Chapter 384: Appearances
The dress was... ugly. All kinds of butt ugly, in my honest opinion. Like anyone else cared about what I thought. Especially Pagomaris who instead just went into demonic raptures over both Meira and I. Dressed like twins. In what felt and looked like patent leather cut out in really uncomfortable places with some kind of steel mesh. Like, awkward and embarrassing places. I kept jerking down on the bodice in an effort to hide a little more of my chest. It seemed demon fashion was more about what you showed than what you didn't.
At least all the really important bits were covered. Especially in Meira's case. No way was I letting the over-enthusiastic aide turn my little sister into some kind of child porn star.
Hopefully I wasn't the only one. But from Dad's scowl and constant pacing, he was just pissed off in general. Fair enough.
The platform boots felt like the softest silk on the inside and I had to admit were very comfortable. Tottering around six inches above the ground? Not so much. The thick bands wrapped around my wrists made the bones ache, the black fabric, if it was fabric, so shiny I saw my disgusted face in it.
One of the helpful dressing girls draped a cape over my shoulders, fastened with a huge black flower I didn't recognize, her partner dangling what looked like a lantern from around my neck. Jewelry on Demonicon sucked.
When they tried to liberate my pentagram necklace, I drew a very firm line. With a buffet of power so harsh it sent both girls stumbling back three paces.
"Keeping it," I snarled.
"Yes, lady," they chirped.
My hair piled up around a metal cone until it was almost as tall as I was. Yes, I'm exaggerating. Still. But when they tried to slather on a coating of shellac so thick I felt like passing out from the lack of oxygen, I simply stepped away and crossed my arms over my chest, flushing a little as I realized doing so flashed more skin than I was willing to uncover.
The mirror I was placed in front of showed me a very unhappy demon girl with horns longer than Meira's, face very red despite the makeup, though I wondered if it was the makeup or just my irritation. Glittery amber eyes, narrowed in frustration. My long, thick, black nails tapped against the skirt of my hideous ensemble, shoulders wider than human, chest definitely fuller. Not that I was flat chested or anything, but my demon had some ta-tas to rival an underwear model. And muscles, more defined than home, like some kind of magical transformation as I crossed over turned me into a female wrestler.
At least under all the demonness I still kind of looked like myself, cheekbones, jaw line, long hair. But aside from one short time my demon had been outside me, this was the first real look I had at my alternate form with inhabiting it.
If it wasn't for the butt-ugly outfit, I was actually attractive in a scary chick, kick ass kind of way. Not that admitting it made me any happier with the situation.
"Can we just get this ridiculous charade over with, please?" I glared at Dad like this was his fault, even though I knew it wasn't. My gaze shifted to Sass. Right. Wrong target. But balefully staring at my demon cat got me nothing.
"Of course!" Pagomaris clapped her hands, the girls scurrying off as Meira came to stand next to me. The aide leaned in and smiled, her amber eyes very wide, teeth bared in a huge smile. "But I think you meant parade." She tweaked my cheek and turned, sweeping her way out of the room and leaving her servants to clean up the mess of dressing screens and clothing piles she'd littered Theridialis's lab with in the search for the perfect outfits.
Dad stepped forward, offering his arm and I took it, mostly because I needed him to make sure I didn't fall over.
"This is nuts," I hissed.
"I know," he said. "I should have known she'd pull something like this."
He was so grim I started to feel bad. After all, what was the big deal anyway? My grandmother was Ruler after all and a little parade and dress up? Small price to pay if it meant things went well for Dad.
"Who knows," I said, trying a smile, "it might be fun?"
Meira grinned at me from Dad's other side and had to be thinking the same thing. Come to think of it, she hadn't protested even a little bit. Maybe my sister was more suited to this place than I was. But the least I could do for Dad was put on a bit of a show if that was what it took to make my grandmother happy.
I'd only been outside once, on the large balcony down the hall from Theridialis's lab. And from very far above the city. What I remembered of it had stunned me with its beauty and as we stepped onto a wide platform on yet another balcony, I admired the view with a twinge of something unfamiliar making me uncomfortable. Vertigo, what the hell? Since when? I didn't have time to consider where my fear of heights had suddenly come from, not while I let out a little shriek and clutched at Dad as the platform suddenly fell out from under us.
Sassy's laughter made me furious. He perched at my feet, not looking at me. "Elevator," he said with a nasty little chuckle.
