“You know,” Catherine said as Irene walked towards the desks, “I’m not sure if I should take some offense at that conversation. Then again, I am something of a freak.”
Eva rolled her eyes, snatching a stack of papers off the front desk.
“Alright,” she said as she walked up to the students’ desks and started placing the sheets out, “we still cannot tell you what this is about. Not until you’ve signed your name on this paper.
“This is a fae contract. For those who don’t know what that means, consider this a binding magical contract where breaking it results in enslavement to the particular fairy that wrote them up. I suggest you read through it carefully.”
Catherine groaned. “If you’re too lazy for that, it boils down this: You are not allowed to discuss anything that occurs within this classroom with anyone not currently in the classroom. Not unless you want to be a fairy slave for eternity.”
“The contract lasts until you turn eighteen, so it isn’t forever, but if you can’t handle that or think you might accidentally slip to one of your friends or parents, get out now.”
Two students immediately got to their feet.
Before they could start moving towards the door, Eva said, “be aware that just because you didn’t sign this contract does not mean that you won’t be expelled if you talk about this meeting.”
The two nodded and left the classroom without a word.
A silence descended on the assembled students as they read through the papers, much to Catherine’s chagrin. Two more students decided to drop out early after reading the contracts.
The nine students remaining all penned their name on the papers. As soon as they lifted their pens from the paper, the papers vanished with a puff of smoke. The first student let out an alarmed cry, drawing a few chuckles from the rest of the students once they realized what had happened.
Once the final paper vanished, Eva maneuvered around the desks towards the door. With a flick of her long fingers, the deadbolt slid into place. A quick channeling of her magic activated a secondary lock and some basic privacy functions.
For their little lessons, they had commandeered one of the less-used staff rooms. The door had no windows and the actual windows had heavy blinds that blocked all light.
Eva had even taken the time to set up a few of her anti-scrying runes around the room. Though Martina had provided a separate thaumaturgy-based ward system to keep any would-be eavesdroppers from eavesdropping, Eva wasn’t about to take chances.
“Alright,” Eva said as she arrived back at the front of the room. “You want to tell them or show them?”
“Show, of course,” Catherine said with a wistful sigh. She gripped the front of her barely-there shirt and tore it clean off, eliciting the expected response from the gathered students. After removing her cellphone and setting it carefully on the desk, Catherine then tore off her pants in much the same manner.
The students’ frankly deplorable behavior turned to gasps of shock as Catherine’s skin shimmered. Her skin turned pale violet and her eyes glowed in demonic red. Two leathery wings sprouted from her back along with a single spaded tail.
Running a hand from her chest to her hip, Catherine sighed in absolute contentment. Her wings stretched out, giving her a good eight foot wingspan.
“You know,” Eva said, “you could have just taken off your clothes like a normal person.”
“I have no idea how the entirety of the human race has stayed sane while wearing those portable prisons.”
“Yeah, but now I’m going to have to get you a change of clothes after class. Unless you’re planning on living out the rest of your days in this room?”
Catherine glanced down at the scraps of cloth littering the floor. She met Eva’s eyes and gave an unapologetic shrug.
Eva sighed. “Anyway,” she said to the utterly silent classroom, “Catherine, as you may have guessed, is a demon. A lesser succubus to be specific. Not as powerful or strong as regular succubi, but decidedly more human-looking and able to completely disguise herself as a human.
“Incidentally,” Eva pointed at her eyes. “My eyes were stolen from a carnivean. My hands and legs,” she lifted her skirt slightly, “were gifted to me by my dear friend Arachne.”
“Any questions?” Catherine said, sounding fully committed to playing up her seductive succubus voice. Then again, maybe that was just how she sounded while back in her normal body.
The broad-shouldered man who Eva had noted earlier raised his hand as high as it could go. Without even waiting to be called upon, he blurted out, “can we–”
“Before you ask questions,” Eva interrupted as fast as she could, “this is not sex education.” In the corner of her eye, Catherine’s lusty look twisted into one of disgust. “We are here to discuss demons and, eventually, instruct you on summoning. With that in mind, are there any questions pertaining to us or demons in general?”
Broad-shoulders slowly put his arm down.
Mousey-girl once again set herself apart by speaking up. “Your eyes and limbs come from demons? How does that work?”
“Demons typically have incredible regeneration abilities. A demon arm could regenerate fully in a week or two. Even when severed, that regeneration ability still persists, though a severed arm won’t try to grow back into a full demon.”
“Mostly,” Catherine butted in. “There are a few species that can multiply that way.”
“Mostly,” Eva repeated. “But if you place that arm next to something, say the stub of your arm…” Eva motioned to the swirls of carapace connecting her hand to her skin. “It will try its hardest to regenerate and fulfill its function. In this case the function of being a hand.”
A student with gray hair raised his arm. After Eva nodded in his direction, he said in an incredulous tone, “you chopped off your arms, legs, and eyes to get demon parts?”
Eva narrowed her red eyes in that kid’s direction. He looked far too young to have the hair of an old man. “The necromancer who has been plaguing this city since two Halloweens ago kindly removed my fingers and toes, and gouged out my eyes.” She clicked her fingers against the desk. “My hands were something of an emergency treatment while my legs and eyes were far more voluntary.”
Again, broad-shoulder kid raised his arm in the air and spoke without waiting for acknowledgment. “So you can just chop off any body part and slap on a demon one instead?” he asked with a wry grin.
Eva suppressed a roll of her eyes. “I personally wouldn’t try chopping my head off, but essentially, yes. Internal organs would work as well so long as you could survive without them for about ten minutes to a half hour. But,” Eva forestalled any further questions on the topic with a raised hand, “that is getting far ahead of ourselves.
“Any questions not related to body part exchanges?”
One student with a multitude of lip and face piercings raised their hand. “You’re going to teach us to summon demons?”
“That is the current plan–”
“Heh, wicked.”
“But,” Eva said with a slight glance towards Catherine.
“Shackles,” the succubus said, picking up on the hint admirably in Eva’s opinion. “Demons can be bound to select locations within the mortal realm. By drawing out specific patterns on the ground, you can contain most demons and their powers. These are vitally important as most demons will attempt to kill their summoner before anything else.”
“Why?” someone asked.
Eva pulled a stack of thick books out from under the teacher’s desk as Catherine answered.
“Freedom. Kill the summoner and any witnesses and the demon will be able to do as they please without any nasty contracts or restrictions. In the event that a demon does end up serving a mortal, they like to know that they’re not serving a weakling.”
“As you all read your contracts, you should already know this. It still bears repeating just so there are no accidents. These books,” Eva said as she started handing them out, “are not to leave this room. It is considered a violation of your contract and the penalty will be paid.”