^^ Lady Erica Einz-Tomoi ^^

— Gina —

I could tell right away that Isaac was out of his depth with me; he wasn't showing it, but I seemed to confuse him, and not even in a sexual way, simply in that he couldn't predict what I would do next, and he wasn't used to that. Still, knowing that and seeing his stupefied face as he tried and failed to understand the words coming out of my mouth were two very separate things, and after a solid minute of his loading-screen face his mother broke into the conversation with a smile, patting his head gently. "You may have to cancel, my dear, but we'll reimburse you for your time; the Awakening can take anywhere from two to six hours, and it's quite the tiring process, so you'll need sleep afterwards."

My mind started whirring through all the various things I needed to do today, and drawing the conclusion that I could wing it reliably. "I see... so that'll be 120K for my Second Contract of the day, plus the 60K required to hire a replacement, and of course the 15K I would make tonight at the club. Sound good?"

She smiled gently, nodding in acceptance. "That seems reasonable, yes. Do you need a phone to make some calls?"

"I have one, thank you." I stood and walked to one side of the room, hitting the first number on my speed dial. After only three rings, the sound of a muted explosion and a victoriously cackling nine year old greeted me before Vincent could shush John completely. "Vincent Goodwin, I said no more dynamite!!!"

"Ahaha... ha... what? There's no... uhm... how are you doing?"

"I'm serious, Vincent, what if he gets hurt? Do you want me to rip your ears off?"

"I'd never allow it, don't insult my preparation skills. What do you need, dear?"

I sighed heavily, then focused as best I could. "I need to stay after work today, so I'm calling Desiree and asking her to watch John and the dogs tonight, and maybe tomorrow."

"... and everything is alright?"

"Yes, I just need you to make sure he does his schoolwork, and that he knows everything's fine; I happened into a contract that may make me more in two days than I've made in three months, and you know why I have to take it. Take him to the Smithsonian tomorrow for class, maybe? That'll get him excited, he's wanted to see the Geology Exhibit or some-such for a while now."

"Yes... alright. Maybe the Metallurgical Society as well, if it takes two days?"

"You're the best, Vincent. But, No. More. Dynamite."

A small explosion, alongside another cackle, made him clear his throat awkwardly. "I... promise not to buy any more dynamite."

"Okay, smartass, but if he loses a finger, I take your liver."

"I will be careful. So will you."

"Good. I'm calling D after this, so put him on, please?"

"Of course. Johnathon, put down the Fulminated Aluminum for a moment and come say hello to your mother!"

"Oh!!! Okay!!! ... Mama? Aren't you at work?"

"Yes, baby, but I've got a few minutes, so I decided to call you and Doctor Goodwin. I'll be at work for all of today, and a bit of tomorrow as well, so Mrs. Farman and Doctor Goodwin will take care of you and the dogs tonight, alright? I got a very good contract today, and it may pay out very well."

"... Oh. Okay. Be safe, mama, I love you."

"I love you too, baby, now what about being safe, Hmm? Who is playing with dynamite without telling mama? Is it me?"

"Ah... haha... what? It isn't... well, it isn't dynamite, it's fulminated aluminum..."

"Is that right? I thought fulmination was about lightning, not explosives?"

"Some Fulmination is more violent than others? But we're being safe, and Dominic is in another room so his ears don't get hurt! OOH!!! And Doctor Goodwin said I could try making Thermite if I passed my Chemistry test!!!"

"... honey, put Vin-... Doctor Goodwin on the phone."

"Okay! Love you, I'll see you when you get back!"

With absolutely no hesitation, Vincent covered his ass expertly. "To be clear, the Thermite will be at least forty-five feet away from him at all times."

"WHY THE FUCK IS HE PLAYING WITH CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVES AT ALL, VINCENT?!?"

"... he's young, and it helps keep him engaged? Last week was only electrolysis, and he got bored, so I moved on to Fulmination, and that's what we've been doing for two days. It's perfectly safe, dear, I assure you, and I also assure you I'm not turning him into a pyromaniac. He's more interested in the chemical changes anyway, though I admit his cackling after every explosion is... worrisome."

"So, to be clear, this is specifically and carefully designed to keep him interested in chemistry and geology, not to teach my son a thousand ways to kill himself by experimenting with easily obtainable explosives at home?"

"I am drilling safety measures into everything I teach, of course."

"If he sets off a bomb in our house or outside of your direct supervision, Vincent, you'll be focusing on Psychology and World History for a whole year, make sure he knows that."

"A fair punishment for such foolishness, and I shall relay it. Now, good luck, be safe, and do your best to keep your chin up, dear. Light on the horizon, all that, yes?"

"Yes, thank you, Doctor, valiant speech, really lifts my spirits. Take care."

"And you as well."

I shook my head at the dial tone of my phone, pressing the second number on my speed dial after a moment to collect myself.

The phone barely even finished one ring before it was snatched off of the receiver. "Yes, baby girl? What do you need? Are you alright? What's goin' on?"

