Chapter 11 : Late Morning

Anton hummed quietly to himself as he watched the little mountain of ice cubes begin to crumble apart from the bottom upwards. As the waterline in the large ice chest slowly rose higher and higher, more and more of the ice cubes began to tumble downwards and disappear beneath the surface of the water.

A sudden, frustrated groan drew his attention over to the picnic table and to the angry little shinoccubus who was currently trying to wiggle herself free from her bounds.

Chuckling around a soft grin, Anton shook his head before going back to watching the rising waterline.

The stream of water from the garden hose began to slow as he eased up his grip on the trigger-like plunger that was attached to the gun-like nozzle at the end of the hose. And once the last of the ice cubes had sunk down into the now heavily chilled water, he fully released the trigger and completely shut off the flow. After laying the hose across the top of the ice chest, he turned back to the table and gave his bound charges another quick look over.

The long picnic table had been taken out from under the small grove of trees and was now sitting in the middle of the yard so it could be set up in the full sun. Several yard stones had then been collected from around the flowerbed next to the house, and these had been placed under the legs of one end of the table. This raised that side high enough so that the whole table now had a slope of around fifteen degrees.

A somberly quiet dark elf had been strapped down to each of the picnic tables bench seats while the still struggling shinoccubus had been tied spread eagle across the table top itself. All three were laid out on their backs and with their heads down at the low end of the sloped table.

Folded washcloths had been shoved into each of their mouths to act as gags. And these were held in place by cloth bandannas that were wrapped tightly around their heads before being tied off at the base of their skulls. Dark blue-colored pillowcases had also been fitted over their heads before being loosely tied around their necks.

Sitting ominously just off from the side of the table were two large ice chests. Originally these had both been filled with ice cubes. But now the one closest to the table had been reduced to a near freezing icy water while the other was still overflowing with the solid cubes. On the opposite side from the ice chests, and set up in such a way that it had a clear view of the table and all three of its bound charges, was one of the cushioned patio chairs.

Anton sniffed and blinked in the bright sunlight as he took his phone from his pocket, tapped on the correct contact and then held the phone to his ear. As he waited for the line to click over and start ringing, he used a plastic pitcher to absently pour a stream of icy water over Mica's prone body. He leaned back a bit as she immediately started to frantically thrash about and throw tiny water droplets into the air.

Screaming through her gag, Mica curled her fingers into claw-like shapes as the cascade of freezing water soaked into the scarf that was wrapped around her bust and sent a stinging chill straight through her breasts and deep into her chest.

As an Infernal, Mica's fiendish biology allowed her to withstand temperatures of well over several hundred degrees, and as such she could live comfortably in most traditional hellscapes. The trade off for this however, was that her body had almost no natural tolerance for the cold, and she could barely even withstand temperatures as low as fifty degrees Fahrenheit before she would start to suffer numbing pains from being chilled. This, unfortunately for her, meant that although being dosed with the nearly freezing water was ultimately harmless, it was not only incredibly uncomfortable, but was in all actuality an excruciatingly painful experience that was attuned to being electrocuted.

Anton was of course fully aware that this would be the case. And in anticipation of her inevitable struggles, he had shown no mercy with the bindings he had used to strap the shinoccubus to the table. So now, save for her fingers, feet and head, Mica had been rendered all but immobilized.

Dozens and dozens of short leather belts had been gathered from the dark elves collection of bondage gear and brought up from the dungeon. As each belt was outfitted with roller buckles and had punched holes down their entire lengths, they could all be tightened down to a shockingly small size.

With numerous little belts now wrapped tightly up and down the lengths of each of her extremities, Mica's arms and legs had been all but molded to the wooden slots that made up the picnic table's top. In order to keep her torso in place, ratcheting straps with nylon belts were wrapped both above and below her large breasts as well as around her waist and hips.

Fiona and Kianna had both been similarly bound to the benches they were laying on. And although their bindings were no where near as stringent as Mica's were, they were still far from comfortable. Especially now, as Mica's furious screams began to echo in their ears.

“Well hello, Issac.” stated Anton as the phone was finally answered on the other end “Appreciate you actually answering, for once...”

