Chapter 17: Odiyu

The world twisted around him and Rick was briefly sick to his stomach, but his body remembered the strange transition. It was no longer as substantial as in the human realm, more like some kind of dense liquid. He immediately struggled to move his aura, pushing against the resistance until he had covered himself in the defensive barrier that Damian had taught him.

Beside him, H adopted a similar shield. But what surprised Rick was that his mentor took longer to gather his aura, and the result wasn't as efficient. Maybe he simply had no fear of any mindless demons and no need to hurry, but Rick wondered if his mentor was actually less experienced in the demon realm. Not many humans spent an entire month trapped there without relief, after all.

"See? You managed just fine." H turned away from him and began walking away from the portal. "Now come along so we can get this done quickly."

"No." Rick saw that they stood atop some sort of ziggurat and H was already moving down one of the staircases. Other humans were emerging from various doors in the structure and moving into the grand city, but Rick forced it out of mind and turned around.

The portal still glowed behind him, showing the stone corridor. But when he tried to step toward it, the air became thicker until he struggled to move. He didn't think it was a binding, more that the path between realms itself resisted him. Even with a free-standing portal, moving between the two might not be easy, but he thought he could figure it out.

"What are you doing?" H appeared behind him, face set in an amused glower. "You can't be afraid, not after what you've experienced. I thought you'd want to get rid of that miserable little bond and get a proper one."

"It has nothing to do with fear!" Rick realized that he sounded defensive and refocused, trying to explain himself in purely rational terms. "Demonic bonds are designed for humans so they overdraw lucrim and then pay the penalties. In the Showdown, I'll need to use absolutely everything available to me. That will mean debt, and probably increasing amounts of it."

H snorted. "Don't be a child. You need to spend money to make money, especially here. I guarantee that you could get a solid bond and instantly increase your generation rate by 10,000 lucrim, maybe 20,000. There is absolutely nothing else in the world that can gain you power so fast."

"Are you going to pay off every single lucrim I withdraw through the bond?"

"Of course not. That would destroy what little profit you earn me."

"I'm here to earn a profit too. I'm not going to take such a risk with no return."

"This is absurd." H folded his arms and stared at him, not in anger, but in simple bafflement. "Demonic bonds are a part of life, boy. This is nothing but paranoia."

"We were driven here by someone who was enslaved because they couldn't pay back their demonic bond. Unless you're going to tell me that the Chinese demons are all about freedom and happiness? Do they introduce fully bonded humans to worlds of socialist bliss?"

"They may not be capitalist on this side either, but demonic organizations do not exist to give out charity. Obviously they want to gain an advantage, but that doesn't mean you can't gain an advantage as well. Do you think I'm going to get you some cut rate back alley bond? It will be a respectable one from one of the major sects here."

"That doesn't matter." Rick had been willing to hear out H, but the other man didn't seem interested in engaging with his arguments. He closed his eyes and settled on his path. "Uncle Frank always said that they'll get you with the fine print, and from what I've seen, he was right. Getting a demonic bond would just be irresponsible."

"Then your 'Uncle Frank' is a fool. You think demonic bonds are a path to poverty, but that kind of thinking will keep you in poverty. Grow up and finish this or you won't have a chance."

The insult to his uncle stung, but Rick set it aside and just stared back at his mentor. "Are you going to force me?"

"Of course I wouldn't." H started to draw a cigarette, paused as he remembered where they stood, then muttered something under his breath. "I think this is childish and paranoid, but I'd never force you. But you should know that I think this is irresponsible and it vastly decreases your chances of succeeding in the Showdown. If you go on to fail me because of this, I won't hesitate to cut you loose."

"That's fair. It's all I can ask."

"It's too much to ask, but I can see you're going to be stubborn. Very well." Turning away, H began heading down the stairs again. "Since I took us through the portal before checking if you were an absolute imbecile, we shouldn't waste the opportunity. I'm going to conduct some business of my own. You can... come to your senses, I suppose."

With that, H pushed off the stairs, floating directly into the city. Rick was again left alone in the demon realm, though the circumstances were entirely different. Despite the fact that he stood in a developed city directly next to the portal back, this almost felt worse than being abandoned.

