You Agreed To This. Technically.

The first school week of Malara's absence went reasonably well. Nobody liked that she was gone, of course, but Chloe understood why she had to be gone. Jafar was still missing, and too many lives hung in the balance for Malara not to get personally involved. Chloe was even proud of her. She had the feeling Malara wouldn't have done something like this before she came here.

But nobody liked that she was gone.

Life went on, though. The kids needed to be fed. The house needed to stay picked up. She had to keep up with classes, and the kids did too. And, Chloe needed to hold up her end of the deal with the demon lord Andramarax. Once a day, she would kneel before the altar she had built for him in the summoning room and conduct the rituals she had promised, to build his power. Andramarax promised to help Malara return Jafar to them, so it was worth it.

All in all, it wasn't too bad. They fell into a rhythm. It wasn't as happy a rhythm as it could have been, with Malara and Jafar still here, but it was a rhythm nonetheless.

Chloe wanted to do something special for the kids this weekend. She had said as much. This family had been going through too many rough spots, and they needed something to make it better. Maybe a movie, or a live show. Something they could do together.

On Friday evening, June 8th, Chloe went into the summoning room just like she had done every other day for the past week. She didn't come out. When someone finally came in to check on her, she would be gone. All that was left of her was her clothes, neatly folded, and her cellphone, turned off.

@Kadakism
@Pallas
@Lazzy

Chloe's body moved, but she had no control. Not even over her eyes. That was the worst part - she couldn't choose where to look, or what to focus on. She felt as though she was walking on a solid surface, but it looked as though she was on thin air, floating over a vast golden city.

Her eyes closed. She was forced into a kneeling position.

"Nikuzzamach." Andramarax's voice boomed, rumbling through her entire being. "You have invited me into your home before, so let me invite you into mine."

Chloe could move again. She opened her eyes. She was atop a pedestal, with just enough room to kneel down. Looking down gave her vertigo - she was extraordinarily high up. The throne room was impossibly large - sitting upon that throne, the form of her captor, ever transforming, covered in eyes that shift and writhe. Atop the mass, a golden crown.

She sprung to her feet, covering herself. "This is not what I agreed to, Andramarax. What do you think you're -"

A single clawed hand emerged from his form, in a gesture that said, Stop. At that moment, she was no longer standing or speaking. She was kneeling again. She couldn't explain it, but she could feel his lips curl into a smirk. He didn't even have lips.

"Manners, my little Nikuzzamach. You agreed to be possessed, as part of your payment, with all of the terms and restrictions you had applied. I am not interfering with your studies, it is not happening around your little ones, and for now, you are my possession."

Chloe stared at him, processing this. Her arm went to cover her chest again. "And why did you make me leave my clothes behind?"

He laughed, a deep, rumbling laugh that shook his entire realm. "I was not to destroy your property. Your clothes would not have survived the journey. But I can tell this is uncomfortable for you, and I will humor you."

Chloe was lifted from her place by an unseen force. A shimmering, silvery dress condensed into existence around her. It was elaborate, grander than anything she had ever seen in her world. The fabric seemed to defy gravity as though floating underwater. If not for her circumstances, she might have loved it. Her feet met the pedestal again. Her legs shook from the vertigo.

She took a deep breath, sucking up her pride, and she returned to her kneeling position. As Andramarax had said: manners. "Lord Andramarax. You told me that you would use me as a vessel to experience the city at night. I was willing to sacrifice my nights to you. This is not what I expected."

He smiled again. Many mouths, forming all over his body, curling into smiles. Some had jagged teeth. "Understandable, Nikuzzamach. I changed my mind when I realized how useful you could be to me. And the circumstances of your possession, save your restrictions, were not in our contract. So instead of taking so many nights in your world, I will teach you how to use your gifts, and you will use them in my service. I will take the next two days, and then, when your 'school week,' concludes, another two days."

Chloe was furious. She bit her tongue. Andramarax's impossible mass leaned forward in its throne.

"... I was not expecting this. I thought you would be overjoyed. You've gone to such great efforts trying to learn how to harness these powers. I am going to teach you, just so you can repay some small debt to me. And this is your response! Why?"

Chloe didn't say anything. She knew that she didn't need to. He could find the answers if he wanted - talking was a formality. She knew how much it would make Amber and Dalia hurt, to have yet another part of their family taken away, even for such a short time.

