Succubus

*Oona’s POV*

I walked into the living room and found Penemue sitting comfortably on the couch, having an amicable discussion with Crow about… the nature of man? Really? Femme was grooming herself nearby, clearly disinterested. Well, I gathered the ‘cat was out of the bag,’ as the humans said, with regards to the fact that Crow and Femme were more than your average domestic shorthaired cats.

Penemue gestured grandly “… and that’s exactly what I’m talking about, Crow! That’s really when I made my mistake, making those assumptions about wisdom and discretion! I mean, humanity is neither exclusively, wholly, good nor evil. I mean, it varies so much by individual, but I naïvely assumed it was good at the root, and so I went forward with all these good intentions-“

Crow interjected, “-Penemue, I still think that, even if the nature of man, or any species, is not strictly good, education and writing are still worthwhile pursuits. I don’t think that ignorance is a superior state to be maintained. I think what you did was right.”

Penemue paused, musing. “I’m still not sure, honestly. I see your point. But now I try harder to also spread wisdom, maturity, erm, sound judgment, and a sense of ethics, if you will. It’s just hard at times.” Ok, I was bored. Andy and I had just possibly started either a divine holy war, or were perhaps the subjects of a manhunt that transcended all the planes of existence. I didn’t really want to think about the character of humankind as a whole versus as individuals right this moment. I felt I had made sufficient progress from being able to see them as more than a short-lived food source. I gave a little cough.

Penemue looked up, then stood. “Ah, my Lady Oona. Please, join us.” He gestured rather formally to the remaining seating. I nodded and settled in an armchair near Femme.

Over the course of the next few hours, it was established that Penemue already knew almost everything about my interactions with Andy. At first, I didn’t understand how that could be- Penemue must have hundreds of descendants to keep an eye on! Penemue made the counterpoint that Andy wasn’t just one of his descendants, but also carried the blood of an incubus, had become a well-known and celebrated human musician, and had been marked by myself, a succubus. The rest of Penemue’s pedigree, by comparison, had been unremarkable for two generations. Thus it made a lot of sense he had kept a close eye on Andy.

We also updated Crow and Femme on Andy’s bizarre dream-travels, and how he had manifested both his incubal and angelic heritage in the Underworld. I admitted to all three that I had no idea what Andy’s wishes were. He had seemed to grow rapidly attached to me once he was better able to sense my thoughts and feelings, but not all of Andy had actually been in the Underworld. Well, or so it seemed.

“My priority is ensuring Andy’s safety. My concern is that his angelic semen remains within me, as does his energy, which I absorbed. If there is any chance that Andy could be tracked here by either, I should leave or be killed. Thoughts?”

Penemue shook his head. “Though it’s not impossible, I think it’s very unlikely. Though I was never a soldier, I’m fairly certain that both of you have to exist for the trace to stay intact, and Andy is no longer manifesting as an angel. I don’t know that Andy’s, erm, angelic seed and energy alone would even be enough for any being to track, even an archangel. I’m not sure about demons, but it’s not Andy the Dark Legion would be looking for.” I shrugged. I was not concerned for my well-being, I was doomed regardless.

Penemue had flushed a small amount, but pushed ahead. “On a technical note, angels are actual, physical beings, not ghosts. Andy’s, ah, semen is already biodegrading. And as you are a succubus, Oona, you are already using the angelic energy you absorbed from Andy for metabolic purposes, as succubi do naturally.” Penemue cleared his throat. “Though, um, it looks like you were already quite full…” he coughed, embarrassed, but a thought appeared to come him suddenly. “However, I imagine a succubus would consume angelic energy preferentially. Then, perhaps, the energy of one of her own kind, and then that of a human. Am I correct?”

I thought about it. “Well, of course, it is never discussed, coupling with angels. But given the way it, er, the flavor, I am fairly certain you are right. You could say that it has the highest calorie content.” Femme snickered, and I gave her a small, wry grin.

Penemue nodded. “Very good. Then, hopefully, soon, the, ah, ‘evidence,’ will take care of itself.” Penemue smiled awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable with discussing his great-great-great-whatever’s semen and the sexual ecstasy Andy had experienced while making love to me. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be discussing it with Penemue either. As much as he wanted to help Andy, he probably thought I was some kind of demonic pervert trying to start a holy war. In my experience, even fallen angels did not have high opinions of demons. Ridiculous, given that the original demons were, in fact, fallen angels. That fact often seemed to be lost on them.