For a moment Rick thought he had absolutely no purpose there. He just stood on the stair, letting himself finally take in the environment. Just like the demonic side of Branton, the ground was pitch black and the sky a pallid white. The mists that floated from the ground were far thicker, but they floated through him in the same way.

The rest, however, was far from the same. Instead of a cluster of buildings mimicking human ones, the city appeared to be a giant cube. His eyes had first seen the buildings on the ground, but in the distance he could see great walls which had broad balcony-like buildings jutting from them. Overhead, skyscrapers stretched down from the blocks overhead... groundscrapers? Rick could see demons traveling between the sides of the cube on strange clouds, but otherwise couldn't understand why it would be built in such a way.

As he headed down the stairs, Rick realized that his presence wasn't pointless after all. Now that he was properly in the demon realm, he should take the chance to talk to Bftgage and Ythsil. They would be half-way across the world, but he was fairly confident that demons had the equivalent of phones.

Making the call might be the hardest part. Though Damian had never taken his needle back, Rick didn't carry it with him at all times, so he had no secure way to pay with his blood. Still, Odiyu was clearly a far more developed city than demonic Branton, so he might be able to find a way. After checking his aura was secure again, Rick pushed off the stairs and drifted like a spirit.

From above, the city was surprisingly beautiful. Many of the buildings were lit with soft green light that suffused the shadows with something more like life. Instead of conventional roads, it had long spiraling ramps traveled by lines of spherical vehicles. They reminded him of strings of pearls, but they undulated like serpents along the roads for reasons he couldn't determine.

Rick landed on one of the ramps, instinctively trying to pull himself back to avoid the next string of cars, even though they would pass through him. There seemed to be a lot of powerful demons here, so they could see him, and potentially be alarmed by a human appearing in their path without warning. If there were public nuisance laws, he didn't want to run afoul of them.

For a time Rick just sat on the edge of the pathway, sometimes staring at the city and sometimes managing to pick out individual buildings. The signs were mostly written in Chinese, or at least a language that looked like Chinese to him, so he had to guess about their purpose.

More importantly, he wanted the moment to make sure that his aura was stable. But to his surprise, remaining in the demon realm felt entirely effortless. It wouldn't be so easy in a month, of course, but it was nothing like it had been before. Either he'd developed after surviving his first experience, or his growth since the last visit had made a difference.

As he watched the demons more closely, he saw that there were many other differences. No demons were homeless here, but he also didn't see very many buying and selling. Muscular slug-like demons seemed to distribute supplies to different cubes that he suspected housed more demons. He assumed this society had its own problems, but they weren't visible to his untrained eye.

Once he'd seen enough, Rick slowly got to his feet and stretched. If he was stuck there for the evening, he might as well get to work.

Rick stepped off the side and let himself drift down to what he thought of as street level, though none of the streets were as even as he'd expected. Still, he found a broader pathway that had demons walking along the edges, with plenty of space for the strings of cars to pass. There were a number of open buildings there that he thought were restaurants or stores, though as he passed them, he didn't find anything useful. The restaurants did not exactly look appetizing and the purpose of some of the other stores was inscrutable.

He noted that while humans were in the minority, they weren't a surprise like they had been in Branton. Rick wasn't sure if it was racist, but he decided that it would probably be easier to get help from another human. So he continued walking until he spotted an older Chinese man in traditional robes, and more importantly, without significant demonic tattoos.

"Excuse me." Rick didn't step into his path, but did approach. "Can you help me find something?"

The man promptly said "No English" so clearly that Rick suspected he did speak English and just didn't want to be bothered. Still, it would be rude to push. Rick moved on, keeping a lookout for anyone who might be helpful. Many of the humans he saw appeared to be fully bonded, which struck him as strange, since he thought the purpose of bonding was for demons to live in the human realm.

"You're in need of some help?" The purring feminine voice let Rick know what to expect, though the succubus floating down to him was wearing carefully draped robes instead of strips of cloth. He caught a glimpse of some sort of tail shifting behind her, but it swept out of his vision. "Mmm, we don't get too many foreigners here. Are you here for the Showdown?"

"That's right, but I'm here on personal business. I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Oh, I'd be happy to help you with all sorts of things..." She stepped closer to him, but immediately lowered her gaze coquettishly when he looked back at her. That was different, though not really. Rick sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm really not looking to be seduced here. I just want to talk to a couple of melted frog looking demons."

