Chapter 26: A Gift from Down Under

 

When I finally soared over the top of the familiar forest that was my home. I couldn't help but feel a small fondness in my chest. I think I’ve grown quite attached to this little piece of the world. I guess leaving it for a while reminded me of this. Well they say one only misses the sun when it starts to snow…

I was originally planning to find another phoenix but after flying around for another day I couldn’t find any. I guess if I wanted more I would need a more concerted effort. Maybe next time when I have the time. 

As I look down at the trees I found I was able to instinctively navigate the forest even from above. Soon I found the spot where my little home was and I swooped down through a gap in the trees. When I landed I smiled as I looked at the cave entrance but then I noticed something on the ground…

I looked down and saw it was a book with a note…

I picked up the note and began to read…

 

Dear Firstborn

This book is a priceless text carrying knowledge that is all but lost to most of all that draws breath. Guard this knowledge well, for if one were to find it, it would be a clear indication of what you actually are. 

You are not ready to face the armies of heaven and hell. You are not even ready to face the strongest the humanoids have to offer. This tome will help you disguise what you actually are.

Regards,

Your friend from down under, A

 

I tilted my head as I read the last part. My friend from down under, A? Australia? 

No no, don’t be stupid…

Hmm, could it be the Syndicate? Then again, why the A? Thus far I know Nemesis, Theseus, Persephone and Heimdall… none of those start with an A… most of them don’t even have an A in the word…

Some other party? Down under… hell? Do the demons know about me? 

As I was traversing the mountain I kept getting the feeling that I was being watched. Was it them watching me? I need to be careful, it looks like my presence is not as good a secret as I thought...

I should probably read this in the base, I’m not exactly inconspicuous with my gold feathers. So with that thought in my mind I entered the room. The first thing I noticed was a scent in the air, it was a musky scent, a familiar one…

 

Ahh… princess!

 

And there it was…

Looks like I walked into something…

I silently slithered towards the room that Cecilia was staying in and when I looked in I saw what I expected to see. I saw Cecilia between Lily’s legs and thrusting roughly. It looks like she had this thing strapped around her privates. I have a suspicion on what it is, but I fail to see the reason for it. Maybe Cecilia just liked watching?

“I’m back.” I said calmly and I watched as Cecilia flinched at the sound.

“Oh friend, you scared me. I didn’t hear you.” Cecilia said breathlessly as she turned around.

“If you could hear me so easily I wouldn’t be a very good predator.” I replied dryly. 

“I suppose you are right.” Cecilia said as she got out from between Lily’s legs. As I suspected she was wearing this strapped on phallus. It was made of metal and I saw glowing runes on it.

“Where did you get that?” I asked curiously as I gazed at the wet tool sticking out from her nethers.

“Oh this? I made it back in the cradle. It gets awfully lonely after a while and one tires of your own fingers after a time.” Cecilia said as she unstrapped it and I watched as she took it off. Strangely even with the strap off the device was still held in place.

I watched as Cecilia shuddered as she pulled and revealed there was another end on the other end of the metal phallus. Cecilia dropped the strap on the bed as she looked up at me. Lily meanwhile was still panting on the bed.

“What’s the point of having two ends to it? Were you expecting company?” I asked curiously as I gazed at the device.

“Well the two ends are different, one is bigger and thicker. I prefer that one but if I use it too much I get sore. There's a smaller one to use in between. It’s easier to enchant one long rod rather than two separate ones.” Cecilia replied with a shrug.

“I see, anyway I think someone was here...” I said and Cecilia’s eyes widened in shock at those words.

“They left this note and this book on our doorstep.” I said as I handed both to her.

Cecilia didn’t say a word and her eyes widened as she read the note and the cover of the book.

“Yeah, I know. An account of the Firstborn by Primordials.” I said.

“Friend from down under… hell? This sly tone seems like something a demon would say...” Cecilia said.

“What demons have names that start with a A?” I asked.

“Hmmm… I only know the most famous ones. I’m not that familiar with daemonology. 

The most obvious one is Asmodeus, Demon Prince of Lust. 

Astaroth, Demon Duke of the Ars Goetia, the Ars Goetia are a type of demon nobility. 

Then there’s Alastor the Archdemon, a mortal man turned demon, who serves under Mammon, Demon Prince of Greed.

The last one I can think of is Azazel the traitor, he was an angel that defected to hell.

