^^ Aconitum and the Heart ^^

— Zenobia —

Once the little Hunter and the Page were both asleep, I sat up and slipped out of the ruined back portion of the building, wandering the border of my new property and reading the Grimoire. Most of it was gibberish, nonsense about the Keys of Solomon, but there were a few good equations hidden in the least-expected places.

'You could always ask, you know. My knowledge is best digested... verbatim.' Aconitum spoke softly, directly into my mind.

'I prefer to learn on my own... I'm a researcher, not a student. Still, I did promise to re-up our contract, so let's get that out of the way... I have a few demands, of course, though none of them are unreasonable. I assure you, this will be an equitable deal for the both of us.' I sat down on the roof of one of the few remaining guard towers along the wall of the estate, and set the book in my lap.

'I'm listening...'

'Good. #1: We will maintain a positive appearance at all costs; that means no murdering innocents, no torturing or harming innocents, no publicly murdering criminals, and no publicly torturing criminals... I say Publicly because Criminals are likely going to be the main fodder for my spells, going forward; You will confirm their status as an Evil Soul before you or I do anything to them. I won't attempt to appeal to your better nature, but to your logical mind; this White Mark, the mark of a White Witch, will grant me a plethora of freedoms that a grey or black one would not, and therefore I require it to stay Pure, because I prefer the least possible effort expended to reach my goals, in the sake of expediency, precision, and efficiency.' I laid my point out succinctly, and it appeared in writing, on the page.

'Hmm... true, being viewed as Good will open a great many doors for you... but you said this deal would be lucrative for me?'

'Yes; #2: we will hunt other demons, and maybe even Angels, and you will eat them. This will make you stronger, and thus capable of giving me more ambient mana. Our Bond will be reversed this time; I will be draining your soul, and we'll be hunting other demons, to make us more powerful. I will also place your true body in a secure location, which means if you are ever 'killed', only a portion of your consciousness is destroyed, and therefore you Endure, and our contract continues, for so long as you can keep me alive... this also means that if I die, my soul is sent to you, (through the anchor,) and you can place me in a new body, as per our agreement, and we can continue our work together. It is most equitable that we both survive, considering no one else on this plane will cooperate with you in such a way, and you did promise me immortality. I will offer the same to you, so long as you are loyal.' I explained, choosing my words very carefully.

A deep, soul-shaking laugh bubbles up like tar in my mind, before he responded haughtily. 'You mean to make me your contractee?!? HAHAHA!!! Humans, so amusing sometimes... though I must admit, your offer holds... promise... Many Demon Princes do this, allowing themselves to be drawn from, in return for tithes, though this is with other demons, not humans...' he fell silent, thinking deeply, and I allowed him time, not interrupting his train of thought until he made a decision. 'Yes, this is Equitable... eating other demons and the souls of humans is actually how Extraplanar Beings become stronger; even angels must consume demons or Spirits to grow in power... there are even rumors that they eat the souls of the Damned that they have stolen from us. To become stronger, and to see more of this amusing show that is your life now, I will agree to this. Are there more conditions? I'm sure it's fun, whatever it is!'

'Maybe, maybe not... lastly, #3: I will do my best to make you grow in Rank and Power; I want your word, in solemn, written form, that you will not betray me, nor work against me in any way, and that should our Deal come to an end, your will part from me amicably, and not hunt or haunt me. I'll be sure to try to keep you busy so you're not bored, and you are free to take your own amusements in tormenting the nearby Evil Souls wherever we are, but I need your word you won't screw me over in any way.' I looked at the book and wrote each word with my mind, making sure it was not able to be woven around.

'Hmm... that doesn't seem fun... but I understand Mutually Beneficial Partners such as us need a clause that states we cannot betray one another... just for peace of mind, of course. I agree to your terms, Zenobia Ålbåhth, Seeker Born of Zeus. I will be your Contracted Partner, as you Sow Chaos and Discord in the Plane of the Harbinger.' He chuckled dryly, and I felt the mark on my palm pulse, then change; before it had represented me as the Anchor, but now, I was the Contractor, and so it was a simple circle, glowing softly white in the twilight. The mark that had been on my palm appeared on one of the emerald eyeballs in the cover of the Grimoire, to my amusement.

'Good... now there's work to be done!' I grinned, hopping down from the wall and finding a secluded portion of the grounds, where there was a decently-sized waterfall, about twenty meters tall. 'This'll do... Aconitum, would you show me a spell to shift rock? I want a cave here, behind the waterfall, but there to be no entrance; I want to be able to trap a soul, spirit, an angel, or a demon inside, for study. What've you got?'

'It depends on how strong you want the Barrier, and whether or not you want it to block Location spells, or you don't care about that; the stronger it is, the more of a beacon it will be, so you'd need to sacrifice strength for secrecy.' He answered helpfully, and a few different barrier spells appeared in the book.

