^^ Assam ^^

— Zenobia —

My brief sense of triumph for having removed the threat of the massive enemy before me was... somewhat tempered by the abject terror of being hurtled through a hole in the Space-Time-Continuum, destination entirely unknown.

'Where is it taking us?!?' I hissed, trying to examine the 'tunnel' we were falling through; the small 'Hunter' seemed relaxed, as if he wasn't scared of where we were going, or rather he simply knew he couldn't do anything about it? A resigned calm, perhaps. Still, something answered the directionless question, as the thick leather bound book in my left hand opened, and the voice of the 'Demon' who'd made a contract with me came from within.

'My death activated a racial ability, sending my Soul to my Home Plane for Revival. You are a Material Being, and will not survive in a Quantum Plane.'

'I don't want to go there, then! Change the coordinates!!!'

'To where, precisely?'

'Wherever you two came from!!! A Material Plane!!!' I snapped at it.

'Understood.'

I was quick to snag the young man in my right hand, hugging him to my chest so we didn't get separated before I could get him home; getting back to the lab wasn't my concern right now, after all. Then I very nearly puked all over him when our sudden fall shifted, pulling us sideways and very nearly giving me whiplash, but after about ten seconds we were spat out of another of those shattered patterns; it looked random, from a basic perspective, but the near-perfect triangles breaking away from the hole in a perfect example of fibonacci's spiral told a different story.

Harsh cobbled stone met my thin white lab coat, interrupting my thoughts and shredding the cotton instantly from our exit-velocity. It was much like being in a motorcycle crash without a jacket, and I hissed in pain when the skin of my back and hips took a scraping as well. Warmth spread down my shoulders and tailbone, and I knew I'd need medical treatment, but the adorable young man was held tightly in my arms, safe as can be, so all was well.

'Where are we?' I sat up with a hiss of pain, and looked around at the oddly-barren marketplace, much like the Bazaars of Cairo, my old home.

'You asked to be returned. Here we are.'

'Is this... not Earth?'

A rattling, coughing laugh echoed through my mind. 'No, child. This is not Earth, though it has many similar characteristics. This is Gabriel's World, called 'Timul' in their language, which just means 'World'. Savages, all of them.'

I blinked slowly, and looked at the open book. 'You're not dead at all, are you, Aconitum?'

There was a long, pregnant pause. 'I am impressed that you found my True Name so easily... and worried. Perhaps I was unsafe with it?'

'You signed your True Name on my Contract, now answer me honestly!' I snapped, irritated by the concept I'd miscalculated and failed to kill him.

He sighed heavily. 'You did manage to Break the Jar, so to speak, and I would like to know how, but you also absorbed my entire Soul into the book in your hand, giving me a new Jar, a Corporeal one. Luckily for me, this means I haven't lost any power, and luckily for you, this means you didn't die from absorbing all of my power into your tiny human brain, which would have been... unpleasant. For both of us. Also, you did kill me, so the Anchor is Gone, and the Deal, as well.'

'You only redirected us because your corporeal form would've scattered as well, if we went to a Quantum Realm, didn't you?'

'Correct.'

'Good to know... well I actually liked the idea of the Deal, so we'll make a new one in a bit, once I'm healed up and-'

The man in my arms groaned, shaking his head, and then froze at the sound of my giggle; his face was buried in my boobs, so shaking his head was only unintentionally causing him to motorboat me. "What... happened?" He rubbed his temples, clearly fighting a migraine.

"You helped me distract the Greater Demon, and I killed it and trapped its soul into my new Grimoire. It's death triggered a retrieval spell, which I altered to simply go to the last known coordinates, and now we're here." I gazed down at him, explaining calmly while stroking his short brown hair out of his face gently. I was starting to feel a little woozy from blood-loss, so I sat up fully and cracked my neck. 'Any spells that can stop my bleeding and put my blood back where it's supposed to be?'

'A few.'

'Aconitum.' I said simply, and he snarled, the Grimoire pages turning and a complicated series of mathematics formulae appeared alongside a diagram of a wound being stitched, and the words 'Sew Flesh/Cure Wounds'. 'Good boy.' I nodded, and began reading the spell calmly, studying its methods, and nodded carefully. 'So it uses quantum energy to affect change in the real world, and uses Entropy and Souls to power it? How do I Cast it?'

'Write the Formula on the ground or your skin, then channel some of my essence into it. You're too weak to write on the Air like a Witch or a Demon would. I expect recompense for helping you.'

'I expect our deal will pay all debts fairly. Give me a moment.' I drew the formula with one long nail onto a cobblestone while the young man watched me curiously. 'Now what?'

'Use your right hand, and touch the Mark to it; it's the Brand that signifies my Magic and its -now broken- connection to you.'

I followed the order, and hissed when the wounds instantly itched and burned like a a bitch and a half; new skin growing over wounds was a painful thing. 'Gotta Clean it, as well; destroy any Bacteria or Debris in the wound, and the rest of me while we're at it.' I hummed as the young man stared at my back, hissing in sympathetic pain.

'Yes, such a thing is possible... but I want something in return.'

