Haunted & Hunted

Lillith thanked Azzar for the help. "You tried" then she turned to the void walker. "Are you forgetful or are you doing this on purpose?" Liela crumbled the little note with her hands. "Apparently, they all want on a heist... A HEIST!" Liela looked mad. "There is an additional part of this book or something. And they all left to get it!"

The voidwalker did not give an answer.

"She wants a show, no doubt," the tentacle monster guessed. "And I understand why she's doing it. Sorf of. There's very few things that can entertain someone who has a lot of power and seen pretty much everything."  Nope, wrong. Her memory just took a while to start working due to all the head trauma she suffered.

Tryingto steal something and getting punished for it does that to people.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Oh, relax. They'll be fine, just give them some time."

"Not going to talk? Well then if entertainment is what you want, entertainment is what you will get." She snapped her fingers and made a cool pose. " Liela isn't here so I'm totally going to be more entertaining." 

 Liela's face didn't change. "Do you think I'm going to calm down that quickly? Maybe you don't get it. There is a demon, a tentacle monster, a would be Gorgon, and an insane black magic wielder. And they all are going to steal a dangerous book from God know what's place. What if they get captured? Hmm? Please tell me what part of this would make you calm down because right now, all the red flags are going off!"

"More entertaining than last time?" The tentacle monster teased her. And he and her know what he meant. The rest of the group was probably clueless.

Maggie tried looking for a pattern in the crushers, but they moved completely at random. "I really don't think this is possible."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Okay, okay. You're right, we should do something about it. How about we summon someone who can teleport us to them? Or better yet, teleport them back here?"

Lillith blushed a little to the tentacle monster. "Oh, I wish." Lillith turned to maggie. "Anythings possible if you believe!" She then jumped to the crushers and turned into ink. Becoming a puddle. "We can summon someone like that?" Liela went to get the book from the room.

Half of the ink stayed on the platform, the other stayed on the crusher.

"Is, ehm, ink supposed to be sticky?" Maggie asked, worrying about Lillith.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Well, yeah. Got any other idea?" A tempest had the ability to teleport, but the summoning sequence was a bit tedious.

Lillith tried to form back but looked like she was having trouble. So Lillith decided to produce more ink on the one puddle on the crusher. When she had enough, she formed back to her cat-like form. "Ta da! If I get crushed I'll just form from the puddle on that platform." "No, I don't have any better ideas. Guess it's time to summon a.., Tempest!"

Oddly enough, with her ink on the crusher, it just stopped working.

"Interesting, very interesting," the voidwalker noted. "Are you by any chance a demon?" Maggie had the worst 'arefreakinserious' face she could make. Now the crazy magic lady was asking this?

The summon required the summoner to have a short lightning rod and a plant pot full of dirt, explaining that the Tempest needed to discharge regularly or its powers would lash out and hurt eveything, be it friend or foe.

The summon words, on the other hand, were fairly straightforward. 'Masters of air, lightning and the impeding storm, I call upon you in my time of need. Grant me one of your champions!'

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Any old rod will do. As for the plants, I think I saw a plant in the bedroom upstairs."

Lillith looked pretty confused that the crusher stopped moving. "I mean I'm pretty sure I am a demon. I thought it was obvious that I was a demon. I guess my species is just that rare." "I have no idea where I could get a rod but maybe you can look. I'll go upstairs and get that pot." Liela started to walk upstairs and get the flower pot from the bedroom.

"Lead the way, inky," The tenctacly monster said, again in a manner to tease her.

"Wasn't there a ghost named Inky?" Maggie thought aloud.

The zombie grumbled. "Hun...gry."

Kit used one of her spare parts as the lightning rod. She had plenty more hidden around in her apartment, so one missing wasn't that much of a deal.

When Liela entered the bedroom, a strong stench hit her.

Lillith started to walk. "Yeah, there was a ghost named Inky! He was one of the brave ghosts that ventured the mazes on a mission to defeat a yellow monster. The monster terrorizing other ghost by eating them." Lillith was never told the correct version of the story. "What even is this smell? " Liela looked at the bed. It was soaked with this white liquid. Liela got closer to the bed to get a better look." What happened here? " Liela went to the side of the room and picked up the flower pot.

"The version I heard says the yellow monster was some sort of explorer, timid, gullible, cowardly even," Maggie continued. "The ghosts are the memories of his dead friends, haunting him, as it was his fault they died." Her version sounded much more interesting than Lillith's.

"That would make the big and small yellow orbs what, anti-depresessants?" The tentacle monster theorized. Maggie gasped.

"Oh. My. God!"

"What a complete and utter waste of both time and brain capacity," the voidwalker berated them. "Is this what the younger generations is turning into these days?" Which was kind of ironic, since she wasn't even the oldest person in the room and was only three years older than Azzar and Maggie.

