Arcane ~ Short Stories ~ QUEENDOM

XI ~ The Snake

~ SPOILERS for the 4th episode of Arcane ~

(this is the sequel to "Flames")

   "Here..." Hiedra spit the cigarette out to be caught by her free fingers, visibly amused.

She pirouetted with her arms outstretched, summoning her dome and runic circle. The blue tint of Hex crystals soon bled into the orange of her eyes, and she grinned cockily.

   "This is what I've got. The decision is yours... And Jayce's, of course."

The latter was staring in pure amazement, equally impressed at every occurrence that led her to display her disk and floating semi-sphere of magic. His fellow inventor was battling his excitement, remaining stoic and displeased.

   "Answer my question."

She burst out laughing.

   "My, oh my..! You're really stuck onto the past, aren't you?"  The prostitute fiddled with her sleeves, pausing. "I go by many names, for your information. If 'Jillian' isn't good enough for you..."

She waved her hand, swirls of blue smoke appearing and linking themselves to her fingertips. Then, she snapped her fingers to create a sentence out of runes.

   "No, thank you," cleverly replied the man who was sitting.

Meanwhile, the other walked to face her and read the message.

   "Kiss my @ss?!" he exclaimed, incredulous.

The courtesan willed her manifestation of the Arcane to dissolve and speedily found herself with her chest almost pressed against his.

   "If you insist..." To tease him furthermore, the female tuck her lighter inside his pants' front left pocket, tilting her face and steadily approaching her lips to his.

   "Leave him alone."

Hiedra snickered and pinched her lighter back.

   "Do you want me..? To leave you alone?" Her whisper sounded like a challenge, yet it was sultry and dripping with eagerness.

She looked up into Jayce's eyes, and he swallowed, practically bereft of his speech. Fortunately, he was still able to step backwards.

The hooker jerked the lid of her lighter open by sharply moving her left wrist, raising her cigarette, held between two fingers, directed at the flame. In a mere instant, it was lit up, and she inserted its golden tip in her mouth. She anchored her satisfied gaze to the floor, smoking in lengthy inhales and exhales.

Suddenly, she spun to face Viktor, walking in his direction. She dropped her lighter into one of her pockets and roughly grabbed the back of his chair, above his right shoulder. Unbothered, she kicked his cane, and while it clinked against the ground a few times, she confidently balanced the chair onto its back legs. With a firm grasp on the precarious position Viktor was stuck in, the immortal woman jeered:

   "I never pegged you as the jealous type, Vik."

His research partner, attempting to divert his focus away from the inciting curves of her buttocks, jumped at an opportunity to learn why they were acquainted.

   "Did you two..? Sleep together?!"

   "No, did you?" the Zaunite contemptuously spat back, not without glaring fiercely at the prostitute.

Jayce sputtered: "N-no, of course not.!"

Jillian deftly put the chair back on all four, abruptly laughing.

   "Sorry..!" was all she managed, as she nearly wheezed, stumbling backwards.

Once she finally ceased doing so, the Piltovan had had enough time to give his friend his cane back, and the young men stared at her disbelievingly.

Pacing around and smoking, the alluring creature spoke in a tone which transpired that she sincerely felt apologetic.

   "If we agree on a Deal, I will act without reproach. I'll be a perfect apprentice and magic advisor, no less. I am capable of behaving, you know."

Her shadow slithered, dragged behind her heels, contrasting with the different sources of dim lighting inside the room. The sex worker decided to blend into the darkness that draped the surrounding shelves, waiting for their verdict. A small, glowing, reddish orange orb made it possible to spot her, the continuously burning end of her cigarette.

   "Jillian?"

She emerged from the dark like a predator suddenly revealing itself to its prey, intimidating and self-assured. The courtesan took a lone puff.

   "I'm listening, gentlemen."

   "Whatever help you offer, Jayce and I will fare without it. You are a cruel, impulsive, greedy and selfish person. You are not a scientist nor a mage, but a treacherous opportunist. I will never, and I mean never, work with you."

She noticed that although he held her cunning leer, his increasingly furious eyes kept deviating and briefly landing onto her bracelet. Viktor propped himself up with his cane and half-limped, half-stomped to face her from up close.

   "Now, leave the Academy and don't ever come back here again."

The traveller simply scoffed, barely keeping her icy facade intact. She too could control her anger, perhaps not as well as him, but no one made a fool out of her.

   "I'm positive that we will meet again... Meanwhile, just a piece of advice..."

She smirked dangerously, exhaled slowly, and her blue eyes were instantaneously obliterated by a wave of frigid, paler than pale, scarcely pigmented gray. Without a second's hesitation, she pulled his cane from his grip and tossed it under a nearby table.

   "Don't stand in my way."

Smoke poured out from between her lips, and she looked at Viktor as he fell flat on his chest, simultaneously scratching his face and hands against the jagged floor. Paying his pained groans no mind, she strolled away and climbed the staircase to exit the building.

The twilight embraced her silhouette lovingly, clinging to her exposed skin and brushing her clothes. She huffed, expulsing a ring of sheer smoke into the crisp nightly air. Her pupils lowered, she inspected her bracelet with a bitter smile.

I wonder what Singed told him, she mused, admiring the shimmering nature of a few scales.

Stretching her body, she sighed. Preparing herself for the earful she was bound to receive from her sisters, she jumped off the roof and onto the closest one, her snakeskin boots' soles slamming into its tiles.