Chapter 43

Chapter 43

CHAPTER 1/2

Camilla watched the pair walk into the club. She was perched on a stool at the bar while she scanned the duo.

The woman was Elizabeth, preferred name Liz. She was tall for her reported age, but Camilla supposed that was normal enough. Especially with Tier 15 parents having perfect genetics to pass down. Her flame-red hair suggested a fire beast in her ancestry. Considering who called her niece, that wasn't surprising. The eyes were a bright yellow that had a sharpness to them. It reminded her of a bird.

She was stunning. Camilla tore her eyes away and focused on the person next to her.

The boy.

Camilla shuddered, but controlled the reaction. Instead she threw out a smile.

The boy was Matthew, preferred name Matt. He was tall, and surveyed the room with lustful eyes. He had sandy blond hair, and green eyes that she wanted to dig out with a rusty spoon.

She knew his type. Oh, she definitely knew his type.

When he looked in her direction, Camilla smiled at him. He returned it, and she wanted to vomit.

She braced herself. If she wanted out, she needed to put up with this for a single night.

Camilla would much rather choose Liz, as she was much more her type. She even caught her eyeing her up while she was observing the pair. It would be easy, and might even be fun. But the boy was an easier target.

Matt weaved through the crowd towards her position at the bar.

Camilla considered him, and resisted the urge to claw out his eyes.

They were so green.

Just like

***

Camilla was the daughter of a pleasure house. Seven generations had worked in the establishment, and two of them were fortunate enough to catch the attention of someone strong. Strong enough that they were escorted to Tier 14.

One had even made it to Tier 15.

Camilla had mostly helped around the house, doing what the AI-controlled golems couldn't do. Mostly, she dealt with escorting people to and from rooms, or provided pleasant company to those that waited.

She was a cute young lady, with long, dark hair that contrasted well with her pale skin and silver eyes.

When she came of age, she was awakened, and allowed to start taking on work. She was excited. She could start making her own money.

Camilla was a simple woman. Her Tier 1 Talent even gave her special options that she found fitting for her line of work.

Tier 1 Talent: Any Pain is converted to pleasure.

It was a detrimental Talent, but with her new AI, Camilla didn't mind it. She just needed to be careful that she didn't let wounds linger.

She was able to accommodate a whole new branch of clients. Clients that paid much better than average. The Talent came with some problems, and odd sensations. Pain had flavors, and so did her new pleasure sense.

It took time to adjust to, but soon she was proficient enough to differentiate between pain pleasure and normal pleasure.

Her next year was entirely spent working. She even entertained a Tier 4 who was willing to protect her while delving, and give her all of the essence in a Tier 2 rift. Camilla was able to advance quite a bit in those few months of delving a Tier above her own.

She was happy then, and learned a lot about herself and her own preferences. One was her very strong preference for female clients over male ones. Soft over hard.

Everything came to a head when Duke Cumulus found her.

She was invited back to the Duke's manor by a retainer, and after spending an evening with him, she had caught the Duke's eye.

Camilla wasn't even aware of what happened until she returned home for the evening. When she arrived, she had barely had time to freshen up before the madam called her down.

She had a VIP waiting for her. She was shocked. VIPs were all Tier 15's or higher. Camilla had never entertained anyone higher than a Tier 4. She was young and weak. The madam kept their partners within a Tier or two to prevent any harm to the workers under her care.

But VIPs got more leeway.

When she arrived, she found the man waiting for her, and she instantly recognized him. This was his capital world for the duchy, after all. This was also one of only four cities with teleport pads. The city was prosperous enough for the man to visit with his flying island once a year or so.

He was polite, at least when she first met him. He didn't even invite her to a room, but simply talked to her. The Duke exuded charm. His golden blond hair and emerald green eyes seemed like they were trying to draw her into their depths.

Camilla wasn't naive enough to believe anything good would come of it, but when he left without incident, she put it to the back of her mind.

The next few days, she was tense, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. Within a week, she went back to her normal life. After three weeks, since the Duke had been gone for a while, she forgot about the entire incident.

