“A lot of guys like to keep me on edge, but I can’t remember the last time one kept me waiting.”

The words had a tangible feel to them, brushing up against Lex like silk as he entered the room. Had he still been mortal, it would have been enough to take his breath away. Now, however, he found the sensation easy to ignore, and not simply because he no longer needed to breathe.

Rather, it was because he was already intimately familiar with the speaker’s voice, as well as quite a bit more of her.

“I was in a meeting,” he replied evenly, the words neither a rebuke nor an apology. “I hope your wait wasn’t uncomfortable?”

That earned a throaty chuckle from the beauty sitting opposite him.

Carnelia had brought his guest to one of the extradimensional mansion’s more exquisite boudoirs. Like the rest of the miniature demiplane that Lex had conjured into being, its design was a combination of River Bank’s opulent manor and the extravagant hotel that he had stayed in with Sonata and Aria during his ill-fated trip to Las Pegasus. As it was, Lex found the excessive lavishness off-putting, but had swallowed his distaste, wanting those in his care to be comfortable and knowing that they didn’t share his attitude toward creature comforts.

The result was that, similar to where Branwen was recuperating, the room was dominated by a large four-poster bed covered in silken sheets, velvet blankets, and down pillows. Soft carpeting covered the floor, and the windowless walls were decorated with engraved wood paneling. Several cushioned chairs were clustered around a small table in one corner, and opposite them was a luxurious chez lounge.

It was there that his guest was reclining, and the sight of her put the rest of the place to shame.

“I’m never uncomfortable,” she drawled. “But I am curious. Was this ‘meeting’ you were in blonde, brunette, or maybe that cute redheaded devil of yours?”

Reclining, she was naked but not uncovered, long stretches of olive-colored skin bare and unclad only for her waist and chest to be covered by her wings, the four feathery appendages – two level with her shoulder blades and two at her waistline – folded dexterously over herself to protect her modesty. The feathers themselves were dusky grey, and Lex knew from personal experience that they were softer than any fabric.

“Not that I’m jealous,” she continued, the trim fingers of one hand coming up to brush through hair the color of hazelwood, her other hand resting on her hip. “I’m the last girl who’d ever tell someone to put business before pleasure.”

“I was under the impression that you preferred to do both at the same time,” answered Lex as he crossed the room, sitting down opposite her.

The retort brought a delighted laugh from his guest, and the sound was more enticing than a mortal mare’s touch. “So suave!” she cooed, grinning at him. “And here I thought you were a brute with no appreciation for the finer things in life.”

“I have a great deal of appreciation for them,” replied Lex, as his tulpa made a decanter and two glasses appear on the table between them. Filling both up, he held one out to her. “For instance.”

Raising a brow, she reached out and took it, pausing to take in the drink’s scent before taking a sip. “Sarain,” she identified a moment later. “So this what you think makes being alive worthwhile?”

Lex shook his head. “You misunderstand. I wasn’t referring to the wine as an example of the finer things in life. I was referring to you.”

Her smile grew wider then, and she held her glass out. “To the finer things.”

“And the joy we take in them,” answered Lex, touching his glass to hers.

He made sure to smile before taking a sip of the wine a moment later, though in truth he was galled at the prolonged pointlessness of the entire exchange. It was only because of his foresight that he was able to keep the nonsensical banter going, figuring out which responses would get the best reaction, and even then he had to smother his disdain at how much enjoyment she took in such asinine badinage.

But it was a small price to pay if it kept their relationship in good standing. Despite having been a titan for less than a month, Lex had managed to make enemies out of the Seldarine, the Llys Seren, and now his own goddess’s avatar. For all the power he had, both personally and in the god-slaying weapon that was Belligerence, he needed to nurture what alliances he could. Otherwise his growing coterie of enemies would eventually become a problem beyond what he could handle on his own.

The Night Mare had worked very hard to drive that lesson home, and Lex knew that he couldn’t afford to ignore it.

Even if one of those allies was...

Agrat. Reformed demoness, now the Archangel of Prostitution.

Lex grit his teeth at Kara’s telepathic description, fighting down a rush of aggression as he looked at the last of the seven lesser titans – who, like her peers, was laying naked and insensate amidst the reinforcements she’d summoned – that he’d used as playthings.

If he’d known that she and her minions were angels, the same creatures that were currently blockading Equestria and unjustly refusing to let him go home, he would have been a great deal rougher with them.

