Merely half an hour later after your team passes through portal in the Lorroakan's tower, you head towards the northern window, looking outside at the busy streets below. Gale leans over a safety railing to glance at the floor below.

'You were right, it does look like it might lead to the vault,' he admits and Halsin climbs over the railing with ease, jumping onto the first floating table.

'The turrets seem to be deactivated, we are free to proceed,' the druid comments and you can see his muscular arms reaching towards Karlach to help her onto the table.

You turn your head away from your teammates and look outside the window, seeing a glimpse of sunlight reflected in the sky. Dame Aylin is approaching.

'Tav!' Karlach calls after you. You shoot her a glance from above your shoulder as you stand on the window, grasping the frame firmly with your palm. 'If we spot Korrila, we will try to catch her.'

You wonder for a moment, not entirely sure if it was a good idea. It could buy you time but only if the attempt was successful and she never revealed herself, despite following you and your group for months. Still, even if she were to escape, she would still most likely report to Raphael first, which is another outcome which will buy you more time.

'Fine. Just, please be careful, everyone.'

Astarion gives you a quick nod and looks at you with furrowed brows as you reach towards Dame Aylin, suddenly appearing in her full aasimar glory. The celestial planetouched picks you up with ease and you feel yourself flustered at her display of sheer strength.

'Buckle up, my non-winged ally!' she announces and the two of you disappear from the window.

Astarion smirks for a moment, before hoping down to the highest floating table, following the path of Gale, jumping onto the next furniture hanging in the air. The team quickly proceeds to find a button responsible for transporting them into the library's vault and from that point, the three of the groups begin their busy days.

'Thank you so much. I hope it wasn't anything inappropriate to ask of an assimar,' you say quietly when you are dropped off in front of the Devil's Fee.

Dame inspects the building curiously, but doesn't ask about the reason of you being here.

'It was a very unusual request, yes, but it's the least I can do for all you have done for me so far.'

You instinctively bow your head before her.

'At your service.'

She chuckles and jumps up, her wings immediately swinging in the air, making her float half a meter above the ground.
'Good luck on your quest. I hope that when it's all over, you will let me know why I carried you to this...' she waves her right palm at the building. 'establishment.'

'I will explain everything, I promise.'

'Very well. I shall now return to Isobel. It's time to indulge my lover in the pleasures of our bodies,' she says completely seriously and swings her wings again, lifting herself higher above the ground.

You chuckle a bit and cover your mouth at the unexpected comment. Dame was always so unintentionally funny and very straight-forward.

'See you soon!' you wave at her and she nods you a goodbye, before disappearing in the sky.

Without wasting another second, you turn on your heel, heading straight inside the Devil's Fee. You knock on the door, announcing your arrival, then step inside and rush towards the counter. You greet Helsik and quickly return to the business.

'I have decided to accept your offer,' you look at her meaningfully. 'Here's your payment, as discussed.' She accepts the pouch from you and weights it on her hand. She has clearly done it quite a few times, if she can say the payment is accurate just by the weight of it. She sets it down on the counter, then fetches some note and hands it over to you.

'Complete deniability,' she reminds you and you nod a few times, taking a look at the instruction.

Skull, diamond...

You begin reading and before you figure out if Helsik is expecting you to get those ingredients, she hands you over a bag.

'In theory,' she winks at you. 'This should be able to complete the ritual. The blood circle is already prepared upstairs. Here's the key. Do not ask whose blood it is.'

You give her a slightly concerned look, but nod anyway.

'Can I ask a question? Um, non-related to blood that is.'

'Fine, I will give you a special offer and this one will be free of charge.'

'Thank you! Do you know if Potions of invisibility work in the House of Hope?'

'To my knowledge, not even Mephistopheles had such wards that would prevent invisibility. That is usually because the devils have a very keen sense of smell and some of them see through invisibility with their own eyes. They can smell the so called, stench of fear on their victims. There is an entire book about that! By the way, did you finish my books?' she gives you a suspicious glance.

