Chapter 31: Demonic Branton

Exploring the demon realm was not something Rick had ever expected to be doing, yet there he was. His instincts were to hike the way he did in the Peakless Wildlife Refuge, yet instead it was easier to just push off the insubstantial ground and drift. They were almost like spirits here - and increasingly so, as Damian taught him a more elaborate aura technique.

"The demon realm might look superficially like our world, but don't be mistaken." Damian waved a hand below, where demons occasionally crawled across the landscape. "One of the largest differences is that most of the lesser ones aren't really using their eyes, just their aura senses. So we can make ourselves practically invisible to all but the stronger ones."

"By matching the ambient aura of everything around here?" Rick tried to shift his, but wasn't sure what he was aiming for. "I get the concept, but this place doesn't feel like aura to me."

"Because a world of aura different than the isolated pieces you're used to. I'm already matching it, so focus on me instead and copy."

Though Damian put little more effort into teaching him, it wasn't so complex that Rick couldn't mimic what he was doing. When they next drifted to the ground, he was surprised to see that they were completely ignored by nearby demons. That was a useful skill.

Of course, there was a problem. "I can't maintain an aura while I'm asleep."

"You don't need to sleep here, so it will be fine." Damian paused to cock his head to the side. "Or maybe it won't, since this is a bit rough for your first time. The thing is, you need to maintain concentration the entire time, and you can get tired. So you might need to set up an alternative option."

"An alternative? Like what, another technique?"

"I mean like getting a room at a hotel. Float higher and pay attention when you look east."

Puzzled, Rick did so, pushing harder off the ground. His legs pushed rather deep into the ground, but then he rebounded high into the air. Once he had some height, he was able to see exactly what Damian meant. For a moment, he just stared.

Ahead of them was clearly the demonic mirror of Branton, yet the city was completely different. It was much smaller overall, with only a single unnaturally tall spire in the place of the skyscrapers downtown. There was a large block of normal-looking buildings, but right beside it lay a region of strange and crooked buildings covered in large cobwebs. The entire south side of town was a series of open pits that glowed with blue light. Even from a distance, he could see demons moving about, including what appeared to be mining operations to the south.

When he came back down he glanced over at Damian. "So this is Demonic Branton? Is it like a mirror of us, or...?"

"Nah, they're just here because we're here. Some of the demonic firms have secondary offices on this side, for example. It's more like another neighborhood of Branton - most human cities have them, unless they've taken steps to prevent it."

"So they followed us... are there any examples where it went the other way? A human city built because of the demon city on the other side?"

Damian shot him a strange look that was impossible to read, then began pushing forward faster. "You never stop asking questions, do you? Well, I'm not here to lecture, just to get you set up as quickly as possible. I needed to go this way regardless, so it's no issue so far, but we'll head our separate ways soon."

Though Rick wanted to object, suddenly feeling a low level of panic to be left alone here, he didn't think it was wise to push Damian. In fact, he found himself staring after the other man with new eyes. It was one thing to make an accurate accusation as he put all the facts together and another to consider exactly what it meant.

Whoever Damian was, he'd been planning this for a long time and had both resources and skills to back up his efforts. Thanks to the shell around his portfolio, it was difficult to judge his strength, but Rick guessed that he was a middleweight like Emily, since he'd sparred with both of them. The bigger question was what exactly Damian was aiming for... something to do with the demon realm? The Central States Lucrim Authority? The Global Lucrim Authority itself?

Distracted by his thoughts, Rick didn't realize that they were getting closer to the outer limits of the city. There were two tall spires that might have been trees with a spiderweb in between them. He realized he was heading toward it and tried to move away just out of instinctive distaste for spiderwebs, but he was already in the air and couldn't change his trajectory. Well, most likely he'd just pass through.

Except that he hit the web and stuck there. Rick lashed out automatically and his arm caught on another incredibly sticky strand of web.

He calmed down and didn't thrash anymore. Okay, so he was stuck in a giant spiderweb and Damian was stuck too, cursing irritably. The strands felt extremely sticky and stronger than the rest of the demon realm, but it was probably aura just like the rest. So if he focused...

