User blog:ImpSyndrome/Electroshock Therapy

Hello everyone, Imp here. This is my first piece of fan-fiction to be posted to this site, and I'm not entirely sure yet which rules in MGEverse can be bent to what degree. I don't mind being told that I'm wrong, but if I make a mistake, please help me improve the story by suggesting a possible workaround for the error in question. That being said, I hope you, dear reader, enjoy this story!

Intro
A lot of people don't know this, but men can be marked by demonic energy, just like women can. It just takes a lot more power on the part of the marker to make it show, and they don't carry the same utility as the pleasure runes worn by yokai. That's why people regard marked incubi, like myself, with fear, why they whisper behind my back and label me with stupid nicknames. Bizarre titles like "Magakarasu", "the Raging Raven", "Devil Crow of Zipangu"...It's all a load of nonsense, if you ask me. Just because the markings look like black feathers...The shape alone doesn't mean it has to be symbolic. All it really shows is that I was touched by a daughter of the Demon Lord: a Lilim, who ensnared me with charm and promises and converted me into a monster on a whim.

You know what the sad part is? Most men would probably give an arm and a leg to belong to a Lilim, consequences be damned. If only they knew how cold she can be when she doesn't get what she wants...If only they knew the shame and emptiness that follows when she dumps you on the side of the road like trash, leaving you for the first yokai who decides that it fancies you, when you don't live up to her expectations. Being feared, being respected, having women desire you...None of it can fill that void. The pleasure a Lilim can give is incomparable; when books and scholars tell you "once you've tasted it, you can never live without it", they're not exaggerating. It's been three months, and I've wandered from one end of the region to the other, but it hasn't made any difference. I just feel dead inside...

I've tried loads of things to occupy myself since then. The first thing I tried was books, pursuing knowledge, but there wasn't a single subject I studied that held my interest. Next was faith, but that was even more pointless; it's hard to believe in anyone or anything after such a betrayal. Pleasures of the flesh, while somewhat stimulating, had lost meaning as well. I couldn't even find any relief in violence; no victory could mitigate my frustration or sadness, not that even one of them carried much meaning anyway for all the power I held. All the vices this world had to offer couldn't give me any comfort...

Fast-forward to present day. I'm walking through some village (I can't remember the name right now; probably not important anyway) when some half-pint girl in a feathery-looking outfit bumps right into me and runs off, without so much as a "sorry". Probably a pick-pocket...Heh, she must've been surprised to find my pockets empty. Strange thing is, I check that pocket now, out of habit, and it's NOT empty: there's a folded slip of paper stuffed clumsily in there. Had that girl planted it just now...? It's got me curious, so I unfold the paper and examine it. Turns out it's an invitation, although it's unlike anything you'd ever find in your mailbox at home:

"Electric Ecstacy!!

You're invited to the orgiastic celebration of the century!

We welcome all guests: bachelors/bachelorettes, virgins, swingers, and more!

Come early and cum often! Don't miss out on the hottest party in Zipangu!"

I bet someone had fun writing these out...The invitation goes on to specify a time and a location: three days from now, on a plateau atop a ridge not too far from this village. Seeing as I have nothing better to do with my time, and as someone went to the trouble of "hand-delivering" an invite to me (Employee of the Month, she ain't), I've decided that I'll at least check it out. Even if it's just a prank, at least I could occupy myself tracking down the loser who came up with the idea and beating some decency into them...

Three days later...
Skies are clear today. Whoever's arranging this party must be breathing a sigh of relief after the nasty thunderstorm we had yesterday. From what I can tell, this party's being held right out in the open, so a storm really could've killed the mood. I get on my way a little later than I planned, but I figure I'll still have plenty of time to see what all the fuss is about...

...By the time written on the invitation, I'm about halfway between the village and the plateau. As I get close, it bothers me that I can't hear anyone making any kind of merry up there. I try to keep my wits about me as I start climbing a slope to the peak of the ridge. It's taller than it looks from a distance, and I'm actually a little tired once I get there. I guess even incubi have their limits. That's not what really bugs me, though.

What bothers me is that there's nobody here.

I half-expected that someone was yanking my chain, but it still ticks me off that I was set up like this. I start muttering curses and promises of pain under my breath as I turn to head back down the slope...but just before I leave, I hear something else. It's hard to make out exactly what at first, but once I listen closer, it seems to be a woman's voice...and she seems to be struggling. Then I see what looks like a bird's talon peeking out from behind a tall rock at the far end of the plateau.

It's only when I notice that it's twitching that I begin to suspect that something isn't quite right here. Still paranoid, I walk slowly across the plateau, watching for any foreign presence as I move toward the sounds of distress. As I peek around the rock, I see that the talon belongs to a yokai, lying on her back and twitching periodically, suffering from full-body spasms.

Two things then occur to me. The first is that the yokai appears to be a Karasu-tengu (that's Crow Tengu for all you gaijin out there), but based on the bright greens and yellows of her plumage, she's actually a Raijincho, almost identical to the Thunderbird but native only to the Zipangu region. The second is that her feathers remind me of the outfit worn by that girl who'd bumped into me three days ago, the one who'd slipped that invitation into my pocket. That, coupled with my not knowing of any other Raijincho who lived in the area, was enough to convince me that this was the same girl.

