Chronos, Chapter 18 (Patreon)

So, I got inspired to do a bit of writing beyond the normal schedule. I don't think I'm going to turn this into an every week thing, but I might do it every other week.

Chapter 18 – Priestess

Arranging for a mobster to meet an unfortunate downfall was not something you did over the course of an afternoon. These things took time. Time that had to be spent in full speed, not my pockets of stopped time. Especially when dealing with a superpowered mobster.

Oh, I’d been able to scout out a location for the fight, easily enough. There was a certain chemical plant in the city that was owned by the Carlotti family, through a shell company. Like any good chemical plant, there were a lot of very dangerous things there. Plenty of ways to arrange accidents for Speedfreak, and leave Bronze taking the rap.

There was even the chance that something could bring down Bronze directly. After all, no one knew if his insides were as resistant as his outsides, and resisting damage didn’t mean you could shake off poison gas being breathed into your lungs. People always thought about to damage a brick-type super, but never considered that you didn’t need to punch someone to kill them. Bronze still needed to breathe, as evidenced by the time he got dropped into a river and almost drowned, since his bronze form caused him to sink like a stone.

At any rate, the scene would be easy to manipulate, forcing the battle to take a deadly turn. That just left figuring out a way to force the issue, and ensure that Bronze and Speedfreak would show up. That was the part that was taking time. You couldn’t rush a good setup, after all.

It started with me intercepting one of the payoffs from the company’s manager to the Carlotti family. The money just ‘disappeared’ between the time the briefcase was closed, and when the courier picked it up. Naturally, there were questions, and the only reasonable answer was that either the manager had tried to pull a fast one, or the courier had stolen from the family. Once the courier and his bodyguard were cleared, that would leave all the family’s attention on the manager. An anonymous tip to Speedfreak would be enough to get him to keep tabs on the manager, waiting for the chance to catch Bronze red-handed.

But, that would take a few days to play out, which left me with time to spend. Fortunately, I had other plots to advance during that time. I toyed with the idea of putting the rest of the library staff under my spell, but decided against it. Might draw the wrong kind of attention to me, as Livingston, and not me, as Chronos. Instead, I prepared to initiate my new Priestess into her magic.

Ritual   Effects

Transform   12 – Bestow Curse Mark, Powers

Feat:   Innate

Extras:   Duration (Continuous)

Flaws:   Action (Full), Limited (Must be Willing, Bound, or Helpless), Range (Touch),   Requires Grapple, Tiring

Drawbacks:   Power Loss (Must chant incantation)

Cost:   4 PP

Mental   Transform 12 – Alter Mind

Feats:   Innate, Subtle 2 (Unnoticeable)

Extras:   Duration (Continuous), Insidious

Flaws:   Action (Full), Check Required (Knowledge: Arcane Lore, DC 22), Distracting,   Limited (Must be Willing, Bound, or Helpless), Range (Touch), Requires   Grapple

Drawbacks:   Power Loss (Must chant incantation)

Cost:   8 PP

Total   Cost: 12 PP

Design/Craft   DC: 22

Time   to Cast: 120 minutes

The ritual itself was a slightly altered version of the Enslavement Ritual I used on Miss Mysterious and Skytalon. Slightly pared down, since I wasn’t going to bother with getting a soul card of my priestess. That was something I was only going to do with those who could provide some benefit to me as a shield.

No, this was a slightly simpler ritual. That also meant that the chances of failure were all but nil. Oh, it could happen, but, under the system, that would be a one-in-twenty chance. Common enough to consider, but not so much that I needed to worry overmuch about it, right now.

Ritual   Outcome:

Transformation

Fort   DC 22 to resist.

Target   gains Curse of Absolute Obedience, Vulnerable, Mystic Blast, Mystic   Knowledge, Mystic Shield

Curse   of Absolute Obedience (Very Common, Major): Target must obey all orders given   to her by Remington/Chronos, no matter what. Failure to comply results in a   magical backlash, causing damage. (+5 PP)

Vulnerable   (Remington/Chronos’s Powers; Uncommon, Major): DC modifier of   Remington/Chronos’s powers increased by 100% against target. (+3 PP)

Mystic   Blast (Magic 8): Creates a damaging blast of magic. Distracting, Focus   (Symbol of Chronos), Full Power, Power Loss (Must say Incantation), Power   Loss (Hands Bound), Reduced Range (Max Range 400ft), Alternate Powers: Charm   Person, Temporal Prison, Timeshades, Timestep (Cost: 7 PP)

**Charm   Person (Emotion Control 8): Mind Blank, Limited to Love, Area (Burst), Focus   (Symbol of Chronos), Power Loss (Must say Incantation)

**Temporal   Prison (Paralyze 8): Duration (Sustained), Range (Ranged), Action (Full),   Check Required (Arcane Lore), Feedback, Focus (Symbol of Chronos), Power Loss   (Must say Incantations) (14 PP)

**Timeshades   (Illusion 8): Affects all sense types. Damaging, Action (Full), Check   Required (Arcane Lore), Feedback, Limited (Alternate Timestreams), Range   (Ranged), Dimensional (Any Dimension), Focus (Symbol of Chronos), Power Loss   (Must say Incantation), Power Loss (Hands Bound) (16 PP)

**Timestep   (Teleport 7): Accurate, Limited (Must have path available), Change Direction,   Change Velocity, Progression (Mass 2, carry 500 lbs), Focus (Symbol of   Chronos), Power Loss (Must say incantation) (16 PP)

Mystic   Knowledge (Enhanced Trait 4): Knowledge (Arcane Lore) +8, Artificer, Ritualist.   Innate, Focus (Symbol of Chronos), Noticeable (Tattoo) (Costs: 3 PP)

Mystic   Shield (Force Field 6): Impervious, Check Required (Arcane Lore), Side-Effect   (Stun when shield broken), Focus (Symbol of Chronos), Power Loss (Must say   Incantation) (Costs: 1 PP)

Transformation   (Mental)

Will   DC 22 to resist.

