Swell Foop (27 page)

The Demon was paranoid, because of his assigned emotion, but he might be correct. There was definitely something weird about this. "How so?" he asked.

"Maybe Fornax made him leave his shoes as a decoy, and took him to another cell. You will be locked in here, unable to pursue your rescue mission."

"But I can't be locked in as long as I have the key."

"True. But then why leave the shoes?"

"Maybe Justin found another way out, but could not take his shoes."

Sim went to the shoes—and discovered a round hole just beyond them. Beyond it was a large stone cover for the hole, that evidently would fit perfectly to make the floor level. The hole was deep; in fact, it seemed to open into another chamber below.

"An oubliette!" Sim squawked. "They put him down the hole without his shoes! The rats will be gnawing at his toes." He stuck his head down the hole, but could see nothing. There was only dank silence down there.

He fetched another torch and tossed it into the hole. It dropped into a deep pit and guttered in a chamber whose sides were not visible from above. There was no help for it but to climb down and take a direct look.

"I don't trust this," Jupiter said fearfully.

"He could be bound and gagged, so that he can't call out to us," Sim pointed out. "I can climb reasonably well. It won't take long to check."

He stepped into the hole, and used feet, wings, and beak to brace himself against the rough stones forming the sides. He wedged down until he reached the point where it widened into a cavelike chamber, with water dripping slowly from the ceiling. Indeed it seemed to be a cave, with extensions crawling out to the sides. He dropped to the floor and followed one tunnel until it ended in nothing, then followed another. Before long he had explored them all, and found neither exit nor prisoner. It had, after all, been an untamed gander chase.

The torch was guttering out. Quickly he returned to the entrance hole—and found that it was blocked. Someone had replaced the heavy floor tile, sealing off the oubliette. It would not be possible to dislodge it from below; there was insufficient purchase. He was trapped, just as Jupiter had feared.

"I fell for it," he squawked in abysmal dismay. "How could I have been so stupid!" For he was supposed to be the very smartest of birds. That ignominy was worse than the fact that he had been made another prisoner. "The lack of guards, the prop-bones, the shoes—all designed to trick me into trapping myself, and I did exactly that. I am a prime idiot!"

"Yes, of course," Jupiter agreed sympathetically. "But mortals are expected to have such limits. We shall have to wait for the game to end."

"How can you be so philosophical about it?"

"I am a Demon. Time has little relevance to our interests. Perhaps if more than one percent of my attention were here, I would be more concerned. As it is, my inculcated fear is eased, because my aspect of this game is abated. Let me tell you all about the strong nuclear force."

Actually, Sim was interested. Resigning himself to his captivity, he settled down to listen to the Demon's information. But meanwhile he wondered: Exactly where had Justin and the Demon Earth been so cunningly hidden?

Jaylin stood in near shock as the Fornax figure came toward her and abruptly moved into her. She was being possessed! But then the Demon's awareness spread out through her body and into her mind, and it was all right. "I am Fornax, mistress of contra-terrene matter."

"But that's explosive! I mean, the moment it touches real matter, they both dissolve into pure radiation."

"Your well soup prevents that from happening, so we can associate physically while playing the game."

"Well soup?" She giggled mentally. "Oh you mean Swell Foop! Yes, it's magical. But I never expected to associate with—with—"

"The enemy. I am aware of that. It is for your innocence I selected you."

"I'm not innocent! I'll have you know I kissed a boy behind the kitchen once, and—" She stopped, realizing that not only was the example meaningless to this alien entity, it was hardly a solid example of un-innocence. These Demons, as she vaguely understood it, were not exactly male or female; they were hemale and shemale and all points between. Fornax merely seemed female as a convenience. Innocence hardly applied. It could be worse, if Fornax decided to be male without leaving Jaylin's body. "Okay, I'm innocent. I don't know anything that might help you, and I don't want to help you anyway."

"But you shall help me, for that is the nature of the game. What is this about kissing a boy?"

"Nothing that would interest you."

"I will decide that."

Jaylin tried to resist, but discovered that she did indeed have to cooperate. For the others, the mortal creatures' decision might be the one that counted, but in her case it was the Demon's will that governed. That was probably inherent in the bylaws for using a creature provided by the enemy. She reviewed in her mind the scene in which she had kissed the boy. Of course there was also David, but she had done that openly, so it didn't count.

