A YOUNG SUCCUBUS NAMED DELICIA by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 30 – FAMILY VISIT

01:08 (California Time)

Monday, September 17, 1973

Patricia’s house, Westwood District

Los Angeles, California

Patricia wearily put down her suitcase full of stripper’s outfits on the floor near the closet of her lobby: she really felt the fatigue from performing at the PUSSYCAT CABARET tonight, thanks to her recent severe wounds. She also normally didn’t perform at Frank’s cabaret on weekends, but he had asked her to show up as a favor, in order to please an important customer. That customer had in fact turned out to be no less than the State Attorney General of California, to whom Patricia, in the form of Jennifer Woods, had given her best performance possible. That had in turn earned her some of the biggest tips she had received to date at the PUSSYCAT, making it an evening well spent. Thankfully, she still wasn’t due to start her new Fall university session for another week still, something that would give her enough time to fully recuperate from her deadly encounter with the Avenging Angel. Her thoughts about that desperate battle then reminded her of poor Jodie Brown. She sadly reflected on the fate of the teenage girl for a moment as she stood by her entrance door. The buzzing of her doorbell suddenly made her tense up as she was about to bring her suitcase upstairs, to her bedroom: she rarely received visits at such an hour and she was certainly not expecting anyone tonight. Mentally scanning for thoughts beyond her door, she froze nearly at once on picking up two mental presences on her porch, one of which she immediately recognized but had given hope over forty years ago of ever meeting again. Unlocking her door in a hurry, she opened it and found herself facing a tall woman of stunning beauty who was wearing a contemporary evening dress.

‘’MOTHER!’’ She nearly screamed before hugging

her visitor in an emotional embrace and exchanging kisses with her. She was still holding Lilith in her arms when her eyes fell on her second visitor,

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a distinguished-looking gentleman wearing a top-quality suit and carrying an elaborately decorated cane. Her joy at finally seeing her mother again was then replaced with dread and she put one knee down while bowing low to

the man.

‘’Your visit is a great honor for me, Oh

Great Lucifer. Welcome to my modest home in this mortal realm.’’

‘’No need to bow to me like this, my

child.’’ replied in a suave voice the dandy. ‘’I am

the one who is pleased to be able to visit you in the company of your mother.’’ Patricia acknowledged his words with a nod and got back up before showing her two visitors the most comfortable sofa in her living room.

‘’Please, make yourselves comfortable. Would you like something to drink?’’

‘’I will use this visit to the Earth’s Material Plane to reacquaint myself with Scotch, if you have some, my child.’’ answered Lucifer. ‘’Those mortal humans may be weak by our standards, but they have produced along the centuries quite a few interesting concoctions which would have their place in the Abyss.’’

‘’I do have some good Scotch in the house, Oh Great Lucifer.’’

‘’Please, just ‘Lou’ will do, Delicia.’’

‘’As you wish, Lou. And you, mother?’’

‘’I will have some Scotch as well, Delicia.’’

‘’Then, I won’t be long. Please sit in the meantime while I prepare your drinks.’’ Holding on to the thousands of questions she now had in her mind, Patricia hurried to her bar corner and poured three glasses of fine Scotch, returning to her guests and giving them their glasses before sitting in an easy chair facing their sofa. Lucifer then raised his glass while smiling benevolently.

‘’To your health, my child.’’

‘’And to both of your health as well.’’ replied Patricia before taking a sip of her Scotch. On his part, Lucifer closed his eyes in apparent appreciation as some of his Scotch went down his throat.

‘’Hmmm, I really should import some of that Scotch to the Abyss in order to spice up the parties at my court.’’

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Patricia raised an amused eyebrow at his words: compared to what she remembered of a typical ‘party’ at Lucifer’s court, the mythical Valhalla of the ancient Vikings could be described as a meeting place for puritanical sissies.

‘’So, Mother, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?’’

‘’To your successes as a Succubus on this Earth, Delicia.’’ answered Lilith with a proud smile. ‘’Do you realize that you have furthered the values and beliefs of us Succubi in this important human city more than any other past or present Succubus? You have also sent to the Abyss quite a few dirty souls which belonged there, something that has enamored you in the eyes of Lou.’’

Lucifer grinned on hearing that.

‘’Indeed! Taking down and disgracing some of those hypocritical churchmen was something I particularly appreciated, Delicia. I heard through the grapevines that the same thing rather incensed Him in the Celestial Plane. Throwing the local church into scandal and disarray in fact probably earned you that unfriendly visit from an angel on Saturday morning. By the way, you do have a rather interesting friend in the person of that bar owner cum Dragon. The two Balors who rendered assistance to you reported his presence to me on their return to the Abyss.’’

Those words made Patricia lower her glass as she stared with stunned surprise at Lucifer.

‘’So, you are the one who made those two Balors appear, and not my summoning spell?’’

