- Lucifer -
The group decided to make camp outside of one of the towns. Lucifer was adamant about not having Elijah go through Sol at night.
"I guess this is a good place to teach you about various bloodline magics," Lucifer said to Elijah.
Elijah was reading the guide. He was on the section titled "Bloodline Magics of the World" and was quickly going down the list.
"Angels have wings. Demons have their deals. Lycans can transform into wolves, gaining bonus strength along with fangs and claws." Elijah was listing off as he read.
"I misspoke." Lucifer corrected himself. "I meant teach you about their weaknesses. I'm sure you've already read about them, but what matters is knowing how to combat them, if possible."
"Any magic that materializes something uses more mana if the user is constantly summoning and returning the created thing. I didn't think I would have to teach you how to deal with an angel's wings so soon..."
Lucifer sighed and then created his wings.
"My kind can feel our wings." He said, gripping his hand around the wing. "They feel pain, same as any other body part, so if you ever want to ground an angel you aim for these. It's the same idea as aiming for the horse instead of the rider."
Lucifer took out a dagger and made a cut on the wings.
"These are obviously more durable than an average bird's wings, but they aren't indestructible. I would make the old argument that if it bleeds you can kill it, but that's wishful thinking in some cases."
Lucifer returned his wings and held the dagger out to Elijah.
Elijah grabbed it and Lucifer continued.
"A general rule I like to apply with humans vs gods is that if you can't kill, you cripple. Eyes, legs, testicles if they have them."
Elijah looked at the dagger. It seemed almost ornate in design. It was curved, with a black hilt and a long silver blade that had a black line running along the edge.
"You can keep that for now. I think it's best if you have a powerful weapon for the rest of this mission."
Lucifer threw the dagger's sheath to Elijah.
Elijah wanted to refuse, but he figured that it would just lead to a back-and-forth that would end with him taking the dagger anyways.
"Thank you." Elijah attached the sheath to his side and Lucifer went back to explaining bloodline magic.
"Not every bloodline magic has a counter. Demons for example can make someone stronger through a deal. The only way to lose a deal you've made with a demon is for one of you to die."
"If demons can give anyone a deal, wouldn't they be the most sought after group in this world?" Elijah asked.
"They would be, and they were for a time. Satan made a law among his kind to never give a deal to anyone greater than a lesser. There were those that didn't listen, and they were made an example for the rest."
Lucifer started thinking of Fensyr.
'I don't understand why Satan allowed that deal to still exist. Last time I asked him he smiled and said "I think it'll be fun, so I'm letting it go." and then stopped talking about it.'
"Can you tell me more about these vessels? The things I've read made these eldritch things seem like nightmare creatures."
"Of course." Lucifer sighed. "The vessels you read about are essentially corpses that Cthulhu puppeteers. They used to be killed on the spot, but after threats of war were made from the eldritch it was made clear that the vessels simply existed as a means for their god to travel without having to leave R'lyeh. The eldritch bloodline magic drives those around them to madness. The weaker the being, the stronger the effect."
Elijah was nervous to ask his next question, so he looked around first, and then whispered.
"Why would they be allowed anywhere if they do that? They can't turn the ability off, and I can't see anyone being okay with a walking insanity-inducer."
Lucifer scratched the back of his head.
"The strength of their ability can be willingly suppressed by its user and the eldritch rarely leave their homeland. They purchase corpses from other territories and use them as a means of trade. Cthulhu has full control over his ability, and his vessels are the only ones of his kind allowed in most places. There is one significant problem though. His emotions can sometimes cause the maddening ability to slip out, and if that happens it's generally agreed upon by most territories that the vessel is to be killed immediately."
Elijah was concerned with the idea that he might just lose his mind because some god has a bad day, but then compared it to losing his life.
'I guess having a little black bottle that solves the problem is preferable to a god smiting me for accidental disrespect.'
Lucifer clapped his hands together and said "Alright."
"Let's get back to your physical training. I'll have Sabu teach you as usual. I would continue your magic training, but for now, I think it's best if we wait. Mana grows through use, but I don't want to constantly be depleting you."
Lucifer left to get Sabu. Elijah was on his own, leaning against the cart.
