[h3][center][color=steelblue]🕈 Seiji[/color] & [color=orchid]Empusa ♡[/color][/center][/h3]
[center][b]1st Floor Entrance Lobby[/b][/center]
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B̷̬̐ó̵̻ń̸̰ẹ̶͐s̶͇͗ ̵̩̑b̸͔͝ļ̴͠o̷̖͆w̷̰͠ ̷̘̈a̸͖̓s̸͉̄ ̴̯̍ā̶̯s̵̫̽h̵̩̆ẹ̷͌s̴͙͘ ̶̳̃c̵̦͘r̸̗̂e̶̮͋a̷͈̚k̴͖͒,̵̗͘ ̸̨̅ḟ̸ͅo̸̪͌r̸̥͐ ̷̯̓t̶̗̀h̵͎̾e̴̠̿ ̸̞̄w̷̖͊i̴̧̎s̶̾͜e̸̼͑ ̶̼̔a̷̻̓r̷̤̀e̴̯̎ ̸̠̆ȗ̴̮ǹ̴̺a̷̰͒b̷̨̃l̶͚͘e̴̓ͅ ̴̢̎t̵̢͋ȍ̴̦ ̸̱́f̷̪͒ì̸͖ṋ̸̽d̴͓͝ ̷̛̹t̷͍̚h̴͕̓ḙ̸̐ ̸̝͋k̴̡̾n̷̙͝o̷̖̒w̵̱̓l̶̥͑e̵͖͝d̶̹͒g̷̼̔e̸̲̊ ̴͈̽ţ̴̀h̶̦͋ȅ̸̺y̷̨̔ ̸̬͆s̴̖͗o̷͎͑ ̶̯̏d̷̲͛e̵͖͠ṡ̵̮p̶̼̓e̴̡̿r̵͎͋á̵̙t̸͔̾ȇ̴ͅl̸̓͜y̸͍͘ ̸̲̕s̶͕̔e̴̯͑ḛ̴͆k̸̞͋.̵̟͠
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Tinnitus, itching through his hair and oscillating behind his eyes. Knives scraping bottles, grating against his bones. Forks on glass, tapping the inside of his skull. Chalk scratching the black board, inside his blood vessels. Sound and smell and sensation became fluid for one long dilation of time as the ripples under that white sheet acknowledged and despised Seiji’s presence.

Still the boy refused to look away. His jaw strained as he grit his teeth, and at his side one fist clenched.

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Ţ̶̩̓̋̔h̴̠̖̄e̶̠̺̤͆̾ ̶̘͊ͅf̶͈̯̈l̸͕̊̋̎õ̴͚̑o̴̧͉͌̿r̷̹̓s̶̘̉ ̵͙̊a̷̪̕r̴̺̺̎̕ȅ̸̘ ̸͈̽́m̵̡̲̳̏ą̷̟̟̾̾ḍ̵̄e̵̩͉̬͋ ̶̻͊̏͗ò̴̧̮͛f̸̦͊̕̕ ̶̖̼̈́̽̌e̴͚̥̿̌͘ÿ̵̡̰͓́̿ë̷͈́s̵͇͑̈́͐,̴̹̝̼͗͝ ̸̙̂͐a̴̛͎̠y̴͔̗̔͋͜ë̸͙̫́̈́̑͜,̸̢͉͕͛̋ ̴͙̲͗͗́e̶̖͊͝y̶̖͍̽̎̎e̴̲̱͇̐̃s̶̜͍̃̒͝ ̸͖̣͇̌̈́̔ū̸͇̗͑p̸̡̢̎̏͛ơ̷͈n̷̳̹̝̄͛ ̸̺̿̈ê̴̗͓͇̎̀ỵ̸̝̤̈́̍͛e̵̝̜̅̚ş̴̨̟͌̄ ̸̯̎ù̷͉p̶̯͙͎̅͆͝ȍ̷̰n̴̩̬̕ ̷̢͂͝e̴͇͆y̵̤͕̐͜ę̴̃͒̈́ś̶̰̦̘͝ ̶̥͚̳̆͛ȕ̵̯͋̾p̷̮̍̐ŏ̷̹̤͜͝n̶͓̤̿͌͜ ̵̞̥̌͌͌ȩ̵̛̞̘̈́y̷̮̓͌ė̵͓̾s̴̛̘̣̱͂.̸͍̇.̵̣͛͛̏.̵̛͙̩̟͂
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Could this being read his thoughts? He felt something warm trickle down his upper lip. He smelled iron, copper, and salt. His vision tunneled around the edges. In his head, he concentrated on his own ‘song.’

[i]Grant us eyes, grant us eyes. Plant eyes on our brains, to cleanse our beastly idiocy.[/i] A simple memory, a quotation, nothing that meant anything of any real worth to anyone of any real sense. Still, it brought a smirk to his face. In the face of the Abyss, this human smirked.

The Creature drifted away, disregarding Seiji like the insignificant nobody he had always been. A light trickle of blood dripped from Seiji’s left nostril, and his eyes looked like someone who had either been crying all night, or had eaten one too many weed brownies before they finally kicked in. He raised a thumbs-up in farewell to the Thing and spoke in a strained, hoarse voice.