Though given how vigorously he’d used her, that would have been difficult. Like the rest of Adagio’s creditors, Agrat’s beauty was so great that it was clearly supernatural in nature, transcending mere physical pulchritude and driving his inner beast further into a frenzy. But unlike Echidna’s exotic shapechanging or how Shami-Amourae’s backside couldn’t be covered by anything, Agrat’s aristeia manifested in numerous subtler ways, being obvious only in their aggregate results.

Part of it was kinesthetic. The archangel couldn’t seem to move without subtly highlighting her physique. Whereas Almina had moved like a dancer, her every motion as lithe and flowing as the water she commanded, Agrat had carried herself like she was perpetually posing for a salacious photo session.

That hadn’t been noticeable at first, considering that virtually all of the other harlots he’d summoned had carried themselves in a similar manner. The same way Solvei was a being of intrinsic cold, Adagio’s creditors were all beings of incarnate sexuality, making their erotic appeal impossible to overlook. But Agrat had taken it to an entirely new level, using aristeia to continuously make micro-alterations to her body’s – or simply parts of her body’s – placement in space, allowing her to move from one suggestive stance to another without having to reposition herself.

Had she been less adept at the technique, it would have made her appear to be strobing in place, similar to the rapid-shifting between solidity and shadow that Lex had used when facing Starlight Glimmer. But Agrat used it with an adroitness that made his own efforts – back when he’d been mortal – look amateurish by comparison, performing each shift so quickly and over so small a space that the effect was invisible to anyone who didn’t have the range of sensory spectra that Lex did now. Instead, she simply seemed to always be presenting herself, moving with deceptive smoothness from one pose to the next without it seeming unnatural in the slightest.

And that was just one way in which she used aristeia to make herself desirable.

Some were equally understated, such as causing her voice to have a subtle synesthetic effect that caused a tactile reaction, similar to being caressed, in anyone who heard her speak. Others were more notable, such as the invigorating – and stimulating – effects of her kiss. All, however, served to make her almost impossible to resist.

But all of that had paled in comparison to her most notable power, one which, in hindsight, typified her standing as the Archangel of Prostitution.

I gotta say that I’m impressed, snickered Kara, everyone knows about her weakness, but that doesn’t make it any easier to take advantage of. Good on you for actually being able to turn it against her!

That wasn’t my intention, replied Lex sourly, certain that Kara had to be mocking him somehow.

Which makes it even funnier! squealed the sex goddess. You have no idea how many guys – and quite a few chicks, let me tell you – go to her thinking they can take advantage of her weakness, only to find they’ve bitten off more than they can chew! And then you go and do it without even trying!

That touched off another long round of laughter from Kara, which Lex ignored as he looked back at the conquered archangel, considering what he’d just been told.

She can’t deactivate her power, can she?

-never not be hilarious! Huh? What was that? snickered Kara, finally managing to rein in her mirth.

Her power to lay a geas on anyone she engages in sexual contact with, clarified Lex, having already worked out the specifics of what was both Agrat’s greatest strength and weakness. It can be turned back around on her if she receives more pleasure than she’s giving her paramour, which suggests that she’s unable to simply refrain from using it during a sexual encounter.

Which is why she’s Heaven’s Harlot, proclaimed Kara. She always charges a payment for her services, but not in coins or gems or anything like that. Instead, after the bumping and grinding is over, they’ll find themselves geased to go perform some act of altruism that she picks for them, like defending some needy village or mentoring some young adventurers; do-gooder crap like that. She thinks that if she gives people a taste of playing hero, it’ll stick. Sometimes she’s even right.

That last part was uttered with a snort.

She’s sought out by cultists and slavers and anyone who thinks they can rut her into submission, continued Kara, certain that they’re so good in bed that they’ll be able to bind her with her own power. And virtually every time, they can’t measure up. You think that they’d just use compulsion magic, but nooo, they just HAVE to beat her at her own game.

Except some of them could, retorted Lex. And I’m guessing that’s why she was willing to risk lending some of her power to Adagio; so she can master her power instead of continually chancing that someone else will use it to master her.

You mean like you did? giggled Kara. But yeah, that’s probably what she was after, although I still think it’s funny that she’s a victim of her own power. Although, given that she’s made fundamental changes to her inner nature twice over, I’m amazed she’s not more of a mess than she already is.

That was enough to catch Lex’s attention. If what Kara had said was correct, Agrat was a demon who’d become an angel, which – given that planar beings were composed of numinous energy – would have involved changing her intrinsic essence...but only once. What do you mean “twice over”?