'How about all the blood I just spilled on the ground?' I moved the grimoire until it was in the puddle of blood, and nodded as it started sucking it up like a sponge, while the pages turned to a new formula, written in suspiciously red-black ink. 'Good to know...' I wrote the new one silently, and touched my right palm to it, grunting in pain as new wounds opened on my back, and pebbles fell to the ground, along with a small plume of smoke that probably held the bacteria that'd just been removed from my body. "Damn... that stings." I chuckled softly, standing up slowly and setting the young man from my lap onto his own feet.

"How did you do that?" The young man asked suddenly, dusting himself off. His hands were still charred, but somehow the wound had healed to the point where he could move them, albeit slowly.

"How did your hands heal so quickly?" I countered, examining them curiously.

He allowed the inspection, moving the fingers slowly as new skin grew on them and new fingernails sprouted, drawing out a soft hiss of pain from him. "It's a Hunter thing... how did you cast that portal spell without killing anyone?"

"Hmm? I didn't, the Demon did; his last Hurrah, you might say, trying to send us all to Hell after he died. I simply altered the destination to the last place he'd opened a portal; here, it seems. Is this where you live?" I asked, looking around as some people began to appear, cautiously reentering the market.

He nodded, and turned to them, bowing his head genially. "No need to skulk about, ladies and gentlemen, the Demon is Dead and the Situation has been Handled! Go about your business, and contact the Hunters' Guild if you see anything suspicious!" He clapped a few times, getting their attention, and brusquely sent them scurrying about amongst the stalls in the abandoned market, reviewing their wares. "Let's get you some new clothes and have a talk with my guild-master, see if we can get you home..." he sighed, glancing at me and gesturing to follow him towards a building that wasn't far away.

"I think I can manage it, but I'll happily follow you and your cute little butt anywhere!" I grinned, pinching his cheeks gently.

He blushed, swatting at my hands and straightening his clothes, which I now noticed he and many others were wearing, though his were of a more armored sort; mid-18th century English formal attire, with a Shirt, Undershirt, Dress Pants, Boots, Stockings, and even suspenders, instead of a belt... all in all, he was the cutest damned thing I've ever seen, and I couldn't resist cuddling him into my sumptuous bosoms.

"So cuuuuute!!!" I giggled happily, and picked him up, then the grimoire, walking towards the building he'd pointed at with him held in my arms like a princess, despite his half-hearted protests.

'The demon hunter in your arms is not a proper Mate... it seems incapable of producing an Heir, nor giving you one. I advise you to choose more wisely; the Monk to your left would give you powerful children.' The demon commented as I entered what appeared to be a massive tavern, with easily sixty tables, all full of a varied lot of people; there were people wearing armor of all kinds, from heavy metallic scales to chain mail to simple treated leather. A lively tune was playing when we entered, but it halted when we became visible. The discordant halt to the music, as the small four-man-band in the corner stared at us in awe, made everyone else in the room look up, and stare at the woman who'd just had to duck under the 2-meter doorframe, and the 'Demon Hunter' in my arms.

'I appreciate your concern, but I don't care for children right now, so it's moot point... and I don't like muscle-bound men. Women, yes, but not men. I find that 99% of the time, their attitudes irk me beyond measure.'

'You could always gag them, as your memories show me you are fond of doing.' He offered helpfully.

'Gag yourself, brat!!!' I hissed back, then walked forward to the bar, setting the hunter down on the bar so he was level with me when I sat down. "A whisky, please?" I asked the confused-looking barkeep, a woman with deep, deep ebon skin and white hair, but she couldn't have been more than thirty, and the second bartender was almost exactly the same, besides the color of the eyes being blue instead of green. Curious.

"I... don't know what that is? We have Dark, Sour, Sweet, and Clear?" She answered slowly, glancing at the man I'd just sat on the bar, then back at me. "And I don't accept kids as payment, not even cute ones."

I laughed loudly, causing the room to erupt into similar sound, the music returning to its earlier jaunty melody. "He's not for sale, my dear! I only wanted him eye-level with me, is all! I'll try this... 'Sweet', then? It's alcoholic, yes? It'll get you properly tossed?" I clarified, and she grinned, showing mostly-white teeth.

"Oh yeh, Sweet and Clear will both get your head thrown for a loop! A glass of Sweet it is! And for you, Hunter Assam?" She glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.

He sighed slowly, rubbing her neck and cracking it. "Sour, for me... with a few drops of Elcarim for my Healing? You wouldn't believe what I just dealt with... the Guild Master is here, right? Can I see her?" He asked, climbing down off the bar and sitting next to me.

I casually moved him into my lap, instead, and smiled down at him. "If you won't sit in front of me, you will sit in my lap." I explained sternly, and patted his cheek before accepting my drink from the smirking woman.

"Cute... and yes, the Guild Master is here, but I don't know where. Here, a Sour with a drop of Hunter's Blood." She set a glass of what looked and smelled like red wine in front of him, then carefully poured a single drop of a vibrantly-glowing red potion into the cup, making the entire thing glow softly. "I'll add both brinks to your Tab; enjoy..." She winked at him saucily and went to a different portion of the bar, pouring a glass of what smelled like simple beer from a cask for someone.

