Story:Holy Opposites Chapter 6

The following article is a /tg/ related story or fanfic. Should you continue, expect to find tl;dr and an occasional amount of awesome.

This is one of the pages of the Holy Opposites story arc.

Chapter 5

Chapter Six:

Axio leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms. “So… Sister Cavria, then.”

“Just Cavria, thank you, Axiopistos,” she said.

“Axio.”

“Sir.” She smiled. “It’s nice to meet you. Ryaire had nothing but praise.”

Axio colored. “Well. Thank you.” He looked out the window at the city. “Ever been to the city of Waterdeep before?”

“I wish, but sadly not.” Cavria stood at the window and looked out at the sea. “It’s pretty.”

“It is.” Axio frowned. “Should you be visible like that?”

“Oh.” She lifted her amulet and set it back around her neck. Again, the slightly overweight brunette with pale skin was back.

“What is that? Is that amulet magic?” Axio asked.

“It is. Ryaire gave it to me.” Cavria walked over to Axio and showed it to him on the chain around her neck. The icon of Ryaire showed in the sunlight. “It’s an Amulet of Greater Repeated Disguise Self.”

“Wow, those are rare.” Axio peered at it. “It’s enchanted to work every time you take it off?”

“No, it’s much more subtle.” Cavria set it back on her chest. “The magic casts itself once every eight hours. In that time, I look like a baseline northern human. I have the exact perception matching whichever traits in that feature set the viewer likes least. So, one person might see me as having my skin all patchy, another might see me having lots of scars, you might see me being… I dunno, pimply.”

“Overweight,” Axio muttered, slightly embarrassed. He had been judging her, then. He would have to ask forgiveness in his prayers for that. “So… when you take it off, it casts again?”

“No, no, it recharges a bit. So, if I put it on, then immediately take it off, leave it off for seven hours, then put it on again, the spell will be able to re-cast itself indefinitely,” Cavria explained. She took the amulet off, and she was a devil again. Axio was surprised that he didn’t flinch. He had killed devils who had been farther away than she was at that moment. She pulled one sleeve back to reveal a small tattoo on her arm. “I also have this. It’s a glyph tattoo, which means I can store a spell in it. I chose lesser charm monster, just in case we run up against a horde of… I dunno, goblins or some crap like that.”

Axio noted how her language seemed to shift from intensely formal to coarse with no transition. An artifact of her training? “So who taught you to fight?”

“A spirit in the Arbor, at Ryaire’s request,” Cavria said. “A Paladin named Gwen.”

Axio searched his memory. “Hmm. Not familiar with that name.”

“She served Ilmater, not Ryaire, but she died in defense of a primary school, so Ryaire offered her a vaunted position as an Arborguard,” Cavria explained.

Axio snapped his fingers. “That was it, yes. The Arborguard are petitioners given divine powers in exchange for protecting the children’s souls from… uh…”

“From people like my sisters?” Cavria asked. “Invading fiends, and such?”

Axio coughed. “Well, yes.”

“You needn’t be tense,” Cavria reassured him. “I have nothing but contempt for my brood mates. They’re tools of evil. Don’t guard your words on my account.”

The young Aasimar nodded, somewhat relieved. “As you wish.”

She sat back down and looked up at him. “You should also know about my other restrictions.”

“Those being?”

Cavria listed them on her fingers. “I promise to never use my true form to influence events. No sex, ever. I can’t use my devil powers unless I know I’m in the company of other faithful. If I start manifesting more fiend traits – wings, tail, horns, whatever – I have to tell you. I have to follow all the standard rules of conduct for a Paladin, no exceptions. If I Fall, you kill me on the spot.” Axio sighed heavily, and Cavria faltered. “I know, I know, but it could happen.”

“Doubtful,” Axio grunted. No Paladin of Ryaire had ever Fallen. Admittedly, there were only about a hundred in history.

“Still. I’m also promised to never tell a lie to a clergy member about my true self if they ever uncover my form for themselves, and I can use my powers in self-defense if said authorities refuse to accept Ryaire’s word that I’ve reformed.”

The Chosen considered her words. The bit about Falling was the only bit he didn’t approve of, offhandedly. “So Ryaire made you promise all these things?”

She shook her head. Light glinted off her black hair like moonlight off oil. “No, they’re self-imposed.”

