Rebirth of the Nephilim

“There’s someone I need you to meet.”

Syd blinked her eyes open, though she found she simply did not have the energy to raise her head from where it rested on the pillow she had shoved between her too-small recliner and the wall. The cushioned chair she had claimed wasn’t meant for someone of her size, but the legs were thick and the back was angled to make it easy to lie back and fall asleep, so she had made do with the help of a little extra padding. With her hands laced across her stomach and her ankles crossed where her legs stretched out across the floor, she was tolerably comfortable.

The day had been rough thanks to the surprise encounter with the demonic dome, and Jadis had only returned to Thracina an hour ago. The sun had set long before, and while she had the physical stamina to keep going, Jadis was mentally exhausted. She still had many things to do, mainly discussing their findings with the rest of her companions as well as the Hero’s party, but Jadis had snuck her Syd self away from the hustle and bustle to sit in a quiet corner to turn at least a third of her brainpower off for a short while.

She hadn’t expected her temporary respite to last long, but she still longed for a few more minutes of uncomplicated peace.

“Who and why?” Syd asked. “Also, if it’s a senator, the answer is no.”

“It’s not a senator,” Maeve replied from where she stood at Syd’s right side. “The who is another Fetch who is local to the area. The why is because she won’t give me the information I want unless I bring you along. She wants to meet you.”

Syd frowned as she stared at the intricate ceiling mosaic that depicted a vineyard filled with frolicking young men and women wearing imaginatively placed bits of cloth.

“Do I have to? I’m not really in the right headspace to banter with a Jack, if that’s where this is going.”

Maeve was quiet for a few seconds. Then, Syd felt the shapeshifter’s warm and pleasingly soft body slide on top of her own. Maeve settled with her legs on either side of Syd’s abdomen, her perfect rear resting where it wasn’t quite touching the reclined Nephilim’s covered crotch. Leaning forward, Maeve rested her hands in the valley between Syd’s breasts, fingers toying with the buttons of her shirt. When Syd raised her head to look at the Fetch, the woman had her black eyes coyly averted from her gaze.

“You don’t have to,” Maeve stated in demure tones. “But your help would make it a lot easier to get information out of my… associate. She might have some news about the Cult of Samleos.”

Syd’s left hand involuntarily went to the small of the Fetch’s back, where she began to rub circles with her fingers. When Maeve’s blue shirt rode up thanks to the movement, Syd stroked the bare orange flesh, enjoying the alien, rubberlike texture of the shapeshifter’s skin.

“She might have info?” Syd raised one eyebrow.

“It’s hard to know for sure with Yaz,” Maeve admitted as she popped open one of Syd’s buttons, then put it back in its hole. “She’s a liar. And she likes to sell information to opposing parties. Anything we ask about could end up being told to the cult, if she actually has any contacts with them, which is not guaranteed.”

“That doesn’t sound like the kind of person we should be dealing with,” Syd mused as the tips of her fingers played just above the belt of Maeve’s pants. “How could we trust any information she gives us?”

Maeve shifted her hips back and forth, settling herself more flatly against Syd as she hummed in thought.

“Frankly speaking, we can’t trust anything she says at all. However, Yaz thinks she’s smarter than she is. Talking with her will get me more than she thinks she’ll give, so long as she thinks that I’m trading with her on her terms. And a part of her terms is that she wants to meet the Nephilim. Actually, she asked for the Hero first, but I told her I didn’t have the in with him to guarantee a meeting. You, though, I told her all about how I have you wrapped around my little finger. She believed that.”

“She did, did she?” Syd asked, her fingers pausing as she gave Maeve a flat look. “I wonder what was said to convince her of that.”

“I barely had to say anything,” the Fetch shrugged as she continued to button and unbutton Syd’s shirt. “She already has an impression of you thanks to the number of your… companions. Really, you won’t have to say much. In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t say anything at all and just let me do all the talking. You just have to show up, let her meet you, possibly suffer through a few bad attempts at seduction, and then we can leave.”

“Seduction?” Syd smirked at the idea. “I can flirt back, if that’ll help get more—”

“Absolutely not,” Maeve snapped as her hands turned to fists clutching Syd’s shirt. A second later, the Fetch cleared her throat and smoothed the cloth out. “No need to flirt back. She’s not the sort of person you should be doing those kinds of things with. In fact, since she’s probably going to try to touch you, we will have to get you checked by Eir for any communicable diseases when we return.”

