction than anything else, and It lashed out with a hand, hitting her hard across the face with a backhand. "Foolish bitch!" It snapped, all sybillant hissing and snarling now, a foul loathsome reptile that wore human skins.
She came back laughing, blood on her lip; her eyes were wild as she lunged at the thing again. Oh, she loved it...the fight made her blood thrill. Made her heart pound. It was good, and she aimed her knife for It's face.
It jerked back before she could catch Its face fully, but the nick across the cheekbone did hurt and It made a sound in pain, lashed out with Its claws. She was a formidable fighter, that was certainly true, and perhaps in a better time the two could've been allies. But It had lain sinister claim on this carnival for weeks now without detection, and it took her to bait it to showing Its true form. It circled around her warily, eyes never leaving her, but Its body was larger and not as quick as her own.
"Ooh, you're fun." The claws had caught her a glancing blow across the arm; more blood dripped, thick and sluggish. She'd kept the circulation in her meat-suit, of course...without it, the body would decay and become unusable. She wasn't like a vampire, her form was not immortal...so though her heartbeat was slower than most, it was enough. Enough to keep the blood flowing, and enough to make her bleed when struck.
"I wonder what will happen when I disassemble you...?" Her voice was musing as she turned with the creature, eyes bright and almost...happy.
"I wonder what your insides look like...?"
"You won't get the chance to find out," It hissed in their ancient language, the language born of unclean, foul beings who had only stolen souls and charred remains of broken wings to show for their lineage. It lunged for her again, claws slashing... but this time that knife caught It on the shoulder, a good hit that punctured lithe muscle.
"You don't think so...?" Those claws did not leave her unscathed, but she plunged her knife into It's shoulder and ripped upward, tearing through as much muscle as she could manage before leaping back. She laughed, again, blood dripping from the blade, and her eyes grew wilder as the red stained her dress. Perhaps she'd go see that fae healer, after this...there was a limit to how much she could heal in any given time.
"I think I will..." Shadows rose, twining and thick, to wind around Its ankles. "I think I'm going to play with you, illusionist, and I think I'm going to pull out your eyes first of all."
"The windows to the soul," It hissed, the injured arm hanging listlessly by Its side, useless now with the muscle punctured. It snarled and snapped powerful jaws at her, then flashed those golden eyes. It had pride more than almost anything else, and this... was a grievous wound.
"They are the windows to the soul...the windows you use on your people, aren't they. What you were doing with that poor, unfortunately-appearanced girl, making her think someone like Riley would like her..." The tendrils spiraled up It's legs, as Pandora stepped forward delicately, eyes flashing.
"You looked at me, little illusionist...I dare you to form someone from my pain." Her voice was challenging, and she stopped her footsteps practically within reach...but not quite.
"I dare you to try and hurt me with those eyes of yours...before I rip them out."
It stared at her, teeth bared, and a few seconds later it flickered, wavered, uncertain. It was a middle-aged man with a kind face and lines around Its eyes. A moment later it flickered again and was a sweet-looking woman with a worried, pinched face. The parents that belonged to the body she'd stolen; It could only see the eyes of the skin she wore, not her own true eyes, and so It could only reach through the memory banks of the child she inhabited.
Pandora stopped still, for a moment, watching the flickerings; she was quiet, eyes almost contemplative.
Then she laughed. It was slightly hysterical, that laugh; she laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
"That"--a swipe with the knife, right at It's face--"is the best"--another swipe, a shallow line over the throat before she danced away--"you can do? I murdered those people myself! And their insides were so pretty strewn out over the carpets, the look of shock on the mother's face as her daughter ate her daddy's heart..."
It gagged on the taste of Its own fetid blood and centuries upon centuries of ruin began to pour from the nicked internal tubing; It coughed and blackish ichor spilled from between the needly teeth. Its good arm lashed out, claws flashing, catching her across the shoulderblade as she moved out of range--- barely more than a graze. A better timing could've related in It snapping her back.
"I'm going to kill you, you know." Pandora's voice was almost conversational, as she turned back to It. "I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to eviscerate you, and then I'm going to drag your desiccated remains to Arkady as evidence that I removed a problem."
She came back in again, feinting, catching It in the other arm; it was hard to focus on ther bindings she was conjuring when her victim was still very much alive and struggling and as powerful as It was. Still, they were climbing, slowly, inching up Its legs, and she watched them.
"I really want your eyes for myself, though..."
It hissed, impotent as a cuckold when she wounded both arms; Its image flickered, back and forth between Its demon form and people from the child's memory banks. Childhood friends, classmates, a teacher, parents, grandparents, even a neighbor... desperate, fumbling through memory as if pawing through a Rolodex. And then it turned into Riley Poe, the puck with both arms limp and bloodsoaked, eyes full of agony. "Pandora."
"You think to cause me pause, thing?" She lunged at It, then, bearing It to the ground with sheer force of will, and her knife slid true into the eyesocket.
"You are not him." Her voice was a whisper. "You are not."
Its scream was completely inhuman, rich and vicious and layered with endless years of pain and stolen agonies. Its eye gave way, half the window portal It used to draw the souls of the humans out, and It shrieked, black ichor gushing over Its cheek and lips, soaking her hand and the handle of the blade.
"Yesss...scream!" The blade rose, then plummeted down again, into the other socket; the ichor poured over her hands and it burned, burned this human form. Not as badly had she been all human, but it still hurt, and she cried out in outrage, digging the knife as deep as she could.
