Astromos: a Demon

When the hood finally falls and the mask is off, you are staring down a demon. Not one of the main ones, thankfully, but you don't doubt that he's here on the behalf of one. Demons rarely come to the surface unless they're summoned or are collecting on a debt. He's not bad looking for one. His features are mostly human, but you do notice a pair of dark black horns on his head. His coat follows his hood and a large pair of raven-like wings emerge. Your instincts scream at you, but they make no sense. One part wants you to submit to him like a bitch in heat, while another wants you to run like your life depends on it. You begin to think that it might.

As if reading your thoughts, the demon laughs. "You have nothing to fear from me kit." he says, "As long as you play nice, you'll walk away from this with your soul intact."

Finding your voice, you bring yourself to speak. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

You find yourself embarrassed by how your voice shakes. Then you think you should be a bit more polite. This demon could kill you if you piss him off. Thankfully, he just smiles at you. "I am Astromos. I am here on the behalf of Aamon."

Aamon? You recognize the name as a demon who has entire legions under his command. If you remember correctly, he's also the demon who represents life and reproduction. You've heard of people, humans and monsters alike, making deals with him to improve their fertility. There's a price to pay, of course, but the demon has been surprisingly relaxed about it. Rumors say he's accepted as little as a gold coin now. Maybe it's to make sure people keep turning to him for help. Or maybe his deals keep him entertained.

Either way, Astromos sees the recognition on your face. "I'm glad to see you recognize the name, though it has gotten quite a bit of popularity recently. Breeding seems to be the name of the game these days."

Your curiosity wells up again. "What does your liege want with me?"

"Well, that depends." he says, eyeing his claws lazily, "Can I depend on your help?"

Again, you tilt your head. "What would you need my help with?"

"Oh, it isn't much really. I just need your help tracking your father is all. He has a debt to repay."

"I don't see how I can help with that. I don't even know his name, much less where he is."

"Dai is truly a sneaky man. Truly does live up to his species' reputation." He pauses here, walking around you. You can see him eyeing you up and down, licking his lips. "But to hide from blood is hard to do. You are all bound to it, even though he hides from his duty to you."

Dai. You finally have a name to your sperm donor. You growl softly. This gets a wide grin from the demon. "Tell me, Takeshi, wouldn't you like to find him? Make him face you? Maybe get the **** you've always wanted?"

The growl gets louder. "Of course I do!" you snap. You had imagined finding him as a child. At first, you imagined that he would take you home and love you like you deserved. But when the truth came out, all you could imagine was ripping him apart. Making him hurt like you did all these years. You had buried it deep within yourself. That hate would never find an outlet... At least, you thought it wouldn't.

"What do I need to do?"

Somehow, Astromos' smile gets wider. His pointed teeth gleam in the flickering light. "I thought you might be interested. You see, your 'father' struggled with getting his husband pregnant. He begged and pleaded with my liege to give him a son. Of course, being oh so generous, he agreed. As long as he paid the price."

You tilt your head, but don't speak. "Your father was supposed to give him one of his tails upon the birth of his first born. Yet, when your brother was born, he refused. He claimed he was too sickly for such a price. There had been no agreement on that, but my liege is kind. He offered to give him a second, one healthy and strong, but it would require not only the first tail, but a tail from the birth father as well."

That makes you blink in surprise. Well, that would make some of your story make sense. Your birth father had mentioned a curse... "But you didn't specify the birth father."

"Of course not. Your father tried to argue it, but my liege stood firm. He was lucky to be getting a second chance at all from Aamon. He eventually took the deal, determined to get a healthy son. Well, he certainly got it."

"But he couldn't accept me without losing his family."

"Should have thought of that before he fucked another kitsune. Crazy, since I thought your kind mate for life. At least with other kitsune. We managed to find your birth father afterwards and claimed that part of the debt, but your father eludes us somehow. We imagine that he made a deal with another demon to hide, but no one is fessing up to that fuck-up. But there is a way to find him... You and the blood in your veins."

You are definitely interested, if not for anything more than to see your father suffer. "And how would that work?"

"My liege suspected something like this would happen. He's developed a tracking spell that would let blood find blood. That's where you come in. You provide the blood and lead the way, we claim the debt owed by your father. Of course, that would lead to a debt owed to you..."

"What kind of debt?"

"Oh, I imagine that Aamon would reward you handsomely for getting him his kitsune tail. We've been watching you Takeshi. We know how **** you are to get out from under the humans' thumbs. We know how **** you are to breed with a lesser being. You help us get what we want and I'm sure Aamon can pull some strings to get you what you want."

"And you swear he won't leave it unpaid?"

"My liege isn't one to break promises. You tell him what you want once we finish and he will deliver."

You know you are going to agree. There's no doubt about that. Even without a debt towards you, you would have helped. But... You still have a question. "Astromos, I have a question before I agree to this."

"Ask away. If I have an answer, you shall receive it."

"This deal my father made... Is that why I look the way I do?"

Astromos smiles again. "Smart boy. My liege poured a bit more demonic magic than he should have into the second deal. The coloring is just the most obvious sign though. I suspect when you finally breed, you'll see other signs as well."

Damn. A deal with a fertility demon probably means you're gonna be super fertile. Possibly it affected your magic too. You've always been a bit more in touch with earth magic than the chaos magic most kitsunes practice. You nod. "I'll help you repay my father's debt."

"A deal then." His hand reaches for yours. A handshake to seal it.

You notice that you are free to move again. Taking his hand, you seal your fate. Fire loops around your hands, tying together like a rope would. "A deal agreed upon. Go home, little kitsune. I'll collect you in the morning."