That threw the succubus off her usual patterns, blinking at him, then frowning. "You mean... any demons with that appearance? That is... a strange fetish, but I suppose we ca-"

"What? No! They're... business associates, but they don't live here. I haven't been able to contact them from the human realm, but I assume you have a way to do that here."

"Oh! Then perhaps I can be helpful after all." The succubus completely dropped all attempt at being seductive, but her gaze was still predatory. "There are places where you can contact anyone anywhere in the demon realm. There's simply the matter of payment... a little blood would be more than sufficient..."

"Normally I would accept, but I misplaced my device the last time I was here." Rick raised a hand to stop her when she started to offer something else. "I think you'll understand why I want to be cautious."

"You're no fun at all. Why play around if you're just going to use your demon mass to pay?"

"My what?" The next second he felt like an idiot when he remembered the stray item in his portfolio. Since he'd steadfastly refused all demonic bond offers except for the brothers, it had remained there. He'd already blown the chance to look savvy, so he figured there was no point pretending. "I didn't realize that I could use that to pay for things."

"You can think of it as a denomination of lucrim here." The succubus sighed and scratched at her tails. "I can take you to the right place and help you make the transfer, if you pay me 50 lucrim of it."

Though that seemed a high price for information he should have known, Rick decided that he could afford to sacrifice it. He hadn't known that was money at all until that point, so she was still saving him overall. Plus, if it let him do business in the demon realm without giving out his blood, that itself was worth something.

The succubus guided him upward to one of the upside-down buildings, which was easy since she could fly and Rick could float. It took a powerful leap sailing over the city, but he eventually floated within range of one of the rooftops. There was a balcony with a large railing that he suspected was used for that purpose. A glance inside proved that the rooms themselves weren't upside-down, the building was simply built from the ceiling. Why exactly they would do that, he wasn't sure, but gravity was clearly not the same sort of concern here.

Finding the correct store required navigating the outside of the groundscraper, and the place itself was one he would have never looked at twice, so the succubus justified her payment. Once inside, several bonded humans helped him extract some of the demonic mass, which he gave to the succubus. She flitted away to find some other mark while they took him to a small booth.

Though for a moment he expected something as mundane as a phone, instead a series of glass shards lifted into the air and formed a fragmented mirror that reflected a starry sky instead of him or the room. One of the bonded men gestured to a series of bulbous spheres on the floor, but they meant nothing to Rick.

"What demons did you say you wanted to contact?" the bonded man asked.

"Their names are Bftgage and Ythsil. They live in demonic Branton. Uh, in the United States."

"No exact number is necessary." The assistant rapidly twisted several of the spheres, which made the glass shards shiver and shift through the color spectrum. "You will be finding them by their fundamental identity. Place your hand on the mirror and focus on them. They will appear in the reflection, assuming that they accept your message, and that they are still alive."

With that ominous message, the aide left and pulled closed a curtain, leaving Rick alone with the mirror shards. He touched them cautiously, but found them so dull that they wouldn't even have cut someone without a defensive core. Instead he closed his eyes and focused on the two demons he hadn't seen in so long. When nothing happened, he muttered their names under his breath and tried to concentrate his aura further.

Eventually he felt a pulse from his hand. Rick pulled it back and saw a ripple passing through the shards. It rolled like a wave to the end, then repeated a second time, then a third. Frowning, he watched the shifting shards, hoping that wasn't some sort of error message. Just when he thought it might have failed, the shards froze in place and the sky in the reflection gave way to something else.

Bftgage and Ythsil were larger than he remembered, sitting on top of an insect-like desk and looking roughly the size of dogs. Since the last time, Bftgage's lip had twisted further, revealing a pulsating inner membrane, while Ythsil had grown a third eye in the center of his forehead.

"Rick! Rick, we thought we'd never see you again!" Both of them began blubbering over one another, happily vomiting up mucus of various colors. Rick found himself smiling broadly, though he was also glad he was on the other side of the mirror.

"I'm glad to see you too."

Ythsil suddenly went still, all three eyes wide. "You aren't stuck in the demon realm again, are you?"

"No, this time I'm just visiting. But I wanted to talk to you... about everything, I guess."

