Do not hit her.

Citrinas and I appear in what seemed to be a perfectly cubic room of sleek metal. Lines divided the room into eight equal sections; the lines themselves being thin slits, that held the whirring and clicking of familiar machinery. The same kind of machinery from the Bludbag Arena.

"Nice Domain." I say, leaning against one of the walls.

"I wouldn't do that." Citrinas yanks one of my horns to get me off the wall. "My Domain is filled with complex machinery that could crush every bone in your body if you slipped into it. Now, do you know how to apply your Mark of Submission?"

I think back to when Ariel taught me how to use things like God's Eye, or how to summon a Wriggles. Only then do I realize that damned pretty-boy never taught me how to use the mark. Cursing internally, as I knew I was seconds away from makiing a fool of myself, I kick at the floor lazily.

I begin to speak "Ariel never really..."

"Understood. Edict: Domain."

*blip*

Annoyed, alone, and now quite bored, I walk around the empty, cubic room. If Logic were still in my head, he'd be losing our mind over this place. I peer through one of the wall slits, seeing a bunch of unknown mechanisms whirring away. A dark grey substance moved smoothly through the machinery, leaving it lubricated and cleaned. When it reached the machinery neared to the slit in the wall, it stopped moving.

A red eye formed in the ooze, as well as a mouth. "Oh my gosh, hi!"

"Agh!" I fall right on my ass; rather painful, given the metal floor. "Who the Hells..."

*blip*

Citrinas and Gabbie appear in the Domain, with both looking at me with curiosity, but only the latter finding amusement in me rubbing my tailbone. A flash of golden light accompanies Ariel's arrival, as well as a cacophony of ear-grating laughter. I clasp my hands over my ears as I get back to my feet.

"It wasn't that funny." I cross my arms, glaring at the Martyr God.

"Eh, Kinda was." He walks towards me, clearing his throat, and straightening his back. "Ok, so. Mark of Submission. I wasn't sure about teaching you this one; no offense. It's just that, well... I've had bad experiences with the Mark."

"Cilla's Father?" I ask.

He winces, nods, and then snaps his fingers. "Lets get this over with; you'll need to be touching someone to apply it, and you will have to defeat them in some manner before using it. Combat, Kings and Queens, a debate about ethics, Rock Paper Sword; doesn't matter. They have to lose, and they need to not resist the Mark when you put it on them. Now, the mental Incantation."

"Bound by flesh; lowly position."

"Bound by chain; oldest tradition."

"Bound by my; Mark of Submission."

I repeat the words in my head, focusing in on the beat of my heart. A symbol appears, hovering inches from my fingers; its hue a familiar, sickly green.

"Woah! What the Hells!?" Ariel staggers back. "Why is that your mark!?

Formed by the necrotic energies of my magic was the image of a skull, crossed with two scythes, with the sun and moon in its eye sockets. The symbol felt familiar; more so than anything I had seen in all my time on Ruyanei. Like an old friend, long forgotten.

"Wh-what is it?" I ask in a whisper, mesmerized by the symbol.

Ariel was silent; just staring at the mark as if it were a venomous snake. Gabbie, too, seemed shocked, inching away even farther from where she was. It was only Citrinas who seemed to be anything other than frightened. She approached with newfound curiosity, her eyes wide; the long red tips of her gloves flailing oddly.

"The Sigil of ****? Odd." She says, looking intently at the Mark. "I didn't take you for a ****-Worshipper, Monster."

"I'm not..." The Mark vanishes, but I continue to stare at where it was in the air. "Why is my Mark his sigil, Ariel?"

"Hey, don't look at me!" The deity throws his hands in the air. "Those Marks form based off the user, not the God that grants them."

My fists clench tight; I sigh, resigning myself to whatever insanity this must mean. "Whatever. Let's just get this over with. I want to get back on the road... where things make sense."

"Fantastic." Citrinas claps her hands twice, and a loud click is heard throughout the odd cubic room.

The floor splits underneath me, forcing me to quickly hop towards the others as the room begins to move. The sounds of machinery are deafening as I land beside them, looking up at the astounding display unfolding before me. The other half of the room is taken apart, piece by piece; each piece being swiftly replaced with a new, less metallic structure. It somewhat reminded me of the toy building blocks that the children in the Bounty Runacathy would play with. Once every piece was in place, a nearly-invisible barrier shuddered into existance between us, and the new half of the room.

The other room-half was a moderately furnished bedroom, bathing room, and dining area; all in one. The furnishings were simple, if a little uncomfortable. The room itself was seemingly made of simple wood, with a cheap varnish. The bed was the one thing that seemed comfortable, but that had something else ruining it. Seated on that bed was that horrid monster... Haligcarnassus. Oddly, she was more modestly dressed than I had ever seen her; besides her time disguised as Tomoko. A plain, long-sleeve orange shirt, hanging loosely off her body, with a matching pair of loose pants. The contrast between the new attire and her red-ish pink hair was like seeing a fire in a pumpkin patch.