Target’s   memories altered so that she remembers consenting to the Curse of Absolute   Obedience. Personality altered to make her more submissive to   Remington/Chronos. Mental trigger gives her pleasure when she obeys   Remington/Chronos.

As with the Enslavement Ritual that I’d come up with, once completed, my ‘Priestess Initiation Ritual’ would completely bind Yahlonda to my will. She would be submissive to me, and gain pleasure from following my commands. She would be unable to resist me, and, even if she were mind controlled or otherwise freed from her mental bonds, my attacks would be twice as effective against her.

In return, she would gain the magic powers she desired, along with the knowledge necessary to use them. She would be able to create her own rituals and artifices, though she would have trouble with higher-powered or more complex rituals, at least until she put more study in. But what she would be able to do, even in just the short term, would easily be enough to put some kind of hex or curse on her rival.

Once she was in my power, I would have her go out and start recruiting fellow cultists. Including Skye’s husband. No, actually, I would have Skye bring her husband to me, and my priestess. She would induct him, as her first act in my service, while Skye watched. That would be extra poignant for her, and would go some way to breaking her last traces of resistance.

Yahlonda didn’t actually appear before me again until four days after I’d sent her to the alchemist. It was Saturday afternoon when she came in. When I raised an eyebrow at her, she just got an embarrassed look upon her face. Quickly, she looked around to make sure that no one was within earshot, and said, “I’m sorry, Master. Since I was sick all day on Wednesday, I had to make up for things the rest of the week. This was the first chance I had to come and see you.”

I nodded slowly, pretending to be understanding. “I understand, Yahlonda. It would have looked out of place if you came over so quickly. But, just to be clear, you haven’t spent the points you gained from drinking the potion, have you?”

She shook her head quickly. “No, Master, I waited, like you said.”

“Excellent.” I knew she was still humoring me with calling me Master, but that would change when the ritual was complete. “Then, you can help me set up the ritual space, so that I can give you the power you desire.”

“Yes, Master!” There was genuine excitement there. She knew what she wanted, after all, and this was the way she could get it.

I led the way to the conference room I had used as a ritual space before. It only took a few minutes to push the table and chairs out of the way, and set up the rug and candles. Once the candles were lit, I turned to look at Yahlonda.

“Now is the last chance to back out. Once the ritual begins, it cannot be stopped from inside. Are you willing to do what it takes to attain power?”

She nodded, once, and said, “Yes! I’ll do anything!”

I smiled, and began to remove my clothes. “Excellent. Then strip naked, and enter the circle.”

“Master?”

“To give you power, I must form a connection, to touch your soul, and open you to that power. The two ways to do that are through sex, or blood. And I did not think you would like for me to use pain to carve the paths of power into your flesh.”

The girl took a breath, and started pulling off her clothes. “Ah. Right. OK. Will the powers I get be sex related, then?”

“Not directly, though I don’t doubt you will find ways to enhance your sex life with the magic.” She stepped into the circle, and I followed her. As my hands groped her supple flesh, I smiled, and said, “Now, we begin.”

I guided her down to the ground, laying her down. Kneeling by her side, I did much as I did with Bethany, I began to pleasure her. Foreplay was important, after all. Her breath began getting huskier as I began the incantations. Her first orgasm was a loud, moaning thing. She definitely wasn’t having any second thoughts, now.

I did not give her a moment to rest, but continued the attack. She was ready, more than ready by that point, but I took my time. Her hips bucked against my fingers as they slipped inside her, hungry with need.

Finally, with the second climax, it was time. She was breathing heavily, back flat upon the rug, as I moved between her thighs, and got into position. When I entered her, there was just a low, happy moan, of contented fullness.

I sheathed myself to the hilt, and then drew back, before thrusting again, building a rhythm with long, slow strokes, slowly increasing the pace. Yahlonda’s back arched as I pulled her up, into a seated position, with her bouncing in my lap. The move gave me easy access to her lovely breasts, and I did not hesitate in sampling the treat.

That was not the last position we took, as I worked hard to control the pace, preserving my stamina for the final stretch. All the while, I continued chanting, ensuring that the ritual would be run to completion. Yahlonda mirrored my moves, more on instinct than anything, as her ebony skin slick with sweat from the exertion.

The magic grew around us, forging the connection, building towards the inevitable conclusion. We changed positions again, and now Yahlonda was on her hands and knees, with me taking her from behind, her beautiful butt shaking with every slapping thrust. I reached down, and held her neck in one hand, curving her back upwards, bringing her face near mine, so that I could look her in the eye as the ritual completed, and she earned her reward.

We came as one, together, with me buried in her as far as I could go. The magic came crashing down, fatiguing me and burning a pale white mark upon Yahlonda’s back, just above the curve of her butt. It was a curse mark, like the others I’d given out, and it marked her as mine, bound to me body and soul, her mind altered to worship me as a god, and lead my newfound religion.

“Oh, Master!” There was no sense of insincerity in her voice, now, as she slumped against my body, her back resting against my chest. “That was amazing!”

“Indeed, it was, my precious priestess. Now, we shall begin your instruction. But first, I order you to reveal nothing of this, or my identity, to those who have not been inducted into the faith, unless I say otherwise. When we are around the uninitiated, you will call me Doctor, or Sir. When amongst the initiated, or alone, you will call me Master, or Lord. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master. Anything for you!”