Meanwhile, Fornax was using her voice to address the others. "Hold the stone out."

The others paraded by, each touching the Swell Foop. Then Fornax made Jaylin touch it. A flood of emotion came, causing her to reel.

"What is it?" Fornax demanded, reeling with her. For the moment the alien Demon was helpless.

Jaylin sorted rapidly through her experiences of emotions. She was feeling an overwhelming surge of urgency, but of what nature? She desperately wanted something, but what? She felt as if she would expire if she didn't get—what?

Then she had it. "Desire! The emotion of desire!"

Fornax, highly disciplined, already had her reaction under control. "This must be explored."

Jaylin looked around. The others were gone, including Justin. "It's started?"

"True. They have one full day and night as you measure it to bring Demon Earth and his attached mortal body out of this stronghold. They may be able to accomplish this, if we do not interfere; I doubt the guards can withstand them, as those are merely programmed humanistic golems. We shall have to see to it ourselves."

"You have to," Jaylin said. "Not me."

"When you go against my will, you will experience this," Fornax said. Then something distressing developed, not exactly pain, but faintly infinite regret that soon became other than faint. Jaylin
couldn't
balk the Demon's will; she would kill herself first.

"Got it," she said, and the feeling eased.

"My will is your will."

And that turned out to be the case. Jaylin had free will only where it did not conflict with Fornax's purpose. "How can I serve?"

"In this manner." Fornax spread out a thought.

"I can't do that! I never—" But that regret returned, draining her. "I can do that," she said, ashamed. She realized that she was like a horse who had discovered the futility of fighting against the bit; it was easier to let the rider's will translate immediately to action, so that there was no mental or physical discomfort.

She walked to the doorway that Justin had used as he departed. Justin stood there with the accompanying guard. "Who are you?" she asked for Fornax.

"I am—Demon Earth," he said.

"Give me the stone."

He handed the Swell Foop to her. She held it in place. "Touch it."

He touched it. His face lighted. "Hope!" he exclaimed. "Now I have hope!"

"What is hope?" Fornax asked Jaylin.

"It—it is akin to desire. It is the belief that—that something good will happen. The wish for it to happen."

"Then we are compatible. That is fortunate."

"Compatible?"

"Hope and desire. He hopes to escape. I desire to prevent it. I will transform his emotion into a hope for a better situation with me."

"I don't see how." Jaylin could question the Demoness; that was not the same as opposing her.

"I do not know, but you will help me to discover the mechanism."

"I will not!" But then the regret, and she had to back off. "I will."

All this was internal. Now Jaylin faced Justin. "Take off your shoes. Give them to the guard."

He looked perplexed, but did as directed. Then Jaylin addressed the guard. "Set the shoes at the brink of the open oubliette. Lock the main chamber entrance and hide in a neighboring cell. If any person enters the oubliette, quietly replace its entrance stone. Then return to normal guard duty."

The guard departed with the shoes. "Follow me," Jaylin said. She led the way back into the main chamber, and thence to a smaller chamber adjoining it.

When they were in the smaller one, Jaylin closed the door. Then she looked around the room. It was richly appointed, with elegant decorative carpets on the walls, a shining gemstone floor, padded couch, large clear mirrors, and a table with a full meal laid out.

"What is your will?" Jaylin asked him.

"To return to my familiar planet and be as I was," he replied. This was clearly the Demon Earth speaking.

"You can do that soon, if you join me."

"I will not join you." But he seemed distracted, and Jaylin knew why: He had only very recently been merged with a mortal human body, and then been given a strong emotion, when he had never had emotion before.

"This is a mortal human male," Fornax said internally to Jaylin. "You are a mortal human female. This is a suitable kiss occasion."

"No it isn't!" But again that regret. Still, she tried to fight it. "He—Justin is about to marry Breanna. He doesn't want to kiss me."

"
Make
him want to kiss you."

"I can't do that!" But her protests were becoming faint. She had to do what Fornax desired—and because of the Swell Foop, that desire was excruciatingly strong. "I will need—a better outfit."

Fornax explored her mind, and in a moment that outfit formed around her. Jaylin wasn't sure whether this was magic or science or something else, but it worked. Now she was garbed in a rather-too-sexy evening gown that included a strapless push-up bra, and her hair and wrists sparkled with rubies and diamonds. Her feet looked twice as dainty as was possible, in Cinderella glass slippers, with too much leg showing. She knew that her face was made up exotically.

