"Her? It's a she you want me to go after?"

Succubus Dante leaned forward, attentive like a voyeur watching the homecoming queen disrobe.

Thaumaturge turned back to his throne, hiding the slight smile that flickered across his features. He sat down, and put on a knowing smile.

"Indeed. In fact, I believe that the two of you have already met..." He walked over to the wall panel, typed briefly, and retrieved another soul crystal. He walked back to his throne, playing idly with the crystal, watching Dante out of the corner of his eye, and sat again.

Courtney, meanwhile, busied herself happily in the luxurious suite...or so it would appear. While she always looked for the good in a person or situation, she trusted her intuition more than her optimism, and her intuition was telling her that something really bad was about to happen. Though many fine garments and good things to eat were offered to her, she politely declined to partake. Unlike Persephone, she vowed, she would not be trapped in this elegant Underworld.

Turning the state-of-the-art stereo system up to a high volume, Courtney yawned, stretched, and crawled under the covers. From this location, she pulled out her cell phone. Having dialed Azeran's number, she was disappointed to reach his voice mail.

"Hi, it's me, Courtney...I think maybe the bad guys caught me...there's a whole lot of magickal energy pent up here, and..it's not good magic. They haven't hurt me or anything, but that's worrying me the most. What do they think I can do for them? I'm not going to help them take souls...they know that, right? I'm in Table Mountain...if you're busy, that's okay, but I'd really appreciate the help. Okay, um, take care...bye."


"I've got to figure out how to release those souls," the girl thought with determination.
Composing herself under the covers a few more moments, mostly to keep with the ruse that she was resting, she then arose and walked over to the door.

"Excuse me, Mr. Honor Guard? Hi. How are you doing? I'm really excited about my meeting with your boss, but I think a book might calm my nerves. Could you take me to the library, please?"

The minion outside of the girl's door thought, or tried to. He had been ordered not to let the girl out, but not to offend her. He had also been ordered to see to her comfort. Finally, he had been ordered not to go too far from her. Well, she wanted to go to the library, which wasn't outside. She said that it would make her happier, and she said she wanted him to take her. So if he took her to the library, he wouldn't be letting her out, and he would be helping her be comfortable, and he would be keeping near her. He smiled, happy with his logic, and unlocked the door...

"We have? Wait... you couldn't mean... Courtney, could you?"

The look of pure, unbridled, elemental lust on Succubus Dante's face would have put a pedophile to shame.

Thaumaturge smiled at Dante, the toothy smile of comradeship between one predator and another. "Indeed. You can have your way with her, I won't get in the way. All that I ask is that you lure her towards me once you're done. In return, you will get dark soul crystals to your taste, and of course any aid that I can give in accomplishing any part of this. What do you say?"

There was no spoken reply, but the look on Succubus Dante's face was, if nothing else, a very strong indication in the affirmative.

Thaumaturge nodded. "Excellent. I've placed the girl - Courtney - in suite 101 upstairs. A minion will show you there, although heroes have the most annoying habit of escaping - as you well know. In fact, it might help you if you seem to aid her escape. Don't worry about my minions; they will be instructed to not get in the way, although you can have fun with a few if you wish." He tossed Dante a small device, in which was embedded a small piece of quartz. "With that you can communicate with me, and I can observe your progress. The better you accomplish this... act... the more dark souls will be yours. Not to mention the more... traditional benefits of doing well at this." He leaned back in his throne. "Well? Is there something that you wish to know, or would you like me to call in a minion to take you to her quarters? Oh, and have fun." He added.

As Courtney and the guard walked through the corridors, the girl studied the guard's face. He was a simple-looking fellow, but radiated loyalty and good intentions. Courtney smiled at him, a bit sadly, when he glanced over at her. "How is it that good people always seem to get mixed up in horrible things?" she wondered to herself. "These guards, those weird agent guys...I don't think any of them were really evil...just...I dunno, maybe confused?"

The young mage's reverie was brought to a close as the pair arrived at the library.
"Woah," she marveled, in undisguised admiration. "This place is incredible!"

The wall-to-wall displays of books filled the room, and the gaudy and ostentatious baroque art and architecture was entirely befitting an evil overlord of Thaumaturge's power. The grandeur was overshadowed by a slight miasma of darkness, however, that Courtney hoped was more an aspect of the villain's decorating taste than a tainted resonance of corruption.

Thanking the guard, she wandered to the center of the room. "Now, how am I ever gonna find what I'm looking for in all these books? Well, I guess this is as good a time to try my new spell as any..."
The girl knelt down, clearing her mind. She focused on the living energy inside her, and inside the guard. It made her cringe to see how his soul had been corrupted, but she continued anyway. Drawing forth a lighter from her pocket, she exerted her will upon the tiny flame, taking away its radiance, but not its heat. She thought of the soul crystals, imprinting that image upon the orb of light now hovering beside her. "Go," she commanded softly. "Seek knowledge of these things."

As the spell casting ended, Courtney opened her eyes, head throbbing, to see the guard staring at her, mouth agape.

"Heh," she smiled weakly, "I never was too good with the Dewey Decimal System..."

Azeran couldn't believe it. They're going to try to taint Courtney's soul? I have to stop them. But how? I'm shackled to the wall. After engaging in battle with Jackal (the Ninja), Azeran caught an anvil...in the back of the head. He had awoken in Thaumaturge's dungeon just in time to hear the conversation between fem-Dante and Thaumaturge. Wait a second, maybe if I...hmm, that 's just crazy enough to work! Azeran eyes glowed red for only a moment, followed by Azeran being thrown away from the wall against the bars. OW!! Well, at least i'm free from the shackles. Now, about these bars. Azeran once again pulled out his Nagi Nata (seemingly from nowhere). All of a sudden, energy seemed to flow from Azeran to his Nagi Nata, and it started to glow a bright red. With a loud yell, and a powerful swing, Azeran unleashed his soul surge on the prison bars, practically shattering them, and definitely breaking the cell open. "Suite 101," was all Azeran said as he headed for the door.