Anton's annoyance showed clearly across his face as he scooped another pitcher full of water out of the ice chest.

“Yes, the attitude is warranted. Since once again... I'm forced to deal with you...” mumbled Anton as he slowly poured the water out in a line down the middle of Kianna's body “Now don't get me wrong. I do appreciate the call you gave me this morning. But I would have appreciated it even more if you had stayed there and actually helped me find my item! ...Yes. I was able to get my property back. That's not the point though. I had no idea where to go, or who I needed to speak to. So a little guidance would have been nice. Instead I was left to stumble around and frantically ask random people, who knew even less than I did, about where I needed to go! ...What, what do you mean you saw!?”

“Meh!” gasped Kianna as her entire being went rigid and she pulled upwards against the straps that held her in place “Humph! Hm! Meh! Hm! Meh!”

Rocking herself from side to side in a futile effort to escape from the chilling rain, Kianna lifted her head and shook it back and forth as she pleaded for the flow of water to stop. As the stream of water reached her navel, she desperately tried to press her thighs together, but with her legs slightly spread apart and strapped down as they were, she could do nothing but whine in anguish and start to tremble as the cloth shorts that were covering her genitalia became soaked with the freezing cold water.

Listening to her sister's turmoil, and knowing that her turn would soon be next, Fiona couldn't help but to hunker herself down as she began to groan in despair.

“...So, hold on a second! You were still there then!?” asked Anton as he made his way back to the ice chest “I thought you left right after we spoke!?”

Standing still for a moment as he listened to what was being said on the other side of the line, Anton's expression slowly shifted from annoyed to thoughtful.

“...And you're sure they didn't detect you?” he asked as he gathered another scoop of water and turned back to the table “I mean, invisibility is far from impervious... Right, I suppose that is what you do... So what were you able to find out?”

Stepping around to the other side of the table, Anton stared down at Fiona for a moment as he listened to what Issac had to say.

“...No, they wouldn't tell me anything. They stated the seller was demanding to remain anonymous.” said Anton as his face again shifted back to annoyance “And since I didn't have any real way to prove the item was mine to begin with, I couldn't really file a claim...”

Hearing Anton speaking right next to her, Fiona held her breath in an effort to remain unnoticed as she slowly cringed away from him. Her apprehension kept growing to a fever pitch as he went quiet and merely stood there for several minutes.

“...Okay, Issac! That's enough, please! I don't need to hear about every single step you took! I know how much you enjoy these long winded spiels. But I would appreciate it if you would just get to the point already!” said Anton as he narrowed his eyes at his phone “...No, you are not “building for impact” with this! You're just trying to annoy me. ...Yes you are. ...Yes you are! ...Stop laughing!”

Fiona screamed into her gag as in one swift motion Anton dumped the entire pitcher of water across her torso. Gasping from the shock, the ensnared dark elf struggled as best she could as she tried to shake the loose, nearly melted away ice cubes off of her exposed belly.

“Will you just get to the point, please...” mumbled Anton as he made his way back to the ice chest and grudgingly refilled his pitcher “Did you actually learn anything about the seller, or not?”

Although she couldn't actually see anything beyond the tiny points of sunlight that were filtering in through the pillowcase that was wrapped around her head, Mica still paused her struggling out of reflex when a shadow passed over her and blocked out said dots of light. This was the only warning she was given before a stream of freezing water was poured directly onto her face.

In an effort to drown out the kiochi's furious screeching, and actually hear what Issac finally had to say, Anton turned his head to the side and pressed his phone fully against his ear. While listening to Issac speak, he let the pitcher absently swing slowly back and forth so as to fully soak the thrashing kiochi's head. Although he was making sure to give her a good drenching, Anton actually made it a point to avoid aiming the stream anywhere near her nose, as he did not want to legitimately endanger her by filling her sinuses with water, but merely torment her by soaking her face and hair.

“...It's a lich? Are you sure?” questioned Anton as he turned back to the ice chest “...Hm. ...That does make sense, actually... A lich could potentially siphon enough mana... ...What? Oh, no. Just talking to myself. So, is this someone you actually know then? ...What do you mean by maybe? ...Right. ...So do you know them or not? ...You know them, but you don't know them? And what does that even mean? ...Oh, for the love of! So you don't know them at all! You just know their name!? ...I swear, Issac! If you start laughing again-! ...Argh!”

