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 Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:11 pm
A wing of the Durem Museum of Modern Art was vacated when one of the tourists imploded, nearly splattering the priceless statues and paintings with his guts. The only grace was that someone had had the foresight to cover each of them with thick glass. It hadn't changed the fact that the resultant appearance of a beautiful (but undoubtedly infernal) woman had sent the shocked art aficionados scurrying for the door like cockroaches before the cat. Only a young boy, brown-haired and dressed like a hoodlum, remained.
Just a moment ago Lilith had been standing in her grand Convocation Chamber in Hell. Now she had arrived in the human world- pregnant, with the child due soon, but she had determined that it was time to see what exactly her Prime Minister was doing while out of her benevolent sight. With all the dignity of a conqueror's queen, she sat upon a dais that held a statue of a woman with a snake. Alarms went off, but with no one there to answer them, it hardly made a difference. The brunet boy clambered to the switches and flipped them off easily.
Traveling pained her normally and she wouldn't have borne it but for the strange feelings of deja vu that had been bothering her. Nothing good came of Lilith walking into an ill-used room of the palace and thinking this will be the last time I stand in this room as I am. But it had to be fixed, as unhappy as it made her...
It helped that her favorite Prince would be about. "Atti, darling," crooned the Queen Mother of all demons, "You did tell my Astaroth that I would be coming today?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." He bowed at the waist, and upon straightening tucked his hands into the pocket in front of his hoodie. "Shall I go watch?"
"No," murmured the Queen, flickering her fingers at her boy. Obediently he followed, sitting at her feet. "Stay here."
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Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:58 pm
A had been a long day for the Prince and her human, but it had truly just begun for her; she had very important business to attend to, something that involved being in the building that humans were gushing out of like an ugly wound. Astaroth flitted unseen through the rush of screaming people, cattle to the slaughter, mindless and all bent upon saving their own skin at the destruction of others. Humans. Such a disgusting creation, one she still spited being crafted as a likeliness to to this day.
Her invisibility slipped off as she entered the empty hall, her midnight gauze-like clothing wafting around her legs and chest, the opaque fabric concealing precious little. Angelic wings tugged inwards and disappeared from sight completely, her lower and darker leathery appendages flexing out before curling politely to her back. She would not be challenging any this night, and in fact wanted to make a good impression upon the one she was to meet. Muted eyes flicked to the side as something tangy littered the air, something she had not tasted in all her time in the human world.
There was blood in the air; she was here.
Astaroth smiled to herself, the rare and complimentary expression that made her look more sinister than laquered horns and bat-like wings. She was actually looking forward to seeing her Lady, the one demon out of legions that held her loyalty. She rounded a bend of directions, stepping over a goblet of flesh and was hit by the monumental presence of the Queen of All Demons.
The Prince immediately averted her gaze, which lingered over the macabre art that the Queen had created. That was not good; even a moment wasted was a moment Lilith was left to wait. "My Queen," Astaroth spoke reverantly, pleasure lacing each word despite the polite nature of her greeting, "I am humbled to stand before you upon this mortal coil." The demon picked her way through the remains of the unfortunate git, standing a short ways from the two. "Attis," she acknowledged the other with a glimmer of briefest fondness in her eyes.
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Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:34 pm
Her eyes brightened at the sight of her favorite. "Astaroth," said the demon on the dais. Lilith would have risen, probably would have liked to rise, but the queen simply smiled widely and tilted her head a small fraction. "You look so well! Oh, how I've missed you, it's simply not the same! Don't stay so far away, come here!" With great aplomb, she held out her arms to the Prince.
"Milady," murmured Attis, bowing to Astaroth and then to his Queen. "Your Majesty. Good afternoon." Quickly he removed himself, probably to do some damage control.
Lilith practically glowed with happiness. "The human world is so delightful," she sighed, her smile angelic and full. "Already there's blood." In fact, her lovely blue dress was splattered with it- it fit the Queen Mother, though, and seemed quite appropriate.
