While Gemory was gone, Danielle chatted with Francesca. Despite her unusual appearance, the woman quickly put Dani at ease while she worked, taking measurements and making small talk.
Dani quickly brought Francesca up to speed on how she met Gemory, and the tall woman laughed upon hearing how Danielle had turned the tables on the demoness.
“Oh my, so you made her love you? I bet she thought she'd be immune to that!” Francesca had to wipe tears from her eyes with a free hand. “Well, that serves her right.”
“I thought she was your friend? I was afraid you'd be angry.” Danielle admitted.
“Oh don't get me wrong, I love the stuffing out of her, even if she is an 'evil demon'.” Francesca made finger quotes. “But she's far too confident for her own good. She needs these little setbacks from time to time. You know though, after hearing how she explained your power over women, I wonder how it would affect someone who is half woman? We have a few of those around here.”
“Yeah, uh, I guess it depends. Just the same though, I'm not too keen on meeting the other natives. Everyone keeps saying this place isn't bad, but I mean, it -is- Hell, right?”
“Well it's true, mortals don't come here often in the flesh, there are those who would snatch up a pretty morsel like yourself in a heartbeat. Gemory's mark offers you a great deal of protection, but she has rivals.” Francesca commented.
“Mark? What mark?” Dani blinked.
“Ah, every high ranking Devil has a personal sigil that they place on those who serve them.” Francesca removed one of her leather gloves, and showed Danielle what looked like a tattoo. It was a circle in a circle, with the letters G, R, E, M, O, R, and Y placed equidistantly from each other in the border. Inside the circle was a odd design that was hard to the describe- at it's center was a cross, but there were spirals and five small spheres, and what looked to be spikes or mountains at the top.
“Gremory?”
“Oh she has several names. Gremory, Gamori, Gaeneron, Gemyem, That Bitch- the list goes on.” Francesca grinned.
“I'm assuming that last one is a joke?”
“Oh no, not at all, Aamon calls her that all the time. But being who she is, Gemory, rather than be insulted, took it as an official name. Though she insists it's -THE- Bitch.” The tall woman giggled, in a surprisingly girlish fashion.
Danielle laughed with her. “That sounds like her. It's so weird, I've only known her for a little while, but it feels like I've known her for a long time.”
“Perhaps you have. You've had other lives before.”
“Yeah, she said that too, but if so, I'm not sure how she hasn't snagged my soul yet. I mean at first, she said she was a demon, and I was like “oh yah? Then get thee behind me” and all that...but it didn't take her long to worm her way into my heart.” Danielle sighed.
Francesca patted her on one arm. “There, there, dear, it will be alright. She's going through a lot of effort not to scare you off. She can be...intense.”
“Yeah. But isn't that wrong? Shouldn't she be, you know, herself?” Dani frowned.
“I don't think you're quite ready for that just yet. The woman can incinerate things that annoy her by glaring at them.”
Danielle laughed, then realized Francesca wasn't laughing. “Wait, really?”
Francesca simply showed her the remains of the clothing that the demoness had destroyed.
“Oh boy.”
“Indeed!” But the tall demon patted her on the arm again and then got back to work.
“Oh yeah, if I have that mark, where is it? I hope it's not on my butt or anything.” (Though, if she had to be honest, Danielle realized she wouldn't mind that so much...)
“Oh no, it's right here, on your back.” Francesca touched Dani's left shoulder. “You were probably quite distracted when she put it there. Did she bite you, by chance?”
Danielle tried to remember- most of their lovemaking was a blur of pleasure, but now that Francesca mentioned it, she did remember a few loving nibbles. Just thinking about it made her shiver.
“Yes, that was probably the time.” The fashionista chuckled. She then snapped her fingers, and a pair of twin girls entered the room, carrying bolts of fabric (among other things). The girls were naked and quite young, maybe 12, with tiny buds for breasts and their hips just starting to widen. They were completely identical, with innocent, cherub like smiles, and unruly manes of red-gold hair. Their eyes glowed a dull red color, and tiny horns poked out from their hair.
Each wore a silver manacle on one arm, the left twin had it on her right arm, and the right twin on her left. A length of delicate silver chain linked both manacles.
“Mia, Maya, this is Danielle. She's our customer for the day.” Francesca made introductions.
“Hello Danielle, we are happy to serve you.” The twins spoke in unison, and, without dropping their burdens, went to one knee and bowed their heads.
“Uh, thanks...you don't need to bow down to me, though.”
The girls giggled together, then said. “It's good manners, your Grace.”
“My what now?” Danielle was confused.
“Apparently my imps were listening in, so they know you are to be wed to our dear Gemory. Which will make you a Duchess of Hell.” Francesca supplied.
“Oh...oh wow. I didn't think about that.”
The girls snickered, but Francesca made a chiding gesture, and they stopped it. The seamstress got to work, her four hands making quick work of assembling the dress. The demon twins helped Dani get undressed, and offered her white lace undergarments.
Oddly, Danielle felt perfectly fine being naked, despite the bizarre situation.
“If you desire us, your Grace, we would be happy to pleasure you.” The twins said.
“Uh, um...not right now. I mean, thanks, I appreciate it, but Gemory and I haven't really talked about...boundaries.” Dani stammered. The twins were really cute, and most likely were anything but innocent children. But the idea of cheating on Gemory seemed especially wrong, and she wasn't sure why.
