Welcome to the Funhouse

Gangting took only a quick moment to inspect her work before hurrying after her. He confirmed that he knew a fair amount about castles, though that this was the first one he’d ever actually stepped foot in. That was a bit surprising to her. Given the way he dressed and carried himself, he seemed the type that was born into one. He went on with a rather cryptic comment about how fortune and misfortune equally rewarded -- or cursed -- those of more daring natures, talking about the use of certain types of seeds that were said to protect against bad luck. That seemed strange to her, of course. Why would a seed have such properties?

But he followed the statement up with his own belief that such things didn’t really work, as he knew of a man who seemingly skirted death only to be dragged away by his horse after a necklace of those seeds caused him to get caught on the animal’s gear. They never found the body. Mercury shook her head with a small snort. “It’s amazing the lies that people will tell themselves in an effort to save themselves from having to face reality. Why put such trust into something like that? Why give your control away out of fear? The energy would be better spent preparing yourself for what lies ahead.”

While Gangting was quite superstitious, Mercury was not. In fact, she had no concept of such things. They didn’t exist where she came from. The only things that were real was that which one could see before their own eyes. Even magic wasn’t a concept she was familiar with until arriving here on Earthland, and that had taken her a bit to adjust to. Especially after she’d received magic of her own. But really, after dissecting it down, magic didn’t altogether seem that different from science. It simply had its own set of laws and principles that it had to adhere to, varying from magic to magic, each with its own benefits and restrictions. The scientific world was hardly any different.

Using his stone sense, he was able to determine that there currently was no one standing anywhere in the castle, aside from themselves of course. And according to the tracks he noticed through the grass, there hadn’t been anyone here for at least a couple days. She was watching her screen to see if her drones would pull up anything of interest when she felt it. Around the same time that Gangting sensed something that made his blood boil, she instead felt a presence of sorts that seemed to call to her.

“A demon?” she asked, casting him an inquisitive look. Now that would be interesting. Gangting had referred to himself as a demon slayer, and said that he’d gotten his powers from something he’d called a “god”, but these were terms that Mercury didn’t entirely understand. Whatever it was, Gangting seemed to think it was bad. Or at the very least, he clearly viewed it as an enemy. It was strange to her because she could certainly sense something, but it didn’t fill her with rage or apprehension. If anything it invigorated her, entice her.

Even more enticing, however, was when the big man suddenly started ripping his clothes off.

Gangting set his hand against a stone wall, causing it to crumble into dust at his touch, and after that the garments began to fall one by one until he was left in nothing but the bottom half of his armor. If he was impressive with clothes on, he was ten times more so half naked. As he busied himself wandering into the building to hunt for his little demon prey, Mercury busied herself looking over every available inch of the man’s exceptional form. His muscles were downright rippling, covered in oil and a set of scars that just made him all the more deliciously rugged. Beefy didn’t even begin to describe him. It wasn’t often that Mercury was caught off guard some someone’s attractiveness, but she’d had to actively keep her jaw shut while she gawked at him.

The things I would do to that man, she told herself, her mind not even on this demon problem anymore. No, Mercury was too busy soaking in the finer details of his back, shoulders, and ass. She would absolutely let that man throw her around like a ragdoll if he wanted to, and she was in the middle of visualizing exactly that when he roared for the creature he was hunting to show itself.

That shook her back to the real world. There was a job at hand, and she couldn’t let herself be distracted, even by the hunkiest cut of man meat she’d ever laid eyes on. After only a couple seconds of silence, a scratching sound filled the air, causing Gangting to stiffen with rage and ire while she watched on, still not entirely sure what was actually happening. To be safe, she withdrew her pistol again and set the tablet away.

After a few long seconds of tension, a disembodied voice filled the space around them. “Welcome, sister,” it called in a voice that would have sent chills down anyone’s spine.

Mercury raised a brow, her curiosity piqued. “He’s the one calling out for you, and you talk to me instead? That’s a little rude, don’t you think?” she asked, her voice candid despite the situation. In truth she was readying herself for some kind of attack, though where it would come from she had no idea and that lack of knowledge unnerved her. How was she supposed to fight against something she couldn’t see? Something that had no body?

The voice continued. “He is no one. A pawn of our enemies, and one who thinks he would destroy us. But you… you are one of us.”

“And how do you figure that?”

“You smell of Jadus, our brother. He has blessed you with power, has he not?”

Mercury’s eyes narrowed and for a moment her face was unreadable as she continued to look around for the source of the voice. Surely if she kept the thing talking, Gangting would be able to locate it. He was the hunter, right? If this thing wanted to talk to her, fine. She’d talk and let her partner search for his prey… assuming he was even doing that, given the knowledge he was in the process of overhearing.

A light smirk tugged on her lips. “So, Jadus is a demon, is he? He failed to mention that. Not that it means anything to me. I’ve no notion of what a demon even is. Are you guys supposed to be a big deal or something?”

“We’re powerful,” the voice told her softly, “And I can make you powerful.”

“Jadus already helped me with that. You’re gonna need to give me a better offer.”

The voice chuckled. “Jadus did not give you as much as he could have. He only unlocked a portion of the abilities that could be yours. I can unlock your potential fully, open the doors that he left closed.”

Mercury stroked the barrel of her gun in thought, tempted despite herself. “Is that so?” she asked. It would certainly be fun to pull a fast one on her fun, if cocky, benefactor. The lavender haired woman could already see the surprise on his face, and it made her grin. Plus, she was hardly one to turn down more power. She had come to Earthland with a mission, and the more control she had at her fingertips the better she could perform those duties. “For the sake of humoring you, say I was interested…”

The voice understood her unspoken question and answered it. “Listen for my relic. It calls to you. You need only claim it as your own.”

By the look on her face, she seemed sorely tempted. Not unusual, of course. A great deal of people were often tempted by promises of power and control, so it likely wouldn’t be any surprise for Gangting to realize that Mercury was actually giving the offer serious consideration. Already she was starting to reach out with her senses in an effort to locate the mysterious relic the thing was talking about, her mind churning with the possibilities...