With anger marring his features, Anton quickly refilled his pitcher and turned back to the table. He stopped short and took a deep breath through his nose as he looked down at Kianna. The dark elf was sniveling quietly as she hunched her covered head down into her shoulders. Closing his eyes with a sigh, Anton shook his head. He wasn't at all excited about what he was about to do, and he didn't want his frustration with the phantom, who was still cackling on the other side of the line, to bleed over and influence either of the dark elves discipline. He was of course going to go through with their punishment, but he wasn't going to let Issac's idiocy cause him to makes things even worse for them. So, after taking his moment to recompose himself, he steeled his resolve and commenced with pouring his pitcher of water out over Kianna's head.

The dark elf's response to this was far more subdued than Mica's as she merely began to whine loudly and lightly tremble as she hunched herself down even further. Anton couldn't help but to grin at this as it allowed him to be more careful and selective in where he aimed the stream of water. Once he was finished with his task, he set the pitcher down on the table and reached down to softly rub Kianna on her soaked head. The dark elf immediately went still and silent the moment she felt his touch and only started to whine again as she tried to follow his hand when he lifted it away.

Making a mental promise to make it up to her later, Anton reluctantly grabbed the pitcher and turned away from the whimpering dark elf.

“...Are you done yet!?” growled Anton as the phantoms guffaws began to quiet down “I would really like to get this call over with at some point today... ...Just give me the lich's name, please. That's all I need, and I can take it from here. ...Wait, what do you mean? Why are you trying to find him? What would you even need to find him for? ...No! Just tell me his name and I'll find him myself! ...Why!? What do you even plan to do when you find him!? ...Issac! So help me! If I hear even a single rumor that you're trying to steal my items out from under me, I swear, I will hunt you down and feed you to my homunculus!”

Taking up another pitcher full of water, Anton tromped around the table and again took a short breather as he stared down at Fiona and waited for Issac to stop laughing.

Fiona screamed the loudest out of the group as she furiously thrashed her head back and forth. Anton actually had to stop a few times in his effort to empty the pitcher because she was making it so difficult for him avoid getting the water in her nose.

“...Excuse me?” said Anton as he stepped back from the bucking dark elf “...Oh. No. I'm currently in the middle of waterboarding some people. And what you're hearing is them screaming. ...Yes, last night, and then again this morning... I had an assassin try to kill me. So now she's being punished for that. ...Mm hm, I also had a few dark elves that tried to kill me recently too. And this morning they decided to betray my trust in them and foolishly endanger themselves. So now as a incentive to not do that again, they're being punished as well. ...Yes, I'm serious. ...I know, it is difficult to imagine that anyone would ever want to warm a sweetheart like me. But sadly, it has happened. ...Yes well, bad things happen to good people all the time. It just is what it is.”

Having apparently heard Anton, Mica popped her head up and blindly faced towards him as she snarled through her gag.

“Anyways. Back to the matter at hand.” said Anton as he made his way to the second ice chest and dug his pitcher down into the mountain of ice cubes “Listen, I'm not interested in anything beyond my own property. So I'm willing to compromise with you. Find this thieving lich, and we can face it together. I'll get my property, and my vengeance, and you can help yourself to any other trinkets that might be left behind. ...Yes, you have my word. Anything that isn't mine is fair game. ...Well, in the off chance that there's something there that I want, then I'm sure we can come to an agreement. ...Yes, and if we need to we can cross that bridge when we come to it. ...Good. So do we have a deal then?”

As Anton listened to Issac voice his concerns, he turned back to the table where he gave a still snarling Mica a short glance before dumping his pitcher of ice cubes across her navel.

Mica screamed out as if she were being burned as the pile of ice settled across her exposed belly. Unable to move in any way beyond squirming, she could do nothing but rage in fury as the coils of her tail were buried away by the cubes of ice. In a bid to bury the majority of her torso, Anton quickly gathered several more pitchers of ice and made piles that started at each of her armpits and ran down her rib-cage, before shifting his attention to her breasts.