Anyone of them could be involved, they have plenty of minions to do their bidding. Pretty much all demons are schemers, so this could be some scheme from any of them.” Cecilia said.

“Azazel the traitor? Angels can become Demons?” I asked in surprise.

“Well I’m not very sure on the mechanics, but from what I know all life is anchored to a world. So like me and you are anchored to Terra. This anchor can be swapped but the change will also alter you. So few attempt it, the change is so dramatic it might be better to call in reincarnation rather than transformation.

Azazel was tasked by the Divine Council to eat the sins of the mortals in Terra. But he fell to gluttony so he taught us how to make weapons of war. This led to violence, rage and war. Which meant more sin and more food for him.

The Divine Council responded by demanding his execution, he responded by tearing his anchor from Heaven and heading to Hell where the forces of Heaven couldn’t pursue him.

Also denizens of a world cannot enter the other two without an… invitation. I’m not entirely sure what counts as an invitation but I do know that faith and worship counts. So since most of Terra worships the angels, that gives them a free pass to enter this world. The demons get in through cults and deals. From what I know the demons are more powerful than the angels individually. But they are discordant and prone to infighting which ends up weakening them as a whole.” Cecilia explained.

“I see,” I replied.

“As for this book…” Cecilia said as she opened the book. 

“This writing style… It's modern... I think this is a translated copy... If this book is really what it says it is…” Cecilia said as she opened the book her face alight with academic curiosity.

I watched as Cecilia’s eyes widened at the first page and as she flipped from page to page her eyes looked like they were about to pop out.

“So that’s what it is… I always wondered how the devourers got new traits if they were all the same species. There was a false underlying assumption… of course… how could I have been so blind. The devourers do not follow the same rules as everything else…” Cecilia muttered as she closed the book.

“You should read it.” Cecilia said as she handed me the book.

“I will peruse it once you are done.” Cecilia said seriously.

“Sure, I’ll brief you on what I managed to eat later. For now I want to know what this book says.” I said as I moved over to a corner of the room and curled up. I reduced my size to the minimum which was slightly less than two and half meters tall. I was still quite big but if I was too large, reading this book would be a pain…

 

Chapter I: The False Postulate

 

The Firstborn or the Primordial Devourers as they are known to the laymen have always been an object of curiosity and scrutiny. For why wouldn’t they be? They are the fabled origin of all life or at least life that was mobile enough to move around on their own. There are many theories on what created the trees and the plants around us, but I feel it is more likely that the flora that surrounds this world was around before the Firstborn. As to why I believe this I will explain in greater detail later in this book.

The first point I would like to address is the concept of species. Most of us view the various species of this world to be a static entity. However, that is simply false, one need only observe how the breeders of household pets work so diligently to maintain the so-called purity of their stock. 

Life is not static, it is movement and change. Life is entropy made manifest, where nature creates an uncountable amount of variation between life forms. No two creatures are exactly alike, a child and parent are not exactly the same. They share similarities certainly but they are not identical.

This brings me to the underlying false assumption. The assumption that the Firstborn are a species, a static race. When one ponders this and places this idea under scrutiny, the only conclusion one can draw is that this assumption is absurd. The entropy of life, the commanding force of evolution that dictates both form and function of life. Knowing that we call the Firstborn “evolution made manifest” how can we then assume that they belong to anything as orderly as a single species?

No, such a pedestrian assumption is impossible once one examines this idea more closely. The views of the world are just restricted by our simplistic interpretations. For those that would read this are most likely made of mortal flesh, doomed to wither and fade. We view the creatures of this world as races because of our fleeting existences. We do not walk this world long enough to see the effects of evolution on the species around us.

Throughout this book I have documented my travels to all corners of Terra. I have spoken to the ancient primordials who have witnessed the ages past. They who watched as the march of time changed all that lived. This book will be my magnum opus, I have journeyed for forty years and I have collected as much information as I could. 

So it is in this humble collection of parchment, with text scrawled in ink and enchantments to ensure its longevity that I will give you a glimpse into what the Firstborn truly are. They are truly remarkable creatures. Form and function born of chaos, with none of the limitations that bind us lesser creatures.

To put it simply, the Firstborn are not a single species. They are each a species on their own, a species of one...