‘’Of course it was me, Delicia! When did you ever hear of a simple Succubus being able to summon not one, but two Balors to her rescue?’’ From jovial, Lucifer then became quite serious and put down his glass of Scotch on the low table in front of his sofa before staring into Patricia’s eyes.

‘’Delicia, I now realize that I made a grave mistake when I let those other Demons chase you out of the Abyss. You may be quite different from other Demons, to the point of near blasphemy, but you also can be a precious asset to me, in your own way. You have managed to learn some powerful magic on your own here and have a potential few other Demons possess. I have thus decided to give you the choice of returning safely to the Abyss if you choose so. Know by the way that Lilith is, as a colorful saying here would say, presently shacking up with me as my first concubine.’’ Lilith smiled as Patricia gave her a stunned look.

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‘’It is true, Delicia. I have been back in favor at Lucifer’s court for quite some time already. If you would accept to return to the Abyss, we could then become the most powerful mother-daughter couple in Hell. So, what do you say?’’ Patricia was left speechless for a moment as she furiously weighed her answer to Lucifer’s proposition. A normal Demon would have jumped immediately at that

opportunity for nearly limitless power and prestige at the highest court of the Abyss. However, she was no normal Demon, especially now, after 41 continuous years spent on Earth.

‘’Mother, Great Lucifer, please don’t take the answer I am about to give you as an insult. Your offer is both generous and tempting but, since I have been abandoned as a child in this world, I have learned to appreciate the subtleties and attractions of life on Earth. One could taste here a near infinite variety of experiences, feelings and sights, even compared with the Abyss. I have also made many friends here whom I would be loathe to walk away from. I honestly believe that I could help better your cause and unmask hypocrites by continuing to live among Humans, Oh Great Lucifer. If you would let me stay here on Earth, I promise you in exchange to continue to promote your values like a true Succubus would, both directly and indirectly. I know that my predilection to help and protect innocent humans may be anathema to most in the Abyss, but I believe that I could do just that while at the same time sending you dirty souls deserving of your handling.’’

She then waited anxiously for Lucifer’s reaction to her response as the Master of Hell stared at her with an inscrutable expression on his face. To her profound relief, Lucifer finally nodded his head once and spoke in an even tone.

‘’Very well, Delicia. I respect and accept your decision to stay here. If you continue the way you have been doing for a year here in Los Angeles, then I don’t expect you to disappoint me. The local Humans have a wise saying that goes like this: when dealing with the Devil, don’t! Well, I have a deal for you, Delicia. In exchange for continuing to promote my values about sex and sin here on Earth, I will give you the ability to come to the Abyss as you please, so that you can visit your mother when you wish so. I will also pass an edict which will forbid other Demons from hunting you down or harming you. Finally, I will leave you one item that should make life easier for you here.’’

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Lucifer then removed an elaborate gold ring from one of his fingers and presented it to Patricia, who took it and examined it. Putting the ring around her left middle finger, she saw the ring shrink at once to fit perfectly her finger.

‘’What is this ring exactly, Oh Great Lucifer?’’

‘’It is a Greater Ring of Infernal Protection, my child. It will protect you from most Celestial attacks and also from attacks by human weapons. In view of what you have lived through in the recent months, I believe that this ring will prove most useful to you.’’

‘’Indeed, Great Lucifer!’’ replied Patricia while examining the ring. She then put one knee on the carpet and bowed in front of Lucifer. ‘’Your gift is a most precious one, Oh Great Lucifer. I will do my best to be worthy of it.’’

‘’Then, that’s settled!’’ declared Lucifer while snapping his fingers together. ‘’From now on, you will be able to teleport at will between Earth and the Abyss. Know that you will always be welcomed at my court, my dear Delicia.’’

‘’I look forward to presenting my respects to you there, Oh Great Lucifer.’’ replied Patricia, still bowing down to him. As both Lucifer and Lilith got up from their sofa, Patricia got back to her feet and went to her mother, hugging her tightly.

‘’It was such a long time since I last saw you, Mother. Being able to come visit you in the Abyss will be a great comfort to me.’’

‘’And it will be a great comfort to me too, Delicia. Take care of yourself here.’’

‘’I will, Mother!’’

After a last bow to Lucifer, Patricia then escorted him and Lilith to the entrance door, opening it for them. The Infernal couple calmly walked out into the darkness of night, disappearing gradually as they went farther, until they were entirely gone. Patricia, standing in her opened doorway, sighed once the couple had vanished.

‘’Here I am, alone again. At least now, I won’t have to worry anymore about Demons chasing after me. That leaves only Celestials, the mob and various other Humans to worry about.’’

She then had to correct herself partly: she was not exactly alone again, even with her mother gone. She had John Hideyoshi, plus all her friends from the FRIENDS’ CORNER BAR. Her life in the United States was definitely looking up by now.

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