A demoness’ diabolic schemes run up against a very wholesome pair.
A non-canon but absolutely-in-character crossover between Reluctant-Ronin’s Village of Nightmare series and Devi’s characters Karla & Lucia.
guest story by reluctant-ronin
tags: demon, heroic azuras, karla & lucia, village of nightmare
artwork by aliz
Natalia angrily chewed the stem of her pipe, glaring daggers at the women seated across from her. Their audacity made her blood boil: a fellow demoness strutting casually into one of her establishments, shamelessly undisguised, and in the company of a paladin of all people. True, she was from out of town, and clearly of a different breed, drawing her power from another of the many outer planes. Still, the stranger’s brazen attitude felt like an insult: Natalia had put a lot of time and effort into expanding her influence from the church to the marketplace to the city’s various inns, and she wasn’t about to let anybody challenge her authority.
Unfortunately, a challenge is what this odd couple had proven to be. They’d arrived two weeks ago, and in all that time, Natalia’s finest dancers, temptresses, and whores had failed to corrupt them. The succubus had never encountered a being, either mortal or supernatural, that was immune to her seductive magics. At first, she attributed their resistance to the strange curse that seemed to weave itself around them. Now that she’d observed them over the course of a meal in the privacy of her office, however, she realized that the spell was relatively weak, and should have been easily countered.
No, there were far more insidious forces at work…
“So, Lucia,” the Natalia said, struggling to swallow her bile, “I trust that you’ve been enjoying your stay.”
“The room isn’t bad,” the other demon replied with a shrug. “The neighbors are a bit noisy, though.”
Natalia’s eyes gleamed with a malicious red glow as she returned the Lucia’s meaningful stare. That’s right, bitch, she thought. I know you can see through my glamour. And I know you know I know. So… is it my move or yours? It was a tense game of cat and mouse—and troublingly, the fallen nun had yet to determine which of them was which.
“Oh, come now, Lucia,” the paladin suddenly exclaimed, her armor clattering as she threw her arm around her companion’s shoulder and pulled her into a tight embrace. “There’s no need to be rude to our generous host. Besides,” she added with a wink, “we’ve been making our fair share of noise these past few nights.”
“Karla,” Lucia groaned, blushing bright crimson as she wriggled free from her girlfriend’s grip. “Don’t talk about what we do in private in front of our… generous host.”
There it was again. That subtle, sinister force, infecting Natalia’s empathic powers like a virus: Love. Pure, selfless, unblemished affection. Sure, there was a hint of lust just beneath the surface, but it was so sickeningly… monogamous. They were so head-over-heels for each other that they were totally impervious to temptation.
Worst of all, Natalia couldn’t help but find their devotion endearing, charming, and even cute. Damn it, she hadn’t felt this warm and fuzzy since she was a dutiful little nun, saying her prayers before bed and asking permission to take a piss. The very thought that she might be going soft again made her want to hurl.
“I don’t think she minds that kind of coarse talk, considering her profession,” Karla said. “No offense intended, ma’am. After all, sexuality is an inherent part of a succubus’ nature.”
For a long moment, the room fell deathly silent.
“Dammit, Karla!” Lucia exclaimed, springing to her feet and readying a spell. “This was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission!”
“Oh, you know espionage and subterfuge have never been my forte,” the paladin replied, lazily rising from her own seat. “Besides, I’ve seen everything I need to know.”
“Then I suppose it’s time to end this charade,” Natalia growled, allowing her camouflage to dissolve, exposing her ram horns and spaded tail. Her flesh darkened to its natural caramel complexion, while her hair, lips, and nails turned a garish shade of green. Her fangs and talons sharpened, while her elegant gown shredded itself into a vulgar parody of itself, barely covering her obscenely ballooned assets—including her erect, throbbing cock.
“So you’ve managed to discover how I caused this city to succumb to sin and debauchery,” the fully revealed succubus mused, drawing a deep lungful of thick, corruptive tobacco smoke. “And now you mean to kill me before my taint spreads any further.”
“Kill you?” Karla repeated, sincerely taken aback. “Heavens no! As far as I can tell, you haven’t done anything wrong.”
Natalia’s pipe clattered to the floor. “I… pardon me?”
“Karla, what the fuck are you talking about?” Lucia asked nervously, shooting Natalia a suspicious glance.
Don’t look at me, the former nun thought, equally confused.
“I’ll admit, I initially found some of your methods to be somewhat… questionable,” Karla explained. “On closer examination, though, I realized that your hexes were more seductive than coercive.”
“But… but… the hypnotism! And the aphrodisiacs!” Lucia stammered, allowing her spells to fizzle out.
“Nothing I saw suggested that anybody was forced to act against their will,” the paladin countered. “The magic merely brought repressed desires to the surface. Besides, everyone we spoke to seems pleased with their metamorphoses.”
“You can’t take what they say at face value!” Lucia cried. “They’ve been subjected to powerful body- and mind-altering spells!”
“Well, that’s how we met, isn’t it?” Karla replied bluntly.
“I… that’s different,” the demon pouted.
“Lucia, look at me,” the paladin said, gazing deep into her lover’s eyes. “It may have only straightened my teeth, but the curse that brought us together did change me. I can’t even completely remember what I was like before that, and I don’t really care. I like who I am now… who we are now. And I’d have to be a pretty big hypocrite to deny someone else that happiness, wouldn’t I?”
“…damn it, I can’t argue with you when you give me that look,” Lucia relented. “Fine, we’ll let the succubus live for now. But no more deception! She has to be honest and upfront with all her customers to ensure that their consent is totally informed.”
“Well said!” Karla chuckled. “Hear that, Natalia? From now on, you can only transform people who explicitly agree to it. And only when they’re of sound mind, understand?”
The ex-nun just nodded, mouth agape.
“Good. Make sure you keep your word,” the paladin cautioned, gathering her weapons and moving towards the door. “She may not be a demon of wrath, but you still don’t want to see her angry.”
“Oh, quiet, you,” Lucia said, playfully swatting her companion.
And with that, they were gone.
For several minutes, Natalia stood frozen, struggling to make sense of the mental gymnastics that had just occurred. Part of her was livid that an infernal she-beast of her caliber been deemed unworthy of divine smiting.
The other part was trying its hardest not to swoon over how romantic her erstwhile guests had been. Goddess, they made such an adorable pair that she felt as though she might melt.
“Rosé!” the demoness suddenly shouted, shaking her head to clear her addled mind.
“Yes, Mistress?” the slutty harem-style dancer purred as she obediently slithered into the room.
“Tell Olga and Helena to get their asses over here,” Natalia hissed between clenched teeth. “I need a good, long, sloppy fuck to flush all this… wholesomeness out of my system.”
THE END
Author’s Notes: I haven’t had enough time or energy to write lately, but I did finally get around to reading Devi Lacroix’s Technically Good (as well as Zyzzyva’s sequel, Bad Blood), and I loved it so much that… well, this kind of slipped out. It’s obviously non-canon to both my work and Devi’s; I haven’t studied the source material closely enough to get a firm grasp on the characters, and I took several liberties with the mythology on top of that. Nevertheless, Karla and Lucia were so compelling that I simply had to take them for a spin… and I also wanted to write something to thank Devi for hosting and supporting my stuff. I hope the absence of smut is acceptable; let’s just call this a belated April Fool’s piece, since it recycles some ideas for a story I was developing around that time that never materialized.
The adorable artwork was created by @aliz_sf; commission her through her Ko-fi!