 

I looked up from the book at those words and paused at those final words. So are other devourers not like me? As I continued to read on I slowly began to understand. Apparently there was this first Spawning Pool, where the Devourers crawled out from. According to the accounts here…

Most of the Devourers formed as incoherent lumps of biomatter, their bodies too poorly formed to sustain life. Those failed Devourers died as soon as they were formed and were reabsorbed by the pool. Eventually just under the weight of time and random chance, functional creatures crawled out of the spawning pool. Thus was born the first Devourers. However, because of the random nature of their creation they were all different. Some had wings, some had legs, some had eyes, some were blind, some were completely useless in a fight, others were powerful in combat. So the strong ate the weak, this went on for who knows how long until eventually the pool dried up. By now the Devourers were scattered across the world. Some had decided to reproduce and die in the process, apparently there was significant overlap between the Primordials and Devourers. Both existed together for a time…

It must have been a crazy time to live in, the whole world filled with powerful creatures, all of them trying to eat each other…

As I continued to read I realised why this book was given to me. It turns out I can enter this Chrysalis state where I can do more specific changes to my body… 

It says so right here…

 

… The devourers according to some of the primordials were able to enter a type of Chrysalis state to alter their bodies as they saw fit. It is unclear if this is an inherent power or one that is earned at some point. Regardless, most Devourers abstained from making sweeping changes, most just altered themselves slightly. This isn’t surprising considering the Devourers that managed to survive into maturity would most likely have very effective natural body type…

 

Hmm do I have to evolve further to get this Chrysalis? I searched my mind and I found buried in the recesses of my mind the knowledge on how to activate this Chrysalis instinctively. As I realised I had this ability, it also struck me perhaps why I never realised I have this ability was that I never had the immediate need for it until now.

Previously my invisibility and my current body type was very effective for everything I needed to do. Afterall, why fix what wasn’t broken?

This state also apparently left me extremely vulnerable for a few days. The change would take some time to fully complete…

“Cecilia. I’ll be… hibernating for a few days. The book will explain why.” I said as Cecilia gave me a curious look.

“Is there anything in particular you have in mind for my appearance?” I asked.

“Well, just something that would inspire awe as much as fear. So something majestic would be good I suppose. Did that book tell you how you could alter your appearance?” Cecilia asked.

“Well… yes… anyway, I’ll see you in a few days.” I replied.

“Good luck friend, we have much to discuss when you awake.” Cecilia said with a smile and I smiled in return. 

It was a strange friendship to say the least, the monster and the princess. I know we both aren’t that interested in the prophecy honestly. I just wanted to live in peace and eat nice things, and Cecilia just wanted to rule her home. We didn’t care that much about the larger whole, Cecilia hated the “order” that the angels have installed but she didn’t seem that interested in out right toppling it. Seemed like a lot of work to be honest…

At first I thought this would be just an alliance but as I spoke to her I found she was just a lonely girl deep down. I could tell she appreciated my company and our conversations. I guess when the world brands you a monster you don’t get that many friends. From what I remember I liked friends back in my past life as well, I guess humans were social creatures. Not me though, at least not anymore. I don’t mind having friends, the conversations are entertaining but I don’t exactly feel the need to have friends and social interaction. It’s a welcome distraction at the very least, hunting constantly can get a bit dry at times, especially when you go for a long time without a good kill...

“See you in a few days.” I said as I focused on my body. I felt my body change and I soon found myself in this weird cocoon. Then I felt something click in my head.

I could picture the parts of my body and I finally realised what kind of monster I was. My body was filled with redundant systems. I had three separate nervous systems each with a different transmission type to reduce the effectiveness of nerve toxins. I had four hearts and six lungs. Two of the lungs were connected to weird gills on the side of my body that allowed me to suck in air from there. I had nutrient deposits all over my body to ensure I always had extra energy for regeneration. 

My spinal cord also looked to have a secondary system that would allow me to move even if my spine was damaged…

From what I could tell my body was extremely efficient at its task, this was surprising considering that I evolved so rapidly on the fly…

Hmm I needed to distance myself away from the things I ate so… let’s see…

My feathers I think I’ll change the colour slightly, make it more of a yellow gold…

I think maybe a crown of feathers on the top of my head would be good, to give it a more majestic feel…

My wings looked awfully like wyvern wings in structure and they don’t fold very well… hmm I may need to enter buildings at some point… the wings would get in the way…

Let me see if I can change the shape so that it folds a little better… there much better it folds seamlessly now on my back…

Huh what’s this… oh so my new wings are smaller so it has reduced flight mobility and leaves some excess power that can be allocated into other places…

Hmm… how about I turn my wings into an additional weapon? I'm a better fighter on the ground anyway…

How about I put some bone blades and spines on the tip of the wings. I could use the wings like a long spear to stab at further targets. Would make me more dangerous as well… ok so that works… still have a little excess power though…

How about I increase my fire breath ability? Hmm not enough power for that though… What if I strip some of my armor? Yeah I can reduce the armor at the lower armpits, there’s nothing important under there anyway. Well technically I have what looks to be a spare set of kidneys but nothing that will affect my ability to fight. With my regeneration I could just heal that back after the battle.

