The room - and the Puppet - returns to normal as soon as Nathaniel does.
"It has not passed, but please remember that I value polite items. You would do well to learn that." the Puppet replies.
With a snap of her fingers, the pentacle's barrier dissipates; the runes are now covered by what used to be the barrier holding the demon lord.
"Now, would you like me to tell you what my plans are for summoning you here, in full?"
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Nathaniel sat up, looking around the room, passing a glare at the Puppet. His wings had disappeared, leaving two unbuttoned holes in his clothing. This revealed nasty scars along his back. He gave the Puppet a happy giggle. "Polite items? Sure, I can try to learn niceness, but you should know that would never happen." The king reached behind his back, trying to loop the buttons around a string. He failed in closing up the fabrics and sighted them, leaving holes in his clothing. "Are you letting me wonder?" Nathaniel raised an eyebrow, standing quickly from the excitement freedom gave him. "Oh, please, tell me why I summon here. You don't summon the devil and keep him waiting."
"At least try to attempt an attempt at kindness." the Puppet sighs.
"Why not. Just don't touch anything, Nathaniel. I'd hate to have to clean it." she replies.
"Hmmm. . . and yet, I did. But that's beside the point. My name is the Puppet. I am a. . . scientist, of sorts. I specialize in death, in particular, and pain. I am a renowned blood sorceress, and my goals for this world are a bit. . . complicated. It involves both our blood. The little experiment I conducted when I first summoned you here shows satisfactory results; our blood mixes well together. To summarize my plans, I plan on turning this world into a sort of. . . laboratory. A. . . mold culture, would be the best way to describe it. You see, our blood combined, when introduced into a human host, seems to have the affect of turning things. . . liquid, then solidifying them in their new forms after a time. We'll capture a human subject to prove my theory and get the ratios right, but in the end, this place will be an infestation of mutilated life. I plan on altering the plants and the earth itself as well." she explains, her form melting into the one she had when she'd first summoned the demon king.
Nathaniel examined his nails, noticing each minute detail. He shrugged, glancing at the monster with a pernicious smile. "I can attempt kindness. But don't be surprised when that attempt goes wrong." He fiddled with the buttons on his back, finally looping the closed. "I can clean my messes. Don't worry, my dear amalgam, if things go missing. I do like to rearrange things and places." He giggled, listening to the Puppet as she rambles on. He hadn't removed himself from his spot on the floor. The king seemed disinterested until blood popped up in the plan. He lifted his head, interest piqued. "I see. Our blood mixing seems quite odd to me. But I can subject humans to terrible experiments. That is something I am well adequate with." He stretched, getting to his feet quickly. "I must see this– mutilated life you speak of. I don't hand over my blood so quickly. It's quite special."
The Puppet mutters something or other in a strange, clicking language, though the meaning was quite clear.
"*Please, do not. I summoned you here, I would hate to kill you and have to summon you all over again." she sighs.
"Indeed, it is quite odd. But as I know everything there is to know about blood, I can probably take a guess as to why such a reaction between our blood occurs. Either way, this world shall be converted to. . . what's the word in this language? 'Sameness?' That seems right. But I digress." the Puppet chuckles.
The Puppet gives Nathaniel the illusion of a smile, as she no longer has lips.
"Follow me then, and please do not throw up. I hate it when people throw up. Such a tiresome body function."
Nathaniel sighs, nodding his head as if he was going to follow her word. Don't do something? HA, that's an incentive. Telling Nathaniel not to do something would spike the opposite. He stepped outside the pentacle, closer to the Puppet. It was a bit too close for him, so he back away a few steps. Looking around at his surroundings, a sinister smile crept upon his face, twisting his facial scars and revealing his fangs. "I would like to hear about your guess. I am curious myself. You and I are not very similar, are we?" Nathaniel trailed after the Puppet, rolling his wrist until it clicked. "That word would be uniformity. So, If we take vials of our blood and mix it, it will melt a person?" The devil's voice echoed his interest. "Why would I throw up? I have seen many things, smelt burning flesh, but have not thrown up.”