'No, I didn't. I only had a few hours to take a look at them. But they are extremely helpful, thank you. If I see the day after this escapade, you can expect me to bring them back to you in a day or two.'

'Sounds good to me.'

'If... well, if I won't be the one to return. My team shall return them to you either way. One of them knows I have been here.'

'Alright. Good luck.'

You nod and grab the bag with the ritual ingredients and proceed to climb the stairs.

'What are you doing?' you can hear The Emperor invading your brain. 'There is absolutely nothing you can gain from visiting Hells, but everything to lose!'

You take a deep breath in, feeling your heart pound with stress. Will you really do it?

When the key rotates in the keylock, you press the door handle and see the circular shape smeared with blood on the floor a few meters in front of you. The room is pretty much empty, excluding some bookshelves glued to the wall on your left hand side. Aside from that, you can see a small pedestal with a closed book on top of it. It looks a bit like your personal journal - it's most likely Helsik's diary. You resist the urge to take a peek at its contents and step in the middle of the circle, then open the bag, fetching the required materials and placing them in their designed places, as per the note.

Every time the item is put in its spot, a small flame emerges from an unknown source.

'I STRONGLY advise you against it.'

'You want my blind trust, don't you? It's time for you to trust in me,' you say telepathically and step inside the flaming portal.

You appear in an empty, gigantic room, looking like it belongs to a mansion. You notice the familiar color scheme on the walls and pillars around you and you are immediately certain that you landed in your destination. The portal behind you is still open. You assume that it will not be closed, unless the items from the Material Plane are going to be pushed away from the circle - that's why Helsik wants complete deniability.

You wonder for a second if she ever met Mephistopheles; assuming that Enver Gortash also teleported from the top floor of the Devil's Fee. You find yourself wondering how Mephistopheles looks and only then you realize, that your brain is again your own. There is no voice whispering to you, no active telepathical connection. Your mind is clear. Well, excluding the parasite, that is.

You quickly reach towards your bag and fetch the potion of invisibility. As you are about to pop the cork open, you hear a weird swooshing sound, similar to a teleportation but not quite as loud, and you almost find yourself with your left leg inside the portal.

'Who are you? Turn around! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! The chains, can you hear the chains?'

You stop with your foot in the air and slowly move towards the small figure of a Dwarf woman. Her entire body is coated in some kind of a glow. It doesn't look quite like Karlach's flame, but it also doesn't resemble a glow you've seen on some paladins.

'I'm Tav. Is Raphael in his house?'

'His house? I'm Hope. It's the House of Hope!' she responds chaotically and you find yourself looking at her, clearly concerned. 'Oh no! When he finds you here, he will be mad. Turn around, while you still can!'

You open your mouth but Hope raises her finger, silencing you.

'Hush! Do you hear it? The chains... the chains,' her entire posture seems to crumble in front of you. You lean forward and crouch in front of her, extending your arms to help her regain her balance. 'Shh, shh. We need to be quiet.

The sound of chains rumbling across the empty room seems to quiet down and Hope lifts her head to look at you again. You can swear that besides the chains, you can hear your heart snapping in two. This poor soul...

'It's quiet. We need to be quiet! Speak calmly and quietly! PLEASE.'

You draw a deep breath into your lungs and embrace her essence with a warm, soothing smile on your face. The Ki flows through your body and you do your best to contact with her own life force, calming her incredible stress.

'I understand. I will speak calmly,' you inform her and move to your knees so that your faces are on the same level. 'I came here to get information about Raphael. I think that you can help me with it.'

'He is very angry!'

'That I know of,' you continue speaking and notice a slight shift in her behavior. Good, your Ki is working. 'I came to seek some answers. I have been offered a deal, but I didn't accept it. Not yet, at least.'

'Decline. Decline!' she suddenly bursts with energy and calms down a second later. 'Do not give in,' she says completely seriously. 'I haven't. I will not.'

You blink a few times. Imprisoned soul without a contract? You didn't know it was possible.

'Can I help you? Can I free you?'

'Yes, yes, yes, yes,' she grips her fists tightly and leans towards you in clear excitement. 'No, no, no, no! You do not have the weapon.'

