— — —
Devon snapped his tome shut. With a flick of his rings, the enchanted bindings activated. He placed it in his desk drawer and turned on similar enchantments.
And he waited.
It might have just been his imagination. Eva wouldn’t knock. Neither would Arachne. The eyeball girl couldn’t leave Ylva’s domain and Ylva wasn’t here at all. That meant it was one of their ‘guests’ or he was finally losing his mind.
He was hoping for the latter.
For a long moment, nothing happened.
Three rapid knocks broke the silence.
Devon sighed. Maybe if he pretended not to be–
“I know you’re in there.”
With a groan, Devon stood up. The voice belonged Janice’s mother. Julie? Maybe Jean. Whatever.
Best not to keep her waiting. She had been fighting with Arachne every day. And, while not winning, she was not losing either. Probably not wholly human. I wonder if she’d submit to an examination.
“What do you want?” Devon asked before the door had fully opened.
Jean stood there with a smirk on her face like she had won something. “I’ve spoken at length with everyone else here. Except you. I’d actually forgotten you existed until Eva offhandedly mentioned you.”
“I’ve got just the thing.” Devon turned to the potion cabinet just next to the door–always keep potions easily accessible–and rummaged through the drawers until he found the foggy gray vial. “Here. That will fix your issue.”
Jean accepted the vial. She turned it around in her fingers, letting the foggy goop slide around inside. “I don’t want to forget,” she said as she offered the vial back. “Especially not with that poorly brewed drivel. It shouldn’t be clumping and sticking to the glass like that.”
“Brewing isn’t the problem. Age is.”
“Poorly preserved drivel, then.”
“I’d like to see the state of your potions after thirty years.”
“Thirty years? Why?”
Devon shrugged. “Haven’t found much use for a memory altering potion. I brewed a batch thinking I could erase everyone’s memories of my work.”
“You decided to kill everyone instead?”
“No. Decided not to tell anyone.”
“Prudent,” Jean said. “Are you going to invite me in?”
“No.” Devon tried to slam the door in her face. A boot–steel toed if he had to guess–wedged in the crack. “You’re toeing my wards,” he said.
“I can feel them,” she said without even the slightest flicker of pain on her face. “Not the same type that Eva uses.”
“I’m no haemomancer. They’re standard thaumaturgical wards.”
That same winning smirk crossed her face again. “Ahh, thought so. The blood needed to key me in tipped me off. She wasn’t as successful at hiding the bloodstone as she might have thought.”
Devon rolled his eyes. Of course she screwed up. Eva thought she was a lot of things that she wasn’t. She’d gotten some unwarranted confidence since starting school. Likely as a result of having Arachne constantly around.
“So little Eva has killed people then?”
“No one who didn’t deserve it,” Devon said. It wasn’t even a lie, at least as far as he knew. He wasn’t the girl’s minder.
In retrospect, that was a mistake. He should have taken a far more heavy-handed approach in her upbringing. Too late for that now.
Jean just barked out a laugh. “Good. Good.”
Devon had to raise an eyebrow at that response.
“What. You think I’m squeamish about killing people?” She laughed again as she placed a hand on her hip. “You don’t get to retire as a mage-knight without breaking a few eggs. So long as she isn’t indiscriminate. She is a bit young though. I imagine a diabolist had something to do with that.”
“Demonologist. And I didn’t do anything. Pulled her off the streets when she was six. Taught her a little about channeling magic and working with it. Then she found and stole half my library. She took it from there.”
“She learned everything from a book? I find that hard to believe.”
Her foot was still in the door. It somewhat surprised Devon that she hadn’t pulled out yet. Eva must have hit her hard with her blood wards to get her screaming. Impressive though it was, that didn’t stop her from being annoying.
“I may have taught her more. Is there a point to this aside from inane chatter?”
“Oh, I’m here solely for the inane chatter. Need to get to know the old man who hangs around with my daughter.”
“I don’t hang out with anyone. I couldn’t give less of a damn about your daughter if I tried.” Unless… No. Too old. Far too involved with Eva as well. “Eva’s wellbeing is my only concern.”
Jean’s smile turned downwards before her face settled in a neutral expression. “And your relationship with Eva is?”
“Test subject. Go bother her about it. I have work to get back to.”
“I intend to.” Jean removed her foot from the doorway. “Tomorrow, I’ll stop by for ano–”
Devon slammed the door in her face. Tomorrow, I’ll add a pit of spikes in front of the door.
Today, he thought as he turned back to his desk and retrieved the tome. The new version of the transference ritual circle was nearly complete. It should drastically cut down time to completion. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t work on Eva. Not safely, at least. She would have to continue using the old version of the circle.
Subjects were another issue.
Arachne wouldn’t do. That much was clear. It was an excellent donor subject at the start. It agreed to the experiment almost immediately. Likely something that would remain unique to it due to its specific desires. Unfortunately, it grew attached. Disgustingly so.
Devon didn’t expect a similar event to affect non-Arachne demons, but keeping both subjects separate outside of the actual treatment event couldn’t hurt.
A nonsentient could work. A cerberus could be interesting. They wouldn’t have any of the same issues that Arachne had. The real problem arose in the need for domination. Devon doubted he would be able to convince a nonsentient demon to remain still while he jabbed them full of needles. If the demon fought the domination, it could break loose at an inopportune time.
Another problem with using bestial demons rested with the new circle itself. Devon had no hard evidence, but he suspected there would be drastic changes related to the donor demon in the recipient.
Eva displayed minor secondary demonic characteristics–sharpened teeth, elongated tongue, and altered eyes–but no major mutation into anything Arachne specific. She never developed anything coming close to Arachne’s exoskeleton or unique biology. Even with her transplanted hands and legs, they had yet to display any indication that they would spread to cover her body.
The new circle was different. There remained a very real possibility that a human would gain heads, a tail, and fur if a cerberus were used as a donor. Possibly lethally in that case. What effect the heads would have was unpredictable without further information.
No. A willing, sentient, and humanoid demon would be best. Devon had a few ideas, but he would need to interview the demons. Willingness was almost necessary. If the demon bailed half-way through…
Devon scratched a few notes on a blank page. It would require a brand new circle to be drawn up, but a new demon every treatment might even further decrease the time to completion–with unpredictable mutations.
Multiple experiments occurring at once would be best. Placing all of his eggs in one basket with Eva had been a failure.
That was another issue. Demons could be summoned up. The human half of the experiment had to be looked for. Physically.
What a pain.
Surely it wouldn’t be that bad. Some orphan kids must be ready to jump at the opportunity to be locked into a prison for a few years if they’re guaranteed meals.
Perhaps he would go on a vacation come summer.