"Nothing crazy, Desiree, nothing crazy, breath! I lucked into a contract, so I'll be gone tonight and maybe tomorrow, and I need you to send someone else to the Brazilian Job, I'll get her the 60K she's owed. Also, if you or Aia could look after John and the puppies for tonight, I'd be grateful, honey."

"Whew! Give a mama a heart attack, will you? Calling thirty minutes into an hour, shame on you! Whew! Alright, the Brazilians, you said? Alright... what's this about a new contract, though? Nothing came to me, baby girl, is it clean?"

"Not... exactly. But it pays well, and it might come with benefits."

"Honey-"

"Benefits I cannot ignore, Desiree."

"... Oh... those kinds of benefits. Alright, check in every three hours, and if you don't, I'm sending Jeremy to the last place I knew you were. Clear?"

"Mmmmaybe can't do that, but I'll definitely check in in the morning, how's that?"

"You better. And you better have a few more details to share in the morning, too."

"Yes ma'am. Oh! And tell Johnny that if he sets off so much as a Match in your house I will tan his hide until he looks like your real grandson! Vincent has been at it again with Fulmination and Thermite and all that, keeping him engaged, and I'm not having it outside of strict supervision!"

She laughed at my growling tone, finding some great joy in that statement that I wasn't sharing. "Oh, baby doll, I'll tell him, you can be sure of that, but you'll tell him yourself when you call tomorrow morning. Now get back to work, babe, shake a leg or two!"

"Yes ma'am, I will; talk in the morning." Locking the phone, I turned back to the room to find two gazes who seemed to commiserate with my parental woes, and one who was still fucking broken from earlier. "Will slapping him fix him, you think? I gave him a full ten minutes at least."

"Might do, actually..." his mother slapped the back of his head solidly, and he lurched forward, looking around frantically for the source before finding her grinning at him. "Wake up, son, you've got a Contract to make."

I sat across from the un-petrified man I'd be the 'protégé' of, crossing my legs and staring him down like a hawk does a wounded rabbit. "We're settling conditions, first... here are my conditions; First: My son, Johnathon, will receive the best medical care you can possibly provide. He has a lung issue that I currently pay millions of dollars a year to treat, but what he really needs is a new set of lungs, and that requires ridiculous amounts of money to get onto the Transplant List, which I've been failing to achieve for two years now, ever since we found out about his health issues. Second: you will do your best to do nothing to frighten him, and you will keep him safe at all times. Third: his paternal grandfather, Doctor Vincent Goodwin, is his Tutor in Science and Mathematics, which he enjoys immensely. He will continue his daily life uninhibited by any alterations you must make to my life in order for me to be useful to you. Fourth: I'll need a salary equal to or greater than my current, averaging 50k American dollars a day. If you do these four things, I'll do anything you ask, for as long as you want."

Isaac blinked slowly, nodding his head, and then leaned back in the couch, thinking about my conditions. "Alright... none of those seem terribly difficult, though depending on your skills when you Awaken, you may or may not be worth that amount of money; in the event you are not, we can open other avenues for you to earn money, like the Shop I mentioned, or a Club of your own. As for not disrupting your son's daily life, I can promise we won't make any changes to his schedule or life in any way without your consent; safety may, in some rare instances, override comfort. The first two, however, I can guarantee completely."

"Good. And your requirements?"

"They are varied, as I said. Some scenarios differ, but the main concept is that whatever your skills are, we can put you to good use somewhere, and it's our job to ensure that that happens smoothly. For your information, the reason this is being treated with such severity is-"

"-That it's a one-time, non-refundable deal, and I'm the only Protege you can ever have; I know."

He tilted his head again, slowly. "How, though?"

"Your friends were talking about it in the Club. Lady Sarah of the Harold Clan, Lord Ben of the Erin Clan, and Lord Eric of the Russo Clan, those were the people the three hangers-on were trying to get you to Sign; at the time I thought you were a music producer or modeling agent or something, one of the reasons I was laying it on quite so thick with you."

He blinked slowly, an expression of Awe spreading over his features. "You were listening to us talk while-?!?"

I smirked happily at his incredulous tone, answering him with a minimum of the sarcasm owed to such a question. "I assure you, Isaac, giving a half-hearted blowjob to a drunken sleaze-ball for tips is not enough to hold my attention in the slightest, and the second reason I'm paid so well is that I do not spill the secrets I hear to anyone except Desiree, the Madame of my Day Job. This ensures my safety, and the security of my Clients at the same time. I'm also somewhat intelligent, though I'm more skilled in the social circles than I am in most other pursuits."

"I... I'm almost scared to ask what the first is, but I'm sure you'll just say your ass, or something of that nature... alright, well, yes. You're right, it's a one-time thing. So if you want to back out-"

"Show me the contract, Isaac, and hand me a pen."

After a moment to collect himself, he nodded, then snapped his fingers, tracing a curious ring of light in the air with his fingertips while I watched, entranced. When he finished, the light flashed, and in its place was a heavy vellum scroll, which unfurled across the table towards me, and a glowing quill floated above the dotted line, a visible tip coated in red ink on the end of a white feather the length of my forearm. "Take your time on the Question it asks you; it's very important that you think. it. through."