'What weapon? The Orphic hammer?'

'Yes, yes, yes! It can smash my chains. Smash them into pieces,' she informs with a wicked smile on her face. 'But it is kept in the Archive.'

With that, she disappears from your view; the only indicator that she was there are the slowly falling cinders. You open and close your mouth, then look behind you, checking if the portal is still active. Nothing seems out of place. It seems that the infiltration might be a tiny bit easier than what you prepared yourself for.

You stand up and approach the door, which opens on its own, welcoming you inside the dining room. The very first part of the house you have seen, months ago when Raphael transported you here out of middle-of-nowhere. Although the place is the same, you do not recall seeing a skeleton dressed in a robe, swiping the floor with a broom.

Suddenly, you hear another swoosh and Hope appears in the corner of your eye.
'I almost forgot. Your disguise, it's going to help you navigate around the house.'

You use the opportunity and move towards the woman, leaning towards her ear, so that no one else will hear you.
'Is there anyone else in the house?'

'Oh yes, yes, yes. The debtors, you are one of them now, haha.'

You blink at her confused, before you realize that she is referencing your new clothes.

'The Archivist, the Jailors, Korrila - my sister.'

'Korrila is here?' you ask, fear creeping up your spine.

'No, she's not.'

'Hope,' you gently grasp her arms. 'Please focus, I need to know everything about this place and Raphael. I want to rescue you. But I need to have a plan first.'

'The Archivist is in the archive. You do not need to fear the debtors. And Haarlep is in his usual place, he also won't alert the master.'

'Perfect. Archive is where Raphael keeps his valuable stuff, right?'

'Yes! The contracts, the Orphic hammer,' she responds quickly, then makes a sudden move with her head, checking if anyone is listening to your conversation.

'Great. I am looking for information about the Crown. Do you know what Raphael wants to do with it?'

'Oh, the Crown! The Orphic hammer, I know who you are, little mouse. Go to the Archive.'

She vanishes again and you can't possibly be mad at how chaotic she is. She has been tormented, tortured, enslaved for god knows how long.

You approach the dining table and suddenly the already thick, sulfuric air is filled with disgusting smell of decay. If it wasn't for the horrors you've seen in the Nauthiloid colony, the piles of corpses, pools of blood, you would find yourself gagging at the sight of the maggots crawling inside the rotting meat displayed all over the table. It was the feast that Raphael used to lure his customers into the first meeting.

You cover your nose with your sleeve and approach the skeleton swiping the floor. He notices you and stares at you with empty eye sockets.

'A new debtor?'

'Yes,' you lie. 'Who are you?'

'I used to be an architect. My previous master had a name. Ketheric Thorm, was it.'

Your dots start to connect. Your mind flashes back to the Last Light Inn and the Raphael's mention of the 'contract that fed him for decades', something about an army, something about Ketheric being a fool.

'Did you design the Moonrise Towers?' you ask the skeleton.

'Ah! So you've heard of my work. Yes, it fills my soul with joy. Tell me, what is left of my greatest achievement?'

You recall the giant ilithid tentacle and look to the side, not sure what to share with the debtor.
'They still stand and I think the better days are ahead. Myself and my companions managed to lift the shadow curse. When we were leaving the land, we saw some vegetation already coming back to life.'

'Ah... I thought I will never hear about that day. Thank you.'

'Also, your master is dead as well.'

'Ah, hah hah!' the skeleton chuckles. 'Great news, great news indeed.'

You nod at him and watch him return to his duties. You aren't exactly sure how, but you think that the aura around him has gotten less grim. Perhaps if he still had a mouth, he would be smiling.

You push down the hallway, watching the interesting design of the room. It seems like the dining area is the very center of the building and you find yourself wondering if Raphael had anything to do with it being built or was it just stolen. It is called a House of Hope, but it might just be a mockery of Hope herself. It wouldn't surprise you. It was something that Raphael would gladly indulge himself in.

The corridor ends with a door, which opens once again and as you pass through the threshold, you see a tall door leading to the Archive. Hope appears next to it.