“Yes, I'm fine with all of that. ...Good. I'm glad we could come to an understanding.” said Anton as he stared down at Mica's chest and watched as it rapidly rose and fell with each of her furious breaths “I'll await your call then. ...Sounds good. I'll talk to you then. ...Yes. ...Yes, you too. ...Okay. ...Okay. ...Okay! Goodbye! You annoying fool!”

Ending the call amid Issac's muffled guffaws, Anton sighed and slipped his phone into his pocket before reaching out to Mica.

Popping her head up in a panic as she felt what he was doing, Mica frantically shook her head as Anton pulled upwards on the scarf wrapped around the shinoccubi's bosom and began to dump his pitcher of ice down into the canyon made by her large breasts. With the scarf now holding the ice in place in between her breasts, Mica's screams began to die down into ragged gasps as her chest began to constrict from the cold.

“I tried to tell you all that this would be so much easier for you without clothes on. But you girls just wouldn't listen to me...” mumbled Anton as he stretched out the hem of Mica's panties and emptied another pitcher of ice onto her groin “Nobody ever wants to listen to me. But then they always find themselves regretting it when they don't... I just don't understand it...”

Mica's breath got caught in her throat when Anton let the hem of her panties go to snap back against her. A thin, shrill whine erupted out from her very being as he then used his whole hand to crush the now panty covered pile of ice cubes down against her sex. Unable to muster an actual scream, Mica's curling fingers clawed uselessly at the empty air as Anton unceremoniously dumped another pitcherful of ice into the V made by her spread legs.

“Hm...” nodded Anton as he watched Mica's entire body stiffen and then begin to tremble “Yeah, I think that's good enough for now...”

Dropping his eyes down to Kianna, Anton frowned at he gazed at her for a moment. This dark elf was the only one who was willing to listen to him when it came to removing her clothes. Unfortunately she had been convinced by the other two that this was a bad idea and had elected to stay dressed along with them. And now she'd come to regret this decision, just as they all would. Moving with purpose, Anton went to work filling both her top and shorts with the chilling ice, before making piles in between her legs and across her stomach. He did his best to ignore her frantic whimpers as he set out to complete his task as quickly as possible. And when he was finished with her, he did the same to Fiona.

Once all three of his charges were equally encrusted with ice, Anton ran another pitcher of water over each of their heads before making his way over to his chair and settling in to take a break.

The three shivering females all went surprisingly quiet as they each did their best to hunch in on themselves and stay as warm as possible. As he gazed at them, Anton's mind had slowly begun to aimlessly wander before a sudden vibration in his pocket brought him back to his senses. Pulling his phone back out, he checked the screen and cocked an eyebrow in surprise when he saw who it was.

“Hello.” he said as he answered the call and placed the phone to his ear “...Good morning to you too. And how are we doing this morning? ...Right, yes, I would imagine it would take more than one night to sleep all this off. ...Mm hm. So, what can I do for you, Leopold?”

Glancing skyward, Anton tilted his head back as he listened to Leopold plead his case.

“No. I'm afraid I haven't changed my mind. In fact, I'd say it's just the opposite. My resolve is even stronger now.” said Anton as he shifted his head to the side and cracked his neck “And actually, it's pretty fortunate that you called. You see, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you about Mica.”

Anton's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he twisted his head in the opposite direction and cracked his neck again.

“...Hm? Your what now?” he said as his eyes landed on Mica “...Oh! Uh, well, actually. That depends. Is it a black bladed short katana with an ornate shark-skin handle, and a dark green colored sheath? ...Right, well then. There's a pretty good chance I may have seen something like that floating around... ...Well, now at least you know where it is. ...Oh! And, she, um, may have also borrowed one of her Mother's outfits, along with the sword. ...Well, it's one that, from what I understand, you, yourself, happen to be quite fond of...”

Anton couldn't help but to smirk as Leopold began to angrily rant on the other side of the line.