"Oh, so this was all your idea," I accuse her upon reaching this recognition. She looks up at me but doesn't have anything to say, so I continue, "You thought this would be funny, huh? You enjoy playing practical jokes on people? You get a kick out of this? Doesn't seem too funny now, does...it..."

I can't keep going when I realize that she's crying. Either she's one hell of an actor, or I don't actually know what I'm talking about. The question is, how do I hear her side of the story when she's paralyzed like this? Being a Raijincho, she's probably experiencing backlash from an overload in her electricity-producing gland, and judging by the slight tingle of electricity in the air around her, I think it's safe to assume that she isn't faking it. There's no safe way I can think of to discharge her...although I could always try my hand at tanking a veritable lightning strike. Sure, it wouldn't be painful in the traditional sense, but there's still some discomfort in sensory overload of any kind, and I'd rather not subject myself to it. On the other hand, I shouldn't just leave her here in this state. Who knows how long it'd be before someone else comes to her rescue...

Lacking any other sensible alternatives, I silently raise a prayer to the Kami for protection, then reach down and touch her leg.

As soon as my hand makes contact, her yokai brand of electricity shoots through me, lighting every nerve in my body on fire. It's hard to describe the exact sensation past that, since ALL of my receptors - pain, pressure, etc. - are going absolutely bonkers and my brain can't process it all. It seems like days before the shock finally runs its course and dissipates, and then I drop to my knees and black out...

...When I wake up, I'm still on the plateau. I'm reluctant to move around at first, but when I find that there are neither numbness nor spasms in my muscles, I slowly sit up and try to collect myself. The first thing I notice is that I have a splitting headache. The second thing I notice is that the Raijincho is watching me, sitting patiently nearby. I'm kind of surprised she didn't fly away already...even though it probably hasn't been too long since it happened.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," says the Raijincho in a soft, slightly-raspy voice. "I'm glad you did, though...I was worried that everyone had forgotten about me..."

"'Everyone'," I repeat, my skepticism obvious.

"We had a party yesterday," she explained, already starting to look depressed again. "I helped with handing out invitations. I distributed them to some of the good-looking guys in nearby villages. My friends and I waited for them here..."

A few moments later, it finally hits me. The first line of the invitation had something to do with "electric"; I should've guessed that it was hinting at a gathering catering to yokai, either Raijincho or Raiju. That explains the freak storm from yesterday, too. I probably should've expected something like that; thunderstorms that powerful are awfully rare in Zipangu. I'll save the question about the date discrepancy between the invite and the girl's explanation until later.

"So...what," I ask. "Did your electricity backfire, and they left you out?"

I must be correct, because she looks surprised...and then she starts crying again. "Y...yeah," she sobs, trying to wipe away tears with the tips of her wings (where one might expect her hands to be, if she were human). "And when the p-party was over...they all up and left...Everyone forgot about me...and went home...! I couldn't move, and no one was coming to help me...! I thought I was gonna...g-gonna...!"

I probably should've stopped her (or tried to, anyway), because she can't finish that last sentence before she starts bawling at the top of her lungs. Now I'm annoyed for two reasons: one, because she's sitting right next to me, and after just waking up from a sensory overload, her voice is louder than anything I've ever heard before; and two, because yokai or human, it gets on my nerves that her friends left her here like it wasn't going to be a problem. In a sense, being abandoned like that makes her kind of like me, doesn't it? Not to mention that she was probably happiest when she was in with that crowd, but after this, I bet she'll never trust them again...Sure sounds familiar to me.

Now, since being tossed away by that Lilim (I refuse to use her name, and definitely not because I care; I don't do that tsundere bull-shit), I had seen folks down on their luck: guys who had their life savings snatched out from under their noses, devoted wives whose husbands got bored and went looking for company elsewhere, starving kids who never had a coin to their name...I'd even gotten to know some of them, and even then, I couldn't have cared any less for any of them. But here I am, listening to some punk gal who I thought to be making an idiot out of me, and for the first time in months, I can feel genuine sympathy when she talks to me. Did that shock jump-start my conscience or something...?

Whatever my reasons may or may not be, I've made up my mind: anyone who can make me feel anything anymore is worth keeping close, so this girl is coming home with me. I stand up and tell her, "C'mon, get up and quit crying. If you need somewhere to go, you can crash at my place tonight." I can't tell if she can hear me or not, but she doesn't stop crying...Screw it, I don't care. I scoop her up off the ground and cradle her smaller body in both arms. She yelps and (finally!) stops screaming, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Repeating what I just told her, I turn toward the slow leading back down to ground-level and set off for the village...

By the time we get there, the Raijincho is exhausted and sleeping soundly in my clutches; that overload must've deprived her of sleep last night, so it's hardly surprising. Along the way, everyone we pass is looking at me like I'm some kind of deviant...and I mean that in a bad way. Hypocrites...As if I hadn't seen some of them carrying home their newly-acquired spouses. I turn up my nose and scowl at the idiots, from the edge of town all the way to the place where I'm staying. Once we're inside, I lay the yokai on my bed and take a seat nearby, thinking back on what's happened. Hard to believe I literally needed an electric shock to snap me out of this funk...

(Coming up next: Raijincho's shenanigans!)