“Yeah man, me too. Good talk.”

It looked like several people had decided to explore the house’s upper floors. Empusa was still speaking to someone else, so Seiji took a moment to fight down the nausea, suicidal ideation, and general existential crisis. When that was done, he pulled a handkerchief from his back pants pocket to wipe his nose, and turned to see who else remained on the first floor.

[i]Is that werewolf about to eat that small red child?[/i]

The woman--geez, she was tall--crouched with her hands on her knees as she loomed over the other devil. Poor guy probably had an eyeful and a half down the front of her shirt. The kid seemed to snap out of it for a second, but too late--his back was already against the wall. Wait, was he blushing? It was hard to tell, considering “red as a tomato” was the default for him. Seiji wondered why the white haired one, who seemed to be his sister, was so pale-skinned then. Demon genetics sounded like a complicated subject. And the other youth’s personality seemed equally complicated--he made a show of excusing himself from the woman [i]he[/i] had approached in the first place, and instead made some kind of shmoozing attempt. As he passed Seiji, the Japanese boy nodded in acknowledgement...then flinched, slightly, as the kid’s expression changed.

The red devil’s features softened in a way that seemed entirely unnatural. Empusa had no problems making facial expressions--in fact, she was [i]very good[/i] at making whatever expression she wanted to at a given time, regardless of her actual feelings--but she could easily be mistaken for a human if she hid her wings, tail, and the tips of her ears. This kid, with his horns and fangs, looked the perfect part of the western definition for “devils.” So seeing him smile seemed very wrong.

And Seiji suddenly felt a weight lift from his shoulders. Clarity breathed fresh life into his battered mind, still recovering from the brush with IT, and he felt the tension leave his muscles. He hadn’t realized his posture was so slouchy until he felt light enough to straighten his stance. He wanted to laugh!

Then he shook his head. Empusa had warned him about Demons who could screw with his emotional energy. What was the game here? And why did the little red riding dude seem high on his own supply? Seiji turned to the other demon, and as much as she intimidated him he wondered if she had anything to do with the kid’s complete 180 in mood.

[@MetalWeight]“...Sup?” He said as he made eye contact with her. He adjusted his feet casually as he slipped the handkerchief back into his pocket. “I’m Seiji. And that guy--” he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, “seems to be a little [i]too[/i] happy. Should I be worried?” Obviously the answer was yes, because he was in Hell, in a house full of Demons, one of whom he had a very unusual relationship with. But one had to break the ice somehow, right?

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[@blackdragon]As Phagosa and Empusa made small talk, the Svartalfar glanced at the stairway. It seemed many of the house’s occupants had decided the time had come to explore. Once they found the booze Lilith had mentioned, things might get [i]very[/i] interesting. 

[i]I should see how the place has changed--I wonder who used my old room after I left? And if they ever got that particular spot out of the sheets…[/i]

Bump.

[@Dark Cloud]Something soft ran right up against her rear end, and Empusa got excited at the thought that maybe Seiji wanted to get her attention. She turned with a smile, only to see the tips of five pink horns. As the demoness glanced down, Dexter gulped. The beastkin’s charm had broken before anything explicit happened, then? As funny as that would be, Empusa supposed in all honesty it was for the better.

"E-Empusa I didn't see you there...Uhm where did Lilith go?" The boy tried to puff up his chest as he stepped back, but he still couldn’t hide his wide, trembling eyes. 

“She went up the stairs with the others. But before you go looking for her…”

She lifted a hand. Dexter could almost [i]see[/i] the sheer, menacing aura gathered around that hand as it slowly reached out to him, the darkness engulfing her form, the green, bale fire in her eyes--

No actually, he couldn’t see any of that. Empusa’s hand softly patted his shoulder.

“Young master Dexter, is everything alright? Please be careful with your abilities--the power to sense an emotion also makes one more vulnerable to the emotional powers others exude.” She glanced towards the wolf-woman. “A Lust inducer like her, or a demon of Asmodean blood, is especially effective in that regard. It’s a power that already draws one towards them, so when your senses reach out it’s like a cart that’s already rolling down hill being pulled along.” She plucked one of the treats from Phagora’s tray with her other hand, and pressed it into one of Dexter’s. Chocolate, a substance well known for clearing up the aftereffects of emotional manipulation and calming one down. “Very hard to stop. You’re lucky that--”

[@MetalWeight]She saw Seiji approach the wolf-girl. The one who had just finished charming Dexter. Her knuckle bones popped as the Luciferian’s poor shoulder was seized by a five-fingered bear trap. The little red devil really [i]did[/i] see the menacing aura of black soot and yellow, sulfurous fire now as her eyes ignited. The pupils shrunk to tiny dots with a laser-like intensity focused on her Contractor’s conversation.

“What is [i]that woman’s[/i] name, by the by?” she asked Dexter, without looking at him. Her voice was low again, but not just in volume. It had dropped a number of octaves as well, and somehow brought to mind the sound of hissing lava rolling down a volcanic slope.