“...Yep, that sounds like the one.” chuckled Anton as Leopold became even louder “...Well, I guess you can just add that to the reasons you have to be angry with her. ...I mean, if it's that important. I can probably get the outfit back to you. ...No, I'm afraid the sword will have to stay with Mica. For now at least. ...No, no. Don't worry yourself. I understand the sword is important to you. And I'll make sure that it stays safe. You have my word on that. ...Because, I'm afraid I need it for some research that I've recently become interested in. ...Yes. I am. ...Because I need to. ...I know, there is at least a chance though. ...It's no surprise that you wouldn't find this to be happy news. And it's entirely possible that I might feel a bit more sympathetic about that, if I felt that you were being completely honest about this whole situation. You may be far from a saint, Leopold. But Mica is still your daughter. And I may not have ever met your children before, but it was never uncommon for both you and Ila to be bragging about your daughters. I know full well that you care for her, and that you don't want to see her die. ...Of course. I'm well aware of the dangers involved. ...No, I don't expect any help from you. And I know better than to even ask. ...I understand. ...Well, as I've said before. I'm far better versed on your kind than I let on. ...It really shouldn't be too much of a surprise, Leopold. Despite the fact that you shinoccubi work as hard as you do to keep your customs as secret as possible, there is still a great deal about you that at this point is common knowledge. And although it can be difficult at times to separate the facts from the rumors, I still have more than enough confirmed information to speculate with. And I highly doubt that I'm too far off the mark with any of my theories as to why you and Ila are making the choices that you are. ...You have your position and I have mine. And for now I think we should leave it at that. ...Again, I understand, Leopold. I really do. ...Right, well then, to shift the subject a bit. It has, at this point, become abundantly clear that for the foreseeable future, Mica will be remaining under my care. And with this being the case, I'd like to ask if there is anything about her that I should be aware of?”

As he spoke, Anton couldn't help but to smirk as he noticed that a small swarm of honeybees had begun to gather around the soaked pillowcase that covered Mica's head. As the kiochi herself became aware of the buzzing creatures, she started to cry out in alarm and frantically jerk her head back and forth in a effort to drive the thirsty insects away from her face.

“Well to begin with, I'd like to know if she, or I suppose shinoccubi in general, have any allergies that I should be aware of?” asked Anton as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his legs at the ankles “Well you know how some people have issues with odd things. Dairy products, some seasonings, nuts, animal dander, certain types of air freshers or cleaning supplies. Just anything like that. ...Hm, okay good. And how about bee stings though? ...Really? So are they still painful at all? ...Oh they are then, good. ...Oh, no reason. So, how about dietary needs? ...Well your kind are Infernals, so I wasn't sure how important fresh blood was for you. Or whether or not you could even eat cooked meat? ...Well good. That makes things easier since we won't have to prepare separate meals for her. ...Because I don't know how long she'll be here, Leopold. At this point I can only plan for tomorrow. And since I do want her to stay healthy, I do need to be aware of these kinds of things. ...Well, we'll just have to see then, won't we... Oh, also! One other thing. Does she happen to take any medications? Or no? ...Okay, good. ...Yes, it matters. ...Because again, she's going to be here. ...Well, to be honest with you. At this point. It's been decided that we'll be keeping her... legitimately...”

There was a moment of weighted silence on the other side of the line as Leopold seem to be digesting the implications of what Anton was saying.

As he waited for Leopold to speak, Anton reached into his pocket with his free hand and felt the brand new collar he had just recently acquired right before getting ice for the ice chests. He absently ran his finger across the smooth rounded surface of the collar until Leopold's questioning voice finally came back through the line.

“...She tried to kill me, Leopold. Twice now. And I can't just forever risk her trying to kill me or my dark elves while we sleep.” said Anton as he took his hand out of his pocket and left it to rest on his chair's armrest “...No, what I'm saying is that the best course of action, for everyone involved, is for her to be under control. ...Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. ...Because it's for the best, Leopold...”

As Leopold continued to speak, his tone shifted and became threatening. And as this happened, Anton's attention became split as he focused on both what was being said, and on a light tickling sensation at his wrist. Glancing down at his appendage, he found that a ladybug had landed on and was now crawling around on the back of his hand as it lay resting on the armrest of his chair. Grinning at the sight, he absently watched the brightly colored little insect for a moment before slowly raising his hand and gently blowing on the tiny creature. The startled ladybug immediately opened its wings and flew away as Anton's grin broadened. Shifting his full attention back to Leopold, he dropped his hand back to the armrest and let it lay palm upwards so it could be warmed up by the sunlight.