The twins giggled. “Demons don't really have boundaries, your Grace.”
“Alright, that's enough you two. She declined. Get her something to drink and snack on.” Francesca shooed them off.
Dani found her gaze following the girl's backsides. For as young as they were, they did have rather cute asses. (Dani had never been interested in butts before, so she wasn't sure why she was staring now). “So...what's their story?”
“Ah, well, they used to be one person, actually. Their names being a play on 'me' and 'my', you understand. To put it as simply as possible, they suffered from horrible abuse and suffered from a fractured psyche. Two personalities in one body. One good, and one very, very bad.”
“Oh, like Jekyll and Hyde?” Dani had never read the book, but she knew the gist of the story.
“Very much so. When her good side found out what her alter ego was doing...well, you see, she targeted people who abused girls, lured them in, and killed them. As a way of getting revenge on the world.”
“Oh...fuck. I mean, that's wrong but...people like that deserve it.” Danielle was a bit conflicted. She was pretty sure Heaven would still see this as evil- but she couldn't completely condemn the girl.
“The only way she could think to stop it was by taking her own life. Something I can relate to. But suicides always end up here.” Francesca sighed. “When an unclaimed soul comes to Hell, it's very hard for them. Things are brutal and violent, but no matter what happens, you can't die. But her dark side was a survivor, after all. And while you can't die in Hell, the quality of your life can be degraded significantly. Eventually, tales of her brutality attracted the attention of a higher ranked Devil- one of the Presidents of Hell, Barbas. Barbas has the power of transformation, and he united the girl's mind by splitting her body twain.”
“I'm not sure how that works, but...I mean, good for her. Them?” Dani wasn't sure what pronouns to use.
“Them. I mean, even though they share the same mind and personality, they are a plurality. One girl, two bodies.”
“I wonder what that's like...” Danielle imagined having a second body and wondered if that would please her fiancee. She didn't even question why she was thinking along those lines.
“Well if you ever meet Buer, you can ask.” Francesca smiled.
“Wait, so only he can change people? I thought any demon could? I mean Gemory told me how she made Aamon into a girl.”
Francesca laughed. “Oh I wish I could have seen that! And yes, the high-ranking devils have a host of powers at their command. But at the same time, each have their areas of strength. Buer is the best at what he does.”
“Huh. So what is Gemory known for?”
“Gemory can speak of all things, past, present, and future. She can tell the location of hidden treasures,
and can procure the love of all women, young and old alike, but especially maidens.” Francesca stated.
“So she can see the future? Makes you wonder how she can ever lose.”
“Well, foretelling is a difficult skill, and takes time, it's not constant. And most who summon her just want to get a pretty girl in bed with them, so she really only uses it when playing cards or the stock market.” Francesca explained.
“Oofta.” Dani snorted.
Eventually, the dress was done, and Francesca led Danielle to a mirror. It was a white lace off-the shoulder midi dress. Despite her dislike of heels, the tall demon coaxed Dani into wearing a pair of white block-heeled sandals. To her surprise, the skirt came down to calf-length, and she really looked incredible in the dress.
“Oh wow...you really can make girls beautiful.” She couldn't believe it!
“Oh it wasn't that much work, dear. You are a very pretty girl, you just didn't believe in yourself. I mean, didn't you yourself say the first wish would make women find you cute?” Francesca chuckled.
“Cute, yeah, but like this?” Dani shook her head.
“You know, since you haven't thought of it yet, doesn't your power to make women prettier work on you as well?” Francesca gently pointed out.
“Y...yeah. I'm pretty sure it does.”
“Then why not try it out?” The taller woman stood behind Danielle.
“Ok, well, here goes.” She touched her forehead. “I wish I was beautiful.”
Nothing seemed to happen.
“Well that's not very specific, dear, I mean, you -are- beautiful.” The demoness pointed out.
“Ugh, fine. I wish I was so pretty that Gemory will be completely stunned when she sees me!”
There was a brief flash of light, and Danielle blinked. Looking in the mirror, she knew -something- had changed, but she wasn't sure what. Her breasts were the same, she wasn't any taller...but her hair seemed a little lighter, her eyes sparkled like emeralds behind the lenses of her glasses, and her skin, while still tan, seemed softer and younger. Her hair seemed a bit longer as well, though she wasn't any taller (though, thinking about it, she recalled that was specifically not one of her abilities).
“Holy shit.” Danielle realized she'd been holding her breath. “It worked!”
“Indeed it did, darling. Between your power and my dress, I think Gemory might be tempted to strip you naked and fuck you on the spot!”
“Oofta. She better not!” Danielle turned to one side, her skirt swishing as she did so. She'd never felt so graceful in heels before! “This dress is amazing!” She then turned and hugged Francesca. “Thank you so much!”
Francesca held her with her lower two arms, while gently stroking her hair with a third. “It was my pleasure, dear. If Gemory allows it, I'll make you a whole wardrobe. And yes, that includes sensible clothing too. I can tell you like dressing like a boy sometimes.”
“Uh, yeah, I do, but I think she likes me better in a dress.” Danielle blushed.
“Oh probably, but I bet she likes you best in nothing at all!”