It roared once more, the blood spraying like an onyx fountain of thick, viscous blood that poured over Its own face and her borrowed skin and then that final killing blow to Its brain was all it took. It flickered like an old movie, image shifting; for an instant it was Riley Poe slouched there, eyes gouged out, mouth slack and stained with blood, expression agonized; in the next instant, it was the lifeless corpse of the ageless demon, the one that had stolen so many souls and spirits over the years, and it collapsed to the ground like a deflated mirage, a heavy thud.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow..." Pandora ripped off a piece of her dress and scrubbed at her skin, letting out a most un-demonlike whimper. And, though she did not admit it, the image of Riley that had flickered for a brief moment...had unsettled her.
She would find him, and hug him, after this. But for now...for now she grabbed the body and began to drag it. She would have to go through the back way, but she'd need to give it to Arkady. She couldn't dispose of it.
Arkady was in his trailer, washing off his makeup, his hair tied back away from his face when he heard someone at the door. His head lifted and he looked curiously toward it, then moved to pull it open--- and all motion halted, stiff as a broom handle. "...Pandora?"
"I...don't know...what to do with it..." The demoness spoke through gritted teeth, the pain in her arms quite incredibly bothersome despite her supernatural makeup. "It's bad...was bad. Looked like Riley at first...demon...shifting demon..."
"A what?" He hesitated for only a second, then saw that the corpse really was quite dead. In truth he had no idea how she'd even dragged it. "Pandora, come in... leave it where it is and come in, hurry."
She dropped the thing's arms, shivering a little, and came into Arkady's trailer; her skin was blistered, and she was bloodied. But she still managed a smile up at the Ringmaster, though her eyes were rather...distant.
"I'll...probably go see that fae after this. The healer boy. I don't think he likes me but he has to tend to me, and dead bodies are harder to mend."
"He does indeed have to tend to you... Pandora, tell me what's happened," he demanded, sitting her down on the couch and going to the kitchen to get a dish towel and dampening it. He brought the cool, damp cloth to her to help her try and wipe some of the blood off.
"The...thing." Pandora wrinkled her nose when Arkady brought the cloth out, but submitted to it. "I was with Riley and he gave me a treat, and then...I went to the midway, and he was there again. Only it wasn't him, it was It, and it stank of age and wickedness and it smelled like that bird-boy only worse. I did not like that it was in Mister Puck's body! I did not like it in my play--" She paused, and glanced sidelong at Arkady.
"...In my home."
"In... in his body? Like a shapeshifter? A skinwalker?" he asked intently, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He began to wipe at the blood on her forearms, trying to blot it off. "It's blistered your arms, whatever it is... this is vile. You killed him?"
"Not...like that...ow!" Pandora hissed, eyes going flat and feral for a moment before she pulled herself under control. "An illusionist. It was...it picks images from minds and can use those. It picked this body's parents from a mind long dead, and tried to use them against me...it bled ichor. I had to kill it. Ringmaster, I had to."
Uncommonly earnest, for a creature normally so cavalier about life and about her existence...and especially so about others. "It was going to hurt Mister Puck. I just know. Or someone else. This is my place!"
"I understand, Pandora..." He hesitated for a second, wiping at her arm again and examining the puckered, agitated red flesh. His eyes met hers for a moment. "You did well, Pandora. You detected it by scent?"
She hissed again, and yanked her arms away; that was quite enough, even though he meant well.
"First, by confusion. It wasn't right. I was just with the puck. I was just with him, and then suddenly he was on the midway, chatting up some girl...? Mister Puck is with the pretty wolf, now...I know, I can smell them on each other. He wouldn't risk her wrath like that...so I approached it. And when I got closer...I knew."
He was quiet, studied her closely. "I owe you, then, Pandora... for dispensing of him. And I'm very sorry that you were injured... I hope that I can make amends with you, and repay you for your service. Are you badly hurt?"
"You owe me nothing." Pandora's eyes flickered, and she looked away from the vampire, suddenly feeling...acutely uncomfortable. "Just dispose of it. Somewhere far away. Preferably on consecrated ground, just to be very, very sure it cannot come back."
"Oh, I will certainly see to it that it's disposed," he told her softly, and something flickered across his fce, genuine anger and a hint of rage that was frightening on that usually benevolent face. "Something like that should never set foot here. That's... it's sacrilege, pardon the term."
Pandora's lips quirked up in a sardonic grin, at that. "Sacrilege like you and I, Mister Ringmaster. But I know what I am. I am like that thing. Only not quite so dark."
Sighing, she stood--wincing--and looked up at Arkady, eyes clouded. "...Consider him payment, for past actions that may have endangered this place."
"But you are here with the understanding that you won't hurt the ones who stay here. You are a part of our family," he said with a shake of his head. "You do not hurt those who are here." He watched her rise and then tilted his head. "Go to Vered and tell him that I will compensate him for taking care of you tonight, immediately."
You are a part of our family. Pandora flushed, a little, and inclined her head. It seemed...odd. That he would be so trusting, knowing who she was. What she was.
But trust her he did, in a strange way...
"...Thank you." Her voice was quiet, and she turned away. "Goodnight, Arkady..." More uncommon seriousness, from a creature that did not normally care. But as the demoness stepped out of Arkady's trailer, she was deep in thought.