Camilla was walking through a lower Tier, open-air market, when her body suddenly locked up, and her limbs started moving independently. It was like hands were controlling her, as if she was a puppet. She panicked for a while, but when she couldn't call out, and she started walking to a more secluded corner, she tried to use her AI to call for help.

To her horror, she found it unable to reach out. Something was blocking her outgoing connection.

That's when her panic escalated. She was trapped in her own body, and nothing she did had any reaction.

Camilla watched as she nodded, and even waved to her usual chatting partners. They seemed unable to notice anything off about her, even though Camilla was screaming internally that she needed their help.

She passed behind and in between an awning and a leaning temporary seller's stall. With mounting dread, she found her vision going dark while a rough cloth was shoved over her head.

Her ears stung as the opening of the sack had to stretch around her hair. The opening of the bag snapped snug around her throat, and Camilla found she had control over her body again. She tried to take a deep breath to scream and flail, but the bag cinched tight, and choked her until she saw dots in the dark bag.

Whatever had controlled her body had dissipated, but her muscles slackened and became unresponsive to anything but the slowest movements.

Camilla forced herself to remain calm, and tried to listen to her surroundings. But all she could hear was her own breaths swirling around the bag, and her heartbeat thumping heavy pumps of blood.

She was only able to count the passage of time with her mostly useless AI. She was forced into a smaller container, where she couldnt stretch out at all, and was forced into half-crouch. Even then, she was unable to properly control her body, and was slumped into an uncomfortable position.

The minutes ticked by, and Camilla watched as seven hours passed. They were the longest hours of her life. She was unable to hear, but could feel sounds and vibrations on her skin.

It was her only solace and company while she watched each second tick by. Tears and snot had long since dried on Camilla's face, and the pleasure of her legs cramping was adding more stress to her situation.

Camilla wanted to scream, but the mask forced her voice down.

When the bag was ripped off, the first thing she saw was a flash of a bright light, and shining green eyes.

Duke Cumulus.

"What..."

She was cut off with a backhand that shattered her jaw. It sent a wave of pleasure like she had never experienced before. The Duke's hand glowed, and the relief joined the diminishing pleasure from her jaw as she spat out blood.

"Ahh, my newest little whore." The Duke's cultured voice cut through her pleasure fogged mind.

This time, he gently caressed her face with the same hand that had broken it, and healed her.

Camilla tried to back away from the box she was in to keep her from retreating.

She didn't speak. She wasn't stupid, and wasn't going to give him the excuse of her speaking out of line.

Her AI may have been out of commission, but that didn't mean her brain was.

The Duke stood up, and tipped her out of the box with a foot. The relief of her legs finally being able to stretch was an added pleasure to her other converted aches and pains.

She found herself in a stone room that appeared to be what she could only describe as a torture room. It was almost familiar to her. They had a similar setup in the house. They had AI control so no one could get stuck, but she doubted that these would have such a feature.

The Tier 35 gave her time to survey her surroundings.

There was a translucent wall that let her see into a second room, separated by what she could only guess was a runic barrier.

"Do you like your new home?"

Camilla did not respond, and was kicked into the heavy wooden table. Her hip was shattered, and she couldn't feel her left leg.

With her broken body bent over the table, she saw a girl with golden hair look at her from the neighboring cell. Her eyes were so dull, that if the girl wasn't rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped around her chest, Camilla would have thought she was dead.

She had given up.

Is that what my future is?

When the healing energy washed through her and stopped the pleasure, Camilla's head was jerked back by the hair.

She was bent in an angle that would have broken something if she hadn't trained her body for flexibility.

"When I speak to you... You. Will. Answer. Do you understand?"

Camilla croaked out, "Yes."

He smashed his lips to hers, and Camilla learned what true horrors awaited her.

***

The next two weeks were awful. She was sure the Duke was enjoying his new play toy, because he spent every moment he had free in her cell. He told her that he wanted to learn about her odd Talent. He took utter delight in breaking her body, and watching her Talent turn what should have been debilitating pain into pleasure that sent her body into shudders.

She tried to talk to the woman next to her, but she ignored any attempt at communication. The girl even went as far as hiding behind her own torture table if Camilla persisted.

