Erika awoke with a start, hearing voices pitched into an argument, almost a shouting match. She blinked her eyes, gncing around, and saw that she was still in the teepee, but was shed to some sort of X-shaped device. Erika was standing, still nude, and her legs were attached at multiple points - ankles, knees, and upper thighs. Her arms were attached in a simir way and a metal strap seemed to hold her head in pce so she couldn't turn it at all. A metal bit was affixed in her mouth, preventing her from speaking. She could just barely see a variety of symbols drawn on the surrounding floor in a strange red fluid, but was unable to determine what they were for.
"This is a mistake," Erika could hear Yuki's angry voice. "This is not what I want! I've changed my mind, we can do this another way!"
"Fuck that," Erika heard a man's voice snap and then a subsequent spping noise. She could hear a sound like someone falling to the ground, then Yuki's sniffle. Erika's blood boiled, and she tried to draw on her magic only to find it was inaccessible. It was like a phantom limb, she knew it was supposed to be there, but nothing happened when she tried to channel her powers. "I saw what you three sluts did st night. If you weren't my step-sister, I might have even joined in, but we had a deal. I've been bargaining my soul with this devil for power, and you were just as much a part of it as I was."
"Brother, please," Yuki begged from the floor. Erika could hear a rustle of clothing, presumably Yuki trying to stand up. "There must be another way. She has power and her soul. Maybe we can find another path?" Another sp followed and this time Erika saw Yuki tumble into view, a bright red handprint across her beautiful face. Yuki had redressed, once more wearing her gorgeous Cheongsam and knelt, pleading with a figure that was just out of Erika's view. "I know in your heart you don't want to embrace the devil. Please."
A handsome man strode into view. He was tall and athletic, a neatly trimmed goatee and dark hair with Asian features. The man was dressed in a bck suit, almost a Yakuza-style vibe, including missing a joint from his left pinky. Hints of tattoos peeked above the colr of his white linen dress shirt as he strode over, grabbing Yuki by the throat and lifting her. "That's enough," he barked. "I have a deal with Asmodeus. In return for the slut's sacrifice, he will teleport us to meet with his champion, Xavier. We will join with him and grow in power. Little sister, you are coming with me, whether you like it or not. If you refuse, I will gift you to Xavier to do with as he pleases, but we are carrying through the ritual."
Erika screamed with rage, fighting against the restraints but unable to move so much as a muscle. Her magic was still locked away, crippling her ability to cast even a single spell. The man gnced over at her and smirked, dropping Yuki to the ground where the kitsune grasped at her bruised throat and coughed repeatedly. "You were so easily trapped," he taunted. "Asmodeus told me that you would do anything for a slutty girl. I hadn't realized just how true that was until my own sister baited you into lowering your defenses."
Yuki cowered on the floor, refusing to meet Erika's eyes, as she coughed again, rubbing her throat. "Victor," she tried again, "please. Don't. I know you still have good in you." Victor stepped to the side, gncing down at the symbols drawn into the floor. As he stepped around Erika, ensuring they were drawn correctly, he casually side-kicked Yuki across the tent, the kitsune crashing into a tent-pole with a pained cry.
"Perfect," he said to himself. "All perfect. With this sacrifice, I will be sent where I need to go to fulfill my destiny." He drew a wakizashi from a scabbard at his waist, the short sword glinting in the light from the teepee's doorway as he strode toward Erika. Erika continued thrashing and screaming, trying to fight her way free of the bonds, but was unable to move. Tears welled in Erika's eyes. Not like this, she thought to herself. Not like this. I wasted so much time, I should have been stronger. Please, Fi, not like this.
Victor stepped close, raising the sword and running it across Erika's face. He gently carved a line from her temple to her jaw, the razor-sharp sword parting flesh like butter and blood streaming down the helpless witch's face as the skin was fyed open. He leaned in and licked the blood, grinning with red teeth at her. Victor then dipped his fingers in the blood and pressed it to his eyelids, re-opening them as his eyes glowed with a crimson energy.