She gave Justin a steady yet smoldering gaze. "Earth, I am Fornax," she murmured. "Your best hope of freedom lies with me. I desire you. I will kiss you."

He stared at her, neither man nor Demon quite grasping her intent. "Let me go."

She glided up to him, took him by the shoulders, and kissed him on the mouth. "Take me," she whispered huskily. The dialogue, like the outfit, was borrowed from Jaylin's memory of any number of romantic movies.

"I don't understand."

"He is not responding," Fornax said internally to Jaylin.

And Jaylin had to explain, though she hated to. "Demon Earth has no romantic experience, and mortal Justin has no interest in any girl other than Breanna. It is not right for me to kiss either of them. In our culture, that's not the way it is done. He—he has to
choose
to—to kiss me."

"Make him choose."

"I can't!" But neither could she refuse. She retreated, and thought of all the other romantic and/or sexy movies she had seen, and tried to emulate their more provocative leading ladies. "My feet are wrong, I think. They are innocent-girl-at-ball. I need smooth stockings and high heels."

And she had them. She had never worn any such things before, but this was an emergency. "Demon Earth," she said, speaking for Fornax. For herself too, really, because she wanted to make it halfway clear that she wasn't trying to mess up Justin and Breanna. "What does it take to get your attention?" She let her robe fall somewhat open at the top as she took a deep breath, and performed a slinky step back toward him. She hated trying to be a fascinating bitch, yet there was also a certain illicit satisfaction. If only it weren't Justin she was trying to vamp!

Her trailing robe caught on her stiletto heel. She tried to catch her balance, but the robe entangled her legs, and she crashed ignominiously to the floor. She saw stars and a moon or two as her face struck. What a washout!

Then the pain started, and the physical side was only part of it.

Justin saw Jaylin fall, and was appalled. He jumped forward, trying to catch her, but could not react in time. She crashed to the floor, striking her face. Ouch!

He kneeled beside her. She seemed to be unconscious. He put his hands on her shoulders, trying ineffectively to turn her over so he could assess the damage. Whatever had possessed her to—well, actually, he knew the answer to that. She was possessed by the Demoness Fornax, who was trying to use her human body to bemuse his own human body. On the theory that what happened to the humans would be echoed by the Demons. That Earth's hope would merge with Fornax's appeal, corrupting him.

"You resisted her blandishment," the Demon Earth said. "Why are you now going to her?"

"She's hurt," Justin explained internally. "She's just an innocent girl, forced to play a role she did not seek. I bear her no ill will." He tried again to turn her over. Her body turned, but her robe turned more, uncovering some flesh. He hastily pulled it back.

"Why do you re-cover her?" Earth inquired. "That is interesting flesh, according to your eyes."

"I do not wish to embarrass her unnecessarily. It is her face that is bruised." Indeed, the bruise was starting to show, and blood was flowing from a split lip. He fished for a clean handkerchief in his pocket, but found none, for the guard had taken it and some buttons, so he reached up to the table and found a cloth napkin. He used it to mop her face.

She groaned. "Jaylin," he said. "You are in safe hands. You fell. Your face is cut and bruised. Do you hurt elsewhere?"

She sat up as he steadied her. "I don't think so. Oh, this is embarrassing."

"I understand. We are caught up in a game of Demons. We do not have complete volition."

She smiled. "Thanks for understanding. I wouldn't really—I mean, Breanna is my friend—"

"Say no more. Maybe you can get the Demoness to allow you more sensible clothes, however."

"Yeah." She leaned forward, still sitting on the floor, to reach her feet. She flipped the split skirt of the robe aside and raised one knee so she could pull off the ridiculously elevated shoe. She lifted the other knee, letting more skirt fall away as she got the second shoe off. Her knees drifted apart.

Suddenly Justin caught on. He turned his face away just before her panties showed. "Female canine!" he muttered.

"Bleep!" she swore. "Now I can't verify whether it works." She got to her feet.

Justin turned cautiously back to face her. Her robe was now in decorous place, showing nothing below the too-low décolletage. "When did you return, Fornax?" he asked.

"I never left. But I let the mortal handle it, as long as she was making good progress. But she tried to balk after getting the shoes off, so I had to act." Her face had healed, the injuries abolished.

