Coming Home from a Dream

[helluvaboss]

Hell has a habit of sucking in hapless, tortured souls... including those from other worlds, it seems, when helped along by portalling magic concocted by Stolas of the Ars Goetia. Hell, in fact, is very receptive to the devised spell, sucking in those that portal from the land of dreams, songerein.

Residents of hell walking through the portal find themselves startled awake where they were, but newcomers? Their forms become physical, tangible, changing them into the creatures they dream themselves to be - for the best and most certainly for the monstrous. It is Hell, after all.

Welcome home, I.M.P. : D.M.C.!

Comments

[strawberryredgrave]

His magic alone isn't strong enough, huh? A lightbulb turns on in Dante's head. There's something he's been giving a lot of thought to with making things official with lady, and maybe this'll help get some practice in for that.

"...I might be able to help with that." The dragon suggests. "Been thinking about taking after my old man a little and I could use some experience figuring out how do it: we could try a pact."

[lonelysmiles]

"Oh?" He raised an amused eyebrow at the man. "What kind of pact? And what does that have to do with my little issue being unable to leave Pride?"

Despite his best efforts, Dante would see the hungry glint in Alastor's eye. He was starved for entertainment. He wanted to see other Rings even if he couldn't go back to Earth. Two years in Reverein hadn't been enough.

He wanted so much more.

[strawberryredgrave]

"See, I'm not someone who usually plays by the rules. And thanks to what I am, I don't really have to. And with a pact, I might be able to share some of that with you. Enough to see the other Rings, at least. As for the pact itself...to make it work that much, I think it's gotta bind you to me."

Dante immediately raises a finger after finishing those words.

"But! I know how bad that sounds. First: the Alastor in my world would kick my ass if I tried anything too confining. I learned my lesson. Two: you'd probably hate being a Devil Arm. Giving you freedom just to make you a tool I can wield? That's fine print levels of bullshit. And three: we can negotiate the terms before anything happens. Also if this doesn't work, we can end the pact immediately."

[lonelysmiles]

Alastor tapped his claws against his cup but said nothing, waiting for Dante to get it all out. He took another sip, deciding very quickly that from then on that he'd just hold the cup instead of drinking from it.

"That certainly sounds advantageous to me, but what do you get out of it?"

[strawberryredgrave]

"The usual: ownership of your soul. Part of it, at least. Enough to claim it after you die or exert influence if I really wanted to. Which I don't. Again, lesson learned from my Alastor. And since you're a powerful demon, it gives me access to some of your power while you access some of mine."

Despite the severity of the cost, Dante waves a hand. "It's kinda necessary. That said, I'll let you decide the terms of when I can do that. Least I can do."

[lonelysmiles]

He'd suspected as much. Still...

"That would make things incredibly complex given I've others tied to me. I suppose the first term would be that those bound to me do not answer to you unless I tell them to. You wouldn't be able to just demand their services at a moment's notice.

"Fortunately, despite popular belief, that list is rather short."

[strawberryredgrave]

"Works for me. Your business is your business; not interested in muscling in. Having servants isn't really my thing, anyway." Shrug. Less work for Dante.

"Second term?"

[lonelysmiles]

Making Deals is how he makes "friends"...

"I get to decide when I want out. It can't be in the middle of a crisis, obviously, but if I decide I've had enough, that's it. If we succeed in this little endeavor, then my ability to pass between Rings is voided as well. Everything reverts to the old status quo."

[strawberryredgrave]

"You sure? Gives you a chance to see the other rings. Not limiting you to the test drive, but if that's when you want out, I'll respect it. No questions asked." It's Alastor's choice, ultimately. And that's what counts most.

[lonelysmiles]

"I'm sorry. My phrasing must've been imprecise. What I meant was to put a limiter on myself. In the event I call off the Deal -- excuse me, pact -- if our experiments were successful, I would be cutting myself off from the ability to access other Rings while returning things to the previous status quo. Leaving nothing either one of us could exploit from our previous connection."

Alastor almost took a sip of his coffee but refrained, tapping his claws against the cup.

"There's a reason I don't make very many soulbonds despite the masses believing I've an army of thralls awaiting my command to attempt a coup of Hell: I make the bond both ways. That means there are limits on what I can do both while the Deal is active and once it's over. For example, if Husker takes a share of my wealth to gamble, wins, and then our Deal concludes, I'm only allowed to take half that gambling excursion's winnings since I provided the seed money."

He set the coffee down as one of the local shadow creatures flew in, took the shape of a cat, and curled up on his lap. He petted it, the cold shadow not quite satisfying the desire to stroke a cat's fur but it would do. He silently thanked it for the opportunity, feeling its happy "purrs" in response.

"I don't like long contracts with plenty of opportunities for loopholes. A lot of overlords will write contracts longer than a man's arm to give them as many ways as possible to keep their thralls and squeeze every last drop of profit, power, or both out of them. However, that means caveats and special clauses that can be difficult to keep track of.

"No, I much prefer to keep my contracts as simple as possible. Services rendered for services rendered and then a clean break. Binding others' souls is a long-term commitment that isn't guaranteed even here. Best to keep those clear and precise."

[strawberryredgrave]

Dante listens, then firmly nods. "Fair enough. Long contracts are a pain in the ass; not interested on being in either side of one of those. The less I gotta think about it, the better." Dante enjoys not needing to think too hard about stuff; it's easier to manage and he can just go with his gut on those times. More importantly, who wouldn't wanna cover their ass when drafting up a contract?

"Alright. Sounds like we got something good here. Anything else we should add to it or should we shake on it?"

[lonelysmiles]

"Keeping a contract short does make things simpler when under pressure...or heavily intoxicated."

Not that he'd know about that latter one, not him...

He took a moment to think, still petting the "cat" on his lap as he closed his eyes.

"You will not have access to those I have bound to my soul. Nor can you impel me to order them about. They made their contracts with me, not you. I will not add that level of complication into the mix."