Erika colpsed in the restraints, despair overtaking her emotions as she could no longer pretend to have a way out of this. Her fate was sealed, Yuki's betrayal had resulted in her death. Her life was a waste, fuel for a monster to become more powerful. Erika started sobbing, tears and blood mixing across her face as she realized just how fucked she truly was. Not like this, she sobbed again.
"Victor! No!" Yuki screamed, bounding across the tent and smming into her brother as he prepared the killing stroke. Victor and Yuki rolled back and forth, screaming and shouting at one another, exchanging blows as they tumbled through the mystical symbols on the floor of the room. Victor punched Yuki in the face, snapping the woman's head back painfully as she fell to the ground, blood streaming from her mouth and nostrils. He stood, adjusting his suit, and stepped toward Erika once more.
"Enough, sister," he snapped. "You cannot stop this. Her sacrifice is my destiny. Our destiny. Our rise to power." Yuki picked herself off the ground and rushed at Victor, spinning him around and grappling him in a savage hug. Yuki's eyes went wide, blood spraying from her mouth in an arc that painted across Erika's stunned face, as she impaled herself on Victor's sword. Victor gnced down, shocked to find his sword nestled between his sister's breasts, savagely cleaving her heart in two. "Sister..." he trailed off, shocked. "No!"
Yuki gnced over Victor's shoulder at Erika, each beat of her heart a significant measure of how little time was left. "Love," she said, directing the word at Erika, trying with every bit of her energy to push that concept into the captive witch. She slumped, arms growing weak, and Erika watched in horror as Yuki's body slid to the floor. As Yuki's body reached the floor, the symbols scrawled into the floor lit with unearthly fire around the two remaining people in the tent.
Victor spun, staring at Erika's bound form, who gred at him with unbridled hatred. "What have you done, witch? You poisoned my own sister against me." He took a step forward, raising the sword once more, Yuki's lifeblood dripping from its length. "I may not need your sacrifice anymore, but I will have it all the same." As he readied himself to take another step, the magical fmes redoubled in intensity and Erika could feel herself growing distant. She gnced at Victor, who was appeared to be getting hazy, almost like he wasn't fully there.
"I will find you and I will kill you for what you did, witch," the man vowed. "To the ends of the earth. I WILL have my revenge on you for Yuki." With a fsh, he was gone. Erika blinked her eyes to clear them, gncing around. The tent was gone, and it didn't look like Florida anymore.
Erika stood, stark naked, next to a cornfield as blood ran down her face from the open wound. A gentle breeze rustled the stalks and rolling hills stretched in every direction. A hand-made wooden sign was positioned next to a dirt path. Block letters were painted on it along with a pink heart and a smiley face. Erika gnced at it, then looked around again. She pulled her witch's garb from her storage ring, dressing quickly. Knee-high combat boots, a short bck skirt, a cy corset top, and her witch's hat adorned her pale frame, still shaking with fury. She withdrew a wand, powering it with magical energy until it glowed a bright pink.
Victor, I will find you and everyone you know and murder you all. Every st fucking one of you, Erika vowed. Starting with whomever is at this fucking town you teleported me to. I will have my revenge for Yuki, betrayer or no. Erika ground her teeth, homicidal rage distorting her features into a grim mask, and began to walk the path the sign indicated, preparing for combat. She was going to use every single shred of power that Fi had ever granted her to destroy this pce. Burn it to the ground, salt the earth, and ensure nothing grew there for a thousand years. Kill every man, woman, and child. Total fucking annihition. Yuki deserved nothing less. Was it an overreaction for a day-old fuck buddy? Maybe, but Erika was going to get her pound of flesh and then some.
As she took the first step, she shed out with her wand, a bolt of pink light burning through the signpost. With a ctter, the wooden sign nded on the packed earth, the letters still visible as the witch walked into the corn field.
"Persistence - 2 miles ??"
WhimsicalLantern