Now for my arms… if I can’t change my appearance once the humans know about me then I would need two combat arms and two hands for fine motor skills so might as well specialise them to fit those roles…

So stronger upper arms and more dextrous lower arms. Those talons on the fingers could be shorter, handling books is a pain when I’m constantly in danger of slashing it up... 

I could use an extra finger as well, so three fingers and an opposable thumb…

Maybe I could alter my vocal chords to make speaking easier. I still sounded quite bestial, like I was constantly growling… ok… done…

Damn my original body is really bad for mixing with humanoids, then again that probably wasn’t a priority. I’m not exactly a domesticated animal after all…

Ok what else…

 

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.♚.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

 

A man in black and red suit hummed happily as headed back to the portal back to Hell. Well a man is a bit of a stretch. It had a man’s face but he had a set of curved goat horns protruding from his head under his neat black hair. His pupil glowed an ominous red, the red flickered like a flame, as if the first of hell burned with his eye sockets. As he teleported the rest of the way and appeared at a far away mountain peak. He saw a man standing next to the gate. He wore a greek style helm with a red plume that obscured his face. He held an aspis in one hand and a spear in the other.

“Theseus, what brings you here?” the man asked cheerily as his mouth widened into a smile. His smile spread so wide it looked like his face would tear open.

“Alastor… What is an Archdemon doing in Terra?”  Theseus asked.

“Oh nothing, just having a stroll…” Alastor replied with a laugh.

“I know you gave the Firstborn a book. What do you want?” Theseus asked, although his tone seemed threatening, his body language was calm as if he wasn’t expecting a fight.

“I want what you want, Heir of the Firstborn. I think Heaven has outstayed its welcome here on Terra.” Alastor said as his smile widened even further and his pupils narrowed into sinister points.

“You are a deal maker, why give a gift? Not your style Alastor.” Theseus said.

“I like putting my money where it can breed great returns. You should tell Lady Nemesis, if she wants to sit and watch for too long I may snatch the Firstborn right from under her…” Alastor said.

“If you’re telling me this, it means you aren’t going to do it.” Theseus replied calmly.

“You’re no fun… hahaha...” Alastor said with a light laugh.

“Do the Princes know? I assume your master Mammon knows?” Theseus asked.

“Prince Mammon does not know, even if he did, he would send me to do his bidding… he cannot enter this world without an invitation after all…

As you know only myself, Ibilis and of course the one you mortals love the most, Grand Succubus Eisheth Zenunim can enter this world freely. The rest of them have to sit on their hands.” Alastor replied.

“Hmph, just remember that if you cause trouble the Syndicate will not sit idle.” Theseus said.

“If you have any concerns I would be happy to bring you to Prince Mammon and you can speak to him yourself.” Alastor said with a sly smile as he extended a hand.

“No thanks.” Theseus replied with a scoff.

“Ah… disappointing… don’t worry Theseus, all will be as it… should be…” Alastor said with a grin.

“Is that so?” Theseus asked.

“Of course, don’t worry I quite like the Syndicate you know. I wouldn’t be standing here if not for Persephone’s deal…” Alastor said.

“Right... just behave when you’re in our house. We don’t take kindly to troublemakers.” Theseus said as he turned to look at the gate, indicating to Alastor that it was time for him to leave.

“You wound me Theseus…” Alastor said with another laugh as he walked towards the gate. Right before he entered the gate he turned to look to Theseus. Alastor tilted his head and another impossibly wide smile appeared on his face like gash.

“Besides I think you all prefer my company to the Angels, no? All the Seraphim have sticks up their asses, well… maybe except Mihael. He took the stick out of his ass and started beating people to death with it.

HAHAHAHA!

Besides…” Alastor said as he leaned it slightly as his smile turned from sly to malicious.

 

I always honor my bargains

I always aim to please…

Hahahahaha...