'Hmm... it needs to be able to hold a Seraphim, a Greater Angel, or whatever you call them, as well as a Greater Demon... what would such a thing attract, if it was not hidden?' I frowned, drawing some plans for a dispersal field, a device I'd been tinkering with that gathered both heat and light, turning both into pure energy, essentially like a solar panel and a refrigerator mixed together.

'It would attract anything too stupid to know what it is, but sensitive enough to feel it; baby dragons, spirits, young Demons and Angels, etcetera.'

'Alright, let's build the cave and move forward from there, then.' I drew the formula into the air, grinning at the thin blue lines that followed my thoughts perfectly, then activated the spell, making a variety of changes, while using the heat of the river as fuel. The riverbed rose so that the little lake was only one meter deep, at the edges, and two in the middle, creating a perfect circle of bathhouse-style seating. A semi-circle of stone walls built themselves up around the lake, using the hollowed stone from the cliff as material, with twelve intricately carved Cat Mouths that spat the water of the waterfall at a height of two meters and a speed that was beneficial to a proper cleaning; some were more forceful than others, and I had plans for heating, as well... the water up on top of the cliff retreated about 20 meters, running through an intricate maze of cascading pathways and mineral deposits, naturally filtering itself and half of them running around a curious chamber in the now-dry portion of the cliff; this of course being my new Cell. A five-meter wide cave with a false light on the ceiling, a bit of perspiration on the walls which would be constantly misting, hiding the eventual formulae that would adorn them, and a rotten tree stump in the middle.

'That... is a fascinating technique... to use other forms of energy would clearly be rather difficult, because it requires a secondary change, -electrical/thermal to Ethereal to kinetic,- but it does create a plethora of new opportunities for power and mischief... also, it'll help with your rule of not killing innocents: most demon magic kills indiscriminately, which is why Demon Hunters wear amulets that protect them from such effects... to visually, publicly draw from a different source would be very effective in creating the image you want, the Benevolent Sorceress...' Aconitum spoke thoughtfully, seeming to be considering the concept seriously.

'But would be useless in the Ethereal Realms, because there's very little heat-... but a metric fuck-ton of Kinetic...' I realized suddenly why he was so in awe of the concept: of you removed the kinetic energy from a demon's 'soul', they couldn't react. Time would cease for them, until they were otherwise awakened. You could trap anything, because if they couldn't even attempt to break the barrier, it was only a secondary measure, and could afford to be weaker and stealthier.

'Yes... this is already shaping up to be a ridiculously productive Partnership! Ha!'

I smiled and completed the process of altering the now-frozen River, cracking a molecule apart as a test of how much energy I could generate safely. The resultant power very nearly flattened all of my work, as I scrambled to rein in the destructive yield; I had forgotten exactly how powerful that small explosion was. 'Well... note to self; don't do that until you're prepared for it. I wasted nearly 80% of that reaction.' I clicked my tongue in annoyance, and fixed what I'd broken, carefully.

'What... did you just do?'

'A bit of wizardry. You'll see; I can teach you just as much as you can teach me, I'd wager.' I smirked happily, then drew the more detailed parts of the device I'd be using as the 'ghost trap'. 'Do you get the idea of this device? It converts light and heat and kinetic energy into electrical and thermal energy; I want it to break 90% of that down all the way into Quantum Energy, feeding it into my Grimoire, and then giving it to you.' I explained calmly.

'Curious... like a man holding a tungsten tuning fork to a dead man's chest... you want to transfer the energy from one form to another, forgoing Waste and creating a perfect Prison, one which drains the essence of whatever you put inside it, feeding it to me, and thus to the grimoire, and finally to you, through your Anchor Tithe?'

'That is correct. And I want a generator to create heat for my Baths. I'll be damned if I'll take a fucking cold bath, in this or any plane of existence.' I growled in irritation, still feeling a bit of the blood from my wounds in my hair.

He laughed again, and the pages turned to a blank one, slowly writing a new formula. 'To be clear, I'm unsure of whether or not this will work... but I'm drawing from your knowledge of mathematics and physics, and it seems quite possible... and because it is not blocking, but absorbing, it will not draw any attention, even without the Stealth Spells.'

'The stealth spells are for your main body, which will be inside this cave as well.' I crafted a heart out of wood, and slowly carved the new spell into it, using some of my blood to fill the letters and then my glowing palm.

'That makes sense, I suppose... though hiding myself away like a coward seems... impolite?' He muttered aimlessly as the heart instantly began pulsing, sucking the heat from the water in front of me yet again.