“I think it may be best for us to put this conversation on hold, Leopold. ...Because I think that with enough time you'll come to appreciate the fact that although this is not a full on solution to our little problem. It does help us both more than it hurts us. ...I understand that you're angry. I do. But I'm going to need you to refrain from threatening me any further. ...Because I don't appreciate it. ...Then I think that for the time being it's best that we end this call. ...Yes, I do. ...Have a good afternoon, Leopold.”

Ending the call with a tap of his thumb, Anton dropped his phone in his lap before leaning his head back and sighing through his nose. As he sat there contemplating these two conversations, he found himself becoming mesmerized by a rather unusual sight.

The ice cubes that lay around and over Mica and the dark elves had now begun to melt. And as they did the pools of water they left behind had started to seep between the wooden slates of the picnic table and drip down to the ground below. As these drops of chilled water fell through the rays of bright sunlight, they reflected the light and created a dazzling array of sparkles.

Enchanted by the simple yet beautiful display, Anton went still for some time as his mind fell into a semi-meditative state. And it was while quietly watching this tiny, shimmering rainstorm that the events of the last few weeks began to float through his thoughts.

Busy, would certainly be an understatement when describing the most recent period of his life. As hardly a still moment had gone by since he had first met Kianna and Fiona on that fateful evening.

A thin but happy smile adorned Anton's face as his thoughts jumped from one memory to the next, and he had to admit, without question, that he had definitely enjoyed the last few weeks spent with these girls. But as his mind finally reached the series of events that had taken place this morning, his smile began to fade.

It had been many, many years since he had felt any emotions as strongly as those he had experienced this morning. And although he was no stranger to fear, despair or rage. It had still been a very long time since he had felt their sting reach him so deeply. Even now, as his eyes strayed away from the sparkling water and landed on the prone forms of the dark elves, a heavy weight began to grow in his chest. And for the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt himself beginning to question his decisions.

From the start, he had known full well that taking on the dark elves as his charges would lead to difficulties. As many outside sources would not look in on what he had done with anything less than absolute fury. He had known that this would be the case, and had mentally prepared himself to deal with the incoming dangers.

Or at least, he thought he had.

Though he had no fear for his own safety, the realization of just how fragile the dark elves truly were had not fully dawned on him until this morning. And it wasn't until after having experienced how it would feel to lose them, to see them fallen, injured and seemingly lifeless, that he became aware of just how truly unprepared he actually was... One lapse in judgment, one mistake, one blind moment... That would be all it would take, and they would be gone...

He was not going to let this happen.

Unable to help himself, Anton began to smirk as the irony of this situation hit him. Here he was fretting over the safety and well-being of the dark elves whilst all the while subjecting them to some of the harshest treatment they had ever experienced.

Shaking his head, he quickly came back to his senses before rising from his seat. As he approached the table his eyes became locked to the guilty individual that was ultimately responsible for the dark elves current predicament.

With stiff, stilted movements that were being compounded by her uncontrollable shivering, Mica was still pulling furiously against her restraints as she stubbornly struggled to free herself.

Completely unaware that someone was now gazing down at her, the incensed shinoccubus continued in her efforts without pause as an annoyed expression spread across Anton's face.

Through her rash and poorly executed actions, Mica had single-handedly made his goal of keeping the dark elves safe and secure that much more difficult. As now her parents, and possibly even their entire clan, could officially be added to the list of potential threats that would need to be dealt with.

As he stared down at her, Anton's annoyance gradually grew into full on irritation. This little demonoid had created some serious problems for him. So now, whether she liked it or not, she was going to help him solve those problems. He knew that she did have the potential to be a great asset, but it was going to take a bit of work to get her to that point. He was also aware that this task would be a delicate one as a level of mutual trust and loyalty would need to be established between them, and they were certainly not off to a good start on that front...

Anton sighed softly and shook his head as he turned away from Mica and headed towards the ice chests. He knew that if he wanted to make any progress with this shinoccubus he would first need to do something about the level of irritation that he felt towards her. And so, with the intention of alleviating some of this anger, he gathered together another pitcherful of the icy water and continued with his task.