"Wait... okay, three questions for you before I touch that pen; 1: What the Fuck?!? 2: What Question?!? And who could forget question 3: What. The. Fuck?!?"

He chuckled, nodding as if he'd clearly expected my shock. "1: Magic. 2: the Contract is Sentient, and it'll ask you what you want from it. Answer carefully. 3: Magic."

I calmed momentarily, rethinking a thousand things at once, and finally shoved all my chaotic thoughts to the side and looked him dead in the eyes. "What's the most Expensive and Precious Commodity in the Waking World?"

"Uhm... Enchanted Items, I guess? Or maybe Daemonic Servants? Those are rare as all hell, so they're beyond expensive, most of the time."

"Enchanted Items and Demon Servants? Sure, whatever works." I nodded and grabbed the quill as he flinched at something and reached to stop me, only to disappear along with the room. Suddenly, I found myself in a black space, only the contract and quill still there, but now I could see that there were blank parts of the contract, waiting to be filled. "Oooh, so the terms and services are to be determined once I ask for something... interesting."

A smoky, sexy voice wrapped around my ears like a lover's tongue on a wisp of smoke.
"Not exactly, the Void Hisses;
The emptiness is only waiting for its Pay.
A Soul Whose Owner Willingly Relinquishes;
An Offer Given, to Make One Devil's Day."

Hesitation was for rabbits, and so I asserted myself with certainty. "I want to make Enchanted Items and Summon Demon Servants. They're worth more than anything else, I'm told, so I want to be able to make them and summon them to sell."

The voice softened for a moment, seeming shocked by my blunt and cold explanation of my wish, then chuckled like oil slithering over my eardrums.
"A Devil was Greatly Surprised,
As Beloved Avarice Came to Play,
And a Human thus Survived,
To Wile Away Another Day...

To Enchant And Brand,
These Gifts Can Come Forthwith,
But to Summon and Bind,
Of the Devil's Kin, Ken, and Kith...

One Gift May Be Given,
When One Soul Will Be Received,
But This Gift must be Refused,
As No Second Soul will be Gleaned."

"What, you need sacrifices for every summoning? If you require more than my own soul, then it'd better be foolproof; one soul for one totally bound and completely loyal Demon or Daemon or Devil or whatever, who cannot betray or disobey me. Like the Laws of Robotics, but for Demons! So, 1: The Being that has been Summoned Cannot Disobey, Betray, Bring Harm, or Allow Harm to its current or past Summoner, unless obeying the Summoner would unequivocally result in the Summoner's Aggregate Harm. Any attempt to Disobey the Summoner, Owner, or Master will be met with psychic punishment of a severity equal to the attempted infraction. 2: The Being that has been Summoned Cannot Disobey, Betray, Bring Harm, or Allow Harm to its current or past Owners. 3: The Being that has been Summoned Cannot Disobey, Betray, Bring Harm, or Allow Harm to its current or past Masters. 4: The Being that has been summoned cannot Bring Harm or Allow Harm to Humans, if the prevention of such harm is within their abilities and does not conflict with Laws 1, 2, 3, or 5. 5: If any Law Conflicts with another, it yields to the Higher Law."

The entity laughed heartily, the oil heating up until I could feel it blistering my skin slightly, but I stayed still and calm, waiting and listening.
"The Devil Quickly Grows Fond,
Of This Spunky Little Actress;
It Might Wish to Abscond,
Before it's Mind is Stowed in My Abyss.

A Devil's Sweet Stench,
Of Peaches and Lust,
It Follows This Lonely Wench,
And Will Until It is Dust.

But The Trust of a Devil is Flighty,
And Treason's Sting One Often Feels;
Because A Devil's Only Loyalty,
Is to Its Bargains and Its Deals."

"Your loyalty is unnecessary; I'm relying on your Greed. I pay you, you make things work. Nothing about that is reliant on your conscience. If I stay alive, you get more souls. If I die, you have to wait for someone else to get the same idea, because you can't offer things here, can you? Not with how the contract is written?"

"As Sharp as a Blade,
And As cold as one too...
O' Lady of the Glade,
How could I say No to You?"

"You're sweet. Last thing: I'll need a Demonomicon or something so I can properly summon stuff and offer you Sacrifices, instead of some other Random Devil in the Void; you don't want someone else playing with your shiny new toy, do you? What if they break me and ruin all your fun?"

"A Fairly Simple Request,
Furthermore, one well-Agreed.
Only Ask, Give Me A Test,
And I Shall Supply All That You Need."

A heavy leather-bound book appeared in my hands for a brief moment, and I was only able to look at it long enough to know it was not cow leather that made up the cover and pages before I was suddenly bolting awake in a plush bed, surrounded by silk pillows and soft comforters galore.

Instantly, I was wracked by a skull-splitting migraine, and information flooded my skull about various Demons and Daemons and Devils, and the differences between the Species' and Races therein, but all in Rhyme, the one type of Art that I hated with a passion. Due to the structure of this information, the only question I could properly send from my pounding brain to my dry mouth was a simple and succinct one that I felt should be rather homogenous. "... why the fuck do Devils always have to Rhyme?"