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Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:38 pm
The Prince would never deny her Lady anything, and was all too accepting of the invitation presented to her. Astaroth lifted her eyes to Lilith, that terrible smile on her face before she moved towards the demoness. She lifted herself to where her Queen was perched, ever mindful not to rise above the beautiful matron's own form as her slender arms wrapped around a very pregnant torso. "My Lady," came the sweet purr, genuinely pleased, "my Queen. I have missed you."
She did not mind being forward with her Queen, as there was no other way to be; not only would Lilith know, but it was one of the few times Astaroth was truly content. There was no better place to be than in the presence of such a demoness as Lilith. The Prince withdrew enough to smile up into the face of her Queen, lifting a hand to wipe off a particuarly gooey glob of some bloody matter. "Their world is filled with it, Dark Lady; they shed their own so willingly. I hope you will enjoy your stay here immensely."
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Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:55 pm
What was terrible to humans was beautiful to Lilith and her expression neared something of rapture when Astaroth stood near her. She cupped her hands around the other demon's face, examining the features with a beatific fanatic's smile. Both women knew their place, but it brought her such pleasure to think of Astaroth as a true friend that she felt she could trust the Prince implicitly. "As I've missed you!" For as long as the other allowed, Lilith held her close.
"Oh, I shall. Have I told you, my dear?" She laid one slim white hand on her belly. "I am to have a daughter. Not a Succubus, a true royal demoness!" Her smile became, if possible, even more fervent. "I borrowed one of your assistants, I am sorry. But I could wait no longer! She will be such a strong demon." Then she closed her eyes for a moment, before laughter bubbled up between her lips. With humor evident in her face, Lilith murmured, "You'll have to be her godmother, of course."
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Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:04 pm
The attention Lilith lavished upon the Prince was enough to make her feel outright spoiled. It was something she relished - gluttony and greed were never far - and returned. It wasn't always obvious nor stated out loud, but Astaroth was deeply devoted to her Queen. If the demon had ever felt love in her existance, it would be for the female smiling and speaking freely of a daughter to come.
"They are at your disposal; I told them as much when I departed." Her smile remained, eyes turning over the matriarch's swollen stomach. "A daughter, is it?" she echoed in quiet wonder, one hand trailing over the swell of Lilith's stomach but not touching. The Queen's 'request' caused her to look back to the other's face, a haze of surprise in her eyes. "I am honored," she stated in earnest, quietly shocked but already feeling responsible for the little life that would soon join their ranks, "and I will do as you bid, my Lady."
Astaroth had no children of her own (none, at least, that she remembered enough to care for), so to take on this great boon was both new and flattering to her. "I hope she looks like you," the Prince's quiet voice carried in the empty wing, earnest. "I know she will be beautiful because she is yours, but I do hope she looks like you."
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:44 pm
"A daughter, a little Princess. And I had them look farther..." She caught Astaroth's gaze and, in a soft voice, said, "This one will be the harbinger of destruction!" Then she laughed, clasping her hands over her breast happily. Her dark power, normally an invisible aura, briefly manifested as a black coloration to the air before she reined herself in.
She calmed, settling back into a queenly persona for a moment. "So, do tell me, Astaroth," she said, very quietly as if someone might hear, "Tell me all about the human world. What is your human like? Are they truly so barbaric as I hear from the other Princes?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:08 pm
Astaroth had precious little opinion on the state of a Princess. She, being female herself, held the title of Prince with quite a vigor. A brow lifted in intruige at the revelation, but she allowed herself only that strange smile, inclining her head to look upon the belly once again. "That's quite the title to live up to," she informed the bulge, "we have much work to do, little Lady."
Her attention was back upon the Queen, eyes flicking to the side in consideration. "Barbaric?" she mused over the word, tasting it and discarding it. "No, if I had to describe those who infest this world, I would call them sheep. Cattle. So many to be herd by any that show a strong will. Being human, such wills can be broken, and the cycle continues."
The Prince's mind turned to her human, considering how best to answer. "My human is more demon than most of the Nameless." It was, in part, a compliment to her stubborn Summoner. "A miserable pile of flesh, he is, but he can be molded without being broken." A tilt of her head and small smile accompanied her words; it wasn't exactly praise, but that she had suffered him this long spoke well enough of her thoughts on him.