Now it's up to him. Is he as good as they say?

Camilla didn't dare to hope, but she had been raised on tales of this man's exploits and heroism. He protected the Empire. Would he protect her?

His face went as cold as his namesake, and they rocketed up.

Camilla wanted to weep. She had bet, and once again been wrong. He was going to return her. Maybe he'd even join in.

The thought made her shudder.

That was, until the Tier 31 next to her waved a hand, and a tidal wave that covered the sky crashed into Duke Cumulus's floating island. Camilla didn't expect anything to come of it. Duke Cumulus had boasted about how strong the defenses of his island were when he was pressing upon her the hopelessness of her situation, after his wife's sick gambit.

Contrary to her expectations, the wave popped the shield, and never even slowed down. In less time than a heartbeat, the island was gone.

Horror racked through her. How many did he kill in that attack? She didn't care about anyone, but the other four women that she knew were in the dungeon.

Once again, proving her wrong, people began surfacing, floating in a sea that was now hovering in the air. People were all that remained. All the stone and any other material that wasn't alive was simply gone.

Camilla saw four other women being pulled near them, and noticed the familiar collars on their necks. She only recognized one of them, but could guess who the others were.

Duke Waters made all the water vanish with a wave, and with its disappearance, all the people were gone.

She expected movement, but the man was still for a moment. Then, he looked up at a smaller floating island. With a roar that distorted reality, he called out, "CUMULUS!"

As the scream vibrated through the air, she would have sworn that she was miles below the water. It only lasted a moment, and suddenly they were moving so fast that the world burned. But their target was steady as they approached.

As they approached the smallest island, she expected the enraged Duke to fly equal with it and enter. Instead, he simply pointed a finger, and a jet of water cut a hole in the island.

They flew through it, and when they entered, she looked up and saw a large hall. They were surrounded by dozens of men and women that put pressure on her spirit just from being in their presence. The Tier 3 thought that she was going to suffocate, before the air shimmered around her.

She saw Duke Cumulus and his wife standing there, watching her and the man next to her.

She wanted to laugh. The horror on their faces didn't make up for even a thousandth of the torment they inflicted on her, but it felt good to see.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large wall mirror, and found that her face was covered with a water mask that was ink black.

Duke Waters glared at the two, and before he could say anything, one of the other men called out, "What are you doing? This is an official meeting! You can break in here. And did you break Duke Cumulus' island?"

The man next to her didn't look at the speaker, and just said, "Duke Cumulus and his wife are guilty of kidnapping and torture. All compounded on doing this on a person weaker than themselves."

The two guilty parties turned in different directions and tried to run, but Duke Waters caught them in shimmering distortions in the air. They clutched at their throats, as if they were drowning, but they were over Tier 15. They didn't need to breathe.

Camilla glanced at the Duke next to her and shuffled closer, everyone was looking at her, and he was her only protector.

The same man from before called for Duke Waters to stop. After the man stepped forward, Duke Waters finally took his eyes off the pair who hurt her. His head was the only thing that moved, and whatever look he gave the speaker made them step back twice.

With a flick, the ruined table had an image flicker over it. There were images of the torture that Duke Cumulus had performed on her and her neighbor. Their faces were blurred out when they were visible.

Camilla didn't want or need to watch. She had lived through this once, after all.

The same man didn't want to back down and said, "This could all be a fabrication..."

He did not get any more out, as the Duke slashed out in the middle of his sentence. A crescent of water flew out and cut the man in half.

Duke Waters gestured, and brought the man forward and clutched his head. "Worry not Duke Osculation, I'll be checking your island next."

The half of a man disappeared, and Duke Waters looked around with eyes that screamed to Camilla of a tidal wave that could wash away the cities along the rift-free coast.

She saw the fear in all of the remaining faces. She wanted this power. If she could do this, she would never have to worry about someone snatching her off the street again.

His voice crashed out, and imprinted images of a tide breaking down cliffs. "I'll be inspecting everyone's islands before we leave. And I'll ensure that the Emperor does a thorough check of your lands."

With the gesture of a single finger, her two tormentors, who were still gasping in the air, were brought over to stand in front of her.