Oh, it’s one of the juicier bits of planar gossip! answered Kara, and given how fast reply was, it struck Lex as likely that she’d been waiting for him to ask that. See, the Celestial Courtesan here is an angel who used to be a demon, but before that, she was an angel.

Now it was Lex’s turn to raise a brow. She’s an angel, who became a demon, who returned to being an angel?

That’s right! You see, while it’s incredibly rare for empyreals of any kind to succumb to corruption, it’s not unknown. Supposedly there was a whole huge bunch of them that fell from grace all at once, like, eons ago or something. Before my time. BUT, more recently, there was a couple hundred empyreals who went bad. I’ll give you a hint as to what happened to them: after the fact, they came to be known as the Voyeurs.

You’re suggesting that carnal desire caused them to become impious, noted Lex matter-of-factly.

Ugh, could you make it sound any less hot? huffed Kara. But yeah, that’s basically what happened. See, the empyreals – especially the Lords of Freedom – don’t mandate chastity, even if some of the more stuck-up ones think that not having fun is supposed to score them major good-boy points or something. But there’s plenty of high priestesses and holy warriors who’ve gotten some “spiritual cleansing” with messengers from above. No one on Team Self-Righteous really cares about that.

What they DO care about, she continued, is when the empyreals assigned to watch over and guide certain individuals start getting a little too involved in their sex lives. Like, peeping on them when they’re being “thanked” by some princess that they’ve rescued from being a cult’s sacrifice is one thing. Telling them that it’s not a sin to demand that kind of gratitude, just because they want to watch the show, is something else altogether.

A disgusted look crossed Lex’s face at that. And they couldn’t just look elsewhere to get such stimulation? Or turn to each other, if they numbered in the hundreds?

Oh, believe me, they did. That was kind of the last straw, since they eventually abandoned watching over their charges altogether, either treating the entire mortal world as one big porn palette or ignoring it in favor of getting it on amongst themselves. A few of them shaped up when it became clear they were going to get the boot if they didn’t restrain themselves, but most of them were still making the beast with two backs – or flogging the dolphin – right up until they were falling down into the Lower Planes.

The difference being that Agrat made her way back, finished Lex.

Not at first, added Kara. In fact, she spent quite a while in the Abyss. Don’t ask me what, or who, she was doing there, but a few hundred years ago, she went before the powers of virtue and repented. Gives them this big song and dance about how the temptations of the flesh can be used as a force for redemption, that bad people could be convinced to act moral in exchange for nookie, and that they’d eventually see the light.

For Lex, who had spent the majority of his life frustrated that his ideas were discarded because of their presentation rather than their merits, the idea was enough to make his lip curl. And as you said before, that worked.

Sort of, but not really.

Lex frowned. What does that mean?

It means that she’s still on probation. The empyreal lords are all once bitten, twice shy, and they measure things in epochs rather than mortal lifetimes. A lot of them think that Agrat is still corrupt, and that her redemption is all an act to spread sin and decadence throughout the celestial realms. Others think that some demon or other has sexually subjugated her and is using her geas to turn her into a mole. Since that power comes from her, it’s not like it’s some ordinary spell that can be easily detected and dismantled, you know. And it didn’t help her case when she became the mouthpiece for the Council of Wings.

...

The silence dragged on for almost a minute before Kara sighed. I know that was an obvious prompt, but you could still humor me.

Get to the point, huffed Lex.

Ugh, fine. The Council of Wings is a secret society, composed of angels and fiends alike, who promote reconciliation between their respective groups. Or at least a reduction in hostilities. The problem is that pretty much everyone who isn’t a member thinks that they’re a subversive organization, meant to sow dissension and foment unrest in anticipation of an attack. So for Agrat to openly espouse her membership with such a group-

-is, to those who doubt her, practically a confession, finished Lex.

And is probably why she wanted to get rid of that weakness about a customer who pleasures her more than she does them being able to put her under a geas of their choosing, mused Kara. Saying that was gone would probably quiet some of the suspicions her peers have about her. Not much, since a lot of them hate prostitution on principle, but enough to help get her out of probation. But that’s not important right now. What IS important...

Her telepathic voice lowered then, even as the tension in it rose.

...is what do you want her to do now that she’s yours to command?

It was all Lex could do not to sigh when – after a half-hour of drinking, flirting, and generally wasting his time – Agrat was finally ready to get down to business.

