Purgatory

Welcome to Purgatory

     Ava can feel her face, no the entirety of the front of her body, pressed against a cool, solid, and rough surface. As her consciousness begins to return to her Ava starts to make out the sounds of footsteps and varying conversations. A dim light fills Ava's eyes right before she slowly opens them to make out the blurred outlines of her surroundings that gradually come more into focus. A lethargic feeling courses through her body, but still, she rises to her feet albeit a bit sluggishly. To her left was a multi-storied building seemingly constructed from various sheets of metal and to her right a small brick building. Putting together she was in an alley Ava gazes further ahead, her eyes still adjusting.

     "How the hell'd I end up here?" Ava rubs her furrowed brow having involuntarily muttered her thought aloud. 

     Ava, still in her somewhat lethargic state, sluggishly begins to make her way towards what she assumes to be a main street of sorts or at least a sidewalk. A dull but throbbing pain echoes through both her body and head with each step as she takes. Step by step though, instead of getting more severe the pain becomes more rhythmic and lessens as well.

     "Seriously, what the hell did..." Ava's muttering stops as she is hit by a sensory overload which scatters her thoughts. A sky of various crimson hues and a sidewalk populated by entities who were clearly not human. "Wha, WHAT THE F-"

*     *     *     *     *

     "Finally," Layl quickly takes the porcelain cup of coffee that Laus is holding out to her, "Your old age must finally be getting to you."

     "Very funny. You must be forgetting in your old age that you have over a hundred years on me." Laus shots back as he steadily makes his way back to the counter

     The cafe, The Nocturne, is devoid of patrons leaving the two siblings alone within it. However, this is not of much concern to Laus since, like clockwork, around this time everyday foot traffic into the cafe seems to die down. Knowing that it would be himself and Layl alone for awhile Laus did not bother to pretend to be busy with work, instead deciding to grab a book from atop the counter and heading to his sister's table.

     "Slacking off?" A gasp accompanies Layl's teasing remark. "Now what would all your customers think?"

     The siblings, Laus and Layl, differ in as many ways as they are similar. This includes their general looks, attire, and demeanor. Layl, with her feet resting on the table they are sitting at, is casually dressed; Wearing jet black skinny jeans and a tee shirt, both of which are form fitting. Her long black hair has the faintest hint of maroon to it, her skin is a flawless olive tone, and her eyes are a piercing purple color that, having just teased Laus, were cut at him. All of these traits being supernaturally enhanced by her nature as a Sucubbus; something that she shows off without a second thought, having her deep maroon colored hands and forearms, similarly colored smooth tail, and her horns that jut straight out with a slight curve on full display.

     Laus, compared to most Succubi and Incubi, is rather conservative with his attire, even if it is his work attire. He wears a black dress vest over a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and black slim fitting jeans. Like his sister, Laus has an olive complexion, black hair, and purple eyes. However, his hair was short, barely covering his ears. And, unlike his sister, he did not have his nature as an Incubus on display so he lacked the supernatural enhancements that it aesthetically gave.

     "Well, I learned from the best, so they'll probably be awe inspired by the overall level and quality of the slacking off." Laus ends his statement with a smirk as he opens his book to a page he had marked off.

     "You'll never understand the amount of pride your words have just brought me, my dear little brother." Layl's words were laced with sarcasm as her eyes were immediately drawn to the book Laus had opened. "Looking up Sigils?"

     "I am glad to bring such pride to you. And, kind of. I want to put a stronger and more advanced warding sigil on the stairs." Laus punctuates his sentence with a nudge to an empty corner of the cafe.

     "Why? You get some rowdy customers lately? Afraid someone's gonna break in? But, you know, if you do need some help you can ask your good ole big sis." Layl gives a cheeky smile after giving her knowing response and then takes a sip of her coffee. "Good job, as always!"

     "As always, thank you." If it was anyone else Laus tempted to think they were trying to suck for a discount, but despite her flippant nature Layl was one to repay her debates no matter how minuscule. Especially when they came to Laus. "And for this sigil, I can't rely on too much demonic infusion. I need something advanced, not overly complex."

      "Trying to keep your oh so caring sister out are we?" Layl accentuates her words with an overly exaggerated crestfallen look and demeanor. Layl, being somewhat knowledgeable with sigils, understood this theoretical warding sigil would be used to also ward off demons. "Still though, I know enough about sigils to put up some demon wards. So, you can defiantly do it."

     "Yeah, I can. But, I'm trying not to ward off my 'oh so caring sister' while simultaneously not allowing every sucubbus in." Laus speaks as he continues reading through the book.

     "You really do care." Speaking with such conviction Layl's words would have been misconstrued as honest by anyone but Laus, who easily saw the underlining sarcasm. "Hmm, that does sound annoying. You're probably going to have to Frankenstein it, or string together a few sigils."

     "Adding to my string'll probably be the simplest option, but I'd prefer not to make it any longer." Laus makes reference to a wall in the cafe that has nearly a dozen small sigils etched into the wood. "I want just a singular sigil, that has some sort of selective loophole to allow you access."

     "Quite the conundrum you have there." As a punctuation on her statement, Layl takes a sip of coffee and a delighted smile appears on her face.

     "Yes, it is. And it's all for my 'oh so caring sister.'" Laus retorts with a smirk as he continues reading a page from his book.

     Layl replies to Laus' smirk with one of her own before taking another sip of her coffee. Needing no more words the two siblings simply sit in silence. Layl continuing to drink from her cup and Laus reading through the pages of his book.

     "-UCK IS GOING ON!!!" A feminine voice bellows from outside of the cafe.

     "Well, the silence was nice." Layl quickly pipes up and further in response drinks from her cup once more before continuing on. "So, what do you think? Blood drunk vampire, or maybe a rage drunk demon?"

     "Who know's. But, damn it. Sounds like they're right outside." Laus' brow furrows at the very thought of the being outside. Knowing having someone drunkenly shooting outside of his cafe would do him no good, Laus resigned himself to the fact he would have to take care of it. Marking his page, he arises from the table and closes the book.

     "You going to need some help?" Layl asks with the slightest hint of concern in her voice. Knowing Laus could most likely handle any of the beings he came across outside kept Layl from simply going out with him.

     "I'll be fine. If not, then what you said about my old age may be true." With a reassuring smirk, Laus makes his way to the exit.