'Politesse is only vaguely concealed lies; I forgo them completely, 80% of the time.' I shrugged carelessly, and ripped a blank page from the book, ignoring his pained hiss. 'This will be your new main body; this wood will grow into a tree, and that tree will be you.' I crumpled the page in my hand, and stepped down into the hidden cave, setting the page on the rotted stump I'd placed down here.

'Actually, it's easier to simply create a new grimoire, to be honest. Removing Quantum Entanglement is... well, quite impossible.' The book in my hand dissolved into tiny granules of sand, glowing forward across the ground and overtaking the stump in the middle, eating it and growing suddenly into a form very much like the one he'd had originally, though the design was more Entish than it was Skeleton, this time. (The interior flames and emeralds stuck around, to my amusement.)

I handed him the Heart, and plucked a twig from his head, shaping it into a thin wand/quill. "And this will work as a Focus... you can write in my new grimoire with it." I nodded, and he waved a hand, creating a leather bound grimoire identical to the original for my perusal, written in my native tongue of Egyptian Arabic, so I was sure it would be safe from whoever read it here. I slipped the quill into a slot in the spine and placed the book on my hip, where it suddenly and simultaneously shrank, then grew a belt and holster to hold it in place, spine facing up towards me. "Ooh, I like it!" I grinned, then spent a moment making my clothes stretch to cover me properly; teasing a cute new friend aside, clothes being too small was a pain in the ass, the rest of the time.

"And what will your first real task for me be, I wonder? Partner Zenobia, Queen amongst Men?" Aconitum chuckled, sitting on a small rock he pulled from the roof, holding the heart in his right hand casually, while his left reached out and carved the formulae for the stealth spell on the walls, hiding him so thoroughly that I couldn't even smell him anymore, which was an odd thought; I hadn't realized I could smell him, like Honey and Pine, until the absence of it hit me.

"That was what Asmara smelled, no doubt... incorporate that same spell into my wand and grimoire, if you will? And as for what we're doing next..." I allowed him to finish before I answered, being a bit dramatic because I was sure he enjoyed such trivialities. "Next, I will be having a warm bath, planting a garden, and rebuilding a House in my preferred style; then I will start the path to finding you the most Arrogant, Evil souls on this continent, and you'll get to work doing what you do best: Making Deals and stealing souls." I grinned, and he stared at me, shocked and in awe, before laughing loudly, like a mixture of a heavy metal bass riff and an oil spill; it was definitely odd, but not entirely unpleasant.

—

The type of animal the Parchment Vellum of my grimoire were made of didn't apparently exist, in this world, to my surprise; I hadn't considered that sheep wouldn't exist here. Wool existed, from a variety of other cloven animals, but not sheep, the unquestionably superior in all ways except for maybe Alpaca Wool. Cows, as well, were foreign to this plane, as they instead relied on a different form of bovine much like an Ox for Meat, Milk, and Leather.

"Well, there's another industry we can clean up and strengthen; Fabrics and Cattle, instead of just Expensive Woods... if they have a Monopoly, I'd like to break up the Market and make it a bit better for everyone involved, while also finding greedy, arrogant merchants and lordlings and what-have-you for your Amusement." I hummed, watching the sheep and cows grow inside their little glass tanks inside the recently-expanded Heart Cave.

"A noble goal..." Aconitum smirked mockingly, examining the tank that held a sample of my DNA, growing me a new body for the possible eventuality of my demise. Magic was being pumped through as well, as I had been made aware that the reason I would've died if I absorbed all of his power, last night, (it seemed much longer, but I suppose that was the lack of sleep talking,) was that my body wasn't capable of holding that much energy inside my skull. However, if my entire body was treated with magic from 'birth', I could store more energy inside my body, possibly even enough to forgo my connection to Aconitum.

"Don't patronize me, it's a primarily self-serving goal and secondarily Ethics-driven goal, and you know it!" I frowned at him, then looked away in a huff at his amused smirk; now I saw the third jar, set up more like a terrarium, where a series of plants were growing. "And how about the spices? Any success with this dirt?"

"Some, but not much. The air here is crisp and clean, but too cold for most fruits and spices, so the dirt is very fertile, as it has never been used for anything besides potatoes and winter-crops before... in the Greenhouse you plan to create, you would have some success, I imagine." He sighed, having failed to rile me up, and leaned his wooden chin against his fist, watching me closely.

"Good. Start rebuilding the walls, according to my plans, while I go and talk to the Guild today; turn the heat off on the Baths to power the stone-shaping... And make sure no one notices you, alright?" I turned away from the terrarium, examining him closely.

He grinned, the wood of his face cracking and shaping into a jagged nightmare of a grin, then relaxed the expression when he noticed I wasn't affected. "Oh, don't worry... no one will see me."

"Yes, I imagine you're right, considering you will be staying inside the property." I replied dryly, and closed the door behind me as he pouted, heading towards the Tavern that apparently doubled as a Guild Hall.