[Action for Castlevania] A Welcoming

[im_gonna_heal_u]

While Konoka had tried her best to contact Pidonus after (unfairly) ditching Porrim, she stood alone before the gate to the land only known as 'Castlevania'. She had seen some impressive buildings, including the old base of Cosmo Entelecheia, but this was definitely not anything to sneeze at. The hanging darkness felt no different than real night, and the fact that she caught Dracula's video broadcast did not ease her in the slightest. It was a bit scary, and yet awe inspiring. Opting not to show her worry, Konoka steeled herself, perhaps like a fabled Belmont staring down the castle itself.

...well more accurately, she was staring at the castle like the corrupted Belmont had, disappearing from the world after his victory. Pidonus had charmed her, and it was the thoughts of that succubus that led her here.

The charm was so deep seated that she didn't even realize how she wouldn't have come here had she not been notified before hand. She had her fair share of dealing with magical creatures and villains after her fateful field trip to the magical world, but the apprehension was different than those times, and far different from her previous adventures. For the next... well, for a good while, this might be the place she calls home.

So dialing one last time, she rang up Pidonus. "I'm here!" She said. "Place looks kinda scary!"

Comments

[im_gonna_heal_u]

"You're not selling me on that..." Konoka said weakly. She attempted to puff herself up in defiance of this. She wondered if it was a charm spell making her feel weak and shameful for trying to defy her, and attempted to try and work her brain free of it... though it had been a while since she last read on charm spells and couldn't think of it.

[have_hat_will_travel]

Pidonus chuckled, moving in closer to Konoka. "You'll sell yourself on it, soon enough, I suspect~", she said, as she suddenly hugged the girl.

[im_gonna_heal_u]

Konoka attempted to back away, but while the charm was weakening, it wasn't going away. And apparently, the soft skin of another woman was far too enticing, more than it had any right to be!

"Are you being a little too assumptive?" Konoka tried to divert Pidonus away from such ideas.

[have_hat_will_travel]

"Oh, perhaps. At least, that's what I was say if I was a normal temptress, and you weren't already quite obviously affected by my presence, now that it's aimed at you. I'm so soft, aren't I?"

[im_gonna_heal_u]

"S-soft?" No, Konoka wasn't going to fall for that! She wasn't some harem male lead! Looking anxiously from left to right, she looked for something to break this obvious spell. Anything. How did Negi-kun handle this? "No!" This was an obvious lie, but if she repeated it enough maybe it would break the spell? Why was she having so much trouble resisting despite being aware of the spell?

[have_hat_will_travel]

"Interesting, that you have the strength to lie. It's like you're afraid of something that might not be true."

Pidonus casually sauntered closer to Konoka. "Or perhaps it is. But there won't be much you can do about it for too long. I don't give up easily, you know."

[im_gonna_heal_u]

"I'm just embarrassed someone's ignoring my personal space, that's all!" Konoka said, sticking to an actual truth instead of getting tripped up over the fact that well, Pidonus did feel kinda nice. She backed up subconsciously, but soon ran out of room, her back against the wall both literally and figuratively. "Well I'll find some way to break free!" she said, very much feeling like a damsel right now.

[have_hat_will_travel]

"Dear, you so do not have the practice to pull a bluff like that and make me believe it. And perhaps you could find the secret to breaking free," Pidonus responded. "But right now, you're more talking yourself up than talking your mind out of the situation. And I haven't even gotten to the good parts of my powers, yet."

She couldn't help but chuckle, though by this point, she was getting a little off-guard. Like she was hesitating to go right to her stronger charm magics. "But, we can play it fair. Right now, I have all the cards when it comes to the power play here, and that is a little boring. So, I can present you a choice."

[im_gonna_heal_u]

"That so?" Konoka said, realizing a few things with that statement. One was that Pidonus loved hearing herself talk, and two, Konoka had indeed been messing up by simply trying to talk herself up--it meant she was doing nothing to stop how the charm actually worked.

"So you prefer being fair at least. Fair I can work with," Konoka said, feeling that she wouldn't be hypnotized with just eye contact. "What choice do you grant me? Does it have something to do with why you're acting so kinky?"

[have_hat_will_travel]

Pidonus chuckled. "I'm a Succubus, dear. It comes very, very naturally. Just like your attraction to me, and the difficulty to resist my influence when I press it." Intended double entendre? Maybe.

"Once, I worked to do good. Freed from a dark influence, I tried to be the heroine I was before I became the beauty you see now. But such a path ill suits my ilk. Worse, the greatest joys I can feel are denied me by the nature of this place - I will not know the joy of truly owning another's soul while I am here."

"It certainly does not help that I am naturally pulled to serve other leaders. Lord Dracula is an obvious fit, but there are others on the, shall we say, darker side who I would gladly aid, because such comes naturally to me. So, tell me: Why shouldn't I follow my natural path, and work your will over to bring you around to my side fully? Try to think it through properly."

[im_gonna_heal_u]

Konoka paused, putting a finger to her chin thoughtfully. Naturally, it wouldn't be easy to fight this sort of thing. Even if Pidonus couldn't own her soul, Konoka could forfeit her good will if Pidonus got serious enough to claim her fully. At the same time, she sympathized with wanting to use power she had. Konoka did; she had strong healing powers and she really wanted to use them, the way she wanted.