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 4:05 am
"So fascinating," Lilith murmured, thinking of humans and their many facets. How could she hear so many different things from so many different demons? She smiled eagerly at her favorite. "I'm so glad to hear that your summoner is so..." A pause, during which she pursed her lips and tilted her head. "...lovable." She giggled warmly, running one hand over her stomach.
The Queen fell silent then. Time to move on to more serious matters. "Something very strange happened in Hell. Someone stole from us... An artifact of great power. It was one the stone blades. Clarent. Do you remember it, Astaroth?" Do you remember that it could kill me?
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:26 am
Her smile was polite. Lovable? Astaroth decided to omit the part where she tried to squeeze him to death with her will alone. Or when she tried to kill his lover. How she attacked Lilith's consort. Yes, those things would be left unspoken, as no doubt, the Queen Mother knew these things and more without Astaroth breathing a word of th--
"What?" The word was clipped, surprised, angry. "It was stolen?" That was bad. That was worse than bad; it was almost an act of God, and that thought alone was enough to enrage the Prince. Very little got under her skin, but to steal that item! She wanted to ask questions, but that was not her place. "Yes," she replied in the hiss made when a hot rock is dropped into icy waters, "I remember it, my Dark Queen."
It was her job to remember. And there was no God high enough in the sky to spare her wrath and memory when the traitor was found.
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 11:51 am
"Yes, one night it was there and then it simply vanished. I saw the evidence of it myself." She frowned, smoothed the soft brocade over her stomach as if to calm the child inside it. This was unsettling, but at least she could share it with someone other than Attis now. "Someone in the mortal coil took it, we- Lucifuge, Shaitan and I- believe, since we cannot sense Clarent and here there are so many enchanted blades that it wouldn't stand out. So you see, it is not merely a social visit..."
Then her smile returned. "Although of course I am very happy to see you!"
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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:34 pm
If an emotion could seethe out of a being, Astaroth would be coated in hatred, a deepest red and black thickness that oozed from her very skin. "I see," she said in that same horrible voice, her mild whirling with the possibilities. Who would have access to Hell and the human world? A demon, of course, but only one that was summoned or Named - any lesser would not be so skilled. And to hide the blade amongst the dirty humans! Oh, the traitor would pay.
She tucked her rage away to 'share' with her human later. Right then, she had the Queen of Hell to entertain, and her own personal vendettas were not to be first and foremost in her priorities.
Yet.
"It is an immeasurable pleasure to see you again, my Queen," she replied in a more human voice, "I only lament the circumstance."
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Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 8:19 pm
"You're such a comfort to me," sighed Lilith, glad to see the hatred her favorite exuded. It was almost time to go, or at least to move, she noted with a sigh. She had several places to be, as much as she would prefer to stay. With a deep breath, she stood up; Attis was there in almost an instant, supporting her as best he could in the body of a child.
A meaningless smile from the boy, then he said, "Do you have aught else to do, your Highness? Her Majesty is weary; the princess is due within a week, you see."
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Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 8:45 am
Astaroth extended a tapered hand to the Queen, gingerly taking Lilith's own, pressing a reverent kiss to the back of pale knuckles. "My Lady. Please be well - I look forward to seeing your daughter soon." The Prince gave a tight smile before looking to Attis, inclining her head. "I will take my leave then, dear Attis. Take care of our Dark One."
Releasing Lilith's hand, the Prince jumped backwards and off of her Queen's perch, landing in a kneeled position with her bat wings arched downwards like the tails of a cape. There she stayed, eyes turned towards her Dark Lady, should there be any parting words. It all felt very ominous, which was never something pleasant for a demon to experience.
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Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:10 pm
There were parting words: not many, no, but certainly something Astaroth would appreciate.
"Astaroth, my dear," said Lilith, "If you find anyone connected with this, no matter their rank, I shall allow you to choose their punishment. Should you wish, I will permit you to punish them yourself." She paused, leaning on Attis. "In the manner of your choosing."
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