'I feel like magic is the most important thing for me to be learning. Then again, no point in training how to shoot if you'll use all your ammunition to do it. I wond-'
"AHH!" Elijah yelled, feeling a sudden screech in his head.
The group was quick to gather.
"Take the medicine, now!" Lao yelled.
Elijah popped the top off the black bottle and quickly drank the fluid. The screeching didn't stop, but sound more like it was being muffled, as though it was underwater.
Lucifer flew up and looked around while hearing a voice in his head say "I'm in town, come meet me."
Lucifer landed and told Death he would be checking the town.
"Watch Elijah. If his condition continues I'll be killing this vessel."
Lucifer flew over to the town. It was mostly a gathering of merchant stalls and various stands selling food and drinks from Olympus and Heliopolis.
"A single pint of Ra's beer can make you feel like you're in paradise. Dionysus's wine puts all other drinks to shame." Two voices kept repeating.
There were multiple people loudly selling their wares, but it didn't prevent Lucifer from hearing the voice in his head.
"I'm in the alley." The voice felt like the pulse of a headache with every word.
Lucifer ran to the nearest alley and met the vessel.
"Good to se-"
Lucifer shot a jet of flames over the vessel's head, revealing a glimpse of their face. Their skin was rough and overly tight, with a black cloth covering one of the eyes. The hair was gray and dirty, with parts of it being longer than others.
"You do not use my team members as beacons." Lucifer threatened while keeping his hand pointed towards the vessel. "You didn't need to frenzy him to get my attention." His eyes shone against the darkness of the alley.
"Sorry, but that was an accident." The vessel apologized. "I wanted to greet you personally but thought that walking up to your camp would have been worse for your group. Calling to you affected him as well I see. My apologies. I forget how susceptible newly-reborn are to my magic.
Lucifer grunted. He knew that this was typical for Cthulhu.
'I honestly can't tell whether you're stupid, naive, or just a sociopath sometimes.'
Lucifer lowered his hand.
"Well, I flew over here. What did you want to tell me?"
"Cytus." The vessel said with menace. "He's a problem I should have addressed long ago, but now seems to have crawled into your life."
Lucifer knew a lot about the Otherworld, but one place that had always eluded him was R'lyeh. It was a place that even ancient gods feared to go, and the few stories he could gather made it seem closer to the human's idea of Hell.
'This is surprising. A god actually taking ownership of a problem caused by their kind.'
"What about him? Do you know where he is?"
"He knows he isn't allowed back, so I assumed he would go to the wolves' land."
Lucifer was furious at the news.
'Calm down. The lycans don't allow vessels in their territory. How would he know that Cytus is there?'
"Do you know he's in Vázoluna, or are you just assuming?"
Lucifer wanted to ask how a vessel could gather such information.
'The two most difficult to read beings in this world, Satan and Cthulhu's vessel, and I have the good fortune of working with both.'
"I can sense a general location of any of my kind. Cytus was hiding himself from me using the power of the body he stole, but I'm guessing you or someone else weakened him?"
Lucifer was frustrated beyond words at the situation.
'Of course. Figures that the god who can track Cytus's location would be Cthulhu, the one god in this area I try to avoid at all costs.'
Lucifer groaned and asked the vessel another question.
"Is he still in Vázoluna?"
"Yes. As I said I can only get a vague idea of where he is. I can't pinpoint the location. I also, unfortunately, cannot follow you to help you search."
"Can you give me an idea of what part of Vázoluna he's in? North, south, east, or west?"
The vessel shook his hands.
"Sorry, but the way my tracking works I can only tell you a vague distance and direction. It's more useful for when I'm personally trying to find one of my kind. I can tell he's in Vázoluna, maybe near the center? I'm not well versed on Vázoluna's size or how to accurately measure the distance of my ability. It's more of a feeling and less a literal number that I could explain."
Lucifer was happy to see Cthulhu be so open about his abilities. Hiding one's strengths was common among gods, if possible. It was often considered rude to ask a god about their magic or magics.
'What do I do? Knowing Cytus is in Vázoluna is great, but not knowing where he is will make the search take a lot of time.'