"So I can't trust her, because she can become you at any time."

"Oh, come on now, Earth. Look at it through mortal eyes. Is there nothing you would like to experience?" She put one hand to the upper hem of the robe.

Justin tried to turn away, but Earth prevented him. "That mortal flesh is interesting, now that I am in a mortal host. I would like to see more of it."

"She is trying to trick you into not getting rescued," Justin retorted hotly.

"Surely there is no harm in just looking."

"There can be phenomenal harm!"

"I doubt it."

Fornax was watching him through Jaylin's eyes. Slowly she drew the robe to the side, so that more of the flesh of her upper torso was exposed. Earth watched, his interest increasing.

"I came here to rescue you," Justin said. "Do not allow her to deceive you!"

"What deception is there? She is merely uncovering the natural body, abolishing the deception of clothing. I hope to see it all."

"That hope will be your undoing! Would you have any interest at all if you were not with a mortal body?"

"Naturally not. The moment I leave this body, I will lose interest. That is why I wish to appreciate it now, while I am able to."

"But don't you see—if she manages to distract you long enough to prevent your rescue, then the mortal bodies will all be abolished, and you will be forever her prisoner. For the sake of a moment of mortal experience, you will sacrifice your immortal freedom."

Earth hesitated. "What you say is true. It is not worth it to allow one percent of my attention to spoil the situation of the remaining ninety-nine percent."

Justin was amazed. One percent had been set as the upper limit of Demon attention for this game, but apparently that was not based on the conventional standard. The Demons were even more unimaginably beyond mortal comprehension than he had thought.

"True." Earth started to turn away.

Fornax snatched the robe the rest of the way clear, together with the supportive undergarment, showing a full half of upper torso. Justin's eyes were caught. The Demoness had acted the moment she saw the decision go against her.

"We can still turn away," Justin said, staring. "Such a view is not completely compelling. Just make our body turn, carrying the eyes along."

"Agreed." Their body began to turn.

Fornax stepped quickly forward to embrace them. But her bare feet snagged on the dangling fringe of the robe, and she tripped again, falling into him. He caught her, but the view of her torso had been interrupted, and his eyes were free.

She tried to draw away, ripping off the rest of the robe. But he held her close, preventing it. She tried to catch his head for another kiss, but he averted his face and she caught him on the ear. His ear tingled with the passionate force of it, but he was not close to freaking out.

"Bleep!" she swore again. "So you will not have it yet? Then remain confined in your room!"

And he had to obey, for he was her captive. He watched her whirl and flounce out, shutting the door behind her.

Justin sat down on the bed. He wasn't sure how Demon Earth had been held before, but now that Justin was here, it was physical confinement.

"I was locked in stasis," Earth clarified. "I could not move at all, or extend my powers beyond this chamber. Now I share your mortal body, but my powers remain severely limited. I have no omniscience. That is uncomfortable."

"How did Fornax capture you? I thought each Demon was all-powerful in his own region."

"That is correct. I was tricked."

"Tricked?"

"I received news that there had been a grueling contest of status among the foreign Demons, with Andromeda raiding Fornax and forcing its Demon to flee. Thus Fornax was undefended, and might be appropriated without opposition. So I made a quick raid of my own, to incorporate it, adding the power of antimatter to my arsenal—and it was a ruse. Fornax captured me away from my base, and I was helpless. It was a most humiliating defeat."

"But perhaps the emotion of hope ameliorates it," Justin suggested.

"It does. I never experienced positive emotion before. It is a wondrous thing. For the first time in my existence, I care what happens to me personally."

"You did not care before? What about when Demon Xanth invaded your domain, and you tried to trap him there?"

"That was a matter of status. Had I succeeded in trapping him, I would have gained. As it was, he gained. He has been remarkably fortunate in recent games."

"That may be because he has associated with the mortals of his realm, gaining insights and a different perspective. He has been learning emotion, and dreaming, and it has been changing him. That appears to give him an advantage, because he has become less predictable, in the mortal manner."

"So we gather. I understand he has even associated himself on an even basis with a mortal creature, and devoted much attention to her."

"Yes. That would be Chlorine, who was a bad-tempered wench with the talent of poisoning water. He transformed her to a lovely woman—physically, mentally, and emotionally—and I believe married her. At any rate, they now have a child."