'Should I drink my potion, Hope? The Archivist will spot the door opening, I need to sneak without any suspicions. I do not intend on stealing.'

'No stealing? But the weapon, the Orphic hammer, we need it to free me, to smash, smash my chains, remember?'

You go on your knees again, and gently grasp her hands. They are cold, despite the weird aura surrounding her body.
'I will come back for you. I promise on my life. I can't stand the sight of you enslaved. Every fiber of my body wants to free you now, but I can't. But trust me, I have a plan,' you say quietly to her and the sight of despair on her face, slowly threads its way back into resolve. 'I will come back for you.'

She grasps your hands in a short, tight squeeze and points at the door to the Archive.
'Archivist is afraid of Zariel's High Inquisitor, her name is Verillus Receptor. She can visit unannounced and she often takes a disguise of a human herself, because her form is... hard to explain.'

'Alright, do I have any chances of convincing the Archivist?'

'No, yes! You are a little bit shorter, but she also takes a female disguise!'

You breathe out and look up at the door. That's not enough details, but you have to work with anything you have. You fake your confidence and climb the few stairs, then push the door open, revealing the Archive. Hope must've disappeared again, because you catch a glimpse of the cinders floating in the air.

'Ah, the Archivist,' you greet as you march towards the center of the room. You obviously have no idea who the Archivist is, but you decide that it's a safer approach to say a greeting in thin air, rather than into the face of someone who in fact is not the Archivist.

A tieflieng with two black horns and orange iris turns around and shots you a confused look.
'A visitor... are you a master's client? Let me browse through the schedules for the day,' he says with a tone of an old man, but his features appear young to your eyes.

'That won't be necessary. Your master hasn't been informed about my arrival, though I was hoping to see him here. Do you know when he will be back?'

'Master Raphael is off doing business in another plane, I can inform him however about your visit here, if I receive your name first?'

You shoot him your best Raphael's impression, trying to mimic expression when he is slightly offended. Your gaze turns cold and you raise your eyebrow just a tiny bit, careful not to look too much like Raphael.
'Verillus Receptor.'

If there is any blood swimming inside the tiefling's face, you are sure that it's gone now.
'A thousand apologies, oh majestic magistrate of the infernal court!' He bows before you and you do another Raphael impression, nonchalantly checking out your nails on your left hand, allowing your gaze to drift away from the Archivist. 'Your mortal disguise is so vile, I found it perfectly convincing.'

'Happens often, worry not,' you return your serious gaze back to him. 'Well, do you know when is Raphael coming back?'

'Unfortunately not, however if you wish, oh magistrate, I can grant you an invitation to his boudoir, where he conducts his most private business and relaxes to the pleasures of body and mind.'

You do your best to keep a serious face, though you have no idea what can he possibly be talking about.

'You can await his arrival there.'

'Thank you, I will gladly accept the invite. May I take a look at the Archive as well?'

He hands you over a sealed letter and you take it in your hand.
'Of course, of course! Master Raphael had me do some re-arrangements lately, so not everything is out on the display.'

You nod a few times and think about the book you were reading. An idea comes into your brain.
'Will the soul quota be met at the end of the infernal cycle?'

'Yes, magistrate. Master Raphael is never late and is very serious about his contribution.'

'I'm glad to hear.'

It's possible that your overall kindness to the Archivist, makes him a tiny bit suspicious. Your brain works overtime and you come up with another perfect deception, as you use the obtained knowledge about the Hells and devil hierarchy from the books, conversations with Helsik and your experience.

'One of mine and Archdevil Zariel's very trusted sources, made me aware of some kind of a scheme Raphael might be coming up with. A scheme against Zariel. Does that ring a bell to you?' You fire another glance at the Archivist and your faked, cold rage in your eyes seems to be working, because the Archivist lowers his gaze and now appears to be much shorter than he was a second ago.

'Oh majestic magistrate of the infernal court, I am simply fulfilling the tasks that master Raphael gives me. I apologize, as I would like to be an aid in this matter, but he is not the type to share his plans with me.'