“Oh,” Syd grimaced. “Well. I’ll be careful, then.”

“Then you’ll come with me?”

“Sure,” Syd nodded, then frowned as Maeve immediately rose and motioned for her to follow. “What, right now?”

“Yes,” Maeve said as she straightened her clothes before shapeshifting into the likeness of a pretty blonde with short hair and freckles. “The faster I show I can pull you along, the more control she’ll assume I have over you. Tomorrow would have been fine, but you’re taking Meli to meet with her grove then, aren’t you? You might not be back the same day, or the next depending on how your talks with her family go. If we wait that long, Yaz will think I don’t have your priority, and she won’t value what I tell her as much.”

“Ah. We wouldn’t want her to think you don’t have me following you around like a lost puppy, I suppose.”

“No, we wouldn’t,” Maeve said as she led Syd out of the room and into the hall.

“I do wonder how this Fetch’s opinion of our relationship might change if she saw you covered in my cum, like last night. Would that help sell how enamored I am with you, or…?”

“Hm. Well, I can always show her and ask what she thinks,” Maeve stated.

Spinning around, she smiled deviously as her visage transformed. The freckled face she had assumed changed to be covered in think white ropes of seed, splashes of it dripping off her nose and chin. The sight hit Syd harder than she would have thought and she felt her pants tighten uncomfortably in less than a second.

“Or we could give her an in-person demonstration.”

Maeve’s devilish grin soured as the pearly sheen decorating her borrowed face disappeared.

“Actually, let’s not. Yaz would try to join, and I don’t want that cunt’s slime anywhere near you.”

Following Maeve out onto the streets, Syd did her best to remain inconspicuous. Of course, being more than nine feet tall made that goal patently ridiculous, but she still tried to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. Fortunately, Maeve was able to navigate them through back alleys, and, in a couple of cases, through what were probably the backyards of a few of the wealthier properties in the area, without running into any knots of people. It helped that they didn’t have to go far, since their destination was within what Maeve informed her was called the “Garden District” of the city. In other words, the area was where the fancier brothels and gambling halls resided, which of course meant that Lyssandria’s temple was nearby. There were more than just the seedier establishments in the Garden District as well, such as expensive restaurants and a theatre, but those businesses were for the most part shut down under the current circumstances. The brothels, Jadis noted, were still in full swing.

The building the Fetch led her to was a teahouse, with larger establishments surrounding it. While well furnished, the place had a cozier feel to it than the gaudier gambling hall and brothel located on either side. If nothing else, Jadis couldn’t blame Yaz, if that was the name she was going by, for having bad taste. Under other circumstances, Jadis could imagine taking a few of her lovers on dates to a place like the teahouse.

Rather than going in through the front door, Maeve took Syd to the back of the building, where she passed a few coins to an older man who didn’t even look at the Fetch and pretended to not see the pale giant ducking through the back door. Inside, they followed a dimly lit hallway past several closed doors before stopping at one that was partly cracked open.

Before going through the door, Maeve turned and pointed a finger up at Syd’s face. The shapeshifter said nothing, but expression spoke volumes. In response, Syd mimed zipping her lip shut, which seemed to satisfy the Fetch after a moment.

“Good evening, Yaz,” Maeve called out in a syrupy voice. “I have returned, and as promised, I’ve brought my Champion with me.”

Syd almost paused midstride at the title Maeve had given her, but she kept her nonchalance as she ducked through the threshold and got a look at the room and its sole occupant.

The room was small, with cushioned benches lining the left and right walls and a low round table between them. The far wall opposite the door was open, with a wooden trellis covered in dark leaves obscuring most of the view of the interior courtyard of the teahouse. The lighting was provided entirely by the candles of a stained-glass chandelier hanging above which, when Syd glanced at it, drew her attention to the mural of naked men and women that were painted on the ceiling. Jadis did not fail to note that the men and women were all universally pale, depicted as overly tall when compared to their surroundings, and had some rather interesting things going on between their legs.