Axio recoiled. “What? Why? Didn’t Ryaire swear you to the Oath of Piety when you became her Paladin?”

“She did.” Cavria looked down at her hands and smiled becomingly. “Getting my patroness to swear me in personally was a tremendous honor.”

“Right. But then why bother with all these other rules?” Axio pressed. “If Ryaire trusts you to complete your Oath with dignity and faith, isn’t that enough?”

Cavria’s smile melted into a frown. “No, sir. Not at all.”

Axio had the sinking feeling that he had asked one question too many, yet again. He cursed inside. “Ah, well…” he started, but she cut him off.

“I am a creature of manifest sin and rape,” she said coldly. “Ryaire has taken the hate Asmodeus left in my heart away, and I love her dearly for that, but I am still a Succubus, and a High Succubus Prototype, at that. I do not hold myself to different standards because Ryaire asked me to, I do it because I want to know I can.”

“Forgive me,” Axio said heavily. He rubbed his eyes with one hand, grumbling his words. “I overstep. Of course you can have self-imposed challenges. I simply misunderstood.”

Cavria looked up. “Oh, it’s alright. I just… Ryaire’s love can heal cracked ribs and tainted flesh, but not self-loathing.”

Axio just stared, before closing his eyes and chuckling. “I sense a running conversation emerging in our future, Sister Cavria. I say something I shouldn’t, because of my intermittent lack of social skills, and you take it as an opportunity to explore your deep-seated body issues.”

“Oh, let’s hope we can avoid that,” Cavria said, though she couldn’t help but join in the laughter. It was cathartic. He had intimidated her greatly, standing behind Ryaire’s stories of her faithful as an emotional, benevolent force of justice. Meeting him in person had been something towards which she had had to work herself up, and now they were sharing self-deprecation.

She smiled as his laugh wound down. Yes, she had fallen in with good people.

Axio sat back down at his desk. “So, may I ask why you have made some of these promises?”

“Sure.”

“Why no using your powers unless in self-defense, or when in the flock? Surely you don’t think them inherently bad,” Axio observed. “Warlocks use those powers to aid our men in the field, in campaigns, sometimes.”

“Well, no, it’s true,” Cavria admitted, “but the power source is the Nine Hells. Ryaire doesn’t bestow those powers on me, they’re just there. If I overuse them in an area where no Succubae are present, somebody may notice and come to see what’s happening.”

“Ah, wise,” Axio said, nodding. “And why no sex? Didn’t Ryaire take your ability to harm others with intimacy away?”

Cavria shrugged. “I’m a Succubus, sir. I may learn to like it too much. Taking control from others through false submission is… deeply addicting to my kind. Even some humans and other mortals feel that urge. Properly supervised and with consent, of course, mortals aren’t harmed by it, but...” Cavria sighed. “Well, Ryaire may have taken my soul-draining power away, but I still have instincts I should not learn to enjoy.”

Axio smiled warmly, surprising her. “You will learn not to fear them, I suspect. This world would look very different if we mortal types didn’t learn to control our instincts.”

She smiled back. “That’s very kind of you to say, sir, but I am not mortal.”

“No, but you looked the Hell-King and a Balor in the eye and lived to impress a goddess after the fact, at the tender age of one week,” Axio pointed out. “You’re got strength.”

Cavria felt taller all of a sudden. “Well… thank you, sir.”

“Axio.”

“No, I’m sorry,” she said. “Technically, you vastly outrank me. We both took our Oaths of Piety, but I haven’t taken the Oath of Devotion, and you’re a Chosen.”

“Axio in private, at least, I insist,” the Aasimar said. “Titles are for the public. We’re all equal in Ryaire’s eyes. The Ilmateri are the same way.”

“Very well… Axio,” she said. “All right. What now?”

“Now we eat,” Axio said. Cavria blinked. “It’s well past morning,” Axio pointed out. “I’m ravenous, and you’ve been talking for hours.”

“I don’t really need food,” Cavria said. “I barely even need water and sleep. One of the very few perks of being a devil.”

Axio nodded. “Outsider, right, of course. Well, I’m famished. Mind if I get some food?”

“Of course not,” Cavria said. “I’ll wait here.”

“No, you’ll come with me,” Axio said. “I want you to see the city we’re about to explore.”

She blinked. “Oh. Uh, very well, then, lead the way.”

Chapter 7