//------------------------------// // 14 - Youth in Ecstasy - The True Face. // Story: Diamond of Darkness // by alfonso_rd_33 //------------------------------// Diamond of Darkness Chapter XIV: Youth in Ecstasy - The True Face. Of course, after months of trading dreams, there was no way that all martial instruction would go unnoticed, so Morrigan was shocked when something unexpected happened one day. "Umm... Miss Morrigan? Have you been exercising or something like that? One of her coworkers, an older succubus named Aurora, whispered to her one day while they waited for their tasks, Morrigan blinked at the strange question, looking at the succubus, she had silky golden hair, fair skin and beautiful emerald eyes on a pretty face framed by her long hair, a small nose and crimson lips with a beauty mark underneath them on the left side completed the woman's face. "Well, something like that. Why do you ask?" The older woman gave her a strange look as she answered, her tone and voice were sweet, almost innocent. "Well, because you're starting to look a little... buffed.” "What do you mean by 'buffed'?" Morrigan asked irritably, after all, the answer was given in a rather smug tone, and whoever gave those damn pets of Diamond Tiara permission to be smug. "You know Miss, muscular." Aurora elaborated, squeezing Morrigan's right biceps."Do you see it, Miss?" "Oh!" Morrigan blinked before reaching to squeeze his own arm, flexing the muscle, causing it to bulge. Of course, Morrigan had to suppress a smile as she replied, "I think you're right dear. I hadn't even noticed." And Morrigan's innocent response made the old succubus frown, after all, as an old woman, she had far more experience and wisdom than Belial's little heiress, and it made common sense to make sure that one as a succubus is ALWAYS pleasant to the eyes first and everything else was second. "I don't know why you bother exercising, Miss. We are succubi, we can't get fat, and even if we could, sex is a hearty way to exercise on its own.” The older woman said, shaking her head in amusement while hearing this cursory statement, Morrigan looked shyly away. , well aware that it wasn't exactly the norm for the Aensland succubus before answering, "I... I have my own reasons." "Well, maybe you should stop. I mean, most men like their women to be soft to the touch, not as hard as a rock." Morrigan's mind was instantly filled with images of her favorite clients. These days, the fighters who felt Attracted to strong women; those who respected women who were powerful and knew how to fight. Not only did they not like muscular women, but they also *preferred*them! Still, she decided not to mention this out loud. All in all, Morrigan knew what kind of succubus Aurora was: ancient, proud, and so self-confident that they really believed they knew more and better than even Father himself! "I can change my shape to something weaker and softer if need be." It was the answer of the princess, given the reality, almost as if expected to do so because, as usual, his thoughts, motives, and intentions were too elevated for Diamond’s pets to actually understand them, upon hearing that answer, Aurora blinked, confused by it. "Miss Morrigan... why did you say 'weaker'? What does that have to do with anything?" Morrigan looked away, exhaling for a moment before turning, responding in the cutest way he could. "I... I like being strong. It just seems right for me to be strong." Fortunately, before Aurora could ask the future Queen of the Night for more details, Opal screamed. "Morrigan!" So the young succubus obediently stood up and stepped forward to accept her next task. "Here." Opal growled, looking at Morrigan as she handed her a dream crystal. "You'll like this one, I selected it just for you, darling, since I've been hearing rumors that you trade your chores with other girls for ones where they beat you up." And Opal smiled cruelly as she got up from her desk, moving to walk around the young heiress, watching her as she did so. "I’m truly delighted to see such a strong masochistic streak growing inside of you,"Miss". Honestly, it's a perfect trait for a little half-breed bitch like you." Opal said as she looked at Morrigan, causing the succubi in the room to gasp, most in shock, the rest surprised that some silly excuse of a succubus was expressing her feelings so close to Mistress's ears, as they all knew that she had a soft spot for the little half-breed. "This is the dream of a true psychopath; a man who likes to cut his women and fuck their bleeding insides while they still squirm. You will like it, right, little Miss Morrigan?" The ancient succubus said with a cruel mockery while completely misunderstanding Morrigan's motives and reasoning behind her actions. Morrigan lowered her head as a shiver of supposed fear ran through her spine. She had had a lot of horrible tasks during her time there, but this had to be the most nauseating! She hadn't cried after a task since the first week, but she suspected she would after this. Some mortals did not deserve to have their sick dreams fulfilled by a succubus, she thought. "Yes, Mistress Opal." Morrigan muttered obediently, even as her heart thumped with humiliation. She stood there for a long moment, Aurora looking on with sympathy and misery. The young half-human had done something to irritate Opal, or she would not have won such an unpleasant task. "Do you wonder why I decided to give you such a lovely dream to fulfill, don’t you, 'miss'?" Opal scoffed, obviously enjoying what she thought was the half-breed's fear as Morrigan said nothing, just continued to stare at the ground. "It should be obvious, look at yourself in a mirror sometime. I don't know what you've been doing to make yourself bulge like this, and I don't care. This isn't how a weak little half-breed bitch like you should look like. You should look as soft and weak as you are, a toy for mortal men to use for their pleasure, to be discarded when it is no longer useful. And that's what will happen to you if you don't lose all that hard muscle fast! From now on, and until you have softened again, all your tasks will be as less athletic as possible! You will be tied, chained, or otherwise restricted from any movement in your next 200 dreams! Any questions,"miss"? Opal barked as she scowled at the future Queen of Aensland, her tone filled to the brim with disdain and contempt, then Morrigan began to tremble. Being tied up, in and of itself, was not so bad. The bad was what men of the type preferred her. tied up and helpless they would do in that state, that was what worried her. "What... what do you mean 'otherwise restricted'?" For Morrigan, "tied" meant being attached by ropes, leather straps, or (not that Opal was that nice) strips of silk. "chained" meant hard and uncomfortable steel. Morrigan couldn't think of any other way to keep her still, and Opal's smile was not intended to reassure the young half-human shivering at her desk. "Oh, well, let me see what I have here... Yes, there is this guy who will break your arms before he rapes you. There was another guy... where he is... Ah, here he is. We have a client who will want cut off your limbs before raping you, and before you ask, yes, he will do it himself in the same dream." Aurora was a pure-blooded succubus and had been on dream duty many times Morrigan's lifespan so she had seen almost every kind of perversion that the human mind could conceive of. Despite all of this, she would have had at least a little difficulty enduring *any* of these sick fantasies that Opal was describing. The thought of making Morrigan, a younger and less experienced succubus go through those horrors one after another made her desperately want to vomit. Even if she lived to be as old as Opal, Aurora doubted that she could be so cruel. That was why Opal was as high up in the hierarchy as she was, naturally. Despite her discomfort, Aurora made no move to help or intercede on Morrigan's behalf against Opal. Nor would Morrigan have expected her to. This was not the human world; This was Makai. Sympathy was acceptable as far as possible, but the main law that followed even the kindest incubus or succubus (relatively speaking) was 'You must watch over # 1 first and foremost'. Opal didn't seem to be in a good mood, and pissing her off would no doubt give Aurora a to-do list similar to the one Morrigan was facing now. This did not mean that Aurora did not feel bad about what was happening to Morrigan, especially when she considered the small possibility that the young half-human mind of Morrigan had to survive the barrage of torture that lay ahead. She felt horrible about it, but that horror was not enough to break the cultural and instinctive barriers of her demonic mind and sacrifice himself to help another. Morrigan was alone. "Well? You have your task. Go!" Opal scoffed at the pale, deathly ill girl in front of her, who with her hands shaking so much that she almost dropped the dream crystal concentrated on it and slipped into the mortal's dreams.