"We've been moving up in the world!" Bftgage said proudly. "We managed to move out of the mines, especially because you accepted our bond. It wasn't enough for us to go to your world, but it gave us a little income!"

"And it seems to be going well? I saw that the bond has increased several times since I first received it."

"No!" Ythsil shook back and forth, releasing a shower of blue mucus. "We wanted to offer more bonds, but none of the demonic firms will take us! And we can't afford to send more messages through to your realm, so there's no way of getting any clients!"

"Even if we could," Bftgage explained, "we don't have the proper licenses. Everyone is entitled to one bond through the usual channels, but more than that..."

Rick listened quietly as the two of them explained their problems. It was very similar to small businesses in Branton... depressingly similar. Though he didn't want to interrupt them when they were so eager to explain, there was nothing he could do about any of that. When they finally slowed down, Rick managed to break in.

"Is there anything I can do to help you? Is it possible to... ship human blood through the demon realm, I guess?"

Bftgage immediately shook his head. "It would just be stolen. And we don't want to take anything from you, we want to give back! The bond we gave you is worth almost 1000 lucrim in the human realm! That helps, right?"

Somehow Rick managed a smile. "Yes, that was... a big help. But I can't stay here for too long, so if we're going to attempt something, we need to do it now. Is there anything we can set up?"

"If you could help us travel..." Bftgage paused for a time, drooling in thought. "We can't afford to travel anywhere on our own, but if a human asked for us specifically, there are programs for that. But the problem is... your message is coming from the Qinlands. They don't accept outside demons there, not unless you have impossible amounts of money."

"The Showdown moves every month," Rick said, beginning to smile. "I'd be happy to send you anywhere we're going, but I don't actually know most of our locations. I think... we're going somewhere I don't remember next month, but then Siberia the month after that. Does that help?"

Immediately the demonic brothers turned and spoke to one another in a conversation that seemed to be more mucus spittle than sound. Eventually Bftgage turned back and nodded his entire body. "We think this Sibeerya is the equivalent of the place we call the Burning Snow. It is very different than Branton there. There are no licenses, no businesses. Anyone who can contact a human can make a contract."

"Humans and demons fuse there!" Ythsil bounced excitedly, eventually unbalancing and rolling over onto his head. "They don't let anyone do that here! Actually being in the same body sounds amazing!"

"It's also nearly permanent." Bftgage was silent for a time, the nodded again. "Rick, this is what I think we should do. Say that you want to form a contract with us now, but from the Burning Snow. We will go ahead of you and find our way. When you arrive in your human Sibeerya, we will have something for you."

"Do we have enough money for that?" Ythsil asked.

"I have been saving some." Bftgage opened his mouth and vomited out a wrapped sack. "Our expenses will use up most of it, but this opportunity... the Burning Snow is our best chance to make something more of ourselves. Rick will help us."

Rick immediately felt a strange ache, knowing that the brothers were putting so much trust in him. He was just an idiot good at taking hits, trying to blunder his way through life. And now, that somehow made him the savior of a pair of demonic frogs. Though he wanted to ask them some more questions, Bftgage seemed to have made his decision.

"We can speak in the Burning Snow, Rick. This call will be very expensive, so you should not spend any more of your money. Simply request us as I said and we will gladly repay you everything we can."

"If you think it's a good plan, that's what we'll do." Rick smiled at the two of them. "See you in Siberia."

He wasn't sure how to stop the call, but it was severed from the other end, leaving him staring at the blank sky again. Rick stood there for a while, just thinking over the conversation. Honestly, it had never occurred to him that the demon realm could be so fundamentally different in various places, but in retrospect it was obvious.

Before he could reflect for long, the aide came in and escorted him out. The call actually only cost 37 lucrim from his total of 500, leaving him to wonder if the succubus had ripped him off. But soon after, he decided that it didn't matter. She'd let him talk to Bftgage and Ythsil again, and perhaps even set up something that could help them both.

But soon Rick would have to leave the demon realm, and though it might be part of the world, it wasn't really part of his reality. That reality was that he'd gone directly against his mentor and would be throwing himself into a dangerous competition with nothing but a tiny bond from a pair of demonic frogs.

The joy in their faces had been worth something. But it wouldn't be enough if this all went bad.