"You have abilities you relish to use, and so do I," Konoka answered. It may not be the full answer yet, but she had to start somewhere. "However, though you enjoy using them, and though you're compelled to serve others, you don't really have a gameplan with them. You even charmed me out of mere instinct! I on the other hand, do have a plan for what I want to do!" Eeeeven if it might be a hard sell to figure out how to accomplish it given her current situation. "I don't know if Dracula has a higher plan for what he's doing, but don't you think you're better off following someone who's got a better idea on what they want to accomplish? That's what I'm here for. You'd be surprise how much seduction it'd take to do good for this world."

Konoka was hedging her bets on a couple of things--namely that Pidonus had attempted to be more lawful in her past to do good... and that being more chaotic (good) would let both of them do as they wanted.

[have_hat_will_travel]

"... You're off on a couple marks, but close."

Pidonus casually stepped in and hugged Konoka - not particularly a seductive hug meant to emphasize Pidonus' assets, but more about making the contact to emphasize her softness. "My charm is something I have control over. As much as a tool of seduction, it's a tool of self-defense. I went for you because you were alone, cute, vulnerable-looking, and I got a sense you had some power I'd be able to put to use, once I had a greater plan."

"Further, Is it honestly true that Dracula needs a higher plan? The safety of the barrier is rather a valuable cause in and of itself."

Pidonus' last words seemed to indicate she was at least somewhat aware that she was being influenced on some unnatural level. The real question was if she cared about that.

[im_gonna_heal_u]

On the one hand, Konoka would be just fine if Dracula satisfied himself living in his castle and cackling evilly while maintaining the barrier (and how does that barrier work anyway?). On the other hand, Dracula was too much of an unknown factor, let alone Pidonus herself, who was just hugging her right now...

And Konoka assumed that Pidonus didn't care one whit. Which meant maybe she might need to find a way to appeal making Pidonus follow her instead. For now, she didn't have an answer yet.

"Honestly, it might be better that he didn't," Konoka answered. Less likely to hurt people if that were the case.

[have_hat_will_travel]

"Can't say I know. I just know what he's up to now. Further, I'm fairly sure I know what I personally want."

[im_gonna_heal_u]

"So what is it that you want?" Konoka's just a hair on the nervous side now. She had no clue when she first charmed her... had she changed since she had this talk?

[have_hat_will_travel]

"A few minions to satisfy my self-aggrandizing tendencies while I figure out my larger goals."

Pidonus blinked once or twice. "I mean, you have a point about not wishing to hurt people, I guess. I'm not that kind of villainess, really, never have been. Problem is having a higher end to follow. My old one doesn't work here, neither does the less old one."

[im_gonna_heal_u]

Konoka blinked owlishly. That was ummm... one less thing to worry about. "So you need to find a new purpose then, while I heap praise on you?" Now granted, she didn't want to inflate Pidonus's ego to where it would bite her in the rear, but she was quite certain giving her some praise when she... accomplishes matters didn't hurt, right?

"So you need a higher purpose, to work toward..." Konoka said. "Would you listen to me if I said I could find you one? I mean, I could be your secretary or something."

[have_hat_will_travel]

"Perhaps, perhaps. But right now, I need something a little different from you. I need you to speak of your darkest motivations and inspirations a little. Let's get a taste of your shadow, as it were~"

Something about Pidonus' tone seemed to deny Konoka the idea of resisting this request.

[im_gonna_heal_u]

For a moment, the brunette found herself surprised at the sudden demand. She clammed up, mostly out of reaction from the words 'darkest motivations'. It was a combination of not wanting to give such a weakness... and honestly not knowing the answer. She dreaded learning the answer about as badly as she dreading giving it.

But the charm won out. With a sigh, she answered, "You know, I like attention. Not the fame and glory type of attention, but the kind of praise you get when you help others, or play with them... you know! I even felt it from that woman that kidnapped me. The magic exacerbated it, but it just felt so good... using my magic feels really good, so I admit I do it for that attention. I never want to feel lonely as I did in my childhood ever again."

[have_hat_will_travel]

"... Wait, that woman kidnapped you? What?"

Pidonus blinked. This seemed important. "Unless you mean me, can you elaborate on that incident a little?"

[im_gonna_heal_u]

"This was a long time ago..." Konoka almost turned away, with the charm no longer holding a death grip on her, but she figured there was no point resisting right now. "Just when I discovered magic a rogue mage close to my home wanted to use my magical power. She managed to abduct me twice... though I was knocked unconscious the first time. The second time she managed to summon a really big demon! It was so huge and terrible...! and yet the magic felt really good..."

She paused for a moment. "I think her name was Chigusa Amagasaki?"

[have_hat_will_travel]

So, one conclusion: NOT someone to worry about immediately. Also, definitely a girl of a pure-ish intention, if not a classical 'pure heart'. Detect Good would likely ping strongly.

"Interesting. Your motivations are... Very interesting."

Pidonus leaned in a bit. "Not easily corrupted. Could resort to other measures, if I wished it. Not sure I'll bother, though."

[im_gonna_heal_u]

Konoka seemed to have dodged a lot of bullets with her. So no, she wouldn't be a puppet of evil... which was one less problem. On the other hand, it didn't seem that Pidonus was going to give up.

"Uh huh..." Konoka said, nodding slowly. "So what's your plan now?"

[have_hat_will_travel]

"... It should be getting more proactive in my seduction of you to warp your desires to the cause of darkness. But really, who knows."

[im_gonna_heal_u]

"So we're back to square one again?" Konoka asked almost innocently. She probably didn't want to give Pidonus any ideas on how to use her powers for darkness, and she was lucky that she didn't go for the 'use powers to control demons' route Chigusa did. She'd settle for this stalemate for now, but she still wondered if she could sway Pidonus the other way, so to speak. It probably wouldn't be easy, but she'd still try.