He was lucky I was so wobbly or he'd be finding out how far one of my boots could send him flying.
The platform stopped softly, but abruptly. Stomach in my throat, happy to be on the ground, I let Dad take the lead, guiding me forward, Meira and Sass on either side, toward the large group of guards and the eagerly waving Pagomaris. She stood on what looked like a floating disc, with dangling materials matching what I wore hanging from the edges. It bounced slightly as she gestured for us to join her as the guards fanned out on foot in front, beside and behind what had to be our vehicle.
I gingerly stepped up, feeling the platform give slightly under my weight. But the moment both feet settled on its surface the sensation of bobbing faded.
"Cool." I hopped back half a step as Pagomaris fanned her hands outward and four blobs rose from the flat base, forming into throne-like chairs, three in a line, one behind. A fifth smaller seat, more a bed than a chair, extended from the biggest one. For Sassy, I assumed.
He proved me right by hopping immediately into his place of honor and flipping his tail around his paws, whiskers twitching. Was he annoyed or happy? It was hard to tell with him sometimes.
Pagomaris latched onto me and seated me on one side of the central throne while Meira slid into the right. Dad took the center, his only nod to the aide's need for us to dress up a thick black robe draped over his simple dark brown pants and tunic. Sass was on my side, at least, so I could pick his brain as we went.
The street had been blocked off, it seemed, more guards holding back a crowd up ahead as I finally paid attention to where we were going. The street below me was a pale pink rock, the same color as most of the city, though the glass and color of the windows and roofs made for a startlingly colorful contrast. The shadow of a large mountain, sheered almost completely off so it climbed from the ground to the sky in one continuous unbroken vertical line, loomed ahead.
"It's all magic, of course," Sassy said, voice soft as Pagomaris took the small seat in the back of the platform and clapped her hands. We moved forward, though I found my instinctual clenching to keep from being jerked ahead as we did so was unnecessary.
"You're inside a field," he said. "Same as the elevator. Pay attention."
I'd heard that particular admonishment from my grandmother enough times I felt my annoyance rise he'd adopted it too, but I let it go.
Not much choice, considering. I was suddenly overwhelmed by the rush of sound coming toward me. Or we were approaching it. Whatever the case, as the platform began to move, the crowd started to roar.
"I hope they are happy to see us." I shifted in the comfortable chair forming to me every time I moved, acutely aware of the endless eyes staring at me, the open mouths screaming, the waving arms as the crowd of watching demons went crazy.
Holy.
"Indeed they are." Pagomaris leaned forward, wiggled her fingers. The sound suddenly dimmed as though she'd adjusted the volume on a television. "All of Demonicon is thrilled you have finally come home."
Dad growled something, but I missed it as Pagomaris sat back and returned the sound to normal.
We hovered about three feet off the ground, easily seeing over the heads of most of the demons, our guard in precise marching order around us as we wound our way through the city. Though I was a bit overcome with their enthusiasm, it wasn't long before I broke free of the influence of so much energy aimed at me and noticed we weren't any closer to the mountain, but were instead moving away from it.
"I thought the Seat was up there?" I glanced at Dad whose scowl did nothing to dampen the watcher's excitement.
"It is," Sass said. "Ahbi Sanghamitra clearly wants to show you off to all twenty-nine planes."
"We're going to other planes?" I looked around, startled. There'd been no mention of traveling across the veil. But Sass just snorted.
"Not like that," he said. "It's been a long time since the planes were separate."
I stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "What?"
Sass sighed, clearly frustrated. "Think of the planes as different areas of a city." He swished his tail at me. "The planes now only refer to where you live in Ostrogotho, the capital, and the four other major cities here on Demonicon. Because we're the capital, the highest planes are here."
Dad finally joined the conversation as I caught myself smiling a little and waving. Just couldn't help myself. The gathered demons we floated past looked so happy and excited to see us their energy was contagious. Meira was having less trouble adjusting, imperiously waving back while she giggled behind her free hand.
"There was a time," Dad said, deep voice penetrating the roar of the crowd, "when the planes were separate. Ancient demon scientists combined them using powerful magic to unify us into one larger plane."
"Milanseme is to the west." Pagomaris poked her head between the thrones. Of course she'd been listening in. I had to get used to the fact it was likely we wouldn't have much time alone here. "Our second most prestigious city."
"Thirty to seventy-five," Sassy said, keeping up his side commentary as Pagomaris listed the cities of Demonicon.