'At ease, Archivist. Time will tell. Thank you for the invitation.'

'Any time, magistrate.'

You slowly pace around the room and as soon as you turn your head away from the Archivist, you allow the mask to fall and you inhale quietly, trying to calm down your heart, flooded with crashing adrenaline. Your plan works, it really does.

You approach a table near the entrance to the Archive, taking a look at some weird scroll. It looks like a record of a conversation. You stop and read it carefully.

It's a conversation between Raphael and Hope. You suspect that Korrila must've been the one writing. From the script you find out that Hope has been asked to sing for Raphael, it was probably a part of his torturing session. The thought makes your guts twist. Korrila, doing all of this to her sister. As the thought appears in your mind, it soon shifts into a feeling of guilt. Are you any different? She is a victim of Raphael's charms and he has the same effect on you.

'No,' you tell yourself and take another deep, controlled breath just to resume your journey towards a desk with some parchment on it. 'Korrila chose him as his patron. She's in his service willingly even though he is imprisoning her sister.'

As you approach the desk and some cork board, you find exactly what you were looking for. His statement about the crown. You are not sure if it is a part of an unsent letter or him just transferring his thoughts onto paper, but it's enough to answer your questions.

'And after the Hells, the rest of the planes shall fall.'

You feel your heart sink inside your chest. Was it really possible?

You nod at the Archivist, bidding him a silent goodbye, then leave the Archive. You turn to your left, going down the gently turning hallway. You notice various paintings, all presenting some devils. Devil paintings, devil sculptures, devil-themed everything. All of that, surrounded by the bloody red walls with occasional golden accents. If there was any illustration that came to mind when one was talking about a mansion in the Hells, this is exactly what one would think of.

Hope teleports right next to you and looks at you curiously.
'Did you find out anything?'

'Everything I wanted to, but I feel like there is more. Can you sense if Raphael is coming home?'

'Oh, he will be soon. He will be very mad.'

Your heart jumps painfully in your chest, but then Hope clarifies.
'I don't know when is soon, though.'

'I almost died from stress, Hope,' you admit.

'Well, let's hope I will be more careful with my words next time. My prison is on the end of the hallway.'

You nod and pick up the pace, trying not to pay attention to various debtors walking around the hallway. There is one person, a man, rolling on the floor, crying, grasping his belly. He doesn't seem to be hurt, but the way he holds himself tells you that he is in deep pain. Another debtor looks fairly normal, but you decide not to attract any more of the attention. When you shift your gaze away from him, you can feel bumping into something soft. You look down and notice a young woman with curly hair, her neck decorated with a collar. She puts her hands close to her chest and raises to her knees, looking up at you pleadingly, then woofs.

With sheer mental resolve, you peel your eyes away from the debtor, giving her a gentle touch on the shoulder. You continue walking down the hallway and it takes you a moment to realize just how tight you grit your teeth.

All these poor souls.

When you finally stand in front of a hatch leading to prison, Hope gives you a last piece of aid and unlocks the hatch for you. The next doors on the floor below however have to be lockpicked. You are not as proficient with lockpicking as Astarion, but after a few moments of careful fiddling inside the keyhole, you manage to get access to the prison. You hold your hand on the potion of invisibility, thinking if now is the good chance to chug it down.

Carefully, you open the door and slide inside. The entrance is obscured in the dark, however you do recall that most of the creatures from non-material plane have darkvision. Right in front of you on a metal platform suspended in the air with chains hooked into the ceiling, you see enslaved Hope. Her arms are pulled to the sides and her body hangs in the air, her wrists bound to two crystals on opposite sides of the room. This is what she mentioned, that's what the Orphic hammer is for.

You do your best to make a map of the room in your head. You see a few imps, but they don't appear to be very dangerous. Apart from them you spot weird monsters, looking like floating tentacled eyeballs. You glance down and step a bit closer to the edge, noticing that the House of Hope is a floating building.

