Who Are You?

Angelica Blaze closed those dark eyes, hiding them from view. A busty waitress, her impressive if saggy breasts buoyed by a corset, took away their empty glasses and replaced them with fresh cocktails. Lois watched as the woman brought the glass up beneath her nose and breathed deep. Then she opened her eyes and they flashed, once, like lightning.

"Before the oceans drank Atlantis, seven gods bound their power into a single mortal. When he invoked their names, he gained their attributes. To the people of the age, with their bronze swords and temples of brick, he was a god incarnate. A hero." She smiled, and sipped her drink. Lois, realizing suddenly she was thirsty, sipped hers as well.

"Yet he was still a man, and prey to the weaknesses of the flesh. A dark spirit cloaked in flesh came to him one night—he slept in a sanctum open to the sky so he could see far, and read the stars—and took her as a temple prostitute, one of the holy whores."

Her gaze grew wistful, a thousand yard stare, and Lois wondered what she was seeing.

"He took her, roughly, as a beast. As a hero. Bent supine beneath him, plunging into her regardless of her little cries and moans, eager to spill his seed, testicles tight with longing...ah, but the Fallen know more of the pleasures of the flesh than men dreamed in those days. He had not meant to hurt her, held back his godly strength, but she moaned and writhed beneath him, speaking her own woman's incantation: More! Harder! Deeper!"

Lois could almost hear the distant echo of those grunts of passion in Blaze's voice.

"As he exerted himself, so she mastered him. He had the stamina and wisdom of a god, but he had...mortal failings. You know how it is with men: the blood only flows in one direction at a time. But the night always ends...and he perceived her true nature. She fled, but had what she had come for: his seed, surrendered willingly into her womb. In time, it bore fruit." Blaze met Lois' gaze. "That demoness was my mother."

Lois set her glass...now empty, she realized, on the table. Gods, demons, heroes...Supermen, aliens, and giant robots she could buy, but this...

Blaze snapped her fingers. A black spark flickered between thumb and forefinger, and Lois watched as her glass slowly refilled itself, white fluid filling up from within, until it threatened to run down the sides. Lois stared, thinking it must be some trick, stage magic, legerdemain...

"I grew to womanhood on the edges of hell, half human, half succubus. Denied by my father, a tool for my mother's plots. Down through the centuries I have played the games of immortals, acquiring power and knowledge, corrupting, seducing men and women. Now...I am here."

The "demoness" finished her own cocktail, then gestured at Lois' overfull glass.

"Drink up dear. Interviewing is thirsty work, and I'm sure you have many questions."

Almost despite herself, Lois grabbed the stem of the glass. She could still taste the last salty sip in her mouth, yet her throat felt dry and parched. It must be the heat in the room, Lois thought, as the reporter lifted the glass carefully, so as not to spill any, and brought it to her lips, sipping it down. It was warm and runny, and she could almost swear it wriggled...