"Bilhaeder is next, to the north, stunning in summer."
"Seventy-six to two hundred."
"Ilogabon is to the east, a lovely place."
"Two hundred and one to four hundred."
"What about the other planes?" I was half joking. How many were there?
Pagomaris made a tsking sound. "They live in the countryside," she said like they had no value.
"Four-oh-one to infinity," Sassy said.
I wondered what it would take to be a demon of a plane so lowly ranked. Then again, I was fairly certain the knowledge would make me furious.
The platform turned, winding up another street, this time a straight shot over a wide and majestic looking thoroughfare big enough to march an army through.
"The Parade," Pagomaris said with reverence in her voice. "We're almost home, girls."
Dad grunted, hands fisted in his lap.
"We could just hop into the veil and get this over with." I winked at Dad who met my eyes and shook his head.
"Against the law," he said. "Damn, I should have warned you, Syd." He ran one hand over his face, suddenly tired. "I didn't expect you to have to deal with any of this."
"No foreign magic either," Sassy said, ears flickering around as though searching for danger. But what danger could there be? We were surrounded by guards.
"Good to know." I settled back in my seat, no longer impressed with the waving crowds, those now watching of higher status, clearly. More observing us as though we were fish in a bowl, whispering to each other, though still offering smiles and waves of their own. I wanted to get this over with and go the hell home. I was already tired of the show.
But it wasn't over yet.
The platform came to a halt at the base of the mountain, the side smooth as glass. I disembarked with the help of a guard who released me into a tunnel of more of his kind, like a demon funnel to my destination. At least I didn't have to stand around wondering what to do next, though the heavy-handed controls were beginning to grate.
The guards formed a semi-circle around the next platform, another elevator by my guess, while we mounted the bouncing disc and waited for Pagomaris to do her thing.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when a fanfare of what sounded like horns went off all around me as we rose majestically from the ground, the crowd below now waving and calling out with much more enthusiasm. I swallowed hard several times as the distance increased, having a hard time looking down. The view was brilliant, spectacular, but I had to turn sideways at last and look at Dad's chest so I didn't have to admit I was terrified.
Cat claws caught my leg and I bent automatically to scoop Sassy up.
"You can't fall," he whispered. "The whole platform is shielded. You could fling yourself at the edge and-"
"Thanks for the visual," I said.
"I didn't know you were afraid of heights." His amber eyes sparkled. Great, something for him to use against me.
"I didn't think I was." True, I had trouble in the past, minor trouble, but I'd never been in a situation like this one before.
As long as I didn't puke on my polished platform boots, I'd survive.
I looked up, hoping that would help calm my nerves, to see the top rapidly approaching. I turned to face the wall, grateful for the excuse to no longer look out over the massive city, now a latticework of structured streets and moving bits of things that could have been people.
Gulp.
The platform came to a halt, smooth again, but just as swift and I stepped off with great relief onto the solid ground of the top of the mountain. It was as slick and polished as its side, as though someone had taken the peak off completely. I looked up over what had to be some kind of throne room, open to the sky. Though now I could feel the hum of wards and knew the entire place was shielded. Still freaky, but I was far enough from the edges I kept my stomach under control.
It had to be the length of a football field to the center of the peak and the two huge thrones carved of mottled black rock. Pagomaris snapped her fingers and a line of guards formed to funnel us yet again down the polished stone way.
Not like we needed the direction. It was pretty clear where we were heading. I glanced around, but did my best to keep my face straight ahead, especially after Sassy hissed at me.
"Whatever you do," he whispered, "never show fear."
Wasn't this my family? Why would they care if I was afraid? Until I got a good look.
Dad's family wasn't the handful of smiling aunts, uncles and cousins I'd been expecting. Not even close. Instead, we were greeted by a horde dressed in as elaborate fashion as Meira and I. There had to be hundreds of them, lining both sides of the walk just past where the guards stopped, crowding the aisle to the thrones in their multicolored garb, talking behind their hands as they watched.
No waving here, no smiles. Just an army of amber eyes staring us down. Even Meira's back stiffened, face composed. I hoped Sassy managed to warn her, too.
It was pretty clear as we drew near the thrones we weren't in happy company. The press of curiosity wasn't nearly as strong as their animosity.
If they didn't want us here, why were we?
The explanation sat on the tallest throne, her amber eyes watching, flat and cold, staring right through me as my grandmother watched me approach.
***