You frown and glance at Hope's weird bindings again. Raphael said that the Orphic Hammer can free Orpheus from his shackles. He was enslaved because The Emperor is using Orpheus, draining his power. And Hope's chains look shockingly similar to Orpheus' prison. Is Raphael somehow draining and abusing her power? Is it to make the house afloat?

You sneak outside and quietly close the heavy door, then start climbing the ladder, trying to sort out all of the information in your brain. It's time to inspect the Boudoir.

Hope doesn't teleport this time around and you can feel a punch of guilt straight into your gut. She has to believe. You will come back for her, one way or the other.

A few moments later, you stand in between two gargoyle statues. You reach for the invitation that you hid in your pocket and present it to the energy field warding the doorframe. It lifts the protection ward a moment later.

Carefully, you step inside, looking to your sides first, checking your surroundings. The room is massive. Right in front of you, you can see a hexagonal indoor rejuvenation pool with two golden taps at the top, which constantly pour the water into the bath. You've seen one of those at your monastery before, so you knew that those waters do not appear in Hells naturally. It must be outsourced from somewhere else.

Around the pool, you see some comfy pillows and blankets with a few shishas here and there. At each corner of the hexagon facing the entrance, you notice a pillar. The columns on the other side of the room have been merged together with golden ornaments. You glance straight ahead and notice a huge bed on the other side of the room, exactly opposing the entrance. The air inside the Boudoir is nice, the steam from the rejuvenating water lifting some of the heaviness of the usual Avernus atmosphere.

You glance behind your shoulder and notice a debtor, sneaking at the doorway. She covers her mouth and stares at you blankly. You decide not to ask her about anything and instead proceed deeper into the bedroom. Carefully, with a soft step, you ascend up the stairs leading to the master bedroom. That's when you notice a crimson figure laying on top of the bed. You quickly reach for the invisibility potion, feeling your heart squeeze in stress, but it's too late. A pair of orange eyes burns a hole right through you.

The figure shifts and sits on the bed. It's a cambion and... it looks a bit like Raphael's relative?
'A lost little mouse is running through the house! A thief in the night, greedy and here to take,' the cambion speaks with Raphael's voice, but the fact that you are still standing alive makes you convinced that it's not him. Besides, he looks... different. Your brain enters overdrive.

'Haarlep?' you ask, after it takes a moment for you to process the situation, you manage to dig out another name mentioned by Hope from your memory.

'Yes,' the cambion responds with a smirk on their face. 'I don't think I know you, little mouse.'

'Oh but you do. Verilius Receptor,' you try to regain your composure, but the sight of a skimpy looking devil makes it hard.

'Ha! No,' they chuckle then grin. 'But I do like a cheater. Come here, little mouse. Why are you here, in this House of Hope?' they move their hands theatrically, mimicking Raphael's persona.

You approach the bed carefully.
'Only for information.'

'Information? I have an idea, let's play a game. If you came here for some information, I will answer one of your questions, but you have to play with me.'

You have some very clear idea about the game in question.
'Are you an incubus?'

'Starting with questions? How boring!' Haarlep rolls from the bed and steps onto the floor seductively tracing their clawed hand on the wooden railing. 'But yes, I am Raphael's personal incubus. Transfigured and glamoured to look like him, a perfect copy.'

'You don't look like him,' you notice and your own voice escaping your mouth makes you a bit surprised. You did not mean to comment on that.

'Oh, if he only heard that, you'd be torn to shreds.'

'But he doesn't, does he?' you ask the incubus and push yourself from the wall, as it slowly approaches you with practiced through centuries, seductive movements. 'He can't hear, right?'

'No, little mouse. Will you play with me?'

You wish you read on incubi and succubi, not just cambions and Hells in order to know how to smoothly get yourself out of this situation.
'What do I need to do?'

'Take off your clothes,' Haarlep shows you their pointy teeth and their eyes burn intensely.

'I can't. It's against my vows.'

'Your vows? Did I just catch a pure, little mouse? What a treat! I can't wait to corrupt your delicious body and mind.'

'You are not corrupting anything,' you say, carefully choosing your words. 'As much as I do think you are very appealing, I will not break my vows.'