Femme brought up the obvious point no one wanted to address. “How not happen again?”

Penemue sighed. “In the thousands of years I have watched the descendants of angels manifest, and the few hundreds I have watched my own manifest, there are only a few common threads, really.” He ran his hand through his hair a bit like Andy, which was amusing, and not very angel-like. He looked reticent to go on.

“And those are?” Crow had to prompt him. Well, I could see at least one of the places where Andy got his theatrical streak.

“Stress, for one. Often a time of upheaval, sometimes unexpected change, or difficult news. Occasionally a disaster that requires intervention. For example, if a child needs to be rescued from a flood, a semi truck lifted off a loved one or something along those lines.

“Another is when affairs of the heart are involved in strange or new ways. Not always, and not necessarily a breakup or a new romance…” Penemue got a distant look as he recounted a story for us. “The one that has stuck with me the most, in the 1920s, was when one of my descendant’s lovers died. His body needed transport to a different state for burial, but she couldn’t arrange anything. She became very distraught, manifested, and that evening she carried the body and flew him three states to his hometown herself. It almost killed her.” Penemue’s mouth twitched into a little frown and he was quiet for a moment as he remembered his great-great-whatever-daughter’s sadness. I tried to imagine carrying Andy’s dead body, for many hours, in the cold, and instantly respected whoever that woman had been.

“Definitely, too, it has a higher frequency of happening in locations with greater metaphysical activity. You know, such as the Underworld.” Penemue squinted, thinking. “That’s about it, really. I can’t really get any more specific than that because there doesn’t seem to be any way to anticipate precisely when it will happen, I apologize.”

Though less critical, there was the other half of the coin as well. Andy had not only been an angel this evening, but an incubus as well. Perhaps investigating that side of his heritage in tandem could provide more answers? Working together might help protect Andy the most efficiently.

“Penemue, you say you’ve watched Andy closely his whole life?” He could tell I was leading up to something and was instantly on his guard. He nodded, knowing I already knew the answer.“ There’s also the issue of Andy manifesting his incubal blood, which came from Chris’ father, as I’m sure you know. Do you know who his paternal grandfather is?”

Penemue frowned, and I had my answer, he was just going to need some convincing to share. “Perhaps Andy’s grandfather could give us some insight into manifestation in general and how Andy could suppress it? It seems likely to recur, given that Andy is only third generation-“

Penemue cut me off. “-Oona, while I agree that those are valid points, my concerns are, for one, that I don’t get along well with Andy’s grandfather, we have a very long history. Secondly, I don’t know how well Andy would deal with learning that his grandfather is a lust demon,” I rolled my eyes at the term, besides, Andy already knew, “and in fact, not dead. Thirdly,” and what concerned me here was what sounded like genuine sympathy in his voice, as angels are not terribly good actors, “I am afraid of what your reaction might be to learning the identity of Andy’s grandfather.”

I was surprised when both cats started laughing. Both Penemue and I looked over. Crow motioned at us. “Sorry, sorry! The ‘lust demon’ thing is too much! I hadn’t heard that before!” The cats exchanged looks and laughed afresh, I snorted.Penemue looked confused.

“Oona, I don’t understand?” Penemue ran his hand through his hair, frustrated, making me smile. Dork.

“It’s alright, Penemue. It’s just an archaic term, a little outdated. It’s not insulting.There’s not really a good term that includes both incubae and succubae. Most younger folks just say, ‘sex demons,’ but that’s not always considered formal enough for polite company.” I grinned at the horrified look on Penemue’s face. He looked like I had shoved a lemon in his mouth.

“’Sex demon? Atrocious!” The cats both started cackling with laughter so hard that I started chuckling too, and even Penemue eventually smiled a little bit at himself. What an oddball alliance we made. Sex demon, fallen angel, and two hybrid fae-cats. Well, you make do with what you’ve got.

Notes

computer back! posting, but very sleepy! so may be full of errors, apologize. let me know if that's the case.