"My guess is that since I have a more divine ichor than you, despite all of its impurities, your purely demonic blood sparks a change in the composition in my blood. As a result, both of our blood starts to break down and rearrange, creating a new genetic makeup and a new creature's blood. By introducing this to a human host, the combo mix of divine and demonic blood easily overpowers the blood in the human, completely dissolving it into itself and creating a slightly different genetic makeup. This in turn turns the human into a liquid, which shifts for a while before turning solid again, an entirely different, soulless entity." the Puppet hypothesizes.
"It is an experience to simply look at it and try to make sense of it." she says mysteriously, heading towards the back of the dimly lit lab.
Nathaniel looked around, examining the finer details of the place. He had seen worse, so this place did not strike strange. "Divine ichor? I would not think that by looking at you. But my blood has been known to change compositions in DNA and bodily compounds. I'm not surprised." He shrugged, following the creature attentively. "Three entirely different sources of DNA clash and breaks down all DNA of the humans. Interesting. It intrigues me that our DNA mixes so well, it makes me wonder about other instances. It is like the opposite of water and oil. I wish to experiment with it further." Nathaniel stared into the dim area, wondering what was hiding in the shadow. "I am sure it is."
"Most people don't believe it, but I am a divine being of sorts. Merely an immortalised demigod, an apprentice to the Ancients. No more powerful than any of the younger gods. And as for your blood, that's precisely what I had assumed." the Puppet nods.
"Indeed." she chuckles.
A moment's pause, and then an amused silence as the light brightens.
A latticework of scarlet, tan and crimson flesh is revealed behind a glass sheet, ribbons of flesh dangling, bones protruding here and there, almost like some macabre sculpture of flesh.
But the worst part is the noise: a horrible, squelching moan, constant and loud and unceasing, coming from a hole in the structure, where millions of flat teeth rested at odd angles.
"This is roughly my goal for the world. Every creature and plant, and even the earth, will become one, towering structures of flesh and bone, waterfalls and rivers of blood and brain matter. A very delightful concept, a temple dedicated to the Flesh." she says, turning to look at Nathaniel curiously.
"You shall help fuel my domination of Heaven and Earth. In return, I shall leave Hell untouched. And as a fun little reminder of our deal, I'll even give you one of the poor souls as a pet."
“A divine being? That is strange to me. I have never met a divine being such as yourself. But now I want to experiment with you. You pique my curiosity.” Nathaniel glanced around the lab. The flesh behind that glass sheet caught his eyes. Such a monstrous sight of carefully placed flesh and dismembered teeth. His gaze flicked from the flesh to the Puppet and back to the flesh. He now realized whom he was working with. A creature way out of his league. “It is a peculiar fantasy I must say. Everything will be a mutilation of its own. Cells thrown about causing reconstruction.” Nathaniel stared at the Puppet, his emotions unclear. “Oh, how sweet of you. I want complete domination of Heaven and Earth, but as a reminder of our deal, I want you as a pet.” He smiled, festering to his wrists. Nathaniel pulled his sleeve up, the muscles pulsing. “Take what you need.”
"There is no one like me, so that makes perfect sense. As for experimentation upon my person. . . that depends on what you have in mind. Pain is pleasure for me." the Puppet explains.
"It won't be a fantasy for long." she says, implicating a smile in her words.
"Hm. We split domination 60/40. I get 60 percent of the earth and 40 percent of heaven. The remainder goes to you. And as for me being a pet, nobody can control me. Trust me, people have tried." she counters.
The Puppet shakes her head slightly, laughing.
"Your clothes from the waist up will need to come off entirely." she explains.
Nathaniel raised an eyebrow, the muscles in his face twitching. “I just want to experiment with your blood. That is all. Nothing more, nothing less.” He quirked a smile, letting it linger before it disappeared. “Oh I know, but for now, it is. Only just while we wait, I shall call it that.” Nathaniel shifted his weight slowly, putting all of it upon one side of his body. He wrapped an arm around his middle, putting a palm to his cheek. It made him look sweet, but he clicked his tongue and the king’s eyes grew with a mischievous glare. “I suppose that’s fair. I don’t want much of Earth anyway, it is a horrible domain.” A smile parted his lips. “You haven’t seen me try.” Nathaniel had rolled up the sleeve to his Royal outfit. A confused look caught in his eyes and his hands went to the buttons on his vest. He unbuttoned one before pausing. “Is this necessary?”