The creature turns, seeing our arrival, and smiles. "Oh me oh my~"

She stands from her bed, stalking up to the barrier; pressing against it, chest first. "Who must I thank for bringing me my most notable lay?"

Citrinas presses her hand to the barrier. "Step away from the barrier, or I will turn your eyes into worms. Again."

The demi-god quickly backed away, glaring at the Chosen in both fury and fear. A sadistic smile crosses my face at the idea of this horrible thing being put in pain. All I could think of when I looked at her...

The Arena, with Zana being pinned down. The alleyway where I learned of her trickery.

Lily.

"I'm here to mark you." I drag my clawed fingertips across the barrier, across from where she was standing. "Then, hopefully, I will never see you again."

"Ooo, what kind of mark?" The high-succubus puts a finger to her lips, poorly act as an innocent girl; then rolling her eyes as she crosses her arms. "I will resist a Mark of Submission; so unless you've brought some chocolate and roses, we'll be here for a while."

Citrinas looks to me, then to Gabbie and Ariel; I could see her quickly putting together a plan, then, just as quickly, executing it. "I see. Edict: Domain."

*blip*

With that, Gabbie and Ariel vanish from the Domain in an instant; the Chosen pulling her odd gloves from her hands. "What sort of perverse desire do you have, Prisoner?"

I stare at Citrinas in disbelief. "What!? We're just going to start giving her treats!?"

"**** didn't work; trust me, I've tried." Citrinas claps her hands twice, and the split room of the Domain splits once more.

The Chosen hops down into the machinery as the rooms drift apart; landing on a platform that was slowly rising from within the unknown machinations. She beckons me down to her platform as a piece of flooring beneath me is pulled apart by the Domain. Regaining my footing, I hop down to the platform, only to miss by a few inches. Before I fall into the ever grinding gears of the Domain, a smooth, silky, and slimy thing wraps around me; pulling me up to the platform.

My eyes go wide as I see the pale, purple-pink tendrils shrinking away, back into the fingers of Citrinas.

"What the Hells?" I rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

She glares at me, showing the first real bit of emotion I had ever seen from the woman; anger, and fear. "Usually, saving someone's life results in them saying 'thank you', and not asking questions."

I give a sly smile. "Or asking to be impregnated by someone they just met?"

Citrinas remains silent, her strange fingers reforming fully as the tendrils shrink away. The platform continues to slowly rise as the new other-half of the room is constructed; seemingly a much better fit for it's new pair, as it had the same style of glossy wood for the floor, walls, and ceiling. Slots in the walls spat out furnishings, as well as a huge wad of familiar grey goo. The ooze rose to form the body of a woman, with red markings forming over her nude form; acting like fake clothing, or body-paint. A Bioferric; like the ones I had seen so long ago during my first meeting with the Twins. She was shapely, but short; around Cilla's height, with only a single, huge, red eye, centered between where two usually rested.

"Oh my gosh, Hi again weird guy!" The metalic ooze girl waved over to me with one hand; the other stretching around the room, setting the furnishings perfectly in place. "Hi Mistress! Hi Prisoner!"

"Hi, Io." Citrinas says, waving back; she nudges my side with an elbow and whispering. "Say hi back."

"Uh, hi Io." I wave half-heartedly; confused by the whole situation.

The Metal-Slime Girl smiles wide, and turns back to her work; with pieces of furniture now popping out of the slots in the wall. Her mass spread out like a wave, quickly setting everything perfectly in place. When she was finished, she slipped back into the machinery, waving goodbye as she did so. Much to my concern, a king-sized bed was included in the new room; less concerning was the dining table for two, the bookshelf stocked with what seemed to be stories of a... less than wholesome nature, and a mysterious chest, off in the corner. Citrinas steps off the platform and into the new room; I follow quickly, with the platform we had been standing on then swiftly dissasembling itself, and shrinking away into the machinery. The two halves then slot back together, forming a whole that could believably be considered a room.

Citrinas looks to her prisoner, flexing her fingers as she spoke. "Edict: Contract."

A piece of floating parchment appeared before Haligcarnassus, who smiled gleefully as she read the words; her joy infuriated me. She glides her thumb across the bottom of the page, a dollop of red staining right through. The paperwork then ignites, the ashes swirling around the prisoner's room as she paced side-to-side against the barrier.

She speaks aloud, but not to herself, nor to Citrinas; but to me. "One question; one request. One request; one answer. No half truths, no misleading, and no escaping... but, if I answer too few questions, I'm beaten to a pulp by a very angry little man, and Marked. But, if I answer enough questions..."

Haligcarnassus smiles as she looks directly at me, licking her lips; my jaw aches as I grind my teeth together.

"I'm free to go; and without a Mark, too. Oh. What. Fun!"