I glanced at my glass, and raised an eyebrow at the smell of licorice, like Jaegermeister. "Huh... well, that works, I guess." I shrugged, and tossed back the Double, tasting it on the way back and down, so it washed over my entire tongue and throat. It was as expected, of course; overly sweet, but with only a very little Burn. Not bad, I guess.

"Do not Move." A thick, distorted voice sounded behind me, and a cold piece of metal touched the back of my neck. "I could smell you from across the building; a Greater Superbia Demon, in my Guild... the Balls on you are almost impressive, if you weren't a Demon of Pride."

"I'm a demon of nothing, actually, and I just Killed a Greater Demon of Pride, for your information. Ask the cutie." I pointed to 'Assam', in my lap, and he hopped down, rounding me and holding his hands up to the person behind me.

"She speaks the truth, Guild Master; she did capture the essence of the demon into her grimoire, which may be what you smell, but I assure you she is Human. She was in another Plane, another Human World, and the demon went there with me chasing it-"

"Why would you chase a Greater Superbia Demon, Hunter Assam?!?" The new woman growled dangerously, then snatched him by the ear, growling down at him. "Do you want to die?!?"

"It was disguised as a Lesser Spirit of Pride!!!" He pouted back, protesting the unfair assessment.

"Hmm... that is a pickle... and this woman, she killed a Greater Demon? How?" The woman, now visible to me, sheathed her sword carefully, making the rest of the bar relax and sheath theirs as well: they'd all drawn when she had, apparently.

He shifted uncomfortably, as she was still holding his ear. "I'm... not entirely sure? It choked me out and burnt my hands to char, so I was... out of commission, for most of the fight." He showed her his hands, which were still mostly burnt to shit, though healing slowly.

She gasped and snatched the glass of glowing red wine off the bar, basically force-feeding it to him, and relaxed once the potion disappeared into his throat. I raised an eyebrow at the confusing medical treatment, until his hands healed entirely, all at once; clearly the potion was a potent Elixir. Now the woman relaxed, sitting down at the bar next to me cautiously. "Alright... you saved Assam, so you're probably not Evil... your Mark is White, but it's one for a Greater Superbia... did you make a deal with it, then kill it when it was weakened?"

"More or less, yes. It was a fledgeling, a New Greater Demon; I was its first Contract, it said. I found its true name on the contract, commanded it to be still when it was distracted trying to kill Assam, and killed it without any fighting at all." I shrugged, and waved a hand at the second bartender, as the first had gone off to pour someone else a drink. "A glass of that Sour he just had? I don't need any healing, but the wine itself smelled pretty good."

This woman nodded and placed the drink down next to my hand, before gripping my wrist gently. "Assam is not a Man." She said under her breath, before wandering back down the long crescent-shaped bar.

I blinked slowly, and looked at Assam. "What would you like me to call you? My name is Doctor Zenobia Ålbåhth, which means 'The Seeker Given Life By Zeus' in my Parent's Tongues. I am 28 years old, currently without a partner... though I have my eyes on a particularly cute young... person?" I raised an eyebrow, asking as politely as I could what I should refer to them as.

They blushed a bit, but nodded seriously. "I am Hunter Assam, and my mother is Guild-Master Asmara. I am 20 years old, and I have just become a Demon-Hunter presiding over this City."

The woman with the scarred voice, now wholly visible to me as a brunette in her late thirties/early forties with a series of savage slashing scars across their throat just under the chin, chuckled and flicked Assam's ear. "She's asking what she should call you, dip-toe! And she's offering you a tumble, if I'm not mistaken, though I fear she'd break you in half!" She laughed heartily, then halted at the cold glare I was giving her. "Ah... I apologize, I suppose it's rude to comment on a woman's... size."

"Hmph... I'm more offended you'd think I would break a lover. I am remarkably tender and gentle when I like to be." I smiled down at Assam, again moving them into my lap. "But yes, I'm wondering what to call you."

"Uhm... Assam works?" They answered slowly, looking up at me with a confused tilt to their skull, like a puppy.

"You're adorable... I don't think I'll mind staying here for a bit... some new clothes would be good, however; unless you enjoy snuggling with my half-naked chest?" I smirked, and they blushed brightly, only interrupted by their mother clearing her throat.

"Speaking of clothes... if the fight ended without much fighting, what happened to your clothes?" Asmara frowned.

"They were shredded when we exited the portal at wicked speeds, and I landed on my back, holding Assam. I got some pretty nasty road rash, but I healed it up already." I shrugged, and sipped the wine, finding it agreeable and palatable, though too dry for my usual tastes.

She frowned, then glanced at Assam. "How did you open a second-... did you sacrifice Humans just to get home, Assam?" Her voice took on an icy, accusatory rage, instantly forgoing the maternal air she'd carried until now, and I sighed, taking a deep drink of my dry wine as Assam tried to explain, in a panicked and vaguely unhelpful fashion.