"Mm-hmmmm. . . there are only a few ways to get my blood. And all of them are rather. . . *pleasurable." the Puppet replies.
"Hm. Very fair, I suppose." she shrugs.
"I have an idea for my 60 perecnt anyways. . . a way of torture. Leaving a 3 mile square of land uninfested, leave two people of opposite genders in that area, and see how long it takes for them to break." she chuckles.
"I've seen people far greater than you try and fail. Though, you might stand slightly more of a chance, from a physical standpoint." the Puppet giggles, a broken sound.
"Hmmmm. . . yes. It makes it easier for me to extract blood from you in a great ammount." she nods.
Nathaniel glanced around, a strange look on his face. He carefully unbuttoned the vest. "Errr, no. I am not seeking to give that to you. At least not at this very moment. Maybe after our domination is finished." He shouldered his tail coat and vest off. He fiddled with the cravat, slowly untying the knot. "That is a very twisted plan of yours. A very interesting experiment indeed. Although, I don't really want any slice of Earth. I am after the heavens." The king undid his cravat, placing it in the pile with his vest and coat. He was left in his dress shirt. He started to unbutton the buttons, small and large scars being revealed. "Physical, maybe. Psychological… I don't think it is possible for me to do it that way. Your mind seems… unbreachable." Nathaniel shouldered off his dress shirt. His chest was littered with scars, some extending from his shoulder to his stomach. Embarrassment took over his face. He hoped this wasn't for any other ideas.
"Oh, I meant in the way that they cause me extreme pain, as the all involve chopping bits of me off. There's no real way to get my blood otherwise." the Puppet explains.
"Twisted is exactly what I am, Nathaniel. As for the division of the heavens, I should go with 80/20 then. I get twenty percent of heaven, you get eighty percent of it." she compromises.
"Hmmm. . . you would be correct in regards to my mind." she agrees, a fraction of her mind opening up, a vast ammount of knowledge leaking through, even though there's just the tiniest crack in her mental walls.
The Puppet examines Nathaniel with an air of fascination.
"It's been a while since I've seen a humanoid figure this bare without plans to torture them." she says thoughtfully, one hand twisting in a curious motion.
Long lacerations open up all along Nathaniel's torso, abdomen, shoulders and arms, blood curling and flowing through the air and into a tank that kinda just appears.
Nathaniel nodded his head, feeling the cold lap upon his bare skin. He hadn't exactly been half-way undressed in front of someone before. Well, not in a while, that is. "Again, we can save that for after world domination. I do not wish to cut off pieces of you at this very moment." Once again, he felt like a dog on display, a keen eye glazing over his muscles, scars, clavicles, and general figure. "I do like that. Eighty percent of the heavens to do what I please. I need to expand my kingdom." The king glances away from the Puppet. He didn't like this. Her fascination with his bare torso bothered him, but that was soon forgotten. Stings erupted all over his bare half, and his face twisted into a grimace. "I do not enjoy the cutting of my flesh. It stings." Nathaniel watched the blood flow, rolling his eyes.
"Fair enough." the Puppet aqcuises.
"How far, exactly? Because depending on the answer, I can simply lend you my aid for longer." she questions.
"It's the only way to draw blood from you easily, demon lord. Would you rather me use a sedative and have you sleep through the process with no way of telling if I've done anything to you?" the Puppet snorts.
A short pause after she says that.
"Actually, one thing. Did I ever tell you my name?" she inquires.
Nathaniel winced, laughing through the pain. His muscles twitched and stared into the Puppet’s eye. “I’m not sure how far. It just depends on how much I’m destroying to rebuild. I would prefer many domains to be mine, but the heavens in particular.” He giggled, keeping himself still as the Puppet stole blood from him. The king could feel his body become exhausted from the amount being taken. He hadn’t felt exhausted in a very long time. “I know it is. I don’t mind compared to other options. I would not want to sleep while you do something strange to me.” He picked up on the pause. “Didn’t you say it was the Puppet? Something strange like that.” The king had one burning question. Something that popped in his mind since he found out the two bloods mixed. A dastardly smile crept on his face, hold his head high. Nathaniel’s eyes reflected his own plan. “Are we making an overpowered race born of demonic and divine blood? Something gods, hell, even angels and demons would fear. Something that is the most illegal hybrid? But our human “friends” are only the meat suits we need to create it?”