'I am excellent at many things,' they smirk. 'Keeping a secret is one of them. Your vows are safe with me. And Raphael... Raphael cannot hide anything from me.'

'Is that so?' you frown at incubus and do a quick calculation. You can knock them out, but then you won't get any information in return. You can cast a Zone of Truth spell, but it requires a bit of time and concentration and time is something you cannot afford to lose.

You change the direction, almost ending up in Haarlep's embrace.

'You like being chased, little mouse? You are a pure little treat, but only on the outside.'

Something in your belly flips and you come to a stop. You have to do this.
'I will play with you.'

'Excellent. Off with your clothes!' they snap at you and sooth their voice immediately after.

You grimace but put the bag down on the floor, as Haarlep returns back to the bed. You take off your magically disguised shirt, then your pants soon join it on the floor.
'Good, little mouse.'

You hate to admit it, but you would be in a much better position, if it was a voice of anyone else's but Raphael's.

'Keep going.'

You hear them breathe out and close your eyes, embarrassed of the burn on your cheeks.

'Tell me about your vows. Before we begin, I want you to be very comfortable. Would you like me to switch to Archduchess form?'

'I'm a monk. When we have sex, it's like a prayer. I am not supposed to engage in it unless my soul is bound with my lover. And is Archduchess just a female Raphael?' you ask forcing yourself not to cover your naked body against incubus piercing gaze.

'Your soul bound to your lover? We can make that happen,' they smirk and chuckle with Raphael's voice. 'But what was I saying... oh yes, the Archduchess is a female version of Raphael.'

'Then no, please stay as Raph.. I mean as a man,' you quickly look away from Haarlep and you can hear them chuckle.

'Very well. Climb the bed, little thief.'

It feels so inappropriate to sit down naked on Raphael's bed, on his usual love making spot, only to have a sexual encounter with his incubus yourself. It feels so wrong in every single way and the lurking dread of him coming back home early, prevents you from thinking straight, definitely working in Haarlep's favor. You know about the succubi and incubi charms and you also know that as awful as it might appear, this encounter can be fruitful. If Raphael really isn't capable of hiding anything from... well, a glamoured version of himself, then you are in the right claws.

'And you will answer my questions?'

'Only when we finish with our little game.'

'Uh-huh,' you say and frown, very aware of your current position.

'You are so deliciously coy,' Haarlep comments and crawls on the bed towards you. The air in the Avernus suddenly feels a lot warmer.

You push your feet onto the bed, sitting down with your back leaning onto the backrest. You try your best to remember about your teachings, but your eyes slide down to Haarlep's shoulders, onto their chest with the perfect amount of hair. Your gaze devours his leather harness decorated with metal spikes and chains.
'You are so gorgeous. I wish I could also see your true, non-transformed form,' you look into their burning eyes.

Haarlep stops, their claw next to your right thigh. You look into each other's eyes and for a moment something passes through their face, something not tainted with lust. They resume their advances a second later and you reach towards their face.

'Is it fine if I touch you?'

Another flash passed through their face. Something that made their mask of a skilled performer shift, a flash of surprise perhaps.

'You don't have to ask, little mouse,' Haarlep says a lot softer and you stroke their neck.

'What do you mean?'

Haarlep puts their hands around your waist and pulls you down, then covers you with their body.
'I am here to please.'

'Shouldn't you be pleased as well?'

'Ha!' they chuckle while hovering above you, then look at you, as if a bit sad.

Their previously stretched wings now come back to their back, and they flip their tail uneasily. You transfer your hands to their cheeks, stroking them with affection, which you find out comes naturally. You use the opportunity to touch their horns, something you always wanted to do when you saw Raphael's.

'Can we play a different game?' you ask and watch the incubus' expression turn into anger. 'I am not going to escape from you,' you assure gently and put your left hand on their side of the hip, pushing them to the side.

You trade places and the incubus is now below you.
'How did you want to play?' you ask them as they adjust you on their hips.

Haarlep stares blankly at you, then grips you firmly, their pleasantly hot skin burning into your flesh.
'It's your game now, little mouse.'