A second later, the other four were there as well, with matching masks of dark water.

Duke Waters turned to the five of them. "I leave it up to you. Their crimes constitute death a million times over, but we can cripple their cultivation instead. Well force them to break down and recreate asteroids for the next few million years, if that's what any of you wish."

The other girls just cowered, and all the eyes came to rest on Camilla, who was the only one not trying to hide.

Before she could do more than open her mouth Duke Cumulus said, "You enj..."

Before he could finish the statement she was sure would haunt her dreams, Duke Water's large hand lashed out and hit the man so hard, his jaw flew off and hit the wall. Clearly, he had watched the first part of her recording.

Camilla smiled for the first time in years.

"I'd love to have them suffer, but I don't trust them to not escape or something. Kill them." She looked to her savior, "Can you make it hurt?"

Where she expected a cruel smile to match her own, she saw just calm eyes, like a pond waiting for someone to jump in and enjoy a nice spring day.

Would he deny her request?

Then, the choking started to increase in sound, and Camilla watched the two drown in the air. For all the power they tormented her with they floundered like fish and not the Tier 35s they were.

It was everything she had ever dreamed of.

She looked to her savior. She wanted to be like him.

Camilla needed power.

***

Snapping herself out of it, she smiled at the boy approaching her. She almost wished she had taken the selective memory wipe that the other four had taken. At least then, she wouldnt see that monster in this boys face.

Duke Waters had asked her to join his niece and her partner.

She had begged not to, but after all her therapy and healing, the Duke still thought that she needed to be with people.

He had taken the time to train her, along with his wife, Medea. She was the scariest Leviathan she had ever seen, but she also was a kind woman who gave great hugs.

They had rebuilt her.

The strength Camilla had cultivated had fractured when she learned that the house of pleasure she was born, raised, and worked in had been destroyed. There were no survivors.

All to cover Duke Cumulus tracks.

But, Duke Waters had not ordered her to come with him. They both knew she would do anything he asked of her. But joining a team... She didn't know. The fact that it was with someone who looked far too much like her abuser was more than she could accept.

So she struck a deal.

Duke Waters could vouch for his niece, and Camilla would never question him. But he didn't know the boy. If she proved that he was a monster like Cumulus, Duke Waters had agreed that she wouldn't have to join them. He would relent, and agree to let her set out on her own.

Camilla already had it all planned out. The pair's itineraries said that they would be leaving in two days. But after tonight, she would be off the planet.

She just needed to nudge things along.

The boy, Matt, she corrected herself, approached with lust and evil intentions in his eyes. He tried to hide it with a relaxed smile, but she could see it.

She played her part well, pretending to be interested, and when he invited Camilla back to his room, she knew she had her ticket out.

They were in a temporary hotel that rented out by the night.

How classy.

Camilla sneered at how cheap this idiot was.

She pushed into him, and after they fell to the bed and their kissing became more passionate, she waited for his hand to start creeping down to her ass.

When he had a good handle, she sprung her trap. She could feel that this was the time.

With her best simpering voice that she had practiced for clients in a previous life, she said, "I don't think I want to do anything."

She knew what would come next, the begging, the excuses, the pressure. She would give in and let him take what he wanted. Then she would be free to leave.

The hand on her ass removed itself. She expected it to move, and for more force to be applied. He, like Cumulus, would take what he wanted. A part of her wondered if he was a bastard of the monsters in human form.

Instead, Matt rolled onto his back, saying, "That's fine. Do you want me to walk you back to your room? I'm not sure where youre staying, though. I can leave you here and leave the room if you want. It's already paid for too, if youre worried about that."

Camilla froze, not knowing what to do. This wasn't how he was supposed to act.

He was supposed to act like a client that didn't get his way, or a beast who took what they wanted.

Maybe he's faking?

The thought bolstered her, and she tried to give him a second chance to take her by snuggling into him.

He didn't do anything, and while he had an arm wrapped around her as she was laying on it, his hands didn't wander.

A few moments later she heard a light snore. She poked him, and after scrutinizing his face determined that he really was asleep.

Well, Fuck. What do I do now?