"Ridiculous." It stood, towering over her and her uncomfortable narrow platform. An appendage reached towards her, and it seemed to poke a hole through the fabric of their reality. A portal. She could see her room, back at the penthouse. "But I am not unreasonable, and I will not have you believing me to be as underhanded as that slime, your father. If you wish to nullify our contract, Nikuzzamach, you may leave. All of your obligations to me - and mine to you - will be terminated."

Chloe just stared at him. He knew she wasn't going to walk through that portal, she knew that he knew, and she hated him for it. Walking through that portal would mean buying two weekends at the cost of Jafar's life. She stayed put.

Again, he laughed. She hated the sound of his laughter.

The portal zipped shut.

"Don't look at me like that. You're going to wield power beyond human imagination again. Just like your father let you do. It will be fun."

Chloe had begged Andramarax to return her home a few hours early. She tried to make it about school, having time to do homework, and they both knew that wasn't her real reason. That was the worst part, for her. The breaking down of the barrier between his thoughts and hers. His total violation of her private thoughts, and the constant, condescending commentary he provided whenever she thought about something personal.

He would berate her for worrying about all the things she cared about. Malara. Jafar. The girls. Her schoolwork. Demon-human relations. Her friends. None of them should matter to her, in the long run, he told her. She had a greater destiny than these fleeting concerns. She would live to see humans die out, their planet extinguished. And her relationship with Malara was laughable, he thought. "Even by human standards, this is ridiculous. She doesn't understand you. She doesn't even care about you, Nikuzzamach. Not really. Your own thoughts betray you. Just look at what you yourself know of her past."

Chloe would pause in her work, for just a moment, as she felt his laughter rumble through her core. She had to keep that anger of hers under wraps and get back to work. She knew better, by now, than to try to argue. Fighting back would just hurt her.

She was seldom tortured or punished, however. And as it turned out, when she wasn't constantly surrounded by the souls of the damned, she could enjoy this place. His was a world of overwhelming power, endless possibility, and when he shared that power with her, all of it sat at her fingertips. It was intoxicating. Through her, Andramarax accomplished things that she knew would shock and amaze most mortals, if only she could put words to notions. It would take hours for them to even begin to understand, and they would never grasp it, never appreciate it the way she did.

But Andramarax understood. He understood her better than anyone else could. He found her flaws, her humanity, endearing. Cute. Their connection was more warm and intimate than anything she had ever felt. Nikuzzamach started looking forward to his praise, even after he smugly pointed this out. She held back the urge to scream with horror at the realization of what she was becoming.


It was Sunday, a few hours before noon, when he finally released her. It felt as though she had been gone for much longer than two days - and because of how time worked in that place, she probably had. But for her family, it would have been two days.

The dress looked no less impressive in this world than the other. Elaborate, flowing, floating as though she were underwater. One of the first things she would do was tear that damn thing off and take a shower. The shower lasted almost an hour, constantly scrubbing, trying to rid herself of the delicious smell of sulfur.

It was Wednesday. June 13.

Chloe was getting used to Andramarax's presence. Enjoying it, even. Where she'd thought of him as a parasite on the first day, she'd quickly grown to think of him as a beloved companion. They had a rough start, sure - he poked her own eyes out, and caused a scene - but they were growing past that. Now they were watching movies together, taking pictures, visiting museums, exchanging jokes that only they could understand.
This isn't normal. This isn't right.

Now that he'd been mentioning it, the extra eyes that sometimes appeared on her skin did look charming. Like her appearance was getting closer to some higher standard of beauty, beyond the ideals humans had and put in their movies and magazines.
Where did that thought come from?

She was just leaving the community center again, off to see another movie with her beloved. It was sad, honestly, that Dalia had to be there. Because that meant Andramarax couldn't be. Ever since her time with him, she'd started to see things more clearly, started to understand what was really important in her life. And it wasn't any of the relationships she'd built on this island.
That's not true. Stop. Please, stop.

Everything here paled next to the destiny she had at his side. Every relationship Nikuzzamach had here paled to the intimacy that she'd felt with him. Someone like Nikuzzamach deserved better than to be part of some god's little harem - she deserved someone who would only have eyes for her, who would control her the way she craved to be controlled. And maybe, if she was obedient enough, she could even bring that little abomination with her when she finally left Malara. What was her name supposed to be, again? Amber?