Having abandoned the chez lounge in favor of curling up in his lap, her arms around his shoulders while his claws were around her waist, the archangel smiled. “I have to admit, I thought you’d ask a lot more of me than you did.”

Biting back the urge to point out that he hadn’t “asked” her to do anything, he instead gave her a smirk. “What did you think I’d want from you?”

“Everything,” she purred. “As much of me as you could take, so that I’d be yours.”

“And here I thought you already were.”

She lifted a hand then, waggling a finger at him. “Naughty boy. But I was pleasantly surprised when you let my followers go so easily. And then you even bargained with me for my halo, instead of demanding that I give it to you. But it wasn’t until you made use of my geas that I knew.”

This time, Lex knew not to let the prompt go by. “Knew what?”

“That the way you are now, is how I was before.” She leaned in closer to him then, shifting in his lap in all the right ways. “That even if you’re lost in the darkness, you’re still trying to find the light.”

It was a metaphor of the most banal kind, but Lex let it pass unchallenged, letting his trans-temporal sense dictate the best response. “And is that what you are? My guide to the light?”

“I can be,” she murmured, her voice turning husky as she leaned in closer still. “If you let me...”

She didn’t finish as their lips touched, closing her eyes.

Despite himself, Lex did the same, viscerally reminded of how – like the other six exemplars of femininity that Adagio had trafficked with – her appeal surpassed that of any other girl he’d been with, and that the accumulated stress of all his recent battles was something that he’d need to work off again soon.

But not now. Not when he’d just been working to try and grow closer to the people he cared about as more than a mere outlet for his lust. After how hurt Solvei had been by his fleeing from them in favor of someone else, a kiss was as far as he was willing to go with Agrat now.

Fortunately, the angel seemed to feel the same, making no move to escalate things as the kiss ended, her wings still covering herself. Instead, she laid her head on his shoulder, seemingly content for them to stay like that.

“Mihr says he’ll meet with you,” she murmured at last. “No guarantees, and it has to be on the Astral Plane, but he’s willing to talk.”

“He had no other preconditions?”

She sighed. “That he picks the specific spot to meet, and will transmit it ten minutes before the appointed time, which will be sometime within the next three days. That you can have no more than two ‘retainers,’ as he put it, come with you. That you will all have to have your magic items and any active spells scanned immediately upon arrival. There were others, but I managed to talk him down.”

Lex paused for a moment to consider that. “Tell him that’s acceptable.”

She lifted her head then, her smile gone as she gave him a long look. “Tell me you’re not going there to fight,” she said at last.

“I’m not going there to fight.”

“I’m serious, Lex. Mihr might be the Archangel of Friendship, but enough people have tried to take advantage of him before that he doesn’t support the Council of Wings in general or me in particular. If I set up this meeting and you try to kill him or force your way past his blockade, my reputation-”

He silenced her with another kiss, talons coming up to gently caress the side of her face. She shuddered, but kissed him back as the tension slowly flowed out of her.

“I won’t do that to you, Agrat,” promised Lex once the kiss ended. “I’ll defend myself if I’m attacked, but if violence happens at this meeting, it won’t be because of me or anyone that I bring with me. You have my word.”

She let out a slow breath. “Thank you.”

Slowly, she stood up. “I’ll let Mihr know that you’ve accepted his terms.”

Lex rose as well. “I’ll have Carnelia see you out.”

Her smile returned as she shook her head. “No need, I can find my own way.”

Hips swaying, she sauntered toward the door, her aristeia making even that into an erotic spectacle. Stopping just as she reached the threshold, she turned and glanced back at him. “You know, you took me by surprise the first time we met. Now that I have a better sense of you, and if I had time to prepare, I wouldn’t be the one with a geas on them.”

“An interesting theory,” shot back Lex. “We should put it to the test sometime.”

With her back still to him, she unfurled all four of her wings, giving her hair a toss as she laughed again. “I look forward to it.”

Then she was gone.

The beast within him howled at letting her go without getting satisfaction, but Lex ignored it, more focused on what she’d told him.

Three days. Sometime within the next three days, he’d have his chance to convince Mihr to either abandon his blockade around Equestria, or to let him – and his soul-bound companions, Long Road, and Mei Li’s clan – pass through it. And if he couldn’t...

Then drastic measures would need to be taken.

Author's Note

The history and nature of Agrat, Adagio’s seventh creditor, is revealed at last, along with the assignment that Lex gave her!

Will he be able to convince Mihr to let him return to Equestria? Or will circumstance force him to break his promise to the Agrat in order to go home?