The woman waiting for them was lying on her side with her bare feet pulled up onto the cushions and her head propped up by one hand. She was wearing what could only be described as a diaphanous pink dress that left her shoulders bare. Her hair was long, auburn, and curly, and her face was covered right up until Syd fully entered the room. When Jadis raised her head, the woman sat up slightly, revealing a heart-shaped face with dark brown eyes and plump lips. When she smiled, it was the bright and charming grin of a seductress who had spotted her next mark.

“Oh, my! My, my oh my!” Yaz exclaimed in a much higher pitched voice than Jadis was expecting. “And she is everything you promised she would be and more! Good evening to you, my dear Nephilim! It is a true pleasure to meet you after hearing so many stories of your exploits!”

The auburn-haired Fetch did not rise from her seat and instead held out her hand, palm down, as though she were expecting Syd to walk over and kiss the back of it. Jadis wasn’t sure what to make of the gesture, and she almost walked over to play along. Before she could, though, Maeve stepped in front of her and pushed her down onto the bench seat opposite Yaz.

“I know where that hand has been, Yaz,” Maeve curled her lip as she knelt on the cushion next to Syd and put both hands on her left shoulder, leaning her cheek on top. “You will not be sneaking anything into my Champion.”

“What in Destarious’ name are you implying?” the other woman put a hand to her chest in an expression of mock offense.

“I am not implying, I am stating fact,” Maeve said in a bored tone. “I don’t care if you want to rot the dicks off of half the senate. You aren’t allowed to put a single pox mark on what’s mine.”

If the strange Fetch was bothered by Maeve’s words, Jadis couldn’t tell. Yaz’s giggle was perfectly angelic, to the point that it sent a shiver up Syd’s spine. The way her eyes roved over her body reminded her of when Maeve was at her worst, covetous in her desire. Yet she did not have the dark craving for Jadis hidden inside that Maeve still teased her with when they were alone. No, it was a different madness swimming inside Yaz’s unblinking gaze. Something predatory, yet also playful. But it was madness all the same.

“Why would I ever want to mar such rare beauty?” the woman asked innocently while shrugging one delicate shoulder. “That’s a cruel motivation to apply to me, Maeve. I thought we were here to trade information, not barbs.”

“Information is always barbed,” Maeve sighed as she leaned more heavily into Syd’s side. “Anyone who tells you differently is selling you a lie. But you are right. We are here to trade.”

“Yes, you and I are,” Yaz agreed as the tips of her fingers tapped against each other. “But what about Jadis Ahlstrom, last of the Nephilim? She hasn’t yet spoken one word of her purpose here.”

“Me?” Syd pointed at herself. “Oh, I’m pretty sure I’m just a prop in this conversation. I wouldn’t want to interrupt the battle of wit going on between you two, so go right ahead and don’t mind me.”

“A Champion who knows her place,” Yaz cooed. “You truly have struck gold, haven’t you, Maeve? I applaud you.”

The Fetch clapped her hands together lightly for a moment before pausing and motioning with one hand towards the table. There was a pot of tea and three cups set out, along with a variety of small cakes and fruits.

“Please, Jadis, refresh yourself while your pasticcina and I have a talk.”

Giving Yaz a pleasant smile, Syd leaned back against the cushions and tried to make herself comfortable on a seat far too small for her bulk.

“No, thank you. I ate tonight already. You feel free, though.”

“Suit yourself,” the Fetch said as she poured herself a cup.

While she tried to hide it, Syd noticed the way Yaz’s expression darkened for a moment at the rejection. Considering how Maeve had stopped her from kissing Yaz’s hand only a few moments earlier, did the shapeshifter really think that Jadis would accept any kind of food or drink from the woman? From the disappointment she concealed behind her smile, Jadis guessed she really did.

“Let’s start with the most important topic and work our way down,” Maeve proposed. “You told me you know of a cultist who is here in the city. What information would you like to trade for that tidbit?”

“Oh, I’ll give you that name for free,” Yaz said before taking a sip of her steaming tea. “As I said, I wouldn’t want anything untoward to happen to the beauteous creature you have your hands on. And considering proximity, I think it’s best I give you the information right away, before something terrible happens.”

“Do go on,” Maeve motioned, her tone and expression showing interest. “This I must hear.”

“Senator Celsa of Castra Cale is a worshipper of Samleos,” the Fetch tilted her head to one side with an innocent expression. “I believe you know her?”