"What do you mean by lovely?"

"She is pretty, beautiful, esthetic, appealing to the eye and touch. A suitable love object."

"Love—what is that?"

Justin laughed. "Perhaps we shall never completely understand it. I love Breanna of the Black Wave."

"She is lovely?"

"Yes. But it is more than that. She is imperious, forthright, aggressive, and quick to take offense."

"These resemble Demon traits. That is why she compels your love?"

Justin shook his head ruefully. "No, they might be considered faults in a woman. But they only make me love her more."

"You like faults?"

"I don't know how to explain it, because the whole business is rather new to me, for all that I have loved her three years. I—I simply want to be with her, in every way. Without her I am incomplete."

"Does Demon Xanth love Chlorine?"

"Yes, I believe he does."

"And that emotion contributes to his success in Demon contests?"

"It may. I really am not party to Demon ways."

"I am. Xanth has changed, and thereby benefited at the expense of other Demons. I want to learn his secret. Teach me love."

"Demon Earth, this is impossible! Love cannot be taught, only experienced."

"Xanth learned it. I can learn it. Teach me."

Justin cast about for some way to clarify it for an entity that had no emotion other than the one implanted by the Swell Foop. "My own understanding is imperfect. I cannot describe it. But perhaps if I give an example of our interaction, that will suggest its nature to you. You might picture it as something you are doing, and try to gain the feeling thereof. Then, possibly, you will understand."

"An interaction of love?"

"Yes. Of the way Breanna and I relate. I think you have not seen her. She is a young female human being with—"

"I have seen the human body Fornax is using. Is that similar?"

"That would be Jaylin. Yes, in the broad essentials, though they are quite different people. For one thing, Breanna is of the—"

"Jaylin will do. I can picture her in your scene."

That suited Justin. He wasn't at all sure he wanted the Demon Earth picturing Breanna as his own love object. That might be foolish jealousy on his part, but at least Jaylin was neutral. "Very well. Since you can experience the emotion of hope, think of love as an intense variant of that, with a person as the object."

"Present your example."

"Well, it happened soon after Breanna insisted that I convert from tree to human form. I was as yet a bit unsteady on my feet, after about seventy-six years with a trunk instead of legs. She said she didn't mind—" As he spoke, he visualized the scene, and the Demon Earth watched that picture.

Justin tripped and almost fell, but Breanna caught him, hugging him to her. She brought her face to his and kissed him. This was the first time, and it made him dizzy, so that he might have lost his balance again, but for her firm clasp.

"I apologize for my infirmity," he said. "It is merely that—"

"If you don't get steady, I'll kiss you again," she said as she let him go.

He essayed another step. "If you intend that as punishment, it is misdirected. I—" He started to fall.

She caught him again, and hugged him, and kissed him. "It is not intended as punishment," she said. "But as encouragement. I figure a few hundred kisses should do it."

"A few hundred!"

She made a cute frown. "I'm willing to go a thousand, if necessary. But you had better make some progress."

"A thousand!"

She glanced quizzically at him. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" he asked, perplexed.

"I'm teasing you."

"Teasing me? I thought you were helping me to walk."

"That too. What I mean is, I'm pretending that you don't like to be kissed, so you will hurry to walk well."

"Oh, Breanna, I don't regard—"

"Or that you are a very slow learner."

"I apologize for that."

"It's a bleeping pretext to kiss you!" she snapped.

Justin was momentarily stunned by the bad word from her dear lips. Then she kissed him again, and he began to understand. "Tease me some more," he said blissfully.

"That's more like it." Then she saw something ahead. "What's that?" Her moods were mercurial, shifting from romance to practicality in a fraction of an instant. He liked that about her. But of course he liked everything about her.

He looked where she was looking. "That is a suit tree," he said, for he knew trees well. "It grows flight suits."

"Flight suits! You mean they fly?"

"They enable those who wear them to fly. Would you care for a demonstration?"

"Sure. Maybe flying'll be easier than trying to walk with you." Then, before he could misunderstand again, she kissed him once more.

They donned flight suits and flew up over the forest. The flight suits made it easy; all they had to do was think high, and they lifted, and think forward, and they moved that way. But then they began to lose altitude.

"I fear the magic energy of the suits is being expended," Justin said regretfully. "They are not intended for long flights. Just far enough to get their seeds spread a reasonable distance."