...Where are we going? I thought we were going to the movie, Nikuzzamach. You like going to the movies with me. Why are we going back to the community center? Why are you crying? Nikuzzamach -

"Stop calling me that."

It was Friday, and very nearly Saturday. The first day of the carnival

As a precaution, Chloe wrote up a quick contract with the girls before she left. "I, Chloe Black, pledge to do everything within my power to return to this world as soon as possible, for the sake of those undersigned, so that I may attend the last day of family weekend with them." Chloe signed it, and she had Amber and Dalia sign it too. She said that it would help her because the demons from that realm respected contracts.

It was strictly better than nothing, at least. And it might have made the girls feel better.

Chloe's mental barriers were much firmer this time - and she wouldn't let Andramarax break through them. But she also got the sense that he wasn't trying to. He had more than enough power over her, and more than enough of their minds were linked for her to do what he needed.

The barriers worked both ways. She couldn't see everything he was thinking, either - not as well as she could last time.

Her first task was to build something he said he coveted, that Mikhainon had - a connection to a puppet that would serve as his avatar. It was so much more convenient than possessing someone - but he lacked the aptitude to build such a thing. The material world was alien to him, the way this realm used to be alien to Chloe. Having been to her father's hell and having touched this magic herself, she was able to make a serviceable substitute. It wasn't as elegant as what her father could do, but nobody could have expected that.

Andramarax was delighted with it. He let her rest at the foot of his throne for a while, running affectionate tendrils through her hair. Not only did her praise her, he apologized for earlier - he was still learning about the emotional needs of humans. And Chloe sat, basking in his praise and his touch, warm, heart fluttering. He went on and on, about how wonderful it would be to stay with him forever, about how he would get better, and he would never say things like that again.

She started to entertain the idea. She remembered how a part of her had been looking forward to this weekend, and would miss being here when she left.

Chloe began to realize that she had spent a long time here. Too long. She had accomplished so much, and spent so much time doing it - how could the weekend not be over yet? As she noticed, she could feel him noticing her awareness of it. She had been at the far edge of one of his fortresses, and now, she was here, in his throne room, in his many arms. He had been growing more affectionate.

"Nikuzzamach. Pet. You are worried about something, but you insist on keeping it hidden from me. You know that if you would only reveal it to me, I would make it better."

"It's the time we have left together, my Lord." She rested herself against him. "It feels like I've been here for a week, but I know I have to leave you on Sunday. I don't know how much longer we have. I'm worried that I'll have to leave you soon." She pouted.

He laughed. "You don't need to worry about that, my love. Time is a dimension like any other, and with the powers of my realm, we can control it. In a sense, you've been here a week, and at this rate it will be another week before our time together has ended."

A wonderful idea crossed Andramarax's mind. He set her down before him. "I could lend you that power. Together, we can push that day back as far as you'd like." And he could feel the delight in her mind as he said this. He loaned her the power and smiled, confident that he would have her for months.

It became Sunday. The time in the real world was 11:59 AM, with two seconds remaining until the promised time of her release. He wrenched the power away from her again, reeling from a pain different from anything he had ever inflicted or imagined. He stretched those two seconds as much as he could.

"You've taken much more from me than I promised, Andramarax," Chloe said, raising her voice. "You've pushed the bounds of our deal past their breaking point, over and over again, and you tried to enslave me to your will by subverting mine. My debt to you is settled. I'm leaving."

Chloe expected to see him filled with rage. She found him filled with sorrow. "I thought you liked your time here. The feelings I felt for you, that you felt through me - all of that was real."

Chloe gritted her teeth and stared at him. The feelings she felt for him couldn't have been real. This guilt couldn't be real, either - could it? Never mind the way he felt for her. The feelings she had felt for him - they weren't genuine. They were implanted. She was sure of it. There was no way she could feel these things by herself.

Right?

"... Leave me," he said, softly.

She appeared in her room this time, which was a kindness. She didn't want the girls to see her sobbing like this. She hated him. The guilt she felt, for making him suffer like this - this wasn't real. This was magic, or some kind of gaslighting. It had to be. She kept telling herself this, becoming madder and madder, hoping the anger would wipe out the phony guilt.

Chloe told Nona to let Amber and Dalia know she was home, but that she needed a little while to clean herself up. Hopefully, by the time that was done, she could have it together in front of them.