"Hm. Then I shall accompany you for a bit. Experimental reasons." the Puppet chuckles.
"That's what I thought." she nods.
"Mm-hmmm. And you draw no connections between the title and the divine status?" the Puppet asks.
A short, amused pause.
"You are a lot smarter than I thought." she says in reply.
Nathaniel frowned. The Puppet was starting to annoy him. He wanted the creature to seal up the wounds she had created on his body. The king was getting tired standing around while blood leaked out of the wounds. He took a deep breath and a growl could be heard, harmoniously syncing with the hums of his hell. Nathaniel started to take slow, deliberate steps forward, closing the distance between him and the Puppet. "You shall not accompany me anywhere after this. Once our deal is over, our partnership is over. I don't need you squandering my time due to "experimental reasons". I can easily keep you out of my boarders." Nathaniel's eyes were rounded with exhaustion and flickered between blue and red. "No, your name doesn't mean much to me. I don't particularly care." A snarl assumed his face. "I am smarter than many think. I do not bathe in stupidity. Now, I think you've got enough blood, don't you think?"
"I doubt your time will be 'squandered,' demon king. After all, why should your time be 'squandered' when I am quite willing to let you experiment?" the Puppet shrugs, not flinching away from the annoyed demon king.
"Hm. Well, mention it to any of the demon lords that still exist. I'm sure they'll have much to tell you of what I used to be." she chuckles.
"No, you merely wallow in it." she replies, the flow of blood from Nathaniel halting, the wounds closing roughly.
Nathaniel snarled and moved closer to the Puppet. He was starting to get pissed, and when he got pissed, bad things happened. "Because you're a fucking nuisance. You would find ways to divert my attention. You must sit still and look pretty if you want to follow. Allow me to rule my region without butt ins.” He exhaled heavily and huffed. Nathaniel rolled his eyes, making his irritation crystal clear. " Why not just tell me who you were before? Compared to consulting those morons, it would be simpler. Left to right cannot be determined by them. Their minds have decayed." The king pointed a finger to his head and twirled it around. "I don't wallow, my dear monster." Despite his flesh reforming in a jagged pattern, Nathaniel did not flinch. His lip rose and his clenched teeth could be seen as the left side of his face jerked. He leaned over to collect his clothes, fiddling with the dress shirt. To conceal his exposed, scarred chest, he slid it over his shoulders and started to button it. "Now, what do you plan on doing with my blood now? I sacrificed a lot for you." He stumbled slightly. "You better fetch a human before I kill them all in a murderous rage."
The Puppet freezes, then a clicking growl resonates through the room.
"Sit still. . . and look pretty." she repeats.
"Because I'm enjoying playing with you." she says simply.
"If you say so, my dear king." the Puppet snarks.
Nathaniel continued to button up his shirt. He slipped on his vest, adjusted the fabric, and buttoned it up. He retied the cravat around his neck. “Yeah. Sit still and look pretty. I think you can do that, can’t you?” The king’s ear twitched and gave the Puppet a disappointed glare. “Don’t growl at me. You know the validity of my statement.” He pulled on his tailcoat. “Oh, but I am not enjoying it myself. It needs to be enjoyable for both parties to be applicable. Other than that, it is an annoyance for the other. Don’t you think?” With the flick of his hand, a scythe appeared. It had a purple and black blade with ashen wood as the snath. “Now, I want to go collect hostages or possibly create deaths. You bore me more than a human plea to innocents.” Nathaniel sighed. “Come or not. I don’t care.”
Ignoring all of Nathaniel's statements besides the first two, the Puppet steps forward, one calcified hand reach out and making a twisting motion.
The demon king's body makes a crunching noise as he's pushed straight down to the floor, bones and cartiledge cracking and popping.
"I am not an old 1800s lady for you to command to do whatever you'd like. I am a proud an ancient entity. I watched God create the earth. I saw Lucifer's fall from power. I watched Adam and his first wife, Lilith, fight. I watched as Eve convinced Adam to eath the fruit. Do not assume that because I have been mostly polite up until now that I won't hesitate to kill you." she snarls.