Originally submitted elsewhere as Yoko Hiko.
***
1
Enticing. So utterly enticing, the scent of flesh. Though it had been many centuries since he had caught the scent on his petrified nose, the demon of desire knew the scent much too well. How long he waited to revel in the scent of flesh on flesh, human sin. Oh yes, how he couldn't wait.
Asmodaios, stuck in the bindings of stone forced upon him by one of the holiest of creatures-- sickening in his eyes-- began to boil internally. It would be one thing to be found by the curious humans that seemed to be losing their direction-- oh, how he hated their stupidity and petty instinct-- but another to be released from this ridiculous petrification. Ah, the consequences of sin...
The sweaty human, scent heady and intoxicating, was approaching close enough that the sealed demon could almost taste the salt on its skin. Soon enough, the demon could hear the sound of a single set of footsteps, followed by low muttering from a tenor voice. Male, apparently. Although beginning to lose interest-- after all, the last and only human he loved before his stone grave was female-- he listened to the stupid human's utterances and complaints anyway. It was something to occupy his mind with other than the beetles and snakes at his feet.
"I can't believe I fell into another damned crypt hole and got myself lost this time," came a smooth voice. He sucked his teeth. "Useless chalk, disappearing as soon as I use you." The man's footsteps became louder and his voice became more audible as a light came into Asmodaios' view. He caught one of the features of the human, only his tanned skin, as the demon's senses were not at their full strength in his current state of entrapment. "Julia is going to kill me. Again," the mortal continued as he made his way down the corridor.
Further approaching the dead-end the demon occupied, the mortal's features became completely visible. Along with his tanned skin, the human possessed olive eyes that almost seemed to glimmer from the light of his artificial torch, surrounded by dark lashes, coppery tendrils with slightly darker roots that almost reached his shoulders; his mane was tied behind his neck with a headband around his crown to keep the shorter strands from falling into his eyes. He was muscular, built enough to know he was capable of taking care of himself should he find himself in a fight.
The human glanced at Asmodaios, his jeweled eyes catching the light of the torch. As he continued towards the chamber, he observed the walls and floors silently for several moments. The expression on his face made the demon smirk internally. "Why is there anything but glyphs here...?" He continued into the chamber, only then noticing the full stone figure of the demon. "Holy shit... There's no way I'm in Egypt."
Asmodaios smirked. Beautifully stupid human; I think I'll play with you...
***
The college student awoke in the dirt, moving his shoulder as if it were sore. He opened his eyes, noticing the small beam of light above him. He then remembered how much of an idiot he was. "'Rias," he spoke to himself, slowly rising to his knees and then his feet. "You're not fit for this field with your clumsy feet." He reached for his belt, realizing his right arm was a bit sore. But he grabbed at nothing, the rope that was supposed to be on his utility belt certainly wasn't there, but the torch was. "Great, time to wait for Julia and the rest to come find my big ass." He shrugged, lighting the torch and removing a small piece of chalk from his pocket. At least he could explore in the meanwhile.
As he moved through the corridors, the student found nothing of interest. No glyphs or furniture, not even old, everyday pottery. Deciding to just wait back at his makeshift entrance, he looked at the wall he recently made a mark on at the beginning of a turn. Nothing. He let out an exasperated sigh, knowing now that not only was he stuck underground, slowly becoming dehydrated, he was now lost. He could remember a few lefts and rights, but the walls lacked anything noteworthy that could be used as a benchmark; he would undoubtedly become further lost.
The dyed redhead shook his head, turning around to move forward again. "No use in standing put. Maybe I'll find something of interest deep inside." He slowly continued down the halls, eventually reaching a long hall he couldn't see the end of. The human continued to make marks on the walls as he muttered complaints, hoping they wouldn't disappear as he progressed. As the coppery redhead observed the blank walls again, he realized the chalk disappeared as soon as he used it. He dropped the small piece of talc, mentally kicking himself for not realizing it was a waste sooner.
He caught the glint of jewels as he continued through the corridor to the chamber. He then noticed some writing on the wall. Those certainly were not glyphs; so much for being in Egypt. Practically gliding down the rest of the corridor to the chamber-- he was really interested in knowing if he found something of worth other than words that could mean nothing to what was here-- the redhead stopped short in his steps. In front of the man stood a tall, stone statue with an overpowering presence, possessing a pair of long horns that curved slightly back toward its head and demonic fangs. His hair reached the beginning of its serpent-like tail that lay lazily on the floor. It was definitely male, judging from the impressive length between its legs.
The mortal removed a soft brush from his utility belt, brushing away some of the debris and dust on the statue, careful not to touch the figure with his hands. The way the amber jewels caught the light, he couldn't help but feel it was alive. "Such a silly thought. Azarias, you're losing your head already and you haven't even graduated yet." The redhead chuckled at himself, swaying the brush over the statue's horns quickly, moving down to its nose.
It would be much appreciated if you moved that item away from my nose.
Azarias flinched and dropped the brush and torch, slowly backing up after he heard the baritone voice without a source, his head looking to either side of him. Now he was hallucinating, too; he must be seriously dehydrated or something. The redhead sat down on the few steps he barely noticed he went up in the first place, leaning on one of the two columns at the top. "Hopefully, I don't go insane before I'm dug out." The sound of a snake moving nearby caused the redhead to nearly fly to the opposite side of the room. "Fuck... I'm going to give myself a heart attack."