Flynn's Korak Effect

Just over a week ago

Flynn shut the door after his guests left, then went to clean up the few dishes and small mess they had left behind them. Alesha, that pretty, silly demoness had snagged the last chocolate bar! He chuckled to himself as he downed the last of his water. A slight tingle ran through him and he shivered.

Paying the sensation no mind, he finished tidying the room and went about his day as normal.

A messenger pigeon came that night. Unfamiliar with the concept of a messenger pigeon, Flynn had, at first, mistakenly tried to drive it away -- until he noticed that something was tied to its leg. Then, he let it land and untied the little roll of paper. It had flown off on its own as soon as he did so.

Unrolling the vertical piece of parchment, Flynn found the contents to be a rather unexpected letter from his mother. It read as follows:

Dear Flynn, 

I have something that I have kept from you all these years. It is a grave secret that I hope you will guard with as much vigilance as the other family secrets of which you have already been made aware. If it is leaked, not only will it affect our family's standing, but our very lives will be at stake.

Burn this letter when you finish it, then drink the ashes. These secrets cannot be allowed to escape.

As you well know, it is a grave crime to hide Demonic Heritage from the State. It might as well be treason to do so -- since powerful blood is regarded with immense suspicion and jealousy. Demon Summoning itself was made legal partially to make it easier to keep track of who carries Demonic Blood. This is a half-kept secret, not as vital as what I am about to tell you.

Flynn Elliot Lockjaw, you are not half-vampire, half-human as you have been told your entire life. 

You are half-vampire half-incubus -- for I, Bellalua Jane Lockjaw, am a succubus.

I fled home to elope with your father, Tristen, and abandoned my succubus name. I dare not speak or write it ever again, for fear that it will lead me to be found.

My son, my wonderful son, with your identity as half-vampire, you shall find it much easier to disguise your heritage than I did. All these years, I've been unable to properly hunt -- but you, as a known half-vampire, will be given much more freedom to do so. 

Receiving this knowledge will unlock your incubus instincts and powers. Please, whatever you do, do not be rash. I know you can do it.

Be careful, and be well. 

Your beloved mother,

~~Bellalua J Lockjaw

Stunned, Flynn read the letter over and over again, trying to process its contents. His mother… was a succubus? And he was half-incubus?

Now that he thought about it, some things were starting to make sense. How his mother never seemed to age, despite being "human." How he himself was so unreasonably strong despite being only half-vampire. How no matter what he did, he could never manage to not stand out as the most handsome man in the room.

It all fit.

He did as his mother instructed -- he burned the letter, then mixed the ashes in with blood to make them more palatable. No way was he drinking it mixed with plain water! 

That done, Flynn tried to feel within himself to see what kinds of "incubus abilities" he might have. It took several tries before he could summon his "incubus form." 

He examined himself in the full-length mirror. He was just as pale as usual, with his same beautiful red eyes and long, straight black hair. Of course, his silver roots were showing… he'd need to dye them again soon. His natural silver hair was beautiful, but he preferred it black. As for what had changed, however, Flynn found himself grinning in satisfaction. He was very pleased.

Just like the pretty little demoness, he now had a tail and wings, too.

----

Far away, in an incomprehensible white void

A black silhouette stood menacingly, four long arms clacking away at keyboards made of holographic light, their pink-and-aquamarine swirls dancing gently in contrast to the frantic motion of the creature's arms. The creature had short, strong legs, a stumpy dinosaur tail and a large, skeletal torso. Its head was small and featureless, like a snake's. Each of its four arms had only two fingers -- or to be more specific, one thumb and one finger. This didn't seem to hamper its efficiency at all, however, as it continued typing away at a rapid pace.

Despite the entire space being well-illuminated, all details were obscured. The furiously typing creature could only be perceived as a black silhouette, as if where it should be there was instead an incredible void that swallowed all light. One could only tell its structure by moving around to view it at different angles. As for the surroundings, only vague, subtle shadows in cracks and occluded areas hinted at structures aside from the creature's setup. It was as if everything was illuminated nearly equally from all directions at once. 

There was what seemed to be a blow-up bush here, a plastic flower there, a pile of stones off to one side, and several other hard-to-distinguish props all around. Perhaps the most interesting of these was what seemed to be an embossed stand in the shape of a four-legged bird creature, bearing a snarl of horns on its head and an oversized cat's tail. All of these could only be perceived through close observation -- they blended perfectly into the otherwise featureless white expanse if one did not focus their attention on them.

A cheerful, electric chirping noise sounded from the creature's desktop, and all of its arms stopped in the middle of typing. A "bwoop!" accompanied the appearance of a small window marked with a red triangle in its upper left corner. 

"Bah!" The creature grunted, its voice a rich, resonating bass. "Again?"

It clicked on the notification and opened several bookmarked documents, moving in an agitated manner as it searched their contents.

"Seriously? It's completely legal?" It pounded all four hands on the desk in front of it, growling. "How the Xiloqia is a thing like that allowed??! Why the Xiloqia is a potion like that legally permitted to alter history?! A potion shouldn't be able to affect anything other than the creature that ingests it!! I don't get it!!"

The creature continued raging on for a while before finally deciding to close out the notification and all related documents.

Under its breath, the creature mumbled in dissatisfaction. "Whatever. If the Universe says it's legal, no amount of my complaining will change that. Best to forget about it and move on."

It continued clacking away as before, doing its best to quickly occupy its mind with things that actually made a modicum of sense.