The zombie growled at her angrily.

Kit was waiting for Liela's flower pot, holding the makeshift lightning rod.

"Hey! Just keep the salt to yourself in this one. Especially when I'm the oldest one her. Ain't nothing wrong with this." Liela got out of that room quickly. She went to the main room with kit and placed the flower pot on the floor. "Oh, man, Kit, have you been in that one bedroom upstairs? The smell in there is so weird yet familiar. And the bed is completely wet with all this white liquid!" Liela took the book after saying that. "Masters of air, lightning, and the impending storm, I call upon you in my time of need. Grant me one of your champions!"

"Then act your age," The voidwalker continued, treading on thin ice. "And think before you do something." 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the tentacle monster said. "Why should she take advice from someone as half-crazy aa you?" Or full crazy, if her episode from the when they firstly summoned her was any indication. Made one wonder; was this the calm before the storm?

Kit knew exactly what it was and kept her mouth shut and her hands idle. It was better that way.

A black and blue creature appeared. It levitated above the ground, its tiny legs unable to hold the body. Its hands were neon blue and segued into black around the shoulders. The head was some sort of animal, but it wasn't easy to determine what exactly it was due to a helmet it wore in addition to its armor.

"Your wish is my command." The voice sounded off. Monotonous, very machine-like, no accent. It also sounded genderless, neither male or female.

"Oh little voidwalker, there is a good reason why I don't act my age. I'd tell you but I don't think you're old enough." Lillith grinned and continued to walk. (What am I looking at right now?) Liela looked dumbfounded at the creature. She couldn't think of what monster it was but was happy when it asked what she wanted. " I would like you to either teleport me and my robotic friend to wherever it is that the addition to this book is..." She points at the book."or you could teleport my friends here."

The crushers completely ignored her and the group followed closely behind

"There's a certain age at which caring becomes an option, rather than a requirement," The tentacle monster said.

The creature looked at her and did nothing. "Please specify a destination."

"Hmm, that is a very good point Azzar." Lillith looked at the crushers. "Hey, quick question. Why do the crushers like... not want to kill me? Don't people prefer to kill demons?" Liela sighed. She knew she had to be specific. Sadly specifics was not something she had. "I don't know where they are." Liela finally said reluctantly.

"Demonic or any other black magic presence usually disrupts white magic," The voidwalker explained. "We're lucky. Demons are exceedingly rare."

"That's... kinda racist," Maggie noted. "Does it work both ways?"

"No."

---

"Then I can't help you."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"If it really is a companion book, maybe this book will have at least a passing reference to it or at least some way to contact whoever made it."

"Wait are we really that rare? I mean the last Time I was in hell it was packed m." Liela turned to the pages on the back or the front of the book. Usually, they talk about their thngs.

"Of all demons, only a select few types are available as summons," the voidwalker explained. "Namely, the succubi, the fiends, lowly imps and common demons. Same for heavenly beings. Everything stronger is considered too dangerous." Demon lords like Belial or Mephisto were obvious when it came to danger, but archangels?

The book read. 'Fourth Edition, all rights reserved. This book is the second in a duology, with the second book, the Book of Summons, temporarily out of print. In the event of an emergency, please refer to the University of Magic and Magi Arts at Brink.'

There was also a stamp near the bottom of the book that read 'To Be Destroyed' and underneath, the previous owner was signed.

Apparently, the previous owner was Lucifer, the Devil himself.

"So I'm not considered "Too dangerous"? Whoever made that the reality hasn't seen me on a bad day. Then again... I guess I really shouldn't be complaining. Having the opportunity to get out of hell is way better than being powerful." 

 Liela read aloud the page but froze when she read the last part. She almost dropped the book. "I can't believe this! The last one who used this book was the devil! That can't be!" Liela didn't feel ok knowing this. It was very visible.

"I wonder, is Hell still separated into circles?" Maggie asked."You know, greed, gluttony, just like in the books."

"How about we continue on and have a talk about this later?" The voidwalker really wanted that book.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"There are many interpretations of the Devil and I've yet to hear about one that read books. Maybe he's just a big nerd. I wouldn't be suprised if he hid a way to summon himself inside the book."

The next on the agenda following the platforms and the crushers was a large, spacious cave. Some critters seemed latched on the walls and the ceilings.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"You never know unless you try."

The creature opened a portal. "Yes, summoner."

"ooo look, a cave! With... other things on the wall? That's kind of weird..." Lillith wondered what sort of trap this was. Liela nodded to Kit before turning to the portal. She smiled. "Welp, it's time to go see what sort of craziness the others are up to." Then liela walked through the portal with the book.