There was a spider the size of a car climbing onto the web toward them.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry about this," the spider said. "Here, let me just... whoops... okay, just a bit..."

All at once the web disappeared, as if it was just an aura construction instead of a solid object. Rick drifted downward, a bit taken aback. The spider skittered down a building wall faster than he floated, so it was waiting for them. Since Damian landed and just brushed imaginary dust off his suit, Rick decided to play it cool as well.

"What are you doing spreading such durable webs?" Damian asked. "If they were a problem for us, I can only imagine what your neighbors think."

"It's just... it's getting difficult to make ends meet these days..." The spider had partially reared up, its front legs rubbing together with its mandibles in a way that should have been creepy, but looked distinctly nervous. "I never thought... gosh, humans, here! I mean we have a few expats and there's the very rare visitor but... why are you even here?"

"Business. Now, if there's nothing else..."

"Actually... could I get you to make a contract? Even a brief one would be great. Or just a little blood? You have no idea how much it would help me, I mean no idea."

Sighing, Damian glanced in either direction, then stepped closer and lowered his voice. "I'll pay a small amount if you can give me reliable information about the local situation at the moment."

"Oh, of course, of course!" The spider scuttled closer and spoke with Damian in a low voice, too quiet for Rick to hear. He advanced closer, not liking the secrets, but didn't want to antagonize Damian unnecessarily. Before too long, their position shifted and then something happened that made Rick freeze.

Damian pulled a small black needle from his jacket and used it to prick his finger. A drop of blood welled up, then he extended his hand and let it drop onto the demonic spider. When it touched, the spider seemed to grow brighter and became slightly less insubstantial.

"Oh, thank you! Really, this is going to be so good for the little ones..."

"Just go and don't mention this." Damian ignored the massive demonic spider and turned to Rick with a look of mild annoyance. He returned the needle to his inner pocket and pulled out one that looked identical. "I guess I'll give you my spare in case you need to make any deals. Don't trust any needles you're given here - not so much that they'd be trying something, but they might be a junkie. Most of their drugs or illnesses won't affect us, but some might if they're based in lucrim more than aura."

Though Rick accepted the needle, this did not exactly make him feel more comfortable. "So you're telling me that all the demons around here want our blood? Are you sure that they won't try to just take more than a drop?"

"Oh, calm down, you're probably fine. We don't quite exist in the same way here, so most couldn't really harm you. Same as the reason demons can't just invade our world."

"So a drop of blood is payment for things here? How much? What about the contract it mentioned?"

"We're not staying, so don't sign any contracts. And one drop should be fine for most anything." Damian smoothed down the collar of his suit jacket and sighed. "I think now you have everything you need to figure the rest out yourself. I'm going to go find out how long it will take them to send someone after us. I'll let you know about all of that, but otherwise you're on your own."

"No, wait." Rick drifted to the side to intercept Damian before he could go. "We need to be precise about what exactly our agreement is."

"I've already helped you a lot and I'll make sure you get out when they come rescue us. That's more than enough."

"No, it's not. I'm fine with working with you, given the circumstances, but I'm not willing to leave it with so little information. We need to get our stories straight, for one."

Damian sighed, but turned to face him fully. "That's right, but we can do that closer to the time. I told you, they'll be too worried about causing another rupture to force anything through right away."

"But I want more information." Rick refused to let himself back down, even as Damian stared at him. "Once we get out, we need to have a conversation about what exactly is going on."

"Oh, that was already going to happen. You clearly don't know how to leave things alone, so I figured I'd have to deal with you directly." It would have been a threat, but Damian spoke with a lazy grin. "This is actually the second time you've helped take attention off me - my movements looked way less suspicious since I could conceivably have been trying to help you. After this is over, I'll give you a few answers, then compensate you for fucking off."

Rick folded his arms. "We'll talk about the details at that time."

"Alright, fine. Have fun until then."

With that, Damian pushed hard off the ground, his aura flaring in a new way. His aura slashed over the city until it was lost in the pale sky. In his absence, the mists seemed to flow more heavily. Rick took a deep breath and realized that he was alone in the demonic city.